#don't get their bearings quite as well and dances around them and shit like that he just likes to be mean i guess

[automatonknight]

here's the prick i was talking about^ i have so many thoughts and notes about him but they're mostly incomprehensible so when i organize maybe them i'll post them who knows

#art #oc #id in alt #um ummm #idk. if you have any questions as always feel free to ask #ANYWAYS. geez making him has been so fun i love this asshole so much i'm going to put him through the horrors #salute to you Kordian if you see this if you hadn't shown me stalker i probably wouldn't be running in circles about patches now #more notes. i actually have no idea how magic works in-universe i just thought it would be cool. he's not good at using it he sucks. he's #shocked himself so many times probably. will that stop him? no #he practiced fencing for a few years so he actually like. knows how the fight flows or whatever. i think he definitely picks out targets wh #don't get their bearings quite as well and dances around them and shit like that he just likes to be mean i guess #idk idk. also he joins the lovelies at one point. that's like. semi-canon. it's sorta like with triumphant and normal walenty to me. like #they both exist but the. so to speak. evil one kind of doesn't in a way if you get me. i mostly thought it would be a fun thing to think #about. and also patches would do that and then he'd freak out like what the fuck am i doing and leave #another random thing about his pronouns. well i mostly use he/him for him. that 'any' is more in a way that if you referred to patches as #she or they or it or anything else he wouldn't care #but he usually doesn't mention it and stuff

[graceandtheidiotsquad]

Dumb Character Headcanons: Champion Cynthia

I am having brainrot over the queen of sinnoh ok. I love her and her crazy family so much-! I apologize for how random some of these are-some of them I got inspiration from popular ones from, some from AUs i've seen and some I just made up on the fly-Ok, enough rambling-on with the show!

- TOTAL. MOMMA. BEAR. She just-has very motherly, protective vibes and despite being one of the most generally considered TERRIFYING CHARACTERS IN THE SERIES (and I'm mildly scared of her too!) she'd probably take you out for ice cream after battling her to celebrate a job well done, win or lose.

- Speaking of ice cream, I think this is not only a popular hc i agree with but they made it CANON In the anime that she cannot, for the life of her, decide what flavor she wants and will just stand there for 15 minutes weighing all the pros and cons and unintentionally holding up the line. I mean she'll move when she realizes and apologize PROFUSELY but still- ...But would YOU tell her to hurry up and choose?? No, I don't think so.

- Her hair is usually either down most of the time or tied up in a bun. But only for when she needs it-she doesn't care how messy it gets, she just likes being wild I suppose. Sometimes you'll find her literally wrestling one of her pokemon for fun (usually Garchomp) and her hair will be full of leaves and sticks, and not a care in the world! One of her family taught her how to tie her hair back in a bun, and though she adores them-she was quite the pain to get to stand still long enough to even TRY as a child.

- You wouldn't think it, with how classy she is-...buuuuuut she was almost a leash kid. You think she gets this intimidation factor just from being so classy and dramatic alone? No, she can be fucking FERAL when she wants to be. Sometimes the Sinnoh League will have trouble finding her to get her to report to her champion duties as she's gotten distracted and wandered off to explore some ruins somewhere in the region and never told anyone where she was going. 

- She used to and still can climb trees in seconds if left unattended. This has lead to many a heart-attack for her grandmother, watching her little baby Cynthia nearly DIE falling out of said tree, only to be completely unharmed and even LAUGHING at the experience. 

- Actually is a REALLY big fan of the wrestling/battle royale circuit. She can and will burst out singing some of the intros at the top of her lungs, much to the shock of ANYONE in the room with her. 

- She also happy dances and likes to put on music when she works. She loves piano but even she can't resist a good earworm, humming along to it as she runs around the local library or (reluctantly) winds up cooped up inside doing or cleaning up paperwork. This is implied to be canon in a spinoff game (Pokemon Masters EX if you're curious) and I totally agree that she just-cannot be bothered to clean up her office and it's almost CONSTANTLY a mess because she keeps getting distracted by new things to look at or something she hadn't seen in ages (BECAUSE of the mess) like a book and just winds up reading it all day. It's a vicious cycle!

- The reason she loves piano so much is she actually knows how to play, and is VERY Good at it! A very dear member of her family taught her when she was very young and she plays to help remember him-wherever the hell he's wandered off to now. Music connects us just as much as pokemon do, in her mind-so whenever she plays, he's right beside her again-whether physically or not. 

- She has inherited the family 'way too fucking tall' gene and that does NOT help her intimidating appearance sometimes.

- Sometimes casually speaks fluent Latin/Greek just to confuse the shit outta people. Look, she isn't usually spiteful-but even the most graceful and kind people have their limits. The same person who taught her piano taught her it-probably for that express purpose. Also several swear words. (thankfully if she ever swears, it's in said language so hardly anyone will know-)

- She grew up feeling-quite isolated from others her age because of her intense focus on studying history and battling competitively. Mostly the history thing-the battling thing probably didn't help as most kids were likely TERRIFIED of how intense she got. But-...i think that's why she loved that member of her family so much. Finally, someone who understood her...! He'd even given her the egg that would hatch into her Garchomp. (It was SUPPOSED to be a togepi, that wouldn't cause much hassle aside from the occasional accident with metronome-...but NOOOOOO, he decided to let her cause havoc. Her grandma nearly smacked him.)

- Honestly if you told her you were a demon or some supernatural shit she'd probably be more fascinated and barrage you with questions than scared. Or kick ass if you were hostile-DO. NOT. FUCK. WITH THE CHAMPION OF SINNOH.

- She may or may not be guilty of spoiling hers and other people's Pokémon with treats. She can't help it! She has a WEAKNESS for puppy dog eyes, whether it be her own Pokémon, any she's babysitting (she feels like someone who would do that if asked) Or young trainers she's taken a shine to. 

- Wound up with a heavy ass, GIGANTIC hand-me-down backpack from who-knows how many generations ago and yes, she CAN lug it around with ease. She doesn't much for her league job, but it's her go-to when it comes to adventuring or exploring.  - Speaking of the backpack-she often carries her spiritomb outside of its pokeball inside while in particularly rough areas, usually hiding inside its keystone. You never know if you'll need a pokemon for backup and don't have time to reach for one of your pokeball before things get dicey, after all-and the sight of a very angry ghost and dark type pokemon erupting from an ancient backpack is more than enough to send anyone who would likely cause trouble PACKING-looking almost as if something is being summoned right behind her! (She doesn't know why she looks so terrifying that way, but at least it means no one will cause too much trouble)

- An absolute GIRLBOSS for sure-but also very, very soft when it comes to people she loves. She'll gush and gush about her family members-especially younger ones, or trainers she's mentally adopted (and she does this a lot.) as her own 'pack', so to speak. She'll try to tone it down if it makes them uncomfortable but it's so HARD-she feels so blessed to have people who love her for who she is, as strange and beautiful and intimidating and just a little bit odd as she can be that she just HAS to spread word about how amazing they are! (She's like one of those moms who shows off photos of her kids all the time, just not in an annoying way if that makes sense?? At least she tries not to be-but once she starts rambling about them or ANYTHING it is almost impossible to get her to stop!)

- Often makes hand gestures like pointing when she speaks, especially when she gets excited. She often doesn't realize she's doing it half the time-but she always does it when taking pictures. She just-feels like her hands HAVE to be doing something!

- I will not give away the massive spoiler this ties into but she OWNS the song Blood Right by Madame Macabre. JUST-IF YOU DONT WANT SPOILERS FOR LEGENDS ARCEUS, JUST-BE PREPARED YOU'RE IN FOR A RIDE!

#pokemon #pokemon cynthia #dppt #diamond pearl platinum #pokemon dppt #pokemon legends arceus #legends arceus spoilers #kinda??? #i mean it's in the thumbnail of the playlist so I hope that's ok #champion cynthia #sinnoh #pokemon diamond and pearl #pokemon platinum #pokemon brilliant diamond #pokemon shining pearl #pokemon gen 4 #Spotify

[nycbabyjoey]

A Baby in Toyland

NSFW 18+ Only

Contains ABDL Content

Cynthia tore through the collection of dumb, goofy baby dolls that aligned the shelves. So dumb, she thought as she tossed each doll to the side. None of them were the crown jewel that she was looking for.

Princess Uh-Oh! The only baby doll on the market that will have you saying "uh-oh"!

It was the hottest selling toy this Christmas season, although the reason was beyond Cynthia's understanding. What kid would want a doll that pisses and shits itself? These toy companies just want to indoctrinate girls into motherhood while they were still young. Disgusting.

Cynthia's attitude towards dolls had drawn ire from her sister last Christmas when Cynthia got her five-year old niece a pocket dictionary instead of any of the baby dolls or bedazzling kits that her niece actually wanted. This Christmas, Cynthia's sister had instructed her to go to Toyland and buy Princess Uh-Oh for her niece.

Cynthia had procrastinated on the task out of protest, and admittedly maybe a dash of laziness, but now it was Christmas Eve and this was her last chance to get the stupid thing and wrap it before morning. Unfortunately, Cynthia had cleared the shelves and it appeared as though Princess Uh-Oh had sold out. Oh well, Cynthia thought. Now I can get her something more stimulating.

"Can I help you find anything?" a voice asked from behind her.

Cynthia jumped. There was a woman stood right behind her, but Cynthia was certain she wasn't there a second ago. Cynthia observed the woman's outfit. Her tits were nearly falling out of her shirt. How unprofessional, Cynthia thought. Why do women feel the need to dress like sluts?

"Sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you," the woman said. "I'm Betsy Blonka, the founder and owner of Toyland."

Really? This Whore of Babylon ran the toy store?

"Well no, you don't have what I'm looking for. Besides, all these toys are doing is poisoning the minds of today's youth and I have no interest in them," Cynthia responded before turning to leave. "Also, your outfit is very unprofessional, especially for someone working with children."

Betsy just titled her head and gave a polite smile. "I know the holiday season can be stressful, but I'm happy to help alleviate any anxiety you may have," she said brightly. "Were you looking for Princess Uh-Oh? She's a very hot seller this year."

Cynthia was flustered. The woman had been so kind. She must've been trying to embarrass her and make her look bad. "Y-yes, I was," Cynthia stammered.

"Follow me," Betsy instructed. "We may have some spares in the back."

Cynthia followed "Busty Betsy" through the toy store. She had to admit: the store was quite extensive... and eccentric. Model planes flew through the air, stuffed animals seemed to sing and dance on their own. It was a toylover's dream, but Cynthia's nightmare.

After a fairly long walk, the two approached a door in the back. Betsy unlocked it and prodded Cynthia to take a step inside.

Cynthia was perplexed by what she saw. There were no Princess Uh-Oh dolls back here. There weren't any toys at all; the space was completely empty save for a pink dollhouse on the floor in the middle of the room. Otherwise, they were surrounded by concrete walls. Betsy locked the door behind them.

"What is this?" Cynthia inquired.

"Toys fill us with wonder and activate our imaginations," Betsy said. "It's time you have that spark again."

Suddenly, the dollhouse in the center began to glow. Cynthia looked down and her whole body began to glow the same way.

"What's going on?" Cynthia asked, frightened. "What's happening to m-"

In a flash, everything changed. Cynthia gasped. She had been transported. She was no longer in the cold, concrete backroom of Toyland. She was in a cozy living room with a big old Christmas tree and a toy train making its way around the tracks. Cynthia found herself sitting on the carpeted floor against a teddy bear that was larger than her.

She started to stand, but immediately found herself unable to. Her legs gave way and she instantly landed on her butt, but something cushioned her fall. Cynthia looked down in horror at her lack of clothing. She only saw a pink ribbon around her neck, Mary Janes on her feet, and - most shockingly - the item that had broken her short fall: a puffy, white diaper.

Cynthia jumped again as Betsy leaned towards her, having again been oblivious to her presence. She sat above her in a yellow armchair and wore even less clothing than before.

"Merry Christmas, baby!" Betsy exclaimed. "Welcome to the dreamhouse!"

Cynthia went to shout, but a pacifier blocked her words causing them to come out as dribble on her exposed chest.

"Uh uh uh," Betsy said, plucking out Cynthia's dummy. "Use your words."

"We're in the dollhouse?!" Cynthia asked, exclaimed.

"Yep," Betsy responded nonchalantly. "You're the baby doll and that makes me the Mommy doll."

"This can't be real," Cynthia gasped. "You have to put me back!"

"Nuh-uh," Betsy said, getting up. "Not until you learn to play with your toys like a good girl. Why don't you play with your dolly while Mommy warms up your ba-ba?"

Betsy... er, Mommy threw a Christmas shirt with gingerbread and candy canes over Cynthia's naked chest before leaving the room. "Wait!" Cynthia cried out. She jumped to her feet, but found herself unable to use them again falling face first onto the carpet.

She lifted her head and saw something sat on the floor in front of her. It was a baby doll. One dressed just like her from the blonde hair to the thick diapered bottom. Was she really expected to play with this?

Cynthia grabbed the doll by the arm and started smacking it against the carpeted floor until she threw it against the teddy bear where it bounced delicately onto the floor. "Stupid!" she shouted at it, sticking her tongue out and crossing her arms.

She didn't need the infantile costume to have come off childish. Only a few minutes and she was already having a tantrum like a toddler. But so what? She was frustrated! She couldn't walk, she was stuck in diapers, and now she was being forced to play with the stupid dolls that she hated? She would rather sit on the floor and wait for... Mommy to bring her her ba-ba.

What felt like an hour passed and Cynthia had resorted to babyishly making saliva bubbles with her mouth. She rolled over on her stomach and the dolly reentered her view. She scoffed. She was not a baby and she didn't play with toys!

Suddenly, a repressed memory entered her mind as she looked at the dolly. She was three years old (actually three years old) and she asked Santa for a Holiday Hailey baby doll. She had wanted one so badly. But Santa brought her a jigsaw puzzle instead. She cried all Christmas morning and stopped asking Santa for toys after that year.

She looked at the doll once more. "Holiday Hailey?" It was true. The doll she had thrown had been the baby doll she had asked Santa for all those years ago. She crawled as fast as she could on all fours back to the teddy bear where Hailey laid.

She picked it up and started moving its arms, feeling silly as she did so. She peeked around over he shoulder and spoke under her breath, "Hi Hailey, I'm Cynthia."

The doll remained silent.

"M- Mommy says we should play together," Cynthia shared with a bit more confidence this time. "What should we do?"

No response.

"A Christmas tea party?" Cynthia asked, having heard nothing. "I don't know..."

Cynthia felt ridiculous. The doll wasn't talking to her and she knew that. Had she really succumbed to such boredom that she was willing to humiliate herself by having dinner with a doll? She had to admit, though - talking to the doll made her feel better. Like she wasn't so alone or that there was a friend for her who cared. It gave her the warm, fleeting feeling that she had writing to Santa so many Christmases ago.

"Do you prefer green or Oolong?"

Credit: @daddysdreamydollie

"Ba-ba's ready," Betsy sang, coming back from the kitchen. She stopped in her tracks noticing Cynthia's new setup. Cynthia sat in a tiny chair at a tiny table along with Holiday Hailey and the teddy bear. She held a small toy teapot as she poured pretend tea into Hailey's cup.

"Dere you go, Hailey," Cynthia lisped in between her pacifier. "Would you wike some mo', Mista Beaw?"

"Well, well, well," Betsy said. "Is somebody having fun with her toys?"

Cynthia turned and blushed. She had gotten a bit carried away, but it was so nice to have a night of childlike innocence again.

"Yeth, Mommy," she replied sheepishly.

"That's good," Betsy said. "But it's time to put your toys away and come have your milk."

"Wait," Cynthia said, crawling over from the tea table. "Since I've been a good girl and pwayed with my toys, can I go home now?"

Betsy chuckled. "Oh silly, don't you get it? This is your home now!"

Cynthia's pacifier fell out of her mouth from shock. "But- but- you said if I played with my toys..."

"And you'll have plenty of time to do that," Betsy interrupted. "But I also said you were the baby doll of the dollhouse and... it's Christmas Eve. We've already sold the dollhouse as a Christmas gift to a young girl. You're going to be her doll, of course!"

"You're going to be that impetus of childlike wonder for a lucky little girl that Hailey is for you," she continued. "You'll be the one to light up the magic in that little girl's life this Christmas. And she'll take care of you - give you your ba-ba, change your clothes, and especially change your messy diapers. You'll be the new Princess Uh-Oh!"

"And it looks like someone has already earned her title," Betsy snickered. "Let Mommy get you changed and you can change Hailey's own stinky diaper while you lay on the changing table. You haven't noticed? You just made your own little uh-oh in your pants, little missy."

It's a wonderful toy! It's Patreon!

#ab/dl #ab/dl caption #ab/dl mommy #ab/dl girl #mommysbaby #mommy kink #md/lg

[kanazawa-division]

The sun was beginning to set on a certain homicide detective's birthday. Joey was currently hanging out in his living room playing a video game when the doorbell rang. Pausing his game, Joey walked over to the door and opened it. Bouncing in front of him was Kaoru Shinozaki.

"Quicksilver! Happy birthday!" Kaoru cheered, showing off a bag with the gifts she brought with her.

Stepping inside, Kaoru gave Joey a quick hug before shoving her the bag with her gifts in his hands, a manic smile spreading across her face.

"I got you a few gifts, including one that I personally built myself." Kaoru gleefully explained, waiting for the blond haired Otaku to open his gifts.

"Uh….Kaoru? When was the last time you slept?" Joey questioned, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"It's Monday, right? So last Saturday. Not the one that just passed but the one before. Don't worry about me, though I'm fine!" Kaoru flashed Joey a thumbs up. "Don't worry about me. It's your birthday, so go on." Kaoru motioned for Joey to open her gifts.

Joey just stared at Kaoru as if she just didn't confess to going over a week without any sleep. It explained a lot, and Joey just knew she was running on fumes and enough caffeine to kill a full-grown elephant. However, considering she came all the way out to Kanazawa to drop off his gift, Joey quickly pulled out the first gift and began to open it.

Inside the first gift was a collection of graphic tees, each one with something quite weird on it. Joey laughed as he read what was on them. His personal favorite was the shadow wizard one.

"I was strolling through TikTok when I saw these, and I knew you'd get a laugh out of them." Kaoru wheezed.

"They are pretty good." Joey agreed, putting them aside and pulling out the other gift Kaoru had given him, opening it.

"I feel like I'm forgetting something." Kaoru muttered to herself.

Inside the second gift was a lightsaber. Joey could feel a huge grin spread across his face as he picked the sword up, swinging it around. Seeing a button on it as well, Joey pushed it.

"JOEY! WAIT! ITS..." Kaoru shouted, trying to stop him.

It was then when Joey heard the infamous sound of a lightsaber turning on with a bright purple beam sprouting from the handle. Only to watch in shock as the lightsaber sliced through his living room curtains like butter.

"...real." Kaoru finished watching Joey's curtain fall to the floor. "Well…that was something."

Joey could only stare at the lightsaber in his hand, wondering if what he just saw was real.

"Kaoru, what the hell?" Joey questioned his mad genius of friend, his mind wondering how he was gonna explain this to his boyfriend.

"In my defense, I've spent the last week awake and giving you a real lightsaber as a gift seemed like a good idea." Kaoru defended. "Speaking of lack of sleep. It seems like it finally catched up to me. Damn I probably should've listened to Yuriko. She's gonna give me shit for this."

It was then that Joey watched as Kaoru tilted forward a bit before she collapsed onto his living room floor, and much to his relief, a loud snoring could be heard from her prone form. Joey blinked, not sure what to do when he suddenly heard a chime from his phone. Pulling it out, he quickly saw a message from his old friend.

Hey Joey! I'm coming over soon to drop off my gift. - Lyall

“….Joey.”

“…..Honey sugar sweetie baby bear.”

Mamoru repressed the urge to both sigh and cringe at the convoluted nickname as he stared blankly at his blonde boyfriend who stared back with just an equally blank expression except Mamoru could clearly see the amusement dancing in his lavender eyes.

He loves his boyfriend, truly, he does, but sometimes he worries about the company he keeps, not to say that he doesn’t trust Joey or don’t want him to have friends, of course not, but ever since Joey joined the Division Rap Battles, it seems like the shenanigans that would sometimes occur increased nearly tenfold.

The horribly singed and ruined curtains they had just put up was a testament to that.

Mamoru pinched the bridge of his nose while Joey grinned sheepishly. “To be fair…you did say that we should get new curtains…”

“We just put those up!”

“….yeah, I know, that was a shitty excuse, even for me.” Joey deflated with a sigh as he placed a pillow under Kaoru’s head, he had placed her on the couch after she had passed out but not before being grilled by Mamoru on what the hell just happened, why is Kaoru unconscious in their living room, and why are the curtains so badly damaged, which lead them to now.

“Is she going to be okay, at least?” Mamoru asked, keeping an eye on the unconscious Kaoru, while she was more of Joey’s friend, the two of them do manage to get along well, especially since they both work with computers. Joey looked at the purple haired girl and nodded, while he hadn’t known Kaoru for a long time, he was familiar with the girl’s horrendous sleeping habits…minus the sleeping. “Yeah, this happens a lot, she’ll be fine and besides, a friend of mine is coming to pick her up in a little bit.”

Mamoru nodded, somewhat satisfied with his answer before turning back to the curtains, really he wasn’t that pressed about it and honestly he found the situation pretty funny, he knew that hijinks and the like would become the norm when dating someone like Joey but it seems that everyday seemed to find a new way to keep him on his toes.

