#kinda? pretty vague but eh | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

acherontiarchivist · 1 year

Note

Hii! So the reader some how, some way, meets our boy Gabe. And they’re really into men with sexy long hair and yummy voices and the reader is just like mmmmm oooooo ahhhhh

And Gabe is just standing there like 🧍“ Bitch, be so fucking fr.”

Hiiiiii, thanks for the ask! I went with a kinda mixture of Gabriel being totally fucking oblivious and also not believing anyone could see him that way. He comes around, though :) thanks for your patience, Anon, and I hope you enjoy the fic!!!

Warnings: people being mean to Gabriel, reader is also kind of an asshole to Gabe ngl, mentions of masturbation, unsolicited flirtation by the reader, mentions of choking kink

Word count: 2.7k, including a bonus teaser ;)

Closing shifts were always your favorite. Your other coworkers hated them with a passion, and always asked to switch your morning shifts with their nights. At first they would give excuses along the lines of having to attend their kids' baseball games or attending family events, but that quickly fell through when you pointed out that they both couldn't possibly be that busy every closing shift.

"OK, You got me. Honestly, I'm surprised it took you this long to protest. You're definitely braver than us." Del was restocking the freezer with novelty ice cream bars as you sent reminder texts to renters informing them of their upcoming due dates and waited for a customer to ring.

"What do you mean? " you replied, smacking on a thick wad of hubba bubba between pauses, "I'm just saying if you guys don't like closing I'm more than happy to talk to the boss about scheduling me for the late shifts."

"You- you like the closing shift?" He seemed too astonished to multitasking, as he'd almost dropped a box onto the floor.

"Yeah, it's pretty easy, and I'm more of a night owl anyway."

"Wait, so you haven't noticed anyone… unusual coming in on your night shifts?" His hands were now too preoccupied on carrying the conversation than work.

"No? Just the same regulars that rent a porno and grab a few beers. They never make any advances on me, and I don't really give a fuck about their purchases." You continued to pay just as much attention as you had been to your work task.

"No, no, that's not what I mean." He shook his head and pointed to you, earning you a slight glance in acknowledgement.

"Well, what do you mean?" What else could he possibly mean?

He sighed, " Well, there's this… guy?" He gestured vaguely, "Eh, that comes in every now and again. He always wears this big ass trench coat, smells like pennies and has this fucked up face."

You turned your head to the side and sucked a bubble inside your cheek, "That's a bit rude."

"Hey, if you saw the guy, you'd agree. Anyway, I don't like him, and he makes Fernanda uncomfortable. Besides, he never buys anything. Just walks in, stares at this section or that, stands there for minutes at a time, and eventually leaves. And he scares other customers away!"

"Have you ever talked to him? Customer service is part of our job, you know."

"Nahhhhh, fuck that." He turned back to his task at hand.

You rolled your eyes, "It would get him out of the store quickly. And make us some money."

"Well, sounds like you can handle him perfectly well yourself. Don't come crying to us when you're stuck with all the night shifts and eventually run into that guy."

"You're so melodramatic. I doubt it's anywhere near as bad as you make it out. Y'all have probably already ran him off with your shit people skills, given that I haven't ran into this guy the entire two weeks I've been here."

"Oh, shit. I hadn't thought of that." He had stopped a moment to think, then looked at you and shrugged.

"No take-backsies. Night shift's mine."

It was another two weeks before you finally saw him enter the store. You had already taken care of clean up and restocking routines as usual and were left with most of your shift to act busy until it was time for closing. This time was perfect for getting a little bit of drawing done between customers, your boss didn't mind as long as you made a few sales throughout the night. You were so focused on your drawing that you hadn't noticed him enter. He was quiet, the only thing that tipped you off to his presence was the smell of pennies that Del had warned you about. When you looked up, he was standing in front of the miniscule horror selection, his back towards you, head almost entirely obscured by a tall standing collar reminiscent of something one might see a villain clad in a noir or giallo film. It took you just a moment to muster up the courage to approach him.

"Can I help you find something today?"

There was a moment of silence, almost as if he were hesitating, then a nearly unnoticeable nod, careful to obscure his face behind his messy dark strands.

You glanced at the titles before you, considering what might fall into his taste. "If you're on the hunt for a horror recommendation, you've found the right person to help." You ignored the fact that you were the one who approached him. After a moment of careful contemplation, you grabbed two movies, one to your left and one you had to excuse yourself to grab in front of him.

"We don't have a huge selection right now, but these are two classic giallo films I think you might find an interest in," you showed him Deep Red and The Bird With The Crystal Plumage. "Oh! Actually, I have one more recommendation from our thrillers."

He observed the covers of each DVD before flipping them over and reading the back as you perused the adjacent aisle.

"Here it is!" You grabbed the movie and brought it to him. "No Country For Old Men is more of a personal favorite," you said, pointing at the 'Employee Picks' poster by the register, "but I have a feeling you'd like it, too."

He studied the back of that case as well. The opportunity to peek at his face while he was distracted was not wasted. Admittedly, he was an individual that oozed mystique. When he caught you staring you tried to deflect with more customer service as an excuse.

"Um, if you like, we have rental versions. So you can watch them all before you commit to buying any." There was no way he hadn't caught you blushing. "I'll just give you a few minutes to think about it," you said, hiding behind the register once again. He was silent approaching the register with the rental copies of the movies you had shown him and through the completion of the transaction.

"The rentals are due on the 25th, you're all good to go."

He nodded and turned for the door.

"See you in two weeks," you smiled, and he was gone.

The next two weeks were uneventful, just you counting down every day until the 25th of the month. In the meantime, you badgered your boss to expand the selection of horror films and thought of what to show him next time he came through. When the day finally came your coworkers noticed how unusually chipper you were, and you brush it off as it being your weekend after today. The night turned late without any sign of him, and you worried that he returned the videos earlier in the day, or on a night you didn't work. Just as you were losing hope and thinking of closing a few minutes early, a call rang the store phone.

"Hello, thank you for calling Marty's Movies and Munchies. How can I help you tonight?"

The voice on the other line was strained and slow at first, deep and raspy in a way you found incredibly sexy. "Are you closed? I need to return some videos. I'm a bit later than I expected to be."

You lean in to the counter, feeling generous enough (and hopeful that he'll come by) to let the sexy-voiced customer in after close. Not like you had plans, anyway. "Nope, you still have about ten minutes 'till doors close, but since you called ahead I'll give you an additional ten minute grace period. Any later than that and you'll have to bring it in tomorrow and pay a small late fee."

"No need, I'm already here."

Before you could question the caller, the ringing of the bell hung above the door caught your attention. Immediately, you recognized the gangly form of the man your coworkers had not-so-affectionately dubbed The Creeper. Your gaze lingered on him, trying to get another glance at his piercing eyes through the curtain of hair that he made sure masked his face. He must have picked up on it and became self conscious, as he pulled his high collar up and sunk further behind its shadow. Odd enough, but you also noticed that he didn't appear to be holding a cell phone.

Feeling particularly brave, and maybe a bit too confident, you leaned over the counter and smiled at him, "So that's what you sound like, huh?"

His posture noticeably stiffened.

"Or is it a voice modulator? Either way, it's kinda sexy."

"Just…return these, will you?" It was quite cute how he would avert his eyes and take half a step back out of embarrassment. You didn't take him for the shy type.

Though he stumbled over every word, you had forgotten the landlines propped between your head and shoulder and the sudden noise in your ear made you jump back. "Yeah, sure thing."

"And," he hesitated for a moment, "I think I would like to purchase my own videos."

"Ok, DVD or blu-ray?" You already had them picked out and waiting for him under the counter, and held them out for him to choose.

"I… don't know the difference."

"You don't know which you have?"

He looked embarrassed and almost shrank right where he stood, "I watch them on my sister's device."

"Well does she have movies like this," you shook the bigger case in your left hand, "or this?" shaking then the smaller blue case.

"Both?" Incredible. You had no idea how anyone could just not know the difference.

"OK, I'm choosing for you," you said, stuffing a plastic shopping bag with blu-ray copies of each film. "You're getting blu-ray. They're better."

"What if I'm wrong? Will a DVD player work with these movies?"

His questions were honestly the most interesting ones you would get from customers, even if just for the sheer unawareness he had demonstrated in... pretty much everything. "Jesus Christ dude. Have you been living under a rock for the past 25 years or something?"

"Something like that," he answered a bit too readily, "And a bit longer."

You blinked and chose to ignore the statement. He was weird, odd looking, brooding, and now, obviously, a bit socially inept. God, he just became more and more your type, and you were dying to score. "Well," you started, "DVD players are the older video player and therefore not backwards compatible, but blu-ray players can play both. If your sister has both kinds of movies, she most likely has a blu-ray player, but," you wrote your number on a notepad kept at the counter and tore the page off, sliding it into the bag with his purchase, "if you have any questions or run into any problems you can call me. I might just let you come over and use mine." You ended with a wink to give it what you hoped was an extra layer of obvious courtship.

"Why would I use your device? I'll just buy my own." He pulled out a loose debit card from the right pocket of his coat and shoved it in your direction expectantly.

You sighed and took his debit card, ignoring your initial glance at the name– certainly not the name he had given for his customer account– then prepared to slide the card through the reader. "God, you are oblivious," you rolled your eyes. "Ok, your total is–"

"Wait," he quickly interrupted, then hesitated for a fraction of a second, "I want to rent another movie."

Of course! You had forgotten the movie you had previously selected for him. "Anything in mind?"

"I trust your judgment."

Your grin couldn't be wider as you grabbed the last rental copy of Possession from your 'Employee Picks' cubby. "You'll love this one. I feel a particular kinship with Isabelle Adjani's character, Anna. I think you'll like her too." With that, you rang up his total and saw him out the door.

By the time he left it was fifteen minutes past closing and you had to rush to finish up routines. You couldn't wait to brag to your coworkers that you had made a big sale to The Creeper. There wasn't much time to revel in your victory and plan your next move, however, because he had returned the following night. As it turns out, you didn't need to. He practically fell right into your lap.

When he entered, you immediately noticed that he walked with much more confidence than before. Ioday, he wore his coat open, and the standing collar limped to the side, putting his face, though still partially obscured by his gangly hair, almost proudly on display. You were so distracted by his drastic change in demeanor that you almost didn't notice him speaking to you.

"I want my own copy of this movie."

"I'm sorry, but we don't have any more for sale. You can always come in and renew your rental every two weeks, though that limits the number of other movies you can–"

"Order it for me."

"I can't do that, unfortunately, but–"

"Yes? But what?"

You prop your elbow on the counter and rest your head in your palm, looking up at him from just below, "I have my own copy in my personal collection. You can come by and watch it anytime you like."

"Tonight. I'm coming home with you."

You laughed at how forward he was suddenly being, "Sure. I'm closing up in a few minutes," you tossed him your keys. "Wait for me in the car."

A few minutes later, you locked up the store and entered your car, where he sat nervously waiting for you.

Bonus!

You had waited all day for the unknown call with steadily declining patience. It's not that you were annoyed. You were just excited for your weekly visit. Every week the routine was the same: he comes or calls, spends hours with you holed up in your room and leaves you shivering under your sheets, eagerly awaiting his next arrival.

Your work day crawled by at an agonizing pace, not helped by the slow business this time of year– and in your particular line of retail. The number of customers that came through the small video store could be counted on one hand, and the number that actually made a purchase even less. As usual, most of your shift was spent doodling in your sketchbook. Lately, they would all be little sketches of him. His hair was your favorite thing to draw; the contrasting textures of his wavy, dry hair and bloody wet tangles looping around one another, the cracked leather coat he always wore, drawing special and precise attention to his bright eyes and the exposed muscles of his face. Your sketchbook was littered with countless finished and unfinished pencil and ink sketches alike. Sometimes, you would add a splash of color, usually red or blue.

