There were two types of ice when it rained on a winter morning.
Where the ice was thin enough and presented a gap, it was more likely to crackle and snap when the rain had soaked it enough. On the other hand, there was the thick layer of ice covering the ground that would only get dangerously slippery when immersed in water.
The weather foreshadowed death.
EJ grimaced as he felt the edge of his socks get wet in his black boots. He wasn’t sure what he had hoped to achieve with them - it’s not like he wanted to make a fashion statement as a criminal on the run - yet he had picked them over the clunky brown winter boots of his previous victim. But you had liked them when you saw them and that made him feel good.
“There he is!”
Jack’s head snapped up to look at you, instead of his boots. To be fair to you, he had debated not showing up. It’s not like he wanted to be a spoilsport, but a person like you and a thing like him... He wasn’t too sure about the logistics of it all and it’d be stupid to pursue something long-term with him, not that you guys were at that stage anyway - but if the day came, he’d assume you must be crazy, because a life with him meant a life of hiding. You’d be a bird and he’d be your cage.
Yeah. He used to get trash grades in poetry.
“Earth to Jaaaack,” he met your eyes as your hands cupped his cheeks. Even though his face had been exposed for the entirety of his walk, your hands still felt cold against his skin. “Do I have your attention now?”
Your voice was soft now, gentle.
“Yeah,” he answered and you smiled. He liked that.
“Great, follow me.”
It was a bit of a walk to get to the spot, specially with the conditions of the road: icy and uphill. After a somewhat strenuous climb, after which Jack could see your breath puff out in short and quick intervals, you turned to him and gestured to the snowy slope.
“Ta daaaa!”
“... What am I looking at exactly?”
“The place for our first date!”
“... Which implies what, exactly?”
You chuckled and shook your head, as if he had asked a foolish question. Stomping over to one side, you grabbed a piece of rope and dragged the black tire over.
“We’re... snowtubing?” Oh. He knew you were snowtubing. But it still came out as a question.
“I picked the most romantic activity I could think of,” you joked. Upon seeing EJ’s raised eyebrow, you let out a sheepish laugh. “In hindsight sipping hot chocolate with a movie on or something might’ve been more first date material but um, we’re committed now...?”
To your surprise, Jack let out a chuckle. “I guess we are.”
The two of you hauled the tube to the top edge of the slope.
“Ladies first,” you teased as Jack sat down on it and wiggled to make himself comfortable.
“Aren’t you coming?”
“I only managed to snag one tube, so it’s more of a one person thing. Unless you wanna share?” you teased, nudging him lightly.
“Just sit on my lap.” Jack stated neutrally.
“I- Huh?”
“Just, like, sit down on my legs. I think we could fit if you sit sideways.”
You stared at him like he had just grown horns.
He looked away and grumbled, “Don’t make this more awkward than it has to be.”
“Are you sure you’re not uncomfortable with it though?”
Jack shook his head no. “It doesn’t have to be awkward if we don’t make it awkward.”
You blinked. Okay. So, don’t make it awkward. Sure. Easy. Easiest thing ever. Piece of cake.
You clumsily sat yourself sideways on his legs, so that he faced the front and you faced the side.
“You might want to hold on,” he stated, noticing your hands tucked away on your lap. He raised his arms a bit and you wrapped your arms tightly around his torso. Which was, you know, not the first time you had done such a thing, but it was never in a context where you had to actively try to not make it awkward. For yourself, anyway. Once EJ had become your seatbelt, he shuffled around and pushed the tube forward.
You managed to hear his heartbeat for only a second before you both went flying down the slope, rain, wind and snow rushing towards you. You let out a howl of excitement and a laugh, unable to contain yourself once the adrenaline kicked in. The ride seemed to end all too soon and as you let go and hopped up to your feet, you found yourself still laughing. You grabbed EJ’s hands and helped him up, all while recovering from the thrill. Grinning, you asked him what he thought.
