#single mom au frenzy

[kisscara]

pity party [scaramouche x gn!reader] ⎯⎯ modern au, minor angst, fluff

scaramouche claimed he's never come to care about his birthday. anymore, at least. since kindergarten and every other grade after that, not a single person cared to show up when they were invited. he clearly remembers sitting at the dinner table, party hat atop his head seemingly drooping in the sad setting of the room.

but there was another thing. he always invited the whole class, except for one person. there were a lot of rumors about you and scaramouche wanted to stay as far away from you as possible so that his classmates wouldn't mistaken him for being your friend. it'd completely ruin his image.

however, on scaramouche's eighteenth birthday, he wondered what would happen should he invite you. of course, he'll slide invitations in the lockers of the rest of his peers, but just like before, they probably wouldn't care to come. it didn't even matter if they didn't have a gift, just their presence alone would put scaramouche over the moon.

and so, he waited in the living room. every now and then, he'd play video games on his phone, hoping to wait out the arrival of his peers much more quicker but in reality, he was trying to get his birthday over with.

suddenly, the sound of the doorbell going off caused him to sit up from his slouching position. could it be? scaramouche tossed his phone aside and practically ran to the front door. he swung it open and his heart began doing somersaults in his chest.

you awkwardly stood there, waiting for him to speak up. when he didn't say anything, you took it upon yourself to engage the conversation. "happy birthday, scaramouche." you presented your wrapped gift for him with a smile. he idly stood, frozen as you placed the gift in his hands.

you welcomed yourself inside of his home, and that's when he finally snapped out of his trance. "that took me a lot of time to wrap, so i'd appreciate it if you viciously ripped it apart when i leave," you playfully commented. scaramouche carefully put your gift on the table in the dining room and a grin tugged at the corner of his lips.

"this is a big occasion, isn't it? after all, you're finally an adult." you sat on the couch and scaramouche joined you. "um, yeah. listen, we haven't properly met before, right?" he asked. you murmured, "mhm, i figured you were avoiding me like everyone else." at that, scaramouche tensed up.

you burst into a fit of laughter, "c'mon, i'm just kidding! what's with the serious look?" scaramouche relaxed his shoulders in relief. his first party guest and he nearly screwed it over. you grinned, "i'm (name). they don't really like me just because... you know what, i don't know either but hey,"

you took a party hat from the table and placed it on your head. "i didn't know eighteen year olds still held birthday parties like this," you giggle, to which scaramouche replied in a flustered frenzy, "my mom put those out!" you laugh, "i get it. by the way, do you like horror movies?" scaramouche looked to the side.

"my mom still has me on a netflix kids account and she gets notified whenever i try making a purchase using my credit card..." scaramouche covered his face in embarrassment. you leaned against the couch, "you too, huh?" scaramouche looked up from his hands to glance at you.

has celestia sent down an angel for him?

you waved around a few dvd cases that came from your bag, "i used my friend's money to get these. i obviously paid them back." you stood up and crouched down in front of the dvd player on the tv set. "you ever watch a nightmare on elm street, poltergeist, scream, halloween... any of the classics at all?"

scaramouche shook his head and you flashed him a smile, "great, me neither!"

that evening, scaramouche lost track of time marathoning horror movies with you. the two of you ate the snacks from his dining room and hid under a big blanket, all of the lights turned off to set the right mood. he was grateful that you didn't question where the rest of the guests were, not once.

you tightened the grip on your popcorn bowl and scaramouche intently watched the screen. "i can't look," you squealed, covering your eyes. scaramouche couldn't help but let out a chuckle. he had a feeling that if he were watching horror movies alone, he'd be looking away as well. but he wouldn't miss this for the world.

suddenly, the front door slammed open and you and him shouted in unison. you fell off of the couch and scaramouche looked over. "oh, it's much too dark in here, it's bad for your eyes," ei tutted, turning on the light. she tilted her head, "kuni, who's that, dear?"

scaramouche gritted his teeth, "i'm busy, mom-" ei gasped, "is this a party guest?" she started giggling, "i expected this birthday to be like the rest but i'm glad you found a worthy friend, kuni! i'll be in my room, okay? don't stay up too late, you two!" you sat back down on the couch and exclaimed, "thank you, miss!"

the second scaramouche heard ei's bedroom door close, he turned the lights back off. "sorry about her," scaramouche muttered. the movie served as pure background noise as you remarked, "she seems sweet. where was she the whole time, work?" scaramouche mumbled, "yeah, runs a business."

your pupils dilated, "really? that's so cool, no wonder you have a ton of friends." scaramouche froze up from where he was sitting next to you. friends. in class, they'll act like his friends, but it's like they're strangers the second they step outside of the school grounds. i mean, they don't even go to his birthday parties.

"mhm." he rested his chin in his palm, "after this, are you going to pretend we don't know each other in class, just like before?" you perk up in surprise. "why would i? i have a new friend now ⎯ ah wait, i don't even know if it's mutual," you nervously corrected yourself with a sheepish smile.

scaramouche's porcelain complexion flushed red. "you... want to be my friend?" he asked in a small voice. "definitely! you're funner than i took you for, scaramouche!" you happily comment before tossing another popcorn into your mouth.

"okay. let's be friends, (name)." scaramouche gave you a smile and you smiled back. he looked at the television set. "by the way, funner isn't a word," he said. you complained, "is too!" scaramouche laughed. for the first time ever, he genuinely laughed with a friend.

a half hour later, you checked your phone's notifications. "oh, i got to go, my mom's car is outside." you quickly gathered your things and put on your shoes. scaramouche solemnly watched as you reached for the doorknob. "hey," at your call, he looked up from the floor.

"you can keep the dvds, i'll come back another time to get them. you can watch the rest without me or wait 'til i'm free. got it?" you winked at him and scaramouche lightly chuckled, "yeah, i'll wait for you." you waved, "thanks for the great night, scara! i'll see you at school tomorrow!"

and the front door shut with a click.

scaramouche's gaze caught your gift on the table. he made his way over and began to delicately unwrap it. he read the sticky note on the box, word for word. 'happy 18th birthday, scaramouche!! i don't know you too well, but i sewed this up myself. i hope you like it ♡'

scaramouche removed the top of the box and his eyes lit up. a felt doll that looked just like him. with caution, he took it out of the box, feeling as if he'd ruin this precious treasure so easily if he wasn't careful. he held it to his chest and sighed in content.

from that point on, he looks forward to his birthday, all because of one person.

© kisscara

[starlitangels]

Last Night of Tour

Literally everyone and their mom has done a rockstar/band AU for Redacted characters... but it's my turn now 4.0k words

—

Lovely

The house lights dimmed. From our spots right up against the stage, Tank passed me a pair of earplugs. I twisted them up and put them in my ears. Tank did the same.

“Ladies, gentlemen, and assorted honorable persons, please welcome to our stage here tonight:

“The House of Solaire!” the announcer’s voice boomed over the excessive amount of loudspeakers and the crowd went absolutely wild.

With the earplugs in, everything was tolerably loud, but not earsplittingly so.

The band ran out onto the stage. Vincent at the front, as always. And the screaming and cheering rose to an absolute breaking point. I was more grateful than ever for my earplugs. I cheered and whooped along with everyone else.

Vincent took his place at the front center of the stage. Lead vocalist. Keyboard. Front man.

Tank shouted beside me as Sam followed, going to the back center and carefully sitting on his stool behind his drum set with the band logo on the large bass drum. He picked up his drumsticks and twirled one in the fingers of each hand.

Alexis jogged out next to only slightly-less uproarious applause. She went the farthest across the stage and scooped up her electric guitar, slinging its leather strap with an embroidered red rose over her head and under one arm. She hit a test power chord and everyone in the crowd went nuts.

Frederick slipped out after her, walking instead of running or jogging. The crowd was still going wild even though he wasn’t looking them in the eye. His partner stood on Tank’s other side, earplugs in and staring at him intently, but not screaming or anything. He carefully slid his bass guitar strap on and took up his position.

Vincent yanked his microphone off its stand. Solid rose-gold. “Gooooood evening Dahliaaaaa!” He beamed broadly while the screaming got even higher pitched. “We are The House of Solaire and we thank you for such a big—warm—welcooome!”

More screaming.

Tank nudged me with their elbow. “Your man knows how to put on a show!” Their shout was nearly drowned out but I could see most of it on their lips. We were used to this by now.

I smiled wide and nodded.

Vincent snapped his fingers to a rhythm while looking over his shoulder at Sam. Sam clacked his drumsticks together, matching it.

He hit his drums, getting started. Alexis struck her first chord.

The crowd lost it with recognition. You Mentioned a Blackout was the single that really put them on the map, as it were, and was still one of their most popular songs ever.

Vincent had written it not long before we officially got together, but he wrote it because of me. He’d written it while I was unconscious and asked sheepishly if he could play it for me when I woke up. The sheet music was covered in the frenzied work of inspiration desperately trying not to be lost—and a few water stains of tears. No matter how many times I told him it wasn’t his fault, he never listened.

He held eye contact with me the entire time he swapped between working the crowd and playing the keyboard. Smiling and giving me a dramatic wink.

"I told you once and I meant it— "If you touch what's mine again— "You won't have time to regret it—"

The crowd sang along to the chorus, bouncing to the beat Sam was hammering out. Tank, Frederick's partner, and myself included.

Vincent strode out from the main stage and onto the jetty that jutted into the crowd, high-fiving reaching fans as he passed them, bent low and still singing.

On his strut back to the main stage, he paused during Alexis' solo long enough to fall to his knees, reach down for me, pull me up enough to plant a kiss on my face—to a swell of screaming cheers—and get back to the main stage.

When the song came to a nearly-explosive close, the crowd cheered.

Vincent whipped his glossy blue-black curls off his forehead, beaming. "Man, it is good to be home!" he said into his mic. Everyone whooped. "How's everybody doin' tonight?" More raucous cheering. Vincent raked a hand through his hair to get it out of his face. His white V-neck T-shirt was almost obscenely thin and would get replaced by a tank top at intermission. It was loose around his torso but clung tight across his shoulders.

Damn it looked good on him.

"I'd introduce that last song, but I think you folks already know it," he remarked. "Y'know. That song gets a good reaction everywhere else, but nowhere near as excited as it gets here in Dahlia." He chuckled as several excited whoops went over the crowd. "We've got a pretty special show for you all tonight. It's the last night of our Surge album tour and—" He paused while the crowd screamed. "—and we've got some very special guests tonight. But before we get into that, how about Fangs After Dark?"

The crowd lost their minds.

Sam clacked his drumsticks together again, looking at Frederick, before hitting the bass drum with his pedal. Vincent pounded his long, slender fingers into the keys of his keyboard.

Several songs came and went. The three of us knew them all by heart. We heard them all the time. So did the crowd, apparently. A local band making it big on the rock-and-roll scene was certainly something to celebrate in a college town like Dahlia.

Toward the intermission, Vincent picked up a little hand-towel from his keyboard stand and wiped the sweat off his forehead and neck. "Alright, alright, alright!" he said into his microphone. "Before we do our last song before the break, how 'bout a little intro for the band that needs—no—introduction?"

Screaming again.

Vincent chuckled. "House of Solaire. A little diddy, if you will."

Sam started gently tapping out a beat on his bass and snare drum, adding little cymbal flourishes. Alexis and Frederick kept rhythm on their instruments, Alexis improvising a melody.

"Over here on bass guitar, we have Frederick Collins! Give it up for Freddie!" Vincent announced.

Cheering went up across the stadium.

"And back in the back doin' his thing, we've got the best damn drummer in the world—Sam Collins!"

The audience went absolutely nuts. Sam actually smiled. Tank put their fingers in their mouth and let off several earsplitting whistles. Sam glanced at them and rolled his eyes affectionately, but we were close enough for me to catch his wink, so Tank definitely did too.

"And on my left we have my big sister. The most talented electric guitarist in Dahlia—no, in all of California itself—Alexis Solaire!"

The reaction wasn't quite as loud as Sam's reception, but Sam had always been one of the fanbase's favorite band members. Tank knew it too, and tended to be a little defensive of him.

Vincent let the screaming die down. "And last but not least, we have myself on lead vocals and the keys. My name is Vincent Solaire and I am proud to present The House of Solaire and our new album Surge to y'all tonight!" Even with all the loudspeakers, the end of his sentence was barely audible over the absolute bedlam of noise that erupted from the audience.

Vincent smiled. "Before we go to intermission, I give you a song I wrote for the love of my life." He glanced down at me and grinned. "Everybody give it up for Electric Soul!"

Another popular one that they'd released about a year ago.

The crowd went wild.

—

When the band came back on stage after the intermission, T-shirts and flannels had been exchanged for tank tops. They'd cleaned up and dried some of the sweat off a bit. The audience cheered.

Vincent didn't say anything to whip the crowd into a frenzy. Just looked back at Sam and smiled.

Sam clacked his rhythm signal and Alexis hit a power chord right in beat. A song Sam had written for Tank. Vincent still sang and led it but the lyrics had been a bit of a love letter. A very rock-and-roll love letter. Which I thought suited the two of them perfectly.

"Hold me tight and kiss me— "Before we damn near bleed out— "Darlin', don't you dare miss me— "I love you too much to see you pout—"

I watched Sam keep his gaze steadily on Tank the whole song. He always did when they performed this song and Tank was in the audience.

When the song ended, Vincent clapped along with everyone. "That, uh, that one was Before We Bleed," he said. He let the cheering swell and die down. He had a good instinct for it and always seemed smooth, not awkward while waiting for the crowd to calm. "So. Who here are fans of Milo and the Wolves?"

A fair portion of cheers rose over the crowd. Not as loud as the rest of the night had been, but still loud, even through the earplugs.

Vincent nodded, pacing back and forth across the main stage. "Oh good. I'd hoped so. Very good friends of ours. Yup. Very good friends." He smirked. The jumbotron behind us caught it, and so did the screens on either side of the stage. "We have one of their former members here tonight. And they're gonna do a song with us," he continued.

More cheers.

Tank was unbuttoning the flannel they'd stolen from Sam.

"You didn't tell me!" I shouted.

They gave me a cheeky wink.

"Everybody give it up for Tankerrrrr!" Vincent called into his mic.

Tank shoved the flannel into my hands and leapt up onto the stage with a single bound in just their tank top, skinny jeans, and combat boots. They gave Vincent a side-arm hug as they passed him, ran off stage, and came back a single second later carrying their guitar, extended above their head in victory while the crowd cheered.

They slung the guitar strap on, took up a mark right next to Vincent, and flicked a guitar pick into their fingers from seemingly nowhere—but I knew it came from a special little pocket in the thick leather cuff bracelet they wore on their left wrist. They twiddled a knob on their guitar. One I knew meant they were turning up the gain for the real hard rock sound, compared to the more alternative style of The House of Solaire.

Not even waiting for Sam to count them off or Vincent to introduce what song they were doing, Tank slammed into an intro.

Frederick's partner and I screamed in support for our friend while the crowd joined in with us.

The song Tank played was a Milo and the Wolves song that Tank had written years ago called Tougher Than You, and their original band had been more than happy to give The House of Solaire permission to play a cover for a concert.

Vincent's voice was fundamentally much different from Milo's—the lead vocalist, obviously—but Vincent delivered a sincere cover that showed he'd put work into nailing the spirit of the song.

"If you hit me down, I'll hit you too— "Try to put me down— "But I don't lose— "Baby, don't you know— "I'm tougher than you!"

Tank sang the harmony with Vincent into the black mic on a stand that had been placed there over intermission, lifting their strumming hand off their guitar for just a moment to grab at the mic and hold it close to their mouth, letting their rich, sultry voice fill the loudspeakers.

I craned my neck to see Sam past his drum set.

Gazing, as I expected, with absolute, utter desire at Tank. Probably only keeping the rhythm on muscle memory alone. The tattoos covering both his arms shone with sweat.

