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#but since i replied with art stuff i thought of replying here-
hart269 · 2 days
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Slithering Hearts
Chapter 5
Pairing : Regulus Black x Fem! Reader
Synopsis : You begin an unlikely friendship with the little Black. And soon your whole life seems to have become a tumultuous pathway. The catch, James Potter is your brother.
Note : Seek the stars.
Masterlist / Series Masterlist
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The first quidditch match of the year was gonna start soon, even though you had not such interest in the game, you were still sitting on the bleachers, immersed in your book. Learning everything and more was a motto of yours, you had Fliwick and Slughorn impressed and ready to teach you the advanced stuff. Professor Mcgonagoll was clever yet kind. But it was in defense against the dark arts, you had to strive, cause just as the rumors stated, the teacher changed every single year.
The horn blew and the players entered the field, their green robes flicking beneath their feet as they moved forward. Your eyes swiftly shifted to the newest addition to the Slytherin team, who stood with nothing but a expression etched in stone. That's how it has mostly been since the start of 2nd year, you could only imagine all what happens in the grimmauld place.
Not that you didn't know, you had been exchanging letters most of the system, it was a well established system. After Walburga almost catched your letter, Regulus had sent you a panicked one to not send him one in such a time that his mother might see. Since then, he received your letters at twillight, while you received his at midnight.                                                                                        
The horn blew again, indicating the beginning of the match, all players mounted their brooms and took off soaring. Amelia jumped next to you, "I'm so excited, who do you think will win?"
"Whoever gets the snitch" you remarked, looking at the seekers. It was a Slytherin vs Ravenclaw match, although Regulus was good, the Ravenclaw was a 4th year, so naturally nothing definite could be concluded. Not like you had hopes on any particular one.
Your eyes shifted between the game and the book, until it became too intense and you were solely watching the game. The players flew wildly, with little understanding and Amelia explaining most of it, you were able to conclude some things. The game was in full motion when Regulus stopped mid air, causing the other seeker to stop too and look around in confusion. Regulus raised his hands and in his palm was the golden snitch. The whole side of Slytherin students stood, and jumped in excitement. The match was won.
The after party was held in the common room, filled with people dancing and cheering, you were sitting at the corner, having a rapid discussion with a drunk 6th year, though it did end quickly leaving you bored.
Your eyes wandered until they landed on a tuft of raven hair, who was sneaking out. Considering you had nothing better to do, you sneaked out after him, until you reached the top most floor of Hogwarts, the astronomy tower. Regulus sat on the floor infront of the big balcony, "Aren't you coming?" you jumped at the unexpected noise, he hadn't even turn around, damn him.
You sat beside him, marveling at the stars scattered shining across the plane, the view up here was breathtaking.
"Why are you not at the party" he asked.
"It was boring, besides I saw the star seeker leaving, thought it'd be more interesting" your cheeky reply earned a quiet chuckle, "Star seeker is a bit too snobbish, don't you think".
You shrugged, "I think it's perfectly fitting". You laughed at his groan but then you turned somber,  "Reg"
"Huh" 
"Everything's okay?" you looked at him pointedly, not letting him avoid the topic.
"Why won't it be" he replied avoiding your gaze, "It's the usual, just a bit more" his smile didn't reach his eyes.
"You know you can talk to me right" you said meeting his eyes.
"I do know so" he replied meeting your gaze.
"Also I forgot, Congratulations on your first match" you said patting his shoulders.  
     
He paused for a moment before grinning, "Give me your hand.
You lilted your hand curiously, extending it, he place the small golden ball on it. "The Snitch" you whispered excitedly, examining it, it was your first time seeing the hogwarts one up close.
Regulus watched your face scrunch in wonder, "You can keep it, if you want".
You  grinned "Really".
Regulus looked with a smug expression, "Yeah, I'm just gonna get more, star seeker remember"
And so he did, Regulus was one of the reasons Slytherin's performance in quidditch improved and went hand in hand or broom in broom with the Gryffindors who had been previously dominating most of the matches.
However nothing changed for good in the house of black, The black brothers looked plauged everytime they returned from may it be for Christmas or summer break. They refused to acknowledge each other, it was as if a force was pulling them apart. Regulus had not tried to talk to Sirius anymore, claiming it would be worthless anyway. It felt wrong for you to meddle inbetween them, so you decided to just be there for him.
Whenever he returned, it would take you days to get back a genuine smile from him, opening him up little by little. If it were up to you you would have taken him out of there, long time ago. But all you could do, and did do was to be there with him, the astronomy tower became yours hangout place. However it may be, you were glad to be friends.  
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@shycreationdreamland @mp-littlebit @girlbooklover555 @godofstory @misacc08 @starchaser-lily
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mintsuwu · 3 months
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So true anon!!!
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hoshigray · 7 months
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⋆♱ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 ✮ 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐡𝐢-𝐓𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 ♱⋆ | a JJK series
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𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞: hi hello!! so like, yeah, this is late bc I didn't plan on doing any kinktober stuff since i got shit irl to do. BUT, after some thought and some creative bursts of energy, I figured "ehh why not." So, I'm not setting the dates as life can be unpredictable, but here are the things I'm doing/have done for the month!! Think of this more like a book list than a prompt list tbh
reblogs + comments are appreciated wholeheartedly ⋆♱✮♱⋆ transparent edit made by me + header art by yuto sano + fic dividers by the amazing @cafekitsune!!
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𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝑻𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌, 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎...
All the material below contains 18+ content, so minors do not interact.
☠︎ = ficlet/scenario | ♱ = fics
☠︎ 𝐁𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤 (true form! Sukuna x fem/afab! reader)
☠︎ 𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 (dom! Nanami x fem/afab! reader)
♱ 𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐇 𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐇[𝐞𝐫]!! (serial killers! Toji + Sukuna x fem! reader)
Next time, look around the area before you say you find a serial killer attractive. Because you’re about to see what mess your words will have you end up in — and your clothes all torn up.
☠︎ 𝐓𝐢𝐞 𝐌𝐞, 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐌𝐞, 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐌𝐞 (rigger! geto x fem! reader!)
♱ 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐓𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤 (vampire bf! Choso x fem! reader)
Finding out your boyfriend's a vampire was far from the chill evening you planned with him. But you can't lie, imagining those fangs sinking down on and sucking on your skin....it's kinda hot.
♱ 𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬, 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬 (ex-husband! Toji x fem! reader)
Your ex-husband bringing the kids over for trick-or-treating is one thing; him wanting to spend the night at your place is another. But it's just for the night. There's no way one night can rekindle some old feelings...right?
☠︎ 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 (Toji x fem! reader)
♱ 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 (Carrie inspired! Gojo x fem/afab! reader)
Taking a loner like you to the prom was, at first, an easy bet for the most popular kid in school. What he didn't expect, however, is to fall madly in love with you — and how that love brings hell on supposedly the best night of senior year...
This is all the stuff for this month. Thanks for stopping by!
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𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝑱𝒐𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉'𝒔 𝑳𝒂𝒊𝒓?
Would you wish to be tagged? Please lmk in the replies or in my inbox!
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© 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐲2023 ⋆♱✮♱⋆ These tales have been transcribed and written by the original poster (me). Do not steal, edit, copy/plagiarize, or post any of my works on your own accounts, in or out of this app. Please and thank you.
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actual-changeling · 4 months
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A small 'this is how you use tumblr' for the people that haven't been here very long. These are in no particular order, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask them!
Since I probably did not mention a lot of things, you are welcome to add to this post with your own advice.
a) Reblog posts. if you like it, reblog it. even if you have zero followers and ESPECIALLY if it's art or writing of any kind. We will see the reblog in our notifications and that alone brings joy. One reblog can start a chain and push the post onto many people's dashes.
b) Tumblr is not a very functional website, if you want to survive without losing your mind, there are two things you need: xkit rewritten and dashboard unfucker. Play around with the settings until it is to your liking. Additionally, change to firefox if you haven't already and install ublock origin to get rid of ads, tracking etc.
c) If you go to your settings (account! not blog) you can find this under dashboard at the bottom. Turn off at the very least 'best stuff first' since that will fuck up your dash and not give you posts in chronological order.
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The rest are a perfonal preference but it will keep your dash tidy and easy to control if you turn them off, too.
d) Apropos settings—get a profile picture, a header, write something human in your bio, anything. Otherwise people will assume you are a bot and block you on sight.
e) Blocking! Do it generously and whenever you want, this is how you keep whatever remains of your sanity. It's not a lethal offense, it is (usually) not even seen as rude or anything along those lines. You block people and they block you and everyone is happy.
f) Under account settings you will find this:
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Just like with blocking, use both options to your heart's content.
g) Tumblr is not like other social media platforms, spam liking & reblogging and going three years deep into someone's account is NORMAL and encouraged. You can search a blog by post type, tags, or even go to the archive and scroll through the posts there.
h) Lastly—interaction. We already went over reblogging (I mean it, REBLOG), but there are also replies and asks. If you add something to someone else's post please behave like a kind human being and don't be an asshole; based on my experience, that's easier said than done. On top of that, the tags are ALSO used for communication, go unhinged, ramble, leave your thoughts, or simply use them for organisational purposes. Everyone loves a good insane tag wall.
An open inbox (either anonymously or with your blog attached) is to be used! Please send people asks if they have them active, use it like DMs or a comment section, use it to recommend something, ask questions, participate in an ask or prompt game—we love asks here.
(We do not like harassment in our inboxes, same rules as above.)
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cloudwhisper23 · 5 months
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BEHOLD!!! AN ART TRADE!!! @pixlokita it is time!
Caution, do not click read more if you do not intend to read. This is 12,192 words. And no, I'm not kidding. This is so much longer than most of the stuff I write. That being said, enjoy!!!
Evan said Michael was sick, which worried Jeremy. Being sick should not mean Michael would try so hard to avoid Jeremy, especially since he knew it would make Jeremy worry about him more.
But the main part Jeremy was worried about was the way Evan’s new wings kept fluffing up. Was Michael mad at him?
Don’t worry about it, Jeremy, he told himself. If Michael’s mad, he’ll tell you eventually.
It just stung. Evan and Gregory were wandering around the house, trying to see if their wings would allow them to do various things. Evan’s were too small to do much, and Gregory still hadn’t gotten used to them yet, but at least they had something to do while Mr. Emily tried to figure out what could possibly cause this.
“Ugh!” Gregory exclaimed, plopping down on the sofa next to Jeremy. He took the soda from Jeremy’s hand and took a giant sip. “These things suck.”
“What do you mean?” Jeremy asked, unsuccessfully trying to retrieve his Coke.
“I mean,” Gregory scowled, taking another sip, “that wings are stupid. They don’t even bend the way I want them to.”
“Well…” Jeremy said thoughtfully. “They are just extra limbs, right? With bones and joints and stuff?”
“I guess so.” Gregory finally gave Jeremy his soda back. “But they don’t move how I want-“
“You couldn’t do much when you were a baby right? Learning to crawl?” Jeremy chugged the rest of his Coke before putting the empty can down. “It’s an accomplishment when babies get their heads off the floor on their own, you know. And rolling and stuff.”
“Oh.” Gregory clearly hadn’t thought about it that way. “But Evan’s got excellent control already.”
“He’s had them longer.” Jeremy shrugged. “Maybe he’s just a quick learner. Or maybe, there’s less wing to work with. Could be a bunch of things.”
“But…” Gregory sighed. He inched closer to Jeremy on the couch, his wings refusing to bend in a natural way.
Jeremy awkwardly looped a comforting arm around Gregory. “You’ll get there eventually.”
“They just hurt. All the time.”
“I can’t help with that,” Jeremy chuckled.
“Sure you can! Mike did this thing once, where he…” Gregory chewed his lip. “Well, I’m not exactly sure what he did.”
“You want me to pet you?” Jeremy said in disbelief. “Nuh uh. Go ask Evan. That’s not… No.”
“Why’d you make it weird?” Gregory shook his head. “It was like…”
“Like a shoulder massage,” Evan interjected helpfully. His wings flexed, expanding fully as he explained. They barely went past his shoulders, but the point got across.
Jeremy admired the confidence with which he showed them. He’d personally be too worried about people calling him a freak. Which, thinking about it, was not likely to happen in this house. Everyone was too nice here.
“Mikey went like this,” Evan said, pulling Jeremy’s arm back to get to Gregory’s wings.
Gently, Evan messaged the inner edge of Gregory’s wings, right where they extended from his back. Gregory’s wings convulsed, the claw on one nearly hitting Jeremy in the face. “I think they get itchy,” Evan mused. “We might have to just do this more often.”
“No kidding,” Gregory said with a sigh, his eyes closing and his shoulders relaxing. “But Mike’s still better at it.”
“Wonder where he got his practice,” Jeremy replied. He didn’t mean to sound bitter, but it still came across that way.
Evan winched, but he didn’t comment on it. Instead, he kept focused on his task. Gregory sighed absently. “Wings are a lot of work.”
“Seems that way,” Jeremy replied.
Gregory folded and unfolded his hands while Evan worked. “I just…”
Jeremy spared him a glance as he went to get another can of Coke. “Something on your mind?”
“His girlfriend,” Evan said absently.
“Cassie’s not my girlfriend!” Gregory said, straightening. His wings fluffed up as he said it.
“Oh.” Jeremy had no idea what to make of that. “What happened to her?”
“I don’t know!” Gregory replied. He ran a hand through his hair to try to make it lay flat. “She was at Evan’s party, and she looked really bad. I think Mike took care of it, but he didn’t really say anything about it afterwards.”
“She’s probably at the hospital, Gregory,” Evan replied, trying to be soothing. “We can visit her once we figure out what to do about this first.”
“Stupid wings,” Gregory grumbled. “Making everything harder.”
Jeremy didn’t know how to reply to that. He cracked the can open and took a sip. “Have you asked Mike?”
“He’s sick,” Evan answered for Gregory. His wings fluffed up again.
“Maybe we should check on him then. He’s been resting all week right?” Jeremy asked, trying to be casual about it. Evan had been very guarded about his older brother this whole time.
Jeremy came over every day, and every day, Evan said the same thing. “Mike’s sick. He can’t see anyone right now.”
It had been happening since the day Gregory’s wings had burst through his skin. Jeremy was more than a little concerned. Sure, he hadn’t reacted well to the wings at first, but none of them had. He’d been more supportive when Evan’s had burst through later that same day.
But Michael’s expression became very guarded for the rest of the day, and the next day, he was “sick” and couldn’t see Jeremy. And Evan was very good at shooing Jeremy away when he tried too hard to see him.
“Shouldn’t he eat something?” Jeremy asked.
Evan frowned. “Mikey told me that there’s not much he can stomach right now.”
“Crackers always work,” Jeremy mumbled to himself. Shaking his head, he tried again. “What about water? Maybe he’ll start feeling better with some fluids.”
“I… guess…” Evan seemed less sure. Conflicted, he looked at Gregory and then glanced at the closed door to his cousin’s room.
“I can get it. You keep helping Gregory,” Jeremy said quickly. He didn’t want Evan to change his mind.
Evan relented, nodding slightly. “Okay. Make sure to get him a big glass. And don’t be loud. And-“
“I know how it works when someone’s sick, thank you.” Jeremy set his Coke down and rushed back to the kitchen to grab a glass.
Evan had not been exaggerating. When Jeremy crept into the room with the glass of water, Michael was curled into a tight ball on the bed.
“Mike?” Jeremy whispered into the quiet room.
Michael groaned in response. He rolled over to face Jeremy, exposing the hair plastered to his face with sweat.
“I um.” Jeremy swallowed. He felt a little foolish now. Michael was just literally sick. He wasn’t mad at Jeremy or anything like that. “I brought you some water.”
Michael opened his eyes, feebly reaching for the glass.
“Are you strong enough to hold it on your own?” Jeremy asked.
Michael had to consider that for a moment. Then he shook his head.
“Here-“ Jeremy sat next to Michael on the bed, helping pull him into an upright position so he could drink the water.
Michael leaned heavily against Jeremy, eagerly drinking the water. Jeremy had to brace himself against the wall to support the extra weight. Then abruptly, Michael pulled away.
“J… Jeremy,” Michael whispered weakly. He gripped at Jeremy’s jacket, burying his face in Jeremy’s shirt. “I…”
“It’s okay, Mike-“
Michael seized in Jeremy’s arms, sobbing heavily. His hold got tighter and tighter as his body shuddered with pain. Jeremy tried to set the glass on the bedside table, but he barely had it on the edge and water soaked into the carpet as he pulled Michael the rest of the way into his lap. “I got you,” Jeremy said into Michael’s hair.
“It hurts,” Michael cried, still shaking.
“You’ll get through this,” Jeremy mumbled.
A tearing noise broke through the sound of Michael’s sobs, even as they intensified. “JEREMY!!!” Michael wailed.
“I have you, Mike. It’s okay. You’ll be okay.”
Dimly, Jeremy registered the large wings erupting from Michael’s back. Oh. Oh. This was happening now. Bloody feathers spread out, wrapping around Jeremy to return his comforting gesture.
Gradually, Michael’s crying ceased, and Jeremy was left holding an exhausted teenager with bloody wings. “I am sorry,” Michael whispered, pulling his hands back, the wings retracting slightly. “I did not mean to, uh…”
“It’s okay, Michael.” Jeremy tried to smile at him. He was determined not to squirm in discomfort from all the blood currently soaking into his jacket.
“I… should go shower,” Michael said awkwardly.
“Yeah…” Jeremy wriggled uncomfortably in his jacket.
“Sorry,” Michael said. “I can wash that if you want.”
“It’s not the biggest deal,” Jeremy said.
“It is if you go home wearing a jacket covered in blood,” Michael replied. “It’s only fair that I clean it, since that’s my blood.”
That wasn’t how Jeremy saw it, but he figured he wasn’t getting out of this. “Okay.”
Michael shifted carefully, putting his feet on the carpet. Almost instantly after taking his weight off the bed, he completely lost his balance. His wings flew out, trying to redistribute the weight, but Jeremy didn’t realize that as he caught Michael by the waist. Both of them tumbled off the bed, Jeremy hitting the carpet with a soft ‘oomph.’
“I am sorry. This was not my intent,” Michael said from above Jeremy.
“They take some getting used to, huh?” Jeremy replied, trying to ignore the heat rising to his face.
It hadn’t been much on the bed with Michael clinging to him like a lifeline. But on the floor with Michael on top of him, pinning him to the ground, Jeremy was suddenly aware of how close Michael was to him.
Michael smiled ruefully. “I don’t think I’m strong enough to walk on my own right now. I don’t know how I’m going to wash all this blood off by myself.”
“Maybe your uncle could help?”
“He’s probably back at the library again,” Michael mused as he crawled off Jeremy.
Evan wouldn’t be able to handle it, Jeremy knew that much. And he couldn’t ask for Gregory’s help without alerting Evan to the amount of blood that coated them both.
“Do you want me to help?” Jeremy asked, feeling the heat more intensely in his face. Please say no. He didn’t think he’d be able to handle it.
