#(because she'd also curl up like that on her parents bed)

[blorboazula]

y'know what? the first sign that Azula was a dragon was that she'd curl up on Ursa's bed and refuse to leave. like, just an immovable toddler when she wanted to sleep there. not a single winter night passed without a baby dragon in her bed, there was a whole conspiracy so Zuko nor Ozai would know of that. totally not inspired by how my dog will growl and throw a whole ass tantrum if I don't let her sleep in my bed when it's cold.

[cyberjam]

ATSV HEADCANON: they have a crush on you . . . ☆

warnings - none really, super fluffy and adorable :), semi-proof read so i apologize for grammatical errors if there are any! no use of name or y/n, gender-neutral reader!

word count - 2.1k

main masterlist <3

☆ . . . miles morales

I imagine you two already being well-acquainted friends with each other once he realized his feelings for you. For quite some time he had a crush on gwen but now his heart strings are pulling him towards you, so he's struggling when it comes to addressing his feelings.

If you're in the same room as Miles, he will stare. Any conversation that he was having before is long forgotten and all that's on his mind is you.

Miles doesn't need to study, he's one of the top students in school. But he continues to go on study dates with you because he likes being in your presence and sharing his headphones with you while eating yummy pastries.

He has an entire journal dedicated to you. Said journal includes: small journal entries of his day with you, little quotes of the funny/cute things you've said that stuck with him throughout the day, candid drawings of you that he created whenever you two hung out, cute sketches of you and him stargazing or slow-dancing together (and other secret drawings of him saving you as spider-man and cradling your body in his big strong arms but we won't get into that...)

Miles really can't get enough of you. He laughs extra loud at your jokes even if they aren't funny, his heartbeat quickens at the mention of your name, he'll offer you his jacket even if you don't need it, he always smiles when something reminds him of you, he'll share his headphones with you and shyly ask if you and him can make a "study playlist" (he listens to it at night while drawing you), and overall is just madly in love with you.

He wants to be with you more than anything, he's just struggling to find the right time to ask you. <3

"Hey, don't touch that! It's- No! It's not a diary, it's just...secret."

☆ . . . gwen stacy

She's pretty awkward herself. You were assigned to be partners for a project that would play a big part in your final grade, she came off slightly cold and seemed to be annoyed at your presence which made your relationship start off rocky. In reality she was just stressed, juggling her spider duties, getting kicked out of her house, and then school on top of that, it was just a lot. But when you made the effort to plan things and work around her busy schedule (that you didn't really know anything about) she started to become grateful for you.

Your parents welcomed her kindly each time she came over to study and whenever she would leave she was happy with a full belly and a sore face from smiling and laughing with you all night. The project was supposed to be done by the end of the semester but you and gwen were able to finish it the first month you got it. That didn't stop her bi-weekly visits, that then turned weekly, until she was suddenly walking home with you everyday, from and to school.

She likes to compare hands, shoes, and height just to see the difference in sizes. On walks back from school she'll give you a piggyback ride if you ask nicely. She also likes laying her head in your lap, if you run your fingers through her hair she'd be fast-asleep within 5 minutes.

You and her tend to share your oversized clothes together, You always wash her jackets/sweaters after you wear them, which she absolutely loves. She's fallen asleep curled up in your hoodie, inhaling the scent and listening to whatever song you rambled about the previous morning on repeat until she finally asks you to just make her a playlist. Hobie definitely knows about you, only because she slipped up by saying too much.

She enjoys staying over your house during rainy days. She tends to tense up whenever you're watching tv together on your bed and your head falls on her shoulder. During missions in other spider-verses gwen has taken little souvenirs from different worlds and given them to you, she always does it in a nonchalant way as if she wasn't grinning ear to ear on her way back, excited to see how you'd react.

You don't have sleepovers often but when you do they always seem more intimate than your usual hangouts. When you wake up and see gwen flustered on the other side of the bed you never understand why, not knowing that when you were fast asleep she woke up cuddled into you, nuzzling her body into yours.

"I-uhm. I-uh just had a weird dream. Nothing to worry about, heh.."

☆ . . . pavitr prabhakar

It's very obvious he has a crush on you, it might as well be written on his forehead. He follows you around like a lost puppy. He's constantly offering to carry your books, opening doors for you, paying for your snacks, and even giving you hand massages when you've been writing an essay for too long. He's just completely whipped for you and you're not even dating (yet).

You were a transfer student and he was assigned to show you around Mumbai. He found himself getting giddy at your cute reactions to the different sights he took you to. He adored how you were filled with so much curiosity and wonder, the awestruck look in your eyes when you saw the pretty lights at night and just how genuinely excited you seemed to stay and explore Mumbai. Since then, he's been glued to your side.

He's such a gentleman, you can tell he was raised right. Whenever you're talking his full attention is on you, nobody else matters in this moment but you. He'll even get a bit upset if someone cuts you off, ignoring whatever they're saying and urging you to continue. His legs feel wobbly around you, he gets dizzy at the sight of you, and he feels like he's floating whenever you smile at him.

There have been multiple occasions where you've caught him staring at you, depending on how he feels that day he'll either smirk and gently wave or quickly turn away with a blush on his face. He gushes about you to Hobie and Miles all of the time. They know so much about you and they've never even met you.

A true romantic. He buys you a singular flower one week out of the day, always explaining the meaning and where they originate from. (all of them are a variation of romance/love)

He tends to lean into you whenever you speak. More than one person has pointed out that you both tend to mirror each other's actions. He's feigning for your touch more than anything, a simple brush of your shoulders and he's full on putty in your hands.

He won't outright confront you when he figures out you like him, instead he'll invite you on a nightly walk. Taking you up to a rooftop with a gorgeous view, and gently resting his jacket on your shoulders. You'll sit for a while enjoying the scenery before he turns to you and says...

"a person as beautiful as yourself shouldn't wander this world alone.."

☆ . . . hobie brown

What a nightmare. He is constantly teasing and flirting with you. Always doubling over in laughter when he sees you get all flustered and the words you so badly wanna spew at him get stuck in your throat.

I imagine you both to be spider-people, you're a little more stuck-up than he is which is why he likes to tease you so much. Little by little your reactions fueled something deeper in him. He no-longer found himself flirting with you because he liked seeing how aggravated he could get you but because that was his way of approaching you and saying all of the things he wanted to while being able to play it off as a joke.

Besides teasing you relentlessly, he can be really caring and attentive to you when he wants to be. If you're in the medic he'll stop by pretty often to make sure you're okay. The only reason you found out is because you woke up to him fast asleep next to your bedside, feet propped on your bed and his vest laid across his torso like a blanket.

He'll eat the foods on your plate that you don't like. If you fall asleep he'll lay his vest onto your body and even move your position if it looks uncomfortable. If he senses danger before you he'll move you of the way as fast as he possibly can, but if he's not close enough he'll give you a heads up before anyone else. He tends to stare at you sometimes, always smiling gently to himself.

When you two get closer as friends he'll play any song on his guitar if you ask him nicely. He'll even give you lessons if you really want them. Carefully throwing his guitar over your torso, he brings his much larger hands to yours. You can feel his chest against your back, and the waves of his warm breath on your neck as he teaches you how to play. He'll also let you wear his jacket, saying it looks better on you than him. He might let you keep it, only in exchange for one of your jackets. (he sleeps with your jacket on, it makes him feel close to you.)

Hobie often checks up on you during missions, sometimes saying teasing phrases to get you riled up but mostly to make sure you're holding up okay. "you alright there, peaches? you took quite the hit."

Once he finds out you like him, he eases up on the teasing, but he doesn't refrain from dropping subtle hints of his knowingness that you like him. He's just waiting for you to finally say something.

"Yknow, if i ain't know any better i'd say you were doing this 'cause you like me."

☆ . . . miguel o' hara

You worked beside him in Alchemax, the two of you were assigned as partners. At first he didn't care much for you, simply telling you to stay out of his way and that he didn't need any help, but after Lyla practically forced him to be a cordial lab partner and work with you, he started to take a liking towards you. Sadly, it took months for him to tolerate you and even longer for him to like you.

Although he was quite stuck-up and practically seemed on edge most of the time, you were able to break through those confined walls and have a comfortable-playful work relationship with him. Every-time you made a joke or a light quip about his attitude he'd always respond with sarcasm, still not being able to hide the tiny smile that graced his face at your foolish acts.

He always runs his projects by you before submitting them. (and then lyla to triple check) He'll stop by and pick up empanadas from his favorite store, always boasting about how it's the best in Nueva York and you'll never taste anything better. Eventually he brings in a hefty share of empanadas that you two share over lunch time, your conversation flowing naturally without the teasing but with a fluffier feeling flowing through the air.

He pretends to be annoyed when he catches you over-working but he's genuinely worried for you. Always shaking his head in a disapproving way when he finds you fast asleep on your desk, papers scattered, and drool falling past your lips. Quietly scolding you in spanish before throwing his lab coat over your shoulders and organizing your papers neatly.

He tends to act unbothered when you do something that shows you care for him but in reality it makes his heart stutter and his stomach feel all loopy. He hates it because it makes him feel like a middle-schooler when they get their first crush but another part of him absolutely adores it and his main motivation to get up to go to work in the morning is you, although he'll never admit it.

If a co-worker is ever rude to you he will be the first to defend you, not hesitating to get in their face with a nasty scowl painting his features. On Friday's he made it his personal mission to walk you home, you two slowly walk side-by-side, quietly laughing to yourselves as you reminisce on lab accidents and old memories. There's a slight gleam in his eyes when you make it to your apartment door. He turns to you almost hesitantly, before stepping closer to you. He whispers a question, so quiet and soft you almost wouldn't be able to hear it.

"Can I kiss you?"

omg i hope you guys liked it! requests are still open btw and thank you for reading! <3

likes, reblogs, and comments are always appreciated <33

[sleepyangelkami]

Hi, I was thinking Vi x Reader. Where Reader is half human and half vampire and she hasn’t drink blood in weeks now and she is crazy starving. When Vi came back home from work she didn’t see her girlfriend in the living room but found her in their shared room facing back to her. Vi slowly walk to her but Reader flinched and not turning towards her. Reader explained why she is not turning towards her but Vi wants her to drink blood from her but Reader refuse because she might think that she will hurt Vi. Vi told her it is okay and Reader made a decision by letting her drink blood from Vi.

BOTTOMS UP .vi

 ☆ WORD COUNT - 1.5K

VI (ARCANE) X FEM!READER

 ☆ SUMMARY - vampire!reader hasn't been able to drink blood in what felt like forever. luckily for her, vi's there with open arms and an outstretched wrist. in fear of hurting her, you decline the offer but you and her both know you won't be able to refuse her much longer.