I snickered, the sound completely drowned out by the stadium. Sam was entirely taken with Tank and he deserved it. I always thought they were cute together.

Tank struck back against their strings hard, backing a step away from the mic so when they bent in half in a headbang as they resumed their solo, they wouldn't smack their head on it. The crowd was jumping along hard, too.

When they ended, they gave Vincent a side-arm hug, ran their guitar off-stage, and gave Sam a long, dramatic kiss before rushing back toward me and leaping off the stage. Sam's ears were bright red as I handed Tank back the flannel and they put it back on. I threw my arms around them. "That was amazing!" I shouted.

They smiled. "Thanks," they said loudly. "Been a long time since I played in front of a crowd this big! Felt good! Felt... normal."

"Everybody give it up for Tanker!" Vincent called again.

The crowd cheered.

—

Darlin'

The stadium was finally cleared. The house lights had come on a long time ago and the stadium staff was cleaning up. Mopping up sticky, spilled soda and alcohol from the concrete floor, sweeping popcorn and discarded wrappers.

Vincent had taken his keyboard into his dressing room. I heard him singing Faithfully by Journey to his partner as I walked past. "O-oh you stand... byyy me—I'm forever yooouuurs—faithfully..."

Sap.

Just off-stage, my electric guitar was sitting up on a stand, its gig bag case haphazardly discarded not far away. I scooped up the gig bag and sat cross-legged in front of the guitar. "Hey beautiful," I said softly to it, digging into the gig bag's front pocket for an old cloth with some polisher stains on it. I pulled the guitar off the stand and into my lap, wiping at its amber-gold body and polished wooden head, including the tuning pegs. Giving it a little bit of a shine and clean-up.

"You take better care-a that thing than you do yourself, darlin'," a voice remarked. With a familiar Southern drawl.

I smiled and looked up.

Sam stood there, leaning slightly on a pair of enormous stacked amps, a set of drumsticks poking out of his back pocket, arms folded over his chest. In the light from the house and the regular lights of the stage, the tattoos all down both of his arms glistened just slightly where his tank top left them exposed. His hair was still a little disheveled from the performance.

It was a very hot look on him.

"People always tell us to take better care of our babies than we do ourselves, right?" I asked, finishing the last bit of wiping up and gently tucking my guitar into the gig bag, zipping it up.

A member of the tech crew that had been moving equipment backstage approached, holding her hands out for the guitar bag. I hesitated for just a moment before passing it over. I trusted The House of Solaire's usual crew. I was just protective of my guitar.

The tech shuffled off with it.

I spun to face Sam again. "So. Last night of tour. How's it feel to be done and free for the next couple months?"

Sam shrugged. "Ready to take some time to relax—but you know me. I'll get restless fast."

I approached him and hooked my fingers around the belt loops of his jeans, pulling him close to me. "I can help with that," I whispered, leaning close to his ear.

He chuckled low in his throat. "Well, I look forward to that," he said, voice low and soft, turning his head to kiss behind my ear. Goosebumps rose all the way down my spine. I shuddered a little bit. His hands wrapped around me and he held me close. I held onto him too.

Vincent still singing Journey to his partner was barely audible over the sounds of the stage and house crews packing and cleaning.

Sam rested his chin on my shoulder and looked around. "How'd you ever give this life up, darlin'?" he asked. "I don't think I can."

I smiled and sighed out my nose. "I needed a break, at least. After the break-up and Nomadic's PR people doing their damnedest to throw me under the bus and try to ruin my image... stepping off the stage was the easiest choice I'd made in a long time. David, Milo, and Ash all understood, and Ash had been wanting to try to take up lead guitar for a while anyway. So after they found Christian to take up bass guitar, Iii... left."

"Ever think you'll rejoin?"

I snorted. "I'd love to, on one hand. On the other... it'd mean even less time with you. Being back on tour at different times... or even the same time... I wouldn't be able to take a weekend and fly to wherever you're playing to see you."

Sam massaged his fingers into my hips. "Guess you have a point," he said.

I hummed, letting go of his hips to run my hands up his arms, tracing the lines of his tattoos as I passed them. "You know, I swore off dating rockstars after things with Quinn fell apart," I remarked.

Sam kissed my neck. "What changed?"

I sucked in a shuddering breath. "I met you," I replied.

He smiled against my skin. "That a good thing?"

I snickered. "A very good thing, smart mouth."

"Mm... then why don't you do somethin' about this smart mouth of mine, darlin'?"

I kissed his neck, feeling the way he relaxed under the contact. "Oh I plan to," I replied.

—

Lovely

"Y'know, it's kinda funny to me," I began, watching Vincent lean over the counter of the vanity station in the dressing room.

"What is?"

"You take off all those piercings and put on a nerdy T-shirt and normal jeans and no one recognizes you out in public," I said.

Vincent removed the earring from the helix of his left ear. The only one he ever left in between shows was the industrial on his right. He spun around to face me, leaning back against the counter. "That's part of cultivating a public persona. People expect the tight, plain T-shirt with the V-neck and the black skinny jeans and big boots. The dozen piercings. The rockstar eyeliner. No one recognizes... just some guy in a T-shirt with I Am Groot plastered across the chest. Put me in a grocery store and I'm just a taller-than-average nerd. No rockstar to be seen."

I scoffed. "No. You're not just some guy. You'd still be waaay hotter than everyone else in that grocery store."

Vincent laughed and held his arms out for me. I hugged him. "I think you're a little biased, lovely," he whispered.

"Oh definitely," I said.

His hands slipped under my shirt. And hesitated, as always, over the scar across my back.

He wrote You Mentioned a Blackout after a former lighting tech of the band's had been making jokes about The House of Solaire's lighting rig being enough to cause power outages in the smaller cities they played in. That lighting tech—Adam—had been making more of those jokes while Vincent was showing me around a venue before we were officially together. Just flirting. Adam had, apparently, been watching me intently while working. Tried to flirt with me after. When I turned him down, he had "accidentally" dropped a small light fixture he'd been setting up over the stage. It glanced off my shoulder on its way down and knocked me forward. It had already been attached to live wiring and the electrocution and strike knocked me out.

Needless to say Adam got fired after the incident. But the scar of the electricity and the light fixture remained—and Vincent was always hesitant to touch them. He'd been wracked with guilt when I woke up in the hospital. Made it his personal mission to take care of me while I recovered. Put a tour on hold before it even really started—their tours always started and ended in Dahlia—to make sure I got better.

And along the way, our feelings deepened and we fell properly in love. We'd been together ever since.

I knew Vincent still felt guilty about the "accident" but I tried not to let him dwell on it much. Including pushing him past his hesitance to touch the scar it left behind, almost three years later.

I kissed him. "Excited for the after party tomorrow?"

"I will be if I get enough sleep," he replied. "I love touring but, God, it leaves me exhausted."

"I know, baby. But you get a couple months off now. To rest and relax and recharge. Then you can get started on your new album."

He snorted. "Lovely, you know I wrote nine songs while on this last tour, right?"

"Wait, really?"

"Hours upon hours on a bus between cities? Yeah. Plenty of time."

"What'd you write?"

"Mostly yearning for you. A few love letters to the places we visited. None of them are at a stage that they actually fit our usual style but I just... I don't know. I can't not write new songs. Taking a couple months off just means I'll keep writing more songs. Alexis and Sam probably will too. Just not as many as me. But it'll be a passion project at that point. Then maybe later get to be an album."

"You're adorable," I said.

Vincent smiled. "I'll play them all for your while we're home."

"You'd better." I pressed another kiss to his mouth.

He deepened it immediately. "Oh God, I missed you baby," he whispered. "Doesn't matter how many weekend shows you flew out to see. I miss just being with you all the time."

"Me too."

—

Darlin'

I really had to hand it to Sam on his foresight. The stool of his drum set was sturdy and steady. Able to bear the weight of two people.

The crew usually saved the stage itself for last to clear, so we had plenty of time to sit on his drum stool—me straddling his lap—and make out. His hands, warm and callused, were just barely under the hem of my shirt on my bare skin. We were passionate, sure, but not exhibitionists. And the house staff was still cleaning the stadium seating area. We were mostly blocked from sight by the drum set, but better not to go too hard while there were still eyes on us.

Still, he was warm beneath me and his hands on me were heaven. I ran my hands down his back and slowly extracted his drumsticks from his back pocket. The muscles in his back relaxed more immediately.

"How's this for doing something about your smart mouth?" I whispered.

He chuckled. "Ohhh... I think it's just right, darlin'." He kissed me harder. "So. Next tour, gonna play with us at more concerts?"

"Mmm... maybe. Vincent and William haven't officially offered yet." I ran my hands over his hair. "But if you're just asking me to go on your tour with you... I can probably arrange that."

Sam dug his fingers into the skin on either side of my spine. "We've got a while before that happens. But I'd love it if you could join us. Hell, maybe Vincent and Fred can bring their partners too. Maybe it would make the band less sick-a each other by the time we're done."

I snickered. "Maybe," I agreed. I kissed him deeply again. "We'll see, cowboy." I pressed more kisses to his cheeks and forehead. "Now kiss me like you mean it and let's celebrate the end of this tour, yeah?"

"Hell yeah, darlin'." He rocked against me and met me in a kiss that I returned enthusiastically. I threaded my fingers into his hair and tugged on it, making him moan into my mouth while I stuck my tongue in his. His body was so much more relaxed when we were like this. Loose, wild, carefree.

I loved every second of it.

And, judging by how he was moving, he did too.

—

Tag list: @zozo-01 @shellssstuff @thegoldenlittlerose @darlin-collins

[azulaang-chakras]

Katoph fic idea: Lawyer/Client AU

Katara is a young public attorney who has made a name for herself defending those failed by the system and wronged by law enforcement. She’s hated by the cops and loved by her clients.

One morning, the city wakes up to the headline of the century: Toph Beifong, heiress of the wealthy Beifong family, has been arrested for murder. Katara goes about her morning as usual until a message arrives from the DA’s office: the Beifongs have called and asked for her. She meets with Lao and Poppy Beifong, who tell her that their daughter, having heard about Katara’s past legal exploits, asked them to contact her rather than their usual attorneys. Katara asks to meet with Toph before agreeing to anything, even though the check the Beifongs are willing to write would pay off her student loans and her rent for the next three years.

After a single private conversation, two things are clear: one, they can’t stand each other. Two, Toph definitely wants Katara to be her lawyer.

“Why do you want me to represent you? We hate each other.”

“Exactly! If I can convince you that I’m innocent, then I can convince anyone.”

Despite finding her abrasive, stubborn, and vulgar, Katara is convinced by the flimsiness of the evidence against her, the unusual zeal the DA’s office is showing in their desire to put her behind bars, and Toph’s personal testimony, and agrees to represent her.

The catch to the whole situation is that while Toph is being framed for a crime she didn’t commit, she is a criminal. She’s guilty of theft, vandalism, fraud, and participating in an illegal underground fighting ring under an alias: the Blind Bandit. However, the victims of her scams are other criminals, so there’s nothing Katara can do with the information.

Shenanigans ensue from there. The trial has been fast-tracked to its court date, giving Katara a short window of time to put her defense together as she deals with the media frenzy surrounding the whole affair, intense scrutiny from the DA’s office, and having to deal with Toph as a client. Every meeting to prep her as a witness for the stand or discuss their next strategy includes copious amounts of bickering and getting off topic.

Once, when the bailiff overhears some of their arguing, he asks Katara in a chuckling voice, “Is that your client in there or your girlfriend?”

She retorts, “Shut up, Pipsqueak.”

Throughout the trial, there’s a string of unusual witnesses coming and going on the witness stand, outbursts that reverberate throughout the courthouse, and twists and turns galore. Underneath it all, however, runs a much darker situation than Katara had anticipated.

Together, the pair slowly uncover a conspiracy of corruption that runs through every level of city politics, from the police chief to the DA to the mayor himself. Toph made the wrong enemies and found out more than she should, hence their desire to shut her up, one way or another. Katara now has to prove Toph’s innocence while staying one step ahead of a system she has to bring down.

One night, there’s a failed hit attempt by the mob where Toph is grazed by a bullet. They can’t go to the hospital, as the assassins or dirty cops would surely ambush them there, so they hide in the apartment of Haru, one of Katara’s co-workers.

“Where’d you learn first aid?” asks Toph while Katara wipes the blood off of her shoulder.

“From my mom. I come from a long line of women who know how to keep people alive.”

“Lucky me.”

As they sit alone in the bathroom together, Katara’s gentle hands tending to her injury and her sweet words expressing gratitude that she’s safe makes Toph realize that Katara truly is the kindest and most caring person she’s ever met. She does what she does because she wants to help people. She’s not in this for the money her parents are offering her. Katara could have backed out at any time to protect her career, her life, and spare her from the stress of dealing with the Blind Bandit as a client, but no. Katara stuck by her because she believes in her and will continue to do so.

Toph works up the courage to try to make a move, only for her lips to be blocked by Katara’s finger.

“I can’t date clients,” she reminds her, fighting against the fire in her blushing cheeks.

Katara turns to leave, but before she makes it past the doorway she hears Toph say, “Then I’m looking forward to the jury declaring me not guilty so that I can fire you.”

[sunstar-of-the-north]

Megasound Week Day 6: Alternate Universe (Single Mom AU)

Funnily enough, I made this AU for Megasound were Soundwave is the single mother of Rumble and Frenzy. In this drawing though she’s not so single any more~

Megatron: “Out of all of the spoils of the universe, our family is the most valuable treasure I have the honor of claiming as mine.”

@mega-wave-superior

TFP (c) Hasbro

(ALSO IT’S DECEPTICON DAY SO...I’M COUNTING IT!)

[ab0minationn]

thought this up trying to avoid having to study but - au where akari and ingo are both dumped into the icelands, and are found by lady sneasler and are brought to pearl clan. they’re both amnesiacs, and are seemingly unafraid of wild pokémon???? when it comes time for lady sneasler to choose her warden, she chooses both of them. irida tried to get her to pick one, but she refuses. and, well, what a noble pokémon wants is what they’ll get.

akari still has her mission of catching all pokémon, however it’s a little easier as ingo is able to help her a lot more - it’s much easier for them to switch off catching duties since there’s always someone to stay with their noble. they also meet the professor on a trip to jubilife for supplies, and team up with him in the dex as it’s mutually beneficial for both sides.

both ingo and akari work together to quell the nobles, with diamond clan allowing them to help their own nobles after seeing how well they handled kleavor’s frenzy. kamado is still sus of them, but seeing as they’re not galaxy team members, he cant do much initially. they’re also on good terms with rei and cyllene, as they’ve each encountered rei frequently on their own survey trips, and cyllene makes it known their contributions are appreciated even if they aren’t part of her team.

when the red sky breaks out, they aren’t exiled, however kamado does order all survey corps members to attack the two - unless they’re anywhere near lady sneasler’s home. they don’t have death wishes, after all. the initial story ends as it does in the game, with the exception of both ingo and akari quelling the legendaries, and working together on the trials that the lake guardians set. however, they do only visit jubilife when absolutely necessary after that, choosing to give laventon their notes and pokémon out in the field when possible - they would rather be as far from kamado and beni as possible, thanks.

akari is still the main person to battle volo, however ingo steps in after giratina’s second form gets revealed, as akari’s pokémon are absolutely exhausted at that point. volo throws a bit of a hissy fit, but they just give him A Look and he drops it relatively quickly. when they finally reach arceus, the god does remark on how he hadn’t expected them to become a single unit throughout their time, but allows them to fight them together, as they had done with all the other nobles.

they are given a month or so to get things in order and say goodbye after this, and a small party is thrown for them. lady sneasler presents one of her kits to become the new lord sneasler, and those wardens will be going nowhere without her (and the clutch of eggs hidden in her basket, but they don’t know about that quite yet)

they are both dropped in unova, with emmet and ingo able to reunite. akari is dawn in this au, and so returns to sinnoh after a week or two, however she is back within a month after that. she (and, unbeknownst to her, ingo) was having extreme trouble sleeping, panic attacks, and was generally still in the panicked survival mode that she had been in hisui. her mom wasn’t extremely happy, however there’s approximately one (1) other person alive who knows what her kid’s been through, and so allows her to return. it’s a slow process, but they are eventually able to heal, as their proximity means that the stress from being separated after basically attached at the hip for years in hisui is able to be calmed (it also gives akari a new respect for emmet - she was sure he had felt what she did only a hundred times worse when ingo left)

anyways this was j some random thoughts i had while studying earlier, and it’s now time to return to studying sadly

[sparklingchan]

Ruby Eyes|| Seo Changbin (Stray Kids)

Pairing : Reader(fem.) X Changbin

Word count : 7.3k+ 

Warnings : Mention of an accident, cuss words, divorce, a single kiss.

