#I don’t have the self control to weather this storm | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

strayed-quokka · 1 year

Text

lacking in subtlety || kim sunwoo

» summary: it was a bad idea to like your brother’s best friend. it was an even worse idea to let him into your room when your brother was one door down.

» pairing: sunwoo x female reader

» rating: NC-17 minors do not interact

» genre: brother’s best friend, smut, porn without much plot but there’s backstory i guess

» warnings: dominant sunwoo (kinda?), he’s also a bit possessive, i guess submissive reader, oral (m and f receiving), creampie, his hand finds your throat but there’s no actual pressure, vague exhibitionism (?), sunwoo gets caught but he kinda asked for it, the beginning takes ages whoops, open ending cause i’m annoying, one use of good girl and some pet names

» words: 4,738

» a/n: i know i’ve done brother’s best friend before but i’m a hoe for that concept aight deal w it… also i have like… 20+ smuts for the boyz in my drafts i don’t know what’s going on anymore but i’m thinking either juyeon next because hands or a threesome with moonbae because it’s been sitting in my drafts and lord is it wild

also i know i disappeared but life happens and also people were stealing my work so i wasn’t really in the mood to write anything for anyone but here we are i’m back cause i wanna indulge ✌️

You’d never been much of a risk taker. In fact, on paper, you probably looked quite boring, good grades, a nice set of friends, never misbehaving, all of it lined up to make you rather uninteresting. That’s why when the shift from seeing Juyeon’s best friend Sunwoo, as someone more than a simple acquaintance happened, you simply ignored it.

He’d never find you interesting enough.

Though you were friends in a way too. Your brother was comfortable enough with Sunwoo never getting too close to you in that regard, and so the two of you would often interact even if he wasn’t there.

But the conversations were usually rather generic. Exchanges of how your days were, maybe the occasional comment about an outfit the other wore, but never anything beyond that. You still remembered coming downstairs in an oversized hoodie one day and Sunwoo jumping on the question to ask where you got it. He wore the same one in a different colour a few days later, and you swore he knew how flustered it made you.

You knew him, but you didn’t know him in a way that you knew friends. Nevertheless, you were always comfortable with him, even comfortable enough that during movie nights, if you happened to be around, lying next to him or even against him was deemed completely normal.

You’d done it since you were little, and so even once it shifted from being simply platonic to something that made your heart race as you got older, Juyeon never once questioned it. He never felt the need to and neither did Sunwoo. You weren’t sure if he was simply oblivious or intentionally ignoring the way you felt, but you were relieved either way.

Juyeon never noticed that your first semester back from university, Sunwoo started to get more physical towards you. His arm being wrapped around you wasn’t new, but where he let his hand rest was. You still remembered the first time it fell on your hips, but it stayed unmoving and almost felt like an unintentional accident.

Though with Sunwoo, nothing was unintentional. He thought you were beautiful and incredibly hard to resist, but he tried. He tried by simply leaving little hints, hints that could mean nothing or everything at the same time, and hints that Juyeon wouldn’t notice or brush off because Sunwoo wouldn’t cross that line. He’d never be so stupid.

Sunwoo didn’t want to cross the line, but there was only so much self control he had. Especially when you never, not once, rejected anything that he did.

You’d just finished your first year at university, enjoying the start of your summer break, when things shifted again. Trying to get used to Sunwoo drawing patterns on your hip or nuzzling up to you could never have prepared you.

The weather was terrible, a summer storm looming outside with the sound of rain crashing against the window as a random horror movie played that you lost interest in within the first twenty minutes, and you could tell Sunwoo didn’t care for it much either. Horror movies were Changmin’s thing, and maybe you should’ve been nice and invited your best friend along for the evening.

You were leaning against Sunwoo, his arm around you and fingers resting on your hip with a blanket draped over your bare legs and a part of your waist.

Juyeon was on the opposite side, a bowl of near empty popcorn on his lap with a blanket around his own figure.

Sunwoo shifted, the blanket slipping off your body though he caught it and covered you again, and you would’ve likely barely reacted if it weren’t for his fingers moving over your bare thigh. Your breath caught in your throat, and you tried to hide it with a cough though Sunwoo knew better.

Though just because he knew better, didn’t mean he was about to risk it entirely.

He’s slow, as if trying to calculate all the risks in the scenario he’s in, including both your potential rejection and Juyeon seeing what he’s up to, so it’s incredibly delicate as his fingers move under the thin blanket and to the hem of your oversized shirt, pushing it up above your hips.

Your eyes widen, looking down though the skin he’s exposed lies very much hidden over the thin fabric that’s keeping you warm. You feel like you’re burning and can’t breathe, trying to regulate it without raising any suspicion.

Sunwoo doesn’t feel your rejection, though he takes the time to whisper as quietly as he possibly can, “say stop and I will.”

You look over to Juyeon, but he hasn’t heard. It’s both a relief and a thrill, and you only nod to Sunwoo, tilting your head slightly upwards and to the side, eyes rested on his plump lips that had just hovered by your ear.

His fingers twist around the thin lace laying over your hip bone before he runs his hand down your thigh. He’s meticulous and painfully slow, but the result is that if you didn’t know any better, even you wouldn’t suspect much of anything. And the thrill of it all leaves you embarrassingly wet.

You’re impatient too, and maybe it’s a mistake, but you push his hand just enough to rest in between your thighs. Sunwoo isn’t stupid either, he knows exactly what you want and exactly what you’re craving, and he’s more than willing to give it to you now that you’ve cleared up any potential misunderstanding of your motives.

That’s the problem. Sunwoo has always been more than willing to do anything you ask, even when he shouldn’t. Whilst Juyeon had never explicitly stated that you were off limits, he knew that you were. He could have anyone he wanted. Anyone but you.

And you’re exactly what he wanted.

He’s teasing you, mostly because he doesn’t have a choice if he wants to remain discreet, but also because he likes it. He likes seeing you react, how you bite your lip and try to push your legs apart just enough for him to have his fingers between without the movement being too obvious. Sunwoo pushes into you as a response, and you can feel his cock against your ass.

This was bad. You were both stuck here, and you were feeling incredibly hot and desperately trying to be quiet.

“Are you okay?” he says it loudly, and you can’t believe the nerve he has to ask you right in front of Juyeon. Your brother looks over at you, concern on his face as Sunwoo’s fingers stop right back on your hip.

“What’s wrong?” there’s genuine concern there, and now you wonder what you look like.

“She feels warm. Fever?”

You want to hit him, but the only way you retaliate is to shift around with the way you’re lying, purposely pushing against him. You hear the angry hiss leave his throat, but it’s so quiet, similar to a low growl, so you don’t think Juyeon hears it, or if he does, he assumes it’s because your shuffling around must’ve kicked his friend.

“Do you wanna sleep? We can watch this another time,” you nod at your brother, for as much as you very much enjoy the lines you’re crossing, the gamble doesn’t seem worth it with him right here. That, and in some way, you respect your brother just a little too much.

“I’m gonna have a cold shower,” you twist your body up, ensuring the blanket is still on Sunwoo as he lets you go and repositions on his side, “night Juyeon. Sunwoo.”

You hug your brother goodnight, retaliating by hitting Sunwoo’s ass over the blanket, making him yelp and glare your way as you disappear into the bathroom.

Fucking hell, did that just happen?

You can’t believe it. The immediate guilt sinks in for what you’ve done. It’s obvious to you, just how deep your crush and sexual attraction for Sunwoo has gotten, but a part of you wishes you could still suppress it.

The water is ice cold when it hits your skin and you let out a squeal, eventually rinsing yourself off and washing your hair, attempting to snap out of the constant daze and addiction that is Kim Sunwoo. But the more you let him be in your mind, the more he refused to leave, and the worse your thoughts got.

Maybe you just needed to get laid. It had been a while since your ex (who you conveniently enough, don’t think Sunwoo liked), and now you were in a state of such frustration that you were taking it out onto the only man available in the house.

Though desire was a funny thing.

It just wouldn’t go away.

You lay awake for hours, staring up at your ceiling with only one person on your mind. There’s no doubt you’re losing it, unable to sleep for every time you close your eyes, it’s the same thought and wish for a dream over and over again.

You resort to the only form of advice you can run to. Changmin.

“It’s two in the fucking morning, please,” he groans, his voice rough and tired, and it really doesn’t help your sexual overdriven hormones. It’s not like you were attracted to your best friend, but his rough voice combined with everything else sent you into a near meltdown. Maybe you should just ask him to sleep with you.

“I want to fuck Sunwoo,” it’s quiet. You’re not sure if Changmin has to think about what you said first before he reacts, or if he just has no idea how to react, but eventually you hear him shuffle around and speak.

“I ehrm… I’m not sure what you want me to say to that,” he pauses again, clearing his throat, “does Juyeon know?”

“What the hell do you think?”

“Yikes, you really do need to get laid,” you nearly scream before remembering that any loud noise is going to garner unwanted attention from the two men that are either just downstairs or down the hall from you, so you suppress your agony instead, “why Sunwoo, though?”

“Have you not seen him?”

“I mean… not recently,” you sigh, rolling onto your side to look out the window. The rain seems endless, so you can’t exactly expect Changmin to get up and walk here to keep you company.

“You’re staying up with me.”

“I’m tired,” he groans, enough for you to briefly feel bad. Though one of your biggest flaws is your stubbornness and your best friend knows that.

“If I have someone else give you company, will you let me sleep?”

“Who’s crazy enough to come out at-”

There’s an abrupt cut on the other line, and you realise Changmin’s hung up. He either had a death wish or a plan, maybe both, and honestly, neither were comforting to think about.

A knock on the door breaks you out of it, half expecting your brother or maybe both of the boys to walk in, but it’s only Sunwoo. Immediately, you feel the need to wrap your blanket over your bare legs, “come in?”

He finally steps inside, leaving the door slightly ajar as he approaches you. He’s still in the same sweatpants and shirt from earlier, his hair more ruffled and messy from the constant laying down. He looks so inviting, his lips so full and his eyes so entrancing. It’s pure torture.

“Changmin messaged me,” you pale, and now you’ve decided that he really does have a death wish, “want to explain?”

He holds his phone out to you, a message from a number you can recite by heart sent just a minute ago.

Y/N wants to sleep with you. Double meaning implied. Leave me out of it.

“What the fuck Chan-,”

“Is it true? Double meaning implied?” he smirks, and you realise quickly that to him it’s become a bit of a game to see how far he can push and taunt you until you either decide it’s enough or give in. You’re not sure why Sunwoo suddenly got so confident, though you suppose he always has been, the only difference now is that he knows how you’re thinking.

“You don’t have to cover up. It’s quite warm,” his voice is low, but you doubt it’s out of worry for Juyeon hearing him. He’s right as well. It may be raining outside, but it’s incredibly hot in here, and you let him when he asks to remove the fabric over your bare legs, taking a seat at the edge of your bed.

“Are you… still watching that movie?”

“Finished it. And two others. Juyeon went to bed, it’s literally been hours,” you nod, wondering if he really is two doors down from you, fast asleep. Maybe he’s scrolling through his phone or doing god knows what else.

“And you?”

“Well…” he starts, his fingers moving up along your left leg and causing shivers to run along your skin, “see, I have a bit of a problem.”

You may regret asking, but curiosity gets the better of you and you feel like you’re damned to hell. That, and the fact that maybe you really don’t care at all anymore, about any of the risks, “which is what?”

He grins, and it’s a smile that tells you he has something on his mind that thrills him and intoxicates you. Sunwoo comes closer, resting the palm of one hand on your inner thigh to push your legs apart, his lips right by your ear, “I really need to know how sweet you taste.”

Your resolve breaks. Maybe it was broken before, but it’s definitely shattered now. A whimper falls past your lips and now he’s right above you, watching with eyes like you’re his prey.

“Am I allowed, sweetheart?”

It happens fast, the way you grip his shirt and pull him down until your lips meet. His lips are slightly salted, likely from the popcorn, and he’s quickly pushing his tongue between your lips and gripping you harder by your thigh. He’s rough, a little forceful with it, but you like the dominance he holds over you.

“Fuck, you have no idea how hard it’s been to resist you,” he leaves open mouthed kisses down your neck, one of his hands slipping under your shirt to grope your breasts, playing with the sensitive flesh and hardened nipples, twisting slightly as you mewl underneath him.

He’s overwhelming you. Sunwoo always has a way for your senses to go into overdrive, but with what he’s doing now, you can’t think.

“P-please,” you sound pathetic, but he’s nice enough to listen. At least you thought he was.

“Let’s play a game,” oh no. He’s pulling you up, until you sit with your legs over the bed, planted firmly on the floor as your eyes find the still open door.

You’d forgotten it was open. Sunwoo, however, clearly hadn’t, “what game?”

He’s down on his knees before you, his shirt discarded before you can even blink, and it takes a while to adjust to the naked chest and muscular build he’s always hidden from you. You tremble just at the thought, watching him closely as he repositions your legs onto his shoulder, pulling himself closer to you, “see how quiet you can be with that door open, sweetheart.”

You should be scared. The risk of getting caught has exponentially grown with the factor of an open door, but you feel his teeth lightly dig into the flesh by your upper thigh and you seem to forget everything else. It’s like he’s telling you to pay attention to only him, with each sharp sting of his teeth that leaves your skin red.

Something about it you love. The dominance maybe, or maybe the possessive nature in which he litters your skin in angry red marks that you want to have, “look at me.”

It’s demanding, but you barely hear it first until his fingers dig into your thighs, pushing your legs just slightly more apart, and you sit up just a little to meet his eyes. He almost looks dangerous, near possessed in his hunger for you, and suddenly you’ve never felt more attractive in your life.

He makes you feel wanted, and maybe that’s enough to explain why you’ve always been pushed towards him like a magnet. Even if you knew him at a surface level, he’s always been attentive to you in the little things.

You nearly curse the world the minute Sunwoo delicately lays a kiss over your clothed clit, and it’s frustrating how that alone damn near makes you see stars. Such a simple touch of his lips should not feel like the end for you, and yet it does. You grip his hair before you can help yourself, pushing him between your legs as he chuckles, “are you that desperate?”

“Shut up,” his nails dig into you harder, a scowl on his face as he nearly drags you down further, and you nearly yelp when your underwear is pushed to the side and his full lips meet your bare folds.

“F-fuck,” he doesn’t respond to you. Either he’s off in his own world or he’s intentionally ignoring you as punishment for the way you run your mouth, but you’re in heaven, though it feels like the greatest sin that’ll have you sent straight to hell.

You’d never have said you were a very vocal person in the bedroom. Even if someone made you feel good, your moans were usually quiet, more breathy and whispered than they were loud, but Sunwoo made you want to scream, and knowing you couldn’t made it so much worse.

Sunwoo seemed to know what he wanted, because without much warning, he’s letting his index finger graze your folds and it’s near embarrassing just how much of your juices coat his finger when he does, bringing it up to your lips, “are you gonna be good?”

You nod, desperate as you take his finger in your mouth, sucking on it like you would his cock, the taste slightly sweet while he’s back between your legs. You feel like your senses are going into overdrive, moaning as you take one of your hands and grip his hair, pushing his tongue deeper between your folds, but he doesn’t seem to mind.

“S-Sunwoo, p-please,” you want to cum, and it feels like you’re so close, but it’s like he wants to remind you just how insufferable he is as he pushes back the second you feel like you may tip over the edge.

The whine that releases in your throat is loud and pathetic, and you both share a wide look of shock and worry because what if Juyeon heard it.

A minute passes, the only noise in the room being both of your heavy breathing, and when Sunwoo decides that Juyeon likely hasn’t woken up, his attention is back on you, “take off your shirt.”

You nearly don’t hear him, too busy staring at his swollen lips that glisten just slightly under the moonlight bleeding into the room, and he looks so beautiful that you feel like you’re falling for him right in that very moment, completely.

“You need to stop staring like that. It’s not good for my heart,” his words make your head spin just as they put you into action, stripping off the very little you have on until you’re entirely naked.

Sunwoo just stares first, and you wonder if maybe you should cover yourself but the minute you reach for the blanket, he’s stopping you, “don’t you dare.”

It’s rough, a demand that you listen to, especially when his fingers grip your chin to look up at him, “you look far beyond what I ever dreamed of.”

“You dreamed about me?”

He grins, leaning down to kiss you as you let yourself go, back hitting the mattress as he hovers over you, “all the time.”

“Tell me,” you wanna hear it. Want to hear what you do to him, when this entire time you just thought that Sunwoo was the one making you crazy.

“How good you must look with my cock inside you. You’d probably take it so well,” you’re nodding, whimpering slightly as he’s bruising your neck, and your hands are playing with the waistband of his sweatpants, asking without a word for him to take them off.

It’s a relief to you that he listens, until you’re both entirely naked though you’re the one left salivating at his hardened cock. A little above average but thick, making you feel like you’re going dumb staring at him, “you wanna open that pretty mouth for me?”

You feel him grip your thigh and push you to the edge of the bed again, your face eye level with his waist, and it’s almost instinctual for you to part your lips, the tip of his cock laid flat on your tongue until you take him deeper.

It becomes clear to you that you underestimated his girth, your jaw quickly sore but you don’t want to accept it either, relaxing your muscles as you swirl your tongue underneath the base of his shaft, moaning around his cock, eyes finding his to see that he’s already staring at you with such darkened lust that you feel like he desires only you, and it makes your head spin.

“Just a little more, good girl,” his praise goes right to your core, making you shake and he notices, fingers tugging at your hair as you take him just a little more, your mouth so full that you have to release him and gasp for air, but Sunwoo doesn’t mind for a second that you need to pull away.

Especially not when his patience is running thin with what he really wants.

You watch him step away from you, making you nearly cry out and complain but he moves to sit up with his back against the headboard, tapping his thigh as if inviting you onto his lap, and you don’t need to be told twice to obey his wishes. He grabs your waist when you’re close enough, and in a way it’s gentle as he guides you, straddling him and making his cock ache against your bare cunt, your juices coating him as he tries to steady his breathing.

“F-fuck, you sure you want this?”

He looks pained, like he would shatter if he had to stop now, but you also see in his eyes that he’s genuine. That he’s giving you one last out if you want to take it. Fortunately for you both, you don’t want to.

“Yes, p-please Sunwoo?”

It’s the desperation in your voice that releases something primal in him, the last bit of reserve leaving him as he lifts your thighs with a harsh grip that makes you see stars, aligning his cock against your entrance. He’s careful and slow, which at first you want to cry about, but you quickly realise that he has to be slow or he may hurt you, your body having to adjust to how tight it’s gripping him.

“G-god, have you never been fucked before?”

“Not like t-this,” your mouth hangs open, eyes shut as he feels his possession of you grow, and it does things to him knowing that it’s only him that’s got you squeezing around his cock like it’s your first time.

“There you go,” the praise makes you whimper again, clenching around him and Sunwoo nearly sees stars when he realises how much you like to be praised and told you’re good for him.

He feels like you’re cursing him straight to hell with the thoughts you’re giving him, something primal in him awakening, leaving him barely able to wait for you to let him move.

“P-please, m-more,” the open door has been forgotten the second Sunwoo lifts you off his cock before slamming into you, making you nearly scream in pleasure though he muffles it with his hand, alarmed though not near enough to have him stop. He doesn’t think he can, not with the way you feel around him, meeting the thrusts of his hips halfway as you bounce on his cock.

“S-Sunwoo, m-more,” he groans, eyes falling between the way he disappears inside you and your lips, and he knows he can never return to seeing you the way he did before, not now that he knows he’s gotten his hands on you.

“I want you to belong to me,” it should maybe be alarming, to hear him lay claim on you like this, but to you it’s the sexiest thing anyone’s said to you, and honestly, you know you already do.

“F-fuck, yes,” your movements quicken, his hand finding the base of your neck, just to grip onto you but not adding any pressure, but the action is enough to urge you on, like you want to do more for him and he hisses at the way your wrapped around him so tight and willing.

“Good, y-you do so good,” Sunwoo feels like he’s burning, gripping both your hips when he feels you lose control at his praise, keeping you in place with a vice hold that might even bruise, and you know you’re going not going to last. Not when you see the way his eyes are glazed over and never leaving you, his hair clinging to his forehead and his muscular chest moving rapidly as he breathes.

“Sunwoo, I-”

“I k-know baby,” his voice is smooth, but his pace is feverish and rough, and his neck presents itself to you just as the scale tips and you’re releasing your orgasm, biting into the skin of his shoulder to hide your pleasured screams of his name, the cries and the pathetic way he makes you whimper and see stars.

The pressure and pain from your teeth and knowing why you bit him just as you grip his cock harder inside your walls has him spilling his cum into you before he can properly warn you, but you don’t seem to mind at all as his lips fall to your shoulder, muffling his own breathing as you both come down from your high.

His hands find your back, nails grazing the skin gently before he’s just holding you in his arms, wincing slightly from the way you’re stimulating his cock even now, but when he tries to pull away from you, you grip onto him tighter.

“P-please,” he nearly wants to cry, head falling back against the headboard as he looks up, trying to collect himself and maybe even think about what he’s just done. But all that runs through his mind is how you’re keeping him in place, gripping him, whimpering and willing and his, and he’s forgetting every possible consequence to his insane actions.

“I’m a dead man,” you laugh, properly for the first time in a while and it makes him smile, and as much as he wants to keep you over him, to fill you up, he’s also a little more than relieved when you fall next to him because he’s not sure he could’ve handled the overstimulation any longer without being the one to beg.

“So is Changmin,” even if your best friend will likely ask you questions, and likely throw it in your face that he did you a favor, you still very much want to kill him. Sunwoo chuckles, brushing his fingers against your shoulder gently, and the way his eyes are watching you so softly now makes your head spin.

“Kim Sunwoo, put your fucking clothes on or I will drag your naked ass out anyway, you’re dead,” both of you tense, simultaneously looking to the ajar door, though you can’t actually see Juyeon, you just very much know he’s there. You guess it could be considered kind of him to not just barge in, but it almost makes you more embarassed because if he’s not walking in, he knows exactly why he shouldn’t and there’s no way out for either of you.