He never came into the store anymore. Instead, he would pick from your personal collection and give you money for a copy of his own if he really liked the film. Once or twice, you had tried to set up a cute movie marathon date night, but he would often get... distracted. It was nice, though. Sneaking him in through your window so your roommates didn't freak out and fucking with the lights out and a movie on in the background made you feel like a teenager again. The butterflies he would churn up in your stomach and the heavy feeling in your chest when you thought of him made you absolutely giddy, though you would have a hard time admitting it if pressed.

It wasn't often he would leave you hanging. If he couldn't make it, he would at least call you and let you know ahead of time. At least then you'd know to set time aside to take care of yourself.

Tonight was one such night. No call, no cancel, no sign of him. By the time you would usually have heard from him, you had had enough of waiting and decided to pleasure yourself. Earphones plugged in with your background noise of choice, lube in hand, toy at the ready, you went to work. As you moved your hands over your body, you imagined they were his. Admittedly, only he could tease you the way you really needed it, from with feather-light touches that tickled your inner thighs, to his hands wrapped around your neck in a vice grip; but tonight, your own would have to do. Just the thought of him touching you like that had you crying out his name. It wasn't until you were nearing your peak that your session was interrupted by an incoming call.

You let the phone ring as you stared at the ID on the screen.

UNKNOWN

It had to be him. It always was. You let the call linger for a few more seconds before you finally picked up the line– you just had to tease him a little bit. A few seconds of silence greeted your ears and planted a seed of uncertainty. "Hello?"

Nothing to be heard on the other line. You considered hanging up before the familiar feedback pierced the line. He said nothing at first, leaving you shivering in anticipation.

There was a sigh on the other end of the line, or perhaps a dark stifled laugh.

"Starting the show without me, sweetheart? What, no more ten minute grace period for me?"

#gabriel may #slasher fucker #gabriel may x reader #slasher x reader #malignant 2021 #malignant #gabriel malignant #post content

179 notes · View notes

funhouse-mirror-barbie · 3 months

Text

Rating Hazbin + Helluva Boss Characters based on if I could tell what animal/creature they’re supposed to be:

DISCLAIMER: This is not an attack on the creators or artists/designers for either show. I already went over the purpose of this on my first post here—I just like to review stuff.

Part 2!

SIR PENTIOUS—SNAKE—5/5

Yeah that’s a snake, man.

While I find some of Pent’s design elements cluttered, he’s actually one of the stronger designs in my opinion. I think the having his cobra hood act as his hair is fun and cleaver. It’s very easy to tell he’s a snake. Not sure why he has eyes on his tail/body? I think they could have just made them red spots but eh.

QUEEN BEE—FOX (?) WITH HONEY BEE ELEMENTS (?)—3.5/5

Bee’s a weird one for me b/c while her design is super super cluttered I can SEE how it could work, and I really do like fun cute fox and wolf girls. The ONLY reason that docked points is b/c she’s supposed to be a fox/bee hybrid (I believe?) but her “bee” elements are so minute that if I hadn’t seen her in a big beehive, I would have just assumed she was as a fox with fairy/insect elements—I wouldn’t have thought she was connected to a honey bee at all. It’s a weird case where she is VERY obviously a fox but it’s not obvious at all that she’s a bee/honey bee. I did want to give a little extra half-point tho b/c I do like her little antennae ears. They’re pretty much the only thing that screams “insect” to me.

STELLA GOETIA—SWAN (?)—3/5

I think I may be going a little easier on the Helluva cast b/c overall they’re easier to figure out what animals they are. I’ve heard that Stella is supposed to be a Swan but I’m not 100% sure. This one is def more on me, but I initially thought that she was either a secretary bird due to her long lashes and the way her hair is styled, or a peafowl (which would make sense b/c her brother is apparently a peacock?) at least I can tell that she is a bird and her colors are accurate for a swan’s. I think the reason I would never have thought of her as a swan is mostly due to her beak size and color. But yeah b/c I can at least confirm that she is in fact a bird I wanna give her a higher score.

I would rate Pilot Stella too, but I don’t think at that point she was meant to be a swan, just a vague bird demon lady. At least I hope not.

MAMMON—SPIDER (OR CENTIPEDE? MAYBE??) —0.5/5

So. Like Angel Dust. The only reason I know that Mammon is a spider is because he was shown sitting on a giant spider web.

I really didn’t think he was a spider/spider-ish looking at all and I still don’t. Even the extra eyes they add to him sometimes didn’t immediately make me think “Spider!” just that it was a demon thing. He really just looks like a jester with extra arms.

His full demon/mega form also doesn’t look very spider-ish tbh, and was what made me wonder if he was actually supposed to be a centipede? I was really disappointed by his “final form” because it’s pretty much the same as his regular form but with more eyes and what I assume is SUPPOSED to be a spider abdomen ?? But then he does kinda scuttle like a centipede at the end so maybe he is supposed to be???? But then why does he have a big spider web???

Also, and I’ll be honest, this is just me being needlessly nit-picky and it’s a small thing but it just irks me personally b/c I don’t understand the reasoning behind this but like. I HATE that his extra eyes DO NOT stay consistent.

The first time we see his extra eyes it gives him a total of 8 so I was like “oh okay yeah so maybe just his final form will be a spider/spider-like BUT THEN HIS EXTRA EYES KEEP OSCILLATING BETWEEN 3 and 4 EXTRA EYES?

These shots are only a few seconds apart like why did they give him MORE eyes when he got farther away? They’re so small that they barely seem distinct? Like if he IS supposed to be a spider you don’t have to keep giving him eyes!!! Stop, stop, he can already see!!! 😭

Maybe he IS a centipede tho? B/c he DOES seem to have the little centipede butt horns (which apparently are just their very hind legs in real life)

And he def seems to move like one in that form. Man idk. Why even HAVE him in a spider web then???

Being an arthropod lover and not being able to figure out what the fuck kinda guy that’s supposed to be is driving me wild tbh 😅

Honestly if Mammon was just supposed to be a clown/jester I would have given him 5/5 b/c yeah that was immediately obvious. But it’s him being a jester-spider-centipede-thing that muddles things for me.

I would put Loona in here but I ran out of pictures for this post talking about Mammons eyes. She gets 5/5 cause. Yeah that’s a classic wolf girl.

#funhouse convo #media criticism #hazbin hotel critical #hazbin hotel critique #hazbin hotel criticism #helluva boss critical #helluva boss critique #helluva boss beelzebub #helluva boss stella #character design

44 notes · View notes

estro-gem · 6 months

Text

Zooble x Gangle: Anywhere the wind blows

The Amazing Digital Circus AU: Oasis

Author's note: Welcome to this long-boi fic!

It's long and probably tedious to read, but overall, I'm actually pretty okay with how this turned out. Eh, kinda... I almost decided to scrap this entire thing and write something else, but I already got too far by that point and pushed through - trying to make the best of it.

It has a little bit of everything; some body dysphoria, action, violence, mutilation, stalking, maybe some bad-written tension and a nice section lil' of not-smut.

Good ol' not-smut!

Sorry to all the bunnydoll lovers, this is a zoogang story - and it's a pretty long one.

Bunnydoll is only briefly mentioned, but you also get some messed-up 'bromance' between Gangle and Jax, as well as Zooble losing their marbles while Jax is being Jax, doing Jax stuff...

Warnings:

Suggestive/vulgar language (Mostly censored, but worth mentioning)

Body dysphoria

Fighting

Dissociation

Panic attacks

Mutilation

Questionable dancing (?)

SUMMARY:

Zooble was making their way to the lake to go dancing with Gangle. Upon arrival, the sight of Gangle caused Zooble to reminisce about their arrival in The Amazing Digital Circus and the chaos that followed.

ANYWHERE THE WIND BLOWS

“You off to harass your crybaby with your terrible dance-moves again?”

Zooble rolled their mismatched eyes to the sound of Jax’s annoying voice. They were in a good mood; and begged whatever higher power there was for the bunny to just leave them be tonight.

“Sure am!” they spoke with an obviously false, chipper tone, deciding to give the menace a taste of his own medicine, “Are you off to make out with your plushie again?”

Zooble peeked over their shoulder to see if he had the reaction they were hoping for. Unfortunately, Jax still wore his stupid, smug grin, causing them to pause, attempting to find the words that would force a crack into the rabbit’s shield.

It wasn’t long before they spoke again, “Or would you rather be our little peeping tom – again?”

Finally, the Cheshire grin fell and Zooble had the honor of basking in Jax’s unimpressed scowl.

“That was one time!” the rabbit cried, then relaxed his stance to recollect his composure, “Ya know why I was there – and it definitely wasn’t to get an eyeful. You two are disgusting, in case ya didn’t notice. Who could get off to that?”

“You, apparently.”

“THAT’S NOT WHAT HAPPENED AND YOU KNOW IT!”

“Whatever… freak.” Zooble turned around and continued to make their way to the tent entrance, smiling to themself. They would never let him live that down – context be damned.

“Yeh, go drown yourself, will ya?” They vaguely heard Jax’s voice call after them.

They definately prefered the rabbit as carefree as he carried himself these days, compared to how intense he used to be when they first arrived...

They were on their way to the lake, where they knew Gangle would be.

The ribbinoid had many hidden talents; dancing happened to be one of them. She could move as if she was gliding, and she could leap like she was flying. Zooble already felt the girl entice them from a distance as they approached the bank of the lake.

Gangle was always a beauty unlike any other when she was dancing on her own. Clearly, in her own world, she practically floated with grace as her ribbons – usually coiled and shortened to form a make-shift body – stretched out and twirled, elongated, and reflecting the moonlight with every scarlet shape they drew in the air. The stars that were mirrored on the water surface made it look like the masked ribbon was dancing in the sky.

The sight gently guided Zooble’s mind back to the first time they lost their heart to their masked princess. Back then, they were so different to how they acted now. They were traumatized by the realization that they were trapped in an unknown Digital hellscape, only accompanied by a handful of other prisoners.

Stuck in an abomination of body that they never wanted.

Zooble didn’t always look the way they did before. Then again, Zooble never even looked the way they did the day before! They liked to swap, match and mix their parts, storing them safely in a box that they kept in their room.

Sometimes they could feel them clawing at the confines of said box to get to her, but it was best not to think about that.

When they first fell prey to the Digital Circus, they were what many would describe as a monster. A mess of arms, heads, eyes, and limbs; all with a mind of their own. They couldn’t find their feet – there were too many of them!

Upon arrival, Zooble stumbled around like someone who was possessed, moving more like a spider than a human. They were disoriented and desperate as they helplessly tugged and pulled on the strings of this puppet that was apparently their new body. They had no mouth and yet they heard someone screaming hysterically. It would only be in the far future, when Zooble thought back to their arrival, when they would realize that it was them who was screaming.

They just had no mouth to realize it at the time.

They screamed as they witnessed the excessive limbs and eyes that sprouted from differently-shaped structures that only vaguely felt like their torso – only that it also felt like nothing of the sort, because it wasn’t normal to have 3 torsos.

Or eyes on your knees and arms that gave you 5 different perspectives of the room all at once…

They moved like a sandstorm, forcing the circus inhabitants into a blind panic. Their monstrous form resembled an abstraction; so much so, that they heard one of them cry out in question to Caine.

“Can humans abstract upon arrival?!”

