#telling them it would hurt less if they just cooperated because he was out of advice and out of hope and couldnt offer anything else

[hailsatanacab]

a father's son

Happy holiday truce, @dashing-through-ecto!! I was your gifter this year, I hope you enjoy the fic! Based on your prompt: "Do you need any help, Dad?"

Word count 2.2k - ao3 link

Things have not been going well for Danny Fenton.

Not only did he fail in intercepting Lancer’s call home, so now Mom and Dad know about his latest grades—he didn’t even get enough answers for an F this time, not when he fell asleep within the first five minutes—but they also caught Jazz taking the trash out for him.

“That’s one of your chores, young man! Heaven knows you don’t have many of them, which is why you need to be responsible and actually do the ones that we give you! It’s just not good enough, Daniel James Fenton, do you hear me?”

The full name.

It’s not often he gets it, but it sucks each and every time he does.

What sucks even more is that now, with what little free time he has, he’s cleaning the lab. It’s just not fair!

Broken glass skitters along the floor as he sweeps it up into the dustpan, ectoplasm still clinging to the bottom of the beaker. 

He can’t even goof off—can’t even use his powers to finish quicker—because his dad is sitting at the workbench tinkering with whatever his newest interest is.

Great. Looks like he’s stuck cleaning the boring, human way.

The lab is quiet, but it isn’t silent. 

Ectoplasm drips, maddeningly, from the gloop stuck on the ceiling. That’s a form of torture, isn’t it? Danny’s pretty sure he’s heard that before, that the constant sound of water droplets will drive someone insane. He can relate, because this is certainly testing him.

Dad’s talking to himself, too, little murmurs about what he’s doing, where he should be soldering, how it should be working and why it isn’t. 

Vaguely, Danny wonders what he’s working on. Sure, it’s probably some ghost thing, but that’s not all they do! His parents made some pretty great advances before the portal switched on and monopolised all of their thoughts.

Yeah, that might be wishful thinking, but stranger things have happened! You never know.

Every 30 seconds, the motor on the ecto-filter whirrs into life, syphoning off the excess, pure ectoplasm from the portal and filtering it into something less volatile. In theory.

Underneath everything, the portal hums.

A droning beat that pulses in the same rhythm as his heart. Sometimes, he catches himself staring at it, leaning closer as it calls to him.

It scares him.

“Shit!” his dad shouts, dropping the soldering iron with a loud clang. 

It’s enough to knock Danny out of whatever daydream he’d lost himself in and he whirls around to see his dad sucking on one of his fingers.

They lock eyes, both widening as they realise what’s happened.

“Ah, I mean, suffering spooks! That really hurt…” He shoves his fingers back into his mouth and his shoulders droop as he considers Danny. “Don’t tell your mother.”

Danny laughs.

“Are you alright?”

“It’d take more than that to put Jack Fenton down! All good, Danno, don’t you worry,” he smiles back before shaking his hand out and turning back to whatever he was working on. “Or, I would be, if this hunk of junk was cooperating with me!”

“What’s up?” Danny asks, curiosity getting the better of him.

Normally, he likes to stay out of the lab, as much as he can. 

Obviously, what Phantom does doesn’t count. Phantom can’t help but come into the lab, set ghosts loose into the Zone, trash whatever weapons his parents have got going on, sneak out into the Zone when he can for some much needed R&R. The ectoplasm just hits different there.

“I’m trying to repurpose this toaster, but the ecto won’t run smoothly through the wiring. I think it keeps getting cooked by the element.”

“Oh? Do you need some help?”

Danny doesn’t like spending time in the lab, because if he’s in the lab then he’s either Phantom and he’s trying hard not to be seen or heard, or he’s Danny and he’s being punished.

But his curiosity is piqued.

“Yeah, come here, have a look! Perhaps another Fenton brain can knock some sense into it!”

So, he does.

Hell, anything beats cleaning the lab.

“You’re trying to run it through here?”

Dad nods and shifts in his seat to give Danny a better view.

“But you can’t, because the ecto is tripping the heating element… which is way higher than a toaster has any right to be, wow. No wonder it’s destabilising the ectoplasm, that would destabilise anything.”

Danny pokes around the casing, wiggling the wires back and forth to get a better look at the absolute mess his dad has made of it all. Sometimes it amazes him that his parents' inventions work at all.

“That’s what I’m thinking! But it has to be that high so we can completely break down the ecto!”

“You want it to break down?”

“Yep!” Dad says, clapping him on the back hard enough that he wheezes. He grins down at him when Danny turns around reproachfully. “Think of it, boyo, if we could figure out how to flash fry that ectoplasm high enough so that it evaporates—which it should do, it’s goopy gross liquid, after all!—then you wouldn’t be stuck down here cleaning for so long! We could take it to the streets after a ghost fight and clean up the whole town!”

Well, it’s not a Nobel Prize level invention… Danny’s pretty sure at this point that his parents would be laughed out by the Nobel committee. But, a quicker cleaning of the lab does sound nice.

It would mean he’d be stuck down here a lot less.

Besides… It's interesting.

“What if we…” Danny trails off and pulls the metal frame towards him, grabbing the tweezers as he goes. Vaguely, he’s aware of his dad leaning over his shoulder, the weight of him watching is a comforting presence that he’s not felt in a long while. 

The real trouble is that you need ectoplasm to affect ectoplasm, and that’s not going to work if the object of the game is to evaporate it. 

So what if they don’t introduce the reactive ecto until the end?

He makes quick work of stripping down what his dad’s already done and starts again, this time focussing on keeping the heat contained separately away from the ectoplasm. Just as he’s piecing together a trigger to concurrently shoot a blast of ecto towards the heated tip, Dad exclaims as he realises where he’s going with it.

“Oh! Danny, you’re a genius! Look at that!” Dad laughs and squints closer at what Danny’s doing. “Just wait until your mother sees this, she’s going to be so happy!”

Danny can’t help but grin as he ductapes everything to a piece of toaster casing to give it the first test try. Dad’s enthusiasm is catching as he whoops when the first puddle of ectoplasm burns off in acrid smoke.

They spend another couple of hours perfecting it, welding a case together and branding it with the Fenton F.

It’s not pretty—but then again, when are his parents’ inventions?—a long stick with a cattle-prod-like taser at the end. Instead of electricity, it launches ectoplasm from one rod and superheats the other. When activated, all you need to do is touch the tip to a puddle and poof! It’s gone.

Danny shivers as he watches another pool go up.

But, no! He’s thinking about it wrong. It’s not a cattle-prod, it’s more like one of those sticks you see people using on the highway to jab at the litter on the floor. It’s for cleaning. It’s going to make his lab cleaning chores way easier! It’s—

“Danny, just look at it!”

Danny looks at it, and then back to his father’s face when he can’t bear to see the smoking ecto anymore. It’s painfully happy and Danny does his best to be happy, too.

“Here!” Dad shoves the contraption into Danny’s arms. “You use that and finish what you’re doing and then when you’re done—I can’t believe I’m saying this, galloping ghouls, I’m so happy, I’m working with my boy—we can get to work transferring it over to the Jack o’ Nine Tails! Imagine it, Danny, with one whip and that pesky poltergeist Phantom will be gone!”

Danny freezes.

It feels as if Dad’s just dumped a bucket of ice water over him.

“Poof! Up in smoke!”

The fumes are getting to him. That must be it. His head is swimming and his stomach is churning. There’s a ringing in his ears and it melds with the sharp, stinging whirr of ectoplasm sizzling. It pulses in time with the portal behind him.

He stumbles, almost goes down—almost throws up—but it doesn’t matter. Dad doesn’t see him, already turned away back to the work bench.

It doesn’t matter.

It doesn’t matter.

You know what, it’s okay! It’ll be okay, Danny can sneak back down here later tonight and he can undo it all, it doesn’t matter!

Take a deep breath, now, finish cleaning the lab, ignore Dad—it doesn’t matter—and get this over with. Being here makes his skin crawl, he needs to finish—

“I’m so proud of you, Danny.”

For the second time, Danny stops.

Dad doesn’t say anything else, just sits with his back to him, opening and closing his hand over a screwdriver with the Jack o’ Nine Tails splayed out in front of him.

It takes longer than Danny wants to find his voice, but he manages to croak out, “What?”

“I’m proud of you, Danno. I know this year hasn’t been easy for you, don’t think we haven’t noticed. Your mom and I have been talking about how you're doing at school. We're not blind. We know kids can be cruel, and that Dash Baxter… But we're so proud of you for not rising to it. We love you so much, Danny.”

A lump grows in Danny’s throat and his eyes prickle.

His fingers bleach white where they grip the Fenton Evaporator too tight.

“Look at what you can do when you try, Danny! This is the boy that I know, this is the Danny that I love. I’m so proud of what we’ve done here today. It’ll make the world a better place, just you wait! Now, come on, boyo, pass me that soldering iron and let’s really get stuck in!”

And… And Danny does.

With shaky limbs and tears threatening to spill, Danny reaches over and passes Dad the soldering iron, watching as he gets to work, and when his dad asks him to get his hands dirty—“Here, run this wire up the rope, there’s a good boy!”—he does.

Danny does it all and he does it well.

He sucks in a deep breath, swipes a hand over his eyes, and he helps his dad.

He laughs when Dad tells his stupid jokes:

“Quick! What’s red, white, and blue all over?”

“I don’t know, Dad, what’s red, white, and blue all over?”

“A ghost that we’ve beaten into oblivion!”

And he hopes that his mom is going to be just as proud as Dad says she will be when she sees what they’ve done.

It’s easy, really.

If he doesn’t think about it, if he tucks his mind away and just lets his hands get on with it, then he’s just helping his dad and he can do that. He can do it.

He can do it.

So, no, he doesn’t sabotage what they’ve built. He doesn’t add in a failsafe. He doesn’t loosen a few screws, or overload the element, or untwist a few wires.

Danny does his best and at the end of the day his dad holds up the new and improved Jack o’ Nine Tails and absolutely beams at him. A work of art, he calls it.

Danny doesn’t sabotage it then and he won’t sabotage it later, because it’s a work of art. This is what he and his dad built. Together.

Danny can’t help but grin back, happiness curling in his belly even as it gives a sickening lurch.

He doesn’t eat dinner that night, he can’t.

He stays downstairs long enough to present the new weapon to Mom—very pointedly ignoring Jazz’s look—and then he heads upstairs. There’s an English essay he needs to get started on, after all.

He doesn’t miss the look Mom and Dad share, the fond tenderness, the love, the hope, all directed at him.

He’s happy.

They’re happy.

They’re proud of him.

And despite it all, he had fun today! 

When he lays down on his bed, he smiles and he can’t stop the laughter bubbling up as he thinks about his dad. At one point, he had been holding up a circular piece of metal he’d cannibalised from the lamp shade to his eyes, moving it back and forth as he pulled his funny faces, and some of that full belly laugh creeps back in as he remembers doing the same back.

He laughs so hard until he cries, and he cries, and he cries. 

Today, he and his dad built a weapon. 

Tomorrow, it'll be used on him, but that's okay. 

It's okay because today, today his dad was proud.

#danny phantom #holiday truce #holiday truce 2023 #jack fenton #angst fic #hope you enjoy!! sorry it's slightly late 😬 #and happy holiday truce!!!!

[raayllum]

au where finnegrin's bluffing

"No, no wait!"

The words rush out of him like water, quick and anguished, mind racing. He read the spell just once, not wanting to pay any more mind to what had been used to avenge his mother, but it'd still been burned into his brain.

"A dying breath!" he bursts, chest threatening to cave in. If Finnegrin would just turn around then—"Blood filled with hatred, and a-a unicorn horn."

Guilt and relief wage war as the captain turns to face him; the bruises on his face, the ache from the electrocution seem to hurt twice as much. Withstanding all that harm and for what? For—for Rayla, though she'd loathe it. But he can't—he can't—

Callum can't meet the pirate's eye as he swallows, admitting, "That's the dark magic you want. Just..." His chest is so tight it's hard to breathe. He manages to raise his head. It'll be worth it if Finnegrin will just—"Just let her go." His voice creaks, cracks. He's begging and they both know it.

The captain pauses, then ponders, and then grins. Then he starts to laugh, hearty and cruel.

Callum glares at him, trying to put the pieces together. He pulls at his chains. He doesn't understand, but—"What are you waiting for?" he demands. He wants to punch the man all over again, to beat him senseless and—"Tell them to let her go!"

Finnegrin wipes a tear of mirth from his eyes and then bends down, grinning. "Oh, m'boy. So gullible. Your precious elf girl was never really in any true danger."

Staring, Callum keeps struggling, but less so. The snake rattle slips down from his sleeve and into his palm for reasons he can't (or doesn't want to) explain. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, do you see her tied up?"

"No, but—"

"Can you hear her screaming?"