“Not bad,” he replied as his hand squeezes yours, providing some much needed warmth. So your gripped his hand back tightly and led him back up the slope as he pulled the tube’s rope.
the creeps with an s/o that is terrified of needles, but has to some bloodwork.
+ BEN
this boy - so he definitely wants to be there to do a blood test with you, even though it’d make him look like a fool when his eyes water up and he puffs his cheeks up a bit in a stubborn attempt to not cry - but you see, it’s okay !! if you do end up crying once the needle is inserted, you won’t be alone, so there’s no need to feel embarrassed. not to mention, how you react doesn’t matter, because you faced your fear in order to take care of yourself and that’s the most important thing.
he’ll mutter soft, loving things to you the whole time, because it breaks his heart to see you so scared. after you’re done with the tests, he’ll pop a cute, patterned (maybe legend of zelda themed?) band aid on top of the one you were given. he’s probably just drag you to bed, where you’ll find a mini-pile of waterbottles and candy, and just hatch onto you for the rest of the day and make sure you get rest to recover.
+ masky
he probably makes teases you for it, cause comon, it’s just a little needle - that is, until he sees notices the little quirks that give away just how terrified you are. the shuffling of your weight on your feet, rubbing specific body parts at the mention of needles. maybe the occasional tearing up at his lil remarks.
okay, so maybe he didn’t have to be such a jerk about it.
he’ll come with you and do a blood test as well, just to show his solidarity and support for you facing your fears. when it’s finally your turn, he’ll hold your hand and gently rub it as a silent encouragement. when you’re done with the test, he’ll peck your forehead and let you know how proud he is. you’re probably still shaken after, so he’ll take you out for some ice cream.
+ hoodie
he’s very empathetic to you when you confide in him just how stressed you are to do some bloodwork. he’ll be by your side the whole time, of course, and he will remind you to take deep breathes with him just to get you to relax as much as possible in such a scenario. he’ll probably pull your head close to his chest so you don’t have to see the needle prick your skin, once the time comes. he’ll remind you to breathe, again, and he’ll tell you that you’re doing great.
once the two of you get back home, he’ll continue to take care of you by making you meals, making sure you are hydrated and well-rested and by indulging you in plenty of loving smiles and cuddles.
EJ slowly working up the courage to properly ask out his best friend
hhh apologies. not my best work, i know
+ if you’re waiting on him to make the first move... you’ll be waiting for a while
+ EJ likes to think of every possible outcome and weigh the pros and cons
+ he’ll be like “these are all the things that could go wrong, so logically, i shouldn’t... but i wanna”
+ he’s going to be extremely conflicted. usually he’s logical, but he just can’t let go of the slightest chance that you might like him back
+ it’s so much worse if you’re his best friend because he’s not very optimistic about his chances with you and he’s terrified of driving you away with his unrequited feelings
+ he’s also quite dense. picking up on flirting and subtle more-than-friends affections are not his forte
+ you might actually have to end up making the first move because this man’s self-esteem is at rock bottom
+ if you’re the type of person to reassure him and compliment him - giving him small bits of praise - he’ll definitely gain confidence
+ he’s more likely to do it in the spur of a moment that he’ll absolutely regret - he wants to be logical about it, but he probably got all hyped up so it comes out as a blurb of words, almost out of nowhere
+ oh so much regret. oh so much
+ he’ll probably try to deny that he said anything and pass it off as a joke, but you know him well enough to know when he’s being serious
+ obviously he’ll be overjoyed if you return the sentiment. might gently grab your hand in his and tilt his head while looking at you. you don’t even need to see his face to know he’s smiling
“Hah-” You breathed out as you pushed yourself to lay on your back
The throbbing in your abdomen was sharp, stealing your air away. God, it hurt to breathe. You throat burnt with every inhale and the air around you seemed short of oxygen. Your hands made their way to where the immense balls of pain seemed to stab you and clenched onto the fabric. How you hated this. Hated that you hadn’t even lasted that long, that you could not go on long enough to achieve what you had said you would.