Joey, seeing where his boyfriend had set his sight on, moved to where he was and pulled him into a hug, nuzzling his neck and looked at him with apologetic eyes. “I’m sorry about the curtains, I promise we’ll replace them.” He said and Mamoru shook his head and lifted a hand to ruffle Joey’s blonde locks, “Don’t worry about it, they’re just curtains, what I’m thinking about is how badass that lightsaber is, you do realize you definitely need to go as Luke Skywalker this Halloween right?” He smiled and Joey grinned widely, pressing a huge kiss to his cheek.

“Babe, I love you so much but we both know that I’m a Han Solo guy.”

Thank you for the gift!

#hypmic #hypmic oc #hypnosis mic #hypnosis mic oc #hypnosis microphone #joey kurusu #mamoru hirano #kaoru shinozaki #lilyspade #happy birthday joey 2023 #gift

[cellarfulofnose]

Heart of the Country

Well, life on the farm is kinda laid-back...

(submitted by my lovely muse @adreadfulcantata. happy birthday ^3^)

Paul's milking the goat when the melody comes to him. He mumbles a line, and it almost shapes itself (really, there's only so many places the chord changes can go), but then Tina tosses her head and he realizes he's stopped in his work. He resumes diligently, raising his head to call out over Tina's back.

"Lin?" His breath fogs out into a pale cloud in the cold of the baby-blue morning. Swish, swish, sings the pail, ringing with each jet of milk.

"What?" Linda stands where she'd been squatting next to the chicken coop. There's only a small handful of eggs in her basket, and they're covered in hay and feathers and chicken shit but they're all lovely, the shells varying from blue to green to brown.

Paul blinks, because she's perfect and he doesn't have his camera. He hums the line again. "What d'you think?"

"What's that?"

"For the--second song." He hums it again, and taps his foot too. It's bluesy like that; a gut bass wouldn't go amiss.

Linda hums it back, nodding thoughtfully to the beat, then raises her eyebrows in acknowledgement. "I like it. It swings."

Paul gives a little wiggle, shoulders and hips, as well as he can for kneeling on the ground. Tina's all done; she walks off in search of her kid. He and Linda throw the tune back and forth a few times until it's got legs. On the walk back to the house, he starts to ad-lib, scatting a few bars, just until he can get his hand around a pen and start writing words. But it's a pan-handle that ends up in his hand instead, once they cross the threshold into the kitchen--omelets really can't wait. Linda compromises, lets him drag out a tape recorder to catch their little breakfast demo. As longs as he keeps cooking.

"What's that, Delta blues?" she asks, pouring tea.

"Mm, not quite. Little more country-western." A Texas drawl bleeds through to tug at his vowels, harden his r's. He adds diced peppers, tomatoes, and a handful of spinach to the beaten eggs. As they sizzle on the skillet, he whistles. Linda dances, shoulders shimmying. He laughs.

"This is nice, isn't it?" He's not planning to say it, but. Jesus, the sun coming through the window, the wind chimes on the porch. Somebody's got to.

"It smells great," Linda agrees--means to.

Paul chuckles. "No, the--"

"Oh, the song? Yeah, it's a good one."

"I just meant..." He gestures as well as he can with a spatula in one hand and a pan at the other. Shrugs at the room. "Just this."

"Hmm." There's a clink as she sets down the teacups, then her hands slide into his pockets from behind, and she kisses his shoulder. He curls against her, still too busy fending off burnt eggs to give much of anything back. But she's there for a breath, a side-to-side sway, then she's gathering plates.

"The country tune, it's not bad, though," Paul says a bit later, omelets plated and toast buttered.

"No. I like it."

He hesitates a moment, then, "John would hate it."

"Well," Linda says with exaggerated shock, "then." Might as well scrap the whole thing, hadn't we?

"I mean, I don't really mind, though. It's such a high, isn't it? Writing together?"

"It's kind of an ego trip," she admits, "making something ex nihilo. I don't know how you two kept your heads on." She raises the teacup to her lips. "Don't know how you stayed so ridiculously humble." Her eyes widen, then crinkle with a smile as she drinks.

Paul flips his hair over his shoulder, preening for her. He'll play the prima donna, because it's funny and she's right. He fancied himself a god among men once and, well, forgive him, but they were creating life out of nothing.

All right, not out of nothing. Thesis-antithesis, synthesis. Not genesis. It was part of them put together that grew into something as alive as a song, as self-sufficient as an album. Like...like childbirth.

Paul thinks of all the young songs toddling about out there, hyphenated to bear his last name, some old enough now to be starting primary school. He finishes his toast.

A few mouthfuls of bread doesn't push it down all the way, though. As they clean up, he starts talking again; not necessarily saying anything, mind you. "I think, with me and John, it was sort of..."

Linda pauses, giving him ample time to spit out the word he's looking for. He doesn't. "Give me a hint."

Paul shakes his head and hands her a dish to dry. "Not like exercise, you know, not a chore, like we were forced to, but we sort of...had to. Had to get it out, you know?" He gestures too broadly, wrist-deep in suds, and splashes his shirt.

"Cathartic?"

It clicks nicely. "Yeah," he says, because he's not going to find a better match than that. Purifying release. Yet it feels too...clean, somehow. Too pretty.

"Do you miss him?"

Paul doesn't like the feeling that floods his chest. The specific brand of defense that used to keep his blood pumping whenever they'd sit for American journalists. It's self-preservation--keeps him from blurting, Why the hell would you ask me that? Besides, he's not angry at her. She's not going to print it in the papers. She just wants to know.

He takes a breath. "Course I do, yeah. I mean. Shouldn't I?"

"What do you miss most about him?"

All right, that's...he's still not angry with her. He allows himself a laugh that's really a sigh. "Lin."

"Or is it the songwriting that you miss?"

"No. I don't--I just--" Linda motions for Paul to give her the next dish, and he rinses it and hands it over. "I mean, he's my best friend, I just. Miss him." She's quiet, so he continues. "I miss havin' him around."

"To do what?"

"Not to do anything, to just be there. Just be around each other." Paul shrugs. "I miss that."

Linda leans against the counter and smiles. "Great. Say that."

Paul blinks at her. "What, I just miss--"

"Not to me. Goober." She swats him with the dish towel. "Pick up the telephone. And say it to John."

"Oh." Paul huffs, taking great care not to roll his eyes as he reaches across the counter for an aubergine. "Right, let me just--"

"Go--down--the road." She punctuates each beat with another gentle whack from the dish towel and sets the last plate up in the cupboard.

Paul opens his mouth to protest, but it sort of dissolves. "Okay." Even now, this path is giving him uneasy footing. It's too simple. If it were that easy, he would've already just...wouldn't he? He dries his hands and rolls his sleeves back down. They're cold; he couldn't stop them getting wet. What harm is there in humoring her, though?

He must look like he's taking his sweet time, because Linda asks if he needs tuppence for the phone. As a matter of fact, he can manage, thank you, so he starts to hike down the road. The sun's coming up now. Just after six; Heather won't be up for half an hour yet. The driveway's all but dry now. After the last month's heavy rains, Paul was sure they'd be wading knee-deep in mud the rest of their lives, and yet. Slender green shoots will be daffodils soon, and then it'll be summer.

Paul's halfway to the phone box when he remembers the tape recorder. What a coda for the only demo of their country song--I miss him, I miss him, boo-hoo-hoo. Bleeding Christ. He's going to have to cut that tape. He picks up his pace, partly just to keep up with the way his lungs have kicked into fourth gear, but it's a bad idea. All of this. Right, he'll pick up the phone and call John, who he last spoke to through a lawyer, and tell him...tell him what, exactly? No, he can forget about the whole thing. He's not doing it. At least the trip isn't a total waste--he's getting a nice hike out of it.

He picks up the phone. He doesn't know why, but there's no harm in it, really. He could call Ringo, while he's here. His dad. Either of those would be reasonable options.

He dials John.

After six rings and no answer, Paul's stomach churns with the possibility that John just won't pick up. It should be a relief, infinitely preferable to what's absolutely going to happen instead (John will answer, and at the first note of Paul's voice, he'll slam it back down on the hook), but it's about to make him sick.

"Hello?"

It's not John. It's a woman's voice, but not Yoko, either. Paul almost stops breathing, certain he's got the wrong number, but it must be their staff, he realizes.

"Um." He can already hear himself putting on a BBC accent, and he hates it, but he's not sure what he would say if he didn't. "Hello, is John there, please, I'd like to speak with him."

For some reason, the woman doesn't ask who he is or why he wants to talk to John, just tells him to please wait a moment. Frankly, Paul's not impressed. Why bother with staff if they won't even screen your calls? It could be anyone on the other end of that line. He could be some kind of madman, some crazy ex-lover or--

"Hullo?"

At the sound of John's voice, Paul's not quite sure where he is for a moment. Not here, at least, not now. It doesn't seem plausible. He closes his eyes and says, "Hiya, John."

There's a silence so long that Paul bites his lip and starts to take another breath to repeat himself, but finally, "...Paul?"

"Hey," he breathes, staccato. His heart is racing like this is a matter of survival. There's no reason for it to be. It is, after all, a telephone call. He clears his throat. "Listen, I'm...are-are you doing anything right now?"

There's a sound like scoffing, as if John's too bewildered to string together a whole word. Then, "...Yes."

"Oh." Paul's throat tries to close, hot and aching. He forces a careful breath and continues. "I can just--"

"What do you want, exactly?"

Million-pound fucking question, there, thinks Paul. It's one he can't answer, so he gives John the next-best. "I miss you, mate."

He gnaws his thumb through another brick-load of a silence, before filling it with, "Just thought I'd...ring you and tell you."

"Oh you did, did you?" John says, with no pause this time, because it's a reflex, easier than speaking. It's a double-edged sword, not only lambasting this stupid bloody idea but insinuating that maybe it wasn't even Paul's to begin with; oh, YOU did, did you? "And that'd change, what?"

"No. I, I know. I just...look, it's the truth, I-- And I don't like that we've grown apart, you know."

There's a scratch of static, like John is moving the phone. "Do you hear yourself, man?"

More than either of us would like, Paul grouses to himself. But like he's always done, he keeps going. "No, listen, I know I-... I know what I did to push you, and I'm sorry. I am. I just can't stand it bein' like this, you know, we're not meant to be goin' at each other, or not speaking to each other, I--" He sighs. "Don't you miss it?"

"Miss what?"

Paul rubs his eyes. At some point, they'd closed again. "Be nice if you came out here, is all. Saw the farm."

"Nice. Yeah. What, so I can see how nice and bloody perfect your life is now? Without--without--is that it? You and Little Bo Peep?"

"I really, I really just thought you'd like to see it up here, and it's not, you know, John, it really isn't." Paul laughs a bit, only enough to make his breath shake, enough to wind him. "Without you. It's really not."

There's a huff, then another, heavier breath. "All right," John says, slowly. He doesn't sound happy.

Paul rakes his hand through his hair a few times, trying to weigh how lost a cause this is. "I'm writing a song. We are, Linda and me. You'd, oh, you'd hate it."

It's enough of a non sequitur that John actually laughs, a quick burst of disbelief before quieting again. "Yeah, I bet," he says after a while.

"No, it's Woody Guthrie doing musical chairs, it's really..." They're both laughing now, long enough that Paul can actually catch his breath. "I meant it, you know. You should come up here."

John doesn't laugh. "Paul."

"Not now, obviously--"

"But I can't just--"

Something kicks in Paul's chest. An unwise flicker of hope. John's arguing logistics with him now, not morals, not justification. "No, no, I know," he quickly says, "just sometime--"

"I..." John sighs. Struggles with something. "I'd have to...I'll, um. I'll call you back, all right?"

"...Yeah." Paul's heart doesn't just drop. He's pretty sure he can feel it split on impact, like a sack of flour. "Sure, yeah." Distantly, he remembers that this is a public phone box and he hasn't left John any number, and knows there won't be a call back. But it's all right. He got further than he expected. Hell, at least he got the bloody words out. Take that, Linda. That's what this was about. She hadn't said to invite him up here; probably would flip her wig if she knew he'd tried. Tell him what you told me. Those were her instructions. Check, done.

"Wait, hang on," John says. "Wait. Don't hang up, all right? I've--hang on."

"Okay," Paul breathes, automatic as if someone's just put a coin in him, and waits. And waits. There was a rough noise earlier like John put the phone down, but now there's nothing; no background chatter, no hold music.

Paul watches a lady beetle crawl up a stalk of grass. He follows the wispy trail of an airplane. He waits and thinks and stews and worries and just as he's about to ask if anyone's still there, John's voice comes through the line.

"Paul? You there?"

"Yeah, I'm here. I'm here."

"There's a flight, um..." John sounds a little out of breath. "Just got one of the last ones, actually, so I can, um. Tomorrow. Is--can I? Is that all right?"

Tomorrow.

Paul's vision swims. He feels like he's in a car, driven by someone who's pressing down the brake and the gas as hard as they can simultaneously. He could sing. He's going to die. "Yeah," he says. "Great."

"All right, then."

Paul swallows. "Good. Yeah."

They say good-bye, John hangs up. It is, after all, just a phone call.

Paul makes the seven-minute hike back up to the farmhouse in about ten seconds. He's never felt this full-to-bursting with conflicting energy. He wants John to come, but every time he thinks about it, his stomach lurches with a feeling remarkably like dread. Tomorrow? He's got a day, if that, to get the place ready. Never mind selling the idea to the girls. Surely it's not too late to call the whole thing off.

Heather's finishing breakfast when he returns. Linda doesn't ask how it went--she might have done, but he tells her everything before she's got the chance to. It's just Paul's luck that she needs only a few minutes of convincing to get on board with the idea. She could've vetoed it outright, saved them all a lot of trouble. But, funny enough, she says, she's been promising Heather a trip back to London, and they've an open invitation from Yoko if they should ever need a place to stay.

"You can manage the place all by yourself, right?" she asks with a smile. Before Paul can actually blow a fuse, she drops the act and kisses him, beckons him to join her in the chores that need to be done before tomorrow. Everyone's fed. Everyone who needs it and will stand still is washed. Everything that's started to dry up, or to rot, is cut and shoveled away, replaced with fresh and new.

It's not even noon.

Paul takes a quick dip in the washtub and cleans the house. All of the softening fruit from the kitchen goes into the trough with the table scraps. Flat surfaces are wiped down and swept. He's ready to organize the clothes in the wardrobe, but Linda and Heather are packing--striped pants everywhere--so he bins that idea. A spliff outside the bathroom window doesn't calm him, but it slows him down. He straightens the shoe rack. Finally, he sits down to write.

I look high / I look low / I'm lookin' everywhere I go / Looking for

Paul stares at the paper, twiddling his pen back and forth. Looking for what? There's the million-pound question again. The longer he glares at the mostly-blank page, the more he wants to feed it to the goats. So much for creation ex nihilo, he thinks. Three lines his eight-year-old daughter could've written, and no closer to knowing what it is he's looking for.

Eventually, he remembers to eat. He plays make-believe horses with Heather, bathes her, reads her a story. Sings to her. As soon as she's in bed, he can't keep his hands off Linda, for some reason. They kiss, share whispery breaths, and he kneels on the kitchen floor, lifting her patchwork skirt to bury his nose in corn-silk hair and eat her out against the sink. He's too wired, and too exhausted, for anything else.

---

The next day's not much easier.

"Give her my love, yeah?" Paul says as he kisses Linda a final time, and throws in a wink; you know I don't envy you. Heather waves and they're gone.

The problem is, John didn't say what time he'd come, and the pesky thing about tomorrow is that it consists of twenty-four circles of hell called hours, during any of which he might decide to turn up. Paul does all of the chores again, twice, just to be safe. When he starts feeling like he needs to run rings around the farmhouse, he picks up his guitar and writes. Looking for does not get a partner. But he gets the middle eight down, and it's not bad, either. The scatting can stand on its own; no need to conjure actual lyrics.

A distant, rolling crunch of gravel in the drive. John's here.

Paul darts to the window. A sleek black car, ridiculously out of place in the rugged landscape, is chugging along the dirt road, raising a terrible cloud of dust. It's John, all right--overdressed. On his way to the door, Paul ducks into the bedroom to fuss with his hair in the mirror--there, that's enough.

He hears a car door creak open and slam shut. Boot-heels crunch their way to the front step. Paul's heart leaps into his throat.

He opens the door.

John looks up, like he'd been studying the welcome mat. He's freshly shorn, a shorter haircut than Paul's seen on him in twenty years. His glasses are tinted yellow. He's wearing a smart jacket over an expensive-looking shirt, a fucking scarf, and even sharper slacks. His black boots gleam.

Paul laughs, and it doesn't even sound nervous. "Did you bring any other clothes?"

John raises his eyebrows and tightens his lips. "Left my gunnysack at home, actually." He can't keep his smile hidden.

In a fit of boldness that surprises even him, Paul throws his arms around John, knocking their chests together almost painfully. He holds on tight even as it makes it harder to breathe. John stalls for a second, winded and caught unawares, but he embraces Paul back. Wraps him in his long, long arms and pulls them together.

"Hey." Paul can barely get enough air out to shape the word. The hug is squeezing his lungs like a bagpipe. Any more pressure on his windpipe and he'd cough--his throat already itches like hell from his second time mucking out the stalls that morning.

John doesn't seem to notice. "Hi," he says, smoothly, with evident room enough to breathe.

They break apart before Paul suffocates. He blames the sudden dizzy feeling on a lack of oxygen. "Want to come in?"

John unwraps his scarf as he crosses the threshold, like there's any meaningful temperature difference between inside and outside. Like the flimsy thing was doing anything to keep him warm, anyhow. "Should I take me shoes off?"

"Doesn't matter. Our floors will probably deal more damage to your shoes than you can to do them."

John toes off his boots. Paul's eyes flit around the entrance, the main room, and the kitchen, looking for anything he might've missed. "How was the drive?" he asks.

"Un-fucking-believable. Do you know people keep sheep out here? Look out the left-hand side, sheep. Right-hand side, sheep. Crossin' the road in front of you for half an hour, sheep on sheep on fuckin' sheep. About did me fucking head in. You don't have any of them, do you?"

"Oh, no," Paul says, mock-serious, with a curt shake of his head. The guttural baaa of a ram can be heard just outside the kitchen window.

"Good. Be too bloody soon, if I never saw another one." John turns as he speaks, taking in the sights of the farm cottage. The herbs hung to dry, the hand-hewn table, the quilt on the sofa. Paul considers them from an outsider's point of view, and he feels at once self-conscious and proud. It's kitsch, but it's, well, home. "This is cozy," John remarks, which doesn't clarify whether he appreciates it or hates it.

"Keeps us dry when it rains," Paul says, and does his best not to press.

John turns back to Paul. "What's there to do around here?"

"Have you eaten?"

John shakes his head. "Starving."

Paul spins around with a smile. As he makes his way to the fridge, John adds, "Why? Gonna kill the fatted calf?"

"We don't keep cows." Paul emerges from the fridge with the picnic hamper and a naked grin. It's so well-packed that the bottles of milk don't even clink as he lifts the basket, his eyebrows high with hope.

"Oh, do let's," John twitters, airy and delicate like a fine lady, tossing his head and batting his lashes with a dead expression. The mockery arrives a bit flat when his head-toss nearly launches his glasses off his nose, and he has to quickly push them back up.

Paul doesn't back down from the dig, either. If John wants to be an Edwardian gentle lady, he'll hear no complaints from Paul. He crooks his elbow, offering it out to John. John takes it--in those boots, he's almost-almost a little bit taller--and they stroll out the Dutch door.

They don't get to play Mary Poppins for long. A few steps out, Paul concedes that he needs both hands to support the basket. John storms off ahead, pretending great offense that Paul doesn't want to hold his hand anymore. It's minutes later before John realizes he might not be the best candidate to walk in front, as he doesn't know where they're going.

"It's not far," Paul says. "You can see the meadow, just ahead."

John manages not to get lost, but their journey is delayed several times when he needs to stop and pick something out of his sock. The spear-head seeds of the wild grasses lodge themselves in his expensive clothes, adorn his pant legs, fill his shoes.

"Ow!--God damn it," John snaps. For the ninth time, he stands on one foot and wobbles dangerously as he attempts to rid the other one of stickers.

"Just wait until we get there and get them all out then," says Paul. "You're only going to get more anyway. It's just over this hill."

He's underselling it a bit. The hill in question is deceptively steep; it might be the highest point on the otherwise uniform moors. John gripes about the trek and the burrs, Paul smugly advises him to dress for the environment next time, but soon, they're both panting too hard to jeer at each other.

It's starting to worry Paul, actually, how hard he's breathing. Not just the reminder that he's no spring chicken and should probably smoke less than he does, but now every lungful is starting to burn. Every inhale makes his head feel thick and fuzzy with a deep, flowery itch. This isn't good. He thought--he wanted to be certain that it was too early in the year for everything to be germinating, but alas, it is. The air is earthy and sweet with pollen, and fuck if John isn't kicking up more and more with every stomp, just in time for Paul to walk through its wake.

This isn't fair, Paul thinks. He's usually got more warning than this. Enough to plan around it. The hay didn't bother him at all this morning, not even on the second pass through the stalls, when the dust made his throat sting. Apparently, that doesn't mean he's in the clear. Though alfalfa hay isn't always the best litmus test--sometimes it gets to him, sometimes it doesn't. The wild grasses, on the other hand? Always. Just not this bloody early in the season, he thinks as his eyes start to water.

He could walk ahead of John, he supposes, get less of it kicked up his nose. But back here, he's got the distinct advantage of discretion. He can paw and scrub at his twitching nose all he wants (and then some more, when the itch immediately returns) without attracting attention. It's a pain, a real Sisyphean drag, but it's not more than he can manage.

