#why can’t I spell raccoon

[jals-stuff]

a routine.

Orter Madl x f!reader

Obnoxious, sour, call him whatever you want, Orter Mádl couldn't care less about what people thought of him. You can’t help but wonder if that’s what you find attractive, or if you just have a thing for authoritative, serious-looking jerks (because I do).

Warnings: slight angst? orter is a jerk, hurt (just a bit) with comfort, reader being too nice.

Word count: 3.4k words

Note: again with no sleep, sorry for any spelling mistakes, don't stone me to death. thought about making a part 2 for this, no clue yet let me know what y'all think. (i swear i have never simped for a man that hard before)

definitions at the end, but it doesn't matter if you don't read them so no worries! enjoy-

Indeed, Orter was a man who would sweat for the status quo to be protected. If this man had his name on an alignment chart, the creators would have to make up something like “lawful lawful”. That is how lawful Orter Mádl gets. It didn’t matter to him how people perceived him, or whispered to each other whenever they saw him walk through the large corridors of the Bureau of Magic. Few things mattered to him in fact, but if he had to put them into a list, it would look like this:

Making sure rules and order are respected

Staying undisturbed during working hours (and out of working hours, too)

Not doing anything unnecessary.

He had a very specific routine he followed almost perfectly everyday, and so far, nothing had pushed him to change it. No one had, either, because from an ordinary person’s point of view, Orter was nothing else than a sour workaholic, strict, obnoxious man. Most women (and some men as well) who worked at the Bureau always seemed to look to the ground when crossing his path, while the other ones were too busy gossiping about him being a potential serial killer, since he was “so calm and quiet”. But one (wo)man’s trash is another (wo)man’s treasure and surely enough, you were one hell of a hungry raccoon lady. 

You had been working at the Bureau for almost a year now, and since the very first time your eyes had landed on him, you knew he was the one you wanted. And since that day, you were one of the only people who even dared speak to him— if you don’t count the other Divine Visionaries as people (because Kaldo’s… obsession¹ with honey made him a creature, and not a human being, we have to be honest here). 

You’d always greet Orter when meeting him in the morning, or wish him to have a nice break time when he’d actually allow himself to take a break, and he would simply greet you back, always giving you the same confused look. Simply seeing him illuminated your days and kept you going through your seemingly unending workload. Yet, as much as you enjoyed these small interactions, the same couldn’t be said about him. 

Orter didn’t dislike these despite the way he looked down at you everytime you greeted him. He simply wasn’t used to such… fervour² from any of his other colleagues. You were certainly very passionate, and he had to put in a lot of effort not to just immediately send you away whenever you’d bring him coffee when you had free time or simply try to chat a little when you were to give him a report. 

It wasn’t against you or anything specifically, but Orter was a firm believer that saving energy was the move. After all, why bother doing anything that is unnecessary? 

Even if it, indeed, was nothing personal, you were pretty much everything he disliked. Noisy, talkative, full of energy, sPEED, and quite naive as well. The embodiment of a child who has been given too much sugar and is now experiencing the zoomies. 

And so, like an uninvited grain of sand in his eye, you slithered your way into his daily routine. Each morning, before entering his office, he knew he would encounter you at this specific time of the morning shift, by turning this corner. It happens everyday, and it will happen again today. He knows you get your break at 10:05 am and usually will knock on his office door at exactly 10:11 am to bring him your reports as well as some coffee you grabbed for him.

He knows that in the afternoon, usually between 3:48 pm and 4 pm, you’ll find an excuse— any excuse to bring him some pastries, or any kind of snack with another cup of coffee, but this time a bit more sugary. 

He has gotten used to it now, but he still cannot quite understand why you’re spending so much energy on him, and when Orter doesn’t understand something, he gets frustrated. He does not often interact with anyone, and so the fact that people around him might have feelings is completely unbeknownst to him, or so it seems. 

...

It’s approximately 4pm on that day and, as usual, you knock on his door. He looks up from his paperwork and just mutters to come in, knowing damn well it’s you. But this time, you’re not bringing any coffee or snacks. You just hand him a report you had written, as usual, and he notes that you look a little nervous.

You patiently wait for him to read through your carefully written report. He gives a nod, not even a word, as usual, and this time, instead of immediately leaving, you decide to speak up.

“Umm..” you start, and you start wondering whether this is a good idea or not. He’s looking at you now, in all of his cold, emotionless expression. “So… would you maybe… like to have your coffee break with me this time…?” you ask, looking away a little bit.

He leans against his chair’s backrest at the suggestion. He could definitely use a break and some coffee right now, but he isn’t sure if he can take the amount of energy you’ll be talking with for the whole duration of your time together.

“With you?” He asks, and you’re unsure if he means this in a mocking way, or if he’s just asking. You shyly nod and he adjusts the position of his glasses a little bit. “I could use a break,” he starts “but I’m not sure I can handle more of your… eagerness to converse³.”

It hurts quite a lot; you knew Orter had always been blunt, but to hear it from his mouth was something else. Were you really bothering him that much? Maybe he didn’t mean it in a bad way? After all, he did have a lot of work, and of course he’d like to free his mind a little bit and enjoy peaceful silence with his afternoon coffee. He quickly takes note of your nervous squirming and your lack of response.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” he finally says after what seemed like an eternity “I don’t want this headache to get any worse.”

A headache. Was this really all you were to him?

“I.. can stay quiet if you’d like me to, but I would really like to have—”

“No, thank you. I’ll have coffee on my own. ” He cuts you off, looking back to his paperwork, probably very oblivious to the fact that he just hurt you deeply. “I don’t understand why you’re so eager to interact with me when all I’m really asking for is to be undisturbed.” Was it personal, or was it because of his lack of human interaction? Well, both meant the same to you, if you really were the only person he interacted with, it was directly against you.

You didn’t know what to say. You wouldn’t give up on him, of course, but your entire personality had just proven to be a nuisance to him, and you weren’t sure how you’d recover from this one. You had been standing for a minute, looking at the ground in front of his desk, before his authoritative voice you loved so much pulled you out of your overthinking.

“Anything else?”

You shake your head ‘no’ and promptly exit his office now. It sounded clear to you that you were a disturbance to him, and it was the complete opposite of what you wanted to be. But again, no matter how bad his rejection felt, you decided you’d be a little more like he wished you’d be: invisible, silent.

You made a mental note to change your behaviour around him and stop being so clingy and noisy all the time, then maybe, if you destroyed this personality of yours he seemed to loathe, maybe he would look at you. Even just once.

...

Orter arrives at the Bureau the next day as usual, and already knows you’ll be just around the corner where he meets you everyday. He gives a sigh and walks around… to find no one. He blinks a few times in surprise, but simply assumes you’ll be somewhere else, ready to greet him…. But there’s no sign of you. Or rather there is one, but it’s only the usual morning coffee you give him, and it’s sitting on his desk inside his office. You, on the other hand, aren’t here.

“Probably a different schedule today.” he thinks and quickly dismisses it to sit at his desk and remove his coat. He takes a few sips of the warm coffee and sighs before diving into his unending paperwork again.

As expected, there is a knock on his door at 10:11 am. He lets you come in and is pleased to see you’re still bringing him some coffee, along with your usual report. You quietly greet him and hand him the papers as you put the tall coffee cup on his desk, and await his review. Again, he gives you a nod and puts the papers back into his drawer, and as he looks up from his paperwork again to listen to your usual morning talk, he’s surprised to see you leave his office without a word.

“Probably has more work today.” he thinks, dismissing the change in your behaviour as the man sinks into his paperwork once more. You, on the other side, are only hoping your efforts aren’t vain. You’ve practised staying silent for a bit and you think you’re nailing it, honestly. All for the sake of the obnoxious, lawful man.

It doesn’t occur to him even once that you might be in emotional pain from his words; he isn’t well versed with other people’s feelings— and probably not his own either. You probably have more work today, and that’s why you’re not as talkative as usual. Or maybe you’re tired. Are you sick?

He stops himself for a second and takes off his glasses to rub his eyes a little; no. No, no. It shouldn’t matter to him whether you are ill or simply tired. He has too much work to do to care about one of his coworkers.

Roughly around 3:50 pm, you knock on his door again, bringing in the usual pastries and sweet coffee. Now, he’s wondering which excuse you found to visit him as he crosses his hands on his desk and looks at you intently.

His eyes on you start to feel uncomfortable. It’s like he’s tearing your soul open and trying to figure out what’s going on in this little skull of yours⁴, and really, it isn’t just an impression. He was expecting you to ask him out again, or talk about the weather, complain about your workload, but none of these words escape your mouth. A simple, polite “have a good afternoon”, and you’re gone immediately.

Your schedule must really be something else for you to quit pestering him about your state of mind like you used to do. But again, he takes a bite of the delicious pastries you brought him, and keeps working in religious silence as he occasionally takes a sip of the sweet coffee you delivered.

Time flies fast, and it’s already evening. You clock out, as one does, and as you walk away from your office, you encounter Orter, who seems to be clocking out at the same time. And this is when the overthinking kicks in. Is he going to think you waited for him? Will he believe it was a mere coincidence? What if he thinks you’re being clingy and annoying for clocking out at the same time? 

But your thoughts come to an end as he simply walks away without a word; maybe he just doesn’t care. Right, maybe he just doesn’t care. It probably didn't matter whether you were quiet or talkative, hyper or calm. He probably didn’t care.

...

The next morning, you arrive earlier at the Bureau, as you did yesterday, and fulfil your morning routine: getting a few snacks for yourself, and a tall coffee for Orter. But unfortunately, the cafeteria is a bit more crowded than usual, and you end up exiting it at the same time you usually did. 

He encounters you again at the very same corner, and he is now convinced you simply had a rough schedule yesterday, but as he was about to greet you, you simply hand him the coffee and walk away towards your office without a word. 

The day goes on like the previous one; you barely exchange any words with him, and he makes no effort to change this. You’re quiet, reserved now, and you just internally pray that he will like you more. This isn’t you, but you will be whoever he wants you to be, if there’s the slightest chance that he will look at you.

What you were completely clueless about was how this little change of yours was affecting him. At first he didn’t think much of it, but he had gotten used to your nonstop talking, to your cheerful voice when you greeted him, and to the very specific hours you’d come to visit him and ask him out or talk about everything and nothing. 

Orter was going nuts. The routine he had gotten used to was crumbling for reasons unknown, and he couldn’t understand why, it was beyond his power. The grain of sand in his eye⁵ had become an entire desert, and the frustration was great enough that he could barely focus on his work anymore. Something was missing. He needed to figure it out quickly.

His focus was long gone, and all he could think about was why the usual, cheerful girl who always greeted him with a smile and warm coffee had become so… dull and painfully normal. Had you been sick the whole time? Why did he even care in the first place?

But as much as he disliked admitting it, he had grown quite fond of your behaviour, even though his words had proven to oppose this fact. He needed to make sure of what was lacking in his daily routine now. You were still here, you still brought him coffee everyday, did your job correctly… What could be missing?

His mind was a complete mess and he could not get you out of his head for some reason, which made him even more annoyed. You were such a headache and a nuisance, right? He couldn’t possibly be going insane from the lack of… you?

As usual, at 10:11 am sharp, you visit his office with your daily report and his coffee. This time though, he doesn’t take the papers from your hands and just crosses his legs, looking straight into your eyes. “I would like you to read it out loud for me.”

Read it out? You ask yourself, why couldn’t he read it himself? But again, we are talking about Orter Mádl; this man could tell you to get on all fours and bark, and you would gladly do it without giving it a second thought.

“...right.” You started, a little confused at his sudden request. “The Bureau’s investigation on Magol Castle…”

Your words grew distant to him, but not your voice. He wasn’t listening, he was listening. He felt himself oddly soothed at your tone, for once, as he kept trying to find this missing piece of the jigsaw. But it was as if his focus had returned and he could finally get back to work. As soon as you stopped talking, he extended a hand for you to give him the reports, and you did.

“Good, very good. I’ll read it again later.”

You stood in awe for a second; Orter had just praised you. Your efforts were working, and now you just had to keep going and stay quiet most of the time. You gave a polite nod and walked away from his desk. 

“Wait.”

That was it. You were the missing piece. But it made no sense, since you hadn't left, you were still here with him at the very moment... but then why did it feel like you weren't?

You turn around as you hear him speak and you just stand there, waiting for him to keep going. The silence is heavy and it seems like an eternity before he finally speaks up again.

“You’ve been… quiet.” He remarks, his eyes never leaving yours, and you couldn’t tell whether he meant this in a good or a bad way. Of course, his expressions always suggested that everything he said was to be taken in a bad way, but you knew better than to assume anything, especially about Orter Mádl. “Why?” he asks, and there’s an undertone of desperation in his voice. He sounds like he’s at his wit’s end.

At this point, you can’t really do anything else than speak up and tell the truth, can you? So you take a few steps towards his desk and nervously fiddle with the hem of your shirt.

“I… do not wish to be a nuisance or give you a headache.” You simply reply, in all of your honesty, and he looks at you, clueless and distraught now. Was that the reason why you had been silent the entire time? Were you driving him completely crazy because of what he said to you?

He buries his face in his hands and sighs. His glasses were slightly falling from his nose now that his hands were rubbing it entirely. You walk around his desk and gently push his glasses back in place, his state worrying you a little bit. You had never seen him being affected by anything before, so you were a bit confused.

“Are you alright..?” You quietly asked, not daring to touch him too much, lest he’d find you clingy, but the man sighed loudly once again and cleared his throat, his hands crossing against his desk again.

“You are driving me insane, (Y/N).”

You’ve never heard him speak your name before, and it felt… rather nice. You couldn’t tell if his words were meant to be good or bad though, so you only stood next to him and waited for him to speak up again. An uninvited feeling of guilt made its way to your heart and you couldn’t help but feel like all of this was your fault. You only wanted him to look at you, to make his life a little easier… but instead, you had somehow wrecked it.

After what seemed like an eternity, Orter was still dead silent, and you had to do something.

“I… I’m sorry…” you mutter quietly, not fully sure of what you did, but feeling the urge to apologise anyway. His state was more than concerning and you were the cause for it. “I… meant no harm, with whatever I did to you…”

And then something hits him. A feeling he’s probably rarely felt before: guilt. He looks up at you, and you clearly look like you’re holding back your tears as you shamefully look away from him. It takes all of his energy not to get angry— but at himself this time. He was the one who caused this situation, not you.

“It wasn’t your fault, only mine.” He sighed as he took off his glasses and started wiping them to distract himself from your sad expression that was awakening a myriad of new feelings within him. “I shouldn’t have said those things. I… did get quite used to your company. Please, feel free to speak as much as you want.”

He looks up at you, and despite the fact that he still isn’t smiling, his eyes are softer now, his expression is gentler and his voice has lost its authority. He is just asking you to speak to him. It isn’t even an order, he is actually pleading.

You can’t help this slight blush from creeping up to your cheeks as you try to regain your composure. You had gotten praised by Orter today, and he even pleaded with you and apologised? It was clearly your lucky day, so you thought you might as well try your luck. You cleared your throat a little.

“A-hem… so… maybe you… would like to have coffee with me this time?” You ask, timidly.

Orter merely chuckles, still not letting his face sport the ghost of a smile. He simply pushes his glasses up to his nose and stands up, pulling his coat back to his shoulders. 

“I would love to.”

¹: this man will cover his sashimi in honey and proclaim it’s still edible.

²: read → insistence. 

³: nonstop yapping.

⁴: empty, hollow. Not a single thought behind those eyes— or so he thinks.

⁵: you, sorry.

#orter madl #orter mádl #orter x reader #mashle orter #madl orter #orter madl x reader #mashle x reader #mashle x you #orter madl x you #mashle orter madl #orter mádl x reader #mádl orter #mádl orter x reader

[ruthytwoshakes]

Bunch of two fort ladies hell yeah B)

headcannons of inconsistent length below the cut

Zhanna: reeeeeeoow!!! She’s so gorgoryse . gay as hell about all these women tbh. Yeah I just gave her body hair and thicker eyebrows because it’s cool as fuck. And a bear claw scar from when she tried to take home a baby bear when she was little. I think she really likes bears and wants one as a pet. Maybe the bear and soldier’s raccoons would get along aww <33

Admin: yipppeee evil old lady!!!!! . Gave her acne scars , think she would pick her face when she was younger and the scars never faded. shes so pretty heruhghhsg. She smokes these fucked up super long cigarettes idk. I like her wonky nose, maybe she got into a fight or something and broke it.

Scouts Ma: oh man I have so many ideas for her hehehhe. Okay so her name is Jenny, shes Puerto Rican, moved to Boston when she was a young adult, and she’s around the same height as sniper. She’s green because she’s both the scouts mother, and I didn’t want her to be purple like Pauling and Admin I wanted her to be her own person. Her heart locket contains a bunch of pictures of her boys that all cartoonishly fold out to the floor when she opens it up.

She’s bi and poly, and currently dating both the spies because I think it’s funny. I can’t decide if both the spies would also be dating each other or would hate each other, maybe it depends on the time of day. Oh also she used to be an assassin! Maybe that’s why she had to move because she got found out at her old hometown. Anybody who got too rough with her boys were never seen again, only reason the scouts made it out alive lol.

She’s only recently gotten back together with the spies, had a falling out with Red before she knew she was pregnant, but he wanted to reconnect with her after finding out Red scout was his kid. Blu and her were friends for a really long time, she was the surrogate mother to Blu scout, but they fell out of contact when Blu spy had to take scout and disappear due to some espionage work gone wrong. When both the Blus join the team, the red scout recognized them and Blu spy eventually reconnected with Jen through that.

All of her kids are out of the house and she’s retired, so she has a lot of free time. She hosts foreign exchange students and fosters baby animals. She does a lot of traveling and shopping, she also likes knife and axe throwing, while doing some abstract sculpting on the side.

Maggie:

I love Maggie she’s so interesting,, I really like the panels where she’s laughing with saxton on the plane. Oh yeah gave her a mustache cus she’s Australian!, don’t be shy give the pretty lady a mustache she deserves it. That line on her lip was from this one girl I had a crush on back in high school, she said that she was bullied for it. don’t think I’ve ever seen it on another person since. She was one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever met. I hope she’s doing alright. She was a really good friend, real wonderful person.

Merasmus:

hi Merasmus how r u. oh yeah I’m trying out some other designs for her because I’m working on a little animated series about her and a magic spell she fucks up. I want her to be Sumerian because Sumer is so interesting!! I’ve been learning about the art from it in class, check out the Sumerian virtue status or the Epic of Gilgamesh they’re some of my favorite bits of history we’ve learned so far. Oh yeah also I think when she takes off that weird cap thing she has the longest most beautiful curly hair that goes down to her ankles because I love those kind of visual gags hehe. Also yeah she has piercings idk why I did that. I think she’s kinda blind and she uses her skull to see with her magic or whatever. I love her facial expressions in the comics,, have you guys seen the cunty Merasmus poster i love the cunty Merasmus poster

Miss Pauling:

MISS PAULFIJF LETS FUCMIGN GOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! She’s got sideburns because im a dyke bleh blehhhh . hshe look at her big ass glasses I’m in love. Oh yeah I gave her lots of moles! And changed up her sleeve colors. Too tired to write much more lol

#tf2 fanart #zhanna #tf2 administrator #scouts ma #tf2 maggie #merasmus #miss pauling #tf2 headcanons #daffys drawings

[scholastic-dragon]

I love your writing! I can’t stop reading your works! You’re amazing!! For the “kissing”-prompt list would you like to write the “finally kissing, after a long time of pining”-prompt for Rocket Raccoon? (totally cool if not) in any case keep up the amazing work - you’re nailing the character! ❤️❤️

I-

Thank you so much. That comment just made my week! <3

this doesn't technically have any Volume 3 spoilers, but the big mission from the movie is what Rocket and the gang were doing in this, but I never say what that is, so you could take it any way you want <3

rocket x gn!reader

Never Too Late

warnings: spelling mistakes, oooo a bit of angst, mentions of rockets past (without spoilers), smootches, first 'i love yous'

You paced around the bar, rubbing your palms together. They'd been gone too long, without any messages or notice.

It turned your stomach; they should've been back by now. What was keeping them so long?

You knew how the guardians were, more often then not having simple exchanges turning into all out gun fight.

But there was something about this mission, the urgency of them leaving, and the fact that Rocket had asked you to stay behind.

Rocket: you're best friend, asked you not to go.

Ever since you saved his ass from Ego, he'd been glued to your side, but recently he'd been more content to stay as far away from you as he could.

You weren't sure what changed, but something was happening with him. Why else would he push you away so adamantly?

Kraglin tried to calm your nerves, telling you Quill actually took charge of a mission, and it was simply too short notice for the whole gang to go.

You weren't sure why, but that just sounded like a lie. Rocket was pushing you away, and you had no idea why.

Three exceptionally slow days later, the Guardians ship landed in the docking port. You all but ran from the mess hall, spilling your soup all over the floor as you ran across the Knowhere courtyard common center.

Chest heaving, you skidded to a halt at the garage door, smiling as you see the group file out of the ship.

