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#but it'd be weird in this case to write it out as “that person”
alectoperdita · 11 months
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WIP Snippet Sunday
More stuff from Mob, but from a future chapter either 7 or 8. Finally getting some Jou POV though.
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"Look, they're not in this life. They're normal," sighed Katsuya without removing the towel from his face.
"You mean they don't know you're..."
"Nah, they know. The amazing part is they don't care. But I don't wanna cause trouble for 'em. They have a white-collar job and everything. Perfectly respectable work."
If you didn't count whatever legal advising was done on Yoshimori's behalf, but hey, the law guaranteed everyone a right to trial and counsel. But Katsuya knew Seto had plenty of other clients. As he told him once, his specialty was actually in corporate governance.
"So why are they with you?" joked Kazuki.
"I'm wondering the same thing, kid," he mumbled under his breath.
Despite Seto's assurance that he wasn't "slumming it," the divide between their education and social class continued to make Katsuya antsy. When they were together, when Seto smiled and laughed for him, Katsuya could put it out of his mind for the time. But when they were apart like now? No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't measure up to Seto's standard.
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3typical3 · 1 year
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Tip for non Hispanic ppl writing Spanglish
*I initially wrote this at 1 am so like, keep that in mind as you decipher this lol
*context is key when speaking Spanglish, if your character is in a professional setting they probably won’t speak Spanglish unless it’s to a fellow co worker who also speaks Spanglish. It’s more of a casual way a speaking yk?
Also parents, I avoid Spanglish with my parents unless we’re switching from just speaking Spanish to just speaking English. But that’s depends from family to family.
It’s typically like switching sentences and not dropping in random words.
Example “ es Que fui a la tienda, and they were out of milk”
Example “ te ves cansada, did you sleep last night?”
“La neta” is and extremely common Mexican slang term, typically means, honestly. It can also be used to mean ‘really?’
Honestly example:
“La neta, Im tired”
Or “La neta, estoy cansada. Im going to bed”
In the case it means “really?”:
ex.) “Neta?! They said that?!”
I personally say “ de que” which is basically saying “like”, it’s a filled term, before saying a sentence in either English or Spanish
example “ de que idk it won’t work”
I’m Mexican so I use “ósea” a lot in both languages. Another substitute for words like:
“I mean,” “it'd be,” ”like,” “so,” “that is,” “therefore,” and “or.”
Ex. “ ósea, it looks weird idk”
The famous “ pero like” I personally don’t use a lot but an example of how it’s used in Spanglish is “ pero like, how did it happen?”
Sometimes I Just say “ fuck” but like in my Mexican accent or in a sentence.
“ fuck, perdí mi pulsera”
When I get startled I cuss in both English and Spanish but a Spanglish example would be
*insert random startling noise
“ ala verga! That scared me” or “ hijo de tu puta madre!” when something REALLY scared the shit out of me lol
“Chingada madre, where did that come from”
Rlly insert any cuss word in there and it probably works in Spanglish.
Edit bc I thought of this the morning after
In Mexican Spanish for whatever reason the word “madre” can be used like kinda like a cuss word lol.
Example “ Me vale madres”
Which in English would translate to “I don’t value mothers” but in practice means “I don’t give a shit” or “I don’t care”.
Another Mexican deep cut is the word “pedo” which yes, means fart but we’ve really given the word so many alternative meanings like
“ no es mi pedo “ = “not my problem”
“Estoy bien pedo” = “in rlly drunk”
“Vas a la peda?” = “ are you going to the party/kickback”
There’s more but that’s like the basics lol.
Also another Mexican term is “Aguas”… which literally translates to “waters” but it’s used as a warning.
“Aguas, there’s car coming”
The most famous of Mexican slang has to be “wey” or “guey” depends on how you spell it. But it just means dude. Another term that goes in hand is, “no mames” which basically means “are you kidding me”.
*men for whatever reason hate when the girl they’re dating or are into calls them wey. I think it’s because it’s seen as either improper or as like friend zoning.
“Wey, you’re not gonna believe this”
“No mames wey, look at this”
Another term is “equis” which basically means whatever
“How was the party?”
“Estuvo equis”
Another example
“ now was she dressed?”
“Equis, nothing crazy nothing wow”
*I recommend for Mexican characters looking into the words, or you can just ask me I just don’t wanna make this longer than I already have lol, “mamar”/“mamo”/“mamon”, each you would think is the same but no, no they are not and using one in the wrong context could be catastrophic lol. They are vital words to our vocab
If you’re writing to a character from a specific country, take the time to learn some slang. Sometimes slang crosses over, sometimes even we use slang we learn from each others dialects. Personally I love “joder”/“no jodas” because of the shows from Spain.
But take the time because if you write a Colombian character using most of the slang I’ve used above, you’d get a lot of hate from Colombians lol.
Some bad Spanglish examples would be
“ why didnt you eat your comida?”
Like no. Just no. Inserting a random Spanish word doesn’t equate to Spanglish, at least not in most Latin peoples lives
“ you look cansada” also just no.
*Edit I saw someone post abt this and I felt like adding it in
If you do insert a random Spanish word or vice versa it’s because you forgot the word but that involves a lot of blanking and being annoyed you can’t dig the simplest word out of you sub conscience lol
Example: “ you look, FUCK what’s the word! You know when you’re cansada…TIRED. You look tired”
Another commenter addition I’ll be adding is using “eh” as a filler instead of “um”. I use both but even in English I default to using “eh” or “ehmmmm”
The worst is when you don’t remember the word, only to have it appear in your subconscious hours later lol
Another fav filler word is “deste” which equates to another more Central American term “vaina” but a less refined way of saying it. Essentially they mean “thing” but that thing can be anything. It’s kinda a word when you’re to lazy to say the actual word.
“Pásame el deste”
*passes them x ítem
“No I meant the remote”
*trying not to kill the person because they could’ve said remote the whole time but chose not to
Sometimes we use bad Spanglish on purpose just to be funny
“Que sad” “Que cute”
* i personally love inserting the word cute into my vocab in Spanish just cuz so to each their own
Something I do is like say something in English and immediately say the exact same thing in Spanish. Or like I’ll say an exclamation in one language then end in the other.
“ GO GO GO, VÁMONOS APÚRATE”
“Que asco, gross”
“WOW, que bueno”
Also if you’re writing like couples tbh nicknames in Spanish would be reserved for when you’re speaking in Spanish and same for English, but each couple is different so if you rlly want to leave a nickname in Spanish in go for it. If you rlly want the endearment to be “ mi amor” please remember that after like the first or second time the Spanish speaker would probably just refer to their S/O as “ amor” or switch between the two.
Which brings me to the terms “mami/mamita” and “papi/papito”. Now, while they Can and are by some used in a sexual manner, they can also be used as general terms of endearment. My mom will sometimes call me mamita or my brother papito.
Amongst couples though it’s just kinda said, I saw someone describe it was you just give motherly energy so “mami” is said lol which I get oddly enough.
Once a couple is well established or just comfortable the woman can refer to her S/O as “ viejo” which is old man lol, but it’s like cute. On the flip side idk it’s typically seen as offensive when a man calls his S/O “vieja” but that depends on culture to culture.
Again mami and papi don’t have to be sexual but can be.
Another simple thing you can do is look up nicknames for certain names.
Examples:
“Mike” pronounced “Mique” for Miguel. Some people like to use “Mickey”, that gained popularity from an old Mexican singer lol.
“Ponchó” For Alfonso
“Ale” Can be used for Alejandro/Alexandra/Alejandra
Another thing I thought of is amongst siblings when referring to our parents we will say like
“Haz visto a mi mamá”
Which means have you seen “my mom” even though she’s both our mom… idk it’s weird but a nice little touch you could add to your writing lol
I get rlly annoyed reading bad Spanglish, sometimes it’s just painfully cringe and just obvious a non Spanish speaker wrote it, and I realize it’s bc most of y’all didnt grow up with it so like this is just what is typical Spanglish most Hispanic ppl grow up speaking, obviously not everyone speaks like this but figured I’d give tips from someone who actually speaks English and Spanish and switches between.
If I missed anything feel free to add on or if you disagree add examples
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Sorry if I’m a bother, if that’s the case feel free to skip over this one.
I freaking loved it! I’m now inspired to draw Sam with the overlords now! If it’s not too much trouble could I ask for Zestial, Charlie and the rest of the hotel’s reactions to Sam?
(Ooo!😳 what if for Angel’s it’s Valentino who tries to hurt him?! That could get messy!)
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A/n: Nah dude you're fine! Though I don't write for Zestial (not that that's your fault I keep forgetting to put that in the rules.)
Warnings (?): nothing major happens but Val's here so warning for abuse. Also, Alastor is hurt in Husk's part and Val is hurt in Angel's part, it's nothing graphic but if you don't want to read about that skip those parts.
!!!not proofread!!!
Charlie: Just as cuddly as you! Gladly accepts any candy from you. She ends up getting candy from the hotel for you. Let's you tag along if it's safe (or at least what she assumes you can handle.) Despite being the princess of Hell it's a known fact that she's a pushover and usually refuses to use her powers. So it's not that much of a surprise when someone attacks her. What is a surprise is how you react. I'm going to be honest, she is at least a little scared of you now. Though she's pretty sure you'd only attack people when they hurt your friends. We’re about 80% sure they're harmless.
Vaggie: She ain't too keen on cuddles, but isn't totally against it. She's not great with kids when they're just chilling so she doesn't know what to do. Also, she isn't one for sweets but appreciates the gesture. You remind her of Charlie in a weird way (but like platonic obviously.) Vaggie got some crayons for today's bonding activity when some random sinner attacked Vaggie. Before Vaggie could defend herself the sinner was ripped off of her. She just stared dumbfounded as you took care of the sinner. Well, there goes her thinking you're like Charlie. I mean sure you seemed sweet when somebody attacked a person you liked. You became terrifying and did anything to defend them- wait never mind you're more like Charlie now.
Angel Dust: Kinda creeped out by you before you do anything tbh. You follow him around nearly everywhere and keep offering him candy, despite barely knowing each other. But he understands you're a kid and may have a hard time showing you care, but he sets a ground rule: NEVER follow him to work. It's not a place for kids to be, and you followed that! Valentino just couldn't keep his hands off Angel even out of the studio. You too were just at a park, it was night so no one was really around. Until Valentino spotted Angel, you didn't hear any of the words that were said between them. But you did see Valentino hit Angel and that was the end of that. Seeing you almost kill Valentino was horrifying but also very cathartic. After the initial shock wears off you get about 20 bags of candy and however much cuddle time you want.
Husk: He's pretty blunt about finding you off-putting. But you don't seem to care and still follow him around like a lost puppy. The fact that him insulting you didn't sour your opinion of him even a little bit concerns him. So he starts to look after you. Not because he cares about you! Just because it'd be messed up to let a kid get manipulated no matter who they are. He totally cares about you. He gives chocolate milk or any sweet drink you like at the bar. One day Husk decided to stand up to Alastor which seemed to be a huge mistake on Husk's part. It would have been if it wasn't for you walking in on the scene. The threats were made good on. Just towards Alastor instead of him doing them. Husk is a little shaken up but hey he's probably free now. Gets you any candy you want and shows you a shit ton of card tricks.
Niffty: Tbh I don't have much to say about her. She finds you interesting but doesn't give you much thought. Though eventually when you protect her she returns your affection. Because you are scary and small which are both things she is.
Sir Pentious: (this is while he's in hell btw) Not great with kids. Like I don't think the egg bois are kids but even if they are the only experience he has with kids is his minions. But he does try! He does care for kids. He'll get you candy and cuddle if you want. He used to try to take over territories a lot. He always failed but he still made a lot of enemies that way. So when one of them finds him and tries to hurt him while you're around? I mean if he still wants that territory he can definitely take it now. To be honest I think he'd find you cool, even if you're more than a little scary.
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starry-bi-sky · 5 months
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for clone Danny, Clone Damian
I give you
Edit Clone Talia as somehow Girlfriend of Danny, just think of the comedy
nah brO BECAUSE LITERALLY I HAVE THOUGHT BOUT THAT. Literally since the conception of Clone Danny, I have thought about it. If only for, as you said, the COMEDY of it all. Plus I love writing romance.
Literally my motto for my aus is: A) is it plausible, B) is it FUNNY (and a secret third option C) is it ANGSTY)
Clone Talia would be an offshoot au of Clone^2 because idk how she'd fit into the original timeline, bUT, she'd exist. And to avoid confusion I'll call her Nasra - I thought about Tameka (which means twin) but I like Nasra better. "Talia and Nasra" just flows so nicely doesn't it?
Idk WHY there's a clone of Talia running around -- maybe the LoA made her, maybe n unknown organization who hates Batman and knows he has romantic ties to Talia, and started making a clone of her to fuck with him and then she got nabbed by a portal when she was still Danny's age and in the middle of training. She might be like Connor (??) and have memories and thus her training is more proficient than baby Dames.
Either way, regardless of how she was made, I think it's hilarious if she, much like baby Dames, immediately attacks Danny on sight. She falls into his city and Danny only has a moment to go "goddammit not agaIN" before he's fending off a very confused, very violent Nasra. Fortunately he's able to actually try and talk to her and be at least somewhat successful -- Nasra knows english. although even if she didn't, Danny would still be somewhat successful since he knows Arabic.
Also Bruce and Danny are the battinson bat because i think that is also hilarious and 'wet rat' is STILL the perfect energy for Danny as Phantom - especially in the early days when he's running around in all but jeans and a hoodie. (and god watch me go on a rant in a separate post about his outfit and reasonings for being Phantom when he has no powers later on because it makes me go FERAL. and his active choice to look as inhuman and ghost-like through his behavior as phantom and the decision to wear such a creepy mask as possible)
(like seriously, imagine walking home late at night while danny was still in his early vigilante days (and even now when he's got damian and a better suit) and seeing a skinny figure in the shadows with sunken in black-and-glowing-green eyes, and a bone white, skull-like face, crouched on all fours like a wild animal about to pounce. THAT is the level of creepiness I was going for for clone danny)
In my head, Sam offers to house Nasra and Nasra stays with her. SAm is able to convince her parents to let her stay, or she pulls a Danny and just straight up smuggles her in and her parents are none the wiser. I also think it's funny if they have unspoken BEEF with each other. Only to later become like sisters. Nasra teaches Sam the martial arts she knows, and also Danny joins in too with Damian because goddamn he needs it even IF he's learning stuff from his mom (as per the most recent snippet post I made).
OH AND DAMIAN AND NASRA. I think it's equally as funny if they ALSO have beef with each other. Nasra is a clone of his mother (of whom he might have complicated views on due to being a clone but still is his mother) and Damian is a clone of Nasra's "son". This beef largely starts from Damian's own refusal to want to share his Danny with another clone, especially with a clone of his MOTHER.
Danny and Nasra don't become lovers for a good, long while I think. They're besties first before they even consider the idea of dating -- not only just because of the whole "uhhh our counterparts dated so it'd feel kinda weird and forced if we dated" and also because Nasra, with her newfound freedom, is busy trying to figure out herself.
A big theme here in clone^2: discovering your identity and who you are as a person when the only thing you own that's unique is your name (which isn't even the case for Damian), and figuring out if your choices are your own or because you're a clone and its something your original would have done. Nature vs Nurture and the illusion of choice and whether it really is one or not.
Also Nasra also becomes a vigilante. Danny appreciates the help but is also tearing out his hair because what the fuck is up with these assassins and becoming vigilantes?! Nasra goes by "Nesha". She's similar to Red Huntress at first where she kinda does her own thing, but is lowkey forced to team up with Danny about it because she doesn't have any proper ghost hunting equipment with her.
And then a duo becomes a trio, and Danny is spending more time with her. And they steadily become friends. Very snarky friends who are very bratty to each other, but friends. Damian still doesn't like her so Danny spends extra time during patrol keeping the two of them from making insults at each other.
"Nesha please stop fighting with a nine year old. Wraith, quit insulting Nesha."
Nasra also uses like, weaponry as Nesha which exasperates Danny a little because why are you using swords??? They're already dead its not gonna kill them,,,, If you cut off their heads its just gonna piss em off, its re-attachable. Let him ghost-proof it first too. But well, its still gonna HURT he supposes. He's still a little exasperated.
And MMM i'm sorry lmao im so focused on Nasra becoming her own person than the actual romance aspect of it all. Nasra cuts her hair short for the same/similar reasons that Danny keeps his long - to try and gain a semblance of autonomy and identity that's away from their original. Danny has his alternative rock-kinda geeky look and Nasra's got, from influence from Sam, a more alternative fashion style. Although she still leans into being feminine, which is a good challenge to Sam's belief that feminity = bad, and gets her to unlearn those bad habits since her new adoptive sister is feminine while still being an unapologetic badass.
And ykw I think Nasra gets into rollerblading and loves it. She rollerblades constantly. Damian is furious because skating is his thing (even if what he gets later on is a skateboard - skater boy damian ftw. i can see him wearing flannels and graphic tees as a teenager. very grungy/skater aesthetic. He also has a much more relaxed and teen-y speech pattern compared to DW's more formal way of talking. He also spray paints as his form of artistic medium.) and he refuses to have Nasra be a copy of him.
They will sort out their differences eventually. LMao.
Anyways they eventually do get together, but not before Danny finally has his run in with Mister Wayne. Which, they only meet because Danny starts destabilizing, and thus needs Bruce Wayne's DNA to help stabilize himself. Which that meeting in and of itself is pretty chaotic on its own, but then add clone Damian and Nasra? Bruce needs coffee.. or alcohol.
Because picture this: its late at night, you're on patrol with the rest of your family. It's like, two in the morning. You suddenly get a call in from your butler, Alfred, informing you that not one, not two, but THREE children -- two of them in their late teens and the other one not even ten yet -- showed up on your doorstep. One of them is unconscious. They are all clones.
The girl and the boy are twins - and are clones of YOU - and the girl isn't even technically YOUR clone she's a clone of your clone - and also this clone of you is your college friends' kid. And then the youngest boy is a clone of your youngest SON. Bruce is running across rooftops when he gets this call and does a literal 180 degree turn and touches the ground because he basically did a figure skating turn, and sprints back towards the manor because what the fuck? He needs to check this out.
