#(all of Dads vitals were clear SOMEHOW)

[aph-japan]

Me: So yeah, I basically just helped save my Dads life today

[robotlesbianjavert]

i’ve been following you for a while and i love your blog! got a question however: i see you blogging moral orel and i’ve never seen it but from what i’ve read on wikipedia, how would you compare the bad dad to bnha’s bad dads. is he fit to join the club. looking at him gives me afo vibes somehow.

eyyyyy thanks for following and keeping up !! you're a trooper. anyways clay puppington is way way worse than the bnha bad dads. like easy clear. one of the best characters! but definitely the worst dad.

moral orel primer

The thing about Moral Orel is that it's an edgy-ish mid 2000s satire about hypocritical fundamentalist Protestant environments and how badly one eager and god-loving kid can be lead to misinterpret the bible. It's got that irreverent humour. Skip the episode "God's Xhef" if you ever watch it. To set up my point, one of the running gags for the series is that at the result of Orel's shenanigans is Clay taking Orel to his study to belt him. And then his pants fall down! haha.

The series then takes a swerve, starting from the first season Christmas episode and leading into the third season, for a darker, more character-driven narrative. It delves more into the citizens of Moralton, the impact that their Christian environment has on them and their relationships with each other, and bits of history to understand how they turned out the way they did, etc

One of the characters most impacted here is Clay. While he's always been the second-most prominent character after Orel himself, and their relationship is central to the story, it's with this new take on the story that Clay really becomes the deuteragonist of the series. He becomes that much more fascinating a character, and his treatment of Orel and his family becomes that much more vile. Sadly the third season is cut short, reportedly after execs saw a particularly dark episode (not Orel or Clay related!) and thought. hm. that wasn't funny.

I lay that all out to explain that while Moral Orel starts off as a pretty silly, shock-value cartoon about how weird Christians are, it also depicts a lot of serious subject matters, and the treatment of that is much more frank and realistic and difficult as the series progresses.

So while he becomes a much more developed character that the audience can understand, Clay's abusive behaviour loses a lot of that wink-wink satirical irony. He's also CRAZY pathetic.

also it's got the mountain goats! that's how i first found moral orel!

how comparable is it to bnha?

First things first, I do think there are largely interesting things to say about how BNHA depicts abuse, despite the downhill trend of writing in the third act that I complain about all the time. I don't think every aspect is perfect, but it's like. I do think there's more positive to say there than how other stories depict abuse. There's actually lots that I love about what the series does, or think that it could do were it not hobbled by things and stuff.

Ultimately, there isn't really a bulletproof way of comparing fictional abusive situations to another, because respective to real life you can't compare one abusive situation against the other.

But one can compare things like the genre and structure of a story, who the intended audience is, what the production of the story is like, how much time and focus can be devoted to certain subjects and what the actual focus is meant to be, etc etc.

Moral Orel can pull together different elements of abuse, like the suffocating environment of Christian fundamentalism, the abuse of a self-destructive alcoholic, the neglect that comes from mutually disaffected and inept parents, the generational nature of abuse, so on and so forth in a sincere way. Meanwhile BNHA, as a weekly serialized shonen battle manga whose creator has become increasingly rundown, has Things To Say, but doesn't necessarily have the same capacity to devote its power to those things. Abuse is vital to the themes of BNHA, but it's not the center of it the way it is for Moral Orel.

So when Clay does his thing, stripped of the fantastical couching of BNHA's bad dads, it just feels more real and it feels worse as a result.

anyways.

clay SMASH bnha's bad dad club

Never a question that Clay is a worse dad than Enji lmao. However one feels about Endeavour's arc, or how well-written or 'deserved' it is, or how successful and genuine Enji is in his efforts, at the very least he's realised that he's done wrong and wants to atone for it, while also grappling with the fact that there may be no way for him to do that. spoilers but clay shan't do this. you get flickers that he has regrets, but he'll NEVER change baby.

I guess Clay gets a one-up where his marriage with Bloberta is mutually destructive, harmful, and toxic in comparison to Enji unambiguously abusing Rei though. so failmarriage win.

Kotarou is actually similar to Clay though! Lots to say, to compare and contrast. I'm actually kind of obsessed, especially because what I said about Clay being more realistic also applies to Kotarou - Kotarou just gets less screentime. They're both deeply affected by their childhood and relationships with their own parents in ways they take it out on their children (the "explained but not excused" idea behind fictional depictions of generational abuse). They also project an image of the upper(?)-middle class family man and Patriarch of the household, either to make up for the failings of their childhood or because it's what expected of them as a man in their world. (Wee bit of conjecture on Kotarou's part but I think it has solid grounding.)

But there's also significant differences. Physical abuse is normalized as corporal between Clay and Orel, on top of the emotional abuse, manipulation, and neglect. Kotarou's abuse of Tenko is largely emotional, with the big slap implied to be the first time that abuse manifested as physical and a line crossed for the rest of the family. And while I'm sure some people would debate this, the idea that Kotarou promised Nao a home full of joy feels genuine. He did want that, the happy family full of smiles he lost as a kid, only for his own resentment to poison everything when Tenko can't obey the rules Kotarou created and enforced to achieve it. Clay, on the other hand, like. There's bits of him implying he loves his family but doesn't have the means to show or act on it, but when he has a whole speech about the sacrifices he makes for his family, family never rings as more than an obligation that he has to put up with for the appearance of manhood.

And Shigaraki can have xyz feelings about his dad forever, but he accepts and espouses the one true lesson Kotarou taught him, that heroes can't do shit all. His father was always a scary and domineering figure, but it feels like while he will never forgive him, Shigaraki does understand him more as an adult. Meanwhile, Orel tries as hard as he can to honour thy father until he can't anymore.

Again, I think that Clay and Kotarou are probably most comparable in terms of being the Bad Dad with some similar hang-ups and relationships to their kids, but part of what makes Kotarou interesting is that we don't know what he would have done had Tenko's quirk not triggered how and when it did. With his family finally willing to push back against him and himself feeling regret for hitting Tenko, could he have changed? We don't know! But much like I said when talking about Enji, Clay's never going to change.

All For One has become more of a cartoon villain that I am determined to turn into a dress up doll for my own amusement than a bad dad and is more evil guardian or whatever. BUT there's one thing that I almost forgot about when I was first writing this up, but realised is actually soooo interesting.

There's a lot to say about AFO and Clay being the primary "teacher" to Shigaraki and Orel! I that while AFO does influence Shigaraki's villainous ideals, he also lets society and Shigaraki's experiences speak for themselves. And frankly, Shigaraki has a lot of leeway and agency in evolving his ideals through his own experiences, particularly after AFO's incarceration. He sees AFO for what he is, probably has for a long time, and is determined to establish his own identity outside of AFO regardless of what Shigaraki has learned from him. Clay is much more strict and obvious about imposing his worldview on his son, but while Orel is desperate for his dad's approval and love and can be led to do things that feel wrong for that love, Orel never absorbs those lessons the way that Clay wants him to, and separating himself from his father and come to terms with what Clay has done is a much more difficult process.

but mostly i just think that clay could do this

and afo could do this

beautiful world.

[m00nz-writes]

Pluto - Blackened Angel chap. 6

Summary: Alyssa ventures out to stay with Vergil for the weekend to train and hone her abilities better. Everything appears to be going great but things quickly turn grim. After a demon decides to open a portal from the Underworld, Alyssa rushes into a battle she's unable to fight on her own.

A/N: Did I base this entire chapter on Pluto by Melanie Martinez? Yes, and I'll do it again. Honestly it's one of my favorite songs off of Portals and I feel like it vibes really well with Alyssa, so why not use that song as inspiration? I'm not super proud of this chapter but that's just because I literally wrote it in one day lmao. I promise the next chapter will be better!

•¨•.¸¸☆･ﾟ･☆¸¸.•¨•

Alyssa knew the dangers involved, which was exactly why she refused to tell anyone but Ethan and Sarah where she was going. They were her closest friends besides JJ, but Jamison had a habit of spilling things when he was pressured. She knew that Ethan and Sarah wouldn't tell her family because she had made it clear that she didn't trust them one bit…

Alyssa sighed as she started the motorcycle and looked back at the office before heading down the road. She wasn't sure how Vergil would react when he saw her since he had never tried to kill her but then again she was just a kid… maybe things would be different now that things had changed and he might want her out of the way so he could have easier access to Dante. She wouldn't be above him, but she hoped not.

The journey deep into the countryside and far from Whitechapel was boring and long, but as she could feel her uncle's demonic energy getting closer, she realized it was the best option for her. Vergil was terrifying, but that was why she had always had a healthy amount of respect for him… because for all his evil intentions and desire to become the most powerful demon known to mankind, he was still a traumatized man who held a healthy amount of fear deep within his mind. She knew this because Vitale was the perfect example of that; once nothing more than Vergil's human half, now given a new chance at life while Vergil remained the same hybrid he always had been.

Alyssa took a deep breath as she pulled up to the old house where Vergil was staying. Maybe he was planning to see Dante… or even attack the city. Either way, that wasn't why she was here. She was here to beg him to help her learn how to control her powers and maybe even find her place in the grand scheme of things. She was lost, and he had the knowledge to help her.

The teen got off her bike and grabbed her back, securing it in the scabbard on her back before grabbing the bag she'd brought just in case she needed to stay for a while. Alyssa sighed softly as she walked up to the door and carefully pushed it open to see a surprisingly beautiful place inside the nondescript exterior. She stepped inside and looked around with a cautious eye, just in case Vergil decided to attack her. Closing the door behind her, she looked up at the stairs to see a very familiar figure at the top.

"I'm not here to fight you," she said as the man descended the stairs with a judgmental look. "I came here on my own." she added, fixing the bag on her shoulder so it wouldn't be too heavy.

"I'm aware of that." he said coldly, his gaze fixed on her as he finally reached the bottom of the stairs and stood before her in all his terrifying glory. Somehow, he was even scarier than she remembered.

"I would have called… but you've always been out of touch," she tried to joke, offering a nervous smile before clearing her throat. "Look, we both know that Dad has a tendency to not… take things seriously, but I can't just stumble through life with the same ease that he does." she took on a more serious tone as she stared up at the man. "Please, teach me."

"You want me to teach you how to control your abilities?" he asked, sounding almost amused as Alyssa sighed.

"I wouldn't have come to you if I wasn't serious," she said firmly, finally standing her ground despite the fear she felt when he narrowed his eyes at her. "I want to be able to control myself when I use my powers or when I transform. I can't right now… all that happens is that I either get beat up or almost kill someone I care about."

"You're letting your emotions take over your mind." Vergil said coolly as he made his way to the lounge. Alyssa quickly followed him, walking just a step behind him.

"Well, yeah…" she shrugged slightly. "You can turn it off. I can't." she said before taking off her bag and putting it aside. She took her gun out of the holster and put it next to her, looking at Vergil as he eyed her curiously. "I know you don't like guns." she shrugged. "I honestly thought you'd attack me as soon as you saw me…only reason I brought it." she smiled slightly as she stood up.

"I would never stoop so low." he muttered with a small shake of his head. "Fighting a child who cannot control her own strength is beneath me."

"Thank you, uncle." she rolled her eyes and sat down, crossing her arms. "Is there any way you can teach me how to control my powers or not?"

•¨•.¸¸☆･ﾟ･☆¸¸.•¨•

Alyssa nearly collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily as she used the sword to keep herself upright. She looked over at Vergil and stood up straight, removing the hair tie from her wrist and tying her hair back instead. She picked up the sword and rolled her neck, popping it before getting back into position.

"You said this was just training." she shouted, and the hybrid smirked.

"It is. You're weak." he teased as she narrowed her eyes at him and took a run at him. She tried to get a decent hit on him, but he easily deflected it with his own sword. She landed on the ground and tried to swing at him again, screaming in frustration when she realized he was easily countering her attacks. "You're letting your anger control you again." she yelled again as she swung at him, her sword clashing with his as she struggled to match his strength. With bared teeth, she felt her body begin to quickly switch between the two forms and Vergil watched in amusement, never faltering. Eventually she gave up and collapsed to the ground, lying on the grass as she stared up at the bright sky, breathing heavily.

"I'm so used to training with dad…" she murmured softly. "He really took it easy on me, didn't he?"

"Considering how weak you truly are, I'd say that seems to be the case." Vergil nodded and she lifted her head to look at him before sitting up. "You have the potential to be much stronger."

"That's the plan." she said, pushing herself up and grabbing her sword again as she took another deep breath. "You're stuck with me all weekend, too."

"There will be plenty of time for your training." he assured her before suddenly lunging at her. Her eyes widened as she quickly blocked the attack with her sword, sliding back a bit from the sheer force of his attack. Her eyebrows furrowed as she concentrated on the man in front of her, finally pushing him away before she lunged at him, catching him off guard. He stumbled a bit and looked back at her, the wound healing as soon as it appeared before he actually smiled. "That was perfect." he said, and she smiled a little of her own.

Alyssa lunged forward and swung at him a few times before deciding to use one of his own moves against him, surprising him once again as he stumbled and she landed a good hit on him. He managed to get to his feet, looking at her with what seemed almost pride, and blocked another of her attacks. She began to use more of his skills against him, which really seemed to throw him off as she mimicked his movements almost perfectly and threw his own fighting knowledge back at him.

"That's enough!" he said and she quickly stopped and took a few deep breaths. "You should take a break." he commented as she nodded and blew her hair out of her face, putting her sword back in its scabbard before they both headed back to the house. Alyssa made her way to the living room and sat down in the chair, grabbing her bag and opening it to pull out a box of candy. "Where did you learn to copy fighting styles like that?" Vergil asked, entering the lounge as Lyss looked over at him and shrugged.

"I don't know… I thought throwing your own abilities back at you would throw you off, and it worked," she admitted, leaning against the arm of the chair as she opened the box and ate some candy.

"That's very smart." he hummed as he sat down on the old couch, which creaked and groaned under the weight of someone on it. She shrugged and ate another candy as she grabbed her phone and checked it, seeing several texts from Kimmie about why her family was asking her about Alyssa, claiming she was staying with them for the weekend. Lyss frowned and got up, heading out to the porch before calling Kim.

"Lyss!" Kim hissed on the other line as Alyssa sighed and leaned against the wall. "What the hell did you do?"

"I told dad I was staying with you in Toronto," she admitted. "I had to lie to him because I'm training with my uncle."

"So you used me as an alibi?" Kimmie asked tiredly.

"I'm sorry. I wanted to tell dad that I'm staying at Sarah's for the weekend, but I realized that Trish or Lady might show up and bother her family. You're a better alibi, since Toronto is a few hours away from Whitechapel."

"Then why not say you're going on a road trip with Nico?" Kimmie suggested and Alyssa snorted.

"I love that woman like a sister, but she can't keep her mouth shut. Look, I'll tell my dad the truth when I get back. I just need to get my powers under control."

"Fine. I'll send you some pictures to use as a good cover." she said while Alyssa smiled softly.

"Thanks Kimmie. I promise I'll get the tickets for the Warped Tour this year. You can count on me." she assured her before hanging up and screaming when she realized that Vergil had also come out on the porch without her noticing. "Please don't do that!" she wailed, running her fingers through her hair.

"So you used your friend as an alibi?" he asked and she nodded, crossing her arms.

"Dad would kill us both if he knew I came to you for help." she shrugged, her eyebrows furrowing slightly.

"Let him try." he mused, a small smile coming to his face as Alyssa giggled.

•¨•.¸¸☆･ﾟ･☆¸¸.•¨•

Over the next few days, Vergil managed to teach Alyssa how to hone her powers and actually control them just enough so that she wouldn't hurt herself or anyone else around her. Lyss found it hard to understand why Dante still hated his brother so much when he seemed to have changed so much. From all the stories she had heard, he was a ruthless monster with no remorse or feeling for those around him… yet he was the complete opposite.

The sun beat down on Alyssa and Vergil as he put them through more extensive training. It was nice to actually train with someone who didn't treat her like she was extremely fragile. Lyss smiled as Vergil tried to counter her attack as she charged him, but she threw him off by seemingly teleporting behind him with her newfound superhuman speed, attacking from behind and causing him to lose concentration for a split second. He whirled around and jabbed her in the stomach with the hilt of his sword, stunning her for a few moments and causing her to crouch down holding her stomach.

She looked up at the taller man before pushing herself up and headbutting him in the stomach, knocking him backwards to the ground as she smiled with pride as she stared down at him before stabbing the sword into the ground and holding out a hand to him.

"I finally beat you." she teased as he took her hand and she helped him up.

"I am impressed. You've made tremendous progress in these few days." he commented before both of their attention was drawn to the sound of something in the distance. Lyss frowned before grabbing her sword and running towards it, Vergil calling her name and following close behind, hoping to stop her.

As they approached the strong demonic energy, they realized it was a huge demon that had opened a large portal from the Underworld. Alyssa and Vergil stopped as they stared at the demon, the teen's eyes widening as she saw the portal while Vergil's narrowed at the sight. Vergil looked at the young hunter and put a hand on her shoulder as she looked up at him.

"You should go home."

"Fuck no!" Lyss hissed. "Dad's going to think you did this!"

"I don't care what my idiot brother thinks." Vergil snapped before picking her up and throwing her back. Lyss screamed in pain as she rolled a few feet, writhing in pain as Shadow left the ink and joined Vergil in the fight. Alyssa looked at them as she finally mustered enough will to pull herself up, grimacing in pain as she stood. She ran towards the demon, using her telekensis to summon her sword as she leapt onto its back and plunged the sword into its shoulder. She screamed as the beast tried to dislodge her, whipping around as she lost her footing and clung desperately to the sword.

"Leave me alone, wench!" the beast shouted angrily, grabbing her right as Vergil opened another portal, sending Alyssa and the demon through so he could focus on the real issue. Alyssa screamed as she fell out of the demon's grasp and hit the ground, looking around to see that it was the woods near Ethan and Benny's house. She gasped as the demon grabbed her ankle and threw her into a tree, breaking several bones on impact as she screamed in excruciating pain and collapsed. Her body contorted as she began to heal, the process extremely excruciating.

It didn't help that she was separated from Shadow, which made her feel weaker than she actually was. The demon didn't make her stronger, but her connection to Shadow was definitely the reason she was able to heal so quickly and with minimal pain, as Vergil had explained to her.

"I'm going to rip you apart." the demon growled as Alyssa stood up and snapped her neck, spitting out some blood.

"Then do it." she hissed, holding up a hand as the Ultimatum appeared in her hand. She pointed it at the demon and shot it in the chest, causing it to scream in pain and stumble back. She grabbed her sword and lunged at the creature, plunging the sword into its stomach as it grabbed her face and screamed. She growled, grimacing as the grip on her head tightened, and thrust the sword deeper. She shot the demon's wrist and it let go, its hand exploding into a mass of blood and bone fragments that splattered all over her face and body. She groaned in disgust and pulled the sword out as the creature collapsed to the ground.

"Not like this…" the demon grumbled, its breathing labored as Alyssa leaned over it, scowling.

"You're just as pathetic as every other demon I've dealt with." she hissed, pressing the gun to the beast's forehead.

"Please!" it shrieked before grabbing her with its one good hand. She scowled and tried to kick it off her, but it held on, staring up at her as she growled and shot it in the head. The beast exploded into light and ash before Alyssa took a deep breath and stepped away before something surrounded her and she quickly looked around before it grabbed her. She struggled and screamed, hoping someone would be able to hear her and maybe offer some kind of help.

"Hybrid scum." it hissed as Alyssa finally looked into the demon's eyes, her own widening as it growled at her.

"Let go!" she shouted, kicking her legs in hopes of breaking free somehow. She screamed as she was thrown deeper into the woods, her body slamming into a large tree as she fell to the ground, groaning in pain. Shadow materialized in front of her, growling as the beast quickly approached, trying to kick the jaguar away but instead she latched onto its arm and practically tore it apart. Alyssa tried to push herself up and felt her body begin to give out.

"Pathetic!" the demon shouted, knocking Shadow down and sending her back into the ink before the demon grabbed Alyssa's sword and glared down at her. "Hybrid scum should all die." it hissed as Lyss lifted her head to stare weakly at it. It raised the sword and stabbed her in the chest, pinning her to the ground as she tried to gasp for air, but struggled to do so as she looked down at the sword with wide eyes. She tried to remove it as her vision began to fade and her ability to breathe became nearly impossible.

The demon grinned at her before disappearing and Alyssa tried to scream, her voice caught in her throat as she grabbed the grass and whimpered. Her vision went completely and her body went limp as she finally surrendered to the darkness that offered her some comfort.

[currentlydrowninginthephandom]

(This got longer than I thought. Tw for medical stuff. No real details but ye👍)

“GREEN”

Dani and Danny stared at the group chat. They had heard Danny’s phone go off earlier while fighting Vlad for the nth time, but neither could slip away to check. The fight didn’t last much longer after that. It was difficult. They both needed stitches, but they handled it. Neither expected to see the code Sam made for “shit hit the fan in the worst ways” to be the message to greet them. They shared a glance at each other, confusion and concern growing ever more present.

“What??” Danny responded. Green meant he or Dani had been caught and strapped down by one of two incompetent threats. Vlad wasn’t on his cloning bullshit. Hell, they were standing in his lab. The newest addition to the room was a patina of dust on everything (omitting scorch marks from the firefight that is).

The phone rang.

-

To say Jazz was in shock would be an understatement. Her brother was nowhere to be found. Instead, her ghost hunter parents had their friend opened up on their lab table, and were covered in two very different colors she’d expect to see on Danny after an especially taxing fight.

“Also, can you get the BOOmerang? …Phantom might know something about healing.” Jazz slow blinked, gun dropping to her side, thumb flipping the safety now on. What?

What?? The group chat. Right, she sent the emergency gtfo-rescue-operation-underway code. And Danny responded. At least he’s ok and the others knew it too if they checked their phones. She couldn’t find the dexterity to type something coherent without taking far too long. She called the group while grabbing a vial of sedative and the vitals monitor for Paul.

-

Sam answered on the first ring. Tucker was heard beside her. Danny joined a moment later, Dani silent beside him.

“Jazz, what happened to ‘use this for an emergency only’? We all thought-” Sam started.

“I know!” Jazz cut in a little louder than she intended. “I thought so too. But we’re not clear yet, Violet.”

Code names. “Hold up, what’s happening? Who’s on your end?”

“Idk how to explain, Alt-”

“Jazzypants? Who..who’s on the phone?” Jack came back over with three books opened to premarked pages. Wether that happened before now or if that’s fresh marker, she didn’t want to know.

“Is that Jack and-?” Danny started. His voice concealed behind the fair amount of static Tucker could never seem to remove from the ghost’s line when he’s irritated.

“Jazz, put that on speaker. It’s easier hands free,” Maddie interjected, the others no doubt hearing. “Come help with prep.” She continued to mutter half words. Jazz conceded and the phone was set down, screen set to lock.

“Say hi to the Fentons, Phantom. You’re on speaker.” The line was dead silent.

“You have.. that’s Phantom’s number?” Maddie turned away from placing a scalpel to stare dumbfounded at her daughter.

Jack coughed in surprise. “He has a phone?”

“And a team,” Danny added, knocking the doctor pair out of their panicked rambles for good. “I’m not exactly telepathic. I have to communicate with them somehow.” Jack jumped a bit at the voice, Maddie at the implication of a team and her daughter being closely involved. It did connect some dots on equipment though. “Hello, Drs. Fenton. What’s happened that I’m being called in to your lab by a teammate?” Ouch, sorry mom and dad.

“Phantom, we need your help,” Jack was struggling to keep a steady face at having to explain the situation verbally. “We’re outside our depth and need medical advice for an emergency surgery.”

