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#so normal in fact i spent like 20 hours drawing them :)
sparkieprose · 1 year
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We are the soul of the school, the pride in the name, the heart and the flame
1 year ago on this day I listened to the We Are The Tigers album for the first time and proceeded to lose my mind over the silly cheerleader murder musical ever since.
Really fun coincidence that it was so close to the anniversary of the Off Broadway production of WATT too! Happy 4 years WATT and happy 1 year WATTiversary to me :)
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tarosin · 3 years
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the great adventures of y/n and ranboo
this is an extra part to the great adventures series
summary: part two to the angst imagine (the not so great adventures of y/n tommy tubbo jack and ranboo) it’s a happier ‘ending’ please read what is written in bold
this is an “alternative ending” around 15 years into the future this doesn’t mean this is actually how the series is going to end im writing it now and including it as part of series as their friendship is already established i can confirm y/n and the group are going to have a happy ending when the series eventually comes to an end this also does not mean the series is anywhere near the end i plan on continuing the series as vlogs come out, i feel the need to confirm this now love between y/n and ranboo in this imagine is completely platonic
it had been about a month since you last streamed whereas ranboo continued to stream a few days after the fallout as he wanted to make sure you were going to be okay. even though ranboo knew this huge fallout would eventually happen, it still hurt him, especially since he knew there was no way to prevent it, the four of you in the same house mixed with the stress of being some of the most-watched content creators made living rather difficult. it was like walking on eggshells as you didn’t want to interrupt someone's stream, then there was the additional stress of obsessive fans finding out where the four of you lived, you still remember that day very vividly. you were sat in between tubbo and ranboo watching the office whilst Tommy was in an interview when you received a message from your mod.
Chris: hey y/n I received this message earlier I don’t want to scare you, but maybe get the locks changed. someone sent a message claiming this is your address *image of message from ‘fan’*
it didn’t take long for tubbo and ranboo to receive a message from their mods saying the same thing
“holy shit...”
“chances are Tommy has the message too. we shall go check around the house when Tommy is done with the interview.”
luckily no one ever showed up to the house, but the fact some people were so obsessed to the point they found your address was enough to put everyone in the house on edge. and now it was just you and ranboo in the house. you didn’t feel safe as even though ranboo promised to not let anything happen, you didn’t wanna risk it.
“we should move. there’s no point in having such a big house for two people, what are we going to use the extra space for heh? hide and seek with people who have our address. no thank you. I say we move leave this mess behind and start completely over, hell I’d feel safer in the us and that’s saying something”
ranboo agreed the house didn’t have the happiest memories attached to it anymore, it hurt walking past the hallway as it would bring back the memory of him crying into the crook of y/ns neck whilst tubbo left the house.
“let’s do it, I’ll do an early stream then we can look for houses. go take a shower. I’ll stay close to the door so you’re safe, then you can stay in my room whilst I stream, you can join me if you would like.”
“you’re being very protective all of a sudden...let me guess you got the message from our mods announcing the obsessive fans are at it again?”
“go take a shower.”
“no.”
ranboo ended up picking you up, carried you to the bathroom and turned the shower on before putting you on your feet.
“quick shower I’ll see you later.”
and with that he left the room shutting the door behind him, 30 minutes later you got changed and followed ranboo to his room ready to join him whilst he streams
“hey boo, can I join you? I kinda wanna get into streaming again.”
“I'm so glad you asked, I was going to do a face cam stream, if that’s okay?”
“of course.”
you grabbed his mask and glasses whilst he locked the door so you were both safe. “here you go.”
“thank you.”
the pair of you started the stream and it was honestly going well, you were having so much fun you forgot about all the negative things currently going on, you began to understand why ranboo continued streaming as for those 2-4 hours of streaming it felt as though everything was back to normal. 3 hours later the two of you ended stream and Twitter went crazy. tweets ranged from fans talking about how ranboo was streaming with you, how Tommy was in chat, and how tubbo was modding as people who mentioned anything about their address being leaked were banned by tubbo. the one thing that caught ranboos eye was fan art and a picture of you both from the stream captioned ‘they’re platonic soulmates your honour’ ranboo went as far to like, retweet and comment on it.
ranaltboo: glad you liked the stream it was great having y/n back, think I might make them play tattletail next stream
definitelynoty/n: isn’t that the Furby game that terrified you in 2021? bring it on boo!
Twitter went crazy over this interaction, you had finally come back to social media after months of being inactive, and it looked like you were here to stay. a month later you and ranboo moved out of the house and sold it to your aunt and her wife and their three adopted children, you explained the situation and even changed the locks for them all before they moved in.
“Please do tell us if anyone shows up who shouldn’t be. we changed the locks as you were aware- oh hello little one.”
you noticed one of their children decided to cling onto your leg
“I like your hair it’s colourful!”
“Indeed it is.”
“WOAH A GIANT!”
the little girl let go of your leg and ran to ranboo asking to be picked up, unsure of what to do he looked towards you. however, you were too busy laughing about the fact he was compared to a giant.
“I'm so sorry uh if you want to pick her up you can, you don’t have to.”
“pick me up, tall man... I want to be taller!”
ranboo ended up standing next to you with an arm around your waist whilst the child sat on his shoulders happily playing with his hair.
“ranboo do not drop that child.”
“I didn't- I didn't plan on it y/n.”
eventually, it was time to leave and the child reluctantly let go of ranboo.
“bye-bye!! hope to see you soon!”
soon enough you were at a smaller house, far away from the old house, leaving behind the negative feelings. it could only get better, a week later the pair of you had settled into the new house, it finally felt like home. you and ranboo were now streaming full time again, safe to say the two of you were thriving and closer than ever.
“so I’m thinking if I hit the sub-goal today I’ll let chat pick what colour I dye my hair.”
“make it higher, and I’ll let you cut my hair.”
“Are you being serious? oh my god!”
a few minutes later you took to Twitter to announce you were going live.
y/n: kidnapping children in the sims with ranboo psst check the subgoal.
within 20 minutes you had hit the sub-goal, chat ended up picking another random neon colour for your hair.
“right hair dye and the cutting stream will be this weekend, now let’s go back to kidnapping.”
tubbo, tommy, and jack felt awful for what happened and went back to the house where you used to live, hoping to see you there so they could apologise, tubbo knocked on the door only to be met by a young child.
“my sister watches you on twitch!”
“oh that’s lovely.. are y/n and ranboo here?”
an older woman came to the door.
“oh no, I’m sorry dear they both moved out, but they left this box and said to give it to you if you returned.”
“do you know where they moved to?”
“I'm sorry dear, I'm not allowed to tell you that information for safety reasons.”
“I understand, thanks anyway.”
they ended up going back to jacks where the three of them had been staying.
“We should open the box.”
tubbo opened the box and emptied the items onto the floor, inside was the rocks y/n handed tubbo from every trip, photos of the group, a necklace y/n had gifted to Tommy a day before the argument, and a hat y/n had taken from jack during a trip to a zoo.
“what the fuck!”
“holy shit!”
“they really kept all these in hopes we would come back?”
“and now we’re too late.”
it was now the weekend you and ranboo were ready to stream, you stood leaning on ranboo who was significantly smaller than you as you lowered the chair he sat on.
“starting stream...now.”
after the starting soon intro played, you explained what was happening to any new viewers or people who didn’t watch the stream.
“so I’m about to become Edward Scissorhands...I love that film can we watch it later?”
“yeah mhm sure!”
you didn’t know this but your ex best friends were watching and ever so often would show up in the chat.
“so boo, what are we doing with your hair today?”
“just a trim please darling?”
“This is y/ns hairdressers you get what I’m capable of!”
you ended up doing a pretty good job of cutting ranboos hair, even he was impressed.
“I didn’t doubt you for a minute!”
“mhm sure thing please don’t mess up my hair tall one!”
soon enough you had the dye on. 45 minutes later you left to wash it off, leaving ranboo to entertain stream,
“chat I think I missed some of their hair it’s okay, I own scissors, I’ll just cut it.. speaking of they did a great job, didn't they? I honestly expected them to mess up.”
a few minutes later you joined ranboo again and spent the next few hours talking with chat. tubbo, tommy, and jack stayed the entire time. they loved the fact you and ranboo were able to stay close after what happened, Tommy noticed you were still wearing the necklace he got you many years ago and spammed them chat with him tubbo and jack
Tommy: THEYRE WEARING THE NECKLACE!!
jack: so what? they clearly don’t wanna talk to us.
tubbo: shut up listen to them.
“chat why are we spamming platonic soulmates?”
“they’ve been saying it all over Twitter, look on trending y/n.”
you started to blush slightly at all the amazing artwork soon enough the stream came to an end, after saying goodbye the pair of you sat together going through fan art. unfortunately the one that caught your eye was this one twitter post where the artist had created a drawing of a piece of paper with you, ranboo, tommy, tubbo, and jack, however the paper was ripped separating you and ranboo from the others, captioned ‘it was never meant to be’ this clearly upset ranboo as he took off his mask and glasses placing them on the desk before going straight to his bed.
“boo…are you okay?”
“Are you tired of me? are you going to leave next?”
“what? no of course not! I could never get tired of you, why do you ask?”
“everyone else has left..i thought they cared about us, i knew it would happen eventually and i couldn’t stop it, i’m sorry, y/n, please don’t hate me.”
you sat on the edge of the bed looking down at the floor,
“come here.”
you watched him roll over to face you.
“you know there’s no one else who I'd rather spend the rest of my life with, right…if i hated you i wouldn’t have moved house with you. it’s not your job to fix everything and make everything better, you’re a streamer for christ sake not a therapist.”
“i guess so.. can we watch that thing you were on about for ages.”
“edward scissorhands? “
“mhm!”
you could tell he wanted to be distracted, so you agreed and put the film on, towards the end you began to get upset due to how overwhelming everything was.
“Why are you crying?”
“poor Edward.”
“come here.”
ranboo pulled you into a hug you laid there crying into his chest, he knew that wasn’t the reason you were crying, but he wasn’t about to make you tell him, luckily it didn’t take long for you to stop crying as ranboo quickly distracted you.
“ranboo..”
“yeah y/n?”
“I feel bad i didnt realise how much pressure was on you whilst everyone was arguing.”
“Hey, it’s okay, is that what’s upsetting you?”
“mhm.”
“don’t blame yourself, i’d do it all over again to keep you safe and happy..then again i didn’t do a good job on keeping you happy.”
“you did..you were always there for me even when i gave up on social media, you shared your room with me after i started receiving creepy messages from that obsessed fan, hell you even went on adventures with me even though it was clear you hadn’t been sleeping, just so we could spend time together and forget about what was happening. you mean a lot to me boo.”
“i love you.”
“i love you too bud, I’m tired.”
“go to sleep, it’s been a long day.”
“okay.”
“you just staying there?”
“yes.”
“oh, oh okay, goodnight.”
about a year later the two of you were still thriving, ranboo got you a promise ring a few months earlier.
“heh what’s this for?”
“as your best friend i promise to stay by your side and keep you safe and make sure that you’re happy, in other words you're stuck with me till the end of time.”
“boo…i really don’t know what to say.. thank you so much!”
“you don’t have to say anything!”
you ended up going out to buy him a promise ring when he started the stream and decided to take your cousins with you now that they were a little older. ranboo was doing a facecam stream when the door slammed open revealing you covering your three younger cousins ranboo not realising you were hiding them from the camera, instinctively stood up covering the camera
“ranboooooo!”
“yes you three and y/n ,what do you need?”
“we would like to watch a film!”
“Okay, i’ll go put one on, y/n will you entertain chat?”
“sure thing boo boy!”
once they left you sat fixing your hair forgetting you were wearing the ring chat noticed this and went crazy, so did Tommys group with tubbo and jack.
tubbo: that’s a ring, right??
jack: yeah looks like it.
Tommy: holy shit I always thought if anyone was gonna get married it would be tubbo and y/n, they were inseparable.
tubbo: hilarious.
jack: it could just be a ring, no one mentioned marriage tommy!
Tommy: we should congratulate them.
jack: at least let them explain fucking hell.
soon enough ranboo came back into the room,
“sorry one of them found it hilarious to steal my glasses...”
“they’re little shits i swear to god but i love them.”
you both noticed chat going crazy and both looked at each other before laughing.
“i'm sorry, i can’t take you serious in the mask and glasses!”
“i can’t take you serious with neon hair, but here we are!”
“rude!”
you and ranboo quickly put an end to the rumours,
“no we’re not engaged or married, it is a promise ring. no they’re not our children, they’re y/ns cousins they just spend a lot of time here..chat stop calling me and y/n parents and comparing us to phil that’s not..that’s not how it works okay!”
“parent arc!”
“y/n, don’t encourage them!”
“it’s a little bit funny!”
soon enough the bit came to an end and eventually ranboo ended the stream.
“hey boo look what i got you”
you handed him a little black box, inside was a ring similar to yours
“i promise to always stick around and be here for you”
“oh my god”
ranboo tackled you into a hug thanking you several times for his rings. you and ranboo were living your best life meanwhile jack, tommy, and tubbo were stuck dealing with the guilt of what happened, but they’re weren’t giving up that easy. they wanted you both back, that’s when you received a notification, tommyinnit has sent you a message request: hey y/n can we talk..please?
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@dumb-chaotic-bi-energy @uselesssapphickitten @l0ver0fj0y @etheriaaly @xx-smiley-xx @hawarun @kylobensgirl @cawcaw-pretty-thing @reverse-iak @renleicrashed @augustine-is-joy @c1loudee
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shurisneakers · 3 years
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shut in [11]
Summary: When your high profile mission goes terribly wrong, you’re forced to hide in a safehouse with a man you’ve never met before. With seemingly nowhere else to go, you’re forced to work together to figure out who is trying to have you assassinated before it’s too late. (Sam Wilson x Reader, Hitman AU)
Warnings: cursing, anxiety, ptsd, abuse
Word count: 2.7k
A/N: just to clarify, there are 14 chapters and an epilogue!! also you guys are so nice, thank you for letting me know what you think about this <333</p>
i also appreciate feedback so if you would like to, please consider dropping me an ask or comment ly guys!!
here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing <333
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Previous Part || Shut In Masterlist
The wait was taking a toll. It was clawing at you from the inside, and paired with the occasional flare your anxiety gave, everyday was like spending time in an hourglass that was steadily filling up. 
Sam helped; making sure the both of you ate after spending hours planning out and revising every detail, introducing you to the world when you spent too long indoors. 
The constant rap of your finger against the table and pen tucked behind your ear was the position you found yourself in more often than not. Different scenarios listed themselves on a sheet of paper so you could go through the process of elimination, sorting each loophole out with proper backup. 
Going to New York, 3rd floor of 32nd Street, only cash-
“I’m goin’ on a run.” Sam poked his head in from the doorway to the kitchen. “I’ll be back before Ransone calls.”
“What?” you mumble, not paying attention. You scratched out another implausible scenario, leaving you with many more to go. Everything had to be perfect.
“Going out. Be back soon,” he repeated. 
It still took a minute to register but you found yourself shaking your head once it did. “No, don’t.”
“Why?” he straightened up, no longer leaning on the wall. “Something wrong?”
“It’s not safe.” 
“I checked the cameras. No one’s out there,” he sounded confident but you couldn’t shake the feeling of skepticism around the situation that was beginning to return to you. “I’ll be careful.”
“You could be careful by not going.” You shouldn’t have to explain this to him. “It’s not safe.”
“Nothing’s changed yet-”
“They have.” You whip around to look at him. “Things are different now. We don’t know what’s out there.”
You both know that he had already been seen once. Who knew how many people were waiting forty feet away from the house? Risking his life for a jog was ridiculous.
“I can handle a 20 minute run,” he challenged. “I’m not even going that far.”
“You’re being reckless.” You could see the rebellious streak he had warned you of before making an entrance. Though you found his spontaneity endearing, the rashness that accompanied it you weren’t fond of.
“It’s not a big deal.”
“It is, Sam,” you exclaimed. “We can’t fuck up the plan with you dying.”
He looks at you with his head tilted and annoyance on his face. A wave of tense silence washes over the both of you and only then do you realise it’s the closest thing you've had to an actual argument before.
“Is that really what this is about? The plan?” he questioned, arms crossed over his chest.
You hesitated.
“What else would it be about?” You know he saw it, the brief moment you took before you answered.
“I’m going for a run,” he said decisively. It stung more than it should have. “But I’m not going far. I’ll circle the house.”
That eased it, somewhat. You would prefer if he didn’t at all, but you were at peace with the compromise. A middle ground. 
You nodded, looking away from him. He left soon after, but seeing him run past the window every now and then made you feel better. 
Your mind replayed what he implied. You knew what he was saying, you weren’t completely dense. But you would never let emotions get in the way of work.
It had never worked out well for you before, not while you were still stuck with the organization. Like always, you could feel the familiar ache build in your chest, faces you prayed to forget flashing in your mind. 
You exhaled, forcing yourself to not relive it again. You were thinking an awful lot about it for someone who supposedly didn’t care about it.
Stupid Sam with his stupid cute face and stupid good heart. Fuck him.
____
“Y/N.”
“Ransone.” 
You nodded at Sam who was standing beside you with a glass of water in his hand, leaning his body weight on the table.
“Wilson there with you?”
“No, he isn’t.” Lying to him had become a habit by now, even though you were well acquainted with the consequences of doing so. “What’s the update?”
“We think we found them,” Ransone reported.
“Found who?”
“The people who shot at you.” 
Your body tensed.
“Who is it?” you asked slowly, peering at Sam through the corner of your eye.
“Serpentine,” he said coolly. Sam scoffed, taking a small walk in circles to calm himself down. “Trying to establish themselves at the top again. Went for one of you but we don’t know which, found both of ya instead. Killed Pierce then waited for you to show up.” 
Your eyebrows quirked up. You could see the muscles in Sam’s jaw tighten.
“How’d you find out?” You place your hand on his, urging him to calm down. He visibly softened, closing his eyes and letting out a silent exhale before nodding for you to continue.
“People talk. You know that Y/N,” Ransone sounded bitter.
“Not personally, no,” you mumbled. 
“Well, they do.” The way his tone shifted back to normal like the conversation you just shared didn’t happen almost gave you whiplash. “That’s all on our end. What’s happening there?”
“Nothing. No updates.”
“Y’know, I’m surprised you haven’t killed him yet,” Ransone commented. “He tends to get… mouthy.”
“I don’t see him much,” you lied blatantly, ignoring the insult to Sam even though you wanted to retort. 
“That’s a good thing. Can’t have you getting attached now, can we?” 
You barely looked at Sam, only zeroed in on the fact that his thumb was absentmindedly tracing circles onto your skin while he paid attention to what Ransone was saying.
“I’m not.”
“I’m sure you’re getting sick of him,” Ransone chided, pushing this conversation far longer than you wanted him to. “After this I’ll make sure you never have to see him again, don’t worry.”
“Why?” Your eyebrows knitted together. You wondered if you responded too quickly.
“I’ll have him stationed somewhere else. Away from you at all times. Won’t have to interact with him again.” He was doing it again. Ruining any fucking form of a relationship you could have. “You can thank me later.”
“That won’t be necessary,” you bit back. He knew what he was doing. He was drawing it out of you.
“Well I thought you’d be more grateful consideri- oh,” he stopped abruptly. “Unless you’re already attached to him.”
You pulled your hand away from Sam who only looked concerned about where this conversation was heading. The sudden chill that took its place didn’t make you feel any better.
“Oh, Buttercup,” he laughed pitifully. “You know it would never work. Don’t you remember all the others?”
You didn’t say anything. Only folded your arms together and forced yourself not to go down the path he was trying to drag you to. If you hung up now he’d only take it as a confirmation. 
“You two shouldn’t have been friends in the first place. Your lives would have never intersected if this didn’t go wrong.” You hated how he was pointing out things you had overanalyzed time and time again. 
You hesitated for a second, forgetting the fact that you knew he was preying on you on purpose. 
Because these were thought you’d already had. Thoughts of whether you were growing on him only because you were stuck together. Of course if he was forced to co-inhabit a safehouse for this long with anyone he’d like them. 
And as much as you despised to even think it, Ransone was right. How would it even work once you got out? 
It couldn’t. 
And you wouldn’t let yourself even consider the possibility that it might because it was just wishful thinking at best. The line between friendship and something more were merging together so fast, you weren’t even sure they existed anymore. 
“He doesn’t care about you, Y/N. I’m sure he’s charmed his way into making you think you’re important to him, but you’re not,” he sounded sympathetic, almost like he was patronizing you. “You’re just his way out of there, honey.”
Sam opened his mouth, ready to launch into a tirade. You held up a finger to silence him, praying that he wouldn’t do something stupid. You couldn’t lose the only communication you had with Ransone over this.
“I wish it didn’t have to be this way-” What a truckload of horseshit. 
“I’ll send you my location,” you broke in, words faltering. “Just have someone come get me.”
“If that’s what you want.” You could tell that he was barely hiding the joy he had gotten out of completely fucking with you.
“Don’t look for me directly. I’ll come to you. Just have someone ready to bring me back.” You couldn’t bring yourself to look at Sam. You had too much going through your head at the moment, things that had specifically to do with him.
“Are you sure? Someone can be at your doorstep within an hour, you know that.”
“I need time to sort some things out. I’ll tell you when I’m ready.”
“As you wish.” You wanted to smack him.
“Bye,” you say shortly, trying to wrap it up.
“Y/N,” he cut in before you could end the conversation. You wait for him to continue, not saying a word. “I’m sorry you had to hear it from me. I just didn’t want you to get hurt.”
You roll your eyes and hang up, not letting him get another word in. The minute you got a second to breathe, everything he said began crawling its way back into your head. 
“What the hell was that?” Sam fumed.  
“I don’t know.” It was the truth.
“That wasn’t a part of the plan.” You want to tell him to calm down because you had never seen him this infuriated before. 
“I don’t know,” you repeated, feeling more drained by the second. You fucked up by talking to him for so long, you knew it. 
“That sick, abusive piece of shit,” he continued furiously, but you only looked down, tuning out his droning. 
It was fucking humiliating to think that you could have a normal life. It just wasn’t possible. You were in too deep. Staying here with Sam only confused you, made you long for things that weren’t attainable. 
“He’s right,” you utter quietly, effectively shutting him up.
He stared at you incredulously. “What?” 
“He’s right.” You pushed yourself away from where you’re leaning on the table.
“About what?” 
“You know what, Sam.” 
“No, I don’t,” he retorted, “He said a lot of shit so I’m going to need you to specify.” 
“I’m going to take a nap.” Your head was spinning; you didn't know how to tell him. “I’ll talk to you later.” 
“Don’t run away from this conversation,” he sounded annoyed, rightfully so. “Tell me what he’s right about so we can talk this out.”
“About this,” you relented, spinning around to look at him. “Us.”
“He was just trying to get into your head, Y/N, like he always does,” Sam exclaimed, letting his arms fall beside him.
“This could never work, Sam. We’re friends because we see each other every single day, constantly.” You gestured back and forth between the both of you. “What happens once we get out? When you’re not stuck with me twenty-four-seven?”
He knew what happens to people when they get too close within the organization; he had first hand experience with Riley. They never survived long enough to tell the story themselves. They were ripped away from you, time and time again. It was so tiring to start all over from the beginning, every single time and for nothing. 
You didn’t want it to happen again, not to him. You just wished he’d believe the other anxieties you deemed less important than this, and dropped the topic. Another death is not something you’d be able to handle. 
“We deserve a bit more credit than that, I think,” he said defensively, taking a step toward you. “If our relationship was built solely on proximity then it wouldn’t affect you this much. We’re beyond that.”
“Well, what if we’re not? What if we realise we only tolerated each other because we didn’t have a choice?” you fired back, crossing your arms. 
“Speak for yourself,” he huffed. “I would never let that dictate my choice.”
He sounded so confident, so assured that it wasn’t circumstantial. How could he be so sure?
“I don’t get you,” you whispered. “I can’t figure you out.”
“What don’t you get?” He looked like he was on the verge of pleading. He stopped right in front of you, a temporary barricade between you and the hallway. 
“Why you treat me the way you do.” 
He looks taken aback for a second. “Did I do something wrong? Did I upset you in any-”
“No,” you interrupt him, realising that it didn't sound the way you wanted it to. “Why you’re so… good. To me.”
He doesn’t say anything in return and you can’t even look at him, feeling your cheeks burn with embarrassment. 
You had tried for so long to figure out what his motives were. Every time he did things that went beyond common courtesy, your gut would scream at you to find a hidden motive. No one was ever this nice to you unless they were put up to it. You’d had enough experience to realise this.
When you couldn’t find anything it only confused you more. You had shoved it away a while ago after he never displayed any other reason. You let yourself believe it for once.
But it was back; the incessant need to know everything. It was gnawing at you along with everything else because Ransone knew exactly what buttons to push. There had to be something. 
“Y/N,” he called out softly. You felt his hands on your shoulders, urging you to look at him. 
“It’s stupid,” you murmur, trying to ignore the fluttering in your heart. 
“It’s not. And I need you to look at me when I say this,” he says slowly, drawing your attention to his face. “I care about you. More than you think I do. You’re not some means to an end. He’s wrong and I need you to believe me on that.”