 ☆ WARNINGS - blood, vampire themes, def inaccurate description of vampires, petnames, use of y/n, use of good girl, thumb sucking?, sorta suggestive, intended lower case, nothing i write is ever proofread 🩷

your throat was dry and your head was pounding. you lay curled up in your bed, the blinds shut and your hands pressed against your face. you tried to shut everything out, block out the loud yells in your head. you were hungry, so very hungry.

but you were also sure that your girlfriend would be home soon.

piltover had put up the walls between zaun and piltover but jayce assured you that the walls wouldn't last long after seeing the worry written across your face. why? he wasn't sure. then again, neither did he deem it his business to ask. but with the walls being up between zaun and piltover, you had no way of getting into the woods. the place you went to when you were hungry.

you were a vampire, yes, had been for many years now, would be for the rest of eternity.

but you didn't feed on humans, no, you wouldn't even dream of it. despite your monster-like qualities, you vowed to be nothing like a monster. you didn't want to be the type of tale that scared kids, the type that their older siblings read before bed, just trying to get them riled up. you fed from animals, in the woods where no one would see you. and only one knew of your secret.

the same girl that was opening your front door.

"hey, cupcake." vi was walking through the door, tiredness evident in her voice. she found herself in your guys' shared bedroom as quick as lightning. ever since you'd moved out from your parents house, everything seemed so much smaller but with vi by your side, the world seemed to be filled with endless opportunities.

you didn't respond, but vi wasn't too concerned yet.

the curtains had been drawn, only she assumed that was due to the fact it was currently night and not the fact that your brain was in scrambles from when the sunlight was peeking through. she'd been working for a while now, helping out some kiramman girl with something she needed help on. she needed insight on the very city of zaun, the one vi had grown up in her entire life. so naturally, she didn't mind helping the girl. the one thing she didn't like? leaving you for so long.

you felt outstretched arms wrap around your torso, her head falling into your shoulder. only now, had you realised she'd been talking the past five minutes. "y'listening?" and your silence served as an answer enough. "hey, what's wrong, baby? you're being quiet." when she turned you around she could see your tear-stained under eyes and your pale complexion. "hey, what's wrong?"

you could see the worry coating her eyes and it made you impossible more guilty. "doesn't matter." but she could see by the under eye bags and your teased hair that it did matter.

"you're shaking." she commented, taking you into her arms with worry. at first, she would have assumed that you were sick. her hand placed itself on your forehead, feeling for any temperature. you were merely cold. "oh, is this a... you know, vamp thing?" you suddenly felt very embarrassed. "hey, hey, i'm not judging, you know that." her hands soothed down your arms, sitting up and pulling you with her. "i jus' wanna know what's wrong so i can help you."

"y'can't help." you spoke, looking away and not reaching her eyes.

but she wasn't having any of that. her fingers drew your chin back to her. "we don't know that until we try." she attempted at coaxing you. "jus' tell me wh's the matter?"

"the walls." your mumble caused her ears to perk under her bubblegum hair. "can't go into the woods."

"oh, baby." she frowned suddenly, realising she hadn't thought of that at all. "I was so wrapped up in working with caitlyn, i completely forgot."

but before you could even assure her that it was okay, your hands were pushing at her. "v-vi." trying to get away. with confused eyes, her hands followed you, pressing against your upper arms. "vi, please don't touch me." suddenly feeling tears spring in your eyes.

the girls brows were pinched together. "why not?" before contorting to a look that told you she understood what you had meant now. "oh."

"vi, please." but she didn't let go. you didn't want to loose control, but you were starving. you needed to eat before you ended up killing yourself but for the first time in all of your life, you'd truly been tempted. you'd been tempted to feed off a human but that wasn't you, you wouldn't hurt somebody. you wouldn't kill somebody. but with the hunger that you felt then, you were sure that if you started, you wouldn't be able to stop.

vi's hands were on you, her eyes searching yours even as you tried to back away. but vi was keen, she didn't let you move. her hands held an iron grip on you, sapphire eyes boring into your own. "feed off me."

your eyes went wide as saucers, whipping your head towards her so fast you were sure you'd gotten whiplash. "what?" is the only word that fell from your lips, your brows now pinched together and your hands shaking impossibly more. what she was asking you to do, it wasn't just dangerous, it was suicidal.

but her hands didn't stop soothing up and down your arms, she didn't even seem afraid of you. she should be, she really should be. even you were afraid of yourself. "you're in pain." she noted by the way your face had contorted from the minute she stepped into the room. with her being here, it would only be harder to control your urges and she didn't want you to have to do that. "let me help you, sweet girl."

but you didn't feel anything alike 'sweet' in that given moment. you glanced up at her, doey eyes coated with a glossy cover of tears. "vi, 'm really hungry." a whole whimper falling from your lips. "i can't―I wouldn't be able to stop― I don' wanna hurt you." but god, were you tempted.

"hey." her fingers brushing up and down your arms so gently. "everythings gonna be okay, cupcake, y'just gotta let go, 'kay?" she was reaching her arm up towards you, your eyes impossibly wide. "jus' let go for me, angel."

but you couldn't. you wouldn't. but her wrist lay in front of you, pumping. and you suddenly felt dizzy. "vi." you whimpered, the first tear falling down your doll-like cheek.

"'s okay." she cooed, soothing you. "'s okay just let me help you." she watched as your gaze turned back to her wrist, head feeling all floaty like and your eyes a little hazy. "jus' wanna help you." but even she was beginning to feel light headed, and you hadn't even began. sure, she wanted to help you and she'd do that a thousand times over, only a tiny feeling at the bottom of her stomach was laced with fear. then she remembered who was standing in front of her. her sweet and lovely y/n, you'd do no wrong, you wouldn't hurt her. even if you fed from her. "bottoms up." she mumbled.

she watched as your face contorted lightly, almost in pain as your mouth opened, fangs seeping out from your teeth. you whimpered gently as vi guided her wrist towards your mouth. hesitantly, you looked at her to which she nodded. in your starvation? more than enough for you. you gently sunk your teeth into her skin.

vi inhaled, squeezing in a breath as a light pain trickled around her body. but she didn't scream or yell about. that was the thing about vi, pain tolerance like no other. her free hand came down to your head, pressing against the crown of your hair. "that's a good girl." she spoke, gently stroking your hair. "see? you're okay."

but your mind wasn't focusing on her words, they were merely entering one ear and getting tossed out the next. your teeth were impaled in her skin, the blood filling your mouth. your eyes shut, a little noise of relief leaving your lips. your hands moved to press her wrist closer against your mouth. it tasted so good.

almost instantly, you felt the colour return to your face, the eye bags wash away as relief pumped through your veins.

you never drank human blood but this wasn't just any human, it was vi. and it tasted better than any animal you'd ever seen, you were sure it'd taste better than any human, too.

you could have drank the blood until her body run dry. but you couldn't. in fear of hurting her, you took your mouth away from her wrist, pulling away as your eyes flickered back up to hers, checking for any sign of regret.

you were blinking harshly, trying to let the blood set in after not drinking in weeks. while your body was swaying gently, vi was still ever so still. her eyes were a little hazy as her lips curved upwards. her thumb came down to meet your mouth, gently smearing the blood that had been on it around your bottom lip. she tapped your cheek causing you to part your mouth. instantly, she stuck her blood-covered thumb between your lips.

you whimpered softly against the skin, your eyes fluttering shut. "'s a good girl." she mumbled. "so good."

main masterlist/vi's masterlist

[trendywaifus]

Aight, then how's about some lap pillow lovin with Nicole and Zhu Yuan?

I feel like Zhu Yuan REALLY deserves a lap pillow, but I'm pretty short, so it would be more like me being a stomach pillow tbh.

That's not to say that she wouldn't want to be a lap pillow if you asked, it's just me personally wanting to make her all happy after work!

*Sigh* soon her parents will hopefully be interacted with or seen in the story so that I can think about how she'd get us to meet her family and stuff

Anyway, meanwhile, I almost think Nicole would be a lap pillow almost-exclusively to butter you up or something post-date

although this isn’t a thirst (idc if this was or not, im a sucker for fluff/domestic loveee), this is cute! tysm for the ask! also in zhu ep, i think her parents were shown multiple times and it was so adorable! (i’ll have to write a lil drabble of the reader meeting her parents)

zhu needs some rest and i can imagine her coming home from her shift and she wants to take a small nap before eating dinner. you suggest a lap pillow and zhu yuan’s red in the face, but nonetheless she takes your offer because she has to be crazy if she denies her lover!

“ are you really sure i can rest my head down on your lap for a little bit? “ zhu yuan ask hesitantly, sitting down on the bed next to you with red cheeks. you nod your head, patting your lap. “ yes zhu, i’m sure. “

“ wh-what if my head’s heavy? “

“ it won’t be. “

“ what if your legs go numb while i nap? “

“ i don’t care—baby, just c’mere, “ you curl a hand around the back of her neck and guide her head down on your lap. the tips of her ears are red as she adjusts. you move pieces of soft black hair away from her eyes. “ feeling comfortable? “

“ y-yes, “ zhu yuan’s head turns a bit so her shy ruby hues meet yours. you laugh at her flustered state. “ why so shy? we’ve slept in the same bed together for over a year, pumpkin. “

“ r-right—but well, this feels oddly more intimate. i-i feel more vulnerable like this—n-not in a bad way! i. .just don’t know how to describe this feeling. “

you hum, stroking her head in a comforting manner. zhu yuan finds herself relaxing little by little as she focus more on your gentle digits playing with her hair and scratching her scalp. “ it’s fine, even if you feel vulnerable right now, you’re safe with me. rest a little, yeah? i won’t leave. “ you assure her lovingly, casting her a warm smile when your lover glances at you from the corner of her vision.

“ do you promise? “ zhu yuan asks in an unbelievably soft voice filled with hope, her eyes slowly closing as exhaustion seeps into her veins. she reminded you of a tired child resting in her parent’s arms. well it’s a fitting comparison, since she is a mommy and daddy’s girl.

“ i promise, love. see you when you wake up. “

nicole, oh my godd nicole would absolutely be your lap pillow if it means to butter you up! imagine you’re sitting on the bed sulking, nicole walks in, sees the look on your face, and be like “ what’s with that look on your face? geez, lay your head on my lap. i’m only doing this to cheer you up and i hate seeing you sad because i care about you. “ as for post dates, you’d have to ask her and she’ll be like,

“ y-you want me to be your lap pillow? . . .fine, lay down right here. wh-what do you mean you’re surprised i accepted so easily?! ugh—just lay your damn head on my lap before i change my mind, dummy. i-i’m only doing this because the date gone well. “ (that’s an excuse. nicole will let you lay your head down on her lap even if you ask her on normal occasions. she enjoys the weight of your head on your lap but ofc she won’t admit that. )

[persefolli]

When Ronal had her baby, and Tonowari went to be with her for the process, how would y/n take it? It's wholesome and a super important moment on one hand, but it's also got to sting knowing your mate had a baby with someone else first, and will get to experience those firsts with her and their baby.

Would she feel bitter? Resentful? Guilty because there's jealousy, too? Imagine the angst she'd feel if some of the Metkayina people saw y/n as a homewrecker who interrupted their tshanik and olekayatan's courtship, and "stole him" from her, after he gave her a child!

𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐢 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐱 𝐉𝐚𝐤𝐞

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢��𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡, 𝐀 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧

“Wari stop it!” You squealed, hunched over with his arms squeezing your torso.

“I'm not doing anything.” He laughed with his toothy smile.

“You're tickling me!”

“I'm not even moving.”

You screamed and laughed knowing that one wrong move and his fingers would go wiggling across your flesh again. As the two of you bickered Jake entered. “Jake, help me!” You said through tears, but you noticed the look on his face and straightened out. “Ma Jake what's wrong?

