#my house burnt down but partially

[ruzhuzhu]

i'm back

#my house burnt down but partially #my flat was intact #just freezing cold cuz it's-25 degrees c outside #it's okay now #but the stress was horrible #i will think about it for a few months #anyway... #my favorite calamity boss #yharon #the dragon of rebirth #terraria #terraria calamity #calamity mod #ruth's art

[buckyseternal]

shame on me ✤ 3

last and final part 🖤 warnings: violence (not DV), angst

shame on me masterlist

Cold. Tactical. Efficient. That’s how you had always lived your life; when you joined in with the Avengers, it was no different. Having been raised as essentially an assassin since you were a child, it was always in your mind to be situationally aware, look out for targets, but to keep in mind that you were to be undetectable; suave. Smooth. Elegant.

One man down; knife to the side of the throat, dragged into the bathroom stall. Suppressor screwed on. Enter the room. One shot; two, three, four – use him as a shield. Five, six – the clip’s empty. Targets eliminated. Rumlow eliminated. Exit the room. Smile at the bar staff and leave an average tip so you don’t draw attention to yourself. Is that blood on your cheek? No – must have been some lipstick smudged. Exit the building. Get back to the safe house.

Open the door. Hear that beeping? Run, run, runrunrunrun-

Everything was hazy. Everything was going in and out of darkness. Where’s your training? Get it together. You managed to move your arms and legs, pushing up to get on all fours. You turned back, looking at the safe house that was still burning. You blacked out. When you woke up again, the flames had gone down, but were still there. Was anyone coming?

That’s the fun part about solo missions – you’re all by yourself. You looked around the dirt, looking for the flip phone that was in your jacket pocket before your house blew up with you halfway in it. They must have put the bomb in my room. Are they going to double back to see if I’m dead? No – they’re all dead too.

Your eyes landed on the phone about 15 feet away, and you hauled yourself through the dirt in your torn up dress, letting out a pained scream as your wounds dragged across the ground. Grabbing your phone, you hit the number 1 on speed dial.

“What’s the weather like up there?” What was the fucking code phrase again?

“It’s…it’s- with every falling snowflake…a special- no, a unique- FUCK!” You could barely remember the phrase, your obvious concussion getting in the way. You were going to be stranded here forever, probably left for dead.

It was silent on the other end of the line. The operator could hear you begin to cry. “Agent number and operation?”

Thank god for the backup. “Agent 595259, operation Phantom,” you panted out. You could hear the operator typing on her computer.

Your vision began to fade, and looking down, you saw you had a sizeable gash on your side along with a few big cuts on your legs. You were losing a lot of blood. You used what strength you had left to try and stop the bleeding. Your consciousness was going out, your strength failing – you crumpled back to the ground. You stared at the sky, trees towering above you and partially covering the stars.

“Exfil sent, agent. Stay where yo-”

It surely was a sight to see when the jet touched down and the two medics came rushing in your direction. A cabin in the woods completely burnt to a crisp, surprised that the frame was still standing. A girl lying on the ground in a small pool of blood, dress torn and fabric crudely tied around your waist. Phone just out of reach of your hand. Pulse barely hanging on. The medics wished that they could have stabilized you better – but all they had was their undeniable skill and a prayer to whoever would listen.

The jet landed on the helipad at the top of the tower, medical professionals inside the building already clearing a path. It had caused obvious alarm and people had begun to gather, panicking. What could have happened that they needed to clear- oh.

The medics rushed you down the halls, yelling out codes and other medical terminology that very few of the bystanding Avengers understood. But what they did understand was clear:

“BP is dropping quick and we can barely feel a pulse, get her into surgery quick!”

“What’s- oh my god.” Bucky pushed to the front of the crowd, not understanding why everyone was panicking until he saw your almost lifeless body being wheeled on a gurney and heading straight to surgery. He pushed past everyone, questioning the medics as to what happened and how it happened.

“Sir, you have to stay here, we will give updates when we have them,” and with that, he was left at the doors. Your life was in their hands now.

He sat down, head spinning. What could have gone so wrong? All of the different emotions built up inside him until he couldn’t deal with it anymore. He stood up, hands clenching closed and open, looking for something, anything to help. He brought the glass of water that had been sitting on the table to his lips, took one sip, and threw it against the wall. He yelled expletives, not knowing what he’d do if he’d lose you.

Hours had passed by before any doctor came to update the ones who stayed to wait for you. Sam, Bucky, and Wanda looked up from their seats, Bucky standing and meeting the doctor halfway.

“She’s alive. But still critical. It’s going to take a while for her to wake up, but you’re all free to wait in the room with her.” Bucky pushed past the doctor and made his way to your room, while Sam and Wanda breathed out a sigh of relief, Sam thanking the doctor for the update and Wanda going to update the others. When Bucky arrived in your room, he was devastated to see the condition you were in.

Cuts on your face, bruises and bandages on your legs, IVs with saline drips hooked up to your arms, a nasal cannula, EKG cables running from under your hospital gown to keep track of your pulse. It was a mess, this whole thing was a mess. He walked over to your side, leaning down to kiss your forehead. He knew you couldn’t feel it, but he couldn’t help himself.

For the rest of that day and half of the next, he didn’t leave your side – sitting slumped in the uncomfortable chair next to your bedside. And then he heard you rustling, heard you groan.

“Baby,” he rushed to your side, gently grabbing your hand, hope flooding his features. You were still heavily groggy, the morphine easing the pain, but still in bad shape. At least you weren’t bleeding out on Canadian soil anymore. You opened your eyes fully, and you just stared at him for a few seconds. But the events of the past month played in your mind.

It’s fucking hard being with you.

It’s always been hard to be with you.

We’re done.

The last thing you remembered was the snow falling around you. The last thing you remembered was thinking maybe now I can be at peace.

“Oh god, I’m so glad you’re awake,” he kissed your hand. You blinked up at him, zoning back into reality from your memories. You looked at his hand, seeing his ring was back on. It’s always been hard to be with you.

You used what little strength you had to pull your hand away and lay it back down next to you.

Bucky looked confused – he had the nerve to look confused. You looked away from him, focusing back on the fluorescent lights directly above you.

“I…I didn’t know if you were coming back,” he tried to brush your hair out of your face, and you just flinched away.

“I almost didn’t,” you manage to whisper, voice still hoarse from not using it for two days.

“But you’re here now, that’s what matters.” He had the nerve to still try and smile, even though you couldn’t even look at him. He thought maybe, just maybe, it would take some time. Maybe you were just not feeling well, maybe it was the concussion, maybe you just needed more rest and things would go back to normal. “I just…I was so worried about you, baby. I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again.”

You let his words hang in the silence of your medical room. You couldn’t even bear to see him in your peripherals. “I wish you hadn’t.”

He deflated at your last words. Shoulders slumped from their once tense position, eyes falling to look at your bed rather than your face. He hadn’t realized how serious all of this was – the fight, the mission. It was just another fight like any other fight, he figured the relationship would mend itself. He figured that everything would be okay now that you’re back home and alive. How could he stay apart from you now that you had almost died and he had just gotten you back?

He sat back down in the chair, keeping a close watch on your vitals as you just stared at the clock on the opposite wall, watching the time go by.

Two more weeks had passed, and you were doing better. Bouquets of flowers showed up on the little tables in the room from various Avengers. Your closer friends had come to visit you, checking up every day to see how you were doing and if you needed anything. You had begun to walk with the assistance of the nursing staff – they were so kind to you and so patient. One time Bucky tried to help you on your other side when you got up to exercise your legs, and you just pulled your arm away from him, still not looking at him. He stood there and just watched as you walked on, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. When were things going to get better?

Another two weeks had passed. You were back on your feet, fully mobile but with a wince in your step. Your bruises had cleared up and your cuts were healing nicely. The stitches in your side were working, and they looked good. No infection, nothing going wrong with them. Textbook recovery.

It was a Thursday morning when Bucky walked into an empty medical room. The EKG cables and tabs were laying on the bed, IVs taken out and needles thrown away in the proper bin. Drawers were still left half open, bandages and other basic medical supplies missing. There was a note left on the table.

To my nursing and medical team: thank you from the bottom of my heart. I could not have lived or healed without your skills, efforts, and patience. I will always remember what you all did for me.

Bucky let the note flutter to the ground as he exited the room, looking around frantically. Running into the nurses, he hurriedly asked if she had seen where you’d gone, and she was just as surprised as him, running to your room. By the time he had left the medical wing, he heard her call over the loudspeaker for other medical staff to be on alert for a missing patient.

Running up the stairs and down the hallway of the 16th floor, he banged on your old room, damn near knocking it off of its hinges. No answer. He made his way back down to the common areas, where a couple of your friends had gathered.

Different flowers and gifts were placed around the conference table. Sam had your dog tags in his hand and a note in the other. To my big brother: take these to remember me while I take this journey. I’ll be watching over you.

Natasha shed a single tear over a note and some white lilies. I know you can find me no matter where I go – you’ve always been so gifted. Know that I’m here for you, but know that I’m not coming back. Don’t come looking for me. I love you.

Other members of the team had notes and trinkets that they were all reading over, talking with one another and speculating what happened, where you could have gone. Bucky looked around the table. There was nothing left for him.

Making his way to your old shared apartment, he burst through the door, leaving it wide open while he called out your name. There was no response. He entered your shared bedroom, mouth opened in shock as he spun around, taking in everything. Your phone was left sitting on your nightstand under the lamp along with your keys and wallet. The firebox that once stayed hidden in your closet was now out on the bed, all of your passports and important documents gone. Your tactical suits were left hanging in the closet, all of your clothes left folded in the dresser. Your guns, knives, and other gear that you had collected over the years were still in the hidden compartments.

Bucky sat down on the edge of the bed – the side you used to sleep on – and as he stared at the picture of you two hanging in a frame on the wall, he realized that he would never see you again.

I might do an epilogue, but I'm not sure yet. I hope everyone enjoys this last part of the mini-series 🖤

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes angst #mcu #mcu masterlist

[strangererotica]

EXPLICIT CONTENT | MINORS DNI

husband!Steve Harrington x housewife!reader

| When you fumble the home-cooked meal you attempted to bake for Steve, he doesn’t mind at all. In fact, the meal he really wanted was already waiting at home for him, all along… |

| And yes, I know the pic is from Marmalade and not Stranger Things, but it’s how Steve looked in my brain when I wrote this, so bite me 😊 |

The rain coming down over Hawkins was relentless. Heavy gray clouds obscured any chance of sunlight breaking through and warming the chilly April evening. A blanket of fog crept along the streets of downtown, slipping between houses and through windows left partially open.

One of those windows belonged to the house you shared with Steve. The chicken casserole you’d attempted to bake had ended in disaster, having literally ‘gone up in smoke.’ You wanted to surprise Steve with a home-cooked meal when he got home from work, because you felt a little guilty always ordering take out. You wanted to take care of Steve, to be the wife you knew he ‘deserved.’ Naturally, Steve already thought you were perfect just as you were, and told you as much, frequently. Still, doubt nagged at the back of your brain, and you wanted to make sure that Steve understood how proud you were to be his, that you wanted to be his perfect little housewife…

In spite of the chilly air that evening, you were forced to open the kitchen window. The rain smelled so sweet in contrast with the acrid scent of smoke filling the kitchen. The sound of Steve’s car pulling into the driveway caught your attention. You made your way to the front door, waving a dish towel as you walked, fanning away the last of the smoke. Steve’s keys made a jingling sound in the door; your heart skipped knowing he was right on the other side of it…

As soon as you saw Steve’s face, you felt a sense of calm wash over you. His eyebrows lifted in surprise when he noticed the smell of smoke in the house. “Did you uh-.” Steve chose his next words carefully. “-Light a candle, baby?”

You bit your bottom lip, an apologetic look on your face. “I wish that was the reason it smells so bad in here,” you replied. “But actually, I-.” You sighed. “I tried to make dinner, for a change. And it kind of exploded in the oven…”

Steve nodded, glancing behind you at the kitchen. He silently observed the aftermath of your work. Every utensil and baking dish you owned had seemingly been taken from the cabinets, considered, and then rejected to the counter. “It’s okay, baby,” Steve assured you, putting his arms around you. “We can order take out; it’s not a problem.”

