#long story short: Oh Yeah. The Horrors <3

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

Would The Horrors (TM) also exist in the fantasy au? Even if only as a “wouldn’t it be cool” scenario? How so?

i'll have to get back to you on that! i'm currently like. Overhauling it to better fit the update

#which will likely happen with each progression... #long story short: Oh Yeah. The Horrors <3 #ok not overhaul but im Editing. im tweaking it #well. we'll see #might come online in a week like HI ITS ENTIRELY DIFFERENT NOW FORGET EVERYTHING I EVER SAID #rambles from the bog #wh fantasy au

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Spooky season needs spooky stuff.. >:3

So can I request the digital circus cast (minus Caine)meeting a Child Spirit Y/n headcanons,who like Kinda possesed/went inside the game to find they’re killer for some reason? They are eerily quiet and like to stare but if talked to very sweet but quick to snap in distrust because..well trust is what got them killed in the first place? They’re a bit bloody..and a eyeball sometimes hangs out?? Like vhs horror stuff

Sorry I’m being so descriptive,I hope you are a nice day!

OOOoo yes time for more spooks!

Also I am having a nice night, thanks! (and I hope you are having a nice day/night too!)

......

Pomni

To make a long story short, you got murdered while wearing the headset, and that tethered your spirit to TADC.

As expected, you lost memories of who you were--except for the knowledge that someone killed you because you trusted them too much, and you believed the answers were inside this very game.

Your character ends up looking like a child's ghost costume: a white bedsheet stained in blood and one of your eyeballs occasionally wanting to pop from its socket.

Caine (who was very much bewildered at your arrival) declares that you're part of an "exclusive Halloween update" and changes up the tent and grounds to have more spooky flair.

But Pomni clearly wants no part of it, and she can tell you don't either.

You're clearly a kid who is (somehow) handling the situation of being stuck in this game better than her, yet when she tries asking you about it....all you do is stare back.

She swears she can hear static noises and whispers she can't decipher--all in all getting a...very creepy vibe from you.

Initially she decides to keep her distance, afraid you were secretly some virus or Abstraction underneath that sheet.

But that changes when you're walking by the rooms one night, and you pass by Pomni's door, hearing her quietly crying.

Although you weren't inclined to get close to anybody here, you were concerned. And since you weren't actually coded into the game, you didn't have to follow any of its rules--and that allowed you to enter her room without a key.

At first you scared the shit out of her, but after realizing it's you, she lets you sit beside her, eventually venting about how badly she missed her real home.

"Everyone keeps telling me "oh this place is so much better" or "get used to it"...but what if I don't wanna do that? I don't care if my old life was bad...I-I can't take anymore of this.." Her sobs grow louder. "I wanna wake up in my own bed knowing my real name!!"

"...I miss home, too," is all you say in response. Yet it's more than enough to calm her down.

For once, you're not trying to brush her off or force her to "cheer up" and accept her reality. You made her feel heard.

"Yeah..me, too....sh-should I thank you for agreeing..?" She sniffles, seeing your subtle nod, before you leave her be, not wanting to get too attached.

Ironically, she was able to sleep a little easier after talking to you.

Jax

From the get-go, he's gonna be real nosy and curious.

Since not even Caine himself expected your arrival and found out that you don't follow the "rules" like everyone else...Jax is gonna try his damnedest to understand you and see what makes you tick.

But he's gonna be disappointed quickly since you don't respond much to him (or anybody in general).

"So...ya like Halloween?"

"........"

"....thought so. Good talk, new kid."

You definitely act like a legit ghost--doing nothing but stare, move things around, and pop up unexpectedly.

Eventually, his curiosity leads to him visiting your room (which has no key), and he discovers many drawings on the walls.

Most depicting a dead person wearing a headset.

What he found most disturbing was a journal that contained his and the others' names..

From what he's gathering...you're suspecting one of them of murdering your real world-self.

But he doesn't get much time to ponder this as you show up, angry at him for intruding.

You make yourself look even bloodier and scarier, with both of your eyeballs hanging from their sockets and staring at him.

"Get out."

Those two simple words put the fear of god in him.

Jax runs out faster than a jackrabbit, colliding with Gangle in the process. Her comedy mask falls off again, but he catches it and looks at her.

"J-Jax..?" She realizes his fur is standing up on all ends, and he looks terrified....even more than he did after realizing the circus was his forever home.

But he just shoves the mask back into her hands and leaves without saying a word.

He never speaks of what he found in your room that day.

Kinger

He thought his eyes were weird...until you came along and periodically had to put your own eyeball back into its socket.

"It's good to know I'm not alone!" He nervously chuckles, only to be met with your eerie silence.

Sometime later, he suggests showing you his insect collection, and it does pique your interest.

You did love all things "creepy" and "crawly".

Yet you're adamant about going to his pillow fortress after he invites you.

It reminds you of the ones you used to build all the time, up until...

Fortunately, Kinger recognizes your reluctance and just brings one of his bug boxes to you so you can look at it.

He could infodump about the various critters for hours, with nothing but nods and quiet "mhms" from you, and he's happy.

In general, he doesn't mind your quiet personality.

Although you still sometimes jumpscare him unintentionally like Gangle often does.

Tbh he's a good father figure and recognizes that you're just a kid who got trapped in this game unfairly.

Even so, you try to keep your distance and looks at him suspiciously if he starts acting too nice.

He was quiet aloof, and you weren't sure how he would act on any given day.

Gangle

After accidentally spooking her (by simply existing in the same room as her), she breaks her comedy mask off.

But immediately she feels guilty for screaming and tries scrambling to fix it, hoping you weren't mad at her.

Yet all you do is stare, not looking angry or anything at all (it's hard for any of the performers to see your expression in general, aside from your hanging eye, but still).

Poor Gangle is just afraid you'd turn into a scarier version of yourself.

When she keeps cutting her ribbon fingers(?) on the ceramic pieces, you come over and clean it up for her, taking it away despite your own hands bleeding.

The implications that you were able to shed blood and nobody else were a little disturbing to her..but she's glad you're not offended by her screaming.

Although she wonders where you're going with her mask..

Later on, you knock on her door and present it fully fixed.

Except...it looks more Halloweenish with an evil smile painted on it, messily glued together.

'Oh god I hope this doesn't turn me evil or anything..' She thinks, putting on a smile as she takes it anyways.

Yet you remain where you are, staring and clearly waiting for her to try it on.

And so she does, and it turns her into a very chaotic Halloween lover, acting even more mischievous than Jax and allowing her to finally get her revenge for all his pranks.

In the end, you gain a decent friendship with her, subtly protecting her from Jax's bullying.

Ragatha

Seeing that you're so distant from the rest of the gang has her worried.

Some of them might consider your loose eyeball creepy, but she's not gonna judge you on that (besides, she's missing an eye altogether so she can't say much anyways).

Howeve,r she's the first to find out how strong your distrust of everyone is.

"[Y/n]? I don't think it's good to be isolating yourself like this. I know you hate being here and Caine's a weirdo..but...we're all in this together. You can trust us-"

"Don't." You warn, putting on a frightening display of anger that sends her tumbling to the ground, sending chills up her spine.

"Trust" became something you didn't take lightly, as the last time you put your trust in someone....you ended up dead, turning into a literal ghost in the machine (that was your gaming system).

Despite this, Ragatha doesn't run away.

Like Pomni, she understands that you're just a kid who's confused and lost.....and clearly had serious trust issues.

But she's determined to help you through that, even if you keep scaring everybody away.

She's got motherly instincts, and she hopes that in due time you'll learn to warm up to her.

Zooble

"A bedsheet worn as a costume? That's a classic."

She's seen weirder things during their time in the circus, so you don't faze her too much.

Only when you snap at Ragatha or somebody who was trying to be nice to you does she raise an eyebrow.

Honestly, they 100% understand that you just wanted to be alone sometimes, and she respects that.

It's suffocating trying to act all cheery and go along with every damn activity Caine tries to get everyone involved in (but lucky for you, he can't make you follow along).

Especially since she believes he made up that stupid "Halloween update" as lazy way to explain your sudden arrival.

The only time you do interact with Zooble is after she yanks Jax by his ears, and they hear this eerie-sounding giggle behind them.

When she turns around, you're just standing there motionless, staring at her.

Somehow, they just know you were smiling underneath that costume, which makes her smile, too.

"Maybe I should pull him out a hat next time, huh?" She jokes after letting him go, and you giggle once more as he hits the ground.

#clanask #anonymous #tadc x reader #the amazing digital circus x reader #tadc pomni #tadc ragatha #tadc kinger #tadc gangle #tadc jax #tadc zooble #ghost reader #child reader #tw body horror #platonic #headcanons #halloween

[raindropsyndrome]

Long caption warning 💀

Prev

PLEASE. Ignore my spelling errors I’m so tired.

*cracks knuckles* Alright, some people on Instagram asked for this and so now I will share. (Angst warning pssshhh)

My timeline for my F!Donnie (starting just before CJ was introduced):

- Over the years, Donnie would join in battles, mostly providing long range defense, all the while blasting his tunes on full blast

- But that changed when he got Krang’d right to his head, Mikey was able to remove the infection, but this caused Don’s eyesight to become quite poor (and for him to not trust himself in combat afterwards.)

- After that incident, Donnie became absolutely fascinated with Krang tech and biology, subconsciously wondering if he could replicate that raw “power” he’d felt when the Krang was infecting him, and if he could control it, understand it.

- He didn’t like that, but over time he felt it was necessary to beating the Krang. “Keep your friends close, and keep your enemies closer” type deal

- So Donnie becomes “the guy in the chair” (oh yeah he also rebuilt Shelldon. Finally. </3)

- Cj was born, Cassandra had fallen in battle only a few months later, leaving the turtles and April to fully take care of CJ

- While Leo, being the leader, took on most of the responsibility, Donnie got to spend more time with CJ as a result of staying at their base more

- Donnie LOVED being around CJ, he would teach CJ everything he knew, even if CJ didn’t quite understand him yet. He even let CJ hang around in his lab, (as long as he touched NOTHING.) Donnie even upgraded Cassandra’s hockey stick and mask then gave them to CJ

- only a few years later had Raph fallen as well

- Donnie felt as if it was partially his fault Raph couldn’t get out alive, and so he begrudgingly quit his role as “the guy in the chair,” dedicating all of his time to his inventions

- He became MUCH more reclusive, leaving everyone in the dark about what (and how) he was doing. To CJ, he was more of a “presence” rather than an uncle now

- He then revealed his new invention, the Raph mech (Don has the shittiest coping skills known to man)

- Another couple years pass, Don still using all of his time to conduct his “experiments”

- Around this time, Leo had lost his arm. Donnie reconfigured one of his Raph mech’s arms to fit Leo to use as a prosthetic, the Raph mech was later decommissioned

- One day, Donnie oddly insisted on tagging along on a mission with Leo and Mikey

- HOLY MOLY LONG STORY SHORT, they get caught by a Krang soldier on their mission. But instead of taking cover, Donnie charges straight for the Krang mech

- Mikey and Leo watch in astonishment as Donnie manages to swiftly climb up onto the Krang mech and mount himself on its back, using his battle shell’s limbs for support

- To their horror, Donnie rips off his gloves and reveals his robotic arms, and starts tearing into the back of the mech, digging into the inside of it

- He deploys the wires and his own Krang biomass from his robotic arms, and shoves it all into the back of the Krang mech

- For a few moments, he struggles. Then, with purple glowing markings, his expression suddenly changes and the opening where the Krang soldier was mounted closed up, crushing the Krang inside

-ok so longer story shorter- through all of the struggle, the Krang he’d trapped in his prosthetic arms had been creeping onto him and was soon to make contact with his skin. And the building they were all in starts to collapse, (and when I say “building” I mean a giant NY style skyscraper,) and in an effort to save Mikey and Leo from being crushed, Donnie holds up what rubble he can with the now possessed mech, getting himself crushed, unable to hold up all the weight forever.

(But not before an epic and heartfelt monologue and musical number.)

Good god I’m so EMBARRASSING

I wish. I could wright fanfiction.

Goodbye now 🏃💨

#art #my art #my artwork #sketch #sketches #sketch dump #rise of the tmnt au #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt fanart #rise of the tmnt #rottmnt fan art #rottmnt au #rottmnt

[brisquad-unit-4402]

Hello it’s me again! It’s been a while, I hope you’ve been doing okay. I recently have been reading through a lot of angst to comfort and I have an idea for a request!

May I request an Ike fic where reader is a liver in NIJISANJI and has a crush on Ike but knows they have no chance with him. Then one day reader accidentally spills their feelings to Ike and Ike comforts them after hearing about readers feelings?

I hope you’re not tired of me requesting Ike fics (ily him to much) and I hope you have a good day/night! <3

-🖋️

stars above your skin

oh 🖋 we're really in it now

how long have i had this request in my inbox? early march? and now exactly one day after blue light dropped, i give you a ~19.5k word ike fic. much love and effort has gone into this one, only seconded by the massive amounts of brainrot.

so yeah, i'm not tired of ike requests. i'm literally a quilldren that writes fanfic. this is the opposite of a problem

in fact this might be one of my favorite things i've written... the second half is such a good bedtime story for me...!

this is going to get NASTY to read on tumblr—as in my site is lagging so hard just typing these a/n notes. so i'm going to remind you all that not only is liking/reblogging recommended to keep track of this fic, but also that i have an ao3 account (same name as url but without dashsince it's much more accessible than tumblr for long fic. i recommend reading on tumblr if you can because of some formatting but to each their own!

here’s a funny story about this fic. i was working on it while a bunch of people sat behind me, you see, and one of my greatest irrational fears is that people sitting behind me will be able to see my laptop screen and laugh at what i’m writing…! and with these requests i usually title them the fandom name and my name, and a short phrase about the request, and this one was “workplace romance”, and i just got so afraid right then and there i changed it to the first thing i could think of, based off a clip i saw of pomu, selen, aia and doppio…!! and that’s why the wip doc is titled “nijisanji 4402 - pliskin”, and why i will always refer to this fic as "pliskin" much more than the actual title

by the way here’s a cover of iris that was pretty fitting for this fic. you’ll know when to play it. enjoy

tags: hurt/comfort, reader is a niji vtuber, gender neutral reader, off-collab, mutual pining, misunderstandings, fluff, angst with a happy ending, friends to lovers, cuddling, everyone in niji is your wingman, implied uki/ren if you squint but it’s mostly because uki will flirt with 80% of the men in this company

cameos: aia amare, alban knox, mika melatika, nina kosaka, ren zotto, uki violeta, vox akuma, fulgur ovid (mentioned)

⚠️ drinking/alcohol (unspecified if reader drinks alcohol)

⚠️ horror/gore mentions (non-detailed), out of context outlast spoilers i guess?

author's commentary here (spoilers) ↣

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

There are dozens of these videos on YouTube, and never have you come across the same one twice. You would know. You have a bad habit of clicking on them. 

After all, they’re labeled with your name on them, and right next to it, Ike Eveland. You are smart enough to recognize it’s not worth your time and just another compilation of the same moments and fans trying to make a mountain out of a molehill, but your heart says otherwise. To be fair, the compilations were a much more recent development than the one you hid under lock and key. 

When you first joined Nijisanji, some of your senpais sent you messages full of greetings and offers to help you get on your feet as a streamer. Ike was one of those senpais, and whenever you popped into voice calls just to hang out, he was easy to talk to, like an old friend. Naturally, a fast friendship formed, and when you debuted, he was one of the first people you collabed with- and the one with the best reception. Your new fans (‘Bookworms,’ they called themselves, after your name Reader) loved how well your humor bounced off each other, and when weeks passed and you announced another collab on your schedule with Ike, your Bookworms rejoiced. 

Even when you weren’t working, you would still talk to him. He told you about his homeland in the past and his novels, both released and unpublished. He was a storyteller even when he was talking about something as minute as making a sandwich, and whenever you brought up your past and interests, he was an excellent listener. You had your differences, but he always knew what questions to ask so he could understand you better, and you loved the opportunity to ramble. 

It had been nearly three months since you debuted, and four if you count the day you were officially hired and began to build yourself as a streamer. Whenever you look at the endlessly long text history between you and Ike, you have to wonder: is it normal to feel so connected to someone you’ve only known for three-maybe-four months? 

You’re not an idiot. You aren’t about to say Ike is the most important thing in the world to you, but he gets pretty damn close. That terrifies you. You shouldn’t be so attached to someone you barely know. 

But then again, you trust Ike. He’s opened up to you about things he would never say to others, and he keeps your secrets buried in the grave. You’ve lost count of how much advice he’s given you, but you’ve never forgotten a single one, and whenever you feel lost about something you know you can count on him to help you out. 

You grimace, sip out of your drinking glass, and press ‘play’ on the next compilation. 

A cute intro plays with the clipper’s name. Above it are the words Pen and Paper, surrounded by puffy pink hearts. 

That was the duo name between you and Ike, but "ship name" was more accurate among fanwork.

You weren’t exactly unaware about it. Weeks ago, you were surfing Twitter and the site’s algorithm granted you your introduction into Pen and Paper. This was shortly after your first collab with Ike, and after you established your shipping rules with your audience (“I’m fine with anything, as long as the other liver is okay with it!”, you proclaimed, totally oblivious to how soon that would blow up in your face). The fanartist posted a messy black-and-white sketch, but you could make out the pattern of Ike’s scarf wrapped around you and him at the same time, forcing your bodies into close proximity with averted eyes and dusty blushes. 

You appreciated the fanartist’s passion and skill, but the thought of you and Ike as an item sunk in your chest like you swallowed a rock. You swiped past. You went back to your scrolling, found some good thumbnails, and retweeted some cute solo fanart, but before the week ended, you made a private account with a fake name and staked out the tags for Pen and Paper to follow that fanartist.

Damn fanartist. You tried to deny it, and told yourself that you followed their art because you liked the style. But their account was full of ship art, and when Twitter gave you similar users that all worked under the hashtag, you had to face facts. If you wanted to look at it optimistically, at least you figured it out early on before anything had the chance to sour while you were still blissfully ignorant of yourself; even then, that doesn’t make it any harder than it already is.

Besides all the texts, the meetings, the schedules and events, and then including the streams and collabs and the art and the fandom… 

“Why?” You ask out loud in the silence of your room. “Why did I have to fall for my coworker?”

And with audiences of over hundreds of people watching you fall for him, nonetheless!

It’s irritating. You have a job that keeps you motivated to work hard. It’s given you a dedicated fanbase, rare opportunities, and coworkers you all recognize as your friends. Really, finding someone to care for because of it should be a blessing, but it’s such a headache. What if your fanbases get jealous, or even worse, outright hate it? Would you be able to keep up a relationship when you and Ike are dedicated to your careers and streams? Why are you even thinking like this? You scold yourself. There’s no way this would ever work out. It’s all fantasy and smoke and mirrors, because fandoms love love. Shipping is never a reflection of the streamers, just the characters you play. You’re delusional if you think your stupid crush could actually go anywhere.

But fandoms love love. The only comfort you have is being able to pretend something could happen. The ship art is a lie, and so are the fanfics, and the clippers that tag their videos as Pen and Paper are just here for a possibility that never could happen.

The compilation is full of little hints and teases, and if you were being honest with yourself, most of it was more like two friends getting along than actual flirting. But you didn’t trust yourself to see your clumsiness for what it is when Ike’s little laughs are like music to your ears. 

Damage control, you tell yourself. It’s like studying how you play your favorite games. You can pinpoint where you stumble and leave yourself open for attack in Apex, Smash, even Crab Game, and then amend those mistakes the next time you pick up the game. Real life should be no different. Just stop acting so dorky all the time by finding moments of dork in your VODs and avoid them next time you talk to Ike.

This clip was from your second collab with Ike. Captions floated along the bottom of the screen. Ike's captions were in his signature blue.

IKE: You know, there’s a lot of content about us two as a duo.

READER: They call us Pen and Paper, right?

IKE: Yeah, my art tag is flooded with art of the both of us. 

READER: Oh my God, look at the chat. Mine’s full of people saying they love us together. 

IKE: Aww, thanks, Quilldren! I’m happy I can play with Reader too. 

READER: Thank you, Bookworms; thank you, Quilldren. Hey, there’s a lot more overlap than I expected.

IKE: They’re like Bookdren.

READER: Or Quillworms.

IKE: Quillworms, that sounds way better. They’re like our children.

READER: www

IKE: www

Never fucking mind about acting so dorky all the time. You kick yourself for bringing up Pen and Paper, and your giggly laugh. You hate it. A neon sign above your head that says “SIMP” would be less obvious than that stupid schoolkid laugh.

But Ike’s laughter is music, back in the moment and now as you revisit it, and his model’s eyes squint with a wide smile.

He really is an amazing man. If you didn’t know him as well as you do, you’d think he’s perfect. But you’ve seen him in moments of vulnerability, the parts of himself that never shows through on stream and even rarer among his friends. Through it all he manages to keep going, and you admire him so much for sticking to his guns even when he’s expressed all his doubts about himself. The fact that he trusts you enough to let his guard down only adds to how honored you are to know him, and at the same time, the fact that there’s so much trust between you two just makes you feel worse for having a crush on him. You hate keeping secrets like this when you let Ike read you like an open book for everything else, and even just wishing you were something more to him feels like a betrayal of all that trust. You wish you could just be satisfied to know him.

The compilation continues. The next clip is a totsu Fall Guys collab hosted by Fulgur Ovid that you and Ike joined in on. Fuuchan got eliminated early in the match, and spectated on you while the other livers ran around Roll On with players tugging them this way and that. 

You moved around the rotating levels at the perfect sweet spot between two rings, and balanced at the top of the roll as the slime level slowly rose.

A longer wall approached, so you shuffled from one level to another, but another player grabbed your bean avatar and dragged you along to the wall even as you yelled out in panic on Discord. You smashed your keys to struggle, but they had an advantage, and it was clear the wall would push you down to the slime for an impending elimination.

That is, until a familiar Miku bean grabbed the other side of your avatar, and pulled the other way towards the ring that would save your life. Resigned, your attacker backed off and barely dodged out of the way while Ike’s Miku bean brought you back to safety.

The other two livers in the game were too noisy to notice you. Fuuchan was commentating every move you made, and when Ike saved you, he said, “Ike coming in clutch, let’s fucking go.”

Your recorded self didn’t hear him at all, though. You swooned, “Ike, my hero!”

Meanwhile in the present, you wanted to puke. You meant for that to sound like an over-the-top joke, but you crush is getting so serious that it sounds less like a bit and more like how you gush about him in private. 

At least Fuuchan’s audio was louder than everyone else, since he was the host, and the other two livers were preoccupied with their own game to notice your lovey-dovey tone and how Ike laughed music at you. It was bad enough clippers transcribed your words in captions, but you weren’t sure how you would handle it if those three picked up on you and your dumb crush. The less that know about your workplace romance, the better.

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

“Reader,” Aia coos. Even with audio only, you could tell her eyes were sparkling. “You didn’t tell me you had a workplace romance!”

Well, so much for that plan. You froze over. “Who told you that?”

Mika answers way too quickly. “It’s Alban’s fault.”

“Fuck off, Mika, you brought it up first!”

“You said it though!”

Man, you were already starting to regret joining VC today. You finished your offline work a lot faster than expected, so when you realized that three of your close friends in the company were all online in VC together while Alban privately streamed a rhythm game, you figured you would join the call while you prepared dinner. 

But if that was your greeting, you needed to mentally prepare for the wild interrogation you were about to experience. At least Aia, despite her love for drama, knew how to navigate these sorts of things delicately. And you don’t mean to call Mika and Alban bad friends—they were the exact opposite, in fact—but they were much nosier than Aia ever came across.

“Okay, but Reader just asked who leaked it, and didn’t deny it,” Aia says. “So that means it must be true!”

Scratch that. Aia is the worst out of all of them.

“I hate you guys. No hello or anything, just gossip about my love life,” you lament.

She gasps, and if her eyes were sparkling before, then roses bloomed around her as she spoke. “It’s love?”

Mika shrieks like a banshee. “Oh hell no, you’re in love and you didn’t tell us?!”

“It’s not love. It’s nothing!”

“Nah-uh, Reader, no running away from it, we know,” Alban says. “Better to just get it all out in the open than pretend like nothing’s up.”

“You’re just saying that because you want to snoop.”

“I’m being serious. Keeping stuff bottled up deteriorates you, especially when love’s involved.” He missed a note. “Shit. And yeah, okay, I want some gossip, but I have a point and you know it.”

“Fuck you.”

