#jfc like i did not think people were still this thick but here we are | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ilguna · 4 years

Text

Metanoia - Chapter Fifteen (f.o)

Summary: you will be crowned victor of the 75th hunger games.

Word Count; 10.7k

Warnings; swearing, mention of murder and torture

NOTES: i give reader a last name to fit the world.

uhhh long ass chapter jfc

–

You tap the end of the spoon against the table, “Maybe more gasoline?”

Beetee gives you a look, “I’ve engineered these perfectly--”

“I’m literally from District Two, I manufactured weapons. Just add a bit more gas, and see what happens, it can’t hurt, can it?”

Beetee readjusts the glasses on his face, “I suppose not.” he gets to work, and you scoop some of the carrots onto your spoon, trying not to make a face when you force them down your throat. They’ve gotten cold from how long you’ve been stalling, “You’ve made molotov arrows before?”

“Well…” you make a face, and he turns his eyes to you, “I wouldn’t say that. I’ve… experimented that’s for sure.”

Gale laughs, “What does that mean?”

“It means I’ve illegally made weapons and sometimes started bush fires because of it,” you laugh, “And I’ve never been caught, either.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t be in here.” Beetee mutters.

You roll your eyes, “As if I would willingly do work now. Just telling you to add more gas was a bore.”

Beetee screws the top back onto the arrow, being careless with it to see if it’ll explode or whatever. Which means that you should definitely put some distance between you and the psychopath here, you’re not too fond of being inside of a molotov. No matter how small that arrow is, there will be a ton of fire.

“Give it a shot.” you motion at Gale, “Seriously.”

“It won’t set the studio on fire?”

“You’re talking to the two engineers, here. Go ahead before I do it myself.”

Gale picks up the crossbow, and then takes the arrow that Beetee is offering him. While he prepares everything, you swivel around to face Gale, while Beetee has to turn the entire wheelchair to see.

“I’ve been trying to make a trident for Finnick.” Beetee begins, the two of you watch Gale prepare, the people on the other end of the room have fire extinguishers ready to put the fire out as soon as the arrow is fired.

“Don’t make it look like an actual trident, keep the design as close as possible to the one he had inside of the arena.” you scoop up another spoonful of carrots, “And make it hollow in the middle, it’ll be easier to move around--and you can make it compatible that way too.”

“Ready?” Gale asks.

“We’ve been ready.” you eat the cold, slimy carrots.

Gale fires the arrow, and right when it hits the bullseye, it explodes into fire. The entire target, the wall behind it, mostly the floor and some get onto the ceiling too. The crew runs forward, putting out the fire before it can spread across the entire room.

You look at Beetee, “See? Not too shabby.”

“Know any ways to make them waterproof?”

“Wax, water rolls right off of it. Don’t lay it on too thick, and you’ll be just fine.” You set the empty tray onto the table, “

“They should have sent you down here sooner.” Gale says, coming back over, “Imagine how much faster all of this would have been made.”

“Beetee would have gotten fed up with me, if he isn’t already.” you say, stretching.

“You’re not too bad to be around.”

“You only like me because I make your weapon engineering much easier. I’m able to catch your mistakes before you even make them.” you tuck your legs in.

He ignores what you said, moving on to Gale, “How’s Katniss doing?”

Gale doesn’t give much of an answer, “Recovering.”

“Let me guess, she’s still mad at you?” you raise your eyebrows. For this, he tells you to shut up. You shrug, getting back to the sketch you were working on for your own personal weapon, “Hey, if you can’t see how out of line you were, then that’s your deal.”

“How was I out of line?”

You place the sketchbook on your knee, “Dude, you called her fiance weak for doing what he could to stay alive. Obviously you two are still pretty close after that, but I wouldn’t have made a comment like that.” you pause for a moment, looking at Gale, “Then again, you don’t know what it’s like to be under a microscope, you can run your mouth all you want, because you were nothing but a coal miner.”

Gale practically rolls his eyes, “I know what it’s like, Katniss had to start calling me her cousin.”

“Katniss was the one being watched, don’t flatter yourself.” you go back to what you were doing.

“She’s right.” Beetee chips in, “(Y/n), I mean.”

“Right.”

The sound of boots on cement makes you look up, expecting Gale to be the one walking away. He doesn’t normally like to take shit from you or Beetee. Coming down here is like a safe place, allowing him to vent and blow steam when he gets to test out the new fancy weapons.

Gale stands right where he was before, which means that it’s someone else. And since Beetee can’t walk, you turn around in the chair to see who it is.

It’s Finnick. His hands are in his pockets, with a gleeful smile on his face, “Good afternoon.”

Gale is just as suspicious as you are, “What are you up to?”

“What was I up to.” he corrects, coming to a stop behind your chair, “It’s a surprise.”

Beetee makes a face, and then wheels himself around so that he’s facing the table again. As he gets back to work, you resume critiquing Gale, and Finnick finds where he wants to be.

“Gale, don’t get me wrong, I can sorta see where you’re coming from, but you need to see it from our perspective too.” you drop your leg, “Let’s compare you to Peeta, since you were doing that already by saying you’d never say what you said.

“He had absolutely no clue what the fuck was going on. Peeta didn’t know that there was a plan to get him and Katniss out of the arena, he didn’t know that Coin was planning on using Katniss as a symbol. The only things he did know was what the Capitol fed him to get him on their side.

“And if you still can’t see eye to eye with it, imagine a gun pointed to Katniss’ head. If you so much as step out of line in a way that Snow doesn’t like, he’ll shoot her. It’s not his family, friend or girlfriend that he’s killing, it’s yours. And if you don’t cooperate after Katniss, he’s grabbing the next dearest thing to you.” you lean back in the chair, “And before you say shit, Snow literally did that to me twice. First was right after I won my games and he killed my entire family, and the second time was when we found Tanith dead in a chair. It’s a little different for Tanith, because she was already dead, but he still tried to use her against me.”

“Okay, but what were they threatening Peeta with?”

“His life, for starters.” Finnick says, “And likely his family too.”

Gale doesn’t say anything after that.

“How’s this design?” You offer the sketchbook for Beetee, and he takes it.

“We could probably start this now.” Beetee says, “Mind doing something for Finnick, too?”

“Sure.”

He hands it back, but Finnick takes it before you’re able to grab a hold of it. Sighing, you look up at Finnick, watching his face as he looks over the page, “These are swords.”

“Sai’s.” you correct.

Finnick gives you a look, “But it says right here--”

“--that it’s basically a sword, yes, I know. Normally they’re used to disarm someone--as I showed you before. But I want some that are actually sharp. Blunt force trauma is fun, but what’s even more fun is spilling someone’s guts in front of them.”

Finnick hands the book back, “Sword.”

“Sure.” you cross your legs, “What are you here for, other to annoy me?”

“Keeping an eye on you three for the next couple of hours.” Finnick pulls up a chair of his own, mirroring your stance.

“Sounds exciting.”

Everything falls back into rhythm. Beetee goes back to tinkering on arrows, having Gale use the decoys. And the times he’s not shooting arrows, he’s sitting in a chair talking to you guys. You cough up a couple of sketches for Beetee, hoping that it’ll be good enough.

You might be the one from District Two, but that doesn’t mean you actually put things together. The legal age to actually get into the warehouses is eighteen, and since you went into the games at sixteen and won, you never really had to work. You’ve sat on money for your entire life. The only people that worked were your parents, aunts and uncles and some of your cousins.

Those same cousins taught you how to put things together before your games--obviously. During family get togethers, you’d all disappear for a little while, which is when they’d take the chance. They always thought it was so cool to pass on forbidden knowledge, and have it all be a secret between you guys.

They had this secret stash of gadgets inside of a log, and they’d fuck around with it until it turned into something dangerous. Honestly, the first thing you learned from them was the molotov, and when you threw it on a rock, it exploded and the dead grass around it caught fire.

Cue you all scooping the gadgets into your shirts and taking off behind the houses to get as far as possible. Your older cousin had a backup spot not too far away, you dumped all the shit there and got back to the house in record time. Before the firefighters had even left their stations.

It’s a wonder why you weren’t caught, cause that wasn’t the first time that area specifically had been set on fire, and it wouldn’t be the last either. The firefighters definitely had an idea of why it would always set ablaze, but never pursued it. After a while, they started to monitor the place on extremely hot days, thinking that it was the sun that was starting the fires.

If only they had known that it was a bunch of teenagers doing that shit for fun.

After a while, Beetee gets tired of the arrows and starts over to the crew to begin making the sai’s. While they’re heating up the metal, he gets to making the hilt.

“I feel like we’re doing more work than we have to.” you look at Beetee.

“Do you want it to be fucked up, or do you want it to be done right the first time?” He raises his glasses above his eyes when he looks right back at you.

“The first time.” you sigh.

When you get back to work, Finnick moves in closer, curious as to how you’re designing his new weapon. Every now and then he’ll point out the practicalities, and weighing in on how he would rather it be built.

“This doesn’t even look like a trident anymore.” you hold the journal away from your face, and turn it so it’s long-ways since the entire trident spans over both pages, “It’s basically the opposite.”

“But think of it this way.” Finnick reaches over, touching where the blades of the trident are, “Initial stab, right? But the rest of this does more damage.”

There’s a spear point at the top of the trident, which isn’t the problem. That’s pretty normal when it comes to the design. However, instead of wanting all the other blades facing up and towards it, he wants it downwards.

“And you can even make it compatible!” Finnick grins.

“At least we agree on one thing.” You pass the journal to him, “Go ahead and show Beetee, he’s the one in charge.”

Finnick goes over, and it’s basically halfway across the room, since Beetee is hovering over the crew’s work like a hawk. He wasn’t playing around when he said that he would like it to be perfect the first time around.

“Finnick’s into you.” Gale says.

“You say that like he’s not my soulmate.” you give Gale a look, “Also, I’m not into Finnick.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not a teenager and I don’t date people right after they broke up with their girlfriends.” you turn back to Finnick to see that he’s discussing the weapon with Beetee and a crew member.

“If there was no Annie, would you have dated him then?”

You squint, “No.”

Gale laughs, but doesn’t say anything because Finnick is heading your guys’ way again. He drops the journal in Beetee’s workspace on his way over, “Beetee will start it tonight.”

“Cool.” you get up, picking up the lunch tray, “Am I free to leave now?”

“Yes,” Finnick says, but he makes a point to stay in front of both you and Gale.

“See ya later, Beetee!” you shout, “Send someone if you need my help.”

He waves, and then goes back to hovering.

Finnick starts up the staircase first, and Gale walks beside you, “Any progress on Peeta?”

Gale rolls his eyes, you can feel it, “Same as he was before. I saw him before coming here.”

“Katniss still saying no?” you look over.

Gale nods.

“That’s reasonable, I wouldn’t want to go near him either…” you trail off for a moment, and then laugh to yourself.

Finnick glances over his shoulder curiously, “What is it?”

You chuckle a bit, “Out of everyone, I’m definitely last on the list of people he wants to see.”

“Why’s that?”

Your smile is small as you look at your feet, rather than up at Finnick, “I nearly killed Peeta.”

“After the birds? I know--” Finnick says.

“No, after. After you had been pulled out of the arena, did I tell either of you that story?”

Gale says no, which is expected, but Finnick thinks about it before answerings, “We talked about emotion when you first got here, and how intense it was.”

“Well, after I left the lightning tree, my real goal was to go downhill and straight for the cornucopia. I thought that if the jungle were to burn, I would need to take my chances in the middle. On the way, I found a livid Peeta, and a strangely calm Johanna.” you smile, “Peeta started screaming at me instead, and Johanna urged me not to do anything.

“But then Peeta backed me into a rock, so when I got up, I punched him twice. Kicked him a couple of times while he was down, and then Johanna stepped in--” Finnick has slowed down now, he watches you, “--and naturally I knocked her out with a single right hook, since she’s… weak to say the least. She hit her head on a rock on the way down, and I thought I’d finish her off later.

“As for Peeta, it was just him and I.” the smile develops into a grin, “I was about to rip him apart--and I mean minutes from doing it. But then the peacekeepers came and I thought that it would be better to leave the situation as it was.”

“You’re… sadistic.” Gale says.

“I’ve heard it all before.” you say, looking at Finnick.

“At least you didn’t kill them.” Finnick says.

“Peeta knew that I was about to. Doesn’t matter if I did it or not.”

Gale laughs now, “You should go visit him to see what he says.”

“He’d probably get mad at me for not killing him when I had the chance. I’m surprised he didn’t strangle me in that hovercraft.”

“The tracker jacker venom fucked with his head, he probably barely recognized you.” Gale says.

At the top of the staircase, Finnick stops you, “We’ll see you later, Gale.”

“Sounds good to me. I’m going to see Boggs.”

You salute as a joke, getting an eye roll in return. Finnick purposely waits until Gale is gone, and then he moves out of your way, “You’re getting better.”

“At making people like me?” you ask, giving Finnick a look, “You know, a genius once told me that I’m not as dislikable as I think.”

Finnick raises his eyebrows, “A genius you say?”

“Maybe not a genius.” you laugh, and Finnick joins in, “So what were you up to?”

“You’ll see in a couple of hours.”

“Is that why we aren’t getting off on the floor we normally do?” you stare at your feet.

“We’re heading straight for the medical floor to Johanna.”

You stop on the stairs, and Finnick gets a couple of steps above you, “Did you not just hear my whole story?”

“The worst Johanna will do is run her mouth about the fact that you didn’t kill her when you had the chance. And if you don’t believe me, you can ask one of the nurses. We’ve heard her speech a couple of times now.”

“Then can I opt out and go to the dorm instead?” you start up the stairs again.

“You’re really going to leave me to talk to Johanna?”

Your eyebrows draw together, “You’re the one that wants to see her!”

“Come on, we see Johanna and then we go to the dorm right after, I promise.” Finnick says.

You hold out your pinky for Finnick, and with a slight chuckle, he pinky promises you. The two of you resume your journey up the stairs, and then he says, “Unless we talk for too long.”

You press your lips together, not giving him the satisfaction of a reaction. He laughs anyway.

When the two of you reach Johanna’s room, you hang by the door, not really wanting to go inside. You don’t like the look of the room, much less the idea of being back inside of it. Ever since you’ve been granted the freedom, you’ve made a point of not coming back to the hospital--or infirmary--floor, no matter the reason.

The other day, you cut your hand on a blade down in the workshop. The crew had wanted to call someone down to come and take care of you, and you barely stopped them in time. Over your dead body, would you be brought back here to sit and wallow in white for a couple of days.

Especially over something as childish as a cut. So, you found the first aid kit, cleaned out the wound and Beetee stitched it up for you. The crew was a little surprised how calm you were during the entire procedure but the only thing you had to say was ‘high pain tolerance’ after all your years of bullshit.

So being back here makes you nervous. As if someone will pop out from one of the walls and tie you down to a bed for absolutely no reason. You’re perfectly healthy, and the nurses and doctors knew this. Even after you had tests that came back negative for poison in your system, you were required to stay.

Finnick and Johanna’s conversation is surprisingly normal and boring. There was absolutely no reason for you to tag along, except for Finnick’s own request. The only reason why you’re here is to be nice.

As if Finnick’s read your mind, he looks at you, “(Y/n) been helping Beetee out in the workshop lately, designing weapons.”

Johanna’s eyes drag over to you, bored of it already, “She’s being helpful for once?”

You stare at her.

“She’s done quite a lot, Johanna.” Finnick says, looking back at her, “She’s the one that opened the conversation about rescuing you and the others from the Capitol.”

“For her own benefit.” Johanna laughs, “Because she can’t stand being alone. It’s why she’s kept you around so long, you know? Not because she likes you, but because she needs another soul to harvest. She’s like the fucking grim reaper.” she looks at you now, “A heartless murderer.”

You take a deep breath, and then a smile spreads over your face, “I should have killed you when I had the chance. At least then, there would be one less leech on the morphling supply.” you spit, “You deserve everything that Snow gave you, the waterboarding, the near-drowning. It’s a shame that he only kept you alive so you’d suffer and become nothing but another downer on everyone around you.”

Finnick’s head whips in your direction, clearly not expecting the outburst. You’ve been so good for so long, but there’s something about Johanna that just gets you steaming.

“I should have stomped your head into that fucking rock in front of Peeta.” you seethe, “And then I should’ve beaten Peeta to death, because you two weren’t nearly worth sacrificing my life over.” you shake your head, “You’re nothing but another morphling addict. Another victor that couldn’t take the fucking heat. If I were you, I’d just kill myself from how embarrased I’d be.”

Johanna’s been smiling at you the entire time, like she wanted this sort of reaction, and so you finish it off, “It’s probably how Blight felt too.”

Her smile drops, and her hand is reaching towards the needles in her arms before her feet have even hit the ground. You stand your ground, allowing Finnick to get her to stop because she does some real damage to her veins.

“(Y/n)--go!” Finnick’s angry, and he glares at you over his shoulder.

“My fucking pleasure.” you spit, leaving the doorway.

It was worth it. Every word that left your mouth was fucking worth it. Being nice to people is such a fucking chore, especially when it’s towards people who don’t deserve it.

You stand in the stairwell for a moment, thinking about where you’d want to go. But there’s really no place that’s safe if Finnick comes looking for you. The workshop and dorm are an obvious place, as well as the stream you stumbled upon. He’ll check with Boggs and Gale--and there’s no one else here that likes you.

You hate it here.

You thought you would be able to make this place feel like a real home and maybe even like it, but it’s not worth it. This whole place isn’t worth it to you.

Everything inside of you is a frenzy.

You have to go home.

You start up the staircase, knowing that seeing Plutarch and finding a ride would be the place to start. He might not be happy about it, but there’s really no need for you here. You’re not doing anything besides designing personal weapons that Beetee likes and doesn’t like.

Occasionally you’re genuinely helpful with dumb shit, but that’s the extent of it. Other than that, you’re miserable. The freedom you have isn’t actual freedom.

You hop up the last couple of steps, and round the corner to the door to the control room. You practically throw it open, nearly letting it hit the wall, when your hand appears between the crack to stop it.

At your appearance, a few people look over. The only eyes who stick are Boggs, Gale, Haymitch and Plutarch.

“Where’s Finnick?” Gale asks.

“Not his owner,” you go down the steps, eyes on Plutarch, “I want a ride to District Two. Your next hovercraft is mine to take.”

Boggs stands up, crossing his arms, “What about the workshop?”

“Boring, Beetee has it under control.”

“And Finnick?” Haymitch asks, “I thought you were just liking it here--”

“I’m a liar.”

Gale sighs, “Tell us what happened.”

“Johanna and I are going to end up killing each other the next time we come face to face.” your eyes land on Plutarch to see he has an eye on his watch, “So unless you feel like cleaning up a dead body, I’ll take one free ticket to District Two.”

“The next hovercraft is leaving in fifteen minutes.” Plutarch looks up now, “I’ll call in and let them know you’re going.”

“Does Finnick know you’re doing this?” Gale asks, “He’s going to be upset if we have to tell him--”

“It’s his fault for getting attached to me.” your face is serious, and then the smile spreads over your face, because of the irony of that statement. After what Johanna had said… “He’s your problem now, good luck.”

You go up the steps, heading right out the door you came in. You can’t take the staircase to the top, so you make your way to the elevator instead. You press the button, waiting patiently with a smile on your face.

The hovercrafts that they’re using to get the supplies to and from District Two are the slow type. District Thirteen is in no rush to get the crates there, so it won’t be a surprise to you if it takes more than just a couple of hours for you to get there. Or if it makes stops along the way.

The elevator arrives, you pull up the safety bar, and then step inside, pulling it back down. You punch the top floor button with your thumb, then you go to stare as the floors disappear beneath your feet.

At least back home you don’t have to act and lie for the happiness of others. Especially if your first and only stop is going to be your house in victor’s village. And if you need groceries, it looks like you’ll be hunting for food to eat. Or you might actually have to go into town and ransack the already destroyed buildings.

Most of the people that used to own the shops are probably dead, or they won’t be returning back home for a while. The entirety of victor’s village is going to be a graveyard--there might even still be rotting bodies inside of the houses. If the smell is too unbearable, you could always bury the corpses yourself.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

At the top, there’s someone waiting on the ramp. You don’t bother waiting for them to tell you to hurry it up, you start jogging immediately. The faster you get on, the faster you can take off.

“I’m ready.” you say when you get to the ramp.

“Good, take a seat and strap in.” the man follows you in.

The whole district is in ruins.

The last time you were here, everything seemed to be in near perfect condition, apart from the obvious looting that had taken place. The broken windows, and the wood splinters in the gravel could be easily looked over. But it’s much harder to see this place as it once was.

Most stores and houses that were made out of wood, and had been passed down from generation to generation have been burned to ashes or their cement flooring. There’s nothing left of them, not the furniture inside, and definitely not the foundation. If you didn’t know any better, you’d say that they were vacant lots.

If they couldn’t burn, then they were bombed. Chunks of cement and brick have now joined the mixture in the gravel. The roofs have long since caved in, and just one gust of wind makes the walls shudder. All it would take is one more bomb dropped in this area, and it all would come crashing down.

The air around you is hardly breathable too. Before you had stepped off the hovercraft you were given a mask--not the same gas mask that you’d used during the tribute center invasion--and a pair of sunglasses that would help you see through the debris and smoke.

It’s almost like fog, but so much worse. It’s smoke from fires that can’t be put out, and it’s from the bombs that are from your own district. The loyalists and the rebels are still fighting over this place. Katniss’ visit here hadn’t done much good, in fact you’d say that it made it a lot worse.

As you wander through the streets towards victor’s village, you come up with a lousy plan that’ll likely get you killed.

Coin had thought that sending Katniss here was a good idea, but it wasn’t by any means. Katniss got a bullet to her ribs, which bruised a ton of them, and put her right back into a hospital bed. They clearly didn’t think about what would happen if you mix people who don’t mind the games, with someone who’s leading a rebellion.

You’ve seen the speech, and as heartfelt as it was, it’s not what they want to hear.

Here’s the way you saw it at first; this girl from the poorest part of District Twelve is kicking up a rebellion that’ll likely destroy the system that’s making District Two rich, and the favorite. District Two thinks that they’re going to get everything taken away from them. Their houses, nice clothes and furniture, the good paying jobs.

You would all much rather send in the two kids a year--mostly because your children are prepared ahead of time, and therefore the career districts have nothing to lose--than take the risk of getting everything taken away. The Capitol absolutely adores you guys, with all that you supply them.

So, instead of having the girl that’s leading the rebellion try and convince the loyalists that they’re on the wrong side. You have someone who’s lived in the same luxury as them do it instead. How is Katniss supposed to understand how you all feel? She despised the games, while the rest of you adored it.

The outsider districts don’t understand the need for luxury and favoritism. They’ve lived on the hated side of the Capitol for a long time. The Capitol expects them to underperform in the games, so that’s why they don’t ever see the spotlight until they get a winner.

Anyway, you’re going to get to your house, change into something that says ‘living in luxury’ and then march your way to the justice building. There, you won’t ask for any sort of protection but an escort there instead. You won’t carry any weapons, you won’t pull on a bulletproof vest.

If they shoot you, then they’ll have made their choice very clear.

The gate entrance to the village is all sorts of broken. You barely push the metal door open, and the entire thing falls apart in your hands. You have to prop it up against the fence, being sure that it won’t fall over before you move on to go inside. Then, you waste no time with a quick jog through.

The fountain in the first part of the village is dry. The cement is no longer grey, it’s black from the amount of fire that must have washed through here. On the tiles that line the bottom, there’s melted coins. You’re tempted to reach in and pick one out when you realize just how bad of an idea that is.

You continue down the stone brick path after that, taking in note of every house that you pass. The doors are slightly ajar, most windows seem to be shattered, and a couple are burned down to the foundation. Most still stand though, Sorcha, Enobaria, Brutus, Tanith and Zavian’s seem to be in good condition.

As for Lyme, her house is completely gone. You have an idea that it might be because of the fact that she’s helping the rebels, and some of the loyalists must’ve gotten behind their lines to come and burn hers down specifically. As for the others, there must be a bigger story behind it.

As you come into the third part of the neighborhood, you cross your fingers as you hope it’s not like Lyme’s. You just want a moment inside of a clean house, to be able to go upstairs and find out that there’s running water. Then you’ll take a shower, get dressed in fancy clothing and put on makeup as if there isn’t hellfire around you.

It takes you a moment to find it, because all the houses in this section are still standing. And then you realize that your house is the only one that looks fresh. It hasn’t been touched by all the ash and smoke, it’s still as bright white as the day you received it. Perfect condition.

No windows are broken, the wood and cement show no signs of it being on fire at any point in time. The door is shut tight, a little stuck so you have to rattle the handle until it comes loose. You swing the door wide open, standing in the doorway as you wait to see a mess.

But it’s clean. Of course, the house has collected dust, but there’s no blood. There’s no broken vases, or stuffing all over the floor. It’s how you left it.

You shut the door behind you, locking it for good measure. As you go inside, you can’t help but to look around and gape like you’re on a house tour. Nothing has been touched, which is the part that baffles you the most. Both the inside and outside are great.

For a moment, you’re not sure why you’re so surprised that nothing had happened--apart from the fact that the whole neighborhood is disgusting. And then you remember the last time you came home from the games. With the house torn apart with dead bodies frozen in time.

“He seriously fucked me up, didn’t he?” you ask, laughing to yourself.

The house does smell pretty bad though, and the scent only gets stronger the more you head towards the kitchen. You have to plug your nose, strictly breathing in and out through your mouth, blinking away the tears that form in your eyes. It’s just so strong…

Going through the doorway, you take your time to look for anything that might be off. There is nothing, but you’re sure that it was coming from here specifically, and the second that you test the water with a breath of air through your nose, you gag. You go back to breathing through your mouth, even though you can taste the toxicity.

It’s not gas, that’s for sure. It’s something else…

The kitchen, the smell, the fact you haven’t been here--it’s the fridge. The food inside of the fridge and the cupboards are likely rotting. You can picture the mold in your mind already, and you shiver a little. Deciding that it’s better not to investigate further, you head straight upstairs instead.

On the way to your room, you can’t help but to pop open the doors and take a look inside. It’s just the paranoia now that’s making you do this. You don’t think you’ll find anyone in here, it’s just the thought of someone maybe hiding and waiting for you. A house like yours shouldn’t be in perfect condition, not after everything that’s happened.

And yet, there is nothing. Not even in your master bedroom, and not in the bathroom either. Despite this, you also lock your bedroom door, stripping on the way to the bathroom. And when you get inside of there, you lock that one too. For a second, the water in the shower runs cold, but then it turns warm.

While you let it heat up a little more, you take a look at yourself in the mirror for the first time in a couple of weeks. The mirrors that they have in District Thirteen are practically useless, they might as well not have them at all. You can barely see your face in them, and they’re permanently fogged over. At first, you thought that there was a protective film, until you realized that they were just shit quality.

Your fingers dance along the scars that cover you from head to toe. You turn your body to get a better angle, only to be disappointed when they continue. You force yourself to lean onto the counter, even though you’re so incredibly uncomfortable now, but curiosity is what’s fueling it all.

Then you’re able to see that the spider bite scars exist on your face too. They’re faint though, not too noticeable. What is noticeable, is the fact that there’s a scar that’s right beneath your eye. It’s so small that you can see it, even with you leaning over the counter.

You wipe the fog off the mirror, hopping onto the counter. You’re basically pressed against the mirror with how you’re seated as you desperately try to see what the fuck is beneath your eye. Wiping the mirror again, you take your chance to see.

C.S.

Your face twists as you back up, trying to think of who has those initials. Much less who would leave it on you like they’re marking their territory. You slide off the counter, rubbing beneath your eye, wishing that it’ll just go away, but it won’t.

Then it clicks, and you almost wish it hadn’t.

Coriolanus Snow.

You stare at yourself in the mirror, mouth hanging open as you watch the fog take over the mirror again, and your naked figure is covered up as a result.

He marked you. Snow fucking marked you like you’re his pet.

Your hand has swiped the vase off the counter before you’ve realized it. It isn’t until it’s shattered, when you’re jumping out of your skin. Even then, you’re still captivated by the amount of rage that’s running through your veins.

“Motherfucker!” you yell, digging your nail into the spot, gritting your teeth when it hurts. But it has to go. It has to be defaced. You won’t be seen as his. You don’t belong to Snow.

It’s a relief when your bare nail breaks skin. Though, more pain spikes in that one spot, and even in your eye a little bit. You lean on the counter, squeezing your eyes shut and giving yourself a moment to recover before you head into the shower.

You can’t fucking believe this.

You had always told yourself that you would be saving this dress for an occasion that you’d never be able to replicate. No weddings, funerals or parties. No victory tour, no get together, no reaping. You had to save it for something that would be groundbreaking, something that would change the game altogether.

At first, you didn’t want to pick it up for even this. Then you remembered that you have a chance of dying, and thought that was an event you’d never be able to replicate. Because you’d be dead.

And now that you’re walking to the justice buildings, holding the dress up so that it doesn’t get caught in the gravel and what lies inside of you, you’re beginning to see that you’ve got to make it count. Not the dress, but this entire encounter. If they don’t end up killing you, they’re definitely not going to let you come back again. Not peacefully, at least.

All you have to do is make them hesitate. Make them think for the rebel’s side for a second. That’s all you need. A moment of apprehension that they’ll never be able to take back. And since you’re pretty good at playing devil's advocate, this will be a walk in the park.

Seeing a sudden blast of dust and dirt heading your way, you make a home behind a building, aiming the umbrella you’re holding towards the corner that’s closest to you. It takes a moment before the dust storm comes through. The rocks pelt the plastic, and they attack your bare legs.

Since the umbrella is see-through, you’re able to tell when it dies down. You don’t wait to make sure that it’s over completely, because you never know when another gust will roll on in. At some point in time, you recognize the streets that the scouting group had brought you through, so you take that carefully.

You’re still fairly surprised that Paylor and Lyme hadn’t taken your statement of a survey group into consideration. And if they did, then that didn’t last as long as you thought it would. It’s literally only been two to three weeks since you were here last.

You guess that just means that they can’t spare the people as much as they could before. Which says a lot--that they’re losing the battle they swore that they’d be able to win. Coin said in one of her speeches that it wouldn’t be easy, and it would take a while. And here you are, thinking that you’ll be able to change their minds in a day.

“Watch this.” you smile to yourself.

You go around a corner, only to stop dead in your tracks. Standing right in front of you are some pretty armored people, holding a gun pointed straight at your chest.

“State your name and business.”

“I see Lyme’s upgraded her shitty guards.” you give him a smile, “(Y/n) Rosecelli.”

He lowers the gun, “You’re supposed to be in District Thirteen.”

“It’s not as glamorous as it seems.” you say, continuing your way down the alley, “Quite boring. Is Lyme in the justice building?”

“Yes, I can bring--”

“I’ve got it.” you cut him off, leaving him behind you.

“I wouldn’t recommend going that way.”

“Whatever!” you shout, going right out.

The steps to the building are pretty wrecked, but there’s just enough stone for you to be able to go up them. You hike the dress up a little higher, stomping your heels when you step, as you try to get the gravel and glass off your shoes. The people standing outside the building seem confused at first.

“Excuse me.” you say, moving right past them as you head through the doors.

You take the stairs up, still having an iron grip on the dress. You won’t let it down until you’re standing in front of rebels. You swear on everything.

You pass a third set of guards on your way inside of the meeting room that they had used the first time. When the door pops open, you can see a familiar face on the hologram screen. Alma Coin.

Paylor and Lyme look over simultaneously to see who’s entered the room.

“(Y/n)’s here.” Lyme says, standing up now.

“Good.” Coin says, “Won’t you join us?”

You make a face, stepping inside and shutting the door. You don’t head that far inside, sticking rather close to the door, but still in sight of the camera.

“Finnick’s been looking everywhere for you.” Coin tells you calmly, “We just broke the news to him.”

“And?” you ask.

“He’s disappointed that he went through all that trouble to throw a party for you.”

So that’s what he was doing earlier. Throwing you a party, and for what? God, you can’t imagine the headache you would have had through the whole thing. Fake a smile, pretend to like it. The only parties you do like are the types that go on inside of the Capitol.

It’s all lavish there. The foods are delicious, the sweets and the sour foods. The drinks they have that you swear are going to make you dehydrated, but you drink anyway. The people there are always so friendly, even when they aren’t. They’re so stupid and naive that it makes it enjoyable to be around them.

Not to mention they worshipped you.

