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theonemeathead · 3 months

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Sniper x Reader, "Quick Trip"

a sniper x reader smutfic! tw for afab anatomy, the implications of the word 'sheila'. enjoy!

August. One of the hottest months of the year, not to mention it was the hottest day in New Mexico yet. A ceasefire had been called until further notice, the temperature being down right deadly. There was no shade for miles, within the border of the Badlands.

Which just so happened to be where you lived. Your residence, currently, was Teufort's RED base. You had been on base for a couple of years now, you got along with everyone well enough; Some more than others.

Which leads you to the current situation.

You see, Sniper was about to leave on a joint-contract with Scout; Somewhere not nearly as blazing hot. And he was going to be gone for almost two weeks. Clearly, this didn't bode well with you as you stood, with crossed arms, in front of him. You had been begging him all day to let you tag along, but he refused, insistently.

"Mundy, this isn't fair! The AC in the base is broken, you gotta—!"

"I said no, sheila," he cut you off, his tone stern. Of course, you didn't take well to being talked over, especially by your boyfriend. You furrowed your brow, opening your mouth to speak, when you were interrupted, yet again.

"Sick! Ya coming with us?" Ah, Scout. His Boston accent never failed to amuse you, especially with the mischievous glint in his eyes whenever he spoke. He smiled wide, hopeful that you could maybe make the car ride a little less dull. Sniper usually wasn't one for small talk, you were lucky if you could even get a head nod out of him.

"No." "Yes!"

You and Sniper said in unison, he shot you a nasty side eye from behind his aviators. You never understood how Sniper was able to take the heat so easily. He was still wearing his full uniform, boots and all. You had half a mind not to strip naked with how unbearable the temperature was. However, still somewhat sane, decided against that and listened to your better judgement for once.

"Aw, c'mon, Snipes, let 'em tag along! At least they talk," Scout tried to reason, taking your side. Sniper sighed dramatically, grumbling something you couldn't quite understand. He crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at you.

"You're both insufferable. Get in." Your eyes lit up immediately. You had gotten your way, per usual. You clambered into the vehicle, sitting directly in the middle between the other two mercenaries. The black leather seats had definitely seen their fair share of wear and tear, various holes burned from dropped cigarettes, some exposed, yellow foam from the peeling material... But Sniper loved his van. In between your legs was the comically long stick-shift. The handle was slightly chipped away and the design faded from being used so often. Sniper refused to drive anything but manual, because it's 'the right way' he said. With a loud sigh, Sniper had pulled himself in on the driver's side, buckling his seat belt in one swift motion. He clicked the key forward in the ignition, the camper sputtering to life. It was definitely old and in desperate need of repair. The bushman reached forward for the gearshift, his rough hands accidentally brushing the top of your knee as he put the car into 1st gear. Normally, gestures such as this didn't get to you. But, something felt off about it this time.

The first 10 minutes of the car ride turned out to be a bust. Sniper was too focused on the road and Scout was knocked out, cold. The only sound was the distant crackling of the radio and the soft snores from your teammate. You had one exciting moment when Sniper went to shift to 3rd, his hand grazing your leg yet again. You shot him a quick glance, unsure if it was on purpose on not. Sniper wasn't one to tease. You leaned forward with a sigh, slightly turning the dial on the radio to the right. It was set on a classic rock station currently playing a song by Men At Work. You didn't know much about the band, besides the fact Sniper really liked them.

"I love this song." Sniper's gruff voice had come out slightly whispery. You squirmed a little in your seat. Did he always have this affect on you? His Aussie accent had rang through you ears. It was such a simple string of words, but coupled with the fleeting touches, it was... different. About an hour and a half into the car ride, Sniper made the executive decision to stop at a gas station a couple miles up the road. With Scout still asleep, Sniper pulled up to the pump, slamming the breaks to scare the sleeping Bostonion awake. With an abrupt 'oof', Scout was up and ready to fight immediately.

"What—! What is it?! What happened, are we dead??" He yelped, looking around frantically. Scout paused, huffing when he saw that you were all just in park. "You guys are freakin' assholes, I'm gonna go take a leak."

With the 3 of you filing out of Sniper's front seat, you watched as Scout stretched and walked towards the gas station itself. Behind you, Sniper had already unscrewed the gas cap, removing the nozzle and forcing it into the tank. With a simple 'click', diesel fluid immediately began pouring out. Sniper stared at it for a second before abruptly pulling on the handle of the side door of the van, exposing the inside to you. Confused, you looked up at him.

"I told ya I didn't want you coming on this trip, roo." His tone was dark, almost sadistic. Your brows pinned up, a bit of fear beginning to creep through your system. Sniper never took a tone with you. He turned to you, his eyes hidden behind his yellow-tinted aviators. You swallowed thickly, afraid of what was next. "Come here."

You obeyed, stepping closer to him timidly. Immediately, you were manhandled, almost thrown into the back of his camper van. You stared in surprise, yelping as he slammed the door closed behind the both of you. You didn't have time to react before he was on you, his mouth meeting yours. The kiss wasn't pretty or experienced as his teeth clacked against yours, his lips bruising and hungry. He must've been pent up, watching you flaunt yourself around in that low-cut tanktop and those too-short shorts. Just as fast as he had started, he had pulled away. The marksman looked you up and down, as if you were nothing but prey.

"This is the entire reason I didnt want'cha to come, darl'. Just can't keep my bloody hands off ya."

A flash of red was all you saw before you were flipped onto your stomach, Sniper using his long limbs to entangle your arms behind your back. He had you like a wrangled animal, trapped and helpless. He grunted quietly, cursing under his breath as he kept you pinned with one arm. He used his one free hand and made quick work of your bottoms, sliding them, along with your underwear, down to rest just below your ass. You jolted at the feeling of his caloused hand immediately delving into your folds, as if to relax you. A low whimper left your throat, the feeling of his long, thick fingers tracing themselves inside of you, curling to hit the right spot.

You didn't have much time, however, and Sniper knew this. He retracted his fingers, sucking whatever juices was on them off. The clinking of a belt, along with shuffling fabric excited you further. Although you couldn't look back, you could feel him start to guide his long length towards your aching hole. He slid into you, slowly. Sniper wasn't thick per se, but he was definitely long. The head of his cock practically kissed your insides in all the right places. With how wet you were, you didn't need much time to accommodate his size. Snapping his hips into your ass, you could feel every drag of his cock, every pulse and vein. His pace started off bruising, the hand keeping you pinned down began leaving crescent-shaped indents from his fingernails.

There was something primal about this. The heat had burned extra hot that day, and so did your lover, it seemed. He reached his free hand under you, beginning to rub sloppy circles on your clit. Shortly after, you eyes had screwed shut, a line of drool beginning to leak from your mouth. The campervan had rocked slightly with each thrust, your pants and pleas falling upon deaf ears as Sniper used your body. It wasn't long until you tried to warn him, maybe a little too late.

"Mick, I—!" Before you could continue, you had came, your own moan cutting you off. Sniper had a sick, twisted smile, letting go of your arms to focus fully on grabbing your hips. He had started slamming your overstimulated, quivering cunt back into him. It sent shocks through your body, the pleasure quickly turning to pain as it became too much

"Fuck, I love ya, roo. I'm gonna fill ya right up, make ya mine." His thrusts grew erratic, almost sloppy, as a string of curses and praise left his lips as he hilted himself fully inside of you. You heard a small groan, followed by some deep breaths as Sniper came inside of you. With a groan, he pulled out, his cock growing softer by the second. He yanked his pants up, buckling his belt back with extreme ease and skill. There was no time for aftercare. He helped you slide your clothes back up, your trembling thighs sending delight through him. He picked his slouch hat up from off the ground, dusting it off. He held a crooked smile as he placed it atop your head, the hat much too big for you. He had finished pumping gas, screwing the cap back on before leaning against the front of his Chevy.

"Where's Scout?"

"I paid him $20 to piss off somewhere for like half an hour. He'll be back soon, love."

#tf2 #tf2 sniper #tf2 x reader #tf2 x you #tf2 sniper x reader #sniper x reader #sniper tf2 x reader #sniper tf2 #tf2 fandom

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sssilverstoned · 3 months

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while you can still smell them ꩜ ln4

type: full length fic

word count: 3.9k

title from: i wish you roses by kali uchis

warnings: some fluff, angst, but like it's a happy ending. cursing bc i'm me, italics are memories

lily said: you know me i can never leave well enough alone. i thought this little snapshot of the break that was never really a break would be cute! for context, i'd suggest looking at the ig au linked below! this would be taking place in between part 2 and 3.

part 1

part 2

part 3

masterlist

You've only seen Lando cry on occasions that called for it. When family members died, when racing got too much for his mental, in some awful, awful moments. Maybe that's why it hurts so bad to see him cry now.

"A break feels a lot like you should add 'up' to that statement," he had said, turning away from you, looking out at the stars. You were sat on his balcony, feeling suffocated by the apartment. But the AC was on and working fine, and windows were open. Your emotions were suffocating you, that was more fitting.

"We can't keep on like this, Lan," you say in a broken voice, the lump in your throat thick and threatening. "It's not fair to either of us."

He doesn't realize he's crying until the drop hits his nose, making it quirk up in surprise. He swipes at his face, a pawlike move to get rid of the teardrops.

"Do you not love me anymore?"

His question makes you sob. Full body, head dropping to chest, your hands writing in your lap. The sound of you breaking down turns him back to you, rushing to the chair you've melted into. He lifts your face in his hands, and you take a breath when you see his face, discolored with tears.

"I'll always love you," he makes out of your words, just barely. "I, I just, it's not the same,"

"We can fix this, us. We can work on it together," Lando's brain is whirring at hyper speed, damage controlling the last 8 months of your lives together.

The cracks began to become schisms when he committed your largest pet peeve, which was ignoring things out of ease. Blissful ignorance, if you will.

It was small things, like forgetting about date nights in lieu of longer trainings or prolonging trips. Sometimes he forgot to water the plants, or didn't move laundry over, and that was manageable. That's what every couple encounters. What every couple does not encounter, was the intense pressure of racing a car for a living.

He was frustrated, with Zak, with anything papaya colored, and with his own self-doubts. He carried that frustration in his chest, and it came out in some of the words he spoke to you, and actions he took. You eventually stopped offering to come over and cook, because dinners were becoming continuously tense, and you were uncomfortable. Felt like a nuisance.

But at the same time, you were both so codependent. Without anything being said, you two began to avoid things you assumed the other wouldn't like, and asked for permission to do the smallest of things. You first noticed it when your sister pointed had asked you to come go with her out of town for the weekend, and you hesitated. "I'll have to ask Lando," you had told her. She bit her tongue.

Lando was just as bad, he had quite literally lost the ability to sleep when you weren't around. It made Grand Prix weekends an actual nightmare when you weren't there, calling you at any times in the day or night.

"Are you alright, it's 4am,"

"Sorry, can't sleep again. The melatonin does nothing,"

"Did you try the tea my mum got you?"

"Baby I just," he scrubs a hand down his exhausted face. "I just need you here."

"I can't just get up and go to Australia."

"I'll get you a flight, or maybe we can-"

"Lando," you say in a sterner voice. "I can't."

He's quiet for a moment, and you wonder what's going through his head. You hardly raised your voice or got intense, certainly never at him. But then again, recently, you seemed to never know what was going through his head.

It was silly to think that Lando was the same man that you began dating. You were 19, you would pray that he had changed somehow over the span of 5 years. But there was something missing that once was. The relationship was becoming more of a task, and that wasn't right. Which is what brought you to this moment, brought you to telling him you needed to talk.

"Lan," you whimper, bringing a hand up where his hold your face on either side. You don't even have to say anything more, he knows you better than you know yourself. And he begins to cry harder.

"I've never loved anyone but you, baby."

"I know."

"I can't, I really don't want to live without you," he shakes his head, standing back up to his full height. His hands stay busy, though, ripping through his hair.

"I'm not going to go away," you explain, agonized that you're calmer than he at this point. You stand from the wicker chair, but don't edge closer to him. "But my career is unpredictable right now, 6 months in Marbella is a long time. And you're, well, everywhere. And you need to focus on that."

"I've multitasked for 5 years," he says bitterly, making you sigh. His eyes are back on the stars, and his back to you makes your eyes blurry again.

"I'm not happy." You finally blurt, making his body stiffen. "I'm really not."

When he looks at you again, his expression reads clearly with fatigue, with anguish. "Please, baby, don't,"

It's your turn to clutch his face, bringing his forehead to touch with yours. Through your contact, you feel the heaves of his body, the breaths he's trying to control. "It's not forever," you whisper, mustering courage. "But we need to stop acting like everything's fine."

"I don't see myself without you."

"You're not," your hold tightens, he leans further into your palm, "but we've grown up together. The flower pot's too small now," you try to joke, he barely can fake amusement.

"I'll buy a thousand new pots."

"We need to clean up the broken one, first." His jaw clenches, you soothe it with your thumb. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." He says back, almost silently. "Still wear that Mclaren shirt on race days, I need the luck."

You finally crack a smile. "I'll wear the hat too if my hairstyle permits."

He kisses you, almost convincing himself this if is the last fix he can get for a while, he needed it now. Not that either of you know it, but you both have the same thought. You both notice that your cheeks have each other's tears on them now, not sure which ones came from whom. You were on the same page in that regard, at least.

꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜

"You should ask y/n out," your best friend says to Lando in the middle of a party. He chokes on his drink, not expecting her to come up to him like she did, and not expecting the words out her mouth.

You all were freshly 19, still congregating in someone's living room to try to have a good time. He knew your friends better than he knew you, the newest of the group in town, only having moved to the area with your family when you were 16.

"Should I, now?" He says, recovering from his fright.

"Yeah," she replies, ignoring the sarcasm. "She goes on about you, it's cute. She'd hurt me if she knew I told you, though. Not sure what she sees in you," his eyes narrow at the girl, which she ignores once again. "You'd be lucky to have a girl like her in your life."

That much, he knew. You were fiercely loyal to your friends and family, and treated him with a kindness that made him melt every time. You were funny, and genuine, and not to mention, the most beautiful person he's sure he knows.

When he bumps into you later at the party, he asks you what you're doing the following evening.

That was the story he'd tell people with a proud grin when they ask how you two got together. All you recount is how he nearly ruined your cute top with a shitty guinness.

He's struck with the memory when he sees the guinness logo in the ads on the walls of a restaurant. "Mate," Max all but snaps his fingers. Lando locks back in, humming for what he missed.

"Was just curious if you wanted to go out tonight. They've been texting in the chat about it, I saw you never responded."

Clubbing wasn't as fun as it used to be, not when you weren't dancing your heart out beside him, or waiting in bed with your nose in a book when he came home because you weren't feeling like going out. It felt like a waste of his time, and like he was sucking the fun out of other people's nights.

"'M alright," he says with a tight mouthed grin. "Gonna sit this one out."

Max looks at his friend, seeing through his response. "When's the last time you went out?"

If he had to take an educated guess, you last graced his apartment that night on the balcony, 4 weeks ago. So, 4 weeks ago. Perhaps longer, judging by the schisms. "A while. Not up to it."

"You're torturing yourself."

"I'm not interested in getting shitfaced, Max."

Max looks away for a second, quickly weighing the pros and cons of asking what he's been wanting to for the last, well, 4 weeks. "Do you think Y/n is wallowing too?"

The sound of your name makes his fingers twitch inadvertently, almost like a flinch. "That's not fair."

"I'm serious, Lando. You said she needed a break because she felt like you two were co-dependent and not actually working through problems, and look at you. You're not functioning without her. I mean, it's your fucking birthday next week, and you haven't brought it up once, you realize that, right?"

He knows he's right. Nothing he said was out of line, or wrong, and that's why Lando has nothing to say back. He wants to argue, to prove him wrong, but he can't. He's seen your ads and campaigns, the beautiful shots of you promoting luxury brands and names that your fans only dreamed of owning. Despite the distance, he was so proud of you still. You worked hard, were disciplined and humble through your success. He had texted you when the Dior campaign had launched, and the message of your thanks, with a smiley face, made him, for just a second, think that things were back to normal.

When they left the restaurant, and ran directly into fans, Lando tried to put on his best face for them, smiling for selfies and signing what was gestured toward him. When a sweet looking girl with glasses shyly spoke up, telling her favorite driver where she was visiting from, his tired eyes light up. "You're from there?" He confirms, and she smiles with an eager nod.

"Y/n is too," he almost mumbles, but every fan in earshot heard it. The typical squeals followed, the hushed whispers amonst themselves on if they'd push the questions they were itching to ask or not. And heard it they did, as the encounter made its way onto social media and gossip pages. But Max was right, his mourning period needed to be over, if anything was going to change for the better.

You call him on his birthday. It was nerve wracking, which made you bitterly laugh, because never did you think you'd be nervous to talk to Lando Norris of all people. One of the few people in the world you wholeheartedly trusted.

It had only been about a month since you requested time apart, and he had honored that. The texts were sparse, the calls nonexistent. Although, that was sort of what had brought you to this point anyway. But you were working on yourself, and your career at the same time, and things were looking better. Change never happened overnight, but the journal your therapist recommended, and the disappearance from social media besides professional posts were great starts.

You bite at your cuticle as the phone rings. You take your cell away from your ear, chest panging at the contact name "Lan <3" at the top of the screen. Was he really going to screen your call? Is that what you deserved, possibly?

"Y/n," he finally answers, and you quickly bring your phone back to your ear.

"Hi," you say awkwardly. "Happy birthday, Lando."

"Thank you," he says stiffly. "I'm happy to hear from you."

"Yeah I um, haven't really been on my phone here," you bite harder on your finger. "I think it's nice here, you'd love Marbella."

"I'm sure I would," he says with what you can hear is a smile. "I miss you, you know?"

"I miss you too," you concede, "how have you been?"

"Not great, I won't lie. Much rather would hear about you."

"'s not my birthday," and he smiles a bit at that.

"Well, racing's fine. But Max is sick of my shit, says I've been wallowing."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Yeah."

You don't really know what to say, you've rarely been the perpetrator of his negative feelings. No relationship was perfect, but you all hadn't really hit a communication wall until now. It was uncharted, scary territory. "Well, I wanted to wish you a happy birthday, that was all. Have a good day, really. 24 is a big one. Kobe year, that's what someone said to me. I hope this year is great for you."

"Y/n, wait," he halts your beginnings to hang up. "I'd like to come to see you soon, I've got some time before Abu Dhabi and maybe I could swing by Spain on the way."

"Lando," he absolutely hates that you're calling him by his whole name. Lan, that's what would you called him almost exclusively. Lando feels so formal from you.

He needs to hear it, you know he does. He needs to hear that you want to see him, that you need to see him just as much as he yearns to put eyes on you once more. But you were constantly afraid of accidental manipulation, holding him by some invisbile garotte. But this was his first birthday you hadn't celebrated together since you were 19, that meant something.

"Please focus on racing," you implore, and squeeze your eyes shut before adding, "but you if you'd like to come and it won't be an issue in your plans, you're more than welcome."

꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜꩜

You saw the posts, it wasn't very hard. Fans utterly disappointed that you and Lando hadn't been seen together in ages, putting pieces together quickly after you didn't post for his birthday. It didn't make you feel worse, to be truthful, and to your surprise. You were sure there'd be a barrage of insults hurled your way, maybe a cheating rumor or two. But really, all there was to see were requiems for your relationship, nostalgia for what once was. What did cause you to delete instagram from your phone, was the response to the podcast.

You were single for the time being, that's what you and Lando had agreed on when he visited you. It wasn't an invitation to go out and find the next man to lay in your bed, but you both had agreed that it wasn't healthy to hold out in anticipation of your rekindling.

"You're the only girl I've, you know," he awkwardly trailed off, scratching the back of his neck. He sits up in bed, linens pooling around his hips. Hooking up with your now ex-boyfriend, might've not been your brightest idea, sure, but you were both human, at the end of the day.

"Fucked?" you tease, remaining comfortable against your plush pillow. "I know. First few times kinda showed that."

He looks back at you pointedly. "You cried the first time."