“Really?” Michael chewed his lip, considering it. “I would not want to be a bother… But if you are offering…”
Jeremy’s heart quickened at the prospect. “R-right.”
“Help me up?” Michael asked.
Jeremy pulled Michael to his feet, unprepared for the wings to wrap around him again. “Um.”
“Sorry. I don’t have much control over them yet,” Michael replied sheepishly.
“Do they want me to carry you?” Jeremy gauged the idea of carrying Michael to the bathroom. It wasn’t the worst idea he’d ever come up with.
“It’d probably be less awkward than walking there like this,” Michael agreed.
“So I’m just going to…” Jeremy twisted around in the space the wings allowed him. Michael hissed out a pained breath, but soon he was behind Jeremy. “How well can you jump?”
Pretty well, apparently. Jeremy barely needed to adjust for the weight of Michael on his own back, hands linked beneath Michael’s knees. “Okay. Let’s get you taken care of.”
“I am not a child, Jer,” Michael said wearily. Still, he pressed the side of his face into Jeremy’s hair. “I am sorry to be such a burden.”
“You’re not a burden, Mike. You’re my friend. I’m absolutely willing to help you out when you’re in need.”
“Mmmmm,” Michael sounded almost mournful. But he didn’t argue.
“Okay,” Jeremy said. “So, I’m thinking they might need a decent soaking, right? Birds like to be fully submerged when they clean their wings right?”
Michael blinked at him from where he sat on the toilet lid. “What are you even saying?”
“The blood.”
“It is not dried yet. Not completely anyway.”
“So what? You were planning to just wing this whole thing, weren’t you?” Jeremy shrugged off his jacket.
Michael snorted. “I was planning to shower, Jeremy. But I guess I was planning to wing it, considering how I have wings now.” His wings stretched as he spoke, emphasizing his point. “I just don’t have the strength to stand there long enough to wash them off.”
“I-“ Jeremy sputtered. Clearing his throat, he tried to skip over the accidental pun he’d made. “Just going to let the water do the work?”
“That’s the goal.” Michael frowned. “There’s just a few problems.”
“Such as?”
“My shirt isn’t going to come off the same way it went on this morning.”
“Are you particularly attached to that shirt?” Jeremy asked.
“Not really. Could try to just-“ Michael pulled at the collar of his shirt.
“I’ll go grab a pair of scissors,” Jeremy said as Michael pulled experimentally at his shirt again.
He had to be careful walking by the couch, noticing Evan curled up for a nap. Gregory was nowhere in sight.
Returning with the scissors, Jeremy nearly dropped them upon seeing Michael. “What happened? I was gone for two minutes!”
Michael’s shirt was hanging off his body in shreds. When Jeremy looked closer, he could see sharp claws on Michael’s hands. “I…” Michael shrugged sheepishly. “I thought I could tear the fabric and take it off myself.”
Jeremy’s mouth twitched, but he didn’t let himself laugh. “Okay. I don’t think you did a very good job of it though.”
“It seems as though I failed…”
“Here, let me just…” Jeremy carefully reached around Michael’s head, one knee resting between his legs. It felt strange to be cutting through Michael’s shirt, but as the fabric gave way, Michael seemed to relax a little more.
Jeremy recalled Gregory and Evan both sitting on the couch as Michael measured the shape they needed cut from their shirts for the wings. Perhaps Michael needed a few of those done as well. Something to keep in mind for later.
“Hey, why is there blood all over-“ Gregory’s eyes widened as he peered into the bathroom.
Michael straightened quickly. Jeremy pulled back, hiding the scissors. “Hello.” Michael waved awkwardly, his wings stiff and very clearly exposed.
“You… you have them too?” Gregory’s voice seemed so small.
“Yes, it appears as though we will match.”
Gregory swallowed harshly. “I can help. I know how to get blood stains out of fabric.”
“I would really appreciate it. Thank you, Superstar.” Michael beamed at Gregory, who flushed a deep red.
“It’s no big deal…”
“Not to you,” Jeremy said softly. “But it helps more than you realize. Thank you.”
Gregory opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out. He scratched his neck as his wings fluffed up, finally saying, “I’ll be quick. It probably won’t be good if Evan finds out.”
“It would be best if he did not know how messy the process is,” Michael agreed.
Gregory nodded, smoothing his hair down before hurrying out of the room.
Michael wadded the scraps of his shirt into a ball and tossed it to the floor. “Now that that’s sorted…”
Jeremy determinedly kept his eyes from wandering as he helped Michael stand. His friend leaned heavily against him for support as he attempted to undo his pants.
Jeremy belatedly realized that the only way this whole thing would work was if the shower ran over both of them. I’m going to be drenched, he thought sorrowfully as Michael muttered to himself in frustration.
“You could probably just sit while I wash the blood off,” Jeremy said when Michael finally stood there in his boxers. “Since it would be less exhausting for you.”
Michael blinked. “I suppose you are correct. I should have thought this through more.”
“It’s no big deal, man. You’re probably dealing with blood loss or whatever.”
“Still…”
“Hey, it’s fine. You spend all this time taking care of everybody. Maybe it’s time someone took care of you, right?”
Michael chewed his lip. “I suppose.”
“Okay. We’ll get you cleaned up in no time, Mike.” Jeremy said, smiling supportively. Michael tentatively smiled back.
As it turned out, it was a lot harder to clean up Michael than Jeremy initially thought. He kept twitching away, hissing out noises of pain at Jeremy’s touch.
Michael clenched his fists in his lap. “Okay. Clearly this is not the proper solution.”
“I can’t do this when it’s clearly hurting you, Mike. I just…” Jeremy leaned forward to rest his head against the back of Michael’s.
“This is nothing. I have endured much worse before.”
“That’s not as reassuring as you think it is.”
“Jeremy.” Michael said calmly, wringing water out of the washcloth. “I am sure it has become clear to you that things are not how they should be. The wings are only one part of it.”
“Yeah? What I’m hearing is that your father is abusive.” Jeremy wearily took the washcloth back, dabbing it gently against the space between Michael’s wings. At least like that it didn’t seem to hurt him.
“Well, not in the way you would think. Actually, I was thinking more of the comparison between growing limbs and losing organs. I think losing organs is still a more painful experience than this.”
“So you want me to just ignore your pain?” Jeremy asked, trying to decipher Michael’s meaning.
“I am saying I can handle it. I can be a man about this.”
No one is doubting that, Jeremy thought grimly to himself. “Maybe I can’t.” He tentatively rubbed at a clump of blood in the inner edge of Michael’s wing.
Immediately, it swung at him, throwing him against the sink. Pain flared throughout Jeremy’s entire body as he hit the floor. Faintly he registered that his face was bleeding.
“Jeremy?” Michael asked, twisting around. “Are you alright?”
“Nnnnngh,” Jeremy groaned. “I don’t think I broke anything.”
“I am so sorry. It appears that the wings are more sensitive than I thought.”
“No kidding.” Jeremy pressed his fingers to his cheek. He was lucky. The clawed joint of Michael’s wing had hit him just below the eye. Any higher, and he might’ve lost it completely. “Now what?”
“I suppose I should just sit under the water and hope for the best.”
“I think Gregory and Evan mentioned messages working out the soreness. Maybe I could at the very least-“
“I think we should avoid that for now,” Michael replied, his voice sounding stiff. “You have already been hurt once today.”
“Michael.” Jeremy tried to make his voice sound stern. “I knew the risks when I offered to help. So let me help.”
“Fine. Just do not do anything that will put you in danger again.”
“Don’t lie about how much it hurts next time,” Jeremy shot back. “Still gotta get all that blood out of your wings, you know.”
Michael clenched his jaw, but he only stared down into his hands. He couldn’t face Jeremy with the nasty cut on his face any longer.
Jeremy was lighter after that. He knew that even pressing a little too hard would make the wings spaz, and over the course of the next few hours, he succeeded with minimal interruptions.
Gregory popped in near the end to check on the progress. “Henry’s back. Do you want me to tell him about this?” He gestured at the entirety of the bathroom.
“I believe he should be informed. Please ensure that my brother does not come to investigate before we are done here.”
“And maybe grab him a dry set of clothes while you’re at it,” Jeremy said. As an afterthought, he looked at himself. “Maybe grab me something too, if you would.”
Gregory rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. How much does it hurt?”
“I suspect that I should be in more pain than I am,” Michael said, considering the question. “But Jeremy has done an excellent job of making sure the process is less than agonizing.”
“Uh, okay?” Gregory shot Jeremy a look.
“I can’t hardly touch him without the wings reacting,” Jeremy explained. “Nearly lost an eye the first time I did that.”
“So it’s bad.”
“It’s bad,” Jeremy agreed.
Gregory shot Michael a look loaded with concern, but he gave Jeremy a thumbs up. “I’ll ask Henry if he can get you guys some dry clothes. Maybe I’ll just imply that something else is going on in here if Evan asks.” He wiggled his eyebrows in a way that made Jeremy’s face burn.
“Gregory-“
But Gregory had already ducked out of the room, laughing quietly to himself. Jeremy sighed, preparing himself for the inevitable glares he’d get from Evan.
Michael sighed softly once Jeremy finally went to smooth out the wings. “That feels really nice.”
“Glad to hear it,” Jeremy said softly. “I think we got all the blood out.”
“Is it time to turn the water off then?” Michael asked, his eyes closing.
“I’d say so.” Thank goodness, Jeremy thought as he turned the dials back and pressed the tab down. “Now you need to dry off a bit.”
“Mmmmm….” Michael hummed to himself as Jeremy stepped into the tub with a towel and started rubbing Michael’s head with it.
Michael’s eyes fluttered open, and he smiled at Jeremy. “You really do like taking care of me, don’t you?”
Jeremy huffed out a sigh. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t, would I?”
“I thought you just stuck around to steal our Coca Cola.”
“That too. But I do enjoy your company, Mike.”
The smile broke into a full grin as Michael tugged the towel out of Jeremy’s hands. “That is wonderful news, Jeremy.”
Did he really not know? Jeremy wondered.
Before he had a chance to answer, Henry peered into the bathroom, assessing the pool of water on the floor. He raised a tired eyebrow as he observed the two boys in the bathtub. “I wasn’t inclined to believe Gregory before, but seeing it for myself…”
Jeremy’s face ignited with heat. “I was just helping clean blood from his wings. Nothing else happened, I swear.”
“I was referring to the fact that Michael grew wings. What did you think I meant?” Henry’s eyebrows scrunched, and Michael gave Jeremy a funny look.
“I thought Gregory might’ve said something else,” Jeremy replied, shaking his head. “Forget it.”
“Are you alright, Jeremy? You look a bit feverish…” A frown tugged at the corner of Michael’s mouth.
“I’m going to go grab some more towels. And you two will be wanting a dry set of clothes, won’t you?”
“Yeah.” Jeremy nodded quickly.
Henry hummed at them before walking back out of the room.
“I am grateful for both you and Gregory,” Michael said, using the towel to dry the rest of his body. He slowly rose to his feet, finally able to stand on his own.
Jeremy determinedly did not stare. Instead, he wrung water from his hair.
“I would offer you the towel, but I believe it is too wet to be any real help. Seeing as your clothes are also drenched, the best course of action is to wait for Henry to return.”
Jeremy smiled weakly. “Yeah, that’s true.”
Michael stepped out of the tub, hanging the towel back on the rack after he went. Jeremy could admit that the wings looked pretty good on Mike. He’d been weary of it when he’d first seen the wings on Gregory, and he knew that Gregory was defensive about it now. But maybe seeing him help Michael would help.
“Do you need a bandage for your face?” Michael asked, making eye contact with Jeremy through the mirror above the sink.
“Oh, I uh.” Jeremy blinked at him. “It doesn’t… It’s fine.”
“Are you sure?” Michael’s mouth twitched. “I understand that me being like this must be unpleasant for you, but that does not mean you do not need assistance with that cut.”
Being like this? Was Michael phrasing things like that on purpose? Was he talking about the fact that he was in his boxers or the fact that he had wings? Jeremy crossed his arms before remembering that his shirt was soaked. He uncrossed them and simply said, “There is no problem. I just don’t need a Band-Aid.”
Michael walked back over, and Jeremy tried to take a step back before remembering he was standing in a bathtub. Trapped, Jeremy stood stiffly as Michael ran a thumb over his scratch. Don’t flinch, he told himself, but it still stung. The cut was pretty deep.
“You likely do need a bandage, despite your claim otherwise,” Michael replied. “I can help, if you need assistance.”
Michael gently wiped blood from Jeremy’s face and went in search of medical supplies. It stung when he cleaned the wound, but Jeremy found himself too fascinated by Michael’s cautious care to really notice. The tiniest furrow in Michael’s eyebrows appeared when he put the bandage on Jeremy’s face, and his hands lingered on Jeremy’s jaw for just a moment too long.
He almost seemed sad when he stepped back from Jeremy. “All better. See?” Michael smiled so quickly Jeremy wondered if he’d imagined the pain in Michael’s eyes.
“Y… yeah. Um. Thanks.” Jeremy touched the bandage, surprised by how big it was. “I didn’t realize the scratch was that big.”
“I still feel terrible for doing that to you. Is there any way I can make it up to you?” Michael asked.
Unable to come up with anything to say other than a request for Michael to kiss him, Jeremy shook his head and turned his attention to Michael’s wings. “Do they still hurt?”
“Not as much as they did,” Michael flexed them experimentally. Jeremy smiled faintly, recalling that Gregory was having immense difficulty controlling his own wings. Perhaps the size made it easier.
Michael made a face. “It appears that moving them still hurts, however.”
“Evan mentioned something about messaging the muscles earlier. He was doing it for Gregory.”
Michael brightened. “I suppose I shall have to ask for Evan’s help with that endeavor then. Thank you for the reminder.”
I could do it for you, Jeremy thought desperately. He didn’t want to just have to leave after everything. This was the most time he’d spent with Michael before, and the guy was just so chill about everything. But being in the same space as him, watching him interact with his brother and Gregory made him want to stay so much longer. Michael Afton was the most compassionate person Jeremy had ever met, and he wanted to be able to help the man who tried so hard to help everyone else.
It didn’t help that Jeremy was also hopelessly in love with him.
As Jeremy opened his mouth to speak, Henry returned with the changes of clothes. Michael turned his attention away from Jeremy to thank Henry and apologize for the water all over the floor, and Jeremy was left to awkwardly collect the pile of bloody clothes on the floor to offer them to Henry.
Henry stared at the rags for a moment, his face paling significantly. “These were Michael’s clothes?”
“Yes.” Michael was separating the clothes to split between himself and Jeremy, and he was hardly focused on Henry. “I could not find a way to safely remove my shirt without causing more pain, so Jeremy helped me cut it off. I am afraid blood does not come out of denim very easily, so my jeans are also a lost cause.”
Brightening, Michael put a bundle of clothing into Jeremy’s arms. “You can change in Charlie’s old room.”
“Why can’t you both change in here?” Henry asked, sounding confused.
Pressure built in Jeremy’s throat as he tried to answer that question. It wasn’t that he was ashamed of himself. Not by any measure at all. He just knew it was dangerous, what he was. People didn’t exactly approve of people like him, after all. Especially not here.
Michael gave Henry a scathing look as tears built up behind Jeremy’s eyes. “Maybe we don’t want to change in the same room.”
Henry blinked in surprise, but he glanced between the two boys for a moment before making his exit. Michael patted Jeremy’s shoulder. “I can go to Charlie’s room instead, if you would prefer to change in here.”
Jeremy still couldn’t speak, so he just nodded. The gentle way Michael nodded back at him filled his body with a strange warmth. A few moments later, Michael was gone, and Jeremy could finally change out of the sopping wet layers he’d been in this whole time.
Half-way through changing, Jeremy noticed that most of the clothes were baggy and easy to layer over each other. There were almost too many options. A jolt ran through him when he considered that Michael had sorted through the clothes. Either Michael was very particular, or he knew.
Hurriedly, Jeremy finished changing and practically ran to the bedroom where Michael said he’d be changing. He basically flung the door open to a startled Mike, who had jeans on but no shirt. “Is something wrong?” Michael asked.
His wings and hair fluffed up, like he’d been expecting a threat, but his expression was one of concern. Jeremy knew he was shaking, knew he wouldn’t be able to speak for a moment, but he stood there and just stared. Why did Michael have to be adorable in everything he did? The way his mouth curled into a frown made half of his mouth seem to vanish, like he was biting on it constantly distracted Jeremy from what he wanted to say.
He let his eyes wander over Michael’s bare torso as he tried to find the words to speak. The worst of his secrets was surely out already, and if Michael figured out his feelings, it would be less painful than him knowing the other secret.
Fascination over the jagged scar across Michael’s chest sprouted in his heart. Jeremy had seen it before, of course. He’d seen it in the bathroom, but he’d been trying not to stare before.
“Jeremy?” Michael looked worried now. “Are you alright?”
Maybe Michael didn’t know. Maybe he just hadn’t grabbed a shirt at all, since they had to be cut specifically for the wings anyway. Jeremy was probably just overreacting. And even if he wasn’t, it seemed that Michael wasn’t going to bring it up. “Uhmm. I just… wanted to make sure you were okay.”
Michael relaxed. “I’m quite alright, Jeremy. I’m not as weak as I was before. The shower certainly helped.”
“You’re um. You’re very fluffy right now.”
“Am I?” Michael ran a hand through his hair, feeling where it stuck up all over the place. “Oh.”
“Yeah.” Jeremy cleared his throat awkwardly. “Thanks for talking to Henry back there.”
“It was nothing.” Michael blinked at him, wings twitching. “Gregory did a good job cleaning up.” He gestured at the carpet and the bed.
The bed was made very neatly, corners tucked so much better than Jeremy could do on a good day. There were only faint hints that someone had been bleeding there, and they were only visible because Jeremy was looking for them. “Yeah. He certainly did.”
A fond smile crossed Michael’s face at that. “He’s so sweet.”
Jeremy didn’t really believe that, but he nodded anyway. He didn’t want Michael to stop smiling for anything. It was so much better than his frown in every possible way.
“We should… I um. I think we should probably head back to the living room,” Jeremy said awkwardly.
“Right, yes. I suppose it is almost time for you to head home too.” Michael blinked, like he was shaking himself out of a daydream. “Or maybe you could stay for supper?”
Jeremy smiled. “I would love that.”
Evan was awestruck when he saw his brother’s wings. “They’re so big!”
“Soft too,” Jeremy said, trying to encourage Evan’s excitement.
Gregory made a noise in the back of his throat before saying, “You would know, wouldn’t you?”
Jeremy stared at him, mouth opening and closing without words coming out.
“No softer than yours, I’m sure,” Michael said, trying to keep the peace. There wasn’t even a hint of a blush on his face at Gregory’s words. Were the jokes just going over his head? Maybe Jeremy was reading too much into it.
Shaking his head, Jeremy plopped down on the couch beside Gregory. “What happened to your face?” Gregory asked quietly.