“Am I supposed to care?” you ask, crossing your arms, “Can’t be a very good party with your district. The entire thing is probably being attended by a total of ten people, and the food and drinks are twenty years old. I’m not missing out on anything, trust me.”

Coin bites her tongue, smiling, “Maybe it’s best that you’re back in District Two, then.”

“I’m done talking to you.” you give her a mock smile, turning to Lyme and Paylor, “I’m going to solve this whole loyalist problem for you in a second. Do you want to send a camera crew with me just in case it works?”

Lyme’s confused, “No offense, but what makes you think it’ll work? Especially with your mouth?”

“Cause I know you guys have been approaching it all wrong, and rather than having a second person fuck it up for you ingrates, I’ll do it myself. I may be selfish but I’m also open minded and have a way of words when I’m not being a complete bitch.” you look at Coin, “And if it does work, you don’t get to say you planned it at all. I’m not Katniss, and I won’t be easily manipulated.

“On top of that, you’ll also owe me a shiny, brand new apartment in the heart of the Capitol. Otherwise you can take that propaganda footage and shove it up that ass of yours.” you point to Lyme and Paylor, “Camera crew, now.”

You leave the room after that, and Paylor approves the camera crew, asking one of the people in the room with them to go ahead and gather the people. In the meantime, you take a look at yourself in the nearest bathroom. Your makeup and hair are still how you left it, and the dress isn’t that dirty either.

When you get outside, there’s people already waiting to take you to the tunnels. And for their protection, they’re bringing volunteers with them. As for you, you’ll be out in the open just as you asked for.

“I live in luxury.” you tell yourself, raising your head a bit, “I belong in the Capitol. I am a loyalist. These rebels have no idea what they’re doing.”

You take the train tracks straight to the tunnel. The mountain has long since collapsed, which drew out most of the loyalists. And with Katniss’ speech after, a few surrendered. But there’s still plenty of people inside of there.

“I don’t know if we can follow you inside.” one of the girls tells you nervously, “It’s dark and unhealthy in there. If they begin firing, we’ll be the first to be brought down.”

“No, I will.” you say, “They’ll likely let you all live. If those cameras zoom well, keep as much of a distance as you can spare.”

The girl nods, “We trust you.”

You press your lips together, because it’s a first, “If I reach for my dress and turn my body like I’m going to run, you should take off immediately. I don’t plan on running, but I will if it gets too risky.”

“We’ll keep an eye out, I promise.”

Inside the tunnel, it’s even dirtier than you expected. Nonetheless, you all push through. The camera crew and the couple of armed people have masks over their face, but you work right through the dirt and smoke filled air. Even if you put a mask on now, you’ll have to take it off to talk anyway. There would be no point to it, you’re going to breathe in the air whether you like it or not.

“Stop!” A voice shouts, and you all come to a halt.

“Stay here.” you tell the crew.

Lights turn on, you cover your eyes for a moment as you blink through, trying to get adjusted to them. When you lower your hand, you can see that there’s several people ready to shoot you, and what looks like hundreds of people ready to back them up. The lights are coming from the train right in front of you.

“My name is (Y/n) Rosecelli, I’m here to speak to whoever is in charge, face to face.” you move forward, but stop a little bit after that, not wanting to push your limits.

Someone appears on the top of the train, an automatic rifle in his hands, “You shouldn’t be in here.”

You drop the dress down now, “No, I shouldn’t. This place is unfathomably filthy, and I can’t imagine how hard it is to breathe the air in here. What’s your name?”

“Jovian.”

“You know why I’m here, right?” you ask, crossing your arms, your eyes wandering over all the people waiting to see what happens.

“It’s pretty obvious, which is why I should let you know it’s not going to work, and you should leave while you can.” he tells you, “Or I’ll just make an example of you, just like how we did with Katniss.”

“Except Katniss is still alive in District Thirteen, you didn’t actually kill her.” you tell him, “Healthy as a horse, she was up on her feet the same day, ready to come right back here and give you guys a second chance.”

They won’t know you’re lying.

“We should’ve gone for her head.”

You ignore that, “There’s a big difference between Katniss and I, though. Katniss grew up in the poorest part of twelve, and I grew up in what was arguable once the richest parts of District Two. And then I won the games and got more money than I knew what to do with, and she didn’t have any time to get to realize her luxury.

“Because of this, she’ll never understand what you’ll have to sacrifice if you do take part in the fight. You’re putting everything up for a gamble. Your house, your clothes, furniture, a family. And you’d have to do it without knowing the outcome of a rebellion.”

Jovian nods slowly, “You get it.”

“Of course I do, I was once a Capitol pet too, and then Snow ended up killing my family, and then my friends on top of that.” you motion with your hand, “And I saw the type of people that we were supporting all this time. They’re nothing worth supporting, Jovian. I can promise you that.”

Jovian shakes his head, “What if you lose, huh? The district is already in deep shit because half of us are rebels, what if there’s a chance that the people who don’t fight with you, get rewarded?”

You snort, “You think he’s writing down names? You think he gives a shit if some of you were helping, and the others weren’t? All he’s going to see is that District Two had tried to help the rebels, and suddenly we’re all fucked. So why not give in? You know what will happen if there are no more hunger games, no more districts, no more districts versus the Capitol bullshit?

“You’d be able to live wherever you want--the Capitol, here, any of the other districts, places that were off limits, maybe even in some of the arenas that had gone untouched. You would work if you want to, and have a million kids without worrying about teaching them how to fight.

“There would be no more worries, Jovian. You’d still get to live the same, but it would be that much more freedom. And even if you wouldn’t want to live in any of those other places, you’d be able to visit them whenever you want. Take a vacation to the Capitol and come home to a sturdy house. And for anyone who hasn't found their soulmate because they exist in a different district, you’d have a greater chance of finding them.”

The silence that fills the tunnel is surprisingly calm, it isn’t as tense as you thought it would be. Jovian is obviously thinking all of this through.

“But we can’t win this without District Two. If we get those warehouses pumping out weapons, we’ll win this, guaranteed. It’ll be difficult, as all wars are, but we’ll win for once. We’ll get the justice we deserve, Snow will pay for all the shit he’s done.” you insist, “If you guys come with me now, there’s no hard feelings.

“There’s food, water, clothes, medicine. All you’d have to do is come with us now, and we’ll get you cleaned up, one at a time.”

Jovian looks down at you, “And you can promise us this?”

You look behind you, straight at one of the guards, “Get Paylor to confirm this.”

It takes a moment, but when her voice comes over the tunnel, echoing, saying all of what you said is true, you can’t help but to give a hopeful look to Jovian.

He takes in a deep breath, “Okay.”

“That’s just you, though.” you look to all the others, past the lights, “How about you guys? Are you willing to fight?”

“Will you be fighting with us?” someone yells to you.

This question you weren’t expecting, but you find yourself nodding before you can catch it, “Every step of the way.”

“Then sign me up.” A girl starts coming forward, behind her trails a couple of kids, they come in a line, all holding hands. She walks right past you guys.

It takes a moment before others start breaking off in groups. Jovian gives you a look, “These are my people.”

“They’re our people now.” You correct him, “And they’re going to be safe. Pack the hurt into the train and get this baby moving out here.”

You turn around, heading towards the camera, “Is it still running?”

“Yes.”

You look straight into the camera lense, “Twenty-three kids have died every year for the past seventy-four years. That’s one thousand, seven hundred and one kids that have died in the hunger games. Nearly two thousand of your kids have gone into an arena, scared and alone.

“They wouldn’t know where their next meal would come from, they didn’t know if they would get sponsors or if they were worthy of them. They likely shivered and starved and were dehydrated down to their very last days. And while it was happening, all they could picture was their blue face in the night sky, signaling another fallen tribute.

“And you’re telling me, that now there’s a rebellion happening--one that will stop a cycle of heartless and meaningless murder--you’re not going to help? You’ll finally be able to have kids, and not worry about training them the moment that they’re born. No more staying up all night worrying that it’ll be your kid picked during the reaping.

“But we can’t get there if you don’t help.” You then lean a forward, “And Coriolanus, if you’re watching, I’d like to let you know that I found the scar you left on my face. You can mark me all you fucking want, but I haven’t done your bidding since I was sixteen. How’s this for calming down District Two?”

You stand up again, “For those of you who don’t know, my name is (Y/n) Rosecelli, I won the sixty-sixth hunger games when I was sixteen. I’m from District Two, and I have to admit that I have lived in luxury since the day I was born, and coming to terms with a rebellion that has ruined my whole lifestyle, isn’t easy.

“However, if I can see past all my greediness to realize that it’s unfair that I can live in luxury and others live in dirt, then you can too. There will be no more inequality, everyone will be able to live in a stable environment, and if you don’t want that, then you’re just as ill as Snow is.”

You turn to leave after that, hiking up the dress in the front so you don’t end up stepping on it and make a fool out of yourself in the process. It’s a couple of moments before the others are scrambling to follow.

“Are you really going to fight with us?” The girl asks.

“I said I would, didn’t I?”

She’s quiet for a moment, “You just don’t look like you’d been into that type of thing.”

You look at her, “Don’t be fooled by the dress and makeup. I’m a lot more than a pretty face.”

“We’ll have to get you fitted for clothing, then. You can’t march to the Capitol in a dress.”

You end the conversation, not saying anything else to her. What she said is obvious, you know that you’ll have to be dressed properly. Hell, you know what’s happening in the Capitol at the moment.

Nothing slips past you. You hear everything when it comes to secrets. You knew Johanna had been waterboarded because she failed some sort of swimming test, nearly took down a couple of people during her panic. And you knew that her and Blight were a little more than friends too.

Just like how you know that the Capitol is turning into a whole trap. Snow is planting these pods—as Beetee called them—that are near impossible to keep track of. Snow is pulling in the Capitol citizens closer, allowing him to plant more pods. Hundreds of them, every single day.

Which means that if you go out there with the other volunteers, there’s a good chance of a million things happening to you. You can’t even think of what the gamemakers would put into the streets of the Capitol. All you know is that it can’t be good.

They might as well throw in every single project that they’ve ever created since they won’t be able to use it against you all in the future. And in that case, you might not want to be in the streets of the Capitol after all.

Right when you leave the train station, there’s a giant dumpster waiting for the people leaving the tunnel. They’re forced to give up their weapons so that they can pass into the team of medics that are waiting. As you get closer, you’re able to see that there’s no struggle. Most give up their weapons without a fight, but some are a little hesitant to do so.

You and the camera crew pass by it easily, none of you are holding a significant weapon, and if you are, you’re all rebels anyway. They’re not worried about you guys turning on them, it’s more like the newly rebels that are just coming out of the tunnel.

Past all the disarming, is the group of medics that wait for everyone who makes it past the tunnel. It takes a bit for you and the camera crew to get through the dense crowd that only gets bigger. Just before you break the last line of people, you can hear the train’s horn, warning everyone that it’s coming.

Then, you get through.

Waiting on the other side of the crowd is Lyme, with a particularly impressed look on her face.

“Maybe we should have sent you in, initially.” Lyme says, “You did it effortlessly.”

“If any of you had bothered to tell me before sending Katniss in, I would have told you it was a bad idea.” You take a look behind you, “And by the way, this is a perfect example of what you should do when it comes to the Capitol citizens.”

“Want to be put in charge of that?” Lyme offers.

Your head whips towards her, “I will not play devil's advocate for them. That’s your fucking problem to sort.”

“It was just an offer.” Lyme says, but you’re already leaving towards the justice building again. Lyme’s quite taller than you, so it takes basically no effort when it comes to catching up with you, “While you were gone, Coin had someone flown in.”

You can’t help but let out a snort, “Oh, whoever should that be?”

After what you said to Coin, it’s no surprise to you. She would pull some bullshit like this to make you angry. It’s just her little form of payback.

“He’s waiting at your house.”

You look at her, “You had him escorted to my house?”

“He wouldn’t shut up about it. Gave him basic instructions to get to victor’s village, and then told him yours is the only one that hasn’t been touched.”

“Speaking of which, why is that?” you fix a curl that’s fallen into your face.

“Honestly, no clue.” Lyme says, “Good luck with Finnick.”

“Right.”

Lyme and the camera crew break off when you reach the justice building. From there, one single person brings you as far as they’re allowed to go into the town part of District Two, and then they head back to where they had been standing before you stumbled along.

You’re nearly home when your feet start to ache from the heels. And if it weren’t for the fact that the dirt is mixed in with glass, you might have taken the heels right off and walked barefoot the rest of the way. Before the rebellion, you definitely would have done that. Regardless of how people would feel about it.

Victor’s village still looks shitty, there’s not much to expect from it in the first place. It’s not like it’s going to have changed in the past hour or two. Although, you thought that you might find Finnick poking around in the abandoned, charcoal black houses.

Through the first arch and into the second reveals your perfect house. The door is shut--so it looks like Finnick knows his manners--and you don’t waste time going inside.

Swinging the door open, you make a point to slam it shut when you get inside. You don’t even move from the doorway before you’re tearing the heels off your feet, massaging them one at a time. Then, you head upstairs to your room.

If Finnick wants to speak, Finnick can come and find you. He invited himself to District Two, he was able to find your house, he’ll be able to find you.

Or rather, the other way around.

Finnick’s lounging on your bed when you walk in. In his hand he holds a book with your face on it. You can’t help but roll your eyes--that book was forced on you by Snow. He thought it was a good idea to draw in more attraction to you. And unfortunately it worked, and after that, you spent a couple more weeks than you were meant to, inside of the Capitol.

Of course, it ran short when everyone heard about your sour attitude, no matter what time of the day it was. People revoked their… reservations, and you were forced to go home.

“Welcome.” you say bitterly, opening the wardrobe doors and tossing your shoes inside, then you unzip the dress from the back with little to no problem.

“So the friendliness didn’t last long.” Finnick sounds amused, but when you turn to look over your shoulder, you can see that it’s not how he’s feeling. There’s a hint of a scowl on his face, maybe some touch of annoyance.

“Thank god.” you hang the dress up, then you close the wardrobe door and move onto the bathroom.

You tear off everything that you wouldn’t normally wear. The bracelets, earrings, rings. The only thing you leave is the necklace Tanith gave you, otherwise it’s all gone. And as soon as you get into the bathroom, it’s tossed into the jewelry drawer, which is absolute hellfire to sift through.

Finnick follows you to the bathroom, and watches as you remove the makeup, unphased by the fact that you’re half naked again, “Did you actually mean any of it?”

You pause for a moment, “Mean what? What I said to Johanna? Every word, she fucking asked for it. Antagonizing me and all that, she should have seen it coming.”

“The apology.” Finnick clarifies.

“I meant that, yes.” there’s no hesitation.

“That’s all I wanted to know.” he turns and leaves the bathroom.

“So now what?” you call, “You’re going back to District Thirteen?”

Finnick laughs, “Dream on.”

You roll your eyes, “It was worth a shot.”

“Your house smells like shit, by the way.”

“It’s the kitchen, feel free to clean it out if it bothers you that much. I just figured that this house would be blown to bits the second Snow gets a chance because of what I said.”

“Speaking of which.” Finnick comes back, he’s got some clothes for you hanging over his arm, “The front lines?”

You scowl at him a little bit, “Did anyone ever tell you it’s rude to go through someone’s clothes? And yes, the front lines.”

Regardless, you pull on the shorts and shirt after tossing the makeup wipes away. You unpin your hair, letting it all fall into place unnaturally, which causes you to just pull it right back up into a ponytail anyway to keep it out of your face.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t say that.”

You side-eye him, “Let me guess, you’re coming along?”

Finnick smiles, “You know me better than I thought.”

“No, you just have a thing for following me around, so I figured. Just like how Lyme didn’t even have to say your name, and I knew you came.” you grin a little, “How was the party, by the way?”

“Surprisingly boring without you there.”

“You’re saying that I’m entertainment?” you ask.

“The best.” Finnick smiles.

#ilguna #finnick odair #finnick odair imagine #finnick odair fanfic #finnick odair x reader #finnick odair oneshot #finnick odair metanoia #metanoia #metanoia chapter fifteen

87 notes · View notes

retro-rezz-the-est · 4 years

Text

Holiday Spirit (Drew McIntyre/Reader smut)

Summary: Drew hates the holidays. Reader loves them. Reader plans to try and make him love them as much as she does, and maybe some feelings will be discovered along the way...

Word Count: 11,566 (jfc somebody help me this is my longest fic to date)

Warnings: filler, endless piles of mutual pining, oral (female receiving), fingering (female receiving), multiple orgasms, FLUFF, and did I mention that there’s a shit ton of filler in here already?

(A/N: my entry for Day 5 of @toxiicpop’s 25 Days of Chrismuts this year! Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone!)

(A/N #2: I may make a part 2 to this if people want to see that lol ^^;)

(Y/n): your name

“Hey, Drew, look! It’s finally snowing!”

Your smile grew with each passing second as the two of you drew closer to the PC that Saturday morning. The sight of snowflakes falling slowly and hitting the ground below always filled you with a sense of childish joy you only felt around this time of year and even though the sky was dull and grey, your eyes sparkled like diamonds.

You pressed your face against the chilly window, wiping away the fog from the glass with your gloves as Drew looks on from the driver’s seat and scoffs. Everything always looked so pure to you during the winter time: snow covering every inch of the earth, the swift brisk of the coming holiday season flowing through the air, sitting by a warm fire and watching the world go by at night with someone you love…

...this was what you loved the most, and it was only getting started from here.

He rolled his eyes at your enthusiasm, taking his eyes off of you as he pulled the rental into the PC’s parking lot. Right when he parked the car and unlocked the doors, you bounded outside like an eager puppy to greet the cold morning and squealed. With your eyes wide and full of excitement, you giggled as you saw the footprints your feet made in the snow.

Drew was sure that everyone inside could hear how happy you were at the season’s first snow, seeing as you were completely busy with making random snow angels in the parking lot while he exited the rental and moved to the trunk to get your gym bags. He shivered and wrapped his scarf around his neck, you still flat on your back on the ground looking completely blissed out

“Join me down here, Drew! It’s getting lonely here,” you said to him over the rush of the wind, him choosing to ignore you and shutting the trunk with a grunt.

“You’re gonna get hypothermia like that if ya don’t get inside, (Y/n). Ya know that.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, but look around! Even the dullest of places look like a winter wonderland!”

You got up and looked for a fresh spot to mark with a snow angel, finding a large mound and jumping into it not far from the car. You stuck out your tongue to catch the falling snowflakes and you couldn’t seem to feel the chill of the outside through your leggings but he rolled his eyes again, turning away from you and starting to walk towards the PC’s doors.

“If ya wanna stay out here and freeze half to death, then fine. Don’t call me when you’re stuck at home with a hell of a fever.”

You sat up, shaking the snow and the frost out of your hat and hair. “Um, excuse me? As your best and only friend, you are obligated by law to stay by my side no matter...what?”

You looked around the near empty lot, the falling snow blurring the world around you just a bit. All you could see were you and the few cars that littered the space in front of the PC, but no Drew in sight. You eventually saw him at the building’s doors with both of your gym bags over his shoulders and pushing the door open for himself, turning to look at you before letting himself inside.

“Hey, wait up!” you yelled, fixing your hat and your gloves and standing to run after him, hearing him chuckle under his breath as you manage to catch the door before it closes on you.

The audacity of this dude! you think, feeling a shiver run down your spine as you glare down the Scotsman and follow him inside to be greeted by walls lined with shiny paper stars, Christmas lights and garlands.

Various Superstars passed you by and wished you both happy holidays, and the look of distaste was clear on Drew’s face when you entered the gym itself and heard the music softly playing from the speakers above. You sighed when you reached the lockers and began to pull of your large jacket and your gloves.

“Don’t you just love this, Drew?”

“What’re ya talkin’ about, lass? The snow or in here?”

“All of it!,” you reply, taking your bag from his shoulder and tugging down your gym shirt. “Everyone and everything’s so filled with the holiday spirit and you can see it everywhere you go! Everything’s so festive and fun and…! I just love it!”

“Eh, not a fan of all this Christmas crap,” he told you as he hung up his jacket and turned to you. “I find it all kind of annoying, if I’m being honest.”

Wait, what?!

“Huh? How could you not like Christmas?! It’s literally the best holiday of the year!”

“Oh, come on,” he retorted, slinging his bag back over his shoulder and heading over to one of the empty training rings nearby. “Everythin’s so in your face and so flashy, and those annoying fuckin’ songs make me want to drive a nail through my damn skull.”

You continued to stare at him slack jawed as you followed him to the ring, climbing up the stairs and under the ring ropes. Is he for real?

“And besides, I have no one to even-”

“To what? No one to what, Drew?”

He stayed silent, choosing to cross his arms and eye you dangerously. “Nothing. I just don’t like it, okay? Just leave it at that an’ stop pressin’ me about it.”

“Hey, Drew, I was only asking as your friend. I’m not really that mad about it…”

“It’s alright, lass,” he said, sighing deeply and hopping up to roll underneath the ropes. “I jus’ don’t have any good memories that come with the winter season, is all.”

He got up and his chest pressed against yours, pushing you against the turnbuckle and bracing his arms on the ropes next to you. “Ya know you’re my friend, right, (Y/n)?”

“I-I know, Drew,” you told him as you felt a flush rise up your neck and hit your ears. “And as your best friend, I’m gonna make sure you have the best holiday season you’ve ever had.”

You pointed your finger at him, shoving it into his chest and pushing him back as you looked into his rolling eyes. “That’s my goal right now. And besides, with Christmas right around the corner, I can plan the perfect holiday journey for us to endure!”

Drew palmed his forehead and shook his head, smirking slightly when he saw how you lit up and how your mind started to immediately get to work on your elaborate plan.

It was almost kinda cute…

Dear God, what’d I get myself into?

“Now come on, you big lug,” you said, snapping him out of his slight daze. “I did promise you when you picked me up that I would kick your ass once we got here. But, I’m not gonna let me finally beating you distract me from my plan!”

His eyes darkened and he crouched in his corner, getting ready to spar. “We’ll see about that one, (Y/n).”

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

Your body still hurt from sparring with Drew the other day, and you kept groaning as you felt your back continuously creak and your joints pop from how hard he pushed you. You couldn’t help yourself, you were trying to focus on multiple things at once!

“Ha! Ya call that a pin, (Y/n)! I’ve seen jobbers do better than that!”

“Excuse me, sir,” you huffed, pushing yourself off of the ground after he shoved you off and into the ropes, “ but I had to deal with pinning your top heavy ass for a whole three seconds! Give me some credit here!”

He laughed at your complaint, rolling over and pushing himself up to help you out. “Ya have to learn how to pin opponents a hell of a lot bigger than you, lass. Not everyone ya face is gonna be a skinny twig like yourself.”

You gasped as you furrowed your brows and clenched your fists. “Skinny? Twig?! I’ll show you what this “twig” is made up of, Drew!”

Reaching forward, you shoved him as hard as you could, only making him stumble back a few steps. He laughed again and puffed out his chest to make himself seem even larger. Bouncing back against the ropes, you launched yourself in his direction and ducked as he crouched and held his arms out to catch you.

Catch you with his strong arms…his thick, warm arms that you love wrapped around you to hold and comfort you whenever you’re sad…arms that shine under the stage lights whenever he’s out competing in the ring…

Your mind began to drift further and further until you were hoisted into the air by the Scotsman and slammed onto the mat back first, the shock running up your spine and shaking you to your core as his grip remained tight on your waist. You felt the air leaving your lungs at that moment, from how hard you hit the mat to how close Drew’s body was to yours.

“Are ya alright, lass? I didn’t mean t’ slam ya down that hard. Is your head okay?”

You opened your eyes and pressed a hand to your forehead, trying to calm the pounding from inside as you felt the heat of his palm rest against your neck. His chest was nearly touching your own, his body heat seeming to surround you like a calming aura.

You were barely registering his question, more confused about how you let yourself get distracted by him as he grabbed your other hand and pulled you up. “No, I-I’m fine, Drew. just lost my focus a bit.” Your face was probably beaming red as you spoke, but he paid no mind to it.

“Well, if you’re sure,” he says as he moves to the opposite side of the ring. You run a hand over your face and sigh, quickly darting your eyes away from his when he meets your gaze.

Don’t think about his arms, don’t think about him, just concentrate on pinning him, you repeated in your mind. The two of you began circling each other again, but the thought of him and his body being so close to yours kept slipping into your head…

“Hello, (Y/n)? We’re talking to you here!”

Your eyes snapped open and you jerked forward, bumping against your table and nearly spilling your coffee onto the floor. “Wha-? What happened?”

“Um, what happened is that you spaced out again!” Peyton yelled, crossing her arms and huffing. “For, like, the third time already!”

“Yeah, what gives, (Y/n)?” Billie added, crossing her arms as well.

The three of you sat in the arena’s backstage in catering awaiting your upcoming matches, chatting about the daily gossip and mentally preparing to go out into the Universe as was your ritual since you first arrived on Raw. The two Australian women stared daggers into your skin as you began sweating bullets in front of them.

“N-Nothing, guys. I’ve just been thinking about a small problem I’ve been having lately, that’s it,” you said as you readjusted yourself and moved to take a sip of your drink.

“Well, is that “small problem” a certain broad chested, intimidating, six-foot-five Scottish man we’ve been seeing you hanging out with for the past few months?”

Cup halfway to your mouth, you stared at the two women slack jawed and eyes wide. They had their elbows on the table with their hands folded underneath their chins, eagerly waiting for any gossip and juicy details about your relationship with the Scottish Psychopath.

“I’ve told you this many a time before, ladies, me and Drew are just friends. We’ve known each other for years now, and I’m basically like a little sister to him. Nothing more, nothing less. So don’t get your hopes up, you’re not getting any tea today.”

They both collectively pouted, Peyton reaching for her makeup bag to reapply her lipstick and Billie continuing to press you about the topic at hand.

“Excuse me? The two of you are not ‘just friends’! Have you seen the way he looks at you, (Y/n)?! That man’s more in love with you than anything!”

You had to admit, you did sort of feel something for the man when the two of you first met and became friends when you signed with WWE a few months back but if you told them, you’d never hear the end of it. Just thinking about how he treated you differently than the other talent and how he got on them for hazing you sped up your incoming friendship immensely. He was always so kind to you, so sweet, so protective…

Your mind started to wander again and you shook your head to clear your thoughts, rolling your eyes at the black haired Australian and setting down your coffee. “Whatever, Billie. I was just thinking about…the holiday party this weekend. You know, the one Steph’s hosting?”

The entire idea of the party was completely new to all of you, since Stephani and Hunter had only just come up with the concept about a week ago. They had rented out a space nearby to host it so you wouldn’t have to fly somewhere to go and every brand was invited to come, the entire purpose of it being to eliminate the final tensions still lingering from NXT’s victory at Survivor Series.

Everyone had been called to Vince’s office a few days prior, and he had everyone draw the name of someone on another brand from a large bowl. Once all the names had been picked, he announced that you had to purchase a gift for that person “in the spirit of the season,'' he had said in his haughty voice.

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Who’s name did ya pick, Billie?” Peyton asked, tossing her lipstick back in her bag and fixing her gaze on her tag team partner.

“I got Mia Yim’s name on my paper. Oh, maybe I’ll get her a new snapback!”

The blonde squealed, clutching her friend’s hands and smiling for her. “I’m so happy for you, love! Wish I could’ve gotten someone like that. I ended up getting…that Lars guy…”

You all collectively shuddered at the sound of his name, the three of you silently deciding to not voice your opinions about the man in public. She turned to you and let go og Billie, lamming her hands down on the table. “So, who did you get, (Y/n)?”

You could feel the intensity of their stares on you when they turned back to you and it scared you to bits. “Well, I originally had picked out Sasha’s name but with me only being here for a little while, I don’t really know her very well and I frankly don’t want to. She intimidates the living hell out of me.”

“So…?”

“So, I heard from someone that Bayley got the person that I wanted and I traded names with her so she’d get her friend, plain and simple. I know it went against the rules, but she didn’t seem to mind and I didn’t either. Although, she did throw me a dirty look when I approached her, but she does that to everyone now so I left it alone.”

The two women in front of you were visibly vibrating, their smiles growing wide with joy and their eyes widening. “She gave you Drew’s name, didn’t she?”

You could feel a slight blush creeping up the back of your neck but you willed it down as you nodded and they squealed once again.

“Oh my gosh, love, I knew it! That’s why you’ve been so distracted today. You’ve been wondering about what to get him!”

“I’ve already gotten him what I thought would be nice. I’m just thinking about whether he’ll like it or not.” Along with a few other things as well. “I’m trying to get him to like the holidays and Christmas for what they truly are: a time where you can celebrate the best of times with your loved ones and shower them in things that make you think of that person and…what? What are the two of you staring at?”

“We,” Billie whispered, blocking her mouth with the side of her hand, “are looking at that.”

You turned and followed their eyes to see Drew standing in the room’s doorway, dressed in all black with his body blocking the entrance as his eyes scanned for you. You could hear Billie and Peyton sigh dreamily, probably with their heads in their hands and hearts in their eyes as he waved you over, the shirt he was wearing riding up on him and exposing a line of skin.

The tips of your ears tinged red as you gathered your things and said goodbye to your two friends, slowly making your way over to McIntyre with a shy smile on your face.

“Hey, Drew. What’re you doing here? You don’t have a match tonight,” you asked, giving him a quick side hug before playfully shoving him aside to leave the room. He followed you with his hands in his pockets, eyes drifting down your neck and back before resting on your ass.

“I decided to come an’ check on you and how you were doin’, lass. Is your neck still hurtin’ ya? Anything creakin’ or whatever?”

A hand came up to run its rough palm over the heated skin of your neck while the other wrapped itself around your waist to feel your spine. He tilted your head to get a good look at you and your eyes lolled closed at the soothing warmth that they brought with them, relaxing in his grip before quickly escaping and preventing yourself from looking like a freshly picked tomato.

“I-I’m fine, Drew, you don’t need to baby me anymore. Me and Billie and Peyton were just talking about Steph’s party that she’s making all of us go to this weekend.”

His brows furrowed and he sighed, shaking his head. “When have I told ‘em… I told her to her damn face that I didn’t want t’ go to that stupid shit they planned and here she is forcin’ all of us ‘in the spirit of the season’”. Makes me sick.”

He looked down at you with a clear distaste in his eyes, making you feel small underneath them. “I s’pose you’re gonna ask me about who’s name I picked now, aren’t ya?”

“Not really, but since you brought it up…?”

The Scotsman groaned deeply, rolling his eyes and moving forwards. He eventually stopped with you pressed against a nearby wall and an arm resting above your head. “Since I’m not th’ biggest fan of this holiday crap, I didn’t even plan on goin’ to her shitty party. Was just plannin’ on staying home and gettin’ piss drunk with you for the weekend.”

He smiled when he said that, nudging you with his shoulder as you smiled and “awww-ed” out loud. “So when Steph forced me to head out to the name pickin’ whatever, I drew Strowman’s name. I was fine with it, at first, was gonna get him a new shirt an’ some clippers for that damn beard o’ his. But, Dunne had your name and didn’t know what to get you, (Y/n), so we traded.”

Oh god, don’t think about how close he is, you told yourself as he leaned down to whisper in your ear to not tell anyone his secret. One of his hands was still attached to your waist, occasionally massaging and squeezing the skin near your spine. Is he doing this on purpose?

You looked into his eyes and a small flash of green and red above you had caught your eye. “Uh, Drew? Has that always been there?”

“Has what always been…oh.”

The two of you looked up to see a small sprig of mistletoe hanging above you, the leaves shiny and fresh and smelling like Christmas. Although it may be small, the two of you knew what it meant. Neither of you wanted to make the first move, so you both just awkwardly stood there nearly chest to chest as a weight fell upon you.

“H-How did that g-get here, huh? Must be weird, right, Drew?” you asked, your palms beginning to sweat as he tore the plant down from its position on the wall and tossing it into his pocket.

“It is really fuckin’ weird, yeah. Listen, I know ya have a match later tonight so I’ll jus’ get out of your-”

He started to move away from you, to take his hands off of you, to remove himself from you and you just couldn’t have that’ you felt something rise in your mind that gave you a flash of both bravery and stupidity, and you can’t decide which one made you do what you just did.

Welp, it’s tradition, so why not give it a try?

Your hands swiftly rise to cup his jawline before he could get too far, running your thumbs over the hair that laid in his chin and bringing him back down to your height to plant a hard kiss smack dab on his lips. You had to inch up on your toes to reach him all the way and it was worth it to hear his muffled gasp as your lips claimed his in that hallway.

