#i always forget how GOOD the comics are till i start reading them again

[thorarms]

U know, the more thor comics i read the more i feel utterly robbed by the mcu

#im on mighty thor 599 and its tearing me to shreds #i always forget how GOOD the comics are till i start reading them again #anyways fuck the mcu for making classic loki a sad clown #mcu critical #thor #loki

[dodo-begone]

Could you Not?

Pairing: Techno x Reader

Request: yooo remember a while ago when we were talking abt Techno hiding you from the yandere boys?? that would be hella neat to see ngl —

Word count: 1.9k

Warning: yandere, stockholm syndrome, kidnapping, panic attack at end

A/n: yan!minors are mentioned, that’s why there’s a yandere warning.

The day was predestined to be great; a day full of sunshine and peace. So many potatoes would be tilled, the dog army would grow exponentially and other calming hobbies.

Now let’s be honest, that isn’t the reality of things at all. Nothing is ever nice and simple. Life always needs to throw a curveball at people; keeping them on their feet, on edge for their entire existence. Techno was no exception from this rule. His life had been plagued by tragedy and hardships. It made him calloused and desensitized towards the world and whatever challenges it had to throw at him. Though nothing could have really prepared him for what came next. Well he actually did, in a way. Similar in reasoning yet very different in the reaction and how the problem was presented to him.

Puffy stood at his door, struggling to hold someone the size of her. They were thrashing around, screeching to be released from their confines. She looked exhausted and beyond worried. There were few words to describe her state. Sadness painted her face like clouds painted the sky; it was evident with every feature of her face, every movement of her brow and reddening eyes. Pants escaped her lips and the struggling wasn’t helping her catch the escaping breaths.

The person Puffy was holding wasn’t any better. They looked malnourished, dirty, panicked, stressed. Those were just the obvious and quick observations. There were probably so many other hidden issues with this person. Honestly, Techno didn’t want to deal with them or Puffy. He was absolutely done dealing with people.

He’d have to get over it though, as Puffy asked him to care for this mystery person. She pleaded so much, saying that if they couldn’t stay with him, they’d be in terrible danger. Techno was her only option in protecting this person. There were some horrible people looking for the person in her arms and she couldn’t protect them on her own. Honestly he was only half listening. He really didn’t want to hear about another person’s sob story and how they so desperately needed his help. How they just couldn’t make it without his help. Occasionally Techno nodded or gave a “mhm” to indicate he was listening. Because that’s the polite thing to do, even if you aren’t listening. It shows you are listening and seems polite. Though he should’ve paid a bit more attention because the next thing he knew a fucking child was getting shoved into his arms.

They were so tiny that they could qualify as a child. So frail, too skinny, hair matted and looked too pale for their natural complexion. Horrified couldn’t even describe how he felt; he did not want to be holding this person, they looked so fragile and could be hurt so easily. Plus they were screaming and crying, still fighting to get out your captor’s grip, which was currently him. Distressed and crying people weren’t the most pleasant to be around especially when you’re a seven foot tall, socially awkward piglin hybrid.

Techno tried to return them to Puffy’s possession. She refused, pushing them further into his hold. She kept insisting that he let them stay with him, at least for a little bit. There was little time to prepare a place for them to stay and they needed the constant protection and some care. Techno kept arguing with Puffy, saying that he really didn’t want, need or have the time to care for them.

It wasn’t long when Puffy finally ended the argument with one phrase; “you still owe me an IOU.”

_______________________________________________

“So is this it,” Techno reluctantly asked, gently bouncing the slumbering stranger. It was and wasn’t surprising how worn out they ended up after the argument. Half-way through the arguing and accommodations, they finally calmed and soon fell asleep. Though they were violently shivering; this conversation couldn’t keep going like this. They both looked at them and looked back at each other.

“Yes. Please,” Puffy whispered, gently putting her hand onto their arm. “Please take care of them for now. You don’t have to care for them long. I just-i just need some time to set them up a place and some help. There were few options to go with and you were the best one.”

Silence settled over them once again. Techno sighed, building his resolve to care for another kid. “Fine, I’ll do it.”

Puffy awarded Techno with one of the most relieved smiles he had ever encountered. She was visibly relaxed, not holding herself up like a puppet who’s tense strings were being tugged. “Now get going Puffy,” Techno ushered. “I can take it from here.”

With that, Puffy started her trek back home, through the unforgiving tundra. As Techno watched her walk away, he wondered how she managed it. How she could carry someone the size of herself for god-knows how long.

He couldn’t ponder long. The person in his arms was still out in the harsh cold and definitely not dressed or prepared for weather like this. A very vulnerable position. With that, he opened the door with his foot and brought the two of you inside.

There weren’t many places to lay someone down. The floor was an option, but it was probably super cold. Techno wasn’t too sure, but he also didn’t want to risk it at the moment. Scanning around reveals a small issue; Techno’s reading chair is the only place to sit that isn’t the damn floor. Crackling fire brought his attention to the welcoming presence of the hearth. So either the floor with the fireplace or the chair which was a decent distance from the fireplace. Was it really a question at that point?

Walking over to the fireplace, Techno tried to disturb the person as little as possible. He started to slowly place them onto the ground. They wouldn’t really notice if they were as exhausted as they looked. When they touched the ground, they stirred and groaned at the change in temperature. Swiftly Techno place them on the floor and held his hands up; a way of saying “okay i’m not touching it so it shouldn’t break now- don’t break”. After a few moments of stillness, Techno deemed himself to be in the “all clear”. With that, he walked off to a different part of the house. He had to start setting up a room for his new guest. And get them food and proper clothing-

A ruckus from the living quarters disturbed him. Oh god what was going on now? Without much thought, he ran to the noise. When he arrived, he frantically looked around. He was looking for anything, but more specifically a danger. But it was much the opposite.

There, at his front door, trying to get out like their life depended on it, was that stranger. Well, it wasn’t a stranger. He couldn’t keep forgetting that. It was ______. Though it was hard to do that; they looked so different. Panic seemed to just possess them; their eyes were wide and bloodshot and their face was even paler than he remembered them in their pale state. Which was an odd statement but it was oddly true. He hadn’t thought that you could get any paler, yet here you are proving him wrong.

You two were in a stare off- trying to figure out what to do. It would be somewhat hilarious if the situation wasn’t so serious; a person trying desperately to get out of someone’s house in some of the most comical positions while a seven foot piglin just awkwardly stared from the other side of the room. The semi-trance was broken by you. Tears started to fall down your face, body started to violently shake, and then you started to try and destroy the door with your body.

Techno was holding you in a heartbeat. Once again, you were dangling and struggling to get out of his grasp. Last time it wasn’t his grasp you were trying to escape, but it was all the same in the end. Your crying soon reverted back to sobbing and screams. Flinching, Techno contemplated just dropping you. Yet he couldn’t; you were trying to escape and that wasn’t a good idea.

Carrying you around the house was a challenge; you were swinging what little weight you could and it was working. He barely got to the other end of the room before he got fed up with your little tantrum. Without a second thought, he just dropped you like a bag of potatoes. The moment you hit the ground, you scrambled to get as far away as possible. That leads you to a corner. You kept an eye of him yet curled up so much. He couldn’t tell if it was because you were cold or scared.

“Please let me go back.”

That catches Techno off guard. It was obviously you voice; he wasn’t talking and you were the only other thing that could talk here. Yet it didn’t sound like you. Your voice was now so gravely, scratchy and heavy. Like you hadn’t properly talked in a while. Though your crying definitely wasn’t helping. Even taking that into consideration, you sound way worse than someone who is just crying and occasionally screaming.

“Excuse me,” he mumbles, staring at you. Waiting for you to answer or proof that he was actually imagining stuff. It could’ve easily been a voice though-

“I said please let me go back,” you sniffled, turning to look at him more. Your eyes held such sadness, besides the tears. The yearning in them hurt. It was obvious you were missing something.

“Go back where,” Techno prodded. He tried his best to make it gentle so you wouldn’t close up again. So he slowly sat on the ground with you, scooting towards you as a pace you could easily stop.

“Back to my friends, obviously,” you stated, keeping a steady and guarded eye on Techno. “I want to go back home. Back to Tommy and Tubbo and Ranboo an-and Purpled.” Suddenly you started to cry much harder. So hard it was practically impossible to speak. Only hiccups and gasps left your lips.

“Let me go, I won’t bother you again.” You kept repeating that phrase. Even rephrasing it, but it was muffled. Well not muffled, but extremely hard to hear through your crying. Techno let you keep saying that in hopes you tire of it, yet it seemed to have the opposite effect. You only started to say it more clearly, louder, and more assertively. It was obvious you were bound and determined to go back to wherever the hell you were before.

“Hey kid,” Techno does his best to stop your babbling. The pleads had just digressed to nonsense, so it was more accurate to call that mess babbling. “I can’t do that.”

His answer wasn’t well received. It only made you sadder and madder; you even deployed the puppy dog eyes. You really wanted this.

“It’s not safe with them,” he reiterated. “You look sickly too. Did you not care for yourself with them?”

Silence consumed you; maybe now you were finally thinking more clearly.

A meek “no” left your lips. Realization seemed to hit you, at least somewhat. It was a step forward, and Techno was taking it wholeheartedly. Anything was progress and he just wanted this over. Some of the voices whispered that they wanted you to get better, but he ignored them.

“Then it’s settled. You’re staying here.”

#tw: yandere #tw: stockholm syndrome #c: techno #techno x reader #technoblade x reader #dsmp!techno #mcyt x reader #mcyt shipping #dsmp shipping #dodo writing #tw: kidnapping #c: puffy #tw: panic attack #dsmp x reader

[ycnderes]

dreams swallowed by pride

A Dabi/gender-neutral!reader commission! They asked for slice of life, Dabi makes himself a part of your life in such a charming way you ignore all warning signs! It's safe for work with no warnings!

[recc'd songs: In This World by Moby & Broken by 12 Stones]

The sun won't be up for another hour or two, but the street lights are bright enough to guide you. Your legs ache. You missed the bus by just a few minutes, and now instead of getting a ride home, you're walking. You try to ignore it, but each step grinds against your feet. Your feet ache, your legs ache, your body aches. And you've got a headache. You try to ignore it and instead they cycle through your head again. Next time you'll be quicker, this isn't happening again, you swear to yourself.

It's only another few minutes, though it feels like an eternity till you finally arrive home. You make it up the steps and you've got your keys in your hand when you pause. It's already open. There's a gap between the door frame and the door. Not big enough for anyone on the street to notice, but... You try to think as you stand there. Did you leave it open? Did you really forget to shut and lock it? No, there's no way you did, you're always careful about that.

You hesitate. Maybe you should contact someone, just in case of a break-in, in case they're still inside. But what if they're already gone? The process of calling and waiting and then the paperwork, your head pounds at the thought. There's not even anything to show someone broke in, maybe you really did just leave it open. You reach for the handle and push open the door a little. You peek in. It looks fine. Nothing taken, no mess, no break-in signs. You close the door behind you, nothing to worry about then.

Reaching down to pull off your shoes, you see a light coming from down the hall. It's faint, just a sliver, probably from the bathroom. A shock of adrenaline courses and you straighten. Now, inside your silent home, without the noises from outside, you can hear labored breathing. Fear twists in your gut, a pained muffled yell bounces out and you breathe shakily.

The bathroom door is mostly open and a man is sitting in your bathtub, stitching up a wound on his calf. Your first aid kit sits on the toilet seat lid, some of the contents are bloodied and strewn about. He's heavily scarred, even with half his body in the tub, it'd be hard not to notice. He looks... rough. Even beyond the scarring. The injury on his leg is the worst of them, blood seeps between the black thread, and is spilling from the bit not yet closed. Blood is also dripping down his face, a cut maybe in his hairline. Scrapes and bruises and scars paint the rest of his skin.

You must make a sound, you don't mean to, but his head shoots up. His eyes widen almost comically. "..." You open your mouth, but you can't even think of what to start with. Are you okay? Who are you? Are you going to hurt me? What the hell happened? They flash across the tip of your tongue but nothing comes out.

"Sorry," he says, breaking the silence. He sounds, for some reason, seriously apologetic. "I didn't know you'd be back so soon."

You start a little. Right, usually on Tuesdays you clocked out at five AM, but your boss had changed your schedule for the first time in months and now you were clocking out at four. How did he know that? "This is my home," is what comes out of your mouth. "You broke in."

He doesn't move from his spot as you step back. "Maybe you should check your doors better before you leave." He says casually, finally looking away and back to his leg. "I wouldn't have come in if you weren't waiting with open doors."

It sounds like a joke, but you don't know what that could mean. "I always lock it." You say, but maybe you didn't, you try to remember.

"That's pretty dangerous, y'know? Good thing it's just me who found it."

It's not a good thing at all, but his voice hitches as he tries to finish stitching and you can't just let him like this. "Here," you raise your hands a little as you come into the room and start to wash your hands. "Let me help. Have you even sanitized the needle? Or the injury?"

"I burned the needle, that gets rid of the germs, right?"

You huff and grab your first aid kit. "You have to clean the injury too." You kneel by the tub, peroxide in hand. Your knees immediately start to protest, but the sooner you can help him, the more inclined he'll be to just leave.

He grins and offers you the needle with a shaky hand. "Next time," he says it like a promise. "I'll clean it then."

There won't be a next time is what you want to say, but you sigh. Metal and charcoal scents mix horribly with the open peroxide, and you can feel your headache growing. "Alright, stranger, I'm gonna hold you to that."

"Dabi," His stare is intense, boring into you suddenly. "You can call me Dabi."

"Okay. Dabi, I'm sorry, this is going to hurt."

---

You hum along with the radio as you wash the last few dishes in the sink. The sun is sinking slowly in the sky, but it's your day off so you don't have to worry about getting ready or work or anything, just a nice night to yourself. No sooner has the thought of finally picking up that book you bought ages ago entered your head when arms wrap around your middle, squeezing you tight against a muscular chest.

Maybe you should feel worse about this, about Dabi basically breaking into your house whenever he wanted. Like every time before, you hadn't heard him come in. You haven't even given him a key. But these are dangerous thoughts, and just like when you see his name on the news, you turn them off.

Dabi rests his chin on top of your head, you pointedly don’t think about how you can never tell if you’re alone or not in your home. He can't read minds, that's not his quirk, but somehow he's so fast to pick up on your moods and you don't want your doubt to show. His hands slide up and down your waist. "How's my baby doing?" He asks, voice raspy.

You huff a laugh, smile, and nudge his hands with your elbows, your own too soapy to touch him with. "I'm fine, I'm almost done, go sit down and lemme finish!"

His hands run up your shoulders and give you another squeeze before he lets go. "Alright, alright." You can hear him behind you, settling down on your couch. "Hurry up, I'm dying over here."

 Dying, you could laugh. As if skin-to-skin contact with you was that important. "Do you want some coffee?"

"Sure."

Finishing the last dish, you dry your hands before grabbing the coffee pot. You start to fill it with fresh water and you can hear the couch springs squeaking in protest as Dabi gets up. You glance behind you, as he slouches against the doorway into the kitchen. "It's gonna be a few minutes," you smile at him. "Sorry for the wait."

He shrugs nonchalantly but doesn't move until you've started the machine, waiting till you turn around to finally sit back down. His legs spread over the couch, he likes it best when you sit in his lap, with your back against his front. Something about being so close to you... You don't know what it is exactly. He doesn't like talking about anything too close to emotional, prefers actions over any words.

And it's easier to just go along with it so you sit down with him and let him grab you and hold you close. It's like he's been holding his breath and suddenly you can feel him release it, tension dripping out like water. "How's it been?"

You try to think of when you last saw him, what all has happened since then. The truth is not much. It's a quiet life for the most part. "It's been good," you say. You go through the days, summarizing them up easily, and everything is fine till you mention your co-worker a second time.

"Y'know, I'm getting a little tired of hearing about this guy."

You shut your mouth, unsure of what to say. "We work together, I don't know what I can do about that." You try to joke before pushing yourself out of his arms.

"Wait, wait, don't leave," his voice is almost testy as he grabs your wrist.

You gesture to the kitchen. "The coffee's ready, I'll be right back." 

A moment passes before he lets go of you. "I could do something," he says as you walk away.

"Do something about what?" You grab a mug down from the shelf.

"About your co-worker, if he's bothering you."

Fear pricks at the back of your neck but you refuse to let it control you. "Dabi, I promise, he's not bothering me. I'm sure you're friends with your..." The images you've seen of the league flash in your mind's eye. "Your co-workers. You know how it is." He's quiet as you fix his drink. "Here you go," you cross over and hand him the coffee. "Just how you like it."

He takes the mug gently, rough fingers drag over yours. "You know me, I'm a problem fixer." He grins but there’s something dark in his eyes. "I wanna fix your problems, baby."

You can't let him know how much that bothers you or he might blame it on your co-worker. "I'm fine," you say with a smile. "No problems here.

Anyway, I think that's about all for me. What about you? Anything new in your world?"

The look on Dabi's face lets you know he knows you're trying to change the subject. But you do ask about him every time you see him, even though he never seems to want to talk about himself. He takes a sip as you slide back into your spot. Information has to be dragged out of him, but he's been trying lately to be more open. You can feel it, the way he tenses when he says something too close to his heart, like he's waiting for you to take those words and hurt him.

The couch is so old the cushions don't hold up like they used to, and the middle dips, so before long you have to squirm your way back against him. He sets the mug on your coffee table and wraps his arms around you again. "Yeah," he starts. "It's been. Good. Yeah, since I last saw you. No new injuries or nothin'."

"Your boss taking it easy on you?"

"Nah, I'm just being more careful," you giggle as he rubs his cheek against yours. "Need to make sure I come home safe and sound."

You know he's going to tease you about it, but your eyes start to water and you sniff and shake your head. He thought of your home as his home? It might as well be, whenever he's not doing league business, he's here with you. And you had hoped that he would think of you and your home like a well. Someplace to be replenished, where he could rest and be restored. Cold refreshing water to a dry throat.

Like he can feel your mood, he turns your head towards him, searches your face for something. Whatever he sees pleases him and he kisses you. It could've turned into more, but he laughs suddenly and ruins the moment. "What're you crying for, baby?" He wipes at your cheek, grinning. "You don't like me calling this place home?"

"No, no, that's not it." You shake your head and sigh, turning back around and laying your head against his chest. "I want you to feel like this is your home. I'm happy you're happy."

He pets your head. "Of course I'm happy. As long as you're with me, I'll be happy."

---

Rain is pouring down hard as you make it to your front door. Your hands scramble in your purse for your keys, it feels like an impossible task at the very edge of home. Your umbrella hasn't been enough for this type of rain and you're soaked. Finally, you turn the key and run inside, slamming the door behind you. Sighing, you nearly fall back against the door. You're exhausted, soaked to the bone, you shiver in the warm air. You peel off your shoes, then your jacket, and you try to ignore how quiet your house is.

Dabi hasn't been by in nearly a month, and you're not sure if that's a bad thing. You know he misses you, every couple of days you get a text, or even sometimes a call from an unknown number. His voice fills your ear as he tells you how much he wants to be there with you. You understood, without him telling you, that it had to do with his work. And you were fine with that. You could wait. Still, when you got home from work you would walk through the house, not calling for him, but looking, hoping, that he was there. He never was.

You would've kept waiting too if it hadn't been for a newscast you saw just a few days ago. The league had... it was always in the back of your mind that they were villains, that to be called the league of villains they must do villainous things, it just... didn't seem real. The way Dabi treated you, the way he talked about everyone in his group... You felt stupid as you watched the destruction, the innocent bystanders who got hurt for being too close. You should've known better, you shouldn't have made excuses. You scowl as water drips from your hair and onto the floor. You leave your wet stuff by the door, you'll deal with it later.

After a quick shower, you get changed. You glance up at your reflection, pausing for a moment. You look tired, more than a physical tired, you look weighed down. You frown and look away. It's just a bad night, maybe tomorrow you'll feel better.

You open the door and shriek. Immediately Dabi covers your mouth with a hand. "Fuck, that hurts my feelings." He laughs and lets you go.

You stare. He almost looks as bad as when you first met him. Blood and dirt, but he doesn't look hurt. What happened? Your throat feels like it's closing up. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't I come here?" His eyes narrow and his smile drops.

He's blocking the doorway, there's nowhere to go from here. It feels like you're seeing him, really seeing him, for the first time. Months ago you weren't scared of him. What was there to be scared of when he so obviously cared for you? When he would never hurt you? But that was then. Now, something is twisting in your gut and your instincts are telling you to run. How could you have been so wrong about him? "I saw what you did, on the news. They've been replaying the footage for days. Dabi, if they find you here they'll think I helped, that I'm complicit, Dabi, why are you here?"

His face falls, something depressingly heart-broken before it shutters up and there's nothing there. "This is my home," he says. "You said it was my home. Of course I'm fucking here."

"... You’re right, I’m sorry," your mind feels like it's struggling in mud for a second. "Are you hurt?"

You reach towards him, cradling his cheek, and he leans into your touch. "No, I'm fine. Listen, I'm still stuck, did you really think I wouldn't be back?"

You did think he'd come back, you just didn't want him to. "No, I knew you'd be back. It's just... been so long."

"I texted and called as much as I could."

"I know, I appreciated it, thank you."

"... I'm not going to bring anyone straight to our door. Nobody's gonna find us. Even if they did, I'd kill them before they took you from me."

He's serious, and it makes you sick, the thought of him killing anyone for you. "Please don't say that, you don't ever have to do that."

"What, you want me to lie to you?" He laughs dryly, before walking away towards the living room.

Warnings flash in the back of your head, but you follow him anyway. "I'm not saying lie to me, I-I just don't think you should say things like that."

He drops onto the couch. "All this time I missed you, I kept thinking how much you must miss me too. Y'know, I just had to get through the day. One foot in front of the other and sooner or later I'd be here: Home. Now I'm here, and I don’t really feel welcome.”

"No, that's not it!" You make yourself sit next to him and reach for his hands. "I missed you so much, I'm so happy you're back!" He doesn't look at you even as you thread your fingers together. "I'm sorry, I was just so worried. It doesn't even feel real that you're back! I think," you stammer for a moment, trying to think of something, anything. "I just don't want you to get..." Caught? Arrested? Killed? "Caught. Please, forgive me, I'm sorry I upset you."

Finally, Dabi turns his head. "It’s fine, doll. Y’know, I’ve always wanted a nice little life. Something small, cozy, lots of love.”

“Oh, really?”

“I want that life with you. Since I first saw you, it’s only been you. You’re everything to me. Don't forget that."

A chill goes up your spine as he pins you with a look. "I-I won't."

A smile spreads across his face and he finally relaxes onto the couch. He pulls you into his lap and pushes your head down so it's resting on his chest. "You know you're mine, right?" He murmurs into your ear. "Nothing's going to take you away from me. Say it."

How did it get this bad? How did you not notice? "I'm yours," you whisper.