“I wasn’t careful enough,” Jeremy answered, glancing at the two brothers as they talked about Michael’s new wings. “And Mike’s wings pack quite the punch.”
“Oh.” Gregory’s eyes widened with understanding. “That could’ve been bad.”
“You’re telling me, kid.” Jeremy shook his head, taking a sip from his can of Coke. “What were you and Evan up to today?”
“Videogames mostly,” Gregory replied. “Although everything here is so old.”
“Old?” Jeremy wrinkled his nose. “Nah, my parents are worse. You’re probably just picky. A bunch of this stuff is newer than anything my family could afford.”
“Your motorcycle is cool though.”
Jeremy smiled. “It is pretty cool.”
“Can you take me on it sometime?”
The smile faltered slightly. “Uh, I don’t know.”
“C’mon, please? All the stuff here is pretty boring, and I know Evan tries to be fun, but you can only play the same game for so long before it’s lame. And I don’t want to have to tell him it’s lame. It’s awful when he cries.”
Jeremy didn’t know what to make of that. “Maybe we could play a board game or something.”
“I wanna go on your bike sometime.” Gregory stuck out his chin stubbornly. “Or I’m going to tell Mike you have the biggest crush on him and-“
“Okay, okay! I get it. But you’ll have to wear a helmet,” Jeremy said, looking away and tugging at his shirt. “And long pants. Just in case.”
“Okay, Dad.” Gregory rolled his eyes.
“Well, you’re the one who said it’s awful when Evan cries,” Jeremy shot back. “And I’ve already seen how Mike cries, and I don’t want to see that again. No thanks.”
Gregory flinched at that. “I…”
“Not to frighten you, but it can be dangerous.” Jeremy sighed. “There’s only so much you can be safe. Not to quote my mom, but ‘I’d rather you be late than dead.’ It’s just that kind of thing.”
Seeing Gregory’s expression, he softened. “I’m a firm believer in the fact that both of us are going to get lectured by Michael when he finds out. So, when he tries, we’re going to tell him that I already told you all the risks and you still wanted to do it. Unless I’ve changed your mind.”
“No, haven’t changed my mind.” Gregory scooted closer to Jeremy. “I bet I’d survive a crash better than you.”
“No way,” Jeremy laughed. “With the way you’re built? No offense, but you’d be a splatter on the cement.”
“Rude.” Gregory scoffed. Not subtly at all, he tried to steal Jeremy’s Coke from his hand.
Amused, Jeremy let him. Gregory immediately started downing what was left in the can. At that moment, Michael glanced over and gasped. “Gregory! Is that Coke? Are you encouraging this, Jeremy?”
“He took the can out of my hand. I didn’t do anything,” Jeremy smiled cheekily. “Not my fault he’s so fast.”
“Mmmmm,” Gregory squinted skeptically at the can. “This is Coke?”
“Yeah?” Jeremy looked confused. “Why? Does it taste weird to you or something?”
“It’s better than I remember.”
Michael sighed, removing the can from Gregory’s hands. “That is because Coca-Cola has different flavoring in it than you remember.”
“Are you talking about the whole cocaine in Coke thing? Because I thought that was a myth.”
Michael shot Jeremy an exasperated look. “That is not what I am talking about. Anyway, Gregory does not need caffeine in his system at this time of day. He won’t get any sleep at this rate.”
“Whoops?” Jeremy held his hands up in surrender. “Look I-“
“It does not matter.” Michael shot Gregory a meaningful look. “So long as he doesn’t keep Evan up with his extra energy, it should be fine.”
Evan peered at them all from behind the sofa. “How did he even take it from you? I thought you kept a tight grip on those at all times.”
“Caught me by surprise?” Jeremy shifted his weight as Michael gave him a skeptical look. “He’s faster than he looks, I swear.”
Evan snorted, climbing over the back of the sofa, much to Michael’s despair as he said, “Well, that gives him a one-up in physical games I guess.”
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean? I totally crush at Fazblock!” Gregory crossed his arms. “I had more blocks than you did.”
“Gregory, you’re supposed to get rid of the blocks, not keep them on the screen.” Evan shook his head despairingly. “I would’ve explained the rules if you’d asked-“
“It was different than what I’m used to, okay?” Gregory rolled his eyes. “I could totally beat you at Fazzy Kart.”
“I don’t even know what that is,” Evan replied. “I still think you made it up.”
“Did not.”
“Did too.”
“Did not.”
“Did too!”
“Okay, that is enough.” Michael shook his head, smiling faintly. “Gregory did not make it up. Fazzy Kart just has not come out yet.” He ruffled Evan’s hair before walking away with the empty Coke can. “And I have something for you two to do when I get back!”
“A task?” Gregory asked.
“A task.” Evan snorted. “Ah yes, my brother typically assigns me tasks. No, Gregory. He’s sending us to do chores or something. Usually he’s more mean about it though.”
“No one understands my jokes.” Gregory’s wing twitched irritably.
“Doesn’t matter,” Jeremy replied. “He still laughed, even if he didn’t get it. Be nonsensical! Nobody cares as long as you’re funny.”
“That’s a terrible line of logic. I refuse to believe that people willingly follow your example,” Michael said, returning with a sheet of paper. “Evan, Gregory, I am trusting you two to find everything on this list and bring it back here.”
“We don’t have money,” Gregory said, but he still took the list from Michael’s hands. “And aren’t we supposed to stay inside until we figure out what to do about our wings? And wait, is it safe to-“
“You worry too much, Gregory. We can just ask Uncle Henry for help.” Evan peered at the grocery list. “What are you making, Mikey? This looks like spaghetti sauce, but you don’t use half this stuff normally.”
“Wait and see,” Michael said cryptically. His own wings twitched as he spoke, even seeming a tiny bit ruffled.
“With the overabundance of clothes Henry seems to have, maybe he has jackets you can just throw on over the wings or something,” Jeremy said, slowly rising from the couch as Gregory and Evan stood to examine the list closer.
“We can handle this,” Evan said with full confidence. “And we’ll try to be fast so you can get started sooner.”
“Thank you, Evan.” There was a deeper tone of relief in Michael’s voice at that. “My heroes.”
Jeremy smiled wearily at them all. “I should probably get going.” It felt like intruding to stay this long. Sure, they all tried to include him, but Michael probably had other things he planned to do while Evan and Gregory were gone. Perhaps he needed to talk to his uncle more or something. Regardless, Jeremy had overstayed his welcome.
“I thought you said you could stay for supper.” Michael sounded wounded. “Are you feeling alright? Do you need to lie down?”
He pressed his hand against Jeremy’s forehead. “You don’t seem to have a fever.”
“I’m fine, Michael. I just don’t want to overstay my welcome, you know?” Jeremy ducked away from Michael’s hand and kept his gaze on the carpet. “Especially if you’re all going to be busy.”
“I won’t be busy until they get back,” Michael replied as Gregory tugged on Evan’s shirt to lead him away. “And even then, I won’t be too busy to talk. You can sit with me in the kitchen while I cook.”
“Yeah but…” Jeremy hesitated, combing a hand through his hair. “Look, I just don’t want to be in the way.”
“You won’t be,” Michael insisted. He sat down on the sofa where Gregory had been sitting before. Patting the cushion next to him, he waited for Jeremy to sit back down.
When Jeremy sat down, Michael gestured for him to scoot closer. “What are you doing?” Jeremy asked nervously.
“Your hair is a mess,” Michael replied. “I’m going to fix it for you.”
“What do you mean?” Jeremy frowned, patting his hair self-consciously.
“It’s all tangled. That’s going to be a nightmare to brush out tomorrow if you don’t take care of it tonight.”
“Oh.” Jeremy looked away. “It shouldn’t be your responsibility-“
“My wings shouldn’t have been yours,” Michael countered. “Let me do a nice thing for you. Please.”
“I helped with your wings because I wanted to spend time with you. Not because it was a burden, Mike.”
“This isn’t a burden to me either. Let me help. Maybe I want to spend more time with you too.”
Jeremy didn’t have a counter to that, so he reluctantly sighed. “Just… be gentle on it, okay?”
“Of course.” He blinked, seemingly surprised that Jeremy gave in so easily. “I do need to go grab a brush and a comb.”
“Naturally.” Jeremy shifted uncomfortably on the sofa as Michael got up.
What was he even supposed to say to Michael? He hadn’t expected to get this far, and now faced with the opportunity to have a casual conversation with him, Jeremy panicked.
When Michael got back, the hair brush he carried had long strands of dark brown hair in it, and both the brush and the comb were shining with water. “I hope you don’t mind,” Michael said awkwardly. “But I know that hair gets really, really tangled, so I just wanted to make sure I could get the tangles out without hurting you.”
Oh. That was… surprisingly considerate. “And the water is supposed to fix tangles?”
“Better than a dry brush.”
Jeremy just stared. The most he’d been able to do with his hair was to throw it into the world’s worst ponytail when he needed it out of his face. All this talk of the more effective way to brush through his hair without making it hurt stirred something in his chest. There was nothing Michael would do that could possibly hurt more than the way he was currently doing his hair.
Michael sat back down and got to work. It was strange. Jeremy hadn’t had anyone brush his hair in a long time. His mother had been too busy with work to even notice that he needed help with his hair. Or anything really.
“You have really thick hair,” Michael mused softly.
“Yeah. Makes it a real pain sometimes,” Jeremy replied.
Michael was so gentle with it, apologizing softly when the brush scraped his ear or a snag was too rough. Eventually, though, he set the brush aside and started dividing his hair.
“What are you doing?”
“Helping you with your hair,” Michael replied as he started braiding it. “I assume you don’t have a hair brush for yourself, or maybe you just don’t have much time to do your hair every day. But at the very least, braiding it back at night prevents most tangles from getting worse.”
“How do you know so much about this stuff, dude?” Jeremy wondered. “Like, you know more about this than I do.”
“I…” Michael hesitated. “Evan’s not my only sibling. I had a sister. Elizabeth. Her hair was more of a nightmare than this.”
“Oh.” Jeremy fidgeted. He didn’t know what to do with that information.
“And, there!” Michael twisted a ponytail into the end of Jeremy’s hair. “Less problems for later, see?”
“Yeah.” Jeremy touched a hand to the braid, smiling softly. “Thanks, man.”
“It’s nothing.”
“But I say it is something. Come here, Mike.”
Michael’s wings fluffed up ever so slightly, but he did as Jeremy asked, unprepared for the tackle-hug Jeremy gave him. He gasped in alarm as they ended up on the floor, but when he looked up at Jeremy, it was with what Jeremy could only describe as adoration. Then he was suddenly pressed completely up against Michael as his wings wrapped around them both.
Of course, that was also the moment Evan and Gregory came back from their shopping trip with the supplies Michael had asked for. Letting Jeremy up, Michael immediately accepted the groceries from Evan and went straight to the kitchen. Gregory and Evan were left staring at Jeremy, who was sitting with a ridiculous grin on his face.
“Might need some help preparing this!” Michael called.
Before any of them could move toward the door, however, Henry walked by to go help Michael. Which left Jeremy to get teased by the two younger boys.
“What was that about?” Evan asked, picking a long blue feather out of Jeremy’s hair.
“What were you doing on the floor?” Gregory asked.
“Mike did my hair,” Jeremy replied, gesturing at the hairbrush that now had long strands of gold intertwined with the brown.
Evan looked thoughtful as he fiddled with the feather. “I didn’t know Mikey knew how to do hair.”
“Didn’t you tell me you had a sister?” Gregory asked, picking a smaller, brown feather from Jeremy’s shirt. “He could’ve done her hair once or twice.”
“Maybe…” Evan didn’t sound very sure. “Mikey wasn’t… I don’t know. Maybe he did. I never knew, though.”
“He did mention it when I asked…” Jeremy said, suddenly embarrassed to know more than Evan.
Evan fiddled with the feather more. “He seems to like you a lot.”
“Mike?” Jeremy asked, even more embarrassed now.
“Yeah. He smiles when he talks to you.”
“Except that one day,” Gregory interrupted. “He came inside and cried.”
“That was something else, I think,” Evan responded. “I think the Nightmares finally got to him.”
“So I take it Mike doesn’t usually talk about his issues then?”
“Not usually.” Evan squirmed, his wings puffing up. “Can we talk about something else?”
“Yeah sure,” Jeremy shook his head and finally got off the floor. “Do you want to try playing Kings in the Corner again?”
“Ugh, that’s so boring,” Gregory replied, but Evan was already rushing off to get the cards.
“I need a second. I’ll be right back,” Jeremy said, slipping into the kitchen to grab another can of Coke.
Michael glanced over from where he was cutting an onion and just sighed. “Jeremy-“
“I know, I know. It’s bad for me or whatever. But I need it, okay?” Jeremy took a long swig from the can. “Better than some habits.”
“Still…”
“It’s fine dude. Cut your onion or whatever.”
Henry said something that Jeremy didn’t catch as he rushed back to the living room. “Okay, are we ready to start?”
“This game is stupid,” Gregory grumbled. He was holding his seven cards, and Evan had already laid out the board.
“I dealt, so Gregory goes first,” Evan replied, ignoring Gregory’s comment.
“Lucky,” Jeremy said, eyeing the board.
“I don’t even know how to play,” Gregory complained. “This game is for old people.”
“I guess we’re old then.” Jeremy’s eyes twinkled. “You have to play a card from your hand onto one of those four cards.” He pointed at the two of diamonds, the king of spades, the four of diamonds, and the seven of diamonds respectively. “You want it to be a lower rank, or less points than the card on the stack. And it’s gotta be the opposite color.”
“Oh.” Gregory stared at his hand for a moment.
“You gotta tell him about the kings, Jeremy.” Evan shook his head. “If there’s a king, you can move it into the spaces between the four other cards, and put a new foundation card down.”
“Huh.” Gregory frowned. “This is too confusing.”
“It really isn’t,” Jeremy laughed, taking another sip from his Coke. “If you really want, you can add your cards back to the foundation pile and watch me and Evan play a game.”
“I’m just going to do that.” Gregory stuck his cards back in the bigger stack.
“Suits don’t matter,” Evan said helpfully. “Only color does.”
Jeremy set off to move the king, and the game begun. Evan went out on his first turn.
“Okay, that was a bad example,” Evan said with a grin.
“You didn’t shuffle very well,” Jeremy said accusingly.  “That was- arghhh. We’re playing another game so Gregory can actually see how the game works.”
“Are we doing points?” Evan said innocently.
“We will once Gregory joins in,” Jeremy replied, collecting the cards from the board. “These are warm-up rounds.”
“Riiiiight,” Gregory replied with an amused snort. “You just got destroyed.”
“Thank you for the obvious and accurate commentary, Gregory.” Jeremy rolled his eyes.
When he flipped the four cards over, three of them were kings. Jeremy let out an indignant noise as Gregory burst out laughing and Evan grinned at the board. Just like that, he was down to one card. Jeremy scowled at his own cards as it became his turn.
“All four kings on the board in the first turn,” he grumbled.
“Now who’s bad at shuffling?” Evan replied, watching Jeremy’s hand drop to three cards.
“Oh, shut up.”
Evan snickered as it became his turn. “I almost wonder if you were trying to let me win.” He took the ace of diamonds and placed it on the two of clubs that Jeremy had missed during his turn. “Do you have the hang of it yet, Gregory? We may need a third player or this are going to be some very quick games.”
“Ha ha.” Jeremy said as Evan gathered up the cards again. “I’m just used to people who aren’t paying attention nearly as much as you do.”
“I’m just playing the game,” Evan said with a cheeky grin. “You had a six of spades in your hand? You could’ve played that on the seven-“
“I don’t want to hear it!” Jeremy sighed, exaggerating his grief as he drank from his can. “You have eyes like a hawk.”
Evan just hummed at that, his eyes twinkling as he shuffled the cards again. “What do you say, Gregory? Want to try and give it another shot?”
“Sure. Can’t be any worse than Jeremy, right?”
“Alright, I get it.” Jeremy shook his head. “I guess this game isn’t as awful as you want to claim it is, huh?”
“We’ll see.”
Evan pulled out a baggy filled with little red chips and shook it for a moment. “I didn’t have a chance to grab paper, so we can just play with chips, right?”
“Let’s give Gregory one trial run first,” Jeremy said as Gregory stared blankly at the chip bag. “Let him get a feel for the game.”
Gregory’s first round went okay. He managed to play half his cards in the first go, but he failed to notice that he could’ve moved the king to the corner right away, and Jeremy took advantage of that. Humming to himself, Jeremy quickly went through his turn and waited for Evan.
“That is absurd,” Gregory said, watching Evan put down cards and move piles around rapidly. “There’s no way you’re not cheating.”
“It’s all natural, Gregory,” Evan said cheerfully. “You’re just mad because I’m better at games than you are.”
“Grrrrrr….” Gregory scowled as Evan tapped his own card against the table. He put down his one card and waited for Jeremy to go.
Adding another person really did slow down the game a lot, Jeremy thought to himself. This was the first round someone had actually had to draw a card. Evan hummed, but he also needed to draw a card. Unlike Jeremy, however, Evan couldn’t play his. Finally, the game was even again.
Gregory scowled at his cards. “What do I do if I can’t play?”
“Draw,” Jeremy said. “We’ve both done it.”
Grumbling, Gregory drew a card. He brightened as he realized he could play it, and then it was Jeremy’s turn. Jeremy sighed in relief as he was able to play a card on Gregory’s queen, and then move a ten on top of that. Moment of truth, he thought to himself as Evan studied his hand. Michael’s brother shook his head and drew another card. And promptly played it.
Gregory and Jeremy both groaned at that. “See, but now things get interesting,” Evan said cheerfully. “We’ve all been drawing cards and actually have to pay attention to the board.”
“Don’t you always have to pay attention to the board?” Gregory asked as he drew another card. “Ugh.”
“Depends on how close,” Jeremy said smugly, laying down his one card. “I win this round.”
Evan sighed wearily, but he said nothing as Jeremy collected the cards to shove them at Gregory. “Your turn to shuffle.”
Gregory pushed the cards back at Jeremy. “I don’t know how.”
“I guess I can do it for you. But you’re still dealing, alright? Seven cards to each of us.”
Gregory nodded as Jeremy shuffled, and Evan quickly explained how chips worked. Everyone put one chip in at the beginning. Then, when you drew a card, you’d put another chip in. Each card at the end of the game still in your hand was another chip, except for kings. Kings were ten chips.
They all put one chip in the middle as Gregory passed out cards.
“Ready for your first real round, Gregory?” Jeremy asked, looking over his cards.
Gregory huffed, but he nodded anyway. “This is still dumb.”
“What if we made it a bit more fun?” Evan asked. “I’ll put in this feather.” He held up the blue feather he’d picked out of Jeremy’s hair.
“We’re playing for feathers?” Gregory asked. “But we both have feathers.”
“Not just any feathers. Michael’s feathers. I know him better than you do, trust me. He wouldn’t just give those away.”