"It hurt!"

He rolls his eyes, shaking his head in fake annoyance. You grin. "I'm sure the girlies are gonna have a field day with you being single now,"

He rolls his eyes again, laying, or rathing slumping, back into the pillow next to you. His arm instinctively comes around the top of your head, you try not to lean into it. "I think I really will finally listen to you and focus on racing."

You turn on your side, admiring his profile as he stares up at the ceiling, probably tangled in his thoughts. His nose sloped perfectly, the little freckles dotting his skin like constellations. Your boy.

"I told my mum."

He snorts. "She hates me now, I'm sure."

"Mm, no, her first ask was what I did," your mom was Lando's biggest fan, through and through. Of course, you were her daughter, but she was convinced he was cosmically made perfectly for you.

He looks at you then, realizing your eyes have been on him the whole time. He copies your position, turning to you so your bodies lay parallel, nowhere to look but each other's eyes.

"Do you regret that I'm the only boyfriend you've ever had?"

You immediately shake your head in denial of the question. "No, not at all," you were lucky, if anything. "You?"

"Well, I've had other girlfriends,"

"Ouch?"

"You knew that," he chuckles, and yeah, you did. "But I don't regret that you're the only one I've been serious about. I still am."

"I know. I am too."

"An ex-boyfriend doesn't lay in bed with you, you know."

"And an ex-girlfriend doesn't still remind your team when your doctor's appointments are,"

"Fair enough, guess we're just weird."

You share a matching grin. "So weird."

So once Alex uploaded the Call Her Daddy episode you were a guest on, and it was official to the masses that you had been single for now almost 4 months, the articles came in. The timelines of you and Lando's relationship, the rumors of him leaving clubs with random girls. You'd be lying if you said you didn't zoom in on some of their faces, relaxing when you recongized most of them as friends or even family members. He wasn't yours to be worried about, you suppose, but you also knew that any girl he decided to share his time with would be a lucky one.

Your friends had tried to get you on dates, that wasn't a lie when you said that on the podcast. But you weren't ever excited to get to know someone new, small talk was painful and you didn't feel comfortable going home with them.

But then, a few weeks later into February, you get a phone call from Lando. "Hi," You answer, pleasently surprised.

"Hey there," he says, sounding slightly out of breath. "How are you?"

"I'm good, great even. Finished up everything down here, leaving Marbella next week to head back home." Home was London to you, not Monaco. You constantly visited, had a family flat there and everything, but couldn't leave officially becuause of your career.

"Congratulations, everything looked stunning," he compliments, and your stomach flutters.

"But um, how are you? I'd ask if you were relaxing, but I'm sure training's well underway."

"Meh, more or less. I'm heading to Surrey next week, actually. Got some stuff to do at HQ."

"Oh," Surrey was only about an hour and a half from where you were in London. "Would you, well, not assuming anything, but if you'd have time to spare, it would be great to catch up?"

This isn't why Lando called you, you fully know this. Who knows what he picked up the phone for, he could be calling to let you know he's eloped with someone he's met in the 6 months you've been apart.

"I'd love to," you hear his grin in his voice. "You haven't moved, have you?"

Not only had you not moved, but you haven't changed much about your flat either. Same bedding, same color schemes, same photos decorating your tables and walls of your friends, family, and Lando. He never took the photos of you down either, and that photo from your 21st birthday was still stuffed in his wallet.

You order takeout, sitting across the kitchen island from each other acting like it didn't feel like your first date again. He acts like he doesn't want to reach out for your hands as you animatedly use them to share stories of Spain, and you act like you don't want to push the curls back that threathen to land over his eyebrows.

The food gets cold as you two catch up, a few glasses of wine becoming a whole bottle gone. You actually can't remember the last time the two of you had done this, and perhaps, absence had truly made your hearts grow fonder.

"Bahrain is on leap day," Lando says, making you gasp.

"That's got to be good luck, no?"

"It's just the first practice,"

"But still, you're starting your first weekend of the year on a special day like that," you muse, "so exciting. I'm excited for you,"

His chest warms at endearment in your voice. You truly and honestly rooted for him through everything, that was one of the things he was most grateful for about you. He knows you don't truly care about all of this, if he won or lost, but that you care about him and his development, how he sees himself and his profession. He fell in love with that about you.

"Would you come?"

You hesitate, daring to look at him from where you had begun to clean the countertop. "To the race? "

He nods, and turn back to the counter. "I don't know, Lan. Is that where we are?"

He hopes so. He's missed you something horrible, prays you missed him just as bad.

Lando takes the cloth from your hand, replacing it with his own. "I know it's only been about 6 months, and that's not enough time to say everything's well and dandy," you fight a smile. "But I want to work through things, with you. I've had nothing but time to consider what was off with us, and I want to be better. For you, more than anything. Yeah, I learned how to be just Lando. But I know I prefer being Lando and Y/n."

You bite your lip, finally meeting his eyes. "I want to take it slow."

"We can do that,"

"So, I don't know if I'm ready for the race. But, my birthday's coming up,"

"It is,"

"And we'll be in Dubai. My sister did it up, got this crazy plan going since it'll be my 25th."

"Quite the old woman you're becoming,"

"Oh get off that," you scoff, pushing his chest. He chuckles and pulls you back into him, where you go willingly. "But, if you can, I'd love for you to come to the dinner."

He raises an eyebrow with a smirk. "You want me to fly to Dubai just for your birthday dinner?"

"You'll be in Saudi Arabia then anyway,"

The smirk gets bigger. "You know my schedule already, love?"

"You're so fucking cheeky, can't stand it," you feign annoyance, but never move from his arms.

He holds you, as your arms delicately find themselves behind his neck, not daring to kiss just yet. To really be honest, you're not sure if you're ready to take that whole plunge.

"I'm happy to be back, even if things are slow. They can be molasses for all I care."

"Thank you for being patient with me," you lean your forehead against his. However, this time, neither of you are crying. Nice, for a change.

"I'd wait decades for you, my love."

After a beat of sweet silence. You speak up once more. "One thing though," he hums to prompt your continuance. "I'm pretty sure, when it's said, it's Y/n and Lando, just so you know."

#is this me projecting? yeah #f1 imagine #f1 x reader #lando norris imagine #lando norris x reader

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somekidnamedkai · 1 year

Note

if the request are still open can you do riddle , ace ,deuce , vill and malleus with an mc who suddenly started ignoring them and making excuses to not see them,but they found out on their birthday that mc was making a surprise party for them and in the end to apologize to them they hugs them ( and maybe kiss their cheeks ) if this request is too complicated it’s fine you don’t have to^^

Ignoring Them For A Surprise Party

Authors note: Welcome to the start of me being bad at titling my stuff lol. I had a lot of fun writing these, thank you for the request anon!

Characters: Riddle Rosehearts, Ace Trappola, Deuce Spade, Vil Schoenheit, Malleus Draconia

Warnings: None. I have the vocabulary of a middle schooler so some words are repetitive my apologies.

Gender neutral reader

Riddle Rosehearts

Riddle first noticed you ignoring him when you would jolt out of the classroom, not waiting for him so you two could walk together. Whenever he tried to ask you about it, you’d turn and walk away. Or blatantly ignore him and talk to Ace or whoever was nearby.

He began to wonder what was going on. Did he do something? Did he forget something important? No, your birthday wasn’t for another few months. And your guys' anniversary was just a few weeks ago. Riddle remembered every important date. So why were you ignoring him?

Did someone spread a rumor about him? If so, they would surely pay. Riddle went to ask Cater, who would surely know if something was going on. Nothing.

Riddle decided that maybe you’ve been having a bad week, so he’ll take you on a date.

He arrived at Ramshackle to make sure you were free. “Oh, sorry, Riddle, I have something important going on. A big test, yup, really big.” You said hesitantly. A test? On a Saturday evening? And was that Ace and Deuce in there with you?

After his visit to Ramshackle, Riddle was beginning to stress over it even more. Why were you avoiding him? What did he do?!

He demanded Ace and Deuce tell him, but they wouldn't budge. Luckily, Trey was there so he convinced Riddle to not collar the duo.

As the days, which felt like weeks to Riddle went by, he began to feel frustrated and crushed. Was this your way of breaking up with him? By just avoiding him till he got the point? Or were you? No, you would never cheat on Riddle. And he wasn’t going to accuse you of cheating.

Finally, it was on the 6th day, but who’s counting? Riddle saw his phone light up with his ringtone playing. At first, he ignored it. Until Riddle remembered that he muted everyone except for you, he wanted to be sure that he never missed anything. Riddle practically leaped over his bed to grab his phone, dropping whatever schoolwork he was doing.

The second Riddle grabbed his phone he answered your call. “Sweet tart? Hello?” He spoke desperately. Which is what he was. Riddle was desperate to hear your voice. Listening to old voice messages over and over again didn’t help much.

You smiled when your boyfriend answered and began to talk. You missed him, “Hey, love. I want-“

You couldn’t even finish talking before Riddle spoke again, “I miss you! I’m so sorry for whatever I did! I really am. Please don’t ignore me again! I miss you so much, sweet tart!” He blurted out. “Y/N?” He asked when you didn’t answer.

“You didn’t do anything, dear, but can you come to Ramshackle?” You asked him, and he immediately agreed.

It took Riddle about 5 minutes to get to Ramshackle, and then he knocked on the door. Riddle heard a little bit of noise before it went silent. “Come in!” You shouted.

When Riddle opened the door it was almost completely dark, which was shocking considering the number of broken windows in the dorm.

The lights came on right after Ruddle walked in, “SURPRISE!”

Riddle stumbled back in shock, but you caught him before he could fall. “Happy birthday, my love,” You told him.

“It’s my… birthday?” Riddle asked. He had completely forgotten about it amongst you, ignoring him. So that was the important date he forgot about.

A small laugh escaped your lips, “yes, silly. I’m sorry I’ve been ignoring you. It’s just that I was planning your party with everyone.”

Riddle let out a sigh before regaining his composure. “Well, Don’t do that again, please. You worried me.”

You kissed Riddle on the cheek, then a quick peck on the lips. “I promise I won’t. Now, let’s enjoy your party, birthday boy.”

Ace Trappola

At first, Ace just thought you were trying to prank him by only really talking with Deuce and Jack. But when Deuce said that you weren’t pranking him, Ace got annoyed. Why are you ignoring him? Was it because he pranked you just a week ago? You’ve never cared about his pranks, so why now?

Ace would try to get you to stop ignoring him by pranking you even more. One prank Ace did was kind of small, but it’d get you to talk to him, was to take the ink tube out of your pen. Or if you were using a quill, he’d replace it with a regular feather.

Unfortunately, his plan backfired. Whenever you would need a new utensil you would immediately go to Deuce. Or even Grim. Why Grim?! Seeing how his little prank didn’t work, Ace made his pranks a lot bigger. If his small ones weren’t catching your eyes, these would. Yeah, it didn’t work.

Fine, whatever, ignore Ace all you want. He doesn’t care. Yes, he does. Ace would begin texting you, telling you that it was important and that he needed you to go by asap. But you would only leave him on read.

Ace thought luck was on his side when Riddle said there was going to be an unbirthday party. You never miss an unbirthday party. Even in past times when you and Ace argued, you never missed an unbirthday party.

That night Ace texted you, letting you know about the unbirthday party. To his shock, your reply was quick and simple “can’t. I'm busy.” What do you mean you can't?! You’ve never missed a party

That was it. Ace finally admitted. He probably did something wrong and you weren’t just pranking him. So for the next few nights, he would ponder over what he could’ve done. Deuce wasn’t any help with it either.

At the unbirthday party, Ace tried to coax it out of Riddle or Trey, or anyone for that matter, on why you were ignoring him. But they all claimed to either not know. Or they wouldn’t tell. Rude.

It had been about a week of Ace complaining to Deuce about you again. He missed you. Your laugh, your smile, your everything. The way you would hug Ace after a long day. How good of a kisser you were.

Deuce just suggested that he talk to you at ramshackle tomorrow. But Ace said that you wouldn’t answer. But Deuce promised that you would.

So here Ace was, at ramshackle. He knocked on the door then it opened. He stepped into the shockingly dark dorm. A second later and the lights turned on, and confetti was thrown at his face. “SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”

Oh yeah! It was Ace's birthday. He kind of forgot in his efforts to get you to talk to him. “Happy birthday, sweetie,” you told Ace.

This boy didn’t realize how much he missed your voice until now. Ace practically leaped himself into your arms and squeezed you tight.

“Please don’t ignore me again!” He said as he looked at you. You had your beautiful smile that made him smile.

You kissed Ace all over his face before you looked at him. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have, but I wanted to be sure your surprise party stayed a surprise party.”

Ace nodded. He looked past you and at the others who were watching. “You’re forgiven. Now let's go enjoy my party!”

Deuce Spade

Deuce almost immediately noticed you ignoring him. It started with you not holding his hand after class, to you only talking to Ace at lunch, and now you wouldn’t even answer his texts.

He’s been spamming your messages, asking if he did anything wrong, but you didn’t answer. He’s been (bothering) asking Ace if he’s done anything. No answer from him either.

A few days went by. Deuce finally stopped blowing up your phone with text messages. Now he’s passing you notes in class and sending gifts to ramshackle. Deuce even got your attention for a minute when he grabbed your pen as you took it out of the bag.

“Why are you ignoring me?” Deuce asked as he held the pen out of your reach. You didn’t answer. Instead, you looked to Ace, who gave you a new one. Defeated, Deuce threw your pen back down and sulked in his seat.

Deuce began to message you and see if you wanted to hang out, only to get ignored. He would tell Ace to shut up so you would listen to him instead, and then Deuce would invite you on a date. “I’m busy.” The boy began to sulk again.

Cue the disaster of what is Deuce for the next few days. He’s a mess. He misses you a lot and has no idea how to make it up to you. He’s tried apologizing. You said it was nothing. He’s asked you on dates, and you always say you're busy. He’d give you flowers then you’d just put them aside.

The morning of Deuce’s birthday arrived. And he was dreading it. It wouldn’t have mattered how many ‘happy birthdays’ he got or how many small gifts like pencils or chocolate Deuce got. He just wanted you. And a hug.

Deuce wanted to stay in bed, but Ace convinced him to get up or Riddle would off with his head. “Fine, whatever, partner snatcher.” Dang. Ok, Deuce. We get it you’re mad, but no need to resort to name-calling.

“I’m going to ignore that. Anyways, remember our plans at Ramshackle today. Don’t be late.” Ace told Deuce as he left the room. What plans at Ramshackle? What were they doing?

Wait. If Deuce’s other friends already had plans today... Did they forget his birthday? “Oh, happy birthday, by the way.” Nevermind. At least Ace remembered.

Deuce, after a few years, finally arrived at Ramshackle. And when he opened the door, he walked inside to see darkness. Oh no, did the lights break before he got ther- “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”

The surprise knocked Deuce back a few feet. “Happy birthday,” You told Deuce as you walked over to your boyfriend, who was going through the five stages of grief when you walked towards him.

The second you spread your arms out, Deuce dove into them for a hug. “I love you,” He muttered into your chest while you two held a warm hug and you kissed his forehead.

“Hey, listen. I’m sorry for ignoring you. I just thought that it would be the best way of keeping your party a surprise,” you explained to Deuce.

Deuce nodded as he felt a few tears. He was so happy, “It’s ok. But please never do that again.”

You nodded as you backed away and smiled at your boyfriend. You kissed him on the cheek before guiding him over to the others to celebrate his birthday.

Vil Schoenheit

At first, Vil thought you were having a bad day and needed a little space. He’d lecture you for being rude another day. But when the next day came around and you still weren’t talking to him? You would just walk in front of him and not say anything.

Vil, to say the least, was not happy when he realized you were ignoring him. He doesn’t have time for your shenanigans. Vil would try to get your attention and ask you what’s wrong or send you a message but you would either brush him off or just not respond.

He would go through the next few days thinking about what was wrong with you. Did someone say something to you? If so they would surely pay. Were you just trying to prank him? Whatever. Vil wasn’t going to stress over your attitude. He needed to maintain his complexion.

Don’t be fooled though, just because he wasn’t stressing out over it? doesn’t mean it wasn’t affecting him. Vil loved you. A lot. And he missed cuddling you at night before he went to sleep. And he was really upset you were ignoring him.

Vil’s birthday was approaching and he had hoped to go on a date with you. So he showed up to Ramshackle with a bouquet of your favorite flowers and candy. “Pumpkin! I wanted to know if you wanted to go on a date. Tonight or tomorrow?” He asked when you answered the door, giving you the flowers and candy.

“Oh... I’m busy. Tonight and tomorrow. Sorry, sweetie.” You closed the door before Vil could say anything in response.

Dejected, Vil went back to Pomefiore and looked over some of his schoolwork when a thought came to his mind. If you want to avoid him so badly, he’ll send the vice housewarden after you.

“Of course, anything for you Roi Du Poison!” Rook would immediately agree and then head out to Ramshackle, although it was not to spy on you, instead, it was to plan.

It was the day before Vil’s birthday when he decided he had enough. Vil felt like a different person without you. And he didn’t like it.

Vil saw Ace, Deuce, and Jack and asked them what your deal was and what was going on with you. They said it was nothing. So then Vil went to Epel to coax it out of the boy. He didn’t budge.

Remember when Vil wasn’t stressing over this? Now he is. You were the love of his life, and now you were avoiding him, and he had no idea what to do.

On his birthday, Vil got a text from you, “can you come to ramshackle? it’s important.” Vil immediately went out to the rundown dorm his prefect stayed in.

Once Vil got there, he opened the door and stepped inside. He didn’t knock. You told him to go there anyways, so who else would you expect?

It was pitch black when he walked inside. “Is this a-“ “SURPRISE!” Everyone jumped out, and the lights got turned on. Vil looked around, all of his friends were there, and streamers decorated the front lobby

“Happy birthday!” You told Vil as you stepped towards him. He gave you a big hug, squeezing you tight and not wanting to let go.

You returned his hug. “I’m sorry I’ve been ignoring you. I was so excited about your party, and I didn’t want to spoil the surprise.” You explained to him. Vil understood now. But he wasn’t going to let this go.

“It’s alright sweet potato. But we’re going to talk about communication,” Vil told you as you audibly groaned and muttered a ‘fine.’ Vil smiled for the first time in the last few days.

You began to give Vil small kisses all over his face. A kiss on his cheek, one on his nose, his forehead, then his temple. “Let’s enjoy your party.”

Malleus Draconia

You thought you could get away with ignoring him? Good luck. As soon as Malleus noticed you were ignoring him he would get very upset. The clouds would be dark and thundering.

He missed you more than he could explain. You were his first real friend and first partner. And now he didn’t have anyone. He missed your guys' conversations and holding your hand and walking around with you. You didn’t even go to the club meeting with him to look at and study the gargoyles.

Malleus would drop by Ramshackle to make sure you were alright, but you either weren’t there, or you ignored him to talk with your friends. He would sulk or storm away to go by another time.

Listen, I hope you aren’t scared of thunder and lightning because that’s how the weather is going to be until you start talking to him.

Sebek will be hunting you down, so I hope you have a place to hide. And if he finds you, be prepared for the lecture you were going to get from him about ‘hurting the young master’ and ‘you're being a mean person.’

You tell him about the plan for Malleus’ party. He’s still not happy about it. Sebek will leave with final words to talk to him.

During one of his daily walks by ramshackle Malleus spotted you, without your friends. He hoped that today would be the day you talked to him. With a bright smile, he walked over to you.“Child of Man! Would you care to accompany me for a walk today? We could go out to eat after as well.”

You motioned for the boxes in your hands, “I can’t. I have to get these boxes inside and unpack them. Thank you for the offer, though!” You said and began to walk inside the dorm.

Malleus was right behind as you were walking, “I can help you,” he offered but you brushed him off saying you got it. You closed the door and Malleus stood outside.

He left the dorm just as Silver and Sebek came by looking for him. Malleus went back to his dorm to sulk in his room. Did someone threaten you to not talk to him? Did he do something that made you mad?

