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vitaminseetarot · 1 month

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Poll PAC: What Your Next Birthday Celebration Will Be Like 🎂🎉🎁

Sup y'all, welcome back to another PAC reading. This time I'm doing a special 1 year/birthday/poll topic of choice themed pick a card! This is also a special one as VitaminSee now has 300 followers! Holy crap thank you for your support everyone! I haven't been able to get on Tumblr for a while, so I apologize if it seems like I've dropped from the aether. Life is starting to enter its hectic phase right now! Thank you so much for your patience. I'm waiting for life things to straighten out (lol as if life ever does) before I go ahead and offer some basic paid readings, which I hope to do in May.

This topic is for the next birthday you have coming up, whether that's tomorrow or next year. For my selection, I was recently lucky to have found the Wild Wisdom Companion book among a vast pile of discounted books. It's based on the Wheel of the Year. I thought this deck was perfect for making piles themed around the progression of the year and how our birthdays respond to the passage of the seasons. Pick whichever one of the Spring themed card you like most down below:

Pile 1 - The Unfurling 🌱 Pile 2 - The Wind 🕊 Pile 3 - The Door 🗝 Pile 4 - The Alchemist 🍾

Pile 1 - The Unfurling

Sagittarius - Expand, Level Up, Shadow, Isolation; XVII Star, 3 of Cups, XXI World, Ace of Wands, 5 of Cups

Hello, pile 1! Your birthday is going to be the start of great expansion. Your first three oracle cards spell it out so clearly! Sagittarius is all about shooting for seemingly farfetched goals and striking the target anyway. There is so much growth going on in your pile. You're probably anticipating your next chapter to be one of reaching beyond the horizon and feeling ready to do so. Ideas or wishes that seemed impossible may be coming closer to being within your grasp. Your life is ready to take it up a notch immediately after your next birthday, where things may begin to feel like they're accelerating. Don't worry about the turbulence, it's all a part of the movement. Breaking out of your comfort zone may feel scary, but something about your next birthday will set off a chain of events that will propel you to a new phase of life.

I have a feeling that many who choose this pile will be in a transitory stage of life, like you're getting ready to start college or a new job around your birthday. It's not just another year older, this next one will be extra meaningful in terms of receiving something you've been longing for in quite some time. It's something you've been greatly eager to begin. I don't any sense that you'll be looking back too much once you go forward, since you'll be thrust rather quickly in your next chapter.

But it's still okay if you're experiencing anxiety over it, even if it's something you've really wanted. Anxiety, doubt, and fear are not necessarily indicators that something isn't right for you. It's normal to get cold feet in this context. A sprout breaking from its seed shell is no small feat; it requires a great amount of momentum and motivation. Congratulate yourself for having come this far. Let your birthday be a chance to celebrate this. Give yourself the opportunity to commemorate with friends, if they wanna help give you a birthday to remember then let them. They may feel the vibe as much as you will on that day. Don't be afraid to take that day trip out to a new place you've never seen.

What's interesting about the Isolation card is that it shows two cups. There is meanwhile a Friendship card in this deck with only one cup. So I don't know if the words were swapped with the images or what, but the sense I get is that you will very likely be in good company during your birthday. They may want to take you out dancing (the Ace of Wands is reminding me of disco lights). However, even in the midst of the event, you may feel the urge to hide away from the crowd. I'm picturing someone stepping out of a house during a party. You may need to catch your breath at times in order to process the emotions you're experiencing, as you have a lot of energetic, lit up cards just before the five of cups.

Again, getting in dark negative moods is normal when you're facing a big new stage is not indicative that things will go wrong if it's something you know you're looking forward to. If you end up spending most of the day with friends, find some space to be at peace by yourself so you can even out your feelings. These intense moods will come and go on their own, so make sure to stay balanced (and not too overly caffeinated lol) on your birthday.

Pile 2 - The Wind 🕊

Third House - Communication, A New Day, Ball Pits, Family; 10 of Swords, 5 of Cups, III Empress, Knight of Pentacles, 4 of Cups

How's it going pile 2? I couldn't help but notice you have two pairs of swallows in your reading. Birds may have some significance for you, maybe you'll go birdwatching or even get a pet bird. For a small number of you, the birthday could involve a plane flight out of home for a quick trip. Could you be visiting family members? There's a lot of communication going on, for sure. Even if you're not traveling out by flight, you may have family members show up to take you out somewhere. They may be insistent on seeing you, talking to you, and spending time with you. The phone might blow up first thing in the morning with notifications and voicemail.

But I'm seeing a lot of hesitance in your tarot cards. You may be feeling tired or burned out and not necessarily in the mood to celebrate. The previous year was a doozy for you so perhaps catching up on sleep is more of your priority. Ever get the feeling of wanting to sleep because life is overwhelmed and you're like, "I give up (for now)?" and call it a day? You need to give yourself a chance to recuperate around your birthday, before during and after. Have a break so you can fully recover and receive all that the coming year has to offer you.

That means letting loved ones in your life, be they bio family or chosen family, understand that you'd rather have a small get together or a chance to rest every now and then if you're invited out somewhere. If you choose to go out, there's nothing wrong with taking it slow and easy, or doing something casual like grabbing some ice cream and sitting by the riverside to ponder the next year. Communicate your feelings instead of bottling them up in an attempt to keep up with everybody else. Don't let anyone convince you of how you should celebrate, it's your day your rules!

Others of you who have a little more energy, a little more of that "last year sucks, I need to go out and do something fun to sweat it off!", I feel like the ball is emphasized here with Knight of Pentacles beneath Ball Pits. Some of you looking for more action and noise may choose to go to a ball game, or spend time at the arcade playing pinball with friends. It could even be mini golf. Whether you are the low energy (calm) or high energy (excited) seeking type, getting the chance to have some fun is important, as long as it feels right for you.

This is the pile most likely to get some kind of surprise, be that a party (high energy) or a surprise gift (low energy). There will be a sense of being pampered. Some of you may get a larger number of gifts than you may have expected. You may receive a very beautiful gift, something you may treasure for a long time. Whatever it may be, allow yourself to thoroughly enjoy it and express that joy. Let yourself embrace gratitude, being mindful of what you have now regardless of how your last year has been and how your next year will be. For your next birthday, try to focus on the present (in both meanings).

Pile 3 - The Door 🗝

South Node - Past, Let Your Light Shine, Bubble Gum, Winter; Ace of Cups, 9 of Swords, 3 of Pentacles, XIX Sun, Page of Wands

Hey pile 3! For your next birthday, I'm definitely seeing you go outside to celebrate. There may be an actual party held outdoors, or you might choose to go out somewhere. I'm seeing parks, possibly national parks or natural trails. I'm getting the feeling of warm sunshine, the weather will likely cooperate perfectly on your day. You could be cruising through town, going from store to store (the 3 of pentacles reminds me of a mall here). Your birthday feels expansive and adventurous, ready for something new.

A small number of you may wish to engage a little bit in the spotlight, or you may be placed into a position of receiving more attention on this day. If you wish to, your birthday would be a great day to showcase your talents or passions, since I'm picking up a bit of Leo energy in this pile. With lips in Bubble Gum, you could be giving a speech? I'm picturing an actual toast, if you feel the strong urge to speak out then do so, let yourself be heard. I'm also seeing people sing for you at restaurants, so if that isn't your style, it's best to find a place to eat that doesn't do that sort of thing.

This birthday could be like your own version of a New Year's Eve celebration. Some of you may actually be born in the winter or around New Year's, so holidays and birthdays could tie in together. You're wanting your birthday to stand out amidst the traditional festivities (I've known many people born around Christmas who hate having their birthday gifts thrown under the tree, so you're not alone in that frustration!). You may get the idea of doing something out of the ordinary. Let yourself take the spotlight--it's your special occasion!

There's a message in your pile of letting old things go as you step into a new age. Old things from the year prior may still be sticking onto you, old issues from unresolved matters may pop up. They could be on the more practical side, like needing to sign something or finish a task on time. Be ready to step into the future unafraid--now is the time to shed the baggage. Your birthday can be the fresh start to a bright new trip around the sun, but you gotta give yourself that chance. If something needs to be resolved, and you got the time, tie up your loose ends beforehand so it's not weighing on you as you celebrate.

Your birthday is a threshold to an exciting new time for you. It may be like a breath of fresh air. I keep hearing "refreshed" and "invigorated", so this may be how you feel at the end of your birthday. You may do something that makes you think, "huh, why don't I do this more often?" That could be the key for you to step into something brand new. Will spending time with your friends refresh you, or going to a concert and discovering a new band that you will fall in love with as it warms up the show? Or may you desire to spend more time out in nature? Lean into what lights you up, listen to what engages you, and move from there.

Pile 4 - The Alchemist 🍾

Imum Coeli - Roots, Snow Day, Forest, Transformation; 3 of Cups, 6 of Cups, Ace of Swords, XII Hanged Man, 8 of Swords

What's up, pile 4? Your birthday is looking to be the absolute warmest and coziest out of all the piles. Many of you may identify strongly with introversion. I'm sensing a lot of you have your birthday around autumn or the cooler times of the year when most people are ready to bundle up in blankets or sit by the wood stove while awaiting the first signs of frost. Many of you may get a lucky chance to stay at home instead of needing to work or go to school, so you'll have the day off to plan out what you want to do. Others of you may desire to take time off if you have the chance to, I would go for it especially if you've been feeling the need to rest. You may live near trees or desire to be out in nature as a way to kick back.

I'm seeing someone invite a few friends over to watch old reruns of favorite shows while baking. It could be a gathering of closest friends, I'm not getting the sense that it'll be a big to-do bash. This day will be short, sweet, and simple. It's a good day for doing hobbies or spending time indulging in the gifts you were given. Some of you may rather spend time with family or those you live with instead of inviting people over. You and your family may share a special way of celebrating birthdays, I don't know of any birthday specific cultural traditions from the top of my head but you may have special rituals unique to you and your family. Either way, I get that you'll have a modest celebration that's nevertheless full of camaraderie and relaxing activities.

The description for the Alchemist card says "Allow Transformation", and you have another Transformation card. You may be doing a lot of transmuting on the inside, working through old stubborn patterns and limiting beliefs around this time. I'm seeing the ball of flame near the snow as if you're melting old self-sabotaging blockages away to make room for more growth in your coming year. This flame, this transmuting energy, is making way for the new to arrive.

The Hanged Man being tangled up in vines beneath a forest makes me think that you've been hung up on something that needs to be let go. You must prune in order to effectively grow. Too much in a small space can lead to cramming and confusion. You must deal with the thoughts tangling themselves up in your mind before cultivating the thoughts you want in their place. Changes may happen slowly on the outside, but when certain patterns are fully cleared out things can really take off.

So, for example, let's say you've wanted to sign up for a ceramics workshop for your birthday, or spend the day cleaning house (if you happen to find cleaning therapeutic). To do so, you'll need to not only free up your schedule, but free your mind of thoughts trying to convince you that you can't learn or can't clean. Perhaps it's difficult to not see the forest as just a bundle of trees. But a forest is more than trees, it's an entire system that supports itself in a perpetual cycle. Don't fill up your days with too many tasks, especially on your birthday. Pace the day with both the things you want to do and the things you have to do. The time around birthday will show you how to integrate the best of both worlds. We can have cake and eat it too, it's just a matter of pacing and doing things one at a time.

This reading has not been evaluated by the FDA to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure any disease or infection. Please ask your physician before going online.

2024, @VitaminseeTarot ™

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worth-the-chaos · 5 months

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Adventures in Babysitting - Steve Harrington x female!reader - Chapter 12

Chapter Summary: The evil that you thought you had gotten rid of is still very much lurking within Hawkins. You, your boyfriend, and your friends race against time to try and find Eddie before it’s too late.

Content Warning: swearing, violence, knives and blood, jealous Steve

Word Count: 6.5k

Author’s Note: This chapter is starting to get season 4 going, so that’s pretty epic. I hope you guys enjoy it and thank you so much for reading it <3

Message me to be added to the taglist! Also, send me asks! Tell me shit, ask me questions, y’all are fun to talk to ;)

Series Masterlist | Part 11 | Next Part

***

Your Saturday started out like any normal Saturday. Steve peppered soft kisses to your skin as you woke up from your comfortable slumber wrapped in his arms. You ate breakfast together and got ready before picking up Robin and making your way to Family Video. It had taken a significant amount of convincing to get Keith to let the three of you work together, considering there was really only enough work for two people to do, but he finally agreed to it since, in his own words, “Steve barely even counts.”

You all were reorganizing the shelves as Robin recounted her conversation with Vickie at the basketball game the night prior. “Then Vickie laughed. And it wasn’t like a cheap fake laugh either. It was like…it was a real, genuine laugh!”

“Of course she laughed, Rob. It’s my muppet joke. It’s hilarious,” Steve replied as he restocked the horror section. You rolled your eyes from your perch on the counter, glaring up at him as you stopped sorting out the returned movies.

“My point is that Vickie laughed, and everything was just like…it was perfect! But I’m having this problem where it’s like, I should stop talking. I have said everything I need to say, but then I guess I get nervous and the words keep spilling out, and it’s like my-my brain is moving faster than my mouth or…or rather my-my mouth is moving faster than my brain, and…and it’s like I’m digging this hole for myself, and I want to stop digging and I’m trying to stop digging, but I can’t, and I’m doing it right now, aren’t I?”

“Yeah, you are,” you responded, looking at her with a great deal of sympathy. You knew how she was feeling. You couldn’t even count the amount of times that you had rambled on and on to Steve about something so completely and utterly stupid because you didn’t know when to stop.

“Ugh, I’m hopeless,” Robin backed up against the wall, throwing her head back in exasperation.

“Robin! Don’t say that; you are not hopeless,” you scolded your best friend, “I mean, look. I was completely and utterly hopeless before Steve and I started dating…like if he hadn’t shown up and the planets hadn’t aligned, I’d be single as fuck right now, but everything that the two of us have, started with us just being friends. So, the fact that you’re talking to Vickie and she clearly at least likes you in that capacity is a really damn good sign.”

“I wouldn’t say you would be hopeless, I mean, guys are pretty much throwing themselves at you,” Steve mumbled under his breath, thinking back to how you had interacted with Eddie the night before. You had seemed so comfortable with him and he hated to admit it, but the two of you looked like you belonged together far more than you did with him. Eddie marched to the beat of his own drum. He dressed different, he acted different, he didn’t go with the crowd or hop on the bandwagon. You were exactly the same. Sometimes Steve worried that you would wake up and realize that he was way too stereotypical and boring for you and that you would leave him. He pushed the thought aside as you spoke up.

“What do you mean?” Before Steve could answer, Robin began rushing across the room.

“Oh! I think I found our morning movie!” She held up a copy of Doctor Zhivago.

“Ugh, you know I don’t do double VHS,” Steve groaned, shaking his head as he walked past the counter towards her. You stopped him, smacking him in the chest before he could try and take the tape away from Robin before you spoke up.

“We’d actually love to watch it Robin,” you smiled, your eyes still glaring at Steve. Robin jumped up and down a little bit before turning on the television to get it set up, but all of you paused when the news came on.

“We’re in the Forest Hills trailer park in east Roane County. We don’t have a lot of details now, but we can confirm that the body of a Hawkins High student was discovered early this morning. Police have not yet released the victim’s name…” the reported stated, detailing all the information that was known and released.

“Holy shit,” Steve whispered, his and Robin’s eyes transfixed on the screen. His voice sounded far away as your vision blurred with tears. You could barely breathe as you thought about the only two Hawkins High students you knew that lived there: Max and Eddie. If it was either of them, you weren’t sure what you would do. You weren’t sure how you would be able to live and move on.

You stumbled backwards, and you knocked over a pile of VHS tapes as you blindly grabbed for the edge of the counter, beginning to hyperventilate. Robin and Steve snapped out of the trance the news had put them in, as Steve’s head whipped around towards you just in time as you collapsed to the floor.

“Robin turn that off!” Steve yelled, and she grabbed for the remote, quickly silencing the news. You were in a heap on the floor sobbing, barely able to hear Steve as he quickly sat with you on the floor, rubbing big circles across your back to try and calm you down. “Shhhh, y/n. I’m right here, okay baby….I’m right here with you and I’m not going to go anywhere,” he whispered into your ear, kissing your temple as you cried.

After a while, you finally found the will to calm yourself down, and you had been the one to turn the TV back on. You wanted to know as much as you could. You wanted as much information as possible to rule out the possibility that it was either of your friends. Really the only additional information you got was that it was definitely murder and that the police hadn’t released the names of any suspects, which was a whole lot of nothing to go off of.

You were biting your nails, staring at the screen with furrowed brows, when suddenly the chime of the bell above the door rang out into the otherwise empty store. You jumped, turning around to see Dustin followed by Max Mayfield herself.

“Max!” You shouted as you hopped over the counter and pulled her into a bone crushing hug. She groaned, not expecting the sudden demonstration of how much you cared before she reciprocated.

“Hello to you too, I guess?”

“I’m just so glad you’re okay,” you breathed out, feeling a sense of relief flood your body, knowing that Max wasn’t the unnamed victim from the news. Max was struck by your words, not really even considering the fact that some of her friends may be led to believe that she had been killed based on the location of the murder.

“Are you guys seeing this?” Steve chimed in, pointing to the TV screen in the back corner of the room.

“How many phones do you have?” Dustin asked suddenly. You looked at him with confusion plastered across your face.

“Someone was just murdered,” Steve replied, annoyed that the boy could be asking about phones at a time like this.

Dustin just slammed his hands on the counter in response, causing you to jump again in your anxious state, before he repeated himself. “How many phones do you have?”

“Two…why?” You spoke up, furrowing your brow.

“Technically three, if you count Keith’s in the back,” Robin corrected you, a similar look flashing across her face.

“Three works,” Max spoke up, looking at Dustin. Dustin paused, looking at Steve and Robin behind the counter before throwing his backpack across and hopping it. You and Max were civilized, walking around the counter to join them while Steve protested.

“My tapes! Dude! What are you doing, man?!” Steve groaned. Dustin had a special talent for making things significantly more difficult for Steve…especially at his place of work.

“Setting up base of operations,” Dustin replied, typing into the computer.

You attempted to shove him to the side, away from your computer, but he swatted your hands away. You glared at him with the might of a thousand suns before hip checking him, causing him to stumble to the side. “What the fuck do you guys need our computer for?”

“To look up Eddie’s friends’ phone numbers,” Dustin retorted as if it was obvious.

“Oh Eddie, your new best friend you think is cooler than me because he plays your nerdy game,” Steve grumbled back, but you were only half paying attention as you made eye contact with Max. Clearly the two kids knew something that you didn’t and you were worried what that meant in conjunction with the shit you were hearing on the news.

“I never said that!” Dustin looked at Steve, and you rolled your eyes.

“Seriously, you guys, maybe on a Monday you can play around, but it’s Saturday. It’s our busiest day,” Robin spoke up, reorganizing the shit that Dustin had knocked off the counter.

“Robin, I totally empathize but this cannot wait,” Dustin sighed as he started writing on a clipboard.

“What because calling all of Eddie’s friends is an emergency?”

“Exactly!”

“Do you want me to strangle him or do you want to?” Steve asked you. The chuckle he was about to let out died in his throat when he saw the look on your face.

“I really think we should hear them out,” your voice was small when you replied. You all looked over at Max and she took a deep breath before she began talking.

“The victim…it’s Chrissy Cunningham,” she started, “I saw her body this morning when the police were leaving. The thing is, I saw her go in Eddie’s trailer and shortly after, my TV started going nuts and the lights started flickering like crazy, which isn’t really super out of the ordinary, my electricity is shit….but then I heard screaming and looked out the window and I saw Eddie leave and—and he looked scared. Like really scared.”

Steve reached for your hand, interlocking his fingers with yours before he spoke up. “So…Eddie killed Chrissy?”

“Steve! No, he fucking didn’t. That’s why we need the phones so that we can find out where he is so that we can prove that he’s innocent,” Dustin glared at your boyfriend, shoving him a bit.

“Just calm down,” you interjected, standing in between the boys. This was all a lot to unpack and you weren’t going to solve anything if they couldn’t stop bickering. When they both grumbled and crossed their arms, you moved around the counter, swiftly moving to the door and flipping the sign to indicate that the store was closed. “Just, you guys can use the phones, okay? But that’s it. We don’t do anything else until we have something solid to go off of. Do you understand?” You looked between Max and Dustin.

They both began to nod and you shook your head. “No, I need to hear you say it. I’m serious, someone was just killed and we are not putting our lives in jeopardy without some serious cause, okay?”

“Yes, we understand,” Max responded. Dustin spoke up in agreement, and you paused to look at them one more time before turning around.

“I’ll get Keith’s phone from the back. You all start making calls.”

You swiftly headed to the back, grabbing the third phone. You were turning around to leave when you about nearly jumped out of your skin, when you were met face to face with your boyfriend.

“Steve! You scared the shit out of me! Don’t fucking do that!” You put a hand on your chest as you tried to catch your breath.

“Y/n, I don’t have a good feeling about this. I mean, the most likely scenario is that Eddie killed that poor girl and now we’re actively trying to find him. He could be fucking dangerous, and I don’t want anything to happen to you, okay? So, let’s just stop all this bullshit before it’s too late,” he grabbed your hands, rubbing his thumbs along the backs of them as he looked you in the eyes. His brow was furrowed with worry, and you felt a pang in your chest. You knew you had to see this through, if not for Eddie, then for Dustin.

“Steve, I know Eddie. He wouldn’t do something like this. Trust me,” you told Steve, looking him in the eyes with so much conviction that he decided to let it go for now.

You brought the phone out and Hawkins’ Family Video soon became a bustling call center as you all took turns trying to get ahold of anyone who may possibly know where Eddie was. Name after name after name got crossed off your list as you found no answers, and you were beginning to feel hopeless when Max spoke up.

“Hey guys, I might have a lead,” she started, “apparently, Eddie gets drugs from some guy named Reefer Rick, and sometimes Eddie crashes there.”

“Alright, that sounds promising. So where does this Reefer Rick guy live?” Robin asked.

“See, that’s the thing. No one knows. He’s more of a…legend than someone that people actually know.”

“What about a last name?” You spoke up, attempting to find any additional piece of information that you could follow to find Eddie.

“I don’t know that either.”

“I bet the cops know the last name,” Steve spoke up. He hadn’t been super helpful in calling around, instead choosing to reorganize the store and do some light cleaning. He was reorganizing some tapes with his back to you all and he had said it so nonchalantly.

“What?” You questioned him, irritation settling in your tone.

“I said the cops probably know,” he shot back, “I mean, listen, if this Reefer Rick is actually a drug dealer, I guarantee you he’s been busted at some point. Means he’s in the system.”

“The cops? Really, Steve? That’s your suggestion?” Dustin asked incredulously.

“I just think at this point they should be filled in on what we know; what’s going on.”

“You think Eddie’s guilty, don’t you?” Dustin stepped forward, but you placed a gentle hand on his shoulder to settle him. You could hear the hurt in his voice and you wished that Steve hadn’t been the one to cause it, but then again, tensions were high with everything that was going on; like the implications of Max’s account of her electricity going haywire around the time that Chrissy would have died.

“Woah, woah, woah, I believe in innocent until proven guilty and all that constitutional shit…I just, you know….I just don’t think we can rule it out,” Steve spoke up, avoiding making eye contact with any of you as he messed with a Rubik’s cube on the counter.

“Steve!” You scolded him. Why can’t he just take a leap of faith and believe you guys?

“That’s precisely what we’re trying to do here, Steve,” Max spoke up, glaring at the boy.

“And maybe we’d have a little bit more luck if you spent less time reorganizing shit that doesn’t need reorganizing and more time trying to find Eddie,” Dustin chimed in.

“Hey, someone’s gotta make sure things are in order here. Do you see how many fucking movies we have? It can be overwhelming for the average customer,” Steve tried to defend himself.

Suddenly an idea popped into your head, as you darted over to the computer, typing away into the system. “What are you doing?” Max asked.

“Maybe we don’t need a last name,” you started as you pressed enter on the keyboard. “Twelve Ricks already have accounts here…now it’s just a matter of narrowing it down.”

***

After determining the Rick most likely to be the Reefer Rick, you waited until it got dark to go scope the place out. You decided that you’d be more inconspicuous at night, not wanting to draw any attention to yourselves while you tracked down a potential murder suspect.

You were all piled in Steve’s BMW as he pulled into the driveway of one Rick Lipton. You felt nerves settle in your stomach as you tried to take a deep breath, Dustin quickly getting out of the car and ringing the doorbell. No one answered and after Dustin pressed the button repeatedly, Steve put a hand on his shoulder to pull him away from the door.

“Okay. Well, that’s settled, I guess he’s not here,” Steve spoke up. This did nothing to stop Dustin from continuing to pound on the door, yelling for the boy to answer. So much for being inconspicuous, you thought as you walked around the side of the house. Your hands trembled a bit, being a tad anxious about being out here at night, when your flashlight finally caught sight of a boathouse on the lake.

“Hey guys?” You called out. Steve was quick to join you, followed by the rest of the gang as you cautiously approached the metal lined shed. There was no real signs of life in there as you entered, and it seemed just as abandoned as Rick’s house. “Hello? Is anyone home?” You shouted into the darkness as you took a hesitant step inside.

“What a dump,” Steve muttered, taking in the sight of all of the clutter. In his mind, there was no way in hell that Eddie was here, so though he was taking all of this seriously, he wasn’t too committed to really inspecting the place with great detail.

You grabbed an oar off of the wall, walking over to the small boat docked in the center of the room as you shoved at the tarps with it, not wanting to get close just in case something was awry.

“What are you doing?!” Dustin whisper-shouted at you, perplexed by your actions.

“He might be in there,” you answered simply.

“Then take the tarp off!”

“If you’re so brave, you take the tarp off!” You whisper-shouted back at him, though when Dustin moved forward to do just that, you and Steve both yanked him back by his shoulders. You continued to poke at the tarp, and Steve placed a gentle but nervous hand on the small of your back, not wanting to stray too far from you.

Max suddenly spoke up from across the room, pointing her flashlight at some odds and ends on a small table. “Hey, guys. Someone was here.”

“Maybe he heard us? Got spooked and ran?” Robin suggested, joining Robin to inspect the items before her.

“Don’t worry. Y/n will get him with her oar…isn’t that right y/n?” Dustin spoke to you sarcastically. You were glad you had the self control to not swing it at the infuriating child beside you as Steve moved away from you to pull Dustin aside. He didn’t need the two of you arguing with each other. You two bickered like siblings and now wasn’t the time for a pseudo-familial spat.

“I know you think you’re being funny, Henderson,” you started, continuing to jab at the tarps, “but considering the fact that everyone in this room has nearly died about a hundred times, personally, I don’t find it funny in the slight—“

Your words were cut off as a figure under the tarp sprung to life, grabbing you around the shoulders and pushing you against the wall. You heard the familiar flick of a pocket knife, feeling the sharp tip of the metal press against your throat. The boathouse erupted into a chorus of shrieks and screams, as you leaned your head back, unable to breathe as you stared wide-eyed at the boy you were tutoring for physics.