“Fuck you, I blew a full combo just to say that!”

“Can I add? In case you forgot, Reader, we’re all in the same company,” Mika says. “Sure, I might be in a different branch, but who knows? Maybe we can help.”

“And fuck you too.” You sigh in defeat. As vitriolic as your shared humor was, these three were still some of your best friends, and you know they don’t mean any harm. “Ugh, I hate this. This is confidential information. Like, CIA levels of confidential. If I tell you guys, you can’t tell a single soul about it. Understand?”

The three all chime in agreement. And unfortunately, you trust them. You take advantage of your coworkers swearing themselves to secrecy to hype yourself up and just rip off the band-aid. “It’s Ike.”

“We know.”

“What the hell do you mean, you know?!”

“It’s obvious,” Aia says. Your heart hammers in your chest. Then she sputters for a moment, like she realized she might’ve hit a soft spot. “Well, you have to focus on it to see it, but once you see it, it’s hard to ignore. You two go well together.”

Alban pitches in. “Agreed. I’m not even gonna be subtle about it, you and Ike have great chemistry. I’m happy for you two.”

“Okay, I guess.” Your eyes drift away from your prepared ingredients to the corner of your kitchen. “But I don’t know. Are you sure? Because I feel like I always act like an idiot whenever I’m around him. And I doubt he’d ever feel the same way.”

“Wait.” Aia pauses. “You’re… not dating?”

“No. Just a crush. Not love, not dating, nothing. And it’s never going to be anything more than that because it’s just a big stupid crush on my coworker, who doesn’t even live close enough to visit, and this is all a recipe for disaster.”

She doesn’t say anything about that. Actually, none of them do. Even Alban pressed pause on his game, and the Discord stream went motionless as your words sunk in. 

Mika is the one to break the silence. “You’re shitting me.”

“That’s the truth. Happy?”

“No, like, you’re shitting me, there’s no way.”

“Mikaaa.” Alban drags out her name as he scolds her. 

“Hey, I’m just saying, that’s crazy, especially since—“

“Don’t tell Reader that!”

“Tell me what?” 

“We thought you were already a thing. You know, dating, in a relationship, whatever,” Mika clarifies. It hits you like a punch to the gut. “Or at least that you had something going on, and kept it secret so it wouldn’t be awkward for everyone else to work with you two. Which, by the way, we’re all chill with, so if, hypothetically, you decided to hypothetically go for it, we would hypothetically cheer you on and set off hypothetical fireworks. I’d rent a food truck.”

Alban resumes his game. “Yeah, what she said. Go get that hypothetical novelist bussy.”

“Don’t hypothetically talk about my brother like that.”

“You’re sure this is okay?” You ask. “Mika, I know you and Ike are close. This isn’t going to make anything weird, is it?”

“You’re fine, Reader. If I had problems, I would’ve cornered you and threatened you over text ages ago when I figured it out.”

“That’s another thing. How did you guys know?”

Aia pipes up first. “I know I said it was obvious, but I think that’s just because we know each other since we’re good friends. You two just go together, you know? It’s hard to explain, but whenever Reader and Ike-senpai are in the same room you think, ‘those two would be cute,’ and then you realize they are cute, right there in the moment. And you talk a lot faster on stream whenever you’re both on the same page. Almost as fast as me.”

 “Plus, it’s really common to see both of you on VC at the same time, and you’re always happy whenever he shows up,” Mika affirms. “Alban says whenever one of you enters the call the other is soon to follow.” 

“It’s true. You talk fast whenever you talk to him on VC too, not just stream. And your laugh kind of changes?”

“Dammit, I knew my laugh was my tell. This sucks. This seriously sucks.”

“It might not be all that bad,” Mika says. “Who knows, maybe things might end up better than you expect. You should tell him.”

“No way,” you fire back. “There no way he’d actually reciprocate. And I know you guys are fine with me asking, but Ike himself is just going to reject me, and it’s going to be awkward, and literally everyone in the company who has ever talked to us will be able to tell something’s up.”

“They won’t be weird,” Aia insists. “We won’t, either, and Ike-senpai is a good guy. Even if it doesn’t work out, he wouldn’t leave you out to dry like that.”

“You don’t know. None of you have ever been in this situation.”

“That’s true, but there’s always a chance.”

“If you ask me, it sounds more like you’re afraid of what you think would happen instead of what rationally would,” Alban says. He’s still laser-focused on his game. “I dunno. If you’re really set on getting over it, then go ahead and ignore it, but that’s just going to eat at you for who knows how long before your crush starts to fade.”

“Well, I didn’t ask.”

“Fine. Forget I said anything.”

You regret the acidic tone in your voice the second you said it, but Alban was off in his own world of music. He’d tell you if he had a problem with how you spoke to him, but you still feel gross about your knee-jerk reaction. 

You’re just… defensive. Yep, that’s the word. Whenever you’re this interested in someone, you put your walls up and protect yourself from letting anyone worm through and hit a weak point. 

Aia hums like an analyst. “Just keep it in mind, Reader. Not everything is out to get you.”

You know your friends just wanted the best for you, but things just aren’t as simple as they’d like to imagine it. It’s none of their business, anyways. It was pure coincidence that they figured out your thoughts on Ike, and that means none of them have any real authority to advise you on your love life.

“I think we’re done talking about this,” you assert.

“Well, you heard ‘em. Pack it up, show’s over.” Mika changed the subject. “Hey, did you guys know if you try to break open a freshly boiled egg, it explodes?”

Alban slams his hands on his keyboard so loudly that you hear the switches over his noise suppression. The stream goes from a string of Awesome! notes to nothing but misses as he abandons the game. “YES. Yes, actually, I DO know.”

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

“MEAT! WANTS MEAT! WANTS MEAT! MEAT!”

“AAAAAAAAHHHH!”

The stream is to the birds. Fuck that noise. Godspeed to the Bookworms, they’ll need it, but not nearly as much as you. 

When you were settling on a schedule, the last undecided spot for the week was Friday’s stream. That simply wouldn’t do. Friday nights kick off the weekend, and the break from school and work is prime time for a wide audience, so pretty much everyone in Nijisanji reserves their juiciest streams for the weekend. You’re no exception.

…Except for the fact that you didn’t have a clue about what to do for Friday’s stream. One Twitter poll and conveniently timed Steam sale later, you published your schedule with a game your fans voted on: Outlast.

You walked in knowing it would be a horror game, and you figured it would be fine. After all, you’ve played games from Chilla’s Art before, and a few quirky indie psychological releases here and there. You wouldn’t call yourself a stone-faced horror lover that can keep a straight face at anything, but aside from a few creepy moments in those game, you’ve kept your cool relatively well. 

Outlast threw all that out the window. You realized almost immediately that you had no idea how to handle the primal fear of the chase. 

Footsteps pound against a metal floor. You plead for help in the emptiness of your home as you smash the controls, as if that would make your character move the cabinet over the door any faster. Screams resonate in tune between you and the chained man in the room with you, and all the while, the howling of your pursuer grows louder and louder as he gets closer.

You finally uncover the door and dash through. Tremors run though all your thoughts while your heart beats overtime. 

You still haven’t gotten used to all the jumpscares, even though you’re at the edge of your seat and ready to start running yourself. A fork in the road approaches, and when you start off one direction, you’re greeted by a bloodied man in the distance. “AAAHH!”

Faster than light, you slam the key to the other hall and book it. You spot a new storage container to shove in front of the door just in time for text to appear on the screen: Look for pushable objects to block doors.

“No shit, why wouldn’t you tell me that before, oh my God, aaaaah!” The screams—from both the voice actors and your own cries—grate against your eardrums while chase music thunders in-between the gasps for air. 

As you grab the container and start to push, you mash the pause button. When the menu appears, you lean back in your chair and run your hands over your face. Your model pouts cutely while the real you whimpers. The mic barely picks it up.

You take a breath before groaning in fear and pain. “Guys. I don’t think I can do this…” Another groan as you trail off. “This game is so much. Give me a second.”

As you raise yourself back from your chair, it’s with a slump forward. Your chat is full of headpat emotes and hearts in your color, along with some quick words of courage. A few are recommending you take a break. “Thanks, Bookworms. I’m so afraid, but I’m committed and I don’t want to just leave it here.”

Your eyes flutter closed as you take a sip of water to clear your head. The cold drink startles you out of the dingy asylum atmosphere, but the screaming still lingers between your ears. “You know what? Who else is online right now? Maybe I need someone in VC to hold me to this.”

The emojis in chat slowly patter out as your viewers go back to text. Looks like most of your Bookworms like the idea of calling someone else while you stream the game. Some of their messages catch your eye. 

gatamiizuus: you can call ike :ReaderHeadpat: 

messXed-up!: ike!!

lunasmortas: what about ike?

A few more chats mention Ike, and while usually you’d be irritated they mentioned another liver out of the blue, your shoulders still relax at the sight of his name. “Wait, Ike? Is Ike here?”

You scroll back in the chat history, and search for any mod messages. Sure enough, barely a minute ago while you were still being chased:

Ike Eveland 【NIJISANJI EN】 ✓ : GANBARE!

You cling onto that message like a lifeline. Ike is familiar. Ike is comforting. And most importantly, Ike would never call you a pussy.

Chat floods over with his name while you check the official Nijisanji Discord server. Almost everyone in Nijisanji sets their status to offline by default, and Ike is one of them, but you still scan through the member list anyways, praying a little green indicator will light up by his icon.

His status doesn’t change, but before you can even click on his profile, your Direct Messages tab gains a notification. He just messaged you.

Ike Eveland: Watching your stream right now

Ike Eveland: Are you okay?

You exhale. Ike is the most dependable guy you know, even when it’s pure coincidence he was watching your stream while you freaked out. 

With your heart still in your throat, you respond.

Me: uuuuuuugh i guess

Me: the game is really scary

Me: i don’t want to cancel the stream but i don’t think i can play it by myself 😭

Ike Eveland: 🫂    | 🫂 1 |

Ike Eveland: Would you feel better if I called you?

Me: i was just about to ask    | 👌 1 |

Me: you don’t have to if you don’t want to tho!! i don’t want to be a nuisance lol

Ike Eveland: Don’t worry I offered to!

Ike Eveland started a voice call.

“Ikeee!” The second the call starts, all your restraint goes forgotten. “Ike, I was so scared!”

You babble on about everything you’ve endured up to this point: the gore, the grime, and the patients in the asylum that hunt you like animals. 

 “I’m here, it’s alright now,” he assures you. “I’m here, okay? Take your time, you’re safe.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m relieved. But it was so scary.” You sink and bury yourself in the collar of your shirt. “You’ve streamed this before, and kept a cool head the entire time, right? How do you do it?”

“Well, it wasn’t my first time playing, for starters. Everyone gets freaked out at first. It’s a horror game, Reader, it’s okay to react to it. I remember the first time I played it, it scared me so bad I had to quit after half an hour.” He giggles a bit at himself. The sound is comforting. “That was a few years ago. I think I had nightmares about it, until I realized I needed to know the rest of the story. ”

Your voice is small. “That was really brave of you.”

“I avoided it for days. I doubt that’s brave.”

“It’s braver than calling someone just to get the guts to play the game.”

“Hey, don’t put my friend Reader down just to bring me up.” He keeps his tone light to let you know you’re allowed to smile. “Being able to face your fears is plenty on its own, and you shouldn’t be devaluing that. How long have you been at it?”

“A little over two hours?” You glance at the stream monitor, and ignore the chat as much as you can. You still register the hearts in your color and his signature blue. “I don’t know. I did a lot of pausing, too, so it’s probably less than that…”

“But you were still able to stream for that long. Remember, I could only play for thirty minutes during my first time! You’re stronger than you think you are.”

You avert your eyes from your stream setup. You feel painfully seen, but the chat is nothing to you. “Doesn’t feel like it.”

“Then I’ll be here to remind you. Is that okay?”

“I’d like that.” You return to the screen, and in the darkness of the blurred labyrinth, you see your reflection stare back. Your hair is disheveled from how you kept thrashing around in reaction to the game and your shoulders are high with tension, but only now did you realize how the corners of your lips rose after the call started. Ike really got to you. “Thank you, Ike, you’re so considerate. I appreciate you a lot. You’re a really good guy.”

He chuckles slowly, soft like a blanket. Your shoulders ease. Ike’s words are just as soft, and if you didn’t know any better, you’d think he’s nervous too. “Haha, um. Yeah. Thank you?” He doesn’t take compliments well, but they’re true, and you hope he knows it as well as you do. He clears his throat. “Ahem. Um, how are you feeling?”

“Not great, but better. I want to try again.”

“You’ve got this, Reader, you can do it.” Ike is still quiet, but enthusiastic. “You can do it!”

You go shaky. “Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay.”

But you still press Return To Game.

And when you scream barely five seconds later, Ike is still calm, and you hone in on his voice as you persevere.

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

Just as you go to bed, you realize that you basically just made a fool of yourself in front of your crush by getting scared at a game he’s already conquered. 

You slam a pillow over your face and groan.

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

Ike lands an all-out attack just in time to check the chat and the swarm of viewers that just joined. “Oh, Reader! Thank you for the raid, it’s good to see you! Welcome, everybody.”

Reader 【NIJISANJI EN】 ✓ : take care of my bookworms for me? i’m getting milk

“Of course. They’re our Quillworms, after all.” You go fuzzy. He remembered the fan name! “Have a good break, Reader! Rest well.”

Reader 【NIJISANJI EN】 ✓ : 👍

It was the end of the week, and the stream you just finished was the last on your schedule. You announced a few days ago that you would take a break for a little more than two weeks so you could catch up on offline work as well as rest, and the Bookworms sent you off with a lot of love. It’ll be hard for some of your diehard fans, but you’re sure they’ll manage. You have a feeling it’ll be easier than they expect. 

“Speaking of breaks, I haven’t finished my schedule yet. I think I’ll wait a day or two to post it.” The stream cracks in red and black as Ike’s party in Persona 5 Royal clobbers the enemy Shadows. Monsters bleed out behind the protagonist’s cocky smirk. “I’ll be offline for the next two days, so I’ll have some time to think about it.”

Ike mashes through the battle results, and sets back off into exploring the palace. His stream fades into background noise as you get back to the task at hand. 

You sent a few messages to some of your other coworkers regarding your break. Next was finishing some paperwork for management, and reaching out to others that needed access to the files. Sure, your time off was for offline work, but the work you had to get done would only take an afternoon at most. You wanted to meet even the far-off deadlines as soon as possible so you could be properly free for the rest of your vacation.

By the time you finished your paperwork, your coworkers were able to respond to you. A group chat full of other livers had a new response every minute about the next two weeks, and Aia sent you a QR code that would let you save some time and money on your flight. 

Ike ended yet another super-long P5R stream just a few minutes after you grabbed all your luggage, got to the airport, and made it to your terminal. You had some time to kill, but you were sick of the headphones over your ears.

Not to mention, you were waiting for the fans to catch up on the real reason why you were on break.

Curiously, you log into your private Twitter—you don’t plan to interact with anything but you’re always paranoid about your online presence—and start searching for the code words fans think Vtubers have no idea about. Symbols replace letters and names morph into sounds while emojis speak volumes.  

The Stargazers don’t mention it at all. That’s to be expected, after all. Their oshi goes on break often, so nothing seems too out of the ordinary. Besides, you wouldn’t put it past them to have even more intricate subtweets than what you’re looking for.

Only a few of Nina’s Honeybunnies put the pieces together at first, but then you check Quilldren subtweets. As it turns out, when Ike mentioned he’d be taking a few days off, a few of his fans noticed how Nina was going to be offline at the same time, and a smaller fraction of those compared how Mika had yet to release a schedule. 

Underneath your face mask, you smile. With the career being dependent on both anonymity and your voice, you wore a nondescript black mask through the entire airport in case someone recognized you, just as well as to hide the tiny giggle that always bubbles up whenever you watch your fans scramble around theorizing. They don’t have all the pieces, after all. None of the Aiadmirers nor the Renvaders even considered it.

They’ll figure it out in time nonetheless. Uki and Nina are close to landing, and Aia was the first to disembark her plane. The rest of your friends are set to arrive after you, and besides, Vox should be ending his last stream of the week right now. You’re sure the Kindred will start plotting in the next hour, provided their oshi didn’t give them too big of a hint about his plans for the next week as he’s known to do.

You board your plane and settle into your seat, ready to nap the flight away. You’ll need the rest, after all. It’s about time you join an off-collab.

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

Nina doesn’t even get the chance to look away from her phone before she gets a rush of replies on her first voice tweet.

She doesn’t bother to read them anyways. She’s too busy howling out the lyrics to “Wannabe.”

It’ll be hard to discern all the voices. Ike’s high range is always easy to pick out, but Vox blends in as a bass, and you can always hear Mika’s grin through her singing. Ren and Aia are the furthest from the phone, and as loud as they sing, they’re still drowned out along with you, Uki, and Nina herself.

Mika chooses the wrong time to look around the karaoke booth. While Aia sings passionately about what she wants (what she really, really wants), her body language crumples and rises like an electrocuted high school theater kid. The ghost has a hiccuping, sweeping laugh that overpowers half of the singers, and then Aia snorts at herself when Mika covers her mouth, which gets Vox to snort even louder, and before you know it, it’s just Uki and Nina doing their damndest not to break. Even then, Nina’s voice wavers along to the Spice Girls as she resists a laugh, and Uki’s eyes are squeezed shut smiling.

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

The bar stool slides out from the counter so quietly that you wonder if the Airbnb owner knew just how handy it would be for a house full of streamers on vacation. You lean forward while Mika tells a story about how she, Aia, Ren and you went out for a coffee run, and crossed paths with some teenagers with matching Iluna keychains on their backpacks. 

Speaking of Iluna, their represents sat together on the couch. Aia set her plate and fork on the coffee table, not a single pool of sauce left over from the pasta dinner Vox and Uki prepared together. Somehow Ren made enough room in his luggage to bring along a teal ukulele, and idly strums along. Uki sits between Ren and the armrest, swirling the last of his pasta between his fork.

Across from them, Vox and Nina took ownership of two plush chairs that could only fit one person each. Each chair was next to a corner table, and they stacked their plates on top of one another to make room for a jug of orange juice and two cocktail glasses. Ike took a bottle of rum and poured it into his soda, then slid it back to the corner table before pulling up the bar stool next to you. 

“It was like, one of them had a clear phone case and held it out to show the others a video,” Mika says. She perched on top of the counter itself, next to her travel microphone and the second-nastiest kitchen stream setup you’ve ever seen. She was no Scarle, but so many wires stretched across the island and along the way that it was just easier for her to climb onto the polished granite to keep an eye on the chat. “Smack-dab in the center was a PNG of Vox. And then a bunch of tinier Voxes around it. And here’s how you know it’s bad, you could see the color of the phone itself through the case because it’s clear, right? It was red. Red! That’s commitment!”

“I’m telling you, Mika, there’s no way they got a red phone just because of Vox,” Aia says. “That’s got to be a coincidence.”

Vox hums into his glass. “No, they absolutely did. You mean to tell me your fans don’t spoil you rotten and buy new phones just because they’re your color?”

“My color is white, Vox, like every phone ever is my color!”

“Still, I’ve never seen Aia go so quiet so fast.” Ren’s ukulele twangs as he grins. His fangs were just as prominent in real life. “It was awesome.”

“It was scary, but funny,” you say. “We saw the Vox case and the Iluna keychains, and all of us just went silent. And we all had masks, too, so it was like, one moment you could hear Ren’s fuckboy laugh, and the second we saw the case, we all put up our masks and went quieter than the grave.”

Ren palms the neck of the ukulele and mutes the chord in mock offense. “Hey! I’m not a fuckboy!”

“Didn’t say you were, but if you want to out yourself like that, be my guest. They’d chop off your horns and sell them like Kyo.”

“One of them had an Aster keychain.” Ren bitterly resumes playing. Uki sets his plate on the table and drapes himself over the alien’s shoulder as he opened up his phone to check the off-collab’s live tag. The stream was supposed to be a live Q&A, but was so easy to talk to everyone that the questions often turned into conversation before someone remembered the stream. “If Aia or I said anything, we’d be fucked.”

“Imagine how fucked we would’ve been if Vox woke up in time to go with us,” you say.

Ike snickers. “Is it bad that I would’ve paid money to see that?”

The two Luxiem members get into a playful argument over who would win in a fight: all the effort Nijisanji and its employees put into protecting their privacy, or one silly phone case. Ren’s riffing turns into a simple rendition of “Iris” and Nina hums along from across the living room. The ukulele is slow and unique enough to not be mistaken for the original, but you wonder if those two would be able to avoid copyright entirely.

Nonetheless, the vibe is comfortable. You’re miles away from home, but in a room with some of your closest friends in the world, it’s like you never left. Truthfully, it’s more like you’ve finally found your place. The music just feels right, like it was written for this moment, and Aia leans back into the couch while Nina sways in her seat to the jaunty little ukulele. Ren looks as cheery as his instrument sounds, especially with a peaceful Uki nuzzled up to him. 

While Ike and Vox go at it, Mika props her chin up with both hands and watches them like a reality TV show. There’s a glint in Vox’s eyes as Ike drums up a snide response, the only sane man to the demon’s goofiness. He brings his rum and coke to his lips like punctuation, a silent so, what? hidden in the boozy soda. 

Vox knows how to run his mouth, and he launches into one of his patented anecdotes. While all eyes are on the demon and the chat hones in on his voice, you focus on how Ike tilts his head up to drink. His neck stretches out from the collar of his black band tee, and with each sip, his Adam’s apple bobs. 

You’ve always thought he was good-looking on stream, but he’s gorgeous in person, all long lines and graceful features, and cameras can’t capture the tiny little freckles drizzled down the back of his neck. You didn’t even know he had freckles. It was only after you saw him for the first time that you noticed pale, reddish dots all over his nose and cheeks, fading out by his temples and the arch of his lips. Spending the day walking around in the sun from place to place revealed more whenever the wind flicked his jacket collar out right. They scatter at his nape, right below the blue tips of his hair, and meet one another further down his back, or so you’d presume. Without the jacket, you can catch marks spread out along his arms with distance between one another, and his shirt sleeve starts right where the freckles cluster together. You can only imagine how far down they go.

You avert your eyes. You can’t think about what’s under the shirt when you’re sitting right next to him, and certainly not while on stream, even if chat can’t see you check him out!

Unfortunately, the side opposite of Ike is the one with Ren and Uki. Those two are idyllic. Without a care in the world, it seems. You envy how easily Uki can act on what he wants, even if you know he doesn’t see Ren like how you see Ike. Ren doesn’t mind it at all, either. He literally lives by the rhythm of his own ukulele. 

Ike lowers his drink with his eyes closed, as if it would make the refreshing feeling last longer. His eyelashes are the same ashen color as his hair. Gold gleams between his ears and on the chain of his glasses.

Possessed by the music, and distracted by the rambling, you become one with the background and lean along Ike’s arm.

It’s an indulgent dip into the waters, but shallow compared to all you feel for him. Ever since you met Ike in person it’s been easier to control yourself around him, and if anything, you’re reminded that this is the man you’ve gotten the closest to in both career and friendship. The only barrier between your cheek and his body is his shirt sleeve, but your arm rests against his forearm, right where the freckles taper off. There’s no resistance at all as you make yourself comfortable in the crook of his arm. 

But you hold yourself back. Even though the off-collab made you feel gutsier than before, you think that you’d pass out if you tried anything else. Besides, you feel so at peace against his arm, but too afraid to look up and see his reaction. 

The blend of peace and fear churns in your heart as it dawns on you: you were wrong to call this a crush. It runs far deeper than you could’ve imagined.

Vox says something with finality. His voice snaps you out of your thoughts, but the words go unregistered. As he spoke, his eyes drifted around with his body language, but he snaps to look at Ike expectantly. You swear his smirk gets a little more mischievous as he does. 

The air stills, even though you know eyes aren’t on you, just the man you lean on. It stays frozen as Ike waits to respond. You still don’t have the heart to look up at him and break your selfish, unrequited fantasy.

You just want to stay here, unresisted.

Ike deadpans. “Anyways.”

Just like that, the moment is over, and Mika laughing at Vox striking out clears the air around you. But Vox’s eyes fall to you for just a split second as he moves in his seat. Frost settles down your back at the thought that he knows, but there’s a solid chance he hasn’t connected the dots. You pray he hasn’t.

Then you see Fox Mom herself right behind him, and she shoots you a shit-eating grin with a hand over her heart and a glass in the other. 

No doubt about it. You’re screwed. 