You expect Sunwoo to be more ashamed or worried, but he sends you a cheeky grin and kisses your forehead before stumbling over to his discarded grey sweats.

“Well, guess I have to go princess,” and while you’re left blushing, incredibly embarrassed, his bashfulness makes you smile, even when you know that Sunwoo is very much screwed.

“Y/N, you too. Now.”

And so are you.

waiting to be chased for the open ending but it just wasn’t important to the story to add what happens there so...

anyway thank you to everyone for reading, commenting and liking my work even while i was gone :) there will be more cause like i said... moonbae threesome and juyeon hands whoops

on a rather serious note though, please do not plagiarise my damn work. i spend hours on it and while i was grateful to be tagged and made aware of what was happening to me and other writers, it really makes it hard to even have motivation to write and dedicate that time if someone just takes it. i understand similarities in ideas because that happens (like please, as if i’m the first to do brothers best friend), but to copy paste is just beyond disrespectful and i’m tired of it.

tbz masterlist

#the boyz smut #sunwoo smut #kim sunwoo #the boyz sunwoo #sunwoo x reader #smut #the boyz #the boyz sunwoo smut #tbz x reader #tbz #changmin is your best friend #juyeon is your brother #the new comeback is making me feral for these men again #so you will probably see this a lot lately

1K notes · View notes

mannequinreligi0n · 3 months

Note

Hiii!!

I loove your fics and lately I've been begging for some new Nero fics 🫡🫡

Could I request a fic with Nero and fem!reader where they're really good friends and yknow It's really cold outside and they both have to stay in an inn. Maybe one of the two offers their bed? And they both finally give in after a long while of hidding their feelings.

I really really crave some cute fluffy Nero smut, reader being her first🤭

Don't stress too much about this, and of course you can choose to write it or not!!

Thank you sweetie🫶🫶

ty for this !! i love a good ‘oh noooo, there’s only one bed’ trope.

tbh im not the biggest nero lover so this was a slight challenge but it ended up pretty good and a lot longer than expected lol. i also didn’t know how to end it but i hope you enjoy !!!!

Two Pals, One Bed

an unexpected storm puts you and nero in an unlikely situation

PAIRING: DMC5 Nero x afab reader

WARNINGS: (NSFW!: first-time/virgin!reader, fingering, penetration)

WORD COUNT: 2k

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

The sheets of rain pounded on the windshield of the van, making visibility hard on the patchy road. You flicked out the wrinkles in the map, squinting in the light of your phone to see the web of routes.

“Can’t see a damn foot in front of me like this.”, Nero grumbled from the driver’s seat. “No thanks to you, by the way.”

His pointed blame made you crinkle the map in your hands. You both had been driving for seemingly hours, trying to make it home from a job, but the storm was making it hard to navigate the backroads.

“There’s an inn after the next right, we’ll duck from the rain til morning.”

Nero sighed and shook his head. “We would’ve been home by now, if it wasn’t for your dumbass.” He peered over the steering wheel, on the lookout for the upcoming turn.

“Nuh uh,”, you started, a scowl on your face, “don’t pin this on me! I don’t control the weather.”

“Whatever.”

Nero makes the right and after a couple miles of silence, the faint beacon of lit windows pierces through the gloom. Pulling into the lot in front of the inn, Nero parks the car and hops out. You follow suit and hastily trail behind him, using your bag as cover from the harsh rain. Entering the inn, you walk slowly to examine the tacky decor - artificial fish and paintings of sunny beaches mocking your drenched clothes. Nero makes a beeline to the front desk and is quick to return with a set of keys in hand.

“We got lucky. Seems like everyone had the same idea, but they had one room left.” Nero pats you on the shoulder and cocks his head toward the direction of the stairs. “C’mon.”

You nod and follow Nero up the stairs to your appointed room, sighing in relief to be out of the storm. Nero drops his backpack on the desk and stares at the single queen-sized bed in the center of the room.

“……..one bed.”

“One bed.”, you repeat. It seems that the universe thought it would be funny if you two shared a bed after a night of endless bickering and side-eyes. You eventually shrug and flop down on the bed, looking up at Nero. “I mean, we’ve slept in worse conditions, right? You remember the cyclops cave?”

That earns a tiny smile from him, chiseling away at the tension from earlier.

“Thanks for reminding me. It’s not like I spend every waking moment trying to forget the smell of decay and ball sweat.”

You both laugh and you feel the frustration slowly leave your body. Nero digs around his bag for a change of clothes and heads to the bathroom to change. You take this as your cue to do the same, pulling out a clean shirt and pair of underwear and discarding your old ones in the corner of the room. You crawl into the bed, flicking on the tv and settling in. Nero returns a few minutes later, changed and seemingly back to his easy-going self. He switches off the lights and gets into the bed, leaving some space between you both. You both watch a rerun of an old sitcom before Nero breaks the silence.

“I’m sorry for being an asshole to you. You were only trying to help, and I shouldn’t have taken my anger out on you.”

The apology doesn’t take you completely by surprise, considering that Nero is the most levelheaded person you know, but you appreciate it nonetheless. You pull the covers up over you, sinking down to lay on your pillow as you address him.

“Don’t worry about it, Nero. We’ve had a long day and have gotten thrown every which way - it’s no one’s fault. Besides, I’m happy it was with you and not with anyone else, it could’ve gone a lot worse.”

Nero nods in agreement but he’s not lost on the subtle flirting in your last sentence. Nero glances down at you resting form, your eyes trained on the tv mounted to the wall. For the past few weeks, it seems you two have been dancing around the obvious for the sake of staying focused on work. But considering that you both are literally in the same bed, it’s hard to ignore now. You look up to him, his face turning a pretty pink from being caught staring.

“Was there something else?”, you ask, noting his blush.

“You’re really pretty.”

Nero blurts out the compliment, heart starting to pick up from embarrassment. ‘Reaaaal smooth, Nero. Bet Dante would get a kick out of this’, he thinks to himself. Your own face turns red in response, a shy smile on your face.

“You really think so?”

“I know so.” Nero starts, sliding down to be beside you under the covers. “And smart, funny, brave.”

You stare at him with awe, in disbelief that those words left his mouth. Without another breath, you lean to the side where he’s laying and kiss him. It’s a gentle, tentative kiss, but full of meaning and longing. Nero’s brain short-circuits and it takes a second before he returns the kiss. Slow and cautious, your mouths explore this newfound feeling. Without breaking away, Nero rolls on top of you, hands running up your sides. Feelings of excitement and anxiety intermingle in your stomach and you break the kiss to look up at him, eyes wide. Nero returns the look with concern, his hand cupping your face.

“You okay? Did…did I do something wrong?”

“No, I-“, you cut yourself off, building up confidence before speaking again. “I need to tell you something.”

Nero raises his eyebrows, interest piqued. “You know you can tell me anything.”

You gulp and take a deep breath, making sure that this is really happening. You look down at the empty space between the two of you as you speak. “I’ve never gone this far with anyone.” You pause, frowning slightly. “I mean, I’ve messed around but I’ve never actually….slept with anyone before.”

Nero runs a hand over your hair and kisses your forehead sweetly. There’s a clear look of understanding on his face. “Y/N, you don’t have anything to be sorry about. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. And if you don’t wanna do anything now, I won’t hold that against you either.”

“I want to, I’m just nervous.” Your eyes have a vulnerability to them, like you’re already standing there naked in front of him.

“It’s okay to be nervous. Fuck, I’m nervous. But, it’ll be okay, as long as you enjoy it. And if you change your mind or need me to stop, that’s okay, too.”

With his reassurance, you nod and pull him back down to reinstate the kiss. Nero sighs into your mouth, happy to be connected again. You feel his hands snake down to your thighs, running over the exposed skin with light touches. As scared as you were, everything felt right in this moment. Your own shaky hands moved to tug at his shirt to help him out of it. Nero yanks the shirt over his head before reaching to pull down your underwear. He stops and looks up at you, waiting for the green light from you; you give him an eager nod and he proceeds. You feel his fingers brush against your sensitive bud and your breathing hitches in your chest. His fingers move slow, tracing circles into your flesh as his mouth trails sweet kisses to your ear.

“You okay, sweetheart?”

Nero’s soft voice and tender touches elicits a moan from you, almost forgetting to reply to him. You turn to look at him and mumble a ‘yes’ out, hips rocking against his hand. Nero hums in content, moving his fingers to your already wet slit. He toys with the hole for a moment, testing the waters in case you change your mind. By the way you’re sighing and whimpering, he takes it as his sign to go on, pushing in two fingers slowly. Your back arches, jaw dropping silently. Pumping slowly in and out, his strong, slender fingers tease your g-spot. Your hands fly to his shoulders, gripping onto him for support. Minutes go by as your climax builds up, your walls pulsing around his fingers. Before you can warn him of the oncoming wave, his fingers slip out, making you groan in disappointment. He laughs at your noise, slipping off the rest of his clothes.

“Easy, tiger. I got more to give, believe me.”, he chuckles. Leaning down to kiss you once more, he positions himself between your legs. “Ready, pretty girl?”

You nod and smile into his mouth. “Ready.”

Aligning with your slick, Nero pushes into you with a moan of satisfaction. You bury your head in his neck, stifling a cry from being stretched. Nero’s arm comes up to wrap around your head protectively, cradling you in comfort. Once fully in, he stays still to let you adjust to the new feeling. You feel your breathing slow down and you nod again, letting him know it’s okay to move. His cock slips almost completely out of you until he pushes it back in, repeating this until he creates a steady, sensual rhythm. Mewls from you are muffled by how close Nero’s holding you - his free hand hooking under one of your knees to lift you ever so slightly. Over and over, the head of his cock hits that sweet spot and you feel your orgasm start to build back up, ready to satisfy the delay from earlier. The moment feels surreal, considering how many times you’ve dreamt of this moment, and you flex your fingers every now and then to remind yourself it’s really happening.

You look out from your safe place in Nero’s neck and see him above you - eyes shut, mouth ajar, and a sheen layer of sweat making him glisten in the light of the tv still playing. The display from him is what sets you off, knowing that you’re the cause of it. Your core tightens and those familiar electric pulses make your body quiver with pleasure.

“O-oh, god, that feels so good…. I’m gonna…gonna…”

“Let it out, I’ve got you.”

The encouragement from Nero is all you need to let go, a wave of pleasure taking over all of your senses. Your legs shake around Nero and a sound you’ve never heard from yourself before fills the room. Fuelled by your reactions, Nero chases after his own high, fucking into you passionately. Sweat dripping down his face, he looks down at you with an adoring smile before his eyes squeeze shut, followed by a series of whimpers and curses. Your walls milk him free of every drop of seed, the feeling overwhelming for him. You stare up at him in awe, your vision going in and out from your own orgasm.

His thrusts slow to a stop, allowing him to collapse on you. Both of you lay there panting, the heat of your bodies almost overbearing. You run your hand up and down Nero’s back, soothing him through the end of his orgasm. Eventually, Nero lifts his head and gives you a weak kiss, bumping his nose to yours.

“You did great, y/n. Seriously, that was….”

“Amazing.”, you finish for him, a giggle following it.

“Yeah, that.”

Nero pushes himself up and out of you, rolling onto his back beside you. He reaches over and pulls you into his arms, stationing you to lay on his chest. You can hear his heart thumping strongly, beating a lullaby to you.

“Get some rest, beautiful. You’ve earned it after that.”

You start to protest sleep but a yawn betrays you, realizing how warm and safe you feel in Nero’s arms. As minutes pass, your eyes grow heavier and soon close for the night, your breathing deep and slow. Nero’s hands tangle in the strands of your hair, twirling them mindlessly until sleep triumphs over him as well.

#nero sparda #dmc nero #nero devil may cry #nero x reader #dmc5 nero #devil may cry #dmc5 #dmc smut #devil may cry smut #dmc #smut #writing #fanfic #oneshot

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littledollll · 1 year

Note

Casually sliding in here to introduce myself as @littledollll number one stalker and to request something from you love.

Prompt~ so this can be lucifer or Larissa I’m not fussy I see it more as Larissa tho😂 r has the ability to manipulate weather. But when r is stressed their ability tends to go haywire. This one particular day r had a tough day and it comes to Larissa’s attention when the weather snaps into a storm which (ironically) r hates and is terrified of. So she sets out to find r and they are absolutely freaking out massively overwhelmed and unable to regain control over themselves so Larissa comes in with the comfort and love respecting that if she immediately held r it would worsen her condition so settled for words of affirmation and praise until she was calm enough to be held. Maybe ends with r exhausted falling asleep in Larissa’s lap as the weather returns to it’s natural state

Here comes the sun

Larissa Weems x reader

A/n: guys this is my friend pls check her out she’s literally amazing. So lovely to see you👀 I’m sorry this too so long to write, you know all about it.

No warnings I think!

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

Larissa knew it was never a good sign when the weather changed out of nowhere, specially when it only seemed to be surrounding Nevermore.

It was alot harder to control your abilities when things got overwhelming, Larissa learned that very early on, and it seemed like today was not treating you kindly.

She didn’t immediately make her way home, knowing you could handle yourself but when thunder struck Larissa knew things had gotten more complicated, not only did it mean your state wasn’t improving anytime soon, Larissa knew how much you hated the thunder. She quickly made her way home to you.

After many hours, and days, of her trying to convince you to take the time you needed to decompress versus you trying to convince her that you’d be perfectly fine in a group full of students and no space for yourself, Larissa ended up winning, so thankfully she knew just where you’d be.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

It was apparent that self soothing wasn’t being of much help, you seemed to be hiding from the world, head on your knees and arms wrapped around yourself when she came in to your shared room.

It became a spiral. A stressful day made a rainy day, those were fine until rain was accompanied by thunder, you hated it. All the noise and the warning flash of light that came before it only causing you more anxiety, you settled for curling into yourself and trying to distract from the overwhelming storm.

Larissa knew better than to act anxious herself. It was her steady calm demeanor that helped you down most if not all the time anyways. She called your name in a soft tone, mostly just to announce her presence and not risk freaking you out more.

All she got back was a whimper in response, and quietly, she made her way to stand next to you, “would it be okay if I sat with you?” You said nothing, a nod, and she sat a comfortable distance from you, as to not overwhelm. “I don’t need to know what happened now, not ever if you don’t feel like talking about it actually. Take your time to breathe, place your hand on your chest and feel your heartbeat calm, I will be here if you need me.”

You followed as she said, her soft voice and reassuring words helping you steady. Eventually you reached a hand to her, which she took in hers with a smile on her face.

She allowed you to do things in your own time, mindlessly tracing patterns on your hand with her thumb, a comfortable silence surrounded you both and you shyly shuffled to sit closer to her side. “can I- will you hold me?”

Nothing could have made Larissa happier. She tugged you over her lap, planting a gentle kiss on your head before wrapping her arms around you. Nuzzling into her neck with a sigh you gave her a quick kiss, just as a thank you, before you relaxed into her warmth and let your eyes rest.

Just out the window Larissa could see the clouds clear away as the thunder stopped and eventually the rain, it was late enough to see the sun setting, creating an air of peace in the room. Harsh winds replaced with soft breeze, and a dark sky turned orange and pink.

You took a deep breath, shuffling slightly to hug Larissa closer. From then your breathing turned calm, you didn’t say a word or move an inch, Larissa guessed you’d fallen asleep, she got comfortable in her spot, there’s no ways she’d risk waking you up now. Later, maybe in an hour or less since you were truly exhausted, she’d carefully carry you to bed and fall asleep along side you.

#larissa weems #principal larissa weems #principal weems #principal larissa weems x reader #larissa weems nevermore #gwendoline christie #larissa weems wednesday #larissa weems x reader #larissa weems fluff #wednesday larissa weems

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bigoltrashpile · 10 months

Text

A Beautiful Dream

Hey there!! I'm back with yet another commission, once again by the wonderful @tkspersonaldump! This is a Butch and Noir fic, no spice this time, lol, just two skeletons being creepy. I hope you enjoy! And thanks again for commissioning!

Thunder rumbled faintly outside, rain slammed against the windows, and the wind howled. It was perfect weather for a movie night. Which was exactly why you were curled up against Butch on the couch, laughing along to the shitty movie Sans had picked.

The rest of the skeletons kept shooting Butch jealous glances, clearly mad that he was the one you had chosen to practically lay on top of. As the night continued, and the storm only grew louder, your laughs became softer, and your yawns happened more often.

Finally, the movie ended, and the rest of the skeletons got up, beginning to clean up the snacks and blankets they had gotten out. Or, half of them helped clean up. The others were too busy “supervising.”

“BUTCH, GET YOUR LAZY ASS OFF THE COUCH SO I CAN CLEAN ALL YOUR CRUMBS,” Noir ordered. He folded his arms and stomped his foot.

“sorry bro, too busy being the best mattress ever,” Butch winked. “ain’t that right, sweetheart?” No response. “sweetheart?” Butch glanced down at your face, and tried not to squeal. You were asleep! You had fallen asleep against him! Your eyes were shut, mouth parted just a bit. You looked so, so peaceful.

Now, all the others were much more jealous. “i would’ve been a better mattress,” Hound huffed.

“I Call Dibs For Next Time,” Papyrus called quickly.

“sorry, can’t help that i’m their favorite,” Butch smirked. “guess i’ll take ‘em up to my room, cause they picked me to sleep on. wouldn’t wanna disappoint ‘em.”

With some angry growls and whispered threats (all quiet, so as not to wake you up), Butch picked you up bridal style. You were so tiny and light, it was like you were made to fit perfectly in his arms.

As Butch walked up to his room, you began to stir. “‘S the movie over?” you mumbled sleepily.

“yup, ya fell asleep. don’t worry, ya can crash in my room.”

“It’s okay, I can go home.” You tried to wiggle out of his arms, but Butch was too strong.

“no can do, doll. it’s rainin’ cats and dogs out there, ya’d catch something. or the wind would blow ya away. i dunno, humans are so squishy and fragile.”

You pouted. “I can go home, I’m not a napkin!” Just as you spoke, lightning flashed, inseparable from the deafening crash of thunder. “...Okay, maybe I’ll stay for the night.” Good. Butch didn’t know what he would do if you tried to leave. “Do you have a shirt I could borrow?”

Butch’s soul fluttered. “y-yeah, of course!” Fuck, the thought of you wearing his clothes made his lower half a bit warm. Nope, nope, focus. Can’t get horny right now, then you definitely wouldn’t want to stay. As soon as Butch got to his room, he set you on the bed before going to his closet.

Digging frantically, he managed to find a clean shirt. It wasn’t nice or anything, but it was comfortable, and didn’t have any mustard stains, so that was a win in his book. Plus, it would smell like you soon enough, and that was a huge win.

He tossed it to you. You tried to catch it, but it just smacked you in the face with a soft fwump. “Thanks,” you muttered from behind the fabric.

Just as Butch turned to leave, he let out a strained yelp. You were taking your shirt off! Right there, in front of him!

Oh fuck, oh fuck, you were so hot. Your soft human belly looked so nice to squish, your hips had plenty of cushion that he wanted nothing more than to dig his fingers into, and your chest…shit there was no way he was getting out of this without a boner.

Before he could get too good of a look, you had swapped your shirt for Butch’s. You looked amazing in it, but Butch just wanted to rip it back off. No, no, he had to hold back. Self control, Sans.

“Welp, I’m going back to bed,” you yawned. “Are you sure it’s okay if I sleep here?”

“......yeah, yeah, you fell asleep with me downstairs, might as well continue our lil cuddle session,” he winked. He hopped into bed, throwing off his shirt as he did. He didn’t miss the way your eyes widened as you examined his ribs. A smirk grew across Butch’s face, but he didn’t say anything.

“g’night, doll,” Butch said. To his delight, you snuggled right up next to him. Fuck, you were so warm.

“Good night,” you smiled. You must have been very tired, because just a few minutes later, your breathing evened out, and you were once again asleep.

Butch smiled. You were practically laying on top of him once again, using him like a big pillow. He felt his eyes blip into hearts, and didn’t bother to force them back.

Knock knock knock. Fuck, leave it to the others to interrupt the best moment of his life. He was about to tell the culprit to fuck off, but the door swung open.

It was Noir. “Are They Asleep?” his brother asked.

Butch nodded. “yup. passed right out. they must be real tired.” The shirt had ridden up your midriff, and Butch was gently tracing his phalanges up and down your side as he spoke. “i dunno how much longer i can share ‘em with the rest of those dumbasses.”

Noir groaned. “Me Too. It’s Painful To Watch Them Try To Flirt, It’s Pathetic.”

“i know, they’re so desperate.” He glanced back down at your peaceful face. “guess we are too.”

Noir sighed. “I Can’t Stop Thinking About Them. They’re So Perfect. I Just…I Want To Have Them All To Ourselves.”

“what if we just took ‘em then?”

“What? Like…Away From Here?”

Butch nodded. “we could get a lil place in the country. real far away, the others would never find us. no phones so they can’t call for help.” A dreamy smile crept onto his face. “just imagine it. wouldn’t have to share, we’d have all their attention. they’d be so dependant on us that they’d never leave.”

Noir let out a wistful sigh. “That’s A Beautiful Dream…But It’s Just A Dream. We Can’t Leave. We Have Too Many Duties Here.”

“i know, i know, just…” Subconsciously, Butch dug his phalanges into your hip. You let out a whine in your sleep, and he quickly let go. “just wanna pretend it could happen.”

Noir gently pushed some hair out of your face. “I Do Too.”

The two brothers sat in silence. Outside, the storm raged on. As it did, the two of them could only fantasize about a life together. With just the three of you.

#my garbage #writing #sans x reader #papyrus x reader #butch #noir #mafiafell #undertale #undertale imagines #yandere

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wyattjohnston · 5 months

Text

need a little company - nick blankenburg

summary: morgan hasn't seen nick in years and her strongest memories of him are the crush he had on her in college. when he gets signed to columbus after years apart, morgan realises that maybe she should have given him a chance.

chapter word count: 4.8k

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In a moment of peak doom and gloom, Morgan wished she was at work.

The snowstorm outside was what she’d expected to wake up to; what she hadn’t expected was for her bedside lamp to produce zero light or for her house to be significantly colder than any other morning that month.