They didn’t know what it meant. They didn’t care.

All they cared about was ripping off the excessive limbs that they never knew they had. To the creature’s horror, the limbs popped off with unnatural ease and scrambled on the floor to maneuver its way back to them. It was something that would keep even the bravest of souls awake at night.

When the ragdoll of the bunch slowly approached Zooble, (as they were in the process of tearing their own limbs off) something else possessed them.

Dolls should move or talk like humans!

It didn’t help how much the doll tried to talk them down – one moment, they just stared at the doll in disbelief, and the next, they charged her like a steam train. They were so inhumanly fast, but that didn’t phase Zooble at the time. They were only focused on one thing.

The raggedy-monster in front of them.

In a flash, the doll was within reach for Zooble to tear her apart. They were beside themself as they threw themselves onto Ragatha, only to feel the wind being knocked out of them when something abruptly crashed into them from the side, causing them to stray off course and stumble to the floor.

Claws.

Claws were digging into their brightly-coloured shell and flesh. Claws swiped burning trenches of pain in their wake. They caught the blurry image of yellow eyes and a feral grin that was pulled into a snarl before they felt one of their eyes pop between its jaws.

It was a pain worthy of unlocking the gateway of the fourth horseman.

Zooble fought and scrambled for grip on the gaint, rabid hare. They were terrified and acting in blind desperation as their many limbs with multiple claws, digits and shapes grabbed and thrashed at anything that could get the purple creature off them. They were going to fight until at least one of them was lying motionlessly on the floor.

Zooble wasn’t going to die to a bunny.

Neither were prepared to be yanked from each other and held apart. Two other creatures grabbed the purple rabbit by both arms in attempt to restrain him, but even with 2 against one, the rabbit put up one hell of a fight. While the bunny only had eyes for Zooble, desperate and mindless in his pursuit to rip into them, they took the moment to spot the scarlet ribbons that were rapped around their being. They followed the trail of ribbons that kept them immobilized, only to see it led to a mask with a painted face, scrunched up in effort, yet strangely smiling while keeping them restrained.

They tugged and twisted, but the ribbons seemed to have metal in them as they were unable to tear them up. It was but a few moments that Zooble struggled before they were overcome with a wave of dread that crashed over them, leaving the poor creature to sink down into a lowered stance.

They couldn’t escape.

They were a monster.

They were going to be eaten by other monstrous creatures and there was nothing else they could do about it.

When did they start trembling so violently?

Although they awaited the onslaught of the other inhabitants to tear into them, they were only met with the tight grip of the ribbons that held them down. The events that followed, all happened in a blur. They saw the rabbit slowly grow still and lose interest in them, only to fix his gaze on the ragdoll Zooble attempted to charge before. He seemed to be talked down by what looked like an oversized chess piece with a purple robe.

In the next moment, the rabbit was free. He rushed to the doll. He looked her over with a rough hand, only to grasp her forearm and drag her off to somewhere that was out of their line of sight. He didn’t react to anything or anyone else – clearly on a mission to get away.

There was a commotion…

And suddenly, Zooble was alone, while still being restrained by the ribbon-creature with a mask. They numbly wondered why the others would leave this one alone with them.

The thoughts didn’t last too long, as they were suddenly weightless and free.

They stumbled back and curled into themself as they fixed their eyes on the mess of ribbons that shrunk and coiled into something that resembled a body while the owlish gaze of the painted mask danced over their unusual, messy form. She averted their eyes and tilted her chin down, almost in shame.

There was a beat of silence until she spoke in a pleasantly soft voice.

“Are you still hurt?”

Zooble refused to answer but enjoyed hearing the ribbonoid creature speak to them in the now quiet, empty space. Taking a moment to consider her question, they came to the sudden realization that they were mauled and bitten before. Unintentionally startling the ribbinoid, they grabbed at their body, feeling, and grasping at their form and eyes with their many limbs, only to find that the damage was suddenly gone.

As if it never happened.

The Zolo-being looked back to the masked ribbon, who was studying them closely.

“Yeah, that’s something we all were rattled by at first” She said carefully, trying to decide on what eyes she should be looking to, “We can get hurt here - and it wouldn't matter. We… we can’t die here... It’s hard to explain." the girl shook her head, then assumed a more confident tone, "But this Digital Circus is your home now, whether you like it or not. You need to understand this to survive.”

Even though the woman’s voice was working to a swell in intensity, Zooble didn’t understand anything that was said. Even though they didn’t have a face, it was evident. The girl, of course, noticed this and sighed.

“Look, if you are going to hurt my friends every time you become overwhelmed, you should just stay away.” she spoke firmly, “If you don’t, it’ll be me you’ll need to answer to.”

With that, she turned on her heels and walked without looking back.

For days - weeks, that was the last time Zooble interacted with anyone. They took Gangle’s advice, having learnt her name while creeping around the tent. They stayed away, hiding among the debris and structures that was scattered around the tent. The inhabitants were somehow assured by Gangle, who just shared that ‘the newcomer will remain out of their business.’

Zooble actually got to know bits of all of the inhabitants of the Circus, like, for example, that the doll who they launched themself at. She was called Ragatha and she was unfortunately a saint. They wanted the earth to swallow them whole with how ashamed they felt for ever thinking to harm her of all people. They also came to know that Jax was the animal that attacked them – and that he was the most unpleasant of the bunch, bullying everyone for his own personal enjoyment.

He especially mistreated Gangle… and for some reason, that just didn’t sit well with Zooble, but they were too busy staying out of sight to think about it too much or do anything about it. They couldn’t even move around properly, let alone stand up for someone they barely knew. To their surprise, it seemed like all of the inhabitants just swallowed Jax's bullying - no questions asked.

There was something seriously wrong with this place.

Other than unholy screeching when they first arrived, Zooble was stunned to silence. It felt too alien to speak with no mouth, let alone allow anyone to see what a horrifying monstrosity they’ve become. They settled on watching the cast interact and live their lives. It was slowly becoming Zooble’s new reality – living in the shadows and remaining unnoticed.

Well, almost unnoticed.

The abomination never comprehended it fully, but Gangle always knew exactly where they were. She could walk into the area and in a matter of seconds, their eyes would meet. It came to a point where Zooble didn’t care about Gangle exposing their place of hiding anymore, as there were countless times that she would spot Zooble and just nod in quiet acknowledgement. She even saved Zooble from being spotted or disturbed a handful of times.

It was like a special, unspoken agreement that only they shared.

An exchange.

Gangle intrigued Zooble to no end. She was so quiet, but always watching - always aware. Always thinking. Zooble would give anything to know what was going on in her head. She was also unique in the sense on having 2 faces! One bright and smiling, and the other muddled and tearful.

Zooble liked to see her smile, but that damn rabbit always had the nerve to break her mask...

They should've killed him when they had the chance.

It wasn’t until one fateful night when Zooble managed to evade Gangle’s eyes while exploring the grounds, only to mistakenly stumble onto the lake. Not only that, but they also unintentionally found Gangle on the bank of the lake.

Words couldn't describe the beauty that they saw.

She was dancing under the stars, while Zooble could only watch in awe. It was the most beautiful event they have ever witnessed, suffering at the rush of heat the overtook their form as the quietly looked on... trying to move closer for a better visual…

SNAP

With the snap of a twig, Gangle’s dance was over.

She quickly retracted her ribbons to form her body once again, calling out to whomever crept up on her private moment. She called Jax's name first, much to Zooble's annoyance. Gangle was flustered; eyes darting around to find the intruder, only to miss Zooble’s form that was cramped and crushed behind a bush.

They were annoyed with themself for ruining such a beautiful scene. Zooble silently hoped for the girl to brush it off and continue, longing to see the blissful look on her face as she danced once again, but to their dismay, Gangle turned to walk towards the direction of the tent, not quite smiling as brightly as before.

That couldn’t be the end of it!

“Wait!” Zooble’s voice cried out before they could think to keep quiet.

Was that what they sounded like?

Gangle visibly jumped at the new voice, before darting their eyes to the source – the bush Zooble was hiding behind. Zooble would’ve commended the girl's auditory skills in any other situation, but there was only one thought that came to mind at the time. They huffed out a breath, before speaking again, trying to look past the dissociation they felt to their voice.

“Stay.” They pleaded, while awkwardly maneuvering into the moonlight, casting a long, spider-like shadow to trail behind them, “Dance.”

Gangle’s eyes were initially wide, but eventually fell into an unreadable expression once the shock of seeing Zooble – of hearing Zooble for the first time, faded. The ribbonoid was overcome with an unexplainable joy upon hearing them speak - but they could not make a fuss! She wouldn't want the poor creature to be scared away again. She already regretted to only official conversation the had...

The silence stretched for so long, that the multi-legged creature nearly jumped when Gangle lifted her arm to hold it out to Zooble, “Dance with me.”

That was not what they expected.

Dumbfounded, Zooble looked down at their mess of a body, using the highest arm to gesture to the excessive number of limbs they had, before hesitantly speaking up. “I can’t.”

“You can if I can.” Gangle stretched and twirled her body into a little sequence, before resuming her form and looking at Zooble in a challenge, “You and I are the same, aren’t we?”

How was it possible for a woman to be so timid, and yet so steady?

“What?” Zooble frowned in confusion, blurting out before they could think, “How? You’re a bunch of ribbons with a face!”

“You’re a bunch of parts.” Gangle countered, seemingly brimming with confidence, “We are not one body, we are more, aren’t we?”

“I’m a load of junk.” Zooble tore their gaze away to attempt at hiding the blush that crept up their form, ashamed of what they resembled, “Spare parts that don’t even fit together. I don’t even have a mouth.” There was a brief pause, before they quietly added, “You make it look so beautiful…”

They never thought that they would admit it, but they were at the mercy of the truth. Gangle officially became their muse and they didn’t have a say in the matter.

Gangle surprised Zooble with her giggle, only to sigh in retort, “You’re unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.”

The statement made the misshaped being scoff, “Geez, thank you for your oh so sweet compliment. Look at me, I’m practically swooning at your praise.”

Zooble was insulted, but the genuine laugh that Gangle let out was so lovely that it almost didn’t feel like they were being gutted by a ribbon.

“Well, I don’t see what could be beautiful about a freakshow like me.” Gangle chuckled gesturing to herself to emphasize her point. Zooble couldn’t believe what they were hearing.

“You kidding?” they huffed in expiration, “Did you not see yourself just then? It’s alien, sure, but you were great! You were-”

“-unlike anything you’ve ever seen before?” The girl cut them off with a cheeky grin.

“Fine, touché.” Zooble mumbled reluctantly.

The atmosphere was lighter than before, and Gangle took it as an invitation to take a tentative step closer to her new aquantance. She was itching to know more about them; desperate to close the gap in the odd relationship they managed to build over time. Despite not directly interacting with each other, Gangle had to admit to herself that she did feel a level of attachment to the creature that she once told off.

It was a shame that things turned out the way they did.

If Gangle had known that a conversation, like this one, could’ve had her laughing in enjoyment, she would’ve tried harder a long time ago. For now, she just focused on keeping the conversation going. Her mind was racing - deducing that this creature could become a part of their group if they managed to hold out on their own for this long.

It definitely wasn't because her stomach flipped every time she felt their eyes fixate on her from their hiding-spots.

“When you, um, walk…?” Gangles spoke, hoping to keep the conversation going, “Move around-?”

“Keep going, I get it-”

Gangle huffed a laugh, before hesitantly gushing what she intended as praise, “You look like… a force. You look powerful and strong – like you’ll pummel anything in your way.”

Zooble cringed slightly, not knowing how to feel, “Thanks?”

