#‘oh well I guess I’ll own my childhood home someday’ damn

[romance-incubomp3]

some of the people in those notes are in a different world

[perfectpaperbluebirds]

@sicktember Prompt # 28: Missing Out

Title: Unforgettable

Fandom: N/A

Based on this post as well as an ask box prompt. The prompt: “I’m currently dying for something set in a big house (any period) and the young master of the house has a party to attend but he feels awful and is trying to hide it and be a good host but keeps having to sneak off to cough/sneeze. Until maybe one guest notices and that’s how he meets his future wife.”

A young heir attends a Christmas party with his childhood friend as his date. They find themselves in an interesting position when he falls ill.

CW: Vomiting. 

(Author's note: Never written this time period before, but I would like to again in the future! I really enjoyed this prompt. And yes these two are definitely in love and will be married someday.)

The year is 1927, and two young men are seated in the back corner of a jazz club in New England, talking little as they sit, enjoying the music. As the band finishes their opening set and prepares to take a break, the older of the two men takes a deep drag from his cigarette, then glances at his companion.

"All ready for your parents' big Christmas shindig next weekend, Jesse?" 

Jesse rolled his eyes and scoffed, tapping a cigarette of his own out of the pack. "Sure John, of course. It's such a thrill to be a captive audience as they get smoked and strut around peacocking for their friends. Highlight of my whole year, that. Masquerade Ball, my ass. What drivel."

John chuckled, reclining back in his chair and taking another drag. "You're expected to bring a dame too, yeah?"

"Naturally. It'd be too bad for the heir of the Hamilton fortune to attend without a looker, wouldn't it? Shame all the women in this town are abhorrent."

John shook his head with another chuckle. "That attitude is why you're a perpetual bachelor, hombre. But I have some news that may interest you. Did you know Miss Greenwood is back in town?"

Jesse's interest was piqued in spite of himself. "Lillian Greenwood is back?"

"The very same. Home from university for the holidays."

Jesse leaned back in his chair, trying to look unbothered. "So what if she is. What's it to me?"

"Well I dunno, only that you might like to invite her to the Masq’. If memory serves, you never found her particularly abhorrent."

"We were kids!"

"You were damn near inseparable. You don't *have* to do anything, Jess. But as your oldest friend, I'm asking you to think on it. You'd enjoy the party more if you had company, and I'm sure she'd like to see her old stomping grounds again. Just something to consider is all."

Jesse made no reply as the band resumed the stage just then, but he did indeed think on it very hard.

***

John's information was proven true only a day later. Jesse was just exiting a drugstore he frequented with a fresh carton of cigarettes when he caught the eye of Lillian Greenwood, who was just about to enter the same store, and looking very fetching in a blue fitted coat and hat. Both their eyes widened in surprise upon seeing each other, and for a moment they were speechless. 

"Jesse?" Lillian finally said, a slow grin spreading over her face, so familiar to him. "It's been at least an age!" She seized his hands in hers, reaching up on tiptoes to peck him on the cheek. "How are you? I've missed you!"

"Lil!" He wrapped her in a hug. "I've missed you too! What are you doing back in this dump, accomplished University woman that you are now? I'm surprised you didn't run in the opposite direction from here a long time ago."

"Well I haven't graduated yet, silly. And I couldn't miss another Christmas at home. I missed everyone here so much. Oh Jesse, it's so good to see you!" She hugged him fiercely again. "You must tell me everything you've been up to! Come inside while I shop before we freeze."

He willingly followed her back in, looking fondly at the soft brown hair brushing across her shoulders. He was so sick of the horrid bobs all the girls were wearing, and he loved that Lillian was still wearing hers longer.

He trailed her through the whole store, gamely answering the barrage of questions she directed at him, but mostly content to enjoy her familiar presence. Eventually she stopped short, turning to face him.

"Are you all right? You're very quiet. You've hardly said anything."

"I'm sorry. Just worn out I guess. Been working extra before the holidays."

"You are looking a bit peaky. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to jabber your ear off."

"No it's fine, honest. I'm just happy to see you."

"Likewise." She gave his hand a little squeeze, accompanied by a warm smile. Knowing he wasn't going to get a better opportunity, he took a deep breath.

"Lilli, do you remember that big bash my parents host every year for Christmas?"

"Oh yes!" she said, her eyes lighting up in pleasure. "It was my favorite part of the holidays!" 

"No kidding? Well anyway, they still throw it. The last few years they changed it to a Masquerade Ball, but otherwise it's still just like it was. It's a week from Saturday. I know you just got into town and all, and maybe you already have plans… but what do you think about going with me as my date?"

Lillian's grin was immediate, and she clasped her hands together joyfully. "Oh Jess, I'd love that! Just like old times."

Jesse rubbed the back of his neck, attempting to smile. "Yeah, I guess. Same old dumb party. Like I said, if you're busy, don't worry about it. But you're welcome to come… if you want and all."

She looked confused and a little hurt at his abrupt backtracking. "Of course I want to come. I'll be there."

"Great. I better get going though. I'll call you in a few days to give you the details. It was great to see you, Lil." He pecked her on the cheek. "I'll see you around, kid."

He strode out of the store with hardly a backwards glance, leaving her shocked face in his wake. He hated himself for behaving that way, and he wasn't even sure why he did it. Perhaps it was because the "old times" she was referring to included the present he was stuck in, while she had clearly moved on. Perhaps it was the realization that he had resorted to asking his childhood best friend on a date rather than finding a real date to avoid the embarrassment of attending his parents' party unaccompanied. But whatever the reason, speaking to her had made him equal parts thrilled and miserable. Surprisingly, when he called her a few days later as promised, she again agreed to accompany him, despite his rude behavior in the drug store, and continued to insist she was excited for the party, despite his constant negativity towards it.

***

The Saturday before Christmas dawned bright and snowy, and the Hamilton estate was in an uproar all day with last-minute preparations. Every surface was bedecked for the holidays with ribbons and garlands and tinsel and wreaths and holly and candles. A Christmas tree stood in every room, making the whole house aromatic, each twinkling and topped with a star. When evening rolled in, so too did the guests, all as twinkling and bedecked as the house, filling every room in no time. The Masquerade Ball had begun.

Lillian arrived promptly. Jesse met her in the foyer. Even wearing a mask, she was easily recognizable. She looked stunning in a sparkling gown that accented her figure perfectly. Her eyes were a color that would be easier called unique than pretty, her nose a touch irregular, and her teeth a touch crooked, but Jesse had always found her beautiful. Yet he was in a foul temper, and had been the whole day, and seeing her gave him little pleasure. He noted she had pinned up her hair so it appeared “bobbed” like everyone else's, and even such a simple thing soured his mood further. Upon seeing her initially, he took her hand and kissed it, then gave a sarcastic bow. 

“Welcom, Lillian dear. It’s a pleasure to see you again,” he said, trying to keep his tone civil

She curtsied daintily, smiling warmly. “The pleasure is all mine. You look very dashing and alluring in that mask.”

He chucked coldly. “You’re looking spiffy yourself, kid. Well, shall we get on with it?” He offered her his arm, which she took, almost hesitantly.

“Are you all right?” she asked. “You seem… not yourself.”

“Fine and dandy. Ready to cut a rug and show a girl a good time. Let’s not keep the evening waiting.” He didn’t bother to keep the sarcasm out of his tone, but continued to tug her toward the dining room, albeit gently. She reluctantly followed, casting him worried glances. 

The young Master Hamilton performed his part admirably through the whole evening, however, donning the persona of the host as easily as he did his mask. He chatted and danced and flirted with the appropriate people, giving Lilli adequate attention as required as well. His mother must have been pleased, for the night was a smashing success, from the dinner to the dancing to the decor. Everyone was raving the whole evening about what a splendid party it was. The best one yet, everyone said, just as they said every year. 

Jesse, however, was utterly miserable. The bodies packing every room made him too warm, the lights were too bright, the music and din of talking made his head throb, the food smells turned his stomach, and the aroma of pine everywhere left him feeling on the verge of a sneeze all night, especially since his nose had been on the verge of dripping since he awoke. He could only nibble the rich supper. He was barely able to swallow even small sips of Christmas punch without feeling the urge to gag. 

In order to keep his sanity, whenever Lillian was occupied talking to someone and he wasn't otherwise engaged, he would duck into one of the unused side parlors. In this sanctuary, away from the lights and sounds and smells, he removed his mask and composed himself. He would first allow himself to sneeze unhindered, finally able to stop his incessant stifling and sniffling, each time surprising himself at how wet and messy and ill they sounded. Then, if he hadn't been gone too long, he would rest his face against the icy window pane, breathing slowly and deeply as a halo of condensation spread out from his hot forehead. Inevitably though, the time would come when he was forced to replace his mask and reenter the ball before he was missed. He counted down the hours desperately, willing himself to last until the end of the party.

The evening began to wind down, and Jesse found himself ducking away more and more frequently. His stomach was in knots and his nausea was gradually rising, so composure was getting harder to maintain. He always checked to ensure Lilli was involved in a conversation before he did so, however. Imagine his surprise then, when moments after he snuck into his sanctuary yet again, he heard the door open after him and Lillian appeared just as he had given over to a violent sneezing jag:

Hiihhh'GEHSSSH'ieeew! ESSSHH'yuuh! Hrrr'USH'IIEWW! Kuhh-hhiiih-ISSSHYUUH!"

"Bless you, Jesse! Heavens, that was a fit! Are you alright?" she asked, approaching him and removing her own mask. "Have you been sneezing like that all night? You keep disappearing."

He flashed the most winning smile he could muster even as he wiped the mess from his face. "I'm just ducky," he said, swallowing thickly as his stomach also decided to give a nasty lurch. "All the pine in the air gets me sneezing. Must be a bit allergic. Sorry for worrying you. Let's go back out before we're missed. I think I owe you a dance or two."

She ignored his rambling and came to stand directly in front of him with a searching look. She lifted a hand and brought the back of it to his sweaty forehead. She clucked softly.

"You're sick, aren't you? You're not feeling well at all."

The thin facade that was holding him together finally crumbled. He limply leaned against the wall, nodding mutely. 

"Why didn't you say something? You should be in bed. You look awful."

"I didn't want to spoil the evening," he mumbled. 

"Well we need to get you out of here. You look like you're about to collapse."

"I am about to collapse," he said ruefully.

"Come on then. No one will miss us anyway. Let's go up the servants' steps over here so we're not seen."

"I don't want you to miss out on the ball. You looked like you were having fun."

She caressed his cheek fondly. "I came here tonight to spend time with you. I'm not missing out on anything."

They shared a smile, his first genuine one of the night. Then she took him by the hand and led him expertly along the least conspicuous route to his bedroom. The pair of them had spent hours exploring every inch of this house from top to bottom as children, every cupboard, cranny, and corner. He hadn't forgotten those times, and clearly she hadn't either. 

It was strange bringing her back to his room. They had spent hours together here too during their growing-up years. He couldn't help but imagine it through her eyes--what was different, what was the same. He realized bitterly that the only thing that was really different was the lack of toys and games everywhere. His room was a reflection of his life--boring and stagnant.

If she was thinking along those lines, she gave no indication. Instead she led him to his bed with a hand at the small of his back, guiding him into a sitting position and helping him remove his jacket and tie. His shirt clung to his back with sweat, and heat rolled off of him in waves. The drier air up here made him begin to cough as soon as he sat, the sound hoarse and desperate. She made a sympathetic sound as she carded her fingers through his damp hair, then dug through his dresser, pulling out a set of his pajamas and tossing them over. 

"Make yourself more comfortable, and I'll do the same." She headed to his en suite bathroom. "I'll be right back. Try to relax, Jess." She gave him a little smile, which he attempted to return, a hand going to his sore stomach even as he did.

Once the bathroom door was closed behind her, he slowly changed into his pajama bottoms and managed to strip down to his undershirt. All at once, his stomach had had enough, and he knew he was going to vomit. With the bathroom occupied, the next available option was the balcony off of his room. He dashed outside to the railing, emptying the contents of his stomach onto the ground below, heaving until he had nothing left. As the spasms slowed, his vision began to go gray and wobbly. He sank to his knees weakly, unable to do anything else, clinging to the railing in the freezing cold, which at first felt pleasant on his fevered skin. 

He wasn't sure how long he knelt there, and it would have been even longer had Lillian not come out to find him. By the time she did, he was shivering so violently that his teeth rattled in his head. She was speaking to him, but he couldn't register what she was saying. Finally she pulled him bodily to his feet and helped him inside, her arm wrapped around his waist as she supported most of his weight. She again led him to his bed, making him lie down this time and bundling blankets over his icy cold skin while she sat at his side. His consciousness solidified and the world stopped spinning, and eventually he noticed that while she was still wearing her party dress, she had removed her makeup and unpinned her hair, looking more like her old self. The thought made him marginally warmer. 

"Let me go fetch some tea for you, and some medicine," she murmured, stroking his hair. She stood and tried to pull away, but he quickly grabbed her wrist, his grasp surprisingly strong. 

"Don't go," he rasped, choking back a cough. "I don't want tea or medicine. It'll only make me vomit again. Just stay."

"Stay…" she repeated. "Right. I suppose I could stay."

She went to pull a chair to his bedside, but he stopped her.

"No, come lie here with me."

"Jesse…" she began. "That's not--"

"Why shouldn't you? You were my date. It's what everyone is expecting anyway," he said, a glint of humor in his eye.

She laughed in spite of herself. "I suppose there is that." Against her better judgement, she crossed to the other side of his bed and slipped under the blankets, trying to be mindful of her dress as she got comfortable. He immediately rolled over and nestled against her, and she wrapped an arm around him and began to rub his back soothingly.

They passed the night exactly like that. He was exhausted and very ill, and was clearly miserable the whole night through. However, he refused to let her leave the bed to fetch him anything and only wanted to lie against her all night as he slipped in and out of sleep. She vaguely recalled him being the same way when they were young, but she certainly hadn't expected such behavior tonight. Then again, she hadn't expected to be sharing his bed either. 

He slept fitfully, his symptoms keeping him from true rest despite his weariness. Away from the pine trees his sneezing was less, but the congestion and coughing was worse. He was achy and nauseous and too hot or too cold. He also wanted to be touching her at all times, so she slept even less, for between his tossing and groaning and his sweltering fever heat, she could not get comfortable. Yet she knew he needed her this way tonight, and was glad to be able to help her oldest friend. 

The morning dawned gray and cold. Lillian lay awake still, while Jesse was at last sleeping beside her, his face tucked into her side. She was trying to decide how best to convince him to let her go home and change when an opportunity for escape presented itself in the form of his mother.

Lillian heard her well before she saw her, for her best shoes clattered loudly on the stairs, and her inebriated giggling and whispering was impossible to miss. It was almost certain she hadn't gone to bed after the party. Lillian quickly slipped out from under Jesse's arm and slid to the floor, ducking under the bed. Just because Jesse seemed to think she was expected to spend the night with him did not mean she wanted to be caught in it, especially by Mrs. Hamilton, regardless of what did or did not happen. 

Mrs. Hamilton attempted to be stealthy as she peeked into her son's room, but only his fever-induced slumber prevented him from waking. However, even while intoxicated, what they say about a mother's sense is true, for she apparently noted something amiss and crept closer to her son's bed. Lillian could only see her feet and legs, but she assumed she Mrs. Hamilton reached out to feel her son's forehead, for the elder woman made a little sound of dismay and began to shake him awake. 

"Jesse, you're burning up! Oh my, what happened? Are you sick? Did it start at the ball? How long have you not felt well? Oh you're so pale! And you're shivering! My poor baby! What can I do?..." It seemed she had no end of exclamations and questions. Lillian couldn't help but roll her eyes.

Meanwhile Jesse made sounds of waking, sounding very irritated and confused at first. He didn't realize what was happening initially, and Lillian heard him say her name more than once. Thankfully his mother did not notice over the sound of her own constant flow of verbalized concern. Eventually Jesse realized who was speaking to him and began to give appropriate answers, leaving Lillian out of most of it, which the young woman appreciated. 

Mrs. Hamilton didn't stop speaking the entire time she was in the room. Eventually though it became clear she intended to fetch a doctor, tea, medicine, and one hundred other things for her son's illness. Jesse spoke only as much as he had to, his voice weak and hoarse and congested. He did not argue with her about any of it, knowing it was futile. Finally the well-meaning woman left, still talking even as she shut the door behind herself. 

Lillian gingerly rolled out from under the bed, startling Jesse when she appeared beside him out of nowhere. However a grin split his face when their eyes met.

"I thought you left me without saying goodbye," he rasped. 

"Well now you see I haven't. I do need to leave now though, before your mother returns with an army of doctors and finds me here. I would also like to change my clothes at some point and freshen up. Perhaps take a bit of a nap."

He looked devastated at this, but perked up as she continued:

"I'll come back soon though, as a proper visitor. I don't fancy ducking under the bed whenever anyone comes up the stairs."

"All right," he sighed. "I'll be waiting for you, then." 

She approached him, pressing her lips to his hair as he hugged her fiercely. 

"Be well, Jess. I'll see you soon." She moved to the doorway, her eyes twinkling in a smile. "And thanks for a great night. That was a date I'll never forget."

[333dolans]

If By Chance Pt. 2 // E.D

Part 1

Summary: It’s been 2 years since she’d last seen him, what would happen if by chance they were to meet once more?

Sorry for being gone for so long! Ive been super busy and just haven’t had any time to write. I’ll hopefully post a bit more regularly this year! I love you all mwah!!🥰

4:35pm, Great.

It was the first time she would be seeing Gray in what felt like eternity and she was already late, Classic Rory. In her defence, he had agreed to pick her up but a meeting running over later than expected meant she was left to fend for herself. The fact that she didn’t know her way around LA yet paired along with her general lack of time management left her here, outside of the adorable, little cafe Gray had sent her the address for.

She felt the explosion of butterflies erupt within her stomach at the sight of his car and pulled in next to it. She took a moment to compose her thoughts that seemed to be racing along with her heart. Taking a final deep breath, she climbed out from her car and made a start towards the cafe door.

From the very moment she laid her eyes on his tall figure, nothing could of slowed the pace she ran towards him. She called out his name and as he glanced up from his phone, the widest smile took over his face. Opening up his arms just in time, he caught her in his warm embrace. It felt good to be home.

“I missed you so much.” He sighed contently, spinning her around one more time before placing her body back firmly on the ground.

“Missed you more Grapeson.” She replied with a smirk.

“Wow... that’s gotta be a record, we’ve been together what? One whole minute and you’ve already said it.” He rolled his eyes, coaxing a giggle from Rory.

“I said we were bringing it back my love and i meant it!” She grinned smugly up at him before grabbing his hand and leading them into the coffee shop. As the little bell chimed, they were greeted by an older woman who beamed their way.

“Hello Grayson! Your usual i assume? And what can i get for you sweetheart?” She asked with a warm smile.

“Ill go get us a table, i know the best seats.” Grayson told her before wondering off to a far corner in the store.

“Ill get a hot chocolate please.” She replied graciously with a shy smile and the woman was quick to get started on the order.

“I’m Genevieve by the way but you my dear, can call me Gen! You know Grayson never mentioned he had a girlfriend, you’re absolutely gorgeous.” She began to make small talk as she poured Grayson’s coffee into its cup. Rory choked on air at gen’s words, gaping at her in shock.

“Were- were not together, just good friends.” She said with a deep blush.

“Oh my bad! You two would make a beautiful couple if i might say.”

Rory couldn’t help but smile at Gen’s bluntness, she loved her already. After some more casual conversation, Rory said her thank you to Gen and headed off toward the table Grayson had saved, gently placing their drinks on the tabletop before sliding into the booth seat. These seats in particular looked out onto a beautiful landscape and Rory couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief as she sank lower into the leather of the seat, this day couldn’t have gone any better. Nothing had changed between her and gray and she couldn’t be more thankful.

The two sat and talked for hours as the sun began to set on the city that awaited them just outside of the window. They filled each other in on everything and anything they could think of, from childhood memories to the launch of wakeheart. It was inevitable really, that they would eventually end up on the topic of a certain twin brother. No matter how much Rory had tried to change the subject, he always found a way back into the conversation, she knew shed have to face the music someday anyway, may as well bite the bullet sooner rather than later.

“He misses you, you know? He may be an absolute idiot and too damn stubborn to ever admit it but i know that he does. He still reads through your old messages and looks at old photos. He still checks your socials every now and then, I’ve seen him.”

Rory sighed with a small shake of her head.

“Gray, he dropped me remember? No one told him he had to do that, he got a girlfriend and she became more important. That’s life i guess and I’ve dealt with that knowledge for years now. He prioritised her over me and that’s on him.” She let her gaze drift from his face to the window beside her, now littered with stray raindrops from the light drizzle that had began.

She allowed herself to breathe deeply, basking in the feelings that a crisp fall breeze always managed to stir within her. God, did she love autumn. Nothing could compare to the sight of the leaves changing to colours of fire and passion before her very eyes. Along with the colder weather came rainy days, and with rainy days? Time she could spend huddled up in front of a window reading whatever book she’d chosen for that week. Everyone who has ever known Rory, would know full well she would would be half way through that book within the space of a few hours.

Something about the rain had always enticed her, she felt a strange comfort within the damp weather that left most people feeling miserable. She thrived in it, wanting nothing more than to cozy up in fluffy socks and warm layers of clothes and watch droplets race along the panes of the nearest window.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

Slightly startled from his sudden appearance, she beckoned her breathing to calm down to a steady pace once again. She allowed her eyes to trail up his tall frame, soaking him in as much as she could. There stood Ethan in all his glory along with a piping hot mug of her favourite, hot chocolate. Rory was never much of a coffee drinker, always having a sweet tooth and preferring the chocolatey taste to the bitterness a cup of coffee would leave in her mouth for hours. Besides, no one likes coffee breath. She allowed her gaze to retreat back to its fixed spot, staring out into the forest that lined the perimeter of the Dolan’s backyard.

“Then I hate to break it to you E but you’ll be short of quite a few pennies by the time you’ve heard all of the thoughts that are running around my mind right now.”

She allowed a defeated sigh to slip past her lips, filling the silence that had fallen between the two. It was true, her mind had been all over the place ever since the moment the twins had told her of their plan to pursue a career in Los Angeles. She felt like her world was collapsing in on her and in a way, it was. Her whole life as she knew it consisted of Ethan and Grayson Dolan, she had spent practically everyday with the pair for as long as she could remember and she wasn’t sure if she was ready for that chapter of her life to be over.

“A hot chocolate instead? Please Rory, talk to me. I know this is going to be a big change for you, but it is for me and Grayson too yeah? Were all going to be feeling the same emotions in the next few weeks, we have to be there for each other and I can’t do that if you wont open up to me.”

Sliding down opposite her small frame on the cold hardwood floor of his childhood home, Ethan couldn’t help but become overwhelmed by his emotions. This had been his home for many years, it contained so many memories. These very walls had been witness to the life of the three best friends and the idea of leaving this part of his life behind, leaving his best friend behind? It tore Ethan to pieces but he was also optimistic for this exciting new chapter. He tried to remain positive and think of the new adventures they will get to have in the city of angels. The memories he can make with the ones he holds closest.

“Everything is changing E. I don’t think I’m ready to move on from this, I don’t want to be left behind again. I’m going to be so alone here, you guys are the only real friends I have. I don’t want to lose you, or Grayson.”

A stray tear made it’s way down her cheek as the rain continued outside. She looked up to meet the eyes of her best friend, the boy she’d always love. His hand reached out for hers and clasped it tightly in his own. She saw a flash of hope flash across his beautiful brown eyes that she adored so much.

“You could come with us you know? There’s a spare room in the apartment and you know I...we would love to have you there with us. We could go on so many adventures and explore California and we could-“

“E, as wonderful as that sounds, you know my mom would never let me just drop everything and go. What about school? College? You know what she expects of me. I really wish it was that simple.”

In that moment, Rory swore she saw a small piece of Ethan’s heart break away before her very eyes. She forced her tears back, choking slightly from the lack of air that seemed to be escaping her lungs. Why did this have to be so hard? Ethan paused for what felt like eternity before speaking once more.

“I’m going to miss you so much my little lion, so fucking much.”

He outstretched his arms, his warm embrace calling her name. She crawled over to him, closing the small gap that was between them. She clung to his torso as he stroked his fingers through her hair soothingly.

“Nothing is going to change between us Rory, absolutely nothing.”

“Why don’t you come back to our place? I’m not ready to say goodbye yet anyway and I know he’d love to see you. Please, just for a little while?” Gray’s words snapped her back from her reminiscing. He looked into her eyes with such hope, she just couldn’t say no to him.

“God damn those puppy eyes” she cursed under her breath, causing a smirk from Grayson who sat opposite her with a triumphant look on his face.

“I better not regret this Dolan.”