The next few days came and went. Malleus missed your walks and dates. The talks you two would have. You were the love of his life. He felt empty without you.

And now, it was his birthday. He woke up, got dressed, and checked his phone. Malleus didn’t know how to use a phone, but he could at least do the basics, like enabling his text messages. When he turned the phone on, Malleus was half expecting no notifications, but he hoped there would be. Malleus practically leaped for joy when he said your name on his phone. He opened your text, a request to drop by Ramshackle later.

Time felt like it was going by slower than usual. Malleus was so happy when he opened the text, he was about to go to your dorm that instant, but he decided to wait as you asked him.

Malleus had an extra prep in his step as he walked up to the door and knocked on it. “Come in!” He heard your voice. Malleus opened the door and walked in.

He then almost tripped, not expecting the dorm to be completely dark. “Child of-“ “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” He was interrupted by a bunch of cheers and the lights turning on.

You and some of his classmates were in the dorm with handheld confetti cannons. You immediately ran to Malleus and gave him a big hug. “Happy birthday, Tsunotarou!” You told your boyfriend happily as he wrapped his arms around you, holding you close.

Malleus didn’t want to let go of the hug. He’s missed you, and now that you’re in his arms, he wants to stay that way forever. “Was this all for me, my love?” He asked and looked around the decorated dorm. You nodded in response. “Do you like it?”

“I love it. Thank you so much child of man.” He answered your question as you smiled and gave him a quick kiss. “Now let's have some fun!” you told him as you pulled him towards the others.

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yelenasdiary · 10 months

Text

Listen Closely

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x Daughter! Reader

Summary: After your mother finds out your having a hard time at school, she takes matters into her own hands.

AC: Here’s the idea I posted about the other day haha! This fic is safe for minors to read, just please don’t follow my blog x. I hope you enjoy this x

"Boys, where's your sister?" Wanda asked the twins as they dug into their cereal. "In bed still" Tommy replied causing his mother to frown slightly. It was unlike you to still be in bed at this time, usually you were sat at the dining table enjoying breakfast with your younger brothers while they shared the dreams they had last night with you.

"Brush your teeth after breakfast, no lying Billy, I can tell if you're brushed them properly" Wanda raised a brow at the young boy before making her way upstairs. You heard the soft knock on your door as you pulled the covers over your head, wiping the tears that broke free the moment you woke up.

"Honey?" the softness of your mother's voice filled the room as she slowly opened the door, "you're going to be late" she added.

"I don't feel well" you replied, the covers muffling the brokenness in your voice.

Wanda closed the door behind her before taking a seat on the edge of your bed, installing rubbing your back. If anybody knew you the best, it was your mother. The two of you have always had a strong and close bond to one another and as you got older, that bond only grew stronger. "What's the matter love?" your mother asked while still rubbing your back.

Slowly, you pulled the covers back and held your stomach under the covers, "I have really bad cramps, they've kept me up all night" you explained before Wanda placed the back of her hand on your forehead, "Mm" she hummed as she brushed your hair back, "do you have any tests today?" she asked.

You shock your head, "No tests this week, just study and preparing for next week's tests"

"Alright, I'll get you a heat pack and some pain killers before I take the boys to school. Do you need me to pick up anything from school?"

You shook your head again. "Get some rest, I'll be back in a moment" Wanda placed a kiss on your forehead before leaving you alone once again. The moment you heard her footsteps down the stairs, you sighed before reaching for your phone. Taking today off was a big risk, not just because it was Monday, but because you'd skipped the last three days of school last week. You could only hope that you could get away with today before the school would call the house phone.

Punching in the passcode to your phone only made the sickening feel in your stomach rise. You've turned off all notifications due to the bullying that has been going on for the past month or so. At first, you didn't let it get to you, some petty school yard like bullying wasn't something you ever paid attention too but when the bullying escalated in ways you couldn't ignore it, it started to take its toll on you.

Of course, you didn't mention anything to your mother as you didn't want to worry her or let her make a fuss, she already had enough on her plate with the twins, work and the other duties that come along with being a mother of 3. Although you felt like you should've said something weeks ago when the unknown numbers started sending texts to you and your social media accounts soon became a pit for the bullying to continue.

Little did you know, your mother didn't believe for a second you were unwell and she'd been suspecting something was wrong for a few weeks but she never wanted to over step your boundaries and privacy but she as starting to get more worried about you with every new day that arrived.

"Is Y/n coming down for breakfast?" Billy asked, handing his empty bowl of cereal to Tommy as he stacked the dishwasher. "Not this morning, she's unwell. Let's get you two ready for school" Wanda smiled at the boys before they raced off upstairs to begin getting ready.

----

After dropping the twins off at school, a little earlier than she usually would, she made her way to your high school to meet your best friend, Kate, before her classes started. She didn't like going behind your back like this but her worry got the better of her.

"Kate, hi!" Wanda smiled softly as she managed to grab Kate's attention.

"Oh hey Wands! What's up? Is Y/n with you?" Kate replied with a smile. Kate has been your best friend since pre-school and Wanda knew if there was anybody to talk to about you, it was Kate.

"No, not today. She's not well"

"That's probably why I haven't heard from her, I hope she's okay"

Kate's comment worried Wanda even more, "you haven't heard from her? When was the last time you had?" Wanda questioned.

"Uhm, Friday? I just assumed you guys were doing something for the weekend, so I didn't worry so much. Is everything okay?" Kate frowned slightly.

"Honey, Y/n hasn't been okay for a while, and I really need you to tell me what's going on"

Kate's eyes dropped, "she made me promise"

Wanda placed a hand on Kate's shoulder, causing the young teen to look up at her. "Sometimes breaking a promise is okay. If there is something serious going on, I need to know about it. I promise nobody is in trouble, I'm just worried" Wanda assured the brunette whom she's known for many years.

Kate nodded, "I honestly thought she would've mentioned something by now" she admits, "the popular girls have been giving her a hard time for a while. At first it was just some petty stuff that didn't bother her but it's grown into something bigger and I've told her she needs to talk to you about but she just brushes me off and says she doesn't want to worry you" Kate explains with worry in her eyes.

Wanda's heart broke as she nodded at Kate's words, "Can you tell me everything?" Wanda asked, Kate nodded.

----

Tears streamed down your face as you held Sparky close, patting him in hopes it would bring you some form of comfort and help fight off the dark thoughts that your mind was screaming at you. It was a bad idea, and you knew it but you checked your Instagram to find an edited photo of you trending via mutuals. A poster of you was made as a joke, body shaming you and calling you unspeakable names in the poster, comments, and captions as those at school hadn't seen you in a few days, they assumed you'd caved and did what they'd been telling you to do.

You'd be lying if you said you hadn't thought about it, leaving your family behind and finally putting yourself put of this pain that kept you up late at night, the pain that made you grow distance with your family and friends, the pain the isolated you from the world day by day. Wanda came home to the sounds of loud sobs filling the home, her break broke even more. She wasted no time, throwing her handbag to the side and rushing up the stairs to your room.

Her rushing foot steps up the stairs took you by surprise and gave you little to no time to try and hide the tears that covered your face. Your mother didn't knock this time, she just welcomed herself into your room.

"Mom!" you frowned, looking away from her, "you're supposed to knock!" you added.

"Not when my baby needs me" she replied sitting beside you and wrapping her arms around you. You broke once more, trying to wiggle out of her arms but deep down you didn't want too. "It's okay honey, I know everything" your mother spoke softly which made you stop resisting her hold as you looked up at her.

"W-who told you? Did the school call?!" you asked in a worry. Your mother shook her head, tears filled her eyes at the sight of you, "Kate told me, I asked her too. I've known something hasn't been right for a few weeks but after seeing you this morning, I wasn't going to wait for you to come to me" she explained, pulling you closer to her and placing a kiss on the top of your head.

You finally allowed yourself to break once more, crying in your mother's arms. "I'm sorry" you sobbed. "Honey, look at me" Wanda gently brushed a lock of your hair behind your ear when you looked at her, "there's nothing you need to be sorry about. I'm sorry you felt like you couldn't come to me sooner, I wish you did darling. I don't want you to ever feel like you're alone or even for a second thing that what those horrible girls have been saying is truth. Kate showed me some of the things online, I have copies and I will be talking to the principle" your mother added.

"But mom, that'll just make things worse" you shook your head.

"Nobody has the right to make my baby feel like this! I do not care who they are, I'll do anything and everything I need too to make sure this never happens again" Wanda replied, letting you snuggle into her chest once again.

----

"Mrs Maximoff, it's lovely to see you" your principle smiled as she looked up from her desk to greet your mother. Wanda placed a small stack of print outs on the desk, "I wish this was a friendly visit" she replied.

"What is this?" Miss Sullivan grabbed the stack and began to look through it.

"I want the girls who are responsible for this to be punished fairly. This group of girls have been targeting my daughter for months and you nor the teachers have done anything to stop it!" Wanda explained.

"Mrs Maximoff, if things have gotten this bad, why wasn't this brought to my attention sooner?" Miss Sullivan looked up at your mother who just tilted her head slightly at the woman.

"I only found out all of this today! Y/n said she tried to report the bullying and harassment when things started to get worse, but her English teacher told her not to worry too much about it and that the girls would get bored soon enough. That was months ago and now my daughter is at home in tears and in a headspace, I cannot imagine my baby girl ever being in. I don't want to take things further but if this isn't shut down and dealt with quickly, I will get the police involved"

Miss Sullivan was taken back by Wanda's rage; she's never seen your mother so furious before. "We do not take bullying of any sort lightly, let me assure you the girls responsible for this behaviour will be dealt with but unfortunately there is nothing we can do about the online bullying. We can't control what students do outside of the school grounds, but I am confident with chat with all the girls, this will come to stop." She explains.

"Y/n will not be attending that chat, nor will she be returning to school until I'm assured that punishment has been dealt and listen to me carefully when I say this" Wanda looked your principle in the eyes, "if those girls or anybody else in this school hurts my daughter again, I will take higher action. You have my number; I expect to hear from you by the end of the day" Your mother replied before leaving Miss Sullivan's office before the woman could say another word.

Meanwhile, you were at home feeling a little better about explaining everything to your mother, she brought home your favorite take out for lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon with you, watching your favorite movies. Not another word was spoken about the situation that day but Wanda was determined to make sure this would never happen again and was pleased to receive a call from your principle as she waited for the boys to get let out of class. The girls giving you hell were to be spoken too and punished first thing on Tuesday morning.

#wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff x reader #fanfiction #marvel

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gatitties · 1 year

Note

Hi!! I recently found your blog and I love your writings! I wanted to know if you’d write skanks crew/the whitebeard pirates/and possibly the kid pirates if that’s not too much, which a crewmate who has really bad rejection sensitive dysphoria and feels bad because even when they logically know no one is mad at them they can’t help but break down at the tiniest critique or if their body language even suggests that there’s the slightest chance of them being upset about something? Thank you so much for your writings!!

─Red Hair Pirates, Whitebeard Pirates & Kid Pirates x reader

─Summary: You think that all you do is annoy but it's just your mind playing with you

─Warnings: none

Sure!! I'm glad you like the writings <3

─ It was probably Benn who noticed your behavior when they used harsher expressions towards you, even though it was not intended to offend, the simple serious tone made you feel like you were being scolded.

─ And indeed after that it became more noticeable that you were more sensitive to certain words, tones or movements, you seemed easily hurt by words, although no one in the crew would dare treat you badly.

─ After he mentioned it to Shanks, everyone seemed to notice that you were a little more sensitive, so they took care not to sound so serious around you.

─ Yassop was in charge of smiling at you whenever he spoke to you, Lucky Roux patted you gently on the back, Benn will relax his body around you, Shanks will take it as an excuse to drink more alcohol and not be so serious next to you.

─ But they know that they can't always be all smiles and love, although they make sure that it gets into your head that if they are ever serious or their body is tense, it's not for you, far from it, doesn't matter if you cause problems, you would never be a bother.

─ Although sometimes it's not their fault, there are many different types of people on the islands, good and bad people who can make you feel bad, if the intentions were to attack you they will have no mercy.

─ In any case, they try to make you overcome those pessimistic thoughts about being annoying or easily angering people, although they always cover your back, you never know when you have to function alone in certain social situations in which you cannot succumb to bad thoughts.

─ Whitebeard doesn't have a loving expression on his face most of the time, even if he's not angry with anyone in particular, his complexion and person intimidate you, it's impossible not to feel scolded when he's just talking normal.

─ Everyone can notice how you shrink in your place when they raise their voices more or their tone is serious, maybe Ace was the one you felt that way the least because he was always joking with you about anything.

─ Izo did his best to speak as softly as possible, Thatch was in charge of clarifying that his frown was not for you, but for a certain person who had broken into the kitchen again, Marco will pat your head to let you know that you're not being a bother.

─ As for Whitebeard, he told you that you couldn't think that everyone was upset with you, even less if they were part of your family now, he explained that not everyone has that pleasant aura but that despite that they weren't trying to be rude to you.

─ Of course no one on the ship would dare to make you feel bad even if you had gotten into trouble, they were there to help you with that.

─ Although they would have no mercy with people who really make fun of you or are aggressive with their words towards you.

─ They will definitely throw a party on your behalf more than once if they saw that you got discouraged thinking that they were being mean to you, they will let you know that they won't get mad at you for little things so you can rest and enjoy the party.

─ Calm down, inhale and exhale, this crew has managed to get on your nerves because they all seem so angry or tense, you don't stop thinking if they have really accepted you as one of the crew.

─ Of course no one will notice that you feel bad because they are simply that aggressive even though they don't intend to make you feel that way, perhaps the only one who noticed was Wire because he was more observant.

─ He did a little experiment and relaxed his body around you, he noticed how you didn't seem to have that constant sad face and he commented it to Kid.

─ Of course, Kid won't change his attitude too much, he just gave you a little talk about not being so weak and that if you were on his ship it was because everyone here accepted you as you are and for what you're worth.

─ The others didn't change much either, they just changed some ways of speaking that you could misinterpret, although Heat took it upon himself to tell you that you weren't a burden when you seemed to interpret it that way.

─ Killer always makes sure that they are not so hard on you on some occasions, the least he wants to do is make you feel bad because of idiots like them.

─ At least, their behavior improves a little to calm your conscience a bit, not as if you were one hundred percent calm but at least you wouldn't take each frown as if it were your fault.

#op #one piece #one piece x reader #headcannons #x reader #reader insert #request #whitebeard #whitebeard pirates #whitebeard pirates x reader #red hair pirates #red hair pirates x reader #kid pirates #kid pirates x reader #sfw #reader is not specified so...#fem reader #male reader #gn reader

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silverstagspirit · 1 year

Text

Survivor of Ramshackle - Part 3

Part three is here!

Warnings: corpses, burial, mild panic attack for Grim, angst.

PART 2 PART 4

---

Grim was attending another unbirthday party with Ace and Deuce. He did not like any of these snobby rules. Yet here he was. The very morning after Yuu left, no less. The one upside was that he was chowing down on some tarts that Trey baked. They tasted amazing. The strawberries felt like they were dancing on his tongue.

*Drop*

A sudden wave of dread washed over Grim. Causing him to freeze. His whole body was paralyzed. And his mind kept telling him that something was wrong. It was a terrible, horrible feeling of wrongwrongwrongWRONGWRONG-

"Oi! Grim!"

"Hnngh!?"

He was back at the unbirthday party. Only this time, Ace and Deuce were looking at him.

"What's the matter with you? It's not like you to drop food."

Grim looked down and saw the rest of his slice of tart abandoned on the grass.

"Oh no! My tart!"

"NO GRIM! What have we told you about eating stuff of the- and he's already munching on it."

"We should know better by now, Ace."

He looked at Grim eating his tart.

"Why did you even drop it in the first place? I thought you were like, super protective of food."

Grim stopped eating and looked up at him.

"I dunno. I just had this bad feeling wash over me, and I just couldn't move."

"What do you mean by "bad feeling"."

"I told you I don't know. But I just got a thought that something bad had happened. Something REALLY bad."

"I'm sure you're just remembering an assignment you forgot about, and now you know that Trien's going to have your hide."

"Am not!"

The day would go on normal from there. But Grim would still have questions as to what that feeling was.

Yuu was bumping into things as they floated. Learning how to use this new form was tricky. Having magic now (or at least something akin to it) would be a big thing to adjust to. For now, they stayed on the ground. Thier body feeling lighter than ever.

'I wonder if I can run', they thought.

They picked up the pace a little bit. When they thought they could handle more, they went a bit faster. This continued until they had broken into a full-blown sprint.

'That's weird. I've never been able to run this fast before.'

Yuu began to sprint faster and faster until even the wind couldn't catch up to them.

'Oh my gosh! I feel alive!'

Taking it to the next level, they jumped up. They flew half a dozen feet into the air. This made them panic.

"Wooaoah!!"

'I've never jumped this high before!'

They thought they would collide with the ground but were surprised when they didn't feel anything. When they opened their eyes, they were still floating in the air. They were confused, but when they imagined themselves floating safely to the ground, it actually happened.

'Neat,' Yuu thought as they stepped forward experimentally.

Yuu looked back at the phantom behind them.

It was burying bodies. The middle head using it's snout as a shovel while the left head picked up the corpses and put them in the holes. The third head was also helping with bodies, but it was not as good at it as the left head.

Yuu looked at the phantom doing its job. Before they could take revenge, they needed to have this creature on their side. They couldn't go anywhere without it.

So they walked up to it and started helping them bury bodies.

As they were doing this, they started to wonder, why was the phantom doing this? These things are dangerous, evil beings. So why wasn't this thing destroying everything?

They said that phantoms came from when a Mage was using too much magic on top of feeling intense negative emotion. Said negative emotions manifested as that phantom. This phantom formed when Yuu was experiencing extreme grief at the loss of their race.

That and there was nothing left here for them to destroy.

So Yuu just never said a word to it and helped them bury the dead.

Yuu helped their phantom with the burials all day. When the sun went down, that was when they stopped to rest. After all, you can't stay up past sundown when there is no electricity for light.

When they began falling asleep, they noticed that the extra long sleeves they wore would wind around their waist and tighten like a straight jacket. This felt like a hug, so they didn't mind. And it helped them sleep better.

Waking the next morning, when the sun rose, they set out with their phantom to continue the burials.

Body after body

Person after Person

Yuu felt numb whilst doing all this. But they still did it. Burying people they have known for years. People they didn't know. People who had barely begun life.

This went on for some time. They stopped counting the days. It must have been almost a week by now.

Yuu had thought about naming the phantom. They couldn't just keep calling them by 'their phantom'.

"Hey you!"

The phantom turned its heads towards them with the middle one snarling.

"Can I give you a name?"

That made the creature go quiet and look at them with interest. Yuu searched through the mental list of names they had made.

"How about Ragnarok?"

That made the creature growl at them displeased. They thought of another one.

"Ghidorah?"

Once again, the creature growled displeased. Yuu was actually kind of relieved at this. Because they weren't exactly fond of that name either.

"Doom?"

The phantom made a crackling-chittering noise at this. Yuu thought they made it mad, so they closed their eyes, waiting for pain to come. Instead, they felt something wet and squishy brush over them. Yuu opened their eyes and saw that they were being licked by the middle head. They seemed pleased with that name. But Yuu was not quite finished yet. They still needed to give the three of them separate names.

"Okay, so that will be the name for all of you, but what about each of you?"

Doom's heads looked at each other.

They went through the list again. If Doom did not like Ghidorah, then they probably won't like Ichi, Ni, and Kevin either. They still offered it just in case. The two Phantom heads did not like those names for them. However, the third head on the right started licking them.

"You like the name Kevin?"

It chittered in response.

"So that settles your name. But what about you two?" Yuu thought over possible names. "Ying and Yang sound good." Doom's heads let out a satisfied huff.

"Cool! So that settles things."

They would need some more bonding before they could get Doom fully on their side. But they were willing to wait.

---

Sorry for the wait. It took me a while to figure out the plot for this part. I apologize for any mistakes. Thanks for reading.