He waits for it to set in. You get why he wanted you to look at him now. There wasn’t an inkling of deceit in what he was saying. You had seen him lie, seen him try to bluff his way out of a petty situation. It wasn’t this. 
He cared about you because he wanted to. Not because he was forced to; whether it was because you lived together, or because of something else. 
There was so much more you wanted to ask him but nothing got past your throat. It was too heavy. You needed help.
There was barely any distance between the both of you. You could feel his breath, skin tingling from where he was holding you. 
You unconsciously move in, drifting towards the warmth he radiated. Your hands find a place on his sturdy chest, and you let his heartbeat tether you. 
His eyes close when you lean your forehead against his, forcing himself to control his breathing that was threatening to get away from him.
You don’t know how long you stay like that, forehead pressed against his, trying to make your peace with what he said. 
You want to kiss him, much stronger than the last time you had the same thought. Just to see what it’d be like. 
You instead pull away gently. Your hands still rest on his chest. You need time to figure out where your head's at.
“I trust you.” Is all you can say, not tearing your eyes away from him. 
He presses a kiss to your forehead, letting it linger there for a second and you revel in the flips your stomach does. “I trust you.”
But for now, maybe you can be content with where you are.
Next part
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latte-fairytaekwoon · 3 years
Text
𝚈𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚎! 𝙰𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚣 𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚜: 𝚂𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝙼𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚒
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Disclaimer: In no way am I condoning, justifying, encouraging nor trying to romanticize yandere behavior. This is all a work of fiction and not meant to represent real life scenarios.
Warnings: Mentions of bullying, toxic relationship, violent behavior, murder, sexual scenes, paranoia leading to mental blackouts, miscarriage, suicide attempt, mental disorders and death are contained within this post. Read at your own discretion.
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𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:
𝙽𝚊𝚖𝚎: 𝚂𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝙼𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚒
𝙳.𝙾.𝙱: 𝙰𝚞𝚐𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝟿𝚝𝚑, 𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟿
𝙷𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝: 𝟷𝟾𝟻 𝙲𝙼/ 𝟼'𝟶 𝙵𝚃.
𝙰𝚐𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝙻𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕: ■■■■□90%
𝙾𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝙻𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕: ■■■■■100%
𝙼𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝙸𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢: ■■■■□90%
𝙾𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚃𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝙻𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚕: 𝙷𝚒𝚐𝚑
𝚈𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙲𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗: 𝚂𝚞𝚋𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎
𝙱𝚎𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝙰𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚜:
•𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚏𝚒𝚡𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚘𝚋𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝
•𝙳𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚋𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝
•𝚃𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚑𝚞𝚝𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗
•𝙸𝚗𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚛
•𝙴𝚡𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝
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Mingi was someone who always kept to himself, never wanting to draw any kind of attention.
Unfortunately for him, he got a lot of attention while he was studying in university, and not the good kind.
He accidentally bumped into one of the jocks at school, and from that moment on, his life was hell.
He was constantly belittled, shoved to the floor, his locker filled with vicious and cruel messages ranging from "freak" to "kill yourself."
Mingi often just sighed and continued his day, as if this was totally normal.
It's not that he didn't understand what was going on or didn't care.
He was just too awkward and scared to stand up to himself.
So he often just came home, feeling hopeless and in despair.
Many times he hardly ate and would end up crawling inside his blankets and cry himself to sleep.
Even the few people he talked to stopped associating themselves with him out of fear of becoming the bullies' next target.
So Mingi resigned himself to being alone and to think no one would ever care about him....
Until you came along.
You had recently transferred to his school and one of the first things you saw was the poor sandy hair colored giant get punched in the stomach by his locker.
You were so disgusted and sickened by their behavior that you did not hesitate to go over and make sure he was all right.
"Hey, do you need help?" You asked as you helped him get up.
"I I'm fine...t-thanks.." Without another word, he left you standing there, running off to his next class.
He thought that'd be the last time he saw you but during lunch break, you made it a point to look for him and talk to him.
"Are you feeling better?"
Mingi looked up at you with wide eyes, wondering if it really was him you were talking to.
"Y-yeah...I'm fine. T-thanks"
Smiling at him, you sat next to him, taking out your lunch while trying to make conversation with him.
All throughout it, Mingi seemed agitated, scared almost.
You felt really bad and asked him if something was bothering him.
Sighing he told you:
"Look, I appreciate your concern, but I think it's best if you stay away from me.... I don't want them to hurt you because of me..."
You saw the sadness in his eyes, the loneliness behind them and that made you want to stay with him even more.
"What's your name?" You asked what you had really wanted to know since the beginning.
"Song Mingi." He answered you.
Grinning at him, you held out your hand.
"Well Song Mingi, I'm L/N Y/N. Your soon to be new best friend."
Mingi's mouth dropped at your words, he couldn't possibly believe you were serious.
But you were and not only did you become his closest friend, you also became his protector.
Unlike him, you were fearless, vivacious, outgoing and spontaneous.
And Mingi began to admire you a lot for it....
More than admired, he began to worship you, falling deeply in love with you.
For once in his life, he was happy, truly happy and filled with joy.
Instead of crying himself to sleep, he went to bed all excited to spend the next day with you.
And of course you two spent a lot of time together, since he became your math tutor cause you were the absolute worst with numbers.
You were thankful that Mingi was so patient and caring towards you.
He never showed any signs of frustration or annoyance even after explaining the equation to you about 20 times.
"Y/N. Pay attention or you won't ace the test." He often told you, adding a little pinch to your nose or cheek to get you to focus.
He also loved just talking to you during these sessions.
Obviously being your best friend, he also ended up picking up on what sort of things you liked in a guy.
He would often observe you at school or while you two were out.
One time he even read through a few of your messages with one of your other friends from your old school.
It was exactly what Mingi needed to know, he now had a glimpse of the type of boyfriend you wanted.
And for you.....he'd end up becoming that boyfriend.
So while you were in spring break, he prepared everything.
He got rid of his cardigans and vests, trading them for leather and jean jackets.
He ended up cutting his hair differently and started wearing tighter fitting pants that accentuated his thick thighs.
So when you saw him again, it was a complete 180° from the shy, nerdy boy you knew.
"Whoah! Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?"
You weren't going to lie, Mingi did look very attractive.
You were glad though that he was still the cute, adorable and somewhat clumsy boy he was when you first met him.
Because that's the Mingi you knew and loved.
And you wouldn't trade him for anything in the world.
It was after finals that Mingi decided to ask you out.
You were both out celebrating the fact you both passed when he popped the question:
"Y/N will you go out with me?" He suddenly blurted out.
You were taken aback, but said yes nonetheless.
Mingi was so happy.
He was extremely devoted to you as a boyfriend, always saying yes to you and going along with whatever it was you wanted.
Anything you said, he would do it.
"Anywhere you want to go is fine with me."
"Anything you want is fine with me."
You thought it was really sweet at first, he really wanted to make you happy.
But after almost a year of dating, it kinda started to get annoying.
It bothered you that he never seemed to have an opinion of his own.
You actually snapped at him one day while planning a date out.
"Can't you freaking decide for yourself once?"
Mingi just whipped his head at you, unable to comprehend why you were yelling at him.
"Do you not even care about me or this relationship? Cause honestly it seems like you're not actually putting effort into it and if it's like that, why am I even wasting my time on you?"
Mingi got really scared when you began walking out the door, he pleaded with you to stay, to talk through it.
"I'll do anything! Y/N please just don't leave me! What do you want me to do?!" He begged as he got on his knees.
"I want you to leave me alone!"
Alone......that word struck a chord in Mingi's head.....alone.
No....he couldn't go back to being alone...go back to the cold world that he was used to.
He began hyperventilating, his head was spinning and it was pounding like there was no tomorrow.
He doesn't remember much after that. All he remembers was the annoying knocking at the door.
He remembers opening it and seeing a random salesperson there....
But after that, it's all a big black faze, and when he finally came to his senses....
He was covered in blood, and a bludgeoned corpse was sprawled across the kitchen floor.
Although he was panicking, Mingi knew that you could not find out about this.
So he quickly got to work and cleaned up all traces of blood and managed to get rid of the body with no one seeing him.
He was so confused about what happened and panicking about if you found out, that he didn't hear you come in the house until you literally stood in front of him.
He instantly got on his knees and hugged your waist.
"Baby I was so scared that you left me forever! Please I'm sorry I made you feel like I don't care about you, I do! I fucking love you so much, and I promise I'll try harder....
Just for you..."
You felt so bad seeing him, and truly you loved him and felt like it was a petty thing to get mad about.
You pulled him up and reassured him that you weren't mad anymore and that you were too much in love with him to leave.
Mingi felt so relieved. He couldn't even begin to fathom what would happen if he did lose you.
He'd probably go insane.
True to his word, Mingi did try harder to get rid of that habit of just following what you said like a little puppy, and would now start expressing himself more.
Now the problem was he went the complete opposite direction: now he seemed to question your every decision and it would lead to small tiny banters between you two.
One time you got tired of him making a fuss over the fact you were spending so much time with a classmate that it turned really ugly.
"We're working on a project Mingi! Nothing else!" You shouted at him.
"What do you need to be going to his house though and staying til late hours of the night? Why can't you two do it here?!"
"Because you end up distracting us both and throwing passive aggressive words to him." You were exhausted from all the screaming by now you were losing your patience.
"Are you sure it's not because you're just whoring yourself out with them?" He didn't mean for those words to come out...but they did.
And you didn't mean to get so angry to the point of slapping him, but you did and that's when it hit you that you went too far.
You both stood there stunned at what happened, Mingi more hurt than anything by your actions, while you felt ashamed of yourself.
You lifted your hand against the very person you were protecting at first.....and now you hated yourself for hurting him like his past bullies.
Ashamed and full of guilt, you turned away and began walking out.
"Wait no! Y/N please! It's ok! It was my fault! I shouldn't have said that! Please let's just work it out!"
"No Mingi! I can't! I..... I need a break."
Mingi's world came crumbling down when you said that. He went into a slight catatonic state as he watched you walk away.
Once he regained his senses, he ran after you, desperate to bring you back, running around aimlessly through the dark streets and alleys, calling out for you but you were nowhere to be seen.
"Get lost you dirty bastard." A passerby rudely shoved him out of the way.
In a matter of seconds, Mingi's eyes darkened, his fist clenched at his side as rage now coursed through his body.
He turned his head to look back at the stranger who was now walking away.
Smirking, Mingi pulled out the switchblade he was carrying in his pocket before creeping quietly to the man.
Someone had to pay the price and feel the wrath and despair he felt at losing his goddess......and he found them.
It had been roughly a month since you last saw Mingi and although you hated to admit it, you missed him. But you knew you had to stay away for his sake.
But things don't go as planned and you soon found out you were going to have to see him sooner than you thought...
Because you were now pregnant with his child and you had to let him know.
You were so nervous about telling him, your hand trembled as you opened the door to the apartment you used to share with Mingi.
You quietly stepped inside, too afraid to call out for him just yet.
But then you heard some weird noises coming from the bedroom, your heart somewhat dropping when you distinguished what sounded like moans and panting.
You could also make out Mingi's deep voice calling out your name.
Opening the door open, your hand flew to your mouth, semi-muffling your sharp gasp as you took in the scene of Mingi fucking some random girl with her face covered on the bed you two shared not too long ago.
"What the fuck Mingi?!" You exclaimed in utter disgust and betrayal.
"Y/N! I can explain!" All color drained from Mingi's face as he pulled himself out of the girl and quickly dressed himself.
You couldn't bear to stay there another moment, you just ran out of there once again.
But you didn't get far because Mingi swiftly caught up to you and enraptured you in his arms.
"Don't touch me! You're disgusting! You liar! You cheater!" You tossed and writhed around as you tried to escape his grasp, while Mingi tried to hold you still and trying to talk to you.
You felt an immense pain run through your stomach at that moment, your body becoming paralyzed as some weird and excruciating torment bursted in you.
Mingi noticed as well how you clutched your stomach and had difficulty breathing so he wasted no time in taking you to the hospital.
You woke up hours later, late at night, a nurse by your side and Mingi on the other, his hand holding onto yours as tears poured from his eyes.
"What happened?" You immediately asked, your hand instinctively going to your belly.
The nurse explained with sorrow how you had lost the baby, apologizing profusely to you, knowing you were probably in pain.
You went berserk when she told you that, first you denied it, then you began screaming while trying to pull off the IVs attached to you.
Mingi tried to calm you down, but instead he made things worse with his presence.
"This is all your fault! If it wasn't because of you, my baby would be alive!"
Those words cut Mingi deep inside, you killed him immediately with them.
Other nurses rushed in to calm you down as one of them pulled Mingi away for his protection and for yours.
You were numb for the next few days, refusing to see anyone and especially not Mingi, you gave strict orders not to let him in.
You were planning on never seeing him again.
The very day you were released from the hospital though, he was the first person you encountered while you were on your way home.
"Y/N?" He asked, startling you when he came out from the corner.
Your feet shifted slowly, almost losing balance on the small step on your front door.
"What are you doing here? I thought I made it clear I never wanted to see you." Not wanting to waste another minute, you quickly punched in your passcode.
"Y/N baby you don't mean that! I love you! And you love me!"
You let out a dry and haughty laugh at that.
"You? Love me? Is that why you were fucking some whore behind my back?"
"I swear she didn't mean anything! And I made her cover her face because I was thinking of you the entire time..."
You rolled your eyes at that, feeling absolutely disgusted.
"But then I realized she was to blame for everything and so I got rid of her so I can make you happy, forgive me and we could start again."
You halted your actions when he said that.
"Mingi...what do you mean you got rid of her?"
If his last words disturbed you, now you were absolutely horrified as he calmly told you how he mutilated her body and discarded her remains in a lake outside of the city.
You actually felt sick and nearly threw up right then and there.
"Mingi.....what..... you're insane! How could you-?"
Mingi couldn't understand why you were upset.
"Don't you see? I did it for you Y/N. Everything I've ever done is for you."
Now it dawned on you, the person you've ever loved was sick, extremely sick and needed help.
"Mingi.....don't come near me again....stay away....seriously..."
And once again another struggle between you two ensued, you wanting to run away while he held onto you for dear life.
"Stop Mingi! Let me go! I don't love you anymore!"
The spinning in his head started once again, his vision becoming hazy, he could hear his own heartbeat resonating in his ears, his hand shook violently as it reached for an all too familiar object he kept hidden in his pocket....
Everything turned dark and blinding....
But when he came back, there he was, staring in shock at your lifeless body, a fresh, clean cut running all across your neck, blood still spurting out and staining his hands.
"Oh my God! What have I done?!" Mingi cried out, wailing and screaming erratically at the thought that he had just murdered his soulmate with his own hands.
He couldn't bear the thought of living without you, he just couldn't....
And so he picked up the very tool he used to kill you and held up to his own neck....
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sourwolf-sterek32 · 3 years
Text
Welcome to the End
Summary: Y/N Winchester was a hunter like her brothers, following in their fathers footsteps. Saving people, hunting things, the family business.
During a case in Georgia, you meet the Dixon brothers and after saving Daryl’s life against a Chupacabra, the two of you become close. But, when the zombie apocalypse starts, life as you know it changes forever.
Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Winchester!Reader
Word Count: 3.8k
Warnings: Language, blood, injuries, major character death (temporary death) 
Chapter 5-
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You laid on the unfamiliar mattress staring up at the ceiling, listening quietly to see if Dean and Cas' argument was finish before getting up.
Slipping your boots back on, you walked out your room and came face to face with Cas, who had just stepped out of Dean's room after their heated argument.
"You heard all of that, didn't you?" Cas asked, but by the look on his face he already knew the answer. "Still think he feels the same way about me?"
"Yes, but... just... just give him some time." You suggested and Cas sighed, but nodded.
Suddenly, Sam's bedroom door opened across the hall as he stepped out, but froze when he saw you and Cas standing there.
"Everything alright?" Sam asked, rubbing his tired eyes.
"Yeah, was just telling Cas that we should go back over the map, figure out where to go next." You lied and to your relief Sam bought it.
"Good thinking. We should probably hit the road today. The more time we waste, the less chance we have of finding anyone." He responded before he turned away and walked downstairs to go over the map again.
"Thank you." Cas sighed, bringing your attention back to him.
"You helped me keep Daryl a secret from Sam and Dean for months, it's the least I could do. C'mon, let's help my brothers get a plan in motion." You said and Cas nodded in agreement.
You spent the following few hours figuring out where to go next and in the end you had somewhat of a plan formulated. You were going to go to Daryl's first, his small town was the closest to your current location. Then, you'd head north to Minnesota to find Donna, then to South Dakota for Jody and the girls, but that was as far as you'd planned.
There were holes in the plan though. So many damn holes and 'what ifs' to even count, but it was the only plan you had, so you were going to do it.
You just hoped that none of your friends had ventured too far and were still alive and surviving near their old homes, otherwise... well the chances of finding your friends, the chances of finding your boyfriend would be nearly impossible.
-
Then...
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You sat in the back of the Impala while your brothers argued about what to do about the Mark of Cain and you were sick of hearing them fight.
You wanted to put your headphones in and block them out with music, but you had left them in the bunker. Rookie mistake.
So, instead you shot off a quick text to Daryl asking what he was up to. It had been a while since you and Daryl had seen each other. With the whole Mark of Cain thing, you hadn't been able to visit and you refused to let him come to the bunker, not wanting to put him in danger if something happened.
-Hey, not much. Merle's driving me fucking crazy though.
You smiled softly at his quick reply before you started typing your own.
-What's he done now?
-Gave himself a black eye with can opener. He's wasted.
You rolled your eyes and had to stop yourself from laughing out loud after reading that. His brother was always doing stupid shit, especially while drunk.
-Wish I could have been there to see it.
You glanced up from your phone to find Dean eyeing you through the revision mirror, but he didn't say anything to you before he focused back on the road. At least him and Sam weren't at each other's throats anymore.
-Why don't you just teleport and come here?
You missed Daryl and wanted nothing more than to go see him, but you couldn't leave your brothers. Not with everything going on at the moment, not with Dean on edge with the mark.
You knew Dean was trying to fight it, but he was struggling. He wouldn't be able to fight it forever, you knew that, Sam knew that, Cas too. Which was why you had to stick together and figure out how to get the mark off him.
-I can't. On a case with my brothers.
You had told Daryl about the Mark of Cain. Hell, he had held you while you cried about your worries for Dean. But, you hadn't told him much else about it.
-This got to do that mark? Dean, okay?
-Yeah, but Dean's okay. We might have a lead on something to fix it.
-That's good. Be careful, Angel.
You couldn't stop yourself from smiling at the nickname. You weren't even sure when he had started calling you that, but it clearly stuck and you loved it.
"Who are you texting? You keep smiling at your phone." Dean suddenly said, drawing your attention away from your phone to find your brother looking at you through the revision mirror and you rolled your eyes.
"Nobody bro, mind your own business." You responded causing Sam to chuckle softly as Dean glared at him.
"Relax. I just haven't seen you smile lately... well not since the mark. But, you don't need to worry about that, I'm fine." He insisted and you simply nodded, but you knew he was lying.
-Good luck with drunk Merle. I gotta go.
-Thanks, I'm gonna need it.
You smiled softly reading it before you turned your phone off and shoved it in your pocket.
"So, what's this lead that Charlie found?" You asked, leaning your forearms on the back of your brothers seats before Sam turned around and started explaining.
"Alright, so get this."
-
Now...
You had been on the road for two days now, driving during the day and setting up makeshifts camps at night. Most of which were just the four of you squished inside the safety of the Impala, but it was better than nothing.
Dean was starting to get back to his normal self, he wasn't taking his anger out on anyone or more specifically Cas. He was more talkative and positive now, which just made everything a whole lot easier.
You weren't sure if it was the conversation he had with Cas that you overhead a few days back at Rowena's that changed his mindset or not. Maybe it was just the fact that you now had a plan and could actually do something, that had gotten him into a better mood. Either way, you were relieved and it was clear that Sam and Cas were as well.
It was midday when Dean had pulled the car over in the middle of some tiny outback town. The town was only small, a few shops, a bar and the grocery store that Dean had pulled up in front.
You had tried to stay clear of towns, but you were running low on supplies. Sam had found this small out of the way country town on the map and figured that would be your best place to scavenge.
After a quick perimeter check and with the help of your super hearing, you were satisfied that there was nobody dead or alive around the grocery store, so you went in.
"Jackpot!" Dean shouted, the second the four of you entered the store causing Sam to hush him, but Dean just rolled his eyes. "Relax, Y/N said nobody's here. Look at this place, something good was bound to happen."
Dean was right. This place had barely been touched. It was almost as if the apocalypse hadn't touched the store, the shelves were all practically full and for once there wasn't a single dead body inside either. Dean was right, you had finally hit the jackpot.
"Let's split up, it'll be quicker." Sam suggested and you all nodded in agreement.
You ended up following Cas down the back of the store, shoving food and supplies into your backpack along the way.
You were only in the store for less than 20 minutes before it all turned to shit.
You could hear something outside and you had a bad feeling you knew what it was.
"Cas." You whispered, getting the angels attention from where he was further down the aisle.
"What's wrong?" He instantly asked, turning back towards you noticing the alarm in your tone.
"Zombies. They're outside, I can hear them." You answered, keeping your voice down as you reached Cas' side. "We need to get my brothers and go."
You could hear the growls of the zombies getting closer in the background and you knew it was only a matter of minutes before they'd reach the grocery store.
You grabbed the backpack of supplies and threw it over your shoulder. You glanced over at the dirty window trying to see if you could see any zombies, but the window was covered in too much dirt and grime to see through.
You followed Cas out the aisle you were scavenging and rushed back towards the front of the store where you could hear your brothers bickering with each other in the canned food aisle.
"Hey, we need to go." You shouted in a soft whisper.
"Why? This place hasn't even been touched." Dean responded, reaching for another can on the shelf as he glanced over in your direction, but immediately stopped what he was doing when he saw the look on yours and Cas' face.
"How long do we have?" Sam asked when suddenly loud banging erupted from the side of the store.
"I'm guessing none." Dean grumbled, shoving the last can into the duffle bag before he zipped it up and threw it over his shoulder. "Let's go."
Without saying anything the four of you made your way to the back door just as the sound of glass shattering filled the air and you knew the zombies had broken through the front windows.
You adjusted the strap of your backpack over your shoulders as Cas went to open the back door, but it wouldn't budge.
"It's locked." Cas stated as he tried to turn the door knob, but it was no use. Shit.
The growls of the zombies got louder causing you to quickly spin around and your eyes widened when you realised how many of them had gotten through the broken window and were heading towards you.
"Guys." You warned, pulling your angel blade out as you stepped forward, putting yourself between your family and the zombies.
"Cas, move." Dean ordered and the next thing you knew, he kicked the door open.
You spun around and followed the guys outside, but nearly ran straight into the back of Sam.
"What-" You began to question, but your voice died in your throat when you saw the mass amount of zombies outside.
"Back inside!" Dean shouted above the loud growling of the herd.
You quickly turned about to rush back inside, but you came face to face with more zombies.
"Any other ideas?" Sam frantically asked as you raised your angel blade and took out the zombie in the doorway before slamming the door shut, locking the ones inside the store up before you turned your attention back to the rest.
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They were everywhere, doubling in size by the second and before you could even blink you were surrounded.
Behind you was the brick wall of the store that was filled with zombies and in front of you was a herd of them for as far as you could see.
You were fucked and by the panicked looks on your brothers and Cas' face, they knew it as well.
"Seriously, any ideas at all?" Sam repeated desperately, pulling out his demon knife as you all took a step back until your backs were basically against the wall.
You heard Dean swear under his breath as looked down at the gun in his hand uselessly knowing that a single gun wasn't going to do anything.
The assault rifles in the Impala would do some good right now, but the car was on the other side of the store. There was no way you'd make it even five metres let alone all the way back to the car.
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"I got a bad idea." You announced, holding your backpack out to Sam who frowned, but took it as you tucked your angel blade away and stepped in front of all of them.
"Y/N, what are you-" Cas started to ask, but you didn't give him chance to finish.
You quickly raised your hands, using your powers as your eyes started glowing bright purple. In an instant the pain in your head started, but you ignored it as matching purple swirls came from your hands and you sent a shockwave of power at the herd.
You weren't entirely sure what happened after that.
One moment the zombies were staggering towards the group of you and the next thing you knew, you had killed over half of them. The remains of their corpses splattered on the ground, completely destroyed.
You didn't get a chance to really process the fact that the other half of the herd were already rushing towards you before the world started to spin.
Searing pain suddenly shot through your head as blood dripped from your nose and the next thing you knew the ground was rushing towards you.
"Y/N!" You thought someone shouted, but all you could register was your head slamming against the corner of the brick wall as you collapsed to the ground.
The splintering pain in your head suddenly quadrupled as something wet began to slide down your forehead. You were pretty sure you had split the corner of your head open, but you were to focused on not passing out to care.
Black dots clouded your vision as you struggled to stay conscious, but you knew you had to stay awake.
You forced your eyes open to find Cas and Dean crouched down in front of you with panicked expressions. Their lips were moving and you knew they were trying to talk to you, but you couldn't hear anything above the ringing in your ears.
