#and it made me think: would I eat the cooked human foot if it was offered to me?

[multishipper-baby]

Sometimes you only realize that you're a bit sleep deprived when you start having really weird thoughts about morality and kinks. Like, really weird.

#cannibalism #<- that's your trigger warning #anyway I was thinking about the guy who made tacos with his amputated foot #(don't look it up it has pictures and it's A Lot) #and it made me think: would I eat the cooked human foot if it was offered to me? #because it's one thing to have weird fantasies. actually doing weird things irl is a completely different thing #not to mention that I would have to think about whether I could be Normal about eating the foot #I mean it'd be weird if it was a kink thing to me without the person who's feeding me their foot knowing right? #but there's no... soft way of telling someone you might get off to eating their flesh #so perhaps I should just not eat the foot if offered #...unless I was dating the guy. then it'd be less weird and more ''making the best out of a bad situation'' #you know. since he lost his foot. #this also leads me to ask myself whether I would eat my own meat. and I think that's a more definitive yes #not sure if it would be a kink thing since it's just. me. but it would be an Experience without a doubt #anyway. I should probably sleep

[cheeseceli]

When you struggle to eat

Pairing: Ot8!skz × Gn!reader (individually)

Genre: hurt/comfort, fluff, reactions

Request: reader thinking she eats "too much" and decides to eat way less for her body image, and how the skz boys would react to that.

Warnings: eating struggles will be discussed; reader has body image issues; mentions of food multiple times; use of petnames in Chan and Changbin's

Disclaimer: this was made with the purpose to comfort anyone who's going through a similar situation. If I made a mistake and made someone uncomfortable/aggravated the situation, please do tell me and I'll correct or delete this post immediately, whatever is preferred. Topics related to eating disorders will be discussed here, please don't read if that's something that triggers you.

Bang Chan - is ready to listen to all your worries

‌We all remember Chan's Room right?

‌He's ready to spend hours if needed just to understand what you're going through ‌and where your insecurities are coming from

‌At the same time, he will never judge you

‌So you know he's your safe place

Constantly checks up on you even if he's far away through texts and calls

And if there's someone who's aggravating the situation or making you insecure, you can bet he's gonna solve the situation himself

"Talk to me baby. What's going on in that mind of yours, hm?"

Lee Know - eats with you

Probably the first to realise something's off, considering food is almost his love language atp

Likes to have as many meals with you as possible

‌He usually makes a mountain of food in his plate, so you don't worry about the amount of food in yours

‌And he also runs errands with you

‌Especially those like buying food

‌You don't even gotta ask, he would be volunteering on the first opportunity

‌Also cooks for you, whatever you want

"Do you want to eat anything? I can cook"

Changbin - Hype man

‌Your personal hype man fr

‌Is ready to compliment you in absolutely everything

‌The best part is that you know that his compliments are always genuine

‌What do you mean you didn't like that trousers?? You looked fantastic in it! That shirt made you look even more gorgeous

‌He has known you for so long and still, he always finds something new to compliment you on

But even if after all the reassurance you want to change the way you look, he will be by your side to help you do it in a safe and healthy way

"You look perfect, baby. I promise. Actually, I still don't believe I managed to pull someone so beautiful like that"

Hyunjin - has all meals with you

‌And with that, I really mean all meals

‌Breakfast, lunch, dinner, you name it

‌Even if you can't really get out of your work place or your university, he's going there then

‌He just doesn't want you to be by yourself

‌He also always has something to say during those meals

‌News about their comeback, gossip at jyp, stories from his childhood...

He never fails to admire you a lot in those moments as well, never letting you forget how much he loves and appreciates you

‌He does that hoping it will distract you from the food, so you can be more at ease

"Have I ever told you about the time Kkami bit my ankle? I think I still have the scar."

Han - makes you feel beautiful

‌He truly doesn't understand how you don't think you're the most beautiful human being to ever set foot on this earth

‌In his eyes, you were born perfect

‌So, naturally, he makes it his mission to make you see yourself in his point of view

‌Compliments and adores you

‌Will make you feel beautiful, pretty, sexy, cute... Whatever you wanna be

‌Above all, he'll make you feel loved

"No matter what size, you'll always be my love. Don't forget that."

Felix - distracts you

‌With that, I mean that he tries to take your attention off food and body image related subjects

‌Before and after eating, he will always bring you along to activities where your mind can be turned off

‌So many fun dates!!

‌Even during the meals he'll have a similar idea to hyunjin and simply won't shut up

‌Most of his compliments don't involve around your body, so you really don't think about it

"I love this hairstyle of yours. It looks wonderful"

Seungmin - protects you

‌In a sense that no one even dares to comment on your looks/habits

Even if he isn't there with you

‌That because he made it very clear that everyone should watch their mouths around you

‌For as long as he's around you, he will do his best and more to protect you from harmful comment

Also tries to experiment a lot of different foods with you all the time, so you never feel like that's a burden or a bad thing

"Hey, have you heard about the new restaurant close to home? The food is peruvian. We could have dinner there tonight."

I.N - physically reassures you

‌He loves you and every single part of you, including your looks

I believe he was a bit lost in the beginning, not exactly sure on how to help you

‌But even if his words aren't exactly his biggest strength, he still wants to reassure you as much as he can

‌So he does that with his touch

‌Holding you on his lap, kissing all of your "imperfections" and tracing patterns in your skin

‌Anything that can ground, reassure and give you comfort at the same time

"Have I ever told you how perfect you are? I should tell you that more."

Masterlist | you'll probably like: when you're overworked (ateez comfort)

Thank you for reading<3 I hope this was able to help someone

» I won't put the taglist on this one as I don't want to tag anyone in something that can possibly trigger them «

Dividers by @/cafekitsune, images 1 2 3

Thank you so much for the beta readers: @duhgurl @beebee18 @applekiwi3202 @elqivxstxr @mrsunshine999 @msauthor

#celi headcanons #stray kids #skz fluff #stray kids fluff #skz #stray kids soft hours #stray kids soft thoughts #skz x reader #skz x you #stray kids x reader #skz angst #stray kids scenarios #stray kids imagines #stray kids fanfic #bang chan #bang chan fluff #lee know #lee know fluff #changbin #changbin fluff #hyunjin #hyunjin fluff #han #han fluff #felix #felix fluff #seungmin #seungmin fluff #i.n #i.n fluff

[atticsandwich]

out of focus, eye to eye

pairing: beelzebub / gn! reader (mc)

fluff, the slightest of tension, food + you = a happy demon

The times Beel shows his love for you, not through words, but in the little things you didn't think he would notice.

(He does.)

happy birthday beel and belphie 🥹 i only had enough brain juice to write for one twin, i'll make it up to you soon bel, i promise

—

11:59.

You didn't usually crave for something to eat at the dead of night, especially with how hearty some dinners at the House of Lamentation can be. Today was no exception; Leviathan as the designated cook of the day laid out an entire spread of dishes from an anime he's been watching recently, his dedicated effort paying off with an across-the-board commendable feast.

Really, you had no business still being hungry after everything you ate, but your growling stomach commands otherwise.

"There should still be some leftover doughnuts from yesterday..." you think to yourself as you close the door of your room. Thankfully, the kitchen's right next door, but that also means you immediately notice the tell-tale signs of a very awake, very hungry demon.

"There goes my doughnuts..." a tragedy, considering nothing is safe when the Avatar of Gluttony is in one of his midnight fridge raids.

"Hm? Oh, you're awake. Were you hungry too?" you must've been standing there for quite a while now for Beel to notice you, as he waves and motions for you to come closer.

"Sort of, yeah," you reply, walking to his side. "Got anything for me?"

Wordlessly, considering he just shoved an entire cupcake in his mouth— sorry Asmo— he points to a familiar box towards the side.

"...Doughnuts? I thought you've eaten them by now," you say, pleasantly surprised. Taking the box from the fridge, you take a seat by the demon's side. Upon opening, you notice that although it was indeed already eaten from, two of the same ones were left as is.

"Hm...? These are..."

"They're your favorite kind, so I made sure to save them for you," Beel says it so nonchalantly, immediately resuming his fridge raid, but you can't help the butterflies that start twirling in your belly, hunger almost dissipated.

Taking a bite, you finally relish in fulfilling your sudden craving. A few more and half a doughnut's left, and you realize that Beel switched to looking at you eat, a fond smile in his face. You couldn't help but fluster at the attention, averting your gaze away from his.

"...You have some crumbs around your mouth," before you could say anything in reply, he takes his thumb and wipes the side of your lip, his eyes on you the entire time. You muttered a shy 'thank you' before he takes his own thumb to his mouth, clearing off the crumbs that were on yours.

"...Mmm, I get why they're your favorite. It's really good."

—

Lunchtime at R.A.D can sometimes be a life-or-death affair, especially when the cooks decide to put their best foot forward for the day. Today was one of those days— with a today's menu spread rivalling that of Ristorante Six, you can almost feel the overflowing anticipation seconds before the bell rings.

5 seconds...

At this point, nobody's listening to the professor, but the fidgeting figures of students eager to dash out is quite a sight.

3 seconds...

Being human meant being at a disadvantage, you thought. Yes, your magical prowess is pretty prominent, but the average demon can still physically overpower any regular human.

1 second...

"Hey, did you want to eat out for lunch today?"

Beel's voice overtakes the blaring of the lunch bell, demons of all sizes rushing immediately towards the cafeteria. In the distance, you see Mammon's figure scrambling and slinking his way throught the crowd like a little snake— smart.

Yeah, there's no hope for you out there today.

"That sounds nice actually," you sigh wistfully. Maybe next time, after you get some wrestling pointers from Beel.

"Hell's Kitchen has some really good deals for lunch today, plus they have a new dish I really wanna try," you walk out the room with the demon, already daydreaming of his lunch spread.

"Don't worry. Next time, I'll carry you on my shoulders so we can run through the lunch crowd together," he must've noticed how you were staring at the cafeteria earlier. You gave him a reassuring smile, as if telling him you're fine.

"Thanks, Beel. But you're capable enough as is now, so... don't you want to try the chef specials today?"

"Well, yes, but I could always do that another time. I'd rather eat lunch with you," the earnesty in his voice gave you butterflies again, and you hope you're hiding how flustered you are now sufficiently.

"...I'd rather eat lunch with you too, Beel."

He hums happily in response, taking your arm on his own. He gives your hand a gentle squeeze, and you give him a squeeze back.

—

Sorcerer training days with Solomon varied in difficulty each week; sometimes you two would simply brew a bunch of potions together, while other times he'd have you cast a variety of spells in succession, often resulting in you tiring out your magic reserves.

Unfortunately for you, today was spell day.

You almost always came home late during these kinds of days too— which meant dinner was usually done by the time you got home. You usually didn't mind, as it also meant the house was a lot more quiet, with the brothers all retreating to their rooms for their end-of-the-day routines. After grabbing a quick bite to eat, you head to your room, fully prepared to just collapse in bed.

Weird— was my room this tidy when i left this morning?, you wondered, but who were you to look a gift horse in the mouth? Your study area was organized, the room smelt like fresh linen and citrus, and your bed—

Ah.

Beel has his head laid on your mattress while seated on the floor, letting off the smallest of snores. You let out an endeared sigh, approaching the large demon, analyzing his face as he slept before you gently tapped his shoulders to try wake him up. The demon grumbles in response, eventually slowly opening his eyes. When he finally notices you, he opens them fully, before pulling you down for a hug.

"You're back," you can feel him smile in the embrace. Although tired, you try to return the hug as best you can.

"Were you the one who cleaned my room?"

"Yeah," he nods in confirmation. "You looked more tired recently, so I wanted to help out. But, uh... I think I got some crumbs on the floor from eating while I was waiting for you. Sorry..."

You laugh again, pulling the both of you up from the floor to sit on the bed.

"Thank you, Beel. That was very thoughtful of you," you give his nose a little peck, and it's adorable the way he hums happily in response, clearly content with your satisfaction (and kiss). You sometimes wonder what you did to deserve someone like Beel, but then again, if you told your younger self the life you're living now, you'd probably look at yourself crazy.

"Well, since you're already here and I woke you up, let's just sleep together," you suggest, patting on the opposite side of your bed as an invitation. It's amazing how those string of words instantly light up his face.

"Really?" he asks, although he's already walking to the other side of the bed, already accepting the invite.

Quickly changing into your sleep clothes, you dive into bed right next to him, his arms open and ready to slot you in. You fit in his hold just right, and you inhale the distinct scent of wood and vanilla— which, coupled with how one of his hand is softly stroking the back of your head, quickly lulls you into comfort, your eyes starting to droop.

"G'night Beel," you say, sleepily.

"Goodnight," he returns, before leaning down to plant a small kiss on the crown of your head, and another on your forehead.

As you finally succumb to the world of dreams, the last thing you hear a small hum and a whisper of "I love you."

Tomorrow, you'll say it back to him first thing in the morning.

—

tags: @insomniachox

#obey me #obey me fanfic #obey me shall we date #obey me beel #obey me beelzebub #obey me x reader #beel x reader #beelzebub x reader #obey me nightbringer

[cosmicstarlatte]

Trip to Waffle House (Obey Me!)

━━━━━━━━━━ ✦ ━━━━━━━━━━ You take the brothers to Waffle House for some breakfast. You pull up and there's already gunshots ringing through the lot. "It's ok, c'mon c'mon...ignore the cook punching that customer."

»Characters: Demon bros + Dateables »Tags: Shitpost/Humor, Bulleted Style fic, Gender Neutral, Regret

Lucifer:

Refuses to order anything

"This is not a dining establishment."

Thinks this makes the Devildom look like the Celestial Realm

He now understands why you're built strong

"Where's the manager? He's dead?"

ENOUGH

Got fed up and stopped the chaos

For once there was a little bit of peace in a waffle house if only for a few minutes

Mammon:

"Aw fuck yeah cheap food!"

Is unbothered by the chaos, ignores it.

Until he gets hit with food

Starts a brawl with the other patrons

Ended up going viral online

Levi:

"In Ruri we trust" He prays

Was anxious the entire time

Made sure to sit between Lucifer and Beel for safety

Thought the food was good but

Please don't ever make him go there again

Satan:

Found it entertaining

"Waffle House Weather Index? Fascinating!"

"Is that a cat giving birth in the corner?"

Thought food was okay

Still a fan though and would like to come back again with you

Also loves that Lucifer hates it

Asmo:

Took some convincing to get him to step foot inside but the gunshots helped

Didn't bother to eat either

He swears he saw something move on Mammon's plate

"This is so not going on Devilgram."

Never again

Beel:

"Mm..mmph!!!"

Was excited to try something new

Dinner and a show!

Took over for the cook so they could go on break

No complaints, he would come back again

Enjoyed it the most out of everyone

Belphie:

"This...this is great."

Enjoyed the chaos, found it hilarious

Could comfortably nap to everyone's screaming, it was comforting

Lucifer hates it and Beel loves it so what's not to love?

Food was ok

Would come back again

━━━━━━━━━━ ✦ ━━━━━━━━━━

You guys went on a trip to the human world and Dia wanted to stop somewhere for breakfast. He liked the name Waffle House and decided to stop there. You tried to dissuade him but he refused. Even pulling up and hearing gunshots he wasn't deterred. Barbatos couldn't stop him.

Barbatos:

Slammed a glock on the table as soon as they sat

Politely declined to eat

Found the place interesting by how unregulated it was but he wouldn't come back again

Diavolo:

Was a little disappointed it actually wasn't made to look like a house of waffles

Fascinated by the vibe though

"Do you fight to the death here?"

"I see."

Orders waffles of course

Thinks they're just okay

Yeah he doesn't want to come back again

Simeon:

Sweats

Says a prayer in the car

Blacks out once inside

Would rather turn into a demon than step foot in there again

Luke:

Gets tossed around

Poor Simeon blacked out and couldn't help

"Is that blood on the wall!?"

"Why is the soda salty?"