He looked towards Tonowari, without looking at you. “Ronal is having the baby.”

Tonowari released his grip and dropped his jaw. “Oh. Um.” He fidgets around before looking at you. “Y/n- I-”

“Just go.” You said with a content look. “Go meet your child.” You urged him. After finding out about the baby, you made sure to explain to Tonowari the importance of caring for the child and its mother. Even if the two of you didn’t interact, you still held respect for the mother of his first child.

Tonowari placed a kiss on your forehead before grabbing his spear and leaving your shared home. Jake looked at you and tilted his head as he approached. “You okay mama?” He grabbed your waist. You grabbed at his biceps and nodded. “I'll be okay…I mean what can I do about it.”

“You don’t have to accept this.” He reminded you.

“I will though, because I love you both.” You kissed his lips. “Plus Tonowari isn’t the only star of this relationship. Me and you still have clean slates.” You reminded Jake. He smiled and leaned to kiss your cheek.

“Whenever you want one.”

Night fell and the two of you shared a small dinner before retreating to bed. Jake fell fast, but your night was spent twisting and turning, most likely disturbing the warrior next to you. It’s fine, you tried convincing yourself, but you couldn't help but overthink.

Was it a boy or girl? Was it healthy? Is Ronal Okay? Is Tonowari Okay? Is Tonowari happy? What does this mean for the three of you?

You smashed your face into the pillows as you continued to think of your other lover, and how he was possibly curled up next to Ronal and his child.

Morning came and the two of you woke up alone, Tonowari still not back from the birth, but it's expected considering babies need lots of parental time after their exposure to the world. Jake made you breakfast, pressing a kiss to your forehead before he left. The morning was silent between you two, but it was comfortable enough. Jake knew that deep down you were probably roughing yourself up, but he wanted to trust you were okay.

Closer to noon you finally made your debut to the village. You were heading to the trading pod like any other day, but this time around you noticed the whispering as you walked by.

“That's her.”

“They say she didn’t let him see his child until after he was born.”

You snapped your head to the na’vi who said that and furrowed your brows. The na’vi looked shocked and turned away. The rumors confused you. You’d been with Tonowari and Jake peacefully up until now. How did you become a public enemy in the span of 12 hours?

At work everyone gave you the cold shoulder, even those you had grown close with. It made you cower, working in silence as everyone else walked around eggshells around you. You made a mental note of those who switched up on you at work, so when the storm passed you could throw it right back in their face.

You had the mentality, a strong one which made you able to withstand a day's worth of insults and jabs being thrown around, but when you got home, it became a different story. “I don’t wanna be Tsahik anymore.” You said the title with so much venom. Jake held onto your forearms, trying to keep you standing.

“You worked too hard. Y/n! You’re not thinking straight.”

“I wanna leave.”

Jake halted and looked at you with pained eyes. He got closer and held your face. “Stay. Please? It’s a rough patch but-”

“The Metkayina have made their decision.” You shook your head. “It's clear I'm not wanted here.”

“I want you here!” Jake said sternly.

You began to calm down and stare blankly into Jake’s eyes. He was here, he was still your other lover. He had no kids on the way…that you knew of. He searched your own with expectancy, waiting on you to say something. “I’m sorry.” You whispered, throwing your arms around his neck to hug him.

Everything surrounding the baby was becoming a hot topic on the island, and it was driving you crazy. You truly didn’t mind the baby, or Ronal, only because Tonowari made sure to remind you that you were his priority. It did hurt you that when you did become a mother, Tonowari may not share the same excitement, but that is what you grew to accept the further along Ronal got.

The next day you were tasked with watching the kids as a substitute for the school teacher. The kids were lively and excited for their future Tsahik to play with them, so you assumed it would be a pretty laid-back day. “Today you guys are going to draw your favorite animal. It can be anything, even one you’ve never seen before.”

You watched the kids scramble to grab crayons and plain sheets of paper. You had your hands behind your back as you walked around the classroom, looking down at the scratchy images the children came up with. “Miss Y/n.” One of the kids called you over without looking up at the front heir sheet. You walked over and took a seat next to them.

“What's wrong sweetheart?”

The girl fell quiet before dropping her crayon. “Please don’t take my dad.”

“What?”

“My mommy says you take people’s fathers away.”

Your blood ran cold, slowly burning back with anger. “Well, I won’t be taking your dad away.” You reassured the young one. “I won’t take anyone’s father away from them.

The girl seemed to be satisfied with your response and smiled brightly as she turned back to her drawing. You stood and walked back to the teachers desk, where you discretely broke a few pencils against a sheet of paper on your own. The gossip has spread to the children, and it's gone too far.

At dismissal, you stood with the young na’vi girl, waiting for her parents to arrive to retrieve her.

“Mama!” The girl jumped excitedly seeing her mom approach. You could see how the mothers face dropped seeing you, but she still managed to snap to a normal smile. “Hi, I was substituting for the class today.” You introduced yourself.

“What a surprise! Was my daughter behaving well?” She pinched the cheeks of the young one. “She was a delight.” You started. “But I think there's a little problem going on at home, no?”

“Problem at home?”

You inched closer to the mother. “She’s really afraid her dad is gonna be taken away.” You hinted. The woman's face ran blank and she began to stammer. “I- She- Probably another boogeyman story.” She nervously chickled.

“I’m the boogeyman in this scenario.” You clarified.

The woman patted the back of her daughter and escorted her to go play with her friends. When the girl left she turned back to you with a fearful look on her face. “I don’t want my daughter growing up in a clan where the Olo’eyktan cannot attend to his child because of his mistress.”

“Mistress?!” You exclaimed.

“Ronal was supposed to be Tsahik!” She said fiercely. “You are leading our leader down a demonic road.”

You heard heavy footsteps come from behind, and from the way the woman cowered you knew exactly who it was. “You truly believe I am being led down a dangerous road by her?”

“No sir I-”

“I left my duties for days to tend to my newborn, and you take that as an opportunity to bash my wife and degrade her title?”

The woman gulped and shook her head. “I’m sorry Olo’eyktan.”

“Shouldn't be apologizing to me.”

The woman turned to you and bowed. “I am sorry Y/n.” At that Tonowari nodded, dismissing the mother to go home with her daughter. It made you feel good to finally have him at your side again, but again this was one of tens of people who had looked down on you.

“We need to talk.” He grabbed your hand and led you back into the empty classroom. Once inside he picked you up by the armpits and sat you on the teachers desk to match his height. You looked at him with a blank stare, waiting on what he needed to address. “You have nothing to say?” He started.

You queried an eyebrow and shook your head.

“Y/n-”

“Tonowari whatever you have going on is-”

“I don’t want you to feel…pushed aside.” He interrupted. “I have heard the gossip going around, and I haven’t been here to defend you. I apologize for that.”

You sighed and kicked your feet. “I knew what I was getting into the moment we made it official.”

“The Metkayina are usually more understanding.” He explained, “You will still be apart of my life. Ronal and I’ve agreed on having you in our child’s life. It’s something they will just have to accept.

You looked surprised. Ronal would allow you around their child?

Tonowari stroked your hand with his thumb, waiting for you to respond. You shot him a soft smile, content. You were happy he was now back, and that he was about to embark on a new journey. But there was one last thing, something that’s been nagging at you for the past few days, maybe more nerve wracking than the comments and baby itself.

“Will I still be able to have kids….with you that is?” You asked without looking at him. Tonowari stepped closer and raised your chin with his hand. “There it is.” He said with a smile. You rolled your eyes, not wanting to acknowledge that he was right at sensing something was off with you.

“Of course you will have my children. My first child won’t be my only one.” He placed a kiss on your cheek. You leaned over to kiss him again, stroking his forearms as you did so.

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

me: i'd like a little chaggie angst in my life.

me: nothing major. no blood or screaming or anything like that.

me: maybe something that could slot into canon without much trouble? something quiet. something sad. a small gut punch, is what im after

my brain: On in boss! Give me a sec.

my brain: .....

my brain: Okay how about this- Charlie was so hyped and determined to have Vaggie come with for the heaven trip not just bc they're partners, but also because- Charlie was gonna propose.

me: .... why would she propose? and in heaven? aside from it just being a nicer less gory place in general, i mean

my brain: Well Charlie was super excited about the trip, right? She thought there was a good chance they'd win their case, confirm Angel Dust's path to redemption, show their hotel could work, and prove the exterminations aren't needed and should stop. That's HUGE! That's her and Vaggie's current life goal getting checked off- and if they can stick together through making a hotel for redeeming sinners work, then marriage is kinda just yelling that for everyone to hear.

me: wouldn't charlie be freaked out by marriage tho. her parents are separated, and her family fell apart for while afterwards. she's only just started picking up the pieces with vaggie

my brain: EXACTLY!!! Vaggie got her talking with her dad, talking with him got him kinda onboard with the save sinners plan- the plan Charlie is trying to make her mom proud with! So her mom and dad aren't together, but they're least on the same page now! As far as Charlie knows anyway. Meaning them being married had REASONS behind it, reasons that haven't gone away even after they separated- so it's not like them being married to each other was for nothing or a mistake. It was good! It can still end good! And having Vaggie in her life is what helped all of that happen in the first place. Soooooo....

me: marry that girl?

my brain: Charlie was expecting her and Vaggie to get a great win up in heaven, together, as partners. What better time and place to say how much she wants to keep doing that with her?

me: hmm

my brain: Plus if Angel Dust got the green light for an eventual move to heaven, having the wedding before then would be kinda important if they wanted to be SURE he could be there for it. And Charlie would DEFINITELY want Angel there for it.

me: true, true.... so, what are we picturing here tho? how does all this... become a thing i can feel sad over?

my brain: Well first, imagine Charlie planning it. Being exited for it.

me: oh she'd be so very excited

my brain: Imagine her the entire time they're headed to and are up in heaven, checking her pocket whenever no one's looking, triple checking on the ring, grinning to herself- physically straining under the urge to just blurt everything out to Vaggie like she usually does BUT wanting SO MUCH for this to be a special surprise for Vaggie!

my brain: She goes on the heaven tour while Vaggie stays behind, and Charlie's a little relieved to get a break from the constant urge to get down on one knee whenever she looks over at her girlfriend- she spends the whole tour of heaven gushing about Vaggie, barely taking in the sights- maybe even lets slip, to her HORROR, what she's planning to ask (a beaming Emily SWEARS not to say a word)

Getting back to their room Charlie has to spend ten minutes pacing outside, muttering to herself and checking the ring and REMINDING herself NOT to just pull it out the moment she walks in and sees Vaggie again after a whole two hours apart- She goes in, buzzing with pent up marriage proposal energy, not sure she WON'T just say it all right then and there, and...

Vaggie's curled up on the bed, asleep, luggage open next to her and one of Charlie's spare shirts tucked around her like a blanket, a small stressed frown on her face as she naps.

Charlie melts. She takes a slow deep breath, lets out a long happy sigh, and tip toes quietly over. She does get down on one knee- to be on a level with Vaggie so she can smile at her and stroke her hair and smooch that pinchy frowny face, chuckling softly about how Vaggie never stops worrying about things, even in her sleep. At least Vaggie IS sleeping now. She hadn't gotten much of it, leading up to the trip here.

