#now that he moved position and i have some space to process he gave me so much fucking crap

[real-life-senshi]

So I realized just now that apparently I operate this blog on two specific modes only that’s on extreme ends of a spectrum.   

On the good end, it’s “Ooooo I am so well rested and doing so well, I fill inspired and motivated so let me make content and do updates and maintenance for my blog!”

On the not-so-good end, it’s “FML, everything is crap and I’m feel like a zombie, so I’m gonna drown myself in Reinako and PGSM to forget about EVERYTHING that’s sHiT and all the dUmPsTeR fIRe outside, since my blog on this hell site™ seems to be the only thing in my life that has never failed me so far.”

Welp, I’m in one of these two moods tonight, so I’m working on Reinako gifs.  Expect some content this weekend. :)

#guess which mood i'm in? #here's a hint #i didn't get the job i really wanted #and i finally let sink just how poorly and traumatizing my ex-supervisor had treated me in my current job #like i knew it and my friends knew it but i HAD TO SURVIVE so it never fully clicked becoz i didn't want to face it #now that he moved position and i have some space to process he gave me so much fucking crap #he's no longer my direct supervisor but he's still in the department and he still asks me for things and i'm so done with him I WANT OUT #but i need another job to be out :'( #and i'm so tired and job search is stressful #anyway so yeah i'm in a funk right now #so i'm making gifs #instead of actually looking for a therapist to speak with as my friends been telling me to do #so yeah this blog is run by someone who's a fucking mess #me

[perfectlywrongformend3s]

Can we make out?-Colby Brock

A/N: Just thought Colby would react really cute if the reader asked him. Please enjoy!

-Samantha

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

Your POV

I was right outside Colby's apartment about to knock when I heard a door open. I turned to find the person I was looking for. He looked over at me with a confused face.

" Hey" I smiled

He looked over at me one more time before smiling. " Hey, what are you doing here?"

I leaned against his door since he wasn't walking to open it up so we could sit. " I just wanted to see my best friend." He gave me a smirk. He then walked up to me and placed his hand on my waist to keep me steady while he led us inside. When he shut the door he let go of my waist to move to the kitchen.

" So, you want something to drink."

I wasn't paying attention cause all I could think about was the feeling of his hand on my skin.

Colby's POV

I didn't hear her respond so I turned around and saw her in deep thought. I let out a quick chuckle before walking up to her. I gently touched her shoulders to get her attention, but that plan went out the window cause she jumped.

" Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I asked you a question, but it seemed like you zoned out."

She  looked down to mess with her fingers. I took one of my hands off her shoulder to move her head back up to my eyes.

" Hey, what's up." I said softly

She shook her head. " Nothing Colby."

I didn't believe her, but I dropped it for now. I moved back so she could have some space. " So, did you want a drink?"

She glanced up. " Um, just water please." I nodded and turned to get her water.

Your POV

I was growing nervous so I just decided to hop on the counter to keep me somewhat steady. I saw Colby turn around, and gave me a look. I thought, 'maybe I'm not allowed on the counter' so I did the only thing I could think of and got down. Once my feet hit the ground I immediately felt his hands on my waist. He then picked me up with ease and placed me back on the counter.

" You don't have to get down." He said

I glanced down to find his hands placed on my upper thighs which made me feel butterflies. He cleared his throat before stepping back.

" Colby! Don't leave."

He let out a laugh. " I'm not, just moving to lean against the counter."

I let out a sigh before explaining. " I meant the position. I liked you there." He gave me a smirk.     " Really!?"

I started getting shy. " Yes" I said softly

I heard his footsteps moving closer to me to where I could see his lower body. He then picked my head back up. He was giving me a small smile. " Don't be going all shy on me now, Y/n/n."

I let out a laugh. I pulled him into a hug which he was happy to accept. The hug didn't last very long because Colby's phone went off. He moved away to grab it and sighed. I gave him a confused look. " What?" I questioned

He just shook his head and put his phone down. He then leaned his head back, and let out a deep breath. I just watched to make sure he was all right.

" Hey, I have a weird request?" I said softly

He picked his head up and looked at me. I started picking at the skin on my fingers feeling nervous. " You know you can tell me anything." He said

I nodded and let out a sigh. " Okay, um wanna make out?"

I could tell I left him shocked. I felt embarrassed and messed with my fingers while trying not to look in his direction.

Colby's POV

My brain couldn't process the information she just said. I thought it was a joke because we've messed with each other before. " Are you being for real?" I questioned

She nodded. " Yeah, so do you want to."

I moved so I could stand in between her legs. I then gently placed a hand on either side of her cheeks. I leaned in but I was about an inch to her lips to where I could feel her breathing. I then asked before making a move...

" Are you positive you want to do this?"

She let out a cute giggle. " Colby, I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to."

" I was just making sure." I whispered

She leaned in so I could feel her lisp brush against mine. I held back a groan and heard her whisper. " Please, Colby." I finally grew the courage to connect our lips. All I could think about was how soft her lips were against mine.

Your POV

His lips were the puzzle that was missing. I couldn't help but smile into the kiss. I had to pull away because of running out of air. " Colby?" I questioned

He looked up while keeping one of his hands on the side of my neck. " What does this mean for us?"

He looked like he was thinking really hard. He then messed with my hair. " We could always see where it brings us." he said

I smiled, while pulling him back to my lips with his shirt. I then brushed my lips against his, " I'd like that very much." I whispered right against his lips.

He then closed the gap while saying...

" Good, I'd like that too."

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

I haven't written for him in a while, I'm glad I did cause I kind of miss writing for him. Anywho, Thank you so much for reading! Again please enjoy!!

-Samantha

#colby brock #colby brock imagine #colby brock fanfic #colby brock x reader #colby brock fluff #colby brock x you #colby brock x #colby brock x y/n #fluff #mine

[romanestuffsposts]

Hello!

I never really send in requests, but I was wondering if you could do something where the reader accidentally gets hurt or get overwhelmed, and they slip into a smaller space? And just need a lot of comfort from their daddies? (With a little bit more comfort from bucky?) They just get babied? It's okay if you're busy too! Have a good day!

Hi there love! 💜

Thank you for asking me such a cute request! I'm proud of you, this is your first request and it's wonderful!

I hope you like what I wrote for you sweetie ❤️

Enjoy <33

*****

Warnings : mention of drowning,

Pairings : Daddies!Stucky ; Daddy!Bucky x Papa!Steve x Little!Reader

Summary : you have an accident but your Daddies are here to help you

*****

Today was a beautiful day. The sun wasn’t too hard and the breeze was just perfect to spend the afternoon outside.

But sadly, even if it was a beautiful day your Daddies still had to work in their office. They made sur to spend the entire morning with you like they promised yesterday but you knew after lunch they would leave to work.

You weren’t so sad because they spent two whole days with you and this morning so you were still pretty happy about it. Plus it’s Pepper who’s watching you this afternoon and she’s always so kind with you.

She drank tea with you and your dolls and watched you dressing them. She gave advise when you asked her, she was happy to help and you were happy that she was having a good time.

Now she was reading outside under a tree while you were running around in the garden. She read for you for a while but you grew tired of staying on the same position and needed to move so you got up.

You ran near the pool without noticing and after a few seconds, Pepper don’t hear your giggles and your footsteps anymore.

She quickly got up when she heard splashing sounds and start yelling when she sees you in the water, struggling to stay above the water.

Your Daddies, even if they were working kept the door and the windows open just incase. They heard the yelling and quickly got up, they ran outside and the first thing they see is you, struggling in the water.

Steve ran toward the pool following by Bucky and he jumps in the water without caring about his expensive clothes. He grabs you in his arms and make sure to quickly get out of the water.

‘’I’ve got you princess’’ he whispers ‘’you’re in Papa’s arms, I’m here’’ he kisses your temple.

Bucky is quick by your side and kisses the back of your head. Your Daddies carried you inside the house and turn on the little fire they have in the living room.

They know you need to stay in their arms but they need to change your clothes first. You’re freezing cold even with the weather outside and they can’t let you like that.

Pepper stay downstairs to prepare you a warm bottle and to make sure there’s nothing wrong with the fire while you’re upstairs.

‘’shhh, it’s okay baby. We’ve got you, you’re safe in the house’’

You let out a cry and when your Papa tries to sit you on the bed you cry louder and hold on to him for dear life.

‘´baby-

‘’no’’ you cry ‘’pease, don wanna leave Papa arms’’ you sob.

Bucky caresses your back up and down and leans closer to your ear ‘’I know you don’t wanna leave papa’s arms right now but we need to change you in new clothes. You’re so cold baby, we can’t let you like that. We’ll change you in your favorite pyjama and then you’ll be back in our arms’’

You sob and shake your head ‘’pease’’

‘’What if Daddy change you while you’re in my arms ? Does that sound good to you ?’’ Your Papa proposes.

You sniff a few times and then nod your head.

Bucky start by pulling your shirt off of you while Steve moves his arms and hold you in différents ways during the process so Bucky has easier access to change you. Once your top is on, he goes behind Steve who doesn’t move.

He removes your shoes and your wet socket and comes back in front of Steve to remove your pants. It was harder to remove than your shirt but after some minutes you’re in your comfortable and warm pyjama, still in Papa’s arms.

Bucky kisses your red little nose before heading downstairs.

Bucky takes a hold of your cold little toes while Steve carries you downstairs to try and warmth them up a bit.

He knows that if your toes, your fingers, your ears or your nose are cold, you won’t be able to warmth up.

You rest your cheek on your Papa’s shoulder and look into your Daddy’s eyes. He always keeps his eyes on you.

Pepper had prepared blankets on the floor near the fire so everything is ready for when you come back. She placed a bottle near the blankets with a little note that said that she was leaving to leave you together, she informed your Daddies that she was going to talk to fury and Tony about the work who wouldn’t be done because of the accident, she said to nod worrying, she was handling the situation with them.

Your Papa gently brings the bottle to your lips, his fingers are caressing your hair. Your Daddy reaches under the cover and grabs back your feet to rest them on his laps. He wraps his huge arms around your tiny feet and switch between gentle squeezes and strokes to warmth them up.

Your hands are under the blanket and you start to finally relax.

‘’You’re in our arms, beautiful. What happened today was an accident, you got scared and that’s totally normal but you’re here now, with us. You’ll always be safe with us, always’’

~

I wanted to make it longer and make an after with the traumatic event but I hadn’t posted in a long time and I didn’t wanted to make you wait any longer.

I was thinking about writing about the little one being scared to go in water, wether it’s the shower, bath or the pool (maybe even the rain ?) and she’s scared when her Daddies have to leave her to work (you know because she had the accident when they were working and they said that she was safe when they were with her but if they leave for work they’re not with her so she’s scared)

So yeah, I want to make a part 2 but I’ll do it if you want to! 💋

#@aagn360 #little!reader #bucky barnes x steve rogers x little reader #daddies!stucky #daddy!bucky #papa!steve #little space #steve rogers #stucky x little reader #bucky barnes #bucky barnes fic #bucky imagine #bucky barnes x reader #bucky x steve #james bucky barnes #bucky x reader #bucky fic #steve x little!reader #steve x female reader #steve x you #steve imagine #steve fluff #steve rogers fic #steve x bucky #stevebucky #bucky fanfic #james bucky buchanan barnes #bucky x you #bucky x female reader #bucky x y/n

[markhoffmans-certified-slut]

RIDING MARK HOFFMAN THAT'S IT THANK YOU GOODBYE🗣🗣🗣

Maybe starts off innocent then it escalates pretty quickly?

ksksksks i love you and your work 💜💜

Word count: 1.2K

Warnings/contents: Smutty, riding, light submissive/dominance play, strong language. 

Notes: Not me taking a break from writing about riding Mark Hoffman in my story to write about riding Mark Hoffman in this— uh, yeah… I am obsessed with this man and I had fun with this! I hope that you enjoy this! I love you, too 🤍

<>~<>~<>

Your apartment was small, and the windows weren’t exactly great, so you had this little roll-around space heater that you had bought years ago. Any time it started to get cold out, you would use that as an extra source of warmth. Thankfully, because the space was large enough, it never got too hot in your apartment. However, in times like these, the heater was almost too much. The backs of your knees were sweating as you sat on top of Mark, but every second was worth it. 

It was pitch black outside, almost adding to the intensity of the moment as Mark occasionally looked at the windows that were beside your television. The curtains were open, but your apartment was dim and you were on the third floor. Mark had his doubts anybody would be able to peek in and see you riding him here on the sofa. Your hips wiggled against the man as his thumb occasionally pressed to your clit. 

A soft moan came from you as Mark leaned in to press a few soft, scattered kisses along your neck while you worked on adjusting to his size. The movie that the two of you had been watching was playing on the television behind you, but it was the last thing Mark was thinking about; at first he was slightly annoyed with this, only because the two of you spent fifteen whole minutes trying to find a movie you didn’t say “Ew, no,” or “Boring” to. 

But now he could care less. Mark gave a quiet, relaxed sigh and leaned back. He watched your hips move against him and rested his arms back on the sofa lazily. You flushed when you made eye contact with him. Your fingers held tight onto his shoulders; Mark was big, not only in length, but also in girth. It always took you a few minutes to completely adjust to his size, no matter what position you were in. However, riding him meant it would take a few minutes in the least to completely adjust and not almost hurt. 

Sometimes you would use lube, but tonight the only thing coating Mark’s thick cock was some spit and your own wetness. He was certain a little bit of kissing didn’t do all this; you had been clearly thinking about this for awhile now. Mark watched you as you slowly got used to him inside of you. It seemed, no matter how many times the two of you were in this same position, you were never used to the exact feeling of him inside of you for the first few minutes. 

Often it was easier when you were laying down and then when you were adjusted to his size, Mark would let you get on top of him if you were in the mood; but tonight there were limited options. You often didn’t have sex on the sofa, especially not like that; cleaning the fabric wasn’t an easy process, and it seemed when you rode him, it was a little less messy— until he would bring you to bed, that is. 

“Fuck,” you mumbled, reaching a hand behind him and holding onto the back of the sofa. You closed your eyes and let your head fall back with a moan as you started to work yourself up a bit more. You were trying to move a little faster, lifting off of him until just the tip was inside of you and then taking all of his length back inside. Slowly but surely you started to actually move on him with soft whimpers and whines. 

Mark reached over, one of his hands holding onto your hip and the other groping at your chest and teasing your nipple. 

“God, you’re so big,” you mumbled through soft pants. “Sometimes I forget.” Mark gave a simple hum and helped guide you to move faster on him. “Fuck, Mark,” you whined, going along with his subtle desires and working up towards a decent pace. He slowly slid down a little bit on the sofa to make it even easier for you and gave a quiet moan as he watched your breasts bounce along with your increasingly desperate movements. You bit down on your lip and returned your hand back to his shoulder to use him as balance while Mark now held your hips in both of his hands. 

“You’re such a pretty little thing.” Mark gave an almost wistful sigh. “You’re getting good at this.” 

“I have a really good teacher.” He sent you a small smile and relished in the flustered, mischievous sparkle that was in your eyes as you looked at him. “He’s also really fucking hot.” Mark chuckled and gave a few soft, slow thrusts up inside of you between your own movements; your eyes rolled back into your head when he did it the first time. Mark was quick to lick his lips when you leaned your head back and allowed yourself to be so completely exposed for him. 

The sounds that left you were blissful, music to his ears as he started to plot out the rest of the night in his head; first, he’d get you all riled up before bringing you to bed and teasing you for awhile. But for now, Mark enjoyed himself while he watched you try and get yourself off on his cock. Your sweet moans grew more desperate— almost with every single move you made. Mark returned his thumb to your clit and gently started to rub little circles against you. 

Your hips wiggled against the man, trying to keep a decent pace while he continued to surprise you with the occasional thrust up; Mark stayed relatively still for awhile and simply watched. He liked to see the desperation growing in your eyes and watch you get so worked up to the point you started to beg him to take control and make you cum. He usually waited for you to break, but it was almost impossible for him to say no to you when you were like this. 

Well, any time really. Mark didn’t often tell you no in your daily life either. 

Mark hummed softly and pressed his hand flat against your back, pulling you close against him and catching your gaze. 

“Do you wanna go to bed?” He asked quietly, but his eyes didn’t stay on yours for long. He was quickly distracted by your hardened nipples as he continued to tease your clit even when you stopped moving. “I think it’s time I make a mess of you.” Flushed, you looked away. Mark was quick to catch your chin and make you look at him. “Now, now— you gotta look at me or else I won’t be able to hear you.” He knew you hated when he made you look at him and ask for things— all the more reason to do it, he thought. “What do you say, babe? You ready for me to fuck you?” Gently, you nodded. Mark softly nodded along with you, almost mockingly. “Use your words, baby.” 

“Yes, please,” you said softly. 

“I can’t hear you.” Mark had to stifle a soft laugh when you looked pleadingly at him; sometimes you looked so desperate. He loved to see you like this, but it was a rare occasion. In your daily life, you weren’t submissive like this. In fact, you had shocked Mark the first time the two of you were in bed together; he had naturally assumed you’d respond to his teasing in a firm way, but when you had initially blushed and looked away and started to stumble over your words, he just knew he was going to have fun with you. 

“Please, Mark— take me to bed and fuck me.” 

“Mmm, good girl.” 

#mature #saw franchise #saw #saw mark hoffman #mark hoffman #mark hoffman x reader #mark hoffman x reader smut #mark hoffman x female reader #mark hoffman x female reader smut

[4rlekino]

null and void ' kisaki tetta

cws. 18+ MDNI. gn!reader. canon divergence but also spoilers for bad toman timeskip. reader and chifuyu are friends. kisaki is a lil more ruthless (??) ig. blood and blood fixation. wounds, weapons, death, and violence. toxic relationship themes. no smut but they have a rank ass make out session and reader undresses. 3.2k words.

notes. sighhh kisaki so messed up from his dream girl not returning his feelings. he's killed her and now has no idea how to love anyone sighhh. inspired by the bath scene with venetia and oliver from saltburn

chifuyu's shoulders rose and fell with heavy breaths, his hands tied behind his back and his legs to the chair. stating how he was is easier said than done. the cuts and bruises on your face and body spoke for themselves in terms of how he got there after he woke up too soon from being unconscious.

his head hangs low, drool mixed with blood dripping next to your shoes, and you stand over him, red spatter tainting your face and clothes in different patterns. your hands bruised and bloody from beating him. you try to relax but the spaces in between your fingers were getting sticky, making you keep them balled.

"matsuno," kisaki speaks. he's standing behind his desk, a fresh glass of bourbon in his hand. "you know it doesn't matter how many more of you there are." he takes a sip. "you're going to die here."

"there aren't—" he spits something out of his mouth, a dark object, a tooth maybe, landing between the hairs of the rug below. "there aren't any more. let takemichi go. just take all he's got and dump him somewhere if you want, he's got nothing to do with this."

you almost forgot takemichi was next to him, quietly passed out through the torture you endured onto chifuyu and bound to his chair the same way.

kisaki sighs heavily, finishing his drink and placing the glass down on a coaster. you turn back to your friend who's managed to raise his head up to meet your gaze, and the look you gave him, wordlessly begging him to tell the truth so the worst that can happen to him is be dumped in some alley, but chifuyu shook his head slowly.

"hanagaki has everything to do with this." kisaki's footsteps travel over the hardwood floor, taking his jacket off halfway and draping it over a chair. he rolls up his sleeves, "you wouldn't understand, matsuno."

chifuyu's breath is ragged. "whatever you have with takemichi, i don't, but baji..."

"still on about that?" kisaki says. "i've had your own friend beat the shit out of you and you still think about baji."

you look at chifuyu apologetically, thinking you could maybe work something out between them. "who's baji?" you let slip. you've known chifuyu for all the years you've worked here but you've never heard of this person before.

kisaki turns to you like he forgot you were even here.

