#when she talks to Jade just fine and super relaxed

[lucymontero]

Zebulon, scan those people for flaws.

Cowardly. Weaker than a small bird. Long creepy finger-like toes. Hasn't read a book in thirteen years. Doesn't floss daily. Kicked out of an Olive Garden for stashing breadsticks in purse. Self-deprecating to mask insecurity. Has a freakish sweat disorder. Unresolved emotions. Showers with shocking rarity. Nose picker. Can't accept that his daughter is her own unique person and not simply a reflection of himself. Smells like garbage. Walks to kitchen and forgets why. Once brought up his favorite rib joint during a eulogy. Secret rage issues. Trips over own legs. Neurotic. Says 'Marry-O' instead of 'Mario'. Mouth-breather. More interested in quail migration than his children's interior lives. Looks at ex-boyfriend Carlo Meloni D.D.S. on facebook more than is comfortable. Doctor-diagnosed chocoholic. Doesn't listen. Compares self to curated moms on social media. Eats own weight in cheese puffs each month. Makes goofy videos because she's afraid if she really tried hard to make something good, she'll fail. Showers only occasionally. Only pretends to like Fellini. Freaks out talking to girls. Sweaty. Is obsessed with quail. Incapable of change. Will never get better. No matter what. They're horrible.

#the mitchells vs the machines #mitchells vs the machines #The mitchell family flaws #tag yourself #I'm walks to the kitchen and forgets why #netflix #I don’t know why y’all think Katie freaks out talking to girls #when she talks to Jade just fine and super relaxed #whereas Aaron is shown jumping out of windows and fleeing from the neighbor girl on three occasions

[astaroth1357]

Demigod MC Series: Demeter

Have I been using this series to vicariously punish Belphie for the events of Season 1? I cannot confirm nor deny that statement.

Demigod MC Series: Intro, Aphrodite, Hermes, Hades, Dionysus, Demeter

Lucifer

Didn't think too much of the "human" when they popped out of the portal. Sure they had a straw hat and a huge basket full of produce but it wasn’t like they were… Wait… No… Were they…?

Oh no. Oh nonononono, this is not good…!!

Demeter is notoriously doting and protective of her children (see her freakout and breakdown after Hades abducted of Persephone as proof) and they've pretty much done the EXACT. SAME. THING. here!!

It was a mad scramble by him and Diavolo to contact and appease their godly Mother Bear before she came roaring down to Devildom herself to turn them all into barley. Thankfully, Zeus must have intervened at some point because though she was indeed PISSED, she didn't threaten to barge in… yet.

She made one thing very clear. Bend so much as a single hair on her precious child's head and there would be WAR…

The MC received a 24 hour security detail after that. Just Mammon wasn't going to cut it, he needed NO chances. It was a full rotation of Mammon, him and Beel for the entirety of their stay (Asmo and Levi both threw hissy fits at the prospect of babysitting, Satan couldn’t be trusted not to kill them just to irritate him, and Belphie was out for… obvious reasons).

In some ways, it wasn’t so bad. The MC was a very mild sort of person, rather even tempered. He’d dare say they were pleasant, mostly content to just tend to their gardens and be out in the moonlight…

But the problem was, he just could not convince them to stay OUT of nature. Including the forests, which were full of hellish beasts fully intent on gnawing their flesh from their bones… and their specialty was plants, not animals, sooo…

Their habit of sneaking out to wander the woods got so bad that he very nearly considered pulling a Belphie 2 and locking them in the basement for their own good. But Devil knows what damage their mother would do if she found out…

At least they make for pleasant company… And Diavolo seems to like them quite a bit himself so the mortal gets a pass from him. Now if they’d only consider their own safety for a change…

Mammon

They make him a KILLING.

Like, no seriously. Their produce is insane!! He’s never tasted food so good, especially stuff that’s come fresh from the ground! It only took a few berries for Mammon to throw on a straw hat himself and start harvesting! He’s a farmer now, baby!!

Weeellll not quite. He’s still absolutely only in it for the money, but anything he brings to a farmer’s market goes so fast that he can hardly care about the labor! He’s never made this much Grimm in his life!! And it’s totally legit for a change!

He bought himself another car, paid off half of his debt, and even got Levi back that 2 or 3 grand he leant him centuries ago. Really, Mammon’s living his best life and it’s all thanks to MC!

It’s a good thing his blatant grifting doesn’t hurt his relationship with them at all, in fact they seem to enjoy having his help regardless. They bring him drinks on hot days or invite him on picnics and stuff, it’s… it’s really sweet. They’re very nice to him and he appreciates it…

But… COULD YA JUST STAY PUT ALREADY???

It drives him INSANE that they won’t stay out of dangerous places!! After he started caring about them for more than just a meal ticket it only got even worse!!

He’s not usually one for monitoring someone’s every move (that kind of control freak behavior is more a Lucifer thing) but he eventually had to set up familiars around the House just to keep them from sneaking out at night...

What was so interesting out there anyway?? There wasn’t any kind of plant that he could bring them himself! They didn’t have any need to be out there!! 

They’d keep telling him they’d be fine but it’s not like he’s going to actually buy that. They were too… nice to be dangerous or anything so why would he believe them?

No more running off, MC! Please, he’s beggin’ ya!!

Leviathan 

Wait, gardening? Like, being outdoors and stuff? Ew. No thanks, he’ll pass.

That was more or less his first reaction when they showed up and it never really got much better than that…

He admits that they’re friendly and it’s not like he dislikes them or anything, but their thing so far from his thing that they just don’t have a lot in common… you know?

For starters, they get So. Antsy. when they’re inside for too long! He tried to invite them to a marathon once, but they could hardly keep still and kept looking around like they were searching for a window… He said, “to jump out of.” They insisted just for some fresh air, but he didn’t buy it...

They’re nice enough to listen to his rants, but they’re barely ever inside for him to do so and like HELL is he going to leave his room and stand around out there for that long. Ranting is at least a one to two hour engagement! What if he gets hot out there? And have you SEEN Devildom bees?? Hell no!!

He has, however, asked them on multiple occasions to reproduce flowers he’s seen in different anime, especially ones that have a very unique look and they’ve done some real wonders with that!

He can now claim to be the only person to ever own a Ruby-Jade Vine plant, straight from the pages of TSL when it was used to brew tea for the Lord of Lechery during his brief illness and-is anyone even still listening anymore?

The point is, it’s a flower so rare it was imaginary but now HE has it!... or had it for about a week until his utter incompetence of all things plant killed it…

He begged the MC for another but they were out of the plants they needed to make it and would have to go back to the human world to find more… He’s still mourning his loss… Poor Henry 4.0…

Satan

Well… He’s called this MC “salt of the Earth” and he does truly mean it. Take of that what you will.

He doesn’t get much in the way of intellectual conversation out of this mortal UNLESS he’s talking about plants, farming, or botany… Interesting topics and complex in their own right to be sure, but that’s pretty much their wheelhouse and they like it there.

That being said, the feats that they can perform are genuinely mind-blowing! They are the ONLY person he has ever met who can cultivate the Devildom’s own ultra-rare Phantom Orchid, a plant only blooms when it reaches a perfect state of undeath (i.e. both taken care of and neglected just enough so that it's only barely alive. The balance is so tricky to master that one hasn’t bloomed down there for centuries!)

There’s also something just genuinely relaxing about watching them work or helping them in the gardens… More so than he’d ever expected from such a simple activity.

He admits that he’s taken quite a few strolls through the flower-filled courtyard of the Demon Lord’s Castle just to admire its beauty... But anything that they can grow just blows all of that out of the water!

They even taught him several magic botanical techniques so now he can grow some pretty mad plants himself. Lucifer never expected to find that giant Venus Flytrap in his closet, but one was there regardless. 😏

Just… out of curiosity one day, he asked the MC if they could make him a new kind of catnip. Not for any nefarious reason! You know… just for research purposes…

The nip they made was so effective that the House grounds were FILLED with nipped-up cats for a whole month! He was in Heaven!! (and Lucifer practically wiped those plants from existence so he couldn’t get any more… asshole...)

That must have inspired them because they apparently made a demons-only version that they told him about WELL after the fact. Had he known, he probably would have burned the stuff on principle... Do you know how dangerous demon-nip could be to them? Experiment responsibly, MC!

Asmodeus 

Ehhhh, gardening SOUNDS like one of those things that should be super Devilgram-able, but then you realize how sweaty and dirty you get in the process and it’s a huge turn off… Sorry MC.

When they first came down to the Devildom, he thought two things: 1) Such a sweet little flower child, as adorable as they were, would never survive; and 2) even if they could, he would never ever see eye-to-eye with them on the “wonders” of getting all up in the dirt.

Well, he was right about 2, but certainly not 1. Personally, he thinks his brothers worry about them too much, they ARE still a demigod.

At one point he saw a pack of hellhounds almost trample one of their vegetable gardens and they lost it. Word to the wise, never try to take on a child of Demeter in their own garden. Those hounds were wrapped up in rose vines before they could even yelp...

Yeah, the MC would be fine.

That being said, while everybody else clamors over their produce, he thinks that their flowers are really where it’s at!

Taking just five minutes in one of their gardens is something else... He’s never seen blossoms as healthy and immaculate in all the Devildom before! Their beauty could (almost) rivals his own! What they do isn’t just a hobby, it’s an art.

He’s taken multiple pictures with their blossoms and they go viral every time. It’s so rare to actually see gorgeous, petal-filled flowers in the Devildom, most of the native plants are of the man-eating variety.

His only complaint about this MC is that they seem to feel much more at home in work clothes and dirt than they do in any sort of party-look he tries to give them… Cute as they are, they can afford to gussy up sometimes can’t they? Mud and grass stains don’t make for a good look, sorry.

Beelzebub 

Beel gardens and the MC gardens as well. Add on that they seem to be able to grow all manner of fruits and veggies and he likes this one. A lot.

They had just finished apple-picking when the portal nabbed them so they had a massive basket of apples at the time. Naturally, Beel more or less stole the thing on sight, but the apples inside were so juicy and good that he almost shook them down for more on the spot!

Imagine his surprise when they, half pleadingly, explained to him that if he got them some seeds they could just grow more… and it wouldn’t even take that long.

To be clear, the formula he saw was this: Get seeds > bring seeds to mortal > mortal grows seeds > mortal makes endless supply of food….

Congratulations MC, you’ve now earned the sixthborn’s eternal loyalty after a grand total of… two minutes. He didn’t even know their name, but he was willing to take a bullet for them (provided he got more of those apples).

The next several months were spent with Beel attached to them to the hip in some way, but honestly? It was just so wholesome anyway…

If he’s helping in the garden, he never complains. He does most of the heavy lifting and actually likes being out there with them (unlike others...)

Many afternoons were spent sitting under fruit trees and talking. Sometimes, they go to the trouble of preparing a picnic or something but it would always inevitably end with Beel plucking the whole tree clean of whatever ripe (or unripe) fruit he can get his hands on with a smile. 

The MC never minded though. That’s just another excuse to grow more, right?

His only problem was when the MC would sneak out to the forest… especially when they get too antsy and just go alone. 

He HATES it when they do that! How is he supposed to keep them safe if they just wander off?? He knows that they have a special connection to nature and all, but it isn’t safe…

He’s flown in and scooped them back up to the House on numerous occasions and his “talking tos” get sterner after every rescue... Please stay put, MC! He’d have so many reasons to be sad if you were eaten… 😔

Belphegor 

Okay, he was looking for a capable, if not gullible, human. Not a shoeless flower hippy!

He honestly wasn't expecting much out of this one... Damn their little heart because they did genuinely believed his lies, it’s just that they weren't… well… They were really good at gardening.

… And it grew kind of hard to keep hating them whenever they'd show up just to give him fresh berries or a bouquet to see him smile… He may claim that his heart is made of nightmares and orphan tears, but who doesn’t enjoy being given a batch of flowers? 

Damn their sweetness too… Right to here.

When it came time to kill them he had a heavier heart than he thought he would, but kind of saw it like putting down the sacrificial lamb. Gotta be done to reach better goals... Stiff upper lip and all that.

Unfortunately for him, they had taken to carrying packets of demon-nip with them as a self-defense measure…

He wasn’t exactly sure what he expected when they shouted “Get nipped!” at him mid-attack, but it wasn’t a face full of some smelly herb! Like, really smelly…! Actually, that smelt kind of good… Hold on.

Turns out murderous rage really doesn’t last long after you get what is effectively ultra-strong catnip thrown in your face. They ended up having to go and tell Lucifer what happened themselves because Belphie was way too blissed out on the floor to do anything... They were legitimately worried they might have fried his brain...

He’s told the effects of the demon-nip lasted three days. He doesn’t know, because he hardly remembers any of it... They described him as like he was high on “weed” and “ecstasy” at the same time but he doesn’t know what either of those are either so it wasn’t helpful…

Truthfully, they were so nice to him while he was recovering that he couldn’t even be mad afterwards so all's well that ends well? Either way, he’s sleeping under their orchard trees from now on. It’s peaceful out there...

They burnt all that nip though. It’s some strong stuff...

#obey me #obey me shall we date #shall-we-date-obey-me #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me demigods #obey me headcanons #obey me scenarios

[callmearcturus]

flashfic: scrap, push, pull

Dave+Dirk, DirkJake. In which Dave doesn't like violence, but his brother is dating someone who super likes it. Dave watches.

It starts out with a bruise.

It's starts raining while they're hanging out by the beach. All the salamanders come out to blub and play while Dave and Dirk find a tree to chill under.

There's droplets on Dirk's glasses; he takes them off and pulls an actual microfiber cloth out of his inventory, giving the lenses a thorough wipe down. "Want a hit of this, bro?" he says, low and sardonic as a sarcastic sunrise, offering the cloth. It has seagulls on it.

"Oh, hell yes," Dave says, taking it to clean his own.

He freezes as he spots something. There's a smudge on Dirk's face that at first seems like the play of a shadow over his skin. But it doesn't move with the rest of the shadows, and with his shades off, Dave can see its the last stage of a nasty bruise, the bloom of green following Dirk's brow bone and down the side of his eyes socket. It looks like it would have hurt like a bitch. Dave's had those before.

Dirk notices Dave's stillness and makes a wordless, inquiring sound. "You lose a fight with a doorknob?" Dave asks, trying to keep his tone light. "What? Oh." Dirk reaches up and presses two fingers into his bruise. "Nah, earned this one the honest way." When Dave continues to stare, he smiles faintly. "You've actually met Jake, right?" Dave's not certain what that means. He finishes cleaning his glasses and returns the cloth to Dirk, who puts it away and leans back on his hands, posture relaxed and max chill. The faded bruise is just barely visible around the edge of his glasses. = Dave learns what the fuck all that meant the next weekend, when there's a Gods And Winners Meet-Up. It's a cook out, with Roxy manning the grill with a little too much gusto, taking orders and slapping meat onto hot metal, sizzling things up. It's a warm day. Rose and Karkat have a big annoying umbrella set up, lounging underneath. It turns out Rose brought nail polish and is ready to cajole Karkat into some claw manicuring. This is how she bonds with people, just deciding out of the blue they're going to do a bonding thing together. Karkat complains a lot, but also has strong opinions on claw care that he's eager to expound on at the drop of a hat. This is how Dave winds up sipping apple juice, third wheeling as Rose and Karkat compare base coats. Whatever. He's idly looking around, watching what folks are doing just in case someone's having more fun that his sister and Karkat, someone begging for a Dave-shaped interruption. That is when Jake and Dirk have a fight. Dave doesn't see how it starts so he thinks for a moment it's a real fight. But from what he can tell, Dirk was just minding his own business talking to Jane when Jake walked up behind him very fast and swung at the back of his head. Dave sits up, a bolt of attention slamming up his spine, but Dirk heard Jake coming or something, because he falls forward, hand on the ground, pivoting and hopping up, facing Jake. The grin on Jake's face is feral. It reminds Dave strongly of Jade when she's about to figure out something ridiculous and inexplicable to everyone but her. What the fuck was up with these island kids, goddamn. "Too loud, English," Dirk says, stepping out away from Jane, moving in a slow circle around Jake. "Tish tosh, that was the point! I'm not very well going to be a sneaky dick about it, that's hardly sporting!" Jake's still grinning like a maniac. "You wanna do this here? Make a show of it?" Dirk shakes out his wrists, still circling. "I mean, if you want everyone to see you get your ass royally served up--" Jake darts forward, and Dirk springs back, words cutting off. By now, everyone is turning to watch. "Enough with the prologue, let's tango. No flash stepping malarkey, no flying." "Fine," Dirk agrees easily, rolling his left shoulder, then his right. "Best of one, no do overs, no improvised weapons. Get ready to eat shit, Jake." And they're off. With shocking ferocity, Jake tries to smash his fist into whatever part of Dirk he can get. It's not many, as Dirk plays keep-away, springing and hopping like a jackrabbit, balanced on his toes. Eventually, Jake seems to get frustrated-- or imminently aware of his own stamina hourglass. He shoulder rushes Dirk, a blunt hit that sends Dirk skidding. Dirk swings a kick, and Jake just takes it, looping an arm around Dirk and yanking him. Dirk bends his knee, tries getting in close, pushing Jake. Without a missed beat, Jake hooks one of Dirk's arms, forcing him even closer to beam in his face. Dirk headbutts him. Jake lets go, cursing. "Never a fair fight with a Strider!" His glasses are broken, but the guy just tosses them, pulling out a fucking back-up pair from one of his sixty pockets. "Want a fucking referee, Jake?" Dirk taunts. "Do you need a yellow card or are we doing this?" "Oh shut up, neither of us knows what the fuck that means," Jake snaps, and moves in again. It's a totally different fight. Punch, blocked by elbow. Haymaker, diverted upward. Knee to the gut, kick to the side. They

move like really vicious dancers. When Dave tears his eyes away for a moment he, inevitably, looks at Karkat. Karkat, who is smiling faintly, like he's watching a sappy movie and not a brawl. Blinking, Dave looks back. He's in time to see Dirk backhand Jake so hard, he goes down like a ton of bricks. And this, Dave assumes, is it. Dirk steps up and puts his foot against Jake's clavicle, leaning back to make his body a narrow line, pinning Jake down. It's time for the count. Dave's been in that position before and knows how hard it is to get out, to reach and grasps impotently for leverage. But Jake doesn't paw at Dirk's leg. He grabs Dirk's foot with both hands and twists hard. Dirk yelps in a very un-stoic way and falls like a felled tree, slamming onto his front, and Jake is on him in an instant, locking onto his back with an arm looped under each of Dirk's. It's incredible. Dirk tries to grab Jake, only for him to lean out of the way, then slam Dirk back down. So instead Dirk tries to claw forward, fingers digging into the earth and pulling. "Uncle?" Jake asks, delighted. "You giving up? I accept," Dirk says, but its strained and breathless. Jake laughs in his ear, his teeth a little red. "Alright, alright, that's enough." Roxy, still wearing her grillmaster apron, walks up. Planting her boot against Jake's shoulder, she dismounts him with one good push. He goes down laughing still, sprawled and smiling at the clouds. Dirk sits up slowly, hand pressed to his rib. "Got me in the same fucking place as last week. Ass." "Oooh, let me see!" Jake rolls onto his knees, closer to Dirk. When Dirk lifts the hem of his shirt, Jake reaches out to frame the smudge of color with his fingers. "Oh, you're going to look stunning!" "You boys are so fuckin' weird," Roxy tells them sincerely, rolling her eyes. From his side, Rose says, "Ah, the love language of shared violence." Karkat hums, sounding pleased, like watching the whole display stroked some romantic voyeurism thing in him. Which, might be his, like, domain now? "Perfect pair of complete fucking idiots." Dave looks at how Dirk looks away from Jake's fawning and feels something settle in his chest.

#dirkjake #flashfic #my fic #idk if this one is gonna go on the AO3 #i wrote it in like an hour #whomstve

[celestialvoid-fanfiction]

Whispered Praises and a Soft Touch

Stiles is super nervous about getting a tattoo and it doesn’t help that his tattoo artist is an incredibly gorgeous man called Derek.

 12 Days of Kink-mas – Day 9 (20th December): Praise Kink

   [insp]

     Stiles walked up to the front door of the tattoo studio, looking at the sign that hung on the glass panel that read ‘OPEN’.

He drew in a deep breath, letting the rush of cool air fill his lungs smother out the burning embers of anxiety that had settled in his chest. He let the tension in his body subside, his shoulders dropping as he pushed open the studio door.

A small bell chimed and a man stepped around the corner. He stepped in, closing the door behind him.

The sound of footsteps filled the space as a man came down from upstairs.