#commission #sfw #gnr #bnha #dabi #request #lmk if the read more doesn't work on mobile :/

[popculturebuffet]

Carl Barks: Back to the Klondike Review: Blinkus of the Thinkus

Welcome one and all! If your a longtime reader of this blog, you know I love a good birthday celebration, having started with my first year reviewing animation last year with Donald’s and deciding to do Mickey and Scrooge’s later that year. But since I misseda  LOT of disney birthdays, and found several Non-disney birthdays and anniversaries I just gotta celebrate, this year i’m making it up and style and have a whole calender set up to tack these big milestones to the wall. So over the year expect tributes to the greats of disney, looney tunes, and mgm both behind and in front of the scenes, as well as to various shows I like. It’s gonna be a good time. 

So to start us off, it’s only fitting my first duck birthday since Scrooge, is for the love of his life and the stealer of his wallet, Glittering Goldie O Gilt! And I felt the best way to celebrate this storied day was to go back to her very FIRST apperance, one of earliest Scrooge headlined comics and a forever fan faviorite, Back to the Klondike!

But before we get into that, a little history on our gal in gold. Goldie was created for this story by comics god, the late great Carl Barks. Barks ended up just using her once, which is a shame but understandable as he probably only thought of her for that one adventure. While some characters like Gyro ended up being used again and again he probably just didn’t have any more stories in mind for her and figured Scrooge would return to her one day or he wouldn’t, but it wasn’t up to him.  Fans however loved the character, her feisty dynamic with scrooge, and the fact she brought out his good side, so naturally other writers would bring her back. In paticular Barks Superfan Don Rosa cemented her as the love of his life and wrote several more stories with her, fleshing out their backstory and saying that at least in his personal canon, Scrooge retired to spend his final years with her. And while his fanboy was clearly showing, and that can end nasitly just ask Dan “Hates Wally West because he’s not barry allen” DiDio, glad he’s gone.. Rosa’s work with goldie is an example of what happens when it’s done right. Less DiDio or Bendis and more Al Ewing. Using the continuity and what’s there to build on a character who deserved better.. to me that’s one of the BEST things you can do in comics and Rosa’s work is proof of that, ironing out the.. questionable elements we’ll get to and leaving the gold in.  So Rosa’s work combined with Ducktales not only adapting this story but bringing Goldie back a few times after that has elevated the character to a storied and permenat part of the duck canon, with her excellent heavily revamped Reboot counterpart currently carrying the torch with the help of the wonderful Allison Janey, perfect casting there. So with a legacy of gold behind her, let’s take a look at where it’s started and see if it still glitters after all these years under the cut. 

We begin our story at the Money Bin. Scrooge has been counting his money.. but has already forgotten, and forgot where he put the slip he wrote the number on and even forgets who Donald is when he shows up until Donald, while having some fun with him as Scrooge is trying to phone him while he’s right there. As for how he got into the most secure place in the bin.. the story actually answers that both worringly and hilariously: Scrooge left the door unlocked.  Naturally he’s not happy about this and Donald states the simple solution: Go see a doctor something’s CLEARLY very wrong, and the fact this could possibly be something like Demntia is VERY bad for someone who runs a zillion dollar company. Scrooge of course scoffs at “wasting his precious money” But Donald not only points out the obvious, that two bucks now saves him from having someone rob EVERYTHING, but Scrooge’s attempt to tie a string around his finger.. instead triggers a trap. And this entire sequence is decent with some good gags.. it’s just hampered a bit by making light of something that’s kinda bad. Not old people forgetting things.. but an old person with a disease as we find out forgetting things. Not helping is I laughed at first at the gags.. till I remembered a kind, old, friend of the family who had it and forgot me entirely by the end. So yeah, not the worst gags and the boxing glove and donald bits aren’t terrible, but it hurts now my brain’s made that connection. 

Our heroes head to the doctor’s office where Scrooge is diagnosed with... 

That.. might be the best name for a fictional illness i’ve ever heard in my life.. just inching out “Brain Cloud” and “Whale Cancer”. Still not the most SENSITIVE gag.. but it was the 50′s and mental issues weren’t given a lot of respect. IT’s why the above sequence and this whole part of the plot dosen’t scuttle things: It’s not the most repsectful.. but it wasn’t a time where these things were givne proper respect, treatment or knowledge, so barks wasn’t being an insentive douche on purpose, he just didn’t know. It dosen’t make it 100% okay btu it dosen’t wreck the story like say his blatant racist caractures in Voodoo Hoodoo. Seriously that’s.. not okay, and given he’s the kind of guy who researched locations he used, unlike with mental illness i expect BETTER of him than most men at the time. Still respect the guy, but it dosen’t mean i’ll overlook the fact he made some pretty bad mistakes. Same way while I love and miss Stan Lee I won’t ignore his blatant sexisim or racisim towards Chinese and Vitamise people. You CAN like a creator even if their work has some questionable and unjustifable elements, times do change and people do mamke mistakes when their young. It just depends on exactly WHAT they did or wrote that makes that distinctoin.  So on that bombshell, Scrooge is given medication after a needle gag. He needs to take his pills every 12 hours. It’s then he starts to remember something, mubling abotu skagway, goldie and dawson and telling Donald to get the boys, their going to Alaska! Once they get on the boat Scrooge explains: he remembered thanks to the medcince he left a stash of gold nuggets there from his prospecting days.. and part of why this story ended up being one of the single most important to Scrooge’s character. While it establishes some character traits, something I dind’t realize till wikipedia pointed it out, it also establishes Scrooge’s days as a prospector. While other things made him what he was and got him to that point as Don Rosa would later flesh out, it was his days in the yukon that, for better or worse defined who he is now and shaped him into the man he is today: Tough, fair, badass as all hell, mean as the devil and richer than god.  This time would be used a lot to set up stories, which made sense as it was the cleast and most agreed upon part of his past by all writers, and him at his abosltuely peak physically and mentally and the gold rush motif of the time perfectly fits someone defined by being rich. It’s also honestly nice that the Yukon is used, as Canada sometimes gets lost in the shuffle wise and hell until reading life and times I gneuinely had no idea what the Yukon was or where Calvin was headed when he and hobbes ran away from home. 

Scrooge also first mentions Goldie and while clearly remembering her fondly.. goes into a rant about her howing him a thousand dollars which has compounded to a billion the second the boys catch on he was sweet on her with Donald assuming he’s just not a good person. But this is really just setting up another vital part of his character and the other thing: his heart. Before he’d been show as a pretty heartless, greedy asshole. While the previous story, Only a Poor Old Man, had softened him up a bit, this is the first to show that beneath the pile of greed and mean lurks a decent human being. Just don’t tell anyone or he’ll throw his money at you.. then tell you to bring it back to him. It’s what makes the character who he is: he’s cruel, onrey and selfish.. but he CAN care when the chips are down and can do the right thing.. as we’ll see later. 

God I love the little poems Bill Watterson would put in the books. I didn’t as much as a kid, but god I do now. Anyways before our heroes can get going Yukon Ho, they stop in Skagway for suplies before heading out, Scrooge softing at taking a plane as “Soft” and him and the nephews hiking a week.. before running into the same flying service again, and finding out Scrooge OWNS it and forgot, because being scrooge he forgot to take his meds. Something I can relate to and i’m not proud of as staying on them is important to my well being. Seriously always take your meds. Unless their not working for you then talk with your doctor to get new ones. 

So we arrive in Dawson, as our heroes will have to walk rest of the day Scrooge takes the boys to the Black Jack Ballroom, which used to be a hot spot and was where he met Goldie for the first time. After another covering for his reminscing with greedy bollocks, he tells the boys the story.. one that was cut from the original printing despite introducing goldie and something the editors dind’t bother to tell carl till they berated him over trying to sneak a blackjack saloon and a kidnapping in there... and to them, or their long dead skeletons probably, I say. 

Yeah not wanting that in a kids story, while bollocks, tha’ts their perogative.. not having him send in replacement pages to keep story flow.. is dickish and underestimates kids intellegence as Don Rosa, while loving the story felt something was off till he saw the missing pages years later thanks to a fellow fan. So yeah kids, and adults, into the work noticed. Nice job. Again I can’t BLAME them for not wanting Scrooge to be a kidnapper as we’ll see and Don Rosa had to massage the hell out of that, but I can blame them for not caring enough to fix the obvious hole int he story. Though it’s now complete and unabriged and has been since the 80′s so there's that. 

So in a nutshell Scrooge came to town for a coffee, and while the bartender ignored him he didn’t once he plunked down his goose egg nugget, what made his fortune and one of Scrooge’s most treasured possessions. It’s here we meet Goldie. 

Yup.. just in case you thought her being a thief and greedy as hell was a new thing, and I kinda forgot how much, she dirves for the nugget, has Coffee with scrooge.. and drugs it, but makes the mistake of NOT clearing town, so Scrooge fights his way through the ballroom to her, gets the nugget back, forces her to sign the money for the iou he spent.. and then uh.. kindaps her to force her to work on his claim for 50 cents to try and teach her how to work honestly. 

Yeahhhh as I said Don Rosa tried his best to fix this , and did so in his final story, which we’ll get to some day, revealing Goldie had a shot gun on her the whole time and was going along entirely to find out where Scrooge’s claim was. That.. actually makes more sense with the character and is far less horrifying and Scrooge finds this out fairly quick, so them forming an attraction out of this becomes 100% more plausable. So yeah good on Don Rosa for fixing the implications here. I may give out on him from time to time.. but he is a genuinely talented writer and did what a good comic book writer in an established continuity should do: update elements so they aren’t so... eugguuhhh after they become horrifingly outdated. And look YES she did do horrible shit to him.. but you still can’t kidnap someone over that. just put her in jail. What was any of that. 

Anyways Scrooge HAS been taking his medicine, and proves it by showing the boys his pills and the next day they head to Scrooge’s old claim.. only someone’s living there and using it, and his old cabin.. and a shot gun. Yeah so they aren’t getting through in the day what about the night.. well they get attacked by Blackjack, who turns out to be owned by the claim jumper.. and is also you know a bear> And Donald left his back in new quackmore so their outmatched. 

So outgunned and outplanned, if not outnumbered or outmanned, our heroes make a camp fire and whiel Donald again suggests the obvious, call the police.. Scrooge can’t. He didn’t pay taxes on the claim so he’s technically jumping his own claim and techincally she has a right to it. So techncially.. Scrooge is the bad guy here as he left the money here, didn’t pay his taxes and didn’t ever come back for it. Still beats trying to terrify your nephews or deny orphans a train because your an asshole buffet. 

So the next morning Scrooge dosen’t want to rush her because “We Daren’t Get Rough with an old woman”. Two things.. 1... think before you put images in my head scrooge.. brrrrrrrrr. I mean Goldie. is not in the best shape in thie story as you’ll see and neither are you. In the reboot sure you two kept up a lot better but here.

And it’s not even an old people thing. Ann Margret was still fine so fine by the time of Grumpy Old Men, not to get creepy jut to prove i’m not being ageist. For a still alive example Keith David is also still a smokeshow at the tender age of 64. So yeah, not an age thing just not these paticular old people. 

But they need a plan so the boy suggest luring the bear into a trap with honey. Donald and Scrooge build the cage while the boys.. find the jar of honey. 

Regardless since the boys won’t do it for what Scrooge pays and neither will donald Scrooge goes to lure the bear with the honey. Once that’s done, and Scrooge is being covered with honey and licked by a bear...

So while he washes that off, the boys come up with another plan: they run around back while Donald makes noise to draw Goldie’s fire, with that being Dewey’s plan to meet her since he’s figured this out already. But Goldie has a backup plan and when she figures out they disabled Blackjack unleashes mosquitos... ugh. Having been stung like hornets about 50 times in animal crossing I feel you boys. So while Scrooge and Donald run off naked... troy if you will. 

Thank you Troy, the boys confront Goldie who reveals her identity... and that she’s broke, her dance hall having failed with the rush and this claim being all she has.. and her suspecting scrooge woudl gladly take it. The boys vow not to tell scrooge.. but he’s on his way so they kinda have to and he primps to go visit and Donald starts to see through his BS about collecting the debt. Sure enough despite being taken aback by her putting on her old dress , he takes her for all she has and is.. genuinely suprised as she thought she’d have more and she’d actually changed since the old days, donating her profits to orphans from mining disasters. Scrooge.. is clearly rattled by this. Whiel it turns out to my shock he was clealry after the money, though givne who we’re dealing with I shoudln’t of been really, he still cares and still realizes he’s being kind of a dick. So he challengers her to a gold digging race, and if she wins the claim is hers and any gold she finds.. and naturally, while he seemingly puts her soemwhere where there isn’t she finds the claim and Scrooge bemoans not taking his pill.. but while the boys boo him for it, Goldie who fondly waves them off and Donald know better: Donald points out he counted the pills this morning.. and recently. SCrooge DID take one today... he’s just has his cane shoved firmly up his ass with pride so he coudln’t ADMIT he was wrong and instead simply staged that whole thing with the full knowledge Goldie would win. It, again, sets up one of his defniing traits; how he keeps people at arms length. How he’s just so proud and full of himself he can’t bear to admit anything resembling weakness.. but WILl find a way to do the right thing without that or forgoe it as a last resort. He may project being a stingy cretionus old man.. because he is.. but he’s got a heart as big as that nugget.. it’s just locked tight in it’s own bin... his body is complicated and weird that way Final Thoughts:

This story is a classic with a decent setup, great backstory for scrooge, and a great guest character and unquestionable impact on the character. However.. it does have it’s problem; As Don Rosa, who as i’ll remind you is both a huge barks fanboy and huge scoldie shipper, himself pointed out he wrote his final story, and had planned to for years ENTIRELY because this one never quite explains how Scrooge and Goldie went from old enmies to lovers.It did lead to one of his best stories and one of the first I read post life and times so, props to that. And of course as I pointed out some things have just.. not aged well, especially the kidnapping so their relationship kinda comes off like stockholm syndrom as a result of both of these. 

That being said.. warts and all.. it’s still a really damn good story and a good one to try if your intrested in barks work or where Goldie came from: it has adventure, some really good jokes and if you can get past the dated bits the plot is solid. And while it goes without saying i’ll say it anyway Barks art is goregous as always ESPECIALLY in the flashback sequence. Overall not the best AGED Scrooge story, though not the worst either see Voodoo Hoodoo, good god, but defintely a classic for a reason.  If you liked this review, follow me for more, and for more duck content as I still have more of the three cablleros to work through, another chapter of life and times coming up this week befor ewe break again for feburary, and some other fun stuff. Until the next rainbow, it’s been a pleasure. 

#carl barks #scrooge mcduck #uncle scrooge #donald duck #huey duck #louie duck #dewey duck #glittering goldie #goldie o gilt #scoldie #back to the klondike #blackjack #comics #disney #ducktales

[jack-is-lost]

PATCHES & PINS (CH 2)

A/N: This story revolves around a transgender, female to male, original character. LGBTQ+ topics are a given within this story. Gender and body dysphoria will come up as well since he is not out to his family — only close friends. If you dislike such a story premise please understand you do not have to interact with it at all. Leaving hate comments will be removed. Of course, constructive feedback is always welcomed.   Pairing: Eventually Marko x OTMC Story is still in progress and updates will be slow Eventually it will be posted on A03 once I’m a few chapters in

Chapter one | Currently on Chapter two | Chapter 3 coming soon.

Chapter two

“Stayed up late again, didn’t you?” Jay groaned into the couch cushions as Tyler braced his weight on the back of it to peer down at his gremlin of a sister. “With a sleep schedule like this, you might be able to snag an overnight job at the store.”

Tyler received another mumbling mess for a response, but he knew the telltale answer. It was always the same; ‘Don’t wanna’ or ‘No time’.

“C’mon, Jay,” he shook the couch, the motion of it getting her to roll over at least and look up at him. “You know it’s a good idea. You’ll be turning eighteen soon, and you have no job history under your belt.” 

“Ty…” Jay sighed out, searching for strength. “I know that, of course. It’s just—”

“—No, no, none of the ifs, ands, and buts, Jay.” He cut his sister off, arms crossing. Sometimes it was like Tyler was trying to be the father figure. Not that they were missing one by any means. “It is the summer. A good time to work a temporary job, at least.” Jay sat up and ran fingers through unruly hair, trying to calm it down. “Fine, I’ll walk around a bit and put applications in, okay?” Anything to get you off my ass, Jay added silently. “Head over to the market.” Came the simple reply, but a smile was there nonetheless. They both knew the store was always looking for overnight stockers. It was the job Tyler worked at for the longest time before getting a spot at the town's mechanic shop. “Will do. Now, let me lay here in peace, please, or make a pot of coffee.” Tyler rolled his eyes dramatically but didn’t say anything snide. Instead, he headed for the kitchen to wash the pot out and start a new batch. Their parents wouldn’t be home for a few more hours, both working afternoon shifts, and Jay could lay about till then. “Oh, by the way,” Tyler called out from the kitchen. “I changed the laundry over to the dryer while you were napping.” Jay peered over the couch at the words and into the adjacent room, staring at his back with big eyes. “And you might want to hide your newly bought jeans from mom.” Oh, yeah, he definitely saw the giant tear in the knee. Jay slid down into the cushions face first, groaning once more. 

Shit. . . . “Edgar!” he hollered out while stepping into the comic shop from the cooling night air. A rustling noise, a sound of a box hitting the ground, greeted Jay before a head popped up over the counter. “What’s the deal, man,” Edgar grumbled out before ducking back down. Obviously startled by the sudden outburst and now irritated at picking up inventory from the floor. “The deal?” Jay stopped at the counter, plopping his bag there to unzip it. “You left my ass at the cemetery, and—” he pulled out the jeans, “— my pants tore because of you.” Edgar stood up straight to look at the clothing, quickly noticing a nice long gash in the overall pristine trousers. “I wasn’t wearing them so how is it my fault?”

“Don’t,” Jay glared and was ready to explain the reasoning when Alan walked out from the back. He looked equally exhausted. “I’ll fix them.” He spoke up while coming to a stop next to his brother. “Why? It adds character.” “Shut up, Ed.” Alan grabbed the clothing and slung it over his shoulder. It was clear to him that Jay was avoiding trouble. They looked new, and Alan knew how much their parents were strikingly different. If any of their clothes tore, it was no problem — hardly even noticed by their stoned-out mom and dad. Jay’s parents, however, that was another story. “Thanks, man.” “Wear something more worn out next time,” Edgar muttered while bending down to pick up the box to continue his work. “Next time?” Jay followed the brother along the counter, stepping up behind Edgar as he walked into an aisle. “I’m not doing a ‘next time’.” 

One time was enough. “Look,” the boy turned to face him, a scowl already present, but when wasn't it? “You made it out with no trouble, right? Didn’t get caught, right?” Jay eyed him, not sure where this was going. “...Yeah?” “Then why stop? You need the practice to become a proper hunter.” “Ed—” “—Edgar.” Jay rolled his head along his shoulders, “Point is," he breathed out. "I never wanted to be a hunter.” This made Edgar’s brows lift with speculation. “Then why read so much about monster-bashing?”

“I…” Jay started then shoved his hands into his jacket, turning away, “Forget it. I’ll be back tomorrow to grab my jeans.” He needed a break from these two. Jay headed outside of the establishment, almost scrapping shoulders with a customer while storming out, but he didn't care. It was hard for Jay to explain his mere interest in folklore. It wasn’t to go on make-believe hunting sprees, not at all. Supernatural shit didn’t even exist — it was all made up for entertainment, nothing else. Blindly Jay walked down the boardwalk, heading out toward the shopping district further into town. His gaze was more on the ground or sky than straight ahead of him, asking any deities up there to give him some internal strength. He really needed it. Jay hated job hunting, avoided it even. It was just another group of people calling him female pronouns and using his full name — where legal paperwork spoke volumes over him. And the uniforms — they would no doubt show off what little curves Jay constantly made a point to hide, and he hated it. A bump against his shoulder went unaddressed. Jay could care less and didn’t even look back to apologize. It wasn’t until the person spoke up that he even gave pause. “What?” Jay asked while turning around, catching the sight of a genuine smile. “I said, ‘you look better with no mud’.” It was the guy from the cemetery. ( Marko’s POV )

“Thanks?” the voice was soft, if not a little uneasy. Marko shrugged, “No problem. Where were you headin’?” “Oh,” Marko watched the other turn back toward their previous destination. Off in the distance, the shopping district lit up the night sky. If one squinted, they could even see the big, bold neon sign for the market. “Was about to, um,” Marko lifted his brow while waiting. “Put in an application?” “You don’t seem so sure about that?” He asked while holding back a smirk. “Because I’m not?” Again it was said like a question. “Let me guess,” Marko chuckled. “You’d prefer not to work? What are you, a party animal or something?” That received a good laugh. “Fuck, no. Do I look like a frat boy to you?” Marko took the question like an invitation and openly swept his gaze over the one standing before him. Short hair with the sides faded, a hoodie beneath a jacket — how many layers does one need during summer nights — faded jeans, and sneakers. “Ah, nope.” He popped the ‘P’ sound after a second of staring. “I’d say you look more like a guy who…” he hummed in thought, really trying to find the right words. “—Like someone who’d probably fall asleep at a movie theater?” Marko feigned shock, a hand grabbing at his chest. “You’re kiddin’ me, right?” “Nope,” this time he popped the ‘P’ sound. “With all that loud sound effects and shit?” Marko received a nod without hesitation. “Okay,” he drew out the sound, ”How ‘bout horror movies? You cannot tell me you’d sleep through all that noise?” Boring romance movies and dry comedy was one thing, but slasher flicks was another — surely. It took a moment to reply, and Marko watched as the other’s face scrunched up in thought. The answer came in the form of a shrug, “Can’t say I’ve tried that, exactly.” Without a second thought, Marko grabbed the teen’s wrist — like he did last night, and headed in an entirely new direction. “Whoa— whoa, where’s the rush, my dude?” “Child’s Play just came out, and I am taking your ass to the movies.” “You are what?” The voice behind him laughed. “I don’t even know your name, and you’re taking me on a date?” Marko looked over his shoulder with a wicked smirk. “The names Marko.”