Paul feels the first sneeze coming a mile away. A tingling that starts in the back of his nose and creeps up, spreads out, little by little. It feels too small, at first, for anything to come of it (Paul wonders if it'll be one of those that just teases him for a few hours), but it builds until it's bigger than his head. Before he can gasp in too much air, he seals his lips, holds his breath...but it doesn't matter, he can't stop it--

"hdt--!"

He has to clamp a thumb and finger around his nose to hold it in, squelch it down to nothing. The awful pounding feeling in his sinuses that results is almost enough to make him regret it, but what's the alternative? John's attention should be on the landscape, not on...shit, there's another one... "hdt--mph!" It feels like he's imploding, but he shakes his head free and tries to catch his breath. One sniffle against his sleeve, then he should be all right for a while.

Paul's so preoccupied and bleary-eyed, he nearly bowls into John, who's stopped at the top of the hill.

"Woodie Guthrie, eh?" John asks, hands on his hips, gazing out at the land, and Paul has to admit, it does look like the American prairie.

"Mm," Paul nods, blinking, pursing his lips together, just in case.

It's only a few steps down to the meadow, where it's flat enough to lay out the-- "Shit!" Paul suddenly spits, so quick and percussive it almost scratches the itch for a moment. Just fucking typical.

"What?"

"I've forgotten the picnic blanket." Paul hears, as soon as he says it, that he sounds like an A. A. Milne character; Oh, bother. But what are they meant to do--sit in the grass?

Without a second thought, John does just that, stretching out on his back like it's carpet (and not, for example, a blanket of weeds that practically trembles to cover them both in seeds and pollen). "The water's warm," he offers, swirling his arms and making the grasses ripple.

Paul tries not to shiver as he sits cross-legged on the ground. At least he remembered the picnic lunch; he spent half the morning cobbling it together. Cheese, berries, honey, cucumber sandwiches, tomato sandwiches, scones with jam. Milk and a small flagon of wine. (A lovely set of checkered napkins, too--Paul sequesters one away in his pocket, just in case worst should come to worst.)

"Is that your place?" John points at the valley below them.

Paul squints, then nods. "Yeah." His farmhouse is storybook-sized from where they're sitting. They've come a long way.

"How many acres is it?"

"We've--" Paul's about to answer, but his eyes flood and his breath skips. It comes up on him so fast down here, at nose level with the grass, that he scarcely has time to duck sideways against his wrist and catch two more sneezes he can't quite suppress. "Two hundred," he quickly breathes, before he's quite out of the grip of the second one. His face burns--some of it's allergic flush, some of it's the hike, but either way, he doesn't look at John.

"Bless you."

Paul doesn't know why it's so unexpected. But the shock of hearing John say it is enough to scare off a third sneeze that's fighting its way out. So casual, unconcerned. Paul rubs his nose, trying to soothe the burning, pulsing ache left behind when the sneeze retreated. John, mercifully, leaves it at that, and they eat.

"I just don't get it."

It's John who breaks the silence, which Paul is grateful for, but it strikes him dumb. He casts a puzzled look at John, who clarifies, "Why would you want to live out here?"

"What?" Paul knows he's talking on borrowed time, so he gets to the point. "It's beautiful. What d'you mean, why?"

"To look at, sure, but..." John takes off his glasses and folds them in the basket. "What do you do, day by day, month after month?"

"I..." Paul has to press a fist under his nose just to keep the breath in his lungs. It's a temporary fix, a finger in the dam, but as soon as he's able, he huffs, "There's a lot that goes into running a farm, you know."

"But why do it? What for? What was the point of getting rich and famous if you're just gonna live like it's the bloody nineteenth century--"

"Is that why you did it?" Paul coughs. Sniffs. "To get rich and famous?"

"That's why we did it. Or at least, that's what you told me, every day for ten years. If I'd known this was what you meant by 'the toppermost of the--'"

"I did-...Sorry..." Paul can't get two words of his interruption out before the need to sneeze nearly blinds him, and he has to twist away and grab his nose. He pitches forward three times, small and sharp, too quick in succession to breathe in between. As he straightens, catching his breath at last, he considers that he could probably keep it down to one at a time if he didn't try to hold them in. But really, there's only so much humiliation he can take. "God," he rasps, shaking his head. "That's...sorry."

"Bless you," says John, plowing right through the threshold. "You all right?"

"Fine. I just..." Paul closes his eyes briefly. He runs the edge of a finger under his nose, a quick swipe to keep it dry. "Well, I did it because I loved writing songs. I couldn't do anything else."

John doesn't push back on that--how could he? It's as true for him as it is for Paul, so it's back to knocking the farm. "There's nothing out here," he says.

"My family's out here."

"Your family's all over." John's voice drops slightly, like he's started to check out of the conversation. Only occasionally does he look at Paul. "There's real life happening out there, you know, in cities. Art and culture. There's a war on, as well, right now."

Paul's skin crawls. It's sweat from the heat of the day, it's everything John's saying, but this godforsaken grass... He rubs at his wrists, his neck, trying not to dig his nails in. He itches.

John doesn't notice, or he doesn't care. "But it's happening out there, not here. Sure, raise your family, raise a couple of goats. Raise a giraffe for all I care. But at what point do you pull your head out of the sand--"

"This was supposed to be perfect." Paul spits it out, half-laughing. This is just too absurd. It's too stupid. "I had it all planned out. Can you believe that?" John's gone quiet, but Paul can't seem to shut up. "I was going to bring you out here, and I wouldn't have to explain anything, you'd just...you'd just--" Paul gasps like he's drowning and lets out a shuddering sneeze into his fist. It's so unsatisfying he could cry. The first of many to come, and doesn't that just fucking figure? Bloody perfect. He might as well keep babbling and make a proper ass of himself. "You'd just see it, and you'd get it, I don't know, the--hh'chhew!" Across the back of his hand.

"Paul."

"The house, the animals..." Paul's trying to talk through the wrist he's jammed over his top lip, which is starting to feel like it's for nothing. "The land, th--hh-!...'Ttchhoo! God, the fresh fucking air..." He rises clumsily to his feet, trying to put a little distance between his head and the fresh air in question, just in time to whip around and muffle a violent sneeze with the cuff of his sleeve. With an exasperated huff, Paul goes digging for the checked napkin. He has to laugh once more as he folds it over his nose. It's just...sad. "Sorry. Bloody hell. This was going to be nice."

"I don't mind," John says earnestly. Paul makes a noise of dismissal, so John appends, "Paul, look at me."

Over the tent of red-and-white cloth, Paul looks.

John's face is soft and open. At the edges, maybe a bit pink from the hike and the sun. There's not a hint of derision. "I don't mind. I don't."

Paul casts his eyes down and turns away. "Thanks," he mutters, before drawing a tentative breath and blowing his nose. Straight away, a cool rush of relief--but only temporary, he knows. As soon as he starts to breathe again, the time bomb begins to tick.

John waits patiently for Paul to turn back around before he asks, "Hayfever?"

"...Yeah." Paul's cheeks lift as he tries to squash a mortified smile. "Well, but it's. Not hay that does it." Usually.

"Bloody well hope not. You might be in the wrong line for that, mate." John plucks a wildflower from the grass, tall and straight with a stiff violet plume. "What about them?"

"Um. Not too bad." Bit by bit, Paul's smile twists into something resembling laughter. "It's mostly the grass, I think. The weeds."

"Hmm." John brings it close and sniffs, blinks curiously, then leans in for another sniff. His face is solemn as stone.

For a moment, Paul feels bold. "Not givin' you any trouble, is it?"

John shakes his head. "I don't get hayfever anymore. 'M cured."

"What?"

"I get a jab once a month." John taps his left shoulder. "Yoko knows a fella, a doctor. Used to be every week, at first, could hardly stand it. But it's done wonders for me voice." John gives the wildflower one more sniff and shrugs, raises his eyebrows. Nada.

Paul gives a snorting scoff, and pays for it with a short spell of coughing. "Sounds nice. I'll take your word for it."

"Nah. I miss it." To Paul's heart-stopping surprise, John inverts the flower, pokes the end of the stem into his nostril, and swirls it around.

Paul's eyes widen. "What're you--"

"ahhh..." John's mouth lolls open, drinking air. His head tips back, his nose wrinkles, and he sneezes, hard enough to shake his whole body. "hh'ESCHhiew!"

Even with ample warning, Paul jumps very slightly. How pathetic is it that his heart's thumping double-time now? Only, he supposes, it's been a while. He wants to say something--call him an idiot, give him the full rites of the Catholic Church. All he can do is laugh.

John groans lightly. Once he's recovered enough to acknowledge his audience, he throws Paul a wink. "For auld lang syne." He tosses the flower, and it disappears into the grass.

Paul's not sure if that's quite what Rabbie Burns had in mind. He opens his mouth to tell John as much (in a Scots accent, to boot), but what comes out is: "I've missed you." His eyes itch and fill with tears--it's the pollen.

"Yeah, I heard." John's face stiffens as he hears himself say it, like he didn't mean to be so flippant. By way of an apology, he offers Paul a sandwich, saving him from sitting down again, and Paul accepts it. "I wish...It's silly, but I wish we could...All right, there?"

The itch that's been toying with Paul finally blossoms, and he jolts into the hand that's not holding a sandwich. "hh'nkxtch!"

John chuckles softly, in the most non-derisive way possible, blesses him, and announces that they're heading back now. Paul can only snuffle and gather up the basket.

---

"That head-in-the-sand bit, I didn't mean that."

John starts rehashing the argument when they've made it back to the farmhouse in once piece--which was no guarantee. Paul doesn't slow down, never mind stop sneezing until he's had a wash, changed his clothes, and flushed out his head with warm water. John did, in fact, bring different clothes, each outfit more extravagant and ill-suited to farm life than the last. But he changes too, resolves to burn his sticker-laden socks. It's only once tea is served that he revisits the matter of Paul's farm.

"I don't think you're hiding," he says, "whatever this is. But I don't know why you're so married to this place, if that's not true."

"Why do you care?" Paul sets his cup down. "It's not your life, is it?"

"Evidently not." There's a little venom to it.

"John." Paul does the opposite, drops his voice to his head register, retracts his claws. "Why are we doing this? I can't come back to London."

John looks down with a tight, joyless smile. "I can kid myself, can't I?"

"Look, it's--" Paul lifts up his hands. "Think what you want of me, but my home's here."

John's quiet. It tears Paul up, but there's a sense of relief that comes with it, too; if he were going to say something biting, something really unforgivable, it would've slipped out without a pause. He's quick like that. Paul doesn't know how he ever endured it. He can't see how he'll live without it.

"I miss it, too," John says.

Paul feels caught. Struck. They're having two different conversations and still managed to run into one another, in a clatter of heads and a tangle of limbs. It's a dead end. A corner.

This isn't what Paul invited him for.

Paul swigs his tea and marches into the bedroom. He returns with a cotton shirt, a pair of dungarees, and a battered pair of socks. "Put these on," Paul orders before John can ask, and dumps the bundle of clothes on his lap.

"Are you kicking me out?" John calls over his shoulder, but Paul's already in the bathroom. He returns with an antihistamine pill--pink, horse-sized, the kind that may as well be a sedative--and swallows it with the rest of his tea.

"In half an hour, this'll kick in," Paul explains. "And then I'm going to teach you how to ride a horse." He turns around as John's face is morphing from puzzlement to glee, hoping he'll change his clothes if given the privacy of the living room.

"Can you show me that song?" John pipes. The one you said I'd hate.

Paul bites his lip and goes off in search of his guitar.

#yoko and linda are sucking each other silly as this retreat is happening. btw

[malex-crack]

Secrets are Revealed

🌑Part 5 of my Hope Guerin/ Alex is a Mikaelson series 🌑

" HA! I win again! Screw you all!

"No! You cheated! Again!"

"No I didn't!"

"I call another round! You cheated!"

" You can't call another round just because you lost another round Michael!"

Alex smiled in his beer watching Michael and Isobel argue over the game. Everyone else around them was laughing and amused.

Alex laughed when Michael threw the Monopoly money at her for the 3d time tonight, " baby calm down, we're still playing 4 more game that you could beat her at"

"Unless Izzy kicks our asses in those too" Maria muttered into her beer bitterly.

"Don't hate me because I'm a winner and you're all losers" Isobel smirked, laying back against her elbows. Maria stuck her tongue at her.

Michael groaned, giving up the fight and flipped back against Alex's chest. He smiled, watching his boyfriend pout. Leaving a kiss on Michaels cheek. "Okay. I think another round of beers then onto the next game" Alex patted Michael's arm so he could get up.

Before they could move, Liz got up groaning, " I'll get them. I need to stretch my legs" then darted off to the kitchen. Maria got up as well, announcing a bathroom break.

Kyle helped Max and Dallas clean up the game, preparing the next one. Isobel kept smiling at her phone, probably texting Anatsa.

Michael snuggled back into his chest, " aww Izzy bear blushing while texting her girl"

Alex snorted, shaking his head, "Mich-"

Isobel slowly stared up at him, before flipping him off. Michael chuckled. Alex smiled. He loves seeing Michael so free and playful like he's been tonight. Watching him banter with his siblings, laugh about stupid shit with Liz and form a deeper bond with Dallas. Even seeing him have an easy friendship with Maria has calmed some of his dark thoughts from the past.

When he'd suggested a friend's game night he was honestly drunk. They'd all gone out to Saturn's Rings for Liz's birthday. He was having a great time. Dancing with Michael then Isobel then Maria and Liz. It felt like old times before their trio friendship was fractured. They'd all been having such a fun time Alex wanted it to continue.

It wasn't until the plans were actually made, that his anxiety kicked in. He kept to himself because Michael was genuinely excited about the idea but somehow Michael knew. Reassured him they don't have to do it anymore if he doesn't want to. But he did. Alex wanted to get past the rough patch of everything and move forward. And he thinks he has.

For so long he kept his distance not knowing where he stands in parts of the group. With Kyle, Dallas and Michael he's sure where he belongs but others. Was he an actual friend? Someone they need to keep an eye on because of his family history? Or just someone who has useful information for them?

He, Max and Isobel have never been close. The closest they'd gotten was when they worked together to bring Max back. But now they are. Isobel calls him all the time, they do movie nights, she comes barging in with bagels every Thursday morning. When she made the decision to move and quit her job she went to him.

Him and Max are close too, when either of them need advice they help each other. They have their own silly little book club together. Send book suggestions to each other.

And despite the broken friendship between him, Liz and Maria, he's always loved them like family. After that disastrous year he took a step back from them while he was away. Maria had apologized and promised to make amends, before he left. But he asked her for some time. Time to heal and grieve his pain properly if they ever stand a chance to fix what was broken.

With Liz, things weren't as bad but she still hurt him deeply. He felt used and unheard when he came to her. Abandoned in some moments too.

But like he said he wanted to move past everything, instead of living in the pain that he'd been through. Time heals. Sitting here now laughing with them all, definitely heals a lot. He feels like he finally fits in perfectly. Like an actual family. Just like at Saturn's Rings he thought about telling them finally about his werewolf side. It took everything in him not to blurt it out right there.

Alex held back telling for so long because he didn't know his position for the group. But now he does. He wants to let go of that last piece he's been holding back for so long.

"Hey," Alex blinked, focusing on Michael who looked really worried. "You okay baby?"

Alex smiled, here the nickname. He nodded, holding Michael closer, " yeah. I'm good."

Michael eyed him, then nodded leaning his head against his. Alex sighed happily, taking a deep breath before whispering, " I think I wanna tell them…about me."

Michael pulled back abruptly, surprised, " Really?" Here? Now?"

Alex chuckled softly nodding, "yeah"

"Okay..um ok. Whenever you're comfortable. I got your back" Michael watched him softly. Alex could tell he was trying to read him properly. Make sure he was actually okay with this. He was grateful for it. Grateful for how far they'd come. Leaning on each other whenever the other needed it.

Alex held his hand tighter. Once Liz and Maria were back in the room and seated on the floor with everyone else. He asked for everyone's attention. They all immediately paid attention, almost concerned.

With everyone's attention he got nervous, he wasn't used to being the center of attention. At least not by them. Michael squeezed his hand comfortingly. Alex smiled, heart warning at the gesture.

"I have something I need to tell you guys. Michael already knows he's known for 5 months now." Alex said nervously.

They all looked so confused and concerned. When he mentioned Michael knowing they all turned to him questionably. Isobel watched them for a moment before moving towards him, reaching out and taking hold of his other hand, " Alex whatever it is you can trust us"

Alex smiled, grateful for having her by his side. He took a deep breath before continuing, " I need you guys to have an open mind about this. As crazy as aliens are, it's logical. But this is more fictional. Not supposed to exist."

" Of course Alex " Liz and Maria promised. He felt hesitant to hear them promise but let it go. Max, Dallas and Kyle nodded with sincere looks. Isobel just tightened her hold on his hand nodding. Alex relaxed, at the look in her eyes.

" Okay….. I've told this story to Michael already, last year when we rescued Max from Jones." Alex began. He leaned into Michael for comfort, "when I was in Iraq on a mission I killed someone. I-I was angry and blinded by it. I acted before thinking. But me…. killing him caused a curse that I had no clue about, break. A genetic curse. It woke up a werewolf side of me "

Everyone eyed him suspiciously. Kyle blinked, " Alex….what…. I'm confused.."

"Alex…what do you mean by that?" Liz asked.

Alex sighed, " I'm a werewolf."

"What" Liz, Kyle and Maria asked completely baffled. Max looked shocked and suspicious. And Dallas looked so out of place and confused.

Alex huffed, taking his hands from Michael and Isobel, rubbing his face roughly, " I don't know how else to say it. It's simple, I'm a werewolf. I turn on the full moon into a wolf. "

Liz chuckled nervously, like when she didn't know what to do, " Alex….that's fantasy, that doesn't exist."

"What about aliens?" He shot back.

Liz's mouth fell open, blinking, " that's explainable and understandable. It's science not magic."

"What if I say I've seen it?"

Everyone's eyes turned to Michael. Michael wrapped his arm around his waist, " like Alex said. He told me months ago. I've seen him as a wolf. I've seen the human werewolf stuff too. But I believed him even without proof because it's Alex. He doesn't lie and make up stuff. He tells the truth and he's honest"

Alex could see them all take it in, run the information over in their heads.

" So that's what I've been picking up. " Isobel spoke softly beside him. Alex looked at her. " That's why Michael smells like a….dog sometimes"

" What?" Liz asked, glancing between him, Michael and Isobel.

Isobel blinked looking at her, "Michael's scent changed a bit. I've also been picking up a vibe. A different one that I hadn't noticed. I think it's because you two are officially together. But It feels like Alex is with Michael all the time, with a hint of canine."

Alex's eyes narrowed at her as a blush spread across his cheeks. Leave it to Isobel Evans to pick up on something their hiding. Michael was biting his lip, blushing beside him.

"So Alex," Dallas brought their attention back " you're….really a werewolf?"

Alex eyed Dallas, he could tell the preacher believed him just wanted to be sure. Alex let out a deep breath, " yea I am."

It took a moment but they eventually nodded. Isobel snorted beside him. Alex looked over, confused to see her smiling, " what?"

Isobel snorted again, " so an alien and a werewolf fell in love"

Alex's eyes widened, then he turned to Michael who's eyes were just as wide. They both laughed hard causing everyone else to be confused as hell.

#malex fic #roswell new mexico #alex manes #michael guerin #feliciafics #alex guerin #hope nora guerin #the lost original

[ramblingsonic]

I'll be honest, I'd found the relationship stuff alright so far. That said, it seemed almost out of nowhere for Julie-Su to be acting like her and Knuckles were a thing (unless the idea was that he was supposed to just know, which is stupid- fuckin' communicate), aside from that one kiss that clearly left Knuckles confused.

Vector being kinda a shit head and "wantin' to hit on babes" and the like "without ever gettin' weighed down by a ball and chain [Marriage]" fits well enough with the character they established for him at least, and frankly, I was fine seeing that plot play out- hopefully ending with the whole thing as a lesson to Vector to be less of a sexist dick or something, IDK- character growth, or maybe some karma.

Now, this comic is NOT new to relationship drama- that's why Geoffrey was first introduced, and I've been variably tolerant of it. But ultimately, the best relationship elements of the story, in my opinion, have been those built around genuine care between characters, and how they communicate their care and navigate their relationships with each other.

Like, Geoffrey and Sonic fighting over Sally fuckin' sucks (for SO many reasons, but let's ignore the accidental pedophilia issues in this case- still so many problems). Meanwhile, having Sonic get a bit insecure over Knuckles and Sally, ending in him asking Sally a question that leaves them both thinking "Ahh, haha, he/she cares :3" is great. The first is plagued by inconsistent writing (it seems like half the writers want Sally and Sonic to be very loosely a thing, while the other half want them committed to each other), Geoffrey never seemingly having respect for anyone EXCEPT the girl he wants to bone (coincidentally the princess), and there never being a proper scene of Geoffrey really respecting Sally beyond a surface level it feels like. Meanwhile, we have been learning the history (slowly) of Knuckles and Sally, and we see a clear respect they have for each other- meanwhile, Sonic and Sally bounce off each other constantly, having genuine issues and some fights between them, but also often resolving them one way or another; we have scenes where they just talk, where Sally confides in Sonic and he supports her; Sally mourns the death of Sonic AND Knuckles when they get nuked in Robotopolis, and Sonic is horrified to see a roboticized Sally- hell, the BEST scene that ever happened involving the Geoffrey/Sonic/Sally love triangle was when Sally was "dead" and Geoffrey and Sonic screamed at each other "You killed the woman I loved" "You only love yourself, I'm the one who loved her" because it was all built on genuine heart and emotion.