His eyes went wide with surprise as the second you kissed him, his brain ended up frying. What was he supposed to say when one of his only friends was kissing him: to lay off and leave him alone? He couldn’t bear to do that to you, to hurt your feelings like that.

So, he lowered his hands back down to your waist and kept you planted there, pulling you as close to him as you could get. Your lips were so soft on his, so perfectly shaped to fit him and any other needs you may sate in the future…

Wait, what?

Meanwhile on your end, you were physically shaking and you were pretty sure he could feel it too. You could feel him gripping your shirt and tugging you closer, tilting his head to claim more of your mouth for himself and surrounding you and your every orifice with him. The two of you parted after a while, Drew panting and your eyes glassy from how hard you shut them when you went in for the kiss.

A part of you hoped that even if he had a crappy Christmas that he would still count that moment - that kiss - as a good memory. You were friends - best friends - but you had to take your chance, you just had to…right?

“I...I…” You couldn’t even speak. You could still feel the warmth of his hands on your body, even after he yanked them away like your body was a hot stove. He managed to steal your breath away (literally) and had you stuttering and stumbling over your words like a damn schoolgirl.

“I, um...You know, it’s tradition! It’s in the spirit of the season, like one of those things you do during these times that you don’t like because you don’t like Christmas and literally anything that has to do with it so why did I actually kiss you? I’m n-not really sure about that but I know I must be talking off your ear right now s-so I’m just gonna head back to the women’s locker room and prep for my match tonight, okay? Okay, good.”

Your mouth would not stop moving for the life of you as your face grew dark with embarrassment. You even slapped a hand over your mouth (god damn it, it even smells like his aftershave) to stop yourself from talking. Sidestepping him, you said - albeit muffled - goodbye to him and tried to cover your face with your free hand as you quickly walked away from the situation you made, leaving behind a stunned Drew and a whole lot of unanswered questions.

He stood there for a while, leaning up against the wall and watching you go while thumbing the mistletoe in his pocket and touching his lips with his free hand. The plant felt weird in his pocket but all he could think about was you and how determined you seemed.

Was this a part of your plan, the one you mentioned back at the PC? The one about how you’d make him love the holiday season?

Well, if that’s how you’re gonna do it then by all means, go ahead, (Y/n). I certainly wouldn’t mind...

His head snapped up immediately. Why the hell…? Why did that just pop into his head? Fucking hell, you’re his best friend! Granted, you’re his only friend, but still! He shouldn’t be thinking about his friend like that! He shouldn’t be thinking about his friend’s perfect mouth and how well it fit with him, about how desperate and headstrong you were when you went in for the kiss, about how warm and soft your body was when he held you close in his hands…

…damn it.

Damn everything and everyone in this fucking building, he thought, kicking himself off the wall and walking in the direction opposite of you. He could see Owens out of the corner of his eye, smirking like the cat who just got the cream as he clearly watched the entirety of that incident play out.

Shooting him a glare and sneering, Drew could hear the other man laugh out loud as he started walking to who-knows-where in the arena, wanting to clear his head of all these thoughts he’s been repressing for months and months now.

Fucking hell, he’s got it bad for you now.

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

The week passed by all too quickly for either of your likings, days that felt like hours seeming to fly through the wind as the kiss replayed in your minds over and over again. Even after you managed to persuade Drew to get out of his lace and come to Steph’s holiday party with you, you still felt a flush rise all through your body.

He showed up at your door that Saturday afternoon and waited in the rental, looking to the side and seeing you come out with two different colored paper bags in hand. You set them in the trunk before sliding in next to him on the passenger side, refusing to meet his eyes at any cost.

“What’re in the bags, (Y/n)? Looks like you’re preparin’ for holiday war back there.”

“Oh, shut up,” you chided, smiling as you fastened your seatbelt and he pulled out onto the road. “They’re for tonight, you big lug. And even if I was, you still wouldn’t be impressed since you hate everything the world hates that’s festive-themed.”

He laughed, holding his gut with one hand and filling the space of the car with warmth. “Aye, you’re right about that one, lass.”

“Where’s your gift, though? I hope you’re not planning on giving me nothing for the party.”

“Well, you’ll see…”

The two of you were trying to remain comfortable around each other as you drove to the party and parked the car, but there were still many underlying feelings lingering beneath the surface. You both had refused to acknowledge the kiss in the hallway, choosing to act as if it had never happened rather than face your feelings head-on like grown adults.

It started to snow halfway through your drive so the ground had already gotten a soft, white layer of the stuff when Drew helped you out of the rental and went for your bags. You felt snowflakes brush against your skin and fall into your hair, watching as the sun began to dip below the horizon.

You heard him rustle through one of your bags behind you, and you swiftly moved to take both away from him. “Not today, you nosy bastard! You have to be patient and wait like a good little boy.”

The look he gave you was dark and menacing, and he ripped off his hat and shoved it into his jacket pocket. “But, what if I don’t want to be good? What if I want to be bad this year? What’ll ya do then, (Y/n)?”

He backed you up and had you pressed against the side of the car, the puffs of air from your heavy breathing clouding around your face and fading to nothing. You still had your bags in your hands, and you were so very close to dropping them to the ground right then and there.

But, he let up after a few seconds, laughing and teasing you about how damn easy it was to rile you up nowadays. You started grumbling this time, saying how you’d get him back for that soon. The two of you walked to the door and handed in your invites, you being allowed to head inside after taking off your jacket and leaving it in the coat check but Drew not being able to.

“Did I forget to tell you that you had to wear at least one thing holiday themed in order to enter? My bad, it just happens that-”

“-that I can get th’ fuck out of here and go back to sleep.”

“-that my mom finished making you a Christmas sweater a few weeks ago and gave it to me when I went back home. And she made it especially for you, Drew!”

Fuckin’ hell, Drew thought drearily as you pulled out the red monstrosity. You were right when you said it was made for him, but that didn’t mean that it was made for him. The knit pullover sweater was covered in small white pom-poms and knitted snowflakes, small flecks of glitter dotting the hem as “Have A Happy Claymore Christmas!” was spelt out across the chest.

Needless to say, he hated it. He absolutely hated it.

But, he saw your face and how bright your eyes became when you pulled it out of the first bag. It would break your heart if he said no, and he would never hurt your feelings like that…

“...Fine, I’ll wear the damn thing,” he mumbled, rolling his eyes lightly when you squealed and jumped up and down, hugging him and telling him to take off his jacket so he could put it on.

Somehow, without knowing his exact measurements at all, your mother managed to make the thing fit his thick bodied frame perfectly. He looked so grumpy in it, frowning and furrowing his brows when you cooed about how cute he looked.

“Can we just get this over with already?”

“Absolutely the hell not. We have got to show this to everyone else back there before we do so. Come on!”

You start pulling on his arm with your free hand and you mostly just drag him down the hallway to where you could hear music playing. His feet were planted firmly into the ground like that of a child, but he secretly loved how enthusiastic and happy you were to parade him around.

You wore a cheesy holiday sweater of your own, this one green with fake holiday lights circling the entire thing and small bells scattered along the front. There was a reindeer resting on a hill of glittery snow on the front, and he couldn’t help but notice how cute you looked in it.

It would look even cuter on our floor, wouldn’t it?

He growled at his sudden thought, pushing it away just as easily as you pushed open the door to a wide array of wrestlers cheering upon your arrival. There were several groups from different brands mingling and talking and seemingly having a good time. You could see the Street Profits manning the bar for the night and Kofi on food duty, cheering on Big E as he and Otis went head-to-head in a Christmas cookie eating competition.

There were a few couples that you could spot dotting the walls near the tree, taking cute pictures next to it and loving their lovers in holiday gear. Your heart ached when you saw that. You needed someone to do that with. You needed someone, but not now. Now was the time for Christmas holiday fun and enjoying the presence of your friends and your work family.

You spotted Billie and Peyton chatting it up with Kevin in a corner and you waved to them, separating from Drew and rushing over to them to give your girls hugs. They each had on matching reindeer antler headbands, with Kevin just wrapping a simple striped scarf around his neck.

“Before you speak, Kevin told us everything and no, he hasn’t told anyone else yet and he only told us because he knows that we know you sorta well and he just had to get it off his chest or else-”

“Or else what, Peyton? What are you guys talking about?”

Billie cleared her throat and her eyes zipped behind you. You already knew who she was eyeing because when you left to go meet them, he’d turned on his heel and made his way to the bar, picking at the cotton puffs on his sweater.

You snapped your head towards Owens, who was casually sipping his drink as he leaned against the wall. “You guys are talking about me and Drew, aren’t you? But nothing’s happened to us this…week…”

Did he somehow know about the…?

“How in the hell did you find out?! There was no one except us in that damn hallway, you creep!”

He started chuckling, downing his drink and setting the empty glass on a nearby table. “I was waiting for someone nearby and I just happened to watch you kiss the hell out of that Scottish bastard you call a friend.”

“But, why would you tell them? Why would they want to know?”

“Because I-”

“We, Kev,” Billie interrupted.

“Fine. We are tired of seeing you two flit around the inevitable. Everyone here can see it, Billie and Peyton can definitely see it. Hell, even I can, and I wasn’t even invested in this little love saga of yours until a few days ago.”

“Look, (Y/n),” Peyton said slowly after a few seconds of awkward silence, “I know you don’t want our help, but come on! The two of you are clearly in love with each other!”

You didn’t want to act on your feelings yet; you didn’t want to ruin what you already had with McIntyre because of your dumb feelings for him. You just had to push them down and pray that they would diminish...eventually.

“I, um…I’m gonna go, okay? Promise I’ll meet you guys back here in a bit,” you told them, shooting daggers at Kevin before heading to the bar and sitting down on the stool next to Drew’s. He leaned back against the table and casually watched as the party went on. Turning his head, he met your gaze and gave you a smile, a stark difference to how hard he was glaring at everyone else.

“So, what brings ya over to my little corner of solitude, (Y/n)?”

“Nothing much,” you answered. “Just figured that you seemed lonely all by yourself over here. Hope I wasn’t interrupting anything.”

“You didn’t. I was just thinking about...things.”

Yeah, things that I’d love to do to you.

He cleared his throat and turned to down his shot, coming back around to see your body turned to him with your elbows resting on your knees. “What kind of things, Drew?”

“Things for me to know and for you to not,” he stated.

You pouted at him, and you were almost certain that you could see a shiver roll down his spine. “Fine, you meanie. But I’ll get something out of you!”

The two of you shared a laugh and you swiveled around in your seat to order yourself a rum and coke. Making conversation with anyone who happened to pass by was what your night mostly consisted of, along with you leaving the bar from time to time to dance with Peyton and Billie and decorating holiday cookies for you to absolutely consume later.

All the while, Drew watched you. He watched you interact with everyone with a skill and ease he had yet to master. He saw how carefree and in love you were with everything, asking him to get up from the bar for once and enjoy this with you. He could see it in your eyes, and he could see how all the horribly cheesy decorations and stars and the red/green confetti littering the ground brought a light to your eyes and a smile to your face.

The night was slowly beginning to wind down and you sat back with him, nursing your second drink and resting your head on his shoulder. This is nice, you thought, looking up at Drew’s side profile. It would be nice to have this every day…

“Hey, lass?”

“Yeah?” you asked, snapping out of your daze. “What is it?”

He paused and began to rub his palms together. “I just…I just wanted to talk to you about-”

“Hey, look! It’s Vince! I guess it’s time, then.”

The man in question wore a deep grey suit to match his greying hair and had his two children and Hunter beside him, all looking smug as they stared out at everyone.

“Are you all having fun tonight?” Vince asked, taking a mic from Steph as the room applauded him. His laugh was dry as he continued.

"As it is the season of giving and family, all of us up here wanted to make sure that you all down there could enjoy this time of year with your WWE family. And as you should know, you all had chosen the name of someone who you were required to purchase a gift for to show that there was no more bad blood lingering in the cracks anymore."

"Well, my friends," Shane continued, smiling, "the time is right and the time is now. Go forth and find your assigned person and bless them with an offering of companionship between brands."

There was a loud rustling that erupted throughout the room, with people reaching for their wrapped boxes and decorated bags and moving around to find their gift receivee. You turned back to Drew and held onto his hand, smiling widely as your hands began to shake.

"Okay, so do you really want to know what's in the bag?"

"Since you seemed so protective over it earlier, yeah," he responded as he rested his elbows on the bar.

"Well, I was so defensive and "protective" over it because…because it was for you."

Huh?

"I may have traded names with a certain Smackdown Women's Champion to get yours and I know it's kind of unethical and went against the rules a bit since I got something for someone on the same brand as me, but you're my friend and I think you're going to like what I got you."

"Besides, this is only a piece of my "Make Drew Love Christmas" plan, you know," you added, laughing when Drew tilted his head back and groaned. Reaching next to you, you plucked the shiny red and white striped bag off the floor gently and held your arm out to him, the limb shaking from anticipation.

He took it from you and stood, resting it on his stool as you watched impatiently with your hands folded in your lap. Moving the annoying tissue paper out of the way, he recognized two small things at the bottom of the bag and a larger item resting on the side of the bag. The first thing he pulled out was a small black box and inside laid a sleek black and silver watch. He took it out and turned it around, seeing his initials engraved on the back of it and smiling.

"You said that you needed a new watch after Seth crushed it under his foot after that one segment where he attacked you backstage, so I pulled a few strings a few months ago to called up an old friend and asked him for a favor."

His brows raised and he smiled again. God damn, that smile is gonna end up killing me someday, you thought as you watched him try it on. He told you that he loved it, and you were grateful that at least one of the gifts you got had fit his standards.

He moved onto the next one, setting the now empty box back inside the bag and pulling out a cream colored mug with a picture of the two of you on it. He had taken you out to an amusement park or your birthday, and you've never felt more like a child. You two are snacks until you were fit to burst and went on nearly every ride, saving the large rollercoaster for last. The cameras on the ride had snapped pictures of you guys and out of all of them, you decided to choose the silliest fucking one to make into a mug.

The one you picked had Drew's hair flying into his face as you went over the first drop. You were screaming with joy and him out of sheer terror as you had your arms raised and your eyes closed. His eyes were as big as saucers as he clung to the guard that covered his chest for dear life, silently praying that this would be over soon.

“I remember that day, lass. I almost threw up all of my lunch after we got off that monstrosity, and you kept laughing at me even though you felt the exact same way.”

“That’s why I chose this pic to put on it,” you explained, a rush of heat flooding your cheeks as he looked back down at you. “That day was really special for me, and I wanted to commemorate the best part of that day for you. Plus, I know you like drinking coffee so it’s perfect for that as well!”

He chuckled, rumbling his chest as he set the mug back down in the bag gently and moved to pick up the framed item lingering at the side of the bag. This was the one you were the most worried about. You didn’t know how he would react to it, if he would like it or absolutely despise it, and it was eating you up inside.

He picked it up and was immediately confused by what it was. The dark wooden frame was smooth, only about a foot wide and inside of it, a wrestling ticket back from 2011. It was bent and crumpled at the ends but remained intact when he saw the writing on it, his eyes went wide.

“(Y/n)? Is this…?”

“Yeah,” you answered. “That’s the ticket I bought for my first ever WWE show way back when. It was the first time I saw you perform live and in-person, and watching you in that ring that night was what made me want to pursue a wrestling career and work here in the first place.”

Despite the noise of people talking and wrapping being torn around him, he couldn’t hear any of it besides you. He remembered seeing you that night, wearing a Stone Cold tee and cheering him on energetically from the front row. You were so enthusiastic that night, and he remembered winking at you and how hard you screamed when he did that.

That night was the first time he ever saw you and your bright smile that would be forever ingrained in his head.

It was the first time he had fallen in love at first sight…

Meanwhile, you stood and stretched your legs, waiting for some kind of response from him. He just stood there in silence, holding the frame in both hands and pondering about who-the-hell-knows. Every passing second made your heart grow heavy and a feeling of dread washed over you.

“So...do you like them? I wanted to get you things that symbolized us and out friendship and how the holidays are more than material possessions, and how they’re about spending time with the people you love and…”

“...and you’re not even listening to me,” you murmur, peeling your eyes away from his face and dropping them to the floor. He was still shocked about how much thought and effort you put into these, for him of all people. But when he looked back at you, he could sense sadness wafting off of you in droves.

“Lass? Are ya okay? Is there something wrong?”

“No, nothing’s wrong, Drew,” you replied. You began picking at the fluff of your sweater, avoiding his gaze as more and more dread covered you like a thick blanket. “I think I’m gonna just step outside for a little bit, okay? I need to clear my head…”

You stepped around him and faintly smiled, and you could hear the thud of his footsteps as he followed you outside with the bag dangling from the crook of his arm. Moving quicker, you tried to evade him as you made it through the twin doors and attempted to close them on him, but he shoved his foot in between them and pried it open.

You tugged down the sleeves of your sweater and sniffed, feeling tears form in your eyes. You pressed yourself against the wall closest to the doors and turned away when he called your name.

“Look, I know my gifts are bad, I get it! You don’t have to come out here and rib me about it just because you didn’t get me anythin-”

You rubbed your eyes with the palms of your hands and stopped when you heard his footsteps in front of you. When you looked up, there stood Drew in all his glory, glowering down at you with his steely eyes. His stare was menacing enough, and you’ve never felt as small as you did then as he placed your gift bag next to you. He was gentle with you, taking your hands away from your face with one hand and resting the other at the base of your neck.

“Stop talkin’, will ya?” he asked as he looked at you - really looked at you then - and pulled you in for a harsh yet tender kiss, a small muffled sound of surprise coming from your lips.

He pulled you in close, just like he did in the hallway that past Monday, and tilted your head back to get better access to your mouth. You had to rise up on your toes in order to meet him halfway, but it was more than fucking worth it. The fact that he had rendered you speechless with a simple kiss just proved your doubts wrong, and that there was something more going on between the two of you…

His hand curled around your neck and you sighed, feeling his hand leave your wrists and move to your waist. This was…nice, the feeling of his lips on yours. That kiss in the hallway was good, but this? This was a level of passion you have yet to see come from him.

Huh, maybe Billie and Peyton were right, you thought as the two of you parted, you panting with your lips parted.

“I didn’t have anyone to spend times like these with.”

“What?” you asked, still dazed from him kissing you.

“Back at the PC, I was gonna say that I really have anyone to even spend Christmas with. My family wasn’t all for the holidays and I guess some o’ that kinda rubbed off on me too.”

“But now I have someone new to spend the wintertime with, lass,” he continued, stroking your cheek with his thumb and smiling. “It’s you, (Y/n). Always has been.”

“Wha...huh? Drew, what are you saying?”

“‘M saying that…that I’m in love with ya, lass. That’s what my gift to you was for this damn party. I was gonna tell ya how I felt and ask if you felt the same but-”

You grabbed his face with both hands and kissed him deeply, him groaning as he wrapped both arms around your waist. He walked forward and pressed your body farther into the wall as you moaned into his mouth and grasped at his hair. His grip on your hips grew tight when he pushed a leg in between yours and and held you there. You resisted the urge to grind down on his thigh right then and there, but he could sense your urgency as you slipped your tongue into his mouth.

You didn’t want to move at all. You wanted to save and preserve this moment for as long as you could before the world came crashing in. You tilted your head to the side and whimpered when he pulled away from you to catch his breath.

“Fuck, you're so damn cute How long have you known, (Y/n)?”

Your hands drifted from his jaw and down to his neck, looking up at him with cloudy eyes. “F-For a while n-now. It first started when you were fighting for the King of the Ring crown, but I’ve just been putting it off because…I didn’t want what we have - well, had - as friends to end.”

He could see the sadness grow in your eyes, and he was quick to wipe your judgements away. “Nothing could ever make me stop lovin’ you, no matter how that may be. All I ask is if you’d want to try whatever this is an’ take it wherever you want to go.”

You wrapped your arms around his neck and jumped in his hold, nodding and pressing you face into the warm skin and sighing. Chuckling, he held onto you tightly and leaned in close to your ear.

“Because now that I have you, lass,” he whispered sultry and slipped a hand into your back pocket, “I’m not gonna let you go for a second.”

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

The drive back to your place was filled with a flurry of kisses in and outside of the car, with the two of you getting your jackets and him leaning you back against the rental to claim your lips as his own once more to Drew taking your hand in his and kissing the top of it as he drove down the snow-covered road. You kept looking back at him with the lights from the passing cars glittering in your pupils.

You still couldn't believe that this was happening, him and you becoming one as you approached a new chapter in your life. Your friendship had been diminished but in its place, there was a blossoming love ready to bloom.

Everything after that was a blur, from him parking the car and leaving the gift bag in the backseat to him carrying you out bridal-style and you yelling at him to put you down, leading to him saying that he has to “prevent his new woman from slipping on the ice below” to him letting you down so you can unlock your door and step inside.

You shoved off your jacket and moved to push his aside, feeling how hard he was under his jeans as he pinned you to the door. His lips were immediately on yours, his tongue slipping into your mouth as his hands gripping your hips and hoisting you up so you could wrap your legs around his thick waist. Your boots slid off your feet and landed on the ground with a thud, but you didn’t care. All that mattered was feeling him against your body, and you wanted more.

He seemingly sensed your urgency and chuckled deeply, the noise rumbling his chest and making you shiver. “Oh, you devil woman, what’ve ya done to me?”

“I could ask you the same damn thing,” you panted, squealing and wrapping your arms around him when he toed off his shoes and started walking down the hallway to your room. Every now and then, he would stop and hold you against a wall to make out with you, pressing the outline of his cock onto your slit through your jeans.

“We’re literally right here, Drew,” you said breathlessly after he had kissed you for the fifth time. “You can’t just wait a few seconds?”

“No can do, lass. Ya drive me wild, and I jus’ can’t seem to get enough of you.”

He nudged open the door to your room and kicked it shut, running his lips up and down the exposed skin of your neck as he laid you down gently on the bed. You had some fairy lights strung along the walls of the small room, giving it a soft glow as you leaned up on your elbows.

Drew tore off the sweater he was wearing and tossed it on a chair in the corner of your room, and you forgot how good the navy blue tee hugged his frame. He was immediately on you again, slipping a hand into your hair as he laid on your chest.

“Your lips are so soft, so sweet, so mine,” he murmured against your mouth, tangling his tongue with yours as the hand in your hair tilted your head back. You let out a small cry and shut your eyes when his mouth descended down your jaw and down the column of your neck so he could lave away at the skin.

Your hand drifted into his hair and tugged on the strands when you felt the sting of his teeth sinking in, moaning when he began sucking a dark mark into the flesh. Your other hand reached down to squeeze the bulge in his pants, and you smirked as the Scotsman groaned into your neck.

“So you wanna play it like that, huh, lass? Well, let’s play, then.”

The rough pads of his fingers stroked along your scalp and moved farther down, down the back of your neck as he continued to mark it up with various hickies and bites, and down the length of your spine over your sweater. You could feel the weight of his palm through your clothes and it sent shivers through your body.

Tilting his head up with your hand, you looked into his stormy grey eyes and sighed. He had his trademark smirk plastered on his face and combined with the swirls of lust that clouded his vision, he looked like a mighty fine Scottish meal and you were only getting a small taste of it.

The palms of his hands ran down over the front of your sweater and slid underneath the hem, finally grazing bare skin. The contact made you shudder again and he watched you intensely, eyes locked onto yours as he didn’t hit any cloth underneath the fluffy green mess.

“Oh, so you went without a shirt, (Y/n)? Naughty girl, you wanted this tonight,” Drew purred, smiling enough to show teeth when his hands met the soft lace of your bra. His brogue was starting to deepen as quickly as your flush did, and you weren’t sure how much longer you could take this.

His fingers deftly dipped below the cups and his palms swallowed your breasts whole, making you moan softly as he kissed you again. You could feel the tips of his fingers circling your nipples and as they peaked up, he pinched at them and pulled them as far as he could. The twinge of pain that came with that pleasure sent sparks down to your folds, and you just wrapped your arms around him to get as much of it as you could.

He started grinding his bulge into your covered clit, making your eyes go wide and making you throw your head back. Based on what you’ve felt so far, that man was packing some serious punch down there and you could not wait to feel that inside you.

The two of you went on like this for what seemed like hours, slowly bumping and grinding against each other with his hands playing with your breasts and your hands messing with his hair. You could feel your climax rise in your abdomen and you clenched around nothing as you rubbed against the outline of his cock harder and faster than before. You started whimpering in his ear and you would’ve came in your jeans if not for the Scotsman unlocking your legs from his waist and setting you back down on the bed.

Your breath was spotty at best and you were clinging onto your sweater for dear life. This man nearly made you cum from playing with your breasts and pressing himself against you, so you knew you wouldn’t be able to survive the real thing. He rose for a second, grabbing the bottom of his shirt and rolling it off his body in one fell swoop.

You were almost certain that your ovaries had fallen out at that moment.

He was showing off for you and he knew that you knew, flexing his muscles slightly to get your attention. “Like what ya see, lass? Because it’s all for you.”

“Mhm,” you mumbled, too busy eyeing all the lines and scars and veins of his chest, and how the hair that lay on his pecs looked soft enough to touch and nap on. He chuckled at how astounded you were and grabbed your ankles, pulling your body close so they hung off the bed.

Oh god, was he…?

Your breath hitched when you say him unsnap your jeans and zip them down with his teeth as his gaze locked on yours the entire time. He hooked his fingers into the belt loops and pulled down, you scrambling to lift your hips before he asked you to.

Not that you would mind in the first place.

Drew finally rolled the last of them and dropped them next to the bed, your breathing beginning to speed up when he spread your legs and moved his head closer to where he wanted to be.

“Aww, these are some cute panties, lass. Did you wear them just for me?” he asked, trailing his hands up your legs and holding the underside of your thighs.

“Maybe I d-did, maybe I didn’t. You’ll never know.”

“So you’re bein’ a right tease now, aren’t ya? You might wanna stop that before I end up punishin’ ya, and I don’t think you want to see that side of me now, do you?”

He spoke a lot deeper for the final part than he had previously, and that plus the overhearing broadness that was him between your trembling legs was enough for you to shake your head “no”.

“That’s my good girl,” he praised, fueling the fire that laid in your soul. “Now, I know you’ve been waiting for this for a while, so let’s just see…oh, lass…”

You turned your head away and used a hand to bury it in your pillows as he saw the wet spot you had made in your panties and tool a hand from your leg to rub at your slit through them. The moan you let out vibrated the pillow you had covering your face and he was just ecstatic in the inside.

Good, he thought. He wanted to hear you. He wanted the whole fucking world to know what he was doing to you.

Circling your clit through your panties, Drew smiled at how much you were quivering for him. So eager and ready for him when you reached down and put your hands in his hair again, he pulled them to the side and groaned at how wet you were for him.

“Oh, (Y/n), you’re absolutely dripping for me. Look at the mess you’ve made of these panties o’ yours. Guess I’ll just have to clean it up myself…”

You had to smush your face into your pillow and moan when he hooked them around his hand and rested his free hand on your stomach, his thumb brushing and rubbing light circles around your bare clit as he leaned in and kissed your folds. His tongue slipped out of his mouth and ran through them, gathering a bit of your wetness on the appendage and licking straight up to your clit to take the place of his thumb.

This went on for a few minutes, him leisurely tasting you and occasionally parting your folds to circle you entrance and you trying so hard not pull on his hair as hard as you could and reign him into the apex of your thighs.

This went on until he had finally decided to put you out of your misery and give you something. He rested your legs over his shoulders, telling you to cross your ankles behind his neck.

“I want ya to smother me, lass. Fix those legs around my neck and fuckin’ wring me. I want t’ dive into this sweet cunt of yours and absolutely drown in it.” And with that, he spread your folds with his fingers and drove his tongue into you, making your scream into your pillow.

Yes, yes, yes! you chanted mentally as he used his other hand to hold your hips down. He lapped at the wetness that lingered on your inner thighs and around your lips before plunging his tongue back in. The hand in his hair began tugging and tugging, silently demanding more and more of what this was. His nose brushed up against your clit and you keened, feeling and hearing him lick up everything you were giving him.

“You’re so fuckin’ sweet, lass,” he panted when he came up to breathe. “I can’t… I can’t seem to get enough of ya…”

He mouthed along your mound and rolled your bud around on his tongue, just loving how squirmy you were due to his actions. It filled him with a sense of pride that he was doing this to you, not some random man who would never show you what true pleasure is.

He saw you remove your head from your pillow prison and he could hear your small cries for more, of “please, Drew, I’m gonna cum if you keep this up.”

“Isn’t that the point, lass? For you to give into the urges and feelings I’m giving ya?”

His tongue dove into you again and made you moan aloud, and you swore you saw the ceiling shake from how loud it was. You could feel the intensity running through your veins, it was lingering beneath the surface and you knew you were going to cum soon but it was too soon. You wanted to experience more of this, more of this sweet feeling he was bestowing upon you.

“You’re holdin’ back on me, (Y/n). I can feel it,” he said, rising from between your legs and leaving you empty. “I can feel your walls clenching down hard on my tongue. Stop denyin’ yourself the pleasure you crave, or else I’m gonna take it for you.”

Now, that got your ass in gear, hearing him speak to you like that with his mouth and his beard glistening with your juices like fresh morning dew. You whimpered, closing your legs back around his head when he moved back down and nearly jolting off of the bed when his tongue returned to your clit.

He went faster this time, moving in tighter circles and lapping at your folds much quicker than before. He pistoned his tongue into you over and over again, keeping eye contact with you as you whiled and struggled in his grip.

“Drew, I’m gonna….I’m gonna….o-oh fuck!”

“That’s it, my sweet lass. Give me everything you have, and I’ll catch you when you fall.”

You could feel your release rising like the tide and just like it, you felt it tumble over you and send you over the edge, making you arch your hips into his mouth as your juices leaked from you. He moaned, running his hands soothingly up and down your thighs as you shook like a leaf when you returned from your high.

His eyes were still as dark as stormclouds and even though he loved you, he still wasn;t finished with your wet cunt. Not by a long shot.

Drew took a finger and slowly ran it over the seam of your folds, feeling the wetness that stained and dotted the skin. You shivered at the contact as you tried to regulate your breathing. Everything was going all well and good until he started talking again.

“Fuckin’ hell, (Y/n). You came so much, and you’re so wet. I wonder if I just…”

And right as he trained off, he slipped two think fingers past your lips and into you, making you keen as your mind short-circuited. Your vision grew cloudy as his fingers slid deeper and deeper into your wet hole, feeling every bump and part of his fingers rub up against your walls.

“Drew…! T’s too much for me-!” you slurred, your voice spiking when he curled his fingers and brushed them against your g-spot. You reached a hand under your sweater and under your bra cup to pluck at your nipples, them being nice and hard after the euphoric rush he had just given you moments ago.

He chuckled darkly and watched the sweater roll up on your stomach, and he leaned over your mound to kiss and bite at the skin. “I know you can take a few more from me, lass. You’re strong enough to become a wrestler, so you’re strong enough to dish out one more orgasm for me.”

Your skin was flushed dark and you began to feel sweat forming at your brow. He’s really testing me tonight, isn’t he? you thought, squeezing your breast as tightly as you squeezed around his fingers. You could feel the familiar wave of pleasure wash over you, but this time it was different.

This time, it felt more like lightning crackling through your veins and making your entire body feel numb as you continued to take what Drew gave you. He rose from his knees and managed to unzip and slip off his jeans with one hand, leaving himself bare except for the dark grey boxers he wore that seamlessly matched the color of his eyes at that moment.

“Ya see this, lass? Ya see what y’ do to me?” he growled, his chest puffing up as he leaned over you once more. “This is all you, with this sinful fuckin’ body and that devilishly sweet cunt of yours. All o’ that’s bound to get you on my naughty list, (Y/n).”

You whimpered, seeing your fairy lights reflect off of the light sheen of sweat his chest was sporting. The sparks were traveling faster now, moving from your head to your toes and back again in record time and you could feel the pressure building up inside you. The man above you smiled as you shut your eyes and bucked your hips into his hand when he added another finger and brought his thumb around to rub furiously at your clit.

“Don’t you dare hold out on me again, lass. I want you t’ soak my fingers and these pretty little panties of yours even farther. I want you to cum for me.”