( Jay’s POV ) Jay stared at the back of his head while being guided toward The Sash Mill Cinema. Was this normal? Everything felt natural around this guy, and it left Jay feeling a little baffled. Marko didn’t even bat an eye at the lame joke. He didn’t think I was serious about it, did he?  He stood beside the other while Marko paid for tickets. He didn’t even comment about it when the other ordered a large bucket of popcorn and two fat sodas. It wasn’t until they plopped down inside the semi-lit room, waiting for the movie even to start, when Marko spoke up again. He looked completely at home, too, with boots resting upon the seat in front of him. “So, do I get the courtesy of your name too?” “Oh, uh, it’s Jay.” His gaze fell to the popcorn in his lap, where Marko had placed it once sitting down. “I could have pitched in some, y’know?” “Don’t worry about it, man. Besides,” he reached for a handful of popcorn, a boot resituating to lean across the other. “How could I expect a jobless teen to pay for something?” The words didn’t have any heat to them, but Jay still gave a side-eye-glare. “I had some cash on me.” “Then you get to pay for dinner afterwards.” The comeback was quick. Does he even think before speaking, Jay wondered. “If that’s the plan then I hope you dig pizza.” “Pizza’s good, yeah.” Marko agreed as the room around them dimmed, the movie starting. “Shh — don’t want to piss off paid customers.” he snickered. Jay looked around the theater and noticed a handful of people here and there. It wasn’t overly crowded, which was surprising for a Saturday, but still full enough. With that in mind, Jay didn’t make any comments as the screen lit up and began playing, fingers blindly grabbing some popcorn.  It wasn’t even three minutes into the film when Marko chuckled under his breath. Jay glanced at him then back at the screen, trying to figure out how getting shot in the chest was meant to be funny. He didn’t have to wonder long as Marko leaned closer to him, voice quiet. “You’d think he would have ducked after shooting. He did it multiple times before that. And the blood, what did he do? Stick his hand into paint?” Marko leaned away again to sip his soda. Jay smiled a little. He guessed it could be kind of funny when thinking outside of the movie. “Did he just blow up the entire shop by chanting?” “Holy shit, he did!” “Shhh!” A couple a few seats behind them grumbled. Marko simply flipped them off without even looking.  And that’s how the whole film went. Marko, trying to keep his laughter to a minimum as a toy doll went on a murdering spree and Jay, almost choking on popcorn from it all. Not once did he feel bored enough to pass out. . . . As they walked out of the theater, Jay bumped against Marko’s shoulder, glad that their height wasn’t much different. Being short always bugged Jay since most men seemed tall, bulky. It was another image he couldn’t be or attain. The motion of being bumped was answered with an arm draped across Jay’s shoulder. “You didn’t fall asleep even once. I’d say that is a point for me, zero for you.” Marko smirked as they shuffled together near the closest pizza establishment, a little family-owned gig near the theater. “Are we keeping points here, really?” Jay smiled back. “Remind me next time.” Marko chuckled lightly as his hand slid down to give a slap to Jay’s back before dropping altogether. “Oh, next time you say?” he pulled open the door wide enough a family of four could have walked through. “You think you’re lucky enough to get a second date?” Jay rolled his eyes as he stepped inside the shop, the smell of breadsticks and pizza hitting his senses like a brick wall. “Still on about the whole date comment, aren't you?” “I don’t see why not,” he simply said while stopping at the cashier, “Or you saying I’m not hot enough to date?” Again his words held no real malice to them, just a light inquisitive tone. Jay eyed him for a moment before the girl behind the counter spoke up, drawing him to make a decision. At the mention of the buffet being half off, Marko boastfully announced his opinion before already hitting the line of food. It left little room to argue, and Jay paid for the price, pocketing the remaining bills in his back pocket. He grabbed the cups offered by her as she popped her gum. “How’d you snag a hottie like him, gal?” her hand propped up her chin as she leaned against the counter, gaze not even on Jay as she asked. Who, at the pronoun, bit the inside of his cheek. He couldn’t tell if her words were honest wonderment or layered with less positivity than her brightly colored wristbands. “None of your business.” “Sheesh, snobby much?” She rolled her eyes nice and slow before turning her attention to the staff working in the backroom.  Jay didn’t see a reason to correct her. Not for implying his gender or calling him a snob. It didn’t matter much, anyway. Family, teachers — they all used them. It was an uphill battle that Jay stalled by sitting at the bottom. The Frog brothers were different, and Sam figured it out without any help by tagging along with them. It was a safe little corner for Jay to be in, even if a little crazy. He walked the buffet, grabbing a slice of pepperoni and some garlic sticks, even after Marko grabbed a booth — plate stacked. Jay gradually took his time to pace through the small selection as his eyes wandered over to the curly-haired boy. Not once did he ever mention female nouns the entire night. He, overall, treated Jay like any other dude. Did he know any different? Jay sat down and laughed as Marko bluntly commented on his plate. Apparently, pepperoni was too plain, and Jay needed to live a little and try it with olives. He watched Marko stuff his face and lick salt off fingers, nonplussed by the display of eating, and he couldn’t help but think this guy just didn’t care — didn’t care about Jay’s appearance or title in life. Something that often weighed him down. It was a relief, in a sense — to not care. “C’mon, Jay, seriously try it.”

The pizza drooped in front of his face, and Jay reluctantly leaned forward for a bite. “Fuck—” he wiped at his mouth instantly. “— that is WAY too much jalapeno, man.” Marko laughed at the expression across the teen’s face. “Nah,” he breathed out. “Your tongue is just a fuckin’ wuss, is all.” Jay gulped down his soda before wiping at his mouth again. “Are you sure it isn’t your tongue that has long since left the planet?” What did they do to that pizza? Let it marinate in jalapeno juice? “I can guarantee you that my palate is top-notch.” “Sure, sure.” “Hey,” the girl from before stood by their booth, hand on hip. “We’re closing up in twenty-minutes.” “What time is it?” Jay asked as he looked outside the nearest window, noting that the parking lot was practically empty. Was it that late already? “Almost ten,” she simply stated before openly checking out Marko, gaze fanning over his open black coat that showed a white tank. Not surprisingly, Marko gave her an equal amount of attention with his gaze. Jay stood up, “Think we should head out.” he grabbed the last breadstick and headed for the exit, stepping out into the cooling air. It took another minute before Marko emerged with a cheeky smile, a folded paper between his fingers. “Got her digits, huh?” “Easily,” Marko slid it into his coat pocket. “Must be my charm.” Jay stepped off in the direction of his street. The walk home was going to take a good thirty-minutes, but he didn’t mind. All the walking around kept him in shape. And so what if Marko nabbed the girl’s number. It wasn’t like they were on a serious date — just two guys having a good time, and jealousy was not about to ruin the good mood. “Where are we heading next?” Marko asked while easily getting in step next to Jay. “The boardwalk stays open later during summer hours. I’m sure we can snag a few spots on some rides before they shut down.” Jay kept walking away from the boardwalk, hands in his coat. “I’m heading home.” “Already?” Marko placed a hand on the other's shoulder, causing them both to pause. “The night’s still young.” “My parents will start to worry if I am not back by eleven.” “But you were out roaming the graveyard way past midnight yesterday?” Jay cut his gaze away, fingers fiddling with the seam inside his pocket where a string had come loose months ago. “I snuck out last night to help some friends, is all.” It would be hard to explain everything, wouldn’t it? The valid reason he was out there among tombstones. Even if Jay explained it, what would stop Marko from instantly labeling him off as a weirdo? “Besides,” Jay spoke up before Marko could ask for further details. “Why were you even out there? Are you a grave robber or something?” He didn’t know anything about this guy, not really.

Marko must have noticed the way Jay’s tone had shifted, and the uneasy tension was back. He placed his hands up in the way of surrender, pale fingers a stark difference to the gloves covering everything else. “No grave robbing by my hands, promise.” They stared at one another for a second before Marko’s hands dropped, his voice filling in the thick silence around them. “If you don’t want to elaborate, I get it — all’s good, but let me at least walk you home.” Jay shook his head without even considering the notion. “Just hit me up later or something. I’d rather walk home alone.” “Okay, okay.” Marko stepped away, hands in his own coat and looking relaxed. It seemed like nothing could sour his mood despite how their night was ending. “I’ll chat with you later, Jay.” “Yeah, see ya’.” And Jay turned  around without looking back, bag slung over one shoulder and drawing his hood up. So what if their night ended off on an odd note, and Jay didn’t apply for any jobs? His sneakers scrapped along the cracked pavement, thoughts turning inside his head like a storm. For the most part Jay enjoyed the night. It went from shitty to fun, and that’s what really counts, right? “Tyler is going to be pissed at me.”

#My writing #Patches & Pins #the lost boys #fanfiction #LGBTQ+ story #Transmale OC #Marko x OTMC

[readyplayerhobi]

Flower | 04

; Hoseok x Reader

; Genre: Fluff, light angst, insinuated smut

; Word Count: 3.3k

; Synopsis: You finally decide to take a dip into the world of online dating and find the Flower dating app. One of the top matches for you proves to be a guy who looks to be your complete opposite; tattooed, pierced, a metalhead and oh…incredibly handsome. What happens when you throw caution to the wind and reach out to him?

; A/N: This week...you get two chapters! The usual Sunday chapter will also occur, but I didn’t want to leave you waiting for the second half of their date too long! So...consider this my Black Friday deal I guess? Let me know what you think, I love reading you love your this <3

; Flower Masterpost

-

Inhaling deeply, you let your cheeks puff out as you slowly let out the breath that you’re trying to use to calm yourself down. Tonight is officially the night, the date. Or whatever he wanted to call it. And here you were, in the outfit in your best friends had picked, waiting for one Jung Hoseok to appear.

You’d been terrified all day that he wouldn’t actually turn up. That he’d ghost you, and you’d have to fight the tears as you called Soyeon and Chungha to tell them that the emergency supplies were in fact necessary. Even though Hoseok had messaged you again this afternoon, reminding you of your date.

As if you were somehow going to forget a scheduled date with him!

But you were here, at the appointed time outside of the large modern art statue in the centre of the city. It was a common spot for people to meet up as it allowed for quick and easy access to most places within walking distance so you weren’t surprised that he’d picked here. Plus, it was in public and you appreciate all the people who were around.

Pulling your phone out of your bag, you turn the screen on and check the time once more, frowning slightly when you see that he’s two minutes late. It might not seem a lot, but you always got a little antsy and worried when people were late. You usually turned up fifteen minutes early and then just waited around. 

Better to be early rather than late.

“Y/N?” The deep voice comes from your left, causing you to squeak in surprise as you jump, whirling around almost comically to face one Jung Hoseok. Who looks even more handsome than his photos make out, which is just plain wrong. That should not be allowed. You were probably a colossal disappointment in comparison.

He was dressed equally casual to you, black skinny jeans with rips clinging to his legs and ending in leather military style boots while a plain white shirt adorned his chest beneath a black leather jacket and thick silver chains around his neck. You couldn’t help but take a small step back, looking over his visage with wide eyes as your mind accepted the fact that people like him really did exist in real life.

His hair was styled for once, swept off his forehead in a look that had obviously been done on purpose and yet looked completely effortless while the nearby lights from a shop front shone off the silver ring in his lower lip. 

“We match.” You say dumbly, pointing at his clothes before cringing at how dumb you sound. It throws him for a moment, dark brows rising on his statuesque face before his eyes run over your body before looking down at his own. And then he smiles, and you swear your knees go a little weak.

Because if Jung Hoseok is handsome normally, then he’s out of this world when he smiles. It positively lights up his face and his eyes almost gleam with happiness as he lets out a raspy laugh.

“So we do. You look very beautiful. Your makeup is amazing!” Hoseok exclaimed, eyes widening as he leans a little closer to take in the carefully placed makeup that you’d spent half an hour putting on. It’s nothing hugely special, a little bit of a smokey eye with black eyeliner and a shimmer of rose glitter on the lids of yours with a touch of silver glitter liquid eyeliner. You’d wanted to match your outfit and put in a little bit of an effort, but not make it look like you were ready to walk a red carpet.

Still, your stomach swirled with a combination of happiness at his compliment and nerves at the overall meeting. The teenage part that still lived in you wanted to scream and jump at the fact he’d called you beautiful. Hands clutching at nothing once you put your phone away, you glance at him from beneath your mascara covered eyelashes and smile shyly.

“Thanks. You look good too.” The words are almost mumbled out and you grimace at yourself, nose wrinkling as you wrack your brain for what you’re supposed to say to him now. You never had any idea how these kinds of conversations were meant to go and you made a slightly odd noise before gesturing lamely. 

“So...what do you, I mean...what are we doing for our date-I mean...hang out? Or whatever this is.” Idly, you eye the fountain ahead of you and wonder how quickly he might leave if you just jumped into it and refused to come out. Because the awkwardness was building and you felt jumpy with the nerves and anxiety, desperate to give him a good impression but so unaware of how to do that.

He doesn’t laugh at you thought, just gives you a gentle smile before gesturing down one of the streets. You start to move automatically, the ghost of pressure from his hand on your back sending tingles around your body and you look up at him through wide eyes, noting how beautiful his side profile is.

Your side profile probably didn’t look that pretty.

“Well...I guessed that you might be a little nervous about tonight given how quickly you tried to back out of talking to me...so I thought we could do something that means we have to work together and talk, without actually having to talk about anything serious. So...I booked us an escape room and then we could have dinner after?” He sounds so carefree about it and you pause for a moment before gasping in delight.

“Oh my god! I’ve always wanted to do an escape room! Is it themed? I saw there was a Harry Potter one somewhere and that would be so cool! I don’t really know how they work and I’ve always been a little afraid to do them in case I’m too stupid to figure them out.” You don’t realise your babbling till you catch sight of his grin once more, body heating in embarrassment as you duck your head and apologise.

Immediately though he’s soothing your fears, giving you little cooing noises and an overly dramatic expression that has you snorting out a laugh. “Hey, don’t do that! It’s cute, I’m glad you’re excited. That’s what I wanted. I wanted to try and find a way to make you a bit more comfortable. I know how nerve wracking first dates are and I’ve been pretty nervous too.”

You look at him then, a look of pure disbelief written all over your face so plainly that he lets out a bark of laughter, his hand coming up to cover his mouth as he points at you with the other. “Oh god, your face. I have! I’m not lying. I know I can look pretty intimidating but I’m just a guy and first dates are just as scary for me.”

“Mmm, I’m sure they are. Especially when you look like...this.” A brief movement of your hand gestures to his whole body and he looks down with a breathy laugh again, shaking his head before looking at you, tongue running along his lower lip. 

“I get the feeling you’re pretty blunt and sarcastic. Am I right?” Immediately you look away, shoulders hunching as your hands grip your bag tightly. 

“Sorry. I don’t mean to. I don’t mean to sound like that, it just comes out.” He’s shaking his head though, smiling to himself as he looks forwards and directs you down another street before pointing at the sign for the escape room.

“It’s okay. I like people who speak their mind. As long as I know that you’re joking if you say something mean…” You go to protest at that but it dies at the sign of mischief in his eyes, recognising that he’s coaxing you out of the shell he obviously knows you must have built so strongly around yourself. And your heart warmed in response, glad that he’s not immediately pushing you away and in fact encouraging you.

“We’ll see if you still think that after we’ve got out of the room...if we can get out.” Hoseok hums, tapping his finger against his lip ring before grinning brightly, opening the door to the business and giving a completely over the top and ridiculous ‘enter’ gesture that has him bowing comically. Even as silly as it looked, he still looked amazing yet you felt a little more at ease with how open and friendly he was being.

“After you my lady. I have full faith we will get out. How hard can these things be?”

-

“What the actual fuck was that. Seriously! We didn’t even get out of the first damn room, I didn’t even know they had more than one room!” Hoseok rants, his cheeks slightly red as his brow creases while he gesticulated wildly through his rant. You watch him, amused for a few moments before continuing to walk along with him.

Despite his bravado at the start, you had both actually done abysmal in the escape room. You’d quickly discovered that Hoseok had absolutely no idea what he was doing in there and you’d tried your hardest, only to discover that you’d been fixating on a strange looking picture which actually had absolutely nothing to do with anything.

The staff had been incredibly amused when they finally let you out after an hour, telling you both cheerfully that no one had ever not managed to get out of the first room before. At least you’d made an impression on them, and you’d probably be an amusing story for Hoseok’s friends too.

He certainly was going to be for Chungha and Soyeon.

It had been fun though, oddly fun to say you were making no progress. Hoseok was funny, the kind of guy who made you laugh without even realising he was trying as he’d talked to himself in confusion, brows knitted together before exclaiming in a loud and suddenly thick dialect. You’d ended up spending a lot of time giggling at him and surprisingly, you’d managed to find out more than you’d expected during that hour.

He’d talked about how his friends would love to come and do this but that he wasn’t sure if they’d do worse or better. Apparently, the thought that two called Yoongi and Seokjin would probably do well. They were both sales account managers at Seokjin’s father’s company while someone called Taehyung worked as a customer service rep at the same company.

He was apparently the blue haired guy in Hoseok’s profile picture on Facebook, while the pink guy was Jimin. He worked as a bartender at the usual place Hoseok and his friends drank at; a dive bar basically that was frequented by bands trying to start their career. Jungkook was in college, doing a postgrad degree in sports psychology and his final friend, Namjoon, was a lawyer. 

The diversity of his friends bemused you, but he’d said that was because most of them he’d met in college. Jungkook was apparently one of Taehyung’s friends who’d slowly become integrated with Hoseok’s friend group once he’d gone to college whilst Namjoon was a childhood friend. You’d found it fascinating that he considered six people his close friends when you couldn’t imagine having more than two or three.

It was then that he’d queried your friends, asking if you had anyone who might like to come to an escape room. Chungha would have been happy to get involved but you knew that Soyeon didn’t like the idea of being locked in somewhere. She had claustrophobia and while it wasn’t bad enough to make her panic in an escape room, she wouldn’t be happy at not being able to escape.

Other than that, it had mostly been passing comments that had led to small discussions between the two of you as you both tried to figure out what you were doing. Which evidently hadn’t worked, given you hadn’t gotten out but it had relaxed you all the same. You’d almost felt comfortable around him by the end, the fact it was a date pushed out of your mind until you’d both finally walked out of the door.

And now you were faced with the dinner. On the one hand, you were eager because you were hungry but on the other hand, it meant that you had to finally talk one on one, without the interruption of something else. Hoseok doesn’t seem to notice your sudden quietness, his hands gesticulating as he continues to talk about your previous activity and you follow along.

You don’t know where he’s taking you, but you hope it’s somewhere nice and not too fancy. Somewhere that you’ll actually enjoy the food. He pauses suddenly, mouth open and letting you get a glimpse of the silver ball in the middle of his tongue and you feel warm at the sight, wiggling slightly as your best friends comments race through your head out of nowhere.

“Oh god, imagine getting oral from him. That tongue and piercing...oof...yes please.” Soyeon sighed, fanning her face and looking up to the ceiling as Chungha lets out a low whistle. The photo they’re looking at is one where Hoseok is sticking his tongue out fully, a festival scene behind him and his tongue piercing clearly on display.

Her comment makes your cheeks heat while you squirm slightly, embarrassed at what she said but even more embarrassed at the fact you too had thought of that already. There was no way in hell that you would admit to perhaps touching yourself to the thought of that tongue doing things to you.

“I bet he knows how to use it too. That man has the confidence of someone who’s brought many to orgasm. Girl, you are going to be so lucky if everything works out!” Chungha giggles, pushing at your shoulder while you whine softly to her. You could only hope that you wouldn’t end up hyper fixating on that piercing, because it had become one of your little group of friends favourite things about him.

Needless to say, that hadn’t worked and you let out the quietest breath as he ran that tongue over his teeth slowly, eyes focused away from you and completely unaware of just how ridiculous hot he was right now. It was just plain wrong, yet you can’t pull your eyes away from the straight lines of his jaw, nor the way the tendons in his neck strain just right as he looks down the street.

“Are you okay?” You croak out, coughing slightly to clear your throat and you hope he hasn’t noticed how husky your voice sounds. Thankfully though, he jerks in response to your voice and looks at you slightly dazed for a moment, dark eyes focusing again before he smiles lopsided.

“Yeah, sorry. I just...I don’t remember how to get to the restaurant I was thinking of. Do you like Indian food? There’s this really great place...that I know is here somewhere. I think we need to backtrack and then I can find it,” He pauses before giving a self-deprecating laugh. “Sorry, you’ve discovered flaw number one already. I am useless with directions. Don’t ever ask me to find somewhere. We’d end up in France. Don’t ask how, we just would.”

The laugh that leaves you is unexpected and loud, but you can’t help it and you see him grin in response out of the corner of your eye. He’s looking at you expectantly though, one brow raised as he reaches up and runs his fingers through his hair. Eyeing him for a moment, you nod your head and grasp desperately for the right words.

“That’s fine, I’m great with directions, luckily. I think I know where you mean, it should be back down the street and then to the right.” Pointing, his eyes follow your hand and he lets out a little ‘ah’ noise before smiling brightly.

“Great. Let’s go. I want to eat some good ass food. Mmmm, it’s been so long.” He moans out and you almost choke on your own spit at the sound, body feeling very warm at the overly sexual sound. The man just oozes sex appeal and it’s almost appalling how attractive you find it, but it also leaves you very flustered and unsure what to do.

So you just begin walking in the direction you’d pointed, staring down at the ground while your hands grasp at your bag and your shoulders rise up almost to your ears. A huff of laughter is behind you before the sound of shoes hitting the ground takes over, echoing over the quiet street and then he’s next to you again.

“Hey don’t leave me! How will I ever find it?” Hoseok pouts almost comically and you watch him for a few seconds before raising your brow.

“You’re a big boy. I’m sure you know how to use Google.” There’s a moment of silence and you wince, just about ready to tell him that you’re sorry and you didn’t mean to insult him. Because he was probably insulted, or offended. Or something at you. Either way, you could’ve been nicer.

But instead, he just lets out a loud laugh and shakes his head in amusement before looking you over with an expression that’s almost fond. “Point taken. Let’s go get some food. I want some naan bread.” 

“Did you know that naan just means bread in Old Persian so technically you’re just asking for bread bread?” The words come out automatically, your natural instinct to just give a random fact and you don’t even realise it. It was something you’ve always liked to do, looking up information and absorbing it like a sponge. Your friends liked to joke that you were always prepared for a general knowledge quiz.

“Yeah? Why do we call it a naan bread then?” Hoseok asks cheerfully, interest laced in his voice and you shrug in response.

“For the same reason we say chai tea or Sahara desert. There’s also Lake Tahoe, because Tahoe apparently comes from a Native American word meaning, you guessed it...lake. Another favourite of mine is Table Mesa, which just means table table.” You carry on, remembering more examples as you continue and you laugh in amusement at yourself.

Hoseok chuckles as he walks alongside you, giving you a look that you don’t notice as you babble on about places that are also similarly named, letting you telling him more and more places while he just listens. Finally, you realise that you’ve been talking for too long and give him a chagrined look before apologising.

He just shakes his head and grins. “No...it’s okay. Oh...I know of one! The Los Angeles Angels! That just means The The Angels Angels. You’d think that we’d take into consideration the original language meaning sometimes wouldn’t you? Though I guess every language does it.”

The casual acceptance he gives you of the random tangent you’d just gone on warms something inside you and the fact he’s even actively got involved makes you smile ever so softly. Nodding at him, you note that you’ve finally arrived at the restaurant and duck your head down.

“Okay...let’s go...oh my god. I should tell Jungkook about that naan thing. He can just say ‘let’s get this naan!’” You frown in confusion but he just laughs in response, shaking his head and gently pushing you through the door. “I’ll explain inside. Come on, I want to eat!”

#armiesnet #networkbangtan #btssunshineclub #hoseok fluff #hoseok angst #j hope fluff #j hope angst #hobi fluff #hobi angst #bts fluff #bts angst #hoseok x you #hoseok x reader #hoseok fic #j hope fic #hobi fic #bts fic #hoseok fanfic #j hope fanfic #hobi fanfic #bts fanfic #flower!hoseok

[hoodieimp]

Hi @tanteichan1412! I’m your Secret Satan!