His ears strain. One of Finnegrin's windows is cracked open just enough to hear the constant knocking of the waves. He still wants to punch that smug sneer from just the thought of Rayla screaming off Finnegrin's stupid face. "Well no, but—"

Finnegrin sets down Bait's cage. "You were so composed overall, you know—barely even screamed. Then you saw her in pain, and well, we've discussed your little display already haven't we? Unchained and you could've taken me down easily with a spell, but no. Just nothing but pure, raw, emotion." He hefts an overdramatic sigh. "Young love, I suppose. You didn't seem to think when it came to her, and I wanted to test if that was true. If you'd give me what I wanted after all." Finnegrin adjusts his cuffs, his smirk growing. "Thought I'd try a pirate's bluff. Worked out quite nicely, wouldn't you say?"

Callum's mind is still racing, heart beating loudly in his ears as his feelings try to catch up to his mind. "Wait, so she's—"

"Safely in the brig with the rest of your little friends. For now. But if you disrespect me again, boy, we'll see just how far I have to press that on weakness to get you to cooperate. I expect you'll have an idea or two of how to track down a unicorn, won't you, once we get back to Scumport?"

Callum glowers at him, eyes burning as Finnegrin whistles while he leaves, the door thudding shut behind him.

The mage runs his thumb over the groove in the snake's rattle tail, debating.

How does he know doing dark magic a second time won't unleash Aaravos? How does he know he could make it to the others, find the others, even if he did free himself? How would they get off the ship with a storm rolling in, rain and wind lashing at the windows? A bit of water seeps onto the floor.

Callum tucks the rattle back into his sleeve.

For later, once he has the answer to his questions—because he will not let Finnegrin hurt Rayla just to get to him.

Not again.

#rayllum #canon divergence #5x08 #s5 #arc 2 #tdp #the dragon prince #AU #ficlet #my fic #a thousand times which isn't half enough #so i'll do you a favour and set you free #snake boi callum

[ghostlygeto]

wish u were here | james wilson

pairing: james wilson x reader

warnings: you just gotta hear me out guys. whats it called when it isnt technically cheating but it feels like cheating (from both parties, not on each other), entirely self indulgent and selfship coded, wilson calls reader "birdie" (cringe idc), angst. based loosely on lips of an angel by hinder and glimpse of us by joji, thats all for now plz forgive me

word count: 1.4k

wilson rubbed his eyes, trying to wipe the sleep from them as he heard his phone vibrating on the nightstand next to him. the name lighting up his screen was yours, causing him to hurriedly grab his phone and press answer.

“hello?” his voice was tired, still laced with the deep sleep he was pulled from for this phone call. “y/n, you know it’s almost three in the morning, right?” wilson slowly removed the covers from his legs, trying his best not to wake his fiance sleeping next to him.

“james,” the soft exhale of his name made his heart ache. how long had it been since you last spoke? “sorry, i know it’s late. it’s probably stupid to call you i just…” the small sob caught him off guard.

“are you crying?” wilson closed the bathroom door, still keeping his voice down just in case. “is everything okay?”

there was a hesitation on the other end of the phone and he could feel it. you were trying to find a way around telling him the truth. “birdie, you know you can trust me.”

birdie. that godawful, stupid nickname you used to hate. you used to roll your eyes every time he’d use it to get your attention, or let it slip in conversation with your friends and coworkers. but now it just made another cry escape your lips. you missed it, you missed him.

“just miss you,” you whispered, trying to keep your voice down as well. “we’ve been fighting a lot lately. and you were in my dream last night- it just felt right to call you.”

wilson sighed. he was relieved to hear that you were okay, his heart rate steadying. though he couldn’t help the annoyed feeling that overtook him as you mentioned your current boyfriend. “i’m glad you’re safe, but you know you really shouldn’t have-”

“can we save the lecture for another time, james?” you let out a shaky laugh. you don’t know what else you expected from him, “i just wanted to hear your voice.”

his free hand ran over his face, trying to rationalize it in his head. it would be okay if he spoke to you, right? just speaking on the phone isn’t wrong, and it wouldn’t hurt anyone. right?

“i can stay on for a little bit. but not too long, if she were to find out i’m on the phone with you it’ll just cause a fight.” wilson sat on the cool tile of his bathroom floor, back against the door. his eyes closed as he listened to the sound of your voice through the phone. “do you need to talk about the fights?”

“it hasn’t been anything serious. it just seems like he’s always angry, i can never win with him.” you sigh, “maybe i’m just too busy comparing him to you all the time. i know i shouldn’t. but it’s hard not to.”

wilson wanted to provide you some sort of comfort, let you know that he often did the same with his fiance. “have you still been going to therapy?”

“yeah.” you answer quickly, remembering how he urged you to talk to someone after you two split, because it would be good for you. “she doesn’t know much about my current partner, though. i don’t like to talk about him.” i don’t love him. you wanted to say, but bit your tongue. you weren’t sure if that would help or hurt anything. probably hurt, if you had to guess.

“if you don’t tell her how is she supposed to help you?” you hadn’t changed a bit, and that made his heart ache. you were the exact same version of yourself that he was in love with. knowing that makes leaving you less justifiable, it makes getting over you harder. “you have to cooperate with her.”

“can you tell me about how you’ve been?” you asked, a sniffle following. “is she nice to you?” you didn’t want to talk about yourself, not really. especially not about what you have or haven’t been talking about in therapy. 

right, the two of you hadn’t spoken since breaking up. despite working at the same hospital, the two of you managed very easily to avoid each other. afterall, the morgue and the oncology department weren’t exactly wall neighbors.

“yeah, yeah she is nice to me.” wilson nodded, a small smile finding its way to his face. he loves his fiance, she’s an amazing woman. she surprises him and makes him dinner, likes watching his favorite shows with him. but… “but she isn’t you.”

you weren’t aware that four words could change your mood so quickly, feeling your stomach fill with warmth and you heart beat quickened. it was nice, in a fucked up way, to know that he missed you as much as you missed him.

“it’s frustrating,” wilson added, “seems like everytime we’re having a good moment i just think of you. wondering to myself if i would be enjoying it more if it were you.” it felt nice to say out loud, like it was a secret he had been keeping for a long time (it was). “sometimes i think she knows.”

“sometimes he does things you used to do and i swear it’s like i can see you standing there instead of him.” you confess, tears still falling down your face despite the smile. “i’m glad she treats you well. it’s what you deserve.”

what he deserves is a death sentence. he internally scolded himself, knowing that he shouldn’t be doing this. he shouldn’t be on the phone with you after not speaking for a year and a half. he was supposed to be getting married this time next year. yet here he was, sitting on his bathroom floor and talking with you, his ex on the phone at half past three in the morning.

“you deserve someone who is going to make you happy, too, y/n.” wilson swallowed harshly. why did he so badly want to be the one to make you happy? why did he feel so bothered over the thought of it being someone that isn’t him? “you should just…just dump that asshole. you know you could do better.”

you wanted to laugh. he was right, of course you could do better. “honestly when i break up with him i think it’ll be my last for awhile. i’m…tired of putting effort into people who don’t do the same.”

he wasn’t sure how many people you had seen since he broke things off with you, he had intentionally avoided that information from house because he didn’t want to know. it didn’t matter if it had been only one or several, he knew he’d hate it either way. “you can’t think like that. then you’ll never find anyone.” encouraging you to find someone else. that was the right thing to be doing here. encouraging you to seek comfort in someone that wasn’t him, or your piece of shit boyfriend. “you’ve always been so pessimistic, just try to look on the bright side of things for once, yeah?”

“you answering the phone is the only bright side i think i’ve had for awhile,” you confess with a laugh and another sniffle. you weren’t sure when you stopped crying but you were thankful you had, already feeling the headache it would bring on. “do you think we can ever be friends again?”

wilson stiffened. yes. he wanted to tell you. but he wasn’t sure that was the right answer. “i don’t know, y/n. there’s a lot that would have to happen for us to be able to be friends again.” i’d have to get over you. 

“i knew that’s what you were going to say,” you gave a lighthearted chuckle. “i should…get off of here now. it’s late. we work in the morning. goodnight, james. it was nice talking to you.”

“you, too, y/n. goodnight.” wilson listened to the call disconnect as he let his phone clatter to the ground. it had been so long, he had been doing so well not thinking of you until tonight. all it took was one little phone call for you to worm your way back into his heart.

or rather, it only took one phone call for him to remember why he never should have let you go to begin with.

i rly am amazed that im posting this in 2023 but he is literally the love of my life right now. comments, reblogs, and likes appreciated!

#james wilson x reader #dr james wilson x reader #wilson x reader #house md x reader #mine !! #jami !! #this is about my selfship. js.

[bluebayousblog]

RUMOR HAS IT (pt. 7)

(Drew Starkey one-shot)

This is not a full on story but if you want more l'll be happy to add on upon request

Plot: in which drew and isobel address a false rumor in the most abstract of ways

Setting: dinner with the cooper’s and starkey’s

Disclaimer: Isobel is an OC, 18+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

PART 6

The holidays’ with the Cooper and Starkey family were filled with a multitude of dinners, business events, and surprises that did not seem to dim as the years have passed by. Since Isobel and Drew left for college they made it a tradition to host a dinner in honor of their return from fall semester of school. Each year they alternated hosts, and since Drew’s family hosted last year they were having dinner at Isobel’s.

She loved coming home for the holiday’s and spending time with her parents. Being so far away gave her a lot of opportunity to miss them, and most of the time when her mother, Lora, came up stairs to question her until she worked her way up to asking about a possible boyfriend she didn’t mind, but this year was different and the reason was because of the boy who was downstairs hopefully keeping his cool around their fathers.

“Isobel, I just refuse to believe no man has tried to get your attention at University.” Her mom exasperated, her hands waving in the air with so much sass. She was so animated, something Isobel always found endearing about her. She also has inherited this dramatic characteristic, but it came out most when she was around her, when she was the most comfortable to truly be herself.

She hated how it was inevitable that she was going to have to lie to her mother over the course of the break. Sure, she didn’t have to share all of her personal business with her, but it didn’t make her feel any less guilt for pretending like she wasn’t involved with her father’s business partner’s son. The relationship they had with the Starkey family added a layer of complexity to the entire situation, and only added to her anxiety about the truth coming out.

“I’m not gonna settle for what that school has to offer, Mom.“ Isobel responded. Apart from her dwindling interest in dating since her last relationship, she’d always lived by this sentiment ever since being exposed to what her college had to offer. There were cute guys of course, but none she would enter into a serious relationship with.

Drew did not fall into that category of men that attended her university for a multitude of reasons. She’d known him going on ten years now, he was the son of a very successful man that happened to be in business with her father, and above all else he was a friend—something she was realizing meant much more to her then it did a few weeks ago.

It was an effort to meet her mother’s gaze, but when she did it her eyes were filled with what seemed to be pride. When tears slithered onto her water line she knew her mother was about to start gushing and getting all sentimental as she did every time they were apart, “I just don’t know how I got so lucky to have such a resilient woman as my daughter.”

Isobel’s heart squeezed, her mother always had the ability to appreciate the things about her that truly mattered. She still complimented her beauty more than anyone she knew, but from a young age before she matured physically, she always felt special with what she had to offer internally because of her.

“Mom, I’m the lucky one.” She wrapped her arms around her in a gentle hug, Isobel knew her mom would be the most understanding when it came to finding out about Drew, even if their relationship never progressed past what it was currently, but she also knew it would hurt her to know Isobel felt she couldn’t confide in her. She’d always known Isobel had trouble expressing her feelings, and because of that she never pressured her into it—but still when Lora found out she’d waited weeks to tell anyone she was being cheated on, she held her in her arms so long it made it up for all the time Isobel had spent hurting in silence, “I promise you will be the first to know when there’s another guy.”

Drew had always been in her life, and though he seemed to now view her as more than a friend, that’s all it was at the moment. Lust and pure infatuation. Neither one of them had expressed wanting more, and to Isobel a few hookups was not worth spilling the beans to her family or friends—especially with his past. She’d already been the girl who was blindly cheated on, and she did not want to be viewed as just another one of Drew’s conquests. She knew she wouldn’t be able to take the pity this time because she knows what she is getting herself into and how it could potentially end—and to Isobel that was far worse.

“You only tell me when you’re ready.” Her mother stated, sighing before standing to walk into her closet to fetch the dresses she purchased for her to wear to different occasions over break. Isobel knew she was spoiled, but her mother took pride in refreshing her closet when she was away, and if she objected she would only be ignored, “Okay, my darling girl black satin or white satin with pearls.”

The emphasis on the last option told her which dress her mother was leaning towards, “Mom, I’m twenty-two I can dress myself.”