“I wish I could be that.” Gangle breathed, before sinking into herself slightly, “One mistake – one tug, one knock – and I’m broken.”

“What are you talking about?” Zooble spoke in disbelief, “You held me down while almost being torn apart by a savage animal! You ARE a force. You are probably even stronger than I am!”

“You don’t understand.” Gangle’s smile was bitter, causing Zooble heart sink, “I wasn’t talking about my ribbons.”

Suddenly, it clicked.

“Oh yeah… You have two faces.”

Gangle placed a ribbon on her cheek, dragging it down along the side, “This one is fragile. It needs replacement almost every other day. Even then, I can’t wear it too much. I lose myself to insanity and sadism. I become – dependent on it… Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“No.” It didn’t benefit Zooble to lie.

“That’s ok.” Gangle laughed in thought, though it seemed darker than her previous giggles, “The others do.”

Zooble took a step closer to the ribbonoid, deciding that her previous statement was something akin to a personal confession. Other than that, they wanted to see Gangle really smile again.

“Should I be worried?” they asked with genuine concern. She only shook her head, before explaining things that Zooble didn’t really understand, but indulged the girl any way they could.

“If something happens to me, it’s best that you get Jax.”

If something happens?

“Jax, the bunny guy? Isn’t he an $&%#@$?” Zooble jolted at the harsh, sudden sound of a horn drowning their voice. “Wha-?”

“Live censors – You’ll get used to it.” Gangle dismissed too easily for Zooble’s liking, “Jax - he knows his place. He’s my best friend.”

Upon Gangle’s fond smile, Zooble felt their gut – where-ever it my be – twist. A thought ghosted over their mind that Gangle may have been delusional after all.

“I don’t think you understand how badly he’s been treating you.” They spoke curtly.

“You just don't understand what it takes to stay sane here. Don't worry, you’ll come to learn how we all work together.” Gangle dismissed once again, only frustrating Zooble more, “Jax has his place. I have mine – everyone here has theirs.” She smiled up to the amalgamation, “One day, you’ll find yours.”

“Ok. Whatever.” Zooble simply said, frustrated, “We don’t have to talk about this now."

Gangle just chuckled as if she knew something that they didn’t.

They decided that it was best just to give up trying to understand the Circus and everyone’s dynamics. Zooble was cut short by Gangle holding out her ribbon for Zooble to take. They almost did it out of sheer compulsion.

“Will you have this dance with me?” the ribbonoid invited once again.

Her smile was like a drug, inhibiting Zooble from opposing her. The Zolo-being rolled their eyes to themself and took a breath to muster the will to remind the Gangle that they couldn’t dance.

For all they knew, they could be dancing themself into selling their soul or something.

...

Damn it all...

What did any of this matter anyway?

“Shut up and come here.”

With Gangle’s melodic laugh echoing in their mind, they dragged the girl to the open clearing on the bank of the lake.

It started out as a messy, clumsy jumble of limbs and ribbons, but as they relaxed and laughed into the night, their movements gained purpose and sequence. Together, they found their rhythm in the presence of no music, and their forms moved in sync.

Before long, their bodies were no longer separated.

They were one.

One in touch, mind, soul, and breath. They’re hands became their news eyes. Their bodies bloomed into voices that spoke words of unfathomable desire and yearning. They melting to each other’s caress and motions.

Two people dancing under the moonlight, living in the moment, and lost in the little world of heated passion that they have created for themselves.

They were somewhere else.

Laughing.

Yearning.

Breathless.

Both hoped for the magic to last forever...

It ended all too soon.

Zooble opened their eyes again. They were met with the harsh reality of a milky, porcelain mask smiling at them. They already longed for the woman from before; the one who they allowed to soar with the stars. That woman was everything they ever wanted in this life; maybe even in the previous life. How they would crumble for that woman to smile at them… but seeing such a petite little being smile at her as she was currently doing…

Zooble decided that it would suffice to see this smile too.

What they would give to have lips…

As if reading their mind, Zooble suddenly became aware of the intimate embrace of ribbons wrapped around them. Gangle felt so sure and steady, while they felt like they would crumble into a pile of useless parts. They couldn’t tear their gaze away from the soft, owlish stare given by the ribbinoid, suffering under the sudden burst of butterflies when they felt her new dance partner squeeze.

Butterflies.

Nothing could stop the sound that left them.

Nothing could stop Gangle's forehead from colliding with what she assumed to be Zooble's head with a soft ‘clink,’ sharing breaths they didn’t need. If they had a say in the matter, they wouldn't let her go, but that just wasn't how Zooble's mind worked. Unlike Gangle, they couldn't cling to a dream for long - they always found their feet planted on the ground of reality - this new reality.

Zooble knew this moment couldn’t last.

Based on what Gangle said before, they realized that staying sane was the key to survival in the digital world.

It was only a matter of time before another day started at the Circus. Zooble didn’t know much, but they did know that Gangle and the others had grown used to sleep. As much as they just wanted to die in her arms that night, they didn’t want to break her routine – anyone’s routine for that matter. From what Zooble could tell, it was one of the things that the members had to do to stay sane. Now, grown fond of Gangle, they wanted to see her make it through this torment of a life they were trapped in.

So, they had to let the girl go for now.

“We need to go.” Zooble’s voice was so low and hushed, they almost didn’t recognize themself.

“No, wait! We can stay a bit longer.” Gangle sounded so pretty when she was desperate. Zooble clung to the pride of causing the girl to beg for them.

So soft. So delicate.

“I’ll still be here when you wake up. We can have this again, can’t we?”

“You don’t know that!”

“Gangle.” Zooble was stern, but still gentle, “We need to stay sane. We need routine. It’s so wonderful that I found you…” they trailed one of their many hands over the ribbons wrapped around their torse, reveling in their trembling as her touch glides by, “I want to keep you. I need you sane. We need to survive this together.”

Silence.

It was a strenuous reality check, but it was necessary. They couldn’t dwell in their dreams forever.

“Ok, but we’ll meet each other here again! At least once a week! This was…” Gangle looked off to the side, seemingly bashful, “This was magical.”

“Call me a magician, then!” Zooble jested, earning a giggle from the girl as they did their best to nuzzle into Gangle's mask, “Go on to your room. I need to make sure I didn’t lose any arms while we were throwing our sick moves for the world to see.”

After a cackle, Gangle loosened her grip around Zooble to form the shape of her body once again, “I can help you look?”

“Don’t make it weird, Smiley. Go!”

Smiley.

Gangle seemed to like that one.

“I’m sorry! I’m going, I’m going!” Gangle almost sprinted off, only looking back to call back to Zooble, “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

"You always do!"

Zooble was smiling to themself, but got cut short when they heard Gangle let out an ‘oof,’ followed by the sound of a thud. Spinning around to see just how the ribbonoid embarrassed herself, Zooble’s body was jolted with the shock of seeing two sadistic, yellow eyes gleam down at Gangle, who had tripped over a deliberately extended foot. Due to the padding of the grass, Gangle’s mask didn’t break – thank goodness – but the abomination’s relief was short-lived as those golden orbs slowly focused on them.

Jax.

The bunny was casually leaning against the trunk of the tree with his gaze fixed on them. This time, his ever-grinning expression was unreadable, forcing a shiver to crawl up their back.

That creep.

Gangle’s eyes shifted from Jax to Zooble, again and again, until she seemed to hiss something to Jax, soft enough for the Zolo-creature not to hear from the great distance. Jax didn’t pay her any mind, as his predatory gaze set straight onto them and them alone. Gangle gave Zooble one more worried glance, to which they just reluctantly nodded; the girl should leave them be.

It was high time for Jax to face the music, Zooble decided.

Gangle also seemed reluctant, but slowly stood up. It was then when Jax closely traced her movements with his eyes. All the while, Zooble was left with a lump in their throat as they waited for Jax to try his luck again. They were so far away, Zooble would only be able to watch him do whatever he wished before they could come to Gangle’s aid. He looked ready to rip her apart and there was nothing they could do but watch.

They watched – holding their breath, as Gangle stood up…

They watched – as Gangle turned and noticed Jax's eyes on her.

They expected the ribbonoid to fearfully back away, but Zooble's world was flipped onto it's head when they saw her stand her ground by giving Jax the most sinister smile they had ever witnessed.

Bone-chilling. Wicked.

Jax’s smile couldn’t ever match what was painted on that theatre mask. They were almost certain that Jax would retaliate any second…

But his assault never came.

There was only a slight shift in his stance – enough to let their breathe hitch. The silence was a cacophony of chaos pounding into Zooble’s head.

For a moment there was nothing, until Gangle finally moved.

She slowly turned on her heels and walked off to the tent, as if nothing happened. It was so bizarre, they almost thought that she managed to cast a spell over Jax, who was frozen in place at the time. By the Lord, she already cast a spell over them with her charms.

Scary smile or not, that woman was irresistable!

It was only when Gangle disappeared into the tent, that Jax’s eyes were fixed onto them again.

“So, it can speak.” At least Jax’s voice rung as annoying as ever, “Nice moves you got there... What do you call the one where you two practically #@% each other in public? And by that, I mean ALL of it?”

“What do you want?” Zooble spat.

They didn’t want anything to do with him.

“I want us to come to an understanding.” Jax pushed off the tree trunk and strolled his way closer to the amalgamation, “I know you gave Raggs quite a scare before… now you’re throwing yourself at Ribbons, huh? Quite the womaniser, aren'cha?”

Zooble took note of the glimmering flash that came from Jax’s hand, letting their eyes drift to see what it could be. Dread had Zooble’s soul sink to their many feet.

He was holding a cleaver knife this entire time.

He was standing over Gangle – knife in hand - and one swipe away from tearing their muse apart.

All for a sick little laugh?!

At that moment, they were human again, forgetting about their digital immortality that they all were cursed with.

“Now you listen to me very carefully,” Zooble growled as Jax’s icy grin stalked closer, “I’ve been watching you for a long time now, and I still don’t know what your deal is. You are lower than dirt and you think you just own the tent, don’t you? Thinking no one would care about you making everyone’s lives difficult? I wasn’t even here for that long, but even I can see that Ragatha is an ANGEL, and you didn’t think twice about throwing an axe into her face the other day! It’s disgusting! You are scum! Filth! And I don’t care what your deal is with me, but if you ever hurt Gangle o-or Ragatha... or ANYONE else for that matter, I will make it my life mission to make you beg me to kill you instead of what I have planned.”

That brought Jax to a complete stop.

Not only did he stop, but his face fell to one of confusion, then dread, then confusion again. It was so uncanny, it was almost funny. Zooble found themself so dumbstruck by that reaction, that they forgot what their train of thought was leading to.

They never saw this side of the bunny before.

Moments crawled by in complete silence, with nothing but confused expressions meeting each other. It wasn’t until Zooble awkwardly cleared their throat before Jax seemed to snap out of whatever state he was in.

“Well, wouldn’t you know…” Jax mused almost to himself, casually shoving the knife into his front pocket, “You actually managed to fib me, huh? And here I thought that you’d be something I needed to take care of.”

He laughed. If Zooble didn’t know any better, she’d think that he was relieved.

“What’s happening?” Zooble asked dumbly.

“What’s happening is that you, my friend, are one of us now! Jax-approved! You killed me with your flattery - I knew I was good, but I didn't know I was that good.” Jax flashed them the smug, know-it-all smile that they still hated so much. He was probably planning to make a fool out of them, but still, they didn’t understand the sudden, genuine shift in Jax’s aura – it was suddenly almost… bearably benign.

It was whiplash!

“Again, what's happening…?”