“Woah, woah, woah! Eddie! Eddie, stop!” Dustin shouted. He took a step closer and Eddie pushed you back farther into the wall, letting you all know that he wasn’t playing games. Steve felt like his whole world was crashing down around him. To Steve, Eddie’s actions confirmed that he was dangerous, that he had likely killed Chrissy, and that he was about to do the same thing to you. Steve’s mind was working double time trying to figure out how to get you away from the freak, as he started to take a huge step towards you when Robin roughly grabbed his arm, preventing him from getting any closer.

“Robin let go of me!” He shouted at her, trying to shake out of her grip.

“Steve,” she warned, and the way that she said it made him stop to reevaluate the situation, realizing the closer he got to you, the more he was putting your life in peril. A small cry escaped your lips as you tried to blink back tears, and Steve’s heart sank in his chest. He felt his hands trembling at his sides, wanting nothing more than to hold you and to tell you that everything was going to be okay, but watching as the knife threatened to break the skin of your neck, he wasn’t so sure he even believed the sentiment.

“It’s me, Dustin. This is y/n,” Dustin continued, gesturing to you, “she’s not going to hurt you, right, y/n?”

“Right, yeah,” you barely were able to whisper, the muscles in your neck all tensed as you tried to get as far away from the knife as possible. Your chest heaved as you swallowed and breathed out a shaky breath.

“Y/n, why don’t you drop the oar,” Dustin cautioned. You hadn’t even realized you were still holding it, barely even being able to feel the white knuckled grip you had on the handle. You willed your fingers to let go and as the oar crashed to the floor, the sudden sound caused Eddie to jump, leaning in farther and nicking your neck a bit in the process. You yelped in pain, and Steve started to freak out, unable to control his breathing. Robin continued to try and calm him down, but it wasn’t working super well.

“She’s cool, she’s cool!” Dustin reminded Eddie, still trying to talk him off of a cliff. Steve wished he had trusted his intuition earlier and kept you all far away from Eddie the freak Munson.

“I’m cool, man, I’m cool,” you spoke up, your voice shaky, “I’m helping you in Ms. O’Donell’s class, remember?”

“What are you doing here?” Eddie asked, his eyes wild as he refused to let you go.

“We’re looking for you, we’re here to help,” Dustin spoke up, “Eddie, these are my friends. You know Robin, from band. This is my friend Max, the one who never wants to play D&D. And obviously that’s Steve; I know you know him because you hate him, okay? Eddie, we are on your side. I swear on my mother, right guys?” He looked to the three of your friends behind him who all desperately nodded in agreement.

“Yes, yes, we swear!” Robin agree.

“Yeah, on Dustin’s mother,” you squeaked out. Eddie looked at you and you could tell he was acting out of fear. You knew this wasn’t him. That still didn’t quell the fear in your own chest as you spoke up once more to whisper, “please.”

Eddie paused, his eyes searching yours to try and determine your intention. He knew that you were a good person. Hell, you’d been helping him through fucking physics which wasn’t exactly a cake walk. Seeing the terror across your face as you whimpered, however, was what finally broke Eddie, as he finally let you go.

You let out a small cry as the tears you had been attempting to blink back finally spilled down your face while you crumpled to the floor. Steve rushed to your side, sitting on the floor with you, not unlike he had earlier in Family Video when the news came on. Your hand clutched at your neck. Even though Eddie had only just slightly nicked you, your blood had dripped enough to stain the collar of your shirt, and began to seep through your fingers as you held pressure to the cut. It stung like a bitch, but you were more scared than hurt.

“Hey, hey, hey, let me see, okay baby? Can you do that for me?” Steve asked softly, as one of his hands wrapped around the nape of your neck and the other gently tugged on your wrist. You obliged, trembling fingers dropping from your neck as you shook in Steve’s arms.

He used the sleeve of his jacket to put pressure on the cut to attempt to get it to stop bleeding. You took several deep breaths, wiping the tears away from your face as you began to finally calm down. It helped that you knew that Eddie wouldn’t hurt you on purpose. In your mind, he wasn’t a threat in the slightest, just a boy that was scared and needed some comforting.

“Eddie, we just want to talk,” you heard Dustin’s voice ring out in the empty boathouse. Eddie looked like a mess as he sat in a heap on the floor, looking equal parts defeated and terrified. Dustin tried to take the knife away from him, but Eddie tightened his grip so Dustin relented.

“We just want to know what happened,” you breathed out, your voice still shaky as you continued to calm down.

“You won’t believe me,” Eddie sniffled. You moved out of Steve’s grasp despite his protests, putting a gentle hand on Eddie’s shoulder. He tensed up but soon relaxed into your touch.

“Try us,” you replied. Eddie wasn’t sure if it was the look on your face or the sincerity in your voice, but he decided in that moment that he could trust you guys.

He began by explaining that she was at his house so that he could sell to her, discussing how everything had been fine and normal…until it very much wasn’t.

“…her body just, like, lifted up into the air and, uh…and she just, like, hung there. And her bones…uh, she…her bones started to snap. Her eyes, man…it-it was like there was something inside her head pulling,” he whimpered with a faraway look in his eyes, “I…I-I didn’t know what to do, so I…I ran away…I-I left her there,” he scoffed, “you all think I’m crazy, right?”

“No, we don’t think you’re crazy,” Dustin began to assure him, but Eddie quickly cut him off.

“Don’t bullshit me, man! I know how this sounds!”

You moved in between Eddie and Dustin, pushing Dusting behind you protectively. “Hey, we’re not bullshitting you,” you started, your tone leaning on frustrated, “we believe you and we’re probably the only people who fucking will, so I would suggest you find a way to calm down and shut the fuck up because what I’m about to tell you might be difficult to take.”

“Okay,” Eddie finally said. No one was really expecting you to be that blunt about things, but it needed to be said.

“You know how people say Hawkins is…cursed?” You started, trying to find the right words. Eddie nodded. “They’re not…way off. There’s another world; a world hidden beneath Hawkins. Sometimes it bleeds into ours,” your hand subconsciously went to the cut on your neck, the bleeding having finally trickled to a stop.

“Like ghosts and shit?” Eddie asked hesitantly.

“There are some things worse than ghosts,” Max spoke up quietly, and you felt a chill creep up your spine as she said it.

“These monsters from this other world,” Dustin continued, “we thought that they were gone, but they’ve come back before and that’s why we needed to find you.”

“If they’re back again, we need to know,” you emphasized.

“That night, did you see anything?” Robin questioned. You all waited with bated breath for Eddie’s answer. You were afraid of what he might say and Steve stepped forward and grabbed your hand, sensing your anxiety.

“No, man, there was nothing you could see or, uh…touch,” Eddie responded, “you know, I tried to wake her man, but she couldn’t move. It was like she was…she was in a trance or something.”

“Or under a spell…Vecna’s curse,” Dustin whispered.

“Who’s Vecna?” Steve asked, pulling you into his chest. He needed something to hold onto.

“An undead creature of great power,” Dustin answered and you shuddered thinking about it. You had thought you got rid of whatever entity was calling the shots from the Upside Down, but maybe you were wrong.

Maybe everything that had happened before was merely the beginning.

***

You all had taken turns recounting the last two years worth of events to Eddie as he sat there in silence trying to take it all in. After everything that he had seen, he really had no choice but to believe you guys, glad that you were all on his side. You promised the boy that you would be back with supplies in the morning, swiftly piling back into Steve’s car.

“Hey, you know when we had that really sweet convertible and I had you drive it up that big ass hill so we could use my radio?” Dustin suddenly spoke up.

“Yeah?” Steve responded, not quite sure where the boy was going with this.

“Well, bad news is we’re gonna need to go use it again before we all go home because I have an idea, but good news is that it’s at my house now so that’s cool.”

Steve sighed and you all silently made your way to Dustin’s house. There wasn’t much to talk about. You tiptoed through his kitchen to avoid waking his mother as you all crept up to his bedroom. He started messing with all his radio equipment as you sat on his bed. While he was searching for the right frequency, Steve darted out of the bedroom and into the hall bathroom, opening the cabinet under the sink and rifling through it. He found what he was looking for and quietly slipped back into Dustin’s bedroom.

“Here,” he said as he sat down next to you. You looked at him confused until you saw that he had a first aid kit in his hands. He took out an alcohol wipe and started cleaning up the dried blood on your neck. You hissed when the wipe touched your cut, the alcohol burning as he disinfected it. He put some antibiotic ointment on a band aid and placed it gingerly over the cut. He noticed some of the hickies he had left on your neck the night before, quickly moving your hair to make them more inconspicuous. “There. All better.”

You couldn’t help but flush with how sweet Steve was being. Even if the world was undoubtedly ending, at least you knew that he was going to be there for you. You could tell that he was on edge, probably more so given how Eddie had reacted, and you just appreciated that he wasn’t overreacting…yet.

Suddenly, Dustin’s Cerebro came to life, and you heard the distinctive sound of police chatter over the radio as you were clued into what the Hawkins police department knew of Eddie’s involvement in Chrissy’s death. Unfortunately, though not released to the public yet, Eddie was prime suspect number one.

“Shit!” Dustin exclaimed. “Fuck!”

“Woah, woah, whoa, calm down Dustin. We’re gonna figure all of this out okay? Freaking out isn’t going to make any of this shit easier, so we might as well all stay calm,” your voice was remarkably even as you said it and it was starting to freak the rest of your friends out. Of everyone here, you should by all accounts be the most freaked out.

“Look, I don’t think that we should split up, given everything that’s going on,” Steve spoke. “My parents aren’t home, so how about everyone spends the night at my house? You can all call your parents and make arrangements when we get there.”

Everyone agreed with Steve, and you all made your way out to his car, Dustin leaving a note to let his mom know he would be gone before he left. “Y/n? Are you, like, okay?” Max asked hesitantly. Your mind flashed back to what it felt like to have a knife held up to your throat.

“I’m fine, Max. I promise,” you said, but it didn’t sound very convincing. You were honestly more worried about the kids. You thought about the fact that they were deprived a normal childhood, and you couldn’t help but feel guilty about it. You were the babysitter, you were supposed to be the one to make sure that they were okay and safe and happy.

Steve finally pulled into his driveway, leading everyone inside and showing them around. “You all can sleep wherever. There’s a guest bedroom upstairs or you could sleep in the family room. I don’t care,” he sighed, just ready to go to sleep. Everyone got comfortable, Max and Robin choosing to sleep on the couches and Dustin taking the guest bedroom. You and Steve went to his room and you collapsed onto his bed.

“This can’t be happening again,” you spoke up as exhaustion from the day’s events settled in your bones.

“Yeah, I can’t quite believe it either,” Steve said, flopping down on the bed next to you. “Y/n, you have to promise me something okay?”

“What?”

“That if this all gets to be too much again, we call it quits. We get the kids out, we get Robin out, we get the hell out.”

“Steve,” you looked at him, trying to read his expression, “I can’t make that promise.”

“Y/n, everything has been escalating. First it was just one demogorgon, then it was a fuck ton of demo-dogs, then it was Russians and a giant flesh monster…I don’t know how we can handle anything worse, I mean we barely handled everything last summer!” He exclaimed, shaking his head at you. You could tell he was getting more irate, anger seeping into his tone.

“Steve, we either do nothing and die when the whole fucking world ends, or we do something and maybe die trying, or better yet, we fix the fucking problem and never have to worry about it again,” you replied, sitting up, slightly irritated with his tone. He stood up, looking down at you with a furrowed brow as he continued.

“You’re not understanding, y/n. Look, someone died. Unexplainably, just up and died in the most gruesome fucking way. We don’t know anything about how it happened or why or if it will happen again, and I’ll be damned if it happens to one of us, okay. Just promise me.”

“Steve, I can’t, and you know I can’t.”

Steve scoffed, trying to find the right words. He felt anxiety creep up in his chest as he decided that now was as good a time as any to get really fucking real with you. “Y/n. I want a future with you. We can’t fucking have that if one of us is dead.”

“We can’t have a future if the world fucking ends either. I have a massive fucking headache and I just want to go to bed, okay?” You got up and began changing into pajamas, and you heard Steve sigh behind you. He remembered his pinky promise to you in the woods that you were in this together. If you couldn’t make a promise to him, the best he could do was uphold his.

“Fine. But I’m not gonna be able to live with myself if something happens to you,” he warned as he crawled into bed, scooting towards you to spoon you. It was odd how casually you two could have a conversation like this, about the end of the world and the possibility of losing each other at any given moment.

“Nothing is going to happen to me,” you replied, turning in his arms and placing a kiss to his chest. You willed the words to be true as you drifted off to sleep in his arms.

***

Dustin threw the door open to the boathouse and you rolled your eyes, knowing it would likely scare the shit out of Eddie. You seemed to be right as you heard him shout from across the room, finally making it into the shed to see him pressed up against the back wall, knife extended out in front of him.

“Delivery service,” Dustin smiled at his friend. You waved sheepishly at Eddie, hoping that he could find it in his heart to forgive you guys for nearly giving him a heart attack…twice.

You all moved to stand around the boat as Eddie sat down in it, tearing into a box of cereal and eating it as if he hadn’t had a meal in days…which to be fair he probably hadn’t.

“So we have some good news and some bad news. How do you prefer it?” Dustin cut to the chase.

“Bad news first, always,” Eddie spoke through a mouthful of food. Your nose scrunched up in disgust as you scanned the room, noticing similar expressions painted on Robin and Max’s faces.

“We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with Dustin’s Cerebro, and they’re definitely looking for you,” you quickly spoke up as you gave the boy a sympathetic look.

“Also, they’re uh, pretty convinced you killed Chrissy,” Dustin chimed in.

“Like, 100% kind of convinced,” Max agreed. You rolled your eyes. So much for breaking the news softly.

“And the good news?”

“Your name hasn’t gone public yet. But if we found out about you, it’s only a matter of time before others do too, and once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother will be gunning for you,” Robin spoke up.

“Hunt the freak, right?” Eddie clarified, his eyes staring off, unfocused.

“Exactly,” Robin breathed out.

“So before that happens, we need to find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence,” Dustin outlined.

“That’s all, Dustin? That’s all?” Eddie fumed. Sure he loved the Henderson kid, but the boy got on his damn nerves like all the time, and this was one of those moments.

“Believe it or not, we’ve been through this kind of thing before…a few times actually,” you reassured Eddie, hoping that your words would calm his nerves but that was definitely a bit of a stretch.

“You’re telling me that you, Ms. 4.0, have been off fighting monsters while maintaining a perfect GPA?” Eddie asked in disbelief. “Bullshit.”

“I know, it’s pretty impressive,” Steve spoke up, throwing an arm around you, “we usually rely on this girl with super powers but, uh, those went bye-bye.”

“So we’re kind of in more of the brainstorming phase,” Robin spoke up and you all nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, you really have nothing to worry about,” Dustin reassured Eddie, but all of you knew that that was far from the truth. There was definitely a shit ton of stuff to worry about. Before Eddie could ask anymore questions, you all heard sirens wailing in the distance. He quickly covered up with the tarp as you all ran to the window, watching as several emergency vehicles passed right by Reefer Rick’s house.

A sinking feeling settled in your stomach as you concluded that there must be another body. You all raced to Steve’s car again, following the waling sound of sirens, afraid of what you’d find.

***

a/n: thanks for reading people of tumblr! If you wanted to reblog, I promise I wouldn’t be mad ;)

taglist:

@season4steve @sassyheroneckgiant @tangledinthegreatxscape @maeve-wileyy @palachannie @chaerfull @usaguisenpaisblog @emilieluckwood @sabrinadelreyy @mochminnie @xprloki @kitdjarin1 @kissmxcheek @daemonskitty @bethsvrse @aheadfullofsteverogers

#stranger things #steve harrington #joe keery #steve harrington fanfic #netflix #friends to lovers #steve harrington friends to lovers #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington stranger things #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington fanfiction #steve harrington fluff #stranger things x reader #stranger things fanfiction #steve harrington angst #steve harrington x you

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moodymisty · 1 year

Note

Crosshair loves physical contact and will hang onto you as much as possible

Tech loves whenever you cling to him while working. He loves when you lounge over him and just chill and lets him be, while still being close

- @clone-whore-99

Author's Note: Yessssss!! I am sold thank you so much for feeding me in my time of need these are top tier <3

Relationships: Crosshair/Gn!Reader, Tech/Gn!Reader

Warnings: lots of fluff

✦ Crosshair ✦

Crosshair really does consider it one of his 'weaknesses', that he's constantly yearning for at least some level of physical contact with you.

Like him sitting down and you sitting in the spot between his legs, and his chin rests on your head or shoulder depending. He still has that usual grumpy expression, but is clearly soaking this whole thing up.

Or sitting sideways on his lap; But if you don't want to sit on this thighs, he'll still pull your legs to rest over his.

He's just constantly stealing chances to hold your hand, put an arm around your shoulders; Anytime he can, he will. He always takes the spot right next to you, wherever you are.

In public he's far more likely to just use an arm around your waist or a hand on your shoulder, more subtle but still some form of contact.

If he's helping you with something, he'll have a hand on your shoulder or back, standing well past close enough that he can get a good look. You'll usually get a ruffle of your hair or shoulder afterwards so he can watch your face scrunch up before he walks away.

Sleeping together normally involves a position that gives him the most surface area; Usually spooning or holding you against his chest. And if you don't start that way, you'll usually find yourself in one of those positions by morning. And he latches on tight; Especially if his sleep is being particularly unrestful that night.

He's just, so surprisingly touchy sometimes that it's almost a complete dichotomy to his usual attitude.

Reading through another paragraph on your datapad, you quietly bite your lip and squeeze your eyes closed for a moment. They feel a little sore, but the momentary relief seems to settle them for a bit. At least long enough to keep reading a little longer.

This book has potential, but you aren't totally sold on it yet. Crosshair doesn't seem to be either, as each time he finishes a page he is either completely silent, or lets out a vaguely unamused 'hmm'. When you're both done you move to the next page, and start the whole process over again.

You feel a little bit too close to the edge of the seat for your comfort, so you scoot back a little bit more into Crosshair's body, and he straightens up more as a result. His arms raise a little bit before setting back down, loosely wrapped around your waist while the side of his face rests against your temple. It's not an uncommon position for you, especially when you're both reading something together. If anything, it's become sort of a habit.

But when you'd first met Crosshair, you never thought he'd be this, cuddly. He seems content as can be leaning into you, even if he hasn't spoken a word in a significant amount of time.

"Having fun?"

Hunter enters the Marauder's cockpit and looks at the scene in front of him with raised eyebrows, a drink in his hand.

Crosshair doesn't even need to say anything, only look, to let Hunter know that his comment is not appreciated in the slightest. Once he's finished doing so, he turns back to the datapad in your hand, and uses his own to tug you just a tiny bit closer.

✦ Tech ✦

Over time you've become a master at snuggling him, while also staying unobtrusive to whatever he's working on. Like hugging his waist instead of his shoulders. Or looking over what he's doing from the side to not block the light.

At first you just laid your head on his shoulder, testing the waters, while he kept tinkering. Overtime Tech went from largely indifferent to it to actively hoping you'd do so, working in places that had more room for you to sneak in next to him.

Sometimes you'll help hold something for him if he needed the extra hands, but more often then not you'll end up falling asleep; At least if it's late. Which it usually is when Tech is up tinkering.

No matter the time however you'll usually listen to him chatter about his current work; As his voice a nice, pleasant tone to relax or fall asleep to. You'll hum and try to keep up, but Tech seems to just like that someone's listening, knowing that you might not understand it all.

Sometimes if he makes a loud noise that startles you awake he'll mumble an apology, feeling you move against him.

Every now and again you'll feel his hand brush against you, as if just taking a moment before going right back to work.

Tech has a dilemma.

He needs the tool over on his workbench in order to continue working on the project in his lap, but right now your arms are wrapped around his hips, cheek pressed against his waist.

And... He doesn't want to move.

But he needs to finish this; Not for any particularly urgent reason, other than his brain will never allow it to remain unfinished now that he's started. So he sits with his quandary, subtly looking down at the way you're clung to him and debating how he can remove himself from this to get what he needs, and then return to it without anything having changed.

Though instead of having to do so Tech's hero arrives; Echo walking through the doorway moments before Tech was going to ask you if you could detach from him for a moment. He can't quite tell if you're asleep or not however, so he speaks in a soft enough tone that hopefully wouldn't wake you, if you indeed are the former.

"Echo," He murmurs, watching Echo look up from the datapad he was focused on to see Tech looking right at him.

"Could you perhaps hand me that tri-point screwdriver on my workbench?"

Echo quite quickly realizes the situation Tech is in, and why he's asking such for him to do something so minute. Echo takes a few steps off of his original path and snatches the screwdriver off the table, walking it over to hand off. Tech nods, silently thanking him for his assistance.

Now he can get back to work, feeling the way you adjust your legs so they entwine with his just a little bit more.

#the bad batch crosshair x reader #the bad batch tech x reader #Tech/Reader #Crosshair/Reader #tbb x reader #tech x reader #crosshair x reader #reader insert #reader #mywriting

710 notes · View notes

aftgficrec · 7 months

Note

ah I'm so excited you're open!!! thank you for the ridiculous amount of work you all do 🙏ok, this might be too specific but any fics with an alternate take on Andrew and Neil's post-trk reunion? Andrew gets out of easthaven early, Neil leaves the Nest later, AU's, etc.? i think it's a really interesting point in their dynamic, and I'm a sucker for sober Andrew realizing someone was watching his back for once

Feeling a bit like a Bernie Sanders’ meme – ‘I am once again asking myself why I spent so much time on an ask,’ 😅 but it's because this is such an iconic and beloved scene for our fandom. For a super fun ‘live’ first-time reader reaction to this high drama, check out ‘The King’s Men, Chapter 1 – Hello Foxhole, My Old Friend’ by @nickireadstfc here. -A

also see

Andrew's POV of throwing keys off roof here

‘Come and Save Me From It’ here (completed)

‘Learning To Feel (When You've Forgotten How)’ and the fandom meta posts here

‘pipedream’ here

‘reaching for the heights’ here

‘Lost boy’ and ‘[Un]broken’ here

‘I Know You From A Nightmare,’ ‘The Marks We Make,’ and ‘Draw Me Out, Mark Me In’ here

‘Marked’ and ‘Soulmates who can feel each other’s pain’ here

‘Of Stars and Stories’ here

‘What’s normal now?’ here

long previous recs with reunion mention

‘No More Fucks To Give’ here (updated)

‘The Sphynx and the Hare’ here (completed)

‘corvus, vulpes, lupus’ here

‘never fallen (from quite this high)’ here

‘Not a Pipe Dream’ here

‘everything and nothing begins with you’ here

Andrew gets sober, Neil stays at Evermore

‘Oh Raven,’ ‘Jailbird,’ and ‘Take to the Wing’ here

‘Scared to Live (But I'm Scared to Die)’ here

‘Comeback’ here

you may also like

in the dream I don't tell anyone (you put your head in my lap) by Fortheloveofexy [Rated T, 1850 Words, Complete, 2022, Locked]

The real Neil would never allow this, would not let himself be this vulnerable. The real Neil can barely stand to be around him. Andrew knows this. But Dream Neil? Dream Neil is a different story.

Will you be there when I come back? by Shamman [Not Rated, 299 Words, Complete, 2017]

Andrew is trapped in Easthaven with an eidetic memory and tries to focus his thoughts on the confusing image of Neil Josten's face. -Because however terrible it may look, Andrew's current circumstances are much less pleasant. Furthermore Bee has been making him sing and play the guitar in a very therapeutic attempt to make him express some sort of actual emotion over the past year.

tw: violent imagery

You Gave Me A Key And Called It Home by glintchi [Rated T, Collection, Complete, 2019]

Chapter 19: Yes, I Admit It, You Were Right [460 Words] Renee was waiting for him in the basement, fingers already taped, hair pulled back into a tuft of a rainbow ponytail.

Foxhole Tidbits by SpangleBangle [Collection Rated T/M, Updated 2018]

Chapter 14: My Friend, O My Friend [M, 953 Words] Prompt for Renee's reaction after Drake/Easthaven and Andrew's return.

tw: implied/referenced rape/noncon, tw: implied/referenced csa, tw: canonical character death

Did You Miss Me? by Deathandcommas [Rated G, 555 Words, Complete, 2023, Locked]

Aaron and Andrew have a late night chat after Andrew gets back from Easthaven.

tfw spoons by StrawBerryRains [Rated G, 216 Words, Complete, 2021]

Nicky offers Andrew ice cream when they arrive home from Easthaven.

A Taste of Your Own Medicine by caffeine_withdrawl [Rated M, 66454 Words, Incomplete, Updated March 2023]

Set after the infamous Thanksgiving, but then diverges from canon. Andrew and Bee decide it’s time for Andrew to come off the drugs, but works some magic so that he is allowed to do it in Columbia. Neil is tasked with helping him through it. They decide to do it the same way Andrew helped Aaron sober up, by locking him in a bathroom. Andrew doesn't react well, and switches between rage and panic. Andrew wonders if Neil is real or if he made him up because of the drugs.

tw: graphic depictions of violence, tw: body horror, tw: implied/referenced rape/noncon, tw: implied/referenced csa, tw: flashbacks, tw: implied/referenced abuse, tw: drug addiction, tw: withdrawal, tw: vomit, tw: implied/referenced self harm, tw: ptsd, tw: emotional abuse, tw: hallucinations

making it harder to breathe by Azure_Allumiia [Rated T, 1643 Words, Complete, 2021]

Christmas Break with the Foxes, featuring Andrew at Easthaven and Neil in Evermore. Foxes celebrate New Years in NYC with the ball drop.

tw: graphic depictions of violence, tw: rape/noncon, tw: medical abuse, tw: torture, tw: blood

Dead Birds by Noah98 [Rated G, 1601 Words, Complete, 2021, Locked]

Neil just got back from Evermore and Andrew has returned from Easthaven. Riko calls. He wants a rematch and oh boy does he get it.

tw: violence, tw: blood/gore

Art

NB: just a sampling of art for this scene

“Feel Again” original song by @whatbutandreil [Tumblr, 2020]

Picking up Andrew from Easthaven part 1, part 2 comic by @coldcigarettes

andreil keys off the roof scene: animation by @hahanken | comic by @rainbowd00dles | comic by @lunapiq | art by @esklinray

I hate you comic by @thematicallycoherent

I’m not a hallucination art by @clumsyartish

Stick around long enough to figure it out for yourself. edit by @m1nyards

You are a pipe dream art by @viennemort

“you spend all this time watching our backs” edit by @matthcwboyd

not a hallucination a pipe dream art by @kryptidfox

“you were supposed to be a side effect of the drugs.” art by @planetmontressor

"Go inside and leave me alone." art by @dimsunstuff

“No, you’re a pipe dream.” art by @starkingdraws

112 notes · View notes

returnsandreturns · 3 months

Note

I just dontated to the PCRF! For a mattfoggy prompt, what about, in college, matt sitting in foggy's lap just becoming A Thing That Keeps Happening that started as a circumstantial thing but it just. never /stopped/ happening. And eventually they kiss about it.

matt being just an absolute goddamn mess has been my favorite thing to write lately so this was a lovely opportunity!! thank you <3

(also, if you donate any amount to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund or a similar organization of your choice, you can also get a guaranteed matt/foggy ficlet of an undetermined length. just send me an ask.)