“I know you can, but let me have my fun during the holidays, this was my favorite thing to do when you were a little girl.” She gave Isobel the the widest smile, one that she passed down to her, raising the white dress up higher in the air now completely revealing her preference of the two choices.

Isobel playfully rolled her eyes with a sigh before taking the hangers from her hands and slipping in the bathroom to get ready.

Drew’s parents and brother were on the way when he went into one of the guest rooms of what had practically been his second home for the last decade. He packed a suit so he could just get ready and save the hassle of driving to his house and back.

Clad in a casual dinner attire, black slacks and a green button up with no tie, he stepped out of the room he’d spent so many nights in. As soon as the door latched shut his father’s voice could be heard from the formal den where they always had cocktails before dinner, “…everything is set up for him, let’s just hope he doesn’t go back on his word in the next five months.”

He knew his father was talking about him and the job offer that had been waiting for Drew ever since he walked across that stage at his high school graduation. He’d been allowed a grace period before he accepted his fate, in which he tried to find different passions in college but nothing ever stuck—everything led back to Cooper & Starkey Inc. Charles Starkey didn’t like Drew’s hesitation in joining the family business, he’d always made that known, especially in the last four years, and when he wasn’t verbalizing it you could see the disapproval set deep in his eyes. He still had a great relationship with his father, but he hated how the topic of Drew’s future could so easily damper their bond.

“Well isn’t it the man of the hour, Drew.” Richard Cooper’s deep voice barreled through the room, a smile spread across his lips that reminded him of the girl that had been clawing at his mind for the past few weeks.

Drew greeted him with a handshake, to which the massive man yanked his arm and pulled him into a hug. They patted each other on the back as men tended to do, and Drew once again found himself wondering how Richard found himself in finance when he looked like a competing body builder. He’d always reminded him of Mr. Bubbles from Lilo & Stitch, it was his first impression of him that first day he came over to meet with his father to start their company. He always appreciated that Richard never pressured him into making a decision about the job offer, though he wasn’t his father, they were so close that his opinion did mean something. And those days when Charles was coming down on him about procrastinating, Richard simply telling Drew to take his time meant more than he knew.

“How are you, Cooper?” Drew smiled as they pulled away and sighed in amusement when he began dramatically inspecting him for anything out of place as he always did. Richard always thought that Mr. Cooper was too formal for how much time their families spent with each other, so they settled on Drew just calling him Cooper years ago. His eye twitched at the idea of him somehow picking up that he’d been messing around with his daughter just from the simple once over.

“I trust you got Isobel home without any issues.” His father interjected completely killing the moment—just as he was serious about the company he had the same attitude toward’s Richard’s daughter, especially if Drew had anything to do with her. He swiftly stood up from the sofa and walking over towards them with his younger brother Chandler following behind. Charles also looked extremely well for his age, not as built as Cooper but still youthful nonetheless.

Chandler’s eyes brightened at the mentioning of Isobel and it took all of Drew’s restraint not to visibly show his annoyance at how pathetic his little brother’s crush on her was. It started two years ago when he turned sixteen, they were all home for the summer in the back by the family pool when Isobel showed up in a little black bikini that would push him over the edge if he ever saw her in it now. But it was his little brother who’d taken a long, thorough look at Isobel and hadn’t been the same since. Everytime she was around Chandler’s face turned entirely red while his mouth was hindered useless in her presence.

Everyone found his little crush endearing and harmless, she was obviously older so nothing would ever come out of it—and it definitely was not reciprocated on her end. The entire family teased Chandler about it, but now that he was maturing and graduating high school this year Drew hoped his infatuation for her would die down a bit. He found it pathetic to be in a situation where he was jealous of his little brother crushing on the girl he was hooking up with, though the fact that he saw Isobel in a romantic aspect before he ever did was at the very forefront of his mind.

Drew had gotten to her first in a physical way, but actually noticing her for all she was and the little things that really mattered—he’d came up short—and that made him feel like the biggest fool.

“Relax, Charles, she’s upstairs in her room with Lora getting ready.” Cooper cracked a smile at how unnecessarily serious Drew’s father could get. His father just shrugged his shoulder’s as if he were saying ‘can you blame me for asking?’

The boy ignored his old man, taking a sip of his whiskey to simmer the annoyance rumbling in his chest, he knew he could be unreliable, but if there was a thing they could trust him with it was Isobel. “How’s it going, kid?” Drew asked Chandler, who always seemed to be on their dad’s good side.

“Everything’s good, it’ll be even better soon.” He gave Drew a lopsided grin, his eyes stuck on the entrance to the den, obviously anticipating someone’s arrival.

Cooper and his father had broken off into their own conversation near the bar, so Drew decided to mess with Chandler a little before everyone came down, “You know you’re eighteen now, don’t you think it’s about time you stop obsessing over the girl?”

“I actually think the opposite, that just means I’m now man enough to handle a woman that fine.” Chandler finally settled his sole attention on Drew, most likely just interested in the subject of the conversation, “You do know she is a woman right, Drew?”

He knew Chandler wasn’t referring to Isobel’s age, but his obvious blindness towards her. All the time they’d all spent together, and Drew had never shown any attraction towards her. It had never been a thought between the families, no encouragement for the two to date—if anything his father subliminally insisted on the exact opposite.

He was always content with their lack of interest in their relationship, especially with going to a prestigious high school where teenagers were being coerced into modern day arranged relationships like it was a sport. Now thinking back it would’ve felt nice if their family felt he was suited to to take care of Isobel, because the way his head was turning now it would be his absolute honor. Though, he couldn’t blame them for never seeing the stability in a potential relationship between Drew and Isobel. Not once had he shown them an instance where he could be man enough to be a good boyfriend to a woman, let alone to their precious gem. They didn’t deem him worthy of possessing such treasure, as he wasn’t sure he was either.

He’d shown he could protect Isobel but not love her the way she deserved to be loved.

“That girl is so gorgeous, Richard, you and Lora created an angel.” His mother’s velvety voice flowed into the room before he could respond to his brother whose attention was now back on the entrance where Lora and his mom, Catherine stood, “Drew, baby, come give your mommy a hug my little bear.”

Drew immediately walked over despite his head hanging low, ears burning in embarrassment at the nickname she insisted using at all times. He loved her regardless of the various endearments because where his father put fear of him being a disappointment she always made up for, “I missed you Mom.”

The way that his mom loved him made him feel like he was capable of spreading that same feeling to someone else, because if he could love his mom that much he could definitely love another woman just as effortlessly. When they finally pulled apart she grabbed his face in admiration before quickly falling back into conversation with Lora about whatever they’d been doing upstairs with Isobel.

“Get all your compliments out about Isobel before she comes down, you know she hates being the center of attention.” Lora softly smiled, they were both extremely reserved at times, and for a split second Drew saw an uncanny glimpse of Isobel in her. Of course they’d always reminded him of each other but now seeing the similarities left more of meaningful impression.

“I find that extremely ironic seeing as she’s always the last person to be ready.” Cooper’s humor pulled a laugh out of everyone in the room as it always did.

He could put a smile on everyone’s face even when it wasn’t his intent, it made him all the more likable to more than just their family, and Drew wondered if a man like Cooper would approve of him being with his daughter.

“Let’s have another drink before the princess gets her hand’s on the champagne.” Even her parents knew about her tendency to be a lightweight. Isobel had accidentally over served herself, and by over served that just meant having two glasses of champagne one night at a business event their father’s hosted after she turned twenty one. Drew tried to keep her intoxicated state under wraps, but when she got up to go to the restroom and knocked over the welcome sign it was no use. No one took it too seriously if anything it made the night that much more enjoyable, that’s what he enjoyed about his family when they were surrounded by the Cooper’s, everything felt so much lighter.

It was similar to how he felt these past three weeks with Isobel, and it was nothing like he felt before.

“What are you all laughing about?” Isobel suddenly graced the room with effortless strides.

She was wearing a silky black dress that adorned her body in a way that made Drew’s stomach twist in a knot and heart squeeze in his chest. He knew from the sight of the bronze gleam on her naked shoulders that she smelled divine and his nose itched to smell her intoxicating scent. Her hair was pulled from her face, falling behind her back with the tips most likely grazing the top of her backside. He’d noticed that about her the other night at his party, how her hair swayed just above her ass in a tempting gesture as she walked away from him to leave the house and take the girls to the bar.

“Nothing to worry your head about my girl.” Cooper answered as he stared at her with evident pride in his eyes saving her the embarrassment of bringing up her little drunken indiscretion.

It always baffled Drew how Isobel could walk into a room like she didn’t have the ability to steal everyone’s very last breathe from their lungs. Always so coy and oblivious to how much of a force she truly was.

Cooper referred to Drew as the man of the hour, but the only way to appropriately describe Isobel in this moment was as the woman of the entire century.

“I hate to admit it but she’s always had better taste than me.” He heard Lora mumbling to his mother and he smiled knowing they’d been up there trying to dress her up. “Stop that Lora, the white dress will be perfect for the cocktail tomorrow night.” his mom comforted her friend.

He forced himself to look away from Isobel before he did something she would deem obvious to their situation, looking over to see Chandler’s face red with heat as expected, his blue eyes wide with awe, “Think you’ll be able to actually form a sentence for her this time Chan?”

Isobel rushed to to hug everyone, she genuinely missed every person in his room while she was away and the time it took to get through all of them said as much. Chandler cheeks bloomed as he shyly wrapped his arms around her, giving her a simple wave and a quiet ‘hi’ when she pulled away, and she couldn’t help but giggle to herself as she turned towards Charles to greet her second favorite man.

She saved Drew for last and as she approached him bearing a suit on his lean body it dawned on her it probably would’ve of been easier to just get him out of the way first because she knew no matter how short she was in his embrace it would leave lasting effects on her body long after. She moved towards him before she could overthink and draw more attention. She all but tripped into his arms, Drew catching her body so swiftly no one seemed to notice her little stumble.

“Careful there, Is.” Drew whispered while his hands held her waist, but for her that may as well have been a sound bath as the words caused the deepest vibration to rumbled out out of his chest right against hers.

She turned her head and placed her ear on his chest as he squeezed her in a comfortable grip, when she heard the steady pattern of his heart beat she wondered if he could feel her’s erratically beating in her chest. She didn’t relax in his arms, she couldn’t or she would melt. The material of her dress was thin, and right now every part of his body and stitch of his suit felt like it was pressing against the entirety of the front of her. She felt both of their hearts pumping when she heard the intake of breathe from above her head, knowing he was smelling her and as weird as it may seem it only made heat rush down her spine. Her fingers gripped the back of his suit tightly, and just as he she began to melt and Drew started to release a shaky exhale, he stepped away.

She quickly sobered, Drew standing behind her as she turned towards everyone. They had a three second hug filled with what felt like an eternity of emotions, and needed to pretend like it was nothing.

“Would you like anything to drink tonight before we go into the dining room, Honey?” Isobel’s mother asked while walking over to the counter to refresh her drink.

Alcohol would definitely ease her nerves and slow the blood that was rushing to her heart from that hug, but under these circumstances she knew it wasn’t in her best interest. She quickly glanced at Drew who was staring blankly into his glass before she turned back to her mother, “No, I’m not drinking tonight.”

Everyone proceeded to burst into laughter from all around the room and Isobel’s cheeks flushed, now more than aware of what they were talking about before she came into the den, “You guys are annoying.” She groaned before walking out of the room to the dining area, her hair swaying just as he expected.

Drew stood there amused as everyone fell in step behind her, Cooper and Lora apologizing to her with giggles spilling out after each word.

“Drew and I will join everyone shortly, don’t wait up.” His father stated, catching Drew off guard as he twisted to face him with furrowed brows. He really wasn’t in the mood for a ‘talk’ with his father that would ultimately end in both of their moods being ruined.

When he saw the pointed look on his face he relented and walked over to the sofa.

“I’m really proud of you, son.” His father’s words came off as genuine as he topped off Drew’s whiskey. Drew wanted to fully appreciate this moment, but the alcohol signified something was looming.

“Thanks, Dad.” He smiled, the two tilting their glasses as he sat adjacent to him on the feathered filled cushions.

His father sat silently, but his eyes said a thousand things as they studied him. He didn’t want to fidget under his gaze, he just wanted to sit comfortably with his dad without judgement coming from him. Drew hated how he had become used to their conversations turning sour to the point where he was bracing himself for it.

Cooper’s hearty laughter bellowed into the room from the dining area and as if on cue his father spoke, “I really am pleased that you accepted the job offer, all I ever wanted was for you to be apart of the company with us.”

In all honesty Drew had done everything he could to avoid working in the family industry. Looking back he wasn’t so sure why he’d been so adverse to the idea. It could’ve been the silver spoon he had in his mouth since he was a young boy or he could attribute it all to just plain boyish immaturity. But now with graduation a semester away it seemed like the only thing that made sense in this impending period of change. It was the same calming feeling he got the first time he kissed Isobel, as soon as he did it the feeling of facing the effects of their actions the next day didn’t scare him.