I don't know. I'm not a romance person- romcoms and love stories and (generally) romantic will they/wont they sitcom type shit just doesn't do it for me. I love The Night Circus (go read it, the love story is generic but the fantastical imagery IS SO GOOD!!!!!!!), and I can bear a romantic subplot just fine enough- The Seven Realms is a series with romance and some love triangle esq stuff at it's core, and I still love those books (the dance and proposal in book 4 is SO good- but I have personal reasons to love that).

Still, I'm not an active fan of this space of tropes. I just... want genuine affection and character insight and to see what happens when two characters are put together- some ships are fun in the same way a car crash can be, just watching as two characters interact like water and oil under the heat of romance, while other times these stories are great because of how they humanize the characters and help draw out deep down pieces of them.

All this ranting... the reason I started typing this is: I absolutely hate the trope their setting up in the included panel, I hate it so much, whyyyy?????????? I was having a decent time...

To my understanding, this isn't the end of relationship drama in the comic, it might get worse, and... oh boy. I know there's bad art we've yet to see, and quite likely some stories that'll be worse than what came before. To be honest, I've found most of the comic to be, at worst, low quality and/or convoluted; plenty of it has been enjoyable, with some fantastic art, some really cool and wild ideas, and some great character stuff and all around good execution- not all of it certainly, it started off as nothing Loony Toons bits and even later hasn't been consistently good at all, but more and more it's been getting better in my eyes.

But I worry that, what's to come, might be the bad stuff people attribute to Penders. It feels like everyone makes fun of or complains about Knuckles The Jesus and how convoluted everything is and Geoffrey St. Pedo, as well as the art, but I've yet to see that horrible Vector dancing image, or stick-thin-limb Sonic in need of a haircut, and I worry that the genuinely bad quality writing is yet to come...

#please don't spoil anything y'all #Sonic the Hedgehog #Sonic Archie #1997-1999: Brave New World #Sonic the hedgehog comic #Knuckles the Echidna #Knuckles the Echidna comic #Knuckles the Echidna 26 #in case it's not obvious- I'm rather an optimist #and I've been having a positive good time so far for the most part #Yes it's messy and lots of it is nonsense but how bad is that really? #It's been largely harmless (LARGELY- they should have thought through Geoffrey's age a little bit more...) #but I'm just... I just wanna have a good time here; not be overly harsh. #and I worry that- while early archie might be messier and lower quality- that what people call bad hasn't happened yet.

[rglsrctrsblck]

✨i would've made such a lovely bride (but he'll patch up the tapestry that i shred)✨

part ii : longing

The ceremony smoothly flowed down to a breathtaking reception, James running around and making sure Regulus was ushered upstairs for a touch up and the guests were sat in their respective places, pulling up an extra table and chairs for Walburga and Orion, close enough for Regulus to feel happy, but far enough to keep him from harm. Not that their parents would try anything, not with all these people around them. Besides, there was no reason for them to do anything in the first place when they willingly went to the wedding. Unless they were planning something. What were they planning?

"Hey, you look like you could use a drink,"

"Thanks, Fab. Gideon around?"

"Probably found himself someone already, you know how he is in situations like these. I mean, you're still the worst of us three but yeah, he's probably mid-shag right about now." James snorted, still in his complete ensemble from earlier.

"And you?"

"I'm a bit busy watching over my baby."

"You've with child?" James spluttered, waving his hands about as he gestured. Fabian rolled his eyes and smacked the back of his head, pointing towards his sister.

"I meant baby sister, idiot. She's with that boyfriend of hers."

"The Weasley chap? He seems like a good one."

"Oh, he is, I have no doubt. But I told him this was a test. If he doesn't tire my baby sister out from dancing all night, I'm not giving him my blessing."

"I'm assuming he already has Gideon's?"

"Daft idiot likes the boy. I'm a bit of a surist myself."

"Good for you, mate."

"Hey, how are you?" It was a question he knew was coming. There was no reason for him to be surprised. That didn't stop him from tilting his head at an angle, seemingly confused and surprised at the question.

"I'm… okay. I'm okay."

"Not fine?"

"Not quite fine, no." Fabian nodded, finishing his drink and turning to him with an outstretched hand. "Do you want my credit card?"

"No, idiot. Dance with me."

"Fab…"

"It's one night, James. One night that we get you after months of missing you. Will you please dance with me?" James sighed and let himself be tugged into the dancefloor, held against Fabian's chest.

"I hate you for this, you know."

"So do I. Why didn't you tell me you were involved with the ceremony?"

"You would've stopped me. I wanted to keep my promises."

"James…"

"It's okay. I've kept them all. It's over."

"It doesn't have to be, James. We want you here, we want you in our lives."

"You're set to go home tomorrow. They're… they're flying off to their honeymoon right after and I'm.. well, I'm going to explore again."

"You don't have to. You can come with us, you can come with me. I'll teach you how to play the drums." James chuckled against him, shaking his head. Fabian's heartbeat was rapid and strong, making him wonder if he was the one responsible for it. He hoped that he wasn't. He didn't think he could deal with the hurt.

"I'm okay, Fabian. Really."

"But you're not fine. James, I –"

"I know. It's okay. I love you."

".... Fuck you, that's not fair. You can't say shit like that and expect me to not.. that's unfair, you dickwad." James laughed and managed a small bow as the song ended, hugging the taller one more time before finding himself in a new set of arms.

"I hate you. I can't believe you kept this from me."

"You'll get over it, Lily-bear. You always do."

"Especially when it comes to you," then she smacked his chest, glaring at him. "How are you still standing right now?"

"I have legs, dearest, in case you weren't aware," he joked, laughing at her response. "I'm okay, Lily."

"You're saying that word so much that it doesn't even sound like a word anymore. What the hell, James?"

"I'm okay, Lily. I promise."

"Where will you go?"

"I don't know yet… I'm thinking going somewhere along the lines of Nordic and Baltic. Maybe."

"Have you thought of Latin America?"

"Yes, actually. My boards are starting to get overwhelmed, I think."

"Just… just keep your heart safe, James. Wherever you may end up going."

"I promise… if you promise to do the same with Mary." She smiled, knowingly, that James caught on quicker than the speed of light. "Oh.."

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to get sad, James."

"Oh. Oh! I'm not mad or anything, no I – I'm happy for you. I'm glad you're finally with her."

"Well, we're still at the courting stage, but… thank you, James." She didn't tell him that he'll find someone of his own. She chose not to. And James didn't know if he'll ever get to thank her enough for that.

"Mary is the luckiest woman to ever walk the earth." The redhead's eyes welled with tears, dropping her head on his shoulder as they swayed.

"I hate you, you know that?"

He chuckled, rubbing his hand up and down her back. "I know."

"I love you, you dickwad."

"I love you more, Lily-bear." She sighed, squeezing him the best she could, heart heavy in her chest.

Both could feel eyes around them as they swayed to the music, but they paid them no mind, only stopping when Mary tapped James' shoulder, her eyes soft. He nodded at her and let Lily go, stepping back.

It was almost complete. Granted, dancing with Fabian hadn't been in his original plan, but he was glad it happened. The Prewett twins had a very special place in his heart.

Watching Regulus dance with Barty was the most beautiful sight to have ever graced his eyes. They really did make a beautiful couple. 

He wondered what it would've felt like if he had been the one in Barty's place. If he hadn't walked out that night. If he hadn't run off a year ago.

Would they have gotten married? Would Regulus have been as beautiful as he was right now? Would he look as happy as he did now?

Would James have been able to achieve what Barty did?

As he carefully studied the expression in Regulus' face, the emotion, the love in his eyes, he had gotten his bittersweet answer. Even if he'd known Regulus all his life, even if he spent their earliest years making efforts to make him happy, the answer was still the same. Even if he'd ended up proposing to Regulus that night instead of them fighting, the answer was still going to be the same. Even if he hadn't run off, the answer was still going to be the same.

No. James wouldn't have been able to achieve what Barty did. Even with all those years before him, he wouldn't be able to paint the happiest expressions in Regulus' face the way Barty did.

It was bittersweet. But it was a fact he had long ago accepted.

He wished it, they, didn't have to end. But like Atlantis, like every kingdom that had fallen apart, they simply just weren't meant to last together for long.

And that was okay.

He was okay.

"Congratulations, Leo…" he whispered, ignoring the tears rolling down his cheeks. He caught Sirius' eyes and gave him a soft smile and a nod, turning around and walking away just as the next song, an upbeat one they once danced to in the kitchen, many sleepless nights ago, began playing.

Oh, I love it and I hate it at the same time

You and I drink the poison from the same vine

He tried his best to keep his emotions inside his chest, quickly finding his way out of the built-cabin and onto the parking lot. Maybe he'd been hallucinating that there were several voices calling for his name, but the voices were ignored, getting into his car and driving off back to the direction of his house.

He had made his mind.

He was leaving tonight.

His phone was buzzing against his slacks but he ignored it, until the call came from the car.

"I'm leaving and that is final."

"Drive safe, James. I saw the forecast earlier, said there's a mid-chance of rain."

"Pandora?"

"Yeah, it's me. I told them you were just fetching something from your car. How fast can you get to the airport without getting into an accident?"

"As long as it's not raining, I'll be safe."

"Okay. I'm not gonna stop you."

"I know."

"I want you to be happy."

"I know."

"It hurts that you're leaving."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologise. I'm not stopping you. I just… tell me first, okay? Before you decide to run off with someone." James chuckled, wiping his cheeks.

"I will. I love you, Panda."

"I love you more, Prongs. Stay safe." He hugged the phone to his chest before ending the call, parking his car and going back to his house to pack.

Here's the thing : he had no designated destinations in mind. Nor did he have a plan. All he's going to do was pack a single suitcase and a duffel bag, pack his essentials and a couple of pairs of clothes, extra shoes, cash, his electric gadgets, and book the first flight that caught his eyes. 

It didn't matter where he was going to end up, all that mattered was that he was leaving, and he was leaving now.

His phone was still buzzing with new messages and calls, all of which are ignored as he made his way out of the house. He secured the car into the indoor parking to ensure the safety of his vehicle and hailed for a cab.

This was it. He was leaving.

Oh god, he was leaving.

The thing is, it didn't sink in until he was on the plane, halfway through taking off, his heart crashing through the surface of the plane, falling to the ground much like how it felt when he'd left the first time.

But this time, there was finality. There was no hope that someone would take him back. There was no hope that there was still a minimal chance at true happiness with who he really loved.

This was all real.

That was the only thing that circled through his mind as the plane continued to ascend. And once they were on air, so was the reality James was faced with. He only breathed deeply, finally letting himself sleep for the first time since the wedding had been in his mind.

He was going to spend a week there, he decided. 

Norway was beautiful this time of the year. The known midnight sun was one of the things he had wanted to see when he first looked it up, though he didn't think he'd visit earlier. His original plan had been to visit it during the winter months – he loved the warm weather, don't get him wrong – but the wedding being in August set his plans in motion earlier than expected. But he wasn't complaining. The wedding was the last thing on his mind as he walked through the airport, looking around in wonder.

Now, he might get scolded for this, but he hadn't planned anything in advance. Literally, he was a guy who booked the latest flight on the spot in the airport right after leaving a wedding. Cut him some slack. But he seemed like a goddamn lost puppy that he almost booked a flight back home right away. Until his eyes landed on quite possibly the most beautifully Nordic person he had ever seen.

James had never felt so bisexual until then.

The person had almost brown-ish blonde curly hair with braids on the lower ends and several piercings – and iS THAT A STAR PIERCING – that left him breathless. They also wore a knitted jumper over a beige polo shirt and pants, completed with hazel brown loafers that looked so good on them, James might consider melting onto the airport floor.

He was so distracted that he didn't even notice the person starting to walk towards him. And his eyes. Oh, holy fUCK, his eyes. 

James was very, very much bisexual. There was no doubt. 

"Hei? Er du turist?" (Hi? Are you a tourist?)

James blinked once, twice, before he regained his senses, managing a small smile as he sheepishly scratched the back of his neck.

"Er du fra England?" (Are you from England?) The person's accent was thick, giving James the impression that he lived in Norway and was a local there, almost blushing as he nodded. Actually, fuck the almost, he could feel his cheeks heat up with slight embarrassment as the other seemed to lighten up.

"Ah.. I see."

"Oh. You can speak English?" 

James, you dumbfuck, of course he can speak English.

How the fuck was he supposed to know?!

The other seemed to notice his internal monologue and chuckled, nodding. "The name's Remus Lupin. You are?"

"James. James Potter."

"Nice to meet you. How long are you planning to stay here?"

"Erm.. a week, if I figure my way around the place."

".... You have no plans, do you?"

"I do!" He defended almost immediately, pouting when the other chuckled and poked his nose.

"Name one plan you have, then I'll stop."

"Well there's… um.. there's… hey, you're named wolf wolf, did you know that?" Remus actually laughed this time, the butterflies in James' stomach doing somersaults from the sound.

"Wait til you hear of my father's name. So, you're a tourist with no plans whatsoever. How daft could you possibly be?"

"Well, I won't argue with you there." Remus laughed again, taking his suitcase from him. When James gave him a look of confusion, he took his free hand and began leading him out of the airport.

"Before I give you the best week of your life, I need to know. Would you give me your permission to take you home and show you what it's like to be alive here in my homeland?" James' hazel eyes met his own amber ones and decided on the spot that, yes. Yes, he did.

"I do." Remus beamed, grinning at him and finally leading him out of the airport, the fresh air greeting them as soon as the doors opened.

They looked at each other and smiled and James thinks that, yeah. Maybe going to Norway might have been the best idea after all.

#marauders

[reimagine7]

Adopted by whom?

Warnings: lighty mentions of physical abuse

This was my third camp, I was really excited. Even though I knew these womens for only a year, they became like family to me, a few of them were even closer, like Mal and Rose, probably because we are closer to age, so we have a lot of fun together. Tobin and Christen are like moms for me, since the first day of camp they took me under their wings and were super protective, they were worried about my school work and if I ate well or if I drank enough water, even after camp they kept talking and asking how I am, and I talk about them so much that my moms got jealous, and said they are my team moms.

I told this to Tobin and Christen, they laughed at it and began to call me their daughter, so I started to call them mom. They wanted to meet my parents but that didn’t happen yet. Why? Because I didn’t tell them that I am adopted, or that I have two mothers, let alone that one of them is none other than Shannon MacMillan. I know I should but it is a sensitive topic for me and I'm scared that they will treat me differently after they find out about it. That’s why I haven't told anyone on the team about it yet, but I'm thinking about doing so after this camp.

“Kid!! I miss you so much” Tobin ran towards me and gave me a big hug. “Mom, we talked yesterday.” “I know, but I can't hug you on facetime.” “Okay, I miss you too.” “I don’t get a hug?” Christen asked and opened her arms for me to hug her, so I did. “Mama I miss you too.” “Hi sweetie. Excited for camp? How is school?” “The same, boring but my grades are good. And I can't wait for everyone to get here.”

“Siisss!!!” Rose and Mal scream as soon as they spot me in the looby and come running. “Rose!! Mal!! How are you guys?”. We jumped on each other and ended up in the ground on a group hug. “Hey, you weren’t as excited when you saw us. I feel betrayed.” Tobin complained pouting while watching our interaction. “Kids get up before you hurt each other.” Christen separated us and pulled us up. “Sorry mom, but I love you too.” I said to Tobin who still had a pout on her face, so I went and hugged her again.

The rest of the team were finally arriving in the lobby of the hotel, we were talking when Jill spoke up and designated our roommates for this camp, and I was with Tobin. We went up and went to our room. We had lunch soon so we chilled and talked for a bit in our room, until it was time for lunch. So here we are, everyone eating and having fun talking about everything.

On the table was Sonnett, Rose, Linds, Sam, Mal and myself. Sonnett was telling everyone a funny story about her family.

“I’m serious, we were at this party and I kept annoying this girl, who was a douchebag. I forgot about it and started to dance and have some fun, but then suddenly a boy cornered my sister and I heard the girl saying she was the girl who annoyed her and he was about to push her when the parents stepped in. Long story, but in short my sister ended up two days grounded because of that.” “You never told them the truth?” I asked her. “A few years later. They grounded me as well, that was not fun.” “I wish I could have a twin sister, so we could switch places all the time.” Rose commented. “I wish I could have a sister.” Mal complained.

“At least you have your parents all to yourself. You are the favorite.” Sam complained only to be mocked by Linds “Someone is grumpy because it’s not the favorite child.” “And you are?” “Of course.” “Alright, this is not what your brother says.” Sonnett interfered with a smirk. “But I'm for sure not the favorite, my parents don’t hide it.” “Me neither, I’m sure they love me but I have my doubts about who their favorite is. It’s probably Wilma, I don’t blame them.” Everyone laughed at Rose's statement.

Until Mal asked me a question. “What about you Y/n? I’m sure you are your parents favorite.” “Yeah, I don't know. My brother is 10 so... pretty tough competition.” “Wait! You have a brother?” Sonnett asked incredulously. “Yeah.” “Why have we never heard about it? We actually never heard much about your family Y/n.” One of them asked me. Shit, why do I have to open my mouth. “I don’t want to talk about it.” I tried to avoid their eyes so they would know that I didn’t want to talk about it. But Sonnett didn't get it. “Why not? Your parents can’t be that bad?” “Sonnett!! Shut up. Y/n/n, that’s okay, if you don’t want to tell us you don’t have to.” Lindsey said, trying to make me look at them. “But you know that you can tell us everything right?”

I didn’t want to talk about it, and if I stayed one more minute here I would cry, so I decided to leave for my room. “Yeah… I...I think I’m going back to my room. Bye.” “Y/n. Wait! We are not talking about it again. Come back.” Rose tried to stop me, but I stood up so fast that I didn’t even register my surroundings. So as soon as I turned around, I bumped into Ashlyn and her juice spread all over my shirt. Fuck! Ash began to apologise, but now I could feel everyone's eyes on me and all I wanted was to get out of here. “Sorry Speedy, you turn so fast. I…” “That’s okay.” I interrupted her, got free of her hands and walked as fast as I could out of the dinner room.

No one's pov

Meanwhile at the youngies table.

“That was odd.” Sam broke the silence. “I didn’t do it on purpose.” “We know Sonnett. Should we follow her? Or talk to Tobin?” Lindsey asked, trying to comfort Sonnett who was blaming herself for her teammate's outburst.

“Too late for that. Tobin is already coming on her momma bear mode. I’m always scared when she is like this.” Mal spoke looking at Tobin with wide eyes.

“Girls, what happened to Y/n? Why did she get out?” The girls looked at each other until Rose decided to answer Tobin’s question. “We don’t know exactly. We were talking about our families and when we asked about hers she got weird and said she would go to her room.” Tobin sighed and nodded. “Thanks, I will go check on her.”

Tobin pov

I knocked on the door and opened it, when I entered the room I saw Y/n laying on the bed looking at the ceiling.

“Hey, kid. What’s going on?” “Not now Tobin, I just want to be alone for a minute. I’m fine.” “Yeah, you’re not.” Y/n shakes her head and asks. “And how do you know that?” “For starters, you get out of the dinner earlier than usual and without saying goodbye. Then you call me Tobin, you never do that only when you’re not okay.”

With that Y/n sighed and sat on the bed. “It’s just a hard topic for me.” “Your family?” I asked, trying to understand, she just nodded her head.

We stayed in bed for a minute. I waited to see if she was giving me anything else, but that didn’t happen. “Fine, if you don’t want to talk about it, I get it. But let's at least take this shirt off.”

I helped her get up to take the dirty shirt off, but then I looked at her back and saw some scars on it. I was about to take a better look but she quickly pulled back down, trying to hide it. But it was too late, I had already seen it.

“Y/n, what are those marks on your back?” “Are from soccer.” She told me, not looking at me. “I’m not buying it. Tell me the truth.” “It’s nothing Tobin. Give up on this.” “Nope. Right there, you call me Tobin again. Come on kid, you know I won’t give up so soon. So buy us some time and tell me what’s going on.” “It’s hard, Tobs.” “And I’m here by your side, you can tell me everything. But I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s going on.” “Everything is fine now, it’s already in the past. But I'm still learning to trust people, so I normally don’t talk about it with others. I want to, but when I do I cry and I don't want to cry in front of the team.” “Kid, we will never judge you for crying.” “I know but I never had this, not until three years ago. So it is hard to let people in.” “What do you mean? You wanna tell me about it? “

She hesitated for a minute but nodded. She was about to say something when my phone rang. I looked at it and turned off the call, it was Christen but I couldn’t talk right now.

“It’s okay if you need to go. I’ll be fine.” Y/n told me in a low voice. “I’m here for you kid, you can trust me, after all i’m your mom isn’t I?” “Yeah. You are. It’s not actually complicated. It’s just that, my dad abandoned my family when I was 7, a month later my mom found out she was pregnant. Things were already tough, but my mom did everything she could for us to be happy, but a year later she died in a car crash.”

Tears began to fall from her face, so I put my hand on her back trying to comfort her.

“I’m sorry for that Y/n/n. You don’t need to keep going if you don’t want to.” “I want to tell you everything.” After a minute she stopped sobbing and spoke again. “Well, after that my father didn’t want us so we ended up in foster care and that’s why I don’t like to talk about my family. Is not because I don't trust you, but is because for most part of my life I didn't quite have one. I have just a few memories from my biological mother and I had to take care of my little brother during seven years of my life. Is not simple to talk about it. I was abused from the age of 8 until I turned 14 years old. That's where my marks are from, they hit on me just because they wanted to.”