Tags: @rhyrhy462 @evergreendolan @dolansficsandpics @fangdolan @livexdolan @blindedbythelightt @baby-grayson @prettyboydolan @delightfuldolan @sosweetgrethan @episkygrant @resilientdolan @pineappledols @vinylhazza @hydrograyson @velvetdolan @baby-turtles @szadolans @cutestdolans @brockdolan @mercurygrant @abstractstardiva @guiltydols @blazedgraysons @blackpinkdolan @vintagedolan @babeygray @babey-gray @dolanpornhub @onlyyyariii @voidmalfoy @glossydols @graysonsdolansbabygirl @spideysimpossiblegirl @lovingdolans @bubsdolan @iknowyouthinkimbulletproof @dolansbeanies @graydolan12 @dolantissue @thecharlietomygillespie @dolandolll @boujeeethan @softethan @risedols @evreths @everydaydolan

[imagine-darksiders]

Homesick - Chapter 2

Behind the door.

Warnings: implied child abuse, abusive parents, blood, nosebleeds, angst, themes of childhood trauma, ptsd

Tags: Darksiders, DeathxAzrael, hurt/comfort, angst, Reader, Found family, Reader needs a hug

Chapter 1

---

“What lays beyond that door?”

Azrael's innocent question causes you to stiffen and your steps falter on the landing, knowing precisely to which door he's referring, but unwilling to even spare it a backwards glance.

The momentary delay hardly lasts for more than a second and goes seemingly unnoticed by the angel, whose gaze appears too focused on the locked, mahogany door that stands quiet and guiltless at the furthest end of your landing. Hanging back near the top of the staircase however, with eyes sharp and turned just enough in your direction that they catch the hitching of your chest, Death does notice.

Then, he blinks, and you're suddenly twisting your head over a shoulder to look beyond Azrael at the door in question, a smile on your lips but not in your eyes.

“Oh, that's just a storage cupboard,” you say casually, waving a dismissive hand through the air and continuing your journey to the opposite side of the house, “I've been in and out of there all week stacking boxes of junk up to the ceiling. Now, come this way, all the best human-y stuff is stock-piled in my bedroom.” 

You're too quick to disregard the door, too eager in turning to walk towards your room on stiff legs and Death wishes the angel would turn to look at you so he might also see what the Horseman sees, if only to confirm that he isn't imagining things.

Alas, letting out an intrigued little hum, Azrael clasps his hands loosely behind his back and sweeps after you, all the while pivoting his head this way and that to take in everything your humble home has to offer.

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

You had so nearly forgotten what the joy of discovery looks like in another person. To see the eyes of someone else grow wide and bright with unbridled wonder at a world you've long since lost a taste for.

Azrael's fascination at the most mundane of human objects manages to put a genuine smile on your face, though the ensuing pain still throbs like the beat of an insistent drum every time your cheeks press against your bruised eye.

Luckily, the angel appears to have missed your subtle wince.

After first having dragged him away from your television, you've managed to introduce him to many of humanity's other wonders that lay dotted around your bedroom.

Before long, Death had even slunk inside to join you both, taking up the mantle of an uninterested observer and absently perusing your book collection in the corner whilst keeping a surreptitious eye on the goings on of his companions.

You've perched yourself comfortably in a bean bag, content to simply sit back and observe whilst Azrael explores your room, his wide, white wings folded neatly against his back in order to spare some of your ornaments from being knocked off their shelves. 

“This... ursine mammal,” he says, pausing beside your bed and poking a finger into the fur of an old, stuffed bear sitting atop your pillow, “Does it serve some purpose?”

You're too preoccupied with fighting back a laugh to answer him right away, and by the time you realise he's watching you expectantly, Death pipes up in your stead, cutting off any explanation you might have offered.

“I imagine it's only there for decoration,” he muses, casting a critical eye over your bookcase and the dozens of unread stories scattered about on the shelves, “But then, I have to wonder if half the things in this room aren't just ornamentation.”

Knowing what he's implying, you spare the back of his head a scowl. It isn't as though you've had a lot of time to read those books he gave you, not between rebuilding your own home and helping humanity come to terms with life post-apocalypse.

“Ah!” Azrael's head shoots up and he tears his eyes from the bear, glancing towards you instead. “It is symbolic, no? In resembling a most ferocious predator, this bear represents the perfect guard for your home.”

He looks so damn pleased with himself, you almost don't bother to correct him, instead wrestling your grin into a pensive frown and nodding slowly. 

“Uh, sure! That is a pretty... exciting way to look at teddy bears.” Hopping to your feet, you make your way over to the bed and sweep a few of Azrael's primary feathers aside, picking up the toy bear and squeezing it to your chest. “But mostly humans use these for comfort at night, when we sleep. We usually get given them as children. And, as we grow older, I... guess we just get too attached to get rid of them. Most humans keep their childhood toys long into adulthood.”

“Why am I not surprised,” Death huffs, shaking his head with a smile hidden beneath the bone-mask, “You humans will get attached to anything that sits still for long enough.”

Azrael, on the other hand, looks as though you've just revealed to him one of humanity's greatest secrets. Rubbing his chin in thought, he says, “Remarkable! I've heard that humans are rather famous for the bonds they forge with other species, yet I never imagined that could extend to inanimate objects as well.”

“Yeah, you'd better believe it,” you smirk, placing the bear down on your pillow once more, “Someday I'll have to tell you about the woman who married the Eiffel Tower.”

At once, the Archangel blinks hard, eyebrows nearly disappearing into his hair line. “A tower? Surely that’s a jape?”

So perplexed is his expression, you throw back your head and let out a bark of delighted laughter. “What are you, Shakespeare? Nobody says ‘jape’ anymore, Azrael!”

Off on his own side of your little bedroom, Death's neck twists around slightly to regard both you and the angel as you engage in a light-hearted back and forth about the use of archaic vocabulary. He doesn't even realise that one corner of his mouth has begun lifting at the sight. 

There is a truth about the Horseman that even he is reluctant to acknowledge, and that is that the constant slew of bad things happening in the Universe is... wearing. It’s wearing. To be on a constant path that always seems to lead towards battle or tragedy? Sometimes it feels as though his entire existence has merely consisted of one battle after another. 

He saves one world, only for another to be torn apart, he destroys a species, and another asks him to fight their war for them, he helps the makers but in doing so, inadvertently kills their elder. Century after century - a millennia of bloody battles and terrible sacrifices and trying to keep his siblings safe - If he ever stopped to think about it... 

Death’s eyes slip slowly shut. 

He has worked... so hard, hasn’t he? Is it really so wrong if he enjoys these moments of fleeting repose? 

All of a sudden, a strangled sound leaves Azrael's throat and Death is yanked from his peaceful reverie. “Y/n!?” the angel exclaims, his expression shifting to horrified in less than a second, “You're bleeding!”

Apparently, mentioning your name and blood in the same sentence is enough to get Death's voice to crack as he whips around properly and barks, “What!?”

Baffled, you raise a hand to your nose, dabbing at a sticky wetness gathered there whilst the taste of salty liquid drips onto your upper lip. “Oh, so I am,” you observe casually, only to have a pair of chilly hands curl unexpectedly around your forearms. 

Without warning, the terrifying visage of the Horseman is looming mere inches from your face and in another instant, one of his hands presses itself to your forehead and firmly – albeit gently – tips it backwards.

“Um... Death, we've talked about this. Personal space, remember?”

The Horseman remains eerily silent as he stares transfixed at the blood oozing from your nose and you squirm uncomfortably when the grip he has on your arm begins to grow even tighter. Meanwhile, his wordlessness allows Azrael to fret aloud in the background.

“I knew this was a bad idea,” the angel mutters, pacing back and forth behind Death, never tearing his eyes from the red straining your face, “You shouldn't be having all this excitement. You should be resting.”

It's difficult to hold back your groan of exasperation as you lift your arms and knock Death's hands aside, stepping out of his reach.

“Oh for - It's just a nosebleed! Honestly, what has gotten into you two?” With a hefty sigh, you skirt around the rigid Nephilim, dodge one of Azrael's wings as it tries to curl instinctively around you and march into your ensuite bathroom.

Almost immediately, the angel tries to follow, but he swiftly has the door pushed shut in his face before he can enter and soon, they hear your voice filtering out to them from the other side. “I'm not a baby, guys! Nosebleeds are no big deal, it's just happening because of... well, you know.”

Azrael's stomach twists itself into knots at the sight of yet another locked door standing between himself and his human friend. He's about to call out for you to let him see the damage when an icy chill sweeps across the room and he turns, his mouth falling open slightly at the sight of Death staring at him through unseeing eyes.

The old Nephilim's body has gone completely still and there's a haunted look about him, as though he's lost, or perhaps trapped in another time, another place.

“Horseman?” Azrael murmurs uncertainly, feeling the cold prickle at the hairs on the base of his neck. Seconds pass and he receives no answer. Hesitant now, the archangel reaches towards Death's shoulder and, when he isn't immediately shoved away, places a hand on the frigid, solid muscle that bunches under his gentle touch. “Death,” he tries again, and this time the Horseman's head snaps up to stare at him, as if only just realising he's there.

The angel ducks his head to better catch Death's eye, his voice soft enough that only the two of them can hear it. “Are you alright, old friend?”

A long silence stretches between them with only the faint sound of running water from your bathroom tap to fill it.

Then, giving a start, Death roughly shrugs the comforting hand off his shoulder and stalks past the angel towards your window, leaning his elbows heavily against the sill and stubbornly refusing to acknowledge Azrael's concern. He doesn't think the archangel has ever been that close to him before, close enough that the subtle scent of old books and clean linen invaded his nose and chased away the awful stench of your blood, effectively leaving his mind clear once again. 

'Idiot,' he chastises himself, eyes still wide behind the bone mask. How could he have frozen like that? In front of Azrael no less. Creator, he'd never live that one down. He had – for lack of a better word – panicked, and it's as embarrassing to admit to himself as it is to have been caught panicking. But...

The sight of your blood... The smell of it, sweet and strong enough that it even settled on his tastebuds...

It's pathetic, really. He is Death. He's seen and caused far more bloodshed than arguably any being in any realm. So why then does your spilled blood hold his dead heart in such a cruel and unforgivably tight chokehold?

The redundancy of taking a calming breath isn't lost on him, yet he does it anyway, tipping his head up to peer out of your window, chest rising and falling with motions he could only have picked up after spending so much time around you.

It's begun to rain, he notes idly. Tiny droplets of water patter down onto the dusty window panes and Death follows the path of one until it merges with several others and is lost in the fray.

Down in the streets below, many passers-by have dived for shelter, yet there are still two figures who remain. One is an angel, whose golden complexion shimmers when raindrops trickle steadily down his face. He's standing in the shadow of a water-logged bus stop and beside him, leaning just a little too close, is a serpentine demon, scales black and glittering like obsidian. The odd pair rest almost shoulder to shoulder underneath the bus stop's awning, each sharing a brief respite from the rain with what was once a well-loathed enemy.

Death blinks upon seeing that their hands are intertwined. Dainty, golden fingers curl loosely around clumsier claws and suddenly, the Horseman feels as though he's intruding on their secret moment, so he turns back to face your room.

Azrael has drifted closer once again and there's a knowing expression on his face that causes Death to frown. Sure enough, the archangel spares your bathroom door a hasty glance before he looks at the Horseman once more. “...Death,” he says slowly, “It's... all right, you know. If seeing Y/n’s blood upset you-”

Hackles are raised in half a second, a set of sharp teeth clack together and Death hisses, “You think I'm upset?”

Judging by the flat look he receives, that is precisely what the archangel thinks.

Despite the obvious vehemence behind Death's tone, he's careful to keep his voice down, ever mindful that you're only a room over. Perhaps getting defensive isn't the best idea.

“There is no shame in it, Horseman,” the angel coaxes softly, “Y/n is my friend as well. There has already been far too much human blood spilled this century.” He casts another, baleful glance towards your bathroom, quietly adding, “I didn't think I would be seeing it again, not this soon. And especially not from our human.”

...Our human.

Death is unnerved by how natural that sounds coming off Azrael's tongue.

Expertly, the Horseman wills his shoulders to slump and his muscles to relax, then, with an unmistakable air of indifference, he folds his arms across his broad chest and turns himself deliberately away from the archangel, glowering at your bedroom wall.

And Azrael, wise enough to read the standoffish behaviour for what it is, allows his mouth to fall shut because he knows that, as far as Death is concerned, the conversation is over.

He has a care not to release a weary sigh. But with you shutting him out physically and the Horseman shutting him out verbally, it's difficult for even the composed archangel to keep exasperation at bay.

Just then, your voice calls out to them from the other side of the door. “Ugh, sorry about this guys. It's slowing down, but it hasn't stopped yet. I'll just be a minute!”

“So long as you're all right,” Azrael replies.

When he receives no response from you and no further input from Death, he lets his head drop into a disappointed nod, pressing his lips together. Suddenly, his presence feels a little too big for the space he's occupying. He needs to think.

Azrael leaves your bedroom with a far heavier heart than he'd gone in with, raking his fingers through fine, white hair and expelling a soft breath from his lungs, as if that might alleviate the weight settling across his chest.

So far, this first visit to your home has not gone as he'd hoped it would. Through no fault of your own, mind. But trying to focus on taking in everything you show him whilst he knows you're in more pain than you're letting on is woefully distracting. That's without even mentioning the creeping sense of unease that has been hanging over him ever since he first stepped foot through your front door. 

Briefly, Azrael wonders if Death had noticed the way your breath hitched slightly and your reply had an almost imperceptible, underlying tremor when he asked you what lay beyond the door at the end of your landing. He'd have to ask the Horseman about that later, when he's in a more talkative mood.

Already, the archangel can feel the beginnings of a frown forging crevasses down the centre of his forehead. He composes himself in another breath and finally lifts his eyes from the carpet, only to stop in his tracks. 

That door – that unassuming door to your cupboard lays ahead of him, quiet and solid as all doors should be, just sitting there under a flickering light bulb, as though it had been patiently waiting for him to notice it.

And notice it, he does, because something about the door has changed since he saw it last, something so obvious, yet also entirely unsettling.  

Where it had once been shut tight, now it stands ever so slightly ajar.

Despite everything in him screaming that he must respect the privacy of his host, Azrael's curiosity grows too bold and he finds himself treading silently down your landing, his shoes making no sound on the grubby, cream carpet. Drawing to a halt, the angel's keen gaze sweeps over the wooden door, taking in hairline cracks and mottled rot that a hundred years has left upon it like battle scars on a warrior's face. Slowly, he roves his eyes down to the dull, brass door handle and he immediately falters, doing a double-take.

Sitting atop the handle is a very noticeable, very thick layer of dust.

His brows knit together until they nearly touch and he reaches out to swipe a finger delicately along the brass. When he pulls away, he lifts his hand for an inspection and, sure enough, the pad of his forefinger is now sporting the same, grey substance.

'Why would a door you claimed to use recently have so much dust upon the handle?' The feeling of unease that had been stealthily keeping to the back of his mind now pokes its head out a little more, creeping forwards, daring him to acknowledge it.

'Something's wrong...' a quiet voice tells him.

Azrael's hand reaches out once more, except this time, it curls around the handle entirely and rests there for a moment as the angel's mind starts to race. 'Y/n.... Are you hiding something from us?'

As soon as the thought enters his head, he can't shake it loose. 

Yes - he trusts you - he knows you'd have no reason to lie to him, and especially not to the Horseman. And yet... Clearly there is something beyond this door that you're trying to divert their attention from and whatever it is has you spooked.

Feeling more and more like a common criminal, Azrael keeps one ear on the room behind him and slowly begins to twist the door handle, wincing when its rusty springs catch and squeak in protest.

His wings shiver with anticipation as he pushes the door open.

What awaits him on the other side is decidedly not a storage cupboard...

“A... bedchamber?” he murmurs to himself. 

Within an instant, he's hit by an oppressive wave of must and wood rot. The smell spills like liquid from the room and seeps into your hallway, causing the archangel's lips to curl, though he's quick to smooth his expression out again because there's something far worse lingering below the initial stench, something that – even after a hundred years – still clings to the peeling wallpaper and broken, dust-choked bed in the corner of the room.

It isn't quite magic, more like the residue of a dark and terrible memory. Azrael knows as well as any angel that memories can be immensely powerful things and capable of haunting a place long after the living are dead and gone. Hesitating, he takes a moment to steel himself before stepping over the threshold and entering that old, foreboding bedroom.

At once, he notices that, as with the door's handle, absolutely everything is covered in a thick layer of grime and dust, the television on the wall, the various, glass bottles that stand on a table at the room's centre, amidst which sits a single, yellowing glass.

Against the wishes of his own nose, Azrael takes a brief sniff at the air and grimaces.

Alcohol.

Even the most pious of angels would recognise it.

He dismissively turns his attention from the bottles and glides over towards a worn dresser that stands to the left of the bed, a bed that stinks of an odour he desperately tries to ignore. Upon the dresser are a vast array of what you;d once called 'photographs,' all of which sit inside basic, wooden frames. Inquisitive, Azrael bends down and peers at them, a soft smile worming across his face when he sees a familiar human grinning back up at him.

You couldn't be much older than four or five, but he'd recognise you at any age. It seems even as a child, you possessed that same, mischievous spark in your eyes.

You're standing alone, and in spite of a clear gap where a tooth has fallen out, you're beaming up at the camera so hard, he imagines your cheeks had to have hurt. In fact, the more Azrael inspects the photo, the more he thinks your expression most resembles a grimace, not a smile. He shrugs it off however, and moves on. After all, the facial structure of humans is such that they're capable of expressions far more complex than those of angels or demons. Perhaps he’s only misreading it. 

The next picture sees you looking a few years older, sitting in the lap of a tall, angular man wearing a white shirt that looks to have been frequently stained by all manner of substances whilst his face is stretched into a grin that makes Azrael's skin crawl. Captured in stillness, it looks menacing and shark-like. Worse still is the large hand that seems to have secured itself like a vice around your thigh, squeezing noticeably into the little, blue leggings you'd worn that day.

You aren't smiling as widely in this photograph....

The archangel's face begins to fall as well.

Humming, he moves on to the next picture and in an instant, that creeping unease suddenly rings in his head like an alarm bell.

Again, you're older here, perhaps early into your adolescence, and the smile you'd sported before is barely there at all. The same man is standing behind you this time, and his long, gangly fingers are clamped down over your too-small shoulders, fingernails digging so hard into the bare skin, the resulting indents are even picked up by the camera.

Your lopsided wince that could be mistaken for a smile at a glance shows off one side of your mouth and in it, Azrael can clearly see that you're missing a tooth.

He may not be the most well-versed on human biology, but he's definitely heard that children only lose the same tooth once. And that the process is a natural one.

Through the lense of the camera, your younger counterpart seems to peer up past the glass frame, past the fabric of time and space and straight into Azrael's misty, pale eyes, a silent yet clear plea in the tilt of your brows and the whites of your knuckles.

'Help me.'

All at once, the archangel feels sick. He staggers backwards, away from the dresser and doesn't even notice the golden halo on his back is thrumming with protective magics, pushing them outwards to envelope your entire house.

He doesn't need Jamaerah's second sight to know that you were afraid of that man who's eyes are stained the same colour as yours. Hazarding a guess as to why you were afraid causes Azrael's throat to tighten.

Swallowing hard, he tries to regain his composure. The archangel has always considered rationality to be one of the greatest weapons in his arsenal and if there was ever a time to use it, that time is now. 

'Perhaps... I am mistaken,' he reassures himself, 'I don’t know human customs nearly as well as I-’ 

“Azrael?”

The angel gives a start and jerks his head around to face the door, only to find Death eclipsing it, his eyes blazing like twin fires.

Stepping forwards into the room, he hisses, “What are you doing in here?”

The Horseman is quite certain he's never seen Azrael look so guilty.

Instead of giving him an answer though, the angel slowly breathes, “Where is Y/n?” Soon, he droops in relief when Death throws a thumb over his shoulder and replies, “Still in the bathing room, tending to a bloody nose... You didn't answer my question.”

Beckoning the Horseman closer, Azrael keeps his voice to a hushed whisper and holds the last photograph up in front of him.

“What do you make of this?”

Azrael's behaviour strikes him as so uncharacteristically odd and secretive, Death actually hurries over to him and snatches the picture frame from his hands, making an effort not to appear curious about the room he's never been inside. The angel watches raptly as Death scans the photographs with his luminous, orange eyes. Then, all of a sudden, the Horseman's fingers tighten around the little, wooden frame, hard enough to make it splinter and Azrael knows his worst fears are being realised. He hadn't imagined it.

Death sees it too.

“You guys shouldn't be in here.”

A tiny voice, low and trembling calls from the doorway and the angel's gaze snaps up. Death, in the meantime, remains too fixated on the photograph to bother acknowledging your presence.

Azrael drifts towards you cautiously, as though you'll bolt at any second. He tries to decide whether it would be better to apologise for invading your privacy or ask you why you look so terrified.

“Y/n,” he starts, paying attention to the way your hands turn over one another incessantly, “We were only-”

“... How... How did you get in? The door was - it was locked! You can't be in here... Get out!” Your voice raises in pitch. There are tears leaking from your bruised eye, swiftly turning the skin underneath it slick and shiny and there’s still a trace of blood underneath your nose.

Death finally lowers his gaze from the photograph and holds you captive under a wide and menacing stare. “A storage room, was it?” he asks curtly, showing you the picture clutched between his ever-tightening fingers.

The moment you lay eyes on it, your back goes rigid and all the blood drains from your face. “Put that down!” you demand and lift your foot as if to take a step inside the room, but as soon as you cross over the threshold, you seem to remember something, and quickly jerk yourself backwards, stumbling into the hallway again and sucking down a ragged gasp, blurting, “Just – Just don't touch it!”

“Why not?” Death drawls and tilts his head to one side, calculating, “It can't be that important to you. You've had it locked in this storage cupboard for these past two years.”

He's pushing you, Azrael realises with a sinking feeling, he's trying to provoke you into an honest reaction, no doubt. The archangel doesn't like it, but he likes the look of that man in the photograph even less.

“That's none of your business!” you snap, heart pounding like a jackhammer against your ribs. Unfortunately, your response only seems to stir something in the Horseman, who draws his head back as though you'd struck him a physical blow and he growls, “I hate to disappoint you, but it is my business where your welfare is concerned.”

“My welfare stopped being your concern about two years ago!”

Death falls silent, jaw clenching.

He'd be remiss to say that your comment hadn't struck at a place he guards jealously. He's painfully aware of the angel's eyes burning a hole into the side of his head and he nearly squirms at the pitying look he's receiving.

It would seem that Azrael knows him a little too well.

“You never once stopped being my concern...” the Horseman mumbles, his gaze moving down to the image in his hand. A younger, smaller you peers back at him with woe caught like sleep-dust behind your eyelashes. Death's eyes shoot back up to you again, the softness gone from his voice when he growls, “Why did you lie to me?”

Tensions are high enough that Azrael doesn't think it prudent to mention you'd lied to him as well.

Apparently, a direct confrontation was not the best way to deal with this delicate situation, a fact that becomes clear when you cinch your jaw shut for a moment, gaze flickering to and fro between the angel and the Horseman.

Seeing two of your most trusted friends standing in his bedroom with a symbol of your shame and your trauma held quite literally in Death's grasp sends your heart rate skyrocketing, fear like poison dripping down into your stomach. You can hardly believe they'd invade your privacy like this. Death especially, who knows better than anyone the necessity for keeping some secrets buried.

He doesn't need to learn about that part of your history - neither of them do. You don't want to have them worrying. And God forbid they should pity you.

Squaring your shoulders, you spin about on a heel and begin to march purposefully down your landing to the stairs.

“Where do you think you're going?!” Death barks after you.

Chest heaving, you pause on the first step and cast a heavy frown over your shoulder at the Horseman, matching his ferocious gaze without a single blink. “If you won't leave that room,” you tell him, “then I'll leave this house. And I'll thank you both to be gone by the time I get back.” 

And just like that, you continue to descend your staircase and disappear below the wooden balustrades. Seconds later and there's an almighty 'slam' that signals you've had an altercation with the front door before leaving through it.

For some time, the house is weighed down under a blanket of silence as the pair of unearthly beings are left to stand in the aftershocks of their actions.

“Oh dear..” Azrael's stare is vacant, worried, and he has several fingertips pressed to his lips. “I fear I've reopened an old wound..”

“No. This... isn't your fault,” the Horseman sighs, “I should have addressed this sooner. I've known for some time there was something Y/n didn't want me to know. And, I suppose, I'd always suspected that this room might lead to some answers.”

Taken aback, Azrael turns a mystified look onto the Nephilim. He'd expected Death to lay the blame upon his feathery shoulders, after all, he was the one who first ventured into this so called 'storage cupboard' and upset the proverbial applecart. Still, he finds it somewhat odd that the Horseman – a nosy creature if ever one walked the nine realms – hasn't ever tried to see for himself what lay beyond the door. Tilting his head, the angel asks, “You never thought to investigate?”

At the question, Death averts his gaze and shrugs one of his pale shoulders. “Admittedly, no, I did not.”

“Well... Why?” Azrael presses, though he already has an inkling.

After a moment of frowning pensively at the photo in his hands, the Horseman turns to look at him and he's once again thrown off by the level of emotion in those wild, striking eyes. Death really has grown since knowing you.

“I never brought it up because....” 