Cas quickly placed his hand over your forehead and it took your foggy brain a few moments to realise that he was trying to heal the gash on your head. But, when he pulled his hand away it was clear that it didn't work with all the blood smeared over his palm.
Suddenly, Sam grabbed your arm and pulled you to your feet, but your legs instantly buckled from underneath you and if it wasn't for him still holding you, you would have hit the ground again.
The world around you was still spinning even more when Dean appeared in front of you again, well three of him appeared in front of you.
Suddenly, Sam grabbed your arm and threw it over his shoulder, stopping you from collapsing.
Again, he was saying something, but you couldn't make out any of the words.
A moment later, Dean grabbed your other arm, throwing it over his shoulder before your brothers started to help you run in the opposite direction from the zombies, Cas taking the lead and taking down the few zombies in your way.
The next few minutes went by in a blur and before you knew it, your brothers were helping you inside some kind of building.
Slowly your hearing started to come back, the ringing in your ears lessening, but the pain radiating through your skull didn't. If anything it was getting worse and you weren't entirely if sure you were going to pass out or throw up.
Dean let go of your arm and disappeared for a moment, letting Sam lead you further into the building. He slowly helped you to the ground before he rushed back over to the front door to help close it as the zombies reached the building, their loud growling and banging coming from outside.
Your eyes fluttered shut and for a moment you considered just leaving them shut and drifting off into unconsciousness. No more pain, no more worry, no more anything. But, you couldn't do that. Your brothers needed you. Cas needed you.
Suddenly, a paid of hands cupped your face, snapping your eyes open to find Sam in front of you.
"Thank God." He sighed, dropping to the ground beside you as he pulled out a rag from his pocket and pressed it against your forehead causing you to wince in pain.
"Sorry. Sorry. Just don't pass out, please." Sam begged, holding the rag against the bleeding cut on your forehead.
"O-okay." You said weakly, your voice barely above a whisper as you tried to get the world to stop spinning around you.
"We wait them out. Something might come by and distract them." Cas' voice suddenly said across the room.
You looked away from Sam to find Cas standing by the door, looking through the peep hole and you only just realised that you were in some kind of house. But, you could hear the herd outside, they were surrounding the building.
"And if we can't?" Dean asked, drawing your attention away from Cas to find your brother leaning against the wall across the room.
"Then we fight." Cas answered, stepping away from the door when the zombies continued to bash against it, trying to get in.
"We'll lose." Dean mumbled and you hated the sudden defeat and sadness in his tone. Dean had given up and if he had given up, you knew you were screwed. "I just lead us into another trap."
"Dean." Cas said, his tone softening as Dean pushed himself off the wall and walked over to the angel.
"Everybody's going to die, Cas. Everybody. I can't stop it. The herd will break through that door..."
"I know." Cas sighed and you tried to sit yourself up, to say something to them, but you were too weak. You couldn't.
"They're gonna kill us, and then Sam, and then Y/N... I'm sorry." Dean whispered, shaking his head.
For a moment nobody said anything as Sam gently removed the rag from your forehead no doubt to inspect the wound, but you were too focused on the look on Castiel’s face. He was sad... but happy at the same time and he almost seemed relieved as he took a step towards Dean.
"Wait, there is another way. We don't know if a bite can turn an angel. I can get through the herd and draw them all to me, give you guys a chance to escape." Cas suddenly said and your eyes widened.
No. He couldn't do that. Cas wasn't going to sacrifice himself for you guys. That was no going to happen.
"Cas, no." Sam said, speaking up for the first time causing the angel to look over at the two of you with sad eyes.
You forced yourself to sit up, leaning against your elbow as Sam quickly grabbed your shoulders to steady you.
"Easy." He whispered, not liking how much your were swaying despite half lying down and for a second you thought you were going to actually pass out, but you pushed through it.
"Cas... please- please don't." You mumbled, hating how weak your voice sounded.
You looked at the angel desperately, tears rising in your eyes making everything that was spinning around you even harder to see, but Cas just shook his head.
"No." Dean suddenly said.
"Dean, it's the only way.  We don't know if a bite will turn me. I'm an angel. It's worth a shot." Cas insisted, turning his attention back to him.
"It's not worth your life!" Dean exclaimed.
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"Dean." Cas said taking a step closer to him as you struggled to keep your eyes focused on them, the pain in your head getting worse by the second. "The one thing I want in this life is something I know I can't have. But, I can do this. I can save you. All of you."
"What are you talking about, man?" Dean asked, but you knew what Cas was referring to.
You knew what he wanted and you also knew that if he just told Dean how he felt, he would be able to have it. Your brother may be an oblivious idiot, but he loved Castiel, that you knew for a fact.
"I know how you see yourself, Dean. You see yourself in the same way our enemies see you. You're destructive. You're angry and you're broken. You're "daddy's blunt instrument" and you think that hate and anger.. that's what drives you, that's who you are. It's not, and everyone who knows you sees it." Cas began to say, motioning over to you and Sam, but Dean kept his eyes on Cas.
"Everything you've ever done, the good and the bad, you have done for love. You raised your little brother and sister for love. You fought for this whole world for love. That is who you are." Cas continued to say, but stopped for a moment when the zombies outside started to get louder and the banging turned more rapid.
"You're the most caring man on earth. You're the most selfless, loving human being I will ever know." Cas added and even from a distance you could see the tears rising in Castiel's eyes.
"You know, ever since we met, ever since I pulled you out of hell, knowing you has changed me. Because you cared, I cared. I cared about you, I cared about Sam. I cared about Y/N. I cared about Jack... but I cared about the whole world because of you. You changed me, Dean." Cas admitted, his voice breaking as a silent tear trickled down his cheek.
"Why does this sound like a goodbye?" Dean asked, his voice rough fighting back his own emotions.
"Because it is." Cas responded with a sad yet happy smile, his eyes filled with tears. "I love you." Cas confessed and that was all it took for the tears in your eyes to fall.
You could see Dean shake his head slightly, his entire body tense as he stared at Cas and you knew your brother was in shock.
Hell, you were in shock and you were boarder-line conscious and you knew about the angels feelings too. You couldn't even imagine the thoughts that were running through Deans mind right now. Cas had just confessed his love to him and he was about to sacrifice himself...
"Don't do this, Cas." Dean begged.
Suddenly, one of the hinges on the front door broke off as the zombies continued to push against it and you knew it was only a matter of seconds before they busted through.
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Dean quickly looked over his shoulder towards you and Sam. Tears threatening to spill from his eyes before he turned back to Cas.
"Cas, I-"
Dean didn't get to finish before Cas grabbed his shoulder with the hand that was still covered with your blood.
"Goodbye, Dean." He said as he pushed your brother across the room and out the way.
A split second later the front door busted open and Cas pushed the zombies back before he got through the door.
There was nothing you could do, but watch through teary eyes as the zombies bit and clawed at him through the trench coat. You could hear Cas' pained groans after each hit. But, he kept going.
He drew the zombies attention to him as he pushed through the herd and disappeared amongst them outside. 
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Suddenly, everything started to spin, white dots taking over your vision and the last thing you saw was Dean on the ground beside you. Tears welling up in his eyes with Cas' bloodied handprint on his shoulder before everything faded to black.
-
MASTERLIST
Next Chapter
-Gifs used are not mine. Credit to rightful owners.
Tag Lists- I will reblog with my tag lists, so if you wanted to be added to just let me know.
A/N- Please don’t hate me. I promise Dean and Cas will get a happy ending, just bare with me through this pain and trust me. This isn’t the end for them even though right now they all think it is. 
Anyway,, next chapter the Winchesters finally reach Daryl’s home town, so stay tuned xx
161 notes · View notes
the-acid-pear · 3 years
Text
I did my homework and i did my chores, time to tackle on the third book of this series, Son of Ogre
Chapter 1
Okay but the fuck is Baki planning to do if he stops fighting? That's literally all he has, he's not smart
WOOH THATS A BIT REALISTIC
PREHISTORIC ELEPHANT?!
King just went to have a snack. Also FUCK does that meat look tasty FUCKKK
This baby so cute 🥺
I'm so glad Yuji is doing stupid hilarious shit again it had been a while
Congrats on Baki for that mantis
Chapter 2
Who tf is this kid?
Poor kid lmao, i assume he will meet Baki
Look at my boyyy
HSTSRFAYDF DON'T CALL HIM A MANLET
Imagine Baki actually kills this kid HSJDYSSHCBT
Third comment with a ton of likes is "we do not condone child violence. We do, however, find it hilarious"
Chapter 3
AH SHUT UPPP KIDDO
But i like Baki memeing a round a lil
Chapter 4
🥺🥺 that's so sweet...
HELLOOOO STRYDUM MY GOD YOUR TITS GOT FATTER SIR 😳😳
Yujiro is such a fucking threat to society lmao
I love seeing Baki with his eyes open, he's looking more like his old self
Oh, shadow boxing incoming, alright
Chapter 5
Yuri? 🥺 /j
THE RETURN OF IRON MICHAEL?!
Chapter 6
I love how there's our silly little mains after every cover LUV em <33
Baki just dissociating his ass out and using it on his favor, the king
Why is Baki eating sour prunes aren't those meant to be sweet?
We all salivating
Chapter 7
Love to see there are even more swears there now
I can put my face next to my foot too tho
FAGDRJSEHARD YUJIRO CAN BEAT THE CANCER HOW ICONIC 😍
Also i would LOVE to see Yuji fight an Orca
WHAT?!
I love how everyone in the comments is calling out Rumina for not seeing issue going down to a dark hidden basement with a shirtless man older than him
Chapter 8
"piggy back me" USHSYFLFUDSY
This fight is going to be good
Chapter 9
Imagine Baki dies right here right know against an imaginary mantis lmao
Okay Baki getting damaged makes sense but the WALL?
Baki's dead (GOD IT HAS BEEN SO LONG SINCE I HAVE SAID THAT)
Ffs it's true Baki COULD create himself a stand 😰
Chapter 10
OH FUCK IT'S TRUE
Chapter 11
This fight is so boring i had to take a 6 hour break
Baki just can't win against nature eh
This reminds me of Garland pulling a suplex on that Anaconda
Chapter 12
I can't wait for the main cast to ACTUALLY appear, instead of just, you know, them in the covers
This fight is slow but cool but slow
To fight a mantis you must think like a mantis 😎
Though it's true in this manga you will most likely win if you steal your opponent techniques so
Chapter 13
I MISS IGARI FUCKKK
This is so dumb i luv it
That mantis be swearing lmao
Love it when Baki goes full Yujiro
Chapter 14
TOBA...
Holy fuck do mantis fly?
Secret Chapter?
Is this how Yujiro got born?
Idk girl i would have killed him if i was you
WHAT.
I KNOW THOSE FROGS THEY ARE FROM PUERTO RICO I THINK
I might just be sleepy but this is so confusing
AKSHSKGSKSGSJSG JUST KILL THE BABY IT AINT THAT HARD
Chapter 15
GAIA...
Why is he like this?
Is "he" with us right now?
...gotta admit that IS true...
I love Strydum sksgwhwg
Yujiro really went XD
I don't think my man Arun in the comments is aware how gay what he said is, though maybe I'm wrong
Chapter 16
GOD THESE FUCKING COVERS MAKING ME SO NOSTALGIC, LOOK AT SPEC!
ANIME KENNEDY?!
I can't believe Bush is dead
AN ASIAN BOY HAS JUST KIDNAPPED THE PRESIDENT...
8 of January? My god he's a Capricorn
I'm sorry, what?
LAHQIGWKQFWKSFWIWG 😭😭
I love Baki so much, THIS IS THE KID THAT I MISSED SO MUCH
This explains why Baki was in prison clothes in the anime teaser
Chapter 17
BIG NUMBER
That one mf like 😐
Glad Baki is 18 now at least 😌
Love to see Oliva back
Chapter 18
This page not even bothering to charge the pages anymore
I'm sure there were better ways to go to jail, well, actually, no, but still
Toba used to just chew that off
Baki did that mantis hit you in the head too hard?
I. I watched way too many prison movies and shows. I don't like seeing someone as young and pretty as Baki in such a place. I rlly don't.
Chapter 19
Yanagi baby i miss you...
IRON MICHAEL?!
Mfkhsjsys 😳🥴
Eh got my hopes too high
CHE BAKI PIBE... LA PUTA MADRE NI ACA ME ESCAPO DE MIS COMPATRIOTAS
I hope he swears too i want to see a boludo o pelotudo PLEASE
I mean para pelotudos lo veo a Yujiro todo el tiempo pero igual JSGWKEGWG me pone bien argento ver al Che carajo
Chapter 20
HE SAID BOLUDO SUAHWKWGAKSGSKSGSKGD
I can't take this omfg new fav I'm sorry Doppo but he just said boludo 😭
Pendejo is more used as pibe here but i will let it pass bc idk the lingo in Cuba and he spent some time there so
Why don't i speak like this too ffs? All i do is say eh and call it a day
He's cocky enough to call anybody any age pibe so I'll let that pass too
Por favor no lo hagas che sksgwj
Chapter 21
Che, pibe, it's a good day to die...
Chapter 22
GSHAGSTSG he should have said "no boludo"
I'm falling in love with this boludo myself
That's talented and brutal
OH RIGHT YOU LOSE YOUR BALANCE WHEN YOU DONT HAVE THAT
Chapter 23
Hm that's, cringe
YESSS HE SAID PELOTUDO
OAHWLGWKQFSKSGSJS SIII ROMPELO TODO CHE, ROMPELO TODO POR DECIRTE YANKEE KSGSSJGS
Honestly i too get pissed off when called American or European, though i won't throw shit to Baki, he's some random 18 yo japanese boy, no way he would recognize latinoamerican lingo lmao
King shit Baki boy
Chapter 24
Oh that's why he's called Jun Guevara, that's fair
I like how they are mixing a bit of truth and a bit of lie it's fun at least
Chapter 25
I like how they are drawing nipples now, occasionally
I can't wait for Viêt to complain about propaganda in the comments
OH SHIT
😳 :Y
He's sooo nice 😍
Chapter 26
Only three? You mean the third is... 👁️👁️
HAHA YEAH YUJI-CHAN <3
I can't believe he works for the USA I'm crying and shaking rn
What a progressive manga, the three strongest and most dangerous men and none of them are white 😍
GET HIS ASS BAKI
Chapter 27
Why is this guy sweating sm?
LDYDYSUGFUDT BAKI PLS
I like how the only time Baki was willing to kill a person was when he thought Sikorsky had hurt his girl
Chapter 28
I feel like Ian will die
Man i love how Baki is drawn in this book
Ffs i called it, i have watched way too many prison things to know how shit goes down
I have seen these three before in fanart but I'm curious to see what they can do
Chapter 29
Their faces remind me of Doyle
OH I CANT WAIT TO SEE EM IN THE ANIME
ASSHOLE DON'T CALL ME STUPID 😢💔
I'm gonna struggle to tell em apart but i think I'll manage
Okay I'm not the only one who thinks they look like Doyle, fair
Chapter 30
The mouth vs Yujiro when?
Someone mentioned the have the same vibe as the dudes that worked with Gaia and like 👁️👁️
Chapter 31
Lmao someone in the comments recommended the same thing
These three must be great at sex (sorry)
KSHALDHDKD NEW FAV COMMENT: "go to Japan and look for the word "defeat". That way you won't feel cocky anymore"
Chapter 32
Hehe hello Junnn~
KSHAKDHKWGS
La luna
Chapter 33
LOS TRES...
Okay that's funny, hocico instead of mouth (hocico is used for animal mouths)
I'm so glad i know Spanish
The two things that drive me insane and make me ramble are Doppo's beauty and this stupid argentinian
OSHSKWGSKSG
Chapter 34
Imagine he's doing that illusion thing Dorian did
With his own blood, that's so cool...
Hoho...!
I did that once when i had a terrible nose bleed, didn't go well
Chapter 35
This book is fucking boring NGL
"now that you got no more urine left in you"
AH.
GAHDYR LMAO
Chapter 36
HO THAT TITLE, PLEEEASE I NEED SOMETHING, ANYTHING, TO HAPPEN
HHH he kinda cute...
Oww :(
JDJSJFRGAJ
God piantao is an old word i had never heard it before
AND he took a piss.
LOCO NO SEAS HOMOFÓBICO NINGUNA MINA ACA ES MEJOR QUE ESTE PIBITO TE LO ASEGURO SKSGSKGSJAAGS
Se me cayó un ídolo y yo que le quería dar 😔
ÑSHWQLSGOSGDKW
Let's see if he lied to Baki about just liking eh /j
Chapter 37
I luv Oliva lol
AJSGSKSLAGHS BAKI SNAPPED
I too wonder where the fuck Kozue is
Chapter 38
LSHSLDGSLSGSIEG
He is jealous of what you two have, it's normal, el Che just rejected his love after all ;/
Oliva is a king
OH A HANKERCHIEF I THOUGHT THAT WAS UNDERWEAR SHSGS-
Oh shit Oliva is like 45?! He looked so young
Te fuiste a la mierda, Che, el chabón estaba siendo re bueno con vos
Baki is just dead
Chapter 39
I love how realistic Che's fear is, he's rather smart, though not this time
POOR GUY AJSGSWJW
I didn't realize Che said "what more, it may be a woman!" but to be fair they ARE in jail so
Chapter 40
I'm feeling kinda bad for him ngl
I feel happy for him tho 🥺
Bruh they added one page after the ending of some naked anime girl tf 😐
Chapter 41
These prisoners having fun is kinda sweet
YO INSANE
Bitches be complaining about Maria's looks are just jealous 🥰
Chapter 42
Damn she lorge
He loves fighting naked eh
Only valid person is the one saying Oliva deserves better treatment which tbh true
Chapter 43
Fun fact i wear my jacket like El Che too, unless it's too cold
El che with the hair lose is so cute bro,,,
Something something fingering joke
Sikorski could fold a coin too
I bet the bandana will break
Chapter 44
I would have just fallen on top of him, how is he gonna counter that, eh?
Oh that super fun to know!
Oh the good ol dirty technique, i have seen this one before!
Chapter 45
NOOO MARIA DON'T DO THIS TO HIM
This fight is super cool tho i love these two characters
Chapter 46
They just keep changing the rules i think Itagaki is just flexing at this point
LAAOSFKAGSKAGSKAF???
Baki wants his protagonism back
I'm getting pissed off they keep putting semi naked underaged girls at the end of every chapter 😐
Chapter 47
Bruh just realized, the mouth got so hyped as this new cool villain and they died in their first appearance 😭
His damn bandana...
17 notes · View notes
mooniefics · 3 years
Text
just one night
pairing : reiner braun / reader
word count : 2.9k
tags : fluff, angst, heartache, acknowledgement of reiner’s suffering </3
summary : being a field nurse had it's ups and downs, but everything about taking care of reiner braun was the best and worst thing about your job.
— originally posted 12 / 16 / 20 on ao3 —
"oh, you're finally awake." you set the tray of medical supplies in your hands down on the small desk beside the bed, shutting the privacy curtain before you returned to his side, "i was worried about you, you know?"
though most of his body had regenerated over the seven hours he'd been unconscious, he was still missing a majority of his right hand up to the wrist, the steaming, incomplete appendage he was now examining with a tired look on his face.
"what time did they bring me in?" his voice was husky with sleep, eyes low as they flitted over to look at you.
"around eighteen hundred hours yesterday," you said, placing the back of your hand on his forehead to check his temperature, "i administered some pain meds a few hours ago, but let me know if you need any more."
being a field nurse for the marleyan army wasn't the easiest job in the world, mostly consisting of lots of running around in the trenches with your heavy kit and avoiding as much gunfire and blood splatter as you possibly could while still helping the wounded. you had volunteered to work soon after the conflict with the mid-east allied forces had begun, seeing as it was either that or see your father be drafted out into the eldian unit to become cannon fodder like so many of the soldiers you'd seen barely able to crawl their way back over the sandbags just to bleed out and die before you could even begin to assess their injuries. you stopped keeping count of how many people you couldn't save after your first few days of active combat, becoming more focused on not going insane from how little you slept due to the rumbling of the ground from enemy artillery that shook the walls of the underground quarters and reading the letters your family sent from back home to maintain a shred of morale for the future.
though, the job did have some perks. it was always honorable for eldian families to have someone enlisted, and it also meant you could support your parents with your minuscule paycheck from the government. and, of course, meeting reiner braun was the biggest plus of them all, though you probably wouldn't admit it if anybody asked. you were a hard worker, and evidently had enough natural skill to quickly be promoted to the position that you were at now, assigned as one of the few nurses who monitored the wellness of the warriors and their prospective candidates.
"my regeneration has been slowing down lately, i should have more of my hand back by now." reiner murmured, more to himself than you.
"of course it has, you haven't been eating as well as you should be. i don't know much about titan biology, but i do know that a soldier like you, a warrior no less, shouldn't live off of sandwiches and beer, you've been losing too much weight."
he chuckled, a quick smile flitting across his face before he returned to his previous sulk. "you sound like my mother, chiding me about how i need to take care of myself. isn't there other patients that need your attention?"
"you wish. me and another nurse have already taken care of this entire hall, and you, mr. celebrity, get a room all to yourself." you grabbed a pen and his chart, scribbling down a few notes about his current status while you spoke, "plus, i'm supposed to be checking up on you every hour until you're all put back together, magath's orders."
he paused, thinking to himself before speaking. "so does that mean galliard is ok?" you nodded.
"and pieck?" you nodded again.
"and zeke?" you sighed, but reaffirmed once more.
"you've been checking up on me all night by the looks of it. aren't you tired?"
"gosh reiner, would it kill you to focus on yourself for a minute?" you rolled your eyes at his confusion, pulling up the chair at the desk to his bedside and seating yourself down, "this is my job, i'm used to doing my job. in fact, this is one of the easiest nights i've had in weeks. i don't know about you, but it shocks me that the guy they blew to pieces yesterday afternoon is asking me if i'm the one that needs to get some rest."
his brow furrowed, mouth drawing into a small frown. "sorry. i know that the war has been hard for all of us. i just don't want to make it any harder for you than it's already been."
you couldn't help but smile at his genuine concern, planting your elbows on your thighs and resting your chin in your hands. "you don't have to worry about bothering me, reiner." you replied softly, playfully adding, "you know you're my favorite patient anyways" just to see his cheeks flush red.
"is that so?" he murmured in reply, now smiling with you as he met your gaze.
"maybe." you teased, leaving him hanging for a few moments before you continued, "galliard's always awkward when i'm in the room, jaeger never has much, if anything, to say, and pieck, she's nice to be around, but she always looks so tired i feel a bit bad when i chat for too long with her. so, if it's anyone i'm stuck on the night shift with, i'm glad it's you."
you laughed softly at his expression, feeling a bit sheepish under his gaze. he'd changed quite a bit over the two years you'd known him, the shadows under his eyes deepening with a clear exhaustion, cheekbones becoming more pronounced and face growing gaunter as the stress of the war withered away at his physical and mental wellbeing. before you personally met, you'd always seen reiner as the physical embodiment of marley's armor, with his sturdy, unyielding frame, towering over nearly everyone he met from his stature, and the iron will that never seemed to falter no matter how many times he returned broken to the barrack's infirmary.
but now, you could see how everything had been taking a toll on him, how he was growing thinner and weaker each time he returned from a successful military assignment. you had come to learn that despite his regenerative properties, he felt every bit of pain that came with the injuries he sustained, experiencing the absolute agony of having his limbs shredded and bones shattered by cannon fire in his titan form and still having to push forward on the battlefield. you had an immense respect for him and his unyielding nature, but you always worried. even though you knew he would always manage to get himself back together again, you always worried for him. you remembered how you felt as you peeked over the sandbags, watching with a mixture of awe and dread as reiner threw himself in front of jaeger at the last moment to shield him from the unexpected volley of naval artillery, the way your heart thundered so loudly in your ears at the sight of his titan crumpling.
the relief you felt upon being ordered to his hospital room and finding him still alive was indescribable, and the relief you felt now being able to talk to him, to stare into his tired eyes and take in his handsome features you'd become so familiar with, flushed softly from your playfully exchanged words— you didn't want to see him go again.
"l-let me go get you a blanket," you said, snapping yourself out of your unnecessary thoughts, "i packed it away since i didn't want the steam to overheat you, but now that its just your hand and ankle i think it'll be ok to let you have it back now."
you quickly got up from your seat and slipped past the privacy curtain, opening up the supply cupboard with sheets and extra clipboards and things of the sort to pull out the blanket you'd originally taken off of him and put away.
you had to control yourself, to stop letting yourself be distracted by these thoughts and concerns about him. you knew as well as anyone else in marley that he didn't have long left to live. you hated that everyone referred to it as his 'term', as if after two years passed he could return home to live a peaceful life away from the war and bloodshed, to enjoy the luxuries of a normal existence that had been snatched away from him from the very start of his life. he only had two years left before he had to be eaten by one of those children, children that had similarly had their innocence and adolescence stolen from them by the marleyan government. you had told yourself over and over to not let yourself get so close to him, to not trick yourself into believing that maybe something could work between the two of you after marley's greed for natural resources had been sated and all the nations were finally at peace.
but you knew better than anyone that these feelings had been growing out of control, and each day you spent tending to him, watching him out on the battlefield, finding more and more about who he truly was besides a soldier only fed the fire you'd been fighting between fueling and snuffing out for months now. taking in a deep breath, you forced a smile onto your face, not wanting to concern him with an upset expression and risk dumping all your pathetic emotions out under his scrutiny.
