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tacobellabeanburrito · 3 months

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hello this is Anon again. could you please direct me to your favorite Ace Attorney fics? I’ve read pretty much all the popular ones so I’m looking for some more niche ones :) thank you!!

Oh Anon… You sweet, sweet summer child. You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.

I was already planning on doing an Ace Attorney fic rec list because I wanted to share some of my favorite ones (A lot of the ones I read aren’t on many of the regular fic rec lists, so I wanted to share some ones that I feel like are really good and maybe don’t get enough recognition) So I am very glad you asked Anon, gives me reason to actually continue on my fic rec list! I love sharing my favorite fics!

Most of them are Narumitsu, couple are Krisnix, and some are both. Also a couple stragglers out there without a ship as well. There will also be some smut ones (Don’t judge please lmao) (Also, just saying. There’s no good Krisnix in this fic list, all of it is seen as toxic, I ship them as Toxic Tragic Yuri and they’re not good as a real relationship. Just a disclaimer)

Some will have big blurbs about them from me explaining their plot a little and what I like about them. For others, I’ll just post them because I don’t really feel like talking about them in detail. But I promise they’re all good!

I’m not going to link them this time, cause I dunno how to do that without making a huge mess cause there’s so many and I don’t want my post to be wonky. And I’m also not going to categorize them because I’m eepy and didn’t get enough sleep last night, so you can figure it out yourself Anon lmao.

(But if you can’t find any, please tell me I’ll help)

So, without further ado… Here are my fic recs!

Fics:

Perfect by Sideblog: My absolute, all time favorite AA fic! Ever! Literally ever! I don't really wanna talk about the plot because that basically spoils the whole thing and I don't wanna do that to you, you just gotta read it! It is beautifully written and has an amazing concept that I would never think of in a million years! Seriously, so criminally underrated to the point of I have no idea how it doesn’t have like 15,000 hits on A3O. Even though I didn't explain much of the plot, just know that it is incredible and absolutely worth a read. I come back to it sometimes to read it because IT IS THAT GOOD. When I first saw this fic I didn’t really know what to expect because there weren’t any warnings or practically anything. Very mysterious fic. So glad I read it, though. When you get done reading this Anon, you gotta tell me what you think.

El Capo A Fine by tellezara: There’s something incredible about specialized Au fics in which you can tell that despite whatever the Au fic is about, the writer has an absolute love for the subject. This one is about musical instruments and Ace Attorney characters being part of an orchestra, and you can tell that this person has done orchestra before (Or at least thoroughly researched it and has a love for it) because they put in so many facts and interesting tidbits about instruments and the orchestra world that I never knew about and I loved learning about all of it. Fics like these are very special in my opinion because those people write it out of pure love for whatever the subject is and whatever the fandom is. Anyway, fic good. (Makes me wanna write an Ace Attorney choir fic, that’s my speciality)

The Miraculous Disappearance of Phoenix Wright by JJsADragon: Was on a road trip when I first read this and literally could NOT. STOP. READING. HAD ME GRIPPED. EDGE OF CARSEAT. The whole plot is basically a parody of "It's A Wonderful Life" where Phoenix ends up in a universe where he was never born. Which, as you can guess, causes a myriad of problems for the legal world and world in general. I had no idea where the plot was going, didn't know how it was going to end, and WAS TERRIFIED. But. I kept reading anyway. IT IS THAT GOOD.

Miles Edgeworth: The Ace Attorney by Charybdia: I SPENT AGES. AGES. Looking for a good, finished Ace Attorney roleswap fic. And when I found this one I STRUCK GOLD. SWEAR IT. Amazing, love this one. Still come back to it. IT’S GOT OBNOXIOUS THEATRE KID PHOENIX WRIGHT, HOW CAN I NOT LOVE IT? It also is accompanied by art Also, also, We get good friend Larry Butz. WHAT MORE COULD YOU ASK FOR?

Carpe Diem (make your lives extraordinary by Elysya): A high school Au featuring theater kid Phoenix, debate kid Miles and third wheel Larry. I loved this one. It’s also just super interesting. The developing relationship between Phoenix and Miles is one that I really like as they’re both messy teenagers and really gotta work out their flaws if they wanna be together.

Begone Dull Care by VivaRockSteady: A good Au fic surrounding patient Miles and nurse Phoenix. Goes into good detail about recovering from suicide and depression, and recovering from other mental health issues. Also check out some of the other fics by this writer. One is an Au of the Truman Show and the other is a Roman/Greek Au that I found incredibly interesting.

if you leave the light on by AngstinSpace: A very good fic. I was reading this one in my study hall and my teacher was playing calming piano music that was kinda sad/melancholic and I started tearing up in class because I was feeling all the emotions. Girl this is good, go read it.

I used to think people were good but now I just think they’re people by thebirdsandtheboxes: SEVERELY UNDERRATED. Super good and goes very in-depth into Phoenix’s disbarment period and how he and his friends and family react. Also has some good Asexual!Miles moments.

This man is not your boyfriend by its_ok_inside: AN AMAZING FIC CENTERING AROUND PHOENIX HAVING AMNESIA AND MILES HELPING HIM DEAL WITH IT. Hilarious. Super funny. I love it. Also is accompanied by some artwork. FUCK YEAH THIS FIC. A classic.

Surviving You by pantswarrior: I’m pretty sure this is an older fic that got moved, and it kinda shows that in its writing (Yk those fics that you can tell were written in the 2000s/early 2010s based on their vocabulary and thoughts on gay relationships? Kinda like that) but it’s good. Very good.

A False Start by theacegrace: A phenomenal fic centered around Bratworth!Miles meeting Feenie!Phoenix and Miles praying that Phoenix doesn’t get accused of murder when he sees Phoenix with Dahlia. Loved this one so much and came back to it a couple times.

Chicago Noel by canonlacrush: A classic. There used to be an Au a while back that everyone was obsessed with and it was a bakery/mafia Au. I wish there were more fics that catered to that Au but they’re hard to find. Anyway, this one is great.

Maybe In Time You’ll Want To Be Mine by YourAverageBystander: A time loop fic that I absolutely adore. Y’all really gotta key in on these Ace Attorney time loop/time travel fics, there’s a couple in here. THEY ARE A TREASURE.

Turnabout Sole by CollaboralDamage: An awesome bodyswap fic. DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO FIND BODY SWAP FIC IN THIS FANDOM?! And this one is good. Very good. Liked it a lot.

Shared Work Space by nerdyskeleton: I think the fic’s summary works best here “It was the best of times, it was the worst of time when Miles Edgeworth discovers he likes to be called Daddy”.

Shear Luck by TopazEstrella: One that I didn’t really know what to think of when I first kept seeing it on my search for Narumitsu fics, but I’m very glad I read it. It’s different, but I like it. Has some Krisnix in it.

The Illusion Of Control by Ekat: Amazing. Loved it. Takes place in an alternate universe where Miles died and Gregory didn’t. Has a lot of found family dynamics featuring Mr. Edgeworth, Phoenix and Ray.

Tight Lesh by Ensiy: I come back to this one often. One of the only fics that has good Kristoph and Miles interaction. They’re both catty bitches to each other. Has some Krisnix in it.

Out of Order by canolacrush: A super cute fic where Miles gets a haircut and Phoenix gets a crush. I re-read it a lot because it’s super cute and really fluffy.

With The Phases Of The Moon by Puddor: One I come back to often for a couple of moments. Really love it. One of the good Werewolf!Phoenix and Vampire!Miles fics.

You Ever Been In Love? by hechima: Loved this one a lot. We love the Wright gang trying to matchmake. A classic in terms of AA fics and for good reason.

Observe and Record by MAVEfm: An introspective Miles fic detailing him and his personal journal. I really like this one. Has some Krisnix in it.

Pressing Pursuit ~ Cornered by viviaciousbarkbeast: Love this one. I think this was one of the first AA fics I’ve read. Has some Krisnix in it.

That Man by Sunshine_And_Starlight: A really good fic. It has one of my favorite tropes and I come back to it for certain moments that I really like and wanna read again.

A Badge Of Honor by sunsmasher: Really loved this one. I also come back to re-read it cause it’s just so funny and awkward and hilarious.

Awkward Business by hechima: I’m a sucker for this trope! You’ll see what I mean when you read it. It’s all gold! I still come back to this one.

wait (they don’t love you like I love you) by Samioli: Super good fic detailing Miles finding out about all Phoenix’s past relationships.

parallelogram by zombiekittiez: Such a slay fic, has a strange premise at first BUT we get Shakespeare references so that’s a big plus.

All There Is by sunsmasher: Loved it. A really good look into Krisnix as a relationship and dealing with sexual trauma.

London, 2021 by syailendra: Has a lot of good moments. I come back to this one a lot. Has some Krisnix in it.

Sketched Memories by gen: LOVED THIS ONE. OBSESSED. You just gotta read it. It’s a recent one but VERY GOOD.

Archaeology by sunsmasher: Everyone eats pizza, and truamadumps. Just a typical day at the Wright Anything Agency.

Dancer In The Dark by klaviersimp: Ahhh, I love this fic a lot. It holds a special place in my heart. Little suggestive but I like it.

dig my nails into the wound by gavinnersworldtour: A very good Krisnix fic. Delicious. I love this one.

Temptation by crayoncompanion: An interesting one that I can’t help but really love.

Hot, Sticky, Sweet by mutxnts: A really good fic. I CRAVE a continuation but it’s a one-shot.

Sin. Eater by potatomin: A very good Demon!Miles and Angel!Phoenix fic. Makes you want more.

romance is not dead (if you keep it just yours) by Samioli: This one was just sweet. I liked it a lot.

just desserts by riskphee: YES. YES. Love this one. I still come back to read it.

Thrown Through A Loop by savitaraandsigh: Another time loop fic that I absolutely adore.

From The Top by lazynina: Another Time loop fic that I absolutely adore.

Bespoke by Demus: We love suit kinks.

That Goddamned Idiot That Is Phoenix Wright by fyrebyrd_fta

Kleptomania by Ekat

Working Hazard by lilacSkye

caught in the act by Samioli

I’ll Cover You by nerd4fandoms

my rapt heart by griffonage

Bad dream, good time by notlikelybutpossible

Series:

7 years under the bridge: A series surrounding Phoenix’s fall and his relationships with Miles and Kristoph respectively.

7 year ache: Another series surrounding Phoenix’s fall and his relationships with Miles and Kristoph respectively.

And that’s most of them! There’s definately more, but those are the ones that really made an impression on me and that I think about a lot (And also the ones I could find easily without having to check every one of my bookmarks) You can find more that way if you want though! By looking through my bookmarks on A3O that is. That’s what I do sometimes with other A3O members and it’s worked out well (Look for the Buddy Daddies fics in my bookmarks, that’s where most of them start but definitely check my bookmarks, there’s a couple good ones I can’t find at the moment that I know are in there). But I also recommend doing your own research too, it doesn’t seem like fun but when you end up finding one of the hidden gem fics it’s totally worth it.

Here’s some advice, buddy, try to start at the beginning, like go all the way down to the last folder on A3O, but maybe first search for an AA tag that you know will have a smaller fic pool and go from there. And when you find an author you like, try and check out if they have some other AA fics. Most of the writers of the fics I have recommended have more Ace Attorney fics in their arsenal that I’ve read and enjoyed and just didn’t wanna put on here, so check them out!

Btw Anon, if you want the more… Darker fics that I like (There aren’t many, but there’s a couple) DM me because I don’t wanna give those out publicly since it just makes me sorta uncomfy and I don’t want others to be uncomfy. This also goes for smuttier fics that I don’t feel like sharing at the moment.

Sorry if this was a lot Anon, I just love fanfiction, it’s definately one of the more interesting art forms out there, and think a lot of the ones I read deserve to be shared!

(Oh, also, I write fics too Anon. Check out my AA fic if you wanna. Sorry to self-promote but I promise it’s cute!!)

Anyway, that’s all! Goodnight everybody!

#ace attorney #Narumitsu #mitsunaru #Phoenix wright #miles Edgeworth #ace attorney fic rec #fic rec #kristoph gavin #Krisnix #Wrightworth #worthwright #edgewright #kirinaru #kriswright #ace attorney fic #Phoenix wright ace attorney #ace attorney fics

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rad-batson · 9 months

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THIS IS FOR FANS OF CASSANDRA CAIN! PLEASE READ! I WANT YOUR THOUGHTS

(skip to the bottom if you just want silly headcanons about her :D)

Hello! So first, I want to thank everyone who read the Wayne pilot I made :) I appreciate your feedback, and I love you all.

As I'm preparing to post it on AO3, I decided to make a few (admittedly small) changes to the script, primarily around Cassandra Cain, because I haven't quite fleshed her out yet.

I don't have much experience with writing Cass, so I decided to do a bit of research on her yesterday, and wouldn't you know? I fell in love. 10/10. She didn't play a huge part in the pilot, but she will have a bigger one in the second episode, and there are a few things I think can or should be added so she doesn't feel too one-note.

There wasn't anyone who told me this, by the way. (In fact, I actually got some nice comments about her so thank you.) I just had it in the back of my mind while writing, and now that Cass is getting more screen time, I'm finding that my lack of knowledge might lead to mischaracterization.

SO TO COMBAT THIS, I MADE A GUIDE FOR MYSELF ON HOW TO WRITE CASS

Is this overkill? Probably Think of it as a silly headcanon list for my version of her. And I'm posting it here because I want your feedback before it's set in stone. (I know Cass isn't written well a lot, so this is my attempt to right these horrid wrongs.)

If you're going to give criticism, please be constructive. Tell me what you like or don't like. I'm all ears. Have fun :)

Writing Cass

(Btw I still gotta read Cass’s first Batgirl run by Kelley Puckett)

Has some sass, has a lot actually

Used to be awkward in social settings. she’s better at it when she’s with people so she can match their energy but she still prefers to just dip

Speaks in short-ish sentences, trying her best tho

I WILL BE ADDING THIS INTO THE PILOT, I JUST WANT TO KNOW TO WHAT DEGREE?? OR IS IT REALLY FINE

Mostly just relies on body language though

I WILL BE ADDING THIS INTO THE PILOT TOO, ESPECIALLY WITH THE ASL SCENE (BUT IT’S NOT REPLACING THE ASL)

also yes i know her using ASL isn't canon, it just works best for the scene, it would have been written the same whether she was in it or not, it is still a cute nod to fanon tho

Steph and Cass are extremely close BUT ALSO HAVE SEPARATE LIVES (I HAVE BEEN TOLD TO STRESS THAT AND I AGREE)

Messy, low-key gross. Bad-ish hygiene but she’s good at looking put-together so only those close know this about her (this is just my headcanon)

Often forgets bigger words so she occasionally uses the wrong one, she ALSO mixes up proverbs but no one corrects her because 1: it’s cute and 2: they don’t want to discourage her from speaking with them more casually (also my headcanon)

Cass: So I pulled the door off its…*makes motion with hand*…metal books. Steph: Do you mean hinge— Cass: Metal books.

Dick: Well that was a surprise. I didn’t know The Penguin would be here. Cass, nodding: Well life gives you grapes Dick: Wut Cass: You make grape juice. Get on the same book, Nightwing

I'M ON THE FENCE ABOUT ADDING THIS ONE BECAUSE IDK LET ME KNOW PLEASE

Is a cinnamon bun AND a little shit, it’s a balancing act

Production: She’s Wayne’s darling Princess Cass: *will break your fingers*

She does appear behind the camera crew to scare them on purpose, she thinks it’s funny, she likes seeing them freak out

She is super competitive, but she's always like "Oh I'm not that competitive" *proceeds to be very competitive*

Because she isn't super confident in her writing or speaking (or just uncomfortable communicating without seeing the other person's body language) she prefers to Facetime or simply reply to texts with selfies of her reaction. It is a thing now. when you need an honest opinion about an outfit, text a photo to Cass. She will either give back a photo of a thumbs up or a photo of a grimace and some not-so-flattering emojis

Her princess persona is her public cover persona in this show, parallel to Bruce’s “Brucie” and Dick’s “born for the cameras” thing

Is surprisingly vocal (and sometimes snippy) about her distaste with things but she mostly gets a pass because her morals align best with Bruce’s

Is most snippy when her family uses methods other than violence when violence is clearly the faster option, god they're such pacifists

Tim: *trying carefully to pick a lock* Cass: Just break through the wall? Tim: We can’t do that. We’re trying not to be noticed. Cass: Wimp

Bruce: Cass, why did you have to dislocate that man’s shoulder? Cass: I put it back. Bruce: That’s not the point. Cass: Fine, I’ll dislocate it again.

Is the best fighter, none of this “oh she’s the best fighter so when people do win against her, it makes them look cooler” thing, shut tf up, she could break their bones (not important to the show ofc but I need to add this because it is important in general)

Horrible at drawing, wretched (again a headcanon but I did see someone else mention it somewhere)

Also bad at writing, refuses to study to improve out of principle (i.e. she told Babs she doesn’t need to and now she refuses to admit Babs was right)

(AND SIDE-HEADCANON IF SHE IS HORRIBLE AT WRITING AND ACTIVELY HATED STUDYING HER ALPHABET THEN WHAT IF LIKE ONE DAY SOMEONE SAYS “hey can you grab me one of these files from last week’s case, it’s under M” SHE’S LIKE “fuck you, how could you do this to me” WHILE SEARCHING FOR M OR MORE SIMPLY *throws something at them*)

That's all I have right now. If you'd like to give me any recommendations, please do. I can't promise I'll add in every single one because this show is still about the whole Batfam, not just her, but I want to do her justice, and that definitely involves more fine-tuning on my part

OKAY THAT'S ALL LOVE YOU BYE

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cha0ticspacebi · 1 year

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Like 91% of the population, you were now and would always be a beta. Except when your roommate moves out suddenly and fate connects you with Alpha Eddie Munson. After that, things start to change.

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 (Coming Soon)

Pairing: Alpha Eddie Munson x Female Omega Reader

Word Count: 10.4 k

Tags: Omegaverse and everything that goes with it (knotting, nesting, scenting, heats, ruts, breeding kink, biting, you get the idea), college student reader, mechanic Eddie, panty sniffing but not from who you probably think, reader is a little freak but it's just her new instincts, a few instances were reader expresses body insecurities, talks of infertility, minor Steve Harrington x Chrissy Cunningham, and they were roommates! ⚠️ 21+ MDNI ⚠️

divider by firefly-graphics

All through public school sex education classes, you were told that if you didn’t experience signs of presenting during a certain time period, you never would. Most people don’t. That was certainly the case for you. Puberty came and went without the slightest hint of a secondary gender.

Even as society around you exists in the midst of a massive fertility crisis, more than 91% of the population is classified as beta. Experts in the field predicted that with the rapidly declining birth rates that we might see a rise in alpha and omega pairings but so far that has not been the case. No viable differences were seen until last year when the number of known alphas increased by a meager .2%.

Still, many beta couples continue to seek assistance with conceiving a child, which is part of the reason why you decided that would be your field of study. Currently a third year med student at a university, whose promising research in the field is making headlines all over the world, you hoped one day to become a fertility consultant. Helping all those who wish to start a family achieve their dream.

Ever since you could remember you’ve wanted to help people. In grade school you helped the new student find their way around. You helped the teacher with everyday classroom tasks. Everywhere you went, if you saw someone in need of a helping hand, you provided. Reaching a box of cereal from the top shelf at the grocery store and placing it with a smile in the elderly man’s basket. Helping a lost little girl in the park, you saw on your morning jog, find her mother. Offering to spend your first weekend off in a month helping your roommate move into her new place. Even though that meant you were now a one income dwelling, who wouldn’t be sustained for long on your meager university coffee house earnings.

After helping her, you arrived back to your suddenly empty two bedroom apartment. The immediate urgency for you to find a replacement roommate became very real, very fast.

The next day you posted fliers all over campus, including the coffee shop, the library, even at the athletic center! You asked your friend Robin to stick some up on the bulletin board at her job as well.

“I actually might know someone,” her eyes flashed quickly from the flier to you, “Someone who could, in theory, move in before next weekend if that's cool with you.”

You practically leaped at her offer, “Absolutely! What’s her name?”

“His name is Eddie and he’s a—“

“Oh,” you’d never had a male roommate before. You considered this new development until glancing at the clock on the wall. You were going to be late for class! While voicing your thoughts about her proposal, you were already headed towards the door, “I guess as long as he’s not a total slob and pays his part of the rent on time that’s all that matters. Give him my number and tell him to call me, I gotta go!”

“Wait! There’s one more thing,” Robin tries to scream after you but you're already running out the front door of the Family Video.

She watches your car pull away and shakes her head as she forwards your contact info, “Oh well, she’ll figure it out on her own pretty quickly.”

Tuesday was always your longest day. First the opening shift with the morning rush of tired college kids desperate for their caffeine fix. Working what felt like nonstop until noon, followed by classes until after 8:00 at night. By the time you trudged your tired ass back to your apartment, all you wanted to do was sleep. Days like today were why you started leaving a pillow and blanket on the couch because sometimes taking those few extra steps to the bedroom were simply out of the question.

Collapsing into the cushions, you felt your eyes get heavy and all your muscles finally relaxed. Sleep would come easy tonight.

Until the buzzing of your phone brought you back from the edge of sleepy bliss. You had a text from an unknown number.

Hey, this is Eddie. Robin’s friend. She said you needed a roommate! That’s such a coincidence because I’m a mate who needs a room.

You couldn’t help the little bud of a smile that grew as you looked at the laughing emoji he added to the end of the text. Is it allowed to make first impressions from a single text? Oh well, your initial impression, he’s a goofball. Playful sort of boy next door, childhood friends in another life maybe. Meeting him in person couldn’t hurt right? Robin wouldn’t have suggested it to you if she didn’t think the two of you would get along.