Gregory considered it for a moment as Jeremy bit his lip. It seemed plenty easy to get feathers in his opinion. Michael shed two of them while Jeremy hugged him before. “Deal. I’ll put in this one.”
Gregory set the brown feather on top of the three chips. Evan did the same with the blue feather. Both of them glanced at Jeremy expectantly.
“I don’t have any. You both took those from me in the first place.” Jeremy rolled his eyes. The feathers were cool, though.
He kind of wished he had some of his own, maybe to braid through his hair or something. But that required winning this game. And since Evan was really good at Kings in the Corner, and also used all the chips in the box, it was really unlikely that he’d win them at the end.
“How about…” Jeremy put twenty more chips in the pot. “I know it doesn’t balance out at all, but you two seem to really want those feathers.”
Evan grinned, and so, the game began.
Gregory surprised them all by nearly going out in his first turn, but Evan still won the first game. They played in relative silence, too busy concentrating to hold a proper conversation. Evan crushed them in the first few rounds, but Gregory eventually got a win when Evan had 6 cards in his hand, resulting in a somewhat decent counter-balance.
It did nothing for Jeremy though. He looked nervously at his dwindling pile of chips every time the game ended and knew it was very unlikely that he’d win. It wasn’t impossible, sure, but it was incredibly unlikely.
“This is eight, Gregory,” Evan said absently, after Jeremy had already played his first turn. “We can play it, but you should pay better attention.”
Jeremy bit his lip at that. He was losing really bad. He really needed a win, and he needed one where the other two were struggling. Accidentally starting a round on eight cards was not a great way to start that.
“How did you even notice that?” Gregory asked.
“Eight feels thicker than seven.”
“How much do you play cards? Jeez,” Jeremy asked as it became Gregory’s turn.
“Enough,” Evan said with an amused smile. “I usually play alone.”
“This doesn’t feel like a game you can play alone,” Gregory muttered.
“You can. It’s just not as fun. But I don’t play this,” Evan said as Jeremy had to draw yet again. “I play Solitare.”
“Right, silly me.” Gregory shook his head. “Dude, how are you losing the game you suggested?”
“It takes a lot of luck, Gregory.” Jeremy sighed, having emptied his can of Coke long ago. “I’ve already accepted my fate. Now it’s just a matter of wondering who wins overall.”
They all fell quiet again as they settled back into their concentration. A few tense rounds went by as they all drew cards. When Evan finally played a card, Jeremy breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe he’d last another round.
Or… maybe not. It was a close thing, that balance between drawing and playing. “Are we going to go through the whole deck?” Gregory eventually wondered.
“Maybe,” Jeremy replied wearily.
The pot was massive at this point. Evan’s brow was continuously furrowed, and even his wings were stiff with concentration. There’s no strategy that trumps the good cards being at the bottom of the deck, Jeremy thought to himself with grim amusement.
“Ha!” Gregory shouted his delight as he finally laid his last card.
Jeremy sighed sorrowfully as he glanced at his four chips. He would only have two left for another game after this. If only it had been Jeremy who’d drawn the card to end the game.
“I don’t even remember who shuffled that one,” Jeremy said as Gregory gathered the pot.
“It was Gregory. He started us with eight cards,” Evan replied. “You shuffle next.”
“I’m not going to make it through this game,” Jeremy muttered.
“Then we’ll just play it out, and you can be done after,” Evan shrugged. “Who knows, maybe you’ll win?”
“For every draw you have that you can’t play, I’ll put in a chip,” Gregory offered as Jeremy put his last chip in the pot. “It’ll keep things fair.”
“I’m sure,” Jeremy muttered.
“Awww, you are a grumpy old man. Evan look! He’s so grumpy.”
Jeremy rolled his eyes. “Thanks.”
Evan put his last card down, and Jeremy shook his head. “I’m out. Good luck, Gregory.”
He wondered what Michael and Henry were up to in the kitchen. It had been two hours of this, after all. Surely preparing a meal wouldn’t take that long, especially since Evan implied Michael was making spaghetti.
“Okay, I gotta know. What spaghetti takes three hours to make?” Jeremy said, sitting down at the kitchen table with Henry.
“It’s not the spaghetti that takes so long,” Michael replied from the stove. “It’s the sauce.”
“But why?”
“The flavor has to soak in from the leaves.” Michael shrugged, moving to sit down with them. “What were you playing in there?”
“Cards.” Jeremy shrugged. “Gregory said it was for old people.”
“Then he must have never played cards before,” Henry commented.
“Maybe it’s his age,” Michael suggested.
“Nah. Your brother got really into it. He’s been beating both of us.”
“THAT’S SO STUPID!!!” Gregory shouted from the other room.
Evan laughed and said something in response, as they all glanced toward the hallway.
“No way,” Gregory said, his voice still projecting from the other room. “That’s so stupid!”
“I think the sauce is about done,” Michael said, rising from his seat again. “I should probably begin on the actual spaghetti.”
“I appreciate you deciding to cook for us, Michael,” Henry said. “And not that I’m complaining about your food, but this seems more complicated than some of the other stuff you’ve made.”
Michael just blinked at him, filling a pot with water. “It’s just spaghetti.”
Gregory and Evan walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. “It smells great in here,” Evan said.
Michael glanced at his brother and at Gregory for a moment. “Who won?”
“Evan,” Gregory grumbled crossing his arms. “But he cheats.”
“I do not! Withholding cards on my turn is within the rules of the game. Just because it means you have to draw more doesn’t mean it’s cheating!” Evan argued.
“He’s right, Gregory. If he’s withholding cards, it’s still a risk to him since you can easily draw a card at any moment and win the game yourself. There’s a reason it’s ten chips if you’re holding a king at the end of the game.”
“Hmph,” Gregory scowled.
“Jeremy, do you need a new bandage for your face?” Henry asked as Gregory and Evan glared at each other from across the table.
“What? Oh, I’m sure it’s fine.” Jeremy hadn’t realized that the edge of his bandage was peeling off.
“We’ll get that taken care of later,” Henry said. “Were you planning on staying over tonight?”
“I…” Jeremy glanced around the room. “I don’t know.”
“If you decide to stay, let me know so I can tell your parents,” Henry replied, seemingly satisfied. “And would you like another can of Coca-Cola?”
“Yes please.”
“Don’t encourage his addiction, Henry.” Michael crossed his arms as he leaned against the counter.
Jeremy responded by sticking his tongue out at Michael. Michael shook his head and rolled his eyes, but Jeremy saw a faint smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
“Can I have one too?” Gregory asked.
“Absolutely not,” Michael replied. His wings twitched slightly. “You’re done with caffeine for the rest of the night. If you’re this loud after half a can, I shudder to think of what would happen if you got a full can of Coke.”
“You’re not my mom,” Gregory grumbled.
Jeremy’s mouth twitched. “He tries to act like it though, doesn’t he?”
Michael made an indignant noise as Gregory burst out laughing. Evan giggled too, adding, “Mama bird Mike.”
All three of them broke into bad laughing fits at that one. Henry and Michael just exchanged an exasperated look as Michael stirred the spaghetti. “I can act like it if you really want me to,” Michael eventually said. “But I don’t think you’d like the response, seeing as you two are baby birds in this analogy.”
“What do you mean?” Gregory asked, bewildered.
“I think what he’s getting at,” Jeremy said, amusement glinting in his eye, “is that mother birds regurgitate food into their chicks mouths.”
“Ewwwww,” Gregory gagged.
Evan snorted. “Mikey wouldn’t do that.”
“Wouldn’t I?” Michael raised an eyebrow. “I’ve certainly done worse.”
Evan froze at that. He seemed to be considering Michael’s point. “He totally would…” Evan sounded horrified.
“And with that terrible mental image, it seems that the spaghetti is done!” Henry said, putting a can of Coke in front of Jeremy before going to fetch everyone plates.
“I just need to strain the noodles, and we’re all set,” Michael said. “Could you grab the strainer please?”
Henry nodded and retrieved the strainer. Evan hummed to himself as he fiddled with the two feathers he’d won in the card game. Gregory said nothing, but Jeremy could tell it he was still bitter from his loss. Surely Michael wouldn’t be unwilling to give up feathers if they asked, Jeremy thought to himself. Maybe he’d be uncomfortable with the idea, but if Gregory said how much he really wanted them, Jeremy was sure Michael would give in eventually.
“It’s going to be hot.” Michael warned, carrying the pot of spaghetti to the table.
Henry quickly placed a potholder beneath it, and Michael went back to retrieve the sauce for the spaghetti. “Do you want to get cups out, Evan?”
Evan nodded and got up from his spot. “Gregory, you can get the plates.”
The whole group cycled around the kitchen like a little family, and Jeremy felt a little self-conscious about his place in everything, so he went and grabbed forks for everyone. It was the least he could do.
Michael dished out the food, putting just enough sauce on their spaghetti that they could avoid it if they wanted to. All of them were a little skeptical of the meal, but they all trusted that Michael knew what he was doing. Gregory and Evan both seemed startled by the taste, but Henry simply raised an eyebrow as he took a bite. Michael didn’t seem particularly concerned about their reaction, though.
He was too busy observing Jeremy when he tried it.
It was… spicier than he expected. Jeremy glanced at Michael, suddenly suspicious of him. Michael blinked at him, casually taking a bite of his own spaghetti. Jeremy glanced at him again before moving his plate to the saucepan full of spaghetti sauce and adding more to his plate.
Michael’s slow smile made Jeremy feel even more confident about his decision. Somehow, Michael had figured him out yet again, almost without effort. Jeremy stuck another forkful in his mouth and smiled back at him.
“Gregory, slow down. You’re going to make yourself sick,” Evan said.
“It’f, fine.” Gregory swallowed hard.
“Careful you don’t choke,” Henry said warningly.
Gregory set his fork down quietly, his eyes watering. He coughed a little bit, causing Michael to turn to him with concern. “Gregory? Are you alright?”
Gregory fanned himself, and Jeremy immediately figured out what was going on. “Too spicy for you? You barely had any!” He shook his head and poured Gregory a glass of milk. “Drink this. It’ll help.”
Gregory eagerly took the glass, draining it in less than a minute. “Mmmmm.”
The rest of the meal went in relative silence, with Evan and Henry occasionally teasing Gregory for eating too fast and being unable to handle spicy food. Michael seemed oblivious to the main conversation, smiling softly to himself.
Jeremy knew he was staring, but he figured it wouldn’t be the biggest deal. Plenty of people stared at their friends, right? At the way they twisted spaghetti noodles onto their forks and brought their forks to their mouths. At the way their eyes glowed with joy at making something new successfully.
Michael caught his eye, and the smile widened. Jeremy felt himself smiling back easily. He’d already finished his food, and Evan and Gregory had finished half the spaghetti by themselves. There wouldn’t be many leftovers anyway.
Henry was the first to move from the table. He collected plates from everyone to take to the sink. When Michael moved to help, Henry waved him off, insisting that since Michael made the meal, he shouldn’t have to clean it up, with a meaningful look toward Evan and Gregory. He stopped Jeremy when he tried to get up too, insisting that guests shouldn’t need to help.
“But I thought we were guests,” Gregory grumbled when Evan tapped his arm to help him get up.
“Jeremy, that bandage really does need to be changed before you go,” Henry said quietly, gathering the leftovers into different containers.
“I can help him with it,” Michael said.
“Michael, you’ve done enough today. Especially with how you were feeling this morning-“
“I can help,” Michael interjected stubbornly.
Jeremy raised a confused eyebrow at the way Michael’s wings and hair ruffled.
“You need rest,” Henry said in a tone that brokered no argument.
Still, Michael persisted, the feathers now completely refusing to lay flat. Jeremy wondered how this could possibly be something he’d need to be so defensive about. “Hey, maybe Henry’s right. You have done a lot today.”
Michael scowled at that, and he grabbed Jeremy’s arm and practically dragged him out of his chair.
“What- Hey!” Jeremy stumbled into Micheal, expecting him to apologize or something.
“There’s the old Mike,” Evan mumbled quietly.
Michael’s face was right in front of Jeremy’s as he spoke. “I know my limits.”
“Do you?” Gregory challenged. He didn’t seem frightened in the slightest, which was very different from the atmosphere surrounding Michael at that moment. “To me it seems like you keep going until you drop. Maybe you should just get rid of that chip on your shoulder and let someone else handle it for once!”
“Like you did?” Michael snapped, and at that, Gregory actually flinched. “Sometimes, you can’t trust that help will come, Gregory. You should know that better than anyone.”
Gregory’s grip on the plate in his hands tightened. “Yeah, well, I didn’t have a family who took care of me like you do! So just suck it up.” Jeremy heard tears behind those words, and Evan mumbled something gently to him and tried to get him to turn his back on Michael.
That seemed to break something in Michael’s resilience. His wings twitched, and he let go of Jeremy’s shirt. “Right. Sorry.” He sounded just as torn as Gregory. “I…”
Jeremy figured nothing would be helped by Michael sticking around in the kitchen, so he tentatively put a hand to Michael’s shoulder. “Hey, you can help with my bandage. Maybe just tell me how to put it on so I do it right tomorrow morning, yeah?”
“So you aren’t staying then?” Henry asked, looking worriedly between the four boys.
Michael’s ashen expression was not particularly reassuring. “No, I mean. If it’s okay for me to stay, I plan to. I just… Maybe it should be my responsibility to fix that?” Jeremy gestured at the scratch on his face. “Seems like all I’m doing here is making more messes anyway. Might as well try to clean one up myself, right?”
Henry frowned but he said nothing.
Jeremy leaned close to Michael’s ear. “Come on then.”
“I didn’t mean to… I hurt his feelings,” Michael mumbled as he mechanically peeled the rest of the bandage away from Jeremy’s face to wipe at the scratch with a wet cloth.
“Energy was running high. Maybe you are a bit more overwhelmed then you thought? Frayed nerves break way for anger sometimes. Or so I’ve heard.”
“I still shouldn’t have done that.” Michael couldn’t even look Jeremy in the eye. He was too distraught.
“Why did you get so defensive, if you don’t mind me asking? And I’m not just talking about Gregory. You were adamant about helping me with my bandage.”
“I just…” Michael hesitated. “I haven’t had a chance to see you in days, and I wanted to get every moment I could?”
“An afternoon together wasn’t enough?” Jeremy teased, even though he knew exactly how Michael was feeling. “Look, that’s okay, Mike. But you gotta take care of yourself too.”
“Yeah, but-“
“What do you want? I know you think you have to help everybody all the time, but you’ve gotta have desires too, right?”
“Maybe I don’t deserve to have my desires realized,” Michael replied. He still wasn’t looking at Jeremy. “Maybe I’m just a rotten person who doesn’t deserve joy or anything that doesn’t directly benefit anybody else.”
“Michael Afton.” Jeremy said, trying to sound stern. “You are a human being just like everyone else. We all make mistakes. And you sound like you’re trying to atone for yours. I don’t know about you, but someone who tries to learn from their mistakes sounds like someone who deserves to have what they want every now and again.”
Michael completely froze at that. When he met Jeremy’s eyes, he looked utterly shattered. “I…” He swallowed. “I can’t do this anymore.”
“That’s okay, Mike. No one is asking you to do everything-“
“No, you don’t understand.” His voice was hardly a whisper. “I’ve… That scolding… You’ve said that to me before.”
“I have?”
Michael nodded mutely. “It was right before…” His wings stretched their full length as Michael squeezed his eyes shut. “I can’t.”
“What can’t you do, Michael?” Jeremy asked softly.
A pained noise rumbled in Michael’s throat, and he dropped the cloth, yanking Jeremy forward by his shirt. Their mouths crashed together, and all Jeremy could think was finally. His own hands went behind Michael’s shoulders, and he gently guided the wings back into a folded position before stroking them gently.
He didn’t want to stop kissing Michael. It was freeing and exhilarating at the same time. Michael tasted like bubble gum and smelled like clean laundry. He was the weirdest man Jeremy had ever met, but maybe that was what made him so alluring. Or maybe it was something else. Something about all this just seemed so… right.
When Michael broke away, Jeremy tried to follow. Michael looked at him fondly and laughed. “I thought you said I needed to take care of myself.”
“I can’t be that addicting,” Jeremy said impulsively.
Michael snorted. “I need air, Jeremy. We were both going to pass out if we kept that up.”
“Can we do it again?” Jeremy didn’t care about air. He just wanted to be close to Michael, wanted to make him smile, wanted to make him laugh.
Michael laughed again, a brilliant sound, before Jeremy pressed their lips back together. It was completely perfect.
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AITA for instantly banning someone from my Discord server for using AI to “inspire” art?
🎨⚙️
I (16F) have a small Discord server for friends and friends of friends. We usually share creative works with each other there, like one friend makes music, another writes, I draw, etc.
So M (14F) was invited by a friend about a year ago and has been pretty chill. She’s always been super enthusiastic about my art, complimenting it a lot, etc. She started posting art a bit after joining, and it was clear she was a beginner. At one point though, her drawings jumped from plain sketches to stuff with backgrounds, etc.
Last week another member/friend O (15?NB) asked where she got the idea for a background of a drawing from because it was unique. M just casually said she used AI to generate images she wanted and then drew them in her own style for the backgrounds of her drawings. Like “calm blue alien landscape,” “underwater coral cartoon style,” etc.
I kind of hopped in here and asked why she would do that because AI art is stolen. M said she just wanted to “have art as cool as mine” and was sad about her skill level, which seemed like BS and guilt tripping to most of us. I banned her and blocked her right after without saying anything else.
O’s reaction was basically “wtf” and they thought she didn’t deserve to be banned for that. I replied that I had made it clear I despised AI art for stealing artists works, and even if M was redrawing them it was still theft and the AI was still robbing hard effort from artists. O said I was being unreasonable and has been silent since.
I asked a couple IRL friends who said I overreacted, but nearly all of my online friends agree with me. Maybe this isn’t the most unbiased platform to ask, but it’s better than Reddit. So AITA?
What are these acronyms?
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promiscuouscutie · 2 months
Text
All Yours pt. 7
Ethan Landry x fem. Reader, reader is a little naive and Ethan’s obsessed, eventual smut
Warnings for this part: voyeurism, mentions of losing virginity, masturbation, Ethan having dirty thoughts lol, mentions of murder
You've never felt so ready to leave your math class. You usually lived and breathed statistics, but your mind was elsewhere in those sixty minutes. You thought about his hands on your hips, the way he looked at you with hooded eyes the night he kissed you. God, the way he kissed your jaw, trailing more down your neck to make you giggle at the feeling. You found yourself smiling down at your notes, thinking about how his kisses could make your stomach do flips endlessly. You couldn't believe you had a boyfriend. You couldn't believe Ethan Landry was your boyfriend.