He was right in your ear again, straining to fill your cunt with his fingers as his free hand came around you your neck and held it. Looking up at him with parted lips, he swooped down to kiss you just as you crashed. No words came out of your mouth, not a sound, nothing. Just you arching your hips into his hand as his fingers tapped away at your g-spot endlessly and your juices flowed out into his palm.

He kept you grounded throughout, crawling next to you and slowly pulling his fingers out of you after a few moments. You whined at the feeling of emptiness and at how suggestively he licked the fingers he just slid out of you

“Shhh, I’m here, I’m here. You’ll be alright,” he murmured in your ear, curling his chest against your back and cuddling you. You ground your ass against the very prominent bulge he was still sporting through his boxers and he groaned, stilling your hips with a tight squeeze of his hand.

“Not now, (Y/n). You can get a piece of that later. You’re already clockin’ out and you need to rest. We’ll work on your stamina another time.”

You grumbled, “You can’t decide when and how I want to be fucked, sir. That’s my job.”

He laughed, feeling you cuddle more into him as he wrapped his arms around you. “You’re so lucky I love that fiery spunk o’ yours, y’know?”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever, Drew.”

After a brief silence, you finally raised the question you’ve had since the party to him. “So, Drew… ya like the holidays now?”

“Not exactly. But with you, lass, I definitely enjoy it more than I ever did before.”

“Alright, then. Now, go t’ sleep, ya big lug. ‘M goin’ to bed an’ I wanna wake you up tomorrow morning…”

~~ Tag List: @writinglionqueen @writing-reigns @i-have-saracasm @yaint-me @alwaysbenhardysgirl @mother-of-goddesses @missmoxy @gold–gucciempress @mistress-to-the-moon @meishaabae @luciddrreamss @neversatisfiedgirl @the-carter-mob-don @dreamlesswonder86 @shazambitches @drewmcintyreinarefereeoutfit @baronsbelleevangelineon @tacoshu @ladytea19 @candicelerae @sassymox @bambixbliss @lookalivesunshine-x @liamakorn @baddie-bismuth @deepdisireslonging @flawlessglamazon @thegoblin-maiden @justsimplevicky @taryn-dibiase @caramara3 @hardcorewwetrash @shieldgirl18 @speckylynch @thirst-n-bullshit @wrestlersownmyheart @wrestlingfae @wrestlingbabe @theskullgoddess @nerdlife0612 @axelwolf8109 @hardcoresweet45 @culturalrebel @andie01 @sassyspacedust @neversatisfiedgirlfics @nicolewoo @unprettypeony @lilmisscrisis @itsicantbelievethis666 @thatpanpal @nightgirl250 @theworldofotps ~~

Send me an ask/PM if you want to be added to my tag list! :D

#drew mcintyre imagine #drew mcintyre x reader #drew mcintyre smut #drew mcintyre x reader smut #drew mcintyre x reader fanfic #drew mcintyre x reader fanfiction #drew mcintyre fanfic #drew mcintyre fanfiction #wwe fanfic #wwe fanfiction #wwe smut #wwe x reader smut #wwe x reader fanfic #wwe x reader fanfiction #25 days of chrismuts #wwe 25 days of chrismuts #happy holidays everyone!#rezz writes some bullshit

543 notes · View notes

vanityloves · 3 years

Text

anyways im gonna listen to/read the fuckin...rise of the ogre shit bc ive been putting it off 🪓🥴 im gonna put stuff under the cut bc im gonna be TALKING n dont wanna make a new post everytime

piss

ok he performed for 2 pounds 50. which is basically $3 today i- well it was absolutely a power play on his father behalf that also had the promise of money so.

also lol he said Rejection fueled my ambitions which, yknow,, i already knew but it still hurts and i will continue to talk ab it xoxo

AH HELP. "...if ebay had been invented at the time he would've sold me online there and then,"

"man hands on misery to man, yknow"

THEN PROCEEDS TO CONNECT IT TO MUSIC/HIS CAREER. this man said :) the one thing i truly have a passion for. the one thing i fucking like.

oh yeah. bullied by students AND teachers.

oh god hes 42ish during this interview? ok.

the fuckin school bully saying he wouldve acted differently if he knew what hed become

getting called "faceache", then proceeds to call 2d that. jfc he really does just repeat what everyone says. really "treating others how i was treated/how they treat me"

maybe thats why? hes kinder to fans? bc :] you support me and like me so, ok ill return that energy

MURDOC GETTING HIS ASS BEAT N PARADING HOME LIKE WELL I WON BC 'I PISSED YOU OFF' SJDJD

a real rowdy boy. absolute nasty boy. fraud and arson... shooting ppls windows with his air pistols

black sabbath being a huge inspiration? fucking absolutely.

became a satanist n shit at age 16? "it fitted me like a glove" "heavy metal and devil worshipping became my favorite past times" ajsj funny that ppl in trying times often seek religion or following of some sort

heavy metal being his favorite, n loving the clash, while hannibals was more punk based

hannibal breaking murdocs nose for the 2nd and 3rd time for playing his music on hannibals turntable

he doesnt sound that bitter? ab hannibal? he doesnt sound incredibly fond but he talks ab how he got him into a lot of music. so, i imagine they we're a bit closer than i thought?

international baccalaureate in antisocial? anthropology?

MURDOC IS ACTUALLY SMART HE WAS JUST. NOT INTERESTED IN THE SUBJECTS? I GUESS? (also,,, he literally Built cyborg noodle and i think he had a PhD too lol. but its always nice to hear hes actually...yknow, interested or good at other things)

alright but murdoc having a fascination w/ other cultures - or at least some interests, that lead him to actually study the damn subject and "pass with flying colors"

'fuck college though. im gonna be a rockstar'

he sold his soul at 18ish? whenever the fuck he got kicked out but college was mentioned so my brain goes to 18ish idk

he lived with his father still and paid rent via low paying jobs one including 'part time dressing as santa'

help he was ab to take a Personal Job for quick cash and uhh well, "still made me call him sir though" he really said 20 dollars is 20 dollars, huh "that story was totally true"

alright, 1997,,,

2d stuff

loves zombie stuff? thats really cute, and is freaked out by the way they move. god he rambles

both he and murdoc are horses in the chinese zodiac

[[jfc ok if the official shit compares them a lot i understand why ppl ship them but Dont. its a narrative foil and that doesnt always mean Romance jfc.]]

SUMTHINK.

truly... a lil stinker. super cute bouncing baby and a "bit thick" which is stull so endearing to me. hes just a happy man!

excitable 10 year old and would dance around his room

jfc the fact he has normal/caring parents. i kinda forget how opposite hes supposed to be from murdoc but i think thats another thing jsjsysg (murdoc said why isnt my tragic story making me famous why does he get to be the Star. no wonder he acts like a loon)

i still dont get how gettin bonked by a tree branch made him go bald and also turn his hair blue

big tiddy nurse mommy,,,

went to the same school as The Cure and got decent grades despite hittin the noggin quite hard. WANTED TO BE A STORM CHASER... OMG??

oh thats really cute, hed bond with his dad by building keyboards toegther 🥺💕

messed around with paints and graffiti? artistic king

MURDOC AGAIN: QHDJ 'VILLANOUS' GANG HELP

oh yeah d day...new instruments, new band, new singer - and 'had to be the best or no dice' and absolutely CONFIDENT that his songs were bangers ajsjd

but on that same note, had absolute faith (or desperate) in 2d which i love

ransacked the fucking music shop jdjdj and 2d said he was Just Standing There behind the counter the whole shift hdhdh

"thats when your eye came out, yeah" "yeah!-" HELP WHY DOES HE SOUND SO HAPPY AB IT ?? yes he said ut hurt but he sounds...ok

jfc murdoc ragdolling this poor mf around. dunking him and slapping him around. actually? so incredibly terrible and abusive and i hate him for that 🔫 im sorry 2d stans. we dont condone that behavior here ong.

how and why the FUCK did 2d's parents allow that fucker near their child after that i??? help. wtf. his moms a nurse why didnt she just have murdoc sit in plain view of other people. god damn.

2d flying out the window n hitting the curb "whoops"

"just two black holes...[ah] it looked great...a blue hair, blacked eyed GOD- the girls would go wild-" "pretty boy looks" ???? HELP. HE DOESNT GO LIGHT ON THE COMPLIMENTS, HUH

RUSS TIME

oh yeah, he straight up kiddnapped this man help. idk how he managed that, russ is a Big Man??

AND MURDOCS MUSIC WAS SO FUCKING SEXY GOOD that russel said hm alright ill stay, :] out ifbhis owm free will im screaming.

"oh this is one of them febreeze commercials" "uh . yeah sure. *murdoc turning on his Sick Tunes*" but that either means? it was just his guitar playing the convinced russ? unless he and 2d recorded sumn?

"2d was the looks, murdoc the brains, then russel truly was the heart"

'while 2d and murdoc liked music, this man was a MUSICIAN' god fucking bless this book holy shit ny man russ getting some respect. he said back hurts from carrying this band.

murdoc basically heard this guy had big trauma that gave him So Many Skills n said "thats what i want" ok idk thats actually really? inch rest ting to me. seems that murdocs fine handing out compliments but i guess that where his charisma really helps out yeah?

"he was going to be in my band whether he liked it or not" ...murdoc-

HELP. 2D IS LIKE BRO GO ON IM LISTENING 🥺 despite hearing the story 50-60 times and murdoc said fuck off you lil shit.

ok irrelevant but i love his voice! its super comforting n nice to listen to 🥺

HELP MURDOCS SO BITTER. "NOTHING THAT HAPPENS TO US IS NORMAL" WELL YEAH. THIS IS TRAUMA CENTRAL.

idk how/why he sucked up all his friends souls though ... how are they all possessing the same person. they said "its my turn on The Russ"

DELL IS HIS ACTUAL, LITERAL SOULMATE...KING...😭

went to a private school,,, and was already possessed? and the thing where he gets bigger and smaller is a reoccurring thing?

was in a coma for 4 years?

hiphop machine...time and history...the ultimate set i guess.

his knowledge was infinite and hes a "Renaissance man" hes so fucking smart our king. jack of all trades but a master of drums. he said i know im good and what of it

PAULA.

HELP. HE RMBRS THE STALL: CUBICAL NUMBER 3 🥴 IF I DO RECALL 🤤

yes russel our king. fuck up his nose 5 more times. probably stunted his growth too. he shrunk after russ gave him a wallop im sure

why dies paula sound like tracer overwatch

also only dated 2d for 2 months before joining the band?

HELP SHE REALLY WAS THE FIRST MURDOC FUCKER: "but when i saw murdoc with his thick greasy hair, green teeth and yellow skin i thought 'oh this is the ine for me!'" "OH HES SUCH A DANDY-" HELP ME IM HQJDHD

sick in the head...like i want to hurt people help girl. shes fucking Crazy. but she rly said damn i didnt hear back from him again 😭 and my purse is gone JSHHD

MURDOC: SHE WAS DEPRESSINGLY UGLY *still fucked her*

NOODLE TIME

"small japanese person!"

2d: we werent gorillaz until noodle arrived!

im dying the reason he chose gorillaz. 'swinging through the jungle baring my ass'

noodle really said "im just happy to be here" and she balanced everyone out 😭 "she gave off pure love and the fact that she could laugh at murdoc REALLY helped too" RUSS... IS BABY

JFC MURDOCS SO FUCKING CONFIDENT IN THIS BAND IM LIVING FOR THAT. HE SAID YOU WANT US SO BAD IT MAKES YOU LOOK STUPID. THE CHARISMA

2d rambling ab some girl he met and "ssSs" "whats the s stand for hawhaw" "i dont know!".

THE RECORD LABEL GUY.

one song is all it took i ❤ good for them

just murdoc talking ab the party that they threw for thier deal and saying "you dont know how much of a dick i felt like [when carrying one of those huge checks]" like oh thats whatll make you a dick? alright.

A FOOD FIGHT THAT WENT SO HARD THAT IT KNOCKED 2DS TONSILS OUT? WHAT THE FUCK

ahshdj damon and murdoc not getting along bc of Rival Band One Uppery + damon calling murdocs cuban heels crap since ge wore steel ones with gold spurs.

MURDOC FEELIN EMBARRASSED BC HES 'QUITE PROUD OF HIS SHOES'

but the band and damon getting over music and their ambitions and became a "paternal figure"

HELP MURDOC SAID AWIOGA @ RACHEL WHICH MADE HER THROW HER DRINK IN HIS FACE AND SPLIT FROM 2D. kinda sad actually, she said i still like 2d but murdoc kinda ruined it by trying to get it in with me, it put a strain in our relationship :/ oh god murdocs That Dude

nov 31 1998: started recording :]

40 tracks that got cut down to 15 holy shit

KONG STUDIOS 🤲

hooking up cameras in every room ejdjsu

webby artist of the year in 2006? holy shit

noodle learning ab kong studios omfg

JFC. YES I KNEW KONG WAS BUILT ON/IN A CEMETERY BUT I DIDNT KNOW PPL FOR THE FUCKING PLAGUE WHERE THROWN THERE HDJD

built in 1739?

the ghost of the first owners ghost still roams around in the kitchen in the early hours and moans 'aaa glass of water'

theres some rotting bullshit near the studios and in the summer its fucking TERRIBLE

the former owners were a biker gang, and they all died in a fire

murdoc said this place has bad vibes. i want it.

grim weather

the building feels impossible to escape from huHgg

#rip lol i feel annoying but my blog my rights ig #brainworm ivy #gorillaz rambles

15 notes · View notes

ain-t-bovvered · 5 years

Text

15X01

bunch of tired and caffeinated Europeans ( plus a sleepy American) scream together, and then die and try to get on with their day ( lol AS IF)

Hello and welcome:

@purpleskiesandcherrypies (Nat)

@dean-winchesters-bacon (Kat)

@waywardbaby (Zee)

@ain-t-bovvered (Giulia)

Giulia: I HATE THIS

Giulia: BTW

Giulia: IF ANYONE WAS CURIOUS

Kat: Don’t worry you’ll hate it more later

Giulia: GREAT

Zee: Quit flapping your gums bitches

Nat : shall I count?

Giulia: Go when u post 🖕🏻

Nat : lol

Zee: Nice

Nat : i just go with GO

Giulia: Weak

Nat : ok

Nat : listen

Nat : 3

Nat : 2

Nat : 1

Nat : GO

Giulia: GREAT MUSIC

AH Y’ALL DON’T LISTEN TO THE LYRICS OF THIS SONG

Zee: Where’s carry on ?

♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ Think of seasons that must end ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬

Nat : I DON'T REMEMBER HALF OF WHAT THEY SHOW NOW. It's erased from my memory

Giulia: look at my stupid baby

♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ They will rise and fall again ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬

Giulia: Oh look the dumb coffin

Nat : "I do believe in us."

Zee: John

♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ Everything must have an end ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬

Giulia: I DIDN T NEED JOHN AGAIN

♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ Take it calmly and serene ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬

BITCH HOW

Giulia: bye mary.Good riddance

♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ It's the famous final scene ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬

Zee: Maybe I should watch on mute

Kat: Shut up chuck

♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ It's been coming on so long You were just the last to know ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬

Zee: The fuck is this song ?

It's been a long time since you've smiled

Giulia: IDK I HATE IT

♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ Seems like oh so long ago Now the stage has all been set ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬

Giulia: bb Sob ....Them hair on fleek tho

Nat : What are the odds

Zee: BAMF Cas

Giulia: Idk seems so desperate

Kat: Always

Nat : So much grunting. So sexy

Giulia: AWE

♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ Now the lines have all been read And you knew them all by heart ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬

Kat: SAM

Kat: DEAN

Zee: He took jack

♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ Here it comes the hardest part Try the handle of the road ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬

Kat: over the shoulder like a sack of potatoes

ok I now it’s a serious moment but Dean skipping with his birb bowlegs is making me cackle so much i cannot

LOOK AT HIM ....*SNORTS*

oh look another meme

Giulia: Sam just casually shoving a ghost out of the way

♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ As the light fades from the screen From the famous final scene ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬

Zee: Ok

Zee: I hate it

Giulia: OH THAT TITLE CARD

Nat : Ah great title card

ok but ....* slows down frames and saves some of them* WHAT’S THIS

Whatever let’s just go back to more pressing matters

Lol that is so not Misha carrying Jack tho

Giulia: Misha’s fingers be that thick

Zee: Focus

Giulia: Lol dean reaching for that booze, I mean SAME.

Nat : AW CAS

Giulia: Awe SAM

Zee: Sam panting

D: He didn’t deserve this

Kat: Aw

S: Cass, is he here? C- C-Can you... Can you...?

Giulia: SAM

Nat : "I don't think so"

Nat : I cry

Giulia: I CRY

Giulia: Sam’s pain is physical

Giulia: I cannot

I mean,...they do look like zombies.

D: Chuck... He said, "Welcome to the End”. What... What does that mean?

Zee: Welcome to the end

D: Cass? Come on, man! Ideas!

Team free Stress

Giulia: It means final season

D: Can you smite our way out of here?

Zee: Cas squint

C: No. You saw them. I would be overwhelmed, Dean.

Well I honestly thought Dean actually asked if Cas could fly them off there....which...well don’t think it can happen if the state of his wings are the same, BUT STILL, we don’t actually know becasue PLOTHOLES. But whatever man, I still love my show.

D: Great. So we go outside, we get ripped apart. We stay in here, w- what, starve to death?!

C: I wouldn’t starve

Nat : WELL GOOD FOR YOU

Giulia: WeLl gOoD fOr yOu

Kat: Love the sass

D: Son of a bitch

the fandom: * CHEERS*

Giulia: Sure he knew

D: He's always so squirrelly, you know, with the...with the... the robe and the beard and...the smile that's, like, half-nice, half "I'm gonna rip your throat out. "

Giulia: Oh that true

Nat : Aw Dean

Giulia: AHAHAHA

Giulia: DEAN’s SALTY AF

Nat : Me

Zee: Those fingers tho

Giulia: Why don t they let cas do that, come on

Nat : So much grunting and panting in the first couple of minutes

Nat : I love it

Giulia: Gotta isolate just those

Nat: Cas doesn't want to help

Giulia: Nice

Nat : AH well

Zee: Hello

Giulia: …

Giulia: WELL HELLO GOOD MORNING TO ME

Nat : Now he did

a wild Jack appears

Nat : Ah

Zee: What?

Nat : what

Kat: Hahahahahaha

Giulia: JESUS CHRIST

Nat : IN THE HELL

Giulia: the fuck

Kat: Demon!Jack

Giulia: OH COME ON

Nat : AW DEMON JACK

d!Jack: HELLO

S: Jack! you are alive

oh Sam...baby

Zee: Shut up

d!Jack: I- I'd do the whole eyes thing, but, uh, yeah, no eyes.

Nat : WITH SASS

Team free confused

Zee: Blending

Kat: Weekend at Bernie’s haha

Giulia: SO GOOD THO

Nat : Nice glasses

C: Get out of him

Zee: What he said

d!Jack : Okay? Uh, where do I start? Like at the first day of school. Uh, hi.Uh, my name is Belphegor. And, I'm, uh, here from...

Angry Cass approaching

C: i said get out of him. I’m not gonna ask again

me:

D: Cass. Let him speak.

C: He's an abomination!

Giulia: AWE CAS

Nat : Cas is having none of it

B: You're an abomination with that stupid, dumb trench coat.

Kat: You’re an abomination with that trenchcoat 🤣

Zee: I love Cas

Giulia: but also love Alex

Giulia: STUPID DUMB TRENCHCOAT

Zee: Listen to your husband Cas

C: He is defiling Jack's corpse!

D: But if he can help... [angrily] Jack's gone, alright?

Giulia: STOP IT DEAN

Giulia: sob

S: So we are...

B: The Winchesters

Nat : "I read the papers" lol

B: Anyway, I'm guessing this whole, uh, Hellmouth thing is kind of, uh, you?

i MEAN HE’S NOT WRONG

C: No. It was God.

B: Okay, okay. Look. I-I'm not some crossroad demon. I'm not even one of those black-eyed goons

Giulia: Who the fuck are u

Nat : Virgin puppies EW

Nat : TwinSiEs

Nat : snorts

Giulia: We are NOT twinsies

Cas is ready to slap a bitch

Giulia: So strange seeing jack like that tho

Nat : But so good

Zee: He be good

B: Ohh. Little spell. You know, nothing major. Just need some graveyard dirt... and some, uh, angel blood.

Giulia: Yeah, of course, let s use cas again

*Snort* .... he’s so offeded

WHAT A MOOD

Nat : what

Giulia: What he do

Nat : WHAT

Giulia: Really

Nat : who is that

Nat: HOW

Giulia: Oh come on

Giulia: I DONT TRUST THIS

Nat : ME NEITHER HIGH FIVE

Giulia: TOO EASY

B: Hey it worked! High five

Giulia: WHAT

Nat : I'LL PUNCH YOU

Well I wouldn’t want to be the graveyard guys in the morning

Nat : Ah that music

Zee: Future deaths

Nat : Ah bloody mary

Giulia: “oH mY gOd” Who still does that anyway

Nat : Bloody Mary messes with cellphones now

Giulia: A bitch gotta get on with the future

Giulia: Those nails be nasty

Nat : Mhh... She's more evil than before I would guess

B: I mean, come on. I look good.

Giulia: That cas squint

Giulia: Yeah Cas does not like

Nat : Cas is suspicious

Nat : They act like they're surprised about 2-3billion souls in hell

Kat: I was surprised the number was that low

B: Imagine a salt circle a mile wide No ghosts get in, no ghosts get out.

S: Yeah. Great. Okay.

C: NO. That town... Harlan, Kansas...is less than a mile from the cemetery.

D: Then we get everybody out.

C: How?

D: WE LIE

Giulia: what else is nee

Giulia: Nee

Giulia: New

Nat : lol

Zee: New

Nat : Nee

Giulia: Great Another typo that will hunt us all

Giulia: Why this time the blood looks fake af

Nat : That my car

Zee: Woman in white

S: Dean, this could be our woman in white.

D: Dude. We sent her to Hell years ago.

S:Yeah, but she could be back.

Nat : Dean just realized

D: Well, if she's back, then they're all back. Every last one that we ever killed.

Giulia: I also just realized that we are seeing them again. My babies. I hugged those bitches S. O. B

Nat : Aw bb

Kat: Lucky you

Zee: Giuls bb. Shut the fuck up please

I must say tho....that must have felt really depressing for them...I mean..all their work just ...puff....

Giulia: Fuck clows

Nat : Ah no

Giulia: Fuck them

Nat : Stupid clowns

Giulia: Fuck off

Giulia: Drive the fucking car into the door

Nat : Wouldn't get through.

Kat: No keys

Nat : Not enough space to fully accelerate

Zee: So much science

Giulia: Ugh true

Zee: Wtf is sam’s hair?

D: We can handle the evac, so why don't you grab Crowley Jr. here whatever he needs for his spell?

C: NO

Well he didn’t expect that

C: Dean, I can't. I-I...I can't even look at him.

Giulia: AWE CAS

Nat : Aw Cas

Giulia: AWE AWEEEEEE

Giulia: IM HURT.IM BADLY HURT

C: Um... I...

Awe I think even Dean expected that reaction from Cas. I’m so hurt y’all....so hurt.

WHAT ARE THOSE ROLLING EYES DEAN JFC

Giulia: that sheriff a bit out of it

Kat: Small town. Probably doesn’t have to do much

Nat : Jack probably has his own agenda. "Jack"

Giulia: Yeah

Belphy seeing the gun with that ridiculous nerd name: um....what’s that?

D: Don’t worry about it

B: ok cool

B: So, people are, like, crazy good-looking now, eh?

D: what

B: I mean, the last time I was on Earth, I mean, I was human. Ah, it was a while ago. I mean, but, you know, we were all worshipping308 this giant rock that looked like a huge penis, and...

Giulia: Wait what

Kat: Huge penis rock

Giulia: thank you

B: Anyway, folks back then, they were, uh, ugly. You know? Had a lot of humps. I mean, a lot.

B: Look at 'em now.

B:I mean, look at you . I mean, you're, uh, you know, gorgeous

Giulia: HE IS

ALL OF US : WE KNOW

Nat : GET THE FUCK IN LINE FAKE JACK

Kat: BEHIND ME

B: So, uh...who was... he, anyway?

D: He was our kid. Kinda.

Zee: Our kid

Giulia: OMG NO SOB

Nat: I cry

Zee: Shut up dean

Kat: OUR KID

Giulia: IM SO HURT

D: Alright. So, what do you need for this spell?

B: you know, nothing much. Big bag of salt.

D: Easy

B: And a... And a human heart.

Giulia: a human heart

Nat : what else ,easy

Kat: OF COURSE

Giulia: CAS LOOKS YUMMY YUUUUUMMY

Kat: OF COURSE

Giulia: LOOK AT HIM

Nat : Giuls people are dying

Giulia: HEWWO

Zee: And thicc

Nat : "insert Kim K gif"

Giulia: WELL AT LEAST THEY HAVE A NICE THING TO LOOK AT

Giulia: Nice thic, tan things

Giulia: With great hair

Giulia: Nice eyes

Giulia: I should focus

Nat : Cas saw?

Zee: Yeah

Giulia: So thic

Kat: Aw poor dead girls

Nat : GIULS FOCUS

Giulia: That shirt is crying for mercy

Giulia: Yeah yeah Sorry

Giulia: *keeps looking at those pecs*

Giulia: NO SAM WITH KIDS IM WEAK

Zee: Sam should stop exhaling like that

Nat : NO

Kat: Jared is 4 times the size of that kid

Giulia: STOP HURTING HIM

Kat: Yeah

Zee: Yeah bitch

Giulia: YAS CAS

Kat: I KNOW

Nat : Did Sam treat his bullet wound tho

Giulia: Probably just patched up

Giulia: angel with a shotgun

I love when Cas take care of Sam...so soft.

Nat : that's not a big bag of salt, Dean

D: Rowena, we need your help, so move your ass. What? No, I'm not...Move your exquisite ass, please.

Zee: Exquisite ass

Kat: EXQUISITE ASS PLEASE

Giulia: MOVE YOUR EXQUISITE ASS

D: Here’s your salt

US: Thanks we have plenty

B: im a fan

Giulia: NO

Zee: Oh no bitch

Zee: NO

B: Yeah, I-I didn't want to say it in front of the other guys,but when you were in Hell, with Alastair, I, uh... I got a chance to watch you work. And, I mean, the things you did to those people, I mean, it wasn't torture.

Kat: FUCKING ASSHOLE DEMON

Nat : OH NO

Giulia: BAD CHOICE OF WORDS

Giulia: FUCK

Nat : IT WAS ART

Kat: iT waS ArT

Giulia: Is it bad that I wanna watch that tho

Zee: WATCH WHAT?

Nat : YES

Giulia: DEAN’S “ART”

Zee: Wtf is wrong with you ?

B: And then every door in Hell just sprang open all at once.

D: Wait. Every door? Even the Cage?

Nat : Even the cage

Nat : OH NO

D: And Michael?

B: Well, last I heard, he was just sittin' there. Yeah, but if he got out, I mean... Ugh.

Giulia: Lol ADAM

B: I mean...he wouldn't hold a grudge, right?

Giulia: *SNORTS* SURE

Nat : Ah that looks nasty

Kat: YALL WATCH CAREFULLY COMING UP

Zee: Can I love Cas in this ep?

Giulia: Oh cas can mend shirt too

Nat : SNORTS

Nat : WHAT DO YOU MEAN

Nat : Ah

Giulia: i don t like what is going on

Kat: JUST WATCH

Zee: Fuck

Nat : I HATE THIS KAT

Giulia: WHAT

Nat : AH NO

Giulia: NO

Nat : SHIT WHAT

Kat: I TOLD YOU

Giulia: WHAT WAS THAT

Nat : WHAT IS GOING ON

Nat : EVIL SAM IS IN THAT WOUND

But let us take a blurred , closer, look tho:

*GASPS*

THAT’S THIC BEARD DEAN

YUM

those are definitely black eyes.

WHAT IS GOING OOOOOOOOOOON

Giulia: Oh I remember that clock, leave a comment if you do too.

Nat : btw All the ghosts don't look very scary

Kat: All these ghosts look old af

Zee: Them bow legs

Giulia: Look at that strut

Kat: Fresh would be better lol

B: cOOL

Giulia: Zee’s that u

Casually punching a hole into someone chest to rip a heart out

Giulia: Got a heart

Nat : WHAT

Kat: Damn fake Jack

Zee: Get away kid

Nat : YOU DON'T SAY

Nat : GOOD FOR YOU

Giulia: Oh the lake ghost

Giulia: Oh ya RUN BB RUN

Kat: That kid is too calm

Zee: It’s not ok

Giulia: it s noooot

Nat : No, he didn't

Nat : Sam did

Zee: You shot me

Giulia: SNORTSP

Kat: You shot me 🤣🤣

Kat: Bad ghost bad

Giulia: Well that was scary

Nat : Stop hurting Sam

Zee: STOP HURTING SAM

Giulia: OH LOOK I LOVE CAS WITH THE SHOTGUN

Zee: WE BEEN KNEW

Nat : OF COURSE YOU DO

Giulia: AWE HE S SAVING SAM

Nat : The ghosts all look weird af

Giulia: True

Kat: They are 15 years older okay

Giulia: Must be the daylight

Zee: I don’t trust jack

Giulia: well is not jack

Giulia: AWE

Nat : AH HE IS FAST HE HAS LONG LEGS

Giulia: I’m worried about Misha's hip

Zee: Shut up

Giulia: Shut up

Kat: AAAAAHHHHH SHUT UP

Giulia: Good gif to use

Nat : he said it like Stepford Sam

Kat: MMHHMM

Giulia: Right?

Giulia: Listen to that PUR

Kat: SO GOOD

Giulia: the angel thing

Nat : So 4 people fit in the back

Nat : lol

Giulia: GOOD TO KNOW

Nat : Ah, not sexual

Zee: Or two horizontal ones

Kat: Well one is a small child

Giulia: Me and Nat are small child size

Nat : Yes

D: You okay?

C: Yes, but...

Giulia: UGH

Nat : lol

B: Wow! Awkward WANNA TALK ABOUT IT

Zee: Is that a no?

Nat : LISTEN TO HIM DEAN

Zee: That’s a no

Kat: Ooohhh they so pissed

Giulia: SO PISSED

Giulia: SO TENSE

Nat : SO HOT

Giulia: THEY SHOULD RELAX

Giulia: I JUST HAPPEN TO KNOW HOW

Giulia: what

D: Right now we get you fixed up.

S: what

Nat : I'M FINE

Giulia: Yeah open that shirt

Nat : Do you hear that

Nat : FIIIIIINNNEEEEEEE

D: We've been going nonstop. Let me see it.

D: There's no exit wound.

Giulia: DON T TALK LIKE THAT

Nat : Yeah, sure Jan

D: Hey, do you remember when we were little? What I would do to distract you whenever I'd rip off a Band-Aid or something like that?

S: Yeah. You'd tell some stupid joke.

Kat: Omg such a soft moment

Nat : Aw

Nat : Don't come up with old stories now. I'll cry

D: Come on. Knock, knock.

S: Who's...*HISSING*

D: Still got it

Kat: My boys 😭

Nat : It's Jensen face

The little shit face

Giulia: Well I don t see white foam

Nat : Are you surprised?

Zee: My god

D: Just when we thought we had a choice. You know, whenever we thought we had free will. We were just rats in a maze. Sure, we could go left. Sure, we could go right. But we were still in the damn maze. Just makes you think, if all of it... you know, everything that we've done...What did it even mean?

S: It meant a lot. We still saved people.

D: Yeah, but what for? You know? Just so he could throw another End of the World at us and then sit back and chug popcorn?

Giulia: I wanna chug popcorn

Nat : Yeah, ya did Sam

Nat : But I get Dean

Zee: Sam still believes

S: But now he’s gone

Nat : YA THINK

S: He gets bored and... and... and... and pulls the ripcord.I mean, that's what he did with Apocalypse World and... and probably with all of them. He moves on, starts another story. But you know what?

Giulia: GOOD

S: For the first time. It's just us.

Zee: What’s one more apocalypse right?

Giulia:

“What’s one more apocalypse right?” -shit that SPN fans says

S: When we win this, God's gone There's no one to screw with us. There's no more maze. It's just us. And we're free.

D: So you and me versus every soul in Hell? I like those odds.

D: Well, you know what that means.

S: We got work to do.

Giulia: WHAT

Giulia: ALREADY

Nat : WHAT

Zee: Why is it over ?