The ring is pulled out of Charlie's coat and slipped into pants pocket instead so Charlie can safely drape the coat itself over Vaggie, who's curled up as if Heaven's perfect temperature feels a bit chilly- and Charlie moves the luggage to make room on the the bed so she can snuggle in behind Vaggie, arms wrapped around her, maybe not able to resist playing with her girlfriend's left hand a little before dozing off herself.

Imagine Vaggie had been working up the courage to tell Charlie the truth when Charlie came back.... but she wakes up already safe in Charlie's hug, and it's- it'd be one thing to face Charlie across the room and see her turn away- it'd be another to FEEL her let go. Or to be the one who breaks the hold, maybe for the last time

So Vaggie doesn't tell Charlie.

And the trial goes, the way it goes, and Charlie- never tells Vaggie what she wanted to say either.

Instead of asking a question, Charlie gets answer, and they both find themselves on their knees in heaven- but for all the wrong reasons.

Then its bad. Charlie's up in their room alone with Razzle and Dazzle- and the RING- and she keeps trying to put it away or even chuck it out the window... but it always ends up tucked in her fist. Slipped safely back in her pocket.

In Cannibal Town, at Rosie's, when asked if she loves Vaggie, Charlie stumbles over her answer- not because she doesn't love her or doubt it, but.

She almost blurts out, at the worst moment- yes she loves Vaggie. She was even going to ask her to....

Everything all flies out the window back at the hotel gates.

They've got a fighting chance against heaven, hungry cannibals to arm with angelic steel, friends who chose to stay and FIGHT for their home and each other instead of running for cover- it's not what Charlie wanted but she'll damn well take it and she means to KEEP IT- there's no time to think about what the actual battle will be like or what (or if anything) comes after.

Charlie doesn't remember the ring again until days after the After.

At night in bed, after a long day doing more minor endless finishing touches to the new hotel (with Vaggie) and an evening writing out thank yous to everyone who helped hoping none of the overlords suddenly think of an extra cost to that help, rewording until her hand ached (and Vaggie took it gently and tugged her away with a "we'll finish them tomorrow, sweetie")

Charlie wakes up at night, in bed with Vaggie, and lays there staring up at the dark ceiling, frozen in panic- until she not frozen anymore but slipping out of bed and into carpeted middle of the room, hooves muffled as she paces, picking up KeeKee on the way and petting her frantically as she tries to THINK-

The ring, the fucking RING.

She doesn't know where the ring went.

Where she put it- still in her pocket when she was changing into her dress for the battle? Which pocket- pants or coat? Where had she put those- no one had bothered much with stuff like laundry when there were fortifications to be made! Not with Vaggie running daily drills on how to fight exorcists, not with Charlie scrambling to learn how to fight after a life of not ever wanting or needing to, but heaven had done those things to Vaggie, had hurt her, and wanted to do worse to their friends and Charlie would be DAMNED if-

had Charlie's one random set of clothes survived the blasts from the battle? Had they been sitting in the rubble somewhere? The ring- the ring should have made it- it'd been made to LAST after all-

Had someone else found it? She would've heard if anyone from the hotel had picked up a fancy ring though- a random cannibal or sinner maybe?

Or...

... maybe it was just lost. Just, gone.

Fallen in some crevasse or crack into some deeper part of hell, if it hadn't been melted and shattered with all the holy and unholy power being thrown around.

She knows exactly what that would look like, after all those times spent checking the ring, staring at it and trying to picture Vaggie wearing it without squeeing too loud. It would've looked good on her- but that daydream is gone too, and Charlie just sees the ruins of it.

Black obsidian band broken, gold edging melted, inner inscription burned away. The paired musical notes articulated with fermata like little rising suns above them (the pause, to be held as long as they wanted it to be) bracketed and bracketing the blood red, small, heart-shaped diamond....

All of it now probably just one dulled chip of rock lying somewhere no one will ever see.

Charlie, standing in the middle of her and Vaggie's new bedroom, staring at Vaggie asleep in their bed- her exhausted girlfriend planted face-fist into a pillow, silver gray angel wings flopped awkwardly over the covers and spreading out so long and slack (relaxed) they droop over mattress on either side, flight feathers brushing the floor.

The scars are still there too. Also silvery pale in the dim glow of hell outside the windows.

But when Charlie finally releases KeeKee and slips over to adjust Vaggie's pillow (she'd get a cricked neck otherwise) she has to stop and kneel down on the floor for a bit (down on one knee again too) and stare.

Vaggie's smiling in her sleep. Her eyepatch is off for the night, thin slit of black nothing peeking out under the lashes of that eye, and Charlie can see the fresh scars on her left arm from fighting off Lute.

Charlie, picking up Vaggie's left hand playing with it again, like she had up in heaven. Pressing a small kiss to the stab wound in it's palm.

It would've been nice to put on ring on that hand instead.

But Charlie finds herself smiling anyway, softly, as she squeezes into the thin strip of space between Vaggie and the edge of her side of the bed. She snuggles in close, Charlie's cheek on Vaggie's scarred hand and her arms wrapping tight around her own small piece of something way better than heaven.

Vaggie's wing stirring and drawing in, folding over Charlie like an extra blanket and a dreamy hug, not even having to be awake to want her closer.

"Next time," Charlie whispering as she falls asleep looking at her partner- her partner in every way that matters. "'m gonna wait for you to ask... 's your turn to worry about stupid rings, and, stuff...."

On the carpet in the middle of the room, KeeKee licks a paw. Stops. Coughs. Spits something out- something that chimes metallically as it bounces and rolls off the edge of the carpet an onto the floor-

KeeKee sniffs the thing curiously. Bats at it with one paw, pushing it under a dresser drawer. Then, bored, licks said paw and saunters off.

Vaggie's startled wings will fling herself backwards so hard and fast into the bedroom wall she'll end up giving herself a concussion, later, when she finds the ring.

it's her turn to worry about it, after all

XD

[havg02]

Fem!Batman headcanons (part 2)

◇By the time she realises she did care for Tim, his parents are dead and she immediately takes him in and only then raise him with actual full love as a sort of apology. She's still hesitant about him being Robin since Jason's death ran deep but seeing that the Teen Titans needed a Robin and Tim's intelligence, with Dick's reassurance, she decides to have another go. And soon enough, everything seems fine. Bryce dotes on Tim like she did with others and is very protective when he gets sick bc of his spleen, constantly scolding him on drinking too much caffeine and fickling about his scrawny appearance as if he's seconds from dying from starvation while Bruce wouldn’t be over the top about it like her. Tim and her have literal showdowns on stopping him from having caffeine.

◇Tim loves it the most when Bryce takes him out to picnic on a nice place and asks him to take pictures for her, then when she's at the gala party, she'll go show the pictures and his grades off for everyone to see how smart and talented he is--Bryce probably becomes more extroverted because of this well since she actually has something to talk about and not rely on her shyness to not talk more often. And when people saying how much she seems to love him and how important he must be reaches his ears, Tim is all mushy inside since he's not used to all this and Bryce can't help but find it amusing when his ears go all red whenever she holds his face and plants a kiss on his head. He's unsure what to feel when she bites his cheek and pinches his baby fat skin out of cuteness aggression.

◇Bryce knew that Dick and Jason couldn't take over her role of being the ceo of the Wayne enterprise so she didn't bother expecting Tim to take it up but when she sees that he's doing pretty great, she's kind of lost at the amount of new free time she has now that she doesn't need to work anymore. Like.....she can actually rest a little longer? It's.....so new. But boy is she thankful for him, maybe a little sorry when he's looking tired from balancing patrols, managing the Teen Titans, and work so she does still the paperwork for him to allow him to rest. And when Tim is having a hard time, he'll go straight to her to cry or for some comfort and curl up while taking whiffs of her scent that he's come to take it as a comfort smell like it's crack, with no fear of looking/feeling like a baby. Cuz everyone's a baby around Bryce!

◇Like with Dick and Jason, Bryce puts effort in protecting Tim from Damian’s attacks so they wouldn't be estranged bc she knows that Damian depends on his biological genes with her to only prove his worth and might be jealous of the others who got to be with her before him, and she definitely makes sure Tim knows that too. Like she'd sit him down to tell how brainwashed Damian is by the League and how Dick used to resent Jason too yet was still a big brother to him, and while he's not her real child, she still wanted him and chose him so he's still just as special. Tim is worried at first thinking she was going to neglect him too in favor for Damian but is happy again. Especially when Bryce says he's allowed to hit back if Damian is really gonna kill him and she promises she's going to do her best to calm him, and that he just needed to keep patient.

◇When Tim feels the absolute worst from receiving endless pain from Damian, Bryce makes sure to praise him by saying he's good as Dick who also joins her to get the two to get along, and it works. Tim is fangirling and probably ends up staying in the manor too. When Bryce dies, Tim is an absolute mess as he is in Canon when he doesn't have anyone like her to use their bat-senses to immediately know that he must be suffering from something and be there without him calling. He might go sleep in her bed with Damian like he used to do when he had nightmares and even bond with him as well by telling him all the stories of Bryce so that Damian who didn't get know her as much. Then he'll remember her praises and really get the idea of what being an older brother is about, and get along with Damian more. Cue Dick gushing like a school girl and telling Bryce in heaven would be proud.

◇When Talia introduces Damian to her, Bryce also goes r u srs like Bruce but mostly bc of the running joke of her having so many kids and she'd just sworn she wouldn't have anymore right before he showed up, yet she can't turn him away because IT'S HER BIOLOGICAL CHILD this time, who she never got to see at birth as a baby. Regarding the fact Damian has been raised in the league, she knows he'd been spoilt & only taught to kill and her kids may feel a little insecure around him since they're not her real children like Damian is so Bryce makes sure to be firm with him when teaching him respect/boundaries and everyone else to know she's not favouring him. She tries to get close to him by sparring and allowing to be as deadly as he wants so she could evaluate his weakness/strengths at the same time/learn about his life with the Leagues.

◇Bryce will also asks him to show off his art and music skills so she can praise him to make sure that Damian knows she IS proud of him and loves his skills so that he doesn't think she doesn't approve of him or that he's a bad person when she tries to tell him that his skills are too deadly. She tries to please him by taking him on missions where he could destroy enemies like robots so he can go ham as much as he pleases but she struggles so bad on trying to get him used to normal stuff that she wonders if that's how Dick felt with her when they went to eat McDonald's and she cut the burger with a knife to eat in smaller pieces. Luckily speaking of who, Dick helps Damian with that for her too that she's so thankful for him bc she believes that Damian should still get to experience having a dad figure too.

◇Bryce is super careful with him but does end up raising her voice at him at one point to get a message through and Damian gets scared for once, but she really wants him to know that he's not at fault for his violence as he would've feared being punished for failing and that he shouldn't feel ashamed for having be taught over again. So when Damian actually starts following orders, even though the criminals are still suffering more than they should be, she accepts it anyway since Jason does the same.