Hi Eddie, I’m free tomorrow after 5 if you want to stop by and take a look. Try it before you buy it right?

You found yourself holding your phone waiting for his response. Eyes suddenly a little less heavy than before. He didn’t keep you waiting long.

It has four walls, a door, and comes with a sweetheart like you? Consider it sold!

Sweetheart? Sure Robin probably told him you're a nice person and all but that’s a little, buzz. Your thoughts were interrupted as he messaged again.

Sorry, I hope that didn't come across as pushy. I don’t want you to think I’m some stereotype. I try not to act like an entitled jerk all the time. It’s just, Robin showed me a picture of the two of you at the lake last summer and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think you were pretty.

The thought that he knew what you looked like and was still sending you cheeky messages made you happier than you’d like to admit. You remembered that trip and knew exactly what picture she must have shown him. It was one of the few where you actually felt good about yourself. With another yawn, you typed a response.

You could make it up to me by leveling the playing field? I should know who I’m expecting to meet tomorrow and possibly share a place with.

Within just a few minutes an image appeared on the screen. He was straddling a vintage motorcycle with a helmet in his hands. Oh.

You weren’t sure what caught your eye more, his soft looking curly hair, his dark chocolate eyes, or those dimples in his cheeks from the smile he was flashing the camera. He followed the picture up with another message.

Rob told me you were in class all day so I’ll leave you alone since you’re probably tired. Get some sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow around 5 roomie!

You should be annoyed. First he calls you sweetheart. Then he has the nerve to tell you to go to sleep, like you’re a child who was up past their bedtime. Then to top it all off, this man has the audacity to assume that just because you exchanged a few texts that he can move right in? Who does he think he is? You should be annoyed– but you’re not. Quite the opposite actually, you just got a little more excited for tomorrow. You fell asleep on the couch with that spout of a smile still growing slowly on your lips.

Heading home after class the next day felt different. Instead of going home stressing about an exam or worrying about how you are going to pay next month's rent, you feel a touch of nervousness mingling with the excitement for a first meeting. You secretly hoped that Eddie was as cute in person as his picture.

Fate was smiling on you today because class had gotten out a little early giving you just enough time to straighten up the apartment before Eddie arrived.

You hung a clean hand towel up in the bathroom, put fresh sheets on the bed that your old roommate left behind and smiled when you lit the pine scented candle that sat on the coffee table. Happy that you could get one more light out of it before it would need to be replaced. You fluffed the decorative throw pillows on the couch and finally closed the door to your own room before waiting to hear the knock on the door.

When that noise finally echoed through the quiet air you felt your body shiver with anticipation. You let out a reassuring breath, hoping it would calm your nerves and opened the door.

“Hey!” he smiled as brightly as the picture he’d sent you while he greeted you by name, “So? Am I as cute as my picture? Because you certainly are.”

Add big flirt to your first impressions. He was definitely laying on the charm but you were also falling for it hook line and sinker, “Hi Eddie, it’s nice to meet you. Come on in!”

You offered your arm in a welcoming gesture. He stepped inside and brushed past you ever so slightly. He must be wearing a strong cologne. Just that quick pass had your senses overwhelmed with the earthy, woodsy smell.

“So this is the common area,” you pointed out all the usual necessities, “Here’s the bathroom, there’s the kitchen. Off to the side there is a little dining table but I’ll be honest I think I’ve used it once. I usually end up eating on the couch.” He commented on how it was a nice place and that it was so close to his work he could walk when the weather got nice again.

“Where do you work?”

He closed the kitchen cabinet he’d been snooping in and turned to you, “I’m a mechanic over at Murray’s Auto Repair. Rob said you work at the coffee shop on campus, what’s your field of study, young scholar?”

“Medical. I’m studying to be a fertility specialist,” you made small talk with him as you walked over to show him where his room is… would be! Where his room would be, if you think he’d be a good fit, “Here’s the other room. My old roommate said I could keep the bed and the dresser but if you already have those we can donate these since they’re in pretty good shape.”

He nodded, “Nah they look alright to me. I’m currently crashing on a friend's couch so this would be a huge upgrade.” He inspected the door handle, “Does this door not have a lock?”

“No, mine doesn’t lock either. I always figured it was because they are interior doors?” you shrugged and joined him as he inspected the boring metal doorknob, “They make portable locks you could always use.”

“Yeah, those things aren’t very strong though and when I’m in rut I can get pretty–” you cut him off.

“I’m sorry, when you're in what?”

The complete shock in your eyes and slack jaw had him pulling back a bit from you. A dejected huff through his nose, accompanied by a shake of the head told you he wasn’t too pleased with your question, “I thought Rob told you?”

“She didn’t tell me anything besides your name and the fact you were looking for a place,” you swallowed hard. You were in your third year of med school, you knew damn well what a rut was but the problem here was that only alphas experience them so if he… the wheels clicked in your head and you suddenly felt small standing beside him, “You’re an alpha?”

He crossed his arms, “Is that a problem? I wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable so you just say the word and I’m gone.”

His messages last night suddenly made a little more sense. He didn’t want to come across as a stereotypical hotheaded, asshole alpha. Truthfully though, he had been nothing but respectful so far. He had a steady job and already offered to pay your half of the rent for the first month! He even promised to do half the household chores. Honestly, he seemed like a great candidate for a roommate. Why should his status change any of that?

You shook your head, “No it’s alright.” You rocked on your heels with your hands held behind your back, trying to restore the conversation to its former comfort level, “So, when can you move in?”

His smile reappeared, but he didn’t answer your question. He instead turned and belly flopped onto the bed, you heard a deep sigh escape his mouth, “Shit, can I stay here tonight? I really don’t want to sleep on that couch again.” He turned on his hip and looked at you from the bed, “You know Rob’s friend Steve?” You shook your head, you’d only known Robin since the spring semester and hadn’t met any of her friends yet, “Well Harrington’s a great guy but he’s a family man now and can’t have a lonely alpha crashing on his couch anymore.”

You stood awkwardly in the doorway, unsure if you should intrude on the space he just claimed, “Is Steve also an alpha?”

“Yeah. He and I had been living together for years before he met that sweet Chrissy of his,” he collapsed on his back and stared at the ceiling, “They had a kid, cute little boy, a few months ago and I lost my room.”

“Is Chrissy an omega?” you were mentally taking notes. Before Eddie came waltzing through your door, you’d never gotten the chance to talk to someone with a secondary gender at length before. There were some alphas you knew of in your classes throughout the years, mostly because all of them were loud and obnoxious about it. But none that you ever felt compelled to converse with. If they were cool with it, maybe they could answer some questions for the paper your gender sciences professor just assigned. Having some first hand alpha/omega pairbond experience would be great for your research.

“Nah,” well nevermind, considering the low omega presentation rates you’d have been shocked if that was the case. You could always talk to Eddie about what it’s like to be an unmated alpha. He continued, “Never actually had the pleasure of meeting one. I hear they are crazy sweet though.”

You asked Eddie if he needed to go get anything from Steve’s place tonight, to which he just insisted he’d go tomorrow while you were in class. You had been so anxious for his arrival that you forgot to eat so you offered to cook dinner for him.

“You really don’t have to,” he tried to stop you but then his stomach growled loud enough that it was probably heard from the hallway by a passing neighbor.

You both looked at each other and you tried not to laugh at his embarrassed expression, but it wasn’t working, “So is ramen ok? If you’re going to live with a starving college student you’re going to have to eat like one. Not that you aren’t welcome to bring in your own food or whatever. I can clear a shelf off for you.” With that you got distracted reorganizing the sparse contents of the fridge, “There. We can put shared items in the middle, I’ll put the things I buy on the bottom and you can have the top shelf.”

You opened the door wider with a smile as he admired your work. You decided after dinner you’d do the same thing with the cabinets and clear a space just for him, “Ok now I’ve definitely worked up an appetite,” reaching up into the cupboard you presented him with two options, “Do you want spicy or regular?”

He gave in. Already, barely an hour in the apartment, and he knew he was no match for you, “Spicy. Thanks, sweetheart.”

You turned on whatever movie was already in the machine while you cooked and then just a few minutes later you were placing a simple bowl of noodles in front of him. He inhaled them, “That was delicious. I’m doing the dishes!” you were about to protest, “No, don’t even try to argue with me. You've already done enough and I’ve only lived here about 2 hours! I can’t have you doing everything for me. I need to pull my weight.”

“Fine, but sit down and finish the movie first.”

He sat on the opposite end of the couch from you. You chose to ignore the little tug that wished he sat closer to you.

“Is that candle what I’m smelling?” he asked abruptly.

“Probably,” you leaned towards the coffee table and read him the label, “Evergreen Forest?”

His brows furrow, “No, this is sweeter.” He laughed, “When I first stepped in here I thought you were baking cookies, it was so sweet. I still haven’t been able to figure out where it's coming from.”

“Maybe one of the neighbors is baking something?” You weren’t really sure how to respond because you also had no idea what he could be smelling. You weren’t one for perfume and none of your soaps, shampoos, or body wash smelled sweet. At least he didn’t say the apartment smelled bad.

“Sorry, I’m being weird,” he brought you out of your daydream, “Alpha nose,” he poked himself in the tip of his nose, “I’m really sensitive to scent.”

“It’s ok! I find secondary genders fascinating. It’s part of the reason I chose to study fertility.”

He laughed and twisted himself to face you more from his spot on the couch, “Ah, I see. That’s why you let me move in so fast. Using my body for science hm?”

You couldn’t tell if he was joking or not so you deflated a little, “No of course not. I just think the phenomenon is interesting. Growing up I always hoped one day I would present, especially after I was told I can’t have kids.”

His laughing faded. The familiar sad, almost pitying look appeared that everyone gives you when you tell them. You’re not shy about it and you don’t care who knows. Despite having been focused entirely on building your career since you turned 18 and got that news, you do get asked by outsiders quite often when you’re going to settle down and have kids.

Here comes the inevitable follow up question. He asks you if you want kids, “I’d love to start a family someday.” You shrug and anxiously rub your knees, “I’m painfully single though, so, one step at a time I guess.”

His laughter was quickly becoming your favorite sound in the world, “Me too! Do you mind if I ask how old you are?”

“I’m 26,” you smiled, “What about you?”

“27. I presented when I was 17 and after I finally managed to graduate high school I went to a trade school to become a mechanic.” He laughed again to himself, “Not that I needed any of it. Already learned all there was to learn from my uncle.”

The title screen of the movie playing in the background and the thought of your 6 AM shift were shoved aside as you spent hours talking with him on the couch. You learned where he grew up, that he played in a band for fun with his friends, and that he was a giant nerd. Everything from Dungeons and Dragons, to Lord of the Rings, to Star Wars. He loved all of it.

You told him about your hobbies outside of school as well. He asked you questions about what kind of music you like, what your favorite color is, and listened to you talk about the things that interested you. It was kind of alarming how comfortable you already felt with him. He was incredibly easy to talk to. Finally, your body knew you’d regret staying up any later than you already had. You yawned.

“Alright pretty girl I’ve bothered you long enough. Go get some sleep,” he raised an arm and rubbed the back of his neck, “Are you sure it’s ok if I stay here tonight? I know it’s short notice and I wouldn’t want you to feel like you had to let me stay. I can move in officially this weekend if that works better.”

You surrendered. Standing right up and following his order, “It’s fine Eddie. I offered you the room didn’t I? Besides,” you yawned again, “Since you’re covering rent next month you might as well get your money's worth. Although I don’t have any extra blankets,” another yawn became the final nail in your coffin, “All I had was that sheet. I might have some pillows in the linen closet,” you went to check but he stopped you with his words.

“You’re too kind, fair maiden. I don’t need much when I sleep anyways,” he gestured to himself, “Alpha’s usually run pretty hot.” You snorted and shook your head. As different as he is, you can definitely tell he’s still an alpha. He rose from the couch with a deep bow, “I look forward to our adventures together as roommates,” he flicked his hair back up and flashed you a great view of those dimples, “Good night sweetheart.”

Eddie moved in his stuff little by little, the whole process took nearly a week. When you returned home each day you would notice a few new additions here and there. He stuck his shampoo in the bathroom, there was a six pack of beer on his shelf in the refrigerator, and you could typically hear music playing from his room at night. Finally the last item, a second guitar amp, landed in his now fully lived in room.

It had officially been a week since he moved the last of his stuff in and the two of you fell into a routine. Eddie’s shifts at the shop were usually the same time you were in class. If he got home before you and made some food, he left you a container on your shelf in the fridge. The last few times he’d started leaving a note on the container labeled “Roomie!” a little heart with bat wings drawn with markers that he definitely swiped from your backpack. Tonight you were getting home first and decided to surprise him for being the world's best roommate.

Your mind thought back to yesterday as you got started. You had just gotten out of the shower when he mentioned that sweet smell again. You figured he might have a sweet tooth so you decided to make cookies for him.

You tied your hair back and put on the apron you’d found on clearance after Valentine’s Day. It was pink with little conversation hearts scattered everywhere. A picture of a ladybug and the caption Love Bug written across the chest. After completing the scene with some of your favorite music playing softly in the background, you started to work.

After grabbing the flour and sugar, your cheeks felt warm. You had to check the clock to confirm, you’d only been working for a few minutes and you already felt flushed. As though you had been working in the summer heat for hours. You opened the small window that was situated beside your dining table and the cold winter air wafted into the warm kitchen. It helped a bit.

Setting the heat in your cheeks aside, you forgot about it after a while. You didn’t even realize how focused on your task you’d become. You felt relaxed. Every care of the outside world was gone. After mixing the last ingredient, the chocolate chips, into the dough and scooping them onto the baking sheet, you put them in the oven.

“Hm,” you mused to yourself while looking through the cabinet. Wondering if you had the ingredients to make an icing to write #1 roomie on one of the cookies.

Your mission was successful and while the cookies baked you whipped up a small amount. Giving you just enough time to do the dishes before pulling the cookies out to cool. You checked the time again. It was just after 5:00 and you knew Eddie would be back soon. Scooping the icing into a small ziplock baggie, you tried your best to write on the uneven surface. He walked in just after you finished the last letter.

“Hi Eddie!” You smiled brightly, proud of your work. Then you held out a small plate to him with the cookie, “I made this for you!”

He froze. His body went rigid there in the door frame. For the first time since you met, there was an uncomfortable silence. He just stared at you for a moment. Then, without a word, walked over, grabbed the plate from your hand and went into his room. Leaving you standing there in the kitchen dazed, confused, and if you were honest with yourself, a little sad.

You didn’t see him again that night. He stayed in his room. Replaying that event in your mind you cleaned up, left the rest of the cookies in a tupperware container on the counter, and headed to bed.

You tried to sleep but the more you pondered, your sadness turned to annoyance. You needed to complain about him so you called Robin.

“Hey! What’s up?” she sounded cheerful, “Isn’t it way past your bedtime?”

You offered a curt pity laugh, “Haha, very funny. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, I’m assuming based on your tone there’s trouble in roommate heaven?” She nailed it and your frustrations poured out like a waterfall.

“I made him cookies and he acted like I committed a crime. He gave me this look, didn’t say anything, snatched the cookie I offered him, and has been hiding in his room ever since. Is he allergic to chocolate? He might as well be with how upset he looked,” you mocked his non existence words, “Oh, I can’t believe the nerve of this girl, making me cookies, letting me move in with her on such short notice! Alpha Jerk.”

Once your rant was over she hummed, “Eddie’s always had a sweet tooth, that doesn’t make any sense. I need more details. What were you wearing?”

“Just my normal clothes I wore to class today. I did have an apron on to keep my shirt clean, but why should any of that matter?”

She laughed, “Sounds to me like you might’ve broken him. Let me guess you went full domestic goddess?”

“Well I wouldn’t describe it like that but—“

She interrupted you, “Eddie’s a simple alpha babe. An alpha who, by the way, has never been with an omega. You cooking things just for him? Classic omega behavior, you should know that Ms. Smarty-Science-Pants. On top of that, looking like absolute wife material probably had his brain sizzling like a piece of bacon.”

You listened to her but it didn’t matter, “I’m not an omega though.” Your words were more sad than you’d like to think about.

You could hear her exasperated sigh, “His brain doesn’t know that. I’m telling you that’s all it was. He’s probably hiding because he’s got a huge hard on!”

“Robin!” You yelled and immediately listened for any signs that he might’ve heard your yell. You tiptoed to the door and listened. Nothing. You waited until back in the safety of your bed before talking again, “I’ll admit, you might be right about the first part. But,” you heart sank a little, “I doubt he’s in there with a hard on. There’s no way he feels that way about me.”

“Why not?” Robin combated, “You’re fucking adorable! And If he doesn’t, he’s clearly not using those heightened alpha senses of his because anyone would be lucky to have you.”

You bloomed again, “Thanks Robin. I feel a little better. I’m gonna get some sleep. I’ll see you later.”

The next morning you went about your normal routine. If you hadn’t decided to grab some rations from the kitchen to stuff in your backpack in perpetration for a day full of learning, you’d have missed it. There on the counter where you left the container, now a lot more empty than before, sat a little note. Thanks sweetheart. He left his signature bat heart. You smiled to yourself and flashed your eyes to his door. As if it could’ve been anyone else who wrote the note for you.

A few days after the cookie incident, you and Eddie had resumed your normal interactions. Although, you hadn’t really stopped thinking about what Robin said. You were on the couch watching some random show on TV when he came in from work.

“Hey,” he sounded tired.

“Hey,” you checked the time, “Thought you got off at 5? I was surprised when I beat you home.”

He went, as he always does, to the bathroom and washed his hands. But this time he made a pit stop to set a small sparkly red bag on the coffee table in front of you, “I was supposed to, had to stay and finish fixing this stupid truck. Damn thing is just going to need to be fixed again in three months anyways.” He stood in the bathroom doorway and looked between you and the bag, “That’s for you.”

You felt the color appear on your face, “Me? Why?”

He replaced the towel he’d been wiping his hands on and walked back to the living room, “Dunno, I felt bad I guess about the other day and when I stopped at the store on my way home I saw that little guy and thought of you.” He spoke in a rushed manner like he was trying to get the words out without making a big deal out of it.

You looked inside the bag and found a small brown teddy bear with a red bow tied around its neck. It was so sweet. You held him in your hands and felt the softness of his fur beneath your fingers.

“I just wanted to say sorry. Not trying to you know, I don’t know. You can just throw it away when I’m not looking or whatever,” Eddie was rambling and it was absolutely adorable.

“No it’s fine. I like him,” you loved him. He was the same color as Eddie’s eyes.

He went to his room after that and must have gone right to sleep because you saw the light from under the door turn off and didn’t hear any music tonight. You sat there on the couch with your new friend for a bit longer and realized something. He only came in with this. If he just happened to see this while already at the store, what did he go to the store for in the first place?

It was one of your rare days off and you were catching up on some laundry. You knew he might view what you were about to ask similarly to the cookies but hey doing laundry in an apartment building is a pain in the ass. If you're going down you might as well bring some of his clothes too.

You texted him. Hey, I'm doing some laundry. You need anything washed?

He was at work but usually responded pretty quickly if they weren’t busy. They must not be busy.

Yeah uh sure. That’s cool. Thanks. There’s a little pile in the corner by my guitar.

You were usually really good about respecting the roommate code. You knocked if you needed to get his attention but hadn’t actually been in the second bedroom since he moved in. Only catching quick glimpses when he would enter or exit.

As soon as you entered, you thought to yourself, My period must be coming. The wall of musky, woodsy scent hit you like a ton of bricks. It was spicy and warm and distinctively Eddie. You stood in the door frame almost trying to catch your breath, Damn it’s probably going to be a rough one, I'm not usually this sensitive.

Once you regained your balance, you learned that Eddie had not one but two guitars. There was a red and black electric one hanging on the wall and a black acoustic one sitting on a stand beside his dresser. He didn’t specify in his message which one you should look by and both of them had piles of wadded up clothing near them.

Trying not to inhale too deeply for fear of passing out, you pulled the collar of your shirt up over your nose and grabbed the first pile under the electric guitar. A few shirts and what looked to be pants that he might wear under his coveralls at work.

With still a little room in your basket, you made your way to the second pile. Opting to just pick all of it up at once and drop it in with the other clothes. You instantly knew this probably wasn’t the one he wanted you to wash. Sitting on top of your now shared laundry were several pairs of crusty looking socks and balled up boxers that had been hiding under a shirt.

You knew you should put them back. Recreate the scene and walk away like you never touched them in the first place. Maybe he wouldn’t notice you had disturbed them. That's what you should do. You knew that. But something stirred inside you. You acted almost on instinct and before you could think too hard about it, you were picking up a pair of his green plaid boxer shorts and bringing them up to your nose.

When you inhaled the scent quite literally knocked you down. You fell backwards onto your ass. A euphoric feeling consumed you, it was like nothing you’d ever felt before. Suddenly your cheeks were flushed, your heartbeat quickened, and you knew you needed more. You smelled them again.

The room smelled like Eddie of course, it was his room. All his belongings were in here. He spent a good portion of his time here. But this, this was more somehow. More Eddie. Like someone had taken his scent and bottled it into a cologne. Then accidentally spilled an entire bottle onto this single pair of underwear.

Coming down from your high you knew you had to leave them here, he’d notice if the pile was completely missing. Thus knowing you touched his underwear like a weird pervert. But he might not notice one pair mysteriously going missing.

