#and the majority of them turn out hazardously bad

[prismatic-et-al]

I don’t think we’re examining closely enough the smalltalk helen and philip must have made while they were waiting for benoit to get out of the bath and dressed. what did they talk about. did philip offer her his homemade bread. did helen accept it. was it burned.

#glass onion #idk man from his .3 seconds on screen I've divined he's the type of guy to bounce around quarantine hobbies #and the majority of them turn out hazardously bad #knives out #benoit blanc #helen brand #daniel craig #Janelle Monáe #hugh grant #etal.txt

[kookslastbutton]

Too Late to Dream ༓ jjk (m) l ch. VI

✑ Summary: You did it. You married your college professor. You even bought a house together. Against all odds, everything had fallen into place. But after two years of marriage, you begin feeling something was missing. You want a baby but your husband can’t say the same.

Pairing: economics professor!jungkook x fem!artist!reader

AU/Genre: angst, smut, fluff, marriage au, age gap, series

Rating: M, 18+

Word Count: 6,192

Warnings: 8-year age gap, mentions of professor-student relationship (oc was a Masters student), kook gets pissed, jk mother is asdhjf!, mommy issues, lots of family drama/in-laws, fighting, manipulative parent, pent-up issues/desires, jk has daddy issues, jk being good hubby to oc, mild sexting, sexual content

Sexual warnings: bl*wj*b, jk c*mes on her t*tt*es, d*rty talk

Now Playing: Make It Right, Tryna Be, Infinity, It Will Rain, Heaven+

A/N: um so this got over 6k which i know isn't amazing but for me its big deal okay?! haha! Anyway Part VI here we go! No flashbacks in this chapter because of ch.V buuut, I have a little gift for you and me. Hope you enjoy!! 💞 also pls vote if youd be so kind 😙

<< ch. V ༓ ch. VII >> | series masterlist

Living in the country for over thirty years, the Jeons were known to be excruciatingly slow and cautious drivers. The town was tiny, roads were narrow, and no one was ever in a rush to get anywhere apart from maybe the farmers market.

Once when Jungkook first got his license he took one hand off the steering wheel and his mother almost had a heart attack, saying it was “reckless of him to put them in danger”. It was from that moment forward that Jungkook always made sure to drive at 10 and 2 or 9 and 3 when his mother was in the car. His father on the other hand didn’t care what he did as long as he didn’t go above 30 mph.

Jungkook was counting his lucky stars when he finally got his own car and the chance to move to the city where he could drive how he damn well pleased–responsibly of course. He had recently finished his Master’s studies and was offered a job as an economist in a major medical corporation. The only catch was that he’d have to relocate to Seoul which ended up being more than fine with him.

His parents moaned and groaned that he wasn’t sticking around but his mind was made up. He moved out of his parent’s tiny town one late June and headed to the city where life moved to a whole new beat.

Ten years later, Jungkook finds himself gripping the steering wheel with two sweaty hands again. Kudos to his parents who have been telling him which way to turn and how fast or slow to go for the past fifteen minutes. He honestly should have picked a brunch spot closer to home to avoid all the madness. Walking would have done them good.

“I’ll never get used to how you drive down here,” Mrs. Jeon grumbles from the back seat. “All these sharp turns and six lanes of traffic going 50-plus miles an hour. It’s a wonder you haven’t all gotten in an accident yet. It’s like I always say, the slower the better. You city folks just don’t get it.”

Jungkook peers in his rearview mirror before signaling to switch lanes. “We can’t afford to go too slow out here Mom. This is a highway and dropping down in speed will cause a safety hazard just as bad, if not worse. Environments are different out here than in the woods.”

As Jungkook merges to the right, Mr. Jeon watches the surrounding cars from the back seat window. “Ah son, son, son!” He hollers and reaches for the ceiling handle.

“What? What happened?” Jungkook asks with panic. He flickers his eyes to the mirror again to spot his father's distress.

Mr. Jeon slowly releases the handle and lets out a lengthy sigh. “It's okay now, we’re good. You did good son. You moved over with so little space I thought you were going to hit the car now behind us."

"I told you it's a mad house out here!" Mrs. Jeon adds, tone thick. Jungkook puts his eyes back on the road in front of him and does his best to ignore the irritation bubbling within him.

"I know what I'm doing," he says. "I've lived here for ten years so can you guys please trust me? And stop with the driving advice and yelling every time I do something."

"We're just trying to help Kookie."

"Well, you're not alright?" The snap in his voice has Jungkook's parents sulking back in their seats in silence. "I want us to get to the restaurant safely and I can't do that when you're both shouting at me! So please just let me do the driving. Thank you."

God, if one more person calls him Kookie in that condescending tone he's going to lose it! Kookie was his childhood nickname but for some reason, it stuck to him like glue until he was friggin' 22 years old. He absolutely hates it and the only person remotely allowed to call him by it is his wife because she makes anything sound like honey to his ears.

The next five minutes are nothing but awkward silence and the sound of tires running on hard cement. Jungkook checks his phone—there's still a good ten minutes left according to the GPS. He moves to turn the radio on to break the eeriness of the drive when an incoming call pops on his car screen.

"Who's that? Who's calling?" Mr. Jeon pipes up.

"It's __." Jungkook hits the answer button. "Hey honey! You're on speaker." He smiles a big, wide grin that says nothing less than he misses you.

"Hi! I'm on my lunch break and thought I'd give you guys a call. I'm stopping at the grocery store tonight, after work. Anything you need?"

“Some booze would be nice!” Mr. Jeon echos and looks at his wife who merely shakes her head. He hasn’t had a drink in twenty years due to his high blood pressure, yet he’s still making the same damn jokes. “Got any Soju? Or maybe Bokbunja?” He chuckles at Mrs. Jeon’s sour face.

Jungkook pays his dad no mind and replies to you. “Uhm….we're low on milk again. I drank the last one yesterday.”

"You went through all those gallon jugs in a week?!" You'd think you'd be used to the amount of dairy your husband packs away but every time, it shocks you as much as the first. You married a milk-lovin’ machine.

Jungkook chuckles. "I'm sorry. I can get them for you if you want. We're on our way to get brunch, then hitting the bookstore for Dad, and after we'll swoop back home. I can pick it up along the way.”

“No need, I’m already going out later so I’ll get it. Anything else?”

“There’s nothing else I can think of. How’s work going?” He’s hoping it’s not hectic given the fact that last week was an absolute sandstorm. He distinctively remembers you coming home with nothing more than tired feet and dark circles under your eyes. He drew you a bath that night.

“Eh, so-so. I have a meeting with my boss later but besides that, it’s the usual. I wish I could have come to brunch with you guys. I feel bad I’m missing it.” Well, you do and you don’t. If Jungkook was planning on talking to his mom about the happenings of last night you wanted to be around for support but it was also a matter that should be between a mother and her son.

“Us too, but we’ll see you ton–shit!” Jungkook slams on the break when he sees he’s about to crash into a black SUV. Everyone’s seatbelts lock at the sudden jerk. “Sorry, sorry!” He checks the mirror to find his parents clinging to their seatbelts.

“Are you guys okay?! Jungkook?!”

He scans all around him to find rows and rows of cars all trying to merge into each other’s lanes. Some are coming from the exit nearby whereas others are trying to squeeze through people in hopes to get ahead.

Dammit, Jungook cruses to himself.

“Yeah, we’re good honey. Everything’s okay but we’ve hit a traffic jam. I’m not sure why since it’s literally 11:40 a.m on a Wednesday but looks like we’re going to be stuck here for a bit.”

“We’d never have this problem at home.” Jungkook hears his mother mumbling under her breath to which his father replies with a nodding of his head. “If it weren’t for all this nonsense we’d be there by now.”

“Absolutely. We’d be there fifteen minutes ago,” his father adds with his hands in the air. “Isn’t there some kind of way you can get around this son, like a shortcut?”

Ah yes, shortcuts on the highway. Why didn’t he think of that? Let him just push the button that says flight mode and–no! Having enough, Jungkook holds his foot on the break and twists his body around to face his parents.

“Alright listen to me right now. This is not Tiny Town where there are a million dirt roads that pop from anywhere and all seem to lead to one other. Everyone drives at least seventy out here and that’s just the way it is because this..." He gestures outside the windshield. "This is what happens! We all get stuck in this congested funnel! But if you two can think of a way to get out of here that doesn’t involve attempting to bulldoze other cars, I’m all ears. Until then we’re going to sit here and talk about the weather because there's nothing else we can do!"

Jungkook looks back and forth between his parents. Mrs. Jeon simply stares outside her window while his dad gives a slow nod in understanding.

"Is it really that bad?"

Jungkook relaxes his body back to face the front when he hears your voice. "Yeah, it's pretty bad __." He lets out a long, exasperated sigh. This is going to be a very long day.

"Nice out today. Mind if I roll down the window?" The traffic hasn't got any better and it was starting to get stuffy in the car. Mr. Jeon desperately needed some fresh air in his face.

"Mhm yeah, go ahead."

"How about some music? Find out what's on the radio will you." He sticks his arm out the window, letting the gentle breeze hit his skin. When the first song blares through the speakers, Jungkook's mother breaks her deafening silence.

"Dear god! What music is this?"

Mr. Jeon immediately perks up. "It's PSY! Turn it up! Turn it up, boy!" Jungkook appeases his father's wishes and turns the knob a few more notches. "Oppa Gangnam Style! Eae eae eae e, sexy lady!"

Hearing his dad singing at the top of his lungs has Jungkook rubbing the side of his head. It's not that he sounded bad but he was singing so loud that everyone around them started pointing, laughing, or rolling up their own windows. "Dad, people are going to get annoyed. Take it down a little."

Deeply immersed in the song, Mr. Jeon continues singing regardless of his son's request. "Op, op, op, op, oppa Gangnam Style!" He starts rocking in his seat which causes a few middle schoolers in the car next to them to pop out their phones.

"Dad!" Jungkook hollers when he notices the kids taking pictures. If doesn't put an end to this now, his father's face is going to be trending all over the internet with god knows what filter.

"Op, op, op, op, on on on on!"

"Dad stop!" He tries again, this time turning the music down. Mrs. Jeon attempts to calm her husband down too, placing a hand on one of his arms but it doesn't take much for it to be ripped out of her grasp. Mr. Jeon ends up nearly whacking his wife in the face due to all his energetic dancing.

"Erotic sexy lady! Oppa Gangnam Sty–hey! Song wasn't done yet!" Jungkook's dad never looked so offended in his life. If he had adjusted his gaze just a few inches to the left he'd see the group of kids, the ones taking photos earlier, giggling to one another. But he was too pissed at his son for crashing his party that it went to the wayside.

"Honey, you were causing a disturbance," Mrs. Jeon says.

"A disturbance? In this traffic jam, I'm the disturbance?" He refuses to believe he's the annoyance when they've been in the middle of a highway, moving at 5 mph for the last hour. PSY has recently become his favorite singer and not enjoying himself would have been an absolute tragedy in his opinion. "It's all of you who should be thanking me for offering some shred of entertainment at times like these."

"The entire population of South Korea is going to be thanking you then." Jungkook creeps forward as soon as the car in front of him moves up a ways. Finally moving again, he hums.

"Hey!" An abrupt voice calls from a slight distance. Two teenage boys pull up in a Jaguar, greasy grins on their faces. "Great singing Grandpa! Really know how to move!" The one in the passenger seat flashes his phone playing a video of Jungkook's dad online.

"Wha–how–What?! You delete that right now!" Mr. Jeon is stunned, tripping over his words at the shock of himself actually being the center of the internet. The video is unexpectedly clear.

"Just ignore them, Dad." Jungkook rolls up all the windows in the car and inches up the best he can to get the teenagers out of direct sight.

"But-but how did they do that so fast? It hasn't even been five minutes yet!"

"It only takes seconds, honey," Mrs. Jeon sighs, realizing her husband has become famous over a re-rendition of a PSY song. Of all things, it had to be that.

"I'm starving."

"Me too."

Jungkook glances at the time–2:40p.m. It's now been three hours of sitting in traffic and they've only moved about ten miles. What on earth is congesting the highway this much?

"Maybe we should take one of these exits." His dad scrolls through the map on his phone. "Says there are a few restaurants down exit 6A."

Jungkook considers the idea. He wants to get off the highway, yes, but so does everyone else. The exit his dad is talking about is off the far right lane which means he's going to need to shove in front of everyone's way.

"You sure it's a good place? Wherever it is you're looking?" The reason why he asks is that his dad is notorious for leading them into the most ruin down places. The last time he was in charge of directions, they ended up in front of an abandoned pizza shop.

Mrs. Jeon takes the phone from her husband's hand and swipes through the photos of a quaint restaurant. "It's not bad," she concludes. "And if it means we can get out of this mess, then I'm with your father on this one."

Two against one. Jungkook turns his signal on and waits for someone to let him over. He earns a few honks when he manages to squeeze his nose over but does his best to give an apologetic wave.

After a few more lane changes he gets in the exit lane. He isn't the only one planning to take exit 6B though, being that there are at least twenty other cars waiting in line.

"Maybe we were better off back where we were. All these people want to get off the same place. If we keep going there's bound to be another exit with far less traffic."

Really? Jungkook feels himself ticking again. After all that shoving to get over here and this is what he gets? No, he's not moving back over. They're going to wait in this stupid lane until it gets them to where they originally agreed.

"We just got here and we're not moving back anywhere. This lane should clear up in less time than it would take to go back on the main highway," Jungkook says. "Also, I probably don't need to clarify this but, we're not going to make it to that bookstore you wanted, Dad."

"It's fine, son. We'll go another day."

Which means tomorrow, Jungkook half grumbles to himself. His parents are here for another day after all and he knows his father well enough to know that "another day" really means the closest day possible.

Despite its size, the restaurant his parents choose is charming with its floor-to-ceiling wood paneling and giant, bay windows. The odd hanging plant is spread throughout the open dining space as well, perfectly setting the mood of serenity.

The restaurant only seems to hold about a dozen people inside, however. So thinking it is best to avoid sitting in an overly crowded space, Jungkook asks for one of the tables outside.

“Oh now this is lovely,” his mother praises, pulling her chair up to the table. Jungkook can’t describe how relieved he is to finally hear something positive after hours of nonstop grumbling.

Mr. Jeon takes a seat next to his wife and across from his son. “I just saw someone get Samgyeopsal and it was huge! Let’s get that to share.”

His enthusiasm is short-lived when the scrunched-up face from his wife says she's not a fan. “That's too much food! We still have to be hungry for dinner so we can eat with __."

"Mom's right," Jungkook agrees reluctantly. "__'s stopping at the grocery store after work so we can prep for dinner tonight. I know traffic slowed us down so we're eating at a weird time but it's better we go with something light."

"Oh well, we can always take some to go! Surely __ will enjoy some beautifully grilled pork!" Jungkook's father is adamant. He wants nothing more than a heavy meal after being stuck in the car all morning.

"__ doesn't like pork Dad. And we all know as soon as we get a whiff of it cooking there's not going to be any leftovers."

"Alright, alright," his dad concedes. "I guess I'll try their bibimbap. What are you having hon?"

Jungkook checks his phone messages while his parents make small talk over the menu. You texted him earlier to see how traffic was holding up and he only able to get back to you minutes ago.

Wifey ❤️ : So I'm guessing you haven't talked to your mom yet?

Jungkook: No, haven't brought it up. She seems fine though with the way she's been acting. It doesn't take much for her to go back to her usual self

Wifey ❤️: Her usual self being...?

Jungkook: You know, really particular.

Wifey ❤️: So she's complaining again. I'm sorry 😞

Jungkook: When I was talking with her on the phone before we left, she was much more careful about what she was saying. I expected it to still be that way now. Must have been a mood.

Wifey ❤️: Sounds like she wasn't sure how you'd be reacting after what happened last night. Maybe she's just reverting to back what she's used to because she's unsure what else to do or say. I'd still try finding a way to talk to her. Does it seem tense?

Jungkook: Yeah, you have a point. But Mom's also had a good way of sweeping things under the rug. It's not tense but it's just uncomfortably normal?

Wifey ❤️: Hmm, strange. And your dad's fine?

Jungkook: Honey...have you been on any social media in the last half hour?

Wifey ❤️: No, why?

Jungkook: Might wanna check. We had a little incident while in traffic. I'm still in shock honestly 😅

Jungkook waits for you to find the video of his dad. He already had the guys blowing up his phone from it so he's surprised none of them at least forwarded it to you.

Wifey ❤️: oh my god! Jungkook what happened?! 😂 I hope you're prepared for your students to be all over this

Jungkook: oh shit, that didn't even cross my mind 😩 also it's not funny honey! Listening to my dad singing eae e sexy lady was traumatizing enough. Now I have to see and hear it every time I pop open my phone or some teen punks show it to me!

Wifey ❤️: Aw Kookie, they're just being kids...try not to overthink. And you know those videos come and go. Your dad will be at the bottom of the chain by next week. Until then keep him away from PSY 😅 But I'm sorry you're having a day, I love you 🥺

Jungkook: I MISS YOU SO MUCH 😭

Wifey ❤️: [sent an image]

Fuck! Jungkook chokes on his spit when he sees a blurry close up of your cleavage. Thankfully his parents are still too occupied by the menu that they didn't notice.

Jungkook: sexy af but this isn't the time to be sexting me baby!

He nearly saves the photo if it weren't for the fact that he already had an album dedicated to very sensual *ahem erotic* photos of you. You had let him take them himself —best motherfuckin' birthday ever.

Wifey ❤️: oh adhjjhj, sorry!! That was an accident. I'm such a klutz. This is what I meant... [sent an image]

"What's going on over there?" Jungkook merely glimpses at the new image before whipping his head up, hearing his mother's, sharp tone.

"It's just __. She's asking about groceries again."

With slightly narrowed eyes, Mrs. Jeon continues. "We're about to order if you're ready."

Dammit. He'll have to reply to you later. Jungkook swiftly pockets the phone. "Okay yeah I'm good to go."

"This is delicious," Mr. Jeon says, patting his mouth with a napkin. "Best bibimbap I've had in a long time."

"That's great Dad." Jungkook stirs his noodles.

"Ah, where's the restroom around here?" He asks the waitress as she walks by. She tells him it's in the restaurant, all the way to the back. Mr. Jeon pushes his chair from the table and excuses himself. "All that broth has me needing to go."

"Yes yes, just go." Why his father needed to explain himself every time he needed to use the restroom is beyond him. Jungkook peers at his mother, taking her time eating her own bowl of noodles–they ended up ordering the same thing. "How is it?" he asks.

"It's good."

"Not too spicy?"

"No, it's mild."

Jungkook gathers more noodles on his chopstick. He freezes halfway when he sees his mother eyeing him intensely. "Everything okay?"

Mrs. Jeon folds her hands in her lap. "It's occurred to me that we still have an elephant in the room. I was hoping we'd be able to talk about it while your father browsed the bookstore. But plans changed."

And here he thought his mother had been playing down last night when really she was biding her time. "You know Dad's gonna be back in like ten minutes right?"

Mrs. Jeon nods. "I know it's not the most convenient of times or places, but I'm afraid if we delay it won't get discussed."

"Okay." Jungkook sets his chopsticks down. "Well...where do you want to start?"

"An apology would be nice." Her voice is mellow but the words are a clear demand rather than an offer. Of course, he wants to apologize to her for all the things he accused her of last night. But he wasn't expecting her to be this forward with it, especially since she was guilty of plenty herself. "I'm waiting Kookie," she coos, taking a sip of water.

Jungkook knits his eyebrows in response, unsure of what he's hearing. His mother looks far too relaxed about this whole thing. He decides to give her the benefit of the doubt. "You're right," he starts. "I'm sorry for what I said last night. I shouldn't have spoken that way and I'm sorry for making you leave. I think you and Dad showing up all a sudden threw me off and I reacted poorly."