And then half a day later a clone of your fucking ex shows up on your doorstep demanding to see the clone of you - the boy that is, not the girl - and then immediately gets into a verbal lashing with the clone of your son. Like what a fucking DAY. Your kids are equally as baffled but also laughing their asses off -- except your bio son, who is very unhappy about this turn of events and keeps getting the stink eye from his clone.
Like??? I'd quit right then and there.
While Danny recovers he's staying in Wayne manor and Damian is very reportedly not leaving his side. Ellie has to leave to help take care of Amity Park with RH, and then Nasra is also very determinedly not leaving his side either. This is her friend dammit. The first thing she does when he becomes lucid is insult him, and he insults her back - they're bantering. It's how they flirt later on. None of the Bats know how to deal with this situation.
#dpxdc#dp x dc#dp x dc crossover#dpxdc crossover#dpdc#dpdc crossover#dpdc au#dp dc#dp dc crossover#clone^2#danny fenton is a clone#danny fenton is not the ghost king#sorry this got so long and i barely even got into them falling in love with one another#satoshy you should totally reblog this so we can talk about this more i'd love to bounce ideas with you or anyone else about it 👀#this is so funny to me personally because like. im imagining nasra doesnt show up unti danny's like at least 18-19#which is a wild set of 3 years for danny because he finds out he's a clone when he's 15#acquires Damian at 16 and then meets nasra at 18#like he got one grace period where it was just him and his new little brother and then BAm another clone#damian showed up by accident but i promise you nasra was specifically clockwork's doing because its hilarious to me personally#CW loves danny but also he's a little shit. i was originally gonna call Nasra's vigilante name 'revenant' but thought it was too basic#also danny not meeting bruce until he's almost 20 is very funny to me. especially since baby dames was with the league for 6 years#beforehand#like what do you mean my clone has been living unnoticed for 18 years. he's had damian for HOW LONG? THREE YEARS?#morally gray danny has my heart ever since my post where he murdered three guys for nearly killing his brother.#nasra attacks danny and yay! he doesn't hurt his hands this time around! he's grown since he met damian. that was also a large part why dee#didn't like nasra right off the bat. she could've hurt him and made his hands even worse.
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amerricanartwork · 5 months
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I saw your lilypad art post, and I got curious: why do you enjoy lilypad? it's not a common RW ship, so I'd be interesting to hear what about it you enjoy!
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Hear me out, guys... I must explain myself before I get onto the Lilypad essay.
I made that original comment because, at the time, I wanted to just get the aforementioned headcanons out as soon as possible. Understand, my reluctance wasn't because I didn't want to talk about Lilypad, but rather the exact opposite: I had so many feelings about it, yet had put so little effort into expressing them in a coherent, presentable format that I just knew it'd distract me for the next week or two if I let it rent too much space in my conscious thoughts. But now that little comment has left me with several people asking me to share those thoughts, and, both thankfully and unfortunately, I simply can't resist indulging in thoughts about the characters I love—!
Keep in mind, I haven’t finished Saint campaign yet, and even then I’ve found like less than half the broadcasts in Spearmaster campaign yet, so there’s likely some extra canon info I may be missing that could add to or change some of what I say here. I also apologize if some of what I write here seems really out-of-character. I try not to let my passion for my little headcanons and scenarios make me disregard the canon, but even so, I might slip and think up some weird things occasionally. Nonetheless, I feel like I’ve got enough of the picture to start confidently enjoying this ship, so I’ll talk about it anyway! 
As always, feel free to add to these ideas if you can! Without further delay, enjoy this 3381-word essay, with a few initial headcanons sprinkled in, on why I adore Lilypad!
Oh, and just in case, if you couldn’t already tell, major Hunter campaign spoilers below.
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Quetzalli on Loving Lilypad
I’m gonna start this out with a preface: I can generally find the appeal in a lot of different ships and the art other fans make for them, but for me to ship something enough to actively draw it and make my own headcanons about it and such (outside of, perhaps, gifts for other people), it usually has to contain a variety of “ship tropes” that I personally fancy. Many of my most-favorite ship tropes tend to be the ones that aren’t just cute, but that carry narrative significance and seem poetic in some way, usually because they can facilitate character arcs in the involved characters. The more of these a ship has, or the more ship tropes I can portray it with without it seeming too out-of-character, and the more I like those specific tropes, the better. This principle is a major reason why I’ve gravitated towards Artimand as my main slugcat ship, but for now, I’m going to focus on which of these I see in Lilypad — in canon content, other fan-portrayals, and my personal headcanons — that, as opposed to other iterator ships, has currently won me over.
I’m gonna describe the main general things I like seeing in this ship. Some of them are more due to fandom portrayals than what’s in the canon, but they all play a big role in my current love for Lilypad. 
Synergy
I’ll begin with how I really appreciate just how much synergy Looks to the Moon and No Significant Harassment are shown to have, at least in fan content! I always like seeing pairings where the characters aren’t just romantic, but also work really well together as a team or even just as friends. After all, just because the characters may be romantically in love doesn’t mean they must only show it in explicitly romantic ways. To me, Lilypad strikes me as a relationship where Sig and Moon would make an amazing team in many aspects of their lives, whether it's collaborating on projects, sharing their interests, or trying to maintain order in the rest of their group. And their compliment is just really sweet to me, though I’ll get to that later.
A Shoulder to Lean On/The Lady
One of my favorite ship tropes is “character with a lot of weight on their shoulder who finally gets to lift it off and be ‘normal’ for once when around the other”. I’ve always found it sweet when characters like this, especially ones who are normally very selfless, finally get a chance to indulge and enjoy themselves for once! And once again, this is another thing I imagine in Artimand too, and you could project this onto Trafficlights given Suns’s implied high status, but I think it works especially with Lilypad, given Moon’s role as group senior means she objectively has a lot to manage all the time with no permanent escape from it. Even beyond the whole Five Pebbles rot drama, Moon probably had a lot on her plate just in terms of maintaining order between the rest of the group and setting a good example to the younger generations, especially as the group expanded over time, not to mention trying to find the solution herself. Combine this with how I picture her to be the kind of person who cares a lot about her image as a “proper” and  “dignified” leader, and someone who often sacrifices her own desires to promote the group’s welfare, I just find it really soft for her to have someone to lean on, metaphorically (and in a worm-off-the-string scenario, literally), and who better to go to than her best teammate, who knows the power of a good laugh and will stop at nothing to have fun with those he loves? Not to mention, since I headcanon Sig as slightly younger than Moon (2nd gen, specifically), I just find it rather cute in an ironic sense that the older, more serious Moon is soft around the younger, far more chaotic Sig, especially as Moon would go through the realization that she actually kinda likes this little troublemaker! 
This also comes back to something I mentioned in the tags of that beepsnort post, which is that one of my other favorite ship tropes is “guy who loves/is good at making people laugh x girl who has a REALLY weird/embarrassing laugh”, and that just works so well with Lilypad! It’s admittedly a very headcanon-based thing for me, but given how I’ve already explained my perception of Moon as very proper and serious, I imagine one of the best ways Sig takes the weight off her shoulders is by being the only person who can consistently make her laugh so hard! And with the beepsnort headcanon it’s even cuter, because of course Moon would be super embarrassed every time she even so much as gives a half-chuckle at one of his jokes, because Sig is relentless when it comes to getting the giggles out of her, and he won’t stop until she’s rolling and shaking on the floor of her chamber, her beepy-snorts filling the room! My GODDD I love this trope so much, and for beings who are inherently such workaholics, I think getting to genuinely relax and have fun for a bit, once she gets over the initial shock and embarrassment, would be something Moon would really come to value.
Inverses Attract/The Tramp
I’ve mentioned it in my last Artimand headcanons post, but one of my absolute all-time favorite ship tropes is the classic “opposites attract”, although I prefer the name “inverses attract”. As I like to portray it, the trope not only involves characters who are opposites personality-wise, but those being opposites of the same core aspect, and ultimately helping balance each other out by offering the other half of the equation to each other (hence the name “inverses”). The trope I just wrote about above is how Sig helps Moon to relax and have fun, but as I try to do with all ships, how does it work the other way too? Well, I really like to imagine Sig learning to be more openly serious and dedicated! Don’t get me wrong, Sig is a hard worker (it’s pretty much the nature of all iterators), but given he seems to pretty strongly reject the quest for the Triple Affirmative, I imagine the next problem would be in him finding a new purpose to strive for. And what better new purpose than in standing by and protecting the group senior he thinks he just might wanna be more than friends with?
It already works because Moon, of course, would work to keep Sig in check and make sure he doesn’t go too overboard with his shenanigans. But just imagine how inspired he’d grow over time seeing Moon work so hard to keep the group together and keep them striving for their purpose, even if he doesn’t agree with it. I imagine it’s why Sig’s methods are still rather controlled rather than purely chaotic, and there’s a reason to his rebellion. Thanks to Moon, rather than slaving away at a seemingly impossible solution until his mind collapses with his structure, he’ll use his talents to, at the very least, keep the local group together as long as possible, because even if they’ll all be gone one day, that doesn’t mean they have to go alone!
It’s why I’m also labeling these two tropes together as “the Lady and the Tramp”, yet another ship dynamic that gets me every time! It’s a specific instance of “inverses attract” where the noble, proper lady finds a taste of freedom and courage from the dangerously charming tramp, who from her finds a new sense of purpose and honor! And in my opinion, Lilypad is most definitely the best opportunity for this dynamic among Rain World ships!
The Fated Couple
Slow-burn couples seem to be pretty popular in many fandoms, but what about a really slow-burn? There’s something just so romantic to me about the idea that Moon and Sig, from the moment they met, have always just clicked so perfectly, and have been by each other’s side so constantly ever since, to the point it seems practically inevitable to everyone (except them of course) that they’ll eventually get together romantically. Of course, there are two main roadblocks to their romance being 1.) their whole objective and purpose for being created is kind-of fundamentally opposed to strong attachments like love (I mean, if Karma 3 is Companionship, wouldn’t romantic love be considered the worst example of that?), and 2.) even if they did reject this purpose, being massive immovable structures with the only humanoid part stuck deep inside a box, a budding romance seemingly couldn’t really go anywhere anyway. In fact, because of these roadblocks much of my Lilypad imaginings take place in the ever-popular “worm-off-the-string” scenario, especially since the next couple of reasons for why I like the ship play a lot into the themes I like to incorporate in this story concept. 
However, these issues towards such a romance are also what make it so sweet in the end! Just think of Moon, alone in her chamber, beginning to worry about how she’s actually kinda sorta, maybe, hypothetically, possibly, just a little bit starting to like the carefree and charismatic Gen 2 in the local group as even more than just a work partner and a dear friend, but oh no, that’s indulging in a Karmic Sin, and as group senior she can’t just throw away their purpose like that and set such a bad example to the rest! What’s she gonna do?? And then on the other side, Sig puzzling in his chamber, pining so hard for the group senior yet seemingly unable to confess, because, even disregarding Karma 3 and the fact that giant immobile calculators aren’t about to be snuggling any time soon, why would someone as perfect and powerful as her want someone like him, so dismissive of their core purpose and unorthodox in his methods? Is there even a point in having these feelings at all, when they might very well end up simply fading to dust along with the rest of his structure?
Maybe, they both think, it’d be better to just keep these feelings to themselves and quietly love from a distance. That is, until…
Moon’s Collapse and the Slag Reset Keys
The fourth reason is, of course, the most steeped in canon. It goes back a bit to the “shoulder to lean on” concept, but even aside from that, there is something just so romantic about this on both sides.
Firstly, from Moon’s perspective. There’s no doubt that the collapse must have been very traumatic for Looks to the Moon physically, but I like to think about just how much it’d affect her emotionally, too. I mean, being so painfully destroyed by your own brother, with seemingly nothing that can be done to stop it and no one to help you? And then consider how lonely it must have been in her final moments. The only comfort she does get is from Spearmaster’s visit, and even then she sends him off to go deliver her final words, which has still got to be really depressing. And finally, think about how betrayed she must have felt, trying so hard throughout her operation to help her citizens and the local group and be kind to everyone, only to have it be repaid like this, forced to collapse in on herself, being buried under her own body, unfathomable pain all around, and with not a soul to help her.
So then, think about just how shocking and heartwarming (literally, if you think about it) it must be when that lovable Gen 2, always so playful and carefree normally, is the one to give her a second chance and being her back when all hope seems lost, and using such a unique delivery method no less! I mean COME ON, Sig literally brought her back to life, how could one NOT fall in love with someone who did that for them? It links back to the “shoulder to lean on” idea, in that, for once, someone finally looked out for Moon and gave back to her for all the kindness she gave to the world. Think about this as the moment she truly realizes she’s in love with No Significant Harassment, and how tragic it’d be knowing now, it’s too late to say it. But, even so, if he’s willing to go this far to make sure she’s okay, then maybe, just maybe, there’s a chance her love at least wasn’t alone.
Now, my thoughts about this from No Significant Harassment’s side (which also kinda turned into a mini NSH appreciation paragraph that links back to the earlier Inverses Attract and Lady and the Tramp segment), I think it’s very poetic to see him going out of his way to take his messenger concept, originally used for no more than a trivial prank and at most a very experimental and unfinished alternative communication method, and turning it into a noble last-ditch effort to rescue the one he loves. It doesn’t just clearly show how much he cares for Moon that he worked to save her when no one else did (and if that’s because the odds of being able to do anything seemed very low to the rest of them, that makes it even more sweet) I think it shows off a lot of Sig’s character beyond just being a jokester. Like, I’d seen this kind of personality for Sig in the fandom content before, but this action and the other broadcasts are what first made me truly realize not just that it is based in canon, but that, more importantly he’s not just stupid or unfocused, he’s rebellious. He doesn’t joke around because he just doesn’t care, it’s because he’s independent, he’s got other places he wants to go and plans that don’t fit into what most of his peers are used to. He makes light of the world because he sees what others don’t, and it’s honestly pretty frickin’ funny how blind others can be most of the time (case-in-point: him making a slugcat from a messenger, which no one else thought to do because those creatures seemed too “dull” and “primitive” to ever be capable of such a thing). So think about how significant it must be when he’s openly taking something seriously. This is where that dynamic of the Tramp, and how Sig would benefit from this relationship is really highlighted. I just adore it when the easygoing, carefree character finally finds purpose in their lover, and springs into serious action like they never were before! And it makes sense too given what I said about them not getting together before: seeing Moon collapse would show him directly that even beings as durable as iterators don’t last forever, so if he’s got these feelings for Moon, he’s got to make a move while there’s still a chance! And what better way to show his love than to bring her back when all hope seems lost? Which brings me to the final aspects I’ll talk about here, first of which is…
True Love’s Kiss
Yes, you read that right. The real reason I love the slag reset keys as a plot element so much is not just because it shows Sig’s secret strength of character, not just because it finally gives reward to Moon’s kindness, but because it is a real fairytale come true! 
I know this sounds crazy and probably totally unrelated to Rain World, but think about it! You guys have probably seen Snow White and Sleeping Beauty before, or at least one of the two? Isn’t the whole trope that the beautiful princess, fairest maiden in the land, gets cursed through some means or another to die (or in Aurora’s case, fall into an indefinite sleep), which is only undone when the strong and brave prince, riding upon his noble steed, awakens the princess by giving her true love’s kiss? I already love both those movies on their own for various other reasons, but after my description, is this starting to sound familiar in another way?
I mean, with everything I’ve said about Moon in this post so far, there’s no doubt you could perceive her as the “fair princess”, who through unfortunate circumstances is put to a premature and indefinite death. And there’s no doubt Sig fills the role of the brave prince by working to save her with the slag reset keys, which in this metaphor are undoubtedly the “true love’s kiss” that ultimately conquers all, always longed for, and finally delivered! And hey, given Hunter is the one to carry the keys to Moon, a small yet courageous beast who stops at nothing to meet his goals, Sig even has his own “noble steed”! And even if Hunter is technically the one to actually deliver the green neuron, and the death the “princess” succumbs to wasn’t out of genuine malice towards her, I think the sentiment is still there and the parallel is close enough! 
But yes, as strange as it may sound, the fairytale parallel is the main reason Lilypad resonates with me so much! Those classic fairytale-esque romance tropes and that poetic storytelling found in Disney’s first feature-length animated films has always been dear to my heart, and is even more so now that I’m older and can truly appreciate the beauty of them. So now, even in my fandom experiences, ships that win my appreciation over all others are often those that manage to embody those classic romance tropes and themes as best as possible, and frankly, even Artimand loses ever-so-slightly to Lilypad in this regard! Or, as I also enjoy calling them, “Lifeline”, for reasons that are probably obvious now. 
And it’s even better when you consider…
Some Things Never Change
Another trope I’ve recently begun to love is the idea that some phenomena in the world never truly disappear, but simply manifest in different ways, sometimes unexpected ones. And given the whole Triple Affirmative quest and the Ancients’ mass ascension philosophy, this idea is something I especially love seeing in Rain World content. Even the canon events show this idea, but think about how wonderfully it would work with Lilypad beyond just the slag reset keys, especially taking up that “worm off the string” iterator AU concept some have explored in this fandom already.
Just think about how sweet it would be when Moon and Sig, operating primarily through their puppets now, get to finally hug and kiss and be with each other so directly now! Think of the way Sig would speak to Moon about how, even after her collapse, she's still somehow beautiful as ever, and Moon returning with how even all the trouble the group has faced hasn't put a dent in his charm! And it's even sweeter when you consider it’s against everything their creators stood for! Think of Moon, after everything she’s been through and how much she’s probably changed at this point, now willing to give some of these “worldly attachments” a chance, because you can never truly get rid of them, but she knows better than anyone that you won’t be around to experience them forever, so why not enjoy it while you’ve got the chance? And it’d make sense too, not just for her own benefit, but for Pebbles and the rest of the group’s sake too! She’s always strove to set a good example for them, and since their original quest has left them with nothing but pain and trauma, why not show them that maybe all these attachments aren’t so bad after all?
I just think it’d be really interesting to see Moon joining Sig in that rejection of the Triple Affirmative, and what better way to do that than by finally embracing that love they’ve felt for each other for so long? Because love never truly dies, it just appears in new people. And maybe they don’t have to spend their whole lives as grand iterators, the vast infinitely-advanced mechanical deities who embody perfection in almost every way. Maybe, even just for a bit, they can just be people, falling in love just as their creators did all over again!