"no one important." he says. "kill him."

to your right, you could hear groans and the three of you turn to the source. takemichi begins waking up from his unconscious state, processing his surroundings and struggling in his restraints.

"takemichi, don't move." chifuyu tells him between ragged breaths.

"what's going on?" takemichi's voice cracks. "did you fucking drug us?"

"jesus christ," kisaki sighs, frustratedly pinching the bridge of his nose as he paces.

"both of you, listen to me," chifuyu urges. "i need you to trust me, okay?" he looks up at you, the one, unbruised eye he has open gleaming. "because the future of toman—"

the corners of his mouth curled subtly but never formed fully into a smile, suddenly interrupted by a quick click and a bang. blood was heavily splattered onto your front and your friend was now lifeless in that chair.

you were frozen, your arm still raised with your gun in hand and your finger wrapped loosely around the trigger. kisaki was in the same position behind chifuyu's chair, his pistol was smoking but his clothes were clean and crisp.

takemichi struggled in his chair, crying out while chifuyu's blood continued to soak into the carpet, the bullet that travelled from his head lodged in the carpet near your feet.

"shut the fuck up!" kisaki yelled, the hilt of his gun clocking takemichi in the back of the head. it didn't knock him out but it was enough to silence him for the moment.

he cried out and whimpered, keeping his head hung low.

"are you serious right now?" kisaki snapped. "is this who you really are, huh?! be a fucking man!"

there's a loud thud after that, kisaki having landed a hard punch to the side of takemichi's head with his other hand.

"you really just won't stop." he shakes the sting off his hand and there's another click. all you can manage to do is watch. "even now after i gave you a place here. you're still your same old, pathetic self. i don't know what she saw in you."

kisaki stands at a distance.

"kisaki—" takemichi looks up at him with tears streaming down his face before the gun fires. his head holds up long enough for you to see his eyes roll back and cross, pupils looking like they're pointing at the bullet hole above the center of his eyebrows.

kisaki sighs, pulling up one of his sleeves. when he turns to you, he finds the end of your pistol aimed at him. he doesn't look phased.

"give me the gun." he calmly commanded, holding his hand out.

you stared him dead in the eye, but it did all but intimidate him. kisaki could easily see through you, that you were scared and confused with all the why-centered questions clogging your head keeping you from thinking logically.

"you killed chifuyu." you said, your voice a little wavered.

"he betrayed us. he betrayed toman."

"no, he didn't!" you yelled, tears streaming down your face as you take a step forward.

kisaki takes a step back in return, his hands raised in the air, one of them still loosely gripping his pistol.

the doors open and hanma and his whole division right behind him burst through. it doesn't take him a second to analyze the situation. he reaches for the gun at his side, but before he can pull it out kisaki calls his name.

"hanma, its fine."

"kisaki, be fucking serious."

"i said its fine." kisaki confirms. "i have this under control."

hanma's whole team looks skeptical, murmuring amongst each other.

"stay outside."

hanma glances from kisaki, who gives him a reassuring look, to you before withdrawing his weapon and nodding for his men to exit the room. once the doors close, your focus is back to him.

"don't think i'm not going to kill you." you say, both of your hands now grasping your weapon firmly.

"you're not," he says, confident. "but i'm not going to kill you either."

kisaki bends down slowly, never once breaking eye contact as he places his pistol on the floor and kicking it out of reach before standing back up.

his palms are raised, the silver shine from his rings reflecting. "what matsuno was upset for is between me, him, and the founders. it's a simple past misunderstanding he took too far."

"no, i know chifuyu. he wouldn't do this over something simple." you said.

"you don't know him like i do. we aren't close, but i've known him since we were fifteen." kisaki starts. "baji was a friend of ours, formerly a toman founder but he switched sides. there was a fight between us and his gang a few years ago and he died."

you body tenses when you see kisaki move a step forward, your trigger finger twitching.

"he was stabbed by the person he betrayed toman for."

"that still doesn't explain why chifuyu was out for you."

"i'm getting to it," he pauses. "it was because i joined toman around the same time and became a captain. chifuyu must've thought i had something to do with baji leaving, and if baji hadn't left, he wouldn't have died."

"you expect me to believe it was all because of some years long grudge?"

"i don't, but it's the truth. ask hanma. ask anyone when this is all over."

you didn't believe it, but maybe this really was something beyond your knowledge. kisaki was right on one hand, you didn't know chifuyu like he did. you didn't know much about toman's past at all.

you could feel your strength wavering, a layer of gloss forming over your eyes. the presence of their dead bodies was starting to get to you. you didn't know anything at all but you knew you didn't want to come this close to killing them and watching them die.

"give me the gun, y/n." kisaki says one last time, his voice calm like the first.

you lower your arms and kisaki safely pulls the gun from your hands. his free arm wrapping around you and pulling you in close, the blood from your clothes now staining his.

"we'll share this and put it behind us." he tells you, rubbing your back in circles while your body tries to relax.

you don't have much collection of what happened after that. your mind was too exhausted and confused working itself into overtime to make sense of the situation when too many pieces were missing.

part of you didn't want to think about it, that you just needed to make peace with the fact chifuyu, takemichi, and the possibly others were trying to do something beyond your understanding. that was the conclusion your brain wired into thinking as kisaki stroked your hair in the car.

he booked you a room, something he thought you should rest in. on the way, you both and hanma, who had driven you here, had to sneak in through the back entrance, evading any civilians due to your bloody clothes.

you were clearly out of it, so mentally exhausted that kisaki had to hold onto you to keep you from falling over. the entire time you were anxious of him minding having to tend to your pathetic state, but every time you looked up at him and every time he helped you adjust, there was always a hint of concern. and strangely, there was security in the way he held you.

there wasn't much spoken between you, kisaki, and hanma when you get to the room, kisaki just leads you to the bath, letting you absentmindedly stand there while the turns the faucet to let the water run.

then there were two knocks at the door. in the way kisaki reacts, hanma likely needed to say his piece on this in private.

"just undress and step in. get yourself clean." kisaki says to you before he steps out.

you peer over your shoulder, watching him leave the hotel room with hanma who gives you a look of disdain. you look down at your hands that were smeared bloody and you don't think they'll come back.

undressing, your fingers fumble over taking off your garments. when you step into the bath, your teeth seethe from the heat of the water touching your skin, carefully lowering yourself until you've submerged deep enough to reach your shoulders.

you stare at the running faucet, wondering what's going to become of you after you leave this room even if it was some kind gesture from kisaki.

he'll definitely kill you. maybe he'll do it here, drown you in the tub or suffocate you with a pillow. there were too many ways to die and not many where you could fight back and live.

you sigh to yourself and stretch your foot over, turning the faucet knob the other way to stop the water flow. before sinking into the water deeper, all you could think of were kisaki's motives.

"we'll share this and put it behind us."

internally, you just denied it. it was sweet in the moment, a tactic he likely used to get you to calm down.

was he like this with everyone? admittedly, while you sank completely into the bath, that made you a little frustrated. but he killed chifuyu so easily, then takemichi after that, and no doubt many more himself without your knowledge or help.

you've fully submerged yourself under, the blood from your body dissolving into the water while your fingers fidgeted to get the stickiness off.

you closed your eyes, trying to stay still and let the nervous aches in your joints disappear, but the images of chifuyu and takemichi dead in their chairs were still so clear, and above all you can still feel kisaki's touch. his voice from the past few minutes playing clearer than chifuyu's last words.

a hand grips your shoulder, pulling you up with urgency. it startles you, making you jolt up out of the bath. you gasp when you resurface, some water spilling out of the tub.

"what the hell were you doing?" kisaki exclaimed, staggering back to not get wet.

you took in heavy breaths, slicking your hair back out of your face not really knowing how long you were under.

"thought you were trying to drown yourself," he scoffed, adjusting the roll of his sleeves. he picks something up off the side, a wash cloth, and dips it into the bath water. "come here."

he grabs your chin, not giving you time to comply.

you didn't feel like speaking to him and you tried not to meet his gaze, glancing from here and there while you kept everything below your shoulders underneath the water, preventing him from seeing something he shouldn't. you notice he's changed into some cleaner clothes now, his shirt back to being a crisp white color.

he tilts your head up unexpectedly, making you meet his gaze.

it was a first, but kisaki's gaze softened as he let go of you, moving his attention from your eyes to your lips. you saw his brows lessen in their furrow, the placement of his hand now shifting so his thumb grazes the edge of your lip, feeling at the scabbed over cut.

he pulls at your lip, reopening the wound and pressing down. it makes you wince, the dryness of your lips making the sudden pry worse but kisaki doesn't give you room to think. he kisses at the wound first, your mouth still slightly ajar, then the warmth of his tongue laps over it.

the saliva in your open wound stings enough to make you seethe, his kiss crashing rather than landing.

though you try and push him away, your hands clasped around his wrists, you don't give in enough energy to fully fight back. you try to breathe but its like he's consuming you, trapping you in this strange force that makes you want him to keep going. it makes you hope that somewhere in between all this he'll kiss you properly, comfort you through this trauma.

but he was still being rough, you could feel his teeth gnash on yours and graze your lips. he moves his kisses back to the side where he opened your wound, suddenly biting down on it.

now you really pull away, fight or flight kicking in because something in your chest drops when his teeth sink into you, but its like he's got you in his grasp again in the same second. with one hand, kisaki has you by the cheeks, forcing you to look up at him again. then with the other, he gently moves your hair out of your face.

the water in the tub splashes quietly as blood slowly leaks from your lip, a single droplet making its way down your face, over kisaki's hand, and into the water.

"matsuno," your body tenses at the name. "what he was doing was putting everyone in danger."

his thumb stretches to rub along your jawline. you breathed from your mouth, sick of the mix of iron in your nose. you needed a little more air from how much your heart was pumping. he stopped when you swallowed the welled up lump in your throat.

his hand moves to cup your cheek and you notice his eyes were a gunmetal type of icy blue. it felt wrong staring into them with the warmth of his palm on your skin.

"i hope you understand what i had to do, because he could've killed you too." both his hands now cupped your cheeks, his thumbs rubbing over them gently.

"but you're mine," he says. "and you will always be mine as long as you live."

those words could be endearing, but they came from kisaki—wicked and sinful kisaki—who made you his favorite thing in the world.

you're mine? you think.

mine like an object, you think. mine like you were under him, in a way different from even hanma who's been around since the creation of toman.

despite all the wrongs, you felt protected being called mine.

he leans down and you squeeze your eyes shut, wincing as his tongue licks the trail of blood from your chin to the corner of your lip. his mouth is now just centimeters away with your lips just brushing over each other, and he can feel your slight panting.

something boiled inside him thinking of all that anxiousness you're still trying to hide from him. he's never touched you like this before, kisaki hasn't even though about it, but now you're naked, washed, and touched so graciously by his hands.

and now, kisaki thought—no, he knew he deserved everything that had to do with you. he felt like he saved you from some unsure, impending doom by recruiting you and keeping you by his side, making you fill that lonely, voided hole left inside him.

and god help you. it felt so good to be needed by him.

you press your lips to his, your hands moving up his arms to hold onto his shoulders, pulling him closer to deepen the kiss. he grasps the edge of the tub for stability, not wanting to fall into the water with you.

you push your tongue into his mouth, every now and then lapping at his bottom lip. the kiss gets more fervent and its hard to keep yourself stable kneeling in the ceramic.

water from your body is soaking into his shirt. your chest nearly presses to his as you cup his face. one hand moves to the back of his head, the stubble of his shave pokes uncomfortably into your palm but you push him into you further, your tongue now lapped over his.

it feels like he forces himself to pull away, taking in a gasp of air as you loosen your grip on him. you're both shallowly panting and kisaki keeps himself still to catch his breath, all while you're eagerly waiting for more with closed eyes, impatiently inching back closer to him but the warmth of his body near you slowly leaves.

you raise yourself out of the bath to chase after it but he's out of reach now, standing at the sink to dry his hands with a towel, even patting down the shoulders and areas of his white button up that were soaked translucent from where your body touched.

"there are clean clothes for you on the bed." kisaki says. "spend the night here. have a warm meal while you're at it."

"you're not staying?" you say, monotone but expectant in some way.

he straps his watch back on his wrist, glancing at the time before he slides his rings back over his fingers. "i'll see you tomorrow."

when he leaves, he doesn't close the bathroom door. you watch him take his jacket, vest, and tie off the bed and walk out the hotel room door. the lock clicks shut and everything just falls silent. not once did he look back at you.

you sink back into the tub to get warm, but the water's lost its heat. you could only curl up, hugging your legs close to your chest and taking that much needed sigh of air.

#tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers x reader #kisaki tetta #kisaki tetta x reader #kisaki x reader

[keep-the-wolves-close]

Steady Heart

Chapter 27: Sound off the Sirens

* Pairing: Slow-burn Kayce Dutton x OFC Stella Daniels

* Rating: M

* Warnings: language, angst, Malcolm Beck 🤢

* Word count: 2,743ish

I would love to give credits to @dameronscopilot and @deanscroissant for being sounding boards for me during this whole process, giving outsider insight, being cheerleaders, and allowing me to screech at them about things that have happened during the writing process. I seriously couldn't have gotten this far without y'all!

Author's note: Okay, one more before I actually follow my posting rule for a bit until I catch up some lol. From this chapter until like chapter 38, are my favorite bunch of chapters so far lol. I hope everyone is enjoying so far! I hope you love this chapter as well!

Stella went about her morning routine, well late afternoon routine, since she let herself sleep most of the day away. She was taking it easy. John had given her the day off, and she gave herself off from caring today. The last few weeks, hell few months, had been wild. She needed to reset. The horses would be just fine without her for one day.

She idly walked around the house, cleaning as she went, heading toward the laundry room with towels from the upstairs bathroom. Her cheek smarted off and on. She was irritated at the feeling. There was a lot of wishing that she had taken a different route of distraction. ‘Shoulda busted out a window.’ She giggled at herself.

Then there was the problem with Kayce. Well, it was her problem really. She felt so stupid. Of course he missed Monica. She was the love of his life. They had worked hard to build the relationship they had. Stella was just the outsider. She couldn’t believe she had the gall to think that Kayce would choose her over Monica. Of course he wouldn’t. He didn’t back before he met his wife, and he most definitely wouldn’t now.

Her eyes stung with unshed tears for herself. Clearing her throat she shook her head. Even though she clearly heard him admit they hadn’t reconciled anything, it still didn’t make her feel any better. She never thought she would be in the position of being the “other woman”. It was done and over with. Stella convinced herself that she had to push the feelings away and just go to work and do her thing and leave. She might even talk to John about moving to that new position sooner.

There was a knock on her front door that pulled her from her pity party. Her front door was out by the road, and in her kitchen. Anyone who would have come here knew she used the back door. Her eyebrows knitted together. It couldn’t be her brother considering they had crossed words the last time they spoke. It definitely wasn’t Kayce because Stella was absolutely convinced that Rip scared him off enough last night.

The only person, well maybe two people, from the ranch it could have been would be Lloyd coming to check on her, or Rip bringing her car to her. Anyone else would have just called. She dropped the arm load of towels unceremoniously in front of the washer with a huff.

Sweeping back the few locks of hair that had slipped from her hair bow, she traveled her way to the front door. A knock came again as she got closer. “I’m comin’, I’m comin’!” Stella repositioned her glasses and her face scrunched even further when she saw who was on her doorstep.

Both men were brought to attention when the doorknob turned and the door swung open. “What can I help you with, gentlemen?” Stella questioned. She leaned against the door frame and kept her foot against the back of the door. She left just enough space to talk to them without it being obvious she wanted to keep them out. There was something about them that Stella didn’t trust.

“Oh hi, sweetheart.” Stella cringed inward at the man with platinum blond hair that stood before her. He continued before she had a chance to respond. “We wanted to apologize for yesterday. Our man should have never put his hands on you.” He motioned to her bruised, angry cheek.

Stella shrugged. “Shit happens.” She felt like there was more to it.

“We also want to talk to you about this nice little plot of land you got here.”

Stella stood tall. Well, if her five foot seven could be considered tall. “The answer is no. I’m not selling, redeveloping, or any of that.” She adjusted her foothold on the door. “I’m sorry, what was your name again?”

The man scoffed at her gall. “Malcolm Beck. We met yesterday.” He inched a bit closer. “You’re just like that employer of yours. You know that?”

Her reply was flat. “I fail to see the similarity.” That was a lie. She saw it loud and clear in the immediate defense of her property. “I also fail to see the purpose a real estate developer and the head of the liquor license board has with a horse trainer. Let alone visiting said horse trainer at her personal property.”

“Well, you just so happen to work for a ranch that has become a thorn in many peoples’ sides.”

“Oh is that right?” Her question bordered on sarcastic.

Malcolm made a snarky face. “That would be correct, little lady. And it’s very apparent why you fit right in with your little friend’s father.”

Stella clicked her tongue in annoyance. “I don’t know where you got your information, Mr. Beck, but it’s incorrect.”

“Is it?” He scooted even closer. Stella noticed his foot at the bottom of her door. She braced herself against it. He carried on. “You mean to tell me that you’re not Stella Lee Daniels, born November 2, 1992? Just about two and a half years after your current, and only, best friend? Kayce John Dutton? Born April 24, 1990?” Stella swallowed thickly. “Sister to Ryan Stephen Daniels? Born October 11, 1988? Wrangler for the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch since he was 18 years old, and is now also lead livestock agent for one John Dutton?”

Stella pursed her lips at being read so clearly. “So what if I am? I have nothing to do with you. I’m just a glorified ranch hand, my guy.”

“You also followed in your brother’s footsteps, becoming employed by the ranch tycoon at age 18. You bought your 2018 Subaru Forester when you were 22, and this plot when you turned 24.”

“Okay and? I saved up a lot.”

“And you almost surely became a soft spot for everyone on that ranch after this many years.”

Stella shrugged. “Ehh, I would beg to differ on that.”

“You would be so wrong.” Malcolm stepped back and adjusted his hat. “I’ll be seeing you, real soon. Take care now.” He tipped the brim of his hat at her.

Stella remained tense as she watched them walk back to their car. She wanted to be completely sure they left her property. They hopped in and started to drive out to the road. Her eyes followed them for as far as she could see them and she continued looking in that direction for a few minutes after they were out of her sight.

She dropped back against the door frame and let out a breath she hadn’t been aware she was holding. She whispered to herself. “Fuck.”

Stella took off in a sprint to find her cell phone. A call to Rip needed to be made. She needed to get back to the ranch.

Rip got out of the driver’s seat of Stella’s car when they got back to the ranch. He turned to look at her as she rounded the front of the car. “You get yourself home now. It’s your day off.”

“I will. I unfortunately gotta talk to my brother first.”

Rip sent a disciplinary look her way.

Stella’s hands flew up in submission. “No fighting. I promise. I don’t have the energy for that.”

“Okay.” Rip nodded. She blinked at his easy approval as he started to walk away. “But don’t let me hear about you being difficult. I gotta go help burn the field.” The threat from him was open ended.

She smirked. “Yeah yeah.” She wouldn’t have expected his response to be anything different. “Oh Rip?” He stopped and glanced over his shoulder. “Thank you.” She said softly. Stella could have sworn she saw a small smile on the gruff cowboy’s face before he nodded again and continued on his way.

Stella stared off into nothingness sitting at the picnic tables. The run in earlier with Malcolm Beck still fresh in her mind. The search for her brother had proved to be easier than she thought. She had found him with Kayce in the barn about 20 minutes prior. She needed to build up the courage to speak with both of them.

She could hear Kayce and Ryan coming out of the barn, talking amongst themselves about the dead cattle situation. She wasn’t thrilled having to talk to either of them, but it was now or never, and she wasn’t ready to hold her peace.