Needed therapy for a while

Solomon:

"Aw yiss mf waffle house"

unbothered king

Thinks its the best place in the world

It's a lawless land after all

Would take someone on a date there

⬦You might also like: Coconut︱Devil-Mart⭐︱Mexican Restaurant︱You ARE The Father

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me headcanons #obey me shitpost #obey me humor #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me levi #obey me satan #obey me asmo #obey me beel #obey me belphie #obey me diavolo #obey me barbatos #obey me simeon #obey me luke #obey me solomon #◇˖・ﾟ— › cosmic obey me . ⊹ #shitpostcifer

[merchen-aeravellae]

Out of this world

Yandere astronaut x tall! Alien reader

Warnings: possessiveness, it is not edited I will do it later, in some parts I used a translator

Yandere astronaut who studied and worked hard to become one of the first humans to set foot on planet Kapler, a planet discovered 10 years ago in another galaxy in a habitable zone for humans.

Yandere astronaut who is the researcher in charge of documenting and recording all the information of this trip, from the day they left planet earth until their arrival on planet Kapler.

Yandere astronaut who makes a trip of almost 3 years with his companions. For 10 years, the Wata -a space station- invented a ship that could travel at speeds never before recorded and what would have been a journey of thousands of years was one of 3 years.

Yandere astronaut what his ship reaches the orbit of this new planet and when he was getting on a small transport ship to reach Kapler, a meteor the size of a car crashed into the spaceship and due to this, his transport ship is ejected and fall somewhere on the planet.

Yandere astronaut who was not yet ready to travel to the planet, he did not have the supplies ready, much less he had his belt on, while the ship fell, he bounced everywhere without control and leaving him unconscious.

Yandere astronaut who heard a noise of metal breaking and he could swear he felt hands carrying him but his mind was too confused and he couldn't open his eyes.

Yandere astronaut who wakes up in a shelter made of stone and trees, he is not quite sure how he got there and when he was ready to find answers, entered what he thought was impossible.

Yandere astronaut who almost had a heart attack when a being of more than 2 meters entered the room carrying an unknown animal, but the alien stops when she notices that the space traveler is awake and looking at her with eyes as big as a melon.

Yandere astronaut who is overwhelmed by everything that is happening, the planet was supposed to be without inhabitants, you are not supposed to be here.

Yandere astronaut who faints again from all the emotions he had in a short time, when he wakes up again, you are in a corner of the shelter cooking the animal you brought.

Yandere astronaut who accidentally made a noise when he woke up and alerted you that your guest was looking in your direction and to his surprise, you handed him what looked like a plate with the food you made.

Yandere astronaut who first refused to eat or accept anything that came from you, but soon after he accepted to eat your meals.

Yandere astronaut the more time passes, the more he becomes attached to you, you two created a routine where you go hunting animals and get common fruits and vegetables from the planet and bring them to home, while he cooks and cleans.

Yandere astronaut who at first wanted to return to his crew but that is now a distant memory and he better concentrates on giving your our house a better look and pleasing his wife friend.

Yandere astronaut who does everything possible to get you attention and prays to the stars, the sun or the universe to look at him romantically and reciprocate his feelings.

Yandere astronaut who begins to have thoughts that his crewmates if they are still alive can find him and try to take him back or worse, try to steal his lover.

Yandere astronaut who with that simple thought begins to be jealous and rage consumes him completely, he tries even harder to turn you into his romantic partner.

Yandere astronaut who doesn't really have the strength to provide food but he is willing to become the housewife, and in turn shows you that he can be a useful lover please look at me.

Yandere astronaut who already planned your entire future together, from the wedding ceremony with just the two of you to the name of your first 3 children.

Yandere astronaut who is euphoric just thinking about having children with you, you two would create a new specie and it's another way to tie you to him

Yandere astronaut who at some point is convinced that you return his feelings but it is only him believing what he wants and refusing to look at reality

yandere astronaut who loves being smaller than you, that way he imagines one day being the little spoon while both sleep, he will feel so protected in your arms.

Yandere astronaut takes advantage of the fact that you don't understand a word he says and calls you nicknames like wife, my partner or love.

Yandere astronaut "I'd rather launch myself into deep, dark, endless space than spend a single day away from you"

#yandere x reader #yandere astronaut #alien reader #fem reader #yandere romantic #yandere imagines #yandere headcanons #yandere #yandere oc x reader #x reader #yandere oc #female reader #yandere male x female reader #margo #merchen

[cassayeee]

MY LITTLE SECRET (FINNICK ODAIR X FEM!READER)

warnings: porn with quite a bit of plot (i can never just write a oneshot), emotional sex, p in v, oral (f receiving), virginity loss, slight marking, mentions of killing, death, and suicidal thoughts (this is the hunger games), just be wary fr - minors stay away

notes: so this was a request from @theBridgetopanem on ao3 and, ugh, it's just so cute. love me some soft boy finnick. once again, very quickly edited so sorry for any grammatical mistakes. anywho - make sure to like, reblog, and comment! love u all <3

word count: 9.4k

summary:

No one truly understands the deception of humanity more than those who have the power to take it away. To push innocents against innocents and make sure nothing more than blood and broken souls remains where hope and naivety once stood.

It was a horrible nightmare in your mind – trying to think like them. Trying to survive. And the shadows that followed you out of that arena as people congratulated you for being a victor? Well, they knew what the absence of humanity really brought.

Fear.

OR

Finnick Odair is your mentor for the 70th Hunger Games and you can't help but find comfort in the man who is in your life solely to make sure you don't die.

The 70th Hunger Games, ready to begin.

Your name, reaped.

All hope, lost.

Voices flickered in and out of your consciousness as you made your way up to the stage. Of course, this happens to you in your last year of eligibility, why wouldn’t it? Time sped and slowed as it pleased, having no regard for your ticking thoughts. Nor did it care for your unwillingness to let it pass.

This can’t be happening. This isn’t happening. Why is this happening?

You weren’t a Career. You had no special talents besides swimming and spearfishing. Swimming. How for fucks sake was that going to get you through the Games? News flash: it wouldn’t. Maybe spearfishing? But that was hardly a skill that could contend with previous victors. And it definitely wouldn’t help you against the Careers.

I’m going to die. I’m going to die. I’m going to die.

As you curled into the dark spot floating at the edge of your vision, you barely heard the name of the male tribute announced beside you. Isaac? Ethan? Ian? Why does it matter anyway? You weren’t going to make it out of here. This was it. The ocean was draining, and you were being sucked down with it.

You barely noticed the Peacekeepers usher you off the stage and saying goodbye to your family was now a flicker of a memory. Siblings would never see you again. You would never be able to make them laugh in your family home or try to eat your mother’s insufferable cooking again. You would never be able to brush off fishing duty to go swimming with Annie or visit the town tavern with her again.

Oh, Annie.

Best friends since birth, the two of you were practically inseparable. Many of your other friends and family joked that the two of you must have been a soul split because of how alike you were. You did everything together, but the shining break in this storm was the fact that she wasn’t standing where you were. That your siblings weren’t. If it had to be any of you, you were glad that it was yourself.

But, fuck – you wish it would have been anyone else’s name picked out of the grim bowl.

---

Stepping foot on that train was probably the hardest decision of your life. Not that it was much of a decision, really. If you wouldn’t have gotten on yourself, the Peacekeepers would have gladly thrown you on there themselves.

You couldn’t say that you were too impressed with the interior of it. Honestly, it just looks like the Capitol threw up all over it. Yes, your family home was nicer than most of those in the other Districts due to the wealth of the area, but you didn’t care about all of that. The people made a house a home, and this train was nothing more than a moving coffin.

As your Capitol lapdog, Jorge, showed you and your fellow tribute into the lounge car, a head of bronze hair caught your eye. His arms were spread wide on either side of him as he lounged on the travel sofa – seeming to be as content as a summer’s day. You could almost laugh at the absurdity of it. But, before that mocking gaggle could make its way out of your throat, the man before you turned.

Oh, shit.

Finnick Odair. You needed no introduction of his, everyone in District 4 was aware of him after his victory in the 64th Games. Youngest ever and all that, you had to respect him for making it through. What you couldn’t respect, however, was his enjoyment of his Capitol fame. He appeared on screen at least five times a month at some prestigious party, the arm candy to some Capitol prissy who you really couldn’t bother to care about. Why should you when they laugh and cheer for children to die for their amusement? It was absolutely disgusting. 

Flashing you with a stunning smile, he popped a sugar cube in his mouth as Jorge motioned for the two of you to sit across from him. His sea-green eyes followed your movements as you stiffly sat before him, like a prized pet for sale. Your shoulders were locked tight as you stared back at the man before you. Tanned skin from hours on the coast and beauty that even the old Gods would envy, you couldn’t discount his looks. But you knew those could be deceiving. And anyone who wins the Games knows how to be deceiving.

“Hey, you two,” he began as he looked between you and… Ian? Yeah, let’s go with that. “This isn’t a position I want to see anyone in, but I’m here to help make sure you make it through whatever hellscape of an arena they have planned for you and get you used to the culture of the Capitol.”

You could feel your hands shake as this terror became more real with every word he spoke. He’s my mentor. I have a mentor. I’m really a tribute.

I’m going to die.

Every ill thought you had of Finnick was immediately disposed of. He was a lifeline in this – he knew how to win. And if you had to be deceitful, manipulative, hell, even seductive through this, you’d take whatever advice he had and hold onto it with your life.

Quickly grasping your hands together to try and still them, you showed nothing but vulnerability as you slouched in your seat. You could feel another panic attack coming on, but you shoved it down to deal with later so you could talk with Finnick. You weren’t going to waste a single moment on this train that didn’t provide you with some sort of opportunity to gain skills that would help you make it out of the arena.

Finnick saw how your composure changed as soon as he started talking and his heart broke a bit from the horribleness of this. He meant it when he said that he didn’t want anyone else to be in this position, for the Games to be a reality, but he would be damned if he didn’t make sure that one of you wouldn’t come out a victor. So, the three of you got to work and talked through the whole ride to the Capitol.

---

Finnick was betting on your spearfishing skills to get you through.

“The other tributes will be spread between those who know how to hunt, how to hide, and how to survive. I need you to be all three.” He stated.

The two of you were working together before your training began in the Tribute Center, stealing your last little bit of train time to work on hand-to-hand skills. Ian was off resting since Finnick was already aware of his expertise with tridents. Apparently, the two had known each other prior to all of this. Finnick wasn’t worried about him. No, he was worried about you.

“I’ve never hunted another person before.” You reminded him. “Fish are different.”

He was showing you maneuvers that could be used for deflection at this point. Utilizing the strength of the staff would be crucial, but since the Capitol provided metal ones in the arena, there was no worry about it breaking. Being in the proper position to block vital spots was up to you, though.

“Fish are small targets,” he nailed his trident against your spear, the reverberation racing up your arms. You continued to hold on. “Humans are bigger. More places to aim for.”

“But they can fight back.” You remarked as you readjusted your hold on the spear. “They can kill me just as easily.”

“Then be faster. Be quiet and quick and they won’t know you’re there until the damage is already done.” He urged. Setting his trident against the wall, he stripped off his shirt from the exertion and reached for a bottle of water to rehydrate.

Your mouth watered at the view. He was, in the simplest of terms, gorgeous. Taunt muscles built from years of experience stretched across his expanse as sweat trickled between the valleys of them. His Adam’s apple bobbed in tandem with his swallows and you were entranced by the movement. You don’t know what he did in a past life to be graced with a body like that, but you had to appreciate it if even for this one moment.

Shaking your head to rid yourself of the distraction, you grabbed a drink of water as well, taking the time to think of your odds. They’ve been getting better with Finnick’s instruction, but it was your intelligence and timing that would get you to the victor’s circle. Confidence was starting to brew in your veins, and you didn’t want it to go away.

Setting the bottle down, you grabbed your spear once more and took a fighter’s stance with it. Finnick noticed and lifted a well-manicured brow at you.

“I’ve got the defense positions down,” you started. “Now show me how to win.”

---

You tried not to stand out amongst the other tributes as much as you could, in hopes that they would view you as nothing more than some meek and useless girl. Your plan was that if you kept your head down, they wouldn’t view you as a threat. While that could cause some to view you as an easy target, it would also keep the element of surprise tidily tucked in your back pocket.

However, you stuck close to Ian as Finnick urged the two of you to attempt an alliance – granting the ability for at least one person to keep an eye on your blind spots. You weren’t naïve, though. Alliances were unsteady, especially if it came down to saving your own skin over the others. And there was no proof that Ian would even keep his word about meeting in the arena, let alone keeping you alive long enough to hear the first sounds of cannon fire. If you were a betting man, you wouldn’t bet on him.

But he did bring in two more members to your shaky alliance, Della Remfar and Billy Churl from District 10. Not Career-material by a long shot, but they were both highly adept with an array of knife work. And, to your knowledge, both knew the cleanest and quickest ways to stab, slice, and gut something – which could definitely come in handy.

Even after surrounding yourself with the three, you weren’t entirely sold on the idea of putting any sort of trust in them. You didn’t speak of anything personal, nor did you even attempt to learn anything about them. It would be easier this way. There can only be one victor in the end, and the memories of the fallen tributes should be left to be carried on by their own friends and families, not by someone who was an instrument in their death.

And, selfishly, you just didn’t want the chance of actually liking any of them to arise. It would be hard enough to kill strangers – killing friends would probably destroy you.

---

The training scores were being announced as you sat between Finnick and Ian. Nervously, you kept bouncing your leg up and down on the plush seat as you waited for your name to pop up on the screen.

Your show to the Gamemakers may not have been anything extremely special, but you would be damned if your new prowess with a spear would go unnoticed. Finnick’s teachings were nothing short of a blessing, and every time you lifted that metal bar, you had the unrestrained thought of making him proud.

It was strange, to find comfort in a man whose sole purpose in your life was to keep you from dying. He would do all he could to keep sponsors coming your way and leave you with all the knowledge and tricks he gained from his own Games. And you would survive. If you wished hard enough that you would live through it, perhaps you could wish it into existence.

A fool’s thought, but it didn’t stop you from looking up to the night sky every night and doing just that. It wasn’t a prayer, not by a long shot. If there was a God out there, you’d hate them with every fiber of your being for allowing their “children” to do this to one another without fear of repercussion. You were already in a living hell – it couldn’t get much worse than this.

Silencing your mind, you peaked with interest as Ian’s name flashed across the screen along with his score. An 8. That was solid. Enough to show the sponsors he was someone worth rooting for and kept the Careers off his tail for being too much of a threat. But it’s not like you cared that much when your name and picture finally appeared.

From pure desperation and worry soaking your veins, you grabbed Finnick’s hand in an attempt to calm yourself. You couldn’t even look at him, not as your eyes were glued to the screen in front of you. But Finnick looked at you.

He saw how scared you were – not just from the placings, but from the whole event. He couldn’t be surprised – hardly anyone made it through the Games without being completely terrified. Even in his own Games, he was fearful. Petrified, more like. No one wants to die like an animal and, besides the vicious, no one wants to kill another human being like one either. So, tightening his own hand around yours, softly rubbing his thumb on the back, he waited with bated breath for your score.

9. Oh, fuck.

“That puts you right around the Careers,” Finnick whispered to you.

You nodded your head, eyes still staring straight at some unknown point in front of you. Your hand was still wrapped around Finnick’s, neither one of you wanting to let go from the worldly anchor. In truth, you were surprised you had placed that high, and by the slightly jealous façade that rested on Ian’s face, you could tell he wasn’t too happy about it either. But Finnick, he just seemed to watch your facial response to it, ready to help you through.

There was no overwhelming emotion of happiness or disappointment, he just wanted to make sure you were okay. And, after turning your face to drown into his oceanic eyes once more, you were.

---

This was it. The clock was counting down as you and the other tributes stood atop your respective platforms waiting for the blood bath to begin. For humanity to disappear and pure unrestrained carnage to take its place.

Your whole body was shaking. Anxiety and dread were filling you up and overflowing at the top. You wanted to be anywhere but here. You wanted to be dead already to get it over with. You wanted to be with Annie and your family playing on the beach.

You just didn’t want to be here.