“Sheesh, what does she see in you? You’re so slow!” Jax sighed, but continued to boredly explain, before they had the chance to retort, “I couldn’t get a read on ya before! Ya seemed mighty interested in Ribbons though – sneaking around, staring at her, and stalking her to the lake and all-”

“I wasn’t stalking her!”

“Yeh, yeh, whatever – so I just happened to swing by and… step in… if you ended up trying somethin’ with the crybaby. That’s all there is to it.”

Zooble blinked before glancing down to the cleaver knife in his pocket, slowly piecing it all together.

Did he have a heart after all?

“You were going to shank me if I messed with Gangle?” Zooble narrowed her eyes.

“Shank ya? Nah, not my style, toots.” Jax abruptly plucked the cleaver knife from his front pocket and threw it into a nearby tree without looking. If it wasn’t for the squawk, followed by the sounds of glitching, Zooble would’ve missed that Jax successfully hit a bird with a lethal blow – now pinned to the tree trunk with a knife through its chest. It disappeared soon after it started glitching, only leaving the blade in the trunk. It seemed to Zooble, now clear as ever.

Jax didn’t miss.

Feelings of intimidation aside, Zooble recalled Gangle’s words from before. She called Jax her best friend, not even hesitant to say it, despite how badly he was treating her – how badly he was treating everyone! And yet, he came out here, thinking that they were stalking Gangle… armed with a knife...

They leaned unto one hip to relax their stance, “You were looking out for her…”

Huh.

“Bah! I’m just makin’ sure you don’t steal my schtick.” Jax rolled his eyes, “I do what I need to do.”

His words made Zooble’s thoughts flip back to what Gangle said before.

'You’ll come to learn how we all work together. He has his place. I have mine – everyone here has theirs. One day, you’ll find yours.'

“What exactly is it that you do?” They asked, hoping to get some answers for once. “Gangle said something about you all ‘playing your part’ or whatever…”

“Yeah, no, not having this discussion with ya, sorry bub.” Jax started walking off in the direction of the tent, seemingly done with the conversation. Zooble’s eye twitched.

“What do you mean?!”

“Not what I do, ugly. I just play my part.” Jax smile creeps up to a taunting grin, “Go talk to Raggs. Explainin’ these things to new suckers is her part.”

“But what’s your part?” Zooble raised their voice not only in frustration, but also because Jax was making greater distance between them as he continued walking.

“This is my part!”

“What do you mean ‘this is?’ What’s ‘this?’”

“Ask Raggs~!”

“And what do I do? What's my part!?”

“Bye~!”

“Mother@$@#%!!”

Some fanart of this fic: (CLICK HERE TO SEE)

Oasis: TADC AU list

Masterlist

Additional Author's note: If you read the whole thing with all of the mistakes I didn't notice to fix, you are a legend!

58 notes · View notes

petrichor-idyllic · 1 year

Note

I'm out of ideas but I really need more of Minho. But here's another one: So female reader and Minho were running partners but also a oowerful couple that went throw a lot during the maze, the scorch and the death cure...but before they get to the Safe Haven reader sonehow gets seriously injured and ends up dying on Minho's arms and it's all angst and fluff.

Alright, damn, this is brutal.

Time to break some hearts I guess.

This is based on the Movies for simplicity's sake because I haven't read TDC in a long time and if I remember quickly, things get pretty messy at the end very fast. I'm pretty familiar with the first book because it's my favourite, but man, it's been a while with the others. I seriously need to pick them up again.

That being said, I am providing today, this is long. I mean, of course it is, I'm covering three movies here.

ALL YOU HAVE

MASTERLIST | MINHO MASTERLIST

SUMMARY: See above. Movie based fic.

WARNINGS: Inappropriate language, some vague references to suggestive stuff, kinda depressing, you're dead bro, long.

You were the first thing Minho ever loved. Maybe he loved someone or something before the Maze, but he didn't care. He had you, and that was all that mattered.

From the day you showed up in the Box, shouting at anyone that would do as much as looked at you for too long, completely on edge but willing to stand your ground- Minho knew. He knew that you were going to be massive parts in one another's lives. Whether that be friends, enemies, rivals or lovers.

It didn't really matter; he just knew it would be strong. And it was. God, it was.

You meant the world to him. You were literally his everything.

So now, as the Last City burns around him, how is he meant to move forward as you bleed out in his arms?

His life before this moment- everything you've been through, flashes in front of his eyes.

He'll never forget the first time you spoke to him.

"I want to be a Runner."

It was early in the morning, far too early for the majority of the Glade to be classed as functioning people. Minho used to enjoy the mornings; it was one of the only moments where he could be in the Glade without being asked endless questions or being harassed. The downside of being popular I guess.

He didn't even hear you approach him. He was too busy focusing on the Doors, waiting for them to open as Ben stretched obnoxiously, like he was actually achieving something.

"What?" He turned around to face you, blankly blinking as his heart jumped into his throat.

You hadn't even said hello. Truth be told, you were nervous at the time. Everyone talked about Minho like he was some kind of God, but if you wanted to be out there, you had to talk to him. Alby thought you were crazy when you told him. But he couldn't blame you, it would serve as a break from the peering eyes and painful flirting.

And a much needed vice for your exceedingly growing pent-up energy.

"I said I want to be a Runner."

"You want to be a Runner?" Ben scoffed, butting in before Minho had so much as a chance to even process what was happing. "You sure you're up to it, girly? The Maze is no place for a lady."

You went to open your mouth to snap at the other boy, but Minho beat you to it.

"Slim it, Ben, do you have to be such a shuck-face all the damn time?"

You were shocked that someone actually defended you. And he defended you in a way that didn't also put you down or turn into a creepy comment.

"You want to be a Runner, eh?"

"That's what I just said, isn't it? I've already spoken to Alby about it." Minho scoffed at that. You were defensive and sharp, clearly not wanting to deal with anyone more than you had to.

"Alright, alright, what did Alby say?"

"He told me to ask you. Says you know more than he does."

Of course, that was the one time Alby let Minho actually call the shots.

"Uh," the sound of the Doors rumbling quickly reminded Minho of what he was there to do, "listen, we're full on Runners at the minute, but if anyone gets hurt or quits or some klunk, I'll come find you, okay?"

You weren't sure when you first started to crush on Minho, but you'd be lying if you weren't at least slightly excited to spend time with him. Especially after another Runner had enough and Minho kept his promise.

He was a good teacher. And a great Keeper.

You were the first person in a long time that Minho actually enjoyed teaching. You learnt quick, did as you were told and easily kept up. You had decent stamina and were curious to learn, but you occasionally cracked jokes and effortlessly kept up conversation with him.

You learnt fast that, despite it being his job, Minho did not like talking about the Maze. What he thinks it all means and where you were there and shit like that? He didn't want to hear it.

So, you spoke about other things.

You were eager to learn about him.

It always caught him off guard when you seemed genuinely interested in what his favourite colour was, or what he'd do if you were on the outside and he won the lottery, or what job he'd like to do if he weren't a Runner. It was... nice.

Minho had always been popular because of what he did, but someone being actually interested in him? That was almost unheard of.

You also cared about his life in the Glade. You were always there to lend an ear to his rants about Gally or even his frustrations about stunted progress.

And, to your surprise, he returned it.

You spent hours complaining about the other boys and how they'd hit on you, or how Alby didn't trust you to make your own choices.

Even once you'd finished your training, Minho made the executive decision to make you his running partner, and you definitely weren't complaining. It's kind of hard to spend that much time with someone and not gain some sort of connection with them.

The more time you spent together, the more you noticed Minho's irritation when someone else would hit on you, and you would spend dinner together. You could even be found hiding somewhere during Bonfire nights, chuckling amongst yourselves and having a bit too much to drink.

"Dude, are you fucking (Y/N)?" Minho nearly chocked on his food when Ben asked him that question.

"What? The shuck are you talkin' 'bout?"

You'd left to go take a shower and Ben had taken the opportunity to interrogate his friend.

"You guys are always together- I'm just picking up a vibe, bro. I can feel the tension between you shanks."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He did. Absolutely, he did. He spent so much time staring at you. You got back once on a particularly hot day, and you took your shirt off, leaving you in your sports bra. It wasn't like it was anything revealing, but that image kept Minho up for weeks.

"Hey, Newt," Ben called over the blond boy to add some more perspective, "do you think there's some sexual tension between Minho and (Y/N)?"

"Wha- Ben! Shut up, man!"

"Oh yeah," Newt snorted, "have you ever been in the same room as them? Bloody hell, you could cut the tension with a knife. You're a lucky shank, Minho- almost everyone here would love to be in your position."

Minho groaned, "You're looking too much into it- there's shuck all going on there. Slim it, both of ya."

Minho couldn't help noticing it after that. The way you'd look at him and the way you acted differently around him. Not only did he notice it, but he loved it.

The other boys were jealous of him and it was definitely a flex. But most importantly, he was seriously gaining feelings for you. Sure, he was a horny teenage boy and you thought about you in some more... intimate ways. But he also just liked being with you.

Things came ahead after you both had a brush in with a Griever. Honestly, the fact that both of you made it out alive without getting stung was a miracle.

And that was the first time you kissed him.

"Shuck me," he hissed, "that was close, too shuckin' close." Minho was doubled over, trying to catch his breath whilst you did the same.

You didn't respond to him. Your brain was moving at a million miles an hour- but all you could think about was what you'd do if you lost Minho.

"Hey? You okay?" Minho managed to ask once you'd both calmed down, in a much safer part of the Maze that was closer to the Glade. "You seem kind of-"

"Can I kiss you?" Minho froze completely- that was the last thing he was expecting. But he didn't hesitate.

"Yes." You stepped towards him, his hands coming to rest on your hips. You became nervous for a second, halting yourself as your noses bumped. He closed the space, resulting in a peck, which very quickly turned into a heated kiss.

You and Minho didn't start officially dating for about a month after that. Sure, you'd have secret make-out sessions and you spent a lot of time in his hut together. Suspiciously so.

But it wasn't until another Glader tried to make a move on you did Minho come over and kiss you in the middle of a Bonfire. It shocked everyone and whilst you never really officially asked each other out- there wasn't much of a question.

You both started to refer to the other as boy/girlfriend after that anyway.

You spent pretty much all day, every day together, but you were also both protective over each other. Minho became your personal guard dog and people tended to leave Minho be if you were with him.

You were a fairly physical couple- your first "I love you" being whispered between bated breath and heated kisses, which led to both of your first times.

That was also a night that Minho holds fondly. Not because he'd actually lived to have sex, but because he had you. He'd never felt closer to anyone, and it was the first instance of real physical intimacy, and it just showed him how much you truly did love him.

He also loved just having a "normal" life with you in the Glade. It was almost homely, and you made him work harder and more determined to figure out the Maze so you could escape and live a happy life outside of the hellscape.

He probably fantasised more about owning a house with you than he did meeting his parents again.

Then Thomas showed up.

And shit hit the fan.

Once Minho and Alby went out into the Maze that day, and Thomas played saviour, something changed in the Maze.

Minho survived purely because he couldn't die without saying goodbye to you. He wasn't going to let that happen.

And he didn't.

"Minho!" He didn't even care that he'd dumped Alby onto Thomas, or how much pain he was in when he saw you running towards him.

You almost sent him flying as you dove into his arms, tears streaming down your face. "I thought you were dead, you shank."

"Hey," he soothed you, puking your face up to meet his, "I'm okay." He kissed you.

He kissed you like he'd never kissed you before, and he'd never kiss you again.