At first, everyone thought it was Dan Jenkins. He was the only person that was actively trying to get a piece of the Yellowstone’s acreage. It made sense that everyone immediately thought of him. Stella on the other hand was beginning to have second thoughts. She heard Ryan’s voice falter. He must have seen her zoned out. Or he was thinking of all the ways he was about to yell at her.

Ryan questioned gently. “Stellee? What’s wrong?” It normally wasn’t a good thing when Stella took to zoning out. With her being hit yesterday, he was worried something might have been off. She had her back to them and was straddling the picnic bench. He put aside his annoyance with her carelessness, and made his way over to face her as he sat down mirroring her position. He bent his head to try and catch her thousand yard stare. Stella raised her head and made eye contact with her brother. The look on her face had him nervous.

Kayce thought he would give the siblings a minute to themselves. He had heard about the argument they had yesterday after he left. They needed to hash things out. He also thought he should avoid Stella at all costs. He ducked his head and kept moving. Stella would find him later if she needed to. At least, that had been his plan.

She broke the nonverbal communication with her brother. Her head snapped in Kayce’s direction. “Kayce, I need you to be over here too.”

His boots slid on the gravel as he stopped short. He pivoted back to the sibling pair. “Oh? What for?”

“It has to do with those cattle and who we think did it.”

He sat on the opposite side of the table. “You have my attention.”

Stella turned to look at Kayce. “So the obvious answer at first was Jenkins. He wants Yellowstone land, and he’s greedy.”

“Yeah that’s a well known fact. Something tells me you don’t feel that way.” Ryan guessed.

She started to explain. “Other than the fact that he’s quite the city boy and he wouldn’t know a steer from a bull, even if we pointed it out to him, I just had the pleasure of Malcolm Beck —,” Kayce interrupted her when he sprung up from the table.

“What do you mean? Are they nosing around here again?”

Stella reached out to grab his hand to stop him. “No, no, no. They’re not here.” Instinctually, Kayce grabbed hers back. They made quick eye contact as they felt a buzz run through their arms. Stella swiftly released him. She ignored the feeling and looked back to her brother.

“I ran into Malcolm and his brother while I was out this morning.” She lied and pushed her glasses up and continued. “I asked what the head of the state liquor license board had to do with talking to a ranch worker, he said somethin’ about my property blah blah blah, but it’s what he said to me after that made me perk my ears up real quick.”

“Did he threaten you?” Ryan’s voice was dangerously grave. He and Kayce were ready to rock right then.

“Not exactly?” Stella didn’t want to have them go on a reckless warpath just because Malcolm had metaphorically whipped it out to compare size.

“What did he say, Stella?” Kayce questioned.

“He said, and I quote, “Well, you work for a farm that has begun to be a thorn in peoples’ sides.” So I asked him, “Is that right?” He confirmed and then he proceeded to tell me all about myself. My date of birth, the kind of car I drive, my brother’s full name, his profession, who my best friend is, every little detail. I was half surprised that he didn’t know the color of underwear I have on today.”

“Fuck that!” Ryan exclaimed while he jumped up from the table.

Stella wasn’t far behind him and Kayce was right behind her. “Ryan no!” She gripped his arm. He spun and looked at her. “I didn’t really react but I’m sure they could tell they had hit a nerve. I’m more than certain that they’re just trying to push buttons. Why did they choose me? I don’t know.”

“Well they made a stupid decision by doing so.” Kayce claimed.

She rolled her eyes as she faced both her best friend and brother. “Anyway… may I offer a suggestion?” The men nodded at her. “I would still go talk to Jenkins, but I’m starting to have a feeling it may have been someone else. I’ll talk to your dad and Rip about my run in if you guys promise to not go buck wild.” The doe eyes came out. “Please?”

Kayce pressed his lips together and observed Stella. She was nervous, but not scared. “Well we’ve already visited Jenkins. So we were one step ahead of you. I actually have to go talk to my dad.” He cast his gaze over top of her head and found that Ryan was already looking at him. His eyes almost pleaded with him to make sure she actually followed through. Ryan knew that if anyone could make her do it, it was Kayce.

Kayce decided. “We’ll take you up to the big house. We’ll tell Rip to meet us up there.”

“Deal.” Stella agreed.

Kayce pulled the truck up in front of his dad’s house. Stella was in the front seat, ready to hop out when he put the truck in park. Stella looked at the big house looming over their side. She chewed on her bottom lip thinking about all the possible ways this conversation could go.

Kayce watched as she contemplated the situation. “It’s just us and my dad, Stell. Everything’ll be fine.”

She sighed. “I know. I just…,” she left it open ended because she honestly didn’t know what to say. Let alone to Kayce at the moment.

Stella reached for the handle quickly and popped open the door. “Well, it’s now or never, right?” She stated with a long sigh. The sound of hooves gave the welcome distraction she was looking for. Rip and her brother made it to the house.

When she turned around, she gave a small smile to Ryan and Rip, and glanced at Kayce but averted her eyes quickly.

Ryan watched the interaction between them. Stella positioned herself toward the door to the house, almost like she wanted to be as far as physically possible away from Kayce. Ryan squinted his eyes in silent question, but thought it might be better to wait.

Stella looked at the house. “Shall we?”

The men fell into stride next to her as they made their way onto the steps.

“I thought I told you to get yourself home, Stella-belle.” Rip said to her.

“Well, the reason I had to talk to my brother should also be brought up to you and Mr. Dutton too. Then I’ll make my way home, since you want rid of me so bad.” She giggled.

“C’mon now. Don’t put words in my mouth.” They all climbed the last couple steps in silence.

Rip opened the front door for her and ushered her inside. The foursome walked through the living room to the back hallway that led to John’s office. He was catching himself up on some paperwork before he finished up for the day. John heard the boot steps coming in his direction and lifted his head. There was a look of confusion on his face at the sight of his head wrangler, foreman, lead livestock agent, and his horse trainer coming at him. John thought it sounded like the beginning of a bad joke.

“Why are all of you here?” He questioned.

Stella walked further into his office. She thought about how to tell him. It was a lot more intimidating than she thought it would be. “I’m sorry to bother you, sir, but Malcolm Beck visited my house this afternoon.”

#yellowstone #kayce dutton #yellowstonetv #luke grimes #ian bohen #ryan #kayce dutton fan fiction #yellowstone fanfic #yellowstone fanfiction #kayce dutton fanfic

[someone1348]

🦷💌; can—can i ask for more??? more turtles x reader tickle fluff? it can be anything at this point, but maayyyyybbeeee take this sugguestion for leooooooooo???!!!

so we all know leo's a teaser...100%...what if the reader finds themself in some sort of stuck situation and leo takes this for advantge? 🧍‍♀️

thats all i got...for the others idk but it can be literally anything—I LOVE THEM SM AH 🥲🥲

ill shut up now im sorry 😔

Absolutely I can! Thank you for your requests!

People in this: Turtles x Reader (tickle fics!)

Key: (n/n)= Nickname

(y/n)= Your name

Apologies on how late this is coming out lol! But I hope you enjoy!

-K :]

____________~☆°♡°☆°♡°☆~_____________

Leo!:

The things you would do for these turtles is absolutely ridiculous! From the minute they walked into your life its been nothing but adventure and greatness but man was it frustrating in times like these.

Leo's TV broke the other day and with Donnie busy at April's house he frantically called you for help, again the things you would do for those turtles, especially Leo.

The hold he has on you is insane so of course you agreed to come and help him. He smiled widely and thanked you repetitively as you arrived on the scene!

He stepped out of the room for a while to give you some space and when he came back he was delighted to see that you not only fixed it but had gotten yourself stuck in the process

"Leo I swear to the Pizza Supreme in the sky if you don't stop laughing and come help me out-"

"Fihihine! I was gonna help you anyway its just too funny!! AHAHA"

"Leooo"

"OKAhay I'm coming! Neon Leon is on the case!" He smiled brightly as he walked over to you trying to pull you out from behind the TV but nothing was working

"You really got yourself stuck in there"

"You think?" You giggled a little as he scoffed jokingly

"Hey! I'm trying to help you here! I wouldn't get all smart in your position if I were you~" he lowered his voice to his natrual teasing tone before tweaking your sides gently watching the reaction it gave

"What's wrong?, You Ticklish?~"

He didn't give you a chance to answer before his wiggling fingers danced across every tickle spot he could find enjoying every laugh, giggle, sound and reaction you made. There was no chance of escape, no room to move, no place to hide, it was just you, him and your tickle spots.

His smirk grew as he found your most ticklish spot

"Awwww is this your worst spot? Hmm?~ Tickle Tickle tickleee~" he continued as any pleads went in one ear and out the other

"LEHEHEO UHUHUSE YOHOHOUR POHOHORTALS AND FREEE MEHE!"

"Great thinking (n/n)! I will use my portals!~" he smirked using two small portals to put his hands through the wall and tickle your worst spot that way

"NOHOHOT WHAHAT I MEHEANT!"

He giggled along with you for a little before stopping and fully pulling you through a bigger portal and onto his lap as he rubbed away the ghost tickles

"You okay?" He asked with a smile

"I am, but you might not be in a few seconds~"

"Ohhh boyyy"

Let's just say that night the lair was filled with laughter!

-

Donnie!:

You and the purple clad turtle arranged to hang out that evening! This was going to be great! Donatello wanted to hang out with you!

Now normally your hang outs consisted of you two being in the lab, working on new tech or just enjoying each other's company doing your own things but it was always his lab and it was always something science based, you didn't mind that of course! It was just today was different!

He texted you to leave your equipment at home and meet him in the arcade that they have in the lair. Of course you did just that but something was off.

"Hey D! Why did you want to meet here? And why did you tell me to leave my stuff at home?" He smiled as you entered the arcade area

"Sweet Sweet (y/n)! Today! We are going to be playing video games! Jazz hands" he wiggled his fingers to show his enthusiasm and to put emphasis on the plan as you nodded

"Sounds great! You're so going down!"

"Prepare to eateth' thy words!"

The two of you spent the entire day going from game to game. He mentally kept score while you two had fun, and he was one point away from beating you! Luckily, this next game was his specialty! It's the car game he's always playing with Mikey and he was determined to win!

"Prepare to eat my dust (n/n)!"

"Oh well see about that!"

And the race was on! It was neck and neck and Donnie was prepared to do anything to win and I mean anything! He thought about it for a little bit before a smirk formed on his features. He used one of his robot hands that was now holding a feather to it and swiped it across your neck and face to distract you enjoying your reactions and the light up winners screen he had.

"Hey would you look at that I won!"

"Yohohou cheheated!"

"GASP! I am hurt that you would even think for a second that I would do such a thing!" His smirk grew as he used the robot arm to hold your hands up as he circled you with wiggling fingers

"You know I think you're just a sore loser (n/n), I know exactly what will help fix that~" he giggled alittle before tickling you all over your tickle spots, experimenting with every single spot to find your worst spot and the best reactions!

He pointed out the little things as he tickled you, which became more flustering the more he did it. Stuff like;

"Hmm what an interesting sound you make when I do this!" Or "Wow! You're really ticklish here~" and finally "How fascinating your face just keeps getting more and more red the more I talk, am I flustering you dove~" He was on a roll today, he was finally number one and he was gonna use all of that power to his advantage right now!

"YOHOHOU WIHIHIN DEHEHEE!" He stopped his raspberry and smirked at you

"Why thank you for finally acknowledging the truth!" He smiled, rubbing the ghost tickles away and releasing you from his robot arm.

What an eventful game night!

-

Raph!:

This sweetheart could tell instantly that you were stressed. He decided that it would be a great idea to give you a relaxation day! He let everyone know ahead of time and tidied everything up accordingly!

He went out of his way to make sure when you arrived that everything was perfect! His room smelled nice, his brothers were either in their rooms or out playing basketball and he even put on some calming instrumental music for you!

He was determined to make everything special for you. He beamed when you entered the lair, instantly lifting you off the ground and carrying you to your final destination, claiming that you were not to use your legs today or lift a finger! He treated you like the royalty you are it was so special. Even if you insisted you were fine, there was no saying no to Raph!

He smiled as he placed you down onto his big red coded bed. "I had Mikey help me cook you you're favorite!" he smiled, handing you a plate full of your favorite meal which you happily accepted and thanked him again

"Of course! Anytime sunshine!" He smiled brighter before he offered a massage "here this should help!"

Before you knew it, he was getting every single knot out of your back and shoulders, and lt felt great, but holy heck, did it tickle! Raph caught on after a giggle slipped from your mouth while you were exhaling

"How does it feel?" He asked 'innocently' as he moved back to the spot that made you giggle before

"It feels gohohood! Thahanks Raph!" You giggled again as his smile turned into a smirk

"Good im so glad! You truly deserve this! You work so hard and deserve a break I am so proud of you (y/n)!" He smiled brightly again now properly tickling you

"Rahahaph!"

"Why are you giggling so much (n/n)?~ It's just a massage, don't tell me you're ticklish!~" He teased you as he continued tickling all over your tickle spots

"Dawww, I think this will help relieve your stress more! They do say laughter is the best medicine!" He continued enjoying every little sound, laugh, and reaction you made to his tickles and various tickle spots until he found your worst spot

"OKAHAY MEHEHERCYYY!"

He stopped immediately, rubbing away the ghost tickles before picking you up again and holding you close, his heartbeat soothing yours as he rubbed circles into your skin

"Cuddle time!" He exclaimed as you nodded

What a perfect day

-

Mikey!:

After tasting Mikeys amazing creations for a long time now you asked him if he could teach you how to cook! He was ecstatic! Today was the day you two scheduled to do this!

He smiled brightly as you entered the lairs kitchen! "Here you go!" He handed you your very own apron he decorated it himself he was really proud of it!

You wore it with pride as you washed your hands and got ready to cook! Everything was going great! He guided your hands through some techniques, you added the spices together to give it flavor and overall were just having fun and learning alot! Mikeys a really great coach!

The waiting was the boring part, so when you got impatient and saw an open bag of flour sitting right in front of you, you knew exactly what to do. You sneakily took a bit in your hand before catching the orange turtles attention and threw it at him

He gasped jokingly as he blinked, now covered in flour "oh that's it! You are so on!" He smirked taking some of the flour and throwing it back on you, soon it was an all out flour war! He eventually pounced on you trying to get the flour on your shirt but his hands slipped accidentally swiping your side in the process

He caught that reaction immediately and had an even better idea then the flour! He smirked as his wiggling fingers scribbled all over your tickle spots like a skilled artist painting his masterpiece!

"Tickle Tickle tickleee~ this is what you get for pranking the prankster (n/n)~" He giggled along with you before he found your worst spot

"Awwww I think someone's Ticklish~" he teased in a sing song voice as he used every trick in the book to get the best reactions out of you

"Tickletickletickletickle"

"MIHIHIHIKEHEHEY!-"

*DING!*

"Oh Goodie! The foods ready!" He smiled rubbing away the ghost tickles and leading you a hand up while you caught your breath

"Ihit smells amazing!"

"It's gonna taste amazing too you know why?" He smiled at you as you raised an eyebrow

"Why's that?"

"Because we made it with love together! Anddd it got your giggles in there for extra love!"

"Mikeyyy!"

He giggled as he started to plate everything. "we eat first, then clean, alright? And you started this so you have to help me! You have no choice, cutie pie!" He giggled poking your sides again quickly before he handed you your plate

"Okahay fair enough!"

You two enjoyed your creation throughly before cleaning the place up and cleaning yourselves up later one at a time, getting into comfy Pj's and enjoying the rest of the night together! It was perfect! This definitely calls for more cooking dates down the line!

---------------------------------------------------

I hope you all enjoyedd! I loved making this! And I hope you all have a great day today! You truly deserve it! I am so proud of you! /p /gen /pos

-K :]

#k writes tk things #rottmnt tickle #rottmnt tickle fic #rottmnt x reader #ler!leo #ler!leonardo #ler!donnie #ler!donatello #ler!raph #ler!raphael #ler!mikey #ler!michaelangelo #lee!reader

[heartlandians]

Filling Empty Spaces (Amy/Mitch), part 220

Mitch and Amy find an unexpected connection due to absent lovers. Set around season 11->.

A/N: I didn’t have a beta for this story, so hopefully there won’t be too many grammar errors.

****

After Amy's effusion of frustration, Mitch and her were still sat on the blanket, watching the scenery and letting the summer breeze brush over them as they leaned on each other.

It was understood without saying anything that they both needed this moment of silence to process things.

But their quiet time didn't last long as Amy's phone beeped. She sighed, not wanting to be disturbed, but figured if it was Jade, she would like to know what was going on with Lyndy.

Mitch glanced at her, but then gave her privacy to check on her text without him intruding.

When Amy let out a longer sigh and her figure next to him crumpled a little, he had to ask. "What is it...?"

"I totally forgot the ranch hand I was going to interview was gonna come over today", Amy mumbled, biting her teeth out of frustration. "He's asking directions. -- I- I can't be dealing with this right now..."

She touched the bridge of her nose quickly, trying to focus.

"Why don't you ask someone else to interview him instead?" Mitch suggested. "Someone's home, aren't they? Jack, Lisa?" he reminded, since it was the reason he had not been able to come over.

"Well, yeah, I could", Amy admitted, "but I really wanted to do it myself. He's going to work for me, after all. I want to get a feel of him, so I know if we'll work well together."

Mitch bobbed his head a little, understanding. His arm around Amy soothed her gently. "Makes sense."

"I'll just ask him to come tomorrow", she then decided, already typing her reply.

The kid from Tim's rodeo school was the one wanting the job after all, so she was in the position of power to change the schedule, Amy reminded herself.

Mitch nodded, looking around and spotting flowers on his right. He bended the stem of a one of the Geraniums, then handing it to Amy when she was done with her text message.

Amy glanced at it and let out a half-chuckle as she accepted it. "Thanks..."

The small surprise of Mitch's sweetness helped her release tenseness over the ranch hand interview situation as she leaned back against him.

"Is there anything I could do...?" Mitch asked then, caressing the side of her arm that was facing outward from him.

"I guess not", Amy figured, shaking her head. "This is enough as it is, though. -- I just wish life was always this simple."

Mitch smiled a little. "Well, it can be, at least when we are together. I mean, we aren't in a hurry to do or be anything, right?"

"Well, no", Amy admitted. "Especially now that Lou knows... I mean, I still have to tell everyone else, but I feel like... I almost don't care what others think at this point."

She was surprised by her own reaction, but maybe it was some form of battle fatigue over this string of issues she had had to deal with for so long now.

Amy hummed.

"It's kind of... liberating, not caring so much. To think all this time I could have just felt like this..." she continued, speaking as if feelings were this simple to control - they really weren't, not in her case, anyway.

"You don't think it's... terrifying? Like that sad feeling you talked about earlier", Mitch checked, hoping not to trigger anything.

Amy thought about that, wondering why it did in fact feel different somehow. Why she wasn't as scared to be a little numb but she was scared to feel sad.

"I don't know how to explain it", she finally said after a while. "But there's no pull in numbness, not the same way there is in sadness. It just... is. Sadness feels bottomless, like you never arrive anywhere, you just keep going down and down... -- But numbness, it's like you're waiting for something else to arrive. It's like a pause."

Mitch listened, nodding softly. "Just don't stay paused for too long."

Amy moved her head back, so she could look at Mitch. The man's head turned left too, catching her gaze. "I won't. Not with you around."

When Mitch smiled, Amy smiled back.

"See? I'm already smiling..." she pointed out.

"If I could pause a moment, I think this would be a perfectly good moment to stay in", Mitch said, letting his eyes roam on the features of her face.

It made Amy's heart jolt as she let out a soft sigh.

"Yeah, I would have to agree on that..." she murmured.

****

When the cowboy rode with her toward Heartland a little later, Amy felt like they had been so focused on her that she had not even realized she had not asked what was going on with Mitch, so she decided to do that now before they would have to part ways again.

