#also me: that is. they’ve never rudely interacted before????

[anasanthology]

Always Close Your Tabs.

WARNINGS: NSFW 18+ MDNI (I don’t care who reads just if your account age is set to under 18 don’t interact please), step-cest, pseudo-incest, stepbrother/stepsister pairing, degradation kink, light face slapping, very light praise kink, Dom/Sub, lowkey Hard Dom!Leon Kennedy, face fucking, oral (m receiving), mean Leon (I feel he’s a little ooc), like one mention of breeding kink, we got a little sweet aftercare at the end, not as tame as other stuff I’ve written, fem-specific gendered terms. Not proofread.

Notes: FIRST LEON FIC I’M POSTING 😚 actually feeling kinda good about this one! I felt like finishing this and posting it today so here so go!!! I hope you like it ☺️ as always, likes and—especially—comments are very VERY much appreciated 😌 if you have any tags you think I should add just tell me cause I’m not sure if I missed any 🧐 ANYWAYS, enjoy, lovelies 💕

4.5k words | Leon Kennedy x AFAB!Reader

The couch was irritating you, you were hyper aware of it, the texture, the firmness, everything about it. It didn’t matter where you sat though, everywhere was irritating. Everything was irritating. Your parents were out of town on some dumb anniversary. No. Your parent and her husband. Leaving you home alone with your stepbrother.

 Leon. 

He was annoying. He was rude, crass, and bitchy. When your mom had told you she was seeing a guy you were happy for her, until she told you that he had a son a few months older than you. Other kids was the one dealbreaker for you, but your mom loved this man so much and you didn’t exactly have much time left to live with her. You could deal with it. So you met Leon, he didn’t talk the entire dinner but to introduce himself and then order something. This was 8 months ago.

Now you live with him.

You were sure that there were worse people to live with, like… Bundy or Dahmer maybe. He always had those loudmouth friends of his over. Chris, who would spend the whole time yelling at the tv and Luis, who would just flirt with you the whole time. The worst of it was that they would only hang out in the living room so you were always confined to your room till they left. That was unless you wanted to hear, ‘ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! THAT DIDN’T EVEN TOUCH ME,’ and, ‘Hola, señorita, ¿Qué pasa? You look gorgeous,’ which… you didn’t wanna hear that. Not to even mention how insufferable he was when they weren’t around. Which was the situation now. Sitting on the couch next to you was Leon Kennedy, staring up at the tv watching Desperate Housewives. He had this constant resting dick face that never seemed to go away, and along with that he also seemed to be followed by resting dick air everywhere he went. Especially now that his dad took away his phone and other electronics before your guys’ parents left for their trip. Because apparently that man cared jack shit for your sanity. Now, Leon was irritated. He was insufferable when he was irritated. It just radiated off of him and you were a porous permeable surface. You guys sat like that until…

“Can I use your laptop?”

“What?” You turned to him, his words bringing you out of your thoughts.

“Can I use your laptop?” He repeated himself.

“Uh… sure, I guess?” Shrugging you got off the couch before stopping in your tracks and pointing at him, “but I get to use your car!” Your eyes widen with excitement and you point at him.

“No, no way. You are not driving my car. Not gonna happen.” He huffed in amusement and shook his head.

“And why not?” Your hands went to your hips and you made a face.

“Because,” he mocks your tone, “you’ll crash it.”

“Says you! Leon, you are like the king of bad driving. You hit a tree last month! A tree! They don’t even move and they’ve been there for like years!” Your hands were flying everywhere at this point. You had your license, but since Leon was a little older and got his a little before you he got a car. And since he got a car—and only Jeff Bezos could comfortably pay for his car insurance—you didn’t get one, you had to share with your mom and stepdad. But since they were halfway across the country, you were stuck here.

“It was in my blind spot!”

“What about that mailbox last week? Or Ms. Anderson’s side mirror? Everything can’t be in your blind spot, Leon. That’s what windows are for.” you close your eyes and sigh, “you know what, I don’t care. Bottom line is, if you don’t let me drive your car, no laptop.” You knew you were reaching, but you didn’t care. It’s not like you lost anything if he said no. It wasn’t fair he got the car anyways, your mom promised you a year ago on your birthday that when you got your license she’d take you to a used car dealership and you could pick one. But apparently ‘situations change’ and ‘things don’t always go as planned’, so you were left having to explain to your friends that it actually wasn’t gonna happen. Leon could practically burn holes through your face with the way he was looking at you, honestly that’s probably what he was thinking about. He sighs and closes his eyes.

“Fine.” He opens his eyes and gives you just about the brattiest look imaginable. You just smile and giggle. Your eyes widened in surprise. You were not expecting him to actually say yes.

“Okay!” You practically sprint upstairs to your room, grabbing your laptop off the bed. You make your way back downstairs and bring it to him. “Here ya go!”

“Thanks.” He takes it with a scowl and gets up.

“Whaddya need it for anyways?”

“Because I wanna watch stuff.” He responds flatly.

“What kinds of stuff?” ‘Porn?’ Was your first thought, but you opted not to verbalize that. 

“Stuff you can’t watch on the tv?”

“Yes.”

“Why not?” You blinked at him.

“Because you’re watching the tv in here, dingus.” He didn’t look guilty. You know, like you would if you were gonna use your stepsister’s laptop to watch porn off of. He just looks annoyed. “Can I go watch some shit now or you gonna keep interrogating me, detective?”

“Jeez, moody. Sure, go.” You shoo him and turn back to the tv as you sit on the couch. He walks away to his room and you lay back covering your face with your arm. It felt like a weight had been lifted, the tension gone immediately. Part of you wanted to say it was just because he made the air so thick with irritation he could suffocate a room, but you knew that wasn’t completely true…

Leon was hot, like crazy hot.

It was frustrating being around that all day and night. Eating dinner across from an actual model… not easy. It was especially not easy when that model was a sarcastic asshole, and it was especially especially not easy when you kinda liked it. Yes every comment pissed you off, made you want to scream sometimes, punch a hole in the wall. but it also had you wondering… ‘would he… I mean in bed did he…’ god you hoped so. ‘Ew, no you didn’t.’ It was dumb—and entirely inappropriate—but that’s all you could think about when he was around. At some point all the irritation and hatred you had for him just living here, turned into… something you shouldn’t think about.

But who cares.

You didn’t have time to think about that. You had much more pressing matters to attend to, like… desperate housewives. You sit up and lay your body on top of your legs like you were folding yourself in half. You looked up at the screen and flipped onto your back kicking your legs over the back of the couch. It was like you just couldn’t get comfortable no matter what. 

“Mmmmmuuhhhhhh.” Sighing you sat back up like normal, pulling the blanket off the back of the couch and onto your tired form. And then it hit you.

The computer.

‘Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.’ Standing up abruptly you started making your way to Leon’s room, practically running up the stairs.

You were tired last night. Really, really tired.

So maybe, just maybe, you forgot to close out of a tab last night. Or maybe a couple. Besides it is your computer, why do you need to close out of anything? You don’t, or at least you don’t when your step brother isn’t using your computer.

“Leon, I need my computer.” You knocked at his door and turned the knob quickly. Locked, of fucking course. “Leon?” Bouncing around a little on the balls of your feet, impatiently you step back from the door and shake the tension out of your hands. ‘Maybe he didn’t see it. Maybe he… didn’t even get on the computer yet. “Leon, I don’t… I don’t need your car. It’s fine, I asked Claire and she said she’d drive me this week.” His door opens like that’s exactly what he was waiting to hear.

“Okay, fine. Take it.” He steps away from the door and you walk inside, looking back at him you take extra attention to his expression. He definitely knows. You just turn back unable to think about that for too much longer, your face burning with heat as you pick up your laptop off of his bed. You feel a pair of hands snake around your waist and you tense up. “But first, I have to know why my slutty little sister thought it was a good idea to give me her laptop with porn open.” It was like your brain took a screenshot. ‘Did he just…’

“I don’t… Leon, I’m sorry. I didn’t-I forgot.”

“Oh you’re such a liar.” You could hear the smirk in his voice. “No, I think you did it on purpose. You’re such a smart girl, I don’t believe you could be so stupid.” Your breath got heavier at his accusation.

“Look, I’m sorry, okay? I fell asleep ‘nd forgot it was on there.” He didn’t respond but his hands started running up and down your sides. “Leon, stop teasing me.” Your voice came out just a whiny whisper, sounding a lot more needy rather than urgent like you meant it.

“You know, I wouldn’t have guessed you’d be into that sort of stuff. Always get so nervous when Luis flirts with you, always get so flustered when people touch each other in a movie.” He was ignoring your request completely. “But it makes sense now, you get all shy cause you like it.” Your eyes widen and you squirm in his arms, not exactly trying to get away. Not really trying to get away at all actually. “Wonder how many times I’ve been sitting with you on the couch while your cunt gets all wet. So shameless, darling.” Your body is frozen in embarrassment, it’s kinda hot. ‘God. Don’t think like that Jesus.’

“No, never,” Liar. “Leon, I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“Yet you aren’t trying to stop me, are you?” His voice is so completely self assured and cocky. Asshole. It made you so wet. You aren’t trying to stop him. You don’t want him to stop, even though you should. He pulls his hands back a little for you, so that if you want to get out you can. Without as much internal protest as you’d hoped, you stay completely still. “See, I was right. You are just a little slut who wants to get touched by her stepbrother.” You visibly cringe at that but feel slick spill into your panties at his words.

“Stop.”

“Stop what?” His hands go back around you, pulling you close to him. You could feel the outline of his hardened cock against you.

“Stop… being weird.” You shifted around in his arms.

“How am I being weird?” He snickered.

“Because you’re… stop saying it like that?” Your face was burning at this point. He was pushing up against you, pressing your hips against the edge of his bed.

“Saying it like what? Isn’t that exactly what’s going on? A dumb whore getting wet for her brother?”

“Leon.” His hand dipped down the front of your pants, running his finger down your clothed slit.

“Oh but why? It feels like you like it when I talk to you like that. I mean… given the videos you were watching, I bet you like it.” You pushed up against him. You just want him closer, it doesn’t matter if it’s wrong. He knew what he was doing, making you feel small, degrading you. “You do like it, fuck.” He started grinding himself against your back. You did like it, you wanted him to keep going, keep making you feel small.

“No it… Leon, it’s weird.”

“I know it is, but you like it. You like how depraved it makes you feel. You can’t deny it, I quite literally have seen the stuff you watch to get off.” He was laughing a little, it only amplified how hot and humiliating this was. “Can’t say I haven’t thought about it. Everytime you’d roll your eyes when I’d tease you all I could think about was taking it further, pinning you against the counter or the couch and just telling you anything I could think of.”

“Thought you said you didn’t think I’d be into this?”

“You can be into anything I want you to in my fantasies.” His other hand snakes up to start running his thumb up and down the column of your throat. This really should not have such an effect on you, but it does. Your eyes flutter and you let out a soft needy breath as you lay your head back against him. “Oh you like that? You like that I just imagine you in any position I want?” You nod your head reluctantly. Your lips open and close but no sound comes out. He’s barely even touched you but it feels like your tongue is twisted up in your mouth. You can feel your resolve just slipping away the more he speaks to you, the more he touches you.

“Leon, this is… this is so wrong…” your voice comes out so quiet you aren’t sure he could hear you. Or maybe it’s just because the blood pounding in your ears is so loud that you can barely hear yourself.

“But you like that don’t you? Yeah, I know you do.” His finger travels further up to slide across your bottom lip. Involuntarily—you tell yourself—your lips part slightly. He just laughs softly behind you, the smirk that was undoubtedly plastered on his face was audible. “Does this slutty girl want something in her mouth? There you go…” he slides his finger past your lips and onto your tongue. His thumb starts pushing slow thrusts against your tongue. Your hands go to hold onto his forearm feebly, not trying to move or stop him but just needing something to hold onto. “Yeah? You like it when I finger your pretty little mouth?” You just whine and start sucking around his thumb. “Fuck, bet you’d do so good on my cock.” You turned around to face him.

It was stupid, and you don’t know why you did it… yes you do, liar.

“What?” He grinned down at you. Now being able to see your lips around his thumb he couldn’t get enough of it. You knew you were turned on but holy shit you weren’t expecting him to look like… that. His mouth was slightly parted and his eyes were lidded. A light blush dusts his cheeks. God he looked good. You imagined you probably looked something similar, probably worse. “I asked you a question.” He pulls his thumb from your mouth and slides it down your chin and across your neck. ‘Oh, right.’

“I um… can I?” You swallowed heavily, barely able to focus on your words with his fingers rubbing at your soft skin.

“‘Can you’ what?” He just laughs, he can tell you’re struggling. Your face heats up with embarrassment realizing just how fuck-drunk you already are. And then he just gets the cockiest look on his face. “Oh, you wanna suck my cock? That what this is?” You just nod weakly, you couldn’t deny it if you tried. “Hmm? I can’t hear you, what do you want?”

“I wanna…” you swallow thickly, “I wanna suck your cock, please.” You chewed on the inside of your lip and just looked at him. He felt like he could just about cum from how needy your voice sounded when you said ‘please’.

“Fuck,” his hand slide up your neck and went to the back of your head. “I know you do. Now get on your knees.” His hand tangled in your hair right up against your scalp and he tightened his grip a little, pulling your head back ever so slightly in the process. The way he was talking to you, how he was treating you, all like you were just some object for his pleasure… fuck, it made you wet. If this situation could possibly get any worse from you guys just doing anything at all in the first place, getting turned on from your stepbrother degrading and objectifying you would definitely make it worse. You moaned softly when he pulled your hair as you started to kneel down in front of him slowly, struggling to resist the urge of responding ‘yes, sir.’ When your knees were on the ground and you finally stopped shifting around to get as comfortable as possible you finally realized the position you were in.

You were on your knees in front of your stepbrother about to suck him off…

But at this point, all thought or consideration of morality and shame had long been lost on you. Instead the lewdness of the situation only fueled the fire and part of you was just getting off on how wrong this was. You felt filthy and all it did was make you want to continue. ‘Shit, what the hell is wrong with me?’, would be what you’d typically be thinking. And you were, just less in a self-deprecating way and more in a self-humiliation way. You bite your lip at the site in front of you, Leon’s clothed hard cock in his gray sweatpants. He had noticed how fixated you were and tilted his head at you with a smirk. 

“You want it?” You just stared up at him and moved your hands up to his thighs as you slid them up. “I asked you a question, answer me.” He pulled your hair a little harder this time and you moaned a little louder.

“Yes, wan’ it, Leon, please.” You were completely breathless. It had felt like your mind had turned to mush. You hadn’t even registered his question as a question when he asked, you just wanted to touch him.

“Yeah, I know.” He pushed your head forward till your cheek was pressed up against his cock. “Pretty little cockwhore just wants me inside her.” Your breath quickened when he started grinding up against your face. “Or she just wants to feel me however I please.” His voice was teasing now and he just ground down against you harder.

“However you please, just… Leon, need you.” You barely even sounded like yourself anymore. Normal you would have just pushed him away in the beginning as you made your second-hand embarrassment apparent. Normal you would have known that that was one of the easiest ways to mess with someone and would have totally used it. But here you were instead, a strong-willed smart girl who never pulled any punches now on her knees getting debased completely and absolutely loving it.

“Mmm, you’ll let me use you however I want? What if this is how I wanna do it? What if I just wanna take my cock out and rub it against your face till I cum all over you?” Even in this state you knew he was trying to trap you. He wanted to get you to disagree so he could hear you begging for whatever you really wanted. But you wouldn’t disagree, cause you don’t.

“Even then, just anything you want.” He grinned at your reply. He was tempted, he really was, but after wanting you for so long he wasn’t gonna waste this chance just to prove a point. ‘Next time.’ He pulls your head back just a little so he can see your face. Your lips are slightly parted and you just stare up at him with a grazed over expression.

“Take it out.” He says firmly and raises his eyebrows. You look down at his crotch and bring your hands up to take his dick out of his pants. You feel a sudden sting on your cheek as he slaps you across the face. “No, look at me.” He grabs your jaw and tilts your face up towards his. You make eye contact with him as you start undoing the string on his sweatpants. Part of you wants to look away just so that he’ll slap you again but you don’t. You start pulling his sweatpants and underwear down till his cock swings free. Your eyes dart down to his dick and are only able to just barely register what you’re seeing before he slaps you again just a little harder. “Did you not hear what I said to you? Look. At. Me.” You moan softly and shake your head.

“I heard you, ‘m sorry I was just curious.” You sound a little like you’re about to cry but you’re far from sad about all this.

“You’re curious?” He mocks your voice and pouts his lip before scoffing and leaning down ever so slightly. His thumb caressing your neck. “Don’t worry, once I fuck this little throat you’ll have every answer you could possibly ask for.” You shudder a little before just nodding your head and opening your mouth. You loll your tongue out and he grins. “Yeah, stay like that.” He slaps his heavy tip on your tongue and you can taste the bitterness of his pre-cum. “Open wider.” You obey him and open your mouth further. He leans forward and spits in your mouth. Your eyes flutter and you press your thighs together, which doesn’t go unnoticed. “You like that?” He laughs and rubs one of his fingers over your tongue. “You like it when I spit in your mouth? Fucking disgusting.” He grips his cock and guides it onto your tongue before pushing into your mouth. He groans and holds your head back against the side of his bed before he starts thrusting into your mouth. “Mmm, fuck. Such a good girl with a slutty little mouth. What would your friends say if they knew you’re getting face fucked by your stepbrother, and loving it so much you’re practically dripping onto the floor? What would your mom say?” You really didn’t wanna think about his second question.

“Mmm.” You just hum around his cock in response and he smirked. It’s not like you could actually respond. You kept your eyes on him, loving the way his jaw tightened when he hit the back of your throat. Or the way the muscles in his arms would twitch and flex under his tight shirt. He was right, you did love this and you could feel the discomfort of your sticky panties between your thighs, damp and uncomfortable. His hand went to the top of your head to grip your hair between his fingers and he started pushing in faster.

“Mmh, oh fuck… love sucking on your big brothers cock, yeah? Such a fucking cockwhore it doesn’t matter who it’s from.” He was thrusting at a fervent pace and it was evident he was just chasing his own high. Using your mouth as his personal fleshlight to fuck and fill. It was hot being treated like this, especially by Leon. He tightened his hold on your hair and pushed in a little too far which made you choke. It made slick pour into the gusset of your panties. Fuck, he was right. You’re a total slut. Your hands went up to hold onto his thighs for support as your eyes closed. Spit drooled down your chin and onto your chest, tears poured down your cheeks which Leon took pleasure in wiping away. “Maybe next time you’ll let me fuck that pretty pussy. Bet she’s just crying for me, you are.” ‘Next time?’ The thought made your skin burn with arousal. “Think you’re gonna let me fill up all your holes. Fuck. Yeah, I wanna see that. My obedient little stepsister leaking cum onto my bed, absolutely spent. Such a fucking whore you’d probably ask me to do it again. Fuck your little pussy till it’s sloppy and bred.” 

He wasn’t even looking at you. His head tilted back and his hips stuttered. You could tell he was getting close.

“I’m gonna cum down this slutty throat and you’re gonna swallow it all and thank me.” His face and neck were a little red and he had this sheen of sweat that the light from his lamp bounced off of. He looked like some kind of angel and if he wasn’t aggressively fucking your face you might’ve actually believed he was. “Fuck, oh take it.” He moaned and pushed his cock to the back of your throat. You could feel his hot cum paint stripes into your mouth. He rutted his tip right against the back of your throat while he moaned and mumbled. “Good girl, good girl. Take it, baby.” He pulled back out of your mouth and looked down at you while he stroked himself a few times to make sure he was done. A little bit of cum spilled from his tip and onto your thigh. You could finally swallow now that he was out of your mouth and god it felt good. You opened your mouth to show him that you really did it.

“Thank you.” You smiled up at him softly and he shuddered at your words. He looked away from you and cursed as his face got red. He was just talking earlier; he didn't think you’d actually do it.

“Quit it, you’re gonna make me hard again.” He seemed a little embarrassed. He moved your hair out of your face and went to the bathroom across the hall. You heard water running for a bit and then he came back and kneeled in front of you. He silently used a warm rag to wipe away the dried tears from your face and the little bit of cum that spilled onto your chin. “There you go.” 

“Thank you.” He wiped away the bit that was on your thigh and you guys just stared at each other for a second. It wasn’t really awkward but more like each of you had something to say that you just wouldn’t. 

He leaned forward and kissed you. It was soft and sweet and you had plenty of room to move away if you didn’t want it. There was such a contrast from what you were doing now and what you had been doing, hell, how he was acting with you now and how he had always acted with you; it felt like it was short circuiting your brain, but in a good way. He pulled back and set the rag on his bedside table before picking you up and setting you on his bed. He crawled in next to you and put his arms around you. It felt a little weird but in a nice comforting way. It was something you really needed. You almost forgot that you had been sucking him off—if you could even call it that—like two minutes ago. You really weren’t tired but you laid there with him for who knows how long. 

Maybe you really didn’t hate having a stepbrother.

#anasanthology #anyas world #anya’s world #leon kennedy #fanfic #leon s kennedy #leon kennedy fanfic #stepbro!leon #stepbro!leon Kennedy x reader #leon kennedy smut #leon kennedy x reader #stepcest #leon kennedy x fem reader

[acrystalwitch]

(***NO N*zis or TERFs allowed to interact with this post or my blog*** This is a post for Norse pagans or polytheists looking to work with Odin. This is all based on my own experiences working with the all father and nothing here is to be taken as a hard fact. If your practice differs from my own that is totally fine. There will be a lot of UPG and SPG)

An incomplete summary of Odin in Norse mythology.

Odin, god of war and wisdom is a key figure in the Norse myths and is involved in a lot of the stories. He is the head of the Norse gods and is called the All father, because it’s by him that all of humans were created. He is married to Frigg and together they had Baldur and Hodr. Odin also has other sons, Thor, Vali, and Vidar.

He has two ravens Huginn and Muninn, and two wolves Geri and Freki.

He only has one eye, he sacrificed his other eye by throwing it into Mimir’s well in exchange for knowledge that could better help him prevent Ragnarok.

Another famous story of his is when he hung upside down from the tree of life for nine days and nine nights to get knowledge of other worlds and to be able to know everything about the runes.

The type of magic he practices (Seiðr) was a feminine type of magic that wasn’t always looked highly on when men would participate in it. Yet our Allfather was very practiced in it.

My experience working with him: One thing to know about working with Odin going in, he will be very honest and blunt. My other deities have a habit of being softer on my feelings than I’ve heard other devotees say they’ve been with them, I’m assuming because I’m very sensitive. But Odin..? He does not care. He will stop giving advice if I tell him I don’t want to hear it. But, if I ask for advice…oh boy, am I gonna get his full opinion. He is very much a father in the way he goes about things, he cares but he wants his followers to push themselves as much as they can, learning as much as you can and always growing, never staying sedentary for too long.

I have a notebook dedicated to him that I’ve been using to work on learning the runes and that seems to be the best offering to give him in my practice right now. He never misses a chance to remind me I need to get back to learning the runes too.

I always wondered why it mattered so much to him that I learn them. Eventually he told me that it was because they really would be useful in spells, and wards and making bind runes out of them is something I’m learning to do now.

He is not the easiest deity to work with, he may even push your buttons on purpose to get you to think harder on things. I’ve noticed he’s even been rude before just to see if I’d stand up for myself and set boundaries and then he’ll explain himself after. Lots of tests trials and teachings. But man, is it worth it for the immense amount of knowledge and mentorship that he can bring. All in all, I’m glad he came to me later in my practice as I might’ve been scared off from deity work if he was the first. But, I love him to pieces and hope to work with him for a long time.

Offerings and associations of Odin

(Odin does not eat food so I’ve seen many people say not to give him food offerings, I disagree! Give him things that he can feed to Geri and Freki. He is known to still fill his plate and just give them bits over meals. So don’t hesitate to gift him any food offerings you would to any other Norse god)

-colors: gray, dark blue, black

- tree Imagery, Yggdrasil in particular

- raven Imagery, black feathers

- wolf Imagery

- clear quartz

- onyx

- blue goldstone

- amethyst

- carnelian

- the hermit tarot card

- the hanged man tarot card

- the four of cups tarot card

- the king of swords tarot card

- mead, wine, alcohol

- poetry (he writes poems!)

- mugwort scent/incense

- Ansuz rune ᚨ

- learn about the runes

- learn his myths

- learn useful and practical knowledge

- read books

- ask him for advice

There are many more ways to learn about him and get close to him. A great one is reading the Hávamál. If you meditate or do tarot or rune casting those are also great ways to contact him and get closer to him.

Signs he might be reaching out; seeing ravens more than usual or in non native areas, very windy days, rain, seeing his name often, feeling drawn to his mythology, seeing his tarot cards pop up often, you already work with one of his sons (I think he sent Thor to me first to soften my idea of the Norse gods and be a warm intro into their pantheon.)

He is a great god to work with, lots of work though. Odin is not for the weak minded, but he’s been so worth getting to know.

#norse paganism #heathenry #odin #norse deities #deity witchcraft #deity worship #deity work #Norse #norse mythology #Norse gods #paganism #Odin deity guide

[b00ks1ut]

It’s All About Trust

Joe Liebgott X Fem!Reader

Warnings: Angst, war, fluff (an attempt anyway I think), swearing, Briefly mention of reader being a medic, reader has a shit ton of siblings (relatable), not that many physical descriptions if any, mentions of death, normal Band of Brothers stuff

Sorry if this is bad. I’ve never written any BoB fanfiction and really have like hardly any writing experience at all so hopefully this isn’t horrible. Please give me feed back if you want. Thank you! Also sorry for the ending. It’s kinda abrupt but it’s the best I could get lol

Bois Jacques is hell. A very very cold hell. Nothing could truly combat the cold that seeps into everyone around me. Not even the plainish slop they feed us in an attempt at food. Or in the current case, cold, hard “pancakes”, or that’s what Domingus says they are.

Don pokes at his and calls after our ever so kind cook, “Joe these smell like my armpit!”