The line went silent again. “What?” The static got heavier. “Who do you have?” Ohhh that wasn’t a nice tone. Jazz grew concerned at the possible next reactions from either party. The two Fenton parents clamored to give apologies while trying to explain the injuries, either a mutter or a shout. All three kept at it for about a minute. Odd, they were normally good during crisis. Right, this is the first time it’s a friend of theirs. Double ouch.

“Hey!” Tucker cut across the line again. “Cool it Phantom. Jazz wouldn’t have called if it wasn’t desperate.” No use in bringing Jazz’s alias into this. Sticking to the known side was the best bet.

“Team stay away. Fentons,” the line growled, “I’ll be there shortly. That security system needs to be down.” The screen lit up. Phantom has left the call.

“We’ll stop by base and drop supplies at location C,” Sam was painfully level. “Jazz, you’ll pick them up. I have no doubt that word is being sent to Frostbite.”

“I’ll notify you when we’re there. Keep the portal clear in case Frostbite brings transport.” Violet has left the call.

Silence took over the room, broken only by the slow beeps of Paul’s heart on the monitor. The Fentons got to work again.

-

Maddie needed to focus. This was the main bleed..and it was their fault. Paul had no time to be secured properly before evacuating him. He was dropped. It was her fault that she didn’t protect Jack as she should have. He had gotten hit by an electric net and stumbled backwards, landing on something just sharp enough to do damage. She could do this. Liminality made people more resilient, but not indestructible. She has to do this.

The supply drop arrived first. Location C was the obscured ground entrance to the ops center it seemed. Jack was sent to do pickup since he needed the walk- something other than his friend to focus on for a moment- and because Jazz was helping her try to stop the very active bleed. Not long after did Phantom arrive, sinking down from the ceiling, back towards them, satchel covering tears in his suit. Was he injured? They both took notice.

“Where were you?” Jazz asked. Why did it seem like she knew the answer already?

“Wisconsin.” Phantom didn’t turn, but he sounded pissed. For a protection obsessed ghost, he was doing a good job of not going mad from the situation it appeared. “Plasmius was trying to break down another millionaire to add to his collection of assets.” Phantom unclipped the stolen thermos from his belt and set it on the back counter with a solid thunk. He landed audibly, hand still on the thermos. It was barely there, but the quick tap tap of shoes landing on linoleum didn’t lie.

Was that a trick? Phantom never landed with noise unless he crashed. Was he that hurt from the fight or was it for intimidation? Maddie had yet to look at him for more than a moment, but knew the threat Plasmius posed. Paul’s bleed was still active, so she was going off sound. The back door upstairs opened. Jack was returning with the supplies. A zipper opened, water started running, turned off, shuffling and the sound of nitrile gloves. A well practiced sequence. She doesn’t know if she should be happy or worried that the ghost knew how to prep, let alone for a human surgery.

The lab door opened and Jack stumbled in with a duffel and a medium locked chest that emitted a cool blue glow.

“Phantom!” Jack boomed in glee and went to hug the ghost, forgetting the other’s hostility with the hope the medical aide brought. Danny growled a warning at the man to no avail as he was swept up into a bone crushing hug, the duffel swung to the side. He next bore his fangs half in a threat, half out of pain. Maddie could hear the wince as he went intangible to land again. He was hurt too.

Easiest to see? Not much. The surgical apron he wore hid most of his body. Although she saw more once he moved to exchange his now no longer clean garbs. The hazmat suit underneath was torn, vivid green stained the rips and leaked from one unseen bandage. The ghost’s hair was tangled and scorched in one place. A set of dark bruises were fading more and more into view on his jaw from either a punch, vice like grip, or both. His breathing was slightly labored. Wait, breathing? He shouldn’t be breathing. The ghost looked down at his bleeding side, placed a hand there with a tired swear, froze the wound, and told Jack off again for the hug. New garb acquired, he grabbed a small box from the unpacked duffel-how had that happened?- and made his way over.

“Move,” Phantom gently ushered Jazz away and locked eyes briefly with Maddie from the other side of Paul. “Welcome to the world of unorthodox medicine for unorthodox entities, Dr. Fenton. It’s different seeing it be someone you care about, isn’t it?” Danny focused on the display that was Paul’s insides. She stepped back at the remark, stumbling for words.

The temperature in the room dropped and the table frosted at the edges. Phantom ignored her and opened the small box he brought over. It was a silvery powder with flecks of blue and green. It was mixed with the barest amount of water, effectively becoming a strong coagulant of some sort. At least it stopped the bleed she had been fighting and absorbed any in the area. Jazz appeared with a pack of what was not quite ectoplasm and secured it to a drip. She explained it was altered ectoplasm that can act as a universal transfusion for any liminal being. The pair worked in such surprising coordination and efficiency that Maddie often found herself in the way. The most she was able to do after the ghost had responded was hold tissue out of the way so Phantom could better reach a hidden bleed or grab another transfusion bag out of the icy chest. She eventually sat back and let the pair take over entirely, helping Jack pass supplies over for a bit now that he’d returned from giving Paul’s family the news. After that, he left to go think. He needed to decompress, but Maddie couldn’t bear to leave her friend on the table or her child and a ghost alone.

“Open the portal Maddie,” Phantom half ordered in a civil tone hours later. Probably the only one he could manage with his depleted energy. She could see how tired he was even before he started in on a multi hour surgery. Now there were moments where white light would appear around him or his hair would flicker with shadows. “Frostbite and Phasma are here with transport.” The door opened into the familiar green swirls.

“Great One, how are you doing?” A creature adorned in gold that Maddie had never seen before stepped through to the mortal plane and approached the operating table. The next ghost to enter looked strikingly similar to Phantom, injuries included, but a better patch job. She floated over to Jazz who stood closer to the back counter, visibly disturbed by the lab. Several more of the same kind of creature followed through with a pod of some sort, parking it near the portal. She’d have to ask about being called “Great one” later, if Phantom would even allow it. He was becoming more unstable on his feet with every passing second, so she doubted it would be soon if at all.

“Tired,” he finished up the last of the stitches and dropped out of the surgical garbs. “You got it from here?” Another flicker of white light danced around his torso.

“Undoubtedly,” the creature that could only be some sort of yeti replied, placing its icy hand on Phantom’s shoulder. “You’ve done well.” It looked him up and down with dismay, then scanned the faces in the room. “Would you like to come with to get some rest as well? Or to be a familiar face for your friend when he awakes?” Frostbite had waved the company on to assess the patient, moving Danny around the moving pod towards the portal.

“Appreciated, but I need to get-”

“Some rest,” Jazz interrupted. “Go with Paul and Frostbite. The team can handle the rest,” she glanced at Dani. “Thank you for getting them, Phasma. Can you take the Plasmius to the others? He needs to remain secure until Phantom comes back.” Phasma lifted a little, grabbed the thermos containing Vlad, and flew off without hesitation. “Go get patched up Phantom. Now.” Phantom rolled his eyes and conceded, moving towards the portal once more. How did Jazz have this much sway over the ghosts? They never listened to anyone and yet she had given the strongest one here and his sibling? direct orders and they obeyed like there couldn’t even be contest. Questions for later. Even more it seemed.

“Thank you for everything, Phantom,” Phantom drifted then paused. The words seeming to sink in. This was the least she could say, right? This ghost had been called to his enemy’s house, the most dangerous place inside said house, while injured, to save a human he didn’t know, and he brought backup, asking nothing in return, all because someone made the call. And now he’s being sent away for who knows how long to help keep an eye on said human. Phantom turned from his friend and looked at her blankly. No snide remark or joke. No anger or grudge. Just a hand on his tall supporter. “If you ever need anything, let us know. We will fully support you.” The bare minimum to try and repay this debt. It bit at her mind. A single life in exchange for anything. A debt stated to a powerful ghost with many allies. But if this was his true nature, to give and protect those in need, then the least she can do is to try and amend the rift between them by promising aid.

More light danced around him, each lasting longer now as the yetis secured the pod. Frostbite started to stoop down a bit, a better grip on the staggering ghost, no doubt for appreciated stability at this point. At last, he spoke, dropping his hand off the supporting yeti altogether in acceptance of his fate. “Let me rest for now. You and Jack will lay low. Jazz will handle arrangements. Bring the man’s family. I’ll join you later and we can discuss.” Frostbite had picked Phantom up mid conversation. By the the end of it, Phantom was reclined in the Yeti’s frozen arm like it was a comfortable chair. The pod had slid through the portal once more, pulled manually, followed by the rest of the ghosts. Paul was on his way to heal in a place no human should be. The lab was empty, noiseless, and stained with not quite human blood stains. Maddie went upstairs to relay the news. They’d have to get a hold of Vlad to tell Danny not to come home for a while. Wisconsin was safe, right?

-

Jazz drove out of Amity, the GAV taking the slowest drive it has in years no doubt. Jack and Maddie were not allowed to drive this time. Speed laws needed to be obeyed at least once. Sasha, Paul’s wife, followed behind in a run down truck, out of town, down an abandoned road, and up a hill. The safe house was a run down camp resort. The buildings came more into focus the more trees the two vehicles passed. The main lodge had to be months from caving in. The roof had already started to sag.

“This cannot be right, sweetie. Are you sure this is the-” The dirt road opened up at the base of the last turn up to the lodge. “I have so many questions.” Maddie’s jaw dropped as they continued into the tunnel.

“And I will answer very few of them,” Jazz chimed, turning on the headlights as they descended into the mountain. A button under the dash was pressed and a black wall opened before them. Blast doors. One in front of the other both lifting into the roof. Maddie turned the flood lights on to see the walls. Reinforced in every direction, completely solid. And controlled by a button in the GAV? Jack was astounded by the sights outside the vehicle he missed the sights hidden inside it.

They pulled off to the side and parked, Sasha pulling into the neighboring bay. Jazz was out first, giving a signal to a camera somewhere above. Maddie was out next, making her way to Sasha to help with luggage, Jack tumbled out of the back, still lost in the awe of the hidden facility. A gated platform lowered from an exposed wall and a young woman stepped off.

“Maddie and Jack Fenton,” she called out closing the short distance with a scowl. “Can’t say it’s a pleasure, more of an obligation,” she nodded in greeting. “I’m Violet, here to help keep you off the radar until things can be resolved. And to babysit.” An aptly timed comment as Jack kept wandering around like a kid with too much sugar. The woman moved on through the dim light, mostly hidden by her dark aesthetic. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Ishiyama. I apologize for all the precautions we’ve insisted you take, but can assure you you will be back to a normal life soon,” the empathy was almost tangible. “If you all would follow me to the main floor, we can get you situated in rooms.”

The upper floor was shared common space, modestly furnished: each door with its own lock, a kitchen behind a social area, and a tv in front of two leather couches and matching recliners. The rooms given were all identical, simple yet welcoming. Jack had finished snooping around and drifted back into the Commons, noticing Jazz cooking as he rounded the corner, just like at home whenever some experiment had gone wrong. He also noticed Violet talking to somebody in the hallway before she closed the door returning with a basil plant. Maddie returned from their shared room as the woman set the herb down on a pull out table. The two were in stark contrast to one another. Jazz was so bright and forthcoming, giving off familiarity wherever she went. Visibly pastel until slighted. Violet walks with practice, every step measured to be just too long for the Fentons and perfectly paced for others at the shelter. Her inches long hair was a raven black, the undercut a vibrant purple that seemed to glow. She wore dark jeans dip dyed at waist in a similar hue to her hair. The tank top was black, Phantom’s D stamped in with bleach on the collar. Maddie could barely see her face, but emotions traveled almost too well despite the matched fabric mask. Sharp on the outside to everyone, barbed to those she disliked, and so caring to those who needed it. The switches in personality were flawless and natural. Almost concerning until her job was considered.

The two were talking about something. It seemed casual enough. Maddie sent Jack to go join and see what could be heard. Maybe he can smooth out some misunderstandings with the whole hunting Phantom thing while he was at it.

“-dye doesn’t work on my hair anymore, but this does make it much softer,” Violet sat on the counter as Jazz chopped some veggies for the pasta. “You can try it if you want. I’ve got other colors.”

“My mom would kill me if I dyed my hair.”

“Please, it’d be that security system that does it. Isn’t that why you have Alt shut it down remotely every other week? You’re all contaminated enough to qualify now. Have been for a while,” they both chuckled. That was a bit hard to hear. That took so long to build. He walked away and plopped down next to Maddie again.

“They said dinner will be soon, if we’re hungry.”

-

“So Jazz, how did you join the team?” Better to be blunt. It had been over a week already with nothing.

“I knocked Skulker’s head off during a fight and they liked my bat,” Bold faced lie.

“Give yourself some more credit, Jazz. Alt and I almost got crushed by him when you showed up. The least we could do was give you some stitches and a clean bed for the night after you do our job for us,” Violet elbowed the man beside her. His face was also obscured. Jack had seen him leave the room once or twice after passing a note to Jazz or Violet, but barely for longer. His mask was more of a visor mounted to an armored brace/band. The glass was tinted a yellow orange when on and always had something projecting inside it. He wore plain clothes outside the headset. Cargo pants and a graphic T with the key bind Ctrl + Alt + Del set onto analog keyboard decals.

“Besides,” Alt added after a bite of food, “you also helped patch up Phantom more than once. Not like we couldn’t, but y’know, good skillset to have.”

“Indeed it was,” the voice appeared from the doorway. Everyone turned in surprise and excitement. Paul was standing with an arm around Phantom who was floating to make up the difference in height. “Still a bit sore though,” he huffed a quick laugh as the two started their long trip of 15 feet to the couches. Sasha jumped up to both kiss and help her husband.

“You look better,” Maddie commented to the hero. Wasn’t he just that? Undeniable now after what she’s learned over the week. Alt and Violet ran interference and rescue while Phantom and Phasma handled the threat. Only property was ever damaged, aside from when Ancients came to pick a fight. “You’re not hurt anymore?”

“I heal fast. He’ll take some more time,” Paul and Sasha took the open couch and Phantom materialized a green beanbag chair under the tv. The sight was so different from when he had first dropped out of garbs and been carried by the yeti verses now. It was the same pose, but so much more alive. He was brighter, all his injuries were gone, his suit mended seamlessly and his hair was shorter, the fried ends being cut off. “Now for you to act on your promise Mrs. Fenton.” It was so casual, yet terrifying. “The lab you blew up? You only got part of it. We’re getting the rest and the others.” Phantom grinned, a fang catching the light of the room. Alt and Violet were prefiguring to stay seated at the announcement. Jazz wasn’t much more reserved either. “You ready?“

“Is it just us?” Maddie couldn’t lie it seemed impossible logistically. How can less than ten people take out a government agency?

“No, we have some friends a few states over who affected to help,” Phantom’s smile grew. “Jazz, you’ll get to see your boyfriend early.”

“PHANTOM!!”

“Boyfriend?” Jack repeated.

———

Surprise, DC yeeted in at the end. If you don’t like the dc crossovers, ignore the last 4 lines and the *fic portion* of this whole post is dc free ig so have my brain rambles 🛏️ 🏃‍♂️

Fighting for Friendship

So Danny ends up in Gotham, how is up to u, but he is put in the same class as Damian.

Now Gotham is weird. Amity Park is weird to. But they r two different kinds of weird. Like Amity park is the “oh ur a bit weird, cool, so is everyone” kinda weird where Gotham is the “wait ur weird?? Fuck ur gonna be a rogue ain’t u?? Get tf away from me. Go have ur villain origin story over there” kinda weird.

So Danny can’t really make any friends bc he’s weird weird. Tho he’s not the only one in his class with this problem. The other guy, Damian Wayne, mainly sticks to himself and seems to be the only sane person in this school. Well, to Danny at least. This made Danny want to befriend him. Even if only to not be alone in his suffering. More than that Danny can feel the traces of ectoplasm on him! Even more reason for him to be friend shaped.

The problem is Damian seems to be in denial about his friend shapeness. Well to bad for him if Danny is one thing it’s stubborn. But dammit Damian seems to be a new level of stubborn. Nothing Danny does works!! It’s almost like this kid is from a different world or at least a different time!! Before he gives up however he has one last attempt. All or nothing!!

So he spends an inter week annoying the fuck outta Damian!! Looks it’s not a smart plan but it is a desperate one. It is also a plan that works a bit better than expected!!

He started his plan on Monday and it took til Friday for Damian to crack. After a full day of maximum annoyance Danny started following Damian home. They made it several blocks before Damian dragged him into a nearby alley and started swinging.

Now this Danny understood!!!

The universal language of ghost, Violence!!!

So the two beat the shit out of each other and r pretty evenly matched. Both of them r on even levels when it comes to speed and battle awareness and while Damian is definitely the better trained Danny is stronger and more durable. Needless to say the fight goes on for awhile.

A few hours later Damian and Danny shuffle into Wayne manor looking like they lost a fight with a wood chipper and when Bruce goes to ask what happen Danny just smiles and goes- We’re friends now 

With Damian nodding in agreement

[peabodyetc]

The Dad Hole

I witnessed a minor car crash the other day. Some jackwagon pulled a crazy U-turn right in front of us, causing two cars to crash into each other, and then sped away. I pulled over to help. It turned out that everyone involved was super young – early 20s at the oldest. Fortunately, no one seemed badly hurt, but one of the cars was undrivable.

Evidently the thing they were taught to do in situations like this was stand around and look at their phone. They were clearly lost.

The situation called for a dad. I don’t now how this happened, but as a society we have created a situation where we somehow need more dads than we have. Supply has not kept up with demand. Social scientists call this the Dadhole.

I’ve never met a dadhole I didn’t plug. I just walk around being dad to everyone, all the time. I lectured the guy I buy weed from about maxing out his 401K. I mean he’s leaving free money on the table. I called my Uber driver Champ and reminded him he was about due for an oil change. And I couldn’t even see the dashboard of his car – I could just feel he needed an oil change. I’ve taught perfect strangers how to tie square knots, and not because they wanted to know because they made it very clear they did not.

To say I rose to the challenge is like saying Tom Brady sometimes rose to the challenge. No one has ever been more Dad than I was. I was checking vitals, setting flares, validating feelings, and helping them draw lessons from this experience they might apply to other areas of life. I even made them all look at the red-tailed hawk perched on a traffic light.

I was about to rap a great little mnemonic device I cooked up to help remember what to do in a car accident in the future, when I noticed this guy stepping out of an old but well-maintained Dodge Caravan. He was wearing a fanny pack with the pouch in the front, and an adventure hat seemed that seemed like a lot considering the odds of adventure just breaking out. He goes, “OK I see cameras there, there, and over there,” pointing in the air with two fingers. “Always a good idea to help the insurance companies. By the way, everyone hydrated?”

Another dad.

There can be only one.

We eyed one another, each taking the measure of the other. Like two silverback gorillas, vying for dominance. I wondered if he’d even bothered to notice that I was wearing socks with sandals or that the firefighters were coming to me for my assessment of the situation, basically as colleagues. Did he know who he was messing with?

The car facing us at the traffic light had their bright headlights on. It was unpleasant. The other dad turned to face them, a paunchy silhouette in the glare of the LEDS, and raised his hands in the universal symbol for WTF? Then he yelled. “Oh, just look at that! That’s failure to dim, bub! Failure to dim!” He turned back to all of us, shaking his head in disgust. Then, to himself, he goes, “No situational awareness! Young people walk around with just no situational awareness.” Then he turned back to car with one more time.  “FAILURE! TO! DIM!”

And I looked at him in awe as in that moment we all knew who the real Dad was here.

[i-cant-sing]

Yandere Rei Hurting Reader Pt2

Yes yes. Its out now. I won't delete this one. Enjoy!

Part 1 is here. Part 3 here.

Check out my MASTERLIST for more!

Yandere Todoroki Clan:

It had been so awful at first. So hard for everyone to adjust to the new change. Of course, it was especially difficult for you to adapt to the new circumstances.

When you had first woken up after the unfortunate incident, approximately 3 days later, you didn't expect to be home so soon. You expected- you hoped that you would wake up in the hospital and have them call the authorities. Then again, you also didn't expect never being able to use your eyes again.

Shotou was the first one to notice when you had woken up from your coma. He hadn't left your side since the accident. He jumped from his seat beside you and held the glass of water to your lips when you tried to speak. The family came rushing in when he called for them, announcing that you had woken up. You could hear Fuyumi and her crying tears of joy as Natsuo came to check your vitals. You knew your eyes were bandaged, which was expected because of the hot oil that was poured on them, but when you asked Natsuo when they were coming off, he went silent. Your heart sank when he told you what had happened, how your eyes were fucking fried to the point that the arteries supplying them were also destroyed, which meant they couldn't be replaced, ever.

You screamed a lot that day; you would've cried but you didn't have any tear ducts. You didn't let anyone touch you at first, especially Rei. You would scream, throw yourself away from her if you felt her come near you. Eventually, Natsuo put some sort of tranquilliser into your IV, finally calming you down.

Being blind was hard, you knew that. But you didn't know that it would also be this humiliating. After the accident, they had starting infantalizing you even more, doing the most miniscule things for you.

Shotou would be the first person who greeted you in the morning and usually the last person to put you to bed at night. He would carry you around everywhere you go, telling you its simply unsafe for you to walk on your own. Sure you bumped into the furniture a few times and it was a bit hard maintaining your balance, but that didn't mean you needed him to carry you around everywhere. You had asked him to get you a cane, but he only said "why do you need a stick when you have me? Just tell me where you want to go". 

Each morning, Shotou would take you down the stairs to the toilet and more often than not, have Fuyumi come and help you, even for brushing your teeth. Then he would take you to the dining table where everyone is waiting for you. Fuyumi would give your breakfast to Shotou, who would cut it up and feed you. Once you're done eating, you would wait for Shotou to finish his food. During breakfast, everyone would make small talk while you remained quiet. After everyone's finished eating, Fuyumi and Rei would take dishes to sink. You would've helped, but everyone's pretty much forbidden you from entering the kitchen.

Shotou would then carry you either to his room or the living room, where he would turn on the TV and tell you what's happening. But since this always makes you remember how you don't have eyes, he would usually just read you some book. Somehow, they're always about princesses and fairytales. You were getting sick of hearing them.

Fuyumi would later come and fetch you, and take you to your bath. While you would be cleaning yourself, after politely declining help from Fuyumi each time, she would be out preparing your clothes for the day. She would explain to you what you're wearing and how you look, and how she's going to style your hair. As if any of these things mattered to you. But even if they did, its not like you'd have a say in anything.

You still remember the first time you were taking a bath, after finally convincing Fuyumi to let you have the "luxury" to clean yourself up. You finally had some time for yourself, alone and away from the rest of the house. You sank in the warm water in the tub, allowing yourself to relax. The privacy was comforting, but not long lasting, as you felt cold hands touch your shoulders. In an instant, you jumped away screaming. "GET AWAY FROM ME! GET AWAY! GET AWAY!" Rei tried coming closer to you but you kept on screeching at the top of your lungs, alerting the whole house. "FUYUMI! SHOTOU! GET HER AWAY! SHOTOU GET HER AWAY!" At that point you didn't even care if they saw you nude, they just need to save you from her. The siblings rushed to the bathroom and upon seeing your huddled form in the corner and their mother sobbing, Fuyumi hastily covered you with a towel while Shotou took Rei out of there.

Shotou tried to make you understand that Rei was just trying to help you. That she just missed you and wanted to take care of you. He was basically telling you not to be afraid of her, and that your trauma is not valid. You stopped talking to him after that, only spoke when absolutely necessary.  

Natsuo would pick you up after your bath while Fuyumi went to make lunch. He would check your eyes (or lack there of), put on some ointments and replace the bandages with fresh ones. Fuyumi would come with your lunch and after she'd fed you, Natsuo would give you your medicine. They always make you sleepy, so you'd be put down for a nap.

Dabi wasn't always around, but when he was, he was still the asshole he was before. He would move your things to different places, or place stuff in your way so that'd you'd trip (he always caught you before you face planted), all so that you would ask him for help he could get a rise out of you. But you would just sigh and move on.