And now that two weeks had passed each intimate moment between them made him a little bit more accepting of the future.

“Yeah, it felt nice to take that next step, I’m looking forward to it.” He truthfully spoke, though he could relate his sentiments to more than just the job. As messy as getting involved with Isobel was he would never go back, it was a risk he was willing to take. He went with a curious feeling in his gut, and the more that feeling developed the more it felt like a sure thing.

Charles pulled him into a hug and in this moment Drew felt fulfilled, for once he felt like he’d made the right choice. Although, his father words from earlier rang in his ears.

Let’s just hope he doesn’t go back on his word in the next five months.

Then suddenly Isobel’s giggle flowing in the air as it traveled down the hall pulled him out of his thoughts before he spiraled in a fit of self doubt. He needed to exceed his father’s expectations but on his own terms because at the end of the day it was what Drew wanted that mattered.

“I hope nothing is happening that will jeopardize your transition to C&S, Drew.” Charles expressed after pulling away, a layer of animosity stitched within his tone.

Drew knew better than to react, he needed to tread lightly because he knew how his father moved when he was trying to get information out of him. He didn’t know exactly what he was getting at, but he didn’t want to give anything away before he could find out, “Dad I’m committed to the company you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Good because otherwise I’d advise you to end whatever could affect that.” He spoke hypothetically, but the the look in his eyes held exactly what Isobel was trying to avoid. She would have a freak out if she knew this conversation was going on. Or was he just being paranoid? “I’m positive it won’t come to that.” Drew reassured him then knocked back the rest of his drink, making the lie all the more bitter on his tongue.

Charles got up with a laugh and glanced at Drew, shaking his head in amusement at whatever was going on in that wandering mind of his, “You’re really quick with your hands you know, but that’s what I should expect after all those years of baseball right?”

His father again chuckled to himself at his own words. Drew had felt a a number of things during that short hug with Isobel, and he was sure she did too—like a mutual feeling between the two that they kept to themselves. Though it only took Isobel’s tiny stumble and him catching her to raise his father’s suspicions.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART EIGHT

#outer banks #drew starkey #drew starkey smut #drew starkey x black reader #drew starkey x black!oc #drew starkey x oc #drew starkey x reader #obx fandom #obx jj maybank #rafe cameron #rafe imagine #rafe outer banks #rafe cameron x smut #rafe obx #rafe smut #rafe cameron smut #rafe x reader #rafe cameron x reader #drew #drew starkey content #black oc #x black fem reader #black #obx imagine #obx3 #obx smut #jj maybank #jiara #obx #college romance

[otteranha]

High Noon

part 1 Part 2 of Steve tries to get the Party to watch Westerns with him...

Years of waking up at stupid o’clock for swim practice left Steve a permanent early riser. After the movie (Short Circuit- which had just come out and everyone was dying to watch, he probably shouldn’t have tried to compete with that) and playing games until past midnight the rest of the group was still passed out in the living room. The older kids, seeming to sense at least a little bit that Steve’s feelings were hurt, steered them into board games instead of D&D for once and he had actually enjoyed himself. 

Now it was almost 6 in the morning and he was wide awake, Robin snoring quietly beside him, grey light streaming through his window. A sort of sad feeling curled up somewhere between his stomach and his ribs and Steve had the urge to do something he hadn’t done since he was a little kid. He padded down to the living room, navigating around sleeping bodies in his socked feet and took the tape of High Noon upstairs with him. Down the hall, into his parents’ bedroom.

There was a big screen tv in here too, and a vcr although they almost never used it. When Steve was young and they would stay out late he used to curl up on their bed and fall asleep with the tv on. The babysitters always liked to use the downstairs television after his bedtime but Steve had a hard time falling asleep in his own room without at least one of his parents home. They didn’t get mad when they came home and found him asleep, as long as he used the throw blanket and didn’t mess up the duvet, his mother would kiss the top of his head and his father would carry him back to his own room. It was the only way his father ever tucked him in. 

The room now had the church-like silence of someplace that is more for remembering than for living in, despite being meticulously cleaned once every other week. Steve slid the video in and curled up in his old spot in the middle of the king size bed. As the credits played, the door to his parents room pushed open and he heard footsteps. Eleven poked her head around the door and gazed at him.

“Hey, did I wake you?” 

She shook her head no. “Can I stay? she asked.

“You want to watch with me? It’s one of the boring ones from last night.”

“I don’t care. It will be less boring than sitting down stairs awake all alone.”

“Ok.” They watch together in companionable silence for a bit. El makes admiring noises at how pretty Grace Kelly and Katy Jurado are, how they tell the men around them that they’ve made their own decisions about their own lives. After a while Steve senses a kind of restlessness in her. Figures, he thinks, she’s probably bored. 

“Can I ask questions?” El interrupts his thoughts. That is not what he was expecting. 

“Sure, shoot.”

“You won’t mind? Sometimes I have a lot of questions and it makes my friends not have fun watching the movie with me.”

“I don’t mind,” and he doesn’t. 

She asks questions but mostly she just reacts to the movie. Every time somebody else turns Gary Cooper away and refuses to stand beside him against the oncoming villain she tenses. When Grace Kelly professes her belief in peace and her Quaker religion but decides to stand and fight anyway she smiles. Two thirds of the way through the movie, with the tension at its highest she asks him to pause it.

“Mike doesn’t like to tell the endings. That’s called spoilers because it spoils the movie, so you don’t have to tell the ending but can you just say if it’s happy or sad?”

Her little face is so serious it kind of melts his heart. “It’s happy.” They’re almost at the end when the sounds of life can be heard from downstairs. There’s voices in the hall, looking for Steve and Eleven and then Dustin, Mike, Will, Max and Lucas all pour into his parents room. 

“Whoa! You have another tv up here, that’s amazing!” says Dustin. They’re all looking around like they’ve just discovered an ancient pyramid. “How come you never let us in here before?”

“We can watch two movies at once!” says Lucas.

“No,” Steve says, “You can’t. I can, because it’s my house. Everybody out now.” Damn, he’ll probably have to start locking his parents’ door again. It’s almost as bad as when he used to have his old high school keggers, except he’s liable to find random groups of teens in corners painting miniatures instead of doing body shots. “Downstairs now, skeddadle.” The commotion has happily robbed Robin and Eddie of their continued sleep and Steve foists breakfast duties onto them.

As he’s leaving Mike stops and stares at the paused movie. “Are you watching Steve’s movie?”

“Yes,” says Eleven, “It is very good. Please can we finish it before breakfast Steve?”

“Eleven can stay, everybody else go help with breakfast and start putting my couches back together.” They fuss but file out, all except Mike.

“Well if El’s staying can’t I stay too?”

This kid. This has to be his most exasperating kid. “There’s like, fifteen minutes left.” Steve sighs, “Fine, you can stay but you can’t talk- Eleven can talk,” he clarifies, “You, Wheeler- silence. Got it?”

Mike gives him a combination nod and eye roll but he flops at the foot of the bed while they finish the movie and doesn’t make any snarky remarks.

Afterwards, Eleven tells him that it was a very good movie. Steve kind of feels like crying again but it doesn’t feel bad this time. “We could watch the other one sometime, maybe?” Eleven asks. Mike is muttering something that Steve can’t quite hear.

“Sure kid, any time.”

@nelotegreitic @sangrientojoe @its-all-ineffable @moonshadows-13 @fallingleavesinthewind @cornwallisandkerley @inmoonywetrust @samcoxramblings @ineffablecolors @goblin-eddie @theysherobinbuckley

#might do some other parts with other party members #i just love the possibilities of steve babysitting el #he's so impressed with her but also would be so protective #steve harrington #stranger things #stranger things au #stranger things fic #steve harrington watches westerns

[hiwelcometothemonstersancturary]

How do doctor appointments normally go for the toys?

Depends!

The hospital visit post-rescue went better than expected due to just how exhausted most of them were. Even Catnap didn't have the energy to do much, although he did growl at the doctors and nurses. However, after that, Angel quickly realized the toys hated how similar the hospital was to Playtime Co.'s laboratories, and if they wanted the kids to cooperate, they would need to get creative with it.

Whenever it's possible, Angel has doctors and nurses going to the house instead of the other way around. Lessens the anxiety and helps the toys get used to other humans, but most importantly, starts making them trust said doctors.

Mommy Long Legs is usually agressive. Tells the doctors she's doing better than she is, and is deadly afraid of any injections or taking meds. It takes months for her to not have to get a day or two of emotionally getting ready for an appointment, and some more before she can feel like these strangers won't hurt her.

Catnap is similar to MLL, but he only behaves because his savior (Angel) trusts these people. When he drops the savior thing it's when he finally has a panic attack over an appointment, and when he realizes that yes, he's afraid of the hospital. Dogday is the one who helps him the most with this.

Speaking of which, Dogday is surprisingly calm. He knows these are good people trying their best to help him, and after getting an emergency surgery the same day he left the factory he assigns himself the role of helping the other toys calm down. He treats appointments like a necessary evil, even if sometimes he still flinches.

Miss Delight almost cries every single time a doctor or nurse is kind to her. What do you mean there's genuinely good people out there who don't think she's a monster?! Although a bit fidgety from time to time, she doesn't panic.

Huggy, Boxy, PJ and Kissy are wary at first, growling at the humans when they approach them, but with enough talk and patience, Angel convinces them to trust the medical team. They all get free lollipops and this is their favorite part of any doctor appointment.

Poppy is weirded out, fidgety, and doesn't understand why when she KNOWS she won't be hurt, but then it hits her that she doesn't have to shut herself up and just follow along if she doesn't feel comfortable to. Doctors respecting their patients? Now that's crazy!

KickinChicken is trembling the entire time he's at the hospital, not cooperating at all. He refuses to say it, but after a few weeks Angel finds out he doesn't even understand half the things the doctors are doing. He needs it explained to him in detail and why they're doing the procedures they're doing. After a few months he becomes less aggressive, but he needs someone with him at all times or else he will have a panic attack.

TRIGGER WARNING FOR SELF DESTRUCTIVE TENDENCIES AND SELF HARM FOR THIS PARAGRAPH. Picky is strangely lethargic. She lets the doctors and nurses do whatever, thinking that if they are doing something bad for her, it's because she deserves it. Can't believe anyone should help her after what she did to her friends. Becomes better with therapy, and is a very cooperative patient, although quiet.

Bobby is so scared, asking questions and begging that no one hurts her or touches her without warning. It doesn't take too much time for her to get used to other humans, and she easily gets attached to the medical staff. Loves all of then, but is easily hurt if anyone is mean or uncaring.

Hoppy is grumpy. She actually did hit one or two doctors during her rescue, but after that it's a series of "oh how fucking great, what are you going to do to me now, uh? Uh?", almost challenging the strangers to do something drastic. Also doesn't understand what they're doing to her, but only gets grumpier as she knows more and more. "Is this actually necessary?", she asks, time and time again. Only after months to a year she starts cooperating more, and that's only because Dogday or Angel are there following her to a doctor appointment.

Crafty is completely non-verbal for the first appointments, refusing to say anything that could potentially be used against her. That, or she straight-up lies and/or makes up stories for her injuries and how she's feeling. Needs to be explained the procedures, but doesn't care too much for the details, and stops lying after warming up to the other humans.

Bubba knows and understands the majority of the procedures, and is very calm. He uses logic and facts to calm himself down, and is the one that explains what the doctors are doing when a toy asks. Despite his calm exterior, however, he did have more than one flashback or episode during an appointment, and thought he could just tank through it, as if its a normal thing to happen. Needs to be reassured and calmed down, but also demands others to treat him like he didnt just have a flashback or episode.

Bunzo and the mini toys are screaming their lungs out. He's crying and sobbing and clinging to Angel for dear life, afraid they're going to give him away to the scientists Long Legs always told him about. Needs to be calmed down and gently reassured, and refuses to leave Angel's side. After getting used to the idea of doctors not experimenting on their patients, he's very cooperative!