With the green pair still clutched in your dirty fingers, you replaced each soiled item one by one and covered them back up with the shirt. Then stood back on your feet, picked up the laundry basket, and continued your task as though the last few minutes didn’t happen.

He came home from work that night to a small pile of neatly folded shirts and pants placed carefully on his bed. There was also a small container of take out with his name on it waiting for him in the fridge. You didn’t have the courage to face him that night after what you had done. So you hid away in your room. Leaving him completely unaware of the thievery that had taken place or the hidden treasure that now sat tucked away in your nightstand.

It was officially one month that you’d been living with Eddie. If he noticed something missing from his wardrobe, he never mentioned it.

Tonight you were having your first movie night with friends that you hoped to make a weekly occurrence. Robin was already here and tonight you got to meet their mutual friend Steve for the first time when he came over with his partner Chrissy.

“I poured the popcorn into a few different bowls since it didn’t fit in just one,” Robin said with a smile as she held up two mismatched things of popcorn.

You feigned despair, “Oh no! What’re we gonna do? We can’t let people know that we live like this!” You turned to Eddie and held your cheeks, “What will the neighbors think?”

He laughed, “Your reputation as a good neighbor was probably lost the moment I moved in sweetheart.” His nickname for you became common tongue. You knew it didn’t hold any meaning, just Eddie being, well Eddie.

Robin didn’t approve of your shenanigans, she set the bowls down on the coffee table, “I never should have introduced you two. You're both menaces.”

“Au contraire!” Eddie defended, “It’s actually a crime that you didn’t introduce us sooner!”

Your heart swelled hearing that, “Aww, you really do care Eddie. Here I was thinking you just used me for my extra room. Is the big bad alpha going soft?

He smirked, “Nothing soft about me sweetheart.”

“Oh my god can you not make dick jokes for like 5 minutes please?” Robin threw up her hands, “Are we really about to bring another thick headed alpha in here? Seriously, how did you and Steve not kill each other?”

Your eyes tracked between them as they bickered. Eddie sat in his usual spot on the couch and Robin was about two seconds away from walking back into the kitchen.

Eddie laughed, “Relax! Steve and I have more sense than that. Besides, he’s got a girlfriend which calmed him down a little.”

“Good, this apartment can only handle one hot alpha,” You blurted out without thinking and instantly regretted it.

Robin, who was no secret to your massive crush on your friend and roommate, covered her laugh and retreated back to the kitchen. Shooting you a look that says you are so on your own with this one.

Eddie just looked at you, for a brief second there was some unreadable emotion there but it quickly turned to a smug grin. His arm swinging over the back of the couch, opening his legs as he crossed one over the other. “Aww you really think I’m hot sweetheart?”

You didn’t answer him. You’d be forever grateful to whoever just knocked on the door.

On the other side stood a man with fluffy, perfectly placed brown hair and a big smile. Even without the knowledge this man was an alpha, you’d know right away. From the protective arm around this girlfriend’s shoulders and the oozing confidence, this must be none other than Steve Harrington.

Which meant the cute redhead beside him must be Chrissy. She greeted you with a surprise, though not unwelcome, hug, “It’s so great to finally meet you. Eddie’s told us so much about you.”

“Really?” You looked back to Eddie who was uncharacteristically quiet. You decided to just file that in the back of your mind for now, “Come on in! We made popcorn and pizza should be here soon.” Robin had returned and gave Steve a hug. You couldn’t resist the urge to tease her once more, “I hope you don’t mind the mismatched bowls.”

The movie provided an anchor as you got better acquainted with these new friends. You learned that they met through work. Steve is a personal trainer and Chrissy teaches yoga at the community center. Steve was telling you the story of how his jaw literally dropped when Chrissy walked into his gym to inquire about offering classes there.

Your body language had naturally leaned in while listening to his story. You sat up a little straighter. Your arms braced against your knees as you gave Steve your full attention. Or at least tried to. The frequent twitches you caught from the corner of your eye kept distracting you. Finally you looked over and saw Eddie clenching his fists against his thighs.

You waited until Steve had finished to say something, “Eddie? Are you ok?”

His eyes were blown wide as he looked in your direction, “Hm? Yeah, I’m fine.” The white knuckles now braced against his chin and the point of his elbow digging into his leg said otherwise.

Steve spoke up before you could, “You sure man? You look like you’re ready to rip somebody’s head off.”

“I said I'm fine!” He snapped.

In an instant, the once friendly atmosphere turned sour and tense. No one really knew what to do. Everyone looked concerned. Searching for the cause of what had upset him. You however were feeling something very different. All you could think about was touching him. No, not touching, your brain supplied. Scenting.

You wanted nothing more right now than to nuzzle into his hair and neck. Somehow reassuring him that everything was ok.

Now your eyes were blown wide. Your brain all at once processed this intrusive thought. You knew it was nonsense. It must have come from your lessons during class today. Yeah that’s it. You were still just thinking about today's lecture during gender sciences because you shouldn’t be scenting. That’s something only done by alphas or—

“Who wants dessert?” You jumped up from the couch and headed into the kitchen. You heard footsteps behind you. Someone was following you. You didn’t need to turn and look thought. The sound of the footsteps, his smell, everything about him swirling around inside your very confused mind.

You opened the freezer and didn’t realize how much you needed the relief of a cool breeze. Standing there with the door open for a moment after grabbing the tub of ice cream felt incredible.

“Hey,” Eddie’s voice melted your insides. It sounded so soft and comforting, “Are you alright?”

You didn’t want to look at him for fear that just by making eye contact he would somehow know what you had wanted to do. Instead, you chuckled awkwardly and played it off, “Guess I’m just more tired than I thought.”

“No,” Eddie saw right through you, “I’ve seen you tired after a long day. That’s not what this is. Come here.”

Your mind and body were incapable of disobeying him. Even if you hadn’t wanted to, you turned on his command. Closing the freezer door and keeping your eyes locked with his feet.

He touched your forehead. Eddie had never touched you before. All the nights you spent wondering what the tips of his fingers felt like finally answered. They were calloused from playing guitar, the palm of his hand rough, most likely from his job. But nothing had ever felt more natural. It was fleeting thought because he pulled back already.

“Jesus Christ you’re burning up,” He went to the bathroom and returned the thermometer, “Holy shit 102?” He called for Robin.

She came running and you vaguely heard him telling her to go get medicine from the bathroom. He lifted your chin, “You are taking medicine and going right to bed. Do you understand me? No work or class tomorrow for you either.”

“But–”

“I think you should listen to him,” Robin said as she returned followed by Chrissy and Steve to check on you.

Standing became a labor. You braced yourself against the counter but Eddie caught you and lifted you into his arms. Robin opened the door for him as he carried you to your bed. Everything was starting to blur together. Somehow they made you take the medicine. You’re pretty sure Robin helped you change into some pajamas before you passed out on top of the comforter. That night you had your first dream of Eddie.

The next morning… afternoon? You weren’t sure until you blinked your eyes open. You felt awful. Your skin felt like it was on fire. If you were still running a fever that was not a sign. As soon as you summoned enough strength you ripped all your clothes off only to be horrified by what you felt on the bed beneath you. Your underwear, shorts and the top of the comforter were soaked. You brought your wet hand up to your face to inspect the source.

“Is that?” you spoke to the emptiness, “Slick?”

It should have been impossible. Everything you knew about biology was being thrown out the window and discarded to the wayside. Nothing made sense anymore. You had been and would always be a beta. And yet– your new and now ever present instincts told you otherwise. You were in heat.

Grasping at the shred of rationality that you regained, you tried to remember everything you’ve ever learned about heats. You knew a few things for certain. One, it was only a matter of time because you were lost to your desires and unable to think about anything except mating. Two, you needed food so that you didn’t have to leave your room again until it subsided. Last? Only omegas experience heats which means that only an alpha would truly make you feel better.

Tossing your wet clothing to the ground you wobbled naked like a newborn fawn towards your bedroom door. Dripping slick against your bare inner thighs as you tried to walk. You made it to the kitchen where, with fervent desperation, you dug through the cabinets for anything you could bring back with you. Then you went to Eddie’s room and without a second of hesitation opened the door. That was a horrible idea.

Where only the night before was just the scent of Eddie, now your brain was able to recognize it for what it was. Alpha.

Your knees buckled. It’s a miracle you didn’t fall over. Another rush of slick dripped from your aching hole. You didn’t have the luxury of considering whether he’d be upset that you were borrowing his clothes. You grabbed his leather jacket that he always wore outside of work from the bed and the few shirts that littered the floor. You could feel the fever returning. You needed to get back to your room.

—

Eddie didn’t want to leave you that morning. He peeked inside your bedroom before heading to work and you were sound asleep.

Robin had taken care of your obligations for you. She called your work and emailed your professors saying you’d be out for a few days with a fever.

Eddie knew he should just go back home because he wasn’t much use here today anyways. He’d already made a ton of mistakes thanks to his distracted brain.

“Munson!” Murray called to him from the office, “Come here boy!”

“Shit,” he tossed the rag in his hand and readied himself for an ass chewing.

Murray looked up from the desk, “What’s wrong with you today? You handed me an order form for the wrong part. You charged someone triple for a simple oil change and now I just watched you checking the engine on a car that was brought in for headlight repair.”

“Sorry sir, my roommate’s pretty sick right now and I guess I’m just a little worried about her,” a little worried was an understatement. Eddie was panicking that you, the absolute divine love and light of his life, were going to die in his absence.

He sighed, “Just go. Before I change my mind.”

Eddie tore at the buttons on his coveralls and nearly tripped trying to walk and take them off at the same time, “Thanks Murray!”

“You owe me!” was the last thing Eddie heard before he ran out.

He kicked the stand up on his motorcycle and got quite a few stares from people on the street and he hauled ass back to the apartment.

Normally he’d take the elevator up to your fourth floor apartment but in his mind his feet were faster and they’d carry him to you sooner. He was so focused on checking that you were still ok that he didn’t even feel winded after running up four flights of stairs.

He fumbled with his keys as he walked down the hallway. Then it hit him. He dropped the keys. They clattered loudly to his feet. He was still several doors down from yours and he could already smell it. He scrambled to pick them up and ran down the hallway.

His suspicions were confirmed as soon as he turned the key. That same sweetness that had greeted him everyday since the first time he opened that door to your smiling face, suffocated him. Though now it was a little different. It was sweeter. More you. Something he’d only ever dreamed of. An omega.

It got stronger with every step he took towards your room. He swallowed and failed to will away the hardness growing in his pants. All his hopes and dreams were answered when he pushed his way into your room. There on the bed in a very haphazardly constructed nest, naked, clinging to his jacket, surrounded by his clothes, and your brown stuffed bear, was you.

He inhaled deeply and could practically feel his pupils dilate with lust. You smelled so fucking good. He took another step and spoke quietly trying not to startle you, “Hey sweetheart.”

—

It hurt so bad. The ache between your thighs only worsened as you curled into the small nest you’d surrounded yourself with. The underwear you’d stolen from Eddie lost its scent long ago but you still pulled it out and threw it in the pile. The few items you were able to grab from his room were a mere wooden board in the dam against the rushing river that threatened to drown you at any moment.

You didn’t hear the front door open.

Your senses became more clouded with each passing minute. You clung for dear life to Eddie’s leather jacket but it betrayed you as it started to cling back now that it was damp with your sweat.

The click of your bedroom door knob alerted you and brought you back. Maybe it wasn’t the door. Maybe it was the smell or the sound of his voice as he spoke to you. You lifted your head and couldn’t stop the tears when you saw Eddie standing there at the foot of your bed.

“A-alpha? It hurts,”

Something awoke within Eddie. The deepest part of himself he’d never been able to fully satisfy. All those ruts spent uselessly humping into his hand or a pillow. “Again,” He growled, “Say it again little one!”

Your eyes pleaded with him as you whined, “A-alpha?” You pressed the jacked to your chest. How was he here? He was supposed to be working. Your fever must have taken over you and you were starting to hallucinate, “F-fuck, alpha, need you. Are you really here?”

The bed shifted, “I know, I know. I’m here now, sweet omega. I’m here.” He laid behind you and wrapped his long arms around you. “‘m so sorry I left sweetheart. I’m not going anywhere now.”

His presence eased the ache a bit. He rubbed your neck with his hand and whispered in your ear, “You smell so good, could smell you from the hallway.”

He felt you shudder with panic, “R-really?”

“Shh! No, don't worry. I locked the door and only other alphas or omegas would be able to smell it,” he leaned in closer, “Can I kiss you? It might help you feel better.”

You nodded but didn’t feel anything on your lips. He kissed your neck. Sparks of pure pleasure shot through your body. You whimpered helpless against the feeling, “Fuck more Eddie! More! Kiss me more, please!”

He couldn’t deny that his heart had wanted to hear those words since he first laid eyes on you but he knew it was just the heat talking. He also knew if he started he wouldn’t be able to stop, “I want to more than you know princess but, I don’t want you to hate me when you're more lucid.”

His kiss had breathed new life into you and gave you the energy to turn to face him, “I’d never hate you Eddie.” You reached into the piled up fabric that you had built up around you and pulled out the green plaid boxers, “D’you lose something?” you could feel your speech slurring.

“D-did you take my underwear?” his fingers curled and tickled against you lightly drawing out little giggles.

You grinned up at him with glassy eyes, “Sure did. Sniffed ‘em too.”

His palm came to rest on your hip and he ran his fingers up the curve of your waist. Then back down again. Savoring every dip, ridge, and shape your body created as it lay before him, “Did they help you feel better?”

“Nuh uh,” he was misunderstanding, “I took these a while ago. So see? Wouldn’t hate you. Want you.”

He kissed you again, on the lips this time, “I want you too. Shit, you taste so good. I wonder how you taste other places.”

He pressed his elbow up, giving him leverage to sit up and tear his shirt off. Next he was up hovering over you on his knees. You watched him, taking in every single one of his movements. He unzipped his pants and slid them down his hips. His thick length was barely contained by the fabric of his boxers. He was less than graceful as he shook them off.

He straddled your legs and lowered himself towards your neck again, so close to your skin that his chest grazed your exposed nipples as he turned you to rest on your back beneath him. His mouth was in your ear whispering, “I can see it in your eyes sweetheart, the heat is getting worse. Can you tell me what you need before that smart ass brain of yours is just mush, begging for my knot?”

“F-fuck me Eddie,” you looked up at him and knew even in your current state that your words had affected him. “P-please.”

“That’s all I needed to hear sweetheart,” he kissed you again. First on the lips. Devouring your moans, wet noises growing as you felt yourself drooling into him because of how good he tasted. Your slick lips gliding against his. He moved lower onto your neck and kissed the crook just above your shoulder, “This might be a little sensitive here but I promise it’ll feel good.” He sucked on your skin and in that instant you were writhing.

“Ah! A-alpha,” somewhere in the deep recesses of your mind you knew that he was sucking on the spot that both of your latent instincts told you was where he should bite down and bond himself to you. Where if he gave into his desires and bit down just a little harder you’d forever be his and only his. Bearing his mating mark for the world to see. As he continued sucking with just his lips and licking with his tongue that was suddenly all you ever wanted, “Mate me alpha! All yours, please!”

He puffed out his chest. His shoulders flexed. The muscles in his back tightened as he growled again into your neck. Straining to fight off every instinct that told him to give you what you wanted. His hand gripped the wooden frame of your bed so tightly you heard the wood begin to splinter and crack. “Maybe after your heat sweetheart. Such a good girl, my sweet little omega, all these big new feelings. Don’t you worry, I’ll take care of you.”

Throwing your head back you let the dam break, “N-need your knot alpha, Hurts. Make it stop.”

“You’re not quite ready for my knot yet baby. Gotta make sure I don’t hurt you.”

But you were an omega? That’s literally what your body was made for, why couldn’t you take him? First he wouldn’t mate you and now he won’t knot you? Were you a bad omega? He sensed your distress in the subtle change in your scent. He buried his face into your neck again, surrounding you with himself.

“You’re not bad! No no,” you didn’t even realize you’d said that out loud. He continued to soothe you, “It's just…I’ve never knotted anyone before and I don’t want to hurt you.”

You brought your hands up to his chest and touched him everywhere your fingers could reach, “Won’t hurt me. I know. Too gentle.”

You wrapped your arms around his neck and pulled him down on top of you. The weight of his body pressing into nearly every surface of your skin was intoxicating. Grounding you with his scent and his very presence. You’d pulled him into the perfect position to nuzzle into his neck and hair, kissing the same spot that he has just assaulted on you with his tongue. A warm feeling bubbled in your gut. This was different from the warmth of the heat. Then a sound hit both of your ears.

A sound that gave both of you delighted pause. The little noise that escaped your throat was somewhere between a whimper and a moan but something so uniquely omega. Eddie had never heard a more beautiful sound. You were purring.

He let you keep going but whispered into your ear, “You’re fucking perfect you know that?” you purred louder, “I’m going to make you come with my fingers and then I’ll give you my knot, ok?”

“Yes alpha! Thank you,” you whined as he pulled away but his hands never stopped touching you. He made his way down to the drenched area between your thighs.

“You look so beautiful for me sweetheart, you’re fucking soaked,” he moaned as his fingers began toying with your wetness and dipping in between the folds of your pussy. You encouraged him with all the moans and whines he could ever hope to hear. As soon as he deemed you thoroughly worked up, he finally slipped a finger in, quickly followed by another. They worked together pumping in and out fluidly, curling inside you, pressing all the right buttons. You wanted to thank him but all that would come out was broken bits and pieces of alpha and his name.

His hair brushed lightly against your inner thighs, sending shivers through your core as he lowered his head down. He spoke with a low hum right into your entrance, “You’re close. I can feel it. Let go for me sweet omega. I’ll take good care of you.”

One more curl of his fingers hitting that delicious soft spongy spot inside you had you screaming and convulsing as slick rushed out into his hand and surely getting some on his face. His fingers pulled out and were replaced with something wet and soft. You could feel his nose nudging at your aching clit as he licked up all your wetness with his tongue. It slid up from the hole and flicked your clit over and over again causing the muscles in your calf to twitch.

“K-knot alpha! Knot please, ‘m ready. So empty, hurts!”

He sucked on your clit before pulling away and lifted to release his throbbing cock from his boxers. You looked up at it, marveling at how impressive his length looked. The tip swollen and aching for you just as you ached for him. The shaft veins pulsed as he pumped himself with his wet hand, covering it in your scent and juices. The base just barely began to flare out as his knot already started to swell. He lined up the tip with your begging cunt and teased you as much as his self control would allow before slowly and carefully pressing all the way inside.

You cried out for him, “So good! More, more, more! Move alpha please!”

He couldn’t hold back anymore. Feeling his cock sheathed inside his omega’s pussy was too much. He began fucking into you with reckless abandon, each thrust hitting deep within your body, catching ever so slightly as his knot continued to swell. He grunted loudly, “Fuck! “M’gonna fill you up so good little omega. Gonna breed this beautiful pussy,” his instincts were now fully in control. His mind became almost as clouded as yours with nothing but want and desire to fulfill the purpose of your heat, “You’ll look so good knocked up sweetheart. Tits all big and heavy. My omega, mine!”

You echoed him, “Yours alpha! All yours! Breed me, wanna carry your baby! Please, please please,” you cries became so desperate and emotional as you begged and pleaded for him to give you something you’d wanted as long as you could remember. Tears fell from your tired eyes, “Make me a mommy alpha!”

“Yeah?” he looked down at you. Beads of sweat from his constant thrusting formed on his forehead. His bangs curled and swooshed out in every direction, “Beg for my knot again omega, tell me how much you want it!”

Your body was jostling up and down from his thick cock fucking into you harder and harder. Your senses became overwhelmed with the feeling of your alpha’s cock, his scent, his words, his love all around you. You could feel how much bigger his knot had gotten, your voice was wrecked, “Knot alpha, need it, knot me!”

Eddie came with a loud growl. You’d never felt so full. Your walls pulsated around him as you came again. He slammed his knot deep inside you, locking you together with him, forming a connection that as you floated down from your orgasm fully took shape in your mind.

“Eddie?” you looked into his warm brown eyes, “Th-thank–”

“Shh, we can talk later baby. Rest while you can,” he held a finger to your lips, “Once my knot goes down I’ll get you some water and something to eat. You’ll need it again soon so we both need to rest.”

Being locked together with him felt so right but it limited your movement. Twisting your torso you looked around the nest for the box of granola bars you’d grabbed earlier, “I,” words were still hard and your breath was labored, “box here somewhere.”

He looked around and spotted the corner of the box on the floor. He pictured what you must have done when you realized what was happening to you, knowing what you’d need, “You did such a good job. Now it’s my turn, we’ve got a long few days ahead of us. My first rut lasted three days.”

You chuckled, eyes closed, a blissful fucked out smile on your lips, “W-we might need more food.”

“I’m not leaving you again, I’ll have Rob drop some stuff off.”

You didn’t talk anymore after that. In fact you fell asleep with his knot still inside you. He kissed your forehead before pulling out when it finally went down, “Sleep my little omega.” He left the nest just long enough to text Robin and his boss, updating them and then curled up behind you, rubbing his face into your neck again. Picturing how good your throat would look with his mating mark on it before falling asleep beside you.

#eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie x fem!reader #Alpha Eddie Munson #omega reader #Alpha Eddie x Omega Reader #omegaverse

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mesperyiandevotee · 5 months

Text

🏴magictrioinitiate-deactivated

Reblog if your name isn't Alfred F Jones.

🃏thekinglovesplayingwithmyballs follow

WE'LL FIND YOU JONES

🐺a-squared-omegaverse follow

As if he couldn't just lie, if he even is on this hellsite.