The frost turns to glaciers and burns into hot shame all at once. You love Nina, you really do, and you’d always consider her a good friend before coworker. However, she’s known for fishing around for any crumb of fanservice, and she gets straight to the point whenever she eggs it on, not to mention how she loves to tease her kids on just about anything. You are never going to hear the end of this if she can help it.

You really don’t know what you expected. It feels like everyone’s staring at you, even the chat. You can’t help but feel bitter. How come Uki can flirt with as many guys as he wants, you wonder, but I can’t even touch Ike without getting eyed up? 

You know the answer, but it doesn’t do anything to help the bitterness and the embarrassment, and how much you want to hide. On instinct, you take advantage of the warmth and nestle yourself deeper into Ike to hide your face, just in time as he curls his head above yours.

Nina makes a sound kind of like a fork stuck in the garbage disposal for the briefest of moments before smashing her lips together and bringing her glass to her mouth like a mute button. As if you didn’t feel seen enough. 

“Find any other questions, Uki-senpai?” Aia’s nose is buried in her phone, and God, you could kiss her for changing the subject. As much as she poked fun about you about Ike, she was still a total angel and a ride-or-die all at once. 

“Oh, I have questions,” Uki says. Luckily, he’s graceful enough to leave it at that. “Twitter wants to know first impressions for everyone that hasn’t off-collabed before.”

Ren speaks. “I think the only person I’ve done an off-collab with before is Nina, so is it cool if I go first?”

Aia gestures for him to go on. She’s still stuck on her phone as he continues.

Your phone vibrates in your pocket, but you ignore it. Then again and again and again, and when you finally check it, you understand why. When Aia, Mika and Alban first heard you spill your feelings for Ike, they made a group chat dedicated to wingmanning—or at least, that’s what they pitched it as. They tease you more than anything else, and as irritating as it gets… you have to admit, it’s nice to confide in them, and nice to know they wouldn’t hold it against you.

Anyways, Alban’s going apeshit. 

Group Chat: 💙 PENANDPAPER REAL 2K4EVER 💕 (4 Members)

Aia Amare: image.png    | 📌 2 |

Alban Knox: AKDHSLSJDKSHSA

Alban Knox: AASDFSDF

Alban Knox: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Alban Knox: AAAAAAAAAA

Alban Knox: HAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAA AAAAAAA KYAAAAAAAA

Alban Knox: 💕💕💕💙💕💙💕💙💙💙💕💙💕💕💙

Alban Knox: 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

Alban Knox: HOW ARE YOU GUYSS NOT LOSING YUOR MINDSA BOUT THIS

Aia Amare: I AM

Me: omfg did you seriously get a picture of us 

Alban Knox: WHAT ARE YOU DOINGGGGGGG DONT CHDCK THIS GC    | 👆 1 |

Me: wtf did you expect you’re spamming 

Alban Knox: YOU AR ELITERALLY CUDDLNG GO FOCUS ON THAY JOT US

Me: we are not cuddling

Alban Knox: YOU ARE

Aia Amare: YOU ARE

Mika Melatika pinned a message.     | 🖕 1 |

Me: mika wth you too? 😭 

Mika Melatika: image.png

Me: did you srsly take a selfie with us in the background

Mika Melatika: YES this needs to be immortalized

Me: you people suck    | 🥰 3 |

Alban Knox: GET THAT NOVELIST BUSSY!!!!

Aia Amare: As if you aren’t about to save that picture yourself~

Alban Knox: NOVELUSSY!!!!!!!!!

Fuck, she got you there. You cast a pointed look at the angelic maiden herself, or at least as pointed as you can be with a man you’re scared to love wrapped around you. She looks as satisfied as a cat pushing a glass off a counter. 

You set your phone on ‘do not disturb’ and placed it behind you on the counter with a huff.

“Reader, honey, how about you?” Nina leans forward, half-lidded and as sultry as ever. She swirled her drink around in its glass. “It’s your first off-collab ever, right? I’d love to hear what you have to say.”

“Oh, well, um.” Your brain struggles to catch up. “First impressions, right…”

Aia slips you a thumbs up. You’re going to rip her a new one after this. Her, and Mika, and definitely Nina; this is the most subtle Nina’s ever been but you can tell she’s fishing for an answer here. You can take your friends figuring it out, embarrassing as it is, but you are not about to expose yourself to thousands of live viewers. 

“It’s kind of crazy actually meeting up with everyone,” you start. “I’ve known them for so long, but all online, and being able to match the voice to the face in real life, I don’t think I can actually describe it. It’s kind of surreal, but it feels so nice to just talk to them in person. Aia, Nina and Uki were the first people I met up with, and man, those three are a sight. I know everyone says it, but Uki is absolutely the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen. Nina and Aia are really pretty, too. Hey, Aiadmirers, did you know when your oshi laughs, she looks just as cute as she sounds?”

Aia yells. “Reader, shut up!”

“Then stop being so cute all the time, you dork!” 

“I’m not a dork! I’m cool!”

You resume, satisfied with your revenge. “Mika and Vox are both really chill. They’re kind of quiet, so if you’re just walking by, you’d think they’re two normal people just going about their days. But whenever we talk it’s always something insane. Vox sounds like a dignified gentleman and Mika is kind of like that cool girl that you want to be friends with, but if you actually pay attention, Mika’s showing Vox a picture of her insides during surgery while he’s reciting something about the Bite of ‘87. And Ren is probably one of the most straightforward people you’ll ever see. He’s so optimistic, and really expressive, too, even though most of the expressions are all different types of smiles.”

“What’s your impression of Ike?” Nina asks.

What does she expect you to say to that one, that screens can’t capture how the sun glitters through his glassy green eyes? Hearing him say your name in-person sends shockwaves through your body? How you want to kiss every little freckle he’s never mentioned before and keeps hidden under long sleeves, even though it’s the beautiful skin he lives in daily?

“Same old Ike. He’s exactly like how I expected,” you say. A total fib. 

She cocks her head. “Really? Even after all the time you’ve spent together?”

“I’m trying to hang out with everyone.”

“You haven’t answered my question.”

Cornered. Nina takes a long, slow drink from her glass as you scramble for a quick answer that won’t immediately out you. “Whenever I talk to Ike, he’s really emotive. You can tell what he’s thinking before he says anything. He also has a good sense of style, so he’s fun to go shopping with, and honestly, fun to do anything with. He’s someone you can always have a good time with, and always makes you feel so comfortable around him. Ike’s magnetic.”

Mika muffles a coo behind you. You’re going to kill her if you survive this stream.

“That’s very sweet, Reader,” Nina replies. “Hear that, Ike?”

“Yes, I did.” He sounds strained.

“Got any feelings about it?”

“Yes? I mean—er, thanks?” You feel Ike’s head rustle. “I, umm. What am I supposed to say about that?”

“I don’t know. I just think that about you, that’s all…”

“Aww, cute. I love that you love each other,” Nina muses. 

Ike spits out, “It’s not like that!” Just as you admit, “Yeah, I guess so.”

You process his words too late, though, and even as you sputter the ukulele music cuts out just in time with Nina and Mika’s unfiltered fangirl squeals. Ren’s palms mute the chord as his eyes go wide. Aia is already on her phone with her jaw to the floor and Uki throws a look at Nina while he mouths, did that just happen? 

“I-I mean!” Your throat goes dry and Ike lurches away from you when Vox gleefully shakes Nina like a rag doll. “I—wh—Ike, I mean, of course I love you—“ Mika screams again— “As a friend!”

When you turn to face Ike, he’s curled up into a ball on the barstool with his shirt collar over his face. Even as you feel the blood rush to your face, you keep shouting. That’s all you have left. You’re live. “Like, we’re best friends on and off stream and I love you!”

He mutters something, but you can’t tell what. Only his neck and the tips of his ears poke out from his shirt. Were they always that red?

You repeat yourself. “I said, we’re best friends and I love you, so much!”

“And I said, I know, thank you, I love you too, Reader!” Ike jerks out to face you as he cries. He looks like a tomato. 

Then he buries his face into his hands and squeaks like how he always does when something’s too cute to handle, or he’s got too many emotions he needs to let out. “You can’t see me, I’m too embarrassed. I’m hiding forever and I’m never coming out.”

You hope the ground swallows you up and you never have to confront this moment again. 

Uki hisses under his breath and muffles Ren's ukulele. You don't know what he said, but you realize all too late that the alien prince himself was laying down the first few notes of “Fly Me To The Moon.”

While you slump and fold your arms over your face on the counter in pure embarrassment, Aia stands up and commandeers the mic. She slaps a hand over Mika’s mouth to muffle the scream. “Man, bummer that Ike-senpai is gone from us forever, but you know what else might be gone forever if you don’t get it now? The sponsor for this stream, our current limited-edition Nijisanji voice packs!”

And as much as you could kiss her yet again for changing the subject, you can’t get over how everything blew up in the last five minutes, and groan into your arms instead. 

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

The stream passed, luckily, without a hitch after that. No one asked any questions, but it was pretty damn clear everyone in the room had an idea of what just happened, and the impending shitstorm. In fact, it was so clear that when you stalked off to your room to sulk, no one made a fuss, and when you realized ten minutes into your sulking session that you left your phone on the counter, you figured it wasn’t worth it to show your face again until after you finished your pity party. 

The entire time, you laid in your bed with a pillow over your face so you could pretend like you were being absorbed into the sweet embrace of death. Overdramatic, sure, but you figured you were justified. 

Without your phone, you had no way to check exactly how bad the fallout was on Twitter. The poor Pen and Paper tags were sure to be flooded with fans imagining a happy ending to that stint you’d never be able to experience yourself, like salt in the wound. Not to mention, it was a huge seven-person off-collab! It didn’t just end with the Pen and Paper fans. No, it would extend past the Bookworms and the Quilldren, and certainly to the rest of the fandoms with an oshi in this Airbnb. Maybe even the offshoot viewers who don’t regularly watch your content, but made an exception for the off-collab, or, you know, the ones who have no idea who you or Ike are but can’t get enough of the whole accidental-confession-live-on-stream thing. Forget Nina; the entire Vtuber community is never, ever, ever going to live this down. 

Ike sounded so distraught, too. You wanted to kick yourself for it. Not only did you make a fool of yourself, but he got caught in the crossfire just because you didn’t catch yourself slipping. Not like he’d reciprocate anyways. He’s always been bad at taking compliments, but you keep thinking about how embarrassed he was about you loving him. 

All your frustration and humiliation coursed through the darkness under your pillow, and you stew so bitterly that you don’t even dream when you fall asleep. 

You just wake up groggy and exhausted, but too restless to go back to sleep. You look out the window, and the stars have barely come out to play in the early night sky. 

As much as you’d hate to admit it, that impromptu nap made you tired of brooding. Besides, you can’t hide from your friends forever. Hopelessly in love or not, they’re still your friends, and even if you decided to stream during the trip, this off-collab was always about spending time with them instead of worrying over your online presence. 

It takes you half an hour to hype yourself up, but eventually, you open your door and step out into the hall. 

You can already hear voices further away in the Airbnb. You place one of them as Nina, and after her, a baritone that could only belong to Vox. 

“…Fuck Twitter, they’re going to forget about it in two weeks or less anyways.” You overhear as you walk down the hall of rooms and closer to the living room. You’ve heard Vox passionate before, but never this serious as well. “Besides, what exactly did they say?”

A mumble. You can’t place the words, but you bristle when you recognize the voice. That’s unmistakably Ike. 

“See? Again, I’m so sorry. I was out of line, and I forgot my place. I shouldn’t have interrogated them like that,” Nina says. “But you’re overthinking what they said.”

Another mumble. By now, you’re in the kitchen. You lift your phone from where you left it, and hold your fingers over the half of the screen where your notifications appear as you check the time. It’s barely 11 PM. 

The kitchen and living room are connected, with plenty of seating space all around. That was why Mika’s travel laptop was still on the counter and plugged into the wall from the stream earlier, but on the other side of the wall from the kitchen, you noticed an open window and silhouettes from it. Four people sat on the shallow roof overlooking the uneven ground plenty of feet under the building. A pair of fox ears twitch at the night wind as they watched the stars grow brighter in the sky. 

You look through the fridge. You’re peckish, but if you were to be honest with yourself, you’re trying to stay quiet for a reason. 

There’s a huff. “Oh my god, dude. Just tell Reader already.”

You stand up a little straighter. Mika was with them? Were they talking about you?

“There’s nothing to be said, Mika!” Ike huffs back. “I’m screwed anyways. Just drop it, okay? I don’t need this getting in the way of what was supposed to be just a normal trip.”

“You can’t keep running away forever. Just act like an adult and tell them. It’s going to be fine, I swear.”

“And how exactly do you know that?”

“Well…” Mika trails off. “I can’t say. I just know, okay?”

“Uh-huh. And I know I’m screwed.” The wind rustles outside. You stay motionless. “Just two weeks. Can I please just have two weeks where I don’t have to worry about this until the trip is over.”

It’s a question, but he says it with such exasperation that no one can consider any other answers. 

“Fine.” Nina relinquishes. “Have it your way. I’m just worried for you two.”

“It’s going to work out, Ike. But I’m tired.” Vox stifles a yawn. “Tomorrow is going to be better. Let it go for the night and come back to it once you’re in better shape, and just remember. It’s going to work out.”

“Thanks, Vox.”

“Now get in here.”

You hear shuffling fabric before the two men start yelling. Vox cackles while Ike cries through gritted teeth. “Dang it, Vox, I’m going to shove you off this roof!”

“Get ruffled, idiot! That’s your fault for trusting me!”

“I just wanted a hug!”

You snicker under your breath. Vox loves to ruffle Ike’s hair despite the latter’s protests, though he tends to accept it instead of shove him off like anyone else that would dare. Besides, as dreary as Ike sounded during that conversation, he nearly sounded like his old self as Vox and the others laughed.

“I think I’ll go too. Mommy needs her beauty sleep.”

“Mm, I’m still pretty awake. Wanna keep looking at the sky with me, Ike?”

“Sure. Here, Nina, let me move out of the way…”

Shuffling turns to footsteps, and brings you back to reality. You busy yourself looking through the paltry groceries.

The sound of footsteps gets louder and louder, until they become a hollow click on the hardwood floor. Nina crawls through the window, but stops in her tracks with a startled noise.

You turn around and nod as casually as possible. “Oh, hey, Nina.”

Vox is also halfway through the window, and his eyes go comically wide as he forgets how to move. “Oh. Hey. Reader. Fancy seeing you here.”

“Yeah! Um!” Nina coughs long enough to make you uncomfortable. “What are you doing here?”

“Took a nap. Got hungry.” It’s not a lie. You grope around in the fridge and breathe a sigh of relief when you see a stick of string cheese in your hands. “You guys just hanging out?”

Nina nods. “Yeah, we were on the roof. It’s getting late, though. You should get some rest for tomorrow—“

Vox elbows her. “But not after looking at the sky for a little bit. It’s beautiful. Very clear. Romantic, even. The architects did a wonderful job placing this house right at the perfect angle to watch the stars rise. Did I mention it was romantic?”

You act natural and take a big bite out of the string cheese. “Once or twice. Is it the seniors’ bedtime?”

“You got me,” Vox says. 

“I love going to sleep early and giving my kids private time before bed to reflect and hold deep conversations with one another about their feelings,” Nina says. “And also nighttime face masks.”

“Woo, skincare, what she said.” 

“Hey, by the way, Reader, honey, did you hear anything we talked about?”

“No,” you lie.

“Cool,” Vox says. You eat the rest of the string cheese in one bite. “Good for you. And goodnight, Reader.” He dusts himself off before casting his golden gaze down at you. “Be nice, will you?”

Shivers go down your back. You have a feeling he’s referring to something unspoken. “I will.”

“That’s my sweet thing,” he purrs. “Anyways, I’m going the fuck to beddy bye. Honk shoo, Reader, don’t stay up too late.”

Vox struts off with dark hair flowing behind him and the scent of his aftershave in the air. He leaves you to stand awkwardly next to Nina. 

Suddenly, she takes you by your shoulders and forces you in front of her. You blurt out an unflattering startled noise before she gets right up in your face and stares dead into your eyes.  

“Please be good,” she says darkly. Was that a threat? “Please be so, so good to my baby.”

“I will,” you say, more out of fear than anything else.

She blinks once, then she’s back to the doting mother you know and love. She squeezes your shoulders. “Thank you, honey! Sweet dreams!”

And just like the Voice Demon before her, Nina bounds off to her room. 

Huh. That was weird. Nonetheless, you’re alone in the living room, and you can see the outline of Ike and Mika sitting on the roof in silence. 

You lightly knock on the side of the window. They both perk up at the sound. “Cool if I join you?”

Mika responds quickly. “Sure! Watch your step, Reader. The roof isn’t that steep but it would be awkward if you ate shit.”

“Agreed.” You step onto the tiling, and shift your body to match the angle. You feel like a newborn deer learning to walk. Luckily, Nina and Vox leaving meant that there was more than enough space for you right next to the window. 

Ike sits between you and Mika. “It’s pretty, isn’t it?” 

“Yeah…” 

‘Pretty’ is putting it mildly. The stars are so clear tonight, and scatter across the sky like sequins. The Airbnb was located further away from the heart of the city, so the darkness only amplified how bright the stars shone against the stark night. A breeze drags through the air and fallen leaves rustle between the grass. 

“This is so nice.” Comfort settles into you like the breeze in your hair. “I love it.”

Ike sighs. “Right? It’s so peaceful.”

“And there’s so many more stars out here than there are in the city.”

“It makes you want to just zone out and cool down.”

“Yeah, totally.” Mika coughs. “Huh! Cool! Well, I’m tired now. Just keep staying out here and enjoy the sky, I’m going to bed. Enjoy yourselves.”

Mika inelegantly shuffles around your bodies and slips back inside before either of you can properly tell her goodnight. 

Ike cocks his head as he watches her stumble through the window. “She just said she would stay out…”

“Hm?”

“Ah, nothing. Just thinking to myself.”

With the extra space, Ike leans back and lays along the roof. The stars cast a dreamy glow over his soft smile as he continues. “It really is something that just makes you want to have a deep conversation, or just think, you know?”

You hum in agreement. You get what he means, but there’s only one topic you can imagine having a deep conversation about right now, and it’s the very one you brooded over earlier that day. 

But Ike is Ike. He’s rational and calm and kind, and laughs at your stupid jokes, and texts you first before any of your other mutual friends. The night turns the tips of his hair bluer than usual, and the stars remind you of the freckles hidden along his creamy skin. His glasses reflect the galaxy above.

Even though today’s stream was embarrassing, you know Ike trusts you enough to tell you if you’ve ever crossed a boundary. After all, it’s commonplace to discuss limits on and off stream as soon as possible, and your friendship was so strong that you’ve both opened up to one another. He’d let you know if the whole cuddling thing was too much. Besides, he didn’t resist. He even rested his head on yours. That has to account for something, right?

You snap out of your thoughts when you feel a gentle tug on the sleeve of your hoodie. It’s Ike. He asks, “Lay down with me?”

A wave of fondness washes over you like the tide. He’s cute when he’s earnest like this. You get as comfortable as you can on the tiling, and when you still, you hear something shift before your hand grows warm. Ike scooted closer to you, and placed his pinky finger over yours. 

This is bliss. A beautiful sight with a beautiful boy next to you. Your best friend. 

“I do love you,” you say. 

It just feels right to say. 

Ike is silent. He doesn’t make a single sound as you stare up at the stars and the blackened sky. The breeze rocks a tree, and as the leaves part, you see the moon for the first time: one thin, waning crescent that blends into the darkness. 

Ike’s head is turned away from you. You can’t tell what he’s thinking at all. 

“…I don’t know what you mean,” he admits. “You do? As a friend?”

“We’ve always been friends.”

“Just that?”

“I don’t know what you’re asking me, Ike.”

“N-never mind. I’m sorry, am I making it weird?”

“No, you could never make it weird.” The colors of the view gloss together. You feel like a balloon slowly deflating. “Feels like that’s all I’m doing lately, though.”

Neither of you say anything. 

This was a bad idea. 

You swear the rustling leaves mock you. 

“Wait.” Ike practically snatches your hand up. “Wait, Reader, are you saying you like me?”

“Yeah. I’m saying that I love you.”

Ike stares at you, and if you had to choose just one word to describe his expression, it’s stricken. His mouth is slightly parted, and his shocked eyes drive holes through your skin, leaving you exposed. The brief stutter that escapes him sounds like it was dredged out from frozen, murky waters. “I—”

He drops your hand and turns away. 

“I’m sorry,” he finally says, barely audible. “This is… this is a lot.”

“I’m sorry too, this was a stupid idea. What was I thinking?” You get on your feet, but the slope makes what could’ve been a fluid motion into a stumbling, slow rise, as if your legs weren’t jelly enough already. You inch to the window mortified. “I think I should go. Sorry to bother you.”

You don’t dare to glance at him before you step back inside, not even when he calls your name halfway through the window.

Once you’re back in the living room, you cover your face, then drag your hands through your hair. You can’t even begin to describe how exhausted you feel. This is heartbreak, isn’t it?

You blink furiously, and the outline of a figure by the fridge comes into view. 

“Reader?” Mika asks. She has a stick of string cheese in her hand, but walks to you. “Reader, what happened—”

You take her empty hand and pace to your room. You open the door. “Are you okay?”

The second it shuts, your breath hitches. Mika doesn’t hesitate to take you in her arms. She holds you as the first tear falls, and you begin to cry.

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

You wake up the next day sprawled in your bed, even though the blankets are tucked comfortably around you. On the floor is a pillow and another pile of blankets, and when you recognize the dark hair tied into a loose ponytail, the memories of last night come rushing back.

What an awful night. Awful decisions all day, really, and all of them ones you made. You really don’t know what you were thinking. You groan at the memory.

“Reader?” Mika perks up. Her phone is in her hands, but she sits up level to your face on the floor. “Good morning. How are you feeling?”

Another groan.

“Yeah, I figured,” she says. “Nina, Vox and Ike went out to do their own thing, and I think Ren and Uki are cafe-hopping. It’s just you, me and Aia in the house right now.”

You rub the sleepy out of your eyes. “That’s cool, I guess.” You cast a downward glance to Mika’s makeshift bed on the floor. “Sorry for being a nuisance.”

“You’re not a nuisance, Reader, don’t say that.” She nudges you. “We’re friends. It’s what friends do. Speaking of, do you want Aia to come by? And Alban’s online, so I can call him, too. If you want.”

“It’d be nice…”

Less than ten minutes pass before Aia shows up at your door with breakfast sandwiches and orange juice. All three of you sit on the blanketed floor while Mika voice calls Alban on her phone. A pot of coffee brews over speakerphone as you recount last night. 

“...And to make things worse, we just streamed yesterday,” you explain. “God, I should check Twitter. There’s got to be a million people with eyes on our ship tag, and ugh, I hate thinking about how many weirdos are going to push a ship that can’t work out IRL.”

“I can check it for you,” Aia offers. You hand her your phone. “You remember your Twitter password?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool. Sorry in advance.” She deletes the app off your home screen.

You begin to protest, but she turns off the phone and sets it aside, out of your reach. “You’re off the clock, Reader! Work troubles can wait until you’re back online, and that includes doomscrolling. You can redownload it when you’re in a better headspace.”

“I really hate admitting you’re right.”

“Shit, Reader,” Alban finally says. “He seriously dropped the ball. I’m sorry.”

“I know. I really thought he would get it, but it took him so long to piece it together, like he never thought about us like that before. I should’ve known it was just me. I’m so stupid.”

“You’re not stupid, you’re hurt,” Mika says. “It’s understandable, but that still doesn’t make it hurt any less.”

“Is it wrong that I feel like I deserve it? I mean, I knew day one that this wouldn’t work out. We work together online, and we have fans that ship us with each other and the rest of this company, for fuck’s sake. Getting heartbroken was inevitable and I still went for it. Either I’m a glutton for pain or I’m just plain clueless.”

Alban’s voice is distant from the phone as he messes with his coffee maker. You can’t properly hear him under his breath and over the pot, but if you could, you could’ve heard him mumble, Trust me, you’re not the only clueless one here.

But he returns back at the phone, and you’re totally oblivious. “You can’t choose who you fall for,” he says. “It was really that bad?”

“It took him like a minute to realize I was confessing. And then when he realized it, he apologized to me.”

Aia straightens. “Did he say no?”

“Not really, but why would he apologize if he reciprocated?”

Aia exchanges a look with Mika. Alban grumbles. “No fucking way.”