Things moved fast after that. You and Minho showed Thomas the ropes, using a key from that dead Griever to unlock a new area.

And before you knew it, you were free. Surely there was a brutally traumatising fight with the Grievers.

And Gally lost his mind and killed Chuck. You'd lost Alby, Zart, Chuck, Jeff and Gally- who had been speared by Minho.

It was a bittersweet day. One that you wouldn't be forgetting any time soon, but Minho had you. So, he knew he could pull though.

Then you got separated. Janson pulled you and Teresa away from the boys. They took Teresa somewhere else and shoved you into a room with a group of girls you didn't know.

So, you were beyond thrilled to reunite with them during meals. It was weird being surrounded by so many new people- and so many girls. But Minho didn't care. Why would he? He had you.

You weren't exactly shocked when Thomas attacked a guard and got everyone thrown back in their rooms. What you didn't expect was when the alarms went off less than an hour later.

And you knew you had to break out.

You waited patiently, a knife stole for protection hidden up your sleeve. The door swung open, revealing an armed guard doing room checks in light of the alarms blaring. You stabbed him through the mask, square in the face, kicking him in the groin and stealing the gun he held. Along with his key card.

You had to be fast, bolting through through corridors and trying to avoid getting caught. You didn't know why you were escaping, but Thomas seemed adamant that something bad was going on.

So when you skidded down a corridor, spotting your friends, boyfriend, and Teresa on the other side of a pane of glass, cornered, you obviously had to smash it. Slamming a chair against the window, you scared the shit out of everyone there, who were too busy trying to fight guards breaking into the room.

"Hi," you grinned. Minho's lopsided smile made your heart melt.

He'd been terrified something had happened to you. With Thomas being too hell-bent on finding Teresa and the group already having split up, he was waiting for the perfect opportunity to break away and save you.

But he didn't need to. You could save yourself.

Your escape to the Scorch was traumatic and feverish, escaping to a wolf in sheep's clothing abandoned mall that ended up being full of Cranks.

Minho did everything in his power to stay by your side during your escape- and through your rough time through the Scorch.

Realising Winston had gotten infected was another hard blow. Because it meant not all of you were immune.

But you had to keep going. You and Minho spent a lot of time with your hands tangled together, sleeping curled up on the sand, using Minho's arm as a pillow.

That was until Minho got hit by lightning.

"Minho!" You screeched, scrambling to your boyfriend with the help of Thomas. He was out cold- he body warm and limp as you dragged him into a nearby shelter.

"Oh my God, Minho!" He was dropped to the floor, you quickly on your knees, shaking his body as tears started to prick your eyes. "Minho! Wake up!"

"Ugh," he groaned, rubbing his face, "what happened?"

You blinked at him, exchanging glaces with Thomas, who seemed equally dumbfounded.

"You got struck by lightning," you stated, rather blunt.

"Oh."

Honestly, Brenda scared the shit out of all of you. You all blindly followed her, with little choice to do otherwise.

Minho held you close at all times, staring down anyone that so much looked at you wrong.

Once you met Jorge and Thomas decided he had a lot to say- you ended up strung up from the ceiling.

Some circus stunts were required to escape, and the whole thing is kind of a blur. Befriending Jorge and Brenda, only to lose Brenda and Thomas and find them the next day passed out in a random building.

Though, hopes of finding the Safe Haven kept Minho going. Just a little bit further, and he could have a happy life with you.

And you joined the other groups moving to the paradise pretty easily. There was a couple of bumps along the way, but you were all sitting around talking.

You even bumped into some of the girls from another Maze that you were dorming with, choosing to spend some time with them and letting the boys have their fun.

"I shuckin' knew it," Newt scoffed, dropping his head as Minho raised his eyebrow at him, exchanging a confused look with Thomas. The four boys ended up sitting on a higher ledge, away from the crowds. They'd had a rough few days- and with Brenda being bitten, Thomas had to play savior once again.

It was a much needed break.

"Knew what?" Minho dared to inquire.

"That you'd fall for her."

Minho snorted a laugh. "Slim it, alright? I don't need to hear this klunk again."

"Yeah, Newt," Frypan chimed in, "it was obvious- you ain't smart."

"It was not."

"Yes, it was."

"How obvious was it?" Thomas couldn't help but smirk, watching the normally confident boy grow red. "I wasn't there to see most of it."

"Well-"

"Enough!" Minho immediately silenced them, earning a round of chuckles.

"Gotta say, man," Frypan let out a satisfied sigh, his eyes landing on you as you spoke to Harriet, Sonya, and Aris. "You are one lucky shank. You managed to pull a girl like that? I don't know how you control yourself."

"Watch it," Minho warned him, and Fry feigned innocence, holding his hands up, but the smirk never left his lips.

"He's got a point," Minho punched Thomas in the arm, earning a stiffled laugh from Newt.

"Shut up, slinthead, you've got two girls all over you."

"I don't think that's- whatever. It's not the same. I don't have what you two have."

Minho fell into silence, making all the other boys look at each other, confusion clear on their faces.

"Yeah, well," Minho shrugged, "you're not gonna, are ya?"

"What do you mean?"

Minho took a second to compose himself, rubbing his face in his hands because he knew he'd be bullied for what he was going to say.

"Because I love her, dude," he awkwardly fiddled with his fingers, "I'm in love with her. She means the shuckin' world to me- and I know I sound like a damn sissy but you better not say klunk because it's the truth. I'm gonna spend the rest of my life with that girl- I just know I am." He paused, taking in his friends' expressions, which were a mix of pride and cringing.

"And I wouldn't want it any other way."

Then Teresa betrayed you all. Chaos destroyed the camp, lining you all up in preparation to force you onto the Berg. Thomas appeared, holding a bomb he'd stolen from Jorge, and was more than prepared to take this whole thing to the ground.

Minho looked at you, and watched in disbelief as you joined the boy. So, of course, Minho didn't hesitate to mimick your bravery.

He'd decided that if you couldn't live together, then at least you wouldn't get taken by WCKD. He wouldn't let it, and he would be with you I'm a sense.

Luckily, Brenda and Jorge came in clutch, giving you all an opportunity to escape.

Minho grabbed a gun, protecting everyone from the WCKD guards.

"Minho! Come on!" You shouted at your boyfriend, all of you shuffling behind him as you gained the upper hand.

Minho was always reckless when it came to protecting you, and this was no different.

"Get back! Go!" He shouted, but the victory was short-lived as he was hit with a Launcher. Seizing, his body fell to the floor.

"Minho!" You screeched, bolting forward, only to be stopped my Frypan as the guards picked up his unconscious form. "Minho!"

Your knees hit the floor as you watched them drag your soul mate away.

Minho doesn't like remembering the next part of his life. The torture. The pain. The experiments. He doubts he'll ever get over it.

But his thoughts of you pulled him through. He had to get back to you- he had to know you were okay.

It's all a complete blur of constant fear and pain now.

Minho knew he had to escape. One way or another, but that was hard when he was constantly in and out of consciousness. He did everything he could to escape, including attacking Teresa.

When the building went on lockdown and Minho wasn't fully sedated, he took the opportunity to escape.

You, on the other hand, had an interesting six months.

You'd completely changed in that time. You'd taken a Leader role along with Thomas and Vince. You and Thomas formed a plan to go save Minho, and Newt and Frypan ended up tagging along.

Finding out Gally was alive was a hell of a shock- but he proved himself useful and a plan was quickly set in motion.

Added problems of Newt being infected and having to remove chips from your necks made things harder. But if you could save Minho, get Newt a Flare buffer like you'd done for Brenda and could get to the Safe Haven- you might have been able to actually pull it off.

But, for a second, it didn't matter when you rounded that corner in WCKD's building and watched your boyfriend throw a guard through a window.

He stared at you, blinking for a second before you ran forward, throwing your arms around him as Minho grunted.

It only took Newt and Thomas a second to crash into the both of you, engulfing you into a group hug.

"Is this real?" Minho looked between you and your friends, and something about the question broke your heart.

You had to move pretty quickly after that, having no time for a proper reunion. You managed to escape after a daring stunt jumping through a window and Gally helped you escape again.

Much to Minho's complete confusion.

With the city falling around you all and Newt's growing infection rate, you really had no choice to run.

You, Minho and Gally ran to Brenda, retrieving the buffer to give to Newt. But it was too late.

Minho's knees hit the floor as Thomas disappeared into the flames. Newt's lifeless body was lay on the concrete, bulbous purple veins covering him, his eyes black and a knife sticking out of his chest.

Your hands came to Minho's shoulders, crouching behind him and wrapping your arms around him in an attempt to offer some sort of comfort.

"I'm sorry, Minho," you sighed, trying not to cry yourself, "but we need to leave- we can't stay here."

He looked at you, tears pooling in his eyes, he nodded.

You, Minho, Brenda, Frypan and Gally all started to make your way back to the Berg, desperately trying to get through the endless round of gunshots and brutality.

If Minho would have know that these would be his last moments with you, he probably wouldn't have taken the lead.

"Minho," you hiss, a sharp pain shotting through the front of your chest. You don't know where it came from and you're mere metres away from the Berg. But as you look down, blood pouring out of your chest and soaking your shirt, your body suddenly feels very weak.

Your boyfriend turns to face you, his face turn pale as he watches you stumble backwards. "No, no, no!" He rushes forward, managing time catch you before you hit the floor. "No, (Y/N) come one, stay with me."

"Minho," a coppery taste fills your mouth, coughing slightly as you reach up to touch his face. "I love you."

"No," he can't do this again. He can't lose you and Newt. He struggles, picking you up and hooking his arms under yours. "Frypan! Help me!"

The boy struggles to get to you, shielding himself as he grabs your legs. People scramble around you, pulling you onto the Berg and trying to avoid further injury, but it's no use.

"Someone, please do something!" Tears stream down his face. He's only just got you back- he can't lose you again.

You lightly touch his hand as Jorge and Vince shout something about having to find Thomas due to the revelation he's vanished.

But Minho doesn't care. How could he? The love of his life, the girl he spent all his time dreaming about marrying and having a life with, is dying in his arms.

"Please," he begs, "please don't leave me, (Y/N)," it's a hard scene to watch. Brenda and Frypan stand nearby, Brenda's hand covers her mouth, trying not to cry and Fry stoically watches on.

"I love you," he collapses on your chest, sobs shaking his entire body. He doesn't have the energy to even try to pretend to be tough anymore. He's been tortured for months and has lost his best friend and now is watching his girlfriend die in front of him.

"I love you.. too," your hand comes to his face once again, making him pull away and look at you. He presses his forehead to yours, tears hitting your now colourless face as the blood drains from your features.

As much as it hurts, you lean further up, taking all of your strength to brush your nose against his. He takes the hint and kisses you.

Your lips connect for one last time.

He pulls away, looking at you and you offer him a very weak smile. "You're gonna be okay, Minho. I know it. I love you."

"I love you, too," his voice breaks, staring at you as the life finally fades from your eyes, your breathing stills and your body falls limp.

"(Y/N)? (Y/N)!" He shakes your corpse, his world crumbling around him as Frypan puts his hand on his shoulder, crouching down next to him.

"I'm... I'm so sorry, Minho." He brings his arms around the deverstated boy and Minho embraces him as Brenda joins them both.

The three mourn together.

"We have to save Thomas before we move to the Safe Haven!" Vince shouts from the cockpit. "I'm sorry, but we need to."

It's all a blur to Minho- static in his head as he clings to the only friends he has present, hysterics completely taking over him.

You're gone. The first thing he ever loved- gone.

He knows he has to keep going, because that's what you would want him to do.