🏴magictrioinitiate-deactivated

He wouldn't cuz heroes don't lie.

🏴notafjonesprommy-deactivated

A hero would lie to protect his secret identity ;)

🎻sayakamikideservedbetter follow

THIS IS THE POST! ON MY DASH! I FEEL LIKE I'M SEEING A CELEBRITY!!

🗿givemegumgumdumdum follow

NO NOTES???????????????

🦪clamoutjamout follow

so i got like really hella drunk last night and out of what must have been a mix of desperation and hubris, I sent an email to Mr. Romano, askiNG FOR AN INTERVIEW OVER ZOOM TO ASK QUESTIONS FOR RESEARCH FOR MY HISTORICAL EROTICA WIP AND HE SAID YES???????!!!!!!!!!!!!!

🍖hannibalservedmemyownballs follow

Doesn't he like never talk to historians and w/e? Holy shit what kind of magical persuasive powers did your drinks give you and can you send me some?

🦖little-arms-big-hugs follow

I wouldn't say *never*. He's given interviews before, he just has a really low tolerance for disrespect compared to his brother. But with his temper I wouldn't be surprised if his gov asked him to not accept as many interviews anymore.

🍖hannibalservedmemyownballs follow

True, true. I still want to borrow some of OP's persuasion magical drinks.

🦪clamoutjamout follow

my mom sent me a bottle of that liquor mr Latvia made and i didnt look at the proof before drinking like half the bottle (mixed with pop).

also... I finally pulled up my big girl panties and read what I wrote to mr. romano...............

... im going to kms.

🦖little-arms-big-hugs follow

Forget persuasion powers, I want whatever healing magic you have that drinking half of MR. LATVIA'S balsam didn't kill you!

🦪clamoutjamout follow

#we're almost there folx! #RIP OP #nation person mention #alcohol mention

9,879 Notes

🌄cabininthewoodscore follow

UM. HELLO????

🤠redbreadrebellion follow

Yeah, Ch*rchill pushed hard for those two to get together, it's no secret. What about it? It doesn't mean they actually got together turn off your shipping brain.

🏴tw1stedm1nd-deactivated

Sure and America definitely didn't talk about it in an interview

🌄cabininthewoodscore follow

😭😭😭😭😭 The link just goes to a 404 page NNNNOOOOOOOO WHYYYYYYY

#usuk ship real is the only conspiracy theory i'll believe

132 Notes

🐸enby-froggy follow

did anyone else see h/bomber/guy's new video??? PLEASE someone put that man in witness protection or something before K*rkland gets him

🍝spaghetti-breaker follow

wasn't he originally supposed to talk about that one bbc pirate show?

🐸enby-froggy follow

spaghetti-breaker He was but he ended up going off-track after he found some reddit post that led him down a rabbit hole of research. tl;dr: K*irkland yo-hoe-hoeing isn't just a meme

🦐butisbugsshrimp follow

I'm more worried about dickland's teaboo white knights getting him tbh

🍯kidsishrunkthehoney follow

Lmao looks like he saw it!

#wait a min i gotta search something #THE VIDEO IS ALMOST 3 HOURS WTF #now i gotta watch

983 Notes

🪃callmyanxietyboomerang follow

dylan's collab with mr canada was just them trying to out-do each other with all the gay jokes sjflsfjsifhsifjsij someone make one of those 10 hour videos with just the cuts of that please? 🙏🏼

🪃callmyanxietyboomerang follow

SOMEONE DID FUCK YEAH!!!

#canada nation person #vintage baker man #someone send me the video i refuse to download tiktok

97 Notes

🎲dev1ld1c3 follow

If we try hard enough, do you guys think we can convince Mr. Denmark to do a girl month donation goal?

🛸area51searchandrescue follow

Tbh I'm surprised he doesn't have a subscription goal like that already

🔦berwaldsfleshlight follow

There's a rumour he's trying to convince Jones and Beilschmidt to do it with him first before he makes the goal official

#pretty sure those two dont need convincing

73 Notes

#hetalia #i made this instead of writing #if i make edits like this or the fake tweets assume i'm procrastinating updating my fics #i already forgot what i put for the links #no rickrolls this time #fake tumblr dash #dashboard simulator

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transboysokka · 6 months

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tell me about autistic Zuko (modern au or canon. Like how he grew up, why it’s justified in canon, how people around him react to it/are they assholes or not) bc I’ve been thinking about him but I can’t seem to articulate all my feelings into words and you’re good at that <3

hahahaha gladly here is a smattering of Facts and Evidence, in no particular order

Fact #1: His special interest is the Avatar. That boy’s done so much research!! (I’m joking with this one and yet… 👀)

Evidence #1: His father was embarrassed of him when he was a kid. This could have been for a variety of reasons including that he’s gay but also if you are trying to raise an heir of a powerful nation, you would see a lot of autism symptoms as a weakness, especially things like awkwardness, difficulty making eye contact, etc

Evidence #2: He doesn’t seem to have a lot of friends growing up which can also be explained in different ways but a kid just following around his sister and her friends all day? sus

Evidence #3: The way he rehearses what he’s going to say to Aang at the Western Air Temple… and the awkwardness of it makes it So Much More… it’s the most really, THE autistic of scenarios. We GOTTA practice big conversations like that before they happen, we just do…

Evidence #4: He borrows from other scripts for social interaction. You know when he’s trying fo get along with everyone at the air temple and he makes tea for them and try to tell a joke? Why does he do that? Because he’s mimicking Iroh, who is probably the most outgoing person in his life, and following exactly what Iroh does to be friendly and ingratiate himself with others…

Evidence #5: Missing social cues. I can’t think of any examples off the top of my head but I think we’ve all seen it. Also “That’s rough, buddy” is something he TOTALLY stole from someone else because he had no idea what he actually was supposed to say in that situation

Fact #2: now HERE’s a guy who feels deeply but is SO bad at expressing or controlling his feelings. Remember when he was worried about the comet and instead of talking about it just ATTACKED HIS FRIENDS?? oof yeah

Important Headcanon #1: Zuko is really sensitive to texture and has ARFID, which does have a high overlap with autistic folks. This “pickiness” causes real problems for him, especially when he’s v busy being the Fire Lord…. He tends to eat the same foods a lot to sustain himself (fire flakes) and makes the same exact tea for himself every single day. He DOES like to bake and cook though, and is quite good at it, even if he won’t eat it all

Headcanon #2: Our boy’s special interests are history, dao swords, and baking

Headcanon #3: Not a fan of eye contact

Theory #1: Our boy Sokka def has that ADHD and I just don’t think it’s that common or easy for ND folks to be in a relationship with NT folks (I have no proof of this but just think about it for a sec) so therefore Zuko must be neurodivergent

This is a big ol’ mess but for a MUCH more comprehensive and comprehensible Auristic Zuko explanation, please refer to this masterpiece of a post which I just found after spending a bunch of time answering this ask lolol

#thank u tho anon this was fun to think through #quesTian #atla #autistic Zuko

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dukestewart · 1 year

Note

I actually have a question, I'm wanting to start a webcomic at some point in the future myself, do you have any recommendations or advice for me?

Okay, I have a million things to say on the subject but to save you a lot of scrolling I’ll cut it down to the main things I wish I knew when starting my webcomic.

Don’t overprepare

It’s easy to fall into the trap of perfecting your art style or developing your character arcs before you actually, like, make the thing. The truth is you get diminishing returns on the pre-production phase, and too much planning will just waste your time. I once wrote an entire script and sketched out 200 pages for a graphic novel version of my webcomic Roundhouse, 90% of which is now redundant or contradictory. Probably took me hundreds of hours. Whoops. Make a basic plot line and some concept pictures by all means, you gotta start with something, but you’ll be much more motivated to make the comic when you’re already making it.

Collect references

This might sound kind of contradictory to my previous advice but bear with me. It’s important to prioritise creation over planning but gathering a compendium of your favourite artworks and writing techniques will save you time in the long run. If I’m ever stuck on how to draw a certain expression for example I know I have a folder full of expertly drawn faces to remind me how nostrils work. Personally I keep separate reference folders for colour, anatomy and character designs. Fantastic cure for artist’s block, swear by it.

Get someone to proofread

You have no idea how important it is to get a second opinion. No one in the history of media has ever been better off without a different pair of eyes to catch a mistake. They’ll see the obvious things you missed, a typo, a pacing issue, a joke that makes no sense… if you’re embarrassed to show it to anyone in your life then get an internet friend to have a look. Hell, I’ll have a look. Send me a message, I’m easy.

Even the most talented creators struggle to be seen

A good comic will always have a better chance of success than a crap one but that’s only a part of the equation. We’re forgetting our two troublesome neighbours, Monsieur Marketing and Lady Luck. It stinks, but we operate in an algorithm-based economy, and getting things out there takes a lot of hard research. I hate the marketing side of things, personally. I’d much rather make a page every week and not care whether it’s seen or not but such is the nature of capitalism that I have to try and monetise my work any way I can. Knowing someone in the business can’t hurt either.

Look, I’ll never be able to condense everything I know about webcomics in a single post so consider this my declaration to give advice to anyone who asks for it. Got a specific question about comics? Message me.

#webcomic #webcomic tips #webcomics #webcomic advice #I should probably make a tag for these text posts

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teaberrii · 1 year

Text

Chapter Six: Can We Make a Deal?

Alhaitham has the looks and the smarts. He will also be the stand-in CEO for his grandfather's company for a year.

But, he's been mysteriously cursed to turn into a cat every night since his eighteenth birthday… until he meets you, an employee at his grandfather's company, who rescues him as a cat and changes him back with one kiss.

Alhaitham/You

Notes:

Cross-posted on AO3

Female reader

Chapter index at the end of chapter one

“Don’t tell me you’re thinking about her.”

Kaveh had dropped by his place again. Alhaitham, sitting on the adjacent couch from his friend, sighs. "Why are you bringing her up?"

Kaveh leans forward. “Don’t you think it’s time to start getting some answers?”

“...Like what kind of answers?”

Kaveh rolls his eyes. “Like why she’s apparently the only person who can change you back? Aren’t you curious?”

“Oh, I don't know," Alhaitham deadpans. "Didn’t you say she was my ‘soulmate’?”

“Do you actually believe that?” No. Alhaitham doesn’t believe in something as abstract as that. “Did she kiss you again?”

Alhaitham stands to get more tea. “No. Why would she?”

Kaveh smirks. “Are you disappointed?”

“What are you trying to get at?”

Kaveh follows his friend to the kitchen. “What if… it was just a fluke? You should get her to kiss you more to make sure she really is your miracle cure.”

…Right. A conversation like that is bound to go smoothly. Alhaitham can just imagine the look on your face if he were ever to ask you to kiss him again as a cat. Of course, you'd probably give some witty response to fluster him. But, maybe you'd ask for something in return. Regardless, the two of you have only just established your friendship. Now is probably not the time to escalate to… kissing. Even if it's just a peck on his fluffy, little head.

“You know… maybe there’s something else you can try.”

“...Do I want to know?” Alhaitham deadpans, pouring the hot water into the teapot.

“What if… it’s a certain type of girl who can change you back? You said her sister kissed you, right? But you didn’t turn back. Do they look alike? Similar personalities?”

All Kaveh gets is an are-you-kidding stare.

“You have to keep your options open, Haitham. Besides, what if she gets a boyfriend? Are you going to ask her to kiss you then?”

Alhaitham doesn’t want to think about that.

“If she really is your only hope, you gotta know why! And… you better figure something out. Unless you want to keep turning into a cat when you’re like sixty.”

While Alhaitham doesn't want to admit it, Kaveh has a point. It's best to figure out why early. What if… you do get a boyfriend? What if… you got married?

Alhaitham almost screams when he feels the hot water on his skin. He drops the kettle, which lands with a thud on the counter.

"Geezus, Haitham." Kaveh smiles as he watches his friend run his hand under cold water. "What were you thinking about?"

“...Nothing.”

Kaveh opens a top counter and grabs the first-aid kit. “Anyway, she’s going to be living across from you, right? It’s your chance!”

“I’m not going to ask her to kiss me.”

“Well, maybe not in the beginning,” Kaveh says, smiling, as he opens the kit. “But… it doesn’t hurt to get to know her better. Y’know… for research purposes.” When Alhaitham gives Kaveh a deadpan look, he laughs. “Take it as you will.”

Well, it’s not like Alhaitham doesn’t want to do that already.

That night, Alhaitham is lying on his bed, his tail swishing upwards as he thinks about you. Then, Kaveh's words echo in his mind: What if she gets a boyfriend? Are you going to ask her to kiss you then? Alhaitham remembers the matchmaking party. While he knows you don't want to go, there's still a small chance you might go to please your mother. The faces. The titles. Everything that he saw in that bright pink pamphlet came rushing back.

Alhaitham shakes his head.

No. He won’t let you get taken away. Not when there’s still work to be done.

◆◆◆

The next morning, Alhaitham visits his grandfather at the hospital before work.

As soon as Alhaitham opens the door, his grandfather looks up from the book he’s reading and smiles. “Haitham? What are you doing here? Don’t you have work?”

"I just got off a call." Alhaitham walks over to the side of the bed. "Thought I'd visit to see how you were doing."

“Well, you came at a good time! There’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”

Alhaitham has a hunch. He pulls up a chair and sits. “I do too.”

“Oh? You do? Is it about work?”

“Not exactly.”

His grandfather closes his book and puts it on the nightstand. “Well, you first.”

"It's about Layla." Alhaitham leans back. "I don't want any misunderstandings, so I want to hear from you directly. What are your reasons for putting us back in touch again?"

His grandfather sighs. “I… think she’s a woman who would suit you very well. She’s sophisticated, educated, and has a respectable family background. You’re also at that age, Haitham. Don’t you want to settle down with someone?”

“If it ever comes to that. But, I’d rather have things happen naturally.”

“I’m only giving you a little push.”

“...I’d rather you not.”

His grandfather narrows his eyes. “Are you seeing someone?”

“No.”

“Then, what’s the problem?”

Many things. His strange feelings toward you. His fluffy situation. There are too many unanswered questions, and adding Layla to the picture complicates things further.

"I see Layla as just a friend. It's been so long since we last talked. So if I ever see her, I don't want things to be awkward."

“He already relayed the message to me,” his grandfather says. Alhaitham assumes he’s referring to his secretary. “If you insist, I won’t say anything more.”

Alhaitham visibly relaxes.

“...But on one condition.”

Oh, great.

“Spend a little time with her. She’s… been through a lot lately.”

Alhaitham raises a brow. “How do you know?”

“Her parents came to visit me the other day.” His grandfather nods toward the flowers. “Those flowers were from them.”

“...I don’t want to sound… rude, but don’t you think this act of kindness might mean they want something from you?”

“As of now, there’s no hint of that. Besides, I think spending some time with their daughter is harmless. You two already know each other.”

Alhaitham sighs but gives in. “...Alright.”

“Excellent!”

Before Alhaitham leaves, he gets an update on his grandfather's condition. Then, as he exits the room, he sees someone struggling to carry three large boxes stacked on each other. It's so high that he can't see the person behind them.

The top box is about to fall until Alhaitham catches it. That’s when a girl peeks out behind and gasps.

“Oh, my gosh! Thank you.”

Alhaitham looks at her, and his eyes almost widen. It’s your sister. Lumine, is it?

“Would you like some help?” Alhaitham asks.

“Ah, it’s okay! I’m almost there.” She nods toward the room next to his grandfather’s. “My brother’s room is right there.”

Your brother… is in the hospital?

“Let me help you carry this one, at least.”

Lumine smiles shyly. “Okay… thank you!”

Alhaitham walks with Lumine toward your brother’s room and opens the door for her. There, he sees a boy around Lumine’s age on the bed. His leg is lifted and in a cast.

“You’re finally here!” Then, he sees Alhaitham. “Um… who’s this?”

Lumine drops the boxes onto an armchair. “The man who helped me carry your freaking three large boxes of games so you won’t get bored. You’d better thank him!”

“Why didn’t you just carry them one at a time?”

“Excuse me? You’re welcome for helping to bring your stuff here in the first place!”

“Okay, okay. Thank you, Lumine, and��—he looks at Alhaitham—”mysterious stranger.”

“Alhaitham.”

“Ooh, what a fancy name.”

“Please forgive my brother,” Lumine says to Alhaitham. “He meant that in the best way possible.”

"No offence taken."

“Wait… Alhaitham?” Lumine mutters. “Where have I heard that name before?”

Aether snaps his fingers. “Are you the hot neighbour?”

“Aether!”

“What?” Aether asks, looking at his twin sister. “It’s pretty much what mom described him as.”

Lumine immediately turns to Alhaitham. “You’re friends with our sister!”

“Thank God,” Aether says. “She needs more guys around her other than the flirting ginger.”

“What are you talking about? Sis has plenty of suitors.”

Is that true? Alhaitham clears his throat, and the twins look at him. “I don’t think I got your names yet.”

“Yeah, Lumine, how rude of you.”

Lumine rolls her eyes at her brother's remark. “My name is Lumine.” She gestures to her brother. “This… idiot is my brother, Aether.”

“If I’m an idiot, then so are you.”

“Shut up.”

Alhaitham chuckles. “Seems like you two get along well.”

“We do not!”

Their synchronization makes him smile.

"Um, what are you doing at the hospital, Alhaitham?" Aether asks.

“Visiting my grandfather. He’s staying in the room next door.”

“Oh, really? Maybe I should go say hi!”

“Um, no, you really shouldn’t,” Lumine deadpans.

Alhaitham puts the box on a small table. “I need to get to work. It was nice meeting the two of you.”

“Say hi to Sis for us,” Aether says.

Lumine smiles. "Let's surprise her with a selfie!"

◆◆◆

You're still half asleep when walking into the office building until you feel your phone buzz inside your pocket. You pull out your phone and open the message from your sister. Your eyes widen when you see a photo. Your sister is the one taking it. With her free hand, she's making a peace sign. Your brother makes a funny face on the bed while Alhaitham stands near the window with a hand in his pocket.

What in the world?

Lumine: WE MET HOTTIE NEIGHBOUR. His grandfather’s staying in the room next to Aether’s ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶

You’re still processing the whole thing when you see another message from her.

Lumine: If you don’t want him, I’ll take him.

You roll your eyes.

Lumine: Just kidding. Maybe.

You know your siblings are bound to meet Alhaitham one day now that he's your neighbour. You just never thought it would be this quickly. Then, your phone buzzes again; you're expecting Lumine's text, but it's Alhaitham instead.

Catman: I hope that didn’t surprise you too much.

You’re standing in front of the elevators as you quickly type a reply.

A completely random selfie of you and my siblings? Nah. That’s exactly what I was expecting to see at the end of the week.

“Morning!”

You turn and see Tighnari.

“Hey, Nari.”

“Guess who has a date for Zhongli’s wedding?”

You gasp. “Oh, do tell.”

He winks at you. “It’s a surprise.”

“I never thought you’d pull a Childe on me.”

Tighnari laughs. “He does like to keep people in the dark when he wants to, huh?”

You hear your phone buzz but don't get time to check it as the crowd pushes you into the open elevator.

Once you and Tighnari are the only ones left, he turns to you. “So… Childe told me about what happened with Alhaitham the other day. Is something… going on?”

“No. Nothing.”

“...You sure?”

“I’m positive.”

Tighnari watches you closely. "But, if you didn't sort of like him… you wouldn't have gone with him, right?"

“We’re friends. That’s it.”

“Oh…”

You glance at him. “Why do you sound so sad?”

“Well, you’d be retiring from your title!”

“...Title?”

Tighnari smiles. “You wouldn’t be a professional bachelorette anymore. Oh, but don’t get me wrong! It’s not like it’s a bad thing.”

You sigh. “There’s no way I can date Alhaitham.”

“Why not?”

“He’s our CEO,” you say flatly. “That’s… no.”

“Well, I do see how that would cause issues. But… the heart wants what it wants.”

The elevator doors open. As you and Tighnari walk out, you finally check your phone and see the message from Alhaitham.

Catman: You should be in the picture next time.

This reply will be your last.

Pass. Not very photogenic.

When you arrive at your desk, you glance at your phone and roll your eyes… with a smile.

Catman: I respectfully disagree.

You have to put your phone away so you won’t get distracted.

◆◆◆

You lean back in your chair and stretch as you look at the outline you plan to propose to the leadership team in the next couple of weeks. Things are going well, and your team is also working together nicely. You scoot your chair toward your desk, ready to get back to it when your phone buzzes.

Catman: Can we talk after work today if you’re free?

You pick up your phone, staring at the message. It must not be work-related if he’s messaging you using his personal number. But what could it be about?

Catman: We can meet in my office.

That’d definitely help avoid any prying eyes.

No pop quiz, right?

His reply comes faster than you anticipated.

Catman: You’d pass with flying colours anyway.

“...Hey!” You immediately look toward your subordinate sitting at the desk across from you. She looks from your phone to you. “What are you smiling at?”

Are you smiling? You haven't noticed.

“Uh, nothing.” You quickly put your phone on the table with the screen facing down. “Did you need something?”

Your colleague gives you a suspicious smile. “Is it… a guy?”

You stand and look her in the eyes. “Do you need help with something?”

She laughs. “Okay, okay. I’ll drop it. I’m having some trouble with the dialogue for this scene. Could you take a look and give me some feedback?”

You walk over, your mind doing a complete switch to work. Not even Alhaitham is going to distract you, but he’s doing a damn good job of trying.

After work, you make your way up to Alhaitham's office. As you stare at your clear reflection in the elevator doors, you suddenly want to fix your hair. So, just before you reach the floor, you fix a few strands and confidently walk out.