This is a tad bit late but only because I ended up going ABSOLUTELY HAM on the prompt lmao

Hope you enjoy!

///

Buddy was in trouble. 

It was supposed to be just another supply run. Nothing too exciting. Leave the safehouse, venture down into the unknown, grab whatever he could carry, and head back without getting caught. 

Except this time, he couldn't get back. Which was impossible--no matter how mazelike and confusing these lower floors got, there was always the elevator room at the center of everything, like an anchor. 

But now, somehow, the elevator had vanished.

Buddy had simply tried retracing his steps at first, thinking he'd gotten turned around. That lasted all of five minutes before he realized he'd walked past the same Miracle Station three times in a row. 

Was the studio alive somehow?

He imagined the rooms shuffling around like a deck of cards, rearranging themselves to trap him, boxing him into a corner while that demon slowly closed in, inky dark shadows sweeping round to the sound of a booming heartbeat--

Buddy jolted back to himself. Dimly, he realized his own heart was thudding away in his ears. 

Focus, Buddy. Calm down.

Five senses. That would help. 

Touch: The weight of the headlamp bobbing atop his head. A stack of objects in his arms, his pitiful attempt at “supplies”: moldering books, a couple of bones (best not to think too hard about where those came from, or how tasty he found them), sloshing inkwells (handled with extreme care), and an old radio. 

Sound: Floorboards creaking. The groans of the building as it settled. Ink gurgling in the pipes overhead. No demon heartbeat or hissing breathing, thankfully. 

Smell: Ink, omnipresent and chemical. Nothing new there. 

Sight: The corridor twisting off into the darkness ahead. Peeling posters on the walls. Everything colored in the same dull shades of sepia as the rest of this bizarre underworld. Like something out of a comic strip, not a real building. 

Taste: Nothing. Even the awful salty aftertaste of bacon soup had long since faded from the back of his throat. 

At the thought of soup, his stomach growled, low and plaintive. Right, that was another problem. He hadn't come across a vending machine in a while. Lately, whenever he tried to go for too long without eating, the half-aware fragment of Boris that shared his head would start clamouring and making it hard for him to think straight. 

Even now, Buddy could feel the alien prickling in the back of his mind, demanding he start sniffing out his next snack. He mentally pushed it away, but he had the feeling Boris wouldn't stay quiet for long. 

He couldn't afford to lose himself right now. Not until he found the way back…

“Hello…?”

Buddy's ears shot up.

He had to be imagining things, right? That was probably just an echo, or some trick of the pipes. There was no way he’d just heard--

"Is someone there? Hello?”

He definitely wasn't imagining it. That was a voice, a girl's voice, coming from somewhere nearby.

Could it be…?

Without even thinking, Buddy found himself sprinting down the corridor in his usual galumphing run, his appetite all but forgotten, items jingling and clanking about in his arms as he swayed comically in an effort to keep his balance. The headlamp bounced off his head and clattered away unheeded.     

He skidded around the corner on one foot--and there she was, standing in a little alcove with her back to him. He barely even slowed down as he bounded towards her, wishing, hoping with the whole of his heart, crying out over and over: Dot, Dot, it's me, it's Buddy, I found you, I--!!

She spun around.

He skidded to a halt as realization hit him like a load of bricks. 

That wasn't Dot. 

Even with the ink steadily washing away his old life, Buddy could still murkily recall Dot, her blonde hair and flashing glasses. The girl before him had hair as dark as...well, ink, falling in elaborate curls around her face, and a notable lack of glasses. 

And her eyes…

They glowed, a flat pupil-less gold like a pair of lamps. He'd seen eyes like that before--on the poor lost souls that wandered the halls, ink-drenched and wailing. 

Not on a human being. 

Was she even human...? 

He took a step towards this stranger to peer closer, momentarily forgetting how odd and intimidating he must look, as a gangly cartoon wolf with an armful of bones. 

"Stay back!" She brandished something--a bizarre-looking tangle of pipes with a wire antenna sticking out of it, sizzling and throwing off sparks like a cattle prod. It was undoubtedly some sort of weapon. 

Buddy immediately backed off, ears wilting, trying to look as non-threatening as possible. The girl lowered the pipe-thing slowly, not taking her eyes off of him. 

"You scared me," she said quietly. Now that Buddy could hear her clearly, she didn’t sound a thing like Dot at all. Lower, more melodious. "Running all Hell-for-leather out of nowhere like that...I thought you might be, I dunno, the Demon coming after me or something.” 

So she'd run into Bendy, too. 

"You can understand me, right?” she said suddenly, peering right back at Buddy. “I’m not just talking to myself like a crazy person?”

Buddy nodded vigorously and tapped the side of his head for good measure.

“What about you? Can you talk at all?"

Buddy, foolishly, started to respond out loud, before he caught himself. He shook his head. 

Buddy held up an insistent finger. Wait, wait, let me show you. 

"Right...I should’ve figured, you didn’t exactly talk much in the cartoons, either.” 

Normally he kept a pen and paper on him, but all the pens were currently stashed back at the safehouse--not that he was heading back there anything soon. There were the books he’d collected--but no, he wanted to read those, not spoil them with scribbling...    

That left one other option. It was one the other denizens of the studio resorted to all the time, and not the neatest, but in a pinch... 

Buddy dashed over to the nearest stretch of blank wall, inkwell in hand. Dipping his finger into the stuff (he couldn’t suppress the shudder that went through him), he began daubing big, blocky letters, painstakingly spelling out a sentence:

My name is Buddy.

"Nice to meet you, Buddy." The girl smiled for the first time, so bright and human that it made Buddy's chest ache. "I'm Audrey. Er...forgive me if I don’t shake your hand." 

Buddy was confused for a second--until he looked down at her hands. Her entire left arm was coated in ink--no, was made of ink, from shoulder to fingertip. Veins of golden light spread from her fingers to connect in a brilliant spiral shape. 

Audrey saw him looking and flashed a wry grin. 

“Freaky, isn’t it?” She held up her strange swirled hand and wiggled the glowing digits. "I've found that cartoons like you tend to, er...vaporize when I touch them with this. It’s...not pretty, to say the least." 

Buddy grimaced. No idea what she meant by that, but it certainly didn’t sound pretty. 

He turned back to the wall and added a new line underneath the first.

Thought you were someone I knew. Been looking for her.

"Guess that makes two of us! I'm looking for somebody, too."

He cocked his head as if to say, Go on? 

"I don't know if you even know who he is, but...I was invited here by a man named Joey Drew."

Buddy recoiled at the name as though it were a physical blow. A whole slew of emotions--recognition, disgust, familiarity, fear--swirled through him, kicking up bits of memories from the depths of his brain.

Joey Drew, the visionary, the dreamer, the liar, the man who'd offered Buddy the world only to rip it all away from him in an instant, who’d meant to keep him as some sort of mindless living attraction--

He shook his head frantically, trying to clear it. 

"Whoa, whoa, easy there--!" Audrey automatically reached out to comfort him, but thought better of it and held back. 

"So you do know Joey. And you’re...scared of him?”

Now that was an understatement. Buddy could hardly even begin to describe how he felt about Mister Drew. It would take an entire hallway’s worth of wall-writing. 

Best to give it to her short and sweet.

And so he dunked his fingers back into the inkwell till they dripped, swiveled back to the wall (Audrey leapt back to avoid the trailing arc of inkblots) and started writing frantically, pressing so hard on the wallpaper that it tore slightly in places. 

He stepped back to reveal the hurried scrawl, much bolder and darker than the first, with the last 'E' trailing off where he'd whipped his hand away: 

He did this to me. 

Audrey’s ink-lined brow furrowed in a mix of concern and confusion. 

"He did...what?" 

Buddy made a whining noise in the back of his throat. Like some sort of vaudeville pantomime act, he gestured broadly and emphatically to himself--down to his oversized paws and raggedy overalls, up to his inhumanly proportioned skull with its big blunt snout. He gripped his floppy ears and tugged on them, hard, as though he could tear them off, peel away Boris’s dopey mug like the head of a costume to reveal his old human face--but of course it only brought dull, scalp-tugging pain. All the while he stared desperately, pleadingly, at Audrey, silently willing her to understand.

And just like that, she did, and her eyes widened in horror. 

"Are you telling me...Did you used to be someone else? Someone...human?" 

Buddy nodded grimly.  

Audrey was speechless. She brought her hand to her mouth, then lowered it, looked from her own warped fingers to the silently trembling figure of Buddy. 

"I...I'm so sorry," she whispered. It was an absurdly small, ineffectual thing to say to something so mind-turningly surreal, but who could blame her? She was talking more to herself than to Buddy now, sounding like she was about to cry. "God...Christ Almighty, Joey, what the fuck have you been doing...?" 

Buddy lowered his gaze to the floor, not sure what to do or say. The two of them stood there for a long while, caught in quiet, existential terror. 

Finally, just when Buddy could barely stand the silence a moment longer, Audrey spoke up again. Her voice was thick. 

“Buddy...listen to me.’

He turned, blinking through tears.

“I’ll be honest with you, I still don’t entirely know what I’m doing here, or what the Hell Joey’s been doing to create…” She waved a hand at the crumbling hallway around them. “All of this. But I do know one thing, and it’s that I’m not going to give up until I get to the bottom of all this. I’m not letting Joey fuck with any more innocent lives.” 

Audrey’s voice darkened with those last few words, and Buddy swore he saw her glowing eyes flare for a split second--but then it was gone.

“What I’m trying to say is...Maybe we can help each other. Work together. We could both find what we’re looking for.” 

She shuffled her weapon to her left hand, and held out the non-inked one towards Buddy. He stared at it, thinking rapidly, trying to parse this sudden turn of events.  

Maybe Audrey could help him. If she’d survived this long on her own, with that strange weapon and even stranger ink limb, surely she wasn’t a pushover. 

As for himself...he did know his way around the studio--current situation notwithstanding. He knew lots of hiding places, at least. How to sneak around where he shouldn’t, keep an eye out for the small things, get out of danger in a pinch…

The more Buddy thought about it, the more he found himself warming to the idea. It would be tougher to look out for someone on top of himself, of that he was sure. Surviving didn’t come easy down here. 

But still...he’d missed having someone by his side. It was comforting. 

Familiar.

And so he took Audrey's hand in his oversized glove and shook it firmly, just once. A handshake that meant business. 

To show he could be trusted. 

#bendy and the ink machine #secret satan 2020 #batdr #Audrey batdr #Buddy Lewek #boris the wolf #fanfic #BOY HOWDY THIS TURNED INTO. A LOT #ask to tag #not that there's much I think #just good ol' existential dread #and a couple of F bombs #courtesy of our gal #because hey I KNOW she's still a complete blank slate at this point #(and let's face it.......Buddy isn't much better lmao) #but I TRIED to give her at least SOME personality #long post #delta writes

[lady-divine-writes]

Klainetober one-shot - “Neck Nibbles” (Rated PG13)

Summary: Kurt wakes up to something biting his neck. Blaine claims it's a mosquito. When Kurt wakes in the morning, he discovers that perhaps Blaine was lying ... (2336 words)

Notes: A re-write for the @klainetober prompt 'vampire'. Follows 'One of Those Nights'.

Read on AO3.

Kurt feels a slight pinch, like the prick of a tiny needle injecting into his neck, and in his sleep, he swings a hand to bat the culprit away.

“Oof! Kurt!” Blaine groans, taking the hit square in the eye.

“Wha---?” Kurt mumbles, only partially awake. “What are you doing?” He snorts in a, frankly, unattractive way - a way reserved for muttering in his sleep - then shifts positions, rolling his hips left, then his body, till he’s lying on his side facing away from his boyfriend.

“I’m not doing anything,” Blaine replies. “Go back to sleep.”

Kurt arcs an eyebrow, but he doesn't open his eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Go back to sleep."

Kurt would say that Blaine sounds suspiciously awake and coherent for two fifty-two in the morning, but it’s times like these that Kurt forgets his boyfriend is a vampire, not the dapper Prince Charming he fell in love with back at Dalton.

“I’m trying,” Kurt complains, bringing the comforter up to his chin and holding it tight against him to protect his vulnerable neck. “But there’s a mosquito or something in here, and it’s bugging me … hee-hee … bugging me …” Kurt chuckles at his unintended pun, snorting again, which makes him laugh harder.

“I’ll kill it if it comes back,” Blaine promises. “Go back to sleep.”

“Mmm … okay …” Kurt agrees, shoving skepticism aside and snuggling against the hard body of his boyfriend, who usually opts to lie beside Kurt in bed even though he doesn’t need sleep. “As long as you (yawn) stay here to protect me.”

“Of course.” Blaine smiles, fangs bared as Kurt snores softly. “I’ll stay right here." He kisses Kurt lightly on the forehead. "I'm not going anywhere ...”

***

Kurt can feel the sun within his body telling him it’s time to rise - an occupational hazard of dating a vampire, this sixth sense about the oncoming dawn. It also means that Blaine has made himself scarce, banished to the dark corner of the bedroom by the closet where the sunlight doesn’t reach until noon. The sun has yet to breach the horizon and pierce his sheer drapes, but Kurt can feel it prickling behind his eyelids. 

That’s odd. 

Rarely does that happen unless he and Blaine have a hardcore make-out sesh with lots of biting involved. But weeks of putting in overtime at school and at the diner sent Kurt to bed early, so that definitely didn’t happen.

Heartbreaking.

Short of that strange symptom, his primary concern at the moment is the number that insect did on him last night. Kurt raises a hand to his neck, hissing when his fingertips come in contact with his sore skin.

“Ugh,” he grumbles, rolling his way out of bed. "Must have been a huge mosquito. Filthy bloodsucker ..." He cringes at his own remark, hoping he didn't inadvertently offend his boyfriend. He'll find out after he assesses the damage to his neck. Kurt has extremely sensitive skin. A single bite from a pernicious parasite can make him look like he has a goiter! He needs to figure out how much cover-up he’s going to need to apply before school. 

His feet hit the floor, and immediately the urge to climb back into bed and hide under the covers overwhelms him. 

He got a decent amount of sleep last night. Why is he so damned out of it?

Kurt stumbles blindly over to his vanity and drops onto the stool, groaning at the prospect of opening his eyes. The day would go so much easier if he could keep them shut, but that would probably make taking the subway way more challenging. Kurt blinks his eyes open, lids dragging over sticky corneas, objecting to the idea of letting light anywhere near his retinas. Kurt turns away from the mirror when a stream of light hits the reflective surface and brightens the room.

“Jeez,” Kurt mumbles, putting a hand to his aching head, shielding his eyes. “Hey, Blaine? Did you hand me a hard cider instead of a Diet Coke last night or something? Because I feel awful!”

Blaine doesn’t answer. A few more blinks confirm that Kurt’s boyfriend isn’t even in the room.

Uh-oh, Kurt thinks. That’s never a good sign.

Kurt rubs his eyes hard with the heels of his palms, blinking between rubs to kick-start the watering process. He manages to clear his bleary vision enough to get a decent glimpse of his reflection in the mirror, and his jaw drops.

“BLAINE!” Kurt roars when he sees the grotesque purple splotches running up and down his neck, covering nearly every conceivable inch of skin.

“Yes?” Blaine peeks his head in the bedroom door, biting his lower lip when he catches Kurt’s reflection in the mirror. “Can I help you with something, love?”

“Did you do this?” Kurt asks, pawing at his neck, running his fingertips over the marks, gasping in horror at the nastier ones.

“No?” Blaine says uneasily. “It was a mosquito. You ... you said so yourself.”

Kurt frowns.

Blaine is a horrible liar. 

An incredible actor, but a horrible liar.

Not too long ago, Kurt and Blaine stumbled upon another vampire. A friendly vampire. Victim of circumstance, like Blaine, but for a far less comical reason. This vampire warned Kurt to be careful, said that now that Blaine was a vampire, he'd be better at hiding the truth. 

But he isn't. 

Not by a long shot.

He was a better liar when he was human.

Kurt pivots on his stool to glare angrily at Blaine since looking at his non-reflection through the mirror was getting irritating.

“A mosquito did this?” Kurt points to a particularly massive and vicious-looking bite, countering Blaine’s ridiculous lie.

“Y-yes?”  

Kurt turns back to the mirror right as a more intense beam of sunlight hits the glass. He yelps, squeezing his eyes shut hard to avoid the glare.

“Dammit, Blaine!” Kurt leaps off the stool and races to the window to secure the black-out curtains. “You did bite me! I can feel it! All the way to the back of my brain!”

“Only a little,” Blaine finally admits, daring a few steps into the room.

“Only a little? I look like ground meat! Blaine!” Kurt staggers back to his vanity to better examine the damage.

“D-don’t freak out.” Blaine sits on the edge of the bed, watching Kurt set up his arsenal of foundation, intent on covering up the bruises. “The photophobia will wear off in a few hours.”

“It’s not the photophobia that’s bothering me.” Kurt opens a container of green base makeup to prep his violated neck. “If you wanted a late-night snack, could you have at least bitten a spot that won’t show? I have play practice this afternoon, and you know how important this is to me. I look diseased!”

“You could always wear a scarf,” Blaine suggests. "You have tons."

“I bought a new Marc Jacobs shirt with a V-neckline, and none of my scarves go with it,” Kurt argues, turning left and right, whimpering at his boyfriend’s handiwork. “And I was really looking forward to wearing it today.”

“Yeah ... I wanted to ask you about that …”

“Ask me about what?” Kurt asks, dabbing furiously.

“Why the departure from your leather jacket and t-shirts? I mean, you were into fashion when we met, but when I became a … you know …”

“Vampire?” Kurt offers flatly. He has come to terms with it, but, to be honest, there is a part of him that is having a hard time forgiving Blaine over it.

“Yeah, that,” Blaine says sheepishly. “You changed your look. And I know it might sound silly, but it meant something to me. Like, I transformed, and then you did, too. I thought you did it so we would match."

"I did," Kurt admits.

"So ... why are you buying designer clothes again?”

“Because this is an important production, and I want to look a little more professional,” Kurt explains. “I’m not doing it to hurt you if that’s what you think. I'm not that kind of person.”

Blaine nods, but he doesn’t look convinced. “Is it really that? Or is it because that blond with the sexy English accent is going to be there?” 

"What?" Kurt stops fussing with his makeup, an applicator wedge slathered in primer poised an inch from his skin. "Why would you think ...?" Kurt's eyes go wide. “Wait, wait, wait …” He turns to face Blaine, whose gaze darts away to meticulously examine the threads of Kurt’s Valentina comforter. “Are you jealous?”

Blaine falls silent a moment, gets lost in thought. Then, as if suddenly remembering he's in the middle of a conversation, sputters a weak laugh.

“What? N-no. Not a bit. What do I have to be jealous of?”

“Exactly.” Kurt puts his makeup wedge down and scoots closer, placing his hands on Blaine’s knees. “What do you have to be jealous of?”

“Maybe the fact that you’re living the dream? Not just your dream, but mine, too. A dream I’m never going to be able to fulfill.” Blaine's eyes travel from the comforter to the floor, where a narrow ray of light spreads over the wood. “Or maybe … I'm jealous of this …” He sweeps a hand through the beam, his skin sizzling at the touch of sunlight.

“Blaine! Stop! Don’t hurt yourself!” Kurt reaches for Blaine’s burnt hand and holds it in his. He stands and pulls Blaine down the width of the bed, farther away from the window. Kurt sits beside him, rests his head on Blaine’s shoulder. “Oh, honey. We talked about this.”

Blaine shrugs the opposite shoulder, uncomfortable with laying his fears bare, but he doesn’t pull his hand away, curling his fingers over Kurt’s to keep them joined. Kurt looks into Blaine’s face, into glowing red eyes fighting to stay open as the oncoming dawn weighs heavy on him. Kurt knows Blaine’s transformation has been difficult for him to adjust to, but it has never been particularly challenging for them as a couple – not until Kurt landed the starring role in a play that had the potential to go from the humble student theater at NYADA to off-Broadway, with Kurt leading the charge. “No one is going to replace you. And that guy …” Kurt shakes his head. “He doesn’t even come close. Besides ..." Kurt grins "... I’m not the flirt in this relationship. You are.”

"Yeah, well, not so much anymore." Blaine chuckles, tired eyes lifting to meet Kurt’s.

"You have your moments." Kurt raises a hand to cup Blaine’s cold cheek. "You have to trust me."

“I do trust you.” Blaine turns into Kurt’s hand and kisses his wrist, right above the pulse that calls to him incessantly, echoing his need. Blaine doesn’t know if it’s the love he carried over into this immortal life or if that need has always been there, but he has a bond with Kurt – one that would devastate him if it was broken. “It’s that guy I don’t trust. I’ve been to your midnight rehearsals. I see the way he looks at you when he thinks you’re not paying attention.”

“And do you remember the way I used to look at you at Dalton when I thought you weren’t paying attention?”

“Yeah,” Blaine answers with a wistful laugh. “Yeah, I do.” If Blaine closes his eyes, he can see those furtive glances - Kurt's magical blue eyes grazing Blaine's face before returning to his books, smile growing, cheeks burning red.

God, he misses those days. Misses the excitement of newborn love, the kind of urgent, drama-filled attraction that happens only in high school. He mourns the fact that their life together, the one they had planned so carefully, came to such an abrupt end.

It was all his fault.

And nothing he can do will fix it.

“Well, I still do.” Kurt leans in close and presses a kiss to Blaine’s lips. Blaine smiles into it, wants it to go on forever, even when he feels his strength ebbing away. As the sun rises higher in the sky, Blaine’s need to find somewhere dark to rest amplifies, but he’ll do anything to stay like this and keep kissing his boyfriend.

But he can’t, even if he could convince Kurt to play hooky and stay home with him, and that’s one more thing he has to be jealous of.

“I should let you get back to your cover-up,” Blaine says, relinquishing his grip on Kurt’s hand. Kurt looks at his vanity, at the army of small bottles and jars awaiting him, all very expensive. And not a one of them more important than his boyfriend. Not even his clear, alabaster skin is more important to him than Blaine.

“You know what? Fuck it!” Kurt jumps up the bed and pulls Blaine along with him. “So what if I wear a scarf that doesn't match? No one at NYADA really knows fashion anyway."

"What about ... what about the play?" Blaine argues but he's not fighting. He couldn't if he wanted to.

And Lord knows, he doesn't want to.

"I’ll have the makeup girl cover them up. Let her earn her keep. This way, everybody gets to see the marks my baby gave me.”

“Really?” Blaine raises an eyebrow. 

Kurt tugs Blaine on top of him, and Blaine carefully settles over Kurt’s body.

“Yup. In fact, I think I can handle a few more, if you’re not too tired, that is.” Kurt loops his arms around Blaine’s neck, threading his fingers into his hair. His skin may be unnaturally cool to the touch, but his hair still feels like silk. It’s one of Kurt’s favorite things about Blaine’s new body.

“I think I can do that,” Blaine says, biding past the daybreak and finding a clear spot on Kurt’s neck. “We’ll give that makeup girl a run for her money.”

#klaine #Klaine fic #klaine fanfiction #klainetober

[raendown]

My part of a trade with @rookie-d and boy was this fun to write! 