Is this how you would go down? In this godforsaken forest, with nobody around, nobody to help? You hoped they’d find your body soon. Licking your dry lips, you tried to slow your breathing and to relax, in the slightest chance that the pain would fade away.
“[Y/N]? Are you alright?”
You hadn’t even heard Hoodie make his way to your laying body. He sounded concerned. You reached out for him weakly before your head suddenly dropped to the side, eyes closed, your tongue hanging out slightly from your open mouth.
Hoodie sighed. “Come on, you big baby”
You risked a peek through your eyelids and found the hooded male looking back at you with his arms crossed. He gently poked your side with his foot.
“Get up, we haven’t even been running for fifteen minutes.”
“But I’m in pain,” You huffed once you realized playing dead wouldn’t work on him. He sighed again and kneeled next to you, brushing a few strands of hair out of your eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Everything. Why are we doing this again?”
“You asked to come with. Is it a cramp?” He questioned, his voice taking on a softer tone.
“I’ll have you know, it is not. It’s several cramps.”
A small chuckle escaped his lips and within the next few seconds, he took his signature hoodie off to reveal a dark green t-shirt. He set it down on the forest floor right next to you and gently moved your head so it was no longer laying on the soil. Then, he joined you in laying down, his hand making his way to your stomach to give it a gentle rub. His mask remained on, of course, making you roll your eyes playfully.
“You could’ve at least put something under you,” He said, to which you shrugged.
“Yeah but then you wouldn’t have taken off your hoodie and shown me these bad boys,” You giggled as you patted his toned arms. He chuckled and looked away from you, towards the sky.
There was a small pause before either one of you spoke again.
“Why did you ask to come on a run with me?” He asked. His hands continued to move in circles on your stomach.
“Because I wanted to give you moral support,” You offered him a sweet smile. “I also didn’t think it’d be this bad. I thought I could at least last fifteen minutes.” Your gaze settled away from him as you sheepishly scratched your cheek and took on an apologetic look.
“Well, are you feeling better now?”
You nodded in answer.
“Good. Now,” He sat up, at which you seemed to panic a bit. He laughed a bit. “Don’t worry, we’re not running anymore.” With that, he tied the sleeves of his hoodie around your shoulders, scooped you up in his arms and stood up fully.
“I can do some weightlifting instead,” He teased, earning him a gentle smack on the chest.
“Hey!”
“Not that you weigh much,” He corrected quickly, chuckling again. You smiled and lay your head against his shoulder, fingers gently holding onto the fabric of his shirt.
“By the way, babe…” You looked up as a small grin made its way to your face.
“Hmm?”
“You should run shirtless next time.”
“There’s a next time?” He looked at you and you could imagine his eyebrow raising up, just like the corners of his lips.
you asked for more creeps, so what abt what dating toby includes? :0
last toby ask ;;^;;
here is what this package deal includes:
+ sticky fingers : you may find little objects such as lip balm or markers going missing. toby’s quite prone to stealing small, invaluable things - it’s a habit that stuck with him since childhood. he would try to make you think you lost them because he felt so guilty and afraid of what would happen if you found out. once you stumble upon his stash of goodies though, he’ll have to confess. he always feels extremely bad about it, but it’s an urge he can’t resist, so he just grabs and goes. you can find everything in his bottom bedside drawer though, which is the spot he puts them for you to find.
+ method in madness : upon first glance, his organization method is ... well, non-existent. but toby knows exactly where everything is. he actually does have a place for things, in fact he has a whole system, even if it looks kind of chaotic and he’s not a big fan of people moving his stuff. this applies to any storage units actually [drawers, closets, etc.] his actual room looks clean enough on most days.