“.... You didn't want to jeopardise your friendship,” Azrael finishes for him softly, and Death is only grateful that he didn't have to say it himself out loud.

At the same time, the two of them peer back at the photograph and the archangel is surprised at himself for the anger that boils in his lungs at the sight of that man’s hands on you. Death however, isn’t in the least bit surprised at the presence of his own rage. 

“Horseman...,” Azrael says, his voice eerily calm, “You don’t supposed.... Y/n might be trying to hide something else, do you?” 

"The bruise...”

Furious, orange eyes meet cool and misty white. 

“It isn’t out of the question,” Azrael breathes, “A random attack from human zealots? Or-” 

“- Or something a bit closer to home,” Death finishes as he tosses the photo onto the nearby bed and turns to face the door. 

Outside, rain continues to hammer relentlessly on the house whilst a streak of lightening illuminates the bedroom and the two, imposing beings inside, one with dark magics crackling at his fingertips, and the other with a halo of solid gold on his back that thrums with violent energy as the glyphs on his wings begin to glow electric blue. 

Without a word, the Angel of Death and the Grim Reaper slip from your house and stride out into the coming storm, their ancient minds focused solely on tracking down their human.

[reyesstrand]

not sure if I’m allowed to send another but, what about 85 for tarlos?

sorry for the wait for this, but this idea got in my head and it kind of got out of control — a good ending to this series, i guess!! i hope you enjoy! 

prompt taken from this list. also available on ao3!!

Three weeks to the day after the solar flare, Carlos receives a cryptic text from his mom: come for lunch today?

He mulls it over; he loves his mother, and it’s no secret to anybody that knows him that he’s a total mama’s boy, but there’s got to be a reason behind her impromptu meal, and an evil part of his mind tells him it has to be bad news. She doesn’t mention anything about his sisters joining them, and Carlos doesn’t know if that should stress him out more or less. If it’s something bad, he’d assume that he and his sisters would find out at the same time — but that only leaves him more confused.

She’s a strong woman, and is a complete health-nut — ever since his abuela started having mobility issues, his mother’s been a champion for organic eating and natural sleep aids and doing yoga every morning. Carlos can’t put bad news from the doctor completely off the table, but he starts to drift towards the other countless possibilities — and so he can’t say no to her. Even if it’s his only day off that lines up with TK’s schedule, he spares a glance at his softly snoring boyfriend before figuring the man’s close enough with his own father that he’ll have to understand a shift in plans. And so Carlos finds himself more alert than he’d been when he’d rubbed sleep from his eyes and initially checked his phone five minutes ago, thumbs hovering over the screen before he sends her a simple of course, mami, and sets about getting ready for the day after pressing a quick kiss to TK’s hairline.

He’s showered and had his coffee and is trying to quietly get dressed when Carlos hears TK groan and grumble, clearly fighting between catching a little more sleep and getting out of bed. Carlos watches with a small smile as TK slowly sits up when he realizes he’s alone in bed, before their gazes catch, and his heart soars as TK’s eyes visibly light up at seeing him.

“Everything okay?” TK asks, voice still deep and groggy, and Carlos nods as he starts on buttoning up his shirt.

“We might have to change our plans today,” Carlos says apologetically. “I really—fuck, I really wanted to spend he day with you, but my mom wants me to come over and she usually doesn’t spring stuff like that on me unless there’s something wrong, and—”

“Hey,” TK cuts him off, and Carlos raises his brows at him. “It’s okay, seriously. Marjan’s been bugging me to take Buttercup to get some pampering, anyway.”

“You’re the best,” Carlos says, and TK grins at him.

“Damn straight.”

TK tilts his head up, clearly looking for a kiss. Carlos huffs out a laugh and comes in close, so their mouths are nearly touching, before he whispers, “You have no shame, do you.”

“Nope,” TK grins, eyes crinkling in the corners, popping the p before he closes the space between them and gets the kiss he wanted. “I’ll see you later, though?”

His eyes shine with hopefulness, and Carlos nods earnestly. “I’ll text you when I’m on my way home.”

There’s another brief kiss, before Carlos sighs as he presses their foreheads together.

“I hate just leaving on you,” Carlos admits, even though the thoughts surrounding what his mom’s intentions are with lunch are swirling around his mind.

“I’ll be fine,” TK says, ducking forward to press another kiss to the corner of Carlos’ mouth. “Say hi to your mom for me.”

It’s only half a joke — TK’s been talking, metaphorically, about meeting Carlos’ family for a week or so. He mentions it whenever Carlos talks about childhood memories or a story from one of his sisters, noting that Carlos has known his dad technically even before he knew TK. But it never evolves from a few jokes, and even though Carlos wants nothing more than to continue to make their relationship solidified through introducing each other properly to the people that mean the most to them, he doesn’t know how to seriously approach that subject.

Instead of trying now, Carlos leaves with a promised, “I’ll see you later,” before he grabs his keys and phone and makes his way out of his home.

The half-hour drive goes by mostly in a blur, because he’s too caught up in what might unfold at the lunch. They usually try to have big family dinners bi-weekly, due to everyone’s work schedules and his sister’s kids’ schedules, but he can’t remember the last time a meal like this was just dropped on him the day-of. He does have the right state of mind to stop and grab his mom a bouquet of lilies, her favourite, before he pulls up to the humble farmhouse he’d lived in his whole childhood.

“Is everything okay?”

The words are out of his mouth within seconds of stepping into the house, half-startling his mother as she pours out two glasses of sweet tea.

“Can’t I ask my favourite son to have lunch with me when I know it’s his day off?”

Carlos flushes a bit, handing the flowers to his mom as she pulls him in for a hug. “I’m your only son.”

“Still my favourite,” she grins, smacking a kiss on his cheek before she gestures toward the back deck. He follows her, taking a deep breath as he goes.

* * *

“I know something is up, baby.”

He'd been expecting something regarding her own well-being or health, or his abuela's, so when the conversation turns to him he's sort of confused. And Carlos has grown up hearing from people that he has his mother’s eyes, and as he looks into them now, he thinks he sees the similarities as she looks at him with a particular warmth laced with concern he’s been accustomed to since he was born.

“You know, I saw an interesting photo of you the other day,” she says it off-handedly, but Carlos still manages to choke on his drink. She doesn’t hesitate, going on to describe the picture he knows intimately because he posted it to his Instagram only forty-eight hours ago: him and TK, smiling as they stand close, too close to just be friendly to any onlooker, taken by Paul in the late hours of the night as they strolled around downtown after their shifts. He hadn’t even considered his family seeing the photo, and he silently rues the day his sisters made their mother various social media accounts so she could keep up with their lives. Her voice turns soft, as she squeezes his arm and asks, “Is there something you want to tell me?”

“Uh, I have to pee.”

He says it quickly enough that he can run off to inside the house, where the remnants of their lunch sits scattered over the counter. Carlos beelines for the bathroom and leans against the sink as he pulls out his phone.

how do you feel about my mom knowing about you?

seriously.

Carlos sends the messages to TK and taps his phone against the heel of his palm as he waits for a response. He thinks back to his mother’s implications — that she knows about them, is okay with them — and figures that he could always lie. It’ll look suspicious as hell, of course, after he just fucked off like that, but he’s never really brought any boyfriends around before. Mainly because he’s never been in a serious enough relationship to warrant that. But he thinks — he knows that there’s something real between him and TK, and he wouldn’t hate his mom and eventually his sisters knowing about him and meeting him and welcoming him into the fold of their family dynamic. But he needs to make sure this is still something TK’s okay with, that it’s going at his pace.

TK texts him back quickly, like always. i was serious about wanting to meet her someday. maybe even soon. so if you want to talk about me i support you.

you’re sure? Carlos texts back, as he feels his nerves starting to both tamper off and confusingly grow at the same time as he walks toward the backyard again, preparing to let his mother into this part of his life.

100%. tell her only the good things, i wanna impress her, TK replies, along with a string of heart emojis. Carlos huffs a little, quickly typing out, she’ll love you no matter what, before pocketing his phone and sliding back into his seat across from his mother.

“Sorry,” he mumbles, meeting her eyes, and as he opens his mouth to continue, she quickly interjects.

“Don’t lie to me, Carlos,” she warns, though there’s warmth behind her words, a desperate plea to tell him that she wants to be included in this part of his life, no matter how new it might be. "You know you can talk to me."

So Carlos takes another deep breath, not really looking at his mother as he whispers: “I met someone, mami.”

He stares down at the ground; after a few seconds, he shifts his gaze to stare at the blooming gardens that live in clusters around the yard, various vegetables and flowers alike growing with vengeance as the summer welcomes them back into the world. When she makes a noise and he finally meets her gaze again, she’s looking at him with nothing but fondness.

“Oh, baby,” his mom is smiling, now, and she brings his face close to press a kiss to his forehead.

“It’s only been official for a few weeks but, um, I really like him,” Carlos admits, as his mother lovingly squeezes his hand. With a laugh, he adds: “I like him a lot. And I’d love for you to meet him.”

His mother leans forward and curls her arms around him, like she did when he was a kid and he felt too small to conquer the world, and he immediately feels calm wash over him. “I would love to, mijo.”

(Carlos has a flash of a memory, then, coming out when he was fifteen years old and terrified but desperate for his truth to be known. He first told his older sister Camila, and then his mother a couple of days later, and he remembers so vividly how they hugged his then-tiny frame, all knobbly bones and a height he was getting used to, both of them supportive and loving and adamant that nothing would change how much they love him. He towers over both of them now, but he feels protected in his mother’s arms, like he always has).

As they pull out of the hug, his mother elbows him good-naturedly. “Alright, tell me about this boy then.”

His mama’s grinning at him teasingly as she says it, and Carlos sits back and huffs out a laugh of his own, rubbing the back of his neck.

“His name’s TK. He’s a firefighter,” Carlos says, barely holding back a bigger smile when his mother makes an approving face at that tidbit of information. “He’s—he’s funny and beautiful and has the warmest heart.”

“I’m so happy for you,” his mother says, eyes bright with love, as if just listening to him talk about TK has made her realize how truly happy he is. And maybe it's allowed himself to look at inside retrospectively and figure out that yeah, he is happier than he's ever been. “I’m sure I’ll love him. You’ll have to bring him around.”

“I will,” Carlos promises, feeling like he’s floating on air. “Oh, and he’s from New York City.”

He says it pointedly, knowing his mother’s always wanted to travel to the Big Apple.

“Well,” his mother says, “I guess we’ll have to show your city boy how we do family dinners, then.”

She brings him in for another hug as she smiles, before she goes off to refill their glasses. Carlos sits back, considering the idea of TK being a part of his family, for good — and he finds that he wants nothing else in the world.

[jarofrebuke-transcripts]

Jar of Rebuke Episode 1 Unofficial Transcript

Season 1 Episode 1: Pilot

INTRO

The following audio recording is classified documentation for Case [audio distortion] with the Enclosure. Unauthorized access to this information will lead to immediate intervention. Progress further if proper clearance has been given.

JARED

Dr. Daman has suggested that I start an audio journal of some kind, something outside of my therapy sessions to help me track my progress or whatever. Considering I don't have much of anything that's mine anymore, she suggested that this might actually be a good way to reclaim some of my individuality. Maybe talking about what I do know of myself might help me remember more. So I guess I'll start with what I know. My name is Dr. Jared Hel. I'm a field researcher for the Enclosure. I specialize in studying the particularly dangerous creatures around here. For some reason, no matter their effect on others, nothing is permanent on me. Gods, the amount of times I've died this last year is probably more than I should ever care to admit. I guess it's a blessing in disguise though, it's job security, for one thing. A scientist who can't die no matter how dangerous the entity he's studying? I think I'm set. Sure, I may bounce back from death with a few more scars but they're relatively healed up and I'm rarely ever in much pain when I wake up. Though, to be fair, if the Enclosure just left these creatures alone I’m sure this wouldn't even be an issue in the first place, but no... they just gotta meddle.

I started working at the enclosure, what, two years ago? Though I've really only been on the field for less than a year. Apparently, I worked at a different research site for some other organization before that but I don't really remember anything from before two years ago. I supposedly transferred here to research a particularly dangerous subject, the one that... um... well the one that killed my team. And me, I guess. The most frustrating thing is the lack of remembering- I don't remember any of their names, their faces, nothing. I had to relearn absolutely everything and no matter what I relearn I never remember. It's so infuriating knowing that there's a whole childhood and more that I have yet to recollect anything from. I feel so left out of reminiscent conversations, you know? Well of course you know, I'm practically talking to myself here. All I know of myself before the incident is what was on my work file- top of my class graduate from IU, but I don't remember a damn thing about my time there. Apparently there's a lot of fields around there, though I guess that's not too different from the towns around here. Born and raised in those corn fields, according to my records. No documented family to speak of. But from what other folks in the lab have shared about their families- maybe I’m not missing out on too much.

When asked about getting in touch with the folks from the other facility that I worked at they didn't seem to think that it would be too helpful. Hell, how would they even know who to put me in touch with? Wasn't like they would have documented my friends or anything. So again, nothing. Story of my damn life. And of course there's Todd. Oh I’m sorry, Dr Todd Carmen. He's currently head of operations at the enclosure. He's, uh, I'll say he's a character. Not as unique as he thinks he is but certainly not boring, but just because something isn't boring doesn't mean that it's entertaining. He has a fashion sense that I would have never personally considered wearing, but um that shade of orange with his pale complexion? Simply bold choices in my opinion. But I'm sure he'll get himself sorted out someday. Besides all that though I guess it's not too bad. Job security with benefits- apparently a lot of jobs don't offer health insurance. Though with our line of work it's kind of necessary, to keep us alive.

Uh, what else do I know? The Enclosure is an organization based out in the middle of absolute nowhere that researches the various anomalies, but really only bothers with the particularly dangerous ones. Like, really dangerous ones. I mean bigfoot, mothman, that sort of stuff they really just leave to their own devices for the most part. Sure they hurt and even I guess sometimes kill people, but not a lot of people, and enough people already know about those things to not really hide them away now. Wichton is like two hours from any other town. It's guised as a farming town. Uh well no, it is a farming town but the enclosure has taken it as its guise. Most of the facilities are underground, deep underground. They paid off all the townsfolk back when they were building to not ask questions. And considering they built it during a massive economic depression, no one asked questions, the townsfolk took the money. But there's still some circulating rumors about us to this day, of course. As long as we keep the particularly dangerous creepy crawlies underground with us they've got no reason to worry too much. Sure, sometimes things sneak out and make weird noises in the fields at night but country folk are superstitious folk, and if nothing else it's what these people have known all their lives. Suspicious lights, weird noises and mutated deer don't even faze these people. The Enclosure picks its battles when it decides what to tackle, that's for damn sure. Not like they're an international brand or anything, they only have the resources to stick to these neck of the woods, and with all the anomalies in these parts, not really surprised that they settled here. Been here for nearly 100 years and have very little idea why it's such a supernaturally charged area. Some say it might be the fact that folks are so superstitious that it basically invites the energy here. But others think there's a reason, but it ain't my department to figure that out. The hardest part of the job is getting things into the facility. But sometimes the hot shots up top decide to just have us study those things from afar since taking them out of their established locations seems impossible. So many ladies in gray and white dresses all over the place, we can't exactly make a support group for them here or anything! Not when they're out busy haunting dunes or lakes or crying by the side of the road or whatever. Not really hurting anyone all that much, so they've mostly just been left alone. We keep tabs, but we also don't always interfere. Oh and being the sacrificial lamb is a bit annoying, but I bounce back quickly enough. Death has gotten less disorienting over time, but no less annoying.

What did I do today? Well... I had a shorter day, shift-wise, so I went in at like 6 a.m, then got out around one-ish. I was supposed to leave closer to noon but I ended up having to stop at Dr. Rahal’s office for a bit for my headaches. They've been getting worse and we don't really know why. At least they come and go in waves, so I get some peace at times. It's always nice to see Dr. Rahal though, he's been the nicest to me since I started at this place, from what I can remember at least. He's one of the Enclosure physicians who I've been seeing. From anything to work related injuries that aren't too severe to these headaches. I swear I've never met a guy in my life who can smile so genuinely and be so sincerely happy over just about anything. It'd honestly be annoying if it weren't so sincere and if he also weren't so genuinely nice. He's really trying to help with these headaches but medicine doesn't really ever help and the medical scans showed nothing that would indicate any issue. I mean, not that they let me see the medical scans. I guess I wouldn't understand them anyways, even if they did let me.

Dr. Rahal thinks that it's likely stress so that takes us back to therapy with Dr. Daman. Had a session after work, which was when she suggested that I really start this up. She's suggested it before but I kind of dismissed the idea until today. She made a very good point- what's the harm in doing it? I mean, it can't make the headaches worse and even if it doesn't help me remember anything, maybe getting things off my chest could help in some way. Therapy was uneventful, not like much happens in a week, just the usual work stuff mostly. Though I have started going out after work a bit more often, even if it's just to a local shop or to grab a bite to eat. Dr. Daman suggested a few months back that I socialize a bit more, and it's been kind of nice. Weird, but nice. I've mostly stuck to myself outside of work, honestly. Well, besides those community events that you're basically ostracized if you don't attend or you get bombarded with those calls of “where were you last night? We were so worried about you, are you okay?”, even if you don't remember giving them your number. I like to go to a restaurant in town called the Royal Cow, they make the best in-house ice cream. They built it to look like one of those red farm houses which matches most of the buildings in town, but their mint chocolate chip ice cream is basically the best ice cream I've ever had. They also make really, really good sugar cream pie. Get it when it's still fresh, it's a little warm, melts in the mouth. I mean it basically cures any hankering for a sweet tooth. So that's what I ordered- a fresh slice of sugar cream pie. But that was my dessert. They do also have some pretty good not-sweet foods. Their lunch menu is alright but their breakfast food is really where it's at. And they do that breakfast all day thing, so I got their breakfast platter which is really, really good food.

On my way home, I bumped into Darius. He's the son of some local farmers in town. His dads have an apple orchard, on top of everything else. The Enclosure actually keeps tabs on their farm, because no matter what his dad John plants, apples always grow. I mean no matter what John plants. He could plant pumpkin seeds in the fall but no apple trees are gonna spring up and I'll be damned if those aren't the best apples. I mean sometimes crab apples grow instead, he can't really control what kind of apples grow, but John has found a way to make crab apples into really good apple pies and ciders and stuff. I've heard they make good jams and jellies, but he perfected a crab apple pie. He said it's “just a lot of love” but I think there's something with those apple trees. But again, not my department to figure it out. Darius and I made small talk. The weather, mostly. So mostly just complaining about how it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so humid or if we just had a nice breeze, but the shade does help. He always makes excuses to talk to me. I'm not complaining, but that does seem to be a thing around town is everyone makes excuses to talk to everybody. Like the one time that Holly stopped me in the middle of the road to chat when we were passing each other. It's a community norm, I guess, but Darius always wants to talk again. I'm not complaining, he's a really nice conversational partner we can chat about just about anything with certain obvious restrictions. He knows I work at the Enclosure, but folks in town seem to think it's some hoity-toity but shady government job. I don't really think we're tied to the government, per se, but whatever lie they've told the towns is just what I stick with. Whether or not they believe that is entirely another story. He knows I'm a scientist, but he thinks i'm more of an environmental natural scientist instead of a supernatural scientist. I guess whether or not he believes that is an entirely other story too, but we don't really talk about work much. On my end I don't bring it up and while he does talk about working on the family farm from time to time, especially because they expect for him to take over, he tries to find other things to talk about. He's gone back to school recently. They recently in town set up a sort of trade school, I guess, where if anyone's considered a master in town they can teach classes to teach other people in whatever skills they have to share. Seems Darius is taking a bit of a Home Ec class, I guess, sewing and cooking and things like that. He said that he's great with his hands in the field but he really wants to round out his hand skills. He then awkwardly chuckled after that but I don't understand why. I mean it's completely respectable to want to be able to stitch up your own clothes or actually have a nice dinner besides the reheated leftovers left on your doorstep or to know what to do when your microwave catches fire. Honestly, I don't really know what all they teach in those classes. I'd never even heard of something like a Home Ec class until Darius told me about it. I wonder if I ever took one. If i wasn't so busy with work I would actually look into taking classes. I like to learn and Darius even said that he'd be more than happy to help me with anything if I needed it which is nice. But I'm a really fast learner. I actually get bored a lot because of it. I don't see why anyone would need five months or years of training or educating. No, I can see why. I also just know that I am the anomaly. When I forgot everything and had to relearn how to read I was at a 10th grade reading level. By what, just a few weeks? And then I was at college level again in a matter of a month. But even though I was relearning stuff quick I never remembered anything. I never remembered books I've read before the incident, I never remembered learning how to read the first time, I just was quickly relearning how to read. I don't even know if you would consider remembering how to read. I mean I'm never remembering anything. I don't even remember the creature that I was working with in the incident. And no one will tell me anything, because they said they want me to remember organically, or something like that. They said they feared something like a trauma, whiplash? I really don't understand it and it just pisses me off more than anything. But Dr. Daman won't budge. No one will let me look over any files of the incident or files on the other lab techs who died. They slapped this key around my neck and said, “here, to keep your brain in check. Oh, you literally remember nothing? Well tough luck, see this therapist and see what happens!” Ugh. They said if it weren't for my weird powers then the incident would have killed me too. They said they don't know why I have this ability to rebound from death like it nearly never happened but they sure are willing to use my ability for work.

Right, the key. Uh, when I woke up the first thing the doctors did was have me wear it around my neck. It’s on some sort of sturdy red cord. I've never taken the thing off in years. You would think that it may have faded a bit or that the cord would have worn, but no. Cord is still sturdy and the key is just as shiny as the day they gave it to me, which isn't that shiny, it was a bit tarnished already, but hasn't gotten any more tarnished. It's supposed to keep my brain in check after the effects of, well, the incident. Dr. Daman says that if I take it off, I risk unlearning absolutely everything that I've learned in the last two years. I don't know why the key is supposed to be the thing that does this, but this is the only time that death has ever made me lose everything, so I figured what's the harm in wearing it. Not like it hurts to wear or anything.

Darius has asked me about it before though. Not when we first met or anything but after multiple times of running into each other he finally asked. I get asked about it a lot but I just say that it's a familial trinket and they tend to just leave it be. But darius had asked after we'd shared a few drinks at a local bar and even though I have a bit of a high tolerance for alcohol and never stay drunk long, he seemed to ask at just the right moment for me to open up a bit more, I guess. I said it's a comfort item, which I guess isn't exactly the whole truth, I actually honestly hate this thing. A constant reminder of all the things that I've forgotten. But I guess there's slight comfort and knowing that because of this key everything that I've relearned will stick. They say it's important to understand all that you don't know, but I know all too well that I've got at least 20 years of things that I don't remember. But hey, with this key I guess i can rebuild that. I must have seemed uncomfortable about this question where he was satisfied with that answer because Darius let it go after that, but I catch him staring at it sometimes. He's asked what I know about skeleton keys, and all things considered I didn't know much, at least didn't remember. He told me that his dads both told him about the powers that keys hold, not just to lock things but even more importantly to unlock them. That a skeleton key could lock or unlock any door to a given building, no matter what other keys people had, commonly used by cleaners and inn owners and stuff like that. He really seems fixated on the idea and I guess the symbolism is a bit striking with my current situation considering... whatever. The less he knows the better. It would be nice to talk to someone outside of the enclosure about more personal stuff from time to time but I can't go around spilling secrets.

Right, my day. Uh, lunch, talked with Darius, uh... after about 15 minutes of “all right I should get going”-s and taking a few steps apart, starting to have talked about other topics and repeating the process, I finally started home. On my way home I drove past some corn fields and various other pastures. The Enclosure gave me a house near the edge of town because after a year of rigorous relearning I didn't want to live in their communal housing anymore. It's not too far from Darius's family orchard and farm which is nice. Nicest farm in the area, in my opinion. There's no real rivalry between the farmers, at least nothing too intense. But something about those trees in the distance out of my window is really relaxing. All the cattle I passed on my way home had moved to face the same direction near the fences and stared into the distance mindlessly grazing. That and the clouds rolling in were very strong indicators that there was going to be a heck of a storm tonight. I didn't listen to the weather announcement this morning but the sky's only gotten darker now so i'm ready to sleep like the dead tonight. But when I was pulling into my driveway I saw something rustling in the bushes by my front door. I thought maybe it was a squirrel or a rabbit or something but then two tiny hands parted the leaves and I saw one of those black-eyed children just sitting there staring at me. I normally only see them at night. I guess it was waiting for me to come home to loiter on my doorsteps or something, I don't know. When I got out of the car I was surprised when it actually climbed out of the bush and just rigidly stared at me with those lifeless black eyes. I got my stuff out of my car and made my way to the door, but it was kind of standing in the way. I just slid on by it with a muttered apology and slipped inside before I could start whispering requests for entrance. Never making that mistake again. No matter how much I want to let them in my house got all sorts of messed up last time and I got a heck of a scolding at work when they found out. I don't shoo them away, but I don't let them in anymore. It was really weird, they normally only come knocking or waiting by the sides of the road at night, I had never seen one in the middle of the afternoon. Once I got settled in I pulled out a book, a crossword book I was gifted at the last community bonfire. I blow through these things really fast but I really like them, so Christine gave me like five of them, all different, claimed that she found the most difficult ones that she could find, which is really sweet. She even wrote little notes on the inside cover of each of them so I've ended up actually keeping them when i'm done so I can reread her notes when I need a little pick-me-up. Whether a crossword book or a little box of treats she always writes uplifting notes and anecdotes inside any gifts she gives anyone, all signed with the most beautiful cursive- “with love, Christine Torres”. She really mothers everyone in town, at least that's what I've noticed. This one is a real toughy, which I like. That's mostly what I've been up to since I got home. I decided that I'd take a break from doing, well, this. Dr. Daman was adamant about me giving it a shot so here we are. Me, myself and I. Oh sorry, hold on, work email. (Whispered: who am i even apologizing to?) Well now, wait a minute. A new lab partner? Dr. Gia Castillo. Why the hell did they give me a new lab partner? I guess I'm meeting her in the morning. I hate it when Todd pulls this, but I’ve got no say in the matter. The usual. But I hate sudden change.