“Tell me exactly how he reacted,” Aia instructs. She plowed through her sandwich during the conversation, but she left the remaining half on her plate forgotten as she laced her fingers together and leaned forward like a calculated boss. 

“It was like he couldn’t comprehend what I was saying at first. He asked if I meant it as friends, until he asked me if I liked him. And when I told him I loved him in response, he was so shocked that he let go of my hand, so I left.”

“No fucking way,” Alban repeats, and groans as he drawls out his words. You can practically hear him drag his hands over his face. “No fucking way. Ikeeeee. He seriously dropped the ball.”

“I know. I can’t believe it.”

Aia takes both of your hands in her own. “Reader, I’m not even saying this to hurt you, but this is the clumsiest confession I’ve ever heard of.”

You squint. “Right, that makes me feel so much better.”

“I’m really not! You know what this sounds like? Miscommunication,” she declares. “You didn’t get a solid yes or no. So now it’s going to be awkward between you two until you get an actual answer to the confession, or at least some kind of resolution. You wanna know what I think? It sounds like he didn’t even believe what he was hearing before you left. Which, by the way, is a common response to not just confessions but other major news, so chances are you didn’t blow up your friendship as hard as you thought.”

“She has a point,” Alban says. “I believe you, Reader, but Ike isn’t the type of person to just crush other people’s feelings like that. You just woke up, right?”

“I haven’t even left my room yet. Mika says everyone else is out of the house. He’s with Vox and Nina, I think.”

“So then he hasn’t had a chance to talk to you since the confession,” he continues. “And those three are really close. I’m willing to bet they’re helping him manage it, ‘cause it sounds like he’s going through it just as confused as you are.”

You stare at the floor. Hope feels foreign, yet you can’t help but wonder. You struggle to remember the exact way Ike reacted last night, but you really can’t tell what facts were clouded over by the rejection. A rejection that possibly didn’t even happen, mind you. The confusion and regret blurs over everything like water on wet ink.

“You really think so?” You quietly ask.

Aia nods, and Alban agrees over the phone.

Mika pipes up, a glass of juice in her hands. “Here’s my take. We can theorize as much as we want, but none of us really know what Ike’s thinking about, least of all you. Especially since you didn’t actually resolve anything, and that tension is going to eat at you until you get an answer or it actually damages your friendship. You ask me, the next best thing you can do is bring it up.”

She takes a sip of her juice and leaves you to absorb her advice. 

You mull it over along with the memory of last night. “He called my name as I left.”

Alban chokes on his coffee. “He called your name?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t respond.”

“Oh my God. READER!” He shouts so loud that Mika turns the volume down. “I’m going to lose it. I’m actually freaking it right now. Reader!”

“What?”

“Fuck what Mika said earlier, you are stupid!”

“Hey!”

“I’m saying this in the nicest way possible, you are so stupid. He was trying to talk to you!”

Your face goes through a handful of emotions as you sputter. “Are you serious, Alban?”

“Yes! Mika, Aia, back me up.”

Aia crinkles her nose. “I did just say it sounded like a total miscommunication.”

Meanwhile, Mika twirls a lock of red-and-black hair between her finger, distracting herself. She hesitates, trying to figure out exactly how she wants to say her piece, before she simply shakes her head and stills. “Just talk to him.”

“Which is easier said than done.” Your shoulders roll back as you stare up at the ceiling, your hands supporting you as you lean. Even with your friends’ encouragement, the memory of how hard you blew it last night still haunts you. It’s even worse than starting at ground zero; you’ve already tasted failure once, and you’re hesitant to embarrass yourself again. 

That stricken look Ike gave you flashes across your sight every time you blink. What was he thinking when he stared at you like that? You can’t tell if the disgust is true or if your anxieties are getting the best of you.

The best solution to anxieties, however, is looking at the facts—or at least, what isn’t tainted by your bias. Your friends mentioned there was nothing wrong with a workplace romance, and as much as the stream made you want to cringe, no one seemed put off by it. Alban and Aia are set on getting you and Ike to talk, and so is Mika. In fact, Mika spoke with Ike as well as Vox and Nina last night before you entered, and even if you had no idea what those four were talking about, you still picked up your name and that apparently Ike had something to tell you.

Pieces start to fall into place when you consider the three around you, staging an intervention over a late breakfast. Aia always gets you in situations where you can be close to Ike and bails you out when it gets awkward, and as much as he won’t get off your back about it, Alban gave you great advice between all his teasing. Mika was nosy at first when she learned about your feelings, but now that you think about it, she’s been incredibly tactful ever since the off-collab began. 

You can’t help but snicker as you connect the dots. “Is this the first time you guys actually started wingmanning for me?”

Aia purses her lips. “Hey, not the first. Remember when we made that group chat? We’ve always been your wingmen.”

“I know. But you guys are seriously helping,” you say. “Thanks. Though I do wonder, Mika…”

She perks up as you say her name. “Be real with me. Do you know more than you’re letting on?”

She flinches. Alban’s fingers snap over the phone. “Busted.”

Mika holds her hands up like a criminal caught in the act, but there’s a loose, sly smile hanging on her face. “I don’t think it’s my place to say.”

“What do you mean, it’s not your place to say?”

“I’m sorry, Reader, but I made a promise not to spill, and I’ve been doing way too much behind the scenes to break the promise like that. Just do me a favor and talk to the guy, will you? That’s the best I can tell you.” Mika rests her head in a hand, and the smirk looks even more knowing. “And if you can’t figure it out after that, then you’re definitely stupid.”

You bluster. “I’m not stupid!” 

“Still remains to be seen.” Aia gently flicks your forehead. “But you do look a lot better. How are you feeling now?”

Aside from the fading pain on your forehead? You’re surprised at how much lighter you feel now that you unloaded all your worries with your friends. The rejection still stings, and you’re not exactly confident, but, well, you’re smiling. The clean, tangy taste of orange juice lingers between your tongue. Aia and Mika sitting on the pile of blankets reminds you that regardless of your love life, they’d stay by your side until the bitter end, and Alban’s voice keeps you connected with your friends no matter where in the world you are.

You snatch Aia’s half-eaten sandwich off her plate and sink your teeth into the bread. She cries out in protest. “Hey!”

“Better now.” You set the sandwich back where you found it. Even though your future with Ike looks cloudy, the smile doesn’t leave. “Don’t flick me.”

“Speaking of.” Mika picks up the phone and scrolls through her messages. “Nina just texted that she, Vox and Ike will come back in an hour or less. Reader, are you up for this?”

“What do you mean, ‘up for this?’”

“Just seeing Ike again. It was a weird night,” she says. “I stand by what I said, but if it’s going to be too much too soon, then Aia and I can cover for you until you feel better.”

“I don’t know.” That’s what gets your expression to sink from light to thoughtful. “I think I want to take your advice. I just don’t know if I’m ready to talk it out yet.”

“Still wanna hang out with us or take a moment to yourself?”

“I think I’d just go back to moping if I was alone,” you joke.

“Cool. Let me go grab some nail polish Nina gave me yesterday.” Mika rises and strides to the door. “You have a steadier hand than me. And Nina said the color suits me more than her.”

Aia’s face lights up. She happily cries ”Girls’ night!” even though it’s barely noon and Alban is decidedly not a girl, but then he croons something in a valley girl accent so strong you can’t even tell what he’s saying. Scratch that; he’s a girl by association.

When he drawls out one long “Yaaaaaas, bestie!” you can’t help but laugh. Your love life is in shambles, but at least your friendships are solid as hell. You’d give the world for these three.

Mika returns a moment later, travel-sized nail supplies in her arms and a totally unrelated topic on the mind. The sharp scent of the lacquer startles you out of your thoughts as you uncap the bottle and Mika splays her hands out, and Alban and Aia air their opinions on something entertainingly dumb. 

Nina was right: this color is stunning on Mika. You paint Aia’s nails too, and halfway through her second hand, you hear the front door open, the end of an intelligible conversation, and telltale footsteps, each diverting across the house. The girls’ eyes flicker to you. You know they’re trying to read your expression, but you concentrate on how the brushstrokes pool together into one smooth coat. Your thoughts are a storm and you can’t even pick out the emotion commanding it. 

So you keep joking along instead and focus on the nail polish, refusing to give the storm an opportunity to strike. Alban quips off of you, and the moment passes as Mika and Aia return to the conversation. 

That is, until half an hour later when you hear a knock on the door. Mika cocks her head, a silent question, and when you nod she stands. Her nails dried when you finished Aia’s, and dot the doorknob as she cracks it open. A tiny margin of light from the hallway shines into your room, and you realize she positioned herself square in front of the threshold, shielding you from the person on the other side. 

She talks evenly. “Hey, welcome back.”

“Thanks. Is Reader here?”

Your mind thunders as you register the voice. You can only see the leg of his jeans behind Mika, but you recognize Ike’s voice on the other side. 

Aia shuffles by as a second shield. “Need them for something?”

“Kind of,” Ike says. “Do you mind if I talk to them?”

“I don’t know, what’s it about—“

“Aia, you can lay off him.” You call from your corner of the room. “You too, Mika.”

“Whatever you say. Just let me just grab my stuff…”

Mika grabs the nail supplies and deafens on Discord, but doesn’t even think to pick up the blankets along the ground. Instead, she glides to you and whispers under her breath. “We’re rooting for you. Send us a text if you need anything, okay?”

You nod. Aia slips past the threshold, but not without shooting you a thumbs up and mouthing ‘good luck.’ Not even a second later, your phone buzzes, and you catch Alban’s contact sending you an encouraging message in all-caps. 

“See you later!” Aia chirps. “Play nice, you two.”

The scent of the lacquer follows them as they leave, and the sound of their footsteps fade in time. 

Still in the doorway, Ike raises a hand to fidget with the chain along his glasses. “Do you mind if I…?”

“Oh! Come in. Sit anywhere, I don’t mind.”

You stay planted on the floor like how you were with your friends, and Ike sits next to you. You face the wall in front while he gets comfortable.

No words are exchanged as Ike maneuvers around the blankets, and eventually settles down with his back on the floor and head resting on a pillow, staring up at the ceiling. The light is off, but the blinds filter in thin beams of sunlight that cross over the room and the edge of his collar like a grid. 

“Lay with me?” He asks. Then it strikes you like ringing metal; you sit next to each other in the same positions as that night on the roof. 

Suddenly Ike raises his hands like static. “Not that you have to! I just figured it would be good to get comfortable and all, you know?” Ike hastily explains, then clears his throat. “I wanted to talk. About last night, I mean.”

Your chest flutters at the mention of it, but you remember all your friends’ encouragement. Here he is, the novelist of your (heartbroken) dreams, already bringing up the topic you dread to mention. You need to take this chance to face it head-on, now or never. 

You glide down like the ceiling is full of stars. “Okay. What do you want to talk about?”

“A lot, honestly. I don’t know how to go about it, but first of all, I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry.”

You cross your arms. “You said that enough last night.”

“Not like that! I mean I’m sorry I acted the way I did. I think I made every wrong choice once you said that you… that.” He shovels a hand through his hair. “I’m making it weird again. I should apologize for that, too, it’s just kind of embarrassing saying out loud that you, um, you loved me. Not that you should be embarrassed. I mean, I get it if you are, but that took a lot of guts. You should be proud of that. I admire you for that.”

“Slow down. What are you even saying?”

“What I wish I said last night. More than anything else, I’m sorry I got caught off-guard. I must’ve been so standoffish, because my idiot brain just didn’t believe what I was hearing until it was too late and the damage was already done.” Hair the color of ash and ocean falls over his face. “Honestly, I can’t believe it now.”

“I get it. Bad idea from me. Can we move on from that yet?”

“I don’t think it was a bad idea at all. I just had no idea that you liked me.”

“Give me some time and I’ll get over it, eventually. I’m not going to let it get in the way of working with you, if that’s what you’re trying to get at.”

“No, that’s not it either! I—“

Ike’s eyes squeeze shut. His voice is so quiet, you can’t discern what he’s saying. “…Actually, I’m…”

“Repeat that?”

“I’m happy. Really happy,” Ike says. His pitch rises like a balloon floating up into space, struggling to stay composed. “I’m not good at saying it, but I meant it when I said… when I said it during the stream.”

You wave a hand in the air. “It was weird timing, and I know you mean it like a friend,” you reply. “I didn’t mean to pressure you into saying it, and just being friends is fine. Even though I’m a loser that messed up just about everything.”

The hand catches in midair. Doll-like fingers weave through your grasp, and turn your touch warm as Ike turns to look at you. “Not with me. Don’t say that about yourself, okay?” 

You stare at how easily he held your hand, and how his fingers cradle your heart between the palms. The corners of Ike’s eyes are narrowed, two beads of peridot stone that can see through every little line of text between your pages, but there’s gentleness under his glasses. Something uncertain and fluffy. Softened like a lamb even though he leaves you defenseless. 

You don’t know what to say. Ike is beautiful and kind and handsome and thoughtful when he’s earnest like this. He’s got you stupid in the head and wrapped around his pinky finger, and doesn’t have a single clue.

Peridot sparkles. “You’re so much more than that. You don’t mess things up, Reader. I’m in love with you.”

Your mouth goes dry and your tongue is still tied. Forget speechlessness; the man took your own damn thoughts away. Your hand remains frozen in air with Ike’s. If it weren’t for the light drag of one of his fingernails along your skin, then you would have figured he took your senses as well.

But the drag ends, and the fingers unlace themselves, and chilled air fills in the gaps Ike once held close. The tips of his fingers rest at the curve of your palm for just one second more before they drift away.

The glint in his eyes dulls. His hand falls to his chest, over his heart, just as slow as he parted. The uncertainty took over, and now it’s like staring at a cloud that doesn’t know if it should rain. Ike’s gaze lowers to his heart. There’s a stretch of silence and motionlessness as he stares at where your touch once was, and you’re paralyzed where you lay.

Ike's hand curls in on itself, too loose to make a fist, and his lashes sink over his eyes. His mouth is set into a flat line, but the cheeks are dusted in pinks and reds and peppered freckles in-between, demure and shy all the while.

He turns his face away soon after that. Another break of silence, and he shuffles again, with your vision on his back as if it were a hiding place.

It startles you out of your stupor. The gridded sunlight lets you analyze what you missed. After months of thinking your feelings would never be reciprocated, Ike thought of you just the same. He’s always been in your corner, and you would go to the ends of the earth for him, and everything is in its perfect position. But his back is still turned, and the memory of last night—your confession, and his inaction—it rushes to your head.

So you reach out instead.

Maybe it’s a little selfish. You’re tired of bumbling around and concealing your true feelings, and now that everything's out in the open, you aren’t about to let go without resolution.

But Ike is your best friend, and the man you fell in love with. There was no way you’d ever let go in the first place.

You wrap your arms around his back and hug Ike.

“I think I get why you were so taken aback last night,” you whisper. Even though you’re alone with Ike, you still say it like a secret. “I can barely believe it myself.”

Your warmth is inviting, and every second that passes is another defense downed. Your head perches right above his neck and along his shoulder. It’s not your first hug with Ike at all, but there’s only been so many since you first met him in person that it still feels special, and with your bodies flush to the floor, it’s intimate. His eyes are averted and one cheek lays down on the blankets, but the tips of his ears glow scarlet under his jewelry. 

“I’m glad you were patient with me. I really didn’t think I had a chance with you. You know, the long distance and the company, and you know, the standard pining fare. I’m really lucky.” A smile slips through your words. “I’ll stay with you, okay? So take all the time you need.”

Ike chuckles. Even his laughter is blushy-bashful. “I’m just so happy you feel the same, too. I don’t even know what to do with myself.”

His body curls as he lays, and your legs brush along his as you cuddle. Holding him makes it feel like he was made to fit in your arms. You sigh. “I love when you can’t contain it. It’s so cute.” 

Ike squeaks at that, and unwittingly proves your point. “It feels so good to say that out loud. I mean, you’re okay with it, right?” A nod. “And you’re okay with… I don’t know. Are we still friends?”

“Of course we are, no matter what. You said you loved me first, so let me say this one?” 

You have a feeling you know what’s coming next. You hug him even tighter.

“Reader, let’s go out. I don’t want this feeling to end,” he confesses, and your world turns into rose and blush. “Can we?”

Though you expected it, he still takes your breath away—until he taps you on the hand. “Come on, say something before my heart explodes!”

“Mine already did! I can’t even think straight, and—I’d love that. I really want this.”

Another squeal breaks out as Ike buries his head into a blanket, and your heart soars as he melts. He resembles a swaddled-up kitten, and the rays of sunlight line his silhouette. The fluffy blanket reminds you of an angel’s downy wings along his kitten features. You can’t even see his face between the blanket and his hair, but his squeal continues, muted through the blanket as he swoons. 

Somehow that only makes you feel even more flustered. “No, don’t hide! I want to see you!”

Maybe it would’ve been better for your heart if he stayed put, because when Ike rises—with disheveled hair and glitter in his eyes the color of seaglass, and jewelry that frames his red face, and that galaxy of freckles you hold so dear and shine like stars between his blush—you feel your heart stop. Again.

“When did you start having this effect on me?” You ask, mesmerized, and before you know it you thumb over one of his rosy cheeks. “Your freckles are so beautiful.”

He sheepishly grins. “They don’t really show up online. They’re pale.”

“Never noticed them until I met you in person. I love them. I love you.”

The grin gets a little wider. One of his fingers grazes along the corner of your ear. Has his hand always been along your jawline?

Ike’s eyes are shining under the grid of sunlight. The lashes flit just a bit lower from your gaze. “Reader, can we…?”

You close your eyes.

And when Ike’s lips graze your own, you smile on instinct before you remember to kiss back. 

Ike brings you near, searching for the taste of you as he continues. His touch lodges past your jawline and into your hair, and when one of the fingers grazes along your ear you’re reminded just how much you love Ike. All the yearning you hid for so long bleeds through as you sink down to his level with his head in your hand, gentle yet impassioned.

Then your face bumps against Ike’s glasses. The kiss breaks as you back away.

There’s a brief pause in the aftermath. Ike wordlessly adjusts his glasses, now knocked off-center. Despite finally getting on the same page on your relationship with Ike, you’re still as clumsy about your feelings as ever.

But the corners of your lips curve up as he inspects the lens you squished, then a barely-stifled giggle, and next thing you know, Ike’s laughing along with you, still underneath your body and with one hand in your hair while the other holds his glasses in place. He sounds as charming as he looks, and the fact that he joined you even when you chuckled out of the blue means that his mind is just as charming as well.

Not that it was breaking news. You know your best friend well, and now that you don’t need to deny your feelings any longer, you know you’ve got good taste if Ike’s under you with crinkled eyes and hearty laughter.

When you speak next, the giggles patter out between your words but the quiet delight hangs in your teeth. “Can we try that again?”

Then his lips are on yours again, and the laughter twists between the second kiss, and the third, and the fourth, all the way until you collapse on the blankets with arms around each other, staring up at the stars on the bland popcorn ceiling as adoration fills the space between you. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

bonus.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Starting soon…

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

The chat flickers alive as a four-pointed flower, a diamond, and a thorned heart give way to the stream and the novelist behind the stinger. 

Kaidororero: welcome back ike!

Min (Ikey’s Book): 💙 IKEY IS BACK 💙

A normal broom: HI IKE

lunasmortas: 💙💙💙

viperip: ike! :_heart: :_heart: :_heart:

Sun shines through a clear day in Ike’s room onscreen, but in reality, blackout curtains block out the day outside. A sweet smile graces both Ike’s face and his model as the Quilldren welcome him home. 

He greets them, and cracks open a can of soda as he quickly scans through the chat. Obviously, the off-collab is on everyone’s minds. 

juuuuuuuuuus: did you have fun?

Kaidororero: offcollab POOOG

lunasmortas: SO CUTE :_heart: :heart:

Johnclone: Hope you had a good time!

zZirasthingZz: PEN AND PAPER REAL

Hm. A mod will eventually bonk that message. But then again, it’s inevitable that the ship would come up in chat. 

Ike takes it in stride and ignores it like any other shipper, but his heart still skips a beat. Nonetheless, he doesn’t call any attention to it. “How about that off-collab, right? I met up with my friends! Where do I even begin?”

Ike recounts his trip from the beginning, and the Quilldren react to his stories with interest. He was one of the last to arrive, so Nina, Uki and Reader picked him up from the airport, and met up with Aia, Ren, and Mika at the Airbnb. Vox was the only one to arrive after him, hot off the heels of a flight delay, but the demon was a welcome party all his own despite his exhaustion. 

“We went to karaoke once Vox got situated,” Ike explains. “Nina put that song in first so we could all let loose, and so she would have a fun voice tweet for everyone. Might as well confirm everyone that showed up, right?

“But after that, we didn’t want to stress ourselves out to perform for voice tweets instead of just having fun, so that was the only song we recorded. I wish you could’ve heard Uki and Vox’s duet, though. And while we were singing, turns out Ren packed a ukulele with him! Sometimes he would learn how to play along by ear, like a jam session. Mika knows how to play ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ too, so everyone joined in singing that while she played it. It was so much fun.”

Johnclone: Everyone sounded great!

sunblast99: uki’s voice >>>>>> everything else 💜💙

haabinae: :_tskr:

Festersk: WHAT I REALLY REALLY WANT 🗣🗣

A normal broom: what did you sing?

Ike leans back in his chair. He blows a lock of hair out of his sight as he tries to think. “I remember Vox sang something by George Strait, so then we all egged him on to sing ‘Country Roads.’ He only did it once I promised to queue up ‘Toxicity’ by System of a Down afterwards.”

lunasmortas: OMG 💙💙💙

gatamiizuus: ayo?

Y A M: YESSSSSSS :_tskr: :_tskr:

haabinae: I LOVE SOAD :_fanboy:

Thornmy: SO COOL 💙

“Thank you.” He says it out of obligation. If he thinks too hard about the compliments, he’ll get embarrassed. “What else was there? I think there was some Motionless in White, and Spiritbox. Oh, and My First Story. Can’t forget My First Story.”

K. K. Soda: ooooo

Alban Knox 【NIJISANJI EN】 ✓ : what about mcr

asper ch.: METAL SCREAM?

deeboorgur: HI ALBAN

Y A M: MCR YEAAAAA  :_glowstick_1: :_glowstick_2:

“I’m getting there, Alban!” 

Ike takes a sip while the Quilldren greet Alban. He’s not too surprised Alban seems to know more than the other viewers. He’s close with almost everyone that went on the trip, and was super active on Discord during the off-collab. The novelist lowers his soda as the chat floods in orange hearts. He wonders how Alban learned so much as an observer. He should ask. 

But that’s a question for after stream. Ike continues. “Thank Nina for that. She queued up ‘I’m Not Okay’ by My Chemical Romance, and then shoved two mics in my hands and Reader’s.”

And the chat explodes. 

Kaidororero: OMGGGGGG 💙💕

Y A M: PEN AND PAPER SO CUTE :_tskr:

zZirasthingZz: PEN AND PAPER DUET

asper ch.: AYOOOO MCR

gatamiizuus: I LOVE READER

ystariya: PEN AND PAPER MY BELOVED

“It’s a really fun song! It’s almost all clean vocals, but there’s this scream in the middle. Up until then, we sang together, but then I screamed, and Reader picked up the slack and sang the parts of the verse I couldn’t. They’re amazing.”

gatamiizuus: READER SIMPS COME GET Y’ALL’S JUICE

Thornmy: THAT SOUNDS SO GOOD

lunasmortas: 💙💕💙💕

ystariya: READER KARAOKE STREAM WHEN

Kaidororero: AWWWWWWW

The model on the screen doesn’t have the same glint in Ike’s eye when he talks about you. That first day of the trip was all about getting comfortable after long travel hours, and the stories went on as the days went by. Sightseeing with Aia and shopping with Uki by day, and spending the night shooting the shit with Ren until it turns into the littlest hours of the morning.

“Vox wanted to try a bunch of different restaurants with me, but you know me, ya boi is not good with most foods. So Nina usually came along in case I couldn’t finish something. She and Vox would share my leftovers.”

Something fond crosses over Ike’s face. His eyes cloud over in fog descending over a clear-sky day. “We would always talk over food about anything. I appreciate it a lot. They really get me.” The fog stills. “And over breakfast one morning, they gave me some excellent advice over something I’ve been meaning to do.”

ver*batim: ❤️💙❤️

K. K. Soda: MILORDDDDD

nroneo: :_heart:

A normal broom: upcoming project? 👀 

Johnclone: I love Nina Kosaka!