Genre : Romance, Soulmate AU, fluff, angst, best friends to lovers.

Description: Seo Changbin has done everything in his capacity to remove and replace you, yet fate seems to have different plans for the both of you.

A/N : Hello everyone ahhh I know it’s been so long y’all. So many things have been going on including exams and internships and I just didn’t have the patience to write :(( This one shot was written as a part of a collab event by wonderful, dear Ro! 

I hope y’all like it!

"So, how's it being back, y/n?"

Your dad looks older now than he did the last time you saw him - probably two years ago, when you were leaving the country.

You missed him, really. You missed his warmth and his wisdom and how he was a sharp contrast to your mother, more calm and composed. Sometimes you wonder how your mother had even managed to get your custody after their divorce.

"Okay, I guess." You lie.

You didn't want your father to know how your feelings are all over the place, ranging from sadness to anger and longingness.

It's a weird thing to be experiencing such a cocktail of emotions when you'd convinced yourself these feelings had disappeared the day you left the old neighborhood, seven years ago. You had not felt any attachment towards the new neighborhood that you and your mother then went on to live for the next two years before you moved abroad for your studies. Yet you feel nostalgic now, as your father drives you through your old old neighborhood.

"How's mom?" He asks, taking a left to a road all too familiar to you, "Is she still going to therapy?"

You nod, "She's getting better, I think. The new country seems to have changed her. The therapy is helping too. She has many friends there now. "

At first when you were offered a job at one of the biggest publishing companies in the world, you were ecstatic. But everything soon died down when you found out you were posted at a branch in the country you'd left behind. It was your mother who'd convinced you to take it.

"I know you don't like being back, y/n." Your dad smiles sadly when he pulls over infront of your old house.The house that contains years of secrets, tears, lies and whispered confessions in front of the mirror stands in front of you, as grand and pretty as ever. It looks different but similar enough to make you tear up a tad bit.

"But I'm glad you're here. I really am." He says, "I renovated the house a little when you told me you were moving back. I hope it's okay."

You smile at the old man, wrapping your arms around him, "Thanks, dad. I missed you. I'm glad you're here, too."

He pecks your forehead, "I missed you, too, love."

Moving in doesn't take a lot of time since your dad had already set up everything. You just had to get some of your stuff and you were ready to kick start your stay.

That evening, your father leaves after making you promise to call him if anything happens at all and when the front door closes, you find yourself in the company of your old room.

You lie on your bed, eyes fixed on the ceiling as you hum an old tune to yourself. And without meaning to, you find yourself thinking about him; The man you hadn't seen or talked to for a whole seven years. The man who'd tried his best to stay in touch with you yet gave up when you didn't reciprocate the same.

A horrific realization then dawns on you,

He'd obviously replaced you now.

The familiar clouds of grief loom over you, threatening to engulf you any moment now.

No. Not now, please.

Getting up from your bed immediately, you shake your head as you make your way to the mirror- the mirror that had encountered more honest tears and smiles and words than any human ever had. You stare at your reflection as tears escapes your eyes, the bright red iris of your right eye staring back at you when you rub your tears off.

You shiver.

"Shit, I forgot to wear the contacts."

Quickly grabbing your lenses from your bag, you put them on, concealing the scary blood red color of your right eye. You take two long strides across the room and pulling your favorite black hoodie over your head, you walk out of the door.

By the time you manage to leave the house, it's already 10:30 in the evening. A quiet calmness has fallen over the town, as the shops and restaurants near the market square slowly start closing up. Your feet are as if on autopilot, taking you to that one place you know would still be open; Yang's Café.

And rightly so, the smell of freshly brewed coffee reaches your nostrils when you walk through their main door, past the group of chatty teenagers waiting outside. This place hasn't changed much, you realize, the brown and golden hues of the place and the vintage coffee cups collection in the far corner of the Cafe are still the same. The only difference is that you're no longer here with your best friend right after school, you are here all alone on an evening too quiet for your liking.

"Y/n? Is that you?"

When you turn around to face the owner of the voice, you are stunned.

"Jeongin?"

Jeongin's family has owned this Cafe for three generations now, from his great-grandparents, his grandparents, his parents and soon enough it'll pass down to him. As a kid, you remember often playing with Jeongin at the park and teaming up with him during quiz competition. He was always sweet and always smiley.

But the handsome young man that stands in front of you doesn't resemble the Jeongin you once used to know, not even a little bit.

"What..what happened to you!" You exclaim, taking his face in your hands, "Where are the braces! And the specs and wow, would you look at the blue hair!"

Jeongin can only let out a few giggles as you continue squishing his face and complaining how big he's grown in only over seven years.

The customers give you weird stares but only the heavens above know how genuinely happy you are to see Jeongin, albeit the fact you almost couldn't recognize him there for a second.

"What have you done to my child?" You mutter when you've finally calmed down and Jeongin takes you to your seat.

"I have a mother, y/n, thank you very much," he laughs, taking a seat opposite to yours, loosening the Barista apron around his torso, "And I missed you too."

You attempt to pinch his cheeks but he is quick to dodge.

"So how have you been?" He asks through giggly breaths.

You sigh, "I'm good... I feel weird being back here, honestly but I think I'll get used to it soon. What about you?"

"I've been good. Graduated a few months back, now I'm working here full time." He ushers over a waiter, "What would you like, y/n?"

You don't even think for a second while responding, "An iced Americano, please."

The waiter notes your order and walks away before Jeongin pinches your arm teasingly.

"Ouch. What?"

"Old habits die hard, huh? You always used to drink an iced coffee whenever we hung out here. I am glad to see nothing much has changed," Jeongin laughs, "You and Changbin, too!"

That one name sends your entire mind into a frenzy. Changbin. Seo Changbin. The love of your life. The man who you wouldn't even go to school without, the man who had saved you from a terrible accident, also the man who probably no longer even remembers you.

And you realise, despite everything, your heart yearns for him, still- for you wouldn't be in so much pain at the mention of his name otherwise.

Jeongin seems to have noticed your discomfort because he immediately changes the topic, "Anyway, you have to try our new chocolate cake. It's heavenly, I'm telling you."

Your reason to leave the neighborhood wasn't a secret, really. It was public knowledge that your mother had blamed Changbin for the fatal accident you almost had.

You're grateful for what Jeongin does, and try your best to engage in conversations about the neighborhood and old gossip you'd missed out on. Yet all you want to do is drive out of the damn Cafe and find changbin.

"Y/n?"

Or maybe, Changbin will find you.

Behind Jeongin, you see the blurry image of a man that had once caused you great misery yet you had never felt as happy as when you were with him.

"Hi..hi, Changbin." You stammer as you see the said man walk towards your table.

The seven years have as if done some magic on him, because the Changbin that walks towards you in no way resembles your high school best friend.

With thick buff arms, new ear piercings and silver jewelry gracing his wrists and fingers, you have a hard time actually accepting the fact that Seo Changbin is really there, in front of you.

"Been long, huh?" He grins, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes and somewhere in the depths of your conscience, you realize it might have been your fault. You'd done everything in your capacity to break apart from this friendship, ignoring his calls, changing your number, even going as far as blocking him on all social media.

So, did you really expect him to welcome you back with open arms when you had caused him so much pain?

Jeongin brings an extra chair for Changbin to sit on and soon, the three of you are talking, maybe not like the old, happy days but it's still better than nothing. Changbin looks at you everytime you throw your head back and laugh, your eyes squeezing shut as his heart clenches in his chest.

You are really back home.

"So what have you been doing? I told you guys about me." Jeongin says, stealing a bite off of Changbin's cheesecake.

"Oh..you know," Changbin giggles, the tip of his ears turning a light pink shade.

You raise your eye brows in confusion.

"Been busy with the wedding and all."

Your heart drops. "Wedding? W-whose wedding?" You try to laugh it off but it's very evident from the way you're gripping your glass of iced Americano that it has affected you. A lot more than you actually thought.

"I'm getting married, y/n," Changbin smiles, "I'm so glad you could be around for the wedding."

*

Your grief stricken self has not gotten up from the bed since last night and you're thankful to Jeongin for finally checking up on you or else you would have gone deeper into the spiral hole of despair.

"Are you really going to be like this, y/n?"

You hate being miserable on the very second day of your stay. You hate depending on Jeongin. But you can barely move without bursting out into tears,so it seems as though there's no better idea than have someone take care of you at the moment.

"I'm sorry, Jeongin. " You manage to speak when he places a bag full of snacks and drinks on the dining table, "And thanks."

Jeongin chuckles, "Don't thank me, just yet. Guess who wants to meet up with you?"

Your eyes widen for a split second as you sit up on the couch, "Who?!"

No, he wouldn't, would he?

"It's not the person you think, y/n. Calm down." He laughs, "It's Bang Chan. Your senior, you remember?"

Oh, yes, the infamous Bang Chan. Shy smiles, dimples, curly hair, angelic eyes. Yeah, you remember the school's heartthrob. Very clearly.

"I was talking to him this morning and he said he'd be very glad to catch up with you again." Jeongin settles beside you, "It's not a date, y/n. He's an old friend. It wouldn't hurt, would it? You can't possibly sit here all day long crying about him."

You open your mouth to argue, but only air slips out and you realise you don't have anything to defend your miserable state with. You knew this was coming; when you cut off all ties with Seo Changbin, you knew this was coming.

Jeongin is right; you need to go out and meet new people.

You roll your eyes before pinching Jeongin's cheeks, "Fine. Give him my number."

He responds by pulling your cheeks as well.

*

The first day of work is weirdly gut wrenching.

You hadn't expected yourself to be this nervous but here you are, muttering under your breath as you make way towards the office.

"You'll be okay, y/n," you breathe in, "You've worked hard for this." And breathe out.

A few more minutes of self pep talking and you see all your hard work and expectations go down the drain as you feel a few droplets of rain fall onto your head. You look up and the dark, heavy clouds greet you.

Bloody brilliant.

You see the office goers around you jog quickly to the nearest shelter but you're short on luck today as your gaze falls on your watch and you realize you don't have enough time to wait for the rain to pass.

So you grab your office bag, cover your head with that and make a run for it.

The sole of your high heel shoes dig into your feet and a throbbing pain shoots through your body, as you wince. Note to yourself - never wear heels to office again.

You also secretly pray to the gods that your contact lens don't get washed off. Turning up at your new office on the first day with a blood red iris doesn't feel too fun, really.

"Do you need a lift?"

You had been so busy running to your office that you don't notice when a black car drives toward you and the driver rolls down the window, offering you a smile.

Seo Changbin.

Your heart skips a few beats.

"Y/n, do you need a lift?"

You blink back to reality when he clicks his fingers in front of you, "I-I mean if that's okay with you."

Changbin smiles, pointing to the passenger's seat, "Come on in."

When you're comfortably seated in his car, using his spare towel to wipe off the water from your face and hair, his questions start-

"So.." He steps on the break when the traffic light turns red, "How have you been?"

You look at the digital clock displayed on the cars' LED, and sigh. You're late to work and you're stuck in traffic with the one man you'd rather not be stuck in traffic with. Brilliant.

"Good." Your eyes are focused on the cars outside the window, "You?"

There's a moment of silence before he speaks again, "Fine."

Fine? Just Fine? Shouldn't he be over the clouds, now that the wedding is finally around the corner?

"Okay.."

"Actually, I meant to ask you earlier, y/n." He turns to you, a gentle smile playing at his lips, "I am throwing a party this weekend. I'd love it if you could come by. And I could introduce you to her."

You sink back into your seat, biting your lip, wondering if you want to ever know who her is. Your peace of mind is more important than meeting your ex crush's fiance, right? And if you do end up going to the party, whom would you hang out with? It's not like you know any of his rich friends and cousins and there's no way you'd hang out with Changbin and the said fiance.

You are about to respectfully reject the invitation when a sudden, seemingly good idea pops into your head.

Bang Chan.

You nod, shrugging, "Okay. I'll be there."

You clasp your hands together as he continues driving and you look out the window, unable to suppress the bubbling excitement.

"Great, then." He replies, suspiciously.

*

The evening of the party finally arrives, much to your dismay, you find yourself seated next to Chan. He's just the same as the guy in your memory; a gentleman.

"You look pretty, y/n." He had greeted you as he held the car door open for you, "I'm glad we could meet up."

His words turn your cheeks into a darker shade of red but your heart doesn't beat quite as furiously as you'd expect it to.

Muttering a small thank you, you seat comfortably in the car while Chan drives towards Changbin's family's old Farmhouse on the outskirts of the city. You've been there before - during summer holidays, he would take you there with his family. That place was only filled with happy memories of sunshine, swimming pools, watermelon juice and bonfires.

You swallow the grief that comes along with these memories.

"Are we here already?" Chan pulls over in a familiar driveway not even ten minutes later, jogging up to your door and clicking it open, like the gentleman he is.

"Yeah, we're here." Chan smiles, "Very less traffic tonight."

You guys walk through the huge metallic gate, making your way through the main door of the house.

"Uh..." People are crowded mostly around the front door and in the front yard, so you and Chan have to push and squeeze your way into the Farmhouse. You hate the feeling of sweaty bodies pressing against you (or holding Chan's hand for stability) but desperate situations call for desperate measures.

"I hate it here." You mutter when you later find yourself by the pool side, swirling the drink that you don't even plan on drinking and looking at all the flushed faces having the time of their lives.

Thankfully, Chan happens to be on the same boat as you.

"I'm sorry I dragged you here, Chan. We could have just gone for a movie."

Chan giggles, "Hey, it's alright. I don't mind, I'm glad I could spend some time with you after so many years."

His eyes shine and dimples deepen.

You whisper, "Yeah, me too."

Chan is a handsome man, good at all kinds of sport, good at arts, very smart and intelligent yet there's a part of you that knows you'd never be able to reciprocate his flirtatious words. It's sad, really, but that's just how life is.

"Wow, those two seem to be having the time of their lives." Chan chuckles, pointing at someone behind you.

It's quite dark outside, the only source of light being a few decorative fairylights hung at random places haphazardly.

Hiding behind a huge, tall bush, you see a couple, kissing each other like it were the last day on the planet.

The guy's hands roam all over the woman's body and the woman is so loud that even you could hear her sighs and moans. When she pulls away to catch her breath for a second, Chan asks you, "You know her?"

"Nope. I don't know either of them."

You look away; what kind of creep looks at a happy couple like that? (Not a creep, just a lonely and touch starved person)

"Should we check out the dinner table?" Chan suggests and you agree with a nod, "I hope there's no crowd there."

As expected, there actually isn't a crowd there - there's only Changbin, sitting and nibbling on a pizza slice while scrolling through the phone.

The moment your eyes land on him, your feet as if stop on their own and your heart bangs furiously against your chest.

He's breathtakingly gorgeous.