You tried to let your anxieties fade, melting into the familiar comfort of Steve’s embrace. Holding your ear to his chest, you listened to his heartbeat, soothed by its steady rhythm, the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.

“What sounds good?” Steve asked, placing a kiss in your hair. “Anything you want, and-.”

“I’m actually not really hungry anymore,” you said, your eyes cast downward. “I kind of lost my appetite, with all the smoke.” You chuckled a little, in spite of your disappointment. The bitter smell of smoke and burnt casserole still lingered in the air, but only a little. Not enough that it distracted Steve from how pretty you looked, your forehead lightly dotted with sweat, your hair disheveled and some stains on your pajama shirt from the mess you’d made while baking.

Steve’s eyes swept over you, a combined feeling of love and lust washing over him. That combination of feelings was exactly the reason Steve had fallen so hard for you, why he’d loved you more every day since, and why he’d eventually asked you to marry him.

He knew you were frustrated about the dinner mishap. Steve was a very intuitive husband, and always seemed to know what you needed even before you did yourself.

“Just order something for you this time, okay?” You gave Steve a quick kiss on the end of his nose.

“Well actually,” he replied. “There is something that I’ve really been craving.” He smiled. “Been thinking about it all day, actually…”

Your eyebrows lifted. “Okay,” you giggled. “Well then you absolutely need to eat it.”

Steve nodded, his tongue sweeping lightly over his lips. “Oh, I’m going to eat it,” he replied, his tone a shade darker. “But I don’t have to order out for it. What I want is already here.” A corner of Steve’s mouth curved upward in a suggestive grin. “At home...”

Oblivious to Steve’s meaning, you peered behind him at the burnt abomination casserole sitting on the kitchen counter. “Well I hope it’s not chicken casserole you’re craving,” you replied. “Because that thing I made is definitely not fit for human cons-.”

Steve cut your sentence short by tugging you closer, so your faces were less than an inch from one another. He softly pressed his lips to yours in a closed kiss. It was chaste, romantic, sweet; but laced with darker implications that had your pulse racing.

“I want you, baby,” Steve murmured, easing his body against yours. “You’re the sweetest meal a man could ever ask to come home to…”

You felt a little dizzy, and it certainly wasn’t because you’d missed dinner. Everything about Steve made you weak…but the way he could have your pussy dripping using words alone made you fall the hardest…

“Let me eat you,” Steve said tenderly, respectfully, as if he didn’t already have your absolute permission. “Please?”

You swallowed, steadying yourself, suddenly feeling very light on your feet, as if you could be swept away by the slightest breeze. “Mm-hmm,” you replied through closed lips, then spoke out loud “yes. Yes, please, Steve…”

His smile was exchanged for a look of something carnal, and it would probably have seemed predatory in any other context. But once Steve had your permission, he was completely absorbed in his pursuit of having you.

Your ass was on the couch within seconds, Steve kneeling at the floor between your legs. He kissed your knees, your thighs, working upward till he was nibbling at the waistband of your pajamas. Steve let his right hand drape lazily against his crotch, occasionally palming his erection through his pants.

His lips pressed soft and warm against your belly. Steve spread a trail of gentle kisses down your stomach, lingering above the waistband of your pajama pants. His pretty hazel eyes flicked up to meet yours briefly before he hooked a fingertip beneath the pajamas, and lightly tugged them down.

You shivered at the feeling of air on your newly-exposed skin, but Steve’s tongue warmed you up immediately. He licked soft, wispy stripes beside your clit, intentionally neglecting it, letting the pressure at your center build…sucking one of your lips between his, then releasing it with a wet pop. Your fingers went to Steve’s hair, threading his caramel strands. He dipped his nose between your labia, bumping his bridge against your clit, penetrating you gently with his tongue. Your back arched, pressing your cunt forward, burying Steve’s face even deeper between your thighs.

He groaned into your pussy, the vibrations of his mouth stimulating the inside and outside of your cunt, plumping your lips even fuller. The sound of Steve’s tongue pumping inside you squelched beautifully, combined with the delicate, breathy sounds you were making. He nuzzled even deeper between your thighs, the tip of his nose gliding between your pouty lips.

Steve seamlessly replaced his tongue inside you with two of his fingers, making you gasp at the new, firmer penetration. His tongue washed over your clit, bathing your cunt in a mix of his saliva and your cum. You could feel yourself getting close, but what you really wanted was to finish together with Steve inside you. Your hand left his hair for his shoulder, patting to get his attention as you breathlessly told him “Steve, Steve, need you, in-.” And before you could finish your request, Steve had already lifted your ass off the couch, pulling you down to meet the bulge straining at the front of his pants.

He fumbled slightly at getting his belt and pants undone, because he was in such a hurry. You reached for his cock and rubbed the outline of it, feeling it pulse under your touch. As soon as Steve’s dick was in reach of your mouth, you tugged him between your lips. With a hard suck, you took him all the way to the back of your throat in one gulp. Steve’s knees went shaky, his breath punched out of his lungs at the shock of hitting the back of your throat so unexpectedly, so quickly. Your gag reflex activated and you popped off Steve’s cock, a raw trail burning all the way up your throat. You laid back on the couch and spread your legs, eyes trained on Steve’s, a seductive grin turning your lips.

He shook his head, your slick dripping from his chin. “No,” Steve said, reaching for your hair and gently guiding your mouth back onto his cock. “Need more of that tight little throat-can’t suck me like that n’just take it back-.” Steve eased himself down the length of your throat, nudging the back with his tip. A low growl of pleasure rumbled from Steve’s chest, his fingers threading your hair. “God, just like that…keep sucking…FUCK-!”

Steve hurriedly pulled your lips off his cock and pushed your back against the sofa, mounting and entering you as quickly as he could. Your hands clutched Steve’s shoulders, holding on tight as he humped you like a desperate animal, punching his cock so deep inside you that his shaft was rubbing your cervix. When Steve came, he choked back a dry sob, his breath heating the skin at the base of your neck as he panted through his release. Sweat dripped from the ends of Steve’s hair and onto your chest as he carefully lifted himself off of you. He fell back onto the couch beside you, pulling a hand over his disheveled hair, his pants around his muscular thighs. You laid your head on Steve’s shoulder, tilting your face to gaze at him.

He noticed you staring, and smiled. “Now that was a home-cooked meal,” Steve said, attempting to catch his breath. He wrapped his arm around you, pulling you closer. You fell asleep on the couch, drifting away while listening to the sound of rain thrumming against the roof, and the muffled rhythm of Steve’s heartbeat…

#stranger things #stranger things smut #steve harrington #steve harrington smut #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you smut #joe keery #steve harrington fanfic #steve stranger things #steve x y/n #steve x you #steve x reader smut #steve x reader #steve harrington x fem!reader #steve harrington x reader smut #steve harrington x you #steve harrington oneshot #steve harrington x fem!reader smut #steve harrington x fem #steve harrington x y/n smut #Steve Harrington fluff & smut #husband!steve harrington #soft dom!steve harrington #fluffy smut #steve x y/n smut #steve x you smut #softdom!steve #softdom!steve harrington #steve harrington fluff #steve fluff

[souryellows]

there was a room in the old family farmhouse that was technically my uncle’s office but we just called it ‘the clown room’ because it was decorated floor to ceiling with clownery. clown paintings and posters. piles of clown magazines. clown statues. and even worse is the house was burnt down at one point and when they finished fixing it up they put the clown room back together with the same decorations, now all at least somewhat damaged in the fire, the worst of which were the horrific partially melted clown statues

#real ‘we dont have a kid take our clown statue and get out’ type of family #the fire was started by a disgruntled handyman who broke into a safe stole the family jewels and burnt down the farm on his way out #then he moved in next door to one of my cousins #and put our aunt’s horse trailer (which he had also stolen lol) #for sale in his front yard lmao #self #text

[crusty-chronicles]

Hands Off!

Synopsis: What happens when someone tries to woo Hiei's very stupid S/O. What happens when they move in to kiss. Absolute madness is what.

An: For you BBY gorl 🫴 @notxxan3

Hiei wouldn't describe himself as a jealous creature. He wouldn't classify himself as someone caring at all. Especially when it came to your human affairs. He didn't bat an eye when you went out and came back with my food. He didn't care when you would leave for hours on end to attend 'school.'

You were perfectly capable of taking care of yourself. Well, strength wise that is. When it came to the most mundane of tasks, you were completely hopeless. You'd almost burnt down your house several times cooking. But that was besides the point.

Your routine and what you did in your free time wasn't his concern. All he cared about was having your attention when he came back from his duties in demon world. To relax on your soft bedding and relish in your affections. Your warmth that rivaled his own. Your nonsensical questions about why tables these days were too easy to break.

You brute... but you were his all the same.

But all that went out the window when he came back and saw another human cozying up to you. Arm partially thrown over your shoulders from behind the couch while you were looking at papers. The look in their eyes was all too familiar to the fondness he had for you in his.

It took everything in him to not reach for his sword. He knew it wasn't your fault. Your tiny brain was never one to jump to conclusions. In fact, you never really understood most social cues. He knew you were completely oblivious to the other human's advances.

At least, he hoped you were completely oblivious.

So in order to keep his growing irritation at bay, he called for you. Using your name when he addressed you. His own way of showing affection.

"Y/n."

He would have found the way your head snapped in his direction endearing had it not been for the person next to you. He would've called you 'fool' at the way your eyes lit up upon seeing him, lecturing you for forgetting he'd always come back. But instead he glared daggers at the human who seemed to glare right back.

"Hiei!" Your smile was pure as you turned to the person next to you. Gesturing at Hiei enthusiastically in a way that made him feel like an idiot for being insecure.

"That's my boyfriend!"

So much affection in your words that he had to turn away. Not wanting you to see the red burning on his cheeks. You'd called him yours. You couldn't have been anymore blunt, but he always did like that about you.

"He's kinda short, no?" The other human commented.

If you weren't sitting right there next to them, Hiei would have torched the couch with his Dragon of the Darkness Flame. If they weren't human, he probably would have killed them for daring to enter your shared space. But they were your guest. Whether he liked it or not, he had to be civil.

That didn't mean he couldn't give out his own remarks in the meantime.

"And you're irksome."

A scowl from the other human before you got up to greet your partner. And Hiei couldn't help but enjoy the upset look on their face as you placed a his on his cheek.

That's right.

You were his.

And you'd always be his.

"This is one of my classmates." You introduced, pointing at the now agitated human.

"You know how I've been failing lately? Well, they're gonna be my tutor. Isn't that great?"

Hiei didn't waste a second giving his response.

"No."

This human obviously had other ulterior motives coming here. Namely flirting with you. Which was unsurprisingly not going in their favor. How could it when you'd always cry for the three eyed demon when he was gone too long?

When you wore his Heriseki stone with pride everyday. When you asked to stay with him in the demon world.

"C'mon don't be mean. They're only here for a couple of more minutes. Please, I don't wanna flunk outta college." You begged.

It was just like you to be unaware of the growing hostility between the two of them. Sometimes he cursed your foolishness. Your inability to tell what other people were thinking.

"Ten minutes. Any longer and I'll escort them out myself." He relented. It was almost worth seeing your smile. Almost.

Why?

Because he just couldn't stand that human insisting on touching what wasn't theirs. Using your hand to write down an answer. Leaning over and resting their head on your shoulder to point something out. Hugging you from behind when you got an answer right.

Now that was almost the straw that broke the camel's back. What saved that human was you leaning away and towards Hiei. Saying 'thanks but I only let my close friends hug me.'

By that time, your entire house was unbearably warm. Hiei's anger manifesting through his spirit energy. Increasing the temperature in a way that made it uncomfortable to the other human, but familiar for you. You had been living together for a while now.

"It's getting kind of hot in here, isn't it?" Your classmate asked nervously.

"Not really. It doesn't feel all that different. Anyways, I'm used to heat." You responded, scribbling down another answer.

That's right. You were used to his heat. His habits and his reactions. Your lives were entangled with each other. And no weakling could ever jeopardize that, he was starting to realize.

Not by a longshot if your reaction to getting their number was anything to go by.

"Make sure to call and tell me how you did on your test. Maybe we could go celebrate?" Hands reaching for yours.

"Sorry. I'm not allowed to have phones. I keep breaking them somehow???? I'll just tell you if I see you at school."

You didn't even consider taking them up on their offer. Hell, you didn't even let them grab your hands. Already opening the door for them to leave.