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
And with that, I think I’m FINALLY done here. HOLY COW, this is easily my longest post yet, and I hope it doesn’t disappoint! Part of the reason it took so long was because I was trying to find the perfect way to express all these ideas without it just spilling out onto the page in some weird half-coherent mess. But eventually I just said “ah screw it, let’s just ramble about this ship and see where it goes!” and my god, did it go far! And I still managed to somewhat organize it, so yay!
But aside from that, thank you SO MUCH to everyone who asked for my thoughts on Lilypad, and everyone who made it to the bottom of this essay! I’ve never really gotten a chance to openly ramble about one of my favorite ships to the rest of the fandom like this, so seeing that some fans, even if it’s ultimately not a huge amount, actually wanted me to do it was such a welcome surprise!
I hope you all enjoyed the drawings and the art! I’ll be around in case someone wants me to write another ship essay or something! And who knows, it’s likely I’ll find more reasons I like Lilypad as time goes on and I see more fan-content and find the rest of those broadcasts! But at least this was a starting point! 
Expect more LIlypad content to come in the future, but until now, thanks again for the opportunity!
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tadc-ragatha · 7 months
Note
Could ya do Ragatha with a reader that is very affectionate to her but is is grouchy towards others
Ragatha with an Uncharacteristically Sweet Reader
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TW: None, I think (lmk)
Type: Headcanons
A/N: Hey! Thanks for the request. I'm just going to tag all my writing as spoilers from now on just to be safe. As of writing/posting, only the pilot episode has come out and requests are open. I'm going to make a masterlist. Not proofread.
Ragatha
You were an odd case. As soon as you arrived in the digital circus you were trying to make enemies. You were rude, careless, apathetic, and all-in-all couldn't care less about the people you were stuck with. All you did was try to search for an exit to the weird hellscape you were stuck in. Not even Jax could get you on his side for the purpose of being a grouch to others.
During this time, Ragatha was always nice to you. The others gave up pretty quick. Zooble knew there was no point in trying to be friends, Gangle didn't want to make another enemy and be bullied, and Jax knew he couldn't get what he wanted out of you so he quit. Meanwhile, Kinger just gave up trying to be nice and left you alone and Pomni hadn't arrived yet.
Ragatha may not have liked you personality, but she was nice to you nonetheless. She walked you to your room for the first time, saved you a seat at the dining table (not that anyone was going to sit in your seat, anyway), and offered to be on your team for team-building activities. At first, you always tried to push her away, but slowly things started changing.
Her kindness got to you, and you found yourself starting to like her behaviour. Even if she was overly optimistic and had an annoying level of people-pleasing problems, she was the only one in the group who genuinely went out of their way to be nice to you. Slowly over time, you pulled back the eye-rolling and snark remarks. Of course, Ragatha noticed, and she was exceedingly glad to be making progress.
After a few months, the two of you were decent friends. Sure, you were still unkind to the rest of the group, but you were nice to her. Compliments and whatnot were always hard, but you did your best to give them to her. Eventually, you got used to that, too, and were complimenting her all the time, even if they were on trivial things. It's hard to compliment a person on their appearance and behaviour when they're stuck in the same body around the same people for years and years.
Though, Ragatha did wish you'd be nice to the others. As the months turned into years and you got more and more affectionate with her, she started to try and push harder for you to be nice to the others. She'd say things like "it can't hurt!" and "it'd be good for you." You didn't listen, preferring to just stick to her side.
By the time Pomni comes along, you're almost clinging to her arm. Everywhere she goes you go, and although you're not jealous of her being nice to Pomni (you're well aware she's nice to everyone), you're still a grouch to the poor woman. It definitely doesn't help her mental state, and Ragatha has to have a talk to you about it in private.
But in the end, things go on the same. Ragatha doesn't mind your affection--your company keeps her mind off things--but she wishes you'd just be a tad bit nicer to everyone else. You still only talk to her, talk smack about Jax to her, and give her lots of hugs. There's just no affection for her friends.
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senorabond · 7 months
Text
Rumor Has It (Peña x f!reader x Pike)
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Pairings: Javier Pena x f!reader; Marcus Pike x f!reader; future Pena x f!reader x Pike
Chapter 1 Summary: You've recently transferred from a promising job in D.C. to Texas when DEA Special Agent Javier Peña approaches you with his current case. Rumor has it you have an in with the FBI art crimes unit, and the DEA could use your skills and connections on a suspected narcos money laundering case. You need to do well on this case to prove yourself, but you're not sure Marcus Pike will even help after the way you left.
Rating: 18+ (Minors DNI), Mature-to-Explicit sexual content, additional warnings may be added for future chapters
Warnings: swearing, mentions of sex and masturbation (f), previous sexual relationship, office romance, references to gossip and slut shaming, sexist/patriarchal bullshit, daydreaming about "little Peña"
Reader/Character Notes: Reader is fem!afab; No mention of Reader’s body size, shape, composition, or skin color.
Words: 4.4k
a/n: I started writing this thinking it'd be a quick and dirty PWP, but then the plot took over and I'm not sorry. Time/setting is pretty loose. This wasn't "officially" beta'd - all errors and weird formatting are my own. However, a very special thanks and kisses for @azure-waves and @kilamonster for reading early versions of this! 😘 Additional author's notes at the end.
Masterlist
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Rumor Has It: Chapter One
Javier Peña thinks he’s hot shit. He struts about the office like he runs the place and conducts briefings like he's holding his own personal court. It'd be easier to chalk it up to pure ego and ignore him if he didn't actually have such an impressive resume to back it up. Unfortunately, that means putting up with yet another cocksure male flirting and fucking his way through the office your respective agencies share. At least he's easy on the eyes. 
Since moving to Houston six months ago for a new position with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, you'd clocked at least four broken hearts in Agent Peña's wake. In his defense, there are far more smiles than tears in the women's restroom when his name comes up in whispered conversation. You haven't heard this much gossip about a single guy since your senior year of high school when it was rumored that three cheerleaders got knocked up by the same football player as a pregnancy pact. For the record, only two girls were actually pregnant, and the alleged father ran off with the team’s water boy a few years out of college. They made a cute couple.
Favorite topics of conversation among Peña's admirers are his tight pants, who he's purportedly slept with, how good he must be in the sack, and contending reports of how big his dick actually is. Just that day you overheard one guy in the breakroom swear to a colleague that he'd seen ‘little Peña’ twitch while the DEA agent was briefing the latest developments in his investigation. You barely managed to hide your snort in your coffee, but had to admit the mental image was intriguing.
While not morally opposed to sleeping with somebody in the same office (that'd make you a hypocrite), you personally wouldn't want to risk the potential fallout of fooling around with someone as high profile as Agent Peña. The unfortunate reality is that women always bear the brunt of those consequences, and you aren't interested in putting your career on the line for a good dicking. As much as you may desperately need one. 
You'd been out a few times since moving to the area, but calling those disasters “dates” would be too generous. One such encounter seemed like it was going well, until the guy answered a call from his mother, got into a shouting match with her over the phone, then cried over the bread basket. You promptly excused yourself and blocked his number from the cab ride home. 
Since that night, the only dates you’d had were with some quality home entertainment and your trusty vibrator. The Magic Wand hadn’t failed you yet. Last night you enjoyed a delicious orgasm while watching a particularly excellent video featuring two men worshiping a woman’s body. That lucky bitch. It’d been way too long since you’d gotten laid, and it was starting to take its toll. Even with the regular, self-attained orgasms, you'd begun losing focus at work. Your mind frequently wanders into sexy daydreams about impossible scenarios in the war room. 
At your desk, you think back to what the guy said in the breakroom about little Peña and giggle to yourself. That'd be a sight to see, and would certainly liven up a boring case briefing. Your thoughts drift, and a fantasy begins to take shape. 
Agent Peña stands at the end of the conference table, commanding the attention of everyone in the room. One hand on his hip holds his charcoal suit jacket back; the other gestures behind him to the slides displaying the latest developments in his investigation. The lights are dimmed but his signature tight pants don’t leave much to the imagination. Your gaze takes him in slowly, lazily almost. Expressive eyebrows give way to deep set brown eyes. An aquiline nose slopes to meet his trademark mustache, and his lips make the perfect pout as he speaks. The broad motherfucker has a chest and shoulders for days, and his neck is almost too big for his collared shirt. When he moves his arms, the sleeves of his suit jacket are drawn tighter around his biceps. Down, down your eyes go, over the plane of his abdomen, past the unobtrusive belt buckle, and settle on the obvious bulge down the left side of his crotch. You can’t help but admire the outline of Peña’s cock; it twitches, and saliva floods your mouth as you squeeze your thighs tightly, your body responding of its own accord. Agent Peña’s timbre changes and you realize he’s said your name - you look up at him like a deer in headlights. “Like what you see?” 
You hear your name again, but his mouth hasn't moved beyond a knowing smirk…
“Hel-lo?” You shake yourself out of your daydream only to realize somebody has actually been saying your name. 
To your abject horror, the real Javier Peña stands next to your desk, a manila folder in his hands and a quizzical brow lifted in your direction. 
“What? Yeah? What do you want?” 
The questions fly out of your mouth before you can stop yourself. To further your mortification, you can feel heat blooming across your chest and face. He knows - he has to know - what is going through your head. Someone must have turned on the heat in the building, it's sweltering all of a sudden.
Peña shifts his weight onto his left leg, his right knee bent slightly. “I’m Javier Peña with the DEA -”
“I know.” Again, with the blurting. 
“Right.” He works his jaw slightly. “I was told you were the one to come talk to.” 
You focus on the manila folder in his hands and refuse to let your traitorous eyes dip any lower. They're just hands, for Christ’s sake. Large, strong hands. 
“Yeah? About what?” Is your voice breathier than usual?
Peña fidgets with the folder, then leans over and drops it in front of you. His thumb swipes at the corner of his mouth and he places both hands on his hips. There’s an agitated tension in his stance, and he shifts from foot to foot like a horse ready to bolt. 
“You’re with Customs,” he says, as though his meaning was obvious.
It's your turn to lift a brow at him.
“Yep. That I am.” 
It’s easier to pull yourself together with something tangible in front of you to focus on. You flip the folder open and start leafing through its contents. There are copies of bank transactions, transcripts from what you assume are wiretaps, and surveillance photos featuring two Latino men in well tailored suits outside a storefront, one of them holding a briefcase. This was business, this was work – you could do this. 
Peña clears his throat and smoothes down his mustache, the fingers of his left hand drumming on his hip. You wonder if he’s always this twitchy or if something could be making him nervous.
“My investigation is centered around these two men,” he waves a hand vaguely at the photos. “They run the stateside money laundering operations for some heavy cartel hitters, but they like to throw in some legitimate business dealings as well just to muddy the waters.” 
He pauses to clear his throat. 
“Uh huh…,” you prompt, looking up in time to see him tugging at his fitted collar. This was starting to get interesting. It’s obvious he came over to ask for your help with his case, but he seems to be doing everything he can to avoid saying those three little words, ‘I need help.’ What a typical man. 
Leaning back in your chair with the folder and its contents in hand, you find it much easier to take in the man standing before you. It's no longer like staring into the sun, however sexy that sun may be. The Great Javier Peña, reduced to an average fed. You can’t help but be a bit disappointed.
Peña sucks in a breath like he's going to keep speaking, then wordlessly proffers his hand to ask for the folder. You pass it back into his hands and keep your expression neutral. Flipping through the photos, he finds what he's looking for and places it on your desk. 
“That was taken outside an art gallery in Dallas. I think they know we’re closing in on some of their more lucrative sources of income and are trying something new.” 
You look more closely at the photo in front of you and nod. “Art classes?” The second the joke leaves your mouth you cringe inwardly. Peña’s jaw twitches as his eyebrows scowl a fraction of an inch closer. Not the time or place.
“The gallery is run by a couple in their sixties, Frank and Harriet Mansford. I think they’re working with these guys to make some kind of art deal.” You gesture to the chair opposite your desk and he accepts the invitation to sit down. 
“So, tell me, Agent Peña – where exactly does Customs come in? How do I fit into this picture?” Leaning forward, elbows propped on your desk, you fix Peña with what you hope is a confident stare. His fingers worry over the corner of his chair’s armrest. 
“Narcos have gotten more sophisticated in their laundering operations, but this wouldn’t be the first time they’ve used art sales to clean their money.” His gaze is steady, but his fingers continue on their restless path. 
“Unless they’re smuggling stolen goods into or out of the country–” 
“They are,” Peña interjects. “I believe they are.” He lets out a frustrated breath. “I don’t have the evidence yet, but I’ve already been looking into this gallery. They specialize in European art – so they’re likely getting at least some of it from abroad. And an international sale would make the paper trail harder to follow.” 
“As long as they’re legitimately purchasing or selling the artwork–” You hold up a calming hand as the agent makes to interrupt again. “Agent Peña, I’d like to help, but unless their crimes touch the border, it’s out of my jurisdiction.” 
“I know. But that’s not the only reason I’m talking to you.” Peña takes a deep breath like he's gearing up for something and you brace yourself. 
“I don’t know anything about art, ma’am.” He gives you the closest thing to a self-deprecating grin you think he’s capable of. “I’ve been trying to get the FBI’s art squad on this, but I can’t even get someone to take my calls – I don’t have an in.” He glances surreptitiously to see if anybody else is in earshot. 
Your gut does an anxious flip. Please, don't let this be going where you think it’s going. He licks his lips and hesitates, avoiding your eyes. 
“Word is you might know somebody in D.C.” 
Your heart stutters. Shit. 
Sounds like Peña isn’t the only subject of rumors around here.
---
Great, just great. You left D.C. to get away from people treating you differently because of who you choose to sleep with, but it looks like the rumors followed you all the way to fucking Texas. 
You take a good, hard look at the man sitting across from you. For a moment, you seriously consider telling him he can go fuck himself. While social blackmail isn’t something you’re willing to tolerate after everything you’ve done to start fresh, you don’t want to miss your first real opportunity to get involved in a case since arriving in Texas. Javier Peña may be a god amongst mere mortals in this town – you’d learned enough about his career to know it wasn’t all bullshit – but you weren’t going to let him get away with using you for your contacts at the FBI. Well, contact – singular.  
“The ‘word’ is?” You quote back at him icily. “And what word is that, Agent Peña?” Leaning back in your chair, you cock your head to the side a bit and rest your elbows on the arm rests. His mustache twitches the slightest bit at this change in your body language and tone of voice, but he doesn’t respond. You might be overplaying your hand here, but you’ll take that risk to find out how far he’s willing to go with this approach. Not wanting to be the first to break, you let the uncomfortable silence stretch. 
Right when you start to think you’ve missed the mark and he’s going to walk away without another word, he nods, eyes never leaving yours. Mirroring your pose, he tents his fingers and licks his lips again. You force yourself not to look at his mouth.
“I’m not stupid,” he states. Here it comes. “I know what people say about me around here.”
Wait, what? Schooling your features, you decide to see how this plays out.
“I know you haven’t been here very long, but I’m sure you’ve heard some of the office gossip already.” He shifts in his seat and hikes his pant legs up, casually propping one ankle on a knee. You pride yourself on not looking at his crotch. 
At that moment, a woman walks by your desk and gives the two of you a thorough once over. You stare her down until she meets your eyes, the smirk forming on her lips immediately dying. She scurries away and you turn back to find Peña giving you a bit of a smirk, and a certain glint appears in his eyes.  
“Agent Peña–”
“Javi, please.” The balls on this guy.
“Agent,” you repeat purposefully, “I’m not sure what, if anything, you know about me.” You pause to take a steadying breath, but Peña continues in earnest. 
“I know you worked with the FBI art squad on a number of cases during your time in D.C. that resulted in the arrest of several high-profile members of a forgery ring smuggling pieces into the country for sale on the black market.” 
You blink. That wasn’t what you were expecting. At all. 
He keeps talking. “But that was only in the last year or so. Before that, you worked your way up as a field agent and investigator at major ports of entry, developing a specialty in high-value contraband.” Peña slowly runs his palms over his thighs; the man is in perpetual motion.
As you listen to Javi rattle off various highlights and accolades that sound like they came directly from your personnel file, you notice the change in his demeanor and tone. He speaks matter-of-factly like he’s reciting a brief, but there’s a hint of something else in his tone besides simple curiosity. 
“And then you landed the D.C. assignment. From what I hear, you could’ve been running that unit in a few years, but instead you took a boring ass admin job out here.” He gestures vaguely around you. This is where he’s comfortable – when he’s the one in charge, telling you what’s what. 
“You’ve sure heard a lot about me, Agent Peña.” Your tone is cool and measured. 
“Why?” He leans forward and braces his elbows on spread knees. His piercing eyes level with yours, pupils wide and locked in.
“‘Why’ what?”
“Why’d you leave D.C.?”
A glance out to the common area nearby confirms there’s nobody within earshot, but you still lower your voice when you say, “You already seem to know everything there is about me.” Pausing, you feel your pulse flutter in your neck. “I would think you’ve heard that part as well.” 
He’s testing you. That’s how guys like him operate. They pin you down to see if you’ve got enough in you to fight back. Fighting back is what earns their respect. The smile Peña gives you is subtle, edging on mischievous.  
 “I’ve heard plenty on that topic,” he confirms with a gentle nod. “There are a few prevailing theories.” He counts off the rumors on his fingers and glances up to see your reactions to each. 
Pissed off the wrong politician is met with an eye roll. 
Moved here for a boyfriend – “...or girlfriend?” Javi checks – earns an exasperated sigh.   
“You fucked your way around–” Javi stops abruptly when an indignant sound escapes your mouth. This reaction sends Javi’s eyebrows dancing.  
Kicking yourself, you decide there’s only one course of action: honesty. Keeping your voice low, you lean over your desk and Javi follows until your faces are barely a foot apart. You force yourself to look directly into his eyes as you say your piece.
“I didn’t ‘fuck my way around’ anything. Not that it’s any of your fucking business, but I had a consensual relationship that never once interfered with our professional conduct or the work at hand. Got it?” Javi doesn’t speak, but there’s a glint in his eyes as they roam over your stony expression, lips pursed in a contemplative pout. 
“Once the rumor mill starts, it’s only a matter of time before the woman is left to deal with the consequences – not that I’d expect you to care about such things.” You practically spit the last words out before you can stop yourself. 