#the sillies have the hurties #tw self harm #poppy playtime #poppy worldwide #save everyone au #catnap #dogday #mommy long legs #kickinchicken #hoppy hopscotch #craftycorn #picky piggy #bobby bearhug #bubba bubbaphant #bunzo bunny #huggy wuggy #kissy missy #ppt poppy #poppy playtime poppy #miss delight #boxy boo #pj pug a pillar #smiling critters

[actualbird]

this sounds rly weird to say but stick with me - i wish luke would get ill in canon. obviously he has a terminal illness which would weaken his immune system and while it’s great he’s physically fit i mean SURELY he’s way more susceptible to getting seriously ill from a cold/the flu, right?? idk i think i just want to see him being taken care of bc he deserves it but also i do like the idea of him being taken care of by the nxx and them looking out for him when he gets seriously ill from a virus/bug etc etc

i got this ask Before main story 9 dropped but only after did i wanna answer it because i totally feel u.....

i feel like tot doesnt let luke get smaller ails in canon because hes already dealing With The Big One Thats Killing Him (any more wld be overkill?). and though it's also true that neurological conditions dont necessarily always affect the immune system, it's still a dang shame cuz like u, i'd adore a story where it's the others taking care of him when hes down with a bad case of the flu....and given recent main story events, i reALLY WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE TEAM HELP LUKE WITH A LOW-STAKES AIL :(((

in true luke fashion, he'd probably keep it under wraps and make excuses until his absence at an nxx meeting cannot be ignored and they crash his apartment to see him in a MISERABLE little pile of blankets trying to remedy this by himself

mc: why didnt you tell us!!!! >:O

luke: it's not a big deal :( it's just the flu and already called aaron for doctor's advice and meds and everything, i can take care of myself

vyn: have you been hydrating?

luke, nervously: ..............yyyyyes?

artem, looking in his fridge: theres nothing in here but peanut's treats, what have you been feeding yourself?

luke, still nervously: ffffood?

marius, finding a pack of sliced bread near his bed: dude, have you just been eating bread???

luke, increasingly nervously because hes fighting for his life out here: i cant stomach anything else for some reason!!!

mc: uh huhhhh, you seem to be doing a Great job at taking care of this yourself :/

luke: ;-;

cue the team helping out: helping in cleaning the place up (when luke is miserable his place gets even Messier), cooking simple foods (artem's soup to the rescue), etc etc. luke would be So apologetic during the whole thing, constantly apologizing for being a bother, which is both depressing and grating to hear. mc almost wants to take two piece of sliced bread and sandwich luke's face in them to tell him "STOP SAYING SORRY!!!" but she knows thatll probably make him feel worse, so she restrains herself

for all luke's apologizing, he does feel better with the team helping out. but then he feels bad about feeling better (because HOW DARE HE....AFTER HE INCONVENIENCED THEM ALL!!!) and it's this terrible ouroboros of shame

eventually, mc sends the other boys out on a grocery run to help stock luke's fridge with fruits and other good snacks-for-sick-person, and alone in luke's apartment she sits next to him.

mc: hey, tell me the truth. you knew you were doing a cruddy job at looking after yourself, you knew you shouldve asked for help. why didnt you?

luke: ...i dont...like it...i dont like you or the others seeing me like this

mc: pathetic?

luke: i mean, yeah. but i meant....sick. i dont like you guys seeing me sick. because of, yknow.....being sick and useless and helpless, it feels like a prelude, and everyone else is burdened picking up the pieces around me.

mc: oh

luke: yeah

mc: hm. youre an idiot

luke: ????

mc: i cant speak for the others, but i can tell you that i surely dont mind seeing you like this if it means i can help. dont you always tell me to rely on you more? how about you return the favor, luke. let us help, sometimes. let me help.

and we all know shes way too good at setting up a winning argument.

by the time the others get back, luke is a more cooperative patient and a less-apologetic one. in the back of his mind, he figures it cant hurt to let himself feel okay getting help every once in a while.

#tears of themis #if theres no comfort in main story then homemade is fine... #luke pearce #tot rosa #asks #anon #tot luke #xia yan

[j-jinxee]

RUNAWAY ☆

TYPE - Criminal! Tyler Joseph x Reader

WARNINGS - Small wounds, guns, police, smn gets tased, kissing.

A/N - aight guys so I'm too impatient to write an actual story and like, make a proper beginning yk? So let's just pretend I wrote an actual start and move on, sick.

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

You began to pull into a roadside motel. After a full day of driving with this stranger, all you wanted was to get out of this car. You knew Tyler wouldn't actually hurt you, he just needed to act as if he would to stall the police. You'd met Tyler that morning, at your usual coffee shop. He'd been politely asking people for money, simply to get a cab and get as far away from here as he possibly could. When he asked you, you decided to engage in conversation, his demeanour intrigued you. Although, you couldn't recall the conversation due to all the intense events that happened afterwards. Which lead you to end up here, in the middle of nowhere in some sketchy motel, with a criminal stranger.

Tyler hadn't said much about himself, just that he needed to get far away from here, but he had no money. Saying that he got involved with the "wrong people" and can't get out of it now.

You both made your way out of the car, Tyler walked a little faster than you, probably to minimise the amount of people seeing him. Making his way to the front desk and asking for a room, you strolled around the lobby, looking at this rundown little establishment that you probably never had known about if it wasn't for today. You assumed you'd be ok out here, Tyler wasn't a famous criminal or anything, and even if the police did find you, they'd think he held you hostage, not that you were cooperating with him. You only cooperated because he had a gun, sure you could tell he'd never use it, but it's still intimidating when someone's pointing it at you.

"Hey, cmon.." you heard Tyler call as he started walking towards the steps. You hurried behind him and made your way to the room, being greeted by peeling wallpaper and a TV that didn't work, but atleast the beds looked clean. Already feeling sleepy when you sat down, since your adrenaline had shot up multiple times today, really taking its toll on you, but you couldn't fall asleep just yet. You needed to take your makeup off, brush your teeth, you know the regular night stuff.

Before you could even check if the motel provided toothbrushes, Tyler had already shut and locked the bathroom door. You weren't mad, but he could've said something to be less rude. You assumed he was showering, since that's the only reason to lock the bathroom door, so you just waited for your turn.

After about two minutes, your thoughts were interrupted by faint sounds coming from the bathroom. Small noises of discomfort, every few seconds, what was he doing? You got up and knocked on the door, "you ok in there?" "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Can I come in?" You asked quietly, "sure." You heard the lock click, allowing the door to open. Your eyes were met with the sight of Tyler attempting to get the shards of glass out of the small cuts on his face. They'd been there all day, but this is the first time he'd gotten to a mirror. "Woah! hey hey nonono, don't do it like that. You'll cut your fingers aswell." He was attempting to just pull them out with his hands, which would've been fine if his hands weren't shaking. Thankfully you happened to have tweezers in your pocket, so you asked him to sit down and have you take them out for him.

"Can I... ?" You referred to touching his face to keep your hands steady. He gave you a slight nod, making you proceed with the small operation. There were three small slits on his left cheek, two on the bridge of his nose, and one on his right eyebrow. You thought it'd be best to not ask how he got these, he seemed like he wanted to act as if it didn't happen. He avoided eye contact the whole time, looking anywhere but your face, making it hard for you to concentrate. While delicately picking out the glass from his skin, you absent mindedly studied his features. His messy brown hair that framed his face perfectly, his dark eyes that may not have looked at you, but you could still tell were mesmerising, and his scars, even though they hurt, they weirdly suited him.

"All done!" You said smiling, you'd usually disinfect them too but, you didn't exactly have the right equipment to do so in this tiny motel room. So you substituted with cutips and water, sure it wouldn't keep bacteria out, but it'll atleast get the dry blood off. "Stay there" you told him, going to grab some cutips from the bathroom. Coming back with a few damp ones, you gently held his face up and wiped off the blood. His eyes finally looked up to meet yours, you felt inclined to hold eye contact, but you were half way through a job.

"Ok, done for real now" You smiled, though his first reaction was to reach up and touch his wounds. "Don't do that! You'll make them worse." He seemed to listen, even if it was a bad habit he had. "Thankyou" he looked up at you, "you've been the first to treat me like a human in a while." You saddened hearing his statement, "Tyler..." you began, "you don't have to tell me but, what exactly got you here?" Saying you were eager to know was an understatement, but you weren't gonna push his boundaries, even if he dragged you into something you never wanted to be a part of.

He started with a sigh, then quietly explained the events that lead to this. Telling you how he desperately needed to help out his parents, leading him to work for the wrong people, and getting wrapped up with their shit in the process. They forced him to do things that'd land him in prison for life, but he'd made a mistake, now the police were after him aswell as those shady pricks. His voices started to shake, causing you to look at him properly, his eyes were watering as tears began to fall, landing on the dirty carpet beneath him. Saying he just wanted out of all this, "I've put you in danger now too I- I just, fuck. I can't do this anymore" he stood up and started talking with his hands more, gesturing to himself and you. Saying he's just sick of hurting people when his soul intention was to help. You realised you'd probably get kicked out if he got any louder, so you had to stop him gently.

"Tyler, Tyler hey" you placed your hands on his forearms, stopping his frantic gestures. He stopped and looked you right in the eyes, you could see how broken and tired he felt. "This isn't your fault. You had no way of knowing, I can tell you meant well, ok?" You spoke softly, attempting to calm him down with your words. "Anyone would've made the same mistake, it's just hard for others to see when they're not in the same position as you." You reached up to wipe the tears off his face, "I can tell you're a good person, that's why I haven't tried to run. I haven't felt threatened by you at all." You could see his eyes gain a tiny bit of light, "I will stay, and help you get out, ok?"

His dark eyes stared right back into yours. After a few seconds of comfortable silence, they darted to different points of your face, going from your eyes to your lips, analysing them quite obviously. They landed back on your eyes once more, his lips separated, "can I kiss you?" You felt an involuntary smile creep onto your lips, "sure" he leant in and closed the gap between you both, your hands still on his face and jawline. You felt him smile aswell, both of you were comforted by the complete stranger touching your lips right now, why?

This was the last place you expected to be today, feeling this wanted criminal so intently while he was pressed up against you. You both pulled away for air, but not before opening your eyes to gaze into eachothers souls. His eyes regained some light as he saw further and further into your beautiful iris'. You didn't even know this boys last name, but right now, the only thing you wanted was to be around him, he gave you a new sense of life.

Just for all of that to be interrupted by a familiar sound of the door being kicked down. You both jumped and let go of eachother, facing towards the now busted open door as police rapidly came into the room. You looked at Tyler in a panic, forgetting they were only after him, just for him to get tased immediately. He fell onto the bed and started screaming in pain, "Stop! Stop it! He didn't hurt me!" You immediately stated to the police. He was cuffed and dragged out of the room in an instant, you were pretty sure he was also knocked unconscious. An officer came over to you, "Let's get you outta here, we'll get started on pressing charges don't worry." "No! I don't want to press charges!" You stated desperately, hoping to explain everything that's actually happened before Tyler gets taken away in their car. They didn't stop though, hauling him off aggressively and shoving him into the car, he wasn't exactly innocent, but if they could just listen to him explain the full story- I'm sure they could understand.

The sirens echoed through your head as you started to dissociate, you had no idea what would happen now. ----------------------------------------------------

This is so random pls but I love Criminal Tyler who's actually innocent hehe <33 anyway I should write for Josh now aye.

#smut #fluff #fanfiction #angst #twenty one pilots #twenty øne piløts #tøp #tøp clique #twenty one pilots fanfic #twenty one pilots fanfiction #tyler #tyler x reader #x reader #tyler joseph #tyler joseph x reader #josh dun #fanfic #intimacy #intimate #lemon #lime #clancy #blurryface

[gaycrittercentral]

So have you thought about the max and Sam vices meeting yet?

Welp, I don’t think it’d be a good thing, that’s for sure! (hi I'm home now and I've been having a lot of fun thinking about this teehee)

I know one thing, if sinful Sam and blissed Max met it’d be really funny and also awful lmao. Like y’all know how bliss Max is, he’d be all maddeningly cheerful and pleasant and sinful Sam would fucking hate that and probably throw him into a wall within seconds of meeting him (*extremely calm, happy-sounding “whee!”*) honestly they make me hope that this is a situation where their normal, non-separated partners are there to prevent a fight and help them out in general, because if not, somebody’s definitely gonna get hurt. Actually it’s more interesting if Hugh Bliss yeeted all the vices out of Max and the virtues out of Sam at the same time just to make things hard for them (and it would also leave the world Blissified for waaaay longer because none of them are going to cooperate easily).

Now let’s see, who makes for interesting interactions…

Temperance and Gluttony would have a pretty short-lived little encounter lmao. Temperance gets about five seconds to approach and be like “Now, Max, you know having that much sugar and carbohydrates at once isn’t good for you—here, I found this healthy snack in aisle 2 that’s much more filling!” And Gluttony’s like “ohhhh you do look like a good snack! Thanks for the offer!” And instantly eats him lmao. Hopefully somebody holding the gastrokinesis talisman gets swallowed later and rescues him hfkdhsjh

Speaking of Temperance, he might be the only one to actually try to put himself and Max back together. Blissed Max and sin Sam both feel kind of free without the missing aspects of their personalities, even though they’d miss them if they had all their wits intact, and all the other virtues and vices are too caught up in doing the extreme of their own thing to worry about coming back together. But extremes are not Temperance’s thing, and it’s freaking him out to be split apart like this, so he’d be all for reuniting everyone. He’d probably try to recruit some of the others to help out, maybe by asking Patience for advice or getting bliss Max on board because he’s just willing to go with the flow no matter what. I’m sure some of the others would also help, like Kindness (to a degree, at least—he doesn’t want to get reunited with the others because he insists he’s got more good works to do) or Charity (who’s very useful if you want him to deliver items or people to various places, you just tell him it’s a gift for someone lmao) and maybe even some of Max’s vices, although most of them seem to just want to do their own thing. I feel like Lust and Greed could be persuaded into going along with the plan if they were promised kisses or riches.