“At least your armpit is warm.” Skip grumbles from Malarkey’s side as he holds his pancake up for emphasis.

“You want syrup with that?” Domingus sasses back to him.

“Joe, be honest, what’s in these things anyway?” Don asks the retreating man.

“Nothing you won’t eat, Malarkey.” He replies.

“I won’t eat Malarkey.” Spina shoots back quickly causing us all grouped up to let out a chorus of laughs.

Julian brings back the topic of Babe and Spina’s run in with a German on their search for 3rd Battalion. “Hey, maybe Hinkle would like your share, huh?”

This happens to hit my funny bone and I let out a snort leading to the rest of the men’s laughter to only further increase until Peacock comes around looking for Dike.

“Try battalion CP, sir.” I tell the man. The rest of us wait for him to walk away on his hunt for the company CO before we break our into giggles again.

“Try Paris.” Skip laughs.

“Try Hinkle.” Malarkey adds, only increasing our laughter and before I know it tears are pricking my eyes.

Spina begins his less than great German impression and I have to leave before I piss myself laughing.

I seem to run into a brick wall in my way back to my foxhole, tears of laughter still stinging my eyes.

“Sorry ‘bout that (y/n/n).” A deep southern voice speaks from above me.

I take a look and send a smile at the blonde who’s got me held by the shoulders.

“You’re all good Bull, no harm done.” I tell him as I step out of his hold. “Sorry about that.”

“No harm done.” He repeats before walking away with a smile sent to me.

I continue to make my way back to my temporary home of a frozen foxhole. I look down to find none other than Joseph Liebgott.

I’ve always had a soft spot for the rageful Jew. I don’t think it’s any specific thing that made me so drawn to him but rather his whole entire being.

On the other hand he’s never shown any direct attraction to me. Sure nearly all the men of Easy have sent me a glance at least once but I don’t blame them, I’m one of the few women they’ve interacted with past a single night in around 2 years. But past a glance none of the boys have soberly tried anything.

Especially Joe. He’s not unfriendly to me but he’s never really gone out of his way to interact with me. Not until now.

He’s sitting alone in my foxhole, hands tucked under his armpits, gun leaning in the dirt next to him, and his eyes intensely trained on the line.

“Joe? Did you get lost?” I ask him with a small laugh.

“Uh?” He looks up at me and gives me a small smile. “Not lost, just looking for someone to talk to.”

“Luz’s hole is like 2 over that way.” I told him pointing in the direction of the jester’s own hiding place.

“Well good thing I wasn’t looking for George then, yeah?” He says with his trademark smirk. “I can leave if you’d like me to, though.”

"You're fine, but can I ask a question?" I asked as I began the short descent into the frozen foxhole.

"Shoot away (y/l/n)." The Californian told me, looking back at the line across the cold, white field.

"Why are you talking to me? I'm don't mean to be rude but you've never put any effort into having any interaction with me." I asked sitting across from him and stuffing my frozen hands into my jacket pockets.

"I'm just trying to be friendly. No time better than the present, right? Do you have a problem with that? I can leave if you need me to." Joe had begun to get a little defensive but that's hardly surprising when he'll jump at a chance to be upset, whether isn’t reasonable or not.

"Why now? There's hardly a point in making friends when fucking Babe and Spina barely just ran from a Kraut fucking foxhole so excuse my confusion at your extremely sudden olive branch when we're all about to be sent home either on a stretcher or in an enveloped as a piece of shitty metal with our names stamped into it!" I grabbed my dog tags and shook them for emphasis. It took all of my self control to not start yelling or crying, but I could feel the sting of unshed tears at my eyes. "We're all going to be blown to kingdom come by all of this damned artillery." I whisperd.

"Hey. That's not true. We've made it this far but look at us. Sitting in this frozen hell hole and you're alive, I'm alive, and so is Bull and George, Don, Babe, Doc, Skip, Penkala, Perco, and Buck and Lip." He began listing some of the guys we had been with for so long. "I know it's scary and there's not a single thing I can promise you to make anything seem ok, because I'm scared and I have no clue what's going to happen even 10 seconds from now but one thing I can tell you that might make you feel slightly better is that you've made it this far. You made it through Sobel's shitty personalty, Normandy, Carentan, and I know that if you have made it this far without a scratch then what can take you down? You’re what, one of nine kids back at home, you managed to talk and work your way into the airborne and then continue to be an absolute badass throughout boot camp and combat!” He took a break to really look at me and I took that as an opportunity to defend myself and my feelings.

“I’m really flattered but don’t you think I’ve been too lucky? I’ve come so far with nothing more than a bruise and I’m sure the next thing you know I’ll be blown to pieces! I don’t know why I thought I could do this, Joe! I’m fucking terrified and there’s no where to go!” I can feel the tears beginning to well in my eyes and in a sorry attempt to stop them I look to the sky. “I don’t know what I’m doing here anymore.”

“Hey, you can’t go thinking like that. You’re going to make it out of here alive. I need you to believe that because trust me when I say that you are the toughest damned woman I’ve ever met in my life.” He scooted closer to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side.

The tears couldn’t be held any longer and the dam broke, salty waves rolling down the sides of face into my hair line. A sob escaped my lips before I could muffle it with a fist that had been stuffed between my lips only seconds too late.

“I’m sorry.”

“No need to be sorry, (y/n), we’re all feeling it, you’re the only one brave enough to let anyone see it.”

I let out a scoff. ‘Brave’ is not the right word to use. “I’m pathetic. I’m sitting here crying, doing nothing to help anyone around me who has it worse. I’m a a medic for fuck’s sake, I shouldn’t be crying when I routinely see how bad I could have it.”

Joe had only pulled me closer and wrapped his other arm around me, essentially cradling my shaking form. “Don’t you see? That’s what makes you so brave, (y/n). You see all these men in so much pain and put yourself in harms way to make sure they get patched up and safe. You are completely allowed to be overwhelmed and scared and cold and any other feeling a person can have. Not one man here would blame you for being upset right now. They know that as long as you are safe so are they, because when shit goes down you’re always there to help us.” He was talking so softly and so gently that I couldn’t help but cry harder.

“Oh fuck.” I muttered , wiping at my eyes. “I’m sorry Joe.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for Doll.” He gave me an affectionate pat. “Just know that you are such a light in the dark here, and not one of the men in these woods would judge you right now.”

I gave him a weak smile and sniffed, wiping at my eyes and nose. “Thank you, Joe, really. I’m forever grateful.”

“Oh don’t mention it, just don’t go telling anyone that I give out cuddles, I can’t have my reputation ruined like that.” Joe snickered with his smirk and a pat to my side.

“Your secret is safe with me as long as you don’t go telling people I cry.” I tittered and wrapped my arm around his neck.

“Your secret is safe with me, (y/n).”

“How do I know you’re not lying to me?”

“It’s all about trust. I trust you, you trust me; that’s how this has to work, yeah?” I was nearly bumping noses with him and if I wanted to I could just lean in a little and kiss him. The thought quickly crosses my mind but part of me knows better.

“I trust you, Joseph Liebgott.” I meant it, with more of my heart than I thought was still there.

#band of brothers #hbo war #easy company #joe liebgott #joe liebgott x reader #bob fanfic #bob fandom #bull randleman #donald malarkey #medic reader

[heichou-dancho]

FFVII Rebirth thoughts (Spoilers for everything)

I reemerge having finished Rebirth after four weeks and 92 hours in-game playtime. That’s an incredibly short but also massive amount of playtime for me, Yakuza 0 took me a year with pauses. I’m still reeling after finishing chapter 13, and since all my FF buddies from the old days are long gone, I’ll just vent here. I enjoy reading the reactions and thoughts of other players, so maybe someone else does too?

This post is full of spoilers and Shinra fangirling, but it’s about the whole game:

Shinra:

First, somebody on the team that wrote material for the Turks and Rufus must be some Shinra fandom veteran grown up with 20 years of fanon. Just Elena as a whole, Rude getting her that ice cream, Rufus in the Gold Saucer harassing fighting Cloud for fun, Dark Star not only obeying Rufus but also Tseng. Rufus complaining that Tseng is being overprotective… (faints) So much crack and shippy moments, I was grinning like an idiot.

(Is crack fic even a thing anymore? It feels like they’ve gotten rarer)

I expected maybe three or four scenes with the Turks, maybe less for Rufus. AND THEN SQUARE SHOVED THEM IN WHEREVER THEY COULD WITHOUT DERAILING THE PLOT. Elena was given so much room to breathe. Same for Rufus. Those little moments with Darkstar. I’m over the moon.

Okay, Rufus, so your father got stabbed, and the first thing you did after that was recording some motion-capturing and dialogue for a Turk recruitment hologram-video-thingy in an abandoned facility? It makes zero sense, but it’s my favourite protorelic mission and I’ll happily add it to my headcanon as a sign that Rufus gave Tseng his okay to recruit more Turks.

(The real answer would probably be automatically generated AI shenanigans, but that’s not very exciting.)

Viceroy Saruf. Just … Rufus, you’re such a cheeky idiot and I love you. Is there any faction in this world you’re not manipulating from the background? I can’t shake the feeling that being the man in the shadows suits you more than actually openly running the company.

Tseng and Reeve were great, I would love more little moments like that, where the Shinra folks just interact outside of action scenes and dramatic moments. The talk Tseng had with Reno and Rufus in Remake after the Sector 7 collapse hit the same note for me. I want more Reeve in part 3.

The scene between Tseng and Aerith at the temple made my eyes misty, but I wish it had been longer. Tseng keeping it short and abruptly leaving to "make a report" was perfect, and I know Cloud being so cold and cutting Aerith off fits his behaviour, but something about the timing just felt off.

I was surprised that Heidegger would take a bullet for Rufus. For President Shinra, absolutely, but Rufus? Hmm… This makes great fanfic material. I’ve read a fanfic before that tried to reimagine the Shinra executives (even Palmer) as more realistic people, and I found it to be really interesting, but then I’m a weirdo with plot bunnies in my head that involve a younger President Shinra, his wife, Veld, Vincent and the older Shinra execs.

I’ve never been a fan of Hojo but his R re-imagining is one of the few that doesn’t work at all for me. OG Hojo was far more unsettling. R!Hojo is just your typical mad scientist, I just can’t care about him, which is a shame, because him taunting Aerith in Remake with how he dissected Ifalna hit me hard.

I still haven’t quite grasped why Rufus is so obsessed with the Promised Land. It probably all comes down to wanting to be more successful than his father, right? I’m probably forgetting or mixing up details from Remake, Rebirth or the OG here, but I assumed that Rufus would outright dismiss it as a fairy tale.

Apparently there is a Midgar DLC for Power Wash Simulator. Square Enix, where is Hitman: Tseng and a version of Yakuza where I can play the Turks dealing with dumb crap doing missions in Midgar? Give us Shinra fans something, I'm still waiting for the EC version of Before Crisis. And I don't even like gacha mobile games. >:(

General game thoughts:

The open world is fantastic, I want to live in Gongaga or Kalm. So pretty. People online seem to hate the Gongaga map, but the soundtrack and the jungle theme made it work for me. I found the gliding parts in Cosmo Canyon far harder to navigate.

Shinra Manor is terrible with Vincent being it’s only redeeming part. The actual mansion looked great (the portrait of President Shinra was a nice touch) but the upper levels being inaccessible and turning it into another lab dungeon was boring. Same for the box throwing mini-game.

Dio the archaeologist turned body-builder is great, but Shinra knowing about the keystone and just not bothering to use it when President Shinra was looking for the Promised Land is a weird plot hole. It would have been a lot easier than trying to convince Aerith to come to them. There were some other little details like that, that bothered me but it’s a blur now.

Remake Barett made me into a Barret fan, Rebirth Nanaki into a Nanaki fan. The writers are genius when it comes to rewriting these characters from the OG. I’m not really bothered Cid not being grumpy and swearing all the time. Him reminiscing about Ifalna was cute. Vincent using his old Turk skills (and having some lingering loyalty to the job?) was cool. Really looking forward to seeing how they’ll handle Lucrecia, the one character in FFVII I'm so conflicted about.

I’m still confused about Aerith’s death scene, especially the cuts where she’s lying in her own blood and then isn’t. I understand that she’s dead in her current reality, but is the scene without blood (and Aerith "waking up" in Cloud’s arms) Cloud’s hallucination or just a different reality? I’m also utterly confused by how many Aeriths we’re dealing with. The Aerith and Cloud we’re playing with and the sleeping Aerith (and Cloud) from the dimension where Zack lives are one and the same? It’s tying my brain into knots, and not in a good way. That’s why I usually can’t stand from stories involving elaborate time travel loops or parallel universes.

(Man, why doesn't Tumblr allow spaces between paragraphs? I hope your eyes aren't bleeding)

I first played the OG as a young teen. Cloud’s mind being fractured and hallucinating was a neat bit of storytelling back then that I hadn’t encountered in video games before. Twenty years later, I’ve dealt with loved ones who are ill but refuse help, and known plenty of people have some form of psychosis or schizophrenia. Whilst I would never seriously compare Cloud’s problems with rl mental illnesses, I found the scenes where he sees Sephiroth and no one else, or is completely out of it hard to stomach. Interacting with somebody who has hallucinations (even "harmless" ones) or paranoid thoughts is unsettling at best, nightmarish at worst. The group trying to passively bear it and keep things together rings very true (especially Tifa) but I’m surprised that even Barett or Yuffie aren’t trying to confront Cloud about his behaviour at least once.

(I tried to format in html, but it somehow looked worse. I'm old. This is how Vincent must feel like every day.)

Dyne, Myrna and Tseng talking to Aerith at the temple had me tearing up, and I lost it at Aerith’s "date" with Cloud in Ch. 14. Hoo boy, I know Aerith stalling off the inevitable just for a little time, was the game having a very direct conversation with the player about what’s going to come, death and how we deal with it. But to me personally, it was more about how one gets caught up in trauma and repeat it over and over in your head, mulling about the point of where things went wrong and what you could have done to prevent it. I know it doesn’t fit, but that’s what my weird brain made out of it. Also Dyne’s and Aerith’s (at the temple) speeches about how they deal (or didn’t) with grief and trauma rang absolutely true.

Damn you, silly anime action game, you really shouldn’t affect me this deeply, but then a lot of fiction hits me harder than it used to.

#rufus shinra #tseng #ff7 rebirth #ffvii rebirth #spoilers #ff7 rebirth spoilers #shinra #the turks

[luminitewrites]

In a Different Light: Scene One

Time for some actors to sleuth it up :) Here's the first part to the very long Sleuth Jesters!actor AU. Thank you to @naffeclipse for creating the wonderful og series that inspired this and for letting me play with these characters as always 💜 AO3 link has been included in case of reader preference because of the word count, but the full fic will also be below.

Also, I'm aware that in a real world scenario, the cast would not be using their actual names in film. Thankfully, this is not the real world, so for the sake of the story, please suspend your disbelief and imagine that it is completely acceptable and normal for all actors to not use different names unless they choose to lol

Hope you all enjoy!

Rating: T Word Count: ~20,500 (yes, you read that correctly) Content Warnings: Mildly suggestive dialogue Summary: “You’ve caught me. The dastardly plan I’ve been secretly concocting this whole time is just a trap to put you to work. But I hear there’s a reward for those who lend a helping hand.”

You perk up.

“A reward?”

The dark rings in his optics slide over to you sidelong, smug at your interest.

“You’ll see,” he purrs.

~~~

“So let me get this straight. You’re actually afraid of children?” you ask around a mouthful of sandwich one early December afternoon between shoots.

The lunch rush is always chaotic and a whirlwind, but you’ve managed to snag a table with Sun and Moon to take a breather outside in the food tent, regardless of the cold. You’re scarfing down your meal, an unhealthy habit you’ve picked up in your career, but luckily, your friends don’t mind it too much. Moon does nudge your water bottle closer to you in a very unsubtle hint. You accept it with a roll of your eyes but obediently pause in your munching to take a sip and wash down the bite of grilled chicken and focaccia.

Sun scoffs and points a finger at you.

“Okay, first of all, rude. Don’t talk with your mouth full.” Another finger is held up. “And second of all, I wouldn’t say that—”

“Terrified would be a better word,” Moon chimes in, earning an unamused glare from his brother. He grins back unrepentantly. “Sun’s always been a little twitchy around the ankle biters.”

“That’s just not at all true!”

You hide your own grin when you pick back up your sandwich. It does little to conceal the sound of your stifled tittering or the slight shake of your shoulders. The exasperation on Sun’s faceplate is enough to have you nearly choking on your next bite.

“I’m just not made for children, that’s all!” he adamantly protests, gesticulating with his arms and splaying them wide. “It’s not that I don’t like them. But sometimes when I look at a child, they just start crying. For no reason! I don’t know how I’m supposed to handle that, and I doubt you do either. Did you see how the producer’s little girl reacted when she saw me the other day?”

“Sun, you were covered in fake blood from the take we’d just finished.” Moon shakes his head, chuckling. “She wasn’t scared of you.”

“Hmph. Could’ve fooled me! Regardless, I’m relieved that they’ve decided to not film any scenes of us as,” Sun shudders, “daycare attendants.”

You tsk and lift a brow. Sun narrows his sights on you, and you swallow your food this time before speaking.

“Don’t rule it out just yet. The director might choose to include some backstory after all.”

His yellow finger is menacingly jabbed your way again in warning.

“It wasn’t in the script, so I refuse to hear out any such nonsense. The point still stands that I am not and never have been qualified to be a caretaker and thus should never be put in charge of any children.”

Considering Sun’s track record of handling kids, you can’t quite fault him for thinking that, but you’re not so ready to agree either. You’ve seen his interactions with Gregory, and he’s been just fine. Before you can say as such, someone else joins the conversation.

“I’ll drink to that,” the new voice smoothly cuts in, and all three of you turn.

Within the split second that it takes for your brain to register what you’re seeing, your hand flies to your mouth to stop the sound that wants to tumble out. Sun and Moon, however, have no qualms bursting into bright peals of laughter.

“Eclipse,” you gasp behind your fingers, fighting back the strong urge to join the hooligans howling next to you, “what happened to your clothes?”

Said animatronic stands at the end of your table with a grimace, adorned in a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants that are both unquestionably three sizes too small. You lean back to peer under the table and get a full view, and sure enough, his pants barely reach mid-calf, made all the more comical by the sandals on his feet and the socks he’s pulled up to cover everything else. The sleeves of his hoodie barely extend past his elbows, and it’s more like a crop top than anything else. Were it not for how tightly the poor fabric was constricted across his broad frame, the loungewear would appear comfortable. In fact, you recognize it as the brand he and occasionally his brothers prefer to wear outside of shoots.

The absurdly tall animatronic heaves a deep, annoyed sigh.

“It would seem that someone—though I’m certain it couldn’t possibly be anyone at this table—snuck into my trailer while I was showering and switched out all of my clothes for these much smaller sizes. It’s strange, but they almost seem like they’d fit Sunny and Moonie perfectly. Isn’t that odd?”

Sun somehow manages to snort despite not even having a nose. His whistle-like snickering is not at all subdued, but he does attempt to fight through it to scrape together a response.

“Yes, how very odd. Can’t imagine who’d pull such a terrible prank.”

“You look like you were shoved inside of a dryer,” Moon cackles.

“Be nice!” You tut and playfully swat his arm but lose the war in reeling back your own chuckling. “He clearly just rolled out of bed.”

Unimpressed by the table’s amusement at his expense, Eclipse glowers with a deadpan expression. He tries to cross his arms but swiftly realizes he can’t when the fabric strains at the slightest pull and gives a heinous ripping sound in response. His arms drop back uselessly at his sides as he sighs with defeat etched onto his faceplate, sending Sun, Moon, and now you into another side-splitting round of laughter.

“I want my clothes back,” the metallic storm cloud snarls.

“Personally, I think you should act in the next scene like this,” you remark as soon as you can catch your breath. There might be tears in your eyes. “What are we filming tonight again? The car stunt?”

“Oh, that’ll be perfect,” Sun agrees, optics forming white crescents with his cheeky grin. “What’s more menacing than an animatronic leaning out of a car window during a high-speed chase in his pajamas?”

“Do not assume that I am above strangling all of you,” Eclipse growls.

Moon nods and offers a slow, sarcastic clap.

“Perfect, just like that. You’ve already got the brooding down beautifully.”

Even as you laugh and shake your head, you reach over and pat Eclipse’s arm sympathetically.

“There, there. I’m sure if we go raid their trailers now, we can find your missing clothes. Let’s go get you out of those pants and hoodie.”

In a flash, Eclipse’s grimace transitions into a small but ruthlessly vicious smile. His sun rays create a draft from how fast they spin just as you realize your mistake.

“Oh?” he purrs. “Are you offering to help?”

You sigh, trying to ignore the unwanted warmth that tries to fill your cheeks as you get to your feet.

“Easy there, buddy. Save practicing your mob boss lines for later.”

“Who’s practicing?” His smirk is far too cocky for someone dressed in socks and sandals, so you just focus on picking up the trash from your lunch and tossing it in the nearby garbage can.

“What do you two have on your schedule after lunch?” you ask the other celestial brothers.

Moon turns so that he can see you.

“Presumably, we’ll be back to shooting the precinct scene with Cafaro. So that’ll take up most of the day.”

“Okay, then I’ll probably see you boys around six. And after we’re done with the car takes, maybe we could leave together?”

Sun chuckles, resting the bottom of his faceplate on the palm of his hand.

“Planning another sleepover?”

You hum and artfully brush a hand through your ponytail, your costume’s bells ringing.

“I just like to be committed to my craft. I’m stepping into character so that I’ll be extra prepared for my role tomorrow.”

“And you wonder why our coworkers spread scurrilous rumors about us,” Eclipse sighs. Nonetheless, his smile is warm. “I’ll make sure to cook something tasty just for you. What type of cuisine would you like? Thai? Indian? Italian?”

Your mouth almost salivates just at the offer alone, well-acquainted with the animatronic’s cooking. You nod eagerly.

“Yes to all of the above.”

Eclipse’s laugh is just as pleasant as his grin. You gleefully accept his large arm around your shoulders as he steers you away to the trailers outside, though it’s more so a graze of his fingers along your shoulder blade since he’s so damn tall. Glancing back, you wave to Sun and Moon, beaming at the returned gestures from them both.

Your friendship with the three brothers began mere months ago at the start of filming, and you would be amazed at how quickly it had snowballed from there were it not for how well the four of you had clicked from the beginning. Sun, Moon, and Eclipse are just fun to be around, and you love spending as much time as you can with all of them, even off sets. It started out as taking your lunch to their trailers, which led to hanging out after work hours and then ultimately spending the night at each other’s homes. You live farther away from the filming location than the brothers do, though, so more often than not, you find yourself sleeping in their guest bedroom.

As a result, you should have expected the rumors. But that doesn’t stop the whispers at your back from leaving you uneasy and feeling a bit guilty at how it’s reflected onto your new friends. The brothers have insisted that they don’t mind, sometimes even playing and feeding into those rumors just to tease back your coworkers while getting some of the jokes’ attention off of you and onto them instead. But at the end of the day, you know that your group of friends is just that.

Just friends.

Mind you, you’re all very close. Friends let you fall asleep on them and hold you so you won’t stir, right? Granted, none of your other friends have ever been that close to you, but you’ll just chalk it up to seeing the celestial animatronics almost every day, all day long. You were bound to get close to them.

Of the three, the one you actually see the least is Eclipse. That’s due to his side gig—more of a hobby than anything. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, he teaches an acting class at the city’s university. It’s why you didn’t see him earlier today, and he often catches a quick shower here at the studio zone after his class rather than driving home. You’re dying to sneak into one of his classes someday, but he’s threatened that if you do decide to sit in, he’ll make sure to call you to the front to act out at least one demonstration.

You have no shyness about your acting ability, of course, but having to do so first thing in the morning when you’d much rather have a reprieve from it doesn’t sound like your idea of a fun time. And knowing Eclipse, he’d find some way to tease you about it too. He might be the polar opposite to the villainous role he stars in, but there is no doubt that that mischievous-bordering-on-malicious streak still runs deep in his wires. He loves getting the upper hand whenever he can, and you honestly can’t tell if he got that from Sun and Moon or if it’s been written into his code from the start.

Maybe having younger siblings just does that to a person. Today’s case of the missing clothes is by no means the first prank that’s been pulled.

You don’t realize how lost in thought you are until Eclipse’s voice pulls you from it with a jolt.

“I suspect my younger brothers have been up to no good in all that time they’ve been spending with you.”

You aim a sharp smile up at him.

“Jealous?”

Eclipse looks at you. His teeth seem especially pointed in this light.

“Of course. Who wouldn’t be in their position?”

At that, you snort.

“They do have their own fan club, or so I’ve seen on social media.”

“Yes, I’ve noticed the hub of enthusiasm surrounding them. But I meant that anyone would be jealous of those who get to spend time with you, my dear.”

You trip over something—yourself, maybe—and Eclipse helpfully rights you back on your feet. A cough is hastily suppressed in your fist.

“That’s… You know what I’ve told you about calling me that.”

“Hmm?” Eclipse keeps his focus on the rows of trailers he guides you towards, but he doesn’t need to be facing you for you to know he’s entertained. His fingertips nimbly rub your upper back in distracting circles. “You mean the very same endearment I’ve heard my brothers calling you, in addition to all of the other pet names? I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about. Any possible mention of it has been scrapped from my memory banks.”

You squint, suspicious.

“How very convenient.”

“I’d say so. Unlike this unsightly prank my brothers have pulled on me.” He sighs. “At least there’s one silver lining.”

He reaches Moon’s trailer first with you in tow. Eclipse steps onto the stairs leading up to it, his hand settling on the door handle, and you pause to put your hands on your hips, not sure if he’s setting you up for a punchline. It wouldn’t be the first time nor the last.

“And that is?”

Elongated rays slowly spin like a gentle wave, catching the afternoon sun and casting a prismatic reflection of color across the white trailer. Eclipse’s head tilts just enough to cast a sly, low-lidded glance over his shoulder. The sun doesn’t brighten the burnt shadow of his faceplate.

“It’s now my turn to spend time alone with you.”

He throws open the door, stepping into the trailer, and you’re thankful his back is to you as you’re not so sure your surprise is invisible on your face. A bit stunned, you stumble inside after him. As soon as the door slams shut behind you, the small interior becomes significantly tighter with the towering frame of Eclipse right next to you.

“Now.” He rubs his hands together, ringed pupils scanning the room. “Let's see what stolen goods my brothers have got in their closets.”