The boy who was always there, willing to listen to you ramble. The boy you first met in Photography I at the beginning of the semester. Who would've known you both had taken AP Art throughout high school, getting the credits needed to take higher art courses in college? That truly was luck; Ethan didn't even know you existed until the first day of classes:
He got in the classroom early, picking a desk in the middle. Five minutes before class started, you rushed in, sweat dripping down your temple. You had gotten lost on campus, but it thankfully did not make you late. You eyed the room, finding yourself locking eyes with the curly-headed boy. You wiped the sweat from your face and walked right over to him with a soft smile on your face. He kept his eyes on you, his heartbeat picking up more and more as you got closer to him. And finally, you said your first words to him:
"Is anyone sitting here?"
He almost forgot he could even speak. He cleared his throat and replied "No. No one's sitting there." A simple answer to a simple question made him feel like he would pass out, getting taken off campus on a stretcher. But you sighed with relief and set your stuff on the desk. You told him your name, and he told you his. You said his name was cute, and he bashfully thanked you. Ever since then, he's wanted you to be his.
Your professor finally closed her packet up and turned the projector off, dismissing everyone. You were one of the first to stand, ready to leave the room, but a voice called your name. You turned to see Mia, a girl you had tutored in the past. She was always kind to you, and a very good listener. She thought your notes were a godsend, and you appreciated the compliment. You hadn't hung out so much outside of class besides tutoring, which you didn't mind. But the two of you would text: she'd send you pics of new jewelry she made, and you'd send her pics that you took around campus, adding to your photography collection.
"Do you even feel ready for this next test?" She asked.
"Sorta. It's kinda hard to think about a test when.."
"..When students are being murdered, yeah. I get the feeling," She finished your train of thought. You sighed, gripping the strap of your bag. Three had died so far, but who was to say the numbers wouldn't go up? It worried you greatly. It was impacting the morale on campus as well. Some students weren't showing up to their classes, afraid of getting hurt.
"I knew one of the students that got murdered," Mia admitted.
"Me too." The thought of Michelle came to mind instantly. As much as you didn't like her, you wouldn't have wanted her killed.
"He was nice, sorta. I mean, we talked about movies a lot. He had a thing for slasher films. Used to go on and on about them. But between you and me," she leaned in close, "He seemed too fascinated in the gore of it. It was kinda unsettling." You shivered at the thought. Mia sighed, pulling a hair tie from her wrist.
"But he was nice. I'll miss the guy," she frowned as she put her curls into a ponytail.
"It's terrible. So depressing," you added.
"What is?" A voice chimed in. You turned to find Ethan standing there, making you gasp a little. He had on a baby-blue collared t-shirt and a pair of jeans, his hair looking a little frizzy. You noticed how his muscles looked in the shirt, making your heart race a little.
"You're here," you smiled. Ethan didn't tell you he was coming; you had planned to meet him with the group after your classes were done, and you still had one class left for the day.
"Of course. I wanted to see you," he smiled. You could feel your cheeks warming up as Mia narrowed her eyes at your boyfriend.
"Mia! This is my boyfriend, Ethan. Mia's a friend of mine-"
"We've met before," Mia cut you off. You raised both your eyebrows, surprised. You looked up at Ethan, who had no expression on his face as he stared at her.
"Oh! Do you guys have classes together?" You questioned.
"We went to high school together," Mia explained. Well, what a small world!
Ethan's hand snuck around yours, pulling you closer to him. "Can we get going, pretty?" He whispered in your ear. You nodded, squeezing his hand.
"I'll see you later Mia, okay?" You smiled, waving at her. Ethan kissed your temple, already turning to leave, pulling you with him. As Ethan kept you glued to his side, he looked back at Mia, glaring at her. You didn't notice, too busy fumbling with the zipper on your black jacket. His grip on your hand stayed until you made it out of the building. He dropped it and sat on the nearest bench under a tree.
"So, tell me about your class. How was it, pretty?" He smiled, staring at you. You smiled widely, immediately going on and on about all the things you learned, the little moments where your professor made you laugh, and the doodles you put on the margins of your notes. He didn't interrupt your rambling, simply taking everything in. He couldn't believe you were his girlfriend, his first one at that. All the time he spent obsessing over you amounted to this: calling you his sweet, dumb thing. Not that you were dumb; you were a smart girl. You just had this sense of innocence; you lacked experience. Something about that drove him crazy; it played out in his fantasies all the time:
You'd be whimpering as he spread your thighs apart, showing him out much you were aching, dripping in your panties. He'd groan at the sight of the growing wet patch, whining as he rubs you through your panties. You'd start mewling at the friction, almost on the verge of begging for him to be rougher. He'd slip your panties off and shove them in his pocket, knowing he'd fuck his cock up into them later. He'd press his lips all over your thigh as he rubs your clit in a circular motion, getting closer and closer before meeting your pussy face-to-face. As he starts to suck on your--
"Ethan?? Did you hear me?" Your voice perked up in his ears, bringing him out of his thoughts.
"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking," He looked at the ground, avoiding your eyes. You took some steps forward, standing in between his legs and playing with his hair. "About what?" Ethan grins, trailing his eyes up your body to meet your face.
I'm thinking about how you'd taste on my tongue. "Just thinking about how beautiful you are," he sighed. You blush profusely as you kiss his forehead. “You’re too cute.” He moved his head back to look up at you, his lips forming a grin once again.
“What are you doing tonight?” He asked.
“Nothing much. I was gonna review for my stats exam, but that's about it. Why?" you asked.
"Well, I was wondering if I could come over."
"Oh! Yeah! That'd be great. We could invite the others too, have a little study-"
"No." Your eyebrows raise at the interruption. "No?" You repeat.
"I was thinking we could hang out alone. Just me and you." Ethan stared with alluring eyes, trying to persuade you. And it worked! You felt yourself melting, brushing your fingers against his.
"I'd like that! That sounds nice.." You trail off for a moment, "What do you wanna do?" Ethan had some ideas in mind, all of which involved you becoming a blubbering mess.
"Hm, I don't know! I could help you study, or we could watch movies together," he suggested.
"We can watch scary movies!"
"Yes! What about slashers?" You cringed at the thought, shaking your head.
"I don't think I could sit through one of those, considering everything that's been happening recently." For a moment, Ethan forgot about the killings. He forgot the part he played in the torment of the Carpenter sisters. He forgot the mission his father wanted to complete as a family, to avenge his older brother.
For a few minutes, he was just a boy, talking to the girl he loved.
"Oh! Y-yeah. Sorry. I didn't even think about it."
"It's okay. We'll figure something out," you smile. His heartbeat quickened again, feeling pulled into your presence.
"Of course we will, pretty." He pressed his lips on your temple before pulling out his phone, groaning at the texts his sister sent:
Stop talking to your plaything and hurry up. Dad wants to meet. -sis
Omg I can see the vein popping out of your forehead -sis
Little brooo lets gooo :0 -sis
"What's wrong, E?" He shoved his phone back into his pocket, scoffing at his sister's impatience.
"I have to go."
"Already?" You felt sad, wishing this moment would last longer. He lifts your chin up, looking at your pouty lips.
"Don't be sad. I'm coming over tonight, remember?" You nodded, and he pulled your face into a kiss. He selfishly wanted to leave you longing for him, whiny. He deepened the kiss towards the end before pulling away, making your cheeks warm up.
"I'll text you when I'm on my way tonight!" He called out.
"Okay! See you soon!" You both go your separate ways, thinking about the other, wondering what would await when the night sky came.
"He's coming over?!" Annika gasps as she put the dishes away. You groaned, throwing yourself onto the couch.
"Yes, Anika! And I'm freaking out! What am I supposed to wear?? The clothes I already have on?? What do I do?!" You can hear Anika laughing at your helplessness, not having a care in the world.
"Girl, just put on some comfy clothes. You said you might watch movies, right?" You peek your head over the cushions, like a deer in headlights. "Yeah?"
"That'll be the perfect time to cuddle with him! Wear comfy clothes! Wait, is he sleeping over?"
"I didn't think that far ahead," you say sheepishly.
"Well if he does, I'm not gonna be here. I'll be at Mindy's again, so don't worry about me interrupting you two," she smirked. You roll your eyes at the comment. You jumped off the couch, standing on your feet. "Can you help me pick out my clothes?"
"Of course!" She smiled sweetly. You always appreciated Anika's advice when it came to clothes. She could praise you and make you feel like the prettiest girl in the world. She'd help you pick out outfits to add to your wardrobe all the time. It was safe to say she had heavy influence over the clothes in your dresser. But that wasn't a bad thing! She had great style and helped you find your own.
As you slipped on different outfits, you found yourself remembering the first kiss again. The way he pulled you into his lap, the heavy breathing between the both of you, the way he grabbed your ass. Would he do that tonight? Would he want to go further and have sex? Am I even ready?
You were gonna be honest: you've never had sex. You never felt comfortable getting to that point with anyone in high school, but now you were in college, and you had Ethan in your life. You've touched yourself before, explored your body at night when you were alone. Ethan could attest to that; he'd seen you through the hidden camera in your room.
He replayed the footage on his laptop every night, watching you get yourself dressed and ready for bed. His hands would wander when your hand journeyed down your body, into your underwear. He'd patch your pace, trying to cum at the same time as you. He imagined his hand was yours, coaching him through the process. He relished in the expressions you'd make as you bit your lip, getting closer and closer. He couldn't believe how dirty you were, his little plaything. As much as he hated when Quinn called you that, he found himself liking it recently. It was probably the relationship change, going from friends to boyfriend-girlfriend.
Speaking of Ethan, while you were finding the perfect outfit, he was listening to his father drone on and on about the Carpenter sisters. He and his sister, Quinn, sat beside each other at the kitchen table. He couldn't recall the last time the three of them had been in this house, the house they grew up in. There was a time when Richie woudl lighten the room, putting a smile on everyone's face, even their mom's. The memory of his mother's face made him shudder, bringing him back to reality.
"Ethan? Any updates?" His father repeated.
"What?"
"UPDATES. On the Carpenter sisters. You got anything?"
"O-oh. No. Sorry," he averted his eyes. His father scoffed, rubbing his eyes.
"Ethan, you've got to be fully in this. Alright? You can't just walk away. They killed my son, your brother. Have you forgotten that?"
"No sir."
"Good! Is there anything you can tell me? Maybe someone we have to watch out for?" Ethan furrowed his eyebrows, thinking. "Someone recognized me from high school."
"Who?"
"This girl, Mia. She and I used to be friends when Richie was still around, but after he died, we kinda grew apart." His father narrowed his eyes. "So she knows you're related to Richie."
"Yeah."
"Hm. Interesting. Has she said anything to you?"
"No. But she didn't look happy to see me." Quinn glanced at him, growing anxious.
"Quinn could make a visit to this...Mia girl." Ethan's eyes grew wide. "What? No! She hasn't done anything. She just recognizes me."
"Son, I'm not taking any chances. We can't have anyone connecting us to these killings. We need alibis, so find one for yourself tonight. Understand?"
"But dad, she doesn't-"
"Do you understand?" He repeats with a louder voice. Ethan shrinks in his seat, only nodding. His father smiled. "Good."
Taglist: @ssnapsaurus @nowitsmissing @ch9mpi0n @c0untryclub @stabmemaybe @applelovesposts
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tanblaque · 3 months
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Mail Time!
A lot of asks rn, I can't go over most of them, but I see them all and appreciate your thoughts and suggestions! <3 OFF Valley Heacanon-related stuff will have their own posts and will take a while as I try to figure out the character's story
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He indeed is!
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Glad to be able to contribute.
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SIR/MAAM
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Spoiler, it is.
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I'm glad the 3 of you enjoy Batter! He's very scrunkly.
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It's not a Zacharie if he's not wearing a mask.
We have one Elsen and he's this silly one here.
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Aw, I try my best to reply to most asks, it may take some time but I get to it somehow. Thank you!
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No one leaves this God-forsaken fandom. And of course! Thank you!
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I'm glad you like him!
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Good luck on your writing! Thank you!
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Interesting music choices, they all slap! Thanks for the suggestion, and I appreciate you so much!
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Thanks! I've been a horror fan since I was younger, I don't even remember when it started. But in terms of horror themes in my drawing, I've been inspired by Silent Hill 2, Satoshi Kon, Evangelion, Lain, and Goodnight Punpun. The last 4 ones mostly delve into the psychological aspect.
I think I lessened my horror art in recent months because I started feeling great about life, so I've been leaning on more wholesome/recovery themes.
I used to draw horror a lot because I was at a really low point in my life, and it comforted me at the time. Now I just draw horror for fun.
And yes, Slay the Princess is bringing me back and reminding me of my love for the genre OOps.
And great to hear that you've enjoyed the game!!! That's an absolute banger of a time to play it, Smitten is me fr fr fr.
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bryngmemoney · 3 months
Text
✁FASHION FLIRT✃
Megumi Fushiguro x Reader
⭑story masterlist link
tw: none
Writing in between messages!!
🪡Chapter Seven: Snacks
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Megumi turns around to see you heading in his direction. You give a wave causing him to smile and wave back. “Hey, it’s so nice to finally properly meet you!” you greeted. “Same here.”
You two continued walking until finally entering the building. “So, Gojo’s your teacher right?” he questioned. “Yeah, people think he’s annoying cause of his attitude, but personally I think it’s way better than if we had some old man yelling at us or someone who just sat there.” Megumi hummed in response. “Yeah, i get it, but after you’ve known him for so long he gets on your nerves a lot.” You smiled at him, “You know him personally?” He shrugged, “Family friend.”
You two continued your way into the small lobby entrance built into the building. Building 7 was the studio building, so there were other art majors around. Utahime’s studio was right below Gojo’s. Apparently they originally had them next to each other but Utahime begged to get swapped down a whole floor due to Gojo’s antics. Now they remodeled the room next to it to be a film studio where some of Suguru Geto’s classes take place. You know that due to running into Yuta and Sukuna on occasions.
“Can I carry that for you?” Megumi asked. Currently the elevator for the building was under repair, so you guys had made your way to the stairs. In your hand was a small tub, not really a bother to carry, it had small supplies like needles, bobbins, measuring tape, and probably other detail things you had thrown in there the night before. “Oh it’s fine, it’s not that much.” “You’ve got your bag already, i’d feel bad if I didn’t help out a little.” Granted the bag was mostly for personal things, sketchbook and a few fabric samples you had been thinking of showing to your teacher for an opinion, but deciding to give into his request you gave Megumi the okay. “Thanks I really appreciate it.” “No problem at all.”
Once you guys had walked into the room, you went to set your stuff down at a table, still a few minutes early, people were be beginning to file in. Gojo wasn’t too strict on time anyway, so some took and extra 5 to arrive. Nobara was already there, at the closest table to you, chatting with a girl you recognized as Akari, one of her models. You started to organize your things, seeing that your other friend was currently engrossed in her conversation. “Alright i’m just gonna take some measurements today, you’ll be free to go in less than an hour, shouldn’t take to long-” “Megumi!” You both turned around to see Gojo make his way towards him, throwing an arm around his shoulders. “It’s been so long kid! What’s up with that?” You suppressed a laugh at how his expression dropped, and he shrugged off Gojo’s arm. “I’m here for a fitting, please let y/n work.” In reply Gojo just laughed “Okayyy, i’ll leave you to it then!”
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“Thanks so much again Megumi, I’m glad I got see you, i’ll let you know when I need you to stop by again.” “Yeah, sure.” He thought about it for a second, and has been thinking about it since you first agreed to meet up. He had wanted to ask if maybe after your class was done you’d like to go out for lunch or something with him. Debating in his head he was about to work up the courage until your name was called. “Y/N??” Turning away from Megumi you saw Yuki standing there near the entrance of the room, though not calling too much attention to herself as everyone was moving around. “Oh, hey Yuki!” With that the blonde girl turned in your direction, holding up a plastic bag with the logo of a local gas station plastered on it. “Heyyyy! So nice to meet you! I don’t know if you’re allowed snacks in here, but I made a quick stop and got you something too. You could save it for later,” She placed her bag on the table, careful not to put it over any of your things. “I got a bunch so I’m sure there’s something you’d like in there.” With that Megumi decided it was probably his cue to head out, seeing as this was probably one of your other models that had arrived for their measuring. “I’m gonna go now, bye y/n, it was nice seeing you.” “Oh, bye Megumi, i’ll see you around!” “See you around.”
Author’s Note: chapter seven!! Yuki was fun to have enter the story, hope you guys enjoyed!!
Taglist below cut, feel free to comment or dm me to be added!!
TAGLIST
@iridescentrays @gumimegz @maya-maya-56 @mamafly @lunavixia @swissy23 @coltsgf @m00nglad3-mp3 @etsukis @xosren @qtnfer @oengleli @harek89 @y-sabell-a @morgyyyyyyy @getolvr @liliumaraneae @k3lbade @aiieera @dancedancey @get0sfav @chuyasthighs0 @hyssoplampflickers
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ryuichirou · 4 months
Note
I love how you draw the tweels and Azul. They look so imposing in your art style! I know you love drawing Ignihyde, Octavinelle and Scarabia boys a lot, but I'm curious if you have drawings of the rest of the twst cast as well. I'd love to see everyone in your art style!
Anon! Thank you so much for your kind words. I’m glad you like how I draw the Octa-boys. I’m not even sure which dorm I draw most often, but it has to be either them or Ignihyde haha. But in all honesty, I really love drawing all the characters; even if we don’t care much about them, they are usually still quite pleasant to draw at least once.
Which is why I can actually compile my drawings of pretty much every character in this reply! It’s honestly surprising lol but also not really. I can’t believe it’s been a year since we started drawing and posting twst…
Alright, here we go!
Heartslabyul – wow, I can’t believe I don’t have any coloured Aces that are relatively new… We like Ace a lot, I should probably draw him. And Cater too, to be honest, this is my only coloured sketch with him. I never expected to enjoy drawing these boys as much as I do, to be honest.
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Savanaclaw – Leona is the only character I don’t have a proper sketch that is not a commission with lol I’m sorry. But I actually quite like the comms of Leona that I got to draw, so here is one of them! I also really enjoyed drawing Ruggie, I should do it again… And Jack too…
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Octavinelle – aw yis yakuza fishies babyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Come on, you know I love these guys lol Whenever I look at them I feel at home. It’s a shame I don’t draw them wearing fedoras (for some reason I’m still intimidated by fedoras), because I love everything about their dorm uniforms.
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Scarabia – I also don’t feel like I draw these two often enough, but their uniform is probably the most difficult one to draw, simply because of all the details and prints and gold and accessories. But it’s so worth it!... I also think that Jamil is the prettiest snake in the world.
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Pomefiore – it’s stupid how long it took me to find a Rook that doesn’t look creepy in my drawings lol I really love this side of him. I also really enjoy drawing Vil, but whenever I do, I feel intimidated. I just can’t mess him up..! But if the Vil that I drew ends up looking good, I get so emotional that I cry (not a 100% lie)
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Ignihyde – picking an Idia and an Ortho out of hundreds of sketches of Idia and Ortho was more challenging that I thought it would be, so I picked these because I still really like their faces and think they’re cute! I also can’t get enough of them… to this day… Their hair, their teeth, everything.