Taglist: @kami-kun1003 @lemonandlime22

#twisted wonderland #twst #yuu #overblot yuu #angst #twisted wonderland angst #twst angst #overblot

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wowowwild · 2 months

Text

Klavier gets a vague text from Apollo on his day off asking him to meet in the park. Whatever could be the reason?

Klavier woke up to a day like any other. It was a Saturday, so he wouldn't have to go to work, or do much of anything really. He would lounge around with his brother's dog, he hadn't even known his brother had a dog before... but he did and now that dog was technically Klavier's dog. Vongole was sweet and friendly, and Klavier had always been a dog person, and though it had been 6 months already, it would likely be a little longer before he could think of her as his own dog. It still sometimes felt like he was just dog sitting and his brother would come back any day. He could tell Vongole felt the same. But Kristoph wasn't coming back. He was going to continue sitting in a cell on death row until the state appointed reaper came to harvest what was left of his brother's soul.

An hour or so into lounging, Klavier received a text. Herr Forehead! Now there was someone who could always brighten Klavier's day. His courtroom rival always had such interesting reactions and expressions, it was hard not to enjoy his presences. And of course his genuineness and intensity were hard to ignore. Plus they sought the same thing in the courtroom, even if they had basically nothing in common outside of it... Right, the text.

HF: Are you doing anything today?

That was unexpected. Usually it was Klavier trying to see the attorney outside of work. And he had yet to be successful.

KG: Is this your way of asking me out on a date? ;)

The response was almost immediate.

HF: NO!!!

Klavier chuckled. He could imagine the chords of steel and how Apollo would blush in response.

HF: I wouldn't ask someone out over text, that's just tacky. HF: I was just wondering.

A multi-texter then. Klavier filed that knowledge away in the folder of absolutely useless information he knew about people. If only his brain would use that space to remember the things he actually needed to.

KG: Did you need something? I am always available for you, Schatzi.

Was he maybe laying it on a little thick? Sure. But he was Klavier Gavin, after all.

HF: I don't NEED anything. Why are you being so weird?

… That wasn't the response he expected. He had thought that his text was totally in character- Ah, maybe that was it. Herr Forehead had never been fond of his 'character', and he had a habit of seeing right through it, though he was pretty sure it had something to do with the intense staring, so he wasn't sure how that had worked over text.

KG: I am just trying to ask what exactly you are asking. HF: I asked if you're doing anything today, but I'm guessing you're not since you love telling people all about your plans and all you've done so far is dodge the question. Meet me at People Park. KG: That's a bold assumption.

He waited a minute, but Apollo didn't respond again.

KG: You didn't even tell me what time.

Again, Klavier did not get a response. He groaned.

KG: Can I bring Vongole? HF: Sure. KG: Oh, so that you'll respond to.

You know, Klavier was getting a little annoyed by this point. Not only was Forehead being mysterious and quite frankly rude, Klavier was going to have to go incognito which meant dressing plainly, and Apollo had never seen him dress this way. It was a tragedy, honestly. He should have expected it though, since when he woke up this morning his coffee machine had broken. Maybe he could still wear something cute.

Looking through his clothes, Klavier found a lavender sweater that used to be his mother's and some black ripped skinny jeans Daryan had made him buy. He hadn't worn either in ages, but they would do nicely. Despite being half way through April, it was still a bit chilly. It was... difficult to put the pants on, not because they didn't fit, but because he could remember so vividly the day they had been bought. A lot had changed since then. Too much. Too little. The sweater was a comfort, though. If his mother were there, she would know just what to say, just what to do. But she wasn't, so Klavier just finished getting ready and called for Vongole. All he had to do was say 'park' and she was ready to go.

When he arrived at People Park, he put his 'please don't recognize me' baseball cap on. He had elected to leave his hair down and free in hopes that it would further distance himself from his public persona. It wasn't hard to find Apollo, his red sweatshirt immediately drawing Klavier's eye. He was sitting on a bench, watching the birds, or at least looking in the sky in their direction. It was always hard for Klavier to tell what Apollo was thinking.

“Herr Forehead!”

Apollo turned to look at him, staring again, appraising.

“Uh, hiya. You're, umm... Hi.” “Ja, hallo.” “Right. Oh!” Vongole jumped up onto the bench next to him. “Well hello there, princess. It's been a while, hasn't it.”

Apollo Justice just called his dog 'princess'. That was adorable. But... they'd met before? How... interesting, that Kristoph had introduced Apollo to his dog, but never spoke about his brother even once. Whatever. It didn't matter now.

“Prosecutor Gavin?” “Hmm?” “Are you ok?” His face must have been showing his thoughts. Unfortunately Herr Forehead had always been good at reading him. “Ja, I'm fine. But call me Klavier, bitte. This is hardly the courtroom.” “Oh, um... ok. Klavier.”

Apollo said his name like it was a piece of testimony he wasn't sure about. Klavier didn't know how to feel about that.

“W-well, then you have to call me Apollo!” Apollo suddenly burst out. “No more Forehead business.” Klavier blinked, paused, and chuckled. “Of course. Apollo, then.”

Apollo's cheeks flushed a bit, but Klavier couldn't tell what the source was. Perhaps embarrassment at his outburst? It's not like Klavier minded. It was all part of that unique Forehead charm. Apollo.

“So what did you have planned now that you've drawn me out here? Nothing nefarious, I hope.” “Wh- No! Why would you even ask that,” Apollo huffed. Klavier was about to apologize, but Apollo continued, “I just um... I dunno.” “Now see, the thing is, I don't think that's true. I think you just don't want to tell me.”

Apollo looked at him and squinted his eyes, possibly trying to guess what Klavier had figured out, which was genuinely nothing. Apollo was a mystery to him still, Klavier just knew that he didn't do things without reason, or maybe reason wasn't quite correct, considering the blunders he frequently made in court. No, intent was more like it. Apollo had some intent inviting him out.

“You know, I think I've got you all figured out,” Klavier lied. He knew Apollo would know. “You've finally succumbed to my charms and were hoping to make a confession in the place that we first met. How romantic!” Apollo glared at him. “Get real, Gavin.” “Then perhaps the defence has an alternate theory?” “... Nope.”

Well that was rude. Now Klavier had a lot of traits, some good, some... less good, but quite possibly the most intense was that Klavier Gavin was a nosy bitch and he needed to know! Apollo had never invited him anywhere before, especially not like this. And here he was just sitting on a park bench petting Klavier's dog and giving her pet names like they hung out all the time! Sure, he had felt a sort of connection with the other man during their court battles, and he hoped that Apollo had felt it too, but they weren't close by any stretch of the word. In fact he had been pretty certain up until that text that Apollo wasn't very fond of him at all.

“You're thinking too much. Do you want to feed the ducks?” “I- Hä?” “They're really friendly, though now that I think about it, Vongole might chase them. We could walk around the pond, though. Maybe she's mellowed out since then.” Vongole certainly had not mellowed out, or if she had, she must have been a terror before, but Klavier thought that maybe if he said yes he might get to find out what he wanted to know. “Ja, a walk sounds nice.” “Cool.”

Vongole did try to chase the ducks, but funnily enough it was Apollo who got her to calm down.

“You're very good with her.” “Ah, um...” Apollo winced and looked to the side. “If I mimic him well enough she listens. She always behaved for him, but I think someone taught her to do whatever she wanted when he wasn't there.” “Ah...” What else could he say? He had to imagine it wasn't a fun thing for Apollo to do. “Was... was he a good mentor?” “The best,” Apollo replied without hesitation. “Was he a good brother?” “Ja... Ja, the best.” “Too bad he's a piece of shit.”

Klavier froze. Apollo was always a little out of pocket, but, well, how was anyone supposed to respond to that. Once Klavier found his wits he looked to Apollo who was similarly frozen in place. Vongole had sat down on the trail between them looking very pleased with herself. And Klavier laughed. He laughed hard and with his whole body. It felt like years since he had laughed so hard, though really it might have been. By the time he was done he was crouched down and wheezing, tears streaming from his eyes.

“Ja, too bad. Mein arschgeige Bruder had to go and lie and cheat and kill and my best friend followed suit. Mein Gott they are assholes.” Well Apollo looked worried now, but Klavier felt great. “You know, when I was little he used to sing me back to sleep when I had a nightmare, and if it was a bad one he would let me sleep in his bed. And whenever I would get scraped up doing something stupid, which believe it or not, happened often,” he heard Apollo snort at that, “he would bandage me up and scold me for being so reckless. No matter how many times I did, or how stupid the stunt he would still help me. Even just a few years ago I was worried about him so I asked him to help me with a cut I got and he still did. I'm not certain when exactly it started, but I had noticed by the time I turned 16 that he was more closed off, more paranoid. I tried my best, and sometimes I still feel like I should have tried harder, but how could I have known? And why would he ever have talked to me about it? I wasn't just a kid, I was a kid he raised. He needed someone else and there was no one. It always was just us against the world. Of course I made friends, whatever good that did me, but he never did. I'm glad he had Vongole. You know after all of the times I had asked for one as a kid, that bastard finally went and got a dog as soon as I left. He was right not to let me have one, but still. And every year for my birthday-” Klavier froze. His birthday. He looked up to Apollo who nodded with a sad smile. “Every year for my birthday which is today, he would bake me Oma's topfentorte,” Klavier spoke slowly. “He wasn't perfect, but he was my brother. Still is, I guess.”

Klavier got the distinct feeling that if Apollo didn't stop him, he would just keep going until he'd spilled his guts all over the path. He also had a feeling that Apollo wouldn't stop him.

“And then there was Daryan. Whenever Kristoph and I fought, Daryan was always in my corner. And, I mean, Daryan was an asshole in the first place, but he was my asshole. My best friend. And I would have done just about anything for him. And I still have no idea why he did it, because he won't tell me, and if he did it for a good reason, I don't see why he wouldn't. I also don't see why he would have gotten a child involved. The only thing he will tell me is how pissed he is that I didn't help him get out of it, as if that's something anyone who knows me would ever think I'd do. Maybe, maybe, if it had just been the smuggling and his intentions were good, but how could he ever think I would help a murderer?”

Tears were welling in his eyes again, so he tilted his head up in an effort to not let them fall. It was bad enough he had just dumped all of this on Apollo, someone he couldn't even really be considered friends with, he didn't want to start crying in front of him, too.

“You don't have to do that.”

Klavier looked at Apollo in confusion.

“I mean, obviously if it makes you uncomfortable, then you can do whatever, I mean you can anyway, but there's no one else here. It's just me. And Vongole, but I don't think that's a problem for you. So... you can cry if you need to. It fucking sucks what they put you through. And it's not fair because you're so good. And I mean no one should have to go through that, but especially you. You're so kind and determined and strong. I don't like that they've made you second guess yourself, and I don't like that they've damaged your sense of security. You deserve good things. If you can't have them... Um, but, yeah. There are still people who care about you, you know?” “I... I'm beginning to see that.” “Yeah, um, actually, if you wanted, Trucy kind of prepared this whole thing back at the Agency, she's not going to be upset if you're not feeling up to it, but she invited a couple of people. She's going to call me when it's all ready.” “Ah, I'm... You all are too kind.” “It's nothing, really. They're like that with everyone.” “And you? I seem to recall you being rather prickly with most people.” “I'm not prickly, people are just annoying...” Apollo grumbled. Klavier laughed. “And yet you feel for them all the same.”

Apollo huffed. They stood in silence, watching the ducks, Vongole watching a little more intently than the humans beside her.

“So what about you?” “Me?” “I've just poured my heart out to you, do you have anything to get off your chest?” “... Nope. I'm fine.” “Really,” Klavier gave him his best judgemental look. “Yep.” “So there's absolutely nothing you would benefit from sharing?” “Let's put it this way, the only reason anyone knows my birthday is because they needed a birth certificate to hire me and the only reason anyone knows my favorite color is because I wear it everyday. I am content to live out my days with my closest companion being my cat.” “... You have a cat?” “... Maybe...” “That's it, I have a new goal in life.” “Oh, goody,” Apollo deadpanned. “I'm going to figure you out.” “Good luck with that.” “Thank you, I will take it.” “Wait, no, I didn't actually mean-” “It's too late. I have it now.” “Well bad luck then! Bad luck!” “No, I think you can keep that one.” “No! Take the bad luck! You already have the good luck so it will just balance out!” “I would argue that in general I have exceedingly bad luck.” “... Ok, you can keep the good luck, but use it on a case or something.” “The case of Apollo Justice.” “No, a different one.” “Nuh-uh, sorry.” “Did you just 'nuh-uh' me?” “What're you gonna do about it, Forehead?” Klavier grinned Apollo grinned right back at him. “Hey! I'll show you what I'm gonna do, Gavin-”

They were cut off by Guitar's Serenade playing out. That was probably for the best since Vongole was latching on to their excitement, and she was a menace while excited.

“Oh, that's Trucy.” He answered the phone, which looked absolutely ancient in Klavier’s opinion. A flip phone? Really? “Hey, Truce... Woah, calm down I already told him... Why wouldn't I? Not everyone likes surprises... I'll ask him then! Do you like surprises?” Oh, that one was for him. “Ah, sometimes. In this case I'm glad you told me, though.” “Did you hear that? … No, how do I put it on speaker? … Ok, well he said he was glad I told him... Well, yeah- Actually, wait, he never gave me an answer. Do you want to go? To the thing Trucy did- I know it's called a party,” he grumbled the last bit into his phone. “Ja. I think that will be nice.” “He said yes... No, I'm not going to tell him that, tell him yourself when we get there... Ack! I'm hanging up now, bye!” “Umm...” “Ok, let's go. She'll have my head if we take too long.” “What was that last bit about?” “Absolutely nothing.” “Fine, fine. I'll just ask Fraulein Magician when we get there.” “You can ask.” “You don't think I'll get an answer?” “Nope.” “I bet I can.” “I bet you can't.” “You're on.”

Apollo sighed and shook his head, a small smile still gracing his features.

“Oh, before that...” “Yeah?” Apollo's full attention was right back on him, not that Klavier was sure it had ever left. “If you ever need to have a breakdown with someone other than your cat... I don't believe in transactional care, but it would make us even.” Klavier flicked his bangs. “And I wouldn't mind.” “... Yeah. Ok.”

Klavier still had the feeling that if at all possible, Apollo would never follow through, but he had done all he could to make it an option.

“So what kind of cake did they get me?” “How am I supposed to know? My job was to get you there and that's it.” Klavier chuckled. “They wouldn't tell you, would they.” “'Wouldn't you like to know, Apollo?'” Apollo did his best Trucy impression if Trucy was also incredibly annoyed by the things she was saying.

Klavier laughed. He wasn't sure exactly how Apollo felt, but as far as he was concerned, Klavier had walked into that park lonely and out with a friend.

#ace's fic #ace attorney #apollo justice #klavier gavin #i'm going to tag it bc it can be read this way ->#klapollo #vongole #i hope everything came across how i wanted it to. sometimes i think i leave a little too much up to interpretation.#anyway i hope y'all enjoy my bday gift from me to me

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smolbeanie1221 · 3 months

Text

Being aroace spec can be so confusing

My first relationship was with a girl, and I kinda just went along with what she wanted to do bc I figured, well she’s enjoying it so I must be enjoying this too… I didn’t mind anything we did, I just didn’t care or think about it.

Second relationship was with a guy, and at this point my mom had made me feel incredibly guilty for having been with a girl before, joys of being afab in a religious family and the first person you date is a girl. And he was… definitely pushy. Again tho, I just went along with it bc I figured, well he wants to do this and I just have to be bi so there’s a chance I’ll be a normal girl and end up with a guy someday so I have to be enjoying this too… Yeah I definitely was feeling a lot of pressure there.

At this point, I had not felt actual sexual attraction towards anyone, and I don’t think I was ever romantically in love with either of those people.

Third relationship was with a guy who was also one of my best friends. We were kinda dating for a summer and it was a better relationship than the previous, but in the end we went back to just being friends and it was better that way.

At this point, I’m very confused, but I discover this wonderful thing called ASEXUALITY. And everything suddenly made sense. Except for one small thing.

Fourth relationship that never actually became a relationship. I was in some type of love with a different best friend, I would say demi/sapio-romantic (romantically attracted because of both an emotional and mind connection basically). But he was definitely aromantic, but allosexual. I was romantically attracted to him, but asexual… right??? For years I was confused because I wanted an actual official relationship and I would’ve been more than okay with sleeping with him. But… that can’t be sexual attraction?? I’m ace?? Right?? Ahhhhhh. Yeah so I was very confused around him. Turns out, I’m actually demi-ace, but I didn’t realize that until years later after I lost contact with him, and I’ve been too scared to reach out to him lol. Anyways I have a gf now anyways. And that’s been the only time that the demi part of my ace-ness has come out, pun intended lol.

Actual fourth relationship. Definitely romantic and completely non-sexual. Really good relationship for over a year, and that partner helped me become more comfortable with my gender identity and we both were ace and it was really good for a while. It just wasn’t a relationship that was built to grow, so eventually we drifted apart.

Fifth relationship. A non-romantic and non-sexual relationship. Lasted less than a year, but made me realize that I was also aro spec bc being in a relationship that did not have romantic or sexual expectations felt so comfortable and right.

Sixth relationship. The one that broke my heart. My other best friend in that time frame, we were incredibly close and bonded over everything, from our mental health struggles to books to sheetz runs to everything. Eventually we officially were boyfriends in a qpr. They were my number one person for so long, my life partner. There was never anything romantic or sexual, but we loved each other deeply. Until life happened and they changed and I had to break up with them and got my heart broken.

All of these took place from late middle school to early college by the way. I went from, oh I’m a girl and I like girls! To, shit I can’t like girls so I have to like boys too bc I have to be bisexual at least. To, ohhhh so I can actually not want to sleep with people and that’s normal too?? So I’m nonbinary and asexual? That makes sense. To, why why if I’m ace would I be more than okay sleeping with him??? To, huh i think I’m aro spec too. To, okay I’m definitely aro spec, probably demi-aro technically and… probably demi-ace too? Yeah that’s probably right.

At the same time, I didn’t feel as tho romantic was necessarily the right word for me. I mean I’ve experienced romantic attraction I think, but it usually felt kinda forced by either my partner’s expectations or by society’s expectations. I think that’s why my non-romantic non-sexual relationships felt so comfortable to me, bc there wasn’t any of that expectation. I have no freaking idea what romantic attraction really feels like to me. I’ve experienced it I think (??), but for several reasons including outside expectations and general-emotional-processing-issues at those times, I have a hard time knowing any emotions I was feeling at that time in my life. The “butterflies” and “spacey eyed” and “gooey lovey” feelings I felt could’ve been romantic, sure. But they could’ve also been someone who was heavily emotionally repressed all their life just being happy to have someone that they loved who loved them back and getting excited over how cute they were and enjoying their rambles and just generally being happy with someone and also liking some physical contact like hugs and cuddles bc physical touch is their love language with everyone and they like hugs with everyone they care about, and it wasn’t necessarily romantic…..

I get a similar feeling to “butterflies” when I’m nervous about something or excited to see someone in my family I haven’t seen for a while bc I love them and am excited and happy. Not necessarily a “romantic indicator”. I get “spacey eyed” all the time, and usually it’s bc I’m obsessing over my latest fanfic idea. Again, not a “romantic indicator”. I get “gooey lovey” feelings when I see an adorable animal, when someone in my family or close friend group does something really sweet for me or I’m really happy to see them or I get a hug from anyone I love. Once again, not a “romantic indicator”.

Because of all this, I have settled on alterous as my general term for the type of attraction I have with people I have or wanted to date. Alterous to me means this: “I want to be with you and talk with you and do everything with you, I just don’t care how it looks for us or how we categorize ourselves.” I would also attach romance-inclined or sex-inclined as a prefix type thing when applicable. Fourth relationship that never actually happened? Sex and romance-inclined alterous. Fourth actual relationship? Romance-inclined alterous. This doesn’t actually mean that I will feel romantic or sexual attraction or interest or desire with someone, but I may be inclined to want aspects of that type of relationship and I might have those actual feelings from time to time.