Giulia: ...it flew

Kat: Hehehe

Nat : FINISHED?

Nat : EH

Nat : WAIT WAS THAT 40 MINUTES ALREADY

Kat: That end though

Giulia: ...what

Nat : What

Giulia: What happened

Kat: The throwback

Zee: Yeah it was

Giulia: what trip was that

Zee: I just exhaled

Nat : What was that

Giulia: WE VE GOT WORK TO DO

Giulia: That was so fast

Kat: SOBA

Giulia: TRAILER

Nat : I hate them

Zee: Oh come on

Nat : i am watching trailer now

Giulia: EH NOTHING MUCH

Kat: Yeah

Nat : LOL I KNOW AS MUCH AS I DID BEFORE

Kat: WHAT

Nat : WTF

Kat: IT’S OVER

Nat : I am not overly impressed

Nat : Dean didn’t finish his knock knock joke

Nat : I’m sangry

Next -----> 15x02 "Raising Hell"

.SO ...that was our last first episode screening, ever....GREAT.

If you want to get tagged send an ask HERE or to @waywardbaby or a smoke signal, idk whatever I’m tired af.

TAGS: @wayward-angelgirl @destiel-honeypie @mariekoukie6661 @dragontamerm @closetspngirl @rainflowermoon @mattiecat @bunnybaby121115 @aliaitee2 @jacks-word-of-the-day @4evamc @dammitsammy @legendary-destiel @winchesterprincessbride @destielhoneybee @castiellover20 @ravenhg @evvvissticante

#15x01 commentary #15x01 spoilers #spn 15x01 #spn #spn season 15 #spn gifs #spn commentary #episode commentary #supernatural #spn fandom #supernatural fandom #back to the future spn

45 notes · View notes

psyched2b · 4 years

Note

💚 I’m a 23 year old grad student studying Veterinary Biomedical Science. I’m a bit awkward and have social anxiety, but once I’m comfortable I am quite the sass bucket. Currently trying to cover myself in tattoos, but being a broke graduate student puts a halt to that. My main love in life is training dogs; including flyball, herding and Search and Rescue. All of my reservations dissipate when I’m training my dogs. 💚

JFC. Finally got this done. I AM SO FUCKING SORRY IT TOOK A YEAR

BUT….I think you’ll like this. Also for anyone else reading this….it’s more like a story, so feel free to enjoy :)

I Ship You With: BUCKY BARNES

The first time you meet, you’re an awkward turtle. Sam is the one to introduce you two because Sam has worked/volunteered with you in the past with training exercises for search and rescue. You barely make eye contact with the Winter Soldier and just mumble through your hellos, your chest tight with anxiety, face burning hot in embarrassment. You can’t help yourself. You even stutter when saying your name - YOUR OWN NAMEThough you don’t know, Bucky is intrigued by you. Surely you’re not the same person Sam talks about. The one who is passionate and full of sass. He just assumes that you’re shy and can empathize with that. But it’s also like a breath of fresh air for him. A nice change of scenery. Ever since becoming an official Avenger ( and is Captain America’s best friend) people would do anything - ANYTHING- to get his attention. (He doesn’t even mention it, especially not to Sam, but he’s still traumatized from the time women’s used (!) underwear came in through the mail for him to “enjoy”. He gets a little green thinking about it.)“Well, I have to get going. Have this huge assignment due by midnight that I need to review before submitting,” you say as you gather your things to go. Bucky wasn’t ready for you to leave, wanting to know more about you. “You’re in school? What are you studying?”Your (color) eyes flick to meet his steel blue ones. “Science,” is your cryptic response and Sam lets out a heartfelt laugh. “Guess that’s true,” Sam chortled. You give a small smile and roll your eyes. “Will I be seeing you this Saturday?”Bucky was confused. What was this Saturday? Sam nodded in affirmation. “Of course,” he replied, slinging a heavier-than-you-would-think arm over the Winter Soldier’s shoulder. “And I’m bringing this beefcake with me.” “Beefcake!” Bucky was mock-appalled. “I’ll have you know that name belongs to Steve Fucking Rogers. I am… able-bodied…”Sam let out a loud snort. “Hahaha. Says the man missing an arm.”Before Bucky could retort, you let out a peal of giggles that had his heart-stopping and spoke, “I don’t know. I think a more apt term would be Thicc-k-k.” You looked down at your watch and blanched. “Sorry boys, but I really got to get going.”And with that, you were gone. The next time you met was at Central Park. Sam had volunteered both himself and Bucky to help with a Search and Rescue training. Upon their arrival, Bucky was taken-away with your stunning smile. You were crouched low to the ground, petting a handsome Golden Retriever and speaking animatedly to him. Surprisingly, the dog seemed just as invested in your conversation, his dark chocolate eyes on you, tongue rolled out of his mouth and panting happily. “Oh, you’re such a good boy,” you gushed, Bucky finally able to hear you as they walked up, “You’re going to show these boys who’s the greatest seeker! My bets on you!” You looked up when Bucky and Sam approached and offered them a small(er) smile. “Hey! Great to see y’all contributing to something good for once,” she teased, hugging Sam. She pulled back and looked to Bucky, hesitate, and offered her hand. He couldn’t help but secretly be disappointed. “Just trying to do our Civic Duty, ma’am,” Sam responded pompously with an easy smile. “Mhm,” she hummed, pursing her lips. “That, or you’re here so you can cozy up to Amber Foster and get her number.” She gave him an unimpressed look. “Are you going to continue to be Mr. Chicken-Shit or are you going to man up and do what needs to be done?”Sam huffed, “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” and then, “Welp, I’m just going to let you guys get more aquatinted. Duty calls!” He then took off, heading for a beautiful blond woman who was setting up a snack table.“Hmph.” You gave a small smirk, making eye contact with Bucky. “Guess we know where his loyalties lie.” Bucky shoved his hands into his jacket and nodded, a faux solemn look taking over his features. “Good thing I’ve gotten over my abandonment issues, otherwise this would be awkward,” he muttered quietly, not meaning for you to hear…not really. “What?” you ask, giving him a questioning look. Bucky blinked and kept a neutral expression. “What?”You look at him like he’s crazy before shaking your head and bringing back a small smile. “Okay… anyway. Do you know what you’re doing here today?” The dog at your feet barked, not wanting to be forgotten, and nudge your hand with his snout. “Nope,” Bucky responded, lips popping on the ‘p’. “But I am eager to meet this handsome fella.” He crouched down and held out his right hand for the pup to sniff. Your smile brightened. “This is Gerald. He’s going to be my partner today and his job is to find you.” Bucky looked up at her puzzled. She continued, kneeling next to Gerald and ran a hand through his thick coat. “This is a Search and Rescue exercise. Today, we play hide and seek. We bring out people who the dogs aren’t familiar with, such as yourself, and it’s their job to find you.” “You do realize who I am, don’t you?” he asked, unsure if he was going to pose too much of a challenge. He was an ex-deadly assassin after all and he was a master at not being found. Just ask America’s-ass, Steve. “Are you trying to tell me that you think you’re better than Gerald?” you questioned. “Because if that’s what you think, you have another thing coming for ya.”He smirked. “Sounds like the perfect opportunity to place a friendly wager then.”You blinked, unsure. “Erm….what?”Bucky nods. “Yes. I think that if Gerald isn’t able to find me, that you owe me a date.”“A date?” you echoed, slightly dazed by where this conversation is going. You shook your head. “Um…okay…but what if Gerald finds you?”“Then I owe you a date.”“Is….is this your way of asking me out…because… erm… I’m like an awkward turtle and um…. school.”He let out a small laugh, trying not to feel too self-conscious at the situation. He hadn’t asked a woman out since the 1940s and it was slightly terrifying. “You know what,” you say, “Yes. I accept this wager of yours. But know this... Gerald. Will. Win.”“Game on.”You were sworn to take the outcome of that day to your grave… but you were definitely a proud dog-parent. Having seen Bucky become a (willing?) participant in your world put things into a new light. Of course, you knew his back story. Everyone did. And then he became a part of the Avengers, elevating him to what would seem like a ‘god-like’ status in the eyes of the public. He was seen as being above reproach. But you knew better. You knew that he was a wholesome, caring, easy-going, fun (and possibly a little awkward) man. He was super charming and soon, you found yourself falling.  Though you’re busy with grad school and training, whatever free time you do have, you dedicate it to Bucky Barnes. He became your PersonAnd you his. You could go to him with anything and everything and he was always an excellent listening ear; whether you just need to vent or need help with whatever. It was beautiful.

#Bri Ships #Marvel Ships #Bucky Barnes x you #Bucky and Sam #kind of a drabble

5 notes · View notes

authenticaussie · 5 years

Note

Hmm... 18 (soul eater au), 52 (roommate), 42 (marvel), 98 (leverage), and or 14 (lantern lights)

babe……….you’re my Favourite™

also, under a readmore because this got LONG as SHIT

8. Soul Eater au

the soul eater au is really scattered because my wifi sucked on that particular day and I was posting it in the mas chat (sunshinepunks) BUT the basis is weapons ace & sabo and meister Marco. It’s a lot of “dumbasses refuse to accept New Friends (because TraumaTM)” and Ace/Sabo being dicks to Marco because he refuses to give up on them. (ahhh my favourite dynamic //swoons)

Part of the plot - my favourite part of the plot - is that Sabo spends a lot of time spying on Marco to try and catch him out as Secretly A Dick and Manipulating Them, and ends up finding out that Marco really really cares about him and Ace? And the way to Sabo’s heart is thrrrroooough his besssstieeeee lmao. So Sabo ends up crushin’ hard first, but then SPYING BACKFIRES and paranoia kicks his butt and he Feels Bad because he was ONLY MEANT TO TRUST ACE and Marco HURT HIS FEELINGS (sabo you moron it’s your own fault). Anyway Ace and Marco pair up to try and make Sabo feel better and it drives Sabo even Nuttier until there is battle couple stuff and a mid-fight Feelings Fight and then a confession and then they become the DMCA power couple. Ta-da!

Ace was a pipe and Sabo was a knife! Or…..you know, something in that realm pft. Basically hitty-stick and stabby-stabby, because you could make a) an argument for their personalities Being Like That (ace is blunt and strong and easy to just hit with but if you’re clever about it he’s awesome, and has the reach to be a longer weapon, sabo is more…well a knife can be used for a lot but also it’s very….vicious. There is very little you can do to Incapacitate with a knife that is not Wow Stabbed. Which I feel is very Sabo, he’s kinda…harsh??? in his way of handling battle, I think.) and b) because in canon, Sabo’s weapon is a pipe and Ace has that knife, and I thought it’d be cool to match that.

42. New Roommate Wanted

an OC-based commission!! James moves in with a shape-shifting thief and her GF and accidentally Falls In Love snickers

It is………..I wrote it a while ago so you can definitely see the self-projection of “I want cute rich gfs to love and adore me so I don’t have to stress about a job”

52. 5+1 Marvel AU

in the actual word document the title is “If you’re broken I will mend you” (Or 5 Times Sabo was There for his Team (and one time histeam was there for him). Sabo is Coulson and Marco is Hawkeye and Ace is a Black Widow (codename: Redback). It fluctuates between sorta implying MAS (but with a definite focus on Marco/Ace) and Coby/Sabo mainly because I made Coby Captain America (YOU CAN’T!!! ARGUE!!! WITH ME!!! HE IS!!!! PERFECT!!! AS CAP!!!) and I love fics that have the lowkey “Coulson has a fanboy crush on Cap.” lol.

(also coby/sabo is. fun? crackship but So Fun.)

Here’s the shortest one haha

It takes about five minutes after the comms. go silent forSabo to know that something is wrong, and two minutes afterwards to gear up.

It takes him approximately four seconds to tear through the people trying to keep him from helping Ace and Marco.

(It takes two weeks for them to heal, no matter how fastSabo was, and a month for Sabo to get off desk duty, but Ace and Marco refuseto do missions when he’s not their handler. They refuse to do anything thatinvolves leaving his side until after he assures them he’s fine, and that hewasn’t just a S.H.I.E.L.D agent because he had a pretty face - though that hadprompted an argument about Sabo’s ‘pretty face’ that he’d had to steadfastlyignore.)

88. LEVERAGE AU MOTHERFUCKER

THIEVES! CON ARTISTS! So this one is actually three different aus in one file - there’s a “MAS but as Leverage” and it starts out as “Ace and Sabo who fill in Every Job They Can (but their specialties are Ace = grifter/hacker and Sabo = hitter/thief and I have reasons, okay) and then they try and run a con on Marco but he’s like Um Excuse Me? And then he gets dragged into their Bullshit snickers. Oh ALSO they ONE THOUSAND PERCENT do not realise they are Madly In Love With Him (but he does. And he’s trying to be patient. But also. Dying. Because wow it’s kinda awkward being in love with. two daredevil thieves)

The second one in the doc is the Leverage trio in the OP world, ‘cause duh, and Parker starts off like…trying to steal kids from being SMILE experiments? and hires Eliot and Hardison to help her. Um I think I wanted to give Hardison a DF?? But I had a whole list: there was altering people’s sight/perceptions, being able to edit vision/specifics of reality in lines of like, code?? (aka he could do Little Changes but they could affect Big Things, a butterfly effect sort of DF). A lot of them were trying to give him a way to…manipulate stuff in a world where tech wasn’t as big a thing.

And the third one is ASL leverage! Marco still gets dragged into the disaster but it’s more found family stuff.

14. Lantern Lights

Lantern Lights is technically posted [here] under “all the light we cannot hold” BUT I have MORE. I wanted to make it longer when I originally posted it - mainly because Lea asked for angst - but I ended up running out of time (I am………so bad at deadlines, jfc). Plus, with all the things I wanted to include it honestly would’ve turned into something RIDICULOUSLY long and I was already pushing 5k when gifts were a minimum of 1k.

This was the original start / end bracketing.

START:

HiAce.

Hispencil hesitated above the empty page, only a single lead smudge marring theotherwise blank paper, and Sabo sighed softly. Eraser nub ticking against thedesk, he bit his lower lip and tried to think of what else to write. He had somuch to say – about Marco, and the Whitebeards, and about the new friends he’dslowly been making, like Koala and Hack and even the standoffish, arrogant Law,but it’d been so long since he sat down to write Ace a letter that the wordsseemed to have vanished.

Hi Ace, heread, as though the greeting would organise what he wanted to say intoneat lines for him to write. He heaved another sigh, resting his chin in hispalm. Casting his eyes up to the window above his desk he watched as theburning dusk faded into twilight blue and the stars began to shine, silverglints of light that were mirrored by the compound’s lanterns flaring to life.The gleamed against the darkness and Sabo couldn’t help but be reminded ofAce’s fire. How it glowed beneath his skin, lighting him bright red in fury orembarrassment or glorious gold in his joy. Sometimes Sabo couldn’t help butwish – but hope – that Ace was still burning, somewhere out there. In the sky,with the stars-

Hecouldn’t help but selfishly hope that Ace had given part of his fire to Sabo’sheart, to burn within him.

Sabogrowled, burying his face in his hands to try and stop the subtle sting formingin his eyes. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that so many simple things couldremind him of Ace, that undeniable frustration at his uselessness still restedheavy in his every thought, that the feelings he wanted to put to paper wereimpossible to articulate.

Thesharp tip of his pencil cracked as he pressed it into the paper, and the threewords he wrote turned from his usual neat cursive into a jagged scrawl.

I miss you.

END:

-Marco thinks that ouranniversary is the battle, but I don’t like it there. Besides, having ouranniversary on your birthday? You’d expect double gifts, and we can’t havethat.

Sabo’slips quirked into a bitter smile, his eyes drawn up to the small gift stillwrapped on his desk, bow deflated from his constant touches but nonethelessstill stubbornly holding onto the silver wrapping. He’d never had a chance togive Ace his birthday gift, and was sure that Ace wouldn’t have expected it.Would he have even been given gifts, when he’d been kept on the candle wick? Orwould the gift have been an extra moment of freedom, so painfully perfect in its rarity?

Pullinghis hair away from his face, Sabo gently bit his lip and scanned what he’dalready written, trying to figure out what else to say. His fringe curled infront of his eyes when he took up his pen again, but he barely paid attentionto the soft brush of hair against his scar tissue. Two years of having them hadgotten him used to his limited vision and things in front of his face that hecouldn’t see.

He’d never seen Ace’sflustered thoughts, nor known what each fleeting touch had meant until it had beenfar too late, and couldn’t help but wonder just how blind he’d been back then.

Did I tell you thatMarco finally stopped being chickenshit and used the word ‘boyfriend’? I feellike that counts more as our anniversary than the battle, especially consideringI wasn’t much better about speaking up about “feelings” after you left. Twomonths of not talking over the topic because one third of the topic up and-

It’s pretty stupid ofus, huh?

I mean, you werepretty fucking stupid when you-

Sabocrossed out the last few words with two strokes of thick black ink, his teethgrit in a way that made his head pound.

Regardless, everythingis going fine, now. I’m sure you’d be happy to know that Marco and I havegotten past awkwardly refusing to admit to holding hands and have nowprogressed to awkwardly kissing each other on the cheek (and then refusing toadmit to it, of course. Got to keep consistency). You’d think that as someoneso attention-starved I’d be better at this, but it always feels…not wrong, persay, but, like something is missing because you’re not here.

You’re a dick forthat, Ace.

Anyway, this will bemy last letter for a while. I’m sorry it’s short, but I’m already running late;Koala and I are set to sail with the afternoon tide, for Flevance, and Marco isgoing troll hunting. Whitebeard heard there was trouble with the gnomes in thefar north mountains, so he’s going to check them out and I want to say goodbyebefore we part ways.

As always;

With love, Sabo.

#marcoacesabo #ask meme #tag games #wip meme #wip list #12freddofrogs #ask aussie #bip bop nari drops #I feel like I should have put a limit on what I'd post in the whole 'snippet' section pft #I have NO!!!! self control!!!!#maracebo

19 notes · View notes

allforthecourtt · 5 years

Text

rereading aftg with my dumbass opinions pt. 2 (tfc chapters 6-10)

pt. 1 | pt. 2 | pt. 3

look guys! its the highly unanticipated continuation of my reread of aftg!

chapter 6 (aka. meet this MESS of a team)

“My mother's family is French." It was a lie that probably had his British mother rolling over in her sandy grave.”

neil really never misses an opportunity to remind readers that he fucking buried his mom on the beach huh?

“A liar who practices occasional honesty. Clever. Keeps people guessing. Very effective. I would know. I do it myself, you see. Come on, then. After you.”

have i mentioned how entertaining high andrew is? because he’s funny as hell

also rereading these are fun because Nora is incredible at foreshadowing just sayin

“Neil automatically reached for his seatbelt, but one of the brothers was sitting on it.”

how neil would be in the back of the cousins’ car if they let him:

“You?" Neil said. "You can't." Andrew's smile curved wider. "Ohhh, that sounds like a challenge. Mother may I?" "Your mother's dead. I don't think she cares what you do.”

HO HO HOLY SHIT NEIL

“Starting a fight was too out of character for who he portrayed "Neil” to be, though.”

“Consider this your official invite, you suicidal wretch. I'm bringing you to Columbia with us this Friday.”

awe suicidal wretch... glad they’re starting those pet names early

“I don't drink or dance," Neil said.

andrew: i kno u can

“Kevin doesn't dance anymore”

anymore? ANYMORE??? release the cursed events that led to him not dancing anymore Nora im begging you

“Are you bleeding anywhere?" Matt asked. "Nowhere vital," Neil said.

gskjgnsak god i stan this little asshole so much

“She said it gently, with the hint of a smile on her face, but Neil still felt the rebuke. It was subtler but somehow deadlier”

have i mentioned how gay i am for renee? because im very gay for renee

“Allison looked ready for a photo shoot with perfect platinum curls, spiked heels, and a skintight dress.”

im also gay for allison ngl

“I can move if you want to sit here," Neil said. "No, this is fine." She smiled, but it had a smug edge to it, probably because Seth was glaring at them like he could kill them with willpower alone. ”

lol remember how neil doesn’t think he’s attractive and yet in 0.1 seconds after meeting him allison is like “yes this idiot is hot enough to piss off the other idiot im dating”

“Personal favorite was when someone told the police we were running a meth lab out of the dorm," Dan said sourly. "Police raids are awesome.”

no offence dan but that’s fucking hilarious omg

that’s kind of like the time my residence floor had to get evacuated bc some kids hotboxed their dorm room

god i love uni

“The death threats were creative, though," Nicky said. "Maybe this time they'll follow through and actually kill one of us. Let's vote. I nominate Seth.”

pfffffttttt i love Nicky omg

also hahahahahah foreshadowing!

“It'll be fine," Andrew said. "I promised, didn't I? Don't you believe me?" It took a while, but at last Kevin visibly relaxed. ”

again this is why i thought they were fucking for like the better part of the first two books

“The dead look Kevin turned on Andrew today was the same look Neil saw in his reflection. When Neil stopped acting, when he stopped worrying about who was watching, when he let go of the lies that kept him alive, that was the only expression he could make.”

it’s fine i didnt need a heart anyways

this kid is 18 hes A BABY

the first time i read this i was 18 too and like jfc i was a BABY at 18 and so i neil

“One of us has to make it, Mom." It wasn't going to be Neil. It was obvious he was too stupid to survive without his mother if he let himself get into messes like this. But maybe Kevin could do it.”

sorry let me just wipe my TEARS off my fucking laptop neil honey what the fuck

“He felt distant as he watched them walk in. Maybe he was already dying, his stupid soul fading from his short body in preparation for a brutal end.”

neil we get it you have depression (me too bitch u aint special)

“Fuck running," Seth said.

now that’s a whole ass mood

“he didn't know how Renee could smile so warmly when she was speaking to Andrew.”

haha bitch just wait

“when he slept, he dreamed of his father waiting for him on the Foxhole Court.”

remember how at the end of the series his father is waiting on the court but neil wins??? god we love good storytelling

this is such a fucking wild chapter

could you imagine? coming back from the summer and your first introduction to this amateur from arizona is this neil josten level of sass? because i’d probably kill him

first years are bad enough but first years who dont care about other people’s opinions? the fucking worst

chapter 7 (aka. neil does NOT have a fun night out)

“It seemed Allison and Seth didn't believe in middle ground: either they were slinging vile insults at each other or they were making out in the locker room regardless of whoever might be around.”

that’s just how the straights are

“It reminded Neil a little of Allison and Seth, except without the desperate sexual undertones.”

i’ll just leave this gem of a line here

“His teammates held so little regard for him he didn't even have the dubious honor of being dead last.”

neil shading himself is actually hilarious how relatable

“Neil watched him do it, trying to remember the last time someone gave him a gift and coming up blank. That his first one should be from Andrew was unsettling.”

i actually love the fact that andrew bought him clothes so early on like andrew your gay is showing

“Neil debated how much damage the thick heels of his new boots would do against Andrew's face and liked what his mind came up with.”

i thank god everyday that these books are neil’s pov

“Andrew gave Neil another slow once-over and let go. "We're going.”

^andrew seeing neil w/o contacts (aka. the ‘i can’t think straight’ vine)

“Most of the men wore leather, half the women had corsets, and a good number of both genders were covered in buckles and chains.”

this... is a... gay bar

“Andrew saluted the bouncers on his way by and led the way into the club, bypassing the line entirely.”

i always forget the drinking age in the us is 21 but like this bar really dont care about their liquor license AT ALL lmao

“You think Kevin would risk his future over a night out at the club?" "What future?" Neil asked.”

WOW NEIL WAY TO BE A BITCH

“Neil hadn't seen Aaron get up, but he was waiting behind Neil when Andrew let go. Neil reached for Andrew with lethal intent, but Aaron grabbed the back of his chair and pulled hard enough to topple it over.”

why are the twins literally this gif:

real talk nicky kissing neil like that is horrible and really reflects poorly on nicky as a character

andrew for this entire chapter:

chapter 8 (aka. a hitchhiker’s guide to lying about your identity)

“I don't know how your conversation with Andrew went, but it didn't end well. Rumor has it you paid a busboy a hundred bucks to knock you out. Way to cut our night short.”

this is probably my favourite thing neil does in the entire series ngl

“Wymack grabbed his elbow and hauled him inside. He slowed just long enough to slam the door behind Neil. "Are you stupid or just crazy? Do you have any idea what could have happened to you between here and there? What were you thinking?”

Why does Wymack literally sound like my father?

foxes: daddy?

wymack: DO I LOOK LIKE

follow up:

kevin: daddy?

wymack: uh yeah

“I don't know what the beef is between you two, but it ends here and now.”

Wymack @ neil: tell your boyfriend, if he says he’s got beef that your a vegetarian and your not fucking scared of him

“Then correct me." "Give me a reason." "Besides the obvious?" Andrew said. "If I can't get an answer from you, I'll get it wherever I can.”

andrew:

“I'm—" Neil didn't want to say it, but the word was already there, broken and pathetic between them, "—nothing. I'll always have and be nothing.”

“He wondered for a moment if Andrew could handle the entire truth so calmly, but that was too dangerous and stupid to consider.”

“Hope was a dangerous, disquieting thing, but he thought perhaps he liked it.”

this is such a good fucking line like i am shooketh

chapter 9 (aka. neil is, like, really horny for exy)

“Are you stupid?" Seth asked. "Yeah," Neil said.”

what a fuckin MOOD

“Neil had almost forgotten why he liked Exy so much. He did his best at practices but these days he worked mostly to keep his teammates off his back. As Neil surveyed Kevin's damage, he finally felt inspired again. On its heels was a hungry, desperate rush.”

“Seth made as if to throw his beer at Neil. "His life is not more important than mine just because he's more talented.”

sometimes i really wish seth was actually given a chance to have some character development

“ "Maybe you're not as stupid as I thought." "Maybe I am," Neil said”

another big fucking MOOD

chapter 10 (aka. shocking: university is hard :/ )

“It's fun telling Kevin no," Andrew said with a wicked grin.”

why is andrew like this omg

betsy probably was like just looking for a chill job and was like “oh cool uni students? ill have to deal with like a lot of anxiety, sexual tension, depression and like confusion about the future, not to bad” but NOPE welcome to the fucking MAFIA WARS

“That wasn't so bad, was it? Andrew was convinced it would be a disaster. He put money on you hating Betsy." "Did you bet against him?" "Yes," Renee said. "It was a private bet between the two of us.”

“I hope you didn't lose much," Neil said.”

god why is he such an asshole at every opportunity i love him

“I can take care of myself," Neil said. "Watch me beam with pride.”

wymack is the best father in the world and you cant convince me otherwise

“There was one for every fall team with schedules printed on each. Neil kept the Exy one, tossed the rest into the trash, and buried his magnet deep in his pocket where he didn't have to look at the dates.”

neil “i only care about exy” josten strikes again with his great school spirit

“Palmetto State was facing Edgar Allan on Friday, October 13th”

that’s such a cliche and i love it

“He detoured around students toward one of Palmetto State's three dining halls. Two were for the general student body. The third was for athletes only”

lmao my school literally has one dining hall and it couldnt give less of a fuck what type of student they’re selling food too as long as they’ll pay $15 for chicken fingers

what kind of money does palmetto state fuckin have

like i get us tuition is a lot but jesus so’s mine and my school couldn’t be less fucked

“It was only the first day of school and he already had three assignments: a short paper, a fifty-page chapter to read, and a page of questions about said chapter. Neil debated for a minute as to which one sounded least painful. Five minutes later he was still uninspired, so he put his head down on his desk.”

1. MOOD

2. first years are so cute thinking that’s a lot of assignments i remember in first year being like “i have to read 40 pages thats so unfair :(” and now i’m like “ah sick only 200 pgs of readings this week? im gonna have so much free time!”

upper year history sucks ngl

“I'm fine," Neil said.”

neil knows exactly two (2) words and those are it

“You say that an awful lot," Matt said. "I'm starting to think you don't know what it means.”

overall thoughts:

the plot is pickinnnng upppp

i kind of forget how much world building happens in the first book but like its good

also i love neil literally hating everyone its so funny bc like bby these going to be your best friends just wait

anyways that’s all for now

part 3 will be the rest of tfc and then we’ll move onto trk if you guys still want more of this? let me know

love u all bye

#rereading aftg

188 notes · View notes

sunshinemosspup · 6 years

Note

which is your fav ahs season

WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME I CAN'T DECIDE????!!

I'm just gonna be extra as hell and list my pros and cons... get ready for a long ass answer sorrynotsorry you're dealing with a writer here:

Murder House

just gonna say it - overrated

I do appreciate it because it sparked the rest of AHS

created some iconic characters

in hindsight, at least Tate is better than Kai

still a really good concept

a bit boring at times though

Jessica Lange is fucking superb

lowkey started trend of Lily Rabe's characters either dying or already being dead and me no likey that so much

Francis Conroy talking about men is always great but I liked the more subtle hints to her speeches this time

Asylum

LANA BANA BO BANA BANANA FANA FO FANA FE FI MO MANA, LANA

Sarah Paulson and Lily Rabe were ICONIC in this season holy fckin christ

so was Jessica Lange

and Zachary Quinto

basically the characters had really good like writing and rounding out and such

but wtf was with the alien subplot??

some damn good writing

while I do not approve of Sister Mary Satan raping the monsignor I can never get "There was a priest, the dirty beast, his name was Alexander. His mighty dick was inches thick, he called it Salamander" out of my head

Jude and Kit at the end was so sweet

Coven

honestly at times bit off more than they could chew with the subplots, not all of those were really resolved

Jessica Lange somehow even more iconic

same with Kathy Bates and Angela Bassett, what QUEENS

Foxxay

seriously both Misty and Cordelia are adorable on their own, and together I just can't handle it

STEVIE NICKS

the music in this season provokes an emotional response from me

"Can we please not move things? Some of us are blind!"

*stuffs bagels into bag* "Who's takin me home?"

Myrtle Snow calmly playing that instrument while Cordelia had a breakdown

those all black looks were good shit

Freak Show

this shit was SAD AS HELL

like literally how they killed all the characters was fucking gut wrenching

also Pepper? at Briarcliff?? seeing that magazine with Elsa on it??? I cry every time

once again proved the crazy talent of Sarah Paulson

at least Lily Rabe was kinda there

despite being a little shit Dandy was a great character

last time they had some really long episodes, or at least varied between 45 min and longer, which I liked bc I think it let them do quite a bit

I want Sarah Paulson's cover of Criminal to play at my funeral or my wedding or goddamn something ugh

"We might not be on a farm but something sure smells like bullshit to me" (paraphrased)

I can't believe they made me feel so damn bad for a scary clown dude, he didn't deserve that

Hotel

the fucking style? and music? SUPERB

"I FUCKING LIVE HERE"

when Iris was gonna off herself and made that video

I have a love/hate relationship with John Lowe 'cause he kinda stupid

Evan Peters looking like Spongebob as a fancy waiter

Lady Gaga and Matt Bomer drenched in blood

everything about Liz Taylor was like beautiful

somehow the vampire thing worked

could (should) have used literally any song other than hotline bling

Devil's Night was great but then they made an inconsistency with the zodiac killer in Cult

aT lEaSt LiLy RaBe WaS kInDa ThErE

loved it when Billie came back

Roanoke

enjoyed the documentary style and kudos to Ryan for doing something different

with that being said it was pretty predictable and cliche

so damn happy to see Lily Rabe back

favorite fan promo thing I saw: "Lily Rabe is back and she has a gluten allergy and questionable judgement" (paraphrased but hilarious and accurate)

wish they had time to round out the actor characters (Audrey, Monet, etc)

RIP an accent 2016-2016

still though, it brought some good people back into the cast

good call with Adina Porter, she's amazing

"I'm not American, I'm not used to all this carnage!"

honestly a lot of Audrey's lines were great

and her reaction to Shelby's death holy fuck that honestly startled me

Cricket Marlowe looking like Danny Devito in that one episode of Always Sunny

Cult

I liked how they worked phobias into it

a good deal of the sexual stuff just made me really uncomfortable, like especially when it was directed at Ally (or Ivy I guess), idk I think as a lesbian myself it felt like they were pushing all this phallic shit on her and challenging her sexuality which just really rubbed me the wrong way (my take on it, anyway)

Ally's character development though goddamn

Ally in general, she was so fckin cute ugh

I feel like they made Ivy too dislikable? like she could've had SOME redeeming qualities but nah

Kai was fucking awful

people shit on Winter as a character but I still think Billie Lourd acted wonderfully

why do all of Emma Roberts' characters have to be such bitches? lol

still don't know how I feel about it ending with Ally supposedly like becoming leader of the SCUM group or whatever

loved that they used extreme stereotypes of both conservatives and liberals

Apocalypse

they killed Venable too soon

she and Mead were so extra together I loved it

MISTY IS BAAAAACK

again, Foxxay (they better kiss and be happy by the end of this season I stg)

Cordelia's vision was terrifying, like she got her throat torn out jfc

if Cordelia (or, hell, even Billie) die too I'm going to be 2-3 times more heartbroken than I already am about Venable

especially excited to see Mallory's character develop

I both love and hate Michael Langdon

Leslie Grossman still getting all the wack, iconic one-liners

BD Wong being in it was lowkey hilarious to me bc I've only ever seen him in SVU before

"Because I'm the FUCKING Supreme"

can't wait to get more Billie Dean Howard

Jessica Lange! it's been so long, how ya been?

where the hell did Brock go after he broke in to kill Coco? did he just fuck off back into the wastelands?