“Not a project, no. It was something I was really worried about, even when I was supposed to be taking a break with my friends,” he says. “But those two seriously helped me clear my head about it. Mika, too. Vox and Nina had a lot of nuanced advice, but Mika told it to me straight, and helped handle what I couldn’t. I’m really thankful to have them.”

His set jaw loosens. “Maybe I’ll talk about it one day.”

The model cocks to the side. Motion blurs the foggy sobriety away. With a lightness to his voice and a knowing gaze, Ike looks straight into the camera and smiles, sentimentality forgotten. The air clears. “But for now, it’s a secret~!

“Ah, now where was I? Spending time with my friends, right? Reader and I hung out often. Sometimes with others, but it ended up being the two of us more than not.”

Birds chirp outside Ike’s window in time with the hum of his PC. The backlit keyboard in front of the monitors glows the same color as the computer, a healthy blue light that tints the tips of his fingers. He usually sets it to a rainbow spectrum in his own time, but static blue is reserved for going live. It gets him in the right mindset for streaming, and makes his little apartment feel fantastical like the noble background that accompanies his model, even if it only reaches his fingertips. 

He’s sure the Ike on the screen has fingertips tinged with blue just like him, an extension of the man outside the screen but without the grittier details. Smooth, pristine hands under gloves where his are callused from guitar playing. Nothing under the model’s eyes but lashes and a line of red that brings out the pink in his eyes, very much unlike the heavy bags and sunken face from an awful delay on his flight back home. No freckles, either, but even cameras rarely pick them up on video call. Nina cooed over them the first time they met, as motherly as ever, but behind closed doors Reader was utterly fascinated with them. They mentioned something about watching blush travel around his face with the smattering of freckles in-between once or twice… maybe more? Doesn’t matter when he’s never heard that before and it repeats in his head when he catches himself daydreaming. It’s one of the best things he’s ever heard.

Vtuber Model Ike’s face doesn’t heat up like how Real Ike’s certainly is now. He clears his throat. “The weather was really nice during the entire trip, so we would always get into good conversations while walking back to where we were staying. And sometimes we didn’t want to end the conversation, so we’d just keep walking past our Airbnb until our feet hurt or it got dark, whichever came first. 

“Oh, here’s something funny. Uki really loves cafes, right? Usually he woke up early with Ren to go check out some cafes in the morning, way before the rest of us would even think of waking up. By the time everyone else woke up, they already finished their breakfast, and Uki would tell Reader about the ones to visit or skip. Whenever Uki recommended one, Reader always wanted to go themselves, so I went along to keep them company.” 

Even as his skin returns to its original shade, the sweetness sticks to his throat like the soda he’s barely touched at all. He’s wistful. He didn’t expect to miss Reader this much; after all, his relationship with them has bloomed so much ever since you first started working together, but two weeks together (including mutual close friends) changes things. It’s only been two days since he returned home, but he feels out of rhythm with them. 

He’s gotten too accustomed to them. Over the last few months, he thought he did a good job putting aside his feelings for Reader, even when Nina would tease him after every Pen and Paper collab and Vox and Mika would be right behind her, hyping him up to make a move. The fear of rejection was what motivated him to keep his close friendship with Reader without ever confessing to them.

“Reader…”

The world around him is nothing. Paused to buffer as he thinks. He can’t remember the last time he felt so happy. Just being in the same room as them makes him feel stupid, and surely he’s been acting like it. Everything he says sounds clumsy when he’s with them. After all, on that day when he owned up to the feelings he repressed for so long that he couldn’t properly react to Reader’s confession, he couldn’t say much more than how happy he was. Words fail to describe what Reader means to him, yet he’s a novelist, for crying out loud! How ironic!

“...Reader is so patient with me,” Ike says. “And they’re so considerate and dedicated. I wish I told them that earlier. It’s hard to say things out loud like this, but you only meet people like Reader once in a lifetime if you’re lucky, and even then, there’s no one quite like Reader.”

ystariya: i love reader

Kaidororero: pen and paper awwww

Y A M: PEN AND PAPER

acklmystafoot: ike is so sweet!!!

Reader 【NIJISANJI EN】 ✓ : 💙

“Aaah!”

Ike recoils like his keyboard is flaming lava. The model on the screen leans back and freezes in place while he nearly throws himself out of his chair. “R-Reader! What are you doing here?!”

Reader 【NIJISANJI EN】 ✓ : FKJLJJSLKFJDKS LMAOOOOOOOO

Johnclone: Hello Reader!

Y A M: OMG

Reader 【NIJISANJI EN】 ✓ : just wanted to say hi

Reader 【NIJISANJI EN】 ✓ : hi!

Festersk: LMAO

Ike sputters out nothing but empty air and nervous laughter. “Haha. Um. Hi! Welcome!”

Stupid! He wants to kick himself. He’s made improvement on verbalizing affection, and he’s comfortable with Reader, especially now that there aren’t any secrets left, but he’s still so unfamiliar with affection being returned that his heart is still doing kickflips in his chest. 

haabinae: :_blush: :_blush: :_blush:

juuuuuuuuuus: most normal pen and paper moment

Thornmy: AWWW

Reader 【NIJISANJI EN】 ✓ : check discord

A normal broom: Oh?

“Ah, okay! Give me a second.” Ike keeps his Discord on mute, and usually disables desktop notifications when he’s live, so he’s not surprised to open the window to unread messages and some non-urgent pings. Sure enough, Reader sent him something.

Reader: because you were talking about cafes

Reader: image.png (3)    | 💙 1 |

Me: Oh I recognize these from our first date!

It’s been over a week now, but just saying he went on a date with Reader has him squeezing his legs together so his feet wouldn’t start kicking in the air. 

Reader: ahh you remembered! 

Me: I should’ve figured you took more pictures than the ones you showed me

Reader: dw i have more i wanted to show you

Reader: image.png (8)    | 💙 1 |

Me: Seriously how are you so good at photography I don’t get it-

Me: You’re really pretty in this one!

Me: UGHHHH WHY DO I LOOK SO WEIRD    | ❌ 1 | 💕 1 |

Me: I DIDN’T EVEN NOTICE YOU TAKE THIS ONE

Reader: WTH YOU’RE NOT WEIRD

Reader: YOU’RE LITERALLY SO HANDSOME WHY DO YOU  T H I N K  I TOOK THAT PIC

Well, great, now he’s actually kicking in his seat. Ike is inclined to disagree, but when Reader says it, it’s a super-effective attack on his poor little novelist heart. 

Me: Akaslwdnja

Me: Thank you 😭

Reader: anyways i gotta go i stream in 20 min and i’ve barely eaten my food

Me: Go eat! Do you have enough water?

Reader: just refilled my bottle

Me: Good then don’t let me keep you! Have a good stream!

And before he can overthink it, in the moment—

Me: I love you!

His sights are set on his second monitor.

Reader is typing…

Reader doesn’t have to respond. Sometimes just saying it is enough. 

Reader: fdsjdfkl.

Ike’s been trying to relearn that lesson ever since he realized everything he repressed was reciprocated.

Reader: i love you too, ike

Words heard across the world, one of the people he holds most dear.

His heart beats loud in his ears, but he can feel it slow, somehow. Reader is exhilarating, but there’s security in them, too. The nerves kick in until he remembers they’re just as exposed as the other, and the vulnerability generate a sense of comfort. Reader makes him feel understood like no one else in the world does, and he trusts them more than anything.

He does. He does, he does, he does, even if he only has the strength to say it one at a time. Ike is in love.

Reader: i’ll let you know when i’m done streaming, we can watch a movie together after

Me: It’s a date!    | 💕 1 |

It takes him a moment to tear his gaze away from your messages. 

His streaming monitor reflects his movements. The chat moves along. Blue light spreads through his fingertips, just like how he imagines Vtuber Model Ike’s hands resting on his own keyboard, an extension of the man outside the screen, proof of the fantastical.

“They sent me something.” Ike’s laughter is gentle. “I really do love them.”

The chat zooms past, as expected. Surely that would get clipped alongside the off-collab Q&A, but he can’t seem to care. He doubts the fandom would really understand how deep the connection goes, and if they do? Some things are just meant to be private.

Besides, on the day Ike and Reader get comfortable enough in their relationship to go public, he knows the Quilldren have his back, just like Reader and their Bookworms. 

“Reader, if you’re still there, we need to meet up again,” Ike says. “I don’t know when, but one day.”

A flurry of messages, but only one truly matters.

Reader 【NIJISANJI EN】 ✓ : i wouldn’t miss it for the world

The model onscreen grins. It pales in comparison to Ike himself.

.　 . • ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆

✧. ┊commentary ↣

✧. ┊ masterpost ✧. ┊ kofi

#ike eveland x reader #ike eveland #ike eveland fluff #ike eveland angst #luxiem #luxiem x reader #nijisanji x reader #nijisanji #4402 writes #🖋 anon #fanfic is unrealistic and i know this because clippers would NEVER use semicolons in their captions #eating string cheese wrong is symbolic. it represents eavesdropping and shitty lies that go unnoticed #i hope i never see a typo in this thing this fic is literally impossible to edit on mobile #update: there were typos. and i had to wait 3 minutes for the editor to load on my laptop before i could fix them. rip #pliskinverse

[dreamties]

Various! Horror Reacting to their S/O Sleeping W/ Stuffed Animals

A/n- Let me know what character's I should do for the prompt next :D

Inspired by a previous headcanon set I did! If you want to read some quick ones for Billy/Stu, Brahms & Michael -> click here

T/W for some mild language + mentions of torture !! <3

This set includes: The Sinclair Brothers, Randy Meeks + Sidney Prescott

Taglist: @strawberry-moonpies —> let me know if you’d like to be added or removed from this list <3

Sinclair Brothers

None of them really mind <33 except Bo, he's a totaly stinker abt it >:(

Bo finds it weird and he lets you know that. he is literally the lamest partner when it comes to this . . . don't let his negativity bog you down tho, hun!! his brothers are far kinder on it, you don't need Bo's stupid reaction <3333

having said all that about Bo . . . there is some redemption for him!! when he starts noticing you acting funny or a little down around him, he realizes it's his doing and he has a lot of guilt & regret about how he acted.

he'll get you a plainer looking doll, or get Vin's help to sew something up for ya. He leaves it on your side of the bed and doesn't say a word about it . . . neither should you. Be appreciative of what he did, just don't tell him that. He'll just pretend he had nothing to do with it, and get all flustered.

Bo might be kind of a dick to you about it, but if anyone that's NOT him does it?? if someone's passing by and they think they just get free range on the language they use?? oh, hell no!

he has a few tricks up his sleeves, I promise <3 (these may, or may not, include more torturous methods when dealing with guests . . .)

Lester thinks it's mighty sweet!! an' he ain't got much to judge, he knows he's a lil weird. he don't mind ur weirdness tho <33

creativity seems to run in the family, cause sometimes he'll take the animals off the road 'n he likes to skin em and make lil furs out of em. not so much taxidermy . . . he ain't got the patience for that

and i bet he would ADORE to make ya a lil somethin from those critters <3

what's better than seeing your lover all safe and cozy, cuddled up with somethin-- than when that somethin is one of your own creations??

yeah ... nothings really better than that, huh? <3

Vincent's not one to judge on such a small thing. he's spent so much time feeling like the odd one out, for mannerisms and facial deformities . . . and you're so sweet and kind hun . . .

he'd hate to upset ya, especially over something so insignificant.

it brightens his day seeing you down in his studio space with him, while you happily watch him work, while holding a floppy-eared fuzzy pal close to ur arms <333

Randy Meeks

he thinks it's a little silly but mostly endearing <3

he won't poke fun at you . . . unlike certain Scream boys (cough cough Billy n Stu... cough cough)

randy loves doing little voice impressions, and my favorite concept is him playing around with ur stuffies and making them say silly things. or sometimes, since he's a bit of a romantic, but also awkward n nerdy he'd make them say things like "i love you" <3

Sidney Prescott

Tatum still has a ton of stuffies from when she was a kid, and some of her current faves are definitely ones that Stu have gotten for her

Sidney doesn't really sleep w/ any of her stuffies, but she does keep them out on her bed sometimes or on her dresser as like, decoration.

long story short -> she honestly gets it! sleeping with a stuffy is nice, and she wants you to sleep well <3 there is nothing wrong with ur stuffies <333

after the ghostface attacks!! she tends to be more closed off to other people, sort of weary, and isn't always good with contact/touch. the two of y'all's favorite way to sleep is in the same bed, next to each other, but cuddled up with ur comfort buddies instead of holding each other :'3

#randy meeks x reader #sidney prescott x reader #bo sinclair x reader #vincent sinclair x reader #lester sinclair x reader #house of wax #scream 1996 #scream #randy meeks x you #randys meeks x y/n #randy meeks x s/i #randy meeks x s/o #sidney prescott x you #sidney prescott x s/o #sidney prescott x s/i #sidney prescott x y/n #vincent sinclair x you #lester sinclair #bo sinclair #vincent sinclair #sidney prescott #randy meeks #headcanons #headcanon set #slashers x reader #slashers x you #slashers x y/n #reblogs are appreciated #likes are appreciated #comments are appreciated

[kozmicmizuu]

yall… a kimetsu academy au by kozu?!?!?? yes, and it’s silly…

————————————————————————

okay so it’s like completely normal ya know?? the main three getting bullied by their teachers and struggling with homework

but the school has a super cool and awesome secret— and that’s that the school has a youtube channel for some reason idk

the content isn’t really school related at all, it’s just— staff having fun and being silly(ex. The Boys and The Group Chat on youtube :3)because i feel like the students forget that their teachers are like— mostly in their early twenties.

it’s literally whiplash that zenitsu, tanjiro and inosuke got when they first found the youtube channel. they saw sanemi and obanai having FUN and SMILING and LAUGHING— shocking

also yes giyuu does actually smile canonically in kimetsu academy #thats adorable

back to the silly content, it consists of some reaction shit and irl silly hangouts and games they make

giyuu (unfortunately) is the mf that gets peer pressured into playing the horror games. he’s the only one that was willing (forced) to play. he’s really good at them but he is SKITTISH and gets scared easily— long story short he’s a pussy when it comes to games. tengen and kyojuro are the ones that join him the most

also uno is banned from being played in the school grounds, they got too violent and tengen had some explosives on hand

also here’s some silly lil scenarios mweheheh

————————————————————————

giyuu, playing “Silent Breath” trying not to say anything too loud: fuckfuckfuckfuck—

*gets jumpscared like the idiot he is.*

giyuu: FUCK YOU- YOU DUMB BITCH—

the other teachers in the next room, hearing the screams of fear and anger:

tengen: damn, that’s the fourth scream today

-

rengoku: you guys!! wanna play uno??

obanai: i thought we weren’t allowed to play that?

everyone looking at giyuu, who is the one who enforces rules:

giyuu: what- oh.. technically we can’t play the card game…

everyone: :(

giyuu: but… no one said anything about the online version

tengen: LETS GOOO

-

kanae: how about a more relaxed video for this week?

gyomei: i agree with the idea of a more peaceful video

sanemi: that’s so boring to- lets do something insane— like going to haunted place!

tengen: hell yeah!! let’s do that!!

giyuu: 🙁

kyojuro: it’s going to be okay giyuu!! i’m sure you’ll be fine!

he did not end being fine btw, being a medium makes his life hell

————————————————————————

#demon slayer #kny #kimetsu no yaiba #kimestsu no yaiba manga #kimetsu gakuen #kimetsu academy #giyuu tomioka #sanemi shinazugawa #iguro obanai #kanae kocho #tengen uzui #kyojuro rengoku #gyomei himejima #god forbid the teachers have fun #they pull so many views #and fanfics (youtuber curse) #and those really good edits #and they accidentally do a LOT of fan service #like going shirtless randomly or making weird noises #cause they’re weird #silly aus with kozu part idk

[fluffypotatey]

Hello there! I hope the month has treated you kindly enough. I don't have much questions right now, but there are a few buzzing in my head:

Why did Wukong tell MK at the start of S2 that he was going on a vacation, instead of maybe just saying that he has some unfinished business, maybe a serious one, that needs attending to now that MK can sort of look after himself? Probably to set the tone into something less alarming but I think if he went with that kind of excuse maybe MK wouldn't feel so resentful about his mentor apparently chilling while away. Or rather why not say that he's going to the Celestial realm and that he may not be available for a while because time runs differently between the two realms?

What effects do you think that being imprisoned inside a mountain has on Wukong instead of being trapped under it like in the OG JTTW book? I mean, both are pretty bad but at least the one in the book gives him fresh air and sunlight instead of complete darkness in the isolation.

Do you think that just like the battle that lead to the Havoc in Heaven 2.0 is different in LMK compared to the original book version, the peach thievery and banquet disruption also has a different story to it than the book one?

How's your writing for SWK and The Reaper series going? If you're having a bit of an inspiration fatigue, take your time to recharge. But are we going to see the White Impermanence's successor in that series though. How would the s4 and its specials' events go?

Have a great week, eat your meals regularly and not too late, take your medication if you have any, and eat your fruits and vegetables!

oh dear, oh honey, you’ve done it now :3 the floodgates are open :) hope you don’t regret it

imma have to answer these by short answer to long, so that first one is definitely placed last

anyway,

How's your writing for SWK and The Reaper series going?

tis marinating my good friend! tis on the slow cooker rn and might be for some more days or weeks depending on my uni stuff and motivation levels T^T but yeah, it’s not abandoned (far from it!) just needs some more mental plotting (ESPECIALLY because I added Xié Líng to the story and kind of want them introduced in the upcoming chapter/installment/part(?))

Are we going to see the White Impermanence's successor in that series though?

so yeah, you will see the White Impermanence’s successor soon! their involvement in the story takes place more in what I have in mind for s4 :3 and I don’t remember what I mentioned about them, but Xié Líng is basically Júhua’s only friend in the underworld (not to mention that the two are basically soulmates no thanks to what they have/will inherit). they aren’t that big of a fan of Sun Wukong but tolerate him bc it’s Júhua’s uncle (a label she only ever confessed to Xié Líng). also, hoping they will help me explained Júhua’s magic a bit more since I now have 2 reapers in this verse :)

and for s4…..no, I shan’t say…….more Diyu and Júhua playing sleuth while MK goes through the horrors

Do you think that just like the battle that lead to the Havoc in Heaven 2.0 is different in LMK compared to the original book version, the peach thievery and banquet disruption also has a different story to it than the book one?

I honestly would not be surprised if that was the case. lmk already differentiates a lot from the book with specific details or chapters (Red Son’s chapter/Samadhi Fire lore, the reason behind Guanyin’s vase, how the JTTW crew met Pigsy, how they met Sandy, LBD’s chapter). so, while the feel of the show sticks with that adventure and high stakes and moral dilema that JTTW had, it also is its own piece of work (which you could argue for many JTTW adaptations tbh since there are sO many and many are very different from each other)

anyway, yeah, I have an inkling that the stolen peach story is not exactly book accurate.

What effects do you think that being imprisoned inside a mountain has on Wukong instead of being trapped under it like in the OG JTTW book?

oh ho ho! what a question 👀

I certainly think being trapped inside the 5 Phases Mt has a different impact than being trapped under it. for one, like you mentioned, book!SWK had the “luxury” of being able to see outside and breathe fresh air. lmk!SWK???? he is in the heart of the mountain. he is seeing nothing but rocks (stalactites and stalagmites), he can hear nothing but the drips of cave water, he can breath nothing but stale and dusty air….for 500 years :)

how do you stay sane in such conditions?

spoiler: you don’t!

you cannot stay sane or impassive to being trapped inside a mountain with nothing but rock and golden chains for 500 years!!! we all remember that clip of a freed swk, right?

see that? that’s the look of a monkey who’s just been released from a 500 year prison and is ready to tear the world apart just to feel better :)

so how would one stay some-what lucid in this imprisonment? my guess is the man hallucinated the shit out of it. bored of seeing nothing but rock and more rock and even more rock? how about visualizing that Macky returned after your horrible fight and is apologizing for snapping at you. how about believing that you good pals the Brotherhood and you didn’t fail your war with Heaven! how about thinking that the darkness and loud echos of the cave hold more creatures and demons who heard of your downfall and want to finish the job. how about envisioning being back at FFM, Macky and your monkey subjects are so happy to see you and you were actually never imprisoned! how about believing—

listen to me, listen to me: Wukong’s experience of being held inside the mountain, other than being smushed under it, is more psychologically impactful and I bet this monkey could not sleep well after being freed for centuries. Wukong sleeps with a night light still!

Why did Wukong tell MK at the start of S2 that he was going on a vacation, instead of maybe just saying that he has some unfinished business?

short answer: because he’s an idiot

long answer:

Wukong is very used to solving issues on his own. he is aware that MK is human (maybe) and a mortal (now debatable, but at this point, MK believed that and that’s what’s important). he is aware that MK’s an anxious kid and wants to prove himself but also has great power within him. he is very aware that MK still needs to complete his training and isn’t ready for what Wukong is about to embark on (also who Wukong would potentially fight against with no one being none the wiser to).

and, as I stated prior, Wukong is very used to solving issues on his own. he did it in his time before JTTW and even during JTTW because he was the overpowered stone monkey who was FFM’s trump card and the JTTW savior when situations got rough (barely any of the other companions are able to beat off an opponent without Wukong’s help). thus, Wukong is not someone to ask for help or even allow other to be aware that help is needed because he is not used to asking (he only will if push comes to shove and he is out of ideas, which he wasn’t in s2)

however, I’m sure we’re well aware of SWK’s almost allergic reaction to acknowledging help or admitting that something is most definitely wrong! but imma get that statement out of the way so that when I delve into the question, we all have what I said above in mind :)

now, why tell MK he’s going on vacation? why not give a lie that could be a little closer to the truth?

well, as said before, Wukong has an aversion to admitting when there are things going wrong that only he could recognize and probably worries that hinting to MK that Wukong is off to investigate something would possibly entice the kid to join Wukong or ask the monkey a lot of questions about it he isn’t inclined to answer. also, if Wukong were to say he needed to complete something in the celestial realm that would also bring on more questions he would not know how to respond to

thus, vacation! it’s already established that Wukong retired himself from helping duty by s1. and what do retired people do? go on vacation!!!! they hit the road, take the most tourist heavy sites, go radio silent and relax! therefore, if Wuking were to tell MK he is going on vacation, then MK would not ask him too many questions about where he’s going or ask if he can join! I would not be surprised if that’s Wukong’s thought process. this answer is merely the simplest way for Wukong to subtly get rid of the LBD problem while MK protects the city and learns more about how to hone his powers (it’s not like the kid needed Wukong, the kid’s a fast learner and his powers are growing pretty quickly).

‘course this undermines MK’s insecurities of not being good enough and brings to light his abandonment issues and his low self worth but, uh, yeah

in conclusion: Wukong dun fucked up for saying vacation because he’s an idiot

#lmk #lego monkie kid #lmk analysis #more like lmk ramble #lol #this month has been so-so tbh #feeling very tired rn #gonna rearrange my queue for a bit so that this doesn’t get drowned by it #I really hope there’s no typos on here #Posting it with no proofreading #lmk sun wukong #lmk mk #sunburst duo

[dipplinduo]

So, I'll admit that I've been really behind on your Sweet & Sour Dipplin fic (I stopped at Chapter 5). But I managed to binge read all the way to the current chapter in 2-3 hours and some eye pain and I gotta say I was floored by all the events that happened since then. It was like getting hit by a massive whirlwind of plot and emotions that I certainly enjoyed! But one of the biggest questions I've got to ask is this:

"Will Juliana ever learn to lock her door when at least 3 people told her to upfront lol?"

TW: mentions of home invasion/attempted robbery, TW is italicized if you want to skip over the mentions

Oh my god I love the fact you legit got that into it??? But also pls take care of yourself!!! And xDD I'm glad it's enjoyable

Okay so the backstory on the door locking:

A reader pointed it out in a comment once that Juliana's door seemed to be unlocked, and I laughed because it was 100% me unconsciously not accounting for it as someone who's been too trusting with unlocked doors myself LOL. I have the funniest story about how I learned my lesson in a "this is messed up, but since everything turned out okay it's lowkey a dark humor story" kind of way.