Amy followed Mitch's expression after her question while their horses kept the synchronized pace underneath them. He seemed like he was weighing his words carefully, thinking how to sum it all up.

"Well, when Lou called, I was actually in the middle of tracing Leah's whereabouts", Mitch shared, feeling a bit nervous.

It wasn't a secret to Amy that he was trying to get a hold of his ex-girlfriend - in fact she had encouraged Mitch - but instead his nervousness seemed to come from the uneasy feeling of not knowing what would follow, how it would affect him and what it would therefore mean for him and Amy.

"Oh yeah?" Amy asked, steering Spartan, even though the horse hardly needed any help as he would have probably been able to find home in his sleep on these familiar trails. "So, did you find her?"

Mitch shook his head.

"Or, well... I did, but... I didn't get far. I was going through the options when my phone rang. That's probably partly why I was caught off guard with the call; my mind was elsewhere."

Amy could understand that. From what she had heard, the phone call itself had been rather dramatic, not to mention Mitch had the added emotional dilemma going on at the same time.

"So, what are the options?" she wanted to hear his thoughts.

Mitch let his eyes wander toward the treeline far away as he came up with the answer. A sigh pushed out of his mouth as he thought about the fragility of this whole thing; he wanted to be delicate with it.

"She could be happy, moved on, fine without anything there to remind her about what happened", Mitch listed. "Me reaching out could then bring it all crashing down."

"It's possible", Amy agreed, thinking back to her own situation, reflecting what she would want. Obviously her situation wasn't the same, but it gave her a perspective she could offer in order to give Mitch another possible approach. "But, what else?"

"Or... she could be dealing with all of that and more, not doing so well", Mitch suggested. "Maybe she's still taking that dive into that darkness you just talked about."

"Maybe", Amy said, nodding. "But the thing is, you won't know until you know. And sure, it could all trigger her - and I don't think you're going to take that lightly - but what's the third option?" she asked.

Mitch turned his head to look at Amy, wondering what was the third option? He wasn't sure what she meant - and he felt a little dumb about it.

Amy could read this from his face, so she figured she'd offer her take.

"Let's say it is still on her mind, affecting her in some ways. You'd hope she'd unravel it at some point, right?" Amy asked. "So she could move on and live her life as freely as she can. Have that... release."

There was no doubt about that in Mitch's mind, so he nodded. "Of course."

"I said that for me sadness feels bottomless", Amy recounted, "and if it's anything like that for her, she might want to actually meet the bottom of that pit. Because when you reach that, you can at least get back on your feet so you can try and climb up. But you can't do that before you get there."

Mitch thought about that, seeing how that made sense in theory.

"And yeah, it's going to hurt", Amy admitted, sighing, "but it's going to hurt no matter what. There's no moving on or moving forward without it hurting to some degree, because change hurts."

"Yeah... Don't we know that..." Mitch said, knowing they both had experience about that.

"No one wants to feel sad or hurt or even numb, but that's just part of life at some point. Hopefully people are lucky enough to have people there to support them during those times", Amy summed up the whole conversation they had been having this last hour.

"Yeah, but that's the thing - I wasn't able to support her then", Mitch reminded.

"I get that. But trauma is... tricky", Amy described. "The healing can't always begin right away, sometimes you need time and space to reach the bottom before you can even think about getting up. Maybe she's closer to the bottom than to the top after all these years."

Amy looked at Mitch, seeing the guilt written all over his face. It looked like it kept bringing up that lump back in his throat he tried so hard to fight.

"Mitch... You're here now", Amy wanted to stress. "If she wants, that is. And... I know from experience that you are a good person for that; you're reliable, you're caring and you listen. That's more than many victims get from the people closest to them", she added, feeling like her own experiences in that field had been mixed.

Some people just weren't equipped with those qualities or didn't even want to learn to become better at them. But Mitch was willing to grow, so Amy could imagine that being a good thing when it came to him contacting Leah.

The woman only had to give him a chance and see how Mitch could help her get some type of closure for some part of that traumatic experience.

If that was what was going on, that is.

"I guess I see a fourth option too", Mitch confessed. "And it worries me."

"What's that?" Amy asked.

"What if I get in, just enough to hurt her again, and then she won't accept my help anymore", Mitch explained. "Am I just going to leave her be?"

"Not necessarily", Amy thought, then thinking about something, as she viewed the scenery in front of her from between Spartan's two perked ears. "I mean, I know it's not the same, but... I also feel like as its purest, it does teach me a lot about trauma. Helping horses, I mean", she began.

Mitch looked at her, listening.

"Take me and Spartan, for example", Amy explained. "When the accident that killed my mom happened, Spartan was part of that experience too. And he healed from the bruises somewhat easily, thankfully - as did I - but the emotional wounds... they were harder to deal with. I know I was just a kid back then, and now that I've grown up, I view some things differently, but..."

She thought back to that moment in the ring with Spartan, where she would run him around, hoping to connect with him and make him ready for their first join-up.

"I had this feeling that he was blaming me for it and it really weighed heavy on me. I was supposed to help him, protect him, but... things didn't go like we planned with mom", Amy spoke.

The scared look in Spartan's eyes, every time she had approached him, flashed inside Amy's mind. She could still recall it easily as she had been familiar with that exact feeling too.

"And so, after the accident, when I tried to help him, he refused my help, but I didn't give up. Helping him was not easy, but the other option was also not an option for me. I didn't want to give up on him", Amy said, feeling so happy about that decision she had made years ago.

Mitch looked at Amy and the horse under her, having hard time imagining them being anything but this unit that they were now.

"Thinking back, I don't know how much of that whole process was for him and how much of that was for me, but... maybe we needed to go through that together in order to heal from that experience", Amy continued. "It still lives in us and it will never go away, but life has been built around that too. -- What's that saying? "Sometimes the only ones that can help you are the ones that let you down hardest". Something like that..."

Mitch nodded, quietly, looking like he maybe agreed.

"That is not to say what happened was your fault, but I know you blame yourself. I know how that's like; nothing I say will take that away if you feel it deeply. What I've realized over the years is that what happened with mom or Spartan wasn't my fault either. Sometimes bad things happen, not everything is under our control or a consequence of something we didn't do correctly", Amy shared her perspective, hoping Mitch would remember that down the line.

It was true that she had asked her mom to go and get Spartan from Mr. Mallen's farm, in a way setting everything into motion, but at the same time part of those decisions leading up to the rescue mission had been made by Marion as well. Her mother had tried to assess the risks and unfortunately failed as she had lost her life that night.

Life was always a gamble. Sometimes it was worth the risk, sometimes it wasn't. You never really knew until you found out.

"But... I wasn't able to have that perspective before I faced the situation head on and lived through it and - more importantly - beyond. And I think maybe the same thing can happen to you too. And, hopefully, for Leah as well", Amy hoped.

Mitch looked at Amy and nodded. He steered Maverick closer and reached out his hand, making her realize Mitch wanted her to hold it.

She accepted his hand and they rode side by side, slowly, cherishing their connection.

"Maybe your situation is not the same", Mitch admitted, "but you've given me a lot to think about. So... thank you for that."

"Of course", Amy said, smiling. "Any time."

#heartland #fanfiction #filling empty spaces

[yeehawbvby]

Falling Away With You | Ch. 1

Sebastian x F!Reader and M. Rasmodius x F!Reader

Rating: Mature/Explicit

Chapter Summary: You finally found a way out of your miserable job with Joja! Time to move to the ol’ farm :)

Author’s Note: This fic starts off pretty stereotypical.. so here's my formal apology/assurance that it gets better as things get saucier etc .･ﾟﾟ･(／ω＼)･ﾟﾟ･. It starts to become its own story, in a sense, around chapter 3ish! 

(Please stick around, and if you don't like it after all you can tell me I stink or something..? Idfk.)

Drink your water, I hope you enjoy this, and take care! x

Table of Contents + Work Summary

Check it out on ao3!

Next

“Back to work, Miss (y/l/n).”

Looking up, I’m met with my supervisor staring wrinkled, hazel daggers into me. 

“I’m just… tidying up a bit.” I shift the pen in front of me so it’s parallel to my keyboard. Wow, so tidy! Look at me go!

“You sure are,” he deadpans. “We’ll need to have a talk about your performance if you keep up this nonsense. I’ve been seeing you slack off all too often lately.”

“Oh, screw you, guy,” is what I wish I said. Instead, “Yes sir, my apologies,” is what spills out.

I sit back down as he walks away, satisfied, and probably readying himself to go jerk off to the idea of having so much authority over me. Cursing myself for somehow ending up at a dead-end office job, I reminisce on the days where I thought I’d be doing something that I love... Life was so much easier when I was ignorant.

Opening the drawer to my right, I spot an envelope from my late grandpa that I’ve kept hidden here. I graze its wax seal with my fingers, silently weighing out a pretty hefty decision.

I want to open it. I’ve been wanting to for weeks, but keep putting it off. It’s meant to give me some encouragement, to only be seen once I need something to keep me pushing on, but I’ve been saving it for the perfect time. Trying to, at least. That time feels like right now, but… what if it’s too early? 

Let’s see. What are the pros? 

Maybe it’ll make me happy and give me some hope. My curiosity will be quenched. This is the last form of communication I have left from my Grandpa, and it could be really special. It gives me something else to procrastinate these Yobaforsaken spreadsheets with.

The cons…

I pause my thought process for a moment to look at my monitor, realizing how long I’ve been just sitting here since my supervisor left. Just been totally spaced out. I’m definitely looking at some overtime this week… unpaid, of course. An audible groan comes out of me as I stare at the amount of work I still have to do today.

“Shhhhhhh.”

Excuse me, who—? Fuck that. It’s time.

I look around to make sure I’m not being watched in-person, and tape a piece of paper over the camera that’s literally facing my desk (seriously, fuck these Joja rats), before eagerly tearing open the note.

“If you’re reading this, you must be in dire need of a change.”

You’ve got that right, Gramps.

I read on, and I… inherited his farm, I guess. That seems interesting and all, but is that really where I want to go? It sounds a bit, I don’t know. Bland? Then again, it’s bland here too. Zuzu City is beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but it’s overrated. The air pollution, the intense amount of people, and the insanely high rent outweigh any positives it has for long-term stay.

If I go back to Pelican Town per Grandpa’s suggestion, I can still visit here every once in a while if I’m feeling frisky .

I’m about to put the letter aside, until I notice more writing on the very bottom:

“P.S. If Lewis is still alive, say ‘hi’ to the old guy for me, will ya?”

Well, he gave me a duty to fulfill. Can’t argue with that!

I continue my work, and then wrap up early. I don’t bother providing them the courtesy of formally quitting. It’s not like they’d give me a two-weeks-notice before firing me. Eye for an eye, bitches.

__________________

When I originally moved to Zuzu City from Pelican Town, I was too young to know anyone or absorb my surroundings. I must’ve been, what, 6? My only possessions left from back then are a few faint memories of my grandpa, and I know those will just diminish as time goes by. Plenty of them already have.

I wonder how it’s gonna feel to be back. My head spins and I find a lump in my throat, as my brain suddenly floods with fear and doubt. Shit, don’t get all emo now, lady! You aren’t even there yet!

I want to think positively, but instead I’m hit like a truck with a wave of thoughts, all of the unfortunate things I’m going to be experiencing soon.

I’m bound to be the center of some hot gossip for a few weeks, aren’t I? That’s gonna suck, but I can deal with it. It’s not like it’s unfamiliar, I went through hell and back with some of the slander my Joja colleagues were set on spreading about me. Just because I wasn’t a total kiss-up. I rub the corners of my eyes, as if to rinse those thoughts away.

Maybe some older folks here will remember me. Hopefully fondly, if so. I don’t even want to think about how odd that’s going to be, though — meeting people that I have no connection with, knowing they might’ve helped my Grandpa raise me part-time... At least I’ll have allies. 

I suck at interacting with new people, hopefully they don’t mind that too much. Definitely great at masking it depending on the day, but there’s no doubting that my social abilities are nonexistent after a few minutes of conversation with me.

I manage to regain my composure and quell my anxiety just before the bus reaches my stop.  I grab my luggage from the overhead racks, and make my way outside to a redheaded woman greeting me.

“Hello! You must be (y/n).

“Yep, that’s me.”

Do I go in for a hand shake, or is that too formal? What if she goes in for a hug? She knows more about me than I know about her. Maybe. Probably. 

As I stand there nervously trying to decide how to greet her, she makes things easier and begins to introduce herself. Her name is Robin, and she says that Mayor Lewis sent her to fetch me. Nice, that’s the guy Grandpa mentioned in his letter!

Wait, did she just call him the fucking mayor? Was Grandpa into politics? 

I don’t say much as she shows me the way to my Grandpa’s – sorry, my farm. So weird.

“This is Mooncrest Farm,” she says, looking out at the absolute mess that is the land.

There are trees everywhere, and the ground is rampant with branches and weeds. There’s barely any space to walk without obstruction. This is going to be a nightmare to clean up, and something tells me I’ll have to do it alone. What if I’m not strong enough? Joja had me living a pretty sedentary lifestyle. I should’ve thought this through –

“What’s the matter?”

I'm snapped out of it, but instantly feel guilt as I relax my tight eyebrows and take a breath. Nice going, buddy. She chuckles before I can find words as she realizes what’s up, clearly unbothered. 

“Sure, it’s a bit overgrown, but there’s some good soil underneath this mess!” She reassures me.

As we approach the house, an old man I can only assume to be Mayor Lewis walks out. He introduces himself, and explains that everyone in town has been asking about their incoming neighbor — ugh, everyone already knew I was coming? I suppose with such a small population, it makes sense that everyone would know if a new person is moving in, but still.

Bringing our attention to the cottage, he continues, “It’s a good house… very ‘rustic.’”

“‘Crusty’ might be a little more apt,” Robin replies, chortling to herself. I like Robin.

“She’s just trying to make you dissatisfied so you buy one of her house upgrades.” 

That’s right, she mentioned that she’s the community’s carpenter on our way over. 

I shrug. “She’s got a business to run, I respect that.”

Lewis wants to comment – he has a look in his eye, like he wants to disagree with me, but he doesn’t say anything. Good man. I look towards Robin, expecting her to say something, but instead she winks at me, her lips curled into a smug smile.

“Anyway…” Robin and I turn back to the Mayor as he proceeds, “You must be tired from the long journey.” 

He gives me what I can only think to describe as homework, and some instructions about selling things (I’m assuming he means the crops I’ll eventually grow?), before he and Robin say their goodbyes. He wishes me luck, and then I’m alone again. 

Being alone in an apartment building feels a lot more lonely than this, somehow. With those thin walls, you can hear how many people are in some sort of proximity to you at all times. Some of them alone too, others living with family or friends. But regardless of who’s with who, you’re just there . Sometimes in silence but more often in the shadows of their residual noise. 

This type of alone feels different than what I’m used to. In a good way, of course. I’m overcome with a certain sense of solitude, being by myself in a more natural setting for the first time.

I walk into the cabin. Smells a little musky, but I don’t see any mold or cobwebs. Thank Yoba, I had more than enough of both those things in my old apartment. This place is kind of cozy, actually. The smell is probably just from being devoid of human use for so long. 

There’s a bed and a fireplace to my right, a television and what appears to be a gift box to the left, and a table and chair in the back center.  

I don’t recognize the green, pine tree-adorned wallpaper or dark wooden floorboards, meaning Grandpa might’ve had some renovations done between now and back then. A door on the left leads to what I’m hoping is the kitchen and bathroom. I’ll check those out later, though. I wanna see what’s in this box!

I kneel down, grabbing my pocket knife from within the front zipper of my satchel and neatly opening the package. I pick up one of the small seed packets that lay scattered inside it. There’s a picture on all the labels, slightly different on each, indicating they’d been hand-drawn. Whoever made these is fucking precious. What are these though, parsnips? Have I ever even had a parsnip? I guess I will soon.

I look up to the window from where I’m seated, noticing that it’s gotten dimmer in here. It’s probably later than I thought it was – the sun is starting to set. My weird, distorted sense of telling time courtesy of Joja’s fluorescent office lighting is showing.

Normally, I would just take a nap now if I needed it. But, since I’ll be doing all my new work outdoors, I should try and milk as much daylight as I can from now on. Ugh. I miss my younger and more nocturnal days. 

After crawling into bed, I lay there for a moment, trying to plan how I’ll go about tomorrow. Mayor Lewis wants me to meet everyone – literally, everyone – who lives in Pelican Town, as soon as possible. He gave me a physical list of who I need to look for. 

I grab the list from next to my new bed. Twenty-eight people are on here, and that’s a lot to greet all in one go. No addresses or phone numbers are on here… very helpful. I would like to get this over with sooner than later, but I know my limits. Too much socializing in a day is a sure way to short circuit myself. 

Breaking these people up into groups and letting it happen more naturally is probably in my best interest. A to-do list, if you will, but without the “do” part. Unless someone spicy happens to be around here, then maybe I’d make an exception. We’ll see.

Robin’s husband and step-daughter, Demetrius and Maru, are at the top of the list. Robin talked my ear off about those two on the walk here.

“They achieve so much together,” she shared, “I just know Maru is going to make some amazing scientific breakthrough someday!”

I was a little envious of their accomplishments, but it was touching to see how proud Robin is of her family. Well, most of her family. A familiar name is next up on the list – Sebastian.

Robin mentioned him only briefly on the walk here, describing him as an angsty “kid” who’s around my age, and saying he needs to get out more. Make new friends, and whatever. She didn’t get into any details on him, only mentioning that he’s her biological son before moving on. I feel kinda bad for the guy, as somewhat of a hermit myself. For both of our sakes, I’ll try to keep my introduction to Sebastian brief.

I skim the list for any other familiar names, finding nothing. I’ll get started on that stuff tomorrow. My eyelids are starting to feel heavy, so I let the list float to the ground beside me, and allow sleep to engulf me.

#sebastian #sebastian x reader #stardew sebastian #sebastian headcanons #sdv sebastian #sdv #sve #stardew valley fanfic #magnus rasmodius #magnus rasmodius x reader #sdv sebastian x reader

[stillheresanctuary]

So. It's Been A While.

That last update was a bit prophetic, wasn't it.

Uhm, I guess I should give a sort of summary of the last... Two? Three years? For people that are still lingering.

I'll put the bulk of it under a read more, but TL;DR- Parks Department job has panned out really well, had to move out a second time due to Stuff, Dad had a second stroke and passed away from complications, my mom's dog passed away from a malignant tumor, and I'm currently doing a lot of juggling to help Mom and myself try to survive.

Could be better. Could be a lot worse.

For folks that want some more details, well-

I'll get the rough stuff out of the way first.

My dad died. It'll be two years this October. He had a second stroke, and went from slow but steady improvement to a rapid decline that ended with Mom and I mutually agreeing that his quality of life had degraded so badly it was basically torture forcing him to stay alive. He wasn't quite a vegetable at the end, but it was close. He couldn't talk. He couldn't articulate his needs. He couldn't take care of himself in any fashion.

I sat and waited in his hospice room, and saw when the final breath left his body. There is no possible means to describe the Certainty, and the Relief. Knowing he was gone, and that he was no longer suffering.

Neither Mom or I have really had the space to fully process it. His ashes have yet to be scattered, and we haven't be able to coordinate a wake for the extended family. I don't know if we'll ever have one at this rate, but we want to give him a send off for everyone to properly say their good byes.

Less than two months after Dad passed, Mom called me crying. Tali, our family dog for the last 16 years, hadn't been feeling very well for a while, and gave Mom a couple bad scares before she finally had to be rushed to an emergency vet. They found out that Tali had been developing a tumor, and while it wasn't metastasized or actively malignant, it had begun to interrupt body functions and after a sudden seizure, had caused internal bleeding so bad they weren't sure she would survive being sedated let alone surgical intervention.

We decided it would do her a disservice to force her through such an invasive procedure, with no guarantee of recovery, let alone good health.