◇When she dies, Damian would probably be a little scared she's not around because she undid the fear of disappointing the League and taught him how things are meant to be, making Bryce his comforting figure to run to when he feels weak and vulnerable as Talia has never done that for him except worshipped him as the Batwoman's blood heir. Dick literally had to try gently coax him out of her bed he was hiding, but ofc, Damian doesn't like to be seen in a weak state. When Tim comforts him by telling how amazing Bryce was and he could be just as good as her, Damian begrudgingly appreciates it and remembers how she told him to let Tim have a chance, so he does try to respect everyone like she had requested. So when Bryce comes back to see this, she is SO relieved/happy.

◇As he softens, Damian becomes a little more awkward and shy around Bryce, but VERY super protective. Like I said in part 1, he's disgusted by people who don't bother hiding their hots for her and has gotten into many accidents at school or in public in general, just because he was catching them saying something perverted about her or looking way to grossly. Bryce has to thank him yet tell him that it can't be helped so as long as they don't lay a hand on her, it was fine but Damian can't fathom how it's 'fine'--this should be punished through death, because how dare you to his mother who taught him to live?? Fortunately for him, he has Dick, Jason and Tim to support and cover him up. It's the only time they'll ever help him.

◇Bryce may be known for her sons, but she was built to be a girl mom 💯. When Cass who is similar to her shows up, she is so excited to think of having her own daughter. Although she doesn't speak often, Bryce never really spoke as well as a child so she knew exactly how to interact with her. She tried to get close to her by teaching her to read, doing ballet which Bryce still remembers what she learnt as a child, taking her out to teach her of the normal life unless it's too loud because she's scared that Cass might find it overwhelming. But Cassandra was her first daughter and doted on her probably a lot more than she did with the boys, and for a moment when they complained about it, Bryce actually almost agreed. But no, moms aren't supposed to pick favourites but everyone knows.

◇Cassandra is like her hypeman when she scolds someone and probably low-key the instigator. Like, she would giggle outloud on purpose even if it was none of her business and hand her a rolled up newspaper when Bryce is looking for something to smack someone with. But in serious situations, she is the one to tell Batwoman when she's doing something wrong when Dick’s not around and Bryce really appreciates her for that and depends on her too to go out of their way to stop her from doing something messed up since she still is pretty unhinged. Yet Bryce thinks she shouldn't have to as she's still a kid like Tim, she doesn't want to be anywhere near like her dad. Bonus points if Cass asks Bryce to do her hair like her and feeling happy when people actually mistake her as her biological child.

◇Before Cass there was Barbara, despite having an almost sadistic side that Bryce couldn't believe Dick wanted to date her, she had her utmost respect and was the go to gal on top of her list. Out of all the batfamily, she was the most headstrong and when Batwoman couldn't get something into her head, Babs would do that. She might even trust Babs more than Dick cuz girls are there for each other, and that's how it was at the first with just the three of them. When Babs gets sent to a crippled state from Joker, Bryce's mama bear mode goes on and she sees absolute red because how dare you cripple this young girl with the most pretty red hair who has nothing to do with you?? She's the one to be there for Babs during her recovery as she feels like she's at fault when she just could've been the one to get rid of Joker with her abilities when the government themselves weren't doing anything about him.

◇Since Dick might not have to feel like he has to worry about taking after the Batwoman mantle since he ain't a gorl💅 Babs will. At first Babs will wonder if she can stay as Batgirl even if she becomes older as a woman and will start to feel bothered like she has a role to fulfill and has to catch up to be as good as her. She obviously doesn't want to become Batwoman and it bothers to the point that she ends up telling Bryce who's taken back since she doesn't expect anyone to even take up the role of Batwoman (like, Dick doesn't even want to be Batman) so she has to reassure Babs that she doesn't have to since Batwoman was made of her own personal inner darkness that Babs might not understand and she likes her better as her lovable friend Batgirl than be like her. And that washes away all of Barbara's worries but the people expecting her to be the next Batwoman anyway still affects her anyway.

◇But after Bab's accident, Bryce is scared to let any girls in the team because she feels as though the girls would suffer more than the boys since there are jerks like that in the world, even when Babs has recovered and could still kill someone despite being wheelchair bound. So when she met Stephanie, she was about to stop what she was doing because there were already enough in the batfamily to help around but when she sees that Tim likes her and her background with Stephanie expressing the only reason she doesn't kill is because of her, Bryce let's her do her thing but still is worried. She doesn't even let her be Robin in the first place since she'd end up like Jason while keeping Babs in mind. And when Stephanie is tortured by Black Mask, Bryce is even MORE scared shitless because that just proved her fear.

◇Nonetheless at the hospital bed, Bryce holds her tightly like shes her own child as she makes sure to let Stephanie she was a special case for her and if she had felt more comfortable, she would hire her in a heartbeat. With her paranoia of not anyone understanding what she means and having already expressed why she doesn't want Stephanie to have been Robin or be a vigilante in the first place, Stephanie gets it and doesn't mean any harm because yeah, Babs had it rough and having children's death in your hand is pretty harrowing. But after that, Bryce tries to put more faith again and welcomes her with open arms, trusting her to take care of Tim for her and trusting Tim to look after Steph from danger. Otherwise, she cannot handle her energy and vibes, because she's not as youthful, even though they're both tireddd.

◇Also when Steph gets pregnant she might ask Bryce for help on what to do since she still was a mom, and tell her plan to have someone adopt her child. As an adoptive mom who adopted Dick, Jason and Tim so they could have a better life/still have a chance to have a parent in their life, Bryce would let her know that she wasn't the best person to raise the boys so Steph could do better than her by getting someone more better to raise her child otherwise the child might live in danger like Jason. She might help her by finding the best foster people to raise a child but otherwise she'd give Steph space and have Tim to do his role as her boyfriend to comfort her. This is random but Steph probably low-key has a puppy crush on her and feels like a kid around her despite being a little older than Tim.

◇All three girl maybe make up a girls only sleepover and use puppy eyes to get Bryce to join in, and totally not because she wants know her luxurious makeup/skincare routine and try use the said luxurious products. Or they could help her go shopping or just simply have fun dressing her up. The girls all low-key love being part of the batfam because Bryce gets so many gifts from admirers that she doesn't know what to do with them so she just dumps it on them to keep the manor from getting cluttered and give Alfred some break, which is just the best because they get to try new products and don't have to go blow any budget from shopping for cosmetics. Or else, it'll just be thrown into the dressing room for disguise/ shower room down at the batcave.

◇Duke is probably the only normal child she's ever had. At first Bryce assumed that kids were normally just this quirky but no, everyone she had was just that unique. And my gosh it's a fresh of air. But after being to used to it, she's not even sure how to approach him sometimes. Though of course she loves him dearly like everyone else, also something about him being weirded out by everyone else was kind of endearing. Like, she can't help but marvel at how 'clean' of darkness he is while pinching his cheeks. Duke has already long gotten used to it, ironically making her just as nuts as everyone else lol. She might feel a little sad though because that might be proof as to how unhinged her life is and looks at Duke as an example of how she and the kids are supposed to be.

◇Bryce doesn't even ask anyone to come with her to a gala. Well she did have some hopes that there was someone who could do well in fancy events, but not anymore when she found out that neither of them were fit to be in a place like that. Tim and Babs could be great if Tim isn't sleep deprived every time and Babs liked to talk as much as she was smooth at it. Dick was perfect since he was a gentlemen but Bryce knows he wants to be alone in his thoughts nowadays (or that's how he seems to look in canon), so she can barely even make phone calls except only in emergencies. Not that she doesn't like going alone, she's learn to enjoy to take this time to just have fun with the rest of the world instead of fighting. And what could be more better than dressing up finely a gown, dusted with glitter and hair pinned with jewelry? She tries to appreciate what others dream of, no matter how empty it feels so it feels less guilty.

◇I'm pretty sure at the start, there would be a lot of rumours of Batwoman and Superman dating to the point that there were people online making fanart of them much to Bryce's annoyance and Clark's awkwardness (while scared of Batwoman's wrath). But through the end Clark would be her right hand man when she needs advice on being kinder to not just children and Bryce would teach Clark to be firmer/scarier to protect him from being used and stuff. If they weren't a couple, then they would be like a black cat sister and a golden retriever brother. Bryce is good friends with Lois but Lois would have felt jealous of her because Bryce is a superhero who's a genius with lots of money while she's just a journalist. Though if Bryce ever found this out, she'd avoid Clark and have Babs to delete fanarts/fanfics and spread the news of her being uncomfortable with it so the fans would stop.

◇By the way, imagine secretly being 'best friends' with Selina in secret? They go shopping together, listen to crap about the superheros and the villains, share lipsticks (and by share, I mean by kissing since logically and efficiently, it's quicker). Maybe Selina will trade money and presents to help her in a mission or give dirt on another criminal, or Bryce constantly blushing around her alluring and sexy air and stubbornly denies it, and will be there for her when Selina looks for help or advice since her villainous allies wouldn't be good enough to give her any. Like when Selina went to Bruce about Helena, Bryce will also immediately but gently warn her Helena might end up living in danger and help her get adopted, and be there to comfort her while telling her she's still a good mom for thinking about her safety anyway unlike when Dick got shot while he still lived with her.

◇They even might have been the worst enemies at the beginning and have catfights, but soon Selina ends up warming up and holding her hand out to Bryce first, then become secret friends from there--making them probably have the first unique friendship. Like, they're so painfully almost a couple but not?? She and Harley have friends but they'll have this special one with Bryce when they genuinely need help but have no one to turn to since they're villains and Batwoman is the only gal who will understand them despite their evil background. Harley mostly, because Bryce just cannot stand at how she's allowing Joker to be such an ass to her and if there's anything she learnt from her parents, men aren't supposed to hurt their ladies!!

◇Lois isnt the only one jealous of Bryce, Harley despises her out of jealousy bc of the rumoured unsaid chemistry between her and Joker, constantly feeling like on a compeition with her as Bryce tries to make her see how awful Joker is everytime. And when Harley finally realises, she looks to her for help like Selina does--oh, and don't get me started on the Joker. If Joker likes her like with Bruce, he'd be looking at her like she's a gentlewoman in shining armour. But the Batfamily (especially Jason) will be so protective over her, knowing about this crush. Joker is striking again? No worries Bryce, the Bat team will take care of it, you don't need to go. Did the Joker just force an annoyed Scarecrow to help make one big valentine heart balloon filled with fear gas dedicated just for you? Just stay home with Tim and Cass who are totally not distracting you. They'll take the choice of their friends crushing on their mom over Joker being creepy on her on any other fucking day.