He was handsome, with thick black hair and a short, neat beard that cast a soft shadow across his jaw. His eyes were pale aventurine, the colour of his irises shifting in the light; from hazel to jade green, to a shade of light blue. He was dressed in a grey Henley with long sleeves hat were bunched up around his elbows, leaving his firm forearms bared. There were tattoos across his skin; one arm had the silhouettes of trees on his forearm—pine trees, elm trees, and the silhouettes of spindly trees that had lost their leaves—the roots and the ground faded into dots around his wrist. His other forearm had two roses on the underside of his arm, the delicate petals tattooed in black and white. The fine cursive script of names peeked out from beneath the unbuttoned top of his shirt.

A kind smile turned up the corners of his mouth as he met Stiles’ gaze.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"I'm Stiles, I have an appointment," Stiles managed to say around the lump in his throat.

The man nodded.

“I’m Derek. Come on through,” he said, nodding towards the small sectioned-off rooms of the studio.

Stiles followed him, taking in his surroundings. The shop was quite modern, the plastered walls painted a soothing grey with black framed photos of tattoo designs and portraits of past customers—most of them printed in black and white—showcasing the incredible details and fine line work of their tattoos. On the counters were little cacti potted in white or concrete pots.

Derek was quick to get everything ready; showing Stiles a printed copy of the design to check the font and the spelling before transferring it to a stencil.

“You wanted it on your ribs, right?” Derek asked.

“Yeah,” Stiles replied. He shifted slightly, feeling a little self-conscious.

“You don’t have to take your shirt completely off,” Derek assured him. “You can just pull it up enough that I work.”

Stiles nodded, pulling up the side of his shirt.

"How are you with needles?" Derek asked as he cleaned Stiles' side and positioned the stencil. 

"Honestly? Terrible," Stiles admitted. "But this is something I want; something I need."

"I promise I'll be gentle with you," Derek said with a soft smile. He pressed the stencil to Stiles' skin and pulled it back, leaving the outline from which he was going to work. "How's that?"

Stiles looked up at the mirror on the wall. A small smile crept up the corners of his lips as he looked at it.

The design was somewhat simple, a few lines of script in a solid text with roman numerals at the bottom—a date—positioned on his left side over his ribs.

 In one of the stars I shall be living.

In one of them I shall be laughing.

And so it will be as if all the stars

were laughing, when you look at the sky at night

And so you will love to watch all the stars…

You–only you–will have stars that can laugh.

I shall not leave you.

 Stiles nodded. "Yeah, that's perfect."

"Alright, let’s get started.”

Stiles nodded as he lay down on the bench.

There was something about this man—something about his glittering eyes and his sweet smile—that just made Stiles feel calm.

Derek started.

Stiles tensed for a moment, exhaling heavily and relaxing. He shut his eyes and felt something press against his skin, a small prick, and then nothing.

"How was that?" Derek asked.

"Was that it?" Stiles replied, stunned. "That didn't hurt at all."

Derek chuckled. "Good."

He set to work and Stiles relaxed, his eyes slowly drifting shut as he felt Derek's fingers brush across his skin.

Time passed quickly as Stiles drifted into a peaceful oblivion, still somehow remaining completely aware of Derek's tender touch, of the warmth of his hands and of his glittering eyes that were focused solely on his work.

“You still with me?” Derek asked, his quiet voice gently shaking Stiles from his wandering thoughts.

“Yeah,” Stiles replied.

“Haven’t passed out yet?” he teased.

“Not yet,” Stiles said with a slight chuckle.

Derek chuckled in return, the deep sound rolling through Stiles’ chest and igniting every nerve.

“I like the quote,” he said, reading the tattoo.

“It’s from The Little Prince,” Stiles explained. “My mum used to read it to me every night when I was younger.”

“And the date?” Derek asked.

Stiles’ voice went quiet. “That’s the day she died.”

Derek paused for a moment.

“I’m so sorry,” he said, his voice full of sincerity.

“It’s okay,” Stiles said; he didn’t want to admit how much I hurt to say it.

Derek was quiet for a moment.

“2004,” he read. “I lost my family the same year.”

“I’m sorry,” Stiles replied, wishing he had more to say.

“Thanks,” Derek said. “I hope this tattoo gives you some kind of closure.”

“Thank you,” Stiles said quietly. “I hope so too.”

They settled back into a comfortable quiet, the only sound was the buzzing of the machine and the even rhythm of Stiles’ breaths.

The needle hit a sensitive spot, a jolt of pain shooting through his body and burning his veins.

Stiles sucked in a sharp breath, fighting the urge to flinch. He let out a measured breath, calming his heart and breathing through it as the pain subsided.

“That’s it. Good boy,” Derek whispered, gently brushing a finger over the sore spot before continuing.

Stiles blinked in shock as a wave of warmth crashed over him, stirring something inside of him. He tried his best to keep his breathing even as his mind began to wander; imagining what it would be like to have Derek whisper those words in his deep voice as he lay with his body pressed against Stiles’. He wandered what it would be like to look up into Derek’s aventurine eyes and hear him say those words as Stiles took his length in his mouth, or to hear him whisper it as he gently stroked Stiles cheek as they lay in the sheets together, breathless and ragged.

The thoughts and images swirled around in his head, making it harder and harder to sit still. But there was something about the firmness of Derek’s hand and his gentle touch that grounded Stiles.

“All done,” Derek said, shaking Stiles from his thoughts.

He gently wiped down Stiles’ side and cleaned up the tattoo, setting everything aside before pushing his stool back.

“Have a look in the mirror if you want.”

Stiles sat up and rose to his feet, stepping over to the mirror and turning slightly to look at the tattoo. The fine black lines stood boldly against his pale skin.

"It's perfect," Stiles said breathlessly. "Thank you."

Derek cleaned up the rest of the tattoo, spread gel over it and wrapped it up. He gave Stiles instructions on how to care for his tattoo.

“You didn’t pass out,” Derek congratulated.

Stiles chuckled, pulling down his shirt.

“Funnily enough, you’re actually one of the best customers that has ever sat for me,” Derek told him.

“You’re kidding,” Stiles scoffed.

“You were,” Derek said.

"I mean it, Derek," Stiles said. "Thank you. I don't know if I'd have ever been able to do this if I didn't have you as my artist.”

Derek smiled.

Stiles' heart skipped a beat.

“Look, this might seem out of line slightly, but I know how hard it is to deal with losing your family, and if you ever want to talk or just want someone to spend time with…” Derek wrote something down on a piece of paper before handing it to Stiles. “Just give me a call. Any time.”

"Thanks," Stiles said, returning Derek’s smile.

“Oh, and for the record, you have nothing to be shy about,” Derek said, eyeing Stiles up and down.

#sterek #long post #text post #sterek au #sterek fanfiction #sterek fanfic #sterek fic #sterek praise kink au #sterek tattoo au #tattooed stiles #tattooed!stiles #tattooed derek #tattooed!derek #tattoo artist derek #tattoo artist!derek #sterek tattoo artist au #12 days of kink-mas #12 days of kink-mas event

[wu-sisyphus-gang]

Motion Sickness 27.1

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I wasn't the sort to dwell on what Weiss had wanted from me. Well I totally was. I dwelt on everything. I was a dweller. But I was also the sort to get my workout in anyways.

Really, my thoughts were on Eminence and her partner. The people I had killed. They hadn't acted like gang members or at least not like the picture I had in my head of gang members. What with the pleas for me to spare their lives and all.

Well maybe the picture I had of gang members was of non-people. Then when I encountered some people and killed them I was surprised to find out that they were the same as anybody else. They had died the same as everybody else would, or at least most people would; together, if they were lucky, and begging for their lives, besides.

Qrow wheeled out on me while I was practicing my Limit Breaks and just watched me move around for a long time.

"Enjoying the view?" I asked.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"How are you feeling, kid."

"Like a murderer and a liar."

"We both know why we had to keep it from Ruby. Now we just have one more favor from Ms. Malachite."

"Assuming she keeps her word. I don't trust these criminals as much as you do."

"She will. She has to uphold deals she makes in front of her men in good faith. Or else they'll start to wonder about their own paychecks. It's a little bit of honor amongst thieves. It's more to prevent backstabbing than out of any real sense of honor, though. Trust that."

"Gee, if you say it like that I really have no choice."

"Tell me how you really feel."

"I feel… all kinds of fucked up. I want to talk to Ruby about it but I can't and it's leaving me more fucked up."

"You know why we can't talk to Ruby about it. As far as she is concerned it's just one favor. Scroll keys out of Don Corneo."

"I'm supposed to just live with this. Live with myself."

"Yeah kid. Just like the rest of us."

"The thing is I think I can do it. I think I can do it easily , too. That scares me."

"Sounds too complicated for me. It sounds like you're struggling; just the same as I do."

I grunted and swung my sword at nothing. "It's not quite the same. And all I have to talk to about it is you."

"Easy kid. Have a drink. Relax. There's nothing you can change about it now and nothing you would want to anyways."

I inhaled a shaking breath. He was right. Qrow needed legs. I had to be the one to kill them. It had to be done. No one of my friends would have done it. Didn't that make it wrong? None of them would have approved. I already had the answers I needed. I just didn't like them.

"Who were they? What did they do to deserve having me come after them?"

"Does it really matter? Come on have a drink."

"I don't want to drink anymore."

"You need to relax somehow."

"I am. This is what I do to relax now."

This was how I'd relax for the rest of my life. I swung the sword fast enough that it made several satisfying thwump sounds in the air.

"Well, we wanted to discuss the matter of infiltrating Don Corneo's workplace with you." It was Ozpin. Someone I wanted to talk to even less.

"What about it? We don't need to risk Ruby or Nora now. And I don't need to wear a dress. We have Yang."

"I'm not super comfortable with my niece going in there."

"But you're comfortable with me killing people." I wiped my brow and glared at Qrow. "Your priorities are fucked."

"Easy on the language, now." Ozpin said with Oscar's mouth. "It's good that we have only one favor between us and getting Qrow back on his feet. Then, thanks to Ms. Xiao Long and Ms. Schnee being with us again, things are better now than they were yesterday."

"What does better for you even mean?" I wondered. "How do you handle the lying and the murder?"

"So long as they don't ask us about it, it's hardly lying. And from what you told Qrow you did kill somebody in a near bar fight. The story you told your friends merely bordered on the truth." Ozpin lectured. "As for killing it never gets any easier. And that's a good thing. Though we take life we don't make any light of it." I exhaled hard. It was no new advice. "And we don't make sport of it. I heard you encountered one of the people drafted to Salem's side."

"The Scorpion."

"Yes. Tyrian. There are others too. Others like Hazel Rainart. They would not be so disturbed by violence as you are. Let them serve as a counterpoint. Would the man who attacked Ruby and yourself be upset if they had killed someone? Perhaps. But not like you are now."

"I get it. I get it." I sighed. "You wanted to talk about the infiltration mission. I vote Yang."

"We should discuss it." Qrow interceded.

"We are." Ozpin and I said at the same time. That pissed me off.

"I don't like the idea of her in there."

"You think I have a chance in a dress? I can rock a dress but I'm missing a certain je ne sais quoi that Yang has."

"You didn't want Ms. Rose or Ms. Valkyrie to do it. Why Ms. Xaio Long?"

"Je ne sais quoi."

"Yes. I suppose so." Ozpin relented. "Over Ms. Schnee too, I suppose. Our Target has a predilection for the type who frequent such places. Ms. Xaio Long is a match for, at least in looks."

"She looks like a party girl who knows how to earn a little extra cash is what you're saying." Qrow wasn't happy about it. "I get it though. Maybe she is our best bet."

"She bragged about going clubbing at Beacon. She has experience I don't. Plus she has infinitely more time spent in a female body than me. She knows how to use it better than I can fathom."

"We should have a backup plan," Ozpin insisted.

"She can wear a wire and everyone else can be waiting outside. There's five of us in huntsman-shape. Speaking of shouldn't they be here for this conversation. Part of being open with everyone."

"I wanted to have a quick think-tank and see what you thought." Ozpin dismissed my jab at him. "Qrow trusts your instincts."

"I don't like any of it. I think somebody is going to get hurt. I think Don Corneo from what we know is a scumbag."

"And what do you think of Leonardo?"

I faltered for a moment. "I don't trust him. I don't like how Cinder and her allies snuck past him." If Ozpin thought hard about it he would see how I don't trust him either. I snuck past him. I could have gotten myself or somebody else killed.

And he picked me over some more qualified student who had a better, more authentic resume. He chose me anyways. Why? Was he incompetent? I sure used to be. Or could he actually see my potential and what I would become and thought it was worth the risk.

If so, then it was a hell of a risk. I could have been one of Salem's agents if only I wasn't such a failure. He trusted too easily in any case that was kind to him.

"If you don't mind me asking, uh- Mr. Arc, how did you get as strong as you are?"

It was Oscar this time and I was stumped for the question. I found my gaze flicking over his head to Qrow for a second who only offered me a shrug.

"What do you mean?" I wondered. "And it's just Jaune."

"Jaune, then. It's your mentality. You have this mindset that sets you apart from everyone else."

"I wasn't always this jaded. If you want strength look at Ruby." Emotional or physical.

"It's not that or at least not just that. I've already asked her too. She's something special. You are too, though. Even with the fate of the world as it is, you still train day in and day out and do everything you have to, even if it hurts you. You've even killed people. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you're not afraid of the dirty work."

"It's not something to be proud of but Qrow's done it too."

"But he's not our age. Or your age, at least."

"I have to. I suppose. Or my friends, those that are still here, will bite it too. That keeps me going. What's left of my team and Ruby's team too."

"Can you teach me?"

"How to have friends? Haven't got a clue. Sorry."

"Not that. I need somebody to teach me swordsmanship. How to use my weapon. Or start to until Qrow is back up."

Qrow gave an enormous sigh from the chair. For my part I hesitated again. I wasn't the sort, didn't have the training myself. But this was one of those things I wasn't sure I could say no to.

The right thing to do would be to teach him. Pyrrha would want me to. Ruby might even ask me to. That pretty much sealed it.

"I won't take it easy on you." I drew the long sword and posited the cross shaped shield on my back. "Can't afford to."

"Really? That's fantastic! I was worried you didn't like me. Wait is this one of those things where you mean right now?"

"Why? Are you too busy?" I mocked him. He took it as friendly teasing. And it was, at least to some degree. The kid was not Ozpin. Not yet.

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There was something in the basement. In the tall white house in the middle of the woods where my sisters and I lived with our mother something definitely lurked away in the dark dusty corners of the underside of our house.

I had to be the brave one. I was the oldest. I was a guy. It was time to be a man. It was time to stop being afraid of the shadows which hung on the walls under soft grey lights.

I’d been in the basement a thousand times and I’d been fine literally every time. But still I was afraid of our basement. I was scared of shutting the lights off and walking up the stairs and turning my back on that total darkness. It was just so empty and complete.

No lights penetrated within and the lights which did shine in the basement were dull and weak. It was always dark down there. It was always dusty and had the faint smell of iron or copper.

I went down to get a gallon of milk for my mother. A little errand for a big boy. It should have been no problem for me.

I walked down the stairs. This was the easy part. I turned on the lights and everything was fine. Dark still. But it was fine. There were no Grimm or other goulish monsters down here. It was fine, I reminded myself that frequently and with force.

You’ve been down here so many times and nothing bad has happened a single time.

That didn’t stave off my irrational fears. Just because I knew a fear was irritation didn’t mean I could suddenly control it. We don’t choose our fears any more than we choose what food to like. It was automatic. It was outside of our control. And the dusty smell of iron pressed in on me as I opened the fridge. The light inside the fridge was brighter than the grey lights of the round bulbs in the ceiling. This was the easiest part. It was the part when the room was most lit up.

I grabbed the jug of milk from the shelf easily enough. There was no problem to that at all either. I was strong enough for this. I turned around. I saw little Lily standing in the stairs by the door. Her eyes bulged in their sockets and grew strangely to cover most of her face in a distorted wave like fashion. Her nose and lips and ears shrank and all her hair fell out. She started screaming.

It was a high pitched wail that made my bones and ears ache. Then she shut the door on me slowly and turned off the lights. I was locked in the basement. Alone in the dark with the cold milk jug in my hand.

I raced to the door and fumbled blindly for the handle. When I finally grasped it it was only to discover the door was locked from the other side. I retreated back into the room and dropped the jug. The plastic shattered and milk went everywhere. It coated my legs nice and cold. I crawled on all fours. I searched for the fridge with reaching hands. A square corner. It wasn’t here. It must be to the left. In the total darkness I found the fridge and opened it to get some light. To get some respite.

Inside the fridge was a skinless, hairless, eyeless thing. It twitched it’s head on it’s neck and turned towards me without eyes. With long limbs it crawled out of the cold fridge and towards me.

It grabbed me by the ankle when I fell back and away. It stood there eclipsing the light in its naked glory. Its limbs were much too long and thin and its body was small and round. It picked me up with it’s one hand and sank its long teeth into my ankle.

I woke up with my ankle humming with a vibrating pleasure. It hurt, yes, but it also felt strangely pleasant. I… I rubbed my ankle in the real world. I stroked softly so the skin slipped swiftly there. It felt good. But I was on edge with fear and adrenaline. The sensations combined into a luring grotesqueness that was a pleasant sensation.

“Jaune…” My mom’s voice whispered to me. I heard it clearly in the soft night. There was no buffer or noise machine. It was silent in the room Ren and I shared.  “I will always be your mother.”

Sometimes, in the throes of a nightmare, when unseen powers whirl one over the roofs of strange dead cities, it is a relief and even a delight to shriek wildly and throw oneself voluntarily along into the where the ginning mist yawns.

I checked a clock. It was four-forty five. I could probably get back to sleep if I really tried or wanted to. I didn’t really want to try. I laid back in the bed. I deserved worse than nightmares for the shit I had done. I was becoming something of a monster myself. Five. I’d killed five people. I’d elegantly unmade and twisted five coils until they certainly weren’t.

I sighed heavily and loudly as I laid back in the bed.

I needed to get out of the rental and clear my head. I need to clear it in a way which didn’t involve shooting myself which was a touch more tempting than I was really letting on.

I got out of bed and got dressed quietly. I made my way out of the rental and onto grey Mistrali gravel. The upper floors really were beautiful. But boy oh boy were the lower floors ugly. In a lot of ways it was two different cities entirely.

The sun was yellow and barely peaking out over the horizon. Beams of course light stretched through the air and I breathed deeply. It was refreshing and crisp this early in the morning. I muddled my way along through a market square clearing. It wasn’t busy but there were people out. I walked past the closed bazaars.

A brown haired girl spun in front of me and I stopped. She had deep green eyes and a red ribbon in her hair. She had to look way up at me to meet my eyes and I stared at her for a moment.

She reached into the basket by her side and pulled out a little white rose. “Here,” she said softly. “For you.”

“A flower?” I asked.

“That’s right.”

I looked away from her. “How much?” I wondered.

“That depends on the customer… for you, no charge. Sound fair?”

“Why?”

“You look like someone who could use a flower,” she returned easily and breezily enough that I thought she might float away.

I reached out a gloved and gauntleted hand. I took the delicate stem gently from her. I wasn’t sure what to do with it. I tucked the stem under a strap of my armor.

“Thanks,” I managed.

“Don’t mention it. Have a good day, now,” she bid me and just as swiftly as she appeared she was gone. She weaved her way through the openings in the early crowd. I blinked after her. I was unsure if I really saw her at all but I had the evidence of the encounter pinned to my chest.

I made my way down into a busier street.

I took in the sights of the shops on either side of me. One place was selling those little miniature trees that you trimmed. I wasn’t sure what they were called. There was a jewelry shop next to it and it was still closed. There was a dress shop with something elegant and purple hanging in the window. I stopped and stared at the dress. It would match Yang’s eyes well enough. I glanced a little along in the other window and spotted a flowing red gown which I bet Ruby could rock like no other. It was crimson like the tips of her hair and seemed to have petals flowing around the waist of soft silk. Her eyes could make anything glow and I was sure she would look like a distant dream in this dress.

I shuffled along.

I was suddenly shoved aside as I passed a bakery. The window display confections shattered and a man stumbled out with a cash register under his arm. He bumped into me as he dashed away from the broken window. Inside the bakery some fresh smell was emanating and a fat man in an apron shouted out. There were other customers inside. It smelled of coffee and baking pastries inside. They were open early it would seem. They were robbed early.

“Stop that man!” The man in the apron shouted.

The man with the register under his arm took off down the street.

I activated my semblance with a flex of will and took off after him. My feet… Ren was right. I didn’t touch the ground as I pursued my quarry on a pocket of air. I reached behind me and drew the longsword from the shield. The long triangle shaped blade ran down to the far too long red handle. I gripped it comfortably.