You knock on the door, and the secretary opens it for you. As you walk in, you almost forget to thank him as you marvel at the size and decor of the room.

“Nice place you got here.”

“It’s not mine, technically,” Alhaitham says, walking over to you. He looks at his secretary, and the man walks out. Then, Alhaitham gestures for you to sit on the couch. You do, and he sits across from you.

“So, what did you want to talk about?”

“Is your family helping you with your move?”

“Yeah. But… why do you ask?”

“I wanted to ask if you needed help. Or… if my presence would make you uncomfortable.”

You haven't thought about asking Alhaitham for help. You don't want to deal with your family making casual jokes about how the two of you should be dating or something similar. It's awkward... and something he doesn't need to deal with.

“I think I’ll be okay,” you say. “Besides, I don’t think you want to deal with them trying to hook us up. I know how uncomfortable that would be.”

“I wouldn’t offer to help you if that were the case.”

The silence is a little too loud.

Alhaitham lightly clears his throat. “The real reason I called you here... is to offer you a deal.”

“Should I be leaving right about now?”

Alhaitham picks up on your joking tone. "Besides Kaveh, you are the only one who knows about my secret. As I said, I've been trying to figure out the reason and cause behind it for many years."

You nod.

"I still don't know why you were the one that changed me back… and with a kiss, no doubt. But you are my only hope right now."

You hold his stare.

"...I'd like you to keep changing me back until I find the reason and a permanent solution to my problem. In return… I can help you get out of those matchmaking parties you hate so much."

“...And how are you going help me do that?” you ask cautiously.

“By acting as your boyfriend.”

If you're drinking water, you will have choked.

“...Only in front of your family,” Alhaitham clarifies. “Or else, the purpose is lost.”

You stand. "So… let me get this straight. What we know so far is that you changed back when I kissed you. Now, for research purposes, you want me to… keep kissing you as a cat to change you back. In return, you’ll be my fake boyfriend in front of my family to get my mother to stop nagging me about me being single.”

“That’s another way to put it.”

You scoff. “That’s… that’s ridiculous!”

Alhaitham stands and puts his hands on the table. “Please. I need you.”

Why does he have to look at you like that? You just can't look away.

"I need to find out the root cause of my curse. If us dating makes you uncomfortable, you can suggest something else. It's just… I'd like to offer something in return if you help me."

"...Well, no one wants to live the kitty life forever, I suppose." Then, a small sigh. "How are you going to go about finding this root cause?"

“I’d like to experiment.” Your eyes widen, and Alhaitham quickly adds. “As in… would it work if I kissed you instead?”

You’re starting to feel faint.

"...If we end up in a fake relationship," Alhaitham continues, "you can call it off whenever you want."

“That sounds like it’s a bit unfair to you."

Alhaitham sighs softly. "We would be entering a contract, one that restricts you from entering romantic relationships with others. So I understand I'd be taking away your freedom in that regard."

“...So, are you saying that I can call it off if I meet someone I want to actually date?”

Alhaitham can’t ignore how the thought annoys him. “I’d like to find an answer to my problem before then.”

“Well, the same can go for you,” you say, looking away. “What if… during this time, you also meet someone you want to date?”

"For our sake, I don't intend to drag this out."

This is happening way too fast. Didn’t you just become friends? And now… a fake relationship?

“You don’t have to give me an answer now,” Alhaitham says. “It’s a lot to take in, I know.”

You almost crack a smile. "Don't tell me you wanted to be friends just so you could ask me this."

“If I said no, would you believe me?”

You shrug. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m… not blaming you. I can’t relate to your situation, but I would probably do the same.” You sit and cross one leg over the other. “But, I’d like to hear what other things you tried to get rid of your curse.”

Alhaitham sits across from you. “It’ll take some time.”

“Well, the fact I’m still sitting here means I’m fitting it into my schedule.”

“I’ll make it worth your while.”

◆◆◆

It’s finally the weekend, and you’ve been busy the entire day with the move. However, you can’t get the conversation with Alhaitham at his office out of your head.

"...That's impressive," you said, after hearing all the interesting theories and experiments he tried to get rid of his transformation.

“But I’ve yet to find an answer.”

“Still… that’s very interesting. I wonder if it could happen to anyone… even to me. Have you met anyone else like you?”

Alhaitham shook his head.

“Well, um, going back to your offer… can I think about it? I’ll give you an answer before next week.”

“Of course.”

A… fake relationship. One that only happens around your family. It sounds like the plot of a drama you wrote years ago.

“Who’s Catman?”

You've just finished adjusting the coffee table in your new place when you hear your sister ask the unexpected question. Your mother went out to grab some food while you and Lumine finished cleaning up your new place. You quickly walk up and see Lumine going through the people in your Contacts list.

“Really, Lumine?” You take your phone from her. “Why are you looking through my phone?”

“Just curious if you have Mr. Hottie saved on your phone.”

“Why are you so curious?”

"Weeelll, maybe you might need his help one day. It doesn't hurt to be on good terms with your neighbours."

“I wonder what you mean by good terms,” you say, rolling your eyes.

Lumine smiles widely.

A knock comes at your door, and you open it. But the smell of hot food is lost on you as you're staring into Alhaitham's eyes again.

“I bumped into him on the way up,” your mother says. “So, I invited him to have dinner with us!”

Your mother walks into your place just as Alhaitham asks, “...May I come in?”

"Of course you can!"

You look over your shoulder at Lumine, who's giving Alhaitham a small wave.

It doesn't seem like you have a choice, and it isn't because of your sister or because Alhaitham is your CEO. But it's those turquoise eyes of his that shine differently when he looks at you.

Chapter Seven

Tag list: @suoshiii @lordbugs @lxry-chxn @seirenspinel @sakiimeo @ashtree-and-the-cats @ceylestia @forsh4dow @deathkat657 @kalpie @elernity @sentieence @chichibleeps @sunsethw4 @hjjks

#alhaitham fluff #alhaitham x reader #alhaitham x you #genshin al haitham #al haitham fluff #al haitham x y/n #al haitham x reader #genshin impact alhaitham

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twisted-lover-boys · 1 year

Note

OK, REQUEST TIME!! MushroomFae!Reader with Jade and Trey pls? I've had this in my mind for so long and I really want to see how others interpret the Mushroom Fae aesthetic. I already have an OC for this concept and they're my precious baby, but hmmmmmmmmmm, your writing is just so good I couldn't resist.

Trey And Jade With A Mushroom Fae Partner

{not proof-read}

oooooooo~ interesting! Damn now I gotta do my research

I’m pretty sure I didn’t use pronouns btw!

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♣️🐬♣️🐬♣️🐬♣️🐬♣️🐬♣️🐬♣️🐬♣️🐬

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Trey, like everyone else in Twisted Wonderland, knew if the existence of fae and their varying forms. He just never thought he’d fall in love with one, let alone form a romantic relationship

He absolutely loves your mushroom cottagecore aesthetic. You look so cute and peaceful and—mans clutching his chest just looking at you in your normal attire

He likes it when neither of you want to go outside, be it for weather reasons or the like. Just doing domestic things with you like baking or tidying up the place makes him feel all fuzzy

Speaking of baking, pastries. They always taste good and look aesthetically pleasing. Sometimes he feels bad for eating them because of the amount of time you put into making them

When weather isn’t a problem, outside dates are very common place between you two and he enjoys the crisp breeze with you beside him

Flower picking and flower crowns are a must whenever you’re outside together. You absolutely had to teach him how to make them but they’re absolutely adorable

Eating outside on dates in a staple in your relationship. You always pick out the nicest, less busiest days and prepare food in advance. The smile on your face every time is worth the prep

Trey doesn’t mind showing affection to you and vice versa but there’s a time and a place for such things. He doesn’t want to be mean, like push you off or reprimand you kind of mean, but he will gently remind you of where you are and to just wait for later

Pre-relationship, he absolutely didn’t understand your courting customs. All he knew was that he had a lot of colorful rocks, flower crowns that never wilted, and mushroom terrariums that never rotted. Post-relationship, any and all of your gifts has a special place in his heart. They’re always in display somewhere in his room

He may not fully understand fae customs yet but he knows that he loves you fully. That isn’t going to change any time soon

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Jade knew of the existence of fae, their stories reaching to the furthest depths of the Coral Sea. He never thought he’d actually meet one, let alone get together with one so it was a surprise to say the least

When he found out about your mushroom aesthetic, he swooned. Literally. When you showed off your room and clothing and ornaments you could see the love struck look on his face. Congratulations, you’re this eel’s new favorite person not that you weren’t before

Although Jade loves going outside, low energy days can be quite common. He doesn’t mind them as they give him a chance to relax with you

Please make mushroom dishes with this man I’m begging. They look good, smell good, and taste good. He’s just happy that you don’t grow tired of them like certain someones and you actually make him your own as well which he adores

Speaking of outside, you’re an official member of the mountain lovers club and no you don’t have a say in this. He absolutely takes advantage of this and uses club time as dates for you both

Flower picking is something he knows you enjoy and will indulge in your little activity. He finds himself loving it a little more than he initially thought

Foraging is common on your outside dates and an activity he enjoys a lot with you. You mainly pick mushrooms and he’s always fawning over them and sharing and exchanging info with you

Of course of all your foraging, the edible ones get turned into dishes for your outside date picnics. He finds those times with you the most relaxing

Jade is very subtle with his affection but encourages you to show off your love for him however you see fit. So long as he’s not on a job for Azul, he’s allowing you to smother him. Just be warned, he will get payback…

Pre-relationship, he understood courting gifts as sea folk do something similar so he caught on fairly quick and gave you his own courting gift in the form of colorful rocks, coral, or seashells. He loved your courting gifts. Terrariums that act like mini forests, never wilting flowers, and rocks that shimmer and shine in the light. He actually considered playing dumb for a while just to see what else you’d give him. Post-relationship, nothings really changed…just the quantity—

Jade loves you and mushrooms and you’re a two-in-one deal for him. He can just barely grasp the norms of fae culture but he doesn’t need to in order to know he loves you dearly

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♣️🐬♣️🐬♣️🐬♣️🐬♣️🐬♣️🐬♣️🐬♣️🐬

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#twisted wonderland #twst #twisted wonderland imagines #twisted wonderland x male reader #twst x male reader #heartslabyul #octavinelle #trey clover #trey clover x gn reader #jade leech #jade leech x gn reader

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layce2015 · 1 year

Text

Supernatural (Dean Winchester x Female!Reader)

Crossroad Blues

Masterlist

"So much for our low profile. You've got a warrant in St. Louis, and now you're officially in the Fed's database." Sam said as we sit at a table in a diner and Sam was looking through his computer. "Dude, I'm like Dillinger or something." Dean said, grinning. "Dean, it's not funny. Makes the job harder, we've gotta be more careful now." I said to him and he shrugs.

"Well, what do they got on you two?" He asked Sam looks through the computer. "I'm sure they just haven't posted it yet." He mutters. "No accessory? Nothing?" Dean asked. "Shut up." Sam growls and Dean starts to laugh. "You're jealous." He said. "No, I'm not!" Sam said, angrily. "Uh-huh. All right. What do you got on the case there, you innocent, harmless young man, you?" Dean asked and I roll my eyes and shake my head.

Sam shuts his computer, annoyed, and pulls out several pages of research. "Architect Sean Boyden plummeted to his death from the roof of his home, a condominium he designed." Sam said as Dean and I look through the pages. "Hmm. Build a high-rise and jump off the top of it. That's classy. When did he call animal control?" Dean said. "Two days earlier." Sam replied.

"Did he actually say Black Dog?" I asked him. "Yeah. A vicious, wild, black dog. The authorities couldn't find it, no one else saw it; in fact, the authorities are a little confused as to how a wild dog could get past the doorman, take the elevator up and start roaming the halls of the cushiest joint in town. After that, no more calls, he doesn't show up for work, two days later he takes a swan dive." Sam replied.

"Do you think we're dealing with an actual Black Dog?" Dean asked. "Well, maybe." Sam said, shrugging. "What's the lore on the Hound of the Baskerville?" I asked and Sam chuckles a bit at this as he passes some pages to us. "It's all pretty vague. I mean, there are spectral black dogs all over the world, but...some say they're animal spirits, others say death omens. But anyways, whatever they are, they're big, nasty..." Sam said as Dean flips to a picture of a large black dog.

"Yeah, I bet they could hump the crap outta your leg, look at that one, huh?" He said as he holds up the picture and smirks. I let out a snort while Sam glares at us, making Dean's smirk slip. "What? They could." Dean said.

In a posh, well-lit room, the boys and I were wearing suits and interviewing a man about Sean Boyden. "So, you and Sean Boyden were business partners for almost ten years, right?" Sam asked him. "That's right. Now one more time, this is for...?" The man said, suspiciously, before I talk over him. "A tribute to Mr. Boyden. Architectural Digest." I said and the man laughs.

"This funny to you?" Dean asked him. "No, it...it's just, a tribute. Yeah. See, Sean always got the tributes. He kills himself, leaves me and his family behind...well, he gets another tribute." He said. "Right. Any idea why he'd do such a thing?" Sam asked. "I, I have no clue, I mean he lived a charmed life." The man replied.

"How so?" I asked him. "He was a flat-out genius. I mean, I'm capable, but next to him, I...and it wasn't always that way, either." The man replied. "No?" We said, questionable. "You wanna know the truth? There was a time where he couldn't even design a pup tent. Hell, ten years ago he's working as a bartender at this place called Lloyds. A complete dive." The man said.

"Right. So what changed?" Sam asked and the man shrugs. "You got me. But overnight, he gets this huge commission, and he starts designing...he starts designing the most ingenious buildings anyone has ever seen. It was like, the level of Van Gogh, and Mozart..." then the man cuts off abruptly.

"What?" Dean asked him. "It's funny. True geniuses, they seem to die young, don't they? To have that kind of talent? Why...why just throw it away?" The man asked us.

Later, Dean exits the Animal Protection Agency, still wearing the suit. Sam and I were waiting in the car and DeN gets in the driver's side. "So." We said. "Secretary's name is Carly. She's twenty three, she, uh, kayaks, and they're real." Dean said and Sam let's out a sigh as I flick Dean's ear.

"Ow!" He exclaimed and I glare at him. "You didn't happen to ask her if she's seen any black dogs lately, did you?" I asked him and he holds up a page. "Every complaint called in this week about anything big, black, or dog-like. There's nineteen calls in all. And, uh..." he said as he pulls off a Post-it note. "I don't know what this thing is." He said.

Sam takes it, reads it, and laughs then glances at Dean "You mean Carly's MySpace address?" Sam said, smiling, while Dean and I look at him, confused. "What the hell is that?" I asked and Sam laughs again. "Seriously, is that like some sort of porn site?" Dean asked with a smile. "Is everything in your world linked to porn?" I asked him, annoyed. Dean looks up, thinking, then said. "Yeah." I shake my head, annoyed, while Sam chuckles.

Afterwhile, we approach another white suburban door and knock. "I swear, if this is another freakin' Pomeranian barking in the neighbor's yard..." Dean grumbles. "Aw, don't worry, I'll protect you from the big, bad Pomeranian." I said in a mocking voice and Dean glares at me as the door opens to reveal a young woman.

"Afternoon, ma'am." Dean said as we pull out our ID. "Uh, Animal Control." He said. "Oh, someone already came yesterday." She said to us. "Oh, we're just following up. We're looking for Dr. Sylvia Pearlman?" Sam asked and the woman let's us in.

"The Doctor, well, she, I don't know exactly when she'll be back, she left two days ago." The woman said to us. "Okay. And you are...?" I said, curiously. "I'm Ms. Pearlman's maid." She replied. "So where did the Doctor go?" Dean asked. "I'm not sure. She just packed and went, she didn't say where. That stray dog, did you find it finally?" The woman asked.

"Oh, not yet. You know, you didn't ever happen to see the dog yourself, did you?" Sam asked her. "Well, no. I never even heard it." She said as I look around and take a photograph off the wall: it shows a woman, presumably Pearlman, at a bar with two friends. "I was almost starting to think the Doctor was imagining things, but she's not like that, so..." the woman said and I turn to her.

"Hey, you know I read she was, uh chief surgeon at the hospital. She's gotta be what, forty two, forty three? That's pretty young for that job." I pointed out. "Youngest in the history of the place. She got the position...ten years ago?" The woman said and I give a surprised noise.

"Huh. An overnight success. Ten years ago." Sam said as he and Dean come up to me. "Yeah, we know a guy like that." Dean said and I look at the photo closer. "Oh, look at this." I said and I hold up the photo and flip it over to show writing on the back. "Lloyd's Bar." I said.

We pull up outside Lloyd's Bar and get out. As we walk towards the bar, Dean looks to the side and stops in his tracks. "Hey." He said and Sam and I stop. "Yeah?" We said. "That's weird." Dean said as he points at the yellow flowers that are growing on the sides of the road.

"What?" Sam asked Dean. "Think someone planted these?" Dean asked. "Middle of all these weeds?" I said, disbelief. "These are, uh, what do you call 'em." Dean said as he looks at the flowers. "Yarrow flowers?" Sam said and Dean nods. "Yeah. Used for certain rituals, aren't they?" He asked. "Yeah, actually. Summoning rituals." Sam replied.

"Heh. So, two people become sudden successes about ten years ago. Right around the time they were hanging out here at Lloyd's." I said as I look around to see that we were in the middle of a crossroad. "Where there just happens to be a crossroads." Sam said then he turns to us. "You think?" He asked. "Let's find out." Dean said.

Then he walks to the center of the crossroads and looks around, measuring. "This seem about the dead center to you?" Dean asked us and we nod. He digs a few inches into the hard soil and hits something solid. He stops. "Yahtzee." He said and he drops the shovel and digs with his hands, pulling out an old rusted box.

He opens it, revealing that it contains several small bones, a picture and a small stoppered jar that Sam takes out. "I'd be willing to bet that's graveyard dirt. And a black cat bone." Sam said. "That's serious spellwork. I mean, that's Deep South Hoodoo stuff." I said. "Used to summon a demon." Sam said.

"Not just summon one. Crossroads are where pacts are made. These people are actually making deals with the damn thing. You know, 'cause that always ends good." Dean said. "They're seeing dogs, all right. But not Black Dogs, they're seeing Hellhounds. Demonic pit bulls." I said and Dean nods. "Yeah, whoever this demon is, it's back and it's collecting. And that doctor lady? Wherever she's running? She ain't running fast enough." Dean said.

"So it's just like the Robert Johnson legend, right? I mean, selling your soul at the crossroads, kind of deal?" Sam said and we nod. "Yeah, except that wasn't a legend. I mean, you know his music." Dean said to us. I nod but Sam shrugs. "You don't know Robert Johnson's songs?" I asked him and he shakes his head.

"Sam, there's, there's occult references all over his lyrics, I mean, Crossroad Blues? Me and the Devil Blues? Hellhound on My Trail?" Dean said and Sam frowns, then Dean rolls his eyes and I sigh. "The story goes, he died choking on his own blood, he was hallucinating, and muttering about big evil dogs." Dean explains. "And now it's happening all over again." Sam said. "Yeah." Dean and I said.

"We've gotta figure out if anyone else struck any bargains around here." Sam said and Dean scoffs. "Great. So we've gotta clean up these peoples' mess for 'em? I mean, they're not exactly squeaky clean. Nobody put a gun to their head and forced 'em to play Let's Make A Deal." Dean said, annoyed.

"So what, we should just leave them to die?" I asked Dean. "Somebody goes over Niagara in a barrel, you gonna jump in and try to save 'em?" Dean asked me. "Dean." Sam and I said, exasperated. "All right. Fine." Dean grumbles. "Rituals like this, you've got to put your own photo into the mix, right? So this guy probably summoned this thing, let's go and see if anyone inside knows him. If he's still alive." Dean said, holding up the picture, and we head inside.

"What's this guy's name again?" Sam asked as we walk up a set of wide, wooden stairs to the fourth floor of an apartment. "George Darrow. Apparently quite the regular at Lloyd's." I said while Dean looks around. "Though this house probably ain't up next on MTV Cribs, is it?" He said. "Yeah. So whatever kind of deal he made..." Sam trails off. "Wasn't for cash. Oh, who knows. Maybe this place is full of babes in Princess Leia bikinis." Dean said and Sam and I laugh.

"No, I'm just saying, this guy's got one epic bill come due. Hope at least he asked for something fun." Dean said as we reach the landing and stop in front of apartment 4C. The floor is dusted with a fine black powder.

"Look at that." I said and we crouch down, fingering it. "What is that, pepper?" Dean asked when the door opens to reveal a middle-aged man with graying hair, wearing a grimy t-shirt and open button-down.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked us, in a threatening tone. "George Darrow?" I said. "I'm not buying anything." He said as he starts shut the door. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, looks like you went for the wrong shaker there. Heh. Usually when you want to keep something evil out you go for the salt." Dean said to him as George looks between the three of us.

"I don't know what you talkin' about." He said. "Talkin' about this." Dean said as he holds up the small picture. "Tell me. You seen that Hellhound yet?" He asked and George stares at us. "Look. We want to help. Please. Just five minutes." Sam said to him. George looks at us for a moment then opens the door to let us in.

George shows us in and pours himself a glass of whisky. The studio apartment is filled with paintings, completed and half-finished, and a table holds painting supplies. "So what is that stuff out front?" I asked him. "Goofer Dust." He replied and we look at him, blankly.

"What, you three think you know somethin' about somethin' but not Goofer dust?" George asked us and he tosses Dean a brown sack, tied close with twine. He catches it. "Well, we know a little about a lot of things. Just enough to make us dangerous." Dean said to him.