[peachhcs]

sam and will just being soft with each other and maybe it’s just them cuddled in bed talking to each other sleepy?

a soft morning

hughes!sister x will smith au (samy + will)

a soft, slow, lazy morning with samy and will (an extension of rainy days at the lake house)

.9k words

i kind of made this into a blurb, i hope you don’t mind. it’s kind of like a part 3 to my two part lake house story acting as a morning after situation. there’s also a longer imagine i wrote a bit ago that has this similar vibe (sunday mornings) but writing this was so cutie :) as always, send in more requests, i love writing them!

au masterlist

summer's for the slow mornings

the second the sun began poking through the blinds samy's eyes slowly fluttered open. she could never keep sleeping when the sun shined into her bedroom, cursing her circadian clock. she squinted when the light crossed her eyes and immediately shoved her face back into will's chest who still slept peacefully beside her.

waking will up in the summer wasn't easy. when he didn't have early morning hockey, he slept until noon unless someone woke him up. not even the rising sun bothered the blonde which definitely made samy envy how heavily he slept.

now that she was awake the girl moved around for her phone that was somewhere in the bed. her fingers curled around a device, pulling it towards herself to see if it was hers or will. she smiled when she saw the familiar purple color.

samy readjusted herself against will's chest as she opened up her phone to check her notifications. none were of much an importance, so she headed to instagram. the posts were endless as the youngest hughes scrolled through her feed and tapped through stories. none of it was all too interesting, so samy switched into snapchat just to check how bad her bed head was.

the hickeys littered across her neck caught her off guard for a second. she forgot those were there for a moment until the memories of last night played in her head leaving a small smile on her lips. she carefully examined the ones she could see knowing there was no way she'd be able to hide all of them.

she'd just have to wear them with pride and ignore the chirping from everyone while also avoiding any eye contact with her parents.

the girl got bored of her phone, so she threw it back down on the bed. she got herself more comfortable against her boyfriend so she could play with his hair while waiting for him to wake up. 10:30 wasn't too early, so there was hope the blonde would wake up soon. samy's fingers carefully tangled themselves into will's messy curls in an attempt to make then a little less messy.

she was glad the mullet season was gone for now and he had his normal length back that wasn't too long at the nape of his neck. samy didn't hate when the boys had mullets, but it definitely wasn't her favorite hairstyle of will's.

she'd never tell him that though because then will would never grow his hair out like that ever again and his team would chirp at him for being such a simp.

samy knew how much will valued her opinion on everything and also how much he hated the constant chirping.

her delicate fingers must've woken will up because a few seconds later, the blonde's eyes fluttered open and squinted from the harsh sunlight coming in higher through the half-closed blinds. the boy looked to his right, immediately smiling when he saw samy.

"good morning," the girl grinned softly.

"morning," will's voice came out rough and raspy from sleep. "what time is it?"

"like 10:30," samy answered, gently running her finger up and down his hickey-filled chest.

"so early," he pushed his face into the side of samy's head making her giggle.

"early? it's late," she chuckled.

"early for me," will corrected himself.

samy rolled onto her side so she was facing her boyfriend who hid his face in the pillow when she moved her head away. he looked so cute in samy's eyes. "how'd you sleep?" she wondered.

will finally showed his face again, a lazy smile on his lips, "the best i've slept in months."

"that good, huh?" samy reached out to drag her fingernails across his exposed shoulder. the action had will jumping in surprise before quickly melting into her touch.

"i told you i've been wanting to sleep with you beside me since we got here," the boy mumbled earning a smile from the brunette.

"good thing i kicked hannah out then," samy laughed while will playfully rolled his eyes. he took ahold of the hand dragging across his shoulder to leave gentle kisses on.

his action made a deep blush spread across samy's already rosy cheeks.

"so how badly are things gonna be when we go downstairs?" will wondered meaning the two hadn't seen everyone since yesterday afternoon before their extremely eventful night.

"uhh..i'm not sure. maybe luke kept his mouth shut or they all heard us," samy giggled and her words definitely didn't ease the embarrassment on will's face at the idea of the entire house hearing.

"amazing," the blonde muttered.

"we could just stay here for a bit longer," samy suggested as her boyfriend met her gaze again. a smile danced on his lips while pushing his face closer to hers.

"sounds perfect," the boy mumbled before placing a chaste kiss to her lips and wrapping his arm tighter around her frame.

she curled into him with a content smile and will hummed in response, burying his face into her hair. the couple wrapped themselves up in one another finally feeling like they could be close without someone breathing down their backs every second.

will would lay in bed all day as long as it was with samy.

samy wouldn't ever get tired of being wrapped up in her boyfriend's arms as the sun slowly rose and their friends' voices sounded downstairs as everyone started waking up, ready for another full day of adventures.

[archangeldyke-all]

okay it’s been a while but could you do a pt. 3 to the slow living with sev reqs? Maybe this time it’s just about how they constantly get chosen by the cat distribution system despite always saying how they won’t take another?

adorable ! i was just thinking about these blurbs the other day :)

men and minors dni

the first cat comes to you about three years after you moved in. you guys are finally starting to get the hang of living a slow life, starting to get in the groove. and then a giant blizzard hits.

it's the biggest area you've seen in decades.

you guys were snowed in for days. it was nice for the first few days. like a little vacation-- no where to go and nothing to do but cuddle up by your wife and watch the world outside get blanketed in fluffy white snow.

but by day four, you and sevika were both getting antsy. cabin fever was setting in, and the weather had no intention of lightening up for days.

so that evening, when sevika leaves an icecube on the kitchen tiles to melt and you step in it, the two of you get into a petty, pointless, incredibly passionate argument. it lasts an hour-- mostly because you've got nothing better to do and you've gotta let off steam somehow.

just when sevika's finally fed up with your bickering and tries to distract you with kisses-- her eyes less annoyed and more lusty-- a howl sounds out from your porch.

you both run to the window.

sitting pressed up against the screen wall of your wrap around porch is a skinny white cat-- cringing as the snow batters him. you gasp. sevika gawks.

the cat's in the house in a flash.

the poor thing must have been stuck outside the entire storm-- and the two of you spend the rest of the storm cuddling around the pathetic little thing and feeding him shredded tuna.

and three days later, when the snow's expected to finally melt and the streets are expected to get cleared, you turn to sevika in bed and nudge her.

"you know we're keeping the cat, right?" you ask. sevika chuckles.

"i know." she says.

"wanna take it to the vet with me tomorrow? we can visit the pet shop after. i'll even let you name it." you say. sevika grins.

"cool."

"but i get veto power if you pick something stupid."

"well that's no fucking fun." she grumbles, flopping on her back in disappointment.

she does come with you to run errands the next day, but it takes her ten days to pick a name. it's hilarious.

she takes the process way too seriously-- trying to find something 'perfect' for the cat.

at one point you suggest 'snowball' and she rolls her eyes at you.

"that's way too basic-- you wanna name our white cat we got in a snowstorm 'snowball'?" she asks. you're kind of hurt at her criticism, but you also find it adorable how much she obviously loves the new addition to your little family.

the cat is sevika's first pet. she never had the time when she was an adult, and her parents didn't get her one as a child-- and it's incredibly clear to you that this cat in particular was sent to her.

you guys settle on icicle. apparently 'it's way more badass than snowball.'

sevika calls her ice for short. icicle sleeps on the pillow beside sevika's head.

icicle gets big and chunky in her first you with you and sevika-- neither of you can see past the night you first found her when she was skinny and shivering and so so so cold in your arms. so you spoil her.

sevika installs a little cat door in the porch, and she serves as great pest control for your garden.

on the first real day of summer, you walk outside and find sevika asleep in the hammock, the sun streaming down on her, icicle curled up on her chest. it's the cutest thing in the world.

you ask sevika once about maybe getting another cat for icicle so she'd have a friend, and sevika blinked at you, her eyes wide and her lip pouting as she spoke. "but i'm her friends."

so you guys don't get another cat. but icicle doesn't know that you've landed on this decision.

icicle is pretty friendly with most of the animals on your property. she respects the ducks-- they're too big for her to try to attack them. she loves the goats-- she loves napping with them.

so it really shouldn't have surprised you when one evening as you called out icicle's name through your back door-- ready to feed her dinner-- she came trotting up the stairs with a little ball of fur in her mouth.

she let it go at your feet, gave it a lick, then turned back around and returned with another fur ball, presenting it at your feet as well.

at first you thought maybe she'd caught some bunnies and was trying to show off-- the little fluffs of brown and grey fur beneath you were hardly moving. but when you got closer, you realized that they were kittens.

"where the fuck did you get these!?" you asked icicle. she just licked away at the little babies beneath her.

sevika found the four of you on the back stoop ten minutes later, gasping when you gently placed one of the tiny kitties in her arms.

"was ice pregnant?!" she asks you. you giggle.

"i--i dunno, we got her spayed, right?"

"what the fuck?" sevika asks her fur baby. icicle just licks her paw, the picture of innocence.

it turns out the kittens weren't icicle's. the vet says that she likely found them abandoned and made the decision to foster them. sevika scoffed at that, nudging you and huffing, "i guess we forgot to tell ice she's supposed to be an only child."

the kittens are fucking adorable. ice was an adult when you rescued her, and getting to watch the kittens grow up is so entertaining. they're so playful in the first few months, and icicle is a great kitty-mom, incredibly patient with her babies, gently teaching them the ropes of your property.

icicle even shares sevika with them, and often all three cats can be found tucked into sevika's side while she snores on the couch.

they're both boys, both from the same litter, and the gray one's a grumpy old man in a kitten's body, while the brown one is a sweet, curious little baby. so you decide to name them bert and ernie.

your bed gets a little more crowded, as all three cats like to sleep beside the two of you, but sevika doesn't mind.

she does start complaining about all the vacuuming she has to do, though.

so when a year later, the two of you are visiting the pet supply store and they're having an adoption event and you walk right by a wrinkly, scraggly, mostly hairless cat-- you both fall in love.

she's got four patches of orange hair-- one on each of his cheeks, one on his forehead, and one on the tip of her tail. looking at her head on-- she looks like a normal cat. and then when she turns to the side, as sevika says: she looks like a scrotum. she's adorable.

you tried to walk away, not needing another cat to buy food for-- but when the attendant told you that her name is 'shredded cheddar' and she was rescued from a fire-- hence the baldness-- and she only had a week left to get adopted before she'd be euthanized so a new cat could join the shelter-- well, what were you supposed to do?

shredded cheddar is your 'fourth and final' cat, sevika declared as she scooped the sweet, sleepy cat into her arms and began kissing the tuft of hair on her forehead. your just laughed at her and she glared at you.

"what?"

"every time you say that, we got another cat in our bed in a year." you say. sevika snorts.

that's not true.

it's true.

less than two months later, all four cats in your home start acting suspicious.

they're skittish around you and sevika, their food is disappearing-- you start to wonder if they've started going to neighboring properties and scamming other families out of food, pretending to be strays.

you find your answer a week later, while you're cooking.

sevika shouts out a curse from the basement, and you go flying down the stairs.

"what? what's wrong?!" you ask.

sevikas holding her chest and glaring at icicle where she's sitting in the corner.

"sev?" you ask. sevika gestures for you to come over to the closet she's got open, and you poke your head in, gasping as a pair of green eyes blink up at you from the dark, shadowed floor.

"is that a cat?!" you ask.

"i smelt wet food down here-- i thought maybe one of them threw up. nope-- they've all been harboring a fugitive-- feeding it their own food. she says, gesutring to where a pile of uneaten shreds of fish and beef sit beside the cat. you giggle.

"looks like we got another cat." you say, shrugging. sevika groans.

"you have to take over vacuuming for me. i can't deal with five cat's worth of hair in this house."

"or you could just give it up babe. we're the crazy lesbians that built their own house 'n grow their own food-- of course we're gonna be covered in cat hair." you laugh, leaning down to pick up the black cat and hug it to your chest. sevika pets its head, chuckling.

"fine. but i wanna name this one." she says, smiling down at the cat. you laugh.

"i get dibs on the next, then."

sevika just rolls her eyes.

taglist!