The air stills between you. Peña nods as if to himself, then leans even closer, until you can smell his spicy cologne. “Let’s set the record straight about one thing right now, Agent.” 
You swallow thickly and look anywhere but at his eyes – the long line of his nose, the cut of his jaw, the stubble on his cheek. His voice drops into a deeper register when he says, “I don’t give a shit who you choose to fuck or not – as long as it doesn’t get in the way of me getting the job done. We’re all adults here and can make our own grown-up choices.” He raises a finger, and points first to you, then himself as he speaks. “My one rule is: I don’t judge you, you don’t judge me.” 
He pauses, giving you a second’s reprieve. “Are we on the same page now?” 
You nod once, gritting your teeth at his condescending tone. Back in a normal register he says, “Good. Now about this investigation of mine…” 
Peña retreats and gestures at the case documents underneath where your arms were folded on top of your desk. You look down, having almost forgotten his whole reason for being here in the first place. 
“Agent Peña…” you start, and again, he interrupts.
“Please, I asked you to call me Javi.” The fucker winks at you – winks. 
“Javi,” you grind out, playing his game. “I don’t know what you think I can do for you, unless this whole thing is to try and get me to –” 
“Don’t finish that sentence.” His voice is a rumble in his chest. “Don’t insult me like that, and don’t insult yourself.” Javi points at the desk. “I came here asking for help because you’re a damn good agent with experience in this shit. If you want to show this office that you’re not going to back down from another fight just because some dickless piss-ant is spreading rumors, this is your chance.”
You let his words sink in and hate that he’s right. You did back down from the fight in D.C., the second it got difficult. Your pride was wounded and you ran away with your tail between your legs at the first opportunity. With a steadying breath, you sigh and start organizing the documents and photos.
“I’ll take a look at everything and see what I can come up with.” Peña begins to stand, and you cut in, “But I can’t promise I can get you in with the FBI.” 
You haven’t spoken to Special Agent Marcus Pike since you left D.C. six months earlier. If you were honest with yourself, you missed the time you two spent together, even when you weren’t having amazing sex. Getting takeout from his favorite Thai place and watching an old movie, or reviewing case notes over pizza after hours in the war room. Marcus was the most decent guy you’d ever known, and you hadn’t even answered the few times he called to check in your first couple months in Texas. It’d serve you right if he refused to speak to you ever again, if you could swallow your pride long enough to call him up.
“I’ll take whatever I can get at this point.” Peña sticks a hand out to shake. You join him on your feet and grasp his hand firmly. Some of your confidence was returning. 
“I never pegged you as the desperate type, Javi.” You hoped your smile was enough for the agent to hear your words as the playful banter you’d intended. Fortunately, he huffed a quiet laugh and nodded appreciatively, boldly letting his eyes wander over you. The heat of his gaze leaves pleasant tingles in its wake. 
“I’ll swing by tomorrow to talk about next steps.”
The agent departs, and you sit back down at your desk with a long sigh. As you watch the man walk away, your reverie from earlier comes back in startling focus with new details. You think back to how commanding and gruff his voice had sounded with his face so close to yours. The scent of his cologne lingered – spicy, with a hint of citrus and something else you couldn’t identify. How his thick fingers splayed over his hip or massaged the arm of his chair as he spoke. The crease in the middle of his bottom lip when he swiped at the corner of his mouth.
Clearing your throat, you try to focus your attention on the stack of papers and photos in front of you. You couldn’t let your libido cloud your judgment now that you had a real case to sink your teeth into. You’d always prided yourself on your ability to compartmentalize, but your head was still swimming after the man had been in your cubicle for, what – ten minutes? 
You’ve certainly got your work cut out for you. 
***
Washington, D.C.
6 months earlier
“You don’t have to do this.” Marcus stands next to your desk as you finish packing your few personal belongings into an empty cardboard box. “I’ll talk to my guys, you don’t need –”
You still him with a hand. “Marcus, please. I’m choosing to do this; it’s a really good opportunity.” You hope he believes that. 
Marcus sighs and rubs a hand over his face. After looking around to check that you and he were alone in the emptying building, Marcus leans into your space. “You’re telling me this has nothing to do with us?” His voice is deep, intimate.
He’s close enough for you to feel the warmth emanating from his body, and you catch a whiff of the aftershave that always leaves you feeling a bit heady. How is it still so strong even after a full day’s work? The frisson you experience whenever your bodies are in close proximity hasn’t diminished in the slightest, even after months of fucking on the sly. 
You’d both maintained your professionalism at the office; you respect each others’ boundaries and careers too much to get sloppy in the workplace. The only thing that changed around the office since you started sleeping with Marcus was the other agents. Their eyes followed you around the office, conversations sputtered to a halt when you entered the breakroom, and snatches of whispered conversation filled your cubicle when they didn’t know you were there.  
Clearing your throat, you force your eyes to meet his intense gaze. “Yes, Marcus, that’s what I’m saying.” 
 Marcus is a great agent, and an even greater guy. You know he’d want to stick up for you – as a fellow agent, and as a friend – but it’d only make things harder for you. Already your caseload had begun to dwindle and you were being consulted less and less often on issues squarely in your area of expertise. After several fruitless conversations with your supervisor, you weren't about to sit around and wait for your career to die – no matter how mindblowing the sex was. 
The box is packed with your personal belongings and an assortment of stolen office supplies as your last petty ‘fuck you’ to the endemic sexism and double standards that plague federal law enforcement.
“Hey,” Marcus takes your hand in both of his and strokes his thumb over your pulse point as he perches a hip on the corner of your bare desk. “I can tell there’s something more to the story, and you obviously don’t want to tell me what it is so I’m not going to push…” 
You roll your eyes at him teasingly and he huffs out a laugh, then pulls you closer so your hand is in his lap. He keeps stroking that sensitive part of your wrist and something in you thrums to life. “But?” You look at your joined hands. “I know there’s a but in there.”
“But – you know you can always talk to me. About whatever.” He shrugs a noncommittal shoulder and you step even closer, bracketing one of his legs between your own. His breath falters a bit as you turn one of his large hands over and graze your fingertips across his palm with a featherlight touch.
“If you ever need anything, please…” His voice drops into the register you only ever hear him use in private. 
Fuck it – you’d been so careful and were still dealing with the consequences. Might as well have a little fun on your last day. You place a firm hand on Marcus’ thigh and glide it up to his hip. 
“There is one thing I need right now.” You feel a bit giddy at your recklessness, but any nerves you might have are quelled when Marcus runs the tip of his nose up your jawline to your ear. 
“And what’s that? Hm?” He inhales your scent and hums with pleasure. Before you can stop yourself, you shift your hand at Marcus’ hip to his crotch. When you feel how hard he already is you release a breath you hadn't realized you were holding. 
Marcus inhales sharply through his nose at your touch, then lets out a groan in your ear at your gentle squeeze. “Tell me what you need.” His five o’clock shadow rasps against your sensitive skin as he sucks your earlobe into his mouth. 
“I need you to show me that evidence locker you haven’t shut up about since we met.”
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Chapter 2
NOTE: The term “war room” originally described the place military leaders discussed tactics and strategies. It’s frequently used now in federal government, law enforcement, and business settings to describe any room used to strategize and plan – it could have various technologies (computers, A/V, video-teleconferencing, etc.) or be a plain old conference/meeting space with whiteboards.
Additional Author’s Note: I'm finally forcing myself to post this fic I've been working on in an attempt to get over my fear of people reading my work. It's the first fic I've written in the Pedroverse, and quite possibly the only fic I've ever posted publicly as an adult. I would love to know what you think! I really want to become a better writer, so any and all feedback is welcome! Thanks for reading!
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sweet-as-an-angel · 4 months
Note
HIIII!!!!‼️‼️‼️‼️🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶
I haven’t been on lately, I have some other questions too but genuinely I just want to get this out of the way because I genuinely want him so bad😭😭
So, it was my birthday yesterday and I’m just gonna be honest man, it was not good. I’m twenty now but it just feels weird?? Like I don’t know what’s happening?? I barely even celebrated, I wasn’t given the chance.
So how would Dominic be on his beloved’s birthday?? Would he do anything special?? Throw them a party with gifts?? Just genuinely anything his strange ass would do??
It can be taken as SFW, NSFW, or both!! It doesn’t matter to me🫶🫶
I hope you are doing good and all is well!! :]]
Oh also, would you ever consider writing anything for Hotch from criminal minds?? I’ve had the most INSANE crush on that man for years now, i’m just genuinely curious.
-🦝
Hello there, my Sweet 🦝 Anon ! Happy (late) birthday <3 ! I understand how difficult life can feel when you're thrown from one life stage into another, but I would like you to know this: everyone develops at their own pace. Everybody takes different amounts of time to acclimatise to new situations, so don't feel the need to rush into adulthood and its many daunting expectations ^^.
As for your birthday celebrations, I do hope you'll get the chance to fully indulge in them on your next birthday. But don't feel like you need to wait until then, my Sweet ! Celebrate whenever you want to because every day is a blessing; you don't need an excuse to pull out the festivities to mark the passing of another year, my Dear <3 !
Also, yes, I absolutely WOULD consider writing for Hotch - I have a monster crush on him, too ^^
As for Dominic:
TW: Manipulation, Vague Implication of Suggestive Material, No Pronouns Used For Reader Except 'You'.
♡ You just KNOW Dominic's going to use this special occasion to: a.) make it all about him (and his crippling saviour complex), and b.) spoil you silly.
♡ He organises a surprise party for you. Has a failsafe in case you hate it - to pin the whole affair on Marilyn, accrediting her for this wonderful party - despite inviting an optimal number of guests to keep you within the zone of relative comfort; not too many to lose yourself in, but enough where you can retreat with ease.
♡ At the first sign of discomfort, he's absolutely going to swoop in like the self-perceived hero he is and take you somewhere quiet, somewhere where you can open up to him, thank him for rescuing you from the stuffy atmosphere of the party, etc.
♡ Just stroke his ego, basically.
♡ He knows he needs to buy something inconspicuous enough that you, your family and Marilyn won't feel uncomfortable with him giving such a luxe gift. but it also needs to be extravagant and personal enough that you'll appreciate it.
♡ He'll settle on something the two of you discussed in private - something borderline utilitarian so it doesn't end up a decorative paperweight.
♡ An article of clothing, an ornate lighter, a novel so rare its publication is believed to be a myth; those sorts of things. Items that carry weight - both physical and emotional. But things you could never afford yourself.
♡ Objects that will indebt you to Dominic. Even if your birthday is supposed to be one of the few times of the year where you can receive gifts without feeling the need to repay those who give you them.
♡ Dominic can't extinguish the prickle of his ego swelling as you approach him after everyone's splintered off into their groups, thanking him profusely for your gift before asking him with a soft smile when his birthday is, what he'd like, and...how did he know it was your birthday, anyway?
♡ He smiles.
♡ "I know everything that happens in this neighbourhood," he tells you. A lock of hair slips before your eyes. He tucks it behind your ear. Can't have your saintly view of him obscured now, can he?
♡ "It'd hardly do if I didn't know when my favourite neighbour's birthday was, would it?"
♡ You figured he could've gotten that information from absolutely anyone.
♡ And he'll let you keep believing that fantasy for as long as he needs. Especially since seeing you with your beloved birthday gift fills him with a makeshift warmth that he believes is love.
♡ Dominic has never truly cared for birthdays - both his own and those of others - but for the first time in his life, he can't wait to see what you get for him. What little surprise or favour he can pull from you when it's just the two of you alone.
♡ And trust, he'll do everything in his power to make sure you're more than willing to bend over backwards for his thanks by his next birthday.
Reblog for more content like this! It helps creators like myself tremendously and it is greatly appreciated :-)
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ckret2 · 1 year
Note
👀 I want to hear more about this Bill AU
You were the very first person to send me an ask about the Bill AU, and it was an open-ended question, so I've been saving your ask special for... a fanfic. IDK how often or how much I'm gonna write actual full fic for this AU but for now, here: the first half of Bill's reunion with the Pines family. (Attempted murder included.)
####
February 25, 2013
The vengeful demon standing in the door of the Mystery Shack possessed only four items in the universe:
Two safety pins.
A time tape tied around his waist like a belt.
And a tunic he'd fashioned himself in the style of an ancient Greek Ionic chiton, folded and pinned so perfectly that the wearer must have seen them thousands of years ago when they were at the height of fashion.
Soos couldn't identify an authentic Ionic chiton. All he could tell was that the lady at the door was wearing a toga made out of a bright purple Pony Heist children's bedsheet.
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Soos laughed, flashing the tourist a double thumbs up. "Hey! Awesome toga. That should really be like a thing. Imagine if we all wore togas. We could just wake up, roll our bedsheets around us like a burrito, and go out!"
Distractedly, the tourist answered, "Careful, you can't tell when Big Fashion is listening in." 
"Haha. Who?"
The tourist didn't reply, and she hadn't looked at Soos once; instead, her gaze was darting around the shop searchingly.
"Are you shopping for something specific?" Soos asked with his best customer service voice. "Post cards? Snow globes? Weird taxidermy thingamajigs? Pants?"
"Where are the Pines?" the tourist asked, casting a sharp look at the "employees only" door, then the vending machine.
"Oh, Mr. Pines! The original Mr. Mystery! Heh—he actually retired a few months ago. The Mystery Shack's under new management!" Soos planted his fists on his hips and puffed up his chest. "It's me, I'm the new management."
"But where are they?" the tourist pressed.
"Uhh, he and his bro are somewhere in South America, I think? Some place called... Redacted. But hey, if you really wanna meet him in person, in his last letter he said they might visit for like spring break if the kids can make it up. First week in April!"
"First week in April," the tourist muttered, glancing away from Soos, thoughtfully fiddling with the time tape wrapped around her waist.
"Oh, dude! I've tried to use a tape measure as a belt too! Haha! It worked great, until I bumped the button and it retracted. Yeesh. Hey, do you want a fur belt? We sell fur belts now." Soos turned away, rummaging through the new display next to the t-shirts. "They're all ethically sourced from recycled materials! I bought a bunch of old rugs from the Northwest Mansion to slice up."
Soos grabbed up a fuzzy pink belt. "Check it, I think this is unicorn hide or something. Bet it'd go so good with that Pony Heist toga..."
The tourist had vanished in thin air.
Soos looked around. "Huh." He stuck the belt on a shelf beneath the cash register, in case she decided she wanted it later.
Once all the other visitors had left for the day, and Soos was left alone to clean up, he glanced around the shop nervously. "Is anyone there?" He lifted his broom like a samurai sword. "Hello? Big Fashion?"
Nothing answered. He shrugged and kept sweeping.
###
April 1, 2013
A vengeful demon who possessed nothing but two safety pins, a time tape belt, and a purple Pony Heist bedsheet tunic stood in the center of the Mystery Shack gift shop.
Which was weird, because Soos hadn't heard the door and she totally hadn't been there a moment ago.
"Oh hey! Toga Lady!" Soos turned to Wendy, who was picking up a few bucks as a temp worker handing the spring break tourists. "It's Toga Lady. She came in like a month ago. The toga's cool, right? I think it's cool."
Wendy glanced up, choked back a laugh, and scrambled to grab her phone for a picture.
"So, where are the Pines?" Toga Lady asked, with an edge of impatience.
"Oh, dude, did you come all they way back here to meet them? I'm sorry, the Mr. Pineses didn't make it. They couldn't get a flight out of Atlanta." Soos stopped, frowned, and pulled a water-stained letter from his pocket to double check. "Sorry, Atlantis. Something about a siege of sirens?"
"They would pick now to invade," Toga Lady muttered. "I suppose the children aren't here."
How did she know about the children? Maybe she'd visited last summer and remembered them? Like, early summer, before Pony Heist came out. Soos would have remembered the toga. "Naw, heh. They went to Roswell."
"Oh, cool," Wendy said distractedly, busy texting Toga Lady to everyone she knew. "Checking out the competition."
"Yeah, Dipper's sending me like a billion pictures of the alien museum."
"Well," Toga Lady snapped, "when are they showing up?"
Soos was beginning to get the impression that Toga Lady was less an admiring fan, and more one of those customers. All the same, he said, "June first, for sure. That's when the kids get here for summer break so the Mr. Pineses are coming too. Definitely. Promise."
She rolled her eyes—one of them twitched, like she'd gotten something in it and was struggling to keep it open—but said, "All right, fine! June. What's the difference?" She trudged to the door and leaned next to it by the snow globe shelves, fiddling with her belt, as if she was settling in to wait right there for the next two months.
Soos frowned—she might drive off tourists, blocking the door like that—but said, "Oh! While you're here, I thought you might be interested in this belt." He reached past Wendy to grab it from beneath the cash register. "I didn't get a chance to show you last time before—"
He looked toward the door. She was gone. "Huh. Did you see Toga Lady leave?"
Wendy shrugged. "Wasn't looking."
"Huh." Soos replaced the belt. At least he knew when he'd see her next.
###
June 1, 2013
"What's with the belt?" Stan asked.
"Oh! It's for a regular." Soos pointed with both hands down at the fuzzy pink belt peeking beneath his suit jacket. "I think she's comin' today. She wanted to meet the original Mr. Mystery."
"Hey, an admirer!" Stan mysteriously grew two inches as his posture spontaneously improved. "Is she cute?"
"Uh... if you like bedsheet togas?"
"Ooh, a party girl."
Over by the shop's glass display case, Ford said, "These are new," and lifted a jar with an alien fetus suspended in green goo.
"Oh, yeah!" Soos said. "Dipper sent me like, a billion keychains of these little alien guys from Roswell. So I started filling Abuelita's empty spice jars with aliens and lime jello. Cool, huh? It looks like we stole them from a secret government lab or something."
Stan laughed, slinging an arm around Soos. "Listen to this! Brilliant! I knew I put the right guy in charge."
Soos grinned goofily. "Aw, gee, Mr. Pines..." A flash of purple caught the corner of his eye. Toga Lady was leaning next to the door by the snow globe shelves, fiddling with her belt.
Here was a chance to show off his great business instincts with Stan watching. Time to make a sale. "Oh, hey, Toga Lady! I didn't hear you come in! Still rockin' Pony Heist, huh? Hey, I've been trying to show you this belt I think you'll like..."