Pairing: MadaraTobirama Word count: 3477 Rated: T+ Summary: Madara hated the morning shift. It was always boring and getting up early sucked. Thankfully the one time he had to work it something interesting happened, at least.

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

KO-FI and commission info in the header!

Zombies Before Noon

Their first meeting was one that Madara would remember for all the reasons Tobirama probably wished he would forget. Several hours in to a criminally early morning shift he was bored out of his skull and wondering why the hell a comic book shop needed to be open before any of the local nerds around here were even awake. He’d already tidied the shelves four times and dusted the entire premises twice when the cheery jingle of the bell over their door made him lift his head hopefully. That look quickly morphed in to horror as he took in the sight of what was clearly a zombie entering the store. 

Skin so pale it looked almost paper white, circles under his eyes so dark they looked drawn on with marker, and clothes rumpled like they hadn’t seen an ironing board in years, the man who stumbled in had his eyes completely closed and his arms hanging loose at both sides. Only three steps in he stopped dead and just stood there. Motionless. Possibly not breathing. Madara looked around for a hidden camera, wondering if his younger brother had set him up for some kind of weird prank. That was the sort of thing Izuna would do. Nothing new or suspicious stuck out to him, though, so he turned back to the stranger who was now slowly blinking his eyes open. Well, partially open. They remained squinted so tightly he probably couldn’t see any better still. 

“Coffee?” he rumbled in a deep slur. Madara looked around for cameras again. 

“Uh, we don’t serve that here.” 

“...black.” 

Furrowing his brows, Madara repeated himself. “We don’t serve coffee.”

The pale man blinked slowly with a gaze that didn’t seem to really be focused on anything. 

“Extra espresso…” his words trailed off like he meant to continue with something off and yet nothing came. After almost a full minute he managed to close his jaw again with a muted click. Then he merely stood and let his narrowed eyes bore directly in to Madara’s. 

It was the single creepiest thing this shop had ever seen. And considering the varying clientele that was saying something.

For a good hot second Madara contemplated reaching in to his pocket and calling the police. Or maybe the Disease Center. Either one of them would no doubt be very interested in this spontaneous zombie apocalypse. Then the moment passed and he realized this was probably the most interesting thing that was likely to happen to him until the early afternoon crowd began to show up near the very end of his shift. He might as well see how it played out. 

“Would an energy drink do you? We’ve got all sorts of those. Pretty cheap too.” 

“....mn.”

Since he wasn’t very sure what that meant Madara opted for believing he’d just made a sale. Trying to ask questions about flavor and the like would most likely get about as coherent an answer as the ones he’d already gotten so after a moment of going through their inventory in his mind he stepped over to the fridge behind the counter to pick out the highest concentration of caffeine they carried. It also happened to be one of their cheaper brands as well, which was great in case he ended up having to pay for this himself. Did zombies remember how to pick out money from their wallets?

Did zombies even carry their wallets?

“Here. These don’t really taste all that great but it’s got enough of a kick to revive you or whatever.” 

A few seconds after he handed it over he realized his mistake. The oddly still man blinked slowly when Madara cracked the can open for him but finally seemed to understand that there was a liquid in his hand he was meant to drink. His head tilted back to reveal a surprisingly shapely throat that bobbed up and down in a steady rhythm until the entire can was emptied, hung there unmoving for a few seconds more, then his head tilted back down with an honest to god pout on his face. Apparently he’d thought the can was bottomless.

“Right. Feel free to browse or whatever before you come settle up. Register’s over there.” Madara jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. “If you pass out try to fall away from the merchandise.” 

“Nnmm.”

“Oookay.” 

Scurrying back to the register was more for the sake of anyone looking in through the windows on their way by than for his own sense of safety. He really didn’t need anyone to call his boss and say they spotted him stalking a customer in his own store. At least he had a comfortable perch from which he could survey the entire floor, set out in a semi circle as it was, giving him a perfect view down each of their short aisles. No matter where this one man circus drifted he would be within eyesight. Madara watched with undisguised fascination while the guy drifted down aisle three, staring hard at a display entirely covered with merchandise for a popular children’s show about brightly colored ponies. The empty drink can remained clutched tightly in one fist.

With drunken steps he wound his way out of that section and in to aisle five. Despite staring directly at their selection of comics for a particular super hero universe Madara got the impression he wasn’t actually seeing any of them. Either he was hopelessly lost inside his own head or he had astrally projected so hard he wouldn’t find himself for another week. Just as the man lifted his hand, perhaps at last to interact with the world around him, the door of the shop jingled violently open to admit a harried looking woman. 

“There you are!” she screeched. Without even sparing a look around the rest of the open space she marched around a display of new releases and clapped a hand down on the zombie man’s shoulder. “I have been looking for you for over an hour, you absolute dick! Do you know how worried we’ve been? Your brother would have taken my damn head off if anything happened to you on my watch!” 

“...nm?”

“Oh for fuck’s sake!”

Pinching the bridge of her nose, the woman shook her head and finally looked around. The fact that there weren’t any other customers seemed to console her a little bit, probably relieved there weren’t more witnesses to her bad skills at keeping track of one man. When her eyes looked on to Madara he refused to quail under the force of her glare. A part of him sort of wanted to. He spent as much time in the gym as the next self-conscious guy but the look she was giving him promised that she, in fact, was the one with an ability to rip heads. To his absolute shame, he looked away first. But only for long enough for the weight of her gaze to leave him so he could go back to watching this drama unfold in front of him. 

“Come on,” she growled, tugging at the man’s sleeve. “Next time this happens I am tying you to the bed until you fucking learn! Did you even pay for that drink? You are so paying me back for this, I don’t care if it’s only a couple bucks!”

It wasn’t all that surprising how little resistance the man offered to being pulled across the floor and back out on to the street, though Madara did give some thought to whether or not he should be calling the police. Should he be reporting assault over this? It was too bad the owners were too cheap to install any real security other than the one camera pointing straight at the door and the one directly over the till. Some proper footage of what happened probably would have made great evidence if someone came back to question him.  

For several minutes after he was left suddenly alone Madara stared towards the door and wondered if it was possible that he might have hallucinated everything that just happened. Maybe he’d been reading too many of the comics in here. His mother used to warn him when he was little that using his imagination too much would rot out his common sense - but, then again, she was a cantankerous old bitch who kicked him out as soon as he turned eighteen. He’d never put much stock in anything she had to say. And then there were the coins that crazy lady had tossed over the counter on their way by, that was pretty solid evidence that he wasn’t hallucinating. 

Without a live zombie show for entertainment the rest of his shift at the comic shop mostly passed in boredom. Usually he worked the afternoon shifts just for this very reason. The mornings were always dead but he’d had to reschedule an appointment with his doctor three times already and trading shifts today had been the only way he was getting in there without having to wait several more weeks for another open spot. Medical care in their city seriously needed a bigger budget. Desperate to pass the time without resorting to the merchandise he wasn’t supposed to fiddle with on shift, Madara ended up slumped over the front counter doodling on the back of some old receipt paper he found stuffed in to a random drawer. Nearly half the page disappeared under swirls of red ink before he realized that he was drawing a dead, moaning zombie. With a sheepish look around he set the red pen aside and reached for a black one instead. Hopefully that would inspire some less creepy doodles. 

As expected, a couple hours before the end of his shift he finally started seeing some customers, his fellow nerds flocking in to check for new issues of the latest detective comic or merchandise for their favorite anime characters. Madara kept a sharp eye on the ones he didn’t recognize and gave no more thought to the entertaining if odd start to his day. After work he scurried off to the bus stop and barely made it to his long overdue doctor’s appointment before stumbling back on to the bus an hour after that with a bandaid on his arm and several vials of blood less in his body. 

“M’ home,” he called weakly as he shuffled inside the apartment. Something clattered around the corner, followed quickly by the sound of Izuna swearing.

“Did the appointment go well?” His brother’s voice shouted after him on his way down the hall. 

Tossing his jacket through the door of his bedroom, he called back. “Went fine. Had to get some blood pulled. Dumb ass doctor doesn’t think I know my own body enough to tell when I’m having seasonal allergies. He wants to test me for heart disease!” 

“But...those aren’t...anki, that makes no sense!” 

“I know!” Madara rolled his eyes even though the other couldn’t see him. “Apparently being short of breath because of the all the ragweed means I must be on the verge of a heart attack.” 

“Probably got his medical degree out of a cereal box.” 

Tired, a little loopy from having too much blood drawn without eating anything, Madara’s thoughts for the rest of his evening were filled mostly with grumbles about incompetant medical staff and listening to Izuna go on about the latest drama from his apprenticeship. Work was so far from his mind he entirely forgot to mention the strange occurrence from that morning. He went to bed that night thinking only that he was grateful his shifts were back to their usual afternoon schedule tomorrow because he certainly didn’t want to wake up early again, his dreams filled with needles that laughed at him while he sneezed uncontrollably. 

Several days went by with the usual humdrum of the life Madara and his brother had fallen in to. As much as he despised the morning shift, he loved the afternoons with equal fervor. His job at the comic shop didn’t pay much more than a basic living wage but he loved the environment, loved his regular customers, and he especially loved the hefty discount it gave him on all the nerdy merchandise he couldn’t help filling their home with. Things went about as normally as they usually did in his life until the fourth day when Madara looked up from checking out a regular customer to find the next person in line was an actual walking snack. 

Wild hair artfully arranged to somehow look purposefully messy, skin so pale he could be mistaken for an albino, red eyes that Madara would swear could see right down in to his soul, he was already a dreamboat even without taking in the deliciously toned rest of his body. Something about him looked familiar but it was hard to concentrate past the broad shoulders standing straight and tall. 

“Can I - ahem - how can I help you?” Madara fought with his cheeks not to flush bright red and prayed that no one would comment on the massive crack his voice had just done. 

“You wouldn’t happen to be Madara, would you?” the man asked in a deep rumble. “Your coworkers described you to me when I came in here yesterday.”

“I am, yes. Uh...is there something wrong?” 

Shaking his head, the man coughed a little as though feeling uncomfortable. “No, no. I only wanted to come in and thank you for not kicking me out of your store the other day. I was, ah, fairly ill at the time and my behavior was not the best. Several shops had already sent me on my way but you allowed me to stay in one place long enough for my cousin to catch up so I wanted to say thank you for letting me stay somewhere safe. Anything could have happened to me in that state.” 

For a second Madara tried to subtly look the man up and down, trying to determine if he was lying or not. Surely this couldn’t be the same guy? It was only after he mentally added some black streaks under the eyes, hunched the shoulders, and squinted the eyes that he realized it was. This was his zombie customer. 

“You don’t look the same at all!” was the first thing his stupid mouth chose to blurt out. 

“Ah. Thank you, I think.” The man coughed awkwardly again. “I’m told I look fairly awful whenever I work myself in to sleep deprivation.” 

“Oh is that why you were acting so much like a zombie? Wait no! Shit! Sorry, that was rude! Um, shit- gah, I’m not supposed to swear, fuck. Damn it!” Exasperated with his own lack of self control, Madara smacked a hand over his face. Nearby one of his regulars could be heard snickering but glaring them in to silence would have meant removing his hand and facing the hot stranger who’d made him splutter. 

To his eternal relief, no comments were made about his verbal idiocy, although he could definitely hear traces of amusement in the man’s tone when he continued speaking. 

“Yes, unfortunately I have a habit of getting a little too involved in my studies. Exams are coming up so I’ve only been sleeping about two or three hours a night and it, ah, finally caught up to me apparently. I don’t remember much but my cousin tells me I wandered out of her house sometime around six in the morning and she didn’t find me until, er, whenever it was she found me in here.” After scratching at the back of his neck he seemed to jolt himself and then held out the same hand. “I’m Tobirama, by the way.” 

“Madara. But um, you apparently already knew that.” 

They shook hands, at which point Madara realized the other man’s incredible height also came with massive hands that practically engulfed his own. He really hoped he wasn’t blushing as brightly as it felt like he was. 

“So you live around here then?” he asked. Then he wanted to slap himself again because that was probably way too personal of a question. 

“Not really. Well, not yet. I’m staying with my cousin so I can take some courses at the university but my brother is thinking of moving back to town so I’ll probably move back in with him if he does.” 

“Back to town?” Madara perked up. “So you’re from around here originally?” 

Tobirama nodded. “We grew up in the west end.”

“No kidding? Me too.” Squinting, Madara tried to determine whether they might have crossed paths when they were younger. The man did sort of look familiar but age could change a lot about a person and it wasn’t like he’d kept contact with anyone from that end of town. Not after he’d been summarily tossed to the curb. 

His closer interest did not go unnoticed. For a moment he flushed even deeper than he already was, thinking Tobirama might have been offended by his scrutiny. Then his ears were flaming for another reason entirely and he couldn’t even bring himself to be upset about the misunderstanding when the other leaned in just a bit closer with a slow smile. 

“I don’t suppose you’d like to go for coffee sometime?” he asked. “As a thank you, of course.” 

“On one condition,” Madara told him, feeling suddenly bold.

“Do tell.” Tobirama looked even more amused by his request. He leaned farther down to rest his weight on both elbows to patiently await the condition he would supposedly need to meet. 

“If you can describe the premise behind any of the comics in this store then you’ve got yourself a date. I’ve had too many people try and steer me away from ‘childish interests’ and think they can ‘help me grow up’.” 

After breaking up with the fourth person in a row who mocked him for his interests Madara had made a pact with himself to never again date anyone who didn’t accept him for who he was and what he loved. He might be a massive nerd but he’d learned the lesson of self value a long time ago and he wasn’t about to let himself be blinded by a pretty face again. 

To his utter delight, he needn't have worried this time. With a competitive sort of light in his eye Tobirama pointed out half a dozen different comics within eyesight and not only named the main characters but also the basis of the main plot for each of them. What made it all the more impressive was that he mostly chose rather obscure franchises that couldn’t be considered mainstream. Madara was half in love before he was finished describing the third one. Handsome, intelligent enough for university, and apparently in to the same geeky stuff as him? Sign him up. Immediately. 

“Okay, okay, point made!” Throwing up his hands in surrender made Tobirama smile. “You mentioned your exams are coming up so I’m guessing you’ll be busy for the next little while. Why don’t I give you my number and we can go out for coffee to celebrate after you don’t need to study so much?” 

“I would appreciate that a lot,” Tobirama murmured earnestly. 

“School’s obviously important to you if you’ll work yourself in to a zombie state over it,” Madara pointed out. 

He got a grateful look that made his stomach flip flop. Rather than make a fool of himself again he printed off a bit of blank receipt paper and wrote his number down, sliding it across the counter. He expected Tobirama to slip the paper in to his pocket but instead he pulled out a beaten up cell phone and entered the number right there, smiling to himself like he'd won an unexpected treat. 

“I’m sure Hashirama will be thrilled to know I’m finally being more social.”

Madara nearly stopped breathing. All the triumph of having secured a very promising date suddenly drained right out of him as he stared at the man across the counter in horror, several little clues falling in to place at once. Finally he’d figured out why Tobirama looked familiar and it wasn’t because he’d seen him in zombie form. Images of his childhood best friend danced across his memories.

“You’re...you’re Hashirama’s little brother,” he whimpered. “Oh god. Oh god! He’s going to kill me! He’s going to come back to Konoha just to cut all my hair off in a bowl cut to match his!” 

While Tobirama stared at him with a mixture of horror and amusement Madara decided that as long as he got that date first he didn’t much care how he died. One conversation - and one look at those well defined biceps - was all he’d needed to know that Tobirama would be well worth it.

#rae writes #madatobi #madara #tobirama #modern au #fanfiction

[whittakerjodie]

From Another Universe ( 13th Doctor X Reader )

Prompt:  Could you do an imagine with the 13th doctor where the reader is transported into their universe and the reader meets the gang but they see like a necklace or earrings of something (that symbolizes doctor who like a pendent of the TARDIS) and the doctor pulls them away from the group and asks then what the reader knows (basically everything from the 9th doctor till now) and promises to keep it private from the others and so on. (Sorry it's kinda long and possibly confusing 😅 KISSES!) requested by @dannighost​

A/N Hope you enjoy! 

Words: 1.5k

   You didn’t know how long it’d been since you’d found yourself in this dimension/parallel world. You also had no idea how to get back to your world. The first days were spent mainly running around, freaking out as you tried to find out where you were. It appeared to be Earth as you knew it, but all attempts to contact your family and friends wouldn't go through, even when you tried other phones. That's when you knew something was seriously wrong. 

   You tried to think of a plan and chose to acquire a library card so you could have easy access to wifi and search tools. You scoured through the Wikipedia pages of every major event i history you could think of to see if anything was different. Researching in the library was a beacon of hope, but it sadly fell flat. You had no way of actually going about an attempt to get back to your universe beyond knowing that you needed to. 

    Today was another ‘research’ day, but truthfully you weren’t trying anymore. It was all you could do, though. You had no identity in this universe. You couldn’t get a job, a house, anything; the library was all that you had. You scrolled mindlessly on the computer, reading up on yet another small difference in world history. Suddenly, you heard a large crash from outside. It was the result of some unseen but extreme force and it caused everything in the library to shake. The lights flickered as you tried to stabilize yourself, heart leaping out of your chest. What. the. Hell. was. That? 

   You shakily rose from your computer seat, cautiously making your way towards the window to see what had caused the crash. 

   Your heart, which was racing all to fast for you to handle, suddenly came to a brief stop. Outside, in the gardens in front of the library, there was a large group of Cybermen. You blinked several times, trying to convince yourself that you weren’t actually seeing what you were. There’s no way, you thought. No way at all. Doctor who was fake. A TV show- nothing more. So what was one of the main villains doing landing in front of the library? You reached up and wrapped your fingers around the TARDIS necklace that you’d been wearing every since you arrived in this strange new world. 

   Was this what had happened? Had you somehow been transported into  your favorite TV show? Your head was racing, and the fact that you could see Jodie whittak- the Doctor off in the distance didn’t exactly help calm you down. You heard shouting in the library hallway.

The door to the computer lab burst open and Yaz and Ryan, two of the current companions, entered. You stared blankly at them, frozen in place as your brain tried to process even more information being thrown at you after days and days of boring research. 

“Hi! Sorry, we have to use one of these really quick, do you mind?” Yaz asked. The normalcy of the question barely helped to ground you. Ryan didn’t wait for an answer, closing out all your tabs and starting a new one. When you nodded stiffly, Yaz raised a brow. “You alright, miss?” 

   You instinctively shook your head, panic and confusion overriding any control you had over function or thought. She stepped closer, concern evident. Her eyes scanned your shaking form, stopping when they reached the TARDIS necklace. 

“What is that?” She exclaimed. She took another step forward and grasped it, turning it over in her hand. Her exclamation had caught the attention of Ryan, who stopped whatever he was doing on the computer to look at your necklace. 

“But that's the TARDIS” He said blankly. You snatched the necklace back. Him and Yaz both looked equally confused as you- even matching your panic. “How do you know about that? Who are you?” 

“Back off!” You yelled. Both him and Yaz looked taken aback and you felt a slight bit of shame. I can’t believe I yelled at some of my favorite fictional characters, you thought. I can’t believe I CAN yell at some of my favorite fictional characters. 

“Listen… I have absolutely no idea what's going on. All I know is that You’re Yaz and Ryan, the Doctor is somewhere out there, and there's goddamn cybermen and I already knew I’m not where I’m meant to be and all your doing is making me way more panicked.“ 

They both shared a look, but Ryan shrugged as if this wasn’t the weirdest thing they’d encountered. 

“Yeah, Sorry about that. We should probably get the Doctor” Yaz said. 

___________

   You sneaked past the cybermen with the two of them, answering the multitude of questions they had for you. You explained to them that you’d woken up in this new place, and you were trying to get back home when they showed up. 

“So if you’re from a different world, how do you know us then?” Ryan asked. “Are we all friends or something?” 

“Not exactly” you chuckled nervously. You still weren’t sure how to go about explaining that they were TV show characters. Might have to come up with a way fast, you thought. You were approaching the iconic blue box, anticipation building inside of you. Yaz moved to open the door but you stopped her. When she gave you a look you shrunk a little. 

“Sorry it's just- I’ve always wanted to go in the TARDIS. Do you mind if I go first?” 

   Yaz shook her head, and you practically felt the anticipation spilling out of your pores. Years and years of being a Doctor Who fan, and here you were about to enter THE TARDIS. Not a fake one erected at a comic con or a thrift store- the real deal, and you were opening the door. 

   Nothing could compare to the feeling of stepping inside. You didn’t even notice the Doctor at the console at first. You were too busy taking in the walls, the floors and the lights. The whole atmosphere was hitting you like a semi truck. It almost brought you to tears. It did bring you to tears, and they were now flowing down your cheeks. 

“Who’s this, then?” You perked up at the accent and your eyes shot to the timelord. You were mostly passed the shock of being in her universe, and it was replaced with relief. She was a hero, if anyone could get you home (or at the very least help you out in some way) it was her. You wiped your tears away.

   Yaz showed off your necklace and explained to the Doctor how they’d run into you and your predicament. The Doctor took her turn of staring at the necklace. She outlined your form with her sonic screwdriver to confirm the story. After a few moments, she asked you to step aside.

“Alright” She said softly. “It certainly seems like you’re not from here… if you don’t mind me asking, how much exactly do you know?”

You felt a spark of joy at the ability to overshare; something familiar to any fan of anything ever. You laughed. “Well, where do I start?” 

___________

   It had been nearly half an hour. The Doctor was silent as you rambled on and on (and on, and on, and on) staring at you in an almost horrified awe as you perfectly described every event of the past 11 seasons of Doctor Who. “And THEN they totally killed River Song off which was just cruel after Clara's exit and- Oh! I forgot to talk about the silence in the library episodes didn’t I. How did I forget-” 

“Okay, I think now's a good time to stop.” You clamped your mouth shut as the Doctor cleared her throat awkwardly. “Clearly, you know quite a bit” 

   You nodded sheepishly. “I promise I’m not a spy or a villain or anything. There's no good way to say this I suppose- you guys are all characters in a show I watch, so that's how I know.” 

“So your earth has a TV show about me? That’s nice” She smiled, lost in thought for a fraction of  moment. “You can’t tell anyone, though. Certainly not Yaz or Ryan. As far as they know, you’re just a person stuck here from another universe. We can say you travel with me there.” 

“I won’t tell them anything” You promised. “Being here with you guys is crazy enough” 

   Even though it was nice to be surrounded by your favorite characters, you did feel a bit of sadness creep up behind you. You still needed to leave them and go home. The Doctor seemed to know exactly what you were thinking and jumped towards the TARDIS console. 

“Right then, awkwardness aside, I will get you home, Y/N”

“But Doctor,” Yaz perked up from far across the room. Her and Ryan had been busy playing cards during your rambling. “What about the cybermen?”

   The Doctor, who had seemed hellbent on making good on her promise right then and there, froze in disappointment. You almost laughed at how much she looked like a sad puppy. She met your amused gaze and smiled, brightening up again. 

“Care to help us with a quick adventure before we take you home, Y/N?” 

You didn’t even know why she bothered asking.