"You're back!" you sigh, rushing up and hugging Drax and Mantis, they smile back, clearly happy to be home. "I was so worried,"

Manits chuckled, rubbing your back. "I can tell,"

You pull back, fist bumping Nebula, and punching Quill's shoulder. "Everybody alright?"

Quill groans, rubbing his shoulder with a smile. "In a way, we all need rest, especially Rocket,"

"Where is he? Is he okay?" You ask, instantly becoming worried.

Nebula and Quill share a look, debating whether or not to tell you.

"Well?" You push, feeling your stomach start to turn.

"It's not our place to say, you should talk to him," Nebula finally says, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Where is he?" You look around the port, not seeing the pesky raccoon anywhere.

Quill turns, gesturing into the ship. "His workshop,"

You all but sprinted across the ship, smashing your hip on several metal tables, panting heavily.

Finally, you shoved the giant door open, letting out a relived laugh seeing him standing next to his desk.

He glanced up, fur matted with sweat, covered in dirt and grime but very much alive. He snorted seeing how disheveled you looked. "What's got your panties in a twist?"

You lunged forward, picking him right up off the floor and hugging him tight to your chest. "You're alive!" You pant, feeling the gnawing aching feeling in your stomach soothing.

"'Course I am," He sits stiffly in your arms, although you can hear the relief in his voice. Perhaps he missed you as much as you missed him?

You sigh, setting him down on the desks surface so you could be eye level. "Are you okay? I was so worried, you didn't call or anything,"

Rocket said nothing, simply staring into your eyes. He looked ready to scream and cry, chest heaving as his mouth opened and closed, trying to find the words.

"i'm sorry," He whispers, shoulders slumping slightly. You reach an arm out, giving him a comforting squeeze.

"It's alright, I'm not mad I didn't go, I'm just relived you're all okay," You comforted, taking big deep breaths, trying to calm your racing heart.

Even though Rocket was standing right in front of you, his short shallow breaths and panicked eyes told you that you both were having two different conversations.

"You're....you're not mad at me?" He mumbles, looking down at the tables surface.

"Oh, Rocket," You squeeze his shoulder again, your other hand tipping his chin to meet your eyes. "No, I'm not mad at you. I could never be mad at you,"

That sentence broke something in him, he sobbed and gripped the collar of your shirt. Yanking you down and smashing his lips to yours, you gasped, planting your hands on the tables surface to keep yourself balanced.

He pulled back, pressing his forehead to your cheek. "I'm sorry I didn't let you come, you're my best friend and I was so ashamed you'd think different of me if you knew...."

"Rocket..."

"I love you," He laughs to himself, pulling back, cupping your face, tears misting his eyes. "I've loved you since we first met, every fight, every drink, every time I yelled at you for something stupid, and all the restless nights were I dreamed of you. I love you, Y/n,"

Tears spilled down both your faces, you swallowed thickly, trying to get your brain to come up with an answer.

"I love you too,"

His eyes go wide. "You do? You do?" A smile grows on his face as you nod and smile back at him.

"I do, I love you, I've been in love with your for months!"

He pulls you back in for a kiss, nails gently scraping across your cheeks. Your hands slip around his back, pulling him flush against your chest. He presses his knees into your sides, practically climbing you, pulling himself as close as he could get.

After everything that happened, he isn't about to ever let you go.

#rocket you sweet sweet boy #he deserves everything #guardians of the galaxy #guardians of the galaxy headcannons #guardians of the galaxy imagine #gotg #gotg headcannons #gotg imagines #guardians of the galaxy vol 2 #guardians of the galaxy vol 2 headcannons #guardians of the galaxy vol 2 imagine #gotg2 #gotg2 imagine #gotg2 imagines #gotg2 headcannons #rocket #rocket raccoon #rocket raccoon imagines #rocket racoon headcannons #rocket racoon x reader #it is my works #thanks for the ask!

[mothxmoons]

One enthralling night

*You have altered your path

“I’ll stay, I still love you so much. I can’t say goodbye.” You murmur, holding his hand and pulling it into your chest.

“Thank you, my love, thank you. So much. You have no idea how happy you made me.” Wesker said softly, smiling gently. “It might be…harder from this day onward but believe me, I won’t ever leave you alone. I promise.”

You nodded slowly, this would change your life forever and you knew it. But you really didn’t care as it meant you could stay by his side forever. You sighed leaning into his hand more, bringing it up to your face. His thumb gently rubbing your cheek in response, he looked so happy and soft. He leaned forward and kissed your head, smiling down at you.

“We can’t stay here, but you needed to rest.” He said, hands caressing your face gently. “Get yourself together, my dear and we should get going.”

He was about to leave the room to get ready for wherever you two were going.

“Ah, wait, my bag.” You called, looking around for it.

“Oh- right, that thing was falling apart, so I got you a new one.” He turned around to you and grabbed a new bag from the foot of the bed.

You gently grab it from him and look inside, it had the magnum you had grabbed from Raccoon City, and ammo you needed for it and some other things, you weren’t sure why he had given you these things…You’ll never know why they had such a fancy magnum there but they had a lot of things that didn’t make sense either.

Your finger brushed something that you didn’t see, Wesker had left to let you look at it and get ready to go. What your fingers felt were letters, you immediately pulled at the bag to look at it. Your face went red staring at the letters. They spelled out your first name…and had his last name. Your free hand covered your mouth, staring at the words.

You immediately got up and grabbed the bag, zipping it shut, putting on some shoes before rushing out the door to talk to him.

“Did you put my name and your last name together?” You asked immediately as you caught up to him.

“Yes, you noticed that?” He seemed pleased with himself when he said that.

“B..but we aren’t married-“

“We might as well be.”

Well…you couldn’t argue with that. After all, you did say you’d want to stay with him even though he tried to kill your childhood friend and his teammates.

You walked beside him, Wesker pulling down his shades and taking your hand. He held it as you two walked to a car, smiling down at you, even opening the car door for you.

“Where…are we going?” You asked, looking at him.

“Antarctica.” He said simply, starting the car.

“What- why?”

“There’s some…old colleagues I need to take care of.” He replied, obviously that meant killing or could mean something else, but what did you care? You just promised to stay with him.

It was a long drive to a secret airport but at least you two could talk, about you two mostly. It felt weird to be with him again like nothing had changed at all, but things had changed. A lot. But it felt normal. Like you two were back in Raccoon City on your way to a date at your favorite restaurant, then taking a walk somewhere nice and less crowded. But Raccoon City is gone now and you have Wesker. Your name and his last name stitched into a bag that he got you. Something tells you he’s going to do the same to your legal documents the moment he has a chance.

Although the flight was long and you slept most of the way, you never once felt unsafe around him. Awkward, sure, but that’s mainly because you thought he was dead. Apparently he needed information from the siblings here, they had a virus they were working on that he was interested in. And to you, knowing him, he wanted the information. You and him had to walk there but it was worth being snuggled into him the whole way and you could hear him chuckling as you did so. Luckily, the lab was more like a mansion and was very warm.

He told you to wait in the main part of the mansion and to shoot and kill anything that wasn’t living. And just in case Chris tracked him here, run away. He knew you held Chris in high regard, and he didn’t want you to go through the trouble of explaining what happened and why you were here. Wesker just asked that you run should he or anyone you knew show up. That’s all he asked of you. He had left you alone with that, kissing you softly before going off to conduct whatever business he had to do.

So being left alone in a huge mansion you decided to walk around. As long as you were in the main part you should be fine, you had a magnum on you after all. It was a nice mansion, warm, bright, but also had a lot of other disturbing things that you didn’t want to think about.

You heard someone’s footsteps behind you, immediately whipping around to point your magnum at whoever or whatever tried to sneak up on you. But who you were faced with was not a face you thought you’d see here.

Claire. She was here.

#albert wesker x reader #resident evil x reader #wesker x reader #one enthralling night

[sanctum-of-ramshackle]

“Can’t Slow Me Down”

[TWST AU]: In this timeline, there’s an MC/Yuu who is also from the Valorant universe, but with a different set of unique abilities.

[Synopsis]: Agent!MC/Yuu somehow got lost into Twisted Wonderland while a mission gone wrong back in the Omega world.

Gender Neutral MC/Yuu

[(A/N)]: I just watched Episode 6: Revelation of Valorant and now I want to write something relating to everyone’s Wind Duelist, Agent Jett.

[(A/N #2)]: Like from the previous Valorant MC/Yuu posts, this variant in this one is in the age range of 16-18.

[미란이, 릴보이 - Can’t Slow Me Down]

Agent S.Wift, a.k.a. MC/Yuu Han, is connected to the Wind Duelist, Agent Jett in familial terms.

They’re the younger sibling to the Korean native and the only family member who believed their Jett was innocent after what happened back in Venice.

They also developed Radiant abilities similar to Jett’s from The First Light back in Korea.

The two always had each other’s backs.

They both fought together during missions.

Had cooking competitions.

Racing each other to claim who is faster.

Hell, they even dare each other to whoever resists the spiciness of 불닭볶음면 [Fire Noodles] wins and loser buys ice cream for the champion.

Everything is great between the Han Siblings…

Except during one mission gone wrong.

Remember the episode: Shattered where Killjoy, Neon and Reyna traveled through the portal used to get into the “Omega Earth” for sensitive information?

That kind of mission happened and it involved the two Wind Radiants.

Sova, Jett, and S.Wift were escaping from the soldiers back in the Omega Earth and while traveling to their world, Alpha Earth, something went wrong.

Jett lost S.Wift due to a malfunction to the portal and now everybody at the VP HQ are trying to track them down.

…

MC/Yuu bumps into what feels to be a coffin of some sorts.

Then uses their Radiant powers to blast open the lid, almost slamming Grim when he was about to open it.

Grim: NYAAH! You almost hit me!!!

Agent!MC/Yuu: AAH! 말하는 라콘?!

TRANSLATION: [말하는 라콘] [Malhaneun lakon] (Talking raccoon)

They quickly dashed past Grim and started running around, looking for a way out.

They sprinted, jumped high on the rooftops using Updraft and sprints across the roof.

Grim was running after them, panting for more air.

Grim: *Pants!* *Pants!* How are they so fast?

As MC/Yuu escaped from Grim, they crashed into the window leading to the dorm-selecting ceremony.

With minor cuts from the glass shards, the young agent freaks out by the number of hooded figures staring at them with disbelief.

As training and instincts kicking in, MC/Yuu pulls out their knives using with their Radiant powers.

Agent!MC/Yuu: Why am I in a messed-up cult? Who are you, people?

Crowley: Please put your knives down. There is no need for hostility-

Agent!MC/Yuu: *Throws one of their knives passing Crowley and nearly misses Grim*

Grim: NYAAH!!!

Agent!MC/Yuu: That monster was chasing after me!

Grim: Hey! I’m Grim the Great! Not a monster!

Agent!MC/Yuu: I don’t care! I don’t know what’s going on here, but this better not be the Omega agents tricking me.

Crowley: Omega agents?

Agent!MC/Yuu: …What kind of hell is this?

MC/Yuu stepped aside with Crowley and Grim, being trapped in the Whips of Love.

Both the young agent and the headmaster exchanged their explanations of their situations.

Now Agent S.Wift is back in school.

[During the Prologue]

[Ace and Grim were fighting until the feline menace blew fire at the troublemaker. Trappola deflected the flames with a wind spell which ultimately directs to the Queen of Hearts statue.]

Agent!MC/Yuu: Oh! *Throws a Cloudburst move to shield the statue from the fire* Are you two crazy?!

Ace: *Surprised* I thought you were magicless.

Agent!MC/Yuu: I’m a Radiant where I’m from. Not magical. Just leave us alone, 바보 [Pabo] (Idiot).

Ace: Ha? I don’t see you as threatening-

Agent!MC/Yuu: *Fans out their knives and throws them at Ace*

Ace: *Barely dodges the attack* What was that for?!

Agent!MC/Yuu: Proving I can kick ass.

[Heartslabyul Kitchen]

Agent!MC/Yuu: Hey Cater.

Cater: MC/Yuu-Chan/Kun! Helping Trey with baking for the upcoming Unbirthday Party?

Agent!MC/Yuu: Yeah. All these pastries are making me crave for something spicy. Thankfully, Trey let me use the area for some snacks. *Serves themselves their version of 불닭볶음면* Want some? I made extra.

Cater: You don’t have to. Really.

Agent!MC/Yuu: Cater, I noticed you’re not too fond of sweets. Back from the beginning, Trey used his magic to make your palette satisfied with some things savory.

Cater: Oh. You know.

Agent!MC/Yuu: There’s nothing wrong with that. I also crave with some spice every now and then. *Hands the extra bowl to Cater* I gotta go before Grim does something stupid. *Dashes out of the kitchen*

Cater: *Blushes* Why?

[During Chapter 5: Vil’s Overblot]

Epel: *Barely breathing from the poisonous gas* How are we supposed stop this?

Agent!MC/Yuu: I got this! *Uses their abilities to create a tornado to rid the gas*

[Overblot!Vil accidentally got caught in the tornado and crashes into the debris of the Colosseum.]

Agent!MC/Yuu: Whoops. Nobody caught that on video, right?

Epel: *Recording the whole time*

Agent!MC/Yuu: Epel.

Epel: What? This is somethin’ after beating Vil’s ass.

Now I’m imagining that back in the VP HQ, everyone was able to find Agent S.Wift and finally got them back to safety.

This could take place after dealing the everything that happened in Twisted Wonderland.

[Back to Alpha Earth]

Agent!MC/Yuu: *Falls through the portal* Guys?

Jett: MC/Yuu! *Dashes to them and tightly hugs them* Thank god you’re okay.

Agent!MC/Yuu: *Hugs back* I’m sorry I scared you, 언니 [Eonni] [Older sister]/누나 [Nuna] [Older sister].

Jett: *Lets go* What happened when we lost track of you?

Agent!MC/Yuu: Uhh…I fell into someplace else. I can’t describe the experience in full detail, but I think there’s another world unlike Omega Earth.

✨[Reblogging helps creators and creates more content.]💫

#disney twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland #twst #twst au #Valorant #Agent!MC #Agent!Yuu #MC Han #Yuu Han #twisted wonderland mc #twst mc #twisted wonderland yuu #twst yuu #twisted wonderland headcanons #twst headcanons #twisted wonderland scenarios #twst scenarios #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #Youtube

[un-holly-chaos]

Here it is!! (Under the cut)

I'm going to post the thing Here(on this blog), full chapters as soon as they're written folks! Until someone gives me a better idea or the book is finished xD

Chapter One

There is a point, Holly thinks, when you must accept that you are bad at everything, and that this is how your life will go. Every day you will wake up, and put a new attempt into the world, and watch with bright, hopeful eyes, as it falls apart in front of you. She has gotten very good at this, and is quite accustomed to the routine.

She put her amulet in the amulet-slot on the door of the massive, square marble building, in this otherwise empty-for-miles grassy field. The door didn’t respond, and it made her irritable. She had been walking through this ridiculously empty field for hours and hours and it had been loudly raining, and her magic umbrella kept disappearing and water would come splashing all over her head and be cold while doing so. And the door was ignoring her. She tried the amulet again, and instead of opening the door, her umbrella spell flickered again, and she got rained on some more. A gem fell out of her amulet when she removed it from the door. She held in the screams.

As she was putting the gem back into the amulet, the door was manually opened by the handle on the inside, and she was let in. The person who had been so kind as to operate the mechanics of this contraption for her, was Trudy. Trudy was decent at everything, and often let Holly in when the door ignored her.

“We need to put the handle on both sides of the door.” Holly announced. The lively bar room took no notice.Trudy shuffled awkwardly for a moment, then opened her mouth. “See, I told Baringer about that, like you asked,”

“And?” Holly glared at her.

“Well, yes. And he said we can’t put a handle on the outside of the door, because the raccoon would get in, and… you know. He just really doesn’t want a repeat of that incident.”

“Well then maybe Baringer should put up a raccoon ward like I suggested and we could have a double-sided door handle!”

“Yes, but that costs, and he has other priorities, and you’re glaring at me again, and honestly argue with him yourself next time? And I’m going to go finish my game now. Bye.” And Trudy waved and walked off to a table with people and cards, and sat there. Holly wanted to keep arguing, but she was tired, so instead she found her way to the bar. This took some doing, as it was crowded, and crowds made the bar restless, so they kept wheeling it around the room. She collapsed onto a stool, and the bartender approached her. “Randy,” she said, “I need a Dry Wine.” He didn’t say anything, but looked at her sodden robes, nodded, and stepped off to grab a bottle and glass. He returned, “We only have apple left.”

“I don’t care what flavor it is, I just want to not squelch in my boots anymore.”

He poured her a glass and set it on the bar. “So… Why don’t you just try an umbrella spell?”

“Randy,” she said patiently, “if one more person questions me tonight, I will summon every raccoon in this damn meadow, and I will caffeinate them.”

“Okay.” He said, and stood there. “So, I’m not asking, but don’t you normally struggle to summon things?”

“I struggle with all spells, now shut up and leave me alone.” She wished she could get a potion that would make the people around her tactful and perceptive. She drank the Dry Wine, which wooshed quite a lot of water out of her hair and clothes, and left her bedraggled, but dry. She sighed. Footsteps suddenly separated from the crowd, and stopped behind her. She ignored them, hoping they would go away. They sat down next to her, and belonged to her boss, Danrius.

“Hi Holly,” he said

“Danrius,” she begrudged

“Where’d you uh, put the burglar?”

”I couldn’t catch him.”

”Cool, cool. What do you mean you couldn't catch him? Cause like, call me cuckoo, but I did give you this assignment, of a non-magical burglar, and I teleported you there, to where he was, with my personal office portal, and you had your amulet and everything, and you just… didn’t catch him? I’m just making sure I understand this correctly…”

”Yes, Danrius, that’s- he got away from me.” She rubbed her face.

”Okaaaaayyy, how’d he do that? You’ve got the magic cage spell right? Did you try casting that on him?”

”Yeah, but it didn’t work and he ran, and the magic bolo spell broke on contact, and the running-through-mollasses spell just made a puddle on the ground, and then I had an asthma attack and my inhaler was empty. I filled it up at the pharmacy on my way back.” She stared dejectedly at the empty glass in front of her. There was a long pause, as this information trickled into Danrius’s brain.

”You had an asthma attack?”

”From running after him, yes.”

”Right, ok. See, this is the kind of thing I’m talking about; you don’t even think to cast a flying spell on yourself to save the trouble. Or like, use a floating disc, that’s a classic move. Look Holly, as much as I like you, I’m kind of having an issue, and if you can help me with it that’d be great, but there’s a point where I can’t put more money into an employee than I get out. You have, kind of, not brought in a single bounty this month, and there’s this guy who interviewed with me yesterday, who’s pretty powerful looking. He conjured a whole rainstorm, and it’s still going from yesterday, and as the guy who directs the hiring and maintaining of the wizards here-“

”The manager.”

”Right. As the manager, it’s my job to uh, keep people who can, y’know, consistently cast spells. It’s the main point in the job description on the application.”

”Yeah, but I can do that though, I cast spells all the time!”

”For sure, for sure. But the spell, working, is kind of the point, and if I recall correctly, last two times you brought someone in, you had one tied up in physical ropes, and the other in a pair of, how’d you put it, ‘borrowed?’ Handcuffs? And I just feel like those are pretty non-magical solutions to magical problems, and I’ve been ignoring it for a while, but there’s this guy, Theobold the Thunderous, and he shoots lightning out of his fingers.”

”Are you…? Dan look, if I get the job done, does it really need to be with magic? It just feels like semantics,”

”Somatics, Holly, and no, not really, but, he shoots lightning out of his fingers, and it’s still raining. Look, I’m not happy about this either, but I can’t afford another add-on to the payroll, so as much as it pains me to say ths, I’m gonna have to let you go. We’ve had good times working together, and I know you’ve been putting a lot of hours in, so I’ll give you a few days to say goodbye. As long as you turn in your room key tomorrow, cause I told Theobold he could be moved in by the weekend. Big thanks Holly, I appreciate it!” He stood, slapped her shoulder, and flashed his teeth professionally. Then before she could collect her words, he stepped back into the crowd and was gone.

In two hours, she would collapse face down on her bed. In fifteen hours she would be standing outside the front door, in the still-drizzling rain, trying to summon raccoons. For now she just waved Randy over and asked for a potion of inebriation while she still got free bar. It looked and tasted like rice-milk, and was fully indistinguishable from the real thing, except for its attribute of getting you quite high or drunk, depending on the day. There are more specific potions out there, but they’re more expensive, so naturally, they weren’t here. She fought around the large ice cubes for several minutes before thinking to take them out and depressedly watch them melt on a napkin. She got the next one without ice.