Mrs. Jeon cracks a tight smile and reaches for her son's hand. "Thank you, Jungkook. I accept your apology." She gives his hand a squeeze before moving to pick up her chopsticks. "Now that we got that settled let's talk about the reunion. I'm thinking about talking to–"

What....the fuck? His mom did not just glide over this whole issue. She did not just put everything on him. And she did not just bring up that damn reunion again, which he's made very clear he wants nothing a part of. "Is that all you wanted? For me to make my amends with you?"

"What else would there be Kookie?" She scoffs, eyes wide.

"Goddamn it." He struggles to maintain a hushed voice. "Can you please stop calling me that? And what the hell do you mean 'what else would there be'? I'm not trying to put the blame on you but there's a good amount you should be saying to me too."

"What things are you referring to? Don't tell me this is about the reunion again. Look, whatever it is that I said was because I just want to see you more. And no more swearing. You know I don't like that kind of language."

"How can you be like this?" Jungkook can't stop himself. He figured his mom and he would have a better, heart-to-heart than this. It makes his skin crawl that his mother continues to play the victim. "It's genuinely shocking me how....do you even love me?"

Mrs. Jeon pauses at that. "Of course, I love you Jungkook. Why–why would you ask that?" She blinks back the slightest hint of tears forming along the edge of her eyes. Never in a million years did she think her son would doubt something this crucial.

"I feel like–"

"Feel what? What is it?"

"I feel like you care more about what I can do for you than you do me, as your son." Jungkook sniffs. This is a lot harder for him to say than he imagined. "There's been so many times that you've–"

"Don't say this honey! I care about you very much!" She reaches for his hand again but he yanks it away. "What are you trying to tell me?" His mother waits for him to form the rest of the sentence.

Jungkook hesitates to look at her straight on because behind what appears to be concerned eyes is disbelief. She isn't taking any of this seriously. It's written all over her face, tone, and all the way down to the way she's focusing on an answer rather than his inability to comfortably talk to her.

"What have I done so many times?"

"Honestly at this point, what haven't you done?" With an icy glare, Jungkook can't hold himself back anymore. The pot that's been brewing, deep in the darkest parts of him is finally overflowing and it's not going to be pretty to behold. "Do you realize how many times you chose your job, your status, and even your friends over me? And you make Dad go along with literally anything! Is it so horrible for someone to say no to you?!"

The couple next to them shoot uncomfortable looks his way, whispering to each other. Jungkook ignores it and starts counting with his fingers.

"Never once have you ever taken responsibility for showing up uninvited, nagging me about this that, and the other thing, making backhanded comments about my life choice, and most of all pretending our relationship is peachy fine. Well, I'm sorry mom, I'm thirty-four years old and I don't need to live by your rules! Our relationship is barely hanging by a thread and being quite real, it's __ and Dad who are the ones clinging to that thread, making sure it doesn't completely snap."

Mrs. Jeon opens her mouth to interject but Jungkook doesn't allow it to happen. It's not exactly intentional that he's pouring out so much in the middle of people's lunch. Still, he's been shoved over a steep cliff, head first.

"I'm sorry mom, I don't know how many times I need to say it. I don't enjoy any bit of this. It's just been a long stretch of–"

"That's enough! I don't want to hear any more." Mrs. Jeon immediately grabs her purse and twists her neck every which way. "Where's your father? I want to leave."

"Mom I'm trying to talk to you! Why won't you let me talk?"

His mother doesn't reply. She doesn't look at him. It's the silent treatment, Jungkook concludes–it's fucking irritating. "I'm not trying to be hurtful," he says, forcing himself to calm down. "Mom look at me."

She doesn't move.

It only takes seconds for their waitress to near her way up to the table with anxious steps. "I'm sorry to be doing this but unfortunately, we've received a few complaints of a disturbance out here." The young girl clasps her hands. "To ensure all our guests are comfortable we're going to need to ask you to take your conversation elsewhere. I'm really sorry."

Fuck. How embarrassing. Jungkook clears his throat and stands up from his seat. "We understand and are genuinely sorry for the commotion. We'll pay at the front and be on our way. Thank you for waiting our table."

The young girl gives a nervous smile and retreats inside the restaurant. Jungkook makes a note to give her a generous tip.

"Hey, what's going on out here?" Mr. Jeon rushes over, hair blowing over due to the breeze. "I heard there was some inconsiderate party out here airing out their dirty laundry for all to see. I tell you, people these days don't know what privacy means anymore!" He shakes his head and takes a seat.

"Get up Dad we're leaving."

"But I'm not done my–––oh shit." Mr. Jeon clenches his teeth. "You two?"

Mrs. Jeon gets up from her chair, still wordless, and walks towards the parking lot. "I'll get this Dad." Jungkook stops his father from pulling out his wallet. "It is best if you go try to ease Mom. I don't think she'll be talking to me for a while."

Mr. Jeon puts a hand on his son's shoulder. It's his way of offering comfort. "You're mother has made things difficult for you, Jungkook. I'll try getting through to her. In the meantime don't let this eat you up. It's been a long time coming."

Jungkook doesn't get home until quarter past six. The drive home was better than the drive to the restaurant, but hitting the notorious five o'clock traffic slowed them down once more. He also had to drop his parents at their hotel which was no easy task. His mother barely gave him a glance before hopping out of the car. The amount of guilt settling in his gut isn't going away any time soon.

"Hey." Jungkook finds you searching through the kitchen cupboard. "I hope you're okay with spice tonight! I got this really awesome–oh baby what's wrong?" You stop what you're doing when you see your husband come up behind you with sunken eyes. He wraps his larger arms around you, desperately needing your scent.

"I blew it," he croaks. "She's so mad at me."

"I'm sorry Jungkook. I'm sorry I couldn't be there." You turn in his arms to pull him into a full embrace. His nose tickles the side of your neck but you don't laugh. "You wanna tell me?"

Jungkook takes your hand and sits you both on the couch in the living room. "The morning started out rough with three hours of traffic and the two of them in the back seat, telling me where and how I should drive. Then my dad got unexpectedly famous off a PSY song. We finally got to some restaurant about half an hour west of here before 3pm. Everything was going okay until dad went to the bathroom."

"Okay," you say, scooting closer beside him. You rub small circles on his upper back as he leans forward on his spread-apart knees. "What happened?"

"Mom suggested we talk about last night so I said sure." You watch as Jungkook fiddles with his hands. "But she didn't actually care about a conversation or what I had to say. All she wanted, all she expected, was for me to apologize to her so we'd be okay again. It all came out after that and I feel so horrible about it. We ended up getting kicked out of the restaurant too."

"Jungkook..."

"I tried __. I wanted to be patient and to be a good son but she can't even look at me right now." He falls back on the couch, staring at the blank wall in front. "Dad's convinced it was bound to happen."

"You are a good son, Jungkook." You comb a few strands of his soft, ebony hair. He closes his eyes as you do. "You're mom's the one who needs to readjust her view."

"I never thought I'd yell at my mom about all that stuff. And certainly not in public where everyone is trying to have a pleasant lunch. I'm a grown-ass adult and I should have had better control of myself."

You settle into his inner shoulder, laying a hand on his chest. "Even grown adults have limits and your mom's far surpassed those limits. Don't blame yourself for this."

"Dad said the same thing."

"Well, that's two against one."

Jungkook smiles. Two against one, that's where he got that from. Not that you're the first person to use the phrase but he never used it as regularly until you moved in together.

"I missed you so much today. I don't deserve you."

You cock your head up as quick as the words fly from his mouth. "Don't you dare say things like that! You're a good man despite how awful your mother treats you." You lean your face near his, eyes wandering deep into his dark brown ones. "If you're not otherwise too tired, I'm going to show you how much I love you."

Jungkook opens his lids at that–apparently not too tired. You smirk and get off the couch.

"Here?" His classic doe-eyes peer down at your kneeled position. Seeing you settle this perfectly between his muscular thighs triggers an intense blood rush that goes straight to his dick. Jungkook didn't think he was going to get horny tonight but here he was with his half-harden length in your hands in the middle of the living room.

"Mhm." You position yourself just enough for him to have a clear view of your tits. You had taken both your shirt and bra off before starting. You know how your husband likes it. "That okay with you?"

Jungkook groans when you grip his cock harder, gliding it from the base to the tip in repeated motions. "Fuck yeah. It's more than okay." You giggle at how quickly your husband gets in the mood. He thinks you're the bitch in the bedroom? You quicken your movements.

"Oh shit this feels so good." He grips the couch cushion, keeping his focus on you. "Need that gorgeous mouth wrapped around me baby, please. Shit–"

You honor your husband's requests and trace your tongue from the base of his cock all the way up to his tip. Once there, you suck lightly before taking him in whole.

"That's it. Take my cock, fuck." Jungkook goes on to praise you as you bottom out. You gag a little at first being that you haven't done this in what....weeks? Damn. Whatever happened to the days when you'd literally go down on each other every day?

"We need to get you reacquainted with my cock honey," he teases, bucking his hips forward to push himself further into your mouth. "All these weeks without my cock in your mouth has you gagging all over me. Been it's been too long hasn't it?"

"Mm," is the only thing you reply with, the weight of his thick length dragging back and forth on your tongue. By now your pussy is pulsating like crazy and you're tempted to just get up and fuck yourself on him. But tonight was about your husband–you're going to make sure of it. And Jungkook loves nothing more than getting head with your bare tits in full view, obviously.

A few sucks later and Jungkook starts fucking himself into your mouth. They began as soft, needy bucks of his hips but now they're rough, full-force thrusts. His length shoves to the back of your throat and you moan desperately around him. "Did you miss my cock baby? I bet you did. My sexy wife....you're mine and you're gonna make me come, aren't you? Fuck yeah, you are."

Your eyes water as you continue to take him, hallowing your cheeks the best you can. Jungkook has his eyes screwed shut and sweat dripping from his forehead. Your panties are so fucking soaked right now and your nipples are defiantly hard from sheer arsousal.

"God I'm so close baby. You're mouth is---fuck I don't even have the words. It's fucking magic! And your tits are so hot from this angle. Kinda reminds me of what you sent to me earlier. Can I come on them? I'm so close." Jungkook takes your broken moans as a yes and starts ramming into you two more times before pullout and covering your breasts with warm liquid. "Fuck fuck fuck," he grunts, spilling himself on you.

What a mess. You look down at yourself. What a motherfuckin' mess and you love it. Jungkook pulls you into a passionate kiss, tongue rolling with yours in heavenly harmony. "Thank you for this," he says between kisses. "I'll help you wash up, I promise."

"Mm Jungkook," you pant. "I think I need you inside me."

Hey, he got his dick sucked and he creamed your tits–it's mama's turn now, or excuse you–wifey.

A/N: this got nasty whoops. not sorry. Anyway LMK what you think, thanks for reading! 💞 also pls vote if youd be so kind

Masterlist

Taglist:

@frieschan @oldermenluverrr @tatamicc @kookswifesblog @llallaaa @sunnybyeol @namtaeh @exactlygreatcoffee @whipwhoops @yoongisducky @ktnj91 @junecat18 @thvlover7 @yoongiworshiper @ellesalazar @monbebe234-blog @parkinglot-nights @borahaexoxo @hobiswhore @kimseokjinbangtan @jjk97091 @mk-id @blueberry711 @givemethemaknaes16 @iammartian07 @jjkluver7 @itsdingdong @jiminshi20 @sweet-sourhotcoco @lubtou @lovingkoalaface @starsinsky1999 @rockstarrgyu @chaconnelatte @kaithezaftig @skzthinkr @babystarcandykookie @glossyyyymin @siudema @justanotherkpopstanlol @sh1nedreamsm1le7

P.S. I'm sorry but I'm not sure if I'm able to tag all of you!

no reposting, copying, or translating my work– © kookslastbutton

#bangtanbathhouse #jungkook smut #jungkook fluff #jungkook x reader #jungkook angst #bts smut #bts x reader #bts imagines #bts fanfic #bts au #fic:toolatetodream #kookslastbutton

[xxsabitoxx]

Cuddling with JJK Men

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ characters: Gojo, Nanami, Geto, Inumaki, Yuta, Megumi, Itadori & Sukuna

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ warnings: some suggestive content, similar to my DS Hashira version, nothing super explicit

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ note: as always, I don’t proofread 9/10 times. Most of the errors are few and not major so if you see them, just kindly ignore them please ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´Д｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡

Gojo Satoru

Lanky in every sense of the word. He sleeps sprawled out on your shared bed, most of the time you’ll end up with an arm or a leg half hazardously tossed across your body. With that being said, Satoru enjoys cuddling to fall asleep but I promise you will not wake up in that same position. Think of him as a pet that takes up your whole bed, leaving you with the tiniest sliver imaginable. When he intends to cuddle you, he’s usually bear hugging you from behind with his face smooshed into the crook of your neck. Satoru is actually the least horny when it comes to cuddling. He’s not going to tell you this, but he’s only able to get good sleep when you’re beside him. He won’t waste a single second, hence why he’s the least horny. Satoru typically sleeps in his briefs, a t-shirt is optional depending on how he’s feeling. He’s all for feeling his luxury sheets lol.

Nanami Kento

A practical man through and through. Nanami isn’t really a big fan of cuddling, he enjoys his space in bed. He’s the type to always have an arm or leg touching you though, just to make sure you’re still there. He’ll never shove you off of him if you happen to roll over in your sleep and cuddle him. While he isn’t the biggest fan of it, he is still a huge fan of your touch, he’ll never turn down an opportunity to feel you. I see Nanami welcoming your cuddles when he has a rough day. He’ll let you run your fingers through his hair, humming softly while you listen to him drone on about his day. Cuddles like this typically end in slow and passionate sex. It’s a big stress reliever for Nanami and you are usually more than happy to oblige. Nanami usually goes to bed in pajama pants and a t-shirt, occasionally he’ll make you laugh by wearing one of those cheesy matching sets. It’s a bit of an inside joke for you two, since you’ll buy him ones with trains on them or stupid shit like that.

Geto Suguru

He’s such a tease. Suguru will constantly have his hands roaming your body the moment you two slip under the covers. He’ll have your back flush against his front, muscular thigh shoved between your own and keeping them parted while his hands toy with your chest and lower region. He’ll have his face buried in your neck, kissing and sucking it softly. Switching between that and nibbling your ear. On nights were you are really fucking tired you literally have to build a pillow wall to keep him away. All jokes of course, Suguru would never push your boundaries. The only time cuddling never turns 18+ is when you have a bad day. Suguru will cradle your, humming softly until you fall asleep or letting you talk about your bad day. He’s all about having you lay on top of him when it comes to that stuff. I see Suguru wearing long sleeves to bed & briefs or basketball shorts. He’s usually got his hair down when he goes to bed so I’ll let that image sit in your mind

Ryomen Sukuna ~true form~

Yikes, good luck ever escaping that grip. All four arms are wrapped snuggly around you. Sukuna doesn’t even like cuddling, he just like feeling you struggle. He’s mean, but that’s to be expected. He’ll tease you relentlessly, laughing as you struggle to move until you eventually fall asleep. There really isn’t much else to say besides that, he’s rude as fuck 99% of the time. He’ll amuse you by accepting your requests only to make you wish you never made them at all. When it comes to sleeping or naps, Sukuna will make sure you are wrapped so tightly in his grasp that it feels like you’ve been bound by rope. It also shouldn’t be surprising that he sleeps naked or with briefs on, but mainly he’s booty naked. On top of that he has to let you know how ridiculous you are for thinking he’d obey such a silly request like “cuddling” while… cuddling you.

Inumaki Toge

Very shy when it comes to cuddling. He’ll be very nervous to ask you, usually preferring when you bring up the idea to him. Most of the time though, he just likes when it happens naturally. Whether it be sitting on the couch together or laying in bed, it’s his favorite when you two just happen to fall into place. Toge loves being either spoon, he also loves when you lay your head on his chest. Toge’s love langue is definitely touch, it makes it easier to convey the things he feels since speaking isn’t really an option for him. Toge also sleeps two ways, in boxers and a t-shirt or in a hoodie and briefs. It’s very rare you’ll see him shirtless, he usually makes sure his upper half is covered. He also is a mix between not moving an inch while sleeping and rolling around sporadically. It really depends on the day he’s had and what’s on his mind before falling asleep. Toge isn’t really horny when y’all cuddle either, he’s all about it being intimate but not initimate in the sexual sense

Okkotsu Yuta

He’s super shy like Toge when it comes to cuddling, the difference being that he will openly request your cuddles. Yuta is a restless sleeper, even if he has you by his side. The only thing that really settles him down is if you have at least half your body draped over his. Most of the time he’s pretty relaxed so long as your head his on his chest or shoulder and one of your legs is hiked over his midsection. Typically Yuta is sleeping in a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants or basketball shorts. Sleeping naked or with just briefs really depends on the occasion, especially since you travel a lot. Sometimes the hotels or homes you stay at aren’t air conditioned. Those situations cuddling isn’t even on the table, most of the time it’s an arm or a leg touching to make sure the other is there but that’s it. Both of you can wake up pretty cranky if you are covered in sweat. Cuddling comes in handy though when the places you stay don’t have heat, two very different situations!!

Fushiguro Megumi

He’s grumpy and embarrassed whenever you cuddle. Megumi acts like he hates physical touch but really he’s always craving it. Megumi’s form of cuddling usually involves you laying flat on your back — whether it be in bed or on the couch — with him laying on top of you. Yep that’s right, spiky hair is pressed to your chest with his arms wrapped around you as he uses his body as your own personal weighted blanket. Now let me just warn you, Megumi will not let you move before he’s ready. Got a cramp? It’ll pass. Need to adjust? No sir. Gotta pee? You can hold it. Megumi gets very agitated if you try and interrupt his nap, even if he’s using your body as his bed. Megumi actually sleeps with briefs on 90% of the time, usually you are sharing the bed with him so he’s comfortable doing so. When he sleeps alone, he’s wearing a shirt — long or short sleeved — and sweatpants. He just doesn’t feel all that safe if he sleeps nearly nude without you in bed with him

Itadori Yuji

Suffocating!! Yuji will use his body to practically wrap and glue himself to you. Sometimes it’s even impossible for you to figure out how exactly he got himself into the position he did. That’s the other thing, Yuji is a wild sleeper. Even then, he still manages to keep you glued to him as he tosses and turns throughout the night. He’ll also just… violently twitch in his sleep? Part of you thinks it’s cause of Sukuna but half the time the twitch will manage to wake Sukuna himself up. Which usually leads to an odd conversation that Yuji is never aware of before you both doze back off. Yuji is actually pretty shy when it comes to what he wears to bed. Most of the time he’s in a hoodie and sweatpants, barely showing any skin at all. He also talks in his sleep… really never mind cuddling, a whole sleep study could be conducted on this man. Like really it’s a miracle you are even able to catch an ounce of sleep with the things he’s doing. If it weren’t for the death grip he keeps on you, you’d certainly have been tossed off the bed every single night… if not every hour.

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk #呪術廻戦 #jujutsu kaisen headcanons #jjk headcanons #jujutsu kaisen scenarios #jjk scenarios #jujutsu kaisen fluff #jujutsu kaisen drabbles #jjk drabbles #jujutsu smut #jujutsu kaisen smut #jjk smut #gojo satoru #nanami kento #geto suguru #yuta okkutsu #inumaki toge #fushiguro megumi #itadori yuji #ryomen sukuna #gojo x reader #nanami x reader #geto x reader #megumi x reader #itadori x reader #sukuna x reader #yuta x reader #toge x reader #xxsabitoxx’s work!