The long story short is it involves me inadvertently experiencing home invasion/attempted robbery when living with friends in what was a very safe building around like 3AM a few years ago. We and many others had the habits of keeping our doors unlocked. I inadvertently scared the intruders away the night they snuck in and actually entered my room when I happened to be sitting up in bed (they assumed I was asleep). I was tired, blind, and sassy and I assumed the silhouettes in the dark was one of my suitemates being clingy because they were particularly attached to my hip that day, and I just let out an exasperated "Yeah??" before they bolted. Imagine my horror when I put two and two together and realized that I just casually talked to intruders so nonchalantly. The cop that interviewed me was like "BRO"💀

(Real talk: I & my suitemates got very lucky, and although this is a MUCH longer story, everyone remained safe, nothing of ours stolen, what WAS stolen in other suites was recovered, and the cops caught 'em. If you're ever in a situation like this, stay safe & call 911 once you realize what's happening!! They can track your location even if you're unable to talk.)

So yeah! Lock your doors. Always. :D

I'm obviously not gonna have what happened to me happen to Juliana, though. I may make something much more story appropriate happen with it instead, if anything! But this ask has me thinking of a few possibilities now.

#I know I don't really do personal anecdotes but hopefully that one was okay to share since I censored most of the details? #if not lmk #I'll delete it <3 #my fics #dipplinshipping #kieran pokemon #kieran x juliana pokemon #juliana x kieran pokemon #kieran x juliana #juliana pokemon #juliana x kieran #tw #tw: home invasion #tw: attempted robbery

[darthfrodophantom]

Micro-Unmasking - Chapter 3

Final chapter! Hope you all enjoy!

Summary: Great timing prevented Danny’s secret from being revealed to Dash during their shared experience with the Fenton Crammer. But what would happen if his timing had been just a little off and Dash saw more than Danny wanted?

Phic Phight Prompts: Thanks to seeing how various injuries are treated as a member of the football team, Dash actually has a decent background in first aid and anatomy. He gets adopted into Team Phantom when circumstances keep leading him to be the one patching up Phantom after fights. - for Ikiracake

Write one of YOUR ideas that you haven't written for whatever reason. Have you been too intimidated to write it? Are you afraid people won't like it? This Phic Phight season, none of that matters. Whatever it is, put your feelings aside and give it a try, even if it's just one scene! - for @astatia-ghast

AO3 Link

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

Chapter 3: Begrudging Redemption

The Fenton GAV screeched to a stop, leaving long, dark tire marks on the road. It careened around the corner at such reckless speeds that no one saw it coming until it slammed into Phantom. Jack poked his head out of the window and whooped as he thrust his fist in the air. “Oh yeah! We got ‘im Mads! Told ya that Fenton Ram-O-Rama battering ram was a good addition to this baby!”

Tucker and Sam stared at Danny’s unmoving body, their faces pure masks of horror. “Get up Danny. C’mon, get up Danny,” Tucker pleaded under his breath, but his ghostly body still didn’t move. 

Sam took a step towards Danny, but Tucker grabbed her arm and gestured towards the Fentons as they stepped out of the GAV. Jack held two overly-large ghost weapons in his hands with another slung around his shoulder, while Maddie sported a more sensible blaster and a Fenton thermos. “We have to distract them. We can’t let them get to Danny.”

“But shouldn’t one of us check on Danny?” Sam asked, but even as she said it she noticed Dash running as fast as he could towards Danny. He skidded to a stop and dropped down to his knees to check on him. “Oh no, no we can’t let him do that.”

“Sam! Come on!” Tucker urged. “We’ll figure it out later!” He pulled Sam over towards the Fentons and ran right into their path. 

Maddie stopped short as soon as she saw Danny’s friends…without Danny. “Sam! Tucker! What are you doing here? Why aren’t you in school?” she asked suspiciously as she raised an eyebrow.

“We…got sent on an errand!” Tucker lied smoothly. “We had to grab something for class. But then these ghosts attacked and–”

“Ghosts? You mean more than one?” Jack asked as he looked around the street for another ghost.

“Yeah, this giant bear ghost,” Sam added as she caught on. “We tried to run away, but it got Danny and–”

“What do you mean it got Danny?” Maddie shrieked as she dropped her weapons and grabbed Sam’s shoulders. “Sam, where’s Danny?”

As Tucker and Sam weaved a fake story about Danny being bear-napped to get the Fenton parents off Phantom’s trail, Dash tried his best to help Phantom–Fenton. He immediately placed a hand near his mouth to check for breathing, but he couldn’t feel anything. He pulled out his cellphone and placed it near his mouth, looking for a wisp of a breath, but nothing.

“Oh God, he’s not breathing,” Dash panicked aloud as he fumbled with what to do next. His eyes hovered over Danny’s glowing form when realization struck him and he hit his forehead with his palm. “Idiot, of course he’s not breathing! He’s a ghost! C’mon focus Baxter, focus.”

He couldn’t try to help him here. He remembered what Danny said about his parents not knowing and he couldn’t risk letting them get to him. He needed to move him and get him somewhere else. He ran a hand along Danny’s spine to check for breaks. When he didn’t feel anything, he shifted Danny slightly in an effort to pick him up. He heard a groan and took that as a good sign before he hefted him into his arms and ran off down the street. He kept running down random streets until he thought he got far enough away to lose them before he ducked into an alley between two shops. He set Danny down as gently as he could manage and tried to shake him awake. “Come on Phantom, wake up. Wake up.”

~*~

“Phantom!”

The shout jerked Danny into awareness. He instantly regretted it as his entire body flared with hot, white pain. The sharp agony barraged him from all sides. It consumed him and drowned out anything else around him. His head spun around and around and around to the point where he thought he might be sick. He closed his eyes as the siren call of the dark blackness of unconsciousness serenaded him with promises of numbness. That had to be better than this. Anything had to be better than this.

“No no, Phantom, stay with me!” the same voice yelled. Two strong hands lifted him back up into a sitting position. More pain raced through him and he choked out a cry. It unfortunately brought him back again and forced the world into greater clarity. He expected to see his friends or Jazz but instead he saw–

“...Dash?” he mumbled out. “What are you…what happened?” Stringing those words together took so much effort. The sheer agony of everything clouded out his thoughts and made thinking so incredibly difficult.

“I don’t know if you took a blow to the head, so you have to stay awake,” Dash instructed. “You were fighting a ghost and then–”

A gray shape slammed into his side. He flew through the air and crashed into the pavement with a loud crunch.

Danny blinked his eyes a couple times and looked at Dash who had stopped talking. He didn’t even hear the rest of what he said. “I’m…what? I didn’t–I don’t think I heard all that,” he said slowly as he tried to pull words through the molasses inside his brain.

If Dash felt annoyed at having to repeat himself, he didn’t show it. “Your parents hit you with a car.”

The gray shape. The GAV. The indescribable speeds his father drove at. The hit that threw him through the air. “Of course they did,” he groaned.

He managed to slump into a position that only mostly hurt. Every bone in his body throbbed with the echoes of pain, but they didn’t scream and blossom anew with fresh torment so long as he didn’t move. Thank god he didn’t have to breathe right now. “Are they here?” he asked after a moment.

Dash shook his head. “No, I think your friends stepped in. I grabbed you and got you out of there as quick as I could.”

Immediately the warmth of relief spread through his chest. He didn’t think he could evade his parents right now and he felt grateful he wouldn’t have to thanks to Dash’s quick thinking. “...Thanks,” he muttered. Much as he hated to admit it, Dash had actually helped him out and gave Sam and Tucker a chance to distract his parents. He owed him one, as weird as that felt to admit. He shuddered to think what Dash would ask as payment for this. More text messages? Joining him on a hunt? Somehow thinking about that made the pain feel even worse.

“Yeah man, of course,” Dash replied with a nod.

In an effort to not make him even more indebted to Dash, he tried to stand. He needed to find Tucker or Sam or get home or something so he could figure out why he was still in such blinding amounts of pain. He used his arm to push himself off the ground and immediately yelped in pain as his arm gave out and planted him into the ground. He fought hard against blacking out again as the searing pain consumed him. Tears poured down his face as he cradled his arm. He hated to admit that he cried in front of Dash of all people as he sobbed in agony. He waited for the tease or the laugh or something to come from Dash, but he only felt his hands gently guide him into a sitting position again.

“You really shouldn’t move,” Dash advised. “I think you dislocated your shoulder. You may have even broken it.”

Danny leaned against the wall and took deep breaths as he tried to ride out the pain. He didn’t really need to breathe, but the cool air seemed to help. The wall also felt surprisingly cool to the touch even though he felt like his body was on fire, and he took solace in that grounding sensation. “Great,” he grimaced through gritted teeth. 

“I think you cracked a couple ribs too,” Dash added as he gestured to the lower ribs on the same side as his shoulder. 

Danny tried to wave a dismissive hand with his uninjured arm, but it came across as barely a gesture. “Yeah, when aren’t they cracked? I can handle those.” Cracked ribs healed and broke themselves again all the time. The shoulder though…that was going to cause a problem, and it would be even harder to hide.

“I didn’t get a chance to look over anything else,” Dash admitted. “You hit the ground hard though. I don’t know if you hit your head.”

Danny closed his eyes as he tried not to feel overwhelmed. A head injury…would make sense. Something made it hard for him to process thoughts. Everything still felt too fast and at the same time too slow. He struggled to hold onto any thought other than the excruciating pain that shot through him. Maybe the pain alone and the shock could explain it, but he couldn’t rule out a concussion. “It’ll be fine,” he said, not sure if he was trying to reassure himself or Dash. “I heal fast. It’ll be fine.”

“You really should go to a doctor,” Dash suggested.

Despite the fog and the pain and the panic still gripping around his heart, Danny managed to level a disbelieving glare at Dash. “Dash, I can’t go to the hospital. I’m a ghost.”

“Well yeah, but not always,” Dash tried to reason.

He tried not to get frustrated, because he knew Dash didn’t know, but he didn’t have the capacity to explain this right now. God, where were Tucker and Sam? “I still have signs as a human. Ectoplasm. My core. Those don’t go away. A doctor would see them.”

Dash screwed his face up in thought. Was he trying to understand that concept or trying to problem-solve their situation? “Okay, okay that makes sense. Then I’ll do it.”

Danny raised an eyebrow. “Do what Dash?”

“I’ll fix it.”

He shook his head. “No no, I’m fine.” Absolutely not. He wasn’t going to let Dash give him some spotty medical aid because he wanted to be useful. “I just need to get home.” He tried to stand just using his legs and the wall for support, but his legs felt like jelly and he barely lifted his bum off the floor before he fell down again.

“No Fe–Phantom,” Dash corrected as he cast a quick glance down the hallway. Even if they couldn’t see anyone, he felt grateful that Dash was still trying to keep his identity secret. “I can do this. Come on, you can trust me.”

Danny leveled a glare. “Trust you?” Dash was the last person he trusted for anything.

A flicker of pain crossed over Dash’s face, but he clearly pushed it aside as he leaned closer. “I know I haven’t been someone you can trust. I know I haven’t earned any of this. But you can trust me now. I promise.”

Danny still eyed him warily. The only thing he could ever trust from Dash was a reliable shove in the locker or to be there at the absolute worst moment to rub his embarrassment into him further. On the list of people he would go to for anything, he fell below Vlad, and that was saying a lot. At least he knew Vlad meant well in his heart. Even if that favor came with a price, he at least knew what that price would be. With Dash, he had no idea what this would cost him later even if it did turn out. 

But at the same time, hadn’t Dash already proven himself? He could have run. He could have abandoned him. But instead he took him away from his parents and watched over him. He touched him gently and seemed genuinely concerned about his well-being. He hadn’t made fun of him for crying or being in pain or not putting on a brave face. Maybe it was the head injury or the pain messing with his thoughts, but Dash had been there for him.

Dash must have sensed Danny’s indecision because he pushed on. “I told you I wanted to make things up to you. You said you’d believe it when you see it. Well how can you believe it if you never let me show it?”

He sighed as he rested his head back against the wall. How many times had he asked his parents to give Phantom a second chance? Or Valerie? Or the public? How many times had he asked for a second chance from his friends because he did something stupid? How many times had he given a ghost a second chance? And now Dash wanted one. Could he really say that as a bully Dash was completely irredeemable? Fundamentally he really didn’t like the idea that someone couldn’t be redeemed, and yet he’d set himself up in his mind that once a bully, Dash couldn’t be anything but a bully. It didn’t negate all the years of harm that he did and it wouldn’t make up for it, but if Dash wanted to try to come back from that, could he really get in the way of that attempt?

“...Fine,” Danny agreed. He thought he’d feel a stab of regret as soon as he agreed to it, but he surprisingly felt lighter, like he’d let go of some ill will he’d been harboring in his heart by giving this kid who’d made his life a living terror a chance. 

Dash smiled wide as his face brightened. “You won’t regret this.” He pulled off his sweater and handed it to Danny. “I need you to bite this.”

…Or maybe he did regret it. “Bite it? Seriously Dash?” What kind of suggestion was that?

“I have to pop your shoulder back into place,” he explained. “Then we can see if it’s actually broken. It’s gonna hurt, so you bite this to muffle the screams.”

Right, dislocated shoulder. He’d seen this in movies before. It would hurt but it had to be done. He could see the logic in that, much as he hated the idea of experiencing more pain. “I thought the goal of your new redemption arc was to stop hurting me,” he joked weakly as he took the sweater with his good arm. 

Dash rolled his eyes and positioned Danny so he had better access to his shoulder. He stayed surprisingly gentle, which Danny didn’t expect. He had always been so forceful and bold and brash that these kind movements felt so out of place.

“How do you even know how to do this?” Danny asked, both out of curiosity and as a way to delay the inevitable.

“I want to go into sports medicine: taking care of athletes and stuff. My dad got me into a summer program where I got to shadow a guy in soccer and I saw all kinds of crazy things,” Dash explained.

“So have you done this before?” If he had, he really should have led with that and it would have been a lot easier to trust him.

“Well…no. But I did see it done. I know what I’m doing,” Dash emphasized again, probably because he could sense Danny’s hesitation. “Are you ready?”

“No,” Danny admitted. He took in a big breath and let it out slowly. “But do it anyway.”

Dash grabbed Danny’s elbow and shoulder and pressed him into the wall. He bit his lip and hesitated for a moment before he pushed. He didn’t falter and he didn’t hesitate. He was quick and the whole process took maybe a couple seconds. To Danny it felt like an eternity. The bone of his arm grinded against the bone of his shoulder. It pulled and strained the muscles in directions they weren’t meant to go. His arm felt numb, like it had been disconnected somehow. His nerves burned. His muscles screamed. His bone throbbed. His entire perception of the world boiled down to his shoulder as the bone popped back into his arm. 

He slumped against the wall partly in Dash’s arms. His head swam again in pain. This time when the blackness threatened to consume him, he gave himself over to it. Anything to escape the pain.

~*~

He shifted against something soft as awareness slowly filled his senses. Pain immediately chased that awareness. His shoulder burned and ached and he almost wished he could throw himself back into that darkness so he couldn’t feel it anymore. Unfortunately the pain blocked him from hiding in that sweet respite and he opened his eyes. Familiar sights surrounded him: his model spaceships, his poster of the constellations, his glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling. He was in his bedroom?

“Hey, you’re awake.”

Danny frowned because of all the voices he expected to hear, he never would have guessed that it would belong to Dash. “...Dash? Why are you in my bedroom?” Even saying it felt wrong, like a paradox he couldn’t speak or it would unravel the very core of the universe. 

“Keeping watch,” he said simply, like that could explain everything. It didn’t, and left so many more questions. How did he even get here? How long had he been out? Why was Dash sitting on his bed like a concerned friend? “He’s awake!” he called out of the room.

Danny frowned as he reached up to feel his head. Did he actually suffer some kind of head injury and now he was in some alternate reality where absolutely nothing made sense? He noticed his scalp felt warm to the touch and he realized he’d transformed back to his human form. He must have really passed out this time. 

Jazz threw herself into the room, her face filled with relief at seeing Danny awake. “Oh thank god, I was starting to get worried.”

“Wait, Jazz? How are you here?” Danny asked. Wasn’t she supposed to be at school? How did she even know he’d be in need of her help?

“I called her,” Dash replied. “After you passed out and turned back into Fenton I didn’t know what else to do, so I called Jazz to pick us up.”

“Wait you…called her?” Danny questioned further as he struggled to fit the pieces together in a way that made sense.

Dash shrugged. “Well yeah. You told me she already knew, so I figured it’d be safe. And I had her number from when she tutored me.”

Right right, he’d forgotten about that. Or rather, he’d purposefully tried to forget about that. 

“He was right to call. Passing out twice after a possible head injury is reason to be concerned,” Jazz added as she walked over to his bed to check on his shoulder. He finally noticed his shoulder had been wrapped up in some medical tape. He cast a glance over to the side of his bed where his first aid kit sat open and now depleted of various medical supplies. 

“Uh, it was technically only once,” he defended, though he didn’t know why that felt like something he needed to argue. “I stayed as a ghost the first time.”

“Oh, well that changes…nothing,” Jazz deadpanned. “You still passed out. And even though you don’t have many brain cells left to damage—“

“Hey!” Danny protested. 

“—you need to keep all the ones you do still have,” she finished, but with a teasing tone. 

Dash stifled a smile in his elbow, but quickly forced his face back into its serious frown. Did Dash not understand the self-deprecating jokes that he and his sister engaged in? Maybe that just wasn’t for him? Or did he feel bad for laughing because he didn’t know how it would be perceived? It gave him pause to see further evidence that Dash was trying to change, and it still felt weird to see. 

“Dash you did a good job with this wrap,” Jazz complimented. “I can’t say I’ve ever set a shoulder, but this looks good.”

“Wait you did this?” he asked Dash. He had just assumed his sister did it since she typically took the lead on first aid. 

Dash shrugged. “It’s just part of setting it.”

“It’s better than I could have done. You might be able to get by skipping the doctor.” Jazz mentioned. 

Danny shook his head vehemently. “No doctors Jazz.”

“I know, I know, but if Dash wasn’t here to help with this, we would have had to go to the doctor,” she insisted. “So really you owe him.”

Hearing Jazz echo the thoughts he kept trying to ignore made them ring even louder in his head. He’d never tell her this because it would go to her head, but he always trusted her opinions on things, so much so that whenever he gave voice to his conscience, it always sounded like Jazz. If she agreed with that nagging voice that he owed Dash, he knew she was right. “I know,” he finally sighed. “I do owe you one,” he said as he tried to regard Dash with as much genuine gratitude as he could.

Dash shook his head. “No you don’t.”

“No, pretty sure I do,” Danny repeated as he gestured towards his arm. “I don’t know how I would have made it off the street without you.”

“No really, you don’t owe me anything,” Dash insisted. “I’ve been a real jerk to you in the past, and that means I’m in the red, not you.”

The room grew awkwardly silent. Danny fiddled with the edge of his medical wrap while Dash traced the constellation designs on Danny’s bedsheet. Jazz must have noticed the tonal shift (because of course she did) and she slowly backed up to the door. “I’m going to give you a chance to talk,” she decided. He didn’t miss the knowing smile that crept onto her face as she closed the door. 

If Jazz thought that leaving them alone to talk would fix the awkward silence, then she really needed to read more psychology books. He shifted awkwardly in his bed. The silence felt deafening as it pounded in his ears. Or maybe that was the concussion. But the pressure of the silence closed in around him, reminding him of all the things he needed to discuss but just couldn’t seem to find the words. 

Finally he broke because he just couldn’t take it anymore. He opened his mouth and expected some lame joke or statement about the weather or something to come out, but not an actual coherent thought. “I have to ask, what changed? Obviously you found out I’m Phantom, but what really changed?”

Dash shrugged but refused to meet Danny’s curious gaze. “I dunno, I just…started thinking. About us. About what happened.”

“You mean with the teddy bear?” Danny asked as he raised an irritated eyebrow. That dumb teddy bear caused him so much grief over his school life, and he hadn’t even stolen it either!

“Well yeah, that and just how it got to where it did. A lot of it I don’t even remember. I was a dumb kid. But I just remember feeling powerful, you know?” He looked up at Danny, trying to gauge if he could understand his perspective.

And really, Danny did know. He’d heard the siren song of what he could do with his power. He knew how hard it could be to turn those thoughts away. Sometimes he was better at doing that than others. But he had Jazz and the conscience she drilled into him to help keep that at bay. He had Tucker and Sam who kept him in check. Did Dash have any of those things when he felt that tempting urge? He honestly didn’t know.

So Danny nodded slightly, and it seemed to be the gateway to get Dash to open up a bit more. He relaxed a bit on the bed as he shuffled his feet on the floor. “People laughed and I guess that made me feel important. Cool. And by the time someone told me it was wrong, I just didn’t care anymore.”

He stopped himself and held up a hand. “That sounds like an excuse. I’m not here to make excuses. It was wrong, and I know that. But you want to know what actually changed? I realized you were actually a cool person under all that loser. Phantom is that cool person, but if I didn’t see that, what else didn’t I see? And maybe I should give people more of a chance because other ‘losers’ might also be cool people inside too.”

He was pretty sure Dash still called him a loser, but he decided to let it slide. He couldn’t expect too much of him too quickly. Besides, was he actually witnessing Dash learn empathy for the first time? It seemed shocking that it took him until high school to understand the concept, but maybe it was better late than never?

“You know…that happens to me with ghosts,” Danny admitted. Jazz always told him that if he wanted to get a little in a conversation, he needed to give a little. “I assume they’re bad, and sometimes they’re not. Sometimes they help me out later. I’m not saying it’s the same, but I’m saying I get it.”

Dash shook his head. “I don’t need you to get it. I’m not trying to make you see things my way or forgive me or anything. But you wanted to know what changed and…that’s it. And now I just want to make it up to you. I want to be different.”

Danny looked down at his bedding as he fiddled with the comforter. He appreciated that Dash wanted to change. He really did. How long had he been hoping that Dash would suddenly decide that he didn’t want to be a bully anymore? He could honestly say he thought about it every time he wiggled his way out of his locker. And now that Dash finally wanted to make good on that hope and really change…he didn’t know how to react. Did he praise him? Did he forgive him? Did he just let bygones be bygones? He wished he could be the kind of person who just let it all go, but he didn’t know if he could do that.

He knew he needed to give him a second chance and an opportunity to prove himself. He’d really stepped up today and showed that he could be trusted. If Dash wanted a second chance to turn things around, he’d give it to him, but he didn’t know if he could give Dash everything that he wanted. There was too much of a history there and too much of a past. Just because someone wanted to change seemingly overnight didn’t mean he could do the same. He needed more time, and hopefully Dash could respect that without setting him back through all the progress he’d already made.

“I’m glad to hear that Dash,” he replied with a small, honest smile. “That’s a good thing. And I want to help you with that, I do, but this…this doesn’t make us best friends or anything. Like we’re not gonna start hanging out.” It felt harsh to say, especially after Dash had been so open, but he needed to set his boundaries. He could support his journey without having to go to the movies with him or eat lunch with him. 

Dash shook his head and waved one of his hands in dismissal. “No, that’s fine. I’ve got my own friends and football and stuff. I just wanted to make things up to you. Help when I can.”

Okay, well that made him feel slightly better that he wouldn’t have to put up with social hangouts with him, but at the same time, trying to account for yet another person on ghost hunts stressed him out. He already knew he couldn’t tell Tucker or Sam to stay away from a ghost fight after everything they’d done, and by now they had a pretty good idea how to hold their own. Jazz started out wanting to be there for ghost hunts, but he managed to have a heart-to-heart with her about how much having another person there to protect stressed him out and she showed up to the actual fights less and less. He really didn’t want to have to take care of Dash too and show him the ropes. He actually felt like Dash could pick it up quick being so naturally athletic, but he just didn’t want to invest the time into training him.

“You know I can’t let you come with us to every ghost fight, right?” Danny mentioned. Dash’s shoulders sagged, and Danny knew he’d finally gotten at the core of what this discussion really entailed. “I know it probably looks cool from the outside and all, but it’ll draw too much attention. People ignore the three of us. We’re not popular and people forget about us, and that works in our favor. People will notice the star quarterback.”

Dash sighed but he nodded in resignation. “No, I get it.”

“But look, that doesn’t mean you can’t help. You can help keep the heat off of us. We can let you in on some of the excuse plans. Honestly, we were kinda running out of them.” They’d used almost every plan on every teacher by now, and really they were just hoping that enough time had passed that they could try the same trick on the same teacher (except Lancer - nothing got past Lancer twice; it barely got past him the first time).

Dash brightened up at actually being given a job and he nodded his head enthusiastically. “Yeah! Yeah I can do that! I come up with a lot of football plays, so I can work out a whole series of coordinated excuses for you!”