~~~

“Alright, that’s a wrap!”

With those shouted words, the formerly quiet room is bustling with life and activity, and you begin to stir from your cozy nest. You rub your cheek against soft cotton, and the arms curled around you loosen as you stretch out your legs with a groan. A hand cards through your hair, silicone and metal sinking past your strands to gently ghost along the back of your neck. It’s just what you need to sink bonelessly back into a ball and rest your head on the other’s shoulder.

Sun, whose lap you’re currently invading, doesn’t give you the chance to fall right back into blissful sleep. His voice sounds like it comes from underwater.

“Come on, precious. It’s time to go home.”

You mumble something that neither he nor you really catch, but Sun must understand it well enough because you think he chuckles.

He continues to prod you, mentioning something about “Clip” and “promise” and “food,” the latter of which you aren’t coherent enough to really understand the context behind since your mind is sluggishly caught in a half-awake state, but your stomach considers it a tempting offer anyways since it growls unpleasantly. As much as it protests its emptiness, you’re just so comfortable resting like this against Sun, and sleep is not too far of a leap away. If you could just let your weary eyes rest for a few more minutes…

You tilt your head into the crook of Sun’s neck, mindful of his shrunken rays, and hear his amused sigh. Someone calls your name, someone who’s not Sun, but you’re already too busy tipping into the darkness to know who it is.

Sleep doesn’t fully creep upon you. There’s quiet conversation happening directly over your head, and if you tried to listen, you’d be able to make out the words. But you’re caught up in your not-quite-sleep, and Sun is cradling you like a baby. You’ve decided his lap is better than any bed and his costume’s coat is better than any blanket. All you need is a kiss on the forehead to wish you sweet dreams, and you’ll be set.

But whoever is chatting with Sun must convince him that your position isn’t actually heaven-sent after all. You utter a rather unhappy noise when Sun jostles you as he stands. Mercifully, he keeps his arms tucked around you so you don’t have to move.

“Adorable. They’re completely tuckered out.”

You recognize the gravelly voice of Moon and debate opening your eyes. But then Sun starts walking, and really, his smooth gait has no business being this soothing. You feel like you’re being gently rocked, coaxed into a heavier warmth that tugs you down. It’s almost enough to ward off the sudden, unexpected cold snap that bristles at your bare cheeks and nose when he carries you outside. You whine plaintively at the offense, and you think you feel a light tap on the top of your skull.

“Almost there,” Sun reassures.

You don’t particularly care where “there” is as long as it’s not out in the cold. A shiver ripples through you, which prompts Sun to tuck his coat tighter around your limbs as much as he can. Even as disgruntled as you are, you can appreciate how his pace quickens. Soon enough, he pauses, the sound of a door squeaks open, and you are ushered into a new warm interior.

The light washing over you is a dull amber and just bright enough that you finally have to admit defeat and stir.

After a few slow blinks, you realize that Sun has brought you to your trailer. Further away, Moon rifles through your wardrobe. Not an inherently strange thing for him to do, but you doubt he’d find anything of value in there. You sincerely hope you aren’t about to experience a secondhand version of the prank they pulled on Eclipse.

Sun brings you over to a lofty chair that’s lined with pillows. As soon as he attempts to put you down, you latch onto his shirt with a firmly unhappy groan, prompting a chortle from your personal carrier.

“Not that I don’t appreciate the extra loving, doll, but you need to let go if we’re going to get you home.”

“Says who?” you mumble into his shirt collar.

You’re not letting him get away that easily. You’ve made your bed, and now you’re not leaving him.

Maybe it’s your exhaustion, maybe it’s how Sun is cradling you, maybe it’s something else. But one moment you’re sleepily clinging onto him and the next, your brain is conjuring a meaningless daydream out of your control.

Some small, throwaway thought, there and gone in a blink, depicts an image of you and Sun lying in bed together, sheets loosely draped over your waists and sleepwear slightly ridden up. You’re wrapped in each other’s arms, so close that there’s little room left to keep you from guessing. Sun’s gaze is heavily-lidded, but there’s no question of where it falls when your lips are slightly parted from uneven breaths.

It’s over as fast as it came. Slammed right back into the present, you stagger at the image that is now gone. You’re not at all sure of where that came from, but it’s certainly enough to pop your eyes open wide and lock every inch of you in place. Both of your hands cinch Sun’s shirt tight in their grasp. A hot flush overcomes your face, and pressed this close to him, you’re able to hear his very muffled sound of confusion at your stiffness.

You’ve kissed Sun before. Actually, it’s become quite the running joke that you’ve made your rounds with all of the celestial brothers. But that’s different because you’ve always been acting during those kisses. The whole chance of intimacy gets thrown out the window when there’s dozens of people watching and film crews demanding slight repositioning for a better lighting angle and rehearsed lines being your only swapped dialogue with whomever you’re smooching. Nothing about it is personal, so it’s never quite held any meaning. Just business, as usual, with maybe an occasional flash of embarrassment or… something.

But the thought in your head wasn’t related to that at all. You’d know because the bed you’d imagined, regardless of how brief it’d appeared, was Sun’s. As in his bed in his bedroom in his home.

Did anyone ever install a freezer in your trailer? You sure would love to stick your head in one right about now.

“Honeydew, are you feeling alright? You’re looking a little flushed.”

Sun’s warm palm rests atop your equally warm forehead. While endearing, his worry for your sake just makes you even more flustered. It sets you to squirming in his arms, but now that you’ve unintentionally unleashed the unlicensed doctor in Sun, he’s not so eager to put you down. His one arm holding you up tightens just enough to make sure you don’t accidentally slip and fall the decent distance to the floor. That doesn’t mean you don’t try your best though to do just that.

“Hmm, no fever, at least not one I can read from your skin.” His frown deepens. “Open your mouth and lift up your tongue.”

And there’s your cue to draw the line and jump ship.

“Sun, I am not letting you put your fingers in my mouth to take my temperature.”

“But you might be sick!” he exclaims.

You bat away the hand that’s too close to your lips for your liking. That garners an exasperated tut from the animatronic, but you are determined to die on this hill. Otherwise, you know you’ll die from supreme humiliation if Sun jams his bulky metal joints in your mouth.

“I’m not sick. And even if I was, shoving your unsanitary fist under my tongue won’t do my health any wonders.”

“I wouldn’t put my whole fist in there,” Sun says dryly, but he’s got a suspicious gleam that suggests he’s sincerely contemplating it. “It wouldn’t fit.”

“Wow. So glad to know that’s the reason why.”

Sun starts to say something, but he’s abruptly cut off by a pair of pants. A shirt and hoodie then follow, all three articles of clothing dangling down his faceplate from where they’re caught on his sun rays.

“Found something for you to change into,” Moon says, coming into view. He doesn’t spare his brother’s grumbling any mind and quirks a brow at you. “Where are your socks and underwear?”

It’s such a bizarre question coming out of left field, you can’t help but be enthralled at its absurdity.

“Sorry, my what now? Why do you need to know that?”

Moon’s head tilts. One side then the other.

“Well, what else am I going to wear?”

“Oh, you little— C’mere!”

His reedy snickering flutters while he hastily dodges out of reach of your lunge, so you snatch your pants from where Sun’s prying them off his head and throw them in Moon’s general direction. You can tell from the faint thud that you miss, but you’ll get him back later.

“I’d say that’s far from appropriate,” Sun groans as he drops the rest of your clothes on the chair behind you, “but Moon lost all sense of propriety years ago. I’m afraid you’ll have to accept my apology on his behalf.”

You hold onto Sun’s arms as he dips down low to set you on your feet.

“Pfft, you didn’t even apo—”

“Great! Glad that’s settled.” Sun pats you on the head, twists free of your grip, and dances out of range. Baffled, you watch him hook an arm around Moon’s scrawny metal neck—his brother releasing a staticky squawk of surprise—and drag him towards the door of the trailer despite his brother’s aggravated attempts to free himself. Sun acts like the fisted blows to his chest are little more than gentle taps. “We’re gonna run over to our trailer to get changed too and then meet you back outside when you’re ready. Don’t forget a bag of toiletries this time, m’kay? I only have so much spare toothpaste to share, you know.”

He all but throws his brother out the door, and you hardly manage to shake your extreme puzzlement in time to catch up. Moon is snarling all sorts of death threats and other things one would expect to hear from their sibling. You pay that no mind as you scramble to grab Sun’s elbow before he can disappear into the night. The frosty winter wind nips at your toes and fingers, consuming the precious warmth of the trailer.

“Wait, wait, wait!”

Sun pauses at your behest and turns to you with a sheepish expression. He tries to cover it up with one of his signature smiles, but it’s rapidly turning crooked. You’ll blame part of that on the near-rabid lunar animatronic hissing Sun’s name in a sinister rattle befitting of a horror movie.

One of Sun’s palms slams into the sneering face of his brother like he’s warding off an omen. He continues to aim that full-throttled charm at you at a thousand watts.

“Waiting!” he exclaims, bright and chipper.

“What am I getting changed for again?” you say, a bit less frantic now that Sun isn’t bolting out the door.

Yellow rays turn in a slow circle like some kind of buffering wheel. The white glow of his optics is overshadowed by the deep blue inside them, but the lack of comprehension is crystal clear. Sun takes a long second to process your question while you stand there, just as perplexed.

Finally, he blinks, and his smile softens.

“You can’t quite have a sleepover in work clothes now, can you?”

A sleepover.

It’s your turn to blink right back at him, and maybe the lack of sleep has really started to get to you because you don’t immediately understand what he’s saying. There’s just empty static in your brain right now. Maybe you need that dinner more than you realize.

Oh! The dinner!

You press a hand to the bridge of your nose and rub hard as it clicks. Right, of course. Eclipse promised to cook for you, and you kind of invited yourself over to spend the night, and the brothers gladly accepted. Was that just several hours ago? You feel like you’ve spent an eternity on set.

A light tug on your sleeve brings your hand down. Sun pinches the fabric between two fingers with an amused regard.

“And I can’t imagine the costume design team would appreciate you running off the premises with your star outfit. Granted, they have doubles and probably even triples of everything, but you want to get out of those clothes, yes?”

Your shoulders sag, and Sun lets go of your sleeve.

“I hadn’t even noticed, to be honest.”

“We can tell!” His jovial words do nothing other than seal your face into a flat expression. Sun acts like he doesn’t notice at all. “That’s why you’ve got two prime escorts to help you get your bearings straight. We’re just making sure you get everything you need before heading home.”

You very carefully don’t point out that he’s inadvertently referred to his home as yours. It was probably just a mistake.

Still, it does make your lips tilt up a smidge.

“Just two escorts?”

In the midst of your talk, Moon manages to grouchily calm down and slap his brother’s hand off of his face. Sun’s head swivels, and you can tell there’s a whole discussion being conveyed in just the shared glaring between the two. Moon endures it for all of three seconds before fixing his gaze—less homicidal—on you.

“Clip got the okay to leave early quite some time ago,” he grunts. “He wanted to get started on making dinner.”

In a flash, you feel guilty.

“Oh, I hadn’t realized. He doesn’t need to do that, really! I don’t want him to have to do any extra work just for me. Actually, I’d be fine with just some fast food.”

“Don’t tell him that.” Moon’s thin smile is just visible in the low amber light. “He’ll pitch a fit. You know he likes cooking for you.”

“And,” Sun adds, “we’d be terrible hosts if we let you fill up on food with no personality to it. You can’t beat a home-cooked meal.”

You purse your lips and debate on whether to stay silent. Sun would normally be right about that, but you know he’s only thinking of Eclipse’s cooking. There is a reason you dodge any and all offers for Sun to make you a meal. Talented as the solar animatronic is at many things, being in the kitchen has remained out of his realm of expertise. You’ve got a laundry list of times that you’ve been served blackened, crispy, or unrecognizable food from Sun’s attempts to fill up your belly. He’s got a penchant for putting a stop to your hunger, but not in the way he or you would like.

You make the mistake of making eye contact with Moon, and his knowing, shit-eating grin crawling out of the woodwork presses the gas pedal of your anti-filter to the floor.

“I mean… that depends on the personality being put into it. And whether said cook has a penchant for setting more fires than wanted or needed. And whether the food is actually edible in the end.”

Sun doesn’t turn all the way, but his faceplate tilts just enough that you get treated to a very strong dose of side-eyeing. You didn’t even know his eyes could narrow that much, but you get the message loud and clear.

Huh. Maybe you don’t need to be related to the celestial animatronic brothers in order to share in their telepathic abilities. Or maybe it’s just a result of spending so much time with them.

You clear your throat.

“Anyways, guess I’ll get changed. For the sleepover you definitely still want me to attend. Just in case you forgot.”

Your hands are lightly coaxing Sun out the door. He doesn’t so much as waver.

“You know,” he starts in a way that sounds like the beginning of a villainous monologue, “you’d think that someone who talks so much game wouldn’t be just as terrible at—”

Moon snags Sun’s arm and yanks him hard. Sun stumbles only a few steps, but it’s all the space you need to be able to close your door. Moon winks at you.

“Better pack that extra toothpaste.”

“Trust me,” you laugh, “I know when Sun’s thrown the prank gauntlet.”

“Oh,” hollers the robotic rebuttal over Moon’s shoulder, “you won’t just be getting pranks from me, daffodil! I’m—”

You slam the door shut on what would likely be a very long rant from Sun. The lock slides into place just for good measure, but you know neither of those two would really attempt to barge in on you like that. Your grin is impossible to hide, as is the flighty tittering that fills the room. Luckily, no one is around to witness it. You chuckle to yourself as you grab the clothes Moon picked out for you to get changed into, but with no one to distract you from your thoughts, it’s not long before your face ends up in your hands.

You muffle a short scream.

What was that thought you’d had earlier about you and Sun? Where on earth did it come from? Are you really just that tired, or are you just delusional? Did you hit your head that hard during filming today?

Yes, that’s probably it. You bumped your head, and that rattled your brain, which caused the unwarranted burst of imagination to manifest tonight. Nothing unusual about that, right? And your thoughts just got confused because Sun was the one holding you, Sun was the one caring for you, and for a moment you’d thought…

Thought what, exactly?

That you liked him in a different way? That he liked you… as more than a friend?

What a silly, ridiculous notion. Preposterous, even. You can’t be entertaining such thoughts. It’s far from reality.

As you shed your work clothes, you struggle to swallow. Because you know different. You know that you can tell yourself that you’re just tired or that you just bumped your head, but none of that will magically apply to how often you’ve thought about the brothers as more than friends. Nothing will be able to explain the pain in your chest that’s crept up more and more most nights when you’re alone in your home.

Those kinds of thoughts usually reserve themselves for when you’re in private. Tonight was a fluke. It has to be, and that’s what you firmly tell your guilty conscience. It’s not an issue, so don’t worry about it.

Determined not to lose any more time fretting over it, you forcefully tug on your other clothes.

Once you’re dressed—an outfit that is the definition of comfortable—you fold your white blouse and dark pants then assess yourself in the bathroom mirror. Your hair is still done up in a ponytail from earlier, so with extreme caution, you untie the ribbon and catch the bells before they can slip onto the floor. It would be a shame to see anything happen to them, and though you know there are plenty of spares set aside just for you since it’s a vital part of your costume, you hate to think of damaging the ribbon and bells at all. You love the look and feel of them. But even as you set them atop your folded clothes, you breathe out in relief as your scalp gets a break from the tight pressure of your hair being pulled back for hours.

It’s sure a mess now that it’s hanging down, but you don’t have the energy to bother messing with it now. Out of sight, out of mind is the best practice, you decide, so you pull up your hood and tuck your hair inside.

Next, you tackle the face full of makeup that is put on you every time for filming. You grab a wipe and get as much of it off as you can before reaching for another. You repeat this process a couple of more times and then rinse your face with lukewarm water for good measure. A quick press of a towel and a check in the mirror says that’s good enough.

Sun said to pack an overnight bag, which normally amounts to just the essentials for hygiene and clothes for tomorrow. You don’t feel like overthinking what to bring, much less thinking at all as exhaustion pulls down at your eyelids. In less than a minute, you stuff what you need in a bag, toothpaste included, and tug on a jacket to ward off some of the cold when you have to go back outside. Then you decide to stop moving for a bit and just catch your breath, so you slump into the chair Sun had tried depositing you in earlier and pull out your phone to scroll through your notifications.

Nothing noteworthy catches your eye, but you do smirk at a few posts you find under the hashtag of your series. The marketing team has done wonders in ramping up enthusiasm for this show, and the outpouring of theories and excitement has got you and everyone else in a nervous tizzy. You can only hope your performance meets the public’s expectations. If anything, the detectives and mafia boss will be the stars of the show, as is their right. Hopefully, their talent is what truly steals everyone’s attention. You want only the best for them.

A few minutes trickle by in your mindless scrolling, your brain too tired to respond to messages. You’ll save that aspect of your life for later when you’ve gotten some shuteye. At least with the holidays approaching, you’ll be able to catch up on some rest soon. Just have to push through a couple of more weeks, and then it’ll be break time.

When a cheery knock raps on your door, you put away your phone and push to your feet with a ragged groan and a few popping joints. Your bag and work clothes are snatched up in one hand while the other flips off the lights. After a final, quick check to make sure you didn’t forget anything, you head out the door.

Moon’s slouched against the neighboring trailer, arms crossed with the hood of his winter coat shadowing his faceplate. Sun seems like he hasn’t budged from right outside your doorstep, aside from his much more relaxed getup and the suits draped over his arm from both him and Moon. He’s tapping away on his phone, but both brothers look up at you when you step outside and lock the door. Sun whisks the bundle of clothes out from your arms to add to his pile while he pockets his phone.

“I’ll run these on over for you. Anything you need from there while I’m gone?”

You shake your head and shiver from the cold.

“No, but thanks, Sun. Actually, I don’t mind taking them over myself so you don’t have to.”

“Nonsense. Look at you! You’ve got a stronger pallor than a ghost and are on the verge of becoming one too if you remain out in the cold much longer.”

He ushers you over to Moon, who kindly lifts the edge of his long coat for you to scoot under. Moon tucks you in close, and though it doesn’t provide much warmth overall, it’s still miles better than your thin jacket.

Sun tosses a set of car keys that his brother catches one-handed. He wags a finger at Moon.

“Just to unlock and start it, okay? No eloping on joy rides until I get back.”

Moon watches with you as Sun heads off towards the costume design trailer, and then he peeks down at you pressed up against him like a chick under a hen’s wing.

“Do you think he’d really notice if we took a little five-minute trip?”

“With you behind the wheel? Absolutely, yes. It’s kind of hard to hide a fender bender.”

He scoffs at your smirk, and you both begin to head over to his and Sun’s car.

“Everyone’s always a critic until they’re the one driving. It’d take me at least ten minutes before I risked getting into a wreck.”

You sigh wistfully.

“Someday, I hope to possess the same kind of baseless confidence that you— Ow, hey!”

Metal knuckles mercilessly assault the top of your head in a furious noogie that’s dampened only by your hood. You yelp and squeal at Moon’s ruthless revenge, and he doesn’t let up until you’re sagging against his side and wheezing. Your chest is tight as you gulp down frigid air, but you embrace it all the same as Moon’s low voice joins yours in a gruff chuckle.

“Serves you right,” he taunts.

“Yeah, yeah,” you huff, trying to catch your breath. You can’t argue with him there.

Thankfully, you make it to the car without further tussling. You slide into the backseat with your bag, though Moon does offer for you to sit upfront—an offer you decline because you know how much room he and his brother need for their long legs. Moon proves to be on good behavior tonight because he takes the passenger seat rather than taking the car for a spin against his brother’s wishes. He slips the key into the ignition so that you can warm up, for which you gratefully press your freezing hands to the hot vents.

Sun doesn’t take long to return, but you and Moon grumble at the snap of cold air when he opens the driver’s side door. True to his nature, he ignores the complaining, well used to it at this point, and settles in.

“Music?” he directs at you, finger hovering over the radio.

“Sure,” you reply, breathing on your palms and rubbing them together. Maybe it’ll help you wake up so you’re perkier by the time you arrive at their home.

“Alrighty then, DJ Sun at your service!”

The songs rapidly bleed from one to the next as Sun drives home, the bass pounding with your heart and coaxing you into belting out lyrics right along with him. Moon doesn’t join your loud, occasionally off-tune singing, but you can see him smiling in the mirror and bobbing along to the beat, and that’s all the encouragement you need.

You end up in the middle of the backseat, arms propped up against Sun’s and Moon’s seats during your singing session in a way that’s not entirely legal. But Sun’s driving is something you fully trust, and despite how he furiously drums his fingers on the wheel and tilts his faceplate in your direction during a thunderous chorus that he absolutely nails in his melodic voice, he keeps his focus on his surroundings and maintains a safe speed. By the end of a round of songs, you’re breathless and brimming with joy that vibrates through your bones and makes you feel alive and far away from those nagging thoughts from earlier.

Yeah, you’re nowhere near tired now.

Sun pulls into the parking garage of their apartment, and within a few minutes of scurrying out of the cold and into the building, you’re greeted with a luscious, divine smell as soon as you cross the threshold of the brothers’ home.

Moon takes your bag while Sun takes your jacket, and they both urge you to head on over to the kitchen, from which you can hear slow jazz music playing.

Accustomed to but no less appreciative of their sweet hospitality, you brush off your hood and dutifully make your way to the source of the heavenly scent wafting through the rooms. At the corner of the kitchen, you pause and enjoy for a moment the sight of the busybody prepping something that will surely be as tasteful as it smells. Standing before the electric cooktop in the kitchen island, Eclipse stirs something that makes your mouth water. You can’t see it from here, but the fragrant air almost hooks you right on over to him. The only thing keeping you in place is your want to not disturb him in his cooking.

Steam billows around his hands and faceplate while he works. He’s got a pan on the stove behind him as well as a large one next to the pot he’s currently fixated on. The oven appears to be on as well, and you wonder what he’s making.

Your heart melts maybe just a little, the thoughtfulness threatening to render you to mush.

“Do you plan on standing there all evening, or are you going to come keep me company?” His smooth timbre graces your ears, turning them a bit hot.

You take the hint and walk in, hopping on one of the stools from under the island when he points a spoon at it. Up close now, the savory goodness is maximized. It’s hard to resist bracing youself over the quartz countertop to peer inside the pot, but you know from past experience that you are not immune to a whack from a spatula if you try, so you remain in what’s unofficially become your seat.

Eclipse’s focus doesn’t stray, but his gaze does momentarily flash up to you with a gentle smile.

“Hungry?”

You fold your arms on the countertop and lift a brow.

“Eclipse, when you offered to make me dinner, I don’t think you took into account that I’m just one person.”

You gesture to the various dishes he’s got going on both stovetops. There’s more than enough to feed a whole family.

Dark sun rays glint from the overhead crystal lights as he tilts his head. His mouth thins.

“Our neighbors at the far end of the hall have a family member who’s currently in the hospital,” he says somberly, stirring all the while. “A little boy. The parents have been juggling that as well as taking care of work and their two other children. Sunny, Moonie, and I aren’t too familiar with the family, but we’ve bumped into them enough times to have several friendly chats. The father recently told me about his sick child. I decided to lend a hand where I could, with their permission.”

He nods to the empty Tupperware containers stacked beside him. You give a soft sound of understanding and furrow your brow.

“What happened to the kid? Is it serious?”

“Not entirely sure. I didn’t ask because I didn’t want to press the father for information, especially since it was a rather brief conversation, and he was just getting home. He did tell me that their son isn’t in critical condition at the very least.”

“Oh. I see.” You glance back at the cookware. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

You’re not very good in the kitchen by any means, and Eclipse knows this, but that doesn’t mean you’re unwilling to try.

He lowers the heat on one of the knobs and then turns to the pan behind him.

Over his shoulder, he suggests, “Would you mind carrying the food when it’s ready and going over with me to give them their meal? I could always use an extra pair of hands and a pretty face to accompany me.”

You rest your cheek in your hand and hope your face isn’t as flushed as it feels at the compliment.

“I’d be happy to.”

“Good. While you’re in a helpful mood, can you also go open the fridge and take out the glass in the front for me?”

Hopping back off your chair, you slip over to the ridiculously giant fridge that towers over you and pull open the steel doors. Inside, you find what you think Eclipse is requesting, a tall glass filled with a thick and creamy bright yellow mixture, like a smoothie. You pull it out and hold it up to him.

“This one?”

He looks over and then beckons you to him.

“Yes, thank you.”

Nudging the fridge doors shut, you sidle over to him and shift up on your tiptoes when you near to peek around him at the simmering food. Eclipse tuts and shoos you back with a knowing raised brow, and you aren’t in the slightest bit abashed. You do feel a little miffed at your plan being foiled so easily.

“Here you go,” you say, offering him the glass.

Eclipse pauses with the food for a second as he reaches over for something next to him. He then turns and slips a straw right into the cup and nudges it back to you.

“And there you go,” he remarks.

You blink.

“For me?”

“For you.”

Your face breaks into a happy grin, and you immediately take a sip. Eclipse carefully studies your reaction, waiting to see if you approve. The taste is barely on your tongue before your eyes widen, and Eclipse chuckles, having received his answer.

“Oh,” you gasp after swallowing. “That’s amazing! Is it mango?”

The animatronic nods. His pleased face makes you stuff the straw back into your mouth to take another sip.

“Lassi,” he says, a tinge of pride in his words. “I figured you might like it. That was my first time making it though, so let me know if it’s missing something.”

You shake your head.

“It’s literal perfection. How did you make it taste so good? I thought mangoes weren’t in season right now.”