@fyeahnix @sapphicsgirl @half-of-a-gay @ellabslut @thesevi0lentdelights @sexysapphicshopowner @shimtarofstupidity @love-sugarr @chuucanchuucan @222danielaa @badbye666 @femme-historian @lia-winther @gr0ssz0mbi3 @ellsss @sevikaspillowprincess @leomatsuzaki @emiliabby

[fandoms--fluff]

Ooookay (please once again bare with me for the request and I'm half asleep so it might not make sense) anyway another Hope x hybrid female reader (secret little). So like reader is normal this tough and independent girl who isn't afraid to speak her mind. As for the plot (?) the reader gets super stressed out over family issues or school (Alaric) and she hides in her room to regress because she's embarrassed or maybe even ashamed to tell Hope since Hope's only ever seen her as tough. (When reader regresses, she's into like coloring and stuffed animals and cuddling) anyway, while the reader is coloring, Hope walks into her dorm (she never knocks) and it catches bothbof them off guard but Hope quickly regains her composer. The reader is rather quiet when she regresses as well like she's always scared to talk.

Anywho, thank you for your time in reading this and thank you for you patience with me 😄 (please let me know if it's too demanding or detailed or anything you don't like🙏🏽)

Hiding No More

Little hybrid female reader x Hope Mikaelson

Warnings: swearing, very brief and not detailed mentions of past trauma, but the rest is fluff!

A/n: Don't worry about anything babe!!! I love detailed requests 💛

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hope watches as you storm out of the room, hands acting as if you're trying to strangle someone. Doctor Saltzman she assumes, considering you were obviously trying not to kick his ass.

She wants to go after you, but she thinks it's best to let you cool and calm down a bit.

You want to smash everything in your path on your way to your room. After you slam the door closed, you lean against it, eyes turning amber. You slide down the door, crouching into a half fetal position.

Taking deep breaths, you start calming yourself down. There's still a want to smash Alaric's head into his desk, over and over and over again in the back of your head, but that's always there. What you want to do is just slip into your safe spot.

Its the only thing you've never told your girlfriend. You don't know how she'd react to you having a little space. She already has so much on her plate and you don't want to add to it with your own problem. Thanks a lot mom and dad, you thought, considering they were absolutely horrible parents and how you researched age regression after they abandoned you for good.

Fuck this, you think to yourself and slowly start getting up off the ground. You kick your combat boots off beside your mirror on your way to your opened closet.

You pull out a Disney fairies coloring book and a pack of 24 crayons from one of the shoe boxes you have. Walking over to the soft rug beside your bed, you lay your things down and sit down on it as well, legs crossed.

You turn to a page with Faun and Iridessa and start coloring it in.

After twenty minutes, Hope goes over to your room. She walks opens your door and walks in without knocking, just like she always has since you guys became friends when you first came to the school a couple years back. You guys bonded over both being part werewolf and vampire/soon-to-be vampire, and you told her stories about her dad since he's the one who turned you. After shutting the door behind her, she turns back to look in the room. Her eyes immediately widen, meeting yours, where you're sitting on the ground, yellow crayon in hand.

Your eyes also widen, but there's a sprinkle of fear in them. Your girlfriend just walked in on you coloring a little kid colouring book. You'd think that surprise and fear in one would jump you out of your headspace, but you're wrong. Sitting on the ground, you're still deep in your toddler headspace, it's not as young as you could be but it's not exactly great at the moment.

Hope snaps out of her staring, and makes her way over to you. She notices a half-drunken sippy cup of apple juice sitting beside you.

You start curling into yourself, not wanting Hope to see you like this.

"Hey, you don't need to be afraid y/n/n" Hope says gently, crouching down beside you. You look up at her, vulnerability shining through your eyes. Hope can see why you'd want to hide, you're not one to easily show being vulnerable.

She tries to rack her brain for why your behavior seems so familiar until she realizes it. Your parents sucked and were horrible to you, creating trauma for you, and you needed some way to cope with it, so your mind found comfort in your headspace regressing from a teenager to a kid. Age regression. She read about it in one of the books she has a couple months ago for one of her classes, not thinking anything of it and why it seemed familiar, until now.

She sits, legs crossed. "Your mind is different right now, isn't it? younger?" She asks with a comforting small smile on her face. Hesitating, you slowly nod your head. "Can you tell me how old you are sweetie?" she asks.

"Th-three" you speak quietly, not used to ever speaking in little space since you had no one to speak to. "...Are you mad?" you squeak out next, wanting to get it over with in the sense that she is most likely going to break up with you.

"Of course I'm not mad, baby. I love you so much, I want to take care of you," she tells you and kisses your forehead.

A second later, she feels you crash into her, head nuzzling into her neck. She wraps her arms around your torso and holds you close. "I'm always here for you, baby girl, no need to hide anymore" she whispers, eyes closed.

[pocketramblr]

Ask game, please! Dracula AU where Jonathan is a werewolf. It doesn’t end well (well, even sooner) for the count.

Ok love this also we're throwing werewolf lore in a blender to make this work and kinda fit the original novel. Kinda.

1- ok so Bram Stoker was Irish so our dear friend Jonathan is a descendent of Laignech Fáelad and the werewolves of Ossory, though one who's family has been in England for at least several generations now. Also, these are the "astral projection of spirit in the form of wolves" type of werewolves described in Nennius of Bangor's Historia Britonum, similar to the ones Augustine of Hippo say are possible through God to fight evil because uh whatever Christianity thing is going on in Dracula.

2- So when Jonny boy shows up to Transylvania and all the locals are freaked out about something, he looks in his Romanian to English dictionary and sees they're using a word that means either vampire or werewolf. And then he wonders if the Count is a werewolf too, and is curious about how that works here- the only other werewolves he ever knew were his mother and grandfather, but they are tragically long dead since he's an orphan who sees his boss as a parental figure. So when he hears wolves in the woods, he's not too concerned yet. When a woman presses a rosary into his hand, he awkwardly takes it and wonders if she'd be superstitious of him too, if she knew- but he really wants to meet the Count!

3- but then he meets the Count. And the Count does have the ability to somewhat control wolves... But he really also sets them off. They don't like him. And Jonathan? His inner wolf does not like this guy, it's unnatural, it's bad, he wants to bite but!! He can't do that, he's a real lawyer now and Mina would be so disappointed if he used his first customer as a chew toy. So he grins and bears it, wondering if it's just a territory thing, and wondering if the castle is so empty because the rest of the Count's family is out in wolf form. But... Where are the servants or anyone else?

4- Eerily, Jon goes to sleep, and his human body is left behind in his bed while his spirit pops out in wolf form. He can't smell anyone. Just the Count, and three faint scents, but they don't smell human. They don't even smell like real wolves. They smell like long dead corpses. Still nervous, Jon curls up in the corner and tries to get some rest as a wolf.

But then the Count comes in while he's "sleeping", getting close to the bed and frowning at the rosary. Jonathan's spirit werewolf has had enough and just jumps up, lunging on instinct to protect his human form.

A wolf battle commences, but Dracula hasn't had to put up an actual fight in so long, and Jonathan has the power of God and anime on his side so he wins- and the lady vampires drop dead from their connection to the Count. Freaking out about the murder, Jonny returns to his human body and runs.

5- when he returns to the town a day later, ragged and panicked, when the town hears about all four vampires being dead... They throw a party of a "funeral", everyone swears up and down that the Count and his family tragically died of a wolf attack the day before Jonathan got in and he found their bodies when the coach took him to the castle, and he's sent home bewildered but his boss is like "wow that really sucks, I'm sorry you had such a horribly unlucky first case, let's keep you close to home from now on. Also is your hair white now?"

No vampires travel into England, Jonathan is worried that his wolf form now being stark white is a bad omen, but Mina just pets him behind his ears and says she thinks it's cute, oh, also, Lucy wrote her about one Doctor Van Helsing that a friend of hers knows, he heard about the strange wolf attacks in Romania and blamed it on vampires, can you believe?

[subhumanselflover]

Hello, can you do smut to fluff with Baiken getting impregnated by the reader and then how she would be as a mom? Thanks

note: okay. i'm not gonna lie this is a scary request for me because this is NOT subject matter i'm used to, and i still need to figure out how to write baiken.. especially in this particular scenario. however, i am an encourager of playing with canon like dolls, and don't wanna leave ya waiting any longer, anon. anyways, i'm formatting it as a few scenarios. if you want more and something more specific, my ko-fi is linked in my pinned :3 also no offense anon but i chuckled a little at this being the third request i got. lightheartedly, i feel like i've been hit with the writer's equivalent of "now draw her pregnant". okay, anyways, enough mar yapping, hope you enjoy

Baiken x Reader NSFW, Dearest

Hands wandering over her, you worked to please the samurai under you. Thrusting into Baiken's warm wetness, she let out a quiet, growling moan, reaching for your head to pull lightly at your hair. "I'm getting close, Baiken," You warned her, trying to be polite, which she usually appreciated. "Mm, I can tell," She said with a smirk, clearly a bit softer than usual. "Cum inside this time," She demanded, leaving little room for argument, or anything of the sort. And so, without wanting to displease her, you did.

Something about that was.. strange. Baiken seemed to have no interest in motherhood before. Sure, she had practically adopted Delilah, and done a damn good job taking care of her, but she had never willingly talked of being a mother. But due to the fact that she fell asleep right after sex, snoring rather loudly next to you, you couldn't talk to her about it until the morning. For now, you curled up with her in your arms, and decided you'd make it the topic of conversation over breakfast.

And when the morning came, you brought it up to her. However, Baiken being Baiken, simply stated that she decided she'd like to be a mother. She wanted to give someone a life that had been better than hers, at least as much as she could control. Understanding, you began to prepare together to become parents.

Baiken's pregnancy was not easy. The emotions were.. difficult to deal with, and you swore you were going to get your head cut off one of these days. All in all, you did your best to take care of her, but she took it the wrong way on a fair amount of days. "You think I can't take care of myself?" She'd growl, and you tried not to make a big deal of defending yourself, as that would only likely make it worse. You both did your best.

(I am not writing anything about childbirth. If you wanted that, I remind you that my ko-fi is in my pinned post.)

In the early days of having a newborn, Baiken got up many nights to deal with your child crying. She'd grumble as she left your shared bed, but if you went in to check on her, you'd find her lovingly holding the child in her arms, trying as she could to soothe the little one. As she held the child, she gave you a dirty look, as if you hadn't seen her act soft before. You laugh to yourself a little. When you left the room, she kissed the newborn on the head, and put them down into the crib once they stopped crying. As you had went back to bed, you notice in the morning that Baiken didn't rejoin you-- no, you found her the next morning sitting on the chair adjacent to the crib in the child's nursery. She had stayed all night, just in case she was needed again.

[gigglymarvel]

From Strangers to Sisters - Prologue

The back story to our series, enjoy! ❤️

After Ultron, Wanda had grown close to Clint who promised to watch out for her, but she also was taken under the wing or web, in this case, of the Black Widow.

The two had become like sisters. However, when the team was ripped apart by the Accords, Natasha went on the run and rediscovered not only her younger sister but her “parents” after destroying the Red Room with them. 