+ your own personal cheerleader : toby is the king of hyping people up. no matter what kind of life things you’re dealing with, he’s more than willing to drop everything and come support you. if you have a show of some kind, be it a concert, an audition or the submittal of a piece you’ve been working on, he’ll make sure he’s by your side in that exact moment. he constantly showers you in praise and compliments and loves to brag about how perfect you are to the other single creeps.
if actions speak louder than words to you, worry not. toby’s a gentleman, holding doors for you, saving the last bite of food for you and he makes sure you feel cherished. he’ll always bring back little gifts for you as a reminder that you’re always on his mind and in his heart.
+ year-round calendar : he’s the type of person who jots down every single thing that happened. it’s understandable with your anniversary, birthdays and milestone like that, but he also knows the first time he made you blush, the first time you held hands and he holds those dear to his heart. he’ll be a bit huffy and puffy if you don’t remember though, specially for the bigger stuff. it’ll break his heart if you forget, because to him, these are some of the most important days of his life and he hopes you feel the same.
Can we get some head cannons of EJ with a cottage core s/o pls- flower power anon
a new named anon? why, welcome hun i hope this is to your liking <3
+ he has no idea what it is to begin with but when he educates himself on the aesthetic
+ essentially, 🥺 🥺 🥺
+ EJ thinks it’s so wholesome and cute
+ if you’re new to cottagecore and wish to pick up any related hobbies, he can teach you how to sew and do embroidery [after reading up on it a bit]. he’ll also gift you with a lot of spare cloth, needles and thread to do it
+ it’ll be from his medical stuff, but he’s more than happy to go the extra mile of getting more, if it means you’re happy
+ once you get more skilled at it, he’ll definitely get his hands on some of the fancy embroidery threads in a variety of tones that match your aesthetic
+ brings you back anything related to cottagecore. a lot of picnic cloths, honestly. and those vintage paintings of flowers in a gold frame. that’s part of it, right?
+ might also snatch any little plants and seeds he scavenges so you can grow your own little garden
+ anything you want, he will get you one way or another
+ Jack’s really supportive because he thinks there is nothing more endearing than seeing you happy and confident, dressed the way you wish to dress
+ he’ll try to get you that cabin in the woods [surely, Slender knows of a place or two] and helps you decorate it in any manner you’d like. you two can use that as your cool hangout, where you meet up for baking or gardening dates
this went in a completely different direction that what i was originally thinking [essentially, it went from crack fic idea to kinda angsty oops]
[!!!] kinda weird, some angst, panic attack [disclaimer: i’m kind of an idiot so i’m hoping i got the panic attack part correct enough], sloppy
EJ’s spine curved inwards as the hair on the back of his neck rose up, a shiver overtaking the entirety of his body.
Something had been terribly wrong. And he had just put his finger on it.
Literally .
He stumbled towards his room, knocking into the impressive frames that adorned the wall, grabbing onto door frames and wooden tables on his way. He tried to pry the thing out of his eye socket but he could barely get himself to touch it, his hands trembling beyond reason and limp, his forces having suddenly left his limbs, his body, him. He bit back the feeble whimper at the back of his throat and tried to take deep breaths, to gain some form of control, so to prevent any tears that may get the object even more stuck. He shivered once more, painfully aware of the form brushing against the skin right under his right eye. This time, he couldn’t stop the soft cry that left him.
By the time he made it to his door, tar was streaming down his cheeks in hot, black streaks. He clumsily gripped the door handle, fiddling with it until he found it in him to push it open. The sound of his whine was what caught your attention. You were expecting him to slump against the door frame in exhaustion or to demand some form of affection.
You did not expect to find him without his mask, loosely, but desperately, clawing at his own face, at his tears, body visibly shaking. You quickly got to your feet, making your way over to him. He opened his mouth but the words died out before he could even get them out. Instead, his breathing quickened and a series of whimpers left his lips as his clawing grew more frantic, the sharpness of his nails leaving shallow gashes on his skin.