So, for a split second, you let your consciousness cover your mind with a memory. Something warm and happy that could perhaps get you through the next minutes or hours or days. And you indulged in it.

“Oh, yeah. My parents took us swimming all the time. For ‘exercise’ and all that, but really, I know they just wanted to spend time as a family whenever we could.”

You and Finnick were lounging in the main sitting area within your deck of the Tribute Center. While he probably should have made his leave already, he wanted to check on you after your training, and, without admitting it, desired to spend time with you.

The two of you were currently sharing memories of your families and friends and life. You don’t quite remember how the conversation happened, but it was just too easy to get lost in the words with him. A bittersweet thought of how you would miss him materialized, but you quickly threw it to the wayside so you could luxuriate in the presence of Finnick Odair.

“My mom was always about making sure that between work on the docks, out on the waves, or just helping with the catches, we prioritized one another. Blood is thicker than water, she would always remind us.” You couldn’t help the bright smile painting your face as you thought about how kind and, sometimes scary, your mother was. She truly loved life and insisted on making sure everyone in your family could see the beauty in it as well, if not a little aggressively.

“She once threatened my younger brother, Kade, that she would take away his slice of chiffon cake if he didn’t go out and play with his friends for a bit.” You disclosed. “She ate it right in front of him when he refused.”

You both laughed at the story, going on to tell him more about your siblings and Annie, who was practically your sister at this point. With each passing story, you grew less enthusiastic. He saw the way you started to deflate from the stories, sadness taking its place due to your current predicament of perhaps never being able to see your loved ones again.

He didn’t want those memories to sour from this, he wanted you to keep them treasured – shrouded in a golden cloud of light and love. With a sense of duty, he moved over from his armchair to join you on the loveseat you were curled into.

Your doe eyes followed his movements, curious as to what he was doing. He sat beside you; stern vulnerability layered on his features. With shrugged eyebrows and a twinkle of some unknown emotion in his eyes, he placed his hand on the side of your face, tenderly holding you in position.

“Don’t let them take this from you.” He softly insisted, fingers warming you where they rested. “They want to break you, to dull you, but don’t let them win.”

You blinked. Once. Twice. Before your brain registered that you should reply to him.

“Wh- What?” You stuttered out in a hushed voice, much less of a conversation than you intended, but you were still confused by his words and actions. He continued to look at you, stealing glimpses into your soul through your widened eyes.

“Your memories, your love. The Games are built to destroy you of it all, leaving nothing more than a walking corpse empty of thought and emotion.” He asserted. “But don’t let them win. When you walk out a victor, hold onto what you love most and remember that the Capitol can’t take that. They can try to take your humanity, what makes you, you, but they won’t.”

You were stunned into silence, thoughts running rampant, but one began to overshadow them all.

He thinks I’ll win?

“I know we’ve only truly known each other for a short while, but I’d like to think I’ve become a great judge of character over the years.” He confessed with a small smile. “And when I look at you, I see a genuinely good person. Someone who shouldn’t have been forced into this, who should have lived their life out in peace and bliss but will win because they have something to fight for.”

You didn’t want to speak, to breathe, for fear of stopping his expression. But your eyes encouraged him, so he went on.

“You. Fight for yourself, Y/N L/N. Fight for the memories you hold in your heart. Fight for the love you have to give. Fight for whoever makes your head rush. Fight for the feelings.” He whispered out, only for you. “Just, please, fight. I know you can win. You have the skills, the intelligence, everything. So, fight for everything and nothing at all.”

Silent tears were streaming down your heated cheeks from his honesty. You knew Finnick to be manipulative and cunning when he needed to be, but there was nothing but a boy who wanted to be heard in front of you. What did he have to lie for anyway? You’d be going into that arena either way, friend or not.

Your own smaller hand covered Finnick’s as he continued to hold your cheek. Your lids gently shut as you pushed yourself into the warmth he was offering, staying close to him. He watched you hold the part of himself he presented to you, and decided he should gift just a little bit more.

Lifting his left hand to sit on the other side of your face, he pulled you close to rest his forehead against your own. With shut eyes, the two of you breathed in each other as the intimate moment closed over you.

Even in this short period of time, you’d never felt as close to a person as you did to Finnick. He knew the position you were in, for he had stood there before. He knew your emotions better than you did and encouraged them as a power, not a weakness. He was a light in this dark world, and you’d protect that flame with your life.

Pulling his head back but still staying close, he expressed one last thing. “My secrets, Y/N. I’ll give you all my secrets if you come back to me. If you fight for me. I’ll fight for you every day of my life and it still won’t be enough if you don’t come. Back. To. Me.”

He practically shook with the truth of his words. He wanted for nothing more than time. Time with you. Time to truly learn everything about you. Something in him yearned for you since the moment you had met. Your strength, your smile, your brilliance. He wanted to bathe and drown in it all at once. So, he needed you to win. To dirty yourself as he still is. Then, perhaps, you could both learn how to wear the past together. 

For a short moment, all you could do was look at him. To take him in as he was, no mask atop his face. To see what Finnick Odair looked like when there were no secrets to steal. And then you quickly tucked yourself into his torso as you wrapped your arms around him.

“I’ll fight for you, Finnick.” You declared into his chest. “I’ll fight for more moments like this.”

He hesitated for just a breath before he enveloped his arms around you, holding you tight and taking in your presence. He would make sure that you get anything you need in that arena. And that he’ll be there to pick up any pieces you left behind when you come back to him.

---

Della was dead. Ian was dead. Tributes from all the districts were dead.

The only ones still living were you and Billy, and the clock was ticking away.

Ian stuck true to his word and met you far from the Cornucopia as the two of you ran for your lives. The arena was a swamp – dirty and thick with a putrid smell that you would never forget. But the cypress and tupelo tree bunches gave what cover they could as you deftly made your way through the duckweed covering parts of the watery surface. Della and Billy attempted to steal a supply pack out of the slaughterhouse, but only Billy returned. Sticking close to one another, you made it through your first night.

Finnick also did as he promised and made sure the sponsors gave you anything you needed: spears, bread, ointment for Ian after he ran through a thorn-filled brush and ripped his leg open, even just extra blankets and water bottles – he made sure you were always supplied. His heart was in his mouth every time he saw you on screen, each day fitting you worse than the last. Exertion and fear were already taking their toll on you with mud-caked skin, chapped lips, and hair that was matting faster than a sunset. But none of that mattered as long as you made it to the end.

Ian was the next to go with a slit throat as your group battled head-to-head with the Careers. Two of the four were down before it happened, giving you all a false sense of hope. It was in that second of distraction that the girl from 2 sprinted around and tore Ian’s neck open before you could even blink.

Without even thinking, you launched your spear right into her chest as Billy finished off the District 1 boy. The two of you were unaware that each had defeated a tribute, but as your breathing slowed and you turned toward him, the realization hit you like a train.

I have to kill him.

It was a sickening thought, one you wish you’d never have to think about, but one that was entirely fueled by survival. You made a promise to Finnick that you would return. That you would come back. And even with aching limbs and short breaths, you would fight.

So, fight you did.

Billy started making his way to you as you reached the District 2 girl and yanked the spear from her concaved chest. There was no time for sympathy, no time for feelings. Billy wasn’t your friend. Sure, he may have saved you from the guy from 6 and always made sure that you got your share of food, but he wasn’t your friend. He couldn’t be your friend.

You locked down your thoughts as the two of you met in a patch of hip-deep swamp water. The muck below was forcing your feet to sink lower and gave you little grasp, but you lived in the sandy ocean. You knew how to maneuver well enough to use it to your advantage.

You were smaller than Billy as he towered over you at some number over six feet – a sturdy build for a butcher’s life. Which was a disadvantage for the environment. As you could navigate across the ground without fear of adhering to it, he was stuck, weighted down into the pit of swamp.

As he struggled to turn to follow your movements, his hands were briskly releasing knives your way. Try as you might, you couldn’t miss all of them. One lodged in your upper shoulder as another grazed your cheek, nipping off the tip of your left ear. But he wouldn’t have an infinite number of knives, and you could be patient enough for them to run dry.

And when they did, you advanced. Flittering over to him, you adjusted your stance just as Finnick taught you – bracing your arms apart so they could give and move as needed. You caught him in the side at first, until he grabbed onto the other end of the spear and pulled you toward him. He was stronger than you. If he got his hands on you, he could choke you out or drown you as hastily as he wanted, so you couldn’t let him touch you.

As he hauled you closer and closer to him, you steadied yourself. You’d only have one shot at this, and if you missed, it was all over. Taking a deep breath and focusing on the one moment you would have for this to work, you waited.

Not yet.

He was reaching the end of the spear.

Not yet.

He was loosening his grip on one hand to stretch out toward you.

Not yet.

You could feel the heat of his palm as he began to place it on your good shoulder.

Now.

In a flash, you jumped up and around him, securing yourself on his back and throwing him off balance so he couldn’t lay hold of you. Spear forgotten; you grasped his knife still stuck in your shoulder. With a cry, you yanked it out of yourself and stabbed it into his neck. And you stabbed again. And again. Tears were streaming down your face like a river flooded as you made sure he was well and truly dead.

As his heavy body dropped, you released your death grip but not before you fell into the water with him. You closed your tired eyes as you floated in the combination of blood and sludge. Nothing felt real. You were a victor, and you didn’t feel real. For a moment you could almost see your consciousness floating above you in a haze, like you were the one to die rather than Billy. But as soon as it was there it was gone. Instead, a transporter floated just where you had been, and now it was grabbing the winner of the 70th Hunger Games up into its claws once more.

---

Finnick was the first to greet you with nothing but concern on his face. As everyone else tossed cheers and ‘congratulations’ at you, he held onto you and walked you from the crowd. And he didn’t let go even when you sobbed into his shirt, staining it with tears and blood.

A doctor had to stitch your shoulder and cheek and wrap your bleeding ear, but with the Capitol’s technology, it took less than 2 days to heal. And Finnick never left your side for those days, talking about nonsense and the sponsors and the Games and how your family came to visit but you were unconscious from the medication and everything else he could think of that he couldn’t talk to you about before.

You told him about your heart-wrenching fear at every waking moment and nightmares you would have each night in the arena. Sleep was unwilling to take you, and you hardly wanted it to. Not when the arena croaked and screeched with animals and tributes on the prowl. Nothing but pure survival was in your veins, and that feeling was reluctant to leave you even now.

When you were dismissed from the hospital, he didn’t leave your side then, either. He talked to your family and Annie like they had known each other for a lifetime already. It made you happy watching them together. All the people you loved right in front of you, and you were still alive to witness it.

Even with the dark cloud looming over you, they were still the sun’s rays shining through. Small, but strong enough to keep you going.

---

Weeks after the Games and your victory tour concluded, you were nestled in a small reading nook in your home in Victors’ Village. The Games still haunted you, but you found solace in books. In romantic novels that didn’t have death sentences or tyrannical leaders – just two people who were in love and determined to display that in any way they could.

It was a way for you to escape reality, if even for a fleeting moment. Surrounding yourself with friends and family could only help for so long, and more often than not, being around so many people had you reliving the fight between your group and the Careers. The heaviness of the air and the cacophony of sounds had your stomach turning and chest tightening. Usually, Finnick would notice and quickly relieve you of the event by sheltering you outside.

It was a rather common occurrence, which is why you were happy to be in solitude. You told your family that you’d like to live in the house alone, if only for a couple of months, but they were more than welcome to visit you – which your mother did. A lot. She’d bring attempts at dinners and pies, but you were grateful for her and never discouraged her love. You couldn’t imagine the pain that she went through watching her daughter almost lose her life in the arena, so you entertained all of her antics. Almost every time she visited her eyes would drift to where your shoulder scar lay beneath your clothes, and she always kissed the mark on your cheek before she left as well. The reminders were plain to see.

But your solitude was never truly lonely.

“Hot chocolate?” Your eyes broke from the pages in front of you to look at Finnick, who was now offering the delectable drink to you.

You smiled at him and nodded, shifting your position to reach for the mug of cocoa. He sat beside you, offering more warmth than just that in your hands as he glanced at the book resting in your lap.

“Pride and Prejudice, again?” He smirked. “You have a library full and you’re reading this for, what, the fifth time this month?”

You hit his shoulder with your own as you giggled into your cup. Taking a sip and humming as the warm liquid traveled down your throat, you set your cup aside to face him.

“It’s a wonderful story, what can I say.” You confessed to him.

“And,” He reclined back in his seat as he regarded you. “Highly illegal. I still don’t know how you got your hands on that.” Shaking his head, he took his own drink of the hot chocolate and evaluated you with a raised brow.

“Perks of being a victor, as you should already be aware of.” Your smile vanished. “You get secrets, and I get tales to bury myself in.”

Any trace of playfulness withdrew from his manner. Soft eyes looked into your own as he set his cup aside, reciprocating the action to yours.

“Y/N,” he whispered softly.

Before he could say anymore, you snuggled into him, hurting for the man before you. “I’m sorry, Finnick. I didn’t mean to bring it up, I just– I just can’t understand why they would do that to you.”

Your watery eyes finally traveled back up to his, as he caressed your head with a tender touch. Finnick had finally told you what his days consisted of as a victor – of forced touches and unwanted attention; he was used in the Capitol for his looks and composure. You didn’t take it well, seconds away from marching to President Snow and killing him yourself for putting loving, sweet Finnick through that pain.

It wrecked you even more to know that he dealt with it all for the people he cared about. For his family. For his friends. For you. And that there wasn’t anything you could do to stop it without putting everyone else in danger. The worst that was done to you was parading you around like a show dog on a leash to different events. Perhaps if you weren’t scarred, they would have wanted the same for you, but for once, you could count yourself lucky that Billy hadn’t fully missed.

“Y/N,” he spoke once more as he lifted your chin to gaze down into your eyes. “Please, don’t suffer for me. You know I would do anything to protect you from them, and if this is the cost, then so be it.”

You shook your head as you wiped the tears from your eyes. “You don’t deserve this. You shouldn’t have to do anything else for them. Especially not that.”

You couldn’t even say the words out loud, it was so repulsive. It made sense now, why he was always with new and different Capitol citizens at those parties. Why he never looked truly there in the way he handled himself. And it made you want to shove your spear into anyone who would ever try and do that to him again.

“It’s okay, Y/N, really.” He gently smiled at you the way he reserved only for you – with all the love and radiance he could put into it. “I get to spend the rest of my time– the rest of my life with you. That’s all I could ever ask for.”

“Finnick,” you whispered, hardly knowing what to say to him.

He gingerly brushed the hair back from your forehead as he placed a kiss upon it, hushing you. “For you, my love, I would do anything.”

Your body trembled in his hands from the emotion tumbling around inside you. After the Games, it was hard to let yourself get close to him, for the honest fear of losing him. But he was patient. He waited for you and took his time working through the tremors of the Games that still resided within you. It was hard, it still is, to make it through a day without finding yourself back in that arena, but being around him made it easier – more manageable. He was the part of you that kept you afloat and you were hanging on with both hands to make sure he stayed.

You lost yourself in his eyes – green and blue twirling in an intimate dance, the most beautiful you had ever seen. Truly, there was no other place you would rather be than with him. Every ounce of comfort that you felt stemmed from Finnick, and he felt just the same. To part with one another now would be to rip a heart in two, never fitting the pieces to another.

I love him.

It was a scary thought and, really, shouldn’t have shocked you as much as it did. You knew for a long time already that you did but admitting it to yourself was the true challenge. Everyone knew it, hell, Annie would constantly ask you when the two of you would just marry already – she had never seen two people as made for the other until she saw you and Finnick. But you were slow to let that part of yourself go. He already had your heart, but now, you would finally allow yourself to have his.

Tenderly, you reached your hands to cup his face – the slight stubble growing on his cheeks tickling your palms. As not to scare him off, you so slowly pulled his head down to yours. Only an inch apart, your mouths breathed onto one another, painting your lips with his scent.

“Y/N,” he ground out in a whimper.

“Finnick,” you echoed back. “I love you.”