“We cannot afford a cab,” Foggy says, leaning out of the questionable car belonging to Marci’s friend that is already full of more college students than should legally be in it, “and we are both drunk enough that there is a non zero chance that somebody is going to fall in front of a train. Just sit on my lap—you’re too pretty to wander around the streets alone.”

Matt sighs before climbing into the car, slumping down so he can settle awkwardly on Foggy’s lap, shutting the door behind him.

“This is undignified,” he says.

“Dignity’s overrated,” Foggy says, wrapping his arms around Matt’s waist loosely, making a soft noise when Matt shifts and they both clearly internally reckon with the fact that he’s making significant contact with part of Foggy that he actively tries not to think about. Because it’s weird to think about your friend’s dick—and maybe just as weird to have to think so much about how he shouldn’t be thinking of it.

The car is full of drunk babbling so neither of them has to say anything—which is probably for the best.

What’s there to say?

“Oh, shit,” Matt says, when he goes to sit next to Foggy on his bed but, in the midst of finals week delirium, ends up sitting directly on him. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Foggy says, after letting out a shocked laugh, arms going around Matt’s waist to steady him and immediately reminding Matt of that feeling from a few months ago—sitting on Foggy’s lap, Foggy’s arms around him, Foggy’s—his thoughts are interrupted when Foggy says, a little high-pitched, “Are you gonna maybe move, buddy?”

“Oh god,” Matt says, again, despairingly, climbing off of him and considering hiding under the bed. “Sorry! I normally have a better read on where you are, I’m just. . .”

“In clinical need of a nap?” Foggy asks.

“So tired,” Matt agrees.

“I’ll point out,” Foggy says, “that we are currently in a bed—where most naps take place.”

“That’s true,” Matt says, smiling. “Statistically.”

“C’mon, we’ve earned it,” Foggy says, gently touching Matt to guide him so they can lie next to each other, on their sides, touching in so many different little places that Matt can’t focus at all—until Foggy asks, softly, “Is this okay?”

“Yeah,” Matt says, just as softly, smiling. “It’s good.”

If they wake up a little more tangled together and with Matt having a broadened awareness of what Foggy’s dick feels like when it’s pressed up against his ass, it’s fine. They were unconscious. It’s not like they wanted it.

—

Matt wants it.

Matt—Matt wants it.

Fuck.

—

After a series of lap related incidents, some unintentional, most incredibly contrived to the point where Matt almost gives up because Foggy has to actively be choosing not to say something, Foggy pulls Matt into his lap on his bed and gently grabs his hips.

“Do you have something you want to tell me, Matty?” he asks, voice a little lower than normal.

Matt’s eyes widen.

“Uhm,” he says.

“Use your words, please,” Foggy says.

“Okay, but what if I—I mean, instead, what if—fuck, Foggy,” Matt says, giving up on words and leaning down to kiss Foggy instead, soft at first then decidely not when Foggy hands move to squeeze his waist then down to his ass as they go from kissing to Matt dazedly thinking about everything else Foggy could do with his tongue as they frantically make out.

“Okay, the lap sitting,” Foggy says, when they break apart out of sheer need for oxygen. “Do you normally come onto people by literally throwing yourself at them?”

“Everything preceding the month of October was accidental,” Matt says, immediately.

“And what about the incidents following that?” Foggy asks, amused.

“. . .less accidental,” Matt admits.

“You just like being in my lap, buddy?” Foggy asks, stroking Matt’s hair.

Matt nods, a little too overwhelmed, but Foggy gets it immediately and takes Matt by the hips again to pull him slowly closer, making an encouraging noise when Matt shifts so his erection presses up against Foggy’s through too many layers of clothes. He rolls his hips. Foggy swears.

Matt’s fingers slide over the zipper on Foggy’s jeans and Foggy says, firmly, “Yes,” before Matt even has a chance to say please.

#mattfoggy #my fic #daredevil #PCRF fundraiser

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bad268 · 4 months

Text

All I Ever Wanted (Logan Sargeant X Reader)

Fandom: RPF/Formula 1

Requested: Nope, Happy Valentine's Day! (Question tho, would anyone be interested if I started writing for James Harvey Blair? I love him and I've been thinking about it...)

Warnings: Mentions cruise ships and Titanic (italics are story fillers)

Pronouns: Second POV (you/your)

W.C. 1759

Summary: Wanted by Hunter Hayes

As always, my requests are OPEN

MASTERLIST // HITLIST

~~(^Pinterest)

“Logs, I think you’re forgetting something,” You laughed, holding up his phone just before he left. You were sitting on the couch in your shared apartment, spending some time together before he needed to head out for testing, and the day finally came when he needed to leave. He was running around the apartment like a chicken with his head cut off all because he asked for five more minutes. Well, five minutes turned into ten and before you knew it, he had an hour before his flight time. “You’d fall apart without me.”

“You’re right,” he laughed as he came back over to grab the phone and leaned over the back of the couch to give you a kiss before whispering, “I don’t know what I’d do without you, and I don’t know how you remember everything.”

“All in the job, I guess,” You joked as you pulled him back down, quickly giving him one last kiss before pushing him away. “Now go before James has my head for you not making your flight!”

This was a normal occurrence, but you would not change it for the world. Being able to help with even the most mundane things made you feel wanted, and that’s all Logan ever wanted. Having met in his karting days and got together during his F3 campaign, you were by his side through everything, and he needed you to know how much you mean to him.

”Can I get your help with this?” Logan asked as he walked into the Prema garage with his tablet. It was early on in your relationship, having gotten together only a few months prior, so this was technically your first race weekend as his significant other. Not that it really mattered, the crew treated you the same as always, but they did give you two more alone time than you remembered them giving. This allowed for Logan to have a little more freedom when it came to retreating into the backrooms at random times throughout the day. That came in handy for times like this as he showed you what he was struggling with on the tablet. “I can’t figure it out.

“It’s the track layout? What exactly do you need my help with?” You were genuinely confused. It was simply the layout of the track, nothing more nothing less. “I’d love to help, I just don’t understand the question.”

“Is this a right or left turn?” He asked in the same tone as he pointed at turn 3. You looked at the tablet and up at him a few times with wide eyes before answering him.

“Are you joking?” You asked in disbelief. If he was faking, you would not have known because even his eyes showed confusion toward the layout. You sighed, “It’s a long right-hander, Logs.”

“I know, but thanks for confirming,” he laughed, pulling you into his side as he kissed the crown of your head.

It became something the fans looked forward to. Especially during practice sessions because he was not always in the car and the cameras would always pan over to the two of you.

One day, in particular, it was raining. Typical Spa weather, but for once, the FIA made the right decision to delay the qualifying session due to the amount of rain. There were ever-growing puddles around the track, and it was not safe for them to go out and drive.

It was also cold, something you knew about Spa but clearly did not think the temperature would drop as drastically as it did when the rain started falling. That’s what the camera spotted when it panned over to the Williams garage. You and Logan were cuddled together under a tyre blanket as you two looked over the data from the practice session.

“And here we have the crowd-favorite couple of Logan Sargeant and Y/n L/n,” Alex said over the live feed that was being broadcasted to all of the viewers. “Is that a tyre blanket around their shoulders?”

“I think it is,” Pietro Fittipaldi, who was guest starring in the commentary box, laughed. You looked away from the data momentarily, and you see the broadcast zooming in on you and Logan. You nudged his side and pointed at the screen, making him laugh and pull you closer to his side. He gave you a small kiss on your lips, giving the viewers a show. You turned your head toward the camera afterward and smirked as you waved at it. Then, you turned your attention back to the screen just as it played on the screen and Pietro shouted, “We’ve been caught!”

Logan made it his mission to make you feel wanted. And he was willing to fight from the trenches against assholes online for you. He would do anything for you.

“What’s with that face?” Logan asked as he walked into the kitchen to grab a snack. It was during one of the brief breaks he had, so he decided to go back to your shared apartment. You were sitting at the counter, looking at your phone. Specifically, it was a recent post from the Williams Instagram that had a picture of you and Logan, and the comments on the post were not-so-nice at best. He leaned over your shoulder to see exactly what it was and immediately took your phone out of view. “What did I say about reading hate?”

“It’s hard not to when it’s everywhere,” you sighed, leaning back into his embrace. He wrapped his arms around your shoulders as he leaned his head against your shoulder, looking at the side of your face.

“Well, you know who’s opinion matters? Not theirs. Who even are they?” Logan answered, trying to make you laugh. “Jealous, that’s what they are. You are pretty and get to travel the world. These guys are chronically online, so they have nothing on you.”

“You’re pretty too, y’know,” you chuckled halfheartedly, still trying to forget what was said in the comments. “But your pretty is deeper than the surface. Your personality is pretty.”

“Glad to know you find my personality pretty because yours is prettier,” Logan jokingly flirted as he placed a kiss on your exposed shoulder. “Those people have clearly never heard your collection of dad jokes.”

“Hey! They’re good and you know it!”

Eventually, he knew that he was ready for the next step. No-not adopting a dog. He was ready to propose. After long discussions with Oscar (because he is substantially more put together than Logan (jokes)), he knew the perfect ring and the perfect way to ask.

It was after the season, and you two were visiting his family in Miami. Despite living in a beach town with a lot of luxury ships, he and his family had never been on a cruise, so that was what you suggested when everyone was talking about plans for the holiday.

That’s where you found yourself during the break, on a huge cruise ship in the middle of the ocean with his family and a few of your closest friends. The itinerary included St. Kitts, St. Thomas, St. Martins, and, Logan’s favorite, the Bahamas. You both relaxed, you learned how to fish (and even got another infamous fish picture of Logan), and you all went snorkeling around a shipwreck together.

The entire trip, Logan tried his best to relax, but he always had the lingering thought of “hey, I have the ring in my pocket, and I need to propose at some point.” You could tell something was on his mind, but you chalked it up to him being nervous since it was his first cruise. It was not until the second to last night that he finally mustered up the courage.

You were standing at the back of the ship with Logan, watching the sunset. You were leaning against the railing as Logan stood behind you with his hands on your sides.

“Wanna pretend we’re from the Titanic?” You joked, looking back at him as you put your arms out to the sides like Rose.

“Can we not joke about being on a sinking ship while we are on a ship in the middle of the ocean?” He laughed nervously.

“Ah, are you scared, Mr. I drive at over 200 kph for a living?” You teased, looking back out to the open ocean. Logan was about to make a comment, but someone moving to his side caught his attention. Kyle and Oscar were walking by them, ready to take pictures of the moment since Logan asked them to photograph the moment. “Woah, cat got your tongue for once? Usually, you have some sort of smartass remark.”

“Actually, I wanna tell you something,” He started off. You did not turn around, but you moved your arms from the railing to hold his hands as they wrapped around your torso. “All I ever wanted was to make you feel wanted.”

“You do an amazing job at that, Logs,” You chuckled, turning your head slightly to place a small kiss on his cheek.

“You make me feel so loved, but I want to make you feel better. I want to be better than all of the fairy tales you grew up with and better than your best dreams. I want to call you mine, I want to hold your hand forever and never let you forget it. I want to spend the rest of my life proving to you how wanted you are because, to me, you’ll always be wanted,” He spilled, lovingly as he slowly turned you around throughout the speech. You were too busy gazing into his eyes (and keeping the tears from falling) to notice the other two secretly recording and taking pictures of the moment. Especially when Logan finished off the speech by getting down on one knee and holding out the ring for you. “All I ever wanted was to be married to you. Will you do me the honors?”

“I never imagined feeling so loved and wanted in a relationship, but you are better than any of my wildest dreams,” You cried before realizing you never answered him. You prompted him to put the ring on your finger before whispering, “I would love to marry you, Logs.”

“They said yes!” He jumped up, picking you up in the process and turning you toward the (now visible) men with their phones out.