I'm tired, I'm reheating some food Mrs. Weddington gave me and going to bed. I can hear the thunder starting to get louder and that kid outside tapping on my door so I guess I should try and get some sleep. Guess I'll talk to you later? This is actually kind of nice, saying whatever I want without worries. (little laugh) I'm already dreading tomorrow. Well this is Dr. Jared Hel, signing off, I guess.

[tapping sounds, and sounds of thunder, as we fade into the outro]

OUTRO

Jar of Rebuke is written and produced by Casper Oliver, who is also the voice of Dr Jared Hel. The intro is read by Vanessa Rosengrant, and credits are read by Ashley Craft, who has also created the podcast official graphics. Music was created by Luke Menniss, spelled m-e-n-n-i-s-s, who you can find and support on Bandcamp, Spotify and Twitch. Find us on Twitter, Instagram and anywhere else you get your podcast fix for more Jar of Rebuke and also to get updates on upcoming official merch for our show. Support projects by this crew on Patreon to further other queer-lead projects and get neat perks. All donations are appreciated and will grant further clearance to special Jar of Rebuke content. You can also make one-time donations on Ko-fi.

[raptorbox]

wip wednesday: (old) kuroko no basket edition!

since the dub has us watching the anime for a second time, i’ve gotten into a knb mood! so i decided to dig through my evernote and post some bits and pieces of old wips from...ah, 6 years ago is the earliest one. welp. 

here we go! it’s.......mostly akashi/kuroko. i might have an otp. maybe.

akashi/kuroko, coffee shop au

nothing’s actually written for this one, just a cast list and where everyone goes. it’s a pretty long series of lists sooo i won’t actually post it, but here’s where GoM+Kagami are!

Kagami transferred to be a shift manager at Seirin coffee shop

Kuroko is hourly at coffee shop, also pre-school teacher

Murasakibara pastry chef at restaurant owned by Yosen manager

Akashi is a grad student for business, also shogi champ

Kise is a part-time model, taking pilot lessons, and part-time retail worker

Midorima is in med school, works part-time at ???

Aomine line cook/chef at a different restaurant (Touou)

Momoi general manager of said restaurant

if i revisited this i might change some stuff around, but this is pretty fun!

midorima & ???, a...fast food au? maybe?

"I'm off in a few minutes"

Midorima is still turning all the bills in the cash drawer

okay that’s a super short one but i do like the idea of midorima taking time like i used to just...turning all the bills to face the same direction

akashi/kuroko, coffee shop/bookstore au

"I'm off in a few minutes," Kuroko says, looking Akashi in the eye while he continues to wipe down the counter, "if you can wait."

Akashi smiles and turns his coffee cup in his hand, giving Kuroko a glimpse of his own handwriting on the side of it. It just says "Akashi-kun", and Kuroko knows he wrote that a solid 15 minutes ago.

"Are you?" Akashi muses. Kuroko nods and Akashi straightens up from leaning against the counter, taking his coffee and lingering gaze with him. "I'm not in any rush."

Kuroko thanks every higher power that the coffee shop outlet didn't see too many of the bookstore's customers today. He doesn't usually want busy days as it is, but the moment Akashi comes in the more he finds himself wishing for nothing to do.

so the past two wips were filling the same prompt i guess? w/e, i actually started this one. different coffee shop from the seirin coffee shop at the top.

TYL GoM meet-up, feat transgirl reo but not in this excerpt

"I'm sorry." Akashi says and the table goes quiet, half from shock over hearing Akashi say that at all, and the rest as if they'd been punched.

They don't know how to respond. Kise's jaw is dropped,  Murasakibara fidgets, and Midorima is getting his hand squeezed by Takao. Aomine stretches loudly, suddenly, and everyone jumps.

"S'not your fault," Aomine grumbles while not making eye contact with Akashi, "don't apologize."

Akashi's frown is set in deep. "I should have been able to handle the situation much better than I did. I take responsibility."

(More arguing maybe)

Kagami is still chewing his food when he talks. "Weren't all of you in fuckin middle school? Like...what, 13 or 14?"

Everyone turns on him with different reactions; while Murasakibara looks horrified at the disrespect, Takao is trying his damn hardest to keep his burst of laughter muffled. Kuroko jabs Kagami's side and Kagami groans.

"Oh my god," he growls, "seriously, you guys were kids, who the fuck expects a kid to handle all you assholes?" He gripes while gesturing to the rainbow of said assholes, his own boyfriend included.

i get what i was going for but i’d write this differently from how i did 6 years ago. this is like a little overdramatic i guess??? but man i’m just here for some adults dealing with group childhood trauma but this time in a more lighthearted way

akashi/kuroko, about their first date!

Akashi looks as put-together and expensive as kuroko knew he would. He has layers and nice shoes, hands in his pockets and a pleasant, observant expression as he scans the crowds. Kuroko's early and he wonders how long Akashi has been here.

He doesn't bother waving, it wouldn't necessarily make him more visible. He's expecting to be able to walk up to him, invisible and silent, but he's quickly in Akashi's area of sight and he's seen. Kuroko stumbles from being suddenly so visible under a gaze that seems to see all of him at once.

Akashi smiles. "Kuroko, you're early."

Kuroko steps into Akashi's space, settles comfortably beside him facing the crowd. "You're one to talk."

"Hmm, well I can't argue that." Akashi glides through his words. "Shall we go?"

Kuroko is watching faces and gestures. "We're early, aren't we?"

Akashi's eyes flick over all the people,  smirking a little. "Everyone here is in a rush."

Kuroko nods. The trains are going to be packed and he would usually tackle that challenge. He bumps shoulders with Akashi, who nudges him in return.

i actually wrote more of this than i remembered? i have a few other sections started. they make out against a chain link fence after playing some one-on-one to end their date.

akashi/kagami, just some notes

Alex leaves nail clippers

"Your home is so spacious it's hard to believe anyone could lose something here..."

Sits that boy the fuck down

"You can think about dinner while I do this. Maybe you'll even think of something new."

Comments on how he'll call him taiga someday but later

He still has to readjust to tetsuya despite kuroko's insistence on it

Clip clip file file

Humming

It's a concerto I'm practicing

Kagami makes a massive dinner, mutters about how he didn't think if anything new to add or do

Too distracted and stuff

Gets a head scritch

this was basically a fic about akashi grooming kagami’s nails bc i’m just. a big fan of that stuff. i think there’s some hint hint at akashi/kuroko/kagami but maybe not, who knows with me tbh. this would be fun to revisit

akashi/kagami(/kuroko), harry potter au

“Please be more careful.”

Kagami grunts as he shifts his body. “I can’t promise you that.”

Akashi pets Kagami’s hair and brings his hand back around to his cheek. “Try.” he says with a slight smile. It’s dark out but he can see the flush in Kagami’s cheeks and the light in his eyes.

---

They return to the equipment room to undress themselves from their quidditch gear, Akashi leading Kagami by his hand, still in quiet disbelief that this might just work out.

Akashi looks up and is the first one to see Kuroko standing there in his robes, broom in hand, smiling at them.

kuroko came to practice with them, heard the yelling and ran to see what was up, saw the post-fall bit and just kinda hung out and watched bc boyfriends yeh.

“Jeez, now I’ll never hear the end of how much time I spend with Slytherins,” Kagami groans, “and the seeker and captain of the team, at that.”

now we’re getting into the old self-indulgent af shit back when harry potter wasn’t on my shit list.

akashi/kuroko(/kagami), that same harry potter au

(3rd years)

Akashi sits in his bed across the room from Kuroko’s. Their roommates are in their own beds, studying or writing letters in the quiet warmth of their dormitory. It’s lights-out, they should all be at least trying to sleep, but it’s been a long time since any of them have stuck to that.

Akashi doesn’t know if Kuroko used to go to bed on time. He doesn’t remember if he gets up early or is late for his classes. He never used to see him, but now he can’t stop looking at him. Kuroko fidgets under his gaze and Akashi smiles.

“Sorry, Kuroko,” he says, watching Kuroko startle and look around at their roommates, “is this uncomfortable?”

Kuroko’s expression rarely morphs outside of his usual default, but Akashi watches the small furrows of his brow and the deeper set of his unsure frown. He’s been unable to un-see Kuroko since that day earlier this year. He finds Kuroko fascinating and wonderful, a pinnacle of everything he wanted to complete his quidditch team who goes far and beyond his every expectation. He’s fixated on Kuroko, the Muggle-born Slytherin with a talent tailored to the qualities of a perfect Seeker.

Some of their dormmates have looked up at Akashi curiously, asking without words who he was talking to. Akashi waves them off and they shrug, more preoccupied with their own things at this time of night Akashi reaches out a hand to Kuroko, across the room, and Kuroko shoots it a confused stare.

Akashi chuckles. “Come here.”

no one can pry slytherin kuroko from me, that’s all i gotta say

aaaaaand that’s all i can show for my old af knb fics that i never finished! i don’t know if i’ll pick any of these back up, maybe one of the coffee shop ones if i do. as much as i loved and plotted out the harry potter au, harry potter is dead to me so i’ll just have to transplant that story into something else somehow if i really want to.

[nctwd127]

Arranged Marriage.

Chapter One.

Word Count: 2797

“Wake up, honey” I heard my mom say outside my door. “Just five more minutes mom.” I groaned covering my face from the sun light that is shining into my room.

“No, you are going to be late for your classes.”

My eyes shot open. I totally forgot, today is my last year of college. Not that I needed it actually, I was pretty much set for life with my parents part in the company, that someday I would take over. But still, I wanted to have something else under my belt, something that I wanted to do and study, in case I ever decided that maybe taking part in the company wasn’t for me.  

After changing into a black t-shit, white shorts and my classic converse, I walked out of my room and made my way down to the dining room. My parents were sitting at the table talking about something that by their facial expressions was serious. They stopped talking when they noticed me walk in.

“Good Moring dad.” I greeted him as I sat down across from him as my mom got up and gave me my breakfast. “Good morning honey.” He responded, finishing his own breakfast.

“After school come straight home (Y/N), we are having the Nakamoto’s over and we have something important to tell you.” My mom said trying to hold back a smile and my dad joining her as well. A little confused I nodded and finished my food.

“Okay then, will do. I’ll see you guys later.” I got up to leave my dishes in the sink. I grabbed my bag and walked out of my house. Finding parking in front of my house is a little hard, so I had to park two houses down. On my way to my car, someone behind me tapped my shoulder. Startled, I turned to face them, once I did my face dropped.

“What do you want Yuta?” I asked as I kept walking, not really caring for anything that would come out of his month. “Well that’s not very nice of you, now it is?” He replied, walking in front of me and then turning to face me, walking backwards. I rolled my eyes and kept walking.

Finally I got to my car and got in without speaking another word to him. I drove away, looking in the rearview mirror, I saw him standing there waving me goodbye with his nerve picking, ‘I know something you don’t’ smile.

Yuta and I have been neighbors for as long as we can remember. We were after all, childhood best friends. We breathed and lived for each other back in those days. But now things are different. We lost the bond that we once had. But in front of our parents, we were still friends who just grew apart.

Everything was great for us back then but after that summer, that accident, everything fall apart. Yuta and I were never the same. He forgot everything we went through and no matter how much I wanted to bring those memories back, I couldn’t. They were long gone for him. But for me, it was like it had happened yesterday. But nothing could be done anymore. That summer was long gone and so was the Yuta I knew.

After the memories I wanted so bad to come back, never did I couldn’t keep the friendship going. It hurt too much, remembering everything that he couldn’t was tearing me apart. Being around him was too much. So I broke away first, I had too for my own sanity that was barely even there anymore.

Yuta made the effort to see me and try to make plans to hang out but I kept denying. Eventually he gave up and carried on with his life. Finding new friends to replace my absence.  They kept him busy and I grew less and less of a thought to him. And then, I didn’t matter anymore and neither did the friendship.

Ignoring the interaction with him, I pulled up into the schools parking lot, every year, Doyoung, Chittaphon, who likes to go by Ten and Hendery, always park in the same area all school year, it became an unspoken rule we never broke.  

The three of them came as a package deal. I am lucky enough to call Kim Doyoung my boyfriend of four years now. Hendery and Ten, there were easily two of my best friends. All three of them are also best friends. There isn’t a thing we couldn’t and wouldn’t do for each other.

As usual, all of them were already there, just waiting for me. I haven’t seen Ten and Hendery all summer, since they had gone away to their hometowns. And Doyoung, I haven’t seen him for a week since we both had been busy with our own things, mostly me being in the office with my parents.

Getting out of the car, right away I threw myself at the boys. “Ten, Hendery, I missed you guys so much! I am so glad you’re back!” I exclaimed. They laughed and hugged me as tight as they could in a three way hug.

“We missed you too (Y/N).” They sang. “Well fuck me then, right?” Doyoung joked behind me. All three of us laughed as we pulled away from the hug.

“Oh please, you had her all summer, it’s time that you share again.” Ten answered playfully as I walked over to him and embraced each other in a tight hug.

“Baby, I missed you so much too.” Doyoung whined into my neck. I playfully rolled my eyes at him. “I know baby, I missed you so much too.” He pulled away from my neck to place a sweet kiss on my lips. Had we not been out here, I would have jumped his bones.

“Oh look it’s the love birds.” Yuta commented as he passed by us with his little trio of friends that consisted of Sicheng, Jaehyun and Taeyong. He turned to look at me, still with that stupid smile of his from earlier plastered on his face and winked at me. Doyoung’s grip on my waist tightened a little at his action. I just rubbed my hand over his in a way to tell him, it didn’t mean anything. Because it never does and never will.

At least I thought it wouldn’t.

“Okay guys, let’s get this year over with and kick some ass for the rest of our lives.” Hendery declared completely ignoring the stupidity that is Yuta. He was right, let’s get this year over with. This is the last year here for us before we split into our own things.

After this, I pick up my parents part in the company if I want too, Ten gathers himself to start his art gallery, Hendery starts to venture in his writing as an author. The love of my life, starts his own business in the baking world, which I will hopefully occasionally help in, seeing as we have a passion for the same thing.

We had pretty much tried to match our schedules to the best of our abilities but with all of us studying different things, it was hard to have the same time available to see each other during the day. But we managed to have at least one off hour at the same time so we could have lunch together.

“Alright guys, we’ll meet at the usual place for lunch today.” Ten confirmed before we parted ways, seeing as all of us were headed into different directions. “Will do” was all of our responses.

I smiled to myself as I carried on to my first class. It was some type of math I needed. Math wasn’t really my strong suit so I knew right away this would be a hard class, hoping nothing would distract me.

Class wasn’t starting for another few minutes so when I walked in, there weren’t many students in yet. I made my way to the back of class, like always. I hated being in the front, I always paid attention better in the back for some reason. A minute or two passed and a few more people walked in.

Of course, one of them just had to be Yuta. It’s like his eyes were magnets to me because as soon as he walked in, he spotted me. I simply rolled my eyes and looked away, hoping he wouldn’t sit next to me. But I asked for too much.

“Hey doll.” He greeted as he planted his butt into the seat next to me. I scoffed but didn’t bother to answer him back. Just ignore him, he’s not there if you ignore him, I told myself. “Ah we’re playing the silent treatment? Hmm well then I guess I won’t tell you what I know.” I could hear the cockiness fall off his lips at every word he said. “What do you know Yuta?” I quizzed looking at him, my curiosity was poked at.

“Nuh uh, you wanted to give me the silent treatment so don’t bother, I won’t tell you now.” He teased. In this moment, there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do to smack that damned smirk off his face. “Whatever.”

The teacher had finally walked in and started the lesson. It was hard to focus when all I could feel on the side of my face was his staring. If he stared any harder, he would have burned a hole into my head. After an agonizing hour and forty-five minutes of trying to focus on the lesson, it was finally over. I gathered my things and quickly headed to the door but I stopped when Yuta spoke to me.

“Don’t be late going home today, I don’t feel like waiting too long for you.”

I turned to look at him. “You know what they are going to tell me, don’t you?” He smirked as he walked up to me. He leaned down to my ear and whispered, “Like I said princess, don’t be late.”

I tensed up the moment that pet name left his lips. He hasn’t called me that since the accident.

He chuckled and walked away, leaving me alone in the classroom. Confused and a little scared.

I tried to shake away the nerves he created as I headed to my next class but it was hard too. I couldn’t focus on what was going on when his words were ringing in my head. Remembering this morning with my parents, it didn’t seem like it was a bad thing they wanted to tell me. My mom was practically giddy along with my dad.

Finally the time for lunch had arrived for us and all I wanted was to throw myself in Doyoung’s arms. I gathered my things and made way to my car. Placing my things inside, I drove to a café, two blocks away. Much like the parking area we had, the café was our place to hang out. We shared many memories there and it meant a lot to all of us. It was our scarred place.

Upon entering, I scanned the place and found the three boys siting in the back, by the looks of it, they were in deep conversation and it looked serious. But as soon as I approached them, the conversation died quickly. “Hey you’re here baby.” Doyoung cheered pulling out the chair for me. “Yeah, what were you guys talking about?” I questioned as I watched them exchange knowing glances.

“Nothing important, just about a football game coming up.” Ten lied giving me his cheeky smile that gave him away. “Fine, don’t tell me, not like I would care anyway.” I pouted and crossed my arms over my chest.

“Awe don’t be a big baby Name.” Hendery chuckled reaching over to pinch my cheeks. I swatted his hands away and laughed. The waitress came over soon after that and we all ordered.

Lunch passed by fast and so did the rest of the day for that matter. Now here we all stood in front of my car, making plans for this weekend to go out and catch up about the summer.

Buzz!

I pulled my phone out of my pocket to see that the devil himself had texted me.

[Devil]: Don’t be late princess.

I groaned at the message as I read it. “Sorry guys, but I have to go. My parents want me home right away today, they have some kind of news for me.” I informed leaning into Doyoung more wanting to feel his embrace longer.

“Oh, what kind of news?” Ten asked. “I have no idea but whatever it is, Yuta seems to know about it too but he wouldn’t tell me anything.” As I mentioned his name, I felt my boyfriend stiffen a little.

“You know, Yuta is really starting to piss me off more than usual now. All day today, whenever I saw him, he’d just smirk at me along with his friends, like there was something I didn’t know.” He complained.

“You know, now that I think about it, he was doing the same thing to me too. Sicheng kind of just asked how you were guys were doing, in a vague manner.” Hendery commented.

“Taeyong did the same actually. He asked me if you guys were doing okay, but in a cynical tone almost, like there was something I didn’t know.” Ten added.

Even though Yuta and his friends and I didn’t get along, my friends did with his friends, not Yuta himself though. They simply stayed away from him because of what we have going on. I have no say in the matter because they are free to make their own choices and truthfully I don’t feel any which way about it. But Doyoung of course, doesn’t get along with any of them.

At the mention of this, Doyoung held me a little tighter as I did too. I started to feel a little worried now, what could they possibly want to tell me that would cause Yuta and his friends to behave this way. “Well I’m sure that whatever it is, it can’t be too bad. Besides, Yuta is just weird so I wouldn’t dwell too much on his behavior now.” I tried to reassure them but something didn’t seem right and I know the guys could tell, worried glances were exchanged.

We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways, with the promise of calling later with the news my parents were going to tell me. Nearing my house, I started to feel the anxiety build in me. By the way they acted this morning, it didn’t seem bad, it seemed almost good, and like the best news they could give me. But from the way Yuta and his friends were acting, it didn’t seem like it was good. Walking up to my door and unlocking it, I could hear my heartbeat in my ears, making me feel a little lightheaded.

Entering into my living room, there sat my parents, Yuta’s parents and he himself. I smiled brightly and greeted them, “Mr. and Mrs. Nakamoto, hello it’s a pleasure seeing you again.” They smiled widely at me. “Oh please honey, we’ve told you before please call us by our names.” His mom insisted, signaling her husband to get up so I could take their seat next to Yuta. I just bowed my head and sat next to him. This is no time for fighting, I scolded myself.

I waited till they sat next to my parents before I asked, “So what’s going?” They all looked at each other and smiled so big and bright that I started to feel a little excited, thinking it was going to be great news.

Until Yuta placed his hands on mine and squeezed a little. I turned to look at him like he’s gone mad and was going to swat his hand away until I heard the words I never imagined come from our parents. My heart stopped and suddenly the pounding in my head got stronger at their words.

“As you know, once we decide to step down the company will be handed to you both in the future. And because both families have played a part in it since literally the beginning, we want both families to always stay involved. We don’t one side having more than the other or anything of those sorts.” His dad paused, looking over at my dad to continue.

“After much consideration, we decided that the best way to do that is that we make the company one, under our last name and the Nakamoto’s. Meaning the both of you will run the company together, as one. As husband and wife.” My dad ended.  

Masterlist

[bolbianddolanhouse]

BNHA self insert AU [Book 3]

New? Read here! Then here!

Chapter 11: Don’t Rain on Me By Joji

Things weren’t as tense as I thought they were gonna be. I really did hurt my own feelings! As for the group punishment, Aunty Mimi didn’t fuck around and worked us until we cried. My body hurt so much that the showers I took stung.

-5 days before returning to the dorms-

I finished my shower and saw that it was just mom and I at home. She was in her office, laying on the day bed. I’ve always wondered why there was a day bed in here and why it was facing the window. But the scene was nostalgic to me, so I floated over to lay next to my mom. Just like I did when I was little. When I put my weight on the bed, she sensed me and put her arms around me.

“How was your training mijo?” she asked softly.

“It was rough, she had us pull a semi-truck up a hill without quirks” I groaned “luckily it was just the truck part and not with the cargo part.”

“She’s going soft on you guys” she chuckled, pulling me in closer “at least it’s not wilderness training.”

“Heh yea” I looked up to see her calm face, eyes closed but awake and gently running her hand through my curly hair. It made me wonder if I really do share an image with her, am I going to look like this when I get older? If I grew out my hair, will I look more like her? The only way to tell us part are the tattoos on her torso... hmmm, that makes me wonder about her what her high school file said about her. “Hey mom.”

“Yes mijo?”

“Can you tell me about your tattoos?” I asked as I poked her shoulder blades “The two skulls on your shoulder?”

“Oh these ones?” she asked as she pulled down her wide neck long sleeve from the top, exposing the two tattoos “I got them before I came to Japan.”

“Why? What do they mean?”

She pointed to the one on her left “I got this one before I left home, it represents my culture. So I never forget where I came from.” She pointed to the one on the right shoulder “This one I got in Austria, where I did my basic training before going to my final destination. It represents the death of my old life, to remind myself that things will never be the same and that I have to mourn and move on at some point. To move forward with my new life but never forget those memories.”

I traced the one on the left with my finger, it was a sugar skull “Was it hard leaving home and everyone behind?”

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but I did it because I loved my family and I didn’t want them to get hurt over my doing. My life was going well for me before, I even had a long term boyfriend” she chuckled and blushed “I planned to marry him when we turned 18 and live the rest of my short life with him, start a family after I finished college and see where things go from there. But I guess his dreams were shattered too.”

“Wow you had a plan and everything!” I paused to think of my next question “When why did you fall in love with dad? If you planned to marry the other guy?”

“To be honest, I thought I was never returning home. Life was overwhelming me here and I thought I was just going to be alone for the rest of my life” her face shifted into sadness “I cried everyday as I prayed for someone to make my days less lonely, someone who’d make me feel complete. It took a while to see that it was your dad but he did make me very happy, even if we were just friends.” Her eyes got dewy “Then I got the family I yearned for, and at that point, I didn’t mind if I never returned home. Because I made a home here with all of you! And that was enough for me.”

Her words moved me to tears “Even if we’re little shits?”

She laughed “YES! Attitude and all! I love all of you because you’re the little pieces of me that I love the most about myself. I could never hate my children, no matter how bad.”

“Then, what will happen if you get word you can return home?”

“Well, the plan was, that I go back and live with my parents. If my boyfriend was still alive, then I’d reunite with him too and pick up where I left off in my life plan.” She listed “But that was before I started the company, got married and had children! Now it’s more that I’d go for an extended vacation back home. Because the new ordeal is that I was going to retire at both my jobs, hand over the company to a replacement, go visit my childhood home and visit all of my family members to show that I’m alive.”