I front flipped in a thirty foot arc that ended with me landing easily in front of the burglar. People gasped and parted around me like I’d made a crater and they seperated around the running man as well. He stopped running with a slide and stared at me with an open mouth.

“Drop it,” I leveled my sword at him. “You can walk away if you drop it.” I watched his whole body tense up. “Don’t,” I suggested harshly.

He went for a gun. I crossed the distance between us in a sapphire blur. I swung my sword up into his hand where he held the gun and collided with green aura. I knocked the gun out of his hands and into the air. I stepped in and shoulder checked him off his feet. Before he landed I swung diagonally down from the right, then diagonally down from the left, then across the bottom in horizontal cut, then one last arching upwards swing that flung him back into a wooden box. He crushed it and his aura dissipated around him.

He dropped the register when I hit him.

He made to crawl towards the gun but, still Limit Broken, I glided forward and took actual walking steps where I kicked the gun off to the side of the street and far away from us. I continued my march and connected my boot with the side of his head in a swift sideways kick with the toe. He fell back and slumped over into unconsciousness.

I stepped away from him and felt my glow dissipate. The power was gone.

I didn’t feel particularly good as I reclaimed the register. I sheathed my sword and walked back down the street and through the gathering crowd. I walked into the bakery over shattered glass which crunched under my feet. I set the register on the counter.

“Thank you, young huntsman,” the baker said.

“It was nothing,” I returned. And it wasn’t. This meant nothing to me.

“Let me offer you a croissant and coffee. Please. Allow me to thank you earnestly and generously from my heart to yours.”

I looked away from him over his head at the fairly crowded establishment. Some people had left but many remained. Some were still partaking in their coffee and pastries even through the chaos. Sure, most had stood up to get a look and were now staring at me and there was a line near the counter of people still mostly organized.

“Fine,” I agreed with a glance back down at the baker. “I’m in no hurry.”

“Thank you. Please, won’t you have a seat. What’s your name?”

“Jaune Arc.”

“Just a moment,” I watched him go behind the counter and pour a coffee and grab a roll. He came back over to me and put them both in my hands.

“Thank you,” I murmured.

“No. Thank you.”

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I walked back into our rental. The police had gotten involved and had had a few questions for me but after that I was free to go.

I ran into Weiss in the kitchen. She turned around and stared at me from where she was washing some mugs in the sink.

“Jaune…”

“Weiss,” I greeted.

“I had the chance to talk to Ruby,” she informed me.

“And?”

“Well, I still think you’re being self destructive. But I see why you wanted me to talk to her. She told me about you two.”

“I figured but couldn’t assume.”

“Where’d you get that?” Weiss asked. She pointed at the little white rose pinned to my chest.

I took it off my person with my gloved hand. I stared down at it for a moment. Then I held it out to her.

“It was a gift, I think,” I said. “Here.”

“Shouldn’t you give it to Ruby?” She wondered. She reached out and took it anyway. She held it up to her nose and smelled it. “It smells like Ruby,” she breathed. “Thoughtful of you.”

“It’s really not. It’s nothing. Besides, I don’t think Ruby is much in the way of gifts. She prefers spending time with me. She doesn’t want presents.”

‘Not even a single little rose as a sign you’re thinking about her?”

“If she doesn’t know I’m always thinking about her by this point I have no clue how to make it stick,” I sighed. “I mean who does she think she is with those tights and that corset?”

“She’s very good looking,” Weiss agreed.

“She’s drop dead gorgeous,” I confessed. I blinked at Weiss. “Of course you are too.”

“Oh?”

“Oh come on. Your entire team is? Ruby doesn’t have any idea but you know. You know that you’re good looking.”

“What makes you say that?”

“You knew that you were out of my league,” I said. She blinked at me. “We can talk about it. It happened. I had a crush on you.”

“I didn’t reject you because I was better looking than you,” she scoffed. “Though you’re right to say I am.” She gave me a small smile.

“Total ice queen,” I laughed. “I don’t know what Ruby sees in me. So shoot. Tell me why.”

“Tell you why she’s into you or tell you why I rejected you?”

“Both.”

“I’ve met a hundred guys who could actually pull off what you were going for at Beacon. You couldn’t even play the part well. You couldn’t even pretend like you were all that. It was dishonest. And you weren’t even good at lying. So you didn’t even have that going for you.”

“You would have liked me if I was good at lying?”

“It would have been something at least. You came at me with a big ball of nothing. You know it and I know it.”

“So what does Ruby see in me? What did Pyrrha see in me?” I asked openly. “I’m mean, come on. I’m not much. And they are both out of my league by miles.”

“Well. You probably weren’t coming at them with a fake personality. I can only assume that they saw the real you and they liked it.”

“Stupefying,” I confided.

“Is it?” She pressed.

“Little bit.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m not much. We went over this. I’m a ‘big ball of nothing.’”

“Are you nothing? It sounds like you put your life on the line for Ruby.”

“Well yeah. I’m nothing and she’s a good person. What decision was there to be made in that? It’s no contest.”

“You’re not ‘nothing.’ You came at me with nothing. They aren’t quite the same thing.”

“Don’t bullshit me. You saw straight fuckin’ through me at Beacon. Don’t hesitate now.”

“I don’t know. I suppose we’ll just have to see what’s there and what’s not.”

“I’m telling you that it’s not a lot.”

“But it isn’t ‘nothing.’ Is it?” She leveraged down on me. She pointed her chin upwards at me as she said it.

“And that’s enough?”

“Enough for what?” She challenged.

“Well, ideally making Ruby happy.”

“It might be. Is what it is worth something? Are you valuable down there at the bottom of yourself?”

“Probably not,” I admitted.

“Well I don’t know,” she confessed right back. “I never got to see the real you.”

“You never wanted to try,” I fired.

“You never gave me the opportunity to try,” she breezed. “If we’re honest you would have tried that fake personality on any date I gave you. So why would I bother?”

“Honestly?” I asked.

“Honestly,” she agreed with an elegantly quirked eyebrow.

“I’d like to believe I would have surprised you,” I said.

“Is that right? So you want to impress me?”

“Always have,” I returned immediately.

“I suppose we’ll just have to see about that,” she folded her arms and leaned back on the counter. She had her lips turned up in a little smirk.

I looked away first and pushed my hand through my hair. I clicked my jaw closed.

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#rwby #jaune arc #ruby rose #weiss schnee #lancaster #whiteknight #jaune arc x weiss schnee #motion sickness #ruby rose x jaune arc #war of the roses #white rose #whiterose #weiss schnee x ruby rose

[solalunar-eclipse]

Team Dark: A Holiday Special

Chapter One: Omega

Two | Three

Word count: about 5800 words

WARNING: this chapter contains entomophagy (eating insects)

Author's Note: I'm finally back! Sorry to make you all wait so long, but I really wanted to get this project out by December, so...here it is. I hope you all enjoy! (Also, apologies in advance for any bad formatting: Tumblr is being very uncooperative right now.)

...

It was, officially, a ‘lazy day’.

Team Dark was spending time at home, resting after the holiday frenzy of yesterday. Rouge had suddenly realized that they hadn’t decorated yet and that they all still needed to come up with present ideas for Team Sonic, so she and Shadow had spent the entire time in a sort of constant state of panic. Omega tried his best to help them, intermixed with a lot of gloating about his perfect memory and how he’d remembered to get a gift already.

He’d gotten punched halfway across the room for that one.

Now, a certain striped hedgehog was relaxing in his room, reading a book quietly. Until (of course) the peaceful silence was shattered by a loud blaring noise that sent him racing out the door and halfway down the stairs to their common area. Rouge was standing in the middle of the room, and shouted out to him, “Shadow! Come down here, I’m calling a group meeting!” Shadow winced and massaged one of his ears, his quills relaxing from their startled position as he walked over and sat down on the couch. He glowered at Rouge, who stood in front of him with the ‘team meeting airhorn’ still in hand. Despite his stare, she was still poised to blast again if Omega didn’t show up soon. Thankfully for Shadow’s hearing, Omega appeared quickly, albeit with much complaining about being dragged away from his targeting system calibrations. “Alright, Rouge, what’s all this about?” the hedgehog sighed, leaning forward and resting his arms on his knees. She smiled cautiously at the two of them. “Before I say anything, I want you guys to know that this offer is optional. If it’s too much for you, you don’t have to say yes.” Omega spun one of his hands around, making a slight whirring noise. “Please continue.” Rouge sat down on one end of the aforementioned couch, sinking into the cushions with a sigh. “Okay. Let’s see. I haven’t...ever talked to you guys about my family before, have I?” “I do not recall you initiating any such conversation.” Omega answered, at the same time as Shadow replied, “No….?” “Well. Considering everything...I kind of figured it’s about time I told you all my story.” She smiled again, but it was a little bittersweet. Shadow inched closer, caution sparking in his eyes. “Where to start...I mean, I have a mom, two sisters, a stepsister, a stepbrother, and a stepmom. And a dad too, I guess?” “You guess?” Omega asked skeptically, before being shot a fierce ‘no questions‘ look by Shadow. “It’s alright, hon.” Rouge said, putting a hand on the hedgehog’s shoulder. “I guess I should really start at the beginning.” “My dad was a cat and my mom is a bat- obviously, hah. My two officially related sisters are twins, three years younger than me. Right before they were born, though...my dad left. He took all the cash with him when he did. And, well. Left Mom with a barely-paid-for apartment and without a job. “We, uh. Heard later that he ran off with some lady from his job. Mom...didn’t take it too well.” Shadow’s eyes widened and Omega smacked a fist into one hand. “Rouge. Is your father, hypothetically, good at withstanding high-powered attacks from a hypothetical extremely destructive robot?” She snickered. “No, he’s not. But please don’t actually fight him, alright?” His hands crackling with chaos energy, Shadow hissed, “Rouge...I think I like his plan.” He bared his fangs as he spoke, looking furious. Rouge smiled gratefully at the both of them. “Thanks, guys, but he’s really not even worth your time. Let me keep going, okay?” Omega sat back, irritated at the lack of pulverizing Rouge’s father going on, and Shadow, reluctantly, allowed his chaos energy to dissipate. “Yeah, so he left, and that was a whole thing. Mom worked hard for us, but it just...wasn’t enough to make ends meet. I started my career of...relieving people of their fancy objects-” here she winked- “at the age of eleven to help out. Dropped out of school after eighth grade to start full-time thievery once I turned fourteen, and, yeah. I had to leave home, otherwise Mom and the twins would’ve been in real trouble. “I got busted after two whole years by the one and only Guardian Units of Nations- not a bad streak, if I do say so myself. Then, I started working for G.U.N. to pay my dues to society, and...you all know the rest after that. I still kept sending checks back to the family, though.” Shadow and Omega were both looking at her with unreadable expressions at this point. “I’ve stopped doing that now, actually, since Mom’s been with her girlfriend for like a year now. She’s dating this super sweet cardinal who gives her basically everything my dad never did- her name’s Camellia and she has two little kids from her last marriage. She’s been so good for Mom, honestly.

“I know it’s usually supposed to be this whole thing where the stepdaughter hates the stepmom, but that’s not for me. When I got the news, I was just like ‘Oh, so that’s why I’m pan’ - yeah, really- and now I’m cool with it. Plus, I’ve got two new little sibs, so it’s all fine.

“So...yeah. That’s my family.”

Shadow sat there in deep thought for a minute. “Your family sounds nice...I’m just sorry you had to go through all of that.” he said, when he finally spoke up.

“Yeah, they’re great- and it’s okay. I mean, if it wasn’t for all that, I never would’ve found you guys!” she said, looking much brighter now. “Now that you know about them, you wanna see some pictures?”

“Certainly.” Omega said, curious to see these people that Rouge cared for so deeply.

“Okay, so...these are my twin sisters, Midori and Neela.” she said, showing a social media post of two identical coffee-colored cats posing for a selfie. Even their fur markings were exactly the same, as well as the shade of their golden eyes. Despite the fact that they were felines, something about them looked an awful lot like Rouge. The shape of their faces, perhaps?

“And here’s Camellia and Mom.” A picture came up of a beaming, moderately curvy white bat and an equally overjoyed cardinal with their arms around each other in front of a beautiful sunset.

“This is Jade, my stepsister, she’s ten-” Rouge showed an image of a young goldfinch playing soccer, kicking the ball fiercely. “-and that’s Spark, my stepbrother.” A small cardinal with a grin as broad as his mother’s was swinging on a swing at a playground, his eyes bright with the excitement of childhood.

Shadow smiled, looking as though he were a mixture of genuine happiness and a little ever-present pain. “They all look wonderful, Rouge. I’m...honored...that you felt like you could show us this.”

“That wasn’t so bad, honestly- I’ve been wanting to figure out how to do that for a while.” the bat said. “This is going to be the hard part.”

Two pairs of eyes watched her expectantly.

She exhaled. “Every year...my family has this big, three-day Wintersweek party. And when I say big, I mean seven out of my mom’s nine siblings and their spouses and kids. Like, more than twenty guests big.”

Omega interrupted her there. “If your mother has nine siblings, why did none of them bother to help her when she needed them?”

Rouge looked at the floor, a little sad. “Four of them were in debt themselves, two live in crazy places around the world and didn’t really know, and...the other three tried to help. Mom refused to take more than she could pay back. They still helped do other stuff like watch us while Mom was working, though.”

“Understood. You may continue.” Omega replied, shifting into a slightly less confrontational pose.

“So. I always go to this party, except for those two years when I was on the run. This is going to be my third year back. And…

“I really, really, reallyreally want to introduce my family to my two best friends. You know, the ones who live with me and always have my back and mean the world to me.” she said, looking straight at Shadow and Omega. The former blushed a faint green at the praise, while the latter scoffed.

“Of course you wish to do so. Our excellence is unparalleled.”

Rouge smiled hopefully at them. “I know it’s a lot to ask of you guys, but...will you come to the party this year?”

Omega processed this for a minute. “How amenable is your family towards weapons of incredible destructive power being present in their home?”

“Well, see, about that….” Rouge muttered. “...you might have to empty your weapons cartridges before we go.”

“I am unsure if this is an acceptable outcome. I will respect your wishes to an extent, but I refuse to be without weaponry at my disposal.”

The bat thought for a moment. “...you can bring the flamethrower, but only if you put a PIN lock on it.”

“...”

“...”

Rouge stared him down. “There’s going to be kids there. Kids.”

“Accepted.” Omega said finally. His tone switched to a more triumphant note as he added, “I shall come and impress all of your relatives with my power.”

Shadow had reservations, too. “Won’t it be weird, having people who aren’t really your family there?”

“Shadow…” she said gently. “...you two are as close to me as my ‘real family’, and I want you to be there.”

Omega noted that Shadow was behaving in a manner that suggested he was ‘flustered’. He folded his arms tightly, lowered his head, and his mouth was pressed tightly into a line- an attempt to hide a smile. “...but won’t I take up too much space? An extra bed is more difficult to manage than an outlet.”

Rouge sighed sharply, becoming frustrated with his hesitance. “Mom has air mattresses up to her ears specifically for this, and she lives in Camellia’s house now, which has like ten bedrooms anyway. And you’re totally not going to be ‘a bother’ or anything, so don’t even say that. Mom basically screamed when she found out I was bringing people, and I mean that in a good way. She didn’t stop asking me questions for half an hour.”

“I…” Shadow said tentatively, close to giving in.

“If they’re ever too much for you, though, just feel free to hide in one of the back rooms. There’s plenty of places where you won’t be disturbed.”

The hedgehog sighed, but he didn’t look upset. “I suppose I can try, for you.”

“Yes!” Rouge shouted, kicking her legs before getting up and bouncing up and down. “Heck yeah! This is gonna be great!”

…

Over the next week, they discussed the party numerous times, and Rouge spent a lot of time sitting in the middle of mountains of wrapping paper, packaging presents for her family. Omega and Shadow had tried to help her, but she’d insisted that they not worry about it. “It’s my family,” she had said, waving them away. “You being there is already more than enough. I’d never ask anything else of you.”

Shadow had still made cupcakes, though. Omega helped with the icing.

On the first day of the event, they set off early, making the several hours’ drive from Central City up to Rouge’s family’s house (north of Empire City) so that they’d arrive just before lunch. Thinking of Shadow, Rouge didn’t want him in particular to get caught up in the early (and supposedly quite intense) greetings that her family usually participated in. Omega resolved to turn his force output down just a little- he didn’t want to accidentally break someone’s hand instead of merely shaking it in introduction.

Of course, this all meant they had to endure a four-hour car ride together, involving lots of fights over what music was playing, several different long-distance driving games, and multiple threats to toss one another out the window while moving at 80 mph or more.

So, generally uneventful for them.

...

When they arrived at the family’s house, the E-series robot decreased his optic zoom to 85% just to take the entire place in. It was truly an enormous building, built from what appeared to be stone but on closer inspection was...actually stone. Unexpected, yet impressive.

Omega was mildly uncertain about the heating capabilities of such a house, but at least it was structurally sound. He would have to decide on its defensibility later.

“Wow.” Shadow muttered, his eyes wide. “I know you said it had ten bedrooms, but...wow.”

“I said I wasn’t messing around with you!” Rouge laughed brightly. “This place is crazy big.”

As soon as they opened the door and the bat stepped inside, the team was greeted by a loud shout of “Rouge!” from various delighted family members.

Her immediate family rushed over first, giving her lots of hugs (while her parents relieved Omega of the numerous presents she’d had him carry). Her stepbrother jumped up and down, asking, “Did you bring a present for me? Do I get one? Do I?”

Rouge smiled at him, picking the little cardinal up and giving him a hug. “Of course you do. There’s one right over there!” she said, pointing towards the giant pile of presents.

Rouge’s mother came rushing back over at that, greeting her daughter with a tight embrace. “Oh!” she exclaimed, noticing Omega and Shadow standing by the door. “Are these your friends, Rouge? Come on, introduce us!”

The younger bat grinned. “Alright, so this is my partner-in-crime and our resident edgy goth, Shadow,” she said, gesturing towards the hedgehog. He responded with a glower at Rouge for the latter remark and a polite “Nice to meet you.” to the family.

“And this is my personal palanquin (just kidding, just kidding) and awesome destroyer of enemies, Omega.”

“Greetings, Rouge’s relatives.” Omega said, turning his volume down to a level that Rouge had termed ‘inside voice’. First impressions and all that.

After making their way through many, many more greetings- which Omega recorded to play back for name storage later- the team were finally seated at one of the large couches in the living room. Rouge, being Rouge, began to chat cheerfully with a couple of her family members, describing her latest escapades with the other two team members as well as her general social life.

Shadow and Omega didn’t speak much at first, but the latter in particular soon began to interrupt her stories to point out multiple inaccuracies (mostly Rouge underplaying how utterly awesome he was). He found that he quite enjoyed talking about their various adventures, in fact.

However, the three quickly discovered that some of Rouge’s relatives had...misunderstood her stories.

One of the many aunts- whose name Omega had not yet stored- spoke up. “Rouge, I know you said you were bringing friends, but you don’t have to be shy with us, sweetie. Shadow here seems like a very thoughtful boyfriend.”

Chaos ensued. Rouge choked on her water and Omega had to pound her on the back to help her breathe again. Meanwhile, Shadow seemed to have reflexively assumed a defensive, curled-up position, yet Omega could still make out a faint glow of green from within the black and red ball.

“No!” the bat shouted, once she’d regained her breath. “No, no, we’re only friends, really!”

Her aunt seemed unconvinced, as did several other guests.

Shadow slowly uncurled, prepared to back Rouge up- though he seemed to have temporarily forgotten how to speak in his shock. His mouth moved silently, and he seemed to be having trouble stringing together a coherent sentence.

“I am not romantically involved with Rouge in any way.” he began slowly. “I assure you, she means the world to me, but in a platonic manner. I am grateful to have a friend like her, but that is all we are to each other.”

Several other relatives decided to weigh in on this.

“He seems like a very polite friend!”

“Rouge, even if you’re not together, you had better hang on to this one.”

“He certainly likes you, and that’s what’s important.”

“It’s alright if you aren’t dating, honey!” Rouge’s mom added. “Healthy platonic relationships are very important.”

The younger bat shook her head, covering her eyes with her hand. “Guys, please.” she groaned, before looking over at Shadow.

The hybrid appeared to be surreptitiously trying to get in touch with his hedgehog heritage and burrow underneath the cushions by this point. Rouge grinned at him and wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him back out into the open. “Come on, don’t make him embarrassed! It’s only day one, guys!” 

Shadow cringed at that. Omega, meanwhile, was most definitely not recording any of this and storing it safely in his blackmail folder. Not at all.