Mom and I both held her as the doctors gave her a fatal dosage of anesthetic, and she passed away peacefully. Her ashes are also still with us, waiting for us to decide how to honor her life.

On to less miserable topics-

Moving house! Happened cause the roommates we moved in with ended up paranoid assholes who tried to get us evicted and/or arrested on falsified charges of theft! We had to call up the sheriff, police and the landlord, as well as a tenant-landlord lawyer, to get the roommates of our backs. We moved out as soon as we were able to keep their assholery from reoccurring and possibly resulting in legal actions.

My partner and I ended up staying with a mutual friend for a couple months while we hunted for a new place, and now we've been staying in a pretty nice duplex that we're currently hoping won't price us out come the next lease reup (there's consulting of tenant-landlord lawyers in the plan for negotiating with the landlord). Other than fretting over funds, we're pretty alright.

Job! Parks and Rec invited me back to a longer season, and I just recently got invited back again, and I may actually apply for a year round full time position. The people are great, I enjoy the work I do, the benefits are excellent, and I even have a supervisor who Gives A Shit for once.

Pretty sure the job kept me from a depression spiral when Dad and Tali passed away back to back.

Rapid fire what else- Got a new to me car, reconnected with a bunch of friends from old fandoms, made new friends in an entirely new fandom, started looking into possibly going back to school, helped my mom with buying a house and a car, got sick with Covid twice, got two cavities drilled and filled, played way too much Cult Of The Lamb...

I think that's it? At least, that's all I can remember anymore.

It's been A Lot.

What does this say for this project?

Well, I still want to put work into it. I want to reinvest myself and my interests into this world that I've created. Considering current Tumblr drama, I may end up seeing how much I can transition over to something less fragile, like Neocities. I haven't made a webpage in so long it's ridiculous, but it could be worth it to mirror all my Tumblr projects onto something that I can actually archive.

It's a bit up in the air, and I apologize in advance if I vanish again, since I'm going to be going back to work at the end of March and I'm not sure how much energy I'll have to juggle. Whatever happens-

Thank you all for participating in this experience with me. You all have made this silly little side project a true joy, and I'm thankful for everyone who has made it possible.

#stuff cell says #mun stuff

[brunette-barbie4562]

Uncharted (Duff McKagan X OC)

Trigger Warnings: Child abuse, drug use, homophobia

Chapter three is here :) There is a lot of dialogue in this one and a flashback. Let me know what you think!

-

3

May 2017

Conrad Dublin Hotel / Dublin, Ireland

CJ stood by the entryway of the hotel room, unsure of what to say or do as Axl beamed at her. His red hair was cut short, compared to the long straight hairstyle she had seen him with as a child. He looked casual in a pair of torn blue jeans and a graphic T-shirt, which helped her relax about her own laidback appearance. The room was a large suite and looked to have multiple rooms. She had walked into the living room area. She felt very put on the spot and smiled shyly back. He stood up and moved to hug her. As awkward as she was feeling, she readily accepted the hug, looking for some sense of familiarity in a foreign environment. He smelled lightly of cologne. When he pulled away, he said,

“It’s so good to see you CJ, it’s been so many years. Come sit, let’s talk.” He offered her the second armchair, opposite the one he had been sitting in. “Do you want anything? Water, tea, coffee? How was your flight? Any issues?” CJ opened her mouth and closed it again, unsure which question to answer first.

“I’m uh- I’ll just take some water, thanks.”

“Sparkling, or no?” She had to think for a moment to process what he had said. She didn’t think she had ever had sparkling water.

“Regular is fine.” He reached into a mini fridge and pulled out a water bottle and handed it to her. Beta had disappeared into another room, leaving them space and time to talk. She remembered the second part of his question and said “The flight was good, no issues. Just a quick layover in JFK.” He had taken a seat in the second armchair, sipping on a cup of coffee.

“And your pick up at the airport went well?” He looked at her with genuine concern. Other than her aunt and her aunt’s girlfriend, CJ had never had someone act so concerned over her.  

“Ya, it went well.”

“Good, I’m excited you are here.” He took another sip of his coffee. “You may not know this, but your aunt was a great help to me back in the day.” CJ smirked at the thought of some of the stories her aunt had told her and said,

“I know a little bit.”

“Your aunt has kept me up to date on you and your studies. I know you’ve been thinking about going back to school.” CJ had not expected him to ask about her schooling.

“Ya, I’m just not sure about it. Graduate school is such a commitment and I’ve been trying to weigh the pros and cons. I’ve been out of school for a few years now and I feel like I need to decide. I’ve wanted to work in the mental health field for most of my life and most of those positions require a master’s degree.” He smiled at her with that familiar bright white smile that she remembered from so many years ago.

“Well, you can spend at least the summer working with us and think about it, make some money, I want this arrangement to be perfect.” He put his drink down and laced his fingers together, leaning back thoughtfully. “Ever since your aunt gained custody of you, and even before that time, we spoke frequently about you. Time and different circumstances have kept me from visiting in person, but I feel like I’ve watched you grow up from afar. Mindy is family to me, which means you are family.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “You and I are very alike in our history and the fact that you are wanting to help others means a lot to me.” She sat in silence and did not dare interrupt him. “I’m not sure what you know about me or the others.” It wasn’t until he gave her a questioning look that she realized he wanted her to respond.

“Oh, uh, not much to be honest. I mean I’ve heard your music growing up with my aunt obviously and I love it.” CJ was somewhat more aware than she was letting on, not wanting to seem eager. She was not comfortable enough to tell him that as a child, she had spent her nights lying in a cold van or a roach infested bed listening to Guns N’ Roses on a CD player on repeat at a high volume, either to drown out screaming or to try to feel some connection to the aunt she desperately wished she could go live with on the other side of the country.

“Well, you’ll have plenty of time to familiarize yourself,” he said with a soft smile. “You have a few days before our first show. It’s late now, you’ll meet the others tomorrow.”

“Will I be spending most of my time with you and Beta?”

“You’ll see us often, especially Beta. I don’t leave my room much when we are at hotels, it can get chaotic. So, she does most of my errands for me.” CJ felt a twinge of confusion. If she was supposed to be an assistant, it seemed that Beta had already filled that role for Axl. He saw her perplexity and said, “You’ll be working alongside our bassist, Duff. His assistant had to leave unexpectedly for a family emergency and won’t be back anytime soon.” CJ could not remember which one Duff was and tried to think back to the old pictures she had seen of the band in her aunt’s house. “You’ll like him, he’s a good guy, not an ass. He has some daughters you’d probably enjoy meeting. Younger than you, but whenever they’re here there aren’t many other girls or women around.”

“Don’t forget Melissa and Meegan.” Beta called out from the other room, making CJ slightly jump.

“Ya, them too, they’ll enjoy having you along.” He reached over to an end table and picked up a folder. He opened it and pulled a key card out of it, handing it to her. “This is your room key, we are all on this floor, your room is 803 just down the hall. Your bags should already be in there.” He handed her the folder and said, “This week’s schedule is in there, up until we leave for the next show in Spain. Duff may have other additional things going on that aren’t on there, but this is the overall schedule for everyone.”

CJ quickly scanned the paper, feeling the creeping sensation of being overwhelmed. Axl must have seen it in her face and said, “Don’t worry, you’ll be able to meet him tomorrow and go over everything, but for the rest of the night,” he waved his hand in the air, “go relax, order some room service, and get comfortable, sleep-in late tomorrow.” She shut the folder and slipped it into her backpack. “Just text me when you’re awake and I can arrange for you and Duff to meet.” She pulled out her phone and had him add his phone number. When he was done, she stood up and hoisted her backpack up. While she still wasn’t completely understanding everything and needed time to process, she could feel the gravity of the situation and the opportunity she was being given. She was almost a little disappointed that she would not be working as Axl’s assistant. She had been there for about 30 minutes, and she could already sense his eclecticism and the intensity of his character, as well as his genuine care and concern for her. She never had a father figure in her life, or at least a good one that had stuck around.

“Thank you for everything,” she said, with a smile. Beta had opened the door for her, and she turned to leave.

“And CJ,” she turned back to him as he called after her. “Don’t be afraid to come hang out when you have free time. Like I said, you and your aunt are family to me. I want to get to know you.” At that, she grinned, felt tears come to her eyes, and her heart swelled.

“Definitely.”

-

Back in her room, CJ sat on the bed, still in somewhat of a daze. She had wiped the tears from her eyes. Her emotions had snuck up on her, as they usually did when somebody other than her aunt showed her a high level of affection or kindness. Even with extensive trauma therapy as a child and teen, it was not something she had been able to shake.

CJ let her backpack slide off her as she looked around. It was a large hotel room, not a multi-room suite like Axl’s, but still larger than a typical hotel room, or at least the ones she had been in. She stood up and walked over to the bathroom entryway, switching the light on. There was a beautiful garden-style tub that she suddenly could not get into fast enough. She turned the faucet to the highest heat possible to let it fill up as she stripped, tripping over her own feet as she pulled her shoes and pants off.

As CJ was about to step into the semi-filled tub, her phone began to ring, and she could see Mindy’s name flash across the screen. She picked it up, realizing she had forgotten to text her that she had made it in one piece.

“Are you alive?”

“Yes, I’m alive,” she said, “I just got to my room.”

“I was getting ready to text Axl and see where you were. Michelle and I were worried you know?” CJ heard Michelle, her aunt’s girlfriend, call out to her in the background.

“Well, I’m fine, everything went fine.” Before her aunt could speak CJ said, “You never told me you were so close with Axl Rose.”

“I thought you knew that.”

“I knew you were friends but he’s acting like I’m his niece or something. Talking about how we are like family. I was just surprised is all, I was not expecting such a grand welcome. Felt like he was rolling out a red carpet and the last time I saw him in person was over 20 years ago.” Mindy was silent on the other end and CJ thought maybe the line had gone dead. “Hello?”

“He’s had a hard time with his mental health.” Her aunt’s tone had dropped an octave. “I was there for him in some of his worst moments, Carreen. For a long time, I was always worried he wouldn’t make it. When he began touring and I moved away from Sunset, we didn’t see each other in person, but he’d often call in distress, needing help.” Throughout her childhood and teen-hood, CJ had never inquired about her aunt’s evening phone calls with the vocalist. “At one point, in fall of ‘96, he offered me a job to come work for him and live in LA, but I couldn’t at that time. I was at consumed with trying to track you and your mom down after she had fled. I had spent years setting up a stable life and home here in Redding in hopes of gaining custody, saving money for a lawyer and a private investigator. You were my priority, he understood that. Fortunately, he had Beta to support him in person.” CJ let her aunt’s words process and could only say,

“Wow.”

“He was a great help to me too. When you came to live with me and I had won custody, I thought I was over the hump. I didn’t realize there would be so much more. I hadn’t thought about it, I was just so happy to finally have you safe.” CJ understood that her aunt meant her PTSD. “I thought my love, safety, and warmth would be enough. But I was wrong. I didn’t know how to handle some of it, even with the professionals I had to help. I didn’t know what it was like for you. But he knew. He gave me the insight I needed to help you in the way you needed. He knew what it was like to grow up that way.” Her aunt’s words were sombering. She had processed much of her trauma in therapy over the years, so much so, that her PTSD symptoms were mostly dormant. Residual sensory hypersensitivities, some self-esteem issues, and the occasional nightmare was all that she dealt with anymore. But she had been unaware of the fact that her aunt had struggled so much in the beginning. She should have figured, but she had never thought about it.

“Well, that makes sense. He seemed to know a lot more about me then I had expected.”

“I’m going to tell you something that you cannot tell him that you know.”

“Ok.”

“I told you that your financial aid had covered all your college expenses, that wasn’t true. When Axl found out you were going to college for psychology, he paid for the entire four years.” CJ stood in stunned silence. “He insisted. He has no children of his own and he already felt invested in your upbringing, after all the help he gave me in the beginning. But he didn’t want anyone to know, he doesn’t like recognition for things like that.”

“Damn, next you’re gonna tell me he’s my dad.”

“No,” Mindy said with a laugh. “Trust me, your mom was nowhere near Sunset in 1988.” CJ had stopped wondering about who her father was a long time ago, she doubted her mother had even known. Now that the seriousness of the conversation had been broken, Mindy asked, “So, did he set you up in a nice room?”

“It is really nice,” said CJ, “We talked for a bit, he told me to sleep in tomorrow and then I’ll meet everyone else.”

“He doesn’t already have a fuck ton of work for you to get through,” said Mindy jokingly.

“No actually I’m not working under him, I’ll be working as an assistant for a guy named Duff.” She heard Mindy scoff.

“Duff? He didn’t tell me it was Duff who needed an assistant.” She could practically hear Mindy rolling her eyes through the phone. CJ laughed in amusement at her aunt’s annoyance.

“Why what’s wrong with him?”

“Nothing, he’s nice, he’s just-, well, he WAS kind of annoying back in the day. He’s sober now with a family, so I’m sure he’s different.”

“I was afraid you were gonna tell me he was a prick.”

“No, not an ass, just was more of an annoying little brother, at least to me. I’m sure you’ll do fine with him.” Mindy paused before saying, “Or you call me, and I’ll take care of him for you.”

“Well, that was like 100 years ago,” said CJ with a joking tone.

“I’m not that old, don’t you age me up like that.” said Mindy playfully.

“I’m hoping to catch onto things quickly for him, I don’t want to be a drag.”

“You will, just don’t forget to enjoy yourself too.”

“I’ll try.”

“Ok, well I’m gonna head over to the office to get some work done. Michelle and I are taking off Thursday to go down the coast for a little vacation, so I have some things to finish up before then. Especially now since DUFF has hijacked my trusty office assistant.” She emphasized Duff’s name with a hint of annoyance that made CJ smile.

“Ok sounds good, I’m gonna settle in and maybe order some food. I’ll text you before I go to bed. Love you.”

“Love you too.” CJ set her phone down on the bathroom counter as the call ended. Her conversation with her aunt had resonated within her. She hadn’t known things had run so deep between Mindy and Axl, but it made everything make sense.

CJ was suddenly aware of the cold air on her naked body and the tub nearly running over. She jumped to shut off the faucet.

-

After her bath, it had taken CJ an agonizing 30 minutes to decide what she wanted to eat from the room service menu. There were so many good options, and she was painfully aware of the expense of everything. She knew it was covered, but she felt herself weighing the price of everything as she selected what she wanted. If they were in America, she’d be able to go across the street and grab some Subway or maybe Chipotle, but she wasn’t about to leave the hotel in an unknown country to try to order something cheaper elsewhere. Additionally, all she had eaten for the past 16 hours was airport food and she needed something substantial to balance her stomach out. CJ’s growing hunger overtook her moral hang-ups about the expense of everything, and she finally settled on an appetizer of salmon gravlax, butternut squash ravioli for her meal, and crème brulee for dessert.

While waiting for food, CJ lay on the bed and flipped through television channels, not finding anything that piqued her interest. Instead, she took out her phone and decided to do some Googling. She first googled “Guns N’ Roses” and several pictures popped up. She pressed on the first one, which looked like it was from the 80’s. She immediately identified Axl Rose, front and center of the group, with his long red hair. Which one was her boss. She scrolled over onto another picture, which was much more familiar to her. It was a photo of the band, all sitting on a rug together, with Axl standing up on the right. It was the picture that was on the back of the Appetite for Destruction CD case her aunt had gifted her so many years ago. The CD and a CD player were the last things she had been given by Mindy before her mother had decided to flee California to avoid Children Protective Services.

_

July 1995

Mindy’s House / Redding, California

A 6-year-old CJ trembled in excited anticipation in the backseat of her mother’s little four door sedan as it cruised down a familiar wooded backroad. It was a hot 90-degree day in the dead of summer. CJ had been waiting for several months to see her aunt Mindy and return to her house in beautiful rural northern California. Her mother had been telling her they would go visit her aunt “soon.” She always told her “soon.” CJ was never sure how soon “soon” would be.

It had been about 4 months since they had last visited her aunt. CJ missed the days where she and her mother had lived with her aunt. They had lived with Mindy for about six months back in 1994. CJ had loved it. She had gotten to go to school, had all the food she wanted, and slept in a quiet, safe, and warm house. She didn’t have to wonder when her next meal would come or where she would sleep, listen to fighting or screaming, or tip toe around her explosive mother. The arrangement had gone badly when her mother and aunt had begun to fight about her mother’s increasing drug use, her lack of attention to CJ, and tendency to steal money to buy more heroin. It wasn’t long after that her mother had decided to move in with her new boyfriend in Sacramento. He had kicked them out recently, and now they were back to couch surfing and staying in her mother’s car. CJ was hoping that maybe, just maybe, she would get to stay this time. She often wished that her aunt was her mom.

The car turned off the main paved road onto a dirt road and CJ sat up higher in her seat to get a better look out the window. There were a few other homes scattered alongside the roadway and it was a five-minute drive to the end of the road where her aunt’s house was. The trees thinned on the right and finally opened up to an expansive field. The road curved along the edge of the trees, all the way up to her aunt’s light blue ranch-style home at the end. The house faced the rolling field and backed up to the forest.

As the car pulled up to the house, her aunt Mindy stepped out the front door, grinning widely. The car had barely come to a stop when CJ opened the door and jumped out. She ran to her aunt, who picked her up and held her in a tight hug. CJ hugged her back as best she could.

“I missed you, auntie.”

“I missed you too sweetheart, very much.” Her aunt gently set CJ back down. CJ’s mother approached the two slowly, a pinched look of annoyance on her face. Mindy’s smile disappeared as she looked up at her sister and her tone changed.

“Heather, good to see you.” Unable to contain herself, CJ couldn’t help but blurt out,

“Can we stay with you this time? I don’t like sleeping in the car. I want to stay here.” There was a flash of distress on Mindy’s face before she smiled softly at CJ and said,

“We’ll talk about it later. For now, why don’t you run inside and grab some cookies. I just took them out of the oven for you.” Her focus now on cookies, CJ gasped and darted in the house, leaving her mother and aunt in a tense silence.

-

After she had her fill of cookies, CJ wandered around her aunt’s home, going from room to room. It was your average middle class American home, but to CJ it was like a beautiful, quiet, and clean safe haven full of soft furniture, an abundance of toys for her to play with, and the delicious smell of cookies. She looked out the window at the beautiful rural landscape. The rolling green fields went on for a mile before dissolving into a distant tree line. It was a sunny day, and beyond the trees, she could see distant mountains. Everything was so quiet and peaceful here compared to Sacramento. She was eager to get outside and play in the field. The tall grass was the same height as her and it gave her a sense of shelter and peace to lay in it and look up at the deep blue sky. Additionally, there were so many little critters and insects for her to observe and investigate. Her focus was broken as she heard her aunt call out to her from the kitchen. She turned away from the window and saw her aunt standing in the doorway, holding a wrapped gift.

“I just thought I’d give you your birthday gift. I know it’s a little late, but I didn’t get a chance to give it to you last time.”

“What is it!?” Her aunt sat down on the couch and held out the package to her.

“Go ahead and open it.” CJ quickly climbed up onto the couch with her aunt and made quick work of the wrapping paper. Based on the box, she quickly recognized that it was a CD player. She had never been gifted anything so expensive or special. “Here, this goes with it.” Her aunt pulled out a small CD box. “This is my friend’s music; I hope you’ll like it.” CJ could not read the words on the front, but the picture depicted a cross with five skulls on each end. It could be any type of music, it didn’t matter. CJ finally had something that was all hers. She watched intently as her aunt opened the box for her and plugged the headphones in. The moment was broken when she heard her mother clear her throat. CJ looked up to see her standing in the doorway, watching them with disdain. CJ felt cold fear. That look was usually followed up with a beating. She jumped when she felt her aunt run a hand softly down the back of her head and say,

“Why don’t you take it out into the yard and give it a listen. I’ll get dinner started.” Never one to question adults, CJ nodded and hopped off the couch and scurried out the back door, happy to be away from her mother’s glare.