“Will you take us with you?” I asked, scared of what she might say.

“If you guys want too” she looked at me “I know your dad wants to, he said before we got married that he wanted to accompany me because he wanted to see all the places I talked about in my little childhood stories. But I don’t know if you or your siblings would, I guess it would depend if you’re in your careers or not by then.”

“What if you want to stay there?”

“We’ll see, I haven’t thought that far ahead” she put her chin on my head “one day at a time Iwata.”

“Hmmm, okay one more question” I declared as I felt that I was maybe annoying my mom “Why are we protected citizen status? So many people don’t know about your children and act all surprised that I exist.”

She shifted her arms and had more of my weight rested onto her “Remember the night of the incident? And how we hid in Mr Hitoshi’s house for a few days?” she started off “I was waiting until you were a bit older to tell you the full story, but here it goes. The home invaders hacked into the protected housing database to get my personal cell number, they called me as a distraction so they could break into the house. I knew right away that I had to protect you guys but I wasn’t at my best because I was still healing from giving birth. I alerted Jin and Mimi to take you and the others to safety because I was ready to lay my life on the line.”

“Why did you do it?” I choked up, now understanding what I saw that night.

“I said I was going to protect my family and that if it costed my life, then so be it. I kissed your father goodbye and he understood that I had to do what I needed to do. So while he gathered you guys in the nursery to await uncle Jin’s portal, I fought this intruder but he made the mistake to tell me his motive.” She choked up a bit, trying to keep her composure “He said that he wanted to take my children and I away for quirk experiments. That they were going through the quirk registry of the country of double quirked citizens, us first, then the Todoroki family. That didn’t sit with me, I fought even harder but I pushed myself too hard and ended up face down and backed into my doom. I closed my eyes coming into to terms that this was it but at least my family is safe. But then I heard your little voice shout for the intruder to get away from me, and I shot up to use the last of my energy to protect you. But it didn’t matter what I did, you defeated them with your awakened quirk, I just finished the job with a shot to the spine to cripple them.” She took a deep breath “I saw that you were going into catatonic state, so I picked you up and held you, staggering my way to the nursery with everyone else for the portal.”

“You’re alive because of me?” I realized.

“Yes mijo, and I’m so thankful that you did. I couldn’t imagine a life where my children lived without their mother and only with a father that knows nothing about raising four very rowdy kids.” Her body curled around me “I informed the commission of the breach and everything got tighter security. I took an extra step and put the protected status on all of my children. Everyone on the Japan data base with a double quirk was advised to do the same or choose one quirk to have on the registry. But you’re just like me in a way.”

“How?” 

“You rose to the occasion and fought to protect the ones you loved, even if the chances of losing were high. And at the end, you won but life will never be the same and you live with the trauma of that day everyday.” She answered “Now you’re stronger, smarter and still have your loved ones around you...history repeated itself.”

“Damn, it do be like that huh?” That part blew my mind.

“Yea, but now all I wanna do is continue this nap” she closed her eyes again “Stay awhile longer Iwata, if we pretend to be asleep when dad comes home, he has to cook dinner.”

“Okay” I chuckled and closed my eyes “I’ll stay.”

I was no longer conflicted about my thoughts on my mom. She’s incredible and loves her family so immensely! She isn’t an empress, she’s divinity, love reincarnate. My wish is to feel that much love someday, maybe I will when I have a family of my own.

-3 days before returning to the dorms-

“How are you holding up chief?” asked Hoshi as he came outside to where I was “Last day of punishment training eh?”

I was face down on my trampoline that I jumped onto because there was a layer of snow on it and my body felt like it was on fire “Yea, and I want to die.”

“Bet” He chuckled as they sat on the rim of the trampoline “I brought berry tart for some cafecito with the fam.”

“Ooh that sounds lit” I lifted my head up, savoring that cup of hot coffee with dessert “Are you staying over today then? Lili won’t be back until dinner time.”

“Oh I know, Lili doesn’t know I’m here” he gave me a look “I don’t plan on sticking around too long, I just came to drop off the invite to my dad’s wedding and some...other news.”

I squinted my eyes in suspicion “What other news Hoshi?”

“You’ll see over some cafecito” He kept tight lipped.

“Ugh fine!” I put my head back down. I hate it when I get those responses!

Mom finally came home and Hoshi set the table for a cafecito. He even made the coffee so we could all sit down at the same time.

“Okay now that I have everyone I wanted to talk to here” spoke up Hoshi as we were eating our slice of tart “You’re probably wondering why I gathered everyone here.”

“No” blurted Hanaka.

“Because you fucked up” blurted Tensei.

“You got a job?” blurted Mom.

“You’re getting top surgery?” I blurted.

“Oh! It’s because you’re graduating early in the spring?” Dad blurted with an arm chop.

“What? NO!” He said to disarm us “I don’t know what I was expecting from such an outspoken family! But I gathered everyone here because” he took a deep breath and just broke out in a deep blush and grin “Wow this is harder than I thought it was gonna be! Heh, I was hoping to ummm” He looked at our awaiting faces “Hoping if I’d get your blessing to marry Lili, because you’re all so good to me that I want to take the family name. Do you accept this trans-boy as your future-son/brother-in-law?”

The whole table was in silent shock...until Tensei spoke up.

“Imma say it” he forewarned “It’s about fuckin’ finally Hoshi, the family name is unexpected tho.”

“Oh Hoshi! Of course you have our blessing!” Mom said as she hopped up to give Hoshi a hug “But I have to agree with Tensei, it’s been long awaited, huh Tenya?”

Everyone looked over to dad, tears pouring down like waterfalls “Oh my baby is gonna get married! She’s growing up too fast” he blew his nose on his table napkin “I approve and just so happy for you two! It feels like last year she was still screaming to welcome me home from work, and last week like she just entered high school.”

“Oh babe, don’t cry” Mom comforted “you’re embarrassing the kids.”

“Seriously daddy, put the water works away!” huffed Hanaka “Every time we do anything new you start crying!”

“I can’t help it! I didn’t think I’d get to see the day my children get married!” Dad wipes his tears “Someday you’ll understand when you have kids of your own.”

And so we spent the rest of our time together prying details from Hoshi on when and where will be the proposal. He said he’ll wait until they both finish school because he recently got in touch with his mother’s estranged family and found out that there was some inheritance waiting for him and his brothers. So no matter if they get jobs out of college right away or not, they can live off the inheritance comfortably for a good 3 or so years. Good on them! Maybe thats what I’ll do with my money...what’s with this family and inheritance?

-Day of returning to the dorms-

I pack my bag and savor the last of moments of home comforts. I really didn’t want to go back to the dorms but I still need to take my hero final.

“OwO r u decent?” chirped Hanaka from the door “Hewwo? Mr. Obama? May I come in?”

I sigh tiredly “No, pewish.”

“Too bad we’re coming in anyways” Lili said before busting in like Big Bird in that one meme video.

“WHY CAN’T YOU TWO JUST OPEN THE DOOR LIKE NORMAL PEOPLE?!” yelled Tensei from his side of the room, arm chopping “THE DOOR WAS UNLOCKED!”

“Ugh shut up DAD!” said the girls in unison, mocking the arm chop.

“Why tho?” I asked, hand on my hip “I need to finish packing.”

“We just wanted to do one last thing before you go!” Hanaka said bouncing up and down.

“I’m not dying guys! We’ll see each other in like 2 weeks for the Welcome Estate Ball” I turned back to my packing “What’s so important that can’t wait until-”

“Iwa look out!” warned Tensei.

I looked back to see the girls mid pounce, giving me just enough time to zip toward the door “Thanks Tensei!”

“Don’t try to escape the dog pile Iwa!” taunted the girls, eyes locked back onto me “It is futile!”

“Save yourself!” Tensei stood in the way of the girls with arms out.

“No! Don’t sacrifice yourself foo!”

“I have already excepted my fate as bottom of the pile” said the little brother as the girls picked themselves up “GO!”

I nod and dash out of our room to escape the dreaded dog pile. Since we were kids, we did these really full contact contests to see who ends up on the bottom of the dog pile. It was fun at first but now we run in fear at the sight of a pounce! Anything goes in this game! We use quirks, fists, throw objects, use distractions...but the moment mom stops everything, it’s game over. I just gotta run outside and get mom to insure game over!

Lili does a front rocket flip to stop me from running to the front yard “You’re not going anywhere Iwee!”

“When the hell did you learn that move?!” I was semi-impressed but still in fear for my life “that was clean as fuck!”

“OOOOOOO! You cursed!” Hanaka called out from the stairs “I’m telling daddy!”

“You little snitch! You wouldn’t dare!” I gasped.

“Watch me! Here, catch Tensei real quick” she said before tossing her twin over the railing, then parkour’d down the stairs to the backyard.

I couldn’t let Tensei just fall like that, so I caught him with my telekinesis before he could hit the ground. But I made the mistake of turning my back on Lili.

“Got cha- oof!” Lili got sight teleported by Tensei.

“Go get mom!” said Tensei before slumping over “I’m done for, they gave me a mad ass wedgie.”

“I’ll avenge you brother!” I did my dramatics before running toward the front door again.

The front door opened “Sopresa puto! It’s me!” Hanaka said as she ran full speed “fell right into my trap!”

I didn’t have time to stop, both of us were going top speed! So we crashed into each other, followed by Tensei that got in the way to soften the fall, then Lili that was in the right place at the wrong time.

“I heard a thud and some Spanish cursing! What’s going on-” said dad as he opened the sliding door from the back yard, poor timing as he got bodied by the four body mass going a full speed. We all slammed onto the just defrosted grass that dad finished doing.

“Oh shit dad are you okay?!” asked Lili.

“This takes me back” groaned Dad with a smile “you kids would always dog pile onto me every time I was laying down in the living room when you were little kids.” he chuckled “No so little now! That knocked the wind out of me.”

“Tenya, is everything okay back there?” asked Mom as she came though the side gate “I heard some- phfffff!” she started laughing “Look at you guys! Piled onto dad like that!” She levitated us off one by one “One last house mischief huh?”

“Yea, we haven’t done all of the winter break antics” grunted Hanaka as she got peeled off me “And I really wanted to spend more time with everyone! Tensei doesn’t wanna always play with me, even if I ask nicely.”

“I’m busy with my band and debate competition cases! We can’t play arson all the time” Tensei defended himself “Are you forgetting that we start middle school in a few days?! It’s time we get a little more serious with our education.”

“Oh wow it’s like listening to a recording” giggled Mom, setting us down on our feet “Your dad would say that last line all the time when we were in high school! It sent me back to those days” she sighed lovingly and turned to face Dad “Remember those times when everyone teased you for calling me up to explain strategy homework?”

Dad turned red and fixed his glasses “It was a difficult subject! I was just doing everyone a favor by asking you to come over to tutor us.”

Lili caught on to his body language “Oh I get it~ You say it’s for ‘tutoring’ but you did it as an excuse to spend more time with Mom” she did her little smug face with arms crossed “You had a big dumb crush on her, didn’t you dad?”

“I- well- I didn’t know how else to spend the maximized amount of time with her” He turned even brighter red and cleared his throat “She was intelligent, charming and super talented. How could I not develop feelings? If only I wasn’t such a coward and confessed when I wanted too, things could’ve been so much different.”

“It’s true, but those what if’s don’t matter anymore” Mom smiled “because we’ve exceeded our wishes and daydreams.” She turned to us “Now, lets get back to what we were doing! Iwata has to leave soon and I don’t want to keep the staff waiting on him all day.”

I go back to finishing up my packing, now with all my siblings in the room on their crackhead shit. When I took my bags down to the driveway, they didn’t want me to leave. And of course Mom had to pry them off me so I can get in the car in peace. The drive with my dad was calm.

“Hey dad” I asked as we stopped at the first light “Did you really pick a fight with Mr Hitoshi over mom?”

“I did” Dad said with a hint of regret “I wasn’t proud of what I did, but I didn’t know how else to express my hurt feelings. Your mom hailed me as her chosen family and I wanted to always be by her side, through whatever life had in store.” We move again “Imagine my hurt when she hid her relationship and shared living situation from me, only finding out by chance. And it was a stupid thing to do, I pushed her away even though I very much still loved her. But we all made up before the wedding and I’m close friends with Mr Hitoshi and Nieto. We go on double dates and other couple things with them, it’s so much fun.”

I thought about my next question carefully “If mom did have a child when you reunited with her, what would you do?”

“Funny enough, I thought about it before I reunited with her” Dad smiled “I was willing to help her raise a child. I’d babysit, teach them things, tuck them into bed... everything a parent would do. I wanted to show your mom I’m capable of providing and nurture, I really wanted to be as much as a man as I could be for her.”

“Did you show her all that?”

Dad chuckled “I didn’t have to try very hard! She had forgiven me way before we reunited and revealed to me that she had always had feelings for me” We turn into the final stretch of street before the dorms “But it felt so lovely to finally say it and have them reciprocate the feeling. I knew from then on, I’d never let her go and be outward with my feelings. Everyday I wake up next to her and think about how much I don’t deserve such an incredible woman nor the family that we made” he looked at me “But I guess I’m worth it.”

“Even if we’re disobedient, rowdy, weird pieces of shit?!”

“Yes, because life would be boring with out all those traits to balance my traits out!” Dad turns into the dorm parking lot “Well Iwata, you really threw us in a loop this winter break. Do your best on your make ups.”

I look at the dorms and take a deep breath “I’ll do my best, thanks dad.”

I waved him off until he was out of sight, then I took my bags into my dorm. Nobody was back yet in my class, mainly because our winter training was canceled due to the villain attacks back in September. I put all my things away and see the empty bed in my dorm. It made me miss Beizu, we’ve never been separated like this before. It’s about 2:45pm and I couldn’t delay my test any longer, to the hero dorms I go!

“Iwata! So nice to see you back in one piece!” beamed Mineta sensei.

I cringed “Don’t tell me my mom told you what happened.”

“No your dad did” Sensei corrected me “I have to say, never did I think it would be you to push it too far. But your dad did the same thing when we were in high school” He hands me the written exam “Alright, take your time on this.”

The written exam wasn’t too bad and I got it done in under an hour. I was excused for the day because the physical part of the exam was going to take place in one of the practice gyms at school in 2 days. Before I could leave to my dorms, the usual clowns saw me.

“Yo Iida-kun!” greeted Gon “You’re back so soon?!”

“Yup, had to take my exams that I missed”

“I heard what happened to your relative” Kage said worried “Are you alright? Sorry about your loss.”

“We’re good, I just had to help with the arrangements” I said relieved that they didn’t know about the other shit “I learned a lot about family this break.”

We went in Gon’s room to chat “...so are you going to take the hero licensing this year?”

“I guess so? But it’s not like I’m going to see you guys there” I responded “Everyone has their license right?”

“No, three people didn’t pass” said Kage “So they’ll be joining you on that.”

“Does that mean you’ll be in the sports festival too?!” Gon jumped excitedly.

“I’m still not sure” I gestured to have him calm down “I don’t want to do an internship for hero work and I don’t want to be on the scope for these villains. And don’t act like that’s not the reason why y’all get attacked on the regular!”

“I guess you have some reasoning there” Gon pondered my words “But imagine you kicking ass out there?! You’d easily get in the top 3!”

“Yeah Iida-kun! You’re one of the strongest ones in the class!” Kage joined in on the hype “At least think about it.”

I looked at the two and slumped in my bean bag chair “Ugh fine I’ll think about it!” I groaned “Still gotta figure myself out though.”

“Like what?” asked the two in sync.

“I’m thinking about getting a support item for my legs” I pointed at my shins “Even after all this training, I still can’t get my legs to keep up with the kick of my arm engines!”

“That would be helpful” Kage looked over my arms “Still can’t believe you haven’t figured it out.”

-Fast forward, afternoon of the Welcome Estate Ball-

“...Your tuxedo Iwata-chan.” said a butler as he draped the formal wear on the bed “Anything else you might need before I go?”

“Thank you, that’ll be all!” I said carefully, not to sound too aggressive.

To tell the truth I’m freaking out about all this! It feels like I’m a prince or something and I’m about to get coronated. Thankfully Beizu agreed to come with me to the estate to take the edge off and be moral support.

“That bath is no joke! Like damn bitch you can live like this?!” Beizu said as he got out of the joint bathroom in a robe in my estate quarters “Ooh! The champagne and snacks are here!”

“Bei I’m freaking out!” I slam myself onto the bed “I’m no rich boy, I’m on this ironic lucky streak that’s becoming my literal nightmare!”

Beizu walks over to me with two glasses in his hand “Iwa, it’s not like you’re pretending that you own everything! Nobody hates you and you just gotta be yourself, as corny as that sounds, it’s true” he hovers the glass of champagne over my face “Lets get a little loose before we have to go socialize with your family.”

All my worries took backseat “Okay a few drinks, I don’t want to puke and embarrass my uncle.”

“To inheritance!” Beizu toasted as I sat up “May you live comfortably the rest of your life!”

I toasted and really thought about those words. Yeah I am going to live comfortably but I also want Beizu to be part of that lifestyle too. In between getting whisked into conversations and having to order servants, I try to get some quality time in with Beizu. Yeah we dorm together but school is kicking our butts and we hardly have time for the usual hanging out. Finally there was a moment where we slipped away into the Lineage Hall for some peace and quiet.

“Wow, look at all the portraits” gasped Beizu “Fucked up eyebrows do run in the family!”

“Right?! Glad my mom has stronger, pretty genes” I chuckled as I led Beizu by the hand “This way! I want to show you something.” All the way at the end was four plaques “Here’s were my portrait will someday hang, alongside my siblings!”

“That’s so cool! When are you going to get yours done?” asked Beizu, taking a closer look at my plaque.

“I want to get mine done when I get married, ya know, so I can have couples portrait” I get a little choked up on my words and blurted “Hey Bei, would you be down to get married at 25 with me, if we’re both still single by then?”

Beizu froze and slowly turned to me, face flushed beet red “Wha?! You want to marry me?!”

“Why not? I trust you and I don’t care what others will say about it” I bring our hands together “Maybe it’s all the alcohol in me, but I want you to take part in these riches with me. You said you’d marry me when I told you how much I inherited, you might’ve been joking around but I mean it! Won’t you be part of my family and riches?”

Beizu pursed his lips to give it a thought “I’ll do it BUT I’M GOING TO HOLD YOU ACCOUNTABLE IWATA EL ROCA IIDA!” he posed and pointed at my nose “If by the time of the stroke of midnight on your 25th birthday and theres no ring on my finger, I’m going to propose in the most extra way that you’ll have to say yes.”

“Deal, I trust you’ll keep me accountable” I pulled them in for a hug “I don’t ever want to go through life without you.”

He brought his hands around my waist “That’s my line, silly” Beizu laughed as he rest his head on my shoulder “I don’t want to go through life without you too.”

We walk down the hall after our little moment to see my little brother having what looks like a mental breakdown. And just outside the window of the hall, in plain view, my parents were really going at it with the making out. It was just so weird looking at them making out like that when Beizu and I spent most of our first year of high school peeking into young mom’s romps with other boys. As for little bro Tensei, I’m sure it’s fine and he’s not on the brink of anything! He’s just a boy after all. Shiet, I’d breakdown if Hanaka was my twin sister too. Beizu and I just minded our business and re-joined the others in the main hall to drink a little more. I hope for more moments like these, then maybe life wouldn’t suck so bad.

-Chapter 11, End-

<Previous - Next>

[neshabeingchildish]

WEEK ONE: CHARACTERS 1/08 | Jasper Dunlop

I decided to share my favorite piece from a fic that I’ve written about Jasper. It’s an excerpt/flashback sequence from Determined: A Chasper Fic where I establish a headcanon for Jasper that I bring everywhere with me now, unless something else specifically happens. It’s about buckets, but sad. I was gonna do one of my Jasper headcanons thingies... Maybe another time. :)

And the FCs for these unknown/other characters are HERE. Did not select a Bilsky dad. 

Whenever Jasper's dad popped the question to his mom, she was just about visibly pregnant, embarrassed about it and desperate to do this the right way. Jack Leigh was desperate to "fix his mistakes" and "make an honest woman out of her." Oh, and also drunk. So drunk, that he didn't know if he was coming or going. He needed the liquid courage to go back to her after she'd told him that if she had to do this on her own, she would. She didn't have to do it on her own! At least, he didn't want her to. He couldn't figure out where he'd get a ring at this time of night, but came across one of those Bilsky brothers. The whole family was a bag of rotten apples. One of them had to know a guy… Hell, one of them WAS the guy. "A ring? Yeah, I got rings. What's your budget?" Jack Leigh emptied his pockets and had maybe a few hundred bucks, and a punch card. He shook his head and called, "Jeff! Get Daddy that box of rings! The cheap ones!" A teenage boy rushed to… of all places… the BBQ pit and lifted the lid and grabbed a box. Daddy Bilsky gave it to his old buddy and said, "I'll letcha grab two of 'em. I hear you gotta get two. My old lady and I got hitched on the run, so we never even got one of them, but I've collected her plenty over the years. She don't notice when the cheap ones go missing." Jack Leigh didn't even shift through the box. He grabbed a couple, waved to them and went on his way.

Jeff came back to his father and asked, "Dad, how mad would you be if I think I gave you the good stuff?" Jack Leigh heard Daddy Bilsky fussing at his kid, but he was too out of it to hear what he was saying.

Whenever Pansy left, Jack Leigh got one of those rings back. She threw the wedding ring right at his head and slammed the door as hard as she could with a baby on her waist. He was too drunk to care about whatever she'd said, too. He was often that way, but he did come across that ring again when he was clearing out of that little place. He tossed it in his pocket, in case he ever wanted to pawn it. Might be cheap, but he could probably get a few beers for it. It stayed in his wallet most of the time, though. He couldn't see Jasper back then… legal stuff that he totally understood at the time, but whenever he would look at the ring and think about hocking it, he'd think about his baby boy, out there… The one that he'd even bought the stupid thing for. He couldn't seem to part with it. Not because he missed his wife, but because he took a wife because he was going to be a father, and nobody but him messed that up. It was a reminder that he needed to get clean and needed to straighten up. Maybe some day, he could see Jasper again. Maybe someday, he'd give him this stupid ring. He got it appraised, just to see if it was worth anything. Because he was curious if the sentimental value of it would even mean anything to the kid… this was maybe 3 years later. The damn thing was worth more than his crummy life. He could literally sell it and probably wind up getting himself out of his debt! But… looking at the thing, listening to the guy talk to him, very suspicious that this shady character probably stole this from some place, and was likely gonna put out an alert about it… Jack Leigh thanked him for his time and put it back into his wallet. He hadn't gotten completely clean, but that was sobering. He knew he had to keep it together, carrying something worth that much with him, especially considering that it was worth even more in sentimental value.

He met Jasper when he was four. Adorable chubby kid with dimples and curly hair. He was excited to meet him and told him everything that he could possibly tell him. Jack Leigh came to a realization whenever Pansy told him that he could come to see him… He'd messed up. He should have had a room FULL of gifts and cards and money that he never got a chance to deliver over the past four years. He should have had candy and cookies and really… fanfare. All he had was that ring and he certainly couldn't hand him that at age 4. He stopped at one of those weird gas station gift shops and said, "Anything for like a 4 year old kid… I don't even know what he likes!"

"We got grab buckets," she said and pointed towards a display. It was like a grab bag, but in a bucket. All kinds of little toys and stuff that would most likely break and stuff if it wasn't a choke hazard. Hopefully, Pansy wouldn't kill him. He went over there with a bucket of junk and threw in a hundred dollar bill that he got back after this purchase. Pansy was judging him from the moment that he handed that garbage to her son. But, the kid was excited, "WOW! A BUCKET!"

"Uhhh… there's stuff in it. Toys and stuff," Jack Leigh said. Jasper got onto his tiptoes, but Jack kneeled in front of him, seeing his features for the first time since he was an infant. Seeing how much like his own childhood photos he looked. Pansy must've seen it too. There was something about the way that she looked at the kid. Jack Leigh didn't like it, but who was he to judge? He hadn't even been around.

"Jasper, I don't think that any of that stuff is safe to play with!" She said and snatched the bucket from his little hands. He jumped, frightened and Jack Leigh noticed and reached for his hand, to try to give him some comfort. He was about to cry. She was taking away the only thing his daddy had given him…

"Well, can't he at least have the bucket?" Jack Leigh asked.

She looked at him like he was an idiot. "He's four. Why would he want this ugly big bucket?"

"I do want the bucket, Mom! I love it. It's a nice bucket, Daddy." She looked bothered. She dumped the toys in the garbage and handed him the bucket back, then went to sit down, and glare at them. Jasper didn't really look in her direction during the visit, but Jack Leigh wondered if he couldn't feel the same… whatever it was that she had radiating for him that he felt from her. He was allowed a few more visits, until he showed up with Adanna one day. Pansy stepped outside and interrogated her, then said that Jasper wouldn't be coming for any more of these "disappointing little visits," and sprinkled on at the end, "And I WILL be contacting you about child support!" That was that.