I would feel extremely bad for Sloth if he had to interact with Diligence. That guy sucks. It might be sort of an unstoppable force versus immovable object situation though lmao, he’s like “get up right now we have work to do!! You cannot just lie around all day!!!!” “Sure, whatever. Just gimme five more minutes…” As for why Diligence even wants Sloth to get up and help him, it’s less that he values Sloth’s help and more that he can’t stand seeing people rest for any amount of time eugh. Extreme wet blanket (maybe he springs from the horrible ‘constant productivity’ mentality that capitalism has foisted upon us all, although luckily Sam doesn’t usually seem to struggle with that).

And LMAO I’d love to see Wrath and Patience interact, especially since I established Patience as being inexplicably indestructible. Definitely another unstoppable/immovable situation. Wrath might not care about him initially because he’s sitting still and not very interesting, but the second Patience decides to spout some infuriatingly calm, know-it-all wisdom, he’s made himself a target. Maybe Wrath spends like 20 minutes shooting at him and screaming with no reaction from Patience before he resorts to physical violence instead and just goes to town biting and beating the hell out of him. If he’s really unlucky and gets close enough, Patience might decide to subdue him with a hug, and then he’s just screaming his head off and gnawing on Patience’s arms until he can finally squirm back out. Not sure whether he would just keep trying to kill him because of the challenge or get frustrated and leave to assault somebody a little less bulletproof, but it’d be funny anyhow!

Another interesting one with Wrath would be Kindness, who would probably assume he was having a bad time and try to help him calm down at first, only to of course be shot at immediately. I don’t think the rest of the virtues are bulletproof—that’s just a weird Patience thing—so of course he has to back off, but he might instead try to bring Wrath things to shoot at other than civilians. You know, white collar criminals, unsavory politicians, neonazis, that kind of thing. It’s the same kind of help Kindness always provides; that is to say, it’s technically helpful and kind, at least to someone, but probably morally questionable at the same time. Except for the neonazis. He is objectively correct for that one.

As for the rest of them, obviously there’s no canon versions of Max’s other vices, but I’m sure y’all have seen pikaflute's and lizardtheartist’s excellent interpretations of them! I’m not about to recreate all the same concepts when there’s already such good versions of them out there, so here’s hoping it’s alright with them if I borrow from their ideas just a tad and theorize about what a crossover of all these colorful little guys would look like. (And obviously, @pikaflute and @lizardtheartist, if that’s not cool with y’all just say the word and it’s gone sjfkdlshjklsh. I'm mostly gonna talk abt my guys anyway bc I don't want to step on y'all's toes)

First off, I’m concerned for Envy. I love pikaflute’s idea of him clinging to Sam’s back, but what if this is a world where Hugh Bliss simultaneously ripped out Max’s vices and Sam’s virtues, leaving no whole version of either of them? Then Envy would either have to stick to sin Sam, which I do not recommend at all because his anger management is at an all time low, or he’d have to find a virtue to hang on to. If he gets his pick, I’d recommend Kindness because obviously he’s the most pleasant of them, but Patience also wouldn’t be a bad pick (until Wrath shows up and tries to Thunderdome his ass, of course). I would LOVE to see either of those interactions, tbh. Kindness would be going crazy trying to help him out however he could but not knowing how ;-; oop but I just revisited their concept and saw that Sam showing him kindness is what helps him out so actually that might be a really good match! Idk I’m just a big sucker for the mushy things and Envy’s concept makes me want to squish him like a plushie hfkdhsjhd. Brb I’m gonna go squish my face in my Max plushie instead

Greed and Charity would also be really funny because I feel like they could go in two totally different directions. Like for one thing, Charity could be trying and failing to get Greed to give up his hoard, which would very much sound like a little old grandmother fussing at a fucking dragon. Or on the other hand, since Charity really just wants to give people things and doesn’t seem to mind what they do with them, maybe he just keeps bringing Greed more stuff to throw on the pile lmaoooo. Like as you’re walking around more and more things keep going missing from around the neighborhood and the office is just FULL of all the shit Charity keeps dragging in because “wow he really likes my gifts! That’s awful nice :)” I’m partial to that version if I’m being honest lol

I’m gonna be so real though my favorites are Kindness and Lust and I’m having such a good time thinking of what their interactions with each other’s groups would look like hdjdhjdhd. Kindness is delighted to have multiple of his favorite little guy running around and tries to do something nice for all of them, although the stuff he does may not be nice for bystanders, like catching various criminals just so Wrath can have somebody to shoot at lmao. Maybe he makes Gluttony a nice meal, the effort of which is instantly put to waste when Gluttony swallows it whole and then tries to eat Kindness too. He might bring Greed a nice gift for his hoard or give Sloth a pillow and blanket hehee. But he also has a seventh of his usual brain cells so he keeps getting distracted and running off to help the next Max midway through all of them.

I’d also love to see Kindness interact with lizardtheartist’s version of Pride bc like he’s planning to conquer the world, right? Kindness would be insanely easy to manipulate into helping him with that. He’s just like “oh sure! Anything for my little buddy ^^” and zips off to do whatever fucked up thing Pride asked because sure, he wants to do good deeds and help people but mostly he wants to be kind to every version of his best friend, and that means every single Max vice has total power over him fjdkslgjkslfh. The only thing that would stop him from diligently (lol wrong one) carrying out Pride’s every order is getting distracted by other good deeds to do, especially for the other vices or bliss Max.

Obviously Lust is gonna be thrilled to have more than one Sam around even if some of them aren’t down to do the horizontal tango with him. He’s just like “oh my GOD a million Sams! This is my greatest fantasy!!” A couple of them just turn down his affections immediately, like Diligence bc he’s a dumb workaholic stick in the mud. Or Patience because “there’ll be time later, little buddy.” Humility hides from him because he doesn’t feel worthy of any version of Max. But luckily Lust isn’t completely out of luck—Charity, for example, is happy to give just about anything away, definitely including kisses. Temperance is the embodiment of that DK meme that’s like “you may hit it…ONCE” fjkzjshdjszg. And Kindness is happy to do whatever Lust asks because he LOVES being able to do something nice for someone who actually wants what he’s giving them, but also he’s not great in bed bc he only knows how to give and doesn’t want anything for himself ghhdgsjsg.

And lastly, of course it’d be hysterical to see Lust and Chastity interact. I feel like chastity itself is the act of repressing oneself, but not truly ridding oneself of sexual desire, so you know Chastity still wants some. He absolutely starts sweating buckets the second Lust shows up lmaooo, like he wants Max so bad it makes him not only look stupid, but also feel stupid and ashamed. He is trying so hard to deny it but it’s really fuckin difficult when Lust won’t stop flirting with him. And I feel like Lust can smell that on him the way animals (and probably Max) smell fear, so he’s just poking and prodding and flirting and inching closer until Chastity is genuinely tomato-colored instead of pastel pink. And then I feel like they get found making out in a closet or some shit later and Chastity gets so embarrassed he just squeaks and pops out of existence hdjhdkdhdhsvsn

(also here’s a thing I just thought of now: “Hey chaste me, wanna rub my unicorn?” *Chastity makes a sound outside of the range of human hearing and passes out on the spot*)

And that’s all I got for now! Also to @ar-bi-trary and @gizmo-dgery and @planetlessmoon and pikaflute themself SCREECH thank y'all so much for your sweet tags and thanks again to skeletor for the prompts!!! I have been internally screeching and externally rolling around and kicking my feet in glee at the sight of each and every one of them, god it's so fun to share ideas about these idiotic gay animals heheheheheeee. Also I happen to have another day off tomorrow so maybe I’ll finally get around to drawing these guys then :D ok that's it byeeeee

#also pikaflute if you see this YES ABSOLUTELY YOU MAY HUG ALL OF THEM #not that some of them would like. want to be hugged. but I am their creator and arbiter and I say so #too bad for them lmao #sam and max #sam and max freelance police #freelance husbands #my art #asks #seven heavenly virtues au

[delusinalandpassionate]

Okay so I looked at passives of Base Sinners trying to understand what their sins mean and suddenly realized that each of them had very specific name. Like their skills mostly just a simple description of attack like "thrust" "chop" or "slash", but their passives have unique names and it kinda looked (to me) as if they are recalling to sinners backstories or cantos like

Gregors' passive is "Forced to Survive" and we know that half of his story based on that desire to stay alive and survival guilt following it.

Rodion has "Split Evil" and it kinda a straightforwardish description of what she thought she was doing when she killed tax-collector.

Sinclair has "Determined" whish this time is less about past and more about his position in III Canto when he wanted to murder Kromer no matter what

Yi San has "Information relay" and this may sound as stretch, but their league propose was about sharing information with each other, and hid main work "Mirror" was made in cooperation. And he was kidnapped to share his knowledge, too

So if I am right, than we can use Sinners personal passive to theorize about their past or thier cantos, which I'm going to try right now

Ishmael has "Last-ditch Struggle" and I think it tells about her Canto where she will do something extremely dangerous to avenge her fallen comrades(trying to kill Moby Dick or Ahab I guess)

Heathcliff has "Ressentiment" whish is definitely tells us about his past, or at least about his emotions about it.

Don Quixote has "Righteous Retribution" and I am not sure what it’s about, but if we consider that theory Sancho!Don is true then maybe her Canto will be about revenge to Doctor Carrasco, who was a person mainly responsible for Don quixote death in book.

Hong Lu has "Entertainment" ...and unfortunately I'm not familiar with Red Chamber to make any theories about him, but I would definitely like to read your ideas

Ryoshu has "Indiscriminate Art" and well...I am pretty sure it's about how she was ready to hurt anyone for her Art. Even her own daughter.

Meursault suddenly also has "Determined" just like Sinclair, which makes me think that in his Canto he will also have to be ready to meet past?

Outis has "Executor" and there is a problem, because there was plenty of times when Odysseus executed someone, but I guess it most likely allusion on handmaidens hanged in the end of Odyssey, because of that official art of her with hanging corpse. Or in her Canto we could find out that her final order is to execute Dante.

Faust has "Analytical Eye" which is kinda too vague for me, and just like in Hong Lu situation I know almost nothing about her book. So if you have ideas, please share.

So yeah, that's my dumb theory. Or a bunch of theories. Hope it was interesting

#limbus company #project moon

[heidi891]

ML Season 5 Finale

It’s the show’s pattern that at the end of the season Marinette makes a mistake and must face the repercussions in the next season. She forgot to change back when meeting with Master Fu and she lost her mentor, and she had to deal with new responsibilities as a guardian with hardly any experience. She mistook Félix for Adrien and she lost the Miraculouses. What mistake has she made now?

She fought alone when she said that they should fight together when she was hiding in the kitchen. But what was she supposed to do? Although I totally understand that it would be great for Adrien to fight his own father, it’s already been established that when Adrien finds out his father is the villain in dramatic circumstances, it doesn’t end well. Adrien recognising his unstable state and giving up his powers was a sign of maturity. He also had the occasion to fight his father as Chat Noir and tell him off (S5 Representation). Of course it’s not nearly as satisfying as Gabriel knowing the truth about Chat Noir, but it’s also more in line with what the show has been telling us.

She trusted Gabriel. However, eventually it turned out OK. Gabriel was forced to listen to Emilie and chose to save Nathalie who died because of his actions. This wasn’t a selfless sacrifice, but it wasn’t a totally selfish action either. In that moment it was the best possible outcome, because he was dying anyway due to his own wrong choices.

Marinette lost the Butterfly Miraculous. I’d call it an accident, not a mistake, and you can’t really learn anything from an accident as opposed to mistake; but in the pessimistic variant this is her mistake and the consequence is Lila becoming a supervillain; Gabriel is “redeemed” and Adrien will never know the truth about his father.

Marinette lied about Gabriel dying a hero. I think that is the mistake that will have the greatest impact on season 6. What’s more, this mistake is related to Adrien (she doesn’t want to hurt him), just like her previous mistakes.

We can see signs that her mistake may have bad consequences in the future:

The scene with the shining, smirking statue (resembling Chloé’s statue) and Tomoe talking about continuing Gabriel’s legacy is rather disturbing. If it were Ms Bustier giving speech and the statue were less shiny and more serious, the scene would give less villanous impression. The statue is a clear, visible symbol of the lie.