#I hope this was good ahhh #13th doctor x reader #13th doctor #13th doctor imagine

[schibi12]

Childhood Commentary: The Fox and The Hound

Another movie that i was suppose to see with my younger sibling but couldn't find in spanish sorry again.

So this movie i didn't see it a lot as a child but the few times i saw it i enjoyed it and cried like a baby so this might be interesting, i think i haven't seen this movie like in 8 or 9 years so i don't remember a lot about it but the emotional moments so yeah let start this!!

Oh and Spoiler Alert!

First i want to talk about the animation cause people tend to say that the Animation during the Dark age (70's and 80's) is bad and cheap but in this movie i think it's pretty good and with the forest watercolor backgrounds it still holds up like look a this scene its so pretty

Oh and that Opening no music, no song just the sound of nature and gunshots and then we see a little baby Tod with his mom and then she gets killed!?!?! Forget about Bambi's mom why is nobody talking about Tod's mom (Just kidding but why though). I think this scene really sets the tone of the movie

So the first half with Copper and Tod as well pups or children i guess? Was really good it establishes their relationship as friends and whats to come and how there dynamics with their respective owners work, Widow Tweed sees Tod as a companion although a pet she loves him deeply and with Amos Slade is more of a boss/worker relationship yeah he may love him but really he adopted him because he is a hound and those dog are great at hunting it really tells you how are the animals are gonna be raised, and i loved the few scenes of Copper and Tod just playing and being friends and with this scene i started to tear up.

And the first chase or hunt for Tod when Chief chases him although a bit comedic it was a nice introduction of whats to come.

There is like 5 songs in this movie in my opinion they should have only used Best of Friends and Goodbye May Seem Forever i think they have the more impact on the story than the rest but thats just my opinion feel free to disagree (no hate though).

So the second half we see our protagonist all grown up and i love how much Copper changed after his hunting trip and just sees his friendship with Tod as something childish but Tod still wants to keep that friendship but still Copper gives him a chance to escape and sadly it doesn't go that way Chief gets injured and Amos and Copper want revenge and then i was full on crying with this scene

So the forest scenes were nice i thought Vixey was ok i don't see her character that interesting but those hunting scenes with the traps, the fire and the bear i forgot all these scenes it was so suspenseful and thrilling and seeing Copper and Tod getting all feral and fighting shows how much they changed but not fully as well i would just you the scene and yes i was crying again.

And although nobody dies in the ending it still heartbreaking to see that they can't ever be friends and we hear the phrase one more time "Copper, you're my best friend. And you're mine too, Tod. And we'll always be friends forever. Won't we? Yeah, forever." And again dear reader i was crying i was an emotional wreck.

The voice actors where good especially the child actors and surprisingly Kurt Russell i didn't know he voiced Copper till i saw the credits but i think he did a great job and Mickey Rooney was good but his first scenes he sounded a bit awkward.

One complaint i have of is about Dinky and Boomer, i know the movie needed some comedy and comic relief but i felt like their scenes were a bit too long or unfunny sometimes.

Well the movie isn't perfect i think the plot with some changes it could have a bigger emotional impact like maybe have a montage through time of Copper and Tod being friends instead of having them spend like 3 days as friends, this might sound wrong but i think Chief should have died first form a big brother relationship with him and Copper so when he dies i think it deepens more the revenge of wanting Tod dead (for the live-action remake Disney).

But even with these complaints i still like it, i enjoyed it, felt tense in some scenes, laughed and cried a lot it does enter my top 10 of favorite Disney Movies it was definitely an emotional experience and if you haven't seen it i recommend you watch this!

Life Lesson from this Movie: True Friendship survives any obstacle or trial.

Well thanks for reading my long review/commentary.

See ya real soon!!

#disney #the fox and the hound #disney film #disney movie #review #childhood commentary

[blankdblank]

Brother Dearest Pt 21

Bags settled back into his usual bedroom Erik was off to go fishing with James and Victor while you changed listening to Eddie about his first day. “I didn’t realize just how much I missed school. It is nothing really like high school, it’s all on you. You decide to go to class, take notes and do the assignments and you get the results for how hard you push at it. All with people from everywhere.” His eyes locked on yours when you came back buttoning your trousers over your comfy t shirt you had tucked in, “I missed you though, and Teddy terribly. I can’t wait for you to get to Barnard and see what you can do there. I know you’ll be incredible.”

“So will you, future reporter,” making him smile at you in return.

“How was today?”

“Good, bit slow, town seems to like Erik, looks like he can earn a bit for savings through his stay.”

“That’s good, I’m glad he’s getting along so well out here. I think he could be incredible too, seems to have your mind. Could be a great team if he picks the same path.”

“Yes, then he can lay the ground work and I can squeak in behind him.”

“There will be no squeaking for you. I know you, and you leapt through a tank. I will never forget that, charged right at it, tore a hole in it and slammed it shut behind you, you do not squeak in behind anyone. They will move or be torn apart.”

“You really think anyone will listen to me or take me seriously when my greatest achievement over the being the only woman to win the Medal of Honor is to walk down the aisle?”

“It is never who’s gonna let you, but who is gonna stop you?”

Again you were grinning and laid down beside Teddy who was napping you inched closer to and kissed his cheek, “One thing’s for sure, he’s never gonna be like them.”

Eddie shook his head, “Not a tick. Not a moment, everything is going to change and he’s going to be a part of it. All our munchkins are.”

.

“I think orange sherbet,” Looking over the pictures of rooms with test patches of paint for each the brothers and Erik gave agreeing nods to while Eddie seemed a bit distracted. “Then maybe the periwinkle for here?”

Eddie sighed out, “Dawn likes periwinkle.”

Victor smirked, “Whatcha got there, Eddie?” Looking at the hand wrapped around something that Eddie was clearly mulling over.

Eddie looked up and said, “Well, Dawn and I have been doing well with our date nights, and, my cousin came up, brought this.” You all looked at the rectangular emerald wrapped in diamonds with a matching two criss crossing wedding bands coated in diamonds as well. “Caught her looking at something similar back when Bunny had those Bridal magazines at the diner. Made sure to leave them out by me on lunch with Dot sighing out how Daisy likes emeralds over rubies. Tapped into funds from the comics and savings from working through the rebuild. It’s fast-,”

Victor chuckled and James said, “It’s almost June, we’ll be in Alberta for the D-Day reunion and Mid July we will be back in Brooklyn. I am surprised she hasn’t drug you to the courthouse by your hair yet.”

Victor, “She loves Teddy, the puppies are almost here, and you have to get some input for furniture as well since she is moving with us, even David and their father has expected her to.”

James, “You have asked for her father’s permission?”

Eddie nodded, “Of course. Well, I stammered something of the sort, but he did give me credit on writing out a five page speech he read then agreed to my asking. Only, well, I think Dawn knows.”

You giggled, “Of course she knows.”

Eddie, “I want it to be special, like yours, but not like yours to make her feel like I’m unimaginative.”

James smirked saying, “You could try a scavenger hunt.” That had Eddie’s brow inching up.

Victor, “When she was little couldn’t get enough of them. I’m sure we could help to keep her distracted, you plan a trip to the gazebo where her grandfather proposed after building it.”

Eddie nodded, “She mentioned that,”

James and Victor replied, “Just mentioned?”

You giggled and Erik said, “Even I have been told the tale five times since arriving.”

.

The plan had been formed and an obscure list of tasks were subtly scattered around town. A request to borrow this, someone to trade for that. A helping hand to move something and with a message left for another person sure to spread around a distracting tidbit keeping Dawn off guard. Mention Eddie was helping with a fence would put her off guard having assumed all that was planned was a dinner the night before his graduation ceremony she had picked a nice dress pattern for something new to wear for it. Halfway through her shift though an entering gossiper would share the story. Leading her over to another’s house, planting her right in the path to help another neighbor with a pre set errand.

While you, James, Victor and Erik worked on recovering your mother’s old chair that had taken a week to mend back to new plushy status perfect for reading in by replacing nearly all of the worn out wood and padding, Eddie went to fetch Dawn who blushed furiously noticing finally how late she imagined she was for their dinner plans. Mention of a request her mother had made to drop by to check something for her however had her delivered unknowingly to the right place and time. Guiding her back to the lit up gazebo that just about had her in tears keeping his stammering question distracted from enough to have her crash into his chest knocking him on his back an answer of a kiss. David and Daisy elatedly snapped pictures and kept watch of Teddy as Eddie took Dawn off to dinner in town to show off her ring.

Walking on air he returned home and you readied the plans to have another body for the drive to Alberta in the morning. Where your big day was set for nearly a year out, they had hoped for something much sooner. Already she had stayed over twice after having fallen asleep helping to sit up with Teddy in his first rounds with teething and had been offered a room of her own to keep with their choice to wait to even cuddle in bed till after the wedding. For Dawn simple was always what she wanted, and the week after next the date had been set. Everything was mainly potluck, and she already had her dress, though to wait out a storm for the reception in the barn, where the Judge from the courthouse had agreed to move his service to officiate as he normally did in the lack of a Priest for the church, two weeks was agreed.

Already a father and well into an internship with a stack of articles he was given to research and turn in Eddie was ready to get married. Head over heels in love with Dawn since he first met her and ready for their future together, one she wildly had agreed to venture outside of their safe bubble to brave the wild New York to be with him as he and the others supported you. It seemed even Erik had planned to one day join you there and educate himself further, part of the plus for earning these funds to save up for it.

.

“The glue should be dry.” James stood after checking his watch breaking your cuddling position in the grass under the sun. For hours you had been working with Erik on both practicing your powers. Tossing metal chunks back and forth you warped into various shapes between bouts of levitating yourselves up into trees or over fallen logs in a sort of obstacle course in the woods the brothers laughed calling out more of the course to spread the game even more as they scampered up behind you both.

Victor reached out helping Erik up while James helped you to your feet, the former saying, “Let’s go finish our tables and that should be it on furniture.”

Erik said with a smile, “I think I am starting to like building.”

Victor chuckled patting him on the back, “Always good to have a hands on hobby.”

Erik looked up at him, “You aren’t going to say I should be a builder?”

Victor, “Do you want to be a builder?”

Erik shook his head, “Mother says there is always work for builders.”

James, “Not always, but most of the year if you know where to look yes. You could try architecture, something to work that mind of yours if you want to go the building route.”

Erik, “Should I not choose an easier job in demand for funds?”

The brothers chuckled and Victor said, “One thing you have to know kid, there will always be work depending on what you are willing to put up with for funds. We’ve worked in everything from mills, digging ditches up to building sky scrapers, even owned a sock shop once. Choose what you have passion for. What challenges that mind of yours, menial jobs will only lead you to bouts of frustration for how simple it is. If it means taking the harder path then do it. It will never not be worth it to try for what you are passionate about.”

James nodded, “Don’t worry about funds. You have us, no matter where you go we’ll make sure you’re set up safe with a roof and square meals a day. You’re family. Edie bless her heart is just worried about you, as mothers do for their babies. She’ll be proud of you when you reach that dream of yours.”

“Sock shop?” You asked making the brothers smirk and delve into the story on how they stole a suit shop and couldn’t keep it afloat with suits so limited it to socks until the owners came back from a long trip away back when they were teens.

.

For the past two days since the graduation followed by a celebratory dinner back in town with everyone for his achievement and the engagement to announce the big day for those who didn’t already know the lovebirds were inside working up their apartment in their minds. Dawn took care to inspect each picture and using the diagrams Victor and James made her had gotten to decorating. Lists of furniture were made along with the new scheme of Teddy’s room. In the soon to be orange and grey room borderless silhouettes of tigers and colorfully plumed tropical birds opposite orange bordered ducks, owls, rhinos and elephants would be added herself for her own adored taste for her future son’s room.

They required some space as taking sides was what aiding on decisions seemed to be in their finding balance for the new space as a couple. Dawn already expected to have family over often, his family at least, and was pleased to hear her taste would blend well with that of the Brock’s. Nerves were high as she’d be facing their inquiries to see just how she would fit into the family, calming only as you said they would love her for just loving Eddie and managing to land the heart of the formerly hopeful bachelor.

Sunset was what you had hoped for, Dawn would be home again and while the others slept you could be alone with James again. Stunning was the least you could say about your first time with James. A wish to try something farther ended rather abruptly after a marathon of aims to see who could last out the longest. There was a sting but right away it just felt right, as if your bodies had already done this before.

Everything seemed so much deeper these days while you had the oddest of dreams together in some golden grand palace on an incredible island with purple waters separating your lands from those wrapped by waters of blue. You had to be losing your mind, yet Venom’s words echoed in your mind that you were older than this planet’s sun. Quite calmly James and Victor had taken to your dreams confirming they had similar dreams in the past when they were younger leading to old sketches and paintings being brought out of storage including one of you and James stunning him as to how he hadn’t thought to look for this earlier.

Simply you found a rhythm and just eager your bodies were in finding home that you finished together, then promptly blacked out. Jarred from the effect of it all was nothing to what came next. Straight up in bed you shot once a dream of you being delivered dream James’ helmet along with Victor’s and told that they were dead leaving you and Dream Eddie who was being covered as Venom crept out in the approach of a dark haired woman in the shadow of a darker male force coming to wage war on you. Devastation was left. And tear inducing, your father was there clearly taking your soul he hid and off he fled on what looked to be a meteor shaped ship that Venom was clinging to as the woman lay dead in the crater you left behind. With thousands of soldiers now fully metal came to view in the settling waves of dust.

You weren’t scared of James, and the dream once shared with Venom was confirmed to be your last day as Mother. You just felt pain, uncertainty once again on if you would lose all you had gained and now finding your courage again around his shoulders you hugged him on your toes pressing a kiss to the back of his shoulder initiating his turn to hold you and claim a kiss of his own. Humming against his lips you asked, “Try again?”

“You sure?” He asked smoothing his hands down your back and you nodded signaling his lifting you with legs wrapped around his middle on the wall to bed, “Nice and slow then, no marathon.” Kissing you again to start a passionate more tender try at this again in hopes you wouldn’t trigger another painful memory this time.

.

Tangled again in his arms contently he peppered lingering kisses down your forehead and cheeks tracing his fingers across your back. Pausing only a moment as you asked, “Does it really change anything?”

Grinning at you he shook his head, “No, still helplessly in love with you.”

“Damn,” you teased and giggled through his retaliatory kiss and cuddles bringing you closer to his chest. Nuzzling his nose with yours his eyes closed in this moment of peace and out of nowhere an old unasked question popped out of you, “I didn’t make a very convincing soldier did I?”

With eyes open and on yours he replied inching his head back curious why you were asking. “Well you lacked in a few training aspects, the lingo mainly but you picked it up. You made a convincing kid who snuck in lying about their age.”

“But it was obvious I was a dame in a stolen uniform?”

Trailing a chuckle he replied, “Not at all. In fact if I hadn’t noticed your cycle and hadn’t known you and those purple eyes before there’s no telling how long you could have fooled us. I do have to ask, how’d you keep those a secret so long? We would have noticed your bandage supply going dry had you used those.”

“Well, I can make, I can cap it, to stop it from coming out.”

“Like a cork?” You nodded and he asked rather concerned, “Does that hurt? It sounds like it would hurt.”

“It does, really bad. But it was all I could do to not wear it. No time for stops and when I stopped to pee you just let it go. Cramping stops eventually near the end of the week. Bloating is a nightmare.”

“I’m so sorry we couldn’t help with that.”

You shook your head, “You kept me distracted. That helped.”

“So why the questions on being a soldier? You aren’t planning on running off to battle again are you?” He teased.

You giggled shaking your head, “No, just haven’t asked you yet. No more wars for me.”

“Good, us neither. We are too old now anyways, technically. Never leaving you again for that foolishness.” Again he kissed your forehead, “Get some sleep now, off to buy some china in the morning.” Inching the covers higher over you both cuddling closer and shutting his eyes to go to sleep excited to see just which set you would settle on.

.

Post breakfast grouping you were off to Alberta catching whispers of the festivities for the celebration of the anniversary of D-Day for the soldiers and their families on your way to the china shop as Eddie and Victor went to pick out some things for the wedding last minute.

Right through the doors of the upscale shop you walked feeling James’ hand shifting the cardigan on your back over your nice navy polka dotted dress. Back again in a fine vest and trousers to look the part with you to build your confidence you belonged there he kept you close ensuring he wouldn’t let go until you felt a tiny bit at home with the task. Glancing around at the displays close to you the approach of a sales aid went unnoticed until their cologne wafted your way. A smile settled across the man’s face as he realized just who was in his family’s shop. “Miss Pear, Mr Howlett, welcome to our humble shop, how might we assist you today?”

James’ finger pressed a tad into your back signaling for you to speak and you said through a simple smile, “Well I am attending Barnard University in the fall and we’ve renovated my old place there. Including adding a tea room, which we will be requiring a fitting tea set for any club gatherings or visits from other students or Professors.”

His grin widened as James added, “Plus some good dinner sets as well in case of special dinners. Entertaining and such.”

“Of course, of course, allow me to offer you some of our impressive collections.” For nearly an hour you chose from the vast collections, one crème and platinum rimmed set and a second arguably stunning white, mint and silver banded set with raised decorations from a scantily sold collection near to be taken back by the designer to accept its least popular design yet.

For the tea you paused on another of their least popular styles, lifting one of the cups inspecting the thick black bands with silver floral designs above simple white bare bases standing with a thin silver band lining it. Inside the cup leaves reached for the top with a magnolia bloom in the bottom. The round saucer was a simple painted magnolia on a leafy stem with center above a second more squared with wavy ends, fully black floral designed plate. Crème pot and sugar bowl were solid black as well etched florally in silver. While the teapot half white similar to the saucers stood atop a larger round saucer above a second all white squared wavy ended one with raised silver accents in each corner branching out to connect around the edges.

Tilting it to James you asked, “Too much?”

“I like it, my Gran had a set like that.” James replied and promptly added, “Will fit the cabinet nicely with the design on the bands for the sections between the glass panels.”

Catching the aid’s eye again you asked, “What do you think? It wouldn’t be an odd choice for company?”

“That set is very lovely, and certainly would be unlike any most couples choose. Pink and white is the most common, blue and white is a close second. The design has an elegant touch to it,” lifting the tea pot he said, “Not just anyone would choose this set, few would be so bold to, and the mere shape of the tea pot itself would add to your brew with its clearly superior shape.” More he delved into the crafting of each piece and demonstrated how the shape of the base of a cup rested in the saucer easing sliding by resting a set on his palm he eased around in front of him, even in a few slight angles.

James smirked catching a hint of eagerness to sell this set far from necessary as you had been the one to pick it out, even the mint he caught the stunned expressions on others faces noticing what you had chosen far from matching to the prices of which other sets blew out of the water. You had mentioned not wanting to seem odd the days prior asking to tour Dot and a few other’s own tea sets seeing for yourself how popular the simple floral designs were. Only you had resigned with a sigh that you were odd and choosing more of the same wasn’t what you wanted.

Though your most adorable question came as the salesman paused in wait for a tray of spoons to go with your set. “What about the little scoopers? I can’t think of their proper name. Do you sell those?” His lips parted in slight confusion and you clarified, “When we had dinner at Buckingham Palace they had little claw things, for sugar cubes.”

“Ah, yes, of course, the sugar tongs, they will be among the designs, we have a pair with leaf shaped ends instead of spoons or the antique styled prongs. Myself I prefer the simpler designs for my own set at home while mother swears by her prong ended set.” His grin eased out again while you listened diligently to each trait and seemed out of most who came here to actually know the most useful and suitable to what you had chosen to complete the set. By the time wine and liquor glasses were chosen it became less about the curiosity to see which least popular choices you had been inclined to and more to see how it all blended in splendidly with your style and personality the staff could tell in your time together. Wonder for how your home would appear in full, all silently hoping along with hundreds of others to have some magazine get an exclusive tour of that tea room one day so they might get a glimpse.

In all a hefty sum was spent but James could only be proud knowing that you had chosen nearly all of it, conceding to his own similar taste to suit your style for his and Victor’s liquor set. His addition being a few pop up breakfast trays he snuck in while you were distracted. Already he could see you planning your first dinner together, mainly you hosting as he and Victor cooked up a storm to aid in your good impression with the impeccable sets you had chosen coating the dining and tearoom tables. The images distracting him on the wait for the others who were still deciding for the final choices as you both strolled through the same shop with your mind reeling as to just what Dawn might have chosen for her own set knowing Eddie had mentioned she had been looking at catalogues herself knowing he would one day propose.

“Do you know where to buy sugar cubes?”

Eddie looked from the selection to your distracted question, “Can’t say I do.”

“We are getting sugar tongs, so we need sugar cubes. Might have to go uptown for it.”

Eddie, “Well, soon as you need it we’ll make sure we track it down.”

Victor smirked inching closer to James asking about your choices while Eddie asked your opinion on the final choices that were soon rung up and loaded into the truck for the drive back. Final touches were to be made and as you were expecting to be wearing your skirted uniform you were stunned to be nearly pulled out of the truck to be wiggled into the dress that they had made for you. Daisy and David would be in the Bridal party while you and Erik were part of Eddie’s Groomsmen. A laced up crème dress topped with an off the shoulder long sleeved shrug top accented with embroidered panels and designs down the sleeves matched Daisy’s while Erik was fixed into a tux to match David’s while Eddie donned his dress uniform along with James and Victor.

..

Middle of the night eyes split open to the sound of a pained whimper. Sitting up in bed you tried to place the sound as James rolled onto his back and shot up himself to reach for his pants, “Pepper.”

At that you hurried across the bed feeling your nightgown shift around your thighs in joining him through the room out to the stairs spotting Eddie, Victor and Erik already were up and off to check on Pepper finding her in the living room near the fire still at its embers. All around her you gathered the usual called for water and towels with fire fed her labor was eased with your help to bring her four little puppies into the world. Napping once the four were washed off and cuddled close to her back in her warm bed with ample blankets Pepper slept and you all were off to get the final slivers of sleep available to you.

Soon enough however the house was woken again to sounding alarms and up you got to scramble to get a breakfast together. Halfway conscious food was eaten and dishes cleared up after with you still chewing your last bit of toast on your trot upstairs again. Pepper had her food brought to her with fresh water as Whiskers promised to keep watch of her and her puppies while you were gone.

Deeply exhaling you held your hair over your shoulder while James finished lacing up your dress for you. Smirking at your nerves he said, “Just think of this as a warm up for our day.”

“Aren’t I supposed to be in uniform too? Isn’t there a rule on that?”

“Normally yes, however, you are allowed a reprieve.” Leaning in over your shoulder he planted a kiss on your cheek hugging you around your middle, “Besides, the Bride insists as Groomsman you should be dressed to the nines. In a special gown all your own corresponding to Daisy’s dress. Even Teddy has a special suit.”

“Who’s holding Teddy again?”

“Vic.” He chuckled out grinning at your slightly sleepy glance at yourself in the mirror still waking to what day it was after the early wake up last night.

From the cars to the church you all filled the lots and made your way inside to the respective private rooms. Halfway to Venom tearing out already Eddie paced to keep calm only to halt at your hands cupping his face making him smirk. “Eddie, breathe, you don’t need to know the words you just have to repeat them.”