“Put me down!” You scratched, “I know I made Titanic jokes earlier, but I’m not really planning on being thrown overboard tonight.”

~~~~~

#logan sargeant x reader #logan sargeant #logan x reader #logan sargeant x you #logan sargeant imagine #logan sargeant fluff #logan sargeant fanfiction #williams racing #williams formula 1 #williams f1 #f1 #f2 #f3 #formula 1 x reader #formula 1 #formula 1 imagine #formula 2 x reader #formula 3 x reader

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hermionegalathynius · 5 months

Text

Found Family (4/?)

So I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of positive reactions this story is getting. I just want to say thank you to everyone who takes the time to like or reblog or comment my work because it means the world to me.

Fandom: Now You See Me

Pairing: Danny Atlas x Reader

Warnings: Some swearing — read at your own discretion.

Part 3

“Hello New York!” Danny exclaimed, stepping forward and greeting the crowd. They screamed.

“Thank you so much! Hey, it’s great to be back! And have you met our newest Horsemen, the May sisters! Y/n and Lula!”

The audience cheered louder and you and Lula waved, bright smiles on both your faces. Danny grinned back at you with a wink.

“Feels good right?”

You nodded, “Yep.”

“Pretty good,” Lula said, walking across the stage, “Pretty good.”

Danny turned back to the audience and started to calm them, “Thank you, thank you.”

The cheering quietened.

“Um, okay. We want to talk to you about your privacy. What does your privacy mean to you?”

“Because apparently to Owen Case, it means absolutely nothing,” Merritt continued.

The audience looked around nervously. Your smile widened as you moved to stand next to Danny.

“No actually, Merritt, it means less than absolutely nothing,” you said before addressing the audience, “You see, Owen’s mocked your privacy. He’s scorned it.”

Danny nodded, running a discreet hand down your back and loosening the tension in your shoulders. You tried not to blush in front of an audience of people.

“Right,” he continued, “and we’re not just talking about the things that you already agreed to when you signed probably without reading the terms and conditions of Octas 1 through 7.”

“So,” Lula began, “Before we start the show, we had Owen agree to a few terms of our own.”

You grinned at her, proud of her for reaching this dream. She looked so comfortable up there, talking to the audience. You were glad to be able to do it with her, too.

“So everything that he had once considered private…” Lula trailed off.

Your heart dropped to your stomach as her mic cut out. One glance at Danny told you he understood and he quickly walked over to Lula.

“Yeah, everything that he once considered private is now…” his mic cut off too.

“Shit,” you whispered, not bothering to mind your language as you assumed yours had cut off too.

The screen behind you flashed and white noise filled the theatre. People screamed.

“Oh my,” a computer-generated voice echoed through the room, “As the Horsemen like to say, magic is about controlling perception.”

You gazed up at the shifting face that appeared on the screen. Someone grabbed your arm gently and you turned to see Danny.

“Y/n!” He exclaimed, “Are you alright?”

You swallowed, fear piercing through you, “I… yeah. Yeah I’m okay. What’s going on, Danny?”

He shook his head, “I don’t know.”

“You see them as the champions of the truth,” the voice continued, “but are they? Or is that just another one of their illusions?”

“Shit shit shit,” Merritt was saying as he and Lula joined you and Danny in the middle of the stage, “Where’s Dylan?”

“And Jack?” Lula added.

“So since they clearly love secrets, let’s reveal some of theirs.”

“Danny, everyone, get off the stage,” Dylan’s voice crackled through the coms, “Jack, go with them. I’ll see you at the meet up point.”

Danny’s hand moved down your arm and gripped yours. You squeezed his fingers in response.

“Let’s go,” he said, pulling you off the stage behind him.

The four of you began running, the voice echoing behind you clear as day.

“Do you recall the death of Jack Wilder? What if I told you he’s not just alive, but he’s actually right here.”

Jack’s alarmed face under his security cap was displayed on a screen you passed as you ran out of the backstage area.

“Dammit,” you heard Danny mutter. His hand was still firmly clasped around yours. Normally you would be bothered by the tightness, but adrenalin was coursing through your veins and you were just that desperate not to lose track of him in this chaos.

“And do you know who else is here? The FBI. Let’s let them in, shall we? And now for the big reveal…”

“Where’s the door to the roof?” Danny called to Jack as the younger man joined the group running to the meeting point.

“Take the next left then up the stairs,” Jack said.

“There’s a fifth Horseman, and he’s the biggest criminal of them all. FBI agent Dylan Rhodes.”

The five of you punched through the door to the roof.

“How the hell could this happen? I thought Dylan had everything under control!” Merritt yelled.

“Yeah. Apparently he didn’t,” Danny said, quietly frustrated in the way you knew he could get.

Merritt whirled on the illusionist, and something in his expression told you Danny wouldn’t like what he was about to say.

“Maybe you’re the leak, Dan. Where’ve you been sneaking off to?” Merritt demanded.

Danny let go of your hand and advanced on the mentalist, “Don’t you dare for a second insinuate that I had anything to do with this!”

“I’m not insinuating, that’s your-“ Merritt began to retort, but Jack cut in.

“Let’s get to the truck, come on!”

You all ran to the black tube. Danny nudged you in front of him, and you jumped in.

Gritting your teeth against the roller-coster sensation in your gut, you crossed your arms over your chest and noted with some curiosity the pulsing sound coming from the gaps in the tube.

You could also hear Jack sliding ahead of you and Danny behind you. After a moment you also heard Merritt screaming further back.

Then, with a thud you tumbled into a laundry basket.

“Wha…” you breathed, getting a split second to gaze around at your surroundings before Danny slammed into you.

“Oof,” he said, “Sorry. You okay?”

You winced, “Yeah. A little bruised, but I’ve had worse. You?”

He nodded as Lula and Merritt tumbled into the basket next to you, “Yeah. What the hell is going on?”

“Wasn’t there supposed to be a truck?” Merritt asked, clambering out of the basket. The rest of you followed his lead. Asian people in white aprons started yelling at you, shoving you through a crowded, steamy kitchen.

“Wait,” Danny said in between being shoved by Chinese chefs, “did you mis-run the tube?”

“No, I put it in the truck, I know I did!” Jack exclaimed, bumping into you while trying to dodge an oncoming tray.

“We’re really not in the truck right now,” you said, stumbling into Danny who reached back and grabbed your hand, the sensation becoming familiar to you.

“Somebody must have moved the tube,” Merritt said, as you all moved through a set of doors into what looked like a restaurant, “Were we above a Chinese restaurant?”

“I’m moving, relax!” Lula yelled at the man who was shoving her out of the kitchen.

“Okay, why are we here?” you demanded.

“Why am I frickin’ starving?” Lula asked, staring at the Chinese food everywhere.

“Yeah, I’m weirdly starving too,” Jack mused.

At their words your own stomach growled, responding to the smell of noodles and stir fry surrounding you.

Merritt moved towards the door, popping his head outside.

“Something’s very wrong,” you told Danny softly.

He nodded, brows furrowed, “Yeah, I agree.”

“At least,” Lula began as Merritt returned, “And I know this isn’t much consolation, but apparently we’re now surrounded by Chinese food. Right?”

“Guys…” Merritt said and you all turned to look at him, “I think where we are right now, they don’t refer to it as ‘Chinese food’. It’s just called… food.”

“Shit,” you muttered.

“Wait, what are you saying?” Danny asked, “How is this possible?”

A high pitched giggle directed all of your attention to the man with a perm sitting at the table nearest you, facing away with a menu held up in front of his face.

“I believe in your particular parlance, the word is ‘magic’.”

Taglist:

@pulling-out-my-eyes

#fanfiction #fanfic writing #danny atlas #nysm2 #nysm #daniel atlas x reader #daniel atlas imagine #j daniel atlas #daniel atlas #daniel atlas imagines #jack wilder #merritt mckinney #lula may #dylan rhodes #dylan shrike

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dia-souls · 8 months

Note

Maybe a reaction for Carla and Shin who have Tomie!s/o

she has same powers, story ec.. with her.

Thanks in advance, dear! <3 ^^

Note: Welcome dear! You don't need to say thanks you waited so long for this ask. Instead of writting reaction, I decided to go for headcanons. Tomie is a fun character! She is scary and interesting.

🌹 _____________________________________ 🌹

🔮 Carla Tsukinami 🔮

At first Carla will like the way. She has beauty as well as power. She proves to be a good Queen as her powers gives her a plus point.

One thing that annoys him is that not only she seduces him but also seduces anyone who can be characterize as man.

He still doesn't respect her but sees her above normal human women but still she is way too inferior to what he posses as king.

Carla is also curious about her history? What is her origin? How does she posses such power eventhough she is a human.

His curiosity further increased when he sees her coming back to life again and again he lowkey freaks out but this will provoke his sadistic side.

Carla enjoys tourturing her as in this way he can clearly shows who is actually in charge of their relationship.

Carla in terms of power is stronger than her but her manapulating tricks and her intelligence always caught him off guard.

Carla internally will realize that she is provoking his jealousy and rage just so he could go crazy at first countless men head roll because he is stronger than any victims of her.

But Carla is also smart. He isn't dumb, he will start to realize the way she plays game with him and will start reading her pattern of doing work.

Carla knows he has upper hand over her and won't hesitate to degrade her verbally and physically to keep her in place.

He isn't going to let her do what she pleases with other men. He hates sharing or seeing slightest of her attention going to other men as it boils his blood.

Carla doesn't fall her succubus acts and her manapulating tricks but he did feel irk whenever he sees her with other man.

It will take Carla a bit off time to understand her tricks the more she interacts with Carla the more Carla gains dominance over her.

He starts to reads her acts the way she behave in order for the man to kill each other. At first this used to frustrate Carla but the moment Carla manged to acknowledge her abilities, he will become immune to her powers.

Carla laughs internally whenever she gets frustrated for not getting her way with him. She can try her best to be authoritative but Carla will easily put her in place by dominating her verbally.

Carla sometimes will use her own tricks on her. He will manapulate her to think that Carla is most powerful and that she should obey if she doesn't want to lose her head.

"Huh! Haha!! Hah.... It's funny you think you can beat a Founder King with your cheap tricks?! You really think you can manapulate and control someone as superior and strong as me?!! Make no mistake women I am not like the other pest you came across in past! I will make you submit to me!!

🌹 _____________________________________ 🌹

🐺 Shin Tsukinami 🐺

The moment he noticed her beauty he got whipped. He felt a great amount of lust and attraction towards her.

Shin loves the way she looks, the way she sways her hair, the way she bat's her eyelashes etc etc. He is whipped for her!

Shin loves that his s/o isn't a weakling and has power.

At first he will test her power to see if she by an small chance has upper hand on him but he realized she is very weaker than him.

This increased his ego. He will degrade her by using their power difference whenever she tries to use her power.

Shin literally gave a shrill scream the moment he realized that she can come back from dead

When he realized that she actually isn't a loyal one that's when he starts to go into yandere and his possessive side awakens.

Shin isn't smart like Carla he does falls for her tricks but this all backfires as Shin will not only kill her lovers but will torture her brutally.

Shin is known to love violence and his s/o provoked a dangerous side of him by giving him a reason to kill.

He will be laughing while killing all thoes victims as he is stronger than all of her victims and none of them can even touch his single hair.

Shin will definitely is enjoying all this. He doesn't knows he is being manapulated by his smart s/o neither does his care he is just enjoying this too much!

His s/o will literally regret trying to mess with him because she isn't safe too as after getting done with her lovers he goes to tourturing her since she can come back from dead.

Shin will use this to his advantage by tourturing her too much to the point she gets killed and smiles whenever she returns.

If she tries to run away he won't hesitate to drag her back to have fun with her.

Eventhough she is intelligent but compare to Shin brutal strength and his craze for violence she is nothing instead of being dominant she will be forced to become shin play thing.

Their relations ship will be filled with abuse with Shin never getting bore off her and not letting her go.

Unlike Carla, his relationship with her is brutal as he always compete with her in strength his jealous side makes him more sadistic.

"Neh!? Isn't it so fun!?? I love all this thing you do but don't misunderstand I will never let you go to another man you are my plaything since you are powerful how about we fight?! I am sure I will win but still it's so pathetic the way you try to use your weak powers against me!! "

🌹 _____________________________________ 🌹

#diabolik lovers #dialovers #carla tsukinami #tsukinami carla #yandere carla tsukinami #shin tsukinami #tsukinami shin #yandere shin tsukinami #diabolik lovers headcanons #yandere diabolik lovers

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eyedelater · 1 year

Text

noda-sensei's art peculiarities

(links are carefully selected example images from golden kamuy)

incredibly skilled with the human form; even difficult poses are rendered perfectly. (does he make everyone naked just to show off?)

babies are Not cute. they're ugly with puffy eyes and always look sleepy and disgusted.

clearly hates drawing teeth and the inside of mouths. notably just leaves the inside of mouths white most of the time. sometimes draws rough teeth, sometimes draws detailed teeth, sometimes implies teeth with shading, sometimes fills it in grey— it's not consistent at all. i think i've deduced that what he hates the most is calculating the position of teeth in the mouth.

despite the above point, he seems to always draw sofia's teeth because her tooth gap is an important part of her character design

sometimes zooms in and draws details (especially on hands) then zooms out and you can tell because now the line weight is a little different

3/4 view from behind (1/4 view?) of people's faces where you just see the funny bumps of their lips. and it always works

big round sweat drips that often have Texture and Shading.

incredibly skilled at drawing animals, even notoriously difficult ones like horses. though most of the animals die. especially horses.

amount of sparkle in the eyes is meaningful. more sparkle indicates the lightness of their spirit, and no sparkle indicates coldness or jadedness. best/worst example is reinvigorated tsukishima. asirpa is of course also a critical example. and i think ogata's eyes never have any sparkle his whole life.

he can draw wrinkles in the places where they would normally go on someone's face, and he can do it well. or he can decide to draw Other lines on someone's face, in any spot, and if someone questions it, the answer is that they're just like that, and you have to accept it. i really like this "they're just like that" approach to character design, and there are many examples in golden kamuy (e.g. ariko's square irises and pupils, ushiyama's forehead plate, tsukishima's nose)

really good at drawing the way strands of hair wrap over the top of someone's head. (look at tsurumi, ogata, hijikata)

he'll draw chapped lips that'll make your own lips feel real dry.

mouths are often shaped like that... but it works

eyes are usually black, but sometimes a character's pupils will get really small during moments of high tension and you can see their iris and it's light

this is just a hunch but i think he prefers drawing men over women

judicious use of lines going up from the corners of the mouth

he's not a coward: if a character's chest is exposed and the angle is right, he will draw that character's nipples, and that is right and just. he will apply the same principle to draw a character's butthole, which i don't have such a strong opinion about.

there are lots of men with very close-cut hair (bc it's the military) and that's not distinctive, so he gets creative with the hairlines. i think this is an underrated aspect of character design.

careful use of line weight on the corners of closed mouths has a powerful effect (of cuteness?) (look out for this next time you read the manga. it's everywhere and it's the best.)

consistently skillful use of ink splatter effects for blood; similar splattery effects used for snow

eyebrows and other facial hair are usually drawn as multiple long, thin lines together, and for an eyebrow with emotion, you put a couple of perpendicular lines at one end or both

strands of blood or hair extend and curl around in unrealistic ways for dramatic effect. this effect is omnipresent.

occasional really, really choice faces that were obviously drawn either from photo reference or while looking in a mirror

character design by actually giving everyone different facial features, as opposed to character design by assigning different hair and accessories to uniformly pretty people. the latter is much easier, but he chose the thorny path of his own will! thank you for setting a strong example, noda-sensei!

#golden kamuy #noda satoru #golden kamuy spoilers #i didn't bring you an example of noda-sensei drawing the butthole but look when they're all getting out of the outdoor bath

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zqmbiescorpse · 1 year

Text

𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗧𝗛 𝗢𝗥 𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗘..

kaitlyn ka x female reader

a/n: i've been dying for kaitlyn fics, and just the quarry fics in general, because there's hardly any and that makes me want to cry. anyways, first thing i'm hopefully posting so no bullying pls. no werewolves! also sorry if the ending feels like it could be improved, i just really wanted to be finished with this <3

warnings: nothing serious, some making out

word count: 2.4k

(masterlist)

The joyous, fun atmosphere surrounding the gentle flicker of the campfire quickly disappeared, leaving the mood somewhat awkward as everyone who had remained (being Dylan, Ryan and yourself) turned towards Kaitlyn with a disappointed look.

"What?" questioned the small ravenette, sensing the glares from the three of you while she feigned innocence at the situation she, may have, intentionally, created.

"You totally ruined the party man," Dylan absentmindedly responded, taking a sip of whatever beer was left. All of you were a little tipsy, sober enough that thinking clearly wasn't an issue but drunk enough to feel a warm woozy sensation floating around your bodies.

In all truth, you weren't bothered in the slightest by the absence of Jacob, Abi, Emma or Nick. You did like them, sure, though being with them throughout the summer was often challenging - you typically found yourself enjoying the company of the others instead.

The four of you had stuck together for a large portion of the time, and you felt you'd become pretty close; so close that, naturally, you formed a humongous crush on the confident, very attractive, super cool dark-haired girl that was sometimes a little mean to you.

With Kaitlyn, you could never be quite sure about how she felt about you, there had been a few occasions where you doubted if she even liked as a friend. She was hard to read and you were a bit sensitive so, as you can imagine, things got tricky - having a ton of feelings for her only made you suffer greatly.

Then again, when these times occurred where you were miserable, Kaitlyn would periodically open up to you and let you know that, yes, she did appreciate you. Small moments of affirmation after so much doubt made you feel so unbelievably fuzzy inside. Unfortunately, the pair of you were tremendously insecure, because of this, there was a lot of dancing around each other the entire summer, similarly to Nick and Abi.

Suddenly desperate to relish in what could be the last evening with her, a rapid demand to continue the entertainment of 'truth or dare' came spilling from your mouth.

'Someone's...eager," Ryan chuckled slowly, glancing over at you and then at Dylan with a knowing glint in his eye.

Following this, Dylan offered, "Y/N's just disappointed she didn't get to smooch anyone this evening."

"You and me both, Y/N."

It was such a quiet array of words yet everyone heard Kaitlyn mutter them - nobody said anything back.

You were so hopelessly in love with her, that you couldn't help but hang onto anything Kaitlyn said that remotely resembled a reciprocation of feelings.

Shyly, you lifted your gaze from the muddy floor to your friends around you, careful not to stare directly at her gorgeous face. Whatever you were about to say next needed to be calm, one hundred percent normal and definitely not suggestive of anything.

With a brief amount of consideration and overthinking, you said, "Well, I don't know, what else is there to do right now? We can keep playing without the others."

You needed to stop working yourself up over such minuscule things; with Kaitlyn anywhere near you, you couldn't control yourself. Not being a fumbling mess was incredibly difficult.

"Yeah sure, why the fuck not?" Dylan chimed back in with a sense of glee, intrigued to see what would happen next.

"Cool alright, Kaitlyn?"

Deep down, it was clear to you that she would join back in, but part of you still inwardly thanked Ryan for ensuring that she was interested in continuing.

"I'm in, of course," A short pause. "You're a bit far away from us Y/N, you should get a bit closer, come here..."

Watching as Kaitlyn patted the empty space on the rough log impatiently, indicating you join her, an eruption of warmth covered your cheeks at her attention being on you; her wanting you next to her.

"Yeah, come on over here Y/N!"

Obviously, it didn't feel as special when Dylan said it, though, you appreciated how it got rid of some of the tension.

"Okay okay, yes, I'm coming," You spoke up, giggling, absolutely infected with giddiness that was bursting to show. You're sure it did, a big goofy smile plastered to your face as you made your way to the opposite side of the campfire. Apparently, the delight spread to Kaitlyn since you could've sworn she was attempting to mask an excited grin too.

Immediately, a soft scent of honey mixed with something floral was all you could smell, each and every time you inhaled. It made you feel very comfortable.

"Who wants to start it off this time?" inquired Ryan, yet your attention was instantly torn away from him due to the sensation of a soft, smaller hand brushing over your slightly sweaty one.

There was not a doubt in your mind. You had already jumped to the conclusion that it was intentional. From doing an action so small as turning away from you to face Ryan, how could Kaitlyn's hand touch yours in the process if it were on accident? There was no time to think rationally, you were already freaking out like mad. And she loved it.

"I'll go."

Leaving no room for arguments, Kaitlyn's head whipped back round to face you once more, this time with a playful theme prominent within her features.

"Y/N. Truth or dare," she asked, intently, her pretty eyes trained on your very nervous self.

You couldn't pick a place to focus your line of sight, eyes darting from her straight to the floor and back at your two shaky hands resting in your lap. Not in a million years were you prepared to answer 'dare'. In what world did you have the confidence.

Telling yourself it was the sensible response, you requested 'truth' like the jittery coward you are - to nobody's surprise but to Kaitlyn's disappointment.

"Tryna play it safe, are we, Y/N? I'm not letting you off that easily," was all she said as you sat there, patiently awaiting for whatever abomination that was heading your way.

Finally, you observed as her eyes lit up with a sudden delight; her full attention, once again, solely focused on you, not quite prepared for what was coming next.

"Out of everyone here, meaning me, Dylan or Ryan, who would you be the most interested in dating...and you have to answer otherwise it's no fun."

The situation wouldn't have felt awfully suffocating if it weren't for your stupid crush, which you were starting to suspect Kaitlyn was fully aware of. Her plump lips contorted mischievously into something smug - a perfectly arched eyebrow raised while she continued staring you down.

Because of the intense stare and immense amount of pressure you felt you were under, you missed a faint flash of worry flicker in her eye at your hesitation; uncertain whether or not her question had backfired on her.

Words couldn't describe the newfound urge tugging at your stomach to let her know that you so badly wanted to date her, to be with her, to kiss her. You couldn't handle rejection in the slightest but also couldn't bare the thought of letting this go on much longer - missing your chance when you had it.

You felt yourself tearing apart because of a silly crush on a girl who was way too good for you; evidently taking this unimportant game way too seriously. This time, you locked eyes with Kaitlyn, your heart racing, making an effort to bring any remnants of confidence together to prepare an answer.

"Uhhhh, I'd probably wanna date you, Kaitlyn?"

You had never experienced something simultaneously this underwhelming and overwhelming. Really, your response was very simple, basic, and not that huge. If, by chance, the beautiful ravenette was utterly disgusted by your answer it could be put down to merely a game and everyone would move on. You would be devastated but you'd get over it.

Having said that, repulsion was the last thing Kaitlyn felt regarding your answer, instead, a frantic fuel ignited within her. For a moment, she kind of just gawked at you, a bashful awkwardness radiating from your features.

"Truth or dare," she asked once more, this time the question coming across as more demanding, and a slight shake was apparent in her voice. Desperation spurred over her yet she seemed to be concealing it quite well, aside from the little chew on her lip while she awaited your answer, the nervous habit being the only indication of how Kaitlyn felt.

"Hey, what!" Dylan interjected, "Why are you going again, Kaitlyn? It's Y/N's turn."

Though you had to admit that Dylan's disapproval was amusing, you were too engulfed in whatever was happening between you and her. Nothing but you and her. Bathing in her alluring nature, you really did not mean to take this long to respond, you shouldn't be keeping someone that exquisite waiting.

"Dare..."

To outsiders, the atmosphere didn't appear tense at all. The luminous blaze of the golden camp, flickered and your chest tightened by the second.

"I dare you," Kaitlyn breathed out, her words trailing off implying a wane in confidence. Again, she was doubting herself, even when, at this point, the both of you had been as open as you could about your intense romantic interest for each other without explicitly saying anything.

You observed her complexion closely, each insecurity conveyed on her face made your heart rate increase consequently. You yearned for her to give in and do something to relieve all the built up anxiety, yet couldn't blame her too much since you found yourself incapable of initiating the first move.

An abrupt change conjured. Kaitlyn ostensibly bolder.

"I dare you to kiss me."

Silence. You inched forward but couldn't quite make it all the way. You didn't know what it was, something was holding you back. Also, with the audience of the two boys, you couldn't help your sheepish nature.

As though she couldn't handle it anymore, impatient because of your hesitancy, Kaitlyn took matters into her own hands and closed the gap, her soft lips meeting yours. Certain she would tease you about your failure to for fill the dare, you decided it was best to concern yourself with it later - a highly insignificant worry, really.

The kiss didn't last too long. The bliss you felt quickly overpowered by insecurity, and maybe disappointment too. You had hoped the moment you had been chasing for months would at least be longer than a few seconds. Grateful you got to kiss her, yet, you needed more.

"That was...terrible. I'm sorry," You mumbled bashfully, barely audible for Dylan and Ryan.

"Nu-uh baby, it was good," She whispered back, then tugging your face toward her once more.

Whereas the first peck was delicate, shy and over in a few seconds, in this instance, the kiss was deepened almost immediately. Her gentle hands cupped your flushed cheeks, promoting you to tightly grasp at her clothes. It took all of your power to not let any whimpers or whines escape you, making out with someone while other people were around was embarrassing enough as is.

"Okay...guys..." Ryan, being the first to speak up, broke the immersion, the two of you reluctantly pulling away from each other.

"Totally digging how happy you are right now, but, you know, lodge is empty..." Dylan chimed in, somewhat less awkward than Ryan.

You shared a look with Kaitlyn, your shortness of breath mirrored after your lips had been pressed against one another's for an extended period of time.

"Sounds great, thanks Dylan," Kaitlyn rose from her place seated on the log, enthusiasm oozing from her. "Let's get going huh, Y/N?" She proposed, laced with sultry.

You stayed seated, a little dumbfounded about the kiss and relishing in the electric sensation circulating in your body. Kaitlyn gripped your wrist, gaining your attention as her request caught up with you.

"Uh, yeah...yes we should go," Stumbling over your words, you got up, waved to Dylan and Ryan and began your journey back to the lodge. Incoherent mumbling could be heard from the pair left behind. You ignored it, giggling slightly and walked beside Kaitlyn.

When you arrived, you opened up the wooden door and stepped inside, Kaitlyn not giving you an opportunity to voice your opinion on anything; her mouth soon latched onto yours.

It was hungry, and you returned the passion. Although she may have been smaller than you, she still forced you up against one of the aging walls of the building; her tongue buried in your mouth. There was no fight for dominance, Kaitlyn was in control, not that you minded. It was such a rush, her lips all over your cool skin, your trembling hands in her dark hair, the occasional raspy chuckles from her, and the whines from you. Anything either one of you did spurred the other on wildly.

Eventually, distances had to be created since you couldn't keep going without catching your breath.

"I can't believe it took us that long to do this. We could've been having hot make-out sessions all summer" Kaitlyn beamed with genuine delight, her hands retreating from being all over you to placed on her hips, taking her usual sassy stance.

"I know," You agreed, laughing," I was so scared about being rejected"

"It's okay, I was equally terrified. Better late than never I suppose. At least we know now." The ravenette smirked, gazing into your eyes, entertained by how dishevelled you looked, encouraging her to admit, "I seriously am so fucking attracted to you."

Again, you let out a giggle, a noise that Kaitlyn thought was endearing. "Well, I've been fawning over you for like ages now." You blushed, the confession sparking a wave of heat to pass over you. Even though your actions had already said enough, disclosing the information made your shoulders feel externally lighter.

"It does really suck that it's the end of camp, going our separate ways and all" You continued, dejectedly. You were overjoyed that you were finally sharing these movements with Kaitlyn but hated yourself for holding off this long.

She examined your rapidly declining mood, likewise, she was regretful for waiting, however, not an ounce of uncertainty clouded her mind.

"What is there to worry about? Of course, we can stay in touch, I'm serious about this and...I do want to be with you." She reassured you, offering a loving smile filled with comfort. "Just give me your number, baby."

#the quarry #the quarry fanfic #the quarry fandom #the quarry kaitlyn #kaitlyn ka #kaitlyn ka x reader #dylan lenivy #ryan erzahler #emma mountebank #jacob custos #until dawn #supermassive games #the quarry x reader #until dawn x reader #lgbtq #fanfic #fanfiction #x reader #x female reader

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animeomegas · 1 year

Text

24 Hours - Epilogue

[Alpha!Reader x Multiple Naruto Characters]

Summary: You had spent the best part of a week married to each of your possible future suitors. You had enjoyed yourself immensely, but now was the hard part; you had to sort your life out and figure out which path you were going to pick... GN!Alpha!Reader x Multiple

Warnings: Pregnancy stuff, swearing, vague descriptions of injuries, some n-sfw discussions.

(And here we are!! The epilogue is complete!!! This project has been a ride, but it’s all worth it to give to @omeganronpa!! I hope everyone else has enjoyed also though, and I hope you enjoy the ending, even if it’s not the one you hoped for :D Merry Christmas!!!!!! 💞💞💞)

Word count: 9.4k

Prologue - Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Epilogue

When you opened your eyes, you expected to see the purple-on-purple design of the fortune telling shop through clouds of incense, with the mysterious fortune teller hovering over you and smiling in that infuriating way that made you want to answer the question of whether to thank her or punch her with the answer ‘both’.

But no, you woke up in your shinobi, standard issue flat, in your boring, plain bedroom that never had time to be interesting or messy because you were never there. Your whole body ached from the mission you had almost forgotten you’d just done, but you pushed yourself into a sitting position regardless.

You were still wearing your mission clothes and you clearly hadn’t showered. It was almost too normal to find yourself in such a situation.

Had it all been a dream? No, you decided, definitely not. That was too much for a dream and what would anyone have had to gain from such a genjutsu. No, you really had lived an extra week in the future, and doubting the authenticity of it wouldn’t be helpful. But did that mean the fortune teller had carried you to your room? You felt strange that she’d seen you in such a vulnerable state and then gained access to your home, apparently bypassing all your traps, only to leave you lying on your bed. She had done you a great service, but that didn’t mean you trusted her enough to feel comfortable with that.

Ignoring the fact that you looked and probably smelt like shit, you jumped out of bed and ran through your house, barely remembering to grab the keys from your mission pack on the way and stormed down the stairs to the ground floor. You needed to see the fortune teller. She needed to explain herself to you.