“They aren’t. However, since you’d said you enjoyed the fruit, I had a box of them special ordered and flown in so that I could make the treat for you. If you’d like to take home some of the fruit tomorrow, you’re more than welcome to them.”

You almost drop your glass along with your jaw. Your other hand quickly comes up to keep the precious treat from slipping from your fingers, and you try to play it off as just readjusting your grip on the cup.

Special ordered? Flown in? He did all of that, paid what must have surely been an exorbitant price… because of a passing comment you’d made?

Gobsmacked, you toy with the straw, nibbling on the tip and digesting the casual delivery of his words like he didn’t just verbally shake you down and rattle you so hard your teeth clatter. Or maybe that’s the brain freeze starting to get to you from slurping down your drink on autopilot. Your face must be broadcasting your emotions because Eclipse gets one glimpse of it and then comes to a halt.

“What?”

You don’t answer right away, but your confoundment begins to morph into a perplexed amusement that draws a wry smirk across your lips. The mango flavor bursts on your tongue with every sip, rich and sweet, and after a few more seconds to enjoy the taste, you look up from your drink at the confused animatronic staring at you.

A disbelieving huff tumbles out.

“Are you sure you’re not a mob boss?”

Eclipse doesn’t get your little joke right away, idly drying his hands with a towel while his processor digests the comment. The face journey he goes through is highly entertaining, as is the clarity when he remembers the scene from work that you’re referencing. Once he connects the dots, he grins widely.

“Maybe I am.” He coyly inclines his head in your direction, traces of molten heat just seeping into the shades of hellfire. His words drip with faux satin seduction as he dips a little into character. “But what are you going to do about it, sweetheart?”

Oh, so that’s how it’s going to be, huh? That’s the game he wants to play?

You pretend to heavily ponder the question. Full head-tilt back, lips pressed in a thin line, intensity matched in the low-lidded leer.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, angel eyes,” you note, fighting back a smile, “but I’m afraid this story doesn’t have a very happy ending for you.”

Eclipse sets aside the towel in his hands and then rests his palm on the countertop. Though he’s not right on your toes, he’s definitely close enough that you could get a crick in your neck from looking him in the eye. His optics betray his delight and teasingly threaten to devour you whole.

Fingers tapping on the island, he whispers, “If you can see how the story ends, then that must mean there’s still room for deviation. How might one as resourceful as me bribe my way into your good graces?”

You trace a finger around the rim of your cup with a speculative noise as if you’re examining a new piece of evidence. You let the silence rest for a little while to let the suspense build, and in that moment, you’re not in the kitchen but back on set, flying loose from the script with your improv. Your secretive tone matches his.

“Well, Mr. Mob Boss, I’m not biased by any means, but I think there might be some room for deliberation from the jury if mango lassis are involved.”

Eclipse’s laughter erupts at that, sonorous and contagious in sound and volume that shatters the flirtatious scene you were spinning with him, and your act falls away as you join right along.

This is exactly what you needed. After all the good times you've shared with the three animatronic brothers who just stumbled into your life as you did theirs, you can’t imagine preferring to go to your empty apartment every night. That might be your home, but there’s no laughter or life, music or singing, friendly teasing or conversation waiting for you. You don’t have anyone waiting up for you when the sun sets or someone lying next to you when it rises.

And you think about how your possessions have slowly started to migrate to the brothers’ apartment, like your favorite pair of sweatpants that you just know one of them stole and hid away here or the spare tube of toothpaste that you know Sun always has on hand for you just in case even though he claims not to. And then there are the dishes and cutlery and incredible, amazing food. Prior to your frequent visits, the kitchen didn’t see quite as much action. On occasion, Eclipse would make something or other for his students—a reward if they excelled on one of his exams or projects—but that still doesn’t compare with the amount of time he spends in the kitchen now. He claims that cooking and baking for you is a delight because it works his processor in a way he doesn’t often have the need to. The science and intrigue behind making something from scratch and having it turn out tasting delicious, even if he can’t taste it himself, excites him.

Now, he claims he just has a good excuse to put that habit to use.

You.

A simple human with a simple life that sometimes strains on the side of too stressful or overworked. Before meeting Moon, Sun, and Eclipse, you didn’t have people fretting over your eating habits or sleeping habits or lack-of-fun habits. Now you do. And you’re not confident about what exactly this bubbling feeling in your chest is whenever you’re around them or thinking of them. You just know that it’s growing more intense every day, like at some point it’ll just pop and spill over.

You have an inkling of what it might be. You’re scared to put a label on it and inevitably find out that they don’t feel the same. Better to keep your emotions to yourself instead of risking ruining the three good things in your life.

Your laughter has died out, but you don’t have to cover it up because Moon enters the kitchen then. He’s got his arms crossed and a wry air about him.

“Doesn’t sound like a whole lot of cooking going on in here,” he says.

Eclipse’s good mood doesn’t sour, but he’s hardly impressed.

“What was the last thing you tried to cook? Rice? In the rice cooker, no less, correct? Remind me how that turned out, Moonie.”

It’s like watching two cats hiss at each other. You shuffle out of the line of fire and reclaim your seat at the island to watch the show, drink in tow.

If there’s one trait Moon shares with Eclipse, it’s that he’s not one to pass on getting the last word in. If he had fur, he’d be bristling right now.

“We both know that’s only because I was putting out the fire Sun set in the microwave.”

From several rooms down, Sun shrilly yells, “Don’t drag my name into arguments I’m not present for!”

You can’t help but ask.

“What happened to the microwave?”

You’re not sure you’re going to get an answer, not with how intensely close to a playful scrap the two animatronics in front of you seem to be. But after a long sigh, Moon breaks eye contact first.

“Aluminum,” he says. “Sun didn’t bother to check if aluminum foil could be put in there.”

“No one bothered to tell me either,” a warm voice warns behind you, and then two hands find your shoulders and begin a wonderfully soothing rub.

You’re being spoiled tonight—not that you’re complaining. If they’re not careful, you might just get used to this kind of royal treatment. Dangerous territory. That doesn’t stop you from sinking into the massage, eyelids slipping shut.

“Made your bed for you, sugar,” Sun adds while his fingers work magic on your poor posture.

“Thanks, Sunny.” You lazily reach up and pat one of his hands. He steals it with one of his own, but you don’t mind. “By the way, since when did it become my bed?”

“Oh, did you want to share mine instead?”

Ah. Yep, dangerous territory indeed. You are suddenly beyond grateful he isn’t facing you. The heat in your face could suffocate a person.

Don’t think about it, don’t think about it, don’t think about it.

“I think I’d sooner take my chances with Moon,” you hastily deflect. “Sleeping is kind of his thing.”

Your eyes crack open just enough to see the smug faceplate of the brother in question. However, they pop open much wider when the hand still massaging your shoulder creeps deceptively toward your neck with extremely light pressure.

“Hmm, that’s a shame,” Sun chirps. His fingers shift up onto their tips and spiderweb across the space between your neck and shoulder, causing you to instinctively hunch in on yourself. “I would have offered you only my softest of blankets and plushest of pillows, whereas Moon has a truly deplorable habit of hogging the whole bed if given the chance. But if that’s what you prefer, then who am I to judge? Say, buttercup, you wouldn’t happen to be ticklish, would you?”

This time, your nervous tittering is more of a squeak as Sun’s hand curses your skin into breaking out in goosebumps. Your hair stands up at the edge of your scalp when one fingertip traces a teasing line just along your ear.

“Aha, Sunny, wait a second,” you say weakly, glancing to Moon and Eclipse in a silent plea for help.

It takes less than a second for you to figure out you’re on your own. The former soundlessly hops up onto the countertop and gives you a “my hands are tied” shrug that would have more sincerity if it weren’t accompanied by a gleeful expression. The latter is suspiciously engulfed in tending to his dishes. There’s a shadow of a smile just barely visible before Eclipse turns to the oven to check on what’s inside.

“Oho, pulling out the pet names now, are we?” Sun giggles, and it somehow sounds maniacal. He doesn’t have nails, but the very tips of his fingers have just enough of a sharp edge to draw fine circles across your skin with pinpoint dexterity.

You shudder hard when he alternates the ticklish pressure with a light tapping right on the side of your neck, and then an unholy sound lances past your throat at an abrupt squeeze of the tender skin. Everything in you demands your body shrivel up in self-defense, and when you almost fall out of your seat, Sun at last grants you mercy.

He slips both hands around your arms and hoists you back up. You’d thank him for catching you from faceplanting on the floor if he wasn’t the cause behind it. That, and his warbling chuckles do little to amuse you. As he takes the seat next to you, you glower distrustfully at him. He winks right back. It’s hard to maintain an upset face when Sun isn’t even the tallest animatronic of his family yet still has trouble bunching up his gangly limbs under the lip of the countertop.

“No more fooling around in the kitchen,” Eclipse says, pulling something with a garlicky aroma out of the oven. You catch a glimpse of some sort of bread, and your stomach lets out an impatient growl.

Sun is by no means cowed.

“You love me, Clip,” he simpers.

“Regrettably, yes. I’m obligated to as your brother.”

“Aww,” you coo.

“Moonie on the other hand though…”

As if summoned into action, Moon lazily swings his foot wide to connect fully with Eclipse’s side. It makes a dull metal tong sound, and with both hands occupied, Eclipse can do nothing but tank it. He doesn’t bow over or flinch, but he does let out a gravely grunt.

Moon’s eyes meet yours.

“He means to say I’m his favorite.”

With absolutely no sarcasm at all, you nod and say, “Yeah, I can clearly see why.”

As soon as he’s able to, Eclipse shoos Moon off the countertop with a little more force than strictly necessary.

“Alright, out. I’m almost done here, and I don’t need you two fools interfering with the meal.”

“But I thought being jesters was our whole MO.”

“Out.”

Moon begrudgingly slithers away to do his own thing with Sun not too far behind. He pauses to let you know he’ll help you set up the blanket fort after the movie later, to which you eagerly express your enthusiasm. Then you shift in your chair uncertainly.

“Am I banished to the shadow realm too?”

Eclipse shakes his head.

“No, you are a guest in this household and are welcome to stay as long as you’d like. Besides, you’re not nearly as much of a menace as my brothers are. Though I will be employing your services quite soon to carry this food over to the neighbors, so don’t run too far off.”

Both of your brows lift, cheekiness taking front once again.

“Like you could ever chase me away.”

His rays twirl, beautiful dark shades that stand out in the light.

Used to your behavior by now, he simply says, “Maybe chasing is part of the fun.”

Now there’s something you can agree with wholeheartedly. In the acting space, it’s often said that when you play a character, you put a part of yourself into them and leave with a part of them in return. As the vigilante, you don’t deny that the playful chase you partake in with the detectives sets you alight. You revel in the game you play with them, knowing that in the end, the result will be that you will catch them just as much as they will catch you once you’re done running circles around each other. It’s a story you’ve become quite attached to, and you know that the last day of filming will be equal amounts of celebration and sadness when the fun comes to an end.

You guess Eclipse would have a similar mindset. Enjoying the chase, the thrill of the hunt. Playing a character who’s hellbent on it must carry over somewhat. Some of his line deliveries truly do leave you shuddering at the viciousness behind them. You can’t imagine someone more suited for his role.

The straw pokes into your cheek when you take another sip. Smacking your lips, you make sure you’ve got his attention when you answer.

“That all depends on if you’re quick enough to catch me, toots. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve kinda got a mean streak of luck keeping me two steps ahead.” You gesture at yourself. “Comes with the territory, y’know. Vigilante and all that.”

Eclipse reaches for one of the containers next to him and begins spooning large portions of one of the dishes into it.

“My dear, I think you might be conflating real life with the one you indulge on set.” He finishes with one container and then grabs another, this one being filled to the brim with rice that smells unbelievably flavorful. “The difference between myself and the character that I play is that I only give chase if I believe the one I’m chasing wants to be caught.”

Something has shifted in the room. In the tone of the conversation. Unable to put your finger on it, you press on, intrigued.

“And do I? Want to be chased, that is?”

The lid of the container seals shut with a pair of loud snaps. Even while focused on his task, Eclipse’s every action tells you that he is keenly attentive to you and your whereabouts. He moves fluidly without disrupting the strong connection that presses you to your seat in an invisible force.

“You tell me,” he says. Not quiet but soft enough that it still feels like a breath ghosting along your ears.

Maybe investing in a portable freezer to carry around on your person wouldn’t be such a bad idea. You’re starting to get the impression that the hot blush on your face and neck is becoming a permanent fixture, which you really hope isn’t the case. You’re not usually like this, so it doesn’t make sense why tonight you’re so off your game.

It’s almost like this feels like a date. But that’s an absurd thought because you’ve stayed overnight numerous times and raided their kitchen twice as much. Maybe you’re just getting sick after all, like Sun thought. It’s probably not too late to bite the bullet and ask him to check your temperature, humiliation be damned. But you know for a fact it would be twice as embarrassing if it turned out you didn’t have a fever. A bit hard to play off a flushed face when you can’t blame your frail human body’s predisposition to getting sick.

Is he flirting with you? Have they all been flirting with you? You honestly can’t tell. Yes, you’ve been flirting right back with your boys, but that’s different. It’s not real. It’s just for fun. You’re just seeing things that aren’t there because that’s what you want.

At least, you think it is.

You see what Eclipse means about conflating.

You haven’t responded yet, and when it becomes clear that you’re floundering for something intelligible that’s not just a broken string of words, Eclipse releases you from that heavy eye contact. A long exhale whooshes out, like you’d been holding your breath that entire time. Not saying anything seems somehow worse, like an admittance of something you yourself aren’t sure you’re guilty of. But the moment’s passing, up, up, and away, and pretty soon, you just slump in your seat, defeated. At least you have a delicious drink to cool off with, and you spend the next few minutes just sucking on the straw and downing the fruity mixture.

Threads of chatter filter in just around the corner, and you listen to the sounds of Moon and Sun debating on how the construction of this blanket fort should go so that it will rival all the previous ones. They’re competitive in most things, but they always work together to create a cozy nest of pillows and blankets and any plush surface they can find. You’ve often fallen asleep during movie nights because of how relaxing the space is. Sometimes, you’ve been too comfortable to be moved. Other times, you’ve woken to being quietly carried to the guest bedroom. You pretend to still be asleep when that happens because the tenderness with which you’re tucked into bed makes your dreams all the sweeter.

Maybe you should feel guilty for it, but given there’s no real harm in the matter, you let yourself have this. The brush of a fingers across your forehead and the simple squeeze of your hand and the extra layer of warmth from another blanket being securely draped over you are all things you treasure. It doesn’t matter which animatronic carries you to bed either; they all show gentle affection in their own ways.

This is some level of domesticity between friends that must border the line. It’s intimacy in raw form, and you crave it.

Another loud pair of clasps snapping into place bring you back to the present. Eclipse appears to be finishing up packaging everything that will need to be brought over to the neighbors. You have to wonder what they think of the celestial animatronic brothers. It’s been decades since animatronics were deigned sentient and thus deserving of equal rights and privileges. Even with the passage of time, hostility and refusal to accept them as a new race have remained amongst some humans. Those people are slowly becoming the outliers though, and you hope that one day, you won’t have to be so guarded and protective over your friends’ safety. They can undoubtedly take care of themselves, but that doesn’t stop you from worrying.

With as little as you’ve heard about the family Eclipse is preparing a meal for, you can’t develop an opinion so soon. But they sound like people who are just trying to survive through the unfairness of fate, and they hold no ill bearing against your boys. And Eclipse doesn’t just cook for anyone. You would know.

He stacks some containers on top of each other and then nudges a pile over to you.

“Could you carry these for me please? I’m going to get the rest,” he says.

A being made of metal doesn’t need the help of your silly human strength. The fact that he just wants an excuse for your company makes you eager to help regardless.

“Old age catching up with you quick, huh, Clip?” You scoop up the weighty Tupperware with minimal struggle. “You’re lucky you have such a strong partner like me to do all the heavy lifting for you.”

A wheezy sort of synthetic noise leaves the animatronic, and he pulls yet another storage container from the fridge, this one already packed up and ready to go. “You’ve caught me. The dastardly plan I’ve been secretly concocting this whole time is just a trap to put you to work. But I hear there’s a reward for those who lend a helping hand.”

You perk up.

“A reward?”

The dark rings in his optics slide over to you sidelong, smug at your interest.

“You’ll see,” he purrs.

Well, now you have to help him at all costs. He could beg you to carry a body for all you care, and you’d do it just because of how easily he’s hooked you in. The intrigue compels your feet into action, and you’re swiftly by the front door, arms full as you wait for him to hurry up.

Eclipse seems to take his time just for his own amusement. You can’t prove it, but you swear he’s moving slowly on purpose, and you squint at him when he finally emerges with his own containers in tow. Before you can call him out on it, he turns and yells to his brothers that he and you will be back shortly. Twin responses of agreement echo from the family room, and then the tall mass of metal and limbs and too many wicked teeth is at your side and unlocking the door for you.

You wait for Eclipse to take the lead since he knows where to go. Keeping up with his long stride would normally be difficult at a walk, but he pointedly takes smaller steps so you don’t have to jog with the food. He glances at you and frowns.

“You don’t have to carry those if they’re too heavy. I was merely teasing about putting you to work, and I might not have taken into account the weight of all of those combined.”

“Nah,” you say, even holding the food slightly further out of his reach just in case he tries to take them. “Gotta have an excuse for showing up at your neighbors’ door, right? I can’t let you take all the credit.”

Eclipse huffs. “Of course. Far be it from me to take away from your first impression.”

“Exactly.”

You beam at the eyeroll you can just feel from beside you. For all his height and heavy machinery, Eclipse is almost silent as he walks down the apartment corridor. It doesn’t take long at all for him to come to a stop at one of the doors, and one large fist politely knocks.

You can’t hear anything from inside, and the seconds tick on into nearly a minute, but Eclipse remains patient. The muscles in your arms begin to grow fatigued, though you don’t so much as shift the containers. No need to set off the clucking mother hen in Eclipse again.

After a few more moments, soft footsteps near the door. They pause for a moment, and then the apartment door unlocks and swings wide open. A woman stands on the other side. She’s visibly exhausted with a tiredness that drags down her shoulders, but the look in her eyes is one of deep friendliness.

“Eclipse,” she greets warmly, leaning against the door, “Thank you so much for doing this for us. My husband and I are beyond grateful.”

“Think nothing of it,” Eclipse says, inflection no less welcoming than hers. “It was no trouble at all. I was already making dinner anyways and just upped the portion size.”

He then turns to you. “This is Pia. She and her husband, Andrés, have been wonderful neighbors in the short time I’ve known them.”

“I could very much say the same about you,” Pia replies. Weary hazel eyes meet yours.

With your hands full, you can’t wave, so you just settle for a smile.

“Hi,” you say, feeling a bit awkward.

The woman blessedly takes it in stride.

“Hello,” she says back. You notice her pleasant expression doesn’t falter once. “I take it you’re the one Eclipse has been cooking for? He did mention that he was cooking for someone else lately.”

“Yep, that’s me,” you chuckle, and then you give her your name. “I’ve been eating him out of house and home these past few months.”

“They say that like I don’t enjoy cooking for them,” Eclipse whispers loudly to Pia.

She offers a wispy laugh and then seems to notice the armload of food you’re holding.

“Oh, would you like to come inside? Here, let me take those off your hands for you.”

You willingly relinquish the warm Tupperware, and Eclipse voices the same thought you were having.

“Thank you, but we were just stopping by to drop these off. I don’t quite trust my brothers to make sure the kitchen doesn’t burn down while I’m gone.”

“Sounds just like my kids.” She sets the food on a surface just out of sight and then takes the rest from Eclipse to place them on the table as well. “They’re far from grown, but they love trying new things. Sometimes, they get a little too ambitious, if you know what I mean.”

“Of course.” Eclipse pauses like he’s considering his next words. He waits for Pia to finish with arranging the army of containers. Then, a bit lower, he inquires, “And how is your eldest doing? If you don’t mind me asking, that is.”

A long, drawn out sigh seems to deflate Pia’s entire body, as if she’s barely being held up by more than air and strings. Your heart twists with sympathy. Having no kids of your own, you can’t relate to the pain she must be going through, but you know it must be staggering, dealing with that and raising a family. You suddenly wish there was something more you could do for her, but it’s not your place. Pia doesn’t know you well enough yet, and you don’t want to overstep.

You’re glad Eclipse offered to help this family out. He was right to do so.

While gathering her thoughts, Pia glances to the side, staring further into her home at something out of sight. Her lips tremble, but she doesn’t cry. The hand clinging to the door tightens.

“He’s…” She stops and takes another breath. Once she composes herself, she faces you and Eclipse again. “There aren’t any real updates yet. The doctors have told us his condition is stable, which is reassuring, of course. But… he’s just a child. No one that young should have to be in the hospital battling some stupid infection. So my husband is with him now. Trying to, you know, spend the night there just to make sure he’s not alone. And then tomorrow, hopefully I’ll be able to wrangle up the rest of the kids so we can visit him too.”

Her voice is thick, and her eyes shine wetly. Still, she braves a smile. She is every bit of a strong mother just doing her best to take care of her kids. Something you find more than commendable.

“We’ll be wishing him a speedy recovery,” you softly say, and Eclipse utters a deep hum in agreement. Saying as much feels meaningless in comparison.

The words don’t quite come out audibly from her as she’s too choked up to find her voice just then, but she mouths a thank you.

You shuffle in place uncomfortably. Standing here and taking up her time away from her kids now seems like an intrusion. But Pia lingers still, and you don’t want to leave her on such an empty note. These kinds of situations were never your forte, and you struggle to find something to lighten the mood. You feel powerless and useless.

One of Eclipse’s hands settles on your shoulder. It forces you to relax some of the stiffness in your spine, and in that moment, you’re extremely appreciative of how in tune he is with your emotions. You know you can wear your heart on your sleeve, sometimes to your own detriment, but in this case, the solace is fully wanted. Strange how you’re not even the one going through a crisis, but you still crave support. If anything, the woman before you is a tougher force than you’ll ever be. You hope only good things come her and her family's way.

“I know it’s only a meal, but I hope the food offers some reprieve, however small,” Eclipse murmurs.

Pia shakes her head.

“It’s not small at all. Taking care of children is a full-time job, and you don’t realize just how thin it stretches you until one of them gets hurt or sick.” She rubs one of her arms like warding off a chill. “The best form of help I can receive right now is energy, and you cooking a meal for my family does that in more ways than you know. I’ll be sure to save some for my husband to take to him tomorrow.”

“Hopefully it will be palatable for you all then. Ah, that reminds me.” Eclipse gestures to the stored away food with a tip of his faceplate. “One of the dishes has a little heat to it—the coconut chicken curry. I’m not sure what your and your little ones’ preferences are, so there’s also a salad and some soup if you’d rather have something less spicy. And there is rice and naan to go with the curry, if you’d like.”

“It all sounds and smells delicious, so I know we’ll enjoy it. You’re more than generous.” Pia considers you and him for a brief reprieve, dark eyes darting between the odd pair a human and an animatronic more than twice their size makes. “And I’m sure you’ve gotten to see and taste that firsthand. Are you two…?”

She gives a vague gesture at you and Eclipse.

It takes a second for you to understand, but then you smirk a little crookedly and brush off the question.

“Ah, no, we’re not related. I tried to blend in with his family, but for some reason, no one was buying it. Can’t imagine why. I’ve always said these bones are made of metal.”

You jokingly pat your forearm.

Eclipse stifles some sort of sound from deep in his chassis, and you quirk a brow at him.

“I think what Ms. Pia was trying to ask,” he says, and there’s the dry snark you’ve learned to become so weary of, “is if we’re together as a couple.”

“Oh.”

You look at Pia. She smiles, but her lips are pressed in a thin line, like she’s holding back a small snicker.

“Oh,” you say again because once really wasn’t enough.

Eclipse decides to save the situation for you.

“No, we’re not dating,” he tells the woman, but his voice has a certain cadence to it at the end, like he’s about to say more. But he doesn’t add anything more to that, and you get the intense impression that there’s a whole lot of unsaid conversation happening right now.

“I see,” Pia says, but she does so in a way that suggests she’s seeing a whole lot more than you are. “Well, I don’t mean to sound like a broken record, but I really can’t thank you enough for cooking an entire meal for us. It’s just so unexpected but kind. If there’s anything that I can give you in return...”

“No need.” Eclipse’s hand squeezes your shoulder, and you begin to subtly step back along with him, away from the door. “I just hope your son gets well soon. If you ever happen to need another meal, please feel free to let me know. I can’t guarantee I’ll be free every night to cook, but I’ll do what I can to help. Provided my cooking is up to par, I suppose.”

Pia bites her quivering lip like she might burst into tears. Her watery laugh confirms as much, and she sniffles.

“I don’t need to taste it to know that. I should let you get back to your own dinner though. Thank you for everything. And it was nice meeting you,” she says, directing the last part to you.

You and Eclipse wave and bid her farewell and then continue back down the corridor. The click and lock of a door echoes behind you. Alone again, you keep quiet as you walk back to the brothers’ apartment. The patterns in the floor swirl and spin in a vortex while you stare unseeingly at it.

Everything that just transpired plays back in your head. Maybe there was something more you should have said to Pia. Something encouraging. You think your presence there wasn’t of much help at all, but perhaps knowing other people cared enough to check in on her was all you could have really given the woman. You don’t know her or her family, though that doesn’t stop the slight constriction of your heart on their behalf.

Your feet don’t stop until the hand on your shoulder gives another squeeze. It makes you pull back from your thoughts and realize that you are in front of the brothers’ apartment door. Tilting your head a little more up yields Eclipse’s concerned faceplate.

“Everything alright?” he questions.

As if you’re the one who needs help. You don’t have the power to snap your fingers and heal someone, but you wish you could for that little boy. Kids like him should be out playing and having fun and not worrying about breathing.

You shrug.

Since that doesn’t feel good enough, you add, “I’m glad you introduced me to her. She seemed nice.”

His eyes slide away.