"What is it?" Sam asked, nodding at the brown sack. "Hoodoo. My grandma taught me. Keeps out demons." George said. "Demons we know." Dean said. "Well, then. Maybe it'll do you some good." George said as he walks over to a chair. "Four minutes left." He said.

Dean glances at us then Sam takes the lead. "Mr. Darrow. We know you're in trouble." Sam said. "Yeah, that you got yourself into." Dean said. "But it's not hopeless, all right?" I said, half-directing that towards Dean. "There's gotta be something we can do." I said as I turn to George. "Listen. I get that you three want to help. But sometimes a person makes their bed, they've just got to lie down in it. I'm the one called that demon in the first place." He said.

"What'd you do it for?" Dean asked. "I was weak. I mean, who don't want to be great? Who don't want their life to mean something? I just...I just never thought about the price." George said. "Was it worth it?" I asked him. "Hell no. 'Course, I asked for talent. Shoulda gone for fame. I'm still broke, and lonely. Just now I got this pile of paintings don't nobody want. But that wasn't the worst." George said, angrily.

"Go on." Sam said. "Demon didn't leave. I never counted on that. After our deal was done the damn thing stayed at Lloyd's for a week. Just chattin'. Makin' more deals. I tried to warn folks, but, I mean who's goin' to listen to an old drunk?" George said. "How many others are there?" I asked him. "Uh, the architect, that doctor lady — I kept up with them, they've been in the papers. Least they got famous." George grumbles.

"Who else, George? Come on, think." Dean said. "One more. Uh, nice guy too. Hudson. Evan, I think. I don't know what he asked for. Don't matter now. We done for." George said. "No. No, there's gotta be a way." Sam said. "You don't get it! I don't want a way!" George yells.

"Look, you don't--"

"I called that thing! I brought it on myself. I brought it on them. I'm going to hell, one way or another. All I want is to finish my last painting. Day or two, I'm done. I'm just trying to hold them off 'till then. Buy a little time." George said then he starts to get up, interrupting Sam. "Okay, kids. Time you went, go help somebody that wants help." He said.

"We can't just —"

"Get out! I got work to do." George yelled at me. "You don't really want to die." Sam said, firmly. "I don't? I'm...I'm tired." George said as he turns to his painting. The boys and I share a look before we leave George to his painting.

The boys and I approach Evan's front door and I go and knock on the door. A moment later, a man opens the door. "Yes?" He answers. "Evan Hudson?" Sam asked and he nods. "You ever been to a bar called Lloyd's? Would have been about ten years ago." Dean said. Terrified, Evan slams the door and latches it.

"Come on, we're not demons!" I said as we hear him run then Sam turns to me and Dean. "Any other bright ideas?" Sam asked us. Dean steps back, sets himself, then kicks the door down in one go. "Well, that's one way." I said and we enter the house.

Once we make it to the back room, Dean prepares to kick down that door too but I catch his leg, stopping him. "What—" Dean start to say but I look at him pointedly. Then Sam turns the handle and pushes the door open gently. The room is quiet as we enter.

"Evan?" Sam calls out and Evan jumps out from behind a bookshelf. "Please! Don't hurt me." He pleads to us but Sam and I hold our hands out, pacifying. "We're not going to hurt you, all right? We're here to help you." Sam said to him, kindly. "We know all about the genius deal you made." Dean said, angrily.

"What? How?" Evan asked. "Doesn't matter. All that matters is, we're trying to stop it." Dean said. "How do I know you're not lying?" Evan asked us. "Well, you don't, but you're kinda running low on options there, buddy-boy." Dean said and Evan swallows and starts pacing.

"Can you stop it?" Evan asked us. "Don't know. We'll try." I said and Evan looks over at us, with fear. "I don't want to die." He said, tearfully. "Of course you don't, not now." Dean sneered and Sam turns to him. "Dean. Stop." He said, quietly.

"What'd you ask for anyway, Evan? Huh? Never need Viagra? Bowl a perfect game? What?" Dean asked. "My wife." Evan replied and Dean laughs. "Right. Gettin' the girl. Well, that's worth a trip to hell for." Dean said and I grab his arm. "Dean, stop." I said to him, firmly.

"No. He's right, I made the deal. Nobody twisted my arm, that...woman, or whatever she was, at the bar? She said I could have anything I wanted. I thought she was nuts at first, but...I don't know how to—I was desperate." Evan replied. "Desperate?" Sam and I asked, confused.

"Julie was dying." Evan said and we stand there in shock. "You did it to save her?" Dean asked him. "She had cancer, they'd stopped treatment, they were moving her into hospice, they kept saying...a matter of days. So yeah, I made the deal. And I'd do it again. I'd have died for her on the spot." Evan said and I give him a sympathetic smile.

"Did you ever think about her in all this?" Dean asked him. "I did this for her." Evan replied and Dean advances on him. "You sure about that? I think you did it for yourself. So you wouldn't have to live without her. But guess what? She's going to have to live without you now. But what if she knew how much it cost? What if she knew it cost your soul? How do you think she'd feel?" Dean asked, angrily, and Sam and I put a hand on Dean's chest, pulling him back.

"Okay, that's enough." Sam said and Dean turns and walks away. I sigh then turn to Sam and Evan. "You just sit tight, all right? We're going to figure this out." I said to Evan then I look at Sam. "Stay here with him, I'll talk to Dean." I said and I follow Dean into the hallway.

"You all right?" I asked him, concerned. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be? Hey, I got an idea." Dean said and he pulls out the Goofer dust. "You and Sam throw George's hoodoo at that Hellhound, keep it away from Evan as long as you guys can. I'm gonna go to the crossroads and summon the demon." Dean said and my jaw drops.

"Summon— are you nuts?" I asked as I look at him like he was insane. "Maybe a little. But I can trap it. I can exorcise it, and I can buy us time to figure out something more permanent." Dean said to me.

"Yeah, but how much time?" I asked. "I don't know, a while. I mean, it's not easy for those suckers to claw their way back from hell and into the sunshine." He said and I shake my head. "No. No way." I said. "You're not allowed to say no, (y/n), not unless you've got a better idea." Dean exclaims.

"Dean, you can forget it, all right? I'm not letting you summon that demon." I said. "Why not?" Dean asked me, angrily. "Because I don't like where your head is at right now, that's why not." I shouted.

"What are you talking about?" He asked me. "You know, you've been on edge ever since we found that crossroads, Dean, and I think I know why." I said and he rolls his eyes. "We don't have time for this." He said and he brushes past me.

"John." I said as I turn and see that he stopped in his tracks. "You think maybe John made one of these deals, huh? Hell. I've been thinking it. I'm sure you and Sam have been thinking it too." I said and Dean lowers his head. "It fits, doesn't it? I'm alive, Dad's dead. The yellow-eyed demon was involved." He said, softly. "What if he did? What if he struck a deal? My life for his soul?" Dean asked, quietly, as he turns to me.

Before I could say anything, we hear Evan shouting. "I think I hear it! It's outside!" We look towards the door as Sam said. "Guys!" Dean and I look back at each other then Dean said. "Just keep him alive, okay?"

"Dean..." I said, worried, but he shakes his head. "Go!" He said and I frown, slightly, then I walk up to him and kiss his cheek. I pull back and I could see a shock look on his face then I placed my right hand on his cheek. "Be careful, okay?" I said. He nods and leaves then I head back into the office room.

After explaining Dean's idea, Sam and I started sprinkling the dust in a line before the windows. Then we start making a circle of it around Evan, who stands in the middle of the room. "What is that stuff?" He asked us. "Goofer dust." Sam replied.

"You serious?" Evan asked. "Yeah. 'Fraid so. Look. Believe us, don't believe us, whatever you want. Just whatever you do, stay inside the circle, all right?" I said to him and Evan nods then hugs himself.

He stands in the middle of the circle that Sam and I just finish as I shake the bag to get out the last grains. "That's the last of it." I said then we stand there and look around until Evan whirls around, like he could hear something.

"What?" Sam and I asked him. "You hear that?" Evan asked us, fear etched all over his face. "No, where?" Sam asked then Evan looks at the door. "Right outside the door." He said then the doors begin to rattle violently. Sam and I then step inside the circle.

Side by side inside the circle of dust, Evan, Sam and I stare tensely at the rattling door. "Just don't move, all right? Stay where you are." I said to Evan. The rattling became louder, and more violent, then suddenly it stops.

Sam and I exchange a look before we, cautiously, look around. "Do you still hear it?" Sam asked Evan. "No. Is it over?" Evan asked us. "Don't know...maybe." I said when rumbling sound comes from the wall. The three of us whirl to stare at the grating just as it bursts outward, kicking dust into the room.

"It's here!" Evan screams as we see a visible wind coming through and surrounding us. "No! Back inside the circle!" I shout and we gathered close together in the middle of the circle.

Deep claw marks gouge into the floor in a path towards the circle; they stop just before the edge. We back away slowly, while the wind started to eat away at our protective circle. "Circle's broken. Come on!" Sam shouts and we pull Evan out of the room and down the hall.

We dart into a storeroom and slam the door behind us. Sam and I braces ourselves against it while the Hellhounds start to pound it down. Dean, hurry up! I thought, frantically, as the pounding on the door got more and more violent. Suddenly, the pounding stops and Sam and I look at each other then over at Evan, the three of us panting.

After making sure Evan was okay and Dean returned from the crossroads, Dean drives us down a dark road as he explains what happened. "Demons lie all the time, right? Maybe she was lying." Sam said to Dean, referring to the demon telling Dean that John made a deal to save his life. "Come on. That really what you think?" Dean asked Sam and Sam looks down.

"How could he do it?" Dean asked, disappointed and angry. "He did it for you." I said to him. "Exactly. How am I supposed to live with that? You know, the thought of him...wherever he is right now. I mean, he spent his whole life chasing that...yellow-eyed son of a bitch. He should have gone out fighting. That was supposed to be his legacy. You know? Not bargaining with the damn thing. Not this." Dean said, angry.

"How many people do you think Dad saved? Total?" Sam asked. "That's not the point, Sam." Dean growls. "Evan Hudson is safe because of what Dad taught us. That's his legacy, Dean. But we're still here, man. So we gotta keep going, for him." Sam said to him and Dean stays silent.

"Dean?" I said, softly.

"Yeah." He replied and I swallow, nervously, fearing for the answer to my question. "When you were trapping that demon, you weren't...I mean, it was all a trick, right? You never considered actually making that deal, right?" I asked him. Dean told us that the demon would let Evan live if Dean would trade his life for Evan, ten years of course he would get but after that....he would be gone.

Dean stares straight ahead, then turns his head towards the window. He reaches forward and turns the radio on full blast and doesn't say a word. Sam and I flinch then Sam looks over at me with a worried and nervous glance.

I bite my lips then let out a sigh and lean back in the seat and look out the window at the passing scenery.

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raayllum · 10 months

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do you have any soft or even angsty Rayllum pregnancy HCs?

Not really any angsty ones - pregnancy isn't something I think too much about Rayllum wise (I think more about Sarai's pregnancy with Ezran and Tiadrin's pregnancy with Rayla for some reason) beyond the general headcanon that while they marry young (ages like 20-21) they actually wait like 4-6 years to start trying - but I do have a few!

A very old (i.e. written post-s2) drabble of Callum talking to their baby

Some sparse headcanons here

and some more upon request

Rayla is pretty active (other than heavy first trimester fatigue) but eventually the swollen ankles and soreness catch up to her and forces her to slow down and take more bed rest. She is not a happy camper

Callum asking a million questions (until Rayla tells him to shut up because she cannot describe how sore her boobs feel one more time) and reading everything he can get his hands on about pregnancy, trying to translate things over for what to expect for an elf-human birth (if there are differences) and doing research on old-ass texts that mention halflings from before the Exile

Ezran cries when they tell him (and they're the first person to know outside of each other) and cries again when they ask him to be godfather

Sky magic spells being used to help with her breathing and practice for the birth

Despite being pretty young, Callum remembers Sarai's pregnancy with Ez pretty well, and there's a bittersweet quality to Rayla's, even more than his parents never getting to meet his partner, but that they'll never meet their grandchild either

They receive an eclectic array of toys/presents for the future crown heir. Gifts from the human kingdoms from the monarchs & various diplomats (only Aanya manages to get them something they'll actually use) and gifts from Xadia, of course, particularly fine ones from Zubeia (one of her dragon scales which has magical properties) and from the baby's great aunts Janai and Amaya. Callum and Rayla need a whole room in the castle just to store everything

Rayla gets a lot of cravings and Callum eventually buckles down to learn how to make moonberry surprise for her, even if it's trial and error

Pregnancy is also what gets her over her reservations (finally) of crying in front of other people bc her hormones/emotions are a mess, this is her family, and she's gotta get used to both of those things sometime

#tw pregnancy #thanks for asking #rayllum #headcanons #anonymous #after the war

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ryin-silverfish · 4 months

Text

Chapter 27-28: Spooky Scary Skellington

(Finally getting back to the book club after a few busy months...)

Chapter 27:

-The White Bone Spirit is one of the most iconic demoness of JTTW, and, as JTTW Research's post on her origin suggests, is likely inspired by the White Tiger Spirit + the giant skeleton nearby in 大唐三藏取经诗话.

-However, when Tripitaka asked about the origin of said giant skeleton at the bottom of a fiery pit, the Monkey Pilgrim gave the strange answer that "This is the place where the Heir Apparent, Ming Huang, changed his bones."(此是明皇太子换骨之处)

-What does that even mean?

-Well, at first, I thought it was just referring to "Corpse Release"(尸解), where Daoists attain immortality by leaving behind a fake corpse——usually a transformed object such as cane, clothes or shoes——to literally trick death.

-Then I finally got to read "Birth of JTTW"(西游记的诞生) by Cai Tieying, in which he traces the "changing of bones" to a legend in the Song dynasty record, 默记.

-Summary: an assassin was sent to kill Tang Minghuang (after he basically abdicated due to the An Shi Rebellion), hit him with a hammer in his sleep, and the hammer just bounced off his head with a clang.

-Minghuang woke up and was like "Yep, I've been expecting this"; ever since he had consumed jade and a golden elixir of immortality under the advice of the famous Daoist Ye Fashan, his bones were transformed into literal jade.

-So if the assassin wanted to kill him for good, he gotta split open Minghuang's skull and take out the elixir——an advice the assassin promptly followed.

-That peculiar little trivia aside, there is a theory about SWK's ability to see through demonic disguises in the Chinese JTTW booksphere, which might explain why Tripitaka never seems to trust him on that regard.

-Unlike in TV adaptations, the "Fiery Eyes and Golden Vision" doesn't work like an X-Ray; rather, it's more like an infrared thermal camera.

-This means SWK can't literally see through a demon or immortal's disguise and perceive their true form, just the general "aura" around them in the form of demonic or auspicious Qi.

-Thus, when this aura is hidden by ambience Qi, altered to fit one's general appearance or less on-the-nose(as later chapters would show), SWK's magical vision also takes a dive in accuracy.

-Furthermore, prior to WBS, none of the demons they encountered had used a human disguise in order to capture Tripitaka.

-So even if SWK said "Hey master, I can totally see through demonic disguises" after he killed the demoness(which he didn't), without precedents, it's gonna sound like he pulled the ability right out of his ass, as a shoddy excuse to justify murdering humans——something Tripitaka did witness before.

Chapter 28:

-Fun fact: during the Qing dynasty, there's a big-budget opera adaptation of JTTW called 升平宝筏, exclusively performed in the royal palace. In this version, the White Bone Spirit and Yellow-robed Demon are actually sworn siblings!

-After Yellow-robed Demon kidnapped the princess, she was the one who helped talk her into accepting the marriage. So when she was killed by SWK, Yellow-robed Demon was furious, and, as revenge, kidnapped Tripitaka + turned him into a tiger later.

-Combining different arcs, much like adding unnecessary romantic subplots, is actually quite common in Qing opera adaptations of JTTW. This change, however, makes more sense than the others.

-First, it explains the "family" that WBS offhandedly mentioned, secondly, the two arcs are already sequential, so making the two demons related doesn't seem like that far of a stretch.

-The burning of FFM is heartwenchingly described, and arguably where most villainous characterizations of Erlang come from. However, hear me out——I don't think he actually did it.

-At the end of Chapter 6, after Erlang caught SWK, his brothers was like "Enough talk, let's take him to the celestial realm." To which Erlang replied that sorry, they were not recognized as part of the celestial bureaucracy and literally not allowed to meet the Jade Emperor.

"But don't worry, I'll go report to the Jade Emperor together with the devarajas, you six stay behind on FFM to do a thorough search of the mountain(搜山). Once you are done, return to Guankou, and right after I get the rewards, I'm heading straight back to share it with y'all."

-Indeed, in the next chapter, after the Jade Emperor gave him a lot of gifts, he said his thanks and returned to Guanjiangkou, where his temple was at.

-My theory is, Erlang did not lead the burning personally, or give a direct order to——he was still in the Celestial Realm, making reports while FFM burned.

-And his six sworn brothers, being hunters and martial men, interpreted "search the mountain" rather liberally in his absence and left out the details once he returned with their reward.

-Just as usual, another job well done, let's get the victory party started.

-Of course, whether Erlang was personally there, leading the burning, makes little difference to the monkeys of FFM; it wasn't him, but he sure as hell wasn't NOT involved either.

@journeythroughjourneytothewest

#xiyouji #journey to the west #jttw book club #jttw reading group #lady bone demon #sun wukong #erlang shen

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leonscape · 5 months

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i can’t remember if did this or not but it popped up in my head so i’m doing it

ikepri as writers

nothing much to say about chevalier he’d be a romance author. it’s not that he can’t write anything else, he’s got the smarts for writing a mystery plot or thrillers or dramas whatever else genres. he’s just drawn to romance the most.

jin’s gotta be a erotica/smut writer but he probably has a pen name lol. very popular author with the ladies he’s pretty much the only male author that seems to nail the erotic stuff and actually knows women’s anatomy. very versatile smut writer and has a wide variety of content, you’re guaranteed to find something you like. he writes stuff with and without plot. his plots are actually pretty decent and original; although he does write cliche and overdone tropes pretty well too.

clavis is a crack fic writer. he writes “fanfiction” of chevalier’s stuff and he just pranks(?) the characters. he makes up oc’s and just memes everyone in the story. he also probably is that type of author to update his readers with the most batshit crazy out of pocket news about his life. “sorry for not updating i got stabbed by my brother so i stabbed him back so sorry if this has mistakes i didn’t have time to edit it i hope you guys enjoy!” he also writes original stuff too but it goes unnoticed and it’s not as popular as his crack fic content.

leon’s the type of writer that writes like three sentences and then goes back to just daydreaming about the story instead of writing it. or he just falls asleep. he’s got some good ideas he just has a hard time sitting down and actually writing it. he probably also falls down rabbit holes or research so he knows strange and random facts about weird topics. when he does post, it goes largely unnoticed but he has a few loyal readers that prefer to be anonymous. leon would probably write a bunch of different genres because he’s just got a lot of different ideas. he definitely draws from his experiences and personal beliefs. his characters are very lovable but if only he updated his work…

yves writes baking recipes and puts his entire life story before recipes. just kidding. kinda. i think he writes romance too because everyone else seems to be writing romance? he reads his brothers’ work, mostly leon’s, licht’s, and chevalier’s work. he was tricked into reading jin’s content and now he refuses to read anything from jin and clavis. ngl tho he has tried to write smut but it won’t ever see the light of day. unless clavis gets his hands on it. anyways yves probably spends too much time planning out his characters. he’s got an organized folder of information for each character. spends way too much time on baby name websites too. also way too much time on pinterest looking for outfit inspo for his characters. so all this time spend on planning and making them, he always gives his characters happy ends and never hurts them.

licht writes angst, but he always gives them a happy end. it’s kinda like his way of coping? writing a happy ending simply because he can because he’s the god of his own world. the sense of control he has of his characters brings comfort. they do experience a lot of traumatic things, but he always resolves everything in the end. his characters have the best development and the writing in those emotional scenes are immaculate.

nokto doesn’t really write. he thinks he’s not good at it but he’s decent. i think he writes angst or maybe tragedy is a better word to use here. but it’s in a forbidden/taboo setting (nothing inappropriate get your mind outta there). he writes situations of his characters wanting something they can’t have (kinda like romeo and juliet). he’s also a casual smut writer which makes the tragedy hurt more.

luke doesn’t writer he’s a reader. he’ll read anything as long as it’s interesting. he thinks jin’s stuff is weird but it’s easy to follow so he reads it. he also reads clavis’ stuff and thinks it’s really good (actually he doesn’t think that he was just bribed with honey to say it was good). he’s dabbled in a little bit of writing stories but it never really went anywhere. he has written children’s stories tho. it’s just sitting in his drafts collecting dust.

#i feel like i wrote this or read this somewhere #i’m sorry if this has been done #genuinely not trying to copy or steal ideas #ikemen prince #ikepri

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piived · 5 months

Text

Justice is Swift (Vengeance is Sweet) — a DPxDC Dead on Main Fic

chapter two is officially here!

master post || <- ch.1 || ch.2 shitposts || ch.3 ->

CHAPTER TWO — KISS AND TELL

Summary —

Danny starts classes, meets a new friend, makes a trip to the Realms, and has some surprise visitors. Jason and Tim have MUCH to think about and research. So much research…

chapter word count — 9,148

full chapter under the cut, but for the best experience read on ao3 and consider leaving kudos/comments as they fuel me :)

𓆩⟡𓆪

CHAPTER TWO — KISS AND TELL

The first week of classes flew by for Danny and suddenly it was already Thursday and time for his scheduled meeting with Bernard and his mysterious boyfriend at the campus cafe in the two hours before their last lecture of the day.