A good while later, she gave up trying to remember the speak-with-marsupial spell, and got up. A headrush became very noticable. It didn’t go away. She compromised, and simply willed herself in the direction of the elevators. Her body successfully took her that way, rather clumsily, but she arrived. It was a magic elevator. The kind with no walls, and a levitator platform. She stepped in, and looked up trepidatiously. The long tunnel swayed above her like a willowy tree trunk that she was somehow inside of. She felt like a bug. She put her amulet in the slot on the pedestal to make it go up. Nothing happened. She realized she forgot to actually do the spell, and tried again, with magic this time. The elevator pad slowly began to rise. She breathed a sigh of relief, and contemplated whether life would be easier beneath the bark of a tree. Her conclusion was interrupted when the pad stopped at the next floor. That was the problem with this elevator, it stopped at every floor, and you had to magic it into going again, every time. She never got it to work every time. The whole place was like that, what with doors with no handles, and elevators with no automation. Wizards were wholly pretentious, she decided. She put her amulet in again, with magic. Nothing happened. She blinked slowly, praying to the god of small mammals (raccoons were still on the mind) that this place would one day go down in wonderfully warm, dry flames. A person swam into her awareness by entering the elevator, and magicking it to go up with their own amulet. She went back to picturing herself as a bug. She wasn’t sure what kind of bug lived in trees, but if she imagined it in first person instead of third person it wouldn’t matter; except she got hung up on how many legs she would have as an unspecified tree bug.

She realized she wouldn’t notice when she arrived to her floor with her eyes closed, so she set aside her insectoid ponderings, and focused. She had no memory of how many floors she’d passed, so she checked the rune stone on the side of the pedestal. It had all the floor numbers in descending order, and each one would light up as the pad stopped there. There were only three left until hers. The person there with her got off of the elevator. She amuleted the pad, with magic.

It took her all of three excruciating minutes to get the pad going again, and then only a few tries at the next stop. She finally reached her floor, and climbed off the pad with great relief. When she felt steady again after what felt like an hour, but was definitely not more than a minute or two, she counted the doors down the long hall till she got to her room, and rediscovered the wonders of old, beat-up mattresses.

Fourteen hours later, here she was, standing in the drizzle attempting to summon raccoons, an hour late on her day’s schedule. It had taken her over an hour to pack, despite only having a duffel bag and her amulet. Said amulet steamed. She wasn’t typically a vengeful person, or very wrathful actually, but ever since she had set foot into that horrible, grand, elegant, fake-marble bounty-wizard-hub, she had been having problems with it. Everything was magic powered, but nothing was automated, so she got stuck everywhere, and hated it. She fiddled with the gem, trying to adjust the rubber band so she could try the summon again. The spells were always worse when the gem got loose, she figured it was something about keeping the etching connected like a sort of circuit. Raccoons were tree animals too, so she didn’t know why they were even here, but Baringer hated them, and they kept setting everything on fire whenever they got inside, thus the one-sided door handle.

She cast the spell again. Her amulet sparked, and after a moment the grass rustled. A small face, familiar with the allure of arson, and well acquainted with the improved flavor of stolen foods, appeared. It was only one raccoon, but it would have to do. She put amulet in door-slot, and focused her magic very poignantly. It opened. She ushered the little creature in, and closed the door behind it, walking away. The grey sky hung heavy, and the pale grass scratched against her robes, but she was an unemployed woman, and couldn’t muster anything resolute to think about it.

After a few hours the sun came out, and she felt a bit better. She wondered about the success of her raccoon, and was in a faintly good mood when she arrived at the nearest inn that night. She booked a room and slept uneventfully.

The next day she entered an actual city, and wandered about a bit. At one point she found an abandoned silk scarf on the sidewalk. It was red with nice geometric designs, so she tied it onto her belt. She bought a pastry from a gluten-free bakery, and felt optimistic about it. The pastry was dry, flavorless, and over-priced, but it was so rare she had pastries she could eat, that she didn’t mind. She decided she would refill her water bottle and find a new place to work. Who knows, maybe a flier would advertise a cool new job she’d be really good at, like taking care of lizards. She found a public drinking fountain, and gratefully filled up her water bottle. As she turned to face the city street, bustling with people and new opportunities, a damp newspaper found its way to her face, and stuck. She peeled it off, debating if it could be considered horror-enough to be the last straw. She decided to read it before she decided.

Half of it was smeared by being damp, but in the middle of the page was an advertisement looking for “Fresh Wizard College Graduates, Looking For Their First Job!” She’d graduated two years ago, and had lost three jobs since then, but she was qualified, and that was what they were really asking. “This is serendipity. This one’s gonna work, I’m gonna get this job, and not fail miserably!” she lied, to no one in particular. She felt confidence rushing through her, along with the paper pulp rubbing off on her fingers. She dutifully took the paper to the bin, and bought a new copy of the same one so she could read the address listed. It was 154th Kennings Ln, just off of Side St. She began her purposeful meander, in hopes of finding a directory board. Or one of those bus stops with the maps on them.

#Holly Kingsley #chapter one #wizard #writing #please be kind #i'm insecure and this is my fun hobby to not stress about #tyyy <3 #my novel attempts

[friendly-books]

Small Favor live blog

Small favor live blog 

Happy Holidays! 

Content warning: mind rape

Aw snowball fight with the Carpenters 

I love this training 

“The memory of my first shielding lesson under Justin DuMorne wasn’t a particularly sentimental one. “Baseballs” 

“Mercifully God” Charity said, shaking her head. “How old were you?” 

“Thirteen” I shrugged my shoulders. “Pain’s a good motivator. I learned fast.” pg. 15 That’s straight up child abuse 

“Then Charity, standing behind me, dumped a double handfuls of snow down mother neck of my coat” pg. 18 Ha

“They weren’t terribly tall, maybe five-foot-six” pg. 19 I’m 5’6 thanks Harry maybe you’re just freakishly tall

Charity with a nail gun so cool

“They contacted me through Paranet, and I showed them how to  give Fido the bum’s rush out of town.” pg. 31 Oh yay this is the thing Harry and Elaine were making.

“You look like a raccoon” pg. 35 Ha 

Denarians in town or the rogue denarian from Proven Guilty.

Yes Marcone in this book! It’s always a good surprise when Marcone is in a book

Aw Toot-toot grown!

Pizza guard!

“Leave the doughnut!” pg. 67 Oh no 

Mab make an entrance 

Oh no Marcone got kidnapped. How did someone kidnap Marcone? Where are they keeping him? Why would someone kidnap him?

“Unless you should agree to take up the mantle of Winter Knight” pg. 81 Not yet Mab 

“But I do know a little about horses, having taken care of my second mentor Ebenezar McCoy’s riding horses on his little farm in Missouri” pg. 89 Harry’s a horse girl

All this talk about Harry and the Winter Knight foreshadowing is foreboding 

“The driver’s side-window rolled down and revealed a young man whom father of teenage girls would shoot on sight” pg. 104 Ha

“If they’re following the beacon, they’ll be running all over town” pg. 125 Ha 

“I’m not terribly well motivated to bend over backwards to save John Marcone’s Armani-clad ass” pg. 127 Well Harry might not want to save Marcone but I can’t wait 

No Harry bring Mouse 

“He didn’t actually thank me, but it was his voice. I pretended that I hadn’t heard it there, which was what he expected me to do.

It’s a guy thing” pg. 138 That’s stupid 

“Especially with the raccoon face I’ve got going on here.” pg. 143 Ha

Hendricks! 

“I want to help your boss” pg. 152 It’s not lame. I love it

Oh no Gard :( 

“Second, that a standard electrical pug was attached to the other end” pg. 161 The chain is like Elaine’s chain 

“Without a word he set aside his shotgun and took the woman from me. I saw his eyes as he did, touched with worry and fear-and not for himself.” pg. 165 Hendricks/Gard ship let’s go I’ve made ships with less to go on

“Forzane” pg. 170 A force spell not a fire spell? Eh? 

Thomas! Put the coin down

“Because,” I said, “maybe they went to recruit him.” pg. 184 Well Nick did offer Marcone a job back in Death Mask. 

“Fu-“ I started to swear, but I glanced at Michael and changed it to “Fudgesiscles” pg. 189 Ha

“One of the most dangerous men I’ve ever known is about to have involuntary access to the knowledge and power of a Fallen angel, which would give the Denarians access to major influence within the United States. Not to mention the serious consequences for me if they succeed in making it happen” pg. 187 Interesting that this is Harry’s thoughts about Marcone taking up a coin. I wonder if he still thinks that now that Marcone’s taken up a coin. 

“Michael caught Sayna’s hand on the way up, and pushed it gently back down” pg. 187 Ha

“This isn’t a democracy, Harry. We serve a king” pg. 187 Eh? I’m pretty sure this is a democracy Michael 

“Transition: Don’t start another war, Harry” pg. 192 Ha and it’s only one war 

“So instead you have placed your own life in jeopardy in order to protect his beliefs. You risk your body to preserve his heart.”

“I suppose he considers it a particularly messianic act.”

“That’s not why I did it” I said 

“Of course it isn’t. He knows that. It isn’t easy for him. Usually he’s the one protecting another, willing to pay the price if he must” pg. 196 What’s some light treason to help your friends? And Harry is a good friend.

“We will watch over your criminals for you” pg. 202 Ha

So cool that Murph stood up to Tiny.

“War council?” Molly asked, wide-eyed. “Are we going to start another war?” pg. 226 Ha

“We might find a trail that leads back to the Nickelheads” pg. 232 Ha Nickelheads 

“Someone highly placed enough to know the location of the safe house, and who will profit by Marcone’s absence” pg. 232 Helen maybe 

“Nothing’s ever a convenient with you” pg. 234 Ha

“Hell’s bells. Do I really look like that? Maybe I needed a makeover or something” pg. 236 Aw Harry I’m sure you look nice, black eyes aside.

“I’m betting Marcone left her a sample of his hair to use to track him down, for just such an occasion as this” pg. 237 Smart

“I missed my staff. I missed my duster” pg. 243 No blasting rod? Eh?

“This isn’t over,” he said, a harsh edge in his voice. “We’ll discuss it after” pg. 262 Aw Michael and Harry are fighting :( 

“Stop,” I said “Occam time” pg. 266 Ha

“I swear, by my own power, that I will abide by those restrictions” pg. 273 Oh Harry swore an oath to help Marcone.

“Can’t-get-a-date-itis. He’s supposed to be some kind of catalyst or conversion starter. Or failing that a consolation prize” pg. 276 Ha

“Grew up hard in the war, though that didn’t give them enough brains to keep from looking  up to me.” pg. 279 Aw poor Harry :(

“The station’s lights went out. All of them. At exactly the same time.” pg. 280 Oh no

“Granted, He doesn’t always answer quite this quickly” pg. 289 Ha

“When things had gone dark and scary she had somehow rounded them up and gotten them into a room. That took a lot more moxie than most people had. I also noted that she had been kneeling between the customer and the doorway. I liked her already.” pg. 289 I also like Carol. I like that this shows that ordinary people can and do help others.

“I held up my right hand and with a murmur called a tiny sphere of flame. The spell sputtered and coughed before it coalesced, and even that the light was barely brighter than a candle” pg. 295 Something is up with Harry. He doesn’t mention his blasting rod and he doesn’t use any fire spells. It could be because Jim is using The Law of Conservation of Details but I don’t think so. Mind magic maybe? So that he doesn’t remember his fire or blasting rod. Like with Lea and Susan back in Grave Peril. But by who? Not a human practitioner or else the Wardens would come. Not Molly, she hasn’t shown up yet and she wouldn’t do that to Harry. Hmm Mab maybe but why would she do that? She’s not a human practitioner and she’s powerful enough to do it. I think she’s more powerful than Lea. But again why would she do that? She had time to do it when she was talking to Harry. But I’m stuck on the motive as to why Mab would do that when Harry is helping her. Wild guessing as there really aren’t any other suspects but Mab. 

“You rush a miracle worker, you get lousy miracles!” pg. 298 Ha

So cool that Harry used the sprinkler system to wash away the Myrk.

“I don’t call him Fist of God as a pet name, folks” pg. 302 Ha

“Stupid, Harry. Stupid, Stupid” pg. 309 Stop being so self critical Harry. You need some more self confidence. Go read a self help book or something. 

So cool that Harry used Gard’s locker to fight.

“Mercy? From a Winterbound?” pg. 312 Yep Harry’s cool like that.

“I’m not bound” I snapped “This is purely  temp work” pg. 312 More foreshadowing for Harry.

Kincaid and Ivy! This book got better! 

“Maybe it was just my imagination that it took Michael a second longer to answer than in the past” pg. 320 Aw :( I don’t like that Harry and Michael are fighting. 

“But was prevented from going father by Kincaid hand” pg. 332 Let Ivy pet Mouse 

Just Luccio taking a bath by the fire in someone else’s house as you do. 

“The last thing I noticed, before I dropped off, was that under all the blankets I was entirely undressed.

And I was clean” pg. 335 Who undressed Harry and cleaned him? Luccio?

“Thomas gave me a look of his own. Then he thwapped me gently upside the head” pg. 339 Ha

“What does a woman need to do, Harry? Rip her clothes off, throw herself on top of you, and shimmy while screaming ‘Do me Baby!’?” pg. 340 Ha and knowing Harry it could help but more likely Harry would think that the woman would be cursed. 

In defense of Harry I also didn’t know that Luccio was flirting with Harry. And Luccio needs to be more direct with Harry. He’s oblivious and dense. Susan was the one to ask Harry out back in Storm Front. 

“I’ve never been hit on by a woman a hundred and fifty years older than me” pg. 340 Ha and what about Lara? 

“Moran. Thank God Nicodemus is a man” pg. 341 Ha and with my reading of Bi Harry I won’t be too relieved there.

“Tiny” Sanya rumbled to Michael, clenching a demonstration fist “But fierce” pg. 346 Ha

Part 2

“The wind caught my coat and the cloak both, and almost knocked me over until I gathered in close to my body again and under control. Hendricks, solid and huge in his dark, sensible London Fog winter coat, went by me with a small smile on his face.” pg. 353 Ha and glad even Hendricks is amused by Harry.

“She can’t be here” pg. 355 I thought things ended well between Kincaid and Murphy back in Hawaii? 

“She was watching two otters chase each other around the habitat, and smiling.” pg. 357 Aw :)

“Kincaid stopped in his tracks when he saw that. Just to see what he’d do, I tried to step past him. He shot me a look like he’d murder me if I tried to interrupt her, and my opinion of him went up a notch.” pg. 357 Aw :)

“He had a good voice, mellow and surprisingly deep” pg. 361 Bi Harry 29 I think I mean I hope not because it’s Nicodemus and Harry would have horrible taste in men. 

“Archive guarantee his neutrality” pg. 362 Wow Nicky just assumes the police officer is a man. That’s a bit sexist. First Nicky was racist now sexist get with the times man. 

“He was a man of medium height and build, his features handsome, strong, his eyes dark and intelligent.” pg. 363 Bi Harry 30 Harry what did I just say? Absolutely  terrible taste in men. I see he and his mother have similar tastes. Harry has a type ie older scary men with silvery hair. Silver fox if you will. 

“Sans demolition, if you think you can refrain.” pg. 363 Ha and no Harry can’t refrain from causing property damage.

“Nicodemus let out another quiet, charming laugh.” pg. 365 Bi Harry 31 

“And you offer such insolence regardless?”

“Habit,” I said “It doesn’t make you special or anything, believe me” pg. 367 Ha 

“Nicodemus.

Blinked.” pg. 369 Oh Nicodemus didn’t know. We have a rogue Denarius on our hands 

“I glared up at him and debated slamming him through one of those Corinthian columns by way of objecting to be manhandled. But I decided that I didn’t want to piss him off.” pg. 369 Ha 

“At least it has some survival instincts” pg. 370 Ha and Harry has no survival instincts 

“Kincaid, get the kid out of here!” I screamed. “They’re coming for Ivy” pg. 373 Oh no if they hurt Ivy I demand there blood 

“I guess it came down to a single question: whether or not I was the kind of man who walks away when he knows a little kid is in danger” pg. 378 No Harry isn’t that kind of man

“The thorny Denarian” Thorned Namshied 

“…and he just ate my spell.” pg. 380 Ha and I wonder if Marcone can do that now?

I’m worried about the animals they can’t run away

“While the Archive would know that the proper decision would be to allow Kincaid to die in order to protect the sanctity of the Archive, Ivy wouldn’t be making the decision with the same detached calm. Kincaid was the closest thing she had to family. She wouldn’t. She couldn’t.” pg. 396 Aw and Harry she cares about you too. You Named her and I think she considers you a friend. 

“I wish I knew,” I panted. “That way I could exercise free will while telling you to go fuck yourself” pg. 401 Ha

“I hadn’t extended my line of thinking beyond Kincaid. But of all the people who had dealt with the Archive, I’d been one of the only ones  to take any interest in her as anything but a font of knowledge. I’d been the one to inquire after her personality. I’d been the one to give her a name. Sad but true, I was the closest thing that little girl had to a friend. 

She couldn’t have let anything happen to me, either.” pg. 403 While I love that Ivy considers Harry a friend this isn’t a great time for this.

“I could use charts to make it easier for you to understand. And color them in with crayons. I enjoy crayons.” pg. 405 Aw baby’s first attempt at sassing the enemy 

“I wasn’t certain but it sounded like the kid was trying to give the bad guys some gruff on my behalf. She needed to work on her technique, but it was the thought that counted. If I could have breathe, I might have gotten a little choked up.” pg. 406 Aw :) I’m so proud of Ivy. I’m glad she has a friend in Harry. 

Oh no they took Ivy :(

“Michael had some serious pecs.” pg. 423 Bi Harry 32

“Never mind Michael’s pecs. Sanya made us both look like we needed to eat more wheat germ” pg. 424 Bi Harry 33

“Jared. Huh.” pg. 424 Kincaid first name is Jared really?

“She doesn’t have anybody else. No one” pg. 424 Aw :(

“And we fought them. That war could end. It could all be over” pg. 428 No unfortunately not 

“Molly once burned my egg. My boiled egg. I don’t know how.” pg. 432 Ha

“You’re a creature of habit, Harry. You don’t like change” pg. 435 Yep

“So how they gonna get that creepy little girl a coin? Or one for the boss?” pg. 436 Good idea Cujo but rude for calling Ivy a creepy little girl. 

“Molly was committing dinner by that time, aided and abetted by Sanya, who was taking who seemed to take some kind of Russian delight in watching the train wrecks in progress.” pg. 439 Ha

“Ivy,

You are not alone.

Kincaid is alive. I’m all right. We’re coming after you.

Don’t listen to them. Hang on.

We’re coming. 

You are not alone. 

Harry” pg. 444 Aw I love this bit so much. 

“You know me, Michael. I’m always careful.” pg. 447 Ha 

“What” he said in a low, deadly tone, “is that?” pg. 449 Oh Nicky is scared of Mouse 

“It’s been a little while since anyone was quite that insolvent to my face.” pg. 450 I’m pretty sure the last person was also Harry back in Death Mask. 

“Do you always retreat into insouciance when you are frightened, Dresden?” pg. 450 Ha and yes he does 

Nicky is a terrible boss. He doesn’t even remember Rasmussen. 

“After all those years of baseless suspicion and hostility from your own Council, that must be a  painful realization.” pg. 453 Aw :( 

“The Council doesn’t need my help to be a bunch of tools.” pg. 454 Ha 

Harry being incredibly melodramatic with Michael. 

“Look at me when I’m talking to you!” pg. 462 Aw :( 

“I don’t share everything with you,” I retorted. “I don’t share everything with anyone. That’s nothing new.” pg. 462 Harry you should talk to your friends.

“Because in thousand years, no one has rid themselves of the shadow of one of the Fallen” pg. 463 So cool that Harry was the first person to rid themselves of a shadow of the Fallen. Sad that it meant that Lash died. 

“Have I suddenly gone crazy on you?”

He arched an eyebrow 

“More so than usual” pg. 465 Ha

“Harry,” he said quietly, “what happened to your blasting rod?” pg. 465 Oh good someone else is worried about Harry and his blasting rod

“Someone had been in my head

Someone had been in my head 

Oh God” pg. 466 Oh no this is just like when Murphy was mind raped back in Grave Peril with the Nightmare. 

Harry isn’t having a good time. 

So Molly looked around in Harry’s head

“You aren’t the sort of person to do things by halves, Harry. Grand gestures included.” pg. 469 Ha 

“In the event that you haven’t figured it out, I’m not the kind of person to be casually involved in much of anything” pg. 473 Yep

“Dresden, it seems to me that you’d lock yourself up pretty tight if someone took a regular bullet for you with a regular body. Much less if you were under psychic attack and this imaginary friend died right inside your own brain. Something like that happens, shouldn’t you have expected to be a basket case, at least for a little while.” pg. 476 Yep Harry loves his friends and having someone die for you will leave a mark.

“You remember when Karvos struck his fingers in my brain?” pg. 475 I see Murphy is drawing parallels away from well.

Not the biggest fan of this Luccio/Harry ship aren’t they subordinate and boss? 

“You might be able to empower such a circle for half an hour, Dresden.” pg. 483 I’m glad Luccio knows that Harry is powerful 

“I was going to put the dinosaur back,” I said. “But I was unconscious” pg. 485 Ha

They have Ivy at Deamonreach? How’d they get there and not get booted off? 

“You couldn’t spot a pop culture reference if it  skittered up and implanted an embryo down your esophagus.” pg. 503 Ha and is this why Harry makes so many pop culture shout outs? 