“Yes, I thought so too. Both her and her husband seem like good people. I’m hoping that after this mess sorts itself out, we can become friends.”

Like he’s not already well on that road. You’ll bet that his and his brothers’ involvement has already left a lasting impression.

“Just keep feeding them,” you remark goodnaturedly. “That way, you won’t ever be able to get rid of them.”

There’s that familiar grin you’ve come to love. His optics gleam.

“Such high praise,” he trills. “Is that supposed to be a hint that you want your own dinner now?”

A sly shrug.

“It might. But there could be something else I’d also like before then.”

Eclipse crosses his arms, one of his hands tapping his teeth in thought.

“Something else…”

You nod. As an animatronic, he most certainly hasn’t forgotten what he promised you earlier, and you shift on your heels in excitement.

“So,” you chirp, folding your hands behind your back to hide your eagerness for whatever he has in store.

But Eclipse just looks at you.

“Yes?”

You gnaw on your lip. Shuffle your feet. Lift your brows expectantly.

Nothing. Eclipse waits for you to continue. You think he might have not understood what you’re alluding to, but you’ve learned to read the slight differences in his grin. He has a glass-edge sharpness just at the thinnest tips of his mouth. He knows what you’re thinking.

What a cocky bastard. You think he might have some issues with “conflating” too, or however he put it.

Reluctantly, you give in first.

“So what was that you were saying about a reward?”

A hand that could easily be the size of your head rubs at his bottom rays. He feigns confusion.

“A reward? What reward?”

Stepping on his toes wouldn’t hurt him at all. You would know; you’ve tried. But it would be petty at the very least, and you’re sorely tempted.

Instead, you remember something he’d said even earlier.

Unable to bite back a smarmy grin, you retort, “You tell me.”

Elongated rays slowly turn in an idle pattern that you’ve often seen from Sun when he’s thinking about something. It’s cute and a little endearing. You wonder if Eclipse picked it up from his little brother or if it’s the other way around.

When he appears to come to a decision, his rays come back to a stop.

“Follow me,” he says and resumes striding down the hallway.

This time, you widen your own steps to keep up.

Eclipse leads you down one row of apartments and then another, taking a sharp turn until you reach a little lounging area not too far from his place. It’s a public alcove, but no one is around, and a few chairs and a table are pushed against a wall. Impersonal but cozy enough. A window hangs above the single cushioned bench across from the table and chairs. Here, the animatronic stops, staring out at the dark sky from where trails of snowflakes slowly descend. The numerous lights from other buildings illuminate the snow that has already begun to stick to the roads far below.

You stand next to him and admire the view for a few seconds. It’s nice, but this doesn’t seem like the thing Eclipse would want to show you. Not when he has an even better view from the balcony of his apartment.

But you never can be sure when it comes to the tall, brooding animatronic next to you.

So you tentatively say, “You wanted to show me a view of the city?”

A scoff.

Then, “Yes, I absolutely wanted to show you something you’ve seen a thousand times over. No, what I really wanted was to give us some privacy.”

You frown and turn to him.

“You have an apartment—”

“That is shared with my brothers.” He pulls away from the window as well. “Privacy is a little hard to come by when you have younger siblings, and the only space I can completely get away from them is my bedroom. But I felt that taking you there for something like this would seem a little… uncouth.”

“Uncouth.” Both of your brows reach your hairline.

Eclipse looks like he bit a lemon. An incredible feat for someone who can’t even open his mouth.

“Please don’t make it sound weird. I’m trying to take into consideration all of your delicate human sensibilities.”

“I’m making it weird? Not the person who’s apparently bothered by the thought of me seeing their messy bed?”

“What? No, that’s not what I— Actually, yes, let’s just go with that. Forget what I said.”

Your frown deepens, confused at what he could have possibly meant instead, and you open your mouth to question as much, but he hastily continues on, stilted.

“I wanted to give you a reward. But in retrospect, it’s closer to a favor that I’d like to ask of you. So I apologize if that makes you uncomfortable. And you’re more than welcome to say no, of course.”

You’re way past the point of confusion. Eclipse seems incredibly nervous for something that you’d originally thought would be trivial, so you wonder if he really does have a dead body he needs you to hide. Not exactly how you planned out your evening, but you are someone who rolls with the punches. He did make you dinner, so you’ll at least hear out your friend who’s now possibly a convict.

“Must be some hell of a favor,” you say in lieu of just staring blankly.

The animatronic tugs you down onto the bench with him, and you end up sitting facing him with your knees touching his from how much space he takes up. You’d write the act off as him just trying to conceal his nerves, but he seems to actually want you sitting down for whatever reason. He scoots closer to you as he stumbles through his words.

“Yes, well. It’s been on my mind for a while. I considered asking sooner, but I wanted to be sure of where you stood regarding the matter. I’m still not entirely sure, but I believe I’ve read the room right. Or at least I hope I have.”

“Eclipse.”

“Hush, I’m getting there. What I mean to say is—” He reaches down and takes your hands in his. Your hair falls across your shoulders when you tip your head down, blinking, but his voice beckons back your focus. “My brothers and I have grown fond of you. Very fond. You are… someone we treasure greatly. And I hope you don’t need me to say that in order for you to know it.”

Ghostly warmth begins to crawl into your cheeks.

“We’ve all developed our own friendships with you over time,” he continues, “and I know it’s been just several months since we first met. But even in such a small time frame, our feelings and thoughts have all aligned on the same page regarding you. That is to say, we care deeply about you. The way you’ve written yourself so easily into our lives has left a tremendous impact that I’m not so sure you’re quite aware of.”

“I think I’m getting there,” you interject with a tiny smirk.

Eclipse sighs, smiles, and squeezes your hands. “I just wanted to make sure I was upfront about that first. It’s very important to Sunny, Moonie, and I that you know how we feel. I won’t put words into my brothers’ mouths, however, so you’ll have to hear from them themselves about what they think. Now, as for the favor, and I really hope you’ll forgive me for this, but I think the anticipation will kill me if I delay any longer. And I know the end of the year is still weeks away, but waiting until then would be insurmountable.”

He says your name then, so light and soft and airy that your head is in the clouds.

“I was wondering if, as a favor that might be a reward depending on your perspective, would you… help me get a head start on this new year’s tradition?”

Silence.

Your eyes don’t leave his, that bright yellow glow broken only by the dark rings inside.

When you find your voice, you say, slowly, in disbelief, “You want me to help you…?”

He waits for you to continue. When you don’t, he finishes the sentence for you.

“Get a head start on the new year’s tradition, yes.”

More silence.

You narrow your eyes, anticipating a joke, but it never comes. Somehow, after that whole speech, you thought you’d have at least some contextual clues. You’re sitting in place with even more questions, and none of the dots are connecting, none of the lines are intersecting, nothing’s making sense.

Tongue moving even more slowly, the hamster wheels in your brain spinning overtime, you draw out, “So… you want me to help you brainstorm a resolutions list?”

The spans of silence are getting repetitive at this point, but at least it’s Eclipse’s turn to appear utterly baffled. He gapes at you like you’re the one not making any sense, his tension not quite leaving but taking a backseat to make room for… whatever this is. You have no idea, and now for some reason, he doesn’t seem to either.

“Pardon?” he says.

Like a mirror, your confusion reflects onto him, which bounces back onto you. The lack of comprehension is almost funny. But you’re too perplexed to really note that in between the quiet. So you wait a beat, about to repeat your question.

Then Eclipse’s expression evens out as whatever caused the miscommunication finally dawns on him. A little huff escapes, and his grin smooths into a less crooked line.

“Oh dear. No, darling, I don’t need help with a resolutions list. That isn’t what—”

“Well, good,” you can’t help but throw in, “because I’m terrible at keeping to them.”

Eclipse shakes with his mirth, quiet little shudders that make you relax. You give him a moment, and when he releases a big electric sigh, you patiently wait for him to continue.

“That isn’t the tradition I was referring to. I meant that I’d like to get a head start with you on welcoming in the new year… with a kiss.”

The hamster wheels grind to a screeching halt.

You don’t say it, but your mouth drops in a small oh. You forget your hands are currently in his, so when you listlessly try to lift a finger to point at yourself in disbelief, you don’t get very far. He seems to realize what you mean all the same, and he nods.

“Yes,” he further clarifies, which is very needed in your stupefied state. “I want to kiss you.”

Even with the audible confirmation, you still don’t believe what you’re hearing. It just doesn’t make sense to you. None of what he said makes sense to you. You’ve half a mind to believe that your unbridled thoughts from earlier have catapulted you into some insane lucid dream, and even now, you’re trying to understand any of it.

“Eclipse,” you weakly laugh, tensing up again, uneasy. “We’re not on set right now. Where’s the punchline?”

He turns pensive, metal sun rays creating a new draft as his smile melts away.

“No, no joke,” he says, earnest. “No punchline. I know it seems like everyone has made light of our friendship and teased us relentlessly about it all throughout filming. But this isn’t that. I’m not asking if you want to be in a relationship with me so suddenly. I’m asking if I may have your permission to just start on the path toward that, test the waters, so to speak… and maybe see if there’s the smallest chance you find yourself wanting something similar along the way as well.”

You’re not sure why—it could be because you’re afraid to blink at all—but your eyes are beginning to burn. In the time you’ve gotten to know him, you’ve understood that Eclipse is bold about most things, and he has no issue vocalizing his stance if needed. But seeing that in action and having it directed not just at you but for you is another matter. You’re not used to someone caring that much about you. Though he and his brothers have done a fine job in changing that around.

You blink away the irksome mistiness. To your hot frustration, a tear slips past your guard, and Eclipse draws in a wounded artificial respiration.

Before you can frantically wipe it away, he’s already there, catching it for you with a touch that makes your beaten heart lurch even more before he takes your hand again.

“Sweetheart,” he whispers, and for the first time compared with the numerous others he’s used that endearment, it feels real and like it’s directed at you without an ounce of make believe. “I don’t know what’s going on in your head. But I have an inclination of what your heart is saying, and I want you to know that those feelings you have, the ones you doubt are true, are entirely wanted and reciprocated. I want you, in whatever way you’ll allow me to have you. Just understand that my desire goes beyond the silly ridicule we’ve heard at work or the harmless banter we’ve exchanged ourselves—though I can see it’s been far from harmless now.”

You don’t dare to breathe. But you keep your ears and eyes open as Eclipse lays out in no uncertain terms what you’ve subconsciously longed for for ages. Another tear falls.

“If it takes more than words to prove my want for more than a friendship with you, then I’ll let my actions do the talking, starting now if that’s something you’re okay with. I’m serious about this, and I need to make sure you believe me when I say this isn’t a joke at your expense. You mean too much to me to be a mere punchline.”

If you didn’t have so much practice from your job, you’re certain you’d be bawling like a baby right now. How many nights have you laid in bed, feeling like you’re missing something? How often have you stared after the three brothers and wondered if you’re getting too close? How often have you told yourself that it’s all in your head, none of it is and never can be real?

And yet, against all odds, what you’ve needed is being handed to you on a silver platter.

You’re not and never will be as articulate as Eclipse, so you draw the card from your deck that’s always been your go-to, and choose a weak stab at levity.

“You know,” you sniffle, “for a guy who usually doesn’t beat around the bush, you sure use a lot of words for a simple request.”

It’s worth it for the flash of combined relief and fake chagrin that you know doesn’t bear any ill will toward you.

“Forgive me,” Eclipse says, mildly deadpan, and you can hear the subdued mirth in response to your remark, “but a certain someone has demonstrated an uncanny amount of obliviousness as of late to my attempts at flirting with them.”

Okay, he’s just going for your throat now. This still doesn’t feel real. You’re expecting that this is just some weird dream that will make you have a crisis when you wake up. So if this really is all in your head, you’d better make the most of it while it lasts.

You contemplate the large hands holding your much smaller pair. In response, Eclipse draws ticklish lines along your palms before smoothing over them with a softer rub.

Your lips try for a smirk but don’t quite get there. His former nervousness must be contagious because now you’ve got it. You want to meet his eye, but it’s making your confidence take a fast hike in the opposite direction.

A swallow. Light clearing of your throat. Mouth opening to speak and then snapping shut once more.

If only you were this talented on set, able to cry so easily. You’re delivering an Oscar-worthy performance right now, except it’s authentic. Eclipse had better be appreciating it because he’s fully responsible and had better accept the repercussions.

Taking a quiet breath, you try once more. Those hands steady you all the while.

You try to say yes. That’s really all you need to do to get the ball rolling.

Instead, what you manage to stutter out is, “I-I think that’s your cue to move in close, pumpkin.”

You want to shove your foot in your mouth. Metaphorically, of course.

One of Eclipse’s hands leaves yours and slides back up to your face. It spans your wet cheek and tilts your head up, seeking your gaze. Just to be more of a hassle and also to ignore the burning embarrassment flaring across your skin, you consider petulantly closing your eyes; the moment you see his, however, you can’t look away. The clash of black against gold robs you of your breath.

Lowly, as if to be sure, Eclipse clarifies, “Is that a yes?”

You hold back another ill-timed quip, eyes brimming with unshed happiness.

“It's a yes.”

Your breath catches when he leans in closer yet. You expect your thoughts to be screaming like they always have been, but it’s just a calm single-mindedness that centers around only the lovely individual seated next to you. That doesn’t mean your stomach isn’t bursting with that fluttering feeling or that your one hand isn’t clinging tighter to his while the other finds purchase in the fabric around his lower thigh.

The night is apparently still young in throwing you for a loop because Eclipse doesn’t completely close the gap. He’s close, so close, unbearably close that if he had lungs, you’d be feeling the smooth caress of his breath across your lips. His expression is nothing less than heated, eyelids falling heavy as he ogles without remorse at your parted mouth like he’s a starved man presented with the finest meal. His palm remains gentle around your cheek, but his fingers press in just the smallest amount to make you dizzy. It’s as if he’s on the verge of a possessive grip and only just holding himself back.

He doesn’t move. Neither do you.

You wonder if maybe he’s forgotten what he was going to do because he’s just so lost in your truly irresistible attractiveness, and the proximity has finally done him in. But you suspect it’s likely not that. The agonizingly slow drag of his leer back up to yours tells a different story.

A flashbulb image of the sight you and he must be making sears through your retinas. This little alcove had better have wards surrounding it, or else you’ll throw hands with anyone who dares to intrude on your private moment.

Eclipse says something. You’re a little lost in thought or maybe just his eyes—a cliché thought for which you immediately give yourself a strong mental kick—so you don’t catch it. Your hair shifts a bit when you tip your head.

“What?”

Nothing on Eclipse’s face suggests what he’s said. There’s a very strong chance it has something to do with you and not the weather, but that’s all you have to work with.

Calmly, he repeats, “A yes to what?”

You stare. The confusion returns, though maybe he’s just making sure he didn’t read the situation or you wrong.

“Yes to what you want to do?” you say, voice tipping up at the end.

Apparently, that’s not good enough.

“What do you want me to do?” he asks.

And that’s when you realize what he’s doing.

Oh, for—

You manage the flattest expression possible, countering the wretched grin that now eats up your vision. Eclipse beams so brightly that it reaches his optics. There is not a single part of it that is appealing, a fact you have to frantically remind yourself of since your heart is leaping at it like it has a mind of its own. His rays are still, but you can see them twitching hard with the desire to spin.

An aggrieved groan overtakes your throat. Getting up and walking away would mean some victory over Eclipse, but it also would deprive you of your reward, which you really, desperately, unequivocally very much want. He’s got you right where he wants you, and he knows it. At least it’s sobered you up enough that you’re not on the verge of crying more.

Defeat is supposed to taste bitter. You accept it this time with a surprising sweetness settling on your tongue.

With a longsuffering sigh—because your patience truly knows no bounds around him—you say, once more, with feeling, “I want you to kiss me.”

In the greatest twist of events, Eclipse shows you mercy. His grin is no less wicked, but it helps that you find yourself pulled toward it regardless.

“My pleasure,” he says, and with no more hesitance, he removes the gap between you and him and kisses you, achingly gentle and sugar sweet.

On your cheek.

Your mouth hangs open. His dry amusement vibrates through you as he lingers where you had not expected him to go, his smooth mouth grazing your skin in tangible warmth. He nuzzles a little lower then, skirting his sharp grin just below your jawline. As he presses close, his hand holds your other cheek securely so that you can’t help but tilt your head and grant him better access.

Any petulant protest that had been readied on your lips dies. Eclipse hardly does anything but hold you still so that his mouth can lay tender affection on your burning face. It somehow feels even more intimate this way because he is the one bestowing the kiss while you can merely gape ahead at the pointed tips of his rays that he carefully steers away from prodding you. You’re clinging to him with increasing force, drowning from him overriding all your senses until everything within you just sings his name.

When he at last relinquishes the space that had been between you before, you catch your breath again. Metal fingers trail down your cheek and the surely telling heat that radiates from it. Eclipse gives a hum that is highly appreciative and somehow makes you go from hot to scalding. You can’t hide anything from him like this, and he doesn’t seem intent on letting you slip away so easily. Maybe you’re secretly part animatronic too because whatever he just did left your brain feeling utterly fried. You’re little more than a puddle right now, with him being the single entity holding you intact.

His hand continues down until it curls under your chin and nudges your head up a smidge more. Ah, you weren’t meeting his eyes again. His own flare with pride or satisfaction. You try and fail to swallow with a dry throat.

Your voice wavers when you say, “Well… that’s not what I was expecting.”

Metal bends with his intrigue.

“Had you imagined something else?”

You don’t like how he can remain so smooth and unaltered after that. He can deny it all he wants, but he shares more aspects with his character than he thinks.

“Saying I imagined it suggests that I’d thought of it before now. Which I haven’t, just to be clear.”

Liar. You huff and frown. You’d cross your arms if he wasn’t still holding your hand. Or you weren’t holding his. Whatever.

Even sharks have nicer teeth. Eclipse’s eyes narrow with the keenness of a predator, reminding you that you are very alone with him. Suddenly, having someone walk in on you doesn’t seem so bad.

“I’m sure you haven’t,” he says, sounding like he believes the exact opposite but is choosing not to call you out on it. “So that means it was a surprise then. A pleasant one, maybe?”

“It wasn’t bad. Just seems like you missed.”

“Missed?”

“Yeah.” You realize you’ll have to spell it out for him and experience a twinge of exasperated affection. “You’ve kissed me before, oh angel eyes, so I thought you’d—”

“No,” Eclipse quickly cuts in, shockingly serious, prompting you to stop in surprise. “No, that was different. The characters we play have kissed. We’ve always been removed from the roles that we act out in front of the lights and cameras. Those moments have all been directed, scripted, and cut to unrealistic perfection to meet the standards of television. But I have never kissed you, dear one. Not until now, at least, though it was most certainly worth the wait to me.”

He’s not wrong. You had been surreptitiously equating those little kisses on set to what might be real life, with a thin acknowledgment that it wasn’t really the same. Probably another reason you’ve been struggling so much lately. So Eclipse is right in that regard. But the tangent he’s gone off on isn’t what you’d meant.

You hook your foot around your ankle to stop the urge of bouncing your knee from restlessness. Your whole body feels ready to shift around if you don’t get a hold on this abnormal shyness. It has to be some sort of witchcraft he’s secretly working in the background. You’ve never felt like this around anyone before.

The annoying little voice in your head tells you that’s not true, bringing up recent memories of your encounters with all three of the brothers. You mentally tell that voice to shut up.

“That’s honestly one of the sweetest things you’ve ever said to me, Clip, but I was just saying that I thought you were going to kiss me like before.”

You almost frown at his intense scrutiny, his pupils shrinking and inverting to staggering gold against a harsh black backdrop.

“So just to make sure I’m understanding this correctly, what I’m hearing is that you want me to kiss you like our times on set? The times that I’ve had to pretend to hold you so harshly that your bones would have bruised if it weren’t for movie magic? Treating you like some object or pet that utterly demeans you? That’s what you want?”

As a joke, because you’re greatly feeling like you’re losing control of the conversation, you shrug and make a face that ultimately boils down to well, if the shoe fits.

Eclipse barks out a short laugh.

“Darling, I mean this with only the most graceful and kind intentions, but have you lost your damn mind?”

His reaction startles you, and you backtrack immediately.

“I’m not saying you have to kiss me like some deranged, possessive person—”

“I’m glad,” he snaps. “Because I won’t. I won’t ever do that to you, and I refuse to treat you like an object. I would have assumed you knew I respected you too much to even consider that.”

“Eclipse,” you huff, smiling to try to disarm the stiffness in his posture and face as his fierce declaration melts you, “I was just kidding. All of this was just to say that I thought you were going to kiss me on the lips. That’s all. I would never think so little of you, not when you’ve gone above and beyond to prove different.”

His upset disposition doesn’t waver right away, but he also doesn’t rush to speak up again. You can see the exact moment when your words sink in because the animatronic’s whole demeanor transforms. The sudden ferocity in his dark expression fades, and the air ebbs back into something lighter. You think you might have actually offended him—accidentally, that is—by implying he needed to be like the unhinged character he stars as. That wasn’t your intent by any means, and you rub his knuckles with your thumb in apology.

“…I see.” He aims a grumble at the floor. You can sense the tiny ripple of embarrassment from him now that he recognizes his overreaction. You’re almost certain he’d be blushing if it were possible. “I’m sorry for snapping at you. That wasn’t my intent. I was trying to be a gentleman.”

Oh, your smile is going to become a permanent feature if he keeps saying sweet nothings like that. That’s adorable.

He’s still pouting though, so to lighten the mood, you say, “You are very sweet. A total charmer. I’d even rate the experience a nine out of ten.”

Now it’s his turn to aim a flat grin your way. It makes yours inch up higher, and his rays cycle anew. You’ll be the first to admit that you’re relieved when the colors of his eyes invert again back to their usual pattern.

“Not a perfect score?” he sniffs, or as close to the sound that an animatronic can make. “Well, if you’re going to be such a smooching critic, maybe I should just take my kiss back.”

You gasp in feigned shock, rearing back as if scandalized.

“Eclipse! You wouldn’t.”

“I will,” he growls like he isn’t playing, and without warning, he effortlessly reels you back in.

A much more sincere gasp escapes you as he tilts your head to the side, baring the cheek he hadn’t kissed. His teeth find your unmarked skin, and this time, you feel like you might faint. You hadn’t expected this at all, and with no way to brace yourself for it, the suddenness leaves you in a tailspin. He must be able to hear your heart as your pulse rings like a clear bell in your ears. Everything from your face to your neck to your fingertips feels like it’s on fire, making you dizzy and breathless.

Eclipse doesn’t linger as long this time, but the gravely purr that sounds like a rake over coals stokes the embers in your body. He pulls away, not far, faceplate hovering just inches for you with a catlike smugness splashed across the surface. His rays are back to whirling again, and further down, you can hear the highspeed kick of his servos.

The consolation that you’re not the only one reeling is small but enough to ease you back down to a calmer plane of existence.

And to think you wanted him to kiss you on the mouth. The room must be stuffy or something because there’s no other logical reason for why you feel close to passing out. You feel hazy but also like you could sprint down the halls at a marathoner’s pace at the same time.

“Satisfied?” croons the voice right next to your ear.

Despite your best efforts, your lips curl up.

“Yeah, I’d say so,” you say, a bit heavy from your breathing.

For now at least, your thoughts tack on cheekily. You can’t disagree with that.

Eclipse practically preens from the underhanded praise. He straightens further to give you a little more breathing space, and your fingers dig into the creases of his pants with the desire to drag him right back in.

Later, though. As much as you like the idea of continuing, you much more appreciate the manner he’s approached this. Disguising his feelings as a reward or a favor or what have you allows you to put distance between yourself and a relationship. You know you really, really like the idea right now, but you don’t want to rush into things either. You want to think about it and also what he said about his brothers and their possible feelings too. Looking back at how close you’ve grown to Sun and Moon, you’re not so sure you doubt anymore that there could be something more in the sidelines that only needs to be approached to become a reality.

But time. You need time to take a step back and evaluate your own heart… regardless of the fact that everything in you is screaming a wild yes at progressing from being just friends.

You reach up and secure both of Eclipse’s hands in yours. The color of his optics shines with luscious warmth, drawing you like a moth to a flame. You maybe want to stop dancing around him and instead just dive right in. That all can wait, though. He’s already made it clear he’ll wait for you.

Quietly, you murmur, “Those little hiccups aside, I think you’ve given me a lot to think about.”

He laces your fingers together, likely feeling the fluttery jump of your pulse at even that.

“Hopefully, those will be good thoughts you have. But even if they aren’t,” he says, this time uttering your name like a whispered prayer, “even if you choose not to pursue a relationship with me, that is completely alright. And that extends to my brothers as well. Take your time; we’ll be right here.”

He lifts one of your hands then and gives you a final kiss, right atop the backs of your fingers. Of the three he’s given you so far, that one feels the most tender.

Before you can become a permanent fixture to your seat, Eclipse stands and helpfully brings you up with him.

“Now,” he says, voice returning to its deep thrum, “let's get back home before your food gets cold. I believe Sun is planning to put on his favorite Christmas movie for you tonight.”

“Oh?” You gleefully begin walking with Eclipse, his broad arm curving around you and keeping you close, which you are all too happy to accept. The little alcove of a lounge isn’t far from the apartment, but the trip seems even shorter this time. “I don’t think he’s ever mentioned it to me before. What is it?”

Eclipse gives a throaty chuckle, and his hand squeezes your shoulder.

“Not what you’d expect,” he answers in a very dubious manner that dodges the question entirely.

At the door of their apartment, he produces his keys from his pocket and unlocks it, holding it open for you to slip inside. The waft of mouth-watering dinner makes your nostrils flare. Eager, you toe off your shoes as Eclipse closes the door behind you, and the sound of the TV wars with the smell beckoning you back to the kitchen. You opt to make a beeline for the family room instead and find Sun and Moon on the couch while Sun fiddles with the remote and a selection of movies on the screen.

Moon catches sight of you first, and the eerie prickling of his evil grin should be warning enough. However, he pats the space next to him, two hearty thumps on the couch cushion between him and Sun.