The partner that I have now, seventh relationship for those counting lol. This relationship feels stronger and better than any that I’ve had in the past. There’s no pressure or expectation about sex, and she knows that I’m on the aro spectrum, so there’s no romantic pressure either. At the same time, I love the romantic type aspects we have, but I can’t with any certainty say that my feelings are romantic, or at least not romantic all the time. But I feel about her differently than I have about anyone else. There’s several possible reasons, but one main thing I think is that I’m now in a healthier place emotionally so I can better feel and process all my emotions, including my feelings towards her.

Anyways, at this point I would say I’m aroace spec. Demi-altrose (alterous, romantic, sexual).

#smol bean thoughts #smol bean rambles #aspec #aroace #aromantic #asexual #alterous attraction #demisexual #demi ace #demiromantic #demi aro #demi rose #demi alterous #demi altrose

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asexualaromanticblog · 6 months

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Before Realising My AroAce Sexuality

I want to make one thing very clear before anyone starts reading. Though I identify as being asexual and aromantic, I can only talk about my own story because it is the only one I really understand. And I know that all of us have a different story. We all walk a different path. We all react differently to the obstacles placed in out way. But I can only talk about myself and how I, and some people I know who are also aro-ace, have been affected by their sexuality. I hope sharing my story, as well as my opinions and advice is of any use to you.

I also want all my readers to feel free about contacting me if they want their story to be published or simply understood, EVEN IF YOU AREN'T AROMANTIC OR ASEXUAL YOURSELVES. I will handle everything which any of you send me with the utmost discretion and to the word referring to your wishes.

I am a British demigirl teenager of 14 years of age who has been living in Spain since the young age of about 4 or 5. I am currently undergoing my freshman year of highschool. The presence of the doubt that I was asexual always dug at the back of my mind, but I liked to think I wasn't. I was SCARED: I didn't want to be lonely for the rest of my life. In fact, I was obsessed with the idea that I would find love eventually.

I realised I didn't like boys or men when I was about 10 or 11 years old. I simply did not feel romantically attracted by them at all. Yes, I found some boys attractive, and some actors too, but I found I was not able to form romantic attractions towards them. What's more, the people who I had previously 'liked' (obvoiusly I was like 11 so never anything truly serious) had always been very good friends of mine. Such close friends that our friendship almost seemed like the celibate and completely nonsexual relationships the popular kids were forming between each other.

I knew that gay people existed. I'd never been against it. From the moment I realised being gay was a THING, I'd supported it, even if I didn't feel that way myself.

So I went and thought: hmmm... I don't like guys. That must mean I like girls. Now, what girl do I like?

So I found a pretty girl, VERY popular (actually, I remember quite clearly her name was Inés). And I decided I had a crush on her.

Then, 7th grade, I changed schools. And I lost contact with all my friends (including Inés). I found a girl, a Russian called Maria, and decided I liked her. We dated, some months later. But we never DID anything. Max was holding hands or kissing each others cheeks. Then we broke up on rather bad terms., Even now, almost a year and a half later, we don't talk. I was in the same room as her for 15 mins and has an anxiety attack. I must admit, I hold a massive amount of trauma from that relationship still.

I had never made out with anyone and never really felt the need to, even though by 8th grade most of my friends had. I felt like I fancied another of my friends, Sarah, but when I confessed my feelings I got rejected. I was not too sore about it, surprisingly. I felt more like my pride was hurt than that my heart was broken.

And then, something magical happened.

In June of 2023, at 14 years of age, I watched Heartstopper in a day with a friend.

I fell in love with it.

And then, on the 3rd of August, when season 2 was released, I watched the entirety of it at night on my phone. And that was when I discovered asexuality.

More later!

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steamystrangerfics · 2 years

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Broken

Summary: You and Joe (Quinn) have been friends for a long time, he knows you have troubles with your self-image. He will always be there to take care of you. Always.

Warnings: self-image, fluff, talk of masturbation. (Literally nothing too much).

A/n: Okay I cried while writing this at points. This hit me hard. Idk why I made it so very personal, but I still feel it works for others. I just woke up today and was like I need to write this as an outlet (asexual people are people too.) even though I don’t mention the reader is ace and that the fact the not all aces are even this way- I’m gonna stop just read and enjoy.

Joe Quinn was the newest member of the hit Netflix’s series Stranger Things, you couldn’t believe it, your best childhood friend. You were so proud of him, but you missed him so much whenever he was gone working on his acting classes, you two had been through so much together. “(y/n), we are getting a break since this season is done and I get to come home. I was thinking,” Joe paused to take in a heavy breath like he was about to say his last words, “let’s get together at your place, like old times. After I see family, of course. I’ve missed you.” You held the phone close to your cheek hearing those words roll of his lips, “Yes,” you muttered, "yes of course. I’d love to see you, Joe.” With those word you both hung up, your head now spinning as you thought of the last time you saw Joe, it had been so long, but you remember it like it was yesterday. You closed your eyes as you imagined him right there, in your room, laughing- he has the perfect laugh, his eyes- he has the perfect eyes.

You wanted to try something, so you began trailing your hands over your body at the thought of Joe but stopped short when it didn’t do anything for you. Thoughts of him made you want him to be there forever – cuddling, kissing, embracing you, holding you, and never letting go – but why was your body broken, you thought.

A few days later Joe arrived, you weren’t sure whether you were pleased or upset anymore with the way your heart felt. Joe looked more stunning than ever; he was wearing a plaid button up top that was tucked into his denim pants. Why do I keep looking at my best friend like this, you thought as you shook your head. “Are you going to let me in or keep me in the doorway all night?” his lips curling into a playful smirk. He waltzed into your living room and made himself comfortable on your sofa, gesturing for you to come sit next to him, Why the hell am are you so nervous? He brushed a baby hair out of your face like he always used to, his hands were cold to the touch, “This feels nice, being back here again,” Joe’s voice was a soft whisper even though there was no one else in the house. He pulled you into a hug. You nestled you head into the crook of his neck, the smell of him was intoxicating to say the least. You could feel his hand tracing circles on your back as your stomach dropped, you had thoughts of the other night and roughly pulled away. “Let’s go out back to the pool,” you shouted harshly, not realizing how demanding that sounded.

Joe had brought swim trunks assuming you’d end up here, you two always did. It took you a long time to get changed into your suit. You had a light pink tankini top with white floral patterns and black swim trunks that came done to just about your knee. You’ve never been comfortable about your body, even though Joe told you over and over there was nothing wrong with you. He really was the greatest friend, you stood there tearing up as you looked in the full-length mirror, your mind couldn’t ush out the lies this time. After a little while of waiting with his feet in the pool, Joe knew something was wrong, so he made his way to your room to check on you. He found you in a ball on your floor in tears in your swimsuit as he ran in.

“(y/n)! (y/n), talk to me! What’s wrong? What happened?” Joe ran to your side, sat down on the floor, and lifted you up to lay your head on his lap. All you could get out was jibberish between the heavy breathing as Joe held you tight in his arms. He rocked you, talked to you, and pet your hair until you steadied your breathing and wanted to talk to him. You sat there in silence for a minute, head now on his chest and breathing along with him, thinking if you wanted to start the conversation that might hurt your friendship. “Joe,” you look up at your best friend, “have you ever felt,” you didn’t know how to say it without crying again, “broken?”

His hands cupped your chin to bring your face even with his, “everyone feels broken once in a while, baby, that doesn’t mean you have to fight these battles alone,” his other hand moved to her shoulder, ‘baby’ sounded nice coming from him, “you know I’ll fight any demons alongside of you. I’ve always told you that.” Joe was peering into your tear-filled eyes, he meant every word from the bottom of his big, dumb, mushy heart. You decided he was the best, and only, person you might be able to talk to about this.

“Joe,” you sat up, you couldn’t be on him while you asked this, “do you ever touch yourself?” You covered your eyes with your hands, feeling your face heat up. Peeking out you see Joe laughing at you, “it’s called masturbating, babe. I’d be lying if I said no,” his voice was cocky as he puffed out his chest like his just told you he was superman. You looked down at the floor below you, playing with the carpet, refusing to make eye contact, “what does it feel like, Joe?” Your voice was delicate, and it made Joe see that you weren’t joking around. He tried to lean over to you, but you pulled away, you’ve never moved away from him before. With a moment to think he finally answered, “it—well kind of—“, you gazed at him now with your doe eyes, “I think it feels different for everyone, (y/n). For me, it feels like a release, like something I wanted that I’ve finally given myself – but in my mind. Does that make sense?”

You started to giggle at his answer, “no, not even a bit”. Joe was still for a second, biting his bottom lip, then he spoke up, “Have you never- “, to be honest he was always very curious. He couldn’t pinpoint when exactly he started looking at you differently. You searched his eyes for comfort as he took your hand, this time letting him touch you, “I never- nothing never-“, you mange to stammer out a few words before he interrupts by reassuring you that it is nothing to be ashamed of. You place your head back on his chest feeling his heartbeat once again, “who would want to be with someone like me?”.

“I would,” leans to look her in the eyes. You sit up slowly never letting you eyes leave Joe’s, “But-“. “No buts, beautiful, I’ve loved you since we were young, and I will never let you feel broken. I want you in every way possible.” Joe stands to his feet taking your hands in his and guiding you over to the bed. Sitting you down at the edge of the bed, taking your hand and putting it on his bare chest. “You don’t have to feel anything sexual to do anything sexual. And we don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.” You nodded your head as your hand traveled down to his sternum, eyes interlocked with Joe’s.

Joe moved in close placing a small angel-like kiss on your cheek, then on your lips. It was just as you imagined kissing your best friend, comforting yet indulging. Joe reached down and played with the hem of your swimsuit top before removing it completely. You pulled away from the kiss, scared of being this exposed in front of a guy – in front of Joe. “You’re beautiful, never forget that, darling” he says as his smile melts your heart, somehow all your insecurities melt with it as you go back into the kiss, this time with more passion.

He glides his tongue on your bottom lip, asking for entrance, to which you give him. The kiss become deeper and sloppy as he now presses you back onto the bed making sure you are alright with every move. He straddles your thigh as you play with his curly brown hair, bodies pressed against each other. You can feel him reaching up to grab your breasts, you jump at the touch, “I’ll stop,” he cooed in an apologetic voice. “No”, you placed his hands back where they were, “I want you to touch me, Joe”, you closed you eyes to focus on his touch. His hands were warm now on your skin as he squeezed your breast. He pulled from the kiss to place his lips on your nipple, kissing and biting you. All you could think was that you wouldn’t want anyone else he with you. Still playing with his luscious hair, you can feel his bulge forming in his swim trunk on your thigh. You decide to lift your thigh rubbing against him as he groans. “Never leave me, Joe.” you whimper into his neck as you bring him close. “Never, (y/n). Never”.

#joe quinn #joseph quinn #joseph quinn x reader #joe quinn x reader

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moonbiscuitsims · 3 months

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Thanks for tagging!! @cowplantrelish I love this shit

3 FAVOURITE SHIPS: (Cyberpunk 2077) I have had a long time itch of romancing V and Takemura (tbh don't care if fem or male but never played male, with male V ill prob try kerry because I dislike panam) but mainly if he would decide to abandon his loyalty to Arasaka and become a nomad with V which should have been an option <3 especially could work with corpo V imo. (SIMS) I oddly ship Don Lothario and Bella Goth. Imo, and don't get me wrong Don is sleazy, but I like the theories that state that Bella didn't really love Mortimer that much...it actually states this in sims 2 psp; but I get people who like to see them as hopelessly in love. I feel like Don messes around with everyone but if he could get Bella he wouldn't care about the others as much anymore. They might even have an open relationship as both are romance sims. I have also paired Vidcund and Nina and they work extremely well somehow, both are shy sims. Where Nina doesn't commit due to being quite poly, Vidcund is focused on his science and doesn't care. Aside from that I also find tons of different naruto ships interesting, because it isn't based on romance at all I think an AU with romance could be anything. LAST SONG: Mägo de Oz - El cantar de la luna oscura

youtube

LAST MOVIE: I rewatched fellowship of the ring last night CRAVING: I really want ramen or sushi. CURRENTLY READING: I've started a fic where Kurama is human, it isn't my fav but I love the concept of a human Kurama so I'm making him in the sims so I can imagine him better in my head cause I didnt like fanarts I found. FAVOURITE COLOUR: black in terms of clothes or usual preference but i love all colours (except sims 3 baby poop) RELATIONSHIP STATUS: single for a long time, I don't have interest in romance. Not sure if i'm ace or arom or not (or perhaps demi) cause i've had past partners but they felt forced in a way and lacking in actual connection. I love my platonic relationships. LAST THING I GOOGLED: a broken missing mesh for some kitsune tails for my kurama sim but before that i googled the japanese number system lol. Im trying to learn it on duolingo and i didnt understand why there are so many variations. CURRENT OBSESSION: stardew valley but i think it's fading away cause im a bit stuck with the desert mines and the island. I tried to make my farm look really cool and it well... could be better...I like my house tho, im saving the last room for later.

Tagging (pls no pressure to participate!): @hamsterbellbelle @arachnophobic-larantula @cryptiam @siliconesims @miss-moe @temperedsims @skaterboi108 @nefarrilou

#moonbiscuitsims #simblr #tag game #Youtube

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starkstruck27 · 11 months

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Here's that ficlet that I have to rewrite because I fucking lost it and I'm crying about it as I write. I got the inspiration from this absolutely beautiful gif made by @fleethall and I'll link it here so that everyone can see it, because it's gorgeous. I hope the ficlet is half as good as it was the first time because I'm literally crying over it, but either way, enjoy. Also, TW for suicidal ideations.

It was too hot for it being early June in Indiana. Billy'd expect this kind of weather back in California, but here in Hawkins, where it was normal to reach the negatives in the winter, he didn't expect it to be like sitting on the Devil's back porch. Especially this fucking early in the morning.

It was just beginning to get light outside, the sun barely halfway exposed over the horizon, and Billy was in his bed in nothing but his boxers, because his dad had never bothered to put that rickety old window AC unit back in his room, he didn't know how to do it himself. So he had to settle for wearing as few clothes as possible, opening the windows, and turning on the rusty old fan he'd dug out of the garage to try and keep cool. It wasn't doing much, especially as the sun began to peek out from behind the clouds, but it was better than nothing. It's not like Billy was going to get back to sleep this morning anyway.

Truth be told, he hadn't gone to sleep at all last night, despite how tired he was from the day before. He just couldn't, he had too much on his mind. So he'd just laid there, smoking cigarette after cigarette, and just thinking. He was trying to ignore the throbbing in his side, and he'd done a pretty good job after about an hour or so, once the Advil had set in. Now it was getting harder and harder to do that as the painkiller wore off, but still, his brain was keeping him occupied enough not to think about it.

Not that he was exactly happy about that. He wished he could just clear his mind and not think about anything right now, but he couldn't. He couldn't get his stupid electric head meat to shut up and stop supplying him with thoughts of the boy with the hazel eyes that was apparently leaving for college or some job opportunity or whatever in just a few days. The boy who he thought had loved him, but apparently not enough to talk to him about all this until two days before he was supposed to leave him behind and move to god only knew where. Billy had honestly stopped listening after he'd heard the words "I'm leaving" coming from the other boy's mouth.

Billy lit another cigarette and slid off of his bed to sit on the floor, his legs splayed out and his arms hanging limp with his hands in his lap. He leaned his head back on the mattress and closed his eyes, wishing for about the 80 millionth time that they'd never even moved to this shitty little town in the first place. Then none of this would be happening.

And yeah, he knew it was his fault that they had. As much as he tried to blame it on Max, he knew that he'd been the one to officially fuck things up in the first place. If he wanted to get technical about it, he'd say it was a joint effort, because yeah, he'd made the initial mistake, but Max was the one who had thrown it back in his face when she was mad at him for something, and his dad had overheard her. Then, after the beating of a lifetime and a trip to the ER, his dad found them a house back in his hometown, and after his broken wrist healed, they were gone. Billy hadn't spoken to Max after that day, and he still didn't until the first day they'd gotten into town. Not even a single word passed between the two of them during the entire cross-country drive, and he felt completely justified for that.

Really, he should've known not to trust her, but he thought that because he was pretty sure she was like him, she would get it, that she would know why she needed to keep it under wraps. But she was just a child, he should've known that she wouldn't understand. She didn't understand why it was so important, that if she didn't keep the secret, not only would Billy's dad turn on him, but so would the rest of the world. He didn't know why he thought that would be enough to convince her.

See, here's how it happened. Billy'd had a few good friends back in San Diego, a group of guys that he spent every spare second he could with. There was Wayne, and Argyle, and Sid, and Tim. But then, there was Logan. He was a year younger than Billy in school, since his birthday was late in the summer, but that hadn't mattered to Billy. When they'd met, Billy had gravitated naturally towards the other boy, drawn in by his optimism and constant need to look on the bright side.

With his eyes closed like this, Billy could still picture his perfect face. He had tan skin and bleach-blonde hair, and his eyes were the color of wet sand. His nose was bent in three places from having been broken seven times in his life, and his smile was as bright as the moon reflecting off the ocean on a clear night. It made Billy's heart speed up, and to him, it was perfect, even though one of his canines was slightly crooked. It reminded Billy of a time before his mom had left, before his dad was drafted to fight in Vietnam and came back changed for the worse, before, when his house actually felt like a home. All Logan had to do was smile at Billy, and suddenly, he had hope that one day, everything would be alright again.

And then one day, they were all on the beach, and a storm rolled in. The waves soon became too rough to swim or surf, and the thunder and lightning meant that it wasn't safe to stay in the ocean anyway, so the six of them grabbed their boards and ran for shelter under the boardwalk to wait it out. But the storm was strong, and it showed no signs of letting up any time soon, so they quickly became bored. Wayne and Tim got hungry, so they left their boards stuck in the sand and pulled on their shirts and flip flops to head up into the diner built into the boardwalk, saying they'd be back once they got a bite. Sid knew that his mother would be getting worried if she didn't hear from him with such a storm raging on, so he went to go find a payphone to tell her that he'd be home as soon as the storm let up. Argyle went with him, the two of them planning to light up a joint once Sid finished his call. And that, of course, left just Billy and Logan.

"So what now?" Logan asked as he stuck his board in the sand so that he could lean against it when he sat down. Billy followed his example as he answered with, "I don't know. I guess once Sid and Argyle get back, we could all go join the other two in the diner until the storm passes."

"I don't have my shirt with me, though, they won't let me in," Logan said.

"Aw, sucks to be you then, I guess," Billy teased, nudging Logan's shoulder as he grinned. Logan couldn't help but laugh as he nudged Billy back, and it made Billy feel all tingly inside.

After that, they stopped talking for a little bit, content to just sit there in each other's company and watch the storm. It was beautiful, the way two of nature's strongest forces were coming together and fighting against each other at the same time, and it was all happening before their very eyes. Lightning struck over the ocean and lit up the lilac and gray atmosphere, making the ground shake as it was quickly followed by a ferocious growl of thunder. It wasn't until after this deafening noise that Logan spoke again.

"Whoa, check this out!" He said, digging in the sand beside him before pulling something out and brushing the excess sand off of it. Then he placed it in the palm of his hand and reached over to show Billy what he'd found, his smile too big and infectious for it not to rub off on the other boy.

"What about it? It's just a sand dollar," Billy said, smiling even though he was confused.

"Yeah, but this is the first time I've ever found one outside of a gift shop," Logan said, turning the shell over and over in his hands and examining it as if it were made of pure gold.

"I guess that does make it more special," Billy agreed, watching his friend for a moment, but forcing himself to look back at the storm, trying to convince himself that it was more beautiful than the other boy.

After that, they slipped back into comfortable silence, and it was a few more minutes before Logan broke it again, holding out the shell to Billy and simply saying, "Here."

"What?" Billy asked back, looking between his friend and the shell in his hand, confused.

"I want you to have it," Logan said, taking Billy's hand and making him take the shell.

"No," Billy said, trying to give it back, "You were the one who found it and got all excited over it. It's special to you, you should keep it."

"True, but I want you to have it." Logan folded Billy's fingers over the shell, holding them there to make sure he couldn't give it back.