“The creepy part was that it felt familiar.” pg. 515 Creepy maybe the island knew that Harry was going to be the next warden of the island.

Poor Ivy :( 

Why doesn’t Ivy have clothes? Never mind, I don't want to know. 

“I’d made that mistake once already, on a stormy night much like this one” pg. 522 Yep Grave Peril parallels 

“Gentleman Johnnie Marcone” pg. 525 Is this a spelling error or is Harry being Harry? 

“Something had ripped off the top half of his left ear.” pg. 525 That makes a very cool picture of Marcone

“Insufferable, arrogant little monkey,” Namshiel hissed. “Playing with the fires of creation. Binding your soul to it, as if you were one of us. How dare you so presume. How dare you wield soulfire against me. I, who was there when your pathetic kind was hewn from the muck.” pg. 533 I take it Namshiel isn’t happy that Harry has soulfire.

“I glared at him. He returned the glare with a faint, knowing smile.” pg. 536 Ha

“Ride of the Valkyries” pg. 541 Yay Gard to the rescue. 

“He shook his head and pointed his fingers at Ivy” pg. 542 Yay

Part 3

Oh no Michael 

“A bar of blue-white fire so dense that it was nearly a solid object lashed across the distance from me and Tessa and slammed into her like an enormous spear.” pg. 547 So cool. Don’t mess with Harry’s friends 

“I find myself largely clueless about why mortal women do what they do. It will take a wiser man than me to understand what’s in a fae women’s mind.” pg. 557 Ha

“They tell children stories about you guys, you know,” I said. 

“Still?” He said

I nodded” pg. 558 Aw :) 

“We hear tales of thee, young wizard.”

I blinked. “You, uh?” 

“We too like stories about…” His eyes searched his memory for a moment before he smiled, pleased. The gesture looked pleasantly nonviolent on his face. 

“Underdogs” pg. 558 So cool that the fae tell stories of Harry.

“I want you,” I said “to get me a doughnut. A real, genuine, Chicago doughnut. Not some glamorous doughnut. An actual one. Freshly made.” 

“Nay, but prithee, with sprinkles ‘pon it instead,” I said solemnly “and frosting of white.” pg. 560 Ha

“Harry Dresden speechless,” Nicodemus said. “I can’t imagine this happens every day.” pg. 564 Ha

“It’s gone!” pg. 565 Oh no the coins are gone. 

“Deceitful bitches” pg. 565 :0 I was not expecting that kind of language from Nicodemus. 

“Please. No one so obstreperous has been corrupted by anything other than his own pure muleheadedess.” pg. 567 Ha 

“Lasciel’s shadow,” I told him, “doesn’t live here anymore, The Fallen have no power over me. And neither do you” pg. 568 So cool

“In fact, I squeezed harder” pg. 570 Good

Drat Nicodemus is still alive. Better luck next time. Third time the charm.

“I was wearing fresh clothing too. Thomas. He didn’t say anything about it, and neither did I. It’s a brother thing.” pg. 582 Aw :) Yay!

“His heart. They hurt his hurt.” pg. 586 Aw :( Poor Molly

“Families stay, Harry” pg. 587 Aw :)

“Given what he’d been saved from, it would be consistent with his character for Marcone to repay the people who bailed him out with whatever aid he could render in turn. It irked me that Marcone could ever be in a position to offer significant aid to Michael, regardless of circumstances.” pg. 590 Yep Marcone is cool like that 

So Harry meets Uriel. I think God likes Harry despite Harry’s thoughts.

“You will not. I do not belong to you-“ pg. 598 Not yet 

What made Mab so mad?

I take it the White Council would be mad if they find out and Bob.

“I get it,” I said. “You don’t think I should get close to her. Unless you’re worried about what’s going to happen when you wake her up and she’s really scared and confused.” pg. 608 Hypocritical much

“They did things to me,” she said 

 “I know,” I said quietly “Been there. But I was all right after a while. You’re going to be alright. It’s over.” pg. 609 Don’t like those implications with Harry and Ivy experiencing the same thing and using the same words. Add to it that Ivy was naked upon rescue doesn’t help.

“Couldn’t find its heart if it had a copy of Gray’s Anatomy, X-ray vision, and a stethoscope,” I said “No. They can lay down the law about magic. But they aren’t telling me who I’m allowed to befriend.” pg. 609 That’s a little cult like. The White Council can’t tell people who they can or can’t befriend.

“Morgan told them you’d say that. So did McCoy and Listen-to-Wind. The Merlin wouldn’t hear it.” pg. 609 Morgan! He knows enough about Harry to know that Harry wouldn’t go for it.

I’m glad Harry hugged Ivy and that she got his letter. Ivy needs a support system. 

“He has a teddy Glock.” pg. 610 Ha

I’m glad Murph is also concerned about Luccio and Harry. 

“Marcone. I’ll look into it.” pg. 614 Harry knew already that Marcone took the coin?

“I don’t have it,” Marcone said.” pg. 616 Either Marcone is lying outright or using exact words. Hmmm

“The child” Marcone said “Is she well?” pg. 617 Aw :) I hope Ivy and Marcone talk to each other after this. 

“Then you should get some rest,” Marcone said. “You look”-his mouth twitched up at the connors-”like a raccoon. Who has been run over by a locomotive.” pg. 617 Ha 

“A lot of men talk to the women they sleep with,” I said “That’s always been true. And it would give you a really good reason to get close to him” 

“He’s like a lot of men,” pg. 618 I can’t picture Marcone doing this. Also I can’t believe I was right about Helen being the leak. 

“Oh that.” Anastasia said. “Your Sight’s coming in. That’s all.” pg. 622 Oh cool!

Final thoughts 

As always I liked the fights and thought the book was funny. Bi Harry moments up to 33. I question Harry’s taste in men. What I’d like to see is Ivy and Harry interacting more. Maybe play dates with Ivy and Maggie. I think it’s cool that Harry got Soulfire. I’m glad Harry and Michael are friends again. I wish we got more Marcone in this book. I’m surprised I was right about mind magic and Mab. And with Helen and the safe house. Not a fan of this Harry/Luccio ship. The White Council continues to be the absolute worst. They can’t tell their members who they can and can’t befriend that ridiculous. The fact that Harry and Thomas have to pretend not to be brothers and not interact much because the White Council will use them is terrible. It’s also a little cult-like. They do similar things to them and I could probably use the Bite model to show that they’re cult-like. Nicodemus is definitely scared of Harry now that Harry’s strangled him twice now. As for Executive Priority Health, why would Marcone buy the old Velvet place? As for Harry I wouldn’t want to be within 100 yards of the place but Harry seems ok? With going in. 

Mind rape

Now onto Harry and the mind rape. As with Murphy back in Grave Peril this is essentially rape. Harry’s reaction is full on breakdown. While it’s similar to his reaction in Grave Peril it’s different in that Micheal is there to help and he isn’t in a laundry room. I wonder if Harry will have similar actions to paranoia and insomnia. I continue to wish Harry gets therapy. Maybe one of the small practitioners in the Paranet is a therapist. There was some parallels to Death Mask in this book with the mind rape and sacrad hospitality. Could Jim stop hurting Harry please. 

Marcone

Now I know Marcone has the coin. Whether he accepted the coin yet is another. I can’t imagine what he went through with torture and hurting Ivy. Do you think he was reminded of Amanda and that’s why he took the coin. Surly Gard told him about the Fallen. He wouldn’t pick up the coin unless he knew what he was doing. I can’t picture him saying anything about his safe house to Helen. And I don’t see Marcone killing Helen. That would make Amanda an orphan. Maybe the guilt is making him do things he wouldn’t normally do. 

Onto the next book!

#dresden files #harry dresden is bi #Small favor #battle ground spoilers

[pink-strawberry-kissess]

I read your Aeon thoughts and I agree with so much, &what you said about Capcom trying to make it obvious to players about how she is against what Wesker would bc some players literally need everything SPELLED out for them, but I do think they still could have written the scene better. It made her come off a lot less smart compared to her OG4 counterpart. Like there’s no way she would have not known that Wesker would use the amber for bad in her line of work. It came off as “hundreds to thousands of casualties is ok with her, but millions to billions casualties is where she crosses the line” even though I’m sure that’s not what Capcom was going for.

Also I actually do think they could have kept the line “Shes like a part of me I can’t let go” and was super sad when they removed it 🥹 I feel like it’s a line that can be interpreted both in a romantic and non-romantic way. She saved his life multiple times and they experienced the traumatic fall Raccoon City together despite her betrayal. I think it’s realistic that Ada would always be a part of him. Narratively she plays big part of Leon’s “Loss of Innocence” theme, how could anyone simply forget and cut someone off after experiencing something like that together. From what we know, he keeps his experiences & memories with her all to himself and doesn’t share that part of himself with anyone, even during the time he did believe her to be dead. I’d say both RE2R and RE4R have the same more serious and camp level yet for RE2R, they had Leon say at the end “I can’t believe I actually miss her” which one could also say there’s not connection that warrants that reaction since he just met her that night and known her for a few hours. I just feel like like if they could add that cheesy line that wasn’t in OG2 then why not keep the OG4 line too 🥲 but none of these things are deal breakers for me, Aeon 4 Life !!

how she is against what Wesker would bc some players literally need everything SPELLED out for them

the fact that capcom seems to be very clear with characterizing ada makes it seem like a mass majority of people (which is true) mischaracterize her and villainize her, because people are not able to understand the nuances of morally grey characters.

we been knew that ada betrayed wesker- like the ones who paid attention already knew this.

i agree that it could've been done better, same with wesker just unveiling his entire plan? like capcom, we know that some people are stupid but are you really thinking EVERYONE is this stupid?

but yes- unfortunately people are this stupid.

(we still don't know any reason why other than, the "other possible option" she had was better) or she basically did it to fuck with wesker

i also felt like a variation of the line could've been said. something like, even letting ashley ask him and him answering that he wasn't sure.

“I can’t believe I actually miss her”

i agree that there should've been something else added contextually. this would've made more sense in re2 where they had a "romance" and i'm only saying that because even the developers have said that they fell in love too quickly. and the reason why it was more fleshed out in remakes was to make it more realistic.

(but now that I'm thinking about it, even with ada's "betrayal," the fact that she gave him comforting parting words could've been enough for him to realize that he still had feelings for her despite their short time together)

but also not to mention that we still have separate ways to play, so we still have another story to dig into.

i just hope that they deliver!!!

#ask heart #heart answers #anon #ada wong #leon s kennedy #leon kennedy #aeon #leon x ada #leon kennedy x ada wong #leon s kennedy x ada wong

[sonreyes]

A Stomach Flu of the Heart By: Alec Prado

    "Hey hey don't write me a ticket I'm here I'll move my car!" He ran down the sidewalk to his dirty car which was being dirty in the wrong place for too long.     "Sorry, that'll be 400 dollars" She said without looking up from writing on a piece of paper     "What I was gone for like 5 minutes!"     "Give me a kiss and I'll make it 100 dollars."     "You're a meter maid?" He asked incredulously.     "I'm a meter supervisor ...meter personnel" She said.

Seeing what's happening a cop approaches and reads the ticket.     "Miss what the heck are you doing?" The cop asks like he caught a child eating wax.     "I'm security, for the meters" She says. *everyone looks at her and disagrees silently* Adjusting his pants the cop goes, "Sir I don't know how this happened but you don't have to pay this fine, it's just a note written in pencil and she spelled 'meter' wrong."     "Excuse me sirs I have been nothing but fortnite and fourth coming." She said indignantly.     "No! You're sick, lady! I can't believe you would pick on a stupid little man baby who can't fuckin' read who-"     "heY"     "can't tell up from down stupid ugly-"     "HEY!"     "no good looks like they've been sucking quarters out of the turnstiles." The cop yelled pointing a big fat finger at the man. *everyone agrees silently*

    "Listen," the cop continued, "I won't charge any of you idiots but I will only do so under the condition that you two become best friends and teach each other about friendship, life, and relationships, that you will solve in a comical fashion, got it?"     "Yes"     "Yes daddy" They both look at her.     "You didn't have to add that at the end but alright I'm leaving and never coming back... you two were meant for each other."     "What no way! She's gross and repugnant!" The man says as the cop leaves.     "He's got his shirt on backwards!" She yells at him.     "I'm too far away to hear you!" The cop yells back, "And who the hell spells meter with an A!?" Fighting the urge to look down the man says, "To you all, fair thee well and fuck off!" and steps off the curb to immediately get hit by a bicycle messenger.

Coming to from getting knocked out he looks up, "Where are we?"     "My home." she says opening a bottle of beer from the fridge.     "Where's my car?"     "It's totaled, just kidding what do you think got us here?" She said He looks around. Things are quite bare, there's writing on the wall that says 'TANYA'S HOLE' there are a few holes in the drywall, bottles crowded around the countertops and a stained carpet that would look comfy for a dog in heat.     "Cozy" he said sarcastically. A t-shirt flies across the room and hits him in the face.     "OW! what's-" It's his own shirt. "UH if this is here what the FUCK am I wearing!?!" He looks down to see a shirt that says 'Hi Haters'. "You dressed me!?!"     "You threw up on your shirt so I washed it, calm down. You also shouldn't be on that couch without protection."

Silence grows between them as he stares her down with confused amazement. She stares back at him like a raccoon just fell through her roof for the fourth time in a week. The silence is broken when a tall young man leaves from the hallway, grabs a jacket off the ground and walks outside wordlessly.     "What kind of life do you live?"     "Listen. I'm sorry I tried to steal 400 dollars from you. I can't help but feel like my actions led to you getting hit by that bike messenger." She admitted in a rare occasion of honesty. If this guy was going to leave she at least wanted a clean conscious. She'd push a guy into a bush or a pool or even a child; but getting hurt draws the line.     "Well that's fine, I can't believe I was almost going to pay it."

Now that he had gotten a good look at her he could understand why he hadn't ran away the second he woke up at her house. She was quite beautiful, a short Mexican girl with a large belly that barely hid under her shirt. He wasn't the best looking and not the worst looking. He was cursed with being a white guy with zero personality, child-less Dad energy and little to no understanding about the opposite sex. Although he would tell you he never thought girls only had one hole. As he got up he realized he was pants-less under the blanket she had wrapped around him.    "Where are my pants!?" He asked astounded.     "I promised my therapist I wouldn't live with regrets so I took off your pants but then I remembered I told my therapist I would recognize mistakes so I tried to put on the pants I took off but it was WAY harder and-"     "Don't do either of those things!" He interrupted, "I can't believe I'm Winnie-the-Pooh-ing in a stranger's house... again!"     "It's called Donald Duck-ing if you're wearing a sailor's outfit.... Well, your pants are there so why don't you put them on and go."

As he puts on his pants he feels eyes judging his thin body and jelly bean nipples but ignores it. He finishes and brushes off his pants, "I hope you know that I've had a terrible time meeting you and I hope to never see you again you... you charlatan and con artist! Con amateur!" And spins around and opens the door to show the back of his shirt reading, 'Bye Haters' and slams the door shut. She stays right where she is, drinking more of her beer before he barges through the door.     "I forgot my shirt!" He looks down at his loaned shirt, "Oh great. Hilarious. I also need my car keys if you have those." She tosses him his keys wordlessly like a mother who caught her five year old in a lie but doesn't care enough to say anything about it. "Well thanks for the hospitality but I need to go far away from here." He says finishing putting on his shirt. While he's gone she drinks more of her beer and waits longer.     "Umm, so my car won't start."     "YEAH no shit your car sucks I barely made it here!"     "I guess we're going to be friends and teach each other about-"     "friendship, life, and relationships yeah no shit!"     "I'm Kyle by the way. I like The Office and Check it Out! with Dr. Steve Brule. What's your name?" he says as she finishes a beer next to a gigantic spray painted arrow on the wall that points to her and reads, "TANYA".

#writing #creative writing #funny writing #novel #story #fiction #disney #a stomach flu of the heart #sonreyes #sonreyes poetry #love #my words #friendship #lol

[aifastic]

Party Havoc

Hello, everyone! Sorry for the sudden income of fics but I’ve been delayed by life ;-; I'm proud to announce that I've been part of the wonderful At Ease, Soldier Zine! Everyone did an amazing job, the mods were delightful to work with and I'm really glad that I've been able to contribute. This was my piece!

I hope you enjoy it ♥ Fandom: Team Fortress 2 Rating: T Characters: Soldier, Demoman, Engineer, Scout, Pyro, Sniper, Heavy, Medic, Spy, (RED team basically), Merasmus

Summary: The team organizes Soldier’s surprise birthday party. However, as it’s usually the case with the RED team, nothing goes according to plan.

Party Havoc

"So, is everyone here? No more, no less?" Demo asked, counting heads for the nth time.

"We're all here, pardner," Engineer reassured him, stopping him before anyone could protest—or set something on fire.

"And Soldier's busy outside! I took care of that," Scout said with a smirk. I don't want to know, Engineer thought, for his own sake.

"Perfect!" Demoman clapped his hands, grinning. "Let's get into business, lads: it's Soldier's birthday next week."

"Next week?" Scout counted with his fingers. "Isn't that near to the Fourth of July?"

"Exactly! Janey and I always celebrate his birthday on the fourth. Tradition, y'know."

Everyone nodded; after all, everything Soldier-related is even more of a mystery than Spy. No more than Pyro, though.

"So, what do we have to do?" asked Heavy, frowning.

"Aye! I have a list." Demoman retrieved a torn piece of one of Engineer's blue schematics paper, all scribbled in white chalk.

"Hey!" Engineer protested.

"It was the longest sheet of paper I could find." Demoman shrugged. "So: We have to choose from this list! Who wants to do what?"

Everyone leaned in to check the list.

"I'll get the food," Sniper said.

"If you think you will make us eat roasted lizard or whatever—ugh—roadkill you find—"

"Christ, I was just gonna drive to Teufort to get meat from the butcher!" Sniper cut Spy off, offended.

"Whatever," Scout said. "I'm gonna be in charge of the decorations!"

"Hmmmphmmph!" Pyro elbowed him.

"What? No way! I'm an artist—" Pyro stared at him. "On second thought, we both could do it."

"Hmmmph!" Pyro celebrated, hands up.

"Heavy will take care of gift. I have many Mann Co. coupons to use."

"Alright, that leaves us with… Hm… En gineer will be cooking," Medic declared, and everyone nodded in unison. "And um… I can get the drinks!"

"Uh, I was going to do that," Demoman said nervously.

"Nuh-huh!" Medic tut-tutted. "You," he pointed at him, then to the hastily scribbled last item on the list, "are going to do this."

"Nah," Demo said. Everyone stared at him. "Come on! The man hates me. I hate him. Can't we just not—"

"To be honest? I agree." Scout looked at him. "Why did you add it to the list?"

"I guess…" Demo sighed. "He seems important to Soldier. Somehow.” He threw his arms up in exasperation. “Oh, alright." He gave in. "I’ll do it.”

"Well, I guess that's it. Uh." Engineer hesitated, but they really needed to know sooner or later. "Where's Soldier, anyway?"

"Uh," Scout looked to the ceiling in avoidance. "Did you know that raccoons like sour cream? Like, a lot?"

"What the hell," Sniper said.

-----

Scout cleaned up the last remains of the mess that Soldier left when he was bathed in sour cream and the raccoons chased him all around the base. "I shouldn't have to do this," he complained. "They asked me to distract him!"

"Mmph mmphmmmphmmph."

"Well, yeah, not exactly but… Done!" He cleaned his hands on his clothes. "Man, we can finally start with the decorations. We should do a big poster! With 'Happy Birthday' on it." He looked at Pyro, a bit subdued. "Uh, by any chance, do you know how to spell it?"

Pyro shook his head.

"Damn it!"

-----

"What do you mean, 'there's no meat'?"

"Sorry!" squeaked the Teufort butcher. "There was a flu that killed all our provider's animals; we can't sell the meat in those conditions!"

"Bloody hell." Sniper put his hat back on and exited the shop. "What am I gonna tell everyone—? Hey!" A little kid eating a sandwich had just bumped into him. "Watch it!" The kid blew a raspberry at him.

Wait a minute. What if…?

-----

"What d'ya mean there's no meat?" Engineer asked Sniper, scratching his head. "What are we gonna do?"

"Well, I went to several places and bought these." He pointed at the back of his camper, filled with boxes of bread, tomatoes, cheese and lettuce, among other ingredients. "Think the big guy can make do with all these?"

-----

To the relief of Engineer and Sniper, Heavy nodded. "Some ingredients missing, but Heavy can do this."

"Thank you, big fella," Engineer said. "We all know who's the best here at sandwich making."

"Thank you." Heavy said. Then he asked, somewhat sheepishly: "Can you help me with gift? I think I made mistake. Ordered too many?"

"Too many?"

"I thought you added coupons together for big discount. It seems it is one coupon, one item."

"Oh. Oh." Engineer said.

"Too many of what?" Sniper asked again.

------

Spy was busy figuring out a way to distract Soldier, as per his task. Soldier was already antsy with all the unexplained movement. "He's paranoid," Spy reasoned. "I could give him another reason to be." He grinned, donning his BLU Spy disguise.