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Diasomnia – I feel like whenever I draw these guys we have an urge to make it into an art, this is why we have a lot of finished rendered artworks with them. Their aesthetic is just… super fitting for all kinds of dark and gothic stuff. I also adore drawing their eyes!!! All of them have such pretty eyes.
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The teachers – if you feel the urge to laugh at Crowley for only getting a black and white sketch, I encourage you to also laugh at Vargas for not being here at all… I think he is the only character that I’m missing, huh.
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Others – bonus round! I actually also have a sketch of Fellow Honest and Gidel but by the time I remembered them I got tired of making this thing lol, and we haven’t watched the event yet anyway, so they’ll get their chance to shine some other time (you can find it on my ko-fi though). Meleanor is also here, and I honestly I would be happy to draw every twst mom at some point… And other minor characters too…
But not the dwarves; screw them (just kidding I might draw them too at some point).
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gay-dorito-dust · 1 year
Note
Maybe Xavier with a reader who bakes/cooks really well
Ignore this if you'd like
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A/n: Slight projection on Xavier’s part as I am guilty of not keeping myself feed whilst doing stuff.
Xavier tends to forget to keep himself well fed when preoccupied by his artistic outlets down by the shed he had yet to step out of since earlier that afternoon as soon as school had finished.
Worried, you decided to put your culinary skills to work by utilising Nevermore’s kitchens and making a plethora of sweet treats, including some of his favourites, such as; white Chocolate chip and raspberry infused cookies, apricot shortbread bars, mini blueberry muffins, small portions of lemon cakes, Blackberry & Almond buckle.
All of which you had safely stored in tupperware boxes after they had cooled down and then placed in a bag that you kept on hand for when you baked an excessive amount for your own two arms to carry on their own. Plus you didn’t want to walk through the woods in the pitch black of night where you could potentially trip over an upturned root and ruin all your hard work on the basis that you weren’t spatially aware of your surroundings.
So when you made it safely to the shed, having not bothered to inform Xavier of your surprise visit, you knocked in a specific pattern that you had made prior to when you and Xavier had started to become close to signify to him that it was just you and not some teacher on night parole.
“I thought you would be asleep by now.” Xavier said as he lead you inside the shed, closing the door behind you though not before checking the perimeter first for certainty that you weren’t followed. “And here I thought you would’ve kept to your promise about keeping yourself fed whilst you were cooped up in here but I guess we’re both mistaken.” You retorted, arms crossed over your chest as you stared at him disapprovingly.
Xavier grimaced as he rubbed the back of his head, knowing that he had forgot to do something but lately he has found himself on an creative high that he completely ignored the fact that he has a stomach to satisfy. “Did you…by chance…” Xavier trails off, his eyes seemingly too shy to meet your own as a small smile crept on his face, making it extremely hard for you to stay mad at him.
“Yes”, you sigh but a smile broke out on your lips when Xavier dove for the bag and took it to his desk where he carefully pulled out the tupperware boxes. Opening the one containing the white chocolate and raspberry infused cookies, taking one out as he took a bite and heaved a heavenly sigh as he closed his eyes at the textures attacking his tastebuds. “God I fucking love your baking sweetheart.” He says, reaching over to press a kiss to your lips where you could taste the white chocolate and raspberry on them.
“I swear you do this just to get free treats out of me.” You said between bites of your blackberry and almond buckle. “Or maybe I just need an excuse to see you?” Xavier attempts to sweeten you up but is met with a scoff. “Don’t start flattering me, Thorpe because it’s not going to excuse you from the fact that you haven’t eaten all afternoon.” You replied, watching as the hopeful look in his green eyes were dashed to bits.
He was acting like a kicked puppy dog and you hated the internal struggle you were having about whether or not you should smother him in love or just smother his for making you worry. So instead you came up to hug him tightly, burying your face into his neck as his arms naturally came down to your waist. “Im just trying to look out for you Xavier, I know how you get sometimes and I don’t wanna risk you coming down with something that could’ve been easily avoided. I get that your passionate about your art projects but you can’t complete them if your running on an empty stomach.”
Xavier understood where you were coming from and he hates himself for making you worry but it was moments like this where his insecurities began to fade to the back of his mind as he was reminded of how much you did care about him. Putting him in the forefront of your mind as you made him your delicious treats that he could gorge on forever if he could and making sure that he was taking care of himself both mentally and physically. You were as sweet as your treats that he swore he was getting cavities just by being in your arms.
He presses his head against to top of your own, planting a plethora of kisses there as he held you tighter against him as you both stood in his art studio within the comfort of one another. “I can’t promise that I’ll take better care of myself.” He started, “but I can however promise that I’ll never allow you to worry about me this badly ever again. For I don’t know what I do without you sometimes and I’d rather like to stick around for the long run. If you’ll let me of course.”
You tightened your grip on him, “you fucking dumbass, of course I want you here with me for the long run because,” you pulled away just enough to stare him in the eyes, “who will be my lab rat for when I attempt new recipes?” Xavier deadpans as you laugh at his expression but he doesn’t let you go from his arms. Instead they tightened. “This is your prison now until feel as though you served your sentence for saying that shit.” He said as he waddles with you in his arms. “Good because I don’t plan on escaping anytime soon.” You chirped, pressing a kiss to his cheek.
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vmpiires · 4 months
Text
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𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐔𝐆𝐔𝐑𝐔
„𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐒 𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑?”
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CW;; general content. afab!reader, no sex, all fluff and the cute stuff. teen!geto, teen!gojo, no uses of y/n. not proofread so i apologize in advance for any mistakes if they’re made.
: ̗̀➛ art creds by;; currently unknown. dividers are not mine, if you own these, you may claim them in comments.
: ̗̀➛ WORD COUNT;; 1.88K
dark mode recommended
do not copy this plot. i’m perfectly fine with inspirations but give creds. if this plot his stolen in any way, the post will be taken down and you will be blocked.
𝐃𝐀𝐊𝐎𝐓𝐀𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒 ✉️🖇️;; since christmas is on monday,, why not make a themed story with the non-sorcerer hater?? in his teens ofc. hope ya enjoyyyyy reblog to support meeeee and if you want more :D
another note: trying a new layout 😵‍💫 i’ll see if i like it or not.
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“satoru, no..” geto rolled his eyes. it was christmas time. a chilly saturday afternoon and suguru was going to cook a christmas dinner.
a ham (which he told himself that he’d buy on his own), yams, macaroni and cheese, dressing. whatever popped into his head to cook…another thing for him to groan at when he was struggling to follow the directions. and gojo attempting to bring his nonsense into his home wasn’t gonna solve anything.
“why nottt? you’re bringing that girl over, why can’t i come?” gojo asked. geto wasn’t really listening, he was in the middle of feeding his snake, suguru, which he named after himself because he couldn’t think of anything better and eventually, he thought the name fit.
“geto?”
“ah, sorry. like i said, no. you’ll make a mess and you’ll have kay all pissed off because you keep pulling on her tail. then you whine when she scratches you.” geto finally replied. kay was geto’s fluffy white cat with blue eyes. she loved being around geto and anyone else who he willingly brought around…but with gojo it was a love-hate relationship.
“she jumped on me first..” gojo trailed off. geto sighed, still holding the phone up to his ear. he knew that if he kept denying gojo of stopping by, he’d probably just pop up without his permission anyway.
“hurry up and get here.” geto said a bit sternly despite the small smile on his face. “and would you bring me some saké? i ran out last night.”
“on my way!” gojo beamed before hanging up. geto adjusted his sweater and shook his head as he placed his phone down on the counter. the slim male would put his hair up into his usual ponytail and begin to take everything out of the cabinets that he needed to cook.
kay would meow a bit loudly over the clanging of pots and pans, assuming that she’d get some food too.
“right…” geto sighed. “gimme a second.”
quickly, geto walked over to the cat feeder that he ordered off amazon a couple weeks ago and pressed the button to dispense some food and immediately, kay ran past him to eat her food.
the male felt like he was already about to go crazy because of all the things he had been doing at once. turning on the speaker, geto would turn on a song that he remembered that you recommended to him. he loved hearing your recommendations, even though he never listened half the time and he’d play it off like he forgot.
‘no one knows’ by brent faiyaz began playing from his tv and geto was already enjoying himself while he had been waiting on you and his second guest. he’d light a cigarette as he vibed to the song playing from his tv, sliding around the hardwood floor in his socks.
“one stick of butter…three tablespoons of flour…” geto mumbled the ingredients you wrote down to make macaroni, his index finger underlining each word as he read.
as geto began to cook, mixing ingredients together and tossing the partially finished product into the oven, the doorbell rang. he was kinda hoping it was gojo since he was getting thirsty. his choice was incorrect though. upon his snow covered doorstep, he saw you all bundled up in your cute puffy winter coat, grey scarf with a matching hat.
“hi,” you smiled at him as you stepped into the house, gently stomping the snow off your boots on the carpet. geto hugged you and gently kissed your head.
“hey, you been okay?” geto asked as he’d walk back into the kitchen. you take off your coat and everything you’ve been wearing to keep your warm and put it up on one of the clothing hangers in his closet.
“yeah, i’m fine besides nearly sliding off the road from the ice,” you chuckled. kay rubbed her head against your leg, greeting you before walking off. “you?”
“i just woke up not too long ago. i wanted to hurry up and cook before i forgot and i starve to death.” geto answered. you follow geto into the kitchen, and the place already smelled nice. this was normal behavior for geto though. he always kept things clean and smelling good. he’d freak out if someone (gojo) stepped on his carpet with his shoes on.
“you wouldn’t starve to death. you know i’ll come bring you something to eat…my family cooks still.” you say. geto nodded, barely listening to you as he quickly grabbed out some cups, expecting some saké when gojo made it there.
speaking of gojo, the front door swings open and a freezing gust of wind blows through the house. geto’s head snapped over to the front door and his pupils retracted out of pure shock and slight irritation.
“close the door, dammit.” geto shouted. gojo sprung through the door holding a brown paper bag and shut the door behind him.
“i’m here!” gojo said in a sing song tone.
“hey, jack frost.” you chuckled at gojo’s goofy entrance into your boyfriend’s home. it was a bit funnier knowing that geto was already sizzling in irritation.
“about time,” geto grumbled before snatching the bag from the icy haired male and peeking down into the bag. he pulled the glass from the bag and saw that it wasn’t exactly what he asked for. he sighed.
“i said saké not soju. and what the hell is this?” geto pulled out a treat that was wrapped up and a small paper bag.
“same difference…and it’s kikufuku,” gojo smiled, “i bought one but they gave me two extra. pretty interesting coincidence, huh?”
“you’re a pain in my ass already.” geto huffed, taking a bite out of the sweet treat. he raised his eyebrows, clearly enjoying it. the male held up the treat to your lips, which you would take a bite out of also. it was pretty good. you were expecting to hate it.
“go sit on the couch. don’t touch shit, don’t look at shit, just relax. i’m going to the store to go get a ham.” suguru instructed to gojo but he already had a feeling that gojo just wouldn’t listen.
“yes sir.” gojo put his thumb up before he’d pour himself some soju in one of the cups that geto had set out on the kitchen island and walked to the living room.
geto turned to you, taking a small drag from his cigarette. “you wanna go with me or do you wanna stay with …” geto pointed over in gojo’s direction. you smiled and nod.
“hey, i’m still here.” gojo shouted.
“shut up and drink your soju.”
twenty minutes later, you and geto arrive at the supermarket. the place was busy and geto wanted to be home as soon as he got the ham. while geto wanted to be in and out, you were wandering around, your eyes sparkling at the christmas decorations but grimacing when you saw the amount of krampus christmas cards on the shelves.
“ew..” you mumbled at the ugly art before walking off to find something else to entertain you. after a bit of walking, you found yourself in the bakery section. it smelled amazing. a bunch of fresh cookies and cupcakes were set out on the shelves and you couldn’t help but pick up a couple boxes. surely geto wouldn’t care.
“you’re gonna eat all this?” you heard a familiar voice say. you turned around to see geto who had been holding onto the shopping cart that had a bag, which you assumed was the ham.
“well, no. i was thinking that we have a little christmas party. all the food you’re making isn’t gonna be enough for just you and me…and gojo if you even invite him over for dinner.” you suggest. geto hummed.
“no.” he said bluntly. “eat all that stuff and share with gojo…you know how much he likes sweets and all that other junk.”
you sigh, knowing full well that geto would say no. as much as he liked being festive, he wasn’t going for a full on party. not at his place at least.
“you know what…i’ll think about it.” geto said. he didn’t wanna be a grinch but he also didn’t feel like looking at your sad and mopey face for the rest of the day because he said no to a christmas party.
your eyes light up and a big smile stretches across your lips before you hug geto tightly, obviously excited. suguru sighs but he smiles a bit himself. he couldn’t lie, he did enjoy seeing you happy. why not give your idea a chance?
when you both arrived back home, geto fumbled with the keys for a moment, his hands aching from the cold. when the door was finally unlocked, the cold winds rushed through the door, pushing the smoke that was coming from the kitchen out of the way. geto wasn’t worried because he didn’t smell any burning food. it was probably his incense.
geto was shocked. so shocked he almost dropped the food. he was able to hold onto it. the house was a bit of a mess. suguru was gone out of his terrarium, gojo was nowhere in sight at the moment, and kay…well she was fine. she was sitting on the cat tree looking more annoyed than choso on a wednesday morning.
“satoru!” geto yelled as he placed the ham down onto the kitchen island and began walking around the house quickly to find gojo. “i’m gonna kill him.” you heard the black haired male mumble as he checked each room…even the storage room.
gojo emerged from the dining room with suguru hanging around his shoulders. he had been wearing his round sunglasses and that white dress shirt that had the sleeves rolled up. the male lifted his hand and pulled the glasses down from over his eyes.
“oh. hey guys.” gojo smiled before geto took off his shoe and threw it at the other, aiming straight for the head. you couldn’t help but laugh when you heard the sound of the shoe hitting gojo’s head then bluntly hit the floor.
“satoru…” geto began, “what did i tell you when you first got here?” his teeth were clenched together and he had a smile on his face that obviously wasn’t very friendly.
“um…you said,” gojo paused, thinking of what was said. gojo knew better but he just wanted to make geto even more angry. “you said look at shit, touch shit…and don’t relax.”
“that isn’t what i said you mono-brain celled monkey.” geto hissed. he’d walk over to gojo, taking suguru off of his shoulders and returning the snake to his terrarium.
“you’re lucky i’m not gonna make you clean up.” geto grumbled before pouring himself some of the soju that he swore up and down that he didn’t want to drink because he had a taste for saké instead.
“seriously?” gojo raised his eyebrows before being hit in the head with geto’s other shoe.
“get your ass in that living room and clean this hell hole up. and do it right!” geto glared at the icy haired male but his yelling and angry looks only made gojo laugh.
“okay okay, i’ll go clean. don’t drink up all the—”
“move it!”
𝐄𝐍𝐃.
⋆。࿇ ·࣭࣪̇˖ 𖦹°༅༚
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9w1ft · 2 months
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I'm a gaylor myself so this isn't coming from a place of hate but I really don't think karlie and taylor are still together, I think taylor still references her in her art and probably will for quite some time because that relationship -- whatever the nature of it was -- left such a deep impact on her. but I really can't see them still being together, I think she's forced herself to move on from karlie and has since dated a lot of other women. that doesn't mean her feelings for karlie have faded, just that they will probably always be there but they broke up for sure before 2019, I think. folklore and evermore, midnights even, are all breakup albums, I just can't see how they could still be together. especially all her anger and sadness in those songs that are thought of to be for karlie (like my tears ricochet or exile or mad woman) also the cover art being shoot in bedfords, new york, the exact same place where karlie got married feels more like taylor revisiting this place to really say goodbye and mourn her for one last final time so she can move on
sorry, this got a bit long, I just don't understand the appeal or the reasoning for lsk's because taylor has indicated so many times that they are over, she's been mourning her relationship with karlie quite publicly since 2019 (wearing all black during the lover era) so yeah
hi! i don’t usually respond to these but i’m not sensing any ill will so i’ve decided to give a reply a go.
first off, for me, i kinda just interpret her wearing black in the back end of lover era because her masters had gotten bought by scooter. and maybe the fact that she decided to not come out. there can be other reasons, but i really do not think that her breaking up with karlie has to be one of them.
another thing i can’t shake is the fact that it was a very notorious troll/manipulative person on tumblr who spread the first rumor that they broke up in 2019, a fact that is well understood by a lot of OG’s, and this troll got in the head of a few popular kaylor and gaylor swift accounts at the time and in doing so she got a lot of people to fold. she then went on to write all this progressively unhinged fanfiction about taylor and karlie trying to make one another jealous and sleeping with all these women, presented with the same level of seriousness with which she pushed the breakup agenda. even to this day, i see present day gaylors talk about stuff that stems from narratives this account and a few other power hungry accounts spread around many years ago and it honestly just goes to show how a lot of well known gaylors may be platformmed up but that don’t really know what they’re talking about.. i only write this because the troll deactivated about a year ago (maybe they’re lurking on platforms with more malleable minds—once a troll always a troll—but at least they’ve left here), they were a really dangerous person.. and several have wild receipts to prove it.
anyways sorry i recognize that’s a tangent, i guess what i mean to say by it is, a lot of the sentiment surrounding the idea of a 2019 breakup and the reinforcement of the narrative by a gaylor community none the wiser stems from the work of someone with disingenuous intentions. a lot of “masterposts” or “realistic timelines” draw from what this person made up and it’s gone through enough filters for it to seem like credible sentiment but like, if you were there and you read all of what she wrote you know how silly it all sounded and how incoherently it was all written.
okay so to circle back to more of a content-centric angle, in my interpretation of the events that gave us folklore, evermore, and midnights, taylor had so much to be sad about. her mom had been very sick, the pandemic arrived and she had to cancel lover fest, she had to come to terms with scott b having sold her work to her sworn enemy… songs on midnights and folklore, and on her lover era apple music playlist allude to certain other things that may have had her in a mournful mood. things were bad! and i don’t doubt that her and karlie have been through a lot. but for me, when you’ve got a ride or die love, you don’t just break up. this has been something frustrating for me and others, i think, to see so many people treat a relationship as either being all systems go or broken up, as if long term partners can’t experience sadness together, difficulty together, even heartbreak together.
i don’t like getting in to touchy subjects so much but there’s just been too much pointing towards what i consider to be a rather simple narrative that is a natural progression for people committed and in love. how did the lover music video begin and end? whats a randomly specific word in a song she performed at the grammys minutes after someone was announced to the world? what about taylor’s envisioned future stands out about the anti hero music video? i think i’ll stop here but idk man 😆 poke around my archive if you feel like wasting a few days of your life… there’s just been a consistent flow of the same kind of hijinks that we’ve seen from them for years, and i’d say that there are many songs that back up everything i’d want in order to stay invested in seeing if what i believe is true.
now, i know i just wrote what reads like a bunch of mumbo jumbo to people not following kaylor. but im okay with that. i’ve accepted that. and i know that the whole patterns and koincidences and twinning and symbolism beat isn’t for everyone and so i respect people’s decisions to believe they aren’t together, but in closing i’ll just say im sometimes at a loss to see time and time again people suggest that kaylors believe in kaylor because they find it appealing or because they want to ship it. when it’s literally not that— it just makes the most sense to a lot of us!
also, does this look like the face of someone mourning?