She used the last of her hot water to take a shower and then sat on her couch, pretending that she was a good Midwesterner and not affected by a little snow, and hoped that she got a good update on when her power would be back on.

As the morning got later and later, Morgan started to feel a spike of panic—the estimated time for the power being fixed was pushed back every half an hour until it was clear she wouldn’t be seeing light for at least another day, and the window for sorting out where she was going was narrowing.

She needed to get hold of Nick before he left for the airport.

It was becoming a little frightening how quickly Nick answered her calls. They were in their mid-20s, so it wasn’t weird for either of them to have their phone on them at all times. Morgan just usually waited until it rang a few times before answering.

Nick answered on the first ring every time without fail.

“Miss me already?” he asked in lieu of a proper greeting.

Morgan did, truthfully, but she wouldn’t tell him that. “I’m about to ask you something a little wild.”

“I’m listening.”

“So… the storms have, uh, they’ve taken out my power?” she said—asked—cautiously, unsure of how to even approach her wild idea without just blurting it out. “And—I was wondering if I could maybe stay at your place while you’re at home for Christmas.”

Just as quickly as he’d answered the phone, Nick said, “Come to Michigan with me.”

“That’s an even worse idea now than it was last week,” Morgan scoffed, glaring at the flickering shadows created by her candles.

“Why?”

“Because you’re leaving this afternoon. It’s Christmas, and there’s no way there’s any plane tickets left.”

“It’s a four-hour drive. I can’t, but if you don’t mind driving in the storm, we can leave whenever you’re ready, and be there before dinner. I’ll try to get you a ticket right now, though. I’ll call you back.”

“Nick—if you don’t want me staying in your house without you—”

“I don’t want you spending Christmas by yourself. I want to spend Christmas with you, Mo. Can I sort this out and call you back?”

Morgan relented, even if only because she had no clue how else to respond. She waited for him to call back, not knowing if the flight or the drive would be worse for her self-control.

None of it worried her too much from a work perspective, as she used half of her generous PTO to take a break over Christmas when nobody else in the company wanted it.

From a personal perspective… spending Christmas at Nick’s family home with Nick’s family was one of the more daunting things she could think of doing.

Her phone rang after an hour of silence. She’d been preparing herself for a total reversal of his suggestion and was trying to plan how she was going to keep warm until her power was back on.

“We’re going to have to drive,” he told her, sounding a little harried and out of breath. “So, if you can pack enough for four days and walk to mine as quick as you can, we can leave as soon as you get here.”

“Nick… Just get on the plane, I’ll be fine here,” she insisted, hating that he was changing all of his plans at the very last minute just because the universe and the weather hated her.

“No can do. I already told my mom you were coming, and she’s preparing Katrina’s old bedroom as we speak.”

“You can’t use your mom against me.”

“It’s working, though. Isn’t it?”

Morgan huffed, stared out the window at the ongoing storm and bounced on the spot for a moment as she thought over the idea, over Karin expecting her, and finally said, “I need to pack.”

She rushed through packing enough for four nights, including something nice for Christmas Day when Nick made out that it was an all-out, extended family affair that had Morgan returning back to the idea of just staying in her frozen house. She managed, though, and packed far too much for what was essentially a long weekend and met Nick in his garage where he was waiting at his car with a smile even bigger than she was used to.

Relief coursed through her when she saw that his car was still a very sensible Toyota and not an expensive luxury car that he expected her to drive without warning—she hadn’t even realised that was a possibility until she was there.

Nick started talking instantly, setting up the route on Google Maps and hitting play on Spotify. Morgan was actually quite distracted by the CarPlay screen that took up the centre of the console because her car interior had to be pulled apart to plug in an aux cord. The four-hour estimated travel time stared back at Morgan, the longest drive she’d done since driving to Columbus, and she took a steadying breath. Being in a car with Nick for that long was going to be the hardest part of the entire trip.

“So, my mom has set up Katrina’s room for you, and Nolan will be staying in Alex’s room.”

“Nolan?” Morgan clarified, even though she knew it would be Moyle. “Does your family just take in strays?”

“My mom can’t say no to feeding somebody, you know that.”

She did know. Intimately. While she had never been one to focus on her weight, the lack of running in her life combined with the increase in hearty food was making her aware of the scales for the first time in a long time. She would never decline a home cooked meal, though, so it wasn’t worrying her too much.

Nick gave her a quick rundown of his extended family, as well as some extra information about his siblings. Morgan tried to commit it all to memory as best she could, even if she knew she would forget it the second she was faced with an actual person to put to a name.

Two hours into their drive, when they were nearing Toledo, Nick asked, “Do you want to stop for a bit?”

Morgan’s brow furrowed as she looked at their estimated arrival time of just after two. They hadn’t stopped yet, and she wasn’t mad at the idea of driving without a break if it meant getting there sooner.

“I could use a stretch, and I think your knee could, too.”

It wasn’t until Nick pointed it out that she realised she’d been rubbing at her sore knee and couldn’t say how long she’d been doing it.

“Can we stop somewhere I can buy presents?” she suggested, not ready to admit that it was to give her knee a break. Nick wasn’t stupid enough to miss the deflection.

It wasn’t until they were inside a shopping mall that Nick asked who she wanted to buy presents for.

Incredulously, Morgan’s eyes widened, and she scrambled to remember the list she’d been creating in the car, “Your dad? Your siblings? Moyle?”

“Nothing for my mom?” he asked, teasing, and pointing into the Yankee Candle store they were walking past.

Morgan directed him away with a hand on his forearm. It was a very nice forearm, even through his thick sweater. That wasn’t something she had ever thought about.

“I already bought her something when I thought she might still be in Columbus. I was going to run it over to you before you left for your flight.”

She would have had to see him anyway to give him his present to open on Christmas Day. She wasn’t even sure he realised she had something for him tucked away in her bag.

“Nobody is expecting presents,” he assured her, still being easily moved in any direction she led him.

“Sure,” Morgan nodded in agreement, only to immediately continue, “but I can’t just hand one to your mom and not get anything for anyone else. That’s so rude.”

Nick conceded and agreed to help her find something small for his family, only if she promised to not buy anything for Nolan who, he assured her, would not have taken the time to get her anything. That at least made sense to Morgan—nobody had known she was even coming until that morning.

Morgan had never had a more rushed shopping experience—and the only person rushing her was herself. They did manage to get out with presents for Karl, Alex and Katrina. Morgan hoped they were worth it. Even in her haste she made sure to buy something nice, something usable, something they would want. Nick wasn’t always very believable when he was trying to assure her she wasn’t just buying garbage. She didn’t think he was as bad a liar as she was; maybe she was wrong about it.

Walking around and stretching meant that Morgan made it through the rest of the drive without too much pain. There was some ibuprofen in her future regardless.

Karin greeted them when they arrived, Morgan melting into the hug because she missed them even after less than two weeks since her last. Karin didn’t seem bothered by the length of it. Her hug with Nick was just as long, anyway.

Between the three of them—two, really, with Nick on crutches—they managed to bring in everything packed into the Toyota and carry it up to the second floor and the bedrooms. Morgan’s bags were dropped into what she assumed had been Katrina’s childhood bedroom, but she didn’t stay there for very long before she wandered back down the hall to Nick’s room.

“Karl will be home soon, and we’ll have some dinner,” Karin said as they passed each other in the hall.

Morgan knocked on the doorframe to the room Karin had walked out of and tilted her head around the corner when Nick acknowledged her. He was simultaneously packing and unpacking, switching out clothes that he’d brought back from Columbus for things still in his drawers, his bad leg kneeling on a chair that looked like it belonged in the dining room. Morgan sat down on the end of his bed to watch.

Nick looked between her and the door, his cheeks brightening suddenly, and he stumbled over his words, “If we’re in a room together—or if you’re in a room with Nolan—or I guess the three of us together—the door—she knows we’re adults it’s just—a married thing and—”

“It’s fine,” Morgan said slowly with her head tilted. “Doors open. Pretty standard.”

With still red cheeks, Nick’s shoulders fell, and he mumbled, “Feels a bit like we’re in high school.”

Morgan hummed, it did feel a bit unnecessary when they were in their mid-20s and, more importantly, not in a relationship. Them not being in a relationship, though, was all the more reason to let it slide. She had nothing to hide.

A thought crossed her mind, and she couldn’t help but tease, “You bring a lot of girls home in high school?”

“We had, ya know,” Nick mumbled, again, his cheeks growing impossibly redder, “assignments and stuff.”

“Some biology? Human anatomy?” she prodded, leaning forward.

Nick’s head shook, a nervous laugh bubbling out of his mouth, “My mom would have had my head if I’d pulled that.”

“You must have gone wild when you were shipped off to Alberta.” Morgan leant forward so excitedly that she nearly face planted off the bed. “And then to college? Nicholas Blankenburg, have you been holding out on me?”

His laughter stopped, and the mood in the room turned sombre rather abruptly. Morgan sat up straighter, worried about what she’d done to cause the sudden change.

“Was too busy pining over you in college to go wild.”

Morgan’s breath hitched. “You didn’t pine over me for four years.”

“Not four, no.”

Nick smiled gently as he spoke, the eye contact he was making with her, earnest and intense, had Morgan shifting with nervous energy.

“When is Nolan getting here?” she asked, deflecting.

“Right now!”

Morgan’s head snapped to the door at the loud, new voice. It was, perhaps unsurprisingly, Nolan who had shouted at them. He walked into the room with his arms held wide and made a beeline for Nick. Morgan couldn’t help but feel like she was interrupting something when they hugged each other, speaking to each other in low, excited voices, so she took to looking around Nick’s unexpectedly bare room.

She’d expected more trophies, more jerseys, more proof that he’d played hockey his entire life. There were a few things, some posters and hockey sticks—

“Mo!”

Morgan looked forward to Nolan standing directly in front of her, his arms stretched just as wide as they had been for Nick. She rose to her feet and was immediately swept into a hug as if she was a long-lost friend and not just someone who, for two years, had been in the same, very expanded group.

Regardless, she greeted him happily and warmly. It was a hockey boy thing she’d never forgotten, that they all very much treated everybody they liked as if they were family. Nick’s easy acceptance in her life had been proof enough, but Nolan dropping down onto the bed beside her and starting up his own teasing of Nick did a good job at solidifying it.

Morgan didn’t even think as she followed Nick up the staircase—it was just the two of them, Nolan nowhere to be seen. She stretched out on Nick’s bed after switching on his bedside lamp to light the room, watching as he hobbled around the room, hanging up his coat and removing his tie. The movement was getting smoother, without a doubt, but there was still a noticeable caution.

“Your family is really great,” she whispered. “You’re so lucky to have them.”

She held her breath as he laid on the bed beside her and ignored the swoop in her stomach as he faced her and put his hands under his cheek on the pillow.

“Can I ask why you don’t talk to yours? I guessed it was pretty bad when you didn’t spend Thanksgiving with them, and now you’re here for Christmas.”

Her shrug was awkward, but she tried to buy herself time to think of an answer he would understand.

“You don’t have to tell me.”

“No, it’s… People who are tight with their families don’t always get it.”

The tension that fell over the room was what Morgan had been worried about, the sudden tightness of Nick’s mouth as he considered what she’d said and the inevitable conclusions he would jump to if she didn’t elaborate. Except, if anybody would accept her not elaborating it would be Nick. He very clearly wasn’t going to push her, even if he had started to frown and looked anywhere but her face.

“I haven’t—”

“You don’t have to, Mo, it’s okay.”

“I haven’t spoken to anyone in my family since I left for college,” she continued, her voice firm enough to ensure Nick knew she was comfortable with continuing. “My parents and I never saw eye-to-eye, and they couldn’t stand the idea of me going to college, especially not for cross country.”

“What did they want you to do?”

“Marry Drew, and start popping out kids.” Morgan sighed, saying the real reason, “Stay where they could keep an eye on me.”

“I can’t imagine anyone ever needing to keep an eye on you.”

“I was too worldly for their liking. Made me a bad daughter.”

She smiled—to herself, mostly—forever amused by the idea that she of all people was too worldly, that leaving Ohio for Michigan was some dangerous and exotic adventure, that returning to Ohio was her hooking up with the devil. Nick found it just as amusing, or maybe he just found her amusement amusing because he started smiling, too, and, before Morgan knew it, they were laughing together.

It quickly got out of hand, laughing at absolutely nothing, but hard enough that neither of them was really making much noise.

The distance between them was slowly slipping away as they laughed, Morgan listing forward with every desperate attempt at inhaling. Nick wasn’t leaning away, either, though, not even when the laughter eventually stopped, and they were just lying beside each other again.

With just the bedside lamp lighting the room and a small stream of light coming from the staircase, Morgan was captivated by the angelic glow on Nick’s already soft expression. An admission tumbled from her lips without much forethought; she didn’t even feel panicked by it.

“I regretted saying ‘no’ when you asked me out. Not right away, but you were really good about it and limited the flirting, and by the time you weren’t a freshman, and I didn’t have to feel weird about it… you stopped flirting all together.”

A conflicted grimace morphed onto Nick’s face, not bad enough for Morgan to regret what she’d said, but enough that if she’d known she would have held onto it for another moment.

“It was two-fold: that sort of persistence usually gets creepy, but it also sucked to get shut down like I did.”

“I heard you got a girlfriend.”

“Sophomore year, yeah. After I stopped asking about you all the time other girls started to pay attention to me.”

Morgan didn’t spend much time around the hockey team in her senior year—Nick’s sophomore year. The cross-country team’s strong connection to them had disappeared with the graduation of Sasha and Brendan, and any other friendships that had formed were enough for a plus-one to a party but not for either entire team to show up and wreak havoc.

Those friendships and plus-ones were more than enough, however, to get all the gossip that floated from the men’s hockey team, including Nicholas Blankenburg and his lovely, blonde, rowing team girlfriend.

“Nothing to do with you being twenty-one and on the hockey team?” she teased, combined with a gentle poke to his ribs.

He smirked, even if it was unexpected and self-disparaging, before shrugging coyly and admitting, “It didn’t hurt.”

Silence settled between them, Morgan just choosing to smile at Nick knowingly while still wishing that he’d started at UMich straight out of high school.

Nick’s eyes flickered to the door, and he said, “Hi Mom,” without any reservations, without moving an inch.

“It’s getting late,” Karin said from the doorway. “It might be time to let Morgan get ready for bed.”

Morgan knew that they were being told because Karin didn’t want them sharing a bed. If Morgan was less happy about being there, she might have been offended by the insinuation that she and Nick would get up to no good—they wouldn’t because they weren’t together. There was nothing for Karin to worry about, though, and nothing for Morgan to feel caught about because, despite being quite close to each other, they were on top of the covers, not at all touching.

Nick pulled his phone out of his pocket, then revealed the time to the two of them. It said it was nearing eleven—later than she had expected.

“It is bedtime,” Morgan conceded, rolling to plant her feet on the floor. When she was standing, she stretched out her back—they’d been lying there for a couple hours, and she didn’t realise how stiff she was until she was upright.

“I’ll see you kids in the morning. Make sure you get some sleep; it’s going to be a big day.”

“Course, mom,” Nick said, sitting up against the headboard.

They all said their good nights, and Morgan lingered for just a moment to smile at Nick. She wondered, briefly, what it would be like to stay, to curl up under the covers beside him, but let the thought go.

She ducked into the bathroom to brush her teeth and take off her makeup before she changed into her pyjamas.

Nolan passed the bathroom and stopped in Nick’s door; Morgan only saw him out of the corner of her eye, and she must have been out of sight for him because he didn’t so much as poke his head in to say goodnight.

“I kept her distracted as long as I could, but I’m really bad at rummy, bro.”

Morgan could only assume that Nick responded, but she couldn’t hear; she was a little desperate to know if he had, to know what he’d said, but couldn’t very well ambush them and ask. She kept brushing her teeth and heard Nolan’s side of their conversation, though it was just them saying goodnight to each other.

She and Nolan entered the hallway at the same time, Nolan’s eyebrows raising just a little as they crossed paths. Morgan gave no indication that she heard anything—because she didn’t, really—just said goodnight, that she'd see him in the morning.

In the many years since Morgan had had a proper Christmas celebration, she didn’t think she’d missed it. Her family had been small—her, her parents, her dad’s parents and brother—so it had never felt like the huge affair she saw amongst her friends or on television. The madness around it always felt overdramatic.

Until she saw the Blankenburgs’ Christmas Day.

Despite talking to Nick until late and then lying in bed for far too long replaying their entire conversation, Morgan was roused before eight by a lot of noise coming from downstairs. It sounded like everyone had been awake for hours, they were so rowdy.

She popped her head into the hallway to get a read on if she had the time to have a shower and ran into Nolan at the top of the stairs. He’d been trying to sneak about, judging by the caught-out expression on his face. As soon as he realised it was a very awake Morgan, he grabbed her by the wrist and shouted down the stairs.

“She’s awake!”

Loud cheers resonated from the living room.

Gathered in front of the Christmas tree was Nick’s family—his parents, his siblings and their partners—drinking Karin’s delicious hot chocolate. They were clearly waiting for her to join them before they could start, and it formed a pit in the bottom of Morgan’s stomach.

She rushed to sit beside Nick on the couch, ignoring the skip in her heartbeat at the sight of him in his robe with his hair still in brushed. Everyone was wearing their robes except for Morgan as she’d been ambushed before she had the chance to grab it.

To make up for the lack of an extra layer, she sat so close to Nick she was practically on top of him. He didn’t flinch.

Panic set in when Morgan realised they were going to be opening presents. The process of how they would be opening them hadn’t really crossed her mind, and she was met with the prospect of everybody sitting and watching as each present was opened.

Alex had been given the task of handing out presents which meant Morgan, thankfully, didn’t need to leave Nick’s side. That meant, though, that she got a front row view of him opening her present for him.

There was a very unsubtle theme to her presents—the ‘lucky golf towel’, printed golf socks and a personalised scorecard holder which she honestly had bought blindly with her fingers crossed.

She chanced a look at Nick’s face when he’d opened everything, after seeing him run his finger over the monogram on the scorecard holder, and looked away instantly because she couldn’t bear the softness with which he was looking at her.

When Alex handed her a present from Nick, Morgan frowned at the size and weight of it. She opened it carefully, doing her best to ignore Nick’s close watch.

“Nick, this is ridiculous,” she protested, seeing the Nintendo Switch packaging.

“It’s selfish,” he assured her, his arm finally wrapping around her shoulders. “We can finally play games together when we’re not in the same room.”

She thanked him in a whisper and stared down at the gift. When she lifted her eyes for half a second, she caught Nolan’s eye just long enough to register the wink he sent her way.

And still it paled in comparison to the gift labelled from Mom + Dad. The label itself was enough to make Morgan want to cry, and, when she revealed the small Louis Vuitton bag inside, she just let the tears fall.

“Now I know where he gets it from,” Morgan managed to squeak out, referencing the ridiculousness she had accused Nick of.

Karin told her there was something inside the bag—Morgan couldn’t believe there was more—and, sure enough, Morgan unzipped the bag and pulled out the second part of her gift.

She was out from under Nick’s arm, on her feet and hugging Karin in a flat second.

All because of an apron.

Morgan knew leaving Washington was going to be hard as soon as she’d arrived. Nick was nice enough to let her delay their departure as long as she wanted, though. Their early morning departure time turned to midday, and by midday it was clear they wouldn’t be getting into Columbus until later that evening.

It didn’t matter to Nick when they were driving. He’d originally wanted to be home in time to watch the game against Buffalo on the television, but a snowstorm in Buffalo meant that the game had been postponed, so they no longer had to be back by a certain time.

Just prior to lunch, Karin asked to speak to Morgan privately. Nick was just as confused as Morgan when she looked to him for a clue as to what to expect; Nolan stood beside him wearing his best you’re in trouble face.

Karin shooed the boys away when they lingered. She gestured for Morgan to sit down at the bay window and went about making some hot chocolate while she asked Morgan about if she was going to be alright to drive back to Columbus and when she was returning to work. It didn’t take a genius to work out that it was the lead up to the actual conversation, so Morgan sat patiently until Karin put mugs down on the table and sat down with her.

“I just want to talk to you about your knee.”

Morgan sighed, ignored the instantaneous ache, and nodded because she didn’t know what else she could do.

“It’s fine,” Morgan tried to assure Karin. “It’s really fine.”

Karin hummed, not at all believing it. Morgan needed to get better at lying.

“Nick mentioned that you’ve been trying to run again, and it hasn’t been going so well.”

“Not as well as I want,” she conceded. “But it’s fine. I’m fine. Really.”

“Karl and I have been talking and we know that it must be incredibly hard to get the treatment you need to get better, and it must be equally as terrifying when it’s already not worked so well—we want to give you a loan to get you the medical care you need.”

“You—what?”

Across the table, with her hands wrapped around a mug of hot chocolate, Karin didn’t look as if she’d just offered Morgan wasn’t anything life changing or even important at all. Morgan wrapped her own hands around her mug and drank out of it, the burning of her tongue barely even registered.

“I know that Nick has already offered, but I don’t blame you for saying no to that kind of offer from a friend. We wanted to offer as parents.”

Morgan didn’t tell her that Nick had briefly mentioned the idea of marriage.

She did stumble over some disbelieving thank-yous and some clarifying questions before she started to cry. She had to think about it, of course, whether or not she wanted to be indebted to Karin and Karl—be indebted to the parents of a guy who had quickly become her best friend, and if it was worth the risk of something going wrong and multiple relationships going to shit.

Karin agreed to let her have time to think about it, that nothing needed to be decided any time soon, and that the offer would not be taken off the table.

When the next questions were about the drive back and whether or not the weather was good enough for them to get back safely, it gave Morgan some time to work through it before she was faced with Nick.

#nick blankenburg fic #nick blankenburg imagine #nhl fic #nhl imagine #hockey imagine #hockey fic #homemade fic #cbj fic #need a little company fic

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snarkylinda · 3 months

Text

And when dawn came

I decided to take a shot at @imagining-in-the-margins's New Beginnings writing challenge loosely based around the "characters are getting the hang of being a new parent prompt"; and I say loseely because it's more about the before with a little bit of after sparkled on it lmao anyways I hope y'all like this cause I am new at writing challenges. ❤️

Summary: Spencer calls Emily the night that Cat has the baby he decided to adopt.