The sharp inhale was the only sign that he had heard your small voice. That, and the urgency at which he bridged the gap between your mouths. A whine escaped from the back of your throat at how soft he was – how his lips molded into your own as if fated to do so. You were already addicted to the feeling.

Finnick wasn’t faring much better. His whole head was fuzzy with love and reverence for you as he pulled you up to sit on his lap, bringing you as close to you as he could. Tenderness soon turned into something more as he began to map out the curves of your body with his hands. As you gasped from his touch, he took the chance to sneak his tongue into your mouth, charting that territory out as well.

Happily returning the favor, you too began exploring the body of the glorious man before you. Tongues twisting, hands moving, both your breaths became labored as the need for even more started hazing both your minds. Pulling away for just a moment, you took your chance.

“Y/N,” he practically growled out as you began to shift your hips over his growing hardness. “We don’t have to do anything if you’re not comfortable yet.”

And you knew he meant it. While the two of you had never crossed that line before, you wanted to use more than just your words to show him how much you love him. You wanted to cherish him, to give him all of you.

“I want to.” You pleaded. Then, you quickly pulled away as a thought occurred to you. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think about how you might feel about this. Fuck, Finnick, I–”

Before another word could leave your mouth, Finnick covered it with his own, pushing all the love he has to give into you. He coaxed you right back into the kiss, cradling your head close, softly rubbing the flat scar on your ear’s tip. Through a deep breath, he broke the tender instant to glance back at you. Your mind clouded until he spoke.

“Don’t ever think I don’t want you, Y/N,” he reassured. “There is nothing in this world that I want more than you. What happens in the Capitol doesn’t leave me broken, not when you’re still here. And, if you want me, you already have me – I just don’t want you to feel forced into it.”

As he explained his thoughts to you, his hands were delicately rubbing up and down your sides as to console any feelings revolving around your head. He loved you without needing something physical. You were more than enough for him without anything else than just your presence.

“I love you, Finnick Odair,” you confessed for the second time aloud. “And I want to be yours – mind, body, and soul. For as long as you should have me.”

As Finnick’s eyes grew watery from the words torn from your heart, he acknowledged just the same. “I will love you forever, Y/N L/N. And should I die tomorrow or fifty years from now, my thoughts will be filled with you. Only you.”

And with the words spoken and sealed in a lover’s embrace, you sculpted your lips around each other once more. Finnick was slow to undress you, taking the time to truly admire the woman that you were. Removing your top, he trailed his lips from your neck to the scar on your shoulder and drifted further down to your breasts.

You held your breath as you watched him take your nipple into his mouth, suckling and teasing the bud with his tongue. Sighing, you tangled your hands into his hair, urging him to continue his actions. Doing just that, he reached one of his hands up to fondle your untouched breast, coaxing out more whines from you from the feeling.

Unaware, your hips continued to grind down on his lap, searching for some sort of friction for the growing heat in your core. While you had reached highs on your own hands and fingers before, you never touched a man like this – let alone felt the urge to have every part of him in you. And damn it, did you ever want to feel Finnick fucking Odair.

As he switched between ministrations on your nipples, he groaned into you every time you caught on his swelling cock. His head was filled with nothing but the thoughts of you and how he wanted to taste and touch you. How he wanted to tempt out every little noise you could make as you reached your peak over and over again. How he wanted to drown in you.  

Giving into his raging thoughts, he flipped the two of you around so your back lay comfortably on the cushions beneath you. Hot chocolate cooling and book thrown to some corner in the room, it was just you and him. Nothing else mattered.

Wandering down your body once more, he rid you of your pants and undergarments, leaving you bare in the sun. You were a goddess to him. A picture of perfection. He would never get tired of gazing upon you. Even when the two of you had grown old and grey, you would still be the most beautiful thing, sculpted by the poets themselves.

You watched as his eyes traced your body, and you began to grow self-conscious. Before you could even attempt to close yourself off from him, he grabbed onto your thighs and looked deep into your lust-blown eyes.

“Please, don’t hide from me.” He begged you. “You are the most exquisite being, never forget that. I feel like the luckiest man in the world to be able to even glimpse your beauty.”

Sentiments swelling your throat, you nodded up to him and relaxed into his touch. Seeing your newly eased state, he kneeled on the ground as he pulled your legs over his shoulders. Gazing upon your core, a growl emerged from the back of his throat. Your slick heat was practically begging to be filled by him, and who was he to deny such a pretty little thing?

He kissed up the innermost parts of your legs, inching closer and closer to where you needed him most. Before you could issue a complaint to stop teasing, he licked a warm stripe up your pussy, and you gasped. Head thrown back and hands immediately finding purchase in his hair, you were hooked.

He nuzzled his nose into your clit as he began to touch your core with his tongue, forcing out mewls and whines from your mouth. Reaching up his hands, one gripped onto your legs to prevent them from wrapping around his head, while the other spread your lips so he could dive even deeper into you. Flicking and cooing, his tongue continued to taste your slick as he moaned into you from your flavor.

You began rubbing your hips up and down his face as you continued to chase your high. He was too good at this – you’d never last long at this rate.

“Finnick, ahh,” you chanted his name like a choir of angels, and your voice went straight to his cock.

Wanting nothing but his name on your mind, he inserted a finger to begin loosening you up. The slight stretch already elicited a whine of pain from you. His digit was so much longer and thicker than your own, and you had a feeling his length was even more so.

As soon as he felt you relax around one, he slipped in a second. Scissoring around your cunt, he sucked on your clit to keep you slackened. You already felt so full. But as soon as all the discomfort turned to pleasure, you wanted more than just his fingers in you.

“Fuck,” you moaned out. “Finnick, I, shit, I want to feel you.”

He sighed into your pussy at your pleading state. Closing his eyes, he continued slipping his fingers in and out of you, getting you even further toward your orgasm.

“Not yet, love.” He insisted in a gravelly voice. “I want to taste you on my tongue first. You can do that, yeah baby? Want to cum in my mouth? I know you can do it. You’re such a good girl.”

You whined as you shut your eyes and continued stirring your hips on his face. He placed his lips back over your clit and thrust his fingers even faster into your heat. The sound of his knuckles squelching against your wetness was driving him insane, but he wanted to– no, needed to taste your essence before putting his cock into you.

As you felt your climax crawling nearer, your pussy clamped down around Finnick’s fingers, not wanting to let go. Your hips became erratic as you felt the familiar tightening in your lower abdomen – rising from your toes to the tip of your head. Finnick moved and slurped like a man starved, aching for you to lose yourself on him.

With a few more movements and a cry loosened from your lips, you released right into Finnick’s waiting mouth. He cleaned up every last drop, not wanting any to go to waste. You continued to ride out your high as he removed his lips from your bud. Once he felt you tire from your spend, he slipped his fingers out of you.

You watched with hungry eyes as he licked his fingers clean, eyes rolling back as his cock leaked from the wonder of your taste. Moaning as he popped them out of his salivating palate, he quickly moved to rid himself of his shirt. Reaching his arms back behind his neck and tearing the shirt from his torso up around his head, his eyes never left yours.

“I knew you would taste absolutely fucking divine.” He proclaimed to you as he started stripping his pants off. “I bet you feel just as good.”

Gasping, you finally laid eyes on his cock. Thick and girthy, you had no idea how it was supposed to fit in you. While it wasn’t ridiculously long, the stature of it made up more than enough. And as Finnick saw you fixed upon his hardened length, he twitched, which made you whimper up to him.

Bending back down to hover over you, he covered your mouth with his lips, allowing you to taste the salty remains of your own release. Moaning into his mouth, you gripped onto his bronze locks once more, lifting your hips to graze your now swollen clit against him.

He groaned and swiftly grabbed onto your hips to push you down. Backing from the kiss, he asked you one last time, “Are you sure?”

Breathless, you answered. “Yes. Please. I’ve never been surer about anything.”

Staring into your eyes and seeing nothing but certainty, he nodded.

“This is going to hurt, at first.” He stated. “Just try to stay relaxed and I promise you, you’ll start to feel good soon enough.”

Bobbing your head, you dug your nails into his shoulders to brace yourself as he glanced down and began to line himself up to your still-sweating heat. As he pressed the tip into you, you inhaled a sharp breath. Finnick immediately looked up to your face.

“It’s okay. Breathe, my love.” He took his hand and caressed your face. Settling a tender kiss on your lips, you started to breathe normally once again. Taking it as his cue to continue his insertion, he pressed back into you.

Slowly, so achingly slowly, he rocked his length into you. Taking the time to pull back and forth, he was easing you through the tight pain in your cunt. You were biting down on your bottom lip and your eyes were sealed shut from the sting of it.

“Fuck,” he breathed out. “You’re doing so good, baby. Just a little bit more and, shit, I’ll be all the way. God, you’re so tight, fuck.”

Finnick was trying his hardest to go slow for you, but the way that your cunt was compressed around him was like a drug. He wanted more, he wanted to move, but he would never place his own needs above your own. He watched your face for any sign of unordinary discomfort, but he saw none, so he inched further and further until he was fully sheathed into you.

Groaning, he dropped his head into your neck and panted out. As you adjusted to his size, the discomfort subsided. Sighing out as well, you started to lift your hips in your attempt at receiving friction. Finnick moaned and bit down into the softness of your neck.

“Move, Finnick, please.” You whimpered into his ear, already drunk on the feeling of his cock in you. You were so full, practically pushed to the brim, but you wanted more of him. You wanted him to make love to you.

Listening to your words, he dragged his cock through your walls as he moved in and out of you. Feeling your warmth rub against him was nothing short of amazing – there wasn’t anything that would ever compare to the feeling of you.

The two of you moaned in tandem as he thrust a particularly harsh plunge into you. You were scraping his back, leaving red angry lines as you wrapped your legs around his fit waist. Even in your inebriated state, you couldn’t help but admire him. For more than just his handsomeness, Finnick was the most gorgeous thing inside and out, and you couldn’t believe that he was yours. You would do anything for him to smile at you, to give you soft kisses to your temple, to just be.

So, you took hold of his head from where it was leaving marks on your neck, and you clashed your teeth together in a heated kiss. He was quick to reciprocate and grip onto your ass as he continued drilling himself into you, mouth never leaving yours.

You were the one to break the kiss as you leaned back to moan from the feeling.

“Fuck, Finnick. I love you so much.” You were rambling now, high off nothing but the way he was making you melt into his arms. “Please don’t leave me. I couldn’t, ah, live without you. Need you here. Always here. Mmm, my Finnick.”

He continued his movements as he gazed at you, love and lust battling for dominance in his sea-green eyes. “I’ll never let you go, Y/N. You are mine as I am yours. God. I was made to be by your side. Oh, Y/N. To always be with you. Would never leave you. My heart, fuck, is yours forever.”

The two of you were incoherent, rambling sentiments of love and sweet nothings to the other. Both of your climaxes were approaching, wanting to cum at the same time as the other. Skin on skin and sweat dripping upon each other, this was a plea of love, a confessional. Never to leave, always to stay – your hands were tied together as Finnick kissed you softly once more.

In contrast, his hips picked up the pace, as his fingers found your throbbing clit once more, pushing you to reach the top with him. His movements became inconsistent as he grew closer, knowing you were on your way as well by the way you were clenching down on him.

“Come on, baby,” he cooed at you. “Cum with me. You’re so close, love, I can feel it.”

“Yes, yes!” you whined at him. “Wanna cum, wanna cum with you. Ah, almost there, Finnick, don’t stop.”

Moving your hips with him, you both panted as the light grew brighter. He sped his twirling fingers up around your bud, begging you to peak with him. And as the two of you whined and whimpered louder and louder, Finnick thrust hard and deep into you. With this one last push, you both roared a moan as you came in and around the other.

Slowing his motions, Finnick allowed you to ride out your orgasm as he spilled his seed in you. Your legs twitched around his hips as you came down from your high. Head tilted back, you breathed hard and fast as your heart pounded. Finnick wrapped his arms around you as he held you close, still buried inside you.

For just a bit, the two of you stayed like that – together as one. Your pants eventually withdrew and were left with nothing more than the beating of the blood in your veins. He tenderly pulled out of you, leaving you empty of nothing but the soreness in your hips. Rubbing small circles on the aching joints, he kept his head close to yours. He then started kissing all over your face, making you giggle.

Chuckling along with you, he saved you from the attack by pulling away and looking at you with pure love and adoration. Mirroring his visage, you tenderly stroked his cheek as he sighed into your palm.

“I’m going to marry you, Y/N.” It wasn’t a question, but a fact he knew true in his heart.

Your eyes widened at his words, stilling your actions for a moment.

“Not tomorrow,” he laughed at your shocked expression. “Perhaps not a week or month from now, but one day I will. And that day will be the happiest of my life.”

Tears brimmed along your eye line, but it wasn’t sadness blurring your vision. Joy, excitement, and love were making their presence known in this strange way, and you didn’t know how else to respond to his worrisome look except to smile at him. Smile with your heart and soul to the man who was everything to you. And he smiled back the way Finnick Odair only smiles at you: uninhibited and overflowing with fondness.

Nestling into him as he repositioned you both on the seat, you contently sighed into him. This is what you fought for in that arena. This is why you promised that you’d win.

For vulnerable moments like this. For nothing between you and the man you love except the warm skin of your bodies. For the chance to live and not survive. For him.

With those thoughts in your mind, there was only one way you knew how to respond to him: with your truth, not a secret, and not in fear.

“Yes, I will marry you, Finnick Odair.”

#finnick odair x reader #finnick x reader #finnick odair x you #finnick x you #mentor finnick #tribute reader #fem reader #hunger games #finnick odair #smut #finnick odair smut #long ass oneshot

[the-martyrfication-of-the-matron]

Small facts about each of the divine warriors:

Irene: She cannot cook in anyway shape or form and even when offered she refuses to learn. She will only eat food raw and all of the other Divine Warriors just serve her first before they start making their food, unless Menphia and Shad are dealing with a high bout of animalistic instincts. (being a meif'wa and hell hound respectively)

Irene was not a modest woman or had any form of personal boundaries. Like, she would walk around topless without a care in the world and if she was ever cold at night, she would never just put on more clothes but instead join a tent or sleeping bag with another warrior. Shortest of the Divine Warriors.

Shad: He is the warmest man ever, unfortunately he leans on the end of "Your skin is literally leaving first degree burns" than nice space heater. He also smells like wet dog whenever he gets wet, before his skin eventually evaporates it. Due to how water reacts to his skin, he does take dust baths like a chinchilla. Full on rolling around in sand and then claiming he is clean.

After turning full evil, he decided to continue his bloodline for the sole purpose of pissing Irene off. He met a woman one day and was like "Hey, I am not gonna be a parent to this kid, I just want to do this to piss off my ex." and the woman just looked at the large demon man and said bet. The woman then met her wife and they became the first matriarchs of Falconclaw. Tallest of the Divine Warriors.

Enki: While not necessarily having the most stable form, he is the lankiest and physically weakest of the Divine Warriors. He used bows and magic, he was never going to be the most muscular. The only times he was ever considered "strong" was when he choked a man out after stabbing them in the back. Certainly a wizard and not a fighter.

Enki was the most strategic of the Divine Warriors as well, mostly due to the fact that he hoards knowledge like a dragon hoard gold. He 100% info dumps in every conversation, like you see a cool bug, he knows everything about that bug. The kid that rants about dinosaurs at the playground. 3rd shortest of the Divine Warriors. Shorter than Shad, Esmund, and Menphia but taller than Kul'Zak and Irene.

Menphia: This woman will take a nap anywhere, the moment she is not fighting or training she is in the softest spot in the the sun. Imagine trying to talk diplomacy and one of the divine warriors is asleep on the table. It's not short napes either, full cat naps.

This womans is so cut, like one would imagine that a woman who is part cat is soft but noooo. This woman has abs and shoulders for daaaaaaaays and don't get me started on her thighs. Crushing a watermelon is the least she could do. The 3rd tallest of the divine warriors.

Esmund: Before being a Divine Warrior, he was a human lumberjack from a small farming village. A very large lumberjack but not a king or knight that some would present him as. He was a small farm boy who saw a hot latina goddess and decided to say follow her to the end of the earth.