Ryan, USE LILY RABE'S TALENT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD even if she doesn't stay for long this season (plz let Misty be okay and while I don't quite think it'll happen I'm still hoping to see Nora) bring her back sometime with another major character I miss her so much

I'm excited to see more!

158 notes · View notes

sailor-cresselia · 5 years

Text

Zi-O Ep 36: Let’s mix it up a little!

So, I did things a little differently this week. Me and @miyukomatsuda were watching Marcosatsu’s History of Kabuto vid, and she suggested we watch Zi-O 36 together., too, since watching this alone my first time through would have been AWFUL. So, my notes might be a little. Weird this time around. I’m going to try to transcribe my chat with her in here.

*Fair warning, it gets a little... swear-y in here this time. Also, sorry for the length. Chats do that, and this is condensed down.*

(M is Miyuko, S is me.)

M: wanna try suffering through zi o

S: sure, just give me a couple minutes to get something

M: (thumbsup emoji)

S: how do we want to do this?

M: this should work. and if in doubt we both have the ep downloaded

- (insert cut here) -

M: Ginga. What is you

S: SPACE MAN

M: -suddenly here

S: WAIT NO THATS GEN

S: ahahaha “his power is worlds beyond us”

M: 13 THIS IS ON YOU

S: DECADE THIS IS ON YOU

M: Woz: “fuck if I know guys”

M: 13 AND DECADE THIS ON YOU

[there’s a whole group chat thing about a Doctor Who / Kamen Rider crossover universe, so the whole ‘Ginga’s from some other far off region of space-time’ thing brought it back up]

S: Swartz: FUCKING SWEET - whoops no Swartz is pissed never mind

M: *sweet new toy*

M: Woz: >:(

S: “world is /mine/ to destroy”

M: hahahaha

M: Woz: >:|

M: (dancing emoji, because we hit the OP)

M: I still think the statues are gonna unstatue in show

S: over quartzer is a JAM (don’t mind me, singing along)

M: that’s a MATH BREAKS THE WALLS level weird

M: (same hat) Rider music is top tier.

[title card, “2019: First Love, Finaly!”]

S: first kokoros

M: okay yuko.

M: LAYING IT ON A WEEE BIT THICK THERE MY DUDE

[swartz was sucking up to Yuko for her assistance w/ Ginga]

S: hora’s so tired of this

M: if he is a servant to oma zi o-explains a lot

M: TIME FOR BOWING

M: ofc woz is second

S: ahaha he just yoinks hora and heure

S: everyone drags geiz

M: YANK HIM DOWN

M: FORCES HIS KIDS DOWN

M: AND THEY JUST SLAM GEIZ DOWN

S: hve to shove him and hora download

M: JUST FUCKING LEAVES

S: woz and swartz are first to drop to their knees

S: WOW SCREW THIS LADY

M: of course woz does this

M: AND NOW FOR: INOUE IS SEXIST

M: heure laughing at swartz tho

S: HEURE GET OUT OF THERE

M: RUN KID

S: YOU CAN DO SO MUCH BETTER

M: Woz: MajoOu

S: WOZ NO

M: me: :) (I KNEW IT!)

S: horny on main for evil

S: sougo’s kingdom to know why he betrayed the rebellion

M: SOUGO: GET YOUR HEART OUT OF YOUR PANTS YOU DUMB KITTY

S: SOUGO NO

S: YOU KNOW LIKE NYA

M: AND THEN SHE LIES TO HIM. LIAR

S: BLATANTLY NOT HER

M: Sougo you DUMB KITTY -SOUGO I AM FUCKING KINK SHAMING YOU

S: sougo ffs

M: INOUEEEEEE

M: Geiz is gonna kill him for real

S: uncle’s so confused

M: poor uncle

[miyuko had to go get food at this point]

M: IWAE I RETURN

S: IAWAE

M: Also Uncle: IT’S A MIRACLE

S: “screw this ginga guy, I don’t give a f. i’mma queen now”

S: the fact swartz actually thought this would work when she already hated him

M: that’s hilarious

M: Woz in the straightest he’s acted all season

S: sougo is a stupid stupid cat. surprised he’s never gotten his head stuck in a box

M: incredibly dumb kitty

M: SOUGO PUT DOWN THAT MILK. IT’S STUPID JUICE

S: ...i wonder if someone’s drawn that now actually after this arc

M: i’ve seen sougo with kitty ears-

M: UNCLE

S: NYA

M: GEIZ TRIES TO FLEE THIS BAD EP

M: Sougo you DUMB Kitty

S: sougo why do you know she had a bf in ‘08? you met her a long time before that.

[I was wrong, he met her in ‘08, she did the violence in ‘15]

M: Those poor extras on the stairs

S: GINGA RETURNS. KILLIN ERRYONE

M: TO TORMENT A STRIP MALL

S: ahahahah that’s hilarious

[I was talking about the fact that it’s just a freaking strip mall, not the fact that Ginga was destroying EVERYTHING]

M: also: something I noticed

S: that’s a fucking showa era attack name if I every heard one [Dynamite Sunshine]

M: thanks to a youtube comp of woz’s speech... Woz does the energy blast that our main three time jackers do

S: fourze and faiz pt 1

M: yeah!

S: one does not interupt his overlord’s transformation

M: I think woz is a time jacker.

S: also he kicked geiz’s ass in wizard pt 1

M: And of course bastard man is fine while his cohorts get blown back

S: b/c he’s too OP

M: SOUGO NO. SOUGO YOU DUMB KITTY

S: also evidence for woz being a time jacker: Hat!Woz called Swartz ‘Sir Swartz’

S: FFS SOUGO [when he took the hit for Yuko]

M: (yeah!)

M: also. JIRO

M: JIRO WHY

S: Woof. awoo

M: [don’t awoo, $350 penalty sign]

S: :sad wolf:

M: HE’S SOLAR POWERED [re: Ginga]

M: oh hey otoya violin

S: EVIL KIKAI

M: SOUGO GET YOUR HEART AND YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR PANTS

S: Sougo you stupid, stupid cat, she’s just got a ruler complex

M: YOU DUMB KITTY WHO I AM KINK SHAMING

[re: sougo calling her Miss Sailor, because that’s what he’s always called his crush]

S: it’s just your nickname for her anyway, she wouldn’t have known it even if it IS her

S: She’d be in charge sougo. you’d be the consort

M: HIS FACE

S: “WHOOPS”

M: Canon sougo: “OH SHIT I FORGOT ABOUT CHILDREN”

S: “FORGOT ABOUT THE HEIR PART”

[lost some more of the chat. Couldn’t quite screencap it because Rabbit disagreed with keeping the chat where I scrolled to]

S: GOODBYE

M: YEET. TIME FOR A FIGHT

S: AWOOOO

S: so like where did she GET these three? And why does this only this one seem to be aware

M: I think it’s SUPPOESD to be the real vers and they just serve Kiva

S: It’s *probably* him.

S: True, Kiva’s a title, isn’t it? Like hibiki.

S: also PRIME time to pause that wow [Jiro saying “Men become more refined through pain.”]

M: OF COURSE. INOUEEEEE

M: BYE JIRO YOU WERE POINTLESS

S: INOUE NO

S: FAREWELL PUPPER

M: oh hey the bf

M: “scary”

S: understatement of the era

M: OF COURSE

M: Geiz now has to see a murder

M: MANHOLE. Which note she can barely lift. JFC

S: YUKO NO

S: SHE TRAINED LATER

M: WAHT THE FUCK LADY

S: AND LEARNS TO KICK THEM UP. IN HEELS

M: Poor Tetsuya

S: SHE DID A MURDER

M: WHY WOULD YOU HANG OUT TOGETHER JFC

S: you idiots you made it easier for her

M: YEET. RIP ALL THREE OF THESE DUDES.

S: yooooo.

M: SORRY YOU WON’T GET PAID FOR WATCH REPAIR JUNICHIRO

M: SOUGO YOU ABSOLUTE DUMB KITTY

S: I like how the Another Kiva transformation includes the bats instead of just the usual Another Rider special effects

[on to the last fight against Ginga]

M: Ey! TOKI NO OUJA

S: YES [it’s actually the instrumental used as a fight music, but it’s still always nice to hear. I like noting the piano versions more, though. The ones that are used for atmosphere]

M: YEET! THIS MAKES EVEN LESS SENSE THAN NORMAL

S: WHEN IN DOUBT, THROW THE SWORD. THROWING YOUR SWORD ALWAYS WORKS.

M: SURE WHY NOT

[seriously, Sougo, Geiz, and Woz all threw their weapons at Ginga, then rider kicked said weapons into his chest as the finisher. wtf]

S: beams the hell out of there

[Woz nabs the Ginga watch with his scarf]

M: YOINK

M: “I CAN’T TRINITY ANYMORE”

S: Swartz: YOINK GOT YOUR- HOLD UP

S: Woz: “I CAN’T KEEP DOING THAT”

M: the real reason Woz did this is clearly: “FUCK YOU I AM NOT BODYSHARING AGAIN”

S: “Waga Maou I adore you but. No. I can’t do this again.

M: also lbr SWARTZ WOULD BE TERRIFYING WITH GINGA’S POWER

M: JFC LADY, HE **DUMPED** YOU

S: Swartz is terrifying with his OWN power

M: SOUGO PLS STOP WITH THE STUPID JUICE

S: SOUGO

M: SOUGO AND JON BOTH DRANK STUPID JUICE THIS WEEK

S: at least he’s *kind of* willing to fight her.

M: AT LEAST JON MANNED UP AND KILLED DANY

S: okay only kind of

M: Woz: “FUCK THIS, MY TURN”

S: he pulled out the watch at least

S: UCHUU KITAA

M: :D HE ABRIDGED

S: WOZ

M: I hope he makes the full speech next time :D

S: GOTTA CUT IT SHORT

M: (I love woz’s speeches)

S: waga maou is being a moron

M: OKAY

S: don’t have time for this

M: Woz: **FUCK THIS I ROLL TO USE GINGA**

M: everyone: **THANK YOU**

[for ref, Miyuko has an AU where the Heisei Rider seasons are D&D campaigns]

M: -SO MANY QUESTIONS

S: and they just turn back into their weapon forms

M: yeah

S: not even disappear, just the weapons again

M: they uh kind of got sealed in their-

M: STOP

M: INOUE

S: INOUE, Another Riders don’t DIE

M: **THANK FUCK** BUT ALSO INOUE

S: OH WAIT IT’S HORA

S: BANG

M: GOOD RIDDENCE

S: I MEAN SHE HAD IT COMING BUT

M: :(

M: INOUEEEEEE

M: first heartbreak, WOZ PLS

M: toki no ouja

S: HEY WE NEVER HAD THE RECAP EARLIER

M: INOUEEEE

M: SHE RUINED PIE FOR HIM

S: om nom pie

M: WOZ JUST INHALING PIE

S: YOINKING YOUR PIE (respect the pie)

M: GEIZ NEARLY CHOKING THIS TIME (Woz choked on pie TWICE last time)

M: SOUGO’S REAL FIRST LOVE AS PLAYED BY YURI FROM KIVA

M: -oh my fucking god he’s a cat jfc

S: sougo. no. sweetie.

M: Tsukuyomi are you the only women who didn’t know this would work

M: NEXT TIME

M: OKAY

S: Decade: STOP THAT

S: Decade: I am the multiverses janitor

M: well if tendou can’t come back might as well get his successor to arrogance

S: ahahahah

M: DO YOU SEE WY I WARNED YOU ABOUT THE CRINGE JFC

S: YEAH

M: INOUE WHAT THE FUCK

S: WOW. NOT GREAT

M: THAT IS NOT AN EP TO WATCH ALONE

S: MY NOTES WOULD HAVE JUST BEEN “uuuggghghh”

M: that was me watching

M: I GIFFED parts because of how bad it was and I need people to KNOW in chat

S: this was. Bad. So bad. neither villain did well

M: nope

S: just yeet ginga back off into space

M: rider wikia says we learn ginga lore next time too so HERE’S FUCKING HOPING

S: Thats something

M: and yuko just got TRASHED

S: RIGHT BECAUSE METEORITE AND SPACE

M: SHE DIDN’T NEED TO BE INSANE INOUE

S: AND HE’S FROM SPACE

M: Ginga also means Galaxy

S: ye, I know

M: ye. Themeing. -also

S: SPACE MAN

M: has sougo not used fourze armor before now because I thought he did

M: WHY IS SOUGO UCHU KITA-ING

S: he’s used it in it’s debut

M: **SOUGO WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO GENTARO**

S: and then in the mass fight against the Another Riders in the Another ZiO arc. but that’s it

M: yeah! Ty

M: SOUGO WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO GENTARO NOW WHY IS THAT IN THE PREVIEW-

M: oh my god

S: much like gatakiriba, it would probably murder the CG budget

M: he’s going to fucking space.

M: THEY’RE GOING TO FUCKING SPCAE ARNE’T THEY

S: the zi-o Fourze finisher is him just. Armoring up and BEING the rocket. It was ridiculous.

M: YEP. I love it!

S: goes all Snipe Level One on the monster, spinning like a bullet

M: YUP. Remember him fucking up build’s catch phrase AND math

S: even Ryuuga knew he was getting it wrong. that takes “skill”

M: WHEN EVEN THE BF KNOWS

S: we should have seen babby reality warper coming when he used Ex-Aid and took the speciall effects and threw them at the Another Rider

M: yep

S: ~casual reminder that zi o can be read as ‘character king’~

M: (eyes emoji)

S: ~as in written character~

So, over all… NOT A GOOD EPISODE. I basically went from assorted variants of “Eh” to “ugh why this” throughout. This was definitely a low point on the ‘tribute episodes’ scale, and that’s taking the character assassination from the Build arc into account.

#kamen rider zi o #sailorcressy says #sorry for the length

4 notes · View notes

turtle-steverogers · 5 years

Text

Fugitives- Chap 6

Previous chapters: 1 2 3 4 5

Warnings: D E A T H (someone is shot and killed, yeet), drug mention

Ship: Eventual Ralbert

I’m so so so sorry

Albert was awoken a few hours later to the sounds of people arguing on the other side of the shower curtain. He kept his eyes shut as he strained his ears, trying to catch what the voices were saying.

“You let someone walk away?” Whispered a voice that Albert recognized as Jack’s.

“He promised he wouldn’t run his mouth,” Came Race’s reply.

“Of course he promised, Antonio,” Came another, exasperated voice, “Anyone would promise that if you shot a gun at their wall and threatened to kill them.”

“Davey’s right,” Jack said, “I can’t believe you, Race.”

“Well, what was I supposed to do?” Race exclaimed defensively.

“Kill him, Racetrack,” Jack said, his voice was gaining volume, “You were supposed to kill him.”

“Jack Kelly, you know that I can’t fucking-”

“Yes, I’ve fucking heard it. I’ve heard a million times that you won’t fucking kill anyone else,” Jack was speaking loudly now, “I don’t know what happened to you in Prospect. I don’t know what part you played in Rockefeller, but you’re going to have to get the fuck over it one day, because in this fucking life, you’re gonna have to kill a few people and-”

“Shut up, Jack!” Race shouted, “Shut the fuck up. I know that I’m gonna have to kill a few people. Hell, you’ve made me kill a few people, but don’t fucking talk to me about Rockefeller. Don’t ever bring that up, asshole, there’s a fucking reason I don’t talk about it.” Race’s breath hitched after the last sentence.

“Both of you quiet down, you’re going to wake people up,” The other man, Davey, scolded, “Jack, leave his past out of this. Race, take a deep breath. We’re going to have to think about how to deal with Albert’s roommate, but for now, I think that it would be best if we all just got some rest, okay?”

“Okay,” Jack mumbled.

“Thank you,” Davey said, “Race?”

Albert heard Race take a measured breath, “Okay,” he answered, voice strained.

“Good, get some sleep, Race,” Davey instructed, “Jack, c’mon.”

Albert cracked an eye open, watching as two silhouettes walked to the other side of the theatre. He saw Race’s shadow pacing back and forth behind the curtain a few times, before he sat down on his cot. It looked like he was holding his head in his hands.

Albert felt worry claw at his gut. What were they planning to do to Elmer? He had half a thought to send a warning text to him, but didn’t want to find out the repercussions if Jack found out he’d contacted him. Maybe they weren’t going to kill him, maybe they were just going to recruit Elmer like they’d done with him. Logically, Albert knew that wasn’t the case.

Albert let out a frustrated sigh and reached under his pillow to grab his phone. It was nearly 6:00 am, so Elmer would be waking up within the hour to go to his morning shift at the coffee shop he worked at.

Albert clicked into his and Elmer’s texts and bit his lip, trying to decide how to word his message.

To Elmer: Bro, do me a fat favor and stay at your girl’s place for a few days. Don’t ask questions. I’m handling it. Just don’t go back to our place and never go anywhere alone.

He hovered his thumb over the send button for a few moments, then delivered it. Elmer was no doubt going to ask questions anyway, but it was worth a shot. He deleted their conversation and slid his phone back under his pillow. Rolling over, he noticed that Race was no longer sitting on his cot. In fact, it didn’t look like he was on his side of the wing at all. Albert frowned and lifted his head, glancing around the parts of the theatre that he could see, but there was no sign of Race anywhere. He got up, curiosity getting the better of him. Carefully, he drew back the curtain separating his and Race’s side, eyes sweeping the dark area. At first he didn’t see anything, then he noticed Race sitting on the ground in front of his cot.

“You okay?” He whispered, causing Race to jump violently and turn around.

His face was lined with tear tracks, which he hastily wiped away with his shirt sleeve, “What the fuck? How long’ve you been awake?”

Albert shrugged, “Not too long.”

Race stood, then sat down on his cot, pulling his knees up to his chest. He looked tired, “Did you hear anything?”

Albert considered telling him what he had witnessed of his conversation with Jack and Davey, but thought against it, “Nothing besides you moving around.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah..”

“Sorry for waking you.”

Albert waved a hand nonchalantly, “You didn’t, I’m a light sleeper.”

Race sniffed and lowered his chin to rest on his knees, “What do you want?”

Albert glanced down, suddenly feeling guilty for invading what was obviously a very personal moment for Race, “Uh, nothing. Just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

Race scowled, “Well, I’m fine. Why do you care anyway? I’ve been pretty terrible to you.”

“I was just curious, man-” They both startled when Albert’s phone began buzzing.

Race raised his eyebrows, “You better go get that before Jack or Davey hears. They’re really strict about phones and who we’re all contacting.”

Albert huffed and let the curtain fall back into place, once again separating himself from Race. He took his phone from under his pillow to see that Elmer was calling him. He quickly declined the call and clicked into his texts.

To Elmer: No calling. Just text.

From Elmer: Where the fuck are you man???? What the fuck happened yesterday??? Are you alive?????

To Elmer: Of course I’m alive, numbnuts. I can’t tell you where I am and I can’t tell you what was happening yesterday, but you’re kinda in danger so…

From Elmer: BUdDY you can’t say all this shit without an explanation. I’m freaking the fuck out

To Elmer: Believe me, I am too. Listen, please just trust me. Where are you right now? From Elmer: Sarah’s

Albert slumped onto his cot, relief flooding his system. Elmer was safe at his girlfriend’s place, far from their apartment.

To Elmer: Thank fuck, okay. Maybe don’t go to work tomorrow. Or move to China and change your name. Idc, just please look out for yourself. Also delete this convo

From Elmer: Albert what the fuck

To Elmer: I’m sorry. I gotta go. Remember to delete this. I’ll talk to you when I can

From Elmer: Jfc ok bye

Albert erased his messages once more and laid back against his pillows. He scrolled through Instagram mindlessly, trying in vain to get tired again. It was nearing 7:00 am, so he assumed he’d have to be up soon anyway. Eventually, he dozed off, phone still in hand.

XXX

“The fuck?” Albert yelped as his pillow was yanked out from under his head.

“Rise and shine, bitchatcho.”

Albert looked up to see Race hovering over him, pillow in hand.

“What time s’it?” He asked, voice still thick with sleep.

“Like, 8:00 am,” Race thwacked Albert violently with the pillow, ”We gotta long day ahead of us, so get the fuck up.”

Albert glared at him for a long moment before reluctantly sitting up, “Fine, give me like, ten minutes to change and take a piss.”

“Awesome, meet me downstairs by the storage room when you’re.”

Albert gave him a sarcastic thumbs up and watched as Race left the stage. He pulled his jeans out from under his cot and changed into them, then went to the dressing rooms to use the bathroom. On his way downstairs, he stopped by his bin and took out a sweatshirt, yanking it over his head as he bounded down the stairs.

As promised, Race was waiting outside the storage room, eating a banana. There were two other men with him, one sporting a backwards hat over his curly brown hair and the other leaning heavily on a crutch.

“Heya, Albert,” Race greeted, “Meet Finch and Crutchie.”

The one with a crutchie leaned forward, offering a hand, “As you can probably gather, outta the two of us, I’m Crutchie. I’m Empire’s medic, so if you’re aboutta die or some shit, I’ll patch you up.”

“Uh, sounds good,” Albert said, shaking Crutchie’s hand. He turned to the guy in the backwards hat, “And what about you?”

“Finch,” The guy grunted.

Albert cocked his head and looked at Race, who flicked the guy in the back of the head, “Sorry about him, he’s bitter. That’s Finch. He’s our botanist.”

“Botanist?”

“I run our drug inventory,” Finch said, toying with a cigarette and looking entirely uninterested.

“Cool, uh, nice to meet you..” Finch scanned his eyes over Albert, who crossed his arms self-consciously.

“Likewise.”

“Well, this is cozy,” Crutchie said brightly, “Anyway, I leave you all to your work. Just thought I’d introduce myself. Toodles!” He waved and hobbled away.

“You gotta key, Finchy?” Race asked.

“Don’t call me that,” Finch said, fishing a key out of his jacket pocket and unlocking the storage room door.

“Oh yeah,” Race said, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out another banana, “Here, before I forget it’s in there and sit on it.” he handed the banana to Albert, who hesitantly took it.

“I didn’t poison it or some shit,” Race laughed, “Just thought you’d be hungry.”

Albert wordlessly peeled the banana and took a bite, realizing belatedly how hungry he was.

“Race,” Finch called from inside the storage room, “What do you need?”

“Uh, get me like, two grams of pot? And...I think that’s it. It’s a small trade.”

“Kay,” Finch emerged a moment later holding a white paper bag. He handed it to Race who crumpled it and put it into his jacket pocket.

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ, Higgins,” Finch held out a hand, “Give me the bag back.”

Race rolled his eyes and shoved the bag into Finch’s outstretched palm. Finch held his glare as he neatly folded the bag over a few times, then handed it back to Race, who carefully placed it back into his pocket.

“Happy?” Race jeered.

“Extremely,” Finch answered with a fake smile, “We done here? I would like to get coffee now.”

“Yes, we’re done, go get your bean juice.”

Finch sneered and walked away, disappearing up the stairs.

“He’s really fucking meticulous about his drugs,” Race said, zipping up his jacket.

“Meticulous,” Albert repeated, “Didn’t peg you for a fifty-cent-word kinda guy.”

“Shut up, I went to high school. I glanced at all the SAT words.”

“Oh, did you? So what does brevity mean?”

“Uhhhhhhh..” Race screwed up his face in thought, “I said I glanced, dude. That doesn’t mean I retained any actual knowledge.”

“Brevity’s easy. It’s the quality of being brief or terse.”

“Albert, have I told you you’re annoying yet?”

“Many times.”

“Okay, you’re annoying. Now c’mon, The Bronx is waiting.”

XXX

The bleak winter air bit Albert’s face as he and Race left The Bowery. As they walked through the street toward the nearest subway station, Albert couldn’t help but notice the strange feeling that nagged at the back of his neck. The streets felt almost different, like they were hiding some enormous monster underneath them. The ever-existing presence of Empire and Prospect loomed ominously over Race and Albert, blind to the eyes of other pedestrians. He felt incredibly vulnerable, constantly paying mind to who was paying attention to them. Anyone at any time could be a threat- there was no telling who knew what.

They caught the yellow line that would take them to The Bronx, where they were scheduled to trade with some guy in Fordham at 9:30. It was currently 8:15 and the ride was supposed to take about forty-five minutes, leaving Albert wishing he had his headphones so he could disengage completely.

“You nervous at all?” Race’s question surprised Albert, and he turned to him

“Kinda, I guess? How exactly does a trade work?”

“First off, for the love of God, lower your voice,” Race said, leaning in so that they could talk in quieter voices, “And it’s pretty simple. You missed phase one, which is deciding a meet place and trade time. We do that using the graffiti, which I’ve already told you about. One of these days, I’ll show you the symbols we use and what they mean, but that’s not important right now. So now, we just have to be at the coordinated location and make sure he actually has the cash he promised. If he does, we trade, plain and easy.”

“What if he doesn’t?”

Race glanced to the side briefly, “Then, we….” he worried his lip between his teeth.

“...Kill him?” Albert tried,

Race looked down at his lap, reaching up a hand to tug at the hair on the back of his head, “I mean, no. Killing’s not entirely necessary. That’s like, last resort. Like if he pulls knife on us. Yeah, no, we’d just, like, beat him up.” He was rambling and Albert furrowed his brow.

“You alright? Why are you getting weird?”

“I’m not,” Race said, defensively scooting backwards a bit.

“You totally are,” Albert noted that Race had shrunken in on himself, “Is this something to do with last night? With Rockefeller or whatever Jack was talking about?” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Albert regretted them.

He silently cursed his lack of a filter as Race whipped his head up, “What? How did you-” he scooted backwards further as his expression turned furious, “So you were listening. You lied to me, DaSilva. This puts you on thin fucking ice.”

Albert pursed his lips, annoyed with himself.

“If you were listening so carefully,” Race seethed, “Then you should have known not to fucking bring that up.”

“M’sorry,” Albert mumbled.

Race didn’t answer as he busied himself in pulling out his headphones, though Albert could see his hands shaking. Albert sat back in his seat and pulled out his own phone, electing to catch up on SnapChat until they arrived in The Bronx.

Fordham was significantly sketchier than the neighborhoods Albert was used to. The storefronts they passed were all worn down and the deeper Race led Albert into the area, the dirtier it got. Race hadn’t spoken a word to him since their conversation on the train, leaving Albert more or less in the dark about the specifics of where they were going. Eventually, they arrived at an abandoned auto-shop.

Race walked around to the back of the lot and knocked on one of the garage doors. It opened a moment later to reveal a tall, gruff looking guy.

“You Racetrack?” He asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

“Yes, sir, I am,” Race said, sauntering over to him, “But, a little piece of constructive criticism, don’t ever voice your assumptions. If you had been wrong about who was just now, that could have meant serious trouble for the both of us.”

The guy looked unimpressed, “I expected you to be less twiggy.”

“And I expected you to have more than one brain cell, but alas.”

“Whatever,” The guy said, “You got the shit?”

“Yeah,” Race retrieved the paper bag containing the weed from his jacket, “And you’ll get it as soon as I see the cash.”

The guy reached into his back pocket and produced an envelope, “Here, you see it. Now give me the goddamn pot already.”

“Nuh uh uh,” Race wagged his finger, “Calm down, you useless junkie. I already made it very clear the other day that it’s cash first, weed second. Hand it over.”

“Show me the pot first,” Race opened the bag and held it out for the guy to see. He peered at the bag’s contents, inspecting it closely, “And that’s two grams?”

Race clicked his tongue, “It should be.”

The guy nodded and reached into the envelope, revealing a large wad of cash. He held it out for Race to take, who in turn, handed the paper bag over to him.

Once the items were exchanged, Race spit into his palm and offered it to the guy. Without hesitation, the guy spit into his own hand and shook Race’s. Albert wrinkled his nose in disgust.

“Pleasure doing business,” Race said, formally.

The guy huffed a small laugh, “Okay.”

With that, he stalked back into the auto shop and closed the garage door. Race turned to Albert, looking pleased.

“That went nice and smooth,” He said.

“Yeah, seemed easy,” Albert agreed.

“I’m hungry,” Race declared, “Let’s head back to The Bowery for lunch, then we can do our next trade.”

“What time’s our next trade? And where?” Albert asked, following Race away from the autoshop.

“4:00 over in Washington Square Park. We have a little while.”

The journey back to The Bowery seemed to take less time than the commute to The Bronx. Race had loosened up significantly and was telling Albert about the other guys in Empire as they entered the theatre.

“So yeah, you met Finch and Crutchie- great guys by the way, absolute geniuses. Aside from them, there’s Mush and Blink, who trade a lot over in Staten Island. Blink’s got an eyepatch. No one knows exactly what happened to his eye, but it definitely involved a knife. Romeo is a little shit, but a total charmer, which comes in handy during trades. Jojo’s the handyman- I’ve already told you about him. Giant teddy bear, that guy. Love him. And then you met Jack and I’ve told you about Les and Davey- oh! I want you to meet Davey, he should be around today, one sec,” As they passed the recreation room, Race stuck his head in, “Hey, Mush.”

Albert peeked over Race’s shoulder to see a shorter guy with straight brown hair, playing solitaire. He looked up upon hearing his name and smiled, “Hey Race,” He made eye contact with Albert and blinked, “You’re Albert, yeah? The dude Race pulled off the street?”

“Indeed, that’s me,” Albert said as Race pulled him into the room.

“Welcome, don’t fuck anything up,” Mush said, placing his cards onto the table and clasping his hands under his chin, “Did you guys need something?”

“Yeah,” Race leaned against the door, “D’you know where Davey is?”

“Uh, I’m not actually sure? I saw him and Jack leave a little bit ago. They said they have something they need to take care of over in SoHo.”

Race frowned, “That’s weird, I didn’t think that they had any trades today.”

Albert felt his blood run cold as he processed what Mush had told them, “Oh my god,” he muttered, “Oh my god.”

Race and Mush looked at him, confusion written on their faces, “What? What’s wrong.”

Albert swallowed and met Race’s stare, panic running down his spine, “Elmer’s girlfriend lives in SoHo.”

“What are you-” Albert didn’t let Race finished as he fled the room, running towards the exit.

“Albert, slow down,” Race called, running after him, “Albert!”

Albert stopped just outside the theatre, turning around to look at Race with wide, terror-stricken eyes, “Race, please, I need to make sure Elmer’s okay.”

“But what does that have to do with his girlfriend-” Understanding dawned on Race’s face, “Wait shit, is he still at his girl’s place?”

“Yes and I think that’s where Jack and Davey are headed. Come or don’t, I’m going,” Albert ran to the street and hailed a cab, Race climbing in next to him.

“Albert,” Race hissed, “You realize this is gonna make it worse, right?”

“Shut up,” Albert snapped, pulling out his phone and dialing Elmer’s number. When he didn’t pick up, Albert called Sarah.

“Hello?” Sarah answered from the other side. She sounded okay, which Albert took as a good sign.

“Sarah, are you at your place?” Albert asked, urgently.

“No, I’m at the grocery store right now, why? Is everything okay?”

“Is Elmer with you?” Albert pushed.

“No,” Sarah said, slowly, “He was still asleep when I left, so he didn’t come.”

“Shit,” Albert cursed, “Shit shit shit.”

“Albert, what’s-” Sarah started, sounding worried.

“I gotta go, but don’t go home,” Albert demanded, not waiting for a reply as he hung up.

They arrived in front of Elmer’s apartment complex fifteen minutes later. Albert almost didn’t want to go inside, too afraid of what he might find. He forced himself to get out of the cab nonetheless and sprinted in through the front, Race on his heels. He bypassed the elevator, instead darting towards the door to the stairwell and scaling the three flights of stairs to Sarah’s floor. When he got to the apartment, he found that it was locked.