-

Mindy waited for her niece to close the back door before she rounded on her sister. She wanted to leap from the couch and hit her, to show her the same treatment she had been giving to CJ. But instead, she took a deep breath, calmly standing up. If this was going to work, she needed to stay calm and collected. She could not lose her cool. Her niece’s life was at stake. She cleared her throat and said,

“Why don’t we go sit down and talk, catch up. It’s been awhile.” Heather didn’t respond and continued to glare at her. Mindy didn’t wait for her response and began to walk towards the kitchen, her head down.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing,” Heather hissed at her. Mindy paused at her sister’s words, thinking carefully about the best way to respond. “This stupid little act you’re putting on. Auntie of the year. We shouldn’t have come. I knew this would happen.” Her sister turned to leave the room and Mindy looked up at her.

“Where did the bruises around her neck come from Heather?” Her sister stopped in her tracks but did not look at Mindy.

“It’s none of your goddamn business. You’re not her parent.” There was a moment of silence and Heather finally looked up to meet her gaze. Mindy looked her in the eyes, unafraid of her sister’s erratic behavior. She was reminded of how alike they were in appearance. The same long wavy dirty blonde hair, brown eyes, heart shaped face structure. However, the healthy fullness in her sister’s face had been lost to drug addiction. Her eyes were sunken and cold, she was pale, and her face was covered in scars and acne from prolonged drug abuse. A stranger on the street would no longer peg them as siblings, even though it had been obvious when they were both healthy. Her sister continued to speak, “Don’t think I don’t see what you’re doing here. The cute little house, a stable job for the first time in your life, you’re not taking her.” Mindy’s entire plan to gently approach her sister about relinquishing custody was blown. Since her niece’s birth, Mindy had tip toed around her sister, realizing how poor of a parent she would be. She had initially tried to be optimistic, hoping Heather would pull it together for her child, but it quickly became abundantly clear that she wouldn’t. Mindy had not wanted to lose access to CJ, but she could no longer sit and watch Heather neglect and abuse her. Mindy took a deep breath and said,

“I’m not doing anything Heather; I want you two to come here and have a safe place to start over, without the drugs and the revolving door of men.” She looked at her sister imploringly, wanting to plead and beg. “CJ should be in school, spending time with other kids, you should be happy and healthy here with me. I want things to be how they were when we were kids. Do you remember how we were? We told each other everything.”

“Bullshit,” said Heather, “You were always mom’s favorite. I was always doing something wrong. Mom never let me forget it. And now you’re still trying to continue to be miss perfect. I am raising CJ how I see fit, it’s none of your business. I’ll do what I want with her, she belongs to me.” Mindy moved closer to her sister, and gently took her hands in her own.

“Please Heather, please stop this. Come stay here. Let me get you the help you need. I’ll pay for whatever you and CJ need. Just stop using, it’s made you a stranger. I love you two so much.” Heather roughly pulled away from Mindy and continued towards the door.

“We are leaving, this was a mistake, I knew it.” Mindy felt a flare of anger. She did genuinely care for her sister, but her primary concern was her niece. In a bitter voice, she called out after her.

“Where are the bruises from Heather? What’s your excuse this time? You can’t tell me that child “fell” on the playground, or she did it to herself. I know you have her in and out of drug houses. If you didn’t do it to her one of your boyfriends did.” Her sister turned and exploded in anger.

“You don’t know anything you stupid dyke!” Mindy was unbothered by the slur and against her better judgment, she quickly stalked over to her sister, getting up in her face, looking down on her. Mindy was 6 foot tall compared to her sister’s smaller 5’6”.

“You can give me custody, or I’m calling CPS. You are abusing her, exposing her to strangers who could hurt her. It’s a miracle she isn’t dead already. That child should be in school. At her age, it’s illegal that she’s not, and the state will investigate for that reason alone, never mind the bruises and malnourishment. I have documentation of your abuse and neglect from day one, don’t think you can win this battle Heather.” She expected her sister to physically attack her. But instead, Heather smirked and said,

“You call CPS and hire as many fancy lawyers as you want and see how that goes for you. You’ll never see us again.”

-

CJ was in her own world, sitting cross legged in the backyard, messing with her new CD player. She had just begun to listen to the first song on the CD when she felt a hand grab her by the upper arm and abruptly pull with enough force that she was lifted into the air. She screamed, clinging to her CD player and CD case so she did not lose it. She heard her mother’s angry voice.

“Let’s go, we are leaving!” It took a moment for CJ to realize what was happening. Her mother was roughly dragging her towards the car, and she would not be staying with her aunt. “Say goodbye, you’ll never see your aunt again.” CJ screamed and cried, fighting against her mother’s pull.

“NO, I DON’T WANT TO LEAVE! LET ME STAY!” She began to scream for her aunt to help her as her mother had pulled open the back door of the car and was trying to stuff her inside. CJ held all of her limbs out against the frame of the car door like a starfish, in an effort to prevent her body from being shoved in. A cold shot of panic and adrenaline had set in, and CJ was able to briefly shove her mother backwards. However, it was not quick enough. As she tried to dart away, she was rag dolled and disoriented by a hard punch to the face. Her vision was blurry, and she could no longer summon any physical strength in her small body to fight back. She could hear her aunt screaming in horror and protest from somewhere nearby. She was aware of being roughly laid down in the backseat of her mother’s sedan. By some miracle, she could still feel the gifts her aunt had given her clutched in one of her hands. The driver’s door opened and shut with a slam and the car was suddenly moving abruptly. CJ caught a glimpse of her aunt’s tear streaked and screaming face in the car window. She could hear her hands clawing and pulling at the locked door handle in an effort to save her. But it was too late, her mother accelerated, and her aunt’s face was gone from the window. She tried to sit up but could not. Her head was pounding in pain, and she felt faint. She could do nothing but lay there and slip into unconsciousness.

-

May 2017

Conrad Dublin Hotel / Dublin, Ireland

A sharp knock on the hotel door distracted CJ enough to break her out of her trip down memory lane. She quickly closed the safari app on her phone. She got up and opened the door to find her dinner waiting on a tray. She quickly brought it inside, not wasting any time opening the trays and chowing down. The food was good, perhaps some of the best she’d ever had. She got halfway through her meal before she realized she had not ordered a drink. Not wanting to mess with the mini bar, she decided to go search for a vending machine.

-

Duff had finished his FaceTime call with Grace and lay back on his bed for a moment in his silent hotel room, taking a breath. His divorce two years ago had put an initial strain on his relationship with his daughters. Things had slowly grown back to normal, and they spoke on FaceTime most nights, especially he and Grace. Grace had always seemed to identify more closely with him, and the divorce had affected her harder than it had Mae. The girls had yet to join him on tour and trying to coordinate a time they could both come out was difficult with all of their activities. As amicably as things had ended, he still felt a sense of guilt over his daughters that he could not shake. He loved being a father, and his girls were his pride and joy.

The room felt warm, and he sat up to get himself a cold glass of water, not knowing if the room was actually hot or his anxiety was setting in. He got a glass and filled it and then searched for ice. When he realized he didn’t have any he remembered an ice machine at the end of the hallway. Duff listened at the door and couldn’t hear anyone outside. As much as he appreciated fans, he wasn’t looking to run into anyone tonight. He cracked the door to see no one out in the hall and decided to walk out. A small room at the end of the hallway was where he located the ice machine. He was surprised to see a woman standing at the vending machine, her back to him. Her long, thick, curly, brown hair hid much of her from view. He stuck his glass under the dispenser and pressed. The machine roared to life and the young woman jumped in surprise. She turned to look at him with a flash of fear across her delicate features. He was struck at her beauty; heart-shaped face, dark brown vixen eyes, light pink full lips, taller, and a killer hourglass figure that couldn’t be hidden under her sweatpants and cropped T-shirt. She was large-chested, and he couldn’t help but notice she didn’t appear to be wearing a bra. Not wanting to look at her too long, he smiled and said,

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” She gave him a small smile and turned back to the vending machine. She leaned down and grabbed her soda out of the slot before walking back up the hallway. He couldn’t help but glance at her one more time, admiring her. Don’t be a fucking creep McKagan, she’s gotta be half your age. Maybe if it was twenty years ago. He had a rule about keeping partners at an age-appropriate level. He didn’t want to be seen as one of those “old creepy rockstars” who solely went after young women. Since his divorce, he had fooled around a bit, but hadn’t been serious with anyone. He hadn’t dated in so long; he wasn’t sure he knew how to anymore. He kept his high libido satisfied and that’s as far as it went. Duff finished getting his ice and headed back to his room, trying to put the young woman out of his head.

#80s music #80s rock #axl gnr #axl rose #duff gnr #duff mckagan #guns n roses #saul hudson #slash gnr

[villains4hire]

Sacrifice.

The chamber shaking, her chains rattling as her glazed eyes blinked to look around. It was a cold, desolate and messy place, as if in a ruined home left forgotten, yet she felt a familiar presence, "Who... who's there? Where... where am I? Hello? B...-Bolo? You're... dead, am I... Did they win- are they?"

Cutting her off as he floated in front of her in his mind form, "No, you're not dead and neither are they dead, I still am though, unfortunately, even if it matters little. But it's good you're responding, your coming to only confirms what I already knew as 'Little Cato' as you call him wasn't immediately destroyed when confronting you, you're still in here. That place, being your mind."

Grunting and panting slightly as she pulled herself upward like a lamb walking for the first time, and then forward as some of the chains snapped on her body, the void spawn now standing. "Alright, so we're doing this I guess. Then why the hell are you here? Wait... why is Little Cato here? He shouldn't be here, he should-."

Another shake of the room as she nearly stumbled yet again, the titan interrupting her once more, "I think it should be rather obvious why he's here, along with H.U.E, and Mooncake who graciously helped me inside into your mind after Mooncake was thrown into your face. But it's not just them, this entire plan hinges on you as well, Ash. Gary, Quinn, Sheryl, KVN, Biskit, Tribore and even Avocado also all believe in you as they're setting up to take down Invictus. As we don't have time to talk, what must be done is to free you from your father- Invictus's control. As for me? I'm just here to be your hype-man, yo."

Looking stunned as she held her arm, only processing they were trying to fight the impossible, "Tell... tell them to run, to hide. They're... wasting their time. I can feel it, I can feel myself changing already, Invictus is already on the verge of victory once I'm done. Besides, he'll give me the world I want anyway, they'll be included in it along with Fox, Clarence and even my old family, they don't have to forgive me for what I did to save them, but I won't make fucking excuses.... what I did was awful.... I... I just gave in when I knew they were going to all die from Final Space, I-, who's... who's that." Stopping in a shiver, Ash felt a sense of disgust at seeing the shaking, all too familiar voidling that was in the fetal position, taking shelter under a cardboard box roof, propped by sticks in the rain as the scenery changed to that of a desolate outskirt- yet another rumble would ring out in the room, as another chain broke from her moving closer, however.

"ASH! Please... come back to us, can you hear me? Please, just stop, we need you, I need you.... sis, I don't want this... I don't want this for you, please," Little Cato's breaking voice would echo in her mind along with Mooncake's noises, she could feel his and Mooncake's embrace, remembering the warmth and texture of the fur, and the scent of that stupid body spray he wore. Ash had stopped attacking him from what she could feel, there was a heated warmth trailing on her face from her eyes yet incoherent whispers and damned babbling was all she could muster- she could not see him through the void.

Bolo undeterred, now hovering to the shaking being, a hand placed on the head to which she responded at first in a tearful flinched aversion, but relaxed in the soft pet, the location changing as Ash looked around for a moment, she remembered, after she had lost her first family, "You're bad at lying, Ash. Not even you believe what you're saying other than giving in at the idea of your family dying- and do you really think that your family, let alone Little Cato would wish to live in a world such as that? You know they wouldn't listen to you, as you wear your heart on your sleeve. But you can't even recognize her now, can you? It's you, Ash. What you used to be. The innocence, the joy, everything that made you who you are before the seeds of corruption that were planted at your birth began to sprout upon your contact with Invictus as you spent years with him in his prison, yet time moving normally outside of it- all according to his plan. Yet the one part he so desperately tried to destroy, but only managed to bury as he split her from you. Even I didn't believe it at first, but there's something inside of you that he didn't account for though, it's the very reason he chose you to be his daughter, and the very reason why it can be his downfall- it's something that is unbreakable." Ash moving closer to herself as another, one chain on her arm broke, reaching out, she'd be interrupted by Bolo, however.

The spirit would block her path for a moment to avoid her touching her previous self, "Wait. You must know this, or you will fail. The moment you accept her back as a part of yourself, you can never go back, that for us to win- you must lose. You will endure a pain and test of will that even I cannot overcome or dare wish on my greatest enemy, and if you fail? You will become the monster Invictus wishes you to be... and even if you succeed? You will face a fate worse than death afterward, you will be destined to eventually become like the great corrupter, yet an insane, dribbling shell of a beast in eternal agony should you never come out of it, and it's why I offer to you even in the face of annihilation: a way out, I can pull your spirit from your body. You will die, and while Gary would still have a slim chance? It'd buy us more time... I will only offer this once-" Without hesitation, Ash went aside to grip her old self.

A subtle smile from Bolo, "I do not blame you, to reject who you are is what evil does, it twists, it changes everything about you to suit its purpose. You will never be the same, but what was once lost has been reclaimed. But brace yourself, for now we shall see if the faith that was put in you was worth it!"

"I'm... I'm sorry, I won't leave you behind again," she muttered as they comforted Ash's old self that would cease shaking as that singular eye closed, fusing into herself as her hair grew on one side, her new eye where it used to be missing turned to that of the void when she used her powers, yet simply remained that way now- she had been made whole again, on both sides. Yet before she could even acknowledge the changes, her prison reacted as countless flowing energies of the void and purplish glow would assault her as it threatened to consume her very being. Yet the chains would break, and she felt herself faltering even as she stood- it wasn't enough as she cried out in echoing, distorted screams to Bolo for the overwhelming power, "I- I CAN'T.... I CAN'T DO IT ALONE, BOLO! IT'S TOO MUCH!"

Yet with a sudden support through the mindscape as ripples threatened to rip her very soul apart, a familiar feeling, all too many supporting her reaching out to hold her up as they could, Bolo calling out to her, "Ash... I never said I came alone! Remember everyone who you hold dear, remember why you're struggling. Why you fight against the choking darkness! Why you stand even now when so many others have fallen! Why you cannot lose, why you can't afford to lose!"

Three hands, two big, one small she had nearly forgotten, only remembering their scent, their warmth as the chains began to break further as she began to steady herself as the screaming from her stopped.

"Remember every life he's taken from you, from everyone you love. Every lie he's ever told, how he ripped your family apart from warping you since the day you were born as his child!" the titan continued.

Then a fatherly old voice she could never forget, that scrunkly con-man, "You didn't think you'd get rid of me that easy, did you? But I've got you!"

And several more snaps as she began to focus as she reached with what she saw were claws as she began to tear, the flooding torrent of corruption that threatened to drown her in all of it as the titan roared in encouragement.

"I got you, keep going, kiddo," another voice, that mature, intelligent yet loving calm tone as she felt a thick-glove help her up.

Bolo a beacon of clarity in the thick of it all, "YES, THAT'S IT, ASH! Remember everything you've given to protect your family, remember how you broke your body, how you sundered your very mind, how you risk your very soul itself to endless damnation, but laugh in the face of it all- REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE, ASH GRAVEN!"

The first warp of her mind broken through as she sped through the chasing darkness toward a light at the end of the tunnel, it was threatening to tear at her heels to drag her back down. Chuckling into laughter as he kept alongside her, the Titan himself had gained hope. Yet her movements were starting to give out, her mind was breaking as that speed upward shot out like a shooting star in pitch black of it all, yet her mind that was beginning to fail as it tried to surround her, like a light in the dawn beaming across the horizon.

"KEEP GOING! YOU'RE ALMOST THERE! NOW SHOW HIM! Show him why his arrogance will be his downfall, that WE ARE to show him why you're his weapon, his HARBINGER of DESTRUCTION and just how RIGHT HE IS! Show not just him, but me, your family and the entire universe and far beyond the power that you wield like a razor honed edge that so many fear even considering, that even I tremble to how you burn through universes with ease, using it as a weapon that even Invictus himself fears wielding to which he will never understand but has made so many before him wield it in his place like the weak coward he is: FOR ALL HE CAN DO IS TAKE! WHY YOU, OF ALL PEOPLE, KNOW IT BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE? DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT WEAPON IS, ASH GRAVEN, INHERITOR OF THE VOID?"

And there it was, the threat of giving out becoming reality as the pitch black threatened to overwhelm to consume her as eyes closed, reacting, ready to struggle as she pushed, yet all of a sudden with a steady, strong, all too familiar grip, a smiling face looking down at her, that goofy loving voice- Ash's eyes shooting open in tears.

"Go get him."

The words like an echoing clarity as a triumphant, inhuman roar erupted from the void spawn as the darkness vanquished against her as Bolo boomed calmly with glowing eyes as he stayed behind, the veil shattering as she struck through it all like a lightning bolt, freeing herself from her binds.

"Sacrifice."

Instinctively pushing Little Cato, Mooncake, and H.U.E dropping the web of the ancients ones to veil their presence as he went after them in space. A ripple across the universe tore as everything, everyone fell silent, even Invictus as he was too late to turn to even face the fury that hit him like a hurricane, a torrent of void, purplish energy slamming him like a spear as he cried out in booming, great agony as Ash's form strained. Her body mutating partially through the strained cascading energy beam wider than several worlds as an eldritch scream of rage tore through the abomination, not letting up as she ignored the cries of Mooncake, Little Cato to stop from what was destroying her as her skin began to crack in purple, ominous glowing energy as a blinding light swept throughout the galaxies and span of countless universes as space itself bent, melted and threatened to give out.

And it was done as she succumbed, coughing up blood as her eldritch nature began to rapidly recover her as she drifted in the dead of space. Gary had used the weapon he needed with the opening as Ash twitched and convulsed as the trio that came for her rushed toward her- the rest was up to him and Sheryl it seemed.

#void inheritor #ic #drabble save #do not reblog #ask to tag #drabbles

[justkending]

Everest. Chapter 13.

Series Summary: She was done and retired. After Thanos and after the battle of a lifetime, she had called it quits and had distanced herself from the Avenger lifestyle. But word finds her that someone from her past is in danger. What the journey entails was never one she wanted to face nor one she saw becoming her reality again. The rollercoaster that comes with fighting evil odds arrives on her doorstep not leaving much room for a no…

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Word Count: 2500+

Chapter 13:

"So she stopped a terrorist attack?" Bucky breathed out as Tony gave graphic details, one after another, of what really happened with Marley and the people who had captured her.

"I believe it was why she felt she needed to be the one to sacrifice herself," Tony nodded. "A way to make up for all the lives she felt responsible for."

Bucky took a minute to process.

"Ok, to summarize," Steve scratched his beard, speaking from his position across the table in a conference space before proceeding. "The bomb that Marley detonated was programmed to go off in the most populated city in the US, which is, of course, here."

"Yes."

"In the bomb was a chemical that would have gassed the city, target and affect anyone with a possible mutant gene, and caused the gene to surface upon inhaling the chemical serum."

"Yes."

"Therefore, creating a city full of mutants whose powers can range from anything Marley was capable of to... Well, really any form of power or enhancement." Steve paused, rubbing his temple. "And considering most people can barely handle an inkling of power of their own, we could have created countless new enemies within a 20-minute span of it detonating."

"Yup," Tony confirmed again. "Convicts in their cells to babies laid down for their nap. Anyone with the gene would have been affected."

"All because they wanted to create an army of mutants for themselves," Bucky added at the end, staring at the files Tony had displayed on the hologram above.