…Okay, that would actually be really helpful. He’d mostly suggested it as a way to make him feel like he was being useful but that…that was actually useful. Hard as it was to believe, this was actually working out better than he originally thought it would. “That would be great. Really helpful,” Danny agreed, and Dash preened under the praise. “And the first aid was really helpful too, so if it’s ever something I can’t handle, it would sure be nice to have someone who knows what they’re doing.”

“I bet I could take a first aid class too! Get even more training!” Dash suggested. He turned on the bed to truly face Danny and he could see the resolution in his shoulders. Man, was this how he got before football games? It was kind of intense to see the way his body just radiated with excitement and drive. It was almost exhausting to look at.

“I mean, if you want to,” Danny hedged. He didn’t want him to get too crazy about this. “And look, maybe we can call you in now and then too, like we do with Jazz. Not all the time,” he was quick to add as he saw Dash’s eyes grow wide. “But when we need you.”

“So like an Honorary Team Phantom?” Dash asked as he leaned forward, his face full of boyish anticipation.

“...Sure.” Dash’s eyes shined with so much hope Danny really couldn’t shoot him down, not after he’d been a surprisingly good sport about all this. Yeah that was maybe pushing a bit far, but it was a concession he could give…for now. And hey, maybe having something he could take away if Dash got too out of hand could be a worthwhile way to keep him in check and help guide him on his path of redemption. 

Dash balled his hands into fists and punched the air with determination. “Yes! I won’t let you down, I promise! I’ll be the best Honorary Team Phantom member that there is!”

If this was what it felt like being on a sports team, then he felt grateful that he didn’t make it onto the middle school football or baseball teams. He really didn’t know if he could take all this aggressive goal-setting and celebration. Hopefully he’d calm down, but he had a feeling with a pang of regret that he probably wouldn’t. But if aggressive jock energy was the major downside to getting escape plans and free first aid…he really couldn’t be too upset with how this negotiation turned out. Tucker and Sam would hate it though.

“Oh by the way, what happened to Tucker and Sam?” Danny asked. It felt strange that they weren’t here yet to check on him.

“Oh, they were off distracting your parents,” Dash said off-hand.

“Do they know what happened to me?”

“...No. I don’t have their numbers.”

“Right.” Danny winced as he finally thought to check his phone and noticed a bunch of messages asking if he was okay, where he was, and if Dash had taken him away somewhere to exact revenge on him or stick him in some Phantom shrine. That last one pulled a slight chuckle out of him, which he instantly regretted as it pushed on his broken ribs. He typed a quick response that he was safe at home and immediately they messaged they were on their way. “Alright, they’re on their way.”

“Which means I should probably go,” Dash offered.

“You don’t have to,” Danny mentioned. Yeah he didn’t really enjoy Dash’s company, but he’d done a lot for him today and the least he could do was not chase him away. 

Dash shook his head. “Nah, I should probably head back to school. Got football practice later. Besides, the way your girlfriend glares at me kinda freaks me out.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Danny groaned. How many times did he need to remind people of that?

“Uh-huh,” Dash chuckled. “Whatever you say.” He stood up from the bed and gave him a respectful nod. “Get better, ‘kay?”

“Yeah, I will. And Dash? …Thanks.” He didn’t really know what he was thanking him for: the first aid care, still keeping his secret, the offers for help that he gave, respecting his boundaries when he did lay them out - really it probably encompassed all of it.

Dash seemed to get it because he gave him a soft smile. “Thanks for giving me a chance.” He waved goodbye and headed out the bedroom door. He could hear muffled conversation that got quieter as they moved further away, which must have meant that Jazz decided to escort him downstairs. Of course she would, she’d want the gossip on what took place in that room. Come to think of it, she’d had an entire car ride to talk to Dash before he woke up… 

He felt dumb for only now realizing that she probably guided Dash through what to say. Looking back, he could see Jazz’s guiding hand on the whole thing. He wanted to be angry at her for interfering like that, but honestly…he couldn’t be too mad about it. He felt a lot lighter and more at peace. Yeah things with Dash weren’t perfect, and he didn’t think they ever would be, but he didn’t feel the burden hanging over him anymore. He finally felt like he’d found peace in a war ten years in the making, and that relief washed over him like a warm blanket. 

He knew it wouldn’t be without its challenges. He knew Dash would probably say something dumb or insensitive because he was still learning. He knew he’d probably lose his temper at Dash being around too much. He knew his friends would hate Dash being around more. But he could really see this being a good thing in the end, and if he could say that the time he spent on Dash made him treat other people differently going forward - well he’d count that as a win.

He settled back in his bed, content to rest until Tucker and Sam got here. He knew better than to close his eyes because Jazz would freak out that he fell asleep, but despite the pain that ravaged his chest and shoulder, he stared at the ceiling feeling content. 

His phone buzzed in his hand and he looked at his phone expecting some kind of update from Tucker or Sam.

“So what happens when you suck a ghost in a thermos?”

For the first time, Danny didn’t groan seeing Dash’s text. He chuckled lightly and typed out an actual, thoughtful response this time. After everything he’d done, he’d earned some real answers, and honestly, he didn’t mind.

Hopefully these last two chapters added a little more fun to the story! While I still like how pithy and compact the first chapter is, I do think these final two chapters rounded things out a bit more. It was nice to give Dash more of a proper redemption arc, and hopefully I managed to do that while still keeping Danny's reaction to it realistic.

I definitely don't want this to come across as being a bully-apologist because bullying is horrible and I will never condone it, but I am also a firm believer that people can change if they want, but it has to come from inside them. Or maybe I just like to see the best in people.

Also, credit to my IRL best friend for the Fenton Ram-O-Rama name. It was beautiful and she deserves so much credit for that bit of genius.

Anyways, hope you had fun!

#danny phantom #fanfiction #danny phantom fanfiction #danny fenton #dash baxter #phic phight 24 #phic phight 2024 #phic phight #post identity reveal #canon divergent #dash baxter redemption arc #team ghost #phic phight team ghost

[dfroggofarson]

oh, hello.

yes, i'm still alive. wow.

it's been a long time, but now... I've finally had the strenght and time to continue the story. this, being the third part of the series A betrayal so deep... (you can read the first part here, and the second one here) is almost exactly 1300 words long. and also yes, it won't stop just here...

i'm telling you again. don't blame me (love made me crazy... no, it has actually not), you requested it. and i'm having so much fun and terror writing this that i just cant stop making this originally oneshit- i mean oneshot longer and longer, so i can feel at least something even if it's the angst of my own imagination and hopefully your sufferings, too.

thank you for that, by the way. i feed on your horrors. @iiyumii @that-boi-sus @etherisy

if you don't know already about it, i recommend listening to WHERE ARE THEY NOW??? by emily jeffri, for the whole series. ah, and one more thing, the reader is gender neutral, as always.

all right, we're all set now. enjoy! ^^

Kneel before me.

A betrayal so deep... part 3.

"Come on! That's not all you can do, huh? Or is that it? Already?"

"N-no...!"

"Then push harder, brat!"

You snarled, focusing even more of your strenght to your legs, trying not to get hit by your opponent's staff. But it wasn't that easy as it sounds.

You've been cleaning, training, and then again cleaning all day long. It was freaking tiring. Sweeping was kind of okay, because at least you could hum some songs and dance to the rhythm of it if no one was around, but scrubbing the floor all day long just so the others can walk trough direcly the already cleaned parts?

So, long story short, it was tiring.

Your only refuge was the food - because that was delicious every single time, no matter if it was after training or cleaning. A plate of meat and rice was just enough to make up your upset mind.

But the fatigue and exhaustion would make you eat all the food anyways.

The giant robot suddenly pulled back, preparing for a lethal stab, and you knew that was to come. Your legs and hands were shaking, but you collected yourself. You quickly moved to its left, dodging the sudden movement and even the next, surprise attack, and then swinged your staff to deal one last hit-

The blade came from thin air.

You froze.

He scoffed.

Silence.

Then the blade disappeared from your throat, making you almost collapse from fatigue. You heard a resigning sigh.

"Every single time when I think that you are just a littlebit close to do something useful..." His voice echoed trough the room. "And you always make the same mistakes all over and over again. That will be your death."

Footsteps, leaving the room. You gulped.

Your didn't even notice that you were on the floor now, shaking and breathing heavily, only when a graceful hand laid on your shoulder.

"Come on, kid. I don't think it was so bad. Just give a bit more attention to your environment, like we practiced, okay?"

"Yeah," you said, shaking your head. "I'm trying. But even though all the things I'm finally good at, he didn't even mention it. He only sees the bad things."

"Nothing's good for Scaramouche, you know that, too. You shouldn't be so upset about it."

"But i am going to be good for him," you declined, standing up. Your whole body was exhausted but you didn't care. You bowed for Marionette's metal subordinate, then to her. "Thank you for lending me a hand again."

You left the training hall without another word, walking towards your room.

But something stopped you.

The feeling of another, strange, unknown presence.

That was no common in the headquartets of the Fatui Harbringers.

You gripped on your knife - your very first weapon, Scaramouche gave it to you -, ready to slice someone's throat that does not belong here. And after a minute of following your instincts and traces, you finally saw the intruder: a tall, lean, ginger haired man, surrounded with threatening and disturbing aura.

But that meant nothing to the person who was taught by Scaramouche himself.

You held back your breath. Causing no sound, you sneaked behind him, and just simply put the knife to his throat.

He froze.

"Answer me: what are you doing here?" You asked causally, voice not louder than an ignorand fly in a cathedral.

"Hm." You could hear the smirk in his voice. "Seems like I've already met my next opponent. I tought it would be yet-"

"Answer," you demanded again, sinking the knife in his throat the slightest - causing a thin line of blood to appear beneath the wounded skin.

"All right, all right," he put his hand up. You sucked on your teeth. He stopped moving. "Okay. My name is Childe-"

The knife sunk deeper in his flesh.

"Clam down, I'm trying to talk to you!" He snapped, that you rewarded with a small smile. He finally realized that you were in control. "I'm here to-"

Before the sentence was even finished, he moved.

You could only trace his silhouette with your eyes, but not to react as he freed himself from your hostility. Not so surprisingly, he was much faster than your overwhelmed body. You could only dodge his arms trying to grip on your neck, and keep a space of three metres, but nothing more.

But why did no one notice his arrival?

What is happening here?

It was a pain to admit that you alone were not enough to take him down, but that was the case. So you needed to alert the Harbringers, you were sure that Marionette couldn't be that far away...

"No need to think about escaping and warning the others," he said, with a visible smirk, this time. You looked right into his deep blue eyes, drinking the bloodlust and echoes of war within his presence, but you were better than just to let it take control over you. "They know I'm here. In fact... You should be afraid they'll find you in this unfortunate situation."

"Why?" You asked simply, still holding the knife, ready to take his attacks and act when the moment is right.

"Because from now on, I'm the Eleventh Fatui Harbringer, Childe. Your newest lord and imperator. The one you work for."

Time just stopped.

You were looking at him, a bit widened eyes, trembling legs and in a pathetic defense pose.

What?

"So, you better put that knife down. You wouldn't have a chance after all. But I must admit, that sneaking... I could only feel your presence in the very last moments, and then whoa! There you were, holding a weapon to my throat. Might I say, you are really trained... A bit too much, I see," he nod, aiming at your shaking body. You hated yourself for it. "So, now, that I've introduced myself, it's your turn. Go on. What's your name? Where did you come from?"

You didn't reply for a moment, trying to process the things he said.

"Y/N," you answered, lowering your weapon, but still taking a defensive pose.

"Y/N... I see," he smiled, then slightly tilted his head. "Kneel before me, Y/N."

} > -- • -- < {

'They knelt. Even after all these years. They bend so beautiful and elegant, no matter how much blood and wounds and scars are on them - they bow like a leaf under the pressure of the heavy waterdrops. Like it was too much to take, but too mesmerizing to just drop the weight and give it all up.

No surprises. Let's be honest, it was you who taught them, so I shouldn't adore these facts so much. These are just the basics.

But I know you like it too, that's why I decided to send this letter. I know it will find you. So if you - or not, I don't really care about them - want your little brat back, you know where to meet me at dawn.

See you, then.'

Scaramouche just stared at the blank end of the paper.

His brat? He had no brat anymore.

They were dead.

At least, so he tought.

An unknown sensation entered his chest. It was strange. He had only felt this thing when he was with you, and he could not explain it at all. But so far, he didn't even notice it properly. He didn't really care.

However, after you were gone...

He wasn't attached to you, he was not capable of feelin this way. But someting has definitely changed after you.

He looked at the letter again. It was written with a deep red liquid. He knew the smell, so he had no doubts about its origins.

Damn it...

He hated how you knelt to Tartaglia.

You should only kneel to him. And no one other.

Now, that's the time to prove your worth, brat.

#genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact angst #scaramouche genshin impact #scaramouche #scaramouche angst #childe genshin impact #childe #fatui childe #tartaglia #x reader

[yuri-is-online]

Love how we're both back on our ace shit at the same time <3. Also, I'm getting back into writing (just working on short stories before I get into fanfiction, and am very quickly realizing my flaws T-T) and I'm thinking about working on an 80s aduecyuu au. Yuu and deuce are punk because I'm punk 😗 but for a wider audience I'm thinking of making yuu grunge or hardcore? Something a bit more neutral. Don't know what Ace will be yet. He might get to be generic the 80s asshole jock 😍. Somebody gotta do it ace <3. But Grimm will be a weird ass cat who seems to have way too much of an attitude and seems a little too human?

But yeah. The au is just 3 idoit doing stupid shit, sharing a braincell, trying to figure out where the line between friendship and queer throuple is while trying to ignore the impending scene of dread because a lot of weird shit™ keeps happening in the background.

Also cater will show up at sometime. Don't know when. Don't know where. But by God I will make it happen, and he will be the skaterboy we all know he is.

Idk if lolitas existed in the 80s but if they did I'll make riddle ouji lolita for you ❤ or atleast ouji lolita adjacent

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! GO YOU! MAKE SURE TO TAG ME WHEN YOU DO!! I promise to be only a little unhinged in your comments.

That's the thing about writing. The more you do it the more you realize what you're bad at but that's not always a bad thing. You can't improve on what you don't know needs improving.

Don't pressure yourself to make Yuu grunge or hard-core for wider appeal. I think all twst writers put a little bit of themselves into their povs, so if you know punk the story will probably be a lot easier to write since that's you! (If you wanted them to be different than Deuce and Ace I'd vote trad goth. That style goes so fucking hard and so does their music bauhaus my beloved. Also i guess kind of fits with Ramshackle?) Is this meant to be a sort of classic horror vibes? Because I dig it. I think Stranger Things did us all a disservice by sucking ass and making people think 80s horror should die because it became too mainstream :/

I'm going to put my unhinged rambling about lolita under the cut but oh my God you don't have to do that I'm so grateful you thought to though I've got such a big smile on my face rn cccc;

OK so to make a very long thing short, yes lolita did exist in the 1980s but it didn't really look like anything it does today. It was pretty much all handmade, and though the first brands were around we have no idea what their peices looked like since the fashion wasn't really widely worn or photographed until the 1990s. It didn't even have its name until the 90s. Lolita as it exists today is very much a 90s/early 2000s fashion which is honestly wild to me. As for ouji, it pretty much grew alongside Lolita so that would also be a no go.

Given Riddle's backstory I can't really see him as an 80s lolita. He doesn't seem like the sewing type to me... but there is this one brand that helped influence Lolita fashion called PINK HOUSE that was stupid popular in Japan in the 80s. I'll link you to this blogspot article which is both about the brand and the misconception in English speaking spaces about the term "natural kei" but I think it suits Riddle if you wanted to give him a lolita like vibe. The tl;dr of the article is that it PINK HOUSE and it's original designer Kaneko was a staple in 80s fashion in Japan, and is referred to as just PINK HOUSE or Kaneko fashion. As it lacks the community or aesthetic of kei fashions or lolita it is not considered a part of those groups... which does sort of fit Riddle in a way as his mother isolates him from both 💀

#<3 asks #twisted wonderland #when i first got into lolita i remeber seeing people argue? #about the term ouji vs the term boystyle #because most people in english speaking places called it boystyle? but i dont fully remember why #hmmm if i had to point to anyone in the cast who would be an 80s lolita I'm almost tempted to say rook #i can see him making his own clothes #i once wrote a male yandere who wore skirts specifically so he could keep more knives on him and i can see rook sharing that logic #gl with your writing friend i hope you have fun with it!!!

[azumasoroshi]

guess who just watched summertime rendering (it's really good)

guys what the FUCK

(spoilery-review stuff will be below the cut but tldr: summertime rendering is really good, subverted a lot of my expectations, gorgeous animation, keeps you on your toes and has smart characters and good writing, just try not to cringe too hard at some of the haha boobs/haha panties jokes i swear there's not too many)

okay funny story. i got interested in this anime literally yesterday because one of my favorite channels was analyzing its ending song by chance

and i was like oh it's like anohana but a murder mystery? interesting premise. doesn't necessarily guarantee that it's good, the animation looks pretty at least, but it's 25 episodes and my attention span kinda sucks...

and i see the main girl in a swimsuit and im like alright. the second there's a really weird zoom on her chest im out

(my live thought process pictured below)

and the first shot or so was of the swimsuit girl (ushio) without any weird zooms so i was like okay hey we're in the clear so far

AND THEN

one minute ten seconds. dawg. that actually has to be a record of some sort

and i was 🤏this close to dropping the anime but i really wanted to see the dark horrifying stuff so i continued anyway

like. maybe that's a one off joke. maybe they wont do it again and that was just to get weirdos to be like AYYY and keep watching. maybe there is hope

there was no hope.

but i hung on anyway because right after that was the OP and it looked really interesting mostly because there were no anime visuals at all until the very end

which was. shinpei being a little bit silly. little but quirky. vibing persona 3 style baby baby baby baby baby baby baby

so yeah i decided to keep watching until the end of the first episode despite my apprehension because i just. wanted to see the dark shit go down. uaghhhhhh

and i kept watching EVEN THROUGH the clear insinuation that the mc's adopted sister was in love with him and that the mc was in love with his other adopted sister and the police officer was looking at porn in public and then FINALLY

FINALLY

(major + ending spoilers start here)

they killed my favorite character.

and then they killed the younger sister and then they killed the MAIN CHARACTER AND I WAS LIKE DAWGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

like i was expecting it to be dark but i didnt expect them all to straight up die on screen with blood splatters n everything :sob: wasnt expecting the time loop either

like. you gon have this gorgeous animation just to make the characters' deaths that much more brutal. holy fuck

i realized the other anime this reminded me of. this anime is a anohana x kagerou project crossover. thats fuckin crazy i kinda dig it

people also compare it to re:zero which is fair cuz it has the time travel, the unexpected brutality, the short haired girl who gets rejected in favor of the long haired girl (lmao) i just like kagerou project more

it somehow didnt connect the first time that it wasn't mio and i was like huh i wonder why they suddenly skipped time

and then when this scene rolled around for the second time i literally like. it hit me so fast and i was like FUCK. i was like genuinely terrified help

and then she started stabbing the ever loving shit out of totsumura and i was like oh okay! guess i dont have to wait in suspense for what she'll do at the very least

and then she stabbed shinpei in the throat and i was like OH OKAY

that scene also terrified me cuz like the phone call happening while the killer is nearby is a classic horror trope but like. i dont watch horror usually. that's my worst nightmare

it was on his third death that shinpei really started to shine for me as a protagonist because like. he's smart. notably so! it was really nice because the classic horror starts to fade away at this point and everything becomes a giant chess match

fair enough though cuz bro was like "LMAO NAH I REFUSE TO DIE AGAIN THAT SHIT PAINFUL AS FUCK" (and then repeatedly died a bunch more anyways)

it's interesting that his whole "take a step back" thing is like. a trauma response too. we love dissociation representation lmfao

shinpei was also really quick to adapt to everything and it took a LOT of shit going down to make him finally lose his composure, but he gets back in it and doesnt waste time and it was really refreshing because yknow anime (and the horror genre in general) with its overdramatic clueless protagonists

and also!!

i immediately pegged sou as the loud dumbass yosuke/ryuji type (i love them and their depth, im talking about surface level) best friend who wingmans for shinpei and immediately gets sus of shinpei and gets killed first n shit

but that was my bad like damn sou was a really good character

to be fair this was his first introduction

and the line "I should tell Sou everything" with a shot of the sky is REALLY FUCKING OMINOUS, so i feel like that was a bit of a bait and switch on the author's part lmfao

i stopped taking screenshots around this point so ill just talk about a bunch of parts that stood out to me pff

HIZURU MINAKATA MY BELOVEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

she's so autistic and so smart and so just. god. i love her

AND RYUUNOSUKE IS BABYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

i literally wanted to cry seeing him in the ending like dawggggggg he's SO cute id marry him no questions asked

he and hizuru were my favorites along with nezu because badass old man SLAYS

i also surprisingly really liked ushio lmao i thought she'd be like the usual manic pixie dream girl and then just based on her being in a swimsuit but like. she was honestly a joy as a character lmfao

like. her being the biggest powerhouse next to hizuru? did not see that coming, we love a girlboss!! and she's also smart and forward-thinking despite the airheaded vibes so like damn. good character! i really liked what little we got to see of the real ushio interacting with her shadow too, it was a nice bit of character building + it was funny lmao

mio was the only character other than shide that i just straight up did not like lmfaosgkjhsjg the whole "im in love with my stepbrother" was just. fuckin. weird to me from the start and you have no idea how fucking relieved i was that shinpei didn't accept her confession or get with her at the end

of course it's like. not any better that he got with his other stepsister. but like mio was more annoying so it's fine (😭)

she ended up being a damsel in distress who didnt really do anything up until the school fight where she still didnt do much, and with how much ushio emphasized "protect mio" you'd think she' have some sort of plot relevance but nope she just. thought about her brother a lot and confessed after 20 episodes and got rejected and cried

it's like all the buildup to her confession was PURELY to buildup for the ACTUAL confession which was shinpei telling her that he was in love with ushio

which is lame

like jesus her shadow had more plot relevance than her. i literally liked her shadow more than her like ????????

tokiko was a good character though i liked the "i didnt dirty my hands for this" foreshadowing and also her being a lesbian was an unexpected surprise that i liked lmfao she's a fuckin real one for still encouraging mio to be with shinpei despite being madly in love with mio. what the hell was that "i want her to see all of me" line like girl????

shide was a good smart villain, he kinda started getting cheesy typical anime villain by the end but by that point the anime was pretty firmly in the action/strategy genre and relying a lot less on the horror/mystery part so it was alright

i did love the talk he and shinpei had about video games and the FF7 namedrop was hilarious lmfao

it was cool how they had the callback to him being a video game nerd during the first fireworks festival with that 2d 3d king thing

absolutely despise him for what he did to hiruko though like. ew.

i didnt really get why hiruko deadass reverted into this weird lookin baby thing at the end but like haise was cute i liked her

didnt understand how they literally changed history either but i guess the magic eyes are like "fuck time lmao all my homies hate time" so oh well, i guess it works

the ending was really a full on "everybody lives and is happy" type deal but like. i didnt even mind man i was literally ecstatic seeing hizuru's boobs again like holy shit. you know you're watching a weird ass anime when you start crying at the fucking fanservice scenes like ohhhh my god

and like goddammit they deserve happiness

although. i was a bit pissed that they brought ushio back to life. like yeah she deserved to be brought back and yeah i do love her but rip the themes of grief and regret i guess

the show was never really about grief so i get why she was brought back but like ueeeuueueuueuee the whole "i don't want to do anything i'll regret again (including leaving ushio before we had the chance to say goodbye) so i have to keep moving forward" was really good character stuff and hrekjajsghjhsg i guess it paid off at the end???

whatever ill take getting hizuru and ryuunosuke back no matter the narrative costs

anyway yeah really good anime, definitely exceeded my expectations (which were pretty low to be fair though), i did watch all 25 episodes within 24 hours so i might be a little insane

#summertime rendering #summertime render #summer time render #summer time rendering #god. i fucking knew the tags on tumblr would be a mess the second i saw the name #shinpei ajiro #ushio kofune #hizuru minakata #ryuunosuke minakata #tokiko hishigata #sou hishigata #ginjiro nezu #not tagging mio for any mio likers out there im sorry :sob:

[reiverreturns]

19 + phoenix

honestly this prompt got pretty far away from me but i'm hoping a little dose of mavnix atones for my sins. under the cut for M tones. thank you for the prompts my darling and i'm sorry it's taken 3 bloody months to finish them ❤️ Send me a prompt and some characters/ships for a ficlet or drabble

Phoenix + Raw

Maverick comes apart when the world around him stills. This, Phoenix knows, is a near certainty. 