He cursed under his breath, then turned to Race, who was standing nervously a few feet away, “Do you have, like, anything you can use to pick locks?” He asked, impatiently.

Race looked like he was having some sort of internal battle as he reached into his boot and pulled out a knife, handing it to Albert, who stuck his tongue between his teeth as he fiddled with the doorknob. It took a few minutes, but eventually he got heard the click indicating that he had succeeded.

“I don’t think you should go in there,” Race warned, but Albert ignored him.

The next thirty seconds felt like they went by in slow motion. Albert opened the door to find Jack and a man in a button down shirt and sweater vest standing on the other side. The man in the sweater vest was pointing a gun at Elmer, who was cowering against the wall. Jack looked up as Albert entered the room and opened his mouth to shout something, but was cut off by the sound of a gunshot. Albert looked over to see Elmer slump onto the floor, blood flowing steadily from his head. He screamed and staggered backwards into Race, who caught him and lowered him to the floor. The sound around Albert seemed to muffle. The world was blurry and he was certain that people were talking around him, but he couldn’t make out what they were saying.

“Albert, Jesus Christ,” He felt someone slap him across the face and he flinched, “Stop screaming or Davey’ll shoot you too,” Race’s voice bled into his consciousness and he was suddenly pulled back to reality.

He closed his mouth, stopping the screams that were escaping him. Without thinking, he looked at Elmer’s body again and his stomach lurched. He bent over to the side and threw up, unable to handle the sight any longer. He heard the door close behind him, then the man in the sweater vest crouched down in front of him.

His eyes were alarmingly calm as he offered a hand to Albert, “You must be Albert. I’m Davey, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

In the words of @newsies-of-nyc “R.I.P el, sorry bro”

next chapter we find out what ‘Rockefeller’ is oooo race’s dark past

TAG LIST:

@bencookisagod

@we-dont-sell-papes

@suddenly-im-respecsable

@aw-jus-let-em-try

@well-the-kids-do-too

@spot-conlon-king-of-brooklyn

@thatpoorguysheadisspinning

@newsies-of-nyc

@andthewoildwillknow

@the-newsies-justice-for-zas-blog

@sunshine-e-cigarettes

@have-we-got-news-for-you

@musical-shitposts

@thebroadwayaesthetic

#racetrack higgins #albert dasilva #ralbert #newsies #newsies fic #jack kelly #davey jacobs #fugitives

45 notes · View notes

princess-cordelias-writingblog · 6 years

Text

YOUR DARK SIDE. (Void!Stiles x Reader)

A/N: THIS IS SICK (that gif makes me sweat jfc) Also, I changed a lot but I don’t think I need to tell you that bc is not really important lmao. I split this into several parts, 1 bc I haven’t had time to write more and I don’t actually know how to get to the end of this and 2 it is very long compared to my other writings, @all-alone-he-turns-to-stone @sarcxstic-stilinski thought you guys might wanna read this <3

This is for @roseringleader13 hope you like this part. <3

Words: 2,196

Warning: NOT A HAPPY STORYLINE. This whole plot is kinda about an abusive relationship?? between Void and reader? beware, the reader might have a suicidal wish and low self-esteem. Pretty much obsessed with the boy lmao.

Listen to me.

Part I / Pt. II / Pt.III / Pt.IV

How much pain are you willing to stand for someone?

I’m a good person, I have good grades and always listen to what my mom says, I help my friends when they’re in trouble and I’ve never talked shit about a person in my life. Until now.

My friends and I fight against supernatural things all the time, everything that was always there to cause us pain and terror was defeated at some point, we stuck together through thick and thin, and that was all that matters.

You may have noticed how I keep saying “we”. I’m not exactly talking about my friends, I’m really only talking about him. This guy has been my friend since the very beginning; we are as close as my awkwardness allows, but the problem is that I’m in love with Stiles and I have no interest in being just a friend.

I can’t recall when I started to have these feelings for him, I know that at some point I saw him in the hall and the “Holy shit, He’s beautiful” hit me with no prior notice, but to say that I can remember exactly how I fell in love?, I can’t.

However, the sudden realization of my true feelings for the boy didn’t scare me away, in fact, they were keeping me close, holding me tight beside him and never breaking the contact, hoping that we would be together at the end.

“Hi there, y/n/n,” Stiles sat at the girl’s side, nudging her teasingly

“How’s life?”

“Good, what about you?” The girl slid closer to him, very aware of how her cheeks flushed.

“I- uh, I haven’t slept well recently,” He sighed “I’m tired, and having trouble concentrating at school and stuff.”

“That doesn’t sound good.” Y/N frowned.

“I’m aware of that” Stiles replied drily “Look, I’ll be fine I just need a few good hours of sleep and then I’ll be as good as always.”

“Why don’t you go see a doctor?”

“There’s no need, I promise I’m fine”

“Stiles, you can’t know that. What’s wrong with looking for a professional opinion anyway?” Her hand automatically reached for his, which he accepted, rubbing her knuckles with his thumb.

“Y/N...” He mumbled tiredly.

“She’s right though,” Lydia said, glancing up from her phone “You have no way to know that whatever is happening to you is just from lack of sleep, it could be something more.”

Stiles shifted awkwardly in his chair, biting his lip, Y/N wished they were the only ones on that table so no one could interrupt them.

“If you really think I should... I guess it’ll be okay”

And there it was, the real problem. Stiles’ undying love for Lydia Martin. At this point, I should’ve moved on and found a cute guy with good intentions and a huge heart, unfortunately, that was all he was. The sweet boy Stilinski, always there for everyone, the hero of every story. The feeling of having him so close yet so far was unbearable, I had a plan too just like he had one for Lydia. A three-year-long plan in which Stiles was going to notice me and figured on his own how significant I was in his life, by the time we were going to be on Senior year he’d be utterly in love.

I admit I started to grow bitter, the grudge I held against both of them wasn’t healthy and it wasn’t fair for either of them. I was being childish and stupid, they were my friends!; I found myself holding back from rolling my eyes everytime Stiles stared at the girl when he was talking with me, and clenching my fists whenever she said something remotely nice to him. There was this dark, heavy thing growing bigger and bigger with each passing day, consuming my heart, my rage was starting to be completely out of control.

Lydia was everything I couldn’t. Brave, smart, beautiful... I couldn’t compete with her. I didn’t want to.

We soon figured what was wrong with Stiles.

“An evil fox?” Y/N said, not able to believe it “Are you telling me that Stiles is being possessed by the evil spirit of a fox?”

“This is not funny Y/N, Stiles could die” Lydia scolded “don’t you care about what could happen to him?”

“I care more than you know” She growled, the smile disappearing completely of her face “You know I’d do anything to keep him safe.”

“And yet you’re not doing anything to find him.” Isaac mumbled.

Before they got the chance to get into an argument, Scott stopped them.

“The plan is to bring him back before it’s too late, Stiles has been holding on for too long, at this point is very likely that the Nogitsune has more power over him.”

“Yeah but if I find him, How am I supposed to stop him? I, a seventeen-year-old girl, whose only supernatural power is the will to stand all this bullshit” Y/N’s comment was not well received by her friends, that groaned in exasperation.

“Just be sure to have a way to contact us in case you find something helpful,” Scott grabbed his own phone and walked out of the room, Lydia following behind, giving her an apologetic smile.

“Ugh, fuck off,” Y/N thought, not in the mood to accept Lydia’s kindness.

What did Lydia have that she didn’t? What made her worthy of his heart, or what made me her unattractive to him, Y/N was so tired of being ignored, she was exhausted to see all her or so call “friends”, treating her like she was an inconvenience. The little human who was not even good at research like Stiles was, Y/N held her breath and count to ten, her blood boiling with impotence.

It was getting darker and still no sign of Stiles. I entered every abandoned building I could find, I looked around the forest and in my last attempt, I even checked his house in case he had a glint of sanity and decided to go back, but there was nothing.

I went home feeling defeated, just thinking about what could possibly be happening to Stiles in that very same moment gave me goosebumps, I was hoping that Scott could find him fast when I found him in my living room.

“Stiles! Where the fuck have you been?” Y/N dropped her bag and stood there in shock, “I’ve been worried sick, you disappeared and we thought you died!”

“Well, I can assure you I’m not dead” He looked like shit, dark circles under his eyes and dry lips, Y/N was surprised he could stay conscious “I need your help, Y/N/N”

The light in the room flickered when Stiles walked slowly to where the girl was, he looked at her up and down and licked his lips, the broken expression soon turning into a small, dark smile.

Suddenly realizing what was happening, she let him walk until they were face to face, knowing it wasn’t good but so terrified she couldn’t move a muscle to save her life.

“You’re not Stiles” she whispered in anger “You’re the other thing... Void.”

“Hi there,” He replied in a calm voice, looking at her hungrily “I’ve been waiting to officially meet you for too long”

“You’re despicable” Y/N had the urge to run to the opposite side, but she was so angry with this thing possessing the boy she loved that her emotions took control on her actions. “Why are you here?”

“Because of you.” He said, voice clear and intimidating.

“Y-you what?”

Time seemed to stop when he took a final step, his face so close now she could see the darkness in his eyes. “I’ve been feeding of this boy for so long, and I’ve been able to see his life, all the people around him, so many accidents and death surrounding this kid that it was impossible for me not to want him, but you, you’re something else.”

“I know your heart,” He whispered seductively “I can see you love this boy and want desperately to have him just for you,” He tilted his head and pulled her closer, his face buried in her neck. Being able to perceive the dark feelings coming out of the girl, he moaned “I’m starving Y/N, and your anger is overwhelming... I’m sure we could get to an agreement”

Y/N wanted to scream, she wanted to kick and punch and bite as much as she could until Scott finally appeared kicking down the door or something heroic as hell like he used to, her heart was pounding against her chest and Stiles had such a tight hold on her neck she was sure it could break it in a second.

“Let me go!” She grabbed his wrist and tried to get him off herself, but it was useless.”Stiles!”

“I’m not Stiles!” He snarled, grip becoming tighter “You think you have any chance to fight against me? you’ll die as soon as you try to escape and you know it.”

“You won’t kill me, I-I’m his friend” Y/N choked out “He would never hurt me”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong,” He said, grabbing her waist with his free hand and smiling wickedly “he doesn’t care.”

“You’re lying” The girl tried to push him in a desperate attempt to make him trip, but Void was faster, he slammed her against the wall, the pain stunned her enough for him to take her to her room with no objections.

“Why would I?” He replied, “I’m in control now, but he can hear and see everything as well, he knows your feelings and is disgusted by them.”

Her heart shattered at his words, of course she had always known that Stiles didn’t like her back, but being actually disgusted? that was enough to make her want to erase herself from existence.

“You’re free to think he’s fighting against this, but he’s not” He closed the door and pushed her against it, rubbing her cheek “it’s such a shame that you’re wasted like this, living in the shadows of a boy who is not interested in having you.”

“Please” Y/N begged, she didn’t want to hear anything else, it was too cruel.

“I’m giving you an option, dove” He licked his lips anxiously “you’ll never have what you want, he’s too out of your reach. I however am willing to let you have him if you give me what I want.”

“I-I don’t understand...”

“Let me take all that darkness in you, and you'll have Stiles for you and only for you, of course, you will not be able to talk to him or feel his presence since I’m the one in charge now, but- look at me, Y/N” He grabbed her face aggressively, forcing her to see the face of the boy she loved, now completely different from what she remembered “this is all you got.”

“He’s right,” Y/N thought.

Stiles didn’t love her, didn’t want her around, even after all those times when she tried to convince him that she was the right choice, even after she was the one he called when things got complicated, Stiles simply couldn’t see it, he didn’t want to see.

And Y/N loved him so much, so desperately, that she found herself sinking in despair, knowing that her only wish in life was never going to happen, it destroyed her, the last remnants of her sanity finally disappearing.

“If I help you... Will I die?”

Void’s smile grew wider, his eyes with a wild glint that she couldn’t ignore, making her shudder.

“I need you to feed me, the boy is too weak now... we need you, you want to take care of him, this is how you’ll do it” He put a stray of hair behind her ear “which means, I can’t kill you.”

“What’s gonna happen to Stiles?” Y/N felt herself drowning in empty lies, but it felt so good to have Stiles like this, so close to her body.

“I’ll leave his body eventually.” He seemed to be hiding something important, but at that point, Y/N didn’t mind.

What things would you do to be with the person you love?

She looked into those honey brown eyes, and soon enough she realized there was something missing, but she also noticed that this was the first time Stiles looked at her with such intensity, and her mind went blank. Drunk with his scent and proximity, she nodded, one last tear falling down her face.

“Good girl” Void whispered.

Before she could react, Void grabbed her face with both hands and kissed her fiercely, dominating every movement and making very clear who was in charge. While Void kissed her, she felt as if she was being drained, a strange emptiness taking over her body, but at the same time, the overwhelming sensation of having Stiles’ lips on her own, was enough to distract her from any possible danger.

Things were about to go worse than expected.

#void stiles revolution #teen wolf imagine #stiles x reader #void stiles fic #My writing

195 notes · View notes

mcjour · 3 years

Text

ahhhhhhhhh

ok so i’ve been applying all over for jobs which is such a horrible process. hate writing cover letters and filling in employment history and then having to talk to strangers and bla bla bla

anyway i had TWO interviews this week!

the first one was for the district in the next town over. i didn’t apply to any jobs that i wouldn’t be happy at, but honestly it’s probably a last choice in the sense that it pays significantly less than anywhere else in the area. Just $15/hr. which isn’t the WORST i’ve seen, but still... not great.. at all...

but i went and interviewed with an assistant principal and she was very nice and made her schools seem really great! like i walked away being like ok i kinda wanna work here LOL.

i think the interview went well overall. but... in retrospect there are definitely some questions i could’ve answered a lot better than i did. maybe some cringey answers. BUT also nothing i would consider BAD either, if that makes sense. Like certainly not the best job I could’ve done, but overall felt satisifed. I mean, I also need to be fair to myself that this was my first interview in years, and after (well, during) a freaking pandemic, and after leaving my last job in such a traumatic way. And like just anxiety in general! So like, yes I definitely could have done a lot better, but considering I left feeling satisfied, like I am proud of myself for how it went really.

Plus, she seemed responsive and interested in what I was saying, which seems like a good sign? But like she totally just could’ve been a nice lady with a poker face LOL

Do I think I will get an offer??? Ehhhhhh..... I guess it depends on how many other applicants/ open positions. Like, I could see it going either way. I definitely didn’t bomb the interview, so I wouldn’t say an automatic no. But I could definitely imagine other people could have interviewed much better than I did. And if they were only looking to fill one position, well, I’m out.

And so, like I said, since they pay the least amount of money, like, I wouldn’t be super hurt if I didn’t get the offer. Like I hope to get a better position so like I’m hoping I wouldn’t end up there anyway! But, if I did get the offer, maybe I’d take it....

Anyway, the interview was Monday and she did say they were aiming for this week ~either way~ and now tomorrow (today) is Friday, so I wonder if I will hear back (either way) today

My second interview......

So after my first interview, I made sure to practice extra hard. I mean, I did practice for the first interview a lot too (meaning coming up with different stories/ scenarios for frequently asked questions), but after that one I was like “oh I could’ve said something better for that question” sort of a thing.

So I had all these great stories lined up and ready to go and I was so ready to use them and make me sound great

But.... she didn’t ask any questions like that!!!!!!!

They were really such flat questions like “what do you do if 8 students need your help?” “you might be pulled to sub is that ok?” like HUH????????????

How am I supposed to make myself sound good with questions like that LMAOOOOOO

(and... how is she supposed to make a decision with questions like that LOL)

But honestly, I did do a good job, I think. Like I think I gave solid answers to every question, don’t think I said anything too cringey or anything. The pulled to sub question could easily have been a flop if I was just like “yeah” (LOL) but I told a story about how my partner teacher would disappear and i would take over the class on the fly. that kind of a thing. was proud of that.

so i walked out feeling pretty confident.

okay plus she started interviews on wednesday (mine was that day). she said she had two more the following day (which made it seem like mine was the last of the day). and then would hope to get back to people on friday. (AHHHHH! I FIND OUT TOMORROW/ TODAY).

and so i was kinda doing the math where i was like okay... my interview was at 1:30pm... she couldn’t have had TOO many before me.... she must’ve allowed herself a lunch break at some point, and when i got to the school she was finishing up a completely unrelated math meeting online. so she must’ve not just been doing interviews that whole time. i wanna say maybe max 6 other interviews that day if she started around 9, went to 12, one every half hour. but i am doubting that she packed them in like that, like i said. but that would make 9 applicants MAX, probably less. And she said there were 3 open positions across both her schools. and she asked if i wanted to be considered for both schools. So that gives me a 1 in 3 chance (or better depending on the actual number of applicants! maybe 1 in 2 chance lol. or if any of the applicants did not want to be considered for both jobs, but one vs the other). so i was feeling pretty good!!!! like decent ratio and a good interview things are looking good! (i mean you hear about jobs that get hundreds of applicants for a single position! these odds are p good!)

BUT still like i wish she asked me different questions. i don’t feel like i fully really expressed who i am to her. like if she had asked me more than i would’ve felt more confident that she would have seen more of my strengths and stuff. like i said, the questions she did ask were kinda flat, and while i think i answered them well, i wasn’t given a lot to work with. that said, i assume she asked the same questions to everyone, so i assume everyone else kinda had that issue, so idk how she is making a decision based off that!

especially given this: i gave her a copy of my resume and she said she really appreciated that because the website the district uses for the applications like is hard to use or messes things up or somehting. which, okay. that worries me a little bit... because i hope she can access my cover letter, my references, etc... because those add a LOT to the picture. like LMAO if she went off of my interview and resume alone...well...ew. i really hope she logs back in and reviews the WHOLE application.

So i’m kinda thinking ewwwwww maybe there was more I could’ve done somehow idk

LOL maybe print out my entire packet HAHA

jk would that have been weird? I would’ve felt weird. but maybe she would’ve liked that haha

the first interview lady actually had all of my stuff printed for the interview (i offered her a resume copy and she’s like oh i actually printed it myself and she had like this thick packet of ALL the stuff)

idk i really loved this school. like on paper it seemed perfect for many reasons, and then when i spoke to the principal it still seemed great, maybe even better than i thought. so like UGH this is my dream school. i want this job so bad! but like, i’m afraid to allow myself to get excited about it. like ... i don’t want to be disappointed. also like just in general there is no need for me to romanticize a JOB

okay right after the interview i felt so confident like omg yes i am so excited and i am going to get this job!!!! but now the next day i am like... ugh... no way will i get this job... i never get anything i want, so the rejection is inevitable... like... can there really be no healthy middle thinking for me jfc.

i will say there was one red flag in that i was like oh it seems like you have a very tight knit community here and shes like oh yes we are like a family! and like !!!! those are some red flag words honey!!!!! don’t say that. but like.... idk how to describe it. it felt genuine and not exploity? not that you can tell that from an interview. but like it seems like everyone has been working there forever and loves it kind of a thing. i mean, if i get the job, i won’t let my guard down on that shit. but it’s not concerning enough to stop me either.

one thing i am a LITTLE worried about is that idk when this lady planned on checking references (if at all). like did she do that thursday or is she planning on friday? because part of me secetly hoped that she would call my references today and they would’ve texted me being like omg! but they didn’t. and so that is kinda like “...oh.” But like i said, she very well could be calling tomorrow. ALSO worth considering is that two of my 3 references actually uploaded letters into the system. So she really doesn’t even ~need~ to call them unless she had specific questions (or wanted to talk to the 3rd reference LOL). so like... i really do not need to be stressing out about this specific thing at all... and yet....

also.... ugh... there are stuff that are just about me that i worry about. like ok, i am visibly queer with a shaved head. while i’d hope that an interviewer would not be prejudiced.... they easily could be. there really aren’t enough queer people in education, it’s a very homogenous field of straight, often wealthy, white women. i do have white privilege but otherwise i really don’t fit the image, so idk. also one of my references did use they/them pronouns in their reference letter and i feel like that could be a huge red flag to someone. granted i suppose i wouldn’t want to work for someone like that, and i also don’t care enough to asks my friend to misgender me, but still, it’s something i wonder about. another thing is that i talk with my hands a lot, and i am sure i did even more given that i was nervous......... i don’t think that is an issue necessarily but i was definitely self conscious about it like geez i hope i wasn’t waving my hands out of control LOL. and then another thing is that i HATE eye contact, like i just can’t do it. And I think I did a great job of holding eye contact, all things considered. but I definitely did look away a bit, particularly when i was thinking. I think it was fine and not an unreasonable amount of looking away, but now i am getting paranoid like oops maybe i looked away too much or something!!! i mean, i would hate if a job offer came down to something trivial like that, but... idk

another thing i wonder is the other applicants. like i said before.. it doesn’t really matter if i am a great applicant, it doesn’t guarantee anything if there was someone even slightly better. doesn’t mean i suck or anything. of course, that still wouldn’t take the sting off. ANYWAY the part i wonder most about though is where are these other people applying? by that i mean like what if my first choice school is actually someone else’s last choice school? do the other applicants also have other interviews and offers to weigh? So like, what if she offers someone a job but they are like sorry no thanks (for whatever reason, whether they accepted another position elsewhere, saw a red flag in the interview, or whatever it may be). like what if i was 4th choice for the 3 positions or something. would the job go to me?? when would i find this out? like, it’s weird to state that you will find out friday ~either way~ when i feel like you would need some time for the other people to accept (god forbid the call goes to voicemail even!). like i feel like most jobs wouldn’t be like “you’re waitlisted” LOL (i will say i did get a job off a waitlist once so i know it’s possible, but that doesn’t seem likely here LOL). maybe she didn’t say friday either way, and just ~friday~. maybe friday is for acceptances and flat out rejections and if you don’t hear friday you’re waitlisted LOL. or maybe she said she would make the decision fridayy but that doesn’t mean she’s actually reaching out friday? (ok i doubt she said that LOL)

plus are we talking like oh first thing friday she’s making the calls or is she gonna pull at 4:59pm thing like a lot of places do LOL. I don’t think that makes sense but maybe? I mean, when she offered me an interview, the time stamp on the email said like 8:39am or some shit, so i think this lady is on the ball in the mornings. but like i said, maybe she is still tying it all together friday morning, after all, she is moving through this very fast.

hopefully i hear good news today but i guess we will just wait and see.

if it’s only bad/no news, there are still some schools i haven’t heard from, and some more i can apply to. i just want to wrap this process up sooner rather than later.

lastly, i need to remember if worst comes to worse, i could always apply to my old school (meaning the one i worked at before, not the one i attended lol. although i guess i could also apply there, i just don’t like the position they have open right now). i am pretty dang sure they would take me (they always need somebody!) plus i know the ropes, know i would be happy and fit in there (not to mention my friends are there LOL). i hope it doesn’t come to that, after all the pay SUCKS lol. but it’s not world ending if i don’t get the jobs.

0 notes

blatherkatt · 6 years

Text

Title: The Calm Is Terrifying When The Storm Is All You Know [Homestuck]

Chapter 33: Declarations

Summary: There were two kinds of trolls who went to Earth: rich shitheads with too much money and free time, and desperate assholes who couldn’t survive on Alternia, even with the best efforts of the young Condesce. Karkat hated the planet almost immediately, but with his home planet too dangerous for mutants, he really didn’t have any choice but to hide out on this weird little diurnal planet. At least he’d be safe. Or so he thought, right before blundering his way into an accidental friendship with the son of an anti-troll terrorist.

Rating: M

Chapter Warnings: Implied/Mentioned abuse, mentions of terrorism, death mention, injury mention, depiction of an emotional breakdown, trauma aftermath; Illustrated; Pesterlog

FIRST | PREVIOUS | NEXT

— carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling tipsyGnostalgic [TG] —

CG: WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?

— tipsyGnostalgic [TG] is an idle chum! —

CG: FUCK YOU, I CAN SEE THAT FOR MYSELF, YOU PIECE OF SHIT PROGRAM. I’M GONNA FUCKING YELL ANYWAY.

CG: I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO PICK ME UP AT NOON. IT’S LIKE, 1:30 AND YOU STILL AREN’T HERE, WHAT GIVES?

CG: IF YOU GOT KIDNAPPED, TOO, I SWEAR TO FUCK I’M PERSONALLY PUTTING THIS ENTIRE GODDAMN FAMILY UNDER PERMANENT WATCH.

CG: I’M NOT ABOVE SITTING ON YOU ASSHOLES IF THATS WHAT IT TAKES.

TG: okay first off i know youre like a literal alien but heres a protip for ya:

TG: general human earth etiquette is to not text people who you know are probably driving?

TG: its like a whole thing

CG: WHY

TG: idk probs because texting while driving’s a great way to fucking crash lol

TG: anyway!!

TG: yeah im real sorry about that mom fucking rang me up like

TG: hi im at the airport come get me!

TG: out of fucking nowhere because everything has to be a fucking hassle with this woman

TG: so i had to go get her

CG: WHY THE FUCK WAS SHE AT THE AIRPORT?

TG: because fuck me is why

TG: and THEN shes like

TG: ooooh i gotta do some mysterious whatthefuckever errand at some mall out in the middle of nowhere

TG: so now im sitting in the parking lot waiting for her to get back which might be a while because her bad leg’s been acting up lately

TG: and thats why im not there yet >:(

CG: WAIT. WAIT, HOLD ON, I’M CONFUSED.

CG: BY “MOM” ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT RACHEL? I DIDN’T EVEN THINK SHE HAD A BAD LEG.

TG: nonono

TG: ray is like. dirk and dave and rose’s mom

TG: i dont call her mom i just call her aunt ray cuz shes not my mom yknow

TG: my mom is aunt ray’s sister

TG: aunt ramona? they talk about her?

CG: OOOOOOH. YEAH.

CG: THE WOMAN WHO WRITES THOSE SHITTY SUPERNATURAL ROMANCE BOOKS KANAYA LOVES.

TG: hahaha yeah her trashy shit is great

CG: SHE’S HERE?

TG: apparently!!!!!!!!

CG: I’M SENSING SOME BITTERNESS.

TG: ugh its fine she just always does shit like this

TG: womans always gotta make a fuckin entrance even if that means not telling anyone shes coming

TG: and its goddamn annoying as shit!!

TG: but its fine i get it shes here to help out and we are kinda all hands on deck

TG: speaking of tho i heard something about kanaya not coming along after all?

CG: NOT YET, NO.

CG: SHE’S BEEN TALKING TO ROSE, AND APPARENTLY DAVE’S BEEN PRETTY UNEASY WITH THE NUMBER OF NEW FACES AT THE HIVE.

CG: HOUSE. WHATEVER.

CG: TEREZI’S PROTECTION DETAIL HAS HIM KIND OF ON EDGE, I GUESS?

CG: SHE’S GONNA COME AROUND LATER PROBABLY. AND MIGHT END UP STAYING WITH PORRIM AND KEEP IT TO VISITS, AT LEAST UNTIL THINGS SETTLE DOWN A BIT.

CG: SO IT’S JUST ME FOR NOW.

TG: ooooh yeah geez i bet

TG: poor dave :( :( :(

TG: i gotta tell you and mom some uh. serious shit about him when i pick you both up

TG: id pass it on here but its probs better if i just tell you face to face?

CG: OH, WONDERFUL!

CG: MORE NO DOUBT HORRIFIC NEWS REGARDING DAVE.

CG: I CAN’T WAIT. THIS PANIC ATTACK’S GONNA BE ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS, I CAN JUST FEEL IT!!!

TG: :(

TG: tl;dr hes not in great shape but hes getting better but theres some stuff we gotta go over

TG: jfc mom what the fuck are you doing its been ages

CG: SO WAIT. SHE JUST HAD YOU DRIVE HER OUT SOMEWHERE AND WALKED OFF ALONE?

TG: yeah

TG: woman can take care of herself just fine so like im not worried??

TG: but still, like. cmon woman!!! whatever it is hurry up a little

TG: it cant be that important we got places to be

In terms of location, it was almost an outlet mall; somewhat detached from the nearest city and surrounded by forest. It was mostly all one building, positioned in a dip in the ground next to a clear stream, and these features had helped make it a serviceable fortress during the invasion, although Derek had regularly complained that he’d have preferred a site that held the high ground. Still, they’d made do; the roof was high enough that one could see for quite some distance, the stream offered fresh water, the trees provided decent enough cover during skirmishes, and the walls were thick enough to turn away most weather and weapons. It hadn’t been much, but it had served well enough as home for six years for around threescore ragtag survivors-turned-fighters.

Out in the surrounding forest, those who hadn’t survived that conflict still lay buried in pitiful graves marked only with a stone or a chunk of wood. There hadn’t been time to properly put anyone to rest; it had been risky enough for two or three people to slip out during a stretch of quiet with a shovel and a body. They simply hadn’t been able to afford to have any sort of formal burial, not with the threat of an attack constantly looming.

Even so, even so…

Derek had picked a spot he would remember.

In life, the oak tree would have been the kind people would have thought of as a monarch, with branches spread wide and gnarled wood ancient and strong, holding children in its branches as easily as if they were made of nothing; but the tree had already been dead by the time the invasion started, a great, ancient, dried-out husk. Even so, decades later, it still stood, its branches reaching toward the sky, the other trees forming a circle around it as though too respectful to come too close. Mushrooms and trails of greenery crept about a quarter of the way up the ancient trunk.

At its roots, a rotting wooden spar stuck up out of the ground. This, too, had been reclaimed by flowers, grasses and mushrooms, decorating the splintered and decayed timber with dark summer greens and pale white-and-lavender blooms.

Derek Strider, down on one knee with his sheathed sword held in his right hand, sighed. Of course, the trouble with having to bury the dead so hastily meant that there’d been no one to look over the graves, so it was to be expected that it be in such disrepair, but even so, seeing this one choked out by the invading flora was…

It wasn’t right.

Overhead, the ancient branches rustled slightly, and the raucous calling of a bird broke the silence. Derek narrowed his eyes and ignored it, tried to write the disrespectful noise out of the scene.

The crow seemed to have other ideas. The bird lighted down on the wooden grave marker, red eyes fixed on Derek’s face. It flapped its wings a few times, cawing incessantly. Derek scowled, unsheathed his sword, and struck —

The blade passed through the bird with no resistance whatsoever. The creature’s body split in two, bloodlessly, as though Derek had cut through smoke — it even looked like smoke, like a cloud cut in two by a passing jet. As Derek looked on, uncomprehending and with a growing sense of dread, the bird’s body seemed to pull itself back together, a video played in reverse, and the bird’s accusatory squawks started up again as though nothing had happened.

Derek was on his feet in an instance, stepping away from the beast, and as he did, he happened to look up…

Perched on nearly every branch of the old tree were ravens. Unlike the crow, they were all silent, and aside from the occasional shifting of a foot or tilting of a head, motionless. Scores of staring animal eyes bored into him.

Derek had never been a superstitious man, but nor was he the sort of fool to ignore the truth his own eyes showed him. He’d spent six years fighting alongside a witch, and seen enough to learn that some things really couldn’t be explained away as coincidence.

Had it been anyone else, he would have responded to the sound of footsteps approaching this site with a furious attack; even Ben knew better than to disturb him here. But when he whirled to face the intruder, he froze.

She’d aged more since he’d last seen her than he would have expected. Hints of silver streaked her hair, and she leaned heavily on her gnarled black cane. A faint breeze stirred the black fabric of her dress, playing with the light shawl laying across her shoulders. The crow had fallen silent.

“Put that thing away before you take someone’s eye out,” said Ramona, nodding nonchalantly at Derek’s sword.

Derek narrowed his eyes, and did not respond aloud, instead choosing to slowly and deliberately slide the sword back into its sheathe. Only after his left hand had returned to his side did Ramona nod and continue.

“That’s better,” she said. “Now we can talk things over like reasonable adults. Mind you, I ought to do the world a favor and wipe you out right now,” and Derek took a slow, deep breath at that, as she continued, “But I’d prefer not to desecrate your brother’s grave by staining it with your blood. I respect him far too much for that. You, however, have somehow managed to exceed all of my worst expectations to a nearly unfathomable degree, as of late. I’ve held off on this confrontation out of respect for the past, but I can see now that this was a mistake.”

Derek shifted. “Everything I’ve done has been to protect our damn planet, Ramona,” he started, but was cut off.