Enji liked to take you to the garden and read you books and newspapers. It was alright you guess, but you wanted to do something yourself, especially since they still didn't take you out of the house. You had asked him for a Braille, but he only replied "You don't need to stress yourself with that. I'll always be there to read you whatever you want." 

If Enji's running late, then Shotou would take you to the swings in the garden, pushing you as he tells what happened at school or with friends. After dinner, you’d be forced to spend some more time with your siblings, before you’d be tucked into bed.

That has been the routine for the past 6 months since your accident. And the family really felt like everything was returning to normal. It was, for them. This is how they always wanted things to happen: you, locked up in the house while they stripped you of all autonomy and infantalized you to the point where it was harming you, both physically and mentally. Your body was growing weak, your muscles got easily fatigued from their lack of use. And the pills Natsuo gave you didn't really help the case. They made you sleepy, and you think they even caused hallucinations since you felt like someone was in your room or someone was playing with your hair.

Even though you were stuck at home all day, you still never talked to Rei. Well she tried, but you would be the one to always flinch away. She wouldn't address herself when she entered your room, but you would still feel her lurking around the corners. And why should you acknowledge her? Especially after what she's done? 

Enji wasnt ignorant of your condition. He could see how quiet you had gotten, and how scared you were of Rei. He was getting worried for you. What were you thinking about? Enji knew if he didn't talk to you, things will get worse.

You were sitting by the lounge window with Fuyumi who was telling you about her day. Fuyumi greeted him when he came in the room. "Hey, dad!" Enji nodded. "Fuyumi, would you leave us? I'd like to talk to Y/n." Fuyumi nodded, pressing a kiss to your forehead before she left the room, only Enji noticing how you stiffened at her affection. He sat beside you and cleared his throat. "How are you?" "Fine. You?"you softly asked. "I'm good, too. I wanted to talk to you about something. About...your mom." "My mom's dead." Enji cleared his throat. "I meant Rei." "Oh. What about her?" "Why haven't you been talking to her?" You remained silent. “What happened was an accident-” “It wasnt an accident. An accident is spilling milk. Not pouring hot oil in someone’s eyes.” Enji knew this was coming.“She didn’t do it on purpose-” You cut him off again. “She did! She knew exactly what she was doing.” “Why would she do that?” “I don’t know. She hates me or something.” Enji grabbed your hand gently. “You know that's not true. Rei loves you very much and she cares about you a lot.” You didn't say anything. “Do you remember the day you came to our house?” You nodded. “Yeah. It was a few days after my parents funeral.” “Yes. And do you remember what Rei said to you?” You stiffened before nodding again. “She said that she may not be my real mother, but she’ll love me more than anyone ever has and ever will. Always.” “Yes. And has she not? Has she not loved you more than anyone?” You nodded slowly as Enji continued. “Between you and me, she’s always favoured you among all of your siblings.” You smiled at that. “So, are you willing to give your mother a chance?” You paused for a few minutes. “I- I cant.” Enji sighed. “Look. I know you’re scared. I understand. I know you want to blame Rei for what happened, but believe me when I tell you it wasn't her fault. It was an accident.” You shook your head. “And what if another “accident” like that happens again? And what if I dont survive this time? And what if-” Your voice broke down. Enji pulled you into his lap. “It won't. I promise. And if something like that does occur, I’ll be there to stop it.” Enji pressed a kiss to your hair. “I’ll save you. I promise.”

With Enji's persuasion, you had started mending your relationship with Rei again. Sure, you still flinched when she touched you and you were still hesitant to initiate conversations with her, but none of that bothered Rei. You were trusting her again, and she was more than happy to do more on her part to make you comfortable.

And you won't lie, but life was better with Rei. She knew when Dabi or Shotou were becoming too overbearing, or when Natsuo was fussing over you for no reason. She was there to stop Fuyumi from chatting your ear away, and knew when to stop Enji from feeding you too many sweets.

And Enji could see that Rei was sorry for what she did. He saw how she would often massage ointments on your face, her fingers barely tracing the charred area around your eyes before pulling away quickly. And other times, like today, as he stood by your bedroom door, he saw how gentle she was with you as she tucked you into your bed. He kissed his wife once she had left your room. "How are my girls doing?" Enji asked Rei in a hushed voice, not wanting to wake you up. Rei smiled. "Good." They slowly started walking back to their room. "Shes an angel, Enji. So sweet." Enji hummed in agreement. "Can I tell you something?" Enji stopped and turned to face his wife. He raised an eyebrow. "I'm kind of glad what happened...to her." Rei was smiling. "She's so much better like this. So docile now. I...I don't regret what I did, you know?" Enji's blood ran cold. "Rei... dont tell me- you didn't do that on purpose, did you?" Rei nodded, a bit too eagerly. "I know, I know. It wasn't ethical. And if I could, I would've taken away her pain in a heartbeat. But you must agree that its much better now, right?" Enji couldn't believe what Rei was confessing. "I mean, look at her now. She doesn't even try running away. She knows- she feels safer with us, inside." Rei sighed, running a hand through her hair. "I thought that maybe it wouldn't come to this. I thought that after Touya took care of her parents, she'd be a bit more scared to be outside on her own. That's why we told her they died in a car crash." Rei rested her cheek on his chest. "It scares me what I'm willing to do for her, Enji." Enji knew Dabi had something to do with what happened to your parents, but knowing Rei had a hand in it too, or more precisely, she was the one who told Touya to get rid of them. Enji didn't know what to do with this new side of his wife. But he did know he had to keep her hidden from you, so he ushered his wife to their bedroom, not knowing you had already heard them.

You had realised a couple of things that night. One, Rei and Dabi had murdered your parents. Two, Rei pouring the hot oil in your eyes wasn't some sort of psychotic episode. Three, Enji and the others were going to take Rei's side, no matter what.

A few weeks later, your birthday came around. The siblings had left the house to get some things for your birthday party, leaving you in the care of their parents. Rei was in the kitchen cooking up a whole feast for you, while you sat beside Enji in the lounge as he read the newspaper. Enji had already given you your present. It was giant teddy bear with chocolates from Belgium. They were utterly delicious. When you stood up, he asked you where you were going. You pointed at the box of chocolates in your hand. "I'm going to share them with, mom. Unless, thats not okay?"you asked meekly. Enji still wasn't all that comfortable with letting you and Rei be alone, especially after her confession. But... if he doesn't let you go to her alone, you'll always be afraid of her. And its not like Rei will hurt you again, right? Besides, the kitchen is just down the hallway. He's sure nothing will happen. He nodded. "Okay. Should I walk you there?" "No. Its down the hall. I think I'll be fine on my own." Enji then allowed you to go, telling you to call for him if you need anything.

Rei was chopping up some vegetables when she heard your footsteps. She turned around to find you standing just outside the kitchen. "Hey, angel! What are you doing here?" You remained outside the kitchen as you spoke. "I wanted to share these chocolates dad got for me. W-would you like some?" Oh, you're so kind. Rei quickly wiped her hands on a kitchen towel before walking towards you and leading you to the dining room in front of the kitchen. She helped you sit down before taking a seat next to you. "You want me to have your chocolates? But didn't daddy gift them to you?" You bit your lip as you replied. "Well yes, but I- I wanted to share them with you so that I could- I wanted to thank you for taking care of me. And for loving me. I would've gotten you something else but I'm not allowed to go outside..."you mumbled the last sentence, but that didn't matter as Rei quickly hugged you. "Oh honey! You're so sweet!" Rei took a piece of chocolate from the box that you had extended towards her. "And these chocolates are so delicious! Daddy really loves to spoil you, doesnt he?" Rei pinched your cheek gently. You smiled. "I'm glad you liked them. Especially, after all you've done for me. You deserve them more than I do, honestly." Rei stopped at that. "Honey...what are you talking about?" You smiled. "What? Am I not saying the truth? You deserve these chocolates, and all the sweets and flowers and medals for being the best mother." You popped a chocolate into your mouth before continuing. "After all, the criteria is very high. You need to not only have the intent to kill for your child, but you also have to commit murder. Then kidnap your child and force her to bide to your rules. And if she misbehaves, you must punish her as well, right? Because good behaviour gets chocolate," You popped another chocolate into your mouth. "And bad behaviour gets your eyes fried."

Rei just stared at you in disbelief. H-how did you- you didn't hear them talking last night did you? Or did Dabi tell you? Rei stared at you as you ate another piece of chocolate. "I wonder after you've killed me, will you be given chocolates or flowers?" "D-darling, w-what are you saying? I would never hurt you!" You chuckled darkly. "No no. You've done it before and I know you'll do it again. After all, it scares you what you're willing to do for me." You caressed her cheeks, and when you felt her tears, you wiped them. "I'm not saying you have the intention to kill me. No, you'll just hurt me again, another little accident, but this time I won't survive. I just hope you'll bury me somewhere where there's a lot of fresh air, maybe on a hill with a view?" Rei finally broke down at that, falling to her knees as she clung to your legs. "Please! Y/n please forgive me! Please baby, I- I just wanted the best for you. I don't want you to die, I- I promise I'll never hurt you again! I'm sorry! I'm sorry. Please baby, I'll do anything. Just forgive me!" You sighed. "Anything? I don't think you mean that." Rei nodded her vigorously, tears falling everywhere. "I do! I do! Just tell me what to do!" You tapped your chin, pretending to think. "Bring a knife. A sharp one." Rei's eyes widened. "W-What?" "Well...its only right for you to be punished as well. To atone for your sins, right?" "O-okay." Rei went to the kitchen and brought a big knife with her. "Lock the door." She did as you told her. You extended your palm, waiting for her to place the knife. She did. You stood up, right in front of Rei. You told her to stand against a wall, and she followed. You played with the sharp end if the knife. "I want to hurt you. I want to hurt you so bad. I want you to feel the pain, the hell you've put me through." This is it, Rei thought, you're going to kill her. For some reason, she was okay with that. "I want you to know you failed. I want you to know you're a bad mother. A selfish, bad mother." Rei was full on sobbing now. "Look at me. I want you to remember this." And with that you raised the knife before stabbing yourself in the gut, two screams ripping through the manor. Rei shot towards you, her hands trying to pull the knife away. "What did you do?! What did you do?!" Rei was crying. Enji was banging on the locked door for a few seconds before he burned it down and the sight he was met with...was nothing short of a nightmare.

There you layed on the floor, blood sputtering from your mouth, your shirt stained with blood and Rei. Rei, who was hunched over your body, with a bloody knife in her hand, crying out "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!".

Enji rushed towards you, pushing Rei back roughly. You were coughing up blood, your head turned away from him until you felt him touch your face. "D-daddy..."you whimpered out before your breathing came to a stop.

"No. No." Enji quickly gathered your limp body in his arms, running out of the house towards a hospital. He kept on chanting "no", because he didn't want to believe that he failed to protect you.

That he failed to save his daughter, again.

I had 5 different endings in my mind and Idc if this isn't your preferred ending (the ending I had in my mind was something out of Quentin Tarantino's movie). I'm just glad to be done with it.

Anyways, exams are coming up and I'm not going to be posting a lot.

And ill be taking up your follow up questions/asks for this part! I'll also be answering godfather hawks asks now that this part is out.

[bluerose5]

Honesty is Key

Pairing: Scott Ryder/Jaal Ama Darav

Rating: T

Word Count: 1,487

Tags: Mass Effect: Andromeda, Pre-Relationship, Slight Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Communication, Loyalty Mission, Post-Jaal Ama Darav: Flesh and Blood, Emotional Hurt and Comfort

Scott couldn't take it.

He had been so close to losing him. His stomach churned at the thought alone. His hands shook, yet no amount of deep breaths or calming thoughts helped soothe his nerves.

Adrenaline coursed through him, showing no sign of letting up.

Scott had barely stepped foot on the Tempest before he was already rushing off to the bathrooms in quick, long strides. The others called out to him, but he ignored them. Their words were garbled, unintelligible. It was like listening to someone from underwater.

Thankfully, no one was in the restroom.

Using the codes that Kallo had given him, he overrode the Tempest's protocols and locked the doors behind him. Bile started to rise in the back of his throat, leaving a bitter taste that lingered on the back of his tongue.

Taking his helmet off, Scott tossed it aside. It hit the floor and cracked, but he couldn't find it in himself to care right now.

He had been so close to losing him.

Both of his knees buckled, and Scott barely had enough time to brace himself against the sink before they collapsed entirely. Running shaky fingers through his hair, he glanced up and met his eyes in the mirror. They were red, swollen, and puffy. Tears had started to stream down his cheeks without Scott even noticing.

His face was as pale as a ghost, and his stomach continued to churn until finally he gagged.

All he could see was that bullet slicing through Jaal's cheek, over and over again. If the shot had been aimed slightly more to Akksul's right, then he—

Before Scott could even finish that thought, he was stumbling through the bathroom. He fell to his knees in front of the toilet, and his stomach heaved.

By the time his stomach was empty, his throat burned, and his vision blurred.

He couldn't stop trembling from head to toe, feeling as if he was coming apart at the seams.

"Pathfinder," SAM said through their private channel, "your vitals are consistent with those associated with extreme distress. Should I alert Dr. T'Perro?"

"I—" Scott managed to scrape himself off the floor, careful of the shards scattered around from his helmet's shattered facepiece. "No, I'll be fine."

Eventually.

Scott rinsed his mouth out at the sink, nose wrinkled in disgust.

Cleaning up as much as he could, Scott figured he could come back later and finish up.

Of course, the second he stepped out the door, he bumped into Jaal's chest.

Well, that dashed any hopes he had of making a quick escape to his quarters. Not that he should have expected any different. Jaal wasn't the type to avoid an issue when he could confront it instead.

At the sight of Scott's blotchy, tear-stained face, Jaal frowned.

"You are upset," he stated.

"Yeah, no shit."

It took Scott a whole minute to realize that he had said that aloud instead of keeping it to himself. Jaal blinked owlishly at him in shock, but Scott averted his gaze, sinking his teeth into his bottom lip.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, face flushed with warmth compared to mere moments prior.

Jaal regarded him in confusion.

"Why are you apologizing for speaking your mind?" he asked, utterly baffled.

Right. The angara value openness and honesty.

Scott could work with that.

Hopefully.

"Mind joining me in my quarters?" Scott asked, eyeing the empty corridor with suspicion. Knowing his crew, he might not have them in his direct line of sight at the moment, but that didn't mean that they weren't listening in somehow. Call him paranoid, but Scott wasn't taking any chances. "I want to talk about what just happened out there."

At that, Jaal shifted uncertainly, wringing his hands together.

"Okay," he whispered, "but are you certain that we have to have this discussion alone?"

Scott narrowed his eyes at him, arms crossed over his chest.

"I would prefer to be alone, yes."

"You're upset with me," Jaal noted, but was he right?

Yes, no, maybe. Scott didn't know, but he wasn't going to have this conversation out in the open.

"Come on," Scott grumbled, dragging Jaal into his quarters alongside him. Once they were inside, Scott sealed the doors. "In you go."

"Scott—"

"Not. A. Word." Jaal snapped his mouth shut, and Scott jabbed a finger into his chest. "You are so—" Reckless, stupid, careless... There was so much he wanted to say, but it was near impossible to settle on one word alone. "—infuriating!"

It was nowhere near enough, but it would have to do for the moment.

Without thinking, Scott kicked at a nearby box. He didn't notice until it was too late that his body was thrumming with biotic energy, his frame enveloped in a bluish light. He sent the box flying into a nearby wall, where it shattered into little pieces.

Scott watched it fall apart, but he didn't feel much satisfaction from the act. Instead, he felt numb. Numb and drained.

Turning back to Jaal, Scott let his biotics fizzle out.

His face crumpled.

"I could have lost you," Scott whispered distantly, his voice thick with exhaustion. "I almost lost you."

Repeating it didn't help any. Reality refused to set in entirely. He still struggled to comprehend everything that happened at the Forge.

In the blink of an eye, Jaal had Scott wrapped up in his arms. Scott choked on a sob, burying his face into the crook of Jaal's neck.

He took a deep breath, Jaal's sweet, warm scent a constant reminder that he was still there. That he was alive.

"I don't have many people left that I care about," Scott whispered, finally giving voice to those feelings that had been bottled up for so long. "My mom and dad are both gone. There's no telling when Sara will wake up." He swallowed thickly past the lump in his throat. "You and the crew... You're all that I have left. My friends, my family, my colleagues."

He pulled away, just enough to stare pointedly into Jaal's bright blue eyes.

"And so much more," he breathed.

Carefully, he traced his fingers along the underside of Jaal's latest wound. At first, he flinched, but Jaal grabbed Scott’s hand and held it there before he could pull away.

If anything, he leaned even further into his touch, and Scott melted.

"I'm sorry to make you worry so," Jaal said, "but I'm grateful that you trusted me enough to refrain from bringing harm to Akksul. I know that it had to be a difficult decision, but acting against him would have only strengthened the Roekaar's cause. You did the right thing."

"Perhaps," Scott grunted, "but that doesn't make me feel any less like shit."

Jaal chuckled.

Tightening his arms around him, his rofjinn draped over Scott’s shoulders like a warm blanket, safe and secure.

Scott snuggled in close.

"Doing the right thing won't always feel fulfilling," Jaal said, "but thank you. Not only for that."

Scott furrowed his brow.

"What else do you have to thank me for?"

Jaal beamed.

Truth be told, he had no right to look that happy, not when Scott was mad at him. Sort of.

"For being honest with me." He shrugged. "I've noticed that you've been opening up more and more lately, at least compared to when we first met. It means a lot."

"Well, uh..." Scott trailed off, clearing his throat. "No problem. My family were never really the touchy-feely types. It's definitely new territory for me."

"Yet you take to it so well. Even when you're enraged, you're radiant."

Scott sputtered, then unraveled himself from Jaal's embrace, keeping a hold on his hand.

"Alright, on that note, it's time to go."

As he pulled Jaal along, Jaal grumbled in protest.

"Hey!" They exited the room together. "Where are we going?"

"To have Lexi properly clean and disinfect your wound before I kiss you, and neither of us want that." Before Jaal could get too hurt by that statement, Scott clarified. "Not until I've showered and brushed my teeth, at least. I'm a mess."

"Oh!" Understanding dawned on Jaal, but he decided to take a risk. "And after that? Will you kiss me then?"

Of course, about half the crew decided then —of all times— to emerge from the Crew Quarters, all of them stopping short when they heard Jaal's exclamation.

They tossed Scott teasing glances.

"Yeah, Scott," Vetra called out, "when are you going to give Jaal a kiss?"

"It would be rude not to," Peebee said.

With his cheeks lit aflame, Scott gaped like a fish out of water, opening and closing his mouth as he struggled for words.

Why did he suddenly feel like it should be against the rules to bully the Pathfinder?!

Eventually, he said, "I should go."

And he hurried back to his quarters, tripping on his feet as their laughter chased him off.

[maybe-theres-hope]

Tarlos Fic - Dinner Date

3.2k | T | Warnings: Blood, Injuries (mostly minor) | Contains: Judd/Carlos friendship, Tarlos being perfect, blue Camaro (rip)

Read on AO3

“So, what are your plans for the night?” Nancy asked as they exited the ambulance, their shift nearly over as long as the bell didn’t go off in the next ten minutes. 

TK smiled to himself for a moment before he spoke. “Well, Carlos is taking me to Jeffrey’s, so…”

“Holy mother,” Nancy breathed, looking at him with obvious envy. “Do you guys have a ten year anniversary or something coming up? Did he get some kind of commendation at work? Because I know your last one was like a month ago, so.”

“No, no anniversary, that’s in a couple of months. And its three years, Nance.” He chose to ignore her muttering about their mushiness ‘aging me ten years’. “And nothing from work that I know of. Maybe he just loves me?” TK couldn’t stop grinning while they stocked the bus and readied for the handover. 

“He loves you crap ton! Their wagyu strip steak is a hundred and twenty-five dollars!” Nancy had her phone out, obviously googling the menu. 

“Well at least we’ll save money on wine,” TK said with a chuckle.

“I’ve heard of the place by reputation but like, dude, who ever gets the chance to actually go there?”

“TK it seems,” Tommy cut in. “Why don’t you go on? We got it here and you’re gonna need at least an hour to pick out an outfit.”

“And gel your hair. You and your dad are way more alike than you want to admit,” Nancy added with a roll of her eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. You sure, Cap? I can stay and help?”

“I’m sure, kiddo. Go get dolled up for your man. Eat a few bites for us, yeah?” Tommy yelled at his retreating figure. She and Nancy looked at each other with grins as they caught the little skip in his step. 

“So, what do you think the occasion is?”

Tommy looked back at Nancy with a gleam in her eye. “I can wager a guess, but I don’t want to jinx it.” Nancy just gave her a look and went back to restocking.

--

Around 8 p.m., Owen was sitting in his office toying with his phone in his hand, smiling at his last text exchange. 

we’re just leaving the house now, wish me luck!

you’re not gonna need it, kid :)

“Not if I know my son anyway,” Owen said aloud to the empty room. He wondered if it’d happened yet. No incoherent string of emoji’s from TK yet, so he doubted it. 

He was shoving the phone back into his pocket with the bell went off. 

--

“Alright guys,” Owen said into the mic from the Captain’s chair. “Dispatch says three vehicles involved, two still on the road and one went over the side into the ravine. Police are on their way but we’ll probably beat ‘em there. Strickland, Marwani, soon as we get there I want you to harness up and get down in that ravine. Judd, you too. You’ll be in command down there and I’ll stay up top with the other two vehicles. Everybody else you’re with me, got it?”

A chorus of “Copy that, Cap,” and suddenly they were on the scene. 

--

“Marjan, Paul, we’re goin’ down!” Judd called to them as the rest of the crew went over to the silver Prius and black Mazda that were crumpled in the middle of the two-lane highway. Judd wasn’t a prayin’ man, but he sent up a little something to the man upstairs that this went their way. It looked bad. 

Paul arrived at his side first, strapped into his gear. “Marjan’s grabbing the bag from the truck, she’s coming.” 

“Alright. We’ll go down this way,” Judd said, pointing to a safe-ish stretch of hillside. “Can’t see the other car from here but dispatch said bystanders saw it go over. Probably just hidden in the trees.”

“Okay guys, let’s do this!” Marjan called, harnessed and carrying the medical bag and a backboard. “TK’s gonna be sad he missed this. Medical doesn’t get to harness up a lot and I know he loved it. He coulda helped.”

“Nah, he’s got better things tonight. Carlos was takin’ him to Jeffrey’s,” Paul said with a waggle of his eyebrows.

“Ohh, fancy,” Marjan said with a smile. “What’s the occasion?”

They’d reached the bottom and were starting to look through the brush and low-hanging trees for a vehicle. 

“Don’t know,” Paul answered. “But I think Cap’s in on it somehow.”

“What?”

“Yeah,” Judd cut in as he whacked a few branches out of his way. “Carlos came by the station a few weeks ago, and they sat up in Cap’s office for an hour before he left grinnin’ like a possum eatin’ a sweet tater.” 

“I have no idea what that means,” Paul said with a laugh. 

“Hey guys, look!” Marjan called from a few yards to the left. The other two went to her position and saw what she’d found. A track in the underbrush where it had been torn at and flattened. “Think this is the place.”

“Let’s go,” said Judd. They followed the path through the brush for a couple of yards before they caught sight of it: taillights. “Alright, Marjan you go on the passenger side, I got the driver. Paul you see if you can clear some of that brush off the back in case the doors are jammed and we gotta get ‘em out that’a way.”

Visibility was still low despite the lights of the car and their flashlights, but as they approached they saw the car wrapped around the trunk of a tree on the passenger side. “I don’t know if I can get in there, Judd, but I’ll try,” Marjan said as she broke out into a jog.

“Wait!” Paul cried. Judd looked over at him, and he would have said such a thing couldn’t happen to a calm and collected person like Paul, but his face had gone ashen. “That’s Carlos’s car,” he said on a breath. 