"No one has any form of creativity anymore. The bad guys of the world really need to come up with some more original plans," Tony scoffed, pulling a pen he had been chewing out of his mouth and pointing it to Steve. "Which brings me to my next game plan."

"First, explain to me why Y/N being left out of knowing this new information was important," Bucky asked.

"It's not necessarily this information I'm worried about," Tony shook his head, going to a table and grabbing a paper file. "It's the coordinates Friday found that I worry about her getting her hands on." He handed off the manila folder.

Bucky took it. "What if they've already moved? It's their MO when we were trying to find them before."

"Yeah, but I found their headquarters," Tony crossed his arms with a proud smirk. Bucky gave him a look. "I tracked some of where their intel was going and coming from. Badda-bing-badda-boom, one spot, was a common denominator for a majority of them. Under a ton of locks and keys, of course, but I'm good like that." Nat cleared her throat from where she had been silently glaring at Tony, and he waved her off. "Ok, Romanoff is good like that. I just supplied the advanced technology that got us there. The point is we have it and everything we need to take them down now. Fully wipe them out."

He stared into the room, Sam, Steve, Bucky, and Nat looking at him unimpressed, but truthfully, it was just their resting face when dealing with Tony.

"Great. Now, you've yet to enlighten us on why Y/N still can't know about this," Sam questioned this time.

"I have years of experience with this woman... I think that's enough knowledge and intuition to know that when Y/N wants vengeance, she gets it. Usually, she has some form of resistance when it comes to completely wiping people off the face of the earth. But something tells me with how hard she took Marley's death, on top of thinking she exterminated them the first time, and it came to bite her in the ass... She's going to make sure the job gets done this time. People involved with it will feel that pain a thousand more times than she did."

"You think she'll kill them all?" Bucky asked.

"We would hope that's all she did," Tony nodded. "And to keep her record clean and conscience clean, I can't let her get this information and risk leaving all her morals behind."

"Her actions wouldn't be on your shoulders if she did," Nat spoke up, feet propped on the table still.

"Can't say I'd agree with that," Tony hummed nonchalantly and flicked a few fingers on the screen, pulling the hologram into a compact metal box he had taken out of his pocket.

"I'm assuming we need to suit up then?" Sam sighed, standing and stretching.

"Correct. Meet in the hanger in twenty minutes," Steve confirmed, standing with him.

________________

"Was the area affected when Marley detonated the bomb? Any surrounding towns get any residue of the chemicals?" Steve asked.

Everyone who could join the mission circled the table in the middle of the jet. Sam, Natasha, Tony, Bucky, and Steve were the only ones in on it. Wanda and Vision were out of the loop for now. Clint was back home. Peter had school... The map for their infiltration hovered over the counter and spun in a slow circle to give all angles of their entrance and exits.

"Don't believe so. The location where it was discharged was hundreds of miles away from any kind of civilization. Plus, it would have only mattered if it was in a 30-mile radius. Apparently, they didn't go further in their experimentation on that. Because of how far underground the weapon was contained, it didn't get distributed the way it was made to," Tony answered. "Another reason Barnes here can't suddenly fly or shoot lasers out of his eyes."

Bucky shot him a glare. He had told him he couldn't go into the pit due to its depth, and whatever remnants of the serum had been dispersed in the air wouldn't have made it to him with the rubble keeping it contained for the most part. That and if it had happened to hit him, nothing came out of it. No tests came back weird from his initial check-up after they got home.

This was believed to be a manageable takedown. Sure, the entire organization would take some time as a whole to destroy, but the head honcho would be just another Tuesday for the Avengers from what they had gathered.

"And Y/N didn't tell you where she was going?" Sam asked, turning to Bucky after Tony moved back to the pit and Nat and Steve moved to check weapons and such.

"No. She left, saying she couldn't tell me. She had to figure some stuff out on her own," Bucky answered, still looking at the hologram before him.

"Figure some stuff out?" Sam resaid, hurt and disappointed in his voice, just like Bucky's when he saw her grabbing her bags. "I can't believe- Did she think we couldn't help her with it?"

"I don't know," Bucky answered honestly. "I don't think that was her intention, but it doesn't sting any less."

He looked up to his friend and saw the slight pain of the truth.

"What about Wanda and Vision?" Sam asked after a moment. "Why not bring them into the loop?"

"They wanted out of this life. Tony's granting that wish by keeping them oblivious," Bucky shrugged, moving to go get changed as they were approaching the coordinates. "And Wanda's just as connected to Marley's death. He thought it was a safer bet this way, too. Don't ask me, though, because I'm against most of his reasonings."

"It's Tony's funeral next when she finds out he left her out of this," Nat sighed, walking past them to the other side of the jet.

_________________________

It was a short flight. Tony had picked the fastest plane he had, and they headed out earlier than planned. Two hours later, they landed in a remote forest just a mile or two away from the Chimera group's supposed setup.

"This is it?" Nat said in the coms once they had surrounded the building. "This place sticks out like a sore thumb for a group that's stayed off our radar this long."

"I gotta agree with Romanoff on this one," Sam replied.

"This is it, ok. I promise," Tony groaned. "Have I ever been wrong?" Before he could regret what he said, he interrupted what he knew everyone else would have had a word to say about. "Forget I spoke. Ok, is everyone clear on the plan?"

"Bucky and I are toward the east corridor, and it's quiet," Steve said with a hint of suspicion.

"Nat?" Tony asked.

"Quiet over here too. The place seems abandoned. Did we miss them?"

"Last time, Y/N and I had to go down quite a few flights of stairs before we found people, but I figured it would be different with this being the headquarters, Stark," Bucky noted, peeking around where he and Steve were stationed.

"Friday, sweep the building for me, will you?" Tony sighed.

There was a pause as Friday began her scan and got back to them in seconds.

"Multiple heat signatures detected about 294.3 meters down, sir."

"So we have some moles, it looks like," Tony snarked. "Ok. You guys know what to do."

__________________

They indeed knew what to do, but sometimes plans don't go as planned.

They were close to being outnumbered. Steve and Nat were now in a corridor together, fighting off three different enhanced beings who were raining down their powers on the duo.

Sam was up in the sky with two other enhanced as one shot lasers out of his eyes, a jinx Tony had gotten ridiculed on, and the other controlled the wind in his vicinity, making it to where Sam's only plan of action was to dodge and fight the new currents whipping him around.

Bucky and Tony had somehow ended up in the same room and were fighting off a group of agents. They were lucky not to be confronted with any enhancement yet, but they were slowly becoming outnumbered in the chamber they were trapped in. And it was hard to tell who was an average human or one that could easily rip them apart with the right look.

"Damn it, Stark!" Bucky shouted as he punched another man straight in the chest, sending him back against a wall before another jumped him. "I told you you made this out to be too simple of a plan and mission!"

"We've handled worse," Tony argued, flying up with a guy on his back, causing him to make a sick crack in the concrete ceiling before blasting another person who was coming at him.

"Doesn't mean we have to come with one hand tied behind our back," Bucky growled, pulling a pistol from his thigh holster and shooting a few rounds, not missing.

"What do you mean one hand tied behind our back? We're handling this perfectly!" Tony chuckled nervously.

Even in the midst of swinging a right hook and kicking, every second he put another person down, Bucky managed to send a death glare Tony's way for the comment.

Then... The agents slowly spaced out, and Bucky and Tony froze as everyone stopped fighting suddenly and moved out of the way. Taking a second to catch their breath, they stayed ready for whatever was coming next. Something didn't sit well with the two as the few agents that were left went robotic and looked to the wide entrance of the room.

"Uh, Stark..." Bucky huffed in, barely labored as he stiffened in his spot.

"Yeah, I see it too," Tony cocked his head, landing back on the ground, and sauntered apprehensively to where Bucky was.

A young woman walked out from the crowd, robotic like her peers, but her eyes were glued to Bucky and Tony, whereas the others seemed to be staring ahead at nothing.

"Tony," Bucky said again, raising his gun, finger off the trigger even if the weapon was cocked.

"Hey! Children of the corn!" Tony spoke sternly, pointing a shock blaster meant to taze towards the girl. "Stop with the creepy stares. Where's the big boss?"

Bucky couldn't help the eye roll and jaw clench from his question. "Simple enough. Maybe they'll point us in the right direction," Bucky rolled his shoulders, keeping his stance taunt.

"I'd rather ask than shoot," the billionaire responded. "Come on, kid, don't make me repeat what I've been doing to your friends here," he said toward the young blonde-haired woman as unconscious bodies already littered the building. The charge in his suit's hand made a whirring sound.

The girl continued to give a blank stare, but in a fast second, her hands fisted at her sides with a white grip on her knuckles. Before either of them could react, Tony's suit buckled up, and his arms tightly fell to his side as if a rope had been wrapped around him a thousand times.

Bucky's arm was twisted and turned behind his back and of zero use as his control of it was completely ripped away from him.

"What the hell- '' Bucky grunted at the immediate reaction, causing him to stumble in his balance and fall forward. His non-metal hand was the only thing keeping him from falling face-first.

"This isn't good," Tony groaned as his suit got tighter and tighter. He let out a 'psh' sound as he was boa-constricted into his suit.

Bucky turned to see Tony's whole suit was rendered useless. And he was stuck in it.

"Friday! Eject!" he shouted, but it was no use. The only thing opening that suit was a vibranium crowbar or the girl's mind constricting it.

"Steve! Nat! Sam! We need some help here!" Bucky shouted into the comms and then groaned in pain as the arm bent uncomfortably and almost unhumanlike.

"We're a little tied up," Nat replied in between hits. "Literally."

"They have us cornered in a solid concrete room. We can't get out!" Steve was in the same state of exhaustion.

"Sam?" Bucky questioned. No answer. "God damn it, Sam! The one time I want you to talk!"

Even if Sam had said something at that point, Bucky wouldn't have been able to hear it over his own scream, and his arm bowed in ways it wasn't supposed to.

They were screwed. The Avengers had finally lost a battle. Not because they couldn't fight but because they came unprepared and took the wrong precautions.

Lights began flicking, and the ground shook beneath them. As if things couldn't get worse...

"Please tell me that's an earthquake and not another one of them," Tony huffed in between difficult breaths.

The whole group, minus the girl who kept her focus on the metal-enhanced men, turned to another entrance as if feeling something Bucky and Tony couldn't.

"I doubt that's an earthquake..." Bucky mumbled as he heard something coming from the dark hall but couldn't see anything. Screams and thuds sounded and grew closer.

Then, every light in the building went out, some shattering in the glass covers they were in.

"Bucky! Are you guys ok? What is that?" Steve shouted.

"Not us," Bucky answered.

"Sam?" Nat seconded.

Still no answer.

Even with his enhancements, he couldn't see anything besides the outlines of the people already in the room. He tried to use the distraction to get his arm loose or at least grab for a weapon with his arm that was free, but it was close to no use with the vibranium material being manipulated.

He patted around his squatted position, remembering a knife he had tucked in his boot, but knew it was equivalent to one bullet. His only shot and only weapon now.

Taking a deep breath as the sounds of anguish and torment sounded closer, he focused his senses to use his aim as his last resort. Even if he could hinder what was coming, it'd possibly give Stark enough time to get everyone out.

Just as he planned to throw it in the dark toward the girl who was keeping them incapacitated, the lights came back on, and the last person he was expecting was standing in what one could only describe as fury and raw power. 

TAGS:

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My Lovelies forever:

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Bucky Barnes Tags:

@chloe-skywalker @charmedbysarge @jbarness @bellamy-barnes @katiaw2 @aikeia​ @stopjustlovethemcu​ @enchantedbarnes​

#bucky barnes fanfic #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x avenger reader #bucky barnes reader insert #bucky barnes series #reader insert #justkending #marvel #marvel series #mcu #mcu series #bucky barnes x enhanced reader #bucky barnes series avenger #avenger series #avenger reader #avenger reader series

[aurora-by-jacqui-natla]

24. CONFRONTED

BY THE TIME THE NEXT DAY ARRIVED, WE WALKED AMONG OUR COVEN AS WE WAITING FOR THEM. The snow covered the field as we stood still. We stood in our covens as witnesses for them. To prove their innocence to the Volturi. Their innocence on the impossible.

The dark mist sauntered to us with elegance and effortlessly through the snow.

They had given us a death sentence even before the trial started. They don't care about justice. They don't care about our safety. They care for power and control. If dying for our freedom means going against them, then it truly was the right thing to do for us.

"The red coats are coming," I heard Garrett mumbling to himself. "The red coats are coming."

He moved himself closer to Kate.

"They did come," Vladimir whispered to Stefan.

"The wives," Stefan hissed back. "The entire guard. All of them together. It's well we didn't try Volterra."

And then, as if their numbers were not enough, while the Volturi slowly and majestically advanced, more vampires began entering the clearing behind them. The faces in this seemingly expressionless. At first there was the shock and even some anxiety as they saw the unexpected force awaiting them. But that concern passed quickly; they were secure in their overwhelming numbers, secure in their position behind the unstoppable Volturi force. Their features returned to the expression they'd worn before we'd surprised them. It was easy enough to understand their mindset; the faces were that explicit. This was an angry mob, in frenzy and desire for justice.

I did not fully realize the vampire world's feeling toward the immortal children before I saw them. It was clear that this motley, disorganized horde—possibly forty vampires altogether —was the Volturi's own kind of witness. When we were dead, they would spread the word that the criminals had been eradicated, that the Volturi had acted with nothing but impartiality. Most looked like they hoped for more than just an opportunity to witness— they wanted to help destroy.

I could feel it as the same comprehension sunk in around me. Despair weighted the air, pushing me down with more pressure than before. I noticed Irina as she hesitated in between the two companies, her expression unique among the others. Irina's horrified gaze was locked on Tanya's position in the front line. Edward snarled, a very low but fervent sound. I gave her a death stare.

"Alistair was right," Edward murmured to Carlisle.

"Alistair was right?" Tanya whispered.

"Caius and Aro come to destroy and acquire. They have many layers of strategy already in place. If Irina's accusation had somehow proven to be false, they were committed to find another reason to take offense. But they can see Renesmee now, so they are perfectly sanguine about their course. We could still attempt to defend against their other contrived charges, but first they have to stop, to hear the truth about Renesmee." Then, even lower. "Which they have no intention of doing."

Jacob gave a strange little huff.

And then, unexpectedly, two seconds later, the procession did halt. The low music of perfectly synchronized movements turned to silence. The flawless discipline remained unbroken; the Volturi froze into absolute stillness as one. They stood about a hundred yards away from us.

Behind me, to the sides, I heard the beating of large hearts, closer than before. I risked glances to the left and the right from the corners of my eyes to see what had stopped the Volturi advance.

The wolves had joined us.

On either side of our uneven line, the wolves branched out in long, bordering arms. A fraction of a second, ten wolves emerged from the trees. There were the wolves I knew and the ones I'd never seen before. Seventeen of them spaced evenly around us—Leah stood beside Ethan. It was clear from their heights and oversized paws that the newcomers all were young. With so many vampires encamped, a werewolf population explosion was inevitable.

More children dying. Why the hell did Sam allowed this? He allowed it because he had no other choice. If any of the wolves stood with us, the Volturi would be sure to search out the rest. They had gambled their entire species on this stand.

And we were going to lose.

I saw why Dad left them; their murderous bloodlust was one. All I wanted to do was to sink my teeth into them, to rip their limbs from their bodies and burned them. I could even dance on their ashes if I wanted to. Then, I heard a low, fierce snarl and I saw Bella smiling at the dark figures. It came from my friend.

Zafrina and Senna echoed her hushed growl. Edward squeezed her hand, cautioning Bella.

The shadowed Volturi faces were still expressionless for the most part. Only two sets of eyes betrayed any emotion at all. In the very center, touching hands, Aro and Caius had paused to evaluate, and the entire guard had paused with them, waiting for the order to kill. The two did not look at each other, but it was obvious that they were communicating. Marcus, though touching Aro's other hand, did not seem part of the conversation. His expression was not as mindless as the guards', but it was nearly as blank. Like the one other time I'd seen him, he appeared to be utterly bored.

Aro looked at my direction, smirking and huffed. I bit my lip.

"Aro's surprised to you here," Joseph said to Dad.

Dad looked at the ground, gripping his hand on Mum's hand.

The bodies of the Volturi's witnesses leaned toward us, their eyes fixed furiously on Renesmee and the Cullens, but they stayed near the fringe of the forest, leaving a wide berth between themselves and the Volturi soldiers. Only Irina hovered close behind the Volturi, just a few paces away from the females—both fair-haired with powdery skin and filmed eyes—and their two massive bodyguards.

I guessed they were the wives.

There was a woman in one of the darker gray cloaks just behind Aro. It looked like she was touching his back. Was this his own shield? His wife, perhaps?

I saw the two petite, deep gray cloaks side-by-side. Alec and Jane, the smallest members of the guard, stood just to Marcus's side, flanked by Demetri on the other. Their lovely faces were smooth, giving nothing away; they wore the darkest cloaks beside the pure black of the ancients. The witch twins, Vladimir had called them. Their powers were the cornerstone of the Volturi offensive. The jewels in Aro's collection.

Aro's and Caius's clouded red eyes flickered across our line. I read disappointment in Aro's face as his gaze roved over our faces again and again, looking for one that was missing.

"He's looking for Alice," Joseph said.

Maybe Alice being on the run was a good thing she did. Edward's breath speed.

"Edward?" Carlisle asked, low and anxious.

"They're not sure how to proceed. They're weighing options, choosing key targets: me, of course, you, Eleazar, Tanya. Marcus is reading the strength of our ties to each other, looking for weak points. The Romanians' presence irritates them. They're worried about the faces they don't recognize, Zafrina and Senna in particular, and the wolves, naturally. They've never been outnumbered before. That's what stopped them."

"Outnumbered?" Tanya whispered incredulously.

"They don't count their witnesses," Edward breathed. "They are nonentities, meaningless to the guard. Aro just enjoys an audience."

"Should I speak?" Carlisle asked.

Edward hesitated, then nodded. "This is the only chance you'll get."

Carlisle squared his shoulders and paced several steps ahead of our defensive line. I hated to see him alone, unprotected.

He spread his arms, holding his palms up as if in greeting. "Aro, my old friend. It's been centuries."

The white glade was quiet for a long time. The tension rolled off Edward as he listened to Aro's analysis of Carlisle's words. The strain climbed as the seconds ticked by.

Aro stepped forward out of the centre of the Volturi. The shield moved with him as if the tips of her fingers were sewn to his robe. For the first time, the Volturi ranks reacted. A muttered grumble rolled through the line, eyebrows lowered into scowls, lips curled back from teeth. A few of the guard leaned forward into a crouch.

Aro held one hand up toward them. "Peace."

He walked just a few paces more, then cocked his head to one side. His milky eyes glinted with curiosity.

"Fair words, Carlisle," he breathed in his thin, wispy voice. "They seem out of place, considering the army you've assembled to kill me, and to kill my dear ones."

Carlisle shook his head and stretched his right hand forward as if there were not still almost a hundred yards between them. "You have but to touch my hand to know that was never my intent."

Aro's shrewd eyes narrowed. "But how can your intent possibly matter, dear Carlisle, in the face of what you have done?" He frowned, and a shadow of sadness crossed his features—whether it was genuine or not, I could not tell.

"I have not committed the crime you are here to punish me for."

"Then step aside and let us punish those responsible. Truly, Carlisle, nothing would please me more than to preserve your life today."

"No one has broken the law, Aro. Let me explain." Again, Carlisle offered his hand. Before Aro could answer, Caius drifted swiftly forward to Aro's side.

"So many pointless rules, so many unnecessary laws you create for yourself, Carlisle," the white-haired ancient hissed. "How is it possible that you defend the breaking of one that truly matters?"

"The law is not broken. If you would listen—"

"We see the child, Carlisle," Caius snarled. "Do not treat us as fools."