You squinted against the bright light of the sun as you exited out onto the quiet street, but when you swivelled towards the fortune telling shop, you found it as empty as it had always been. The windows were unobstructed by purple curtains and the only thing you could see inside was small amounts of debris and an abandoned counter. Baffled, you walked to the door, noticing the fortune telling signs replaced by the old for sale price with an abysmally low price, and tried to push it open. Locked.

It was exactly as it had been when you went on your mission. Empty, abandoned, lifeless and containing zero fortune tellers or purple décor.

Completely bemused, you had no other choice but to return to your flat. It felt so cold after all the homes you’d spent the last six nights in. You had believed house and home to be synonyms previously, but the last week had shown you how wrong you were.

Regardless, you couldn’t believe the whole shop was just… gone!

You decided to get out of your clothes and hop in the shower; you’d be able to think and rid yourself of the dried blood and mud at the same time. You turned on the hot water, silently mourning the superior shower and bath at the Nara compound as you did and stepped under the water.

You stayed standing there for a few minutes, watching the brown water flow down the drain as you pretended that you hadn’t just had your entire world view turned on its head by a possibly-not-real fortune teller.

How were you going to pick? You ran through everyone you’d spent a day with as you squirted shampoo into your palm. No, it was more than that. It wasn’t just about picking a mate; it was about picking a whole life. You had so much you needed to do before you’d be in a position to take any mate and give them the version of you they deserved.

You needed to sort yourself out before you tried to court one of them.

Your number one priority was to figure out how you could be in the village more often. The schedule you were operating on now was unsustainable, with or without a future mate, but you also couldn’t be a good alpha is you were never present for your omega. Unfortunately, you’d also be a pretty bad mate if you were completely broke and unemployed because you decided to stop taking missions. You had to find a middle ground.

It would be a slow process, and although it hurt your heart to think about going back to your lonely life there was no other choice; you wouldn’t be able to stop missions right away. But you could start working on something else, something that would allow you to switch to taking missions part time eventually. Or should you go for an in-village job?

No, you quickly dismissed that idea. You would miss the thrill and the travel that came with taking missions, so your first plan was better. So, what could you do part time while taking missions for the other half of your time? What were you good at? What experience did you have outside of the usual shinobi skills? What would be a good fulltime venture in the event that you were too injured to continue missions or for after retirement? You had to consider it all.

You took a moment to just appreciate the hot spray of the water once more. It was soothing to think in the shower, all the best ideas were born there in your experience.

As you pondered the question, you started thinking about what other ninjas had done and you found yourself considering Ino’s dad’s flower shop. A shop could be perfect. You were great at business; you had been thinking about that only yesterday when future Naruto was telling you about the business fairs Konoha was hoping to start.

The more you turned it over in your mind, the more you were convinced that it was a great plan. You started to feel enthused just thinking about it. You’d have normal hours to work around whatever family you had, you could easily hire someone to run it while you were on missions because running a shop didn’t require specialist skills and barring the most extreme injuries, you’d be able to do it fulltime if you were forced into retirement early.

Yes, you liked this plan. It felt right. It had you feeling hopeful for the future, something you desperately needed. What kind of shop though? And how could you afford it?

The image of the now empty shop under your flat came to mind immediately, mainly because of how cheap it was. It was a rundown commercial building in a residential area, it wasn’t like people were clamouring to buy it, but if that kind of property was all you could afford, you’d need a business that could survive in such a location.

What kind of shop wouldn’t need much foot traffic to survive? Perhaps a shop that people didn’t visit every day and were therefore more willing to travel out of the centre of Konoha for. What kind of shop could you run where the remote location was a selling point?

Hmm, you would have to think about it more, but buying the shop downstairs wasn’t a bad idea if you could figure out a business that would work.

The water was getting cold, so you stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel, drying yourself off and trying to avoid aggravating any injuries.

Getting this business set up would be step one. Dropping to part time missions would be step two. Getting closer to all your friends and helping them out with your future knowledge would be step three. Then and only then would you think about a mate.

…

Despite your energy for change, your life continued much in the same way for another year or so, and while it hurt at first, you’d fallen into the familiar pattern pretty easily. The goal you had made it easier to preserve though; knowing you didn’t have to do this forever was energising.

You put away as much money as you could from every mission, trying to save up for that shop, but before you had enough and before you had a chance to deepen and create all these friendships you wanted to make, war broke out.

The war put things on hold for obvious reasons, and in the darkest days, you wondered how the futures you had seen could ever be possible, because it felt like no one and nowhere would be spared from the brutal destruction.

You had fought as hard as you could, for those perfect futures and for your present loved ones. But eventually, it was over, and you had won. Sasuke came back and you focused on rebuilding your village and your home. You had a lot of time to think about your shop as you cleared rubble and organised relief efforts. Haku turned up to Konoha not long after it was up and running again, and you knew it was time to start chasing that future once more.

You opened your shop exactly two years after the war had ended. It wasn’t under your old flat, because the whole building had been destroyed, but you went for a similar place. You needed somewhere a little more private, a little more hidden, for your store.

You created a shop for heat and rut supplies, but you specifically aimed it towards shinobi by, among other things, allowing multiple exits to and from the building, operating on weird opening hours a few times a week for shinobi who were on missions during usual opening times, and including specialist seals for protection and scent control that shinobi could use to feel safer during their vulnerable times.

You stocked everything you could think of. Toys, lube, informational books and porn, nesting materials, high calorie ration bars, seals, nest décor, water bottles, low effort recipe books, first aid kits, cleaning supplies designed to be odourless so they don’t interfere with the heat/rut, and so much more.

It was a slow start, many people not aware of your shop for the first few months, but shinobi were awful gossips, so every one of them that came to your shop spread the word and soon business was booming and the money followed not long afterwards. You hired some brilliant staff to cover your days off and missions, and everything went as smoothly as you could have hoped.

The war was over, the shop had been set up, missions were dropped to part time, and you had money rolling in. It was time for the final step: choosing a mate.

You had become closer with all the omegas you’d spent those futures with, after the war.

You had asked Shikamaru to teach you to play shogi, and now you played together every week, allowing him a break to indulge in his hobbies with you. He beat you every time, but you were getting better, and he seemed to like watching you grow and change as a player. He had never once let you win though even when you had begged for a the shallow ego boost.

You, Naruto and Sasuke were closer than ever. You helped Sasuke fit back into the village and looked after him when the trauma got too much. You were there for Naruto to talk through his feelings about the war and to cry on each other’s shoulders as you thought about the people you had lost. You started to nudge them both together too, because whether you chose to join them or not, you wanted them to be happy.

When Haku had come to Konoha, you had helped him find a place to live, conveniently retracing your steps from memory to the place you had lived with him in the future. He had loved it and after you’d given a few suggestions on the interior from your memory, Haku had called on you for interior design advice every time he needed it. You were pretty sure his love of your designs based on what you saw of his choices in the future was definitely some kind of paradox, but that wasn’t going to stop you.

You had reached out to Shino in order to get to know him better and you’d had many ‘friend outings’ with him alone and also with his team. You listened to him and were delighted to find he already had that strange sense of humour that cracked you up more than anything else.

It was through Shino that you got closer to Kiba as well. And when Kiba had been sick on his birthday, all his friends on missions or unable to risk getting sick from him, you had been the one to spend the day with him, nursing him and trying to cheer him up. He had returned the favour when you had inevitably caught the sickness a few days later and you’d been lose ever since.

You had supported Neji leaving his clan as best as you could, offering him free reign over your shop for nesting supplies after hours, so he could shop privately for the supplies to build his first nest. You had even started stocking specific medication after hearing about how hard it had been for him to find pain meds that didn’t mess with the ones he already took to manage his heats after years of suppressant abuse. It had been difficult to get your hands on the medication, but for him, you did it.

You had also prioritised the other relationships in your life. Sakura, Sai, Ino, Chouji, Hinata, Lee, Tenten… all of them.

So, now, at your birthday party, the table was full of all these people. Your relationships with your friends were the most precious thing you had, and to see them all together here, to celebrate your birthday, it brought a tear to your eye.

It had taken serious planning to get a night where everyone would be there, but you had done it and it was more than worth it.

Neji caught your eye and nodded at you with a small smile; you had slipped him some free heat meds when you had arrived.

Kiba was grinning at you and poking your leg with his toe at varying intervals.

Shikamaru was watching you and when you caught his eye he mouthed ‘happy birthday’ before turning back to his drink.

Shino was sat right next to you and was telling you a story about his latest mission.

Haku was sat on your other side, between you and Naruto because you’d been worried about him feeling out of place, but he simply looked serenely around the table. When he got to you, he grabbed your face in his hands and pressed a kiss to each of your cheeks. A birthday greeting from Kiri, he explained.

Naruto was frantically searching through his bag for your gift that he was swearing must be there somewhere, while Sasuke stood at his shoulder, rolling his eyes.

These were the people that could be your future. And you knew who you were going to pick.

…

After agonising over the perfect courting gift, the right place for a first date and the right things to say, it was surprisingly easy to start a relationship with who you had picked. It was so easy that you kind of regretted over analysing every second of your memories of that cycle to find clues as to what you should say or do.

But in the end, you didn’t even give the courting gift or get through the planned words before your courting offer was eagerly accepted.

Things moved quickly. You were glad that you had worked on yourself first; you would have been unable to handle being a good partner back then, but now you could do everything a good mate should do and more.

Technically, you were on a courting date now, but you were far past the awkward restaurant dates and daytime walks around the village. No, this was relaxed, the eating takeaway in your living room and binging bad movies together kind of relaxed.

…

“What kind of decision was that?” you exclaimed, watching the protagonist choose to run upstairs rather than out the front door while she was being chased by a serial killer. “Like, I’m not here to victim blame, but…”

“That sounds exactly like victim blaming to me,” Kiba laughed, knocking his shoulder into yours.

“No, I said I wasn’t victim blaming!”

“Uh huh, like you said you weren’t going to eat all the mac and cheese,” he said, eyeing the empty pot that said mac and cheese had once been in.

“Shut up, I hate you,” you grumbled, snuggling into his shoulder and pulling the blankets around yourself. The protagonist was getting brutally murdered on screen, but you weren’t paying much attention. It wasn’t like these civilian horror films ever got anything right about actual murders anyway.

“Yeah, you hate me?” he leant down and whispered directly in your ear. Shivers ran down your spine. “I don’t believe it.”

“Believe it, dog boy,” you said without any heat.

“You sound like you’ve been spending too much time with Naruto,” Kiba smirked, pushing himself somehow closer to you. “Should I be jealous?”

“Never,” you said firmly, dropping the joking tone immediately. “My attention is yours; I’ll never look away, I promise.”

Kiba grinned, his lips now hovering close to yours.

“I love it when you say stuff like that,” he said, voice lined with a growl. He kissed you before you could formulate a reply.

With Kiba, you’d quickly learnt that every kiss was like the first time. Not because he kissed slowly or hesitantly or sweetly every time, but because the first time had been intense, hot and heavy and so was every kiss that followed.

You hummed into Kiba’s mouth, satisfied by the way he was using his tongue. You had become so comfortable with Kiba so quickly, but you’d yet to go all the way. Kiba seemed eager to take that step as soon as possible, but you wanted to court him for a little more first; you really didn’t want him to think that you were only there for sex.

You kissed until the credits of the film started to roll and only then did you realise how late it had become.

“Damn,” you said, pulling away, panting a little. “It’s already almost 1 AM, you don’t have a mission tomorrow, do you?”

“Nope,” Kiba replied, snatching one of the last slices of pizza from the table and shoving it in his mouth. “I’m still on leave from the last one.”

“Nice… Do you, uh, well,” you stumbled over your words. It was annoying considering how much you have practiced being casual about it in the mirror. “Do you want to stay the night?”

Kiba looked at you for a moment, a little bit of pizza sauce on his cheek, but before long he was grinning again.

“Hell yeah, I do!” he said, excitedly. “But I don’t have any pyjamas or stuff with me.”

“I have a spare toothbrush,” you said quickly, deciding not to mention that you’d bought an extra just for him. “And you can borrow some of my clothes to sleep in.”

You weren’t sure if it was just your imagination, but Kiba’s eyes seemed to darken at your words.

“Sounds good,” he said after a long pause. His voice was as heavy as his gaze.

…

You had offered to take the sofa and let Kiba take the bed, but the look of offence he had given you had had the offer dying on your lips.

You and Kiba were laying together in your bed now. You pointedly ignored the instinctual rush of having the omega you wanted to mate in your bed.

Kiba was draped over you, seemingly feeling no awkwardness at sharing a bed with you for the first time. He really wasn’t going to change much, at least personality wise, if the future version of him that you met had been accurate.

You sighed happily, rubbing circles on Kiba’s back. The mixing of his scent and your scent was making you pleased and sleepy. It was so nice to have Kiba here with you, and you couldn’t wait to see how your relationship was going to grow and change.

“Just so you know,” Kiba said sleepily. “Inuzuka don’t get married, so if you’re waiting until marriage to fuck me, you’re going to be waiting a long time.”

You snorted at the unexpected statement, having to stifle your laughs with your free hand.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“I was just letting you know.”

“You don’t have to worry, anyway,” you said, still chuckling. “I’m not waiting for marriage, I just… want you to know that I like you for you, not for sex, y’know.”

“I already know that, dummy,” Kiba said, flicking you on the side. You could almost hear him rolling his eyes. “You don’t need to wait for that.”

“Seeing as we’re on the topic though,” you said, resuming your rubbing of his back. “Why don’t Inuzuka get married?”

“There’s no point of marriage if you already carry each other’s bite marks,” Kiba said bluntly. “Nothing is more important than that.”

You turned the thought over in your mind. You had kinda assumed that future Kiba and you had been married, but apparently not. It made sense though, now that you were thinking about it, and not being married wouldn’t change anything in your relationship.

“I get that,” you said. “It fits your clan, not going to lie.”

Kiba snorted but didn’t deny it.

You laid together in silence for a while. You were starting to think Kiba had fallen asleep, but he’d obviously been thinking about things, because he spoke up again, sounding a little hesitant for the first time since you’d known him.

“Do you, uh, want any pups?” Kiba asked, trying and failing to sound casual.

You just started to laugh as soon as you registered the words. You couldn’t help it.

“Wha- hey! Why are you laughing?”

“I’m sorry, I just-“ you couldn’t get the words out between laughs, but Kiba’s frowny face eventually calmed you down. “I would love to have pups in the future. How many do you want?”

“A few, I guess-“

You burst out laughing again, unable to keep it in with the thoughts of Kiba only having a few pups. This time Kiba hit you with a pillow.

“Why are you laughing?!”

You responded by picking up your own pillow and hitting him with it, devolving your quiet cuddling into a wild pillow fight.

You had a sneaking suspicion that despite you taking these early days slowly, it wouldn’t be long until Minoru popped into existence. And maybe it was a weird thing to think, but you were really excited to see him again.

…

It turned out that Minoru did come pretty soon, only two years after that first time you’d slept in a bed together with Kiba.

And just over a year later, Ichika joined the family, and you were now a family of four.

Kiba had proclaimed multiple times how you were on the same wavelength with names because he always loved your first suggestion. You kept where the inspiration came from to yourself as it was technically cheating.

Now, Minoru was three years old, Ichika was two and it had been four years since Kiba had gone on a mission. He still worked around the compound when he had the chance but being pregnant was too much of a risk on the field and he was still breastfeeding so he couldn’t be gone for more than a day or two.

He wasn’t technically retired, simply on leave, but you had a sneaking suspicion that he was pregnant again (with twins), going by the timeline you’d seen from the future, so he wouldn’t be returning to being an active shinobi anytime soon.

(You remembered when Kiba had been worried about him and Akamaru getting bored without missions, but the pups had kept both of them more than busy.)

You were still taking missions, but you had stopped taking long ones altogether and pulled back the number of short missions as much as you could. You spent almost all of your day in the shop instead, so you could be home for dinner and the bedtime routine almost every night. Kiba and your pups deserved a present mate and appa.

Unfortunately, even though you were only taking a short mission every fortnight, that didn’t mean being a shinobi wasn’t dangerous.

The last thing you remembered was accidentally triggering a trap and having your foot mangled and a paralytic fired into your neck.

The paralytic had worn off on its own, but your foot had required pretty intensive surgery in the hospital back in Konoha. You honestly couldn’t remember much about the journey back or initial treatment, but you had eventually been released home with strict instructions not to put any weight on your foot unless absolutely necessary.

You felt guilty for burdening Kiba with your care on top of your two toddlers, but he had been rather aggressive when you tried to apologise.

“It’s my job to take care of you,” he had said. “I don’t want to hear any apologising bullshit.”

At least you were capable of staying alert all day, even if you were stuck in bed. You could work on the paperwork for your shop which stopped you from feeling entirely useless.

You sighed, leaning back against the headboard of your bed. You still had another week before your final surgery and then another week of recovery before you could try to walk again. You amused yourself briefly by imagining putting a bounty on the head of whoever set that trap, but your daydreams were interrupted by the door opening.

In toddled Minoru, tightly clutching at a glass of water, using his entire focus to keep from spilling it. Kiba, holding a sniffling Ichika, came in behind him.

“Hey everyone, what’s up?” you said, smiling as Minoru successfully placed the glass of water on your nightstand without dropping it. “Good job with the glass, baby, thank you.”

Minoru smiled, but it was sad and lacklustre. He looked more worried than anything else.

“We’ve come to check on you and bring you some water,” Kiba said. He sounded stressed but was obviously trying to keep it together. You weren’t surprised; you had heard Ichika crying all morning.

“How are you feeling, appy?” Minoru asked, nervously fisting at his shirt.

“My foot’s a bit poorly still, darling, but I’m okay,” you smiled at him and ruffled his hair. “Do you want a cuddle? You won’t hurt me, I promise.”

He nodded, and with your help and a frankly over the top amount of caution to avoid your foot, Minoru settled down and curled up on the left side of your chest. For being only three, Minoru was already such a worrywart. You were thankful that your arms were uninjured so you could snuggle him and pepper his head in kisses with no constraints.

Minoru purred under your attention.

Ichika was less content though. Despite Kiba rocking her and attending to her needs as best as he could, she was still crying. You could see him talking to her in low tones, although you couldn’t hear what he was saying.

You suddenly remembered the day you’d spent in the future, something that was still weird to recall now that you had got on with your life. You remembered Ichika’s issues with her Inuzuka senses being too strong and overwhelming her. It would make sense that those issues had started young.

“Babe, pass her to me,” you said softly, holding the arm you weren’t using to support Minoru up. “I have an idea to stop the crying.”

Kiba didn’t look like he had much hope, but he didn’t argue, simply passing her into your free arm with no complaints. Ichika struggled and increased her cries as she realised she was being put down, but calmed a little when she realised you were now holding her.

You manoeuvred her head so that one ear was pressed against your chest, and you covered the other one with your hand.

“Try covering her eyes with your hand,” you said to Kiba, seeing as your other hand was holding Minoru. Kiba looked sceptical, but he’d obviously been worn down with the crying because he followed your instruction with no complaint, shuffling onto the bed on your right and using a hand to cover Ichika’s eyes.

The sniffling and quiet cries continued for a while, but Minoru seemed content to snuggle, and you’d mouthed ‘wait’ at Kiba enough that he did. Eventually, the sniffles died down and Ichika’s breathing evened out. When you and Kiba withdrew your hands, she was asleep.

“How did you do that?” Kiba whispered, looking like he wasn’t sure whether to thank you or accuse you of witchcraft. “I’ve been trying to get her to take her nap for three hours.”

“I’ve been thinking about it,” you explained in an equally soft voice. “And I think she’s been having trouble with her senses getting too much for her. That’s why when we muffled her hearing and sight, she was able to relax enough to fall asleep.”

Kiba’s mouth pressed into a firm line and his eyebrows furrowed in concern. He looked very worried.

“That’s not good,” he said, stroking her hair gently. “We’ll need to go to a medic and see if it can be fixed because if not, she-“

“Hey, stop spiralling,” you chastised softly. “She’ll be fine. Even if she needs more support or she decides against being a ninja, she’s still healthy and we can manage the symptoms and make her happy. That’s what matters.”

“Is Ich’ka poorly too?” Minoru asked suddenly. You and Kiba both looked to him, having forgotten that he was still awake. His bottom lip was trembling, and the poor thing looked incredibly upset at the idea that both his sister and appa were unwell.

“No, baby, Ichika is fine,” Kiba rushed to reassure him verbally while you pressed a kiss onto his little forehead. “We just think that sometimes things get too loud for her, so we’re working out how to fix it for her.”

Minoru blinked at you a few times but seemed to believe you because he nodded and laid his head back down on your chest, yawning.

“Okay, ommy,” he muttered before sticking his thumb in his mouth.

“They both ended up missing nap time because Ichika was crying,” Kiba explained, gently climbing off the bed and leaving your two pups snuggled up on you.

The pain in your foot was overshadowed by the burning affection that threatened to overwhelm you as your two babies snuggled into your chest.

“I’m going to change your bandages while they’re sleeping,” Kiba said, slipping into the bathroom and coming out a few moments later with everything needed to tend to your foot. It was common for him to change them while the pups napped because neither of you wanted them to see any of the gore in case it scared them. Especially Minoru, who had been inconsolable when you’d come back injured from your mission.

“Ouch,” you grumbled as he wiped at your foot with cleaning alcohol.

“Oh dear, poor baby, are the wipes too much for you?” Kiba teased, picking up the bandages and beginning to wrap them around your foot. “Do you want me to kiss it better after it’s all bandaged?”

“Yes,” you said earnestly, ignoring the teasing aspect of his question.

Kiba snorted, but obliged, pecking the bandaged foot while trying not to laugh. You hoped you could make him laugh more often; he had been so serious and stressed recently, torn between your injury, Ichika’s constant crying and Minoru’s refusal to leave the house in case you got worse while he left. And all of that was on top of the normal caring duties for two toddlers.

You felt guilty for getting injured and making his life so hard, but you knew he wouldn’t appreciate the insinuation that you were a burden on him. You were pack and as far as Kiba was concerned, pack looked after each other no matter what.

“Are you okay with them in here with you? I need to go and try and clean the house, it’s in an absolute state,” Kiba asked, packing away the medical supplies.

You didn’t want him to work and work and work until he dropped.

“You should lay down with us, babe,” you said, still keeping your voice low so that you didn’t disturb Minoru and Ichika. “You look like you need it, no offence.”

“None taken,” he snorted. “But I still need to clean and Ichika has been refusing to be put down, so now’s the only time I can do it.”

“Let’s just, hire some poor genin team to clean the house or something,” you suggested. “We have enough savings and I’d class this as an emergency.”

Kiba hesitated, but in the end, you managed to coax him into climbing in on Ichika’s other side and having a nap with the rest of the family.

Once you were better, you couldn’t say that you weren’t glad, but you still treasured the little nice moments that you had managed to find in between the hardships.

…

A month after your foot had mostly recovered, it turned out that you had been right about Kiba being pregnant, and before you knew it, your family was now six people as Akemi and Kaito made their appearance.

With four under four, you and Kiba tried your hardest to put the hundreds of condoms you’d received as gag gifts to use. Of course, you knew from your trip to the future that it wouldn’t last forever, but you made it five whole years without Kiba being pregnant even once. When people teased you for having the largest family of your generation, you just laughed, knowing that it was going to get bigger one day.

You had been right in your assumption that picking Kiba would mean that you were never lonely again, and although you sometimes longed for moments where no sticky hands were trying to climb you, you thrived in the large family atmosphere.

You also carved out time to spend with your friends, refusing to let the relationships you had forged die from something as mundane as not having time to hang out.

The garden you had wistfully imagined hosting BBQs in while you were in the future was now frequently filled with those once imaginary BBQs. Naruto and Sasuke always came, Naruto excited to play with your pups and pine over the pups he and Sasuke were eventually planning on adopting together. Sai and Sakura came too, Sai always bringing some bizarre side dish with him. Hinata and her two children seemed a little intimidated by most of your feral goblins, but Ichika got on with them like a house on fire and you were happy to provide her with some calmer company. Shino had adopted a distant relative from his clan and was raising him as a single oma, although when they came along, little Kazue (and oh goodness did it pull on old heartstrings when you saw him for the first time) normally tucked himself up on Shino’s lap and refused to play with the other children.

It was chaos when you all got together, but the kind of chaos that lit a fire in your very soul. It made all those earlier lonely days seem like hallucinations.

After those five years, Kiba was pregnant again, with the baby that you’d almost seen born during your future excursion.

You were incredibly thankful when the birth passed without any fainting incidents. You had even managed to intercept Minoru’s anxiety by explaining to him about clan pregnancy before his lessons on childbirth at the academy and so instead of the tears and worries over Kiba dying, he’d instead proudly explained to all his classmates that his clan and oma were simply ‘built different’.

The actual birth had also gone much smoother. You were his actual mate this time, able to easily provide the comfort and intimacy that Kiba needed while also having the know-how from the previous three births to support him and the pup properly. It wasn’t your first rodeo this time. It was rodeo number four, which you considered an ‘out of the danger zone’ number of rodeos.

And with that, you had Hibiki, your fifth child and third son.

When you had been in the future, you had assumed that the mystery fifth child would be the last one, but you knew better once you’d actually been mated with Kiba for years.

Yua, your sixth child and third daughter was born a few years later.

And when, a few years after that, Kiba got pregnant again, you immediately booked an appointment to get sterilised so that you could continue to indulge his breeding kink without making any more mouths to feed. You were doubly glad about that decision when the final pregnancy was revealed to be twins.

…

“You’re doing so well, babe, so well,” you were naked and pressed up against an equally naked Kiba, holding him from behind as he worked through a contraction.

“It feels strange that this is the last time I’m going to do this,” Kiba said between gritted teeth. “I kind of don’t want this labour to end, is that weird?”

“Yes,” you said bluntly, vaguely concerned but not surprised.

“Yeah, that’s fair,” he acquiesced, relaxing slightly now that the contraction had passed. “You sure you don’t want one more?”

“You know you’re not allowed to make decisions when you’re in labour, horny or feral.”

“I guess that’s also fair,” he sighed, stretching out his legs.

You rubbed on his stomach to try and ease the discomfort as best as you could. This was your sixth rodeo now though and it was almost funny to recall the panic from your trip to the future and at Minoru’s birth. You could probably deliver an Inuzuka baby in your sleep at this point.

“Drink some water,” you prompted, holding a water bottle to Kiba’ lips. He drank obediently, emptying the bottle in one go.

“I reckon these twins will be out pretty soon now,” Kiba said, reaching over to grab a ration bar and tearing it open with his teeth.

“I’m not surprised, it’s probably like a slip n’ slide in there by now.”

Kiba laughed at your joke and almost choked on his ration bar in the process.

“You’re the one who’s been in there the most, so you would know.”

“Pfft- Shut up,” you smacked him gently on the shoulder.

“You should know by now that that won’t happen,” he smirked, pressing his lips against yours.

A muffled smashing sound from the main part of the house had you both startling apart.

“Want to take guesses on which chaos gremlin was the cause of that?” Kiba said mildly, unperturbed by the sounds of destruction after so many years.

“Hmm, I bet it was either Akemi and one of her experiments gone wrong, or it was Hibiki attempting to eat his dinner from a dog bowl on top of the counter again.”

“Not a bad bet, but personally I think that was the sound of Minoru snapping and frisbeeing something fragile at the wall.”

“May the best person win,” you said, shaking his hand. He played along with a grin, but he soon tightened his grip and bent over in pain.

“Fuck, maybe I don’t want this to last forever,” he grunted, still squeezing your hand. “It hurts like a bitch.”

“I’m sorry,” you said, holding him tightly. “I wish I could take some of the pain for you.”

“I think it’s time,” he panted, ignoring your statement, not that you blamed him.

“Alright, I’ve got you, let’s get you sorted.”

That evening, twins Kaede and Natsu, a girl and boy respectively, finished off your family.

…

As a family of eight, the days felt long but the years flew by.

It was with a mix of relief and sadness that you faced your youngest, Natsu, moving out of your house. You had done it. You had successfully raised eight pups into functioning adults and sent them out into the real world.

It wasn’t like all of them didn’t pop over for dinner three times a week and crash here after missions, but still, it felt strange that you wouldn’t be caring full time for your army of pups anymore.

Some of them were already mated and you already had two grandpups. Most lived in the compound, some were ninja, some were not. But they were all exceptional people that were exceptionally loved.