While not being the tallest of the Divine Warriors, he is the biggest. Look up "bear" in a dictionary and it is this man, broad, hairy, and thick. He is also the perfect cuddling temp which created a lot of "Poor Farm Boy Panic" whenever Irene would share a tent with him. (I think he was like, 6'8-6'9, Shad being 7ft)

Kul'Zak: He had a peg leg after saving Esmund from a Leviathan but he made sure to never hold it against the man, he already suffered from survivors guilt. He rather enjoys the leg, it allows him to spin while playing the fiddle much easier. Losing the leg proved to be more beneficial because when sirens walk on land it feels like their feet are walking on hot coals and sharp glass but with one less foot it was less bad. (Think original my little mermaid.)

While being the 2nd shortest of the Divine Warriors, he was also the technical largest, not that it was really known. He was a creature of the ocean and chose to explore land. What he looked like in the ocean was much longer and larger, over twice the height of Shad with his tail being a beautiful mix of blue, cyan, green, and emerald. Goes full mermaid, though difficult to switch to this form after losing the leg.

I feel like his mermaid tail should be lacking a fin or something, or be otherwise impaired. Just to have the ‘lost a leg’ experience in the water too.

#aphmau #aphverse #aphblr

[witch-and-her-witcher]

Chapter Sixteen

nessian | E | marriage of convenience, first hybern war AU, angst, whump, emotional slow burn

War brings them together, a bond binds them - but is that enough for two broken people to find love with each other?

Thank you @popjunkie42-blog and @wilde-knight for your beta reading and handholding. <3

For my darling @asnowfern!

Ao3 | Chapter 16/30 (this chapter count is a count at this point ...)

~*~

They sleep in sinfully late.

They sweat through multiple rounds of vigorous sex to make up for it.

Cassian falls out of Nesta as he sets her back on the floor from where he's just had her against the wall. A foot from the washroom door where they'd been intending to go to clean up the coating of tacky, drying fluids coating Nesta’s thighs, the sheen of sweat. They hadn't made it.

Nesta can't be sad about it.

She aches all over in the best of ways.

“Fuck,” Cassian groans. “I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.”

“Or a camel?”

“This is why he gives you such a tough time. You have it out for him.”

“Have it out —” Nesta cuts herself off, feels her blood pressuring rising and threatening to burn off her fucked out bliss. Zephy is a prick that bats his big, baleful eyes and convinces the rest he’s not so bad, but she knows the truth. Gods, but it's not worth it to argue over the damn creature and give him anymore chaotic power .... 

She’ll just give Cassian this point and move on.

“Will you fetch us some food while I bathe?” she asks instead, keeping her tone level.

Cassian frowns.

Gods, and if that doesn’t imply enough. “What? You know I don't cook unless times are dire.”

“No, it's not that —”

“It’s not that your wife is a complete failure when it comes to Illyrian standards?”

Cassian draws the bath water for her. His cock hangs, thick and sated along his thigh, as beautiful as the male it belongs to. “Why do you want me to be insulting you so badly?”

Nesta turns her nose up and doesn't dignify the question with a response. Maybe she's looking for trouble to remind herself one blissful, wrung out morning doesn't equal a good relationship. Maybe he's just an ass and she's smart enough to see through his bull shit.

Maybe it's a mix of the two.

“Why'd you make the face then?”

“I was thinking … Because even if you liked to cook, I'm not sure what it would mean for the bond if you did … Cook, for me, that is.”

“What do you mean?” Nesta slips into the water, groaning at the pleasant heat that envelopes her well-worked body. 

The titillating warnings she’d overheard from women in the village about avoiding fae males if anyone knew what was good for them were well founded at this point. All she wants is more of that beautiful cock pounding her insides into oblivion, but it’s clear her mortal body needs a break. 

Although she’s sure Cassian can keep going.

Nesta considers him with a lull of her head back onto the bathtub’s rim, a finger circling the water’s surface thoughtfully.

He’s watching her from his perch on a bench, arms crossed over his chest and muscles bulging like a finely chiseled statue. Those warm hazel eyes drift along her form, where the suds are collecting along the buds of her breasts as she luxuriates in the lavender soap. 

It isn’t all lust in his gaze though. 

Cassian’s brow is furrowed, like he’s trying to find the answer to solve a riddle.

“For fae, the female offers the male food and that accepts the bond. But …”

“But what?”

“I don’t know if that’s how it works with a human. Maybe this is it for the bond, it doesn’t get more intense or need to be accepted.”

“And why would you think that?” Nesta asks as she stretches a leg out of the water to run her washcloth along. The stretch feels heavenly along her backside.

Cassian shrugs, fully captivated by the slow strokes of her hands along her sinewy legs. The shine of the water on her bare skin.

“I’m not even sure the bond has snapped for you. I felt it on the battlefield, but it’s not … I don’t know, as overpowering as the stories describe?” Something flickers across his expression, like he’s worried he’s offended her — no need, really, for as much stock as Nesta puts into this silly bond — but it quickly gives way to something lighter, maybe a little forced. “Besides, I’m not sure you could handle a frenzy.”

Nesta snorts, looks away. Let’s him play off whatever big ordeal this bond nonsense is to him because the longer she soaks in the bathwater, the more she’s considering how lovely a nap would be …

A smoke would be good right now. 

Or food. 

Both. 

Why is Cassian still here and not fetching food like she’d asked? Like he said he was starving for? 

Nesta closes her eyes and sighs fitfully. 

read more

#CYLMWIHM #nessian #nesta x cassian #nesta #cassian #acotar #acotar fanfic #my writing

[a-crumb-of-whump]

A New Beginning #16: Burns

Masterlist | AO3

Content: Recovery, burns, vampire whumpee, childhood trauma, multiple caretakers, non-sexual nudity, wounds/injuries, PTSD/trauma, begging, blood [for the sake of feeding].

-

Carlos was insistent on cooking the two humans breakfast this morning. Neither of them could figure out why until the vampire excitedly skipped into the room with a plate of freshly made pancakes in his hand.

“These look incredible,” Adam commented as the vampire set the plate down in between them. He glanced up at him and smiled, already serving himself two. “What’s the occasion? You tryna butter us up before you tell us you did something terrible?” 

Much to his surprise, Carlos’ eyes widened and he rushed to defend himself. “No! Of course not, sir. I would never misbehave.” 

While he used one hand to serve himself his own food, Ryker reached out to squeeze Carlos’ arm. “You’re all good, man. He was just joking.” 

“Oh.” Carlos blinked a few times. “I’m… I’m not sure I understand jokes all that much, sir. I’m sorry, but- but about the pancakes; I found a recipe book while I was looking through the bookshelf last night!” 

He seemed so proud of himself as he hurried off to grab said book from the kitchen. The humans watched him go, both with a forkful of pancake in their mouth already, and smiled when he came back holding a large recipe book that had been created and given to the boys back when they first left home. It was old and the pages were wrinkled by now, but it’d been unbelievably helpful when they had no idea how to cook. 

“I wanted to practice my reading,” the vampire admitted as he held the book out towards them. “I never got to do much of it, back, uhm… before. Then I found this, and it has pictures in it and the recipes are very fun! It even shows you how to put smiley faces on the pancakes.” 

Adam grinned. “I saw that! These are delicious, Carlos. You get better and better every time you cook.” 

“Really?” Carlos visibly lit up. “Thank you! I know I am not the best at expressing my feelings, but I really want to show you how grateful I am to be living here with you both, and Murphy and Luca. So… uhm, consider my meals appreciation gifts?” 

Using his foot, Adam pulled one of the spare dining chairs towards him and patted the seat with a smile. “I’m glad you’re happy. Come sit with us for a bit? I actually have something I wanna talk to you about. You’re not in trouble,” he made sure to assure him. The worried look on Carlos’ face dissipated and he obediently did as he was told, still holding the book close to him. “Have we ever told you about my sisters?” 

“I don’t think so.” Carlos shook his head, fiddling with the corners of his book as he watched the two men eat. Ryker smiled over at him for a brief moment while Adam talked, cheeks stuffed with pancake in a way that made the vampire grin.

“They’re very nice. Sorta the reason we were able to leave and get on our feet in the first place. They bought us our plane tickets and gave us some old furniture until we were able to get some of our own. Even paid our rent for a while so we could find jobs.” 

“That’s so nice,” Carlos whispered, glancing down at his lap. “Sometimes I forget that you and Ryker aren’t the only people in the world who don’t want to hurt others.” 

Adam gave him a small smile, reaching out to squeeze his knee. “Well, they’d like to plan a trip down here for a few days. Ryker and I have already decided that we want them to come, but as you’re a part of the family now, we wanted to get your permission.” 

“You don’t have to ask me, sir. It’s your house.” 

“You live here, too, man,” Ryker was quick to point out. After another small forkful of pancake, he set his knife and fork down on the plate and cleared his throat. “Your opinion matters to us.”

There was a small pause as Carlos thought about it a little deeper. Both Adam and Ryker resumed eating as he did so, and it was only when he looked up as an indication that he was ready to talk again that they both diverted their attention back to him once more. 

“I appreciate your consideration,” he whispered, his voice returning to that small, timid one he often used. “I don’t think it will easy, but I don’t want you to miss out on seeing the people you love because of me. So, let them stay? They can even take my bedroom if they wanna. I can sleep on the couch.” 

“That’s very kind of you,” Ryker commented, reaching out to squeeze Carlos’ shoulder, “but they’ll most likely take the couch. It folds out into a bed and they’ll be bringing their own bedding.” 

Carlos offered the two humans a smile. “Okay. I can’t wait to meet them, then. Will you tell me when they’re coming?” 

“Of course,” Adam nodded. “We don’t know all the details just yet but I promise, we’ll let you know when we do. On the off chance that we forget, you are more than welcome to ask again. Sound good?” 

Carlos was happy with what had been arranged. As he stood up again and ran his hand over his head, he gave the two humans an enthusiastic nod; resting his free hand on Ryker’s shoulder. The human didn’t hesitate to tilt his head back and smile up at him. 

“Yes, sir,” he agreed, the recipe book still held close to his chest. “Sounds good. Thank you for including me in the decision.”

It clearly wasn’t often he got to have a say in matters. Adam had known that, but not to the extent. From what he could tell, Ryker seemed to leave out parts of what Carlos had gone through when they spoke about it. He felt like he was learning something new about Carlos every day, even on the days where the topic of his past didn’t even come up. 

He wondered if that’s how Ryker felt about him when they first met. 

After another minute or two, Carlos excused himself from the table and left to take a shower, leaving the book he’d so fallen in love with in his spot for someone to put away later on. It was only after he’d left that Ryker reached out to grab his empty plate and cutlery, leaning over the table to press a light kiss to his forehead as he went.

“I don’t know what your schedule is like, but I have next weekend off if you wanna invite them over then?” he suggested over the sound of plates being stacked on top of each other. “There’s a few nice places open during the evenings - we could even take them out for dinner and bring Carlos along.”

Adam couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? He’s not fond of crowds and loud noises - that’s pretty much all restaurants are. It’s not like he can even eat anything.”

“It was just an idea,” Ryker shrugged as he stood up. He picked up the plates and the cutlery before heading off to the kitchen, still talking as he went. “Maybe not a good one, but it was an idea.”  

“I’m not saying it’s a bad idea, I just think we might need to pick a place that’s more quiet. Like… I dunno, the park or something. I wanna make sure it’s enjoyable for all of us, not just the humans.”

For a moment, everything was silent apart from the sound of the dishwasher being stacked with dishes. Adam almost began to wonder if he was even going to receive a response, until Ryker finally poked his head out with a smile. 

“I know you do. Look, It’s not for another week at least. So, we don’t need to decide on anything right now, yeah?” 

Adam considered his words before nodding, absentmindedly tracing small lines into the dining table with his nails. “Yeah. Okay. I guess I’ll send ‘em a message before I leave for work.” 

“Sounds good, my love.” Ryker sat back down at the table as he wiped his hands on his jeans. For the life of him, Adam couldn’t understand why he was so against using the many tea-towels they had sitting in the cupboard. He’d done it ever since they got together, and it never failed to confuse him. “What time are you heading off today?”

Adam thought about it for a moment, trying to remember what was on his roster for that week. However, before he could even begin to get the words out, a shrill scream erupted from the bathroom that had both humans jumping out of their seats within seconds. 

They only needed to be at the entrance to the hallway to figure out what had happened, and Adam was mortified by what he knew in an instant was his fault. 

He hadn’t closed the blinds in the bathroom that morning.

-

Carlos couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt a burn so bad. Much to his relief, it had only been a few seconds, but even such a short amount of time was enough to cause blistering and swelling across his entire front area. His biggest regret out of it all was not wearing clothes to the bathroom. It was just across the hall from his bedroom, so he hadn’t thought it’d be a problem. However, every second he spent in pain was another reminder that he’d been so very wrong. 

With a raspy inhale, he pressed his back against the cool wall behind him and tearily glanced up at the humans hurrying down the hallway, forcing himself to swallow any more noises that threatened to escape. He was in so much pain. 

He realised after a moment that Ryker had a blood pack and an ice pack in his hands as he knelt down beside him. “Hey, you’re all good, man. It’s- I know you’re in a lot of pain, but this isn’t gonna last more than a few days, yeah? It’s not gonna take weeks to heal anymore.” 

That sounded good. 

The human pressed the ice pack in his hand against the worst of Carlos’ burns, and he could have sworn he saw him gag a few times at the smell of his burning flesh. It was that or the sight of him, and he wasn’t sure which he preferred. 

“Hurts,” he found himself whimpering after a moment. He reached out to grab hold of Ryker’s shirt; struggling to get away from the discomfort of the ice against his skin, and the sweltering heat on his body at the same time. “Hurts. Why does this hurt so much?” 

He’d spent so many years trying to desensitise himself to pain. How could a mere month without it be enough to undo all his hard work? He wasn’t supposed to cry. He wasn’t supposed to make noise or complain about it. He was supposed to take it as it came and be good until it stopped. 

So why was such a simple rule so hard to follow all of a sudden? 

He could see the look of confusion written on Ryker’s face as he struggled to understand the question. He had no idea what part of it was so hard to understand, but the question clearly made no sense to him. He seemed to choose not to respond to it, and instead focused on picking him up in a way that minimised the amount of pain it caused. 

Before he knew it, he’d been moved back to his bedroom and set down on the bed, above the covers to avoid irritating his wounds. Having heard the commotion, Murphy was now in the room as well, while Luca had likely gone to hide somewhere more quiet.

Carlos just wanted the pain to end. 

“Hey.” Ryker nudged him after putting Murphy on the outside of the door. He offered a small sympathetic smile and held out the blood packet to him. “We bought these a while ago in case you needed some more blood throughout the day. I know you’re in a lot of pain, so perhaps the extra blood’ll help with the healing process?”

“Please,” the vampire practically begged. “Yes please. I’m sorry.”

As soon as it was handed to him, Carlos sank his fangs into the packet and drank the entire thing in one go, ignoring Ryker’s concerned reminders to take it slow before he inevitably choked on it. 

Then, once it was all gone, he shakily gave it back to the human sitting beside him and sniffled; rubbing his eyes like a child. “Hurts so much,” he whispered, tilting his head to the side after lying back again so he could look the human in the eye. “It’s so much worse than I remember.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

There were so many things Carlos wanted to say, and yet he felt like he couldn’t say any of it. It was near impossible to form words with how much everything hurt. Every breath made his skin feel like it was being stretched beyond Its limits, and his hands shook as he held the ice pack against the same wounds Ryker had been before.

“...I don’t want you to be here,” were the first words he spoke after the pain began to settle into a dull throb. He sniffled, watching as the human’s face somehow fell even more. He knew how awful those words must have sounded. He’d heard them more times than he could count, but he truly had no more energy to elaborate. “Please. Please understand, sir.”

Ryker reached out to grasp his hand. “No one did this to you on purpose, Carlos.” 