…

A little later on, after everyone had eaten lunch, Omega (being the strongest on the team, despite Shadow’s protests otherwise) hauled their suitcases upstairs with little trouble. Rouge had been too busy talking to come with him, and Shadow looked as though he’d buried himself in a pile of cushions and probably wouldn’t be moved without extreme force, so he’d gone up alone.

Looking around the small room, he...found it quite tolerable, honestly. Sunlight streamed in through two medium-sized windows, and there were several empty floating shelves on the walls for their things, as well as a linen closet. There were only two beds in the room, since Omega just required a…

Ah, there it was. A charging port.

The robot was actually more pleased than he expected with the amount of mock evergreen, poinsettias, and other such ornaments in the room, though. He wasn’t much one for artistic expression himself (preferring to express his thoughts via some choice language and a few well-aimed rockets), but his friends were more...appreciative of such things and would likely enjoy the decoration.

Bored with examining the room already, he put down the suitcases and began to explore the house, trying to figure out what the floor plan looked like. He walked through all of the different rooms, enjoying himself while examining all of the possible defensive vantage points and the most optimal attack areas. 

Sure, fighting was his job, but who said he couldn’t enjoy contingency planning? Mapping out attacks on his place of residence and figuring out how to best repel invaders was one of his favorite pastimes (right up there with visiting the mall with his friends).

However, once he had planned out about five different strategies, he realized that an hour had gone by and that it was probably a good idea to go check up on said friends.

After he carefully made his way back downstairs- trying to walk in a way that didn’t shake the house was difficult- he saw Rouge still chatting with some of her cousins and looking very happy. Shadow was barely even visible, curled up in a dark corner and alternating between reading and listening to the conversation. Everyone honestly seemed to be enjoying themselves.

However, there was one jarring thing about this warm, familial scene that Omega noticed. 

The little children.

They were everywhere. Climbing their parents like a jungle gym, interrupting conversations left and right, running around underfoot, and generally causing mayhem in their wake. While Omega highly appreciated their impressive ability to cause confusion and chaos, he suspected that most of the other people here did not. Multiple guests looked ready to break something, and the robot was fully aware that Rouge’s family did not share his opinions on wanton destruction.

So, he decided to do something about this.

“SMALL CHILDREN,” he shouted, gaining the attention of the entire household. “I CHALLENGE YOU TO A SNOWBALL FIGHT.” That was an acceptable (and fun) form of violence, if he remembered correctly. Rouge certainly looked interested.

The children began to bounce around in various states of excitement, their energy somehow increasing exponentially at this prospect. “Whose team will you be on, mister?” Rouge’s stepbrother asked bravely. 

“MY OWN. NONE OF YOU CAN DEFEAT ME.” Omega declared.

“Yeah, right!” an older child shouted. “Come on, guys, let’s go!”

The entire group rushed outside and began to build a snow fort for the upcoming attack. Most of the children were clearly struggling to organize, as half seemed to comprehend the need for a well-structured creation and half were just piling up snow like maniacs.

Meanwhile, Omega began to carefully form large building blocks out of the snow, building a formidable fortress (snow could be imposing, alright??). Once he was satisfied with his semicircle construction, he noticed that he still had a few minutes to wait before the children finished theirs. He spent this time making snowballs, as well as a few other...adjustments. When the children shouted out “Ready!”, he was more than prepared.

Since they were, again, Rouge’s relatives, he was very, very generous and gave them the first chance to fire. The children launched snowball after snowball, but he ducked behind his fort and only one found its mark. Once they were all out of ammunition and scrambling for more, he felt a smug sense of satisfaction.

It was time.

He loaded his arms full of snowballs…

And proceeded to launch them out of his machine gun ports at the children.

The kids scattered in all directions, shrieking with a mixture of fear and excitement. Omega, during their attack, had thought to make even more projectiles, turning what was supposed to be organized warfare into a one-sided rampage of destruction.

By now, Rouge had appeared on the deck and was currently howling with laughter, tears streaming down her face as she watched Omega launch his onslaught of snow. Shadow was standing at the doorway along with several others, a giant wicked grin spread across his face.

The E-series robot truly wished he could make that second expression right now. He turned to Rouge, watching her cackle…

...and immediately proceeded to fire a massive amount of snow at her as well. Her laughter transformed into a gasp of mock betrayal as she scooped up some of the offending substance, packing it into a weapon of her own. “Oh. It. Is. On.”, she hissed, shaking the snow off her wings.

Taking to the skies, she began a counterattack, distracting Omega with varied sizes of snowballs and forcing him to try and fire directly upwards. The children, realizing that they had a powerful ally in Rouge, began to make new projectiles themselves and threw them at him from all sides, until Omega finally found that he was struggling to handle the attack.

As he began to turn the tide again, he realized suddenly that this was entirely due to Rouge’s absence…

...and of course that was when a shadow fell over him.

Followed by a giant pile of snow.

He flailed in the icy trap as he struggled to regain his bearings. Once he had managed to clamber halfway out of the snow, he saw Rouge hovering above him. Her wings struggled to hold her in the air as she laughed again, and he noticed sulkily that she was holding a sheet.

“Cheater.” he muttered, indignant at having been trapped in such an unflattering manner.

“Cheating?! From the guy who launched snowballs like missiles? Really?” she shouted down to him good-naturedly, shaking her head. “Talk about hypocritical, Omega.”

The E-series robot still insisted on having the last laugh, though- he had to get out somehow, so he powered on all of his fans at full blast to clear away the snow. And if everyone was standing too close to avoid the resulting icy shower, well then that was their problem.

After that, though, everyone had to go inside and dry themselves off. Organics couldn’t handle being wet and cold very well, and Omega didn’t like the idea of his circuitry being shorted out. He felt a great sense of satisfaction at having established his status as the cool one on the very first day, though.

He spent a little more time with the young ones after that, playing several rounds of a popular card game called One with them and stacking up all of the plus-fours. The robot showed no mercy even in games.

Several children, evidently impressed by his prowess (or perhaps just in awe of the fact that he was a giant robot) begged him for promises that he would play more tomorrow, to which he quickly agreed. Not long after, to everyone’s disappointment, the kids’ parents came and practically dragged them to the dinner table, having shouted their names four or five times by this point.

As he walked into the dining room, Omega surveyed the area, focusing for a moment on the glow that the many candles gave off on the table. Fire was always a nice touch.

Looking further, he noticed that the wooden table alone was a formidable piece of furniture, filling the largest room in the house and forcing some chairs to squeeze up against the wall just to make space. And that wasn’t even mentioning the feast laid out on top of it. Omega ignored that for now in favor of sitting down on one side of Rouge after he saw her at the table. Looking over to her other side, he noticed Shadow surveying the food spread out on the table with what most would consider a completely blank look.

Omega, however, had experience with analyzing Shadow’s facial expressions, and noted the slight tension in his face as well as the fact that he was fidgeting with his silverware. Both he and Rouge had a good idea as to why, too- Shadow didn’t need any of this.

The hybrid had been created with incredible physical resilience, able to withstand the most arduous of conditions. This included a significant lack of food. He actually ate only about three times a week, and even then he only consumed small meals. While it was about time for him to eat today, the fact that there would be even more food over the next couple of days seemed to have produced a conundrum for him.

If he ate now, he wouldn’t need to later, which could be quite awkward, particularly when everybody else would. Omega thought through the options and decided that there were three main paths he could take: eat now and not later, not eat now but do so later, or possibly attempt to eat a little on all three days.

Rouge seemed to have realized this as well. Leaning over to Shadow, she whispered, “Whatever you want to do is fine, hon. It’s okay if you eat a lot over these few days- everyone else here will too. If you don’t want to, though, that’s cool- just make sure you have something at some point, alright?”

The robot watched as Shadow relaxed slightly at her understanding words. The change was almost imperceptible, but he now sat back in his chair instead of forward, and he’d stopped adjusting his place setting.

Once everyone was seated and they’d given a quick toast, the family began to dig in. Shadow sat back and waited for everyone else to take some food first- a wise choice. Rouge, on the other hand, entered the rather impressive food frenzy with a voracity that her team members knew all too well- she often complained that one of her few vices (aside from gems and other sparkly objects) was food.

Omega took this time to survey what he could see of the dishes, interested in finding out for himself what a proper Wintersweek meal looked like. He saw two dishes that appeared to be some sort of poultry, as well as bowls of finger food that looked like they were filled with crickets and beetles. Various platters of cooked vegetables in every color of the rainbow covered the table, some with sliced fruit available as well. Loaves of bread in multiple shapes and sizes were scattered throughout the presentation, accented by artfully placed centerpieces.

Quite honestly, it looked impressive.

Rouge had a little bit of everything on her plate, and was currently digging into a buttery baked potato like she hadn’t eaten in weeks. Omega silently put his napkin next to her plate, the (sarcastic) message clear: You need this more than I do.

Shadow, meanwhile, had taken a little fruit, one piece of meat, and two slices of bread, but seemed very hesitant to eat much more than that. He looked to be quite invested in a conversation that several of the adults were having about their own teenage experiences, often leaning in slightly when a funny story came up.

Omega mostly kept an eye on his friends, while also half listening to the children talk about the latest video game that had become popular. It seemed to contain lots of fighting combined with some impressive storytelling, and the robot made a note of the game title for his own use later.

However, as he checked on Rouge again, making sure she hadn’t choked on her food, he noticed that she had left her plate to the side in favor of talking to her family about...wait.

Omega knew this story.

This was a story where he was walking through the halls of an abandoned underground hideout for a highly sophisticated ring of criminals (an assignment for their entire team). In which said diabolical criminals had installed multiple traps designed to keep people out. And these traps. Included magnets. That specifically messed up artificial intelligence.

Omega’s memory had been severely impaired by the event, but Shadow and Rouge told him later that they had discovered him stumbling around the main hub of the base, rambling out loud about things as ridiculous as current weather patterns and- he shuddered internally- kittens. He was eternally grateful for this memory loss, though, as the two had apparently, instead of taking this seriously, dissolved into helpless laughter on the spot.

Of course, they had taken him to Tails to get fixed up. But not until after Rouge had filmed another five minutes or so of him acting absolutely loopy while their laughter, punctuated with the occasional gasp for breath, filled the background.

And she was just getting to the part where they found him now-!

The E-series robot shot out of his chair and clamped a hand over Rouge’s mouth, turning his volume low and hissing “Don’t you dare.” in her ear.

Unfortunately, this only added to everyone else’s interest, as Rouge began to cackle loudly at Omega’s evident embarrassment and her memory of the event. “Tell us! Tell us!” Camellia (Rouge’s stepmother) cried out, clapping her hands and looking for all the world like a child who had just been handed a chocolate bar. 

“Help me, Shadow!” Rouge shouted through the steel grip on her face, slurring her words with laughter. The hybrid, happy to take a break from the crowded room and equally happy to shame Omega, pried the robot off of Rouge and somehow managed to drag him out of the room as everyone now leaned in to hear her finish the story.

“So we were really worried, right? Since we hadn’t heard anything? And then we-”

Shadow shut the door on her voice and smirked at Omega, but there was a tinge of real happiness in his expression. “It’s alright, Omega. She doesn’t actually want you to feel bad, you know.”

“That’s what you say.” he scoffed. “Rouge isn’t in there telling them about the time you didn’t eat for a month on a mission and then binge-”

“Alright, alright!” Shadow groaned. “I get it, but let’s let her have fun, alright? This is her family, after all.”

“Fine.” Omega grumbled. “But I will get you back for this.”

“Sure you will.” Shadow raised an eyebrow at him.

This led to a fierce staring match/arm-wrestling battle and subsequent argument over who won, immediately followed by Omega pulling out his phone and the two watching a recently popular obstacle course show. Of course, they both agreed that they could do far better than any of the contestants.

Eventually, though, as the evening wore on, the two joined back up with Rouge to head to their room. Shadow took a hot shower while Rouge changed into her favorite pajamas- they were soft and white with little pink hearts all over (her favorite colors). 

She yawned loudly just as the hybrid walked in, already wrapped in a blanket and pulling on some plain black nightwear. He didn’t really need it, but his fifty-year stint in what was essentially a superpowered freezer had left him with a distinct dislike for the cold.

Omega had already plugged into the outlet and begun to charge, but yet…”Why don’t I get a blanket?”

“What the heck d’ you want one for?” Rouge muttered, already exhausted. 

“Well, you both have them.” he muttered sulkily, glowering at them from his corner of the room.

The bat opened up the closet in the room, looking up at the top shelf. “Shadow, c’mere. I can’t reach this thing by myself.” 

He walked over quickly, not appearing to be tired at all. Omega, as always, knew better, and saw the fatigue from the long day that he tried to hide behind his “Ultimate Lifeform” title.

Rouge jumped onto his shoulders in a practiced movement, snatching a pale purple fluffy blanket from the shelf and flinging it half-heartedly at Omega. “There’s your blanket.” she declared, before jumping straight from Shadow to her bed.

She settled into her usual sleeping position, with her feet hooked over the headboard and her face and pillow about halfway down the bed. It wasn’t a typical behavior for most, but she was a bat, after all. “‘Night, guys.” she murmured, already half asleep.

Shadow carefully lifted his blankets and slid under them, trying to keep them as neat as possible. The hedgehog shifted into a half-curled position, displaying his quills to the world and protecting his vulnerable legs and chest. “Sleep well, Rouge. Goodnight, Omega.” he said softly, still trying to stay awake.

“Good night.” the robot replied.

Omega kept an eye on his teammates, the room lit only by a patch of moonlight from the window. He listened to Rouge’s slight snoring, and watched as Shadow’s eyes slowly closed and his breathing evened out.

The robot was always cautious about shifting into his own form of ‘sleep’, but reminded himself that this was not enemy territory. This was Rouge’s family’s house, and they were all safe.

Still, he watched his friends sleep peacefully for a while longer. Then, he selected low power mode from his menu of choices and allowed his eyes to go dark.

#shadow the hedgehog #rouge the bat #e 123 omega #team dark #team dark: a holiday special #thought i'd give rouge a big family to make up for shadow & omega having none #she still had a rough childhood though... #:( #90% of omega's 'contingency planning' was definitely fantasizing about awesome battle scenes #shadow is moderately sad as always #hope you enjoyed!! #sol's fanfiction

[genshinfanboy]

A Cold Winter day.

[ Request: Hi, can I request a Keqing x male reader where it’s winter and they’re cuddling on her day-off?]

| Hello everyone. I will try my best. I hope I don't mess up Keqing's character I only know her personality from the main Archon quest. I will be doing an one-shot because you didn't specify. The two will also be at the beginning of a relationship. I hope both if these choices are alright. There will be a bit of spoilers for the Archon quest. Please feel free to change the pronouns to fit your own. I hope everyone enjoys.

Keqing x M! Reader.

Warning: spoiler for the main Archon quest.

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

It was the middle of winter. Snow was falling down all of Liyue. It was definitely a bit cold. (Y/N) had gone to one of the vendors of the harbor. He wanted to get his new girlfriend a necklace. He had saved a bit up from all of the commissions he had been doing. He knew Keqing was super stressed when dealing with the aftermath of the end of the Jade Palace. He found it cute how they started talking after she didn't believe how selfless he was. It has been a bit since he was last in Liyue. He wanted to introduce his sister to Keqing the moment he found her. Paimon was looking at the choices. "Ohh Paimon thinks you should get this one for Keqing!" She said pointing at a necklace made out of Core lapis. It looked really like a sign of status. The gem was big and had a gold like metal around it. "Isn't that a bit flashy Paimon? It doesn't seem like her style. Keqing has a more modest like sense of style." (Y/N) said. He looked at the options. He saw one that looked like a flower. "Paimon look at this necklace instead." He said pointing at it. "No way Paimon still thinks you should go with her suggestion!" She argued before they both heard someone calling (Y/N)'s name. He looked around and his face became red from a blush. He hoped it wasn't noticeable because of the could. He moved his scarf up a bit on his face. He walked over. "Hey Keqing!" He greeted with a wide smile. "Hello (Y/N). It's been awhile. You should've informed me so I could've planned some things to do on my day off. Next time inform me so we can plan more effectively. Would you like to spend the day together?" Keqing asked with a blush. He nods. His (e/c) eyes shining with joy. "Of course. Is it alright if I hold your hand as we walk?" He asked holding his hand out. He saw her reluctantly reach out and grab her hand. She was definitely cold to the touch. It made him want to wrap his arms around her and pull her into a tight hug. That would definitely upset and embarrass his girlfriend though. "Hey Keqing which of these necklaces would you choose?" Paimon said. She noticed her boyfriend pout at the flying companion. She walked over to look at necklaces. "I like the flower one. The Core Lapis one is a bit flashy. It would make me feel unapproachable. I want people to be able to speak their mind around me. Not to mention the size would get in the way at times. Why do you ask?" Keqing asked looking at Paimon.

She felt a bit of shifting next to her. She looked at her boyfriend and noticed him bringing out some mora. "I like to buy this necklace please." He said and gave her a shy smile. This made her face super red. She saw him grab the necklace. "Keqing may I put it on you?" (Y/N) said with a big grin. She hated how well his (h/c) hair framed his face perfectly and make his (e/c) eyes shine. She looked away with a dark blush and gave. a small nod. "I suppose but don't take too long." Keqing stated. (Y/N) gave a laugh her reaction was super cute. He also loved how flustered she got. He got behind her and put the necklace on. Once he hooked the clasp. He wrapped his arms around her. Her back was pressed against his chest because of the hug. He frowned at how cold she had felt. "Keqing let's go to Paimon and my inn room. I just was to cuddle." He said gently holding her close. He rested his head on the crook of her neck. She was definitely a blushing mess. "That would not be very productive even for a day off!" Keqing protested. "Please it's so cold in Liyue and I just want to hold you close and share our warmth. You don't have many days you do nothing. I also haven't seen you in awhile because I've been looking for my sister. Please indulge my selfish request." He begged. He looked over at her. He knew he was attracting a bit of attention from others. People were muttering about how cute they looked. They were surprised to see the Yuheng of the Qixing with her lover.

"Fine but stop hugging me like this you're drawing a lot of attention!" Keqing said super embarrassed. (Y/N) let go smiling brightly. He noticed her shaking a bit from the cold. He grabbed her hand and lead her to the room he was staying in. They took off the coats they were wear and sat down. Paimon had gone to spend some time with Xiangling. It was nice being just the two of them. Keqing had sat a bit away from her boyfriend which made him pout. He decided to wrap his arms around her. He pull her close to him before laying down with her in his arms. She was now resting on his chest a bit stiff. After a moment she relaxed she didn't know how long she'd be able stay still. "Your heart is racing. I can hear every time it beats." Keqing stated which made his heart speed up. "It must be because I have the most beautiful lady in my arms." (Y/N)said with a dorky grin. He gave a small chuckle at her reaction and kissed the top of her head. "You're lucky I love you." She mumbled with a dark blush. They laid there talking for hours. Keqing had spoken about some issues and what was going on in Liyue. While (Y/N) had told her all about his adventures. They talked late into the night shifting every once and awhile. By the time Paimon returned to the inn room she found the two asleep. Keqing in (Y/N)'s arms and her head resting on his chest.

|Thanks for reading. Have a wonderful day or night. 

#genshin impact #genshin x reader #keqing #keqing x male reader #Genshin writing #genshin impact keqing

[hassaikai-khaleesi]

21 Questions (w/ Aki & Kai) - Overhaul & Protege One Shot

Have some slice of life fluff or whatever you wanna call this lmao

Kai expected something like this would happen. 

Aki was new to the Yakuza, Shie Hassaikai and the environment that it brought so it was natural that she would have...many questions.

But Kai expected different questions than the ones she was coming up with. They were rather useless ones to say the least.

It all started when she would peak her head in his office and not say a word. He wouldn't acknowledge her but he felt her presence. After a few seconds she would walk away and she wouldn't come back for the rest of the day.

She was on the quiet side but she didn't give off the shy aura that she used as a front when she attended UA High. So he knew that if she had something to say, she would say it if she cared enough. 

But she did this every. Single. Day. For about two weeks and Chisaki about had enough.

One day when Aki did her daily routine of peaking through the door, he spoke without looking up from his papers.

"If you have something to say, then say it. Don't just stand there like an idiot."

She didn't flinch but she did obey him.

"Why… do you wear a mask?"

He looked up at her, his golden eyes meeting her jade ones. "I'm...sensitive to dirt. It keeps the filth out."

"What dirt?" She asked furrowing her eyes in confusion. "What filth? This place is so clean it makes me feel dirty myself and I shower twice a day."

At least she has decent Hygiene.

He sighed behind his black mask and leaned back in his chair, crossing his leg over the other and folding his hands and leaning them over his belt. He looked relax. "It's better to be safe than sorry."

"Fair," she replied as she stood completely in the opening of the doorway, revealing her figure. "So...then why the plague mask?"