-----

"Ach, I forgot I have been banned out of town!!" Medic yelled, driving Engineer's truck out of Teufort like a maniac, bottles of beer clinking against one another on the back as a mob chased him away.

-----

"For the last time, you bloody bastard!" Demoman yelled. "You are important to Soldier, so you will come!"

"MERASMUS SHALL NOT!" The wizard levitated, making things fly all around them. "SOLDIER IS NOTHING BUT A NUISANCE TO ME! HE SHALL NOT HAVE A HAPPY BIRTHDAY! EVER!" He abruptly stopped, catching himself. "Look what you made Merasmus do! My room is ruined. NOW BEGONE!"

-----

Demoman appeared at the base, falling over the cake Engineer was decorating.

"Bloody hell!" Demo cursed, smashing one fist on the icing-covered floor.

"I hope you have good news because I swear to God, I'm counting down to ten right now," Engineer said.

"I…" Demoman started cautiously.

"It was the third cake."

"... What happened to the others?"

Engineer deflated. "Pyro burned the first one while chasing Scout due to 'artistic differences,' and the second one was 'borrowed' by Medic in order to use it for self-defense against a Teufort man who was chasing him with a fork."

"Woah, that's… Do I want to know?"

Engineer sighed. "Hell no."

"Alright, so Merasmus isn't coming."

"Well, I guess it's better for us, anyway," Engineer said honestly. "It means less trouble."

"I guess so."

They sat on the kitchen floor, taking a breather.

"At least we still have five days left."

Engineer looked oddly at him. "Demo, it's July 4."

"Wait, what? How?!" He thought back of Merasmus. "That bloody wizard made me time travel, bloody hell!"

"Well, the thing is, you're gonna have to help me make another cake in record time."

Demo wiped a hand down his face.

-----

"What does it say there?"

"Don't mess with me! It clearly says 'Happy Birthday'!"

"I wish," Sniper said, squinting at the letters. "This is a 'b' instead of a 'd,' the 'p's look like 'f's…"

"Oh, shut up," Scout muttered, turning beet red. "I bet he doesn't even notice."

"Hmmph hmmph," Pyro told him in consolation.

"Sandviches ready," Heavy announced.

"Awesome. How's the cake going?"

"We're running out of icing!"

"Try to economize it—apply it only on key areas, not on the whole surface."

"Thanks a lot, Doc. What'd ya think we've been doing?!"

"This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't crushed the fourth cake—"

"It was an accident, I swear!"

"Guns are arriving."

"Guns?!"

Engineer sighed. "Heavy wanted to gift Soldier something practical. He bought one too many killstreak guns."

"Black Box. Practical. Effective."

"Loaded. Those weapons come loaded."

"Bah. We have ammunition all around the base. Nothing's gonna happen," Scout reasoned

"I hope so," Demo said. He went back to applying icing to the cake but he abruptly stopped. "Wait, where’s Spy?"

"Distracting—"

The wall of the main hall suddenly exploded, debris flying everywhere. When the smoke cleared they all saw a bunch of Black Boxes scattered on the floor, next to Soldier who was choking… was that BLU Spy?

"I finally got you, maggot! Your days of playing hide-and-seek are over!" Spy's disguise disappeared and revealed his true features. "Wait, what?"

A chunk of the ceiling fell onto the (fifth) cake.

"Surprise!" Scout yelled, waving at the poster that proudly announced… 'naffy dirdbay.'

"Yaayy," said everyone with different degrees of enthusiasm. Engineer was too broken to say anything, staring in despair at the place where the cake used to be.

Soldier threw Spy to the side. "You remembered my birthday!"

"How could we forget, Janey," Demo said, putting him in a headlock.

Spy coughed loudly a few meters away from the floor.

"You put a lot of effort in this and I couldn't be prouder of you! Every single one of you is an honor to America!"

"We're glad you liked it, mate."

"Hmmph hmmmph!"

"Uh, we had cake but—"

"Please don't say anything else about it," Engineer muttered.

They were all going to grab their sandwiches when a puff of green smoke filled the room.

"Oh god, now what?"

"MORTALS!"

"Merasmus!" Soldier grinned. "You came to celebrate!"

"Not at all! I came to RIGHT YOUR WRONGS!" Merasmus's voice echoed in everyone's ears. He took from between his robes a birth certificate. "This impostor's birthday is in MAY!"

"What?!"

"I WILL MAKE YOU SWALLOW YOUR WORDS, MERASMUS!"

"MAKE ME IF YOU CAN, SOLDIER! MAY DESPAIR RAIN UPON ALL OF YOU!"

"... Alright, fellas, what about we kick this son of a gun's behind?"

"Hell yeah." Everyone nodded and ran to get their supplies.

-----

"BEST! BIRTHDAY! EVER!" yelled Soldier as he spun around in a hurricane that Merasmus commanded, shooting rockets at him with one of his many new killstreak Black Boxes.

"Happy birthday, Soldier," everyone yelled back, grinning despite themselves.

#Team Fortress 2 #fanfiction #Soldier #RED Team #Merasmus #TF2 soldier #tf2 soldier zine

[ma99ie95]

"- I knew it, Robert. I told you our son is out there somewhere. I just knew it. - I wish I had this kind of hope, Vivienne. But so many months passed... Son, why haven't you used your spell earlier? - Robert, dear, come on! Not now! - Um, mom, dad, I... lost all my memories about a year ago. And since then- - Hold on... Vivienne, is that... But... But it can't be... - Oh, that's my pet raccoon, Gabbro. - Son... That's not a raccoon..." #Inktober #inktobercamping #oc https://www.instagram.com/p/CkRWrzMLJpj/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#inktober #inktobercamping #oc

[salthammer]

okay i’ve never shared my writing here on Tumblr before, but i think i oughta try. i’m workin on a story about raccoon wizards and trying to flesh out the world and characters, so i wrote a little thing so i could get some feedback. a couple of things aren’t explained but that’s on purpose. i can explain them if people wanna know about them.

here it is

“I don’t think this is supposed to be happening,” Derwin said, his paws aching with dark energy.

Rue stared down at the result of the botched spell. “Ah, w-well… Dark Magics as a whole are known to be finicky, especially with inexperienced practitioners,” she explained.

“What I want to know is if this is dangerous,” Holly hissed. “Or worse, permanent. What if humans found it?”

The “it” in question was a dark, seemingly bottomless abyss in the dirt. It was almost perfectly round, a few yards in diameter. Despite the late-afternoon sunlight shining into it, it was impossible to see far down past a shadowy bottom.

“I don’t think it’s permanent,” Rue guessed. “I think the Shadow Magics just clashed with the direct sunlight. That’s why Shadow-based wizards prefer burrows, you know.”

“What happens if we throw something into it?” Derwin wondered aloud. “That wouldn’t hurt the Seams, would it?”

“Um…” Rue thought for a moment. “I don’t think so? At best, whatever’s thrown in there would be spat out in a random place nearby, and at worst, it would just be lost down there, so I don’t recommend–”

Derwin lobbed a pebble into the pit.

“Derwin!” Holly barked. “She wasn’t even done talking!”

Before Derwin could reply, the pebble bonked against the back of his head.

Holly laughed out loud at that. “That’s what you get for being reckless.” She looked back at the pit for a moment. “You said the Shadow Magics reacted weird with the light, right Rue?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“So, theoretically, the pit should go away when the light wanes, right?”

Rue brightened at that. “Yes, that’s right! I was about to say something about it, but you beat me to it.”

Holly reached one paw into the pit. A sort of pins-and-needles sensation crept up her arm.

“We can’t leave this unattended, I don’t think. What say we keep throwing things into it until it goes away?”

Derwin’s tail wagged. “I say that sounds very fun.”

“It’s an opportunity for study!” Rue remarked. “But also, yeah, it sounds very very fun.”

#socks.story #raccoon wizards #my writing #feedback welcome! feedback needed in fact

[imaginestuffs]

Eavesdrop- Bucky Barnes x Reader

Word count:1391

warnings: fluff!! very slight implied sex, possible grammar/ spelling errors. I think that's everything

Summary: the reader tells Bucky about her day, and eavesdropping coworker. they decide to give her a conversation to listen in on. (do you guys want a part 2 to see what happens?)

(y/f/c)=your favorite candy

(gif not mine!)

There you sat on your bed across from your boyfriend talking about your day. Your hair was wet from just being washed and your lazy makeup removal caused black rings to collect under your eyes. Causing you to look like as your boyfriend says a raccoon. He has a big smile on his face as he looks at you wondering how he got so lucky to have you in his arms every night.

There was a bag of (y/f/c) sitting in front of you as the soft drone of reruns sounded in the back of your conversation.

“So Lyssa is sitting there talking about the problems she’s having with Thomas. I was across from her like usual and then Amanda (you can change the name if it’s yours!:) ) comes walking by and sits down. Now Amanda always eavesdrops and so we decided to switch up the conversation. We didn’t want her nosing around Lyssa’s love life you know.” you spoke with exaggerated hand movements. Bucky nodded along, always paying close attention to your stories.

“Ok, so we switched to the topic of grading our student’s papers. My kids have their big creative writing assignment due. Remember?” you ask. “Yeah doll, I remember,” Bucky confirms. “I was just telling Lyssa about it, and how excited I was to read all the work they have done. Amanda seriously scooted her chair closer. She tried to do it all discreetly but it was blatantly obvious what she was doing. I was asking Lyssa for some advice on who would be the best literary figure to study next. Because you know I value her opinion and love to have some insight on to what others would want to study next.” you continued. Bucky tried to bite back a laugh as you went on.

“Just as Lyssa was going to speak Amanda plopped her nosey ass self down right next to us.” you huff and Bucky lets out a chuckle. “What it’s true! She’s so nosey!” you complain to him. “She sounds like it, now what happened?” he asked you to continue your story.

“She sits next to us and interrupts Lyssa. She says. ‘You know you can’t do that right? You can’t ask what to do next in class, you should do it yourself. A good teacher could do that by themselves.’ “ you repeat her words in a mocking tone. Your boyfriend looks at you with a big grin and is trying to bite back laughter.

“Lyssa looked at her like she was fucking crazy. Which she obviously is. Like how would I not be a good teacher because I ask another teacher for advice!?” you raise your voice as you raise the rhetorical question. “She continues to drone on until I finally get sick of it and interrupt her ok, cause you know, we’ve had enough. So I say ‘Asking for advice doesn’t make me a bad teacher, it means I want a different opinion so I can choose the best thing for my kids. Now, why don’t you stop sticking your nose into business that isn’t yours, because I asked for her advice, not yours and I asked for her opinion, not yours? I’d appreciate it if you would leave us be and let us have our conversation. Thanks, Amanda have a great day.’ That’s what I said to her.” you spoke letting out a big breath you held as you spoke so passionately. Bucky smiled with a bit of pride glinting in his eyes. “The look on her face was priceless. Her eyes were wider than saucers Buck! Her mouth was opening and closing like a fish! A fish!” you exclaim popping another piece of candy into your mouth. Bucky let out a breathy laugh at your exasperation.

“Lyssa and I gave her a big smile and waved. She grabbed her papers and coffee storming away with the look of the queen of hearts when she’s angry. It was hilarious Bucky. We laughed so hard honestly. I think I almost peed myself.” you explained with the wave of your hands. Bucky just sat and watched you thinking to himself how much he loves you, how you tell him everything about your day and all the drama that happens while you’re at your job. It’s such a slice of normalcy in his crazy life.

You picked up candy and held it out towards Bucky, he opened his mouth and allowed you to place the candy inside. “Anyway, I chose William Wordsworth to study next. I’m very excited for the kids to learn about romanticism as you know it’s one of my favorite eras of literature.” you smiled at him with a shrug.

Bucky let out a laugh and nodded his head. “Well you’ve had quite the day haven’t you doll?” he says. “Yes, yes I have, and I am so happy to be home. I’ve missed you so much,” you said and leaned forward to kiss his cheeks. You could feel the warmth of the blush on his cheeks. It made you smile.

“I missed you too, I always do,” he said back and did the same to you his stubble scratching the soft skin of your warm face.

He sat back and looked at you with love-filled eyes, you smiled and held his hands. Lifting his them to press kisses on them.

He pulled you to him with your hands locked in his. You giggled as he tugged you into his lap letting your hands go to wrap his arms around you. Slipping his hands under his shirt that you worse dutifully every night. You lifted your hands to play with the hair at the nape of his neck. You lean down and place a kiss on his lips mumbling an I love you against his lips. “I love you too Sweetheart,” he responded.

“Just so you know, I think you’re a fantastic teacher,” he said and you let your smile grow.

“You think so?” you asked and bite your lips trying to stop your smile from growing even more than it had. He pressed his lips to your smile and nodded. “Yeah, I really do.”

“You know Buck, I think the kids would love you,” you say and run your fingers through his hair. “You think so?” he asked. You nodded happily. “Yeah, I really do.” you copied each other’s previous answer and you giggled.

“Well maybe you’ll have to teach me about the romantic era so I can show off a bit.” he nuzzled his nose against yours then scrunched his up as he smiled. You leaned forward and kissed his scrunched-up nose and smiled when his eyes opened. “Well, what do you want to know, my love?” you question with a raised brow.

“Hmm.” he hummed while holding you closer and resting his forehead against yours.

“Everything,” he answers your question. Suddenly he leans forward and you land on your back lying on your plush bedding. Kisses being littered across any inch of skin that was uncovered. You laughed out loud and grabbed his face in your hands pulling him up to kiss you. He hummed against your lips.

“Does this count as romanticism?” he smiled against your lips. “Not exactly Buck,” you giggled and placed one last kiss on his lips. He untangles himself from you and lied on his back before pulling you into his side.

“You know, I think Amanda would love you. A new person to eavesdrop on,” you said and looked at him. You felt his chest rumble with laughter. “I guess we’ll have to give her something interesting to hear then Huh?” he questioned suggestively with a raised brow. You slap his chest playfully. “We’d be in school Bucky!” you laugh a bit. “Alright I guess we could just talk about what happened the night before.” he winked at you. You hide your face in his chest and laugh. “You are going to be the death of me Barnes,” you mumble and place a kiss on his chest.

“I didn’t hear a no,” he said. You giggled. “No, you didn’t,” you said and looked up at him.

He looked down at you and grinned like the Cheshire cat.

“Now let’s do something to discuss for Amanda.” he rolled on top of you and kiss your lips while you laughed between kisses.

---

Taglist: @maxsaturdayhatesnarwhals

#bucky barnes #james bucky barnes #james buchanon bucky barnes #bucky barnes imagines #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky x female reader #bucky x reader #bucky x you #bucky imagine #bucky imagines #bucky barnes one shot #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes x female reader #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes fluff #marvel fluff #marvel x reader #marvel insert #marvel imagine #sebastian stan #james barnes x y/n #james barnes x you #james barnes x reader #james barnes x female reader #sebastian stan bucky barnes #sebastian stan fluff #sebastian stan x you #avengers fluff #tfatws

[kythed]

“almost funny”

synopsis: suna rintarou thinks you’re out of his league, and you think he’s out of yours.

tagged: general dumbassery, fwb-to-lovers, some profanity, sexual references but nothing explicit.

commitment level: 5.6k words.

It’s almost funny, really. It’s funny how what started out as a purely physical transaction has now transformed into a one way ticket to Simpville with the name Suna Rintarou stamped on it in big red letters. Suna runs a hand through his hair in frustration as he stares down at your sleeping form, curled up in his SF Giants tee that fits you like an oversized nightgown. He loves how you look there, wearing his clothes, bed head resting on his pillows. It’s almost embarrassing how much he loves it. How much he might love you. 

He doesn’t really remember when he started seeing you as more than a good fuck. Maybe it was that time you told him he looked pretty with your lipgloss smeared across his mouth. 

“That’s a nice shade on you,” you’d laughed as he wiped his lips on the back of his hand. “You should wear it more often.” 

Then, before he could respond, you’d yanked him back in by the collar, licking into his mouth, deep and dirty. He shivers now even just thinking about it, recalling the taste of that lipgloss. Strawberry lemonade, the sort that comes in little bottles at the dollar store. However “pretty” he might’ve looked in that moment, he’s sure you looked a hundred times better. You always do, and you don’t even have to try. You’re the prettiest thing he’s ever seen, even in your worst moments. 

Or maybe it was the time you remembered his birthday when no one else did. January 25th; all his friends had taken off on their ski trips or tropical vacations, but you showed up to his apartment toting a cupcake and a single candle, belting a loud, out of tune rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ until he shut you up with an impulsive kiss on the lips. You’d been surprised, but not so surprised you couldn’t kiss him back. Suna’s pretty sure most friends-with-benefits don’t do that sort of thing. They don’t sit across from each other at the kitchen table, splitting a vanilla cupcake and laughing over matching frosting mustaches. They don’t hug each other goodbye after two hours of scrolling through YouTube and nothing else, content to linger in that air of tentative familiarity and pseudo-friendship. 

Whatever the reason, whenever it happened, all Suna knows now is you’re more than just a fuck buddy. He doesn’t even want to associate the term with you — it feels disrespectful. He wishes he could just stop pretending. Stop pretending he doesn’t want you to be his. 

“Hey.” 

Suna grins at your low, throaty morning voice. It’s cute. 

“Hey,” he responds, reaching forward to flick your shoulder. “You slept in.” 

“Did I?” You blink the sleep from your eyes and squint at Suna’s bedside clock. 9:06. “Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit.” 

You fly out of bed, wiggling into your jeans and tossing your hair into a careless ponytail before frantically scanning the room. “Have you seen my sweater anywhere?”

Suna exhales through his nose before getting up and walking over to his closet. “I hung it up last night so it wouldn’t be wrinkled.”

You freeze in your tracks, slowly turning with a teasing grin plastered on your face. “Oh? How considerate of you.”

Suna shrugs, avoiding your gaze. He feels a flush rise to cheeks and desperately hopes it doesn’t show. “Just being polite.”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you had a little crush on me,” you crow before taking the sweater from the hanger and slipping it over your head. 

“You wish,” he snorts, but all he can think is you’re absolutely right. 

You ignore him and begin shoveling all your things into your purse: a compact mirror, lipstick, house keys. You glance at the clock again. “I’m gonna be so late to this lecture. Damn. Maybe I can text Aiko and ask her to record the first part for me.”

Suna raises an eyebrow. He remembers your friend Aiko from a party last year, before you and he began your… arrangement. She’s outgoing, friendly, and probably the flakiest person he’s ever met. “She’s not gonna do that. Just let me drive.”

“No, it’s fine,” you automatically brush him off, heading into the bathroom to splash your face with lukewarm water. “You probably have your own shit to take care of.”

Yeah, you, he thinks, but instead he says, “Not really. Plus, you’ll probably miss the whole thing if you try to bike to campus. Let me take you in the car. I’ll strap the bike onto the back.” 

You give him a look. “Are you sure, Rin?”

“It’s really not a big deal,” he says, throwing on a shirt. “Outside in five, and I’ll have you there by 9:30, easy.” 

After a few more weak protestations, you finally agree, and as he drives you to your university, he lets himself pretend you’re his girlfriend sitting there in the passenger seat. He turns on your favorite artist’s Spotify mix on the aux and smiles to himself when you hum along, watching the city fly past out the window. What he wouldn’t give for that reality, one where he can love you without all these restrictions, these tricky boundaries between friends and lovers. When you jump out of the car, calling a cheeky “I’ll text you!” over your shoulder, he pretends it’s an affectionate “I’ll see you for dinner tonight!” instead. He pretends that instead of rushing to get away from him and into the lecture hall, you kiss him on the forehead and squeeze his shoulder, reluctant to leave.

“Fuck me,” Suna says angrily before slamming his palm into the horn, scaring a few freshman walking to class. “And fuck you too!” 

He’s not sure who “you” is. Maybe the universe. 

No, Suna Rintarou doesn’t know why or how it happened, but he’s in too deep now. And he’s pretty damn sure you’ll never feel the same way. 

+

You slide into your seat beside Aiko just as the guest lecturer pulls up his power point, breathing out a sigh of relief. Aiko shoots you a grin, waggling her eyebrows. Suna? she mouths, and you roll your eyes, nodding nonetheless. Aiko can hardly wait until after the lecture to start pestering you about it. 

“So,” she says as you leave the auditorium together. “Did you tell him yet?” 

“Tell him what?” You dig in your bag for your water bottle, groaning when you remember leaving it on the edge of Suna’s sink last night. 

“Tell him that you’re in loooooove,” Aiko sings, nudging your shoulder. 

You scoff. “Okay, first of all, I don’t love him.”

“But you like him,” Aiko persists, and you hold up a finger. 

“And second of all, even if I did, I would never tell him.” You yawn, rubbing your eyes before realizing you hadn’t taken your makeup off and thus probably have awful raccoon eye bags. “He’s so out of my league it’s not even funny. It’s kind of pathetic for me to think he’d ever like me back.” 

Aiko scoffs. “If anything, you’re out of his league. You could pull any guy you wanted to. And when I say any, I mean any. Like, I bet you could even get Jake Gyllenhaal.” 