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ahgasegotarmy116 · 4 months
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The Art of Etiquette Part 4 | Jeon Jungkook
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Summary: You and Jungkook get to know each other a bit better Pairing: f!reader x Etiquette instructor Jungkook Word Count: 4.6k~ a/n: Took me a while to get back to this story so I made this chapter a bit longer. Hope you like it! Read from the beginning
"Again" Jungkook says in a commanding tone, watching as I pick up the book I had balanced on top of my head while he had me running through the steps for a waltz on my own. (yes, like you see in those cheesy princess movies)
"Why am I doing this again?" I ask, stopping for a second to prevent the book from wobbling so much. "It's to help with your posture and balance. Once you've learned how to maintain proper posture then we can fine tune it to make it seem more natural" he says an eyebrow raised as he watches me trying to regain balance of the book as well as myself. 
"How much longer do I have to do this?" I ask as I finally am able to regain my composure. "As long as I tell you to. Now please stop talking and focus on what you're trying to achieve" he says and I roll my eyes since luckily I have my back facing him this time, leaving me able to blow off a little bit of steam without him noticing. 
Ten or fifteen minutes later he finally lets me take a break. "Here" he says while handing me a glass of water. I look up at him with a confused expression, wondering what's gotten into him. He's hot one minute and the cold the next and I really don't know where things stand between us most days. "Are you going to take it or not?" he asks, clearly getting impatient. 
"Yes, sorry. Thank you" I say quickly reach for it, our hands subtly brushing up against each other and neither of us pulling away right away. "Um, Mr. Jeon?" I say, questioning why he hasn't let go. 
"Oh" he says and pulls his hand back, acting as if he had touched a hot stove. "Rest for ten minutes and then be ready to begin again" he says, clearing his throat and walking out of the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts. 
Pulling out my phone I open Jesse's message thread and send him a text immediately.
'Bitch' I simply send, knowing that that kind of message will get his attention right away. 
'Bitch' is all he sends back, showing that he's listening. 
'Jungkook is acting weird again' I send, not really knowing how else to explain it. 
'Isn't he always though? What happened this time?' he sends, making a point but also wanting to know more.  
'He has me dancing around the room with a book on top of my head, you know very princess in training kind of situation' I send, annoyed at the fact that I've already been doing this for an hour. 
'Okay, doesn't sound too crazy to me'  he replies, not really sure where I'm going with this. 
'He's been doing stuff like this for weeks right? But today he's been leaning up against the wall and watching me, but I feel like this time he's checking me out more than anything. I don't know it just feels different. And he said I could take a break (hence why I'm able to talk to you now) and he gave me a glass of water' I send off, trying to get it all out before he gets back. 
'Okay and? Sounds like he's just being nice'  he sends back, not really getting the full picture yet.
'But the thing is, once he handed it to me he wouldn't let go of it. Like it took me a second to grab it because I was confused as to why he was being so nice to me but then when I finally did take it it was like he wanted to keep our hands touching. I don't know but it felt kind of weird' I send, hoping to get some validation for my feelings about this. 
'Oooo sounds like lover boy might be into you'  he teases and I can't help but smile and roll my eyes when I see the message. I of course told him about the dress incident and he's been teasing me about it ever since. 
'No he's not' I send, wondering though if he might be right. 
'Okay but what happened after that?'  he asks, pressing for more details since things have gotten a bit more juicy (how he would describe it, not me).
'Well I called out his name since he seemed to be in a bit of a daze and when he realized what he was doing he ripped his hand away and looked flustered? Nervous? I don't know but he definitely was more surprised by his actions than I was. And then he just kinda left and said to be ready to continue in ten minutes' I send, not really knowing how to describe his reaction. 
"Let's get started" Jungkook says, walking into the practice room again and I send Jesse a quick message telling him I have to go and lock the screen and throw it in my bag before I'm able to see his response. 
I stand up and smooth out my skirt and walk back towards where I had placed the book down and reach for it again but before I'm able to touch it Jungkook grabs my wrist and pulls it away and places my hand on his shoulder, and pulls me in by the waist. I take in a sharp breath at the sudden proximity and I'm left staring at him with a wide eyed look. "I thought I needed more practice with my posture" I say, confused as to why he's done this so suddenly. 
"You seem to be progressing faster than I had anticipated so I figured we should move on" He says, leaning towards me, leaving me having to close my eyes, not really sure what to do but I'm startled by the sound of music suddenly playing through the speakers again. Now just realizing he was leaning in closer so he could press play on the sound system. 
"Are you alright?" he ask with a smug look on his face after standing upright and seeing the blush that had started to form on my cheeks. "I'm fine" I say, clearing my throat and looking off to the side so I can avoid his playful gaze. I hear him chuckle under his breath and say something that I just can't catch which leaves me turning back to face him. 
"What was that?" I ask with my brows pinched together in confusion. "Nothing, now focus and try not to step on my feet like last time" he taunts and I grace him with a sarcastic smile in return before he starts to lead me in this waltz that we've gone through a million times at this point. 
"Head up, back straight, wrists relaxed" he lists off, fixing the small details to make everything look seamless and I can't help but agree. With these minor changes it feels more natural and comfortable with each and every turn. 
Once the song finally ends we both part and I do a slight curtsy to him and he bows back. "That wasn't horrible, wasn't the best, but better" he says, trying his hardest not to make his compliment go to my head. "Umm thanks?" I say with a questioning tone, thinking that I did a lot better this time but I guess he's someone who is never truly satisfied.
"Grab you things, we're leaving" he says and puts on his suit jacket and looks in the mirror, fixing the collar and making sure everything is in place. "What do you mean?" I question, quickly grabbing my jacket and purse off the table in the corner of the room. 
"Did your father not inform you? We're going out to dinner tonight, I need to asses your table manners and this would be the best way to go about it. We'll work on fine tuning the small details tomorrow if need be" he says and walks down the hall, rushing me out of his home. 
"I've made reservations for us so we need to make sure to be punctual, which you have gotten a bit better at so well done" he says and holds the front door open for me to head out first so he can lock up. 
For some reason that small bit of praise has a nervous feeling start to bubble in my stomach and I get slightly nervous at the thought of being with him like this. It's not a date or anything but it just feels weird, like it's uncharted territory for us. 
"We'll take my car. You father has already sent someone to pick yours up" he says, never bothering to give me a choice in the matter. I might as well not have a car at this rate, seeing as he always seems to make the decision to drive the both of us. "You know you don't have to drive me around right? I really don't mind taking my car and meeting you there" I say as I walk towards him where he's holding the passenger side door open for me. 
"I am well aware. It's more convenient this way. I have another meeting in the city again so I'll be dropping you off at home as well" he informs me and closes the door once I've gotten in. "You're really controlling did you know that?" I say, finally voicing my opinions since I'm tired of him making choices for me. 
"I believe I make decisions that would be the most advantageous for the both of us so if that's seen as controlling then yes I am. Are you done now?" he asks as he gets into the driver's side and puts on his seatbelt before starting the car. "Whatever" I mumble, crossing my arms over my chest and angling my body away from him. He decides to let this one go, honestly not seeing the error in his ways until I spoke up and makes it a point to discuss this later when I'm not already upset with him.
~~~~
The drive to the restaurant is painfully silent and he doesn't bother to put any sort of music on leaving the tension that had built between us still thick with animosity (at least from my side). As we get closer though I start to realize that some of that anger and frustration might just be from the fact that I'm actually starving so I decide to make a note to give him a bit of a break, trying to be a bit more reasonable. 
Once we've pulled up I see that we're eating at one of the high rise restaurants that I've always wanted to go to and I can feel myself already start to salivate. "Close your mouth or you'll start drooling again" Jungkook says as he unbuckles his belt and gets out of the car, handing the keys to the valet, exchanging it for a ticket. 
I close my mouth and frown at him before going to do the same but before I'm able to open the car door on my own I see that he has yet again opened it for me and is now offering his hand to help me out. I have half a mind to brush it off and get out on my own but then I remember that we're in public and this is one of those times that I need to be showing off the skills that he has been teaching me, so I graciously accept it and step out of the car. 
"Good girl" he whispers to me and I turn towards him with a startled look on my face. "I could tell what was going on in that pretty little head of yours but you accepted my hand nonetheless so good job" he says and takes my hand, placing it on his arm to lead me inside. 
Being this close to him and especially in public feels different, he seems a bit more relaxed and isn't as short with me. It's nice but it feels weird, I just never know what version of Jungkook I'm going to get these days and it's making me dizzy. 
"Table for two?" the host asks us when we walk up to the podium. "Yes it should be under the name Jeon" Jungkook answers and I'm thankful that he does. I'm not a shy person so to say but I definitely feel out of my element so as the minutes go by he seems to bring me a sense of comfort and familiarity. 
"Ah yes Mr. Jeon, if you will follow me please" the host replies and leads us to our table that seems to be set up in a nice almost intimate corner of the restaurant. Safe from the pressure of the masses that are seated all around. 
I could've sworn I saw a senator or governor around here before we sat down as well as a CEO or two so it's nice to not have to worry about perfectly keeping up appearances as of yet. That's just what our family needs, a scandal because of me spilling a drink on someone important or not chewing my food properly and being called a slob. 
Okay that last one was probably a stretch but still it's not something that needs to be added to the list since our family is already under fire for my stepfather marrying beneath his social status. I want to do everything I can to keep from adding something else to his plate so I guess I should still be on my best behavior. 
"Good evening" our waiter says when he comes around to no doubt take our orders. "Oh Mr. Jeon, how lovely to see you again. Is this another one of your students?" he asks, looking over at me with a friendly smile. "Yes this is Miss y/n, my newest pupil" Jungkook replies, matching the same warmth the waiter has offered to us both.
Looking at him as he exchanges pleasantries with this man I can see almost a hint of a smile, a genuine one at that. They must know each other well since he recognizes him and already knows what Jungkook does for a living. "We'll have the set menu please with a glass of merlot for the both of us" Jungkook finishes and I'm startled out of my train of thought at the fact that again he didn't give me a chance to make a choice for myself. 
He notices the slightly narrowed gaze I'm giving him and he has the audacity to smile, clearly enjoying my reaction. "Why didn't yo-" "At the various events you shall be attending this fall you won't have much of a choice in the menu so it's better to get used to eating food that you wouldn't necessarily order on your own" he says placing his napkin on his lap. 
"At least you ordered the kind of wine I like" I mumble, mirroring him with my napkin at well. "What was that?" he asks, clearly using it to subtly scold me and ask me to speak properly or not speak at all. Or that's what he's told me in the past. 
"I said you have an excellent taste in wine" I respond with a pained smile, hating that I'm complimenting him, no matter how small it might be. "I asked Matthew what kind you tend to prefer and he gave me a few options" he says and takes a sip of the water that had already been placed here for us. 
"You asked what my favorite type of wine is?" I question, confused again by this constant push and pull between us. "Did I not just say that?" he says and before I'm able to respond the wine in question is brought to our table. "Your first course will be out in just a moment" the waiter from before says and he leaves us again as quickly as he had come.
"Try it" Jungkook says and waits for me to take a sip before he does the same. I do as he says and let the subtly sweet flavor envelop my tastebuds leaving me letting out an almost inaudible moan, surprised that wine could even taste this good. 
"Needless to say it is to your liking?" Jungkook asks, clearly amused with my reaction and I can't help but nod feeling embarrased. "Yes I guess you could say that" I respond awkwardly before taking another sip, trying to hide my reaction to it a bit more this time. 
~~~~~
The dinner goes on without a hitch. Jungkook and I actually engage in pleasant conversation and I end up learning a bit more about him. "So what you're saying is that because you hated how bratty and rude rich kids around you were when you were growing up that it made you want to become an etiquette teacher to fix the future generation of rich kids" I summaries, the thought of it almost laughable. 
"In so many words yes, I guess you could say that" he says, smiling at my simplified version. "So you've been a control freak from day one. I mean-" I say, my eyes wide while covering my mouth after I've realized what I had just said. "I think this wine has gone to your head y/n" he teases, this time using my name without any sort of formal title attached to it, somehow causing butterflies to stir in my stomach. 
"Yes you're probably right" I say, just now noticing the fact that he only had one glass at the beginning of our meal where as I am on my third. I set my glass down and start drinking water to hopefully clear up my head a bit but I guess the damage has been done. 
~~~~ 
As we walk out of the restaurant with my arm linked with his just as it had been before we went inside I turn to face him while we wait for the valet to bring the car around. "I'm sorry Mr. Jeon, what I had said in there was completely uncalled for" I say, admitting to my fault. "It's fine, I guess I have been quite harsh with you from the very start and that hasn't been very fair to you" he says, again surprising me with the walls that seem to be breaking down showing me what a kind and considerate person he can be. 
Before I can say anything else our car has stopped right in front of us and Jungkook leads me over to it and opens the door to help me inside, trying his best to maintain some sense of subtly at the fact that I might be a bit tipsy. Wanting to hopefully keep both of our images in tact. He closes the door after he's made sure that I'm all set and exchanges the keys with the ticket and gives the valet a tip before going to the drivers side and closing it behind him. 
He looks over at me and leans over towards me, leaving me confused and closing my eyes again just as I had done before in the practice room today and before I'm able to say anything I hear him pulling the seatbelt over and buckling it around me. I open my eyes and see that he's still close even though he had already fastened it and we both just sit there for what feels like hours studying each other's features. 
"Thank you" I say barely above a whisper which seems to break him out of the momentary trance he had been in for a few moments and sits back up straight mumbling a quick "You're welcome" before pulling out of the parking lot and back onto the road. 
Again the ride is silent but this one is filled with more of an awkward air to it with some sort of tension as well. What kind of tension is something I'm not sure of but he's definitely gotten close enough to kiss me on multiple occasions today alone but I'm not exactly sure if that's just the kind of guy he is or if there's something else going on in his head. 
~~~~~~
As we round the corner to my house I see Jesse's car parked outside with him sitting inside of it while on his phone. "Jesse?" I say aloud, perplexed as to why he would show up unannounced but I'm happy about it nonetheless. "Who's that?" Jungkook asks, his clear curiosity a surprise to me. "Just a friend" I say casually, trying to gauge his reaction and to my surprise I see the muscle in his jaw tense as he clenches his teeth a bit before tonguing his cheek soon after. 
When Jesse finally notices the car he looks up and smiles when he sees me and then looks over to the driver's side and sees Jungkook for the first time and gives him an unreadable expression. Unreadable if you're not familiar with him but with how close the two of us are I can tell that he's trying his hardest not to freak out after finally seeing him in person. 
As Jungkook moves his car further up the driveway Jesse makes his way up towards the house as well on foot, meeting us when Jungkook parks his car right outside the front door. "Jesse hey! Were we supposed to meet tonight?" I ask, still confused as to why he's here. "Yeah we were gonna watch a movie, remember?" he says in a voice much deeper than usual, throwing me off guard and checking out Jungkook who is standing right behind me. 
"Oh sorry Jesse this is Mr. Jeon, he's my teacher I had talked to you about. Jungkook, this is one of my friends from college Jesse" I say introducing the two, kind of catching on to the reason for Jesse's change in behavior. Jungkook comes closer and goes to shake Jesse's outstretched hand but still stands behind me, making him press up against my back, our bodies flush together for only a moment before he let's go and take's a few steps back to his previous spot. 
"Thank you for dinner Jungkook, I really enjoyed myself" I say turning to face him while Jesse makes his way over to the door waiting for us to say our goodbyes. "Jungkook?" Jungkook says, raising a brow at me, this being the first time I've used his first name. "I-I mean Mr. Jeon" I say, feeling flustered by my need for correction. 
"It's okay, you can call me that if you'd like" he say before reaching back into his car to grab my jacket and purse that I've left sitting in the passenger seat. "Oh, thank you" I say taking both of them and taking note of how he again brushes his hand up against mine. "Goodnight y/n" he says, placing his hand almost protectively on my waist before glancing over and giving Jesse a quick nod which he returns. 
"Goodnight" I say and quickly scurry off before I try to do something stupid and make matters worse and what I don't notice is how Jungkook closes the passenger side door and leans up against his car watching as I go and takes in the small interaction that Jesse and I have while I'm pulling out my keys to go inside. 
I only notice when I turn back around to close the door where we make eye contact for only a second before he pushes himself off of the side of the car and walks over to the drivers side and drives off. 
As I watch his car slowly disappear I don't take notice into the fact that I've slowly leaned further and further out of the doorway to watch him go until I hear Jesse's deep voice scare me half to death behind me. 
"Girl you got it bad" he says, laughing while I almost fall on my face from the precarious position I had put myself in. "I do not!" I say and turn around to close and lock the door before running up the steps to my room with Jesse hot on my heels. 
"Did you see the way he was looking at you? At me?" he laughs, seeing how defensive and flustered I am. "No" I continue and shush him so he doesn't wake up the whole house. "If looks could kill I would be six feet under" he says once we've gotten to my room. "Why were you acting all masculine out there? I mean not to say that you aren't masculine but you know what I mean" I say, pretty much knowing but wanting to make sure. 
"I wanted to see how he would react to another guy being around you. One that he thought was straight and close to you" he teases while throwing himself on my bed. "Why would you want to do that?" I question, taking off my heels and grabbing some clothes to go change in in my bathroom. "Because I wanted to see if he would get jealous and if jealous was a person his name would be Jeon Jungkook" he says, wiggling his eyebrows at me.
"Why would he get jealous? He hates me" I say, not even believing the words that are coming out of my own mouth. "Please, he was practically green" he says laying on his back and picking up one of the books that I still haven't finished and thumbing through it. "He was not!" I say finding his observations ridiculous. 
"Did you see how possessive he got with you? How he purposefully leaned against you to shake my hand instead of going around. How he held your waist when he said goodnight. I'm pretty sure I heard him say that you could call him Jungkook now instead of Mr. Jeon right?" he lists, showing me what Jungkook's behaviors added all together really showed.
I groan after I come out of my bathroom, throwing myself on the bed next to him and staring up at the ceiling trying to process everything that happened today. "What am I supposed to think about all of this? What am I going to say when I see him tomorrow? What is he going to say?" I ask aloud, dreading the answers to these questions even though I know I won't be getting any answers tonight.
"Just go in tomorrow and act like everything is fine. Try out that more casual approach by calling him Jungkook like he told you you could. I don't know just take it easy and follow his lead and see where things go from there" he suggests and I take a deep breath, taking in everything he's saying and deciding the best thing I could do right now is try to distract myself. 