“Have a seat, pardner.”

You can’t resist. It feels like you’re walking right into a trap—a feeling that only enhances as soon as you sit down. Moon’s arm that’s draped over the back of the couch noticeably slides down until his hand brushes your upper arm. He teasingly taps his fingers against it, and you side-eye him with mounting suspicion.

“Visit go well?” he asks. Despite his shifty aura, his tone is sincere.

You nod.

“Yeah, they seem really nice. I think the mom was appreciative of the meal at least. She looked really tired.”

Moon’s smile thins.

“That’s to be expected. Clip’s interacted with them the most, but we’ve all had the chance to meet them. Their kids are real cute and well-behaved. Sunny thinks so too, though you won’t catch him within ten feet of them.”

From your other side, Sun scoffs, “Stop making it sound like I think they’re carrying some contagious animatronic disease.”

A lightbulb goes off over your head then.

“So when you were talking about being nervous around kids this afternoon, you were referring to your neighbors?”

Sun glances from the TV to you, faceplate a little pained.

“Is that bad? Moonie and I have been talking about helping watch the kids if necessary, and if the parents are even okay with that, of course. We haven’t offered yet because we still don’t know them all that well, but we do want to help. I’m just not… I don’t know how much the kids would like or listen to me, to be honest.”

Moon grunts, and when you look back at him, he’s rolling his eyes.

“You’re more than capable, Sun. You just don’t give yourself enough credit.”

“Well, maybe I want to fish for compliments.”

“Better get used to coming home empty-handed then.”

Sun glares waspishly over your head at his brother, and you shake your head with a snort. You tap Sun’s knee to get his attention, and his frown softens.

“I heard you had a Christmas movie in mind?”

Sun’s rays immediately begin spinning.

“Yes, I do! My very favorite, in fact, so I hope you’re into the classics. We’re just waiting for Clip to join us with your food.”

From the kitchen, Eclipse calls, “You can go ahead and start without me, Sunny!”

You think he might mutter something further, but it’s too faint to tell. Moon’s arm keeps slouching more and more of its weight onto you, and the very unsubtle hint finally makes you give in and rest against him.

Moon makes a very pleased hum, and you huffily laugh.

“Getting cozy?” you whisper up at him.

Dark optics peer down at you.

“I might need the extra comfort for tonight.”

Your face turns confused, and Moon nods towards the TV. You look back to see what Sun has selected, and you feel yourself freeze.

“No...”

That is not the lighthearted romance or cheesy, fluffy comedy you’d expected.

With a grin rivaling his namesake, Sun tilts his head at you, rays spinning.

“Is there really any better Christmas classic than Die Hard?” he remarks in a far too cheery tone.

You want to think he’s joking.

“I don’t really think that’s—”

“Glad you agree!” he announces before you can dispute it. Then with viperlike speed, he leans in, inches from your face. “Because I’d really hate for you to back out of a silly prank war so easily.”

When he gives you back your space, reclining against the other side of the couch with the most punchable smirk you’ve ever seen, you try to think of some way, any way, you can spin this in your favor without letting him win.

Moon’s chassis shudders beneath you as he tries to hide his amusement.

“Best not to reason with him,” he murmurs. “I’ve since learned to just accept it.”

“But… isn’t it technically a horror film?”

“By the movie’s standards? No. But it gives us all the excuses to cuddle, hm?”

You mull over your options. The movie starts, and Sun is glancing over at you and Moon with pointed skepticism like he’s debating over whether to try to finagle you over to his side. You almost wonder if that’s the sole reason he picked this movie. Knowing Sun, you absolutely would not put it past him.

If that’s the case, then game on. You give him a snarky waggle of your brows and snuggle further into Moon’s side. Sun’s optics turn into thin white lines with his playful glower. His faceplate tips up a bit with an air of self-assured posturing, and his little smile lets you know that he’s on to you.

Moon sneaks his hand from over your arm to under it, wiggling across your waist. You focus on that while you turn back to the movie.

As the night continues on, along with your two boys and eventually Eclipse and a plate of food that truly is divine, you find yourself unable to stop smiling. Horror movie or not, you feel more content and safer than you have in ages. It’s a deep-seated warmth that stays in your chest, flaring when Moon squeezes you closer throughout the movie, when Sun sneakily scoots across the couch inch by inch until you’re just as sandwiched against him with one hand threading with his, and once or twice when you catch Eclipse’s golden peripheral.

It’s a culmination of moments that wind through the hours and the laughs and the impromptu pillow fight that later ensues after the movie when you all try to set up a blanket fort, bursting with childish glee. It follows you when you settle in for the night, exhausted, somehow sharing the cushioned floor space with all three of the brothers despite you each having your own beds you could sleep in. The warmth doesn’t falter once but rather grows, making your heart beat at a slightly more elevated rate than usual even when you’re supposed to be sleeping. Your euphoria has yet to leave, and the snowflakes continue to spin outside in the darkness and the city lights, the cold far away when you’re snug in the comfortable haven that’s starting to feel more and more like home.

This is real. You have the option to make it an even greater reality, one they’ve offered to you freely.

Your eyes close after one final check on the quiet animatronics around you, still in their rest mode and version of dreamless sleep.

Yeah. You have a lot to think about.

#eclipse x reader #sun x reader #moon x reader #daycare attendant x reader #sleuth jesters actor au #detective au #sleuth jesters fanfic #fnaf sb #writing tag #omg that part is finally done #going to take a mini break to finally(!) catch up on reading some fic and leaving some comments and then I'll get back to editing

[zhongrin]

swirl & crystallize

◇ characters ◇ (no romantic pairing) zhongli, xiao, kazuha, shinobu

◇ tags ◇ no pairing, tag game(-ish) but feel free to ignore the tag :3

◇ tagging ◇ @seelestia | @dawndelion-winery | @the-travelling-witch | @hiraya-rawr | @silkjade | @intothegenshinworld | @watatsumiis | @merzkihstuff | @astrxlis | @w4yf1nder | @thesparklingwriter | @kazuily + everyone in the taglist! (but to reiterate: no pressure!!)

◇ a/n ◇ happy new year! i'm starting a new tag game just because lol (any writers or artists welcome)

pick one (or more, if you want) of your existing teams and tell me all about them!

how are the dynamics between each character? do they work well as a team outside of battles? who is the mom friend and who is the dad friend? are they a friendly, tight-knit group, or are they hostile to each other? (optional) what would be their voice lines about each other as teammates?

ps. feel free to include your self-insert or oc in the team as the 'fifth character' if you want!

𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡 ⬙ 𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡

team: xiao, kazuha, zhongli, shinobu

✧— xiao ⇄ kazuha

xiao appreciates the way kazuha doesn't try to intrude his space and how he manages to sense whenever the yaksha wants to be left alone.

kazuha on the other hand is pretty neutral about xiao. mostly he appreciates the way the demon conqueror always protects the whole team, and so the ronin tries to include him in everything.

the team probably accidentally discovered that kazuha’s leaf-playing ability makes xiao relax, so the wandering samurai takes it upon himself to do it every now and then whenever things are calm and xiao is within the vicinity.

honestly, i think they get along very well despite not interacting that much on the surface.

xiao → “about kazuha“

“that wandeing samurai from inazuma? he’s… alright. polite. although the way he speaks took a while to get used to. the leaf flute? hmph…. i… suppose, it is quite relaxing.”

kazuha → “about xiao”

“a selfless protector blessed by the anemo archon himself. the winds around him are quite volatile, but i find that they would turn tranquil whenever a melodic tune dances in the air. as zhongli-sensei suggested, i’ve taken to the habit of playing the leaves more often as we wind down for the day.”

✧— xiao ⇄ zhongli

probably is the closest relationship within the team. calm grandpa and feral surrogate son

zhongli is generally caring towards everyone in the team but he has a special soft spot for xiao - always pulling him back whenever things look bad on the battlefield.

(omg can you imagine zhongli picking up xiao by his scruff like he's a feral cat and flinging him out of harm’s way lmao-)

xiao knows he doesn’t have to worry about zhongli on the battlefield too, so that’s a huge burden off his shoulders.

xiao → “about zhongli“

“what more is there to be said? i am just honored that i am able to fight alongside morax again.”

zhongli → “about xiao”

“i’m glad you invited the young adeptus to travel with you. many times i have tried to persuade him to take some rest for a change of pace, but he never listened. please, indulge my curiosity; how did you manage to convince him to come along?”

✧— xiao ⇄ shinobu

neutral. they’ve already met in the chasm before, so shinobu knows about xiao’s self-sacrificing tendencies.

since shinobu is also smart and attentive - she knows when to put her foot down but also to leave xiao to his own devices.

xiao sees her as a reliable teammate.

mutual respect plays a huge part in this relationship, and while they’re not particularly close, they’re both comfortable with how it is!

xiao → “about shinobu“

“the electro wielder? she’s okay. responsible. i respect her.”

shinobu → “about xiao”

“i wouldn’t say that we’re close. but i am thankful that we have someone who is experienced in dealing with and efficiently fighting off dangerous monsters. although… this might be a rude thing to say to an enlightened being, but how can he fight so recklessly without an ounce of care for his own safety? i don’t mind patching him up, of course - boss is just as reckless as he is - but sometimes i just wish he would snap out of that selfless mindset already.”

✧— kazuha ⇄ zhongli

kazuha is intrigued and curious because he can somehow sense that zhongli isn’t exactly… normal? surely no normal man can make the last yaksha in teyvat himself bow down to his knees or speak so respectfully?

zhongli is thankful to kazuha for keeping xiao company and appreciates the way he always attentively listens to his stories.

they bond over literature and share their experiences. very wholesome dynamics.

kazuha → “about zhongli“

“there’s something about zhongli-sensei that i can’t explain... you know who he actually is, don’t you? haha, don’t look so surprised. it really is quite obvious. the demon conqueror reveres him, the wind respects him, and the soil thrums in his presence. though i am not privy to the details, i can sense that he’s not just a ‘funeral parlor consultant from liyue’. don’t worry; you don’t have to tell me anything. everyone has their own secrets, and i can respect that.”

zhongli → “about kazuha”

“an interesting fellow, that child. very attuned to nature itself. after hearing the stories of his travels and hardships, it occurs to me that his vision truly suits him; a wandering bird flying from one branch to another. i’m also very grateful that he managed to befriend xiao.”

✧— kazuha ⇄ shinobu

they naturally bond with each other over time. since they’re both inazumans, that makes them feel inclined to start talking to each other.

actually, given some time, i can even see them becoming friends!

shinobu pulls kazuha out of potential troubles and kazuha watches over shinobu to make sure she doesn't overwork herself.

a sibling-like relationship. lovely.

kazuha → “about shinobu“

“of course, i’m happy to have a fellow countryman on our travels! shinobu knows a lot of things and is more than happy to tell me what happened while i was away from inazuma, and what has changed since then. she makes for a good drinking company too; our taste in sake seems to match!”

shinobu → “about kazuha”

“well, at least he’s a lot more manageable than boss. still, i really don’t understand how someone could be so… spontaneous and unbound. one moment he’s sitting on a tree branch watching the clouds, the next moment he’s using his anemo powers to climb some cliffs - goodness, did you know he almost broke a leg three days ago?”

✧— zhongli ⇄ shinobu

the “parents” of the group, really. do i even need to say more?

keeps everyone out of trouble, very level-headed people who just want the best for the whole team and know that they can trust each other in this endeavor.

there’s just this one little misunderstanding, though (if you could even call it that)…

zhongli → “about shinobu“

“ah, the young lady is a mature and kind individual. have you seen her fuss around kazuha and xiao? i find the sight quite endearing. she has even asked me if my joints were okay when we hiked the mountains in sumeru the other day…... hmmm. in hindsight, perhaps i should not have answered with ‘older than your parents' when she asked me about my ‘real age’....”

shinobu → “about zhongli”

“i understand that you needed someone experienced in life and all in this expedition, but you really shouldn’t have asked an elderly person to tag along in such dangerous activity. hm? why are you looking at me like that? didn’t you know? i mean, i would have never guessed it from his youthful appearance either. i have heard that liyueans tend to look younger than their actual age, but even now i can barely believe that zhongli-sensei is that old. honestly, i’m still surprised he could still be so agile in combat.”

© zhongrin | 2022 ◆ no repost. reblogs much appreciated. feel free to reach out to submit suggestions, feedback, comments, or if you just want to talk!

◇ taglist ◇ @thestarsofenkanomiya | @genshinparty | @abyssmal-skies | @hamdehlesmis | @depressivecomforts | @sophiethewitch1 | @why-am-i-here-someone-save-me | @sunnshineflxwer | @heartonthemoon | @yuutasbabe | @percyval-archives | @carbs-need-more-love | @rebeccka | @queen-belial | @stygianoir | @silentmoths | @niktwazny303 | @dustofthedailylife | @herdrops | @marina-and-the-memes | @angryhope | @mixed-kester | @shuangxo | @fiannee | @lordbugs | @anonymousficreader | @shizunxie | @ladylofspades | @sup-zfam | @ansy-tea

#genshin impact #rin writes #rin interacts #zhongli #kazuha #kaedehara kazuha #xiao #shinobu

[rowanthestrange]

(Personal ‘Being A Certain Kind Of Autistic’ Moment:)

(You ever think you’re too hinged? I was gonna say for the internet but since covid so many of the neurotypicals in real life are actually worse.

Like someone has an inappropriately strong emotional reaction to the benign, and you’re like ‘okay they’re triggered, walk away with no eye contact’. Then you see other people doing it. And more and more. Not about the same things, different things, random things. And you’re just… Is it me? Am I too hinged?

I’m not saying I’m never triggered but I always tell myself ‘hey before you interact with anyone, stop being such a freak’ if I feel like I’m in danger of being rude to or about a Human Person. And I know that’s autism training, learning to catch yourself; but also clearly not everyone bothers, even the neurotypicals anymore hence irl situations where you’re just watching some 55 year old woman go off on a receptionist over literally nothing.

Like you’ll watch people stew themselves to a rolling boil over things they’ve…made up in their head? When they could just…not do that? Or could assume the best? Like they pre-order rage for things that haven’t even happened yet. Not like political things where you could argue that it could incentivise action but like raging about how film/book in a series/event is going to be so terrible, beyond simple mental prepping for disappointment.

It’s like I feel too mentally healthy compared to everyone else. But even plenty of irl people I know who absolutely wouldn’t consider themselves (or be considered by me as) mentally unwell in any regard are like this.

I know me having the flavour of autism where ‘everything has to have a reason, but when you understand what it is you don’t feel the need to be upset about it anymore’ kind of makes this worse. Because that’s not how real people feel things. But I dunno. Feels like it’s getting…more, doesn’t it? I mean it is, must be, had a Doctor Who episode kind of about it a week ago. But it’s got me feeling autistic alien again. Even on the autism site.)

#i know social decay and breakdown of the social contract is real #(again thanks for the validation there rusty) #but i’ve seen people post some weird shit #from a ‘stealing is morally neutral/positive even’ post #to other oof political takes #(which are fine to a degree this is a site for damaged 14 year olds) #(that’s just a thing that has to happen in their growth cycle) #but also things where you want to say #‘you would never say that to that person’s face so don’t say it at all’ #…but you also think #they kind of might say it to their face?? #and that’s fucking worse #accidentally seeing some jodie thing on the side of an instagram vid #like jesus christ if you can’t be normal enough to not say that #can you even recognise the need to ‘put the phone down’? #like how do you fix that #can’t even send shit to their mothers #i’ve met some mothers recently #and they are not doing better #and they’re not even terminally online #we called it television rot #and daily mail rot #we always have an older ‘rot’ to look to #but i think it just scapegoats the fact that some people #are choosing to rewire their brains in the worst and laziest ways

[lightlycareless]

So HOTTT of Naoya to be an equestrian champion... *bites lip*

Heya anon! Sorry for the late reply, oof. I wanted to post this a while ago but in-between me just lazying it up, working on the main fic, and dealing with other emotional things I just... didn't lol.

But I'm here now! And I gotta say, I enjoyed writing something different from the usual :> I'm actually working on something else, which I hope to post soon... we shall see.

Anyways, your ask reminds me of this one fic I absolutely love 😭!!

Just to hear someone being the champion of something, regardless of what it is… I don’t know, fascinating. I’m like wow they’re the best in the world in that particular niche. And it makes you wonder if they’ve always been inclined to that, if they’ve always been good and whatnot. Wow.

But moving forward, here are the warnings for this 2-part (yay!) oneshot: explicit content, a bit of smut, Naoya is in it so either expect him to be a complete a-hole, misogynistic, objectifying, rude, yadayada, the usual lol.

Now onto the good stuff:

Let’s imagine that you were somewhat related to the “equestrian/horse jockey/racer” lifestyle since you were a child because you come from a long line of racers. Your dad was a horse jockey, your mom too, your grandpa, so on and so forth. You’re kind of royalty at this point, however, none of your relatives held the title of champion until your brother (Ren gashgkjhasjk) came along, that finally put your family on the map, cue your somewhat of a celebrity status. A… D-list celebrity, compared to your B-list almost A celebrity of a brother, in a universe where horse racing is very, insanely popular.

You were never forced to partake in the family tradition, after all was said and done, they were competitive but not a-holes when it came to their own relatives, so instead you decided to pursue somewhat of a normal lifestyle, get a career, whilst supporting your brother.

Cue rising star Naoya Zen’in, heir of the prestigious Zen’in clan that everyone suspected to be involved in shady business and often kept to themselves, so who would’ve thought they also liked to partake in competitions?

Because of his sudden apparition, as well as his exceptional skills, you’re naturally attracted to know more about this mysterious man who seems to give your brother a run for his money when obtaining the title of champion—or at least, that’s what the tabloids want it to appear, of course, until he inevitably does.

Having achieved what no one has ever done before (or at least as close as he had, since other racers like Gojo and Geto often take more of a… calm approach towards the competition, as if this was a pastime rather than a career), your interest in him reaches a new record high.

And you couldn’t be blamed—the more interviews you saw of him, the more you found him fascinating. The way he expressed himself when talking about his work gave you the impression that he was highly dedicated to his career, and you’d only seen that once or twice in your life.

But what caught your interest the most… was his charisma, and handsome appearance.

Naoya just carried an aura which forbade your eyes from straying away, even with the warnings your brother gave you, you just… couldn’t stop thinking about him.

“He’s a complete asshole— arrogant, snarky, and overall petty. I don’t want you getting near him.”

To which you quickly disregarded, telling him that: “Well, he’s obviously like that with you because you’re his direct competitor!”

You’d go against his warnings by attending his training sessions, which were only made available to other competitors or close relatives—you, being sister of the past champion, gave you the necessary access to see him up close and personal, although there wasn’t much closeness when it came to it, because although these interactions weren’t prohibited, they weren’t encouraged either, limiting yourself to observe him from the bleachers instead.

That, of course, and the shyness that rendered you immoble whenever realizing how close he was to you settled in.

This distance wouldn’t last long, however, for it was only a matter of time that he’d notice he was being observed by his rival’s sister, and that fact did not sit well with him at all.

Naoya didn’t like your brother, for according to him, he was too arrogant, evidently because he believed no one would ever dare take the title of champion out of his hands, growing confident, sloppy even, until harsh reality came crashing down onto him when it finally occurred.

The look on his face when the score ended in his favor was one Naoya would never forget, nor the roaring screams from the crowd when the verdict was finally announced.

He doesn’t presume your brother to be having the time of his life, and desperate to retrieve the position he once held, he retorted to deploying all kinds of methods to find a weakness of his to exploit.

He’s highly aware of how the families of competitors tended to work, thanks to some nasty experiences and growing up in such treachery too.

Their means were simple: they’d either mess up with the rider’s equipment, bribe the judges, or to the worse felony yet, directly attack the horse. Some have even died through these dirty altercations, and all to ensure victory.

It would be hypocritical of Naoya to deny he hadn’t done something like that before, considering the reputation of his family and the extensive possibilities at his command, but he can confidently say that he’d never made use of them outside a few occasions, his talent doing most of the job when earning triumphs.

Taking all of this into consideration, he thinks you must be one of those schemes sent out by a jealous competitor intended to distract their rival one way or the other.

He thought of it adorable, really, as if he’d fall for something so silly as a honey pot.

Sure, you were good looking, but it would take much more than that to get him distracted more so when he could easily get what you offered from the flock of fangirls that followed him around.

For all he knew, you were probably getting trained to be a racer too, whether to replace your brother after his failure or to keep the championship within the family, he didn’t know—although he wasn’t so sure about his theory, since he hadn’t seen you around the competitions outside of cheering for your brother and friends from afar, or wishing them good luck backstage before going onto the field.

Well, whatever it was, Naoya didn’t like you, not one bit. He thought of you as an annoyingly consistent mosquito buzzing around his ear whenever he caught a glimpse of you.

Just what exactly were you doing? Trying to read his movements so you could go rushing to your brother and tell him all about it? Pathetic.

But what was more pitiful was the way you’d look at him, wide-eyed and astounded, cheeks red whenever passing you by, unable to even respond to his greetings whenever he acknowledged you, outside of a squeak and a hurried “excuse me” before disappearing.

You were the epitome of displeasure.

“—And not only that, but rude too.” Naoya would tell his closest confidant, the one that prepared everything for his training sessions, and a childhood friend. “All members of her family must be like that—If it were up to me, I would’ve disqualified them just by that.”

“I don’t think she’s acting like that because she’s rude, Naoya” Ranta dared to say otherwise, much to the current champion’s irritation who often, if not always, liked to be agreed with.

“What else then?” he hisses, twisting his face into a scowl.

“I think it’s because… she likes you.”

Now it was Naoya’s moment to be startled.

Like him?

Surely Ranta must’ve hit his head on the way there to come up with that stupidity. There’s no way someone like you, having such a close relationship with the previous champion, would find interest in him outside of contempt. That’s just not how these things worked!

But let’s say it wasn’t that— let’s say… you did hold some kind of attraction towards him.

Your shyness suddenly made sense, why you rarely spoke to him, why you’d always look at him with fascination, a smile on your face whenever you saw him accomplish particularly hard trick with his horse, silently cheering for him whenever doing the rest of his routine… all while keeping distance.

If you were in the supposed mission of discovering a non-existent weakness in him, you would’ve approached him by now.

But you didn’t, and Ranta’s speculation might be the reason why.

And from that point forward, as if by the work of a miracle, perhaps allured for having the sister of his rival seemingly head over heels for him, Naoya begins to look at you through a different prospect.

It wouldn’t take long before he grew tired of your aloofness, though, impatient of waiting to see when you’d dare approach him, so he thought he’d do you a favor and take the first step himself—much to your horror.

“Hey!”

You’d hear him call one day after his training was done; at first you thought it was just your mind making up things, victim of all the immeasurable scenarios you’ve made up in your head… However, when you heard his voice again, turning your head to corroborate your assumptions, you knew it was real.

You freeze for a quick second upon realizing he was approaching you, before your survival instincts kick in and make a run for it.

“Hey—Where are you going?! Hey!” Naoya yells, rushing to your side and getting a hold of your hand, rooting you in place. The suddenness of his movement, as well as having him touch you, makes you think you're going to faint. “Why the hell are you running off like that? It’s not like I'm mugging you!"

“I—I needed to—to go!” you shriek, tugging and writhing against his hold I'm trying to escape, all whilst keeping your gaze as far away from him. He notices that. “I'm running late to—to—!"

“At least look me in the eye if you’re going to dismiss me.” He says, a smirk on his face as he sees your struggling stop at the same time your ears turn red.

That would've been enough for many, having seen you embarrassed enough, but for Naoya there is no such thing as too much, as he proceeds to further ridicule you. “Is that how you treat your brother's rival? I thought that even after all that, we could still count on each other to have an amicable relationship…"

Your breath hitches as your worst fears materialize before you.

"I—I didn’t mean to… appear rude.” you whisper. The rumors surrounding your brother and him were already nasty as they were… the last thing you wanted was to be added into the equation. 

Although you were more concerned for not leaving a first bad impression��even if you envisioned this moment happening way differently.

“Well, that’s all you’ve been to me—staring at me from afar. Not bothering to say hello, even when I greet you… and now, avoiding me.” he laments, as if he cared for this before Ranta made it aware you liked him, and your eyes widened. 

Has he really been all that aware of you? If that was the case, then he really was impressive… to keep attentive to his training, while being aware of someone so irrelevant like you is something only talented people like him could pull off.

“…I… I’m sorry” you murmur “I…  know it’s not an excuse, but… I didn’t know what to say. I guess I was surprised you… noticed…. Me” you drift on the last part, voice growing smaller and smaller as hotness settles on your cheeks.

“Why?” he asks, tilting his head a bit to the side, a gesture that makes you feel silly, put on the spot. Exactly where he wanted you. “Am I that… unapproachable?”

“I didn’t mean that!” you gasp, rushing to reassure Naoya upon seeing his face gloom. A reaction that would instantly infatuate Naoya, prompting him to tease you whenever possible to get that flustered face out of you. “…I just… admire you. And I… was too ashamed of telling you. I mean, you must hear it from everyone already, so why would I make any difference…?”

“You? Admiring me?” Naoya blurts, a bit too loud for his liking. Fortunately, you take his response as an act of humbleness, not him reflecting on the doubts Ranta planted on his mind. Doubts… he was ready to discard, until he received direct confirmation from your voice.

Quite unexpected, but welcomed nonetheless.

“Surely your brother was far more impressive. He was the champion… until I came along of course”

“Oh—I, I mean I guess so.” You chuckle nervously,  “But… I like your technique better.”

“You ride?” by your selections of words, he has to inquire. Had it been a casual watcher, they probably would’ve said something redundant such as “you look cool” or “how do you get the horse to do that?”

But coming from you and your background, his theory of you being trained to be a jockey, if not one already, rises to the occasion, alongside the idea of you being sent to spy on him—

“No” you respond, and it’s his time to be surprised.“Not really, the rest of my family are the ones that know all that stuff, but of course, you already know that” you laugh, and he raises an eyebrow.