[rowretro]

𝕄𝔼𝕋𝔸𝕃 𝕄𝔼𝔼𝕋𝕊 𝕃𝕆𝕍𝔼

✧taglist✧: @baevsxii @nikisdubblchococake @manooffline

✧warnings: Yandere themes, toxic themes, unhealthy love, mentions of blood, manipulation(?), shirtless-ish Riki

♡synopsis: Nishimura Riki. The Robot created by Yang Jungwon himself, a robot that is insanely human like, inside and out. No one could tell he was a robot. However, the Robot had possessed demonly powers, from Satan himself. So I guess you could see it's a half robot. Yang y/n, the younger sister of Jungwon finds herself stuck to this robot 24/7 no matter what she tried, he will always be by her because she's his muse, his world, his love, his obsession.

(PART 4)

✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧

"Trust me Y/n I've tried everything... I even tried throwing acid, not even the skin got affected!" Jungwon exclaimed in a whisper as Y/n sighed. "I have an Idea... lets just attack him w everything we have!" She said as Jungwon thought for a second before nodding. It was at least worth a try, no matter how badly things may end up going.

Y/n watched as the robot worked around in the kitchen. Multiple pots and pans being used at once. The stove was on which made things perfect. Y/n pulled out the aerosol air spray, aiming it at the robo man. However Riki was quicker "Hazard detected. No flammables allowed near flames. Aerosol spray is a safety hazard!" He explained, yanking the can away from her, putting it far, out of her reach, where it'd be safe.

Riki turned the stove off, carrying y/n to the living room "Don't come in the kitchen... I've a feeling you might hurt yourself" The man simply said, his tone monotonous as Jungwon rolled his eyes. There and then, Y/n sprayed his eyes with a different aerosol spray, the robot not even flinching, Jungwon on the other hand, set fire to him with a lighter, yanking Y/n away, as he ran through the hallway, his grip on y/n firm, making sure she was with him.

The 2 came to a sudden halt. There before them was the metal man himself. Not a scratch, not a burn. just his poor clothes tattered clothes, with some flames on them. The robot man's gaze was dark, he slapped off the flames, slipping off the worthless shirt that revealed the majority of his abs. "You want to kill me?..." The robot asked as he stared at the 2, he suddenly approached Jungwon, seeing this, Y/n jumped in front of him "DON'T HURT MY BROTHER." She warned as Jungwon pulled her behind him. "Why would I hurt you 2?..." he asks, sounding a little hurt...

Y/n and Jungwon didn't know what to say or do. His eyes were holding sincere emotions, he looked like he was betrayed by someone he trusted with his whole living. "And you Jungwon? the one who created me? the one who's practically like a father to me?... Jungwon hyung? d-do you really hate me so much you wish I was gone hyung?" The robot asked, his eyes now swelling with tears. Y/n felt a little bad... not as bad as how Jungwon felt though.

"A-And you y/n?... i-if that's what you want then go ahead my darling, my world, my everything. I kill for you of course I'd even die for you sweetheart, I'll do anything for you to be happy!" The teary-eyed robot said, opening his chest, revealing the metallic ribs, and other human-like organs that were all metal and not so gory, inside was his heart, red, beating, real heart. "Stab it. if you want me gone stab my heart." He simply said, giving Y/n the knife.

His hands held tightly onto hers, making her grip the handle tightly. The blade inches away from his beating heart, yet he forced for her to stab it. Finally, y/n pulled away, not stabbing his heart. The robot closed his chest, the robotic system out of sight. "I-I'm sorry..." Y/n trailed off, as Jungwon hugged him. Riki hugged him with one arm, his eyes on Y/n who was staring at the ground.

A troubling smirk made it's way onto his lips as he examined how guilty she looked. Like she could kill him? his heart was indestructible. God humans are such idiots, little fools, so easy to break. Oh how Y/n believed him so blindly. It just adds to why he should be there to look after her, and keep her to himself 24/7.

✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧♡✧

#yandere #enhypen #enha #yandere enha #yandere enhypen #enhypen yandere #enha yandere #kpop #kpop enha #nishimura riki #niki nishimura #enhypen niki #enhypen nishimura riki #riki enhypen #niki enhypen #niki enha #kpop yandere #enhypen scenarios #enha imagines #enhypen imagines #enha x reader #enhypen x reader #enhypen fanfic #ni ki #enhypen ff #engene #enhypen fluff #niki reaction #ni ki enhypen #enhypen niki ff

[thelaundrybitch]

Employment Opportunities - TMNT HCs

TURTLE DOVES

I hath finished some HCs that have been sitting in my drafts for FOREVER 👀

Please enjoy

TW: Thirsty bitch ahead. And some swear words.

Please don't steal my work. Reblogging for others to enjoy is highly encouraged, though 🤩

These are Jobs I can see the guys doing once accepted into society...

Raph 

Fire Chief. 

Probably Fire Marshall. 

Cuz boyfriend be hot hot hot

Dressed in that SCBA gear

Barking out orders to his men

Ripping down walls with his ax 🪓

Using ONE HAND to hold the fire hose while it spews tons of water at tremendous speeds 💦💦💦

Running into burning buildings to save children

Saving kittens from trees

Might also be a bartender.

Working those beer taps

Shaking up those margaritas

Poppin the tops off of beer bottles with his biceps 💪

Flirting with EVERYONE

Raking those tits tips in

But also

Bouncer backup™ 

boi-oi-oing

Don 

Forensics. 

Getting super into all the creepy, weird shit

Thinks about things that the detectives wouldn't ever even consider

Could actually, most likely, solve every case by himself

But that's a pain in the ass

And a lot of paperwork 📄🖇️

I could also see him being a judge. 🧑🏾‍⚖️

Seeing right through all the lawyer BS

Putting away the bad guys

Giving punk ass teens a shit load of community service

Tossing out parking tickets for all the little old ladies

Would definitely be a movie critic on the side 🎞️🍿

Acting more like Stetler and Waldorf 😂💜

Mike 

Animal Control Officer. 

Especially the big scary shit. 

Like crocodiles. 🐊

Or Huntsman spiders. 🕷️

I can see him Snow Whiting that shit too. 

*Sings sweetly and turns into the Pied Piper for all animals*

And sometimes women

Mike, as the animal control officer, would be like 

Crocodile Dundee x Steve Irwin. 

Asshole would be yelling CRIKEY at the worst moments.

Arrives at someone's house

Walks across the lawn to get to the backyard

For a run-of-the-mill opossum removal 

Finds your dog's chewed-up crocodile stuffed toy lying in the yard

Screams, "CRIKEY!"

right before you step on it and scaring the ever-loving shit out of you

As he dives in front of you and wrestles the toy like Ace Ventura

Tells you he's billing you for hazard pay 😂

He's totally only kidding

But still an ass 🧡

Leo  

OSHA inspector 😂💙 

Chief of all safety 

And the world's best asshole. 

"I'm sorry, sir. That cracked outlet cover is a direct OSHA violation." 😂

"No, ma'am, I will not drop the $5000 violation for all the missing grounding prongs on the shop vacs."

Would probably work part-time for a boys' teen center

Where all the little rat bastards delinquents like to hang out

And cause major shit

Teaching them respect

And Honor™ 

Through free ninjitsu classes 🥷🏽

I can also see him being a Fire Inspector. 

Working with the broski

Can you imagine?

Having Red and Blue show up at your workplace for a walkthrough inspection?

Bye bye panties 🩲

Oh shit

I'm on fire🔥

Safety Violation in progress

Get out those hoses

And hose me down, boys

🔥🔥💙❤️🔥🔥

Enjoying my work? Find my Master list HERE

~Tags~

@leosgirl82 @sharpwindow @post-apocalyptic-daydream @scholastic-dragon @m1dnyt3-w0lf @symmetricalkazekage @raphsmuneca @happymoonangel @eveandtheturtles @tinkabelle19 @miss-andromeda @tmnt-tychou @android-cap-007 @drowninghell @raphslovemuffin80 @meowph-132 @jurikyu-blog @xanadu-702 @iheartchv @zombiesnips-blog @lazygirlfanfic0-0 @soryuwifeyxx @fyreball66 @dangerous-collection-nightmare @bonsaiturt47 @screamingnoodl @sais-matters @shakeyourtrees @peaches4daddy

*If you aren’t on this list, please let me know if you want me to tag you in my other work or if you prefer me to not tag you 😘

#thelaundrybitch #tmnt #tmnt bayverse #tmnt aged up #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt hcs #tmnt headcanons #bayverse tmnt #tmnt leonardo #tmnt raphael #tmnt donatello #tmnt michelangelo #tmnt leo #tmnt raph #tmnt donnie #tmnt mikey

[klaineccfanficlibrary]

Stories We’ve Read & Enjoyed in the Past Three Years (2020 - 2023)

We had a recent request for stories that were not dark, and no character death. They wanted stories that would make for fun conversations - we’re not quite sure what that means exactly, since any story can spark a fun convo so we hope you all find something enjoyable to read. We’ve included 30 various stories - if you enjoy an author’s writing, definitely check out their other works! And it goes without saying, please leave kudos or a sweet comment. 

Thank you and happy reading!

Lynne, @hkvoyage @1908jmd and @lilyvandersteen

~~~~~~~~~~

I Don’t Date Cheerios by @teddyshoney

Blaine, leader of the McKinley High bad boys is forced to join a club, and he winds up singing in front of the Glee Club. Who else would be in the audience besides Cheerio Kurt? Kurt's never been a fan of Blaine, but that's all about to change...

~~~~~

99 perspectives on a single love story by @spaceorphansficrecs

The Story of Kurt and Blaine told through the eyes of everyone else but them. Each chapter is a different perspective in the ongoing tale of their love story.

~~~~~

Nashville by @hkvoyage

Kurt lands the lead role in a new musical, but it flops during the previews. However, his performance captivates Nashville’s newest country music sensation. They share an instant connection and it grows deeper as they get to know each other. Will Kurt be able to save the musical and keep the man of his dreams?

~~~~~

Christmas in Cabinland by @honeysucklepink

Sam enters Kurt and Blaine in a contest for a “unique Airbnb experience,” which turns out to be a rustic week in 15 acres of the Pacific Northwest rainforest. Far away from civilization, and with little interruption from their eccentric hosts, it’s a Christmas they won’t soon forget.

~~~~

Barking up the wrong bakery by @forabeatofadrum

Kurt is the biggest dog party planner in Los Angeles. When his usual dog bakery cancels on Kurt, he’s in the dire need of a last minute replacement. Luckily, he comes across the Dalton Doggy dog bakery, which is run by Blaine and Cooper Anderson. Cooper’s a mess, but Blaine manages to charm Kurt. Will Kurt be able to keep it professional?

~~~~

About-face by quizasvivamos

At the start of the Marching Band season his sophomore year, Blaine is the youngest Drum Major in McKinley High history. However, none of his peers believe he deserves the title, especially a handful of embittered upperclassmen, including one particularly stubborn Color Guard Captain, who challenges him in more ways than one.

~~~~

Everybody’s naked and there’s a country to run by @coffeegleek

A take on the "prince/king!Blaine and prince/king!Kurt are getting married and have to do it while naked in front of their loyal subjects" trope. It’s pure crack taken seriously. I’m blaming the heat. The fic started as this wisp of an idea and a single funny Kurt line. It was supposed to all be fast paced and instead sometimes dissolves into a bit of world building, exposition, and Kurt feelings. I do try my best and hope that at least some of the jokes and humor land. It also developed a full blown plot that has a beginning and an end.

~~~~

Braid of Gold by @jayhawk-writes

Kurt and Blaine ask Caphriel to make the decision about where they go next. He chooses a lifetime where Kurt and Blaine will have to navigate a situation they've not yet been in. They'll have to work through loss and betrayal and ultimately, their bond will be stronger as a family because of it.

~~~~~

Home away from home by @lilyvandersteen

Cooper buys a hotel sight unseen and asks Blaine to run it for him over the summer. Only, the hotel is a health and safety hazard and Inspectors Hummel and Abrams are hell-bent on closing it down. Can Blaine spruce the hotel up in time and save Cooper's investment?

~~~~

These inconvenient fireworks by @redheadgleek

After an unexpected Tony award, Kurt Hummel is Broadway's hottest up and coming star, which comes with expectations and some admirers that won't take a hint. When his best friend Elliott Gilbert suggests that they pretend to date to get the leeches to back off, Kurt takes him up on the idea. It's all working out great - until Kurt starts to fall hard for the dark-haired music director of his latest musical.

~~~~~

Reprise by orphan-account  [PDF]

During Kurt's senior year at NYADA, a life-changing event causes him to take a leave of absence and what was supposed to be a short stay turns into years. His life certainly isn't what he expected, but he's not exactly unhappy. His name is not lit up in lights on Broadway, but he's involved in community theater and LGBTQ groups in Columbus and has friends who love him and casual lovers. But turning 35 has made him restless and he's longing for the life he had before. Burt talks him into taking some classes at Ohio State University to finish his degree and start focusing on himself again. What Kurt finds on the OSU campus is much more than he bargained for.

~~~~

Turn Into a Pose by @little-escapist  

Singer-songwriter Blaine Anderson wants to come out of the closet. When his publicist sets him up with movie-star Kurt Hummel, he’s ready for anything, but the last thing that Kurt wants is a relationship with anyone, let alone Blaine. He hates his publicist for setting him up, hates the idea of lying to the world, and hates letting the world invade his personal life. But maybe Blaine Anderson is exactly what Kurt Hummel needs.

~~~~

Spinning out by @rockitmans

Blaine is smitten with his college roommate literally upon arrival and decides that he's an excellent candidate for losing his virginity with. After all, what's better for Roomie Bonding than penetration between friends?

~~~~

Solid Gold by @heartsmadeofbooks

Ten years after breaking his engagement to Blaine, Kurt's life isn't the fairy tale he once hoped for. Forced to leave New York, he goes looking for a second chance, not expecting to find it in the town he always wanted to run away from, or with the man whose heart he shattered.

~~~~

Lost Boy by  my own patronus

In September 1999, Pam and James Anderson's world was shattered when their youngest son, Blaine, was abducted from a local park. 12 years later, after pain, healing, and tireless searching, the family is reunited. But the boy who comes home to them isn't the same one they lost so long ago. The Anderson family must learn to change and grow as a lost boy is found once more.

~~~~

To Serenade an Angel by @teddyshoney

After the death of his father, Kurt receives a letter from a prestigious musical college, inviting him to attend. He decides to attend, and shortly after his arrival, he hears a strange voice beckoning him down a forbidden hallway. Kurt begins a relationship with the voice, unsure why he finds him so intriguing and why his heart beats more rapidly each time he thinks about the voice. Who does the voice belong to? And what does it want with him?

~~~~~

Since Sense Sensory by @gleefulpoppet

One rainy night, nestled at a patio table of a small café, Kurt broke off his engagement with Blaine in a moment of heated frustration that had been building for weeks. That was 12 years ago, and they haven’t seen each other since. Suddenly, they may find themselves reunited in a place they never expected. If you had a second chance with your first love, would you take it?

~~~~~

The Ghost Kitchen by @hkvoyage

At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Kurt lived in Lima with his father. Two years later, he returned to New York City. As he needed money to pay for rent and food, he got a job in a booming industry: food delivery. His first delivery order was a pick-up from Warbler Food Enterprises. Little did he know he would meet a cute chef there that would turn his world upside down.

~~~~~

Where Dreams Are Born by @kurtswish

Kurt Hummel always dreamed of New York, but reality doesn’t quite live up to his expectations. One impulsive decision could change it all.

~~~~~

Love, Blaine by @gleefuldarrencrissfan

Blaine Anderson is a typical teenager. Except he’s not because he’s hiding a huge secret. He’s gay. But after reading a confession on the informal Dalton blog, he discovers that he’s not the only closeted boy at Dalton. After a moment of courage, he emails him and ultimately starts up a friendship that will change life as he knows it. Loosely based on Love, Simon.

~~~~~

Teach Me Control by @scatter-the-stars

Kurt is in a established Dom/sub relationship with his high school English teacher, Blaine. And Blaine decides to surprise him on his nineteenth birthday with something he never expected.

~~~~~

looking for something that'll (never) come by @klaineanummel

Blaine Anderson-Chang knows that his crush on his brother’s best friend, straight football star Kurt Hummel, is foolhardy. But every now and then Kurt gives him a look and Blaine can’t help but wonder.

~~~~~

Domus Civita by JayhawkWrites

While on vacation to a city he’s never been to, Kurt Hummel finds himself in a place that he recognized from his dreams. The person he always sees in those dreams is there, too, and they spot him and ask, “Is it really you?”

Note: Part of the In Every Lifetime series

~~~~~ 

Bicycle Patrol Unit by @caramelcoffeeaddict

When NYPD bicycle cop, Blaine Anderson, begins to fall for Kurt Hummel - the gorgeous man that he first notices while Kurt is jogging through the park during Blaine’s patrol there - it causes a rift between him and his patrol partner, Sebastian Smythe

~~~~~

Never Saying Goodbye To You by @lilyvandersteen

Inspired by a beautiful drawing by @thisdoesnotsuck, this is a story where Kurt travels through time to the 1920s and falls in love with his great-grandfather’s secret beau. Featuring a family curse, doppelgängers, angst and confusion.

~~~~~

When Are You Gonna Sing For Me by  TheNameIsBritney

Kurt is one of the three members of wildly successful pop punk band One Three Hill. He is also forgetful as all get out and accidentally leaves his phone somewhere where a certain music teacher just happens to find it.

OR

The pop star!Kurt/middle school music teacher!Blaine au that lives rent free in my brain

~~~~~

My Reader by Cleverboots (Amberlovesocean)

Kurt is looking for an after-school job. He finds an ad on the school bulletin board for a job reading aloud for someone. It pays well and seems easy, so Kurt applies. He gets the job and goes to the mansion to read for a boy that was severely injured in an accident. Of course you know the boy's name is Blaine Anderson. After a rocky start, they become friends and an amazing opportunity opens up for Kurt.

~~~~~

The Elf On The Shelf by kellyb321

The owner at Verve Design has decided the holidays at the office have been way too boring in the past. He's decided to kick it up a notch with a Christmas party, Secret Santas and...and adorable Elf on the Shelf for the office. Kurt might be a little smitten.

~~~~~

Outlined on My Finger, Printed in My Heart by @jayhawk-writes

Blaine and Kurt spent a while picking their next adventure. When they finally decided, Caphriel was elated. This was an adventure he had been waiting for them to choose.

~~~~~

Guard My Heart by @scatter-the-stars

The kiss isn't meant to change his life. But for Kurt, that's what happens when he kisses basketball star Blaine Anderson. Not wanting to concern himself with the guy, he focuses on going back to his normal life and saving a place he loves. When Blaine starts to show up in his life, he tries to ignore the feelings he stirs up in him. That's easier said than done, and Kurt soon finds himself falling for someone unexpected.

#klaine fanfiction #klaine fanfic #glee fanfiction #recent fics #admin recommendation #2020 #2021 #2022 #2023 #admin

[deadlyhuggles6]

Title: Two Months

Words: 11.5K

Rating: T for light swearing

Fandom: Hermitcraft

Pairings: no romantic pairings

Warnings: Minor (okay kinda major, but etho doesn't focus on it much) non consensual body modification in that Etho's body is changing and he Did Not Consent. kidnapping. injury mention, but he's okay. minor body horror specifically around the eyes

Summary:  Etho's the champion of Decked Out. Now that Decked Out 2 is open, he's here to conquer that as well. But Decked Out 2, unbeknown to Etho and its Dungeon Master, has other plans for Etho, and it's not going to let him go now that he's within its walls once more. While racing against the clock to find and save Etho, Tango finds himself falling apart. Can his friends keep him together while saving Etho?