You and Kiba were holding each other on the couch as you mourned the final pup leaving the nest. Kiba had hugged Natsu so fiercely that you were worried it would hurt him.

“I can’t believe they’re all gone,” Kiba said, sounding unsure about how to feel.

“They’ll be around, I wouldn’t be surprised if Natsu was back here tomorrow asking how he’s supposed to cook pasta, when what he really wants is for you to cook it for him.”

Kiba laughed, but his heart clearly wasn’t in it. You pulled him closer and let him grieve this stage of his life.

You had never regretted your choice to choose this family for your future, not even once.

You thought about all of your precious pups, the highs and the lows of raising them, of seeing them grow. Each of them were so different but so precious. And funny, all of them had immense comedic value and you had so many funny memories from raising them.

Like Minoru, your oldest and most responsible. He’d decided to become a medic, something you could easily tell from the near permanent expression of exasperation on his face. You remembered the day his old genin teammate had come back from a mission injured but had refused to go to the hospital. Minoru had dragged her back to your house.

…

“If you won’t go to the hospital, then you’re going to let me heal you, no arguments!”

That was the first thing you heard after the front door went and it was enough to pull you from the washing up.

“Minoru, please, I don’t want to intrude-“

“You’ve already bled all over the carpet, so you can get over issues of ‘intrusion’,” it was Minoru’s voice and the voice of who you believed to be one of his genin teammates.

He came into view moments later, dragging said old genin teammate. He muttered a ‘hi, appa’ but then promptly ignored you in favour of dumping his bleeding friend on the sofa.

“Um, you should probably go to the hospital,” you said tentatively, walking over to the two teens. “Our house is like, covered in mud and dog hair at the moment, that can’t be sanitary.”

“You’re right! She should be in the hospital!” Minoru shouted. “But she’s such a- such a-“

He struggled to find the words to match his fury for a moment.

“Such a… rat bastard! And she won’t go to the hospital even though she’s bleeding out!”

You snorted but quickly disguised it with a cough. You should probably discourage that kind of language but it was hilarious, so you decided to let it slide.

“Look, give healing them your best shot, but if anything gets worse or she passes out, let me know and we can take her to the hospital, okay?” you said, putting your reassuring appa voice on.

“Fine,” Minoru grumbled, kneeling at the side of the couch, hands hovering over her stomach. “I don’t care if this hurts, by the way.”

You didn’t manage to disguise your laughter quite as well this time.

…

Ichika came to mind next. She had worried you and Kiba a lot when she was younger, with her senses heightened so far above the normal Inuzuka level to the point of pain. But in the end, she had turned out perfectly able to take over the clan leadership when it became clear that Hana wasn’t going to have any of her own pups and Kiba and Minoru were uninterested in such a role.

What made her so perfect was her ability to make herself, and by extension the clan, seem perfectly normal and well-functioning. She was the only non-gremlin child you had, and the clan was using that to their advantage in negotiations and political bullshit.

Sometimes she fooled people too well though. You distinctly remembered the first time she had brought her boyfriend to a family dinner to introduce him to you, Kiba and the rest of your family. Ichika had tricked him with her normalness and the poor man had no idea what he was getting into.

…

Ichika had called a family meeting about an hour before her new boyfriend was supposed to show up, and so all of you were crowded in the living room because no one wanted to piss off an already stressed Ichika. Even the terror twins were managing to sit somewhat still.

“Listen up!” she shouted, slamming her hands on the coffee table. “I really like this man, so I will have no one scaring him off, is that clear?”

A couple of your pups chortled, but Ichika’s glare cut them off.

“I mean it,” she said. “That means no asking if they have any ‘interesting’ diseases (she pointed at Minoru), no setting a trap on his chair or in any other part of the house (she pointed at the terror twins), no eating from receptacles designed for dogs (Hibiki was pointed at next), no trying to bite him (Yua) and well…”

Kaede and Natsu blinked up at her innocently, only two years old, each sitting on one of yours and Kiba’s laps.

“I guess you two get a pass,” she said reluctantly. “For now.”

“Pass!” Natsu giggled happily.

“What about us?” you asked, gesturing to yourself and Kiba, trying to hide your grin. “Do we have rules too?”

She squinted her eyes at you as she considered it.

“You are allowed to threaten him once each. Once only,” she stressed. “And they have to be normal threats that normal parents make, got it?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Kiba snorted, bouncing a happy Natsu. “So, when’s Kairo getting here then?”

Ichika’s eye twitched at the deliberate incorrect name.

This evening was going to be fun.

…

Your terror twins, Akemi and Kaito, came to mind next. And that was Terror Twins (affectionate) of course. They had both taken to shinobi life a little too well, specialising in tracking as any good Inuzuka did, but also traps and demolition, to the surprise of no one. And of course, they loved to practice those skills in your house.

Their Inuzuka dog companions were just as bad as they were, but their killer puppy dog eyes always got them out of trouble.

They both had genin teams at the moment. Rival genin teams. Although the rivalry seemed to just be between your twins, because the genin seemed to become close through commiserating over their ridiculous jonin instructors.

You still remembered the first chunin exams that they had been entered in. As green genin, none were promoted, but seeing as it was hosted by Konoha, Akemi and Kaito had begged the whole family to attend to watch their genin beat the other’s genin.

…

“Kick his ass, Sakurako!” Akemi shouted from the stands. “Yank that pretty boy hair!”

“You got this, Akihito!” Kaito shouted, not wanting to be outdone. “Don’t be afraid to bite her if you have to!”

You put your head in your hands, hoping that no one figured out that you were technically responsible for both the crazy jonin. You regretted saying yes to attending.

…

Next you thought about Hibiki, the boy you almost saw born twice, which was a cool fact that you’d never be able to tell him.

Hibiki loved dogs more than people. Yes, that wasn’t uncommon for Inuzuka, but Hibiki took it to the extreme. He had demanded to eat from dog bowls rather than plates for five years, and maybe other parents would have put their foot down and said no, you and Kiba had just decided to indulge the little weirdo.

Hibiki liked walking dogs, playing with dogs, learning about dogs, barking at people and a whole myriad of other similar things. He spent every day shadowing his aunt Hana in the vet clinic and resisted going to the academy because there weren’t dogs there. It was not surprising at all when Hibiki started to work at the clinic full time.

You still remembered the first time Hibiki had asked Akamaru to join him in the bath, as all of his older siblings had asked before him. It was the first time that Kiba’s normal hose threat hadn’t worked.

…

“I want Akamaru to come!” Hibiki sulked, stomping his feet.

“Akamaru gets hosed down in the garden, so unless you want to do that, it’s time to get in the bath without Akamaru,” Kiba said back, the threat of the hose well practiced.

“Okay!” Hibiki said, face lighting up. “I want to get hosed in the garden with Akamaru!”

You could almost see the wind getting taken out of Kiba’s sails.

“I- what? You want to get hosed down with cold water in the garden?” Kiba questioned, eyebrows raised.

“Yes! Thank you oma! You’re the best!” Hibiki cheered, running from the bathroom to the back door.

You and Kiba made significant eye contact, but in the end you both just shrugged.

“Alright then.”

…

Yua was next. She and her dog were inseparable and impossible to trick. She had gone down the traditional Inuzuka route of tracking, and Yua’s wicked smarts were perfect for it. She started leading tracking teams when she was only 15 years old, and you were more and more proud of her every day.

She did have a mean streak though. She wasn’t a bully or anything, you wouldn’t have allowed that, but she became easily frustrated with those around her. Like the time you and Kiba had been called into the academy because Yua had been in an altercation with some of her classmates.

…

“You have to apologise, Yua,” you said, trying to keep your voice steady and firm.

“But why should I have to apologise if what I said is true!?” she exclaimed, obviously frustrated. “I didn’t lie!”

“It doesn’t matter if you think something is true or not,” you explained, taking a breath to keep your patience. “Telling someone that they could ‘have an intelligent thought bite them on the nose and still not know what it was’ is very rude and mean.”

Yua huffed, obviously not understanding the situation. You were very aware of the academy teacher watching you fail to get through to your daughter.

“Fine,” you said, giving up on the explanation. “No training at home until you apologise.”

“What? Appa! No!”

…

Finally, you had Kaede and Natsu, the babies of the family. That title was something that Kaede resented wholeheartedly and something that Natsu embraced with enthusiasm.

Kaede’s favourite phrase growing up was “I can do it by myself, appa!”, while Natsu had favoured the “Can you help me appy, please?”.

Kaede had always been determined, someone who knew themselves entirely. You remembered when they had told you to switch their pronouns to they/them at age 12, they had done it with the confidence of someone so much older.

They had become a paperwork ninja, deciding it was their destined role and that no on would stop them and no one would talk down about the job. They were a force to be reckoned with, behind that desk. Just because they were the first Inuzuka paper nin didn’t mean they were well adjusted or normal. In fact, her companion dog had been trained to bite ninjas who gave late reports or who didn’t take enough time to make their writing legible.

While Kaede had been determined and self-reflective, Natsu only knew one thing: he loved cuddles. For years, he had been happy doing anything as long as it included getting cuddles or praise from one of his family members. Even his Inuzuka dog was the snuggliest dog you had in the family. He did have a penchant for teasing people though, but in a charming, if a little feral, way.

He had decided that the ninja life wasn’t for him, to the surprise of no one, and instead he helped out in your shop full time. Your customers loved him and his pup, who stayed curled up by the counter, was just as big of a hit.

You were still sometimes in awe of how different they were.

…

A breaded chicken fillet was on the menu for most of the pups tonight. You sat around your massive dining room table in the house you had to buy a few years back when it became clear that the number of pups was vastly outnumbering the number of bedrooms, passing round the plates.

You automatically turned to Kaede and picked up her knife and fork in order to cut the fillet up for her.

“No, appa! I can do it myself!” she said, pulling her plate away from you. “I’m not little anymore!”

“Alright, alright,” you said holding up your hands, having passed her cutlery back. “Let me know if you need any help, okay?”

“I won’t,” she said fiercely, immediately attempting to cut the fillet up herself. She was butchering it a little bit, but it would all taste the same, so you let her get on with it.

“Appy?”

You turned to see Natsu with his full-on puppy dog eyes staring at you. He was holding up his knife and fork for you.

“Can you cut my chicken for me, please?”

You softened as you looked at him. Apart from Ichika, he was the only one of your pups to have fully grasped the concept of manners.

“Of course, I can, darling,” you smiled, walking around the table to cut up his fillet into little chunks. “Do you want ketchup as well?”

He nodded, so you took the ketchup bottle and squirted a little smiley face with the sauce.

“See? It’s a smiley face because it’s happy to see you!”

Natsu grinned, looking up at you like you hung the stars in the sky.

“Thank you appy, I love him!”

“You’re welcome, baby. Would you like some, Kaede?”

She nodded too but held out her hand to take the bottle from you, clearly wanting to pour the ketchup herself.

It was quite amusing that the two were twins; they couldn’t be more different.

…

They were all your pups and you loved them so much that you couldn’t articulate it. You would cherish them forever and from your perspective now, it was strange that you had ever considered choosing a different life with someone else.

You had thanked the fortune teller in your mind many, many times since that fateful week, but you also had to give yourself some credit for putting in the work to make this life happen. You built your shop up from the ground, you helped your friends, you wooed Kiba into being your mate, you built your family with him, you raised all these amazing human beings and somehow kept your sanity amongst the chaos.

You had earnt this life, fully and completely.

“We did good,” was the only thing you could say to Kiba as you held each other on the couch. “We did so good.”

“We did,” he agreed. “And we have so much more good to do.”

And you did, but you felt like you had it under control now. You knew what you were doing, no longer were you that hesitant teenager with desires for a life so much more than they had.

No, you could handle whatever was thrown at you now.

So, imagine your surprise when Natsu burst into your shop only a week later to tell you that he’d met a mysterious fortune teller in the night and spent a week in the future, mated to seven different friends.

The end.

#24 hours series #omegaverse #a/b/o #n-sfw #alpha!reader #naruto #x reader #reader insert #omega!character

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peppered-moths · 1 year

Text

this is not about revenge (or what i felt before)

"You won, right?" The sound of Martyn's voice seemingly jerks Scott awake. Martyn hadn't even noticed, caught up in his own thoughts. He mouths 'sorry' and intends to leave it at that, settling back against the hard stone wall. They had to sleep sometimes, and Martyn had graciously volunteered to watch Scott's back while he slept. It... had been a long day.

Scott sits up, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He doesn't make any motion to go back to sleep, and instead eyes him. His expression is unreadable.

"Yeah? I- I mean, you were there, right? Watched me get struck down, all that?" He waves a hand in the air aimlessly.

"I just- I want to know what it's like." Martyn says softly. The whispers still ring in his ears. He wonders, if he won, if they'd stop.

Scott frowns down at him, one newly sprouted yellow fin flicking. "Seriously, Martyn, what's this about? You can't be that confident already- you were just talking earlier about how bad your armor was."

He hesitates. How does he explain it? Explain Them?

"Just- did you see anything? Afterwards."

Scott's expression freezes, stuck between shock and confusion and a little bit of fear-

"You have!" Martyn shoots up, ignoring protesting wounds. He reaches over, takes Scott's hands. "You saw Them, didn't you?"

"I- don't- how did you- how did you know?" Scott sucks in a sharp breath, mouth tugged downwards. "Grian said. He said- it was only supposed to be the winners." Huh. That makes... a surprising amount of sense.

"I hear them," he breathes, locking eyes with Scott. "I always hear them. It's... quiet, usually, but sometimes-" He swallows, looks down. "I heard them after you died." After I killed you.

"Okay." Scott nods, forced calm on his face. "I'll pretend like that's completely normal and not at all worrying." His voice pitches upward as he speaks. "Um. Do I need to be worried?"

Well, I think They told me to kill you. And I don't think last time counts.

"No," he says instead. "Not really. It was just... indecipherable nonsense. As usual." Scott's still tense, but his hands relax slightly in Martyn's grip, and he feels slightly bad for lying. And then he realizes he's holding Scott's hands, and immediately lets go.

Scott blinks at him as he steps away, and then down at his own hands, dotted here and there with dark blue scales. He doesn't seem notice how flustered Martyn is all of a sudden, and he thanks any gods but his own for that. He's not sure why he's flustered in the first place, because that's something to unpack another day!

"I don't think I've said thank you yet." Martyn's eyes snap back to Scott. "For killing me," the other man clarifies, which is... something Martyn hasn't heard in a while.

"Well. It wasn't like I was having a lot of fun either."

"Mmm." Scott's only half-listening, he can tell, clearly turning something over in his mind. He waits patiently.

"You- hm. You don't do that very often." Scott looks at him directly, and for a moment all Martyn can imagine is a red brand across his throat. It's a stupid idea, of course. He had stabbed him through the heart.

"No," he agrees. "I don't." Suddenly all he can think about is how alone they are, in their threadbare cave under the ocean. How suddenly vulnerable this feels. He hasn't- he doesn't-

"I guess I'm trying to ask if it means something," Scott says carefully, watching Martyn like he's about to run, "or if I'm reading too far into it."

And that sends Martyn reeling. All he can do is stare at Scott, mind scrambling to form something cohesive.

In the end, all he can get out is "What about Jimmy?"

Scott's face twists sharply, a wave of emotions playing over his features, and Martyn knows he's said the wrong thing. But Scott just clasps his hands in his lap, twisting them tightly together, and looks back up at him.

"What about him?"

"Well- aren't you two..." Fated. Destined. Martyn waves his hand to illustrate his point.

"You didn't see his face today," Scott whispers after a moment, voice cracking for a moment. "When he was chasing me. It was- that was hunger, Martyn. He was going to do anything to kill me. I-" Scott stops. Takes a deep breath. "He wasn't- isn't the same Jimmy I fell in love with."

Martyn sits next to him on the bed, hands awkwardly hovering close to the other. Scott seems like he's about to cry. He looks at Martyn again, something simultaneously piercing and vulnerable.

"You're avoiding the question."

"What?"

Scott scrubs a hand over his head, messing up his already rumpled hair. "I asked if it meant something." Martyn is silent again; not struck-dumb silence, but instead reaching for an answer he isn't sure he knows.

"I remind you of him." Everything reminds me of him. It's still not an answer. Ren had been the world, and then, just like that, he wasn't. It still aches.

"That's not fair. To you." he finally murmurs. Scott just looks at him with clear yellow eyes. He wonders what red will look like on him.

"No, it's not," he agrees. "It's not fair for you to pretend I'm Ren. But that's not what I'm asking." He shifts closer, gesturing for Martyn to turn so they're both facing each other. "I'm asking if it meant something. Beyond Ren, beyond Red Winter, beyond Third Life."

Martyn sits there. He remembers sinking his sword between Scott's fourth and fifth ribs. His first thought had been you're safe now. Like it was nothing. Like he's ever been able to keep anyone safe.

Scott must see the struggle in his face. He takes one of Martyn's hands, squeezing it in his own. It feels... safe.

"It's- just- I- don't you ever believe in fate? Destiny, soulmates, whatever you want to call it."

Scott turns his head, considering. "Well, we've already tried the soulmate thing, and look at how that ended." The small smile fades from his lips. "I think if I'm destined to be with Jimmy, I wouldn't feel the way I do about him. I wouldn't feel the way I feel about you."

That makes Martyn flush, turning his face surreptitiously away so Scott can't see it. "I wish I could escape fate," he admits. "But I hear Them every time. It's- it's like They know, every single time. Like it's predestined."

"Well, try doing something They'd never expect," Scott suggests, half-jokingly. It actually makes him laugh.

"Yeah? What do you propose?" Scott's mouth curves in a wicked smile, and he leans closer to Martyn, until they're almost nose to nose.

"Well," he murmurs, sing-song. He places one hand on Martyn's cheek. "I was thinking something like this." He leans in closer, slowly, giving Martyn plenty of time to back off, to say no thanks if he wants to. He doesn't take the opportunity.

He meets Scott right in the middle. The kiss is driving, fierce. It's nothing like the way Ren used to kiss Martyn, like he was fragile, something easily broken, needing to be protected. He doesn't really want Scott to kiss like Ren anyways, he realizes.

They break apart after a moment, Martyn half-dazed. Scott runs a finger over his bottom lip absently, and he can't help but trace it with his eyes. Scott catches him in the act, raising an eyebrow.

"Did that feel fated?"

"I'm not sure," Martyn breathes. "I think I'd have to try again."

#majorwood #limited life smp #limited life spoilers #inthelittlewood #smajor1995 #trafficshipping #traffic smp #did they fix their problems? nope!#will kissing help? definitely not!#are they going to do it anyways? YEP!#title is from this is love by the hunts btw

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penofpenguin · 2 years

Note

helllllooo, sweetie <3

so, i had this idea in my head for a long time: octatrio boys suddenly turned into babys and f!reader who really loves children needs to take care of them!

sending love (◍•ᴗ•◍)✧*。

Hello to you to darling ^^

Thank you for the absolutely adorable request!! I didn't know whether you meant separately or not so I did the characters separately. Writing this was so fun and I hope you enjoy it! *recieves the love that was sent*

Content Warnings: A bit ooc, Jade

Reader's fish boyfriend turns into a baby and reader has fun taking care of him.

Azul x F!reader, Jade x F!reader, Floyd x F!reader

You knocked on the VIP room, hoping for the usual voice of a delicate voice saying "come in"

But instead all you heard was baby screeching.

You jolted in only to find a smol, round, adorable octopus crying on the floor. There was a cauldron nearby, which gave you a hint that Azul was making potions again.

You snapped back to your senses when you realised this was a baby sea creature not in the water.

Jumping into action, you emptied the cauldron and filled it up with water. Then you yeeted the baby octopus into the water, which was then swimming around rather happily.

When you put your hand in, little Azul wrapped a tentacle around it and looked at you with his shimmering crystal blue eyes.

"Having fun baby Azul?" You smiled as he nuzzled your hand.

"Momma," was all it took to make your heart skip a beat.

You wanted to put him in a fish tank and carry him everywhere with you.

Leech devils stopped by and Floyd made Azul cry. Jade on the other hand, offered to make Azul some food but you were hesitant as baby octopi cannot ingest mushrooms.

They did help you get him back to normal though by making a potion.

As much as you'd love the actual 17-year-old Azul, this Azul was too adorable to let go.

"Hello Azul." You rubbed his cheek with your thumb to which he splashed around happily.

You pick him up(it required alot of strength) and huggle him, to which his cold, wet cheek meets your warm one.

"I'm gonna miss you once you turn back." Azul stared innocently at your remark.

You fed him the potion and placed him on the ground. It also seemed that Jade had mixed some of the human potion into it too, for Azul's convenience.

Infront of you stood the mature Ashengrotto.

"What did you mean by you'll miss me once I turn back? I am clearly better like this!" He said, crossing his arms. Yep, he heard that last sentence.

You gave him a kiss on his nose, which made him flush.

"I love all versions of Azul Ashengrotto."

You knocked on the Leech Twins' door. A terrarium was on your hand, which you made for Jade.

Floyd opened it, looking annoyed. In his hand was a bowl(it was one of Jade's terrariums) which inside consisted of water and a baby eel playing around.

"Is...your brother there?" You asked.

"This is Jade. Can you keep 'em and return him once he's normal again??" Floyd said, shoving the bowl to your hands.

Before you could say anything, Floyd smiled, said thanks and shut the door in your face.

You were in fact, happy. You looked into the bowl and saw a small eel peeking out to see you.

Playing with him was very fun, as baby Jade was slightly mischievous, yet relaxed.

Baby eels are known to be very small, so you enjoy petting his head.

Take your eel with you everywhere. He won't admit it but he'll feel lonely. Show him some mushrooms that grew near you. Just make sure he doesn't remember the mushrooms when he goes back to normal(for your own safety)

Make sure to feed him enough. He keeps asking for food but make sure you feed a proper amount. Don't fall for his puppy eyes.

When he turns back, he actually gets embarrassed that you saw him like that, but maintains a relaxed facade.

"You're quite good with children." He says.

"I just love them so much."

"Perhaps you'd be good with our future one(s)." He says with his signature grin.

He leaves, making sure you're all flustered.

You don't even know how you got caught up in this situation.

There was a bowl of water, a baby eel in it, and water splashed everywhere on your bed when you came into your dorm room.

He'd turn back in 24 hours according to Jade and Azul, who told you to take care of baby Floyd as "responsibility of a lover".

Baby Floyd was a rollercoaster.

For your own safety, you didn't put your finger in.

Floyd kept jumping out of the water and moving everywhere. It was very exhausting going after him.

After sometime he'll get bored.

He'll watch you from the glass.

If anyone he doesn't like talks to you or if anyone troubles you, he will jump out and chomp them.

They had to go to the infirmary after that because of an angry eel.

Although if you're feeling sad of any sort, he'll try cheering you up. You'll definitely feel better afterwards.

He probably doesn't want to turn back.

When he does turn back to normal, he either runs and squeezes you, or yawns and sleeps.

"I wanna be a baby eel forever!"

"I'm glad you're not."

"Why nottt? I can be in your arms all day~"

"I would love that, but for now, I need to be in yours."

"Hmmm~ What a needy sea creature. Maybe I should rename you~"

After a long day of taking care of him, you end up asleep in his arms.

I hope you enjoyed this! I'm not really good at writing requests like this but I did my best!

Thank you for requesting and have a nice day!

-Madeline🐧

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #azul ashengrotto x reader #azul ashengrotto #azul x reader #azul x y/n #floyd leech x reader #floyd leech #floyd x reader #floyd x y/n #jade leech x reader #jade leech #jade x reader #jade x y/n #twst #twst x y/n #octavinelle x reader #octavinelle

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tightjeansjavi · 1 year

Text

Burning in a Hopeless Dream

Boston QZ: Part 15

“They See Right Through Me”

Joel Miller x f!o/c

A/N: thank you for your patience as I took the time to write this for y’all. This was not only the longest chapter I have written, this was also the hardest, and emotionally challenging one thus far. I am extremely proud of how this has turned out. Thank you for reading ♡

Summary: Save who you can save Joel.

~word count: 11.7k~

Warnings: age gap (o/c is in her early 30’s Joel is in his 50’s) established relationship, angst, dark! Joel, mean! Joel. You’re gonna hate him by the end of this chapter! Joel, canon typical violence, death of a major character, trauma, arguments, gaslighting, PTSD, anger, rage, heart break, triggering themes that may be disturbing for some viewers. Please proceed with caution and read the warnings. (+18) minors dni !

Songs for this chapter:

“The Archer” By Taylor Swift

“You Are My Sunshine” by The Civil Wars

“Godspeed” By Frank Ocean

“Same Old Same Old” by The Civil Wars

“take a moment to breathe” by normal the kid

“My Cell” The Lumineers

“Paper Houses” by Niall Horan

“Wait” by M83

“Save Yourself” by KALEO

“It’ll All Work Out” by Phoebe Bridgers

Summer, 2023 : 5 Miles outside the QZ

“From this point forward, the three of us have to actively remember that Ellie is just a kid.” You spoke, sitting along an old crate in the abandoned building you, Joel, and Tess had found to take cover from the storm. Ellie was asleep, in the middle of the room. She used her backpack as a pillow, under a bed of moss.

Joel scoffed alongside you. His hand was still bloodied and bruised up. The thin skin of his knuckles were torn, shredded, and you were doing your best to clean out any debris embedded in the flesh. “She ain’t just a kid. She’s fuckin’ cargo to us.” He gritted out. He could feel the muscles, and tendons in his hand twitching. He had definitely broken it from the amount of times his fist made contact with the FEDRA soldiers face.

“Does she fucking look like cargo to you Joel? That’s a kid who’s life just got drastically turned upside down in a matter of hours. All she’s clearly known is Marlene, and the fireflies, and now 3 strangers.” You shook your head, refusing to make eye contact with him as you swiped a bit of 20 year old disinfectant along his knuckles, eliciting a hiss from between his lips.

“She is cargo. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you don’t let your emotions get in the fucking way. You forgetting what we’re doin’ this for? We’re doin’ this for Tommy, Gwen. We get the battery, the truck, everything Marlene promised us, and we go and find my brother. That’s the plan and it ain’t changin’ darlin’.”

“You know, if I had just met you two, I’d think you were an old married couple by the way you fuckin’ bicker together.” Tess whispered, amusement in her tone.

Joel rolled his eyes immediately in response. “Yeah?” He scoffed. “Well, we sure as hell ain’t an old married couple.”

“No, but you’re actin’ like one. At this rate, I’d put a ring on her finger sooner, rather than later Texas.”

“You see an every kiss begins with Kay or jade jewelers, or whatever the fuck around here? Cause I sure as hell ain’t seein’ any. Not to mention, that ain’t our style. Marriage? That’s hilarious Tess. Really fuckin’ funny.”

It wasn’t that Joel thought there was anything bad about marriage. It was more-so the fact the that he hadn’t had thoughts about marriage in over 20 fucking years. Besides, putting a ring on your finger seemed way too cliche. Totally not yours, or his style.

“I think I’d actually commit murder if he even attempted to put a ring on my finger.” You chimed in, your eyes were still focused on tending to Joel’s hand.

“That’s exactly 100% why you’re Joel’s girl.”

“Damn right she is.” He agreed.

“You’re both seriously beyond insufferable right now. Just wanted to let you know.” You mumbled under your breath with a small grin tugging on your lips.

A bright flash of lighting, followed by a loud crack of thunder, ended the lighthearted banter.

“Have you thought of the possibility that maybe Marlene is lying about the truck, and weapons that she promised us? Look, I have my reasons to not trust Marlene, but I really think we need to think about this from a logical standpoint. If the case ends up being there’s no truck, or weapons, we can’t just leave Ellie to fend for herself.”

Joel was ripping his hand from your grasp when you had attempted to bandage his knuckles up. He had given you a stone cold look, one that sent an unpleasant chill down your spine.

“Marlene seemed too fuckin’ desperate to make up a lie like that darlin’. Besides, Tess and I have known Marlene far longer than you have. If she says there’s a truck and weapons waiting at the state house, she ain’t lyin’ about that. The only reason you have to not trust her is because she’s a fuckin’ firefly.”

You narrowed your eyes at him as you tucked your first aid kit back into your backpack and stood up. “Yeah? Well if you remember correctly, she’s the reason why I got fucking thrown into lockup. Her and the rest of the fireflies are the reason behind that. You just want me to go along and trust her? She’s never even fucking liked me Joel.” His gaze fell upon your face as you shrugged off your jacket and gently placed it over Ellie’s curled up sleeping form just a few feet away.

“You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time Gwen. Shit fuckin’ happens. You don’t wanna trust Marlene? Go on right ahead and see where that gets you. You’ll be eating your words the second we drop this kid off and get our reward.”

You scoffed under your breath as you sank down against the wall, far away from him now with your arms crossed over your chest. “Yeah, okay Joel. Can you stop being a fucking asshole?”

“Stop saying stupid fuckin’ shit and then I won’t have a reason to be an asshole darlin’”

You bit down on the inside of your cheek, tasting copper along your tongue. You missed the moments where Joel was attentive to you, and your feelings. Where he was tender, gentle, soft with your heart. You missed that side of him desperately.

Ellie, unbeknownst to the three of you, was wide awake and listening to the entire conversation as it ensued. The second you placed your jacket over her, she felt an immediate trust for you. Especially for the fact that you emphasized that she was just a kid. She was wary of the other two you traveled with. Especially Joel. He seemed like one mean motherfucker.

Joel had taken the first watch of the night while you and Tess slept. Except, you couldn’t sleep at all. Despite how mean your partner was to you earlier, you couldn’t give him the cold shoulder forever.

He had turned his head towards you in the slightest when he could hear your boots scraping against the pavement as you stood up. He let out a soft sigh when you sank down beside him, pulling your knees up to your chest.

“Why aren’t you sleepin’ honey?” His tone was much softer now, but you didn’t want to get your hopes up.

“I don’t sleep most nights anymore Joel.”

He frowned at this and finally looked over at you, turning his body so he was facing you. His good hand was still firmly grasped around the machine gun strapped across his shoulder.

“You wanna talk about it? I’m all ears for you darlin’” he rasped.

“There’s nothing to talk about Joel. This has been going on for months. I’ve come to accept that a decent night's rest is not something attainable for me anymore. I’m on edge constantly, and for good reason.” You had your chin tucked into your shoulder as you looked over at him. The rain wasn’t as heavy anymore but there were still low rumbles of thunder in the distance.

Joel took a deep inhale through his nose, his nostrils flaring slightly as he breathed out, feeling the tension in his shoulders dissipate.

“C’mere. You ain’t have a reason to be on edge when I’m right here. Okay? Look, I know these last few months have not been ideal. Shits been handed to us left and right. I don’t want you thinkin’ that I don’t care either, alright? You know I do.” He slipped the rifle off of his shoulder before he was reaching for you, gently wrapping his good hand around your forearm, coaxing you closer.