Content Warning: discussions of PTSD and anxiety caused by it, general mental instability, mention of sexual assault (the possibility, but it didn't happen), mention of the foster system. Please tell me if I miss anything ❤️

Word Count: 4.4k

AO3 ver.

It was a stormy night when Emily received the call she had been expecting for a while- just for the reasons she would have never imagined.

“Emily” Spencer’s voice was muffled- shaky and slightly out of breath. But oddly firm. He sounded like a man on a mission in the middle of a tropical storm- which he might as well be considering the weather and the fact that he was calling from a payphone. Outside.

“Spence, what the hell-“ Her eyes found her bedside clock- 1 a.m “Why are you calling this? Screw that- why are you outside at this hour?!” She poured all of the annoyance she could muster at her tone but the thinly veiled concern was creeping in without her permission. Emily hated to admit it, but the absolute trust she had in Spencer being able to take care of himself had evaporated the moment Mexico happened. Even before that, there was this lingering, collective fear that the resident genius would succumb to either his drug of choice or a psychotic episode…maybe both, and all the indications they would have of it would be a phone call- either by himself done in a moment of desperate clarity or by an EMT.

The older he got thought, the more those not totally unfounded fears were allowed to blur in as one of the many possible horrible things that could happen to either of them in or out of the job….

And then Mexico happened. And he was high again. And then Millburn happened. And Emily started to question every day if his pysche would truly survive unscathed….

Survive it did- unscathed? Well…. It had been a little over 6 months since his release, about 4 since he was reinstated at the team, and there has yet to be a single day where Emily didn’t see him zooming out on his paperwork or constantly watching over his shoulder- and everyone on the team, even the most recent additions, were very aware of why he took so many “bathroom breaks” lately.

To fall apart in private.

So now, as Emily heard the rapid breathing on the other side of the phone, along with the occasional sniff, she started to seriously consider calling 9-1-1. Suddenly, sleep was no longer of importance “Hey, what is wrong? Take a deep breath, and tell me what happened.”

“I need your help with something.” Came from the other side, firmer than she would have expected too, but she could already see him in her mind eye, trying to control an upcoming anxiety attack with practiced self-soothing techniques that are subtle enough for the untrained eye to not really notice and for the rest of the team to pretend they don’t see it.

“Ok.” Emily’s response was sharp and poignant. She needed to know why the hell her clearly mentally unstable friend’s deal was, immediately, but knew better than to make Spencer feel cornered, so she waited for him to put his racing thoughts in order.

At long last, he did- but it wasn’t what she was expecting to hear- not tonight, not in a millon years.

“Cat entered labor an hour ago, I want to be there. Would you come with me?”

Silence.

And then….

“What?” It wasn’t the most articulate response ever but in her defense, it was 1 am and her best friend was losing his mind.

Or already lost it.

“She made Lionel Wilkins impregnate her 8 months ago- and uh- pretended it was mine, to manipulate me. Remember?” How could Emily forget? Sure, what happened immediately after was an even bigger shock to her personally, and even to the whole team, but even then there was this little, quilty voice at the back of their heads that resonated with how absolutely messed up everything was before that. How messed up everything was.

´To manipulate me´

Was it working?

“Emily?”

“How do you know she is going into labor, Spencer?” Her voice was tight, clipped. She was doing everything in her power to keep the accusatory tone off, but it was hard. She knew Spencer, she knew he had this weird obsession with knowing everything and anything was beyond simple scientific curiosity-

It was a survival instinct.

So him keeping taps on Cat Adams wasn’t a surprise- if not a bit…. hypervigilantly…

“I….asked Garcia to keep tabs on her in case she tried anything or….if she went into labor.”

If, not when. Everyone had assumed she would get rid of the fetus shortly after her plan backfired.

“Spence-“

“It’s not- it’s not obsession Emily, I just needed to know- I need to know what happened to me, and why, you know this.” There it was, that spike of defensiveness she had grown to know so well. If albeit, a bit less fiery and more….drained. Exhausted. And it wasn’t because of the obvious sleepless nights either.

“A sadistic bitch got obsessed with you and she got the perfect chance to pull a whole scheme, but we defeated her. That is everything there is to it.”

“You know is not.”

“This not about her Em, it’s about….” A pause “We never thought she would actually have the baby”

“Sounds to me like you had thought about it.” Emily sighed, rubbing her forehead. J.J. told her she had the suspicion that, even though the unborn baby was -thankfully- not related to Spencer, he wouldn’t be apathetic towards it when -if- it was born, regardless of the fact he would rather do anything else than see Catherine again.

“…Yes.” He admitted, knowing that doing laps around the subject would help nobody. Emily had already figured him out, anyways “And my mind is made- don’t try to change it, please. I made this decision months ago….I had some time to think.” It’s amazing how much free time the average person could have when they skip the whole sleeping thing as much as humanly possible.

“What bureaucratic bullshit do you want me to brush over?” she quipped, her phone now resting between her ear and shoulder as she put her coat on. A scoff at the other side made her lips curl up a bit- it wasn’t quite a smile, not yet, but her features and shoulders relaxed sightly; anything was better than hearing her best friend fighting tears- she had more than enough of that forged at her memory already.

“Don’t worry, this is completely legal-…ish. Cat didn’t have any known family that would accept and the social worker I spoke to would rather not bring a baby with that background to the foster system- wouldn’t be the easiest to get adopted. So I just had to pass a psychological test-“ That he cheated on “-an home inspection-“ once the security tape was removed and the blood was cleaned from his floor “-and the fact that I am currently jobless didn’t faze her as much after I showed her a mail of Yale and Harvard fighting for my love.”

Emily did laugh at that, her hand hovering over the doorknob as she allowed herself to truly take in the implications of…everything, especially the last bit.

As right now, Spencer was no longer her subordinate; her colleague.

Her mind flashed to a conversation she had with him a lifetime ago, over the phone just like now, when the distance between them was way wider than just a couple of streets. When she had tried -and failed- to convince him to get out of his self-imposed insolation, to let their friends in a way she couldn’t be, since her spot in London.

”I loved her Em, I know- I know it wasn’t conventional-“

“That doesn’t matter, ok Spence? What matters is how she made you feel- God, I am so sorry…”

“You asked me…..if I wanted to have children. When J.J was expecting Henry”

“Yeah, I remember that-“

“I did. I would have traded this job in a second if I had the chance. Maybe settled down, teaching- I am not- I am not the best public speaker but….I would have liked to be there for them”

“You still can.”

“No, I can’t. That fantasy died with her”

Emily remembered the cheer panic -not unlike tonight’s- she felt the moment the other line went dead after that statement, sending their friends a collective text to keep her tabbed, and being so relieved when Penelope texted that Spencer was not longer locking them out of his trashed apartment and avoiding any and all communication after two long weeks of it.

She didn’t tell anyone of their conversation- she knew he was in a bad state of mind to open up like that to her, and respected his wish for privacy, although heavily encouraged to talk to the others about the grief and quilt that still kept his shattered heart onto a tight grip. Ironically enough, the only thing that kept the pieces together.

5 years later, a different kind of grief clenched it and it wasn’t doing a very good job as some bits had escaped their clutch and stabbed his insides at the regular But at long last, she could see something else putting little band-aids over the cuts-

Hope.

“So you don’t need me pressuring whatever social worker steps in the way? Where is the fun at that.” Emily finally spoke, wiping eyes that were becoming mistier by the second “Might I ask why I need to be the one to get out of bed in the middle of the night? J.J is the one that awoke your maternal instincts.” She was already inside of her car.

“For one, I knew you didn’t have company-“ Ok, rude. And the worst part is that he was right… “-and I thought you would like to meet your goddaughter first.”

Oh, she was on full crying now, cool. “What?”

“Surprised?” His smile was so wide and bright it could be heard through the phone.

“Yeah! I mean- you are the boys’s godfather so I thought that J.J- or maybe Penelope since you guys ´co-godparent´- and you met them first and had known them for the longest so I thought-“ She trailed off, overcome with emotion and grateful that the streets were empty. Emily was sure that having this many overwhelmed feelings at once while driving was some kind of street safety hazard.

“Well- I thought about that as well, I truly didn’t want to let anyone out- so I asked Morgan for advice and-“

“Hold on, Derek already knows you are taking Cat’s baby? I already know he had thoughts about it.” After weeks of prodding, Spencer had confessed that even though he felt immensely relieved that Lindsay didn’t actually assault him…he still felt extremely violated. Could feel Cat’s unwanted hands on his torso as she took away his gun out of his waistband in their first meeting, her whole weight as she sat on his lap in that interrogation room, knowing that pushing her off could get his mother killed-

And the knowledge that, if Cat had yet to full-take his body, it wasn’t because she didn’t want to, but because physically she was unable to.

He had ended up confessing everything to the man who he knew would understand this better than anyone else over the phone after throwing every meal he had ever gotten out, not even caring over the fact he was openly sobbing over the bullpen’s toilet, nor the fact that Derek was hearing everything and more over the phone, nor the fact that Emily was witnessing it from her spot by his side as she awkwardly rubbed his back- he had been so absolutely out of it she remembers the first time he said after -literally and figuratively- spilling his guts out was asking what she was doing on the men’s bathroom. Truly someone who should be trusted with two guns.

Needless to say, Cat wasn’t someone Derek held in high esteem.

“Of course he did- but he respected and supported my wishes” A pause “After I told him he would be the godfather- anyways, he told me that when thinking of who should have become Hank's godparents he thought of who, and I quote "saved his ass in more than one occasion and would bail him out of jail if the time came" so yeah, I thought it was a good enough method so- yeah, you quite literally bailed me out of jail so- J.J and Penelope will understand.”

Oh, he took the last part literally. “Oh my God, I will co-godparent with Morgan- if anything happens to you I will move to Chicago and raise baby Reid with them. I can already see the shenanigans inssuing” Emily’s sarcastic tone didn’t match her bright, wet eyes nor the wide smile on her face; somehow, she knew Spencer looked about the same on the other side of the call.

"Why are you writing me off so fast?" Spencer shook his head, his wet locks all over his eyes and while that would normally bother him, his mind was too occupied with the possibilities- for the first time in months, he had his sight in the future instead of dreading it or downright writing it off. The panic his shell-shocked soul went through when he heard the name of his worst most recent nightmare over the phone was slowly turning into a different kind of panic. He knew he wasn't ready to face her again, not yet. The adrenaline that had given him the strength to do so six months ago had faded entirely and left an even rawer open wound.

He knew he would see her again- now a part of her was part of him, it was unavoidable- but he would rather wait a little for the flesh wound to, at very least, grow a scalp.

"You feeling ok?" Emily had to ask once the amicable, unstable banter and watery laughter had died down to a weary silence.

"Overwhelmed I guess.... I just can't believe I am doing this.... it is bad I can't wait to snatch a newborn out of her mother's arms? Hell, she won't ever get to hold her- I spoke to the nurse of her....past, and now that she knows I will be the one to take her baby, well...."

"She can hurt her to get to you. You made the right call, Spencer" Emily murmured, turning the wheel as her eyes caught onto the lone figure of her best friend, bending over a payphone way too small for him. She was thankful she brought a towel with her- the alleged genius was soaking. And shivering. Though she had her doubts that the reason behind his visible quivering was just the cold. As she opened the door and gave him the biggest smile she could muster, she couldn't help the excitement that slowly blossomed in her gut. "Come on, genius. Let's meet my goddaughter."

_____

The towel was functioning like a shock blanket at this point. A soft layer of protection and comfort that covered a very anxious Spencer's shoulders as he had his eyes glued to his shaking, fidgeting hands. Emily reentered the waiting room carrying their second batch of coffees, and sighted as she noticed the way he frantically looked over his shoulder before restarting his staring competition with the floor. She had been worried Cat wasn't the only trigger pulling at his unstable pysche.

They were in the heart of a federal prison, mere meters away from the actual cells.

She was sure Spencer was wearing a tie before she left.

"I brought you decaf- you are already anxious enough." She placed his cup by his side, earning a scoff.

"You know caffeine has no effect on me anymore"

"Why did you drink our entire budget on longer cases, then?"

"Placebo effect." Spencer shrugged, but took a sip of his very boring drink anyways. His eyes were fixated on his cup as he spoke again "Did they tell you anything?"

Emily bit her lower lip, her hands tightening around her own cooling beverage. She had used the excuse of searching for coffee to have an actual glimpse of what was happening in the room next to them- the birth itself was fairly standard considering the circumstances. The only thing that stood up to her was what she couldn't tell Spencer-

Catherine, despite the pain and exertion of labor, was smirking the moment she noticed Emily's presence.

"Tell him I said hi", she had mouthed between contractions.

"It....might take a bit more. She is not fully dilated yet" Was what Emily said.

"Oh, ok...." was Spencer's reply. Emily had worded her response as a carefully planted trigger for a long-winded rant about anything and everything about the process of giving birth- and yet, here he was, a ball of nerves and what she could deduce was the start of acute depression. It was easier to see when they weren't in the middle of a crisis.

It was truly starting to settle in that on Monday, his desk would be empty.

"I am sorry for...not telling you earlier. I know you'll have a lot to do, finding my replacement-"

At that, Emily had to snort "As if I could ever find anyone that could replace you regardless. But I agree it would have been nice to be prepared. We could have thrown a goodbye party- we still will by the way."

"That sounds nice" The corners of his mouth twitched- it wasn't quite a smile, but close enough. "I'll still stay here, by the way. Mom is adapting well to the new center she is and, well, um-" His voice cracked a bit at the last bit "I don't want to be away from you guys- even if we won't see each other nearly as much."

"Yeah... yeah... you know what, Spence?" At that, he turned toward her, eyebrows raised in a silent question. "I am proud of you."

"Even when I dragged you out of bed at 1:20 a.m because I wanted to take in my worst nightmare's daughter but couldn't go the full route without a nervous breakdown?" His quip came out more snappy than he wanted it to but he couldn't help it- the last time Emily said that was the last day he had as a free, mentally sound-ish man. Spencer didn't believe in bad luck- but he sure did believe in triggers, and even after tossing his tie off he still felt suffocated so it wasn't very appreciated.

Emily, however, was not even fazed by the outburst. She was expecting it. "I am serious, Spencer. You are doing something that takes a tremendous amount of strength. And the fact you called me because you knew you needed help, well, you are the one with the Eidetic Memory, fill in the blanks- and don't focus on the after, just the fact"

"It takes a tremendous amount of strength to care for family, and even more to ask for help."

Family.

"Oh my God...." Finally, after hours of trying to not break -too much- Spencer couldn't suppress the tears that built in his eyes already reddened eyes as the realization of why he was here, why he dragged his friend out of bed, why everything felt like too damn much-

He was going to become a father.

He had been thinking about this for months- he ever had a little room ready for the newborn, but he had been told to keep his expectations low. That this still was a fetus growing in a high-security prison, he of all people was acutely aware of everything that could go wrong in there, his ribs still ached from the times he was used as a punching bag.

And yet, here they were.

"Yes, oh my God indeed" Emily chuckled, her own eyes far from wet for the second, but without a doubt, not the last time of the night as she grabbed Spencer hands shaking and held them in hers, letting him lay his head on her shoulders as a shockwave of awe, expectation, anxiety and joy filled his quivering form.

That was how the nurse greeted them a couple of hours later, a bright smile on her face.

Phoebe Diana Reid was born on November 4th, 2018. 7:32 a.m. She weighed 6 pounds.

She was absolutely perfect.

So perfect, in fact, that her adopted father had surprised his best friend by letting her mother see her before they left the prison.

For a split second, he saw something in Cat's eyes- something akin to longing.

For a split second, he felt something akin to pity.

"Don't worry... I'll do my best so she doesn't end up like you."

"I am sure you will, Spencie, I am sure you will."

That was the last time they saw each other.

_____

Emily decided to visit her ex-subordinate for the first time since they came back with little Phoebe. It has been a few busy months for the BAU- Spencer Reid's absence was more felt than ever, its permanency slowly sinking in. It was depressing to see his empty desk every morning, but they all knew it was for the better.

Spencer messaged them every day anyway. His aversion to technology pushed to the back when it came to showing them the very important moment of Phoeby raising her head, along with three paraphrases explaining why it mattered.

Neither of them complained, she truly was adorable and his disjointed ramblings could be summarized as "look at my baby right now, she is awesome."

Emily shook her head at the latest pic he sent- it was of Phoebe laying on a fluffy, blue blanket -a present from J.J- next to her father as he was re-organizing the newest bookshelf in his room, filled with all sorts of fairytales and other children books for the infant that didn't even know of her own existence- lucky her.

"Spence? It's me, Emily. Stop planning for Phoebe's future in Cambridge and open the door."

Soon enough she heard the clicking behind all the chains that had to be undone to enter the Reid household and sighted. That was...another thing.

Before prison, Spencer only felt that he needed his gun in the field, when he wanted to make himself useful... after it, it had become a compulsive need to keep himself safe, to have some semblance of control in his life. That was how one service weapon became two. And now that he was no longer in law enforcement the two became zero. With nothing to protect his newborn but his wit and the closest blunt object he could get a hold of, and lingering PSDT, his door was now filled with all sorts of lockers and blockers that not even a forceful tackle could bug. A special present from Derek.

Whenever it was to appease Spencer's paranoia or his own it was a mystery, but everyone seemed happy regardless.

Finally, the fire hazard opened as Spencer's big, exhausted eyes met hers. Having a baby and sleeping enough was never compatible with a normal person, let alone someone who had looked like an anemic raccoon since his 20s. "Emily? What are you doing here?"

"It's my free day so- I guess I decided to pass by and see how things are going." She stated as he stepped back and allowed her into his apartment. Turn out that it didn't have to be as "baby-proof" as she originally thought. Spencer had always thought about his place of rest as something that should be safe for vulnerable people- of course, when he designed it like he was thinking of his mother, rather than his child, but one of the very few perks of parentification is that you are pretty much a caretaker before puberty, so he was sort of ready for it. "Where is Phoebe?"

"On my room- and for your info, Cambridge is not in the life plan- I don't have contacts in Europe" Spencer pouted, already on a purposeful quest for the light of his eyes.

"Oh, but I do." Emily shrugged, sitting on the surprisingly unused couch. She knew Spencer had a thing for falling asleep there, since it kept his sleep enough to limit the access to any dream whatsoever- but Phoebe didn't like he had to relent and lay on his bed like a normal human being. She might not be helping his sleeping schedule but she sure was doing his spine a service.

"Look who is here? It's Auntie Emily!...even though you are barely conscious enough to recognize faces, let alone names. Oh but you are doing such a good job at that, yes you are." Spencer cooed, holding Phoebe close as she giggled and babbled, a stuffed cow in her little hands. "They start to recognize other's names by about 7 to 9 months but recognize theirs as early as 4 to 6. So technically, she already knows she has the cutest name ever." He explained, an excited, infectious grin on his face that Emily couldn't help but imitate.

"That is great Spence, hi little Phoebe. Oh you are so adorable with those-" Her grin vanished as her eyes registered what her one and only godchild was wearing "Spencer, why is my girl wearing a fuc- freaking Chewbacca pajama?"

The baby girl was, in fact, cladded in a furry, brow onesie. Spencer frowned, offended. "It's actually an Ewok, they are considerably smaller than Chewbacca and-"

"Just don't dress her up like that for school and we are good." Emily deadpanned, accepting a very eager Phoebe back in her arms "Hi sweetie, so you recognize your name now, huh?" A sudden thought struck her as she made sure to keep her hair out of said baby's grabby hands "Hey Spence, I always wondered...why Phoebe? Like what is the story behind the name- because I know there is one."

At that, Spencer's eyes shone as he took his daughter's tiny hand in his, his thumb rubbing the back of it with much care and gentleness, before he spoke again "Phoebe means Bright or Radiant in Greek. Everytime I think of the months I spent locked in a dark hole, I see her and- while it doesn't make the feeling go away- it gives me a reason to actually try, you know? A radiant light in the darkest night...so to speak..,"

And that was enough for Emily.

#mentioningmargins #criminal minds #spencer reid #emily prentiss

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bestaez · 1 year

Text

Strangers (Chapter Ten)

Strangers from Hell AU

Series Masterlist

pairing: ot7 x reader

genre: yandere, horror/thriller

word count: 6.7k

warnings (lmk if i missed anything!): unreliable narrator, murder, mature themes, minor character death, obsessive/possessive behavior, emotional manipulation, stalking, bullying, violence against women, blood and injuries, mc has some self-deprecating thoughts, mc is lowkey in denial.

The day stretched on for what felt like hours but in reality was only about two before the sun had finally begun to set. The weather had been so weird, bright and sunny despite the dark clouds looming in the background. Something told you that the storm you sensed coming previously was finally about to arrive - just in time, too.

You had stared out the window of the hotel as Nayeon paced on the floor in front of the bed. She had been mumbling things here and there, reaching for her phone a few times before ultimately changing her mind. She didn’t like to be out of control of the situation, that much you could tell. You had never seen your best friend so stressed - not even during exam week - and you have to admit you didn’t like it. She had always been so sure of herself for as long as you had known her. If anything, this just emphasized the seriousness of the situation.

You’re sure you probably looked too blasé about the situation, a blank expression on your face as you rested your head on your knees. The truth was you just felt numb, having gone through so many emotions these past days already. This past month had taken a tremendous toll on you, the lack of sleep and stress finally catching up to you. You had no idea what the outcome would be after tonight but you found it hard to care. Jail almost sounded better than whatever awaited you both at the residence, but you weren’t exactly ready to go running to the police station right now anyway. Besides, you didn’t want to find out what Namjoon would do if you went against his wishes.

“Fuck it, I’m calling them.” Nayeon finally broke, picking her phone up off the bed and swiping at it.

“Who?”

“Who do you think?”

“You can’t... you heard what he said.” Your voice was quiet as you spoke, eyes fixed on the swirly patterns of the comforter.