“What?” In the dark, now that he was really looking, he could see they were coming up on—what used to be—a blue Camaro. 

“I’m sure of it. TK bullied him into putting that sticker on the back because he said it was too pristine and it needed personality.” He shone his flashlight at the rear bumper and sure enough, there was a SXSW sticker half ripped off from the path the car had taken to get there. 

“Come on,” Judd said, heart rate kicking up.

“Should we call Cap?” Paul asked.

“No, we stay down here and do our jobs, and he stays up there and does his. We’ll get ‘em.” His voice sounded numb even to his own ears, but he was determined. 

“They were on their way to dinner,” Paul said lowly.

“Yeah, probably takin’ the backroads to avoid traffic,” Judd said, shaking his head. Fate was hell sometimes.

When they reached the car, Marjan was yelling. “TK! TK can you hear me?” She turned to Judd. “I can’t get in there. The tree trunk is halfway into the car, probably pinning him to the console. He’s unresponsive.” Her face was also pale, but determined. 

Judd went to the driver’s side and saw Carlos, head hanging to the side facing the broken window. He tried the door as he called out. “Carlos? Hey Carlos, come on buddy. Can you hear me?” The door wouldn’t budge; Judd figured the car had rolled a couple of times coming down the hill, crumpling it like a tin can. Then he heard a soft groan.

He looked up, and one of Carlos’s eyes was trying to open. The other was swollen shut, where he’d probably hit his head on the steering wheel before the airbag deployed. Half his face had burn marks from it. 

“Hey, hey Carlos, look at me, that’s it.” That one eye tracked around before it landed on Judd, drawn to the light of the flashlight on his helmet. “Hey man. We’re gonna get you out okay? Now, can you move your fingers and toes for me?” Judd stuck his head into the window to see down in the floor boards. “Alright, likely no spinal damage. How’s your head?”

“Hurts. Shoulder, too.” His voice was barely audible. 

“Okay, it looks like you dislocated it,” Judd said as he prodded his left shoulder. “I don’t see anything broken but we’ll have to get you out to determine that.”

“TK—“ a wheeze, “TK…first. Been out…a while.”

Judd peered over to the passenger side, where TK was shoved almost fully into the center console, head laid back on the headrest and his face covered in blood. Marjan and Paul were still hard at work outside trying to clear a path into the car. 

“We can’t get to his side just yet, but we can get you out first and then we’ll be able to pull him out this way, okay? We wanna focus on you right now.”

“Alive.”

“Yeah, you’re alive, Carlos. You’re not gonna leave us yet,” he said as he assessed the door panels where they could cut through with the saws they brought. 

“No. TK. Weak, but…alive,” Carlos breathed out, coughing through the end.

“We’ll make sure he’s alive, okay?” Judd said, trying not to lose his professionalism at this whole messed up situation.

“He is.” Judd stopped looking around and looked back at Carlos. The man raised his right hand just as much as he was able, showing where he had two fingers on TK’s radial pulse. 

“Good, that’s good Carlos,” Judd assured him. That meant Carlos had had some minutes of consciousness after the accident before they showed up. “Was he talking at all? After you hit the tree?”

“Little. Minutes, maybe.”

“That’s good, that’ll help. Alright Carlos, we’re gonna get this door off so I’m gonna cover you with this while we do okay?” Judd waited for a small nod before he covered Carlos’s face and torso with his own turnout coat. 

After an agonizing four minutes, the door popped off in a shower of metal and broken glass. Judd removed the coat and went back in to assess. “Carlos? How you doin’?”

“Tired. But won’t…sleep. Promise. That’s bad.”

“You learn a few things from your Paramedic boyfriend?” Judd said with a watery smile.

“Mmm.”

“Judd, I got the back cleared. Maybe we can get in there to at least check TK’s vitals,” Paul informed them. 

“Get on it, I’ma try to get Carlos here out onto this backboard. Marjan, radio for another backboard and have two RA’s ready to go topside!”

“Copy that!” Judd had to admire those two. They never let their professionalism slip too far, though he could see they were worried sick. He could relate. He wouldn’t relax until both of the boys were back up the hill and on the way to the hospital.

From the looks of things, maybe not even then. But he had hope.

“Alright, Carlos, I’m gonna grab your legs and behind your shoulders here and pull you out, okay? It’s gonna hurt like hell, but it’ll be quick.”

“Wait.”

Judd stopped cold.

“Left…pocket. Please.”

“You want me to get at your left pocket?” A nod. “Alright, hang on.”

Judd carefully shifted Carlos’s leg so he could reach into his slacks, which had probably been part of a very nice suit at the beginning of the night. His fingers searched until they hit a small bump, an object no bigger than a baseball, soft velvet over a hard shell. He sucked his lips between his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment as he pulled it free in his hand. 

“Keep it…safe…for me?”

Judd looked down at the little black box for a moment, then clutched it tight in his hand before transferring it one of the innermost pockets of his turnout. 

“Of course, man. I will guard this with my life.” He looked up and saw Marjan coming back with another backboard. “Alright, buddy. It’s go time.”

Carlos gave a weak nod and winced when Judd started to pull. 

--

“Welcome back, man. You had us worried there for a bit.”

Carlos opened his good eye to see Judd sitting at his bedside, smiling softly. It took a moment to remember where he was. Hospital. Accident. Tree.

“TK—“

“Is fine. Banged up and will need crutches for a few weeks, not to mention a killer headache with no meds, but he’s fine. All things considered.”

“Where is he?”

“On his way, so you just stay put, okay? You’re pretty banged up, too, ya’know.”

Carlos shifted a bit and winced. His left arm was in a sling, his head bandaged over his left eye, and his right side hurt like hell.

“Broken rib when the tree went into TK’s door, door went into TK, TK went into the console, then the console went into you. He’s got a femoral fracture in his right leg but like I said, all things considered, you’re both pretty well off for how far you fell and probably rolled.” 

“Yeah, he said his leg had gone numb but he could still move his toes. He made sense for about five minutes, then started talking all jumbled, then went quiet. I uh…freaked out a bit after that. I thought he had…” Carlos trailed off, looking haunted. 

“Yeah, and you kept your fingers on his pulse that whole time. What you were able to tell us at the scene helped us treat him. You did good, Carlos.”

“Not good enough to swerve in time,” he said.

“Not your fault. And don’t you dare go thinkin’ it is. I don’t wanna hear it, Carlos,” Judd said in what TK called his Dad Voice. Stern and no room for argument. Carlos just nodded. 

“And uh, hey. I been waitin’ to give this back to you.” Judd stood and walked over to the bed, holding out a tiny black box. Carlos took it and cradled it against his chest. “It better be a nice one, cuz I about had a heart attack while I was showerin’ thinkin’ someone was gonna come get my pile a’clothes and take ‘em to the laundry while I was gone.”

“You didn’t open it?”

“Nah, I figure the big reveal? TK deserves that all to himself.” 

“Owen’s seen it,” Carlos countered, smirking.

“Uh huh. He approve?”

Carlos laughed. “He whistled and said I spent too much.”

“To impress the Cap it must be a lot,” Judd said with a small whistle of his own.

“Well, what was it Michael Scott said? Three years’ salary?”

Judd’s eyes almost popped out of his head, and Carlos laughed harder before wincing again at his broken rib. “I’m kidding, Judd. But I can tell you, no matter the cost, TK deserves the best and that’s what I hope I got.”

“You gonna make another reservation? Soon as y’all get back into fightin’ shape?”

Carlos looked down at the box again for a moment, contemplating. “I…don’t think so.”

Judd had a confused expression on his face but at that moment, a nurse was wheeling TK into the room, followed by most of the 126. Carlos’s face lit up like starlight at the sight of him.

“Hey, babe,” TK said with a smile. His leg was in a full cast, so the nurse was careful in maneuvering him around to Carlos’s bedside. 

“Hey, I feel like you should be the one in bed! Why are you out and about?”

“Because you were still asleep and he’s an absolute menace. We made multiple apologies to the staff on his behalf for the last hour,” Owen said as he walked into the room behind his crew. “He’s a stubborn little shit. Always has been, always will be. You sure you’re up for that?” He asked knowingly. TK was still looking at Carlos, blushing at his dad’s ribbing. Carlos met his eyes and said, “Yes.” He blushed more. 

“In fact,” Carlos continued. “I’m ready to get started. I’ve waited too long anyway. I mean, how many times do you and I have to beat death before I get the nerve to do this?” He said, looking into TK’s beautiful eyes which were looking confused. 

“What are you talking about, babe?”

“Look, I’m sorry this didn’t go how I planned. And I’m sorry I can’t get down on one knee right now, but. I hope you love me enough not to mind.” He lifted his good arm, his hand holding out the box. “A little help, Judd?”

“It’d be an honor,” the man said before leaning in and opening the box, since Carlos only had one good arm. 

At the sight of the contents of the box, TK’s eyes went as big as saucers. Surprise was written clearly over every inch of his features, which were all still beautiful even scarred and stitched up as they were at the moment. God, Carlos loved this man so much. 

“Tyler Kennedy Strand, you are the love of my life. I tried so many different scenarios in my head of how this speech would go, before I just said screw it, I’ll speak from the heart. You’re kind, funny, sexy, sweet, and everything in between. You can’t boil water and you absolutely can’t properly separate laundry. I have a dozen pink shirts as proof of that.” At this, the gathered group chuckled and TK went bright red. “Ah, but you also know just how to ease the tension from a long day just by hugging me on the doorstep. And I can always count on you to be there for me when the world gets too much, when what we see out there creeps in too far. And I want you to know, that I want to be that for you too, for the rest of our lives. So, TK. Will you marry me?”

The room was silent, apart from the hum and beeps of the machines. Everyone on the edge of their proverbial seats, but no one having any doubt to the outcome. 

“Oh, my God! Of course I’ll marry you! Yes, yes! Yes!” The last was said through TK’s fingers covering his red face, hiding the few tears that had started to fall. He held out his left hand to Carlos, who Judd had kindly helped by removing the ring from its box and handing it back to him. He slid it over TK’s finger, smiling like an idiot the whole time, barely registering the whoops and hollers of the 126 throughout the room. 

He only had eyes for TK. 

“I love you,” TK breathed through his happy tears.

“I love you too, baby. Always.”

“Oh, my God, dude, were you seriously surprised?” Nancy asked incredulously once the commotion had died down.

“Well…yeah? I didn’t expect this at all,” TK said, looking sheepish. 

“TK…my dude…he was taking you to Jeffrey’s! How could you not know?”

Once again, the room erupted in laughter and TK ducked his head again. Carlos reached out and touched his chin, catching his eyes again.

There was nothing but love there. 

CLEARLY every Tarlos fic I write has to have a proposal in it *shrug emoji* 

Also I wrote this in like an hour after I had a dream so please excuse any typos I didn’t catch!

Please reblog if you liked it! I would really really appreciate it :) Thank you for reading!

[drmmyrs]

Remember Me (Becca x MC)

So, weird story. I was randomly browsing tumblr one time when this ask pops out at the top of the screen (req about amnesia au Becca’s POV). It wasn’t even related to anything I was reading but checked my inbox and it wasn’t there. Most probably the ask isn’t for me but still wrote it just in case 😅

PS if someone DID send me this ask, kindly drop me a message just so I know I’m not seeing things 😭

PPS I’m trying out a new writing style and I’m not sure if it’s any good so I’d really appreciate any feedback 🥺 (this will be a mini series too, I think, since the angst potential is definitely there 😂)

PPPS title is inspired from the song in Coco just cause I’ve been playing it a lot on piano recently

tag list: @whackawriting @samanthadalton @crazzyplays @uselesslesbianfr @baexpoppy @alexroyard @alexlabhont @veenast @noixngn @sillyandcutewizardstuffs (If you wanna be added or removed or just prefer a certain ship just let me know ❤️)

Pairing: Becca x MC (Emily)

Word Count: 2090

I don't remember what happened, nor know where I am, but I hear shouting, lots of it. I try to move, but my body feels completely numb; the only thing I can feel is the trickle of liquid that splatters across my face. Rain? I open my eyes strenuously, but all I can see past my blurry vision are brown eyes glistening with tears. I can't quite make out her face, but for some reason, seeing her cry sends a flurry of emotions that hurt more than my throbbing head. I try to open my mouth, hoping to provide comfort somehow, but no words come out. She is saying something over and over again, something about leaving? But my head hurts too much to be able to comprehend. A siren then blares from a distance, growing louder by the second as flashes of red cloud my vision. And that is when everything turns black.

I slowly open my eyes–still reeling from the nightmare that somehow felt too real–and harsh, blinding lights immediately greet me. I hastily shut my eyes back and suddenly become well aware of the ache engulfing my entire body. It isn't before long that I realize that someone is holding my hand, tracing lazy circles against my skin ever so often. I try to move it but only manage to lift a finger, and at once, the grip tightens and becomes still for a moment before I hear a voice– How can a voice sound so familiar... yet so strange? It's saying my name, urgent and gentle at the same time as though I might break at any second. I try to open my eyes, but exhaustion grips me powerless. And soon, I succumb to its fiery grasp as I slip back into slumber.

When I wake up again, I already feel much stronger than before. The ache in my body has turned into a dull hum as if sharp nails are gently caressing my skin, enough to be felt but not to hurt. I look around the room, panic swelling in my chest as I take in the sight of different medical equipment looming around my bed and needles sticking out of my arm. I fight the urge to squirm as I take big, calming breaths, ignoring how the four white walls seem to close in on me. Thankfully, the door opens, and a nurse walks in, temporarily distracting me from my distress. She smiles upon seeing me awake and walks towards me.

"Welcome back, Ms. Davenport. How are you feeling?"

"W–where am I?" I ask weakly.

"In the hospital. A month ago, you were involved in a car crash, and your head was hurt pretty badly," the nurse says sympathetically. She is now taking my vitals, scribbling something on her chart from time to time.

Car crash?

I scrunch my eyes, trying to remember, but the harder I try, the more my head hurts.

"Wait. A month? Are you saying that I've been here... for a month?"

The nurse nods. "You've been unconscious the entire time. But your vitals now are looking good. The doctor will just run a few tests to make sure we don't miss anything."

I stay quiet for a while, my mind still processing everything the nurse just said, which has only raised new questions.

"Your friends and family were really worried about you, you know. There wasn't a day when you didn't have any visitors. Especially that special friend of yours you were in the car with." The nurse turns towards me, holding a pen against her chin. "What was her name? Em–Emma, I think? She barely left your side. She actually just went to grab some food before you woke up."

...I don't know any Emma, but I don't tell her that.

"What about my parents?"

"Your mom and sister usually visit during the evening."

"And my father?"

The nurse shakes her head. "I don't think I've ever seen your father."

The nurse leaves after a while, and the doctor comes inside the room shortly. I answer a few questions before I'm escorted outside to take some tests. Afterward, the nurse leads me back to my room and gently guides me to bed.

"Would you like me to call in your visitors?" the nurse asks.

I nod.

The nurse goes out, and soon my mom walks in followed by–

"Emily." I frown. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Both of them stop in their tracks. My mom looks at me in concern and confusion, while Emily looks like I just punched her in the gut.

Anger bubbles up inside me as a realization comes to mind. "Y–you. You're the one who did this, aren't you? You're the reason I'm here."

A guilty look flickers across her face, confirming my suspicions. And before I can stop myself, I shout at her to leave, but she stands there motionless, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

"Go get the doctor," my mom tells her, which snaps her out of her shock. She scurries out of the room at the same time my mom starts walking towards me.

"Why is she here, Mom?"

My mom stops at the side of the bed and reaches out to stroke my hair. "Honey, the accident was not her fault."

"But she was there with me..."

"Yes."

"Why?"

My mom's hand goes still, resting on top of my head. "Becca, what was the last thing you remember?"

"I..." I close my eyes and think hard for a moment. "I–I remember hosting the Kappa party. But that doesn't make any sense. Why would I leave with Emily?"

A brief look of panic flashes across her eyes.

"Mom? What's wrong?"

My mom smiles at me, but it looks forced. "It's nothing, sweetie. The doctor will be here soon."

But I can see that she's trying her best to keep calm–the look on her face similar to when she would talk to my little sister and me right after we would hear her and dad fight.

The doctor comes in a little while later, asking a bunch of questions similar to my mom's. They then do more tests on me, and I grow scared by the minute, not understanding what the hell is going on. Eventually, I'm back in my room alone, my mom and the doctor staying outside to talk. After some time, they enter the room, and my mom sits beside me, taking my hand as the doctor walks towards the other side of the bed.

I look at my mom, drained from all the medical tests I went through the entire day. "What's happening, Mom? I'm scared."

My mom squeezes my hand and gives me a reassuring smile. "The doctor will explain it to you, sweetie. But I'll be right here the whole time." She then gives a single nod to the doctor.

The doctor smiles at me politely. "How are you feeling, Becca?"

I stare at him, suddenly annoyed at being asked the same question over and over again.

"Right then." The doctor clears his throat. "During the accident, your brain was affected more than we initially thought." He pauses, and I meet his gaze, willing him to go straight to the point. "It seems like you have retrograde amnesia, meaning that you have no memory of the past three years of your life."

The doctor goes on and on about the technicalities, but I'm not listening anymore. His voice is reduced to background noise as I repeat his words inside my head, trying to grasp the implications of what he just said. I prop myself up, looking wildly around the room, tugging at my shirt as if it would help me breathe. But it doesn't. My body feels numb, which is why I almost don't notice my mom pulling me into a tight hug, stroking my back comfortingly as she whispers reassurances. I focus on her voice, forcing myself to take deep breaths as I slowly begin to calm down. I pull away after some time, recomposing myself as I find my voice.

"Three years," I whisper.

"We'll help you recover your memories, honey. But for now, you can ask me anything you like."

"I–I think I just need some rest."

My mom nods, helping me settle back in bed before she leaves, promising to be back tomorrow.

Sleep comes easy to me, and I wake up the next day with Madison sitting at the chair next to my bed, browsing her phone.

"Hey, Maddie."

She looks up from her phone, a smile lighting up her face before she practically jumps out of her chair to hug me. "Becca!"

"Ow, that... kinda hurts."

When she pulls away from me, her eyes are teary.

"Sorry, I just missed you so much. You were gone for so long! I thought–"

"Hey, hey, none of that," I say, smiling at her.

She pulls the chair closer to my bed and sits down. "How are you, Becca? Your mom told me about your... condition."

I stare at the ceiling. "Yeah, it sucks." I snap my head back to her. "Tell me something. Do we still hang out a lot?"

"We still meet up from time to time. Not as much as we used to, though," Madison says, smiling sadly.

I nod. "Who do I usually hang out with now?"

"Emily."

I furrow my eyebrows. "Did we become close friends or something?"

"Oh, right. You've only been together for like two years," Madison murmurs contemplatively. "She's your girlfriend, Becca."

I let the information sink in. "You have got to be kidding me." I stare at her wide-eyed. "How–What–Why?"

Madison recounts our 'love story,' each detail more absurd than the last. I don't want to believe any of it, but Emily as my girlfriend... it actually explains everything. I rub my temples. How the hell did that happen? I remember like it was yesterday when she tried to steal Chris away from me. And now... and now...

"Maddie? Can you do me a favor and grab me something to eat? I'm starving."

Madison smiles. "Of course."

Madison goes out in a while, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

***

After a few more days of recovery, I am finally allowed to leave the hospital. Despite my protests, my mom explains that I will have to stay with Emily and her friends at what I assume has been my home for the past two years. She explains that she prefers for someone to look after me constantly, and she will not be able to do that with her job and all.

Outside the hospital, I find Emily waiting near a car; her eyes are bloodshot, as if she hasn't slept a wink in days. When she sees me approaching, her face immediately brightens up. Our gazes lock briefly before I turn back to my mom.

"Are you sure I can't stay with you?"

My mom smiles sadly. "I'm sorry, honey. I wish you could, but..."

"It's okay, I understand."

"Look, I know you don't remember, but these people you've been living with... they care about you very much.”

I nod.

My mom pulls me into a hug before guiding me inside the car, shutting the door afterward. She and Emily talk for a brief moment outside, and I watch as she hugs Emily before walking away. Emily steps into the passenger seat.

Zack, who is sitting in the driver's seat, turns around and smiles at me warmly. "I'm glad you're back."

I shift uncomfortably, ignoring his gaze. "Thanks."

We drive home silently, awkwardness saturating the car space. Upon arriving, I observe the details of the house, seeing if it sparks any memories... but nothing. I see Emily looking at me intently, probably thinking the same thing. They then lead me inside the house, and I step in hesitantly, taking in the surroundings, which vary immensely from the sorority house, the last place I lived based on my memories. Emily guides me to my room, lingering near me as I open the door.

"Becca–"

I turn towards her. "Please don't. I know you think I'm your girlfriend. A–and I guess I was. But as far as I remember, I don't like you at all. So I would appreciate it if you just leave me alone." I turn around and go inside my room, shutting the door behind me. I then lie on the bed, trying to forget how the light dimmed out of Emily's eyes as I broke her heart.

[razorblade180]

Interdimensional Moms: intro

[The complete Interdimensional dads here!]

Team RWBY finds themselves sitting at a table. All of them are middle age but vary in appearances that aren’t strange to an average stranger by any means, but different from what they are used to seeing from one another. For starters was Weiss. Her three friends had never known her to have shoulder length hair, or a horizontal scar underneath the one they’ve always noticed. Something about her eyes seemed...different. Brighter. As if they were infinitely dancing. Weiss’s eyes, they hid no emotions. The only thing more surprising was the fact she was wearing faded jeans and a white shirt with her symbol in black on it. Nobody said anything, but Weiss in jeans was somehow equally as gorgeous. Yang was slightly salty about it.

Blake’s eyes weren’t like Weiss’s, but they weren’t the usual stern but hopeful ones they all loved dearly. Blake looked relaxed. Like, wake up Saturday morning to watch tv and get cereal, kind of relaxed. The top of her long hair pulled into a bun while the back flowed freely. Despite her eyes, her clothes was ready for action. In fact, it looked like her dad’s clothes, with the way the royal purple coat flowed to white, puffy ends. And obviously, a shirt. Weiss could notice the subtle grays in the raven black hair and the women’s hands and face were healthy, but noticeably slimmer. A clear sign that she either had gotten sick, or her job had gotten to her once or twice. Maybe that’s why she looked relaxed? A similar chain of events happened with Winter.

Yang didn’t look too different. Except for Blake, who was awe struck. Yang to her was different, but also very much how she used to look back when they all journeyed together. Slight lines were under the bruisers eyes that resembled Raven’s. Her favorite coat that went with her bike was a little worn and Yang had noticeably gotten even buffer. Her muscles and beauty radiating with such vitality. Yang always burned bright like an inferno, but this was different. She smiled awkwardly at her team as they looked at her. A sublet chuckle escaped her and confirmed Blake’s feeling. This Yang was different, and felt like the sun itself.

Yang looked towards Ruby and was left speechless. All of them were. Out of the four, it was Ruby that had changed the most. To Yang, it was like seeing Summer. There was just this overwhelming presence that cake from her sister. They all noticed the long hair that went down her right shoulder and stunning black and red corset. The skirt dropped right past her knees. Her legs dawned black pantyhose with roses along them and Weiss couldn’t look away from the ruby red heels. The signature cloak was still with her of course. Silver eyes shined bright and a raised brow arched as she too was confused by the familiar, yet different faces. Still, Yang and the others were still soaking in her appearance. No scars, ruffled her, tired eyes, or even an overly goofy expression. Ruby Rose, looked like a fairytale come to life. Not only that. Between her youthful yet clearly mature appearance, the others felt something greater. The dream they were told by heart countless times by their leader. The romanticized vision of being a huntress, a hero, this Ruby had grabbed that dream truly with both hands. They just knew it.

Ruby:Ummm hello?

WBY:Hey....