I hugged her, but didn’t say a thing, I knew that’s what she needed right now. After a few minutes I spoke up. “Kid, I had no idea that you passed through this all. But I want to tell you that this doesn't change our relationship, I still love you and will fight everyone who messes with you, and you know Christen will as well.” “Thank you Tobs.”

After a minute of silence, I decided to ask her what I was scared to ask. “This is still happening? I want to do something about it. I won’t let any of this happen to you again.” “No, three years ago me and my brother got adopted. I told you the truth when I told you that everything is good now. They are amazing and are helping me to get better.” “That’s good. That’s why we never meet them? You didn’t want us to know your story?” “Yeah, that’s one of the reasons.” “One?” “Yeah, well the other one you will understand when you see my moms.” “Your moms?” I asked, still not sure I had heard it right. “Yeah, I got adopted by two moms.” “Oh, Megan will love this.” “I know.” “You want to come back for lunch or do you want to stay here?” “Stay here. Can we just watch a movie?” “Fine, but I choose.”

I jumped on top of her and got the remote so I could choose the movie. “No way, we are on my bed, so I choose.” She got the remote from my hands. “No no, I'm your mother so I choose.” “There’s nothing to do with it. I won’t give it to you.” “Yes you are.”

With that I began to tickle her, trying to get the remote back. Then there was a knock on the door and it opened, but we were too occupied to see who it was. “Okay kids, let's stop the fight.” Oh, that’s Chris. “Tell that to Tobs, she is the one attacking me.” “I see.” Christen separated us. “How are my girls? I’ve been told that I should come here to check on you both, but by the look of things I guess that is all sorted out now.” I looked at Y/n and she had a smile on her face. “I think we are better now right?” “Yeah, much better. Thank you Tobs.” “Of course, I'll always be here for you.” She hugged me and I gave a kiss on her head.

“Oh, I feel left out now.” “Sorry Chris, but Tobs will tell you everything later. But I know I can count on you as well. I’m going to change my shirt now and wash my red face.”

Y/n stood up and left the remote on the bed. “Yes, I got the remote.” I could see Y/n shaking her head and then closing the bathroom door, Chris came to me, gave me a quick peck and asked me what happened.

Your pov

I went to the bathroom to change my shirt and clean myself, and I could hear Tobin telling Christen a little bit of what I told her. “‘What was that about?’ ‘The girls were talking about family stuff on the table and the topic is a little complicated for her. She lost her mom really young and lived in foster care most part of her life, and just recently got adopted. I tell you more later, don’t worry about it.’” I’m glad I finally got to share my story with someone else, and it is no surprise that the two of them were the first to know, I like them a lot.

While I was in the bathroom my phone started to ring.

“Kid, your phone is ringing and is your mom. She wants to facetime.” Tobin yelled from the bed. “Which one?” I yelled back. “Humm… mom Mac?!” Oh, maybe that is a great time to introduce them.

“Could you answer for me? I’m almost finishing.” “Me?” “Yeah, you didn’t want to meet her? That’s the time. She wants to talk to you both as well.” There was a silence in the room, until Chris spoke. “I don’t think that is a good idea.” “You’ll like to talk with her. Don’t you trust me?” “Fine.” Tobin answered me and accepted the call, ready to talk to my mom.

“Hi hon… Oh, hi Tobin!” I could hear my mom speaking. I was already changed, but I wanted to see their reactions while meeting my mom. “Hi… wait your Shannon MacMillan.” Toby speaks and stays with an open mouth. “Yes, and I was told that you are my daughter’s roommate. Oh, hi Christen I didn't see you before. How are you doing?” “Your daughter?” Now was Christen's time to stay in shock. “Yeah Y/n. Is she alright?” “Yeah, but… what?” Tobin was speechless, so I decided to intervene.

“Oh hi mom, sorry I was in the bathroom.” “Hi honey and taking by Tobin and Christen's faces I believe you hadn’t told them about me, am I right?” “Maybe? I actually didn’t tell anyone on the team, I dodged their questions about my family. You know how I am, I wanted them to get to know me first.” “I know.” “But I had told Tobin almost everything, I just kept your name out of it. She saw my scars and made me explain it.” I lightly elbowed Tobin, trying to take her off her transe. “Made you?” I think it worked. “Y/n!!”

“I’m kidding, kind of. She just got overprotective and wanted to punch the person who made me those, so I had to explain the story to her.” “Yeah, I was right she is definitely your team mom. And don’t worry Tobin, they are already taken care of.” Tobin laughed and poked me in my sides “I told you, now even your mom agrees with me. But I gotta say this is kind of crazy.” “Whatever, that doesn't mean you can choose the movie.” “Movie?” Mom asked, not quite understanding what we were talking about. So Chris came to the rescue. “When I got here they were in a tickle fight, because Tobin wanted to choose the Netflix movie and Y/n had the remote.” I completed it. “Christen saves me, but then Tobin got the remote, so it looks like we will be seeing her movie.”

“Seems like you’re having fun. I just called to tell you that the thing you buy on the internet has arrived, I hid it in the garage. I'm sure your mama won’t find it there.” Great, my mama birthday present has arrived. “Cool, and is everything ok?” “Yes, as we expected. We’ll call you later to talk more, I just took that I was alone now so I could warn you.” “Thanks mom.” “Bye honey. Bye Tobin and Christen.” “Bye Shannon.” They say in unison.

So I turned off the call and looked at them, they had a surprised look on their face so I got ready for the questions. Mainly the questions were about why I didn't tell them or the team about it, how I ended up with them and I had to explain my whole story again for Christen. In the end, it was already time for team meeting and we were getting ready to go.

As we waited for the elevator, I remembered to ask them something. “Guys, please don’t tell the team nothing about it.” “Why not? Speedy, I already told you that they won’t treat you any different.” Tobin scolded me. “I just... I will tell them when I feel comfortable, but for now just keep this secret for me. Please mom!!” “You can’t pull the mom card like this.” “Why not? You told yourself that you’re my team mom.” Tobin kept staring at me until she gave up. “Fine. But I think you should at least tell them about your mom, because if they find out about it from another person they're gonna be mad.” Christen punches Tobin in the arm. “Tobin! They are not gonna be mad at you Y/n. Just at the moment, and then they will just fill you with questions. But the last part is going to happen either way.” “Oh, so different from what I said.” Tobin said with sarcasm, but Christen sent her a killer look. “Sorry! But if by any chance, someone annoys you because of who your mother is, tell me and I will kick their ass.” Tobin told me with a serious look.

“You mean if they mocked me because Tobin Heath is my mom?” I tried to contain my laugh. “Oh, shut up!!” She got my head and began to rub it. “Mom stop!!” “Kids stop with it. Let’s go or we are gonna be late.”

With that we entered the elevator and I could see that Chris had a worried face on. My story must have affected her, she has a sad expression, so I decided to lighten her mood a little bit. “Oh Christen, you don’t need to be mad. You and mom are a couple, so that means you are my mom as well.” I hugged her and she kissed my head. She tightened the hug, and I knew some tears were rolling down her face. “Thank you Y/n, you for sure can come for me anytime you need. I’ll always be here for you.” “I know. You’re the mom I listen to but also the mom who grounds me, and Tobin is the mom who takes me out of the ground, and also the one who tries to cover my mess.” Christen rolled her eyes, understanding what I was trying to do. She cleaned the tears that had fallen out and shook her head, but now with a smile on her face. Tobin on the other hand protested. “I would never do that Christen!” “Why can't I believe that?”

With that the elevator door opened and Christen got out first, then Tobin raised her hand for me to hit it. I love these two. We got to team meeting and discussed our training sessions, how our week is going to be and other things. The meeting took about an hour. After it, the whole team went to dinner, me and Tobin were talking about the conversation we had early about my past soccer teams and how my mom is a crazy fan, so we got our food and sat at some table don’t even looking to see who was on the other ones. But as we were talking Christen, Megan, Ash, Julie, Ali, Alyssa and Carli sat at our table as well.

“I’m telling you Tobs, once she got so mad about a bad call that she almost got inside the field to yell at the referee, luckily my 9 years old brother stopped her.” Tobin was laughing her ass out. “I would die to see that.” “Who did that?” Megan asked, breaking the bubble we were on. I then noticed everyone else that was on the table with us.

“What?” I asked, not quite sure what she was talking about. “Who almost got in the field?” “My mom.” “Oh…” “She seems cool.” Ash responded. “She is, when she is not mad. Despite that, she is awesome, my family is really supportive.” “Your brother plays soccer as well?” Alis asked. “No, he hates sports. But he loves to cheer for me, so he goes for all the games he can.” “Oh, this is so cute, I would love to meet him.” JJ awed with my answer. “He for sure will love to go to the mall with you and Chris, I can guarantee that he would be a better company then Tobs.” “Hey kid! You are just as bad as I am.” Tobin protested. “Ok you're right. But I’m telling the truth, he and my mom go on walks for hours.” “I’m certainly taking him out when we meet him.” Chris gave me a wink, letting me know that this was for sure happening some time soon.

“And who encouraged you to play soccer? Your mom or your dad?” Alyssa asked, wanting to know more about my family. I took a big breath and answered her. “Oh, it’s a little more complicated than that. But I can for sure tell you that it was not my father.” “Why is that? He doesn't like sports?”

I take a look at Tobin and Christen and them both nod their heads encouraging me to tell them. “No, it’s because… I don't have a father, at least not one that I care about.” “Sorry I didn’t want to put you through that.” Alyssa told me with a worried expression. “That’s fine, I'm ok with that now.” “So is it just you, your brother and your mom?” Ali asked. “Well, my moms.” “Excuse me?” Megan almost spilled all the water she was drinking with the new information. “My moms. Me, my brother and my two moms.” “Oh, that is awesome. I already liked you before, now I like you even more.” Megan cheered and high five me. “Because of my parents?” “Yeah, you were already cool, now that I know that you for sure support my community you got points with me. Tell me about them!” “They are awesome, I've only been with them for three years, but they changed my life when they adopted me.” Ops! Shouldn’t have said the last part. “Wait, you are adopted?” Ali asked. “Yep.”

“Who is adopted?” Emily asked while getting close to the table. “Y/n” Alyssa answered. “What? You never told us.” Mal and the other youngies were all surrounding us now. “That’s why you run away during lunch?” I looked around and by now the whole team was at the table listening to the conversation.

“So about that…” I look at Tobin and send her a ‘help me’ look, she quickly understands me and steps up. “Guys, less questions okay? If she hasn't told us about it yet it’s because she is not comfortable with it, so let’s give her time.”

Everyone nodded, but Megan was still interested in my family. “Fine, but I want to know more about your moms okay?” “That I can do, but I think you already know at least one of them.”

I took my phone and showed her a picture of my family. Her mouth drops and she passes the phone for Ash, who passes to Ali, who passes to Carli, who finally says something.

“Wait a minute, your mom is Shannon MacMillan?” “Yeah.”

Everybody's jaw drops, except for Christen and Tobin because they already knew, and the questions started again. I finally told them my story and Tobin was right, they were really supportive and of course asked a lot of questions, but I'm fine with it. They are my family now.

#uswnt x reader #uswnt imagine #tobin heath x reader #christen press x reader #woso x reader #preath x reader #woso imagine

[bestruction]

How it’d be to watch animes with them

A/N: While i’m working on my Mikasa x reader royal au, this little idea came to my mind. I tried to put the links when i mentioned a specific scene and speak a little about the anime in case you don’t know it.  So here it’s: 

Warnings: Me exposing my otaku self, mentions of 18+ animes (Not hentais) 

Eren -  Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen (13+)

A / N: The main characters like each other, but none wants to confess because being the person who takes the first step would also represent being the defeated person. The anime develops in a series of plans that both elaborate to make the other confess their love.

Warnings: None

It was his idea to watch an anime together since the two of you liked it a lot. You saw no harm and agreed to go to sleep with your boyfriend on Friday night. So, you would have the dawn and the weekend to see everything.

“We could watch One piece! Everybody likes"

“In three days ?! We will not finish even if we do not take breaks ”

"Naruto then?"

“Haven't you seen it all five times or more?

"But it is a classic!"

"It is also too long!"

He would sulk when he saw you reject each of his suggestions for being too big animes. The truth was, he was trying to convince you to stay longer. After much searching in the catalog, you choose to watch a short comedy of 12 episodes.

Biggest mistake ever

Eren is already annoying by nature, and after watching Kaguya-sama's two seasons he would spend the day and night trying to get you to confess to him EVEN IF YOU'VE BEEN IN LOVE FOR TWO YEARS AND HE HAS BEEN THE FIRST TO DECLARE. HIT HIM, PLEASE.

"Do you think that using such a low trick will make me give in?"

“Eren, I just got out of the shower. What trick? Wear an outfit? ”

“Showing off your skin won't make you win”

If you wanted to play with him, great. You are going to spend the day in this little game until he gets tired and just hugs you or something because he can't spend a lot of time without touching you. But if you didn't want to, just you could use that touchy side of him against him too.

"Maybe I shouldn't show you anything else then"

"Yes, of course, do- Wait what?"

"You heard"

“NO, BABE! YOU WON! I CONFESS! I LOVE YOU"

Watching anime with him would be quite an experience. For being very verbal, Eren would be the type of person who doesn't shut up watching anything. Especially, something that makes him laugh. You would see him laughing out loud and throwing himself back on the couch or on you, whether you were with him or not. You may even complain, but it would be fun to see him react to everything as immediately and naturally as an unfiltered child.

He will sing ALL the openings for the rest of the days around the house until you are humming some without realizing it.

For some reason, can I imagine him doing Chika dance ?? Yes, please film this big bear dancing like a little girl.

Levi - Death parade 

A / N: Do you want to cry and hurt yourself? This is the right place. Death Parade is a story about what happens after death. The characters are sent to mysterious bars where they will be judged to decide the fate of the souls themselves. (18+)

Warnings: Suicide, depressive themes, mentions of rape and domestic violence

I don't see Levi watching many animes. In fact, I don't see him watching much anything at all. He would be the type of person who can't spend a lot of time in front of the television without feeling like he's wasting time. Which would result in a very selective and demanding taste.

He would always read the reviews about the film, and after watching it, he would make his own. Ever. No exceptions. Unlike Impossible-to-be-quiet-Eren, Levi would be silent to be able to capture and understand all the details. This is interesting because getting his attention is a difficult task. But once it's done, he is 100% focused on the story and immersed in the characters.

So, after reading about it, he would agree to watch Death Parade with you.

He would have low expectations at first, and if the anime failed to hold his very difficult attention in three episodes, he wouldn't even try with the rest.

So when in the first episode, all suspense and doubts left to the viewer entered Ackerman's head, he would finish the other 11 without realizing it.

As a rational person, he would love things that make him think and reflect on the proposed theme. In the case: Life and death.

For some reason, I imagine him as someone who would like to study and read philosophy as a hobby and that he would love Nietzsche? So, you could expect deep conversations after each episode.

But without any arrogance, humanity's strongest soldier might not be the most talkative man in humanity, but surely when he opened his mouth to it, it wouldn’t be to show himself off with something that he knows and you don’t. On the contrary, he would be more than happy to explain if you asked and added your opinion.

He wouldn't cry, but he would be touched by the way the emotions were shown and created in the characters.

He would probably see the scene where Decim cries more than once for being impressed with how the pain of a character who is supposedly not flesh and blood is expressed so well.

And after the anime is over, you would always see him listening to the music of the ice skating scene around the house while doing something.

When you were finished watching everything, you would talk again about the anime. You lying on his chest and he touching his hair, smelling him.

"Do you believe in reincarnation, Levi?"

“If so, I wouldn't go back to this shit a second time. No matter what they offered me ”

"Levi!"

"Unless it was to have you again"

“What a cliché” He would roll his eyes after hearing your response “But I like clichés”

Again, he wouldn't cry, but he would be thinking about how ephemeral things can be, including being alive. Then you can expect a more touchy Levi for a few days.

Jean - Banana Fish 

N / A: Another one to cry and get hurt. Banana Fish is way more than just a story about one character just is hard to define. So in case, you didn’t watch it, here’s the trailer. (18+)

warnings: pedophilia, rape, violence, drugs, your heart being destroyed

You know that guy who says that no yaoi is good, it's just a way to feed a bunch of fujoshi and stuff like that? Jean. It's him. I just know it. So when you suggested Banana Fish and said it was a BL / yaoi, he would probably laugh and ignore the idea.

But after insisting a little and showing him the many compliments that both the anime and the manga received, he would accept.

At first, he wouldn't pay much attention. He really thought it would be just another bad anime. But by the end of the first episode, he would be too involved in the story to stop.

I think he would love crime novels for the same reason that Levi: To think. Try to find out how things are going to end and pick up any clues that the author has left about the ending. So the plot would hold him so much because he would make a ton of theories about the end.

He will ship Ash and Eiji with all his soul. I mean, how can he not ship? To see an anime in which the physical touch between the couple doesn't really happen and still builds a well-developed and healthy relationship would be a new experience for him.

Jean is somewhat similar to Eren in this respect. So you can expect to see him huffing in anger, cursing one of the characters, throwing a pillow away, or using it to hide a tear or two that he would let go of you. The kind of person who gets emotionally involved with the things he watches.

He would cry an entire river after watching the last episode and deny it later.

“I was not crying. The cushion fabric made my eyes itch a lot ”

Show him again and he will cry the same amount and intensity

Armin - Haikyuu

A / N: Considering all the texts on Tumblr for haikyuu characters, I’m pretty sure you know what anime it’s lol (10+)

Armin is an otaku with a license card and no one can change my mind. He would probably start watching it as a child. So, his first animes would be everyone's classics: Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, Bleach, etc.

So it would be normal that as the vast majority, he would continue to have a preference for shounen when he grew up. So it would be your idea to see Haikyuu.

He would have low expectations because he thought it would be just another anime with cute characters for everyone to be thirsty as an inverted harem. And also because the synopsis does not create a strong impression, especially for those who consume shounen daily.

"So we are just gonna see a little boy trying to catch a ball?"

“It's gonna be good! Everyone is talking about it now ”

"Does he have some superpower?"

"No"

"Something scary?"

"Armin, just give a chance!"

He would like it. Did I say he would like it? Because he would love it. The atmosphere created and well developed with such a simple plot would hold his attention well. (Is it possible to dislike Hinata in the first episode?)

It would be a great anime for him to watch because 1. It is different from what he usually sees. Unlike shounen, Haikyuu deals only with real and tangible scenarios. Of course, still with that touch of anime, but it is very easy to recognize yourself in the characters and learn from them and therefore reflect on yourself as well.

It would be great to make him think about his own insecurities and how most of them were inside his head.

He would be so immersed in the anime universe that he would have to pause the game scenes because he would be too nervous waiting for the ball to fall.

You will probably see him taking a deep breath in each drawing scene of the characters and see him truly cheering for the team as if it were a real national game.

More than that, you will see his eyes full of tears when Yamaguchi hit the serve in the match against Aoba johsai.

In fact, Yamaguchi would be his favorite character. No discussions.

"I said it would be good"

"Shut up"

"Make me"

Mikasa - Heaven’s official blessing 

A / N: I'm going to leave the trailer here because I don't know how to define it very well. It's a novel, but the story doesn't focus ONLY on that. (14+)

Okay, you didn't suggest. She did not suggest. So how do you end up watching together? You catch her watching when you come home by surprise lol

Until then, you would know that she watched some anime, but nothing romantic. Never. In fact, that was her little secret.

Although common sense is that Mikasa would be cold even in a modern au (and I agree in parts). I think she would be the type of person who loves to see the sweetest and softest things to melt alone on the couch without anyone seeing. A moment for herself and a part of her that she would not show to anyone.

You would already know about her romantic side, but seeing her under the covers sighing while watching the Netflix special episode is a totally different story.

Please don’t mock her!!. She would be red enough by the time she was discovered.

When she was less shy, she would ask if you want to watch with her. She would say she saw no problem watching it with you again since doing it with you would be a different experience.

If you accept, you would spend the rest of the night in the room sharing a blanket and absorbing the soft atmosphere, the soundtrack, and the Chinese culture so present in history.

She would not speak a lot because she was paying attention, but she would hug you all the time. In the romantic scenes, she would tighten her arms around you a little and sometimes left a kiss on your shoulder.

I think she could relate to Hua Cheng's way of loving. He is always there to protect, care for and see his lover even if sometimes Xie Lian doesn't even know.

And that is what she wants to show you, that more than a girlfriend, she is also someone you can count on.

Days later, you will see her reading the rest of the work around the house because she couldn't stand to wait for a second season.

And later, SURELY melting and vibrating while watching Mo Dao Zu Shi.

#aot x reader #aot x you #eren x reader #mikasa x reader #armin x reader #levi x reader #jean x reader #kaguya sama wo kataritai #haikyuu!! #banana fish #death parade #heavens official blessing #shingeki no kyojin #shingeki no kyojin x reader #aot imagines #eren jaeger x reader #eren headcanons #mikasa headcanons #armin headcanons #levi headcanons #jean headcanons

[merci-bitch]

My Sweet Little One part II

Rose The Hat x fem!reader

Warning(s): swearing, slight abuse, PDA? 

Words: 2,5k

A/N: It has been quite a while. Hasn’t it? Haha. Well there might be a part 3 to this. It’s not as long as the first part which is 8k, and I have no idea how to make links so sadly I can’t link it here. ;/ . Hopefully there will more stories coming soon!