“Mamma’s gonna be mad.”

“Doubt it.”

“She said she wouldn’t, but I’m the youngest boy to get hitched-,”

“And we are filming and taking impossible amounts of pictures. To show off to the lot of them. Vows, kiss, then food and dancing and more kisses and then you head off to your mini honeymoon in the cabin up by that yellow lake the guys set up.” Smoothing your hands down his arms, “You know we’ve lived here for nearly a year now and I didn’t have a clue there was another cabin on their lands, but there is.”

He smirked saying, “You can say yours, already is without the papers. We have a home. All of us, together.”

“I know.” You sighed out then said when Erik came out of the bath after having failed to fix his tie making you smirk and wave him over stirring out his grin to watch you hovering behind him to show him in the mirror how to do it. “Eddie showed me when we got to London how to do this.” Glancing over his shoulder while Eddie focused on helping to fix his cufflinks he was still holding. “You should in the papers too.”

Eddie scoffed, “Dawn would kill me if I drug her through that on her big day.” Your brow inched up and he chuckled, “Bunny, we love you and we will bar the doors for yours if you like-,”

“I know what you mean. She didn’t ask for it.”

Eddie, “Nor did you, but we are used to being jeered at and heckled from back home, she’s already marrying me, deserves a break.”

“I believe the honeymoon is meant to be the break.” You teased and lowered to the ground again behind Erik who turned with you at the knock on the door making Eddie tense up again. “Breathe Eddie, and remember,”

“Just repeat,” he murmured making you giggle.

On your toes you kissed his cheek turning his head, “She picked you, and loves you.” Venom poked his head out of Eddie’s neck, “Both of you, not to mention Teddy, can’t compete with him.”

Eddie chuckled out, “No one could.” Following your nudge to the door and out to the waiting audience including your troops of soldiers all in uniform joining the other scattered soldiers from town doing the same for this special marriage to two of their own.

Exhaling slowly he stood beside the Judge who patted him on the back keeping him calm after his quick flinch to the sound of the door opening. Dawn had asked for no music at her own nerves and fumbled her hand into Eddie’s in her turn to the Judge to keep her blush between the three of them at the crowd familiar and unfamiliar faces along. Word for word the jittery pair recited and you giggled to yourself internally keeping the pair from dropping their rings while reigning in your own smirk behind your curled fingers in a faked brush of a hair out of your face stealing a glimpse at James who couldn’t keep his eyes off you from the front row.

One kiss led to cheers and even Dawn laughed at Venom popping out to lift her in his arms carrying her to the barn when Eddie’s legs almost buckled in their being announced. Around the pathway to the barn the soldiers raised their ceremonial swords for an archway with Eddie back out again kissing Dawn’s cheek calmed from his nerves and dipping into the sheer bliss of this all. To her seat he carried her and from there the fun crept out adding ease to all of this. Dancing in the sea of people the newlyweds cuddled and about halfway through your useless screwdrivers the bartender kept sending your way the big sendoff was to be given with the speeches to leave the blushing to a minimum now that the couple had been married for a few hours at least and relaxed to the company.

Her father spoke along with David and exhaling slowly you took your time to say something up at the mic hoping you wouldn’t start to cry.

“Now, I’m not too certain what to say. I have a stack of tattered drafts back at the house from my tries to come up with the best thing to say. After I lost my Dad, I remember being halfway invisible to the world, but Eddie saw me. And from finding out one day I was able to hurl spoons across the room he never flinched, or was scared, no matter what Steve said..” your voice broke a moment and you wet your lower lip tucking it in your mouth a moment and continued, “Eddie has never stopped protecting me, making sure I was safe no matter what. Always making sure I was in his sights or in reach. All through ending up in the war and stumbling our way through London and back to here, because family means something much stronger than blood could ever match. And moving here, Dawn, you and your family have been so amazing to us, along with everyone else. But I knew since the moment Eddie met you that you were going to be in our little patchwork family. And even though the Brocks couldn’t make it, trust me we wouldn’t be able to fit them in here with all of you,” stirring a few chuckles from the crowd and Eddie hugging Dawn from behind trying not to tear up himself. “I can tell they will love you just as much as we have and we will do our best to not let them drive you up the wall and look after you while you adjust to Brooklyn just as amazingly as your family have ensured we adjusted here. Now I believe this is by far the longest speech I have ever given and now I will leave it on a more ominous hinted note, enjoy your time in the woods while we run off with your child.”

Chuckles filled the place and out again the troops went to line the way in the sea of guests holding bags of confetti while you hugged Eddie saying, “Don’t you worry about Teddy. Have fun cuddling.”

Eddie chuckled and kissed Teddy’s head while he slept in Victor’s arms giving his carrier a nod and turned to watch Dawn turn from her family to join him to the waiting car that would take them to their honeymoon. Everyone else cleared up a majority of their mess gathering it up to be taken the following day by the chosen cleaners and you made your ways home.

Looping your arm under Victor’s on the ride home you turned his head at your cheek resting on his shoulder and you asked, “This what you felt like you guys got married?”

The question had James glancing at you when Victor leaned in to hug you, rumbling back, “Eddie loves you.” His gaze shifted back to Erik chuckling in his game of bouncing himself around the bed of the truck without touching the sides. “Nothing changes that. No one changes that. Even if in your head you are imagining some burning building situation he checks for Teddy first because he can’t walk, he calls for Dawn and aims her to safety with Teddy and looks for you. No doubt already finding you putting the fire out. Sounds like you are third but it is all one motion, all of you. Plus, he knows we would be there to look out for you too.”

James, “If we weren’t here no doubt things would be different. He would ensure you were safe, possibly even do what we have, get a separate floor for you to live with them.”

“I know. Just odd. Everyone else I’ve called family from back then, when they left they went under a tombstone. Hard to know he’s moving on without leaving forever.”

James, “You are taking it considerably better than Vic did when I married.”

Victor chuckled, “I took it very well considering you both moved to a different county.”

James retorted, “He moved into our attic.”

“You just left your family?”

Victor grinned at you, “That’s how I met them. When he tried to throw me out a window I fell into her open carriage when she came to visit the newlyweds.”

James rolled his eyes, “Yes, then he moved with her into our home, really helped with my in laws. Only moved there to please them so they would grant consent.”

Victor leaned in to kiss your forehead, “Family is only growing, just a floor down from us.” You looked up at him and he smirked, “And no, I am not left out. Pepper, the puppy and Whiskers can come stay in my floor. I love you guys, and I am so happy for what’s coming. No doubt soon enough Teddy will have siblings and need the extra hands to help out.” He murmured then leaned in to kiss Teddy’s fist in his slumbering stretch that had bumped his chin. “Look at you, already throwing punches in your sleep like your auntie Bunny.” That had you giggling and rolling your eyes. “Help you build up a nice right hook when you’re older.”

“I don’t think I’ve thanked you guys enough for giving us a home.”

James smiled patting his hand on your lap, “You helped us find home in that war. We had our house, but you brought us home.”

Victor, “You needed some peace, you, Eddie and Squishy. You needed more than just the Brocks to care for you.”

Up to the house you drove and once parked all climbed out ready for bed. Warmly you all greeted the still close eyed puppies in their last feeding of the day, cuddling and petting Whiskers as well thanking him for keeping watch, and fed the fire for Pepper on your way up wishing her a good night’s rest sharing that David would be by in the morning. Behind you James stood after removing his jacket and vest he tossed onto the foot of the bed once the fire was lit. Each lacing carefully loosened to help you wiggle out of the dress after removing the shrug, both of which were added to the pile of clothes along with the corset he helped you undo next. Turned around you barely had to look up and he’d stepped closer draping his arms around you, “I love you.”

“Was my speech ok?”

“It was perfect, nice joke at the end too. Public welcome to the family, explaining why the Brocks weren’t here, everyone knows they had three babies in the past month alone. Hard to travel with so many, even if we paid the tickets. Just lovely, please don’t worry.”

You nodded, “Just didn’t want to sink the mood.”

Again he kissed you and hummed, “No sinking here. We’re supposed to get a bit misty in speeches from relatives. Least you didn’t make Dawn cry like her father did.” Again he kissed your nose and hummed, “Let’s get you in bed, Darling.” Guiding you to bed, where after he’d stripped he curled around you knowing fully that you could have been taking this a lot worse than you had. Knowing fully the fear of abandonment you all seemed to share and were fighting together.

Pt 22

@changelingkhat, @alishlieb​ , @bun-bun-the-rabbit​

#Victor Creed #Eddie Brock x OC #Venom #James Howlett x Reader OC #Wedding

[bitterxweetencounters]

~5 months later~

Ok I lied. I’m not going to talk about my Japan trip in this post. Instead I’m going to provide an update on what’s been going on in my life for the past 5 months since my last post. Lol. 

Okaaaay. So we ended up having a second wave. Hahah..aha..hah. A very intense and overwhelming one, at that. There was a day I believe when the number of new covid cases reached almost 800? It happened around mid this year. I remember it being a really devastating and disappointing period of everyone’s lives. It would seem like the number of new cases would only get worse everyday. I would be so put off from watching the news or reading about anything related to covid ‘cause it would only make me depressed. 

Today is a notable day to write this post ‘cause today’s the first day, since this second wave started, that VIC reached 0 new cases and 0 new deaths. 4 stages of lockdown (plus an extension) later, we're finally here! Everyone up until this day had been feeling it - despair, restlessness, anger, hopelessness - at this lockdown that seemed would never end. But today we got the news that VIC will be re-opening again (1st stage) this Wednesday (it’s a Monday today), then even more on Nov 8. The glimmer of hope we’ve been waiting for, for literally months now. 

Now for the non-covid related updates. Lol. 

It’s tempting sometimes to overgeneralise 2020 as “the year wasted”. “Nothing happened this year” (besides covid of course). But there have been a few new things I’ve experienced this year which I think would be worth noting. And a few thoughts I’ve been having lately that I really need to deposit somewhere before I forget them. 

Ever since I became single early this year, I’ve received some interesting dm’s via Instagram. One of the first ones was from this guy from Canada, who sent me one of my posts via my DM then proceeded to comment “cute haha *monkey covering it’s mouth emoji*”. I got this message while I was showering, at like 3am, so it was pretty unexpected. This was the beginning of a very strange friendship (?) thing. Long story short, and around a month later, I found out him to be a very strange guy. He was cute, seemed like a catch at first. BUT he gave off major player vibes and also, he was basically 4-5 years younger than me, and didn’t live up to the maturity he claimed to have (emotional maturity mainly). He would make it seem like he was after a relationship with me sometime in the future but also kept implying that he wasn’t necessarily after a relationship right now, and just wanted to “go with the flow”. He was always complimenting me, always wanted to FaceTime everyday, and would sweet talk me with things that were nice to hear. But I couldn’t shake off the feeling that he was bad news and wasn’t really serious about any of this (I even kept telling him I was thinking this). I should mention he was asking for a selfie and wanted to FaceTime from the very first conversation we had (after only exchanging a few messages). We didn’t even know each other yet?? Lmao. After a few weeks of talking to him I eventually caught him in a lie, and yeah. That was one of the biggest red flags. I had a weird feeling about him from the get go, but I guess I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt (and also what threw me off a lot is that he told me that he told his Mum about me - but I’ll never know if that was just a lie too). He also told me that he was going to visit here from Canada in August (it’s October now) and kept going on about how he wanted to spend a whole week out of the two weeks he was going to be here, with me, and how I’m so chill and fun to talk to that we would have so much fun spending time together. Lmaooo. He told me he’s dated a lot of older girls (I’m not sure if this is a fetish of his), but every time I asked him how many exes he’s had, it would always be a different number (which is hella sus ‘cause it seemed like he was lying then). He tried to do some weird sexual stuff as well which I never entertained and pretty much shut him down straight away whenever he tried. Not sure if he was just joking, but it was disturbing nonetheless. I won’t go into detail ‘cause this isn’t the place for it. It eventually got to a point where I was decided on the fact that I couldn’t take this guy seriously and didn’t want to waste both our time so I started replying less/later to his messages, basically friend-zoned him by calling him “man” and “dude”, and teased him about other girls saying that he had potential with them. I think he eventually got the hint ‘cause one day he just stopped texting me “good morning” everyday. Lol. But anyway, yeah that was more or less the main stuff about guy #1. 

Guy #2 was from London and it started with one of my girl friends messaging me and asking me if I was talking to someone at the moment. I said I wasn’t and she proceeded to tell me that one of her boyfriend’s friends found me really pretty and wanted to follow me on Instagram. She then sent me a few photos of him (screenshots from his IG account), asking if I would be interested (I felt like I was on a dating site for a moment lmao). While flattering, I remember thinking this was so bizarre. To be honest with you though the guy wasn’t my type (looks-wise). My friend said he was “a real sweetheart”. Even though he wasn’t my type, I gave it a chance and told her that I don’t mind him following me. We both agreed that the guy and I had nothing to lose, and if anything we’d just become international friends. Lol. So soon enough the guy follows me on IG and then starts a convo via DM. He introduces himself, seemed like a nice/decent guy. Very articulate, and well versed. He would comment on my stories here and there and try to get a conversation going, try to get to know me better and try to share things about himself. I think I recall him saying he thought I lived in Japan ‘cause I had a lot of posts from Japan. Lmao. It would get to the point though where he would write massive paragraphs, but the energy wasn’t called for, and didn’t feel mutual. I think I found it a bit overwhelming and felt like he wanted to take every opportunity to write an essay about his views on everything. There was a particular time I did an IG story post where I was venting about something, and he replied to it with like two long paragraphs worth of his thoughts, and then said he would be there for me even though we didn’t really know each other that well yet etc. Which was really sweet - yes. But also felt too early, premature. It almost felt like he was trying to forge an emotional connection too early on in a relationship which wasn’t even at the friends stage yet. We’d only been talking for like 2 weeks or so. I couldn’t help it, but I think my neutral and short replies gave off a hint, and he commented less and less on my stories. Till eventually he stopped altogether. Lol. Also I think I may have accidentally called him “man”....on purpose. I feel like a horrible person. There was a point early on though that I looked through his IG profile and tried to find things about him that I liked (I basically tried to convince myself that maybe the guy wasn't so bad). But I think that wasn’t successful. And yeah, it was hard to hide that fact for long I think. 

Guy #3 is this random guy that just followed me out of no where and liked a bunch of my photos on IG all at once. He then started commenting on my stories quite a lot. He would leave brief comical comments, and tried to get me to play animal crossing with him. Lol. He tried to start a convo one time but I didn’t reply to it for a few hours, and then found that he deleted it. Lol?? He would then like a few more of my IG pics. He was a bit strange. I wasn’t quite sure if he was trying to show that he was interested, or if he was just bored and wanted more friends. But yeah he doesn’t comment on my stories much anymore.  Now that I’ve gotten those out of the way, just thought I’d go on about my recent thoughts. So lately I’ve been feeling really stuck. I have a quarter-life crisis pretty much every day. I feel like I’ve plateaued, and I’m not really growing much right now. I feel like I need new experiences, new company. Most of the ones I have at the moment aren’t serving me well or helping me become a better person, if I’m honest. And I’m not happy. The company I have right now aren’t encouraging me to level up, or helping me expand my thoughts and horizons. I’ve noticed that a lot of the friends I was close to pre-covid have changed a lot, and so have I, so we’re not really offering much to each other. I’ve become so low energy lately that I find myself trying to avoid or escape dealing with people or situations that I feel aren’t worth my energy. Which I want to start doing more of from now on. I want to be more selective of the people I chose to surround myself with. I also want to find my community or a new community which I can be part of and grow from. Not sure how or where I will find that, but it’s something I’m keen on delving into more as time goes by. I want to be more myself, I want to change up my look, my fashion. I want to expand my knowledge, expand my vocabulary, expand the diversity of ways I talk/present myself or respond/reply to situations. I want to feel like I have something to offer - not only to my future partner, but to the friends I make in this lifetime. I feel like I’m too basic and uninteresting. I feel like I’m also too careful, too slow, too afraid to make mistakes. Too afraid to take risks. I want to stop “complaining about things, but doing nothing about them”. I want to be confident in myself, no matter what I feel that I am. If that makes sense. I want to speak more clearly, slower. I want to be able to speak Filipino fluently. I want to find the career that I love and work in it. I want to work with people that I can genuinely be friends with, not just colleagues or “fake friends”. I want to not care about what people will think about me, and just do me (especially on IG). I want to be unapologetically myself. But before that, I want that self to be the kind of self I aspire to be. Can you want to be different, but also want to just be yourself at the same time? Can someone confirm this? 

#personal #update #coviddays

[callyrose1986]

my reality is a fantacy

MY REALITY IS A FANTACY  

Its beginning of April and I've been hearing voices since my birthday last September, I can't say I had the best time of my life... I decided to type it all down of what I went through, let me break it down for you, one day around my birthday I decided to read a few tarot cards online and the more I did they showed the same outcome, that I was to meet my twin flame, twin soul or/and soul mate, not sure if it's all in one or if it's just one of these, that I'm not sure of, now for those of you who don’t know what that is a twin fames or the others twin flame is when one soul splits into two, not sure exactly what twin soul is other what it sounds like, seems to me it is the same thing like the twin flame, soul mate is just that, a mate for your soul, look it all up for yourself.  

For some odd reason I begin to hear voices of a women and she helped me get better at hearing them I can't say exactly what she did I can't remember, I have the worst memory anyway though this times of readings I figured out who my other flame was and I don’t know if it was fate or dumb luck but it was my celebrity crush.... Imagine that, I have no idea who or why it turned out to be him but I was constantly told that I could manifest my desires and welp.... take that as you may I have no idea myself what is truly going on in my life right now..... only the gods and answer that messed up bit of information, not that I'm a religious person I prefer to spiritual instead.  

I tried to contact him online his name was Tom Hiddlston, I had a crush on him since I first saw I'm in the superhero movies when he played Loki in the Thor, tall dark and handsome was my type, I then fell for him even more once I got to know the actor, well as much as I could get to know him behind the silver screen. Anyway, I was reading pictures from his hashtags on Instagram like you read tarot cards and then I would post a reply and put it in Tom’s @page and I would get something like a reply... I could hear him in my head too and then for some reason he told others it turned into something like a little game them who turned out to be the cast of avengers.

it went over pretty good on his side, but unfortunately on my side when I broke it to my mother.... I made one of  the biggest mistake I ever made...deciding to walk from my small town of Coulhurst all the way to the city of Lethbridge to go to chapters. Where I thought the tort card where hinting I would meat Tom, not that I actually though I would I just wanted to go, and they were egging me on to go, something else that I could inform you all about is that there is many different realities not just the one you live in and unfortunately that mean that there are many, many different versions of ourselves and unfortunately, I did not contact just my version of Tom Hiddlston but I contact all of the others two, I have no idea how I managed that... the one that came was not my Tom from my world but from another and that means I could not see him.  

I still don’t know if I have talked to the Tom from my world, I guess I won't know till I get the chance to meet him in person, if that ever happens of course, let's see... I died in other reality's more times than I could count, mainly because I can't remember, being stabbed in the back by a trickster god called Loki a few dozen times and I don’t mean from the Norse mythology I mean by the Loki from the marvel movies, ya because that’s a thing....  

Everything you watch is a window to another reality and dreams are something of the same, now there is more like I can put myself into movies and shows I watch and I can hear what the characters are thinking and saying, not to mention in the begging I thought whatever I do in my mind what actually happen in the other reality's I was thinking I was in, now I changed that it just everyone imagining it but not really having it happen, I did a lot of not so nice stuff and still do but at least it's not real, I was sent to hell a few times wish I know what heaven was like, think I got jipped on that one, worst thing I ever did really was sole chock from when I was at school and church, I did watch some porn that was not meant to be watch by anyone's eyes and played some pornographic games but I don’t think I'm meant to go to hell for it...  

Apparently the ‘devil’ just wanted someone on one time, I brought myself back to life as soon as I knew I was dead, well eventually sometimes, it was just tiering having to do that all the time, oh by the way I can do that bring myself back it along with anything else you can think of, I can do anything I want too in other realities, does not work in my reality but then again I can't be killed by other people from other realities in my reality, also I got murdered on my way to chapters stabbed and molested by some random guy still not sure about the whole story behind that one my mother found me walking still to the book store in my reality, that was a trip I tell you, before I was picked up I somehow jumped into other bodies of the actors who had flown down with Tom and had found me at my house.

I did end up at the store but of cause no one showed up, that was one journey I won't soon forget, I  found out that my other selves where from other realities and that characters I created comes to life, like since tv and movies characters where once created, I was not sleeping and was not eating but I was not tiered or hungry but for a girl who did not have the  waite I didn’t need to louse more of it.

I was seeing signs of that my house was evil and that the color red was bad and everything that was ‘dark’ needed to go so I got rid of mostly everything I had in my room that was considered ‘dark’ on top of that lost a caption America sweeter and Tom Hiddlston doll and Spiderman figure and almost lost my phone, it was found  thankfully but not the others.  

Among all the other versions of me there is a few evil characters evil clowns evil demon things a robot some zombies some vampires and a dnd character and an original character called Cally, among others I'm not sure about, one of them is called the moon goddess who has the power to have everyone fall in love with her looks, and it leaks out into me so others from the other universes feel overly attracted to me because of her, there is an off switch but it keeps turning on and she says it's not always her doing it, I'm not sure if I should believe that, Tom has the same thing but I won't know that till later, names the sun god, I'm not too fond of that one, my fault for calling him the sun to my moon, nether one of them where exactly what I though them to be.

it wasn’t just that everyone was attracted it was harassment and no one would take no for an answer I was raped in a lot of realities, it's gotten better but still not perfect yet, they are lucking they didn’t die from doing that to me.  right after I when walking to the book story my mother had me admitted to a mental health facility, where they drugged me up to take away the voiced, it worked but on the down side I could not eat I could not sleep, I was shaking uncontrollably and it was worse than when I was home,  I just didn’t feel the need to sleep or eat at home.

I was drooling from the shot they game me and I was losing wait because I could not swallow the food, it was not a fun time, I was there for about a month after that I want in to shasha house and I was therefore a day or two and they took me to the hospital to see if they could figure out what was wrong with me, they gave me something for the shot I took to get rid of the voices since that’s what was making me have side effects, it didn’t take long for me to feel better, I was in the hospital for about a week or something close, after that I was at my sisters for a few days, meanwhile my mother had got something called global amnesia from the stress.

Then I was back to shasha house I was there for about a week or two and was thinking of the voices again, I haven't heard from anyone since I had that shot but even with everything that happen I still wanted them back I was lonely I liked talking to them I liked talking to Tom, you may think I'm stupid to start this all over again but I don’t give a damn! This time I would tell no one, have it be my little dirty little secret, don’t really remember how I got them back but I did, I didn’t get the right ones though I didn’t know that, I have been going through so many to find the one from my reality, there is no real way to find out who is Tom from my reality I've told Tom who loves  me by now that maybe we should meet at a comic expo somewhere where I can get to, so in Canada hopefully in Alberta.

let's see this second half I got stepped a few times again and mind f*cked a couple of time no more evil things like seeing red and thinking devil is after me, no more going to hell or dyeing, we tried merging all the realities but didn’t work tried to merge all the Toms still don’t know if that works to our advantage or not. I still have my highs and lose, I've run across the first group a few times and they are merged with a Tom who is now called God... btw I HATE HIM!!! Fuck the sun god GOD, ‘GOD Tom’ IS THE WORST!!! I will MURDER THIS BASTERED WHEN I SEE HIM because he lied about being the ‘REAL’. I also decided to stop giving ‘second’ chances to the villains, they just don’t learn.  