During the kissing scene we can hear a little worrisome and sad theme. If it’s a happy ending, why is the soundtrack not happier? Marinette and Adrien seem very happy, but there’s the lie between them.

Also during the kissing scene we can see white butterflies flying around. It may look hopeful, because Monarch was defeated—but we also know that Nooroo is not free. That changes the idylic picture into something more sinister. Lila’s got a lot of information from Nathalie and the computer about Gabriel, Monarch and Miraculouses. She may reveal it in a villanous way to harm Ladybug and everybody else. She may pretend to be a new hero and accuse Ladybug of cooperating with Monarch. I hope we’ll be shown what Lila really wants and what she’s up to.

Adrien

Ladybug probably won’t tell Chat Noir about Monarch’s true identity to keep the secret safe. She may also convince Plagg not to say anything. Nathalie most likely will also stay silent not to reveal herself as the villanous Mayura. I think it will be Lila who will reveal that Gabriel was the villain. That will make Adrien realise that Nathalie and Ladybug haven’t told him the truth. He may feel betrayed, angry and resentful.

I hope we’ll see more angry Adrien. For a long time he tried to be a perfect son and in the last season he started to be more aggressive as Chat Noir. Learning to express more anger and frustration as Adrien, not as Chat Noir, would be much healthier than destroying the world with his superpowers. I hope that there won’t be too much Chat Blanc / Anti-Chat, because such plots aren’t really going anywhere, they only undermine Adrien’s ability to control himself and the future of Adrienette. In the last episodes Adrien grew up and managed to recognise that he shouldn’t transform in such an unstable state, so I hope he will continue to mature and be able to deal with terrible news without destroying everything. And if they’ll keep pushing the Chat Blanc narrative, then maybe Adrien shouldn’t be Chat Noir anymore, if he’s apparently that unstable, and maybe Gabriel was right all along, controlling his son so tightly.

Nonetheless I truly hope he will destroy that terrible statue.

Reveal?

I didn’t expect the reveal and I don’t think it’ll happen in season 6. Those few times we’ve already seen it, it turned bad, but maybe it can strengthen them with Gabriel gone, if they reveal themselves out of trust instead of it being forced by external circumstances or by Ladybug trying to control the situation.

The superheroes

Frankly speaking, I was sort of happy that at the beginning of season 5 Marinette had no additional Miraculouses and Ladybug and Chat Noir were again the only superheroes in Paris. I’m afraid that with so many superheroes season 6 will be rather chaotic.

#miraculous ladybug #ml season 5 finale #adrien agreste #chat noir #gabriel agreste #ml season 5 #marinette dupain cheng #ml season 6 speculation #ml spoilers #ml analysis

[too-much-tma-stuff]

If the requests are still open

Olivermike mayb?

Oliver had learned to accept his role as an avatar of the end, there wasn't much he could do about it after all. He was constantly exhausted from walking the city in his sleep and in his waking life but it wasn't the worst thing. He didn't have to actively hurt anyone, they were all dying anyway.

When he saw someone untouched by the vines of death it was sort of inevitable that he would become obsessed. He followed the blond at a distance at first, it had been a long time been a long time since he'd talked to another person more then in passing. He sort of gave up after enough times people looked at him like he was crazy for trying to warn them of their incoming deaths he started avoiding them. It didn't help that he hated stepping on the vines no one else could see so he didn't look, well, mentally well just from the way he walked.

Oliver didn't know when he was noticed but he sure as hell noticed when he was suddenly transported to the top of a very tall building. He teeters on the edge and turned around only for his collar to be grabbed and he's dipped back, face only inches away from the ash-blond man he'd been following. His dark eyes trace the lightning scar on his neck up, his dark skin hiding his blush as the adrenaline had him following a more then a little bit in love.

"Are you listening!? Tell me what you want before I drop you! Why are you following me?" The other man hissed furiously as the wind rushed through Oliver's hair. He licked dry lips, trying to get his stupid tongue to cooperate.

"Because you're like me. It's been so long since I've seen someone untouched by The End," He reached up and covers the other man's hands with his own. "You can drop me if you like, I won't die anymore then you would," He said softly. "But I was hoping we could talk? It can be... lonely, being like us. Can't it?"

There was a long moment of silence between them as the blond's steely eyes flick back and forth between Oliver's soft brown. Then he sighed and stepped back, pulling Oliver back from the edge, though he seemed reluctant to let go. "Your hands... are very warm for a servant of the End."

"And yours are very cold," Oliver said softly, curling his hands more firmly around the others, prying them gently from his shirt, still holding them in both of his as he lifted them to his lips and blew hot breath across pale fingers, listening to the way it made the Vast servant's breathing hitch. "My name is Oliver Banks," he introduced himself finally.

"I'm Mike Crew," Mike returned, sitting down on the edge of the building without letting go of Oliver's hand, forcing him to follow. Not that he minded, he might have been scared, looking at the ground far beneath them, feeling the wind whip around them, but it didn't affect him anymore. He traced the rivers of vines flowing through the city, curling off into buildings. There were few on the roof here, it was peaceful.

"I'm sorry I was following you, it's been so long since I spoke to anyone I didn't know how to say hello," He said with a bitter little chuckle.

"It's alright, I get it," Mike assured. "I'm, well, not the same, I still talk to people but not like I used to. Not like before, now 'small talk' just means I'm probably going to kill them. But I can't kill you can I? So why don't we skip the small talk?" He asked, slipping his hand, still holding Oliver's into the pocket of his jacket, keeping them both warm.

"That works for me," Oliver chuckled. "What would we small talk about anyway? The weather? our favourite coffee spots? None of that really matters anyway. Though I suppose I wouldn't say no to a coffee date," He couldn't help but add and was rewarded by a laugh.

"No not really, not in the face of how Vast the universe is," Mike agreed gesturing out at the sky. "Or I suppose in the face of our inevitable ends eh?"

"Less inevitable for us. I mean, I had a satellite dropped on me and spent months in the sea and when I washed up on shore I coughed up the water and had a nap on a park bench," Oliver chuckled and Mike smiled crookedly.

"I haven't done anything like that yet, doesn't sound fun. I've fallen plenty though but, well, it doesn't really scare me that much. That's why I chose it I suppose, there's a thrill to it, and a piece because my mind can't think of anything else and the fall is inevitable so panic shuts down, you know?"

Oliver shook his head, he didn't really. "You chose it?" He asked a little incredulously and Mike winced, making a so-so gesture.

"I was being hunted by the spiral, I was just choosing the arms of another fear to run into for protection before it took me. I tested a few, so that's better then most people get I know." He looked a bit guilty, Oliver didn't want him to be, squeezing Mike's hand gently.

"I didn't choose, the dreams just started. At first I tried to warn people about their coming deaths, but they just thought I was crazy. Then when I started seeing the manifestations of the End when I was awake I tried to escape it. Now I've accepted it, but I guess of all of the dread powers if I did choose I would choose this one. It's not active, I don't have to do much and there is... peace in it, like you say."

Mike smiled at him, rubbing his thumb over the back of the soft skin of Oliver's hand. "So... you mentioned a coffee date?"

"I did, if you want," Oliver agreed, feeling oddly warm and nervous. It had been a long time since he'd had butterflies like this, it was to tempting to go to fast, but maybe Mike wouldn't mind.

"I would like that, but I'm not using the stairs," He said with a mischievous smile.

Oliver laughed even as he was pulled into Mike's arms and over the edge. They shared breath as they fell, arms wrapped tightly around each other, faces inches apart and eyes locked, still in each other as the world rushed around them. It felt nice, and Oliver couldn't help but notice the fall lasted longer then it should have, he didn't mind, he didn't want to let go of this moment yet either.

#Oliver banks #mike crew #the magnus archives #olivermike #writing requests #someone please request me writing Oliver digging Mike up after he got shot

[thewertsearch]

He has tentatively named the game SGRUB, which is a word that is NOT TERRIBLY ELEGANT.

Honestly, it makes sense. It’s probably stored on a grub, after all.

It's not up to you to decide what you retrieve from your sylladex. It's up to the spirits.

Poor Aradia is being micromanaged so hard, she doesn’t even have control over her own inventory. That’s fucked up, man. 

Looks like the spirits are being cooperative today, if a bit cryptic, as usual.

It spells ‘Bing’, but - thank god - they mean the Bing Crosby laptop, not the search engine.

You found this baffling artifact some time ago on one of your digs. The creature on its facade is completely mystifying. You have taken to using it as your primary computing device on account of its bizarre novelty, as well as convenient portability.

I’m not even going to ask why this thing was buried in Alternian soil - I’m sure we’ll learn later - but it is interesting that Aradia finds a human being completely unrecognizable.

I mean, from our perspective, they’re just trolls without grey skin or horns - and the laptop even has grey skin! Maybe trolls and humans look less alike than their comic depictions would have you believe. 

GA: Hi Again Aradia AA: 0h n0000000 GA: So I Guess Tonight Is The Night You Blow Everything Up AA: 0_0 GA: Is There Nothing I Can Do To Change Your Mind

GA, as expected, knows exactly what’s going down tonight. The trolls are getting information from a wide variety of sources, so who knows where she’s getting her lore from. 

She’s currently referencing an early Jade conversation - albeit from the opposite side - and she already has plenty of Jade vibes, so maybe, like Jade, she’s been putting her dream self to work. 

AA: but y0u sh0uldnt pretend as if y0u believe this has anything t0 d0 with the state 0f my mind AA: 0r the decisi0ns it will make 0r has already made

They’ve talked about this before. GA knows about Aradia’s railroading, but unlike her nihilist friend, she’s still trying to change their fate.

She won’t succeed tonight, but I still think she’s got the right idea. 

GA: I Thought Id Be Friendly Though GA: And Remind You That You Do In Fact Have A Hand In All The Terrible Things That Are About To Happen

I don’t have a comprehensive understanding of Sburb’s time mechanics - and I don’t know what happened to Aradia to convince her of all this - so I’m not going to judge her too harshly. 

But she is making a choice here, whether she admits it or not.

See, she doesn’t have all the facts. The Voices aren’t telling her everything - they really only seem to be telling her what she needs to know - so she should at least be open to the possibility that she’s wrong about fate. What has she got to lose?

If Aradia was willing to listen, to try and figure out if there are any other options - like John is slowly convincing Karkat to do - then that might change everything. Maybe things are only inevitable because she’s making them so, acting as a pawn for the Voices. 

If you already ‘know’ you’re locked into an unfavorable outcome, why not try and change things? Isn’t an unknown, but potentially non-zero chance of success better than the 0% chance you have if you don’t try and fight fate at all?

We don’t know, because Aradia has decided - maybe as a defense mechanism, to prevent herself from getting even more hurt - that she’s 0k with this outcome. Maybe, as a result of whatever happened to her, she just doesn’t have the strength to fight. 

I’m not judging her. She’s a teenager being manipulated by shadowy forces, and that’s not an easy trap to get out of. It’s completely reasonable for her to shut down, when faced with this kind of existential despair. 

But the fact remains - we won’t know if she can do anything to stop this, until she actually tries. 

GA: Ill Be Here To Help GA: If You Need Me AA: 0k AA: thanks

And she still might. 

#2134 #s9 #homestuck liveblog #full liveblog #act 5

[kissesforsatoru]

Arrange marrage with koko be scary if your not rlly cooperative- like yeah you plan to marry him because it’s for your family but if your not playing the right role it can get unsettling. Like Koko does so much and he means so much- that it’s a little rude to him you don’t seem to show it- sure you show up on the dates well dress but you seem spaced out, or even not paying attention to him that’s where i firmly believe that Koko would start to hint that you should show some compassion for him for all the things he does for the family- even if you wanted it or not you really think anyone else would do this for you- for your family?

Koko causally always making it clear his money did so many good things for your family- so start acting it

- 🌑

koko would have the type of relationship with your family where they call him and he calls them casually, or they go on little outings sometimes, and it works in his favor cause he can just "casually" mention that you've been cold to him or refused to sleep next to him the other night. and he'll just tell them all pitifully like "ah, y/n doesn't seem to like me these days. they've been treating me with less and less affection and it's been hurting my heart a lot. could you possibly know why they might be acting like this towards me? do i not love them enough?" and your family will absolutely be throwing a fit to you later, and koko is smirking behind the door as he eavesdrops on you getting scolded like a little child.

and if you continue to be a brat then koko will drop the nice guy act and make it clear that he can and will resort to other tactics to put you in your place. he'll absolutely start with gaslighting and guilt tripping you. you know, make you feel really bad about rejecting him. if you insist on being like this then he will be the bad guy.