Ruby:So uh, umm, what? What is happening here? I’m not the only person thinking something is off, right?

Blake:You’re not. But the question is....

Yang:What the hell is “off” to begin with?

Weiss:I think that’s us? Also, where exactly are we?

The void.

Yang:Who said that!?

No one important me. Consider me a operator. I could say a god, but that’s way too much considering I’ll do anything.

Weiss:Sounds like a god to me. Okay, give us the long and short of it. We’ll figure it out.

RBY: (We will?)

What you’re wittinessing is a meeting of team RWBY, but flipped on its side. Different universes, different outcomes, similar people, different endgames. Including kids. Discuss and have fun. That’s all. Think of it as a reunion that was never meant to be. Catch up, learn.

Weiss:Well then, can’t say I’m not interested. It’s not the craziest thing in the world.

Blake:It isn’t!? Why is this happening?

.......

Yang:I think he left.

Ruby:Well that’s about as long and short as you can get I suppose. Still...what!? Different universes?

Weiss:Considering the way you’re dressed, I believe it.

Ruby:What does that mean!?

Yang:Yeah she’s right. Look at you, all womanly. Last time I checked, my sister beautiful, but not rivaling me in the hips department. Which brings me back to what I just heard. Kids?

Ruby:Yeah?

Yang:Weiss, Blake, you too?

BW:Yeah?

Yang:Definitely different universes. Last time I checked, the only mama bear on team RWBY is me.

Blake:Last time I checked, you were single and alone.

Yang:WHAT!? Why would I be single!?

RW:....You mean you don’t kids together?

BY:Why would we have kids together?

RWBY:......

Ruby:Wow, I didn’t even think a sentence like that could exist. Guess alternate worlds do exist.

Weiss:And apparently infinite if you two aren’t shacking up.

Yang:Since when does Weiss Schnee day “shacking up?” Since when do you wear pants!?

Weiss:They’re cheaper to maintain. Why wouldn’t- oh my goodness. How do you usually see me!? What am I doing?

RB:You run your company.

Yang:The best Atlas huntress to ever exist.

Weiss:...So I was never broke?

RBY:YOU WERE WHAT!?

Blake:Okay, let’s take a step back. Clearly the differences really do vary. That’s all well and good but before all of that I wanna know why us for specifically? That doesn’t seem at random, does it?

Yang:Four out of infinity? I mean I’d just close my eyes and pick.

Ruby:Now that, that’s on brand for you. Hehe, I guess some things never change?

Blake:Yeah but it has to be more than just personality, right.

Weiss:Hey, we’re all wearing wedding rings.

They looked at each other’s hands. Each girl had a jewel that matched their color over a beautiful golden band that had different, yet similar engravings on it. Too similar. There’s no way the same store just happen to do it in every universe. However, was it crazy to think the shopkeeper was given similar instructions on the rings if it was the same person who asked for jewelry? Like Ruby said, somethings never change, and an idea like ring designs as endearingly cheesy as this brought only one face to mind.

RWBY:....

Blake:On three. One....two....

RWBY:I married Jaune A-.......

Yang:Well, clearly we all have amazing taste in men. *smiles*

RB:That’s insane!

Yang:Why? That’s not too crazy.

RB:You liking men is

Weiss:Why? She’s bi.

Yang:Actually....yeah, I guess so. Given my history- how do you know that!?

Weiss:Because I know you, dunce! You’re an openly sexual person that never misses an opportunity to anybody’s head spin, before teasingly going over to Blake and kissing her. Just so people know you’re off the market.

Yang...

Yang:That’s pretty fucking great.

Ruby:And still on brand.

Blake:.....

Yang:Well then. I guess we have a lot to talk about. Sheesh, Jaune Arc. Gotta admit, it’s crazy knowing he’s gotten so much attention. How scandalous.

Weiss:You make it sound like cheating?

Blake:I do feel that a little.

Ruby:Yeah, not a fan. But...losing to you three is understandable. Bittersweet, but I get it.

Yang:You didn’t lose though! You, the one right here, is married to him!

Ruby:All I’m saying is if it was up to me, our love would transcend space and time.

WBY:(Dummy, in a way, it does.) Ruby, you’re really greedy, you know that right?

Ruby:Huh!? Hey, what’s that all about.

Her teammate all looked at each other. They didn’t have to say anything. A single glance was enough to know they were on a similar page. Oh yes. Ruby Rose was definitely greedy, and hilariously adorable whenever she got picked on. They all laughed as this familiar Rose grew red with embarrassment and pouted. The more things change, the more they stayed the same. A reunion that was never meant to be. Yeah, it was gonna be a blast.

[spooderboyandtincan]

We’re with you...

Through thick and thin

TW: Graphic depictions of violence; blood

~~~~~

Tony felt his heart leap in fear when he heard a certain spider-baby’s voice behind him. He whirled around in mid air, dropping a few feet in shock before he stabilized himself.

“Hi, Mr. Stark!” Peter chirped excitedly, skillfully swinging in a large arc and flipping onto his armor, the eyes of his mask almost comically wide. “What’s up?”

Tony struggled to see the boy who was perched on his back, twisting his neck back and forth. “What the hell are you doing here, Pete?”

“I just wanted to help,” he whined, his head hovering upside down in front of Tony’s face. 

“No, you don’t,” he grumbled, trying to grab hold of his kid, who was crawling all over his back to avoid him. “You want to go back to school and learn about why the adults in your life are trying to keep you safe.”

Peter giggled. “I know, Tony, and I am safe. I have you!”

He said it so cheerfully, so matter-of-factly, as if Tony’s heart hadn’t melted and his brain hadn’t turned to mush at his precious kid’s words. He was grateful for the helmet shielding his face, otherwise Peter might have been soaked in his tears.

“Mr. Stark? You okay?”

He jerked out of his stupor. “Yeah.” He sniffed. “Yeah, buddy, I’m great.”

“Okay.” Peter sounded suspicious, but he let it drop. “Sure.”

“So, um... what’s going on?” He looked around, trying to find the other Avengers and their opponent(s).

Peter barely saw the blast in time. 

He jumped up and aimed a web at the nearest skyscraper, pulling Tony with him, the man letting out a shout of surprise. 

The spot where they had just been was now raining down ash and bright purple sparks.

Peter blinked the black spots out of his eyes, his ears ringing slightly. Gradually he realized that Tony was shouting; they were moving fast, Tony’s metal arms wrapped tight around him.

“Peter! Are you okay, Bug?” the man yelled frantically, masked face hovering in front of Peter’s.

“Arachnid,” he corrected. He heard Tony breathe a heavy sigh of relief. They landed on the roof of a towering skyscraper. Peter was sure that Mr. Stark was running over his vitals in the suit and checking for any injuries, no matter how minor they might be. Peter rolled his eyes.

“What was that?” he asked, looking around wildly. “Is Mister Doctor Strange here?”

“I am,” said a dry voice behind them. “But that wasn’t me.”

Tony jumped protectively in front of Peter as they spun around, then relaxed, just slightly, when he recognized the tall figure standing in front of the remnants of a glowing orange portal.

“Strange,” Tony greeted.

“Stark.” Stephen nodded.

Peter waved, grinning.

“What’s with the light show?” Tony asked, setting a hand on his kid’s shoulder.

“A wizard,” the doctor said shortly. “And a powerful one, too. Neoma Ambrosia. She’s fairly new to magic, but she’s dangerous.”

“I think Neoma means ‘new moon’ in Greek,” Peter mused quietly. Tony ruffled his hair proudly, nodding. My genius kid, he thought fondly. 

“Tony! What’s going on?”

Natasha, Sam, Steve, and Bucky ran up. Peter couldn’t help but wonder how they had climbed up to the roof. He imagined Sam trying to lug two super soldiers and a heavily armed assassin up a one hundred seventy-five meter tall skyscraper; Peter was sure he could do it.

“There’s a crazy wizard trying to kill us!” the young spider said enthusiastically. “Her name’s Neoma Ambrosia, which I’m pretty sure means ‘new moon’ in Greek, which is like, a super cool name. And she shoots purple fire! We haven’t seen her in, like, fifteen minutes, though.”

Tony chuckled as the other four Avengers blinked. His kid was a whirlwind, and he loved to listen to him chatter.

“Everyone keep watch!” Steve yelled, making Peter flinch. Tony squeezed his neck gently and glared at the super soldier, who remained oblivious. “Eyes peeled like grapes!”

“Ew,” Peter muttered. 

They spent the next ten minutes straining their eyes for any sight of Neoma.

Tony was about to turn to Steve and suggest they search the ground, when the edge of the roof exploded with a familiar purple fire, right where Peter was standing.

Tony screamed his child’s name, white, icy-hot terror running through his veins. Rubble tumbled off that building, falling with the small red and blue body. 

“No,” he whispered, thrusters at full speed. “No. No. No no no no!”

He crashed to the concrete and sprinted to the rubble that covered his kid.  

“Peter, Peter, Peter,” he muttered fervently, throwing the huge boulders with his iron hands as if they were pebbles. He was sure he could lift them just as easily without his suit with the fear and adrenaline coursing through his veins. All the while he yelled, over and over again, the name of the one reason he got out of bed in the morning, the one reason he was alive: his only child, his son, his baby. 

At last, at last, he spotted delicate curls peeking out from a hole in a red mask. Tony sobbed and crumpled to his knees, clearing the last of the rocks off of the boy’s small body.

“Peter,” he gasped. He peeled off his mask as gently as he could, hands trembling. “Peter.”

Miraculously, he was somehow awake. Tony sobbed frantically and kissed his forehead. His face was bruised and bloody, with tears rolling slowly off his cheeks. Peter held out shaking arms and made grabby hands, whimpering like a wounded kitten.

Tony ever so gently maneuvered the boy into his lap, Peter slumping heavily against his chest. He cupped his cheeks and kissed both of them, stroking his forehead and smiling tremulously. “Petey. Oh Petey.”

He bit back another cry, trying to hold in for his kid, who was cradled in his arms, bleeding and broken. Peter coughed, and with tremendous effort, lifted his hand to Tony’s face.

The man grasped it instantly, squeezing his small hand tight and trying to rub some sense of warmth into his cold skin. He pressed light kisses to the back of his hand. 

“Oh, baby, oh my god,” Tony whispered breathlessly, rocking his child back and forth in his arms. “You’re okay, you’re okay, sweetheart, shh.” 

Tears flowed down both their faces. Tony rushed to comfort Peter, forcing what he hoped was a reassuring smile and wiping away the tears with the pad of his thumb. “We’re gonna fix you up, Petey, just hold on. Hold on for me, ‘kay? Doctor Strange and the rest are just making sure it’s safe, and Doctor Cho is coming right now- she’ll be here any second, okay? You just gotta hold on, Petey.”

He sniffed and snuggled Peter more tightly against his chest. “All you gotta do is focus on me. Just look at me, honey. I love you, baby, I love you so much. Stay with me, il mio bambino.”

Peter's eyes drifted lazily up to meet his. He struggled to focus on Tony’s face, his vision blurry and his eyes glassy. “Mi-mis’ er St’rk,” he croaked. “‘Ony.” He coughed, struggling to form words with his bloody, scratched lips and his dry mouth.

“Shh, shh,” Tony soothed. “Shh, baby, I’m right here. You’re doing you great, Petey.” He tangled his fingers in Peter’s curls, smoothing his hair down comfortingly. “You’re doing so great, sweetheart, I’m so proud of you.” Tony hastily wiped away his tears, which had begun to fall down to Peter’s face. “Just hold on, please.”

He squeezed his hand tightly, looking away and blinking rapidly when he realized his façade of calmness was shattering. 

Peter whimpered.

Tony’s eyes snapped back to his kid in fear. “Petey-?” he asked worriedly, then followed his gaze.

“Oh god.”

The sounds of blasts and explosions and fighting that faded completely came back full force when he realized the wizard was just ten yards in front of them, standing tall on a hill rubble, her dark gray robes swirling around her.

Tony gasped. Time seemed to move in slow motion as he rushed to protect his kid. He wrapped his arms tightly around Peter’s head and curled around the small body, effectively shielding him from an inevitable spell or explosion. 

And then-

He kicked off their pile of rubble and began to roll down, trying desperately to cushion Peter’s head as they gained momentum. Sharp stones slice at his skin but he favored protecting his kid far, far above his own safety. 

There was an explosion, so bright that purple swam in front of Tony’s closed eyes. Shards of glass and rock rained down on them and Tony could do nothing but squeeze Peter tighter and press his lips to his forehead and hope this wouldn’t be the end. 

Darkness.

~~~~~

He was really to have an Aunt May and an Uncle Rhodey, Peter thought drowsily. He blinked slowly up at the two, trying to smile. Rhodey clapped him on the shoulder gently.

“You okay, kid?”

“Mmmm.” Peter tried to form words but his lips were dry and cracked and his throat was sore and barren. 

Aunt May grabbed a glass off the bedside table while Rhodey used the remote to raise the bed into a sitting position and helped Peter shift around. May pressed the glass to his lips and he gulped the cool water down gratefully.

“Small sips, sweetie,” May advised, pulling the glass away. The boy didn’t seem to mind. He gazed up at the ceiling for a long moment, and both Rhodey and May thought he was about to fall asleep, but then Peter frowned. He looked to his left, and then to his right. 

“‘Ony? Wh-where’s…?” he rasped. Tears began to well up in his eyes. “‘Ony?”

“Tony’s right over there, bud,” said Rhodey. He gestured to where the billionaire lay, just a few feet away in a white hospital bed almost identical to Peter’s.

“Wan’ him.” Peter tried to sit up but May pushed him back down easily. 

“Tony’s right there, honey, right there, why don’t you go back to sleep?” 

“Wan’ Dad,” he whined. He tried to sit up again but fell back. “Dad.”

“Oh- oh, that’s so sweet,” May mumbled adoringly, while Rhodey tried to hold in a fond laugh.

“Dad!” Peter became increasingly more upset. Tears brimmed in his eyes and his bottom lip trembled.

“Okay, okay, Petey, calm down, it’s okay,” May cooed, rushing to comfort him and combing his hair. “Rhodey, can you help me move the bed?”

They unlocked the wheels of the bed and began to slowly roll it over to Tony.

~~~~~

When Tony faded back to the land of the living, he realized something was wrong right off the bat.

At first his realization was subconscious, in the pit of his stomach. Then, slowly, it grew, and grew, into full blown panic.

Something was missing- no someone, someone he knew that he couldn’t live without, someone precious who was not just his world but his universe-

Peter.

Peter.

Tony’s eyes snapped open and he jolted up in what he now realized was a hospital bed. His head swam and he swayed, the floor looming dangerously closer before he was caught in a pair of strong arms.

“Tony!”

The owner of a familiar voice heaved him back onto the bed. He blinked, trying to clear his head, and realized it was Rhodey, his Rhodey, bent over to look him in the eye and looking very concerned. “Tones? You okay?”

Tony looked around wildly, clutching Rhodey’s arm. His eyes settled on Peter, who was smiling loopily at him a few feet away. May hovered at his side, frowning worriedly at Tony.

“Petey.”

He tried to escape Rhodey’s strong grasp, desperate to get to his kid. Rhodey tried to comfort the distraught father while May pushed Peter over to him.

“Peter- Peter.” Tony began to sob. “Petey, c’mere. C’mere, baby.” 

May pressed the mattresses together and locked the wheels of the bed carefully, then double checking them just in case. She checked the various wires, making sure Peter’s IV, heart monitor, and oxygen tube were still in place. 

Meanwhile, with Rhodey’s help, Tony clambered over to his kid and almost collapsed next to him. He sobbed, cupping Peter’s face with gentle, calloused and resting his forehead against Peter’s. 

Tony was silent, spare the sharp sobs catching in his throat. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “‘M so sorry, Petey.” He began to crawl ungracefully under the covers and wrapped Peter ever so gently in his arms. The boy snuggled against him and hummed happily as Tony began fussing over him. 

He reminded Rhodey of a younger Tony at MIT, falling asleep in Rhodey’s bunk and holding a (Rhodey’s) teddy bear to his chest and snoring. 

“Geez, bud, you really can’t keep scaring your dad like this,” he muttered, grabbing Peter’s free hand and squeezing it. “He has a heart condition, y’know.”

Tony nodded and pressed a kiss to Peter’s cheek, gasping softly in adoration at the giggle he received. His eyes were huge and sparkling with love. It was a sharp contrast to his previous tears, and much more sweet for Rhodey and May to watch. 

“Poor kiddie,” Tony murmured, stroking Peter’s cheek with a calloused thumb. “My poor kiddie.” 

“Aww,” Rhodey and May whispered almost simultaneously. They exchanged an amused glance and laughed.

Tony glared at them. “Shhh. He's resting!” he hissed, rather loudly. Peter blinked sleepily up at him, but Tony kissed his forehead to comfort him and he relaxed against his chest.

“Right,” May chuckled. “Right, sorry.”

Tony paused and then nodded in satisfaction. He combed his fingers through Peter’s hair soothingly and looked up to Rhodey and May. “This-this’s my baby. He’s my baby. M-my baby, my spider-baby,” Tony mumbled, kissing the boy’s forehead.

Rhodey snorted and struggled to hold in his laughter. May grinned. “Our spider-baby,” she corrected, caressing Peter’s cheek with her fingers.

To their great amusement, Tony pulled the now asleep Peter to his chest protectively, his arms tightening around him as he buried his nose in his curls and shook his head. “Mine.” 

“Yours?” she laughed, raising her eyebrows.

“H-he’s my baby, and I’m his dad. And it’s my job to-to protect him. ‘Cause I’m his dad,” he explained. “And I love him. So much. I love him.”

May giggled. “Aww, Tony, don’t worry, Peter knows it.” 

“FRIDAY, please tell me you’re recording this,” Rhodey whispered.

“Rest assured, I am,” the AI replied, sounding as fond as a disembodied voice could be.

“This is adorable,” he said, looking back to the very loopy Tony. May nodded. She patted Rhodey on the shoulder in a gesture of comfort, knowing how worried they both had been when they’d seen the medical helicopter land at the compound.

Trying to keep the two superheroes safe, as they had realized, was a challenge, especially when they couldn’t always be there. May couldn’t fly. And even though Rhodey could, they both had jobs that kept them busy.

It was hard to be there for a superhero, but it was easy to love them. They might not be there always, but goddammit, they’d do anything and everything in their power to make sure they were okay. 

A soft snore, more like a purr than anything, interrupted the pair’s thoughts.

Peter’s cheek was squashed on Tony’s chest. Tony took the sleeve of his hospital gown and wiped the drool from his chin, looking unhappy about how rough the cloth was on his baby’s skin. 

“I need a hoodie,” he muttered. Rhodey graciously offered to grab one, happy to take a coffee break, and May left to grab one of Peter’s. (Though most of Peter’s hoodies were actually ones he had stolen from various friends and family.)

When Rhodey and May returned from the expeditions of rummaging through many messy drawers and selecting as many hoodies as they could find, they grabbed a quick coffee and hurried back to the medbay.

They found both Tony and Peter fast asleep. Tony’s arms were wrapped around his kid tightly, one hand in the boy’s curls and the other wrapped around his back and holding him close. Peter’s head rested on his chest as a makeshift pillow, looking absolutely tiny in the big bed with Tony protecting him, even in sleep. 

May laughed fondly, kissing Peter’s forehead and then settling in her squishy purple chair. Rhodey flopped down in a leather armchair and they both took a big swig of their coffees. 

Rhodey pulled out a Starkpad and began scrolling, while May fished a book and her glasses out of her purse. 

They would be there for as long as it took for Tony and Peter to recover. And after that, they would still be there. They loved their superheroes, even though May and sometimes even Rhodey, forgot that they were superheroes too.

~~~~~

Taglist: @imissyoutoo @aj-that-person @tonystark-deserves-better @nathaly-ab @skeeter-110 @peter-and-tony-vlogs @teammightypen @joyful-soul-collector @loveliestdisappointment @depuella @scwene-qween @honeythepooh @pixiethefirecat7 @spider-man-lover @bringitonvoldie @queen-of-sarcasm-25 @roxy3457 @memilon @iron-loyalty @gralaca @bitchingpretty @pillowspace @thatminecraftgal @clockworkteacup @hatakehikari @keep-a-bucket-full-of-stars @skydiving-without-a-parachute