He was running late, the notes from his last lecture still clutched in his hands and threatening to fly away as he booked his way across the quad towards the central student center building. He managed to slide past the closing door from another student entering and glanced around in search of Bernard’s blonde hair. He had texted Danny that they were there nearly ten minutes ago and sure enough, he spotted Bernard at a table in the corner, sitting across someone with a dark red hoodie and black hair.

He beelined for them and matched Bernard’s friendly grin, plopping down on the seat next to him and across from the guy who looked vaguely familiar but he couldn’t place.

“Hey, you made it!” Bernard laughed at Danny’s disheveled state, scooting a cup of what was hopefully very strong coffee towards him. “I thought Professor Montgomery was gonna try holding you all hostage or something.”

Danny huffed a laugh and started organizing his notes to put them in his bag correctly. “Sure felt like it,” Danny groaned, “man, that guy is the slowest talker I’ve ever heard, it’s excruciating.”

The guy across from him hummed in amusement, eyeing Danny’s sketches and notes, “Advanced Mechanical Engineering?”

Danny sighed, “Yeah, unfortunately.”

The guy hummed again, “You gotta be pretty clever to take that class as a freshman, did you test out or transfer credits from elsewhere?”

Danny shrugged and flushed a little bit, “I tested out but also did my generals online and transferred the credits so I can take more advanced classes earlier. My parents were scientists and I could probably pass intro and beginner mech engineering in my sleep.” He finally managed to get everything in his backpack sorted and turned fully towards him, holding out his hand. “Hi, sorry for being rude. I’m Danny Nightingale.”

The guy smirked a bit and grabbed his hand in a firm grip, “Timothy Drake, pleasure to meet you, Danny.”

Danny’s eyes widened and he glanced from Timothy Fucking Drake to Bernard who’s shit eating grin was growing by the second.

“You wouldn’t happen to be Timothy Drake-Wayne, would you?”

Timothy shrugged. “I prefer to go by Tim.”

Danny barked a laugh and shoved his elbow into Bernard’s side who grunted and shoved him back without much luck. Danny was solid when he wanted to be, thank you very much. “Well, my friend Tucker is going to absolutely lose it when I rub it in his face that I sat at the same table as his idol and had an actual conversation.”

Tim rested his chin in his hand and looked amused. “Oh yeah? Well, make his day and tell him I said hi.”

Danny cackled at that, “I don’t want to be that annoying guy but would you mind taking a selfie for proof? He’s the type to call bullshit without supporting evidence.”

Tim’s eyes actually twinkled at that, “Sounds like a smart guy. Sure.”

Danny grinned and pulled out his Tucker-modified phone, spinning in his seat and pulling Bernard with him so they were facing away from Tim and towards his camera, effectively getting them all in. “Say cheese!”

Tim put on a very obviously media trained smile that Danny now recognized from articles and paparazzi photos, and Bernard held up a peace sign while Danny classily flipped the camera off with a shit eating grin. He laughed and quickly sent it to Tucker with a cheeky ‘my new good friend Tim says hi.’

“Thanks, he’ll probably faint.”

“Well, anything for a fan,” Tim waved it off only half sarcastically, eyes locked on Danny’s phone that was now on the table. “What model is that?”

Bernard sighed ruefully and Danny shot him an amused look before answering Tim. “It was originally an old Wayne Tech, I think. Until Tuck got his hands on it and did whatever magic he does.” Danny gave the dog a bone and slid it over to Tim to inspect. “I don’t know exactly what he did but I think I have the detailed manual he lovingly and painstakingly crafted somewhere if you’re interested. Or I can send you his information and you can absolutely make his life by complimenting his handiwork,” Danny not so subtly suggested. He was a fantastic friend and wing man and if Tucker ever said otherwise he was a dirty rotten liar.

Tim hummed as he fiddled with the hardware and poked around on the lock screen. “Do you have a carrier?” He frowned, poking some more.

Danny shrugged, “I don’t think so? Tucker’s always ranting about them robbing the public blind so I think he made a way around it. Unless someone is mysteriously paying a bill I don’t know about, but I doubt it.” Plus the small fact that he had signal even in the Realms, a feat Danny was positive no regular carrier company could pull off.

“Huh,” Tim stated, fascinated.

Bernard groaned, “Great, now you have him hooked. Make sure you get that thing back from him or he’ll steal it and spend all night reverse engineering it and I’ll have to call Con to help me lure him out of his cave.”

Tim spared a glance to glare at his boyfriend and not so subtly kicked him under the table and Danny laughed, amused at their antics and reminded of his friends. “Who’s Con?”

Bernard lit up and Tim’s face got a little softer around the edges. Danny liked whoever this Con was already. “Our boyfriend! He doesn’t take classes here and is busy with work or else I’d have dragged him along but you’d like him!”

Danny laughed in disbelief and groaned into his hands. “You’re kidding me.”

He could practically feel Tim and Bernard stiffen and looked up quickly to see their stony expressions, a far cry from the light and openness from moments before and Danny kicked himself for ruining it. “You got a problem with that?” Tim asked flatly, eyes narrowed. Danny sensed the underlying danger in it all and held his hands up, blanching.

“No, no! Literally not at all,” he stammered in a rush, trying to bring back the happy feelings from before. “I’m just somehow doomed to be surrounded by poly relationships while my love life continues to be very much a disaster.”

Tim and Bernard shared a look and relaxed minutely but were still guarded so Danny slid his phone back to himself and pulled up his album dedicated solely to his favorite group of lovable idiots. “Here they are,” he said with a fond grin, showing the other two the latest picture of Sam, Val, and Tucker hugging and laughing at some diner or other, clearly lovesick and giddy (even Sam who rarely showed true emotion in photos). Bernard let out a loud, “Aww,” hand over his heart and Tim relaxed fully again, smile back, thank the Ancients.

Danny pointed to Tucker in the middle with fries sticking out of his mouth like fangs (Tucker was absolutely going to murder him—again—for showing Timothy Drake this particular picture, but Danny thought it was worth it). “That’s Tucker Foley, tech extraordinaire and my best friend since we were in diapers,” Tim cocked his head to take in the picture better, assessing, now that he could put a face to the tech. “He’s going to CalTech for Compsci and Engineering and Sam and Val,” he pointed to the two respectively, “are at UCLA for Environmental Sciences and Bio Engineering.”

Bernard let out an appreciative noise, “Tim, I love them already. Enviro Sci and Bio and Tech! They’re basically alternate us! Damn, I wish Con was here,” he pouted and pulled out his phone to presumably text said boyfriend. Danny laughed, and took his phone back, scrolling past other pictures with a smile. Oh how he missed his friends.

Tim slid his phone over and Danny took a look at a picture of the three of them, Bernard and Tim pressed to either side of who Danny presumed to be Con, a tall punk looking guy with circle sunglasses and artfully spiked up black hair. “That’s Conner,” Tim supplied with a smile edging towards fond.

Danny smiled back, “Damn, you guys are adorable.”

Bernard swooned against him and Tim flushed a bit and snatched his phone back. “I know, right,” Bernard cooed, and Danny laughed, shoving him back upright. “I’m like the luckiest guy in the world, somehow snagging a rich genius and a hot punk rocker. My life is like, the best,” Danny fake gagged and Tim rolled his eyes but took his boyfriend’s offered hand across the table.

“Fuck, I really thought I would be free of insufferably sappy trios that make me feel oh so insufferably single,” Danny sighed, thunking his head on the table.

Bernard patted his back in sympathy, “There, there,” he hummed, “I’m sure we can find you your very own harem in no time.”

Danny groaned, “Yeah, no thank you, I could barely handle one person at a time which is why I didn’t join their group in the first place despite their insistence that a ‘polycule’ has a better ring than a ‘tripoly’.”

“Well, then that makes it even easier. I think Tim has a couple spare siblings we can hook you up with — ow! Kidding!”

Tim glared and pointed a stern finger at his boyfriend, “Don’t even joke. Danny doesn’t deserve to be subjected to any of those heathens and you know it. He’d get eaten alive.”

“Hey!” Danny exclaimed, offended. “I’m tougher than I look!”

“No, no,” Bernard patted his shoulder in sympathy, “he’s totally right. I wouldn’t subject you to that realm of chaos.”

Oh, if only they knew that Danny literally ruled over an infinite realm of chaos. He just shook his head in amusement. “Yeah, well, I’ve seen pictures of you Waynes and let’s just say that if any of them made a pass I’d give them the green light, chaos be damned.”

Tim made a sound of disgust as Bernard cackled. “I knew I liked you for a reason, Danny.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Tim shook his head. “Though if you stick around long enough one of them is bound to bite. Or Bruce will take one look at you and try to adopt you, so I hope you’re not too attached to your parents.”

Danny dimmed a bit at the mention of his parents but managed a laugh. “Well he’s welcome to try, I’m sure they wouldn’t put up much of a fuss but he might have to fight my sister, and my money is on her.” Not to mention the fact that Vlad would have a total conniption if another billionaire got their hooks in him — but, on second thought, maybe Jazz's wrath would be worth it to see the fruit loop's expression when he showed up at the next gala that Vlad was always trying to trick him into attending as a Wayne... But no. He wouldn't want to risk Vlad doing something drastic like overshadowing poor Bruce Wayne just because Danny wanted to be an annoying little shit. Damn.

Bernard slung an arm over his shoulder and Tim gave him a calculating look which Danny ignored in favor of taking a sip of his neglected coffee, desperate for a change of subject. “Thanks for this, by the way,” he wiggled the cup. “What do I owe you?”

Bernard waved him off, “Don’t worry about it. Perks of dating a Wayne, they tend to get things for free around here.”

Tim shrugged and Danny wasn’t going to argue about free coffee so he let it drop.

Conversation flowed to lighter topics and soon enough Danny and Bernard had to leave for their Physics lecture. Tim pressed a kiss to Bernard’s cheek and waved goodbye to them both. Danny waved back and waited until he was out of sight before spinning around on Bernard.

“Dude! Timothy Drake-Wayne‽”

Bernard laughed, eyes twinkling, “Please, I knew him long before he got the Wayne name and he’s still as much of a nerd. Now he’s just a rich nerd with a better family.”

Danny blinked at that and huffed out an incredulous laugh, “Okay yeah, I get that. Sam is totally loaded too and she’s like the most unhinged person I know. But still, there’s rich and then there’s Wayne rich.”

Bernard shrugged, “Yeah but in the end it’s the person who matters, and Tim? He’s my best friend. He’s always been my best friend even when we didn’t talk for years and he’ll probably, hopefully, be my best friend forever. And he’s the reason I met Conner, too, and now I have both of them,” he got that stupidly sappy look in his eyes and Danny shoved him playfully.

“Yeah you guys are solid, I can tell. I’m glad I met you, Bernard,” Danny grinned.

Bernard rolled his eyes, “You can call me Berny or Benny or something if you want. Bernard is such a mouthful.”

“Yeah, okay Benny Boo Boo, Boo Boo Bear,” Danny teased, eyes alight with mischief.

“Did you just How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days me, Nightingale?” Benny laughed in shock and Danny cackled. “No way that’s sticking! I take it back, your nickname privilege is revoked, Danny! Danny!” Danny jogged further away, still laughing. “Call me Bernard, I beg! Daniel!”

Yeah, Danny liked his new friends a lot.

—

Saturday morning had Danny prepping for a quick trip to the Realms to check in on things when his phone rang with an incoming video call.

“Hello?” He answered absently around the pen cap he had in between his teeth.

“Danny, you’ve completely fried Tucker’s brain with your Timothy Drake stunt,” Sam glowered back at him and Danny laughed.

“Good to see you too Sam, I hope your first week back to classes have been going well, how’s Val?” Danny teased.

“Classes are as awful as ever and Val is ready to smother Tucker in his sleep if he doesn’t stop gushing over how Timothy Drake-Wayne said hello to him via you, you jerk. Now he’s looking for flights and trying to convince us that he can somehow miraculously miss a week of classes to go on a stalker fanboy trip and it’s all your fault!”

Danny cackled, “Oh that’s even better than I thought! Has he really looked for flights?”

Sam glared, “Yes. We had to hide his credit card. You better tell him not to be an idiot and fly across the country just to try and catch a glimpse of your little friend.”

Danny held his hands up in surrender, “Okay okay, I’ll give him a call and tell him how irresponsible he’d be to ditch his favorite place and people in the world for week to hang out with his literal icon and boy crush that I can most definitely get him in contact with.”

“You’re loving this, aren’t you?” Sam whined.

Danny grinned, “Yep,” popping the P. “But seriously, I’ll tell him to wait until fall break at least. No promises past that.”

“That works for us. We were already talking about hopefully making a trip back home for Thanksgiving so we can probably stop by Gotham without too much hassle.”

“Please do, I miss you guys,” Danny frowned. Sam smiled softly.

“Yeah we miss you too, loser. Whaddya got planned for today?”

Danny sighed, “A trip to the GZ, I gotta make sure everything’s still running and I’ve got a couple scheduled brawls to handle. It’ll be good, I’m getting antsy without the constant barrage of duels. I’m understanding why they visited me in Amity so frequently now.”

Sam laughed, “Ghosts are so weird. Have fun duking it out. Call tomorrow?”

Danny nodded, “Yep, Tucker made sure to put it on my schedule and I still get an annoying amount of reminders for it throughout the week.”

“Good, I’ll see you tomorrow then, stay out of trouble.” He managed to not laugh at the familiar words. Stay safe, Trouble. He so did not need to be thinking of Red Hood right now. The whole vigilante situation was a conversation to bring up when they were all together during their scheduled group call.

“Yeah, yeah, you too. Good luck with Tucker’s obsession and try to remember that you love him and would be devastated if Val actually killed him!”

Sam flipped him off before hanging up and Danny laughed.

He checked over his notes to make sure he wasn’t missing anything important that he had to prepare for and made sure his curtains were closed before transforming and ripping open a portal.

It’d gotten easier and easier over the years with practice and now that he was officially Prince Regent it was almost second nature. He slipped through and flew around leisurely, checking on things as he went until he finally made it to the council hall where the representatives were meeting.

It was a quick session, more to just keep him in the loop of things and keep in touch with his council friends, updating them on his mortal living and showing that he still took his responsibility as Prince Regent and Future King seriously. He wanted to do right by the Realms and he was insistent on proving himself worthy. It helped that he enjoyed spending time among the ghosts, not having to worry about hiding any part of himself and able to show off all of his abilities freely as needed. No carefully pulled punches necessary.

He parted ways with the council after the meeting had long dissolved into more gossip and light conversation than actual business and found Ember already waiting outside the building, leaning against a tree and idly strumming her guitar.

“Hey, Ember, how’s it been?”

Ember smiled at him and nodded, “Not too bad. A bit boring with the main Amity portal gone and our favorite punching bag in a city he banned us from, but we make do.”

Danny winced a little at her words. He knew the decisions to disable the portal and cut them off from Gotham sounded harsh, but he had talked it through with the Council and had all come to the agreement that it would be best. He didn’t want his parents or some other ghost hunting fanatics to go too crazy while he was gone and end up destroying the city or Ancients forbid actually capturing one of his ghosts, and he had no idea how Gotham would handle seeing his ghosts or what the Bat Clan might try and do to them. Until things had settled and he was sure it was safe, it was best to keep things contained to the Realms as much as possible.

“Well, I can help make things a bit more interesting now,” he smirked and she got the hint and swung her guitar at his head. He cackled, ducked, and the brawl began.

The best thing about fighting in the Infinite Realms was that he didn’t have to worry about any collateral damage or civilians getting hurt. He didn’t have to carefully direct the fight to more secluded areas or yell at stupid passerby’s to stop gawking and run. It was so much more fun on equal turf. He should have been doing this for years, really.

After a decent while of back and forth Ember finally called it quits, effectively worn out and seemingly pleased with the sparring. Danny felt better having been able to get some pent up energy out on a being that wouldn’t be completely disfigured by him punching with his full strength and shook out his arms in satisfaction.

“Don’t be a stranger, Phantom! Track me down next time you’re here,” Ember flicked him on the ear and left with him grumbling about normal ways to show affection.

He did track down a few other ghosts, checking in and getting the latest scoop (Elastica and Kitty) or having miniature brawls (Boxy and Johnny) to help relieve the buzzing burn of energy.

He left feeling satisfied and spent, muscles aching in the good, I-just-worked-out kinda way and core humming pleasantly in his chest.

—

Danny could tell someone was following him.

He had gotten pretty good at sensing prying eyes and his hackles were effectively raised, internal warning bells going haywire as he made the walk home from campus.

His last lecture had gotten out later than usual which meant Danny was walking in the dark, the sun setting earlier and earlier already and the dim, gloomy atmosphere of Gotham only enhancing the shadows even as the sun was still setting.

Danny made sure to look all around him, trying to figure out where the eyes were coming from. He debated skipping his normal alleyway shortcuts, seeing as how the last three days he’d had to step in to stop various muggings and drug deals, but he really just wanted to get home.

He toyed with the idea of a ghost being the one who was tracking him, but he knew he would have sensed it if it was. Which left a human or meta, and Danny didn’t like the thought of either.

Maybe it’s just a cute, stray alley cat. He tried to think positively but knew he wasn’t fooling anyone, especially not himself, a known liar.

He sighed and walked through the first alley without any incidents but still felt the eyes pinning him down. His hands were clenched in his hoodie pocket and his feet threatened to leave the ground to just fly him away faster than he could run, but he tamped down the urge. The last thing he needed was attention on him like that.

After making it through the third alley without a confrontation he debated not leading whoever was following him to his apartment, but figured it would be as good a place to kick someone’s ass as any and with a lesser chance of being seen using his powers if needed.

He skipped the elevator and trudged up the three flights of stairs and by the time he got to his apartment door, he knew someone was already inside. He debated turning intangible to see who exactly was waiting, but he didn’t know if they had cameras around and didn’t want to risk it. He took a steadying breath and unlocked his door quickly, flipping on the lights as soon as he got the door open and quickly shutting and locking it behind him.

He blinked at the guy standing in his living room, and then blinked again. “Red Robin?” He asked in shock. Of all the people he expected, one of Batman’s Squad of Vigilantes wasn’t one of them. Which, he really shouldn’t have been that surprised considering his encounter with Red Hood.

“Daniel Fenton,” Red Robin said and Danny flinched at the name.

“Nightingale, actually. I got it changed. And I prefer Danny,” He slowly toed off his sneakers and set his bag on the table. It was only then that he saw Red Hood leaning against his kitchen counter. He sighed resentfully.

“Really? I thought you said you wouldn’t tell your buddies about me,” Danny folded his arms and glared at the masked Vigilante who held up his hands.

“Hey, I don’t kiss and tell.” Danny could swear the guy was smirking under his mask and Red Robin spluttered.

“Kiss? Hood, please tell me you did not kiss a civilian,” he sounded exasperated.

Danny was a little miffed himself. “I don’t think we kissed. I think I would have definitely remembered that happening.”

“Oh trust me, you’ll know when I kiss you,” Red Hood said, voice low and deep, and Red Robin pinched the bridge of his nose as Danny's gut did a little flip.

Huh. He'd have to unpack that later.

“Okay, no more talking about kissing. Ignoring the fact that you somehow already know each other, and yes, Hood, we will be having words about that,” he glared and pointed accusingly at the still-pleased-with-himself vigilante, “I’m here to talk about you, Nightingale. Primarily, why you’re linked to over thirteen mysteriously stopped muggings and drug deals, all of which took place on your routes home from school.”

“Wow, okay, stalker much?” Danny scoffed, crossing his arms and internally panicking. He’d been caught. Somehow. Play it cool, play it cool. “What do you mean, ‘mysteriously stopped'?”

Red Robin sighed, pulling out a folder of something and setting it down beside Danny’s bag, gesturing for him to look through. He did so, flipping through images of what had to be some sort of surveillance videos of what were indeed, very familiar muggers and victims. Danny looked up at Red Robin with an eyebrow raised.

“Aaand,” he drew the word out, “am I supposed to be seeing something here besides some vaguely disturbing crime scene photos? None of these guys are dead, are they? That’d be a kinda fucked up thing to show me, dude.” Not that he was any stranger to death, and he knew for a fact that none of them were dead, but if he was actually a civilian? Yeah, that’d be fucked up.

Red Robin scoffed, “No, none of them are dead. And that’s exactly the point. All of these guys were caught in the act of mugging someone but the person or thing that stopped them never shows up on the cameras. That shouldn’t be possible.”

Danny shrugged for real that time, “And what do I have to do with this? That sounds like a meta with invisibility or something to me and last I checked, I’m definitely not a meta.”

Red Robin pulled out another folder, and Danny was hesitant to flip it open, but forced himself to anyways. He saw pictures of himself walking on the street or down the familiar alleyways. “Holy shit,” he said bluntly, “You really are a fucking stalker. What the hell are you taking pictures of me for?”

Red Robin tapped the top picture of him walking on the street, clearly coming back from school. “Surveillance caught you walking towards the alleyways right around the time of each incident,” Red Robin explained, “You’re seen going in, but never seen coming out on either side, and the muggings all somehow get stopped at the same time.”

Danny’s heart sped up a little bit. Fuck.

“You can see how that looks a little bit suspicious?”

Danny rolled his eyes.

“You don’t think I’ve ever seen something shady happening and gotten the fuck out of dodge? It happens way more often than you think and I try the alleys everyday because it’s so much faster, but sometimes I have to take the long way around instead and leave the crime fighting to creepy assholes like yourself,” Red Hood snorted at that and Red Robin sent him a glare, “If you’re saying that none of you or your little swarm of Bats stopped these guys, maybe you should take that as a sign that you’re not doing your jobs very well and when you find whoever did stop them maybe consider a nice thank you card or a gift basket instead of invading their home and privacy.”