"Why?" Billy asked, his eyebrows scrunching together like he was trying to figure out a complex math problem in his head.

"Because I have something as special as this already, so I don't need it," Logan shrugged, still holding Billy's hand.

"Oh yeah? And what's that?" Billy asked, his stomach getting all fluttery and nauseous, but in a good way.

"I've got you," Logan said, and Billy hoped he wasn't reading it wrong as the other boy leaned in closer. But he wasn't stopping, and his eyes were locked on Billy's, and his smile only grew bigger until a second later it disappeared as his eyes started slipping shut.

Now, Billy had never kissed anyone else before, at least not like this. But he wasn't an idiot, and he knew what it looked like from movies and shows and stuff, and he was pretty sure this was going to be it. His heart began to speed in his chest and his mind went blank, and before he could get it back on track and talk himself out of it, he allowed himself to toss caution to the wind and meet Logan halfway.

And in that second, Billy's entire mind was blown completely away. It was like being wrapped in a warm blanket, like a big meal of all his favorite foods, like a long nap on a rainy afternoon, it was everything. Logan's lips were soft and tasted like salt from the ocean and like sunscreen and the mint chapstick he used and the vanilla ice cream cone he'd eaten earlier that day. It was slow and sweet, and even though Logan took control easily, he kept it that way. He took his time coaxing Billy's lips apart with his tongue, and only paused for a moment to turn his head to the side to get a better angle. Once he had it, he let his tongue delve inside Billy's mouth to explore, and let Billy take his time to do the same. Once he was confident enough, he did, and he used his tongue to feel around everything, from the roof of Logan's mouth to the softness of his tongue to the rigidness of that one crooked tooth. He couldn't do much with his hands at the moment, what with one holding the sand dollar and the other planted in the sand for balance, but Logan's were free, so he moved one to hold the one Billy was holding himself up with and the other to cradle Billy's face, making the other boy sigh softly. He was getting a little bit of sand on his cheeks, but Billy couldn't have cared less. This was the greatest thing that'd ever happened to him, and he was sure that it was the closest he'd ever get to heaven.

And then, all hell broke loose.

"Billy! C'mon, it's almost time to go ho-" Max called out for him as she wandered beneath the boardwalk, her rain jacket zipped up to her chin. She stopped short as soon as she saw her brother, lips locked with his best friend, and now as red as her hair as he whipped his head around to gape at her. "Uh, n-nevermind, I'll just go wait by the car."

Billy wanted to chase after her, but by the time he was able to scramble to his feet, she was gone. He'd completely forgotten about her as soon as he'd dropped her off at the boardwalk arcade, too caught up in his own friends and his own day out to worry about where she was. He'd only told her to come and get him when it was time to head home, since he didn't know what time it was without his watch on, and now, he was a complete and utter goner.

"Fuck!" He yelled as he raked a hand through his hair, trying desperately to figure a way out of this.

"Whoa, hey, Billy, calm down," Logan said, taking his hand from his hair before he yanked it out and gripping his shoulders to try and ground him. "Look, it's okay, you just have to talk to her on the way home. It'll be okay, I'm sure she won't tell anyone."

"But-" Billy tried to get a word in, but Logan cut him off.

"I don't regret it," he said, making sure to look Billy in the eyes. He knew how Billy got when he felt backed into a corner, and he didn't want him to come out fighting like an alley cat. "I meant it when I told you you were special to me, and I won't ever regret proving it to you. I know you're worried that Max will tell somebody what she saw, but I know her, and I know you, and I know that if you just talk to her, she'll keep it a secret. Maybe one day she won't have to, maybe one day we won't be scared to tell the guys or anybody else in the world, but until then, it'll be okay, because I'll never regret you."

And with that, Logan gave Billy one more peck on the lips, helped him breathe right, and then helped him get his board out of the sand so he could go. The rain was letting up a little by now, and as Billy approached his car, he saw Max standing beside it, waiting. He unlocked it and she climbed inside, and he stalled for a minute more as he tied his board to the roof, trying to come up with something to say to her. Finally, he couldn't stall any longer, and he sat down in the driver's seat, turning to look at her before he even put the keys in the ignition.

"You can't tell anybody about what you saw, understand?" He said, going for authoritative, but it only sounded scared. He still had the sand dollar in his hand, and he gripped it just a little bit harder to give him some confidence.

"Who would I tell?" She scoffed, and he knew her default mode was bitchy, but he still couldn't believe the audacity she had when she said it.

"I'm serious, Maxine!" Billy raised his voice, grabbing her shoulder with a firm grip, though he was careful not to hurt her. "If you tell somebody and it gets out, Logan and I are both pretty much dead. This doesn't go any further than the three of us or I will smother you in your sleep and dump your body in the ocean to be eaten by sharks, you got that?"

This time, Max didn't speak, she just nodded as Billy stared at her with angry, desperate eyes. Later on, as Billy drove them home, she finally voiced it, saying that she promised she wouldn't tell.

It wasn't even a full month later when she broke that promise.

Billy opened his eyes now, tears running down his cheeks, escaping along with a sigh as he remembered all this. The first boy, the first person, he'd ever truly loved more than himself, and exactly how he'd lost him. He remembered how after his dad had found out, he wasn't allowed out of the house until the move. How he hadn't spoken to Max for months, and was essentially mute until they arrived in Hawkins. How on the day they were supposed to leave, he didn't even tell her where they were going when he took a little detour on the way and left something in Logan's mailbox before heading for the highway.

It was the sand dollar from that day. He'd stuck it in a brown paper bag and wrote the other boy's name on it, also leaving a short note inside.

My dad's making us move. He won't tell me the new address, so I can't leave it for you. Anyway, since I'm not gonna be around anymore, I figured you'd need something special to replace me... Jesus, I don't know. That's corny as shit, but you get the gist. I'm sorry. -B

P.S. I'll never regret you, either.

Max had tried to apologize after all this had happened, but Billy never forgave her. He didn't want to. If she'd tried to say anything as they drove, he would just turn the music up louder to drown her out and pretend he didn't hear her. After a while, they kind of had to make up, but he still never fully let it go. He loved Logan, and all it took was one sentence shouted in the heat of the moment for Billy to lose him. He swore that he'd never get over it and let Max off the hook since she was the one who had caused it. And he swore that he'd never fall in love again as long as he lived.

But of course, he couldn't fucking help it. He was still hurting, pining for a boy clear across the country, when he met Steve, and it pissed him the fuck off that his traitorous heart began to flutter the second he did. He didn't want to feel like that about anyone ever again, and especially not so soon after he'd lost someone else. So he became mean. Downright vicious. He tried his best to prove his heart and his mind and his soul wrong by picking on Steve to the point of physical altercations, because he didn't want it to be true. He didn't want to face up to the fact that he was already falling for somebody again, when he wasn't even fully over the person before.

And then came the night at the Byers's house, when his dad had told him to get Max and bring her home, and Steve lied to him about knowing where she was. He knew he'd been nothing but a dick to Steve up until that point and that Steve probably assumed the anger issues would extend to Max so he was just trying to protect her, but still, something about the fact that he seemed so casual about lying made the knife in Billy's guts twist. So he struck first, pushing Steve over and going into the house to get Max, ready to drag her out by the hair if he had to. He just didn't want to be around anybody, he knew he would lash out, and he didn't want to actually hurt anyone. He wanted to get Max home and then go out to the woods or something and take his aggression out on something that couldn't hit him back, something that he wouldn't draw blood from if he hit it.

But then Steve came in and hit him first, and something had broken inside him, like a dam collapsing from the force of the river. He didn't hold back after that. He fought dirty, screaming and letting out everything he'd kept bottled up for months, including the tears. He cried as he beat Harrington's stupid face in, until the other boy was barely conscious on the floor. He didn't care about Max or his dad or anything else at that point, and once all the fight had left him, he got up and went out to his car, not looking back even once as he drove away, continuing to cry.

He didn't know where else to go, so he eventually wound up in the school's parking lot, near the outdoor basketball courts. He sat on the hood of his car when he got there, staring at the moon and still crying until the tears just stopped flowing. His knuckles hurt and his head even more so, but he didn't move, not even when another car pulled up next to him. He didn't care anymore. The only thing he had left to lose was his life, and he wasn't even sure why he was still holding onto that anymore, so what did it matter if he lost that too?

It was Harrington that got out of the car and walked up to Billy, sitting down next to him on the hood of his car.

"What do you want?" Billy asked him after a few minutes, still refusing to look at him.

"Just to see how you're doing," Steve said, shrugging casually as if this were just a regular conversation on a Tuesday morning.

"Peachy, thanks," Billy replied, trying to get up, but Steve grabbed his wrist, refusing to let him.

"No you're not. The kids told me you were crying as you beat me to a bloody pulp, and Max told me it probably had something to do with something that happened back in California. And since I'm the guy who you almost gave a second concussion to, I think that I at least deserve to know why," he said, his face serious and upset, but not angry.

"Well, you were mistaken. I don't owe you shit, Harrington," Billy said, yanking his hand away as if he'd been burned.

"True, but you do owe me an explanation." Steve said, crossing his arms, but refusing to move from the hood of the car. "C'mon, man, you did nothing but pull my pigtails for the past few weeks and then you rearranged my face tonight, and I want to know why."

Billy had just stared at him for a minute, not sure of what to do. He knew he couldn't tell Harrington anything, not unless he wanted to either move again or wind up six feet under, but then again, he was just so tired. He was tired of being afraid of himself, tired of running away from his past and away from his future, tired of fighting so hard. It's not like he had much to live for anyway, not like he could just get up and go back to California, back to Logan, back to the guys, back to being happy. He was trapped in a prison of his own fuck ups, and his father was the warden. He knew he couldn't fight him, and he knew he couldn't escape. So why keep trying? Why not just give up the fight and let everybody else win? It sure would be a hell of a lot easier than whatever this shit was.

"You wanna know my life story, Harrington? Wanna know all my dirty little secrets? Fine." Billy finally relented, sliding off the hood of the car and opening the door on the passenger's side. "Get in."

Steve obeyed the order, a slight confused crease to his brows, but he didn't say anything. He just climbed in and buckled his seatbelt, waiting as Billy did the same. He rolled down the windows, even though the night was already cold enough, and then he drove them away, sticking to the back roads as they rode through the darkness.

"Where are we going?" Steve had asked.

"Nowhere," Billy replied, too done with everything to even make a stupid joke, let alone lie. "Driving helps me think, so."

Steve nodded after that, and everything was quiet again. There was no tape in the player right now, and Billy had turned off the radio, so it was only the sound of the engine that accompanied them as they drove. Billy didn't know where to start, didn't know if he should tell about everything, but he'd promised all his dirty secrets, and he was nothing if not a man of his word. So he didn't worry about it, and just started at the beginning.

"My dad had loved me, once." He said, stopping at a red light. He waited until it flashed green to continue. "When I was a baby, I mean. He loved me, and so did my mom. They were happy, and so was I."

"So what changed?" Steve asked, his voice small, as if he were afraid to ask. Maybe he was.

"My dad got drafted. Went to 'Nam and kicked Charlie's ass. Only problem was, he got kicked back. When he came home after four years, he was different. Loud, and mean, and it drove mom away. She didn't bother to take me with her." Billy said, shrugging.

"That doesn't mean he doesn't love you," Steve said, but again it was tentative, like maybe he didn't want to assume but was going to anyway. "I mean, lots of military guys go away to fight and come back a little bit meaner, that doesn't mean they don't still love their wives and kids."

"You're not listening to me, Harrington." Billy bit out, a little harsher than he needed to maybe, but he didn't care. "I could handle it if he was just mean. But when he tells me everyday that I'm a mistake and a waste of oxygen and that he should've made my mom abort me when he had the chance, and he's beating me up while he does it, I think I can take the hints better than you can."

That stunned Steve into silence, and Billy, too. He was still having trouble figuring out why he had even started talking to Steve in the first place rather than telling him to just fuck off, but even if he did figure it out, there was no going back now. And if he really thought about it, Billy did know, he was just too stubborn to admit it. He wanted to be able to talk to someone, anyone, about what was going on. Maybe they wouldn't be able to make it stop, but at least they would know, and he could talk to them about it when things started getting bad again. He just hoped that he'd picked the right person to trust.

"I'm sorry that that happens to you," Steve finally said after a while, keeping his eyes trained on the road ahead instead of looking at Billy.

"I don't give a shit, Harrington," Billy shook his head, his own eyes feeling a little misty as he swallowed to try and keep it back, "I'm not telling you this because I want your pity."

"Then why are you telling me?"

"Because you asked," Billy said, his voice flat, "And you're the first person that ever bothered to."

That seemed to stun Steve again for a second, but he nodded afterwards, seeming to understand it a lot quicker than he did the last thing. But to be fair, that statement was a lot less complicated than the ones previous.

"Is that why you got so mad earlier? Because of your dad?" He asked, looking at his lap now.

"It was a big part of it," Billy said, biting his lip at another red light before he kept going. "The other part was just you."

"What did I do?" Steve asked, even though he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

"Well, part of it was because you lied to me like I said. I don't know what you were doing with Max and those kids in that house and right now I couldn't give less of a shit, but you gotta admit that it was kinda creepy. I'm supposed to bring her home safe or else I'm in trouble, and finding her alone in a house in the woods with three teenage boys and an adult man is pretty fuckin' weird. Not that Max really deserves me protecting her after all the shit she's done to me, but like I said, it wasn't her I had to worry about."

"So that was part of it, and obviously when I punched you was when you snapped, but did I do anything else?" Steve asked, and it surprised Billy a little bit. He actually sounded regretful.

"Kind of, but you couldn't help it," Billy said, finally making a U-turn and heading back towards town. He was about to pour his heart out to Steve and he didn't need him in his car any longer than he had to be if the other boy got upset.

"What do you mean?" Steve asked again, his big hazel eyes boring into the side of Billy's head as he tried to stay focused on the road. But it was getting difficult, so even though he wanted to keep driving, he pulled off to the side of the road and put the car in park. He still didn't turn to look at Steve, but he didn't need to. Steve could still see how nervous he was by the tremor in his hands on the steering wheel and gear shift.

"Look, I'm gonna tell you," he started, "But if you're going to kill me for it, please just wait until I've said everything I want to say. I don't wanna die with a guilty conscience, y'know?"

Steve was confused. Confused and concerned. But still, he nodded. Billy sighed and leaned his head back, staring at the roof of the car, his expression mostly blank as he started to speak again.

"Like I said, it wasn't exactly something that you could help," he said, blinking slowly, as if he wasn't sure if he wanted to reopen his eyes. "It was just kind of you in general that set me off. You and your preppy clothes and your perfect hair and your pretty eyes. I've had a crush on you from the first moment I saw you that day in the parking lot, and it pissed me off, because the whole reason we had to move to this shit stain of a town was because I felt the same way about another boy that I felt about you. Max saw us one day and swore she'd never tell anyone about it, but then a few weeks later we were fighting about something or other and she said "at least I don't have to hide under the boardwalk if I want to kiss a boy". My dad overheard and he beat me so bad, I thought I was gonna die. I honestly kind of wish I would've. He broke my wrist and locked me in my room for the three months that it took to heal and by the time it did, he already had the boxes packed. We moved out here and I didn't even get to say goodbye to Logan. All I could do was leave him a shitty note in his mailbox that I don't even know if he read. And I made a promise to myself that I would never fall in love with anyone again as long as I lived, because it would only end in broken hearts and sadness and a painful, painful death. But not even a full day later I drove up to my new school and I saw you and that promise went right out the fucking window."

Billy paused after sighing out the last word, wishing he hadn't smoked his last cigarette on the drive to the house in the woods. He wished he could say that he felt like shit, but really, right now, he didn't even feel at all. He had completely given up, on everything.

"Anyway, that's why I was such a bitch to you," he finally ended with, "I couldn't stand you because I could already feel myself falling for you, and I didn't want to after everything that happened, especially when I'm not even over Logan yet. But he's a thousand miles away and you're... well, it's not like you'd want to date a train wreck with an ex they're still in love with and more daddy issues than there is sand on a beach, especially not if it's me, so yeah. If you wanna kill me or something now, feel free, I don't care anymore. To tell you the truth, I'd probably thank you, since I don't have the fucking balls to do it myself."

"Maybe not," Steve said after a few seconds of silence, his tone oddly serious and not freaked out or angry, "But you've got the courage to keep living even after all you've been through, and that takes a hell of a lot more balls than just giving up and dying."

Billy didn't have an answer to that. He wasn't even sure he had the strength to nod and acknowledge that words had even been passed. So he just closed his eyes in response, barely even registering the tears that rolled out as he did.

"And for what it's worth," Steve continued, his voice still firm, "I'm sorry about that boy, Logan. Neither of you deserved what happened to you."

"It doesn't matter if we deserved it or not," Billy said finally, opening his eyes and sitting up a little, "We both knew the risks we were taking. We should've known it couldn't've lasted."

"That doesn't make it right," Steve said, and Billy scoffed at that, shaking his head with a sour, condescending smirk on his face.

"Yeah, well," he said, "It still doesn't matter. Right, wrong, who gives a shit? That's just how it is. He's probably forgotten all about me by now anyway."

"If he loved you as much as you loved him, I don't think he would. Even if he didn't, you're still pretty hard to forget." Steve paused, his voice growing more timid as he finished with, "God knows I haven't been able to."

"Well of course you haven't, I've made your life hell ever since I moved here," Billy said, rolling his eyes slightly.

"That's not what I meant," Steve said, his hand twitching as if he were debating whether to grab Billy's, but ultimately, he didn't. "I meant that even before you started picking on me, I thought about you all the time. At first I thought that it was because you were so confident and impressing all the girls and kind of taking my place at the top, but that wasn't it. I'm not gonna kiss you right now, because I don't think that would fix anything like it does in the movies. Hell, it'd probably only make things worse. But you should know that you aren't the only one with a crush, and even if nothing comes from me telling you this, I just want you to know that we don't have to fight anymore, and I'm here, even if you just need someone to talk to."

Billy finally looked at him now that he was done talking, not sure whether to trust the other boy yet. He wanted to more than anything, but it was all too easy. Nothing that came this easily could be trusted. He'd had to learn that lesson a long time ago. Steve looked sincere, and he sounded like he meant it, too. But still, Billy was wary, and Steve must've been able to see that, because he said, "You don't have to believe me. But if I could prove to you that I mean it, would you at least keep an open mind?"

And Billy had nodded. Like a complete fucking idiot.

Now, it was months later, and Steve had proven himself. He listened when Billy needed him to, and would talk to fill the silences that Billy couldn't stand. He would surprise Billy with little gifts just because he felt like it, just to be able to see him smile, and he would take him on dates to the diner under the guise of just two friends hanging out, but they knew the truth. He would get angry on Billy's behalf whenever he had a bruise or cut on his face or came to him on the brink of tears, but would put the anger aside to take care of him when he needed it.

When he kissed Billy for the first time a few weeks later, he made sure he asked first, because he didn't want to overstep any boundaries and scare him. He made sure that Billy was okay once it was over, and he made sure to let him lead so that he knew for sure everything that happened was what Billy wanted. He did the same things the first time they had sex together, too, to make sure that Billy was okay with everything that they did. It had been his first time with anybody, let alone with a boy, but Steve didn't mock him for it, just made sure to take things slow and talk to him to make sure it was good. He gave Billy all the care and adoration that he needed so desperately, and he didn't ask for anything in return, because he just loved Billy that much.

At least, he thought he did.

Billy screwed his eyes shut again as he sat on the floor of his bedroom, tossing away the burned out butt of his cigarette and burying his face in his hands as he took in a shaky breath. He could feel his lip wobbling like he was a little kid again, and he choked on a sob as the tears started falling faster and faster. He hated when he cried like this, but sometimes, he just couldn't help it. It just wasn't fair. It seemed like every time he started to hope again, every time he began to feel happy, it just got torn away for no reason.

Maybe it was just him. He was the one who kept thinking he could have good things and jumping into them with both feet instead of remembering how bad things always turned out the last time. It was like his entire existence was a curse, and he just didn't know how to break it.