"It keeps the disease out."

"How poetic," she smirked in amusement and approval. "Which illness are we speaking of? It is flu season so I don't exactly blame you."

"No," he began. "I'm talking about quirks and the Hero Syndrome caused from it. Something you, thankfully, don't have."

"Hero Syndrome," she repeated it feeling how it sounded coming out of her mouth. "I like that. The name I mean, of course."

He slowly blinked at her with boredom in his expression. But that didn't really bother her. She let out an accomplished sigh and smiled.

"Okay," she chirped. "Bye for now!" She sang and then walked away.

What the hell? That's all she wanted to know? He was almost offended. He even prepared himself to receive multiple upon multiples of questions.

He went on the rest of the day confused and irritated. 

Lola, his significant other, even noticed and took matters into her own hands to make him feel better.

"You know," she began as she sat on her side of the bed in their shared bedroom in a silky oversized Tee shirt-like night sleep top and her silvery hair tied up in a bun on top of her head. "My mother always told me to never go to sleep upset. It's not good for the soul." She leaned one arm on the bed and looked up at his tensed figure.

He let out a sign and held the bridge of his nose. "She's an idiot." Lola looked up at him with a look of disbelief and offense, which he noticed. "Not your mother." He explained. "My Protege. She's an idiot."

"What makes you say that?" she asked, making her index and ring finger walk across the white bed sheets up to his hand as she looked up at him with angelical questioning eyes which caused him to flip his gloved hand granting her the permission she was asking for.

"She gets brought into the Yakuza and Shie Hassaikai and she didn't ask one damn question about it. Instead she asked why I wear masks."

As she placed her small hand in his...rather large one, she giggled. which caused Kai to furrow his brows and narrowed his eyes at her. 

"She's not an idiot," she smiled sweetly up at him. "She wants to get to know you."

He scoffed at that ridiculous response. "What for?" 

"You're thinking to much about it," she said as she adjusted herself on the bed to lay completely on it and swing her feet back and forth. "She is a child and children always have tons of questions"

"She is a fifteen year old teenager."

"Fifteen is a child." She leaned her head other hand that was propped up by the elbow on the bed. "She probably has a million questions but just doesn't know how to ask them or where to start."

He rolled his eyes. "Were you that way when we met?"

She smiled and shuffled on the bed as she sat up. "I," she began as she carefully sat saddle style on his black jogger-covered lap and leaned her arms on his white v-neck-covered shoulders. "happen to love the mystery you bring to the table." She pulled down his mask as kissed his softly, to which he responded back to. "Give her some time and be patient with her."

"You had better be clean."

"Ah, Kai," she winced and held her shirt wear her heart was. "You wound me."

He rolled his eyes and smirked. "You're so damn dramatic."

"You keep wounding me!" She pouted and looked into his beautiful golden eyes. "Now kiss it better."

He furrowed his brows. "You can't be serious."

She gave him those cursed puppy dog eyes and a stupid cute little pout on her plump lips. "My handsome devil, darling~," she sang. "Please kiss it better?" She patted the area on her chest where her heart was.

He rolled his golden orbs once more and looked at her with a serious look. "You had better be clean." He repeated with more emphasis than the last time.

"I amAHHH," She yelped as he kisses her heart but also began attacking her neck and face with kisses causing her to giggle. "Kai~!" She whined playfully.

"Isn't this what you wanted, Angel? You put yourself in this position.” He commented in between one of the attack of kisses.

She only giggled and squealed in response causing a small smile to form on his face once he stopped. "Are you healed now? Is you're heart fixed and your ailments cured?"

"Yes, Doctor Overhaul," she giggled. "What about yours?"

He sighed again. "Maybe a Protege was a bad idea.” 

"Maybe," she responded. "But maybe it was the best decision you ever made." She gently rubbed his shoulders which relaxed his built up tension from the situation with Aki, and with Lola sitting on him without his permission. "Give her a chance," she continued. "Be patient, give her time and don't give up hope just yet, my dark prince, my shadow knight, my deviant darling."

He rolled his eyes from all the nicknames that he secretly loved but wouldn't admit out loud. 

Nonetheless she was right. Patience was key. So with that he went to sleep that night with a slight peace of mind.

The next day rolled around and he entered his office ready for the day. He saw that Lola had filled his personal candy bowl with his favorite chocolates and wrote a note that was placed next to the bowl.

"Patience is Key to Unlocking New Opportunities." It read causing him to roll his eyes with a smirk under his mask. Her love for witty puns and dad jokes never goes unoticed. He still remembers her words when she was confronted about it: "It's poetry." 

He sat in his chair and began looking through the stacks of paperwork he dreaded looking at most of the time.

It took Aki about an hour to show up. Which was the usual time of when she did. She had half of her hair up in two messy buns and wore a black fitted turtleneck with black joggers and black ankle socks.

"Good morning," she said with a bow.

"Morning," he replied back. 

"May I come in?"

"Are you clean?"

"I told you yesterday, I shower twice a day. Also heard you're a super clean person and hates germs so I scrubbed myself four times to be on the safe side."

He looked up at her with still a bored expression in his eyes but he was impressed nonetheless. "You may enter."

She walked in. "I have entered the threshold!"

He rolled his eyes at her theatrics. "Sit down, if you want. Don't be so loud."

"Understood," she spoke quieter and sat on the chair. "So." She began.

"So." He responded back.

"What should I address you as?" She asked curiously. 

"Overhaul." He responded.

"No, no," she cringed. "If I am to be your protege or whatever, it should be something more formal dont cha, think?"

He blinked at her expecting her to continue.

"I hear some people around here call you Master Overhaul," she started again. "How about I call you Overhaul-Sensei. Sensei for short. And when out and about I call you Master to blend in." 

Patience is Key, Patience is Me, he told himself in his head and sighed.

"Fine."

"Cool," she responded. 

With that there was a knock at the doorway which displayed Lola's smiling figure and two steaming mugs in her hands. "Good Morning, darling." She looked at Aki. "Good morning, Akirei.”

"Good morning, Miss Lola." Aki replied.

"Good morning, Angel," Kai responded holding his patience with everything.

"I brought some refreshments," she smiled and walked over to the desk. "A coffee for you," she set the mug next to Kai on a coster and then set the other mug on a cost next to Aki. "And a Peppermint matcha green tea for you."

Aki smiled and bowed. "Thank you so much."

She smiled at the girl and then planted a kiss on Kai's cheek. "Good luck with work today."

"Thank you, Angel."

And with that she walked out. Once she was out of hearing distance. Kai looked at Aki with a serious look which sent shivers down her spine.

"I appreciate you being polite," Kai started, "But don't ever address someone before me ever again."

"U-understood," Ali replied and corrected herself when he gave her and even darker look. "Sensei." She finished.

"Good," he loosen up his gaze slightly. "Continue."

Aki relaxed her shoulders a little. "So uh...do I have to wear gloves and a face mask too?"

"Yes," he replied. "I'm glad we have an understanding."

"Okay," she adjusted herself in her seat. "Can they be black though?"

"You're a picky brat aren't you?"

"I'm learning from the best!"

He deadpanned. "Fine, brat."

"Do I get a bird mask too?"

"You will get a plague mask, when the time comes."

She nodded and leaned back in her seat. He took the opportunity to go back to his papers. As long as she wasn't disruptive she could sit in there. He lowered his mask and took a sip of his warm coffee behind his papers so Aki couldn't see.

"Where do I rank?" She asked again. "Am I considered the ninth bullet or am I lower? Or higher?"

He set his mug down, lifted his mask and lowered his papers looking at her. "You're in the ranks with Chronostasis and Mimic."

"Oh," she chirped. "Arrowhead and Ragdoll."

Kai lifted an eyebrow at her. Seriously?

"I don't have everyone's names down just yet...heh…"

Kai decided that that was a personal problem between her, Chrono and Mimic themselves and went back to his papers.

"So," she began again. "I think I'm done with questions for the day. I don't want to bother you too much."

"Too much?" Kai asked with sarcasm in his tone and not looking from his papers.

"Yes," she stood up "may I be dismissed."

"You may."

She bowed politely and respectful at him and made her way out.

After that, Aki came in every morning asking different questions. Only these questions where the ones that were completely and utterly useless. She hadn't asked about Yakuza or Hassaikai matters after that. Only questions that made no sense whatsoever. 

It was beginning to really bother him.

"What's your favorite color?" She asked one day while in his office with the tea Lola delivered and remembered not to address Lola before he did.

"Why do you want to know something so useless, brat?"

"I didn't realize that your interests were useless, Sensei." 

He deadpanned and looked at her. "Black. Purple. Gold." His tone was sarcastically bored.

"Ooh those are nice!" She beamed. "They say purple is a color for royalty, luxury, wisdom and creativity."

He hummed in response as he wrote something down on a sheet of paperwork only half focused to what she was saying.

"But it could also mean arrogance, extravagance, immaturity and impracticality." She sipped her tea. "Also its known to be most people who are gay favorite colors."

He lifted an eyebrow and eyed the raven-haired girl seriously. "What are you implying?'

"Nothing," she responded innocently. "Just some fun facts."

"I'm not having fun," he replied bluntly causing her to let out a snicker at his comment.

"Well why don't you ask some questions instead?"

He scoffed. "I'm not playing your game, brat."

"It's not a game!" she protested with a chuckle. "I'll even give you time to think of questions to ask."

He sighed dropping his arm slightly so he could look at her from behind the paper. He remembered Lola's little message on the piece of paper next to his almost empty candy bowl: "Patience is Key."

"If I'm going to ask you questions, then you're going to get extremely important ones not useless ones like the color of your toothbrush. Understood, brat?"

Aki beamed. "Understood, Sensei."

~~~

Part 2? Maybe? Lemme know! Also tell me if I'm writing his ass wRONG. I don't mind the constructive criticism! Hope you enjoy!

#overhaul x oc #overhaul imagines #bnha overhaul #overhaul #overhaul x reader #chisaki kai #kai chisaki #chisaki kai x reader #bnha imagines #bnha oc #bnha fanfiction #bnha au #bnha headcanons #shie hassaikai #shie Hassaikai au

[golbrocklovely]

the chosen daughter // colby brock - chapter seven

A/N: hey yall... long over due next chapter, but here it finally is. i want to try to get back into the swing of things, and hopefully my job will calm down too so that i can do that lol let me know what you think of this chapter. thank you for all the feedback yall have given me. i’ll see yall later :)

story description

taglist: @far-to-many-bands , @idfk-tbh-oops , @muted-mayham , @ughwhyislifesohard , @justtanerd , @ashyoungxblood ,  @cmburgos

trigger warning: cursing, drinking/partying scene, vampire attack, fighting, mentions of: blood, slight gore, manipulation

word count: 1691

~~~~~~~~~~~

“C’mon guys. Tonight is gonna be so much fun! Half priced Wednesdays.” Kevin shouted, walking around the apartment.

“Isn’t it already half priced for us?” Jake asked, side-eyeing Kevin.

“Well I’ll make it half-half price!” Kevin exclaimed. He then sighed at our expressions. “Look, Mike’s not partying tonight. Something about ‘even though he’s dead his liver doesn’t have to suffer for it’. All I know is that I’m gonna be all alone in the VIP section and I want some company.”

“Can’t get yourself a date?” Colby smirked.

Kevin jeered. “Not everyone’s lucky enough to have a beautiful girl stalk you to where you live.”

I glared at Kevin. “Hey!”

“Sorry Jade. But guys… I need you there. Please.” Kevin begged, pouting.

Kevin’s phone beeped suddenly. He pulled it out and stared down at the screen.

Sam glanced at all of us, shrugging. “I mean I guess we can go-”

Kevin interjected. “Oh no. Oh no. Fuck. Tonight’s cancelled.”

“What why? What’s wrong?” Jake questioned.

“One word: Caleb.” Kevin whispered in disgust.

“Oh fuck!” Colby hissed.

Sam groaned. “Not him again.”

“Seriously, fuck him.” Jake sneered.

I laughed at their reactions. “I’m sorry but who’s Caleb?”

“He’s a vampire. A very young vampire. And he knows about us. About XPLR.” Sam stated.

“How’d he find out?” I inquired.

“He caught us killing a vamp, and since has held it against us.” Sam replied.

“Why don’t you just kill him?” I mumbled.

“He kisses the asses of all the elders. If he went missing, they would know something’s up. So, he lives.” Jake informed.

“Sadly.” Colby deadpanned.

Sam chuckled. “The good thing is because he is so young in the vampire world, his powers don’t really affect humans. So even if he tried to do anything, nothing would happen.”

“What’s his power?” I requested.

“Don’t know. Don’t care. I’m out.” Colby smirked again, walking towards the door. “How do you think Vampiro is doing?”

“Better without me.” I joked.

He turned back for a moment before leaving, smiling. “Doubt it.”

Then in a flash, he disappeared; most likely running at vampire speed out of the building.

Kevin turned to Sam, Jake, and I, his arms opened wide. “My three amigos?”

How bad can Caleb really be?

~ \ / \ / ~

They weren’t wrong about Caleb.

Now, nothing about Caleb was inherently bad, but nothing about him was good either. He had a baby-face; looked too young to be drinking or in a club in the first place. But since he was a vampire and there was no age-restriction for vamps, youngins could drink.

He bragged about being friends with the elders because apparently one of them turned him. He never mentioned who, just that they were one of the most powerful. He also talked about how he has a whole Instagram following because he was an influencer.

Whatever the fuck that is…

He flirted with every girl that came around us, and it became very awkward when suddenly no girl in the whole club wanted to be near.

We all devised a plan that if we needed a break from him, to say ‘pineapple’. Sam and Jake used it back-to-back, causing me to be the only one left with him.

I plan to kill them later…

Something about Caleb gave me the creeps, like his whole energy was too sketchy. He almost reminded me of Jasper.

I took a long gulp from my drink, glancing around the club and nodding my head to the music. Caleb sat across from me in the ‘U’ shaped booth, staring directly at me.

“Can I be honest?” Caleb asked loudly.

I huffed. “Sure.”

“Something about you is so alluring.” His eyes gazed over my body slowly. “Like I really feel super drawn to you.”

I sneered. “Aren’t I special.”

He nodded sincerely. “You most definitely are. I’m just gonna be blunt and ask, have you ever been with a vampire?”

“Been?” I questioned.

“Like… had sex?” His lips moved into a small smile.

Oh dear lord…

“No, I haven’t.” I huffed, annoyed.

Caleb smacked his lips together. “Well, if you want-”

“I’m a little too old for you, don’t you think?” I argued, smirking.

“Age ain’t nothing but a number, baby.” He chuckled.

My face twisted at his words. “Right... I’m gonna go get another drink.”

“Why don’t you stay right here?” Suddenly, he was sitting right next to where I was, grabbing my wrist firmly. His grip was strong and hard to pull out of; one of the only perks he got from being a vampire. I could see his eyes dilate, trying to use the powers he didn’t have. I could see the beginnings of an aura appear around him, but it dulled out before it could be complete.

“You know I know how weak your powers are, right?” I smirked.

His grip tightened. “It’s because I don’t drink as often as I should.”

“What an upstanding vampire. Now, let go of me.” I yanked my arm out of his hold.

I slid out of the booth, glaring as I walked towards the bar. I stepped in between Sam and Jake.

“If y’all ever leave me with him again, I’m gonna hurt you.” I grunted.

~ \ / \ / ~

After the incident with Caleb, I barely saw him the rest of the night. I decided to head up the apartment early, not really feeling like partying anymore.

As I strolled into the apartment, I saw I figure in the kitchen. I flicked on the lights, seeing Caleb’s dark brown hair turn towards me.

“Hello Jade.” Caleb spoke.

“Hey. Uh, why are you up here?” I queried, walking into the kitchen towards the fridge.

He mumbled. “Got bored of the party. Needed some time away.”

“Okay.” I nodded.

He stepped closer to me. “You know what I could really use right now?”

“What?” I sighed.

Caleb shoved me against the counter, his arms around me in a tight hold. He hissed, “A drink.”

I punched against his chest, none of which affected him. “Caleb, no. Don’t you fucking dare-!”

“What are you gonna do? Huh?” He growled, his fangs sliding out hungrily. “No one can hear you. If you’re nice, I won’t drink too much.”

His teeth bit into my flesh, causing me to scream out in pain. I kept fighting and screaming, distracting him as I reached into my pocket to grab the vile of Angelica dust. He tried to cover my mouth with his hand as he drank more and more, but I bit down as hard as I could on his palm.

He removed his mouth and smirked. “Do you really think that hurts?”

“No, but this will.” I gripped the vile and smashed it onto his face.

He roared in pain, the sound piercing my ears. I could hear his skin sizzle from the dust as I rushed to the door. Before I could open it, he slammed it shut with his hand, pressing my body against it.

“What… the fuck… did you just do?!” Caleb boomed.

He grabbed me by my hair and flung me back, my body slamming into the couch, knocking it over and rolling me onto the floor.

Caleb jumped on top of me, his hands wrapping around my neck, choking me. I could finally see what the plant had done to his face. A portion of his lower cheek and jaw were melted off, almost to the bone. He really looked like the monster he was. I struggled against him, digging my nails into his flesh. He tightened his grip as black dots began to cloud my vision.

Fuck, I’m gonna die.

As I looked into his eyes, I could see the pupils had blown out, his eye color hidden. Veins began to pop out from under his eyes, dark red and pumping. Suddenly, his eyes glazed over, like he couldn’t control his vision. His hold began to give way, a zoned out look coming to his face. I was able to shove him off me, coughing hard as I tried to crawl away.

“Oh… fuck. What is this…?” He moaned, his body swaying slightly.

Trying to catch my breath, I scurried to the kitchen. The front door busted open, Jake appearing suddenly. I looked at him as he looked at the scene in front of him. As he rushed to me, Caleb jumped up and grabbed him, slamming him against the wall.

“Why don’t you leave here, Jake?” Caleb whispered harshly.

As I stared at them, a weak aura flowed around Caleb, dark green in color. It was way more noticeable than it was at the club earlier.

How…?

Jake stared at Caleb, his body slowly relaxing. “But… Jade’s in danger?”

“No, she isn’t. She’s okay.” Caleb released Jake slightly, moving his arm to show me.

“She’s in pain. She’s bleeding… What happened to your face?” Jake mumbled, dazed and confused.

“She was just giving me some of her blood. Things… got a little rough. Isn’t that right, Jade?” Caleb suggested.

“Jake, help me-!” I pled.

In a split second, Caleb grabbed and wrapped his arms around me, pressing a hand to my mouth as he brought me to Jake. “No, Jake, she’s fine. Just being… bitchy.”

“Right…” Jake uttered.

“She’s so alright, she’s even gonna ask for a drink, that way you can leave and go get it for her. Isn’t that right, Jake?” Caleb fumed.

Jake agreed slowly. “Yeah… get her a drink… what do you want?”

Caleb pressed his lips to my ear. “Think wisely, Jade. Say the wrong thing and I’ll snap his neck right here and drain the both of you dry.”

I gulped, thinking of what to say. “Jake… get me a pineapple… Angel Face. You should ask Sam if he would want one too.”

“Pineapple… Angel Face.” Jake muttered back to me.

Caleb slid his hand back over my mouth. “Exactly. Now run along and get it.”

Jake nodded his head softly, his gaze far off and distant. He walked down the steps and out into the club.

I really am gonna die now.

<< CHAPTER 6 || CHAPTER 8 >>

#colby brock #colby brock fanfiction #colby brock fanfic #colby brock fic #colby brock vampire #vampire #colby brock x oc #kevin langue #jake webber #sam golbach #sam and colby #the chosen daughter

[mtvsims]

Season 1 Ep. 2: Punching Bag

To access the previous episode, click here.

The morning of Challenge Day...

Kali: I can’t wait to crush some dreams.

Challenge 1: Punching Bags

First to drop from each sex is going into elimination. The last ones hitting it will win today’s challenge.

Challengers, GO!

Erica: I was on America Ninja Warrior. I have a great shot at winning this.

Chloe: Can we not?

Alexandria: You got this, girl!

*Frank drops*

Frank: Screw this. See ya guys in elimination...

After some more guys drop...

Chloe and Aarav are the winners of this challenge! Bree dropped first for the girls, so she will get sent into elimination.

Chloe: I won? I won!

Aarav: I’m just as shocked as you are.

Back at the house, Chloe the winner comforts Bree the loser.

And everyone is going out to celebrate!

Chloe: I’d rather be in bed...

Brad: Congrats on winning today, babe.

Chloe: Thanks, babe!

Chloe: I’m so proud of myself! I thought I was the weakest one in this house, but I just WON the first challenge! I am a bit stressed, though. I don’t want to nominate anyone for elimination and make enemies so early...