Ao3 link: Two Months - DeadlyHuggles - Hermitcraft SMP [Archive of Our Own]

“And that was the last time we ever saw Etho,” Joe joked.

Tango laughed so hard, and Etho could just barely hear it over the echoing sound of Decked Out 2, “Yeah, see you in December Etho!”

Etho rolled his eyes. “Yeah, it’s gonna take me two months to-” the heavy nether brick doors closed behind him, cutting him off from his friends until he died or completed the course. Tango had a way to contact them of course, just in case something goes wrong, but otherwise he was all on his own.

Etho took a deep breath and began to run through the icy first level of the dungeon.

The ice was slick under his feet, but he’d prepared for this, and his thick-soled boots handled it pretty easily. He slid quickly over the ice, keeping an eye on the compass in his hand, but doing his best to just look around.

Tango had obviously put a lot of work into this place, the feel was entirely different than that of the original. And he’d know, with how much time he spent down there.

He winced a bit as a lot of sounds all went off right in a row. He recognized a few of them from the tutorials Tango had recorded, but were they supposed to go off like that?

He hit a button on the side of his compass, pinging Tango. Tango was keeping an ear and eye out for weird stuff, he’d know what that was. Still, Etho kept moving quickly, he wanted out of here with his victory as soon as he could.

“Hey Etho, is something wrong already?”

“Just a bunch of noises all at once. Sounded like multiple sound effects. Wanted to make sure nothing was broken.”

“Hmm.” Etho could hear Tango shuffling, probably looking through his schematics, “I think you're good, just some bad luck. A lot of hazards all triggering at once.” his voice turned teasing, “I think it recognizes you, power adjusting for the champion.”

Maybe it was just Etho, but the heartbeat seemed to get just a bit more intense, louder and faster as it pounded along with his heart. Etho did his best to school his reactions but found himself wondering if Tango had maybe poured a bit too much of himself into this place. If it really recognized him… he shook off those thoughts and kept running. This would be fine, living building or not.

He laughed nervously, “of course, of course. I think it’s sending me right into a ravager.”

Tango laughed, then the connection with Tango shut down, and Etho was left all on his own again. He sighed and kept running. He just needed to be fast. He ran around the ravager, and kept exploring, noting the number of closed doorways all around him. Those must have been the hazards that went off, slowly cutting off his options.

Pretty soon he found the artifact spot and offered it his compass. The artifact popped up from the floor, and Etho scooped it up and started to run back to the entrance. He was pretty sure he remembered where the exit was, but there were a few ravagers between it and him.

The heartbeat picked up again, and Etho knew he was running out of time. It thundered in his ears so loudly he didn’t hear the stomping feet of a ravager ahead of him. Luckily, it was down a straight path and he saw it running at him.

Etho looked around quickly for a pillar to loop around. He found one, baited the ravager, and looped around, continuing his run for the exit. He swore he could hear demonic giggles from deeper in the icy tunnel, and looking behind him, he could see two small blue and red vex chasing after him. He hissed, and pushed himself as fast as he could go. He was running out of stamina though; he wouldn’t be able to keep this up for much longer.

The vex chased him through the winding tunnels, and finally he saw something familiar. He pushed himself through one side of a y split only to slam face first into a block of ice with the vex hot on his trail. This must have been one of the hazards that closed, he’d have to find a new path back to the exit.

Etho pushed himself off the ice and past the vex following. One took a swipe at him, but he dodged it in the nick of time, so close he could feel the icy magic. He ran down the hallway, catching sight of the door, but the short way was blocked off with a fence, and it’d take too long to climb over with two vex on his tail.

He pushed himself faster, jumping around the central pillar as quickly as he could. He almost laughed when he ran through the Decked Out door, a deep relief going through him. He dropped down into the next area and collapsed. He could almost still feel his heart thudding in time with the tunnels, fast and angry. That was. Something. He almost didn’t want to try again. He could be happy with his old champion title, right? He didn’t need a new one.

He radioed Tango, still breathing heavily, “Got through. Take that dungeon master.”

Tango’s laugh was delighted, “Amazing! Shouldn't have expected any less from you Etho! Go ahead and relinquish your artifact and head through the shop, we’ll meet you on the surface when you're done!”

Etho went through the shop before letting the ravager in the hole kill him and return to his spawn in the main area. The others were sitting around his spawn and cheered when he sat up in the bed.

“The champion has returned everyone!” Tango cheered, and the others began to cheer as well.

Etho laughed and tried to ignore the deep ache his chest left from the absence of Decked Out’s heartbeat, “I’m back.”

Etho chilled in his nook for a while, trying to get himself to calm down from the experience. In that time Scar managed to also get a win, and a few more of the Hermits did some runs, with no further successes. Finally, he was feeling bad enough that he just slipped out the front door.

It felt like he was leaving part of himself behind, stuck in the depths.

A few hours later he came back, drawn back like a moth to the flame. He’s probably just being dramatic anyway; Tango wouldn’t let anything happen to him in decked out.

He didn’t see anyone in the normal area, so someone must be doing a run right now. He walked over to the bubble elevator to the waiting room that was under construction when he left. It now looked significantly cozier, all wool and soft moss. You can tell Bdubs had his hands in it.

“Etho! You’re back!” speak of the devil and he will arrive.

Etho’s eyes crinkled slightly as he smiled at Bdubs, glancing around the rest of the room. Looks like everyone else was still around.

Including Tango, who got up to greet Etho, “We didn’t think you’d be back! I thought we’d scared off the champion with that level of bad luck!”

“Aw snap, you guys were thinking of me?” Etho fanned himself teasingly, “yeah, I just needed a break. Now I'm back to make another run.”

Bdubs rolled his eyes. “Oh yeah mhm you're hilarious.”

Tango just laughed, “Now now, you're both pretty. Scar’s running right now Etho, but he should probably-”

All of their communicators went off at once, and by the look on Tango’s face, it was a death message from Scar.

“Looks like the building knows you're here. It’ll be ready for a run pretty soon. I’m sure the others would be happy to let you have the next attempt, that’s Scar’s third attempt.”

Etho nodded and settled in to wait for the castle to be ready for them. He could almost feel this castle pulsing around him. It set him on edge, but he was committed to this now. Decked Out could get as mad at him as it wanted, he became the champion once and he could do it again.

Finally, the dungeon announced that it was once again ready for runs, and Etho dropped down to the entrance, Tango dropping down right behind him.

“All ready?”

Etho nodded, stepped into the entrance, set his spawn, and began his second attempt.

He walked through the dungeon slowly, painfully aware of how fast his stamina drained last time. The compass took him along a familiar path through the left side of the dungeon, but strangely free of ravagers. Maybe people had made the ravagers wander off into more obscure areas of the ice tunnels? He picked a few berries from a nearby sweet berry bush as he walked, tucking them into his inventory for later. As he got further into the dungeon than he had last time, he kept his eye out for treasure, and for any ravagers that might be lurking around corners.

His diligence was rewarded as he walked up a set of stairs, only to run face first into a ravager. He fell backwards, not quite managing to keep his balance as he tried to turn back down the stairs. He fell in a heap at the bottom, but quickly pushed himself up and behind the nearest pillar.

“Oh boy,” he murmured, feeling himself over for injuries.

His left ankle hurt pretty bad, even despite his boots. He must have fallen on it wrong. He ate the few berries he’d managed to grab, hoping to kickstart the healing, but it didn’t seem to take. He was suddenly very glad that Tango had put a necessary respawn into the process of getting out of the dungeon, because this would not be fun to heal from. But he’d have to deal with it for now.

He hobbled to his feet, already dreading having to kite this ravager out of the way. He wanted to get out of here and off this ankle as soon as possible. He looked around a bit more, trying to see if there was another option for getting around. He didn’t exactly find one, but he did find a better place to bait the ravager from, where he wouldn’t have to run up and down the stairs with a ravager on his tail.

The heartbeat of the dungeon was slow but steady in his ears, and his ankle throbbed with each pulse. In and out, that’s all he needed right now.

Which is of course when the dungeon decided to screw with him. A screeching laugh rang in his ears behind him, a sharp grating contrast to the slow heartbeat all around him. He spun around, not quite believing his eyes. Vex. Already.

He fumbled with his compass for a moment before managing to hit the radio button.

“Tango I've got vex on me already and a bad ankle!”

Tango sucked in a breath, and it whistled between his teeth, “Oh no. Oh that’s bad with extra bad sauce. That’s really not supposed to happen Etho, just try to get out of there.”

Etho grunted as he tried to dodge around them but took a slice from the vex as his ankle caused him to stumble.

“Aw man, I hadn’t thought of that,” he sarcastically said. “I don't even have my artifact yet!”

“Just get out of there, I’ll give you an extra frozen shard to make up for this run, but if the dungeon is malfunctioning…”

Tango didn’t finish his statement, but Etho understood. Minigames didn’t tend to go wrong on Hermitcraft, but when they did it could get bad. He tried to focus on getting out, but the vex had encircled him. He dove to the right, through an open door into another section of the map, but it slammed in his face, leaving him trapped with the vex right behind him. He scrambled further right, following the right wall to try to find some exit. The vex backed off a bit, and he gave them a suspicious glance, watching as they floated just on the edge of his vision to the left.

He jumped over an ice river, boots splashing against the far bank, and he slipped into it a bit. He shook off the water and moved into the next room, which had a bunch of different ravines crisscrossing the room. He looked behind him again and didn’t see the vex anymore. He tried to slow his breathing, but the heartbeat was going too fast, he couldn’t get it any slower.

He took the moment to radio Tango again, “Doors are slamming in my face, and the vex aren’t attacking anymore. Think they might be herding me. Don’t know where. In a room full of ravines now, not quite sure how to get to the exit again.”

“Oh no. Oh that's very bad, very bad. Get out of that area, there’s a few holes there that I haven’t-”

The heartbeat in Etho's chest and all around him suddenly turned into a crescendo, loud and clashing, drowning out Tango’s words, and a ravager Etho hadn’t noticed before rammed into him, knocking him down towards the ravine. His body slammed against the icy walls and Etho knew no more.

~

When Etho came to, he had no idea where he was. In fact, he could hardly even see where he was, just the impression of darkness and faintly glowing turquoise. His hands felt below him, and he felt scraps of wool and the strangely spongy texture of skulk. Where could he possibly be with wool and sculk?

And then Etho heard a sound that made him freeze.

The whine of a warden.

Etho’s head swung wildly but he still couldn’t see anything. It was a high-pitched sound, so they probably hadn’t realized he was here, but it sounded so close. It was only a matter of time before one of them sniffed and realized he was here.

He tried to shift, pulling his feet up under him, but even tensing his muscles sent shooting pain through his ankle and up into his leg. It felt like his entire foot had been dipped in lava, each twitch disturbing it more and more. He couldn’t help the quiet grunt of pain that rumbled through his chest and throat without his permission.

All around him there were several rounds of clicking and Etho realized just how screwed he was. Unless warden farms were involved, there usually weren't more than one or maybe two wardens around if you were truly unlucky. This was four- five- maybe six or seven all around him, all alerted to his presence now.

But this knowledge couldn’t stop the psychological reaction to the pain his ankle was in. It had probably swelled up under the boot, both held in still and compressed by the thick layers of leather and fur. He let out a quiet whimper and could feel hot tears spilling down the sides of his face.

Suddenly, the thing he had been leaning against shifted, pulling out from behind him. Etho tried to scramble away, but his ankle pulsed painfully as he tried to put weight on it, and he couldn’t go anywhere. Nowhere but falling to the ground, helpless to the warden that had shifted to be in front of him. Etho could just barely see from the light of the souls within the warden’s chest, and he found himself wishing for a quick death. Maybe if he was lucky, he could even get this break to heal in the respawn, though he was quickly giving up hope seeing how he didn’t know how long he’d been out. 

But instead of attacking him, the warden just leaned in and turned its head to the side and gently knocked one of its antlers against his head. For a moment, sounds amplified around him, and his heartbeat thudded in time with the nest around him, drowning out everything, including the pain from his ankle. And then they broke contact, and Etho was left by himself again. He unconsciously jerked up, following the touch of the warden’s antler and searching for that relief. The warden clicked at him and glowed just a bit brighter. More wardens shifted around him, and a low glow was visible over the entire area. Perhaps the work of a sculk catalyst.

Etho took the new light level to look over himself. From the slight swelling at the laces of his boot, he could tell his foot was definitely swollen. He dreaded the idea of having to take off his boot, knowing how painful it will likely be. He decided to ignore it for now, eyes slowly drifting up his body. His clothes all look surprisingly intact, if a bit dirty from skulk spores. Which was definitely good, it was always terribly cold in the dark areas wardens liked to inhabit. And he was glad that he’d remembered his full gloves, not just the fingerless ones. Who knows how cold he’d be with his fingers-

Etho’s thoughts stuttered to a stop, as though put on pause. He rubbed his fingers together, feeling how they felt, before bringing them close to his face to see.

That wasn’t fabric.

After a moment of rubbing things with his fingers he could pretty safely say that it wasn’t frostbite either, he still had his full sense of touch and they didn’t hurt, which made him feel marginally better about this whole situation, but he was still freaked out. There was no reason for your skin to spontaneously turn black and slightly rubbery in texture.

He pulled off his fingerless gloves, tucking them gently into the pockets on his vest, and pushed up his sleeves. The darkness traveled almost halfway up to his elbows before fading into his pale skin. He touched up his face as well, and felt patches where his face felt odd, especially where his mask didn’t cover.

Etho took a deep breath and winced hard. Oh yeah, he’d never finished going over his body for injuries. His ribs ached when he took a deep breath, and, remembering how hard the ravager had hit him, he wouldn’t be surprised if he fractured something. He took a purposefully regular sized breath and forced himself to ignore his racing thoughts and focus on his next step. He needed to get out of here, and to do that he needed to call someone to help.

He felt around his pocket, hoping desperately that the compass was somewhere in one of his pockets or nearby. He knew it was unlikely, he’d been holding it when he fell, but he could always hope.

He checked his pockets first, his vest then his pants, and then started to scan the ground. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Okay. Calm breaths, his communicator would probably work just fine, it was just a little louder and brighter and might not be able to get through to anyone.

Etho let out a slow breath and summoned his communicator. It turned on the moment it entered his hand.

Etho hissed as bright light flooded the small burrow. It was practically blinding, and it obviously disturbed the wardens as much as it did him. The one that had been chilling next to him groaned loudly and reared away, and several other loud groans went up around him. Etho found himself quite agreeing, and out of instinct slammed the brightness of his communicator against the ground. A moment later he realized that perhaps his only ticket home should not be slammed against the ground of questionable hardness.

He gently lifted part of the screen and desperately turned down the brightness. Even at the lowest brightness it still felt absolutely blinding, but at least he could look at it now. He curled up around it, trying to block as much light as possible from invading the dark space. Thankfully it didn’t look any more damaged than it normally did, just a few cracks in the screen and a familiar chip in the casing.

He felt a bit of hope as he was able to scroll through his comm, first his personal information and- he shuddered, skipping right over his coordinates. It must be broken, there’s no way he was that far down. He just fell through a ravine in the first level, there’s no way he was nearly at bedrock now. Instead, he went straight for his messages.

He had no new messages.

Etho let out a sharp breath but held out hope and clicked onto Tango’s private messages.

Ethoslab: tango help

He watched the icon next to his message circle and load, and something in his chest cracked a little as it greyed out, and a little error symbol popped up next to it.

Ethoslab: please

Even faster this time, the grey came. Etho switched to his messages with Xisuma, messaging so fast that his previous one didn’t even have time to fail.

Ethoslab: help x please

Ethoslab: it hurts so badlt

Ethoslab: pleasse i want to leave

But there was nothing. Absolutely nothing got through. Etho gave up all hopes of dignity and switched to the main channel.

It was deathly still for even a regular day on Hermitcraft, let alone a day like this. The last visible messages were Grian and Bdubs chattering about the game they'd set up in the waiting room, from only a little after he entered the dungeon. No new messages.

Etho was desperate though.

Ethoslab: someone pelase helo

Ethoslab: theres som any wardfens

Ethoslab: my anlke adn ribs are hutrt

Ethoslab: ym coords are so doeep i cantg et out

But one by one, each message greyed out, failing to send. He was well and truly stuck down here, no help was coming. 

So, he’d have to get himself out of here.

He really wanted to get out of here without a respawn. Respawning on old injuries always went badly, especially when you're as old as him. But the longer he waited, the worse whatever remained would be. So, he braced himself, squeezing his eyes shut and tensing his muscles for the oncoming pain, turned to the warden behind him, and shouted as loudly as he could.

His voice cracked and crumbled, but it was still loud enough that it should’ve aggroed something. But instead of pain, there was just a round of low groans from all around him, wardens answering his shout in turn. The ones closest to him began to click, and Etho found himself calming despite himself as the clicking picked up, but he forced himself to focus. Why didn’t they aggro on him? Why wasn’t he respawning at home by now?

Suddenly, he felt a gentle tap against the back of his skull, and everything amplified again. His pain faded, head clear of that constant ringing, and at the same time completely full of the heartbeat that filled his chest. He didn’t think it was his heartbeat, but what else could it really be? His entire person pulsed in time with it.

The warden tried to pull away, but Etho pushed back against it, trying not to lose the sensation of everything and the relief it brought him. The warden clicked, whining at him in a way Etho somehow understood to be gentle, understanding. It knew what it was doing. And it leaned back in, bringing him back into the heartbeat.

~

Etho had no idea how long he’d been down here. It could've been weeks for all he knew. He’s had a harder and harder time bringing himself out of the heartbeat. And even when he could, there was nothing he could do here.

His ankle was still swollen and incredibly painful, though he’d kept it in his boot since it was the most supportive thing he had and he had no way to easily get it off. He couldn’t walk on it, let alone tunnel his way out of here. And the wardens wouldn’t fight him. Even when he hit one, it just clicked at him once and pushed him down with one massive paw before tapping him with its antler and putting him back under.

They treated him like a kit, like he was- was a baby warden. Etho didn’t even know if those existed, this grotto didn’t have one and he’d never seen one before but they’ve gotta come from somewhere, right?

It was hard to tell day and night here. His comm was getting harder and harder to turn on, even on its darkest brightness and screen color settings it was painful to look at. Etho had been trying to jury-rig it even dimmer before it got too much to handle entirely, but he wasn’t too optimistic about that possibility anymore. Even the sculk catalyst was getting too bright for him these days.

But he was having better and better luck seeing in the darkness of the burrow. And he didn’t like what he was seeing. The darkness in his hands and face was spreading. It went up his arms, all the way to his shoulders, and the dark patches on his face had been spreading. At some point he’d shed his mask, and the patches of Not Skin had popped up much faster, spreading until he wasn’t sure he had much normal skin left, and it was invading his scalp, curling through his hair, and down his neck. He even went to sleep once and woke up with patches on his stomach. He looked like he was rotting from the inside out.

He was terrified of what would happen when the rot fully covered him.

~

Etho let out a shuddering gasp as he came out of the Heartbeat, head ringing with pain strong enough to make his vision grow dark. It had been- Etho couldn’t even guess anymore. Time was meaningless. The surface world felt more and more like a dream with every passing day. Etho didn’t know how he was still alive, how he hadn’t starved to death yet. He thought it might have something to do with the rot, which he saw glowed a soft blue when the other wardens touched him. He always felt better after they did that, like they were giving him the magic his body craved.

The darkness covered his entire chest now and was crawling down his legs at an alarming pace. He didn’t feel that scared of it anymore, it was hard to feel anything but numb anymore. There was no escape.