"here we are." you hummed, flapping out the blanket a few times before you stretched it over his lap.
for a moment your face was close to his, close enough to see the small brown spots freckling his golden irises and realize just how intently he was gazing at you. you quickly retreated back to your seat at his bedside, still feeling his stare lingering on you, stopping yourself from asking him what was interesting enough to make him look at you for so long.
for another moment, there was silence, and you debated on making up some excuse to leave the room, but you knew you would have to come back in an hour, and he most likely wouldn't be asleep by then, but he spoke before you could think up any other escape plans.
"you know, i was happy to wake up and see you." you felt your heart skip, blinking at him, trying to make sure you weren't hearing things.
"really?" you mustered, feeling your cheeks grow warm at the sight of his smile.
"yes, really." he affirmed, the brightness on his face dampening a bit as he continued, "most of the time when i sleep, i get a lot of... memories, from my time in paradis, and they're not the most pleasant things to see while i'm asleep. and i was having another one of those dreams just now before i woke up, so it was nice to not be alone, you know? it's always reassuring to see you."
you felt a light flutter in your chest, nodding in response, torn between feeling sympathy for his nightmares or happiness from honest words. no, you had to stop being selfish. you had to stop letting yourself play along in this fantastical idea of a happy future.
"y-yeah, i understand," you replied, fixing your gaze down in your lap as you tried to avoid his intention, "i could put in a request for sleeping aids, if restlessness is becoming an issue."
"you know that's not what i'm trying to say." his hand reached out to rest over yours, giving it a gentle squeeze, imploring you to stop ignoring the obvious.
"reiner." you said firmly, lips pressing into a firm line, "we can't. i can't."
you could feeling that light, airy joy twisting down into something irksome, settling like lead deep in your stomach as he replied. "what's stopping you?"
"everything!" you snapped, stopping yourself to take a deep breath and regain control of your volume before you began again, "everything.. this war, this never-ending conflict, and.. y-your term, your life-"
"you think i don't know that?" he said softly, too softly, somber gaze flitting between the hand in his grasp and your face. he seemed so small just now, seated up against wall behind the hospital bed that was too little for him, barely covered by the thin, old blanket that was fraying at the seams, not at all like the stoic, unwavering warrior he made himself out to be in the public eye. "don't you think i'm tired of pretending? tired of having people toss the topic of my death back and forth like they're discussing vacation plans? i love marley, and i love what i can do for the people who look up to me, for the people who rely on me to be the hero. you never ask me about paradis, you never ask me about how i feel about all of this, you never expect me to be the hero, and you're still always here to listen, always here when i need you to be. but i just want to feel like i don't have to worry about all that, even if it's just for one night... i know it sounds counterintuitive, but i want to pretend like things will be alright.. for you, for me, for everyone. can't we just have this one night?"
your hand trembled, fingers lacing easily with his like you'd risked doing a few times before, tears pricking your eyes, feeling like there was something cinching around your heart and lungs and squeezing tight. the heat of his hand in yours was pleasant, calloused palm fitting perfectly against the contour of your own, thumb stroking softly over the side of your own hand.
you swallowed your apprehension, steadying your breath and blinking away the mistiness threatening to spill down onto your face as you moved from the chair to take a seat on the side of his bed. "ok. one night."
the relief that bloomed across his expression warmed your heart, the stress that had been creasing his face softening back into the relaxed, sleepy looking smile that you always poked fun at when you brought him his breakfast in the morning.
"you have to be up at seven, so lay down right, i don't want you to complain to me about your back hurting tomorrow." he complied, shifting back down in the bed to rest his head back on the pillow, allowing you to let go of his hand momentarily to tuck the blanket around him. "do you want me to go get you something to help you sleep?"
"no." he murmured, gazing up at you, "just stay here with me, please. i'll sleep just fine as long as you're here."
there was something so childlike about his words, not in the way of immaturity or naivety, but something that just made you want to take care of him, to protect him from the corruption of the world outside of the obsolete confinements of his hospital room.
"i will." you said, letting your other hand find the side of his face, "i promise."
and so you stayed, you stayed as long as he needed you to, alternating between stroking his cheek and slowly running your fingers through his hair. there were no words exchanged, but the silence was comforting, the quietest night you'd both had in weeks, only occupied by the intermittent footsteps of the other nurses making their rounds around the hall and the soft evening breeze blowing through the half-open window above the desk. you didn't care for how long you had to sit there, replying back to the small movements of his hands with your own reassuring squeeze as he slowly but surely fell back asleep. but even after his breathing had steadied out, and his grasp on your hand had loosened, you still stayed seated at his bedside, just gazing down at his sleeping face as your thought to yourself.
the war against the mid-east allied forces had come to a rocky close, most likely guaranteeing marley at least a few months of tension-filled peace before another nation made their strike on their borders once again. but you knew that marley wouldn't wait for that, you knew that they wouldn't stop until they had the world in their hands, paradis included. you'd heard the private murmurs of jaeger before you entered his room, seen the open pages of his journal when he fell asleep at his desk, you knew what he had been planning. and you knew that reiner would have to go running back to the island once again, and even if jaeger's grand scheme didn't drag him there by his collar, he would probably go searching out his own resolution him.
you checked your watch. 2:10. it was your turn to check the patients in critical condition down the hall. you sighed quietly, pulling your hand away from his and leaning down to gently press a kiss on his forehead, something you risked doing a few times before when you had these especially long conversations that made your heart ache for him.
but at least, you thought to yourself as you flicked off the lights, reluctantly leaving the room and shutting the door behind you as quietly as you possibly could, at least you could give him just one night of repose.
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neverdoingmuch · 3 years
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now hear me out,,, an au where lan wangji is an editor who works for an erotica publisher and wei wuxian is essentially chuck tingle. (also lwj writes romance novels on the side)
wei wuxian didn’t plan to write erotica he wants to make that really clear, he was actually studying like biomed or something equally “oh wow my parents can brag to the other parents about this”
but, as frequently happens in wwx’s life, he got drunk with nhs, like really drunk and they woke up the next morning with a laptop on the floor beside them and loose paper strewn everywhere
they don’t really remember what they were doing or thinking last night but they’ve both drawn a bunch of really shitty and weird porn (the less said about the anthropomorphic version of wen chao’s pet turtle the better) and wei wuxian has like 20,000 words of an erotica story on his laptop
when he starts reading it, at first he’s like haha what the fuck this is so weird but then it turned out to be really good??? and nhs blushed at some of the ~sexy~ scenes so that’s how wwx knew he was writing the good stuff
anyway they’re sitting there, eating their hangover food and wei wuxian goes so uh my story was good right? and nhs is like yeah it was, top stuff i would buy it and wei wuxian goes what if i actually wrote it,,, haha just kidding,,,,, unless?
and in his defence he doesn’t actually write anything for the story for another like three months but then he finds himself in the middle of exam season and he’s like fuck it stress relief let’s write some erotica
he finishes the book and his exams (which he does well in but whatever) and then spends his summer holidays editing the book
when he comes back, he slaps down a paper copy on nhs’ desk and is like i finished it. nhs, thinking he meant his latest lab write up, opens it up to a random page and starts reading it out loud which was a Mistake
he trails off mid-sentence, and whips around to glare at wwx with all the wrath he can muster. it’s raunchy nhs says and just read it wwx tells him so nhs does
like 2 hours later nhs turns to him and says if it wasnt for you and the librarian staring at me the whole time i definitely would’ve felt something and wwx is like so it’s good? and nhs is like fuck yeah it is but i dont get what you want from me?
pretty much wwx passed out after exams, slept for like 20 hours and then woke up and went i should publish this and decided that nhs should draw the cover art.
nhs agrees of course and a month later wwx self-publishes bc there’s no way he can walk into a publishing house with his porn and not just combust on the spot and he decides to go by the name yiling patriarch
wwx clicks the final button to upload the fic and nhs just toasts him and goes yknow what,, this is the closest you’ve ever gotten to having sex and i’m proud of you
wei wuxian is the man who guarded his first kiss for the first twenty years of his life for someone special,,,, wwx definitely wants his first time to be special and there’s no way he’s putting out for someone he doesn’t think is important & despite having dated before, he’s never gotten close enough to someone to go yeah let’s do it so our boy is still a virgin
so wwx’s entire erotica writing inspiration comes from porn, nhs’ way too in-depth answers as to how his latest date went and uh more porn
wwx blusters about a bit bc how is he meant to respond to that and nhs is like maybe you’ll finally move on from reading those trashy romance novels and read something more exciting and wwx is like how dare you call them trashy!! hanguang-jun is a master of the romance novels!! he understands the heart in a way that no other person has ever!! 
and nhs just chugs a bunch of wine and is like yeah hon okay, do you still blush when the main characters hold hands? and wwx is like no! of course not! (it’s a lie, he blushes a lot)
so nothing really happens with the book at first and wwx forgets about it for the most part but then he wakes up one morning and he’s got an extra like RMB 1000 (i dont actually know much about currency so it’s roughly $200 if my quick interneting is legit)
wwx is like wtf? and once he finds out it’s from his novel he’s doubly like wtf? but then he finds out that someone had purchased his book and did a dramatic reading on youtube bc wwx decided that regular erotica was boring and decided to make it satirical or whatever and people loved it??
he’s got nothing better to do so he just goes hm yeah remember that Author i dated who had an “incredible idea that would absolutely amaze The Critics and helped explore his own convoluted mind” let’s make something of that and he writes another book kinda mocking that idea in a very horny way.
he publishes it and someone writes a review of his two books on their blog and now he’s actually starting to get popular - he’s got more money from those two books than he did by working at the local cafe for the whole week
wwx is poor and broke and semi-disowned anyway by this point so he goes fuck it and spends every moment he’s not studying writing erotica. 
he publishes another like five books by the time the year is out (i know the maths isnt working here but this is a book world where wwx can just do that via the power of loneliness and friends who egg you on)
also?? he varies his books. some of them are porn parody things a la chuck tingle and some of them are genuine porn and one book was just him writing a recipe book but making it sound as horny as possible
by the time he’s published his like 8th book or so he starts getting reviews that are critiquing his book and most of them boil down to the fact that he needs an editor or something 
he ends up asking nhs for help and he’s like oh sweet my brother’s boyfriend works for a publisher who does that sort of thing
cloud recesses actually specialises in erotica and i hate the idea that lqr has spent years reading and editing erotica but sacrifices must be made
(side note that i know nothing about the writing or publishing process so pls don’t judge me too harshly)
wwx goes in with his latest manuscript and ends up arriving like ten minutes late, he rushes into the room sweaty and hot, takes one look at the guy sitting on the other side of the desk, flushes an even brighter red and runs back out of the room. he checks the plaque on the door and walks back in slowly and goes hm i didnt expect you to be so hot
cue lan wangji
lwj has always enjoyed being an editor. what do editor do specifically? idk? edit? regardless, he enjoys it. 
while most of the time he’s happy working from this side of things he also likes writing
lwj fucks. he deserves it tbh. but, while he’s had a tonne of one night stands and fuckbuddies, he’s never actually dated someone. so the fact that he’s writing romance novels under the pseudonym hanguang-jun makes his friend jzx laugh a lot
he tried writing porn once and he just couldn’t do it. it was always too clinical or vague and lacked any actual passion bc he was always going oh okay mc sucks a dick but the guy i slept with last week was like a 6.4/10 when it came to sucking dick so maybe mc should also be bad at it or whatever and it just ends up falling apart,,,, but romance he can do
as an editor lwj has pretty high standards for good erotica but he’s really found himself enjoying yiling patriarch’s work even though he’s clearly just been editing himself so when the guy sent cloud recesses an email asking whether they’d be interested in his latest book lwj was ecstatic. 
he also didnt expect wwx to be so hot
anyway,,, we now get to enjoy a week of lwj thinking that wwx is super hot but even more annoying and then him deciding that annoying is hot and now wwx is just absolutely amazing and wwx is just panicking the entire time 
i want my publisher to rail me so hard wwx texts nhs and nhs just responds has he read the bdsm scene with the alien who has a tentacle dick and a knot yet? and wwx is like no??? nhs just goes shame, it will give him so ideas for if you ever grow a backbone and just ask him out
they publish one book together and nothing happened between them the entire time other than yearning and horniness,, of the heart and body. 
when wwx realises this means that he won’t get to see lwj again he immediately writes a new book and like a month later he’s back in lwj’s office, lying on his couch while whining about the cafeteria prices at university
lwj is very enamoured by the fact that wwx is writing erotica and studying biomed bc wow
they do this for like another three books and wwx’s eroticas evolve from here’s a dinosaur man fucking a politician while a mary sue watches on to be like here’s a dinosaur man with black hair and golden eyes and a stern look to his face fucking a politician while a mary sue watches on
and hanguang-jun’s latest book?? i dont want to say that this au’s version of wangxian is hanguang-jun finally finding inspiration to write porn (his muse is wwx of course) and writing the most amazing porn with feelings and plot novel ever,, but it is. 
wwx read it five times in the first week and when nhs finally tried to read it he was like uhhh wwx are you a narcissist, the love interest is exactly like you? and wwx is like ??? no???? he’s nothing like me??
anyway one day wwx gets called into lxc’s office and lxc is like so i’ve read your latest book (not the dinosaur man, a serious one with like normal people and not overly humorous thank fuck but still full of lwj yearning) and wwx is like okay? and lxc goes yes, see i was worried that you didn’t care very much for my brother but after reading your book i’m not so sure and wwx gets the weirdest shovel talk ever which is interspersed with like compliments for his porn writing skills
anyway lxc accidentally mentions that lwj writes books too and before he can take it back wwx is like who??? and lxc is like are you fucking stupid?? you told lwj to his face that you loved his books,,, he broke his theme of tender romance to write kinky sex with a character that’s a lot like you and wwx is like .,,,,,,,,, hanguang-jun??? HANGUANG-JUN???!!
lxc barely manages to confirm it before wwx is sprinting out of his office and across to find lwj.
regretfully for everyone else, lwj is in the lobby so thirty people get to hear it when wwx comes in and shouts LAN ZHAN!! back then, i really wanted write porn about you! ... i think i have actually? but i want to write porn about you and i want to be able to do the research to make it accurate! and i also want to go on dates and hold hands and feed each other food! and i love you a lot! 
lwj is dying inside bc his brother’s bf is there, his uncle is currently waiting for the elevators and a whole bunch of staff are also there but also wwx likes him??? dinosaur man was lwj??
he goes over and they make out for a really long time right there in the middle of the lobby but no one wants to get between them when they’ve been pining for so long
after that they start dating and they do all the romantic stuff but also,, let’s just say that the next book wwx publishes is a lot more creative than all of his previous books
and they become some writing power couple with horniness of the heart and body and sometimes wwx will be like hey lwj i don’t really know how the logistics of this sex scene will work and lwj will be like we could try it out ourselves? and wwx just pats him on the head and is like im sorry but you dont have enough dicks for it to work ),: better luck next time
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florencwrites · 3 years
Text
prisoner 〚dreamwastaken〛
in which [reader] will always wait for him, in which dream is no longer dream
(!) blood, torture, emotional trauma (!)
If there's one thing that Dream had taught me; it was that persistence is key. "Stubbornness gets you places." He had always told me, laying in the grass against that same scratchy birch tree several times a week. He'd lay his head in my lap and hum songs while I played with his hair. He'd often pluck the grass and drop it on my knees, or draw little smiley faces on my skin.
He'd never meant for this to happen, for it all to happen. All along, all he had wanted was to be one big happy family, to give all his friends that exact feeling he had never gotten. He'd go out of his way to make people smile. Make them live in harmony, helping with crops and mining, even going as far as spending hours trying to find traces of ancient debris; all to make his friends content. He never wavered in his goals, always trying to convince people to see the best in everyone. Hoping that if he just kept smiling, one day, everyone would be smiling right back at him.
However, lately, his smile had rarely been genuine, really, the only time I ever saw the true glint of faith in his pupils was when we laid against that tree, humming songs and basking in the sun. He was having trouble keeping up his positive outlook, everywhere he looked there were pets dying and friendships breaking up. Houses being destroyed and families torn apart because of stupid things. Items that held no worth, that could never hold any worth as important as family or friends did.
"Stubbornness gets you places." He'd always say when I scolded him for acting like a brat. Unfortunately, the only place it had gotten him so far was in prison. I was reminded of this fact daily, returning to the impenetrable walls every minute I wasn't spending eating, at all hours of the day and night. My sobs echoed through the obsidian, mimicking the wails of the many ghasts that had tried to pass through generations of the dark purple stone. The block seemed to have created itself a connection to grief, mourning even. I pounded on the wall, to no avail I'd realized quite quickly on, until both my knuckles and palms were bloody and bruised, and I did it every single fucking day. I'd do everything to have him back in my arms, anything.
On the lonely nights, the residing heat in the obsidian often brought me warmth. The bubbles in the stone leaving marks on my shoulders. Often the warmth reminded me of him, of his chest pressing against my back. I could feel the ghost of his fingertips scour my arms, the glow of the obsidian on my neck making it almost appear as if he really was right there behind me, softly breathing into my skin. The lonely nights were good.
Because the nights where I wasn't alone, were nights I spent listening to his agonizing screams from deep within the fortress. Nights where the obsidian worked his torturous wonders and elated itself on the reminders of the excruciating pain that was put onto him. The nights where I couldn't physically bring myself to leave until his squeals had subsided, where I choked on my own tears until I could finally hear him sob again. Sobbing was good, sobbing meant that they had left him to be on his own at last, because sobbing meant that he was weak enough to them, and finally; sobbing meant no more torture.
Sam's shoes had been loud against the obsidian tiling, almost loud enough to distract me from the muffled growls that came from underneath them. Bubbling snarls that indicated that no man would be left alive, not when they breach these walls and definitely not when their body touches the water that surrounds it. He had caved, at last. He'd hastily ushered me inside late at night in the hopes of no person seeing the enormous gates open for the first time in weeks. I had clung to his waist, my knees failing me when he told me I was allowed one visit. No talking about it ever, or I'd see the same fate as my 'little boyfriend'.
He turned another corner as I cursed myself for not remembering the path we took, nor the redstone mechanisms he used to get me through the many disappearing doors. "There'll be a change of guards in 30 minutes, I need you outside in 20, got it?" His face was tense, eyes set sternly onto mine. I nodded, my head felt woozy from all the emotions swirling around it during these past few months, along with the lack of sleep, dehydration, and now adding to the list; the thought of finally seeing him again.
The umpteenth contraption boomed from beneath our feet, an almost rhythmic banging from right beneath our feet, slowly making it towards the wall in front of us. Slowly but surely the barricade was lifted, an immediate cry escaping from my lips as I saw the state of him. He was surrounded by iron bars in a cage in the immediate center of the room, the walls surrounding it bearing enough obsidian to guarantee his permanent stay.
My heart ached physically at the sight of him, my body moving itself to press against the bars hard enough to leave bruises on my ribs, dropping to my knees instantly. I reached my arms through the gaps of the confinement, barely not being able to reach where he laid curled up on the floor. He was facing me, however, his arms were shielding his features from me entirely. Tears upon tears flooded from my face as I screamed for him to look at me. He shot up, his pupils wearing nothing but complete and utter terror. He let out a loud shout, telling me to 'please, don't, please'. I wrapped one hand around the iron bars, steadying myself as I softened my voice, "Dream, it's me, baby, it's me."
He was on one knee, leaning his entire body against the barrier on the other side of the room he had fled to on instinct. His head rested on the metal for a second before instantly shooting up to look at where the voice came from. "Don't do this again, please." He pleaded, his voice was desperate, hopeless. "Anyone's voice but hers."
"Dream?" My voice was as gentle and soft as I could possibly make it while also sounding urgent enough for him to realize I wasn't fake, I wasn't some recording they played to demoralize him. "Dream, please."
His body froze at the sound once again, however, this time he turned his body into the bars. His back.
Oh, god, his back. The white tee he had been wearing the day they took him away was barely existing on his back at this point. The fabric was torn all over, showing the dozens of deep gashes beneath. His skin was practically rotting away from the outside, however, some were new. I had heard him, yesterday, I had heard his agonizing cries for release, which is exactly why I was so adamant about staying by the walls all day today. I had heard them do this to him, and there hadn't been a single thing I did or could've done about it. A sudden, almost traumatizingly powerful scream entered the small room we were in, the obsidian jumping at the opportunity of echoing; anything to prolong our agony. "PLEASE, I'M BEGGING, LET IT STOP."
My body choked up at his words, entirely shaking as his misery took its place again in my heart. I sat down, leaning my head against the metal bars as I let myself sob with him. I glanced up at where he sat on the other side of the cell, his hands pressing against his ears hard enough he could pop an eardrum, his body trembling with utter horror, slowly swaying from side to side. His back was on full display as he sat hunched over, some of the gashes tearing open again at the tension of his skin. Trails of blood soaked whatever was left of his shirt, and I couldn't help but wail out again, my heart physically feeling like it was imploding. "What are they doing to you, baby."
His movements stilled, a good few seconds passed. His arms slowly rose to get a grip on the barricade. As soon as he established the anchor, he pulled himself from the floor, slowly turning to look into my dark corner again. "Dream, it's me, please, c'mere." I pleaded, hope filling my eyes that even after three entire months of mental and physical torture, he would trust me. I reached my arms through the gaps, reaching for him as he came into grasping distance. He stood an inch from my extending fingers, almost gazing down at them tauntingly. He hadn't looked me in the eye yet, keeping his focus completely trained on my hands.
Slowly, he lifted his eyes from my begging hands and looked up at me. "It's you."
"Yes! Yes! It's me, baby!" I almost cheered, my face pressing painfully hard against the bars, my entire body bruising at the constant impact.
His face was completely frozen, utter shock coursing through his features as he tried to figure out what was happening. "They did this to me."
"I know baby, I know." I nodded, confirming his words for him. Rationalizing that he was okay to not trust me, knowing his friends had betrayed him ultimately. "Please, let me touch you, I need to touch you."
He fell to his knees, ushering his arms through the barms to hug me through them. he held my body tightly as his body silently shook with sobs. "They did this to me." I hummed into his ear in response, knowing how lonely he must've felt, how worthless and discouraged. I felt my hands get coated in his blood as I clung to him tightly, crying together in utter misery. "I just wanted to keep it all safe."
I spoke carefully, my voice barely over a whisper, "What do you mean, Dream?" I rested my forehead against the same cross he did, the gaps between the bars barely not big enough to fit my entire head through. They were just there for decoration, really, the thousands of blocks of obsidian and the torture was what really kept him in place.
I watched him sniffle softly, his eyes squeezed closed almost painfully so, the raspy sounds that left his torn throat were a mere ghost of his normally smooth and silky voice. "I just wanted to keep it all safe," A shuddered breath interrupted him. I was clinging to his words, desperately wanting to hear what no one else had dared explain to me; why he was here. "I just wanted to make them happy, keep them safe." He gripped my shirt as he pulled me closer into his body, the warmth I radiated probably being the first source of heat he'd felt in months, besides from the occasional glow of obsidian. "The things they cared about, keep them safe."
A shaky sob left my lips as I let his words sink into my brain, only now realizing what he had done. His trembling voice made the hairs on my neck stand up, goosebumps appearing on my arms.
"All I wanted was to keep them safe and happy," He paused as a sob left his lips again. "One big happy family."
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monstersdownthepath · 3 years
Text
Spiritual Spotlight: Hanspur, the Water Rat (and Ashkaelae)
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Chaotic Neutral God of Rivers, River Travel, and Smugglers
Domains: Chaos, Death, Travel, Water Subdomains: Exploration, Murder, Rivers, Trade
Inner Sea Faiths, pg. 58~63
Obedience: With the assistance of another priest of Hanspur or by yourself, simulate the act of drowning. You can do this by fully submerging yourself in a body of water, exhaling all of your breath, and painfully inhaling water instead of air. Alternatively, you can lie on your back with your head at a lower elevation than your legs while water is slowly poured on your face and up your nose. If you choose the latter method, you must cover your face with a cloth while the water is poured. When you conclude this simulated drowning, contemplate your life and how your goals coincide with the teachings of Hanspur and the Six River Freedoms. Benefit: You gain a +4 sacred or profane bonus on Survival checks attempted while on or near rivers.
Just reading this makes my sinuses burn and my lungs itch, and not just because it’s springtime and I have allergies! As anyone who’s ever been in a body of water large enough to slap their face with a wave can attest to, inhaling large amounts of water sucks. While this Obedience requires only one wet breath, some... well, some pretty severe complications can arise from it, if your DM ponders even slightly what doing this to yourself every day would do. Dry drowning and secondary drowning are both real dangers from brief immersion, let alone concentrated efforts at simulating one of the worst fates someone can experience (I say this a lot but basically anything that deprives you of air is pretty terrible). The ‘simulation’ will likely only last a few seconds while the rest of the hour is spent recovering from your experience and meditating, but even that may not be enough to offset the fluid likely building up in your lungs. Priests of Hanspur must sound atrocious, coughing themselves ragged every day! No wonder it’s recommended your ritual is overseen by another priest, either, because they’d likely be skilled in helping you manage your symptoms.