“I know you care, Joel. I know that you’re just stressed over Tommy, and now this whole situation. I just…I got so fucking comfortable when we were just..happy. You remember that?” You didn’t fight him as he gently pulled you into his arms, holding you tightly to his chest, resting his chin along the top of your head. His arms were secured around your middle, your back pressed firmly to his chest.

“We both knew that wasn’t going to last forever baby. Those were the best moments. I ain’t forgotten them. M’sorry for the way I’ve snapped at you. I don’t know how to deal with how I’ve been feelin’ about Tommy. I know that’s not an excuse to treat ya that way. I don’t wanna lose you too..”

“We could have stayed with Bill and Frank y’know. There were so many houses and we could have had a comfortable life there. I know it sounds silly, how can anyone live comfortably in an apocalypse? Somehow Bill and Frank have. They’ve pretty much gone and done the impossible. Listen, I know you don’t mean what you’ve said. Does it hurt me? Absolutely. You’d have to do something unforgivable to lose me Joel. So please don’t go speaking like that.” You placed your hands over his, as you gently brought his damaged hand up to your lips, lightly pressing a kiss to the broken skin on his knuckles.

“Maybe we can have that one day, sweet girl. Just the two of us, okay? We’ll find a home somewhere to call ours. Maybe a couple horses, a nice big yard? A library for all your books..a decent mattress, with pillows that aren’t moth eaten. A nice big kitchen where we can cook together. We’ll have Bill, Frank, Tess, and Bea over every weekend for dinner. I’ll make sweet love to you every fuckin’ night. Doesn’t that sound wonderful baby? We’ll have that one day, I promise you. It’s just not in the cards for us right now, but that’s okay. You wanna know why? Cause no matter what, I got you, and you got me. Kay? No matter what happens.” He whispered against your hair, his eyes closed as he pictured a domestic lifestyle with you by his side. He wanted that so fucking badly with you. He could nearly taste it.

You were left feeling stunned in his arms. Joel’s confession was well thought out, tender, filled to the brim with all the little details. You could tell by his deliverance that this was not something he came up with on a whim. No, your Joel had thought about the possibility of having a normal life with you for a long long time. “No matter what happens, I got you, you got me. Always.” You whispered.

Joel tightened his grip around you slightly. He didn’t care about the throbbing pain from his freshly broken hand, or the impending reality that your lives had drastically changed in a matter of hours. He just wanted to make sure you got a decent night of sleep finally.

So, he sang. Just above a whisper, the same lullaby you had sung to him the night that his nightmares nearly consumed him.

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You’ll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away. Please don’t take my sunshine away…”

You were fast asleep by the time he whispered out the last word. He held you all night long, listening intently for any sounds that could be of a threat. Even when it was Tess’s turn to take watch, he didn’t wake her either. His gun was nearby, ready to grab if needed. His eyes stayed trained on the sleeping teenager just a few feet away. Ellie, who he viewed as just being cargo to transport.

By morning's impending approach, the storm had since passed on. The sky was painted in an array of pink, red, and orange hues. Although a sight to behold, a red sky at dawn was never a good sign. The old saying goes, red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky at morning, sailors warning.

The four of you had no inclination to predict that this was Tess’s last day walking in the living realm. Predicting the weather was something just about anyone could do. Predicting the moment someone would take their last dying breath? That was a feat impossible.

Ellie had slowly awoken to the sun's warm rays peeking through the cracks in the abandoned building. A golden butterfly fluttered above her sleeping form as her eyes slowly opened. She was still in a sleepy state as she slowly sat up, taking in her surroundings before she heard a loud creaking sound behind her.

She was greeted by a stern look from both Joel, and Tess. He was holding his assault rifle between his hands. The barrel of the gun pointed at the ground. The look he was giving the teenager was menacing enough as it was. The only kind face Ellie could find in the small space was yours.

“Morning…” she spoke, hesitation laced in her tone.

Just as she began to slowly rise from the mossy floor, Joel had lifted the gun in her direction, causing the teenager's eyes to go wide and you kicked his chair with your boot from where you stood behind him. “Joel..” you warned. He could feel your eyes glaring into the back of his skull, disapprovingly.

“If you say that she’s just a kid one more fuckin’ time.” He snapped back, keeping his gun trained on Ellie.

“Do I look like I’m infected? Seriously, can you not point that thing at me man? What, are you actually gonna shoot me?”

“Just might. Now, show us your arm. Slow. If you make any—”

“Sudden movements you’ll shoot. Yeah, I think I fucking got that part.” Ellie quipped back. She slowly lifted the sleeve of her hoodie revealing her 3 week old bite mark in the sunlight. From where the 3 of you were, it was pretty obvious this was not a fresh bite in the slightest.

“Yeah, it’s not getting any worse, is it? I’m not infected. This thing is 3 weeks old and I haven’t turned into one of those..things.”

Joel slowly lowered his gun before he slowly looked over at Tess before he let his gaze slightly drift up to you. “What the hell was Marlene doin’ with an infected kid in the first place?”

“I’m not infected. She found me after I was bitten and before you ask, no. She didn’t shoot me. She locked me up in that shit hole and had her guys test me every fucking day. They chained me to a pipe and made me recite my name and other shit back to them to see if my personality had changed. It clearly didn’t.”

“Did your shit attitude come before, or after you were bitten?” Joel asked.

You kicked the foot of his chair again, this time a little harder.

You could tell the teenager fought hard to not roll her eyes at him. “Y’know the thing I think really impressed them was the fact that I didn’t turn into a fucking monster.”

When the three of you didn’t respond, Ellie slowly rose to her feet and Joel’s gun followed. “Really man? I thought we were done with that shit. Can I just go pee now? I’ve been holding it for a while.”

Tess had grabbed an old magazine on the floor and tossed it over to the teenager. “Go ahead. You can find a nice spot back there.”

Ellie caught the magazine before she started to walk towards the back room to do her business. “There’s not gonna be anything bad in here?”

“Just you.”

Once Ellie was out of sight, you nearly wanted to rip Joel’s gun from his hands but refrained as you crossed your arms over your chest with a sigh. “She made it through the fuckin’ night, Joel. I think you can cut it out with pointing the gun at her. She’s clearly not a threat to any of us.”

“It doesn’t fuckin’ matter. It’s gonna happen sooner or later. Maybe her body just has a late response to the cordyceps. She can’t be trusted. I told you this was a bad fuckin’ idea to begin with and now that we know she’s infected, you still think we’re gonna follow through with this?”

“You saw her arm, Joel. If she was infected it would have looked completely different. We’ve seen what infected bite marks look like and she is not one of them.”

“Yeah well I ain’t about to go and take that chance. We’re close enough to the wall. We can sneak her back into the QZ and we’ll just find a different way to get the battery. I ain’t hauling an infected kid around with us.”

“We take her back to the QZ and they’re gonna kill her. FEDRA see’s that bite mark and she’s through. You really wanna have a kid's blood on your hands like that?”

“Do you hear yourself right now Gwen? You’re actin’ like this kid has some fuckin’ life ahead of her or somethin’. We take her back to the QZ and get the battery a different way.”

“What happened to fiercely believing in the fact that Marlene is gonna have a whole truck and weapons waiting for us if we bring her to the state house? You’re just gonna go and abandon that?”

“You should be jumping for joy over the fact that we’re finally fuckin’ agreeing on somethin’ for once. An infected kid is not worth the possibility of that truck, or the weapons we were promised.”

“I’m with Gwen on this one.” Tess finally spoke as Joel whipped his around suddenly to look at her, narrowing his eyes.

“You’re what?”

“You heard me Texas. I don’t think I need to repeat it.” She spoke without looking at him just as Ellie had returned. “You hungry kid? You can share some of ours.”

“Thanks. Marlene sent me with my own.” Ellie spoke as she sank down into the moss, pulling out what appeared to be a chicken sandwich from her backpack.

“Is that chicken?” You asked, feeling your mouth water at the sight of something besides the dried, tasteless jerky the three of you were eating.

“Yep. Marlene said they get it from smugglers..guess not you guys.” She smirked a little as she took a bite of her sandwich.

Tess was already up and out of her chair and Joel had tried to stop her but she pushed him away. “Why are you so important to Marlene? Hm? Don’t even think about lyin’ to me kid. If you do, we’ll take you back to the QZ.”

“Well..you take me back and you don’t get your battery.” Ellie responded.

“Ohh. So you got a good set of ears on you huh? Well, then I’m sure you heard that he wants to shoot you then right?”

Ellie no longer possessed a smirk on her face as she slowly looked up at Joel’s displeased face. “So then why hasn’t he shot me already? If what you’re saying is true.”

“Trying to change the subject isn’t gonna do you any good either. So I’m gonna talk to you like an adult, alright? Joel and I aren’t good people. We’re doin’ this for us because apparently you’re worth somethin’ to Marlene, whatever that may be. So if I were you, I’d drop the smart ass attitude because his patience? It’s wearing mighty thin. I suggest you answer my question. Why are you so important to Marlene?”

“What about her? Is she not a good person either?” Ellie spoke, gesturing her head towards you.

“Gwen? Let’s just say..she’s better than the two of us but not by much. Sweet face, sure. Knows how to wield a knife like it’s the fuckin’ back of her hand.”

“That’s badass.”

“Answer her question, Ellie. It’s alright.” You spoke softly, earning a disapproving look from your lover.

“Okay..well, Marlene told me not to tell anyone and here I am telling the three of you..” she sighed, rubbing her hand over her face. “There’s a Firefly base camp somewhere out west with doctors. They’re working on a cure.”

“Oh of course they are. Yeah, sure I’ll believe it. This ain’t the fuckin’ first time we’ve heard about a possible cure. It’s all horse shit.” Joel muttered under his breath.

“So whatever happened to me is—”

“The key to finding the vaccine. That’s what they all fuckin’ say and guess what? They’ve tried to find a cure numerous times and ain’t nothin’ worked. It’s the same goddamn thing every single—”

Ellie rose to her feet in a fury, staring at Joel head on. “Fuck you, man. I didn’t ask for this.”

“You and me fuckin’ both. We’re wastin’ daylight the more time we spend talkin’ on this nonsense. I’m done. Pack your shit up and let’s go. We’re takin’ you back to the QZ.”

Tess let out a sigh, running her fingers through her hair. “Let’s just finish this Joel. We get what we want regardless. We take her back, and we risk all 4 of us getting shot. I don’t know about you, but I still have some life worth livin.’”

Joel clenched his jaw tightly, breathing in deeply through his nose. This was not a good idea. However, we was now outnumbered by two. “If she so much as fuckin’ twitches—”

He was cut off by the obnoxious sounds of Ellie portraying a clicker. Making the snarling clicking sounds as she contorted her limbs at an uncomfortable angle.

“Ellie don’t.” You warned her.

She rubbed the back of her neck, clearing her throat as she nodded, “okay..”

The 4 of you gathered up your things to head out and just as Joel was lifting his rifle from the ground, slinging the strap over his shoulder, Ellie asked if she too could have a gun.

“Can I have a gun?”

“Absolutely fuckin’ not. Not a chance in hell.” Was Joel’s immediate response.

“Okay, Jesus fuck. Fine. I’ll just throw a fuckin’ sandwich at them or something.” She muttered under her breath as she threw her backpack strap over her shoulder.

As the 4 of you stepped out into the warm sunlight, you watched as Ellie looked around the ruined city in amazement. Buildings half fallen over, taken hostage by thick vines and moss. There were giant craters, the size of small moons, where the government had sent bombs to slow down the rate of the infected.

Joel had come to a halt in front of the impassable wreckage blocking a quick path to the State House. “Long way or short way?”

“It’s the long way or the ‘we’re fuckin’ dead way.’” Tess added.

“Long way it is then. We’ll have to go check from the hotel first. See if the coast is clear. C’mon.” You were leading the way now, while Ellie walked alongside you, Tess in the middle, and Joel in the back.

You and Ellie engaged in small talk. You genuinely wanted the kid to feel somewhat comfortable with this entire situation and Ellie seemingly appreciated your efforts. She told you how she had gotten bit and you had to admit, this kid was pretty ballsy for her age. “Well, I mean, you got some balls on you, sister, that’s for fucking sure.”

“Thanks.” She had a grin creeping up on her face.

“Soo..no one is gonna come looking for you right? Mom, dad?..boyfriend?..”

“Uhhh well, I’m an orphan and nope.”

You could feel Joel’s eyes on the back of your skull as he walked behind you, shaking his head at your efforts to befriend this cargo.

“See, everyone told me the big open city was gonna be crazy! Infected runnin’ around everywhere. Are we even gonna see any? Cause I’ve heard there’s like super-infected that explode fungus spores on you! Is that not true?”

“Shit, I hope not. Those sound fuckin’ terrifying.” You said with a small grin.

“Okay, what about the ones that have their heads split open and can see in the dark like bats?”

“You mean clickers? Yeah, there’s lots of those. They’re the most common type that we’ve come across. Not the hardest to kill, but they use echolocation—” you were cut off by the sound of a loud, distant animalistic yell coming from deep within the fallen city.

On instinct, Joel was close to your side, looking around as you waited for another yell to follow. The only sound you could hear was a crow perched on a tree nearby.

“Let’s keep movin’” Joel spoke as he gave you a gentle nudge forward.

As you approached the hotel, Ellie had her own set of questions for you as she kicked at the stray rubble beneath her red, worn sneakers.

“So is he like..your boyfriend or somethin’?”

“My boyfriend? Well, no. Not exactly. I wouldn’t call him that if I’m being honest.”

“But you’re like together, right? I think that part is pretty obvious.”

“Yeah, we are. Just don’t think he’d particularly enjoy me calling him my boyfriend. It’s not really his taste.”

“Well, no offense to you, he doesn’t seem like the boyfriend type anyway.”

This elicited a light laugh to slip past your lips as you covered it by coughing into the sleeve of your jacket. “Oh, you’re right on the money with that one, kid. He is far from the boyfriend type.”

“But he’s like your partner then?..Your person?”

“Yeah, something along those lines. I wouldn’t go as far to put us into a box, y’know?”

“I understand..what about Tess? Does she have anyone?”

“Back in the QZ she does. She has a girlfriend named Beatrix.”

“Wicked.”

“You two done chit chattin’ up there?” Joel spoke, distaste evident in his tone.

“Yeah, we’re just makin’ the time pass is all.”

“Oh yeah? Well ain’t that fuckin’ nice for you two.” He scoffed as he walked ahead of you, stopping at the foot of the stairs looking into the overflowing of water into the once hotel lobby.

“Is he always this grumpy?” Ellie leaned over and whispered to you.

“Oh, this isn’t even the worst that you’ve seen of it, kid. Trust me.”

The 4 of you started to trudge through the green, murky water to get to the other side of the lobby. Ellie being the kid that she was, wandered off to the side when she saw what used to be the front desk and pressed on the bell a few times as she leaned over the counter. “Ding! Ding! Yes, sir. I would like your finest suite, please.” “Yes, ma’am. Would you like me to take your luggage?”

“You’re a weird kid.” Joel watched her with a quizzical expression etched on his weathered features.

“You’re a weird kid.” Ellie sarcastically responded back, nearly sticking her tongue out at him as she pushed the luggage trolley forward.

A very deceased human Skeleton slipped out from behind the trolley and scared the living daylights out of the teen. Much to yours, and Ellie’s surprise, Joel was at her side immediately, gun raised in the direction of the apparent threat.

She’s just cargo, my ass. Was the first thought that came to your mind.

Joel had offered Ellie his hand as he helped her up but as soon as their hands touched, he was ripping his away from her grasp, staring down at it momentarily with a hard expression on his face. Perhaps it was from the fact that his hand was still freshly broken. Or there was a possibility he was shocked that he even allowed himself to touch someone who was ‘infected.’

After climbing 10 flights of stairs, you were met with another obstacle that was definitely not present the last time you had come through this way. “What the fuck man. This definitely wasn’t here last time, was it?” You asked, bent over slightly as you were catching your breath.

“No, it sure as hell wasn’t. Maybe we can try one of the doors?” Tess walked past you, trying the two doors with no luck.

“Damn. Well, maybe we can go climb through it and work our way around?”

“It’s worth a shot.”

Joel had pushed Ellie to the side then, before giving you a boost up over the rubble before you helped Tess over the side, grasping her forearms as you pulled her up.

“Just be careful, alright?” He spoke as he slowly sat down on an abandoned suitcase across from Ellie.

“Yeah yeah. We’ll be fine, cowboy. Just keep an eye on the kid.” You peeked your head out from a gap in the rubble and gave him a reassuring nod, and a subtle wink.

Ellie sat across from him, flipping her switchblade and catching it by the handle each time.

“That’s a nice knife you got there. Where’d you learn to do that?” Joel asked.

“The circus.” Ellie deadpanned.

Joel let out a deep sigh, looking off to the side as he tried to figure out why he even bothered to make small talk with a teenager.

“Where are you from?” Ellie asked.

“Texas.” He gruffly responded.

“What about Tess and Gwen?”

“Detroit. It’s in Michigan and Gwen is from Chicago.”

“I go to school, smart ass. I know where Detroit is. Chicago has that giant fucking bean, right? Always wanted to see it.”

“Yeah, I’m sure she’ll tell you all about it. She’s obsessed with it. No fuckin’ clue why.”

“Uh huh. So you two like a—” Ellie already knew the answer, thanks to you. She was just slightly curious to see what Joel would respond with.

“Pass.”

“Oh well cause she told me you guys were—”

“Pass.”

“How’d you end up in Boston?”

“Pass.”

“So what am I supposed to do? Talk to a fuckin’ brick wall? Fuck. She was right, you are grumpy all the time.”

“She what? God dammit Gwen.” He growled lowly under his breath. “No more questions about me, alright? That’s enough.”

“Alright, grumpy. How long do infected live?”

Joel whipped his head back around towards her, narrowing his eyes before he chuckled, “Oh, I thought you went to school.”

“Yeah, well..it’s a really shitty one.”

“Some of ‘em last about a month or two. There’s others that have been walkin’ around ‘bout 20 years.”

“Yeah? You ever kill one?”

Joel nearly scoffed at this question, almost offended that this kid even assumed that he hadn’t killed any.

“Yeah, I have killed lots of ‘em.”

“Was it hard killing them?..like, knowing they were people once? Has it ever bothered you?..”

Joel was slightly taken aback by her question. He often did forget that the infected used to be everyday people he would see on the street. Sometimes he would be forced to face humanity, and realize that he was in a sense, killing people. He wasn’t a total monster like many would have assumed him to be. He just wasn’t the most open with sharing personal details about himself.

“Sometimes. It’s easy to forget that they were once people when they’re comin’ at you with one goal in mind; to turn you into one of ‘em. So you gotta decide if it’s gonna be you, or them. You think I survived this long without havin’ to kill?” He sighed as he leaned back against the wall. “I ain’t exactly proud of it, but it’s what you gotta do to survive. It's always either gonna be you, or them.”

“What about that guy last night?”

Just as Joel was going to respond, he could hear rustling just outside the door and he was up in a flash with his gun aimed at the door.

“You can put the gun down, cowboy. It’s just us. Relax.” You spoke through the door as you pushed it open, revealing you and Tess on the other side. From the looks on your faces alone, Joel could tell that something was definitely wrong.

“What now? Did you guys see something?”

“Yeah, and you’re not gonna like it. Not one bit I’m afraid.” You confirmed.

“Fuckin’ fantastic.” He grumbled as he gently nudged past you and Tess followed by Ellie.

Shortly after, the 4 of you were standing over the ledge of the hotel, looking down at a shrieking hoard of infected, writhing on the ground below. You were standing alongside Joel, noticing that he was nervously fidgeting with his fingers and picking at the skin around his cuticles. You gently grabbed his hand, interlocking your fingers together as you gave his hand a light, reassuring squeeze.

“The last time we were here, there weren’t nearly this many of them. Most of them were still deep inside the buildings. Guess enough people came wanderin’ through looking for the QZ. They found themselves seeking shelter..went inside the buildings and that’s how they get more of the fuckin’ city bit by bit, year after year.” Tess stated, glancing over at you and Joel momentarily before looking at Ellie.

“What’re we gonna do?” You spoke quietly to him, gently stroking your thumb across the outside of his hand, leaning in close to his tall frame.

“We’re gonna have to go through the museum. We ain’t have another choice darlin.’”

“That was nearly a suicide mission the last time we went through..remember?”

“Yeah, but there’s a chance whatever is left of ‘em is dead by now. If it gets dicey, we split and figure out another way, alright? Right now, this is our only option and I ain’t lookin’ forward to it either.” he pressed a quick kiss to your forehead, just a smidge of affection that it seemed like you both needed.

“They’re connected in more ways than you know. The fungus also grows underground. Long fibers, like wires. They’re all entwined under the surface and if you step on a patch of cordyceps in one place, you can awake a dozen infected somewhere else. They know where you are and it’s only a matter of minutes before they find you. You’re not immune from being ripped apart, kid.” Tess explained.

Ellie was fully listening, soaking up all the information that Tess was providing her. The situation at hand was becoming all too real for her 14 year old self.

“We have to go through the museum. It’s the short-way and not the most ideal, nor the safest, but we ain’t have much of a choice.” Joel spoke up, letting go of your hand as he stepped forward.

“I had a really bad feelin’ you were gonna come to that conclusion Texas.” Tess spoke with a sigh.

Ellie’s eyes nearly bugged out of her skull when she saw the amount of fungus tendrils stretched across the expanse of the outside structure of the museum. The colors were faded, not nearly as vibrant as freshly infected. Despite their obvious expiration, the building still looked ominous and uninviting.

“You’re fuckin’ kidding me. We seriously have to go through there? You sure there’s not another way man? This is screaming ‘DANGER’ like c’mon, aren’t the lights flashing in your brain right now too? Cause mine are like fuckin’ sirens.”

Joel ignored the teen as he bent down, inspecting one of the thick strands of fungus. He used the butt of his gun to stab at it to check and see if it was in fact dead. “It’s bone dry. Good chance that they’re all finally fuckin’ dead in there.” He was already pulling his flashlight out from his bag while you and Tess were pulling out your guns.

“I have a spare hand y’know.” Ellie stated the obvious.

“Congratulations.” Joel responded.

He was the first to enter the museum, rifle at the ready. When he deemed it was safe enough to enter, he turned his head towards the opening of the door and gave you a quick nod to follow.

Once the 4 of you were inside the museum, Ellie’s pupils had blown out when she saw just how much fungus coated the walls, floors, and pretty much any inanimate object. It was everywhere.

Joel was still extremely cautious where he stepped, shining his flashlight along the fungus infested floor. It appeared that the once living infected, were all deceased by now. That was until Ellie stumbled upon a fresh kill and let out a surprised, “oh shit!”

Joel was immediately stepping around her, gun raised and his face immediately fell as he looked over at you and Tess. So, maybe they weren’t all dead after all. Or maybe this guy was attacked outside the museum and just found himself to be in an unlucky situation.

The three of you began to talk in a hushed whisper over the situation. Ellie could barely decipher what was being said from how low your voices were but she caught onto the bit of the conversation regarding ‘not hearing them’ what the hell were they going on about? What were they listening for? As far as she was concerned, the museum was deathly silent.

“I don’t hear anything. Who, or what would you hear?” Ellie had suddenly asked. Joel’s response was to raise his hand off his gun, giving her a warning look to shut the fuck up with his eyes alone.

“Did an infected person do that? Cause I was attacked by one and it sure as hell didn’t do that. Dude is all torn up. I’ve never seen anything like it.” She whispered.

“Okay, from this point forward, we are silent. Not quiet. Silent.” He emphasized heavy on the silent part as he looked sternly at Ellie. He held no concern over you and Tess being silent but this kid was already becoming a nuisance in his eyes. “You got that? Not one single fuckin’ sound. This isn’t funny business, kid. This is the real fuckin’ world.” He harshly whispered.

“What—”

“No. No questions. Just do what I say, alright? You wanna live to see another day, don’t you? Exactly. That’s what I thought.” He whispered as he lowered his gun and took a few silent steps to the side, locking eyes with you for a moment. Your Joel never usually showed fear. He was able to encase it well behind his hardened features. A furrow of his brow, the quirk of his upper lip, all used as decoys. Even in the low lighting, you could see his face etched with fear. Just as fast as it appeared, it was gone again, hidden behind the vast ridges of his weathered skin.

Joel had taken the lead while you silently stepped behind him, keeping your finger hovering over the trigger of your gun, ready to react if need be. You glanced back at Ellie and gave her a reassuring nod to follow you while Tess walked behind her. Despite how quiet you all were being, the old floor boards were creaking with every step your boots took.

The stairway was absolutely covered with now bone dry fungus. You couldn’t even see where the next step started from how dense the fungus was. It creeped up the walls, over paintings and the railings of the staircase. You watched Joel’s footing as he carefully stepped over a mound of once living infected. You couldn’t even make out their faces as the fungus had completely morphed them to be unidentifiable.

The sickening crunch of a once human hand beneath Ellie’s shoe had Joel whipping around, shining his flashlight that was attached to the rifle at the teenager. He gave her one long look before he turned away from her and continued to head up the stairs.

A few more steps up and Joel was at the opening of the doorway, slowly pushing it open as you waited for his silent cue. Just as he had given it to you with a slight nod of his head, some of the building's structure began to collapse and crumble as you, Tess, and Ellie stumbled inside before the debris could crush the three of you.

Joel was reaching down grasping the kids arm as he quickly helped her up from the dusty floor while you helped Tess up.

Then there was a loud screech, one that you had heard far too many times. It still sent deep chills down your spine.

click click click click

Ellie was slowly backing towards a wall, her eyes wide with fear as she tried to steady her nervous breaths.

Out from the shadows, illuminated by the steady, bright beam of Joel’s flashlight was a clicker. Its head was completely split open by the cordyceps. The brain cavern was taken over by the fungus. Thick, putrid and brightly colored. Clickers could not see, as they were blinded by the fungus, but they could hear, and they could hear very well.

Its body contorted at an uncomfortable angle as it clicked and snarled.

Another screech was heard;two clickers.

Joel was already quickly nudging you against the glass case. His face constricted painfully in your view. This was not an ideal situation to be in. Not one fucking bit.

Ellie was in his direct eyesight and he quickly mouthed to her, “they can’t see, but they can hear.”

The clicker let out a loud, bone chilling growl from the other side of the glass case. You found yourself squeezing your eyes shut momentarily, holding your gun firmly against your chest.

Don’t make a sound. Don’t move. Don’t make a sound. Don’t move.

Joel had slowly brought his pointer finger to his lips, keeping his eyes locked on Ellie to keep her calm.

You could feel the teenager's anxiety, and fear rising with every second and you silently pleaded with her to stay strong.

Joel had turned his head slightly as the clicker stumbled around the side of the glass display case. It was so close you could nearly feel its putrid breath on your skin.

Ellie had let a sharp breath slip past her lips and it was loud enough for the clicker to hear her.

It all happened in a flash as the clicker turned around and screeched loudly before it lunged. Joel had gotten a few shots into its body from where he stood, but it wasn’t nearly enough to inflict any serious damage. “RUN!” he yelled as the other clicker appeared from the shadows. You shot at it once before grabbing Ellie’s arm firmly in your grasp.

Tess had taken a couple more shots before she followed behind you. The three of you ran around the corner, hearts racing and blood fiercely pumping. The clicker was hot on your tail and gaining on you quickly. In one quick movement, you shoved Ellie to the ground, ordering her to crawl to safety.

You and Tess turned to shoot again, but neither of you had time to aim and wasting bullets was the last thing you wanted to do.

You both could hear a loud crash from the other side of the room and Joel’s heavy boots before everything went silent again.

click click click click

Joel had taken cover behind another glass cabinet as he quickly unloaded and reloaded his small pistol. His senses were on overdrive when he heard the low clicks approaching. His eyes squeezed shut momentarily, thinking that his cover was blown.

The clicker had let out a low snarl before it stalked in the other direction and he could barely make out Ellie’s crouched form behind the tarnished glass.

His footsteps were quiet, calculated and precise as he moved from his hiding spot and crouched beside Ellie. He had no other choice but to get her out of this situation. It was almost as if in those crucial moments, his protective nature had completely taken over. He was going to get this kid out of here, unscathed if it was the last thing he ever did.

Him and Ellie silently communicated with their eyes alone. One tilt of his head and she was quietly moving along the side of the glass case, following his lead. Just when he thought they were in the clear, something had crunched beneath his boot. It was stray shards of glass. His blood ran cold at the crunching sound. Neither him, nor Ellie had time to react as the clicker lunged over the glass case and threw itself on them.

You could hear Joel’s grunts and Ellie’s terrified screams from where you stood behind a nearby wall. You were going to have to act fast if you were to save them both.

bang bang bang

Joel had pumped the clicker with lead, causing it to stumble backwards, allowing him and Ellie to scramble to their feet.

You peeked around the corner, taking aim at the clicker's head before you pulled the trigger and sent it stumbling to the ground. Even after its body hit the floor with a sickening thud, Joel pulled his own trigger a few more times till it was no longer moving.

The second clicker came charging out of the blue, but didn’t make it far as Tess had thrown an ax at its neck, and you finished it off with a bullet to the head.

Once the apparent threat was deceased, everyone let out a shaky breath. From where you were standing, you could tell Tess was injured from the way she was avoiding putting too much weight on one foot. “You alright?”

“Just a twisted ankle, I’ll live. Don’t worry.” She responded.

“Fuck me.” Ellie exclaimed as she lifted up the sleeve of her hoodie and revealed a fresh bleeding bite mark along her forearm. “I mean, if it was gonna happen to one of us..”

You were at her side then and gently tugged her sleeve down. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

Tess’s final and only request

You sat alongside on the roof, pulling out a roll of duct tape from your bag as she pulled off her boot. You wasted no time to start to wrap her foot with the tape. “Just a sprained ankle you said? Nothin’ else?” You asked, looking up at the older woman momentarily.

“Yeah, just a sprained ankle Gwen. I’ll be fine.” Tess looked at you as if she was studying your features. As if she was storing your image deep inside her brain so that she wouldn’t forget you, or your face.

Joel had given the kid a piece of cloth to wrap her arm before he was crouching down on the other side of Tess. “You can walk, right? Ain’t need any help?”

She looked at him the same way she had just looked at you. She wanted to keep your memories up to the very last second. “I’m fine, Texas. Really. Go on and make sure she doesn’t accidentally kill herself or somethin.’”

He gave her a small nod before he stood back up. “Yeah, I know. It looks scary and all but it really ain’t that bad.”

Ellie turned around briefly to look at him before she responded, “no. That was scary. This is wood.” Before she stepped across the thin planks to the otherside.

You gave Tess’s arm a light squeeze before you followed after the kid, glancing back at them momentarily before you crossed over the narrow planks of wood.

“What if the first bite didn’t take? What if the second one does? We’re in way over our fuckin’ heads with this Tess. We all could have fuckin’ died back there and—” Joel was cut off by Tess snapping back at him.

“How ‘bout you just take the good news? Can you please just do that for once? None of us are dead. We’re gonna finish what we started Joel.”