His leg had stopped hurting quite as much, but he still had a hard time walking, and his ribs hadn’t hurt since the dark rot rolled over them. Instead, his head had started to ache, pulsing on either side of his skull without rest. It was an agony that not even the other wardens could relieve, no matter how much they tried.

And how they tried.

Etho couldn’t help a cry of pain as a particularly strong wave of pain crashed over him. He heard a familiar groan beside him, the warden who most often took care of him, and large paws scooped him up, before antlers pressed back against his skull, and he disappeared from consciousness once again.

~

Etho felt like he was floating. He felt like body was barely his, like just an outside observer. The pain radiating in his head grounded him and sent him running from his body at the same time. It was hard to stay conscious now, and Etho found his eyes drifting shut only minutes after waking up.

There was a lot of movement all around him, the kind that made Etho want to stay awake, to know what was happening. The grotto didn’t move like this often, content to stay curled in the little burrow. Was something happening, were the hermits coming for him?

Suddenly Etho’s chest was yanked up, legs dangling in the air. He screamed as the sudden movement jostled his ankle and made his head pound.

Big paws adjusted him, pulling up his legs, and he felt himself be carried by a warden. The warden tried to knock their horns together, but Etho pulled away, trying to see what was happening. It was so hard to see with the pounding in his head and chest, but Etho did his best to pay attention. He needed to know if they were coming for him.

There was more movement, and Etho heard digging under the murmur and clicking of the wardens around him. The room suddenly got much smaller and packed with wardens. Etho’s feet and head brushed either side of the stone walls, and Etho suddenly realized what was happening.

They were leaving the area under Decked Out 2.

Etho kicked his feet and shouted loudly, wordless in his desperation to go back. The hermits had to be so close, they must be looking for him! He couldn’t leave before they found him.

He flailed his legs and screamed his head off, throat already feeling torn and painful, and managed to squirm out of the warden’s paws. He dropped to his feet, landing hard on his bad ankle, and tried to run back to the burrow.

It was no use, one of the wardens caught him effortlessly, pressed their antler to his skull, and he knew no more.

~

Etho couldn’t see when he woke up.

He let out a wordless noise. Usually, sound would make someone light up, give him enough light to see by.

But there was nothing.

He made a louder noise and still no light. Instead, answering groans rang up around him.

Suddenly Etho could make out an impression of the mobs all around him. It was fuzzy but he could sense them. There were 7 of them all around him, curled up in this room, which was slightly larger than the burrow they’d been in, with him in the very center. He was slouched against the largest one, the one who watched over him.

The impression started to fade, until Etho let out another questioning noise, and the big warden responded with a short click, before gently knocking its antler down against him, letting him sink in the heartbeat for a moment. It felt so gentle today, but he felt the knock so keenly, even though his skull didn’t-

The warden hadn’t knocked his skull.

The realization came to Etho so suddenly that he pulled himself fully away from the warden, hands flying to his head.

He had antlers.

They weren’t big, barely more than an inch long, but they stuck straight out from his head, already too big to hide under his hair. The world felt so much duller when Etho grabbed them, even the small vibrations Etho hadn’t noticed not being picked up. He let go and found he could get a decent idea of the burrow now that he was actively trying.

Etho wanted to throw up a bit.

He was becoming a warden. There really would be no escape for him.

Tears came to his eyes, shockingly hot against the coldness of his cheeks. He had antlers, and his body was covered in the black rot that was probably just warden’s skin, and now he couldn’t see.

It was too much, Etho broke down sobbing.

One of the wardens took pity on him, gently knocking their antlers together, and Etho knew no more, his spasming heartbeat added to the collective.

~

The antlers weren’t gone when Etho woke up. Etho could feel them, it felt like they’d only grown longer. Grabbing them felt wrong, so he didn’t, letting the vibrations of the grotto around him flow through them freely. It felt weird, not quite sight but something like it. 

Etho wanted to cry, just thinking about the loss of his sight. How would he build again, making those complex interiors he loved so much with messy but congruent block palettes? How would he manage redstone, and its need for big picture perspective, knowing what each line hopper and repeater were meant to do? How would he do anything that made him a hermit?

He hugged his chest tightly, trying to comfort himself, but that only made his feel worse. He could feel the weird texture of his skin through his clothes, could feel how it had trailed over his entire torso. He pushed his shirt up to feel it and couldn’t stop himself from shuddering as he felt a small bit of peach fuzz over warden skin. He might as well be growing fur at this point! He’d already been changed so much; he might as well be made even more unrecognizable!

Etho was edging on hysterics when one of the wardens gave him a questioning click, and he forced himself to take a deep breath. He didn’t want them to put him back under the heartbeat, forcibly held calm by the overwhelming force of their collective heart rate. He knew they were just doing their best, but he couldn’t lose any more time to this.

Etho couldn’t quite click back at them, the noise came from the softer branches of the antlers, which looked a lot like weird foliage, but seemed to be able to move and swing on command. He hadn’t grown any yet. But he could click with his mouth, and he did his best to imitate their sounds. 

The warden clicked back, then turned away, leaving Etho to his own devices. He sighed and focused on his feet. He needed to get to the surface soon. He needed to get out of the burrow and away from the grotto. And to do that he needed to be able to walk and dig.

Etho clutched his hands together, and wondered if his hands would grow big and strong with tough, curved claws like the other wardens had. As much as he hated the idea of his body changing even more… anything to escape at this point.

~

His antlers grew in quickly, quickly becoming long, curling up at the end. The soft moving bits that felt a bit like branches were also coming in, and Etho found it easy to control them, either to collect more vibrations, or to hit them against each other. Soon Etho was able to click to his heart’s content, though his voice wasn’t quite deep enough to groan and roar like the other wardens did, nor did he have the ability to make a sonic blast. His fur was also coming in long and thick, and Etho was starting to find his vest and turtleneck uncomfortable to wear. He refused to give them up though, refused to give up that bit of humanity.

He didn’t have much of a choice though, as his body began to change more and more. His hands grew claws. At first, he thought his nails were just growing out, without the ability to trim that was normal. But then he tried to tear one short and found it too thick and curved to budge. His fingers also became rougher, a redstoner’s calluses fading away for something closer to pads that he had a hard time feeling through.

At least his ankle had been vastly improving, and while he still limped a bit, he was able to move and get around the new burrow.

Now that he was mobile and could conceivably escape, he was getting restless, and he can tell that his restlessness is affecting the rest of the grotto. He was getting better at understanding them, the heartbeat no longer brought him into that state of nothing, it brought him into a state more like a collective understanding, feelings and knowledge and sustenance traveling from one to another with ease. It scared Etho a bit, how easy it was to understand and lose himself in the collective. What if when he got to the surface, he couldn’t understand them anymore? What if one day he got so lost that he couldn’t come out? That when the hermits found him, he was just another warden to them, and they were just a bunch of vibrations to him?

It was scary, but Etho knew, soon he’d be able to go home. He just had to hope that the hermits were still waiting for him when he got home.

~

Etho knew something was going down when the burrow was pierced by a horrible shriek. He could feel the anger of the other wardens, and it almost swept him away in a wave of rage and discomfort. But he forced himself to stay centered. If this was a shrieker like he thought- shriekers only activated for players. A hermit might be up there, might be able to help him. He’d been looking for an opportunity like this to escape, he just had to stay levelheaded.

He let the rage wash over him and waited. A second shriek came a minute later, only riling up the wardens more. C'mon c'mon c'mon, one of you go up, show him the path to the main chamber. Show him how to get home.

A third shrieker. The anger was almost overwhelming, and even Etho could admit that the sound was absolutely grating on his soul. He calmed himself by imagining which hermit was out there. Maybe it was Beef, good dependable Beef who always knew the best way to draw Etho out of his head, ready to take Etho home and tease him gently about getting kidnapped by a minigame. Maybe it was Bdubs, who didn’t even mean to set off the shrieker but couldn’t help being so loud, come to drag him to bed. Sleeping in a player bed sounded like a dream right now. Maybe it was Xisuma, working relentlessly to save his hermits even when there were no leads. Maybe he’d finally figured out where Etho was from the code and was going to teleport him right out of there and take him home. Maybe- maybe it was Tango. Etho felt sadness well up in him for Tango. Tango, who spent so long working on this minigame, who should’ve been enjoying the hermits’ reactions to his amazing creation but was instead searching tirelessly for the hermit he lost in it.

Etho decided he’d be happy no matter who was out there. He just wanted to go home.

The fourth shrieker. One of the wardens roared, and began to dig up in a specific spot, while the others stayed put. Etho slipped out of the grasp of the grotto and followed closely behind. He’s coming home.

~

 “Doors are slamming in my face, and the vex aren’t attacking anymore. Think they might be herding me. Don’t know where. In a room full of ravines now, not quite sure how to get to the exit again.”

Etho didn’t sound as panicked as he described what was happening in the dungeon, but that only scared Tango more. He didn’t realize the danger he was in. Tango scrambled on his comm, trying to contact Xisuma to give Etho a quick port out of there.

“Oh no. Oh that's very bad, very bad. Get out of that area, there’s a few holes there that I haven’t-” 

There was something like a crash and a shout of pain that cut him, and a series of more crashes before the connection cut off. Tango scrambled to check the main chat, but there was no death message.

-Finished covering.

Tango scrambled, calling Xisuma immediately. The ravines were deep, deep enough to kill at any health, but a few of them had holes in the bottom that led deeper into the dungeon, deeper beyond where the dungeon lay into the deep dark areas below. If Etho didn’t die when he fell- he must have landed somewhere worse.

Tango was deeply attached to Decked Out 2. They weren’t the same but Decked Out 2 had a lot of his emotions and love and hate for things. Including his friends.

He should’ve realized that he was going too far when he told it about Etho, the champion. When he complained and teased and loved Etho where the dungeon could hear him and it responded with curiosity. He should’ve realized that its interest was getting too intense for something that wasn’t ever meant to be alive.

As his comm rang, Tango flew down into the belly of the beast, following the path Etho would’ve fallen.

“Give him back!” he shouted into the belly, radiating anger through the dungeon.

The dungeon growled back, and a blast of cold air came through, nearly knocking Tango out of the air.

“He’s not yours, you can’t have him!”

The dungeon only gave him silence now that it had offered its refusal.

“I’m never going to give you another hermit again. You’re never going to see the light of day.” Tango hissed and landed in the belly under the fourth level.

Xisuma finally answered the call, and before he could even respond, Tango was yelling, “You need to teleport Etho!”

Xisuma sputtered on the other side of the line, “Tango, what?”

“Etho can’t get out and I can't reach him, you need to get him out of there!”

There was silence for a moment, and Tango could faintly hear some clicking from Xisuma’s end of the call. Then the clicking paused, and Xisuma made a concerned noise.

“Tango, what happened?” Xisuma’s voice was serious.

“Did you get him out of there?”

“The system is no longer connecting with his comm or code. Tango, what happened?”

Tango broke down and told him everything.

~

Xisuma helped him rally the hermits to search through the lower levels of Decked Out 2, after shutting off all of the redstone. Tango shut down the entire system, loudly declaring to the dungeon that he’d never turn it back on. He was so angry, he could hardly stand to look at the tunnels of the dungeon, to think about the long hours he had put into all of this and how badly it had been twisted.

The hermits tore through the dungeon with a speed he’d never seen from them before. It was clear everyone was mad about Etho’s disappearance. But there was nothing to be found in the tunnel, and Etho’s comm remained frustratingly out of reach. Finally, people had been forced to take a break. There was nothing more they could do except dig up the entirety of the area under and around decked out, and that couldn’t be done quickly in any way that would be safe for Etho.

Xisuma had privately confided to them that he was scared that Etho hadn’t just been disconnected from his network, but from the network responsible for respawning. If they killed Etho while clearing the area, they might not even know.

Which meant that the hermits, who were already close to the point of running on fumes after 3 weeks straight of searching, would have to dig out those chunks by hand. It would take weeks, maybe even months. So instead, they’d focus on searching the caves, and if that didn’t work, they’d dig it all out. But people had to be patient and take breaks in between cavings.

Xisuma was clear, they weren’t abandoning Etho. But he wasn’t going to let anyone else run themselves to death’s door searching. This was the best compromise to that. Bdubs and Tango were the most resistant to the plans. Tango knew Bdubs hadn’t been sleeping much recently. He was so worried, and Tango couldn’t blame him, finding it hard to sleep himself. The idea of having to go home and rest was unthinkable to the both of them.

Etho’s old home was still in Bdubs’s basement. Tango wondered if it felt as empty as Tango’s starter base did.

Impulse had tried to offer his base, so that Tango didn’t have to go back to the starter area most hermits had abandoned at spawn, but the dwarven fortress felt too close to Decked Out, the blackstone and blue too familiar. He’d already dropped his own visage of the dungeon master, falling into the comfort of red and orange flames and the heat of the world outside. He couldn’t go back to the cold underground.

~

Tango couldn’t stay away from the Dungeon for long though. After 13 months he just-

It was hard to step away from everything he��d worked on.

And that’s how Tango found himself back at his own doorstep, feeling like a stranger in his own house.

He slipped through the massive doors and shivered. His leather vest didn’t keep him warm like the dungeon master’s coat and hood did, but he couldn’t put that back on, couldn’t reclaim possession of this awful place.

“You took him.”

It was a question as much as it was a statement, but there was no answer.

“Are you at least happy with yourself? Happy that you’ve traded him for everything else you could’ve had? They all would have loved you.”

Tango thinks that if the building could’ve purred with satisfaction, it would. He sighed. There really was no use arguing with it, but sometimes he thought that just maybe- maybe it would give him back if it realized.

“When we get Etho back I'm going to let Doc tear you to the ground.”

Decked Out didn’t give him much more as Tango slipped back out of the dungeon, but he got the distinct impression that it was laughing, taunting maybe. When. That really was the big question wasn’t it.

~

They found the entrance to the Deep Dark five weeks and two days after Etho went missing. The entrance to the Deep Dark was pretty small, and a lot closer to bedrock than most Deep Dark pockets were. It was also big. It took another two days to get a team together to search it. In the end, it was him, Xisuma, Zed, and Beef that got to storm the deep dark. Bdubs, who hadn’t been sleeping, got put on mandatory break from searching until his eye bags were smaller than his eyes and he could be around people without hissing at them. Xisuma took his place, hoping he could look for traces of Etho in the code. He said if he could just get a solid hint of Etho he could probably reconnect him to the network.

The deep dark was creepy. Incredibly so. Despite the lore Tango had created for the dungeon, he never actually went down this far to check for the deep dark. He had enough to do, digging out the entire area to bedrock didn’t seem worthwhile. He was cursing himself for it now as they explored. If he’d just taken the few extra weeks and fully cleared the area-

Zed nudged him, leaning in close like he wanted Tango to lean back into him. Tango shook his head and banished the spiral of thoughts. He needed to focus, they needed to save Etho in the here and now, distractions won’t help.

The group did a quick overview of the Deep Dark first, taking out any shriekers so that they wouldn’t trigger a warden, then they split up into pairs and searched the pocket as best they could for any sign of Etho. Zed tugged Tango along towards the upper areas, powerful goat legs and balance helping to propel him up to those dark corners. Tango soon found himself playing bodyguard, as Zed didn’t quite move slow enough for him to follow, but he didn’t move fast enough for the mobs to not take notice of him. Tango took out his bow and got to work shooting down the mob following Zed.

Both of them froze, and tango had to throw his aim to the side to avoid accidentally hitting Zedaph when there was a shout from the ground.

“WE’VE GOT SOMETHING!!!”

A significantly quieter “Oh goodness me,” echoed the shout, so Tango felt safe in an assumption that the shouting was Beef.

He and Zed made a beeline for the other two and found X with his full admin unit out and Beef with his pickaxe out and already breaking some blocks.

“Where are we digging to?” Zed asked, already pulling his pick from his inventory.

“30 blocks down, a little northeast. Terrain generation says there should be a small cave, about the size of a chunk, but we’re down too deep to get an accurate read on if there’s anything living there. About the only other thing I can say is that Etho was definitely there at some point recently.” Before X was even half done explaining, Tango was done beside Beef, digging through the crumbly mixture of stone and skulk.

Between the three of them they quickly broke into a smaller pocket in the rock, full of sculk and patches of wool. After Beef cleared that there were no mobs, they dropped down into the room.

Xisuma planted himself in the center of the room, panels still up, combing through the code for Etho. The other three combed over the room.

The room looked normal, empty and a bit creepy sure, but that’s just how the deep dark was. Tango didn’t realize there was anything more to it until he heard Zed’s strangled gasp. He turned and froze at the sight.

In Zed’s hands was a plain black face mask, with one of the ear straps completely broken off. It had to be Etho’s, he never went anywhere without it.

The rest of the search went by in a blur after they found Etho’s mask. Xisuma confirmed that it was definitely Etho’s, and he’d been wearing it within the last week. There was nothing else to be found in the room, nothing but traces of code. Etho had been in there just a day or two ago. There was no trace of where he went.

Tango forced himself to stay calm until he got home, not wanting to hurt his friends with his rage. His hair was already flickering, going from simple golden blonde to a glowing orange. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to set something on fire.

Even if he was careful- he’d just prefer his friend not be there to see it.

He was so angry!

They were so close!

If they hadn’t waited Etho would be home!

Tango only barely made it to the hard rock of spawn before the rest of his body followed his hair and burst into flames. He’s glad he didn’t make it all the way home, his house had too much wood for this level of rage.

Tango didn’t know how long he spent in that burning anger. At some point he must have fallen to his knees, because when he became aware of himself once more the first thing he became aware of was rapidly cooling stone under his knees and legs.

The second thing he became aware of were soft murmured words, “-okay, we’re gonna get you inside buddy, here just lean on me, let Impulse take care of you.”

He became aware of several things in short succession after that. Warm arms, wrapping around him in a comforting embrace, slowly lifting him up from the ground. The sensation of his head flames slowly extinguishing, dying back past even his normal levels. And cold, biting rain, beating down on his body, driving the warmth of his anger from the entire anger. In the wake of it, Tango felt nothing.

A wall of warmth hit him, not quite as strong as the actual wall of warmth that was holding him, but it felt hollow. He felt hollow. He remained limp in Impulse’s arms, letting him carry him wherever he wanted. It was so cold…

Some traitorous part of him thought of the way his skin froze in the lower layers of Decked Out 2, how cold Etho must be all alone down there. This could only be a portion of what Etho had suffered through at the hands of his creation.

Large, callused hands held his face and Impulse’s voice called out for him, so reluctantly Tango let his eyes flutter open. And there he was, Impulse, soaked to the bone from the rain but still smiling the moment he saw Tango. 

“There you are. When Zed said you stormed off after the raid and never came back, I didn't think I’d find you sittin’ all alone in the rain, man. You’ll extinguish yourself like that.” Impulse was gentle, even with the implied admonishments.

Tango groaned, not feeling up to speaking after the highs and lows of a rage, and turned his head, rubbing his cheek against Impulse’s palm. His skin caught a bit against the dry and cracking edges of his calluses and the heat that gathered in them was almost burning with the temperature difference from outside, but Tango only pushed against him harder. Impulse chuckled but didn’t pull away.

“Oh Tangs,” If Tango was a just more present maybe he could’ve interpreted Impulse’s tone a little better, but for now he was just focusing on how good the warmth felt, “one of these days you're going to remember that you're not alone before we get to this point.”

Their foreheads met and Tango could feel the imp horns jutting out of Impulse’s head. It was familiar and comforting, exactly what he needed right now.

“We’ll get him back buddy. I promise.”

~

It took another two weeks for them to find another lead on Etho. Xisuma had gotten some good information from the traces of Etho’s code he found below the deep dark, but it took a while to parse which direction he was taken in.