Dangers of daily drownings aside, keeping up with the demands of this ritual is pretty easy so long as you’re somewhere with easy access to water. In Hanspur’s homelands, the River Kingdoms, this is pathetically simple! Everywhere else? It’s a lot harder! While I do appreciate that there’s a secondary ritual you can do if total immersion is impossible, but what happens if you’re stuck somewhere with no easy water access? Your waterskins won’t carry you for very long, even if you pilfer them from your party as well. Better invest in a Decanter of Endless Water! Or do something ridiculous like fill the party’s Bag of Holding up so you can just hop in and out whenever you need to.
That benefit is also the weakest I’ve seen in a long time, granting a bonus to only a single skill type and only while near rivers. Survival checks aren’t even all that commonly made, unless your DM is kind enough to let you use Survival to navigate with river rafts rather than Profession or Ride checks. Hanspur really doesn’t want his faithful straying too far from the River Kingdoms, which is only further exacerbated by how his Boons work, so if you’re not the type to linger near rivers you may just want to skip him entirely.
Boons are gathered slowly, typically obtained when a given character has 12, 16, and 20 hit dice. Unlike fiend-worshipers, servants of the Eldest, and devoted of the Empyreal Lords, characters worshiping Neutral gods do not have catch-all classes… but Neutral-aligned characters can enter the Evangelist, Sentinel, and Exalted Prestige Classes earlier than Evil characters, classing in as early as level 6 (they need +5 BAB, 5 ranks in a single skill, or the ability to cast lvl 3 spells); entered ASAP, one can gain the Boons at levels 8, 11, and 14. 
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EVANGELIST
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Boon 1: River Sage. Gain Hydraulic Push 3/day, River Whip 2/day, or Hydraulic Torrent 1/day.
Hydraulic Push and Hydraulic Torrent live in the same niche of “giant water spouts what push stuff around,” with Torrent being obviously an order of magnitude more powerful than Push. While Push has a range of Close and can target only a single creature or square, Torrent is a 60ft line that Bull Rushes or attempts to destroy everything it encounters, so it really depends on if you’re thinking you’ll need three small streams or one really, really big one. Notably, Torrent can Bull Rush targets of any size, unrestricted by the limits of your pathetic frame, while Push contains no such limiter removal and thus likely means you can only blast creatures up to a size larger than you.
Also of note, Torrent attempts to shatter everything it comes into contact with until it runs into something or someone it cannot destroy or push past. The Strength score the Torrent uses is equal to your caster level plus your casting ability modifier, meaning it will start out barely stronger than you are but will eventually be able to punch holes in iron and shatter stone. Hell, with a lucky roll, it may be able to do that anyway. Your choice on which two to take wholly depends on if you want to push three Medium critters around or launch one Colossal one.
What? River Whip? I don’t see any spell like that here! Lets move on! (alright alright; i just don’t like it. it’s good as an emergency weapon but more or less anything else is better in any scenario)
Boon 2: River Scion. As a free action you can breathe underwater, as if affected by Water Breathing, for a number of hours per day equal to the number of Hit Dice you possess. These hours need not be used consecutively, but must be used in 1-hour increments.
A disappointingly weak Boon. Really, what else is there to see or say? If you need to go underwater, this ability is great and has zero downsides. If you don’t, this Boon doesn’t exist. It’s a very binary Boon that relies on your environment, which means that if you’re overjoyed if you’ve remained in the River Kingdoms, but in a desert or jungle or mountain peak, you’re going to be extremely disappointed upon hitting level 11.
Boon 3: River’s Embodiment. 1/day as a standard action, you can transform yourself into a Huge water elemental, as per Elemental Body IV. You can stay in this form for 1 minute per Hit Die you possess, and can dismiss this effect as a free action.
Finally, a transformation ability that doesn’t suck! What does suck is that this is a level 7 spell being granted to you 1/day, when other Boons are equivalent to level 9 spells in power. Hanspur could have at least given you a little bonus on top of it, or made it 2/day, but it’s hard to complain about the force you become under Elemental Body IV. You become immune to bleed, critical hits, Sneak Attacks, and on top of it all get insurmountable DR 5, and the stack of stats you get? Mmmm-mm! Chef’s kiss!
+6 AC, +8 Con, +4 Str, all for the price of -2 Dex (more than made up for with the +AC). And, of course, a swim speed and the power to collapse yourself into a destructive Vortex, but those are only useful if you’re in water, while the rest of the stat buffs are far more universally useful. You’re not exactly the destructive and terrifying Fire Elemental or the deceptively sneaky Earth Elemental, but a wall of surging water can still wreak all manner of havoc on your enemies, your new dual slams able to smash ships (and bones) to pieces, and since Water Elementals are capable of speech and gesture, you can merely bask in your new tank stats while still casting spells.
There’s also the much more amusing but niche use of transforming while already polymorphed by a hostile effect, as having a new polymorph effect used on you while you’re already changed can end the first automatically.
While I wish the effect was usable more often, or at least broken into 1-minute increments, I can’t call it a bad Boon by any means.
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EXALTED
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Boon 1: River Guide. Gain Obscuring Mist 3/day, Haunting Mists2/day, or Aqueous Orb 1/day.
I love the name of this ability because two of the three spells do the opposite of guiding people. Now I’m a big fan of Obscuring Mist; it’s a simple staple in my list for almost every caster I make just because of how versatile it is! But now that I know there’s an alternative, it may have competition. Both Obscuring Mist and Haunting Mists do roughly the same thing, but one could argue that Haunting Mists does it better; in addition to granting concealment and shutting off an enemy’s eyes, it deals 1d2 Wisdom damage and shakes up anyone starting their turn inside the mist... But as a Figment spell with the Fear descriptor, there are a great many creatures immune to its unique power, and True Seeing allows one to see through it perfectly, whereas Obscuring Mist remains impenetrable to the apex predator of the Illusion school.
While it cannot be dispelled by wind or motion like a tangible fog, it’s important to note that there’s no way to protect specific creatures from the sanity-damaging effects of Haunting Mists, and its casting distance of 20ft and 20ft spread means that you will likely always be caught in its radius. The range means using it offensively is painfully limited, unless you want to cast it from invisibility after sneaking into the middle of an enemy formation, which... you probably, definitely don’t want to make a habit of.
It’s great for covering your retreat, but not your advance or setup like the normal Mist is.
Aqueous Orb is a good choice if your party is getting screwed over by the mist more than the enemy, creating a big ol’ 10ft ball of water that intercepts and engulfs anything that moves into it, or which it moves into. It deals 2d6 nonlethal damage whenever it rams into a creature and a further 2d6 to everything it has engulfed each round, but the damage isn’t so much the main draw as the fact it’s a massive, roving Sphere of Grappling, snaring and drowning any creature it manages to get ahold of if they fail the Reflex save. It’s a fun little spell that’s great for mopping up and controlling minions, especially ones you don’t actually want to kill, and even at its worst it can become a makeshift barrier in a narrow hallway since there’s no written way to actually move through it beyond wasting 2, 3, or more rounds by slamming into it and swimming through to the other side while your party books it in the other direction.
Boon 2: River Traveler. As a free action, you can grant yourself and any allies within 30 feet of you a swim speed of 60 feet. This effect lasts for 1 round per Hit Die you possess or until you dismiss it as a free action, whichever comes first. Your allies must remain within 30 feet of you or lose this benefit. In addition, you gain a +2 profane or sacred bonus on saves against spells with the Water descriptor.
See, this should have been added to River Scion as a bonus. River Scion and River Traveler feel like they could have combined into a single Boon to make something decent, but as it is they both fall into the same niche: Solves the encounter they’re meant to solve, useless otherwise. This ability is noteworthy for having no restrictions about how many times it can be used, essentially letting you switch swimming off and on at will. The fact it doesn’t take an action is incredibly important, because using the massive 60ft swim speed the ability grants actually removes the bonus, as getting further than 30ft from you makes it fizzle.
I don’t really understand why it would grant 60ft of movespeed if they’re restricted to a 30ft bubble, nor do I understand the purpose of the bubble in the first place. It makes exploration a slog, and escape scenarios more finicky than they should be. Since it can be activated whenever you need to as a free action, the duration feels unneeded. There’s so much about this ability that conflicts with itself that it bugs me too much to say much in the way of positives. The +2 to saves vs Water spells is a fun little ribbon, though most Water spells tend to be harmless utility spells rather than ones you’d need to make a save against.
Boon 3: River’s Depths. 1/day as a standard action, you can cause one creature within 30 feet to begin drowning, filling its lungs with water. The target of this ability can attempt a Fortitude save (DC = 10 + 1/2 your HD + your Wis mod) to negate the effect. If the target succeeds, it is staggered for 1 round. If it fails, the target immediately begins to suffocate. On the target’s next turn, it falls unconscious and is reduced to 0 hit points. One round later, the target drops to –1 hit points and is dying. One round after that, the target dies. Each round, the target can attempt a Fortitude save to end the effect. This ability affects only living creatures that must breathe and cannot breathe underwater. This is a curse effect.
Now this one’s just insulting, being a technically weaker version of a level 5 spell, Suffocation. It’s weaker in four ways: 1) It fails against creatures which are amphibious which, if you’re in the River Kingdoms, is many. 2) It’s curse effect, which can mean some creatures are resistant or immune to it. 3) It has a 30ft range, unlike Suffocation’s range of Close (25ft + 5ft/level). And, finally, 4) Just ONE successful save ends the effect entirely, while Suffocation continues to torment and stagger the victim for 3 rounds until its effects finally expire.
It’s hard to ignore fact that it’s a basically a Save-Or-Die with excellent DC scaling, but I can’t get over it being weaker than an existing level 5 spell! ... Granted, Suffocation could probably get away with being bumped an extra level or two higher given how frighteningly effective it is at shutting down any creature who needs to breathe even if they succeed their save. I’m probably slamming down too hard on an ability that, again, is a Save-Or-Die at best and an unavoidable stagger at worst (good for making some emergency repairs against a powerful full-attacker), and for extra fun can be used without any components involved, so you can just drop it on someone out of the blue and they’ll have no idea who just tried to kill them. While I am disappointed it doesn’t meet the power of other Boons, it’s undeniably effective against a large portion of the creatures you’ll be fighting, even at 1/day.
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SENTINEL
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Boon 1: River Warden. Gain Wave Shield 3/day, Masterwork Transformation 2/day, or Quench 1/day.
Wave Shield is one of those rare spells that are amazing to have, but not especially good to prepare or to waste a precious Spells Known slot on. It’s an immediate action spell that grants insurmountable DR and Fire Resistance equal to half your caster level in response to a single incoming attack, which isn’t stupendous at low levels but is a generous equivalent to immediate, on-demand temporary HP as you get higher and higher level. If a creature relies on a lot of little hits rather than a few big ones, blocking even one of them can save you in the long run, and if your DR cancels out the damage from a poisoned or diseased attack, all the better!
It’s not an especially strong spell given how it only works once before fading away, but it’s better than the other two options by a country mile. Masterwork Transformation is something you’ll rarely need more than a few times in a campaign before masterwork items fall into your laps (or you can simply buy them), and by the time you gain this ability it will likely no longer matter. That being said, if you’re in a low-wealth campaign or have been forced to scavenge for your gear, Masterwork Transformation will save you THOUSANDS of gp over the course of your life, because as a spell-like, the material components are ignored and thus you can slowly upgrade your entire party’s armaments for free. Given its ability to affect a generous 50 pieces of ammunition per casting as well means the Ranger and Gunslinger will adore you, and you can work in tandem with a mystic craftsman (PC or otherwise) to get all of your favorite gear enchanted without discarding your precious family heirloom sword for that masterwork one you looted.
Not to mention the simple joy in taking all the gear off a bandit clan, Masterworking all of it, and selling it for a tidy profit.
Compared to the combat utility of Wave Shield and noncombat utility of Masterwork Transformation, it’s hard to make a case for Quench, which falls into the category of ‘niche spell’ like Water Breathing and Water Walking in that it will instantly solve a handful of scenarios and be utterly useless in the rest. Yes, you may need to put out a forest fire or stop a building you’re in from burning to a crisp, but you’ll have to decide if it’s worth giving up three emergency DR 4/-- and Fire Resistance 4 bandages... as the martial-focused Sentinel. If you plan on fighting a fire that day or encountering a magic item that can generate fires (which Quench shuts off for 1d4 hours) and no one else in your party bothered learning Quench, by all means, but as the Sentinel having the DR is probably better in most cases.
Boon 2: River Champion. 3/day as a standard action, you can sculpt water into the form of a melee weapon that you are proficient with. You must have enough water to form the weapon, an amount equal to the weapon’s normal weight. Once formed, the weapon behaves as a weapon of its type with an enhancement bonus of +1, which increases by 1 for every 5 additional HD you have beyond 5 (max +4). This weapon deals double damage to creatures with the Fire subtype. The weapon dissolves into ordinary water after a number of rounds equal to your HD or as soon as it leaves your hand, whichever happens first.
Boons which call weapons to your hand are alright in cases where your signature weapon has been taken from you, and by the time you receive this ability you will have a signature weapon, but such times tend to come few and far between. This one also has the additional caveat that you don’t actually create the weapon from nowhere, there must already be water around to make it, at least enough water to match the weapon’s typical weight. The good news is that a gallon of water weighs about 8 pounds, and a trident--Hanspur’s holy weapon--weighs only 4, with most other weapons barely ever approaching 10, so you can reasonably carry around an emergency weapon in a waterskin or in your backpack... And you know, now that I think about it, it’s kind of cool to be able to turn a glass of water into a dagger.
But when will you need to? How often do you find yourself bereft of a usable weapon often enough to need an emergency armament like this? I can see the niche in front of me, making a new weapon as-needed against creatures whose DR makes them difficult to damage with your normal gear or taking advantage of that delicious little tidbit about doing double-damage to fire-based creatures, but they take your whole standard action to make and last for only a single combat (if that), and you can’t even shuffle around the +1 bonuses for additional effects!
Don’t get me wrong, it’s by no means bad (unless you’re both in a waterless area and haven’t filled your waterskin), especially at 3/day, but I can’t help but wonder when you’d actually need it at level 11+ when you likely already have a primary weapon and several backups. 
Boon 3: River’s Renewal. When completely submerged in water, you gain Fast Healing 2. You can recover a total number of hit points equal to twice your HD in this manner each day. At 20 HD, if you fall below 0 hit points and your body is fully submerged in a river, you automatically stabilize.
As a final Boon, I wish the Fast Healing had a higher threshold than just 28 points a day (+2 per level). In combat it likely won’t matter, and while out of combat it’s a decent amount of healing, usually enough to spare a couple spell slots from your healers or some potions, it’s just not all that impressive for a third and final Boon. Sentinels are the only followers of Hanspur who don’t get some method to easily navigate the seas, so taking advantage of this Boon to its fullest extent relies on an outside method of gaining water breathing or a swim speed.
Funnily enough, you can carry around a Bag of Holding filled with water and use it as a recuperative pod in case you don’t have access to a deep puddle, which is dubiously useful but not entirely terrible. HOWEVER, the little addition at the end is also a kick in the teeth; why does that only happen at level 20? Why can’t that be a base part of the Boon? It’s just insul--Wait, it only works if you’re submerged in a river, too? You can’t stabilize with some good old pond water? The mighty ocean? Can’t take a dip in a bathtub to stop bleeding out? Come on, Hanspur!!! Be a little more generous to your worshipers!
I dunno, maybe I’m underselling the out-of-combat healing this Boon offers, but it just doesn’t feel worth it to put up with the Water Rat for your entire adventuring career just for an extra 1/8th of an HP bar.
You can read more about him here.
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crowtrinkets · 3 years
Text
Eyes, Lips, Face
Word Count: 2,322
When you get thrown into a different world, you kinda forget to mention that the wig and contacts you're wearing are not your natural color, or that you're cosplaying their knightly order because this is actually a video game and shouldn't be real. But at least you get to share makeup with your new-found buddies.
I tried to keep this fic as reader/gender-neutral as possible. Ty to @alexaplaysgames for giving me pointers! Ya'll should check out their fics ;)
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I let out a stretch as Anisa walks back into her office, carrying more than enough blankets for my one person. I spy Felix swatting Sage’s hands away from ruffling his hair as they walk out the door to find sleeping accommodations. What a wild day. I never really wore a costume that required more physical activity other than walking around a convention for a few hours. I never intended to get into a bar fight while wearing a wig, contacts, and a decked-out costume I spent months on. Then again I never intended to be transported into the world of my favorite video game...
“Here are some blankets to keep you warm,” Anisa plants the blankets on the couch that would be my bed for tonight. I sigh with exhaustion at the thought of falling asleep, I heard Felix and Sage still echoing in the halls as they left. I thanked Anisa for the hundredth time that day and she left me alone to sleep. Alone yes. I yawn, taking in the room. At least there's a fire going, I wouldn’t be able to see without it. And thank god my backpack made the trip with me I wouldn’t know what to do if I didn't have somewhere to put my cosplay supplies. I reach into my bag and pull out a contact lens case. I thought it would be cool if my eyes had a more alluring color for this costume, hoping the color of the embroidery on my costume would be brought out because of them. Carefully removing my contacts I placed them into their case and tossed them back into my bag. I then reached up and unpinned the seemingly endless amount of hairpins I placed in this wig so it would stay put. It stayed in place in the Saucy Gull so I must’ve done something right. I remove my wig and wince a little when I realize it’s just going to become tangled in my backpack. Oh well, what can you do? After removing my wig caps and giving my scalp a much-needed massage from being confined all day, I go to remove parts of my costume. Thankfully the base of my costume is comfortable and inconspicuous enough to not draw attention to the fact that I'm an outsider. I keep my costumed cloak out, in case I get cold. I do wish I had better shoes however, $20 Amazon boots probably won't last out here.
After removing said shoes I plop down into the couch and pull some makeup wipes from my backpack. I never go without these, and I am especially glad to have them after the day I had. I remove my makeup, allowing the cool damp cloth to soothe my tired face. I’ve been running around all day, going through portals, being told I have a magical relic inside me, being flirted with by a cat boy. What I wouldn’t give for a year-long nap, or maybe just some coffee. After cleaning my face and putting my items away I take one look in my compact mirror, yup just my plain old self. Tossing the mirror away I get comfortable and lull into a dreamless sleep.
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I can feel the bitter cold outside the warmth of my many blankets, stirring a little I snuggle into them, nuzzling my face in the fabric to warm my cold nose. I’m half awake but can’t be bothered to open my eyes. Five more minutes. But then I hear... whispering?
“Oh my god, they moved,” Anisa’s voice.
“Relax Annie; if something happens, I can banish it,” Felix, sounds slightly shaken while trying to put on a brave front. Wait did he say banish. I decide that I’m now too awake to fall back asleep. I sit up, eyes blurry from sleep, and look at the two indistinct figures who I am assuming are Felix and Anisa.
“Good morn-” Suddenly I hear the sound of Anisa’s sword come unsheathed, and, I think, it’s pointing at me, for the second time. I blink trying to will my eyes to adjust, then rubbing them to reveal that Anisa is definitely pointing her sword at me, with Felix behind her, arms up in defense.
“A-Anisa, what are you doing?” It's too early for this, my voice is scraggly from sleep.
“What are you some kind of Changeling? Poor job imitating in my opinion, MC doesn't even look like that!” Felix states approaching me, a flurry of green flames forming in his palms. Oh shit.
“What? It's me!” I raise my hands in defense. I clear my throat trying to sound convincing. I’ve barely been here for 24 hours and I have been in more life-threatening situations than my entire life combined.
“Then how do you explain your changed appearance?” Anisa says accusingly. Changed appearance? Oh!
“I was wearing cosplay! You don't think I actually looked like that do you?” I lower my arms slightly, laughing awkwardly. I know Sage has weird eyes and hair but why would someone from Earth look like an anime character? Both faces before me twist in confusion.
“Cosplay?” They question in unison. I nod reaching for my backpack slowly. Anisa flicks her sword and I pull away.
“I-if you look in my bag there's a wig and contacts, and other stuff. I was wearing a costume and I thought it would be more fun if I didn’t look like myself,” I point to my backpack. Anisa nods at Felix who approaches my backpack, kneeling down to open it. He pulls out my surprisingly untangled wig, and yelps dropping it in my lap. I lift to wig onto my head poorly fitting it.
“See?” I then remove the wig and place it in my lap. Anisa's eyes go wide, she sheaths her sword and approaches me.
“Oh MC! I am terribly sorry!” She shoots Felix a look who flinches. “Felix had me convinced woodland creates replaced you with a clone,” she turns her attention back to me and Felix blushes with embarrassment.
“Clone?” I question. Felix stands.
“N-no matter, we both apologize for waking you with such an unsettling greeting,” I nod in response. I unwrap myself from my blankets and run a hand through my hair trying to look a little more presentable. Letting out a sigh, as I put the wig back in my bag.
"I-it's alright, I guess I should have said something earlier," I shrug innocently. Anisa looks down at my bag and then back at me.
"Do many people on Earth change their appearance like this?" Anisa looks at me, eager for information.
"Um not usually, well I guess it depends. I just did it for my costume, I thought it would look more interesting," I shrug.
"You said you were wearing a costume? Then why dress as a Starsworn knight?" Anisa questions. I am about to answer her but I hesitate. How am I supposed to explain that on Earth none of this is real? That this is a video game?
"Uhhhhm," is all I can muster to say but my train of thought is interrupted.
"Gods Anisa! Why did you insist on us being here so dammed early in the mor-“ they stop in the doorway. “Who is that?" It's Sage. He burst into the room without even so much as a knock.
"It's MC, apparently they were wearing a wig and other cosmetic adornments to alter their appearance," Felix chimes in. I suddenly feel insecure about how plain I look. At least Felix looks somewhat normal, well from the neck up. I just wave awkwardly in response.
"But I could've sworn their eyes were a different color, and why do they look so tired did they not get enough sleep?" Sage walks over leaning over the back of the couch. I cringe at his comments.
"No, I was wearing a costume, so naturally I wanted to look less... Natural," I attempt to explain. Who knew cosplay was such a foreign concept here.
"Why were you wearing a costume?" Sage squints at me. Oh god this question again, but just like last time, I am interrupted.
“Ouch! Hells,” I look over to see Felix with his finger in his mouth. He takes it out to speak. “Why do you have needles in your bag?”
“Oh! Sewing needles,” I reach into the bag and pull out a container of needles and the spare thread. “I uh, I packed these in case a bit of my costume came undone, sorry Felix,” a thought then occurs to me. “Why were you rummaging through my bag?” Felix suddenly flushes and avoids the eyes of everyone in the room.
"I um, was merely curious about your items," I decide to brush it off as I put my "items" back, I would probably want to examine inter-dimensional foreign objects as well.
“Snooping through MC's bag aye Felix? What were you tryna find?” Sage’s eyebrows waggle.
“Nothing! Nothing in particular I just… saw something that looked interesting,” Felix looks like he's pouting now, to save his dignity I ignore it. I reach into my bag and pull out the even smaller bag full of makeup. I don’t have much with me, just the ones I used for my cosplay in case I needed a touch-up.
“Was it this?” I hold up the clear plastic sachet. Felix nods in response. “This is just some makeup,” I open the bag and pull out a compact blush and hand it to Felix, then I pull out two eyeshadow palettes and hand them to Anisa and Sage, who has now joined me on the couch. Felix and Anisa sit on the floor and observe the items I handed to them. Felix opens the compact and eyes it curious, he runs a finger along the powder and rubs it between his fingers inspecting it. Anisa knocks on the closed eyeshadow palette.
“What is this material? And why have they spelled “elf” so terribly wrong?” She almost looks insulted. I hold back my laugh.
“It’s plastic, lots of stuff on Earth is made from it. It's cheaper than metal and sturdier than cardboard or wood,” I decide to not bring up how problematic plastic can be, no need to bring up the fact that the Earth is slowly dying.
“Sage that looks terrible,” Felix remarks. I look over to Sage who has rubbed bright blue eyeshadow all over his eyelids. Oh, that is SO not his color. I reach into the bag and pull out a brush.
“May I?” I ask, Sage looks at me suspiciously and nods. “Close your eyes,” I run the brush over his eyelids and blend the color out a little more, it’s difficult with all of his squintings but I manage to finish. Pulling back, I hand Sage a mirror.
“Oh… I look terrible in blue!” Sage laughs. But he continues to admire himself in the mirror. Anisa laughs as she watches Sage tilt his face in the mirror staring at himself. From the corner of my eye I catch Felix looking at me, I turn to him and he has an almost, hopeful look in his eyes.
“Do you want me to do your makeup?” I ask, as innocently as possible. Felix flushes and looks away.
“I-if you insist,” he mumbles out. I chuckle and slide off the couch to sit in front of Felix, I grab a large brush and the compact from his hand.