Red Robin sighed in frustration and ignored everything but the first part of Danny’s speech, “See, we’ve checked literally every single angle. We know you couldn’t have left any other way without us seeing you, even with the blind spots! There’s no way for you to not be somehow involved.”

Well, time to do some better bullshitting, then. The mention of blind spots eased some of his worries. It seemed that at least they fortunately hadn’t seen him actively transform, and if Red Hood really hadn’t mentioned what he had seen… Danny sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face as he decided which route he wanted to take with this. Maybe he could clear himself of both instances if he played this right. “You clearly did enough research to figure out my given last name. Did you happen to check out my parents at all?”

Red Robin seemed taken aback by the question. “Drs. Jack and Madeline Fenton. Most of their work and research has been either heavily redacted or taken down completely, but from my understanding they’ve been rather dedicated to the research of the paranormal, correct?” His tone suggested exactly what the thought of that line of research.

Danny shrugged and laughed derisively, “Yeah that’s one way of putting it. I’d just call them rabid ghost hunters and be done with the fancy talk, though.”

Red Robin cocked his head, “Ghost hunters?” He asked, skepticism clear in his voice.

“Yep,” Danny said, popping the P. “Completely obsessed with it since college. Spend their entire lives dedicated to proving the existence of ghosts and planning out experiments they’d do if they ever successfully caught one.” Danny had to take a deep breath and blink away the memories of exactly the type of experiments they had done when they caught him. “I practically grew up in the lab they set up in our basement, surrounded by ghost finders, ghost gloves, ghost vacuums, you name it.”

“Okay,” Red Robin drew out, clearly trying to figure out why Danny was telling them this.

“How much research did you do on Amity Park itself?”

Red Robin shrugged, “Not much, I’ll admit, but nothing of substance stood out to merit further digging.”

Danny scoffed, “You should try again. I think you’ll find it very enlightening if you’re as good as they say. I know they tried their best to bury all the shit with the Guys In White, but they can’t have gotten everything. Try there first.”

“Guys In White?” Red Hood finally chimed in, curious.

Danny shrugged. “Some half-baked government agency. Tried enforcing martial law in Amity for a while, didn’t really stick,” he smirked at the memory, “I think their official agency name was Ghost Investigation Ward or some bullshit, but they dressed in all white and high schoolers are so very creative. I’ll let you figure the rest out, Detective.”

Red Robin was typing furiously on his wrist cuff and Danny assumed it was a list of things to research. “Now, are you guys done with the entering part of the breaking and entering or do you want to steal my leftovers as well, in for a penny and all that?”

“Well, if you’re offering to have me over for dinner,” Red Hood crooned but Red Robin interrupted, rudely. Danny shared a look with Red Hood as his partner paced around Danny’s small living room. Danny noticed the uncomfortable swirling was back in his gut and frowned, trying to pin point when it had started and why.

“Wait, wait, wait! Are you insinuating what I think you are?” Red Robin asked, voice higher than it was a minute ago. Danny turned his attention back to him and shrugged.

“Depends on what you think that is; you know what they say about assuming. But if it’s about getting the fuck out of my apartment, yes, I thought I made that clear enough.”

Red Robin stopped pacing and stared wide-eyed at Danny. “Ghosts. You’re insinuating that there are actual ghosts and that one might be what, lurking around the area, stopping muggings conveniently at the same time you’re walking home from school?”

“I think the correct term is haunt, not lurk,” Danny helpfully corrected.

Red Robin stared at him for a long moment before blinking, “Holy shit you’re serious.”

“Deadly,” Danny joked to himself. Red Hood snorted. Score.

“But! That can’t be it. Ghosts aren’t—“

“What? They aren’t real? The good old JL doesn’t have any files or databases on the subject?” Danny’s voice dripped with venom. He had his opinions on the Justice League and none of them were very flattering.

“They do, but they’re so sparse and the sources are so old they’re hardly credible,” Red Robin resumed pacing, seeming more and more frantic.

“Yeah okay, that sucks for you. Maybe do some more research and get those files updated. Have fun with that.” Danny was done being subtle. He glanced at Red Hood who seemed to catch his vibe.

“Red, time to go.”

Red Robin stopped and stared at them incredulously, “Seriously? Nightingale, I know you have more information. Why not just share it so we can figure out who this person or ghost or whatever is?”

Danny shrugged, “Maybe I don’t kiss and tell either. Maybe this ‘person-ghost-thing’,” he quoted Red’s earlier word when talking about whatever was stopping the muggings, “doesn’t want to be found. I’ve given you plenty to chew on so go have fun and don’t bother me for a while. Maybe learn to knock or call like civilized people while you’re at it.”

“Yep, we’re going. Red, grab your files or lose them,” Red Robin grumbled but reluctantly swiped the photos back into the files and followed Hood to the window they clearly came in through.

Hood made sure Red got all the way out before turning to Danny and giving a two finger salute, “Always a pleasure, Trouble.”

Danny shook his head with a rueful grin, “Likewise, Hood,” and then took a chance, “Does the League keep logs of distress calls?”

Hood’s head cocked to the side but after a moment’s hesitation he nodded, “Yeah. Extensively.”

Danny nodded and then requested, “Look into any calls sent from Amity starting about six years ago. See why no one came to help.”

Hood sucked in a little breath, seemingly surprised, and nodded again. “Will do. I’ll let you know what I find?”

Danny was a bit surprised by the offer, it was more of a concession than he expected from the vigilante with how secure and classified he was sure the League kept their records. His stomach lurched and he swallowed thickly. “Thanks,” and as the vigilante turned to leave he surprised both of them by saying, “Hood?”

The vigilante stopped and turned to him once again. Danny would guess his eyebrow would be raised if he could see it. “The offer for dinner stands if you want it, anytime.”

He didn’t know where the words came from but found himself not regretting them. There was something about the guy that drew Danny in. The swirling intensified.

Danny could have sworn Hood was smiling under his mask when he said, “I’ll make sure to knock, all civilized like.”

Danny laughed as the window shut behind them and he was finally left alone in his apartment.

“Finally! I thought they were going to be here foreverrr,” well, almost alone.

“Hey squirt,” Danny grinned down at the teenager currently hugging him. “How you doing, Ellie? And what took you so long? I told you I was moving weeks ago and you promised to stop by sooner! I had to ask around the GZ to see when the last time anyone saw you semi-alive and well or if I had to track you down in some lab or something.” The words were light, but they both knew they held more serious meaning. After all, ending up in a lab was a genuine concern and possibility for them.

Ellie pulled back and grinned sheepishly, “I know, sorry! I got distracted in Japan and then I lost track of time in the Zone, you know how it is.”

Danny sighed and pulled her back in for a short hug, “Yeah, I know.” Time was a little wonky in the Realms. You had to be careful not to spend too much time or before you know it a week could pass by in the mortal plane. “I’m glad you’re here now, though your timing kind of sucked. How much of all that did you see?”

Ellie snorted, “Oh, all of it. I was here before they decided to break in but I knew you were coming up so I wanted to see what you’d do first when they didn’t start stealing or tearing the place apart. I’m surprised you didn’t sense me.”

Danny shrugged, “I did eventually but I was a bit distracted with them stalking me and all that I didn’t notice at first. I’m not nearly as sensitive to you as I am others unless I’m focusing.”

“Yeah, yeah, shared DNA, yada yada,” she flopped down on his couch and he went to his fridge to pull out a couple containers of leftovers. He was starving. And tired. He paused when he saw a large container with a note on it.

You dropped yours. Forgive me for being rude? — RH

It was from the diner he’d been at before his mugging and first Red Hood encounter. He was oddly touched and chose to ignore the fact that the vigilante had either been observant enough to note the diner’s name on the spilled container or had gone back to check. He was too hungry to care. He pulled another container out for Ellie and grabbed some forks.

He gave the food to Ellie who took it gratefully, not even asking what it was before shoveling it into her mouth. He sat down next to her and she asked him questions while she chewed. He loved the disgusting little gremlin, he reminded himself. A lot. “Soooo,” she drew out, “who were those guys and what was all that about?”

Danny sighed and explained everything that had been going on. She nodded along and by the end she was laughing. “You’re trying to get them to believe that you have a ghost helping you out?”

Danny nodded, “Or that I’m helping Phantom out. Maybe I let him tag along to Gotham to get away from Amity’s ghost hunters,” he shrugged. “I’ll decide depending on what conclusions Red Robin scrounges up I guess.”

“And this Red Hood guy?” She wagged her eyebrows and Danny shoved her over.

“It’s not like that!”

“You invited him for dinner!” She cried, laughter clear in her voice. “And he was obviously flirting with you like every time he spoke! He liiiikes you,” she sang and jumped away as Danny tried to poke her in the side.

“Hey! No he doesn’t! I’m sure he’s like that with everyone!” He tried to defend himself. She stared at him like he was stupid. “What?” He asked defensively.

“You’re joking. Red Hood? The Red Hood? He’s definitely not like that with everybody. I think he’s more prone to murder and shooting first asking questions later, not flirty banter and inviting himself to dinners.”

“Oh yeah?” Danny asked, “And how do you know so much about him? Isn’t this your first time in Gotham?”

Ellie shrugged, “Word spreads around and the internet is very useful.”

Danny had to give that to her. “Fine, but still. I don’t see how he’s serious. Like you said, he’s The Red Hood. Capital ‘The’ and everything.”

“So? You’re The Phantom. Badasses are drawn to each other I guess,” Ellie shrugged all casual like as if the words didn’t make Danny want to cry. His little sister thought he was a badass.

“So how long are you staying?” He deflected, even if it was the answer he was dreading most. Ellie hadn’t stayed anywhere for very long since she escaped from Vlad. Danny and Jazz refused to try and force her to stick around anywhere, letting her have her freedom, but it was hard to let her go sometimes. Okay, every time.

Ellie darted her eyes around and bit her lip. Nervous. Danny braced himself for her to drop the bomb that she was leaving right then, not even staying the night. It wouldn’t be the first time but they always crushed him the most.

“Uh, I was actually hoping to maybe stay with you long-term?” Her voice was small and hopeful and Danny melted.

“Of course, pipsqueak,” he tried not to sound too eager. “You can stay as long as you want.”

She relaxed a little bit but kept fidgeting, “Okay but I’ve been thinking,” she hedged and Danny patted the seat next to him for her to sit down. She did, “I’ve been thinking about school.” She said it in a rush and Danny blinked.

“Okay,” he said easily. It’s not as if he and Jazz hadn’t considered it a possibility before but they hadn’t wanted to try and force her into it.

“Okay?” She asked, eyes large and waiting.

“Okay,” Danny repeated with a smile, “We have all of your documents and we can make either Jazz or I your legal guardian at any time, we were just waiting to see if we’d need to do it. I can get everything ready and we can find somewhere to enroll you in whenever you want.”

She flung her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder, “Thank you.”

He held onto her back just as tightly. “Of course, Ellie. Whatever you need.” He looked around his tiny studio apartment and cringed a little bit. “We might need to go apartment hunting again though, I don’t want you sleeping on the couch forever.”

Ellie shrugged, still not letting go. “I don’t mind,” she said and Danny laughed.

“Sure, but I do. If we’re doing this I want to do it right and give you the best you deserve.”

She pulled back slightly and opted for leaning against him, drawing his arm around her shoulder. He tucked her against his side. “Okay. But you really don’t need to move just for me.”

“Yeah, yeah, let me and Jazz worry about that. We’ll make it all work. I’m just happy to have you around, it was getting kinda lonely here without any other ghosts.”

She smiled and nestled closer, “Yeah, it gets kinda lonely without you or Jazz.”

Danny closed his eyes and willed away the building tears. He wondered how long she’d been feeling like that, but decided not to dwell on it. She was here now, and that’s all that mattered.

𓆩⟡𓆪

Tim frowned, pressed against the bricks outside the window as he waited for Hood, ready to hash out what they had just learned. Danny’s question about the logs made him curious and then his heart had dropped at the insinuation that something bad enough had happened in Amity to warrant the Justice League’s help. Even more concerning that the plea for help had seemingly gone unanswered.

“See why no one came to help.“

He itched to search the logs that very moment, but he focused back on Danny as he stopped Hood again, only this time his words had Tim nearly scoffing in surprise, settling instead on rolling his eyes and wanting to gag. He had been worried about Danny’s involvement in the muggings and possibly being a meta before, but now he was worried for the guy’s sanity. Honestly, inviting Red Hood to dinner, ‘anytime.’

Tim made a mental note to somehow work a discussion about basic safety and stranger danger and maybe not inviting crime lords into your house during their next cafe session.

Tim was absolutely hounding Jason for his apparent already established history with Danny if they were comfortable enough to flirt in front of his face and make plans for a date. (Really, why’d it have to be Jason of all possible vigilantes? What had Tim done to deserve this? Bernard and Con were going to be absolutely insufferable about this. Bart, Jaime, and Cassie were never allowed to know.)

He leveled Hood with a piercing glare as the infuriating vigilante finally swung out of the window, closing it aptly behind him. Before Tim could say anything (primarily: ‘What the fuck?’), Jason had tossed him a mocking salute and grappled away. Tim sighed in frustration and pursued, recognizing immediately that they were not headed to the Cave.

Fine by him, he’d be getting his answers one way or another and if Jason tried to stop him he’d have to face the disappointment of losing because Tim was not in the mood to beat around the bush and play their regular game of cat and mouse (and if Jason ever found out that he viewed him as the mouse Tim would probably be shot somewhere sensitive).

He followed Jason through the city and was a little surprised that they were headed to what Tim knew as his main apartment and not one of his many safe houses that he normally preferred to have any vigilante business talks (not that they had very many anyway, with how much of a point Jason made of not wanting to work with them).

He steeled himself for an aggravating conversation and a sleepless few nights ahead of him and swung through the window that Hood had even had the decency to leave open behind him.

𓆩⟡𓆪

Jason had no intention of following Tim to the Cave but he made no attempt to stop Tim from following him back to his apartment. He knew the conversation was inevitable so may as well bite the bullet and get it over with now and not have to deal with passive aggressive or heaven fucking forbid whiny Tim. Jason shuddered at the thought. No, much better to get it over with then, while it was still fresh.

He crawled through his own window, not wanting to walk through the halls in his suit (not that anyone would be surprised in this particular residence, but still, principles and all that). He almost entertained the idea of slamming the window shut and making Tim work to get himself in but figured the bastard might be in the mood to just break the window to speed things up. Tim was truly no fun like this.

“What the fuck‽” Tim immediately rounded on Jason when the window was firmly closed and the curtains drawn. “You didn’t think to tell me you knew my suspect? Is that why you came along?” It was exactly why Jason went with Tim when he heard about the investigation he and Oracle were doing. It wasn’t his fault Tim didn’t ask better questions before letting him tag along.

Jason shrugged, “Oh, I definitely thought to tell you. But then I thought ‘eh, better not’. Much more fun that way.”

“How do you know him?” Suspicious bastard. “And why didn’t he want you to tell your ‘buddies’ about him?” Jason matched Tim’s disdain for the descriptor, wrinkling his nose before sighing and discarding his helmet and settling in at the island bar.

“I saw him getting mugged,” Jason shrugged. Tim narrowed his eyes.

“And?” He prompted when Jason made no attempt to continue.

“And he took the fucker three times his size down with one well placed hit so I accused him of being a meta, which he didn’t take very well,” he omitted the part about the intangibility or phasing or whatever he'd seen, or thought he'd seen, and he wasn't entirely sure why. Maybe he wanted to protect Danny from the full Bat Battalion if the guy did end up having some extra skill sets that B would see as a potential threat. (Maybe Danny's accusations from their first meeting still stung and he wasn't eager to piss off the possible meta anymore than he already had by spreading the information and therefore breaching his privacy even more.) If Tim was as good of a detective as they all claimed, he'd find out soon enough anyway. No need for Jason to be a snitch about it. He wasn't a fucking cop, after all.

Tim’s eyes widened a bit, clearly surprised at that piece of information but Jason continued before he could interrupt with more useless questions. “Look, I barely had a conversation with the guy,” which, was true. “I recognized him when Babs had his info pulled up and wanted to know what it was all about. Now, what do you have on him?”

Tim looked like he wanted to keep fighting but he deflated and leaned against the wall, “Just— don’t play around with him, Jay.”

Oh, Little Timmy was serious about this. Jason narrowed his eyes. “Why?” Not that he was planning on ‘playing’ with Danny, but he wanted to know why Tim of all people was invested. After all, Danny was his suspect.

Tim sighed dejectedly, as if he was suddenly bone tired. “He’s friends with Berny. They met at orientation and they share some classes. I talked with him for like two hours the other day and he’s —“ Tim ran a hand through his hair, “fuck, he’s nice. He’s funny, he talks about his friends like they’re his whole world and is smart enough to have the best full ride we offer and is taking advanced classes as a freshman. I just — I’m really hoping he’s not actually tied up in something messy that B is gonna have to get involved with and possibly ruin an actual, normal, friendship for Berny. I just don’t know.”

The admission caught Jason a bit off guard. For Tim to admit that he 'didn't know' something was rare and a clear indication that this situation was more serious than Jason had originally anticipated. Mixing personal life and business — how fun. But Jason stared at his replacement brother in a bit of concern. Tim was really, really invested in this kid. And Jason found himself right there with him. Something about Danny just drew him in and kept him there, and with all the new information he was only more intrigued. He sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face.

“Replacement,” Tim scowled at the name but they both knew it didn’t hold the same weight it used to. They had come a long way since Jason had first come back and while there was still the shadow of tension looming over them nearly all the time, they were steadily making progress. That didn’t mean Jason wanted to stop being an asshole (just maybe not a murderous asshole). “I’m not going to fuck around with him. I’ll help ya out, figure out what’s going on with him and try to keep him out of trouble and off of B’s radar for as long as possible.”

Tim looked at him with a bit of hope and bit like he expected Jason to jump out and say ‘Psych! Gotcha!’. It shouldn’t bother Jason as much as it did. “Really?” Tim asked and then immediately seemed to regret it. But Jason just nodded, dead serious (ha).

“Really.”

Tim finally let himself show a ghost of a smile. (Ha. Ghost. Imagine that, ghosts being real all this time. Right under their noses. The Justice League would pitch a fit if it ended up being true, Jason could imagine it now.)

“Okay, then,” he pulled out his files once again and set them in front of Jason to peruse. “I ran a basic background check on him before I knew he was tied up in the muggings case, y’know, since he was hanging out with Bernard so much.”

Jason nodded. They were all paranoid as shit, thanks to both their very public lives and their side work and all knew to run background checks on anyone they’d be spending any amount of time with.

“I clearly need to do more digging and find out more about these ‘Guys in White’ but nothing substantial came up on my first search to raise any red flags besides the name change and his parents' strange research,” Tim sounded troubled and Jason agreed. From the concerns that Danny had brought up with the call logs and his hints at researching the town more, there was clearly something Tim had missed, which raised alarm bells in itself. Tim rarely missed something, especially something as big as Danny insinuated, which either meant things were purposefully buried (concerning) or Tim had been blinded by his personal connection to Danny (unlikely). “Which I clearly need to find the complete versions of. I want to know what exactly has been redacted and why.”

Jason nodded, flipping through the printed research that was indeed heavily blacked out. It all sounded like cooky bullshit to him, but he found himself believing Danny when he said that there was truth behind it and he knew Tim would find out exactly what was hiding in the reports.

“Start with the call logs?” It had been disturbing Jason since Danny had asked about it and he knew Tim had heard the whole thing from outside the window. They shared a serious look about it now.

'See why no one came to help.’ What the fuck happened in Amity?

“Yeah, I’m starting there and looking deeper into Amity as a whole while I’m at it now that I know not to disregard any mention of ghosts as like, a tourist ploy or nut jobs,” Tim confirmed and Jason nodded.

“Keep me updated?”

“Yeah, and if you decide to do any digging yourself we can compare notes.”

“Sure thing, Timberina,” Jason said with a smirk, reveling in the way Tim rolled his eyes.

“Still fucking terrible, you know,” he grouched.

Jason gave him a shit-eating grin, “Oh, I know. Now get the fuck out of here, don’t you have investigating to do or boyfriends to smooch?”

Tim flipped him off before making a swift exit, even closing the window behind him. Maybe there was hope for them yet.

‘The offer for dinner stands if you want it, anytime.’

And there was what he really wanted to think about. Because. Holy fuck. Danny had invited him to have dinner with him. Anytime. He hadn’t even seen his apology leftover note and had already been willing to give Red Hood another chance.

Jesus Christ, what was he, a thirteen year old girl? His heart did not need to be skipping a beat at the thought, thank you very fucking much.

He didn’t even know he could trust the guy yet. Especially with all the information Tim had supplied — Jason had a sneaking suspicion Danny was way more involved in everything then he had let on despite his insistence and deflections. Now with the whole added ghost aspect…

Jason wasn’t the type to trust or take people at their word alone. He was the type to shoot first and contingency plan around possible lies and deception. And yet… Danny was somehow slipping past all of Jason’s defenses and he somehow found himself wanting to trust the man despite it all.

Danny was a mystery wrapped up in an enigma and Jason couldn’t wait to figure him out. He just hoped no one would get burned in the process.

#vee’s writing #vee’s wips #vee’s dpxdc fics #jisvis #jisvis ch.2 #dpxdc #dead on main #dpxdc fic #dead on main fic

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