"Why are you here anyways?" I question, turning towards him now realizing that we never talked about him coming over tonight. "I wanted to hear about what happened after what you told me earlier today but I think I saw all that I needed to see" he says turning over to face me with a teasing smirk and I push him a little in response. 
"Do you wanna watch a movie?" he suggests. "Please" I groan out and he laughs at my response. While he turns on my tv I send Jungkook a quick message just trying to hopefully clear the air after what happened tonight. 
'Drive safe :)' I send before I can second guess myself. 
'Always x'  he responds almost immediately, leaving me smiling. Who knew that one little 'x' could make me so flustered.
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bbybluemochi · 9 months
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bbybluemochi's F.A.Q. ✧・゚
Hi! Arun here! I thought that instead of answering your submissions one by one I’d gather all the frequently asked questions and answer them in a single post (this is a mix of art/OC/commissions related q's)!
Please note that I do read all your messages and I’m so grateful for every one of them!!!! I keep all your words really close to my heart, thank you for liking my art and loving my Ocs as much as I do, it means the world to me <3
What’s the name of your OCs?
They’re called Cotton (the blonde one) and Puppy (the dark haired one). The original idea for them was to make some silly wolf/bunny OCs (that’s why Cotton is called like that, it was supposed to be a joke about her tail…) but somewhere along the way they took over and became something completely different!
Is there a webcomic for your OCs?
Not currently! I don’t have the time or the skills (for now) but I’d love to give it a try in the future! 
I was wondering if you mind people using your OC art as character art/inspiration for DnD?Just games with friends that are for fun, nothing for commercial.
Go ahead! I find that really flattering.
Just out of curiosity, are any of your OCs bisexual?
Both Cotton and Puppy are lesbians. That’s what I feel comfortable drawing since I’m a lesbian myself. If I ever do draw a bisexual OC I’ll make sure to mention it! <3
I think you said Cotton was a dominatrix in a previous ask, but is Puppy on the opposite side of the spectrum or is she just glad to be there whichever way?
Puppy is very much a sub. They both switch (Puppy as a service top and bottom and Cotton as a top and power bottom), but the dom/sub dynamic never changes. Also I wanted to mention that these dynamics do not transcend outside of the bedroom that much, there’s more to them than their kinks but I do love to draw them deep in their submissive/dominant headspaces. 
Are one of the lesbian fairytale characters trans?
I didn’t design either of them with that in mind, but I’m super OK with people headcanoning them as trans!
May I use your art as a header/icon?
Of course! Remember to credit me tho~
Do you allow people to use your art freely?
I don’t allow reposts of my work (not that it matters that much, since almost all my art has been already reposted a million times ))): but I’d really appreciate it if you just shared my posts instead of reposting my art). As for phone backgrounds/wallpapers or stuff like that, yeah!
Do you have an instagram account or other social media, I would love to follow you there.
My main platform is twitter (same @), I post all my drawings there and I’m usually more active over there. Tumblr is kind of like an archive. I really like the community here but I find it easier to reply/interact with people on twitter! As for instagram, I do have an old art account (same @, again) but I haven’t posted in so long. I may start posting there soon if a certain rich guy decides to keep destroying the bird app tho. 
I’ve always thought about this… how do you think it’d look if the aesthetics/styles [of your OCs] were reversed?
I’ll have to explore that in a future drawing, I haven’t thought much about it! 
Do you write fics for your characters or has anyone else written fics about them?
Not yet! A couple of my friends have offered, tho! I usually like to stick to drawing because that’s what I do best, I don’t wanna subject anyone to my writing (it’s not very good,,,,). When I share some of my Ocs stories, I think it will be in comic format. 
What's the story behind your OCs? 
There are several, actually!! I like to put my OCs in different universes. As for now, there’s the Fairytale AU, the modern setting AU (this is the original one), and now the Werewolf/Vampire AU. I also did a drawing of them as spiderwoman and black cat but I don’t think that AU is gonna make a comeback for a while. I’m also planning a scifi AU but I’m not sure I’d be able to pull off that aesthetic with my current art style so I’m still working on it. 
The Fairytale AU is the one I’m working on most of the time. I wanna release a small artbook with their story + illustrations. That was my main goal for 2023 but life got in the way, so maybe,,, 2024??? *crosses fingers* 
Is your shop down? It’s saying that it’s not available.
I open my shop for 1-2 weeks every now and then, that’s why it’s closed most of the time! My plan is to open the store again in september, if i manage to finish all the merch in time! I’ll announce it on my twitter and tumblr account when I do. 
Would you ever share a tutorial on how you make your art?
Yes, of course! I’m not very good at explaining my drawing process but If it helps anyone I’d love to! Just let me know what part of the drawing process you’d like me to focus on, because If i try to make a full illustration tutorial it’s gonna be too long/difficult to follow. 
May I ask what brush do you use for your lineart?
I use a different brush almost every time I start an illustration, I’m not very consistent when it comes to that (I think it’s mainly because I haven’t found the perfect brush yet!). But let me know what illustration you’re curious about and I’ll try to remember which one I used!
Do you come up with poses off the top of your head or do you use some type of reference? I always struggle with them.
It depends on what I’m drawing! Some of my drawings are reinterpretations of paintings (I’m obsessed with pre-raphaelite painters and arthurian legend paintings in general), so in those cases I try to adapt the poses to my art style. Even If I’m trying to recreate an already existing painting I end up changing the poses/proportions a lot along the way to fit my personal taste/art style. 
Other times, I just sketch from imagination (this is more entertaining, I think, since looking at references can make the drawing process a bit tedious). If I find it hard to draw a certain pose/part of the body I will look up references on printerest, no shame in using pictures! If I still can’t find the pose I need I’ll just take a picture of myself (this is like, a last resort for me. I’m too lazy for this). 
My personal advice would be to use references for the pose and then tweaking the pose and trying to make it more personal 
I love the way the armor was designed and rendered! Can you share some tips on designing armor? 
Drawing armor is something I still struggle with most of the time. I think I’ve learned a lot in the past year (please don’t look at my armor drawings from 2022,,,,, sigh) but I still struggle to draw certain poses/angles. My advice is: don’t hesitate to draw non-functional armor!!! There’s always gonna be someone like “actually, that armour makes no sense :)” well !!!! it looks cool as hell so who caresssss !!!!! 
I think it’s more important for you to get comfortable drawing armor before you start beating yourself up for not drawing accurate ones. It takes a lot of practice (I’m still learning!!!), especially if you’re trying to draw historically accurate ones, so start by having fun, and then work your way up from there.
Most of the tips I can think about are really hard to explain without a visual example, so let me know if that’d be a tutorial you would be interested in and I’ll try to make one (I’m cringing a little just saying this bc I swear, my armor skills are so bad compared to some amazing artists out there………..).
Do you allow cosplays your OCs?
YES…. YES PLEASE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IM BEGGING YOUUU ILL LOVE YOU FOREVER !!!!!! *rattles my cage* 
Do you allow fanart of your OCs?
Again,,, PLEASEEEEEEEEE !!! Just tag me so I don’t miss it and remember to give me credits if you do !!!!!!!!!!! :D
I was wondering if you use procreate , clip studio, or similar apps?
A mix of both. I used to draw on procreate only until I got a tablet and now I’m a clip studio user (csp sponsor me please), and now that’s all I use. I’m so used to drawing on PC now that I don’t think I’d be able to go back to procreate, but I still like that app a lot! All my drawings (even the ones I do on csp) always get retouched on procreate because I like some of the effects (*dreamy sigh* chromatic aberration filter,,, love u). 
I wanted to know if the marks Cotton has on her waist are tattoos or like a scar? 
Those are tats! Puppy is a tattoo artist ~~~ (I’m actually not sure if i’ll keep the waist tats on Cotton or if I’ll end up redesigning them,,,)
I was wondering if you take commissions?
Not right now. I also don’t have any plans of opening commissions any time soon! When I do, I’ll post a google forms on twitter and here on tumblr with the prices and type of comms I do. But there’s nothing scheduled. 
Even tho I'm not doing commissions atm, I’m currently looking for illustration jobs (specially book covers), so don’t hesitate to email me at [email protected]
That's all for now, thank you for reading!! I think I covered most of the questions, I'll make another q&a post in the future! Bye~~
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amirahart · 2 years
Text
Car Crash || Charles Leclerc
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Pairing: Charles Leclerc x (Y/N)
Warnings: Language, mentions of hospitals and car crash, idk what else
Summary: (Y/N) gets into a car accident, and Charles all but turns the world upside down.
Word count: 2280 words
Authors note: 1. I GOT A BUNCH OF LIKES AND FOLLOWERS??😭😭 THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH 2. Inspo from this Prompt by @creativepromptsforwriting 3. Pls request stuff idk what to write
Xoxo Art
Charles couldn’t even remember what they were fighting about. It was probably something stupid, anyway. He had been stressed about the upcoming race -and the fiasco that was his team’s strategy-, and (Y/N) had been worried about some upcoming deadlines that she had at work. They were not in the greatest moods, was the point, and it was late at night, and they were a tad hungry. So, at the first opportunity, they both snapped at each other. One thing led to another, and (Y/N), always the reasonable woman that she was, got up and slammed the door, grabbing her car keys and setting off for the Monegasque roads to clear her head.
So, here he was, sitting on the couch, no longer fuming, just glancing at his phone every two minutes to see how much time had passed since his girl left. Charles was literally worried sick, calling and texting her, but she was still not replying. She had been gone for five hours at this point. Where on Earth could she be?
For the first hour, he tried to distract himself. He tried to start a race on the simulator, but he saw (Y/N)’ hoodie thrown over his chair, and he got mad again. He tried to take a nap, but every time he closed his eyes, his brain filled with thoughts of her. He thought about going for a walk, but he decided against it, because he didn’t want her to find an empty house when she came back.
The second hour, he spent pacing around the house, peeking through the window, in case that her car pulled in the driveway. He was still far too stubborn to call or text, not ready to admit defeat in the argument that seemed continuously stupider and stupider. As he paced around, his anger started to evaporate and started to be replaced with worry. (Y/N) hadn’t been living in Monaco for a while, and even though she had been around the city, it had only ever been with Charles on the driver’s seat. What if something had happened to her?
The third and fourth hour were spent being paranoid. Charles made up a billion different scenarios of what could have gone wrong. What if she got lost? What if she ran out of gas? What if she stopped somewhere and she got mugged? What if she was hurt? What if she was so mad, she never came back?
At about the four hour and ten minutes mark, Charles’ worry seemed to completely overpower his anger, so much so that he called (Y/N). He decided to push all his catastrophic scenarios to the back of his head. Nothing would have gone wrong, he decided. She would just accept the call, reassure him that she still needed some time to cool off, and that she would be home soon to talk.
All this positive energy shattered when the phone kept beeping, and beeping, and beeping, and then went straight to voice mail. His heart kept getting faster every time the phone beeped. He called her again. Maybe she had her hands full at that moment, and she would answer this time. She didn’t. And he felt his heart sink to his stomach.
So, for the past fifty minutes, Charles kept calling, and texting, and calling, and texting, with no reply. He called some of her friends, but none of them knew where she was. She called her gym, her hairdresser, her nail salon, and her favorite restaurant, and still, (Y/N) seemed to have disappeared from the face of the Earth.
Charles was ready to get in his car and look around for his girlfriend when he heard his phone ringing. He all but lunged himself at his phone, picking it up immediately.
“Ma chérie? Are you okay, I’m so sorry for everything…”, he started to apologize, but he was immediately cut off.
“Charles?”, (Y/N) said, and the tone of her voice almost made him drop her phone. Her voice was shaking, she sounded like she was on the verge of tears, and it made Charles’ heart shamble.
“Chérie, where are you? I’m coming to get you”, he bolted to the door, grabbing the keys to his Ferrari, rushing to the car.
“Charles I’m sorry, don’t get mad, I didn’t mean to…”, she interrupted herself with a sob, which made Charles wince.
“Baby, please don’t apologize, just tell me where you are”, he was already in the car, turning it on and waiting for her instructions.
“I- I’m not sure, it just hurts a lot, Charles, it hurts”, she cried. Charles immediately pushed his foot down, not even caring that he had no idea where to go. Monaco was small enough, he’d find her.
“(Y/N), please breathe, take a deep breath. What happened baby, what hurts?”, tears filled his eyes as he thought of his (Y/N) being in pain.
“My hand, I was just trying to… and then the other car… and he keeps yelling at me… I don’t know what to do”, she was hyperventilating, interrupting herself by sobbing, and Charles was ready to throw up.
“My love, you’ll be okay. I’m coming right now, everything will be okay, just please, please take a deep breath and tell me where you are baby. Please”, his vision was blurring by his tears, and he was thanking God for the high speeds that his car could reach.
(Y/N) managed to give him her location, and Charles, reaching speeds that were in no way legal, reached her in no time. He spotted two cars, one of them undeniably (Y/N)’, and he ran with all his might to reach her.
Just like she had said in the phone call, there was a man outside the driver’s window, which was now cracked. He was yelling at his girl in French, making him see red. “Eh!”, he yelled at him, gaining his attention. “Va te faire foutre, qu'est ce que tu crois faire” Go fuck yourself, what do you think you’re doing?
“Cette salope a totalisé ma voiture”, he yelled back without turning his attention away from the car, hitting the window, and making (Y/N) flinch. The moment Charles saw that, he lost all self-control. He grabbed the man and slammed him down on the hood of his car.
“Tu as de la chance qu'elle soit blessée, sinon je te ruinerais!”I, he growled in his ear. You're lucky she's hurt, otherwise I’d ruin you.
He left him there, not even caring if he hurt him or not. All he cared about was whether his girl was okay. His legs couldn’t move fast enough to get him to her door, he almost broke the door trying to open it. Charles finally got to her, weaving his hands around her waist and bringing him close to his body in a front piggy-back ride. (Y/N) hid her face in his shoulder, soaking his shirt with her tears.
“It’s okay, baby, I’m here. All is well now”, he whispered in her ear, stroking her hair, and kissing her gently. The whole world seemed to dim. It was only the two of them in that moment, glad to finally be in each other’s embrace. Everything seemed to be okay in that moment, when (Y/N) had her Charles’ arms around her, and Charles had his (Y/N) tight in his hands.
He didn’t know how much time had passed with them just holding each other, but Charles remembered that she said she was hurt, and immediately set her down. He stole a glance to her car. The front of it was totaled, but it was nothing he couldn’t afford to fix. The guy who was yelling at her must have recognized Charles, and his face whitened immediately. He gave him one of his business cards with his contact information, got into his car and left, but Charles could not care less. All that occupied his mind was (Y/N)’ tear-stained face, and her hand that she was clutching to her chest.
“Chérie, please let me see”, he kneeled next to her, feeling his heart break for what seemed like the millionth time tonight at the sight of his girl so fragile and broken. He noticed bruises and scratches up and down her legs, and a huge bruise right on her cheekbone.
Hesitantly, (Y/N) showed him her arm. Her wrist was swollen, her entire hand was red. It was definitely broken. Charles gently grabbed her in his arms again, guiding her to the car and showering her with kisses.
“My love, we have to go to the hospital. You’ll be okay. Everything will be okay. Everything will be okay”, he kept repeating, more to himself than to her.
They both got to the car, and after a quick call to the police, they made their way to the hospital. (Y/N) was now totally relaxed in the presence of her boyfriend and felt guilt wash over her at the argument. Charles kept his hand in hers the whole drive, glancing at her every so often to assure she was well. She tried to apologize three times, but Charles kept cutting her off, kissing her hand and telling her that all would be well.
When they made it to the hospital, Charles all but carried (Y/N) to the Emergency Room. He got her a private room, forced the doctors to double and triple check everything, made them run every test, even if they assured him that it was not needed, and almost yelled at every single doctor and nurse that was on call. (Y/N) couldn’t help but laugh at her boyfriend’s behavior. She kept having to hold him back from being rude to the staff- she knew he was never rude to working people and that it was just the adrenaline, but it wasn’t the poor nurse’s fault that the pillows weren’t fluffed to his liking-.
Finally, (Y/N) got her diagnosis- a fractured wrist- got treated, and was left in her room, as the doctors decided – after some pressure from Charles- to keep her in overnight to monitor her. So, the young couple made themselves comfortable on the hospital bed, cuddling into each other after what was a super stressful day.
(Y/N) was cuddled into Charles’ side, with her head on his chest, as he ran his fingers through her hair. “How can you look so beautiful in a hospital gown?”, he mumbled into her hair, making heat rise to her cheeks.
“You’re the best boyfriend ever, have I told you that?”
“Yes, once or twice”, he cuddled into her.
“Thank you, honey. For everything, I mean”, she spoke softly.
“Stop it, Chérie, you don’t need to thank me. If anything, I need to apologize. It’s all my fault”, he said, and (Y/N) immediately clapped her broken hand over his mouth to shut him up.
“It’s not your fault that guy ignored the stop sign. You did more than enough today. Don’t feel guilty. You heard the doctors, it’s just a fracture and some bruises, in 6 to 8 weeks I’ll be good as new”
“I think that we should go to another doctor tomorrow, just to be sure…”
“No! No more doctors! I’ve seen enough doctors to last a lifetime”, (Y/N) exclaimed, and they both broke out laughing. “Just promise me that you won’t force me to see any more doctors”
“As long as you promise me that you’ll never leave home like that again. I’ll drive you around everywhere, I promise”
“I promise I’ll never leave. I’m sorry”, she looked up to see him already looking down at her with a small smile.
“I’m sorry too”, he kissed the top of her head, and they slipped in comfortable silence for a while, just enjoying each other’s presence. Charles hugged her tighter to his side. He never wanted to experience the kind of feelings he experienced today. The thought of anything happening to (Y/N)… he couldn’t even fathom it. He was too thankful to have her at his side.
He looked around the room, the largest room in the hospital, as he had specifically requested. It was filled with flowers that he had ordered, which he knew was a bit excessive, but he wanted his girl to feel as beautiful and comfortable as possible after the shock that she went through today. On the nightstand that was next to the bed, amongst the vase of peonies-her favorites-, was a red marker that probably one of the doctors had left. He immediately smiled at the idea he got.
He leaned over to grab the marker, gaining (Y/N)’ attention. “What’s wrong baby?”, she asked, and instead of an answer, Charles just shushed her.
“Give me your hand, Chérie”, he cooed, grabbing her broken hand with his left one. As his non-dominant hand traced soft circles on her fingers, his right hand uncapped the marker and started scribbling away with a goofy smile on his face, which made (Y/N)’ cheeks rise. She stole a quick kiss from him, but he kept his focus on her cast.
When he was done, he showed her the cast, like a proud kid showing off his drawing, and she immediately burst out laughing. Her previously white cast was now decorated with messy red handwriting spelling out “This is proof Charles Leclerc is the better driver in the relationship” “#16”, “Je t’adore”, and other little doodles. What made him proudest, though, was the sketch of his formula one car that he had made on the palm of her hand, which was terrible, but it made her smile so hard her cheeks hurt.
“You’re an idiot”
“I love you too”
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