A smug feeling residing in Hiei's being. Looks like he didn't have to worry about you after all. That didn't mean he couldn't feel irritated about someone trying to take his mate.

He stood behind you as you tried to bid your classmate goodbye.

"So, I guess I'll be seeing you." They said hopefully.

You nodded happily without a thought between your eyes. Not noticing the way they subtly started to lean closer.

"Yeah! And thanks again for helping me!"

But Hiei sure as hell noticed. Blood boiling as they tried to cup your face and press their lips to yours. Before you could even tell what was going on, you were behind Hiei in an instant. His sword drawn with the tip pressed against your classmate's throat.

"How about you kiss my blade instead?"

Their eyes widened in fear. An ear shattering scream before you took Hiei's sword and closed the door.

"Hiei! No killing. You know better," you scolded.

Your roommate already halfway down the street still screaming.

"Do you expect me to stand idly by and watch as someone makes a move on my human?" He argued, stepping closer to you.

"They were flirting with me???" You paused and shook your head, as if to rid the thought before continuing.

"I love you. You don't have to worry about me liking someone else. Besides, you scared off the only person who was willing to tutor me."

Hiei rolled his eyes at your response before moving even closer.

"Then have Kurama help you. I don't want another living creature to even think they have a chance at winning your heart." And with that, he leaned up and kissed you. Proving to himself and you that other human didn't matter.

That you really shouldn't give a damn about them because he was right here.

And that maybe, just maybe he was a jealous creature after all.

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

An: Also in honor of the live action. A fic countdown if you will.

#yu yu hakusho x reader #yyh hiei #hiei yu yu hakusho #hiei x reader #hiei jaganshi #x reader #jealous hiei #airhead s/o

[baxteravenue]

https://www.tumblr.com/baxteravenue/743919302176047104/hiiiiiii-will-u-be-able-to-write-for-jack-again

YES PLS POST ALL OF THEM 😭😭😭😭 I luv ur writing miss u and ur writing

another one ;)

Druski had been trying to get you to do a skit with him forever, partially because you were the It girl that everyone was obsessed with and maybe partially because Jack Harlow had an insane crush on you that he had yet to make any move on and to be honest Druski was sick and tired of hearing him moan and groan about how “Y/N doesn’t even follow me man, I followed her and nothing… Why the fuck does she even follow you?” 

He was just about done with Jack, so he wanted to do something about it.

“No Druski, I’m not doing a skit…” You shook your head as you answered his phone call.

“Nah, nah, nah! It’s chill, not a skit well maybe kinda… It’s more like a cooking show but different.”

You couldn’t lie, you were interested. 

So that’s how you ended up at Druski’s house in Atlanta getting ready to cook a whole meal with his two friends Urban and Jack. 

You had walked in a little late, saying sorry as you rushed through the door. 

“Man, I told y’all she was gonna come!” Druski loudly yelled as a camera came up to you, “Look it’s Y/N and it’s not no clickbait… Say hi girl, make sure they know you ain’t no AI.”

You laughed while waving at the camera, “Hiiiiii.”

“Anyways now that we got everyone here, let me introduce y’all to the Chefs that are gonna be feeding me and the homies.” Druski moved the camera back to him, “We’re gonna really test these motherf*ckers and see how they can work together.” 

You looked over at the other people, Urban and Jack. You knew Urban, you had met him once at a party that someone had thrown and Jack well you knew of him… but you didn’t occasionally listen to his music.

“It’s nice to see you again,” You hugged Urban first, “And nice to meet you I’m Y/N.” You smiled at Jack shaking his hand which made him give you a confused look but nonetheless he shook your hand. 

“Nice to meet you Y/N, I’m Jack.” He responded, “I just want to let you know that I’m not the best cook.”

You laughed, shaking your head. “It’s all good I can pull us through this as long as yall just follow my lead.” 

Druski immediately cut in, “I don’t know about all that because here are the rules. Basically one of yall can’t hear nothing, the next one can't see, and the last one can’t do either. So you all have to rely on each other to not f*ck it up. Especially my kitchen.”

Your eyes widen, “What the hell Druski you didn’t mention any of this?” There was no way you were about to trust two guys you didn’t even know with open fire and knives around you like that.

Jack however did not care, he was hoping to impress you and earn your trust. God, he hardly knew you and yet here he was actively trying to get into a situation where his hand could potentially be cut or burnt off just for you.

Urban was just down with it all, he had seen the trend on Tiktok a couple days earlier and thought it looked fun. 

“I swear we’re not gonna let anything happen to you.” Jack smiled at you, which made you feel a little better.

“I don’t know I’m actually kinda clumsy with my hands so don’t put too much pressure on me.” Urban put his hands up in defense making you laugh.

You sighed, giving the three of them a look before shrugging. “Fuck it.”

“Alright, alright!” Druski nodded, “And before we start Coulda Been Records is not at fault for anyone's clumsy ass and we made all three of em’ sign an NDA.”

Druski had the three of you pick a paper out of hat with what position you were gonna be. 

You were going to be completely deaf with the headphones on blast, Jack couldn’t see anything with his blindfold, and Urban was going to be completely useless because he was both. 

“We’re making pasta!” You just knew you were screaming and it made you laugh, “I’m gonna carry us!”

“Damn shawty is yelling.” Jack laughed, but you couldn’t even hear him. “She fine though so she gets a pass, matter of fact it’s turning me on.”

“What did you say?”  You yelled at Jack.

Jack shrugged, putting up his hands. “Just lead the way!” 

#jack harlow #jack harlow imagine #jack harlow x reader #jack harlow blurb #jack harlow x you #jack harlow x y/n

[the-psychotic-blueberry]

Another genshin idea that involves isekai because my heart craves the comfort of escapism. Reader partially god in a way-

   Also please beware this is a little long

   Reader gets isekai’d to teyvat, but it was like- a really long time ago, about 500 years or more before the current timeline. They arrive in Teyvat and decide to keep a journal with them to record there adventures in Teyvat.  The reader is somewhat immortal, they can live forever and still look the same. The reader will still get hurt and can die, but they can still ‘respawn’ again, but at a cost. The reader would lose their memories each time they died, and the reader is not aware of this ability so they assume they just got isekai’d recently every time they wake up.

   In Kheanriah, reader becomes close to Dainsleif and the two become friends. But then something happened and reader dies and Dainsleif is absolutely devastated, and he keeps the reader’s notebook with him now.

  In another life, the reader had befriended the yakshas. But then one of the yakshas accidentally kill the reader due to karmic energy and dies again, Xiao has one of the notebooks the reader has as well.

  In the next life, you encountered yokai, a kitsune, a tengu and an oni, and somehow, the electro archon. But reader dies again, being killed by a giant snake *cough* Orobashi *cough*. Reader’s notebook was never fully recovered, but a few pages were saved and were under the possession of Yae Miko in the current timeline.

  Another time, you woke up in old monstadt, and the nameless bard found you and you two became friends(but like- in an actual romantic-ish relationship...) and Venti in his little pixie form witnessed that shit. But of course, in a very shakespearean way, the lovebirds die together after the revolution. Venti recovered the lyre, and had found some pages of the journal as well. In memory of the two, he turned the pages into poetry and sung them in taverns.

  And then in another life, you woke up around the shores of tatarasuna, just right in front of shakkei pavillion. You later found Kunikuzushi somewhere and became friends with him, later on Katsuragi found you and took you both to Mikage furnace, you obviously remember the shit that went down here, and for some reason a part of you started getting a litttllleeee interested in Niwa Hisahide. But then Dottore killed him, Kuni is trauma and you ran after him because you felt guilty about not being able to save Niwa and whatever the hell happened back at the furnace. You run away with Kuni and find the child and take care of him together, but then the child dies and Kuni burns the house down. You try to follow him again, but he pushes you away. In a literal sense, he pushed you off a cliff by accident and he regrets it. He keeps your notebook with him at all times, for some reason.

  Somewhere along the line you woke up in Inazuma again, but then meets Kazuha and Tomo. They become really close until the vision hunt and sakoku decree came up and Tomo went to challenge god. But this time, reader is actually able to save Tomo from getting titty sword’d and gets literally killed by the Musou no Hitotachi. Ei just felt something really wrong after that, didn’t figure it out until she came out of her hidey hole. Kazuha and Tomo run away and Kazuha is just a tinyyyyy bit angry about the fact Tomo literally got the reader killed but gets over it quickly. Instead of Kazuha escaping with Tomo’s vision, he escapes with a very alive Tomo and a mildly burnt journal by a not so alive writer.

   The reader wakes up from each life and forget each previous lives, reader cannot recall their old lives anymore. But somewhere in the golden apple archipelago, there is a cave that contains some records of the reader’s past lives. When more notebooks began stacking up, the same message appears in the beginning of every notebook.

    “This is not your first life.”

   Finally, the reader wakes up on Starfell coast, washed up on the beach. Traveller finds them and takes them in. Now along with Paimon, the reader and traveller explore teyvat together and the reader slowly starts relearning about what happened in each of their past lives, and things happen:)

(I might decide to write this, but only if you beg hard enough-)

#genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin #dainsleif #kazuha #tomo #xiao #ei #kunikuzushi #wanderer #scaramouche #yae miko #venti #genshin x reader #ei x reader #kazuha x reader #venti x reader #xiao x reader #yae miko x reader #tomo x reader #should have made niwa npc more attractive smh #they literally just put a different hairstyle on the most generic ass npc and called it a day #monstadt #liyue #inazuma #might add some references to irminsul because this lacks sumeru content #this is just a story where i find creative ways to kill the reader #and traumatize characters #maybe if you beg hard enough i'll add another life involving deshret or diluc's father #ehe

[maurice-memes]

“A tree exploded in the fire like a bomb. Tall swathes of creepers rose for a moment into view, agonized, and went down again. The little boys screamed at them.”

…

"That little 'un that had a mark on his face-where is—he now? I tell you I don't see him."

…

“Beneath them, on the unfriendly side of the mountain, the drum-roll continued.”

…

I’m so obsessed with the idea of the separation between the world of canon and an AU world where things could’ve been different— (hence my last jalph comic)

If you don’t know that I made them brothers in my AU, this is really confusing💀💀 but this comic was really just for my own enjoyment and indulgence, and I wanted you to see the work I was proud of! Uhh headcanon dump under the cut if you happen to be interested lol

Basically, the context is that in the LotF Academy world, instead of the massive fire that killed Mulberry Boy, there was a fire that burnt down his and Ralph’s house when Ralph was little. Ralph got out unhurt, but Mulberry was scarred from his chest down to his legs from the burns. This resulted in an odd obsession in Ralph with watching flames, and a strong fear of fire in Mulberry. This is also partially the reason their family is poorer than the rest of the cast (this has shown up in several comics further down in the past on this blog, but don’t look bc they’re really cringey).

Here’s another version that better shows the actual separation between canon and my AU

I was conflicted as to which was was better, so here’s both

#lotf #lord of the flies #lotf fanart #lotf headcanons #lotf ralph #lotf mulberry boy

[surprisingmarch]

𝕷𝖚𝖈𝖎𝖋𝖊𝖗 𝕸𝖔𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖗 𝕳𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖈𝖆𝖓𝖔𝖓𝖘 (𝕽𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖗 𝖎𝖓𝖘𝖊𝖗𝖙 𝖋𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖑𝖞)

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

🍎 The first thing Lucifer does when he wakes up in the morning is kiss his beloved on the forehead. Then he quietly tiptoes to their master bathroom to brush his hair and teeth. He carefully styles his hair, however it only takes him about 5 minutes to do so since he's been using the same hairstyle for many years now. Then he makes sure those pearly whites are sparkly clean, if they don't blind the castle's maids as they walk by then they aren't clean enough.

🍎 Lucifer is rather proud of his cooking skills (unsurprisingly) and he always makes breakfast. Even if the maids offer to cook when he's in a particularly bad mood or in bad health, he still will not let them cook. And the whole reason for this, in his words is..

"I cook breakfast so I know you have at least one half decent meal a day. I couldn't live with myself if I didn't… Have you seen the shit some of the maids call food? Burnt scrambled eggs aren't a food, they're a god damn health hazard and a travesty. Scrambled eggs are one of the most BASIC breakfast foods yet most fail at making them. Obviously, I'm the only one capable enough in this god forsaken castle to provide food for my family.....Not the mention what I've seen the nurses eat... *Shivers*"

🍎 You can usually find Lucifer in his personal study that's connected to his bedroom doing Hell's various, apparently required, stacks of paperwork. When he's not doing paperwork he's often laying on his desk pouting about the paperwork he will eventually have to do. Half the time he has to be bribed to do it or else he'll just keep procrastinating until it's time for bed.