By the time you debate in your head whether or not you want to sit there and fill your stomach, Chan has already made his way to Changbin.

"Hey, Bin!" He greets him with a smile.

Changbin looks at Chan with an unamused smile, the same one from your high school days, when these two were named the biggest rivals on campus. You wonder if somewhere deep in his heart, Changbin had still not let go of that rivalry.

"Hey, Changbin." You manage to whisper before sitting beside Chan.

He looks almost angry.

"You should have the pizza. It's good." He mutters, turning to pass you a slice of pizza on a plate, "Help yourself, Chan."

Yup, there it is. The Seo Changbin that would kill to be on top. You feel worse about dragging Chan here now when neither of you were having a good time.

"Thanks, mate. " Chan replies.

Your ears ring with the sound of approaching footsteps, and when a pretty girl comes walking in and takes Changbin in her arms, your heart stings. Like a fresh wound.

"Y/n.." Chan whispers to you as you watch the two collide in a loving embrace, Changbin smiling at her and running his fingers through her hair.

Your heart hurts at how happy and content he looks.

You could have had that, a part of you thinks, if you weren't such a coward, it would have been you instead of her.

"Y/n," Chan calls you again.

"What?" Your tone is harsher than you intended, "What happened?"

You think Chan is about to give you the whole it-is-time-to-move-on talk but he doesn't, instead he points at the girl and whispers,

"It's her. The girl we saw earlier."

The rest of the night is blurry to you, all conversations, all gazes, all thoughts just feel ....like an awkward dream.

"We have to tell Changbin."

You're sitting at Yang's Cafe at 1 am the same night, watching Jeongin's brother guide his staff to clean the place up.

"I agree." Chan says, biting the inside of his cheeks.

While you, on the other hand, are completely zoned out, staring at the glass of water placed in front of you and watching the droplets on its surface race each other.

"Y/n, what do you think?" Jeongin asks when you don't take part in their discussions.

You sigh, "I don't know. I really don't. As much as it troubles me that Changbin is being cheated on, I don't want to get involved in their personal relationship. "

"Let's not tell anyone for now, then. But someday in the future, before that goddamn wedding, we have to tell him. He deserves to know." Chan agrees.

You purse your lips and close your eyes.

Chan is right.

Changbin deserves to know the truth.

*

"So, how's it being back in town, y/n?"

"It feels good. Weird, but good." You smile at your old teacher, "How have you been, Miss Oh?"

Your teacher adds sugar to the cup of tea in her hands and then looks at you, smiling - the same old smile, except with more wrinkles now, "I've been good. I'm retiring next year so I'm glad I could see you before that, huh?"

You nod your head, "I'm glad too. The school hasn't changed much, unlike what I had expected."

Other than the addition of some new labs and libraries, and the change in color of the walls, everything was still the same. No place in this old school building feels foreign to you.

"Ugh, these administration people I tell you, y/n, they're cheap idiots. They won't spend a single penny on infrastructure unless it's absolutely necessary." She complains as you giggle in response,

"They've always been like that."

Miss Oh gulps some tea from her cup, "Anyway, y/n, I have a class now. I would have loved to stay and chat, really, but I'm afraid that might get me in to trouble."

"No issues, Miss Oh. Go ahead. I'll just roam around the school a little more though, if that's okay."

After Miss Oh leaves, you step out of her cabin and walk the familiar corridors, reminiscent of the memories you have here. Studying a few minutes before tests, bunking classes, running to class when you're late, hanging out with your friends- these corridors have seen you grow in love, in friendship, in life. There's absolutely nothing that could ever replace these memories.

Mindlessly, you wander around the third floor, walking toward the end of the corridor before stopping in front of an old door, way too familiar to not try and push open.

While a part of you tells you it might not be a good idea to go into that room again, there's also a part of you that thinks it's a bloody brilliant idea.

Pushing the door open, you walk into the old dusty room, sighing in relief when you see a particular set of letters still carved on the wall.

CB and YN were here.

You finally let your tears run free, as you crouch down to touch the letters.

Your heart aches at how much you miss Changbin being an important part of your life and how much you miss being his top priority. And your heart aches for Changbin, who is so in love with his fiancé and has no idea he's being cheated on.

You almost want to leave this town and go back to your mother, away from this terrible mess. Yet you don't find it in yourself to act on those thoughts.

Maybe, it is your fear of abandoning him once again that stops you. Or, maybe it is simply the unconditional love you harbor for him.

* Surprisingly, Yang's Cafe is near empty that afternoon.

"Did something happen, y/n? You look really worried." Changbin has his arms crossed over his chest, looking at you with a tense frown.

"Um..it's kind of complicated." You sigh. For a second, you see the genuine concern and innocence on his face, and you wonder if it is worth telling him the truth at all because it would kill you to see him lose his smile but then, his engagement band shines on his ring finger and your stomach turns unpleasantly.

He has to know. From you. In person.

"Changbin, that day at your party...I saw something. " You whisper, "Something I shouldn't have. I should have turned a blind eye really but I can't. My conscience won't allow it. I'm sorry, Bin."

"Y/n, it's okay, just tell me," he reaches over and wraps his fingers around yours, soft and gentle, "You're scaring me."

"Changbin, your fiance is cheating on you. I-I saw her kissing another man that night. Chan saw it too." You feel sick even having to say this to him, "I think you should confront her."

He sucks in a deep breathe, his face completely void of any emotions as he extracts his hands from yours.

"I know." Is all he says.

His eyes drill into yours, as if accusing you of a crime. He looks angry. Just how he looked the day you brought Chan to his party.

"Why are you still marrying her then?" You question.

He sits up straight, "Y/n, I wish I could explain. But I can't. I'm sorry. And please, stay out of this, okay?"

"Why? Why should I stay out of it?" Your voice threatens to break, "I cannot watch my best friend marry a woman who's not loyal. You deserve better than this, Bin."

A sarcastic chuckle leaves Changbin's lips as he taps his foot against the floor, "Let me correct you, y/n. You were my best friend. Seven years ago. You're not anymore."

Your heart shatters.

A part of you knows you deserve this after ghosting him for seven long years. You were the center of each other's world at one point of time.How could you have been so selfish to ever think that your absence and lack of communication wouldn't hurt him?

"Changbin, I'm sorry for everything I did okay. B-but I never stopped thinking or worrying about you. Even for one second. And I still do."

Changbin pushes his chair back and stands up while you stay frozen in your seat.

"It doesn't seem like that though. "

"What do you even mean!"

"Chan. I mean Chan, y/n." He grabs his phone and purse, "Goodbye, y/n. I hope Chan turns out to be a better friend than I ever did." With that, the love of your life walks out of Yang's Cafe.

And for once, he doesn't even look back.

* "Y/n, don't let go of my hand!"

Changbin is panting heavily, his voice shaking with fear as he desperately tries to hold onto you.

He should have known it would be a bad idea to play badminton near the infamous cliff in your town yet when you had showed him your innocent smile and pleading eyes that day, he just couldn't say no.

Your sweaty hands clutch his, legs dangling over the edge of the cliff. Your free hand grabs the rough surface of the rocky cliff to keep yourself from falling.

You want to cry; but you're too traumatized to even let out more than a few terrified grunts. "Y/n," he yells, "I'm going to try and pull you up one more time, okay?."

You don't even remember how you had ended up in this situation; one second you were happily giggling, playing badminton with Changbin and in the next second, you found yourself hanging by the cliff, praying for your dear life.

With all the energy he has left, he tries to pull you up onto the surface.

"Y/n, you have to free the other hand. Let go of that rock." He pants.

You shake your head vigorously, you know you would not survive if you let go of the rock, you'd fall thousands of feet below into absolute nothingness.

"Y/n, please listen to me." Changbin pleads, now crying, "Please. I'll catch you, I promise. I'll not let you die. Just..please."

Changbin sounds like he's about to give up and in all honesty, you couldn't blame him really. Everytime your eyes fall on what's beneath you, a part of you loses hope.

"Please, come on, y/n," he's still pulling at your free hand, while his right hand awaits desperately to grab the other hand. A mixture or sweat and tears grace his face, making him shine under the bright afternoon sun. Your heart aches at the mere thought of never seeing him again- your friend, your childhood crush, your partner in everything.

Well, here goes nothing then.

You suck in a deep breath and let go the Rock, immediately reaching for Changbin. He is quick to grab both of your arms and in one swift movement, he pulls you up onto the surface.

You fall onto his chest, "Y-you saved me."

Changbin let's out a sob mixed with a relieved giggle, pulling you into his arms.

Your eyes feel heavy, as darkness slowly begins to engulf your vision.

"Oh God, I am so sorry this happened, y/n. It's all my fault." He cries, rubbing your back softly, "I'm so sorry. I thought I was going to lose you, oh God. Fuck!"

You want to tell him that it was never his fault, and that you wouldn't even be alive if not for him but your body betrays you and your body goes limp against his.

*

"I'm not leaving this neighborhood."

Your hands rest angrily on your waist as your mom frantically walks from your closet to where the suitcase is spread open on your bed, shifting all your clothes. She dumps them inside the suitcase, not bothering to fold them even.

"You will do as I say! That Seo Changbin tried to push you off of a cliff and heaven knows what he might do next!" Your mom yells back.

You sit at the edge of your bed, trying to keep yourself calm, "Mom, I told you it was an accident. I fell because I was going after the shuttlecock and didn't notice the cliff. Moreover, why would my best friend want try to kill me!"

Your mom let's out a sarcastic laugh, closing the suitcase roughly. She looks at you with eyes full of contempt and a part of you knows that there's no point in trying to convince her. Her mind is already made. Yet you refuse to go down without a fight.

"You're just sixteen, sweetie. You don't know anything about the cruel world, " your mother sighs, "Rich people are not friends with anyone. Changbin may be nice to you but he only sees you as a pathetic poor girl."

"Mom, we're not even poor!"

"Yes, I know. But those filthy rich businessmen consider everyone below their economic status poor. His family probably doesn't like him being friends with you which is why they asked him to get rid of you."

You think of Mrs. Seo's face in your head, always smiling and always welcoming. You remember Changbin's sister and how she'd promised to let you borrow her dress for this year's winter prom. And you think about Changbin- his face, his smile, his passion for music and his protectiveness towards you. Why would these people ever want to hurt you?

"Mom, you're being ridiculous right now! Do you even hear yourself!" You stand up from the bed, now beyond frustrated.

She walks upto you and grabs your arm tightly, nails digging into your skin as you whimper slightly. "You will listen to me. I am your mother and you will listen to me. " she growls, "Pack the rest of your stuff. We're leaving tomorrow."

When she finally walks out your bedroom, your first instinct is to dress yourself in your black hoodie and track pants, and quietly slip out of the back window of your room.

The cold air nips at your skin, goosebumps slowly appearing on your arms and legs but you're too preoccupied to pay too much heed to it.

You reach Changbin's house and like always, walk up to the backyard and climb upto his room through the emergency staircase.

When Changbin hears knocks on his window, he quickly removes his headphones, "y/n?"

He walks upto the window and let's you in, his heart more at peace now than it's ever been the entire day. The guilt from the accident you had earlier was clawing at his conscience.

His room is mostly dark except for his table lamp. You notice the lyrics notebook lying on the table, open with some scribbles and random phrases on the pages.

"How are you feeling?"

You sit at the edge of his bed, cross legged while he kneels on the floor to get to your level. His hands find yours naturally.

"Fine," you swallow the tears that have been accumulating since you left the house, "Changbin, I- we're leaving tomorrow."

Changbin is taken aback; his heart shattering into billions of pieces at your words.

"Leaving? What do you mean Leaving?" his voice trembles.

You lick your dry lips and tell him everything your mom had told you earlier. When his face twists bitterly, a part of you wishes you'd held your tongue yet a bigger part of you wants Changbin to know the truth now; you didn't want him sending you off with lies in his mind and the fear of him finding out some years later just killed you inside.

"I'm so sorry, Changbin. Mom's just not been okay after the divorce." Your voice breaks when Changbin refuses to look at you, "I know she's speaking bullshit. But there's absolutely nothing I can do to change her mind, I've tried I swear. I'm sorry, Changbin."

When Changbin finally does look at you, even in the dim lit room, you see the tears glistening on his face, mirroring the ones that roll down your cheeks. "Why are you sorry, y/n? I don't blame your mom." He mutters, "It was partly my fault. I should have taken more care, I-"

You cup his cheek, "Shh. Bin, are we really going to spend my last night here crying and blaming ourselves? We might never see each other again."

The words sink deep into his soul, and he nods. He wills his tears back in as he grabs your hand tighter.

"Okay. What do you wanna do?"

You smile a little, "You're not gonna like it though. "

"Stargazing it is then." He giggles a little as the both of you make your way to balcony attached to his room.

It is quiet outside, unlike the noise in your head and you feel the calmness spreading to you when you look up at the stars.

Changbin brings a picnic mat from inside and spreads it out on the floor, along with two pillows and a blanket.

"We'll stay in touch, yeah? If you ever need anything, I'll be right here." He reassures you, lying beside you, hands behind his head.

You smile yet you cannot bring yourself to promise him the same because you know your mother would do everything in her power to push the two of you apart, even to the point of physically hurting Changbin. You would never want that so you'd rather distance yourself and let Changbin forget about you. And maybe, just maybe fate would be a little nicer to you and decide to bring you into his life again. Many years later.

He presses a soft kiss to your head, "You'll always be my best friend, y/n. I don't care how far we are."

It takes everything in your being to not repeat the words.

*

"Changbin, come on we're getting you to the hospital this instant, okay?" Mrs. Seo is furious next morning, running from room to room, looking through the list of doctors she'd saved just in case of emergency.

When she looks at her son, sitting on the sofa with one of his eye irises turning a glowing red, she is reassured that this is an emergency.

"How did this even happen, mom? I swear I didn't try to do anything funny with my eye." He murmurs, scared, "It feels so itchy, gosh!"

Mrs.Seo looks at him with concern just when the doctor picks the call, "Oh, hello Dr.Lee! Thank god you picked up!"

After his mom walks out of his room, Changbin quickly types you a text,

Binnie: Hey. Did you leave already?

Y/nnie: No not yet. We've stopped at the doctor's.

Changbin's eyes widen in alarm.

Binnie: What why?

You look at your face in the decorative mirror at the doctor's waiting room, one of your irises burning into a bright shade of ruby.

Y/nnie: Mom's running a cold.

You close the messenger app before he even replies, deciding to change your number and deleting all your old contacts as soon as you move into your new house. And as much as it hurt you, this one text turned out to be the last time Changbin and you ever talked.

*

It has been raining all day, which means you were stuck in your goddamn house with nothing to do but cry about Changbin and your lost friendship and your broken heart.

After you manage to get some food into your body during dinner time, you crawl back to your room and look into the mirror as you comb your hair and moisturize your skin.

(Self care is important, y'all)

Your red iris stares back at you, taunting your mistakes and calling you a coward.

If only you had still tried to keep in touch with him, if only that stupid accident wouldn't have happened in the first place, if only.

Suddenly, a knock on your balcony door makes you jump in your place.

Shit. Is it a burglar?

You grab the closest thing that could be classified as a weapon - which happens to be an umbrella.

The knocking continues.

"Y/n, it's Changbin." He yells, "Can I please talk to you?"

You freeze in your spot.

Why in the world is he here? Does he have anything worse to say? Is he here to invite you to his wedding? But why would he sneak in through the balcony when he can easily ring the main door bell.

"Y/n, are you in there?"

You quickly walk upto the door and slide it open, revealing Changbin, completely drenched in the rain. His wet hair stuck to his face and "Shit. What the- God, come inside!"

He obeys and tiptoes inside your room, a guilty expression plastered on his face.

You guide him directly to the bathroom and offer him a towel.

"What are you even doing here, Bin?" You lean against the door frame, hands crossed over your chest.