So he let himself cry like this, every once in a while. Sometimes it helped, sometimes it didn't. Today it actually helped so much that he didn't even realize there was somebody at his window until they'd already crawled inside through it and dropped down to sit next to him. When he finally did notice, it was everything he could do not to cry harder and kick him out.

"What are you doing here?" He croaked out when he saw Steve sitting next to him.

"I wanted to see you," he said, pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. "I didn't like how we left things yesterday."

"You shouldn't be here," Billy mumbled, more to himself than to Steve, though.

"Yes I should. I need to know why you got so upset when I told you I was leaving," Steve said, leaning forward to try and catch Billy's eye. Billy wanted to look at him, he was adorable right now. Still wearing his cut off pajama bottoms that he wore in the summer and a loose t-shirt and with his hair all tousled and unruly, he was so cute. But Billy knew if he looked at him like that, he wouldn't be able to stay mad, and he didn't want to let it go that easily just to still end up hurt in the end.

"Because you're leaving. You're going to be somewhere else and I don't even know where that's gonna be. And you didn't even think to tell me about it until two days before it was set to happen. Tomorrow, you're going to leave and then that's it." Billy said, his eyes still stinging from the mixture of tears and exhaustion.

"I'm going to Pennsylvania for college. But that's not going to be it for us, I promise you. I fucking love you and I'm not gonna lose you, no matter what." Steve replied, and Billy couldn't help but scoff again.

"How are we gonna do that when we won't even be able to keep in contact? You can't call here or write me letters or else my dad'll know, and I won't know how to get in touch with you. So please, enlighten me, how is that going to work?"

"I want you to come with me."

Billy stopped short the second he heard the words, his eyes going wide as he struggled to voice what he wanted to say. He wasn't even sure he knew what he wanted to say. But he had to say something.

"Wh-what?" He finally managed to squeak out, shaking his head as he tried to wrap it around the whirlwind of emotions he was feeling.

"I want you to come with me." Steve repeated, "That's why I waited so long to tell you, because then we could leave just out of nowhere and no one would be able to follow us. I want to get out of here, but I want you with me. And you're 18 now, so you don't have to stay here if you don't want to. If you want to come with me, I wanted to give you time to get ready, but not enough time for you dad to notice until we're already long gone. I love you and I want you to come with me because I want to get both of us out of here, hopefully for good."

Billy couldn't say he was shocked, necessarily, but he still didn't know what to say. He wanted to cry, he wanted to fling himself at Steve and kiss him stupid, he wanted to get dressed and leave right now and never look back. But he didn't. Instead, he just stared at him, looking for any trace of a lie on his face. But there was none, only sincerity and hope and love. It was almost too much.

"I don't want to stay here," he finally whispered, unable to bring himself to say the actual words. He couldn't force them to come out of his mouth, but Steve heard them anyway. What Billy wanted, more than anything, was to go with him.

"Then we can pack your things later on today once your parents leave for work, and I'll be here at this time tomorrow to get it into the car. We'll leave and be in Harrisburg before they even know we're gone." Steve promised, reaching out and placing a hand on Billy's cheek, holding him. He smiled, a tiny thing that seemed too delicate for Billy having been the one to put it there. Billy leaned into the touch, closing his eyes and sighing out a quiet, "Okay."

After that, it was quiet again, the two of them shifting closer and holding each other, wanting to be close even though the body heat had them sweating. Neither of them cared as they grabbed some pillows from Billy's bed and laid out on the floor, cuddling with their limbs tangled together in a complex pretzel twist. One of Steve's arms was under the pillow and supporting his head, and Billy laid his own on Steve's shoulder, pressing them together from head to toe. Billy was still exhausted, so he immediately started to drift off as Steve pressed a kiss to his forehead, using his other hand to card his fingers in Billy's hair and massage his scalp, helping to coax him into slumber.

"I really do love you, you know," he whispered, shifting so that a ray of sunshine wasn't hitting Billy directly in the face and hindering his rest.

"I really do love you, too," Billy mumbled back, snuggling even closer to his boyfriend for as long as he could.

They'd have to untangle themselves in a few minutes so that Steve could leave before Neil and Susan woke up, but they were going to take every spare minute that they could get. It made Billy smile in his sleep as he thought that, pretty soon, they wouldn't need to mind the minutes. Pretty soon, they'd have all the time in the world.

#i hope yall appreciate this cuz i agonized over it for the past few days #billy hargrove #harringrove #steve harrington #stranger things #billy hargrove x steve harrington #ficlet

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smolcinnamonchipmunk · 1 year

Text

Late Night Check-In

(I was going to make a oneshot based off of the Firefly Fairy AU, but eventually settled on this because I was struggling with it.

This is going to be after my vent oneshot, but you don’t need to have read that for this to make sense since I’m basically going to set the scene again. Bit of a downer because it’s coming down from the tension of the last one in the first half, but not too down I think and I think it’s more fluff? I’m sorry if anyone’s OOC ;-;)

Count: 7382

TW/CW: Soft, safe, non-sexual oral vore, vivid mentions of dream death

Unsurprisingly, when Syn woke up late in the morning and sent a text to everyone that tried contacting them while it was dead… Well, it was a bit of a Merry-Go-Round of people coming over to check on them and berate them, both physically and over text. They had been groggily getting themself a glass of sweet tea and opening some tuna for Grim when their front door was practically slammed open.

Actually, no. It WAS slammed open.

There was a massive crash from the lounge that Syn ran over to investigate with Grim, finding that Kalim and Jamil were sprawled out with the magic flying carpet they rode in on using two corners to push itself back up from the floor. Before they could ask if either was okay, Kalim had leapt to his feet and tackled them, crying while asking what happened. Jamil commented on how unsafe his carpet flying was, peeling the other man off of Syn long enough to check him for injuries while they tried to explain that they only left for a couple days and forgot to leave a note.

Only to reiterate it over and over as more people almost immediately burst into Ramshackle.

Ace and Deuce rushed in, Ace smacking them upside the head as both proceeded to shout about how worried they’d been, getting interrupted by Riddle, Trey, and Cater close behind while they explained.

The only ones that didn’t show up over the course of several hours were the Diasomnia dormmembers (probably because they didn’t have Lilia’s number, they weren’t close with Silver, Sebek hated their guts, and Malleus didn’t know how to operate a phone well), Idia, Azul, and the NRC teachers.

That was more than fine with them because it got really crowded and loud with everyone that came inside.

The afternoon and evening passed in a blur, the students they knew coming and going over the course of the impromptu get together.

A little bit of time was spent with Syn explaining that they forgot to leave a note, a good hour being spent where those present vocalized both their worry, anger, and relief, and then Kalim somehow roping everyone into a celebratory party in their own lounge now that they were back.

It all happened so fast that Syn felt like they blinked and suddenly there was a bunch of food and sweets, and everyone just seemed so surprisingly happy.

They were sure some said some really moving things, but they literally couldn’t recall anything by the time Jamil convinced Kalim that it was too late in the night to continue partying after everyone else had gone home. They just stood on their front porch waving Kalim and Jamil farewell with a smile that dropped as soon as they walked back inside and closed the now bent door.

They’d have to try and figure that one out later since the lock was broken and the wood was cracked, but they’d never seen any strangers around Ramshackle so safety wasn’t their first thought.

Syn spent the next hour or so cleaning after the plethora of guests that had swept through, putting the extra food in the fridge for Grim - who went into a food coma on the couch - and turned in for the night.

The next day was spent just trying to enjoy the calm before they got another round of lectures from the teachers Monday, Grim thankfully not wanting to drag them off anywhere. He was content just sat next to them while they both watched dumb videos on Magicam.

When Monday did come around, they woke up with Grim and felt that bone-deep exhaustion settle again, ignoring the ever growing darkness under their eyes as they trailed after the cat to classes. They smiled and greeted Rook and Ruggie, taking the expected lecture from Professor Crewel before receiving one from Vargas and Trein as well during the day.

Even Crowley, seemingly lazy as he was, came across them in the hall and scolded them for scaring the entire campus into a search frenzy for two days. And then he scolded them for being late to their last period when he talked through the break time in between classes.

Outwardly, they tried to act as normal as they could, smiling and taking the lectures with a serious face. On the inside, they just wanted to waste away and questioned why they came back in the first place if their presence AND absence were just causing problems for everyone else. It was definitely a feat to try and ignore the line of questioning that plagued them.

“You sure you don’t want to go to this Unbirthday Party,” Grim asked, placing his paws on his hips while Ace and Deuce had their arms crossed in front of them. In spite of having no eyebrows, he looked relatively concerned.

“It might help with some normalcy,” Ace suggested, tilting his head slightly, Deuce nodding in agreement.

“We know you said you had needed some time away, but we just don’t want you turning into some kind of shut-in,” the other man said, uncrossing his arms to put a hand to his chin in worried thought. Probably thinking of a particular upperclassman.

Syn rolled their eyes in amusement, replying dramatically, “Oh, what would I do without my Number One and Number Two?”

Snickering, they put a hand on their hip and added, “I’ll be fine! ‘Sides, I don’t think I could become a shut-in with everyone around. I didn’t realize how many people I knew until Ramshackle was flooded with y’all. I’m just a little tired from the party Kalim threw on Saturday. I’ll come to the Unbirthday party next month, kay?”

Ace, Deuce, and Grim shared a look that Syn wasn’t particularly fond of before Ace shrugged and sighed.

“Alright. Don’t want to drag you if ya don’t wanna go. Just, try to get some rest or something,” he said. “Don’t be surprised if Cater or Trey reach out to you.”

“Gotcha covered,” Syn gave the trio a small mock salute. “I’ll probably pass out the second I’m back at Ramshackle, so don’t wait up for me.”

Ace, Deuce and Grim all gave some small farewells, the most enthusiastic being Grim’s “See ya, Syn!” before they walked down the hall.

Syn kept a smile and waved until the three walked around a corner out of sight, sighing deeply and dropping their arm. Grumbling to themself under their breath, they reached up and rubbed the back of their head tiredly with the other arm, turning around with their eyes closed for a moment.

Only to exclaim in surprise when they opened their eyes and saw large red ones right in front of their face, reeling back to avoid walking into the other person with enough force that they fell on their butt.

“You’re back.”

“L-Lilia,” they yelped, their initial surprise and fear fading to tired relief as they breathed a small sigh of relief while the floating upside-down man chuckled at catching them off guard. “Do you always have to do that?”

“Khee hee. Sorry. It’s difficult to resist popping up when you always give reactions like that,” the fae twisted in the air so that he ‘stood’ the right way up before planting his feet on the ground, amused expression quickly turning to a more serious frown. “I understand that you went missing for two days?”

Syn winced at the question, standing up and shoving their hands in their pockets nervously as they replied, “Yeah, I, uh, forgot to leave a note. I’m fine, and I’m sorry for everyone having to make search parties and stuff, and making everyone worried while I was gone. It won’t happen again.”

Lilia hummed in thought for a couple seconds with dark-red eyes narrowed in contemplation, making them shift a bit at the lack of immediate response. They’d been bombarded with both chastising lectures and quick ‘I’m glad you’re okay’s, so the several seconds of silence were a bit anxiety-inducing.

“Well, at least you don’t seem to have come back harmed,” he eventually said with a smile, crossing his arms over his chest. It felt like he was holding back from saying something else, but he added, “Now the Diasomnia dorm won’t be covered in frost anymore, I hope.”

“I- Huh? Why would me being gone cause your dorm to frost,” Syn asked, blinking in confusion. They’d never stepped in Diasomnia’s halls yet.

“Oh, just some cause and effect, khee hee,” Lilia chuckled again, raising a hand to his chin with a smile more knowing than they’d like. “Malleus will be glad of your return. Expect to see him near Ramshackle during his walks at some point these next few days.”

“Mal-? Oh, right, Hornton,” Syn shook their head, completely forgetting that they’d found out the man’s real name a couple weeks ago. At this point, Hornton and Malleus were still different people in their head just out of the sheer habit. And, he’d said he was okay with them using the nickname so they hadn’t really put much effort into calling him by his real one.

The fae in front of them laughed lightly at the nickname.

“Khee hee hee. Yes, dear Hornton.”

“I mean, he’s always welcome to come over,” they said. Before they could stop themself, they smiled politely and suggested, “Grim’s gone to an Unbirthday party tonight, so I don’t know how long that’ll be. Hornton is more than welcome to come over and hang out if he’s able.”

Syn immediately froze in place with their polite smile.

Why did they just invite someone over when they were still struggling with their thoughts and emotions?! This was going to be horrible for the poor fae, but they can’t just retract it! Especially not when Lilia’s eyes widened in surprise before his face lit up, apparently very approving of the idea while they forced themself to continue smiling.

“An intriguing development,” the man smiled, red cat-like eyes closing as he happily told them, “I think Malleus will be more than willing to come over! I’m glad he’s getting along with at least one schoolmate enough to receive such an invitation.”

“I’m glad you think so highly of my invitation, I guess,” Syn replied, internally screaming.

“Why, of course! Any friend of Malleus is a friend of mine,” Lilia put his hands on his hips, the statement just making them feel more obligated to not retract their open invitation. “I shall tell him posthaste. Hopefully he hasn’t wandered far and you’ll be able to see him tonight.”

“No rush if he’s busy,” they kept up the pleasantries while really hoping he had better things to do than visiting them, Lilia disappearing in a shower of sparks similar to when Malleus would disappear at the end of their conversations with him.

Syn groaned a bit at the man’s departure, burying their face in their hands for a second while whining to themself. “God, why did I do that?”

Sighing, they resigned themself to heading back to Ramshackle, hoping beyond hope that Malleus would lose track of time or be too busy for a visit, thoroughly convinced that no one needed to deal with their tumultuous mental state right now. Hence why they declined the Unbirthday Party and had been fully prepared to just sleep when they got back to their dorm.

But, c’est la vie, whatever, all that jazz. They’ve made a commitment and now they gotta stick to it.

Walking through the winding halls down the cliff to Ramshackle, they immediately felt like they needed to clean up. It wasn’t the messiest, but it was ingrained into them to basically deep clean before known visits. Did they like that instinct? No, but it helped kick them into gear and clean after themself and Grim better than they normally would, at least. Made them feel somewhat accomplished.

Because they’d already cleaned after the party on Saturday, it didn’t take as long for the lounge at least, and they cleaned their shared room with Grim. But, the rest of the building went without a maintenance clean as they found themself almost immediately exhausted and flopped on the couch once they were satisfied.

Syn waited nervously for their supposed visitor to come, expecting a knock on the door or a flash of light somewhere to announce the arrival of the horned man. However, hours passed with neither hide nor hair from Malleus, Grim coming home to them scrolling absentmindedly through Magicam.

“I thought you said you were going to go to sleep when you got home,” the cat said, putting his paws on his hips disapprovingly as he walked into the lounge.

“Well, I was,” Syn defended themself, sitting up and placing a hand on their chest. “But then Lilia caught me off guard and, before I knew it, I was inviting Hornton over to hang out! I can’t just RETRACT that, it’s rude.”

“Hornton?” Grim’s eyes widened in brief surprise. Reaching up, he rubbed a pawpad against his forehead as he sighed. “Ugh, I guess you’re right. But, if he’s not here, I’m guessing he hasn’t shown up yet. Pretty lousy way to treat an invitation if you’re asking me.”

“I’m not asking you. Besides, he tends to wander off, so Lilia probably never even got to tell him. That or he doesn’t want to see me yet,” they replied, sitting up and stretching before standing.

“Well, you’re going to go to bed,” he huffed, paws on his hips as Syn quirked an eyebrow at him, torn between questioning him and daring him to do something to make them.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” Grim said firmly despite their amused smile, tail flicking back and forth. “The last thing I need is for you to go off on another multi-day excursion because you’re not taking care of yourself.”

“Ouch,” Syn’s smile turned into a frown, feeling a pang in their chest at being reminded of recent events. They deserved it after worrying everyone for a couple days though. Sighing after a second, they reached up and rubbed the back of their neck. “I was gonna dare you to make me, but I’d rather you not set the building on fire.

“Alriiight, I’ll go to bed,” they whined, starting to walk to the stairs to head upstairs. The sound of soft pawsteps behind them on the wooden floor made them glance and see that Grim was trailing behind them up to the bedroom.

They changed into their pajamas, yawning as their body began to anticipate the potential of sleep. Turning out the light and plugging their phone in, they slipped beneath the sheets and blanket as Grim hopped up onto the bed with them. They had to resist the urge to question it, suspecting that it was to assure himself that they weren’t just going to disappear more than him being sleepy

Still, after a few minutes, Grim was snoring lightly while curled up beside them.

Syn’s body, meanwhile, decided to make them suffer in contradiction as they laid there. Exhausted, their eyelids felt heavy as though they could immediately fall asleep, yet something just refused them sleep. No position offered solace, even those that were the comfiest.

Time passed either staring at the ceiling or the walls. A couple hours of dazed exhaustion as they tried to sleep that was only broken by glancing at the clock on the wall beside the mirror to check the time in the dim light.

Eight o’clock. Nine o’clock. Ten o’clock.

Eventually they were able to sleep, but it was more of a light doze than anything that left them restless and turning every half hour to hour. Thankfully, Grim was a heavy sleeper and just muttered about tuna under his breath despite their moving around.

A distant rumble and crack caught their half-asleep attention, the brief thought of maybe some rain helping before the room lit up with lightning and there was a crash of thunder that rattled the building and destroyed any chance of peaceful sleepiness in an instant.

“M-Myah!” Grim yowled in surprise while Syn bolted upright, adrenaline rushing through them for a few seconds before starting to fade as they got over the shock of a sudden loud noise. Over the sound of a sudden downpour that was making Ramshackle feel chillier than before, they heard the sound of a single, sharp knock on the front door.

“Mrr, who the heck is at the door this late at night,” Grim grumbled, curling back up on the bed grumpily.

Syn glanced at the clock, seeing that it was after midnight and tiredly replied, “Maybe it’s Hornton? He’s the only one I can think of… I’ll go take care of it, you stay here.”

“Mmm.” the cat let out a barely audible acknowledging noise that had Syn snort slightly in amusement.

Getting out of bed, they slipped a binder on beneath their shirt real quick before padding downstairs in their socks, walking up to the front door of the foyer and opening the door to the looming figure beyond. Groggily rubbing an eye with the back of their hand, they greeted, "Hey, Hornton."

"Syn." Illuminated by lightning cracks, the horned man's face was difficult to discern. But, he'd rarely called them by their actual name and the uncommon occurrence was enough to send a shudder of adrenaline down their spine a bit. But, the sense of immediate tension lessened slightly as the downpour lightened the smallest amount.

Still, it was a bit daunting so late in the night.

"Uhh, you're probably wet from the rain, so.. come on in?"

"Rain?" The fae seemed to straighten slightly in surprise, letting out a soft 'ah' as he glanced behind him. There were a couple seconds that went by in quiet contemplation while Syn struggled to remain focused before he commented, "The rain will no longer be an issue."

"Huh?" Syn gave him a look of confusion before realizing the rain had either settled to a drizzle or stopped completely. Given that he had the capacity of instantaneously rebuilding a stadium and calling it easy, it wasn't too far off to guess he had somehow made the rain disappear. "Oh, I mean, it wasn't really an issue but, uh, thanks, I guess? Do you wanna come inside though? Ooooor go on a walk? I’m awake enough that I probably won’t be able to get to sleep for a while.”

“I’d like to ask you what happened for your absence,” Malleus said, frowning slightly. “But I didn’t realize how late it was. Lilia found me only minutes ago with your invitation when I returned to the dormitory.”

“It’s fine. Though, if we’re going to the topic of my ‘excursion’, I’d much rather walk and talk,” they sighed, not really surprised that Malleus also wanted an explanation. They slipped on their spare shoes that were beside the door and stepped out beside the man. Closing the door, they rubbed the back of their neck and said, “Feel free to lead the way. I’ll just… answer questions, I guess.”

Malleus nodded and stepped off the porch with them trailing behind, both of their footsteps the only sound in the night other than crickets. There was no more rain but the air held a cool mist from the downpour, a light fog over everything as they walked through the Ramshackle gate.