If you want to be added/removed let me know!

~~~~~

/ST*RKERS DNI/

[son-yejin]

Title: It’s all it takes

Pairing: Amelia Shepherd + Atticus Lincoln

Note: English is not my first language and this is just for fun. It’s cliche and fun so don’t expect anything else. The end is kinda meh but if the show writers can do what they did then...Enjoy!

//

It all happens in a flash.

Thirty seconds, she counts. It’s all it takes.

Second One, they are saying good byes at the door. Her eyes is on Link’s and she is laughing at his attempts at flirting as if they are not broken up. Second Ten, Scout let’s go of his father’s hands and runs towards the road, trying to get God knows what that makes children behave so fearless and carelessly. In second fifteen, she can already see it, the car coming in full speed and Scout getting hit by it. He won’t survive, her mind tells her. And she is already living the grief before it happens.

What she doesn’t see coming, however, is in second twenty, Link catching Scout just in time before it all happens, pushing him to the sidewalk. And in second twenty five, Scout falls sitting on the concrete floor - safe, away from the car and she goes running towards him. It’s like a miracle happening before her eyes. “Ames, being a dad comes with super hero speed and the coolest spider senses” Link had once told her and maybe he was right. But the super powers don’t seem to work if it’s for himself as he can’t get off the road in time before he is hit instead.

Thirty seconds.

Suddenly everything seems to be happening in slow motion and then back to moving in normal speed all at once, and somehow she is dialing 911 desperately as she sees Link on the road, face up and his arm in a weird position. There’s a buzzing ringing in her ear, she sees all the neighbors coming to see what happened and everything turns into background noise then her body seems to have gone into autopilot. She finds herself inside an ambulance with Scout in her lap and Link with paramedics, then they are taking him inside and she is standing in front of Meredith, in the emergency room.

“He seems fine, he is pretty responsive.” she numbly nods in response, barely processing a word Meredith is saying as her mind seems to be busy remembering every moment of hers with Link. Every kiss, every hug, every fight.

No matter what happens, I want to go through it with you.

“He won’t shut up about you and Scout, actually. And his scans came out all clear and he is heading to surgery for his arm”

It felt like a what-are-we-waiting-for-moment. I’m sorry.

“Amelia” Meredith cracks a small smile when their eyes meet again, her voice uncharacteristically soft when she places a hand over Amelia’s forearm, giving it a squeeze like she is trying to ground her and push all thoughts away from her head “Do you want me to take Scout to daycare?”

“No,” she replies, quicker than she planned but the thought of being separated from Scout (too) right now makes her anxious and irritated “It’s..fine. We will wait for him together. I’m just-He could have-“ she draws a long audible breath and she finds hard to speak when her heart is in her throat.

“He didn’t, Amelia. He is okay. It’s okay”

“Right. He is okay.” she sighs, heavy, trying to hold the sob in as to not disturb Scout peacefully sleeping in her arms. But as she sees Maggie walking inside the emergency room, eyes soft and caring, she feels it pressing harder and harder in her chest. She tries to hold in but she knows it’s useless, Maggie has always gets her way inside Amelia’s heart, sneaky as she is, finding ways in between the cracks.

“Are you okay?” Maggie asks and she nods once, then she sees nothing but blurred images of her sisters.

//

“Doctor, I can’t die”

She turns around away from putting Scout on the bed she made for him to face Link, her surprised gaze finding his, It’s only been a few hours, she thinks, giving him a soft smile as she walks towards the bed. She’s glad he is awake, even if he looks like he is not fully functioning right now

“I have-My girlfriend, she- -I love her. Her name is Amelia-I can’t die.” he sounds disoriented and scared, much like she felt when the accident happened.

He tries to get up in his euphoria to go searching for her (even though she is literally right in front of him but his brain must be a little fuzzy from the anesthesia) and whines when he feels discomfort in his arm.

“Ok, calm down. You won’t die, Link” she comforts him, and her hands are on his chest pushing him back down on the bed then fixing his pillows

“Woah, hey! what are you doing? I have a girlfriend”

“I’m helping you get comfortable. Don’t move around too much or you will hurt your arm.”

“I love my Amelia so don’t get near me” he insists, pushing her hands and pillows away with his good arm. He is pouting when she looks up at him, adorable is the first thing that comes to mind then ridiculous when she gets her hands pushed again for trying to reach for a pillow.

“Link, stop moving” she sighs “I am your... Amelia” he stops moving immediately and she can finally put the pillows under his arm like it were before he pushed them all away

“Hi, Ames” His voice turns gentle and his eyes are soft and dreamy, making her laugh a little

“Hey, Atticus”

“I love it when you call me that” he says, words coming out all slurred and she wants to say she knows but he is already on his next words before she can say anything else. He is speaking 10 words per millisecond and she can’t understand half of it. She can catch a few “I love you”s and “I’m so sorry”s, and she thinks he might have said something like “I don’t need a wedding or any of that, please believe me” before he falls right back asleep, probably exhausted from talking all of his energy away.

“You are so silly, Atticus Lincoln” she says in a whisper, trying to not wake him, and she fears the sound of her heart beating fast and loud inside her chest just might do it.

She already knows he is sorry. He has apologized for it already, they’ve had the (full of tears) talk. And they agreed on taking a break from each other for a reason.They want different things and as much as he seems to be willing to sacrifice his dreams for her, she is not sure she finds it fair that he does so. He deserves the big family he wishes for and if he loves to be a dad so much then he should be a dad to more kids. She thinks she loves him enough to let him go and watch him be a father to a bunch of not-hers-children.

She could handle it.

But now, as she looks at him, and as she feels his hand search for hers as he sleeps, her confidence slips away entirely (if she’s really honest, she would admit that every time they are at work and he looks at her, out of the corner of his eyes like he does when he thinks she can’t see him, she questions if breaking up was really a good idea at all) and she thinks she is finally ready to admit to herself that she would never handle it and that the thought of almost losing him today has made her completely terrified of having a single second more of her life without him.

She thinks of messaging her therapist to say she finally gets it when the sound of Link moving and waking up snaps her out her thoughts.

“Hey, you are awake again. How are you feeling?” she asks

He hums in response, closes his eyes back and she thinks he might fall asleep again before he opens them again, staring at the ceiling “My arm hurts so bad right now” he replies, voice all husky and weak but a little more awake than he was an hour ago and she immediately grabs him the cup of water she left on his bedside table, he drinks the water slowly and asks, “Who are you?”

She thinks he might be just joking around but as she stares at his face, she sees he is completely serious.

“I’m your...girlfriend...Amelia?” she huffs out a small laugh, waiting for his response and while he seems surprised, he still carries a positive expression on his face.

At least he is not speaking another language yet, she thinks. She examines him for any sign of brain injury, checks his vitals and he seems fine to her but she still sends a message to Meredith and Owen and schedules new exams, just to be sure.

“You‘re really pretty. Like really pretty.” he confesses, in an attempted whisper but she can still hear him loud and clear. Amelia considers herself hard to surprise when it comes to flirting and cheesy pick up lines, she has never been a shy woman. But Link reminds her everyday how easy it has always been for him to make her face get hot and red as she blushes,

“The anesthesia must be still working its way out of your body, I think.” she says, more to herself than to him, trying to hide the way she seemed flushed

“So we are dating? Like, for real?” he asks, his eyes seems to be fighting to stay focused on hers, he looks all funny but, still, he takes her breath away nonetheless and she chuckles.

“Well, we have a son together” she looks towards the makeshift bed their son is resting in as she speaks “so I’m guessing yes, it’s for real.”

“A son?!” he yells a bit, his eyes wide and she tells him to keep it low before he wakes up Scout and the entire hospital floor “Wow.” He whispers, eyes softens and the smile on his face is so big she can’t help but mirror it “Does he look like you? I hope he looks like you...”

She grins knowingly, “You have mentioned he is as stubborn as I am, once or twice”

“Good. You seem great” he sighs and she can’t help but wish she was filming this for leverage later. He looks so goofy. “If we are dating...And I still can’t believe I’ve been this lucky” he admits softly, reaching out to her hand with his good arm and she decides he doesn’t need to be reminded that they are on a break “Can I kiss you? I’m scared I will wake up from this dream and you won’t be here”

Before she even gets a response out, her body seems to go gravitating towards him on its own and she is so close, she can see that his pupils are almost completely dilated, his eyes dark like the night unlike the clear sky blue it usually is and her heart seems to be too loud in her ears. She doesn’t wait to talk herself out of this, or for any thoughts that might make her reconsider, she just goes willingly, leaning towards him and lowering her head until she can feel the air he is breathing in her lips. When their lips touch, she closes her eyes and feels him pull her tight against his heart.

Thirty seconds, she thinks. It’s all it takes.

But doesn’t seem enough.

When they pull back she lays a caressing hand against his cheek and feels the walls inside her heart crumble at the tender look in his eyes. He blinks slowly once, twice and then a third time, like he is trying hard to stay awake. “It’s okay, go to sleep” she tells him, just in case he is thinking of forcing himself to stare at her all night. He turns his face into her palm, presses a small kiss to the center of it, mumbles something she can’t hear but can guess what then falls back asleep.

“I will be here, Link. I promise”

//

1 year later

“You know, when I was in the hospital for...um...the arm...” she hums in response, pushes her head deeper on his neck, she is almost entirely on top of him but she knows he won’t complain, not when she has her lips busy collecting kisses down the side of his neck “I had the weirdest dream. It was like I was meeting you for the first time, I think? It’s all fuzzy”

His hands trails down to her waist, touching her whole body and pressing her against him. His grip on her tightens as she nips and sucks on his skin.

Still, he continues “All I can remember is that I fell in love with you, immediately.” and she has to part her lips away from him for a second, remembering the exact moment he is referring to and he whines impatiently at the loss of contact.

“Of course you did” she grins wickedly and he looks at her with a grin of his own that turns into a frown when she says, “I’m so pretty. Like really pretty” then his eyes widens, seeming to discover the secret she has been hiding this whole time as his brain remembers why that phrase seems so familiar. He firmly but gently pushes her down onto the soft duvet of their bed, his weight on top of her now and the sudden change causes her to giggle loudly, carefree and full of love.

She expects him to kiss her but it doesn’t come, he stays watching her like she found out he is so fond of doing every other day, his eyes amazed over the fact that he can see her, be with her. And in this moment, she feels loved.

When their lips touch, it’s all consuming with passion, trying to satisfy the never dying need to be with each other like the concept of time don’t seem to work on them. They could stay like that forever, two hours and even just thirty seconds and still would never be enough. Time seems to be too short to be with each other, too long to be a part.

But still, she thinks, if she had to chose, thirty seconds with him or none at all she knows what she would choose.

Thirty seconds. It’s all it takes.

And she would love him,

Like it would never end.

[sheabeeprime]

I Drive Me Mad

AO3 Link

By: @sheabeeprime for @superherotiger as part of @friendly-neighborhood-exchange -> I'm so sorry this is late. I worked really hard though and wouldn't even read my story until this was posted so I hope you love it <3

Rating: Teen + Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark

Summary:

Even though he couldn’t make out most of the distinct features that would confirm this figure to be human, let alone someone he knew, he wasn’t afraid. This man wasn’t scary like his captors had been. No, he radiated safety and warmth and through the armor plating that now gently caressed his cheek, Peter detected a familiar smell of expensive cologne mixed with motor oil which he recognized as home. “D-Dad? Please…help me,” Peter whimpered, fighting spirit returning ever so slightly as he resisted the need to allow his eyes roll back into his skull and fall into the forever slumber. It hurt to stay awake and to try and comprehend reality, but something inside of him said that he had to. He had to, if not for himself than for the blob of red and gold which held him close. He couldn’t imagine how terrible it would be for a father to lose their only child. “It’s okay Peter; you’re going to be okay." Or: In the aftermath of his kidnapping, Peter takes comfort from Tony during a Thunderstorm.

References to Torture

The first time Peter called Tony “Dad,” he was tired and 100% drugged out. Whatever his kidnappers injected him with was strong, with its effects still lingering even after his captors ceased their torture and left for him dead. Peter only hoped the reason they finally abandoned his husk was because they realized Iron Man and the rest of the Avengers were hot on their tail.

It took an additional 36 hours after that, however, before Tony and the others finally found him. At that point Peter was damn near dead.

Days prior he was still trying to fight through the toxins as they were administered. He tried to stay awake and learn everything he could about his captors... Now, the spiderling was just trying to save his energy enough to stay alive, to maintain his vital functions, even if poorly.

Peter couldn’t even hold his head up anymore; allowing it to lull from one side to the other when his mentor tried to shake him back into awareness. The unpleasant feeling of his head rolling about his shoulders, however, was just barely enough ignite the fringes of his mind with a semi-consciousness. He mentally reached for the feeling, trying to hold onto it as long as possible.

“D-Dad?” He asked, tongue thick and cottony.

It took all his enhanced strength, but Peter lifted his head up just enough so that when his eyelids fluttered open, he was looking at the blurred figure before him in their eyes.

Even though he couldn’t make out most of the distinct features that would confirm this figure to be human, let alone someone he knew, he wasn’t afraid. This man wasn’t scary like his captors had been. No, he radiated safety and warmth and through the armor plating that now gently caressed his cheek, Peter detected a familiar smell of expensive cologne mixed with motor oil which he recognized as home.

“D-Dad? Please…help me,” Peter whimpered, fighting spirit returning ever so slightly as he resisted the need to allow his eyes roll back into his skull and fall into the forever slumber.

It hurt to stay awake and to try and comprehend reality, but something inside of him said that he had to. He had to, if not for himself than for the blob of red and gold which held him close. He couldn’t imagine how terrible it would be for a father to lose their only child.

“It’s okay Peter; you’re going to be okay.”

He clung to the feeling of hope that being in this figure’s arms brought him. Hands still bound behind his back with vibranium cuffs, Peter simply nuzzled into the neck of who he hoped to be his father, breathing in a heavy and ragged way while trying to hold back tears as the man cradled him and whispered sweet nothings, only stopping on the occasion to bark orders at the other Avengers.

Peter tried to ignore how every fiber of his body seemed to suddenly be subjected to hot flames when he was finally lifted up by the red and gold. As they took off into the air, Peter moaned, head throbbing to the same rhythm of his uneven pulse. His senses were both still dulled and on overdrive. He couldn’t even enjoy the way the cool air that filtered past them brought relief to his burning body because of the simultaneous wind sounds and air pressure that pounded in his ears.

Landing had to be worse than flying though. Peter wasn’t sure how long they’d been in the air for prior to hitting the ground, but the jostle it wrought was enough to displace Peter’s empty stomach such that his body, tired as it was, instinctually lurched forward in an attempt to dry heave. The strong arms holding him tightened their fatherly grip as Peter trembled in the aftermath, praying that the numbness he felt before might return and mask this pain once again.

There seemed to be no time to try and relax though. Almost immediately after his stomach attempted to turn inside out did a group of hands try to pry the crime-fighting-spider from his human safety blanket. Peter half expected the metal man to defend him, so when the man instead began the relinquish the hold he had on Peter to the group of strangers, Peter felt fear strike his heart.

“No!” he cried out, pushing back into the chest of the one person he knew was safe while trying to violent kick at his attackers.

“Pete, it’s okay. They just want to help. You’re safe,” The figure spoke in his ear, voice smooth and even, never once showing there was a reason to panic.

The words seemed to cocoon the spiderling up like his favorite MIT Hoodie. They allowed just the smallest morsel of comfort to sink into his skin and convinced him to momentarily stop bracing against the mass of hands just long enough for them to somehow release him from confines of the vibranium cuffs.

When Peter felt the pressure on his writs dissipate, his arms immediately snapped forward to wrap around his red and gold savior, gripping into the alloy mixture without fear of denting it. The person behind the armor didn’t even flinch he crunched the suit like aluminon foil.

“Don’ wan you ‘o leave me,” Peter slurred.

A couple minutes of silence passed, where the figure just hushed Peter by massaging his arms with one hand, supporting him still with the other, until the teenager could be coaxed into letting go and laying onto a gurney. When he finally relinquished the last of his grip and the medical staff began to work, Peter felt a stab of panic into his heart again. Behind his eyes, he could see the masked faces of his captors, taunting him in his intoxicated, helpless state and reaching to inflict more pain. Before Peter could open his mouth to scream, however, the sensation of someone holding his hand cut through the vision, anchoring him to reality.

The hand was about the size of the metal ones holding onto him earlier, except this time they were made of flesh. They felt soft yet calloused; gentle yet firm.

“Dad?”

Peter blinked a couple times, double vision lining up long enough to see Tony Stark’s face hovering over his own, concerned eyes and a worried smile. He ran his free hand over Peter’s sweat and blood matted hair, just like a parent would.

“It’s okay, little Bambino. I’m not going anywhere.” ~~~~~~~~

Peter didn’t remember calling Tony “Dad.” Actually, Peter didn’t remember much from his recuse at all. He wasn’t as embarrassed about it as his mentor, and even he himself, thought he was going to be though. Peter had recused people from kidnapping situations before and accepted that sometimes they say and do weird things. Never mind the fact that he had been fighting off calling Iron Man “Dad” in everyday conversations about a month prior to the incident.

Surprisingly, Peter was more flustered to find out that, true to his word, Tony stayed with him through all the poking, prodding, and evaluating. Even when surgery was deemed necessary

to reset some broken bones Peter had, Tony was there while he was put under and prepped for surgery. It was not until the lead doctor, Helen Cho, insisted that his presence in the surgery suite would be unsanitary and could inhibit the team of doctors that the billionaire finally did step aside. And even still, Tony’s face was the first he saw when he woke up.

Peter made a pretty quick recovery after that, all things considered. Once he gained enough weight back for his super healing to begin and work again, his bones and wounds seemed to knit themselves back together at an astronomical rate. 48 days after the incident and Dr. Cho even cleared him to be Spider-Man again, to Tony and May’s disgruntlement.

But Peter figured, this kind of thing…it happens to heroes. It happened to Tony. Sure, that was before he became Iron Man, but it still counts. And anyway, he didn’t want it to stop him from helping people; from preventing that kind of thing from happening to anyone else. He did the time in the hospital, he went to Tony’s mandated therapy, he should be able to be Spider-Man. It was the best thing for him anyway; to just move on.

Because that’s what heroes do.

Right?

But while he may have recovered from his physical wounds, his mental ones seemed tattooed with ugly ink on the back of his skull

Peter found he no longer felt safe in the apartment, with the sounds of the city beneath him. Whenever he closed his eyes, the dripping of their old bathroom faucet, or the sounds of his neighbors arguing, or the smell of the trash on the curb somehow brought him back to that grimy warehouse he had been kept in.

And when he was out and about, Peter’s Spidey Sense would constantly thrum. It made him seem paranoid. He would jump at just the sound of car doors closing or cats meowing or even just his friends approaching from behind. Everyone felt too close, but also too far.

The nightmares had to be the worst of it. Every night, he felt tortured again. Sometimes they were memories, sometimes imaginative scenarios, but always his fears playing out before his eyes. He tried to immerse himself with Spider-Man patrols and schoolwork in the late hour of night when sleep felt like imprisonment, but that wasn’t helping his mental state either.

That’s how Peter found himself sleeping at the Tower.

Peter wasn’t sure if being so high up and far away from the streets was what helped him calm down, or the bullet proof windows, or if it was just being close to Tony, but something about the Tower allowed him to sleep, even if only a little bit.

May was the first to approve of the arrangement.

“Anything to help my baby get better,” she said.

Tony had been pushing for him to stay anyway.

“It’s safer,” the genius would claim. And he was right, but there was more too it than that.

Either way, the Spiderling now had his own Star-Wars themed room in the Stark penthouse, down the hall from the master bedroom. And he would be lying if he said staying with his mentor hadn’t been great. The long lab days, the movie nights, the expensive family dinners, all of it was wonderful…except for one thing.

Thunderstorms.

KA-DUUUM!

Peter snapped forward in his bed, a mangled shout caught somewhere in this throat, never to make it out into the open. His eyes darted to the window which was being battered by rain. Part of him was thankful for the thunder for waking him from his impending nightmare. The other part of him, however, knew that this was almost worse.

FU-FOOM!

Another burst of noise had Peter jumping from his bed and into fighting position, hands balled into fists to keep them from shaking.

The tower was not soundproof. And being so high up, Peter felt the sounds of the storm were the only things that were made to be even louder.

Peter could feel see his veins throbbing with increased blood pressure. He squeezed his eyes shut to try and focus on his breathing, but the darkness behind his eyelids made his mind swim with anxiety.

“There is nothing to fear. There is nothing to fear. I’m safe here. I’m safe here,” Peter whispered to himself.

Logically, Peter knew this was just a harmless storm. He used to love watching them out of the massive windows in the tower. But ever since he came home from being kidnapped, he couldn’t handle it. The noises, the flashes of light, the way the tower seemed sway in the wind, all of it was too much for his heightened senses. The worst of it was, he didn’t know why. Maybe it was because it had been storming the night of his capture, or maybe it was just his PTSD, but either way it was driving him insane.

BARROOOM!

This time, Peter darted out of his room and into the hallway. Instinctually, he wanted to seek out comfort from the only other person in the house: Tony Stark. However, Peter was also trying to hide his fear of thunderstorms from his mentor, and up to this point he thought he had done a pretty damn good job. He had even had Ned hack FRIDAY so she wouldn’t alert Tony when he wasn’t sleeping well. He just didn’t want anyone to worry about him more than they already did. Which was a lot, by the way.

Tony didn’t need anything more weight on his mind, in Peter’s opinion. Despite how he hid behind a mask of sarcasm and sunglasses, Peter knew his mentor blamed himself for the world’s problems and carried that weight on his shoulders at all times. What kind of person would he be to add to that weight?

So, the young superhero padded past the Stark master bedroom and instead went into the kitchen to grab some water. He was about halfway done with his glass when another flash of lightening caused the kitchen-living area to momentarily flicker to life with a blinding white light. He could feel his stomach drop and hairs stand on end in the pitch black that followed, waiting for the room to be filled with sounds of thunder.

WA-BAMM!

CRASH!

Peter dropped his glass to the floor and jumped to the ceiling, whimpering when the glass he was using shattered beneath him. Tears pricked at the corner of his eyes as he crawled into the safety of a corner.

“Peter?”

Tony poked his head up over the back of his luxury couch, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes to help them adjust to the dark as he scanned the room for the spiderling. It wasn’t long before he spotted the human-sized form on the ceiling, huddling in a corner, silently sobbing.

“Oh Pete…”

Before Tony could even get up to go collect his kid, thunder struck again.

BUUU-DUDUMM!

Inhibitions falling, Peter scurried across the ceiling and dropped down on the couch next to Tony, curling up into his side like an infant.

“Dad, I’m sacred…” he mumbled into the genius’ oil-stained shirt, fear completely taking over.

Tony was sure Peter was unaware of what he had called him, but one look into the teen’s desperate, pleading eyes, and Tony decided he would let it be. The title gave him a warm, tingling feeling anyway. He knew in a second, he would be honored to be this kid’s Dad.

So, Tony did what any Dad would do and wrapped his arms around the boy, rubbing circles into his back and told him it would be okay. And they sat like the for the whole duration of the storm, until sobs became sniffles.

Peter was the first to break away, although not far enough that he was out of his mentor’s strong hold.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Stark. I don’t know what came over me,” he said, faced flushed from both crying and embarrassment.

Tony gave him the same concerned eyes and a worried smile that he vaguely remembered from his rescue. The man then ran his hand through the boy’s curls and, in a move that surprised them both, kissed the top of Peter’s head.

“You have nothing to be ashamed of. I know how difficult recovery can be. After Afghanistan…well…I guess you could say storms bothered me too, and I don’t have your senses,” the billionaire admitted.

Peter was shocked.

“Really? Is that why you were sleeping on the couch?” he asked.

“Uhh, actually, I just stay out here because I worry about you…ya know, in case you need me,” Tony answered, looking away a little nervously. He felt exposed, although deep inside knew his kid would never exploit that.

“Oh. I’m sorry,” Peter said quietly.

Tony noticed his guilt sinking in and immediately looked back at the kid and squeezed his arm so Peter would do the same.

“Hey, don’t be sorry. I really don’t mind.”

Peter looked skeptical.

Tony sighed.

“Listen. You are so good, Pete. What happened to me, I deserved that. But you? You do nothing be help people who have no advocate. I am so proud of you and the least I can do is be here when you need me. I’m not particularly good with my emotions but know that just how Iron Man will always look out for Spider-Man, Tony Stark will always look out for Peter Parker. Okay?”

Peter smiled. A genuine smile. Tony could swear it stopped raining in the moment and the room seemed almost brighter.

“I’m here for you too,” Peter said.

Damn this kid was too good.

“It won’t always hurt like this. It’s okay to lean on other people. I guess that’s something I’m still learning too.”