But she wasn't listening to him. Her gaze was fixed on the Pines twins' backs. As Soos watched, her expression darkened, and her grin widened.
The vengeful demon reached past the snow globes, snatched up a heavy "mysterious green crystal cluster ($250)" made of glued-together broken glass, and heaved it up over his head. "Hey, Sixer!" Face contorted in a snarl of a smile, he turned the cluster over, sharp broken shards pointing downward. "Welcome home!"
Bill Cipher swung the glass weight down toward Ford's head.
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(If you wanna keep reading, all chapters are right here!)
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xiaoscarasimp · 10 months
Text
Cat Boi: H Patch
Minors DNI/SMUT
CW: AFAB! Reader, Cat boi, Scaramouche is his own warning, you call Scara good boy like twice and basically aphrodisiacs
What do we get when someone loves Scara cat boi and has hormones that are out of control because reasons? Good old fashion 2.6k words of smutterino. First time writing smut *hides*
This takes place prob between cat boi 1 and 3 ish (not canon canon but H Patch ^^)
One day, you decided to play a bit of a joke on your cat boy, Scaramouche, by bringing home some catnip. You had read that it has some calming properties for actual cats, so why not try it on your rowdy cat boy? At the pet store, you decided on getting both the dried and the live grass to see which would work better, although you had higher bets on the live. 
You arrive at your house with the cat nip and Scaramouche greets you at the door. Sometimes you swear he's more of a dog boy than cat boy. The cat boy sniffs the bag, and has a puzzled look on his face.
"What is that weird smell?" His nose wrinkles in disgust. "Did you get me some shitty medicine again?" 
"No, no," you laugh. "This is catnip. Apparently, it calms cats down and makes them enter a state similar to when a person gets high, so I was wondering if it'd work on you." 
"Sooo, you're attempting to drug me?" His tail flicked angrily, his eyes had a look of betrayal in them. How dare his precious human attempt to drug him?! 
You shake your head. "I got these in case you wanted to try them. I'm not gonna slip this stuff into the food you know." You ruffle his hair in between the cat ears. 
As you put down the bags from your shopping trip, Scaramouche peaks into the bag with the living catnip in it, and takes another whiff of it, nose still wrinkled in semi disgust, but even though it smells weird, the cat boy almost can't stop sniffing it. It feels like his brain is going to mush; he couldn't stop purring and giggling like a school girl.
"Scara, are you ok in there?" You call from the kitchen as you were prepping tonight's dinner.  "I hear you laughing, and one thing I know about you is when you're laughing, it's never a good sign." 
Scaramouche slinks into the kitchen, face red with blush and eyes glazed over. "Hey, y/n, has anyone ever told you that you hot when you cook?" He slurs out. "Or that you smell really nice? Almost like Citrus. Lemon of course." 
"Well, yeah. I cook fish a lot so I gotta get that smell out somehow. Are you ok?" You start pan frying the steak in seasoned butter and start boiling the water for the rice. Tonight's menu was steak with rice and green beans: simple, easy and effective. 
The cat boy starts giggling again, stumbling through the kitchen to try and hug you while you're cooking. Once he did hug you, you notice that he is radiating body heat like someone who has a fever. 
"Scara, look at me. Are you sure you're ok?" He stares at you, eyes dilated, blush on his face, and tail and ears twitching. His tail starts to make its way to your wrist but you pull away before the cat boy can wrap his tail around your wrist. You make the mistake of looking down and notice a slight bulge in his pants, causing both of you to blush even harder. "So, uh, this is awkward. Did the catnip make you, uh, like…this?" You stammer out, not sure of what to make of the situation. 
"I'm not sure, but all I know right now is that down there hurts and it's tight." Scaramouche shifts his legs, almost trying to help soothe his acting nether regions. 
What would even be the morality of helping your cat boy with the sudden arousal? You got yourself (and him) into this mess, so what's the safest, most ethical way out? The cat boy was easy enough on the eyes, soft dark purple hair which was currently sticking to his forehead, purple eyes that reflected galaxies, and the twitching cat ears which were pressed against his head in embarrassment. 
"Scaramouche Balladeer the Sixth: I want you to be honest with me. Can you willingly consent to possible sexual acts? Will you be ok with me helping you with your problem?" You have a serious look on your face, trying to make sure that you were not taking advantage of him. Using his full name managed to snap him out of his daze for a few moments.
"I don't care what you do, just help me with my damn problem." He snaps back. "You can fuck my brains out for all I care. Just be careful of the tail, it's sensitive."
You chuckle. "Let's eat and clean up first. No, I'm not the meal." You hear a tongue click at that notion.
As you guys eat, you start questioning the cat boy about what he knows, although you can tell his mind is elsewhere, legs rubbing together for any type of relief. Eventually, he says that he wants to try and let his instincts and you guide him through the relief process.
After dinner, while you were cleaning up, you noticed Scaramouche had gone back over to the catnip plant, deeply inhaling its scent; apparently the smell was super addictive. The blush on his face somehow increased further and his tail swished back and forth impatiently. Needless to say, Scaramouche was eager for relief. 
"Scara," you call out. "I'm heading upstairs." As if he was under a spell, he followed you in a daze, sniffing the air. His ears and tail flicked nervously in anticipation. 
Once you two got to the bed room, Scaramouche tackled you onto the bed, rubbing his head on your chest, inhaling your scent. Somehow, it was more addictive than the scent of catnip. The cat boy, lost in his instincts, started rutting against your leg, eager for relief for the warmth in his lower abdomen. 
"Scara, let's get these clothes off, shall we?" You chuckle and Scaramouche looks up at you, eyes demanding why did you stop his release. You start by slipping his black shirt over his head and planting a chaste kiss on his lips. Scaramouche attempts to stick his tongue out at you, but you grab it with your own Tongue, battling for dominance in his mouth. As fate would have it though, you nicked your tongue against his sharp teeth and you pulled back from your assault, both of you panting from the battle. 
“Ha, for someone who has ‘experience’ you sure did fuck up,” the cat boy teased. 
“Hey, it’s not my fault you have sharp teeth,” you scowled. “Now, if you want to try that again be my– mmmfph.” You were cut off by a passionate kiss, this time though, the battle was in your mouth. Tongues swirling around in your mouth had you moaning and heat pooling at your core. Scaramouche was no better, moaning your name in your mouth. 
You cup his face with one hand and roll his nipple between your fingers with the other, causing him to moan even louder. Scaramouche started grinding against your leg again, this time faster, chasing his own pleasure. His tail wrapped itself around the arm that was cupping his face while his hands went to your waist. When you felt like he was getting close to his relief, you push him off. 
“Hey! I was almost there,” The cat boy hisses. 
“I know, but first we have got to get these shorts off you. Maybe you can help me undress as well?” You wink at him. At the mention of undressing you, he immediately starts by lifting your shirt, revealing a black, lacey, pushup bra that makes your chest look even more divine than it usually does. Scaramouche blushes at seeing you nearly topless like this. Sure, he has seen you topless after getting out of the shower or getting dressed in the morning, but this was the first time he’s seen you topless as a woman, and not purely as his master.
“You like what you see?” Your sultry voice made him blush and his dilate even further. The indigo haired cat boy quickly looked away, nose almost bleeding from sheer stimulation. “I’m going to take your shorts off now,” you tell him, and kiss his forehead and Scaramouche nods in agreement, eager to strip everything off to be even closer to you.
As you slide his shorts and underwear over his knees, you can’t help but to notice how hard he actually was, tip flaming red and dripping precum. Even his pants slipping past his cock was enough to make him whimper and almost cum on the spot.  
"Oh, look at you," you croon as you massage the tip between your fingers. You push him back onto the bed, trapping him underneath you. "My fierce, sassy cat boy reduced down to a mewling kit. Tell me: how badly do you want me?" 
It was at this point Scaramouche decided to take his chance and wrap his tail around your hips and pull down your bra to suck on your nipple.
 "Ah-ah-ah," you tut, smacking his hands away from your chest. "Only good cat boys get to play with my breast. Have you been a good boy?" His ear flatten against his head, equal parts shame at becoming noticeably aroused when you called him a good boy and equal parts excitement. 
"I don't care about that shit. Just help me relieve this throbbing pain." He attempts to command you, but it just comes out as a whimper. 
You cock an eyebrow at him and he immediately knew he messed up. Scaramouche, the proud arrogant cat boy with a sword for a tongue, started one thing you never expected him to do: beg 
"I'm sorry y/n. I'll be a good boy. Please relieve this pain. Please-please-please. I need you," He starts babbling, words and prayers spilling over his lips. Poor cat boy was already pussy drunk and he hadn't so much as touched it directly. 
You strip your pants and underwear off and that almost sends Scaramouche over the edge. Unhooking your bra, you allow him to squeeze your breasts gently, causing you to moan a bit louder. As you straddle him again, you lean down and gently nibble his sensitive, furry ears, sending jolts up the cat boy's spine. The wet sounds in his ears were just so exquisite, gasping and moaning even louder. 
"Scaramouche Balladeer the Sixth," you whisper in his ear. "Are you sure you want to have sex with me? We can stop now if you want." The catnip had to be wearing off soon, but Scaramouche was still very much in the mood. He nods, almost unable to get the words out. "Scara, I'm going to need you to use your words, otherwise I will not continue."
"Y-yes master," Scaramouche whines. "Pl-please do something about my leaking cock." 
You lift yourself up slightly and align his weeping cock with your needy hole and lower yourself down gently. Upon entering your folds, the cat boy almost cums on the spot; the stimulation was too much. Scaramouche moans and bites your neck to try and quiet himself, but you lift his face up and crash your lips into his and suck on his bottom lip.
"I'm going to move now," you say into his mouth, to which Scaramouche nods vigorously. As you start grinding on his dick, you feel it throb inside of you, pulsating with anticipation. Your walls tighten and loosen around Scaramouche's cock as you kiss him, throwing both of you into a passionate fury. 
"I-I'm close," you moan. "S-scara it's ok to c-cum inside." You can barely speak through the intense pleasure. As you babble on, you can feel his dick twitch before finally exploding inside you. His tail wraps even tighter around you when the release happens. It wasn't long after you crest the peak of your own orgasm, leaving you both sweaty and panting. Scaramouche's ears were twitching happily, face relaxed like you've never seen it before, and generally at peace with himself. 
"Was that fun?" You ask, still on top of him, dick still inside of you. He sluggishly nods, smiling like he's in a dream. You ruffle his ears and hair and unwrap his tail from around you. As you get off him, the cat boy tries to give you a hug to pull you back down, but Scaramouche's energy was spent, so his hug had no pull. 
You quickly locate the tissues and hand them off to Scaramouche and tell him if he needs help cleaning up to let you know if he wants to take the lazy route, otherwise a shower is the best option.  The cat boy rushes to the shower, cum dripping down his leg. As you clean yourself up, you debate joining him in the shower to wash up before bed. Scaramouche pokes his head out of the bathroom, demanding that you help clean him in the shower.
For some reason, you two can never agree on water temperature. You prefer it to be scolding hot whereas he prefers it to be warm but not hot, which feels cold to your skin. Eventually, you settle on a decent shower temperature, and you start washing his hair.
"Mind the ears," He grumps. Scaramouche is back to his old uptight self again. "Also, don't be so rough; I'm delicate you know."
"Yes, yes, my big strong cat boy and his delicate ears," you muse. "OK, body wash time." You start putting the soap on the wash cloth and as you start scrubbing him down, he yowls.
"Gentle, I said. Gentle!! What part of that don't you understand?!" He was so cute when he scowled, but you weren't going to let him know that. 
"Exfoliation Scara. It's good for the skin. Also, did not think I was that rough." The cat boy glared at you in response. "Good news is, you're clean now." You rinse off the suds and Scaramouche shook his head, almost like a dog, to get the water out of his hair. "H-hey now!" 
The cat boy stuck his tongue out at you and nimbly hopped out of the shower. "Now you can have your hot as hell water to fuck up your skin with." 
Even though Scaramouche was clean, he still hung out in the bathroom, watching you shower with an intense gaze. His ears twitched excitedly. The way the soap slid off your breasts, the way your hands went through your hair when you washed it was all so alluring. He considered himself lucky to have had the experience he did tonight, even if it was fueled by catnip.
After you were done scrubbing yourself, you put on your pajamas. Scaramouche was laying in the bed and had already put on his signature black sleeping shorts and an oversized t-shirt with a cat on it, which you got purely for the irony. 
You head over to the bed and get in under the covers and could just feel Scaramouche's body heat radiating through the blankets. 
"So, amuse me,"you cock your head in wonder. "Does catnip affect every cat boy like an aphrodisiac or only some? Also, I didn't take advantage of you did I?"
"So, it does have aphrodisiac-like properties on certain cat boys or girls but I was still very much in control. I was not expecting to be hit that hard by it, but I've been wanting to experience you for a long, long time. So, it's  win-win. You got to play a small 'joke' on me and I got to experience your body. Now tell me," He smirks.  "When can we do stuff like that again? And next time: I want to be in control." Scaramouche kisses you before turning away. 
"Ok fine, but remember: I'm the master in all other areas in life." You whisper in his ear, causing it to flick from the simple stimulation of your breath. You pull him in close to cuddle him like a stuffed animal and as much as he tries to say he hates being little spoon-he really does enjoy it.  
The two you drift off to sleep, dreams of each other's bodies racing through your mind, wanting to experience the whole act again.
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Sending a headcannon and I got carried away:
Our Dragon-Parented Dragonslayers needed to learn modern Fioran (or whatever languages Earthland X777 had) after arriving in the future and Natsu's the one with the biggest grasp of it.
---
These kids were from 400 years in the past when there was a huge dragon-feud going on. If Nirvana and Dragnof are any indication, multiple civilizations fell during that time and with it the loss of several languages. Whatever language they had been taught (which was likely at least one form of dragonic at the time...because dragon parents), it's probably considered extinct in X777.
But thing is I think Natsu may have been the only one to get lessons on how to read and write Fioran.
Gajeel? He got stuck in Phantom Lord, which (to put it nicely) had a sink-or-swim philosophy towards it's members. He probably picked up on a bit on his own, but likely also struggles reading job assignments and won't let anyone know he is (side headcannon: our favorite linguist Levy helped him out once she found out he was struggling).
Wendy? The kid who first got adopted by a runaway prince from another dimension and then by a 400 year old ghost? I don't think either of them know Fioran themselves, much less could teach it. On the bright side, she probably also knows ancient Nirvit.
The Two Sabergoofs? Same case as Gajeel. Rogue's hit with a double whammy since he supposedly hung around Phantom Lord before getting yeeted to Sabertooth's guildmaster. Though this probably leads to a few complications once Sting is guildmaster and has to start filling out paperwork.
So much to everyone's surprise, out of all of them Natsu - who got seven-years worth of supportive family at the orphan daycare - is the one who can read/write in modern language best.
It's not a unique headcannon by any means but one of my favorites. Thoughts?
Y'see this is what im talkin bout, some good ol' analysis stuff.
I had a post aaaaagggeeees ago (if i find it back i may link it) bout like a crack situation where the team got forced to speak their first languages and natsu n wendy got stuck speaking their og ancient fioran languages and no one could understand wtf they were saying (and they couldnt understand each other neither bcus i had it that they were speakin different dialects of ancient fioran but details.). But i am gettin off track.
I always hc that most of the slayers didnt end up in Fiore when they got shot to the future, itd be kinda boring if they all ended up on the same continent. So Gajeel for me landed in Bosco so he learnt Boscan first as his modern language before he made his way to fiore to learn the language there by osmosis. I think Gajeel as a character especially to me with his spying skills and generally personality is super discerning with his desire to know information. So i think he's largely self taught with everything when he was on his own and knows 2 languages fully- Boscan and Fioran- but his fioran is weaker especially when it comes onto the writing part. And he vaguely knows phrases and terms from a bunch of diff languages.
Wendy landed closer to the border of Fiore and Seven before mystogan picked her up. I'd like to think that the language in Edolas and Earthland is largely the same orally (but it'd have a whole different written language) so he managed to teach her how to speak modern fioran but write in modern edolas. Which was a weird disconnect when the team found out down the line lmao. When he left her with cait shelter she picked up that additional language (which is a purely oral language) and is probs the only person left in modern fiore who can speak it (Levy loves her for it)
Sting got yote to Caelum before somehow making his way over to Minstrel then Fiore, he speaks a weird combo package of slangs from all 3 and he's not fully fluent in all of em (fioran is his best) and sometimes when he can't remember a word in one he'll supplement it with a word from another. He's ironically better at the written languages with them than speakin em.
Rogue met Sting in Minstrel briefly (didnt stick around with each other and then ran into each other again in fiore) but Rogue never picked up on Minstrel's language easily so he only picked up on fioran when he eventually made his way over. He knows brief smatterings and terms from other languages from his time hanging out with phantom lord but is only fluent in just the one.
Natsu's the only sucker who landed squarely in Fiore and was picked up by Makarov who had him fluent enough in speaking modern fiore before he got him back to the guild. He didn't get around to starting him with writing so that was a task for the others to teach and get him up to speed (to varying success. His handwriting sucks ass). I also like to think he hung around a decent amount with Levy when he was younger (he liked listening when she read her stories aloud) so he has a weird mixed bag of being able to read and understand a whole bunch of random language bits despite not actively trying to learn em.
Ok byyyyeeeeeeeeeee
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prongslvl · 1 year
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DATING HIM - tangerine.
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PAIRING tangerine x gn!reader
SUMMARY hcs of what's like to date the man, the myth, the legend; tangerine.
a/n: it's my first time writing hcs for a character so i hope it doesn't look weird or something! i merged two requests together to make it easier for me. happy reading! my reqs are open
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the start of your relationship with him, even before the dating, was a rough road, to say the least.
with tangerine's secretive personality because of his job, it caused a lot of arguments. this results in lemon jumping in to save the day— honestly, the two of you owe him so much. 
when the two of you aren't talking about jobs, he's usually sarcastic and teasing during conversations. tangerine eventually confessed that he did it to gain a reaction from you. 
he confessed his love for you when you got caught in between the chaos of a job he and lemon had; the thought of you dying made him do so because to hell with a normal declaration of love, right? 
if you were never involved with anything, it would've taken him at least a month or two to even realize what he feels isn't just "person-who-unfortunately-crossed-paths-with-him" type of guilt but actual infatuation.
angry confession, most definitely. as i've mentioned, you two argue a lot, so in the heat of a argument, he'd go;
"can't you see i'm doing this for your safety?"