He is drying his hair with the towel when he looks up at you as if to answer your question but he stops. His mouth hangs open as his eyes remain glued to your face.

And that's when you realize why he looks so surprised.

"Shit- fuck." You turn around immediately, "my lenses," you mutter to yourself.

But before you can even walk upto your dressing table, Changbin has caught your wrist and spun you around, pulling you closer to his body.

"Your eye." He let's out a shaky breath.

"Yes, I know. Please don't freak out. It's always been like this after -"

"After the accident." He finishes your sentence, "I know."

Your mouth runs dry as his face draws in closer, "What do you mean you know? What do you know?"

He let's go of your wrist and takes a step back, turning around so that his back faces you.

And when he turns to look at you again, you swear you could have passed out there and then.

"Y-you have it too." You whisper, weak in the knees, "You have a red iris too."

Changbin gives you a small smile, "Yes, y/n."

"But why? What does this mean?" You say, "Is it a symptom of some chronic illness?"

"It's a soul mark."

"What's a soul mark?"

"It's a mark that exists on the bodies of soulmates."

You feel a pang in your chest; like someone was squeezing your heart out of your chest.

"Right," You fall back onto the bed, dazed with the sudden piece of information, "And how do you know all this?"

Changbin kneels down in front of you, hands finding yours. He looks more relaxed than he did since the first day you come back to town.

It almost feels like you had been given back your old friend.

"I've been doing my research, y/n. After you left, this is all I've been doing." He says, "This is also the reason why I had gotten engaged. By that time, I had given up on finding a soulmate. So I just settled for whatever I got. I didn't even feel bad when I found out my fiance was not in love with me. For the world, we might look like a happy couple, but truly, it was just a marriage of convenience for our parents' business."

You bite your lips wondering how to respond to these words. He'd laid bare his heart in front of you, something you never thought he'd do ever again.

"What now?" You say, tired.

He intertwines your fingers, "Also, I'm sorry for yesterday. I shouldn't have said all that."

You nod, "It's alright. I know you didn't mean it. And for the record, I and Chan have nothing going on."

"And for the record, I also broke off my engagement."

Your eyes widen as a gasp leaves your lips, "What? Why?"

"Because when I told my parents that I do not love my fiancé, and that I have only ever loved you, they said my happiness was more important than their business."

When you don't reply to his words, he looks worried, "Hey, you don't have to feel burdened to like me back and all okay? Literally, if you want me to leave you alone, I will. I understand-"

You pull him by the nape and place the softest, gentlest, most sincere kiss on his lips.

"I feel the same way, dumbass." You sigh as you pull him into your arms.

He muzzles his face in the crook of your neck, playing with your hair from behind, "So what now?"

"Let's start with a date." You say, "Let's take it slow."

Changbin wraps his arms tighter around you, kissing your cheek, "As you wish, my love. "

[lostinfic]

Fall fic prompts

You already know Hallmark’s  fluffy and AU-worthy Christmas movies, now get ready for Hallmark’s Fall movies:

Falling for Vermont: Celebrity and Amnesia

A best-selling author decides to escape the media frenzy in the country, but her plan goes awry when a she’s caught in a thunderstorm and crashes her car. Found wandering with no memory and no ID, the town doctor offers up his guest house until her memory returns.

Harvest moon: Rich girl/farmer

When her family goes bankrupt, privileged city girl travels to the country to try and help a struggling pumpkin farm that her father bought as an investment to get her money back. Not everyone is on board with her changes, least of all the farm’s handsome manager.

Pumpkin Pie Wars: enemies to lovers

Faye and Lydia each opened their own bakeries after a personal and professional fall-out during a local Pumpkin Pie contest. Now their children are set to carry on the rivalry. There's only problem for these two people who are supposed to hate each other - they start to fall in love.

Falling for you: (I don’t know what trope, but it sounds cute)

While planning a fundraising event, a small New England town’s radio station manager  meets her match in a visiting businessman. She ropes him into participating in her bachelor bake-off to help save the station.

Autumn dreams: First loves meet again

With big plans to leave their small town, two teenagers elope. But their parents have the marriage annulled, and one of them stays behind to help her family. Fifteen years later, they're both engaged to other people and discover that their annulment was never finalized. They reunite to make their divorce legal, but find themselves reminiscing about what could have been.

Love, of course: single parent and college setting

A single mom has spent most of her adult life “helicoptering” around her daughter. When her daughter moves out to go to college, the mother “conveniently” lands a job at the same college. When she meets a charismatic, well-traveled professor, she learns more about herself and discovers a new life of her own, filled with romance.

Under the autumn moon: cottage ranchcore

A driven businesswoman decides to check out a gorgeous ranch that her company intends to purchase for retreats. But when she gets there, the charming owner insists that they can’t buy it unless they preserve the ranch’s history. She stays to learn more about the land and, while there, she (you guessed it) falls hard for the owner.

[hobidreams]

june 1868.

but trust is a fickle, fragile thing.

pairing: joseon king!yoongi x reader genre: angst words: 1.2k contains: historical au, character death. historical context: “mama” is the korean equivalent of “your highness” & the proper address for a queen. a/n: this drabble is sponsored by a donation to Black Lives Matter.

moonlit throne index. this is drabble five. start from the beginning?

In the long decade since the night you swore utter allegiance to the crown prince, you have done everything within your grasp to uphold the heart of the commitment you’ve made. Even as the prince becomes a king, even as beloved companions submit to the passage of time, and even as the adolescent declaration of obedience itself matures into instead a steady, affectionate support, you keep your word on all but one occasion. But it is this exact decision, this single withheld secret, that shifts both your worlds irrevocably.

“You must tell my son that it is a common illness. A simple recovery, and nothing more,” the queen had commanded you on a somber day in winter the year before as you knelt beside her bed, wiping blood from the corner of her pale lips.

“Daebi-mama.” Your voice broke on the last beat. “How long have you been hiding this?”

“Please.” Though her elegant fingers were weak, she covered your hands with a warm, pleading palm. “He doesn’t need any more distractions. Not now. Especially not ones that don’t have… simple solutions.” She squeezed then, with what strength she could muster, silencing all your protests. “If you want him to succeed - don’t tell him.”

And so, you hadn’t.

But while you agreed with the queen’s intentions, you continued to fight against the inevitability in a way that only you could. The last six months have been a frenzied haze. You blistered your feet scouring the markets, begging foreign traders for rare or sometimes strange ingredients that you could incorporate into draughts. You sought documents written in symbols you did not recognize, paying translators to parse out a phrase or even a glimmer that could help. You can’t even remember all the nights that you spent brewing, steaming, straining until the sun came over the horizon. But with each subsequent draft you secretly delivered to her bed, the queen only grew weaker.

All of this, you kept hidden from man you cared for most, justifying the guilt to yourself whenever he inquired after his mother.

But now. Now, when the king is staring with unblinking eyes at the pure white cloth draped over his mother’s body, you find that you don’t know a damn thing about what’s right anymore.

You feel splinters in your chest as he takes one unsteady step towards the bed that you stand beside, hands folded in an act of repentance. His mouth opens, then closes, not a single noise passing between them for a century-long minute. All of your instincts urge you to turn away and allow him private space to grieve, but that’s your own cowardice at being faced with his sorrow, manifested in the quiver of his lip. You must put him first. You must be his witness, his pillar, even when your own heart tightens with grief.

“Mama.”

He stumbles forward, feet clamoring over each other until he’s close enough to draw back the cloth, just enough to expose her face. His short, forcibly-suppressed exhale hits the wall. Yoongi jerks his hand away as if scorched, lets it hang numbly at his side. It’s with an indescribable expression that he takes in the familiar, softly wrinkled eyes. The pink lips that were so often curved in a warm smile. The arms that were generous enough to encompass an entire nation, but never neglected the ones closest. “Mama,” he says, voice still so tight as he takes another unsteady step, as if he needs to be closer. He’d seen her just last night. He had left her alone, and now—

It’s when his knee knocks against the hard wood, when he can truly go no further, that he plummets to the stark floor and a lonely sob rips straight from his throat. Goosebumps shoot up your arms at the noise, the visceral howl and all you can do is watch as Yoongi breaks with a shuddering gasp, “Mom.”

In this moment, it’s not a king that kneels before you, but a son. Someone’s precious child, with no one to stay strong for any longer and so he throws the entire mask away. Lets the tears finally overflow, staining the bedsheets with salt and heartache before he crumples them in a weak fist. Yoongi cries like he has never done, not since he was old enough to learn how much the word responsibility weighed on his head and how many millions of lives his body, not him, is worth. A stray tear falls on the queen’s cheek and his red-rimmed eyes follow how it rolls down her face as if she weeps at the thought of leaving him too, and he cries. He just cries, with the delicate perfume of plum blossoms fast fading around him.

Uselessly, you wish you could do something.

You wish you could have found a cure, a miracle or anything that could have bought him more time, even if it was only for a season more, or a single day. Really, it’s your own failure. You remain so fucking inexperienced, even after all these years. You should have told him. You should have tried harder. And it’s this shame that makes you reach out for him before you can think better of it, wanting nothing more than to hold him to offer a whisper of comfort and to say he’s not alone.

But when you touch him, he startles. Shifts back. Shifts away from you and you think he gathers the pieces of his crown and stitches them back together before you even have time to blink.

“Jeonha—”

“Su-uinyeo-nim.” He cuts you off with the deliberate use of your full, formal title. He’s never called you such before, preferring your name during the weekly reports you made to him. The words feel sluggish on his tongue as if he thinks, as if he knows, you don’t deserve the role too. You find the strength to meet his watery, but no less intense stare, and hear him carefully ask— “Did you know?”

He doesn’t need to elaborate. Your fingers, lingering just an inch away from him, freeze and falter. Crumple into themselves, because you can’t give him the answer his darkening eyes say he hopes for. Or maybe that’s just you thinking too highly of yourself in his heart.

“Did you know?” He presses again, tone a little higher, voice a little more desperate.

But language is your next failure, and he is left to take your silence for the admission of guilt it is.

“Get out.” He stands, hovers protectively over the bed as if you are the danger, the outsider. “Your services—and you—are no longer required for her. You’ve done more than enough.”

Your legs shiver as you sink into a bow, quick. “Y-Yes, jeonha.”

Then your slippers are slapping against the hard floor, feet aching from the pace with which you flee from the suffocating room. Your chest burns with the want to scream that you loved her too. That you wanted to tell him so many times, almost did with a slip of a tongue, but wanted to spare his already overtaxed mind. That you tried your damned best but you just couldn’t save her, and so you lost her. And from that last glimpse of him through the closing door, hunched over alone and silently breaking, you know that you’ve lost him too.

[lamarkeu]

Made For Us | Masterlist 🍰

❣️SVT SOCIAL MEDIA AU❣️

💋 A Sequel to: Made With Love (Highly recommend you read that first)

💋Genre: Culinary!SVT, SingleMom!Reader, Comedy, Fluff, etc…

💋 Pairings: Reader x Seokmin, Reader x Seungcheol, Reader x Mingyu…

💋 Updates: Every Tuesday and Thursday (unless stated otherwise)

DM or Ask to be added to Taglist

❣️Summary: When we last left Y/N, she was a single mom, working 2 full time at jobs, all while finishing up her master degree in baking. Now having found a new job, planning her best friend's wedding, and fighting a custody battle, she starts to feel like she’s spreading herself too thin. Will she end up burning herself out? Or will find someone she can lean on to in times of need.

Movie Poster: by @xuseokgyu (please check it out it’s absolutely amazing!)

💋 Profile 1: Y/N’s Protection Squad 🏹

💋 Profile 2: Top Chef Elites 🥂

❣️Chapter 1: Welcome Back

❣️Chapter 2: The Wedding Party

❣️Chapter 3: London Bridge is Falling

❣️Chapter 4: All Rise

❣️Chapter 5: Iced Americano

❣️Chapter 6: The Sacrifices We Make

❣️Chapter 7: A Jump Start

❣️Chapter 8: A So Called Surprise

❣️Chapter 9: Damage Control

❣️Chapter 10: Time for Change

❣️Chapter 11: Morning Call

❣️Chapter 12: Trials and Tribulations

❣️Chapter 13: Telling The Truth

❣️Chapter 14: Night Changes

❣️Chapter 15: Paparazzi Frenzy

❣️Chapter 16: Right and Wrong

❣️Chapter 17: Engaging With Others

❣️Chapter 18: Familiar Strangers

❣️Chapter 19: It All Comes Tumbling Down

❣️Chapter 20: Me Before You

❣️Chapter 21: A Courthouse Wedding

❣️Chapter 22: Ordinary People

❣️Chapter 23: A New Beginning

❣️Chapter 24: Ready To Love

❣️Chapter 25: Crying over Croissant

❣️Chapter 26: Setting it Straight

❣️Chapter 27: Paparazzi Frenzy II

❣️Chapter 28: The Right Move

❣️Chapter 29: Motorcycle Anyone?

❣️Chapter 30: It’s Raining It’s Pouring

❣️Chapter 31: You Matter To Me

❣️Chapter 32: Recipe For The Perfect Pie

~ Fin~

[masterjedilenawrites]

The Batch Family: The Best Moments

Part of my Bad Batch AU: "The Batch Family." Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Echo, and Crosshair are children being raised by single mom Beth in a modern Earth setting. This will be a collection of short stories spanning a few different age groups and posted in a random order. [Collection Masterlist]

Word count: 1.1k | Bad Batch ages: Toddler, Child, Teen

The Best Moments | Beth's favorite moments with the boys include TV shows and snuggles.

* * *

The best moments were the understated ones. The ordinary, routine moments that were normally overlooked. Just another night, just another television show, just another stretch of time connecting dinner with bedtime.

But every once in a while, Beth would take a second to pull herself out of those moments and cherish them as something a little... more.

More connective, like when they were young and watched nature documentaries. They'd barely been with her for a year. Five restless, expressive toddlers that were suddenly her responsibility. Her very stressful, tiresome responsibility. But when she'd finally found the perfect show to play in the evening that wouldn't agitate or bore them, that's when she felt like they actually had a chance to connect. To bond.

Wrecker would be nestled against her chest, ooh-ing and aww-ing at the different animals. Echo would be leaning against her other side shushing him in response. Crosshair liked to curl up in the corner of the couch and quietly watch behind a stuffed animal, while Hunter preferred to sprawl out on the other side of the sofa with his own animals. He was usually the first to be lulled to sleep. And Tech would be at her feet, wide eyes glued to the screen in fascination. He was usually the last to fall asleep, if he ever did.

She would sit with them all and try to get over the fact she could no longer keep up with the exciting murder mysteries and sexy medical dramas that everyone else was watching, and instead focus on these boys she was now calling her sons. She'd take in all their features, feel their warmth as they snuggled close, even in the summer. She'd observe how they reacted to certain things, getting excited about some biomes and animals, but not others. She got to know them, who they were, who they might become.

* * *

Or the moments were more fun, like when they were older kids and went through all the seasons of The Amazing Race. There were not a lot of family-friendly reality shows to choose from, especially not on these subscription services that were becoming popular. But this one was innocent enough. It was exciting and adventurous, and showed off a whole wide world that Beth knew she couldn't afford to show them herself.

There was much more talking during these times. Which of the travelers would make it to the check point and which would be eliminated. What the next countries might be, and what fun facts they all happened to know about these different places. Which of their brothers they would travel with if they were on the show. Sometimes those discussions ended in some squabbles and tears, because obviously someone would be left out and "have" to go with mom. Which Beth would then dramatically protest against and get them all laughing again.

These times were less about getting them to wind down and more about giving them something to look forward to. And to give herself a bit of a break from the daily grind. From the morning rush before school to the frenzy of dinnertime, those days could sometimes feel like a never-ending circus, but their family time by the TV reminded them to enjoy life anyway. Together.