But they finally had something, and Tango refused to hesitate.

This time, with more definitive proof, an entire gaggle of hermits showed up. Bdubs was finally back, Beef was here again, False and Gem had both offered their combat skills in case they ran into a warden, and Impulse had refused to leave Tango alone, so he was coming as well.

And Xisuma was coming so that when they got Etho he could make sure he stayed safe.

The lead led them almost ten chunks beyond Decked Out’s borders, to another Deep Dark biome. But it was bigger this time, with an entire ancient city sprawling through it. This was going to take forever to go through, and Tango found himself wishing that they had brought more hermits along, to get through this faster.

False was the first one to make a plan, sitting in the tunnel entrance before the shriekers made it hard to communicate. She split them off into pairs to remove shriekers, leaving Xisuma on his own to try to find Etho. If a warden got summoned, they’d run back here and focus on bowing the warden down.

Tango didn’t know who set off the first shrieker, but the sound of Impulse cursing under his breath was stuck in his head, only barely audible under the echoing shriek. It played on echo in his head for the next minute, ringing in his ears as they searched, until a sculk tentacle took advantage of his distraction and wrapped around his leg, yanking him down off the path of wool they’d been laying down. He landed hard enough for it to send sound shooting off into the distance. A few seconds later, a shrieker went off further in front of them. Impulse sighed, but didn’t say a word, just pulling him back onto the path. They managed to get rid of that shrieker and one other that was nearby without another issue.

The third shriek came from somewhere to the east of them, closer this time. Had it been this hard to avoid the shriekers the last time he raided the deep dark? Maybe there was a reason Xisuma had tried to keep the number of hermits so low.

The clicking of wardens beneath was loud enough to hear now, foreboding and long. Just one more and the warden would emerge, and this searching would get a whole lot more complicated.

Tango watched his steps carefully. Cmon, they had to do this now, they had to get to Etho before he was taken away again. They couldn’t afford a warden right now, Tango wouldn’t let Etho slip through his fingers again!

But, as had been made extremely clear through this entire ordeal, Tango wasn’t the one in control. The fourth shrieker went off somewhere behind them and the sound of roaring and cracking earth followed it.

“Oh jeez," Impulse’s voice was strained from the stress, but he grabbed Tango’s hand and scrambled backwards, his little imp wings flaring to facilitate the fast turn, “Okay- Okay we need to get back to the others. Come on buddy, we need to hurry.”

Tango dug the heels of his boots in, “We aren’t done with this area, he could still be here.”

Impulse looked ready to growl at him, “Or he could be anywhere else. We told the others we’d come back to help fight the warden.”

“They can handle themselves; they’ll all be together. He’s alone.” This was the loudest either of them had gotten since entering the deep dark, and Tango did his best to keep his voice at a hiss instead of getting louder. The wardens were active now, they didn’t need another warden running around.

And then suddenly Impulse was close, practically on top of Tango, “He’s not alone. We’re looking for him. We’ve always been looking for him. But we need to stick to the plan, Xisuma probably knows where he is at this point, or at least a direction to look.”

Tango glared at Impulse, and was ready to pull back, when suddenly Impulse’s thick arms wrapped around his chest, pinning his arms to his side. Tango let out the start of a shriek, before digging his claws into Impulse’s arms, kicking and fighting to get loose.

Impulse didn’t even flinch, even though Tango could feel that he was taking damage. Instead, he turned, carrying Tango back to the others.

“You act like you're handling this alone.” Impulse muttered, “you aren’t the only one who cares about him, the only one looking for him. We’re a team Tangs, don’t push us away.”

Tango hissed at him, but obediently went limp as they got closer to the main area, not wanting to risk triggering anything else. He kept his eyes trained out into the darkness, the familiar pulsing of the darkness effect kicking in as they got closer to the main area and the warden. He could hear voices up ahead, but the darkness came in to totally blind him for a second, keeping him from actually seeing anything. Impulse’s steady gait kept them safe on the wool path though, not straying even though Tango knew he must have been as blind as Tango was. Voices got closer and the glow of a normal torch came into view, cutting through the darkness. The others.

Tango wiggled in Impulse’s grasp, trying to get down before they got to the others, but impulse didn’t budge. The darkness started filtering away as they approached the others and Tango could see that everyone had already made it before them. No darkness pulsed back in, so they must have made it out of range.

Thankfully Impulse dropped him once they made it to the little hole in the wall, and tango took a moment to glare at him before turning back to the others.

“Alright, who summoned the warden?” Impulse teased and even Tango had to laugh as everyone suddenly pointed a finger at Xisuma, who only glared at them.

“It caught Gem and False’s scent, so it’s a bit further away from us right now, but it’s still really close. You’re lucky, I thought for sure you’d get cut off.” Xisuma said.

“We nearly didn’t,” Impulse said, setting one of his hands on Tango’s shoulder, “the darkness got close enough that I thought we were goners for sure. 20 blocks of leeway is not a comfortable distance from a warden, even if we were only in range for a few seconds.”

The others gave some commiserating sounds of distress. The darkness effect was scary just for the blindness, but the implication of closeness that came with it was almost worse.

Craaack

The sudden sound of stone and sculk splitting to another warden cut off further conversation. They all turned to stare at each other. There couldn’t be another warden, not unless something was out there to summon it and sculk had a hard time activating for anything but players. But all of them were already present. The only player who would be anywhere close…

Bdubs came to the realization first, shooting out of their bolt hole like a bullet out of a gun, and Tango wasn’t far behind him.

“ETHO!” he shouted, not caring about the wardens in the frenzy. This was the closest they'd been to Etho in weeks, he wasn’t giving this up. “ETHO WE’RE HERE, WHERE ARE YOU?”

There was nothing but a distant roar, and Tango immediately turned towards it. The second warden would’ve spawned near Etho, so that would give them a good starting point. Unfortunately, that put them directly in the path of the first path, which had wandered closer to the bolt area in search of them. Darkness began to pulse across his vision, to prove the proximity.

In front of him, Bdubs skittered around the edge of the warden’s range, jumping from one wool block to the next, surprisingly graceful for a man of his diminished stature. Tango decided on a more direct path, he didn’t think he could make those jumps, not with the darkness.

‘Just like avoiding an iron golem,’ Tango thought, ‘just a lot bigger and stronger.’

He jumped around the warden’s waving arms, sliding around a hit, just close enough to feel it brush past his netherite armor. Darkness pulsed across his vision again, but he didn’t let it slow him down. He had to get out of range, and he’d be safe to find Etho. In a straight shot a player could easily outrun just about any mob, even the warden. He just needed to get that straight shot first.

Tango pushed his strides just a bit longer, throwing himself out of range as much as he could while staying on his feet, and kept running once his feet hit wool. Behind him the warden roared at the lost prey.

He kept running, soon getting to the central area where Xisuma had been. His eyes caught on the faint glow of a shrieker just beyond the boundaries of the area. That must have been what got him. Now where was Etho?

Tango wasn’t paying attention to where he was running as he scanned his surroundings for Etho or the warden he summoned. So, he didn’t see when Bdubs came to a dead stop right in front of him. They collided like a car crash and only Bdubs’s strong core kept them from falling to the ground.

“What the h-!” Bdubs’s arm flailed up and he slapped his hand over Tango’s mouth, effectively shutting him up. His other hand came up to point across the main plaza area.

Tango looked directly ahead, and the first thing he saw was a teal glow, tall and dark. His brain immediately caught onto the threat, a warden.

Great! Wonderful! That must be Etho’s warden! Why are they stopping?

It took a moment for his brain to see what else Bdubs had seen. The longer he focused in on the warden, the more things seemed off. For some reason there was green.

Tango blinked. There couldn’t be green. Nothing was green in the deep dark, nothing but players. Definitely not a warden.

Tango pulled away from Bdubs and crept closer to the mysterious warden. It was shorter than most wardens, thinner too. It was the standard deep navy blue of a warden, covered in lighter pulsating spots, but there was a lone shock of white on its head. Its back was turned, and it was sniffing the air, but its antler things were smaller than the other warden’s antlers.

The most damning evidence though, was the source of the green. It was hung over the warden’s torso, almost pierced through by the rough white growths on it’s arms. Like they had grown while the warden was wearing it.

Tango came to a horrible realization.

“Etho?”

The warden’s head turned, and Tango was frozen as their eyes locked. Or. Should’ve locked.

Because while he was staring straight at Etho, and he was looking in the direction of his eyes, Etho had no eyes to stare into. Navy and white swirled hair draped long over his face, but Tango could catch glimpses, there was nothing underneath. Only hair and his wide, empty mouth.

“Taaaaannggo?” Etho’s voice was cracked and deeper than Tango remembered, likely from disuse and- everything that happened to him.

Tango stumbled forward, but with the confirmation Bdubs was even faster. He launched himself past Tango, scrambling over the rough terrain to get to Etho. Tango followed a moment later at a slightly more cautious speed.

“ETHO!” Bdubs’s shouting was shrill but warranted as he threw himself into Etho’s arms. Etho stiffened at the sudden noise and touch but relaxed into Bdubs’s arms.

“Beeeeduus.” Etho’s voice collapsed into a crackling drone, but Tango nodded encouragingly.

“Yeah, Bdubs, and Tango, and Xisuma and Beef and others are around here too. We’re going to get you out of here Etho, you’re going to be okay.” Tango said and watched with mild horror as one of Etho’s antlers swung towards him as he talked.

“Beeeefeers?”

Tango nodded, and then hummed in acknowledgment when that got nothing from Etho, “Yeah, yeah Beef’s with us too. So, this is going excellent. They’re being slow, but everyone’s waiting back home for you Etho. Xisuma’s gonna be here soon and he’ll get us all back home.”

“Home.”

It was the most normal sounding word Etho had spoken thus far, and Tango couldn’t help but laugh with relief. “Yeah. Home. Just a little longer Etho.”

~

The two months Etho were gone were the worst, most stressful months of Tango’s life. The two months after he was found were- honestly still pretty stressful, but significantly better.

Xisuma’s fears had been right, Etho had been disconnected from the respawn network, which was Terror of the Fying variety. But after a bit of bug testing and some consultation off world for the coding, he got everything fixed and Etho was now very safe from any more threats.

The wardenification wasn’t so easily fixed. A good scrub and some messing around with the code got rid of most of the staining, though his hair remained pretty stubbornly navy. He wore it long now, without bothering to tie it up. It was striking enough that it made it hard to focus on where Etho’s eyes were supposed to be.

They were just gone. The scar that had crossed over his left eye was still there, but now it continued across the empty expanse of skin over his eye sockets. Etho couldn’t see how unsettling it was, but it was clear someone had let it slip, because he seemed pretty ashamed of it at times.

Xisuma had been contacting people off world for Etho. Both people familiar with warden and hybrid code, and people who specialized in orientation and movement, for blind people. Because that’s what Etho was. Permanently. Etho didn’t seem too bugged by it, mostly just joked about not needing much help with the orientation part, just make a noise and he could orient himself perfectly fine, but Beef had said he was worried about how Etho was getting used to his cane. He was easily overwhelmed by the repeating tap tap tap it made as he used it, and they had yet to find an option that muffled the sound to a good level for him and still let him hear it vibrate against different surfaces.

At least Etho seemed to be liking his Antlers. Apparently, they'd been the last thing to grow in, within the last two weeks of his capture. Tango wanted to feel bad that they couldn’t stop it but honestly all he could feel was relief that the next stage hadn’t started. Etho’s situation wasn’t exactly common, but it wasn’t totally unique either. Tango had done his research when they got Etho back and it, it was bad. Bad with extra badness. After the antlers grow out to a usable length, the chest opens up and the soul emerges, at which point playerhood is unrecoverable. Even a week longer and they would’ve lost Etho forever.

But they did make it on time. And Tango just had to focus on that. They all survived.

Etho was home.

#etho #ethoslab #fanfiction #do2 #decked out 2 #hermitcraft #tango #tangotek #impulsesv #i seriously didn't mean to be as long as it was #this fanfic is dedicated to whoever wrote the “has a desire to possess him” tags #this is your fault #also to my long suffering partner who betad this in three separate sections while i was still writing it #do2 is kindaaaa .... about etho #its definitely not a good guy here #tango is quite mad at it #come say hi to me on ao3! #this is my 50th fic there!

[saline-coelacanth]

I started thinking about the Storm Vessel Au, but more specifically the aftermath of everything and how much trauma Jay probably has after everything is over.

First of all, this boy is so touch starved. I haven't fully figured out the timeframe of everything, but he wasn't the Storm Vessel for a short time. He was like that for a few months at the minimum. And being made out of pure lightning energy meant he couldn't touch anyone because it would hurt them. So when he's back to normal and he actually can touch people again, he would probably end up becoming really clingy for a while because he hasn't been able to touch anyone or cuddle or anything like that for MONTHS.

Another thing Jay would probably end up dealing with is needing to practice restraint with his powers. I am a firm believer of the "Jay constantly holds back with his powers" theory/headcanon, and when he was the Storm Vessel, he lost any restraint that he had taught himself. Even when he was in blue form, his power had become so strong and out of control that he could not restrain it. So when he's back to normal, I think it makes sense that it would take some time for him to relearn everything and for a while, he'd be pretty dangerous and a bit of a hazard to the others.

And also adding that to the whole him being touch starved thing, Jay would probably end up shocking the others a lot on accident. Mainly when he gets touched without expecting it, he would probably end up shocking them a little bit, not anything major, but enough that Jay would feel bad about it. I can also imagine a scene where Jay has a nightmare, because let's be real, he would definitely have reoccurring nightmares over the Storm Vessel stuff, and he ends up waking up screaming, so one of the others, (probably Cole because bruiseshipping owns my heart) goes to check on him and try to calm him down. But when they try to comfort him physically, Jay just starts freaking out even more, telling them to get away before he hurts them, only to be reassured that everything's ok and he isn't the Storm Vessel anymore and they just hug him for a while until he calms down. (Maybe I'll write a short one shot of this scene idk I just like the idea a lot)

But yeah, those are just some of my thoughts about how Jay would handle things after turning back to normal since I haven't really discussed any of the aftermath type stuff yet.

#ninjago #lego ninjago #storm vessel au #jay walker

[inventors-fair]

Second Spellings: Runners-Up ~

Our runners-up this week are @bergdg, @helloijustreadyourpost, and @hypexion!

@bergdg — The Great Conjuration

I don't really know where blue and green became the shapeshifteryest of shapeshifter colors (or rather, I get the gist because blue = mutability and green = nature). When you have these together, though, you get a card like this which is really damn sweet. This card obviously puts a massive target on your back, but if you go fast enough, you can ensure that the power behind your creatures can swing fully and completely. Or rather, that you have at least one explosive turn. Having all the cards be exiled can be a feel-bad, but there are great ways to exploit this and even better ways that this card is just plain fun.

For example: naming Eldrazi allows you to cast Emrakul off a Blisterpod. Honestly, do I need to name any other examples after that? I think that the only major revision I would make would be for the last ability to say "You may cast any number of cards exiled with ~ this turn without paying their mana costs." I'm not sure where you got the "one or more" wording from, but hey, that's a small issue for such a fun card. It's extremely narrow and more often than not feels like it would be a glass cannon—so yeah, perfectly reasonable for what the conjuration is implying, right? Side note: amazing art skills there. The mood conveys the gist conveys the extremity.

@helloijustreadyourpost — Sky Dancer

I like the Shakespeare reference in the flavor text, and I think it speaks to some kind of faerie perspective that's not quite translatable to human thought—or at least that feels like the intention, the way that the fae see the world. That is to say, I like both the simplicity and the ambiguity. It's actually tied with the effect for the card, which is a potentially quite powerful effect at common! I can't think of any specific effects with which it's broken, at least not at the moment.

So what you have is the ability to swing in with your fliers and then be on the defense, plus if you have any flash synergy you can utilize that to make combat harder for your opponents. All checks out. Cast triggers at common aren't the easiest to grok, but at the same time, this effect doesn't use too much complex space because of no inherent tap ability; I'm thinking of how my students sometimes get juked out with weird Thermo-Alchemist triggers, y'know. By itself, it's a card that does just what Faeries want to do at common, and I think that the only possible change I'd make would be to make it a 1/2, and even that's negligible. Solid common design!

@hypexion — Distortion Skitterer

As an uncommon? You're treading hazardous ground... But, it's a seven-mana 4/4 so that's honestly not so bad. Making additional 4/4s with trample is pretty nasty and you do get one on cast, but holy crap, that's still really fun to play, and fairly limiting all things considered. The amount of times that this would've come up in OGW limited would be pretty little, which is reasonable, but getting two of them or getting just one trigger off would be pretty nasty. Considering that MH3 is going to have even more? Wow. I think that the double-C is quite reasonable for the setup.

Honestly this card speaks for itself—the power level is comparable to the more powerful uncommons of its era, it's an Eldrazi that makes more Eldrazi, and you've got a pretty reasonable wording to show how nuts it can be. FYI, the cast trigger for other spells would actually be its own thing, e.g. "When you cast this spell and whenever you cast a spell with {C} in its mana cost..." I believe you don't have to specify "on the battlefield" because, like Cityscape Leveler, it implies the zone with the wording on the trigger. That said, it's fairly complex, so I understand if things got finicky. Flavor text is a solid B+, too! Just remember to put the period inside the quotation marks. I guess a runner-up flavor would've been Zurdi saying that they missed the scute bugs.

Commentary soon! @abelzumi

#mtg #magic the gathering #custom magic card #inventor's fair #runners up #cast trigger contest

[sugdenlovesdingle]

This was supposed to be a short little thing for @tarlosweeklyprompts word of the day Apology... but then it suddenly became more than 2000 words. Oops?

Clark Kent (AO3)

Carlos in those glasses in 4x09 was giving me major Clark Kent vibes, but they were different from the ones he wore last season. This is why. (And if the show ever says something else - no they don't)

---

“How about these?” TK took a pair of glasses from the display and put them on Carlos’ face. “They suit you.”

Carlos looked in the mirror and frowned at his reflection.

“I don’t know…”

He put the frames back on the display.

“I think I’ll just see if they can fix the ones I’ve got.”

“Why? It’s the perfect opportunity for an upgrade. You’ve had these for as long as I’ve known you. And knowing you, you’ve had them even longer.”

“Yeah, well… They do what they’re supposed to!” Carlos protested, not wanting to admit defeat.

TK rolled his eyes at him and turned his attention back to the display.

“How about these? They’re fun!”

Carlos looked at the brightly coloured monstrosity TK had picked out and put his hand up to stop him from putting them on his face.

“No. Just no. Do I look like Elton John to you?”

“No… but I have to look at you wearing them. And I think something fun like this would suit you.”

“Do you think bad taste in eyewear would be considered irreconcilable differences as grounds for divorce?”

“Funny.” TK muttered under his breath as he followed Carlos to the counter.

“Good afternoon, can I help you?” the store clerk greeted them.

Carlos took his glasses case out of his pocket and opened it.

“I was hoping you’d be able to fix these?”

The woman winced when she saw the state of Carlos’ glasses.

“What happened?”

“Occupational hazard.” Carlos said, keeping it vague.

Next to him TK had to bite his lip so he wouldn’t say anything, or worse, laugh.

“What do you do?”

“I’m a cop.”

“Oh. Did they break when you were chasing a bad guy? Or had to fight someone?”

“Yeah… something like that.”

The woman nodded and carefully lifted up Carlos’ glasses.

“Well I can send them to our specialists and see what they can do… I’m afraid the damage is too severe for me to try and fix in store.”

“Ok. How long would that take?”

“Hard to say. We’re short staffed at the moment so everything takes longer than we’d like.”

“How about an estimate?”