Brad: It’ll be fine. Relax. 

Kali: Ugly dress...

Erica: Excuse me?

Kali: Did you get that off the clearance rack at 7/11?

Charles: Riki, I feel safe with Aarav. Do you?

Riki: Yeah. He’ll probably go for a weak link, like Peter. I doubt Frank will beat anyone.

Charles: Yeah, we’re fine.

*Alexandria passes out*

Alexandria: How embarrassing! I passed out right outside the club. People are going to think I’m such a hot mess. This night is not going well at all.

Chloe: I saw you hanging out with Kali earlier. Why? She’s so rude.

Stella: Seriously? We’re gonna do this?

Chloe: Do what?

Stella: You are so attention-seeking. Stop being such a “pick me” girl. It’s not a good look. Kali is my friend.

Stella: Whoa, Stella. Rein it in. I’m here for a reason, and that’s to win. I can’t risk getting sent into elimination. Which sucks, because Chloe and I don’t vibe.

Stella: Look. Let’s just... I don’t want to have a vendetta with you.

Chloe: It’s cool. I’m already over it.

Chloe: It most definitely IS NOT cool. Screw off, Stella. You better back up your bite in elimination, because that’s where you’re going.

Spencer: How are you feeling?

Chloe: I’m feeling myself!

Peggy: Maybe it’s the tequila. Maybe it’s the strobe lights. But Peggy is wildin’ out tonight!

Peggy: Care to dance?

Riki: Let’s go.

Rei and Casey are still close...

And... hold up. Aarav and Peter?! 

Peter: Aarav is definitely my type. Even though I’m pretty sure he doesn’t like me.

Aarav: Peter... *blushes* He’s alright I guess.

Stella: I love your moves.

DeKirra: I DJ in New York. I’m used to this.

Stella: You’re lying...

DeKirra: No I’m not. Shut UP! 

Spencer: Not another fight...

DeKirra: You get rude when you drink. Stop it. I’m telling you this as a friend.

Stella: I... whatever.

Spencer: You get hot when you’re mad.

Stella: Haha!

DeKirra: Alexandria won’t be happy about this...

DeKirra: Alexandria and Spencer are a thing in this house. I hope she sees him with Stella, so she realizes that he’s not boyfriend material.

Stella: What about Alexandria?

Spencer: I just met her. She’s not even here...

*Alexandria wakes up and sees Spencer w/ Stella*

Alexandria: Stella was my friend... I told her I really liked Spencer. I literally hooked up with him last night! And I feel like whenever I tell her anything, she just snakes me to hurt me. I feel so betrayed.

Aarav: Are we about to head out?

Peter: Yeah. Hopefully.

Rei: YES. Please.

The next morning...

Geoff: We legit did not go to bed.

Chloe: And you’re DRINKING still! What a night.

DeKirra: Coffee gods, please get me through today.

Nominations

Chloe, you must nominate 3 guys to potentially face off against Frank in The Ring.

Aarav, you must nominate 3 girls to potentially face off against Bree in The Ring.

Aarav: I’m nominating Alexandria, Jade, & Peggy. I feel like you 3 aren’t bonding with the rest of the house, so it makes you the easiest targets.

Chloe: I’m nominating Spencer, Peter, & Hank. Spencer, you were talking to me last night and just seemed hella fake. You go around to everyone and say the same things. Peter, you just aren’t fitting in super well with the group. And Hank, I feel like you’re just Spencer’s lackey.

Nominations are adjourned!

Next time, on The Challenge...

The first elimination! Who will be the first 2 to go home? Plus, more major drama.

#mtvsims #ts4 #sims #the challenge #sims 4 #bb22 #big brother #sims 4 challenge #sims 4 story

[justheretobreakthings]

Welcome to the Family - Chapter 7

(Previous Chapter)

Word Count: 2,408 (Total Word Count: 17,418) Read on AO3

Story Summary: Lance had been excited about his family taking in a foster kid, eager to get to meet his brand new little brother or sister, who would surely adore and idolize their super cool Big Brother Lance. What he got instead was a sullen, quiet, temperamental teenage housemate with a criminal record and a disastrous haircut.

Lance missed elementary school. Back in those days, the first day of the school year was fun. Not just because he and his classmates were not yet jaded toward the concept of school, but because the day was actually designed that way. The learning didn’t start until day two at the earliest; the first day was dedicated to icebreakers and exploring the classroom and the teacher pulling out every trick in the book to convince the students that this year was going to be this much fun every single day.

Now, though, the only way the first day of classes differed from the rest was that teachers took longer to take attendance and passed out the class syllabus before diving into textbook reading and PowerPoint presentations. Which meant that Lance had jumped straight from the relaxation of summer vacation to hours of biology, sociology, and the first half of his American literature class before the bell mercifully put it on pause for a half-hour lunch break.

“Lance,” Pidge cut him off in the middle of his groaning as he stood behind her in the cafeteria line. “For fuck’s sake, can’t we go one school year where you don’t do this?”

“No,” Lance said. “Pidge, I’m tiiiiiired.” He slumped down and rested his forehead on Pidge’s shoulder. “How many days left in the school year?”

“A hundred seventy-nine and a half,” Pidge answered, shrugging him off of her shoulder. “Get used to it.”

Lance groaned as he grabbed a tray and started down the serving line. At least the school served burgers and tater tots on the first day. They were fairly crappy burgers and tots, sure, but compared to many of the other cafeteria offerings throughout the year, they were pretty high up on his list of favorite school meals. “They could at least do a better job of, like, easing us in to school life,” he said as he picked up a paper-wrapped cheeseburger. “Maybe have a naptime for the first week, or start the first day at noon.”

“If it were up to you, every day of school would last half an hour and consist of four meal breaks.”

“Which is exactly why I should be in charge,” Lance said. He picked out a bottle of lemonade from the drink cooler and paused their conversation to let the cafeteria lady at the register punch in his purchases and give him the go-ahead. Once that was finished, he stood on tiptoes to look back at the rest of the line. “You seen Keith? He came out of class the same time we did, right?”

“Think so, yeah,” Pidge said. Her eyes were scanning the tables set up throughout the rest of the cafeteria. They always sat with Hunk, and he was always the first to the table, since he brought his lunch from home and didn’t have to wait in line with everyone else. One of the perks of his family owning a restaurant. “We could just sit down and wait for - oh, hey!” She nudged Lance with her elbow. “Looks like he’s already with Hunk!”

She pointed, and Lance looked to see Keith seated at a table, his back to them but his mullet unmistakeable. Hunk was sitting across from him, his meal spread out before him, and looked to be deep in conversation with Keith. “How the hell did he beat us here?” Lance asked. “Could swear we left the classroom before he did.”

“I dunno, maybe he walks faster?” Pidge said with a shrug, already starting toward the table. “Come on, my legs are tired.”

“Your legs are always tired,” Lance grunted, following after her.

Pidge reached the table first, sliding onto the bench next to Hunk and immediately turning her gaze to the contents of his lunch. “No,” Hunk said firmly to her as Lance settled in across from them.

“What?” Pidge looked up at him. “I didn’t even - ”

“You were about to ask for one of my cookies. I already told you this morning, no.”

“You have two of them!” Pidge whined. “You don’t need two cookies! You’re being selfish!”

“Isn’t… that a cookie?” Keith asked softly, pointing to Pidge’s tray.

“Ugh, yeah,” Pidge sighed, glaring down at the shortbread cookie in a little paper dish in the corner of her tray. “But it’s a shitty cafeteria cookie. Hunk gets homemade cookies.”

Hunk unwrapped the plastic wrap on one of the aforementioned cookies and popped a bite into his mouth. “If you want homemade cookies, make some at home.”

Pidge made a swipe for the cookie in Hunk’s hand, but Hunk easily avoided it, leaning back and taking another bite, topping it all off with exaggerated chewing sounds. Lance laughed and returned his attention to his own food. As he unwrapped his burger, he couldn’t help but notice that his was the only tray on this side of the table. He turned toward Keith with a raised brow. Keith had set his stack of books and supplies on the table in front of him, but there was no lunch in sight. Frowning, Lance tapped the table in front of Keith. “Hey,” he said. “What’s up with you?”

Keith just blinked at him.

Lance gestured to the small stack of books as he took a bite and asked through a mouthful of cheeseburger, “You planning on eating your notebooks or something?”

Keith wrinkled his brow. “What?”

“Why didn’t you get your lunch?”

“Oh.” Keith shrugged. “I’m saving mine for later.”

Lance swallowed and tilted his head. “Dude, what are you talking about? They’re not going to save your food for later; we only get the one lunch break.”

Keith huffed out a breath. “I didn’t mean later today, I meant I’m going to save my lunches for when I’m really hungry.”

The tone of his voice suggested that he thought this was blatantly obvious, but Lance was only growing more confused with every answer Keith gave. “Uh, dude, you lost me. School lunches aren’t exactly a rare commodity that you gotta ration out.”

Keith rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “Look, your mom wrote out a check for my lunch account when we came in on Friday.” Lance nodded slowly. “The check was for a hundred dollars. A cafeteria lunch here costs two-fifty. That’s forty lunches.”

“Yeah…?”

“And with a hundred and eighty days in the school year, that’s about one lunch a week. I don’t know if I’ll be here the whole year, but just in case, I’m going to save them for when I actually need them. It’s pretty basic math, Lance.”

It took Lance a moment to realize his mouth had fallen open in his surprise. The rest of the table had gone quiet too, Pidge and Hunk staring at Keith just as openly, just as taken aback. A few seconds passed, during which Keith’s face fell to a confused frown at their reactions, before Lance found his voice again and said, “Uh, Keith, you - you do know that’s not a check for the whole school year, right?” Keith just stared at him. “It’s, um, it’s for the first couple of months, and then once your account’s running low, Mamá will just write a new check to refill it. You don’t need to save your meals.”

Keith blinked before his eyes darted over toward Pidge and Hunk as if looking for confirmation. Hunk nodded, and Keith’s shoulders slumped sheepishly as he let out a quiet, “Oh.”

“You didn’t seriously think Mamá was only letting you have one lunch a week, did you?” Lance said. When Keith didn’t reply, Lance let out a little indignant squeak. “Oh my god, you did! What the fuck, what kind of person do you think my mother is?!”

Keith’s brows slanted downward into a scowl. “It wasn’t an insult to your mother or anything, I just - ”

“You just were going to skip lunch four days a week? What the hell, dude?”

“Lance,” Hunk said, a hint of warning in his voice. “Let it go, it’s a misunderstanding.”

“Yeah, but who misunderstands lunch money that badly? How the hell is this a new concept to you?!”

“It’s not a ‘new concept’ I - I - ” With a growl, Keith shot to his feet, pushing back the bench he and Lance were sitting on with a loud squeak that turned a few heads from the next table over; Lance had to grab onto the edge of the table to keep from being thrown from his fine. “I’m getting my damn lunch,” Keith muttered before turning away and stomping off.

Silence rang over the table as the three remaining sat staring at Keith’s retreating back, then Lance spun back around to the others. “Okay, that was weird, right? You can’t tell me that wasn’t weird.”

“Well, it was, uh… yeah, weird,” Hunk sighed. “Still, did you need to go off on him like that?”

“I didn’t go off on him, I just - I didn’t like what he was implying about Mamá, that’s all. Like, geez, I know he’s not crazy about living with us, I’m over it, but at least give us some credit! She feeds us like a grandma on Thanksgiving. Why the hell would he think he’s not allowed to have lunch?”

“I mean, like I said, seemed like just a misunderstanding.”

“Yeah, but - Pidge, would you cool it with that slurping?!” he snapped.

Pidge, who had been loudly sipping her milk, lowered the carton, face pensive. “I wasn’t slurping,” she said. “I was thinking.”

“Think with a straw like the rest of us.”

“Thinking about what, Pidge?” Hunk asked as Pidge stuck her tongue out at Lance.

“Just, well…” She tapped her finger against her tray. “You know, there’s probably a - ” She stopped, straightening suddenly and whipping around in her seat, as a scrunched-up straw wrapper fell from her hair and onto the table. “You ass!” she called, and Lance leaned around to see the face of Pidge’s brother, grinning at her from two tables down and waggling his fingers in a wave, his other hand holding at the ready, what looked to be a crumpled bit of napkin already loaded into the end.

“I’m just saying hi!” Matt called back.

Pidge scowled and scooped up the wrapper. “You even think about doing that again and that straw’s going right up your - ”

“Pidge, there’s teachers,” Hunk said, nudging her.

Pidge slumped, her scowl deepening, and with a laugh Matt got up from his table and moved to theirs. “By the way, my dear pigeon,” he said as he slid onto their bench. “My Switch seems to have vanished from my backpack this morning. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

“Not a thing,” Pidge answered with a shrug.

“No kidding. So if I were to check your bag right now - ?”

“I’d sue you for searching without a warrant,” Pidge replied. “Besides, no video games at school, Matthew. Stop setting a bad example for me.”

“Hey, Matt,” Hunk said, reaching over to tap his arm. “There a date set for the first club meeting yet?”

“Got physics with Mr. Slav tomorrow, we’ll sort it out then,” Matt said. “Ooh, yeah, speaking of, guess this means you gotta be extra nice to me now, huh, Pidge? Don’t wanna piss off the president and get kicked out of the club.”

Pidge scoffed. “Like I’m not gonna program the robots to turn on you at the first sign you’re abusing your power. Oh, by the by, was talking to Ina in chemistry, she said she’s about convinced one of her friends to join, so we’ve got another underclassman for the team.”

“Which friend?” Hunk asked.

“James. And if we can get Lance on board - ”

“Absolutely not,” said Lance. “Also, just so you know, having James on board is making me even less likely to wanna join than ever.”

“Still pissed he ratted on you for cheating on that test last year?” Pidge asked with a raised brow.

“For the last time, I wasn’t cheating, I was just noticing his weird penmanship.”

“Uh-huh. Well, we’ve still got a chance with convincing Keith, I guess.”

“Oh, he that new foster brother of yours?” Matt asked. Lance nodded. “Cool. He around? I’d love to meet him. Ooh, you know, Shiro would probably be real interested too. Want me to - ”

“I wouldn’t try being too social with him,” Lance said. “He’s in a mood.”

“Correction: Lance put him in a mood,” said Pidge.

“Come on, all I did was ask - ” Lance cut himself off with a small jump in his seat as a tray slammed down onto the table next to him. He turned to see Keith sliding back into his seat, glowering down at his burger as he unwrapped it. “Well.” He cleared his throat. “Look who’s back.”

Matt grinned and leaned across the table toward Keith. “Hey,” he said. “So you’re Keith, huh?”

Keith glanced up, his eyes narrowed at him. “Yeah…” he said slowly. “What about it?”

“Just asking. Good to put a face to the name. I’m Matt, Pidge’s superior prequel.”

“Um,” Keith said, raising a brow.

“Pidge ever mention me yet?”

“I never mention you to anyone,” Pidge said. “I only tell people about things that are actually interesting.”

“You suck,” Matt said, ruffling her hair. “Don’t let her gremlin exterior fool you, Keith, she’s a teeny tiny little teddy bear under all that snark.” Keith said nothing, just stared at him. “Well, it was nice to meet you, man.”

“... Yeah,” said Keith.

“Real fireball, this guy is, huh?” Matt said, snatching two of Pidge’s tater tots before hopping up and heading back to his table.

Pidge huffed and slid the rest of her tater tots closer to herself. “He’s the worst,” she said, “But you learn to tune him out.” Even in the insults, a hint of fondness could be heard weaving through.

Hunk laughed lightly. “Makes you count yourself lucky you got stuck with Lance here as a brother instead, huh, Keith?”

Keith’s eyes darted Lance’s way before he softly muttered, “Uh-huh,” and returned his attention to his burger.

With an ‘I tried’ shrug toward Lance, Hunk went back to his own lunch, and Lance watched as Keith ate, his glare never wavering. Didn’t look like his mood would be dissipating any time soon.

Lance sighed as he resumed eating his own burger. Seemed he had a semester of very long lunches to look forward to.

#vldgen #vld fic #voltron fic #lance #keith #my writing #fic: welcome to the family

[mythicamagic]

Pretty words: Yui Komori oneshot

A boy from class tries to reach out to Yui, despite her recent melancholy. After going through so much torment and hearing every vile word whispered into her ear, the one that breaks the camels back is a simple ‘she’s ugly.’

Set after More Blood Kou’s Ecstasy 02 scenario (you don’t need to know it to read) this was another writing commission for @s-e-kwan

If you’d like to commission me, please send a PM!

Drama, 1,000 words

OC x Yui vibes.

Pretty words~

Unless it was exam season, the library remained mercifully quiet during free-period at the start of the semester at night school.

After finding herself left alone one lunchtime, Yui sat within its echoey structure, tiredly pouring over a textbook. Her glassy, rose-pink eyes could hardly focus on the words, trying to get Kou's latest jabs off her mind.

"Miss Komori?"

She blinked up at a young man with light brown hair. Kenta, she remembered. A boy from class who tended to be a bit of a well-meaning busybody. For some reason though, his gaze seemed filled with quiet vehemence today. Yui opened her mouth to croak out a greeting, clearing her throat. It was probably still thick from her latest crying episode earlier.

"You know you can call me Yui, Kenta. Most people in class go by first names now," she smiled.

His cheeks heated slightly. "A-ah, well, thank you," he adjusted his glasses. "The reason I'm here, miss...Yui, is because of what I overheard yesterday. Involving you and...Mr. Mukami."

Kou...

Yui's hand absentmindedly touched her mouth where he'd smeared blood over her lips the day before. Like the finest lipstick, he'd smiled.

"Miss Nakahara was also there," Kenta went on softly. "She's quite an adamant supporter of Kou. She said something to you, didn't she? I know the other girls have been uh, prickly lately, due to your relationship with Mr. Mumaki-"

"There's no relationship," Yui cut in quietly.

Kenta didn't seem to belive her, but that was nothing new. Kou often dragged her out of class and pressed his lips to her neck in the hallway. It'd been a surprise his fangirl's hadn't ripped her to shreds.

"I'm fine though, really," she tried to wave off, but was yet again greeted by a sceptical look.

The young man took a seat beside her, looking patient. Yui dimly remembered he'd been trying to get a position as class president, maybe that was why he was talking to her. You can't obtain anything without giving something first, Kou had said.

"I..." Yui didn't know. She couldn't form the words. "She just called me ugly is all," a strangled noise like a laugh escaped her. When Kenta didn't share her wobbly smile, Yui looked down at the blurry textbook, firmly holding back tears. "I don't know why it got to me. I've been called worse-" had far worse done to her body. The pale skin lurking under her blouse littered with bite-marks felt hot, stifling and worn thin with overuse like sandpaper. "Maybe it's like the straw that broke the camels back, huh? Or maybe it's because Kou values looks so much."

Or because he'd made it clear the only thing that mattered wasn't her face, but her blood. She was just a vessel.

"B-besides the other girls are very pretty, fashionable and up-to-date with their appearances, so in comparison, I'm just plain and-"

Something warm touched her head, petting. Yui blinked hard and fast, the closest she came to flinching these days.

Kenta looked at her gently in a way that shook her heart. "You're a good person," his lips curved. "You know, you shouldn't compare yourself to them, miss Yui. You've got a lot of admirable traits, you're super smart, kind and the way you carry yourself..." he trailed off, suddenly realising how he sounded as he removed his hand. Yui mourned the loss. "I-if I had to put it into words, I guess you have pride?"

Pride? Me?

"So, don't let go of those qualities! Fight on!" He blushed, making a fist and nodding enthusiastically as the light caught his glasses. Yui blinked, slowly smiling and relaxing at the cheesy speech. Somehow, her heart felt a little lighter.

-----

Dinner at the Mukami's started out in its usual way, with Kou and Yuma bickering over equal shares while Azusa practically inhaled spicy food and Ruki ignored them all except to intervene and stop the fighting. In the subsequent silence, Kou zeroed in on Yui's cheery disposition.

Leaning his cheek on a palm, he sighed. "You know, M neko-chan, he probably only said all those things to get you to vote for him."

Yui's glass paused half-way to her mouth. "Huh?"

Kou's cat-like eyes gleamed sadistically. "Ken-ta~" he sing-songed. "What was it again? Oh yeah. 'You're super smart, kind and the way you carry yourself..." he paused dramatically, putting a hand to his heart. "'If I had to put it into words, I guess you have pride!' Hehe, what pretty words. He doesn't know you too well, does he?" His velvety voice slipped into a lower, playful one. "He hasn't seen you writhing in agony and begging me for more, has he? Should I send him a recording over the phone of your true self, kitty? Mewling for me. That kind of cute, stupid girl doesn't have prid-"

Yui slammed her glass down on the table with a loud clatter, causing the vampire's gazes to snap to her. Trembling with anger, Yui stood, gritting blunt teeth. "I don't care," she grit out, and then louder; "I don't care! I-I have pride! Even if you treat me poorly, insult, or debase me, I still have pride. I'm...I'm fine with how I am, what my 'container' looks like," she snapped, straightening her spine. "No matter what reason he did it for, selfishness or not- I was happy to hear those words. If that makes me a cute, stupid girl, then I guess that's what I am."