🍎 Lucifer doesn't just decorate duckies, he actually does all sorts of DIY activates, such as building furniture (On the smaller side, of course. Not because he's small, but because he has an extremely short attention span and loses interest far too quickly to make anything large such as beds or coffee tables. He mostly just makes stools and custom chairs.) and inventing various 'useful' gadgets for around the house… They don't always go well.. They usually don't go well.

🍎 Charlie has many, MANY, tales about her father's 'helpful' gadgets going haywire. Lucifer personally doesn't like talking about the past, or at least that's what he claims if you ask about his failed experiments.

🍎 Lucifer also likes to Paint, sketch (specifically nude bodies, he finds them beautiful and says they are the most pure form of beauty life has to offer.), and hedge trimming… Hell doesn't have many hedges to trim and all the hedges it does have has already been trimmed by him... because they're around his castle.

🍎 One of the many 'failed experiments' Lucifer has created was a robot that was supposed to cook lunch for family and guests… let's just say it didn't go well. It started to steam and at that point everyone knew shit was about to go down. Charlie still makes fun of her father for that to this very day.

🍎 Despite what many inhabitants of Hell thinks, Lucifer is actually a decent father, husband, and friend. He always makes sure to make time for his daughter, even if it's just for a few minutes. Often times someone will drag him away to do some kind of politician work, but he'll be sure to let Charlie know just how much he loves her as he poutingly walks down the large corridors. He'll continue to say I love you the whole way down until he's almost out of sight and right before he turns the corner he'll turn around salute to his daughter with a frown that screams 'this is a suicide mission' and solemnly walk away. Lucifer also makes sure to watch over his baby girl at all times via one way or another. He is the devil after all, he is partially omnipotent. He has eyes every where through out Hell. He also leaves little gifts all over the hotel for Charlie to find, he thinks it's a fun game. Once she found one on the roof, it was a tiny miniature version of her key made out of clay, she ended up asking for another and she now wears them as earrings. 🍎 Every time Lucifer runs into his partner on the street or even in his own home he'll run up to them and give them a kiss, he doesn't give a fuck who sees and he implores someone to attempt to hurt his beloved, he'll hang them with their innards in the town square to set an example. He makes little gifts for his lover, such as paper flowers, beautiful origami swans and other beautiful graceful animals, he's even knitted a sweater once. It's very warm and he's very proud of it! ...But he's never doing it again, it took way too long. When he can't make something he'll pick some flowers himself out of a garden (Possibly someone else's, it depends on who has the prettiest flowers at the time.) and will lay them some where he knows his love will find them. He thinks buying flowers takes the entire message and importance out of picking a bouquet yourself, so he refuses to do it. He also gives his lover massages regularly on spa days. Yes he has special days he has dedicated to having a spa with his beloved, so what? That doesn't mean he's girly.... right?

🍎 Lucifer will go 'to Hell and back' for his loved ones. If you even so much as make a snarky remark about anyone he cares for he will rip you to shreds... literally. If a friend needs something he will be sure to provide it, even if he has to send someone in his stead. He tries to hang out with his friends, but he's become more of a introvert in his recent years. His family's concern about him is that he might get used unknowingly by his friends if he's not careful, he just cares way too much about people. Once an angel always an angel, he's still good at heart, despite how hard he tries to hide it. Is he demented now? Sure. But he would still pick up an abandoned kitten off the street and raise it as his own. Absolutely. The man is still a saint no matter how hard he tries to put on the bad boy persona. 🍎 Lucifer has SEVERE daddy issues and tends to not trust men as much as women. He has mommy issues as well considering he's never had one, but they're no where near as bad as his father problems. He breaks down in bed frequently while his beloved is fast asleep. He either falls asleep while crying or he has to be held and consoled to calm down. Occasionally he'll get so worked up his wings will pop out and protectively cover himself and his love and his demon form will burst out. Giant horns will slam against the bed frame and he'll go completely feral, unable to see that he's safe now. He'll be ready to kill anything that walks into their room.

🍎 Lucifer's favorite comfort is being the little spoon as someone massages his scalp gently. He also loves it when someone runs their hands through his hair, it calms him down instantly.

==================================

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel lucifer #lucifer morningstar #lucifer magne #headcanons #reader insert #reader #hazbin lucifer #hazbin lucifer magne #hazbin lucifer morningstar #hazbin hotel lucifer magne #hazbin hotel lucifer morningstar

[bingbongsupremacy]

How To Kiss Pt. 3

Pairing: Ellie Williams x reader

Warnings: Smoking, idk anything about cars. All the car stuff is from my dad and google so it might be wrong. yuh.

Summary: Ellie gives you a ride after your car breaks down in the rain.

Pt. 1 Pt. 2 Pt. 3

*Not Proof Read* TLOU Masterlist

*****

" Fucking piece of shit! " I huff while banging my hands against my steering wheel. I fucking new it wouldn't make it to the city.

I made it to South Park when my dealer decided to call me and let me know he sold my ounces to some random girl he hooked up with at a party. Thank god it's not too far away.

On my way back my car decided to break down. Who knows what the fuck happened. It's about twenty years old and barely clinging onto life.

I peer out of my window into the dark road. Droplets of rain splash against my car. A dim streetlight pours down onto the hood of my trunk. Unlocking the car, I push open my door and step outside.

Rain pounds against my skin, soaking through my hood.

I'm immediately greeted with a burst of hot steam as I open the hood of my old Toyota. I scan the engine, attempting to figure out what's wrong. I don't fucking know what any of this is.

Holding up the hood of the car, I try to touch pull something. Horrible mistake. I let out a pained hiss and yank my hand back. Fuck that was hot.

The sound of tires pulling to a stop drags me away from the car. I glance over the hood at the owner.

An older truck parks besides my car. The window rolls down to reveal Ellie. Her mechanic jumpsuit is partially covered by an olive green jacket. " Hey, you good? "

" Just peachy. " I glance down at my red fingers.

Without another word, Ellie jumps out of the truck. She shields her eyes from the rain with her left hand, her right hand holding a half finished cigarette.

" Hold this for me, will ya? " She hands me the cigarette.

With a stiff nod, I carefully accept it.

Ellie lifts up the hood of my care. She peers down into the dark engine. " Well you definitely blew a gasket. "

Fuck, it's cold as shit out here. A shiver runs down my spine. I'm not sure if it's from my now fully drenched clothes or the fact that Ellie seems to somehow look hotter when wet.

Wait, fuck. No. I shouldn't be thinking about her this way. There's no fucking way I'd have a shot with her. Besides, who knows if she's gay. She also might end up leaving again. I can't get my hopes up. I don't have time for a stupid fucking crush.

Ellie's voice drags me back to reality. " When's the last time you had your oil checked? " Ellie pushes some hair out of her face.

I shrug. " I-I don't know. It's been a while I guess. "

Ellie pulls out a long stick. " Yeah, I can tell. Shit's empty. " Ellie puts the stick down with a small head shake. " You need to check your oil once a month. "

I don't say anything.

Ellie closes the hood of the car, turning her attention back to me. " The shop's closed for the night but I can come back first thing in the morning with the tow. "

Ellie opens up the passenger side door, waiting for me to get in.

" I can open my own door, Ellie. " I mutter in embarrassment after grabbing my stuff. Did I take too long?

" I know you can. " Ellie rolls her eyes while taking back the now burnt out cigarette. " I'm just not an asshole. "

Ellie shuts the door before running around the drivers side. " Depending on how bad it is we should be able to have your car back to you in a couple days. "

I shake my head. Beads of rain fly off my head and onto the truck's tan dashboard. " There's no way I can afford to pay to fix my car right now. Fuck, I can barely pay my rent. Can you just drop the car off at my house? " I let out a frustrated sigh. " I can probably pay for the tow but that's about it. "

Ellie's silent for a moment.

Rain gently smacks against the car. The wipers squeak in unison, creating a repetitive song.

" I live up here. " I point towards a small, unkempt brick building.

Ellie pulls to a stop in the parking lot.

" Thanks. " I shoot her a small smile while getting out. I close the door, eager to get inside and out of my cold clothes.

The truck's window rolls down. " I'll take care of it. "

I turn to her in confusion. " What? No. Ellie, I can't let you do that. "

Ellie shakes her head. " Y/N. I'm doing it. You can't fucking stop me. " Ellie puts the truck in reverse and slowly begins pulling out.

" But it's my car! " I yell after her. " Ellie! "

" I'm the one with the tow! " Ellie yells back. " Don't worry, Y/N. I'll get your car back in no time. "

Soon all I can see are the backlights of Ellie's truck driving away.

She's so fucking frustrating.

Lmk if you want to be tagged

idk if anyone wanted to be tagged for this one. Sorry if I missed u.

#fanfiction #fanfic #ellie the last of us #ellie williams x you #ellie williams x reader #ellie x you #ellie williams tlou #ellie williams #ellie tlou #ellie williams x female reader

[apollo-enthusiast]

The world must know

The atrocities committed by hamas are too horrible to imagine, and certainly for me to put into words. So instead, here's a translation of a report containing a testimony of a Zaka man. Zaka is the organisation taking care of people's dead bodies.

Shipping containers, one by the other, 44 bodies of murdered and fallen in each one of them. They're laid one on the other in silver shelves, partially piling on one another - these are the sights in the military base Shura, to which the bodies from the massacre in the Gaza Envelope communities arrive. The bodies get to the shipping containers after a series of identification tests of the teeth, as well as DNA tests.

According to lieutenant colonel Richard Hecht, an IDF spokesman:

"We brought the international community here. We've spent three days with the foreign press so the scope of the ISIS massacre that was here will be understood. Starting tomorrow we'll be accused of being war criminals. The IDF hurts only Hamas, not civilian population. The whole world needs to see. Hamas is ISIS. This is not what we usually do. We don't attack children. Hamas uses children as human shields. We don't do that. The world must see that."

In the camp there are currently 900 bodies of civilians and hundreds more of soldiers and members of the security system. Trucks keep coming, and unload more and more bodies that have been through the identification process wrapped in bags. The smells here are extremely harsh, but the people in charge of the craft of identification and the care of bodies are, among others, the people of Zaka. One of them is Levy Wilhelm.

"I was recruited to the north, but for this purpose we got here for the weekend." He tells. In his words, "My job is to transport bodies from cooling containers that passed teeth and DNA tests. Due to the large amount we couldn't transport them one by one, so we put them in cooling containers. The bodies pile on top of each other and evacuated to certain shipping containers. Sometimes the situation is so bad that we have to put the bodies on top of each other. We got preparation on the mental level, but the situation is really catastrophic because sometimes the bag might rip and sometimes cloth of body parts peek out. We're in a completely crazy atmosphere and we really hope it won't affect us. When you see it with your own eyes you understand to what a despicable and humiliating situation we got, when tiny little kids are in bags. Right now I feel bolstered and I'm willing to continue and work hard because the situation calls for us all. We learned to dissociate for them, for us and for the people to do the job. Sometimes we'll discover a mortifying sight, but we must get strong immediately and if someone feels weakness you talk to him and get the situation under control so we're ready to work. We're happy that we got to put a hand under those sacred stretchers."

Benny Shechter, another volunteer for identifying bodies:

"Since yesterday night I'm here. A whole night you transport bodies, pick up a burnt child. There are 51 children without heads here. We pick up a child. The bag is big and the body is small. Sometimes you pick up a leg on it's own. Rockets were shot at houses and they took down bodies from trees. They found 20 men in one house. I'm a 60 year old person, and I'm falling apart. You pick up a body and see it's a child. There are people here that picked up a child and next to them put their heads."

Source: Ynet article by Adir Yanko

#Israel #Palestine

[zooophagous]

(This entry of Wayward Souls contains a sex scene, viewer discretion is advised)

“I told you I’m fine.” Ursula grumbled and sipped her watery coffee at the breakfast nook. The table had been wiped down thrice. Why was it dusty? Why was everything so dusty? She swore she saw little wafts of lint fuzz on the surface of her creamer.