“Please?” Carlos tried again. He sucked in a tight, raspy breath and squeezed Ryker’s hand as best he could; doing his best to ignore the way his body ached in protest at even the small movements he made. “Please go? I don’t want you to see me like this. I don’t…” 

Ryker’s confusion only seemed to get a whole lot worse. “It’s not the first time.”

“I know. I didn’t have the choice to stop that from happening, b-but I do now and I want you to go. Please. I’m not mad at you,” he tearily shook his head. “I could never be mad, but if you really say that I’m in charge of my own body and- and that I get to have an opinion, like you and Adam, then you’ll listen to me.” 

Granted, Carlos could see him hesitating. He averted his eyes towards his lap rather than at him and started to fiddle with the bottom of his sweatshirt, occasionally chewing on the inside of his cheek. Carlos had never felt worse. Perhaps he just wasn’t meant to make his own requests. 

“As long as you’re not mad at me,” the human eventually mumbled as he got out of his seat. “Can I at least send Adam in here to check on you throughout the day? It would make me feel a lot better knowing someone is looking after you.”

“Yes, sir.” He could live with that. “I didn’t mean to make you sad.” 

“Done nothin’ wrong. You’re all good.” Ryker bent down a little to affectionately nudge his shoulder. “Feel free to come and hang in the living room when you’re ready, yeah? Everything’ll be shut so you don’t have to worry about the sun.” 

Carlos gave him a small nod, already feeling himself reverting back to old habits before he could stop himself. “Yes, sir.” 

-

Both Ryker and Adam had originally been planning on going out for lunch that afternoon, but it was an unspoken agreement that neither of them felt like leaving the house anymore. Adam went to see the vampire in short fifteen minute bursts, occasionally bringing him some extra blood in hopes that it would help with healing. By the time he was finally feeling well enough to leave his room, the humans had eaten dinner and it was well and truly night. 

Ryker had taken to gaming out in the living room after Adam fell asleep in their bedroom. All the lights were off, so the TV was the only thing that provided any light, and he was curled up inside a blanket from the closet while several of his favourite stress toys sat in his lap. He wasn’t sure he’d experienced anxiety this bad in quite a while. It felt like he was drowning in it, and it was preventing him from doing anything other than sitting there and wallowing in it. 

In fact, it took him several minutes to even realise that Carlos had sat down beside him. It wasn’t until the vampire gently touched him on the arm that he jumped; inevitably disrupting the two sleeping animals who’d been lying beside him since he sat down.

“I’m sorry,” Carlos apologised, looking almost just as surprised as he was. “You looked so invested in your game, I wasn’t sure if you’d hear me.” 

Ryker paused his game with a small wave of his hand and set his controller down on the coffee table. “You’re all good. I just wasn’t expecting to see you until tomorrow, is all. How’re you feelin’?” 

The vampire gave him a smile. “Better. My burns don’t hurt as much. I think they’ll be better by tomorrow.” 

“Yeah? That’s great, man.” 

After a small silence had passed, Ryker slowly started to unravel himself from his blanket before lying it across his lap instead. He then lifted it up as an invitation for Carlos to join him and grinned when the vampire shuffled over without hesitation. 

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” he whispered as he crossed his legs beneath himself. He still seemed to be in some pain, but the fact that he could move at all meant that he was getting better. He was grateful that they’d bought those extra blood packs for emergencies. “Adam said you were having some anxiety. Was that caused by me? When I asked you to leave?” 

Ryker thought about lying. He thought about telling him that it was just general anxiety, or that something had happened at work while he was away, but that felt wrong to do. Surely he was past the point where he felt the need to lie like that?

“A little,” he eventually admitted. During his little pause, he offered Carlos one of his stress toys and found himself smiling when the vampire took it. “I feel like an idiot because I know you told me you’re not, but I guess I’m still convinced that you’re upset with me. That you asked me to leave because I did something wrong.”

“Please don’t call yourself that.” He reached out to hold Ryker’s hand with his free one. “I feel that way a lot, too, when people use a certain tone or use certain words when they’re talking to me. It’s scary not being able to tell what someone’s true intentions are.” 

Ryker took a moment to respond. “Yeah… So, you’re really not upset with me?”

“Not at all,” Carlos shook his head. He gave him a warm smile, fingers still holding onto the human’s hand tight. “You took care of me so much when you were a kid. You saw my body in states that should have been horrifying to someone of such a young age, and yet after a while you didn’t even seem to care. I hated it, and now that I’ve got a choice, I’m choosing to save you from having to experience it again.”

Truth be told, Ryker still thought about a lot of the things he’d seen Carlos be put through when he was a child. He hardly ever spoke to anyone about it, Adam included, but it had haunted him for years. There was even a period of time where he remembered blaming Carlos for his trauma, though that thankfully lasted no more than a few months. He knew it wasn’t Carlos’ fault. There was no one to blame but his parents.

Ryker finally nodded, though he didn’t exactly agree with him. “Thank you. You… you know I’m not a kid anymore, though, right? I know you feel bad for not always having the ability to protect me as a kid or whatever, but I’m giving you permission to let that go. I’m not upset about it, nor do I resent you, so there’s no reason for you to either.”

Before Ryker could look up to see why it had suddenly gone quiet, Carlos had shuffled over even more and wrapped his arms around the human’s neck in somewhat of an awkward hug. He held on tight, seemingly forgetting once more that his strength was much more prominent that it used to be, but Ryker couldn’t bring himself to mind. It was just another reminder that things were slowly getting better. 

For both of them. 

-

Taglist:@alexkolax @emcscared-whumps @espresso-depresso-system @inkkswhumpandstuff @pigeonwhumps @pumpkin-spice-whump @roblingoblin285 @sacredwrath @some-thrilling-heroics @stabby-nunchucks @thingsthatgo-whump-inthenight @trans-writes @whump-blog @whumpsday @whumpshaped  @whump-things @whumpycries @whumpdreamz @why-not-ask-me-a-better-question @thekittyburger @choppedflowermuffinchild

#whump #whump stuff #whump things #whump thoughts #whumpee #vampire whump #vampire whumpee #caretaker #multiple caretakers #anb writing

[lec743]

Darksiders Concept Thingy with Fury (2)

Fury was tending to the bonfire that the human woman had started. It was something to do for the night for the sake of doing it, as the human needed to rest before she could continue. A part of Fury was annoyed by this. If the human wasn't here, they could keep doing their jobs like how they should be doing... Though, the other part of her was a bit fascinated by the human's needs. They are so puny, and yet before the apocalypse they had a global empire full of smaller empires that were full of stories and life and conflict. She's a living piece of that fallen empire and her weakness made Fury curious.

The human woman was carving into a log. It was about as thick as her leg and a bit longer than her leg as well. She's been awkwardly carving into it for a few days now, having barrowed War's smallest knife, which looks more like a small sword in her grasp. She seems to wield it expertly despite how the size makes it sit awkward in her grip.

"Your food is ready [still haven't picked out a name yet]," Strife said as he picked up the five sticks of skewered rabbit meat that he was cooking for her.

Fury saw her head snap up as she set the carving project to the side. "Oh! It looks great, Strife. Thank you." She doesn't get up from her seat as Strife walks over and hands her all of the sticks.

Fury saw the confused look on the woman's face as the firelight danced on her features.

"Are you not going to have any?" She looked to Strife as he sat next to her on the rotten log War brought over.

"No. Don't really need to eat all that often."

"Is something stopping you from eating?"

Fury wondered where she was going with this, "No... Nothings stopping me? Why do you ask?" Strife said, voicing Fury's questions.

"Well, if you aren't hungry, then that's fine. I just really want to share my meal with you if that's okay?"

"What? Do you think Strife went to all that trouble just to poison you?" Fury decided to ask.

Her eyes shined in the firelight as she turned wide-eyed at the giant woman. "No! I-I didn't mean to insinuate--" she turned her focus back onto Strife, "I'm sure your cooking is lovely! I don't think you would--

"Ignore her," Strife drawled as he shifted his helm up to expose his mouth while taking a skewer, "She's just not as nice as you are."

Fury furrowed her brow and picked up a pebble from the ground. Then with an quick flick of her wrist she nailed him right on his metal helm, making the armor ring loudly. She smiled as he grimaced from the sound.

"I'm sure she's nice in her own way," the human stated while Strife glowered at Fury. The human woman then offered a stick to the nephilim woman. "Would you like to eat with us?"

Fury still felt too confused by the offer. She raised her hand and shook her head. "No. I don't need it."

The three of them then heard the heavy foot falls of War as it announced his and Death's return from scouting out the area.

"W-welcome back," the human greeted with fear but Fury saw that she was smiling at her brother's genuinely. Then like what she did with Strife and herself, she offered the skewers to them. "Are you guys hungry? Would you like to eat?"

Death shook his head. "We don't need to eat."

The woman seemed to visibly wilt at the decline, but then War said, "I will join you." That made her smile a little wider as she stretched her arm out to the large nephilim as he walked over and grasped the small snack from her. Then he joined Fury by the fire before eating.

The human was about to dig in before there was a caw from the sky and Dust swooped down and landed on her shoulders. The night air rang with her laughter as she felt the crow preen her hair. Fury saw a soft smile on Strife's lips as he watched the interaction while he ate.

"Of course I'm going to share with you too, Dust. My favorite lil crow."

Fury huffed in amusement. Next to her and her siblings, the crow can be deemed as little, but next to the human, he may as well be half as tall as her. The human offered the strips of meat to Dust and the crow would have sat there and eaten on her shoulders if Death hadn't of walked over.

"You should keep the food to yourself. You need it more."

"The amount I have is enough. With how much horseback riding I've been doing, I'm not exerting a lot of energy. I'll be fine. Besides, sharing is caring."

Strife snorted. "Awe, does that mean you care about me?" He looked away from her as he threw his bare stick into the fire. Fury didn't miss the way he tried to hit her with it as he threw it. Fury then watched the human woman as she looked Strife in the eye with a straight and honest face.

"Yes."

She ate her meal as she continued to keep eye contact with him. It made Fury quietly snicker to herself as Strife would have said something quippy at this point and it seems for the first time in a long time someone has made Strife speechless.

The second eldest nephilim turned away from her honest gaze as he opted to stare at the fire. Fury gave him a smug smile and Strife cursed her out quietly in their native tongue.

Death called Despair for the human when she finished her meal and she bid everyone good night as she used the horse as a pillow. Fury continued to tend to the fire as her brothers found other ways to busy themselves. It wasn't until sunrise that she realized that the human also cares about her, someone that she's obviously scared of. She's not sure how to feel about that.

#darksiders #fanfiction #darksiders fury

[cyborg-franky]

Ooooo could you possibly do headcanons of the one piece characters as college students? What type of students would they be, how would they be in class, what are their majors, etc? :D

Ooooh yes, I didn't go to college and UK college is very different from US so here I go.. I dunno if they do majors like this so I generalized them.

Marco

Always late to lessons.

Looks like he isn’t paying attention and is top of the class.

Very social.

He does biology, science, history, and geography.

Ace

Does all his work last minute.

Shows up late.

‘I don’t really need to be here, life teaches us more lessons man’

Here for a good time

Media studies

Thatch

On-time.

Is often teachers' fave.

Flirts too much in class.

Here for home ec, cooking, and business.

Izou

Just wanted to go to make sure his sister was okay.

Scary, teachers are scared of him so he gets away with like, alot.

Beauty, business, law

Deuce

Was made to go by his parents.

Is really unhappy being there.

Lets Ace bring him down.

Flunking biology but doing well in creative writing and literature.

Law

Wanted to get away from overly attached father figure.

Is always on time but looks like he’d rather smoke behind the bike sheds.

Biology, science, chemistry

Kid

Here to party bitches.

Drinks and good times.

Metal shop, engineering.

Killer

His best friend is going so…

On time, keeps hung-over Kid in check

Cooking, home ec, languages.

Sabo

Why not, use government money to fund himself.

Is late.

He Will cut a bitches breaks if they fail him.

Politics, law, psychology.

Vivi

Late to the game because she needed a gap year to find herself.

Always on time, always a goody goody.

World affairs, politics, law

Zoro

Only time he stepped foot on campus was he got lost.

Jokes aside.

Sport

Nami

Already has loads of money, and never has student fees.

Will ruin everyone who looks at her wrong.

Business, agriculture.

Robin

Is that one goth girl that everyone is in love with.

Flawless in class.

Social but people fear her for no reason.

History, creative writing, languages, Latin, literature.

Franky

People kinda think he’s lost.

WHAT’S UP MY DUDES, ARE WE LEARNING? Vibes

Metal work, engineering, travel.

Usopp

incoming nerdy art student who always has the paint-covered overalls.

Big nerdy but has cool friends so everyone knows and likes him.

Art, textiles, drama

Brook

Mature student

Here to vibe.

Music, history

Chopper

Gets carded all the time, why are you here child.

Is scared of everyone.

Does his best

Science, biology, human studies

Luffy

SABO AND ACE ARE DOING IT SO.

Is bad

Just crashes in everyone's dorms and eats everyone's food.

Not dumb just not into learning.

Sanji

“Someone told me I could get laid in college.”

Wishes he was a party boy.

Nerd

Home ec, cooking, drama

#marco one piece #marco the pheonix #fushichou marco #thatch #thatch op #masked deuce #portgas d ace #ace op #marco op #izou #izou op #sabo #soul king brook #nami #usopp #vivi nefertari #nico robin #one piece x reader #sanji #zoro #eustass kid #massacre soldier killer #trafalgar law #cyborg franky

[elisajdb]

Memories of Fall: The Apple Tree

He wanted to destroy that tree. He could do it. A simple blast of his Ki. A punch. Even a kick will do it. He longed to do it but knew his vengeful act would awaken the wrath of Son Goku. A man he could not defeat. It would also awaken the wrath of his wife, Son ChiChi. A woman he also could not defeat. Physically, she was sooo much weaker than him, but laying even a finger on her, Piccolo knew would signal his doom at the hands of Son Goku.

He cursed himself for accepting Goku’s invitation to be his training partner. Had he known he would have to deal with the one being who could control Son Goku, he would’ve rescinded the offer. Now he couldn’t. He was trapped living with the Son Family for three years. He had to deal with silly things such as ‘family time’; accept ChiChi’s forced day of rest once a week for Goku and Gohan and hear the disturbing sounds coming from Goku and ChiChi’s room on some nights and even mornings. He accepted them all but this was too much.

“Are you out of your mind, Son?!” Piccolo was enraged. He had enough! Piccolo couldn’t believe he had to argue with Goku about this. “Son, we have three years to prepare for the Artificial Humans. I accept your wife wants you and Gohan home for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I accept your wife wants you to take a day off once a week but not this, Son.”

“It’s only one day and it’s a family thing.”

“It’s apples, Son! Apples!! We have the fight for our lives to prepare for and your wife wants you to take the day off to pick apples with her!”

“It’s only the first picking,” Goku explained. He saw ChiChi through the kitchen window working on the meals for their picnic. “I love watching ChiChi cook. She makes the best meals.”

Piccolo felt sickened at Goku’s lovesick gaze to ChiChi. He’s seen that look more times than he liked. It always meant Goku would embrace or worse…. kiss his wife. How the strongest man on the planet lets himself get controlled by that woman I will never understand. “You’re spineless when it comes to overruling your wife, Son. Are you going to stand here and tell me picking apples is more important than training to save the world?”

Goku wasn’t surprised Piccolo threw that same question he asked ChiChi back at him but this was different. “No, but I have to do this. I owe it to ChiChi.” Piccolo’s glare signaled he didn’t care. “You don’t understand, Piccolo.”

“Make me.”

Goku tilted his head gesturing for Piccolo follow him on the short journey to the apple tree. “All right. It started when ChiChi was pregnant with Gohan.”

Eight years ago

“Is it deep enough, ChiChi?”

ChiChi peered into the hole. Goku might have added another foot than needed and was a little short on the hole’s width but it was deep enough. “Yes. It’s perfect.”

“Good.” Goku shook the dirt off his pants and dusted his hands. He’ll need a shower after this but it was worth it. He went to the small apple tree waiting to be transplanted. It was very young and barely three feet tall. “Strange gift from your Dad.”