Adanna convinced him to fight for custody, at least shared. He had gotten his life together and he shouldn't have to be punished forever. There were disputes, but after a while, he ran out of money for that fight and her husband didn't. So, not only could he still not see Jasper, and had legal fees, but… child support. He couldn't do it. He'd already gotten so low, that he went back to some of his old ways. He was lucky to have Adanna around. Eventually thought about giving her the ring, but explained to her why he didn't think that he could. "Can I at least see it?" she wondered.

He pulled it out and she was already uneasy. He handed it to her and she cried, "I'm glad that you don't want to give this to me, because it's full of negative energy. Guilt, despair, regret, heartache… This isn't something that you give to someone that you care about."

"Should I get rid of it? Sell it? I'm probably never going to see my son again…"

"Even if you see him, he can't have this, Jack Leigh. It's got a signature on it."

"Is there a way to fix it?"

She cleansed the ring and once she was done, she smiled at it and said, "This ring has new hope. It wants to find someone to love, but it feels like it belongs to someone."

"Who?"

"I don't know, but I sense that this ring wouldn't be at home with me." She reached out to give it to him, but he shook his head.

"If you hand it to me, it'll just absorb my negative energy again. You hold on to it for me. If I don't give it to Jasper, I guess it'll find its way to whoever. I want it to find them in peace."

Jasper, Charlotte, and Henry were sitting on the floor, talking about their readings. Henry was shaken up by his, but Jasper kept staring at the Fool. Adanna said, "Jasper, can I show you something?" He got up and followed her through some crystal beaded curtains to a cute little room, where she climbed up a step ladder and got a ring box off of her bookshelf. "Jack Leigh told you about this, right? When you two talked?" She stepped down and opened the box to show him a ring and his heart leaped in his chest.

"Is this my mom's wedding ring that she threw at his head? I've heard about it from her! She'd say, if I'd been more smart than mad, I'd have pawned that for the child support! Can I touch it?" She handed it to him and told him the story, because obviously, Jack Leigh had been more focused on the drinking, the fighting and the accident. Jasper gasped and said, "You think that this ring belongs with me?"

"I think that it belongs with her," she said and glanced at Charlotte through the beads. Charlotte was laughing a melodious laugh at a story that Uncle Roscoe was telling on speaker phone, while catching up with Jack Leigh. "I think that she'll love it, when you're ready." She cupped his chin and lovingly said, "Fool."

[crzcorgi]

Reluctant Partners

A John Winchester x Reader fanfiction

Y/N=your name, Y/L/N = your last name, Y/P/N = your parent’s name

Warnings ~ A bit of language, fluff

1900 words

Want on or off my taglist? Just let me know!

@mal4789 @notnaturalanahi @londoncapsule @magikat409 @thamberlina @jasoncrouse @miss-cap21

 What was supposed to be an easy hunt turned out to be a very angry, very vengeful spirit. Luckily, I was able to take it out, but not without some damage. I dragged my wounded ass back to Caleb’s, to try to fix myself up and most importantly, to get back to my two boys.

  When I arrived at Caleb's it was late, I figured everyone would be asleep. When I drove up his driveway, I spotted my boys in the headlights, running around in the yard with jars in their hands. I then spotted a woman running with them. I climbed out of the car, spotting Caleb walking my way

 “Well, John, looks like you got bested! Not an easy burn I take it?”

 “No, bastard got a jump on me. It's finished, but Jesus, I’m fucking feelin’ it.” I grunted, taking a seat on the porch stairs. “Caleb, mind tellin’ me who's running around with my boys?”

  “Oh, yeah, that's Y/F/N Y/L/N. She stops by sometimes between hunts. She's y/p/n’s girl. She's been on her own for a few years now, butted heads with her dad. She's damn good, took on that poltergeist case everyone's talking about.”

 “Yeah? Hmm.”

 “John, stop, I know that look and tone. Do not underestimate her. She's an amazing hunter and doesn't need your fucking chauvinistic attitude.”

 I could tell that girl meant something to Caleb. He tended to take lone hunters under his wing, I'm guessing she had become almost like a daughter to him.

 “Daddy!”  Sammy came running at me, colliding into my chest.

 “Ughh Damn it!” Pain shot through my ribcage

 “Sammy, I think Dad’s hurt. Get off him!” Dean took his little brother off my lap.

 “It's ok bud. I'm hurt but I'll be fine. I didn't mean to yell at you.”

 “So this must be the famous John Winchester. I've heard a lot about you, mostly from your boys here.”

 I looked up to see a very beautiful woman, breathtaking really, with her arms around both of my boys. I've hunted with female hunters, she was not at all what they looked like. She had on a dress, her hair looked all done up, barefoot. Who hunts like this? She looked more like she belonged in a beauty pageant, not in the woods huntin’ down a wendigo.

   I realized she spoke to me, “That's me, hope my boys haven't been a bother. We're on the road so much when we stop somewhere they tend to go wild.”

 “They were perfect gentlemen.” She ruffled their hair. “I would expect nothing less from a hunter’s kid.”

 “So sorry, where's my manners?” Caleb interrupted. “John, this here is Y/F/N Y/L/N, she's been in the hunting life almost as long as me. Been on her own now for a couple years, and the best damn female hunter out there!”

  “Geesh, Caleb, no need to sell me! You're making me blush!” She stuck her hand out to me and when I went to take it, I flinched.

 “Did you just come from the hunt? Haven't cleaned up yet? 'Cause it sounds and looks like you've got a couple of broken or bruised ribs. I can set them for you. Always took care of my parents when they came home.”

  “Oh, sweetheart, I can't ask you to do that. I can do it myself. But thanks.”

 “Y/N, look, I caught another one” Sam came running over with a firefly in his jar. “Isn't it cool, Daddy!”

  “Sure is bud. Daddy’s goin’ go fix himself up and then hit the sack. I'm beat boys. We’ll be heading out early in the morning so we all need to get some sleep.” I stood up and almost fell back on my ass.

  “Whoa there John, I’m thinking you need one of us to check you out.”

 “I think I'll take you up on that Caleb.”

 We went inside and I took a seat at the kitchen table while Caleb went to get his first aid kit.  My boys were running around the table chasing each other. “Boys, settle down. Why don't you two go brush your teeth and get ready for bed. When Caleb's done with me here, I'll be up.” They both stopped running and came over to me.

 “You gonna be ok Daddy?” Sam asked me in a quiet voice, a look of concern on his face.

 “I'll be fine Sammy, don't worry.” I patted his back.

 “Yeah, Dad's real strong, Sammy.”

  “Hey, boys!” Y/N walked into the room. “Want to read more of that book we started last night?”

 “Can we?” Both boys eagerly asked her.

 “I think that's up to your daddy.” She smiled down at me. That smile.

 “Sure, just brush your teeth first, and put on your pajamas.”

 “We know Dad!” Dean rolled his eyes.

 “No sassiness mister.” I scowled at him. I wasn't mad, that boy made me laugh. But I needed them to respect me, to keep them safe.

 “Yes sir!” They both yelled as they ran up the stairs.

 “Thank you, John. I really enjoyed reading to them last night. They are wonderful little boys. You've raised them right.” She smiled again at me. That is something I could definitely get used to.

 “No, thank you for doing that. They don't get to have much of a normal childhood, so times like this are extra special. Besides, being around their old man gets tiring I'm sure.” I laughed, which in turn made me cringe from the pain.

  “I thought Caleb was going to fix you up? Where the hell did he go?” She started to look for him.

 “He went to get the first aid kit then I heard his phone ring, must have taken a call.” I was getting stiff sitting in the hard chair so I decided to get up, walk a bit. But when I stood, the pain really hit me and I let out a loud groan. “Jesus fucking Christ!”

 “John!” Y/N ran over to me, helping me back onto the chair. “I know we just met, and you probably don't want some strange woman checking you out. But you're a hunter, I'm a hunter, it's what we do. So let me help, please, for your boys sake. They need their dad at 100%.”

 She's right, and I know it. But for fuck's sake, she's a beautiful woman, and well, she's doing something to me, making me feel something I haven't felt in a long time, and I just can't do this. But, she's right, so I start to take my shirt off, she helps me.

  Her hands are warm and soft, and she's very gentle, taking care and making sure she doesn't cause me any unnecessary pain. “Ok, it looks like they might just be bruised, but can’t be sure. Best to just wrap ‘em. Let me grab my duffel.” She disappeared, quickly coming back with a pink bag.

  “Pink?” I laughed.

  “Hey, I'm a hunter, living just like every other hunter. A dirty, grimy, very unfeminine lifestyle, I take what I can get.” She smiled, pulling out an ace bandage and bottles. “My mother taught me that even the littlest things can make you happy, feel good about yourself. Things like my pink duffel, my dresses, my makeup, it makes me feel more normal. You know what I mean? You must have something that helps you feel more normal, although I'm guessing your boys help with that.” She smiled at me. “This is going to be cold, try not to flinch.”

  She started rubbing a cream onto my chest, onto my sides, around to my back. It wasn't the usual muscle cream, it smelled different. But it was starting to work already. Nice.

 “I'm going to wrap you now. Let me know if it's too tight, I tend to wrap these too tightly.” She snickered. As she wrapped the bandage she began humming.

 “Is that Smoke on the Water?”

 She giggled. “Sorry, I sometimes forget myself, I’m always humming/singing to myself, nasty habit I guess.”

“Not nasty at all sweetheart, kinda nice. Puttin’ me at ease.” I smiled up at her. What the fuck was I doing? Flirting?! No, I wouldn’t do this.

 “Okay, finished. But John, I know you said you wanted to head out tomorrow but I’m thinking one day’s rest might be a good idea.” She stood back, placing her things back in that damn pink duffel. I smiled. A hunter with a pink duffel.

 I tried to pull my shirt back on but she trussed me up so good I was fucking stuck. I sighed.

 “Let me help.” She took the shirt out of my hands and I was in too much pain to fight.

 As she helped me with my shirt, Caleb stepped back into the kitchen.

 “Shit, John, that was Scotty. Had to help him through what normally would be an easy exorcism. Didn’t mean to leave you high and dry.” He then saw what y/n was doing. “Well, I guess you’re in capable hands!”

 “Y/N!” My boys came running into the kitchen full speed.

 “Slow down boys. Y/N is busy.” They both noticed her, watching as she zipped up her bag.

 “Just patching your daddy up boys. Someday that’ll be your job.” She leant down, tapping each one of them on their noses. She stood back up, throwing a smile and a wink my way. “Let’s head upstairs, give your daddy and Caleb some guy time.” She snickered, taking Sammy’s hand and following Dean upstairs.

 “She’s something else, huh?” I must have been staring because Caleb had to tap my shoulder to bring me around.

 “Yeah, something.” I groaned, trying to stand up without causing any more pain and quickly failing. “Shit! Fuck!”

 “Outta shape there John?” Caleb laughed, offering his arm for support.

 “No more than you old man!” I smiled.

 I went into Caleb’s living room, making myself at home on his ratty sofa, putting my feet up on the table.

 “So, off on another quest tomorrow? Do you ever just want to chuck it and take the boys on a vacation. You know, where there are no ghosts, ghouls or any other creatures needing to hunted?” Caleb handed me a glass of whiskey, placing the bottle on the table. Sitting in the chair across from me, he sighed.

 “Yes, another job, but that’s the life, you fucking know that Caleb.”  We sat in silence, drinking, thinking, just enjoying the relaxing peace & quiet.

 Caleb hit on something, yes, I did want to just say fuck it, get out of the hunt, give my boys a normal life. No more motels, no more gas station food. Stayin’ put for more than a week, letting my boys stay in school for the whole year. Shit yeah, that’s what I would love, what I desire. But life has other plans. I need to find my wife’s killer. And I have to keep my boys safe.

“Ever thought of taking on a partner?” Caleb startled me out of my thoughts. “You’re still pretty new in the game, and two minds are better than one. Back ups real nice too.”

 I looked over at Caleb while delicately leaning forward to pour myself another drink. “And you would just happen to have someone in mind.”

 “I don’t know what you’re talking about John.”

 Just then, y/n stepped into the room.

 Caleb looked over at me, a big stupid fucking grin on his face.

 I knew it.

[bluesakura007]

Undeniable - Epilogue (Happy Ending): Take My Hand and Run With Me - Khan Noonien Singh x OC

Summary: Zin’s plan has succeeded, and now all that’s left to do before she and Khan leave Earth for their exile together is to make the goodbyes to her family and crewmates.

Warning: None, just fluff again.~ 🖤

After this fateful day of the positive outcome ultimately being chosen in that courtroom, and after the reconciliation between Zinalya and Bones and Spock, which ended the feud between her and this pair, she’d promptly entered into her bedroom and joined Khan in her bed. 

When she did, she couldn't stop herself from shuffling across the mattress in the dark towards where he was sleeping, his boots and shirt currently off. The only way she could tell that she'd reached her destination during this shuffling was when she suddenly felt the front of one of his shoulders touch up against her. 

Just as she'd closed her eyes, though, she was surprised when she felt, still not being aware of it visually due to this aforementioned darkness, the arm connected to this shoulder of his reaching up and gently putting his hand onto her shoulder; obviously either this moment where she bumped into his shoulder woke him up or he was already at least partially awake to do this. She was all too happy to reach up with one of her own forearms and hold this one of Khan's that was holding her shoulder, drifting off in bliss.

She was lying in bed with the man who she wanted to, and was going to, essentially run away with - a man who reciprocated these affections and wanted to be with her in return - and the most difficult part of that plan was now finally over. Her worries, similar to what she and this same man were going to be doing, could now sail off into the sunset.

Khan, remembering that it was this woman he was lying with who had been responsible for bringing about this outcome for the both of them, gently whispered in her ear the words, "Thank you."

Then there came the warm shivers on her spine again.

Following this night of sharing a bed together, Zinalya’s exhilaration in this kind of presence of Khan’s didn’t falter. With him still under her guard, and attracting many glares and fearful glances from passers-by as they did so which they both ignored, the pair travelled on their way to Canada - specifically, on their way to her parents’ home. 

The anger and intense disdain from these aforementioned glares they got was very palpable, and at points threatened to make them want to stop their journey and hide away in a corner somewhere, but the nature around them which caught their eyes proved to be a good enough distraction, including when Khan saw, just for a few moments, a ruby-throated hummingbird fluttering near to a flower a few feet away. And who could blame him? Hummingbirds are some of the most beautiful birds to exist on Earth, and yet they were simultaneously so small and quaint.

Then their arrival came, after which Zin's father, mother, older brothers Enaar and Rajen Hamilton and Enaar’s wife Leah - these latter three having also gotten there after finding out about Zin’s own impending arrival - all listened patiently without uttering a word as, sat next to each other on the lounge sofa, she and Khan gave the same origins explanation that he himself had given her two days ago. However, this time he didn’t go quite so deeply into the details: when he went over this particular segment of his childhood, Tanvir’s death was still painful to him, so he preferred to not go over it often if he could avoid it.

"Answer me one last thing, Khan." Mason leaned forwards from the seat he was sitting on. He and his wife were sitting next to their two sons and their daughter in law, opposite from their youngest child and the man who was now her lover. "Is Zinalya safe with you? Will she be alright when she goes to this exile planet?" 

The father of the Hamilton siblings had spent the last few minutes during the explanation weighing up the Augment in his mind, as he would always love all three of his children and as a result of this love he wanted them to be happy, which is why he accepted Zin's choice, but he had to be sure of this question he'd just put forward.

Khan then looked straight back into his eyes without blinking once, to ensure that the honesty in what he was about to say in reply would be doubly clear. "Your daughter will always be safe with me, Mr. Hamilton."

The pair stuck around for another two days so that Zinalya could make her goodbyes to her parents, siblings and sister-in-law and spend these two days with them. There were many heartfelt words of goodbyes shared with the aforementioned family. Mason, Siazru, Enaar, Leah, Rajen... she wasn't going to be able to see any of them again for the next ten years, so as you would have imagined this was a particularly crucial goodbye, and, as you also would’ve imagined, tears were shed.

Then, once the adequately repaired Enterprise had departed for Ceti Alpha V, the same rule of Zin effectively being a babysitter making sure Khan kept himself out of trouble was applied to a different environment. As with back on Earth during the journey to Manitoba, some of the crew gave stares that ranged from confusion at her attraction to him to disgust, but, also as with this journey to her childhood home, neither of them were bothered about these stares.

Mind you, Khan did sometimes, whenever he saw them being given, return with his own unnervingly frosty and unblinking glare, but this was the only thing that happened. A large majority of his time during the trek to what would be their new home was spent in Zinalya’s quarters, where he would predominantly occupy himself with either reading or daydreaming. His mind was a vast cathedral, and during these moments when he did the latter, he found that it was one which he could almost tangibly walk through and explore; a place lined with huge gleaming stained glass windows and containing countless passageways and halls. Khan had never really been a religious man, so the fact that this place in his mind could be described as a cathedral was something that he found unusual, but nonetheless, mentally taking this journey to said mind basilica always calmed him, even if just slightly.

"You’d damn well better not hurt her." Jim’s tone of voice while addressing this Augment four days later wasn’t particularly aggressive or vicious, but was nevertheless authoritative and, instead of it being out of anger, this command was spoken out of concern for his now former security chief and crewmate’s well-being.

"Oh how could I refuse such an order, captain?" Responded Khan, also not maliciously and instead with satire. He and Zinalya were standing on the Enterprise’s transporter pad, both carrying a duffel bag each that contained water, basic provisions and some clean clothes, after, a few minutes beforehand, she’d once again shared heartfelt goodbyes. 

This time it was with Scotty, Pavel, Uhura, Spock, Carol, Sulu, Kirk and Bones, all of which involving hugs, and now that she was about to complete the process of leaving behind her life in Starfleet, she’d additionally taken off the red operations division overshirt of her uniform dress, so now all that remained was its black layer underneath - this all-black colouring of her getup made her current appearance bear a small similarity to the man next to her.

"I... guess I’ll be seeing you round, sir." Stuck for how else he’d current emotions could be put into words, she chose these ones as she also suddenly found the inescapable weight on her chest at leaving her friends growing again.

Kirk smiled, him, Bones and Spock all experiencing this same growing weight but simultaneously being happy for the fact that this was all a decision she’d made without any coercion from Khan. "See you round, Zin."

"Perhaps we shall meet one another again at some point, even though we may not know when that point will be." Said Spock.

"Then that way if he stood ya up in the end we’ll get a chance to find out and do something about it." Added the CMO jokingly, earning a stare from the man in the black clothing and matching jet black hair. "I’m just kidding. But seriously, yeah: it’ll be great to see you again someday." His own smile that then emerged mirrored the captain’s, and Spock’s own was a tiny little upwards curl, more unnoticeable but still a virtue of his human half.

Zinalya nodded her head, her own mouth melting into the same warm expression. "I’d like that too."

Ceti Alpha V’s climate, from what the pair had gathered during the last few minutes, seemed to be a mild one. It was neither freezing cold nor blazing hot, or even leaning slightly towards either of these two temperature sides. It was just... ordinary, but they realised that this might be a time-specific climate and that it’ll get hotter or colder later, as this was an unfamiliar planet which therefore had unfamiliar weather seasons. 

However, all that mattered now was that the temperature and weather at this present moment were good and that it was now well and truly over. Both Zinalya and Khan were free to be together in their exile sentences on this world, and now that, as mentioned above, the events of this story were over and they’d actually reached their destination, they felt a new and previously unknown kind of undeniable bliss coursing through their veins, in their minds and hearts.

She’d spent a couple of these last few minutes gazing out at a flat area of land, a valley, to be precise, over a grassy hill which, like the aforementioned current temperature in the air, was neither what you’d call too high nor too low. Most of the valley’s ground seemed to be dusty and rocky, but there were grassy and viable crop-growing regions for the rest, all decorated with what appeared to be a stream stretching through one part of the valley.

"I think I’ve found a good place for us to set up!" Yelled out Zinalya, running back down the hill and towards where she and Khan had been beamed down to along with the seventy-two cryotubes containing his Augment companions. A few seconds before she’d left to go up the hill and take a look at the surrounding terrain, he’d told her that he was attempting to unfreeze and revive one of these seventy-two companions, although she hadn’t found out any more specific details such as their name or what they looked like, so when she finally reached this beam site again, she was mildly surprised when she saw another person standing and conversing with him. This other person seemed to be a woman, whose long ebony hair stretched down elegantly behind her back and whose eye colour was brown. She had a light brown skin tone and the way she carried herself gave off an elegance that applied to her entirety and not just her hair.

"You must be Miss Hamilton." Her voice, which was smooth and amicable not too unlike the chirp of a hummingbird, contained an Indian accent.

"Yeah, that’s right. I guess that means Khan just told you about me?"

"He did; he said you’re the one who was responsible for getting us here." The woman nodded her head and smiled sweetly, and while this exchange was taking place, she seemed to be leaning slightly against the side of the now open cryotube that he’d defrosted, most likely because of the initial grogginess from being awoken. "I’m Kati." She fully turned towards Zin and extended her right hand.

"Good to be meeting you." The half Trill replied in the same amicable manner, shaking Kati’s right hand with her own. "I’ve gotta say, you’re being a lot more friendly with me so far than I thought you were going to be."

The female Augment chuckled. "Well, from what I understand you were the kindest to Khan while I was still sleeping, and since then you still haven’t done anything that’s put any of us in danger, so you seem nice and friendly yourself. I thought I might as well treat you as such."

"We can’t make any promises regarding Joaquin’s own tolerance, however." This male one himself said. "He was what you might regard as the hothead in our group, and he doesn’t trust outsiders easily. But I’m certain that sooner or later he’ll learn to open himself up to you."

"So, shall we wake up the others?" Said Kati.

"Yeah, lets get to it." Zinalya nodded.

"I agree. You also said you’d found a place for us to establish our settlement?"

"It’s just over these hills. There’s a river and grasslands and everything."

He turned to Kati. "Your thoughts?"

"It sounds good enough to me."

"Very well then." He walked over to one of the other tubes, all of them sitting next to supply crates which the Enterprise crew - this ship having left again by now - had sent down in addition to help with the initial setup of their lives on this planet. His fingers went up to the circular keypad on the top of this particular tube and began to initiate the same process as he’d done with that of the black-haired woman.

"I’m just going up to have a look for myself at this place you found, I’ll be back in a minute." Said black-haired woman spoke to Zinalya again before setting off in the same direction the latter had come down from. This one whose own hair was burgundy went to stand next to Khan, looking down through the cryotube’s glass at the masculine face inside which gave off a hint of authoritativeness despite the eyes, the windows to the soul, being closed.

"This is Joaquin." The man with the porcelain skin told her when he noticed her looking down through the glass.

"Can you show me how to wake them up?" She looked back at this conscious one who’d just spoken. "You know, so that when Kati gets back it’ll all be done quicker with three pairs of hands?"

"Of course." The smile that appeared on Khan’s face as he gave this answer wasn’t that big but was soft and beautiful even so, the sight of this causing the same reaction on Zinalya’s. He then started to demonstrate the defrosting process on the keypad for her, going about it a little bit more slowly this time to make it easier for her to see every step, and she watched carefully.

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

The Misadventures of Prince Kim - chapter 51

51 chapters... I don’t even know anymore. But anyway, Merry Christmas, have a LOT of Kimax fluff.

Also on AO3 as always where you can read this 190k+ word mess from the beginning

Kim, with Max’s help, had finally managed to finish going through all the International Alliance paperwork that could be completed without Queen Sol here for the time being – and just in time for their one month anniversary! Max was already certain that Kim had been secretly planning something for it, despite it being a relatively small milestone. Unexpectedly, however, Kim’s plans for 14th March started off with something that was much more of a surprise.

“Max, you’ve gotta see this,” Alix said, barging into his room and grabbing the remote control to turn on the television.

“Good morning to you too.”

“Yeah, whatever. Look at this – this dork is on TV and he didn’t even tell me until like 10 minutes ago when I asked why there was a TV crew in the main hall!”

She changed the channel to the news, sitting down beside him on the bed where there was a better view. Max looked up at the television to see the vaguely familiar face of one of the news reporters for this region of the continent.

“…and today we have a very special guest star on our show!” the news reporter was saying. “A foreign prince from a faraway country is here to tell us his exciting tale…”

Kim was going to be on TV? He was actually going to be on TV? Max leapt to his feet, a grin spreading over his face.

“This is fantastic! What a great idea! If Kim tells his story to the millions of viewers, they’ll be more sympathetic to his plight and there will be far more pressure on the International Alliance to accept his country – well as long as he doesn’t spill all the details of course, as that would be unwise, but I trust him to know what to–”

Alix shoved a pillow in his face. “Dude, shut up and listen!”

Max put the pillow aside and watched the screen. The reporter – Clara? – was still giving a rather rambling introduction, thought she finally seemed to be winding down. At last, she gestured to the side and announced, “A very warm welcome to our esteemed guest today, His Royal Highness Prince Kim of the distant kingdom of Lê Chiến!”