“You’re not fine. The reason you aren’t in incredible amounts of pain right now is probably because that burn on your leg went all the way through your skin and wrecked all the nerves in it.” Artemis replied in an annoyed tone. “It’s not as if we have any concrete plan anyways so what’s the hurry.”

“Well dear, two things. We need to find a way to clear both your name and Mr. Strauss, so long as the powers that be are convinced he’s a murderer, we have no allies and nowhere to run, and the house won’t stay hidden very long. Second and more importantly-” She said with an emphasis on ‘importantly’- “We need to find Troy before the Witchfinders do. He’s in mortal peril, and if he shifts again so is everyone else in a five mile radius. He’ll blow the lid off of our entire way of life, or blow off his own head, or BOTH in short order.”

She huffed and crossed her arms. “And I don’t know about you but I cannot coordinate a lycan hunt with zero staff from a damn hospital bed. Besides. I hate jello.” She slurped her coffee and managed to spill some of it, then furiously blotted it up with a scowl.

Artemis sighed. “You’re right, you’re right. As always, of course.”

“You sound unconvinced.”

“It’s just… if we do find him, we have nowhere to house him. We don’t have a safe bolt hole for him anymore. What if looking for him just makes both him and us a bigger target anyway? Maybe he’s safer as is.”

“As much as I wish I could believe that, Artie, there haven’t been any sightings reported of him, and he hasn’t self-reported either. Neither I nor the two or three remaining staff members has been in contact with him. His silence does not bode well.”

She stared blankly into her coffee with a thin lipped seriousness. “If it is too late for him, I still would like to find him. Give him a Christian burial. Keep him out of some skull collection.”

“The skull collections never seemed to be an objection before.”

A deep voice came from the room behind them. Mr. Strauss had risen, and slowly shuffled into the kitchen with a wide, ugly yawn that showed the full length of his fangs.

“Believe me Strauss, Troy deserves a better end than anyone you bumped into in the research library. If it makes you feel better, I’m sure they’re all nicely cremated now along with my rare books and my research and my files and all of my payroll- oh God.” Ursula dragged her hands down her face.

“Tax season is going to be AWFUL after this. Ugh.”

“Chin up, Frau Harker. The photos in the news show that the library was only partially burnt. All you have to do is hunt down the looters who no doubt are sharing their newly unearthed secrets on the information superhighway.”

“This injury isn’t making me want Dilaudad, Strauss, but you are.” Ursula finally caved and wrenched open her pill bottle full of some prescription pain killer.

“I am surprised the hospital let you go, looking like that.”

“You aren’t the only one who hates hospitals, Strauss.”

“Yes. I do agree with you, however. Troy must be found, and found soon. If he is still alive it is likely he is injured, lost or captured. They may be tormenting him as we speak.”

“Alright, you win. I’m outvoted.” Artemis stood up and began to walk away. “But we’ll start tomorrow. We need at least one night’s rest, then tomorrow we’ll pack, and then hunt for Troy. Auntie, can you handle your own wound care for a bit?”

“I can handle it better than the good for nothing triage nurses. I’m in the best possible hands. My own.” She gulped down a handful of pills. “Still, if we’re going to take a night to rest, I’ll dip into these painkillers. It will at least force me to sleep.”

“If your leg continues to bother you, I will happily assist you in amputating it.” Strauss grinned and licked his teeth.

“Don’t threaten a member of the Van Helsing family on their home turf, Strauss. You’ll wake up the ghosts and piss them off.” She got up with a grunt.

“I’m going to get some rest. Artie, you should too. We’ll have plenty to think about on the drive into town.”

Artemis turned and walked stiffly down the hall. Ursula went her separate way to the guest room she’d claimed for herself. Strauss lingered alone in the hall. He tilted his head and stared at Artemis’ back as her shadow grew fainter further away.

He was unsure what it meant. Her emotions could only be conflicted, negative- but she was still difficult to parse. He hesitated a moment, then followed her. She made it up the stairs, to the master bedroom. She entered it silently, but left the door open behind her.

Strauss hesitated at the threshold. This was not a clear invitation. Or was it? Well. He did not wish to be alone all night long in the Van Helsing manor, so he resolved to be rude, and ask forgiveness if needed. He pushed his way into the dark space. A cool night breeze brushed past the gossamer curtains, lifting them in billows. Artemis’ dark silhouette stood among them, arms crossed, head down, apparently deep in thought. He quietly crept behind her and finally rested his head upon her shoulder. She startled slightly but instantly tamped it down.

“Mr. Strauss. There’s something I need to give you.”

“Oh?” He wrinkled his brow in confusion.

“Your freedom.” She pulled a folded paper from her pocket and handed it to him. “That is a signed form of relinquishment from the Institute. Only blank one I could find in storage. It hereby, and henceforth, deems that you are no longer the property of the Van Helsing Institute.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You’re free to go, Strauss. Even if the chase was called off now, I don’t have the facility to adequately care for you anyway. It was stupid and clueless and heartless and just… cruel to even capture you in the first place. I’m giving you my word that if you leave and save yourself now, nobody from my side will hunt you down.”

“Artemis.”

“I should have done it a long time ago. I’ve been meaning to all along, you know? That was the end goal. To release you back into the wild at the end of the project. Well, the project is over now. So we can skip to that step.”

“It does not work that way, Van Helsing.” He hooked his claws over her shoulders and held her firmly while whispering directly into her ear. His cold, stale breath made the hairs on her neck rise.

“You have caught the tiger, Frau Van Helsing, and you have tamed it. Have you not read The Little Prince? You are responsible forever, for what you have tamed.”

She pulled out of his grip and spun to face him, only for him to catch her by the wrists.

“Get off.”

“What was it you said to me before? Once a vampire is invited in, it is hard to convince them to leave?”

“Don’t make me knee you in the groin.”

“Troy is my friend too Artemis.” He let go of her and backed off. “Believe it or not, so is Ursula.”

“I don’t know if you can call your gaolor a friend, Strauss.”

“No, I cannot. You are my captor, yes. But you are not my friend. You are something else. You, Van Helsing, are my mate. You own more of me than you can relinquish with a piece of paper.” He took the form and let it fly out the window on the breeze.

“If you attempt to leave me behind, I shall declare you my rival and hunt you. I would become a quarry too tempting for the seasoned slayer to resist. I will stalk you like a wild beast if you dare put me out.”

“You’re only in the line of fire any time you’re close to me.”

“Then let me die happily, for once. I have already died miserable before.”

He put his hands back on her shoulders, this time more of a caress and less of a grip. “There is also, to be considered… the ‘little death’ as well.” He licked his lips.

“That’s what you’re thinking about? At a time like this?”

“And what better time. One more evening of rest, and then tomorrow? We do not know if we will live or die. If I am to be captured and slain like a predatory animal, I should like to go to my grave with a pleasant memory to warm my bones.”

She rested her hands on his chest and looked him up and down before finally looking him in the eye. “I wish it wasn’t like this. I wish we had a little more time.” She smiled sadly. “Best to make the most of it while we can. Memento Mori.”

Strauss dove in quickly for a kiss, quickly enough that his fang caught her lip and made her bleed. She gasped, but grabbed him by the head and ears, controlling his advance. He backed off long enough to lick her blood from his lips and continue, gently threatening with the tips of his fangs.

She grabbed his shirt and began to steer him towards the bed. He continued his onslaught of bite-feints, using his height to loom over her until she lay flat on the bed beneath them. He folded his body over her own like a cloak.

While he kissed and groped, she popped open the buttons of her blouse, and freed herself awkwardly from her bra. She felt her way down Strauss’ torso to his pants, trying to find and open his fly. He wasn’t holding still. Finally she had a handle on him and slid her hand into his pants to hold his arousal.

He stopped his barrage of kissing and stared fixedly at her. She stared back with a confused look of concern.

“What’s wrong?”

“Van Helsing.” He slowly backed off of her. “I very much desire to bite you.”

“Like actually bite me?”

“Yes.”

“Ah.” She breathed heavily and looked away. “Excuse me a minute.”

She rolled out from under him and left the bed. Strauss sat down on the edge of the bed and put his head in his hands with a frustrated groan. Embarrassing. Complete failure as a lover, but was that surprising?”

“Here.”

He looked up. Artemis had returned, holding something.

“Was ist das?”

“It’s fine. We just need to use a little protection.” She smirked. The item dangling from her hand had straps. She approached and fitted it over his face, obscuring his mouth- and strapped it tightly into place.

“A muzzle.” She stated matter of factly. “An old type of vampire management tool. Inhumane by our standards… but maybe it will do for this.”

Strauss reached up and felt the thing on his face. It was uncomfortable. It conjured up memories of a film about Silent Lambs he’d watched with Troy. “You would muzzle your loyal lap dog, Van Helsing?” He teased though muffled.

“I’m responsible for you, remember? That means you’re allowed to bite when I say you can. If you’re staying, you’ll have to be good.”

She did not have a well practiced authoritarian voice. Still, being made to obey gave him a thrill, a thrill that ran down his leg to his groin and quickly lured him back to bed. She took the strap near his ear and steered his head down to her chest and pulled him over her like a blanket.

He had already managed to escape from his pants, and his anatomy was now craning outward, begging to be touched. She would make him wait. One knee held him up and off of her for the moment, and she took his hand and guided it to her skirt. Her underwear was quickly discarded.

His hands were cold, and his claws left a distinct pinching sensation on her more tender places. She didn’t care, and didn’t stop him. The physical pain was like a shock that jolted her brain away from the emotional agony of the past few days. Strauss’ free hand had found one of her breasts, and he rested his head near it, listening to the pounding of her heart to excite himself.

Artemis relaxed beneath him and allowed him to lavish his pleasures on her. She felt an awkward piece against her leg, and opened her eyes to see Strauss trying and failing not to grind against her in desperation. She took pity on him and took him into her hand and pulled him down into the crease of her body.

There was a pinching sensation again as he mounted her and began to chase his own release. He wanted to be rough, but cognizant of his own strength, instead gripped the sheets until they ripped beneath his claws to spare her soft skin the abuse.

She wrapped her legs around him, easy to do with one so thin, and held and massaged his ears as his desire rocked the bed. He burrowed his face into her neck. She could feel his teeth against the other side of the muzzle, trying and failing to find purchase on her artery.

The denial of the bite seemed to frustrate him, and his pace increased as he looked for satisfaction one way or another. Artemis felt her breathing grow shallow and her muscles tight, as Strauss carried her to the finish.

He had done his job. Now he sought his own reward. He settled into a steady rhythm and a nearly trancelike stare. He had called her his mate, yes, and she got the sense that this strange being, this creature was truly more ‘mating’ than he was making love. For all the sense that made.

She held onto him tightly as he braced for his crescendo, and with a shudder and a grunt she felt the uncomfortable wetness of his release in her embrace. He ground to a stop, and slowly deflated off of her to fall by her side, still clinging to her in a possessive embrace.

“We’ll need to get up and get cleaned up early before Ursula sees us.”

“Don’t think about her right now. Let us sleep. May I stay here with you Van Helsing? Please?”

“Of course.” She nestled in next to him. “Strauss? Do you love me?”

“Yes.”

“That’s too bad.” She mumbled, nearly dozing. “After all of this, you really shouldn’t.”

“Do you love me, Van Helsing?”

“I do.”

“Then that will cover a multitude of sins.”