“Then what? Are you afraid of horses or something?”

“It’s not like that!” you laugh, shaking your head. “I just… I don't like the sensation, that’s all. Kind of ironic, isn’t it? Considering everyone around seems to love it.”

Naoya doesn’t ponder on your answers too much, outside of what he can take to his advantage, of course. Judging by your reaction, the way you were referring to him, and your words, he comes up with two conclusions:

You’re telling the truth. And that you’re undoubtedly, irrefutably stars-truck by him. If not enamored at this point, by him.

A succession convincing enough to hitch him to you, believing he can get his fair share of fun from it, see just how far your desperation to please him will get you, and who knows? Even drive his rival crazy while at it.

Oh, he can already imagine the look on his face once your brother knows about it…

Partially made possible by the tabloids, who didn’t take long to notice something was up when they saw the two together getting dinner at some nearby, luxurious restaurant, courtesy of Naoya after a few days of insistence.

“I can’t, I don’t think it’s right” you’d try to reject him, and while he found your coyness adorable, the fact that he had to insist was annoying the hell out of him.

“Come on” he persists, eyes softening and lips pouting so as to pull your heartstrings “It’s the least I could do after the support you’ve been giving me”

You end up accepting, and the rest is history… recorded on the articles that began to circulate across the internet, the words “Naoya Zen’in in a relationship with his rival’s sister?!” their main, eye-catching title.

He didn’t care about it, in fact, he thrived on the attention, fed his ego and gave him the impression of invincibility, much to his manager’s displeasure, who had grown exhausted of telling and begging Naoya to be careful with his public persona…

You, on the other hand, never being one to be under the limelight, began to suffer the consequences of said thing. Starting by your mother, who reminded you that your actions not only affected you, but your brother’s reputation, which… “You are going to be in charge in a few years, once I retire from being his manager. Remember, it’s easier to maintain than to improve.”

To your brother, who stormed through your bedroom door as soon as the rumors graced his ears, with a newspaper in hand serving as evidence, intending to seek an answer.

“D—dating him?!” You flinch upon hearing his booming voice, a tone rarely used by him, if not to express his great happiness after a successful competition. “Of all people, you’re dating him?!”

“Who?!” you gasp, heart thundering against your chest as you drop what you were doing—nothingless than paperwork, for your almost due project. If you hadn’t been distracted by Naoya, this wouldn't be an issue… “What are you talking about?!”

“Who— Who else am I talking about, Y/N, if not the man you went to get dinner with yesterday??” he frowns, shoving the newspaper to you, giving it a quick reading before jumping back to Ren. “Why the hell would you go and fraternize with the enemy after the warnings I gave you?!”

“I just… went to get something to eat… it’s not a big deal.” And maybe that’s all that it was, although you wouldn’t tell him that you’d been fantasizing with the idea of being something more, thanks to the fact that you’ve kept contact with him, already received another invitation to go eat with him.

“… did he do something?” He asks, referring to his crude nature and another rumor that circulated between racers. If he hears, even if it’s the smallest, briefest implication that he had taken advantage of you—!

“No, of course not! You know that as soon as he does something I don’t like, he’s gone!” you reassure him, or attempt to anyway, for your brother is… quite stubborn when it comes to changing his mind on something he doesn’t like. 

Well, it’s not like he can do anything about it now, outside of hoping Naoya will keep his hands to himself, if not out of respect for you, at least for the sake of their “friendly” competition.

A sentiment that would struggle to remain, for that point forward the tabloids would just get crazier and crazier with their titles the more they saw the two together.

They always presented the same thing, of course, that the two were in some kind of secret relationship, probably to stir your brother (now introducing some kind of jealous rivalry between you and him) or that you’d jumped alliances to enjoy the privileges of a champion. 

All things that amused Naoya to no end, but greatly irritated you.

“I don’t like it” you’d confide to Naoya one night while he was driving you back home. “They’re saying nothing but a bunch of lies!”

“First time dealing with the tabloids?” he smirks, but far from being cheered up, your frown deepens.

“I don’t want this to affect my family”

“Then it won’t” he says, a free hand reaching over to your face and pinching your cheek “As long as you know the truth, who cares what they say?”

And you take his words to heart—after all, what you’re going through is nothing compared to him. So he must know how to navigate these situations.

You take his hand, turning around to see him and give him a smile.

“Thank you”

The two kept seeing each other, more and more frequently—always willing to join Naoya wherever he wanted to take you, to the point that’s all you looked forward to. Not even finishing your career, or helping out your mom with Ren’s upcoming PR events.

All that you wanted was to be with Naoya, see what kind of wonderful things he’ll show you on this occasion, and be overall happy.

And as things proceeded between the two… it naturally didn’t take long before things became a bit more serious.

There were never actual words muttered to imply the beginning of your relationship with him, but one day, it just made sense.

“Wow—it’s quite late, much more than what I expected!” you say upon noticing the dark sky, whilst holding his hand as the two leave the place both got dinner at. 

It was a miracle that there was no one to snap a picture of the two as they left the building, but that didn’t stop either from enjoying themselves to the best of their ability, being able to enjoy the quietness of the night for the first time in weeks. 

“And cold too!” you shivered, unwittingly squeezing his hand, a gesture he replicates. “Makes me want to get something warm…”

Naoya doesn’t respond, like he usually does. Back then it was because he thought your conversations to be a bit too silly to engage in completely, but now, it’s because he likes to listen to your voice. 

“Think we can go to a nearby coffee shop and get something?” you ask, stopping on your tracks, releasing his grasp and skipping ahead of him, turning to face him. 

The way you look at him is endearing, with big round eyes as if pleading him to consider your proposal, and a grin on your face he can’t help but feel warmed by it—maybe he’ll skip on the coffee. “You can get something too! I’ll pay for it, to make up for dinner, hmm? How about that? I know of a very good place too, you won’t regret it”

You continue to beam, and Naoya, by some strange reason, perhaps overwhelmed by your adorableness, leans down to your level and kisses you.

It’s a quick peck, nothing less than his lips brushing over yours in a sweet, loving gesture, but it’s enough to leave you dumbfounded during and after he peeled away from you.

Trying to understand what had just occurred, you blink rapidly, wanting to clear the image before you and debunk any possibilities of an hallucination—but the lingering warmth on your lips and cheeks proves you otherwise, more so when you look up to Naoya who was starting at you with the same startled look on his face.

Neither knew why the kiss happened, only that Naoya was suddenly inundated with the urge to do it, that you were a flustered mess, and that both liked it, feeling that regardless of why it occurred, it was the right thing to do.

The relationship between the two soon began to flourish into something deeper, more intimate, and quite intense too. You’d soon discover that Naoya was nothing of a gentle lover, but rather… passionate, desperate to get the new flavor you provided, whether it be stealing all of your kisses whenever possible, hoarding all of your attention on him when you were free —even if you were not…

Or exploring places where no one else had seen before.

“Am I really your first one?” Naoya mutters against your ear, appearing skeptic of your claims, as he holds you up against him, pounding and thrusting deep into your core as you hold back your moans, biting your lip to the point you’re sure it’s bleeding, but even with the pain you don’t relent, nor does the champion when it comes to wrecking your insides. “Tell—Tell me, princess” he groans; it’s always the same, whenever he teases you with one of his thousand pet names, your walls tighten, harshly squeezing him to the point he thinks you might cut his dick off—and he can’t get enough of it. He smirks at the sensation, thrusting sharper into you.  “Has anyone else—anyone else touched you like this?”

Not that he actually cares for actual confirmation—he just has to remember the stammering, heated mess you were when he implied the faintest need of wanting to spend the night with you to know you’d been a virgin all this time. As expected of a secluded, overprotected girl like you. Oh, he had so much to teach you…

“N—Nao—yaa” you whimper, unable to do anything else but chant the name of the man that is making you nothing but a drooling mess. “Mmmhmm!”

You cry, eyes rolling to the back of your head, when he hits that spot that has you a mumbling mess, whenever the tip of his cock touches it, you see stars—you never knew such thing could be possible, always thinking of it as nothing less than exaggerations of unattainable porn standards, but Naoya proves you yet again that whatever he sets his mind into, he obtains.

As his thrusts continue to attack your womb, you’re reaching your end, mind-numbing so, and all that you want to do is keep him there, deep inside you, and never let him go, evident by the way your arms tighten around his shoulders, hands crawling against his back, urging him to keep that pace, pleading:

“Naoya—Naoya…. Right—right there, Nao—” he smiles, giving you a rather harsh trust that has you jolting, squeaking just in his ear that has him moaning too—he can feel his seed itching to be released inside, and who was he to deny himself such pleasure?

“Y/N” he mutters hotly against you, nibbling your ear “Come—I want you to come with me—!”

And then, you do. Your release is a shower of sensations, from pleasure, happiness, satisfaction, a bit of tiredness to heat when Naoya finally spills inside you, filling your cervix up to the brim, to the point you feel him up to your throat—you want to run away from this overwhelming sensation, yet your core feels as if it’s demanding you to stay, be a good girl and take what he’s giving you.

But after you milk the last of his cum, deep inside your core, and he takes your lips, hungry, eagerly, as it was the norm whenever he kisses you and takes all your moans, is that the strongest sentiment comes to light: love.

“Naoya…” you breathe, chest heaving as he falls to your side, taking this opportunity to place your head on his chest and hear his rapid heartbeat. 

Getting to experience this closeness with your favorite person, and coincidentally, the man you undeniably love… makes you feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

And you want to tell him that.

“Naoya” you repeat, low, uncertain, yet your heart is desperate to continue forward..

“What? Already ready for another round?” he teases, a sly smirk on his flustered face, and you pout.

“No… that’s not it.” You murmur, he chuckles.

“Good, I still have to recover from what we just did, for a minute I thought you were going to cut off my dick by how hard you were squeezing me.” he sighs, tired.

He’s always been blunt, a virtue you appreciate him for. But for tonight, it’s not what you were hoping to be with after being so close to each other, so… intimate, and just when you were debating whether to pour your heart out or not…

You give it a few seconds of thought, finally concluding that perhaps another day would be a better occasion. After all, you knew just how… intimidating it could be to hear someone’s feelings towards you, as well as how busy Naoya was to be for the upcoming season, and you don’t want to distract him…

So you don’t say it. 

You mean them all the same, but you don’t say them in that particular moment.

Every other day you’d be inundated with these same doubts and emotions whenever he’d take you—some of them spiking higher than the others due to the location of said acts, such as in the stables, quickly after putting his horse away.

You’d soon believe he had a knack for… taking you in public places, considering how intensely he’d ravage you, more so when given the faintest hint of another’s presence, which would always make you cower and squirm, or at least try to, because you were never be able to compete against him and his desires” 

“What? Afraid that they’ll see us like this? See you like this?” he’d husk, harshly thrusting his hips against you, hands on your hips as he sets a rough, 

“St—stop it” you’d say, to the best of your ability in between thrusts, for no matter how many times you’ve done this with him you could never get used to his roughness. “They—they’re going to see—!”

“Tell that to your cunt, princess” Naoya breathes, pulling you close to him, his breath is in your ear, hand hovering over your clit, squeezing it ever so lightly to get you just where he wants you. “The way you’re squeezing me—it’s— it’s like you—you want them to see”

He may say it with a worried tone, as if wondering if he'd be able to survive your seeming hunger for his cock, but his smile tells him otherwise.

“But that’s what you want, isn’t it? Let the world know how much you love fucking your brother’s rival”

You frantically shake your head, biting your lip when his words become too lewd, unwittingly tightening your walls against his cock. 

Your grasp lunges towards his hands, attempting to stop him from rubbing your clit and overwhelm your senses any further, or his roaming hand across your body which now settled in kneading and squeezing your breasts—although you always loved how crazy it drove you.

“Is my princess all needy for my cum?” he breathes, his trusts growing faster, erratic, while he harshly pinches your clit—he’s close.

“N—no…” is all that you manage to whimper through the knot in your throat, and the embarrassment that only makes you feel hotter and hotter when you begin to feel the familiar wave of blood rushing down to your pussy—you’re close too. “I don’t—I don’t—”

“Of course, not” he chuckles, leaning to kiss the side of your face. You moan at the contrasting difference of the obscene and the sweet, which only makes your heart skip a beat. “You’d never say that—you’re too much of a good girl to ever say that.”

And then, after a few more thrusts and moans of pleasure, reminding you just how much he loves fucking you, his hot seed spills inside you, painting every inch of your walls white and giving you that delicious, eye-rolling sensation that has you cumming immediately after— mind numb as your juices begin to gush onto him, mixing with his cum before sliding down your leg and onto the floor.

The stains of his cum leaves behind undeniably evidence of what transpired between the two, a sight that makes you flustered beyond limits, reminding you to clean up before leaving, but even then, all that you can think of is Naoya, and how much you truly, deeply, love him.

“Nao—Naoya…” you gasp, eyes watery, breath heavy, as your arms rise to wrap around his shoulders and pull him closer to you—he allows you, while doing his best to keep inside you. If there’s one thing he likes the most, outside of how you tightly grip him while cumming, is how you keep him warm afterwards. Said it felt like home. “…Naoya—”

“What?” he exhales, looking down to you as he tries to regain his breath. The person they heard approaching a few minutes earlier was completely out of his mind by this point, whether they’d seen them and left, or decided to stay and watch the show, it didn’t matter to him. Not anymore. Not when you were here. “You’re going to wear out my name.”

Maybe. You can’t help it after all—you just love how it rolls out on your tongue. Or how much you wanted to say it with the following words.

“I love you.”

You feel him tense up a bit, but you don’t think of anything else about it outside of being taken aback by your confession. He’s not very… affectionate when it comes to displaying it through words, sometimes even actions. Yet, you console yourself by the fact that he always comes back to you. You’ve become his home, and to you, that’s worth more than any “I love you”’s he could tell you.

At least for now.

#ask #naoya zenin #naoya zen'in #naoya x reader #naoya zenin x reader #naoya zenin x your #jjk naoya #naoya zen'in x reader

[riddle-me-ri]

helloo! I'm new here. And I don't know how to use this app actually. But if your requests are still open, could you please write something like: Dano!riddler x reader, Edward obsessed with reader and hacked their Instagram, up to you, account and he sees their dms and bam! Bruce Wayne flirting with reader omg!!!

A/N: Aaahhh okay so, first off, hello, welcome to this glorious virtual abyss of fandom and chaos, and for a request you did perfect! Thanks so much! Secondly, sorry this took so long, but I’m still very nervous for writing Dano Riddler rip and I don’t know if I’ll ever be over it lol, also I was stuck brainstorming how to get this scenario to work in my head, lol. Like I couldn’t think of where else Eddie could meet the reader besides the diner rip, but I completely forgot his job…so yeah we’re gonna go with that! Hope you guys enjoy it!

P.S. Just read book 1 of Riddler Year One and it HELPED IMMENSELY there’s no spoilers though, but there’s a mention of Zach cause he’s just the obnoxious prick I need for Eddie and Reader to kinda bond over their dislike of lol, plus he was teased in the sneak peek earlier this month

Trigger Warnings: mentions of violence (very slightly), details of a possible panic attack? (It's Eddie but he works himself through it.

Word Count: 1.8 k

Reevesverse / Dano Riddler x Reader - Hack Into Your Heart

Edward will never truly understand why you were going out of your way to interact with him. 

No one else in the office did, so why did you bother? 

You were attractive, clearly bright, and…friendly. People liked you, normal people, not people like him. 

Yet, here you were…

“Hey, Ed! How are you this morning?”

“Uh…I..er…fine, Y/N. A-and you?” 

“I’m great! Hey, I wanted to ask you some-”

"Hey Rain Man! Hey, you got that Loeb case file ready?” 

Well, at least Zach wasn’t just rude to Edward.

“Yeah, here.” Ed flicked the manilla folder to the clean-cut man in front of him. 

“Ah, perfect! Thanks, buddy! We’ll make a killin’ with this one!” 

Zach turned to look at you and gave you a cheesy full-teeth grin. “Hey, Y/N.” He winked and went off back to his office. 

Edward shrunk within himself back into his cubicle. You were no doubt fawning over Zach’s flirty gesture and you’ve completely ignored weird ol’ Eddie–

“Ugh, rude dick.”

Wait, what?

“What?” Ed lifted his head back up. 

“Oh, sorry, geez. I just can't stand people like him. Pompous and arrogant.” 

Oh…well this is an interesting development.

Edward would never fully admit it to himself, but there was a nagging notion in his brain that identified the early signs of a growing crush. He thought he was beyond that emotion, he would be incapable to ever act upon it like a normal person. No one would ever reciprocate whatever motions he took to even try and court a partner, so he tossed the idea out of his mind. 

However, you’ve proven to make the emotion start to gnaw and fester in his gut. Made what he deemed impossible to seem somewhat possible. He couldn’t tell if he wanted to bash your head in or embrace you. 

I-I couldn’t hurt them, not when they’ve been nothing but kind to me…but it is infuriating.

“Uh…y-yeah, me neither.” Ed mumbled, after a minute of realizing he never responded to you while lost in his inner turmoil. 

You shook your head. “And why does he call you that, Rain Man? It isn’t some weird passive-aggressive thing is it? Cause you shouldn’t have to put up with that, Eddie.”

Eddie. “Oh-uh..n-no nothing like that, I just…I help us-him…make a lot of money.” 

Your eyes widened, before you gritted your teeth. “See, ugh…I don’t know how you put up with him. I sure couldn’t, and I feel bad. You shouldn’t have to–”

“Hey Y/N! Do you have those invoices?” A co-worker hollered over from their cubicle. 

“Oh, shit!” You said under your breath, but Ed heard and it made him chuckle softly. “Yeah, I’m coming!” 

You looked back down to Ed before walking away, “come see me when you get a chance. I still gotta ask you something.” 

“O-Okay.” 

Just like that you were gone, drifted away back into the hustle and bustle of work. Edward was perplexed by you, but given who he is…and how he is, he knew he couldn’t go down this venture without proper knowledge beforehand. 

For once, he actually felt sort of bad about invading someone else’s privacy. Even if he somewhat did so on a legal basis and got paid for just that. Albeit, he knew this was the only way he could get to know you, the true you, without having to ask outright and risk being disappointed when it turned out to be some sort of façade. 

Edward knew he had to take social media with a grain of salt, but he knew it was a good place to start, and it wasn’t his first time hacking into Instagram’s databases. Using your full name and a picture of you available on the company’s website he was able to find your account with ease. 

He didn’t get far into your account. He found himself stricken with a small sting to his chest. He just realized out of the several months you have been here…

Edward’s never seen you smile, a true genuine happy smile. 

Not those minuscule lopsided ones that sufficed lighthearted work discussions. He entertained the idea of possibly, maybe just maybe, one day he could be the reason you smiled like that. 

It took Edward sometime to break from the hypnotizing spell your smile bewitched upon him. When he finally did, he found himself endlessly scrolling. He would get enraptured every now and again by another photo of you smiling. 

You loved animals, often had pictures of you with your pet(s) or just the pet(s). You were also very proactive against issues Ed felt strongly about. There were pictures of you volunteering at the new orphanage…the way you smiled and embraced the children. Your smile infected the children around you. 

You were different. You were different, just like Edward suspected. God, if someone just smiled down at him when he was an orphan, embraced him. Perhaps he wouldn’t be so…estranged from the rest of society. 

Nearly an hour and a half went by and he noticed a little red icon near the upper right corner of his screen. This must be the direct messaging interface–

What the hell? BRUCE WAYNE?

Bruce: Hi there, I just wanted to say I’m very impressed with your volunteer work. I admire your dedication to our fair city. I wished many more Gothamites shared your tenacity. 

Y/N: Is this some kind of prank?

Bruce: Ahh, I can see how you may think that, but nope it isn’t! 

Y/N: Hmm…your account is verified and your photos seem legit…

Apparently, Bruce sent a compelling photo that was no longer available, because your tone immediately changed. 

Y/N: Oh wow! I guess it really is you! I…um…sorry about not believing you. Can’t be too careful lol, but I appreciate your comments. I know this city has its faults but it is home. 

Bruce: It’s quite all right. It’s pretty smart of you to be on your toes. And I know what you mean, about Gotham.

Threads and threads of conversing. You told him about your volunteering ventures, what you did for work. The two of you bonded over your stories and the obvious comfortability between the two of you. 

Bruce: You’re truly a beautiful person, you know? As cheesy as that sounds, but you are, inside and out. 

Edward’s vision started slowly slipping into the vignette of red around his perception. He had to put aside his personal computer and breathe. He opened up the daily crossword and started focusing on the words, the clues and their answers. The red slowly started fading away. 

No, no, no! He stole the public eye from me– from us at the Orphanage. I won’t let him get away with this, too! Not when I can still do something about it. 

As much as Bruce slid in some compliments, they didn’t seem to move you. You thanked him for them, but never reciprocated or focused on them for too long. 

Maybe they’ll reciprocate mine? 

Now armed with the appropriate knowledge and even with an excuse to actually see you. Edward decided to make way to your cubicle. 

It seemed sort of surreal for him to interact with you in a workplace setting. Now knowing who you were when you were free and yourself. He was going to have to act aloof to that version of you, until you revealed it to him. 

He was so determined and heated at your exchange with Bruce Wayne, he didn’t actually plan out how he was going to get your attention. He especially didn’t know since you were busy on the phone. 

Edward waved his hands when he noticed your peripheral was close to where he stood. You immediately took notice and smiled at him. 

That’s close to the one in the pictures…

You held up your hand and made a mouthing motion with it, indicating the person on the phone was chatting your life away. Ed couldn’t help but slightly chuckle.

“Yes-Yes, I understand. Okay, I-I’m sorry I’ve gotta get going, I’ve got another important phone call coming in. I will update you whenever I learn anything new…okay, thank you!” 

You groaned after you hung up the phone. “You’re a lifesaver, Eddie. I didn’t think she’d ever stop talking…” 

Eddie…Eddie…he loathed when Zach called him that, but…he could get used to you saying it. 

“Oh, uh, no problem. You handled it pretty well…”

“That’s what years of customer service will do for you.” You scoffed. 

“Um-uh, y-you wanted to ask me something? I-I finally got some free time…”

“Oh my God, I totally forgot. Yes! Um, so, this is going to sound very strange and extremely forward. But…I’m hosting a Game Night at the Gotham City Library with some school kids and a few of the orphans from the new orphanage. And I’ve noticed you doing the newspaper crosswords and code breakers, I thought you might want to join.”

You were inviting him? You were going to include Edward Nashton in a local outgoing function? For the first time since he’s been alive, Ed’s brain was slightly misfiring. 

“I-I-um…I-I don’t really go out much.” Edward found himself balling up the fabric of his rain jacket. 

“O-Oh, I see, it’s okay. I know it’s a lot and kind of sudden. But maybe we could do something less…crowded? I’d love to try and come up with some puzzles for the kids to solve and actually get them to use their brains.” You giggled. “Does that sound more...manageable? You can still absolutely say no, no hard feelings!” 

“N-No…I-I um…that sounds like fun.” 

Fun? When was the last time Edward had ever said that word out loud to anyone about anything. 

Edward’s eyes widened at your reaction.

There it is. That smile…I did it…I can do this. 

“Yay! Awesome! Thank you so much, Eddie! I really appreciate it! And even if you’re not there, I promise I won’t take the credit. Unlike a certain individual.” You shot daggers at the office door right above your cubicle. Edward had no idea you were right below Zach. You poor thing. 

Edward found himself smiling back, genuinely for the first time in a long time. “I know you won’t. I believe you–trust you.” 

You got up from your chair with some files piled into one arm. You walked by him and placed your hand on his shoulder. “I’m glad, I want you too. You don’t have to be alone in this world, Eddie.” You pat his shoulder and then make your way upstairs. 

“I’ll message you with more details, ok?” You smiled at him, waving as you went further up the stairs. 

Edward found himself nodding and waving back. 

You’ll rot in hell one day, Wayne. But I’m not going to let you take them down with you…

#reevesverse riddler x reader #reevesverse edward nashton x reader #dano riddler x reader #dano edward nashton x reader #ri writes

[jackoshadows]

I’ve always had a soft spot for the outsider, for the underdog. ‘Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things’, as the title of one of the (TV series) episodes goes. The angst that they have in life makes for more conflict, makes for more drama, and there’s something very attractive about that. My Game of Thrones is told by outsiders of both types. None of them fit comfortably into the society into which they’ve been born, and they’re all struggling to find a place for themselves in which they’re valued and loved and respected, despite what their society considers their deficiencies. And out of that, I think, comes good stories. - GRRM

“Would you rather be called the Imp? Let them see that their words can cut you, and you’ll never be free of the mockery. If they want to give you a name, take it, make it your own. Then they can’t hurt you with it anymore.” - Jon, AGoT

"When he [Tyrion] opened the door, the light from within threw his shadow clear across the yard, and for just a moment Tyrion Lannister stood tall as a king." – Jon, AGoT

"Dragons," Moqorro said in the Common Tongue of Westeros... "Dragons old and young,true and false, bright and dark. And you. A small man with a big shadow, snarling in the midst of all." – Tyrion, ADwD

Tyrion Lannister and Jon Snow are two central characters in ASoIaF and hold the most POV chapters over 5 books. It’s narratively important that GRRM has them immediately meet in the first book and form a friendship. Tyrion is that singular POV through which we see Jon Snow as just a young boy – both Arya and Bran hero worship their big brother and view him as all wise and all knowing. We get one of those rare, vague descriptions of Jon Snow from a non-Stark. Likewise, we get the first description of Tyrion Lannister, in all it’s glory, from the POV of Jon Snow.

[As an aside it’s interesting how we get the description of the entire Lannister clan through Jon’s eyes, and soon after Benjen praises him as having keen observation skills. We also get nothing about Tyrion in the first few chapters from the POV of the other Starks until Bran meets him coming back from the Wall]

Jon and Tyrion’s first interaction is basically a competition between the two of them about who has had it worse. Jon, in all his innocence, thinks that being a bastard is the pinnacle of pain and suffering. Tyrion naturally disagrees and gives him the oft quoted advice about holding onto that giant chip on their shoulders to deal with how society treats them.