“We’ll get through this, Mr. Stark. Together.”

Tony smiled down at his kid, but a sudden thought turned his sweet smile into a mischievous smirk.

“Don’t you mean ‘Dad’?”

Peter flushed.

“Mrrrr. Starrrkkk.”

[popculturebuffet]

Uncle Scrooge by Don Rosa:  The Isle at the Edge of Time (Thank You Comission For Rosie Isla)

Hello all you happy people! Today’s review is a bit special as it’s the result of another review. See I had trouble finding a translation of the subject of last weeks’ mother’s day special, Family Ties. 

No not that one. I have Paramount+. I can watch all the Family Ties I want and that’s a fact that i’m pleased as punch about. 

No it was the story 80 is Prachtig, called Family Ties in the copy used, Della’s first major comics appearance and one that explains what happened to her in the classic continuity, one that clearly served as the foundation for her far more fleshed out 2017 versions personality and backstory. It also had Pinocchio in it for some reason, and spent most of it’s large run time on a meta comedy plot that had nothing to do with the reason anyone wanted to read this story in the first place.

But despite being a vitally important story, it never got an english translation, something that baffled me till I read the story and found cameos of the racist indigenous stereotypes from Peter Pan. In 2014. You may commence booing. Even with how weird the story was I simply couldn’t find the story googling it and the Della tag is too vast and deep to go spelunking in.

So what’s all this have to do? Simple I put out a post last month when neither I nor Kev, who wanted to comission it as part of Moons, Millionares and Mothers, my coverage of all three season 2 Ducktales story arcs, could find a copy and offered a review to whoever found it.  Weeks passed I got nothing.. then in the 11th hour I got a break as the lovely @rosieisla​ found a translation that was on this very site, one she seemed to have helped with. As a result I could do the review and as a man of my word, offered it up despite her clearly having not seen that part of the post and simply having done this to be nice. Still she gladly took up the offer and offered me my pick of two stories: The Carl Barks Story Back to Long Ago or this one. 

As for WHY I picked this one Back To Long Ago didn’t seem bad, i’m just not a fan of “The Cast is put in the past as their own ancestors” type deals. Or in some cases put the cast as people from that time period. It’s just not for me and is most often done in TV where it can get really goofy, Beverly Hills 90210 being a prime example of this, though Girl Meets World was no slouch in being embarassing... that being said I really need to finish that show and miss it. 

So yeah when put up against a story with two intresting hooks and FLINTHEART GLOMGOLD, even if i’ts not the version that’s my boy, it was no contest. So what are these hooks you ask? Well join me under the cut and find out. 

We open with a weird stylistic choice: This story has a narrator complete with caption boxes. Now for those of you familiar with comics or pastiches of comics in tv and film, this probably dosen’t seem like a big deal. It was a common thing in comics from their inception to 90′s to have caption boxes, big boxes of text narrating the action to help move things along faster. It did start to fade out by the 80′s and was gone by the end of the 90′s for the most part, replaced instead with first person narration. It’s the kind of thing you’d see most often in the Golden and Silver Ages, with stuff like tihs

It’s not a BAD device, it’s good old cheesy and bombastic fun and some writers did get clever with it.. like that time Chris Claremont used the narration to yell at a greiving cyclops after he lost a teammate early in his long and storied run on the uncanny x-men. 

This is a objectively weird scene that’s still somehow effective by the by. On the one hand it does come off as Chris Claremont essentally bullying Cyclops who already feels guilty for a death that was not in fact his fault as Thunderbird was told the plane he was attacking with fleeing villian Count Nefaria was about to explode and refused to listen.. and that they needed to get rid of either him or Wolverine as both served the same purpose and chose the non-white guy. 

On the other htough it comes off just as much as Scott beating himself up in his grief and anger over the event and his perceived failings as a leader. It’s good stuff and shows why this run caught on as this was only three issues in. Also the rest of the issue features the X-Men fighting a giant cyclopian demon that Cyclops accidently freed in his rage by destroying the stone thing keeping him imprisoned. No really here’s the cover

Huh so tha’ts what Nifty’s dad looks like. Neat. Also I REALLY hope we get the X-Men fighting aliens or demons in the MCU. Unlike the XCU the MCU isn’t alergic to getting batshit.. and for the record Deadpool and New Mutants are the exception, not the rule.

My point that I swear I do have is that this was common practice for most comics.. but never really for Disney Duck comics. It popped up ocasionally, like with Scrooge’s introduction, but Barks and those after him never really used them that much. Sure they’d have caption boxes for flasbacks and what not but Barks and Co geninely only used this sort of thing to set up a story. The most i’ve seen it in a duck comic is life and times and even then i’ts usually only used for gags or to set up the passage of time, as the story IS covering decades and thus often needed to have montages to show time passing, and in the case of chapter 11, had to cover decades in the span of a single chapter, so it’s not like they had many other options. So even Rosa as a personal quirk didn’t really use these often. 

Rosa used this specifically because he felt the plot was complicated by the use of the international date line. As for what it is, it’s essentially a line marking calender dates from one side of the hemisphere to the others. To use the offical defentition from the National Ocean Service I found via a quick google:

“The International Date Line, established in 1884, passes through the mid-Pacific Ocean and roughly follows a 180 degrees longitude north-south line on the Earth. It is located halfway round the world from the prime meridian—the zero degrees longitude established in Greenwich, England, in 1852.

The International Date Line functions as a “line of demarcation” separating two consecutive calendar dates. When you cross the date line, you become a time traveler of sorts! Cross to the west and it’s one day later; cross back and you’ve “gone back in time."

Despite its name, the International Date Line has no legal international status and countries are free to choose the dates that they observe. While the date line generally runs north to south from pole to pole, it zigzags around political borders such as eastern Russia and Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.”

Rosa felt this made the story complicated.... and that... really isn’t remotely true. The narration is mostly used for gagas and really dosen’t clarify anything. it’s mostly used well in the opening.. but the actual explinations for the date line are clear enough in the story that even if I hadn’t looked the thing up, I still would’ve got it and i’m sure a kid would’ve too. It just feels like a weird thing to ruminate on, especially because he’s got actual things to make up for: while to his credit the native american characters he cribbed from carl barks are sympathetic, their culture respected and treated decently and used for a green aseop, their dialouge is stitled and sterotypical something he dosen’t even comment on (And these trades ewren’t THAT long ago) 

And of course it dosen’t help that he dosen’t even comment on using a common device in american superhero boooks.. in the same volume where he ONCE again makes an unwanted and outdated diatribe about superhero comics. I’ll probably cover the Super Snooper Strikes again so I can throughly tear this apart but higlights include: Calling superhero comics “Unwanted” just because he dosen’t like them personally, when people like me would disagree and they’ve lasted through a LOT of highs and lows, outdately saying they took over the American market as the only suitable comics which while true for a TIME,but by 2015 when this book was printed is laughably out of date, as non superhero works like The Walking Dead, Saga, and Scott Pilgrim were massively popular, one of my faviorite comics that is entirely slice of life and would go on to bea huge hit, Giant Days, re-debuted that very year. He also has the fucking gal to insult The Uncanny X-Men by name and I swear to god I did not know this when I made those references earlier, but as you probably guessed REALLY god me livid. 

And this is just on his COMMENTS on the story I can’t imagine just how bad the content itself is and having read the first few pages which come off as Rosa using Donald to essentially do an “old man yells at cloud rant” about superhero comics, I really don’t want to. Might make htis a patreon exclusive or again would do it on comissoin. You all make the call.... the point is I don’t likes his elitist bullshit about superhero comics, and this is clearly something that gets my hackles up as I just spent a good two paragraphs of an entirely unrealted review yelling at the guy for it. I don’t like when he does this and this authors notes entirley felt like an excuse. I GET the dark age of comics were bad, they REALLY were that bad, but I will NEVER accept painting an enitre genre as bad just because one work in it is bad. And I wont accept it from someone who himself writes about an often throughly unlikeable anti-hero for a living.  Scrooge may not have a gun on his gun on his gun or get to stabbing or have pouches, but he DOES finacially abuse his nephew, scoff at people’s personal troubles, and often refuse to use his wealth to help others in general. So yeah in conclusion Rosa really needs to say less about this subject. 

Okay so where were we.. right the story hadn’t even started yet. Jesus. 

Okay so our story begins with the narrator. Whose going on about time and what not. The main point of this speech about time is that it’s night in Duckburg and Scrooge is going to bed as, even being the workhorse that he is, he can’t keep going 24 hours. While he’s snoozing though something major happens and it’s the hook that made me pick this story along with the international dateline one.. an island rises thanks to volcanic erruption.. and the lava is GOLD. That’s just pure unabashed classic Duck Stuff: a mysterious treasure or phenominon of gold bound to bring scrooge in. 

But Scrooge isn’t stupid: the sun comes up and the world still spins while he sleeps, so he set up a satalite to monitor for this sort of thing. The thing naturally goes nuts.. and even more naturally breaks down becasue Scrooge bought cheap parts. A nice gag and a fully in character way to bring our antagonist into the picture, as the Satellite of Loaded falls in the middle of South Africa... right on the property of my boy Flintheart Glomgold. 

This is something Rosa brought up in his commentary for the story i’d never thought about. It turns out Glomgold being a citzen of Duckburg WASN’T an invention of the original Ducktales but the comics: some overseas had understandably moved him from his home country of South Africa. Him bieing in the same town as Scrooge instead of half a world away allows for easier setups and more intresting ones.

Rosa however being obdient to Barks Version of things, ketp Glomgold in South Africa like barks did, which was an .. ifffy decision given Apartheid had JUST ended at the time of this story. Not so much in the reboot as not only had apartheid been long gone by the time of the reboot, but that’s more fair. Still we do get some gorgeous vistas as a result as Glomgold’s minon goes to look at it and finds it’s from McDuck Mining company... Glomgold’s reaction is obvious. 

So on that note we cut to Scrooge rushing to Donalds house and forcing him awake and not telling him anything at first. Look his Ducktales Counterpart straight up kidnapped his donald in my last review, I’d call this a win. He also tries to dress Donald while explaning both his panic to find the crashed satlitle and what it found: the golden island. The end result of him dressing donald is worth a chuckle

So after Donald puts his shirt and little hat on our heroes get rollin rollin rollin what keep rollin rollin rollin who to Manilla. On the plane we get the scene I mentioned: The boys make a quip about Scrooge having lost a day and the group go over the international date line. It’s a fun little scene especially Donald trying to get paid early at the end. Classic scrooge and donald stuff without the abusive undertones some of their classic stuff has. 

Meanwhile Glomgold works out the data and finds out about the gold island, and his excitement accidently wakes a giraffe outside.. welll it was nice knowing him, Giraffes are the deadliest species known to man.. here’s an educational video t back that up....

So at Manilla Airport, Scrooge finds out abotu the south african crash, figuring he’ll get a laugh out of glomgold being there ... only for Donald to spot the Jet. Scrooge figures this can’t be anything good... now come on man maybe he’s just promoting his energy drink. 

As super sayin god super sayian as my witness, I will never get tired of Ultra Instinct Glomgold here. 

Scrooge isn’t so nice about that though and figures he better find out if Glomgold knows about the island and bribes one of the fueling crew for his uniform. He sucesssfully eavesdrops on Glomgold talking to his pilot, finding out from him exactly WHERE the island is. He ends up hilariously botching the mission though: when getting ready to leave Glomgold complains abotu the price of gas and that naturally causes Scrooge, just as cheap, to join in... and Glomgold to find out it’s Scrooge. The two wrestle outside the plane but before this can progress to a game of Naked Robber an airport security guy comes up and Scrooge cleverly claims that Glomgold’s plane has an infestiation, requring it to be quanrantined and allowing Scrooge to jet on.. thoguh not with an actual jet. With Glomgold seemingly dispatched, he can afford to save some money and take his time with a seaplane and I know just the man for the job. 

Oh nope looks like he’s busy. So one time related rambles later we meet Keoki, their asian pilot from the tiny island of Wookawooka.. and no that’s not a real place i checked... and no Fozzy dosen’t own it his check bounced. That being said it is a very well done represntation of someone from a smaller country: he’s doing this job to try and bring money back home, but being a seaplane captain just isn’t enough and his island is dying. Scrooge naturally is about as sympathetic as you’d expect, having apparently never even heard of the idea of a bonus when Huey, Dewey or Louie suggests it. 

Even less suprising is that Glomgold streaks by in his Jet:turns out Manilla was already overun with the bugs Scrooge claimed and Donald rubs it in that had Scrooge got a JET this wouldn’t of been an issue. 

So Glomgold easily beats them there, and to add insult and actualy injury to a cash based one, our heroes get blasted by golden lava on the way in and crash. Should’ve gotten launchpad... got the crashing professional. Keoki is dispondent as this means his people are doomed. He also dosen’t know waht staking a claim is when Scrooge mentions it and the boys bring him up to speed with the poor guy saying he wish he could for WookaWooka. Donald also makes a valid point about how greedy and heartlress scrooge can be.. and really billiionares in general.

No no YOUR the Grouch who refuses to have one drop of emapthy. Donald’s just pissed at your general selfish and terrible behavior. 

Glomgold glomgloats and has seemingly won... but naturally that rant that seemed extranious at the time about the date line comes into play: turns out the Island is on it, and since glomgold put his marker int he west, Scrooge simply puts his in the east which is a whole day before. Now GRANTED there’s nor eal legal prescendice for the intetaoinal date line itself , as noted above... but there’s enough witnesses in Scrooge’s favor that it simply does not matter anyway. Scrooge SEEMINGLY wins.

But Huey, Dewey Or Louie instead backs another claim: Keoki’s from earlier. While it was made in gest, he and the others along with Donald back it as witnsses instad. WookaWooka is saved and SCrogoe ends the story yelling at the narrator.

Final Thoughts: Don Rosa.. did not like this story, feeling it wasn’t one of his best and apologizing for it. I however.. really loved it. It’s not PERFECT: the narration feels not entirely necessary and the gag isn’t as funny as he thinks, though the payoff of scrooge saying “it’s time for this story to end” is fucking hilarous. I also feel it’s a bit too compressed: the story is only 16 pages and was only THAT long because Rosa added a few for exposition, a worthy addition. This feels like one of his 30 page adventure stories but slightly crammed into half the length. I also feel the golden island bit was BADLY underused as it’s such a cool setting but barely shows up in the story. 

But despite that.. it’s still a fun story: as is standard for Rosa the art is gorgeous and the humor is great. And unlike some stories where Rosa casually ignores how terrible scrooge is, here it’s his own greed and hubris that do him in: had he actually agreed to help Keoki, the boys likey would’ve let him keep the island but his own cold refusual to be a human being does him in, just as his cheapness nearly did. Flintheart is also decent here.. not the deepest foe but frankly most classical duck antagonists really aren’t all that fleshed out, and we still get some good bits with him. The dateline bit, while telegraphing that it will be important, as I said REALLY isn’t that hard to understand. All in all while i’ll agree with Rosa this isn’t his BEST, it’s still a really damn good story and one he shoudln’t be ashamed of. 

Tommorow: Green Eggs and ham is back for some train shenanigans! Kay. 

Saturday: The Tom Retrospective returns for it’s last detour! Eclipsa and Moon team up to stop meteora but grapple with diffrent wants: One to save her daughter.. the other to stop waht she clearly sees as an out of control monster. The result.. will only lead to tragedy and a hell of a two parter. 

If you liked this review consider joining my patreon, patroen.com/popculturebuffet. At as low as 2 bucks a month you get accesss to my patreon discord, exclusive reviews, and to pick a short when I do one of my shortstragavanzas, a marthon of theatrical shorts honoring a characters birthday. And given Donald’s is next month, now’s the time to get on board. 

But if you go up to 5 you get a guaranteed review of whatever you want every month, and will get me to my next milestone, which will give everyone including yourself a monthly public darkwing duck review, reviews of the two Ducktales minis’ I haven’t covered (Time is Money and SuperDuckTales) and a reivew of the Danny Phantom film the Ultimate Enemy. So please join today and if you cannot, like this review, subscribe and give me your opinions on it bellow. Or even if you can feedback is always appricated and I will see you at the next rainbow. 

[albertasunrise]

No More - Chapter 3

Summary: Frankie has been your best friend since you were in the 2nd grade. You were each other’s first’s, he, your first love and as you’d both gotten older you always somehow fell into bed together after one too many drinks with the boys. You don’t know how much longer you can keep this up but fate has other plans for you both and events are set in motion to decide for you.

Warnings: Angst, Vague description of Breastfeeding 

Pairings: Frankie/ Reader

~

Benny stays glued to the spot, looking at you in disbelief as the words you’d uttered swirl around inside his brain. Frankie was the father of your baby? How was that even possible? His mouth moved but no words fell from his lips. You didn’t even notice, just continued to stare at the tiny infant in front of you.

‘Would you like to hold her?’ Asks a nurse as she comes to stand beside you.

You don’t know what you want at that moment. A part of you wants to hold her and a part of you feels like you don’t deserve to. You’d lied to your best friend, to Frankie about who the father of the baby was and now he was fighting for his life whilst you got to sit here, fine and well, and fawn over your new daughter.

‘I don’t know.’ You answer, feeling yourself getting a little nervous ‘What if I hurt her?’

‘You won’t.’ She replies with a smile ‘She’s small but she’s healthy. You’ll be fine to take her home when you're discharged.’

‘But she’s early!’ You exclaim, a little panicked ‘Isn’t it dangerous.’

‘She’ll be fine I promise.’ She replies, giving your shoulder a small squeeze ‘It's perfectly natural to feel nervous. She's your first and she's premature so you're naturally going to feel like she's made of glass. You don’t have to hold her now. We can bring her to you later if you’d like.’

‘That would be nice.’ You reply, smiling at her before allowing yourself to look at Benny.

You knew you had some explaining to do. You just didn’t even know where to start or how to explain the decisions you'd made that had led you to conceal the fact that Frankie was the father of your baby from them all… but most importantly from Frankie. You're taken back to your room a short while later and are greeted by Will leaning against the wall outside your door, his expression all to easy to read. The nurse coming to a stop just outside the door to allow you to speak to your friend.

‘How you feeling sweet?’ He asks as he bends down to hug you.

‘A little sore.’ You reply, giving him a weak smile.

‘You seen Fish?’ Asks Ben.

‘Yeah.’ He replies plainly, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands.

‘How is he?’ You ask, your voice shaking a little.

‘He’s in a bad way.’ He replies, letting his head fall back against the wall ‘He’s hooked up to a vent. Tubes are coming out of him left right and centre and he’s black and blue. Doc said that his vitals are a little stronger so that's a positive.’

‘Stay with her. I’m gonna go see him.’

You flinch at Ben’s refusal to use your name and Will doesn’t miss the sudden shift in the atmosphere either. His eyes flit between you and his brother, noting that Ben won’t even look at you.

‘What’s happened?’ He asks, tilting his head to one side.

‘Noth-‘

‘Fish is her kid's father.’ Spat Ben, nodding at the nurse ‘She lied to all of us.’ He finished as he shuffled passed his brother and disappeared down the corridor.

The nurse pushes you back inside your room and helps you back into your bed, Will staring at you in shock the entire time as he processes what his brother told him. When the nurse leaves, he continues to stand there for a while and an awkward silence fills the air.

‘What the fuck does he mean Fish is the father?’ He finally pipes up and you allow the tears you were holding back to fall ‘How?’

‘We’ve been sleeping together for years.’ You state, noting Will's eyes growing wider ‘We always kinda ended up in each other's beds after too much drink. For him, it's just a release but I’ve been in love with him for as long as I can remember. I tried to end it so many times but he has this power over me.’

‘Fish was still with Emily when your baby was conceived.’ He states and you nod grimly ‘He uh… He turned up at my place asking why I’d blanked him at Bens find and why I'd not been hanging out with you guys and he ended up coming on to me. I wanted to stop it but… It killed me that he’d cheated with me and that's why I went MIA for a while.’

‘Why didn’t you tell him the baby was his?’

‘You heard him! He and Emily got a fucking abortion because he doesn’t want kids!’ You growl ‘After the movie night he confronted me about it. Asked me if it was his and told me if it was he’d want me to get rid of it.’

‘Hun-‘

‘It was just easier to keep it from him.’ You sob, wiping your eyes with the back of your hands ‘I wanted her so badly but he didn’t so…’

‘I need to tell you something but it didn’t come from me.’

You look at him quizzically, waiting for him to elaborate on his statement but you can see the internal struggle that is raging inside him, this was obviously not his secret to tell.

‘Fish was gutted that Emily wanted to get rid of the baby.’ He says and your stomach sinks ‘She was the one that wanted to get rid of it not him. He went along to keep her happy but ultimately that's what drove them apart in the end.’

Suddenly it all made sense. That night when he’d come to you, how he’d admired your pregnant form and worshipped it. When you thought back to that night you remembered how he'd been so careful of your bump but his lips had also paid it particularly close attention to it.

‘Why did she want to get rid of it?’

‘She said she didn't want it. She’d told him it was for the best. That with his history he wasn’t fit to be a dad anyway. It had killed him but he loved her and he thought she was right.’ He replied, sitting down in the chair beside your bed ‘When Ben told him about how you were happy and excited about becoming a mum he realised that she’d taken that chance away from him and well… You know the rest.’

‘That’s why he said it.’

‘Said what?’

‘The night he asked me if the baby was his.’ You clarify, tear-filled eyes locking with Will's ‘He told me that no child deserved to have a dad like him… That he’d be a shit dad. He thought that because that's what she told him.’

Will simply nodded and you couldn’t help but sob. Your heart split in two as you contemplated the possibility that he’d die never knowing that he had a daughter. Your thoughts were interrupted by a nurse wheeling in a clear plastic cot, your baby wriggling inside.

‘You think you’d like to hold her now?’ She asks sweetly, scooping the infant up into her arms ‘She’s quite hungry so perhaps we can try breastfeeding her.’

You hold out your arms and watch as she carries the tiny bundle over to you, laying her gently in your embrace before working to loosen your gown. Your eyes are fixed on your daughter. She was the image of him with her sun-kissed skin, dark brown eyes and brown hair and you feel your heart expand inside of you.

‘Here.’ Says the nurse as she helps you position the baby so she can latch on to your breast and you gasp as she starts to suckle ‘Hows that?’

‘Weird.’ You giggle, looking at Will who’s in awe of the spectacle unfolding before his eyes ‘It feels so strange but in the most amazing way.’

‘She’s gorgeous.’ Says Will sweetly, grinning at the tiny creature in your arms ‘She’s so freakin’ small though.’

‘Well, she is a month early.’ Says the nurse, chuckling at his words ‘But she’ll grow quick. She’s a lucky little girl.’

The nurse then brought your daughter to you several times a day to feed and you felt yourself getting closer and closer to her with each visit. She was already a verbal little thing, something she definitely didn’t get from Frankie and you sit there for hours having one-sided conversations with her as she gazes up at you with her expressive eyes. You’d not seen Ben in two days. Will had told you he’d not left Frankie’s side, only when he was kicked out and then he went home. Will spent a lot of time with you, keeping you up to date with Frankie’s condition and hoe Ben was coping with everything.

‘He’s been taken off the vent and they’re happy with his progress.’ Says Will as he rocks your daughter in his arms ‘You got a name for her yet?’

‘I kinda want Frankie to help me choose one.’ You reply.

‘So you’re going to tell him then.’

‘After what you told me the other day I can’t, not, tell him.’ You reply ‘I don’t expect anything from him but he deserves the choice to be involved in her life.'

‘Will! Fish’s awake!’ Exclaims Ben as he practically bursts through the door.

‘He is?’ You ask, practically beaming at the news.

‘Yeah.’ Ben pants ‘Docs just checking him over but he’s awake.’

The baby starts to cry and Ben notices that it's his brother who’s holding her. His eyes flit between you and Will as he stands and bounces her in his arms in an attempt to soothe her, her cries soon turning to small sniffs as she calms down. You noticed the way Ben’s watching her and you smile at him, his eyes comically wide. You remember his face when he'd seen her on the ultrasound screen. His reaction to hearing her heartbeat. When he'd learnt that she was a girl. He'd pleaded for copies of the pictures despite not being the father and it had made you all the more excited for her to arrive. So that he could meet her.

‘You wanna hold her?’ You ask and his head whips towards you.

‘Can I?’

You nod with a smile and he eagerly takes her from his brother, grinning down at her as she gazes up at him. He studies her for a moment before looking up at you again.

‘She really does look like him doesn’t she.��

You nod, letting out a small chuckle as you watch him practically dance with her around the room, his smile growing wider when her little hand reaches for him.

‘I’m going to tell him, Ben.’ You state ‘I realise now it was wrong of me to keep this from him. I don’t want anything from him. Just want to give him the option to be part of her life.’

‘He won’t want to let her go once he sees her.’ Says Ben softly as he looks up at you once again and beams ‘She’s literally perfect.’

‘Let’s just hope she doesn’t get Frank’s nose.’ Will jokes and you all erupt into laughter.

~

‘Thanks for picking up the carrier and stuff.’ You say as you hug Benny ‘Although none of the clothes I have for her are going to fit.’ You groan upon stumbling onto that realisation.

‘Got that covered.’ Replies Will, handing you a gift bag filled with babygrows for 8-month premie babies along with special nappies.

You can’t help the tears that come, practically throwing yourself and at him ‘Thank you so much.’