He looked at her briefly, trying to decipher what had ticked her off so easily before he let out a sigh and grabbed his rifle from where it laid on the discolored roof tiles and slung it back over his shoulder.

I failed them. I failed them both. I failed Bea. Tess silently thought to herself as she pulled her knees up to her chest, taking in a few shaky breaths.

Joel crossed over the planks and stood alongside Ellie.

“Is it everything you hoped for?” He asked.

“Jury’s still out.”

“But, man, you can’t deny that view.” Ellie concluded.

You were reloading your gun off to the side, glancing over your shoulder to see Tess approaching. Her demeanor alone was a sure signal that something was off. You just couldn’t figure out what exactly had happened back there. It was going to drive you up a wall, not knowing. You were sure of it.

“C’mon, let’s get there before it’s dark. We’re wasting daylight. Let’s go.” Tess gritted out between her teeth as she was already climbing down the old steel ladder. Her erratic movements threw you off guard completely.

You stopped alongside Joel, brushing your hand across the outside of his bicep before you followed Tess and Ellie down the ladder.

Joel waited a few moments in silence as he glanced down at his broken watch strapped around his wrist before he grabbed the side of the ladder and climbed down.

They’re gonna hate me.

They’ll see right through me.

What will Bea think?

Will she think me to be dead?

I let her down too.

She’ll never know what has become of me.

I won’t turn into a monster.

I won’t become one of them.

Tess was leading the way to the state house. Her footsteps were uncharacteristically fast. She seemed on edge, nervous, sporadic.

The 4 of you were crouched behind a long abandoned car outside of the state house. There was a large military grade truck parked outside. However, there were no signs of weapons, or the fireflies.

“Where the fuck are they? Marlene said they would be here. She fuckin’ promised us.” Tess whispered.

“Everyone just stay here. Alright? Somethin’ ain’t right here.” Joel whispered back before he crept from behind the car to investigate. Once he approached the truck, the 3 of you took a bated breath as he opened the door, aiming the barrel of his gun at the inside of the truck. He was met with blood stained seats but no fireflies.

The side of the open truck door was spattered with blood dripping down the dull metal.

Something definitely was not right here.

Joel had glanced back at you and Tess, shaking his head slightly to signal that it wasn’t safe just yet as he crept around the back of the truck slowly. He took a deep, visible breath as he opened up the two heavy steel doors and was met with no signs of any passengers inhabiting the vehicle.

“What the fuck is goin’ on Joel?” Tess asked as she walked towards him, brushing off your hand along your arm.

“The fuck did I just say about stayin’ back? It ain’t safe! Why didn’t you wait for my–”

“They went inside.” Ellie confirmed from where she was standing. There was a trail of blood leading up the gravel steps to the state house. This definitely was not a good sign at all.

Tess was already heading up the steps in a fury. From where you stood, you could see her hands trembling. “Come on!”

“Tess just wait a fuckin’ minute! By the looks of it, the fireflies are dead and we ain’t gettin’ our battery!” Joel yelled at her to stop.

“Come on!” She was insistent with her tone.

You, Joel, and Ellie had no choice but to follow Tess into the state house. Once inside, you were all met with the bodies of the deceased fireflies, all in a circle in the room. Their crimson blood spilled out along the tiles, staining them in a dark red.

“I mean, there’s gotta be a fuckin’ radio or somethin’ right? Help me look for one!” Tess spoke in a rushed tone as she frantically started looking through the deceased fireflies supplies, knocking over items onto the tile below, creating all sorts of noise.

“Tess? What the fuck is going on with you?” There was an edge to your tone as you came up alongside the older woman. “Maybe Joel was right..maybe we should go back to the QZ and regroup.”

“Fuck that. We’ve made it this far, and now you want to turn back? No. Help me find a radio, Gwen! There’s gotta be one around here. There has to be!”

Joel had noticed that one of the deceased fireflies had clearly been bit as he used his boot to tilt its head to the side.

“Tess, what the fuck are you doin’?” He asked while he watched her rummage around in a fury.

“Where did Marlene say she was taking you? Ellie! Where did she fuckin’ say she was taking you?” Tess ignored Joel as she walked over to the teen and you instinctively stepped in front of Ellie.

“Uhh..I don’t know. All she told me is that she was taking me west but she didn't say where exactly.”

“Just west? Fuck. Okay. She didn’t tell you anythin’ else?” Tess wasn’t even looking at you. Her eyes were frantically searching the expanse of the room. “Well, I mean, one of them’s gotta have a map on them, right? Joel? Gwen? Can you fuckin’ help me?! Stop just standin’ around!” She snapped as she started searching for anything she could find on the deceased bodies.

“No! Tess..it’s over. We are goin’ home, alright? We are way over our heads, bit off more than we can chew. We’ll go back to the QZ and–”

“That’s not my fucking home!” Tess snapped. “I’m stayin.”

“What the hell do you mean you’re stayin’? What the hell has gotten into you?! You’re actin’ fuckin’ weird! Why won’t you even look at us?!” Joel spoke exasperatedly.

Your blood suddenly ran cold. You figured out why Tess’s behavior was so sporadic and uncharacteristic for her just as Ellie had figured it out too.

“Fuck. She’s infected.” Ellie spoke softly, the realization washing over her.

Joel looked at Tess then and felt his world suddenly begin to cave in, all at once. Just before he could open his mouth to speak, you were stepping in front of him, feeling your heart pounding out of your chest.

“No. Tell me it's not true, Tess. Fucking tell me its not true!” You pleaded with her, as Joel was already protectively pulling you back behind him.

“Show me. Show me your fuckin’ arm Tess.” He demanded and when she took a step towards him, he immediately took one back. He did his best to ignore the pained look that struck across Tess’s features.

Tess let out a sigh as she drew her hand up to the collar of her jacket and pulled the fabric back to reveal the fresh bite mark along the base of her neck, along her collar bone. You could see the veins of the fungus growing up her neck already. There was only a matter of time before she would be completely gone.

“Oops, right?” She said with a pained laugh, tears threatening to spill over.

You pushed Joel out of the way once more, you weren’t afraid of Tess. She wasn’t a monster. She was still human. She was still breathing, pumping blood through her veins. “You can’t fuckin’ die. You can’t! Tess…what about Bea? You–” Your own tears had threatened to spill over as you shakily grasped the collar of Tess’s jacket between your fingers. “This wasn’t supposed to happen to you!”

You could feel Joel grabbing your forearm, trying to yank you back. “Let me the fuck go!” You snapped, ripping your arm from his firm grasp.

Tess was hugging you, nearly knocking the air from your lungs. You could feel her entire body trembling as she held you. “You fuckin’ listen to me okay? I haven’t got much time. You protect him, okay? Please protect him Gwen. He’s going to need you more than ever now. No matter what happens, no matter what he says, please don’t leave him. Keep him safe. Please.” She whispered, squeezing you tightly.

“Tess, I–”

“Promise me Gwen. Promise me you’ll be there for him”

“I promise.” You whispered.

“Tell Bea that I love her, and I'm sorry.”

Tess released you from her grip and frantically pushed you away as she stumbled back.

She addressed Joel directly now, balling her hands into fists, to ease the trembling. “Ellie. Take your bandage off.” She asked with a shaky breath, walking over to the teen as she grabbed her forearm in a firm grip.

“This is real. Joel, she’s fucking real. Look at her arm!” She let go of Ellie’s arm and brought it down to her side. Her forearm was twitching, trembling as the cordyceps were quickly invading her nervous system.

“You get her to Bill and Franks. You load up on ammo, and you take her out West. You find Tommy and the fireflies.”

“No.”

“There is no time to fuckin’ argue with me! You take her to Bill and Franks. I’ve never asked anything of you Joel. Never asked you to feel a certain way about me.”

He went to open his mouth but she immediately cut him off.

“No. You shut the fuck up and listen to me ‘cause I don’t have time. This is your chance to do some fuckin’ good for once. To make up for all the fucked up shit we did. You keep her alive. You keep her safe. You hear me? You set everything right.”

“Tess, No. I can’t fuckin’ do that.”

“Yes you fuckin’ can Joel. Please say yes, Joel, please fucking say yes.” She pleaded with him, a stray tear rolling down her cheek .

“Oh fuck!” Ellie yelled as one of the presumed deceased bodies snarled, clawing at the ground.

Joel wasted no time to pull his gun out, aiming it at the infected and pulled the trigger, sending a bullet straight to its head as it collapsed down to the mossy floor.

fuck fuck fuck.

The tendrils of the cordycep fungus rose up between the deceased fingers, and it dawned upon you that the infected were more connected than you could possibly understand. The fungus was weaved intricately below the surface, webbed together in a firm structure.

You could hear the approaching snarls from outside the wooden doors.

They were coming.

Tess was already moving around you, using the butt end of Joel’s rifle to open up the large barrels of gasoline, spilling the flammable liquid onto the tile. She was working off pure adrenaline as she knocked over each barrel. She tossed a box filled with grenades onto the floor.

The realization that Joel was losing another person who was so important, so close to his heart, was crashing down on him. He could hear his blood pounding in his ears. His eyes and mind went blank as Tess approached him. “Joel…save who you can save.” She whispered her final plea to him. These were her last words spoken in the walking, living realm.

Joel understood, as he searched her eyes. He seared her memory into the deep cavern of his brain. He would never forget her and he refused to let her down.

In a flash he had grabbed Ellie’s arm in his one hand and yours in the other, immediately yanking both of you away from the immediate danger.

“No! We’re not leaving her! We can’t! Get off me, you fucker!” Ellie yelled as she clawed at him, trying to pull her arm from his grasp.

You stumbled after him, frantically looking over your shoulder at Tess for the very last time. She gave you a small smile, followed by a reassuring nod before her face was obstructed from your view as Joel pulled you and Ellie outside, to safety.

All you hoped for was that Tess went peacefully. That she didn’t die in fear. You hoped that she died with memories of you, Joel, and Bea. Tess deserved that. She deserved to die peacefully, painlessly. You loved her to her very last moments.

Moments after Joel pulled you and Ellie outside, there was a loud explosion of breaking glass, and bright flames. The sound had Joel throwing his body over you and Ellie protectively. You could hear the distant screams of the infected suffering in the hot flames, and billowing smoke. You hoped to god that Tess wasn’t one of those blood curdling screams.

Joel immediately had his gun raised, ready to shoot down any stray infected. There were none. They were all dead. Tess had sacrificed herself for your lives. She gave you a fighting chance and you’d never forget her bravery.

You brought your arm around Ellie’s shaken up frame, giving her a firm squeeze. You kept her close as you turned her body away from the destruction and death.

Joel had already walked away as he could feel tears begin to prick in the corner of his eyes. He quickly blinked them away as he slung his rifle over his shoulder.

The three of you were dead silent as you walked into the nearby woods. Your mind felt numb, and your heart was raw. Tess had so much more life ahead of her to live. She had friends, a lover, and a purpose. She was smart, witty, and brave. She fought for those she loved, till her dying breath.

Joel was crouched down alongside the river, far away from you and Ellie. He was reaching into the clear stream, picking up rocks below the surface and gently stacking them upon one another. He was creating a cairn in her memory. A silent memorial for her short life. He thought of her as he placed each stone on top of one another.

I’m sorry. I should have done more. I should have been quicker. I should have protected you. I let you down. I failed you.

Your approach towards Joel was hesitant. You had no idea how he was going to react to your attempt to comfort him. You knew he didn’t handle loss, of any kind, well. You refused to let him suffer alone. He had his moment where he could mourn in peace. You wouldn’t take that moment from him. He deserved it. You both did. Despite this, your heart pulled you towards him. You had to make sure he was okay. You needed each other more than ever now. Tess’s words echoed in your mind with each step you took. “No matter what happens, no matter what he says, please don’t leave him. Keep him safe. Please.”

Joel could hear your footsteps slowly approach. His back immediately tensed up at the sound of your boots crunching under stray twigs. His heart yearned for your touch, your comfort. His mind was scrambled. It screamed for him to shut you out. This was your fault, after all. You insisted they take the kid from the get-go. In his eyes, and his fragile mind, Tess was dead because of you.

He squeezed his eyes shut when he felt the warm expanse of your palm press between his shoulder blades. His breath trembled as he fought hard to not lean into your touch.

“Don’t fuckin’ touch me.” He hissed lowly, keeping himself facing the stream.

“Joel, Please..Don’t—”

“Don’t what? It’s your fuckin’ fault that Tess is dead.” He harshly whispered, clenching his jaw tightly as he let his toxic thoughts slip through his broken, cracked lips.

His words felt like a thousand knives stabbing you in the heart over, and over again. You took a shaky inhale, remembering Tess’s final request to you.

“You don’t mean that. You don’t mean that Joel. You’re upset..let me–”

He whipped around to face you, his eyes narrowed into slits as he rose to his feet, towering over you. “I fuckin’ mean every goddamn word. You insisted from the get-go that we take this fuckin’ kid. I told you it was a bad idea. See what happens when you try to be the fuckin’ hero, Gwen?”

You took a step back from him, feeling your own tears threatening to spill over. “Stop. Please fucking stop! I am not at fault for Tess’s death! Neither of us could have predicted this to happen Joel!”

“I fuckin’ told you that we should just take her back to the QZ! What do you do instead? You fight against me, tooth and fuckin’ nail! Every goddamn fuckin’ time. Why couldn’t you have just listened to me for once in your goddamn life!” He spat, taking two heavy steps towards you.

“Because Ellie is just a fuckin’ kid! She’s just a kid that is now OUR responsibility! Tess agreed that we shouldn’t take her back to the QZ! She agreed with me, Joel!”

He scoffed, shaking his head as he let out a deep chuckle.

“Do you fuckin’ hear yourself right now?! Fuckin’ take some accountability for your fuckin’ actions! Tess is dead because of you! Bea is never going to see her again, because you wanted to fuckin’ save this kid, this cargo! How does it feel, huh? Are you fuckin’ happy with yourself Gwen? Do you feel fuckin’ good inside right now baby?! TELL ME HOW IT FUCKIN’ FEELS!”

Joel’s booming voice rattled your skull, and pierced your heart. You physically felt yourself cowering away from him, shrinking in on yourself.

Ellie had heard Joel’s yell from where she was sitting against a nearby tree. She was up and running to your aid immediately. You watched as the teen shoved at Joel with her hands, pushing him back with rage filled in her tear brimmed eyes.

“Hey! Leave her alone, you fucker! Leave her alone! It’s not her fucking fault! LEAVE HER ALONE!” Ellie yelled as she shoved his chest as hard as she could.

Joel was grabbing the teens wrists in his calloused palms, immediately shoving her away.

“You fuckin’ stay out of this kid! This ain’t your fuckin’ business!” He felt his pulse drop when he heard the familiar click of your gun perched firmly between your shaking hands. The barrel was shakily aimed at him.

“LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS JOEL. YOU WANNA LET YOUR ANGER OUT ON ME? FINE. LEAVE ELLIE OUT OF THIS!” You yelled, tears streaming down your cheeks.

“You gonna fuckin’ shoot me?”

“If you lay your hands on her again, I won’t hesitate.”

“You’re breakin’ my fuckin’ heart baby.”He seethed between his gritted teeth.

“Gwen..” Ellie pleaded with you.

“It’s okay, kid. I will handle this, okay? Please just...just go sit down. Please.” You whispered, giving the teen a reassuring nod that everything would be okay. Joel would never hurt you. He would never dare.

Ellie looked between you, and the brooding man before she reluctantly nodded, walking away.

Your gun was still aimed at your lover as your tears continued to fall. “How fucking dare you speak to me like this Joel. What the fuck is wrong with you?!? How dare you speak to Ellie like that! She has done NOTHING to you, Joel!”

He took a few menacing steps towards you, feeling the barrel of your gun pressed firmly against the cavern of his chest. Your lower lip was trembling, your eyes glassy with tears as you looked up at him.

“You gonna pull that fuckin’ trigger baby? You gonna pump me full of lead?”

“You know I can’t Joel. You know I fuckin’ can’t.” You whispered shakily.

“Just like you can’t fuckin’ admit that you’re the reason Tess is dead. Can’t own up to your fuckin’ actions to save your life.”

“Please stop Joel. Please. I’m begging you to please fucking stop. You’re hurting me. You’re fucking hurting me!” You yelled. Your tone was raw, heartbroken, beaten.

“Who are you fuckin’ shedding those tears for, huh?! You shedding those tears for Tess? She hated you! You know she fuckin’ hated you with every fibre in her fuckin’ being! You don’t get to cry for her! She meant NOTHING to you. Don’t stand there and act like she did! You don’t get to weep and feel sorry for YOURSELF!”

The barrel of your gun was pushing so deep into his chest now. Surely there would be a bruise of some sort forming but it was clear he didn’t give a fuck about that. Not even in the slightest. He felt his heart screaming at him to stop but it was too late. The words were spoken and they were etched deep into your own heart. Joel had gone and done the unforgivable.

“Fuck You. You don’t get to stand there and tell me how I'm allowed to feel Joel! She was my fucking FRIEND too! We had our differences, and we overcame them! I fucking loved her and YOU don’t get to take that away from me! YOU DON’T HAVE THE POWER TO TELL ME HOW I CAN AND CAN’T FEEL!”

Joel’s breaths were coming out in heavy puffs, fanning your face as you watched his nostrils flare, and his fists clenched tightly at his sides. Deep down, he knew this wasn’t an argument to win. He was just devastated that he lost someone so close to him. He never learned how to handle loss well, his old habits, and toxic feelings welcomed him in with soft whispers, and warm touches.

This was not your Joel.

“Gwen…” He whispered.

“No. Fuck you. You don’t get to say all that, speak to me that way, and take it all back. You don’t get to fuckin’ do that Joel.”

“Baby, I’m sorry I didn’t–”

“NO.”

“Gwen. You know I didn’t mean it..I lashed out, but I didn’t mean any of it! I got you, you got me, Always. Remember? I’m so sorry I–”

As soon as he was reaching out for you, you harshly pushed him away, pressing the barrel of the gun further into his chest.

“You’ll never fucking touch me again Joel. Never.” You whispered.

You removed the barrel of the gun from his chest, pointing it upwards towards the sky, before you pulled the trigger.

The deafening sound of the bullet being released and cracking through the cool air had him flinching.

You wanted him to know that you could have pulled the trigger on him. You loved that man too much to hurt him. You could never.

“Stay the fuck away from me. Don’t you dare come near me.” You seethed, tucking your gun back into the holster around your waist before you turned on your heel, and walked away from him.

Joel was left standing near the rivers edge, watching as you walked far, far away from him.

‘Cause do I love you..Oh, I do..and I'm going to ‘til I'm gone…’

Tag list:

@chaotic-mystery @peterhollandkait @yuly @soft-cryptids @dinsdjrn @myrealmofchaos @itskenziebb @lovers-liability @korynnekorynne @ems-alexandra @kirsteng42 @casssiopeia @novemberrain-writes @goodwithcheese @loquaciousferret @sarahhxx03 @777-wonders @bearsbeetsbeskar @beskarandblasters @dinsdjrn @bonglorddaryl @mirasantidotes @luvrking @finnsbubblegum @pedrostories

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struckd0wn · 8 months

Note

Hi I just wanted to say I love your writing! Your Hanzo piece is so good.

I normally don't send requests but I figured I'd do it for once :)

Could you write something with either Ghost or Bruce Wayne with a transmasc reader that just wants to be held and taken care of? Fluff or smut is good <3

AHH THANKS, I'M GLAD YOU LIKED IT <3 !!! I would love to write for you, I hope it lives up to your expectations :3

P.S sorry this took me a bit to respond to :P I had a bit of writers block -_-

In My Arms ── Bruce Wayne

Bruce Wayne x transmasc reader

CW: slur used and some transphobia, Bruce Wayne has 0 relationship ship skills lol, he trying his hardest, body dysphoria and dysmorphia, self worth issues, little mental break down, overall just a shitty day for reader :(, fluff and smut, clit used to describe anatomy, riding ;), lots of kissing too

Your day has been, entirely, incredibly, shitty. You woke up for work late, your lateness extended by the period of time in which you stared at yourself in the mirror. You had to ignore it, dressing in your work shirt that felt too tight around your hips and waste, your thighs feeling suffocated from your pants. Maybe you'd ask your boss for a bigger size, maybe it would hide your figure. Somedays you felt extremely happy with your progress thus far into your transition, but others felt like you hadn't even started. Although flat chested now, you couldn't ignore the feminine curve you swore you saw in the mirror that night.

You worked the night shift at a corner store not far from the Wayne Manor. This schedule is what you preferred for you and Bruce, that way you would both work at night and come home early morning to sleep with one another. He hated it, he insisted you just stay home 24/7, you didn't need a job, he was rich and could take care of you. Bruce didn't want you adapting his horid sleep schedule just for him, let alone working when you really didn't need too.

Things like this reminded you that you and Wayne were entirely different. He was a billionaire, you were just some dude who worked at a corner store for minimum wage. Bruce was Gotham City's vigilante, you were his boyfriend that lived in his extravagant house... for free. To say you were jealous of your boyfriend was an understatement, but he didn't understand that. He is completely clueless. Bruce doesn't understand why you would need to work, but everytime he spend his money on you, you can't help but feel helpless, like he's giving you handouts. You don't want him to feel obligated to spend money on you or to have him feel taken advantage of.

But to be fair, you didn't understand fighting or saving lives like he did. You wish you could, you want to understand, but Bruce has no need to understand working to live. Then you resented yourself for being jealous of him, of your own boyfriend. He was rich with money to spend, with a side gig as savior of the city. You could never amount to that.

The bell to store entrance rings, pulling you from your thoughts. The clock reads 2:30am, this would probably be your last customer before you'd walk home to the manor. Your eyes follow the man that had entered the shop, clearly drunk. He uses the shelves to hold himself up, stumbling all over the place while gigging like an idiot. The man approaches the back where the walls are lined with refrigerators, grabbing an alcoholic beverage you can't name.

You watch as he waddles his way up to your register, looking you up in down with his canned alcohol. "Hey sweetheart," he starts, setting the can down in front of you. You can feel his eyes tracing down your figure. Ignoring him you take the beverage to scan it. "What, trannys can't say hello?" He asks you, leaning over the counter. A lump forms in your throat as you quietly read him his total. He clicks his tongue at you, pulling out a couple of bills to hand over. "You know what, I'll forgive you. What do you say you come to my place after work. I ain't never slept with one of you before, but hey, a pussys a pussy." You tell yourself to just get it over with, you have to deal with drunkies all the time, it's not any different.

"No thank you, have a good night." You tell him, handing him his change before promptly preparing for closing to distract yourself. The man grumbles, taking his drink and change out the door. In the last thirty minutes of your shift you clean up around the store, stock some shelves, and count the cash in the register. As you're collecting your belongs to leave you notice that the drunk man from before is posted up across the street, drinking from his can. You roll your eyes, making a plan to just go for it when he's distracted.

There's a bus just down the road and you wait for it to cross the store front, hoping maybe he wouldn't notice you leave. You turn the lights off and as soon as the bus passes you, you swiftly exist and lock the store up for the night. Speed walking doesn't help you though, hearing the footsteps of the man running to catch up to you. "Hey, wait up!" He calls out, but you just keep walking.

Eventually he reaches you, stepping in front of you to block your path. "Cmon now, my offer still stands," The man holds his arms out, moving with you so you don't get past him. You tell him no again, trying to push past his left arm. This time he grabs you by your waist, smirking down at you with his drunken expression. You push him off of you and before he can grab you again he hits the concrete with a loud thud. You blink down at him before a figure envelops him, throwing punch after punch at the man. It doesn't take you long to realize who it is.

"Hey, knock it off." You tell Bruce but he doesn't hear you, or maybe he does and just doesn't care. "Stop, Bru-... He's drunk, stop it." You grab your boyfriends arms, and with enough strength you pry him of the pervert. You watch his chest heave under his metal chest plate, staring down at the drunk angrily. Bruce holds you by your wrist, dragging you twords his bike, footsteps heavy in his boots.

The ride back home is silent but you can tell he's still upset by the way he speeds twords the manor. Once you make it back home, down in his lab of his tower, he helps you off his bike. Bruce removes his mask, seemingly his anger is replaced with worry as he near smothers you. "Are you ok? Did he hurt you?" He exclaims, holding your face in his gloved hands, but you just push past him.

"Yes Bruce, I'm fine. He was just drunk." You tell him as you make your way to the elevator, ready to just go to bed at this point. He follow you like a little dog, into the elevator, still examining you for injury.

"Him being drunk is not an excuse." He tells you a matter of factly.

"I'm not saying it's an excuse. I'm saying I could have handled it." And he doesn't say anything about that. You walk up the stairs and he's still following you, all his gear rattling and echoing throughout the manor. You make it up to the bedroom, attempting to close the door behind you but he pushes in with ease, not even acknowledging that you were trying to keep him out.

You sigh heavily, setting down your keys and jacket onto the dresser. "I told you you didn't have to work." Bruce starts up again, and by now you want to bang you head against the wall.

"I don't wanna talk about it." You say.

But he persists, pacing around the room in his armor. "I told you, you didn't have to change your schedule to match mine."

"Bruce." You plead, but he again ignores you.

"You shouldn't be up all night, let alone walking home at three in the morning." He continues.

You stand there in awe as he rambles on, alls while taking off his gear. He makes it sound like you can't take care of yourself, like you're his damsel in distress. "Bruce I said-"

"Do you know the things I see at night? What did he say to you, what did he say before I got there?" Bruce exclaims twords you.

By now you can feel the tears welling up in your eyes before you snap. "Bruce, I said I don't wanna talk about it!" You yell over his rambling, this time he turns to look at you. You're too far gone now, tears roll down your cheek as you sob, desperately trying to wipe them away with the back of your hand. He stops what he's doing, during all of that he has managed to get everything off but the pants he wears under his suit. "I don't need your rescuing or money, I just need you to listen!" You tell him through broken sobs. "I know I'm not rich like you, I know I'm not as strong as you but that doesn't mean I'm completely helpless." You feel like you could just crumble, Bruce is almost speechless.

He's on you within a second, large hand hold your face but he can't wipe away the avalanche of tears that stream down your puffy cheeks. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean it to sound like that..." He whispers over your sobs. The build up from everything today has finally set in, and now that it has started it wasn't gonna stop. You allow Bruce to undress you from your work clothes, replacing them with one of his baggy shirts and a pair or your boxers. He sits you down on the edge of your shared bed as he dresses himself in a pair of his sweatpants, quickly returning to your side.

Your boyfriend tucks the two of you into the bed. Your crying has reduced to small sniffles, Bruce continues to wipe your face dry, but it can't get rid of the redness in your eyes. "I didn't mean to make you cry. I was just worried, I should have listened to you the first time." His apology mixes with explanation, and although you understand where's he's coming from you'd wish he'd just do this first before scolding you. You'd wish he'd understand he didn't need to take care of you physically, you could've handled some drunk, you just needed his help emotionally. To tell you it was gonna be ok, it's all over now. Without the "I told you so" in between.

"I know you could've handled it, I just...couldn't stop myself." He admits to you. You stare at him and he stares back as he holds you. You almost laugh at his admission, he wasn't just looking out for you, the guy had seriously just ticked him off. He didn't do it cause he thought you couldn't handle it, he did it because some rando was trying to touch up on his boyfriend. Maybe he was scared to admit that word for word, but you could read him like a book.

Bruce leans into you, pressing a kiss to your lips and you egg him own, pressing further into him. His hands find their way under you shirt as he continues kissing you, gripping at your flesh like he might loose you if he let's go. "I'll ask Alfred to order us some things to eat. We can eat while me watch a movie, hm?" He tells you between kisses, you nod quickly at his suggestion. You move you hands up to to hold his face, kissing him again. His stuble feels nice under you finger as you deepen the kiss. Wayne does not object, wrapping his arms around you tightly.

You part your lips slightly, allowing him access into your mouth. Bruce is still a bit awkward and clumsy when is comes to these things, mostly because this is the first relationship he's ever gotten this far with someone. He's hesitant but eventually his tongue meets yours as they messily collide with each other. His hand are rough compared to the smooth skin of your torso, they almost feel like sand paper as they roam over your sides.

You push in further, until you are fully saddled on top of him, never breaking the kiss. "Help me Bruce." You plead with him, his face is bright red and he just nods at the suggestion. You sit upwards onto you knees, pulling your boxer shorts down in front of him. Bruce is silent but his hand slowly inch down to your fully exposed thighs, his thumb reaches out the brush against you clit. The feeling makes you flinch as your boyfriend works on removing his own pants.

He doesn't even bother removing them all they way before he's pulling you down by your hips. The stretch around his cock is almost painful, but you immediately forgot about everything bad that has happened today, even the part where you snapped at him. Bruce peppers your face with kisses, waiting for you to adjust before moving. You start moving on your own, slowly pulling off of his length. Wayne throws his head back, hitting the headboard with a thud, his hands squeezing at your hips.

When you slam back down your moan is loud and Bruce moves to covers your mouth. He is clearly embarrassed but his smile is wide as you sit there watching each other. "I'd love to hear you but... I don't want to disturb Alfred." You almost slap yourself for it. That would surly be an awkward conversation, although you think Alfred would be entirely understanding. You nod and the two of you continue. Bruce guides you up and down his cock, his groans muffled as he too struggles to keep himself quiet. You face is buried into his shoulder, letting out a small squeek each time he's pushed back deep inside you. You feel like a teenager who's at your boyfriends house, trying to keep quiet because the partners are in the next room over.

Your can feel the build up in your stomach, it's getting more and more difficult to not scream out loud in pleasure. Bruce is starting to fail at it, his breathing rushed and his moans escape his parted lips. He thrusts up into you, desperate for release which comes mere seconds later. You watch his eyebrows furrow as he cums inside of you, his twitching causes you to orgasm soon after, biting down on his shoulder to be as silent as possible. You whimper weekly, pulling yourself off of him slowly. The two of you lay side by side, ignoring the mess that clings to the both of you and the sheets.

You watch his heaving chest settle, noticing the bite marks you left. Your finger reaches out to brush over it with an embarrassed smile. "Sorry..." You whisper, but Bruce doesn't mind, shrugging his shoulder as he pulls you in to cuddle.

──

By now it is early morning, Bruce is awake, finishing the movie the two of you had put on while you ate. The cheap take out containers of the restaurant you had gotten him hooked on littered the coffee table, and the bruise you left on his shoulder aches. It's a lovely reminder. Bruce sat this his back leaned against the arm of the couch, and you had fallen asleep in between is legs with you face resting on his lower abdomen. He watches you sleep, playing with your hair as he did. He would ask you about the his lack of understand once you had woken up, but for now he will hold you here, in his arms.

#ftm reader #smut #trans reader #transmasc reader #fluff #bruce wayne #bruce wayne x reader #the batman #the batman 2022

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