“Do you mind if I?” I hold my other hand close to Felix’s face, his eyes go wide as he nods slowly. I grab his chin gently and apply blush to his face. It's hard to tell just how much I am putting on considering Felix’s face is about as hot as a fried egg on asphalt, but I make do with what I got. I finally finish and pull back.
“Oh, Felix you look adorable!” Anisa chimes in with a laugh.
“You look like a baby,” Sage teases. Felix snatches the mirror from him, grumbling, and inspects his face, his eyebrows are furrowed.
“I think I look like I've had too many drinks, why is it on my nose?” He looks up at me, I half-shrug.
“That’s what's popular on Earth,” I try not to tease too hard, but Felix really does look much younger with his cheeks pink and rosy. Anisa taps my arm, I guess she wants a turn. I give her a nod and allow her to pick a color she likes. She chooses a nice purple and I apply it on her lids as well. She sits perfectly stoic and still allowing me to apply it gently. Once I finish with her I hand her the mirror and she smiles brightly.
“Oh thank you, MC! I say you did a very fine job,” she gives me a nod and goes back to admiring her eyes.
For a good few hours we end up swatching a lot of the makeup, Sage proceeds to put on the absolute worst colors for his complexion, yellows, oranges, and greens which I didn’t even know I had. Felix keeps his blush on for longer than I thought he would. Anisa asks to do my makeup and she does a surprisingly good job at blending. Eventually, everyone has to go back to business and I hand out makeup wipes to each of them. Anisa is a little amazed at how they work. Sage decides to keep his disgustingly green shade on much to our dismay. Felix cleans off his face carefully but his real blush remains for a while. Everyone eventually leaves me to actually get myself ready for the day. It’s when I'm folding my blankets up that I realize.
I just did the makeup for characters in my favorite video game franchise, this really feels like a fever dream. I laugh to myself, I will remember this day fondly.
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phantom-curve · 3 years
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44 for willex and au of your choice! If you’re still taking prompts
Oop this prompt invaded my brain and ran off into the sunset. I definitely didn’t mean for it to get as long as it did, but here we are! From the gimme a chance AU, I give you 3 times Willie sat on Alex’s lap +1 time Alex sat on Willie’s (these span the time between all the other one-shots I wrote for Willex in this universe!)
#44: sitting on the other’s lap (Rated a heavy T for some adult themes and language. Also available on ao3!)
1.
Willie hardly ever thought about it anymore. When they were out in public, when they were at the studio with Luke and Reggie for band practice, when they were just hanging around one of their apartments, he never really thought about them in terms of dating. He kind of more thought about them in terms of forever. Not that he was rushing anything, but more that there was a kind of aura around Alex, a kind of energy, that had a way of sinking into Willie’s very bones and saying hey, I’m gonna stick around for the rest of your life that made him think in terms of absolutes. Alex was an absolute. Willie was totally a-okay with that.
The thing that bothered him though, was the fact that Alex didn’t seem to get it.
He still waited for Willie to offer his hand to hold. He didn’t kiss him unless Willie made it painfully obvious that he was okay with that. He hadn’t even managed to get him to spend the night yet because Alex always came up with a reason to go home before Willie could even try to extend the invitation.
And it wasn’t that Alex wasn’t into him. He was. He so totally was. Willie knew that. But it was like he was afraid to own up to it. Which Willie could kind of understand. They had talked about their families and while Willie was lucky to be fully accepted for who he was at home, Alex’s parents were a different story.
They weren’t outright cruel, they had still provided the necessities in the form of food, water, and shelter while Alex had been living at home, but they didn’t love any more. They didn’t talk, they didn’t help, they just ghosted along as if they had never been a part of Alex’s life in the first place. It seemed worse than outright hatred, but Alex claimed it was better than nothing. After all, it had meant that they didn’t ask where he had been or where he was going or when he would be home, which had kinda been a dream as a high schooler. Other kids had wished they had that kind of freedom, Alex told him. Not worth complaining about. It had basically been like having roommates, which was great practice for when he moved out and actually had roommates, Alex said, and Willie pretended all of that was normal because he could tell Alex wanted it to be. They didn’t talk about how now that Alex was living on his own his parents had completely dropped all communication with him. Willie just made a note of it and decided he would make up for all that affection Alex had been missing out on.
So, Willie carried on the way he was used to when it came to being interested in someone and in a relationship with them. He complimented Alex, gave him cute little nicknames, and generally tried to see how often he could manage to make the other boy blush. One of the most successful tactics he had found was sitting in Alex’s lap, especially when he least expected it.
Like right now, in the middle of a Sunset Curve practice.
Luke had been getting frustrated with part of the melody of a new song or something, and Reggie had finally told him to just jam it out until he found the notes he was looking for, and Alex had paused his drumming, tucking his sticks into one hand, and reaching down with the other to grab the large water bottle he kept at his feet when he played. He watched the way the light caught on Alex’s hair as he flicked it off his face, turning the blonde strands into spun gold. Found himself mesmerized by the lines of Alex’s jaw and neck as he tipped his head back to rehydrate. His feet moved on their own, pulling him over to his boyfriend’s side like Alex was a magnet and Willie was made of metal.
Alex quirked a brow at him as he lowered the water bottle, but Willie didn’t say anything. Just grinned and plopped himself down right on Alex’s lap, even though he knew the stool was only meant to hold one person’s weight and Alex had grumbled more than once over Luke and Reggie messing with it. Alex didn’t grumble at him though. Especially not when he looped his arms around the other boy’s neck and leaned forward to place a kiss against his temple. Alex’s cheeks blushed Willie’s favorite shade of pink, the one that almost matched the hoodie he always wore.
“You looked a little lonely over here. Thought I’d come say hi.”
“Hi.”
Alex’s lips parted as he breathed out the word, his eyes softening the way they did every time Willie looked into them for a beat too long. Willie felt his smile widen. He inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with the scent of sweaty band boys and fresh linen and Alex’s honey vanilla shampoo. Alex started to slip his own arms around Willie’s waist, his head tilted up as his gaze fell to his lips. And then an extra loud guitar chord rang out through the amps and Alex jumped, nearly dumping Willie on the ground.
“Alright, lovebirds, enough! I figured out what was wrong with the chord progression. I just gotta switch it from a G chord to a...”
Willie tuned out, never fully able to follow along when Luke got going on a musical tangent. Instead, he pressed one quick kiss to Alex’s lips and stood, slipping out from behind the kit to return to his original position on the couch set up across from where the boys stood to play. Alex watched him with a soft smile and starry eyes before giving his head a quick shake and refocusing on Luke, cheeks still tinged that pale pink that made Willie’s heart soar. Willie tucked the memory away with all his other favorite Alex moments and watched the band get back to it, head bobbing along as he watched his boyfriend shine. And if he made sure to keep his gaze firmly focused on Alex, winking every now and then just so he could see that blush creep back in, well no one else had to know about that but him.
2.
Surprisingly, the hardest part of dating a guy like Alex, a guy who was beautiful and effortlessly sexy and regularly doing something that gave literally anybody a free pass to ogle him for as long as his band was up on stage, was the fact that his boyfriend seemed to have no fucking clue just how attractive he was. And he was also shockingly bad at knowing when someone was hitting on him. Willie was pretty sure if he hadn’t asked Alex on a date after running him over, the guy would have never made a move. And that was afterWillie spent 20 minutes openly flirting with him and dropping ten-ton hints as he helped him clean up and bandage his wounds. It was simultaneously adorable and exhausting, because it meant that sometimes Willie had to watch people chat up his boyfriend while Alex awkwardly bumbled his way through what he assumed was a friendly conversation.
Willie, as a rule, did not get jealous. Jealousy was for people who had trust issues, and Willie trusted Alex more than he had ever trusted a single other person before. So, he wasn’t jealous, per se, as he made his way through the crowd, eyes locked on the back of the guy casually leaning over where Alex was sitting alone in a booth against the wall. He was actually a bit concerned because Alex looked uncomfortable, and he hadn’t thought to tell him that he was gonna make it to the show tonight, which had seemed like a romantic idea at the time but obviously wasn’t because Alex was drumming one of his hands against his thighs and tapping his fingers against the back of his phone on the table in front of him with the other.
He was probably waiting for Willie to call him, because that was something Willie had been doing now that he had gone pro and started traveling for competitions on the weekend instead of showing up at Ebbie’s to cheer on the band from the front row. He had been a little late to snag a front row spot this weekend, barely making it for the last couple of songs in the set. But he had made it, because the competition had ended up getting rained out and Willie had braved the hours of Saturday evening traffic back to LA so that he could see his boyfriend in person instead of through a phone screen.
His boyfriend who was now being hit on by a complete stranger in a crowded bar where Luke and Reggie were nowhere to be found. Willie frowned slightly as he watched Alex draw back into the booth a bit more, both hands picking up speed as they continued to mindlessly tap out a rhythm. No, Willie wasn’t jealous. He was mad that this dude wasn’t picking up on Alex’s cues and backing off. So, now that he was only a few steps away, he skipped forward and made his presence known.
“Hey Hotdog, you looked pretty good up there tonight.”
Alex’s face lit up like the 4th of July, his green gaze skipping past the guy invading his space and latching onto Willie like he was seeing the sun for the first time. Willie felt his lips curve into a soft smile. The unknown guy straightened a bit, eyes skipping back and forth between Alex and Willie, brow furrowed. Willie didn’t have the capacity to help the dude connect the dots, because all he could focus on was Alex and how fast his expression had changed upon hearing Willie’s voice.
“Willie.”
Alex’s tone was quiet and awed, like he had conjured Willie up out of thin air. His hands stilled, and Willie couldn’t resist anymore. He slipped past the stranger who was finally starting to back up and step away, hands raised slightly as if to say sorry, bro, didn’t know you had a boyfriend, and wormed his way into the booth, settling himself on Alex’s lap. Alex leaned forward, his head falling to rest in the crook of Willie’s neck, breath stuttering out and sending a wave of goosebumps across his skin.
“I didn’t think you were coming tonight.”
“Comp got cancelled. And I missed you.”
Willie dropped a kiss on the top of Alex’s blonde head, breathing in the distinct honey-vanilla-laundry scent that always got a bit more intense after a show. Alex’s cheeks warmed, Willie delighting in the fact that he could actually feel the blush against his own skin, and his lips moved against the hollow of Willie’s throat.
“I always miss you.”
The words were tempered with gentle kisses and Willie thought he might melt into the floor right there on the spot. He didn’t censor his next words, let the longing bleed through so Alex understood just how badly he wanted to be with him.
“Come home with me tonight then. I think six months of dating is long enough to move into sleepover territory.”
Alex’s arms squeezed around his waist for a brief second, Willie biting his tongue as he listened to Alex’s breath hitch and then pick up a bit faster than before. He pulled his head out of Willie’s neck, mouth open to answer, when the other two-thirds of Sunset Curve suddenly arrived at the table in their typical whirlwind fashion. They called out happy greetings as they clocked Willie’s arrival, slipping into the other side of the booth. Willie smiled and tried to focus on what they were saying so he could beat back the disappointment of not getting an answer. He only startled slightly when Alex’s lips were suddenly at his ear.
“Six months of dating is definitely long enough. Take me home, pretty boy.”
And Willie felt his own cheeks heat, prayed that Luke and Reggie wouldn’t spot the change in the low light as he settled himself further into Alex’s embrace. He kept himself occupied with linking his fingers through Alex’s where they still wrapped around his waist and tried not to think too much about finally getting to sleep next to the guy he was falling more in love with every day as he counted down the minutes to bar close.
He wasn’t even surprised when he woke up in the morning and realized a feeling of homecoming had settled fully and deeply into his heart and soul. At some point in the last six months home and Alex had become synonymous anyway.
3.
The worst part about getting in a car accident and breaking his leg in three places was the fact that Willie couldn’t skate for several months while he recovered and went through physical therapy and all the other bullshit necessary to make sure he was strong enough to compete at a similar level as before. His sponsors had been understanding and Willie was able to do little things here and there to fulfill his contracts, so he wasn’t too worried about any of that for the time being. Mostly he was just bored and fidgety. But it was okay, because the best part about getting in car accident and breaking his leg in three places was having Alex as his caretaker while he recovered.
Alex, who had shown up at the hospital when Willie was still groggy from surgery and climbed into bed with him and kissed his bruises and told him he loved him. Alex, who had come back to the hospital every chance he got for the week Willie was stuck there post-op. Alex, who had practically moved into Willie’s apartment once he was sent home, even though they had both agreed they weren’t ready to live together yet, because Willie needed someone to help him get to and from the bathroom and shower and Alex was obviously his first choice despite the fact that Willie had three capable roommates who had offered to help.
Alex was the best part about his recovery, hands down. Except for the fact that he seemed to think Willie was made of glass now.
They were supposed to be having a movie night at the Sunset Curve apartment. Willie had gotten his cast off and been switched to a walking boot earlier that day, and he had told Alex he would come by after he left the hospital because he needed a break from the same four walls of his bedroom. Luke and Reggie had sent a text that they were picking up a pizza and drinks, so Willie had hoped for maybe a little bit of make-out action on the couch before they got back. Instead, Alex had fretted and fluttered about, forcing Willie to lay down on the couch with his leg elevated while Alex plumped his pillows and asked him a million times if he was feeling okay. Willie had been about ready to tackle Alex just to get him to shut up, still healing leg be damned, when Luke and Reggie came back.
Then it had been an argument over what to watch with Reggie insisting they hadn’t watched Star Wars recently even though they definitely had, and by the time the yellow words were rolling across the screen Willie realized Alex had opted for the floor next to the couch instead of the actual couch itself. He had his arm stretched out along Willie’s hip, but it wasn’t nearly enough contact. So, Willie swung his legs over the edge of the couch and stood, before unceremoniously dropping himself down directly in Alex’s lap. Alex let out an indignant huff, rolling his eyes as Reggie turned to shush him.
“Willie, what the hell? Get back on the couch, you need to rest your leg.”
Willie rolled his own eyes, snuggling further into Alex’s chest, winding his arms around the back of his neck to play with the blonde hair that was a bit overgrown at the back.
“No, I need to cuddle with my boyfriend. You keep acting like you’re gonna hurt me if you touch me and its honestly pretty rude. I’m not that breakable.”
Alex made sound of protest in the back of his throat, his hands waving around and above Willie’s booted leg.
“Obviously you are very breakable!”
“Yeah, in a fight with a car,” Willie snorted, sighing and refusing to budge even an inch. “You could never hurt me. C’mon, baby, please?”
Alex flushed from head to toe. Willie didn’t usually break out the softer pet names unless they were alone because they kind of made Alex blue screen, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Willie pressed a kiss against Alex’s throbbing pulse as well, in for a penny, in for a pound and all that.
“Guys,” Reggie whined, “can you like...take it to the bedroom or shut up? Some of us are trying to watch the Empire strike back here.”
And Alex, sweet, beautiful, perfect Alex, scooped Willie up like he weighed nothing at all, cheeks still pink and eyes unfocused in a way that told Willie his mind had taken a nosedive into the gutter. He couldn’t help but laugh, clinging on so that he wasn’t complete deadweight in Alex’s very capable arms.
“Dude, seriously?” He heard Luke call out, but the sound was muffled quickly behind Alex’s bedroom door as it closed, the lock clicking into place.
“That wasn’t fair.”
Alex’s tone didn’t match his words, his voice going breathless as he snuggled both of them into the bed, his hands sneaking under the hem of Willie’s crop top to skim along his ribs.
“All’s fair in love and war, babe.”
Willie let Alex swallow the sound of his laugh, lips meeting for the much-anticipated make-out session he had been hoping for earlier. Movie night was forgotten. By the time the sun was rising, Willie was pretty sure he had convinced Alex exactly how not breakable he was.
+1
Alex wasn’t usually the one to initiate physical contact. Willie was completely at ease handing out kisses and hugs and linking their fingers together whenever it suited him, but Alex wasn’t quite as uninhibited. He had gotten better over the last year or so of dating, but he still wasn’t quite as casual with it. It was easier when they were alone, Willie’s lingering glances and complimentary words making him feel bold and confident.
It was kind of a running joke between them, the fact that Alex had initiated their first kiss so suddenly only to then spend the rest of their relationship holding himself back a bit. And even though Willie never meant it as more than a tease, Alex had been genuinely trying to change that about himself. He had started therapy and he was doing the work to unpack all of the ways his parents had fucked him up over the years. He was learning and growing, and not just for Willie, but for himself. It was nice.
Okay, it was really fucking hard and stressful. But it was also kind of working. Alex had found himself feeling a lot less anxious, especially when Willie was out of town competing and Alex had flashbacks to the car accident and other minor injuries Willie had sustained while on the road. He had learned some new coping mechanisms, and he had started to be a bit freer with his own physical affection. Which definitely had some very nice side effects.
Side effects like finally being the one to make Willie blush and blank out for once.
It shouldn’t have been a big deal. They had been dating for over a year, they regularly spent the night together, they were fully committed to each other. They had sex for Christ’s sake, so nothing should have felt like too much intimacy wise. And it didn’t. Until they were at some BBQ for one of Willie’s skater friends and Alex started to feel a bit overwhelmed, but instead of taking himself into the bathroom to have a quiet moment and pull it together, he found Willie, sitting next to a fire pit with a beer in hand. He didn’t even think twice before dropping into his lap and snatching the can from Willie’s grasp to steal a sip.
The contact was instantly comforting, and Alex suddenly realized that must be why Willie was constantly crawling into his own lap. It felt cozy and safe in his boyfriend’s arms, every part of him warm and close enough for Alex to inhale the scent of coconut shampoo mixed with cherry Chapstick. It was only when he went to return the beer can to Willie that he realized he had kind of frozen. For one second, Alex let himself panic that he had gone too far, done something wrong that would end up ruining everything, and then he realized Willie was breathing a lot faster than normal, one of his hands finding purchase against Alex’s waist and squeezing. The conversation carried on around them, but time seemed to stand still within their own personal little bubble.
“Alex, you cannot just do that and expect me not to want you six ways to Sunday now.”
Willie’s breath was hot against Alex’s neck, his words coming out fast and furious like he had to say them all now before he couldn’t speak at all. Alex felt his cheeks warm as he turned his head slightly to meet Willie’s eyes. His pupils were wide, cheeks the kind of ruddy dark brown that Alex had learned meant he was definitely blushing too. The fingers on the hand that was clenched around Alex’s hip danced across the thin strip of skin between his pants and his shirt, drawing a series of patterns across Alex’s side that made him shiver. Willie groaned beneath him, the sound breathless and just loud enough for Alex to hear. He smirked, wiggling a little like he was trying to get more comfortable.
“Lex, I swear to God I will make out with you so hard right in front of all these people. It won’t bother me. You gotta stop it unless you’re willing to risk that.”
Alex kinda wanted to risk it. Knowing he made Willie feel that out of control was a huge rush. God, he really should have taken advantage of all this physical stuff a lot earlier, huh?
“You wanna make out with me here, or you wanna make out with me back at your apartment?”
Alex kept his voice hushed, dipping his head so his lips were right next to Willie’s ear. Willie shuddered beneath him and then downed his beer in one long swallow. He nudged Alex to standing, following him but not moving out from his spot slightly behind him as his hand fit itself more snuggly into place along Alex’s waist.
“Gents,” he addressed the other skaters scattered around the fire with a two fingered salute, “Lex and I gotta get going. Got some plans to take care of.”
Alex tried not to snort and blush at the obvious undertone to Willie’s words. The rest of the group had no such qualms, hooting and hollering as Willie practically dragged Alex out of the back yard, hand raising to give them a middle finger when Alex heard Max call out get you some, Stewart! Alex laughed, stepping up close behind Willie as they came around to the front of the house, voice dipping low in a tease.
“Jeez, Wils, who knew sitting in your lap would do it for you?”
Willie turned without warning, catching Alex before he could trip into him and surging forward to connect their lips in a kiss that featured a bit more teeth than usual.
“You do it for me, Alex. It’s all you, all the time. God, I fucking love you.”
Alex didn’t get a chance to respond before Willie was pulling away and ushering Alex into his car. He linked their hands together on the console between the seats, and Alex didn’t even complain once about his speeding. He was too busy thinking up all the other things he could do to make Willie lose it in public like that again. He had a lot of time to make up for, and the rest of their lives to do so.  
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Text
handmaid - 20
PAIRING: mob!sebastian stan x ingenue!reader
WARNINGS: age gap
A/N: sorry for the delay on this one, hope you enjoy this chapter xxx
NEXT CHAPTER
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There are several times when you fall in love with someone, that is, you don’t fall at of the sudden, it’s gradually. Sebastian would argue with everyone else that he was attracted to the type of women that most men in his inner circle, he wanted to be just like his father and his father would have never fallen for the type of woman that Y/N was. However, Sebastian couldn’t help but want to make her smile whenever she apologised to inanimate objects just because she stepped on them, how she would stop mid street to look at the Christmas decorations and how she would put everyone else in front of her, even that rat Mr. Williams. Yet, there was no feature that made him want to shield her from the evil of the world more than when she smiled at him, free of judgements for his life style, for what people said and today she seemed to be showering him with that smile. 
Y/N hadn’t stop smiling for the whole entirety they had been outside, waving and talking to everyone like some version of a Disney Princess. Yet, as the night grew closer and closer, Sebastian decided it was safer for them to return to the penthouse. Once they returned, he was rather excited to strip off the winter clothes and be allowed to wear lighter clothes in his very warm and mostly desolate house safe for the bodyguards inside the lift at most times. Likewise, Y/N removed her winter coat and hat, rushing over to the kitchen to grab a cookie making Sebastian wonder if she ever got tired. 
      - I don’t know if it’s just because you really like Christmas or if it’s a sugar rush, but you’re rather energetic today angel. - he watched her break off a piece of her cookie, feeding it to herself. - You know you can bite on the cookie instead of breaking it, right?
     - No fun. - she handed him a cookie. - We’ve been doing what I do for Christmas all day. What do you do for Christmas?
     - I don’t. - he shrugged, leaning against one of the walls. - It’s alright, angel. This is for you, you get to chose. 
     - Well, I chose to do something you do or used to do for Christmas. C’mon, just because you’re the mob boss doesn’t mean you were born one. - she held his hand in hers, a soft smile on her lips. - There must be something.
    - I’m afraid the Stans don’t celebrate Christmas like the Forrests, angel. 
    - Mr. Stan, I am not taking no for an answer. There has to be something. 
    - You’re awfully pushy today. - he chuckled, hand coming to caress her cheek. - Well ... when I was younger me and my mum would cuddle on the couch and watch that weird Natalie Wood movie it hit midnight. We would then wish for something at 12:01 Christmas Eve. 
     - That is definitely something. - Y/N couldn’t help but melt a bit at the exposition. Sebastian certainly wasn’t one to show much emotion, that was asked of the job, but the fact that he had just told her a childhood memory which judging by the look of his eyes seemed rather special was something she would treasure. - I’m pretty sure we can rent Miracle on 34th Street somewhere.
    - You don’t have to do that, angel. We can do something you enjoy.
    - I happen to like Miracle on 34th Street very much. Wait here ... - she ran up the stairs and into her bedroom, opening the wide doors of her wardrobe where she had seen some staff store blankets and pillows. Carrying as many as her arms could, she went down the stairs, throwing all the bedding onto the couch much to Sebastian’s confusion. - You cannot watch a Christmas film without coziness. 
    - You really are something else, angel. Aren’t you?
    - I’ve been called odd several times, so I’d guess you’re right. - she spoke mindlessly, too busy arranging the blankets and pillows into something her heart considered perfect. Once she had obtained as much fluffiness as she could, she jumped onto the couch, patting the spot next to her. - Come on, let’s do your tradition.
    - It’s hardly a tradition, angel. - how could he deny sitting next to her. He just couldn’t. With slow yet certain movements, he sat next to her, the only thing separating them being his hand in the middle. - Haven’t done it in years. 
    - It’s always a good time to restart. 
She had managed to find the movie for rental on Youtube, however, unlike her, Sebastian was much more interested in watching her rather than the movie. The way the fake fireplace light her face with shades of warm orange and yellow, the soft sounds caused by her breathing and the way her eyes shined with the hope of someone who didn’t know how bad the world outside was. She just seemed like an actual angel in the middle of all of this, endearingly innocent and sweet to a point that made Sebastian wonder if it could be to her detriment. After all, her sweetness was what enabled Gwen to pull her around like a doll and while she was in her employment and her friend, she did things that he wouldn’t dream of doing ... maybe if it was for her, but never for Gwen.
Too lost in his own thoughts, he didn’t notice her fingers had laced with his and her head was now laying on the soft fabric of the jumper she had offered him. He only noticed this once her finger started to draw invisible circles on his hand. Some part of him wished he hadn’t noticed the closeness as once he did, suddenly he was aware of every single movement. What if he disturbed her? He didn’t want to disturb her, she looked so peaceful and she was so close. Was he sweating? He was definitely sweating. Maybe also shivering from the pure amount of nerves. Why was he nervous? He had killed people before, had been with other women before so why was he nervous at a very innocent touch.
   - I love a happy ending, don’t you? - she spoke up making him realise he had just spent the entire film staring at her. She probably thought he was crazy or maybe stalk-ish. - Seb?