“So what, we just go in there completely defenseless? This feels like a trap.” She argued, but you noticed that she had stopped typing as she stared at you. “What if he’s lying and Jihoon’s already gone? Do you think they killed him?”

“I don’t know.” Her face crumbled a bit, forehead creasing in worry. “I think I have an idea, though. It might be risky but it feels like the safest option. Give me my phone.”

She handed it to you wordlessly, watching as you searched for a number. It only took you a few seconds before the message was sent and you pocketed the device. She raised her eyebrows at you, “Well?”

“I met this detective a little while ago who had been looking into the case of a missing woman that used to live at the residence. I didn’t say who or where it was but I figured sending that picture would at least raise some suspicion. Plus, it’s more discreet than just calling the cops.”

“Do you think it will work?”

“No clue but at least now someone else knows.” Glancing back at the darkening sky, you sighed as you moved to stand up. “We should get going.”

“Are you sure?” You had never seen Nayeon look so unsure of anything. This was a beast she didn’t know how to defeat.

“What other choice do we have?”

*****

The storm had descended upon you fast, rain making it hard to see for the taxi driver as he weaved through the streets. You and Nayeon sat in the backseat completely silent, your driver seeming to pick up on the mood as he didn’t bother to make small talk. When you finally arrived at your destination, you could only stare up at the distorted view of the residence. You didn’t think you would be back here so soon and the feeling upon seeing it was difficult to pinpoint.

Nayeon scooted over and gave you a little shove, signaling for you to get out. You opened the door and were instantly flooded with wet droplets, the sound of them hitting the pavement canceling out any other noise. You didn’t turn to see if she had followed you, running into the building for cover.

Once the both of you had made it inside, you looked down to see how utterly drenched your clothes were despite only being outside for a few seconds. The fabric stuck to your body uncomfortably and you pulled your shirt away from your skin to air it out as best you could.

Making for the stairs, a strange sense of deja vu came over you to when you had brought Jihoon here. You didn’t even want to look at Nayeon’s face, scared to see her signature judgemental look upon seeing your residence for the first time. In your peripheral vision, you could see her wide eyes checking out the place cautiously. She remained silent next to you, seemingly on high alert.

The hallway was empty and upon checking the front receptionist window, so was Jimin’s room. You led Nayeon down the hall slowly, her hand gripping your arm as you both watched each closed door you passed for any movement. For some reason, you stopped at your old room - curious to see if anything had been done to it.

You both entered the room, doing a quick perimeter check despite how small the room was. You felt like you could never keep your back facing one direction for too long and Nayeon seemed to have the same sentiments.

“How do we know they’re even here?” As if to answer her question, a heavy thud caused the both of you to jump and turn around to see a tennis ball bouncing down the hallway. The silence, as well as your thundering heartbeat, was deafening.

You didn’t know what to do. The reality of the situation was hitting you that you were back in this place and the result was suffocating. It was like some time away from this place had given you perspective and now that you were here again, you saw it all in a different light. Everything that happened in this past month suddenly hit you with a new meaning.

Soomi’s obvious distaste for this place and then her abrupt departure. The missing woman Detective Lee had been looking for. That feeling like you were always being watched ever since you moved in here. And now, Jihoon’s kidnapping. It all clicked into place and you couldn’t help feeling like a fool for not realizing it sooner.

Everyone had warned you - your mother, the man on the bus, even Soomi - that the one thing you should be scared of most was strangers. You never knew how spot on they were until now. Ever since you had move into this city, you had witnessed a true evil that you had never seen before. And standing here in Eden Residence, you really felt like you were in Hell.

Moving quickly, you shut the door and locked it. You slowly stepped away from it, as if it would burst off the hinges at any loud noise. Nayeon was watching you with wide eyes from where she sat on the bed, gaze flitting back and forth between you and the door.

“What are you-”

“Shhh.”

The two of you waited, ears tuned for any possible sound. It felt like ages before you finally heard something. Footsteps, but it was hard to tell where they were coming from. Your eyes were trained on the small amount of light seeping under the closed door, feeling your body tense up as a shadow passed by. Whoever it was either didn’t know you were in here or wasn’t concerned with your presence at all.

When the footsteps seemed to be retreating, Nayeon heaved out a sigh as if bored with the situation. She opened her mouth to say something, when another loud thump interrupted the tense silence. You stood there, paralyzed with fear, as the door shook each time something collided with it on the other side. Nayeon shrieked, moving to stand next to you as the two of you watched what looked like an axe start to break through the dark wood of your bedroom door.

Your heart was hammering so fast you briefly wondered if this is what a heart attack felt like, just in time for your youngest roommate’s face to appear in the small opening they had just created. “Noona, you came back!”

You don’t know how to respond, especially when you look over to see the mix of confusion and fear on Nayeon’s face. The two of you could only stand there pressed against each other as a hand reached in and unlocked the door from the outside. Finally, the door swings open to reveal Seokjin, Jungkook, and Yoongi’s smug faces.

“Why are you hiding in here?” Seokjin chided teasingly, a small smirk on his face as the other two snicker quietly.

“The only one who’s hiding is that crazy asshole! Tell him to come out here and show himself,” Nayeon snapped, her loud volume causing you to flinch involuntarily.

“What do you mean? He’s right here,” True to Yoongi’s word, Namjoon popped his head in the doorway next to the others. You tensed up at his arrival, backing further into the desk behind you.

“Oh, don’t look so scared, YN. Tonight’s supposed to be a joyous occasion.” Namjoon smiled, stepping in and reaching a hand out. Both you and Nayeon stared at him like he was crazy, which he was, but he wasn’t deterred. “Come on, don’t you want to see Jihoon?”

At that, Nayeon broke away from your embrace and met him head-on. Despite the obvious height difference between them, she stood her ground and looked as menacing as possible. The sight reminded you of when Soomi tried to confront Taehyung and it gave you an uneasy feeling in your stomach.

Your fingers gripped her wet shirt, pulling her back a bit. Namjoon’s eyes followed the action, watching you curiously. You felt as if you were getting between two wild animals that wanted to fight. “Nay, let’s just go.”

“This is crazy. I don’t know why I let you talk me into this.” Nayeon shakes her head but relents, throwing her hands up in defeat.

The two of you follow him out of the room, eyeing your other roommates warily as they smile at you. Yoongi and Seokjin take the lead, walking towards the stairs as Namjoon ushers you to walk ahead. Shivering uncomfortably, you glance behind you to see Jungkook and Namjoon bringing up the back of the group, their dark gazes already trained on you.

As you ascend the stairs to the mysterious upper floor, you feel a strange sense of satisfaction come over you as you realize there was something going on up here. If only you had followed your intuition back then, maybe you wouldn’t be in the position you are now.

Yoongi and Seokjin push past the plastic curtains, holding them open for the rest of you to step through. You don’t know what you expected to see up here but the sight still surprised you. The interior was much like the rest of the building, but just like Jimin had explained when you first moved in, the walls and floors were terribly burned. You could see in some places where the renovations had just barely started, a few walls with large openings in them to inspect the damage, but it still seemed unsafe to be in this area of the building.

They continued to lead you down the hallway, your suspicion and paranoia rising the longer they dragged this out. You could tell Nayeon was getting frustrated too, her pinched brow and narrowed eyes taking in the surroundings. Finally, they brought you to a room that must have been larger than any of the others. It was a big, open space that reminded you a bit of an empty warehouse with its lack of furniture.

This room, much like all the others on this floor, was poorly-lit and made it a bit hard to make anything out. There was a bright, almost industrial-like light coming from further into the room but was obscured by more clear curtains. It honestly felt like you were on the set of a horror movie.

“Okay, what the fuck is this,” Nayeon snaps, crossing her arms over her chest and rearing back to look at the men leading you into what felt like a trap. It was stupid, you knew it was stupid and yet, here you were.

Before anyone could respond, a pained groan sounded from somewhere in the room. You all turned to where the light was coming from, a tense silence filling the air. You didn’t hesitate to breeze through the curtains, Nayeon hot on your tail. What you saw caused you to freeze in your tracks and bump into her figure behind you.

Even though you had seen him already from the picture, nothing could have prepared you for it in person. You almost didn’t recognize him like this, especially not after seeing him the night before when he was completely fine. The last time you had seen him you screamed at him to leave you alone and then this happens? First Jiwan and now Jihoon, you must have had some kind of strong karma going for you.

“Oh my god, Jihoon,” Nayeon cried, her voice a startling whisper next to you. You just felt numb as you looked from him to her, tears filling her eyes and spilling down her cheeks.

Taehyung ventured out from somewhere else in the room, joining Namjoon and Seokjin where they stood by what looked like medical cabinets off to the side. Your gaze swept around the room, suddenly noticing the make-shift dentist’s office that had been set up back here. Jihoon was sitting in the patient’s chair, his arms and legs bound with thick rope.

You barely caught the subtle nod Namjoon gave to the men behind you before Yoongi suddenly seized Nayeon and lifted her up. She screamed in protest, kicking harshly at one of his shins causing him to hiss in pain.

Strong arms wrapped around you from behind, causing you to immediately gasp and begin to struggle. You felt a nose nuzzle into your neck, sniffing deeply, “It’s okay, noona. We won’t hurt you.”

Jungkook softly deposited you in another type of patient chair - this one more upright so you could face them all more evenly. Your body went stiff as you watched Yoongi do the same with Nayeon, her arms and legs bound as well. She spewed curses at them and you could only sit there, feeling powerless. This all felt like a bad dream. How could any of it be real?

“What do you want?” You dared to ask, your gaze meeting Namjoon’s unwavering one.

“You.” It felt as if someone had knocked the air from you just from the one simple word.

“Truthfully, I had meant for this process to go a lot smoother. I’m- well, we are all pretty good at playing the long game. It’s certainly not the first time,” Namjoon cracked a grin at that, earning a few chuckles around the room. “We had never meant to target your friends, knowing what that would do to you. It got to the point where we had no choice but to involve them. And when we learned what they were doing behind your back, we didn’t feel so bad anymore.”

The sound of Jihoon’s grunt caused your attention to snap back to where he was, now noticing how Taehyung and Yoongi were now hovering over him. Taehyung smiled at you, seemingly innocent if it weren’t for the hand laying on Jihoon’s knee applying pressure.

“Leave him alone!”

“Jin.”

At Namjoon’s cue, the elder male was quick to produce a roll of duct tape from somewhere, ripping a piece and spreading it on Nayeon’s lips before she could even realize what was happening. It worked, mostly, as you could now only hear her muffled grumbling behind the tape. You thought they would let it go so you were shocked to see Namjoon take quick strides over to her, calculated hand reaching up and smacking her across the face. She sat there, stunned, with her head turned to the side and breathing heavily.

When Namjoon seemed satisfied with her compliance, he spoke again, “As I was saying, we were willing to wait for you, YN. Because we knew you were special. You see the world differently, just like us.”

“I’m not- I don’t kidnap and murder people.”

“Maybe not. But that rage you feel inside you? The one that made you snap on your co-worker like that? It’s the exact same thing we all feel all the time.” Namjoon spoke clearly, stepping closer to you until he was only a few feet away. “You see, YN, we’ve all come from rough beginnings. I’m sure you’ve already gathered how some of us grew up together because we didn’t have a family or a place to call home. It didn’t take long for us to realize that we only had each other and that was all we really needed. No one else mattered.”

The longer Namjoon talked, the more you felt crazy for not noticing it sooner. He was insane.

“No one took care of us so we quickly decided that we would take care of them. We don’t just murder people - we remove the filth from this world and make it a better place for the rest of us. Which is why we are taking the first step in our future together and purging you of any filth in your world.” You couldn’t even process his words before Yoongi brandished a knife from somewhere and quickly swiped at Jihoon’s throat.

Blood spurted out of his neck, adding to the mess on his clothes and chair. Nayeon’s piercing screams were all you could hear, not even noticing the hands rubbing your neck and shoulders comfortingly. You couldn’t move or breathe, your eyes trained on the now lifeless figure of Jihoon. Your boyfriend, the man you had loved for most of your adult life, was dead. And it was all your fault.

Nayeon began choking from screaming and crying with her mouth covered and to your surprise, Seokjin removed the tape from her mouth to let her breathe. She coughed and spluttered, sobs wracking through her body all the same. It was strangely silent as they all waited for her to recover. Your gaze flickered around the room, observing the quiet anticipation on all their faces. You were shocked to feel someone’s knuckles wiping your cheek catching a tear you hadn’t noticed had fallen, looking up to see Jungkook smiling down at you sadly.

“Do you have anything to say for yourself?” Yoongi spoke finally.

She lifted her head, blotchy eyes glaring at no one in particular. “You sick sons of bitches, you’re gonna-”

“Not about him,” Yoongi rolled his eyes, kicking her chair tauntingly. “We’re talking about why you visited YN today.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, you don’t remember telling the cops you knew who Jiwan’s murderer was before you came over to see her? That wasn’t you trying to get a confession out of her?” Seojin’s tone was condescending, clearly not in the mood for her bullshit.

“Wow, you guys are something else,” Nayeon laughed airily, the kind she usually did when she was bluffing. Her face was red, too, but you couldn’t tell if it was just from the crying. “YN, don’t listen to them. Can’t you see how they’re trying to cut everyone out of your life?”

“Only the people that need to go.” Jungkook’s quick response caused you to jump, not expecting the youngest to join in.

“We already knew you were a bad friend but when we heard how you tried to incriminate YN, we realized you weren’t a friend at all. In fact, after talking to our dearly departed over here, we soon realized you two have had this secret affair going since your college days. Isn’t that right?”

It felt like your world was crumbling before you. Your boyfriend was dead and now you were finding out your best friend had never actually been real with you. Neither of them had actually cared for you. How could they care when they were sneaking around behind your back? Thinking back on all the times you had spent with them looking like a fool made you feel sick.

“They’re lying, YN. We never-” Her voice sounded strained like she was trying to keep it together, red eyes pleading with yours desperately.

She looked at you like you were the only one who could save her but you had no idea how - you were just as helpless here as she was. Nayeon was most likely going to die here and you didn’t think you could do a thing to stop it. You almost suspected they would kill you as well once they realized they couldn’t get what they wanted from you. You didn’t think you had it in you to be what they want.

Jin whipped out a knife of his own, pressing it to her arm and drawing blood. Nayeon hissed in pain as he warned darkly, “Lie again and see where it gets you.”

“Okay, okay.” She gulped, clenching her eyes for a moment to ground herself. “Yes, okay. We did it back then, too, but you have to understand, YN. It had started before we had even met you.”

“But he never wanted you as a girlfriend, did he? He wanted YN and you on the side,” Namjoon egged her on, standing between the both of you. “So you continued playing the other woman while secretly loathing YN.”

“And when you saw an opportunity to get rid of her, you jumped.” Taehyung joined in.

“No, no-” Seokjin brought the knife up to her neck, and that’s when she finally broke, “Fuck, fine! Yes. I thought maybe you’d get arrested, go to jail for a little while. I didn’t know if Jihoon would give up on you but it seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“I can’t believe this,” Her lips pressed in a firm line as she stared at you fiercely. “You were really gonna let me go to jail over a guy?”

Out of nowhere, she busted out laughing. You didn’t bother to check but you’re sure everyone else in the room looked just as confused as you did. “I’m sorry, I just think it’s funny. You can’t believe someone would betray you - who would do such a thing to sweet little YN - but I can’t wrap my head around the fact that I’m here in some psychopath’s evil lair all because of you!”

You stare at her stunned, as the entertained light dies on her face and what is left is only a cold, indifferent mask. In all your years knowing Nayeon, you don’t think you have ever seen such a look of hatred on her face. Not even when other girls whispered about her behind her back at school or when random guys grabbed her ass at parties. She looked like she wanted to wipe you off the planet and you couldn’t for the life of you understand why.

“I wish I’d never met you, YN. You give off these innocent vibes that draw people in and make them want to help you but deep down, you’re just as fucked up as the rest of us - maybe even more so.” She spits angrily. It was like she had been given truth serum and her most honest feelings were all flooding out, every venomous jab she spewed felt like a dagger twisting in your gut. You’re too focused on her to notice the way Jin reaches for the tape again only to be stopped by Namjoon who waves him off, watching on curiously.

“All those times when I went out of my way to help you and for what? Maybe I was just trying to ease my own conscience by helping such a pathetic loser. And then you just fucking stuck to me and it was like I couldn’t get rid of you-“

“Y-you approached me! I didn’t ask for you to come help me,” You argued back weakly, feeling defensive for some reason.

“Yeah, right. You were crying in the bathroom like some attention whore,” she sneered at you, which earned a deep growl from somewhere in the room that gave her pause. She cleared her throat awkwardly, eyes widening like she saw her life flash before her eyes, “I never knew you would attach yourself to me like that and I never could have imagined you and Jihoon would hit it off like that.”

“I had no idea you and Jihoon were together back then.”

“We weren’t,” She admitted bitterly, causing you to frown in confusion. “We were hooking up but he said he didn’t want anything serious. He said I was too much energy for him. Then, next thing you know, you two were dating.”

It was all starting to click together now. You had unknowingly stolen Jihoon from her - although, truthfully, he never really was hers to begin with. And now, it felt like he had never been yours either. But none of it mattered now, the damage had already been done.

“But that didn’t stop him from calling me every other weekend asking for a quick hookup while you were busy studying. And when we both graduated and moved here, he was calling nonstop.” She smirked at you, something truly wicked in her eyes that you don’t know how you missed before. “I never really understood why he kept stringing you along - maybe he just felt bad for you. Well, I guess I did too, seeing as I’m the one that brought you out here.”

“And look where that got us,” she continued, shaking her head in disbelief. “The thing I can’t wrap my head around is how you of all people could cause such destruction. I mean, just what is so fucking special about you? Jihoon couldn’t let you go and now this bullshit... You’re like a virus that we can’t get rid of.”

You’re not sure if it’s her hateful speech or the deep frown on your face that does it but you could feel the energy change in the room. In the corner of your eye, you saw Taehyung walking over fast with a knife in his hand and it was like something switched inside of you. Everything was a blur as commotion fell over the room, voices shouting and chairs being knocked over. There were arms trying to reach for you and bodies trying to block you but your only focus was on intercepting Taehyung. It all happened so fast your mind could barely keep up with it.

Your feet tore out of the room, thundering down the hallway as you made your way to the stairs. Racing down them as fast as possible, you could see the residence opening leading to the outside in your view. The storm was still going strong, rain hitting the ground loudly from outside the entrance.

Just as you were about to make it, a hard body appeared out of nowhere and quite literally knocked the air out of your lungs as you both collided. Long arms reached out and held you, preventing you from falling back on the stairs. You reeled backwards, chest shuddering with how fast you were breathing from running mixed with the shock of the sudden intrusion.

“Woah,” the voice said, and you blinked quickly to refocus. “Where’s the fire?”

Hoseok. You had completely forgotten him staying here amongst all the chaos these past few days. You had left him here with no warning on what these guys were like. It was lucky he was still alive.

“H-Hoseok,” you choked out, still out of breath as your hands gripped onto the ones on your shoulders. “We have to get out of here.”

“What do you mean? What’s wrong?” His usual cheery face was frowning in concern.

“The others- they’re gonna kill,” You clenched your eyes shut as you remembered the sight of her bleeding out and screaming. “Oh god, I think they killed her.”

“Killed who? What are you talking about?” You suddenly notice the police uniform he’s wearing, confusion clouding your thoughts as you look him up and down. You’re pretty sure he never dropped that little detail, only ever telling you that he was an aspiring rapper so this must have been a major career switch.

“You’re a cop? Since when- nevermind, you can explain later. This is good, this is-” Relief flows over you as you realize you’re safe. He’s a cop, he’ll know what to do. You knew sending that text last minute was a good idea, even if coming here was crazy. “They-“

“YN,” Another voice suddenly sang out from upstairs, making your blood run cold. You didn’t want to look and see who it was but Hoseok turned your body to face Jimin standing at the top step. You barely feel a small prick in your neck amongst the shock before black dots begin to form in your view. “You weren’t leaving already, were you?”

Feeling yourself go limp, you’re almost relieved to feel thick muscles wrap around your frame and catch you before you could fall. A sweet whisper in your ear to comfort you before you go under, promising what is to come.

“We’re just getting started.”

*****

You woke up again later, in that room upstairs again but a different section of it this time seated in another dentist’s chair. They must have done some cleaning if the scent of detergent in the room said anything. Your eyes opened and shut a few times, trying to adjust to the lights. Behind your eyelids, you still saw splotches of red, memories from before flooding back in.That was real, wasn’t it?

You moved to get up, finding it difficult to even raise your head a few inches. Your limbs felt so heavy like they were made of sand. You whimpered, trying once more to move a muscle and flopping back on the seat with a frustrated groan.

“Shh, don’t move,” A soft voice cooed, your gaze snapping over to find Jimin seated next to you with a gentle smile on his face. “You’re too weak right now, baby.”

“W-what did you do to me?” Your tongue felt heavy in your mouth, making it hard to speak.

“I just gave you something to help you relax a little. It will wear off in a few hours,” He answered honestly, reaching out for your hand and rubbing his thumb over the back of it.

“You’re awake,” You looked up at the sound of Hoseok coming in, wiping his hands off on a rag and looking far-too casual to be here than you would have expected. “Are you feeling better?”

“You-” Your head spun as you saw Namjoon follow, his dark eyes settling on you immediately. He was still wearing his work suit and you couldn’t help but notice how pristine it looked, not an ounce of red on it. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to you that he was steady and skilful with his line of work. “You’re all in on this?”

“In on what?” Seokjin entered, sending you an innocent smile.

“Don’t tease her, Jin,” You don’t know how long Yoongi had been in the room, breezing through one of the curtains with a box of cleaning supplies in hand. “Yes, he’s with us, YN.”

“Sorry I had to knock you out before, YNie. I wasn’t expecting to run into you like that.” Hoseok smiled cheerfully at you, pulling a chair out in front of you and straddling the back of it. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

You ignored him, turning to Namjoon. “What are you going to do to me?”

“I asked you a question, babe.” You had never heard Hoseok sound so serious before, your heart stuttering in your chest at the sound of it. Looking over at him in surprise, he shocked you again when a wide grin broke out across his face. “Although, I’ll cut you some slack. You did just come out of it.”