Turning, she then padded out of the room, leaving silence in her wake. Kou watched her go with wide eyes.

She knew she'd be punished for such big words. For once though, survival wasn't on her mind, Yui lapsed into a small, exhilarated smile. The feelings welling up inside her would hopefully tide her over until the next lapse in confidence brought about by Kou's skilful, jaded tongue. For now though, she silently resolved to vote for Kenta to be class president as her sincere way of saying thanks.

#Diabolik lovers #diabolik lovers fanfiction #yui komori #yui x oc #kou mukami #diahell #dialovers

[jawnjendes]

her eyes are tired | shawn mendes

chapter 12/?, university au, shawn x goth oc

AN: a filler but issa good one! i also just wanna remind you all that no matter how bad things seem rn, things do get better and things are always changing. i believe in you!

***let me know if you wanna be added/removed from the taglist

masterlist | playlist (new song added every chapter!)

“Really, it's fine,” Annalise said to Shawn as he pulled into the last space in a crowded parking lot. “You don’t have to go the extra mile. I just needed company for the doctor.”

Shawn took the liberty of driving her to a nearby Starbucks after leaving Dr. Pacini’s office. He figured Annalise wasn’t in the mood for a full meal, at least this was better than nothing.

“Your blood pressure was low,” Shawn reminded her.

"Yeah, because I knew I would take a blood test, so I was fasting," she said back.

“And now the blood test is over. You need something in your system. Besides, food will help boost your mood. I know you like the chocolate chip muffins they got here."

Annalise took off her seatbelt as she hummed. She was too tired to argue, and she knew she wouldn't find anything more comforting or appetizing in the confined space of her dorm. "Thank you."

“Of course. I told you I’m here for you.”

He smiled, and Annalise couldn’t help but smile back. It was safe to say that most of her rage towards him had calmed down. The pelvic pain got her mind off of the stupid relationship problems for the time being. Replace one anxiety with another.

There was some noticeable space between Shawn and Annalise as they entered the coffee shop. She kept her phone in one hand and the other clutching the strap of her bag, like she was worried he would try to hold her hand or something. It just wasn't the time for those things.

Shawn happily paid for their order, both of them having some fruit refresher. Annalise couldn't find it in her heart to tell him that Starbucks was very 50/50 when it came to working with her digestive system. She knew the mango dragonfruit was safe for now, but the thought that it could suddenly be too sugary for her fragile stomach was a little nerve inducing. But she did have a soft spot for the muffins, like Shawn said.

Today, however, Annalise just picked at the treat, taking a couple of bites every so often. She was hungry, but anxiety was still very much in her system.

"History is kinda repeating itself, eh?" Shawn asked, getting her attention.

"What do you mean?" she replied.

"Where were we on this day a year ago?" He grinned before sipping his own drink.

"A coffee shop less crowded." Annalise slouched in her seat. Her feet naturally found their place between Shawn's legs under the table. "You were with a girl who was not as messy as this one."

"And my feelings for her haven't changed."

At least he didn't try to deny the disaster sat in front of him. It was much better than straight up coddling, in her opinion.

"I have a question," Shawn prompted.

"Okay…"

"Out of everyone you know, why did you call me?"

Suddenly, Annalise had an appetite. She ripped off a rather large piece of her muffin and stuffed it into her mouth, avoiding eye contact. Several different answers popped into her head, but she refused to speak any of them into the universe.

"Okay, how about this," Shawn tried again, "why couldn't, say, Stella go with you?" He already knew why, he just wanted to see if she would share something like that with him.

And she did. Annalise swallowed, and then spoke. "She's really mad at me. We argued, and she left the dorm for the time being."

"What did you guys argue about?"

"I don't even know at this point. I just know I messed up and she's rightfully upset. God, I'm tired."

She didn't need to say that twice. Seeing her without her signature dark eye makeup made Shawn notice the fatigue in her brown eyes. It looked like she stopped trying, and it broke his heart. He wanted to touch her hand or her face, attempt to remove every kind of pain she was dealing with. But he still didn't know if this was the right time to do anything like that, and he wasn't sure if he was even allowed to ask.

"She'll come around," he told her. "I know it. You guys are unbreakable."

Annalise only took another bite of her muffin. She didn't want to talk about this anymore.

"Another thing," Shawn said, changing the subject. He took a deep breath, knowing he had this coming, and he didn't know if he was going to see her again after this. "I'm sorry for what I said to you that night."

She knew what he was talking about. She momentarily distracted herself with downing half of her drink. Then, "You weren't exactly wrong."

"But it hurt you," he told her. "I hurt you. It was never my intention to make you feel that way."

Annalise pursed her lips as she considered the words. He wouldn't have gone all this way for her today if he wasn't telling the truth. She sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't believe what you were telling me."

"Well, I didn't make it easy for you," he said.

"Yeah, but I know better than to give into my own paranoia. After all this time, I should have known to trust you more."

That was definitely true, but Shawn didn't say it out loud. "Just so you know, I did tell Alessia to back off. I don't talk to her anymore."

Annalise was surprised. "Really? But you guys were friends."

"She didn't want to be just my friend. No, I think it's better we're not around each other for now."

"Oh."

The persisting guilt made itself known again. If Annalise hadn't said anything then Shawn have had to just cut someone off like that. Admittedly, she was a little jealous of the chemistry he had with Alessia, and the fact that they were a more believable couple than "Shawnnalise" (still the worst name ever.) But if the roles were reversed, Annalise wouldn't just stop talking to someone like Stella or Patrick because of her boyfriend's jealousy. That would just be something he'd have to deal with.

"I hope you guys can go back to being friends after all this blows over," she told him, mindlessly twirling the straw in her cup. "She was really cool."

Shawn grinned, appreciating the sentiment. Then, came another subject change. "Do your parents know about anything that's been going on?"

To his surprise, Annalise chuckled. "All they care about is that I'm getting good grades and that I don't end up in the hospital again. I told my mom about the pelvic pain and she literally told me to stop talking to her about it and go to the doctor. So much for parental support."

"She just wants to make sure you get the help you need."

"I know… I just don't always want advice."

"Do they know what's been going on with us?" Another question Shawn was hesitant to ask, but he needed to know.

Annalise paused for a moment. "It's better that they don't. They like you, but it can be really easy for them to turn against you."

So that's where she gets it from. Must run in the family.

As soon as their cups were empty, Shawn and Annalise left the establishment. The ride back to his apartment was oddly silent until Shawn bumped the radio.

"Who's this playing?" Annalise asked as an acoustic tune started playing. It reminded her of Shawn's music, but it wasn't his own.

"Niall Horan," he told her.

"Hm, never heard of him."

"Seriously? He was in One Direction."

"Never listened to them."

"You what?"

She cracked a smile, but Shawn wasn't amused.

"They were the biggest boyband in the world!"

"So? They never piqued my interest."

"Yet you listen to Little Mix?"

Annalise chuckled, blushing. "That's different. They're super underrated! Their lyrics are sassy and full of life! And have you seen what the girls look like? They're all gorgeous!"

"So is Niall!" Shawn caught himself. "And all the guys from One Direction!"

Now she knew why he was passionate about this topic. She giggled. "Did I just discover your celebrity crush?"

He scoffed in disbelief. "What? No."

"Aw, he's not your free pass?" Annalise teased. This was the most fun she had today, and she wanted to savor it. Besides, she didn't know much about this side of Shawn. "So like, if I gave you my blessing, and you saw Neil-"

"Niall."

"-at a hotel or something, you wouldn't…?"

On a rare occurrence, Shawn was blushing. He focused on the road and stayed quiet for a moment. "Okay, maybe!"

"Ahh, I knew it! And it's okay! My free pass is either Jade from Little Mix or Amy Lee! Whoever I see first!"

Shawn breathed out a chuckle as his shoulders relaxed. "Okay, you have my blessing for either of them. But only them!"

For a moment, it felt like all the bad shit they had gone through these last few months had never happened. Annalise felt her chest get warm in that nice, heart fluttering way it used to. Her feelings hadn't changed either, and it was a relief to discover that. She wasn't stringing him along for nothing. None of this was for nothing.

They were in a comfortable silence when Shawn was pulling up next to Annalise's car at his apartment building. Neither of them wanted this thing to be over, but what were they going to do? Say it out loud? Make it known?

"Thanks again for everything," Annalise said. "I really appreciate it."

"Anytime." Shawn smiled.

Was it bad that she sort of wanted to kiss him? No, it would be bad if she actually did it. Everything between them felt so delicate, one sudden move could demolish whatever was left. Annalise had gripped the door handle for only a moment before Shawn spoke again.

“Wait.” His hand flew to her shoulder.

Annalise felt her heart race instantly, gently grabbing his wrist. “I-”

“I’m doing a gig,” Shawn explained. “Well, I plan to, anyway. The lounge hasn’t called me back yet, but when it comes around, I’d like for you to be there.”

She exhaled, her body relaxing. “So it’s not even booked yet?”

“It’s not set in stone, but it will be. I just wanted to let you know ahead of time. I really want you to be there.”

Annalise narrowed her eyes. “It’s not another serenade, is it?”

Shawn chuckled. “No, I promise. I already learned that lesson. Just be in the audience, okay?”

“Okay,” she said.

“You promise?”

“I promise I’ll be there.”

Shawn’s eyes lit up and he was smiling once again. “Great. I’ll text you when I get the date.”

For a moment, they just sat there and gazed at each other. Annalise felt herself melting like she did a year ago, but her brain caught up quick. She really missed Shawn. Although she was no sweet dream, she missed the pleasant romance they had prior to this mess. It was easy to tell that Shawn missed it too, and it wasn’t just because he previously told her that. There was that longing in his brown eyes that made Annalise’s next statement sting a little bit.

“I have to go,” she opened the door, only to hear the plea in Shawn’s voice.

“Ann…”

“This isn’t a ‘fuck-it’ moment,” she told him.

And yet she still lingered in his Jeep. Shawn just had these stupid cute eyes and stupid cute everything. In the end, however, Annalise climbed out of the vehicle and went to her own. It wasn't time for all that yet.

~

“So you are on the same page again?” asked Callie the very next day. “You went through all of this just for you to make sure you still love each other?”

Callie wasn’t one to judge, being a professional psychotherapist. However, Annalise could tell when she didn’t quite understand something. For example, Callie asked a lot of questions regarding the separation. Whose idea was it? How long was it going on for? Annalise only found it strange because she knew Shawn must have talked about it during this time here. Callie had to have already known about this…

“Yes?” she said in response to her question. “Yes, we want to be with each other. But I can’t express that because Shawn will jump right into it and I don’t want that to be the thing to ‘fix’ this funk I’m in. Y’know what I mean?”

“Ah, I see. You’re aware of your depressive episode now.”

Annalise sighed as she nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been feeling the effects of it now. I’ve cried a lot, and I had an anxiety attack yesterday.”

“Did it help to get some of the pent up feelings out?” Callie asked.

“I don’t really know. Ever since the hospital, I thought if I let myself cry about it, I’d never stop. Like, I’m not crying nonstop, it comes in waves. So does the aching sadness. I don’t remember it being this brutal the first time I had a session here.”

“Some traumas are worse than others. This one clearly took its toll. I know it’s painful, but letting yourself feel the emotions will help you in the long run. And we can slow down with talking through all of this if you wish.”

Annalise nodded, realizing she was able to name something she was feeling. Sadness. It was a persisting issue in the past. Not speaking of her feelings and not knowing what they were was troublesome not only in romantic relationships, but with family as well. The fact that she was able to point out her sadness now made her think that maybe she wasn’t such a lost cause.

“And, I presume you have people around you?” Callie inquired. “People to support you, or distract you?”

Now, she slouched in her seat. “Yeah, uh… this particular episode hasn’t been nice to me or anyone around me.” She explained the fights with Stella and Shawn, and the impromptu dropping out of gaming club, which led the session to be consumed by tears and meltdowns.

But Annalise did manage to name another feeling: guilt. She felt guilty for screaming at the people she loves. She felt guilty for going off her meds. She even felt guilty for breaking Chad’s nose.

“And, I’m aware I’m lucky to be where I am,” she sniffed. “I’ve had good parents and good friends. Shit, I found a guy who actually cares about me! I have an education and I’m throwing that away because I haven’t done any school work… I’m lucky, and I should be happy! Why am I gonna complain about my perfect life?”

“Isn’t that something? You have all these good things in your life, yet the depression persists. That’s the thing with mental illness, Ann: it doesn’t discriminate. And, not to take away from everything you just said, but nobody’s life is perfect. You’ve had as many downs as ups.”

Oh yeah, because Annalise totally forgot about that load of crap.

“The fact that you went off your medication definitely contributes to this as well,” Callie went on. “So the first thing you need to do is get you back on something, maybe a new one altogether. When was the last time you spoke to your primary doctor?”

Annalise wiped her tears with her sweater sleeves and caught the words printed on. So much for having a ‘positive mental attitude.’

For the duration of the day, she felt quite shitty. The therapy meltdown took every ounce of energy from her. That, apparently, is the work of therapy she had gone through before. Like every illness, this needed to run its course and be treated. Not to mention, she couldn’t do it alone either. There wasn’t time to talk about it in detail during today’s session, but Callie suggested the obvious: try to make amends with the people hurt by Annalise’s words and actions.

It was important, duh, but she still made the point to go to her primary doctor on Monday morning instead. That same day, Annalise went to each of her professors and asked for extensions on whatever assignments she was about to royally screw up. Last semester didn’t go so well in the sense that Biology nearly killed her goal of attaining her Bachelors. The idea of having to repeat the class a third time was painfully unfathomable. This is how she procrastinated making apologies to anyone.

These days, it was hard to study in silence. Annalise had her phone on YouTube, and Bella Santiago's soft voice filled the living room. Having this particular YouTuber on was a comfort to Annalise; She felt like Bella would be the one to truly understand her. Although, for a beauty guru, she got quite deep in her videos, especially as of late. Bella's signature pink hair was long gone, but her infamous tangents remained the same. Annalise had just been working on a psych essay, having a makeup tutorial on as background noise, but she zoned back in to hear Bella's rambling.

"I'm not saying you all need to run away from home," she said as she dabbed concealer under her eyes. "Don't do that. But if you are gonna get away from everything for a bit, tell people where you're going. They might be able to talk you out of it. They might be able to help you with whatever you're going through. Seven months ago, I forgot that there are people who care about me here in LA."

That was the first strike to Annalise's chest. She slowed down her scribbling in her notebook, eyes glancing to the tiny screen.

Bella casually powdered her face with a large fluffy brush. "Mental illness has a way of making you think you're alone, and that makes you lash out. All the friends I have, all the ones that you see, none of those are perfect relationships. I've cut these people off before for no good reason other than thinking I was a burden and not worth their time."

And there's the second strike. Annalise put her pen down and sighed, now giving her full attention to this makeup artist.

"I know it's hard to believe when you're stuck in your own head," she continued, "but you are worth it. There are people who want to be there for you. And remember to forgive yourself for the things mental - or even physical - illness took away from you…" She paused and chuckled softly. "Okay, that got a little too real. Anyway, I'm moving onto contouring, and I'll be using-"

But Annalise never discovered what made Bella's cheekbones so defined and beautiful. She closed the video and opened up her text messages, scrolling down to the conversation with Stella. The last text was from a month ago, and it was just Annalise notifying her that she would be home late. It was the day of the Bart adventure gone wrong.

If Annalise were to apologize, how could she do it over text? Stella deserved more than that. She needed to know she matters to Annalise.

It's not like she didn't know where Stella was hiding out, but Annalise still procrastinated. Every morning in the elevator, she briefly considered going to the second floor on her way to class. Then she would make the "I have no time" excuse and carry on. That little surge of guilt settled deep in her stomach, though. When did she not feel bad about something?

The elevator did stop on the second floor that Tuesday morning. Annalise had the typical internal debate of getting off here before someone showed up and paused at the threshold.

That someone was Alessia. She had her phone in hand, texting while walking. One foot was in the elevator, and she had frozen on the spot. Two pairs of brown eyes pierced into each other, both clearly caught off guard. Somehow neither woman expected to run into each other despite living in the same building.

Neither woman noticed the two girls behind Alessia until one of them rather rudely spoke up.

"Are you going in or not?"

Alessia jumped, glancing back at the blonde girl and her friend, mumbling an apology. Then she turned on her heel and sped down the corridor. Annalise took only two steps out to follow her, until she hears that same rude, squeaky voice.

"Looks like she found another victim."

Annalise stopped in her tracks, hearing Ms. Blonde-Hair-Blue-Eyes and her friend giggle to one another. Yeah, that's not the first time Annalise has received a comment like that, but come on! She wasn't even trying to dress her best today. She didn't even have her signature "scary" liner on!

She turned and stuck her hand between the elevator doors before they could shut. They slid back open, causing the two normies to cease their laughter immediately. They both stared at Annalise, eyes wide.

"What was that?" she asked, voice sickly sweet but her face full of murder.

Blondie trailed her icy blue eyes down the other girl's appearance. "Just wondering whose funeral you going to?"

"Oh, I haven't gotten that far yet," Annalize replied. "Still gotta decide who is gonna be sacrificed to Satan himself. But uh, the decision just got a little easier." Then, she pulled out the pentagram necklace from under her hoodie and rubbed the charm. "Sana… sana… colita de rana…"

The two girls backed up against the wall, disturbed. "What did you just do?" Blondie frantically asked.

Annalise smiled. "Nothing at all. But now you're gonna be thinking about me all day." She winked, and then to be even more petty, "Boo!"

They both shrieked, satisfying the goth. She smirked and then went down the corridor.

She may have lost Alessia in those two short minutes, but it was worth it. She quickly rushed to the staircase and practically bolted down three floors, sidestepping past students coming in the opposite direction. Thankfully, she spotted Alessia's wild curls in the lobby and called after her.

It was easy to tell that Alessia did not want to be stopped, but she did anyway. She clutched her books to her chest as Annalise approached her, brown eyes wide with fear.

"What's wrong?" Annalise asked.

"Huh? Nothing!" she replied a little too quickly. "What's up?"

"Um…" It dawned on her that she had nothing planned out. "I… wanted to apologize…?"

Alessia tilted her head. "Why?"

"Uh, I've been an asshole to just about everybody, you included. Just wanted to say I'm sorry for being cold and antisocial."

"I think you should be mad at me. You haven't been an asshole. I already knew you weren't exactly social. You've been nice to me, actually. All I've done is hit on your boyfriend."

Annalise hesitated. "Yeah… but lots of people do. Like, come on, he's beautiful. You're the only person I've been mad at for doing so."

"Oh…" Alessia trailed off. "Well, since we're here. I already apologized to him, but I'm sorry to you too. I know you've got him wrapped around your finger. And I'm sorry for getting so drunk that you had to drag me home. And I'm sorry for the comments I made about your health."

Honestly, Annalise had been so preoccupied by her current health issues that she forgot about all of that. The resurfacing of these things brought the smallest hint of annoyance to hit, but she also logically knew that it was time to right the wrongs.

"It's okay," she said. "Water under the bridge."

"Cool." Alessia smiled.

There were still hints of awkward in the air. Annalise decided to change the subject.

"Still going to gaming club?"

"Yeah. Chad broke his nose somehow, that's the main topic going on. We're all trying to figure out what happened since he won't tell us."

Annalise chuckled. "Oh, I know all about that."

_______

taglist: @normalcyisoverrated-beyou @ilsolee @mendesromano @1-800-khalid-mendussy @kitykatnumber @strangerliaa @iloveshawnieboi @poppyshawn @shawnsunflower @shawnvvmendes @shawmndes @ruinhoney @someoneunimportantxx @calyumthomas @yourdeflightfullyleft @havethetimeeofyourlifee @wronglanemendes @chillingbythesea @softmendesss @mutuallynotmutual

#shawn mendes #shawn mendes fanfic #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes blurb #shawn mendes smut #shawn x goth gf #mmmaaaaaaaan ann rly doesnt deserve shawn asdkfhsfgh #also look at her go n try to get her shit together lulz

[thedarksideofriverdale]

Things I want out: I think that the backstory for Y/N can be cut out just because I feel it could be better to just give a mini explanation, not a full on backstory of how she got her powers, ya know what I mean? Secondly, I think that I think the same can kinda go far the whole way of how Kurtz and Y/N first met, there can be a mini explanation maybe a mini flashback but that's about it because I don't know how long of a oneshot you'll make and all that. -anon from Kurtz jessica jones au rquest

Hey there! Finally got around to writing this. For context, anon and I have been dming back and forth for awhile about a really cool crossover idea with a Jessica Jones type character and Kurtz. Unfortunately, I can’t budget my time to write a whole story about it, but I will try my best with the oneshot.