“Why?” ChiChi thought it was a sweet gift. “We both love apples. We have a special connection to them.”

“Apples, ChiChi,” Goku placed the plant into the ground. “Not apple trees.” He began covering the plant with fresh soil. “We eat them, not plant them.”

“We’re gonna eat these.” ChiChi rubbed her swollen stomach as she felt the child in her kick. “Fresh apples every day and I’m gonna make sauces, ciders and pies for all three of us.”

Goku smiled at his pregnant wife, hopeful. “You think our baby will like apples?”

“He will love apples.”

“You think it’s a boy?” Goku wouldn’t mind having a boy. He knew about boys. He was one. Girls he was completely clueless with.

“I know it’s a boy but when the apples are ready to be picked, maybe there will be a fourth family member. Maybe a girl.”

A girl might be interesting to have. He like ChiChi and she’s a girl but that wasn’t what made Goku suddenly frown. “What do you mean when the apples are ready? How long will it take?”

ChiChi gazed at the thin tree with very few limbs. “It might be three or four years before the apples are ready for harvest.”

“Three or four years?!” Goku thought it might be a year. “But you got a garden in our backyard and some of them take nearly a season to grow!”

“Goku, I grow vegetables in our garden. They are not as big as trees.”

She had a point. “You’re right.” He firmly patted the soil now covering the roots of the apple tree. “I know these apples will be yummy. I don’t wanna wait three or four years.”

ChiChi laughed at his impatience. “You always want everything now but good things come to those who wait.” She rubbed her belly. “Like our son.”

“Yeah.” Goku dusted his hands as again as he stood. “I can’t wait to see him.” He was going to put his hand on ChiChi’s stomach but hesitated. ChiChi didn’t like it when he was dirty but she surprised him by taking his hand and placing it over her stomach. His touch always sparked a kick from their unborn child.

“I can’t wait to see him, too, Goku, and I can’t wait for our baby to pick apples from the tree his Daddy grew for us.”

Piccolo gazed at the tree. It was over twelve feet tall with thick limbs holding the many apples sprouting from the flowers on the tree. Piccolo had no opinion of apples except he did leave a couple for Gohan the night they met. The child was a scared four-year-old sleeping alone. He didn’t know the child other than he was the son of the man he wanted to kill but something about watching Gohan shivering and crying in the night bothered him. For the first time in his life, the child was without his mother and father. He was pressured into a heavy task he might not succeed. Perhaps it was because he was in this same spot when he was a child. He didn’t cry but he did live in forests isolated from the world. The frightened child compelled him to drop two apples so he wouldn’t go hungry for the night.  

It wasn’t from this apple tree but maybe it would’ve comforted Gohan if it were.

“So, it took three or four years to grow this. You already had a first day of picking. Let your wife live on that memory. Why is this picking so important?”

“Because it will be our first one.”

Three Years Ago

Goku and ChiChi stood together gazing at the apple tree they planted four years ago. They worked together caring and nurturing the tree. When Gohan was born, he tagged along in a carrier and later walked besides his parents with joy in seeing the apple tree.

They played here. They had picnics here. They took pictures as the tree grew and thrived and fantasize about the day apples will emerge for them to pick. That day finally arrived. They marveled at the red fruit shining from the tree. They inhaled the sweet scent of apples carried by the wind. Behind them, Goku and ChiChi could hear Gohan laughing likely amused by a butterfly he happily chased. He was fascinated by insects, and on his last birthday, asked for a book of them to read and study.

“They’re ready, ChiChi.” Goku pointed at a bunch of red apples. “Look at that.”

“I see, but I also see those.” ChiChi pointed at a group of apples that were heavily green with a few splotches of red. “They’re still not ready to be picked. Maybe tomorrow.”

“But those,” Goku pointed at another pack, “are ready now.”

ChiChi looked at the ones Goku pointed at. “Maybe but you have that reunion today with your friends. It’ll be better tomorrow.”

“But Gohan has preschool tomorrow.” Goku wasn’t interested in school but he knew how important it was to ChiChi Gohan attend. “If we don’t do it now, we’ll have to wait until next weekend.”

That was true and ChiChi was eager to pick the apples. She didn’t want to wait another six days either. “How about we don’t pick the apples today? We send Gohan to preschool tomorrow but pick him up early, have a picnic here, and pick the apples together.”

Goku smiled. He liked that idea. “Sounds good to me.”

Goku didn’t have to explain what happened next. He went to the reunion but instead of coming home, he died and Gohan was taken by Piccolo for a year.

“So, you didn’t pick the apples the year they were ready for harvest.” Piccolo didn’t understand but he accepted that was something important to Goku and his wife. He turned away from the tree he longed to destroy to begin the short walk back to the Son Family House. “You’re telling me your wife let those apples rot for the year you were dead? She let them rot the year you returned and last year, too?”

“No. Not really.”

Two Years Ago

He was in the hospital but Goku felt at home. After a year apart, Goku and his family were together. He was trapped in his recuperating bed. He couldn’t hold Gohan. He couldn’t hug or kiss ChiChi but they were near him and that was enough for now.

It was for ChiChi, too. His wife hummed a happy melody as she peeled and sliced apples for Gohan. Gohan liked his apples peeled. Goku liked the peel on. He looked at his son reading his book and snacking on the apples ChiChi brought for them.

Just like home.

“How do you like the apple, Gohan?”

“It’s good, Mom. Very sweet.”

Goku noticed the pain in ChiChi’s eyes. A year ago Gohan called ChiChi ‘Mommy.’ Now he called her ‘Mom.’ Goku knew the change in name tied to Gohan’s ordeal over the year. He was stronger in body and emotionally, too. He wasn’t the shy child he knew but a growing boy of confidence that he and ChiChi were adjusting, too. “I’m happy, Gohan. Tomorrow, I’ll bring you some apple sauce and when you get out of the hospital, I’ll make you an apple pie.”

“Okay, Mom.” Gohan finished his apple. “I don’t need any more apples.” He stopped ChiChi from peeling anymore. “Maybe Dad can have the rest?”

In his own way, Gohan was pushing ChiChi away. Again, Goku saw pain in her eyes but she didn’t voice her hurt as she turned her tray to Goku and began cutting apples into slices for him. When she sliced two apples, ChiChi pressed a button on the side of Goku’s bed to elevate Goku’s head.

To make ChiChi smile, Goku made a goofy face at her before opening his mouth to receive the apple slices. ChiChi accepted his attempt to make her happy and fed Goku a slice of apples. “Mmm. Mmm. Yummy, ChiChi.” He ate another slice. “Very sweet. Did you get these from the market?” ChiChi shook her head. “Mr. Olitz’s farm?”

“No, Goku. This came from our tree.”

“Our tree?” Surprised, Goku accepted another slice. “Our apple tree?”

“Yes, Goku. The apples are ready to be picked.” A flicker of pain reflected on her face as ChiChi thought of what it meant to them. “Do you remember?”

“Yeah.” Sadness swelled in Goku as he remembered what was to happen the day after the reunion. It was the first time he thought about it. In the last year, Goku was so consumed with training for Vegeta and Nappa, the apple tree was erased from his mind. “You picked them.”

ChiChi released a heavy sigh. “I didn’t want to. I wanted us to do that together but I couldn’t let the apples go to waste. I ate a few, baked a few, and gave some to the people in Dad’s village.” She put on a forced smile. “At least this year we can eat the harvest apples together.”

It wasn’t the same but Goku accepted the reality. “Next year,” Goku promised. “We’ll harvest the apples together. We’ll have that picnic by the lake near the apple tree. We’ll do what we should’ve done a year ago.”

ChiChi didn’t share Goku’s optimism. “Assuming Gohan returns from Namek.”

“Ah, don’t be like that, ChiChi. Gohan will return from Namek completely fine. I’ll be here, too. We’ll harvest the apples together. I promise.”

But Goku and Piccolo knew Goku broke that promise. Gohan returned from Namek and was home for last year’s harvest but Goku was far away on Yardrat.

They were returning to the Son Family yard now. Piccolo could feel ChiChi and Gohan’s Ki in the house together. His sharp ears picked up mother and son talking about the picnic and harvesting apples for the first time as a family. Gohan sounded very excited Goku will be with them this year. ChiChi was very happy about it, too.   

“So, you broke your promise to your wife.”

“Yeah,” Goku shoved his hands in his pockets disappointed. He didn’t like he did that and unlike, the previous year when he was dead, Goku remembered he, Gohan and ChiChi were to harvest apples from their tree. “But I won’t this year.”

Piccolo crossed his arms. “I see.”

Goku was glad Piccolo did. “Now you see why I have to harvest apples with ChiChi and Gohan today.”

“No,” Piccolo answered. “I don’t.”

Goku stared confused. “But I just told you…”

“I heard it. A long, boring ass story. ChiChi picked the apples when you were dead. She did it again when you were in the hospital. She and Gohan picked them last year. ChiChi doesn’t need you to pick the apples. She can do it again without you. We need to be training for the Artificial Humans.”

Goku threw his hands up. All of that and Piccolo missed the point.

“Goku,” ChiChi called from the window, “we’re ready! Can you help us?”

“In a minute,” Goku waved to ChiChi. He turned to Piccolo. “Sorry you don’t understand, but I’m going with ChiChi and Gohan.”

Piccolo rolled his eyes and muttered ‘wimp’ before following Goku into the house.

“I have the baskets!” Gohan held up three brown wicker baskets he and ChiChi used last year.

“I’ll carry the camera and blankets,” ChiChi handed Goku three heavy picnic baskets. “You carry these.” ChiChi went to the kitchen table and picked up the cooler. She put that in Piccolo’s arms. “You carry the cooler.”

“What?” Piccolo nearly dropped the container. “Why am I going?” He didn’t want to go on a picnic and he didn’t want to pick apples. He wanted to train!

“It’s a Son Family tradition,” ChiChi gathered the picnic blankets and camera. “If you’re gonna live here, you have to take part in our traditions.”

“But…. but….” Piccolo stammered.

“And you’re so tall, you can pick a few apples for us.”

“What?!” Who did this woman think she is? He was not a ladder for this petite woman who controlled the strongest man on Earth. He was a warrior. He needed to train for the Artificial Humans. She wasn’t going to use and order him around like she did Goku and Gohan. “I don’t go on picnics. I don’t pick apples.”

“You picked some for me the first night I was alone,” Gohan spoke up. “It was my only meal.”

Piccolo was starting to regret his foolish generosity. “That’s because….. it hasn’t….” ChiChi pinned him with an ‘I dare you to defy me’ gaze and Gohan smiled at him with a ‘It’ll be fun’ gaze. The fight was over before it began. He sighed. “Fine.”

Goku sent a grateful smile at Piccolo before leading the family out. “All right. Let’s go.”

Piccolo followed hanging back watching the family of three converse and laugh together happy they were going to harvest apples. It’s just some damn apples! Goku insisted the importance of this was for ChiChi but Piccolo figured it was important for Goku, too. Goku’s stories hit home on how much he took from Goku and Gohan. Never did Piccolo think he’d regret what he did but if this picnic and picking apples were a way to atone for his actions, he accepted that.

I’m gonna hate this.

That’s what Piccolo expected. That’s what Piccolo told himself.

But Piccolo didn’t regret it. He didn’t regret sitting with Gohan at the picnic. He didn’t regret hearing ChiChi tell Goku of her and Gohan picking apples together last year. He didn’t regret the pictures taken of him at the picnic. He didn’t regret watching the Son Family eat the first harvest apples together. He didn’t regret seeing the joy on Gohan’s face as he picked apples while standing on Goku’s shoulders. He didn’t mind the laughter shared between Goku and ChiChi as she picked apples standing on Goku’s shoulders. He didn’t regret Gohan picking apples on his shoulders. He was startled by Goku jumping on his shoulders to pick apples and ChiChi taking a picture at the worst time. He rolled his eyes at Goku and ChiChi sharing a kiss under the apple tree while Gohan secretly took a picture of his parents.

That night, Piccolo sat on the sofa in Goku and ChiChi’s cozy home sipping fresh apple cider ChiChi made with the apples picked today. Gohan slept on his lap while Goku and ChiChi stayed in the kitchen. They spoke in soft tones too low for humans but sharp enough for Piccolo to hear. They were private words of happiness in finally having this day together. They were words of promise on what this day truly meant and hope of doing this as a family next year, the year after next, and the year after the Artificial Humans will be here.

Piccolo watched them from the corner of an eye as Goku and ChiChi stood beside each other, drinking apple cider, accepting what they missed in the past and what they looked forward to in their future.

Son, I think I understand.

#goku #chichi #dragonball #gochi #dragonball z #fanfiction #gohan #piccolo

[victorluvsalice]

-->And then it was time for everyone to converge on the greenhouse and help out Victor – specifically, by doing some targeted harvesting while he finished up his tending! I had Alice return to normal and rush in there to pick the coconuts, the pineapples, the soy and black beans (and evolve a couple of plants while she was at it), while Smiler picked a bunch of their herbalism stuff (with a focus on stuff like the noxious elderberries and poison fireleaf I didn’t have before). Smiler then dusted Victor’s bees with mite treatment, fertilized their noxious elderberries so they could evolve them up to nice level, and headed upstairs to have a nice bath –

-->And Alice got sent to the kitchen to make some more food for the food stand, using her new appliances! :D Because if we’re going to have a food sale, we need to have food to sell! She’d already made a garden pizza last playsession while at the store, which was already in the stand – I thus had her make a fresh batch of dough in the stand mixer, then bake up some banana split waffles, a loaf of artful focaccia, some minty mocha cupcakes (in the oven! :D), and a pineapple pizza! Yes, I was thinking a bit about food that Smiler would probably like, as they were the one who was going to be running the stand – sometimes I regret that they’re a vampire who can’t eat regular food in this save, as I know any human Smilers would be all over banana split waffles and pineapple pizza. In another save, Smiler, I promise! I’ll fudge things a bit in my potential future Valicer In The Dark save! XD

-->While Alice was getting her cooking on, Victor and Smiler were keeping busy with the last of the farm chores (while the chickens were keeping busy with a fox – I gotta get some more livestock upgrade parts). Victor FINALLY finished the tending (and deactivated poor Elmer to stop the bot from constantly trying to weed a glitched plant) and got the initial batch of super-selling done, then left Smiler to finish off selling everything while he cleared out the cow shed (and once again dropped the results on the ground next to said cow shed – I just had him put the trash in his inventory for later recycling). Smiler got Gardening skill 9 from all the super-selling (and harvesting the lemon tree in the corner that had gotten skipped in all the super-sell batching), which pleased me greatly –

And then I realized “wait a minute. Isn’t it supposed to be New Skill Day? Where’s the holiday thing?” Concerned, I checked the calendar, and confirmed that it was indeed a holiday – but that I didn’t have the overlay for it in the corner of my screen. Uh-oh. That DEFINITELY seemed like a sign the save file was on its way out. I decided not to worry TOO much about it at the moment, as New Skill Day is just a pop-up holiday, and not a particularly important one, and instead Alice box up the final pizza, slapped all the food in the foot stand, and had Smiler grab said food stand and gather everyone up to bring them to the Brindleton Bay Pawspital –

#sims 4 #the lazy save #victor van dort #alice liddell #smiler always #that greenhouse takes up so much of the day I swear #I mean sometimes you get lucky and none of the plants need tending #or only one or two #but if a lot of them need weeding and watering and spraying #well then it's all hands on deck #at least they all got it done eventually! #and it was rather fun to get Alice to make all that food #it's good to be able to have waffles and pizza and suchlike on the go #and to be able to make cupcakes in the damn oven #I mean it renders the cupcake machine kinda useless #but I don't think anyone really minds? :p #the machine is probably best used for aesthetic purposes in a shop or something #and it DID form the basis for Simsonian Library's bulk food processor mod #which I use a fair bit just to make flour and sugar for the gang to cook with #so yeah appreciate it's existence just for that XD #and yeah don't know what was going on with the holiday thing #as you'll see it pops up once the gang travels #but it's a worrying sign isn't it? #I have ideas for new save files but #still kinda wanna play this one for a while more? #don't let me down Sims 4 #well not more than you have already #queued

[padfootreggie]

Valerie Kilak (my OC)

Warnings: weed, alcohol, money problems, bad parenting, underage smoking, slight self insertion, sex, toxic relationship

Valerie's parents are goddess Athena, and human Nathan Kilak. She is half Greek and half iñupiaq (in-nyoo-pak) iñupiaq is a native tribe from Alaska.