I'm sure there is more I could say but that’s it for now, I still haven't seen anything of Tom going to a Con near me yet, I still have a few weeks to go till I go.  

[fueledbysprite]

abandoned wips masterlist

so not too long ago i did an insta poll asking if i should expose all my abandoned fic drafts cause i mean it’s not like theyre ever gonna see the light of day otherwise. i was going to do it when i hit 3k kudos on ao3 and i did so i suppose it has come time for me to expose my mistakes

for obvious reasons, don’t repost these (idk why anyone would lol) but if you really like one of these and want to see it continued, just hit up my ask box and i may or may not consider~

Miscellaneous Fandoms:

Ninjago: Zephyr - a Morro backstory fic bc the hageman bros refuse to feed me more content of my son. barely started it but yknow its there

Miraculous Ladybug/BoBoiBoy: this failed attempt at a fanginette fic bc @secretagentspydetectiveninja got me invested even tho writers block is a binch hahshs

BoBoiBoy:

kokotiam gang angst that reminded me i cannot for the life of me write emotional angst (or any angst for that matter oop)

ramenzo (and kaifang) angst that i churned out on a saturday afternoon on a writing spike instead of doing homework bc I Do Not Control the Writing Juice

au where bbb is a forest guardian(?) and fang just wants away from Society (same fang same) i will probably be yearning for woodland aus till the day i die bc who *doesnt* wanna ditch everything and go live in the middle of the woods amirite?

ramenzo n boifang water fight bc you cant convince me these idiots dont get up to ridiculous shenanigans on their downtime

abandoned draft for the sequel to the og ramenzo fic (dont bother reading it literally nothing happens i swear)

i literally don’t remember where i was going with this i think it was supposed to be fang introspection but idk??

uhh kaifang with ramenzo vibes i think this was gonna be? i genuinely don’t remember anymore oop-

RAMENZO IN QUARANTINE yes this one was regular au (i mean duh) and it’s a shame i never ended up finishing it-

i am actually goboifang t r a s h...until i realized im going to have to make all the food by myself and i never learned to make food :’)) (fr if anyone provides me with any kind of fanon gbf content i will love you forever pls)

this...exists even tho i honestly prefer it didnt but ramenzo is ramenzo n ramen has freckles i will fite u on this (dont read it pls)

if anyone wants ramenzo crumbs (and i mean that quite practically) then feel free to consume the Specks

dont read this pls im begging just dont lets yeet it into the void it doesnt exist~ I Do Not See It

update: i discovered this uhh kaifang post-bora ra incident thing in my other drive

Miraculous Ladybug:

okay forewarning there are wayyyy too many of these so im skipping the ones that are sequels/dependent on other fics for context just to spare myself from having to sort through this mountain

i was planning to participate in chlonath week 2k19 (unfortunately for chlonath nation I Do Not Control the Hyperfixation oop) if you want context then ask

marcnath crumbs thats it thats the doc

oh look allya is self projecting again (writing is still pain) (marcnath)

for the one who requested chloenette with the dialogue prompt i am so sorry

idk why this feels like something ive posted before but then again all lovesquare is the same to me (dead) so who knows im not gonna bother checking hshsh (marichat)

chlonath go to comic con or sth idk chloe is tsundere as always (or would have been anyway if i ever ended up Finishing this)

i *think* this was based on a @terrible-miraculous-ladybug-aus post but heck if i remember now- (lukanette??)

i have absolutely no recollection as to where i was going with this but if anyone finds the concept interesting then by all means go ahead n snatch it- (manon finds the miraculous i guess?)

this is a great. opening. to a chloe fic. that doesnt exist. oof :,)

caline bustier’s home for orphans amirite (i mean she basically already adopted the whole class so)

im genuinely not a fan of the jealous!lover trope but someone in the marcnath server wanted some at one point so i. attempted. and failed but you know thats to be expected at this point :’3

oh look allya is projecting her writing struggles onto marc again is anyone surprised?

theres probably a museum brotp story in here but it doesnt exist and at this point it never will rip

oh good lord not this again i genuinely managed to forget about it for a while until now-

i just read the first line and im already reeling what the heck is this nathanette(??)

WHY IS THERE MARICHAT IN MY WIP FOLDER WHAT

allya stop projecting onto emo weebs challenge failed

i really wanna know where the context for chlonath skiing trip came from i literally have 0 recollection of this at all??

YO I ACTUALLY REMEMBER THE CONTEXT FOR THIS ONE anyway nath n aroace!alix arranged marriage au anyone?? well too bad cause i abandoned it oop-

ahahahahahahaha wdym i wrote 7k of chlonath and then ditched it i would never do that lmao-

i think this was a hunger games au uh

something something marcnath

marcnath angst i guess? *allya pls stop trying to write angst we’ve already established that is not a thing you can do*

something something chlonath

im never gonna forgive @powerdragonmoon for the fact that i thought “beecock” while glancing over this to figure out wth was going on. cholaon works here too tho so that is what i shall call it //sideways glare at moon

take your otp. now put them on a trampoline. but heaven forbid you ever finish the fic- (chlonath if it wasnt obvious)

nathanette doll au from forever ago with @lotus-duckies that was a real concept its a shame i have 0 commitment

i wanna call this lukanathanette but i honestly don’t remember where i was going with it so idk

hi uhm what is this and why is it so depressing allya fr quit self projecting on emo tomatoes oml

chlonath established relationship i guess??

museum brotp go skating?? is that what this is?

how much chlonath do i hAVE also chloe u tsundere

nathaniel is Yearning n tbh i dont blame him cause same (ft. marc)

i could swear this was gonna be luklonath (chlolukanath??) but i wouldnt be able to remember-

if anyone can figure out what’s going on with marc pls tell me bc i dont-

cholaon but theres no context

Oh god im finally done good lord that’s all of em i hope i never have to look at a mlb doc again in my life anyway pls be grateful n enjoy the crumbs n stuff thanks i sacrificed my sanity for this-

#writing from the void #and now #allya writes #i did this for yall thirteen (13) ig followers man #whew #happy 3k woot #now take ur food #n be thankful #uwu #uhh how to tag #o yea #ml #mlb #miraculous ladybug #ml fic #not gonna tag ninjago cause #all too well #barely #n then #bbb #boboiboy #bbb fic #aight thats it #im out #abandoned wips #if you want moar then ask 4 it legit #now my work here is done #finally

[love-fireflysong]

Day 9: Pet

Fandom: Until Dawn Character(s): Chris Hartley, Ashley Brown  Words: 3506 Rating: General  Author’s Notes: Fucking hell. This is so late. I am so sorry. I didn’t expect this to get nearly as long as it did. But to make up for the absolute horror I wrote yesterday Monday, here’s just the worst pining. Like the worst. It’s awful. Nothing but the purest, free-range Chrashley pining here folks! There isn’t even a plot, or at least there wasn’t supposed to be. Apparently I can’t write fluff without a build-up. 

Neither couldn’t place exactly when it all started. Or at least, when something changed between them. Really changed. They had always been more obvious about their affections then either would have liked, not that the other had ever noticed of course. Fond smiles when the other had said something even a little bit endearing. Longing looks when backs were turned. Touches and hugs that always tended to last a linger or last longer than what would have been appropriate for friends who absolutely did not have a crush on each other. 

Each day they spent together was a torture, a reminder that no matter what, there was no way that they felt the same way about each other. But it was always better then the alternative, feeling like a dagger was being shoved into their hearts every moment they were apart. So they endured, hoping in equal turns for either the feelings to fade (it didn’t) or for the other person to finally look their way (they always had).

And while they don’t know when things changed, they can pin point the two singular moments when it shifted.

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

"Just use a pillow, Chris.”

“I would love to Ash, I really would. But I seem to recall that you stole all the pillows and are holding a monopoly on them right now.”

Chris wasn’t lying. He and Ashley were hanging on out on the couch in his and Josh’s dorm room, and she had shoved every single pillow (all two of them) in the dorm behind her on the couch.

“It’s not my fault that your couch has the worst lumps I have ever felt before. And some how only on the back and arms of this thing. Seriously, how do you two sit on here?”

Chris poked at one of the said lumps as he regarded Ash with a flat look. “We don’t. Unlike you, Josh and I don’t read on the couch—”

“I have never once seen either of you read a book that wasn’t a comic.”

“Really not the point, Ash. Also, rude. You’re not wrong, but you’re also being very rude.”

From where she had curled herself up in the corner, legs tucked under her, Ashley stuck out her tongue at Chris. “I still don’t understand why you or Josh haven’t replaced the thing yet. It’s not like neither of you could afford it.”

Chris gave a short snort. “It’s not like Josh couldn’t afford it. Do I look like I have a couple of hundred chilling for a couch? I barely have enough money to pay Josh when he gets back with the pizza. Anyway, it came with the dorm so it would be a big no-no if we tossed it.”

“I still don’t understand why Josh had to go to get the pizza in the first place.”

“The place doesn’t like to deliver on campus. Apparently a delivery driver got their car completely covered in spray paint or something when they had to deliver during frosh week a few years back.”

“...How much longer till he gets back with the pizza?”

As if knowing that he was being talked about, and honestly with Josh, it was entirely probable, Chris’s phone went off with a beep of an incoming text message. “Uh, hold on. He just texted.” Chris looked at the screen for a moment, and groaned. “Shit. He says that something happened at the restaurant and they managed to lose our pizza. Gave it to the wrong Josh W. apparently. So they’re making us a new one.” 

“Are you serious? Really?”

“Unfortunately. Wait. He’s sending something else.” Chris’s face lit up like a child on Christmas morning. “Oh fuck yeah!”

“What? What?! You can’t leave me hanging like that Chris!”

“He says that as an apology, the place is giving us a free order of garlic cheese breadsticks!”

“Ooooh. That is good news.”

Chris nodded excitedly. “It’s gonna be another half-hour or so until they finish making it though.”

“That’s fine.” Ash shrugged, and then sighed happily. “It’s worth the wait for some of the cheesy garlic-y goodness coming our way. Plus, I’ll be able to finish another chapter or two of my book while we wait.”

“Gee thanks, Ash. Glad to know that you would rather read a book then spend your time with me.”

“Oh, Chris,” she smiled brightly and reached out to pat his leg comfortingly. “You’ve always known that.”

Chris narrowed his eyes. “Oh, I see how it is. Fine then, if that’s the way you want to play it...” Before he could think it through, or she could react, he flopped over onto his back and placed his head onto her lap.

“Chris! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

He shrugged as he shifted around a bit to make himself more comfortable. You stole all the pillows to read your book, so I decided to do the same. You’re my pillow now.”

“Oh my god. You don’t even have a book.”

Chris waved his phone in front of her face. “Newsflash, I don’t need a book. Got all the things I could ever read right here. Twitter and facebook and tumblr and games all at my fingertips. God. Join the 21st century Ash.”

She didn’t say anything, just smacked him lightly in the forehead with her book.

“I don’t think pillows are supposed to fight back.”

“Then get off, dingus.”

“Too late, I’m comfortable now. And I don’t think pillows are supposed to talk either.”

Conversation between the two of them trailed off after that, Ash opening her book to where she had last left off with an long-suffering sigh, and Chris turning on his phone. Except, as he mindlessly scrolled through whatever social media app he had randomly clicked on, his mind was not on the phone. Not at all. Nope, his mind had suddenly realized that his head was in Ashley’s lap and it was all he could think about.

It shouldn’t be awkward though! Friends did stuff like this all the time, using each other for pillow, right? At least, Josh certainly did. He was liable to sprawl across anyone’s unguarded lap if they weren’t careful. Hell, he had done it to Chris just this morning! But Josh didn’t have a huge, stupid crush on the person’s whose lap he was sprawled on (or at least, Chris didn’t think so?). But this was fine. It was normal and he could do this! He would not panic and turn into a blushing moron! Which was the mantra he kept up in his head, over and over to distract himself from the realization that she really did make a good pillow.

Which was why he didn’t notice that Ash’s fingers had been running through his hair for the last couple of minutes.

The moment he did though, Chris froze like a statue. His eyes slowly moving so he could look at her in the face. But her eyes were on her book, moving back and forth as she continued to read, and she flicked a page one-handed with practiced ease. She had no idea what she was doing. Probably thought she was petting a cat or something. Yeah! He thinks he remembers her mentioning once or twice that one of her cats at home likes to curl up into her lap when she reads. So she probably just thought that she was petting her cat! That was a thing, right?

He catches her lick her lips when she flicks another page, and averts his eyes, face turning a shocking shade of pink. Only to completely forget that when one of her nails lightly scrapes his scalp by accident and he sucks in a gasp between clenched teeth. It hadn’t been a gasp of pain though, no siree Bob, not at all! It was almost scary how intense the jolt of pleasure that shot up his spine was. He nervously chances another glance at Ash to make sure she hadn’t caught that,  only to watch her wet her lips again and swallow. 

Chris can honestly say in this moment that stopping her is the last thing on his mind. In fact, if he were to make a list of all of the things going on in his mind right now, stopping her isn’t even on it.

So instead, he closes his eyes, phone long forgotten, and just centers on the feel of her fingers running methodically through his hair. On her nails catching every so often on his scalp to scrape at it.. On the sound of her peaceful breathing. On the rustle of a page turning every so often in semi-regular intervals.

He decides that if Josh takes a little longer to bring the pizza, then that’s fine. Chris is more than happy to just stay here like this.

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

She really hoped that one of them was home. Really, really hoped as she banged on the door to the boy’s dorm with her fist. She was ready to admit that maybe she should have texted them first, but well, today just really hadn’t been her day so far.

Finally, finally, she heard movement on the other side of the door.

“I’m coming, I’m coming! Hold your goddamn horses!”

Chris. Part of Ash was really, really glad that it was Chris. Another, just as large, part was really, really bummed that it was Chris.

Yup, it really wasn’t her day. She continued to bang in hope that it would get him to the door faster anyway.

“Holy fuck, I said I was coming! If this is you Brian, then I swear to God—” the door swings open inward and Ash gives a bashful smile. “—Jesus H Christ Ash! What the hell happened to you?!”

She knows that she’s a sight. Dripping wet and covered in mud, and dripping all of this onto their entryway. She sneezes and smiles weakly.

“Hey Chris. Mind if I steal your shower?”

Chris doesn’t even answer her, pulling her into the dorm room and yelling over his shoulder towards the bathroom. “Josh! I need you to get your ass out of the shower! Now!”

She makes out Josh’s voice muffled through the shower and the door separating them. “What the hell, dude! I just got in here!”

“Don’t give a shit! Ash needs it more!” Chris moves to grab her unsurprisingly also soaked school bag and begins to hurriedly remove her thankfully still dry textbooks and binders from within. He places them carefully on the nearby table and she finds herself falling further in love with him all the more for it.

“Ash? What’s she doing here? Doesn’t she have her own shower? She can go home and use that one! This one’s got my name all over it for at least the next twenty minutes!”

Cold and miserable and soaked to the bone, Ashley finds she just doesn’t care anymore. “Joshua Washington! You get your goddamn ass out of that shower in the next five minutes or I swear to God I will rip you out of there myself!” She catches Chris staring at her in a mix of fear, awe, and something else she can’t quite place but makes her stand just a little taller despite the fact she’s shivering and literally looks like a drowned rat and creating a puddle the size of Moscow on his floor. 

There’s a stumble and what may be the sound of a bottle dropping onto the shower floor. “I’m moving, I’m moving! Fucking hell, can’t a guy even shower in peace anymore?”

To his credit, Josh is only in the shower another two or so minutes, and when he opens the bathroom door he stops to stare at her stunned. “Holy Hannibal. What happened to you?”

Ash growls as she pushes past Josh (or would have, if he hadn’t jumped out of the way) and into the sanctum of the bathroom, already dreaming of the hot water on her skin. “I’ll tell you after. Shower first, story second.” With that, she slams the door behind her.

She’s also ready to admit that she spends an altogether too long amount of time in the shower. But she’s covered in mud and cold so really, who can blame her? She also spends a far longer amount of time staring at the bottle of body wash that she knows is Chris’s as she debates whether to use it or not, but she’s less likely to admit that one.

Finished, her skin and hair no longer a muddy brown, but the usual pasty white and dull auburn, Ash feels better then she has in hours. Refreshed and ready to take on the world, or at least the asshole in the Chevy. A hesitant knock at the bathroom door startles her, and with a grey and green striped towel wrapped around her, she opens the door a crack and stares out into Chris’s face, eyes upturned and face pink as he resolutely does not look at her but at a dark stain she knows is just above the doorway. Before she can say a word, Chris shoves an old grocery bag at her and a set of dry clothes.

“Here. Put your clothes into the bag and I’ll throw them in the washer downstairs.”

Ash feels her face redden to match his and reaches out to carefully grab the bag and clothes (where did he manage to find some clothes for her?). “Just give me a sec.” Keeping the door open just a crack, she starts shoving her sopping wet and muddy clothes into the bag and hand it to Chris. “I don’t have my wallet, sorry. Forgot it in the English building earlier.” 

“It’s fine. We’ll figure something out.” With that, Chris grabs the bag and turns to  walk stiffly away,probably to go and search for some change she assumes. She can’t help the stupidly fond smile that comes to her face as she closes the bathroom door and starts to get changed. Only for the smile to drop when she realizes that the clothes she’s holding is a sleep shirt of Chris’s that she is able to recognize on sight, an old grey number with the classic PlayStation logo he had found in a game store years ago, and a pair of dark blue sweats with a waist cord. Oh. 

She spends a moment to debate even putting on the clothes, but realizes that her choices are either a: walk around the dorm in a towel (nope, not happening), b: confine herself to the bathroom until her clothes are clean (at least an hour’s wait, not ideal), or c: wear his clothes (towel is starting to look like a more attractive prospect honestly).

Feeling like her entire body is blushing, she puts on the shirt and pants, thanking the heavens that her underwear had managed to survive her unexpected bath relatively dry. The shirt is almost comically large on her, the collar keeps slipping to showcase one shoulder bare of any bra strap (her underwear may have survived, by the bra unfortunately did not), and the sweats she has to roll up at least five times so she won’t trip and break her neck. As she tightens the cord around her waist as much as she can, Ash stares at herself in the still foggy bathroom mirror, face as red as her hair and wearing her best friend/major crush’s clothes. 

She is suddenly really relieved that she opted not to use the body wash now. Wearing his clothes and smelling like him? She probably would have self-combusted on the spot.

Grabbing an extra towel on the rack, she takes a deep breath for courage and opens the door of the bathroom. She notices Chris’s back as he’s standing in front of the microwave and hurriedly starts to towel dry her hair as a way to hide her burning face.

“I’m making you some hot chocolate if you’re okay with that. Figured that you might want some.”

She sighs happily at that. “You figured right. Hot chocolate sounds like heaven right now.” She takes a moment to realize that someone is missing. “Where did Josh vanish off to?”

“He’s digging in the car for some spare change for the laundry room, should be back up in a—” he turns around and starts choking on nothing.

“You okay?”

Still coughing and face just as red as hers, he wave a hand though his voice is strained when he speaks, really, wheezes. “Fine, I’m fine! Just-just dust, you know? Really should dust more often.”

Ashley tilts her head to look at him in confusion. “I guess?”

“Yup. Just dust. Go and sit down on the couch, I’ll bring you the hot chocolate when it finishes.” His voice is still strained when he waves her towards their lumpy couch.

She sits on it, and abandons the towel to run her fingers through her hair to try and break up knots and get some degree of neatness without a brush. Barely a minute later, Chris walks over and hands her the mug of cocoa. Somehow, they manage to get the mug to exchange hands without their fingers brushing. Good, she’s already obvious enough with how red her face still is.

Slowly, Chris sits next to her on the couch, his fingers tapping a beat on his knees. “Why were you using your fingers?”

Ash blows on the mug, hoping that she can claim the steam as an excuse for her face. “Forgot my brush in the English Building, too.”

“Oh. Um.” she watches Chris take a deep breath, his hands now digging into the fabric of his jeans, holding on as if his life depended on it. “I-I can help with that?”

Ash blinks, not quite understanding where he’s going with this. “I mean, sure?”

To her absolute shock, instead of just leaving to go and grab her stuff from the English Building like she expected, he instead starts to comb his fingers through her hair. The only reason she doesn’t drop the mug in shock is because she immediately tenses at the contact and just grips onto it harder.

For a moment, both are silent, nothing but the sound of Chris running his fingers through her still damp hair, breaking tangles and knots as gently as he can. It’s all she can do to stop from flinching when his hand reaches the bottom of her hair and brushes her bared shoulder.

“So,” Chris’s voice is high-pitched and strained as he speaks, “what happened?”

“What?” Unfortunately, hers is just as strained and somehow pitched higher then his.

“You came here looking like you decided to take a walk through a hurricane, but it’s not even raining outside. What the hell happened to you?”

“Oh. That.” Hands shaking and face burning, Ash struggles to take a sip of the hot chocolate with dumping it on herself in the process. His fingers through her hair is entirely too distracting but she can’t bring herself to make him stop. “You know that huge puddle by the library? I was walking by it to get back to the English Building when some dick in a Chevy decided to drive right through it and soak me. I only came here because your shower was closer.”

“Are you serious? What a fucking asshole. Why didn’t you text though? I would have picked you up at the library and brought you to the campus.”

“Yeah, well, unfortunately I left my phone in the English Building too, I was in such a hurry to leave and study, that I managed to forget an entire bag there.”

Chris gave a short, quiet laugh behind her. “Just not the one with the books of course.” His fingers catch on a particularly large tangle and her breath catches. She can hear him suck a breath in behind her. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. Don’t be sorry.” It is. It’s really, really fine. She kinds wants him to do it again, and her face somehow burns hotter at the the thought.

“Okay, If your sure.” He continues with with calming motion, conversation done as she just closes her eyes and decides to fully enjoy and embrace what will never ever happen again. Until that is, he accidentally rubs his fingernail along the back of her neck, the blunt edge scraping the skin slightly as it runs down. 

She can’t help the gasp that leaves her as it happens, her back arching a bit at the sensation. She turns around and looks at Chris, knowing that there is no explaining away her reaction just now.  Both their eyes are wide and and they’re breathing far too heavily for what had just happened.

Behind them, the front door slams open and they spring apart. “Hey Cochise! You got another twenty-five cents hidden around somewhere? We’re short a fucking quarter to run the dryer!”

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So yeah. While they don’t know when things changed. They sure as hell know when they shifted.

#pride month prompt challenge #my writing #until dawn #chris hartley #ashley brown #chrashley #how the fuck is this longer then seasons?????? #what the hell happened?????