It was then that you noticed a bump and caught sight of an of artificial green, where the tar was gathering more than it usually would. You reach out, hesitant at first, and gripped it before tugging at the tar-covered mass. You didn’t have time to notice Jack freeze up before he grew even more frenzied, pulling himself away from your grasp and slamming into the wall behind him. He made himself as small as possible, pressing into the wallpapered surface, as he slid down onto the floor. He let out a heart-shattering, choked sob while holding himself.
You looked at the source of his distress in your hands - a mere gummy worm. Someone was going to get their ass obliterated. But first, Jack.
You sat down where you stood, a few steps away from his curled up form and waited until he regained some awareness of his surrounding. When his crying faded into sniffling, you got up, walking to the bathroom. You grabbed the familiar bucket, and then cloth hanging on its side, before filling it with warm water and making your way back to a slightly-less-crumpled-up EJ.
At the sound of your footsteps, he glanced up for a few short moments before averting his gaze.
“... I’m sorry...” He said slowly. “You had to witness that...”
You smiled slightly. The perk of EJ insisting on keeping his mask on, even at the most inconvenient times, was that you had learnt to read his body language. And if it wasn’t written clearly enough on his features, his demeanor completely gave away his shame and his embarrassment. You kneelled next to him, setting the bucket down and dipping the cloth into the water. He tensed when it came into contact with where the candy had been stuck, but upon realizing what you were doing, he slowly eased up.
“We should get you cleaned up.” You simply stated as you rubbed at the drying tar lightly, removing its layers from his skin.
For once, he remained quiet and still - no telling you that he could do it himself, no attempting to flee your touch and hide his face. After a few minutes, he closed his eyes and put a hand on your thigh, giving it a small squeeze.
This time, he could trust that he was in good hands. And for that, he was grateful.
if you have made it far enough to where his looks + the horrible stench of his food do not deter you - congratulations !
here is what this package deal includes :
+ a very bad texter : if texting via your phone is your preferred method of communication with your boyfriend, you should be warned that he is not very good at getting back to you. jack is the type of people who will reply several hours late - or not at all. he usually doesn’t check his phone and his notifications are always off.
if you want to contact him, it may be better to give him a call. he will never turn it away ... unless if he’s in the middle of hunting. but then again, why are you awake at such unholy hours? cue a lecture.
he’s bordering into old grandpa territory with his slow, one-finger phone typing and his use of immaculate grammar and punctuation while texting.
+ private : ej is very keen on his privacy. he sees no use in others poking their noses around in his business and that includes his love life.
he’s not one for active displays of affection in public - if he’s being very bold and out of his comfort zone, he might hold your hand but that would be the extent of it [and further along in the relationship]. in front of the others, he treats you the same way as before you got together, but there are subtle changes. for example, he’d let you linger in his medical room for longer.
jealousy is another story
quickly after he gets used to being a relationship though [because he does need a bit of an adjustment period], his behaviour in private will definitely transform into a much more affectionate one.
+ great personal hygiene but ... : this is a very clean man you’re talking about - frequent showers, trimming his nails, brushing his teeth, flossing - the whole package. because of his diet [and his general demonic self], he is a little bit stinky though. he brushes his teeth very often - and goes through toothbrushes at incredible rates - so it’s not all that bad, but he does generally smell of death [at least a little bit]. his nails also grow out pretty quickly which is why his gloves stay on pretty much all the time.
he’ll feel insecure about this, even though it’s not something he can really help, so if you find him hiding away from you in the corner between the wall and his bed, remind him that you made no mistake in choosing him.
+ self-care who ? : when it comes to self-care. well.
ej essentially has no self-care. he lets stress pent-up which tends to explode in sleeplessness and migraines. his migraines make him a complete hermit, as he knows he will blow up at the slightest inconvenience. if you’re willing to take care of him [in pure darkness] and help soothe his migraines by stroking his hair or just being there, you will certainly feel his gratitude in the way his hand finds its way to yours and gives it a little squeeze.
+ overall, a great boyfriend, as he truly cherishes you and picks up on what you like quickly - but he comes with the smell of death and a mild ineptitude at using technology.