   - Yeah? Yes, love happy endings. 
   - Look, it’s a minute past midnight. - she noticed the red light of the microwave’s hour display. - Make a wish.
   - I don’t need a wish, I have everything I could have right here.
   - Oh ... - she felt a heat creep up her skin up to her cheeks. Why was the room suddenly very hot. - Merry Christmas Eve.
Merry Christmas Eve. Really Y/N? Couldn’t have come up with a better sentence? She knew that Gwen leaving the two of them alone was a mistake. If they couldn’t control themselves when she was in the same house how were they gonna control themselves when she is a good half hour away from them during a snow storm? 
   - What are you wishing for, angel? 
   - I wish for everyone to get what they wish for. 
   - Y/N, angel, you cannot share your wish with the world. - he chuckled. - If you could have anything in the whole wide world, what would you want?
   - I’m a handmaid, I don’t think about those things. - she sighed. - My life is pretty good. 
   - Even millionaires wish on a wishing star, angel. It doesn’t make you a bad person if you want something. 
   - I never stopped to think about that. People normally don’t ask me about what I want. - she shrugged.
    - Wait here. - he kissed the top of her head, leaving her momentaneously which gave her more time to panic about her situation. Gwen would certainly have her head on a platter for being that enamoured with her fiancée. Ever since they were kids what was Y/N’s belonged to the both of them but what was Gwen’s was Gwen’s only. Why was she so enamoured with him? Was it because he was handsome? She had certainly meet other handsome boys and men before she saw him. Was it because he was rich? She knew various rich people which flaunted it more than him. All she knew was that she liked him. Not just like. When she looked at him she could envision a future that just didn’t exist but god could she feel it as if it could. - I was gonna give you this for Christmas but I guess now it’s as good time as it could be. 
   - You didn’t need to get me something. - she said as he placed a red and white box on top of her lap. - I don’t have anything for you.
   - Nonsense, you gave me this jumper. - he pointed at the dark jumper. - I hope you like it, I wasn’t entirely sure which one you’d like. 
   - I’m sure it’s lovely either way. - she took the lid off the red and white box which led to a very familiar orange box. Hermes. She would know that box anywhere. Gwen always had a particular knack for buying their scarfs and handbags. However, it was probably just repacking. Wouldn’t be the first time that happened. As she opened the box however, she realised it was no repacking. She picked up the bag she had dreamed on having since she was a little kid looking at old Grace Kelly pictures. - It’s a Kelly bag. 
   - Isn’t that what you wanted? I can get you another one if you want so, maybe a different colour?
   - You can buy a small house with one of these. 
   - I can also get you a small house if that’s what you want.
   - How did you even get one? There’s a waitlist. - Y/N was dumbfounded, wondering if the cold had knocked her off and all of this was a fantasy. 
   - There is no waitlist for me, angel. - Sebastian smirked, proud of his statement but Y/N was much lost in her haze, looking at one of the most unobtainable bags in the world. Even celebrities had to wait for a Birkin or a Kelly and here she was, a mere nobody holding on. - Are you alright?
   - I can’t take it. - she put the bag back on the box. - You need to give this to Gwen. 
   - No, angel, that one is for you.
   - But this is an expensive bag. 
   - It’s hardly that expensive, angel. Besides, you gave me a Christmas present so I had to repay the favour. 
   - You could buy a whole truck full of jumpers with one of these bags. I ... I don’t know what to say. 
   - We can get something else if you don’t like it, angel. Anything you want. Jewellery, car, clothing ... just name it. However, I won’t return the bag just because you won’t accept it. It’s an order. 
   - Sebastian, it’s beautiful. Thank you. - she jumped forward, wrapping her arms around him before kissing his cheek. - Thank you.
   - Don’t mention it, angel. Anything for you. 
   - Seb ... - she couldn’t help but blurt out what came next. - I love you.
tag list: @lilya-petrichor @xoxohannahlee @irespostthingsiwanttoseelater @nikkipea @madisonpillstrom @cevans98 @thelostallycat @sideeffectsofyou @anxiousdreamersworld @captainchrisstan @lookiamtrying @sarge-barnes-sir​​​ @stuffforreferences​ @thebadassbitchqueen
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pearl-blue-musings · 3 years
Text
Perchance to Meet pt. 3
whoops is it time for a little bit of angst??? i think it’s time for a little bit of angst. 
warnings: cussing, suggestive language, attempted assault, sexual assault, stalking, unwanted advantages,smut, angst, another smut warning cause i haven’t written smut in a HOT minute, please 18+ cannot stress that enough 
masterlist for my writing
Part 4 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One date had turned into three which sprouted into many many more. Despite having challenging schedules, the two new found lovers made time for each other. Aizawa didn’t really think he’d get a chance like this but here he is, standing outside the bookstore he frequents as often as he can with a tiny goofy grin on his face.
“Sorry, I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.”
He stutters out a response upon seeing the outfit his girlfriend decided to wear. It wasn’t an easy thing to squeeze out of the man, but after the fifth date and the first time she spent the night at his place the couple made it official. Even his co-workers couldn’t believe the sleepy man had a girlfriend on top of everything he already does… But here she is, wearing one of his favorite outfits of hers as they meet up for a brief date.
“I was about to drop dead if I had to wait any longer,” he whispers as he leans in to give her a chaste kiss on the lips. “I love the way you look tonight.”
(Y/n) looks away embarrassed. Even though they had been dating for over three months now, she still couldn’t get used to Shouta’s flirting and downright cuteness. “T-thank you, Sho. I’m glad you get a few hours before your patrol shift starts.” She looks to him with bright and eager eyes that he could get lost in forever. “So, where are we going?”
It takes a little willpower in Aizawa to hold back a smirk as he enjoys the view of her impatience adorn her features. He’s not sure who will be more excited for the date, him or her.
“You’ll see,” he snickers. Her eyes roll as they stroll along the street. The setting sun ahead of them litters the sky with beautiful purples and oranges; a few clouds line the skies giving the world around them an ethereal feel.
They continue to walk for about ten more minutes, having mindless conversation about anything and everything, from how he’s going to be a homeroom teacher for the next year, how she wants to add a café portion to her bookstore to draw in more people and have more income, it flows seamlessly.
Soon they stop at a store front that is unfamiliar to the woman. Once she sees that her lover has stopped, she looks to the sign and suddenly her face lights up.
“Shouta, shut up are you serious?”
He leans down to her ear, “we’ve walked by this before and I’ve always noticed how your eyes linger here. So I got us reservations.”
The sparkle in her eye is unfazed as the grin on her face only gets wider.
“A cat café!? Shouta, I can’t- I mean you took me? Here? God, you’re amazing! I just-“ she ends her sentence by pulling him by his jacket collar and kissing him lovingly. After his initial shock, he cups her face with his warm hands and deepens the kiss. The feel of his lips on hers is a sense she never wants to tire of; she’s practically addicted to it already.
Aizawa hesitantly pulls away, “as much as I’d like to continue that, we don’t wanna miss our reservation, Kitten.” He kisses her on the cheek and pulls her inside the establishment. Once inside, the couple gets swept up in the ambiance of the place. (Y/n) had an inkling that this date wasn’t just to make you happy, but to make a certain cat lover of a man next her happy too. She had picked up on his love of cats and strays on their other dates and she may or may not attempt to adopt one of the cats as a surprise.
Two hours went by too quickly in the couples opinion, but they had to sadly leave. Their stomachs and hearts full, the two begin their walk back to the bookstore. A deep voice breaks the content silent. “I really don’t want to go on patrol tonight.” (Y/n)’s eyebrows furrow at his statement and silently urges Aizawa to continue. “I want to keep looking at you like this. So happy and content… I wish our schedules weren’t so crazy.”
“I do too,” she breathes, “but that’s how it is and I get it. I mean, we both know each other at this point and know that we’re busy. It’s life, we do what we love and hopefully someone will be there with us you know…”
The momentum of the conversation slows as they reach the bookstore. The words she wishes to say fill up her lungs begging to burst from her lips as she stares at the pre hero before. She gulps whatever anxiety she has and blurts out the words she’s wanted to say all night.
“I love you.”
Black eyes widen at the proclamation and then soften once he sees the shyness and slight fear (Y/n) poses in front of him. He steps up to her, staring at her lips then back to the eyes he can get lost in forever and whispers, “I know, I love you too Kitten,” and softly kisses her lips.
***************************************
“Hey, it’s (Y/n), I mean, yeah it’s me… But where are you? I’ve been waiting outside the club for about 10 minutes now. I know your patrol ended half an hour ago. Just call me back okay?”
(Y/n) grouchily hangs up the phone and pouts. She knew he was out late which is why she wanted him to pick her up from work so she could spend the weekend at his apartment. Aizawa had just finished the first week of school as the new 1-A homeroom teacher and his girlfriend knew he would need sometime to relax. Begrudgingly, of course.
She looks to her phone again and sees that it’s approaching 2:30 in the morning. Normally she doesn’t take closing shifts because of the bookstore, but wanted to align her schedule with Aizawa’s for some time together. After almost a year don’t you think he would have been a little more considerate of this fact? This wasn’t easy for her with the new café being added to her store and having to hire new employees; she needed this one little thing.
“Fuck it, I’m walking by myself.”
Clearly a bad idea. Blissfully unaware, she sullenly walked away from her second job and toward Aizawa’s apartment. The city at night wasn’t always the safest and she knew that, but she had been waiting for more than 20 minutes for Aizawa to show and he hadn’t so she took matters into her own hand. She kept her bag close to her body as she sped walk, attempting to keep her roaring thoughts at bay.
Her phone buzzes which halts her mind, and herself, and she stops in her path. She reaches in a sees a text from him saying “omw”. That’s it? And just now? Barely being on her way, she decides to turn around and go back to their original meeting place.
Bad idea number two. Roughly, she bumps into a stiff being and trips back a few steps. In front of her is a man in a long coat and hat, covering most of his identity. “Excuse me,” she mutters past him, but is abruptly stopped when his hand grips her forearm.
“You don’t remember me.”
“Sir, let go of me.”
“Why don’t you remember me?!”
Panic rising in her, (Y/n) begins to struggle against her assailant. “Sir I have no idea what you want from me! Please let me go.”
The man, clearly hysterical, pulls her into a nearby alley and slams her against the brick wall. The woman winces in pain and tries her best to not cry in front of this stranger. “Please, just take my bag… Don’t hurt me!”
“…Why don’t you remember me? You served me for months at the club. Months! You always made my favorite drink, always made me feel better. I love you (Y/F/n)! I always gave you extra tips when I came in and now I find that you’re thinking of quitting?! Is there someone else? I left my wife like you said I should because I wasn’t happy!”
The more the man rambles, the more she starts to remember. He went by the name Shuichi Oda and from what she gathered had a rough night. Obviously a drunk, it seems like things haven’t been going well for him. She remembers having some brief conversations with him to make her patron feel better but… Damn it! She knew that this was the downside of her quirk, some people took it too personally.
“Look, Shuichi-“
“You do remember me!” He exclaims and pulls her into an unneeded hug and starts to pet her hair. “I’ve been waiting for you to be alone for quite some time. Your quirk made me feel better. You, made me feel better.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying,” she shakily tries to reason, “I’m just a bartender. It’s my job to make people feel better.”
The man hits his head with his fist, frightening the woman. “No! With you, it’s different, see?” After he says he leans in to sloppily kiss her, holding her still against the wall behind her. His hands begin to roam in places they shouldn’t which make tears start to form in her eyes. “Please don’t cry,” he wipes a tear from her face but she moves out of his reach. “Don’t be scared, I love you. And you’re gonna come with me and be with me forever okay?”
“Please,” she screams, “let me go! I have- mmph!”
“Sh sh sh sh, we can’t have you screaming! Others could hear and try to take you away from me!” The hand he placed over her mouth is now covered in tears from her eyes. She bites at him, but his maniacal smile only gets bigger. “I don’t feel physical pain darling, just emotional.” As soon as he says that, his wandering other hand goes toward her breast and he sighs in contentment. “Oh how I’ve longed for this-“
“That’s enough!”
Soon Shuichi is being thrust into the air. He’s wrapped up in bindings and hanging from a nearby streetlamp. Eyes glowing red stare at the apprehended man and pull the wraps tighter, causing him to cough in pain. Aizawa tugs on the wraps to make the man hit his head on the light and pass out. Luckily some sirens are heard closely as someone walking by heard her scream and called for the police. Aizawa was on his way and followed the direction of the police cars hoping it didn’t involve his lover.
An hour later finds the couple walking into the pro hero’s apartment. A strong silver blanket is still wrapped around (Y/n)’s body as they make their way in. They both take off their shoes and settle in silence as the events of the last hour replay through their minds. They don’t even bother to eat anything and start to get ready for bed. Her pajamas are partially on when he sits down on the bed and mumbles, “why didn’t you wait for me?”
“Hm? What was that?”
Sighing louder, her turns to face her. “I said, why didn’t you wait for me like you were supposed to?”
(Y/n) scoffs as she pulls his shirt down her body. “Are you kidding me? Why didn’t I wait? Why were you late?” Her question came out more forceful than she intended but it had been a very long day. “I rearranged my schedule so then we could get off work around the same time for once. Where the hell were you?”
“Don’t give me that,” he states getting louder, “school went late so I began my patrol late.”
“Would it have killed you to tell me that instead of keeping me waiting?”
“Would it have killed you to wait where I wanted you to? Then maybe tonight wouldn’t have happened.”
Her mouth flew open at his assumption. “Are you saying me getting attacked was my fault?!”
Aizawa rolls his eyes as his frustration grows. “If you had just stayed there and waited I was going to get there.”
“Yeah sure! But did you forget the part where that nutjob has been following me for months? He would’ve gotten to me regardless.”
“That’s because you’re too kind. Letting people think that all their problems and issues will go away with just the right fix!”
“You’re ridiculous!” You yell, “Is that really what you think of me and my quirk? Is that what you think I did to you?” (Y/n) moves around the bed to get face to face with him to prove more of her point.
He stands up off the bed to look down at her. “It could be like that for him or any other guy you’re kind to or use your quirk on. All you had to do was wait!”
“And we’re back to where we fucking started. You were late! What was I supposed to do? Wait for the next guy to come along and fuck me over in the middle of the night?”
“(Y/n) that’s not what I meant and you know it.”
“Oh is it? Then why do you keep putting the blame on whether or not I waited?”
“Look,” he recedes slightly, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about me being late, but you can’t just walk around by yourself like that!”
“Fuck off, yes I can! I’ve done it before why does it suddenly have to change now?”
“Because I fucking love you, idiot!”
Throats hoarse after the shouting match, black eyes shut as he sinks into the bed. (Y/n)’s conviction begins to falter as she follows him onto the mattress. “Shouta?”
He takes a deep breath in attempt to control himself, “I know I should have told you I was late, I’m sorry. But, I’ve never felt this way about anyone. When you weren’t there, I panicked.” He leans onto her shoulder while she rubs his back soothingly. “I was so scared for you. When I saw him touching you, I saw red.”
(Y/n) breathes deeply taking in his words, “Sho…”
“I don’t want to lose you, or have you be hurt because of me. I’m a pro-hero and a teacher at a prominent school, I’m bound to have some enemies.” He sits up to meet her gaze, holding her face in his hands. “That guy hurt you because of you and I wasn’t there.”
“Sho, it’s not your fault.”
Silence falls over them, letting the weight of their words settle into their beings. He brings her forehead toward his as fresh tears fall from her face wetting his skin.
“Kitty cat, I’m sorry for yelling.”
She kisses him lightly, “Me too.”
He kisses her again, and again, and again, Until the light, chaste kisses become deep and full of lust. Her hands find solace in his hair as her lips grant his tongue entrance. He pulls her closer to him, hoping that she can feel his erection through his pants. The feeling of him grinding against her sleep shorts elicits a moan from her mouth that makes him harder. They break for air, a line of saliva connecting them as their pupils dilate.
“Fuck I wanna keep going but you’ve had a long day.” He tries to pull away from her only to be brought in for another breathless kiss. His hands automatically went to her hips. “Kitten,” he moans into her lips.
“We have the whole weekend for me to treat you right. The whole weekend for you to be screaming my name, calling me daddy,” he smacks her ass at that comment earning a hiss from (Y/n) which ended up making her even more wet. “But we need to sleep.”
“Fuck you Shouta,” she whines. “I wanna fuck you now. I’m already so fucking wet for you and I know your dick is itching to be in my mouth or better yet in me.”
Aizawa grunts at the implications but stays strong. “No, sweetie. As much as I really want to, we gotta sleep.”
“Please I want to forget he touched me so please do something or else-“
At that she’s quickly pinned to the bed with the strong man above her. “Don’t forget,” he whispers, “you asked for this.” He slowly drags her bottoms down her legs, exposing her dripping sex to him. It took everything in him to not move too fast. Once her pj bottoms were thrown across the room, he situates himself between her legs, rubbing his hands up her calf, to her thighs enticingly slow. A pressure is felt on her hips as she’s being held in place by her lovers grip.
On instinct her hips buck slightly, eagerly awaiting what’s to come. The feel of his breath on her inner thigh sends her thoughts into a frenzy, only for him to place his lips around the sensitive skin. His kisses are feather light that they almost don’t feel like they’re there, but she’s reminded as soon as his teeth make contact with her skin. A whine escapes her lips at the action, making Aizawa growl.
“Fuck, kitten, you’re so wet for me.”
“Mhm, ah, only for you Daddy- ah fuck!”
All his restraint came undone at the pet name as he wrapped his lips around her folds, sucking and tonguing her with earnest. The way his tongue would flit in and out of her wet hole drove him crazy; it was like she was made for him and only him. He continues to lap at her folds, already starting to feel the pressure build up within her.
“Don’t tell me you’re gonna cum for Daddy this early, eh? All I’ve done with eat you out and I’m not full. Plus,” he sneaks a finger into making her hiss and cuss, “I don’t think you’ve had your fill yet Kitty cat.”
Her moans and whines are music to his ears as he doesn’t let up his ministrations. Now two fingers deep into her, he begins to scissor her open while sucking on her abused and pronounced clit.
“Ah, fuck Sho. I’m gonna cum, I’m gonna cum,” (Y/n) is breathless as her back arches off the mattress for the umpteenth time. She can feel him smile against her as he lifts up to face her. “Then cum Kitten, cum for Daddy.” His motions speed up and upon hearing her scream out his name mixed with curses, he lets up. God, she looks beautiful like this. Her body is covered in a glimmering layer of sweat, her stomach moving in time with her rampant breathing as she comes down from her high. No one else will get to see her like this, no one. Aizawa wipes away sweat from her brow and leans in to let her taste herself on his tongue. The action alone is enough to make him want to burst, which he is tempted to do.
“Damn, you’re still so wet and slick for me,” he notes swiping a finger against her to reaffirm.
“Babe, rollover. I wanna ride you.”
The lovely man above her lifts an eyebrow at her request, “as you wish, princess.” He is then forcibly pinned, almost like what happened to her not too long ago. “Fuck, you look so hot from down here babe.” He knows that she needs this, to feel to be in charge and take the lead. So he doesn’t help her line up the tip of his hard cock to her entrance, and he doesn’t push himself up into her like he wants.
A wanton moan escapes his lovers lips as she finally settles herself on his cock. She feels the grumble and twitching from her his dick inside her and the feeling is euphoric. The pro-hero’s breath gets shallower as he waits for her to move on him, again holding himself back from taking charge. Once she starts bouncing on his cock, all he can do is whisper and moan out praises and curses. “Fuck, Kitten. That feels so fucking good.”
“Yeah babe? You like the way I’m riding your cock?”
He hisses, “fuck yeah. Please do it more- unf.”
Suddenly he feels a new and ecstatic feeling as she gyrates her hips in ways that have him seeing stars. He’s trying to figure out if there’s some kind of pattern. And then it hits him.
“You spelling your name on my cock, yeah?”
A gasp for air is heard from both of them before she responds, “I’m just, ah, letting you know who this belongs to baby.”
“Ah fuck, Kitten, I’m gonna cum soon. But first,” his voice lowers as he grabs her breast in his hand. His thumb flicks over her nipple, earning another moan before he wraps his lips around it. His tongue continues to work the hardening bud as his hand kneads her mound. His free hand works its way to her clit and begins to rub it fiercely.
“Fuck Shouta, if you keep doing that…”
A slick pop is heard as black eyes bore into lust filled ones. “I know Kitten, we’re so close. Come on, let Daddy cum. Let me cum inside baby.” “Yes, yes ah fuck- FUCK!”
The melodious sound of moans and whimpers fill the once noiseless bedroom as the couple comes down from their highs. They fall onto each other, sweat covered and full of love for each other. Their breathing starts to slow the more they wait out, still being connected by their sexes. (Y/n) is the first to move as she slowly removes herself from her boyfriends embrace, whining at the loss of contact. Aizawa leans up slightly to take in her form and beauty.
“I’ll go grab a towel and some water.”
He pecks her cheek and leaves the room. Once he returns, he sees (Y/n) and fondly smiles. She had finally fallen asleep after everything was said and done. He rolls his eyes but continues to clean up their little mess. He leaves her water glass on her nightstand while he had finished his.
Aizawa pulls the covers over the two of them as he cuddles into his girlfriend, watching her sleep soundly. She looks ethereal right now, no problems or stress on her features.
“I swear I will protect you. Whatever it takes.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ha ha hahahahaha it’s so long whoops but yee if the option is there the taglist is open!  @kiribaku-queen @shinsouskitten @therealwalmartjesus @prk-pyo @cupcake-rogue
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cutesuki--bakugou · 4 years
Text
XO
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Main Pairing: Katsuki Bakugou x Koge Naegi (OC)
Story Rating: Explicit
Genre: Fluff / Romance / Domestic
Story Warnings: Phone sex, sexting, dirty and degrading talk, Bakugou’s really fluffy don’t @ me. 
a/n: I was going to do like... the fake text screenshots along with this story and draw the pictures that they are sending to each other, but I was just getting too frustrated with it and I couldn’t find the time I needed to do it all, so I’m just gonna go with normal text lol. Maybe next time! 
Tagging @lady-bakuhoe​​ ‘cause she’s been so excited about this and pumping me up about it, and @rhombea​​ ‘cause she read it over and helped me with it, and just because I adore them both.  (*˘︶˘*).。.:*♡
Art in banner by me
Me = Koge Cutesuki = Bakugou
Me 3:03 AM: I miss you, Katsuki. I can’t sleep. (>﹏<)
A small sigh left Koge’s lips as she stared at her phone screen, rolling over onto her side to face the wall. The spot beside her was empty, the pillow untouched and the sheets cold, which was something she wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to. Sure, she had spent many nights alone when her lover was off on a trip or on a late-night job, but that didn’t matter. No amount of time could make her get used to being alone, not when she was so used to and craved his presence. It was truly miserable when he was gone, even though she did everything she could think of to try and distract herself. 
She spent time with her friends, watched movies, played video games, did yoga and meditation, went shopping, read books, and anything else she could possibly squeeze in so that the only time she was undistracted was while attempting to sleep. Along with texts and phone calls from him, she could get by, especially if the trip was only a few days or a week. But right now, he had been gone for a month. All the distractions in the world couldn’t stop her loneliness now, and what was worse, he was on the other side of the world in America. 
There was a huge hero conference being held in New York and being one of the top young heroes in Japan, he had been invited along with quite a few others. He was horribly busy, every day being either an event for the conference, meetings, or doing touristy things with his friends that had gone with him. Koge was glad that he wasn’t alone, with at least Kirishima and Midoriya there to keep him company, but damn was she jealous. She wished that she had been able to go with him, too, but her work responsibilities at home prevented her from leaving. 
It didn’t help that the times were so different on top of everything else. It was difficult for Koge to find time to talk to Bakugou for more than a few minutes over the phone, since he was 13 hours behind her in time. Right now, for him, it was just past two in the afternoon, meaning that he was probably in the middle of an event or maybe eating lunch. 
Meanwhile, Koge laid in bed, alone, cold, and bundled up in multiple fleece blankets for comfort as she waited for his response. 
When her phone buzzed in her hand sooner than expected, her eyes were instantly on the new text message, cuddling up tighter under the blankets. 
Cutesuki 3:07 AM: you need to try to sleep, utsuro. its late. 
Me 3:07 AM: I know, but… It’s hard without you. (。•́︿•̀。) I’m cold. 
Cutesuki 3:08 AM: i already know youre bundled up under all those fucking blankets, probably wearing my clothes, too. spray some of my cologne on my pillow or something. 
Me 3:08 AM: You know me so well. ( ◡‿◡ *) I am just as you say. And I already put some on my pillow… I didn’t want to mess with yours. 
Cutesuki 3:09 AM: considerate. of course youre in my clothes, might as well throw all of yours out. 
Me 3:09 AM: Hehe… ( ´ ▽ ` ) They’re just so comfy! 
Cutesuki 3:09 AM: which? 
Immediately, Koge felt heat rush to her cheeks, biting down onto her bottom lip as her stomach fluttered. He wanted to know what she was wearing. He had to be out and about right now, so what was he getting at? 