“A few weeks probably. Maybe longer.” The woman replied and put the glasses back in the case. “I’m sorry. Do you have a spare pair?”

“Uh yeah… old ones. The prescription has changed since I got those…”

“When was the last time you got your prescription checked? It’s recommended you get your eyes tested at least every two years.”

“I can see fine.” Carlos said, sensing where the conversation would be going and shutting it down right away. “If you send these to the specialists today, do you think they’ll be ready by the 15th?”

“I can ask them to try… but I can’t make any promises.”

Carlos sighed.

“Alright.”

“If you would order a whole new pair they’d be ready in a week and if you get an eye test here, I can offer you a 20% discount.”

“That’s a good deal isn’t it, babe?” TK tried. “You could have a look around for an upgrade. We could even put it on my insurance. It covers spouses too.”

Carlos narrowed his eyes at him.

“Is that what you were doing on the computer this morning? Checking your policy?”

“Maybe…”

“APD insurance covers it too. And the department knows you don’t need glasses.”

“If you want to look around, we have the most popular men’s frames in the display over there, and the whole left side is our men’s department.” The woman told them. “But of course you’re welcome to look around on the women’s side too.” She added quickly. “If you need any help or advice, just let me know.”

“Right. Thank you.” Carlos said and wearily eyed the wall of frames. “Maybe we should just go home. I can wear my old ones while I wait for these to be done.” He told TK.

“Come on, we came all the way out here on our day off. Let’s just have a look around. Maybe you’ll find some you like.” TK said and dragged a reluctant Carlos over to the ‘most popular’ display.

“I just want something simple. I’ll mostly just wear them at home anyway.”

“Ok. Simple. Got it.”

“Do you? I remember what your father came up with when we wanted simple for the wedding…”

“And that turned out fine in the end, didn’t it?” TK picked a pair of frames from the display. The lenses were bigger than Carlos’ current glasses and the frame was a dark blue colour. He put them on Carlos’ face. “This would go nicely with your uniform. It’s almost the same colour.”

“I don’t need anything to go with my uniform because I won’t be wearing them at work.” Carlos argued. He looked in the mirror and had to admit they didn’t look too bad. “I don’t know about these. They’re kind of big.” He put them back and looked around for something smaller.

“These are about the same size as your old ones.” TK held up a pair of thin silver frames that made the lenses seem like they were floating.

Carlos put them on. He liked them, they were similar to the ones he currently wore and he supposed he looked good in them.

“They look kind of fragile though.” He said and he and TK shared a look before putting them back.

“Yeah… you need something more sturdy.” TK agreed and picked another pair from the display.

“No.” Carlos said right away. “Aviators? Really?”

“Just try them on! I just want to see how they look on you.” TK pleaded. “They’re Armani.”

“They’re ugly.” Carlos argued but put them on to humour his husband.

TK bit his lip to stop himself from laughing.

“Yeah… no. This… isn’t it.”

Carlos looked in the mirror and groaned before taking them off.

“They make me look like a serial killer.”

TK laughed.

“Maybe a little.”

They kept browsing the store and TK made Carlos try on just about every pair in the collection, and even trying on some himself.

“Yes. These are perfect.” He said as he put what Carlos had insisted would be the last pair on his husband’s face. “You look amazing in these baby.”

“You’re my husband, you’re supposed to say that.”

TK took his phone out of his pocket and snapped a quick picture.

“Let’s ask the gang then. Or your mom.”

“No, don’t do that.” Carlos groaned and grabbed TK’s phone from his hands. “They’ll see it eventually. Maybe.”

“Ok then we’ll ask the expert.” TK decided and walked back over to the counter. “Excuse me, could we get your professional opinion on these? I think he looks great in them, but my husband seems to think I’m biased.”

The woman gave them a friendly smile and took a good look at Carlos.

“I think they look very nice. May I?” she asked, raising her hands towards Carlos’ face. He nodded and she carefully checked the way the temples fit his face and the bridge and nose pads fit his nose. “If you want these, we’d only have to make minimal adjustments to the fit.”

“See babe? They’re made for you.” TK reasoned.

Carlos took them off and turned them over in his hands.

“I suppose I do like them…” he looked at the price tag. “And they fit my insurance budget…”

“So… you’ll take them?”

“Yeah… Yes, I’ll take them.”

“Excellent choice.” The store clerk said and took them frames from him. “I’ll go set everything up for your eye test, I’ll come get you when I’m done.” She said and left them alone.

“You really do look great in them baby. You could even wear them all the time, instead of just at home.”

“Maybe.” Carlos replied. He didn’t like wearing his glasses outside of their home, and definitely not at work. He preferred the freedom of his contact lenses.

TK smiled and stepped closer to him, slipping his arms around his waist.

“I know you don’t like wearing them around people that aren’t me… but you have absolutely nothing to feel self-conscious about.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss to Carlos’ lips. “You look hot in them. You’re my Clark Kent.”

Carlos smiled.

“Don’t even go there. The superman references is what got us here in the first place.”

~ 14 hours earlier ~

“Alone at last.” TK said, sliding the loft door shut behind his dad. “I’m really going to have to teach my dad to call before coming over from now on.”

“Yeah.” Carlos agreed. “Dinner with your dad talking about police codes really wasn’t what I had in mind for tonight.”

“Same here.” TK pushed himself off the wall next to the door. “How am I supposed to focus on conversation when you’re sitting there, looking like that.” He motioned at Carlos’ outfit.

Carlos smirked.

“I wasn’t planning on you focusing on other things when I put it on.”

“Well… mission accomplished.” TK ran his hands up Carlos’ arms to his shoulders and down his chest. “You look so hot in this shirt… I’ve wanted to take it off you all night.”

“I’m not stopping you.”

TK bit his lip as he slowly undid the buttons on Carlos’ shirt and pulled it free from his jeans.

“You’re wearing too many layers.” He mumbled.

“For you. You love unwrapping presents.”

“Hmm… true.” TK pushed Carlos’ shirt off his shoulders and crowded him against the kitchen island.

Carlos’ own hands had started wandering and slipped under TK’s sweater, pushing it up and yanking it over his head, dropping it on the floor somewhere near his own shirt.

“That sweater is way too nice for dinner with your dad.”

“It was for dinner with my husband. And dessert.” TK said and let Carlos take control and turn them around so his back was against the counter instead.

Carlos hands came up to his neck and he pulled him close and finally kissed him, the way he’d wanted to ever since he’d gotten out of the shower after his shift.

“We should take this to the bedroom.” Carlos suggested when they broke the kiss but TK shook his head and made quick work of Carlos’ t-shirt before pulling him back in for another kiss.

Their kisses soon heated up and TK hooked one leg around Carlos’ to pull him even closer.

“Babe…” Carlos panted between kisses. “Bed.”

TK groaned but let Carlos hoist him up and he wrapped his legs around his waist.

“I love how strong you are. You’re like superman.” He babbled.

“If I’m superman, you’re my kryptonite.” Carlos mumbled, not really paying attention but focused on getting TK to their bed.

Only halfway there he decided the sofa was good enough and put TK down and joined him on there.

“You know kryptonite can kill superman, right?” TK said and Carlos had to resist rolling his eyes at his husband.

“You’re going to be the death of me if you don’t kiss me right now.” He said and TK was more than happy to comply.

He shifted so he was sitting sideways on the sofa and pulled Carlos down on top of him between his open legs.

Carlos kissed his way up TK’s chest to his lips and let TK pull him with him when he lay back against the armrest.

Suddenly they heard a crunching noise from underneath TK’s back and they both froze.

“What was that?” Carlos mumbled and TK reached underneath himself.

“Oh no…”

“What?”

“I am so sorry baby. I forgot that was here.”

Carlos sat back on his heels as TK sat up but kept his hand behind his back.

“Babe… what is it?”

“I’m really sorry. I should have checked. I should have gone to the bedroom with you when you asked. I’m sorry.”

“TK. Tyler. What’s in your hand?” Carlos said, using TK’s full name as a way to snap him out of his spiral.

“I’m so sorry…” he said again and slowly removed his hand from behind his back and showed Carlos exactly what had gotten crushed underneath him.

“My glasses.”

#911 lone star #tarlos #tarlos fic #twpmarchdailyword #tk strand #carlos reyes

[aspergerasparagus]

Swan Song Ch.1

P encounters a new guests at the Hotel, pity they weren't as welcoming as the others had been...

(PxMale OC fanfic cos. Oh no.)

The rain was already starting to fall again as the puppet made his way back to Hotel Krat. Although he couldn’t feel the chill the rain should bring, it was still unpleasant nonetheless, wet clothes hindered his movements and the cobbled streets of Krat made an excellent slip hazard when they were soaked. He would need to make sure he changed as soon as he got in or risk a lecture from his Father about leaving puddles around the hotel or possibly causing rust or something to the legion arm. Glancing back once more towards the city of Krat to make sure no stragglers had decided to follow him, the puppet pushed open the heavy wooden doors of the hotel. He was greeted by the usual warm and inviting atmosphere as he entered, or what he had been told was the feeling one was meant to experience. Placing his sword down by the entrance he prised the sodden coat from his shoulders, giving it a quick shake, as he had seen others do, before he started to head towards his Father’s office to see if he had any other tasks for him and to change. He had barely made it a few steps before a familiar polite robotic voice called out to him.

“Welcome back good Sir. I’m sure you didn’t encounter too many trials this evening?” Polendina spoke warmly as he turned to face his fellow puppet. Pino merely nodded his head, confirming that tonight had gone without any major inconveniences. Unlike the concierge of the Hotel Krat, who could speak freely and unabated, Pino seemed to lack any voice. Maybe an oversight in his creation or maybe his Father believed he didn’t need to waste time with idle chit chat but the hotel residents had grown accustomed to it.

“That is good to hear, the sooner the frenzy is dealt with the sooner this terrible ordeal will be over with. Oh, also on the subject of good news, we received another guest who was able to make their way to the Hotel. Apparently they had heard that it was a safe place which the puppets wouldn’t be able to breach.” Polendina’s bright tone faltered ever so slightly as he relayed the news, causing Pino to cock his head slightly. Any survivor should be a cause for celebration but it seemed something was on the other puppet’s mind. As if noticing this, Polendina let out a small sigh, his head glancing up to where, Pino presumed, Lady Antonia was staying most likely reminiscing over her portrait, as if he didn’t want her to overhear him.

“The truth is Sir, that the new guest is causing me some… concerns.” Speaking hesitantly, the puppet toyed with its hands as he seemed to try to come up with the right words but to not speak ill of a human. “Outwardly he has been nothing but a gentleman to the other guests who have taken refuge within the Hotel, especially towards Lady Antonia. But I do feel a certain… hostility towards myself and Pulcinella. Of course this is to be expected to some degree given the circumstances, but I feel it might be something to be wary of.” Concern had wandered into the puppet’s voice as he spoke. Taking his words to mind, Pino nodded and saw the concierge relax slightly, seemingly put more at ease. That was until a snide voice called out from behind them.

“I thought puppets were not able to talk bad about humans, but apparently the frenzy even caused those not out killing to lose their manners. How unsightly.” The puppets looked up in unison as a figure stood over them, leering down at them from the floor above. The new guest had been eavesdropping them it seemed and had now found it a good time to introduce himself. Giving them a coy grin he headed their way, the walking stick he carried making a dull thump as it collided with the wooden floors of the hotel. “There is me thinking that a puppet of your status, would know not to talk about guests behind their back, Mr Concierge. That is something a human would do and we are all aware that you are very much not that. Shouldn’t you be above idle gossip and all that?” He spoke with an arrogant tone as he talked down to the puppet, who merely remained impassive not allowing his words to affect him.

As he reached them, Pino could now make out the new guests more clearly. He was a blonde gentleman, with soft curls that cascaded down into a loose ponytail that draped over his shoulder. He wore fine clothes, those fit for someone of a noble bloodline, that had obviously been tailored for him and well taken care of, and in his hand he carried an unusual walking stick. But what drew Pino’s attention the most was the face of the stranger before him, if it was not for the obnoxious grin plastered on it, Pino would have called him handsome. Soft features, delicate eyelashes and piercing gray eyes, he was surely someone who could turn heads, if that was the correct use of the phrase he had learnt from Venigni.

Stopping in front of the puppet himself, Pino found himself being inspected, the guests looking him up and down as if he was some sort of curio on display. Nothing more than an object. He didn’t even react when the man grabbed him by his chin, tilting his head slightly to get a better look at him. It didn’t bother him. Why should it? He was a puppet, just a robot with a purpose who just happened to look more human than the others of his kind.

“Such a pity that a handsome face like this was wasted on a puppet. Still it must make it easier to pretend amongst the real humans that you are one. A wolf in sheep’s clothing I believe is the appropriate saying?” The snide jab merely passed over Pino. The man could say what he wanted, it didn’t matter to him. Humming to himself the man turned on his heel as he headed towards the stairs. “Pretty little puppet, shame there’s nothing much going on upstairs. Really Mr Concierge, you should teach him some words. It’s rude to not speak when spoken to you know.” Stopping on the top of the stairs he glanced back over his shoulder a cruel smile playing on his lips as his eyes narrowed dangerously at Pino. “Have him teach you my name at least okay? I prefer to be addressed as Mr Swan. See if you can do that for me okay my pretty little puppet.”

And with that the man, known as Mr Swan disappeared up the stairs towards the depths of the hotel leaving the two puppets alone.

#my writing #lies of p #pinocchio #lies of p oc

[comicaurora]

How long have you been sitting on Dragon Tynan?

Oh buddy, it was rough. I really didn't wanna spoil it.

The idea of Tynan's second healthbar involving turning into a dragon was sort of a mid-game concept - well before the storyboarding, but after the broad-strokes arc timeline was complete. Fight choreography is a much more granular part of storytelling than almost anything else - tiny details and small character choices can wildly reshape the scene - so I've learned not to try to pre-plan the specific details of fight scenes too hard before I reach the storyboarding stage. Big fights like this one usually involve a broad-strokes "the team assembles, they fight" plan, and then once I start sketching out the boards I lay out the actual specifics of the character movements and choreography.

While I was working out the general timeline for the Tynan fight, the first issue I ran into was that Erin's plan for beating him would work. They really could just sling enough fire at Tynan to weaken him, drive him back, etc. This would be slow and tedious and wouldn't make for an interesting spectacle, and it wouldn't give the other characters any real opportunities to show off, but it would work unless Tynan found a way to stop it.

So Tynan needed a countermeasure for Erin's war-of-attrition strategy. He tried taking out Erin directly, but Kendal and Tess did too good a job of protecting him to make that viable. He could just wait them out, since they get tired and wounded and he doesn't, but that's not interesting to watch either.

More than that, Tynan was going to realize that he couldn't just repeat his last big win and expect it to have the same impact. In Tynan's head, his terror strategy worked every time but one, so there was no reason to think it wouldn't work again now that Vash wasn't there to spoil his party - but between his dawning realization that his strategy wasn't working how he wanted it to, his growing fury at mortals genuinely managing to fight him, and Kendal's insight that Vash defeating him was not seen as a one-time fluke but an inspiring victory that completely changed how Tynan was perceived, Tynan would conclude that he'd need to get creative.

Now there are a lot of ways Tynan could do that, but it is important to remember that Tynan is a basic bitch who relies on theatricality and tropes. What would he do to make himself scarier and more dangerous? What every basic bitch bad guy would do: turn himself into a dragon.

Tynan always had one major well-established tactical advantage over the good guys: his body was decorative and very flexible. He previously mostly used that for the "you are helpless to stop me, your weapons do nothing" gambit while letting his storm do the terrorizing, but against people like Erin and Tess who favor overwhelming force, that strategy is ineffective. He's never had to actually worry about the people he's terrorizing being able to hurt him in any way before. So while it takes him more work, he can make himself the biggest, strongest thing on the battlefield, crush their resistance, and then go back to his old playbook of overwhelming wrath of nature stuff.

So I knew I was gonna make Tynan a dragon and it was gonna totally tilt the fight back the other way. And as the story built up to it, I became very confident that this was the right call, because I think until now my story has been worfing the gods a little bit. I mean, I started the story with a god losing. Tynan is the first god we've met who's actually shown to be in any way dangerous, but because his body is decorative and he really can't beat Kendal in a straight fight, Tynan just seemed like an environmental hazard with a punchable face - because functionally that's what he was. Plus, Erin's confidence and own OP-ness started affecting the audience. I saw people genuinely expecting the fight to be over in a few pages, as if I would really let the arc-ending bossfight fizzle out because Erin had one idea.

So on a large scale, it was very important to let Tynan turn into a dragon, because it forever establishes in the story what exactly godhood means. I can talk all I want about divine oversouls and sentinels and domains, but sometimes you just gotta let the character say "fuck it" and turn that theoretical power into something tangible, like a giant lightning dragon.

Fun fact, though, Erin blowing himself up was a surprise. I knew he was gonna be out of commission after Tynan snagged him but it wasn't until I started boarding that page that I realized, yeah, Erin would absolutely blow himself up if it meant flipping one last megaton bird.

Good work, team!

#asks #behind the curtain #aurora

[thenixkat]

[Contains some spoilers]

More Early Riser!Tallmen au

Laios thinks his winter coat is boring. His fur is a few shades darker than his hair with white fur on his belly. No stripes or spots or cool patterns. He keeps his hair trimmed and stays clean shaven even after his coat grows in bc he refuses to look like a clone of his father.

Falin's winter coat has a diluted calico pattern. She gets a little smug about it when she notices that Laios is jealous of her. Post canon the parts of her body that don't grow feathers will still grow fur and her feather parts grow a thick layer of down feathers when it gets colder.

Falin and Laios share a room in a cheap old dormatorium that they make their year-round residence when not going on expeditions in the dungeon.

Toshiro's coat is dark grey with a white belly. His attempts to get Falin to spend the winter with him are stymied by the fact that every time he extends an invitation Laios is there and very excited to winter with him.

Kabru's coat is black and tan and curly like his hair. Due to being quite charming with a lot of people infatuated with him or otherwise willing to extend favors, Kabru has an easy time packing on weight for winter hibernation. He tends to winter with Rin. To help fall asleep he listens to audiobooks on wax cylinders on the day-to-day economics of the major cities of the world.

Kabru, Rin, Toshiro, and Toshiro's tallmen retainers live at the same higher-end dormatorium on the island but live at opposite ends of the building and rarely run into each other.

Kiki and Kaka have black winter coats with Kaka having a more blueish tone to his fur than his sister and Kiki having white spots on her belly and chest. They have no memory of ever wintering or aestivating in a dormatorium. Since they were adopted by the Flokes they hibernate at home. Magic circles keep their rooms at the correct temperatures when they hibernate.

The half-foot union has dominated the dormatorum custodian roles on the Island and even won hazard pay from the Lord of the Island. During winter when adventuring slows down by a lot due to every party that is majority tallmen or tallman led having to stop for the season, custodian work is the thing for half-foots to fall back on.

Chilchuck has been the head winter custodian of the dormatorium that Falin and Laios live in for longer than they've known him. He's survived two occasions where he'd been attacked by disoriented early risers trying to eat him.

Due to being a cat beastkin Izutsumi doesn't need to hibernate and has difficulting staying asleep for more than a week or two at a time. She finds the experience to be alienating.

Marcille grows a thin coat of white fur on her back in the fall and tends to put on a few dozen extra pounds around winter. She's quick to try and lose it come spring. And will try not to gain it in the first place if she's expecting to spend a lot of time with elves that aren't her mom.

Due to the seasonal plumpness and fur growth, folks figure out that she's a half-elf a lot faster.

Marcille often visits Falin (and by technicality since they share a room, Laios as well) during the winter and will comb her fur or read out loud to her when she's feeling lonely after coming to the Island.