#wayward souls #writing

[edge-oftheworld]

are the natural disasters referenced in 5sosverse songs related to climate change?

love like a landslide (caramel): no. soil erosion/deforestation maybe, so it’s connected

the room is on fire (bloodhound): probably, but not 100% sure

there’s a hole in the sun (tears!): no don’t buy the myth. people use that to pretend climate change doesn’t exist

we burnt the city without warning (red line): that was your own fault. but climate change makes it harder to put the fire out

running underwater, can’t make a sound, it’s drowning it’s drowning me out (close enough to feel you): no evidence of whether it’s a flood or just regular water (same goes with mum and diamonds and baby blue)

something to break the levee, the overflow in my heart (close my eyes): most likely yes. climate change makes floods a lot more common

dark city, can’t find the light in the sun (close my eyes): not really a natural disaster is it? sounds like air pollution

hoping for thunder in these desert eyes (saigon): yes thunderstorms in the desert are more common due to climate change

sun is gone, but you always liked this time of day (place in me): no that’s just a regular sunset time. same goes with the bursting sunrise in comedown

lost in the rubble, but the house stands all the same (repeat): that’s a really weird earthquake so no

so dark and dreary, please find the sun soon (garden life): it could be, or it could just be the weather. not everything needs to be a disaster

I’d set myself on fire (Benny): no I’m pretty sure you just admitted to being at fault

all alone in the city, I’ve never seen it this cold (promises): YES COLD IS ACTUALLY A CONSEQUENCE OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN SOME PLACES

lightning fast at night, whispers in the rain (I’m to blame): maybe partially

two birds on a wire, they don’t know that they’ll catch fire (I’m to blame): not really, this is mostly due to the risk of power lines but climate might have an influence

our house on fire (lonely heart): same as bloodhound. likely

hurricane insert name (nitsw): hurricanes have always happened, but climate change makes them worse. so partially

red desert: no there has been a desert there long before anthropogenic climate change but let’s not make it bigger

pouring rain (or tears) (want you back): not really, climate change will influence the heaviness of it but there’s always been rain. I chose the clean version because that’s got more evidence of climate change and it’s there it’s just minimal when there’s no average weather patterns to contrast it with. still I reckon it’s there so overall yes

dead man walking/crawling (youngblood): why are zombies considered a natural disaster?

burn too bright now the fire’s gone (babylon): pretty sure the whole premise of that empire is that it’s your own fault. so no. climate change would simply make the fire never go out and trust me that would be worse

enemy lines are drawn (more): by definition not a natural disaster. but it’s included because climate change causes political instability so…yes?

you haven’t found fish in the ocean (moving along): yes this is an overfishing and plastic pollution and climate change (which destroys their habitats) issue

rain in outer space: now that’s just absurd

earthquakes won’t wait (unpredictable): no. earthquakes are not related to climate change

sky is falling down, earth is crumbling around our feet (gotta get out): it’s not that catastrophic and if we keep going the way we are (switching to renewables nicely) that’s never gonna happen

#I’m blanking on self titled and half of sgfg and the associated eps #please tell me is there a song referencing smoke that isn’t vapor or lost in reality #I’ll updtae #climate change #climate change awareness #5sos #5 seconds of summer #5sos5 #boy ep #wfttwtaf #calm #youngblood #superbloom #ashton irwin #somewhere new ep #sgfg #michael clifford #calum hood #luke hemmings

[clericofshadows]

outside looking in

Description: Ashley finally has a chance to talk to and meet Zaeed in person onboard the Normandy and wants to get the know the man that has stolen both Regis's and Kaidan's hearts.

Pairing: Regis Shepard/Zaeed Massani/Kaidan Alenko

Notes: Part of my overall Regis Shepard series. Wren is my Shadow Broker, an N7 Fury and my replacement for Liara.

It was nice being back on the Normandy, even if she’d changed a lot since her first iteration.  Larger, brighter, and filled with crew new and old.  A similar hum throughout the ship.  

But it was different all the same.  The first few hours on the ship, Ashley nearly barged straight into Wren’s quarters despite knowing in the back of her mind that those weren’t Regis’s anymore, now housed at the top part of the ship, accessible via a specific keycode. Or a brave trek through the engineering tubes and vents throughout the ship.

The moment she came onboard, he handed her the credentials with a wink before heading off to the center of the CIC, already barking orders and preparing the ship for the initial checks to leave the Citadel.

Without Kaidan.  A fucking terrible business.  She had no idea how Regis was handling it, dodging her attempts to ask him about it by talking about Kaidan's condition.  Wren was quiet about the mission when she asked, which was never a good sign.

She took an interest in the mech, which didn't surprise her. Probably why she was so tight lipped about it. Regis likely didn't want that thing working ever again.

There was also Zaeed, also joining her on the Normandy, hand in hand with Regis before he slipped down to Engineering… How was he taking this as well?  She didn’t know him well, only talking to him a few times over vid calls during the two years before Regis was brought back.  And then there was little time at all to get to know each other during the prep work after Regis brought the SR-2 back to the Alliance, right after he and Kaidan destroyed the Alpha Relay.  

Wren was absolutely terrifying for what she was able to leverage to get them off scott free and twist it up into a Cerberus venture, a plan nearly foiled by Regis and Kaidan until it was too late.  Only a small group knew what Kaidan chose to do in Regis's place, what Hackett had originally ordered for them to do.

Ashley remembered Hannah Shepard warning her in a meeting with her not long before she decided to take up the N trials.

“There will be a time that you will face something like Torfan.  I hope it’s something far better than what my son had to face.”

She considered hers Asteroid X-57.  Those burnt bodies still haunt her some nights, but she wasn’t about to let Bahak get away.  Millions of lives were at stake.

Still, it was hard getting used to some of its changes.  EDI was… friendly, but a bit disconcerting at first, ready to answer any question Ashley had, which she was grateful for.  Regis sang her praises, but she had partially chalked that up to his cybernetics and VI background.

A small thought popped in her head wondering if Cerberus used EDI because of that.  She’d have to ask him about it later.

It was good having Chakwas on board as well, and Adams was another happy sight.  She missed seeing Tali right there next to him, challenging him with questions and her own tweaks.  

Hopefully she’s doing okay out there.  Messages have been spotty, but she’s with her people right now.  

Good to see Joker as well.  She got a little closer to him after Alchera, after all the shit that had happened, but lost touch after she started N trials.  She often wondered if she could've stopped him from joining Cerberus.

Doubtful.  He’s a stubborn bastard and even if he and Regis pretend to hate each other's guts, it must’ve been nice to have a few familiar faces.  She later got the impression Regis hated that they joined Cerberus, but was secretly a little relieved to not be out in the black on his own.

She still had yet to really get to know Vega and Cortez, as well as Regis’s new specialist all up in his business at the CIC.  She’s sure he loves that, but he doesn’t need to focus on every damn little thing.  Especially not now when everyone wants to hear from the great Commander Shepard.  

It’s also nice having some of his family on board.  Adrian seems to have already gotten on well with Cortez and Joker, being a pilot himself, and Regis seems a lot lighter knowing his uncles are by his side.  Vikram has made themself at home in the medbay, which surprised her when she realized they weren’t staying behind with Kaidan despite their knowledge on implants and biotics.

Concern for what they clearly consider a son likely outweighed that.  She hoped it wouldn’t backfire on Kaidan, but surely they’re keeping an eye on that situation as well. 

At least Regis is now not the only Spectre on board.

She found herself back in front of the elevator and decided to check on Zaeed.  Introduce herself a little less formally and maybe get to know the man that helped Kaidan heal, and later kept a close eye on Regis when he was in the belly of the beast.

They never mentioned him much at all on the SR-1.  One time she caught them on a call with him, but it seemed friendly.  Not romantic.  Something that never crossed her mind beyond an interesting friendship, it seemed.  When she asked about it Regis only smiled and called him an “old friend” which was accurate, she supposed.

And Kaidan told her a few months after Alchera there wasn’t anything between the three of them after they met in Omega, only during–really, you and Regis took a shore leave on Omega?--but that they all wanted it.  Too damn late to do anything about it. 

Regis seemed to melt in his presence.  Maybe he treated him like a lifeline, scared for Kaidan and holding onto his other love.  He looked at Zaeed like he hung the damn moon, the same way he looked at Kaidan once they were open about their relationship.

She was happy for them.  An odd couple, truly, two alliance soldiers–two human goddamn Spectres–and a merc damn near twice their age.  Not that she judged them for that.  She could see why they were interested in him purely from an aesthetic perspective.  Zaeed wasn’t really her type, but those arms and tattoos?  Damn.  

Hell, every time she talked to Kaidan in those two years, he always brightened when talking about Zaeed. Happy that he at least had someone that really knew Regis.

There aren't a lot of those out there.

A part of her still can’t believe Kaidan was the one that goaded Regis into doing that authorization, but those two have always surprised her.  Teaching her to not judge a book by their damn covers, that’s for sure.

So she’s trying to do the same for Zaeed.  She wants to be friendly with him–friends even.  And she hoped he was open to that.

She entered in Deck 4 as her destination and waited for the short trip down.  As the doors opened, she saw Regis walking down the hallway away from Zaeed's corner of the ship. He waved at her, and she noticed he was wearing his Alliance officer uniform, a clean blue leather jacket with grey detailing.

It looked a little broad in the shoulders… must be Kaidan’s, then. 

“What are you doing down here?” He asked, stuffing his gloved hands in the pockets of his jacket. 

“I can't explore the ship?” She teased. 

He smiled, shaking his head. “No, that's my job.”

“I wanted to talk to Zaeed for a bit,” she said.  Especially before they get to Menae. She was sure Zaeed would be on that ground team but had no idea who else Regis would bring down with him. “Haven't got to really know the man that stole both of your hearts. Think he'll be okay with that?”

A light blush dusted his cheeks, making the red lines of his cybernetics appear to glow even brighter. “We've talked about you a lot to him, so I can't imagine why he wouldn't. He's working on his Widow stuff now. He's got some good tools,” he said with a knowing look. “Bring by something you want to tune up and he might let you use his kit.”

“Well, I do have to work on my Piranha. It's not as efficient,” she said. “I'll grab it from the armory.”

“And I'll let him know you're dropping by, just in case. He won't bite,” he said, and she shook her head at him. 

“Maybe not me,” she said, testing the waters, seeing if Regis was fine with her teasing him about Zaeed. By the way Regis blushed and nearly hid a shy smile, he seemed perfectly fine with it. 

If you would've told her when she started on the Normandy that Regis Shepard would blush at any suggestive comment about his relationship, she would’ve thought you were crazy.  

It’s cute.  One minute he’s threatening whoever is in his way and the next he’s all starry-eyed with his boyfriend.

He cleared his throat. “I won't disagree with that. Go get your shotgun and I'll send him a message. Unfortunately I can't spend all my time hanging out with my boyfriend.”

“I know, right?  It's terrible. Let me know if you ever need to take a load off.  You made me the temp XO for a reason.” She keyed in Deck 5 to get to where she stored her weapons. 

“Don't worry, I will. When Kaidan gets back on board… I'll have two damn XOs. What are they going to do?  Tell me no?” He stepped in the elevator with her and queued up Deck 2. “Meet me for dinner in my cabin after the mission?  Good time to catch up.”

“I won't be intruding?”

“Hell no. I guarantee you and Zaeed will be fast friends and that's kind of a terrifying thought.  I need my best squad to like each other, you know?” He laughed as the doors opened. “Why so worried?” He kept the doors open with a hand over the sensor. 

“He's so important to you. The both of you. I guess I want to make a good impression.”

He snorted, and she tried to not show surprise at that. “I appreciate it, but trust me. I think you'll get along just fine. Like I said, we've told stories about you. He's a story kind of guy. If he tells you an old tale of his, you've made it on his good side.”

“Thanks, Regis.” She smiled at him and shut the elevator doors with a wave of his omnitool. 

She nodded at Cortez who was currently working on the shuttle and noticed Vega doing pullups in his little corner of the ship. Adrian was rummaging through his locker, grinning at her as she made her way over to hers a few doors down. 

“What're you up to?” He asked, reaching for an Acolyte. She didn't stick him for an asari weapon kind of guy, but then again, he was with a matriarch. 

“Grabbing my Piranha and seeing if I can get to use Zaeed's tools,” she said, grabbing it from the rack.

“Oh!  Good choice. He's got all the good shit. Maybe some illegal shit too, but that's when you know it's good,” he replied with a grin. “What's wrong with it?”

“I modded it to use the older heat sinks?  You know, the better ones,” she said, watching as he nodded along. “But the heat dissipation is complete shit all of a sudden and I can't seem to figure out why.”

“Zaeed loves working on older stuff. Might have a solution for you,” he replied. “And maybe you can size him up too, seeing if he's worthy of your boys.” He winked. 

Regis warned her that he was pretty good at reading people. 

“They aren't my boys,” she said with a startled laugh. “I think they can take care of themselves.”

“That they can,” he said, but a pained look crossed his face for a moment, likely thinking about Kaidan. Shit. “I never would've guessed the kid would've gone for two men, but he seems to be at peace with himself.  Of course, I saw that with Kaidan too, but despite everything, I can tell he's very happy with what they have.”

“I've seen it too,” she said. “Acting like newlyweds on the SR-1, those matching scarves and shit.”