The camera cut to a wide shot to show that Kim was sitting in the armchair beside Clara’s. His hair was done immaculately, he wore an áo dài almost more dazzling than the one he’d lost in the lacrosse match to Adam, he sat back in the chair with his hands behind his head and one foot stretched out to rest on the little table in front of him, just giving off a sense of being at ease.

“Thank you for that super introduction, Clara. And hello Sahara region, thanks for tuning in!” He looked directly at the camera and winked, shooting a lazy finger gun as he did so.

Max found himself picking up the pillow again and clinging onto it without realizing. He had always found television appearances stressful, with so many things that could go wrong, so many ways for millions of people to get the wrong impression of you. But Kim didn’t appear to be nervous at all. Perhaps he didn’t quite know the scope of television, how much of an impact it could have… or perhaps he was just a natural at this.

“So, let’s get started with what the people want to know most,” Clara was saying now. “What’s keeping you away from home? Why so often do you visit other countries during your holidays from boarding school? There are suspicions that perhaps you don’t like your kingdom back home very much and prefer more tech-advanced nations – is this true?”

“My kingdom is awesome, actually. After all, I’m the one who’s gonna be running it someday, right?” He flashed a charming smile at the camera again. “But you’re right about me loving tech. Television? Aeroplanes? Portable phones? Modern automobiles? You bet I’ll be implementing that in my own kingdom as soon as I can.”

“Technology certainly is a wonder! But if that isn’t the reason that you haven’t returned home in such a long time, then what is?”

“Unfortunately it isn’t safe. There have been issues at the borders for way too long now, and as much as I want to go back, I can’t. Not that anyone would let me try – no one wants to see me in danger.” He ran a hand through his hair, which sprung right back into perfect formation as soon as his fingers had left it.

“So it’s an issue of security, I see. Any chances that will be fixed soon?”

“No idea. But hey – if anyone out there invents the teleporter, be sure to let me have a go with it and get back home in one piece!”

Every time Kim glanced at the camera with that charismatic smile of his, raising a playful eyebrow, or letting his teeth catch a glint of the light… oh, he knew what he was doing. He knew how attractive he was and he was using it. There was no way the viewers wouldn’t love this cheeky, handsome little prince who just needed a hand getting back home – and he was doing it on purpose!

Max rested his head on the pillow he was still clutching and just stared. Usually Kim would be a little too flustered to act quite so smooth with him, which was cute in its own right, but now Max could not tear his eyes away from Kim’s flawless responses, the confidence, the charisma, the beauty of it all. His sweetheart was a star.

The more political questions had ended now, and Clara began asking more about Kim as a person. This was right in his element – showing off about his athletic capabilities, how quick a runner he was, even mentioning that if his áo dài didn’t have sleeves then he would have flexed his arms for all those viewers who he knew were itching to see it.

“Wow, you really are quite something!” Clara said. “All the ladies in your kingdom must be quite taken with you.”

Kim chuckled. “Who isn’t?”

“So, does a handsome young man like you have a sweetheart?”

“Would I tell you if I did?”

“Only if it wasn’t a commoner!”

Or if it wasn’t a boy, Max thought to himself. While Kim did not keep his relationship with Max a secret while at school, where everyone already knew about Juleka and Rose or Chloé and Lila and hardly cared about yet another such couple, mentioning it directly on international television to millions of viewers was something else entirely.

“So how do you decide which countries you stay in during the holidays?” Clara asked now.

“Oh, well, it depends really. At school I made best friends with Alix – yeah that’s right, my best friend is Pharaoh Alix, and also her pet snake, so she lets me stay here whenever I need to. And Princess Marinette has been a close childhood friend of mine for many years now, so I’m allowed to visit her kingdom too. And as for Prince Max…”

Max’s heart skipped a beat. It seemed so odd to hear himself being talked about on TV by Kim of all people.

“…we’re very close. He keeps me company in the holidays, which I really appreciate. He’s a very sweet friend.”

Sweet friend? Max wanted to laugh. That was such an obvious way of putting it, and poor Kim had no idea he’d even done that. No doubt, by tomorrow everyone would have come to their own conclusions about what “sweet friend” really meant – and hopefully not disapproving!

“That’s very nice to hear!” Clara said, a surprisingly genuine smile on her face. “Prince Max is well-loved by his people for his wise, gentle ways. I’m sure they’re delighted to find out how close the two of you are, despite your differing kingdoms and personalities.”

That much was probably true. Max did indeed have a rather high approval rating back in his own country, and now that some of those citizens would be watching this interview, Kim’s popularity would probably begin rising too if his good looks and personality hadn’t already helped with that.

Oh Kim, he was always just so sweet!

The rest of the interview carried on without anything especially remarkable. Max was simply content to watch – maybe it was silly, maybe self-indulgent, but he really liked seeing Kim being so enchanting, practically flirting with the camera, really putting on the charms. All those winks, the finger guns, the cocky smile, the hand he ruffled through his pointy tuft of hair, the occasional blown kiss…

And it ended before he knew it. How long had that interview lasted? Max was rather bad at keeping track of time whenever Kim was involved, for some reason. But now Clara had said goodbye and moved onto the next news section.

“So how was that?” Alix asked, switching off the television again and poking Max in the arm. “Did he mess up on anything?”

Max sighed, still staring at the empty screen. “No. He was perfect.”

“Damn right he was. He called me his best friend! On international telly! Isn’t that awesome?”

“Yeah…”

“And he seemed to answer all the politics questions really well, though I’m probably not the best person to judge that. Right?”

“Mhm…”

She poked him again. “You’re not listening, are you?”

“Um, well, I was just–”

“Daydreaming about doing some scientific research with Kim, yeah, I know.”

Max could feel his face warming up. “I’m sorry. It’s just that today, 14th March, marks a whole month since Kim and I got together, and the thought is rather distracting.”

“A month, only? Feels like it’s been way longer than that already.”

“It’s the opposite for me.” Max leaned on the pillow again, his mind flowing with memories. “It feels like it’s flown by.”

“Well, if it really has been a month, then I guess you should go find Kim and–”

The door was suddenly flung open and Kim stood there, leaning over to catch his breath.

“Kim!” Max jumped up off the bed and threw the pillow aside. “We just watched your interview!”

“Awesome!” Kim said. “I literally just finished it, ran all the way here.”

“But why–”

Before Max could say another word, Kim had already crossed the room and scooped Max up into his arms. “Happy one month anniversary! I had to rush over here to hang out with you!”

Oh, that was just so sweet! Max put his arms around Kim’s neck and leaned into his chest, feeling right at home there like he always did these days. “Happy one month anniversary to you too, Kim. Though the word ‘anniversary’ really only applies to yearly celebrations, because of the prefix, which comes from the Latin… oh, never mind. We can call it an anniversary.”

“You’re so smart,” Kim whispered into his hair, holding him so close it was practically a hug. “And so cute. And the nicest person ever. I love you so much, you know that, right?”

“Can you guys go be mushy somewhere else?” Alix said, sounding bored. “Or I’ll leave if you want. Either’s fine.”

Kim put Max down, settling for holding his hand instead. “No, it’s alright, I have somewhere to take Max anyway. Somewhere super cool. Come on, sweetie! Let’s go!”

He ran off without even waiting for a reply, and Max let himself be pulled along by his adorable, hyperactive sweetheart. Most of the servants in the corridors didn’t care at this point – they probably all knew that Kim and Max were a couple anyway. Max wondered how long the rumours would take to get back to his kingdom, probably accelerated by the interview today.

Would it be worth it to publicly come out?

Well, that wasn’t something he needed to think about right now. At this moment, all that mattered was whatever Kim had planned for him.

They went up the swirling staircase in the centre of the north wing tower, all the way to the top, so tall that Max had to stop a few times to rest. Finally they made it and went through the door out onto the roof at the top.

Max had only been up here once before, several years ago, when he was visiting this kingdom with his parents, and Alix had sneaked out of a boring meeting with him and Nino – who had still been called “Nina” back then – and brought them up here to hide. It still looked the same, really. A view of the palace below them, with desert and mansions stretching off into the distance in one direction, and the city in the other.

“Pretty, isn’t it?” Kim said, holding Max’s hand a little tighter as he leaned against the railings.

“It really is a stunning view.”

“But you know what’s even better? This!”

From out of his pockets Kim pulled a little piece of card and handed it to Max. On closer inspection it was not a card but a photograph. A photograph of Max.

“Remember this?” Kim continued, now putting an arm around him. “Last holidays I took this picture of you and it turned out really awesome! Well I want you to have it.”

“That’s very sweet, but you’re the one who took this photo, so perhaps you should be the one to keep it.”

“I already have a copy. One of the servants taught me how to use the photocopier, so I can have as many pictures of the cutest person in the world whenever I want.”

Cutest person in the world! Max was sure his heart was going to burst. Kim was always saying such lovely things to him all the time, how did he even do it? Did he know what an effect it had?

“And I got you flowers too,” Kim said, blushing slightly. “Not with me, but I’ll give them to you later. Actually now that I think about it, I probably should have gone to my room first and got those, rather than going straight to your room, but I just really wanted to see you…”

“You don’t need to give me flowers, it’s alright!”

“But I want to. You deserve it.”

“So anyway, about that interview!” Max said quickly, aware that he was rapidly becoming very flustered. “When did you even organize it?”

“Oh, that! I literally just thought about it last night. I realized doing a TV interview would make me look really cool and then everyone would like me and let my country in the International Alliance. So I went and asked Jalil, ‘cause he’s organized and knows about all this stuff, and he called the news crew and they happily agreed to interview me on short notice since I’m a prince and everything.”

“That was a very good idea, I must say.”

Kim ran his free hand through his hair, the action somehow looking even more attractive than usual considering he was still wearing that new áo dài, leaning back against the railings, the sun lighting up his face. “Thanks! So um… how was the interview? Did I do okay?”

“You were amazing!” Max turned to stand directly in front of Kim and took both his hands in his own. “Your answers to all the questions were absolutely spot on. And your demeanour in general was very…”

“Likeable?”

Hot was actually the word he had been thinking of, but he just nodded. ���Yes. You were very likeable.”

“Awesome!”

“I’m sure the people of the region must love you. We’ll wait to read about it in tomorrow’s newspapers, I suppose. And…” Max looked down, smiling. “We’ll get to read about what everyone thinks of the phrase ‘sweet friend’.”

“Oh, that!” Kim’s voice had a note of uncertainty in it now. “Listen, I just – I didn’t know whether or not I should tell anyone about, like, us I guess! I mean, I wanted to, but I thought what if that’s a weird thing to say on TV? What if you get deposed or something? So I just said you were my friend and I hope that’s okay!”

“Of course that’s okay!”

“Thank goodness! And for the record, I still meant it, okay?” Kim gently held Max’s face in his hands, looking right in his eyes, his voice softening now. “You’re still my best friend. You can be both my sweetheart and my best friend at the same time, right?”

For a few seconds Max just stared up at him, unable to say a word. Kim’s face was very close to his own, and it was making him dizzy. Surely he should be used to it by now? It had been a month already! But no, his brain still took several seconds to process the fact that Kim was only a few centimetres away, and knowing him, was about to get even closer.

“Certainly,” Max managed to say finally. He willed his brain to work enough to say something else too, because Kim liked listening to him speak, didn’t he? “In fact, I would say that’s ideal. Anyone who is considered a sweetheart should be close enough to be a best friend too.”

“Yeah, you’re right. No wonder Chloé turned me down ages ago. I’d met her like twice.” Kim laughed and shook his head. “I was such an idiot back then. But I hope I’m better now. And hopefully the countries in the International Alliance think so.”

“I’m sure they do. How could they not? You’re wonderful!”

Gushing did not come as naturally to Max as it seemed to for Kim, but he made an effort now all the same. It was worth it to see the sparkle in Kim’s eyes, the lovestruck smile, the blushy glow on his cheeks, knowing he had made his sweetheart happy. And plus, it was true! Kim really was wonderful.

“I can’t argue with that,” Kim said, winking, before pulling Max’s face closer and kissing the tip of his nose. “So. What else should we do today, on our one month anniversary? I was thinking maybe a trip to the museum or something! You like museums, don’t you? It would be fun! And the city tower has a restaurant on the top floor so I could take you there in the evening for dinner and we could watch the sunset. And then we could come back and watch a movie or something. What do you think?”

A date that lasted the entire day? That was so sweet, it was almost too much! Max just buried his face in Kim’s chest, grinning stupidly. “That sounds very romantic…”

He felt Kim’s arms wrap around him. “Of course! Only the best for you. And let me know if you want anything else.”

“No, it sounds perfect.”

“Awesome! There’s only one problem, though. According to Alix, there’ll be paparazzi at the museum and probably the tower too, like there always is when we go into the city, so um… no kissing while we’re there.”

“Understandable.”

“So then maybe we should just…” Kim put a finger under Max’s chin and lifted his face back up to look at him. “…kiss now instead?”

That was the thing – Kim was always just so polite about it, always asking Max for kisses, so hesitant about it in a way that he never was about anything else. All it did was make Max fall even further in love with him. Not only was Kim a star, Kim was a star who was all his. And no amount of interviews or commoner admirers could ever change that.

Max went up on his tiptoes and leaned forwards, closing his eyes, putting his hands on Kim’s shoulders, half tempted to just take his glasses off just so this could be a little closer and last a little longer–

“Oh come on!”

They sprung apart and turned towards the doorway to see Alix standing there, a hang-glider strapped to her back and a helmet on her head, a very unimpressed expression on her face.

“What are you doing here?” Kim snapped.

“Hang-gliding, duh!”

“Well can you leave?”

“What? Why can’t you leave? I can’t hang-glide from anywhere else, whereas you two can easily go make out in one of your rooms, in fact, you can even do this magical thing there called locking the door so that no one can accidentally walk in on you–”

“But that’s not very romantic!”

“Kim, it’s alright,” Max said, trying not to laugh. “I know one of the guest rooms has a balcony, which I’m sure is very romantic too. We can have palace dates there and Alix can be sure to avoid it.”

“Okay, I guess…”

“Thanks,” Alix said. “And by the way, happy one month anniversary. I hope you guys have a great day.”

“Aww, thank you! We–”

“Now get out of my way. I have to go jump off this tower.”

Kim took Max’s hand again and together they went back down the tower steps, leaving Alix in peace to go illegally hang-gliding up at the top.

A date in the city… this was going to be so much fun. Maybe it wouldn’t feel particularly different from the rest of the times they spent together, or wouldn’t feel different from when they used to do similar things in the context of friendship. Especially when the paparazzi would probably be watching their every move.

But did that matter? What mattered was that Max was going to spend the whole day having fun with Kim, his sweetheart, and it was going to be wonderful.

[deepfriedtwinkie]

Kingsman: A Trainee’s Mission (Pt. IV)

PREQUEL FIC, this section ~2kw

pt. I  | pt. II  | pt. III  

.

.

“Here.”

Harry slides a plastic tray in front of Hamish, who looks up, startled, from the disassembled wristwatch in his hands.

“What’s all this?”

It’s a curry, a hunk of bread, and a clementine, but they both have eyes, so that’s probably not the answer he’s looking for. Harry slides into the seat opposite, setting down his own tray. Its contents are the same, except his clementine is a lemon Danish. He’s not the one who needs to improve his eating habits.

“I thought perhaps you could use a proper meal,” he explains, unfolding a cloth napkin to tuck across his lap. “We’ve been here a half a month already, and I don’t believe I’ve seen you take anything besides crisps and Tab.”

There’s a shade of something in Hamish’s expression that looks to be on the verge of protest. Harry waits, watching until it passes, only satisfied by his friend’s nod of concession, several moments later.

“S’pose you’re right. Thank you. That’s very kind.”

A smile flares on. “Don’t mention it.” The curry smells wonderful, and he tucks in while it’s hot.

They’re alone in their corner of the mess hall, which bears quite a bit more resemblance to the ones at university than those provided for any branch of military intelligence. He should know. About the first part, at least. His years at Oxford were, up to now, the most rewarding of his life, not the least because he never lacked for a hot meal involving sturdy greens and a port wine gravy. The latter he misses now especially, although Kingsman has far better dinner rolls, so he supposes it works out to a draw.

In a fortnight’s time, the remaining candidates—down to eleven now—have settled into cliques, as it were. Prat Winston has taken to holding court at the front table, with Graham, Chauncey, William, Edgar, and Derrington gravitating to him like gnats to a ten-watt light bulb. The other three lads, whom he’s learnt are called Courtney, Philip, and Kenneth, tend to huddle to themselves in the dimly-lit corner near the chafing dishes, whispering back and forth as if they’re going to be caught and beaten, which is a tad dramatic. Of all his options, he’s glad to have settled here, content with the company of no more than his bunkmate.

About whom he still knows very little, come to think of it.

He waits with extraordinary patience until Hamish has taken at least five bites of food. Then the rest be damned, because curiosity really does kill people, you know.

“I thought we might have a chat, you and I,” he says brightly. “Clearly the both of us are in this for the long haul. I feel as if I hardly know a thing about you.”

“You know my name,” Hamish reminds him. “That’s the highlight, I can promise you.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t believe that for a moment. You’re here, aren’t you?”

His chin juts toward Sir Winston the Odious. “So’re those pricks. Doesn’t mean there’s anything interesting about them.”

“Them, no.” He’s not going to give up that easily. Harry leans just slightly forward, forearms pressed illicitly on the table. None of the agents are in here anyway. They eat in the conference rooms, like respectable adults with people to kill. “But I have a very different feeling about you.”

Hamish’s expression changes. He pauses in his eating, lowering his spoon, hovering his face above the bowl. He sniffs. Then he takes up the bowl in both hands, holding it toward Harry.

“What?”

“Does that smell funny to you?”

Cautious, concerned, Harry inhales. Maybe this is meant to be another trial. Except there’s nothing. Nothing acrid. No bitter almonds. Cumin, but that’s nothing outside the ordinary. “I don’t smell a thing.”

“You don’t?” Hamish sets the bowl back down, and that’s when the mystique dissolves, replaced by deadpan. “Smells like bribe to me.”

You shit.

“I’m only trying to get to know you.”

For what it’s worth, he’s got Hamish engaged in the conversation now, whether or not it yields anything. Bemusement has the lad now, and he folds his arms on the ledge of table between himself and his supper tray.

“D’you know what I find interesting?” He points at Harry. “That you’re the one always after answers about me, yet I can’t help but notice that other than university, you’ve never volunteered so much as piss about yourself. When I’m sure I could just as easily be the one asking the questions.”

“Could you?” It’s not a challenge. He genuinely doesn’t know why.

Clearly Hamish does. “Oh yes. There’s plenty. Like how the fuck you knew about Kingsman before you were recruited.”

Oh.

Oh, damn.

“Mmhm.” He’s barely paused at all, and taken great pains not to react facially, and yet for Hamish, somehow, it’s enough. The smug thing’s got on a ‘checkmate’ look now. “That’s what I thought.”

Well, fuck it, then. “How do you know I knew anything before coming here?”

“Oh, you mean for starters?”

“Yes, I’d appreciate that.”

Hamish ticks off each point on his fingers. “You’ve never asked a single question of Arthur in regards to what’s expected, almost as if you’re familiar with how all this shit goes. You seem to know precisely what to do in any given situation, despite the fact you’ve spent the last four years in a posh boys’ dormitory watching other idiots wank and do cocaine off their midterms.”

“Well I hardly did that.”

“And d’you know what I’ve heard you mutter to yourself when you thought nobody was listening? ‘Make Mother proud.’ Now how the fuck could she be proud of what you’re doing unless both of you knew what it was?”

It’s rather uncomfortable, being read like this. Outside his childhood home, this may be the very first time it’s ever happened. He fidgets unconsciously in his seat for a moment. Were he a pettier person, this might knock a point of two off his new friend’s appeal, to be honest.

“I could have meant it figuratively,” he finally comes up with.

“You could, aye. But you didn’t.”

God damn it.

Harry sighs. “All right.”

Furtively, he glances each way, hunching closer across the tabletop. Just because he’s not remotely ashamed of his advantages doesn’t mean he wants the resident cavemen accusing him of unearned nepotism. It’d be terrible form to have to beat his competition unconscious. He looks Hamish in the eye.

“You won’t repeat a thing you hear?”

“My name’s on the body bag, isn’t it?”

It’s not the most reassuring answer on earth, but Harry doesn’t plan to give him the soup-to-nuts version, anyway. No one gets that. Not for a thing. He gets the abridgement, at least for the time being. If that’s not enough, he can kiss his ass.

“Fine. If you want the truth, I’ve wanted to become a Kingsman since I was ten years old. My mother was in intelligence.” Still is, but the past tense is an insulating feature of this version, the same as lack of detail. “A Kingsman agent once assisted her organization on a case; I happened to be shadowing her at her offices the day they met.”

“Were you, now?” It’s slightly insulting that Hamish is incredulous. And just the right blend of amused and unfazed to be irritating as hell. “You’re telling me even high-stakes intelligence has a Take Your Kid to Work Day?”

“No. It was only me. Mother was high-ranking enough that it was allowed, on the grounds that everyone knew she wouldn’t raise a moron. I was expected, by most, to join that organization someday. Secrecy was a normal everyday part of my upbringing. No one ever questioned telling me anything. It was a means of priming me.”

“And that’s how you met a Kingsman agent. Who just conveniently proposed you for the job nearly eleven years later, after openly admitting to a ten-year-old who he was.”

“Only by codename, obviously, and I was a special case; Mother was an internationally-respected VIP agent of one of the most vital—look, you’re the one who wanted to know, aren’t you? And now you don’t believe me?”

Chuckling, Hamish tucks back into his curry. “Nah. I believe you. You just make it so goddamned easy to fuck with you.”

I have no fucking idea why I ever liked you, you tacky, obnoxious, sentient little thistle. To hell with patience. Turnabout is fair play, and he’s going to have it now.

“And what about you?” Harry demands. “At least I had a reason to be secretive. How is it that you manage to evade your own story to make a guess at mine instead?”

Setting down his spoon, Hamish levels with him. He blinks. That’s not what he expected either.

“Because it takes one to know one,” Hamish says. “I knew about Kingsman before I was recruited too.” Then he lifts the wristwatch he’d been fooling with, turning it over to reveal its Kingsman emblem. “There’s a bug in this model. I know because I helped develop it. That’s what I was working on. I’ve been attempting to pin down the problem.”

It’s Harry’s turn to be incredulous. And he is. Very. The scoff practically bursts out of his mouth. “Please. You can’t even be eighteen.”

“I’m seventeen. I’ll be eighteen before the training’s over. That’s old enough.”

“How can you be sure of that?”

“That’s the minimum. I checked when I asked for consideration. And you’re not exactly collecting Social Security at twenty. Frankly I’d expect someone who got into Oxford at sixteen would understand a bit better.”

“Frankly I don’t know how you expect Arthur to allow an eighteen-year-old to play handler to the most elite agents in the world.”

“I don’t, not independently, at first. We’ve spoken already. If I win, he’ll shadow me for a year or so, observe, sign off on all my work until he’s confident. But it’s like you said. I’m here for a reason. I graduated secondary at fourteen with high honors in computers and mathematics. I turned down six international scholarships when I was offered the chance to be an intern in Kingsman’s tech department in Edinburgh. I signed my first body bag a long time ago.”

Absolutely none of that was anywhere on the list of what Harry expected. Several moments pass where he can’t think of anything to say. What finally comes out is, “I didn’t know there was a tech department in Edinburgh.”

“Aye.” Hamish picks up his bread. “They’re moving it to Berlin, though. So I hear. That’s me shit out of luck if I don’t get the job, I s’pose.”

They go back to eating. At least Hamish does. Harry stares. For a solid minute, if not two.

“You’ll get the job,” he says at last, quietly. “I…I never imagined…” He starts over. “Well. You must be fairly brilliant. I suppose I owe you an apology.”

Hamish nods. “S’alright.”

“Thank you.”

Spearing a piece of meat on his fork, Hamish blots off the sauce on his napkin, holding it under the table for Ainsley. It reminds Harry to do the same. Hamish shakes his head. “I can’t believe you fucking called him Mr. Pickle.”

He smiles as the rough little tongue laps his fingers. “Oh, I think he likes it all right.”

“The look on Tristan’s face was worth it, though.”

“Oh, yes.”

They do it again. “So, your mother, huh? The family business? No wonder you’re not concerned with competition.”

Harry nods. “It’s only a matter of who gets the job along with me; I must admit I’ve been hoping it’s you. You’re a good conversationalist.”

“I barely speak to anyone,” Hamish points out.

“Yes, well. I’m grading on potential.”

.

pt. V | pt. VI  | pt. VII  | pt. VIII  | pt. IX

[maniibear]

One of my fics I managed to save from Imzy for the prompt Recover. Tony mourns JARVIS during and after the events of AoU. 

Word Count: ~1900 Warnings: None? Sadness, I guess. 

The sun is a sliver on the horizon when Steve jogs down the steps of the Bartons’ farmhouse. 

Laura had mentioned they might need more firewood and since she’s taking their, and now Fury’s, descent upon her home in complete stride, Steve didn’t need to be told twice. There’s a different kind of cacophony outdoors, one that fades to the background more quickly, but it’s kind of terrifying in its serenity. After all, what did the planet care about Ultron or his plans for stolen vibranium? 