During trips like this, the two of them were no strangers to phone sex, exchanging sexy pictures or messing around on video chat if they were able. Sadly, Bakugou was also sharing a hotel room with his friends to save on funds, so time alone was scarce for him. In fact, the entire time he had been gone, they hadn’t been able to have more than a slightly flirtatious conversation before he had to go. Koge’s toys could satisfy her in the moment, but nothing could ever compare to the way he made her feel and the pleasure they could create together. Just the thought of the intimacy they shared made her body grow hot, squeezing her bare thighs together to try and relieve the new aching at her hips. 
Cutesuki 3:11 AM: well?
Sitting up, Koge reached over and turned on the lamp on the bedside table before leaning back against the headboard. Holding her phone out, she took a selfie, doing her best to make sure she got a flattering angle that showed her body beneath his black skull t-shirt and her bare legs, with a playful smirk and a peeking tongue being all that was visible of her face. Satisfied, she sent it to him, settling down to wait with her legs stretched out in front of her. As she waited, her heart only pounded harder in her chest, hoping that is what he had wanted to see.
Me 3:12 AM: (*´︶`*)
Cutesuki 3:16 AM: fuck. 
Cutesuki 3:16 AM: it would be that shirt. 
Cutesuki 3:16 AM: youre so predictable. 
Me 3:17 AM: Well if you know, why’d you want to see? (¬‿¬ )
Cutesuki 3:18 AM: i need something to jack off to. 
Koge’s body was immediately covered in goosebumps, making her shiver and squeal quietly to herself, bringing her phone up to her lips and kicking her legs like an excited child. Maybe he finally had some time to himself? Or was he hiding away in a bathroom somewhere? Any option turned her on. 
Me 3:18 AM: That’s all that’ll get you off, huh? ┐(︶▽︶)┌ Guess my job is done. 
Cutesuki 3:19 AM: dont be a smartass. more. 
Me 3:19 AM: More? (◕‿◕✿)
Cutesuki 3:19 AM: now bitch. or would you rather miss out on this? 
Within the next few seconds, he sent in his own picture, displaying his hips, clad in grey sweatpants. He seemed to be sitting on a bed with what looked to be a hotel room behind him, but that didn’t matter to Koge. All she was focused on was his hand, which was clutching onto the hard form of his cock beneath the fabric, showing off his size. Feeling as if her heart was in her throat, Koge squeezed and rubbed her thighs together, looking over every inch of him she could see, from the peek of his belly beneath his shirt to the strong veins that ran along his rugged hand and up his arm. “Damn you, Katsuki! You hot asshole.” 
Me 3:20 AM: Challenging me, huh? (ಠ_ಠ)
Cutesuki 3:20 AM: im threatening you. show me your tits. 
Unable to stop the smirk that crossed her lips, Koge pulled the t-shirt up, holding the bottom hem of it between her teeth. With only slight position and maneuvering, Koge was able to get a similar selfie as the one a moment ago, showing her legs, torso, and mouth. This time, she had the shirt taught so that it held her breasts in place, only showing a nice and plump peek of the bottom of them, along with her stomach. Her mouth was in a teasing smile, teeth shown clamped down around the shirt, and little pale blue undies fit snugly on her hips. 
Me 3:23 AM: (¯▿¯)
Cutesuki 3:26 AM: fuck youre such a tease. 
Cutesuki 3:26 AM: i miss you. 
A new picture came along with his message, bringing a new wave of heat to her already aching cunt. His cock was now out of his pants, hard and irresistible, crowned with a dribble of precum that had begun its descent down the underside of his head. He wasn’t touching it, using his free hand to hold his sweats down out of the way instead, but Koge could still see a little dark area that had gotten wet before he decided to expose himself. He had also removed his shirt at some point, so his muscular frame was visible. 
Giving a frustrated groan, Koge slipped her hand between her legs, beginning to lightly stroke along her sex outside of her underwear. Already soaked through, she couldn’t get her eyes off the picture, nibbling at her bottom lip as she pleasured herself. Every vein and girthy inch of him had her entire body on fire, wanting more than anything for him to shove that beautiful cock down her throat. She missed his hands on her body, the warmth of him against her and how delicious he tasted. 
Me 3:28 AM: Ooh, I get the dick before I even show you the tits? You must be horny.
Cutesuki 3:28 AM: you’re killing me.
Me 3:29 AM: ԅ(≖‿≖ԅ)
Sinking down a bit more against the headboard, Koge pulled the t-shirt up over her breasts, being sure to hold her arms in a way that nicely squished them together. Her recently fully healed nipple piercings gleamed in the dim light, and since they were so enticing, Koge decided to get a shot of the other piercing. Getting her mouth in the frame, she opened wide and let her tongue loll out, displaying the piercing on the wet muscle as well. He had yet to really get the chance to play with her with them both fully healed, so she knew this would set him off. 
Cutesuki 3:32 AM: fuck. I want to fuck that pretty mouth
Me 3:33 AM: Want to fuck my throat raw, huh? Or maybe my tits? 
Cutesuki 3:33 AM: show them closer. 
Me 3:33 AM: nuh uh. Pic for pic, right? 
Koge moved her fingers back between her legs, rubbing her clit on the outside of her soaked panties. Though, what she received wasn’t a picture. It was a video, the preview making her immediately slip her hand inside her underwear for direct and more vigorous contact. 
Pressing play, she felt her entire body quiver at the view, which was filmed from where she would assume his left knee would be. The frame tilted up, his hips all the way up to his nose was visible, showing a clear view of him pumping his cock and frustrated snarl. 
“Pic for pic, Utsuro? You fucking tease. Hmn, fuck-“ His voice cut off with a grunt, followed by a deep groan as he picked up the pace on jacking off. “Show me what you really want, whore.”
When the video cut off, Koge couldn’t resist playing it again, beginning to plunge two of her fingers in and out of her pussy as she watched him. It was so hot, his voice so gruff and filled with passion, that sexy growl with each degrading word making her heart race faster. She could only imagine what he’d be doing with that sexual tension; his hand around her throat as he fucked her into the mattress. Or perhaps his fist balled up in her hair while he made her gag on his cock. 
Although she didn’t want to stop, she took a moment to slip her undies off, tossing them away. Positioning the phone, Koge used her free hand to spread her glistening pussy open, showing him just how wet she was. 
Me 3:40 AM: I want your dick inside me, Katsuki. I want you to fuck me like the little horny bitch I am. 
Cutesuki 3:41 AM: good girl. 
Me 3:41 AM: I want to hear you. Can you call me?
The instant the phone began to ring, and his adorably innocent picture appeared on screen, Koge answered it, holding the phone up to her ear as she continued to rub delicious circles on her clit. “Katsuki…” She couldn’t restrain a soft moan, slipping two of her fingers into her cunt at the ragged sound of his breathing. “I wish you were here with me.” 
“You just can’t stand being without my cock, huh, little whore?” Bakugou’s voice was deep and quiet, making Koge sink further down to lay and dig her fingers in deeper. She could almost feel his body on top of her, pressing her down into the mattress as he hissed in her ear, his thick fingers teasing her pussy in punishment. “You’re such a nasty fuck, always begging for me to fuck you.” 
Koge was sure to let her voice flow freely, not restricting and moans or gasps of pleasure. “I love it so much, Katsuki. I love your big dick inside me! I want to cum all over it-” She paused just to hear the soft and frustrated grunts he made, even able to hear his hand working over his cock in a quick and steady rhythm. “Yes, Katsuki. You’re close, aren’t you, baby?” Much to her surprise, Koge found that even she was getting close to cumming quickly with just her fingers, which was a feat in of itself. After years of being with Bakugou, of growing so used to the way he fucked her, she found that something so tame as fingering herself couldn’t usually get the job done. A toy or two usually had to be used to get her off, but tonight, all she needed was the sound of his voice and a vivid imagination. 
“Yeah, I’m fuckin’ close. Damn it, Utsuro, your voice is fucking hot. And those shitty piercings… fuck!” 
“Mm, that’s right,” Koge’s voice hitched, moving her fingers back to her clit to work herself over the edge. “That’s it, Katsuki! Cum for me-” She was cut off again by her own moan, leaning her head back into her pillow as her hips arched up into her fingers. Straining against the sore burning in her forearm, she forced her hand to continue rubbing, listening closely to Bakugou’s own groans and curses of pleasure. She could tell the exact moment that he came, his voice growing into a deeper growl and trembling with relieved sighs. He couldn’t hold it for very long, and just the thought that he had been wanting her so badly immediately pushed Koge over the edge as well. 
Entire body quivering and twitching with the force of her orgasm, Koge clutched her thighs together, slowly and lightly letting her fingers slide across her pulsing sex to ride out the orgasm. In truth, she wasn’t sure how loud she had been or what she might have said when she came. All she had done was listen to Bakugou as he finished, imagining that tight grip on her hips and his hot release inside her. She could feel those rough and calloused hands slide up her sides, caressing her body so close and lovingly after ravaging her completely. 
Relaxing her body back against the bed, Koge rolled over onto her side, nuzzling her face against her pillow and taking in the scent of his cologne. On the other end, she could hear him still panting to catch his breath, though a sharp chuckle cut him off. 
“You sniffing some dirty boxers, Utsuro?” 
“What?! No! I’ve never been that desperate.” Koge couldn’t resist her own soft giggle, smiling against the pillowcase. “I told you, I put some of your cologne on my pillow.” 
“Stalker.” 
Before she could respond, Koge got a message alert, pulling her phone away from her ear. Putting him on speaker, she opened the message, feeling her entire body flush hot again at the sight of him. Hand still around his dick, his lower stomach, sweatpants and fingers had dribbles of his cum, gleaming against the well-lit room. With a groan, Koge rubbed her thighs together again. “Man, I wanna lick it off!” 
“Where’s mine?” 
Sitting up again, Koge got into another pose, making sure her chest was exposed along with her puffy and wet pussy that was still tender with the need for more attention. Lips also in the frame, she puckered them in a sweet kiss, her fingers in a cute peace sign to go with it. After sending it, she pulled the shirt down and got comfortable again, smiling as she heard him give a short chortle. 
“Cute.” 
“You’re cute.” 
“That’s my new phone background.” 
“No! Someone will see it!” 
“No one ever sees my phone, stupid. I’m not an idiot like you who leaves it out where everyone can see the screen. Besides, they’ll catch a glimpse of the most beautiful woman they’ll ever see. That’s a privilege.” 
Cheeks flushing, Koge cuddled her blankets to her tightly, nuzzling herself into her pillow. “That’s not true… I’m not the most beautiful.” 
“You are to me.” 
“You’re too sweet. Turning me into mush over here when I can’t kiss you. Usually I’m the one doing the sweet talking.” 
“I miss you. This last week can’t go by fast enough. All this shit is great for my brand, but damn, I’m worn out. All this social interaction is fucked.” 
“Is that why you’re in your hotel room today? Isn’t it like two in the afternoon?” 
“I didn’t have a panel today to go to, but Kirishima and Deku did. I could have gone out, but I decided to stay in and relax. I’m kinda glad you weren’t able to sleep.” 
Reaching over, Koge turned off the bedside table lamp, placing the phone down on his pillow as she snuggled up nice and tight into her blankets. “Aw, I had good luck then today. I’m really glad. Tell me about it! How’s it been?” 
Koge wasn’t sure how long they talked, with him chatting on and on about what was happening, who he had met, and what benefits the convention had towards his hero branding. They laughed and got annoyed together. Bashed on this person or praised this company. Reminisced about what they missed of each other and what they wanted to do when he returned. But, at one point, Koge drifted off to sleep to the sound of his voice and his scent on her pillow. 
When she awoke to the sound of her alarm going off, Koge yawned and gave a heavy stretch, snatching her phone off the bed beside her, since it had at some point fallen off his pillow. Turning off the alarm, she looked at the time, immediately feeling guilt weigh heavily on her chest. “Oh no, I fell asleep talking to him… My poor Katsuki.” 
Rolling over onto her back, she went into her text messages to send him a good morning and apologize, but what she saw there instead made her stop. Bakugou had cleaned up and changed into some new lounge clothes, getting kind of an awkward selfie of him with the city view behind him as he stood on the balcony of his hotel room. It was a cute and innocent exchange compared to the debauchery that had occurred just a few hours ago, and it brought a fluttering to Koge’s stomach.  
Cutesuki 5:11 AM: i could tell you fell asleep from your snoring. its cute.
Cutesuki 5:11 AM: glad i could make your stubborn ass fall asleep. 
Cutesuki 5:11 AM: love you. call me around 10. the two idiots will be gone for a while tonight. maybe we can have round 2. 
Cutesuki 5:11 AM: xo
Smiling, Koge opened her camera and took a picture of her own, sleepy faced and smiling, still bundled up in her blankets. Attaching it to her message, she put the phone down once she responded, giving another stretch and a rub of her eyes. 
Me 8:02 AM: I love you too, my Katsuki. I’m sorry I crashed. (╥﹏╥)
Cutesuki 8:03 AM: new bg picture. 
Me 8:03 AM: What?? (・・;)ゞ Just pick one! (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞ Cutesuki 8:04 AM: youre beautiful in all of them, dumbass, i cant pick. 
Cutesuki 8:04 AM: cant text right now. call me around 10. love you.
Me 8:04 AM: I love you more! (♡‿♡) Cutesuki 8:05 AM: youll never. xo 
Me 8:05 AM: (´ ε ` )♡
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onslaughtsixdotcom · 3 years
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Scaling Up Dragon Heist
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Around April or May of 2019, I started to run Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, one of the official WotC 5e hardcovers. I’m still not done with it, although that is largely the fault of COVID and my own extensions to the campaign. 
I think Dragon Heist is one of the better 5e modules by WotC. I think it’s got a strong playground for the characters, and Waterdeep has 30+ years of publication history to draw on. The release of the module also heralded in a HUGE amount of third party extension content, including the famous Alexandrian Remix. I hadn’t heard of this before I started running my campaign and having ideas about how to do it, so it didn’t influence me--although I’m sure we came to a lot of similar conclusions and ideas, based on common perceptions of what the actual flaws are of the module.
Still, despite those flaws, I think they help the module rather than hinder it. It gives the DM a shitload of room to improvise and draw in the margins, rather than some other 5e adventures which feel like they can’t be fucked with in the least.
Here’s the kicker: I started my adventure at level 4. We had a pre-existing party that I had run through the classic N1: Against the Cult of the Reptile God. (Fun fact: A map that I drew is the 3rd Google Images result for that. Woah.)
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The party spent a few real-world weeks traveling across about 7 days of overland travel where I ran some drop in one shots; including Mike Krahulik’s Dusk (a Twilight parody) and a really fun 2 hour diversion where the players saw an ancient blue dragon take off the roof of a church during a wedding. Then they arrived in my city: Dawnharbour.
I don’t run the Forgotten Realms. I find it not to my taste. Most of the names suck. The lore is invariably boring or weird, and not the fun kind of weird. I was going to run Dragon Heist, and I was going to put it in my own city. I gave the players some justification previously for why they would want to go there: The cleric’s sister had been kidnapped by the Cult of the Reptile God and turned into a Yuanti; a snake person. The bard had stolen a golden statue of the Reptile God and wanted to melt it down and plate his violin with it. I told the cleric that they would need a high level magic user and someone in Dawnharbour could probably help them; ditto the bard needing a highly skilled magical blacksmith. The third player didn’t really care where they went since he was on the run from his home country. So, off to Dawnharbour. They reached level 4 when they got to the city.
I won’t bore you with the rest of the details of my city or everything I changed for the campaign. Instead, I’ll talk up some hard and fast ways to make the adventure work for a higher level party. Most of them revolve around the encounters. I’m assuming the party will start around level 4 or 5.
Chapter 1
The book opens with the players in the Yawning Portal, a famous tavern with a big ass well to a megadungeon underneath. (More on this later.) They’re hanging out doing whatever when a troll and some stirges pop out of the well. The book says that the players get attacked by the stirges while the owner of the bar, a typical Forgotten Realms 15th level Fighter running a fucking bar for a living deals with the troll.
A troll is CR 5. They can handle a troll. If they can’t, you have a bigger problem.
Next up the book leads them to a Zhentarim warehouse. When they get there it’s abandoned and there are (ugh) 3 Kenku. Kenku are like tengu if they sucked. They’re bird people who can only speak in mimickry, like parrots. They can only repeat words they’ve heard before. This is stupid as fuck (especially when a player wants to be one) but more importantly, they are incredibly weak. I think the kenku are just hanging out or they got captured by the Zhentarim who left them there after they bail or something like that. Whatever.
I put the Zhentarim there instead. I put like 20 Zhentarim. I used the Spy statblock; they don’t have a lot of CR and at level 4 or 5, the players are real slice and dicey about killing them. They can basically carve through two of these dudes in a turn. It was *really* fun to just have the players mow down these mooks. They used the 2nd floor to their advantage, casting Grease on the stairs and creating a bottleneck and then picking them off with ranged attacks and spells. I think I might have given the Zhents 1hp and treated them as minions (see 4e). 
I think I had the police show up after they were all dead; someone heard the commotion and called the cops. I think I also put an NPC there; I shuffled around a bunch of the NPCs the module uses. (They got their quest to save Volo from Bigby in the Yawning Portal; instead of finding Volo here, I think they found my equivalent of Renaer Neverremember.) There was a day’s break between this and them going into the sewers in the next part.
The sewer introduces the Xanathar’s minions. I believe a Duergar is actually there and I took this as a sign--I made most of Xanathar’s mooks Duergar, and then decided--this dude is a Beholder and he has a Mindflayer for a lieutenant. The Xanathar’s forces should ALL be classic D&D dungeon monsters, like rust monsters and umber hulks and ropers. This gives you a wide variety of weird shit you can throw at your players at different CR levels, and the idea of a gangster Beholder who thinks hiring a bunch of umber hulks to go shake down a local deli is fucking hilarious. But, it doesn’t make them any less dangerous. Throw some umber hulks or something in this lair. Go nuts--the weirder, the better. Xanathar’s crew should have no qualm about hanging out with a gibbering mouther or a carrion crawler.
Chapter 2
Chapter 2 is the least developed chapter in the book. It also revolved around a bunch of Forgotten Realms faction nonsense that I wanted nothing to do with. I used this time instead to formally introduce the Xanathar, the Cassalanters and Jarlaxle. After they foiled his plans to rig a goldfish competition (think a dog show but for fish), the Xanathar became convinced the players worked for the Zhentarim and invited them to have a sit down about their intentions; if they worked for the Zhents he wanted to formally declare war. The players hated the Zhents--they killed an NPC they liked back during N1, partially to set this all up. Xanny was cool with that.
The Cassalanters were a way to introduce a new player. They call up the Blackstaff to say, hey we have a magic item, can you send a guy here to deliver it? (Magic item possession is illegal on the streets in my setting, but if someone important hires you to transport it, then you can do it. This makes being a courier a very lucrative job; lots of people are just carrying around other people’s stuff for a living.) They almost immediately knock out the new player sent to pick up the item, and replace him with their dofflegagher. The idea was that the dofflegagher player would then infiltrate the Blackstaff’s organization.
Blackstaff is no dumbass and hired a random dude off the street--my new player. Then, Blackstaff hired the rest of the party to go rescue him--mostly as a ruse to snuff out the Cassalanters and get evidence that they were shitty.
When they encountered the Cassalanters, I used a Cambion; one of their servants turned into him. This guy slowly became a recurring lieutenant; he was basically the Goldar for the Cassalanter’s Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa. At the time, I hadn’t read any lore for Cambions; I’m not particularly concerned with monster lore the way the guys who make the game write it. I literally thumbed through my deck of monsters, saw this winged devil horn dude, and said, “Right on, he looks like he’ll work.” A Cambion is CR5, more than suitable for the encounters the party will have with him over the next few levels. The Fiendish Charm ability is fun and can really fuck with the players; I ruled, of course, that anyone under its affect would obviously be free if the Cambion was killed. Even after it was killed, he just kept on coming back, because he’s from Hell and killing him on this plane doesn’t really do anything.
As the players continue to face the Cassalanters, a go-to seems to be spined devils. This is fine but not very powerful for a level 4, 5, 6 party. Therefore I suggest supplanting it with barbed devils. They’re CR5. Adding one or two of those to an encounter with spined devils can make this a real fun encounter that isn’t too horribly overwhelming, especially if at least one of your martial characters has a magic weapon (which they fucking should; they’re level 5!)
IMO you can also introduce Jarlaxle in this chapter; a fun way is through his Zardoz Zord persona. It could simply be that Jarlaxle knows Volo (or any other NPC the players know) and wants to invite them to a free meal to get to know them. In my game, Jarlaxle operates openly as himself (I found it would just complicate things if he was someone else) and invited the players to his yacht shortly after they met the Xanathar, to formally tell them all about the Vault of Dragons, the Stone, and how everyone they have met in the city is after it.
Chapter 3
I am not the biggest fan of this part of the module. I think nimblewrights and similar creatures are really dumb and don’t fit my D&D world. A lot of the stuff in this chapter is investigation stuff, and you can play that out however you like. It doesn’t drastically need scaling up, though you may have to account for something like Zone of Truth that they might not normally have access to. It also helps if you do the opposite of the book, and make the police a bunch of shitheads who don’t care about the city--this way the players are actually motivated to help. I’ve seen a LOT of posts that open with “the fireball happened and my players shrugged and said they would let the police handle it.” Horrible! The police should either be incompetent, apathetic, or (best case) both. They don’t care who did this and if they did, they wouldn’t be able to catch them. Now it’s completely on the players.
IMO it also helps if you do the leg work to make the NPC someone they actually care about. In the book it’s an NPC they’ve never met but they have a mutual acquaintance through--it would be nice if they get invited to a dinner with this NPC or something similar prior to this. Or, change it to be any NPC they like who you don’t mind killing. Hell, they’re level 5 or 6 at this point--if they got a cleric, they can even cast Revivify and wake the dude up. They could even cast Speak With Dead and immediately find out who blew him up or what he was doing here!
Moving on, there’s the Gralland Villa. I retooled the name to actually sound like a good name; sue me. 
The book has a bunch of Zhents hanging out here. A simple way to make this dramatic and hard is to pull the trigger and make the players fight their way in. The stone is right here at the villa and they need to steal it. Sounds simple enough.
Things got complicated for my party when a recurring NPC appeared. She was an ex girlfriend of the bard in our party; they were both Tieflings. She now worked for the Zhentarim and was basically their second in command. And she was here to steal the stone, come Hell or high water. The bard, still in love with her, was perfectly content to let her steal it and even cover her getaway. The rest of the players, not so much, but when the chaos was ensuing and she was literally running past them with the stone in hand, made the decision that it was smarter to try and help her escape and then figure out how to get the stone from her later, than try and get it from her now.
This led literally directly to chapter 4.
Chapter 4
By now it’s obvious: I used all 4 bad guys.
I ran through the chapter and picked the coolest maps and best encounter ideas, including the rooftop chase, the theater, the sewer and the courthouse. I weaved them together carefully, and all the changes I had made to the groups paid off when they entered the theater, chased by barbed devils and our Cambion friend, only to have an Umber Hulk with the Xanathar’s logo painted on his face crash through the stage, flanked by two Duergar. Add in some Drow gunslingers and it was a fucking party.
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(the large hexagon is where somebody cast Darkness; the big scuffed circle is a grody spot on my grid tiles. I still need new ones...)
The courthouse had a great scene where the Cassalanter dofflegagher impersonated the chief of police, interrogating the players for the code word to activate the stone (I added one; who cares?) until the real chief of police showed up! The players had to do an entire encounter with this guy while handcuffed; thank god for verbal only spells, right? 
From here the stone ended up with the players, and then it ended up with Jarlaxle who they are working for. Jarlaxle attuned to it and told them the Vault of Dragons is inside Undermountain; 3, 5 levels deep? Who knows? And it requires 3 keys: The Crown of Asmodeus, the Ring of Winter, and the Robe of the Archmagi.
I gave these 3 magic items to the Cassalanters, the Xanathar and Manshoon. This is a pretty common hack and it means the lairs in the book actually get used. I made up one of the magic items (Crown of Asmodeus) and stole another from a module I don’t intend to run as written (the Ring of Winter is, I believe, in either Tomb of Annihilation or Storm King’s Thunder). They’re fun!
So the rest of the campaign has been the players bouncing between going deep into Undermountain, the megadungeon underneath the Yawning Portal, and going to the 3 different villain factions to steal their shit. 
The villain lairs are NOT statted for level 5 players AT ALL. The players have no hope of actually killing ANY of the villains at level 5; to fight the Xanathar is a pure TPK at level 5. But at level 8, like where my players are now? One of them died and then got Revivified; the others all survived or made their saves when they were hit by death or disintegration. (In the spirit of the Xanathar, I rolled every eye beam randomly, rerolling if I had used that ray in the last round.) That’s about the best you can hope for with a Beholder IMO! 
The rest of the lairs you can mostly run as-is. Any very low CR mooks, basically anything lower than 1 or 2 CR, I would probably replace with a higher CR variant. We’ve already discussed what you can replace them with above, and if you’ve made it this far into the module, you should have a pretty good sense of what your players can handle.
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