But right now, he lets himself break. You were all he had.

And you're gone.

This was absolutely brutal to write and I made myself sad lmao, but it was interesting to write something other than spice. Anyway, sorry if I made anyone upset but this is what you get when you ask for for angst.

I'm sorry.

Hope you enjoyed :)

#🌿 petri writes tmr #🍃 petri tmr #🌿 petri writes #🌿 petri tmr minho #tmr fanfiction #tmr minho #minho the maze runner #minho tmr #minho tmr x reader #tmr imagines #minho maze runner

274 notes · View notes

a-scary-lack-of-common-sense · 2 months

Note

I hope you don’t mind me asking, but in your WiR au, is Turbo still a villain? Cause I know that Ralph and Felix are switched, so I was curious on who else might have been swapped.

Have a lovely day, and I love your art

Hello, hello! I really do love it when y'all ask questions about my AU, so thank u for indulging me :)

You know, I'm not actually too sure.. but, pretty much, yeah! Turbo is still a villain in my AU, for plot's sake. But it would be boring to just leave it at that, so I tried to spice it up a bit by making it a redemption arc! 'Cause who isn't a sucker for redemption arcs? I might change this, tho! My AU is mostly concepts, less story focused, so it's all very vague and undecided- I might shuffle it around some more.

Since this is a Swap AU, he was initially supposed to be an unfinished Halloween special character from Sugar Blast (a mish-mash swap-ish concept between Sugar Rush and Hero's Duty!!).

He would have been the glitch instead of Vaneloppe, and I thought it would be fun if he was the "Ghost Boy" and had Halloween candy themes in his outfit, heh. He was supposed to be a sort of cryptid character who appeared in and out and was mostly considered a myth.

BUT THEN, I developed the idea a bit more and branched out to a different concept where he is still the glitch, but not tied to Sugar Blast. I revisited the whole "Tur-bug" idea because I thought the bug joke the movie had was funny.

The logic behind the whole thing was that, after game jumping, Turbo kinda hung around collecting stray viruses and bugs (that usually would have been prevented by a barrier had he been inside a game, which he was not atm) which festered in his code and mutated him, in a way? So when Sugar Blast was plugged in an he tried to get in, not only did his corrupted code screw things up, the fact that he was from a much older game than Sugar Blast made him incompatible- code wise. So there was a system error, exacerbating his mutated state and making him ✨️a glitch.

I had a lot of fun with the design for this idea! But... eh. Story wise, it got a lot more repetitive and boring imo. Basically, the same idea as the first movie but redesigned with more detail. I don't really like it, so I might try a different idea, or combine a few!

Anyways, so yeah! He's still supposed to be the villain, but his whole shebang is very.... unsure. He's a super fun character tho, so I'm having a blast playing with his story and design :)

#my art #asks #sput chatters #wreck it ralph #wreck it ralph au #turbo wreck it ralph #turbo wir #turbotastic

27 notes · View notes

captain-mj · 1 year

Note

What do I have to do for more Warrior! Ghost and Spoil! Soap???

I am but a little Fella obsessed with you cod AU's so please begging on my hands and knees for a part 3 🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️

Heyo! This is actually pt 4 now! Crazy how fast we got here! Part 3

Ghost stared at the ceiling after he woke up.

Bonnie.

He had heard the term before of course. Multiple times from other Scots. Usually not directed at him.

His skin tingled slightly.

Soap was an idiot. Whatever game he was playing at, Ghost wasn’t interested. Even if he did look good in his clothing.

Ghost bit the inside of his cheek until blood started to fil his mouth. He had to remember Soap was trying to survive. Doing his best to not be killed. He didn’t punish him for trying to escape. Wouldn’t punish him if he tried again, despite the vague threats he made.

With a small sigh, he dragged himself from bed. Price needed to talk to him, he was pretty sure. Or maybe it was Alejandro… One of them anyway.

He felt Soap’s hand on him, light and searching, still mostly asleep. Ghost looked at it for a minute before picking it up and slowly setting it

Ghost flushed, thinking about last night. The way Soap said called him pretty and leaned in. His soft mouth, inches away from Ghost.

Ghost was a glorious sinner, but the way Soap had said that.

He got up and cleaned himself in a nearby river so he didn’t have to worry about Soap. He redressed and went to look for his coworkers.

Alejandro was sparring with someone, trying to teach them how to sword fight more effectively. Their technique was terrible but he was a good teacher.

The student fell flat on their ass.

Most of the time.

“Hey, Ghost!” Alejandro put the blade to the person’s chest. “Need something?”

“Just out. Anything I can help with?” Ghost looked around, noticing Rodolfo trying to train someone else. The other guy was just as bad. This is exactly why he doesn’t train people.

“Mind telling this person where they went wrong?”

Ghost hummed and calmly told the person the long laundry list of what they did wrong. Their stance, their posture, the lack of center of gravity, even critiqued the way they held their blade.

“Eh, I think that’s enough, Ghost.” Alejandro was clearly laughing, even though the kid looked close to tears. “Now get up and try again with Smith.” He walked away from him, leaning against the fence.

“So. What state is MacTavish in this morning?” He grinned and leaned in close to Ghost, like they were whispering secrets to each other.

“I left him passed out in my bed.” Ghost answered, technically it was true.

“Damn. Stone cold Ghost.” Alejandro looked at him, something right behind his eyes. Some thought or emotion Ghost couldn’t quite pin down. “Price just got back from raiding a village. Had a bottle of bourbon he was saving for you.”

“Thanks, Ale. Good luck with these guys. They look hopeless.” Ghost pulled away. As he walked away, he could hear Alejandro laughing.

Price never locked his door so Ghost just slipped in. It smelled nice, like someone was baking. He could hear someone in the kitchen, so he looked for him there.

Ghost froze when he saw someone who was clearly not Price. Kinda short, blond hair, definitely not Price.

“Oh. Hi.” The person looked up at him. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

Ghost stared down at him, but they didn’t shrink back.

“If you’re looking for the Captain, he’s in his office.” They said after a moment. “Graves by the way.”

Ghost just stalked past him and went straight to Price’s office. “Who the fuck is that?”

“Uh. Long story, don’t feel like explaining. Why are you here?” Price was already sliding the bottle over to him and Ghost took it.

“Bored. Wanted to know when my next raid would be?”

“I think Shepherd has you grounded. Next one is Alejandro’s.”

“Fucking hell. I don’t like sitting still.”

“And Shepherd doesn’t like losing. Come on. Be honest with me, I know you. I know how you are. So I know for a fact, you aren’t doing anything to MacTavish.”

Ghost sighed. The scars on his body itch. “I didn’t… He said…”

“I know, son. But you painted a target on your back. You’re going to have to deal with the consequences until Shepherd gets over it. And that means being on basics for now. Stay home, protect the village, strike fear into people’s hearts. You know. You’re least favorite things to do.” Price smiled at him and Ghost groaned.

“Keep the booze coming. I’m going to be in a drunken stupor for the next few weeks.”

“Will do, Simon.”

Simon.

“It suits you.”

Ghost blushed under his mask and nodded. “Keep me updated on his moods. And the guy in there… It serious?”

“Working on it.” Price grinned at him. “Look, enjoy your vacation.”

“Absolutely not.” Ghost shook his head.

Price laughed. “Come on, Simon. It might be good for you. Get rested. What do you normally do between missions?”

“Hide in my home. I can’t exactly do that right now.”

Price was clearly trying to not laugh more. “Look, just… I think there’s a festival tonight. Go to that.”

“Where?”

“Near the church.”

“I’ll be on the opposite side of the city. Thanks.” Ghost stood up. “See you later, Captain.”

Price nodded and followed him out of the office, heading towards the kitchen. Ghost decided he didn’t want to stick around any longer, being in so many buildings lately was starting to grate on him.

He went by his home and put the bourbon on the table. Before Soap could notice him, he left again. The festival was one of the ones for the seasons. For once, all of his mind was in agreement that that was not something he wanted to do.

Ghost ended up perched on a building most of the day, standing like a gargoyle. His presence seemed to be enough to scare most people away. He sighed, watching a bird flit closer to him and sit nearby.

“What, am I not as scary as a scarecrow?”

The bird cocked its head but didn’t move.

“Guess not.”

Soap. It felt like all his thoughts lately were dedicated to the man. He had moved closer again in the night. Ghost knew he should stop him. Should’ve shove him off or make him sleep in the floor. But he didn’t.

Soap’s hands had gotten so close to his mask. Ghost tried not to compare him to… anyone really. It was difficult. Especially when he said things like that.

Ghost carefully put his hands over his ears, not wanting to scare the birds near him. He was perfectly in control of himself. He knew that. It would be a terrible idea for him to be anything other than that.

Ghost was a sinner. An awful one. Sin permeated his being. Scars lacing his skin from it.

But he lusted. He wanted to hear Soap call him pretty.

Maybe not pretty.

They could find a better word.

Would those lips be that soft against his skin?

Soap had looked stunning in his clothing. Even better when he was asleep in his bed.

Sex wasn’t all he wanted. Greed. He wanted more. Wanted Soap’s attention. To make Soap his. Intimacy. Devotion.

He wouldn’t act on it. Wouldn’t be… Wouldn’t be Roba.

Ghost sighed. “You’re a terrible conversationalist.”

The bird chirped.

Ghost shook his head. “Talk to you later.” He hopped down, landing rather hard. His feet ached, but it was a good pain.

The walk home was quiet. At some point while he had been up there, the sun had disappeared and the air had gotten chilly enough for him to see his own breaths.

Ghost, after kicking off his shoes because they were slightly muddy, went straight to the- his room. He stopped quickly at the door.

Soap laid out on his bed, clearly drunk. He had undressed but the blanket had been draped over him. Ghost remembered seeing paintings of people as a kid. Beautiful women and men in lovely portraits. Soap just happened to be missing the wings.

“You’re home.” Soap said softly, like he barely noticed Ghost was there. HIs head tilted back and Ghost could see all the way down to where the v of his hips were. Could count the scars on his torso. The blanket just barely kept him from seeing more and for once he was thankful for it.

“I am. Waiting for me?”

“Getting even. Fixing each other’s problems.”

“What’s my problem?”

“The mask. Take it off.”

“No.” Ghost mumbled to the air. Soap was too sincere which meant he wouldn’t hide his reaction. Ghost couldn’t fathom what would be worse. A look of disgust? Indifference? A comment about how pretty he was? The only thing he knew was he couldn’t handle any of it.

“You said you didn’t look. You’re looking now.”

“I suppose I am.” Ghost stared to move closer. He could see Soap was afraid, though not as much as he probably should be.

“Is this what you wanted from me?” Ghost’s hand gently cupped Soap’s jaw, his thumb pressed lightly against his mouth. They would be just as a soft.

He chose not to answer the question.

The bottle of bourbon, now half empty, sat on the floor by their bed.

“You’re drunk.” Ghost tried to keep his voice neutral.

“A little. Got nervous.”

“Why?”

Soap just stared at him and Ghost could see now. The glazed look in his eye, the redness of his face. He could smell the booze rolling off of him.

“I think I scared you. Just a little. I don’t understand how.”

“You didn’t scare me.”

“I did.” Soap grabbed his mask but Ghost caught his wrist.

“You’re drunk.”

“Exactly. Won’t remember in the morning.” It felt like bait. Ghost just couldn’t figure out what for.

He withdrew from him.

“I’ll sleep on the couch tonight.” He grabbed the covers and roughly pulled them up, covering Soap’s figure as he looked away. “You’re drunk.”

“Why would you care about something like that?” Soap stared up at him. It wasn’t judgemental. That was the worst part. It was just calm curiosity.