I made Y/N mine, alright. And everyone knew it, for sure. The next night she laid in my bed, I made her scream my name until her vocal chords were raw and made sweat crack across her place physiognomy.

No one could have her body the way I do, specially that loathsome rube. But he doesn't matter now.' I told myself. Though I wanted to make him pay. Rip his heart out and eat it on a silver platter after making him after making him suffer. Who the hell does he think he is? Laying his hands on my Y/n. They might both be steamy but he should see me. Oh yes, I am a cathedral compared to his small amount of steam.

"Rosie?" Y/n's voice pulled me out of my self induced trance. "Yes love?" I hummed. "You were zoning off again. Is something the matter?" I loved hearing the sweetness in her voice. It was like music to my ears.

"No darling, I'm quite alright." I smiled and placed my lips against hers and gave her a soft kiss. 'If only she knew though.' I thought to myself but shoved that aside for the moment. I could feel her soft hands gently caressing my bare skin and moved closer to her. Normally I preferred being the big spoon but on this moment, I didn't quite mind. She was home now and has been for quite a few weeks but still, I missed her.

"You're sure?" I nodded and ran my hands through Y/n's hair. "You're so pretty. You know that right?" She nodded and I smirked. "There is no one quite like you." Y/n's cheeks flushed cherry red and I chuckled. "No shame, darling. I only speak the truth."

"I know." She gave me a small smile that made me swell up inside. "Have you thought about my offer?" Y/n let out a sigh and I sat up. "I have but-"

"But what?" I tried my hardest not to sound angry. "When you stabbed me before, you told me it was for steam?" I nodded cordially. "Is that...what you guys eat?"

"Does it matter?" I expected to have her argue with me a little bit but surprisingly she didn't. Which I was thankful for. I took Y/n's hands gently in my own and kissed them. "Look, I know it's hard for you to wrap your head around but their pain is our gain. Don't you want to have a life with me? Unconditional bliss?"

She looked down as she slowly sat up and started fumbling with her hands. I wanted to say things, but I didn't want her to run away again. I didn't want to lose her again. She was mine, and only mine.

—— You don't know what it's like, not knowing who you are. To have lived in the shadows and to have travelled this far. Now I've seen a flashes of fire and echos of screams. But I still have faith, faith that someday my memories will come back.

In my dreams, it's all real. And my heart has so much to reveal. And my dreams seems to say, 'don't be afraid to go on, don't give up hope, come what may.' I know it will all come back! One day!

In my dreams shadows call. There's a light at the end a hall. Then my dreams fade away, but I know it will all come back one day. I just remember, rain against the windows. Sheets upon a bed. Terrifying nurses whispering overhead.

It was all strange. Rose, everyone. They say I was found on the side of the road. It had recently rained. In the darkness and cold with the wind in the trees. A girl with no name, and no memories but these above. I don't know a thing before that. Traveling the back roads, sleeping in the wood. I was always taking what I needed, working when I could. Keeping up my courage, foolish as it seems.

In my dreams I've always dreamed of a city. I dream of a city beyond all compare. Is it Paris? Paris... A beautiful river, a bridge by a scare and I hear a simple voice whisper, 'I'll meet you right there in Paris.' Paris.

Dancing bears, painted wings. Things I almost remember, and a song someone sings. It's almost December. Once upon a December. Someone holds me safe and warm. Horses prance through a silver storm. Figures dancing gracefully and across my memory.

Far away, long ago. Glowing dim as an ember and things my heart used to know and things it yearns to remember. And a song someone used to sing.

Heart don't fail me now and courage don't desert me. Don't turn back now that we're here. People have always said, life is full of choices and they aren't wrong but they never mentioned fear. Or how the world can seem so vast. On a simple journey to the past.

Somewhere down this road. I know someone true is waiting. Years of dreams just can't be wrong! Someone's arms will open wide and I'll be safe and wanted. Finally a place where I belong. Well, starting now I'm learning fast! On my journey to my past.

Home, love and family. There has to be a time where I had them too. I wouldn't be complete until I find you. But always one step at a time. One hope, then another. Who knows where this road may go? I wanna go back to who I was. On to find my future. There are things my heart still needs to know. Yes! Let this be some kind of sign and let this road be mine. Let it lead me to my past, and bring me home. At last!

—

"So, when the fuck was you gonna tell me."

"Hm? Tell you what my dear."

"Cut the sweet act Rose."

"What's wrong with you? Did they tease you again? You want tea?"

"Oh fuck you."

"Watch it."

"Watch it?! You have some fucking nerve Rose."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. The fuck did you think was gonna happen?"

"Seriously, what do you mean Y/N."

"Did you think I was gonna forget your words? Think I was gonna forget how useless and worthless you called me?"

"Y/N, I-"

"Shut it. I know exactly what you said, I'm not stupid or will I ever fall for some cover up you're calling this. I was happy without you!"

"You would never survive without me!"

"I did perfectly well for 10 fucking years Rose!"

"You call that happy?! With that Danny? You call that happy Y/N?"

"He loved me! He took care of me! More then you'd ever done, he took me for what I was. He picked up the pieces you broke."

"You better watch it. I don't mind killing you myself."

"See, this is exactly where you and I are different. I spend years not fitting in but thinking it was fine. Cause you were 'there' and cuddled me. Did you ever really love me? Cause you're blaming me for everything here, when it actually was you who fucked it up."

"I fucked it up?! You were the one who was so fucking ungrateful!"

"Ungrateful?! I have a fucking soul!"

"No, you don't! Cause you fucking sold it to the devil. You're not human. We turned you Y/N!"

"Excuse me what?"

"What?"

"No, don't change subject. What did you say?"

"Nothing."

"Did you fucking turn me without me saying you could?! Rose what the fuck!"

"What, you're mine. Just had to claim you. You'll be fine."

"Fine?! I don't wanna feed of dead kids Rosie!"

"They're actually quite delicious."

"You're fucking sick."

"Didn't stop you from fucking me."

"I didn't really have a choice."

"I didn't fucking rape you."

"Nah, it felt like it."

"You screamed my name out of pleasure."

"How come you were so sure of that?"

"I saw it, I saw your mind."

"What if that was just for play?"

"Oh, fuck you."

"I'd kill you if you tried."

"Oh, sweetheart. I'd like to see you try."

"Come at me."

"You can't be serious."

"Come kill me Rose."

"No."

"Coward."

"You're a bitch. A fucking bitch."

"Yet you put up with me for years. Took me back in when I was vulnerable. Loved me, well. Kind of. You held me close to you. Favorited me. So technically, I was your bitch."

"Exactly. You're my bitch."

"I was, not anymore."

"You'll always be my bitch. You're so weak for me, nothing will change that."

"Rose-"

"Begging already? Hm. Get on your knees."

"What?"

"Now!"

"Never."

"Get on your fucking knees before I make you."

"Make me then."

"You're playing with fire Y/N. I fucking hate you."

"Yeah, yeah. We've all heard that. How about something new?"

Before I knew it, her hand was wrapped around my throat. Holding me up in the air. Not a single piece of happiness or softness in her eyes. It was just dark. Her whole face was filled with anger. The veins in her throat showed as she strained. Her jaw clenched. Her hand squeezing harder around my throat. More and more air was ripped from my throat.

"You'll learn your fucking place. You disgraceful little piece of shit."

Her fingernails started to dig into the skin of my neck and my vision started to blacken out. Clawing at her hand. Choking on whatever air that was left in my lungs.

"R-Rosie-"

"Hm? Can't really hear you, my dear."

Her hand tightened even more and I felt my limbs go lump. Everything going dark.

-

"I don't know Abra. She's been gone for so long. She was missing when I came back from the bathroom at the cinema. You haven't seen anything?"

"No, I've been trying. It's like Rose is cutting her off from us."

"I just hope she's alright. She doesn't deserve all this."

"I know, but we'll find her."

—

"Sweetheart? Hey, wake up."

I felt someone slap my cheek. Groaning in pain, moving my head away. Slowly opening my eyes.

"Rose?"

"Yes, I'm right here."

"What happened?"

"My dear child, you passed out. You had a nightmare from sleeping and got up and started crying. Then you just dropped."

"Really? I don't remember."

"Oh, don't worry. I've got you."

Rose put her arms around me and pulled the covers over us, giving my forehead a kiss. I couldn't put my thought to it. Was that really what happened? I shook my head and snuggles close to Rose. Breathing in her scent. Relaxing. Smiling softly and looking up at her.

"What? What are you smiling about."

"Nothing."

"Come on, I can see there's something."

"I just -"

"Yes?"

"I love you, Rosie."

"I love you too Y/N."

—

"Rose? Is this really how it has to go?"

"Yes, my dear. Now come on. Stab her."

"I-I don't know, it's just a child."

"What have I told you before?"

"I-, their pain, our gain."

"That's it. Now come, feed your family."

Rose's hands were on my waist, her nose brushing against the back of my neck. I slowly raised the knife in the air. Feeling a sort of deja vu. Had I done this before? I couldn't have. Despite the child's cries, pleas and begging Rose was right. Their pain was our gain. I had to do this to feed the family. The true knot was my family.

Muttering a soft 'sorry' before stabbing the child. Stabbing it over and over again. Hearing both Rose's and Crow's laughter behind me. I felt angry for some reason, the child in front of me was the beat for my anger. The piece to take out all the unknown anger. Again and again. Until there was nothing left. Dropping the knife, shaking.

"You did so great, look at all that steam! Well last for weeks! If not even months. Good girl."

Rose gave me a wet kiss and stroked my cheek.

"Rosie?"

"Yes, my love?"

"Have I done this before?"

"What? Stabbing a child?"

"Yeah, I got like a deja vu."

"Well, haven't we all wished to kill children?"

Her carefree laughter filled the air. It didn't make any sense, but it had to.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Don't be so sad now, poppet. You did well."

"It just feels weird. I was a child too once."

"We all were. But now we are adults, we are the true knot. We live as more powerful then pathetic rubes. You said so yourself."

"I did?"

"Right you did."

"Oh, I can't remember much."

Rose stroked my cheek again and pulled me against her. Rubbing my back and watched the moonlight with me. It was silent. Was it nice? Was it confusing? Was it awkward?

"I just, this doesn't feel right."

"What do you mean?"

"It's like I've been walking, but with my face turned to the sun. This weight on my shoulders. And I feel as if I need to run. I do what I can to please you and the others, I just feel like an outsider."

"This is your home, can't you hear freedom calling? Calling you to stay. Don't you feel it in your bones? You belong here."

"In the morning before the sun starts shining, we gotta start moving again, can I drive with you?"

"Always."

—

"So I'm gonna stand up, and take my people with me. Together we are going to our brand new home. Far across the river. Do you hear freedom calling? Calling you to answer their prayer."

"That's what you got?"

"Yes, it was all I could find out."

"It's not really helpful."

"I know, I don't know what's going on. Before it was so easy to track her."

—

"I go to prepare a place for you."

Rose watched you sleep. She knew it wouldn't be long until your memories would come back. Her and Crow had been talking about what to do with you. She didn't want to kill you. She did love you, but if she had to she would kill you. You were steamy but she didn't know if it was that good. She had only tasted it once, but it was only little bit.

It had tasted like flowers. For some reason each time Rose would think about it. She would feel this, this heavy feeling in her chest. She didn't know what it was. It couldn't be guilt, could it? No. Of course not. Rose The Hat never had guilt. She was a strong a confident woman. Powerful. The queen bitch of castle hell.

Rose O'Hara knew guilt, knee pain and specially weakness. Rose The Hat could never dream of getting on her knees for anyone.

If she had to kill the one thing she loved. She fucking would.

#rose the hat x reader #dan torrance x reader #doctor sleep

[red-becca]

The Adventure Begins

I couldn't resist. That and I couldn't really think of any other Phone Destroyer theme to write about, hehe. So, here. A sequel to the other oneshot because I can. But yay tho! I got it out before it was no longer that day in my time.

Also, random shit that you'll see in the oneshot later but I see Dragonslayer Red as probably quite the buff girl. You need to be to slay dragons and carry around a battle axe, right? Fight me on this if you disagree. I dare you. Jk, I would most likely lose.

Also, also, as much as the title says so, nothing really "adventurous" happens in this, lol. Just them camping and dancing (yes, dancing. I am a sucker for dancing, damnit.). So, has the adventure really begun? Day one, I guess. Where a bear attacks Kevin and that's the only crazy thing, lmao.

Though I do want art of Red sleeping on a dragon Kevin bc wouldn't that be so cute?! Agh, I love these two dorks too much!

---

Red sighed in relief as she wiped the sweat off her brow, satisfied at her job well done on killing a deer. "Not bad, dragonslayer... You can kill shit other than dragons. Now, time to cut this son of a bitch u-" She flinches when she hears the dragon prince scream behind her. "Oh, great... What now?" She groaned as she stood up.

Kevin continued to scream as he ran away from a bear chasing him. "Red, help me! I tried to do some hunting like you in order to feel helpful but clearly, the bear didn't like that!"

Her eye started twitching a bit in annoyance, taking in a deep breath as she reminded herself of his life story. How he was sheltered from the outside world his whole life because of his importance to his people. That didn't stop her from being slightly annoyed at his screaming. "First off, please stop screaming... That is not going to help you outrun the bear whatsoever, Kevin..." She said in a monotone voice while watching Kevin run back and forth with the bear just right behind him.

"But he's just so scary!" The dragon whine as he kept on running, not even out of breath despite him running for his life. "I don't want him to eat me! So, help me! Please!"

"But you're a-" Red took in more deep breaths. "Never mind, just let me handle thi-" She gets cut off by Kevin suddenly running towards her and unintentionally knocking her down to the ground. "Kevin!"

"I'm sorry, Red! I am just so terrified right now!" He started to whimper as he instinctively wraps his arms around her, closing his eyes tightly.

"I..." The girl got flustered at his actions, shaking her head as she effortlessly got off the ground with the male still holding onto him. "Well, you shouldn't be scared with me around..." Her face turned serious as she grabbed her axe, giving the bear a serious death glare.

The bear immediately stopped dead in it's tracks and ran away scared from Red, making Kevin's eyes go wide in shock.

"Woah... How did you..." He looks up at the girl, still not letting go even after the bear being gone. "Red, you are not only the most beautiful lady I have ever seen but you are also the most amazing one too!" His eyes sparkled with a hint of amazement.

Red just got even more flustered at his words, a nervous smile on her face. "Heh, I.. Uh... It was nothing, really... With a job like mine, I had to get used to being tough and looking scary..." She put her axe on her back again, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Hmm..." Kevin squints his eyes as he slowly lets go of the girl and stands on his two feet. "Correct me if this observation of mine is wrong but... Is being used to looking scary the reason why you aren't used to being called beautiful?" He tilts his head slightly to the side.

"I..." Red was speechless at his words, looking down to the ground sadly. "Maybe it is, maybe it isn't... I honestly don't know myself why I don't really like being called beautiful... It's a word that just doesn't feel like it describes me..." She sighs as she sat on the grass, hugging her knees close to her chest.

Kevin could feel the sadness radiating from her, making him feel the same way. But then he smiled as he sat next to her and wrapped his arms around her again but in a more comforting manner. "You humans have this saying, right? I don't really remember what is exactly but I do remember what it stood for. Basically, what one human might not find beautiful, another human will. And while you don't see just how beautiful you are, I do. Even after you tried to slay me, you are one beautiful human in my eyes." A faint blush appeared on his face as his smile grew, the scales on his face sparkling due to his blushing.

Once again, Red was utterly speechless as her face went as red as her hair. She had no clue what to respond this time, groaning as she gets his arms off her and stood up. "Thanks, I guess... But enough of this sappy stuff. I'm hungry and I haven't even started on cooking this deer thanks to you..." She gestures to the deer she was about to cut up earlier.

"Oh, right... Sorry about that! Here! I'll start the fire for you!" Kevin chanted something underneath his breath, a fireball forming on his right hand afterwards. He then threw it hard towards a pile of firewood Red had prepared earlier. "There we go! A fire to cook our food!"

"Woah!" Red exclaimed as she just about dodges the fire he had thrown, raising a brow as she had a moment of realization. "Wait a minute, you're a dragon..."

"Mmm, yes? Yes, I am but you already knew that..." He chuckles softly as he sits in front of the fire, hovering his hands over it to keep warm.

"What?" She groaned as she shook her head, getting to work on cutting up the deer with her battle axe. "No, what I mean is... You're a dragon... So, shouldn't you be able to breathe fire? Well, at least, that's what the dragons I have... You know... Encountered, yes. Let's go with that. The dragons I have encountered have mostly breathe fire at me... So, why can't you?"

"Oh, yes! Of course, my inability to breath fire would be weird considering what I am. And well, there's a very simple explanation for it, really. I was born with it. Usually, the moment a dragon is born, they can immediately breathe fire. I obviously didn't and my parents thought I would do it when I got older but... I never did..."

Red paused for a moment after he finished talking then she grabbed a large stick and poked some pieces of meat through it, putting it just high enough from the fire to start cooking. "I had no idea, Kevin... I'm sorry to hear that..." She said as she sat across from him.

He shook his head, taking off one of his gloves and showing off his clawed hand. "No, it's okay. You don't have to apologize for that, Red... I'm actually quite happy at the fact that I can't breath fire... It made me find other ways to summon fire. Through magic." He smiled as he looks over at her, summoning small stars around them. "And after I mastered that, I decided... Why not try learning more spells? Do you like them? This is one of my favorite spells to do..." The dragon looks around as the stars would dance.

The redhead gasped as she looked around before looking at him again. "I... I love it... It's so beautiful..." She started blushing again, putting a hand to her chest as she felt her heart race.

Kevin chuckled as he looks back at her, putting his glove back on. "Yeah, it sure is... But usually, it always backfires on me whenever I do it. Weird how it works now but not disappointed..." He stands up and walks towards her as he thought of something. "This is probably another thing you're not used to but..." He offers a hand out to her. "I don't know but I really wanna dance with you right now..."

The girl's blush just grew even more as she looked down at his hand, looking off to the side afterwards. "Yeah, definitely not... I may be deathly curious about dancing and all that but I never really found the time to learn about it..."

"Well, then... We can learn together." He gently grabbed hold of her hand and helped her stand up. "I know a few dances because I am apparently required to know them as a prince... But I'm not actually good at any of them." The dragon chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Let's try them out, shall we?"

"Um, sure... Why not? It will take a while for our meat to cook... But uh... We don't really have any music to dance to. I may not know much about dancing but I do know you need music for it..."

"Right! Of course! How silly of me to ask you to dance when we have no music... Hang on..." He grabs a small book and skims through it, letting out a loud exclaim once he found the spell he needed. "Here we go..." The dragon chanted the spell and a few of the stars immediately turned into instruments.

"I will never be not impressed whenever you do magic from now on..." Red laughs softly, closing her eyes as she hummed along to the music. "Oh, wow... That sure is a lovely tune..."

Kevin started to admire her as she continued to hum. "It's one of my favorite symphonies to listen to every now and again... Shall we try dancing together then?" He offers a hand out to her again.

She nodded as she happily took his hand, getting closer to him. "We shall..."

After a bunch of terrible dancing between them, they just laughed while they ate the deer Red had hunted and talked about whatever came to their mind. Then once they had finished eating, they decided to turn in for the night. Kevin kindly offers for the girl to lay on him while in his dragon form in order for her to feel comfortable in her sleep. And while she hesitated at first due to not wanting to make him uncomfortable, she accepted as he reassured her that it'll be fine.

So, now they sleep peacefully under the stars Kevin had summoned and next to the warmth of the fire Kevin had also made, happily awaiting the next day of their adventure together.

#south park #red sp #sp red #red x kevin #kevin x red #kevin stoley #sp revin #revin #red tucker #south park red #red mcarthur #south park ships #revin week #oneshot #sp ships

[the-art-of-styles]

Ping-Pong

✧ Aylin and Harry go out to sell some jams and come back to a disaster in one of their homes.

Word count: 1783

Warnings: short mention of eating disorder/disordered eating/calories

Part I

Part II (you’re here!)

Part III

Part IV

Part V

Part VI

Part VII

Part VIII

14

   Mrs. Mendes is an old woman, she has lines of love around her eyes and lips that show how happy she was throughout her life, also on her forehead, showing how she was amazed by even the tiniest things that were introduced to her.

   She has lived her entire life in the village, and everyone knows her for her exquisite blackberry jams. Aylin's mom used to buy her 2 mason jars every month for her daughter to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, until Aylin was 10 years old and she stopped.

   "No more, Aylin, you've been gaining a lot of weight. A lot of calories, few wasted."

   Those words had consequences, at the tough and young age of 11, Aylin entered a diet low in carbs and fats, where she lost a lot of weight, but from so much restriction, she began a cycle of sometimes bingeing where she couldn't stop to eat for all that she could not taste.

   For all that she could not live.

   At just eleven.

Eleven years old.

   Already at twelve she had somewhat overcome her eating disorder, according to her mother, she was still a bit chubby, but Aylin was always a strong woman, and when she looked in the mirror she wondered, what was so bad about not being thin?

   She loved food, and didn't think about going back to that hell she went through for months. Fuck the diet.

   Mrs. Mendes walked through the only green park in town until she sat down on a yellow bench and took out of her bag some bread crumbs to give to the pigeons that were listening to human affairs. Aylin was walking her dog, Luna, she has no breed and she rescued her from the street when she was about to be run over. Well, she didn't rescue her, a man who had the necklace of a moon saved her and gave her to Aylin as she witnessed all of it (crying). He did not live there and didn't have the time or the space to have a pet, so there she is, walking her new best friend until she sees the old woman and her heart warms and a smile emanates from her lips.