"She is not an immortal. She is not a vampire. I can easily prove this with just a few moments—"

Caius cut him off. "If she is not one of the forbidden, then why have you massed a battalion to protect her?"

"Witnesses, Caius, just as you have brought." Carlisle gestured to the angry horde at the edge of the woods; some of them growled in response. "Any one of these friends can tell you the truth about the child. Or you could just look at her, Caius. See the flush of human blood in her cheeks."

"Artifice!" Caius snapped. "Where is the informer? Let her come forward!" He craned his neck around until he spotted Irina lingering behind the wives. "You! Come!"

Irina stared at him uncomprehendingly, her face like that of someone who has not entirely awakened from a hideous nightmare. Impatiently, Caius snapped his fingers. One of the wives' huge bodyguards moved to Irina's side and prodded her roughly in the back. Irina blinked twice and then walked slowly toward Caius in a daze. She stopped several yards short, her eyes still on her sisters.

Caius closed the distance between them and slapped her across the face.

It couldn't have hurt, but there was something horrifyingly degrading about the action. It was like watching someone kick a dog. Tanya and Kate hissed in synchronization.

Irina's body went rigid and her eyes finally focused on Caius. He pointed one clawed finger at Renesmee, where she clung to my back, her fingers still tangled in Jacob's fur. Caius turned entirely red in my furious view. A growl rumbled through Jacob's chest.

"This is the child you saw?" Caius demanded. "The one that was obviously more than human?"

Irina peered at the Cullens, examining Renesmee for the first time since she spotted her. Her head tilted to the side, confusion crossed her features.

"Well?" Caius snarled.

"I... I'm not sure," she said, her tone perplexed.

Continue to 25. TRIAL

#twilight #twilight saga #fanfiction #fanfic #vampires vs werewolves #werewolf #nightfall #shapeshifter #saga #vampires #aro volturi #aurora #bella cullen #book two #breaking dawn #children of the moon #denali #edward cullen #irish coven #romanian coven #renesmee cullen #irina denali #chapter twenty four #confrontation

[katb357]

Sicktember 27: Sleepless Night

M. Stoker/A-Shift/Emergency!

Thank you Xav!

“He shoots! He scores!” Chet Kelly was on his feet pumping his fist in the air in celebration. He must have jumped up harder than he intended to, though, because Johnny felt a shockwave when he hit the ground.

“Hey, Chet! Ya don’t gotta put a hole in my floor!” But Chet wasn’t moving now and the apartment still was. “Damn! Guys, earthquake!”

Mike dropped his beer in shocked realization as the floor shook harder. “Big one!”

Out the window, Johnny could see the water in the pool sloshing out onto the pavement. Then he noticed that the ceiling was starting to crumble. He lived in an older building, and it wasn’t exactly up to code. It was what he could afford. He’d never actually been home for an earthquake before. “So what do we--”

He never got to finish the question. Things must have happened fast, but to him it appeared like they went in slow motion. The ceiling caved in and an end table from the apartment above actually fell into his living room. At the same time, the floor seemed to fold in half. Johnny grabbed hold of Roy and held on tight.

Mike was tossed ass over teakettle across the room and Chet managed to get into the kitchen doorway and hold on. Marco tried for a grab at the couch, but slid across the floor instead. Fortunately, nothing hit him in the process. (Cap had bailed on the poker night to spend some much needed time with his wife.)

By the time the shaking stopped, they were no longer on the second floor of the apartment building. That is to say, the second floor was now down in the basement.

Fortunately, although they were trapped, John would learn later that his downstairs neighbor was not home at the time of the quake. He’d had tickets to the game Johnny and the guys were watching on television.

Once everything was still, Johnny gave Roy the once over. “You hurt, Pally?” He would deal with his own injuries later. He’d done something to his right wrist, and he knew he had a gash above his left eye because blood was dripping down and affecting his vision. Once he had checked on all his friends, he would figure out what he needed to do for himself.

“Other than bein’ shook up and havin’ a sore back, I’m fine. That was a helluva ride, Junior.”

“Yeah,” John said with a wry laugh. “Makes me miss Oklahoma.” He looked around. He could see Chet and Marco, and they looked like they were mostly OK. “Where’s Mike?”

“Wish we had some light down here.” Roy lamented. He called out for the engineer, “Mike! You okay?” No answer.

They called for a few more minutes before finally getting a response, although not one they had hoped for. It came from above them. “Here. I’m here, an’ hurtin’. Stuck someplace.”

“Damn. How’re we gonna get him down from there?” John was holding his injured wrist up close to his chest.

A small but bright light came on above them. Mike always carried a penlight in his pocket and he had managed to reach it. He was lying on half of the shattered floor/ceiling.

John’s hand was starting to hurt a lot, but he didn’t say anything. Mike was in a tricky position and it would take all of them to get him out. “OK, guys… I think I see how we can do this.” He outlined his plan.

Chet nodded. “Okay, let’s do it.”

The men of 51’s A Shift worked well together, and they were able to switch smoothly into rescue mode, even though they were off-duty. Johnny figured they would get Mike out, and then they’d better start looking for other residents who might need help. “Chet, can you fit in that space?”

Chet checked around the basement and shook his head. “Not safely. I think we’re stuck down here until help comes, pal. Let’s just get Mike down and see what shape he’s in.”

Johnny rolled his eyes. “That’s what I meant, ya meathead. Someone’s gotta squeeze into that space to get hold of him, and usually I’d volunteer, but I don’t think it’s a good idea this time.”

“Well, yeah, I can reach him if I stand on someone’s shoulders… or if I had some rope.”

John scrunched up his forehead to think. “Rope… I’ve got rope. But I’m not sure where my kitchen cabinets ended up. Just… stand on my shoulders.”

Mike interrupted them. “Don’t bother. Just get ready to catch me. I got loose from the board that I was hooked on.”

“You sure about that, Mike?” Roy asked. “You could make an injury worse that way.”

“I’m droppin’ one way or the other, your way one of you clowns could drop me anyway.”

“Mike, keep still and wait for us,” Johnny barked. Even though he had said he’d rather not volunteer, he used his left hand to pull his coffee table under the hole and then he worked his way on top of it and stood up. He was able to look Mike in the eyes this way. “OK… I’m here and I’m gonna help ya. I promise I won’t drop you.” He looked down. “Roy, climb up here and give us a hand.”

Roy did as John asked, by this time making use of his own penlight. He briefly flashed it at Mike’s eyes, confirming what he had suspected. Concussion. He got the cussing out he expected in return. Yep, definitely concussed.

Down below, Chet’s eyes widened in awe. “I didn’t know Mike knew those words!”

“Just don’t tell Beth. She’ll wash his mouth out with soap,” Roy quipped. He had noticed Johnny favoring his wrist, so he took the lead on lifting Mike down. “Almost there, pal.”

That was when they found out just how mouthy their quiet engineer got when he had a concussion. Downright rude, actually! Apparently whatever they did when pulling him out of the hole hurt, and he let them know about it in no uncertain terms.

Johnny hopped down off the table and got to work taking Mike’s vitals. He had to do everything left-handed, though, and that was awkward.

Mike became briefly combative, “leave me ‘lone ya damned buzzards!” He batted at John’s left hand, clearly not all there at the moment.

“Knock it off, Mike!” John reached with his right hand to grab at Mike’s flailing arm. He wasn’t in the mood for an uncooperative patient. “We’re tryin’ to help you!” Once he finally managed to get hold of his friend, he yelped at the pain in his wrist.

“I’m tryin ta knock it off!” Mike yelled.

“I don’t mean my hand!” Johny spluttered. He took a deep breath and forced himself back into paramedic mode. “Just calm down, Mike. We’re trying to help you here. You have a head injury.”

“Well, no duh, Sherlock! Hey genius, you’re bleedin’ all over the place.”

Johnny rolled his eyes, then rubbed his sleeve over the left eye to clear away the blood. “Yeah, yeah… I’ll deal with that later. You’re the priority at the moment, Mike. You’ve got a concussion.” At least a combative Mike was better than a drowsy Mike, he told himself… harder to treat, but Johnny would worry more if the injured engineer was lethargic. “Roy, if you can figure out where my kitchen ended up, maybe you can find my first aid kit and get some gauze--” He stopped mid-sentence. “I’m sorry. You said your back was hurtin’. I shouldn’t ask you to do that. Chet, make yourself useful.”

Chet began scrounging around looking for the kitchen sink…he figured that would be a good start. Eventually he found it and the cabinet containing the first aid kit. Belatedly, he also found the rope they had needed earlier, which might still come in handy. He gave the gauze to Roy, who cleaned and bandaged John’s cut the best he could.

“All right, Junior. Let me see that hand, too,” Roy said sternly.

Johnny tried to wave him off. “It’s fine. I’ll take care of it later.”

“I’ll take care of it now,” Roy insisted. “Now let me look.” He checked it over and then jury-rigged a sling using his jacket. “It could be broken, but you’ll need an x-ray to be sure. Keep it still, got it?”

“Yeah yeah, I know the drill. Can we deal with Mike now before he expires on us?” John moved back to Mike’s side. “What I wouldn’t give for the biophone right now,” he muttered. “No way the phones are working. We’ve just gotta wait around for someone to come get us.”

Mike had obviously heard at least part of what John had said. “Expires? What am I? Bologna?” He immediately segued into another subject. “Hope Hank and Em are okay.” He was starting to settle down, which might or might not be a good thing in his case.

“They moved into that new subdivision… all those houses are up to code and everything. I bet they’re fine.” Johnny settled down next to Mike. “How are you feelin’ now?”

“Like I got slapped by a building, how do you think I feel?”

“I’m just askin’. You don’t have to bite my head off.” John usually was able to keep a cool head in tough situations, but right now he was feeling very much on edge.

Mike yawned. “Well, don’t ask a question you don’t want the answer to, then, okay?” He closed his eyes.

“Shut up Mike.” John was irritated and grouchy, but he regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. Looking down, he saw Mike’s eyes had closed. “No. Don’t shut up. You gotta stay awake, Mike. Tell us about when you met Beth.”

One eye opened and stared at him balefully then shut again. “No.”

Roy prodded the engineer. “Wake up, Mike. You gotta keep talkin’. I wanna hear about you and Beth too.”

This time both eyes opened. He focused blearily on Roy for a moment, then shut his eyes and sighed. “Boy meets girl. Boy falls for girl. Boy proposes. Girl says yes. Girl’s father threatens to shoot Boy. Couple Elopes. End of story.”

“Beth’s dad was really gonna shoot ya?” Chet asked. “What’d ya do, Mike?! Knock her up?”

“Chet, you’re an idiot,” Johnny said. But he hoped the comment would serve the purpose of waking Mike up.

Mike shook his head, but didn’t rise to the bait Chet threw out. “No, I just wasn’t the one he had picked out for his daughter to marry. He hated me for it. That’s all.”

“Does he still,” Roy wanted to know.

Mike shrugged. “He’s dead. Died ten years ago. We never looked back after we left town. Her mother sent us a message telling us we were dead to them. We took her at her word.”

He closed his eyes again and proceeded to ignore them.

“Wow. And I thought I had mother-in-law problems,” Roy said. “Mine hates me, but at least she never cut Jo off.” He nudged at Mike’s shoulder. “C’mon, Stoker. Wake up or I’ll help Chet put firecrackers in Big Red’s exhaust pipe when we get outta here.”

Mike ignored him for a long moment, then sighed. “Look, I know what you’re all doing. My head hurts bad. I wanna sleep. I know I shouldn’t but I’m a big boy. Leave me alone.”

He shut his eyes again.

Roy leaned in and spoke softly. “Mike, you gotta understand, in your condition, sleep is a bad idea. You’re holdin’ a conversation OK, but your pupils are dilated and we haven’t really had a chance to evaluate you fully. Sleep could be dangerous for you right now. I know it hurts. I wish I could make it stop hurting, but I can’t.”

“Can I smack Chet for that ‘knocked up’ comment?”

“Be my guest,” Johnny said, gesturing toward the mouthy Irishman. “If you wanna smack Chet, you can go first in line.”

“Hey!” Chet protested. “If I get smacked, I’m smackin’ back!”

Now Mike sat up. “Oh yeah? That was a lousy thing to say about my wife, Chet. I should knock you on your can for it!”

“It wasn’t about your wife, it was about you! And… well… I only said it because I wanted to help wake you up.” He shrugged up a shoulder. “I thought if I made you mad it would be easier. I don’t want you endin’ up in a coma or anything like that!”

Mike stared at Chet for a long minute, then grinned. “Congratulations Sunshine… it worked.” He leaned back against the wall and stared at his friends. “I’ll try to stay awake, but I can’t guarantee anything. It’s gonna be a long night.”

Johnny yawned, but if Mike wasn’t able to sleep he sure as hell didn’t plan to. “Guys, I’ve been thinkin’ about poppin’ the question myself.”

Mike immediately shot back, “Sorry John, I’m taken. You’re too late.”

Marco coughed, then asked, “Seriously? Who is she?”

Johnny was glaring at Mike, but he turned to Marco and answered. “Well, I haven’t actually been introduced to her yet. But she’s a total dream. You know that new nurse up in cardiology? Her name’s Sophia. Just floats off the tongue, doesn’t it?”

Roy rolled his eyes. “You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me, Junior. You don’t even know this girl. She could be an ax murderer with your luck!”

“They hire ax murderers in cardiology these days?” John shook his head. “No, she’s the future Mrs. Gage. I’m sure of it. I just hafta get up there and ask her out. Dixie’s the one who told me she was single. And get this… she saw me from across the room the other day and she told Dixie she thought I was cute.”

Mike snickered, “Everybody thinks you’re cute, Johnny. Even some of the guys in the department think you’re cute… old ladies think you’re cute!”

Now it was time for Johnny to roll his eyes. “Give me a break, Stoker.” After a beat he added, “It’s true, though--old ladies love me. It’s the Gage charm.”

“You know who loves you is Jake…oh, never mind.” Stoker was cracking himself up.

“If you didn’t have a concussion, Mike…” Johnny was getting mad now. “Gee, ya save a guy’s life and he thinks he can take pot shots at ya. There’s gratitude for ya.” He instinctively balled up his right hand in a fist and then he really yelped.

Mike managed to look contrite, which he was. “Sorry, Johnny. Guess this thing has got me talkin’ too much. Maybe sleeping would be better after all.”

“No, no… don’t sleep.” John waved his left hand in the air. “Let’s just move on. Roy… we know you met JoAnne in the fourth grade. We’ve all heard that story. Marco, you seein’ anyone?”

“Mi amor Elena. She is a beautiful senorita I met at a party a few weeks ago. She teaches Spanish at a school not too far from the station actually. We have been out several times. I think we have something very special happening.”

“How’d you meet?” Roy asked.

“My brother Fernando was throwing a party and she came with her sister. We met there.”

Roy sat up straight, an idea brewing in his mind. “Guys, when we get out of this, let’s plan a cookout. Marco, you can bring Elena so we can all meet her. And Stoker, you’ll bring your family. John, maybe you can get Sophia to come. How about you, Chet… anyone you would bring?”

“I could find someone. I’m not seeing anyone specific right now, but there’s a few girls I know.”

“What should we have? I’ve been tryin’ to talk JoAnne into gettin’ a smoker for the backyard. And I hear Mike makes a great barbecue sauce.”

Just then they heard voices shouting from outside the building. Help had arrived at last. It had been a long sleepless night, but they had made it… with teamwork and friendship.

The End

#sicktember 2022 #emergency! #mike stoker #a-shift

[weiying-lanzhan-fics]

Wind Rose in the Clouds by PaidSubscription

Wowwww - this was such a great story!!!! One of the longest WangXian fics I have read and I absolutely loved it! There was so much character growth, relationship growth, and drama. The pacing was perfect and the gazillions of hilarious interactions made the balance between light-hearted and heavy just right.

I am in awe… ❤️

Quotes:

“Well, Lan Zhan… you have lots of things to deal with. I didn’t want to be all in your space and working on this kind of all-consuming complicated thing and I’m messy and there’ll be notes everywhere and sometimes my best ideas come in the middle of the night and it’s just… my process is chaos. And you’re…not chaos.”

Lan Zhan furrowed his brow and looked away. His voice was quieter. “If you want alternative quarters, I can arrange them.”

Shit. That is not what he meant. 

“No!” he blurted. Lan Zhan’s gaze snapped back to him. “I…well, I think better with you around, and I need your input, so you can do what you’re already doing right now and tell me when I’m being stupid….”

Lan Zhan searched his face. Wei Wuxian found him blinding like this, eyes boring into his, and resisted the urge to blink too much.

“I want you with me.” Lan Zhan stated it without a trace of embarrassment.

Wei Wuxian’s breath hitched. “Oh. Well okay then.”

“So you will stay for winter?”

Wei Wuxian nodded in a daze, dumbfounded. This was not how he had planned things at all.

Lan Zhan gave a single nod of satisfaction, turning and continuing on gracefully like he hadn’t just argued his way from a week to three months using mostly just Wei Wuxian’s own words and some judgemental stares.

————

If he was being honest, holding Wei Ying like this was painful in other ways. Doing so while he was injured and cold was difficult enough, but the real pain came from knowing just how much he wanted to hold him like this always, only with him well and actually wanting to be in his arms. 

These were dangerous thoughts. 

It was a Lan principle to not covet what you do not have, another said not to expect more from people than they can give. It was important to look at everything he had with Wei Ying now and be content. He had thought that he could be. But it was starting to not be enough. 

“Lan Zhan?” Wei Ying’s voice was croaky against his chest.

“Wei Ying?”

Wei Ying was silent, and not moving, though he was breathing better and his skin felt warm to the touch.

“Lan Zhan, am I naked?” he said, voice quiet and odd.

Lan Wangji sighed. “Yes. I am sorry. All of your clothes were wet, and you passed out. I had to get you warm and skin to skin was… the most efficient.”

Wei Ying remained silent for a while. Lan Wangji wondered if he should let go and allow Wei Ying his dignity, but before he made a move, Wei Ying cleared his throat.

“I did not expect to end up naked in a cave with you today.”

————

Sizhui had a moment of obvious surprise when Lan Zhan opened the door looking, by his standards, positively dishevelled. Graciously, he hid his expression quickly, stifling a smile as he stepped inside and greeted them both warmly.

His gaze lingered on a puffy and swollen-faced Wei Wuxian in his bed as he realised with horror that there were two very obvious person-shaped impressions in the sheets and hurriedly shifted to the middle of the bed, thumping the sheets as he went. “I…got crumbs in here.” 

Sizhui glanced at Lan Zhan’s bed, which had no pillow on it, and looked back to Wei Wuxian’s, which had two. 

Shit.

“Mn,” said Sizhui, taking after his annoying father.

E, 202k

Summary:

Lan Zhan slowed and came to a complete halt in the grass.

“You just changed everything, Wei Ying.”

Wei Wuxian scoffed. “I… wait, what?”

“This changes everything.”

“What do you mean everything?” Wei Wuxian was utterly bewildered.

“Everything. Sects will find evil spirits before they hurt people.”

—

OR: After his travels, Wei Wuxian brings a game-changing invention to Cloud Recesses. Working on it with Sizhui and Jingyi, he begins to heal slowly from the memories and nightmares of his first life, and work through the feelings he never acted on. Lan Wangji is patient, though he has his own burdens to deal as a father, brother, and cultivator.

But someone wants to stop Wei Wuxian at all costs. There are surprises waiting in the memories of his own past. And Lan Qiren has secrets.

A canon-expanding, plot hole filling, heart mending fic with fluff, Junior antics...and some unexpected twists 💞🐇

#wangxian #wei wuxian #wei ying #lan wangji #lan zhan #wangxian fic rec #the untamed fic #the untamed fanfiction #untamed fic #mdzs fic #mdzs fanfiction #post untamed