Since they won't die from starvation but will sleep if it's cold enough, Thistle takes advantage of being able to control the climate of his dungeon when the citizens of the Golden Country start getting unruly and trying to escape. He doesn't keep it cold the whole time b/c inevitably the cold weather will bring back unpleasant memories (even if those memories started having holes in them as to why they made him feel bad)

If you ask Nemari if thigh squish from leather pouches on plumper tallmen legs does anything for her, she'll turn red and refuse to comment.

One of the reasons that Nemari left the Touden party was to try and join a party with fewer tallmen on it to have a longer work season.

Since the meat of the plot is set in March, Laios, Falin, and the other tallmen still have their fur coats though since they've recently woken up from hibernation they don't have much fat on them. Laios notably puts on some weight from eating Senshi's cooking.

#nix meows #spoilers #dungeon meshi #early riser au #early riser!tallmen

[meadowmines]

RGG Tactics Who's Who

"Beefgnaw, who the fuck are all these Yakuza OCs you keep posting about"

Here you go. List will be updated as the story gets hashed out.

Hiroshi Aoyagi (aka Sojiro Amano): the protagonist of RGG Tactics. A Majima Family man with a knack for turning restaurants into licenses to print money. General manager of Kiwami Cafe in Kamurocho and later Neko-Kai Cafe in Sotenbori. A little guy with a big mouth. Loyal to a fault and stubborn as shit. Nishida's oath brother. Later forced to be Majima Construction's chief of safety and compliance and he hates every second of it.

Eiji Yamaoka: A Nishikiyama Family hitman who presents himself as a protective big brother to Aoyagi, but neither Aoyagi nor the audience are fooled by his bullshit. Clean and methodical on the clock, charming and outgoing on his own time, rarely seen without at least one pretty girl on his arm.

Yusuke Kuroshi/Homare Nishitani II: Current patriarch of the Kijin Clan, retainer to the Omi Alliance chairman, chairman of the Sotenbori Civic Association's Board of Directors, and legendary info broker. By all appearances, the exact opposite of his predecessor. Cold, calculating, refined, sometimes cruel, always in control. Or... almost always. If you've read "It's All About the Bit" you've met him.

Keiichi Sugihara (Kei-chan): Nishitani II's better half, Civic Association member, owner of a video game store with a slightly illegal console chop shop in the back room, tech hobbyist who believes in better ass-kicking through technology.

Nobuaki Chiba: Kijin Clan lieutenant. Very intimidating if you don't know him. Kind of intimidating if you do know him, but for the most part he's Just A Guy who likes beer and fried shit and sportsball and throwing some good old fashioned hands in the street. Aoyagi's first friend in Sotenbori.

Shigeo "Doc" Nakamura: A doctor working for the Sotenbori Civic Association. Nobody's a hundred percent sure he actually has a license to practice but he does good work and he doesn't ask uncomfortable questions.

Shiori Hanada: A hostess at Club Sunshine who personally puts the fear of God into some asshole who's been snapping covert hostess foot pics under the tables and selling them on the street. She later goes to work at Cabaret Grand after Sunshine's current owner becomes too shitty a boss to stand.

Daikichi "b0ngl0rd69" Tomita: A friend(?) of Sugihara's who makes him look downright normal about games by comparison. Walks around Sotenbori with an honest to God gunblade. Is absolutely aware that the number in his handle has some... connotations in English.

Akemi "Crystal Star Sapphire" Sakurai: A hostess at Jewel in Kamurocho who moonlights at a magical girl-themed cosplay bar. She is an engineering major at Touto University who combines her technical knowhow with her prop-building skill to create ice-based weapons that are as dangerous (and possibly illegal) as they are pretty.

Minoru "Unlucky" Uchida: A string of poor life choices starting on the morning of his 42nd birthday have rendered him the unluckiest yakuza alive. Every single time his turn comes up, he will get hit by a random environmental hazard--and usually one with splash damage. His only real use in battle is to be sent into the middle of enemy formations like a laser-guided misfortune missile.

Torahiko Kogawa: Cat cafe mogul and terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad person. The antagonist of the Cat Cafe Grand Prix sideplot.

Yashiro Noguchi: CEO of Millennium Holdings in Sendai, currently being blackmailed by someone connected to his former boss.

Miyuki: Mysteriously dumped at the animal shelter in the dead of night and subsequently entrusted to Aoyagi's care as his first cafe cat. Pure white with the prettiest deep blue eyes. Magnificently fluffy, amazingly sociable, and stone deaf.

Ryo Amon: Personal chef to the Amon Clan, challenges Aoyagi and his crew to a cooking battle at the end of the Chef League sideplot.

Gen Amon: Leader of a breakaway sect of the Amon Clan, takes issue with certain rules of engagement the Amon Clan adheres to. He and his team are the requisite RGG Secret Boss Battle. Yes, Aoyagi gets not one but TWO rounds of Amon Clan Bullshit to deal with in this game.

Nyamon: A huge stocky black cat with God tier stats, who mysteriously shows up at the cat cafe shortly after you beat Gen Amon's team. While most of the cafe cats will let you put cute accessories on them, Nyamon will hiss at you if you attempt to swap his aviator shades out for something else.

#yakuza #yakuza oc #rgg tactics

[fandomsfunyeah]

Obey Me! Fanfiction Havoc Levi x Mc

Levi tries to figure out how to confess his love,things don't go as planned

It was late at night and the house of Lamentation was quiet...except for the sounds of a lone individual typing away on a computer.

The games music and chatting players rang through his headphones as Levi sighed,glancing at the clock,it was late,way too late and he should really go to bed right now. Even if it was a Saturday.

He'd had too many night time gaming sessions in a row and it was catching up.

At least it wasn't his turn to make breakfast,wait...it was Mc's turn today right?

The thought of getting up for that makes him shut the game off and crawl in bed.

Maybe if he can get alone time with them in morning he can finally tell them how much he cares for them.

Morning came and Levi sluggishly moves to dress himself and leave for the kitchen.

He yawned. Not nearly enough recharge he thinks.

Beel was already waiting at the table,surprisingly he was the second person here this morning.

He walked up to his younger brother.

"Is Mc up?"

"Yep. They're making Human realm pancakes,can you smell it?" Beel replied. He was drooling a bit.

Levi moved into the kitchen. The smell of honey and syrup fill the air as Mc was stirring and pouring batter into a pan,a sizable stack of pancakes already on a tray.

They must have been up a while.

Mc turns around. "Levi? You're up early today."

They smile at him brightly and he feels his heart beat faster.

"Um...Good morning Mc."

Mc hums and continued working,a couple minutes pass and Levi was still watching them.

"Do you want a plate to take back?" They ask him.

"Yes please." He says quickly.

They fix a plate,while he moved a little closer to them.

"Mc....um I was wondering..Do you...L-like" He cuts himself off last second.

"Sorry what was that Levi?" They ask as they turn around with the plate.

"Never mind it wasn't important." He avoids their gaze.

"Okay?" They say,confused as he quickly snatched it and leaves to go back to his room.

He closed the door with a sigh and looked toward his monitors.

The room was messy,various merchandise boxes and snack wrappers littered the floor,along with dirty clothing.

He really should clean up in here...it was a hazard to even walk around safely at this point.

Levi maneuvered around the clutter and sat down in his game chair with a thud,plugging his headphones in.

He entered the video chat with his online Devildom friends,forking bites of fluffy pancake in his mouth as he did so.

Hey he's back

Ohh how did that irl love confession go?

Are humans really that attractive?

Idk but it's that one at RAD half the school goes on about yeah?

The questions and comments pour in.

No it was a major fail

You backed out didn't you? One person asked.

Yeah

Why?

He sighed before replying.

Irl love is too hard I can't pause and restart over if I mess up

Come on if this human friend of yours is so amazing like you say then you gotta do something before someone else picks them up

Levi pauses. They weren't wrong but what to do?

If he was going to "win" this route he needed to come up with a idea before one of his brothers or some random normie takes them away.

He was lost in thought and didn't hear the door opening,Mc had come to check on him after breakfast ended.

"Levi are you doing okay? You ran off suddenly and I.."

They're cut off by slipping on a piece of clothing in the darkened room and go crashing down on the floor with a yelp knocking over a stack of fortunately empty,Akuzon boxes in the process.

The loud crash startled Levi and chat,he whipped around, accidentally pulling the headphone cord out.

"MC?!" He yelled,alarmed as he sees them stick their head out of the pile.

Oh this was bad,he flipped on the big lights and ran over to them.

They sit up slowly with a groan.

"Ouch...going to feel that one in the morning for sure."

"A-Are you okay Mc?!" Levi hovered around them worried and panicked. Humans can get hurt so easily.

"Don't recommend belly flopping the floor." They laugh,to Levi's relief they seem to be fine,barring a couple bruises.

The incident happened in full camera view,the video chat exploded.

Oh is that them?

You know I've never actually seen one before

I can see the appeal now

Moe level 100

Is that your hot human friend Levi?

The third born was mortified as he realizes the cord was unplugged and Mc heard everything.

The human peeked at the screen,pulling themself up as the chat continued to gush over them.

"Hello?" Mc tilted their head.

They even sound adorable

What beautiful eyes they have

Maybe I should find a human lover

Such a cute pose

You know Leviathan goes on and on about how awesome you are

"Does he?" Mc asks curiously. "What else does he say?"

Oh no,he was not dying of embarrassment today.

Levi quickly moved over Mc and hit the mute button before anyone else can reveal more details.

"Aw I wanted to hear more." They pout and his cheeks burn,why did they have to uncover all the secret thoughts he had?

It happened too often for his liking.

"Mc you need to leave now,right now! He blurted out before he clasped a hand over his mouth in shock. He didn't mean to sound angry.

"Is something wrong?" They ask concerned.

"I-I'm sorry Mc..." Levi looks at the floor timidly.

"I need...need to clean up my room,okay? Can you come back later?"

Mc looked around the area,it was long overdue for a cleaning.

"I can help you.."

"Nonono It's fine Mc you go recover your HP I'll take care of it."

Levi shoos them away.

He glared at the chat as soon as they were gone.

"Really guys? Not Cool."

Well do you have a plan to win them over?

Not yet

Why not write down some ideas?

Wait that could work

He says goodbye and started typing up a script of sorts.

Many scenarios,dates and how he would talk to them are paged and how he hopes they'd respond to them.

He sighed...hearts were practically in his eyes.

Writing a sweet love story about him and Mc...he can see it now.

He takes them to a cafe and feeds them dessert like romantic couples do and then they go up on a high hill overlooking the whole Devildom...the moon is full and illuminating the whole place..

Mc is the one who's shy and flustered...as he pulls them close in a tight hug and leans in to kiss them softly after a passionate confession they accept from him.

"Then we go back to my room,snuggle in a blanket and play games together." He says out loud.

Levi paused his typing...Henry 2.0 had swam over to him,the goldfish was blooping in the green glow of the tank.

"Don't judge me Henry,this is every otaku's perfect dream date."

Then Mc knocked on the door and entered surprising him.

"Did you make any progress?"

Mc paused and looked over the room. "It looks the same."

"Ahh....Mc why are you back it hasn't been long enough to clean anything?!"

"It's been three hours Levi."

He glanced at the clock,he'd been writing that long?

"W-Well it's umm..heh..."

Mc frowned and Levi gulps as he hears the lock click.

"Okay...you've been acting weird all morning and I'm not leaving until I find out why." They walk toward him and Levi blocks the monitor screen with his body,leaning against it.

He can't let Mc see what he wrote,it was too embarrassing.

"What are you even doing in here?"

Levi huffs. "I can't tell you that Mc,otaku secrets aren't meant to be seen by normie eyes."

Mc frowns again,moving in front of him while he tried to look stern,they lean in and whisper next to his ear.

"Are you absolutely sure about that Leviathan?"

He tenses,pupils widening from the sound of his full name.

Mc wasn't going to let up were they?

They look him directly in the eyes and suddenly their lips are inches from his,he feels his face heat up.

Is Mc doing what he thinks they are? He closed his eyes and tried to prepare himself mentally for a kiss.

But that turned out to be a ploy to drop his guard.

Mc quickly slipped their hands in his opened jacket and gently flutter their fingers into his underarms.

"Eeeek?!" Levi's eyes open in shock as he looks down to see Mc grinning mischievously.

He twisted and wiggled,clamping his arms down,trying to shake them off.

"Are you going to let me see it now Leviachan?~" They tease.

He blushes furiously.

"Heehehha...heeek....Nonope...Hahahee...MMph! Th-This is cheating Mc!"

Levi was being stubborn even as tears started running down his face and he couldn't speak from laughing so hard.

"I-I'm not going to...Hahaeeh!"

"You know you can't last much longer Levi."

They move down squeezing the softest part of his stomach and he falls to the floor,trying to curl up in a ball laughing hysterically.

Mc crawls on top of him,still squeezing ever so gently as he continued to cry and scream in laughter.

"Now?"

Levi shakes his head no through the tears.

Mc glares...he feels a shiver run up his spine.

Then they pull up his shirt and softly nibble and blow raspberries on his stomach.

He finally can't take it anymore.

"AHHAck...Okay okay....Please....I surrender..Mc just s-stop..."

They do and he's sweating and gasping for air laying motionless under the desk.

"Are you okay?" They ask concerned.

"Y-yes..." He managed to say.

Mc looks at the screen and Levi covers his face when he hears them laughing.

It was all over now,no more game nights and anime talks.

"So...when do you want to go out then?"

"Huh?" He peeks through a hand.

Mc was smiling affectionately.

"You really are a massive otaku Levi,of course I'll go on a date with you."

"Really you mean it Mc?"

They sit on the floor and hug him,he snuggles into them contently.

Everything was perfect...but before they go out.

Mc is stunned when Levi suddenly transforms and wraps his tail around their body,pinning them to the floor.

Levi smirks and Mc feels a sweatdrop fall as he leans over them with a mischievous gleam in his bright orange eyes.

"Mc...It's my turn to play now,don't you think so?~" He coos in their ear,gently brushing his fingers and tail tip over their helpless form as they giggle nervously.

Their laughter and begging echoed into the hallway as Levi teased them until they were breathless and flustered like he was earlier.

#obey me levi #obey me imagines #obey me #obey me x reader #obey me fic #obey me fluff #obey me levi x reader #obey me leviathan #obey me levi fluff #obey me tickle

[ladylilithprime]

What Is More Infinite Than The Universe

Series: Fluffy Faerie Tales

Fandom: Supernatural

Pairing: Sastimmy/Jamstiel (Jimmy Novak/Sam Winchester/Castiel), Balthazar/Meg

Rating: General to Teen and Up

Tags/Warnings: Half-Fae Sam Winchester, Jimmy and Castiel Are Twins, References to Dean Winchester's Canon Levels of Stubbornness, Archangel Gabriel Casually Hanging Out In A Faerie Cafe, Dragon Balthazar, Dragon Meg

Summary: Some businesses shut down when the weather turns bad. Others tend to get an uptick in activity. Some good... some not.

For: @fluffyfebruary challenge!

Prompt: Day 9: Storm

Read on AO3

WHEN THE WEATHER forecast for the week had handed down the verdict that Seven Mile Island, New Jersey, was going to be inundated with rain for five out of seven days, several of the tourist spots opted to close up shop for the week. Walking tours, wetlands exploration, and the ever popular beachcombing activities of a coastal location just weren't as appealing (or safe) when having to battle the elements to get anywhere. Conversely, places like The Kitchen Witch, The Black Cats' Kettle, and Lighthouse CommodiTeas saw a distinct uptick in their usual customer traffic, including the lifeguards and tour guides who would otherwise be staying home or stuck in their main offices doing paperwork. Nice, hot meals and rich soups from the two witch-owned restaurants really hit the spot on a cold, wet day, and the warm drinks and fresh-baked cookies and pastries from the faerie-owned cafe were a welcome treat anytime, but especially during less than pleasant weather.

"It's really coming down out there!" Balt announced to the cafe at large as he opened the door, sending a burst of cold air into the cozy interior. He quickly deployed one dark blue and black wing to block further incursions of wind as he held the door open for Meg, tucking it back out of sight into the pocket dimension where dragons kept the majority of their mass while in human shape as he let the door swing shut behind them.

"Pulling extra shifts this week?" Sam guessed, eyeing them both even as he reached for the phoenix ash. Jimmy followed his lead and started pulling out the sweetened condensed milk, chocolate sauce, and cinnamon chili powder. It was rare to see Balt and Meg coming in together as they usually kept an alternating shift schedule on purpose. Unsurprisingly, the dragons both nodded.

"Wouldn't you both have less to do when it's raining like this?" one of the other customers asked, frowning in puzzlement. Jimmy recalled that she was one of the newer tour guides for the wetlands and had lamented that the weather had shut down the job she had been looking forward to starting.

"Weather like this tends to mean more accidents, which means having as many doctors and nurses on call in the ER as can be spared," Meg sighed. "Search and rescue, too, given the risk of flooding, and that's assuming it doesn't kick up into a hurricane."

"The relevant local powers are all keeping an eye on things," Sam assured her, getting a grateful nod in return.

"And the hazards of fires don't drop just because it's wet out," Balt chimed in with a grimace. "No easier to put them out once started, either. Imma spend as much time using my wings as an umbrella for my mates as I am diving in to haul folks outta trouble."

"But why?" the customer asked, confused. "Wouldn't most people stay home if they didn't have to go out?"

"Nah, plenty'a people out and about, even on days like this," Gabriel piped up from where he'd been enjoying his usual Trickster's Special and a S'mores Brownie. He waved a hand around the cafe. "Case in point, we're all here, and when we leave we'll have to be out there. Now, we're all gonna be blessed with whatever good luck boost our bodacious baristas have included in our drinks, but that only covers us and anyone else who comes in for a pre- or post-work pick-me-up. It doesn't cover the folks who decided they'd rather warm up with a shot or six at the bar, or tried to start a fire in their electric fireplace."

"'Two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I am not yet completely sure about the universe.' Albert Einstein," Sam quoted, passing Jimmy the cups for toppings.

"Isn't it kind of racist for you to say that?" another customer asked, frowning.

"The boss is half human," Charlie pointed out with a shrug. "If anyone should be allowed to mock both humans and faeries with impunity, it's him. And besides, Einstein was human and he saw a lot less of human stupidity than the boss has."

"And if he'd ever met my older brother he probably wouldn't have limited it to human stupidity," Sam grumbled.

"Dean-bean still being very himself about the alicorn incident?" Gabriel guessed, tsking when Sam and Jimmy both nodded. "You ever decide to cash in that favor I owe you, Samarooni, just let me know..."

"I think sending you after him would be a bit overkill," Sam said dryly. "But we appreciate the offer."

"Don't worry, I sicc'ed Baby on him," Charlie said, winking at Gabriel's pout. "We'll just see how many miles of nothing but dubstep he can tolerate before he caves and actually apologizes. Balt, Meg, you two want anything else besides your usuals?"

"Can we each get a couple dozen assorted baked goods?" Meg asked, after exchanging a glance with Balt. "Not much keeps morale up in the ER like free pastries, and Clarence makes some of the best we've ever had."

Jimmy glanced at Sam. Sam shrugged and glanced back towards the kitchen where Cas was listening. Jimmy caught sight of his brother surveying the ovens and the trays standing by, then nodded and held up ten fingers. "If you can spare ten minutes, we'll get you squared away with an assortment fresh out of the oven."

"I'll make Balt drop me off first," Meg grinned. "He can afford to be a little late."

#fluffy february 2024 #rk writes #supernatural fic #sastimmy #balthazar/meg #urban fantasy au #coffee shop au #first reaponders deserve ALL the respect