* * *

And then the moments became more infrequent as they grew into teenagers. But somehow, they were also more meaningful, too. Beth was able to reclaim her own TV time, without the fear of young eyes accidentally seeing something they weren't ready to understand yet. It was also her personal alone time, something that'd been nearly impossible to find until the boys became more self-sufficient. She would grab an armful of snacks, set herself up among a pile of pillows and blankets in her bed, and resume binging the next trendy show of the week.

But the moments, those bonding, fun, and sincere moments, came when she wasn't alone. It was inevitable, no matter how independent they insisted they were, one of them would come crawling into bed to watch with her.

It was usually Echo. He'd start by sticking his head through the door, saying he just wanted to check on her, make sure she was okay. And then limb by limb he'd get further into the room, coming up with more things to say, until eventually he'd be leaning back at her side just as he used to when he was young, helping her polish off the Oreos and laughing along with whatever ridiculous plot line was going on.

Hunter popped in pretty regularly, too, though he only pretended to be interested in the show. Eventually the volume would be lowered in favor of letting him vent about whatever was on his mind. School, his brothers, sports, girls, his brothers... He always took on so much and didn't like to show how frustrated and exhausted he was in front of others. So Beth didn't mind missing out on an episode if it meant she could finally get him to let it out.

Occasionally Wrecker or Tech would wander in, and it was always pleasantly surprising when they did. Wrecker wasn't one to relax very often. He hit the ground running in the morning and wouldn't stop until he was fast asleep that night. But sometimes he grew bored, or maybe it was the snacks. Either way, Beth didn't complain, since he always found a way to make even a boring courtroom procedural funny with his comments and reactions.

Tech provided commentary, too, but it was more informative. Or at the least inquisitive. He'd ask her what was going on or who certain characters were, and she'd go off trying to recap all the drama that had happened so far, watching with amusement as he tried to follow along. But even though he claimed it was all so unrealistic, he'd still stick around to watch the next series of events unfold. He said he only wanted to see if his predictions were right, but Beth suspected he missed her company sometimes.

The most rare was Crosshair, and it was always when they both needed it the most. His moments were quiet and tender. Sometimes she would let out a reaction, sometimes he would ask her to pass the popcorn bowl. But otherwise they would watch the story in silence and hold on to each other. It didn't matter how old he was, how tall and lanky he was. He'd still unabashedly cuddle with his mom, just as long as the door was shut and no one knew about it.

Those were the best moments. When she could sit amongst her children and live the life they were so lucky to have together. They weren't the glamorous moments. The milestones or the victories or even the hardships. They wouldn't be jotted down in a memoir or retold for years to come. They probably weren't even moments the boys themselves cared to remember. But they were her moments, and she cherished every single one.

[petri808]

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

Inukag Royalty Au

Queen Higurashi looked up after reading the letter. “What is the meaning of this Sango?” Her voice straining against lashing out in a mix of anger and confusion. “Prepare a wedding? For whom, Kagome? But where is Kagome?”

“I am very sorry your majesty,” Sango bowed, “but I am only the messenger for the Inutaisho. He didn’t tell me all the details either.”

The instructions sent by letter and stamped with the Inutaisho’s official seal explained that the Higurashi’s should prepare a secret wedding ceremony. It was a brief letter and requested the only other person that should be in attendance besides the royal family was the priest. All the trappings of a traditional royal wedding affair would not take place, such as inviting the nobles or holding a large ball to celebrate. It was important to maintain a secrecy.

“Then you tell me everything that you do know!” The King snapped. “This is our daughter!”

“I understand, your majesty, I really do. But I am doing this to protect the Princess. I agree with the Inutaisho that there is a potential spy, but we don’t know who or where they are to have found out about the cancelled marriage arrangement. So, secrecy is our only protection. Please just know the Princess is safe and everything will be made clear when the Inutaisho arrives here in a week.”

“Do you truly believe this spy exists?” The queen questioned the young woman.

Sango stood tall and firm in her conviction. “Yes, your majesty. I do.”

The queen and king shared a silent conversation before turning back to the attendant. “Very well, we will honor the Inutaisho’s request. But is there really nothing else we should be preparing? What will Kagome wear? Are no flowers needed?”

Sango shook her head. “If there really is a spy in our midst, ordering such things will raise suspicions and I got the impression that the Inutaisho will make sure anything else required will be taken care of. Right now, the important thing to do is act as normally as possible until they arrive.”

King and Queen Higurashi were concerned, but in the end, they knew Sango was loyal to their daughter and would never do anything that could put her in harm’s way. So, they chose to trust her. It had already been a shock to them to learn their daughter had been living an assumed life in the Inu kingdom but were even more confused on how the Inutaisho became involved. It was a relief in a way, despite not knowing all the details because King Naraku was not someone they’d want their daughter to marry. They’d been threatened with force if they hadn’t agreed to the marriage, so this might just be their saving grace. Their trusted priest was contacted and sworn to secrecy, to be ready in about a week’s time to perform a marriage ceremony, with the only other person told anything being their younger son Souta. The young man was less concerned over his sister’s whereabouts all this time and simply happy that he’ll be seeing her again.

And right as expected, a week later the castle guards were notified of the Inutaisho’s arrival. But not just the King, a full entourage including the whole royal family. The castle’s staff was sent into a full frenzy to ready enough sleeping quarters for the royals, and a meeting room was also readied so the two families could finally sort out just what in the world was going on.

Kagome led the Inu family into the meeting room and immediately upon seeing her mother the tears began to pool in her eyes from all the guilt of putting them through this. She rushed over and hugged the queen.

“I’m sorry for running away,” she quietly whimpered into her mother’s shoulder. “This is all my fault.”

“Oh, my dear, please don’t blame yourself.” The woman rubbed her hand up and down in a soothing manner along Kagome’s back. “We were partially to blame as well. Now dear,” the woman pulled away and cupped her daughter’s cheek while wiping away the tears. “Please tell us what is going on.”

Kagome looked back and gestured for Inuyasha to come to her. “It will all be explained, but first I’d like you to meet his son, prince Inuyasha.”

“Your majesty’s,” the man bowed his head to the royals.

“It is nice to finally meet you, prince Inuyasha,” the king and queen smiled at the handsome man.

Kagome then took Inuyasha’s hand and interlaced their fingers. “Mom, Inuyasha is the man I’ll be marrying.”

Her parent’s eyes widened. They’d suspected it, but to have it confirmed was a joy! “Oh, thank the gods!” The queen smiled. “But how did this happen?”

It was at this point that the Inutaisho stepped forward. “We should first discuss the more pressing issue that’s brought us here today.”

The Higurashi’s nodded and motioned towards a sitting area. From there the rest of the Inu family were introduced to the Higurashi’s before being escorted to their guest rooms. Only the Inutaisho, Queen Izayoi, Inuyasha, and Kagome were the ones to stay behind.

Inutaisho spoke first. “I shall leave the details of how Kagome originally came to us for her to tell you later.” He explained how his son had fallen in love and that is what prompted him to call off the original marriage arrangement, but of course at the time they didn’t know of Kagome’s true identity. It was only revealed when Sango arrived to take her home. “Once that happened, I was shocked to find out she was the original princess he was betrothed to, but also furious to learn Naraku had swept in and threatened you over her hand. That is not something I will tolerate, because it means he’d had spies either in my palace, your castle, or both to have learned such information.”

“So, what are you saying?” King Higurashi questioned. “We’re still bound by the new contract, and he is probably on his way right now.”

“I believe,” the Inutaisho continued, “that this is both our faults for not telling our children the truth right from the beginning. Had we introduced them before setting up the arrangement, perhaps none of this would have happened. But we cannot undo the the past and therefore, I feel there is a way to set things right again. Our new arrangement provided that the Inu Kingdom would step in to protect this one and that is exactly what I plan to do.”

“And how do you propose to do so?” King Higurashi questioned.

“I have already hidden a garrison in the surrounding area.”

“Will one be enough?” Queen Higurashi questioned.

“Yes. They are our strongest yokai division. So, when King Naraku arrives he will have no chance against them.”

“But why did we need to prepare for a wedding ceremony?”

“To make Kagome and Inuyasha’s marriage official before he got here. Between a binding marriage vow and the threat of destruction, Naraku would be a fool to test my might. If once everything has been settled, you wish to hold a proper celebration, I see no harm in that.”

“Thank you, your majesty.” King and queen Higurashi bowed their heads to Inutaisho.

“I want you to know that over the course of these months, Kagome has truly become a part of our family. So, it is my honor to play a role in setting things right.” Inutaisho smiled. “Plus, she’s a very good match for my son.”

Queen Higurashi sighed in relief. “It’s a genuine pleasure to see my daughter happy too.”

Before Queen Izayoi took her leave, she explained to her counterpart that Kagome’s dress was already made, and flowers had been brought in for a bouquet. They were also instructed to tell their staff that the Inu clan was just there to attend the upcoming wedding in order to keep rumors lowered. Next the two kings moved onto outlining what will happen when Naraku arrived. One plan was to confront him immediately before they even arrived at the gate, while another was to allow him entry and confront him in the throne room. The second option came down to if the hunter Inutaisho brought to track down Naraku’s spy was successful.

While the men discussed the military details, queen Higurashi, Kagome, and Inuyasha retreated to another private room. As soon as the trio sat down, the refined poise of a queen was turned off. “Alright, spill it.” The woman scolded the couple in a light tone. “I want all the details and starting from the beginning.”

The couples faces turned pink in embarrassment, but nevertheless, Kagome began telling the tale of how she’d become princess Rin’s attendant at the palace, to the budding romance between she and Inuyasha. “We both tried so hard to fight our feelings,” the woman looked down in nervous shame. “But it just grew stronger instead.”

“That’s when I’d fought with my father to cancel the arrangement. I told him I’d rather stay single if it meant living with Kagome in the palace for the rest of my life.”

“I probably should have told Inu the truth right there,” Kagome admitted. “But I was so afraid the king would kick me out because not only did I want to stay with Inuyasha, but I didn’t want to leave Rin as well.”

Inuyasha grasped Kagome’s fidgeting fingers. “And I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for her. Rin’s truly blossomed because of you.”

“Kagome,” her mother addressed her. “I hope you know that we always had the best intentions for you and I’m sorry that because we weren’t honest with you it drove you to run away. I was more afraid then upset not knowing if you were okay, so it warms my heart to know you’ve been in good hands all along.”

“The Inu’s made me feel like family from the beginning, and I can’t thank them enough for their hospitality.”

The queen smiled. “I’m proud of you Kagome. To know I bore such a strong woman, I can rest well, knowing you’ll be able to weather anything thrown at you.”

Kagome’s eyes teared up as she moved over to hug her mother. “Thank you, that means the world to me to hear that.”

The queen hugged her back. “Oh, I love you so much my dear.”

“I love you too mom.”

“And thank you, Inuyasha, for taking care of my little girl. I have no doubt that your marriage will be a long and happy one.”

“Thank you, your majesty,” Inuyasha smiled. “I will treat her like a queen.”

The following day, the royal families gathered in the chapel to solidify the marriage between Inuyasha and Kagome. While a small affair, it was still a special one with Rin playing a flower bearer, Sango a bridesmaid, and Miroku a groomsman. Inuyasha wore a white ceremonial military uniform with red and gold accouterments and decked out with the royal Inu family crest. Kagome’s white dress followed the style of the Inu kingdom with a form fitting top and flowing floor length dress, decorated with red and gold patterns to mirror Inuyasha’s garb.

The couple stood facing one another before the priest who took their hands and placed one on top of the other, then lightly wrapped the layered hands with a white sash to signify their union. He then placed his own hand on top and began the sermon.

“There is nothing more blessed than the coming together of two individuals in matrimony. To love each other and support each other through sickness and in health until the end of their days. And what I see before me is a tested love that shall endure whatever trials or tribulations may come their way.”

“Prince Inuyasha, do you take princess Kagome to be your wedded wife, to cherish and honor with love and loyalty until the end of your days?”

“I do.”

“And do you, princess Kagome, take prince Inuyasha to be your wedded husband, to cherish and honor with love and loyalty until the end of your days?”

“I do.”

“Then unless there is any here that objects to this Union, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

“Finally,” Inuyasha breathed out as he swooped in and kissed a giggling Kagome.

Cheers and clapping from all around the couple went ignored, and the attendees simply became a faded background. This had been the moment they’d been fated for all along and to finally have it consummated, truly felt like a new beginning. When she ran away from home, Kagome never imagined this is where she’d end up. Marrying a man, she’d fallen in love with all on her own instead of through an arranged marriage. Perhaps the gods had been on her side all along.

Inuyasha’s fingers swept gently over her cheek as he stared with blissful intent into her eyes. “I love you, Kagome.”

She leaned into his hand as her eyes softened. “I love you too, Inuyasha.”

Just a little longer and they’ll truly be free…

[mae-gi-writes]

Where The Sea Birds Sleep | Kevin (The Boyz Imagine)

A cute confession needs no words. 

A/N: I just wanted a cute fluffy Kevin au because it’s been a while and I forgot how great it feels to write for him. xx Stay safe, stay healthy and take care y’all <3 

Genre: aquarium trip au, fluff, cute hand-holding.

------

The school of fish glide through the aquamarine water, scales flashing all colours of the rainbow as they catch the light bouncing off the aquarium walls. Kevin is already steps ahead of you like a giddy child, palms pressing against the cool glass and nose practically squished up against it. His gaze swivels back and forth to catch a glimpse of as many species as he can and a small giggle bursts from his lips at intervals.

You watch with your arms crossed a few meters back, an amused grin adorning your face. You feel Jacob nudge you, "you're doing it again."

You immediately wipe your face blank, "doing what?"

"Staring Kevin down like he's a fresh piece of sashimi you wish to gobble up."

You slap his arm without hesitation and the said man yelps, "piss off," you mutter.

On your other side stands Juyeon, hands shoved in his pockets and looking like he'd rather be anywhere else but here.

The three of you had given in to Kevin's needless whining about aquarium visits, with the latter dropping subtle hints every now and again-- pamphlet deals, coupons to buy a fish, a discount on end of the year sales for aquarium visits. This guy literally picked up everything that had the marine animal plastered over it for his friends to see, and thus you had decided to take matters into your own hands, considering that no one else would otherwise.

Not because you had a huge mega crush on the said young man.

No, this is solely because of your long standing friendship and a way to make him stop whining.

Clearly though, Jacob and Juyeon don't think so. They both playfully nudge their elbows to your sides as you keep following Kevin's voice pitched with excitement.

"Did you drag us along on purpose just to stand there and do nothing?" Juyeon murmurs into your ear while you enter the jellyfish section, causing you to shoot him a look, "Don't," there's an edge to your tone but Juyeon isn't afraid, even reaches over to mess the perfect ponytail you took thirty minutes to perfect.

"Juyeon!" You yell in a growing mixture of annoyance and he runs away to hide behind a still awestruck Kevin. The latter blinks back to reality, noticing the glower on your face before he asks what's wrong.

You grumble something about Juyeon being a dick, to which he blows you a kiss. The aquarium is devoid of people, making it easier for you to take your time or rather, to wait for Kevin who ooes and aahs at every single fish he lays eyes upon. Warmth blossoms through your heart as you see his face light up, a smile tugging your lips upwards without realizing it.

That is precisely one of the reasons why you love him so much. He's amazed by life itself and watching him is like experiencing a different kind of sunset everyday; breathtakingly beautiful and different.

You wish you had that kind of optimism. But like a flower in need of sunlight, you had found yourself tilting towards Kevin in search for his warmth to envelope you.

It is when you reach the manta ray section that you jump up in excitement, quickly scooting beside the said dark-haired man where you can see the birds of the sea gliding through the waters with a gentleness that causes you to grin, not realizing that you're currently mirroring Kevin's expression.