   "Mrs. Mendes!" She screamed and began to jog with Luna until she reached the old woman, she looked at her and her eyes narrowed at her smile.

   "Oh Aylin dear, you look so big!"

   "Yep, I'm 5'1 now, almost 5'2! Isn't that incredible? I'm going to be so big."

   "I'm sure you will honey. Who's that?"

   After Aylin told her the whole story, the two talked about different things while feeding crumbs to the pigeons who listened attentively to their conversation.

   "Hey darling, you know I sell jams right?" Mrs. Mendes suddenly said, making Aylin look at her smiling.

   "Of course! The most exquisite in the whole town!"

   The woman smiled flattered, "Oh cut it. . . Anyways, in my house I have many done, raspberry, blackberry—"

   "I love the blackberry one!" The little interrupted without thinking, instantly embarrassed to do so. "Sorry. . . continue."

   Mrs. Mendes just laughed, "It doesn't matter. Well, uh, what was I saying? Ah! Yes! So, I don't have a way to sell them, you know, I'm an old lady and I can't go from house to house delivering so I was wondering if you—"

   "Oh god! Can I go deliver the jams? It would be amazing! I would wear white and I would go with a brown basket that I have on my bike and– Ah!" Aylin squealed with excitement, "I could go with Harry! He's my friend, even though he lied to me. . . but I already forgave him, the Smiths adopted him, the house across from mine. Oh yeah, can I, please?"

   Mrs. Mendes got confused every time she spoke to Aylin, she always talked a lot and very fast and changed the subject all the time, but she liked her, she liked that she was fast and not slow, it made her feel young.

   If only that speed so characteristic of hers had remained.

   "Yes, darling, you can. And I'd like to meet this Harry boy."

   "Oh, you'll love him! I love him, he's my best friend."

.

.

.

   "No."

   "Pleaseeeeeeeee!"

   "I really don't feel like selling jams."

   "But it's so nice! People will be so happy! And you'd meet so many people from this town. Harryyyyyy!"

   Harry sometimes feels very exasperated when he’s with Aylin. She always tries to involve him in things of the town; recreational activities, meetings, whatever, but even though the Smiths have kept him and a part of him begins to really believe that this family will be forever, he can't help but not want to get too fond of living there because at this point he doesn't think his heart could bear to bleed in pain once more.

   But anyway, he likes that Aylin is like that, so persistent with him since it's not something that he has lived in his life, they always get bored of him and never look for him, he is the one doing it, but now he is different and the feeling that brings him makes him fall asleep at night.

   Puppy eyes. "Please, Harry?"

   He just rolled his eyes, irritated with himself because he knew exactly what the next word would be that would slide off his tongue in a harsh way, but she would eat it anyway. "Fine."

   She squealed, he groaned.

.

.

.

   "Thank you so much, kids. I missed this jams, and say thank you for my part to Mrs. Mendes, ya?" A woman in her forties with black hair waved them off at the door of her house, exchanging the money for the jams.

   "We sure will! See you!"

   They have been selling since twelve in the morning, now the sky was burning and the clouds too, the cold was beginning to descend and there were fewer and fewer people in the streets and more in their homes. The treetops danced to the sweet whispers of the wind, Aylin joining them on the empty streets.

   "Wasn't that so fun?! We selled everything, we should get into business when we grow up, don't you think, H?"

   "Yeah sure," he replied sarcastically. Aylin always notices the comments that Harry makes and when some are real and when they are not, she is not stupid, she just ignores them because she knows that deep down he must like part of the things they do, because otherwise, he would have left her long ago. Besides, that makes her feel better, she doesn't like to think that she bores people, especially when she knows that it is something real, something that has been said to her face.

   Honestly, Harry must admit that it wasn't a total torture. Hearing Aylin talk so much is fun to him, she always has an opinion on something, and she is always in awe of things that she sees every day.

   Actually, Harry likes Aylin. Not in a romantic way, he knows about feelings and everything, he even knows about porn, but he has never seen her that way and he doesn't think he will ever see her like that. It's not that she's not pretty, he finds her quite cute, but it's just a friendship for him.

   His first friendship.

   As they turned to get to the street where their houses are, the two noticed the great fight in one of them.

   Harry stopped walking, and Aylin kept doing it.

   Her mother was throwing an open suitcase on the head of her father, who fell to the ground and began to pick up his things at full speed while she insulted him.

   At that point, Aylin started running.

   "Mum! Dad! What – what is going on?!" She squealed in concern, walking over to her dad and squatting next to him to make sure he's okay. "Why do you have a suitcase? Where are you going?"

   "He'll go fuck his assistant, that's for sure!" The mother screamed with hatred, regardless of the language she spoke in front of two children or whoever was listening (and there were several people).

   "His assistant? But, what? Mr. Gomez?" Aylin asked extremely confused with her eyebrows furrowing.

   "Exactly." She spit out to her husband and turned around on her own heels, dragging her feet into the house and slamming the door that almost made the whole town rumble.

   "D-dad?" Aylin asked with her eyes swimming in a sea of tears, but she didn't allow her cheeks to turn into rivers.

   "I'm so sorry, baby. I really am." The father composed himself and stood up, giving his daughter a long kiss on the forehead and then walking with suitcase in hand and head down, like the end of a movie where there is a climax where you think everything will be fine but in the outcome it all goes to shit and they lose everything.

   "Wha– Where are you–" She sighed, her father far enough away not to hear her, "...going." She whispered, feeling a crack form in her heart that hurt like a hundred stabs dipped in the hottest lava of the worst hell.

   Harry was at a safe distance, but he heard everything and saw everything as did some neighbors looking out in their windows to feed the curious cat without risking death. He understood everything and had a knot in his stomach from seeing his friend without life in her eyes, and being so painfully slow.

   What a plot twist. He was gay. The dad, of course.

   Aylin sat dejectedly on the edge of the sidewalk, staring at the grayish of the street without knowing what she was thinking about. She is always thinking, she is always saying something, but now there is nothing in her mind, white paint fell on the canvas and there are no more available brushes to paint on top of it.

   The curly boy did not know what to do, he is not a person of a lot of words, and besides, what do you say to someone in a situation like this? "I'm sorry your dad is gay." Sounds a bit homophobic. So he chose to approach slowly as he usually does, he has always been slow, and although sometimes Aylin is exasperated that he sees everything and does everything in slow motion, deep down he conveyed a certain tranquility that she could not create by herself. Harry sat next to her and rubbed her back.

   He didn't knew if she was crying or not, but he wasn't going to ask anything either, so he just sat with her while she hurt.

   And he wished that swiftness of hers had never gone away.

#harry styles fanfic #harry styles writing #harry styles blurbs #fanfiction #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles one shot #harry styles x oc

[hyper-super-clover]

Squeeze that bunny tail!

Part 2

Description: The RAD student council as well as the exchange students help out at a bar where, oops, the staff´s dress codes are those sweet bunny outfits that we all know and thirst for. The MCs, Violet and Clover, play a game of who can touch the most bunny tails over the evening without getting caught. Prepare for fluff, funny innuendos as well as my thirst over hot boys in bunny outfits.

The story is divided in several parts and will be updated every few days. Find Part 1 here.

Story continues below the cut, hope you enjoy!

Both, Violet and Clover, were fair players, so, as they weren't able to walk around in a pair the whole evening, Violet and Clover had to trust each other in counting their own points.

Their utmost priority, however, was still to help out at the bar, so they had to focus on that for most of the time. But whenever there was a chance tangible (in the most literal sense lol), their minds immediately switched back to their little competition.

Violet had already started with one point advantage, due to the squeeze she had given Beel's tail.

But the girl was up for the thrill, so it didn't take too long until she had found her next target.

Everyone's beloved angel man Simeon was on cooking duty with her and Barbatos.

While the butler was easily handling all of their tasks on his own, the other two were trying their best to actually help him instead of being in the way.

They were chopping down ingredients that Barbatos could throw into the hellfire hot pot he was preparing when it happened...

A cheeky little squeeze while Simeon was turning to grab another veggie, and Violet got her second point already.

The angel didn't seem to have noticed, as he kept talking with this precious smile on his lips.

The real danger, however, came through the door immediately after.

Glancing up from the pompom that Violet had just given a good squish, she locked eyes with Luke.

They stared at each other for a hot second, then Violet straightened up again, trying to remain composed while Luke looked like losing his shit any second.

"Ah, Luke!" Simeon interrupted his own narration. "Perfect timing!"

Violet gave a silent sarcastic laugh. No, not a perfect timing at all...

Luke was still trying to cope with the sin he had just witnessed, but now Barbatos approached him as well.

"Could I ask for your help with the special menu's 'halo donuts'?” Barbatos asked. “Simeon claimed it to be your specialty."

Now Luke was blushing at the compliment.

"U-uhm... Well, yes, I do make quite good donuts... Fine, I'll help!"

As he passed Violet, he threw her a last sceptical glance, but soon the girl could let out a relieved breath.

Getting Luke to fuss over reaching for Simeon's butt was certainly not something she needed, not so soon into the game...

----------------

Clover was trying to gather some safe points before risking anything.

Her main goal was to get at least ONE point, to be frank.

Looking at her options for low-risk points, her heart was beating for one particular target, but her blushy excitement made it impossible to approach that gluttonous teddy bear.

So she settled on probably the easiest target of all.

Belphie's first shift consisted of... Sleeping. Like, literally. The idea was to let him nap until his energy tanks were filled enough for him to actually be useful for proper work.

Huddled over the bar, the youngest of the demon brothers seemed so vulnerable that even Clover could bring up enough courage to go for that tail.

Couldn't be that hard, right?

Well, it could.

Just as she was about the stretch out her shaking hand, someone walked right into her way and startled her completely.

As the girl gave an awkward squeal, Mammon looked at her with almost as much fright in his eyes.

"Waah, human, what are ya screamin´ at?!"

"I-I didn't... See you there..." Clover mumbled.

"I literally just passed by..." He raised an eyebrow. But seeing how her cheeks were flushed all red, a little grin curled his face. "I didn't know you'd get so excited to see me, human. I mean, I can't blame ya for being flustered at my sight, but what's all the blushing for?"

"I-I'm not flustered..." she stammered, trying to calm down.

"Come on, you can be honest", Mammon continued to tease, his ego-boosting mode fully activated. "I look damn nice in those clothes after all."

Clover shot him a glance, mustering how his vest fit him perfectly, how his shirt was slightly unbuttoned, and that he looked prrretty dang fine in shoes with heels.

"You do" she agreed.

Now Mammon was the one to flinch.

"F-for real?!" he blushed, then cleared his throat immediately. "I-I mean, thanks, I guess."

Mammon went silent for a moment, trying to calm his heart rate over the unexpected compliment.

"Want me to pose for ya?", he seemed to joke.

Clover looked at him... and sensed her chance.

"Yes please, great Mammon!" she exclaimed.

His tanned skin flushed an even darker colour, but, being the model he was, he actually did some poses for her. Now Clover didn't complain at that -- Mammon WAS a snack after all.

But after a while, she prompted him to give her a proper view of his back as well.

He seemed confused, even more so as she told him to stand still, but in the end did not seem to have noticed how Clover quickly poked his bunny tail. And while he was busy bragging about something modelling-related, Clover also turned to do the same with Belphie's tail as he was still asleep next to her.

"Thanks, Mammon!" she cheered afterwards, having scored not one, but three points at once.

With a little hop, she tackled Mammon into a quick hug before running off in a giggle.

Clover nearly bumped into Solomon while running away.

"Oh, hello... Why in such a hurry?" The sorcerer dodged her perfectly, his eyes sparkling in amusement as he mustered the clumsy girl.

"Huh? Oh, Solomon, sorry. Didn't see you there."

He laughed. "Well, I did guess that, seeing as you were focused on Mammon so intensely. The only question is... What did you do to leave him as such a blushing mess?"

"... I hugged him" Clover said, shrugging.

But seeing Solomon's expression, she felt somewhat off. Was he waiting for a different answer...?

"Well then, time to get back to work" Solomon changed the topic. "We don't want to waste time, do we? The bar opens soon."

He turned, but had yet to get moving. Instead, Solomon was taking a look around, completely exposing his bunny tail to Clover.

Which was worth three points, after all...

And it seemed like just the perfect opportunity...

"Yep, see you", Clover replied, turning around herself, leaving.

As much as she liked Solomon, this man was emitting such shady vibes that there was no getting her to touch this particular bunny tail…

--------------

Clover had bragged to her friend about her point advantage soon after (and spoke of her concerns regarding Mr. Shady MCShady),

Which she'd later realise had been a pretty bad idea.

Maybe fueled by rivalry, maybe just because Violet had some weird kink for pompom-like things, she upped her game SO much after that. (A/N: Ok it's not a kink, I was prompted to make sure everyone knows that... (But also it's a kink believe me hehehe))

Within the next hour, Violet scored another four points.

"Asmo, Mammon, and Beel again?!" Clover cried out in disbelief when the girls found each other in the kitchen. "What's wrong with you?!"

"Hehe~" Violet laughed. "I just had some good opportunities."

Clover rolled her eyes as she was cleaning some dishes. "Yeah, great, and I've been running around with top tier difficulty peeps like Papa Luci or Solomon. Talk about unfair..."

"I meeaan... You COULD squish them..."

"Yeah, sure, and risk dying? No thanks."

"Solomon wouldn't kill you... probably."

"... I´m telling you something´s UP with that guy today, I wouldn´t be so sure of that…" Clover joked, although having shivers go down her spine.

Before they could continue this, the kitchen door flew open.

Levi was dragging a trolley full of dirty glasses along with him.

He seemed awfully pissed.

"Levi?" Violet called out. "Are you okay...?"

He threw her a glance.

"Do I think I'm okay? In a place with so many Normies?" He gave a sigh, then seemed to have remembered something. "Ah, Violet, Lucifer said he needed you in the dancing hall."

The girl gave a nod, quickly wanting to make a leave since only fools would let a person like Lucifer wait. She shot Clover a glance before leaving, gesturing her to go for Levi's tail while they were alone.

Clover instantly felt that awkward pressure back on her, but now that she got called out she had to do it.

As the demon began placing the dishes in the dishwasher, Clover slowly approached him.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"If you've got nothing better to do..." he mumbled, not looking up from his work. "Although, you'd probably do better to go out and have fun with the oth- AAAGH WHY ARE YOU SO CLOSE?!"

Clover gave an almost equal squeal as she backed away in an instant.

"I WanTeD To HeLp" she screamed.

"BUT WHY ARE SO CLOSE?!"

"DON'T SHOUT AT ME, I'M AWKWARD."

"I'M EVEN MORE AWKWARD THAN YOU ARE, IDIOT."

They stared at each other with red faces until Clover crouched down to sit on the floor, recovering from this incident.

"Wh-what are you doing there?" Levi asked.

"Sit. I like floors. It's where I belong."

The demon gave her a weird look before averted his gaze in a troubled expression.

After a little silence, he would speak up again.

"... You belong outside, not here on this stinky kitchen floor."

"Huh?"

He bit his lip sheepishly. "Serving the guests, or at the bar... Where everyone can see you."

"... Huh?" Clover seriously didn't understand what he was blushing about.

He was staring at her, searching for words, but then decided to simply poke her bunny ears.

"... Bunny maids are a clear 10/10, everyone knows that..." he mumbled.

The girl blinked, now realising he was trying to compliment her.

"Bunny butlers, too, though" she replied. "You look really good", she laughed, grabbing one flap of his jacket to play with it.

"Adasdhegagf...!!"

Yes, that is a thing Levi can say, while flushing red and bashfully covering his face.

Not able to take this compliment, he ended up on the floor as well.

"You can't just land a critical hit without a warning... I thought we were confidants...!"

"Rank six confidants", Clover nodded. "But that's only more the reason to tell you what a snack you are right now-"

"AAAAAHHH DON'T!!" he screeched, turning away from her to hide his embarrassment. "I can't deal with so much kindness..."

Clover blinked at the bunny tail right in front of her.

Target locked.

She gave it a careful squish, then snickered a little before standing up.

"But you deserve it. That's why... I'm calling a confident rank up!"

He turned his head. "R-really?! Rank seven already?!"

"Yup."

"Woah... to think I'd be such good friends with somebody one day... Thank you, Clover-chan...!"

"No, no... I have to thank you, Levia-tan."

-----------------

"You want me to select songs for the people to dance to...?"

Violet looked at the three monitors behind the DJ's table in the dancing hall.

Lucifer gave a nod. "We already added songs from Devildom artists, but we could use a little of a cultural mix" he said.

Satan walked up to Violet and Lucifer, now looking at the list of songs all together.

"We also need to add more to make the playlist last until the local closes" Lucifer continued. "I doubt that anyone will leave sober enough to remember such details, but Lord Diavolo ordered no repetitions in the playlist, so please, just help us out..."

Violet gave it some thought, not really knowing much about typical party songs. “I highly doubt my taste in hard rock will be a good representation of humanities taste in music, but... Well, that´s all I can serve with, so…” She came up with some nice picks from her own likings.

While Violet was eventually coming up with some nice tracks, in the meantime, Satan activated his pissing-off-Lucifer mode.

"Lucifer, you talk as if you'd know what a real party looks like", he mocked, referring to Lucifer's comment from before. "Have you even been to a club before?"

The oldest brother gave a huff.

"Of course I have."

"Oh? I meant on occasions other that picking up a drunk Asmo from IN FRONT OF the club."

"The answer is still a yes, thank you for clarifying."

Satan raised an eyebrow.

"Interesting", he hummed. "I can't really imagine you at a club, though... Dancing in the crowd... downing shots... or being cool in general..."

The avatar of Pride gave an annoyed sigh.

"You don't seem like a party animal either, Satan" he countered.

"Well I choose to avoid crowded places for most of the time. However, I still think I'd do better at settling in a club's atmosphere than you could."

Violet could almost feel how Lucifer's frustration piled up, even though he tried staying calm.

"Do you, huh...?" Lucifer leisurely responded.

And his outward calmness made Satan angry as well.

"You don't believe me?" the blond huffed. “Do you really think I couldn´t beat an old man at clubbing?”

Meanwhile, being in the middle of what felt like a flippin´ dance battle about to break out any moment, Violet prayed for them to stop fighting soon.

... Which didn't happen.

They kept bickering, partly because Satan talked himself into a fury and partly because Lucifer's pride was too big to admit defeat or weakness in any way.

Just when Violet had finished the playlist, Satan threw a final tantrum, leaving them with an outraged "Whatever!!" as he stomped off into another section of the dancing hall.

Lucifer pressed out a sigh, cutting through the awkward silence that had spread amongst them.

"What a troublesome child..." he mumbled.

Violet watched Satan with a worried expression, before turning to Lucifer with the same look on her face.

"... Don't worry, that is normal behaviour between Satan and me..." the male assured her. "He will get over his anger soon enough."

"And... What about you...? I feel like you are quite tense right now, yourself…" Violet asked.

"I should go and see where my help is needed now", he claimed, dodging her question.

Lucifer was gone before Violet could respond anything coherent.

Thus, giving a sigh, she decided to at least check how Satan was doing.

The avatar of Wrath was lumbering around some speakers, seeming as if he checked if everything was working as it should (despite having no idea how they were working.)

When he noticed Violet approaching, he only shot her a quick glance.

"Satan...?" The girl softly called out. "Are you okay?"

No answer.

It almost felt as if he was going to ignore her completely.

"... I don't get it” he then suddenly pressed out.

"What do you mean?" Violet took a careful step closer.

"I hate him" Satan growled.

The girl flinched, but decided not to say anything. She felt a certain frustration in his voice, and indeed, as he continued, his tone changed a little.

"He really pisses me off every time. I get angry, over nothing at all!" He clenched his fists. "And it makes me angry, his stupid face, his cocky attitude...!"

Then his shoulders fell. "... Why can't I just ignore him? I get angry, and then I get angry over getting angry. It's so...!"

Violet listened to him patiently.

"... It's so frustrating..." He mumbled.

"I can fathom..." Violet claimed, shooting him an encouraging smile as he slowly turned towards her. "But... Don't you think it's already a big step that you don't actually want to be angry?"

"... But what good is that when I do get angry after all?"

"You can't accomplish everything immediately” her expression softened even more. “What's important though is that you at least try."

Satan seemed sceptical, but in the end gave a slight nod.

"I guess... I'm sorry for bothering you."

The girl shook her head in a smile. "You´re not a bother. I´m glad you felt comfortable enough to tell me."

Shyly, she spread her arms, inviting him into a hug. A little awkward himself, he gave a little laugh before stepping close to embrace her.

"Everyone needs to vent out their anger sometimes" Violet reassured.

"... Thanks", he whispered.

As they parted, Satan turned to inspect the speakers again.

"Anyway... I think we checked through everything we needed in the dance hall. I will look over this here and then head out for my break."

"Mhm..." Violet muttered. "Sounds good..."

And there, she went for it.

A little touch - she didn't dare to do more than that.

But Satan's bunny tail had been successfully poked.

He continued to speak like nothing happened, so Violet dared to wish she had went for a whole squeeze instead.

"I should be going now", the girl said.

"Alright" Satan was still focused on inspecting the equipment, so Violet made her leave.

Unconsciously, she turned her head shortly before leaving the hall.

A shiver went down her spine, leaving her paralyzed for what felt like her last moments alive.

Satan's alarmed, slightly angered glare was cutting through the air, focussing her for a hot second before he decided to turn around again.