A smile graced his face, but it almost seemed melancholic. “It has always made me happy to see them taking up my brother's tradition.”

It was Regis's father who started that?  She never knew.  Thought it was Regis's way of showing off their relationship. 

“Regis has found every way he can to connect himself to Atlas,” Adrian continued. “I think he would've loved Zaeed.” He cleared his throat. “At any rate, is this the first time you've met?  I figured Kaidan would've introduced y'all at some point.”

She wanted to tell him that Kaidan wasn't the only one he continued it with, as her own scarf was sitting with her some of her gear but the moment had passed. 

She'll make a point to ensure he sees it on her gear the next time she needs to suit up. 

“It's the first time I've been able to talk with him alone,” she offered. 

“I get it.  You'll be fine. Be yourself.” 

She laughed and grabbed her own personal repair kit before heading back over to the elevator.  It took no time at all to be back in front of Starboard Cargo.  A quick glimpse at her omnitool only showed a thumbs up from Regis, so that had to be good news. 

Ashley made a move to knock on the door, but instead the door opened automatically.  Zaeed waved her in and she stepped inside.  It was already well lived in with various trophies and knickknacks strewn about along with stacks of extra cargo that had nowhere else to go. A long table lined the wall covered in parts and a top of the line printer.  An old and battered M-8 Avenger was pushed to the side, along with a deconstructed Widow. 

“Regis told me you had a stubborn gun,” he started, brushing off his grease-stained shirt that did nothing to hide his large arms. Damn.  “Tell me about it.”

She put her kit down and extended the gun. “I mod my own stuff, especially this Piranha, and it was working fine, but suddenly my old-style heat sink has shit dissipation. I've tried fixing it myself but it looks to be a proprietary part that I can't find anywhere.”

“Mind if I?” He motioned to the gun. She let him take it.  “Spectre channels useless too?”

“Alliance made. I asked around. These days it's too much of a pain in the ass to get,” she shrugged.  “Maybe if I had the problem a month ago.”

He scanned it with his omnitool. “Think I found your fucking culprit, but you probably already knew that.”

“The replacement switch?” She said, and he nodded. “Yeah, thought so. I jury rigged it together ages ago because why bother making replacement parts when instead you can make it obsolete?”

He grinned. “You get it. Can't believe Regis fucking embraced the change. Thought he would've bitched about it the whole time.”

“He didn't?”

“No. Somehow, I almost think he liked it better.”

“I'm going to give him such a hard time about it.”

“We'll gang up on him. He won't be able to get a goddamn word in.”

Honestly, she doesn't even know why she was worried at this point. 

He continued, “Believe it or not, I think I have the ‘prints to this part around here. If not, Wren might.”

Shit, she didn't even think of asking Wren!

“By your expression I'm guessing you forgot about our lovely little trump card?” He said, his mismatched eyes damn near sparkling with amusement. 

“Oh fuck off,” she laughed, sitting down on one of the crates. “I'm still not used to having the entire galaxy at my fingertips!”

“It’s so fucking wild, isn't it?  Alliance having their own little shadow organization ran by their best and brightest Ns. Regis is one clever motherfucker for putting Wren in that place.”

“It wasn't like you had many choices, right?”

Regis was mostly tightlipped about what ultimately dealt with the former Shadow Broker. She knows it's all because of the bad feelings around T’Soni and her meddling in his affairs, to put it lightly. 

She would pay many credits to give T’Soni a piece of her mind. Sure, it may have benefited the galaxy, and it was nice to see Kaidan truly happy again and to have her best friend back, but the utter entitlement to deal with someone's corpse like that?

She's still surprised Regis let her go. 

“No,” he snorted. “The asari who violated his corpse, a drell and former broker agent in poor condition, myself, Regis, and Wren.  I thought she was going to blast him across the room with that biotic field of hers when he ordered her to deal with the network.”

“She's definitely embraced it. Dare I say even likes it.”

“That we can agree on,” he said, starting to dismantle her gun. “Never used one of these. Helluva gun though.”

“Has a lot of kick and bite. I love it.”

He keyed in something on the printer display. “Lucky for us, I do have the older specs. Won't even be a hassle to improve on your mod. Good job, by the way. Almost perfect.  Going to use your scan to improve the tolerance.”

She smiled under the praise. “Williams’ take care of their shit.”

“And so do Massani's,” he echoed with a knowing look. “Something tells me you weren't just here for a tune up.” 

“Wanted to really get to know the guy that has stolen my best friends’ hearts,” she said, freely admitting her real motives. “I have to say, I was a little curious.”

“Vid calls ain't enough,” he said with a nod. “Been curious about you as well. Never heard Regis sing the praises of a soldier under his command this much until he met you.”

“I've heard that a lot,” she admitted. “Surprised the hell out of me when he said he was nominating me for the N program. Managed to get it though just before Alchera…” she trailed off. “Saw me for me and not my family name.”

“Not sure I follow,” he said, setting down his tools. 

Ah, right. So used to working with fellow Alliance she forgot Zaeed wasn't it. But Kaidan did mention to her once that he was a former Alliance, but wasn't in it long. Not enough to care about its history. 

“My grandfather was the first human who surrendered to aliens,” she said. “Shanxi.”

“Saved a bunch of lives and all you get is shit,” Zaeed said. “Fucking typical Alliance. Only caring about optics and nothing else.”

She blinked at his response. Huh. “It followed my dad, and then me.  And then Regis came along and leveraged his notoriety to help me out.”

“And now you're a goddamn Spectre and an N7.  Hope your family is proud.” He crossed his arms.  “Are they alright?” His voice was laced with concern, his face softening. 

“They're trying to get to the Citadel. I have four sisters,” she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I've leveraged what resources I can, and I've asked Wren to help out if she can, but it's a struggle.”

“You're a colony kid, right?” He asked. 

Ashley nodded. “Yeah, why?”

“Might have some contacts of my own I can leverage. Know a bunch of people out in the black.  Let me know,” he returned back to working on her gun, starting to scan her modded part, as if he didn't just offer something that could let a load off her shoulders. 

“Thanks. I may have to take you up on that.”

“Give me the details and I'll see what I can do.” He rubbed the Suns tattoo on his neck. “Use something good out of the shit I used to do.”

One of the things Kaidan made clear about Zaeed to her after their first call.  It wasn't something that escaped her notice, and she wasn't going to judge, but she did wonder about it. 

“He's former Blue Suns. But he's long been out of that life.” “Was I that obvious?” “My parents were a bit worse.  But Vik and Adrian made their thoughts clear to them, we may have had a little bit of a love declaration, and the next morning my dad and Zaeed were grilling up some stuff for breakfast.” “How domestic.” “He's… been everything I've needed right now.”

“It seems like damn near everyone on this ship has something they can leverage for the war,” she laughed, hoping to lighten the mood. “I’ll get you the information after the mission.  Regis invited me up for dinner, we can talk about it more then.”

He seemed to loosen up, releasing some of the tension in the air.  She wondered how many had judged him for his past, and hoped that none of the crew on this ship did. “Regis has gathered himself an odd bunch. But I'll correct some history you may know.”

Ashley raised an eyebrow. 

“I wasn't just a ‘Suns. I founded them,” he admitted. “And this–” he rubbed the deep scar on his face. “Was how I left.”

She thought Batarians founded the Suns… Now that's a story she admittedly wanted to hear. She let out a whistle. “And the other guy?”

“Stayed in the fucking Suns until he became dead by mine and Regis's hand.  Hunted the bastard down with Wren’s help.  Got away from me once, and we ensured he would never get a goddamn chance in hell again,” he said with a nod. There was something else in his tone she couldn't place. Bitterness maybe, as if the revenge wasn't so sweet. 

“Good to hear,” she said.  The printer chimed, and the part was sitting in the glass enclosure, gleaming in the low light of the room. “Does that mean it's ready?”

He examined it with a close eye. “Sure is.” In no time at all, he swapped out the part and reassembled her gun.  He motioned over to a cabinet beside her. “Got some old test cartridges in there. Toss one to me, and I can simulate the dissipation. Won't be the same as a live test, but good enough for now. Doubt we have time to assemble the shooting range down in cargo.”

“Probably not,” she replied, doing as he asked. She found a box labeled with TEST in large block letters scratched on with a marker and grabbed a heat sink.  It felt heavier than a normal one.  She tossed it to him, and he caught it with a grin. 

Once he slotted it inside, he pulled up a larger display and motioned for her to come closer. 

It took a moment for him to get it seated and calibrated, but soon enough, the screen filled with diagnostic logs and a live look at the expected capacity.  “Aim at that dart board over there and fire a few shots for me.”

She grabbed her gun and felt the weight of it in her hands before aiming and firing many shots in succession. Nothing came out, but the gun acted like it did, having to adjust for the recoil before firing her next shot.  He laughed, seeing her initial surprise.  

Ashley couldn't help but roll her eyes at him before hitting the cooldown point. Turning to the display, her eyes were on the status, and the heat appeared to dissipate much faster, watching the outputs and feeling the heat on the gun. 

She ran through the test a few more times, noticing a good improvement, even better than her original mod, close to how the gun behaved before the big transfer over to the new system. 

“Damn, she kicks and spits like she's fresh off the market,” Ashley said, ejecting the test sink and carefully setting it on the workbench. “Thank you. I owe you.”

“Nah, you gave me enough pleasure working on this thing.  Might need to try and get one for myself.  I'm more of a Raider guy myself.”

Batarian made.  Semi-automatic. Not bad. 

“And like Regis, you're a Black Widow guy,” she said, nodding at the disassembled gun, collapsing the gun and putting it back down for now. 

“Not just any Widow.  His old one,” Zaeed said, grabbing the scope off the table. 

Ashley recognized the scratched, knife-engraved skull that used to belong to his old squad with the Batarian name for Torfan underneath it.  But there was something new, a set of numbers she didn't recognize. 

“Lucky bastard was having the gun serviced on Arcturus and was using a newer one before Alchera,” Zaeed said, rubbing his fingers over the engravings. “Those are the galactic coordinates to that fucking wasteland. Since he used this gun to remember Torfan, then I sure as hell was going to remember his grave.”

“I wondered where it ended up,” she said quietly. “Shit, does he know you–”

Kaidan could snipe, but it wasn't his thing, leaving that to Regis and Ashley.  She expected the gun to end up with Kaidan or Regis’s mother, but now that she knows about Zaeed, it's obvious why it went to him in the end. 

Zaeed shook his head. “If he does, he never said it to me.  Probably should've told him, but he had enough reminders of what happened to him on that fucking ship.  Didn't need something else from me.”

Something else. “I wish I could've been there for him, but honestly?  I could have never worked for Cerberus in any capacity.”

“Good. Regis would've hated it if you did.  Hated enough that he had some of his former crew join him.  More fights to be had than just ours out there.  We were lucky enough as it were.”

Regis lost three people on his squad; she knew that much.  From the impression she got from him, it wasn't anyone particularly important to him.  Numbers that knew the score and the risks of the mission.  A geth, a krogan, and a turian that just so happened to be the one he passed up on their hunt for Saren. 

Ashley didn't think those deaths dwelled on him much at all.  They weren't mentioned much in his messages and reports either compared to some other members of the crew. 

“I'm glad he had you,” she said, holding out a hand. He shook it with a small smile. 

“Me too,” he admitted. 

“Attention all crew.  We are nearing Menae as I speak.  Massani, Williams, Shepard, you are on my ground crew for this mission. Suit up and get ready to debrief with me in the conference room ASAP.  EDI will give the rest of the crew your others on an as needed basis.  Shepard out.” Regis's voice filled the air as quickly as it left, short and succinct as always. 

“Guess I'll need to test this out later,” Ashley said, grabbing her unused kit and gun.  Zaeed started to get up from his table, shaking his head at his Widow and grabbing a Valiant from his locker. 

“Any particular kind of kit you're bringing?” He asked before she left. 

“My Valiant, an Executioner, a Valkyrie, and an Eagle,” she replied. “Wearing the same gear Regis does, scarf and all.  I’ll bring a few programs to the table thanks to him and Kaidan.  Hybrid infiltrator approach, if you know the Alliance standard loadouts.”

“We’ll complement each other well,” he nodded. “All with the benefit that we already know how crazy Regis can be with his damn biotics.”