She knows more about her native roots than Greek roots actually, she spent most of her life living with her grandma who she called aana (aw-nah). Her grandma taught her how to hunt, cook, and how to cut animals.

Which helped a lot when she found out she was basically a walking death magnet. Valerie is 18 years old, she found Camp Half-blood at 15.

Val has jet black curly hair, her eyes a bright grey. Which shocked a lot of her family, and trust me she has ALOT of family.

She loves to talk. She either talks extremely fast or stays quiet. She loves marvel but not the new movies, spiderman is an exception tho.

Her family struggled with money, sicknesses, and alcohol, she knew the minute she was born that she was fucked.

She smoked since she was 12, and started selling at 14 it made a lot on the reservation.

That selling was cut short since on her 15th birthday she went 'missing' (ran away) on a school field trip and found Camp Half-blood

Valerie was a smart girl, she could've gone to a good college and get a good job. Her family couldn't afford that though.

As she got older the more tired she got. She was the babysitter for it of her family, she couldn't deal with her grades or school anymore.

Weed helped a lot, she didn't feel much when she smoked. Her aana got angrier and more distant to Valerie as she got older.

She used to be close with her dad as well, but as she got older and more responsible he didn't care about her any more.

But once she found her new home called Camp half blood a lot changed. She started eating a lot healthier, she smoked less, and she found her boyfriend(??) Luke Castellan.

Val and Luke aren't actually together, they are more of a hook up and go. They didn't like each other but the bed time was great.

Actually they almost hated each other, yet they couldn't get enough of each other. One day they can be all over each other not one minute apart and the next they won't touch the other with a 10 foot pole! Honestly it was very toxic.

Valerie's mental health became a lot better at Camp, less fake friendships and more healthier air. Also her family was off her ass. Don't think it was all happy and rainbows no no no.

She had her bad days, maybe weeks. She had memories from small things like the smell of alcohol or a cup.

Luke was there for her tho. He always was, but he couldn't actually get himself to LOVE her. Since he had the idea that gods were evil.

If Luke wasn't their for Val it was her brothers and sisters from Athena. During a break up with Luke or those days Annabeth was ready.

She has a lot of fun with her sister Annabeth, they like talking about what other campers were doing. They knew all the gossip.

Val had a few boys chasing for her, but Luke would always find a way to get her back. She had a few boys ask her out over the years.

Of course she didn't say yes after her hook ups with Luke but she had her fair share of boyfriends and "he's the one!" talks.

That's enough chattings it's time for pictures😍

Face (imagine it's as tan as the body)

Hair

Body

Style

A/N: I know the women aren't native but I can't find anything on Pinterest on my culture without racist pictures.

#oc #my oc <3 #percy jackson #new writers on tumblr #pjo #my story #oc story #percy jackson oc #pjo oc #valerie #native american #indigenous oc

[brokenmusicboxwolfe]

A rest day….

Wakes up before dawn. Pain. or rather PAIN! as I struggle to walk to the bathroom.

Lies awake a few hours, hurting, hurting, then thinking of things to worry about, like “OMG, what if a line goes on the boat during this storm”

Sleeps.

11:45 am!!! NO!!!!!

PAIN!!! Rushes to get my feet bound up. Rushes isa bit slow when you are hobbled. I can barely put any weight at all on my bad ankle, but the animals need food. I am spared their grumpiness at my lateness by the rain.

I tear everything off my bad foot and try to call Mom. An aide is giving her a bath. At least the hour gives me a chance to brush my hair, eat, brush my teeth….

Breakfast. Or is it lunch after noon? One of the pumpkin bagels, I baked a few days ago, some stewed grapes I got from a recipe (deseeding made it not worth it), canned pears (couldn’t afford non-Ryoga related fresh fruit yesterday), but I forgot the cheese.

Rebinds up the foot. I must have done something right because instead of PAIN! it’s only pain!. Does chores, stupid chores.

There are things to do at Mom’s house, including hauling in the trash can before the storm topples it. Gets the mail out of the box, and finds another damn People magazine. I can’t get the company to stop sending the stupid things, and I have less than zero interest in gossip about celebrities, or should I say “celebrities” ‘cause 75% of these people I haven’t heard of anyway. I don’t shield it from the rain.

I sit on the porch to call Mom, bad foot unwrapped again and propped up on the back of the bench, droplets from the heavy rain misting me. We talk for about an hour. I tell her about yesterday, moan about my pain, talk about news stories, and tell her the story of the latest What We Do In the Shadows **that I watched. Finally she is struggling to hold her phone, so we have to say goodbye.

Determined to rest my damn sore ankle, I go lie down in the bedroom with my stuff.

I listen to the rain in the dark a couple minutes before turning on a lantern to read from one of the magazines from the days when I used to read tons. It turns out to be a copy of Film Comment, and I end up reading one on Ingmar Bergman’s legacy.

I pop in my earbuds to listen to music while I read, and it starts off with a track from Terminator (the flashback/dream of life in the future human hideouts) then shuffle gives me Green Day.

Yeah, Wake me when September ends indeed. I’m lying on the bed my parents slept in until Pop died, surrounded by my things where 99% are from when Pop was alive and before Mom’s stroke took her away from here. It’s been 9 yrs since Pop died, and Mom’s stoke was five years ago. I think anyway. Time is getting blurry and squishy, and with Mom I spent about two years thinking she would get to come home. I’m feeling the grief.

Then the rain falls so hard I can’t hear the music.

I need to go do something, feel useful and not get all sad again. The storm is getting heavy, but I drive back to the house with electricity. The radio is on and Don’t Fear the Reaper is playing. Of course.

UPS finally brought the dog meds. And of course they left it out in the rain on the trunk of the broken down car. They never go up to the house, and though I asked one UPS driver to put packages in the car, there seems to be a different driver every time. Leaving a package out in the rain during a tropical storm makes sense if you don’t give a damn, and why would they?

I make jelly from some of the grapes, and juice some more. I discover that the surejell no longer contains the instruction sheet with ratios of sugar snd juice, so it’s Google time. And the jars have no sticker sheets like they used to, so I won’t be able to label them.

This is NOT resting my foot! All this boiling, preparing jars, cooking juice, and such…I have to stand in the kitchen to do it. But I get it done, seven jars of jelly.

I remember I will have to wash all this later, walking around on my stupid feet and ankles, and boy have I made a mess.

Time to feed the animals. The dogs stay safely in their houses, the cats are fed on the porch, and then there is Ryoga. I stand in the rain holding my umbrella over him while I get soaked. Pigs hate rain, but it’s a bit absurd.

More juicing, and now I tear the screen on the filter so now I have to get seeds out.

The sun about to set, the swim dilemma arrives. I always swim without missing a day until I stop for the year, but this year I went to take care of Mom during swimming season. I feel like I haven’t swum enough yet.

Reasons against: The water cools very fast, so has already gotten dangerously cold. (my infamous “hypothermic cardiac event” has made my super vulnerable) Yesterday it was painful to get in. Almost worse, I’ll have to walk to the pool, with no ankle braces or boots. That’s a looong way out there.

Reasons for: I LOVE swimming and now every day might be my last. I had made a goal to swim until the start of autumn, and I am so dang close. I love swimming during a tropical storm. Did I mention I LOVE swimming???

I go swimming. Pain. Cold. Something falls near the pool. More cold. I push things, swimming across the bottom with the cold stinging. The pain walking back gets over shadowed by the “cold wobblies”. Yikes.

Okay, so swimming now might not be wise, but I’m glad I went. I am also cold.

And have more grapes to juice.

And supper to cook.

and OMG my feet and ankles hurt!

Yeah, I dunno if I exactly rested my problems with my feet and and ankles. But by my standards it counts. I mean, I didn’t have the ankle brace and boot rubbing at the sore for most of the day for the first time since May!

Oh no, is that a sore throat? What’s with the sudden sneezing. And I feel like I’m coming down with something, like a fever creeping up….

Well, if I do get sick maybe THEN I will stay off my bad foot long enough for it to heal!

**I had the first two seasons on DVD, but have finally given up that they will release more. I can’t afford streaming, so I went with “other means”. With my internet it’s an endurance test to get through, but both of us enjoy the show. If only my brother had a place to watch it among the approximately one zillion services they subscribe to I would have watch some of it with Mom back in June.

#my day #Venting #busy

[sadnesslaughs]

You’re haunted by a ghost, but instead of trying to scare you from their home, they’re trying to look after you, in a caring and loving way.

“Did you sleep well?” She asked, her neck twisted backwards with her spider like limbs gripping every edge of the bed, dangling over my previously sleeping body. The ghost’s dark hair brushed against my nose with her icy breath hitting my skin as she observed me, checking me for any signs of life.

When I screamed, she smiled. A scream was a confirmation of life to her, a show that I was alive. She twisted her head and crawled off the bed, landing on her knees. In a kneeled position, she rested her chin on the foot of my bed, that long smile hitting her upper cheeks. “Good, you’re awake. I made you breakfast. Eat before your skin clings to your bones and your insides rot.”

Then… she left, vanishing from the room. The ghost leaving me gripping my chest as my heart violently pounded in my body. I was groggy the entire time I got out of bed, having only gotten about three hours of sleep over the last four days. She was kind, but terrifying. Sure, she had good intentions. I knew that, still I couldn’t get over the utter creepiness of the situation at hand.

I closed my eyes as I washed my face, refusing to look at myself. How did I look? I couldn’t imagine it was a pretty sight, my face so devoid of sleep, drowsy from all those nights of hearing her scattering through my walls. Still, seeing myself in the mirror didn’t scare me as much as the prospect of seeing her. Again, I knew she was kind, but seeing a sight like that scares you to your core, breaks down everything you thought you understood about life and death.

Pulling back my seat at the kitchen table, I sat, sipping the black coffee she left. The caffeine wasn’t helping my state, if anything it only accelerated the sleep deprived anxiety that was bubbling in my brain. She turned in her pink ethereal apron, her thin body no bigger than a medium-sized stick. The type of stick a large dog would drag through a park. One thin enough to be held, but too long for the dog to drag inside. That type of shape.

“You’re looking better. Did you get an extra hour of sleep? How about some bacon and eggs? I heard humans enjoy that.” She didn’t try to hide the fact she wasn’t human, almost sounding proud of it. She sat the food Infront of me and it looked as delicious as always. Unlike before, she didn’t leave after serving me, instead she pushed my chair in, pinning my chest to the wooden table. “I’m sorry, you won’t be leaving until you eat. You’re growing weaker.”

I pitifully squirmed, not having the energy to show my defiance in words. I was the worm, and she was the early bird. All I could do was put on a show before she got what she wanted. Why did I hesitate? She hadn’t shown any hostility and still it felt wrong to eat her meal. Was the fear irrational? Or was the fact that I didn’t think I should fear her the irrational part? I needed sleep.

The fork bounced off my face as she pushed her thumb against my bottom lip, prying my lips apart. When the food went in, I chewed. It felt good to eat, even if she had to force the meal down. Those pupilless eyes scanning me, making sure the lump went down my throat before the pressure on my chest faded, freeing me from my chair.

“Sorry, it was for your own good. How was the food? Anything you would like me to change? I’m sorry, I’m new to cooking.”

“It’s tasty. Maybe some vegetables?” I asked, hoping to add a heathier option.

“Vegetables? Ah, I’ll order them to the house. Now, how are you feeling? I understand my form is unflattering. If you wish, I can take steps to alter it.” She took the apron off, wrapping it around her face, trying to hide those hideous features. Even if she was a monster, I couldn’t help feeling sorry for her. Those pupilless eyes watering, forced to hide herself because I couldn’t accept what I was seeing.

“Thank you.” Why did I say that? I’m not the sort of person who’s vain. No, this isn’t about vanity, it’s fear. I’m a coward. That’s the sad truth. She lowered her head, saddened but understanding of my situation.

“What’s your name?”

She perked up at the question, tugging down the apron from her lips momentarily, wanting to speak freely. “Ioa.” Those sharp teeth flashed before the apron was up once more. It was a beautiful name. Despite the beautiful name, I couldn’t move past my fears, trying to distract myself again.

“Ah. I see. I’m going to go watch tv.” I shuffled towards the living room, the irony not being lost on me as she shambled in behind. Clicking the remote, I put on the usual crap that was on at this point in the day, watching a rerun of some crime fighting show. She sat on the arm of the lounge, trying to take up as little space as she could.

Somehow, the living room felt safer. Maybe it was less personal. A bedroom is such a private place. You only share your bedroom with a handful of people, so to have someone invade that space is horrifying and unnerving. The Livingroom didn’t feel like that. I could rest my eyes here.

Gunshots woke me up, pulling me from my sleep. I couldn’t tell how long I had been out for. The show was still on, but with how reruns were these days, I could have been on episode ten of the twenty they planned to play today. When I sat up, a blanket fell from my shoulders, landing by my feet.

“You looked cold.” She squatted on the arm of the lounge, that grey dirty dress hanging off the edge. The dress blended with her skin, sharing that same sickly color.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome?” She didn’t know what to say, confused by my words. That couldn’t have been the first time I thanked her? Why did it feel so weird? Then it hit me. It was the first time I had genuinely been thankful for her. The other times were under self-appointed duress, scared that if I didn’t thank her, I would be killed. This time, I said it and meant it.

“I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting. I know you mean well. This is just sudden. I found you chained up in the basement, howling for freedom. I didn’t even want to free you. It was an accident. You have no reason to help me. Can’t you see that? This is all a big misunderstanding. You should hate me. I would have left you there if it were up to me.” Suddenly, she didn’t seem terrifying. She looked like me, fearful, alone and needing care.

“That isn’t true. The chains that bound me weren’t physical, they were mental. A challenge of character. Everyone that buys this house has seen me once, and out of those that saw me, you were the only one that wished for me to be free. You were scared, but in that fear you felt for me. You viewed me as a person, someone that needed help. Someone that didn’t deserve her fate. I can’t thank you enough.” She bowed, planting her hands on the cushion of my couch. “So, please. I’m sorry for scaring you.”

Was that true? I knew about the ghost rumors and even the stories about how the ghost returned, even after the house was demolished. Still, those rumors started sixty years ago. Had no one in that time felt anything for her?

“Scaring me?” Leaning closer, I unwrapped the apron from her face. “I’ve been so stupid. I let my caveman brain get in the way of my feelings. I don’t need to fear you. I’ve known that from the beginning. So, let’s start fresh, ok? It’s going to take some time for me to get used to this, but I promise I won’t let my stupid fears stop me. Let’s help each other.”

She covered her mouth, straining her face in a manner that looked painful. Her eyes squinted, trying her best to keep her composure.

“Are you ok?”

“S-sorry. I can’t stop smiling. I don’t want you to see my teeth.”

What had I done to this poor ghost? My lack of heart making her self conscious of herself. She was trying so hard to not scare me and it was breaking my heart.

Pulling her hands away, I grinned back. “My grins pretty goofy. I always got teased because I grinned like an idiot. Anyway, if we’re grinning together, it’s not that bad, is it?” I exaggerated my grin, feeling my cheeks sting. She laughed, her long tongue flicking spit as she did. Soon, I was laughing too, finding the humor in the absurd situation. When we were done laughing, I picked up the blanket.

“I only have one thing I want you to do for me. Please leave my bedroom private. If you need to enter, knock. I trust you, it’s just I prefer that privacy.”

“Sure. I’m sorry if I was intruding earlier. I was worried about your health.” After that, I headed to bed, feeling like I could finally catch up on that missed sleep. Hopefully, when I woke up, I could learn more about my new roommate.

#short stories #writing #writing prompt #story #writer #ghost