“When did you become a cop?” You don’t know why that was the pressing question on your mind but found that you wanted to know.

“About a year ago,” He responded coolly, leaning back in his chair and leveling you with his gaze. “The rapper gig is a side hustle, I guess you could say.”

“How can you be a cop and partake in this...?” You weren’t sure how to finish the question, hoping they would fill in the blanks for you.

“I’m kind of like a spy,” He winked at you, an amused smile stretching across his face. “I get to have fun here while also keeping tabs on what the police are up to. I make sure they don’t sniff too close around here and find out something they shouldn’t.”

“He also makes sure that no anonymous tips get sent where they shouldn’t,” Seokjin adds, giving you a pointed look.

“Detective Lee,” You whispered in shock, cringing as you realized your plan had been foiled. No one was coming to save you.

“It was a smart move, I’ll give you that.” Yoongi spoke, arms crossed as he glanced over at Seokjin. “Unfortunately, Detective Lee has been out of commission for quite some time.”

“So what is this, like a club for murderers?” You asked bitterly, looking around the room to see some of them let out a few chuckles or crack a grin in response. “Are you going to kill me next?”

The laughter stopped at that, a few of them even looked offended that you would suggest it. “Never. You’re our missing piece, YN.”

“I don’t understand,” You cried helplessly, searching around the room for at least one of them to crack but they maintained a strong front. “Why can’t you just let me go?”

“Do you remember what happened with Nayeon?” It was as if the air had been sucked from the room, somber expressions taking over their features as they all watched you carefully.

“Yes,” You answered confidently, not truly representing how you felt. It honestly had all been a blur of bodies and hands, weapons and blood. You couldn’t really make sense of it. “Taehyung went at her with a knife and I tried to stop him.”

“No.”

You were shocked to see Taehyung standing in the doorway, fixing you with a dark gaze. The sight of him made you shiver where you sat, trying not to imagine what he was capable of as you looked at him. You couldn’t help but notice how his clothes looked pretty clean too for having just murdered someone, straining to see if you could find any red on his clothes but failing. Maybe they’d changed clothes?

It was then that you looked down at your own clothes, dark red that had already seeped into the material and mostly dried. The same red had stained your hands even down to underneath your fingernails, shock coming over you as you studied them carefully. How?

“It was all you, YN.” You snapped your head up at Seokjin’s voice, his back leaning against the wall with his arms crossed as he looked at you with what looked like pride in his eyes.

“No, I didn’t- I wouldn’t,” You shut them down, squeezing your eyes shut as you tried to replay the events in your head clearly. You had jumped out of your chair, went for Taehyung, reached for the knife, and then-

You gasped, fresh hot tears rolling down your cheeks as it finally sunk in. The look of absolute betrayal on Nayeon’s face as she looked up at you, mouth open in pain as you twisted the knife deeper.

“I tried to stop you, noona.” Jungkook sounded small from where he stepped out behind you, his hand rubbing your back soothingly. “I thought you were gonna hurt one of us or even yourself.”

“I knew you had it in you from the first night we met.” You shook your head vehemently, not wanting to believe it. A hand grabbed your chin and tilted your head up, forcing you to face Namjoon head on. His face was blurry before you quickly blinked away your tears.

“I’m nothing like you.”

“Hmm, still so headstrong,” Namjoon chuckled to himself, a thumb coming up to wipe a stray tear on your cheek. “You think you don’t belong with us, don’t you? You’re scared that if you stay here too long, you’ll become just like us. But the truth is, YN, you already are.”

Embarrassment flooded through you at the choked whimper that came out of you as he gave you a small, understanding smile. He stepped away, taking his warm touch with him as he went searching for something in one of the cupboards. He pulled out a leather belt of all things and what looked like a mallet.

“My job is to show people what they’re capable of when they can’t see it themselves. I see the potential in you like I saw in them. I can help you see it, too,” Namjoon explains, reaching for a few supplies that you couldn’t make out. “There’s an animalistic side to you that comes out when you’re under pressure. It’s that side that seeks out the evil in the world and destroys it. Today was the first day I got to see it in action and it was better than I could have ever imagined.”

“It’ll be like before when you were living with us. Only now, you won’t ever have to leave and we won’t have any more secrets!” Jungkook exclaimed, his bright eyes so hopeful they reminded you of a young boy.

You must have looked unconvinced because Jimin quickly amended, “Come on, it won’t be so bad. We may have had some hiccups before but we’re learning to practice better roommate etiquette now. Right, guys?” You heard an awkward cough from somewhere in the room mixed with a few snickers, your brows furrowing as you tried to decipher what he meant.

“Unless of course, you liked it-”

“Taehyung.” Your eyes flitted back and forth from Hoseok’s stern glare to Yoongi’s gaze awkwardly avoiding you before it clicked, your eyes widening in embarrassment. You had nearly forgotten that little spectacle from a few weeks ago, hoping it would never happen again.

Not missing a beat, Taehyung rolled a chair next to you, plopping down in it and leaning onto the side of the bed. He reached for your other hand that Jimin wasn’t holding, bringing up to his cheek and cradling it. “We’re gonna have so much fun, YNie. You still owe me that meal, remember?”

“This next part isn’t gonna be so fun but it has to be done so we can all be stronger together in the long run,” Namjoon explained simply, giving you a small smile that looked more like a grimace. “You’ll grow to understand and eventually, you won’t want to run away anymore.”

You didn’t have time to give them any thought before Seokjin lifted the belt to your mouth and instructed, “Bite down, sweetheart.”

You numbly did as you were told, watching in confusion Namjoon made his way to the front of the bed near your feet. You weren’t sure if your body was tensing for what was to come or if it was just the drugs but you ultimately felt powerless as they all crowded around you. It felt like time was in slow-motion as he lifted the mallet over his head and swung down on your leg hard. White hot pain exploded in your ankle, a feeling so strong you thought you were going to throw up from it. Distantly, you heard screaming before you even realized it was coming from you.

There were hands rubbing your face and hair, voices trying to comfort you but it was as if you had left your body. You shut your eyes, trying to block them out and focus on anything else but the pain. If you thought this past month was rough, you hadn’t realized what true anguish was. Laying there in unimaginable pain, completely powerless and unable to move, all you could think was that this really was Hell. And you didn’t think you would ever be able to truly escape it.

“Don’t cry, baby. It’s gonna be beautiful.”

taglist: @min-mingii @micheleinumaki @potaetopic @namjinieesope @mageprincess7 @minshookie29 @outro-kook @nikipedia07 @axniyx @kittykatfey @peaceout97 @kurodach @bex-tk1 @sa7kou @purpuravm @doublebunv @amylouisecullen @rossemayme @unsureofwhathappens @sleepy-time-dreamy @anushaackerman @shyloh-the-cornsnake @toughbook @urbanbts @carpioassists @millenniumspec @maliyachan @lovely247 @croctears @uarmyhore @shadoweepingscream @inlovewithallmusic @jcrml @xmochiloverx @whipwhoops

A/N: wow i can’t believe we made it!! i'm not even sure how to leave this but i just wanted to say thank you all for sticking with me til the end. i am so grateful for all the support and every new friend i’ve made throughout writing this fic!! i hope you enjoyed this last part and pls let me know what you think :)

-hope<3

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granulesofsand · 5 months

Note

If this ask is too upsetting then you can leave it alone for a while. Bodily we are an adult. We do not want to intrude in the space of RAMCOA survivors but this has been on our mind for a few months. TWS: Sexual, physical and emotional abuse, BDSM, lots of kinks. We've been abused by two different people in our life, both were minors around our age at the time. The first one was coercive for sure but we don't think he had any sort of complex plan. He would hit and insult us in front of friends, and flashed us a few times when we were alone. Second abuser was our ex, had more access to us due to us dating. They didn't know we have DID and we didn't know at the time either. This is where we suspect possible programming happened; even though they weren't aware of our condition there was a lot of focus on control and different roles. Even before we were officially together they "introduced" us to a lot of BDSM concepts, mainly through writing smut with us. When we started dating, they started actually acting on those concepts though. Almost always they were the "dom/top" while we were the "sub/bottom". Some of us tried to fight back and were punished while others gave in entirely. Which led to us developing a lot of alters dedicated to specific sexual "tasks", so many that I believe we've just barely scratched the surface on member count. The list of stuff they made us do (aside from "traditional" lesbian sex) included breath play, pet play, impact play, and watersports. Just to maintain some privacy I won't say how long this went on for, but we were both (older) minor teens and it lasted long enough to be a clearly established pattern. The persecutors will randomly re-enact trauma, both inwardly and outwardly. Even if we try to resist at first there is NO way out of it. The reenactments will happen and we just have to weather the storm. tldr; Abusive ex used BDSM as a means on control, questioning if we were programmed or mind controlled somehow.

Thanks. -🐊

Bare-Bones Programming

Always important to say that we are not experts on your experience, and the information we provide is ultimately for your decision.

🗝️🏷️ RAMCOA, SA, programming and deprogramming

Programming has two basic requirements:

The perpetrator(s) intend to control you

By creating self-states or conditioning self-states to cues

The second situation you described sounds like it aligns pretty neatly with that. It’s not as extensive as what a group or a practiced programmer might produce, but there are bits of advice aimed towards survivors that might help you.

Members who have ‘jobs’ or ‘tasks’ or similar are a fair indication of Mind Control, and it might serve to ask who assigned them this task, even if you already have an inkling. Their responses will determine whether they feel the obligation to the perp or themselves.

What to Do

The first step towards decreasing reenactment is guidelines. Establish for every member a set of standards, most negotiable and some required. Maybe y’all agree to clean up your own messes (negotiated and with exceptions) and understand that no member engages sexually before discussion (required).

This sets a clear precedent for what is expected and what members agree to when they interact with one another and the world. Sometimes it’s a matter of not knowing, and with practice the issue is no longer. It’s not likely everything is solved like this, but better to start early.

Next is demonstrating healthy interactions. Many collectives prefer to start outside, to gain experience they don’t already have. A friend is a good goal, someone y’all trust or a few people certain members confide in.

If it’s not too big a trigger, look into consensual BDSM. Start with reading, maybe novels or SFW explanatory websites to avoid too much resemblance to trauma.

Not every collective feels secure enough with each other to do this, but consider having two members with matching preferences to try a safer encounter. One member could also practice on their own if that’s preferable, or with a predetermined safe outside person.

Experiencing more non-abusive (or less abusive, but file that away until you’ve failed with other methods) BDSM— and plain sexuality— provides more data to work off of in the future. A truly healthy scenario may take time, but even lots of breaks and slow-going is better than remaining where you are.

None of these are required, but sexual reenactment is not fun. You could always start with something like sharing (or not sharing) food or belongings to get in some basis of consent without including relationships or sex.

With that or as an alternative, work on shame and disgust. Shame is what you feel for yourself, disgust is what you feel towards another. This could look like positive affirmations, telling or writing down stories you haven’t yet, getting to know members without judgement.

I don’t remember who said it, but there’s a phrase: “Hating having others doesn’t have to mean hating the others”. Not every collective has the phobia of other members, but it is well-documented and a necessity to overcome for teamwork.

Later

There are methods of working through memories and integrating them, maybe to remove barriers between members or fuse them. It helps take steam out of flashbacks and urges, putting a memory together.

It takes trust, though, and a willingness to work with and support other members. Once you make progress with those, you can decide together how to proceed.

You can find resources on the Legion System’s TikTok LinkTree, no account required to get there on a web browser.

Some are pushy for fusion or integration, and there is a theme of brokenness. We found Safe Passage to Healing and Becoming Yourself helpful. They do have good information, but take breaks and skip what you have to.

I hope that helped, even if it was maybe one paragraph of the question you actually asked.

#ramcoa #tw ramcoa #tw cocsa #tw sa #ramcoa programming #did osdd #osddid #adaptive system

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hannahssimblr · 6 months

Text

Chapter One

2010

The rain is thunderous on midsummer’s day. It comes down in sheets, whipping against the side of the car as we crawl down a narrow, coastal road that opens out onto the Irish sea. Still, despite the weather there are parked cars snaking along on both sides of us, two wheels up on the footpath as drenched holiday makers weave around them, clinging to sunglasses and straw hats as they retreat from the beach.

It is one of those summer days that feels utterly wintry. The sky became dark suddenly, big black clouds engulfing blue, and a fierce wind whipped through the dunes, tossing sand in the faces of those who had yet to escape back to their cars and caravans. It feels apocalyptic in a comical sort of way; Mothers seizing small children out of sand and seawater motes they’ve spent the morning digging, surrendering teal striped windbreakers, beach towels and sarongs to the gail. Plastic spades and buckets abandoned and overflowing with rainwater.

I feel scammed by this. Kelly had gone on and on about how the weather in the south east was nicer than anywhere else in the country. She actually used the word “microclimate” at least twice while trying to convince Claire and I to spend our summer in her familys’ mobile home, but I’m irked as I look out the back seat window at the dire sights in this resort town. The freak storm had only started when we were mere minutes from the strand and it instantly felt like our holiday had been jinxed.

Kelly’s older brother Shane laughs uproariously as he drives his Fiat Punto through a huge puddle right by a queue of holiday makers somehow desperate enough to hold their place outside the local cafe. They cry out in indignation as a wave of rainwater sloshes over them.

Kelly, in the passenger seat, thumps him. “That’s embarrassing when you do that”

“That’s embarrassing when you do that” he mimics, in the way that an eight year old child would.

She scoffs. “A bit of self control wouldn’t go astray, the only person who thinks that’s funny is you.”

“It’s funny.” He confirms. “More embarrassing to me that people would be that desperate for a cappuccino.”

I don’t have siblings, but watching Kelly and Shane, I imagine it must be liberating to have an outlet for your frustration like that. I sometimes feel like I have an unusual amount of anger swirling inside my body. Recently, after seeing an open window on the third floor locker room at school, I asked Claire if it’s normal to fantasise shoving one of the girls who bullied me in second year out of it, and she said that it wasn’t, which honestly surprised me. I really did think that everybody had violent fantasies from time to time. The window one isn’t even really my worst one.

When I visited the Healys’ house when I was smaller I used to find the way that Kelly and Shane interacted with each other overwhelming. He’d yank on her ponytail hard if she held on to the remote control for ten seconds longer than they’d agreed, and then she’d kick him in the shins with her stiff patent school shoes on and they’d both shriek and claw at each other while I sat watching, frozen in shock on the couch behind them. Things like this never happened in my home. It was just me reading or playing quietly while my parents watched TV.

When we were eight and Shane was nine, I witnessed him accidentally elbow Kelly directly in the eye socket when she tried to grab his Playstation controller out of his hands. I don’t remember why she wanted it, but I still remember her wails. She had a black eye for three weeks, and I don’t think that Shane ever said that he was sorry. I was nervous around him for a while after that.

I feel now that a black eye or two might have done me some good in my life. Knowing Kelly today, she’s aspirational for how she never holds anger inside or bottles up her emotions like I do. When something bothers her she just says it. I wish I could be like that, but I’m cursed with shyness and a terror of taking up too much space. Kelly and I have fought so many times during our long friendship, and yet the confrontation never seems to get easier for me. I feel it like a rock in my stomach, a dizzy nausea and a thumping heart when I know she’s getting ready to confront me. I always end up taking the blame and apologising to her, then spend weeks furious at her and at myself for not speaking up. Kelly doesn’t think like that. When I say I’m fine she believes me, and when I tell her she’s right she agrees. I imagine that to live inside her head is a blissful, anxiety free paradise.

“Do you have the keys to the front door?” Kelly asks her brother as we clamber out of the Punto. The grass under the wheels is so sodden with rain that I can feel the tires sinking into it already, and as soon as my feet touch the ground, they’re swallowed by it too.

“Ah,” I hear Claire exclaim from the other side of the car. “That’s my flip flop gone now. Shane, will you bring my suitcase inside for me? I need to fish my sandal out of the muck” To my great surprise, he actually does it, and makes a big show of carrying as many bags as he can manage, making sure to check if she’s looking at him doing it. Casual. Claire is oblivious to him anyway, she’s used to boys just doing what she asks but I’m amazed that Shane is going along with it too. For as long as I’ve known him he’s been as nasty to Kelly’s friends as he is to her. All of us an extension of his little sister, and each one as annoying and stupid as the last. It feels like only last week that he sabotaged our back garden camping trip by firing stones down at us from the treehouse.

There is less history with Claire though, we’ve only been hanging out with her for about a year and a half. She’s a good person, casual, easy going, and her mother pays for her to get highlights in her hair and use makeup from the expensive department stores, so she always looks exactly the way that she wants to look – perfectly effortlessly beautiful. Everyone loves her too. She’s the genuinely kind and generous type. Finding her among a sea of hormonal teenagers in our all girls catholic school was like a miracle, there was never any drama, she never wanted to gossip or speak badly about anybody else. She’s blessed with pure content and happiness.

I lag behind as Kelly and Claire scurry into the mobile home as I try to wipe the mud from my runners. They’re laughing together and trying to shield their hair from the rain, and when I see them together like that I feel a pang of jealousy. I had been both of their friends first, and lately it feels like they’re closer to each other than they are to me. I have to take my shoes off at the door and leave them out on the deck. Maybe the rain will clean them. This summer is going to be great. I tell myself. I am going to be confident and have fun. It’s become like a mantra to me now. Perhaps if I can convince myself that nothing will go wrong on this holiday then I’ll manifest positivity.

#sims story #sims 4 story #writing #simlit #sims 4 #romance #fiction #sims #sims4 storytelling #sims 4 storytelling #sims storytelling #lucky girl part 1

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baronessblixen · 2 years

Note

prompt: A is picking up takeout from a restaurant and see B on a date, B excuses themself to say hi to sad looking A

Set in late(r) season 6, Scully is on yet another date...

Fictober Day 12 | Tagging @today-in-fic @xffictober2022 | Wc: 1,275

What We Think We Want

“And then I said – can you guess what I said, Dana?” The man sitting opposite her is looking at her with wide eyes and an expectant expression. Has he noticed that she isn’t listening anymore? For that to be true, he’d have to be self-aware and Scully very much doubts that he is. She puts on a fake smile and humors him.

“No, I can’t,” she says, trying to sound interested, her voice high and squeaky.

“This is the best story,” he says. “You’re gonna love it. So, listen, I said…” And Scully zones out. Why did she think this was a good idea? She met George while picking up dry cleaning for her mother. Now, looking back on it, she wonders if her mother had maybe planned the whole thing.

George is exactly the kind of man she’d set her up with. A devoted church-goer in his late 30s, who visits his mother once a week, volunteers in the animal shelter and is financially stable as an accountant. On paper, he sounds perfect. Across from her, he’s just plain boring. There’s nothing there. No spark. No interest whatsoever. A few times she’s had to stifle a yawn. This is her first date in… she doesn’t even remember. It must be years. Maybe there are new rules she needs to learn.

But not with George.

He waves his fork around, barely getting a bite in. Scully, who hasn’t said much since they sat down an hour ago, has finished her whole plate. As she watches him, she wonders how rude it would be to fake an emergency call. Or lie that she has to get up early tomorrow. Anything to get her out of here. With how this date is going, she’s not sure she ever wants to go on another one. Maybe next decade.

Scully rests her chin on her hand and pretends to be listening. George just laughed, so she does, too. The fake sound hurts her own ears. Her date doesn’t even notice and just keeps going. Her eyes wander about the restaurant. Most people here look happy, or at least not miserable.

How did this happen? When did she lose interest in dating? Or is it just because George is so boring? She should do a field study on it, date more men. Two dates in the last five or six years don’t exactly make her an expert. She thinks about Mulder, how she once told him that she’d like to have a life besides their work.

Now here she is, wishing he’d call and whisk her away to a crime scene or to hunt a mutant.

“That was funny, wasn’t it?” George asks her with apple-red cheeks.

“Very,” Scully lies, taking a sip from her water.

“Now tell me a funny story from your life.”

“Um,” she says, trying to come up with something. Would he think a man who can control the weather is funny? Or her delivering a baby in a storm while a sea monster was loose? Probably not. “My life isn’t very funny.”

“Too bad,” George says, touching her hand. “I’ll tell you another one of mine then.” While George goes on another monologue, Scully continues her people-watch. At first, she isn’t sure if she’s imagining it, or if it’s real. If he’s real. Over there at the counter, where they give out takeout orders, is a face she knows well.

Mulder.

She watches the man for a moment, moving her head this way and that whenever someone steps into her line of sight. The longer she looks at him, the surer she is. It’s Mulder. What gives her pause is his body language. He’s leaning against the counter, his eyes cast downward. His hands are in his pockets and he shuffles his feet.

Unlike her, he doesn’t look around. Knowing how naturally curious he is, she wonders why that is. Everything about him screams melancholy and her own body answers his silent call, needing to know why he’s here, wanting to be close to him.

“I’m sorry, George,” she says, interrupting him. She’s not really sorry, but he doesn’t need to know that. “I see a friend of mine over there,” she says, pointing to where Mulder is standing at the counter. “I’m just going to say hi, okay? Excuse me.” Before George can say anything, she’s up and walking towards Mulder. Her lips curl upwards into her first real smile today.

“Hey you,” she says when she reaches him, touching his arm. He startles, turning to her. His expression softens, but the wistfulness she caught from her table lingers.

“What are you doing here?” She asks him, trying not to sound too excited about seeing him.

“Picking up food,” he says with a shrug.

“I didn’t know you liked their food.”

“Thought I’d try something new.” Another shrug. “You’re enjoying yourself?” He asks, pressing the words through his teeth with difficulty.

“To be honest,” Scully says, making sure George doesn’t suddenly appear behind her. “I haven’t been this bored since our last budget meeting.”

“Oh, that was so boring,” he says, now grinning at her. “Why did you go on a date with him in the first place?”

“Is that why you’re here? You could have asked me that at work.”

“I’m here to pick up my takeout order,” he says, and she raises an eyebrow. “I swear I am.”

“I hate to ask, but…”

“You can ask me anything, Scully,” Mulder assures her with a soft voice.