“Right?  A damn shame Kaidan isn't here. God, those two and their biotics… they are one person.”

“That they are.  Blew me away when I met them.” A smile tugged at his lips. “Get out of here before Regis starts bitching at us for being late. Good meeting you for real this time.  I look forward to dinner.”

“So do I.” She smiled. “You aren't spared from his wrath?”

“Hell no. But don't worry, I can always make the bastard pay later,” he winked. 

Ugh. And she thought Kaidan was bad. 

“Did not need to know that!”

“Too late. You're friends with me now.  Get used to it.”

At that, she walked out of the door with a wave that turned into a middle finger.  His laugh echoed through the ship until the door closed back. 

That went well. 

She looked forward to fighting with him on the battlefield. She still wants the full story out of both Regis and Kaidan, but she could see why they were drawn to him. 

At any rate, Regis is happy to have him on board, and really, that's all that matters these days. 

When she stopped in front of her cabin to get changed into her undersuit, her omnitool pinged with a message. 

ZM: Think Adrian will like the scarves?

An image was attached, showing a picture of a red, blue, and black striped scarf.  Clearly, red for Regis, blue for Kaidan, and she imagined they had yellow on theirs to represent him. 

AW: I think he will.  Didn't know they were a tradition started by his brother.  ZM: Regis has found every goddamn way he can to connect to his dad.   AW: That he has… I'm glad he got his ring back. Any plans for that? ZM: It wasn't easy, but he got it back in the end.  We all have plans, I'm sure. 

Really… She's going to find a way to get involved with all of them.  

AW: Keep me informed, I'd love to help.  ZM: I will, if only because I know you want to be all of our ‘inside persons.’ AW: Guilty as charged!

She closed the chain for now, shaking her head as she started to prep her undersuit.  This fucking war wasn't going to be easy, and she feared and prayed for this crew. 

Yet, she felt comfort in knowing that she could trust damn near everyone on this ship or come to it eventually.  

Yeah, things were going to be okay, despite everything. 

#mass effect #ashley williams #male shepard #zaeed massani #cleric's writing #regis shepard #i love writing ashley she's so fun to get in her head #masshenko #otp: two spectres and a merc

[jaybird-fanfics]

Villain Roommate |Chapter Two|

You weren't able to sleep that night, you made sure to call in sick to work in the morning. All night long, you couldn't stop thinking about what happened. How you brought a villain into your home and healed him so he could continue doing his evil deeds. You should have just left him there, you shouldn't have approached him at all. But how could you have known? You just wanted to help who you thought was a dying person on the street.

"That doesn't matter." You say aloud to yourself. "I'm no hero. It's not my job to save people."

Man were you exhausted. Using up all that energy healing Dabi and not sleeping, you were more tired than you had ever been. You turned in your bed, trying to fall asleep, but it just wasn't happening.

You then heard a knock at your door. "Ugh...go away." You say into your pillow. The knocking continued, you grumbled as you got out of bed and walked to the living room. You approached the door and opened it, heart dropping as you saw who it was on the other side.

"Hey again."

You tried to slam the door shut, but Dabi caught it. "Nice try." He was much stronger than you, you felt the door slowly being opened further as you tried to push against it. "You're not even going to let me in? A guest?"

"No! Just...Just go away!"

Dabi took a step forwards, forcing himself inside. "Shut up and listen." He shuts the door behind him. "I need you to heal me again."

"Why should I? You're a villain, I'm not going to lend my help to you!" Dabi rolled his eyes. "It's the least you can do. Especially after you touched me like you did without my permission." You felt heat rush to your face. "I was healing you! Nothing more! Now get out before I call the cops on your burnt up ass!" You didn't know where you got the nerve to yell like you were doing, maybe it was a rush of adrenaline from pure fear. Maybe you just wanted this no good son a bitch out of your house before the neighbors get suspicious.

Dabi smirked. "Whoa, feisty. I like it. Now hurry up and heal me, you can touch me again, since you liked it so much last time."

"If I had known it was you the whole time, I would have never even thought about healing you!" You told him sharply. "So, you're not denying that you liked it?" Dabi asks. Now he was just toying with you.

"Get out."

Dabi chuckled. "I don't think you're in a position to be making demands, sweetheart. Remember who has the power to burn anything he so desires. I suggest you get to it." Blue flames began to engulf Dabi's hand. You tensed, now he was threatening you. And he meant business.

Not feeling like dying today, you reluctantly agreed. "Fine...go sit down." You pointed to the couch. Dabi extinguish the flame and walked past you. "That's a good girl, doing what she's told." This asshole was really getting on your last nerve. Better believe if you had a stronger quirk, you'd make him take his shitty condescending words back. You followed him and sat next to him, it's really too bad your couch was so small. You didn't want to be closer to him than you had to be.

"Because of you, my energy is completely drained. So don't blame me if I can't heal you properly." Dabi said nothing to that, and just waited for you to do what you did best. "Where are you hurt?" You asked. Dabi moved his shirt up, all across his stomach were a few slices. "What happened?" You ask. "My..."friend" did this to me."

"Your friend? Why would a friend do this?"

"We got into a little fight, and they pulled out a knife. You can tell the rest. Enough questions, just do it." You huff before placing your hands on his abdomen. You focused as hard as you could, but could only heal them partially. You panted feeling dizzy. "I-I told you...I couldn't heal it right." Dabi looked at his stomach, it wasn't bleeding anymore, but they were still fresh. "It's fine."

"...It's going to get infected." You mutter.

"Why do you care?" Dabi asks. "I don't. I just don't want you coming back here again." You stand and walk to your bathroom. You opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out some ointment and hurried back to Dabi. You began to rub the ointment on his cuts. You could Dabi's eyes on you the whole time, it made you nervous, and so you hands began to shake.

"Aw, do I make you nervous?"

You tried to ignore him and focus on what you were doing. Finally you finished up and backed away from him. "Alright, I did what you wanted. Now please just leave." Dabi stood up, pulling his shirt back down. "So you did." He grinned. He walked past you once again. "Before I leave, can I know the name of my hero?"

"I'm not a hero and..." You might as well tell him your name, he already knows where you live. "It's Y/n."

"Y/n. Yeah, it suits you." Dabi compliments before he makes his way to the door. "Until next time, Y/n."

You really hope he was joking, you never wanted to see his face ever again. But just how likely would it be? He did know where you lived, he knows your name, would he really be seeing you again? You shivered at the thought of him making a regular appearance around you. The last thing you needed was a villain showing up whenever he damn well pleased.

"I don't want my neighbors thinking I'm associated with you in the slightest. So I prefer you not show up here again." Dabi chuckled. Then, he left, leaving you breathless once again.

'What am I doing? Healing a person like him. He threatened me...it's not like I had a choice this time. And now he knows where I live damn it!' You thought with despair.

"I can't do this again..."

Previous | Next

(I'm going to try to publish at least two chapters at a time every Monday until the book is finished. However, this might change if I get a little stuck in writer's block. So yeah, I hope you enjoy this fic, I've had a good time writing it so far so hopefully you guys will as well ^w^)

#dabi x reader #touya todoroki x reader #mha #bnha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia

[bloodyknucklesforme]

Carnal | Interlude I | My Fate is At the Hand of My Mistakes

Nina has dinner with her boyfriend

| CH 1 |

TW: domestic abuse, violence,

It wasn’t abnormal for him to yell. Raving around the house like the world was ending and she was the one that flipped the switch. She swirled around her wine, a particularly sweet Moscato whose bottle needed finishing off. She didn’t know why she dressed up for this. He never said anything about how she looked. Light blue satin was wasted on him.

Arthur was mad about the steak. It wasn’t cooked enough. He’d just taken her plate by mistake. Now she was left prodding at the well-done cut on her plate while he burnt her meal back in the kitchen. 

“I don’t know how you can eat something that’s still cold in the middle, Nina. It’s absolutely disgusting.”

She should pick up smoking again. She had a cigar tucked away under her bed, a treat she’d stolen from her godfather the last time she saw him. It was a cheaper one so she didn’t feel bad about it and he never mentioned it. Arthur had thrown out all her cigarettes when he found them. ‘Disgusting’ he sneered. That seemed to be his favorite word of late. Her godfather had been trying to get her to dump him for a year now.

“If he treats you so poorly, leave him,” John had said as he took aim at a buck. It was their annual hunting trip up in the highlands. Arthur traveled for work so she didn’t need to worry about his complaints that weekend. 

“It’s nice to have company,” she shrugged. It was a partial truth. He was nice to have around when he was quiet. It wasn’t like she needed his money, her father left her more than enough. It was simply easy. Her ‘condition’ didn’t allow for many suitors. He was actually her first relationship. They met in London a couple years prior. He was nice and treated her well at the time. She didn’t know any different. She wasn’t actually allowed to leave the house until her father died. Not that she left much now. 

“Don’t bullshit me, Nina. He’s a prick,” John grumbled. “I know plenty of good men from work. You deserve better, love.”

“I love him.” A partial truth. One that John sighed at. It was a good defense. He wouldn’t argue too much. Despite the war experience he was never up to a fight with her. Not worth the bloodshed. 

He fired and the deer crumpled. He always let her keep most of the meat. She had a freezer in the basement to store it all. 

“Call me if you need anything,” he said, as he always did. He kissed her forehead and left. She wandered the garden that night eating rare venison off the bone. 

She wished she could do that now. She choked down a bit of steak. Disgusting

“I’m going to bed,” She said, scrapping her dinner into the bin. 

“What? Why?” Arthur slammed a hand on the counter. She’d stopped flinching months ago. He’d never hit her. She suspected that John had something to do with it. The shadow of an SAS Captain always behind her. “Don’t be fucking child, Nina.”

“Do adults not sleep?” She rinsed off her plate and set it in the sink. She’d clean it tomorrow. 

“You’re throwing a tantrum over steak.”

“I offered to switch plates. You came back in here to make a mess.” One she would have to clean up. He always had the heat on too high and it splattered oil and juice everywhere. “I don’t want to break my jaw eating.”

A plate shattered on the floor. She didn’t want to turn around. His hackles would be raised, ready for a fight that he wouldn’t get. She’d have to act out an apology before going upstairs. He’d follow shortly and apologize in turn before climbing on top of her for a maximum of five minutes. They’d sleep and the next night have a similar argument and repeat the cycle until he kissed her and left for another week long work trip.

He grabbed her arm, a change to the script. 

“Look at me.” He barked. She flinched that time. He was close to her face, spittle landing on her cheeks. He was drunk, that’s why. He never drank much. “You think because you own the house you can just act like a brat?”

He wrenched her upwards, pulling her up to the tips of her toes.

“Let go of me.” She tried to embody John’s confidence. She was scared. He’d never touched her before. 

“Did the worms you ate finally reach your brain?” He poked the side of her head hard. “You think I don’t know about the raw meat? Who does that? I don’t mean the steak. I’ve seen you eat ground beef!”

Her eyes got wide. She never ate it raw when he was home. She pulled against his arm.

“I set up cameras. Had to see what you were up to when I was gone. Thought you might be cheating on me but no. You’re just a disgusting little girl. You’re going to get sick!”

Anger burned up from her stomach. How fucking dare he. How dare he spy on her in her house. HER HOUSE. He lived here because she let him. The more he yelled the more he began to smell like food. 

‘Just breath’ john’s voice echoed in her head. She was holding rifle, staring down the scope at a doe. ‘Fire when you’re ready’

She slapped him across the face.

“Get out of my house!” She screamed. “Get out! Get out!”

She shoved his chest hard and ran out. Their bedroom had a lock. She’d call John first. He was only half an hour away on base, if he was still there. God, let him still be there. 

His feet thundered behind her. She threw her body against the door to close it. He was stronger and she fell to the floor to avoid being slammed against the wall. She was crawling toward her phone. It was charging on the nighstand.

“Get up!” He yelled, grabbing her by the arms and lifting her up. He pinned her arms to her side. “You think you can tell me to leave? Are you fucking stupid, Nina? John’s not even in the country half the time. I’m the only person you have. I’m the only one who loves you! I’m the only person who can!”

Her ‘condition’ is what her father called it. An insatiable craving only subsided through iron supplements and raw meat. She’d never indulged. Her mouth still watered and she could still hear his heartbeat. The blood pumping through his body and bulging through his veins smelled like sweet Moscato to her. 

It tasted the same as well.

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