Hurrying out of the dance hall, dodging Solomon as he had nearly run into her, Violet quickly pulled out her phone as she had withdrawn from the scene of crime:

Violet: Clover I think Satan noticed me.

Clover: As in Senpai noticed me?

Violet: ...

Clover: :D

Violet: ... No, I squeezed his tail, but later on he was staring at me. Help.

Clover: ... So he's a three-pointer now?

Violet: I don't know but I feel like I nearly died so probably.

Clover: Lolol well that's what you get from messing with Satan. But I'll be kind and give you those two points. He did not confront you about it, after all.

"Hey, Violet!"

Violet flinched so heavily she nearly let go of her phone. Her first instinct had feared it was Satan calling her, but actually, she turned to look at somebody else.

"Lord Diavolo", she said. "Can I help you with anything?"

"I want to place the free snacks on the dining tables" he smiled. "Most of them are from the human world, so I want you to help me choose the best."

He was already going ahead, leaving Violet no room to explain that she's actually SO not a snacking person and had near to no idea how to help him.

Someone gave Diavolo keys for the storage room, and as they stepped inside, he turned on the lights.

"Woah...", Violet's mouth fell open. "That's... A lot of stuff."

"Fascinating, isn't it? You humans are so creative when it comes to food!"

He led her further inside where the snacks were stored.

Even though Violet liked him a lot, it still felt weird, being alone with the Prince of the whole flippin Devildom. You wouldn't have guessed it from Diavolo's carefree aura, but Violet was fairly overwhelmed, being able to walk alongside him so casually.

She tried her best at giving some advice as they looked through the huge collection together.

"We should go with a good mix of sweet and salty snacks" she explained. "Pretzels, chips or peanuts, together with something more delicate, gummies for example."

Diavolo beamed her a smile.

"I knew I could count on you!"

And he started grabbing things off the shelves.

Violet was helping, of course, but the storeroom was also tall as frick, so for lots of bags, she had to ask Diavolo to reach for it.

And that's when it hit her.

The currently vulnerable Diavolo, reaching for a bag of extra cheesy Tortilla chips, exposing his three-point worth bunny tail, only centimetres away from Violet's reach.

She literally only had to stretch out her hand a tiny bit.

And with the waterfall of words that Diavolo was talking, he wouldn't even notice.

It would be so easy.

But she couldn't do it.

She looked around. Between all the shelves, all the packages, back to the door they came from.

They were alone. She was sure of it.

But also, Violet had never felt more watched over than in this exact moment.

There was this presence lurking in the back of her neck, threatening her the more she tried to stretch out her arm.

Waiting for her to make one false decision...

"Extra DOUBLE cheesy?!"

Diavolo turned around, holding up a bag of Doritos. "Humans are so crazy!!"

Violet blinked at him, only now noticing that her whole body had tensed up so much it almost hurt.

"Y-yeah..."

As they walked out of the storeroom, arms full with all sorts of snacks, Violet gave a sigh. She had been so close... Only a little closer, and she…

"Should I take some of those from you?"

Violet did a little jump as she heard the voice next to her ear.

Barbatos was right beside her, smiling and tilting his head a little.

"My apologies, I didn't mean to scare you."

The way he mustered her, with his bunny ears and the bow tie around his neck, he looked so cute when he gently pulled most of the bags out of Violet's grip,

But sure as hell, today the girl learned to never pull any kind of prank on the Lord of the Devildom. Ever.

---------------

Violet was trying to catch a breath so she allowed herself a quick time-out in the bathroom. When she stepped outside again, she saw Solomon waving her over.

"I heard you and Lord Diavolo brought snacks to display? Would you mind helping me bring them to the tables?"

She gave a nod as an answer.

"Great. Then, let's divide them into the bowls first, and then go around with one of the trays."

And so they did. There wasn't much happening, really. Not much chatting, but nothing strange either.

Just one thing...

A bunch of perfect occasions to squeeze Solomon's bunny tail. Like, every few moments, he was focussing on something, leaving a perfect opening...

Violet left this situation without gaining any more points.

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me fanfic #obeyme #short story #obey me bunny event

[hentaimommi]

ʀᴏᴏᴍᴍᴀᴛᴇꜱ | ꜱᴜɴᴀ ʀɪɴᴛᴀʀᴏᴜ [x fem! reader]

Warnings: NSFW, all characters 18+, drug abuse

(A/N) I've never written on tumblr-- I've only ever written on wattpad (@/hentaimommi), let's hope this goes well! sorry for any mistakes/misunderstandings, I'm trying to improve my writing and take it seriously.

[R O O M A T E S]

It all began on a Friday night. Rintarou had gone out with his regular crowd, pot heads and easy chicks, and I was stuck at home. No one here to buy me a drink or hold my hand. I didn't mind though, I wasn't envious. He had his life, I had mine.

That was, until he got home. Usually in the midst of his cross-faded fits, he'd somehow sneak into my room. The first time it happened I was taken off guard, he never had shown an interest in me. No once could I recall any moment where he even asked how my day was. Yet, when he came home on Friday nights, that was all I could hear.

Tonight was no different, of course. I sat on the sofa, up late watching whatever k-drama Netflix had to offer that would stimulate my romantic ability. I'd never been romantically perused; men seemed to tiptoe around me, too intimidated by whatever quality seems to be so offputting to them. Anyone but Rin.

I could hear when he arrived home. The lock was being messily fiddled with, his drunken state rendered his ability to think cognitively or with any real consideration. Soon the door would finally open, swinging all the way to the wall.

A large waft of alcohol and weed forced it's way into my nasal cavity; reminding me of the man himself. Looking over to him, he stood facing backwards to the door, which puzzled me for a moment. Then, as if to answer my question by some hand at fate, another woman walked in behind him.

She was skinny, slender if you will. Tall, too. Her hair was long, skin coated in a thick layer of body glitter for whatever low-life party they were coming from. I wanted to pretend like this wouldn't phase me, but in the depths of my heart, it pulled. It hurt badly, so bad my face noticeably dropped.

""What's 'sur problem?" He asks, sloppily throwing his arm over the womans shoulder. She was so out of it her responses were only incoherent grunts. Classy. I rolled my eyes, standing up and gathering the things I had settled on the sofa.

It didn't hurt so much that, in a drunken state, he picked up some random woman. It hurt because then I realized how much I actually wanted it to happen. I had shaved, done my hair, and even put on a cute set of lingerie that had been collecting dust in my drawer since my first year at University.

The low glow of his bedroom light flickered on, causing both parties to squint. He then shut the door, no- slammed it. I sighed, letting a wonton groan escape before I secluded into my room for the night; sure to wear headphones.

By the time morning light seemed through the edge of my black out curtains, the woman was gone. The only sounds emitting from his room were low-groan like growls in his sleep. I stood, warm feet padding on the cold wooden floors in a hushed tone.

To the kitchen I went, turning on some light lo-fi on the Alexa that sat next to the stove, and beginning to cook a small breakfast. Eggs, bacon, and biscuits. Nothing too crazy, afterall, we're in Uni.

Apparently the smell awoke the sleeping bear, seeing how he groggily stumbled from his room. I didn't know how to feel. Usually he saved sex for me, which always made me feel like we had something exclusive. I was in for one rude awaking, now feeling nearly embarrassed at my ignorance.

"Mornin' beautiful. Whatcha makin'?" He asked, opening the refrigerator and grabbing a water. "Eggs, bacon, and biscuits. The pain medication is in the cabinet to the left, for your hangover." He smiled, nodding and grabbing the bottle from the cabinet.

I reached up into the one above my head, grabbing two plates and organizing a hearty breakfast for the both of us; especially him. He thanked me silently, taking the plate from my hands and making his way to the sofa. He turned the TV on, getting lost in whatever was playing at this hour.

I sighed, opting to eat at the counter instead of with him like we usually do on Saturday mornings. "Oh, I'm goin' out with Kita tonight, would you wanna come? Unless yer' totally wrecked from last night." He broke the silence, making me look up. Last night?

"What do you mean 'wrecked from last night'?" I asked, sipping on the OJ I had in a pink cup set aside from before I started cooking. Rin turned around, almost to question my sanity. "Don't you remember? I totally wrecked you last night, pretty thing." His words were quite literally laced with certainty, nearly making me laugh.

"Uh- no, you didn't. You did however completely destroy some bar hopper, though. At least that's the sound of it." I began to chuckle, opening my phone. Kita's Snapchat was full of videos of last night, so I turned to show him one of him and the woman he had brought home grinding on the dance floor.

"Oh shit. 'm sorry (F/N), I really thought it was you-! I swear I didn't-" He sat the plate down, only to be held up by a wavering sway of my index finger. "We're not exclusive, don't worry Rin."

He, however, didn't seem to 'not worry', as I had asked him not to. "No, no-" He started, walking over to me. He took my plate into his own, sitting them in the sink. Once done, he turned to me. "You don't get it, darlin'. I told that woman somthin' that was meant for you."

I arched a brow to his disposition, leading him to groan and roll his eyes. "I told 'er that I loved 'er!" He spouted, visibly frustrated and embarrassed. My eyes shot open, darting to find his own, but to my disappointment he had been glued to the floor.

"L-Love? Like- love love, or-" He stopped me, putting his large, calloused hand over my mouth. Once clasped, he spoke. "Love love. Don't feel special or nothin'. It's embarrassin'." I smiled, pulling his hand softy away from my face. The silence spoke waves as he stared down at me. Then, as it happens, I kissed him. He kissed back with a passion, or rather fury. His right hand snaked around my back, left finding its way to my neck, comfortably.

"R-Rin," Breathlessly I spoke agaisnt the skin of his cheek, his kisses finding a path to my neck. He chuckled darkly in amusement, gripping his large hands around the base of my thighs, then my ass. Quickly, by some form of magic, he picked me up and held my around his waist; like I was paper.

His kisses desperately continued lower, legs taking us back into his room as if it were some sort of automatic response to my hands running in his hair, tugging on the locks. Groans could be heard wide from both of us.

Sitting me down on the bed, he lowered himself onto his knees, looking up at me devilishly. Almost ominous, you could say. "R-Rin what are you doing?" I asked, panting from the loss of breath. He smiled, pushing the palms of his hands around the balls of my knees, wedging my thighs perfectly apart.

"Givin' you what you deserve." He spoke, hot and sloppy kisses making their way down my thigh and onto the lewdly clothed part of my cunt. Without hesitation, Rin reached under me, pulling at the waistline of my pants. Scooting just enough for them to release and relapse off my legs and into the floor.

"'s good for me. Aren't ya, darlin'?" His words dragged, sleepy, groggy. I nodded, releasing a pent up breath when he gently thumbed my swollen clit. "Yer so fuckin' gorgeous, god, I'm such an idiot." He spoke against my clit, tongue now delved into my slick folds.

My hips arched forward, begging for more. He reluctantly denied, teasing me of my furthered pleasure. He then backed away, pushing his boxers away from his hips and into the floor with my panties.

His cock was pulsing; leaking precum, a perfect pink. It begged to be touched, I could see it's long length twitch. "Take a picture, it'll last longer." I rolled my eyes, looking to the ceiling. "Sorry, you're just so hard." Honestly, he always had been- but this time looked desperate, like he was ready before he even sat me onto the bed.

"'cus you get me so hard, baby. Don't you know? Shoulda figured it wasn't you last night, my cock wasn't nearly as sensitive." His hands ran into my hair, cock lining up with my wet entrance.

I moaned as he put it in, filling me up full of his thick cock. I knew he should have put on a condom, but fuck it, I needed him now. His heavy breathe rolled across my chest like a blunt on a trey, hands cascading my body like a clay mold.

"'s pretty for me.." His praises worked harder on me, cock pushing in and out at a perfect pace. Our moans fell together, his pelvis softly rubbing against my clit with each thrust; stimulating it further. His mouth found way to my own, engulfing me into a shameless-sloppy kiss. "I love you.."

My face began to heat up, lower body matching in a needy state. "I-I love you too, Rin." As the words carelessly fell from my lips, I could feel myself begin to convulse. Shaking, my hips turned up, meeting my peak with Rin right after; cumming deep inside me, filling me full as he always did.

His hand rested on my stomach as he pulled out, leaving me empty. His thin lips met my forehead, giving me a small kiss before lying beside of me. Wordlessly, we cuddled against each other, naked- without care.

His hands were on my body politely, never tracing a single inappropriate spot. "'m sorry, love. I didn't mean to." He spoke into my hair, big spoon feeling much smaller now. I chuckled, holding his hand fondly into mine. "Don't worry 'bout it. Just get ready for Kita and I to rank on you about it."

#suna rintarou #x fem reader #suna x y/n #anime #haikyuu!! #university #haikyuu smut #college au

[hearteyes-for-killmonger]

6. The Wakandan Rainforest 

In the dark of night, the lonely and fearsome prince moved soundlessly through ancient and majestic trees, tall and dense. The song of insects was alive with the chirp of crickets. The starlit leaves of vines and bushes reflected the clear blue from the sky peaking through branches stretched like fingers. In a single leap, his heavy body rustled the leaves up high like wind. He was as a bird on the branch, the ghost floating above--haunting the land. His dark sated eyes gazed out at the glowing full moon, concise and set apart from the clouds--lonely and after all these years still beautiful. 

After beating the afterlife out of both Julip and Deanna for letting the girl go, he stood still as a statue on his perch until he spotted with his sharp eyes, Dawn tripping over a low branch as she was tiredly trekking through mud and dark soil, trying her hardest to avoid being bitten, stung, mauled, or worse--recaptured. Pissed at the siblings, he'd followed her from the time she first 'escaped' from the castle, running until her energy ran out. The light from outside of the canopy dropped fast making it nearly impossible for her to see which was too dangerous for her. She couldn't be in the woods alone, she'd get lost. She could be hurt. As a human she was fragile. Anything could kill her with a wrong step. He kept his eyes on her, trailing and guessing her path from above until she finally stopped too tired to continue, settling down on the ground with her back slowly against a tree to rest. There was something about her that made it impossible for him to leave her alone. It was as though he'd known her intimately since the day he was born but couldn't figure out how, like she was already a big part of him somehow. It was the same odd feeling that drove him to follow her through the woods right before her friends were murdered, even though he'd never before seen her. He'd then followed the vehicle of men and rescued her, taking her to his castle with no clear plan or motive other than keeping her near to himself to understand the feelings flowing through him, yet he'd been too shy to come close. He'd kept his distance. If anyone knew that, they'd laugh and think it nonsense--the fearsome and wicked Prince N'Jadaka--shy. It was laughable. As the oldest and strongest vampire in his kingdom, he was seen as unshakable. Alas, in all his power he still couldn't bring himself to be near a flimsy human, and now that she was running away trying to find safety he wasn't sure he was willing to stop her. 

His lime green parrots flew overhead, watching over her just as he was. It seemed they recognized her somehow as well. Night turned to day and without a need to sleep, he waited patiently for her to wake, only coming down to divert the venomous snakes and spiders that would slither her way. She woke with a start but he was already back in the trees above when she looked around in a panic. After another mile, he watched the joy in her face as she realized she'd finally reached the big tree, a marker for the pathway from the forest. She still had a long way to go on foot as slow as she was. It took her the day to get to the stream which she crossed so painstakingly, soaking the bottom of her dress and even taking a drink. He forgot she needed to eat and drink, she was probably famished. Still, she kept moving and by the time nightfall returned, she was at the meadow clearing. He was impressed. She nestled down in the open field to stay the night and he hung back in the trees, staying put to keep watch. 

The flowers claimed her in peace and the music of the night came from a chorus of crickets and frogs until a foreign noise caught his attention. He looked out from his position high in the trees to see a few men with guns walking through his forest about a mile out but the girl's direction. They did not know she was there but there was a high chance they'd find her and he could not bear the thought. Every now and then he'd find humans wandering. Some were threats and some were not, but regardless--they were all blood reserves that could not be wasted. These guys were definite threats that he needed to eradicate.

"Hold on," he pleaded silently hoping the girl would not wake and leave before he could return. He had to be quick. At top speed, he jumped from tree to tree and swooped down knocking the men unconscious and carrying them back to his castle in under 20 minutes. They'd be washed and bled for the banquet. He was back in no time at all having missed nothing. 

In the daylight when the girl woke again, she made her way a little more carefully toward the snake pit and he felt nervous watching her tiptoe across a dirt floor of rattlesnakes. He couldn't take it. When she screamed, he swooped down and pulled her out sitting her on safe ground. She seemed more terrified of him than the snakes, stumbling backward and falling in shock. She hadn't known he was following. He took a short walk away from her putting space between himself and her to put her at ease.

"You shouldn't be in these woods alone," he stated watching her step further away. "It's dangerous out here-- for someone like you. Defenseless." He could hear her heart and it was racing. He was still scaring her. He didn't know how not to. "You can't run from me," he told her hoping she would understand. It only seemed to add to her fear and then he noticed that as she backed up, she was walking into a giant web of a poisonous spider. 

"Wait! Stop moving!" He reached out but she went faster running into it and freaking out, screaming as she tried to pull off the sticky web. "Stop moving, let me help you," he said steadily with his hands up. He was able to get near and gently remove the large spindly arachnid from her hair, placing it on a nearby tree. He stayed at a distance from her while she calmed and when she caught her breath, she seemed to be a little more stable, staring at him. His nervousness returned and he stood still.

"Thanks," she muttered, her eye contact even. He straightened, not sure how to respond. He gave a stone-faced nod.

"So," she paused to look him over. "How long have you been here? You were gonna let me go," she accused. 

"No such thing, I'd have stopped you," he lied trying to be convincing. "I planned to kill you when you reached the border, you know the location of my castle." He regretted saying it when the fear resurfaced within her. What was wrong with him? Luckily her fear lasted only seconds. 

"You've had ample time," she combated watching him closely. "I think you're full of shit." 

"Oh? I'm KING in these woods, I can do what I want to who I want. You really dare to test me? Pet?" His approach was smooth as it had always been, her words lighting a fire within him. He walked right up to her until he stood inches away, but she didn't move nor did she flinch and he scoffed--shown up. "Don't test me," he smirked until she continued her path away from him. He knew it well and she was planning to walk directly into bear territory. 

"Wait," he called effectively halting her steps. She came back but only to pull him by the neck of his tunic to follow her. Of course, she wasn't strong enough to move him. It only worked because he chose it. If his subjects could see him now being led through his forest by the delicate fingers of a human woman, he'd be embarrassed but where no one could see--he didn't mind. She felt like home and being near her felt right. 

The walk was good. Peaceful. They didn't talk though he'd wanted to, he didn't know what to say. It took him twenty minutes to decide on the perfect question, ruling out three others. It was the question he wanted answered the most. He waited for what seemed like the perfect moment, she was getting a little tired and needed to stop walking for a bit.

"A week ago," he started watching her sit on the ground in her silk dress. He heard her stomach grumble aggressively and felt bad. "Hold on," he gestured pausing in his escape to look back at her. "Don't move." 

He knew of a fruit grove full of plums and he was there and back in mere minutes, offering her the fruits which she held like gold. He waited until she got one in her system to pose his question. 

"Why were you in the woods?"

The story of her travel from North America to Africa for the sake of dance intrigued him.

"Is that why your feet," he gestured with his eyes not wishing to insult her. She didn't seem to care.

"These are dancer feet, we suffer for beauty," she countered. Of course this came with a sadness stemming from her missing her performance, she was very upset and he understood why. He hadn't known about it until this moment. No one had said anything, too afraid he gathered. 

"I've never seen a ballet," he shared, curiosity bubbling. "I probably never will considering I'm contained to this forest."

"Why is that," she frowned. It was a tough question to answer, not because he didn't know but because of how it affected him. It was part of the blood curse passed from his parents to him, something his father brought on voluntarily without weighing the consequences. He was stuck with said consequences and left on his own, a baby forced to grow himself. The first wanderers he found in the forest, he turned by biting them. He didn't know then what would happen but once they turned they were bound to his side and he was no longer quite so alone though he was still lonely. That was the beginning of his kingdom and his motivation for turning straggling travelers.

"That's why you killed Deanna and Julip, you wanted friends." Her face was full of sympathy and he straightened, not liking the idea of being pathetic in her eyes.

"They're not my friends, they're my subjects. I have no friends."

"Eh, you could," she poked at his arm and he walked away, disappearing from her sight not wanting to appear weak. "Where are you going," she called dryly.

"Away."

"I was just saying if you dropped the holier than thou attitude, you might be a little less bitchy."

"Get your ass back here," she commanded and he turned on his heel incredulous. No one in his life had ever spoke to him an ounce of the way she had. If they had, he'd have tortured them to send a clear message.

"Careful," he warned, but she didn't seem fearful. Any fear she had melted the second she first challenged him. 

Bitchy? He scowled baring his teeth.

"I'll show you bitchy," he whispered lunging at her. She screamed tripping over herself to get away but he noticed that her heart was steady. As he chased her in slow motion compared to his possible speed, she wasn't afraid. She was having fun. She screamed again tossing a plum at him which he caught as she giggled running behind a tree. It was when he broke the branch she was hiding behind like a toothpick that she stopped giggling. 

Passing him she made her easy back to their spot and though he'd gotten a little bit carried away, he couldn't deny that it was the most fun he'd ever had.

"Uhh. Maybe we should just talk some more, yeah?"

He shrugged.

@goddessofthundathighs @thadelightfulone @mszrenee @woahitslucyylu @badgalbrix1 @supersizemeplz @idont-know-shit @ladymac82 @xsweetdellzx

#original #erik killmonger #killmonger #erik stevens #black panther killmonger #erik x oc #sanctuary