‘You ready?’ Asks Ben, motioning down the corridor with the carrier that contained a conked out infant.

‘Yeah.’ You reply, your nerves evident in your voice ‘I just hope he doesn’t hate me.’

You’d not seen Frankie since the accident. The boys had agreed to come with you when you told him about his daughter and despite the fact you had back up, you were still terrified of telling him. Ben carried the baby as Will walked beside you, keeping an eye on you as you were still a little wobbly on your feet. When you arrived in his room you were greeted by the warmest smile, those familiar brown eyes taking away the worry for a moment as you walk up beside him.

‘I’m so glad you and the kid are okay.’ He says, squeezing your hand as you take his in yours.

‘Yeah, we’re okay.’ You reply ‘How are you feeling?’

‘Like I’ve been in a car accident.’ He jokes, wincing a little from chuckling ‘Where’s the squirt?’

‘She’s right here.’ Says Ben as he carries her over, stopping beside you and placing the carrier on the chair at your side.

Frankie studies her, smiling as he watches her wriggle and yawn before opening her eyes and staring at him. He sucks in a gasp as he locks her gaze, a single tear escaping from the corner of his eye as they just watch each other. You watch them for what feels like an eternity. The way she looks at him, it's like she knows that she's a part of him and you can't help but smile at that thought.

‘She’s…’ He pauses, finally braking her gaze to look at you ‘She’s mine isn't she?’

You simply nod, your heart racing in your chest as you wait for the inevitable onslaught of angry words that he was about to throw at you but they never come. Instead, you watch him sob as he returns his gaze to his daughter, smiling at her through his tears as he opens his mouth to speak again.

‘Can I-‘ He hiccups as he tries to calm himself ‘Can I hold her?’ The look in his eyes is one you'd never expected.

It's a mixture of confusion, shock and what you swear is pure, unadulterated love and you feel all the worry and terror you'd felt about telling him disappear like a puff of smoke on a windy day.

‘Yes! Yes of course you can Frankie.’ You say as you turn towards her and unbuckle her from her carrier, hushing her as she whines a little from being moved so suddenly.

She immediately settles the moment she’s in his arms letting out a big, gummy, yawn before falling asleep. He doesn’t speak for a while he just watches her sleep, chuckling when she twitches or squeaks and he wonders what she’s dreaming about. Wonders if she knows he’s her father.

‘She’s perfect.’ He says finally, still looking at her ‘What’s her name?’

‘I wanted to name her together.’ You state and he looks up at you in shock ‘If you want to that is.’

‘Yeah!! I uh... I’d like that.’

‘We’re going to give you two a little privacy.’ States Will as he smiles at you both ‘We’ll see if we can find some decent coffee.’

You watch the brothers leave before returning your attention to Frankie who’s gently rocking his baby girl in his arms, humming a tune you recognise from when you were kids. A tune that his mum had hummed to you on the day you'd found out your parents had died and you cried yourself raw in her arms, rocking you gently until you'd finally succumbed to exhaustion.

‘Frankie I’m sorry I lied. I-‘

‘It doesn’t matter now.’ He interrupts, beaming down at the tiny bundle in his arms ‘All that matters is that she’s perfect and she’s ours.’

‘I don’t expect anything from you.’ You state and that elicits a confused look from him ‘You can be as involved as you want. I don’t expect money or-.’

‘You don’t want to raise her together?’ He gives you a bemused look.

‘Well of course I do but she’s going to need to stay with me mainly for a while. Then we can look at her staying with you. Take it in turns to have her weekends or whatever.‘

‘I mean us being together. Raising her as a family.’ He clarifies and your a little shocked by his proposition.

Of course, you want nothing more than to raise her with him. To wake up to him every morning. To take it in turns doing night feedings and to watch her grow, but you know he doesn't love you and so you know it can never be. That it'll never work and so you have to push the idea from your mind. You need to be realistic.

‘Frankie… I get what you’re trying to do but I don’t want you to be with me just because we have a baby together.’ You state ‘We can’t play pretend. We’ll make each other miserable and that’s not fair on her.’

He wants to tell you that it wouldn’t be pretend. That he loves you and always has but he knows he's a little late now. That you’ll only believe actions now. His words will mean nothing. He's decided not to commit. Decided to walk out on the one thing he had that kept him grounded and so he knew that he had work to do. He had to prove his love. Instead of pushing it, he returns his attention to the thing he’d never realised he’d wanted. Or needed.

‘What about Emma?’ He pipes up, changing the subject completely.

‘Hmm?’

‘The name Emma... For her.’ He clarifies as he motions to the sleeping baby in his arms.

‘Emma.’ You test it on your tongue ‘I like it.’ You reply as you stand beside him and gaze down at the tiny thing you’d both created ‘She looks like an Emma.’

‘Yeah.’ He pauses as he looks up at you, something in his eyes making you weak at the knees ‘, Yeah she does.’

~

Chapter 4

[arigatouiris]

i’ll remember you // kuroo tetsuroo x reader (1/3)

Author’s Note: I absolutely adore the movie Kimi no Na Wa, and I guess this is a sort of reprised version? Don’t ask me how I got the idea, I have no clue lmao. Just started writing it one day and this is what I came up with. I gave it three parts because the whole thing is quite long. Do tell me what you think! 

Word count: 4243

Pairing: Kuroo Tetsuroo x Reader [Kimi no Na Wa re-write]

Summary: Everything had been perfectly normal until you woke up as a volleyball captain from a school you didn't go to, in a city you didn't live in. Ever since then, Kuroo Tetsuroo has been inching closer and closer into your life, wrecking almost everything that could perhaps be considered normal.

However, you never realized how vital he was to you; because you were sure you would understand upon seeing him.The struggle however, was remembering each other. Because what good would it do if you went to saw him and he didn't remember you? 

Well, the universe turns back time, of course. Until he did.

Warnings: angst, body-swapping, fantasy, reader is depressed, mentions of suicide, character death, slow burn, bittersweet end, awkward boners, mentions of porn

ｃｈ． ０１ — ｃｏｕｎｔｒｙ ｂｕｍｐｋｉｎ

You could not remember how you had fallen asleep last night.

You woke up with a faint stinging in the back of your head as if someone had hit you with a ball. You groaned, but you sounded gruffer than you'd remembered; as if you had an itch in your throat that you couldn't quite clear off. You felt as if your entire body had been stretched out longer than you were and it was strange, it wasn't as if you were injured or anything. You just cried yourself to sleep because you were turned down by the person you had a crush on for quite some time now. Letting out a breath, which you swore sounded like someone else instead, you raised yourself to come face to face with a room you had never seen before.

You could hear vehicles on the road outside, and your eyes narrowed, trying to decipher what was going on. You probably were still dreaming, that's for sure, since the first thing you'd always saw when you woke up was the window right in front of you. Now, there was no window but just a plain grey wall with a poster of a rather weird looking rat-like thing with a robot on its back, and the window instead was near the table with stacks and stacks of books lying on top of it. For a dream, this had way too much detail, but it wasn't as if you could complain. At least you weren't dreaming of Akio-kun, so that was something.

    "What in the world?"

Your eyes widened instantly before your hand went to wrap around your throat; and you let out a squeak, which again, didn't sound like you. Your heart was racing now and you searched for the bathroom in this dream and rushed inside, and your eyes came in contact with one of the most handsome boys you had ever seen. His hair could use a fix-up, but considering how you'd just woken up, you guessed this is how his bed hair looked like. His features were incredibly well-divided, his teeth were perfect, and he was freaking tall.

You were somebody else. Somebody handsome. Your eyes widened before feeling something heavy downward, a strange warmth spread all over your body when you looked down to see something poking out through the boy's underwear. Your face instantly reddened before screaming, not thinking if he lived alone or if his family could hear. You didn't care; you were not this boy, you were in a strange place.

Running back to the room, you tried to look for anything that made sense, anything that could let you know who this person was and how it was that you got here. It had to be a dream, but you had slapped yourself or him enough times to wake up but you were still here. Panic rushed through you, but perhaps it was because this boy didn't have terrible anxiety like you, you could strangely calm yourself down. You found his phone and thank goodness it didn't have a pin, because, for the life of you, you didn't have this boy's memories.

What the heck, you thought, and even your mind voice changed into this boy's voice and it unnerved you. It wasn't as if you never dreamed of something like this, but for it to actually happen in such great detail, it didn't flatter you; it was a big inconvenience. At least I don't have to face Akio-kun, you thought before opening this boy's phone, and learning that he was perhaps an anime fan.

You discovered through his text messages that his name was Kuroo. You were yet to discover his first name, but that was for later. You were in Tokyo, a city far, far away from your own, a city you had never been to but had always wanted to go and live in, and you had discovered that he was the volleyball captain for his school. You remember playing a little bit of volleyball back in middle school, but you were a second-year high school student in Fukue Gakuen, sports weren't as prominent as teasing girls and crushing on boys. You'd learned that Kuroo was best friends with someone named Yaku (or you weren't sure if the members in the group were being sarcastic, for this Yaku person did not even like being addressed in such a way), and there was someone named Kenma. You'd heard of Instagram but students from Fukue generally spent more time gossiping than on their phones, especially with limited internet access.

You guessed things in Tokyo were different since the internet was relatively quite fast here. You clicked on Instagram before thinking you were blessed. You tried as hard as you could to memorize how the volleyball team looked, how Kenma looked, and in each and every one of those pictures, Kuroo himself looked rather dashing, and you wondered if this dream would end soon or not.

    "Tetsu!" An ugly voice rammed itself into the room and you almost dropped your Kuroo's phone.

You turned around to spot a middle-aged man with a stubble, a nasty frown on his face which died down on seeing you there, standing with your phone, in the middle of the room. To whoever this person was, you were Kuroo and you decided to stay mum until he left.

    "Ah, you're awake. Damn, thought you were still asleep," The man rubbed the back of his neck, "You're going to be late for school, moron. Go get ready. And," He cringed before pointing to your pants, "Take care of that, for god's sakes."

Your face reddened before your hands rushed downward, feeling Kuroo's private parts sticking out uncharacteristically. You knew why this happened, and even if you were from the country, that didn't mean you were unaware of the morning wood. You had a friend who'd given you all the unnecessary details, especially when you didn't want it.

    "Uh, so... Who are you?" You asked, taking a risk.

    "Ah?!" The man didn't even look offended, "Your goddamn father, go wash the sleep off your face, Tetsu!"

Oh, so it was his father! You wanted to ask him how to get rid of the morning wood in other easier ways, but you guessed that Kuroo or Tetsu wasn't such a person. You took a breath before heading inside the bathroom to take a shower, hoping it'd eradicate your problem. You were accustomed to calling Tetsu's body as your own now because this was where you were for the time being, and it didn't make sense that you had to correct yourself constantly. You found his uniform sprawled on the nightstand, which made your eyebrow twitch with annoyance; whoever this Kuroo was, he sure as heck didn't care how he looked like. Despite looking like a demigod, you thought before putting on your shoes.

You didn't take a peek at his... private parts. You took a bath with his underwear, trying hard not to drool over how toned his body was. Maybe, he took the whole volleyball thing quite seriously; you'd heard of how Tokyo schools were all about championships and leagues, and the volleyball scene was quite huge in Japan. You managed to change his underwear somehow and put on new ones with your eyes closed and it was then the most important thought, the one you had been sitting on all this while, hit you.

What if he's in my body!?

Your eyes widened and your hands flew to your face, but somehow seeing Kuroo with his hands on his face made you blush harder at how out-of-character it was. You didn't even know who this Kuroo person was, but giving him feminine mannerisms made you feel weird.

He better not have... You thought before feeling uncomfortable, but there was honestly nothing you could do at this point. Perhaps, he was just as weirded out, perhaps, he was just as confused as you were and wouldn't try to do anything stupid.

You didn't know how to get to school, but it was something you knew you'd have to solve. Grabbing everything that he otherwise needed, his wallet, his bag, and a small part of you was excited that you were getting to travel in Tokyo and live a day in Tokyo as someone else. Despite how different it felt. Your heart was pounding in your chest as you walked out of the house, and on your way out, you noticed how the house looked. It was a simple-looking house but the lack of woodwork made your feet feel weird. Kuroo wore indoor slippers, and so did his father, and two others who looked like they were his grandparents. Where's his mother? You thought in Kuroo's voice before noticing his father approach you.

    "Eat," He snapped, "Don't walk out without eating."

    "Okay."

For some reason, Kuroo's father turned and looked at you with a funny expression. He was just as tall as Kuroo, which must have explained where the height came from. You cocked your eyebrow at him, wondering if you had said anything strange, but you were sure you hadn't.

    "We've got toast." The dad mumbled quietly before walking away, coming to place something on the kotatsu.

You found it rather easy to sit and get back up, but toast for breakfast? You were more of a rice and egg person in the morning, but perhaps Kuroo didn't pay attention to what he ate. After breakfast, you ignored the weird look Kuroo's father was giving you before heading out, to find Kenma waiting outside the gate, playing something on a weird horizontal device.

    "What are you doin' here?"

Kenma paused the game before turning and looking at you, cocking an eyebrow at you funnily.

    "Waiting for you, did you forget that we go to school together?"

    "Ah," You rubbed the back of Kuroo's neck, "Must'a slipped my mind—"

    "What's with the country accent?" Kenma mumbled before putting his game inside and you froze.

You completely forgot about trying to maintain an accent. You weren't sure if you could tell Kenma what had happened, but you knew that if someone were to come and tell you they had slipped out of their body and entered someone else's, you'd definitely not believe them, and not only that, you'd worry for their mental health.

    "I was watching something last night," You tried to shake off Kenma's suspicion, but every word that slipped out of your mouth sounded disastrously weird to you, "Don't mind me."

    "You're acting strange, Kuroo."

    "I said don't worry about it." You looked away.

Kenma was perhaps as tall as you were in real life. Kuroo was certainly tall, and you believed he was probably one of the tallest in his school. Well, I'm glad I don't have to find my way to school, you thought before following Kenma, following after every one of his actions. Taking out the card that he used for the train, taking a right when he took a right, taking a left when he took a left—strange, you thought before noticing the school in the distance, I think we took a long way around.

    "Right, so spill," You heard Kenma say, grasping your wrist, "Who are you?"

Eh? Your eyes widened and you instantly blushed at his question. How the hell did he get to know? What was he even suggesting?

    "What? Kenma-kun, I—"

    "You are definitely not Kuroo. I had my suspicions, but the '-kun' confirmed it."

You were sure you were panicking now. The school was just meters away and Kenma had thrown a bomb at you. Whoever this little rat was, he was sure as hell was perceptive. You tried to breathe, but the anxiety was starting to bubble in your chest. Turning to meet Kenma in the eye, you gave him a worried expression, which he just ignored.

    "Lemme explain, I ain't from around 'ere."

Kenma nodded, "I figured as much. How are you here?"

You shook your head, "I 'ave no clue. I just woke up and I'm 'ere. I'm not even from Tokyo!"

Kenma sighed, before leading you inside. He gestured you to follow and handed you something from inside his bag. It was a face mask. You took it from him before hearing him say,

    "Don't talk to anyone. Just tell them you have a cold."

You narrowed your eyes. This Kenma person seemed almost prepared for something like this. Was it something that happened a lot with Kuroo? As strange as it sounded, was it your first time and not his? You put on the mask quietly before following after him, before tugging his sleeve. Kenma paused before swatting your hand away.

    "Kuroo doesn't do that. We'll talk during lunch. Go to class 3-1."

    "Okay. I'm sorry."

He gave you a strange look but ignored you. It was funny how Kenma and Kuroo didn't share a class, but that didn't matter. The mask helped. However, Kenma hadn't told you where you sat, and the class was already occupied. Oh no, you thought before scanning your eyes all over every desk in the classroom. Where does he sit? Does he sit by the window like an anime character? Where does he—

    "Kuroo-san," A voice sounded from behind you and you froze before turning to see a teacher, "Please go to your desk—oh? Are you sick?"

You gave her a helpless smile before realizing that the mask must have covered most of your smile, so you were just closing your eyes at her. She sighed before pointing to a particular desk, and said, "Go."

You nodded before thanking her a gazillion times inside your head and sitting over there. Homeroom was quite strange; the kids were just minding their own business and some of the students weren't even paying attention to what the teacher was saying. You wondered what kind of student Kuroo was, but taking one good look at his notes made you understand just where you were sitting.

He was in a college preparatory class. This Kuroo person was a smartass.

He was good at subjects you were terrible at. Math. Chemistry. Physics. He was great at those, but he wasn't too bad at biology, English and Japanese. Both of you seemed to dislike history, but you didn't think literature was too bad, but Kuroo hated it. He refused even to take notes of the same. Your fingers loomed over his notes and despite the terrible handwriting, you could tell that he worked hard.

    "Kuroo-san," The teacher sounded, offering you a soft smile, "Please get better soon."

Your eyes were wide at the sudden show of concern and you smiled before nodding and realized that no one in class even paid attention. Some of the girls came over to you and asked you if you were alright, but just from one look at them, you realized they were trying to flirt. You didn't know what annoyed you, but suddenly, you saw yourself in one of the girls, and how you'd throw yourself at Akio-kun. Was this how it felt? You thought before clearing your throat.

    "Girls, I really can't talk right now." You tried to say in your fake city accent and heard moans of disapproval from them.

You wanted to snap at everyone personally and tell them that maybe Kuroo didn't care about them at all. Maybe, this Kuroo person was a flirt with no mind, who'd callously play with the emotions of the girls around him, only for his own benefit. And since he was from the city, he might even... he might even do some illicit activities like drugs or such. You didn't know who this Kuroo person was, but you were hoping Kenma would fill you in. If this was the life you had to live from now, a part of you worried that it would remain this way. Lunch break didn't come too early. By the time it was lunch hour, you almost felt like you indeed had a cold, and you rushed out immediately to spot Kenma standing by the door.

    "Kenma-kun!"

He winced at what you called him before saying, "Drop the -kun, damnit. Kuroo never says that!"

You felt your heart shrink from being scolded, but nodded before following him. He turned to you and gave you a look before letting out a sigh.

    "Let's go get lunch first."

    "There's a cafeteria 'ere?"

    "It's a regular school. Of course, there is. Unless the school you're from doesn't have a cafeteria—"

    "We prefer takin' bentos."

Kenma and yourself managed to buy some more bread before you realized that the city folk ate a substantial amount of it. A few minutes later, Kenma began eating while walking and you just stared at him like he was committing a crime. He shot you a look before smirking and continuing his eating. The two of you walked to the roof, which was considerably less occupied than you had imagined.

    "I really thought there'd be more people—"

    "Have you watched the movie 'Kimi no Na Wa'?"

    "What?"

Kenma let out a sigh, "This happens in the movie. I'm surprised it actually happened, and to Kuroo nonetheless, but the movie prepared me, I think."

    "So you knew somethin' like this was gonna happen?" You asked, narrowing your eyes.

He shook his head, "I didn't say that. Just... Familiar with something like this. Not sure why it happens and I seriously hope you're not from a remote country village that's going to be destroyed by a meteor."

You felt a shiver run down your spine, "I am from a remote country village, though... I—I'm from F-Fukue I-Island, i-it's the l-largest island i-in the G-Goto—"

    "Relax, your island isn't going to be destroyed." I think, he thought but decided against telling you.

    "How long is this goin' to happen for?" You asked, folding your arms in front of your chest. Standing there as Kuroo made you feel a tad bit confident, judging from how tall he was.

    "Well, not sure if you're following the movie's timeline, but it happens for a while on random days. You can insert notes in Kuroo's phone for him to see so that you two can communicate whenever this happens. Text yourself to let him know."

    "What if it isn't Kuroo that's... that's in my body?"

    "Highly unlikely."

    "But you just said that this hadn't ever happened before!"

Kenma sighed, before chewing on his bread, "You have to trust me," He said, right before taking another bite, "Besides, it's not like you can go to anyone. No one will believe you. Especially since that movie's a bit famous, they'll just think Kuroo's playing with them."

    "Does he play around often?"

Kenma nodded, "All the time."

You groaned before feeling tears prick your eyes, "What was the point of the movie? When did it stop?"

    "When the... male character and the female character met each other. And they saved the village that the female character lived in."

    "You said—"

    "I know what I said. I'm just... maybe, you have to identify what's lacking in your life and see if Kuroo has it."

You were quiet. The only recent sadness or void in your life came from being rejected brutally by Akio-kun. Your mother and you shared a strained relationship, your father had passed away long ago, your younger brother was an absolute pain. The other family you had, your aunt, lived in Tokyo, and you'd always wanted to live with her considering you were closer to your mother's sister than your mother herself. Most days you didn't even want to get off the bed. If Kuroo was in your body, you knew there was quite possibly nothing he could do that could make your life worse there.

    "What's your name?"

    "(s/n) (y/n)." You said, now looking at him.

Suddenly, Kenma's eyes widened at what you said.

    "What?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at you.

    "What do you mean what?"

That's the name of the girl who....

    "Nothing."

That's the name of the girl who died three weeks ago.

The day passed by quite normally. Kenma thankfully had informed the team that Kuroo was sick and practice had been pushed to another day. Apparently the coach scared the boy, and it wasn't something that you could relate to. You'd left a note behind on Kuroo's phone, 'This is (s/n) (y/n), I hope my life didn't scare you too much!', but secretly wondered if anything strange had happened. While heading back home, you asked Kenma if Kuroo and his dad were distant.

    "Hm, you could say that," Kenma said, clearly not wanting to talk about it, "Kuroo's mom passed when he was a kid. They moved here and became my neighbor. He was silent then. I think I preferred that."

You giggled and said, "You guys must really be close."

He shrugged, "I guess. We've always known each other."

    "Which was why you could figure out that I'm not Kuroo."

Kenma was quiet. He'd asked you to watch the movie to understand a little more about what was going on between you and Kuroo. However, there was something else that Kenma had discovered that he wasn't telling you. If you were a year younger than Kuroo, which was what you'd mentioned, then that meant you in Kuroo's body, were from the past. Because the 'you' in the present had died three weeks ago.

It was something he knew he had to discuss with Kuroo if he hadn't figured that out already.

Just as you reached Kuroo's house, you smiled at him before saying, "Here's hoping I don't see you again."

Kenma chuckled before waving at you, knowing full well that this was going to happen again. Just as you walked away, Kenma turned to a building opposite to where he lived and let out a breath. (s/n) (y/n), huh, he thought before rubbing the back of his head, This is fucked up.

Kuroo's dad wasn't at home when you reached home. Perhaps, he was out for work? You could hear soft snoring coming from upstairs, and you figured that it must be his grandparents.

Kuroo lives with his father and grandparents, Kenma had told you. He has a permanent bed head, and his father loves him but has a temper. Kuroo hates yelling, and he thinks people who yell are degenerate, although sometimes, he gets loud himself.

You walked into Kuroo's room and let out a breath. You set his bag down and removed his uniform, before ironing them and placing them neatly in a hanger and letting them hang from the door. You tried to rid him of his bed hair to no avail, and you opened one of his books before writing another note.

I'm sorry this happened, and I'm aware that if you were living as me for a day, it must be a bit hard. But, I'm glad it's over now. I'm glad you're back to being Kuroo Tetsuroo again. And I hope it never has to happen.

When night came, you decided to eat your fill. You felt bad enough for Kuroo for having to live as you. Turning on the movie Kimi no Na Wa, you tried to watch, trying to learn what this meant. Strangely, Kuroo had already seen it since his computer had a folder that said 'Favorites' and this movie was in that folder. Back in Fukue Island, you prided yourself on how you could use the computer better than your classmates, but clearly, you weren't a genius. The movie was playing, but you couldn't hear it. Shooting a text message to Kenma, you hoped the boy could answer.

Instead, he called you.

    "Kenma-kun," You could picture him wincing, "Can you please tell me what to do 'ere? I'm not able ta hear anythin'."

    "Just check if it's in mute. Kuroo watches porn in mute."

Your face reddened and your eyes widened at the sudden burst of information, which you only chose to ignore. Finding the mute button, you sighed before thanking Kenma and then another thought struck your head.

He'd watched porn right before I touched it!

The shock had the laptop falling off your lap and onto the floor, a clear crack presented on its screen.

    "What was that?" You could hear Kenma's alerted voice at the end of the phone.

    "N-Nothin'!"

Oh no! You felt tears prick your eyes at how broken the laptop was. Scrambling to the floor, you closed the laptop before rushing over to the notebook and writing another note right below the one you had already written.

I'm sorry about your laptop! I really am!

You slapped your forehead, no Kuroo's forehead, and groaned before collapsing on the bed. Your heart was beating rapidly, and there went every chance to watch a movie that could have otherwise explained to you what was going on. If Kuroo's watched it, then he probably understands this better than I do, you thought before letting out a breath. Closing your eyes, you felt sleep pull you into a lull, a sort of comfort you hadn't felt in a very long time. The sound of your mother's voice calling you for breakfast rang in your ear; you honestly missed her with every fiber of your being.

Missed her? You felt a tear leak out of your eye. She's still alive, though...