“You won’t remember anything in the morning, right?”

“Not a thing.”

Ghost nodded. “I kinda liked when you called me pretty.” He shoved him down so he was flat on his back and left him.

He made sure to grab the bottle.

It was empty before the morning came.

#Johnny Soap Mactavish #Simon Ghost Riley #Soap Cod #Ghost COD #Soapghost #Ghostsoap #Soap x Ghost #Ghost x Soap #Macriley #Call of Duty #Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2 #spoils of war

189 notes · View notes

m1d-45 · 1 year

Note

Yo, mid, i know its very late for me and i just am trying to sleep while its fucking COLD, i had a thought jolt me awake from my dozing.

How hot do pyro's run? I do know that some people CANON it to be true that pyro users have high body heat, but is it like africa versus the northpole or something like that?

Cuz i currently desire a personal heater snugglebug.

Goodnight.

-🥘Stew

warmth

a/n: could be read as sagau, could be taken as just regular genshin. this kinda devolved from the ask but… eh? only diluc and thoma are ‘x reader’s, the others are mostly character studies.

word count: 2.1k

-> warnings: n/a! minor spoilers for character lore, i suppose? xinyan may be slightly ooc? mentioned xingqiu x chongyun in hu taos part?

-> gn reader! (you/yours)

characters: diluc, bennett, klee, amber, xinyan, xiangling, yanfei, hu tao, yoimiya, thoma, in that order :) the traveller is mentioned but isn’t specified (they/them, no names)

taglist: @samarill || @thenyxsky || @valeriele3 || @shizunxie || @boba-is-a-soup || @yum1x || @esthelily

< masterlist >

mmm it honestly depends on your opinion, but i personally am pretty guilty of imagining myself a diluc to hold onto when i’m cold, so i’d say there’s at least a bit of a difference.

i heard from the first golden apple archipelago event that diluc apparently melted kaeya’s icebridge (citation needed), so that pretty much confirms that a significant level of difference is present between pyro users and the general public. however, it was still summer and assuming diluc was still wearing his giant coat, they must be at least vaguely immune to overheating/possess some sort of control over it. all this to say that at the bare minimum, diluc wouldn’t mind holding you close during a chilly winter. the winery is prone to chilly hallways, just due to its size, and he stays up late anyway. please, don’t be afraid to go knocking on his door: chances are he’s awake and more than willing to let you in. despite being a pyro wielder, his blankets are large and thick, carrying enough heat to keep you warm while he wraps up his paperwork. you don’t have to stay awake with him if you don’t wish; the sight of you tucked away within his bed is one he wishes to memorize.

i imagine bennett’s high heat has definitely saved him from getting sick when his adventure is ruined by rain (again), keeping him from ever being at risk despite the fact that his clothes are soaked and the path he’s trudging through is muddy. he’s well used to it, but it doesn’t stop his dads from chastising him whenever he returns, directing him towards his room and one of the many, many spare sets of clothing he had. he dries off quickly after showers, his clothes never sticking, and sometimes when his adventure ended well he’ll be glowing, embers in his eyes as he excitedly tells you about it, uncaring of the way some of the dry grass caught in his hair begins to spark. for your sake and his, bring him inside and let him talk to you after you remove the tinder.

klee, younger, likely has a lesser degree of control over her vision. she’s probably prone to hiking up a few degrees when she’s excited, and is often found in albedo’s camp at dragonspine simply due to the fact that she both can easily re-light his fire when the winds blow too hard and he knows she won’t get sick. he sits on his stool, watching his experiment and listening intently to her talk about gunpowder. when snow washes in and puts out the measly store of wood collected in the middle of his lab, it barely registers before she’s collected pyro in her palms and shot it neatly to the center of the pile. any moisture vaporizes, the flames licking higher than they normally would.

amber has a better control over her vision than most would expect from somebody so young. her vision hangs off her belt and only barely glows a bit brighter when speaking about the knights, her gloves waving animatedly as she tells some tale of the cavalry captain’s newest scheme. he comes up, hearing all gossip in the city and doubly so that which pertains to him, but even the hiss of cryo doesn’t dampen her emotions. she ignores the hand he puts on her shoulder and simply puts hers on her hips, pretending he isn’t there and continuing about how it’s so irresponsible of him to continue such behavior. he laughs, telling her it’s rude to be so cold, but the way the inside of her gloves grow warm says otherwise. it’s invisible to most, dampened by leather and the many guards of an archer’s arms, but anybody that looks can tell you for certain that the brightest fires in the city are lit by an outrider’s glow, provided only that you ask about her recent expedition.

xinyan is well aware of her loud nature, and learned the hard way not to let it get out of control. pyrotechnics are a large part of her shows, but it took her a while to get there. she loves rock and roll, and performing gives her so much energy- she played barely a day after she received her vision, when her control was weak and her body was still adapting to the change, and the guitar she played then on no longer works now. five dots singe the area around the strings, a large patch where her palm rested sunken into the wood. if you ask about it, she’ll wave you off shyly, unwilling to tell you about how she had to wear heat sinks in a pair of special gloves for a few months. still, just to be certain, she bought a bottle of heat-resistant sealant to brush over her current guitar for her tours. she loves music, loves her shows and doing what she does, and she’s much better at controlling her vision now, but… it’s better safe than sorry, right?

xiangling, similar to bennett, has been saved many times by her heightened body temperature. turns out, it gets incredibly dangerous climbing the spires of liyue since the wind can turn your fingers cold and creaky, making it deadly to try and climb, but she’s never run into that problem. she moves with ease, unfettered by the chill, her sheer enthusiasm seeping into the stone beneath her. when she travelled to mondstat, she passed by a camp near the base of dragonspine and overheard a peculiar recipe, one that required a special kind of ‘chilled meat’. the chef seemed nervous to give her the location, due simply to her clothing, but she set off anyway. needless to say, dragonspine is colder than liyue, and the traveller found her and guoba hunched by a campfire, clearly shivering. they led her off a mountain and with the promise to never return without a proper team (or warmer clothes), they handed her some chilled meat from their inventory. after a bit of further pressing, they taught her how to make goulash. she took excellent notes.

as a lawyer, the last thing yanfei needs is to be hot-headed. the law is slippery, always twisting from her hands, and the ability to grit one’s teeth and stand again after it swipes beneath their feet is one needed in the world of legal advice. ningguang can’t count the amount of times she’s received a letter from her detailing the most recent loophole she’s found, the paper stained with ash around the edges. at first she thought it unprofessional, but after being stopped on the street and quite frankly chastised due to the slow response time when such a matter as the law was concerned…. she understood a little more. her next letter was responded to promptly, and yanfei’s gratitude showed in court, citing one of the tianquan’s letters as proof that a law was changed prior to a merchant’s new policy, not after. as a half-adepti, more power runs through her than most, and she often grows too warm to think in her office. she has measures to counteract this, such as traveling to deal with cases, allowing the wind to wick away her frustration, or simply wearing cooler clothes during the summer. madam ping was the one to suggest the latter, and she lives every day grateful. still, as they share a cup of tea as yanfei rants about a civil case she’s been assigned, yanfei’s mug stays warmer than ping’s for nearly the entire time. thankfully, she prefers her drinks hot anyway, and green tea has always helped take the edge off her irritation.

hu tao is many things, but emotional is not one of them. being a funeral director requires a certain level of coldness to it, as to not let the many deaths a day affect you, and she handles her role quite well. she carries enough respect that her voice is somber when speaking to the families of the deceased, yet doesn’t allow the constant gloom to affect her. perhaps it’s her sense of humor, allowing her to brush it off a bit easier, or perhaps it’s the fact that it’s hard to feel sad when xingqiu is describing his latest escapade with chongyun. the latter is at wanmin, waiting for his popsicles, and hu tao listens with bubbly glee to their most recent tale. it’s funny, how oblivious chongyun can be, and as they sit and swing their legs across the street, the stone beneath her feels less and less warm. they share, they banter, they talk about poetry and all things literary. when their hands knock together xingqiu winces slightly at the heat of her rings, but cools his hand easily enough with a bit of hydro. when chongyun returns, xingqiu takes the small treat he offers her, unwilling to risk him getting singed. chongyun recites what xiangling told him to about her newest creation, and hu tao stifles a grin. the edges of the small napkin begin to darken, but she hardly notices. focused on the slight glaze in xingqiu’s eyes, the funeral director laughs.

working with fireworks with a pyro vision is a risky adventure. yoimiya, who was incredibly cautious about such things and only ever used her vision to light fireworks at first, rarely ever runs into this risk, but it’s on her mind. as the queen of the summer festival—a title that never fails to bring heat to her cheeks, should you mention it—its her responsibility to keep up and maintain the same level of quality year after year, and she is intent on delivering. still, she’s not immune to problems associated with a vision like hers. the small building of naganohara fireworks is one with a rich history, gunpowder and dye embedded between the floorboards, but it doesn’t have the best ventilation. it’s by design, as a stray breeze can ruin a fragile firework, but sometimes she wishes she could have a fan. she loves creating them, enthusiasm sparking whenever she gushes to her father about her latest idea, but when the summer gets hot and the room gets hotter, even one sleeve of a kimono feels like too many. don’t get her wrong, the process of barely singeing a dye so it crackles instead of pops is one far easier with a vision, but when the time finally comes to sit back and let sparks fly, she doesn’t hang around to watch the fuses get lit. instead, she moves somewhere cooler, letting the night breeze cool off her excitement, sitting cross-legged on chilly grass. when the fireworks start and the sky lights up, youmiya glows along with them.

a housekeeper does a lot of things, but starting fires is not typically one of them. both ayato and ayaka prefer cooler weather, the former having the ability to mostly self-regulate, and thoma’s vision mostly went unused. other than occasionally lighting the fire at shimura’s or one of the other food stalls he stopped at, thoma’s days were quiet, free of battle. he was simply a housekeeper, and though he occasionally misjudged the weather and gave ayaka a false impression, they both quickly learned to seek a second opinion. the same was with you. quiet days, mornings spent in a soft sort of haze as he woke up before the sun even on his days off. he didn’t mind, turning to brush away some hairs from your face, but you leaned into his palm, shifting closer. he smiled, one that dissipated when he noticed the goosebumps down your arm, leading beneath the thin sheets. he was confused for a moment, as the room felt fine to him, but he quickly remembered that it wouldn’t be the same to you. with a murmured apology and an arm around your waist, thoma made a mental note to bring thicker blankets for you from the closet. winter was coming and evidently early, and the last thing he wanted was for you to be cold. still, that was a problem for later, for when your skin didn’t warm under his and when the sun was further overhead.

#these just kept getting longer as i went btw there’s no significance to klee’s section being like. 1/3 of yoimiya’s—#genshin #genshin impact #genshin fluff #fluff #diluc #bennett #klee #genshin amber #xinyan #xiangling #yanfei #hu tao #yoimiya #thoma #diluc x reader #thoma x reader #genshin x reader #diluc fluff #thoma fluff #somebody PLEASE tell me they don’t hate this format i this is the most productive i’ve been all week #stew🥘 anon #< also real funny of you to start your ask with ‘i know it’s late’ bro i don’t even know what time it is for me let alone you. you could #have said it was noon and i’d believe you. time is fake anyway.#anyway. you 🤝 me: imagining pyro cuddles as we shiver like hell. sorry this didn’t feature more hugs but most of these people are Children #probably could have twisted it into just. you and them vibing. but i have not edited this and i’m not starting now #if you’d like actual pyro cuddles just say the word. i would be more than happy to

209 notes · View notes