"Oh look at that one! It's a baby!" Kevin points and evidently enough, there's a paler, smaller manta ray accompanying its mother.

"They're so cute," you find your voice as you feel the softest brush of manta ray skin against your palm. You giggle, "it tickles."

"Manta rays are so poetic," Kevin says, "I could write a whole book about how they swim."

"I'd buy that book in a heartbeat," you joke, "they've always been fascinating to me."

Your hand suddenly brushes against his by accident and you quickly pull back, heat exploding through your cheeks and you pray to god that the darkness of the aquarium is enough to hide it.

"Why?"

"I don't know," you can feel his eyes, those beautiful angular almond eyes, on you. You keep your eyes glues to the waters though, "I guess I'm a hopeless romantic. We don't call them birds of the sea for nothing."

He hums in agreement, "that's true."

"Why do you like fish so much?"

There's a soft pause, broken only by the sound of water churning in the background.

"Ever since I was small, I had a fish tank," he starts, "I would look at it everyday and try to figure out why the fish never ate each other."

You snort, "calm down cannibal."

"It's true! I swear it's a kid thing okay?"

"Sure."

"Well anyway, my mom used to take care of them back when she didn't have a job. So she told me that they had their own ecosystem and that breaking the balance of it would ultimately create havoc."

"Hence cannibalism?" You notice his shoulder against yours. Had he always been this close? Maybe you're just imagining things.

"You're such a weirdo Y/N," Kevin crinkles his nose at your comment, "people would just call it the cycle of life. Why'd you gotta be so vulgaar?"

"I wouldn't be me if I weren't vulgar."

"No," his alto grows softer, closer to you, "you wouldn't."

Another pause ensues, though it is comfortable. You pet the ray that is lifting its fin as if in a solitary wave and you gently stroke the underside before your hand dives back down into the water. It knocks into Kevin's.

"Sorry," you mutter before going to pet another ray that is incoming. But warmth suddenly engulfs your little finger and blinking down in confusion, your mouth grows dry at the way the young man has his little finger hooked into yours. What the--?

Your eyes find his face only to see him blatantly caressing another ray with his other hand, trying his best to ignore your poignant stare. Questions are bouncing at the tip of your tongue and you press your lips together, realizing that you do indeed like the feel of his finger around yours.

Noticing that you aren't pulling back yet, Kevin grows a little more confident. He leans into your shoulder a little more, just the gentlest pressure of clothed body to body.

Then, the rest of his fingers weave through yours like magic and you can't believe how right it feels.

You probably stay that way for a few minutes longer even though it feels like seconds. All too soon, you feel Kevin shift while murmuring that maybe you should catch up with Jacob and Juyeon, who have long since disappeared. He doesn't let go of your hand though, keeps holding it tightly in his until he finds some tissues to wipe it off.

He holds your hand so gently between his, his touch fleeting and light, yet sending an array of goosebumps skittering down your said arm. You can barely breathe as you search his eyes, but when he looks back at you, the tenderness of his face is enough to render your heart into a frenzied staccato.

"I wonder where they've gone," he hums, tugging you along with a thumb gently brushing over your knuckles. Your face is flaming red at this point and he'd be an idiot not to notice.

"I--" you can't keep your eyes off your entwined hands, "I don't know."

He glances back, notices the focus of your attention, before grinning playfully, "what?"

Your gaze flits upwards to his, "nothing."

His hand squeezes yours as if in understanding and upon hearing his soft playful giggle, you let out a small laugh before squeezing back fondly.

A few minutes later, you spot the missing two boys by the coffee stand don't hesitate to scowl at them when you notice their eyes lingering over your linked hands, smirks flashing across their faces.

"Hey Kevin," Jacob calls out, "Why are you holding Y/N's hand?"

Oh god. You wish you can punch him. Your entire body grows still.

Kevin, with soft peony cheeks, only grins in return before he says a little smugly, "because I like her. And because she's going to be mine."

At this point you feel so hot that you wouldn’t be surprised if you were to combust right there and then, nudging Kevin as you bite your lip to stop the smile from spreading across your face. Meanwhile, the other two boys high-five each other as Kevin leans in a little closer, lips just mere inches from your ear:

"So will you? Be mine?"

[theonewiththefanfics]

At Arm’s Length (Part 5)

 Synopsys: Modern!AU

Bucky Barnes is the co-owner of ‘Barnes and Rogers’. The Reader is the secretary for Stark Industries. Both are childhood friends and madly in love. Things couldn’t be more perfect. But when something happens at Reader’s work, things might change and it will test to what lengths the pair is willing to go to find their happy ending.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Genre: angst

Warnings: swearing, mentions of accidents and hospitals and injuries

Word count: 2298

Italics are flashbacks

Bucky was halfway through throwing things in his suitcase and mentally trying to check everything off a list he might need in Spain, when the doorbell rang. The absolute want to telepathically punch whoever was on the other side of the door and taking away every precious minute was almost as unbearable as that time Y/N had made him try out sushi and he’d had to pretend not to hate it.

Practically running, Bucky got to the door and ripped it open only to be greeted by a bewildered Steve at his actions.

“What?” Bucky shook his head. “What do you want?”

“You in a hurry of some kind?”

“Actually yes.” He stepped away from the door and allowed Steve to come inside the loft, quickly shutting it and grabbing the dirty whiskey glass before placing it into the sink and washing it out. “I’m going to Barcelona.”

Steve blanked for a second. “Barcelona?”

“Yes, Barcelona. Just because you repeat it won’t change the name of the city.”

His friend scoffed, and Bucky threw him a dirty gaze, but Steve just bit down on his lip. There was only one reason Bucky would be in such a frenzy, and it wasn't a secret (not that he was trying to keep it that way). 

“I’m assuming you talked to Y/N," Steve more so stated rather than asked.

The brunet sighed and nodded.

“And I assume it didn’t go over too well…”

“Nope,” Bucky murmured and plopped onto the couch. “In fact, it’s probably the worst way everything could’ve gone, which is why I need to go and see her face-to-face.”

“How so?” 

“She admitted she loved me. But…” Bucky let out a shaky breath and closed his eyes like it would erase her words from existence. “Then she said it’s not enough.”

“Did she actually say she’s in love with you?” In all honesty, Steve was quite stunned. Yes, he knew Y/N was most definitely capable of love and loved the people in her life as fiercely as the sun burned in the sky, but actually saying those words… that was not something she took lightly. And especially in the context, Bucky made sure his words were heard.

“Well not exactly. But when she asked me for a reason not to move on, and I said because she loved me as I love her, she didn’t deny it… and that’s good enough for me.”

Steve looked at his friend, the determination on his face. There was no way he’d be able to stop him (not that he wanted to), but at the same time, it was his job as his partner to get that brain living in romance-land back into the real world as well. “Well before you go, I think you should know, that whatever happened last night, has become an absolute mess. More than it already was.”

Bucky’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean? What’s a mess?”

Steve huffed. “This.”

From the inside of his jacket, Steve took out a roll of paper and unfolded it, placing it on the glass coffee table. In front of both men was a newspaper, a picture of Bucky’s face all over it, but not in a flattering sort of way. Especially with the title in big bold letters read ‘Is the fairytale already over? Bucky Barnes was seen cosying up to Tony Stark’s personal assistant Natalia Alianova Romanova minutes after professing his love on live TV to the recently promoted Stark Industries secretary Y/N Y/L/N.’

He threw the paper back onto the table, not even bothering to look at the full article. “This is bullshit," he gritted through his teeth. "It’s absolute bullshit. Look,” Bucky sighed placing a hand on his hip and running the prosthetic one through his already dishevelled hair. “I can't do this right now, I need to get to Y/N first. I’ll deal with it when I get back. I’m going to Barcelona.”

Steve crossed his arms over his chest. “To do what – forcibly make Y/N come back?”

And that set off Bucky. “I can’t lose her! Not after everything that has happened! I can’t just sit on this fucking couch and wait until she is transferred back because guess what – that’s not happening! I’ve let life dictate everything too much, so it’s time I take it into my own hands.”

The desperation was laced in every single syllable of his words, as Steve understood what he meant.

***

Bucky had never been this close to death. Scratch that. The only other time Bucky had been this close to death was when he had tried to sneak out of his room in eleventh grade to go with Steve and Y/N to a midnight movie showing, after failing his math exam. His mom hadn’t been too happy about the results, to put it mildly, so when Winifred Barnes had seen her son try and climb through the window after she'd downgraded his curfew to nine PM… let’s just say, Bucky didn’t join for movie nights for a month.

But as the train violently swished off of the tracks, his body tossed around the inside like a ragdoll, Bucky truly thought he was going to die. The train rolled to the side and continued to skid along the way. A sharp pain shot down from his left shoulder to his abdomen and up to his head, and that’s when the darkness came.

It wasn’t all-encompassing darkness as Bucky thought death would be. It was warm, where he thought it would be cold, and soothing where he thought it would rip him apart. But all of that he could attribute to the fact that even after years of not seeing her, barely catching up with phone calls and texts as they had gone their separate academic ways, Y/N was the one that brought him peace.

She was there, in the blackness, sitting shoulder to shoulder with him, and her gentle laughter filled the air around him, fueling Bucky with nothing but love. 

God, how he loved her. He’d been too scared to ruin their friendship and too scared to mess up the dynamic between him, her and Steve, but now he didn’t have to worry about that. 

Death was comfortable, it was as soft as Y/N’s hands and as gentle as the look in her eyes, and Bucky wasn’t even half-mad about going, as long as she led him through into the light.

But when he got to the end, the light was too bright and stung his eyes, and the soft palm that had slid in his had transformed into a rough and scratchy one, and Bucky’s blue eyes opened up to see a sterile room rather than what he thought would be heaven in the form of Y/N's old bedroom. 

Steve’s eyes were red as if he had been crying for days on end when their blue orbs met.

“I’m sorry,” his friend choked out, brain barely processing Bucky was awake, spewing out the first thing that came to it, the guilt eating at his insides. “They tried everything.”

“What?” Bucky slurred and tried to roll his head to the side when blearing hot pain shot through his side. That’s when the warmth he’d felt disappeared and the sharp reality set in, the horrid memories of what had happened coming back in painful waves. He didn't need to glance to his left to understand what he'd paid to stay alive. The bandages across his chest and the stump where his arm used to be said it all.

But even then, Bucky turned his head back to look at Steve and gave him a tight-lipped smile, teeth digging into his bottom lip as he desperately tried to keep it from wobbling to somehow comfort his friend.

“You gotta swear something to me, Steve." Bucky immediately stated, mind running a mile a minute. "Right now.”

“Anything,” he said through a hiccup. “You know I’d do anything for you, Buck.”

“We don’t tell Y/N about this shit.”

Steve was flabbergasted. They told Y/N everything. It was practically wired into all of their DNAs to share stuff with one another, so when Bucky demanded silence about the accident, Steve’s head didn’t compute the request.

“We can’t,” Bucky reiterated, squeezing Steve's palm with his remaining hand. “We can’t tell her.”

“And why the fuck not? She’s our friend! Our best friend!”

“Because she’s gonna flip.”

Steve scoffed. “As any normal person would. I can’t lie to her about something like this.”

“We’re not gonna be lying. We’re just not gonna say anything.”

“Why?”

Bucky bit down on his lip before looking up at the ceiling, attempting but ultimately failing to keep the tears at bay. “Because I don’t want her to look at me in any different way. I don’t want her to worry or stress.”

“Buck, she deserves to know.”

“He sighed looking back at his friend. “I know… but she deserves to finish her degree.”

Steve shook his head. “How does this factor into her getting her fucking education?”

“This is Y/N we’re talking about!” Bucky let out a teary chuckle.  “She’d drop anything and everything if she found out! Fuck, she’d run over after hearing that you got off scots free," and Bucky breathed out that statement with pure relief in his voice, as he gave Steve a once-over to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. "She'd do that just to see for herself that you’re alright. I can’t let her do that to her life.” Bucky finally looked at the stump that once was his left arm. “She deserves to grow and flourish before any of this shit baggage comes into her life. The recovery will be long, I'm not delusional. And she doesn’t need to see all of the crap that’s gonna happen.”

“Don’t you think it’s unfair to Y/N?” Steve bit his lip. “She’d want to be here to support you.”

“I know,” Bucky sighed. “But I couldn’t handle seeing her in pain. In any amount of pain… so please, Steve… don’t tell her about any of this.”

And with a resigned sigh, he took hold of Bucky’s one remaining palm and squeezed it. “I won’t. I promise.”

Two years and a month later after the accident.

“I deserved to know!”

Bucky let out a terrified shudder. He took it back. The train wasn’t the closest he’d ever been to death. This, the moment he told it to Y/N, was. “I – I know, but –“

“What ‘but’?! There is no ‘but’! I deserved to fucking know! Bucky, I loved you! I still do! You’re my family as is Steve, and the thought of having potentially lost you…” She chocked back and sob and placed a hand over her mouth. She had to take a deep breath before she could continue. “The fact that you didn’t want me there for you, honestly hurts like shit. Did – do I mean so little to you?”

“Sweetheart, you’re my entire world! Please don’t ever think that I don’t trust you or love you. I do,” he whispered bringing her head to his chest, which she reluctantly placed there, hearing Bucky’s erratic heartbeat. “I love you more than you’ll ever be able to understand, but you didn’t deserve to see the shit I had to deal with. It was nasty and horrible and brutal, and I’d never want to put you through something like that," he muttered in her Y/H/C locks, kissing her head.

“I don’t care about that!” She sniffled grasping onto the back of his shirt. “I’d change your fucking diapers if I’d had to. I would’ve dropped everything to help you!”

Bucky pulled her face back, head cupped between his palms, a pained smile on his face. “Exactly! Because you’re amazing, and kind and sweet and care for others and their happiness more than you care for your own! I couldn’t let you do that! You were so close to getting your degree. I wasn’t about to ruin it.”

“Bucky, you’ve never ruined anything.”

“Even your tenth birthday celebration?”

And that’s when she let out a small chuckle, but it was like a symphony of angels to Bucky’s ears. His Y/N was back, the smile he'd fallen in love with once again on her face. “Okay, maybe just that one thing. But I don’t hold that against you. More so the bad leftover shrimp you had.” She placed her palm against his cheek, and he leaned into her touch. “Please, don’t keep things from me. Especially something as big as that. I want to be there for you. Through thick and thin, I wanna be able to help.”

Bucky couldn’t help the tears that brimmed at his lower lash line. “I love you, you know that?”

“I love you too,” she mumbled pressing a small kiss to where his prosthetic connected to his shoulder. “Now let’s eat that pizza and watch ‘Friends’. You owe me. Big time.”

***

“And what are you gonna say? When you get to Barcelona?” Steve asked, finally realizing there was no way he could talk his friend out of what he had set his mind on. The blond would be lying if he said, he wasn’t at least somewhat excited that Bucky flying out could potentially get Y/N her head out of her ass and agree to at least try a long-distance thing. He'd been watching from the sidelines as his two friends loved the other from afar, and his heart ached for them.

Bucky shrugged his shoulders. “The same thing I told her before – that I love her, have for a while, and I’m not ready to give up on something that hasn’t even started yet.”

“And then?”

“And then… and then I can only hope she doesn’t make me leave.”