People always look for a place of comfort, escape if one chooses to call it. Usually, they are places of worship or relaxation. Unfortunately, you were not known for the ‘usual.’ No, your escape on a Monday night was the White Worm. It was practically empty, not atypical for a weekday. But, the lights were bright, and the music was loud. Which was... good enough for you.

“Tequila sunrise,” you ordered, sitting on the slippery bar stool. The bartender grunted and turned around to make the cocktail. You took this time to observe him. Nice ass. The man chuckled, and you realized you had said that out loud. But, you were too jaded to be embarrassed by these things at your age.

“Thank you,” the man responded, handing you a cocktail. You took a sip, not moving your eyes away from his. He smirked and went to clean the workspace. “You come here often; I’ve seen you.”

“And?”

“Seems like you have a lot of baggage, considering you leave this place drunk every night with tears.”

“Great observation skills. Want a prize?”

“No, but if you want to vent, I’m all ears.”

“I will have plenty to vent about after...” You checked your watch. “three drinks,” you said with a smirk. After the first, you ordered two Vodka Lemons, and the low buzz became much greater.

“Want to talk now?” asked the bartender, leaning closer to you.

Slightly inebriated, you furrowed your brows and slammed your fist against the counter, cracking it. “No,” you replied. The bartender looked skeptically at the crack on the polished wood. You followed his eyes and sighed deeply. “Shit.”

“Wow,” the bartender quipped. “Didn’t realize there was another freak like me.”

You looked at him in shock. “Excuse me?” you asked, motioning him to elaborate.

“Super strength. You work for S.H.I.E.L.D.?”

You let out a great belly laugh. “Luckily, no. You heard of the Jones Agency?”

“Heard of? Of course. I fucking work in the neighborhood, don’t I?”

You raised your brows, finishing off your drink. “Then, why aren’t you working for them?”

Before he could respond, a commotion erupted behind you. The other inhabitants of the bar were smashing drinks, yelling loudly. It looked like it was over a game of billiards, which amused you. But, your conversation partner was getting angrier by the second, so you, being the occasional good samaritan, stumbled away from the bar and towards the fight.

“Now, gentlemen,” you started. “Don’t you think we could work this out a little bit calmer?” The men glared at you, menacing to a normal person. But, you weren’t normal, were you?

“Fuck off, little lady. This doesn’t concern you,” one of them stated.

“I’m not leaving until this fight is broken up.”

“Why you little shit-” another said, lunging towards you. You dodged the blow, grabbing the man’s hand, making his arm quiver. He looked at you in shock and then, you twisted his arm around and pushed it hard against the others, knocking them down.

“Are we done now?” you asked, looking down at them. They stared at you for a moment before scrambling out of the bar. You turned around and looked at the bartender, who had a vacant expression. “If you have powers like me, why didn’t you stop the fight?”

“You had it covered.”

XXXX

“Back again, so soon?” the bartender asked, looking at you while wiping down the counters.

You were in no mood to joke, however. He was back, the dark twist figure of your past. You held the manila folder from work in your hand, setting it down on the counter and grabbing a beer from the bartender. “When you discovered your powers, did you hear of a man named Edgar Evernever?” you asked.

“I knew his kid. Went to Southside High with me, until I dropped out. What does he have to do us being freaks of nature?”

“He had a cult where he’d recruit people like us, using his powers of persuasion and... mind control. He was gone for a long time until now.”

“How’d you get roped in it?”

“The Coopers. When I was younger and out of the ‘experiments,’“ you paused. The bartender nodded. “they adopted me. Problem was was that, their eldest daughter Polly got into the cult because her two children were born with powers. She told Edgar Evernever about my powers, and he kidnapped me. I stayed with the cult for years until finally breaking out of his hold. By that time, I realized he was harvesting our blood. For transfusions... making normal people like us.”

“That’s... heavy.”

You rolled your eyes. “No shit.”

“Do you need help?” You squinted your eyes at him, puzzled. “He’s targeting people like me. And, I prefer not getting attacked. Things to see, places to go, games to play.”

You smirked and nodded. “Fine, you can help, bartender guy.”

“Kurtz.”

“What?”

“My name’s Kurtz.”

XXXX

Months of following dead ends was getting on your nerves. Kurtz was helping loads, but all of the paths were dead ends. The closer you got to finding Edgar, the faster he slipped away. More and more teenagers were getting recruited, and FP was getting bombarded by messages from S.H.I.E.L.D., threatening to shut down the agency. He, in turn, increased the pressure on you. Which meant a lot more nights getting absolutely shit-faced.

“Alright, I’m closing your tab,” Kurtz announced near your slouched body.

You raised your head a fraction and exclaimed, “No! I want- no, I need more.”

“You’re absolutely sloshed. Get up, I’m shutting the bar down for tonight.” He came around the bar, helping you down from the stool. The two of you walked outside as you gave him the directions to your flat. It was near the old Ghoulie territory and stumbling around in the dark was never preferable. But, with Kurtz, it didn’t feel as bad. He took you up the stairs into your apartment and plopped you onto your bed. After he slipped off your shoes, you went under the covers. Kurtz stayed awhile, making sure you didn’t end up vomiting. But, you sensed something more that night. A sense of longing from him as you dozed off.

The next morning, your phone ringing woke up. Hitting the green icon, you slipped the phone between the pillow and your ear. “Hello?” you gruffly greeted.

“Evernever’s been spotted near the rail tracks. We’ve followed his tracks to the middle of the woods,” FP said from the other end.

You sprang up out of bed and slipped on your shoes. “I’m coming ASAP.” Running back to the bar, you slipped into your car and began to back out of the parking lot just as Kurtz came rushing outside. You rolled down the windows and shouted, “It’s Evernever! There’s been a sighting near the tracks.”

Kurtz rushed over to the passenger side and slipped into the car. When you arrived near the other cars of the agency’s operatives, FP was standing outside, hands on his hips with a pensive expression. Once he saw your car, his eyes widened. “Y/N, get in there now! He’s got a whole army of mutants, and four operatives have already gone down,” he barked. You nodded and ran into the woods with Kurtz. After passing trees for about five minutes, they came across a clearing with a small shack in the middle. Two bodies were outside of it, so you guess that this was the place. You turned around to face Kurtz and grabbed his arms. “Anything goes rough, you gotta leave. This is my job; not yours. No one made you sign a contract to give your life for a cause, you got it?” you commanded. Kurtz nodded slowly, and the two of you made your way inside quietly. There was a single lamp inside the sitting room when you entered. No one was there except for another body. You stepped over it to go into the dark hallway. “He likes mind control, so block your mind,” you whispered.

“And how exactly do I do that?” Kurtz asked impatiently.

“Once he starts probing, you’ll know. Just block the sensation of another person in your mind.” Just then, what sounded like a person clapping came from the end of the hallway. You take out your flashlight and shine it at the source. And… there he was. The man who destroyed your life. The man you wanted to destroy.

“Brilliant advice, Y/N. I have to say, you’ve grown up to be so beautiful and intelligent. Part of it is my doing, of course,” Edgar Evernever cockily proclaimed. You started snarling to which he let out a deep chuckle. “Unfortunately, manners seem to be beyond your scope of understanding. Pity, really.” To that, you charged towards him, but he side stepped you. Kurtz saw that and went after him. Managed to land a punch before Edgar pushed him back with greater strength. Kurtz landed on his back and was held there by Edgar, who had his body snug against his. You knew what was going to happen, but you were too winded from crashing into the wall harshly. Coming out of the broken plaster, you huffed as you saw Kurtz’s eyes gloss over. Edgar had entered his mind, and Kurtz didn’t know how to stop it. Then, the man got off Kurtz, and Kurtz stood up mechanically. “Now, one problem taken care of,” Edgar said, wiping his hands on his jeans.

“And the last,” you sneered. You stared at the left wall of the hallway before smashing it with your hands. The shack’s foundation stilt was there, so you punched threw the wall before hitting the foundation harshly. You heard a shout of “No!” from Edgar before the house begin sputtering and collapsing in a span of a few seconds. The roof plaster landed on your head, but barely made you flinch. You heard some screaming from the cult, some managing to escape to the clearing. Edgar lay in the rubble, seemingly unconscious.

Kurtz’s forehead was split open but was healing as you walked over to Edgar and began to punch him continuously. The man became conscious quickly and overpowered you by touching your forehead with his hand, the contact bringing instantaneous pain to your head. You clutched your head as Edgar began kicking you in the stomach, and you looked to Kurtz for help, but he was still trapped. “Fight back!” you yelled, but it seemed fruitless as you lay on the ground, getting pummeled by the cult master. Edgar then took a giant piece of plaster and crashed it against your head, not knocking you unconscious but enough to make your vision hazy.

From your limited vision, you could see Edgar beginning to drag Kurtz out of the shack, but Kurtz didn’t budge. Edgar was just as confused as you were to see the unmoving boy, but it became clear to you quickly; Kurtz broke the control. Kurtz’s left hand was behind his back, his right getting tugged harshly by Edgar. “Move it, minion! What do you think –“ Edgar was cut off as his throat was slit instantaneously by Kurtz. Edgar held onto his throat, waiting for it to heal, but Kurtz just cut it again. And again. And again. The copious amounts of blood loss made Edgar drop to the floor, and he stopped healing.

Once the audible protests had stopped, you slowly got up out of the rubble, eyes squinting at the body. You kicked it hard, but no movement. Kurtz then got down on his knees and put fingers against the body’s neck. “No pulse,” he announced, and you let out a sigh of relief. Kurtz got up from the floor and went to you. You looked up at him, and he smirked. “Happy?”

“More like euphoric,” you whispered, standing up on your toes to give him a chaste kiss. “Thanks.” The two of you exited the ruin shack to see FP and the rest of the agency rounding up the mutants with guns. Finally, the backup from S.H.I.E.L.D. had arrived. FP stopped directing for a moment to look at you, and you gave him a thumbs up. The older man smiled back and then, looked at Kurtz. “Hey kid, you want a job?”

#riverdale #Kurtz #kurtz imagine #kurtz x reader #oneshot #kurtz oneshot #riverdale AU #jessica jones AU #jessica jones imagine #riverdale imagine #fp jones #southside serpents #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. #agents of shield

[chubbyooo]

Blurred Lines Chapter 52 - Power

don’t worry y’all I’m not gonna leave you in suspense too long here we come with the next chapter :D

Terri and Zash learn about the nigthsister coven of Dathomir

Terri was speechless as the imposing figure of Mother Ysum shambled towards them, she was doing her best to not look scared, she wasn’t really sure how effective it was though. Mother Ysum frowned at them now up close Terri could properly see the age of the woman, her face was lined with wrinkles her movement slow and creaky but Terri could see that this was a wise person regardless. 

Zash stepped forward bowing before Ysum “Mother Ysum it’s an honour to meet you forgive me but I thought the nightsisters were just a myth to scare the acolytes” Ysum’s face stretched into a slight smile looking down upon Zash

Terri slinked back not wanting to get in the middle of this meeting of the minds, Ysum turned to the chamber around her “yes well I assure you we are quite real” she paused “although we have seen better days” Terri had never heard of the ‘nightsisters’ maybe it was before her time. She had only read about witches in storybooks she had to admit the idea of being a witch was a little cool but it had to be the right type, she didn’t want to be the jaded old woman type more like cool aloof hero. 

Terri caught herself before the daydream distracted her too much, Zash stood up straight trying to meet the height of Ysum unfortunately missing by about a foot “yes I have to say your lair seems a little empty no matter how impressive this place is” Ysum nodded seemingly bearing down on Zash. Terri had no idea how Zash was keeping her cool Terri would have ran away already, it didn’t help that Zash’s form reminded her of Lusi in danger. Terri tried her best to put the thought to the back of her mind remembering Lusi wanted this she had to stay strong.

Ysum gestured with her hand and a luminescent green energy began filling the chamber forming a weird gaseous visage “unfortunately there were those who fear our... unique take on the force” the visage swirled into what seemed like a battlefield “and fear makes people do crazy things, but I don’t need to tell you that Zash” Terri’s eyes widened how did she know Zash’s name? Terri looked to Zash who was still staring down the Rattataki seemingly unfazed.

Zash folded her arms “quite, people usually like to destroy what they can���t possibly understand” Terri felt a bit out of place with these two wise woman squaring off and then just her “at least I have an answer for what the conflict was about” Ysum nodded seemingly confirming Zash’s suspicions “You spoke of a deal” Terri had completely forgot about what Ysum had said she needed ‘assistance’ whatever that meant

Ysum continued to stare down Zash “I did, but first I’d like to know what you want” they stared at each other for a long second Terri had never felt this tense in her life, she couldn’t even tell if they were allies or if there was about to be a fight talk about sith egos. 

Zash eventually conceded “I have come here seeking secrets, I have seen that there are ways of enhancing ones own potential and that some of them may lie with you” Terri sighed she was hoping to be done with the ancient secrets and powerful rituals but that seemed unlikely.

Ysum let out a small chuckle “you wish to learn the ways of the nightsisters?” Zash frowned she seemed almost offended by the doubt Ysum cast

Zash nodded “if that can enhance my own ability then yes but I think I’m looking for something more specific” Ysum nodded considering the statement

Ysum turned around “then I’m afraid I have some bad news you cannot learn the ways of the nightsister if you are not one” Terri frowned were they gonna become witches? “and for that you would need to have this planet in your blood” Zash raised her eyebrow clearly not believing what Ysum was saying

“in my blood? is this some spiritual message” her words dripped with sarcasm but to Terri’s surprise Ysum seemed almost amused by the words

she gestured around her the green mist coiling around her arms “no my dear I mean you need it ‘in’ your blood, the green mist that you keep seeing we refer to that as spirit ichor and those from this planet carry it’s essence within us” the mist coalesced into a staff shape and then suddenly a real staff appeared in it’s place “that is what gives us our magic” Terri was stunned no wonder she sensed immense force power from the ground, she looked to Zash who was looking increasingly agitated.

Suddenly though her anger all melted away “Is it at all possible to learn this power” Terri was impressed she’d let go of all her anger just like that she really wasn’t your average sith.

Mother Ysum shook her head “I’m afraid not without prolonged exposure to the ichor, but that doesn’t mean the magic is useless to you” Zash raised her eyebrow “you said you wanted to enhance your force power there are many rituals with such applications” Terri groaned oh great more rituals 

Zash seemed intrigued however “what’s the catch you’re not just giving this away” Ysum seemed amused by Zash’s tenacity Terri had to imagine she hadn’t spoken to someone this wise in years

Ysum nodded “of course not Zash nothing is free, for such a ritual ingredients from many locations are required, as I’m sure you’ve noticed I am not exactly fit for such ventures. I’m proposing you get the ingredients required as well as others I require and in return I will help you with your ritual” Zash nodded considering the deal

Zash thought for a long second “how will we know where to find the ingredients” Terri did wonder these could be anywhere how were they going to find them

“most these ingredients once grew on Dathomir but have since dwindled but across the galaxy certain planets have a small piece of Dathomir in them” Terri wondered if Ysum enjoyed being vague she certainly did it an awful lot

Terri wanted a straight answer “uh um what do you mean a small piece of Dathomir?” Ysum turned to Terri and she instantly regretted speaking up as Ysum stared right through her

The green mist rippled into an image of planets “long ago I foresaw this issue and set up small colonies on planets across the galaxy that either contained a potent ingredient or had the right conditions for such to grow. The ichor was imbued in seeds and promptly planted allowing for our magic to continue and these ingredients to be harvested.” Ysum paused dissipating the map “unfortunately it was only a failsafe so certainly not feasible with the main colony destroyed” Ysum turned back to Zash letting Terri finally relax

Zash frowned at Ysum “I still don’t understand what you’re getting out of this we get our ritual of power and you get ingredients? seems like there’s more to this” Ysum let out a raspy chuckle

Ysum raised her eyebrow “isn’t it obvious I can then restart my colony” Terri frowned with just ingredients?

Zash chuckled “I’m pretty sure you need people for that” Terri had to agree with Zash this seemed sketchy

Ysum smiled “you’d be surprised” Zash’s eyes widened looking to Terri, Terri shrugged unsure if she was crazy or super powerful “as well as that however I will be able to contact the scattered nightsister clans for a more useful rebuilding” Terri sighed in relief ok that was a little bit better

Zash frowned “how do I know you won’t just steal the ingredients when I get back” Ysum’s eyes narrowed at Zash

“first of all I keep my word but do I really look capable of that” Terri honestly had no idea this witch stuff was powerful “regardless we need each other if you want your precious power so you’re going to have to trust me” Zash pursed her lips clearly keeping her anger locked down

after a long pause Zash responded “Fine you have a deal we’ll get your ingredients as well as ours” Ysum smiled Terri wasn’t sure if this was a good idea she may need to ask Zash about the plan later

The mist formed a piece of parchment in Ysum’s hand “here is your list of ingredients and locations good luck my dears” Zash took it without a word and gestured for Terri to follow her out walking out quickly.

Terri shuffled up to Zash and once they were out of earshot spoke up “um Zash are we actually gonna let her restart her coven?” Zash held her chin clearly pondering the question

Zash frowned “I’m not sure but after we have my power we can think about putting a stop to it if it’s evil” Terri frowned she guessed there was something to that although it seemed like a risk “I’ve seen what this ritual could do though Terri I think it’s worth it” Terri wasn’t sure how to feel about it but she knew she was supposed to trust Zash

Terri stammered “well gee Zash ok I guess”...

#swtor #my swtor #oc #ocs #swtor ocs #swtor oc #darth zash #lord zash #Terristera #terri #Sith Inquisitor #Mother Ysum #blurred lines #blurred lines: cursed past #swtor fanfiction #swtor fiction #swtor fanfic #SWTOR Fic #oc fanfiction #oc fanfic #OC fic #OC Fiction #fanfiction #Fic #fiction #my fiction #fanfic

[rockingthegraveyard]

Can I just say, the fact that Gohan doesn't PHYSICALLY show that he's become jaded towards his life post-Cell Games does NOT get acknowledged by this fanbase (or even in-universe) enough? Everyone says 'Gohan's not cool anymore!'/'Where's my angry Gohan?' but not many bring up that this guy watched his dad die in front of him and still he looks rather chill. No way Gohan is totally good in just 7 years, that mess is probably STILL haunting him today. Seriously, Gohan is a real trooper.

Gohan really, really is though!

Recovery takes a long time. Especially when you’ve been pelted with abuse for years. He got seven years to “relax” maybe come to terms with some things, evaluated some shit. As much as a teenager can. Did he talk to anyone? Certainly would be hard to find someone professionally to talk to I imagine but what about opening up about everything to his family? Gohan is pretty open and honest. But he also holds himself up on an irrationally high pedestal. 

He is insecure and feels guilty for things he really shouldn’t have to feel guilty for and often feels like what he does is never enough. Gohan also likes to put responsibilities on his own shoulders. It wouldn’t surprise me that after Goku died, telling him to “take care of your mother” if Gohan did just that. If he tried his damnedest to put on a smile and pretend everything was fine. That he has let everything go for Chichi’s sake. So all they had to do was focus on Goten, so he can comfort his mother. 

And maybe that helped. Focusing on something that wasn’t fighting for his life. Allowed to study, to take care of and love his little brother. To do anything but fighting for the first time in a long time. But much like any peaceful moment Gohan is graced with, it doesn’t last. Only this time Gohan actually died. Is death worst than having your neck broken? I’m not sure but Gohan could certainly give you thoughts on it. Though I’m certain he’d say having to watch the violent ways his friends and family died wins out. 

Also Gohan is only, like, 23 in Super … I’ll fight anyone if they try to tell me Gohan doesn’t still have nightmares, if not full blown night terrors. 

Also also, Goten and Trunks may have not been through as much but they still have seen some shit and a young age, Marron was kept away from most of it but she was still in that traumatizing moments with Buu at the lookout. 

#I OBVIOUSLY LOST WHERE I WAS GOING WITH THIS #Gohan #Son Gohan #Dragon Ball Z #Dragon Balllook #I just have THOUGHTS and FEELINGS #and like to go on tangents cause there is no way Gohan is just OKAY #all the time #God Gohan is younger than I am #HE IS BABY #also brain no work today #there is a very real chance this makes no sense #if so #my b #Anon #Ask