“I-,” she starts but is cut off by someone slapping down a brown paper bag on the counter.

“Order for Mudder!” He says, disappearing to the back of the restaurant.

“That’s me,” Mulder says, peeking into the bag. “Looks good. See? My order.”

“Hm, yeah, I see.” What she sees is that Mulder has never been to this restaurant. Unless he’s frequenting places without her. Considering how often they’re on the road, she can’t imagine it. This means that the reason he’s here is that he knew she would be here, too. With George.

“Want to go back to your date? He looks- well, he does look boring.”

“Mulder, I don’t want to go back to that table. I never should have said yes to this date.”

“Why did you?” His voice is soft, downright hurt.

“I thought- I don’t know what I was thinking. I don’t know if you know this, Mulder, but I haven’t been on a date in a while.”

He nods, saying, “I know you want a life away from the madness that is our work.”

“I love that madness,” she admits, looking at him. He’s staring back at her, seemingly thinking about something. “Mulder… take me with you.”

“What?” He laughs.

“Take me with you,” she repeats. “I can’t go back there.” Ditching George means she will have to find a new dry cleaner, too. But it’s worth it.

“Are you sure?” Mulder asks her. “You won’t regret it?” There’s an implication in his question she’s not ready to pick up on. Not here, while the whiff of George lingers in the air.

“Yes, I’m sure. No regrets, Mulder.” What she would regret is staying here and letting Mulder go. Her partner who doesn’t bore her, who asks her opinions, and who knows her better than she probably knows herself.

Another thought dawns on her as she glances up at Mulder. What was it that she said in Kroner about flicked switches? She doesn’t get to dwell on it, because in the next moment Mulder grabs his takeout, her hand, and then they run outside like a couple of teenagers, laughing.

#fictober2022 #can you believe i answered a prompt from 2018 #that baby is 4 years old #msr #xf fanfic #my writing #my fic

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rachetmath · 1 year

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Jaune needs to be in the ponder storm again. Okay, hear me out. Ruby left and she left her teammates alone. Jaune is now the only one who can lead. However his mind not being in the right place, and he is unfit for the leadership role. Going to the ponder storm and facing its trails will help him get back on track.

The ponder storm as Jaune put it is a weather pattern that creates a version of a mental or emotional problem. And order to get through it you can either wait it out or solve an issue. And for Jaune’s case, he mostly waits them out or avoids them entirely. But now with Ruby going rogue, and the rest of team RWBY and Jaune wanting to find her as quickly as possible, he must face his problems. But what will his trial be like? Well, we have to understand Jaune and the problem he’s facing.

I love Jaune but let us be clear, Jaune can sometimes be hypocritical. He’s quick to judge others despite him possibly committing the same action to the same or worse degree. This is due to what he said, “Afterlians are too clever, too stupid or too crazy to trust.”. So, for his first trial, he sits in office. Not just anyone's office but James’s office. I said before Jaune has plenty of reason not to tell James anything. However, Jaune still committed the same act he go mad at Ozpin for. So imagine Jaune tries to talk with James only for Iron Man to expose him and hit him with the facts. Forcing Jaune to think about what he’s done and maybe possibly help him see what a hero is.

The next thing about Jaune is he’s a bit controlling. This isn’t just with Ever After but a few times with well with everything. When things don’t always go as planned Jaune tries to take control but it never goes well. The next person I believe he should face is Penny. Penny always has been controlled, whether it be in or against her will, by James, her father, or Ruby. Jaune in some way allowed Penny to have the freedom to choose and supported her all the way. So the second trial recreates the platform he and the others were so standing on when evacuating the citizens, only to have to fight Penny with the maiden powers ready to fight. Two choices are present to him in the fight. Life or death. Penny can’t fall so destroying her(basically stabbing her) becomes his only option. This teaches Jaune that he can’t control everything or everyone. Only what he does next.

The final battle is mostly Jaune coming to terms with himself. Jaune fights his past self. But instead of getting rid of it, he embraces it. He shows no resistance as holds the past close but leaves it behind and learns from it. Jaune finally reconnects with himself.

After everything Jaune has gone through the ponder storm hasn’t passed yet. And Jaune is transported one more time. There he sees the iron woman. However, unlike Ruby, she welcomes Jaune back to her shop. She hands him an exact copy of his sword but he refuses. Instead of being sad or insulted she becomes happy as she saw he learned what was needed. She then gives him another sword. One she believes suits him better. Afterward, the storm passes. Jaune at long last regains his strength and can lead once more.

The point of the ponder storm is simple. The ponder storm forces you into a situation you hope never to be in. It makes you confront your biggest fears otherwise storm will never pass. The reason Jaune needs to face all these problems is not just to become a better leader but mainly to help Ruby. Ruby is tired. She always had to carry everyone and make plans. Now, it’s Jaune's turn whether he may like it or not.

#rwby #Jaune Arc #ruby rose #penny polendina #james ironwood #rwby ozpin #rwby volume 9 theory #rwby iron maiden #weiss schnee #Blake Belladonna #yang xiao long

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deusexmachinawitch · 8 months

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This is the post post for days 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20. I was going to do 21 days of subliminals but because I’ve been sick and people have been asking me to extend this to a month or even 3 months, I might give a try on at least covering a whole month then I’ll see if I’ll extend it even more.

I’ve been mostly sick since there was a heatwave in my city and next week there’s going to be a severe weather change of cold and strong rain and storms. I’m chronically ill and while my health isn’t usually an issue, severe weather changes affect it. My defenses are really low and when someone arounds me carries something even as dumb as a cold, I get sick immediately. I feel much better but it has been hard juggling illness and work deadlines.

That being said, things haven’t been that bad. People close to me has brought me food and even my cousin came to take care of me and even did housework for me so I could rest. While this may sound like the most normal thing to anyone, in my case, this wouldn’t have been the case for me a year ago and even months ago. In my wildest dreams, I would have never imagined myself being this cared and treasured by so many people except for my SP. And when SP wasn’t around, I would be alone and miserable at bed whenever I was sick and that was very frequent.

With the discovery of the law, improving my self concept and the helpful subliminals… I don’t get as sick as often and when I do, I’m pretty much cared by others.

During this time, also people whom I thought cared about me showed their true colors and I decided to just think about myself. I was hurt on purpose and then gaslit, so I just wasn’t going to put up with that anymore. Especially because the same people have been gaslighting me for several months and disregarding my feelings towards matters that were really important to me. I decided to openly open up about this to a close circle of friends of mine and while people got really protective towards me, I told them that I could stand up for myself but I was really grateful that people finally understood my feelings and point of view when it came to things important to me such as my career path and my feelings towards SP.

While this isn’t a “cool manifestation” such as my phone and computer to possibly many people, this is a very valuable thing to me since my feelings tended to be dismissed a lot and there were a lot of people accepting me wanting SP for example but were really against him. But they finally understood that I’m aware of SP’s actions, I am not justifying the bad behavior and I can still love him while acknowledging that. Fear is one of the most scary feelings someone can have and it makes you do things that hurt you and others, he is now facing his demons and I know he’ll be back. But waiting doesn’t mean my life stops and that I’ll put up with hurtful behavior from him again if he cannot control his negative feelings. I’m in love but not pathetic.

Plus, what people doesn’t know is that I’m manifesting the best version of him. People currently think I’m lucky or that I do witchcraft and it works, it’s difficult for everyone to understand the law because of the fear of cults, the toxic positivity and wellness industry and that a lot of people are quite young in the community so they think it might be a fad. It doesn’t help that subliminals hav become famous due to the wrong reasons.

Still, it was shocking for people to hear my have an outburst and being strongly serious because I’m either too carefree or too controlled when it came to my feelings. But now, I know who’s a true friend and who’s not besides seeing who came to visit me when sick and whatnot. I don’t count the people who’re too busy with their own stuff though, I’m not that selfish.

As for my career path, somehow as soon as I voiced what I wanted to do, I am coming across tools and things that make my desires for my career path be either more easy or possible. So that’s another point for LoAss there lol.

About material things, I got many things for my new computer for free and it feels amazing. I have a new keyboard, small things to raise my screens, etc…

Still, one of the best things I’ve done with LoAss was to ask this to the law:

-I know what I feel about my SP, I’m totally sure about him. Still, I know that maybe I haven’t been as specific when it came to many things about what I want in this relationship to visualize this better. Because of my old story with parental abuse and even abuse by partners, it’s difficult to define what I would like because in the past I felt I wasn’t even given options. So, law, as a God… Show me what lies in my heart and how good in can get, turn SP into what I really want and need once you help me see better.

As soon as I did this, I came across romantic material and such that resonated with me. Also LoAss content that actually resonated with me and now I feel much calm and better. I really can feel I really shouldn’t worry. He really is with me because I’m the best.

I see the signs more intense than ever too… So I’m ready.

Still LOL how the hell am I going to explain many of the things in my life to him when we are together? I guess I’ll shroud myself in mystery, poor him.

#law of assumption #loa tumblr #loablr #manifestation #loa blog #affirm and persist #loassumption #loassblog #loa success #subliminals

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bubbleonice · 6 months

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Samhain special:

Choose a number between 1-5 and read your card below for a message from your ancestor.

Choose a number between 6-10 and read cards below for a message from your destined soulmate.

1: King of swords reversed:

You may feel that others are not treating you fairly and that you are being taken for granted. You may be trying to overturn an unfair policy in work or in the family and feel that you are banging your head against a brick wall. You may feel that you cannot express yourself effectively or that no one will listen. You may need to scream louder. Maybe you are not asking the right questions or talking to the relative people.

Lay down your arms and open your heart. Speak the truth but leave the brutal part out of it. The King of Swords reversed can warn of corruption or abuse of power. In this case, you may want to watch other people's actions…or your own.

2: The chariot reversed: When The Chariot reverses forward momentum ceases and the wheels no longer turn. This may indicate that for the moment life and progress seems to have slowed down or stopped altogether. You may feel that you will never advance in your career or that your relationship is stuck in a rut. You may be riding for a fall.

it means that fear of making the wrong decision can rob you of feeling like your life and destiny are in your control. This card will often accompany a feeling that life is pulling you in two opposite directions. Fear of committing to a choice can lead to a sense of being stuck. Be courageous.

3: 10 of wands: The Ten of Wands often appears when you are entering the final stages of a project, task or job. The end is in sight but you are now entering the agonising home stretch when energy levels are down and enthusiasm for the project has been beaten out of you. Instead of the workload lightening, it has become heavier. There are so many things that need to be sorted and arranged, especially those boring parts you would rather suck razor blades than do. These tasks are usually ones you just have to do yourself, because involving others at this stage would create further delays as you would have to spend time instructing them on what you need done, how, where and when. Close to burnout, you may be suffering from information overload now and are not able to think straight.

Self-Care is essential at this stage for you are spreading yourself too thin and are quite frazzled by it all. Outwardly you may be keeping up a pretence of being strong and enthusiastic but inside you could feel beaten and exhausted. You certainly cannot keep going on in this manner.

4: 9 of pentacles: The Nine of Pentacles Tarot Card symbolizes self-reliance, financial stability, luxury, and personal accomplishment. It signifies enjoying the fruits of one’s labor and independence in different aspects of life.

Regardless of what the present looks like, the desires of your heart are not out of your reach. All of your aspirations are right around the corner.

5: 10 of swords: When the Ten of Swords appears in a reading, it is not a great omen. Number ten of this suit represents being backstabbed, hitting rock bottom, and experiencing failure and betrayal. The situation that is impending will only be temporary and you have the strength you need to be able to weather the storm. It may be difficult, but it won’t be impossible, and you will get through it!

——————————————————————————————

6: EGO: I let my Pride get in the way of our connection.

Shadow side: You made me realize my flaws

I’m too afraid to talk to you.

7: Habits: I don’t know if I will ever change

Commitment: I want you to be a part of my future

Now is not the time.

8: Daydreaming: I am always longing for you

New Chapter: I am trying to move on

Wait!

9: Missed Opportunity: I didn’t act when I should have

Third Party: There were others that got in the way of us being together

I worry about us a lot.

10: Unfinished buisness: we still have things to resolve and discuss.

Unsatisfied: I wasn’t happy the way things were going

Be more selfish!

Hope you enjoy❤️🙏🏻

#samhain tarot #samhain

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cookie-run-kingdom-story · 2 years

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Legend of the Duskgloom Sea

Desperate Chief Mate: Just look at this gorgeous weather! Desperate Chief Mate: The sun’s out, the breeze is salty, and the waters are blue as ever! Just top it off with a lil’ treasure chest floatin’ on the waves: what could be more perfect?! WA HA! Frightened Sailor: C-c-chief!!! Desperate Chief Mate: Hm? What’s the matter? Is the pesky navy on our tail or somethin’? Frightened Sailor: N-no… It’s something much worse! Panicking Sailor: Look at this! The compass has gone completely haywire! Frightened Sailor: You see… We went off course a bit, so I’ve been trying to figure out where we are… Frightened Sailor: But the ship is out of control! I can’t get it to turn! Desperate Chief Mate: What?! W-where are we headin’ to?!

Desperate Chief Mate: Wait, what’s this fog all of a sudden?! ???: *sob… sob sob…* Frightened Sailor: Did you hear that…? Panicking Sailor: WE’RE DOOMED! FISH ARE GONNA FEAST ON OUR CRUMBS! Frightened Sailor: Huh?! Wait, what’s going on? Why are we doomed? Panicking Sailor: Haven’t you heard the story of the Black Pearl Islands?! Panicking Sailor: If ever your ship goes out of control, and from the fog echoes a weeping soul… Panicking Sailor: Your lives are forfeit and surrender, for your crew will never again see dry harbor. ???: *sob… sniffle… sob sob…* Thunder: *RUMBLE* Desperate Chief Mate: Argh, there’s a whirlpool up ahead! DO SOMETHING!!! ???: *sob…* Heh… he he… Frightened Sailor: But the helm is stuck! W-we have to escape! Abandon ship! To the lifeboats! Panicking Sailor: It’s no use… These waters are cursed…! We’re not gonna make it! Desperate Chief Mate: So it’s true….! The tale of the Black Pearl Islands…! Desperate Chief Mate: The legend of the Duskgloom Sea was true…! Frightened Sailor: SAVE OUR SOULS! AHHHH!!! ???: He he… HEH! HA HA HA!

Menacing Skies: *CRASH!!!!!!!!!!!!*

Rookie Cookie: Ahoy there! All aboard the Salty Shark! Republic Sailor Cookie 1: Why you sneaky biscuit… When did ya get on board? Ya need to eat a few years’ worth of Jellies before anyone’ll call you a real sailor! Rookie Cookie: But I’m all grown up now! Ahoy, ahoy! Let’s set sail for the Tropical Soda Islands! Republic Sailor Cookie 1: Sigh. Fresh Cookies… Ya can’t set sail in this weather! Not even airships can navigate in these winds! Republic Sailor Cookie 2: Unless you’re Captain Caviar Cookie. Rookie Cookie: Captain Caviar Cookie?! Why? How come? What did he do? Captain Caviar Cookie: What’re ya all up to? Republic Sailor Cookie 2: Captain! It’s nothing, sir… Rookie Cookie: Captain Caviar Cookie! Have you really set sail in a storm like this? Captain Caviar Cookie: Hmm? Won’t say that I haven’t! In fact… Captain Caviar Cookie: Ever hear the Legend of Duskgloom Sea? Republic Sailor Cookie 2: Ah, yes. Here we go again… Rookie Cookie: The Legend of the Duskgloom Sea?! What’s that?! Captain Caviar Cookie: A fitting story for this dreadful weather. Captain Caviar Cookie: It all started just after I won the Republic’s martial arts tournament…

Long ago, there was only one Cookie of the Sea in the Republic’s Convocation of Elders…

Oyster Cookie: Congratulations on your victory, Captain Caviar Cookie. I must say, I was very much impressed. Oyster Cookie: The face that the Elders made when a Cookie of the Sea prevailed over their pompous, self-righteous Paladins… Ha! I don’t think I’ve been this pleased in years. Captain Caviar Cookie: Serves’em right! That’s what you get for looking down on us, seawater Cookies! Captain Caviar Cookie: Glad to finally meet ya. Oyster Cookie, right? Every Cookie with a pinch of sea salt in their dough knows ya! Captain Caviar Cookie: But ya’ve caught me at an inconvenient time! Let’s talk pleasantries another day, yeah? Oyster Cookie: I take it that your mind is preoccupied with the ships that went missing in the Black Pearl Islands near the Silent Ocean? Captain Caviar Cookie: Well, yeah. Any Cookie that has ever set foot on a ship would be. Oyster Cookie: Ha ha. Yes, yes. Which is exactly why I’m here, Captain. Oyster Cookie: It would not be an exaggeration to say that House Oyster’s future depends on these waters. We cannot afford any… problems in that region.

Captain Caviar Cookie: So… ya want ME to solve YOUR problem? Just when every eye in the Republic is awaitin’ my next move? I’m pretty busy, ya know! Oyster Cookie: Tsk tsk tsk, all those jealous stares…! With your newly acquired fame, those expecting your imminent demise are already forming a line. But you must have it all figured out. Oyster Cookie: How long do you think you will be able to protect your crew as JUST a captain? Captain Caviar Cookie: …Ya do have a fair point. Captain Caviar Cookie: Are fancy, pompous words all ya got? Or do ya actually have a real, workin’ plan? Captain Caviar Cookie: Ha, no matter. Let’s hear what ya’ve got! It is from the illustrious Oyster Cookie, after all. Oyster Cookie: Ha! Such bravado! Yes… I was right to approach you with this task. Oyster Cookie: I don’t need you to solve whatever “problem” troubles those restless waters, nor do I expect you to. Oyster Cookie: All I need to know is… What is happening and Why. Oyster Cookie: I require only definite and valuable information. Nothing less, nothing more. Captain Caviar Cookie: First was winning the tournament, then investigating the Black Pearl Islands? What a weird turn of events! Oyster Cookie: I wish you a safe return, Captain. After all, your success is also a part of my grand scheme of things. Captain Caviar Cookie: Appreciate the concern, but I won’t be needin’ it. Captain Caviar Cookie: After all, yer lookin’ at Captain Caviar Cookie here! Captain Caviar Cookie: And this captain never disappoints!

Captain Caviar Cookie: Alright mates! Everyone up to speed? Are we all good to set sail? Captain Caviar Cookie: Aye, aye, Captain! We even have the escape pod all readied up as well! Republic Sailor Cookie 1: Coward! Thinking of bailing out when we haven’t even set sail? Republic Sailor Cookie 2: Better a coward than fish bait! Salty Shark Crew: AHA HA HA HA! Captain Caviar Cookie: Wa ha ha! Good! I see y’all are ready for departure! Captain Caviar Cookie: Don’t you ever forget: never trust the sea! These waters are fickle as a feather- always be prepared for anything! Captain Caviar Cookie: Now, let’s set sail! Salty Shark Crew: Aye! Republic Sailor Cookie 2: A sailor’s heart is always with their boat, and it’s been too long since we’ve had a proper ride! Let’s GO! Salty Shark Crew: Yeah!!

A few moments later…

Thunder: *Rumble… ROOOOOAR* Captain Caviar Cookie: Ugh… where did this storm come from?! It was sunny just a moment ago! Captain Caviar Cookie: Strike sail! Before the boat overturns! Republic Sailor Cookie 2: Cap, are you sure we’re heading the right direction? This… doesn’t seem right! Startled Salty Shark Sailor: The current here is only flowing one way… and it’s sucking us in! Nervous Salty Shark Sailor: We’re DEFINITELY gonna be fish food at this rate! Rumbling Noises: *Thud* Republic Sailor Cookie 2: Ahh! …That’s IF the local fish like chowing down on the soggy mush we’re about to become! Nervous Salty Shark Sailor: Cap, the winds are just too strong! We’re not gonna make it into Duskgloom Sea! Republic Sailor Cookie 1: Giant wave incoming! Brace yourselves! Rumbling Noises: *CRASH* Startled Salty Shark Sailor: Ahhh! We’re gonna fall…! Captain Caviar Cookie: Is it the storm that’s causin’ ships to disappear?! Hmm… My guts tellin’ me this can’t be natural… Captain Caviar Cookie: Tsk… We turn back! FULL SPEED ASTERN!

Republic Sailor Cookie 1: We barely left the area but the waters are much calmer here… Republic Sailor Cookie 2: It was as if that place was cursed… Startled Salty Shark Sailor: Phew… I really thought we were done for! Nervous Salty Shark Sailor: I’ve never seen a storm that massive! Republic Sailor Cookie 1: So… do we head back now? Republic Sailor Cookie 2: But we’re the Salty Sharks! The Salty Sharks never back down! Startled Salty Shark Sailor: T-that’s right! The storm just caught us off guard, that’s all! Y’know, it being the first time and all…! We’ll get the hang of it next time, you’ll see! Nervous Salty Shark Sailor: Y-yeah! In fact, let’s get back right now! Captain Caviar Cookie: PIPE DOWN, all of ya! Captain Caviar Cookie: What did I tell ya when y’all stepped aboard? Republic Sailor Cookie 2: Behave? Republic Sailor Cookie 1: We’re soldiers, not pirates? Nervous Salty Shark Sailor: I didn’t hear anything! Captain Caviar Cookie: …It was that ya can never be ready to face the sea.

Captain Caviar Cookie: I’ve been thinkin’... It looks like a one-Cookie job. And I’m gonna take care of this myself. Republic Sailor Cookie 1: Cap, so you’re just gonna go alone? Like it’s a martial arts tournament stand-off?! Captain Caviar Cookie: It was my job to begin with. I brought y’all along because I thought it would be a walk in the park. Republic Sailor Cookie 1: No disrespect, Cap, but are you hearing yourself?! Republic Sailor Cookie 2: Captain, captain, captain… Worrying and overprotective, as always. There’s no need to be too dramatic, is there? Captain Caviar Cookie: Oh yeah? Feel free to call a mutiny and fight me over it. Republic Sailor Cookie 2: Nope, I’m good. Captain Caviar Cookie: I’ll be fine. I’m gonna take the submarine this time. Republic Sailor Cookie 2: Yessir! No one can stop Captain Caviar Cookie once he sets his mind on something. Republic Sailor Cookie 2: We’ll take good care of the ship and keep her safe!