“Let me give you some counsel, bastard,” Lannister said. “Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.” - Jon, AGoT

This shared sense of being outsiders could be why Tyrion is the first person to tell Jon Snow the truth about the Wall and it’s inhabitants – something that his father and uncle don’t do before Jon makes his life changing decision.

No doubt the boy had made the mistake of thinking that the Night’s Watch was made up of men like his uncle. If so, Yoren and his companions were a rude awakening. Tyrion felt sorry for the boy. He had chosen a hard life... or perhaps he should say that a hard life had been chosen for him -Tyrion, AGoT

No one had told him the Night’s Watch would be like this; no one except Tyrion Lannister. The dwarf had given him the truth on the road north, but by then it had been too late. Jon wondered if his father had known what the Wall would be like. He must have, he thought; that only made it hurt the worse. – Jon, AGoT

We learn quite a bit about Tyrion and his fascination with dragons and his childhood as a Lannister. Jon and Tyrion confront some harsh truths and start bonding. They both even have an in joke about grumpkins and snarks! It’s almost as if Tyrion Lannister is a mentor figure to Jon Snow in these few chapters as Jon starts to quickly grow up outside of the protection of Winterfell.

Even once they reach the wall, Tyrion seeks out Jon Snow and sticks up for him against the likes of Alliser Thorne. Tyrion truly does have a soft spot for cripples, bastards and broken things and we see this side of him in his interactions with a lonely 14 year old. And then when Jon gets Robb’s letter of Bran living and shares his joy with Tyrion!

He ran back to the common hall, where he found Tyrion Lannister just finishing his meal. He grabbed the little man under the arms, hoisted him up in the air, and spun him around in a circle. “Bran is going to live!” he whooped. Lannister looked startled. Jon put him down and thrust the paper into his hands. “Here, read it,” he said. - Jon, AGoT

Tyrion suggests to Mormont that Jon accompany him back to Winterfell so he can see his siblings and agrees to carry Jon’s messages and provide any help for Bran. Equally, we see Jon just generally be a kind person with Tyrion and look past society’s derision for him.

“Too hot, too noisy, and I’d drunk too much wine,” the dwarf told him. “I learned long ago that it is considered rude to vomit on your brother. Might I have a closer look at your wolf?” 

Jon hesitated, then nodded slowly. “Can you climb down, or shall I bring a ladder?”  - Jon, AGoT

The walk was short, but the ground was rough underfoot and his legs were cramping badly by the time they got back. Jon Snow offered a hand to help him over a thick tangle of roots, but Tyrion shook him off. - Tyrion, AGoT

“Makes you wonder what lies beyond,” a familiar voice said.

Jon looked around. “Lannister. I didn’t see-I mean, I thought I was alone.”  - Jon, AGoT

Tyrion is the first friend Jon Snow makes at the wall and he is genuinely sad to see him go. He thinks so well of Tyrion, that he asks him to do whatever he can for Bran.

And finally, I adore their last moment together on the wall:

“Thank you, my lord of Lannister.” He pulled off his glove and offered his bare hand. “Friend.”

Tyrion found himself oddly touched. “Most of my kin are bastards,” he said with a wry smile, “but you’re the first I’ve had to friend.” He pulled a glove off with his teeth and clasped Snow by the hand, flesh against flesh. The boy’s grip was firm and strong.

When he had donned his glove again, Jon Snow turned abruptly and walked to the low, icy northern parapet. Beyond him the Wall fell away sharply; beyond him there was only the darkness and the wild. Tyrion followed him, and side by side they stood upon the edge of the world. – Tyrion, AGoT

They part as friends and the Jon/Tyrion relationship is immediately contrasted with Tyrion meeting Robb at Winterfell.  

“If you are a lord, you might learn a lord’s courtesy,” the little man replied, ignoring the sword point in his face. “Your bastard brother has all your father’s graces, it would seem.” – Bran, AGoT

Robb Stark seemed puzzled. “Is this some trap, Lannister? What’s Bran to you? Why should you want to help him?”

“Your brother Jon asked it of me. And I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples and bastards and broken things.” Tyrion Lannister placed a hand over his heart and grinned.  Bran, AGoT

Tyrion Lannister and Jon Snow then go their own ways on completely different paths. However, it’s telling that when Stannis Baratheon brings up Sansa’s marriage to Tyrion, Jon’s thoughts are about the man whose hand he shook as friend and wondering if Tyrion could indeed be a kinslayer. The fact that GRRM chose to narratively focus here on Jon and Tyrion (Instead of having Jon show the slightest bit of concern for Sansa’s whereabouts and well being) indicates that moving forward this is going to be a significant and important relationship when they inevitably meet again.

And then there’s Tyrion’s association with Dragons. Tyrion meets Aemon and Jon at the wall (Dragons old and young), he has met Young Griff and will meet Dany (Dragons false and true) and will meet dragons bright and dark (there are several candidates theorized here. Could be Dany – bright - and Jon – dark). He has held a fascination with dragons since he was a child. It’s possible he is going to be a dragon rider.

Then there are the parallel arcs between Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow. Mothers dying in childbirth, being a third child. Outcasts and exiles. Tyrion and the Mountain clans, Dany and the Dothraki, Jon and the Wildlings. Tyrion, Dany and Jon having arcs of administration and managing affairs of state.

The Tyrion-Jon relationship in AGoT is interesting especially in light of the leaked original outline. It’s no doubt a formative and important relationship for both characters and GRRM uses their POV chapters to shed light on Jon and Tyrion as he introduces these characters to the readers. Jon is one of those rare and genuine friendships Tyrion forms in the books, and Jon still thinks of and remembers Tyrion as a friend.

They have vastly changed from when they first met. AGoT Tyrion is the warmest, kindest we see him before he gets involved in the business at KL and goes down a darker path. Likewise the young, naive, innocent boy we see with Tyrion at the start of AGoT is long gone with Jon ‘killing the boy and letting the man be born’. There’s no question that this is going to be a complicated relationship, considering Jon wants to rain down death and destruction on house Lannister for destroying his family. However Tyrion did kill Tywin Lannister and will possibly be allied with Daenerys when they meet again. This is one relationship I am most curious about and I can’t wait for them to meet again.

#Tyrion Lannister #Jon Snow #tyrionmonth2022 #Men in his life

[residentmc]

okay I’ve been so obsessed with the idea lately of MC adjusting to devildom culture and being so fascinated with it?? Like everyday sayings, dating norms, customs, what’s considered rude, etc…

I read a really amazing fic of mammon and mc having a conversation abt devildom courting traditions, and it was SO. GOOD. I want more of that, it’s so interesting to me??? my MC is a self insert and I’m a sponge, I loooovvveeee learning abt this stuff so I need more situations where MC gets to learn abt devildom culture. There’s so much to work with there.

and the brothers who, despite being alive for thousands of years and have no doubt gained knowledge on human world customs and cultures from an outside perspective, have never really lived or experienced it for a super long time, so whenever MC talks about the human experience (either specific to their country/culture or life in the human world in general), they’re like “wtf are you talking about” and MC has to explain it.

like, I don’t know how to explain it better than me being obsessed with the idea of MC being human while surrounded by a bunch of non-humans?? Like having completely human moments and the others being surprised and learning more through them??

seeing Solomon and MC bonding over human world things and being in awe of it and also slightly jealous bc they can’t relate the way he can. they share the human experience, even if Solomon has been alive for a looooong time too, he’s still human.

seeing MC interact with other humans on a trip to their hometown/on a trip to the human world in general and getting culture shock from the difference in their mannerisms. (I feel like MC definitely acts different in the devildom vs when they’re up in the human world, I mean they have to right?) and yeah sure, they’ve noticed before meeting MC but now it feels… completely in their faces. now they’re really noticing it.

Anyway PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE give me your thoughts on this, any headcanons you have, or random scenarios I BEG YOU, this is all I can think about, I need content about it and I can’t make any of my own right now!!!

I’m a writer but all capability of explaining things well leaves me the second I have a specific thing I’m trying to convey lmao

#obey me shall we date #obey me #obey me mc

[ofmermaidstories]

Ooh im so glad you enjoy any type of comments because im so so so obsessed with something (just like this) but felt the comments i left on ao3 weren’t showing how much i really really liked it! [which is a lot, i live react to my little fanfic gc about it whenever i read/reread 😭 shout out to them for listening☝️]

NO, listen—I’m the same way!!! Writing big, analytical comments doesn’t come naturally to me (which means I appreciate the ones I get even more, because i know exactly how much time and thought they take 😭), so I understand the knee-jerk worry of, oh no, is this enough? But I do think that it’s a disservice to each other to like, have expectations of how to comment on something. 🥺 I don’t believe in rigidly policing how we aught to interact with each other’s art (beyond not being dicks). It’s—disheartening! Disheartening and fucking rude, actually, because it does two things: it treats those beautifully detailed, loving comments that people write of their own excitement as the only valid form of expressing love and it also makes reading fanfiction and interacting with each other a chore! And it shouldn’t be! It’s not! I dunno how many times I need to say this, but fanfiction isn’t homework—and that goes two ways!! You, as a writer, are not enslaved to it. You don’t need to finish to a deadline (unless you want to!). And you as a reader are not obligated to provide an itinerary of the time you spend with someone’s work!!!

It’s not the only way to love something. Like you saying that you live react it to the group chat—I don’t even know how to articulate what that means to me, to hear??? Lmfao. Because it’s so cute and it’s so fun!!! And it’s relatable, because I do the exact same thing with fics I love, to the friends that I love. 🥺 If anything, I find it easier to like, lay out what I love in a fic to a chat, if that makes sense? Because I’m not worried about the author! Like—I’m not worried about impressing them, LOL. Or accidentally hurting their feelings if I’m maybe a little confused about something, or am just extra opinionated that day. I can just say, “OH MY GOD [insert writer here] UPDATED [insert fic here] IM LOSING MYS HIT OH MY GOD ITS SO GOOD OH MY GOD!!!! [insert plot twist here]!!!!!! NOOOOOOO OMG WHY WOULD THEY DO THIS TO ME IM TOO DELICATE FOR THIS I HATE IT HERE” etc etc.

We forget that fanfiction communities are built, in large part, because of readers—readers silently reading things, or privately sharing them. Readers making tiktoks about their favourite fic (and then it blowing up and the fic getting deleted because people are mean to other fics in that same community that share the same tropes LMFAO go on, ask me about attackonfic). There’s one user on AO3 that I adore, literally, they are so precious because I see them so often in the comments of the fics I’m reading and every time it’s the same, short and sweet sentiment of how much they love whatever it is they’ve been reading, and sometimes they’ll add emojis and sometimes it’s capitalised but it gets the point across so well. They’ve commented on surrender before; it now lives in my folder for comments, on my phone, because it made me laugh when I first got it.

I promise you, Anon, if you have commented on SJLT then not only have I read it—I’ve screenshot it and saved it to that folder. Because for all I write, I don’t think I can ever adequately express what any comment means to me. 🥺 The sense of relief and—safety, almost? In being seen. It’s just—it’s there for all of them! Every comment!

If anything, I owe you an apology—I’m not good at replying to things in any timely manner 🥺 It’s never malicious, it just—it takes energy, no matter how big or small the comment (or tumblr ask!), because I want each reply to mean something, to return that sensation of hi, i see you too! It’s not an excuse. But I promise, Anon—I see you, too. And I want you (and everyone!) to know, no matter what you’ve said to me on AO3—whether it was an emoji, one word, a couple of sentences or paragraphs that took half an hour to write—it found me just when I needed it. And it meant so, so much. 🥺 Thank-you for reading, Anon. Thank-you for being here. I hope I can give you a finish story that makes those comments worth it. 🥺🌷📖✨💕

#ofmermaidstories-asks #i hope you’re having a good weekend anon—filled with stories you love 😌 #shoutout to the groupchat! hi!!!!

[blueboyluca]

My friend told me that she wouldn’t make the same mistakes with her next dog. I cheerfully told her that she would get to make brand new mistakes. The joy of having more than one dog is getting to know a whole new individual with their own quirks and traits. It’s also interesting to compare and contrast them to reflect on their needs and the approaches to caring for them.

I’ve been thinking about the differences between Luca and Marceline both physically and emotionally. They are so different, sometimes they feel almost opposite each other on all spectrums. They’ve each been challenging to me in different ways.

I’ve broken down my thoughts into five areas. With Luca (7 years), our relationship is very solid and my focus is to maintain it by regularly providing him opportunities to do the things he loves. With Marceline (3 years), our relationship is still being built so my focus is to continue to show her I am trustworthy and fun.

Fitness

Luca does best with 6 walks per week, half of them off-leash. He needs at least one solo walk per week. He does best if his walks are in the 1 hour range. He enjoys access to water, but rarely swims. Luca has excellent endurance and can maintain pace. He does short bursts of running, but does better at a trot. He has good spatial awareness for environmental hazards and good balance.

Marceline needs 5–6 walks per week, half of them off leash. She needs at least one solo walk per week. She cannot walk more than about 1.5 hours at a time and does best with 30 minutes. She loves to have short swims if possible. She has low endurance, but is a great sprinter and relishes the opportunity to run. She is very agile and has good balance. She is a good jumper, but not as confident at heights. She benefits from at least one agility session each week of about 10–15 minute duration.

Resilience

Luca has an incredibly strong ability to bounce back. He is very good at coming down, resting and re-energising. He is not usually shaken by traumatic events and doesn’t show much environmental sensitivity. He becomes much less resilient when he cannot keep moving through an area; he becomes defensive if he feels the need to stake a claim somewhere. His dog manners are generally  rude, but he can redirect from most dog–dog interactions. However, he will make a situation worse if the other dog is equally rude as himself. Luca chooses fight before flight or freeze.

Marceline is very slow to bounce back and can be environmentally sensitive. She is good at resting and re-energising, but takes longer to come down from a stressful experience. She can become shaken and put off to certain dogs, people or environments. With reassurance, she can overcome most of her sensitivity. She is very good-natured with other dogs and people, but is very aware of her size and generally avoids large dogs or looming humans. She is not afraid of asserting herself at home, but relies on me to provide safety and security away from home. Marceline chooses flight over fight or freeze.

Training

Luca is motivated by food, but its high value sometimes makes it difficult for him to concentrate. His early training provided him a strong base for picking up new skills and offering new behaviours. He picks up things quickly. I’ve never been able to teach him good body awareness, but his base fitness gets him through. He flings himself around a lot in training. He is very brave and will try most things for reinforcement. When hesitant, he can overcome it with encouragement and increasing the rate of reinforcement. Rate of reinforcement is more important to him than value of reinforcement. He will generally keep working for food, unless the expected behaviours become too physically intensive, such as jumping or sprinting.

Marceline is food and toy motivated, depending on the circumstances. The value of reinforcement is as important for her as the rate of reinforcement. She has some body awareness but lacks confidence on unfamiliar surfaces and at heights. She requires lots of encouragement when asked to perform new behaviours and lots of repetitions before understanding a concept. She values moving reinforcement over static reinforcement, both with food and toys. She has a time and appetite limit for training and will tap out early if she feels pressured, full, tired or bored.

Play

Luca likes physical play in micro bouts, but does not enjoy toy play. His preferred play is physical play with other dogs, which I will sometimes facilitate before being ignored. Luca never initiates play with me (I had to teach him to play with me), but is very receptive and willing to play with his dog friends.

Play is extremely important to Marceline. She enjoys multiple bouts in a row. With me, she prefers to use toys for both fetch and tug. She sometimes engages in physical play if she is feeling overly aroused, but generally defaults to toy play. She also loves physical play with other dogs and also likes me to facilitate bouts. Marceline solicits play often, both with me and with her dog friends.

Companionship

Luca likes to know where I am at all times at home, except when he is patrolling the yard. He maintains a natural radius around me outside the home. He loves to have short petting sessions, but is not a cuddler and prefers to rest on his own on the cool floor. Both training and exercise are major components of our bond, which makes these activities highly valuable to him. Luca has a lot of trust that I will provide him good experiences and is therefore open to engaging with me in almost any scenario.

Marceline is a velcro dog when I am home, but prefers to be independent outside the home (unless an environment is considered unsafe). At home, she wants to be touching me or at least nearby, and requires regular sessions of physical attention either through petting or play. Play is more important to her than exercise or training. She trusts that I will keep her safe, but she does not fully trust that I will always provide a fun experience.

#dog thoughts #Luca #Marceline

[spoiledleaff]

hey

you don't have to post this if you dont want to, please dont feel like you have to

i just wanted to apologize for that ask. i shouldve been a million times nicer and it was a dick move for me come for you like that

hello again :) please know that i’m responding to this because i want to, so you can erase that worry from your mind.

and, it’s okay. i mean! it isn’t! personally, i think how you worded that was perhaps a bit too… abrasive, and maybe a little bit rude, and i’m honestly terrible at standing up for myself but that doesn’t have much to do with this haha! but, i also understand where your concern may have been coming from. but, also, please know that i would never intentionally try to steal someone else’s idea. never. and if you ever have any other concerns about ideas that maybe sound just a tad too similar to someone else’s?? feel free to ask me!! i will do gladly give you links to my pinterest boards, lay out all my plans and ideas for future fics with different pairings and different ideas and concepts that will probably never be done, haha!!

but, you are also incredibly correct as well. i did a little bit of twitter digging ew, and it turns out that ricky did offhandedly mention the premise on twitter. so, that’s also my bad as well for not remembering :’D my brain must’ve stored this sweet little morsel of a prompt, and, well, you know what they say! if you wanna see something specific on ao3, might as well just write it yourself, haha! so, i don’t blame you or hate you or anything like that for your concern, if you’re worried :) and, honestly, if ricky himself or if someone had asked, ‘oh! were you by chance inspired by this from this person?’ i absolutely would’ve gone digging anyways and said, ‘oh my gosh, yes, actually! haha! go blame ricky for the atrocities i’m about to commit :D’ … if it helps? there were also quite a few thoughts about tattoo artist swiss and piercer rain, haha!! and not just the dynamic that apparently both ricky and myself are quite partial to.

my memory is terrible. and i know this sounds like an excuse for stealing credit, but i do genuinely mean it. on top of that, ricky and myself don’t interact very often, though i realize that also isn’t an excuse. well, maybe i’m patting myself on the back a bit too much for this, but i like to think i’m not an asshole? if you have a question, or maybe even an issue, please feel free to ask or dm me or whatever! :D i like to think i’m quite chill about these sorts of things actually :0

my goodness, i’m just in a rambling mood today, i’m sorry. my point is, i accept your apology!! :D but, i also apologize as well. i still feel a little… err, icky? about this topic? so i probably won’t follow through whatever silly little fic i was writing. i think i deleted it actually, but please don’t feel bad about that. i just panicked, haha. regardless, there’s no need to worry about it from my end :)

i like to think i’m a decent person, so if you ever have a question about something i’ve said or done, please feel free to ask! i didn’t think that i had seen ricky publish anything on ao3 relating to this? if i had though, or kept better attention to his blog because i guess they’ve been teasing it and i’m silly and don’t know what notification settings are— i most certainly would’ve given credit, and asked for permission, and probably asked again before publishing just to be sure!! haha! but, i will only accept your apology based on how you expressed your concern, and not for doing it in the first place. so, i hope you’re not doing that, haha! stealing credit for ideas is a serious thing no matter the fandom, and, truly, i’m glad that you expressed this concern to me.

but, uhm, yeah :) it’s okay. just… please be careful in the future. I obviously don’t know who you are, but you seem sweet and you seem genuine, and i wouldn’t want you getting hurt for the wrong reasons

have a good day, anon. ♡

#ooc leaf #I feel like I have so much more to say #but I also feel like I’m just repeating myself at this point #but I really can’t stress enough that stealing Ricky’s idea for this dynamic was never my intention #I’m sorry #truly

[retelling-of-ragnarok]

❆ ɢᴡᴇɴ ʀᴀᴍʙʟᴇꜱ #4 ❆

❆ this isnt anything canon. nono not in the slightest. but rather a college/‘normal’ au.

i just adore thinking abt gwen as an art school student :’) the themselves probably major in something affiliated with illustration or graphic design. but also thinkin about interactions with other characters is vv nice.

especially auwen interactions 💪😤 ( @sincerest-aa )

these two definitely live together. and auren definitely uses gwen for its model, since it majors in fashion design. gwen doesn’t necessarily use auren themselves as a muse, but he has definitely been like “yo can you—“ and then FORCE them into some wack pose 😭

oh and gwen definitely beefs with other students. all the other top students in their class are so made that someone like them manages to get top scores 😭 meanwhile gwen’s just “bro don’t even look at me fr im not even here ew.” like pls they just want their art to be appreciated they don’t wanna be SEEN. all the students in their major think they’re all rude and shit bc they don’t wanna be bothered— then come to find out Gwen has FRIENDS? YIKES.

then comes final exams and their room is a MESS. mf is TRASHING their room for inspiration. especially if its a topic they’ve never cared about before. auren’s throwing a fit bc ITS FINAL is at the same time— so they’re just “BRO I NEED YOU IN HERE IF YOU FUCK UP YOUR RUNWAY WALK IM BEATING YOUR ASS.”

and gwen is just: “CAN YOU NOT SEE I AM STRUGGLING.” god they’re getting grey hairs 😭 but then after finals gwen and auren go back to the old married couple they used to be. back to gwen walking through the door like “if i’m not hugged in the next 30 seconds you’re not getting your food”

and auren RUNNING out of the shower to give gwen a hug 😭. gwen being all happy and shit bc finals are done and they can finally get auren hugs again 💪 nooooo moreeeee stress. only cuddle buddy.

anyways this ramble made no fucking sense, but i think it’s neat. im having thoughts but none of them are coherent. and i kinda just wanna ramble now… ❆

#gwen.rambles #auren archambault #gwen exicor #((rambling whilst waiting for my brain to hit scenario mode #((like i have IDEAS for all of the scenarios in my inbox #((but word? word hard #((i see them though dw. 🤲

[archiveikemen]

Minamoto no Yoritomo x Minamoto no Yoshitsune Main Story Preview

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Yoritomo: Now, we shall begin.

Yoshitsune: You need a strong and unwavering determination to possess great powers.

With the ‘hero’s might’ bestowed upon them by the eight-headed serpent, the two men face the trial of the underworld —

Yoritomo: … Heh. Looking good, Yoshitsune.

Yoshitsune: You look hideous.

Yoritomo: You’re really rude, huh.

A pair of brothers whose bond was broken by their dark pasts.

In order to help them, I will play the role of a priestess —

————

Yoshitsune: You’re always talking about ‘sacrifice’, Yoritomo.

Yuno: Please calm down! Both of you!

Yoritomo: He’s the only one getting riled up. Yuno, why don’t you give that man-child pats on the back to calm him?

Constantly disagreeing with each other, the two hurt each other as they cross paths again…

Meanwhile, whenever the ‘hero’s might’ were to go out of control during the battle against the undead, I would handle it using my fox powers.

But due to the strong connection between the heroes and priestess, there is a sweet feeling of intoxication whenever I try to break the curse…?

Yuno: … I want to help you. So I need you to trust me.

Yoshitsune: W-wait…nn..haa

(Is it because of my connection to the ‘hero’s might’? I feel closer to Yoshitsune…)

————

Yuno: Lord Yoritomo!?

Yoritomo: … Go on.

Yoritomo: I think it’s better this way, we won’t see each other’s faces…

My body started getting hotter involuntarily.

I also got entangled in a complicated love-triangle.

————

Yoshitsune: I respected you and wanted to support you!

Yoritomo: I know!

Yoshitsune: I detest you.

Yoritomo: Is that so? Well, I’ve never felt that way about you.

Yoshitsune: … Tch.

Yoshitsune: Don’t say things like that now —

Even if we were to turn back time and make history repeat itself, there is no way to alter their tragic past, because neither of them are willing to change their beliefs.

However, no one knows what will happen in the future.

Yoshitsune: … I’m the only one allowed to hunt you down.

Yoshitsune: Therefore, I’ve got your back…

Yoshitsune: … For now.

Yoritomo: — Yoshitsune.

Yoritomo: You’re a hundred years too early.

Yoritomo: It’s more normal for the younger brother to be protected by the older one.

(Ah... finally.)

(They’ve come a long way and became closer.)

Their brotherly bonds were restored, but their individual feelings grew rapidly  —

————

Yoritomo: Nothing wrong with being passionate. But can you, being the reckless warrior you are, treat a woman tenderly and protect her at the same time?

Yoshitsune: ... I think I can be nicer than my older brother.

Yoshitsune: You’re always being mean towards her.

Yoritomo: Being mean is my love language.

Yoshitsune: Yuno, who do you want to be protected by? Me or my older brother?

Yoritomo: I’m giving you the freedom to choose, Yuno.

Two men competing for my heart, and I can only choose one.

Working hand in hand with their loved ones, they fight against the increasingly harsh trials of the underworld.

————

Yoritomo: You said that you adored me.

Yuno: T-that’s...

Yoritomo: Have you already forgotten all about it?

Yuno: ... I did say that.

Yuno: Oh! But I didn’t mean that I wanted to be involved with you romantically or anything  —

Yoritomo: But I do.

Yoritomo: Therefore  — if I make it out of here alive, you will be my woman.

————

Yoshitsune: There’s nothing that can fog my mind or confuse me, as long as you’re here.

(Ah...)

Yuno: Nn...

Yoshitsune: ...

Yuno: ... Why?

Yoshitsune:  — My body moved on its own.

(What...)

Yoshitsune: But I now understand.

Yoshitsune: I’ve fallen in love with you.

Yoshitsune: Ever since I was born, this is the first time I’m feeling like this.

The future we built greatly exceeded our expectations...

Yoritomo: Will you make fun of me if I told you that I’ve always wanted to have you all to myself?

————

Yoshitsune: I wish I could dye all of you in the colors I wear, the air I wear...

Two people become sweetly bewitched by each other —…

#ikemen genjiden #ikegen main story #ikemen series #cybird ikemen #otome #cybird otome