You laugh. “Why specifically Jake Gyllenhaal?”

Aiko shrugs. “Dunno. Just the first hot guy that came to mind. But forget him. My point is, Suna Rintarou is definitely yours for the taking. All you have to do is —”

“I know, I know,” you interrupt. “All I have to do is confess.” 

“Exactly,” says Aiko. Before she can open her mouth again, you cut in. 

“Okay, but listen, Aiko,” you say. “Suna’s the kind of guy who doesn’t let himself get attached. He fully admitted to me when we first hooked up that he’d never had a girlfriend. And that’s obviously not from lack of female interest. It’s because he doesn’t want one.”

“Or maybe it’s because he hasn’t found the right person yet.” Aiko starts heading towards the campus coffee shop, and you follow her. 

“Sure,” you say, getting in line. The cafe is crowded with students getting in their daily caffeination, inhaling sugary lattes and bitter espressos just to stay awake through their next class. Ah… college. “Or maybe he just. Doesn’t. Want. One.” 

Aiko keeps arguing all the way up until you reach the cash register, where you realize you haven’t even decided on what to order yet. 

“Hey there,” says the cashier, smiling sunnily. “What can I get for ya?” 

You blink. He’s attractive. Very attractive, actually. Bleach blonde, a crooked grin that screams trouble in the best sort of way. Miya, says the little name plate pinned to his shirt. “I, uhh…”

“Take your time,” he says leaning forward like he’s about to tell you a secret. “Between you and me, we have an excellent mocha latte. Not too sweet, y’know?”

You find your manners. “Oh, um, yeah. That sounds great, actually.” 

“One mocha latte, then?” he asks, picking up a cup, and you nod. “And to whom do I owe the pleasure of serving today?” 

When you tell him your name, he smiles to himself and scrawls it on the cup. “Pretty.”

You flush and pay, hands shaking a little when you slide your card down the side of the machine. The cashier notices and shoots you a knowing look. Five minutes later, when you pick up your drink from the other side of the counter, you see not only your name written on the lid, but a phone number, too, along with a tiny winking face. 

“What’d I tell you?” exclaims Aiko shrily when you leave the shop. “Any. Guy. Period.” 

You shake your head in exasperation, but you can’t help but throw a final glance over your shoulder, meeting the eyes of the cute cashier one more time. Maybe Aiko does have a point. 

+

That weekend, Suna’s stretched out on his couch, dangling his feet over the armrest and staring up at the ceiling. It’s one of those lazy Saturday afternoons, and usually he’d be enjoying his alone time. Not today, though. Today there’s something — someone — on his mind, and that someone is spelled y-o-u. His phone pings, and he snatches it up with embarrassing speed, groaning when he sees it’s just Atsumu. 

“Bastard,” he mutters, not even bothering to open the message. Probably just asking for the O-chem lab answers. 

Suna rolls over onto his stomach, pulling up your contact name. What he really wants to do is see you, but how is he supposed to do that without sounding weirdly desperate? Hey, he types out. Wanna come over and watch a movie? He pauses for a moment before adding, Pizza’s on me. 

He buries his face in his hands and deletes the text. That makes it sound like he’s asking you out. Well, that’s what he does want to do, but you can’t know that. He’s fairly certain if you knew how he felt about you, you’d freak out. Girls don’t like to be tied down, he reminds himself. Suna groans again, grabbing two fistfuls of hair in irritation. 

“Why are women so complicated?” he says aloud, letting the words echo in his empty apartment. He takes a couple seconds to close his eyes, take a deep breath, and unlock his phone again, this time settling on a simple Come over. Short, sweet, and to the point. Well, not exactly. That makes it sound like all he wants to do is sleep together, when he’d really rather just… talk. Spend time with you. 

“Oh, God,” he mutters. “I’m so done for.” 

It takes what seems like forever for you to arrive, breathless from biking, hair slightly mussed. Suna grins, biting his lip. You’re so beautiful, he thinks, pulling you in for a hungry kiss. Even if all he can get is the sex, then he’s sure as hell going to appreciate it. You smell like lavender laundry detergent, he notices when you press yourself into him, fumbling to close the door behind you without breaking the kiss. 

“Well, hello there,” you laugh when he finally breaks away and draws in a shaking breath. “Somebody’s eager.”

Suna rolls his eyes. “As if. You just took so long to get here.” 

You cock an eyebrow. “You texted me like half an hour ago.”

“Yeah, and you’re half an hour too late.”

You snort and hurl a pillow from the sofa at him. He catches it and smiles, taking your wrist and drawing you in for another messy, open-mouthed kiss.

“Sorry that I don’t have the power of teleportation,” you quip, laughing when he pulls you into the bedroom. Suna resolves to take his time with you today, undressing you carefully, trailing his lips down your sternum and collarbones, grinning to himself whenever you gasp. He almost catches himself saying “I love you” at one point as you cling to him, mumbling his name, but he placates himself with kissing you extra hard at the end instead, pulling you into his chest and falling back into the pillows. 

Usually, you’d take a few minutes to lay in silence, tracing shapes in his skin, and he’d lean back with closed eyes, imagining what it would be like to be loved by you. Slow early morning kisses, skin on skin, whispering and giggling and everything cheesy he used to hate but now wishes he could experience with you. Today, though, you peel yourself off of him and grab your phone as soon as it buzzes, fingers flying in response to whoever had texted you.

“New boy toy?” he jokes, almost choking when you don’t immediately say no. Oh, shit. “You’re kidding.”

“Just a guy I met the other day,” you say casually. Suna stares, slack jawed. “Works at the coffee shop near the quad.” 

“Coffee shop?” He furrows his brow. Doesn’t he know someone who works there? He internally scowls, digging into the back of his brain. Aran? Osamu? 

“Mm,” you say, suppressing a smile as the nameless suitor sends another text. “His name’s Atsumu Miya.”

Suna’s heart nearly falls right out of his chest and cracks at his feet. “No.”

You look up, raising an eyebrow. “No?”

“Not him,” Suna says, forgetting himself, forgetting the nature of your relationship. 

“I didn’t realize you were in charge of who I can and cannot be interested in,” you say bitingly. 

Suna sits up. “I’m not. It’s just, Atsumu… he’s not your type.” 

“You know him?”

“Yeah,” Suna says, thinking back on his days observing the Miya twins’ antics. “He’s not your kind of guy, trust me.”

“Pray tell then,” you say. Oh, fuck. You’re irritated. “Who exactly is my kind of guy?” 

Me, he thinks. I’m your kind of guy. “I don’t know. Just trust me though, okay? Atsumu… he’s difficult.” 

“Thanks, Suna,” you say, tone tinged with sarcasm. Suna cringes. You only ever call him by his surname when you’re upset with him. “But I think I can go out with whoever I want to go out with.” 

“Fine.” The word tumbles out more harshly than he’d meant it to. 

You stare at him in disbelief. “What, are you mad at me or something?” 

Suna exhales heavily. “No, I’m not mad. It’s not like we’re dating or anything. I just wanted to give you a little guidance. As your friend.” 

“As my friend?” you repeat. “My friend?”

Now it’s Suna's turn to be confused. “Are we not friends?”

“I don’t know, Suna,” you say, swinging your legs over the side of the bed, pulling your clothes on. “You tell me.” 

“I’m not sure what you want me to say here,” he says, watching as you struggle to pull your shorts back on. He knows what he wants to say. No, we’re not friends. We should be together. Isn’t it obvious? 

You huff, grabbing your bag and the water bottle you’d left behind the other day. “You know, I don’t really know either. Forget I ever said anything. I guess I just thought…” 

You trail off and shake your head, heading towards the door. Suna scrambles out of bed to follow you, pulling on his pants as he hops down the hall on one leg. “What’s that?” 

“I said forget it,” you call over your shoulder, trying to slam the door, but Suna catches your wrist. As you stare up at him, he thinks he sees your lip quivering, eyes shining with half-formed tears. “Let me go.” 

“I’m serious,” Suna says. “What did you think?” 

You draw in a deep breath, and for a second, Suna thinks you’re about to say the words he’s always wanted you to say. Then you look away. “Let. Me. Go.” 

Slowly, Suna releases you from his grasp, and you stumble backwards, wiping your eyes on your sleeve. 

“Don’t call me.”

“Wait, no —”

“Don’t call me, Suna!” you say loudly, before turning on your heel and speed walking down the stairs. 

Oh. Oh. Suna stares in shock at the place you were just standing on his doorstep. “Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.” 

When he heads back inside, head empty but for the single thought, I’ve just lost the best thing that ever happened to me, he glances at his phone on the counter. In an instant, he’s opening up his messages, pulling up Atsumu’s. 

Met a cute girl LOL. Gonna bring her to that party on Friday. 

Then, in a separate bubble — Btw: chem answers? 

+

“And then he called me his friend,” you say angrily, handing Aiko the box of Oreos. The two of you are sprawled on the floor of her dorm room. “Just like we were two bros who got together to play XBox every once in a while, instead of two people who had literally just banged.” 

Aiko takes a cookie before handing them back to you. “Asshole.”

“I mean, I know technically we were ‘friends with benefits,’” you say, stuffing an Oreo in your mouth. “But I guess I thought we could be something more. I thought there was no way he could kiss me like that, look at me like that without feeling something. Guess I was wrong.” 

“Screw him,” Aiko says. “You’ve got boys lined up around the block, and he thinks he can treat you like rubbish? Absolute bullshit.”

“I don’t have boys ‘lined up around the block,’” you remind her, smiling regardless. “Just one.”

“And that one is hella cute!” Aiko says. “You’re way too cool to pine over some guy who thinks you’ll just answer his every beck and call without even committing to a relationship.” 

You sigh. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s just… ack. I don’t know. Am I jumping to conclusions? He seemed like he wanted to talk to me more, but I kind of stormed off without saying anything.” 

“Seems like he was pretty clear,” Aiko says with a shrug. “Your call, though. If I were you, I’d forget about him. Plus, you have Atsumu now. That’s a promising route.” 

You smile down at the Oreos, thinking about the cheery bottle blonde. “Yeah… he invited me to a party this coming Friday.” 

Aiko gives you a look and nudges your knee with her own. “You’d better wear that black dress.”

“You think?” you laugh, momentarily forgetting about Suna. 

“Oh, definitely. Gotta look your best on the first date.” 

“Right, and then after that I can just dress like a bum,” you joke. You purse your lips. “Rin might be there. Apparently he and Atsumu are pretty close.” 

“Even better,” insists Aiko. “Make him suffer a little bit. He won’t like seeing you all dolled up on Atsumu Miya’s arm.” 

“I’m not gonna try to make him jealous, Aiko,” you say, and Aiko shakes her head.

“No, I just think he needs to understand what he lost,” she says. “You don’t even have to pay attention to him at all, though. You should try and get to know Atsumu a little better.”

“Yeah, okay,” you say, before reaching down for another cookie. “Oh. We’re out.”

“Gas station run?”

“Gas station run.” 

+

When Friday rolls around, you’ve successfully managed to avoid thinking about Suna the entire day. You have a calculus exam in the morning, and then a club meeting in the afternoon, and by the time you get done with everything it’s already time to get ready to leave for the party. It’s across town at someone’s loft apartment, so Atsumu offers to give you a ride, rolling up in a shiny Lexus, a sharp contrast from Suna’s old Chevy. 

“Hey,” he says, getting out to open the door for you. “You look great.”

“You don’t look too bad yourself,” you say. “Although, I might prefer the work uniform.”

“Oh, please,” Atsumu says with a grin. “That apron does nothing to flatter my figure.” 

“Mhm.” The ride there is a slightly awkward one, but that’s normal, you tell yourself. You’ve gotten so used to the easy, teasing camaraderie you and Suna have that you’re rusty in regards to flirting. Atsumu has a different sense of humor, too, nothing like the dry sarcasm Suna’s such an expert in. You shake your head. Stop thinking about him. 

Even sitting next to a new guy, you can’t help but run last weekend’s drama over in your head. The past few months have been a jumble of mixed signals, and last Saturday was no different. How he tenderly brushed your hair from your face as he hovered over you, how he pulled you into his arms afterwards … how he seemed almost jealous when you mentioned Atsumu. Was it really jealousy? Exactly how much does Suna Rintarou care for you? You roll the numbers inside your head, trying to quantify the soft touches and lingering stares. He’s not easy to read; trying to understand Suna is like trying to decipher Greek without ever taking a single class. 

Even trying to get a measure on how much you care for him is difficult. You definitely like him as more than a friend. The only reason you agreed to the whole friends-with-benefits thing in the first place was because of a little crush that grew, that fed on that intimacy… but you’re not so sure now. 

“Here we are,” says Atsumu, jolting you from your contemplation as he pulls up alongside the curb. When you climb out of the car, he takes you by the hand, flashing you a quick smile. Your heart trips over itself, and you smile back. “Let’s do this.” 

+

Suna doesn’t show up to the party. He spends most of Friday busying himself at home, paying off a couple electricity bills, cleaning out the fridge. He even does a load of laundry. That’s how bored he is. By the time the clock strikes eight, he feels as though he’s Swiffered every single kitchen tile, folded every shirt, and wiped down every counter in the entire apartment, all to avoid stewing over you and him and all the ways he keeps messing up. But after doing everything on his to-do list and watching a movie and cooking his own dinner (unheard of!) he finds himself pacing around the living room, biting at his nails and thinking about you. More specifically, you and Atsumu. He hopes you’re not wearing that little dress you wore to the club with him a couple months ago. Not that you don’t look great in it — you do, and that’s the issue. The better you look, the more likely Suna will never get a chance to be with you again. 

To be fair, he’s not entirely sure how much of a chance he’s ever had with you. You’re incredible, plain and simple. Gorgeous, intelligent, the best player two on every video game he’s ever played with you. You’re not especially adept at the games themselves; no, there’s just something about you. There’s always just been something about you he can’t seem to find anywhere else. 

“Damn it,” Suna grunts aloud, flopping down on the couch. It’s nearing half past eleven now. He wonders what you’re doing. Dancing to some shitty music in some crowded living room. Sipping a can of cheap liquor. Letting Atsumu touch your waist, his hand dipping lower and lower until — 

Suna buries his face in the couch cushion. He’s usually not one to let his imagination run away with him, but tonight seems to be one of many recent exceptions. If only there was a way to know where he stands with you, or at least where you stand with Atsumu…

Well, there is a way, actually. Almost of its own accord, his hand inches towards his phone, sliding it open and somehow finding its way into his Snapchat. Fingers shaking, Suna clicks on Osamu’s story. It’s dimly lit, a mass of bodies, loud, drunk guys and scantily clad girls. The music is too loud, even through the phone. Suna squints at the screen — there’s Aran, even Kita’s there, quietly sitting in the corner, but no sight of — Suna’s eyes nearly pop out of his head. Because there you are, and you’re not alone. You’re sitting on Atsumu’s lap, but he can’t see your expression because Atsumu is kissing you sloppily, and — oh, God — it looks like you’re kissing him back. 

And you’re wearing the fucking dress. 

“Damn,” Osamu says in the background. “Looks like he’s getting some tonight.”

Suna throws his phone across the room like it’s a grenade, staring down at his empty hands in disbelief. This can’t be happening. Not to him. Not to you. 

For the first time, Suna Rintarou thinks he understands what it really means to want someone. Not in a sexual way, but in the deepest sense of the word. Want. He wants you, and he’s pretty sure he’s never wanted anyone or anything quite so much in his life. 

All of a sudden, before his brain even has a chance to catch up, Suna finds himself shrugging on a jacket and snatching his keys from the table, dashing out the door like he’s being chased. If he leaves now, he thinks, starting the car and nearly slamming the door on his foot, he can get to the party before you leave. And then, well, then he’s not quite sure what he’ll do, but he’ll do something. 

Again, though, it seems as if the universe might be against him, because there’s an accident on the highway and it takes twice as long to get across town as it should. Suna cusses loudly over the incessant honking and chews on the inside of his cheek until it bleeds. When the traffic lets up and he finally pulls up to the apartment complex, parallel parking in a spot that’s probably illegal, he races up the stairs and into the loft, grabbing the first partygoer he sees. The poor kid’s plastered beyond belief and stares at Suna like he’s an extraterrestrial, eyes glassy.

“You see a girl leave here? ‘Bout this tall, probably left with some douchey looking blonde dude?” 

The kid blinks, hard and slow, before nodding. “Yeah, man, you just missed her. That your chick or somethin’? Because she was sucking face with —” 

Suna spins on his heel before the kid gets a chance to finish his sentence. He’s lucky Suna doesn’t deck him the head, he’s so irritated. 

“Sucking face,” he mumbles, climbing back into the car. He has the route to your house memorized (although he’s not sure how), and he’s pretty sure he breaks about twenty traffic laws trying to get there, so it takes significantly less time to arrive, but to Suna, it feels like an eternity. How did he ever sleep soundly at night knowing other guys had a shot at you before this? He doesn’t know, and he hopes he never has to worry about it again. Not after tonight. 

He gets there just as Atsumu’s pulling out of the driveway. Suna flashes him a mental middle finger and resolves to kick his ass later. No time for that right now. You’re still standing on the front porch, and when Suna stumbles out of the car, you turn towards him, mouth agape. 

“Rin? What are you—”

“Give me a chance.” He’s breathless, eyes wide and hair whipping around his face in the cool breeze. His heartbeat pounds in his ears like it’s about to burst blood vessels.

“Huh?”

“Give me a chance,” he repeats, reaching forward to take your hand. Your palm is cold against his. “I can do so much better, I promise.” 

You furrow your brows. “What in the world are you talking about, Rin?”

The dam breaks. The dam breaks, and everything — the longing, the frustration, everything — comes pouring out in a waterfall of rushing words he doesn’t even have time to think over before they splash at your feet.

“I can do so much better than Atsumu. He doesn’t know you. I know you, and I, well, I’ve liked you since forever, okay? I know your favorite color and your birthday and which Chinese place you like to get takeout from on Saturday nights.” Suna clears his throat. “I know that you like to be hugged from behind and that you hate it when people see you cry. I know so many things about you, and I want to know more.” 

“Rin—”

He holds up a hand. “Just listen. I know we’re just fuck buddies, or friends with benefits, or whatever the hell you want to call it, but I want to change that. You mean so much more to me than the sex. God, even if we never slept together again, I would still love you.” 

You stare at him. “Love?”

Suna swallows hard. “Yeah, fuck it. Love. I love you. Whatever that means to you, it means to me. I love your stupid jokes and your stupid laugh. To be honest, I’m so in love it feels like I’ll never love anyone else.”

He stops to take a deep breath and a shaky laugh. “Pathetic, right? I know it is. I can’t help it. I’m well aware that Atsumu is way more charming and outgoing, and I was probably wrong when I said he wasn’t your type… but I just need to know if I have even the smallest chance of winning you over.” 

There’s a beat of silence. Then another one. You’re gazing at him, head cocked, and the seconds tick by. He still has your hand in his, growing warmer via body heat. Suna feels himself grow increasingly nervous at your expression, curious and almost apathetic — until a wide smile breaks across your face. You laugh, and he thinks it must be the best sound he’s ever heard. 

“You weren’t wrong.”

“What?”

“He’s not my type,” you say. “We didn’t click.” 

“But — I saw, uh — Osamu’s story,” Suna stammers. “Sucking face.”

“Sucking face?” You squint in confusion before chuckling again. “Ah. Yeah, I kissed him. It was part of some stupid game. He’s kind of bad at it.” 

“Atsumu’s a bad kisser?” 

“Well,” you say, drawing the word out. “I wouldn’t say bad. It’s just… you’re better.” 

Suna’s silent for a second, letting the words ricochet around his brain. He’s better. He’s a better kisser. It was just a game. You’re not into Atsumu. “So… does that mean…?” 

“I love you, too.” You smile, and it’s not like your usual cocky grin. It’s sweet and almost… shy. 

“You love me, too?” Suna repeats in utter shock. He hadn’t expected to get this far.

“That’s what I just said,” you say. “What are you, a parrot? Speaking of which, though, I think that whole speech was the most I’ve ever heard you talk.” 

Suna doesn’t respond. Instead, he takes a step closer and pulls you in for a hug. A real hug, not like the hesitant embrace you’d given him on his birthday, or the side hug he gave you after running into you at the grocery market a few weeks ago. No, this is a true, bona fide hug, and he translates everything he’s ever wanted to tell you but couldn’t into his arms wrapping around your waist. 

“So… wanna come in and watch a movie?” 

+

A little while later, Suna’s stretched out on your mattress with you between his legs, chin resting on the top of your head. You’ve changed out of your dress and wiped the makeup from your face, and Suna catches you yawning in the corner of his eye. There’s a trashy romcom droning on your laptop at the foot of the bed. To any outside onlooker, the scene is mundane, just a typical couple enjoying each other’s company. To Suna, though, this is paradise. 

It’s almost funny. It’s funny how, a week ago, Suna was a boy pining for a girl he thought he had no chance with. He looked at you and saw something unattainable, someone who would only ever want him temporarily. (And, unbeknownst to him, you felt the same way.) He experienced an overwhelming amount of want, heart knotting in on itself and twisting and turning until it pushed him over the edge, forcing him to confront his own desires. His own inadequacies. 