Tags (crossed out wouldn’t take):

Everything tags: @lumelgy @palaiasaurus64​ @supernaturalbaesduh​ @breezy1415 @crazy--me @thatawkwardlittlefangirl​ @sea040561​ @staryeyedgirl​ @deathbyarabbit​ @s-c-a-r-e-d-po-t-t-e-r @reblogger-not-a-blogger @m-a-t-91​ @dalilx​ @i-need-a-hero-i-need-a-loki @maladaptive-ninja-returns​ @averyrogers83​ @in-the-end-im-still-trash​ @gallifreyansass​ @dewy-biitch​ @avxgers​ @unlikelygalaxygiver​ @magicwithaknife​ @ollyoxenfrees​ @bnhvrdy​ @tvwhoresblog @celebsimagines @thatkindofgurl​ @sj-thefan​ @teenwolflover28 @lestersglitterglue​ @im-squished​ @strangersstranger​

At Arm’s Length tags: @impalatobakerstreet​ @slender--spirit​ @janineabad @salty-buchanan @chrisevans1fan @dyanna-corona​ @chook007​ @lost-and-wandering-alone​ @goalie-love @nerdgirljen​ @jediviolet​ @fandomly-writings​ @densewaffle @hawkxyes @mizzzpink​ @nishanki1​ @misplacedorphan​ @dylan5573​ @onespideyboi @nerdygirlwithacrush​ @rumlow-barnes-kulina @wantonmeep​ @savemesteeb​ @hoe4sebastian @dreambutdontsleepx​ @marvelismysafezone​ @cap-just-said-language​

Bucky tag list: @thunderous-flower @who-cares-rn​ @projectxhappiness​ @callmebucky-doll​ @coal000​ @killuaenthusiast @courtneychicken​ @sophiealiice​ @raquelbc2003 @watch-out-for-thorns​ @potentially-kinetic​ @thatonegirljessy99​ @proxinge @bbkenna @buckysclub @ulired @fangirlofeverythingbasically @mrsalh32611​ @horrorx570ximagines​ @the-nargles-made-me-do-it​ @pooslie​ @itsisabelanotisabella @httpmcrvel​ @purplebananatragedy​ @pxrrishly​ @parker-barnes-af​ @skulliebythesea​ @california-grown​ @stevehesaidabadlanguageword @belongsto-prachi​ @hello-i-am-insane​ @its-nott-my-problem @emmalbg @hopeinahotbox​

Marvel tags: @nerissa98​ @happyseagrill​ @asguardiansoftheavengers​ @crazybutconfidentaf​ @wishingforahome​ @pizzarollpatrol​ @desir-ae​

A/N: soooo, I guess I’m continuing this, although for whatever reason my fics won’t show up in the Bucky tags, so if you could reblog it please do so as it would greatly help :)

Also sometime on Friday I’ll make a masterpost of every tag list I have and everyone who’s tagged in what. I have loads of accounts I can’t seem to tag, and some of it might be due to the fact that these accounts have changed their names, and if you’re one of them and still would like to remain on the list I’d like it if you sent me a message with your old name so I can update it. If not I’ll just remove the untaggable name :)

P.S. hope you like this :)

P.S.S. please don’t plagiarise or repost my works on different platforms (wattpad, AO3 etc) without my specific written persmission.

[sunstar-of-the-north]

“Good night, my little ones.”

Characters (c) Hasbro

Single Mom AU (c) Me

[i-like-plan-m]

Omg hey an idea for the Jin!Wwx au - I'm a hoe for wangxian so wwx is still oblivious and wangji is obvious and Zixuan can see where this is headed from miles away, his shitty relationship with his fiance notwithstanding he has good instinct on this and it involves his gremlin so he's a BIT PRICKLY at lwj okay. Maybe he suffers a milder version of the JC effect aka prickly at lwj thinking he's taking wwx away from Koi Tower. Maybe he unwittingly get into over protective siblings mode.

Yes good I love it

{continuation of this)

____________________

Jin Zixuan was beginning to regret this dinner. Especially the part where he’d let Wei Wuxian invite Lan Wangji, because he had actually accepted the offer, which Jin Zixuan... had not planned on. 

So now he sat with his idiot sect brother, the fucking Second Jade of Lan, his betrothed, and his betrothed’s brother. Between Wei Wuxian’s nonstop chattering at Lan Wangji, Jiang Cheng’s unwavering glower, and Jiang Yanli’s soft smiles, Jin Zixuan couldn’t string a single coherent sentence together. 

Not that it mattered. Wei Wuxian hadn’t shut up for a second since they’d sat down, for some reason so hyper-fixated on Lan Wangji that he’d barely spoken to anyone else. 

Jin Zixuan was still stuck on Lan Wangji agreeing to come. He still had grass stains on his robes from when Wei Wuxian had knocked them both to the ground earlier, for heaven’s sake. 

Jiang Yanli seemed equally puzzled by his presence. She glanced at Jin Zixuan during one of Wei Wuxian’s tirades, and he was too distracted by the weirdness of the situation to freak out at her attention. He gave her a helpless shrug, flushing deeply when she smiled at him, wide and genuine.

“We’re pleased that you joined us, Young Master Lan,” she said kindly. “I did not realize you and Wei Wuxian were close.” 

Lan Wangji’s expression suggested she was deeply, terribly mistaken. Wei Wuxian laughed. 

“Lan Xichen heard me invite him after he helped us up earlier. He very lovingly bullied Lan Wangji into accepting,” he said, blissfully unaware of the irritation radiating from Lan Wangji. Or maybe he did know and just didn’t care, which was far more likely knowing Wei Wuxian. 

“So you tricked him into it?” Jin Zixuan asked, pained. If Wei Wuxian returned from Cloud Recesses with Lan Wangji as his declared nemesis, Jin Zixuan would never hear the end of it. 

“Yep! Well, actually, I didn’t expect Zewu-Jun to be so invested. He must really want us to be friends. Right, Lan Zhan?” 

Lan Wangji showed no signs of hearing Wei Wuxian speak. Jin Zixuan admired his restraint-- Wei Wuxian had driven life-long notorious politicians in Lanling into aggravation-induced frenzies within an hour of being locked in a room with him. It was his mother’s favorite tactic for people who’d annoyed her. 

“Lan Zhan? Hello? Are you ignoring me?” Wei Wuxian pouted, shoulder drooping with his usual dramatics. “You’re still mad about earlier, aren’t you? I didn’t mean to knock us down, I swear!”

Lan Wangji eyed him, lingering on the wounded expression on Wei Wuxian’s face. “Talking during meals is forbidden.” 

“You’re talking right now,” Wei Wuxian pointed out. 

Lan Wangji cut his golden eyes at him, and Jin Zixuan wondered idly if he was going to maim Wei Wuxian with his chopsticks. 

But Wei Wuxian was off once again, recounting a wildly unbelievable story about one of the night hunts he’d dragged Jin Zixuan and MianMian on that was unfortunately entirely true and mostly embarrassing for him.

Jin Zixuan tuned him out, not wanting any reminders of that particular nightmare, and mostly paid attention to Jiang Yanli’s entertained reactions. 

Except he had to look away whenever she laughed after he’d spilled soup right into his lap the first time, and he was avoiding Jiang Cheng’s entire everything, so he ended up looking in Lan Wangji’s general direction by default. 

And he was starting to notice things. Like how Lan Wangji watched Wei Wuxian out of the corner of his eye. He thought at first it was simple self-preservation so he didn’t get beaned in the side of the head with a flailing arm. 

But then he saw how Lan Wangji’s expression softened by half a degree every time Wei Wuxian chirped a question at him, or laughed, or absently put something else in Lan Wangji’s bowl. 

Oh no. 

Lan Wangji didn’t hate his brother. Lan Wangji didn’t hate his brother at all. 

And everyone except his idiot shidi had realized he was in love with Lan Wangji, so clearly the feeling was mutual. 

Jin Zixuan scowled down at his bowl. The thought of returning to Koi Tower without him made him feel sick. He couldn’t picture life in Lanling without his shidi’s complete lack of regard for decorum or civil behavior. Wei Wuxian and MianMian were the only ones in Lanling besides his mother that he could trust.

“What’s wrong with you?” Wei Wuxian asked, poking him in the side with his chopsticks. “You look like your mom that time she caught us in the Koi Tower rafters.” 

“She didn’t catch me doing anything,” Jin Zixuan argued reflexively. “I was trying to get you down.” 

“Yeah, but MianMian dared me to do it. My reputation was at stake. My honor!” 

“What reputation?” Jin Zixuan grumbled. 

“I am widely regarded as the holy terror of Koi Tower, thank you very much, and I wear that badge with pride,” Wei Wuxian said primly. Jiang Yanli covered her giggles with her sleeve. 

“Good,” Jin Zixuan said before he could stop himself. “You can drive everyone in the tower insane for all I care.” If that’s what it took to keep him in Lanling, Wei Wuxian could have free reign to torment whoever he wanted. 

Wei Wuxian frowned and leaned in, invading his personal space. “Are you feeling all right?” He felt Jin Zixuan’s forehead, undeterred when he was batted away. “Usually you tell me I’m a walking disaster and that it’s a miracle I’m still alive.” 

“It is,” Jin Zixuan insisted. “And I’m fine, keep your grubby hands off of me.” 

“Oh, good, now you sound back to normal.” He sat back, satisfied, and promptly tried to engage Jiang Cheng in a contest of throwing food at each other to catch in their mouths. Jiang Yanli intervened, thankfully, so Jin Zixuan transferred his disapproving glare to Lan Wangji, who completely ignored everyone at the table. 

Wei Wuxian was his gremlin brother, he thought possessively. Lan Wangji couldn’t have him. 

[asherranceoftheheart]

My Housemate Might Be the Antichrist? - Drabble Series #1

Summary:   A series of little drabbles on the sitcom AU where Jack's a weird bastard who grew up with Anti as his only example of social manners, Chase Brody as the fussing mom friend and the only seal of the apocalypse, Stacy Anderson as an upcoming lawyer who has a tendency for violence and swindling other people, Anti who is Anti, and all the others who are watching the chaos that is that household and wondering how the fuck it hasn't collapsed yet. Character/s: Chase Brody, Antisepticeye, Stacy Anderson, Jack McLoughlin, mentions of the other egos Pairing/s: None, Chase Brody/Vacation/Advil Warning/s: None, Soft(?)Anti, Some Horror Cliches like blood on mirror but for comedic effect Genre/s: Humor, Fluff, Friendship Note: It would probably be easier to follow the entire thing if you read it from AO3 since it’d be in one link. But that’s up to you dear readers! (Archive Of Our Own Edition)

“So get this,” Jack didn’t even look up from his phone when his roommate burst into his room. “I think my room is haunted.”

“Dude we already talked about this,” Jack said with a flat tone that spoke of how many times they’ve talked about this exact topic. “I am not possessed. You are not possessed. None of us are possessed.”

“Tell that to the guy who looks like you but with green hair, completely black eyes, and a slit throat standing at the end of my bed at three in the morning while creepily smiling at me and I hear some unknown demonic language being whispered around me,” Chase whined and dropped his entire body on top of Jack’s stomach.

The older man grunted and half-heartedly shoved at the other who was now childishly pouting. Jack rolled his eyes at the pout and knocked his fist against Chase’s head lightly.

“You are exactly like a long lost annoying little brother,” Jack told his housemate dryly. “Besides, I told you. It’s just Anti, the whatever he is who’s been following me since childhood. He’s just playing a little sleep paralysis prank on you. That’s all.”

Chase turned his head to stare at him dubiously with those pretty baby blues and Jack couldn’t resist flicking him on his forehead. The younger man yelped and slapped his offending hand away with a glare while rubbing the reddening spot in the middle of his forehead sullenly.

“You say that as if it’s completely normal to have someone like Anti following you around.” Chase shot back while Jack shrugged nonchalantly because it is normal for him.

“Look on the bright side, Anti likes you. If he didn’t you’d have ran out of our shared room a long time ago when we were roommates for college.” Jack patted his head and ruffled his hair in a pacifying manner. Chase just sulkily slumped down on top of him and pressed his cheek against the soft cover of his bed.

“I thought you were pranking me and I was staying out of complete spite.” Chase bluntly said, looking him dead in the eyes.

Jack just patted his head like he was a cute little puppy.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

There was a weird guy wearing a cat mask and a cliché magician’s cape standing in front of their door. Jack had been playing Kingdom Hearts 3 in the living room when somebody rang the doorbell to their house. Originally, he was going to let Anti answer it for him but then he remembered Stacy’s threat about killing him in his sleep if they get another phone call about a possible serial killer in the house.

“Good afternoon sir,” at least the odd stranger seemed rather polite even though he kept staring at Anti who was looming behind him like an off-brand Slenderman. “I don’t know how to put this reasonably but… are you aware that an evil creature has been following you?”

Ah. This was one of those situations.

“We don’t accept solicitations,” Jack gave the man the friendly smile that he learned from Chase. 

Apparently, the smile that he grew up with after learning it from Anti belonged more to that of a horror movie’s villain.

Chase tried to bring it up gently to him by saying it’s rather unnerving while Stacy just outright said to his and Anti’s face that people would rather take the stairs than ride in the same elevator with him if he kept that creepy smile up.

As it is, he was already closing the door on the weird man’s shocked and outraged face. Hah. That one’s a pretty funny face. He could hear Anti snickering behind him.

“Wait—!” The man tried to stop him from closing the door but Jack was unrelenting.

“Sorry,” he apologized without a single shred of remorse or guilt in his entire existence.

The door was shut with a loud click. 

Jack flipped the lock for extra measure and briefly wondered if he had closed the backdoor.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Stacy emerged from her bedroom, her hair unkempt and flying all over the place, her eyes ringed with dark shadows from lack of sleep, and her body yearning for that sweet, delicious caffeine. The woman had been up all night for the past weeks reviewing for her law board exam in an almost panicked frenzy. If it hadn’t been for Chase occasionally forcing her to go the fuck to sleep, she was pretty sure she would’ve dropped dead by the first week of unending readings and memorizing that she had been doing. She could already smell that blessed nectar of the gods being brewed in the kitchen and she could hear Chase humming a cute lil song while no doubt shaking that bubble butt around while he’s cooking breakfast for all of them.

“Hey boys,” the sleepless woman grunted as she slipped into the dining room and sat down on the nearest seat. “How’re things going for you guys?”

“Anti threatened to kill me last night because I ate the last pack of cheetos.” Chase said as he exited the kitchen to place a mug full of that heavenly black as her soul coffee in front of her.

“Just add that to the millions of baseless threats that he’s given you for the past six years.” Stacy dismissed his words with a wave before she took a sip of that scalding coffee with a happy moan. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to live without your coffee, Chaser.”

Chase just patted her head as a wordless ‘you’re welcome’ before placing a breakfast plate in front of Jack whose face was completely smushed against the table while he’s completely passed out. He flicked his ear and smirked when the older man jolted up awake with a bewildered shine on his normally calm face before Jack realized that there was food in front of him.

“Rise and shine, Jackaboy,” Chase ruffled Jack’s hair, chuckling at the disgruntled grunt he received. “Good morning to you too, Creepy Bastard number one.”

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Chase woke up to the sound of his alarm blaring through his room. He was half-tempted to push the snooze button but the consequences of having a cranky household—especially this household—is too much of a headache to even consider facing. He lazily rolled out of his bed, kicking away the blankets that were entangled around his limbs and landed on the floor with a soft thump.

The sleepy man fumbled for his way to his own bathroom and flicked the light on. He blinked at the red that covered his face mirror and sighed.

DON’T FORGET THAT YOU HAVE A 10 AM APPOINTMENT WITH YOUR THERAPIST TODAY.

“I promise I won’t Anti,” Chase mumbled as the bloody letters began to fade away now that its message has been delivered and understood. “Thanks for the daily reminders, buddy. I just wish you won’t do the blood schtick. Well, at least you clean them up yourself now. So great job on that!”

He knew that the creature was watching him and could feel the smug self-satisfied aura that was practically oozing out of the demon. Chase internally thanked all of the useful advice he read from all of the parenting books he bought from the bookstore that mentioned Positive Affirmation of good deeds is effective in helping the lessons stick. It took a few weeks of providing positive rewards such as giving Anti his favorite snacks, and giving him some leeways on the lighter chaotic actions for him to start making progress.

Who knew that parenting techniques are great at teaching ancient demons on how to be more civilized people?