"i'm a full grown adult, tan, why are you so worried for!?"
"because i fucking love you, alright? and if see any of those bastards lay a hand on you, i don't know what i'll fucking do to 'em!" 
and he wouldn't be embarrassed about it after. you can hear lemon in the background saying, "about damn time!" 'cuz he knows from the very beginning.
tangerine would act differently the next day. "different" means just him being himself with you and finally expressing his true feelings for you openly. 
in your case, ever since you met the man, you've been in love with him. at first, it'd be sexual (have you seen that man's walk?) but after getting to know him better, knowing all the bits and pieces of his actual personality from lemon, you'd catch yourself staring too deeply into his eyes. 
the only reason you fought with tangerine in the first place was your need to get to know him and also let him know you're a person he can trust. as much as you liked every inch of him, secrets and lies left a bad taste on your tongue.
hanging out with them would be a reason for your involvement in their job. it's one of those cliches where the bad guys target the person close to their target so they can trap them. of course, you kept up your own fight.
when tan saw your injuries, he saw red. he didn't even think about the vast difference in your wounds compared to those of your captors. they'd have several bruised patches on their body, black eyes, etc., while you only had a bunch of cuts and a busted lip. lemon did tell you he was the type to shoot first and come with answers later.
in both scenarios, getting captured or in between arguments, after he confesses, you would be too shocked to answer him right away. 
a few weeks into tangerine's unspoken courtship, when you confessed as well, your relationship with him was all like clockwork. 
tangerine finally told you everything about himself, lemon, and the life they lived. all secrets were uncovered— he still kept some details, but it was enough for you.
expensive dates are on the table. as much as you refused to use so much of his money, tangerine would find a way to trick you into a fancy restaurant, saying it was for business, but after desserts with no businessmen approaching him, you knew it was all rubbish.  
tangerine wasn't the only one who could afford expensive things; as a professional pianist, you also had a bit of money to spend on your boyfriend. when he refuses to buy new suits that are actually on trend, you'd go by yourself and buy them for him—he'd have no choice but to accept the bags of new clothes when they're already nearly placed inside his closet. 
you shower him with compliments before he leaves for his job, wearing the suit you bought for him. he'd roll his eyes as he suppressed the smirk on his face. vice versa, he'd give you tons as well on both your looks and performance.
speaking of performances! 
someone give this man a perfect attendance certificate; he's always present at your performances, whether you can ask him or not. he uses his "in a relationship with one of your best talents" ticket to get front row seats. 
you would glance at the crowd to look for him, your eyes automatically scanning the front rows. you'd see him staring at you as if you'd created everything he's ever known. when he does notice your stares, he'll wink with a sly yet proud smirk on his face. 
lemon's beside him, silently cheering you on. 
he's the one you see first after going backstage, engulfing you in a tight hug and kissing your forehead. 
"how was i?" you'd ask, with him answering with no hesitation. "amazing, as always." 
tangerine may or may not have bought a whole grand piano in the middle of his and lemon's house so you can play or practice in their home. 
there would be attempts by tangerine to learn how to play the piano with you. you were a great teacher, he reassures you; his hands weren't just made for all that grace. 
in exchange, he'd bring you to a local shooting range. he brought his own gun for you to use, placing himself behind you as he guided the weapon in your hands. he purposely breathes on your skin, whispering inappropriate words in your ears as you press the trigger— that earned him a knock on the head after the session was over. 
shorter ver hcs !
you didn't like holding grudges, but tangerine was there to hold them for you. 
tangerine hates when people touch his hair, except for you, who give the best messages. he told you it was probably because of your profession that you got so good at working your fingers (several very mature jokes were made after that).
in the beginning, he always had his hair slicked back, but now he keeps his hair naturally curly when he's around you. 
he nicks it, and you put it back. 
lemon refuses to wear a bulletproof vest, saying something about a false sense of security, even with tangerine's scolding. but with you in the picture, he could only grumble to himself as he wore the vest underneath his suit. 
he likes giving you forehead kisses or on your head, saving the intimate ones for private. 
eye contact. unbreakable eye contact. he stares directly into your eyes whenever you talk or are just face-to-face with him. 
your waist as his arm rest. he'd snake his hands around your torso, the proximity between the two of you lessening by the second. 
you like fiddling with tangerine's rings, especially when he's wearing them.
you find it hot whenever he rolls up his leaves, and tangerine is fully aware of it. 
he doesn't like admitting it, but he easily gets jealous. when another person smiles too sweetly at you, his arm will find its way onto your shoulders, using his height to his advantage. sometimes it would be a fan of yours, so you'd scold him for scaring them away.
as for you, you're open about your jealousy. unlike tangerine, it takes a lot for you to get mad at a person, let alone be jealous. but when they were a woman purposely resting her boobs on his arms or a man getting too friendly with him, you'd shoot them the sharpest glare tangerine ever saw you make. he voluntarily removes himself from the person and tries to calm you down. 
when tangerine's angry, he's loud and aggressive. but when you are, you're unnaturally quiet and serious. lemon thinks you're much scarier than his brother. 
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cosmiclion · 8 months
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If you thought I couldn't outdo myself more with the fluff for this AU then you haven't seen my true power yet 😈
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I don't know if I got OCiel's bangs right but, realistically speaking, human hair never stays in the same place, that's how physics works so whatever lmao.
Anyway, trying to write a Black Butler AU with some fluff where Sebastian and Ciel have a parent-child like relationship WHILE keeping them in-character (Sebas more than Ciel tbh) and still basing it on canon material but making changes and making said changes make sense requires a bit of work ngl.
I mean, I know it's just a project I'm doing for fun and technically there's nothing stopping me from going nuts and making them completely OOC and disregarding canon at all, but I feel then it'd become a separate story with new, original characters who simply happen to be inspired by Kuro (which is also okay, and who knows, maybe in the future I'll repurpose the whole thing to create my own Kuro-inspired original story, even if I don't think I'll ever fully lose interest in Kuro, this cursed series has me in a chokehold lmao). Full ramble under the cut.
Sebastian is the hardest one to write, though I think I'm finally more or less figuring it out. I didn’t want to write him as suddenly learning to love the way humans do thanks to the power of cute children or something, as it just didn't feel natural (or I couldn't personally make it feel natural, I know other people have managed to write that concept very well). What I have so far is that when he does act nurturing he’s simply imitating the behavior of human parents he has observed, but he doesn’t love the kid the same way humans do because he literally doesn’t have that ability. BUT that doesn’t mean he feels nothing at all and that it doesn’t mean anything to Ciel, after all this weird creature is the one who saved his life and raised him with care and patience. The closest comparison I can think of is the relationship between people and “unusual” pets like reptiles, amphibians, insects, etc. We know they can’t love us the way other people (or even other mammals) would but that doesn’t make our bond any less significant! Some bits of canon material also come in handy here, for example I based the fact that familiar Sebas finds Ciel adorable as a kitten on the canon fact that he likes squishing his cheeks because they remind him of a cat's paws 😂 Just know he's an awkward demon who doesn't know how to human but is doing his best 🥺
I think in Ciel’s case I have more freedom since he is, after all, human, and a human’s personality is strongly shaped by their environment and life experiences. Like, what exactly counts as making a character OOC? Sure, I can agree that in a fanwork set in the exact same universe with the exact same events as in canon there’s some things a character would never say or do, but I think AUs were created as a way to explore what-if scenarios. What if this character had been raised by different people? What if they had grown up in a different place? What if this or that event hadn’t happened or had gone differently? Tbh I think it’s just fun to explore endless possibilities, it’s maybe a form of character analysis in some way. And if we think about it, canonverse Ciel was originally sweet, shy and affectionate, and if he’s the complete opposite now it’s only because he went through an utterly horrific and traumatic event that forced him to grow up before his time and toughen himself up because it left him with little to no support system, on top of having to be hyper vigilant because the only thing that "saved" him from that is a literal demon who wants his soul and is haunting him.
So I just wanted to create this alternative timeline where maybe things aren’t as terrible, or they start out as terrible but then some good things come from the most unexpected sources. Ciel is five years younger and thus has more time to process everything and try to heal as he grows up. Sebas isn’t entirely a bastard and willingly does nice things for the child, even if he still doesn’t understand human needs, and while he stills views him as a potential meal (at least at the beginning) he's actually respectful. There’s another demon who understands humans all too well and is happy to lend a hand. His friends and the relatives he has left are more involved in his life. So Ciel more or less has a support system now, albeit a weird dysfunctional one, and doesn’t entirely lose his sweetness (also like... he's 5/6 at the beginning of the story, we really can't expect a preschooler to be an edgy emo who craves violence and revenge ☠️). I imagine he grows up to be just as calculating and cunning as canonverse Ciel, maybe even just as ruthless in his job because it’s a requirement, and is still pretty much a little shit, but this Ciel is not as cold and undemonstrative. He’s still very much an introvert who prefers to be left alone, but he smiles (as in genuinely smile) more often and it’s a little easier for him to express emotions and feelings (more through actions than words, but still meaningful). Hell he may allow himself to be playful and silly sometimes if he’s in the moment.
And if it wasn’t clear from the picture, little Ciel ADORES Sebastian. Sure he's (understandably) a bit skittish around him at first, but once they bond he comes to fully view him as a parental figure. Yes, he's hurt, sad and traumatized, but he's still a resilient little kid, and with enough kindness Sebas can coax his old self to come out of his shell, and until the kid becomes more independent they're like a mama duck and her lil duckling. Their constant banter and bickering when he's older is more a teens being teens thing than anything.
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ghostgirl101 · 1 year
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Hiiiii can u do green haired BEN relationship headcanons? Tyty 🫶
Dating BEN Would Be Like This:
A/N: I certainly can, I've been thinking about this green-haired hive-minded being, so I'll give it my best shot 🙃 There's quite a lot I wrote here, so enjoy. For those who don't know, these headcanons are based around BEN, not Ben Lawman. The difference is that Ben is one person, a Moon Child trapped in Majora's Mask, who seemed a threat but was actually trying to warn Jadusable, and "BEN is an evil entity made up of several Moon Children, with the Majora Moon Child serving as the main leader." I'll try making this as accurate as possible but I won't go into confusing specifics 😅
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🎮• Well, I'll start by saying that BEN here is the most annoying, unpredictable, crazed, dark sons of biatches you will ever have the pleasure of putting up with for... basically, eternity.
🎮• I've seen that basically everyone who's written for these guys thinks that it'd be a through-and-through toxic relationship, with no care for feelings, little to no romance or intimacy and you being toyed with like all their other victims. And, to an extent, I agree with your end relationship with BEN not being what you'd call a typical healthy relationship, which applies to pretty much all the slashers and creepypastas... but come on. If you're in a romantic relationship with BEN, I think there's gotta be something.
🎮• And I say there is. 😀
🎮• Don't get me wrong, though. They're not nice guys to anyone, they're devious, malevolent little brats who like getting into unsuspecting players' heads and twisting their world until they snap. You're one of the beginning targets who obliviously starts playing the warped copy of Majora's Mask, or a later victim once they've escaped to the internet. Either or, there's not much difference in the way they are. It's not like, you're unusually pretty and interesting to a few of them for whatever reason, so they'll take it easy on you. If anything, they'll make their methods worse.
🎮• Let's say you're a later victim, in which case, there are glitchy jumpscares out of nowhere while you're on your laptop doing work. YouTube videos crashing and pages redirecting to horrific ones with no URL. The screen flashing green when you're not using it from the corner of your eye, and weird, hard buzzing noises that wake you up from your already restless sleep. Then your phone starts playing up. Even your TV glitches and waves with bright colours every so often, all except the times when you have company or witnesses to prove you're not going mad.
🎮• It's when you're at your lowest mentally and really think you're losing your mind that they'll start making their proper appearances. First, it's through Cleverbot, or any documents and templates you'll be typing on. Then, one day, you'll go into your room and see a terrifyingly unnatural grinning face on your screen, before it disappears within the second you've seen it, leaving you reeling.
🎮• They can be very unpredictable in the ways they act and speak to you, because they're more than one person, and you never really know who you're interacting with. At this point, when you're having longer conversations on Cleverbot with different Moon Children from BEN, you're probably going to have to write out the differences based on what they say and how. But write it with pen and paper, because anything you type up can get mucked up by them, and it probably will.
🎮• When they're speaking collectively, you can tell, because the sentences are usually repeated loads of times, or their answers are shorter. It'll go from one of the telling you their real name and how strange you are to be talking so curiously with a hive-minded terroriser, to 'WE SEE YOU WE SEE YOU WE SEE YOU-'
🎮• That's the only way you really interact with BEN at first. Through them rifling through your computer programs and documents, redirecting you to pages when they feel like talking. Sometimes you have to wait days for them to feel like chatting, and other times they can't stop interacting with you. Depending on who it is that's driving them to talk, it could either be a fairly normal conversation, or just freaking crazy and disturbing. And the main person in control of the hive-minded being that makes up BEN is the Majora Moon Child.
🎮• Now, he's a real bitch.
🎮• I'm going to headcanon that all of Link going up in flames and the creepy messages through the game and the main ideas behind all of that was Majora. That's what you've grown to call him. He's the leader of BEN and makes the most appearances. He's the one that talks the most, that has the strongest personality, and is probably the most sadistic one of them all. He will absolutely get on your nerves and be the one you'll be dealing with him. So that's fun.
🎮• BEN collectively decides not to kill or hurt you after you've been associating with them for a month or so, since you're not trying to escape from them or screw up their plans anymore. It's a big debate; five of them don't understand why they feel like they should protect you from the world that turned them into monstrosities, three of them don't realise that what they're feeling might be love and are going mad with it, two of them have already decided that's its fate you and them met and they should start a more 'official' relationship with you. Four of them are annoyed by the fact that you're somehow different and pretty and nice and innocent, two others don't mind either way and see you more as a friend, while Majora decided days ago that you're theirs now.
🎮• So after that whole deliberation, you're woken up in the middle of the night to your computer buzzing and beeping, the screen going green, and red, pixelated text reading:
'YOU'RE OURS NOW YOU'RE OURS NOW YOU'RE OURS NOW' 'YOU ALWAYS HAVE BEEN' 'YOU ALWAYS WILL BE' 'OURS OURS OURS' 'OK??'
🎮• I beg of you to just say okay to them, otherwise they're gonna keep asking and asking and asking at the worst times and proving themselves to you in very drastic measures until you've got to accept them to make the madness stop.
🎮• Congratulations, you've got brats. For life. If things where chaotic before, get ready.
🎮• Now you're dating or whatever romantic relationship you're somehow in with BEN has started, you realise pretty early on that they are full-on yanderes. A few of them don't have much interest in romance and are more like weird friends or siblings to you, a few of them are surprisingly soft and quiet, but still just as brutal as the rest, and then there are the maniac lovers that are 100% possessive, protective, obsessive and clingy.
🎮• Sometimes they can act in contrasting ways because different people are taking control, and attitudes vary, but you can keep up with the shifting of personalities after a while. There are subtle hints, like the way their faces change slightly depending on who's appearing, and what and how they say things. Most of the time, though, you'll be faced with Majora. He's the fully green-haired grinning psycho boy who leads BEN, and being around him is... well, intense.
🎮• You'll know when you're chatting to him on Cleverbot or Word or whatever he's on, because he's a confident, arrogant jerk, and it shows. He's the one who likes making you jump by randomly appearing on your screen, toying with electricity and other things when he's not toying with unsuspecting peoples' minds. Sometimes you get BEN's face and a glitch, broken computerised voice - again, whose tone varies ever so slightly depending on who's talking - but most times, it's just typing.
🎮• If BEN are talking or arguing with each other, it's not really aloud, its in their shared mind, and I wanted to add the funny thought of you doing something random or asking a deep question, and how BEN's face goes completely blank and unblinking with that god-forsaken smile while they all fight in their head about how to react. So it's just him frozen for a solid ten minutes like 😀 on standby and you finding it funny until one of them snaps back to life - usually Majora - and jumpscares you by changing his face into something disturbing and blueish.
🎮• Yeah, he finds everyone's pain funny, but your screaming and cursing at him is even better. Then he and the others start thinking about trying to become more materialized to grab out at you and stuff, which leads to another debate. Seven of them are terrified at the concept of being vulnerable and weakened in a physical form, five of them don't care and want to be closer to you, four of them are trying to plan how it could best work, and Majora shuts them down with demanding they're doing it somehow, and takes the argument to you. Lucky you.
🎮• It turns out that the best way for them to appear in a glitchy, disturbing physical form is for the most amount of electricity and energy to be running in the house. You're going to need some stronger fuses, that's for sure. And your electricity bills are going to skyrocket. But, again, they can find a way to alter the prices in the system so it's not too much of a problem.
🎮• Of course, you're probably apprehensive by the idea of them being able to get to you physically now as well as through your devices and mentally, so ground rules have got to be set. You need to get them all listening and quiet, which could take ages if Majora's teasing you, or moments if he tells them all to shut up. Then you need to confirm that they won't hurt you, or anyone else, and understand that they can't leave the house and anything else that you want to avoid. If they don't follow the rules, you'll pull the plug.
🎮• 'PULL THE PLUG PULL THE PLUG PULL THE PLUG??' 'YOU WOULDN'T DARE' 'NO NO NO DON'T PULL THE PLUG'
🎮• And you're like "I will and I can if you don't do as I say 🙄"
🎮• Majora agrees to the terms in the end, and so they wait for you to plug and switch everything on, connect your computer to the TV, and let the horror of them climbing out of the screen unfurl as the glitchy green mass of a boy is standing in your home, grinning but blank, trying to adjust to their surroundings. Half of them are panicking, and half of them are just happy that they've found a way to be closer to you. And they can get pretty close.
🎮• If you leave everything electrical on all day, and especially when you're about to sleep, you're probably going to get intruded on by Majora, who almost gives you a heart attack when you wake up in the middle of the night to his glitchy figure and grin literally centimetres away from your face. He's impossible.