It’s funny how love is what everyone longs for, but it’s also the hardest reward to earn. It’s the most uncomfortable, heart-wrenching, nerve-wracking, anxiety-inducing pathway to happiness Suna’s ever seen. But still… he’d do it all over again if he had to. The months of headaches, the overthinking. It’s worth it. You’re worth it. 

Oh, well. What can he say? Suna leans down and presses a featherlight kiss to your temples, and you tilt your head up to smile at him. Love’s a funny thing. 

Fortunately, Suna’s always down for a good joke.

#haikyuu #haikyuu headcanons #haikyuu!! #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu x reader #suna #suna rintarō #suna rintarō x reader #suna rintarou #suna rintarou x reader #suna imagines #suna rintarō imagines #suna headcanons #suna rintarō headcanons #suna fluff #suna rintarō fluff #suna rintarou fluff #friends to lovers #f2l #fwb to lovers

[faerietells]

FINAL CHAPTER (2/2): The Aftermath (Claude Trilogy)

Pairing: Female Human Reader x Male Werewolf (Claude)

Summary: You sought out the Archmage for help in exchange of information and saving Claude might not be such an impossible task after all.

"May I speak to the Archmage? It’s urgent."

Vincent, Archmage Helios' second in command, practically made a face as you said this to him. You’ve always thought he looks adorable since he’s literally a fluffy giant raccoon in a fancy mage robe but you still know better than to test his patience, hence why you tried to be as polite as possible with him. He’s not known to be a patient man, after all, even more so now that he probably thought the worst of you. He doesn’t even have to say anything for you to be able to guess what’s going through his mind just from the sour look on his face. You can’t blame him for giving you that look, though, after all you did come unannounced to the Tower at such an ungodly hour and that’s not even mentioning the fact that you literally brought a demon there.

Well, you did bring the demon near the front gate at least.

You’ve heard that the protection spell that surrounds this building is indeed powerful and undoubtedly effective, but you never really knew how it works. Needless to say, it completely caught you by surprise. It didn’t even give any of you any time to react, as soon as it detected the demon, the spell immediately trapped him and sent him into heavens know where before he had the chance to screech. It was so bizarre that you had no idea how to react even after the fact, although you knew you shouldn’t be surprised as it is well-known that many creatures are targeting the Towers due to the magical relics and information they hold.

So, yes, you really don’t blame Vincent for looking at you like you’re the worst person he’s ever met in his life. He knows you only by name and title, there’s no reason for him not to distrust you especially after he heard about the demon you brought. You don’t even know if that demon’s still alive, but you hope he is as you’re certain Archmage Helios would be able to get more information out of him, possibly even more than you did.

“You don't seem to care about your supposed Guild Master. I’m sure you’ve witnessed what happened to him, unless you missed it somehow," he noted your calmness in a grumpy manner, not even bothering to hide his accusing tone.

"That's because I knew that was a demon and yes, I brought him here on purpose so I hope you haven't killed him yet,” you replied honestly. This seems to really baffle him, although you’re not certain if he’s more baffled by the fact that you knew and brought the demon here anyway or the fact that you had the audacity to ask him not to kill a lesser demon that had killed a lot of people in this town alone. Either way, you realized you could’ve chosen your words better to prevent further misunderstanding right after those words left your mouth but what’s done is done and you could only grimace at the realization.

You jumped as he slammed the desk with his hand. "Foolish girl. Have you lost your mind?!” he raised his voice in anger, eyes narrowing with judgement. “You do know the Tower has no tolerance toward demons, don’t you? What if there was a student outside and that demon did something to hurt them? Will you take responsibility?"

"He’s bound to me, sir, so I would be able to stop him from hurting anyone. I know you distrust me, but I only brought him here because he has information about the Spider Queen,” you tried to reason, deciding to just go straight to the point in hope that he wouldn’t misunderstand even more. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to be convinced. If anything, he looks even more infuriated after you said that.

“So do hundreds of other demons, I’m sure! I fail to see why that’s anything out of the ordinary and that’s not even mentioning the glaring fact that--”

“They’re planning to free her.”

The silence was deafening after those words left your mouth and you almost regret cutting him off. You two just stare at each other, disbelief written all over his face. “What?” he asked quietly, the anger in his eyes slowly dissipates.

“That’s why I need to see Archmage Helios. They intend to free her and sacrifice my actual Guild Master.” You sigh as you give him a pleading look. “Please, sir. I really wouldn’t hesitate to kill that demon if it wasn’t urgent, but he has information about this. I’ve interrogated him but I thought that--”

“When will this happen?” Now it’s his turn to cut you off, but you really didn’t mind it as it seems like he’s taking this seriously as you hoped he would.

“Roughly either two or three days from now,” you answered. “From Claude letters it took at least a month to get there so I’m worried we don’t have much time.”

“I see,” he muttered as he tries to process this information, understandably feeling as distressed as you are by this revelation. “Very well, then. I’ll relay this message to Archmage Helios, as you’d requested. I’m sure he’d have some questions for your demon prisoner as well.” You were about to thank him, but he immediately added in a grumpy manner: “Still, next time don’t just bring some random demon here! You could never be too safe with them.”

“Yes, I’m really, really sorry about that, sir. It will never happen again.” You promised him earnestly, which seems to be enough to appease him. “And if I may, sir, I would like to request to come with Archmage Helios when he does go there to stop this madness so I could help the Guild Master.”

The way he looks at you, you’d think you’d grown horns or something equally unusual. “No offense, but this sounds like it’s way above your expertise, Acting Guild Master. I don’t know if that’s wise,” he warned you.

“I know. I promise I wouldn’t be a hindrance or anything. I would just get my friend out of that place and that’s it,” you tried to convince him, your pride had been cast aside as you are more concerned about saving Claude. He huffs in dismay as he looks at your pleading face. Despite his strict and grumpy attitude he can’t deny that he feels bad for both Claude and you now that he knows the situation.

“I’ll see what I can do. Get some rest, come back in the morning.”

Your face lit up as your mind feels greatly relieved by his answer. It wasn’t a “yes” at least he sounds like he’s going to try to convince Helios himself. “Thank you, sir!” you bowed to show your gratitude while he’s massaging his temple from the headache your news caused him. “I’ll come back tomorrow! Have a great night!”

With that you immediately left, not wanting to overstay your welcome. You’re sure Vincent will be busy anyway with contacting Helios and interrogating the demon so you don’t wish to waste any more of his time. But as you walked past the gate, you can’t help but be filled with dread as you thought about coming home. As much as you managed to stay calm back then, having someone breaking into your house-- a demon, no less-- is still a serious matter and you can’t deny that it made your house feel rather unsafe. Not to mention you have no idea if his stench lingered in your house and you don’t feel like checking right now.

Oh, well. Maybe you should just go to Lydia’s place. You’re sure you’d find your cat there anyway.

A confused groan left your mouth as you felt this weight on your chest followed by a tiny meow, waking you up from your deep slumber. Oh. It’s just your cat. You nearly fell asleep again after your see the adorable culprit, but then you realized how bright it is outside. You’d planned to wake up early but it seems like the combination of exhaustion and Lydia’s chamomile tea forced you to wake up way later than you’ve intended. You rubbed your eyes as you stretched, smiling as your cat purrs loudly.

“Oh, my pretty baby,” you cooed sleepily as you ran your fingers through the soft ball of fur that’s now inching closer to your face.

As you’ve suspected, your cat ran to Lydia’s house last night after the impostor spooked him. She didn’t even realize he was in her house until you went there. Only then did he show himself, running toward you while meowing loudly as if he was a child tattling to his mother.

You scrunched your nose as he rubbed his head on your face, nuzzling like the clingy baby that he is. You were nearly tempted to just stay there and hang out with him when you suddenly remember about your meeting with Helios.

“Fuck, I’m late!” you cursed as quickly removes your cat from your chest and rushes to leave Lydia’s guest room. It seems like Lydia already left to the Headquarter as she’s nowhere to be seen, which only made you panic even more.

So much for making a good impression, you thought as you let out a groan that’s directed at yourself.

You didn’t waste any time to head straight to the bathroom, taking less than fifteen minutes to shower before you returned to the guest room to look for a fresh set of clothes to wear. After you made sure you look somewhat presentable, you returned to the dining room to wolf down the waffles Lydia left for you, trying to take as little time as possible to finish the food. Then before you left, you picked up your cat one last time to give him a quick kiss on his head. You know things would probably be under control as you’d be with Helios, but still just in case something happened you don’t want to regret not giving your beloved cat a goodbye kiss before you left.

You ran all the way to the Archmage’s Tower after that, not wanting to make Helios wait any longer than you probably already did. It seems that you are correct as when you finally reached the Tower’s gate, you were immediately greeted by Vincent’s grumpy face. According to him, apparently Helios had asked him to wait for you, which made you apologize profusely for being late. Thankfully, he assured you that he hadn’t waited too long, he’s just strict with schedules so the fact that you were late bothered him even if it was just by twenty minutes or so. He said nothing about the Archmage, though, so you hope that means Helios is not as bothered as he is.

“What’s he like?” you asked curiously as you combed your hair with your fingers in attempt to tidy yourself up a bit after Vincent helped you to dry your hair with his magic.

“Archmage Helios?” he raised an eyebrow at you curiously and you just nod. You’ve seen him before but it was when you were really young so you don’t know if you could rely on your childhood memories alone. “As long as you’re respectful, you have nothing to worry about.”

Well, that’s helpful, but you suppose that’s just how Vincent is. “How about the demon? Did he give you any helpful information?”

“He did.”

You silently nod again. Clearly he’s not in a mood to talk judging from how short his responses were so you just stopped trying to make small talk with him, letting him be lost in his own thoughts. You followed him as he led you all the way to the top of the tower where you’ve always assumed the Archmage’s office is located, silently reminiscing when you two walked past one of the classrooms where the young mages are trained and taught beginner spells. You vaguely remember being in that same classroom yourself when you were much younger and seeing it again really brought you back to that time. Simpler times, you suppose.

Eventually, the both of you reached the top of the tower and you can’t deny that you feel a bit nervous as soon as you see the huge double doors with the Archmage’s sigil engraved on them, filled with pure gold. You’ve never gone to this part of the Tower before. You still remember that it’s strictly prohibited to go here if you’re not his second or third in command. But now here you are, standing in front of Helios’ office. How can you not be nervous, especially when you know Helios is standing right behind those doors?

You held your breath when Vincent knocked the door, not knowing what to expect. You didn’t really hear anything so you admit that Vincent nearly gave you a heart attack when he just opens the door. He didn’t even acknowledge your bewildered look as he entered to greet Helios before he announced your arrival to the Archmage in question. Out of curiosity, you followed his gaze and needless to say, you now believe the rumors that Helios might be part divine.

Helios stands in front of one of the many huge windows in his office, a peaceful look on his face as he listens to what Vincent had to say. It seems like he was watching people live their lives outside, the sunlight that goes through the window made him look as though he’s glowing. Or maybe he is glowing, you’re not really sure. Either way, you can definitely say that he looks absolutely ethereal. He looks like sunlight itself; his complexion is on the paler side, paired with long white hair and white and gold themed attire, exactly like how he looks in your memory. In fact, he looks exactly the same besides of his hair and his clothes as he used to have shorter hair back then. You’re aware how most Archmages age incredibly slowly. Some of them even frozen in time. Nonetheless, you're still amazed by how he looks like he’s barely thirty while in reality you’re certain he’s been here for at least five centuries.

You were so captivated by his appearance that you didn’t realize Vincent had already left you alone with him, too busy comparing him with the Archmage Helios in your childhood memory. Only when Helios finally broke the silence with his soft voice did you realize that, which made you feel extremely flustered.

“The demon told me about what you did and I must say, I’m impressed, Acting Guild Master,” he praised you, finally turning his head to look at you with this gentle look in his bright golden eyes. Although he looks young, you can’t deny that there are wisdom in those eyes that he earned from centuries worth of experience. “You may not remember it, but I taught you briefly when you were very small. I remember thinking that you were quite the promising young mage back then, but to create a spell to specifically capture demons that could even restrain a mid-tier demon on your own at such a young age? You must be exceptionally talented.”

“Oh, you’re too kind,” you chuckled nervously, feeling even more flustered by his compliment. Indeed, to be acknowledged by an Archmage is a rare achievement so you have no idea how to properly react. “It’s not perfect yet, if the demon had looked down on the ground he would’ve be able to immediately spot it, so…”

“We all start somewhere,” he said, offering you a small yet encouraging smile. “Well, enough about that, let’s talk about your request to come with me. Vincent told me that you wish to go to that village with me to save your friend, yes?”

You nodded. “Yes, Archmage.”

“Loyalty. That’s something you rarely see these days.” The way his eyes went a bit cold as he said that caught you off guard a bit. It was brief, but just the glimpse of it managed to send an unpleasant shiver down your spine. You really don’t envy whoever had crossed him. “Well, I think it’s a reasonable request but I have one condition. As soon as you find your friend, you should get away from the village.”

“Of course,” you eagerly agreed, not wanting to ruin your chance to save Claude yourself. “I will leave as soon as I find Claude. I will not hinder you in any way, I promise.”

“Very well,” he said, the gentle smile returns to his face as he extends his hand to you. You wanted to ask him about the Priestess, but it seems like he already knew what you were wondering about. “Worry not. Vincent had already taken care of the Priestess so she wouldn’t be able to alert anyone,” he reassured you. “Shall we?”

Don’t have to tell me twice, you responded in your head as you quickly take his hand. As your hand touched his, you are further convinced that he’s the personification of the morning sunlight. His touch really feels warm and comforting. Safe, even. You don’t know if it’s just his magic or his presence in general but you feel more relaxed now than you did before.

Unfortunately that calmness you feel is very short-lived.

As he cast his spell, you quickly noticed how all of the tiles and the walls in the room start to shake. It was really subtle at first, but as the spell progresses, it became more and more violent until the tiles went flying one by one. If you weren’t alarmed when the room started to shake, you are definitely alarmed now as you’re anxiously making sure none of it would hit you or Helios. Then to make matters worse for you, as the tiles left the floor, you see what seems to be bottomless darkness replacing the ground, causing your stomach to churn uncomfortably. You nearly yelled when the tiles under your feet fly away to join the others and at that point you were no longer just grabbing Helios’ hand, you were grabbing onto his arm like your life depends on it. He didn’t mind it, of course, instead he kept trying to reassure you that the spell is completely safe although it’s really hard to miss the glint of amusement in his eyes.

That wasn’t the end, unfortunately. The chaos continues as the tiles and walls formed a dome around the two of you, producing wind that’s so powerful you could barely open your eyes. If you’re being completely honest, you don’t think you even want to open them as your anxiety had gone through the roof. You only opened your eyes once during that time, and it’s to look at Helios. Even in the midst of the chaos, he looked so relaxed and perfectly in his element while you’re clinging on his arm, worried that the wind would throw you around if you let go even a bit. In that moment, you are reminded that despite his gentle and soft spoken nature, Helios is indeed a powerful Archmage. His magic is truly unlike anything you’ve ever felt or experienced before in your life. This is an Archmage’s magic, one that could bend time and space to his whims. It’s something that you can only dream of, and yet he managed to do it so effortlessly.

Suddenly the wind stops. You grimaced, preparing yourself for more nonsense to happen only to be greeted by a stunning view as you witness the floating walls and tiles burst into butterflies made of light. You remember someone once said that if you wish to find Helios, you should follow the butterflies and you genuinely thought it was because he looks pretty. Evidently they meant it quite literally. The sight was so beautiful that you almost thought that the chaos was worth it, but you were quick to dismiss that foolish thought just in case Helios still has more chaotic spells in mind. You didn’t get to admire the view for too long either as you soon realize that your feet are not on the ground. In fact, the two of you are floating directly above a village, one that you assume to be the Cult’s village. It seems that his magic is keeping the both of you from being pulled by gravity, but you still clutched his arm just to be safe.

As you observed the village, the first thing you noticed is smoke. The more you look, the more you noticed that there are a lot of smoke coming from the village although you don’t really see any sign of fire. That can’t be good, right? You swallowed nervously as Helios took you closer to the ground, allowing you to see the state of the village better and from the look of it, two might be late to the party. Not only some of the houses had been badly burned, there are also a lot of dead bodies on the ground; some of them bloodied and mangled while the other looks like they were caught in the fire. It was a massacre, there’s no other way to describe the carnage before you.

“Holy shit, what happened here?” you muttered to yourself as you let go of Helios’ arm when your feet finally touched the ground, your heart sinking as your mind took you to the worst possible scenario.

Helios said nothing. He doesn’t even seem to be fazed by the state of the village as something else seems to interest him more. Is it the orb? You’re not sure but the big question remains. What happened here? Did the Cult attempt to bind a high-tier demon, thinking it wouldn’t backfire? That must be the case since high-tier demons generally do not react kindly to any binding attempt. But you don’t really care about the cultists, you only care about Claude. What happened to him?

These questions hounded your brain as you quietly follow Helios, your eyes scanning every corpse you come across, wishing to any god that would listen that you would not find Claude among the dead. It seems like whatever did this didn’t only kill the cultists, but also the demons that work for them, most of them have disintegrated as demons normally do when they die. You can tell that some of these demons are higher mid-tier demons due to how slowly they disintegrate, too, which really convinced you that this is indeed a binding attempt that had gone horribly wrong.

“Your friend.” Helios’ voice cut through the silence like a knife as he suddenly stops walking, bringing your attention to him immediately. “The Guild Master. Is he human?”

“He’s… a werewolf,” you hesitantly answered, your heart sinking into the pit of your stomach as you saw how Helios raised his eyebrows with this knowing look on his face. “Wait, you don’t think…?”

“All werewolves have feral side, dear girl. Even more so when they are wounded and cornered as their humanity would hinder their survival,” he reminds you, his tone remains calm as though it’s something he’d witness everyday. At this point you really wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case, really. He just seems too unbothered for this not to be an everyday thing for him.

But you’re not him. This is definitely not something you see everyday. In fact, you feel lightheaded from the possibility that Claude might’ve done this. In all the years you two worked together, he’d never lost control, not even once. You’ve fought side by side with him in his wolf form countless time to know that he knows his own limit and when to step back from the fight to prevent himself from going feral.

But this time it’s clearly different. He was alone. He didn’t have anyone to watch his back and even if he didn’t know he was to be sacrificed by the Cult, he probably still thought that they’re going to kill him for finding out about them. In his position, you probably would’ve done something worse so, no, you don’t blame him for wanting to survive. He did promise that he’d come back to you in his letters so if anything you’re glad he’d be able to fulfill his promise. What you’re really worried about, however, is the fact that you know how badly he’d feel about this later if he remembers it.

“Do you think he has left?” you wondered out loud as you noticed how quiet it is. The bodies still look fresh so you concluded that it must’ve happened recently but then again werewolves are generally really fast.

“No, he hasn’t.”

Helios’ answer made your heart sink even deeper. “What?” was all you could say and suddenly you’re very alert of your surroundings. This village is literally surrounded by the woods, so he could be lurking in there as you speak. He’s not himself right now and if you could, you really wish to avoid any confrontation that could lead to a fight with him.

“As long as we don’t pose as a threat, I don’t think he’d attack but he’s watching us right now,” he informed you, which really caught you off guard. Does he know where Claude is? Is that why he had that knowing look after you told him about Claude? If so, how does he remain so calm and unbothered? As if sensing your confusion, he turns his head to you to offer you a comforting smile, only to then ask you the most unhinged question he could’ve asked in this situation. “Do you want to approach? I’ll come with you if you wish.”

“I don’t know. I don’t think that’s a smart thing to do, Archmage,” you voiced your concern, now fully convinced that Helios is indeed a bit insane after being alive for centuries. Although you doubt you’d be able to stop Helios if he wanted to approach Claude right now, you were ready to grab onto his arm again should he try to. You know he’d be fine, it’s your Guild Master you’re worried about as you can’t imagine a confrontation with an Archmage would end well for him.

“It’ll be fine. Believe me, if he hasn’t calmed down, hiding would be the last thing he does.”

“What about the orb?” you immediately regret asking that question as you realized that the reason why he even offered to go approach Claude with you is probably because everyone is dead and thus no one would be running away with the orb. Either that or he somehow finds feral werewolves amusing and you’d rather think it’s the former. “Nevermind. Forget I ask anything.”

He lets out an amused chuckle. “I assure you, the orb will not run away on its own.”

“Yes, I realized that a bit too late, it seems,” you groaned in embarrassment before you decided to just get this over with so you could go back to Lydia’s place to scream into a pillow. “Very well, then. Where is he?”

Helios didn’t answer you right away. Instead, he turns his head to the direction of one of the houses, one of the few that aren’t burned. The door is bust open and for a split second, you saw a blur of black fur moving, hiding away from your sight. Claude. You have no doubt in your mind that it’s him. You glanced at Helios and he gave you a nod, confirming your suspicion.

“Go ahead,” he encouraged you. “I’ll be here to ensure your safety but I don’t think he’d want me go any closer. He doesn’t know me.”