Captain Caviar Cookie: Hmm, I think I may have gone a bit too deep… Submarine Panel: *BEEP… bzz… beep?* Captain Caviar Cookie: Gah, this piece of junk! Did those sardines forget to check up on the sonar? Captain Caviar Cookie: Ugh. Guess I’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way… Can’t afford no nasty collisions now. Shadow Behind the Porthole: …Hmm. Captain Caviar Cookie: Was that… a Cookie? Captain Caviar Cookie: Wait… It can’t be! That’s a ship!!! ???: ⠂⠂⠂⠂⠂- -? Captain Caviar Cookie: Am I okay? Do I LOOK okay?! Hold on, I gotta reply… Captain Caviar Cookie: Argh, it’s too close! I’m gonna crash! Submarine Collision: *thud*

Captain Caviar Cookie: Pickled mackerel! I just had to say it, didn’t I… Captain Caviar Cookie: Hah! Those goobers will laugh their icing off when they hear their captain plummeted right into the ocean’s bottom! Submarine Panel: *Beep. Whirrrr… Beep!* Captain Caviar Cookie: Hmm. This doesn’t look too bad. Just a tiny scratch! Hah! Captain Caviar Cookie: It just needs a little fixin’ here… Ugh, I need a hand! Where are those lollygaggers when you need ‘em?

Sound from the Depths: ⚫⚫⚫!!! ◀⭗◯??? Captain Caviar Cookie: Huh…?! Ya’re that Cookie I saw! Yeah, yeah. Sorry about that…! Ya see, my sonar went off! Deep Sea Diver?: ◀⭗◯???!! Captain Caviar Cookie: Ya tryin’ to tell me somethin’? Deep Sea Diver?: ◀◀◀!! Captain Caviar Cookie: What? Ya want me to come closer? Captain Caviar Cookie: Sorry, no can do! As ya can see… this vessel needs some repairin’! Deep Sea Diver?: ⭗◯!! Captain Caviar Cookie: Hey, knock it off! …Oh! Are ya askin’ to open the airlock?! Captain Caviar Cookie: Hmm.. Aight! Get onboard and lend me a hand! Captain Caviar Cookie: Gimme a sec, will ya? It takes a while to open the hatch…

Captain Caviar Cookie: Yeah! Grab that handle over there! Candy Diver Cookie: ◇⭗◇~! Captain Caviar Cookie: Hold on to that, will ya? Don’t ya dare lose your grip! Submarine Panel: *Beep. Click. Click.* *WHIRRR….* Captain Caviar Cookie: That’s more like it! Remarkable how just one Cookie can make a difference! Captain Caviar Cookie: She’s ready! Now if I just wiggle my way out… Like this…!

Captain Caviar Cookie: And we’re back! HA HA! Thanks for the help, friend! Captain Caviar Cookie: Eh… Did you need something or what? Abyssal Echoes: OoooooO… Candy Diver Cookie: !!! Candy Diver Cookie: ⭗▲◯፠…! Captain Caviar Cookie: What? What’s wrong? Candy Diver Cookie: ◯⭗▷…!

Captain Caviar Cookie: What are you pointing at? There’s nothing th-

Captain Caviar Cookie: …There. Candy Diver Cookie: ፠⚫፠…! Captain Caviar Cookie: Th-that thing just now…!

Rookie Cookie: I-I… *HIC!* Republic Sailor Cookie 2: You know… I’ve heard this story far too many times. But watchin’ the kid react is kinda funny! Rookie Cookie: A… a gigantic monster…! Is it the dark sea monster that devours Coins? Rookie Cookie: I… I don’t think I like the Duskgloom Sea…! It sounds like the scariest creatures live there! Captain Caviar Cookie: Heh! Ya’re not entirely wrong, kiddo! Republic Sailor Cookie 2: The sea is said to be the most treacherous area in the entire Black Pearl Islands. Republic Sailor Cookie 2: Sea Cookies don’t even joke about sailing there! Republic Sailor Cookie 1: Pfft! That’s only cuz every story about the Duskgloom Sea comes from the captain himself! I’m telling ya, it can’t ALL be true. Surely he’s bluffing… or at least exaggerating! Republic Sailor Cookie 2: He’s still incredible regardless! Captain Caviar Cookie: OI! Ain’t nothin but complete and total honesty in my dough!

Captain Caviar Cookie: Anyways, we got lucky the thing didn’t spot us. If I was a second late in turning them lights off… I don’t even know what woulda happened… Captain Caviar Cookie: Though… I still wonder if we really were… unnoticed.

Captain Caviar Cookie: …So, ya sayin’ that… thing causes torrents? By swimmin’ past, just like that? Candy Diver Cookie: ◯⭗⚫…! Captain Caviar Cookie: Interestin’... a sea creature so massive that it creates currents at every move? Captain Caviar Cookie: Sounds like I found exactly what I was lookin’ for! Candy Diver Cookie: △◯⭗? Captain Caviar Cookie: Whassat? Is that worryin’ I hear, Candy Diver Cookie? Captain Caviar Cookie: HA HA! A hardened Cookie like you, been bravin’ the deep dark sea in order to wait for a friend… and THIS is what gets you worried? Captain Caviar Cookie: Well… Guess ya got a point. Can’t say I’m all thrilled to meet that thing again. Captain Caviar Cookie: But a captain never shirks off their duty! I didn’t come all the way here to just give up! Candy Diver Cookie: …!

Candy Diver Cookie’s Friend: I didn’t come all the way here to give up! C’mon! We got this! Believe in yourself! Candy Diver Cookie: …

Captain Caviar Cookie: Alrighty. I’ll be on my way then. Perhaps I’ll be seein’ you around! Captain Caviar Cookie: Ya said the creature went that way, eh? Thanks for all the help! Candy Diver Cookie: ⚫፠⚫፠!! Captain Caviar Cookie: Hmm? What? Got somethin’ left to say? Candy Diver Cookie: ⚫◯⚫!! Captain Caviar Cookie: Ya wanna tag along? Candy Diver Cookie: ◯▲….! Captain Caviar Cookie: Ya realize it’s gonna be dangerous, right? There ain’t gonna be another chance to turn back! Captain Caviar Cookie: Still wanna come with me? Candy Diver Cookie: ⚫◯…!! Captain Caviar Cookie: Very well. Just wanted to make sure ya know what ya signin’ up for! Ha ha! Captain Caviar Cookie: Alright! We’re a team now! Captain Caviar Cookie: From now on, you and me are each others’ lifelines, got it? Candy Diver Cookie: ⚫◯⚫!!

Captain Caviar Cookie: …So began our search for the creature’s nest. Rookie Cookie: WOW…! Captain Caviar Cookie: But the path was arduous, with danger lurking in every corner. Captain Caviar Cookie: Ya could hear the very crust of Earthbread rumbling and churning deep below the dark abyss… Captain Caviar Cookie: Underwater volcanoes erupted with hissin’ steam and sulfur startling passerby sea creatures… Captain Caviar Cookie: And when I looked up ahead, I saw monsters like I’ve never seen before… They were so close, I could count how many teeth they had! Only the teeth were countless! Hah! Captain Caviar Cookie: There was a serpent-like monster that coiled around the sub, and…!

Republic Sailor Cookie 2: AHEM! Captain, don’t you think you’re taking it TOO far? Republic Sailor Cookie 1: Yeah! I’m pretty sure it wasn’t THIS bad when we heard it last time! Captain Caviar Cookie: Tsk! Maybe I left out a few details ‘cuz you weren’t a great audience! Quit interruptin'! Shoosh! Rookie Cookie: SOOOO?! Did you meet that humongous creature from before?! Captain Caviar Cookie: Where was I… AH! Keep listening, mate! Captain Caviar Cookie: We kept movin’ forward, leaving the sea’s wailin cries behind. Captain Caviar Cookie: Toward the graveyard of ships… full of wreckage that once carried Cookies and their treasures across the world.

Abyssal Echoes: Ooooo… Captain Caviar Cookie: Ya said the thing lives in the middle of the graveyard, right? Captain Caviar Cookie: Should be around… here! Let’s see… Candy Diver Cookie: ⚫⬜⭗⭗…! Captain Caviar Cookie: Looks like the only way the sub can travel is through these canyons… Captain Caviar Cookie: Guess we don’t have much options. Abyssal Echoes: OOOooooooO… Captain Caviar Cookie: Tsk. That sound! It sounds like the sea itself is weepin’. Gives me the creeps! Captain Caviar Cookie: What’s exactly at the bottom of all this? I’m gonna find out!

Captain Caviar Cookie: That’s as far as the submarine can go. Ready to go for a little swim? Candy Diver Cookie: ◯◯◯▷!! Captain Caviar Cookie: Ya wait here. I want someone to guard the submarine. Captain Caviar Cookie: I’ll check it out and be right back.

Captain Caviar Cookie: All I see is wreckage and debris… Captain Caviar Cookie: If it weren’t for all this junk, this would’ve been quite the plaza. Or I guess, a graveyard. Candy Diver Cookie: ◇◆?? Captain Caviar Cookie: Clear! Nothin’ suspicious going on here. Looks like comms work well! Captain Caviar Cookie: Wait a second, I recognize that ship! Hmm… This place holds ships from all over Earthbread! Captain Caviar Cookie: Sooo… that thing is behind all the disappearances! HA! But not me! Thought you had me too, eh?! Captain Caviar Cookie: Hmm… But why? Are ya protecting something or what? Candy Diver Cookie: ◯▷⭗⭗… Captain Caviar Cookie: Hmm? What’s that on top of that pile? Captain Caviar Cookie: It’s too far to see clear… Is that… a figurehead? It looks familiar, too! Captain Caviar Cookie: Yeah! It sorta resembles the ships of House Oyster! Not the same, but very similar! Captain Caviar Cookie: Yes… these designs… They’re from an earlier era. Captain Caviar Cookie: But these are almost in perfect condition! What’s this all mean? Changing Currents: *crashing sounds* ???: Finished sightseeing? Candy Diver Cookie: ◯▲⭗፠!!! Captain Caviar Cookie: Argh, this torrent… It’s ruthless! Is the creature back?! Captain Caviar Cookie: Just how massive is this thing…?! All the currents just changed in a blink of an eye!

Black Pearl Cookie: …He he he. Black Pearl Cookie: …Huh? Black Pearl Cookie: Disappointed, are we? Were you expecting something more… terrifying? More ruthless, perhaps? Black Pearl Cookie: Look at you… a puny, pathetic Cookie! HA HA! Not only that, but you’re also foolish enough to seek me out?

Black Pearl Cookie: You have not the slightest clue what you’re getting your sweet dough into… do you? Black Pearl Cookie: To be frank, you’re the first one to come here ever since that silly, naïve child who wanted to become a Cookie. Black Pearl Cookie: I can’t tell if I’m amused or annoyed… It’s been too long since I’ve had guests. Candy Diver Cookie: ◯⭗⚫፠!! Captain Caviar Cookie: Too long? How do ya explain all these sunken ships? Black Pearl Cookie: Well, I wouldn’t exactly call wreckage… “guests!” He he! Captain Caviar Cookie: So… No survivors… sigh. Black Pearl Cookie: Well, it’s not my fault your kind is so frail! Ships, Cookies… no matter. Everything crumbles away underwater, Black Pearl Cookie: See? This vessel here was as large as a soda whale… Black Pearl Cookie: And that ship over there? It belonged to an infamous pirate. Black Pearl Cookie: That one was once part of a renowned merchant’s trade armada in the Silent Ocean. Black Pearl Cookie: But what does it matter? You can be all that on land, but it means nothing in these waters. For there is nothing more powerful than I in the depths. Candy Diver Cookie: ◯⬛⬜⚫… Black Pearl Cookie: Yes, in fact, I almost had your ship as well. Black Pearl Cookie: Almost… Was the wave I sent you not welcoming and strong enough? Captain Caviar Cookie: Nope! Ya lookin’ at Captain Caviar Cookie here, bravest of the seawater Cookies. Bring your absolute worst! Black Pearl Cookie: Ha… HA HA HA HA! Black Pearl Cookie: Oh, you can’t possibly be serious! Look at you, all by yourself, abandoned by your laughable crew! HA HA HA! Captain Caviar Cookie: What are you spouting about? Black Pearl Cookie: Ha… I have eyes all over the Duskgloom Sea. Black Pearl Cookie: You tried to enter these waters with your crew, did you not? Black Pearl Cookie: But look! You’re alone, all alone. No one with you. Lonesome. All by yourself. Black Pearl Cookie: Oh, I just can’t take it anymore! I’m DYING of laughter. How tragic is this? No one will ever know that your fate ends here in soggy crumbs. Captain Caviar Cookie: Blimey. I don’t even know where to start… Not only are ya messed up, but also completely missin’ the point! Black Pearl Cookie: Hmm? Are you saying that I have more guests? Black Pearl Cookie: How odd… I didn’t see any other Cookies… Black Pearl Cookie: OH! Ha ha! You WANT me to figure it all out on my own, don’t you? But I know a better way…! Too much creative liberty?

Captain Caviar Cookie: W-what are ya doing?! Put me down this instant! Black Pearl Cookie: So there IS something! Candy Diver Cookie: △፠▲፠!! Black Pearl Cookie: Lookie, lookie here…! Ooh! What’s thiiis, hm? Captain Caviar Cookie: That’s my friend yer talkin’ about! I wouldn’t have arrived here in one piece if it weren’t for Candy Diver Cookie! Captain Caviar Cookie: Ya lay a FINGER on them, and ya’ll be VERY SORRY! Black Pearl Cookie: Friend? Black Pearl Cookie: Cookies. Don’t they ever learn? Trusting each other to watch their backs… Black Pearl Cookie: Only to be betrayed at the very last minute. Captain Caviar Cookie: Huh? Why so sour? Did someone leave you on a bad note or something? Black Pearl Cookie: …Yes, please do keep blabbering on. Black Pearl Cookie: Clearly you want to witness your “friend” get crushed into submarine scraps. Captain Caviar Cookie: Correct me if I’m wrong, but I can’t help but notice somethin’ weird. Ya see, there’s all this junk and wreckage… And then… there’s that ship. Captain Caviar Cookie: That one over there, neatly placed on top of that pile. And good as new… almost! It’s as if someone treasured it pretty dearly! Captain Caviar Cookie: Perhaps… it’s because that ship reminds ya of an old memory? Or… because ya’re still waiting for its owner? Candy Diver Cookie: ⬛⬜⚫…

Black Pearl Cookie: Memories? WAITING?! Candy Diver Cookie: …! Black Pearl Cookie: For some insignificant COOKIE?! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?! Black Pearl Cookie: To even SUGGEST that I still care about some liar who broke a promise! Black Pearl Cookie: NO… Why should I feel this pain? This REMORSE?! How dare you…! Black Pearl Cookie: …No. I changed my mind. Black Pearl Cookie: I shouldn’t have bothered with a mere Cookie. You will all crumble here! Shattering Sounds: *Thud…* *CRASH* Captain Caviar Cookie: Candy Diver Cookie! NOW! TURN THE ENGINE ON! NOW!!! Candy Diver Cookie: △..፠!!! ፠▲፠!!! Captain Caviar Cookie: Ya go ahead! I’ll be right behind ya! Candy Diver Cookie: … …!! Candy Diver Cookie: ፠▲፠▲፠▲፠!!!! Captain Caviar Cookie: What part of go do ya not understand?! Candy Diver Cookie: ▼⚫⚫⚫▼▼!!! Captain Caviar Cookie: Ya gonna take me with ya? Gah…! Ya’re impossible, ya know? Captain Caviar Cookie: No choice but to lay low among the rocks! And keep an eye out for an openin’!

Captain Caviar Cookie: Huh! You’re not too bad behind the wheel, are ya! Looks like we might be able to escape after all! Candy Diver Cookie: ⭗▲⬛!! Black Pearl Cookie: Why you slimy eels…!! Black Pearl Cookie: I DON’T HAVE! ANY! FEELINGS! FOR ANY COOKIE! Captain Caviar Cookie: Yeesh, looks like I was spot on! Candy Diver Cookie: ⬛⬜⬜… Captain Caviar Cookie: Don’t worry about it. I thought I could talk our way out, but… Black Pearl Cookie: Do you think you can escape ME, in that tiny submarine?! Black Pearl Cookie: I’LL CRUSH YOU BOTH! Captain Caviar Cookie: NOPE! TALKIN’ WAS NEVER AN OPTION! Shattering Sounds: *Crash* *WOOOOSH* Captain Caviar Cookie: Now! Head to the opposite side of that thing! Candy Diver Cookie: ◯▲⭗፠!!! Shattering Sounds: *CRASH* Captain Caviar Cookie: Ugh, outraged doesn’t even cut it! This whole area’s gonna get annihilated! Shattering Sounds: *CRAAAAAASH!* Captain Caviar Cookie: Argh! How can ya create a sandstorm underwater?! I can’t see anything! Captain Caviar Cookie: We’re gonna end up swimmin’ in circles! Black Pearl Cookie: AHA HA HA HA HA! You can try, but you’ll never escape ME! Black Pearl Cookie: I can’t WAIT til I smash you into crumbs! Captain Caviar Cookie: It’s gonna get us! We gotta do somethin’! Candy Diver Cookie: …!

Candy Diver Cookie’s Friend: “How to find each other if we get lost in the sea?” Ha ha, that’s what you’re afraid of? Candy Diver Cookie’s Friend: Hmm… Why don’t we create a secret passage made of sparkling coral reefs? Candy Diver Cookie’s Friend: That way, we can find you no matter what happens!

Candy Diver Cookie: ⬛▶◯!! Captain Caviar Cookie: Huh?! Wuddya need a flashlight for?! Candy Diver Cookie: ◯⭗◯!!!

Captain Caviar Cookie: Wait, these are… reflections? Is this a way out?! But how?! Captain Caviar Cookie: Did ya… make this?! Candy Diver Cookie: ▶▶▶!!!!!! Captain Caviar Cookie: No hesitation whatsoever, eh?! Alright, I trust ya! Let’s get outta here!!!

Waves: *poof* Captain Caviar Cookie: We’re out…! We’ve escaped the Duskgloom Sea! Candy Diver Cookie: △⚫★!!!! Captain Caviar Cookie: To think there would be an escape route…! Captain Caviar Cookie: We really might’ve turned into fish food if it weren’t for ya. Great job! Candy Diver Cookie: ◇⚫◯!! Wailing Sounds: GRRRRRRRR!!

Black Pearl Cookie: Puny little Cookies…! ESCAPE FROM ME?! Black Pearl Cookie: Mark my words…! Black Pearl Cookie: Whenever you set sail in these waters, I’ll drag you into the abyss and turn you all into soggy crumbs! Black Pearl Cookie: THIS ISN’T THE END! YOU HEAR ME?!

Candy Diver Cookie: ፠፠፠… Captain Caviar Cookie: Scary… Captain Caviar Cookie: Well, I’m sure no Cookie will dare to venture into the Duskgloom Sea now that we know what lives here. Captain Caviar Cookie: Eh, I’m sorry that ya had to leave ya ship though. Ya’re not gonna go back, are ya? Candy Diver Cookie: ⬜⭗⚫! Captain Caviar Cookie: What? Ya’re leaving? Captain Caviar Cookie: Hmm. Good idea! I was never a fan of waiting around anyways. Sometimes ya gotta do it yaself! Captain Caviar Cookie: Now, let’s sail back to land and celebrate our safe return! Candy Diver Cookie: ⭗⚫◯◆~! Captain Caviar Cookie: So… er… About that helmet. Ya gonna keep it on? We’re no longer under the sea, ya know. Captain Caviar Cookie: C’mon! Don’t be shy! Candy Diver Cookie: △△△⭗?? Suspicious Noise: *Swish* *...Roll…*

Captain Caviar Cookie: ?!!?!!?!!!!! Captain Caviar Cookie: AAaaaaaaAAH! What in the world?!

Rookie Cookie: AAAAAAAAHH!! WHAT DO YOU MEAN?! Republic Sailor Cookie 2: Ghost. Rookie Cookie: A ghost?! Republic Sailor Cookie 1: Yep! Those who lost their dough to the sea wander around, looking for their new victim… Rookie Cookie: THE GHOST IS HERE?! AND WHAT?! Victim?! What victim? Republic Sailor Cookie 2: You bet… Lurking and waiting for poor souls that don’t deserve to sail the mighty seas… Waiting for a chance to take over their bodies… Rookie Cookie: Waaah… Captain Caviar Cookie: You had your fun, didn’t ya?! Anyways… That’s how my Duskgloom Sea Adventure ended. Rookie Cookie: Captain Caviar Cookie…! SIR! Republic Sailor Cookie 2: With a little bit of exaggeration, if you ask me! Republic Sailor Cookie 1: But, when you think about it… There’s no doubt the Duskgloom Sea is a dangerous place… Rookie Cookie: So what happened to Candy Diver Cookie? Did they find their friend? Captain Caviar Cookie: Why don’t you ask’em yourself? Republic Sailor Cookie 2: And for that, you better eat up to become a strong and mighty sailor! Republic Sailor Cookie 1: Alright, the sky’s clearing up now! Let’s get back to work! Republic Sailor Cookie 2: May we have the aspiring sailor get back to mopping the deck? Rookie Cookie: Ughhhh! Why am I always stuck with cleaning duty? When do I actually get to sail!?

Salty Shark Navigator: … Republic Sailor Cookie 2: Uh-uh! Looks like we already have a sailor cleaning up the deck? Oi, newbie! Get to work, or get off the boat! Rookie Cookie: You again! Stop working so hard! You’re taking all of MY work! Salty Shark Crew: …! Rookie Cookie: Just you wait! Rookie Cookie: I’ll become the greatest sailor there is, and I’ll go on a grand adventure like Captain Caviar Cookie! Salty Shark Navigator: …☆★☆!

#captain caviar cookie #candy diver cookie #black pearl cookie #oyster cookie #cookie run kingdom #cr dialogue

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