She understands why. Neither of them are built to stagnate, and in the desert, movement canters around them in a messy tangle of cranks, pulls, rocks, and groans. He pulls her into the Airstream when the sun’s at its hottest and laughs when her jeans stick to her thighs. She disrupts the peace he finds in between his early morning coffee and the sheets of a newspaper until he’s twitching and slack, nervous to pull his bare skin from the leather upholstery. She pours the cold coffee down the drain, makes them a new pot, and knows that it too will be forgotten. 

They work on Maverick’s litany of machines and talk about hops and horror stories and the long roads that got them here. It’s easy. Comfortable. 

But night affords them less. It’s then, in a darkness that is cool and quiet, Maverick murmurs against Phoenix’s hair: “I’m meeting Rooster for dinner next Friday.” 

Phoenix hums a reply and doesn’t move from Maverick’s chest. She already knows. The date’s been on Mav’s calendar for weeks, written in light-handed lettering bearing little resemblance to the crowd of bold capitals and red sharpie around it. A hesitant hand. A hopeful one. 

(They don’t talk about Bradley.) 

Phoenix shifts from Maverick’s side to draw a leg over his waist, settling down until she’s on top and flush against him. Maverick’s eyes are boring holes into the ceiling like he’s trying to see the stars and all their fissures through layers of metal. It’s an old look, nothing new or wondrous in it, and it makes Phoenix’s ribs ache. 

(He looks like a wayfarer, she thinks. Like a man asking the sky to guide him home.) 

She pushes her palms against the sides of his neck, tries to rub away the anxious tic in his jaw with the pad of her thumb. “It’ll be fine Mav,” Phoenix reassures, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “You’ve got nothing to worry about.” 

“Oh, I’ve got plenty to worry about.” Maverick smiles but Phoenix can see no humour in it. Warm hands find her back and fold over one another in long, slow crosses, holding her to him. “It’s been over a decade. That’s a lot of time to bridge. A lot of apologise for.” 

It is, but it's not all on Maverick, and it takes everything Phoenix has to bite down on her tongue and stop the scold telling him so. It’s not her place. Whatever needs to run its course between Maverick and Rooster will do so without her intervention, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t struggle with being on the sidelines. 

(They’d talked about this the first time Maverick kissed Phoenix and set her ablaze. Phoenix had been so keen to cut the fuel line at a moment’s notice, so awkward was the fit of her trepidation, but when Maverick gasped her given name against her skin - Natasha - the sound was almost reverent.) 

She cants her hips forward and watches his face. Maverick grunts softly, and his eyes flicker towards her. Still intense, still searching, but no longer aimed towards the motionless dark. 

“Well, the easiest way to Rooster’s heart is usually through his stomach,” Phoenix tells him, hands dancing up Maverick’s sides, splaying onto his chest to feel at his heart as she pushes herself upright to straddle him. “Take him to a steak place. That’s his favourite.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah. He orders his steaks so rare they’re practically raw. It’s kind of gross.” 

Her words are a concession Phoenix rarely makes. She searches her gut for the immediate pain, a cost to her meddling, but comes up short. And when Maverick sits up to kiss her, smiling in a way that pools his happiness in the creases around his eyes, the thank you in his touch might just be worth it. 

They move together in their cramped bed and chase the night's stillness away. Soft at first, a slow hum of contentment pushing and pulling between them like brushing waves at low tide, but they are not quiet people, and sure enough, when Phoenix throws out a spark, she finds fuel. 

She rolls her hips and is rewarded by delicious, hard friction. Maverick’s hands map their way to her flanks and she sighs, winding her arms around his neck, trusting him at the controls. 

“And where am I taking you Friday after next?” Maverick whispers into her ear. Beneath the rough edge of her own breathing, Phoenix hears the grin of it. His hand slips between them, the cocky bastard, and she laughs. 

“Anywhere you want,” she replies, turning her head to catch his mouth with hers.

Anywhere, but first, you better take me to the stars.

#i told you i'd finish all of your prompts eventually ajksjksjksjks #honestly i sat on this forever bc i wanted to do something vaguely more creative than full angst but all i could think of was raw meat #and that's just... not the vibe lol #ANYWAY. anyway. i'm the ihavenoideawhati'mdoing dog meme with this pairing but i hope you like it love!! #death taxes and reiver writing a full on ficlet when she meant to write 200-ish words #mavnix #pete maverick mitchell #natasha phoenix trace #top gun fanfiction #reiverwrites #prompt fill #top gun maverick #monlcabarbaro

[toxicruins101]

“Like father like son.” Killer of 1980, Dsmp x male! Killer! Reader

Genre: music/horror/suspense, no body, no crime by Taylor Swift.

Thank you: @ma-l-in for requesting this! Hope you enjoy! Also sorry this took so long!

TW:DEATH, BLOOD, GORE, MENTIONS OF BLOOD, SHOOTING, DEATH BY ELECTRICITY, GETTING STABBED, MENTIONS OF FALLING FROM A HIGH PLACE, MENTIONS OF TRAUMA, MURDER AND MORE!

part 1: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/toxicruins101/688913156917067776?source=share

FLASHBACK

Oh fuck

He did it, ranboo actually did it, it was an accident he didn't mean to.

The body of the survivor, George fell onto the ground while blood was spilling from his mouth after ranboo had stabbed him, multiple times.

He didn't know what to do he was just standing there.

But then he heard police sirens.

Fuck

Ranboo took his stuff and ran leaving behind no evidence it could have been related to him in any way.

Oh fuck.

PRESENT DAY

Ranboo was now in a police station with all his friends.

You see after he killed George he went on the trip to his friends and when news got to them about the murder, one of them rated out on him and his secret.

And only 3 people new about it in the group, tommy, tubbo and Phil, he knew Phil couldn't have done it, he was to nice for that.

So Tommy and tubbo were his main suspects at the moment, he kept glaring at them and give them a death stare whenever he could.

Tommy and tubbo got the message but neither could tell him who did it.

Phil was talking with the head of the police department, Wilbur, yep that's right, that moron decided he was gonna become a police officer after everything said he wanted to help people and save them after what he went through and having a face to face conversation with his father.

Which is bullshit, he barley did jack shit to them, he merely threatened them, the one who did survive was dream but after some weeks he was found dead in his apartment, suicide, he had to much survivors guilt and couldn't accept the fact his best friend, Sapnap, was gone.

But oh well.

Ding!

Bingo, ranboo had been waiting all night for that sound, it meant the last cop had just left and now.

He just has to clean up this mess.

MUSIC BEGINS NOW!

He did it

Ranboo took out some knifes and hid them in his jackets sleeves.

He did it

"Hey guys, can I confess something?" said ranboo looking at the group a couple of 'sure's were heard and ranboo smiled and looked at the group, "so you remember that story about the guy who killed those dudes in the mall?"

"Yeah man, we all remember" said jack with a bit frustration in his voice

"well I should probably mention, I'm his son."

His voice was the only thing heard in the room as everyone looked at him in shock

"and this whole thing could really mess with me and my family so before anything I want to say: sorry"

"for what?" said jack his voice was careful and a bit soft as if he's choosing them really carefully.

Suddenly an alarm sounded and the room lit up with a red color.

"for this" ranboo said as he took out in his knifes and stabed Karl as he was the closest to him the others grabbed the person next to them and ran through the doors, ranboo smiled and walked through one of the doors.

Este's a friend of mine

Foolish got lost and separated from the group, he was as nervous as could be yeah he was strong but hell, they were dealing with the son of a mass murder.

We meet up every Tuesday night for dinner and a glass of wine

He was running at this point looking for any sign of people, he started calming down a bit and started looking around a bit but his investigating was cut short by ranboo standing in the middle of the hallway his hands messy with blood, Karl's blood to be specific.

Este's been losing sleep

"hey foolish" said ranboo with a smile, "hey man.." said foolish not moving a muscle and clenching up his hands into fists quickly, "why so nervous?" said ranboo smiling and a bit of jokery in his tone "well you just murdered one of my best friends infront of me so, I guess I'm actually a bit scared" said foolish "ah yeah, you know I'm not one for big shows or you know, this, but sometimes I gotta take a page out of my father's book you know?" said ranboo snarling through his teeth a bit.

"ranboo, your father was a murd-"

Her husband's acting different and it smells like infidelity.

He was cut off by a knife impaling his shoulder, he screamed and fell onto one knee, "Don't" said ranboo his happy voice now filled with full seriousness his smile long gone.

"you have to understand he was not a good perso-" another knife this time to his other shoulder. "shut.up" said ranboo saying the words through his teeth glaring daggers at foolish now on his knees and holding onto dear life as his blood was leaving his system quickly.

"I know you're about to kill me but you know deep inside that I'm right." said foolish looking at ranboo, he was now full on enraged and just stabbed him in the heart, he took out the knife and blood just came running out covering ranboo in it. Ranboo looked down at the body and kicked it as he went on to find the next person.

She says, "That ain't my merlot on his mouth"

Jack was in the panel room you could say, there were cables everywhere and it was close to the roof so he could make a run for it of needed, he was with tina and they were both very scared, they didn't know were anyone was

"That ain't my jewelry on our joint account"

They were silent, not a single word was spoken, the room was rather small so there wasn't much space to move around with, but tina was closer to the exit and jack was a bit more close to the control panel.

No, there ain't no doubt

They stayed still as they heard some steps and a familiar voice

"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late I had some problems with a friend" said ranboo his voice angry or annoyed at the end of his sentence,

Tina and jack stayed silent and didn't even move, "oh c'mon! Really? how about this, you guys come out peacefully and I'll give you a quick and easy death, sound good?" man, even though he was the son of a famous murder he was not good at bargaining.

I think I'm gonna call him out

"ugh, your all so boring guess I'll do this the long way." not a few seconds passed and they heard a loud BAM! And then the sound of a door falling, he was kicking all the doors down.

She says

Jack grabbed onto the closest wire he found and cut it open a few sparks of electricity coming out of it. He looked at Tina and nooded she just kept her mouth shut and nodded back.

"I think he did it but I just can't prove it"

The sound only came closer and closer until it was next to them, as soon as ranboo was going to rip down the door Tina opened it and ranboo fell inside and Jack ran at him with the cable in hopes of shocking him, literally.

I think he did it but I just can't prove it

Ranboo doged it and grabbed the hand that held the cable, ranboo had a bit of an advantage cause he was taller than jack, Tina just stayed behind the door ready to run if necessary.

I think he did it but I just can't prove it

Ranboo got a hold of the cable and ripped it out of Jack's hands, jack looked at tina and singled at her to go, to run as far as she could so, that's what tina did she ran, ranboo didn't notice this gesture and just slammed Jack's body against the wall damaging some cables.

No, no body, no crime

Jack weakly looked up his head was hit pretty hard so he was bleeding, he looked up and saw ranboo smiling, he grabbed him by the throat and pushed jack into one of the control panels bashing his head into it making waves and waves of electricity run through his body, jack couldn't do anything as his body was slowly being electrocuted to death, his eyes closed for the last time as ranboo dropped his body and excited the room going up the roof.

But I ain't letting up until the day I die.

Wait the roof, shit, that's where Tina went, he just sent her to her death, fuck.

No, no

Ranboo was trying to find his way to the roof he heard voices up there after he killed Jack so he had to make sure they all died nobody could know what happened.

I think he did it

There was no sign of anyone and no way to get to the roof it was a dead end, fuck.

No, no

He pulled out his book and read what his dad had said to him so many times.

He did it

God, he would've done this in a minute and yet here he is, his legacy, his son, not even being able to get on a fucking roof.

Este wasn't there

BAM! ranboo put away the book and looked around that's when he noticed a flight of stairs that said 'roof' and a arrow pointing upwards, he smiled and gripped his knife harder.

Tuesday night at Olive Garden, at her job, or anywhere

Tina, Niki and Wilbur were all in the roof, Wilbur had his gun out and was looking everywhere. They were all on edge right now.

He reports his missing wife

They heard footsteps coming up and all got their weapons up and glared at the door.

And I noticed when I passed his house his truck has got some brand new tires

BAM! the door slammed open but it wasn't ranboo, it was Tommy, tubbo and Phil, they all put their weapons down and helped them.

And his mistress moved in

They explained what happened and how it was all their fault for telling the police his secret.

Sleeps in Este's bed and everything

"no, it's okay, you didn't know this was gonna happen, you didn't know he was gonna react like this, it's okay kid you did the right thing." said Wilbur trying to bring some condolences to Tommy, he felt like shit.

No, there ain't no doubt

Soon enough they all calmed down a bit but stayed on guard incase ranboo came.

Somebody's gotta catch him out

Soon enough footsteps were heard coming up the steps but they were slow and heavy, they were taking their time.

'Cause

The door flew open and in the dark you could make out a tall figure standing there knife in hand and blood all over his body.

I think he did it but I just can't prove it (he did it)

Wilburs breath hitched and he straightened his shoulders his gun pointing directly at him. Fuck, this all felt to familiar, flashbacks came back to him, the wind as he and george ran, the feeling of the knife impaling his leg. Fuck. The kid was just like him.

I think he did it but I just can't prove it (he did it)

"deja vu much officer?" ranboo said walking and smiling at him, "you could say that" said Wilbur glaring at ranboo his guard up.

I think he did it but I just can't prove it

"how sad" ranboo smiled and ran at them full speed Phil and, tommy and tubbo took cover as they were the only ones without any weapons.

No, no body, no crime

Wilbur tried to shoot at ranboo but he was to fast and Wilbur was not at his best game, that's what the years the do to you.

But I ain't letting up until the day I die

Ranboo grabbed wilburs weapon and pointed it at them, Niki and Wilbur stayed still Niki put her gun back down and just looked at ranboo, he smiled.

No, no

"hands down, and put the gun where I can see it." said a voice behind ranboo his smiled quickly faded and turned to look around to see tina holding a shotgun to his back. "well? What are you waiting for an invitation?" said Tina her voice a bit shaky but still strong enough to not stutter or anything.

I think he did it

Ranboo smiled and turned to look at tina, he smiled and put his gun on the floor, he smiled at tina, tina looked at him suspiciously and lowered her weapon a bit.

No, no

Ranboo took it as an opening so he grabbed one of his knifes and stabbed tina in the hand making her drop the weapon and then took his gun from the floor and shot Wilbur.

He did it

Wilburs body hit the floor and Niki looked at the body in terror she grabbed her gun and started shooting at him, her eyes had tears so she couldn't see well but then ranboo took her gun and ripped it out of her hands she looked up at him with no fear but with tears and he just shot her through the head.

Good thing my daddy made me get a boating license when I was fifteen

Tina was cursing and holding her hand in pain as she backed away little until she was at the edge of the building, she looked up and saw ranboo infront of her, he pushed her, tina screamed but didn't fall she just looked up and saw ranboo holding her shirt.

And I've cleaned enough houses to know how to cover up a scene

"tell me where that little trio of Phil, tommy and tubbo, and I'll let you live." said ranboo glaring at her.

Good thing Este's sister's gonna swear she was with me ("She was with me dude")

"I don't know where they are" whispered tina, "BULLSHIT!, I saw them run and hide as soon as I got here, now where are they?" said ranboo through gritted teeth and anger.

Good thing his mistress took out a big life insurance policy

"I'll never tell you, phycopath." said Tina as she pushed ranboo and his hand let go of her shirt and she fell off the building not even an effort to hang on she just let her body go limp as the air felt a bit sharper and then it was slowly closing the distance then she felt a bit of a gut feeling and opened her eyes just as she was about to hit the floor.

SPLAT! the sound of her body echoed as she layed there in a pool of blood

They think she did it but they just can't prove it

Ranboo just looked down as tina fell and turned on his heel, he turned around and saw a fire escape.

They think she did it but they just can't prove it

He smiled and ran down there he saw Phil and the other two running, he ran behind them at full speed and it wasn't long before he catched up to them and trapped them in an alley way.

She thinks I did it but she just can't prove it

"mate, think of what your about to do, please" said Phil putting his arm infront of the other two in a protecting manner.

No, no body, no crime

"Tommy didn't know this was gonna happen, pleas-" Phil was cut off "wait, you told them Tommy? You told me, that I could trust you that you wouldn't tell a soul." said ranboo he looked a bit betrayed and in unbelief

I wasn't letting up until the day he

"I'm sorry man ok?, I didn't know this was gonna happen please." said tommy on the verge of a breakdown.

No, no body, no crime

"well I won't kill you." said ranboo and he pocketed his knife, "why?" said tubbo his voice shaky and nervous. "my dad left three people alive after his incident so I will too." said ranboo

I wasn't letting up until the day he

"ranboo, mate, you don't have to be exactly like him, come with us, let us help you, please" said Phil looking at ranboo, "I can't they'll probably just put me in jail for the rest of my life, I think it's time, I go back to my father, I wanted to make a life for myself but that won't be possible after this"

No, no body, no crime

"ranboo please" said tommy going up to his friend and looking him in the eyes with tears. "I'm sorry Toms" he hugged him and Tommy hugged back.

I wasn't letting up until the day he died

And just like his dad he let go of the hug and disappeared into the shadows no trace of him left as the police arrived and helped them

"the saying is true you know?" said tommy not looking at anything while he was sitting in a ambulance with tubbo at his side.

"which one?" said tubbo looking at his best friend.

"Like father like son."

#fanfic #writing #dsmp fic #dsmp lore #reader insert #x male reader #dsmp x reader #male reader #ranboo x reader #jack manifold #karl jacobs #foolish gamers #tina kitten #niki nihachu #wilbur mcyt #tommy mcyt #tubbo myct #philza

[tytoz]

I FINALLY played 1 game of DND and I played a Drow Fighter. I love him! Our DM wasn’t very goooood but it was his first time being a DM and he has played dnd far longer than I have. I had some complaints but its nothing ‘horror story’ worthy. BUT it did fuel my drive to actually play this character in a longer well done campaign one day tho. 

Long story short DM makes us lvl 2 players fight a ‘Meat Dragon’ with 300hp that was made up of all the bad guys the DMPC killed (yeah, I know dmpc cringe) anyway, I roll a Nat 1 on my long bow...

DM: you rolled a NAT 1??

Me: I have a +8 to hit tho ;-;

DM: Yeh no. you completely miss the 100 ft dragon and roll to hit your 2ft Kobold rogue comrade instead!

Me:...oh...a Nat 20....I just did 21 damg....

14 hp Kobold Rogue: I’m DEAD!!!!!! T_T

Regardless of how cringe and bad it was it did show me what I wanted in a DND session by showing me what I didn't want. AND he said I get to lvl up 3 times! silver linings!!!!  

#Drow #drow oc #dnd character #Ranin #myartwork

[thetinylittlespider]

Introduction to the first chapter of the first season of my main OC story. (Because I might need 2 seasons to cook this up).

For context: The place in this story is a completely fictional one, a dystopia with slightly better technological development than our current world, it will be elaborated further in the progress of the story.

Tearing Up: Season 1.

Chapter 1: Routine.

CW: Blood, violence, mature language, abuse, horror and hard moments for at least the first 3 or 5 chapters.

KU-M9's POV:

"We fight today for a brighter tomorrow."

Those words were the only thing that used to greet me every morning. A poster of what seemed to be a person in a black elegant suit, with no human feature that I could recognize since their face was covered in a white mask, rising up a hand in the air, pointing at the sky with the index finger, which provided the people from the picture a bright light of what I supposed meant...hope.

It took me a while to catch the meaning of those words, it was almost a year since I learned to speak correctly, it helped me to understand the commands I was given clearly, and to finally be able to talk with my siblings in a more civilized conversation.

"He still needs to develop a few key characteristics. Today he is turning 15 and we are running out of time, if we rush it he may not survive."

I heard thunderous voices outside my enclosure, yeah, did I forgot to mention? My room was a 10 x 10 cm box made out of reinforced glass, located in such way over a desk that I can only see the same wall with the same poster every morning if there is not a human sitting in front of me, sometimes observing, sometimes picking me up with metal clamps so they can take me to a test room, or other times, they just sat there giving compliments about how cute I was, how "docile" I was in contrast to my other siblings, or check up my fangs with no care if they caused me harm.

I took some unstable and painful steps closer to the invisible wall of my room, as usual, there was a piece of tape on that side with something written on it. "KU-M9" a short for "Killer Unit, Mutation of 9th generation". That was my name, and it had been like that as far as I can remember, with time I got used to it.

"Even the little one from next generation has completed her development already. But we've been trying to wake his nature for almost 10 years now...This should not take as long."

Oh, right, they were talking about me just a second ago, they seemed to be dissapointed of me. Since I was 5 they've tried to unlock some mutations in my body, if I remember correctly my instincts had to bring up the adrenaline necessary to unlock them, with that reasoning, they had to expose me to several trials, tests, and my word of choice, "tortures", so I could fully get my abilities. But as casual as those events sound...It scared me to my core when I was taken out from that crystal box. The docile nature that those scientist mentioned before was only my pure fear manifesting itself freezing my body, containing tears and screams while they performed my tests, not even able to open my mouth to beg for them to stop, unable to act on my own, I was at the mercy of those godlike beings that towered over me every single day, giving ideas and trying out new things that could work for me, at some point it became a hobby of them to toy with me, and they only stopped if I was at the brink of death, situation that came often in this laboratory.

My body was decorated with scars, wounds that still needed time to heal, burns that were result of either fire or liquid nitrogen, my face had some bruises too, near my eyes, and my legs kept shaking even after 1 week of them being almost crushed because of high pressure. And to top all of that, sleeping was impossible when all of that was just a monday and I had to get ready for more, the pain was my only thought when I tried to close my sore eyes, and moving to a more comfortable position in the soil of my box caused a horrible and unpleasant feeling to every part of my damaged body.

Lucky me, all those horrible things were behind a thin orange cloth that was my "uniform" if we may call it that. But for the view of the scientist, I looked more like a prisoner with that outfit, not like they were wrong, this place was an absolute prison.

Maybe the next test will be the one to end it all...

As soon as I took air to prepare myself mentally, contain the tears of fear, and tense my body to be tortured again, a gigantic mountain of human flesh interrupted me, a woman's face, casting a shadow that devoured the light of my room, now everything I could see was her.

"Hey, little one, how are we doing today? We are going to skip the usual routine this time. I know you are excited to get your abilities like the rest, but we are running late, so, we are making a leap of faith with you! All the products must be ready by now, and you are the last one and still having development problems...This presentation might be your last chance to wake up your abilities, social pressure is the only thing we never thought about, and who knows, it might work and you will get to see the world outside for once!"

At that, only a few words came out of my mouth in a low volume and weak tone of voice.

ーI...Hungryー That's not quite what I was trying to say, but I believe my stomach is blocking my brain functions to control my body and speech. And I noticed just now how much my stomach hurt, how much it had been since I didn't got any food? Felt like almost a week.

Also...Outside? Was that a prank? Why would they take me outside if I perform well? Wouldn't it be the opposite? She took a step back, now moving her arm at the top of my box, the ceiling...With one hand she managed to open with ease what I had been trying to do for all my childhood since I have memory. This time, she didn't bother to use a tool to pick me up like any other day, she used her bare hand for once, taking for granted that my nature was docile, unlike the others, I never had a record of biting people, or showing any big attempts of resisting after I was 12, the age I understood it was useless to fight back. That idea was supported by the moment she hold my head between her index finger and her thumb, using a moderate amount of force to pull me out of my "cage" without dropping me.

But...It felt different...without their gloves, the equipment or metal tools, her skin was soft, warm at the touch, my head was engulfed by her fingers, and I could hear her heartbeat, the flow of her blood inside her veins, a composition of sounds I never experienced before.

Was I afraid? My muscles were tense, I froze again, she was carrying my body in a painful way, and it was getting really hard to breath as she used more pressure in between her fingers, but it was far from the worst those hands had done to me. For the first time in my life, even if it gave me a slight sense of pain...I felt warmth from another living being, I don't recall this sensation not even when I was about to sleep on the soil of glass back on my room.

But that experience was shut down quickly as she dropped me in another surface, the fall had quite the distance for a creature who was only 2 inches tall, and I stood up slowly trying to clear my vision, regain oxygen and focus on what this crazy idea was about, ignoring the pain in my body once again. I gave a try on my senses to explore my surroundings, but what I heard, smelled, and saw was the last thing I was expecting to see for today...And I was not looking forward to it.

#first time #g/t #please give me feedback #im nervous #trying to do better