Yeah, that makes sense. You inhaled deeply to ready your heart, preparing yourself for the possibility that Claude decides you’re a threat as you start to make your way toward the house carefully.

“Claude?” you called out his name, hoping that’ll help somehow. Almost immediately, you can hear a deep growl from inside the house, a warning for you not to come any closer. If you were smart, you would just turn around and mind your own business but unfortunately you care more about getting your Guild Master back. “It’s me. I’m not going to hurt you…” The growl became louder as you unsheathed your dagger. You can feel his eyes on you while you slowly put the blade on the ground, his growl only ceased a bit when you raised your empty hands to show that you really mean no harm. “See?”

You still don’t know what to make of it as he slowly walks out of the house. He was on all fours at first, but as he walked past the doorway, he went to stand on his hind legs, reminding you how huge he is in his wolf form. You’ve seen this form of his numerous times before, but what you’ve never seen is him baring his sharp teeth at you. You don’t blame him, of course, as like Helios had said this only happened because he was hurt and felt cornered. Even if you can’t see any blood or wound on him due to his dark fur, you could see it dripping from his mouth as he got closer and from the look of it, some of it seems to be his blood.

“You don’t look too good, old friend,” you tell him as you noticed how he wobbled a bit as he carefully approaches you. His breathing is a bit labored too, which further convinced you that he’s badly wounded even if you can’t see it.

“Poison.”

Helios’ word made your stomach churn. Someone poisoned Claude? Was it before or after he went berserk? You decided it doesn’t matter when it happened. Right now, you feel so enraged that you wish you’d came sooner so you could strangle who did this by your own hands.

“You think he’s poisoned?” you asked quietly as you watch Claude struggle to keep his balance. You want to help him so bad but you’re not sure if that’s wise as he still seems wary of the two of you.

“I think so, yes. Judging from the way his wounds aren’t healing, I’m guessing it’s wolfsbane. They probably tried to use it on him thinking it’ll affect his ability to turn.” Helios sighs softly and although you’re not looking at him, you can tell that he’s probably shaking his head in disapproving manner right now. “Evidently that backfired so spectacularly but then again what do we expect from the same people who thought releasing one of the Betrayer Gods was a good idea?”

A small comfort, you suppose. Not only the people who did this get what they deserved, at least now you also know why Claude can’t heal his injuries like he normally could so you could tell the physician about it later when you two return. He must be in so much pain right now but fortunately he shows no sign that he’s about to pounce or anything. He just keeps safe distance between the two of you as he observes your carefully. That should be a good sign, right? You decided to just watch him, wondering what he’s planning as he comes a bit closer to you, this time on all fours as he shook his head as though trying to clear his head. Your heart really aches seeing him like this but you decided to be patient lest you triggered him to go on the offense.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” you decided to say, hoping that it’ll convince him that you truly mean no harm. That you are his ally, someone who genuinely wishes to help. “So please, let me help. Let us help.”

Claude huffs, his eyes seem a bit hazy before he lost his balance just when he nearly reaches you. Out of reflex, you quickly caught him, grunting as you nearly lost your balance as well due to how heavy he is. Your heart pounds wildly against your ribcage, the logical part of your brain is screaming at you as you’re well-aware how risky this is. If he still hasn’t decided whether you’re a threat or not, he might just decide that this is an attempt to attack him and then Helios would have to be the one to patch you up together. But despite that, you still care more about his well-being so you took this chance to heal him. Your healing magic might be not as advanced as your combat magic but you hope it’ll be able to alleviate some of his pain, even if it’s just a bit.

Much to your relief, it doesn’t seem like he intends to attack you. Or maybe he just had no energy to do so, but in any case you’re glad he’s not showing any sign of hostility. He just stays still, his breathing became less labored, his eyes watching you try your best to heal him while you whisper words of encouragement and comfort. Unfortunately, much like you’d suspected the injuries he’d sustained are way above your healing skills so all you can do is to numb the pain until Helios could heal him. You were going to turn to the Archmage to ask him to help you but you heard something came out from Claude’s mouth. You could’ve sworn he said something, which is good because that means he’s regained his senses although his voice was so weak you didn’t quite catch what he’d said.

“Did you say something, Claude?” you asked, unable to stop yourself from sounding hopeful. He said it again, this time a bit clearer than before. Your name. He’s trying to say your name. He clutched onto you, pulling you close to him while repeating your name over and over like he couldn’t believe you’re here. Like you’d disappear if he let go. Your heart clenched painfully from the desperation and relief in his voice as you allow him to cling onto you.

“I’m here,” you assured him, trying your best not to bawl like a baby while you carefully try to lay him down on the ground while still embracing him, hoping it’ll make him feel a bit safer. “I’m here, Claude. You’re safe.”

His body shook slightly, seemingly about to turn back into his human form. Helios must’ve noticed this as well as he swiftly took off his cloak to offer it to you while still maintaining safe distance. You offer Helios a grateful yet apologetic smile as you take the cloak from his hand before you wrap it around Claude, making sure his body is completely covered. His wolf form slowly changing into human as you’ve suspected but it seems like he’d used the last of his energy to shift back as he just went completely limp in your arms. He’s barely even conscious, his eyes kept fluttering shut as he struggles to stay awake. Now that he’s in his human form, you can see his wound and the blood all over him better and it does not look good. He looks incredibly pale from the poison and blood loss, and despite that there’s this certain resolve in his eyes as he looks at you. It really breaks your heart to see him like this, even more so when you realized how cold he feels compared to his usual warm temperature.

“Archmage…” you turned your head to Helios again, your eyes burning with tears as you silently plead for him to help you with Claude’s wounds that you couldn’t heal.

Helios didn’t waste any time to move closer to the two of you now that it’s safe for him to do so. His expression was unreadable when he inspected your Guild Master’s condition, although he offers Claude a small smile when Claude glances at him as he pulled the cloak slightly just to be able to look at the wounds.

“Hello, Guild Master. You’ve caused the young lady a lot of worry, you know?” Helios chided Claude teasingly to lighten up the mood while you moved slightly in order to give him better access to Claude’s wounds. Still you didn’t want to leave Claude alone so you still held him in your arms while Helios does his thing.

“... thank you,” Claude croaked weakly as Helios heals his wounds, although you’re not sure if it’s directed to you or Helios. He seems lucid enough, but you can tell he’s still a bit disoriented. You ran your fingers through his hair in attempt to soothe him before you press a kiss on his forehead, drawing a content hum from him.

“Don’t get used to this,” you quipped jokingly and he lets out a weak laugh.

“No? That’s too bad…” He nuzzles against your neck like a cat would, your scent seems to comfort him greatly while you nearly got a heart attack by this sudden show of affection, in front of Helios, no less. You swear even the Archmage could probably hear your heart hammering against your chest and as if confirming that thought, Helios gave you a brief knowing look before offering his signature smile to you when your eyes met, causing your cheeks to burn even darker.

“There. He’ll be fine now but you should probably still visit the physician after this just to be safe,” Helios finally said, thankfully not saying anything regarding how flustered you are right now. True to his words, you noticed the open wounds on Claude’s body had already closed without a trace and color has slowly returned to his face. Perhaps you should really ask Helios to teach you magic again like he did back then.

“Thank you, Archmage. Really, I can’t even begin to tell you how thankful I am,” you tell him sincerely despite how embarrassed you feel. “If there’s anything I can do to help, you only need to ask.” As if an Archmage would need help, you smacked yourself internally after those words left your mouth. Oh, well. It’s the thought that counts.

Helios looks at you, his smile gracing his beautiful face once again before he got back up. Now that he’s certain the both of you are well, he intends to send you two back before he goes to get the orb, just in case more demons would show up as neither of you seem to be in any condition to fight. You’d be too distracted by Claude’s condition while Claude is still recovering, allowing the two of you to stay would be a horrible idea. In any case, you’re supposed to immediately leave after you managed to get Claude back anyway so he decided to just go on with it.

“Take care of your…” He glanced between the two of you as though wondering what kind of relationship you two have, causing your cheeks to burn from embarrassment once again.

“Yes! Yes, of course!” you quickly blurted out before Helios decided to say anything else. “Thank you again! You should probably get that orb now!”

It’s hard to miss the glint of amusement in Helios’ eyes but fortunately for you, he gets the hint and just gave you a simple nod before he cast the same spell he used to get the two of you here, except he wasn’t coming this time. Knowing how chaotic the spell is, you quickly decided to wrap your arm around Claude’s body as best as you could and hold onto him tightly, even burying your face against his hair to make sure that he’s really secured. Being thrown around by powerful wind is probably the last thing he needs right now. He seems to understand that it’ll get intense inside the sphere Helios’ spell created as well so he just buries his face against your neck.

As the wind starts to pick up, you swear to yourself this is the last time you go anywhere with Helios’ help.

“Guild Master!”

You greet Claude cheerfully as you visit him with baked goods. Thanks to Helios, he’s mostly fine but unfortunately some of the poison still lingered in his blood so he has to stay with the physician for at least four days until his body completely neutralizes the poison. He had a lot to say about this, of course, but you managed to convince him to rest by bribing him with tons of cinnamon bear claws, which you know he couldn’t resist.

As expected, he has no memories about his rampage. He barely even remembers what happened after that, judging from how surprised he was when you mentioned that Helios was involved and that Vincent was the one that carried him to the clinic since he was too heavy for you to carry. Frankly, he was more concerned by the possibility that you might’ve seen him naked but you quickly reassured him that you’d wrapped him up like a newborn baby even before he shifted back into his human form.

You’re still not sure how to tell him if you were being honest. When Lydia asked about the rescue mission the last time she visited Claude with you, you just told the both of them that Helios did all the heavy lifting, which isn’t entirely a lie as he did heal Claude when you couldn’t and he also made sure the two of you get back safely before anything else happened. Still, this haunts you, keeping you awake at night no matter how much you try to convince yourself that you’d tell him when he’s recovered. You try to act as normally as possible when you’re around him, but when it’s just you, your mind immediately returned to that village as you try to imagine how he would react to the news.

Claude could tell, though. He could tell that something is bothering you even now as he watches you be deep in thoughts while you put some of the warm bear claws on a plate. At first he thought it was because he shifted back into human in front of you but now that you’ve told him that that wasn’t the case, he can’t help but be a bit concerned as something else clearly happened. So when you gave him the bear claws, he took the chance to hold your hand before he gave you the best puppy eyes he could muster in attempt to shake your resolve, much to your dismay.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” he said, a bit hesitant although he’s made up his mind to finally ask you about what happened as it clearly bothers you, “Did something else happen?”

“What do you mean?” you asked although you know full well what exactly he’s asking. Of course he’d ambush you with his puppy eyes to get the truth out of you, that’s just a Claude thing to do.

“When you and Archmage Helios rescued me. Did something else happen?”

You stare at him, your mind going completely blank as you try to think what to say to him. Do you tell him the truth? Is this the right time to do that? “Why? Did you remember anything?” you decided to ask first before you answer his question, partly because you’re curious but mostly because you’re concerned. It’s a lose-lose situation, really. If he remembers, he most likely wouldn’t take it very well and if he doesn’t, you can’t imagine he’s not bothered by the fact that he has no memories of that day. Still, if he had even an inkling about what happened, you would like to know so you could be there for him should he need someone to talk to.

“No, but something is clearly bothering you.” He brings your hand to his cheek and casually pressed a soft kiss to your palm, his thumb rubbing against your wrist in reassuring manner. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”

You know that. Of course you do. You just don’t wish to distress him while he’s still in recovery. A heavy sigh left your mouth as you massaged the bridge of your nose, knowing that you stood no chance against that pleading look on his face. “I want you to know that using puppy eyes on me is unfair even for you but I guess you need to know the truth,” you finally relented and his face lit up, seemingly satisfied by your response. The pleading look is now replaced by a goofy grin as you poke the tip of his nose with your finger. “First, I must ask. What do you think happened?”

“You know, I’ve been thinking about it and I can’t shake off this feeling,” he tells you honestly as he leaned into your hand that he still held hostage against his cheek. “I don’t remember anything about what happened when you came to save me but I remember how I couldn’t control my transformation before I blacked out. It just doesn’t sound good so I’d have to wonder… did I lose control?”

You shouldn’t be surprised that it was his first guess, but somehow you are. Perhaps it’s because you had no idea that he was still fully there when his body starts turning despite how badly he tried to stop it. You can’t even begin to imagine how scary it must’ve been for him to realize that he’s losing control while normally he always made conscious efforts to avoid that outcome to the point you’d even forgotten that he too could succumb to his feral side like any other children of the moon. He must’ve been absolutely terrified and if he remembers that, you can understand how he correctly assumes that he did indeed lose control.

“You did,” you reluctantly confessed. Lying to him wouldn’t do either of you any good so you decided that it’s better to just tell him. Even knowing that, your heart still clenched painfully in your chest as you watch his face fell. “But you do know that it wasn’t your fault, right? They wounded you, then poisoned you to keep you docile. You were just trying to survive,” you tried your best to console him as you’re well-aware how devastating this news is to him.

Unfortunately, it seems like your words of consolation fell on deaf ears. The horrified expression remains on his face as he looks at you, his eyes observing every visible skin on your body, seemingly searching for something. “Did I… did I hurt you? Or Archmage Helios?” He intertwined his fingers with yours as he asked this question as if to draw strength from the physical contact.

“No, you didn’t,” you tell him. “You already calmed down when we arrived.”

“Thank the gods,” he sighs in relief, surprising you as he lets go of your hand just to wrap his arms around your waist, pulling you into a tight embrace. You returned the hug, resting your chin on top of his head, a sad sigh escaped your mouth as you feel how his body is shaking while he thanks the gods over and over as if they had anything to do with this. “I thought you seemed well but I didn’t see Archmage Helios at all so I thought…” he trailed off but you know exactly what he wanted to say.

You shook your head as you tightened the hug. “No, you didn’t hurt him. He just didn’t return with us since he wanted to get the orb and possibly get it to the one of the Towers as soon as possible.” You don’t know if he even returned to this town at all but then again he’s rarely here even before you requested his help.

“Okay. Okay, that’s good, right? I didn’t hurt either of you,” he muttered, more as a reassurance for himself than anything else. Although he’s obviously still rattled by the truth, it seems like he’s mostly relieved after you reassured him that you are not hurt and neither does Helios. “Will you… can you stay with me tonight? I don’t think I can be alone with my thoughts right now.”

“Of course,” you agreed without missing a beat. Why wouldn’t you? He needs you right now and you’d do anything to make him feel better. This time you’re the one that brings his hand to your lips, smiling as you see how much this small tender action seems to comfort him.

“Thank you.”

You chuckled quietly as a smile of gratitude graces adorns his lips. “Anything for you, Claude.”

Your tone was mischievous when you said this and yet you really mean it. Perhaps one day he’d know how deeply you feel for him, but for today, you are content to just spend some time together with him, talking about everything you did while he was gone to distract him from any awful thoughts about himself.

Time seems to pass very quickly when you’re with him that you didn’t realize how late it was, or how tired you were until you fell asleep while sitting next to his bed. You woke up briefly when you feel someone lifting you off the ground, only to let sleep take you once again when you realized that it was just Claude. He didn’t want you to sleep in such an uncomfortable position, so he thought to just share the bed with you, something you two have done before during your many adventures. As he pulls the cover on the two of you, you surprised him by wrapping your arms around him, comforted by his warmth. He stares at you with nothing but adoring look in his eyes, his fingers absentmindedly playing with your hair. It's silly but he could feel his fear and guilt melting away as he watches how peaceful you look next to him.

“Sweet dreams,” he whispers, not wanting to wake you up. He’s barely awake himself, his eyelids feel heavy although he wishes he could be awake just a bit longer just to admire you. “I love you.”

#exophilia #terato #teratophillia #monster boyfriend #monster x reader #monster romance #monster lover #werewolf #werewolf x reader #self insert reader #female reader

[wiipes]

The Blood God's Sacrifice.

(I decided to write a blurb on the hadestown talk with techno 👉👈 @bloodgoddarlin)

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Fearsome, bloody gruesome.

Insanely loyal.

Loving to a fault.

You committed the memory of your lover to your brain, tried to savor the memories of late mornings, hazy moments of life-or-death choices, feverish kisses after weeks of not seeing each other.

Tried to remember the face, you knew, that loved you. "Wait for me, my love, I'll see you later," you had told him, telling him to hold on to breakfast. To wait for you to come back.

But you knew what you had to do.

He was going to blow L'manburg to smithereens. And as much as you loved that man, you couldn't let so many people die. Couldn't stand by and let them get hurt.

Approaching the forest that sprung up a while back, you take a seat in the middle of suspiciously arranged boulders, praying with your mind and soul.

There has to be a way.

You called upon the only person who could help you.

"I didn't expect to see you so soon, but then again, I have just the smallest window before… a lot of souls will have to be escorted." You turned on your knees to crane your neck to look at the goddess leaning against one of the boulders.

"That's.. that's what I called you here for." You shifted on your knees, pulling yourself to stand and she's approaching slowly.

"Oh, y/n, I can't stop this. What is going to happen will happen, we both know this." She regards you with a face already resigned, with the combined efforts of your respective lovers and the help of a madman, she would be overwhelmed with helping people.

"And what if I offered myself? In exchange for their protection, the people of L'manburg." You put your hands together, wringing them as you stared her in the eyes.

"Taking you in exchange for thousands of souls? You must know that's a deal I can't make."

"Yes, but I am Techno's… the Blood God's devoted worshiper, his lover, the one person he cares for other than Phil." You make a bold guess, but with the way her foot stills in the air as she thinks it over.

"The only one to die is the one person who's close to Technoblade, the God of Blood… y/n, you do know what this means, don't you?"

"I might never see him again but… there will be families and children and so many people who are worth dying for."

"If you come with me in exchange for the souls and lives for the people in L'manburg, you would have to leave with me now, to interrupt the flow of paperwork and cast protection spells over those you bargained for, you won't get a goodbye with Technoblade. And you will be leaving to the Underworld, you're aware of all of this, and you're absolutely sure?"

Tears welled up and a sob choked it's way out of your throat but you rub your eyes in your fists, clearing your vision before letting out the last words you'll say in the land of the living.

"I am sure. I'm ready whenever you are."

After escorting you down to her office to wait while she grabs your file, she summons one of Philza's crows, knowing they are almost done with the preparations for Doomsday.

"Let him know where their body is, they should be able to hold a small funeral for them."

With a flash of feathers and wings, the crow was gone and she had paper to fill out and figure where you'll be held.

As they arrive back at their cabins, covered in ash and gunpowder, he half expected you to be waiting for him, sitting at the table with Ranboo while playing a game of poker.

But you weren't there. Weren't in your shared bedroom. Not in the bathroom. And not in the basements. (He even checked Tommy's raccoon hole. Still no.)

You weren't anywhere, even your bowl from this morning's soup is still in its place, colder than the weather outside of his home. He couldn't imagine you'd be gone this long, where would you have gone that's so important? But you had so to wait for him to wait for you, so obviously, it shouldn't have taken you this long.

Closing the door behind him, he goes up to Phil's door, about to knock on it when it opens with harsh movements as the blond man grabbed his arm and led him down the stairs.

Techno saw the forest. Saw the ominous amount of crows surrounding the roof of the forest, but over a particular part of it. "She said… but why would they…" Phil kept mumbling to himself and refused to elaborate with him.

They found the place with all of the crows. They surrounded a meadow with a ring of boulders lining said meadow, a particular amount of vines and flowers covering something, a bulge in the dirt that was clearly not natural.

Phil rushed over and kneels next to them leaving Techno by himself, outside of the ring.

Phil's head sinks as it examines the peculiar thing, hands limply hanging by his side. Sliding his arms beneath the lump, Phil lifted them into his hold, before turning to Technoblade and stealing both of their breaths.

"No.. it can't be-" Technoblade rushed over, several strides and he was in front of his dearest friend.

He chokes on something, reaching to cusp your lifeless face, a peaceful expression holding your features together before he pulls his hand away and takes you into his arms.

He turns around, fully planning on taking his rage out on whoever did this to his lover when Phil's hand rested on his shoulder in the split second he turned. "Kristin sent me a message, they… they left on their own, traded their soul in an exchange."

Phil kept talking.

For the people of L'manburg, you traded your soul. But that wasn't your choice, you hadn't relished the blood that spilt, in the aftermath with smoke filling his senses and all he could see was a crater.

But now all he could feel is the emptiness in his arms, in your stiff body. You were gone.

You had gone and died and you had died alone. The one thing you… the one thing you had told him that scared you. You died alone to pay for his sins.

His knees sink. He hears a scream distantly, not entirely aware of the moment. He couldn't tell if it was him or not.

But before he knows it, he's back on his feet, rushing back home. He has to set you down, lay you down before he leaves you for the last time.

He has work to do.

#technoblade dsmp #technoblade x reader #technoblade drabble #technoblade imagine #c!technoblade x reader #c!technoblade dsmp #technoblade dreamsmp #techno x reader #techno x you #technoblade x you #mcyt #mcyt writing #hadestown au