Weak, dusty light playfully limns the Quinjet and the trees alike as Steve makes his way to the barn. It fades like a kiss by the time he reaches the wooden door, which is supposed to be locked, but stands open just enough to offer a glimpse of a figure sitting alone in the dark, illuminated only by the artificial and decidedly unplayful light of a smartphone.

Steve sighs in relief, shrugs tension from his shoulders when he recognizes Tony’s particular silhouette. The team's looking for you, and you’d rather be with your tech, he wants to ask, only what he hears stops him in his tracks. Somewhere above the million sounds of nature, Steve’s enhanced hearing picks up Tony’s breath and a specific, aching wetness in it. Damn.

Steve slips into the barn as noiselessly as possible. 

“Tony?” he ventures uncertainly, and the way the other man's body just curls in like a wounded animal confirms his suspicions. For a moment, Steve considers leaving and sparing Tony an audience and embarrassment, but that somehow feels like him showing his age.

Feeling stuff isn’t embarrassing, and it’s about damn time we start acting like it, Sam’s voice echoes in his head. Then, Tony’s shuddering breath becomes obvious even to someone without super hearing and Steve figures the darkness would provide plausible deniability if he wanted.

He sits on the wooden bench beside Tony and a quick glance at the Starkphone in the brunet’s hand makes things obvious. It’s footage of the city near the Wakandan coast, where the Hulk locked arms with the Hulkbuster armor. It’s obviously witness footage. It’s streaked with blood.

“Oh,” Steve sighs, because his own throat closes with grief. Probably for the best, because there’s a lot he wants to say, and none of it sounds right. He fidgets because inaction bothers him, but he’s not certain what to do. He desperately wishes Sam were here, but in the end, he settles for pressing his calf against Tony’s, a solid reminder of his company.

The next few seconds pass like this-- heavy silence punctuated by Tony’s quiet sniffling. Eventually, Steve reaches for the phone; the weak resistance he’s met with melts when he insists on tugging the thing out of Tony’s hands and switching it off. The pitch darkness that falls upon the barn then is almost a relief. Steve is tired, still raw from Wanda Maximoff’s number on his head, but he doubts he’ll sleep tonight, so this is what he has to be content with.

“We took a hit,” Steve echoes Tony’s words on the Quinjet. “But we’ll make it right. We’re Avengers,” he says and feels stupid before the words finish coming out of his mouth.

Tony just takes a measured breath and replies, “I miss JARVIS."

His voice is so small, so lost that Steve forgets to breathe. Any reassurances of ‘you can rebuild him’ die on his tongue because Tony says ‘JARVIS' like there just can’t be another. God, now he really wishes Sam were here. But Sam’s not, and all Steve has in the way of a field kit is the physical act of holding Tony to keep him from shaking apart.

Tony’s whole body goes rigid when Steve wraps an arm around his shoulders. What’s visible of him in the opaque blackness is torn, distrusting, but needful enough that Steve feels a mournful twinge. It’s going to be delicate handling, so he wisely avoids Tony’s neck and keeps his whole stance open and tentative. 

Remarkably, Tony doesn’t shrug him off.

“It’s—it’s my fault,” he says instead. “I let him down. He always had my back and I. Mmh."

Steve tightens his hold, just to do something, because fuck, he’s the wrong person for this. He’s barely caught up to modern day tech and he is so far from being able to wrap his head around somebody who lived and breathed it and—

Steve recalls the hologram Tony bought up back in the Tower, a small, expertly crafted sun disfigured in—what did Bruce say—not strategy but rage. His photographic memory recalls every shredded pixel, every aborted synapse and torn neuron and if he reconciled that with this grief —Jesus Christ! Tony had come upon the mangled body of his most loyal sentinel and nobody had even paused for a moment of silence.

Steve feels ill. “Oh god, Tony, I’m sorry."

“I should have been monitoring him.” Tony rasps. “I mean, it’s what he did for me, right? Kept an eye on me so I didn’t end up torn to bits. Because I’ll tell you, New York wasn’t easy. Mark VII wasn’t ready, we weren’t fucking ready, but J rockstarred it out there. And god, I remember when Dad—"

Judging by the abrupt wince that follows, Steve suspects Tony bit his own tongue to cut himself off. It tells him a lot, though, but it’s so much he can’t even begin to unpack; not with Peggy’s voice still echoing in his head.

“Breathe,” he instructs evenly, sliding his palm from Tony’s shoulders to his back, unconsciously mimicking the motions of his own childhood.

Silence falls again. Steve pays attention to the rise and fall of Tony’s breath and glances out to the farmhouse. He left his own phone inside, but someone’s probably going to come out looking for them soon.

“You lost a friend,” he acknowledges. “That’s…I get it. It feels like the world makes less sense."

“No, it makes sense. " Tony counters. "I have a mission, and a pretentious twit of a robot in the middle of it."

“Tony, stop,” Steve shakes his head. “I mean it, we need each other more than ever now. This is too big for us to not be a team."

“Ha!” Tony’s voice is muffled, like he’s scrubbing his hand across his face. "No, you don’t understand. This doesn’t end well for the team."

That sounds fairly ominous, and Steve should probably ask about it, but he’s so damn tired. Visions of the dance hall and of Peggy flash at the corner of his mind like pages torn out of a book. 

“We can take care of ourselves,” he says wearily. “You know that."

“What I know,” Tony begins and it sounds less like an acknowledgement than an argument, then he falters because Tony is tired too. “Fine. I know."

Steve’s glad it’s dark and nobody can see his smile at the grumpy retort. Another pause rolls between them, in which Steve can feel Tony’s ribs expand as wide as his own and hear their simultaneous outbreath—mournful, but somehow lighter in its sharing. Instinctively, he draws Tony’s head to lie on his shoulder. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there's no resistance, so Steve follows suit, rests his cheek atop a thatch of soft hair, and thinks he could weep at how terribly he needs this.

“But really,” he murmurs, not minding at all that Tony wiggles closer. “Together."

“But really,” Tony echoes. “You still have faith in all this…cotton candy?”

Someday later, Steve will put it into words—this whirl of what it really feels like to watch Tony care too much about code and people and everything else that peeked over the horizon to gaze raptly at tomorrow. But for now, he just bundles up the warmth pressed against his side.

“I do.”

-

Later, when the world is safe again and Tony’s plans to build the Avengers a home upstate come to astounding fruition, everyone gathers around a beautiful plaque mounted at the entrance to the data crux. Everyone in this case means the core team— Natasha, Tony, Rhodes, Thor. Bruce is still missing without contact; Clint is also not present, but he does manage to secure a line.

“Am I late?” he asks over the microphone. Clint's voice and image on the screen are scratchy. He’s certainly not connecting to the Avengers facility from his farmhouse, but damned if anyone can tell where he is either. "Am I…no? Oh good, didn’t wanna miss this. Who’s going first?”

Everyone automatically glances at Tony, and Steve helpfully tilts the Starkpad so Clint can too. Tony looks flustered, but Rhodes squeezes his arm and raises his eyebrows encouragingly.

“Ok,” Tony takes a breath and raises his glass of whiskey. “To JARVIS. Um. You did good, buddy; best of us all. And I’ll miss you…I—“ His voice quakes, and Rhodes’ comes right back to steady him.

“Hey, come on, we’ll miss him, too.” Colonel Rhodes raises his own glass. “To JARVIS, for saving my ass in Pakistan, Tokyo, oh, and that one arms dealer in Colombia. We captured him alive, but I’m pretty sure he died inside after J started roasting him.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Natasha confirms, and chooses her next statement with usual consideration. “We lost a teammate in this fight. I know that.”

There’s something immensely powerful in her handful of words, if Tony’s stunned quietude is any indication. Steve sneaks a quick glance at him before it’s his turn to talk. There is so much he still doesn’t know about Tony and JARVIS or the memories that bind them, but he doesn’t need a map of the brain to know love.

“It was an honor,” Steve says softly. “JARVIS jumped into this before all of us, kept the world safe from Ultron until we could figure out how to defeat him.”

“Aye,” Thor agrees. “Though he was a spirit of light and numbers, JARVIS fought hard and well from the digital realm. He shall have a seat of honor in Valhalla for eternity.”

“Yeah, man, to JARVIS and Valhalla,” Clint’s affirms over the speakers. “Bet that disembodied punk’s running the place by now.”

“Of course,” Tony retorts haughtily. “And you can bet he’s gonna figure out the real deal with that hammer, too."

Everyone's laughter echoes down the polished halls like a breath of fresh air, along with the chime of shot glasses meeting in front of the plaque before they all drink to Tony’s erstwhile copilot. There’s a palpable sense of closure to this one thing among a thousand other open questions and raw wounds; Steve feels it even after the team disperses and he’s left alone with Tony under another sunset.

Steve immediately picks up on a certain undercurrent of restlessness. He’s lingering; they’re both lingering, and it’s jarring against their shared instinct to do. Only Steve’s not sure he’s welcome to do anything about these newly risen slew of feelings for Tony. Now that they aren’t bowed under exhaustion or covered in darkness, surely, that certain ache, that ravenous need is back deep down where it belongs.

Or is it? Steve’s heart jumps to his throat when Tony sidles up into his space, and the familiar weight Tony’s slighter shoulder resting against his makes him want to weep all over again.

“That was good,” says Tony, falsely conversational. “Plaque was a nice touch."

“Oh, sure,” Steve replies unevenly, and falls right into the moment. “So, Jarvis. Was he someone you knew…?"

[aquabrie]

The Truth Behind His Blue Eyes part 4

[A TJ Hammond and male reader story]

Warnings: males making out, flangst, language, anxiety, implied smut (since I am no good at writing it)

Characters/plot: after three and a half weeks of dating each other, TJ Hammond and Sky go to the presidential banquet dinner. Sky meets the rest of TJ’s family. And Madam President… AKA: his soulmate’s mother

Word Count: 3426

[I apologize for the delay and the weird writing.  I went a different direction than I thought… more fluff this time. Sorry for any mistakes! Also another longass chapter. Hope you like it, comments appreciated. Also if you want to be tagged let me know.]

(images are not mine)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

part 6

Three days ago was the last day you had seen your amazing boyfriend.

To say you were nervous about the presidential banquet dinner tonight would be an understatement. You were nervous for two main reasons- 1st: You would truly be in the spotlight tonight… what if TJ changed his mind and broke up with you because of how badly you reacted to his family? 2nd: You were meeting his family tonight! What if you mess up? What if they don’t like you?

“Oh God… I can’t breathe! I’m going to die even before this damn dinner!” You grip the sink and stare at your reflection.

Why does TJ even care about you? Your heart beats fast as you start to panic. Your grip on the sink causes your knuckles to turn white.

As you feel slightly dizzy a warm hand grips your shoulder. You look back towards them, realizing it is Shaun with a worried look on his face. “Hey, relax man! You’ll be fine, you already met his mom, the fucking president! Plus TJ will be there with you the whole time. I think he wants to show you off… officially let them know you both are off the market and officially together.”

He takes his hand off your shoulder and glances at you. Your tux had been worn twice, a funeral and some wedding… it had been a while, but it still fit like a glove. “You need help with your tie?”

You clear your throat and let go of the death grip you held on the sink. You shake your head no. But then as you put your hands around your neck pulling on the tie, you realize your hands are shaking. “Apparently my hands don’t want to fucking cooperate. So yeah… um… thanks.”

Shaun shrugs as you turn to look at him as he starts fixing your tie. You watch as he bites his lip and furrows his brows in concentration. His green eyes are bright and hopeful. You smile as he grins and pats on your chest after flattening your tie. “Alright good to go! You be good, don’t cause any trouble!”

“You know me.” You say with a smirk and a shrug. “So you have a date with Jenny tonight?”

He nods and smooths his dress shirt and checks his hair in the mirror. “Yeah… I really like her and plus she’s been kind to you. Do I look okay?”

You grin and then raise an eyebrow. “Dude, I should be asking if I look okay, I mean it’s not every day I get to meet the presidential family! And yeah she’ll totally eat you up. If you swung my way and I never found TJ, I’d totally want you.” You slightly joke…

“Yeah. Yeah. You just keep that to yourself, Sky! I think we both look good especially you in that tux and plus you got that damn hair cut finally! I know TJ talked about your shaggy hair.”

“Yeah although he liked to pull it.” You realize what you just said as Shaun makes a face.

“Shit. Sorry didn’t mean to say that. I think it’s just my nerves.”

His face tinges pink at what you said about your longer hair. He slaps you on the chest and chuckles. “Aw man… you slay me man! When’s he coming to pick you up?”

You glance at your watch. “In five. You think they’re going to make me do a speech?”

“No… they would’ve told you. Although there might be some press asking about you and TJ… I think you guys are great together, I’m glad you finally are feeling happy.”

You straightened up and pull him into a tight hug which he gladly accepts with a tight grip on you as well. You sigh. “Alright, guess I’m ready. You heading out soon?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry, if you want the place tonight it’s yours. I’ll be with Jenny, hence the small suitcase. We’re going to a bed and breakfast or something fancy. I think her parents own it or something.” It dawns on him that he’ll probably have to meet them today! “Oh great I realize they’ll probably be there! I hope everything will be okay with them.” His eyes are wide and suddenly he gets a little nervous.

“Come on lets go to our dates!” you say cheekily and pick up your small suitcase that you had just in case TJ wanted you to stay over tonight or whatever, you just wanted to be prepared.

Shaun grabs his suitcase and grins. “Let’s do this.  So you might not come home tonight anyways? Maybe you’ll get to hang out at the white house.” He says in mock seriousness.

You cannot tell if he is being truthful or sarcastic so you just shrug and open the door.  You both are leaving at the same time anyways, so you hold the door for him to go first and then walk out behind him and you lock the door.

—

You cannot help but still feel nervous.  You hadn’t seen TJ in three days since he had some stuff to do at his club and you had some work to do.  Luckily you were able to have a four day weekend off from work, which was much needed since lately you have been frazzled at work, with your boss being on your case, since you had worked from home those days after Trent…

Shaun waves to you when you both walk out the front door of the apartment building.  You see a sleek black car drive towards you and you know it must be TJ.

The back door pops open and TJ grins and jumps out grabbing you harshly and kissing you then giving you a tight hug.  He pecks you on your lips again and puts his hands on your shoulders and pulls away, taking a good look at you in your tux.

“Damn… Sky, you clean up nice!  The hair suits you and damn that tux.  Have I mentioned that I am glad you are coming tonight?”

You grin as the driver picks up your bag and puts it in the trunk. TJ climbs in and pats the seat, he seems way too excited, but it’s helping alleviate your nerves.

He must notice you are nervous, as the driver shuts the back door and goes to the front and starts driving… TJ holds his hand out palm up and you take his hand into yours.

“You okay Y/n?”  You nod, but he doesn’t seem convinced.

You loosen your tie and shrug as you look at your hand that is intertwined with TJ’s.

He squeezes your hand and watches you for a minute.

“What?” you ask curiously with a worried tone.  

“Nothing…” He licks his lips. “Just missed you these past days. Work was boring, would you ever want to go work at the club with me?”

“Huh?” What brought this on?  “Um… I don’t know much about clubs and how to run them.  But sure I guess maybe someday.”  You shrug and TJ grins.

—

An hour later you both arrive at the white house.  The driver stops the car nearby a side entrance of the house, right after driving thru the open gate.  

The driver opens TJ’s door and lets him out first, then you follow behind him.  He shuts the door and grabs your suitcase.

“Thank you.” You say to the driver and hold out your hand to take the bag.  He looks at you confused as TJ shrugs at him.

“I can take it from here.  I suppose you probably have something else to do today, right?” The driver nods and tips his hat toward you.  He smiles and hands you the bag and starts his car as you and TJ head inside the door.  A body guard walks with TJ and you. He’s menace looking.  Wearing all black, blue tooth on his ear, something under his jacket, a weapon? 

“Hello.  I’m…” you start to say your name as the body guard watches you with a grim look on his face.

“Y/n Skylar. Yeah I know all about you kid.  You are TJ’s new beau.”  You nod and continue walking with them.

“His names Max.  Don’t worry he’s cool.  He was my bodyguard last time we were here for when my dad was president.”  TJ assures you.

You raise an eyebrow and walk with them towards whatever room they want to show you first.

The party isn’t started until 7 and it’s about an hour until it will start, so TJ asks Max to go bother his dad or brother just for a bit, while he talks privately with you.

He shows you towards the room where he stays whenever his mom needs him to stay close by.  It’s nice. A king size bed, small dresser, and a bookcase with a few books, mostly from past patrons who stayed in the white house. 

TJ lets you put your bag in the closet of the room right next to his. “Okay so this was my childhood room well… teen year room.”  He smiles and plops onto the bed.

“nice…” You shrug your jacket off and sit it on the desk chair in the corner of the room. 

“Yeah… so what’s wrong?” TJ frowns.  “You want a drink before the party?  My grandma is here and she always seems to have a drink in her hand.”  He smirks.

You clear your throat.  “I’m just nervous.  I met your mom and she’s a bit intimidating, plus I was drunk, so not the best impression… and she seemed to not trust me, and I don’t really blame her. I’m not the best in the spotlight.  Although when I’m with you of course I want to show you off, you are amazing and I’m just a weird dude whose dad is the biggest prick, brothers a dick… but I miss my mom and nana.  Apparently they want me to visit them for lunch and I don’t know if I can ever go back there.”  You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding and you sigh as you look at the carpet.

TJ pats the bed for you to sit.  “Come on, I’ll make you feel relaxed.  I don’t want you to regret being with me, this is my family and sometimes I have to be here even though I’d rather be home with you.” He swallows and watches you sit down next to him and he rubs your back and holds you closer.  “You ever want to talk about whatever happened with you and your dad… I’m here, Sky.”

You nod and glance at TJ. “Yeah, um… same for me, I don’t want you to hate me because of my anti-gay father and brother.”  He stops rubbing your back.

“Lay down.” He says gently while patting his lap.

You comply and lay your head on his lap.  He starts to ruffle your shorter hair and you close your eyes.  “I have a horrid headache…”  you sigh because now you feel relaxed and not as nervous.  How does he know?

TJ smiles as he continues to rub your back and continues to mess with your hair.  This was something his grandma used to do when he was a little kid. 

There’s a light knock on the door and TJ answers quietly, “Who is it?”

“It’s Doug.  Is Sky here yet?”  He slowly opens the door to reveal you still laying down with your head in TJs lap and your eyes are closed.  TJ smirks as Doug furrows his brows.

TJ shrugs and pats your arm to wake you up.

“mmm?”

“Hey its my brother, he wants to meet you.”

This makes you quickly open your eyes and bolt up.  “Sorry.”  You yawn and stretch a little.  “Man I’m great at first impressions aren’t I?”  You roll your eyes and sit straighter noticing Doug. 

He is smirking at you and looking happy for his twin.

“Um… hi.  I’m Y/n Skylar.  You must be Dougie?”

He nods as he grabs the desk chair and wheels it over toward the bed where you and TJ are still sitting.

He watches you as you look at him with a confused expression.  It is as if he is trying to figure you out.  He narrows his eyes at you as TJ looks happily at you, he sees the look Doug is given you and he smacks him on his arm.

“Hey, be nice to my boyfriend.”  He says as he grabs ahold of your hand and squeezes it tightly.  You look down at your intertwined hands and look back up to TJ with a grin.

“Sorry Sky.  I want to make sure you are trustworthy.  Mom already vouches for you, TJ too, but he’s bias, and then there’s dad he wants to be sure you are who you say you are.”  You raise an eyebrow and watch him as he takes a folder from under his jacket and shows it to TJ. “Anything you want to say about yourself?”

Your eyes widen and then you tilt your head.  Now you were so confused!  What more could he know that you hate about yourself? 

TJ takes the folder.  “Come on, what’s your deal Dougie?  Why are you already threatening him.”

“I am not!  Just open it.”  He insists.  You are confused as to what could be in the folder and TJ is too.  You watch him as he opens it to reveal pictures of you and TJ.  You bite your lip and continue to look at all the pictures of you both.  From all your dates to you going into his car, waving goodbye… it was like a professional hitman took your picture.  No headlines, just photos.

You look at both the brothers and raise an eyebrow.  “what’s this?”

“Proof.”

“Of what?”

“That you are in love with my brother.”  You suddenly feel lightheaded and cannot seem to breathe.  Oh man, now he knows how you feel all because of his damn snoopy brother!  What if TJ does not feel that way about you?  What if you are just a fling to him?

Doug scratches the back of his neck.  “Sorry, bad advise from Dad, he had someone follow you two whenever you went out.  He even made sure your roommate was not your lover too.  You can tell on the pictures that TJ feels the same for you.  He has never acted like this with his partners.  I just wanted to let you know that I am proud to accept you to the family, even though it’s only been what, a month TJ?”

You look at TJ and are speechless.  He nods and looks at you with a sideways smirk.

He clears his throat and gauges your reaction.  “I think I’m falling in love with you… I mean I know I’m in deep.  I miss you when I don’t get to see you or feel you next to me when I wake up.  I love you Y/n Skylar.”  He wipes his palms on his pants watching you.  Doug takes the folder and sits it on the desk. 

“I will leave you two alone.  See you later in the dining hall… Sky.”

You bite your lip as you hear the bedroom door shut near you.  You watch TJ and turn toward the folder on the desk.  You taste copper as you realize you bit too hard on your lip.  TJ stops you from doing so, by putting his thumb on your bottom lip.

“Do you?  Is it too soon?  I knew it.”  TJ stands up and ruffles his fingers through his own hair.

You are still stunned at his confession, your brother would never ever help you with your relationships, he was never supportive.  “I feel the same Teej.”  You say quietly.

He stands at the window now glancing outside, he must have not heard you.  You clear your throat and get up from the bed walking toward him.  You put your arms around his waist and your head on his shoulder pulling him closer towards you.  Breathing in his scent you say, “I love you too Teej.  I know its soon but I feel the same way.  I feel like you are the one, my soulmate.  I don’t know if you believe in fate but I sure as hell do.  I would have never found you if you hadn’t helped me that night.  It probably was not much to you but for me it was everything.  I have never had anyone in my family support me, accept my nana and a little bit from my mom.  Never my brother, he despises me and…”

TJ turns in your arms and pulls you into a tighter embrace.  He kisses you passionately and continues to pepper your jawline with kisses.

Another knock is at the door.

“Yeah?”  TJ answers a bit breathlessly. The door opens.

It’s TJ’s grandma and she has a bottle of some wine with her.

“Well I heard that the man of your dreams was coming tonight and after Dougie said great things I had to check on you boys myself.”  She smirks and sets the bottle down with three glasses as she pours some for each of you.

You straighten up and try to look presentable for his grandmother.  She seems nice, almost as nice as Nana.  She turns around and hands you both a glass of wine.

“Welcome Y/n to the weirdest bunch of homos, heathens and…”

“Hey!”  TJ smirks and side hugs her as she chuckles and shrugs.

“My aren’t you ever dashing!”  She looks at you and she takes a sip from her glass.  She looks at you more intently but with a nicer gaze than TJ’s brother did.

“Um… thanks.  You’re beautiful, are you sure you are old enough to be TJ’s grandmother, there is no way…”

“Flattery will get you everywhere honey.”  She jokes and takes a long sip from her glass and pours herself another.  She sips the second glass and watches TJ and you.

TJ shakes his head and smirks.

“TJ has been extra helpful these last few weeks and he has been playing the piano more like he used to when he was a child.  I am pretty sure it is because of you coming into his life.”

Your face heats up and you glance at TJ who just shrugs like it’s no big deal.

“You are truly one of a kind.  I think I like you.”  You say to her.

“Oh you better.”  She jokes and takes another sip of her wine.  You chug the rest of yours down and TJ drinks his.

It is weird… she sets her glass down and motions for you both to come closer to her.  She holds onto each of your backs and makes you both crouch to her height.  You comply TJ holds his hand out to you and you take it.  You all hug for a minute.

Soon she steps away from you both and she shakes her head.  “I am proud of you.”

She says to both of you.

“Yes, Sky I am proud of you too.  I know your grandmother.  She wants to be updated on anything and everything that happens to you, especially since she knows about you and TJ.”

“I… I never told her.”  She must have seen a photo of you both on the newspaper or magazine.

You smile. “I love him. God I love him so much.  Is it weird to think that?”

She shakes her head no.  “You both seem to have been in similar childhoods with both of your fathers in the spotlight for some sort of scandal.  I like you Sky.  You are good for my grandson.  I can tell by the look in your eyes.  You are in love with him and he is in love with you.” She sighs and shakes her head with a small smile. “I’m glad you found each other.”

“Me too.” You and TJ both say in unison.

She pats you on the back and whispers something to TJ and he grins toward you, but you cannot hear what she had said to him.

“Oh the ceremony is about to start.  I will see you boys inside!”  She walks out of the room with the empty glasses and the bottle. You watch her leave and glance at TJ.

Did this really just happen?  Wow she’s awesome.  But how is everyone else going to be when you are out there in the open?

Now for the party.

—

Part 5 next->

---

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