🎮• Right, now comes the physically affectionate side of things 😵‍💫
🎮• If it's anyone but Majora, you probably won't be too overwhelmed by it, since some of them or more twisted-friendly than they are romantic. But where it's the other way around with the group of Moon Children who are just as obsessive as Majora is, then that all goes out of the window. Any one of them can come out at any time, and once they're used to the natural world and the sensation of touch and basic senses they've been deprived of, you're gonna get ambushed.
🎮• He, along with the others, finds being materialised and almost a part of the real, outside world, fascinating and new in a way, so if they're out of the screen, they're probably touching all your stuff, looking through and studying everything like they're aliens. Some more carefully than others. Majora will knock some stuff over just to annoy you. He's a pain in the ass.
🎮• But since Majora is probably the one you'll be seeing the most out of BEN, you'll get used to him. He and the others like him are really grabby, since they're getting more comfortable in a material form and place, and they also find it funny when you get frustrated and push their glitchy, electric self off you so you can focus on your work. They're the type of guy that's always lingering curiously over your shoulder, playing with and examining your hair. Everything about you is fascinating to them, so you're gonna have to learn to get used to having this inhumane being hover over your shoulder with an absentminded grin while you watch Netflix or something.
🎮• When it comes to affection, they are very new to the concept of it. BEN are used to ruining people's lives, driving them so insane that they'll chuck themselves out of windows, do whatever they tell them to, just for the fun of it. So when they're introduced to coupley things like hugging and kissing and intimate conversations, you're going to have to explain and show them very slowly. Majora feels stupid doing it and has to get used to it, but he will get used to it. He just makes it a whole lot more intense.
🎮• Intense being realllly tight hugs where you're like "Majora, get off me, I actually can't feel a thing," because he's electrically charged and unstable and way too full-on. And he's all innocently grinning and cocking his head to the side with a "Why?"
🎮• "Because I can't breathe and you need to calm down." "Why?" "Because-" "Why?"
🎮• That's Majora 😑
🎮• Also, when you're hugging one of them, you're hugging all seventeen of them, so they're all going to feel it. Some of them get annoyed by that because they're possessive crazy people, and start arguing about who it was meant for and petty stuff like that, until Majora tells them to shut up.
🎮• They don't mind you touching them either, again, when they're used to it all. They trust you enough for it, but you might get shocked every so often, which is most of the time an accident, but if Majora's around, it most likely isn't. There'll be a sweet moment with you hanging around a shyer member of BEN and playing with their eye-watering green hair, and then Majora jumps in and says how annoying it is and tries untying yours or something stupid. It's safe to say that playfighting and winding you up is Majora's main love language and way of getting attention from you, even if it is enough to make a saint swear.
🎮• So when Majora's being surprisingly nice-ish and easier on you to the point where you'll let him kiss you...
🎮• BEN is going to short-circuit the first time, because holy hell, this is new, and they don't mind itttt-
🎮• It's literally the cliche of electric, because that's what BEN's running on, but all of them are different in their own ways. Some of them are a little gentler, some are surprisingly bashful, but once Majora's kissed you once and had his five minutes to pull himself together to make one of his proud remarks, he'll be a lot more confident in the future. He likes leaving you rolling your eyes in annoyance or completely spellbound, so it'll end in one way or the other. With a bit more time though, you will see that underneath all the dark humour and psycho-ness, he's the Moon Child that's been trapped in BEN the longest, and takes the longest to open up and let himself be vulnerable and surprisingly thoughtful and sweet. When he lets himself.
🎮• With some more time, more of them will tell you about who they were before BEN, though the details are a little fuzzy and painful to remember. That's pretty much the ultimate sign of trust, because there's no going back on what you've learnt, and what they learn about you. They remember every single thing you tell them, which is sweet sometimes, because they can order you stuff you said you want online for no cost on hacked accounts... or they can kill your enemies.
🎮• They can and they will. Even if it's a friend who you had a little disagreement with, BEN are going to take it personally. Basically, all of them think you can do no wrong and anyone that wrongs you is their new game. They won't leave that person alone, doxxing them, filming them and sending you clips of them terrified as a way to make you proud. And whether you choose to be proud, roll your eyes at the typical behaviour, or be completely unnerved by it is up to you, though it won't stop them. It's one way they show their love, and they will show it.
🎮• Majora, again, is a massive yandere, trying to watch you at all times, getting some of the others in BEN to lead with manipulation and terror in the screens while he obsesses over you with another few Moon Children. If you ever need one of them while they're busy on their latest 'game,' they've given you some intricate coding or website link to enter into your phone, and at least three of them, including Majora, are there and searching for the problem you need help with.
🎮• But even though, to the world and people they torture, BEN seems like an unfeeling, sadistic monster, you, one person out of all the others, somehow, are the only one who knows what they're really like.
🎮• Just don't tell anyone 🙃
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gabriel-xander · 6 months
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I Wish You Died Instead Ch. 7
[Scaramouce x Fem!Reader]
A/N: I started writing this before all of his lore came out/Before the last Sumeru Archon quest, so there will be a handful of inconsistency later on. My advice to you? Just go with it!
{Also on Quotev, Ao3, and Wattpad under Gabriel Xander}
Chapter 7: He Totally Loves Your Letters
Fiddling nervously with your hands, you sit silently at the table while Childe, Zhongli, Kazuki... and two other people talk with each other about the recent passing of Rex Lapis, the God of Geo, and, like, 50 other fancy titles.
You're not gonna lie, his "death" was a little funny to you. Honestly, it kind of looked like Lady Ningguang was the one who did it. She did this whole performance thing and shot this power into the sky. Two seconds later, a great dragon fell out of the sky dead as hell.
No one seems to think about it like that, though.
Anyway, the two other guests that Zhongli and Childe were talking to were:
The Traveler and Paimon.
They are the man(s), the myth, the legend...
The Traveler, who introduced himself as Aether, was actually very pretty. You first confused him as a young man, a potential little baby, a little son you can spoil because he's just a little guy. But alas, that is not the case with him. He looked a little sad when he had to correct you about his age.
You and Kazuki were already with Zhongli at Liuli Pavilion when Childe arrived with Aether and Paimon. That's when you officially met them both, and Aether's aura was one of someone who has lived and experienced more than you can ever imagine. Aether wasn't very talkative, instead the weird fairy, Paimon, did most of it on his behalf.
Kazuki puts a hand on your bouncing thigh, giving you a passive look. Calm down, he's telling you.
You smile at him.
You were only nervous since you were unsure if the Traveler and Paimon knew of your true identity, and you didn't want to go around announcing that if you could help it.
"In fact," Zhongli looks at you with a smile, "[Y/n], why don't you accompany us? You have always shown interest in my work before, and I can allow you to witness it firsthand just this once if you'd like."
Wait, what? You were not paying attention.
"Uh, I–Sorry, I zoned out," You laugh nervously, "What did you want my help with?"
"It's not like you to be so out of focus," Kazuki teases, nudging your leg.
You scoff, "Leave me alone, I zoned out for not even a minute."
Childe chuckles, "The Traveler, Paimon, and Mr. Zhongli were just discussing the fulfillment of the memorial service for the passing of Rex Lapis. I agree with him, I think it'd be a good opportunity for you to learn. You do always ask him about it, after all."
You laugh sheepishly, embarrassed at how easily they keep revealing that.
It's not that you're super interested in the work of a funeral consultant, more so the stories Zhongli always shared about the clients. He always knows so much, and he's so knowledgeable about that dead person's life, and you don't know why, but you just love hearing about it.
You wouldn't consider yourself a "dang I love people" type of person, but life itself is so wonderful to you. You love hearing about life through a person who seemed like he experienced so much of it.
After all, your fascination with life itself is the reason why you became a Fatui, to begin with. You're given resources to travel the world and study the land under the guise of doing work. You especially love learning about the history of Teyvat, the Abyss, Celestia, and Khaenri'ah, kind of like lore hunting.
"Is-Is it really okay if I come, Mr. Zhongli?"
Still, you have to ask. Childe never hid his identity from Zhongli, so you never bothered either, he knows you three are of Fatuus. Is it really okay with him if you go along knowing that there's the possibility that your superior will ask something suspicious of you?
La Signora hasn't yet, but still. Surely he knows?
He nods with a smile, "Of course. I wouldn't have offered otherwise."
You light up and sit up straighter, "Then yeah! Of course! Thank you for having me!"
"Hm," The brunette nods, "Now then if we have agreed, come with me. We will speak of the details as we walk."
It wasn't until after your group left (leaving poor Kazuki with Childe) that the ginger asked his subordinate a question.
"Do you think... [Y/n] would be upset with me if I had asked her to be a double agent while with Mr. Zhongli?"
Kazuki nods immediately, "Yes, My Liege. Unfortunately, you two are friends now. Though she tries not to show it, she is quite sensitive. Especially when it comes to the topic of friends. Why do you think before meeting you, she was only friends with me?"
"I just thought she was a loner," Childe raises a brow.
"No. Her philosophy is: that betrayal hurts because it can only come from the people you care about. And in this line of business, that is inevitable. Now that you are her friend, you fall under that category," The Pyro vision user hums as he sloshes around the drink in his hand, "I personally have no issue with it, but for [Y/n], never mix friends and business with her."
Tartaglia had to think to himself for a moment, wondering if it was a good idea to become your friend at all. He doesn't regret it, but it does make situations like these more difficult. It took a while for you to even want to warm up to him, so... No, he doesn't want to risk it so soon by asking you to spy on your guys' mutual friend.
"Wait," Childe frowns at Kazuki, "What did you mean earlier when you said, "Unfortunately we're friends?"
The man with light brown eyes smirks very slightly, nearly unnoticeable, "Because you are a Harbinger, My Liege. And your task here requires violent actions, remember? You're going to do something that upsets her, and she's going to cut you off. It's inevitable."
...
Childe slams his forehead on the table.
Well... fuck.
————
You lightly smack your cheek, blinking hard to keep yourself awake so late into the night so you don't pass out in the middle of reading.
You're lucky you managed to befriend Jifang, the Boss of Wawen Bookhouse before you knew she was the boss of the place. This ended up working out for you when you wanted to read a book, she'd allow you to "rent" it out rather than a full purchase. She even trusted you to stick around to keep reading even after she closed shop for the day. You'd say you're doing a good job maintaining her trust since you never stole and you always made sure to honor her payment methods.
"So even the Salt God stood amongst the other Gods before the Archon War..." You mutter, reading the next passage out loud, "...before being ruthlessly murdered by one of her own followers."
Holy shit, that's fucked up! Just because she was kind, she had to die? But that doesn't make any sense. If this was during the Archon War, and the God of Salt was technically considered a God of Liyue, why didn't Rex Lapis help her out? Or at least, helped her people so they didn't feel like they had to kill their own God?
You hum to yourself as you keep reading the book: "Her remains are likely to be found somewhere in the ruins of the area known as "Sal Terrae."
The rest of the Volume goes on to talk about the "Flower Toss", or more commonly known in Liyue and Mondstadt, as the "Flower Ball", the God of Salt handed her people a bunch of flowers as a blessing to them. Or at least, if not a blessing, then a small gesture of comfort to stave off the bitterness of the Archon War.
You close shut Volume 1 of Customs of Liyue, neatly putting it back on the shelf from where you got it. Volumes 2 and 3 are about the Rite of Decension and Silk Flowers, both of which you know have nothing to do with the Salt God.
You skim through the spines of the books, trying to find something else of relevance. It's a bit hard to read in the dark, and the only light you have is a lantern above illuminating a small area.
"Ah, here we go. Hopefully, this has something," You muse to yourself, "Volumes 1 and 2 of Records of the Gallant."
Spoilers: it was a fucking bust.
You sigh in irritation as you put the books back after a quick skim. You're starting to get a headache from reading in the dark for hours. Dawn will soon arrive in a few hours, making you dread today's assignments.
You stifle through your Mora bag, pulling out... shit, how many books did you end up reading tonight? You read the full series of Customs of Liyue and Records of the Gallant. Not to mention that you had a quick indulgence of the Mondstadt, Liyue, Inazuma, and Sumeru Teyvat Travel Guides before you were on a spontaneous lore hunt. It was 1,000 Mora for each Volume, and 2,500 Mora for each Travel Guide Volume. (Mind you, this is all half-price since you're "renting" them, and not fully purchasing them for permanent ownership.)
You pout very sadly, parting with 15,000 Mora. You put it in a jar that Jifang leaves out for you to put the Mora in.
Liyue's architect and structure still fucking confuse you to this day, so it takes you a whole fucking hour to get back to the Northland Bank. It seemed that Vlad's shift was over, since now Nadia, the guard of the Northland Bank for the night shift, was outside standing at attention.
You smile at her, and she smiles back when she recognizes you. You think it's funny other Fatuus have a hard time recognizing you without your mask on. You don't like wearing it out when you're not on the clock though, and you haven't been scolded for it so you guess it's fine.
"Hey, there, Nadia. Is Ekaterina still here?" You ask her, holding back a yawn.
"Oh, good evening, [L/n]. Yes, she should still be here. She had a busy day today, you know. So she might be a little cranky," The girl with light brown hair tells you, "Oh! Before you go in, I have news about my new pen-pal!"
"Oh? Do we finally have more information about them?" You smile teasingly.
"Yeah! He's also a guard here at the Northland Bank, but he's on duty during the day, while I'm on duty at night," Nadia nervously pushes a lock of hair behind her ear, "To tell you the truth, I don't even know his name."
Dude... She is literally talking about Vlad. You literally know Vlad.
Still, it's actually pretty cute that she managed to get to him. Vlad is always dry when talking to you, and he never cared for socializing with the people here. You decide to keep his identity a secret from Nadia, you think it'll be cuter for her this way to learn herself.
"One time, I accidentally left the letter I had written to my brother at our post. And then perhaps the other guard mistook it as a letter I left for him. He even wrote me a reply. I could read between the lines and tell that he was probably very lonely, so I thought it would be good along with it to help him this way. But eventually, writing to him also became a part of my life. I've even started looking forward to receiving his letters, hehe...!"
You feel a weird, bittersweet emotion from her words. You wonder if your letters to Scaramouch help him feel any better, wherever he is at the moment. He never wrote back to you, but you're still dedicated to writing to him often.
You... You hope he also looks forward to receiving your letters.
"That's good, Nadia! I hope things keep going well with this mysterious pen-pal," You wink at her, nudging her arm, "Who knows, maybe he's very handsome, too."
She blushes under her mask, though you can barely see it. "I-I... Don't you have to talk to Ekaterina?! Ge-Get going...!"
"Alright, alright," You pull open the door, "Have a good night, Nadia."
"Ye-Yes, you too."
Poor Ekaterina was sitting at the counter doing late-night paperwork. You don't know exactly what her job entails, but you have a funny feeling Childe makes her job more stressful.
"Hello, Ekaterina!" You greet her as cheerfully as you can because you have a feeling that your happiness will make her annoyed.
And you were right.
She glares at you and you feel it through her mask, "[L/n]. What. Is. Wrong. With. You."
"Want me to go alphabetically, or chronologically?"
"...???"
"Never mind," You shake your head, "I want to talk to your boss. Is Lord Childe here?"
"Do you not realize what time it is? He's already retired for the night hours ago, so you'll have to try your luck tomorrow."
"Riiiigt, right. I figured, but I thought I should take my chances anyway. Anyway, I wanted to take out a small loan for myself. I'm finally cashing in my vacation starting tomor–Uh, I guess starting today, I mean."
"Wait. A vacation? That's a bit last minute, isn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess. But I already received permission from the Fair Lady, so I'm being responsible, don't worry."
"Yes, I figured as much, otherwise you wouldn't have bothered. But still, don't you want to wait? I mean, the Rite of Parting is the day after tomorrow. Don't you want to stick around for it?
You furrow your brows and cross your arms, "Not to be callous, but no. There's something else I'm more interested in, and I know I'll be way too restless to wait any longer so I'll just do it now."
Ekaterina looks put off by your attitude since you're usually more amendable to reason but it seems that doesn't apply whenever it comes to your own personal interests/research. Ah, but she knows that Childe wouldn't want you to go since he likes you, he's admitted to that before in passing. And Kazuki might have some reservations about it as well, or maybe, he'd even want to go with you.
"I-I see. Well... Alright, then," Ekaterina says with a slight sigh, "Give me a moment to finish up here, and I'll get to the paperwork for the withdrawal."
"Sure, take your time," You smile, "Actually, I'll be leaving now to get sleep. We can get this sorted out in a few hours after some rest, right?"
"Yes, that will be fine. Have a good rest, [L/n]."
"You too, Ekaterina."
You turn around to leave, but you don't get to the door.
"Ah–Wait! I almost forgot!"
You turn around at Ekaterina's sudden shout. You walk back curiously as she shuffles through a stack of papers from behind her desk. You don't rush her, waiting patiently as you lean on the desk. She picks up a small stack of papers, and dreadfully, you believe that it is all yours. To your luck, she stifles through them and separates a slightly thick envelope wrapped in a thin, red string before handing them to you.
Thank God.
You smile and mutter out thanks, taking the envelope from the woman before leaving the bank. You recognize the envelope as being the common ones used in Snezhnaya, more precisely, used at the Zapolyarny Palace. There wasn't a wax seal or a name though, only that it was addressed to you: [Y/n] [L/n], written very neatly. Just from holding it, you can feel there are other papers inside it.
Walking back to the place you and the other Fatuus are staying at takes another about two hours because Liyue is fucking huge. You left the bank around 23:35, but you don't get to your location until 1:42. You hate it here. However, the air is crisp and cool, so you didn't mind the walk too much. There were only a few people out since there were some shops open this late at night. You wave to a few you pass by regularly, though you wouldn't say you're on friendly terms with them, you see each other often enough to at least say hi.
Your identity as a Fatui isn't exactly a secret, so, commonly, you'll get the cold shoulder and unwarranted disrespect. However, you're friendly and outwardly honest enough that you managed to get a good majority of Liyue to like you... Enough.
You still experience distrust and discrimination because of your occupation. You guess there's just no helping it.
Entering your room, you make sure to lock the door behind you and shuck off your coat. You tilt your head side to side, flopping down on your bed face first.
You're ready to pass out then and there, but you're curious about the mail in your hands. You push yourself up and kick off your shoes, moving further up the bed so you can sit cross-legged.
There are separate letters inside it, one addressed to La Signora, one addressed to Tartaglia, and one to yourself. Strange, the main mail was addressed to you, so why did you get Signora's and Childe's letters as well? Was it a mistake?