"i've treated you so well, my dear, and this is how you treat me in return? you won't even fucking look at me, you're slamming doors in my face, yelling at me, throwing away the nice gifts i get you. with such a nasty attitude, do you really think there will be anyone else in this world that will love you? anyone as good as me? because i don't. not a single person would ever love such a bratty, ungrateful little thing like you. you better start shaping up or else i'll throw you away like fucking useless trash. your family wouldn't be too happy about that though, will they? it's such a shame they will have to suffer again because of you."

#𓏲 msg received 𓂃 💌 #𓏲 anon 𓂃 🌑 #yandere #yandere thoughts #yandere imagines #yandere tokyo revengers #yandere x you #yandere tokrev #yandere kokonoi hajime x reader #yandere kokonoi x reader #yandere kokonoi hajime #yandere kokonoi #𓏲 kolya thirsts 𓂃 😵‍💫

[actress4him]

June of Doom 2023

Previous | Next | Masterlist

Taglist: @painful-pooch , @robinbugbanned

Day 10 - “Can you hear me?” | Starvation | Shackle | Hiding

Also qualifies for @whumpawoman ’s Whump Girl Summer Day 6 -“I’m not going anywhere.”

Contains: lady whump, starvation, long term captivity, death mention, restraints

.

.

“How long has it been?” Lainey’s voice is tired, her words a little slurred. Isa rolls her head over to look at her, her own movements slow.

“I don’t know. You’re the one who keeps up with that.” Though come to think of it, she hasn’t heard her say anything about it in a while.

Lainey huffs. “Not anymore. I lost track a long time ago. And right now…” She swallows, the metal band around her neck bobbing. “I dunno. Seems like it’s been years since he left. I know it has to have been more than a day, because…I don’t think I’d be this hungry otherwise? But then again I’m always hungry, so it’s hard to tell.”

Isa hums in acknowledgment. She barely notices being hungry anymore, except when it’s exceptionally worse like right now. Maybe she’s just so used to being hungry that she doesn’t know the difference. Or maybe her body has somehow adjusted for the lack of food and it’s actually not as bad as it used to be. She’s heard about stomachs shrinking before. She wouldn’t be surprised if that had happened to her.

“It’s been…less time than when he went to get you. I think.” She shrugs one shoulder, making the chain behind her clink quietly. “I don’t know, I told you before that my sense of time is shot.”

“Yeah. And now I understand why.” Lainey sighs heavily, staring up at the ceiling. “I understand…a lot more things about you than I ever wanted to. No offense.”

“No, I…I know. I didn’t want you to understand, either.” The things she wants to say swirl through her mind. She’s gotten better, she thinks, at having conversations sometimes, but it still can be hard to voice her thoughts. She takes a moment to sort through them before speaking again. “I would never, never wish any of this on you. On anybody, but…but it’s also…I’m…I’m not glad you’re here, but…” Shoot, she can’t figure out how to word it without it sounding awful.

“Yeah. I get that, too.” Lainey shifts to look at her sideways, giving a weak smile. “I’m not glad you’re here, either, but I’m glad I have someone with me. Even if you do drive me crazy sometimes.”

Isa scoffs despite the relief at having been understood, raising an eyebrow. “I drive you crazy?”

“Just because I understand why you don’t want to fight back or try to escape or whatever doesn’t mean I agree with it.”

Frowning, Isa looks away. Every time Lainey brings up her cooperation and refusal to speak up or fight, she’s filled with guilt and shame. But she can’t. Her reasons never change or lessen in importance, no matter how much she hates them. And maybe it’s the hunger speaking, but right now it’s aggravating her that she just won’t stop bringing it up.

“Do you want me to get extra punishments? Do you just enjoy watching him hurt me?”

“No! No, of course not -”

“Then why do you keep trying to get me to fight? It wouldn’t do anything but make him hurt me more! I’m not strong enough, Lainey. Even if we worked together, I would be no help. And there’s no way to escape this place, I would have figured it out by now if there was and so would you. You’re just asking me to cause more trouble for myself.”

“No, I’m not, I…” Lainey sighs again, bringing a hand up to scrub at her face. “Okay. Yeah. I’m sorry, I…I know that must be what it seems like, and that’s not what I mean. I don’t want you to get hurt. I don’t want either of us to get hurt, which is why I want to stop him and get the heck out of here. I know you don’t see how it can happen, and I don’t know how, either, but I can’t…I can’t give up.” The ‘like you have’ hangs in the air unspoken. “I can’t stop hoping there’s an answer and looking for an opportunity and standing up for myself and for you, because then…”

“Then you’ll be like me?”

“No!” It’s a defensive reply, a ‘yeah that’s what I meant but I didn’t mean to say it’. “Then I’ll…I’ll just wither up, and…be miserable, and…I don’t even want to think about it.”

You’ll be like me. She lost hope a long time ago, and she does feel withered up. She feels like an object rather than a person, one that has been used for too many years until it’s worn out and broken and useless. Lainey’s arrival had simultaneously made her feel more and less human - more because she actually has someone to interact with and remind her that she’s real and alive, and less because Lainey is more real and alive than she thinks she’ll ever be again.

“I’ll try to stop pushing you, though. I’m sorry I have.” She can see Lainey looking at her again out of the corner of her eye, and her words are earnest. “I just want us to both get out of here.”

Isa wraps her arms around her stomach. It seems to be trying to turn itself inside out, looking for anything to devour. “I’m not going anywhere, Lainey. I really do hope you get the chance and can escape, somehow, but…you’ve seen me. I’d slow you down, end up getting you caught. If you do ever get the chance to run…you need to just go. Don’t try to bring me along.”

“Are you kidding me?” Lainey exclaims. “There’s no way I’m leaving you in this basement. I would never forgive myself!”

She turns to look her straight in the eyes. “I’m serious. If this hypothetical escape ever happens, taking me along would be the worst decision you could make.”

Lainey rolls her eyes, sliding one finger underneath the band on her throat and tugging at it. “You’re so dramatic. Look, I’m not in the best shape anymore, either. I’m not gonna be super fast. But adrenaline can work wonders. I’m sure you’ll be able to keep up.”

Sighing, Isa leans her head back and closes her eyes. “I don’t have the energy to keep arguing with you.”

“Good, because you’re wrong, anyway.” Her chain jingles as she settles back into place.

Isa is absolutely positive that she’s not wrong about this. Even if she did somehow make it out of and away from the house without getting caught, she’s fairly certain they’re out in the middle of nowhere. She wouldn’t make it long hiking to find help, she can barely even walk across the room.

“If you ever manage to escape -”

“We’re going to.”

-“you should go on your own and look for help. That’s your best option - leave me here, find help, and send someone back for me.”

“But what if I can’t remember the way back? Or what if he punishes you for me escaping? He could even kill you!”

Isa sighs again, unable to find the strength to open her eyes back up. “Even if you can’t remember or he punishes me, there would at least be some hope. Someone would be able to start looking. It would be better than us both trying to go and getting caught.”

Lainey doesn’t seem to have an argument prepared for that, which is good. Not that any of it is ever going to happen, anyway, but just in case, Isa is not going to be responsible for costing her her freedom.

They sit in silence for a while, lost in their own thoughts and misery. Eventually Lainey moans, curling into a ball. “My stomach hurts so bad! When is he coming back?”

Isa throws her a sympathetic glance. “He won’t let us starve to death.”

“That’s reassuring,” Lainey huffs. “In the meantime, we suffer. As usual. And of course that’s assuming he doesn’t abandon us or die randomly or get held up somewhere. Would it have killed him to have left us a little food?”

“At least we have an unlimited supply of water this time.”

Glancing down at the almost empty bottles, Lainey grimaces. “Yeah. Hopefully.” She’s already refilled them once, but apparently she has to focus much harder now than she ever used to. Isa can tell she’s always scared her magic is going to give out at any point. Being starved doesn’t help magic flow very well, either.

“I don’t want you to push yourself,” she quickly amends. “But I also believe in you.”

Lainey flashes her a quick smile that’s nearly a grimace. “Thanks. I’ll keep doing my best.”

They fall quiet again. Isa shuts her eyes, and is nearly asleep when Lainey exclaims, “Wait a second. Were you implying earlier that I’m the one who drives you crazy?”

#june of doom #day 10 #whumpgirlsummer #day 6 #lady whump #lady whumpee #captivity #starvation #death mention tw #restraints tw #lainey and isa #two whumpees #urban fantasy #magic whumpee #whump writing #whump series

[sleepyowlwrites]

FTWT CCCLXXIX

from many moons ago, thanks, Ghosty. @zmwrites

handle (youth story supplemental)

“It was bound to happen. My scarf, my hot cocoa, I guess it’ll be my heart that goes next. I’m doomed to be the victim of thievery.”

Nyks and Cal dropped their hands so they could glare at R instead.

Evie took another sip of the cocoa and said primly, “You wish.”

R opened his mouth and then paused. “Actually, I don’t think I do. I don’t think I could handle you barging in and messing up the place. Please don’t steal my heart, like, ever.”

Evie crossed her heart. “I promise.”

tonight (youth story d0)

“Do you guys want to come over for dinner? My mother isn’t home and I don’t want to be lonely.”

R let Nyks play with his fingers while he perched next to him on the arm of the chair. “You sure you want all of us coming over? Would you rather just steal Nyks so you can cuddle him to sleep tonight?”

Daniel nodded, not even trying to deny it. “Yeah, but Evie loves eating my food, and if Nyks comes over he’ll tell her about it, so before I hear any complaining about favoritism, I’m formally inviting you first.”

“I accept,” Nyks said happily.

next (youth story d1)

“You know I don’t prefer when you buy me clothes,” Mark said, moving on to the next box so he could judge the mentioned shirt on fair terms.

“But I also know that you’ll wear them anyway, and I can’t help it. Buying clothes for my friends is one of my love languages.”

Mark found the shirt and ran his fingers over the fabric. It was soft, and the print was subtle. But it was blue, and bright, and Mark was unaccustomed to wearing such shades. “This is a Nyks shirt.”

Daniel sighed. “Yeah. He picked it out.”

Oh. That was different then.

personal (youth story d0)

It didn’t help that the confession had been delivered in such a profoundly confusing way, at once arrogant and apologetic.

“I was just a person to you, I didn’t matter, and that stung, so I decided I despise you and you let me, but your cooperation in this feud is no excuse for my absolutely horrid behavior, using you as my personal punching bag, so for all of it, for every terrible insinuation and every fight, I am so sorry.”

And then R had fallen silent, his own hands stuck in his pockets and gaze occasionally flitting to the side, but expression resolute as he waiting patiently for Mark to form some kind of response. But Mark had nothing to say. Not because he wasn’t sorry himself, but because sheer amount of visceral, undisguised emotion radiating outward from R’s entire being was intimidating, horrifying. Mark had never wished to see R like this, open and hurting.

change (youth story supplemental)

His fingers rub at one of the buttons. Roland licks his thumb afterward. The lemonade was perfectly made, too. Callum has long since mastered the art of refreshing summer drinks, and his lemonade is no exception.

“Maybe I should keep this on and smell sweet all day.” He turns around in time for Callum to throw a damp towel at him. It lands neatly on his head. “Thanks?”

“For the stickiness,” his brother clarifies, his smile goofy and wide. “Just wipe your face and change your shirt. You can’t drink lemonade through your skin even if you try really hard.”

Roland scrubs at his chin. “How did you know that was what I was thinking?”

rise

call (continuing on from the above)

Callum places his hands on his hips, balanced on one leg with the lemonade spill beside him, soaking into another kitchen towel. “I know everything.”

“You’re a dirty sneak, Caldridge, get out of my head.”

“Call me by my proper name and I’ll consider it.”

Roland tosses the towel back and it lands in a heap with the others. “Your name is Cal,” he says, words floating softly in the air.

Cal continues smiling, brighter than the day outside. “And yours is R.”

proud (youth story supplemental)

Cal stood next to Nyks, less bundled and also less spellbound, but watching Nyks was almost as fun. Even if Cal was the youngest of the group, Nyks was still someone he could feel protective of and care for greatly. The absolute delight all over Nyks’ face was making Cal’s heart thump with proud, fond beats.

“You’re adorable.”

Nyks stopped gazing upward to glance at Cal, still delighted while also cutely confused. “You can’t say that, you’re the baby.”

“Do I not have eyes?” Cal shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned his face in closer. “I think I do. And I’m pretty sure they’re looking at an adorable Nyks right now.”

“Look,” Nyks said, getting a little disgruntled now.

“I am.” But Cal was smiling so sweetly that Nyks would’ve had to bite his tongue to make himself feel actual disappointment.

I behoove you to find answer, allow, admit, ache. BONUS: alleviate, askew. @cwritesfiction @the-orangeauthor @writing-with-melon @flock-from-the-void @emelkae OR ANYBODY (or nobody, if you don't feel like it)

#find the word tag