“Really?” she said, “Well, then. I’m not about to attempt to ask you to cease killing trolls, as we both know that would be pointless, but I would very much like to know how exactly burning your own son alive plays into your grand battle strategy?”

“He…he turned on us,” Derek said, through gritted teeth, “He forced my hand, left me no choice!”

“He is a child!” Ramona snapped. “And you, of all people, should know better! If you really must follow this path of self-destruction to its end, fine, but he should never have been involved!”

“I—”

“And in any case, you had a perfectly good sword on hand, I’m sure. If young Dave really did need to die, you could have executed him with minimal pain, but no, you wanted him to hurt, to know he was dying and to fear you and suffer as he passed. How do you justify that, Derek? How does anyone, especially a child, deserve anything of the sort?”

The eyes of the ravens and that damned crow still drilled into him. He could feel the stares on his back, but kept his eyes locked on Ramona’s, refusing to back down.

He wasn’t going to take back what he’d done. There’d be no guilt, he’d done nothing wrong except overreact a bit. It was justified. That…that boy wasn’t Dave. Ramona was using the name like a blade, but she’d not win that way. He didn’t deserve the fucking name, didn’t deserve to have anything to do with Dave, he never would have let Rachel name the kid that if he’d known he was going to grow up to be such a pathetic, useless little coward.

“I don’t have to explain myself to you,” he said.

“No, I suppose you don’t,” said Ramona, folding her hands over the top of her cane. “I’ve a fairly good idea, in any case.” She sighed. “The war is over, Derek. The time to put aside this violence and misery is long since behind us. Our children do not deserve to grow up as we did.”

“The trolls are still here,” Derek spat.

There was a long silence. Ramona sighed again.

“Fine, then,” she said, “So be it. Do as you will. Chase violence as long as you like. But if you come near my family again, I will consider it an act of war.”

She turned, and he was tempted to take the bait, to try attacking her while her back was turned, but he held still. It was infuriating, knowing what a pointed insult turning her back on him was, knowing that she knew he would not risk attacking her—but she was right. She was much too dangerous.

“Come along, little one,” she said, abruptly. The crow rose off the grave and flew to land on top of Ramona’s cane. If Derek had cared to pay any attention, he might have noticed the crow look back at him with something like regret in its eyes, but Derek was already far too lost in his own thoughts.

As one bird, the ravens took wing, dispersing in all directions, leaving him alone again.

The trouble with trying to go from Alternian to English was a multifaceted one, to be sure, but so far the most obnoxious piece of it that Karkat could see was the tendency of guides on how to speak English to simply use the closest Alternian equivalent as an English word’s translation. More and more, the two languages were notably extremely different, and while he could speak English well enough that he’d never had any serious problems, there were any number of words that he kept tripping over as a result of a translation being extremely unclear and culturally misleading.

Witches, for instance, were clearly something very different on Earth. The Alternian word that was translated to English as “witch” was, like most Alternian words, a series of noises in the ‘click and growl’ family that most humans lacked the anatomy to create, and generally refered to certain lowblood prophets and healers in Alternian folklore. They were those who lived away from society and who, through some lucky genetics and convenient psychic powers, were able to fend of drones and effectively disappear from the world at large’s knowledge. They kept to themselves, sought to harm no one who didn’t attack them first, offered shelter to the weak and the hunted, and as such were always portrayed as utterly despicable beings in fiction, as no writer with any sense of self-preservation had dared to portray such reckless treachery under the rule of the last Condesce. There might have been some changes to the lore under the new one’s rule, but things like that changed slow.

In any case, they certainly weren’t anything like the old woman in a shawl who was sitting next to Roxy in the front of her car.

She was dressed all in black, for one thing. Alternian witches didn’t tend to wear much black. Some Alternian witches didn’t tend to wear all that much clothing at all, really. Most seemed to belong to ancient religions that weren’t particularly fond of shirts.

Ramona was definitely magic as shit, though, Rachel’d been right about that much. Was that all a witch was on Earth, just someone with magic? Fuck, if that were the case, then probably like at least a third of all trolls were witches by Earth’s standards. Then again, maybe magic was another poorly translated word? English didn’t seem to have a word to separate “things that we (read: trolls) know exist, like psychic powers and psiionics and ghosts and chucklevoodoos,” and “things that are super fake and don’t actually happen ever and make no sense.”

Whatever. In any case, Ramona didn’t look at all like Karkat had expected, and when he climbed into the back of the car, she didn’t react to his presence with anything stronger than an amiable nod. She seemed to have her mind on other things, and was largely silent at first.

Roxy wasn’t; she immediately piped up happily as Karkat swung open the door with a “Hey, man! Sorry about taking so long! Can you, uh, do me a favor and check on Jaspers? He’s in the carrier behind Mom, Rose asked me to pick him up while she and Aunt Ray were gone. He’s been missing them a lot, all staring out the window and kneading his blanket and shit, and he’s not a huge fan of car rides.”

“He’s asleep,” Karkat said after glancing into the little crate.

“Awesome. Alright, buckle up and we’ll get this damn show on the road.”

“On the road again, just can’t wait to get on—”

Karkat tilted his head as the car’s radio abruptly changed from quietly playing some human pop song over to something much louder and completely different. Ramona stifled a snort as Roxy stabbed a button, switching the radio back to the previous channel.

“No, thank you,” she said, glaring. “Christ, the fuck is with this thing today, I swear to god.”

“I suppose it may simply be getting into the spirit of things,” said Ramona with a smile. As the car pulled away from the curb, she turned back a bit to face Karkat. “It’s Karkat, isn’t it? Rachel’s been sending me any number of emails with updates, and from the sound of things, you’ve been rather instrumental in bringing young Dave back into the fold, so to speak.”

“…Into the what?”

“It’s a figure of speech, meaning in this case that you’ve helped us return him home as well as helping him to adjust to being there,” she said. “For which you have all of our heartfelt thanks. Ours is perhaps not the most functional of families, but it is ours, and as I’m sure you’ve seen firsthand, ripping away a piece of it the way Derek did has had some very painful consequences for all involved. We owe you a great deal.”

“Yeah, man!” Roxy said. “And from what Rose has been telling me, you were kind of a big part of why he finally spilled what he knows. Which, he did bee-tee-dubs, which means he’s off house arrest finally, so that’s good—”

“—And a partridge in a pear tree,” the radio crackled.

“What the fuck? It’s August,” Roxy scowled. She turned the radio off altogether as Ramona glanced hurriedly out the window.

“Speaking of Dave,” Karkat said, hopefully before anyone got distracted again, “Roxy, you mentioned that there was something that you needed to say face to face?”

“Right, shoot, yeah,” said Roxy. The car turned onto the long road that led eventually to the Lalonde hive. “Okay, so, like. There’s definitely some shit you should know before we get there, but I wanna preface it all real clearly by saying that Dave’s okay, y’know? He’s got a lot of healing to do, but the doctors said that as long as he’s looked after and we change bandages and shit and he gets plenty of rest, he’s definitely not in any danger anymore. He’s…weak, but he’s not like gonna keel over at any moment, okay?”

“Not actually making me feel any better, Roxy!” said Karkat. Oh, boy, with a preface like that…

“Well, fuck, I tried, I guess. Uh. So, Dave did get hurt…pretty bad, and there were some other complications—oh, for fuck’s sake!!”

“Watch me, watch me, hey, watch me, watch me!” The radio was louder than ever. Ramona’s hand flew up, poorly hiding a grin.

Karkat leaned around Roxy’s seat to glare at her.

“What the fuck, Roxy,” said Karkat.

“I’m not doing this!” Roxy said, waving her hand wildly. “I swear to fuck, I wouldn’t! I really do need to pass on some shit about poor Dave, and the radio’s never done this before? It’s been acting up since a little before we picked you up, keeps changing on its own and shit, augh!”

She fought with the controls, but the song stopped only for a moment before getting even louder.

“Why the fuck do you humans even have this obnoxious song?! Who listens to this?? It’s literally just some squawking wiggler screeching for its lusus’s attention!”

“I mean, I kinda love it for that honestly, it’s terrible and stupid and wonderful, but like, come the fuck on??? What’s with this thing?! Now is not the time!”

“Ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass ass—“

“GOD, that’s even worse!!” Roxy yelled, slamming her fist down on the dashboard. “Fucking stop!!”

“That’s enough for now,” Ramona said, almost murmuring it.

The radio turned off. Karkat and Roxy both turned a suspicious eye on Ramona, and with equal simultaneity, decided to drop it for now.

“Anyway,” Roxy said slowly, “What I was trying to say is, um…Karkat, do you know what it means for someone to ‘flatline?’ Because, um. Dave kinda did, for like, a minute and a half.”

Karkat shook his head, realized Roxy probably couldn’t see him with her eyes on the road, and said, “Uh, I have no idea what that word means, no.”

“Well, um…”

“It refers to a heart monitor indicating that the heart has ceased beating,” Ramona said. “The machine indicates activity with a line which shows peaks and valleys, and it goes flat when that activity has stopped, thus, ‘flatline’. The organ we call a heart serves an equivalent function to what trolls call a ‘blood pusher’ or a ‘pump biscuit.’”

Karkat felt for a moment like his own pump biscuit had stopped.

“Shit, Mom, when did you get so good at translating to trolls?” Roxy murmured.

Ramona shrugged. “I’ve made efforts to reach out,” she said. “The war ended, after all, and since we’re allies now, it doesn’t hurt to learn about each others’ cultures.”

“His fucking—What?!” Karkat screeched, unable to keep the harsh buzzing whine out of his voice. God, that was such a moirail noise, and any other time he’d have yelled at himself for not keeping it under control, but not now, not when… “His fucking blood pusher stopped and I’m supposed to be calm!?!”

“They got it moving again!” Roxy said. “He’s okay now, the doctors said it was going strong! It was, um, mostly just exhaustion, they think? Like, the burn wounds could’ve killed him on their own, sure, but they got on those quick enough that if he’d been healthy to begin with he probably wouldn’t have been so bad off? But between ten years of, you know…and just, apparently he hasn’t been eating enough even while he’s been back with us? And Ray’s gonna get on his ass about that, but, just—look, the thing is, Dirk doesn’t know about this yet, and Aunt Ray’s asked that we try to keep it that way, and I don’t really get why but I think she has her reasons?”

Karkat was definitely hyperventilating, oh fuck, oh fuck—Ramona’s hand reached back to touch his own, snapping him out of it.

“It’s fine to be worried,” she said, gentle. “I promise you, though, it is as Roxy says: he’ll be fine given time to recover and the safety with which to do so. He’ll be alive when we get there.” She sat back in her chair, turning towards the road again. “As for Dirk, I suspect Rachel is waiting for things to settle down before breaking it to him gently. He is, for better or worse, very like his father, and Derek handled his brother’s death poorly, in large part because at the time we could not afford to mourn. Rachel probably wants to make sure that Dirk does not feel he has to force himself to be strong when she tells him.”

“Makes sense, I guess,” Roxy muttered. “Anyway, the main thing about that is that he’s not got a lot of energy right now, so don’t…take it personally if he just falls asleep on you sometimes? Especially with the painkillers he’s on, apparently that’s a side effect, too. He can walk short distances, but he gets wobbly quick and needs help sometimes, so there’s that too.”

“Fuck,” said Karkat, softly.

The next ten minutes of the ride were carried out in tense silence. This was broken by the radio once again bursting back on and blasting the ass song again, at which point Roxy threatened to pull over and smash the fucking thing to smithereens.

By the time they actually got to the fucking house, Karkat felt like his soul was going to vibrate right out of his fucking body with impatience. They had yet another delay in the form of Terezi’s protection detail—Terezi herself wasn’t there, but some officers were, and they insisted on knowing about any weapons the three of them had as well as names, and went in to check with the family while making them all wait outside by the car. Karkat already had his fucking bag in hand, he was ready to go, but no, they had to go through this tedious procedure! Sure, it was probably a smart move, and when he was feeling a little more sensible he’d be more okay with it as it was the sort of thing that probably would make them all feel a bit safer (especially poor fucking Dave), but right now the were a pain in the ass and he was going to fucking explode!!! If they didn’t!!! Let him get in the fucking hive!!!!!

Rose stepped out as they were still talking to the police, and for the first time in his life Karkat was unspeakably happy to see her. She quickly confirmed to the police that all three of them were in fact expected and trusted by this household, and then gently let Jaspers out of his carrier. The cat immediately yowled and threw himself into her arms, kneading at her shoulders and rubbing his face against hers, and it all would have been super cute if Karkat didn’t have his mind on other fucking things.

“Come on in,” Rose said, nodding towards the door. “Dirk’s on the couch and Dave’s in Mom’s room, as neither of them can handle stairs right now and Dave needs his bandages changed at least twice a day. Karkat, do you—”

She was talking to air. He was already in the fucking door.

And then had to face the fact that he’d never actually been to Rachel’s room. Fuck. Rachel was coming up the hall, though, and a slightly bewildered young human (wait, fuck, that was Dirk, what happened to his hair? It looked so weird hanging down like that instead of spiked up) was sitting on the couch with an Earth husktop on his lap. Roxy pushed in the door with Ramona right behind her, dropped a heavy wheeled bag right next to the door, and immediately launched herself at Dirk, who gave a startled yelp as she did so.

Rachel rested a hand on Karkat’s shoulder as she passed him, rushing up toward Ramona throwing her arms around her shoulders. The two shared a long hug, and Rachel kissed Ramona’s cheek.

“God, I’m so glad you’re here,” Karkat heard Rachel murmur, before Rose tapped his shoulder.

“I was asking if you knew where Mom’s room is,” Rose said.

“Uh.”

“It’s down the hall to the observatory, but you take a left before you get to it. Make sure to make plenty of noise on the way over, Dave gets really jumpy when he’s the only person in that room. He can’t block the door since we need to be able to come in and out, and it’s got him a bit on edge.”

Karkat nodded, unable to get any words out past the lump in his throat. He more or less just dropped his bag on the ground and pushed past, zooming around toward the room indicated. Dave looked half-asleep when Karkat pushed the door open, and waved as he sat up with some effort.

God, the photo Rose had taken didn’t do justice to how fucking bad he looked. There were bruises across his face and neck turned a weird greenish-gray but still dark against his skin, and bandages everywhere, his hair was a mess (although that might have just been from sleeping). He was in some oversized shirt with an Earth hoofbeast on the front that was probably Dirk’s judging by the size, and Karkat had no idea why Dave had it on but right now he didn’t care.

“Hey, man, uh. Shit’s been crazy, huh?” Dave said with an awkward grin. He didn’t have his shades on either, which made sense if he’d been sleeping, except they weren’t on the bedside table (which did instead contain a nearly empty glass of water, several bottles of pills and salves, and a first aid kit from which clean cloth bandages overflowed).

Two weeks of emotion boiled over all at once. Wordless, Karkat stomped across the room and grabbed Dave’s stupid fucking shirt in both hands and tugged him close.

“It was three days, Dave,” Karkat hissed.

“Wha—?”

“Three days! And you got yourself fucking kidnapped by a terrorist on day goddamn two!! What the fuck, Dave?!” His voice was threatening to abandon him, but Karkat forced it right back into place by sheer willpower. This tangent would not be fucking stopped, hell no. “I take my eyes off of you for two days, and you get yourself into shit again! What the fuck!!! Do you have any idea how-how fucking agonizing it’s been waiting for news?! And you’re just sitting there like ‘Oh, hey! What’s up?’ What’s up is my foot up your waste chute, you hopeless fucking—!” Okay, nope, his voice was leaving after all, actually. He felt tears roll down his face, and he should’ve been more worried about that, but Dave already knew about his blood color and he was the only troll in the house right now, so, fuck it, fuck it all! Helpless, he tugged Dave closer again, letting his face press against that stupid shirt, claws still twisted into the fabric as he sobbed.

“Holy shit,” Dave muttered.

“I was so fucking scared,” Karkat gasped. This was pathetic, they weren’t remotely a couple, Karkat had no right to be this worked up and he knew it, but…Dave wasn’t exactly pushing him away, either, was he?

“I’m sorry, man, I didn’t even…It wasn’t planned this time, it just sorta happened, and Dirk got hurt, and I…”

“I’m not actually angry at you, despite having so much right to be that legislacerators everywhere have preemptively declared me innocent. I’m just fucking screaming for the sake of it, dumbass.”

“Oh.”

The awkward pause that followed was filled with only the sound of Karkat’s weeping, which, fuck, he was probably too fucking embarrassed to tell him off. Except…Dave’s hand lifted up to rest gently against Karkat’s back, so, maybe he didn’t mind that much? Was that wishful thinking?

“Sorry for this,” he said, just in case, as he pulled away a bit. “It’s really fucking embarrassing, I know, I just…”

“It’s cool, man,” said Dave. Then, with a wink, he said, “I know you got your massive Strider homocrush, it’s only natural—”

“Dave, I swear to fuck, injured or not, I will pummel you into dust with a fucking pillow, don’t test me!” Karkat snapped.

Dave snorted. “Hey, man, it’s fine, everyone’s allowed to be a lil gay sometimes with their friends, it’s only natural.”

“I’ll ‘natural’ you!! Motherfucker, I spent the two weeks worrying about your wellbeing and you come at me with more of this bullshit!!”

Dave cackled with laughter. Karkat rolled his eyes and sniffled. He feigned annoyance as best he could, but, God, it was such a relief to hear Dave laugh. Rubbing a sweater sleeve furiously across his eyes, Karkat pulled back, sitting awkwardly on the edge of the bed. “Okay, but seriously, what’s with the shirt?” he asked, gesturing at the floating head of the hoofbeast. It wasn’t even a joke or a drawing. It was just…a straight photo of a hoofbeast’s face, with no text or explanation of any sort. What the fuck??

Dave glanced down, and snickered. “Oh, shit. Uh, yeah, we needed something that’s easy to get me in and out of, since the bandages on this fuckin’ burn need to be changed like, a lot, not to mention the gross-ass cream they have us slathering all over it on the regular. We tried a button down, but the buttons were kinda chafing, and like…who the fuck wants to ruin a fancy shirt with gross burn juices, right? And Dirk’s shit is more comfortable, and this one’s big enough that it’s real easy to take off even if I’m high on the damn painkillers.”

Karkat winced slightly, but decided not to comment. The scream from the video echoed somewhere in his think pan. “Where’re your shades?”

“Bro fuckin’ stepped on them or something, man, I dunno. They fell off at some point, and they were already cracked before all that, and Terezi just found pieces. Which fucking sucks, I mean God dammit, those were a gift from John. Shit sucks.”

“John?” Karkat tipped his head.

“Yeah, he’s like, an old friend of mine. Have I not mentioned him to you? Whatever, he, uh.” Dave scratched at the side of his head. “He was an online friend from before Bro started doing the, uh, raid shit, and I kept talking to him and another friend, Jade, for a while afterwards even though I wasn’t supposed to?”

“Jade’s name I remember,” Karkat said.

“Haha, yeah, yeah cuz I told you about…anyway.” He cleared his throat. “I guess since Dirk’s college is starting up again soon, not that he’s going for the first couple weeks with his leg and a fucking concussion, but, it’s starting up, and John’s sister goes there too, and he’s gonna come with so we’ll be able to hang out for a bit? Which is fuckin’ rad, I haven’t even talked to the guy in three years and we’re finally meeting in person.”

“You want him to be here? While you’re this badly injured?” Karkat yelped.

Dave blinked at him like he’d just grown a secondary head.

“I mean, yeah?” Dave said. “Like, yeah, I’m not in great shape and I guess it’ll be a lil weird for him to see me like this, but I’ve missed him.” Before Karkat could press the question further, though, Dave yawned. “Ugh, fuck, I wanna keep talking, but I’m…halfway to falling asleep, shit.”

“Oh,” said Karkat. He got up, ready to leave. He wanted to stay, wanted to curl himself around Dave’s obnoxiously lanky frame as best he could and protect this fragile idiot human from the entire universe, but…it wasn’t his place, was it? No.

“You leaving?” said Dave, rubbing at his unbruised eye.

“You said you wanna sleep,” Karkat said.

“Right. Uh. Could you, like…fill this back up for me, then, I guess?” Dave said.

“…Sure,” said Karkat.

He was…still confused, but Dave was tired, so he didn’t press. But he couldn’t wrap his head around wanting a friend around while he was so injured—well, he’d wanted Karkat around, hadn’t he? He’d seemed happy to see him, aside from the, uh, yelling. Still, it didn’t make sense! Every troll knew as a small child that the only people you could trust when you were injured were your lusus, your moirail, and maybe your matesprit! Anyone else might take advantage of the weakness and kill you, that was just basic logic! But Dave didn’t even seem to be thinking about it.

And…and yet, come to think of it, Roxy’d been awfully forthright about how bad Dave’s condition was. Hell, she’d heard it from Rose, who seemed like the one most likely to know not to spread that weakness, but the humans were all sharing it and passing it around. It wasn’t just that they didn’t seem to care who knew that Dave and Dirk were injured, it was like they wanted people to know.

And as he filled up the glass of water in the kitchen, he watched as Roxy and Dirk talked on the couch, as Dirk told her that he’d passed on the news of their condition to Jane already, that Rose had told her and Dave’s friends, and it just kept going. Everyone had to be up to date on the fact that both brothers were injured and vulnerable, and yet…

“I hope the flight wasn’t too long,” Rachel was saying to Ramona.

“Nothing would be too long right now,” she said in turn, blowing gently on a cup of tea that Rachel had just poured her. “Times like these, we all need to do our part. I know I might not be able to do much, mind you. My leg’s been acting up something fierce, as of late, but I’ll do whatever I can.”

Something clicked. All at once, the curtains pulled back and Karkat saw the whole picture—saw maybe not what it always was, and certainly not what the Lalondes achieved on any sort of regular basis, but what it was supposed to be, how it was meant to work.

On Alternia, everyone lived in constant competition. Trolls had to be strong as close to all the time as they possibly could, or at the very least find a moirail who could, because otherwise their society wouldn’t particularly care much if they died. That just meant they didn’t deserve to be a part of the gene pool or to contribute to society. If they were injured badly and left vulnerable, it was seen as normal for others to take advantage of that weakness and exert power or outright kill a rival. It was how they survived so long, or so the cultural narrative had so long stated: by this competition, the strongest survive. Nevermind that this survival was built on the corpses of uncountable trolls who didn’t make the cut, it Worked.

As a result, trolls had been bewildered just as Karkat had by how humans as a species managed to be so frail and yet so reckless and to still survive, especially when they didn’t exactly have the kind of numbers that trolls did. Humans lacked the numbers to be expendable, lacked the strength and toughness that kept Trolls alive, and yet they looked Death in the eye and pointed and laughed, and pushed themselves to extremes for no purpose other than to have some warped idea of fun. It was a question that had lingered around his consciousness for ages; how the fuck do humans even work as a species? How had such a seemingly doomed race not died off yet?

The answer that hit him now, as he watched Roxy help Dirk stand up and balance himself on a pair of crutches, was that humans didn’t have to be strong all the time, and that was the magic of their little social units, their families—they took care of each other. No one person had to be good at everything, or so good at one thing that it could keep them safe in any situation. It didn’t matter that their skin was thin or that they weren’t particularly strong or fast, they always, always had others around who would pick up the slack, others who would come even across oceans to offer what aid they could in times of strife; they weaved together all their strengths and weaknesses into a fabric able to withstand just about anything. Fuck, no wonder they’d wanted Dave back so badly. The Lalondes may have been less a tapestry and more a patchwork quilt, but it was still their quilt, and Dave was a part of it….

He felt a near-agonizing pang of envy that he didn’t have a quilt of his own. Humans might have been stupid about a lot of things, but this…this they’d gotten right.

“Fucking water? Is that really the best you could think of? Fucking dumbass,” Dave muttered to himself. God. This was stupid. This was all really fucking stupid. He couldn’t even deal with being alone while he was asleep, for Chrissakes! Too scared of nightmares of a big mean dog, like some fuckin’ little kid.

Yeah, he was tired, but he really, really didn’t wanna be alone right now, was the thing. Not with that fucking troll-drug-induced nightmare lingering around the edges, waiting to chase him down again at its first chance. But. Like. Karkat was kind of right? Bros don’t watch each other sleep, that’s fuckin’ creepy. Like. Okay, so maybe they’d done a bit of that way back when Karkat had been kidnapped, but they didn’t have a choice back then, and anyways they mostly slept at the same time during that experience, which was super different from just asking his best alien friend to fuckin’ hold his hand so the bad dreams wouldn’t get him. Fuck.

So he’d asked Karkat to refill his glass, even though he wasn’t thirsty right now, because it was an excuse to make Karkat come back, at least for a few more minutes, and they could talk for a bit, and maybe Dave’d stop being tired, wouldn’t that be rad.

Karkat came back in looking really thoughtful. He handed the glass over, and Dave took a sip to try and look like he hadn’t been 100% bullshitting there, and mumbled a thanks as he set it down. Then, just as a thought, he jerked his head toward the rest of the bed—it was a big king-sized one, probably left over from before the divorce and Mom had just never downsized or whatever, so there was a lot of space to Dave’s right—and told Karkat he could sit down if he wanted, Dave wasn’t gonna, like, pass out right this minute or anything, haha.

Karkat stayed quiet, which was fuckin’ weird, but he did sit down. He stared at the sheets for a minute, and then spoke up suddenly, saying, “I think I get it.”

“Get what?” said Dave.

“Why they wanted you back so bad,” said Karkat. “I mean, way back when you were first arrested. I kind of fought with Dirk over it at one point, because my only experience with the word Dirk used for why you should be with him was fucking Strider. And also I think I get why this shit all works, for humans in general. I mean, I’m probably just saying obvious shit, but it’s not how trolls work, we don’t take care of each other, not like this.”

Dave tipped his head.

“I mean with the whole fucking family thing,” Karkat said, rolling his eyes. “I’ve been trying to get it this whole time, but this shit’s used to justify so much bullshit with you humans, and I think I get it now, and why it’s so fucking important to you as a species.”

Dave snorted. “Dude, it’s not that big a thing—”

“It is, though! It just seems normal to humans because it’s how you always work, but, Dave, I’m serious, back on Alternia it’s every troll for themself. Maybe you have one person who has your back if you’ve got a moirail, maybe some are lucky like me and have friends who are actually consistently on your side and won’t take the first chance they get to kill you or fuck you up some other way, but we definitely don’t have a whole cluster of others we can just fall back on any time we’re met with something we can’t handle alone.”

“Makes sense, I guess,” Dave started, but Karkat just kept going. Apparently he’d had some sort of fuckin’ epiphany in the past two minutes.

“It took me so fucking long to get this, but I get it now! You know what I don’t get, though, is why the fuck you ever tried to convince me that Strider is part of your fucking family.”

Something in Dave dropped like a stone.

He’d…had a similar thought, really. Repeatedly. Multiple times, over the past week or so. He’d been kind of trying to avoid it, because every time it popped up, he got really stressed out.

“And don’t give me any of the bullshit about being ‘related’ or what the fuck ever, I don’t wanna hear it,” Karkat kept right on going. “I still don’t get why you humans care so much about that. The whole point of this family thing is that you all take care of each other, not that you’re related or whatever! Your aunt’s here, did you know that? She flew across an entire fucking ocean just to make sure she could help out you and Dirk! What the fuck did Strider ever do for you?”

It was a good question. And the answer, of course, was: aside from trying to kill him, do you mean? Hahaha.

Karkat was still talking, but Dave wasn’t really hearing him. Fuck, this had been a mistake, he should’ve taken his chances with the fucking nightmare dog. That was better than this old song and dance with his own thoughts.

The facts were pretty simple. He’d operated under pretty clear logic when he went up against Bro: We’re family, so he loves me, so therefore if I ask him to let me leave and explain that I really can’t deal with this, he’ll let me go. Except, Bro had tried to kill him, which meant that…

That was as far as Dave ever got. He couldn’t think any farther than that.

He felt like…like the next thought should be obvious, but he couldn’t make himself think it. It was too big—not so much a square peg in a round hole as it was trying to cram a grain silo into a pinhole, and the thought threatened to overwhelm and destroy him, so instead of thinking it, his brain kept rejecting it, the effect being like a broken record skip-skip-skipping, over and over, repeating the last thought he could get to before the Big One, because he couldn’t not think the Big One, either…

It was so fucking stupid, it was just a thought, why couldn’t he…

“Hah, yeah, now that you mention it, I guess I was always kinda wrong about this shit, wasn’t I?” Dave said, unable to stop the sardonic laughter bubbling up in his throat. “I mean, fuck, no wonder it took you so long to get, I probably gave you the wrong idea. My dumb ass was convinced he’d never try to kill me, cuz we’re family, and, well, here we fuckin’ are!”

Skip, skip, skip—

Karkat was still talking in stuttered phrases in the gaps of Dave’s own flood of words, looking almost scared, but Dave didn’t comprehned any of them, and anyway, the ranting had started, there was no stopping this shit now. “Like, what the fuck was I even thinking, right? I really thought that was gonna work, that somehow he’d just let me go if I asked, like a fucking idiot! Haha, what a fuckin’ dipshit, right?! And here I was thinking he—” Frantic laughter bubbled up, overtaking the words, not that more would’ve come, that next thought was just too big. Was he crying? Fuck, Karkat didn’t need to see any of this shit, but he couldn’t stop, couldn’t think

Skip, skip, skip, skip, skipskipskipskipskipskip—

It wasn’t Karkat’s fault. It really wasn’t. He might’ve set it off, but the storm had been building up for days, now, and it broke hard, sweeping Dave up in a torrent of just wordless mental screaming. He couldn’t think the next thought. He couldn’t. But the thing was damming him up, and he couldn’t ignore it anymore, and he was stuck in the middle and left to just completely melt down and dissipate into the flood.

A sound like a cicada crossed with the creakiest horror movie door ever to creak ripped through the tides, and suddenly Dave found himself tugged into a full body hug, wrapped up in four limbs with his face pressed into a thick sweater. The touch dragged him out of the flood and onto dry land, brought him back into now before he even knew what was happening. Karkat’s whole chest was vibrating with some intense cricket-cat hybrid purr, and this should’ve been so embarrassing but he was so tired and so lost and it was fucking comforting, so who the fuck cared. Who cared anymore. It was all bullshit. He could be embarrassed later.

Too soon, Karkat seemed to have the same thought, and tried to pull away. “Shit, sorry, I shouldn’t—fuck, I’m so sorry, this is really presumptive and I know you aren’t even into boys,” he babbled.

Dave groaned, wrapping his arms around Karkat’s chest and pulling him close. “Dude, if you try to make this about alien romance right now, I swear to fuck,” he gasped out between harsh sobs. Christ, he was going harder than Karkat did like twenty minutes earlier, what the fuck.

Karkat paused. Good. It meant his warm arms were still there. “Dave, I…I mean, this is troll romance, this is textbook moiraillegience, and I shouldn’t just be throwing myself at you because you had a moment of weakness, no matter how bad I, uh.”

Dave sniffled, wracked his brain for a moment…Karkat had explained this stuff about a million times, which one was…”That’s like…the bros quadrant, right?”

“The what.”

“The one that’s, like, platonic and shit.”

“…Yeah?” The cricket-purr started up again, cautiously.

“We fuckin’ kinda do most of that shit already, don’t we?” Like. Yeah. He wasn’t gay. That was still a thing. But Karkat was warm and solid and real and Dave was fucking exhausted and didn’t want to be alone, especially not when he felt right now like he was wrapped in safety. “Please, Karkat,” he added, because why not beg. He was already at maximum pathetic, there was no digging this hole lower, fuck it. “I really don’t wanna be alone right now, just, please don’t go.”

Karkat was quiet for a long moment, but finally, the cricket-purr went back to full volume and Karkat’s arms tightened around him.

“Okay,” Karkat said quietly. Dave let out a breath he’d barely known he’d been holding and went back to crying.

“We’re going to have to talk about this later,” Karkat murmured, which put him at about normal volume for anyone else.

“Later, then,” said Dave, and let himself finally fall the fuck asleep.

#dave strider #karkat vantas #davekat #roxy lalonde #longpost//#u BET UR BUTT THIS OENS GOIN IN THE DAVEKAT TAG #ITS ABOUT TIME #fanfic #fanfiction #calmvsstormfic #calmvsstormchapter #katt does a writing #jkdfsgfjhsfjshf not the best start to a relationship but like its something #lord this got long.#why tf did i think 32 and 33 would ever fit into one chapter.

12 notes · View notes