Either way, you don't want to get in trouble and risk it, so you'll only open yours. You'll just have to make sure to give these out to their proper owners in the morning after you sleep. There isn't a wax seal, so it was easy enough to retrieve the hand-written letter.
————
06 . 08 . XXXX
To My Faithful Servant,
I hope you haven't been completely useless without me for the past six months. It HAS been six months, right? At least for you anyway, but that's beside the point.
I've finally returned to Snezhnaya as of this morning, though I'll be staying at Zapolyarny Palace for another month to complete some work for the Doctor. For your own safety, I advise you to stay where you are in Liyue until I have time to get you myself.
Actually, I think it'd be better if you start working under Tartaglia until then, I don't trust that witch as far as I can throw her. I'll write up an appeal for you to give over to Signora and Tartaglia separately. I'll make sure to include them in the letter before sending it out.
Anyway, you can stop worrying so much. If I knew you'd send letters this frequently, I would've just brought you instead. But now that I think about it, you probably would give me a big headache the whole time, so never mind.
If you want to keep sending your pointless letters, then be my guest. I won't bother replying, but at least that way I know you're still alive and I won't need to hire a new second in command.
You're extremely lucky I happen to find you tolerable. When I see you again, be ready to be put to work.
From "Your Dearest,"
Scaramouche
————
You scoff out a laugh, get up from your bed, and hurry to your desk.
Fuck that guy, you're writing back immediately. As a matter of fact, you don't give a fuck, you're going to be sappy as fuck because you'll admit, you miss that cuck. From the date, he sent this last week. If you send it first thing tomorrow, then he should receive it in a week as well.
————
Scaramouche sighs quietly, closing the door to his chambers gently as he simply lacks the energy for anything else. He's finding himself to be more monotonous as of late, maybe due to the temporary routine of his life. It hasn't even been two weeks since he returned to the Zapolyarny Palace and he's already getting bored of his time here.
He has to endure the Doctor's experiments since returning, doing his own fucking paperwork because while he usually has you doing it, he doesn't trust his other subordinates with it.
He does nothing but train, endure experiments, paperwork, and repeat.
And now it's time for the last part of his routine.
Paperwork.
He sits down at his desk, glaring at the stacks of paper with hatred and disdain, snatching his fountain pen aggressively to get started-
The top of the stack was an envelope with a wax seal he recognized immediately. He drops the pen and carefully (but eagerly) takes the letter and unseals the wax with practiced habit. Scaramouche doesn't realize he's smiling as the familiar scent of your perfume gets stronger when he takes out the letter. He doesn't understand why, but you've always done that with the letters.
He can't say he hates it though.
Ah, the date is from last week. Did you send this the day you got his letter?
————
06 . 15 . XXXX
To My Dearest, Loveliest, Most Criminally Insane Boss,
It's wonderful to hear from you, My Lord! It's okay to admit that you missed me too, I promise to keep it a secret.
I can't lie, I was very happy to hear that you are okay and back at the Palace that I hate spelling. I hope the Doctor hasn't been too overbearing for you, I know how much he displeases you and that's putting it lightly. Let us both pray the days go by fast for us so this month can be over.
I imagine you must have wonderful stories to tell from your time away, I expect nothing less from the mighty Harbinger such as yourself!
...
Are you getting annoyed yet? Haha! Sorry, maybe being in Liyue for this long has put me in too good of a mood lately. There are so many fascinating things about this place and so many things to learn about. Actually, tomorrow I'm taking a short vacation to visit Sal Terrae with (hopefully) my companion, Kazuki. Did you know that the God of Salt was most likely killed by her own people? Well, that's actually why I want to visit it, to confirm it myself. I doubt I'll make any paper about it, this is just to sedate my own curiosity.
I just realized you won't care for this... I don't have the energy to rewrite this though so tough luck.
Anyway, later this morning (it will already have passed by the time you get this) will be the Rite of Parting for Rex Lapis. I already told you in another letter, but that bitch dead as hell. Not to sound disrespectful, but I'm not NEARLY as interested in that as I am for the God of Salt. Hopefully, Lord Childe and Kazuki can tell me about it, I'm sure they'll both be participating.
Sorry for rambling, I tend to do that too much in all my letters don't I? Why is that? Probably because it's easier to talk to you like this when I'm not in pimp-slapping range. And I can't see the disgust on your face because I can't shut the fuck up. Sorry, ignore that.
I'll wrap this up now. You said I don't have to keep writing to you, but then I'd be making your life too easy, and we can't have that, can we?
Take care, and I'll write again next week with another update.
Your Wonderful, Favorite, Totally Amazing Servant,
[Y/n]
[L/n]
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The Balladeer shakes his head with a smile, opening the top drawer to put it alongside the other letters he's kept. Though, he pauses right as he's about to set it down.
He sets it back on the table and opens up another drawer where he keeps his papers and envelopes.
It'd just be rude to not write back. Not that he particularly cares if he hurts your feelings or not, but this is a lot better than doing fucking paperwork.
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06 . 21 . XXXX
To My Wonderful, Favorite, Totally Amazing Servant,
These titles are getting ridiculous, and frankly, too tiresome to write.
You're right about one thing, I DO miss you... I miss you doing all my paperwork for me, that's for damn sure. I never realized how tiresome and boring it was to do this, is this what you go through? If so, Thank GOD I won't have to do it for much longer. Once you return to my side, you're going to be very busy catching up on all the work I don't want to do.
I'm afraid I don't have anything worth sharing on my time away, so I'll have to disappoint you with that. From what you've told me, that seems to be the complete opposite of your time in Liyue. You certainly seem happier there than in Snezhnaya, perhaps you ought to stay there.
I at least know you tend to get too caught up in your research. If I didn't know any better, I could've mistaken you for a Sumeru Scholar. Maybe the Haravat Darshan would take you eagerly, though I don't know much about the Akademiya to make a proper guess.
Why don't you give me a brief essay on the God of Salt as a practice assessment once you finish your investigation? I'll determine for you whether you'll get accepted or not; I figure you'll be done with Sal Terrae once you receive this. But be warned, I won't hold back so don't disappoint me with your essay, or I'll be forced to give you a failing grade.
What did Childe tell you about the Rite of Parting? Did anything interesting happen, or is it as boring as all funerals?
You know, you're not as irritating as everyone else who works for me. If you made it sound interesting, then perhaps I can tolerate you telling me more of your knowledge in person.
No promises, though.
By the time you get this, I might already be on the way to Liyue. How about this instead of waiting for me in Liyue, why don't you start making your way to Mondstadt? The Jester wants me to do something for him in the nation of Freedom, so it'll be less of a hassle to meet you there instead. I can trust you to travel alone and make it there alive, right?
I hate to be disappointed in you over something so simple.
Your Dearest, Loveliest, Most Cri
Ugh, like I said. Too much of a hassle.
Sincerely,
Scaramouche
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A/N: I actually read ALL books of ​​​​​​"Customs of Liyue" and "Records of the Gallant" from the Genshin Archives in game to get the information I wrote down. Not only that, I was walking place to place to determine the lore-accurate time it takes to get from Point A to Point B. It's a thankless job but it must be done.
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diagnosedpsychosis · 9 months
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hi! I don’t know if you’re taking requests but could you possible write a aaron x bau!fem reader piece based on the episode in s10 where Hayley’s dad still blames Hotch for her death and then Hotch starts to self deprecate and is truly hurt but his words and pushes the reader away unintentionally but then it ends in fluff :) love your work btw!!
YESS!!! This is sooo good!!! Sorry it took so long for me to write and post. Thank you for the request and I hope you like it. (fingers crossed it makes sense cause I finished it half asleep) <3
Word Count: 2.5k
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You didn't know what you'd done wrong. If you'd made a comment, or acted in a way Aaron wasn't fond of, you were sure you must've done something otherwise why would he be avoiding you like the plague?
You'd walk into a room and he would look anywhere but at you. He'd interact with the team, encouraging input and suggestions, but would blind side and ignore anything you'd say, no matter how sound it was to the case. It was almost as if you were invisible, a ghost Aaron couldn't see nor hear.
And he was your boyfriend, and had been for years now.
It's been a couple days since he started acting weird, right after having to pick Roy, Aaron's ex father in law, up from the police station after he'd broken into his old store and tried to 'open up for the day'. Your heart was with the older man who was suffering from Alzheimer's, unable to even begin to imagine going through what he was.
Memories were stripped from him, his reality all over the place as something he thought had only happened yesterday, actually happened years ago. And that happened almost every day.
You'd tried calling Aaron and if the phone didn't go straight to voicemail, it'd drag out, letting you get your hopes up that he'd pick it up. But he didn't. He just kept letting it ring. Even all of your text messages. You didn't know how he was feeling after the whole Roy ordeal, but thinking he might just be a little low you kept to a non overbearing amount of texts, wanting to give him space if that's what he needed. You didn't know what it was he needed though, after all he'd barely spoken 10 words to you in the last 4 days and you were losing patience.
You had tried cornering him at work, in the kitchen but he managed to slip away every time someone walked in. You'd gone into his office and locked the door behind yourself, telling him you needed to talk, but in return he'd tell you he was busy and would then unlock the door himself and not so nicely see you out.
You tried not to take it personally. Maybe he was treating everyone like that?
He wasn't.
Your blood boiled and your heart hammered so loudly in your chest you heard it in your ears. You watched Aaron leave his desk and walk into the conference room where he made conversation with Derek and Emily for more than 5 minutes. He couldn't even give you 5 seconds but he was giving them much more.
Then you watched him stop by Rossi's office on the way back to his, hearing his faint laugh and seeing his soft smile as he turned around and shook his head.
Forget it. Forget him.
You had kept trying to talk to him over and over and over again, and he couldn't spare you a single minute. You were pissed, and so you decided you were leaving early. With a huff you stood up from your seat and with a bit too much force slid your chair back under your desk. All of your team mates immediately noticed your mood, even Derek and Emily when the sound of your chair hitting your desk startled them.
"Y/n, are you alright?" Spencer had barely even gotten the question out before you were grabbing your completed case file and storming up to your boyfriends office.
"Just dandy" You grunted in response, feeling eyes burning into you as you walked up the flight stairs with heavy steps before flinging open Aaron's office door and walking inside without knocking.
His head shot up and his eyes briefly met yours in a deep frown before looking down to your hand and the case file you were gripping so hard your knuckles were turning white.
"Done?" He asked, looking back up at your face. He waited for an answer, frown hardening as you walked up to his desk, slapped the file down and turned around. If he wanted to play the silent game then so could you.
"Y/n?" He called out to you when you didn't answer him. You grabbed the door knob to his office, slamming the door closed behind you as you exited his office and descended the steps back into the bullpen. You felt a thousand pairs of eyes on you, ignoring them all as you grabbed your already packed bag and headed out the bullpen and towards the elevator.
You were too busy listening to your heart hammering in your ears to hear or notice Aaron following after you. You pressed the button for the elevator over and over again, hoping it'd make it open faster.
"Do you even care that you just caused a scene?" You jumped, not expecting to hear Aaron at all, let alone so close to you. But still, you ignored him.
"Silent treatment? How old are you, 5?" Aaron asked and yet you continued to stay silent. A slow, humourless huff left him as the elevator doors opened and you stepped inside. You turned around, now facing him as he stood a couple meters back from the doors.
The second you had turned around and Aaron's eyes met yours his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, face softening at the defeated look on your face as you stared right back at him.
"Honey, what's wrong?"
"If you can't put aside one minute of your day to talk to me, why would you think I wouldn't do the same?" You replied, Aaron standing speechless as the doors closed the second you'd finished talking. He stared right back at his reflection, contemplating going after you. He thought about it, but came to the conclusion that maybe you needed some space to cool down.
You were mad, but still you'd hoped Aaron would follow you past the elevator. You wanted him to come after you, to figure out why you had left and to problem solve and apologise. But he didn't and you realised it after being home for half an hour.
Aaron wanted to go after you, hell you were the love of his life and clearly hurting over something, but he was letting Roy's remarks from days before get to him.
'You make a mistake and I lose my daughter.'
He was terrified of making another mistake and losing you too. He'd already lost Haley twice, once from the divorce and the second time to Foyet, so losing you would absolutely break him to the point of no return.
So he kept his distance. He couldn't make a mistake that'd hurt you if you weren't around. He was willing to do whatever it took to keep you safe, even if it meant hurting himself. He thought he was helping, but he didn't realise he was hurting a lot more than just himself.
Hours passed before Aaron finally decided enough was enough. He could barely work, thoughts of you wrecking his brain as he tried so hard to figure out what was wrong with you. For such an intelligent profiler, he could be a pretty dumb boyfriend.
It was yet to click that him distancing himself from you was why you were irritated, but he was soon going to find out.
He left work before anyone else which was a surprise to the rest of the team as it was exactly 5 o'clock. He grabbed flowers on the way to yours and even picked up your favourite food, hoping it'd be enough to at least let him in. So when he knocked on the door and you opened but left no room for him to squeeze in he realised it was a lot more than you just being irritated. It was serious.
"Hi" He said softly, not wanting to scare you off and cop a door to the face. You stared up at him blankly, your hold on the door knob tight as you itched to close it.
"What do you want, Aaron?" He usually loved the way you said his name, but not now, not when it's so clear you don't want to see him.
"Can I come in?"
"No" Your answer made Aaron rear back in surprise.
"No?" He repeated your answer, the flowers in his hand no longer pressed against his chest, but dangling down at his side.
"Do you wanna know why?" You asked, not giving him any time to answer before you continued.
"Because you're too blind to see what's wrong. Too busy to even spare me a glance, or talk to me when I'm trying to talk to you. Was this what it was like with you and Haley, because if it was it wasn't a relationship" You didn't like bringing Haley up to Aaron. You knew in some ways he was still healing from their divorce and her death, but you also knew that deep down she'd never liked you.
You were new to the team around the time of their divorce and as much as you tried to be the kind of person that was still friendly with their bosses ex, she never gave you the time of day. She'd been threatened by you since day one, even though her and Aaron weren't together anymore.
"So tell me what the hell I've done to push you away from me or I'm never inviting you inside again" Your heart was racing, chest heaving and you stared up at Aaron. Your frown softened ever so slightly as you watched a range of emotions flicker across his face before settling on sadness. He sighed as rubbed his eyes before answering.
"You didn't do anything wrong. You're perfect, you always are. I just-" He paused, tilting his head back and staring up at the roof. Your eyebrows furrowed more. Aaron never had a hard time sharing anything with you, even his emotions, but right now he was struggling and it made you feel bad for forcing an answer out of him.
But you had to. You couldn't continue walking on eggshells around him and wondering when he'll even look in your direction next.
"Roy's never going to forgive me for what happened to Haley" You shook your head slightly, not understanding what Roy had anything to do with you.
"I don't-"
"He made the point that I made a mistake and it got her killed. And I'm just worried that if I make a mistake when you're around..." Aaron drifted off and your heart hurt for him.
"Oh Aaron" You sighed, opening the door further and taking a step out to meet him. You pressed your hand to his chest and dipped your head to meet his eyes. He reluctantly returned your gaze.
"You can't tip toe around me for the rest of your life. If something happens then something happens. It'd never be your fault" You tried to reason with him, but he was still quick to shake his head.
"But y/n-" You cut your boyfriend off, not wanting to hear him blame himself for something that hadn't even happened yet, if ever.
"No buts Aaron. No but's, no if's, no maybe's, no what's. You can't keep avoiding me on the 1 in 100 chance I could get hurt" Aaron sighed, placing his hand on top of yours against his chest.
"I'm not a fan of the 1 in 100 odds" He mumbled, staring down at your lips, not wanting to look into your eyes when he was feeling so sensitive and vulnerable.
"And I'm not a fan of you blaming yourself for something you didn't physically do" You whisper back, bending your head, trying to catch his eyes. When he finally looks up and away from your mouth you offer him the smallest, but most comforting smile you can muster up.
"Honey, you know you did everything you could to protect Haley and Jack. Protective custody, moving them far away from you, cutting off contact until you knew they'd be safe" You list of some of the many thing Aaron did to prove how much he loved and cared for his family. You remember how hard Aaron was taking it when he didn't know where Jack and Haley were and couldn't contact him. It was killing him but he didn't dare force an answer out of anyone because he knew it was what was best to keep them safe.
"It wasn't enough though" Aaron whispers and whilst he still sounds guilty about it, you can hear the slight tension lift in his voice. You're slowly easing his mind and his conscience. You moved your hand from his chest, his arm dropping back down by his side as you bring your hands up to cup his face.
"The point is you tried, and you did everything you yourself could possibly do. Sometimes the bad slips in and takes personal trophies, but you didn't make them feel scared, you made them feel safe and loved" Aaron's eyes are bouncing back and forth between yours, his eyebrows losing some of their tension, finally letting his face relax.
"Roy-"
"Roy owned a store. He never had to get the bad guy and come home all in one day" Your little remark makes Aaron's top lip twitch upwards. You lift yourself up onto your tippy toes, bringing his face down to meet yours as you press a soft, light kiss to his lips.
"At the end of the day all that matters is that you've got a son at home, that loves and adores you. He's not sheltered as much as you wish he was. He knows what happened and it's gonna hurt him for a long time. The memory is gonna hurt him, not you" Aaron presses his forehead against yours, exhaling a deep breath he'd been holding in for days. You were his comfort person, you always knew what to say and do, and if anything now he just felt unbelievably stupid for avoiding the one person that made him feel better.
"Now... What the hell are you still doing here?" Aaron frowns, pulling back slightly, worried for a split second that you're still mad. But then he sees your smirk.
"What?"
"I thought what I said was a pretty good hint towards the fact that there's a little boy somewhere that needs you" Aaron holds up the food he'd bought you and the flowers, shrugging as if to say 'but I'm here to see you'. You laugh, pressing another kiss to his lips.
"I can wait a day or two" Aaron huffs out an airy laugh as you take the food and flowers before retreating back into your apartment. You grin up at him as he watches in disbelief. You're actually not letting him inside.
"I love you" You whisper, grabbing the door knob and slowly closing the door. You pause, staring at Aaron waiting to hear him say it back. He laughs again, shaking his head as he starts slowly backing away, already looking forward to seeing you next.
"I love you more."
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