Syn decided to get a headstart on the apology.

“Sorry for worrying you and everyone,” they started, their voice feeling too loud in the quiet night. They continued a bit softer, putting their hands in their pajama pockets. “I don’t know if my explanation has circled around everywhere, but I forgot to leave a note. I didn’t mean to cause such a big scare around campus.”

A few seconds passed in silent thought from the man, Syn starting to think that fae really like just drumming up suspense and making their anxiety worse by dragging out responses.

“When I said I’d like to ask you what happened, I meant ‘why did you disappear’?” Malleus asked, neon green gaze falling on them. He was a very difficult person to read, but usually they didn’t mind since, if he didn’t want to talk to them, he could literally teleport away from the conversation. Not that he’d ever done so.

Now though, they didn’t know if he was upset or not when they glanced at him.

“I just needed some time away,” Syn replied automatically. “From the stress and stuff. I just got a bit overwhelmed, but it won’t happen again.”

He let out a brief hum.

“Was there anything specific?”

They frowned, glancing to the side up to the man’s eyes, trying to weigh potential pros and cons. Trying to see if they were too tired to explain further. Or, if they were tired enough TO explain further with lowered walls.

“Maybe. Maybe not. I’m not sure,” Syn glowered to the side as they answered him genuinely. “Everything just sort of got to me suddenly. The multiple overblots, still knowing so little about this world, being back in school life and the talk of the campus, and being eaten practically once a week. I’m surprised I lasted as long as I did without a snap sooner.”

“Eaten?” Malleus’s voice held an intense surprise that overshadowed when he’d been given the nickname ‘Hornton’. He stopped, his reaction startling the human as they also halted and looked up at him as he turned to face them. “What do you mean, Child of Man?”

“Heh?” they weren’t sure if he was joking, their mind lagging as they processed the genuine surprise and mild concern on the fae’s face. Brow furrowing a bit in confusion, they said, “Yeah, eaten… Did… Did you not know? I was called ‘Fish Food’ for weeks before I offhandedly complained to the eel twins about it.. It was flying around with all the other gossip about me.”

“When did this happen? Were you injured?” the man asked quickly and placed a hand on their shoulder, looking them over as though to check for a sign of wounds that would have long since healed if they had been harmed.

Syn was so startled by the sudden contact, the fae having never touched them before, that they instinctively took a step back at the quick change in demeanor while holding their hands up in surprise despite the black gloves covering his hands. “Woah, woah, I’m fine! I’ve never really been hurt by it… or, injured, I should say. I’ve gotten used to it.”

They didn’t mention the occasional nips or scrapes, mostly from an excitable Floyd, or the panic and mental toll at the beginning because they could see his face begin to darken rapidly as a crack of thunder sounded VERY close by with a flash of green lightning.

“Who?” Malleus didn’t yell or exclaim, the question spoken with barely restrained anger that had Syn’s hair standing up slightly. Or maybe that was the magical pressure in the air that threatened to go from merely noticeable to devastating in an instant if his restraint slipped for even a moment.

“I-I mean, does it really matter when I’m okay,” Syn asked nervously, tapping their fingers together at their shoddy attempt to relieve the tension. When he only narrowed his eyes further, they sighed and added, “I’m not gonna tell you because I FEEL like you’re so mad that you’ll pop into their dorms and kill them right now.”

“I am not mad.”

“You’re literally so angry that I can feel buzzing in my bones from electricity,” they raised an eyebrow at the very obviously pissed off fae, his pupils slitted so much that his eyes were almost only glowing irises. Cautiously, they reached a hand out and placed it on his upper arm, gently saying, “I’m fine, Hornton…. Although, I’m very surprised and touched by your reaction.”

Malleus stiffened at their touch and they worried they’d crossed some sort of unspoken line. But, he relaxed after a couple moments, dark expression fading as he closed his eyes and inhaled. “Of course. You’re important to me.”

Relieved to have dodged a very angry fae, Syn was entirely caught off guard by his comment, unable to keep themself from bursting out into laughter after several seconds of startled staring. They didn’t mean to but their laughter rang out sharp and clear, nearby crickets going silent at the sudden loud noise nearby that ruined their singing. Laughing so much, they had to double over with their arms to their stomach.

God, it’d been awhile since they’d laughed that hard.

“Did I… say something amusing?” Malleus asked as their laughter petered out into giggles.

“Hehehe…” Syn straightened with a hand covering their mouth, abdomen and cheeks hurting. Struggling to regain their breath, they replied, “S-Sorry- heheheha! I just… hehe, wasn’t expecting that. Kkh. Hehehaha!”

They spent another few seconds reining in the remnants of their laughter, part of them wanting to relish the happiness that came with laughing that chased away the other negative emotions. Eventually they cleared their throat and hummed a bit, looking up at Malleus and finally giving him a proper response.

“I didn’t mean to metaphorically laugh in your face,” they said, giving him an apologetic smile at his continued confusion. It turned a bit more melancholic as they continued. “I just… well, one of the reasons I left was because I didn’t really expect anyone to mind if I was gone so it felt like I wasn’t harming anybody. I meant to leave a note, but I also didn’t think anyone would be alarmed if I up and vanished one day either given how many times I’ve almost died. It’s.. surprising.”

Malleus stared at them for a few seconds, seemingly a bit alarmed before a serious expression settled on his face. Almost angrily, he spoke from the chest as he firmly stated, “You’re my friend.”

Syn’s smile became a bit more nervous at the almost forceful declaration, going, “I don’t like how you said that. You said it with a-.”

They were alarmed when the fae stepped closer and grabbed their arm, preventing them from backing away instinctively as he said a bit louder, “You’re my friend.”

“Why are you yelling at me ‘you’re my friend’-?”

“You’re my friend,” Malleus exclaimed, practically forehead to forehead with them, his hair drifting in front of their face as he stared intently into their eyes.

“Oh, god!” Syn yelped, thrown entirely for a loop. Not only was this the most contact the two of them have had, but also the most forceful and expressive the man has been in their presence, usually a cool, collected, stoic yet smug guy that seemed like nothing could really irk him. Even his enthusiastic gargoyle talks didn’t surprise them this much.

And then he pulled back as though the whole thing had never happened, a pace away and out of their space.

“I was concerned when you disappeared,” Malleus said adamantly, the closest to pouting they’d ever seen him as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Syn blinked, struggling to process the last several seconds with their tired brain, slowly replying, “I- uh, appreciate it. Y-you’re my friend, too…. If it’s any consolation, I’m never gonna leave like that again.”

He narrowed his eyes at them slightly in suspicion before sighing slightly. “Good. I’d prefer it if you stay safe and out of trouble.”

“Tch. Good luck with that in this school,” they couldn’t help but scoff slightly, not looking forward to waking up in mere hours for classes. The thought made them groan a bit. “Ugh, I wish I could sleep in class like Leona can.”

“If it’s too late in the night, I can escort you back to Ramshackle so you can rest,” Malleus offered, as though he wouldn’t walk with them to the gate anyways.

Syn sighed a bit at his suggestion and rubbed the back of their neck.

“I mean, I probably should head back. I don’t think I’ll be going to sleep anytime soon though… oh well,” they shrugged, starting to head back in the direction the duo had come from towards Ramshackle. Despite knowing they wouldn’t be getting much sleep, the thought of it did cause them to yawn and they stretched their arms out in front of them as they walked.

“Do you struggle with sleep, Child of Man,” Malleus asked in curiosity as he easily matched their tired stride. Whatever tension the duo had started the stroll with was mostly dissipated. “I’m used to Silver, who struggles with wakefulness.”

“Always have,” Syn replied, kicking a rock absentmindedly. “It takes a while for me to fall asleep and very easy for me to be roused when I’m just starting to doze. I sleep like a rock when I am out, but I also wake up every half hour to an hour for some fucking reason. And not even taking THAT or tossing and turning into account, my dreams are rather active, so sometimes I’ll wake up more tired.”

“What do you dream?”

“Well, depends on the night. Sometimes I’m being chased, sometimes someone’s breaking into whatever home my mind conjures up. On the uncommon occasion, I’ll kill someone in my dreams. In self-defense, of course,” they hurriedly added, just in case, and sighed sheepishly. “People that break into my home or someone that tries to assault me kind of deal… On the rarer occasion, I’ll die.”

“ … That sounds. Unpleasant,” the fae commented quietly, surprising them. Then again, fae probably didn’t think about mortality as much.

“I mean, unless I’m waking up in a cold sweat, I don’t really worry about it. There’s really only one instance that gets me, and that’s when I had my neck slit by a box-cutter, ran to the parking lot of the building in my dream and felt myself slowly getting colder… But, it’s fine!”

Syn gave Malleus a reassuring smile, one that wasn’t very reciprocated.

He, instead, looked mildly concerned and a bit curious as he stared at them for a second or two before inquiring, “Do humans usually dream of death?”

“Uh, probably not everyone, but I’m sure it’s a decent chunk. My dreams don’t really bother ME, per se, I just wake up more tired,” they shrugged, having accepted it. A yawn escaped them. “Besides, even if I get a full night of sleep somehow, I’m still exhausted the next day, so not really a point in fussing over it, you know? Do you dream, Hornton?”

“Sometimes. Though, with the years I’ve spent alive, all my dreams tend to blur together vaguely most of the time,” Malleus closed his eyes in thought, raising a hand to his chin. “I have a couple notable ones.”

Syn expected him to recall some dream he wanted to tell them or maybe even start another topic, waiting patiently as they continued walking and yawning a bit. But, one second turned into several and felt more awkward than anything.

“I can help.”

“Huh?” they blinked in surprise at the sudden small statement, looking to the side at him. “Help? Help with what?”

“Your sleep,” Malleus answered, both of them reaching the Ramshackle gate and stopping. They turned to face him and crossed their arms over his chest, tilting their head curiously as he added, “I can enchant your sleep so you may rest easy without interruption for the night.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do anything like that,” Syn said, smiling as they waved him off. Even though it was probably just a drop in the bucket of magical capability he had, they didn’t want to take advantage of it. “I’ve lasted this long just fine.”

“Think of it as a gift in return for your invitation,” he replied, crossing his arms over his chest with a small smile of his own. “I worry for your sleep given that I understand humans need plenty for their well-being.”

“No- I-,” they struggled on how to respond. On one hand, they really didn’t want him wasting his magic on them. On the other hand, they were raised that denying gifts was a rude thing to do and felt like fae had similar customs. Maybe they could sweet-talk their way out of accepting? “Really, you don’t have to. Your company alone is gift enough. I don’t want you to think you have to give me things or do favors in return for just hanging out. We’re friends after all.”

Malleus blinked a bit in surprise at their response, seemingly caught off guard. Likely, not many people had called him a ‘friend’. He seemed almost torn and Syn thought that maybe he was caught off guard enough to not press about his gift, but instead an almost mischievous smile grew on his face.

“Indeed. We ARE friends,” he mused, raising a hand to his chin thoughtfully.

“Uh, yeah,” Syn said slowly, having a feeling that this was going to backfire in some way. “We’re friends… What are you thinking?”

“Well, Child of Man,” Malleus shifted closer to them, making them a bit nervous. It wasn’t until their hip hit the metal of the fence around Ramshackle that they realized he placed himself between them and the gate. “I’m thinking that, as your friend, I must INSIST that you allow me to help you regain lost sleep and energy.”

“Hornton, you really don’t have to do that,” they insisted their own side, “I don’t want you being bothered by me or anything.”

“I don’t have to, but I’d like to. Besides, I’ve grown curious during our walk,” he replied, leaning down to be more towards their level and inhaled before exhaling a green-tinged burst of smoke that hit them square in the face.

“Hornton!” Syn coughed instinctively as the smoke entered their lungs, trying to wave it from their face as they did so. When the smoke cleared enough for them to see, they stiffened at the sight of being only inches tall. Again. Inhaling sharply, they couldn’t help but exclaim, “God, fucking- really?! I’m too tired for this shit.”

“Then let me offer my assistance,” Malleus’s voice from above didn’t surprise them and the man knelt down beside them, deftly scooping them up off the cobblestone path with a hand.

Given the amount of times they’d been scooped up, plucked up and dangled, they just averted their gaze from the drop below to avoid their fear of heights and focused on the face of the man that shrunk them with a light glower, holding onto the fabric of his gloves. Arguably, he had the gentlest hold so far. That still didn’t stop their heart from quickening in their chest.

“Let me guess,” Syn said as he straightened to his full height and held them up to see. “You’re curious about eating me.”

“My, am I that easy to read, Child of Man? Or, have you perhaps endured more than I thought?” a brief flicker of the earlier anger drifted over his face for a moment before it was replaced by amusement. “Regardless, your boldness even in your position is fascinating given all the potential danger.”

“I mean, I haven't really been hurt while being eaten yet, so I’m sure I’m safe with you,” they replied, thinking that if they could survive Floyd, that this would be fine. A walk in the park even.

This close and this small, they could see his pupils dilate a little at their response like Leona’s did sometimes. Though, while the lion’s was almost strictly predatory, Malleus’s gaze held something else that they couldn’t decipher in their tired state coupled WITH predatory intent.

“I see… in that case, allow me to continue,” Malleus hummed slightly, raising his other hand and tapping the top of their head with a finger that crackled with green magic, sending a sharp shudder down their spine.

“Ouugh, what was that,” they asked, sticking their tongue in distaste at the somewhat unfamiliar and powerful feeling. They couldn’t help but hold a hand to their chest as it settled into their bones. It wasn’t unpleasant, more of an internal warmth, but it was still unexpected in the moment.

“A simple protection spell. Though, you’ll find it more potent than the classic potion that goes around,” he said, smirking smugly. They felt like he enjoyed showing off sometimes, but the only time they’d seen him use magic before was the stadium.

“Makes sense then,” Syn murmured, guessing that meant he didn’t possess a secondary stomach like their infamous Octavinelle trio. Their heart skipped a beat when the fingers around them twitched ever so slightly, probably imperceptible even to the fae as he lifted them slightly higher and opened his mouth to speak.

But, despite being far more used to this than anyone else, they still couldn’t help but stop him and try to stall, saying, “W-Wait! Shouldn’t we at least let Grim know? I don’t want him to worry that I’d run off again.”

Malleus paused and blinked in surprise, raising his other hand to his chin in thought.

“I suppose that’s a valid concern given recent events,” he commented, glancing towards Ramshackle before turning his gaze back on them with a small knowing smile. “I’ll inform him afterwards. For now, don’t think that dragging this out further will somehow get you out of this.”

They let out a small yelp when they were brought a bit closer to his face. More specifically, his mouth.

“Hehe… am I that easy to read,” Syn asked nervously, rubbing the back of their neck. Their reaction was just his smile turning into a full smirk. They sighed. “Yeah, that tracks.”

The fae chuckled, pointed fangs showing for a moment in his amusement.

“You’ll have to forgive me if I’m a bit enthusiastic,” Malleus hummed, a glimpse of his tongue swiping across his lips in anticipation catching them off guard. “I don’t think I’ve indulged in a delight like this for decades even if this is considered for your wellbeing.”

Opening his jaws and tilting his head back, he lifted them above his face.

White pointed fangs framed the inside of his mouth as he began to lower them, a forked tongue snaking over his bottom teeth for them to be placed on. Warm, humidity began to dampen the fabric of their pajama pants around the ankles before their feet pressed into the squishy but firm surface of his tongue as more of their weight was placed on top.

Cursing idly under their breath, Syn found themself placed atop the muscle within seconds, letting out a small noise when the two ends of his forked tongue curled over their shoulders and they were quickly drawn inside of his jaws once his fingers let go.

It was definitely a lot warmer than they were used to, but the feeling of saliva immediately drenching their clothes and hair was familiar. They tried not to think about how tasty they must be to have so much of the student body practically drooling over them so much and shifted idly.

Their movements were responded to by the tongue starting to roll them around his mouth as he began tasting them, savoring whatever flavor he could procure from their exposed skin as tastebuds pressed against them. So used to this unorthodox procedure, Syn only pressed back if things were getting a little too restricting while grumbling tiredly. But he was also probably the gentlest at this part as well, surprisingly so, as though each prod or twist would cause them to crumble in his mouth like some delicate confectionery. Still, everything was almost tense like he was very much holding back as well.

The most surprising part, however, was an unexpected rumble that seemed to emanate from the back of his maw.

“What the fuck,” they asked themself, wondering if it was a growl like Leona would emit if he ate them while particularly pissed off. But, no. They realized after a few seconds of tired confusion that he was PURRING, of all things.

Or, at least, that’s the closest thing they could equate it to.

And given all their experiences coupled with the fact that the only things they’d been around that purred were fluffy, huggable cats - sans a usually grumpy Leona who apparently CHUFFED and not purred when they asked him about it - they thought this was the most fucking adorable thing to happen whilst being eaten in their increasingly exhausted state.

So tired, surprised, and startlingly endeared, Syn didn’t realize he had stopped tasting them until the tongue beneath them pressed up for a moment and they found themself swallowed.

Yelping on instinct, they were drawn down his throat, the rumbling getting louder. A light pressure followed them until they slipped past his collarbone, notable by the increased constriction and thundering heartbeat that rivaled strong breaths from powerful lungs.

Purring, heartbeat and breathing faded slightly in the couple seconds it took for them to slip into what they would only guess was his stomach.

“Are you well, Child of Man?” Malleus asked from above, the purring lessening with the concern in his voice. “You were far more still than I expected...”

“Y-Yeah, ‘m fine,” Syn called back up, untangling themself from the bottom of the organ to settle against the stomach wall. They couldn’t help but rub an eye sleepily, feeling like the purring was definitely part of the cause. “Just tired and used to this is all… were you actually PURRING?”

They felt everything around them jolt slightly, surprising them along with a startlingly hesitant question. “I-... Yes, I was. Is that not acceptable in this situation?”

“No, no, you’re fine,” they quickly said, raising their hands despite the man not even being able to see the attempt of a placating gesture. A tiredly amused and mischievous smile wormed its way on their face, adding, “It’s cute! Not even Leona can purr apparently.”

“Kingscholar?” Malleus asked before everything fell into a brief silence that made Syn question if mentioning the lion had hit some sort of sore spot. But, the purring started back up as he said with a surprising amount of smugness. “I see… In that case, I’m glad you’re not bothered by it.”

“Not at all,” Syn replied, though they didn’t tell him that it was helping either. The last thing they needed was to give him reason to eat them again. Crossing their arms over their chest, they reminded him, “Don’t forget to let Grim know about this, okay? You don’t have to say you ate me, you can just say I’m spending the night or whatever.”

“I’ve not forgotten,” he chuckled, everything moving slightly as he presumably began to walk again. “I must ensure your sleep however, so please, listen.”

“Wait, you EATING me wasn’t the whole thing to get me to sleep?”

“No,” Malleus purred louder for a moment, amusement dripping from the one word alone. “It was merely to ensure you wouldn’t try to resist or run away. As much as your fearlessness and tenacity are endearing, it’s not ideal when you refuse my assistance.”

“Ugh, of course,” Syn groaned a bit, crossing their arms over their chest and leaning back into the stomach wall with a slight huff. “I mean, fair, but c’mon man.”

They were met with a purr-laced chuckle before he said once more, “Please, Child of Man, listen.”

“Listening,” they replied grumpily, wondering what he was going to say.

But, he said nothing.

Instead, the purring petered out and he cleared his throat before beginning to hum out a tune. A lullaby from the sound of it. It was a pleasant surprise, the song unable to be escaped from within the man humming it.

“Huh.” Syn found themself tilting their head slightly, finding the tune even more effective at taking hold of the grogginess at the edges of their mind. Before they knew it, they found their eyes struggling to remain open as their body relaxed into the curvature of the shifting wall they laid against.

With the sluggish thought that they should take advantage of the hours until class time, they allowed sleep to overtake them, slipping into dark warmth. Both within and without.

#cinnwrites #soft vore #safe vore #g/t vore #twisted wonderland #twst malleus #malleus draconia #twst oc #syn #99 problems

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