Her parents were more at a distance, but they did give her a second family, and Yelena and Natasha came back with Cap to break Wanda out of the prison cell. While she appreciated the time with Vision as her protector in hiding, she couldn't help but feel heartbroken at the loss of the family she felt she'd built when the team came together, that is, until Yelena made a comment about how Wanda was always low and hanging onto a red jacket that seemed to be in Yelena's memory as the redheaded widow's at one point, and Nat realized her neglect of her dear friend. 

Wanda has given up on trying to get any sort of family back, as they always seem to end up being ripped away from her. She chose to keep to herself in her room, concluding that it was best to keep to herself. 

Nat knocked gently on her door, “Wands?” She asked softly. The young witch jumped at the sudden sound, just letting out a grunt in response, thinking that Natasha just wanted to use her for her magic or something.

“Can I come in?” The Widow asked softly. Wanda just sighed, curling up a little tighter.

“I do not have the energy to help you with my magic right now.” She murmured.

Nat was hurt at that comment but couldn't blame the young witch for feeling this way, it had been all business lately, and she knew she should've seen this sooner. “I'm not here for your magic, Wands. I've missed you.” 

“I think you miss your sister more though, so you can make up for lost time with her, it’s more than what I can do with my brother.” She told Nat straight out, numb to the world.

The Widow was shocked at her words, but instead of leaving, went to her on the bed and rubbed her back, “Wanda, I'm not leaving you. Just because Yelena is back in my life, and we've had missions together, doesn't mean I don't see you as my younger sister anymore. We built something too, and I'm sorry I've neglected it after everything.” 

Wanda initially flinched away at the touch. “You don’t have to say that, I am used to everything being taken away from me, so it’s fine.” She murmured, hesitant to relax into the feeling.

Natasha scratched her back still, running her other fingers through her hair, “I'm not saying it because I have to, I mean it. I've missed you, Wanda.”

The Scarlet Witch shrugged, trying to push Nat away by moving away from her. “All of this is not necessary, you are wasting your time.”

The Black Widow furrowed her brow, “Okay Wanda, you leave me no choice.” As she gently began wiggling her fingers into the younger woman's sides and belly. 

Wanda’s eyes widened, already flinching away and beginning to squirm, trying to get away from her fingers. “Nono don’t you dare, surely you’d rather do stuff like this with Yelena…”

Nat grinned, “Nope I'm gonna tickle you to pieces! Coochiescoochiecoochie coo little witchy woo!” The older redhead tickled the witch and gently wiggled her fingers into her ribs, making her squeal and roll away from her.

“Nope, you’re not.” She tried to defend herself as she covered her mouth.

The Widow smirked and crossed her arms, snagging Wanda's feet into a headlock, scritching into her socked arches with her short nails. 

Wanda yelped, reaching to shove Natasha whilst pulling helplessly at her legs, a few giggles slipping out. “Quit ihit!”

“Aww, there's that laugh I've missed!” She grinned at the witch’s plight as she gently tickled under her toes, “Gitchiegitchiegitchie goooooo I've got your toesies!” 

“You’re not getting any more!” She whined, not wanting to use her magic in case she scared Nat, she just scrunched her toes up and shook her head.

The spy wasn't fazed, however, and tickled her nails along Wanda's arches, hunting for any particularly sensitive spots, and then managed to slide her socks off in a millisecond, attacking her bare feet, “Oh dear it seems we need better access to find the Scarlet Witch’s lost smile.” 

Wanda squeaked, reaching forward to try and shove Nat’s hands away, the arches of her feet almost breaking her. 

“The itsy bitsy spiders tickled Wanda’s feet. Down came the legs and danced a little bit. Out came her smile and chased away sad brain and she and Natasha could be best friends again,” the spy sang playfully, giving it her all as her fingers traced and then randomly skittered along her arches, above her heels and below her soles. 

The witch blushed, squealing whenever Nat would touch her arches, a few more giggles slipping out as she kept pulling at her legs.

The older woman then sat on her shins, gently turning, “Hmm let's give your feet a break and try somewhere else?” And with that, she tried jellyfishing and squeezing above her knees, and spidering around her thighs, ticklishly exploring and playing with Wanda. 

“Fuck!” She squeaked, the knee squeezing causing her to break a little more as she whined and let out a couple of light giggles, still attempting to shove at Natasha’s hands.

The ex-spy smirked, gentle as a feather but quick as lightning and secure as steel, Nat sat her knees on Wanda’s wrists, “Let's give your hands a little vacation, shall we? Some acupressure, let's call it.” The redhead smirked as she wiggled her fingers above the witch’s belly. 

Wanda squeaked when her hands were pinned, thankful that her knees were pretty much skipped, but squirmed around when Nat threatened her with an attack on her belly. “Noho…”

However, the redhead was playfully cruel, shrugging, “Okay!” And reached back to squeeze above her knees rapidly. Then, just as quickly, she fluttered lightly and slowly all over Wanda's tummy, “Oops changed my mind.” 

“FUHUHUCK!” Wanda yelped, the rapidly changing attacks causing her to crack, she kicked out and thrashed helplessly as she pulled at her hands whilst sucking her belly in, her thin shirt not helping.

Nat decided to go in for the “kill” and slowly and gently rolled Wanda's shirt up, “Uh oh peekaboo, I can see your tummy boop,” she smiled and gently poked around her belly to tease her, spidering her nails light and slow before suddenly sucking in air and, “PFFFFFTT!” Raspberrying just below her belly button, shaking her nose in as she raked her nails up and down the younger woman's sides. 

“NAHAHAHAT I HAHAHAHATE YOU SOHOHOHO MUHUHUCH!” Wanda screeched out, helpless, free laughter came out of her as she shook her head helplessly.

The Widow chuckled, letting her breath momentarily, “Aww you hate me? That's too bad, I looove you.” She giggled, curious to see what Wanda would say. 

“You… what?” Wanda asked after she took a moment to breathe, not knowing if she heard the Widow correctly or not.

Natasha tilted her head, gently brushing hair out of Wanda's face, “I've never actually said that to you? I love you, Wanda. You helped me believe in sisterhood again. The boys are family sure but you, you showed me sisterhood could exist and you're probably the main reason I was even able to repair my relationship with Yelena after we nearly strangled each other the first time in person after a decade or more.” 

She bit her lip, hesitant to believe her. “I-I- what?” She asked in disbelief.

The Widow looked at the witch softly, now laying on her to hug her tightly, trying to show she was sincere, “Yes, Wands…you did that for me. And you still do, I've just been absent and I'm truly sorry because I have really missed you.” 

“But what about Yelena? You grew up with her you’re finally reunited with her despite a rocky beginning.” Wanda asked, still hesitant to believe her.

The redhead smiled gently, “We've had a rocky forever. This is the closest to stability we've ever known besides little glimpses of “normal” sisterhood. But normal 13-year-olds don't fly planes with their sister crying and their parents shot or nearly so. And my relationship with her doesn't take away what you and I have or what we've built, and I'd like to make more memories with each of you maybe both of you together.” Natasha said softly, her voice hesitant but hopeful. 

“You’d want me to be included? But what about what i’ve done? I may panic and use my magic and scare everyone” Wanda asked quietly.

“Not Yelena and I, we've done horrible things too,” Nat assured as she pulled her closer, “We'll help you.” 

Wanda just went quiet for a moment. “You’re not going to give up on this, are you?” She asked.

Natasha smiled and rested her forehead on Wanda's, just like she'd do to reassure Yelena, “Nope.” Wanda couldn’t help but pause her stubbornness and that, she just sighed and briefly pulled away. “Whatever…”

The Widow smirked, and shook into the witch’s ribs, “All that and I get a whatever? A whatever?” She teased and began her playful attacks again. 

Wanda gasped, squealing as she broke into giggles again. “Yehehehes you dohohoho!”

She giggled at the witch and raspberried her neck and then cheekily nibbled her ribs, making Wanda screech with giggles and shove at her hands. “Okahahahay you wihihihin!”

Nat stopped immediately, pulling Wanda into a tight hug, almost into her lap as she moved off her. The witch assumed Nat wanted her that close was an accident and moved off her.

The Widow spoke this time, “Nooo, come here,” she said softly, trying to be lighthearted as she pulled the younger woman back into her lap and rocked her. 

Wanda bit her lip, not used to this type of affection, so hesitant to accept it. “But I am not a baby” she replied innocently.

“I'm not swaddling you, I'm just holding you,” Natasha said softly, the witch just shrugged, sitting there awkwardly. 

“Am I making you uncomfortable?” The redhead asked softly, rubbing her back. But Wanda shook her head. “I’m just not used to it…”

“We can work on that,” Nat assured her, holding her close. The witch sighed in response, pretty much giving in as she wanted to get closer to Natasha.

Just then a blonde head popped in the door, “Oh heeeey there you guys are. Wanda, would you like to be doing a movie night? Kate Bishop has just appeared and I am making the Mac and cheese, and I have extra hot sauce. Maybe a Sokovian like you appreciates my taste?” 

Nat smiled and rolled her eyes, chuckling, “What do you say, Wanda? Wanna save me from being a third wheel and their crazy antics?” 

Yelena’s mouth dropped open, and she reported playfully, “I did not say you could come, Natasha,” the blonde smirked and giggled. 

The redheaded widow raised her eyebrows, “Well, in that case, we'll stay here and let you and Kate clean up the popcorn fight you'll surely have on the couch.”

Yelena rolled her eyes, “Fine fine you may join. Wanda?” The blonde widow smiled at the witch, who widened her eyes in disbelief.

“Oh, uh, sure.” She replied quietly, but tugged Nat to come with her, feeling a little hesitant about this whole ordeal.

However, she was glad to step out of her comfort zone, as the evening was the start of what would soon be an incredibly close bond she didn’t realize she craved.

[cinnamontails-ff]

OC Deep Dive: Zoraya Naelgrath

Thank you for the tag @davenswitcher ❤

(art by the lovely @riskpig)

What common/uncommon fear do they have?

Pretty common for women in the professional sphere, but she lives in perpetual fear of being over-/underdressed. That's why her wardrobe looks a lot like Superman's with a bunch of duplicate items.

Do they have any pet peeves?

When someone messes with her desk. It's not necessarily super clean, but she likes things to be arranged just so. Astarion, of course, loves to make a game out of moving her stuff around and watching her quietly lose her mind.

What are 3 items you can find in their bedroom?

A copy of some obscure legal textbook, a bunch of hair ties and pins from the day before, and a cat bed (ignored by her cat).

What do they notice first in a person?

How you treat others, especially people who might be considered lower in the social hierarchy. The fastest way to win her heart is by being nice to your barista/waiter/flower vendor etc.

On a scale from 1-10, how high is their pain tolerance?

I'd say about 8. Girl is a trooper when it comes down to it. Grits her teeth and keeps going.

Do they go into fight or flight mode when under pressure?

Fight. Whether it's with her daggers or in the courtroom, Zoraya goes for the throat.

Do they come from a big family/are they a family person?

She's an only child and has a rather complicated relationship with her biological parents as well as the Ancunins (who have practically raised her). She'll show up when summoned, but family dinners are definitely a source of stress rather than comfort for her.

What animal represents them best?

An oriental shorthair, like in @vyjuarts's "Magistrate's Catvocate" AU.

What is a smell they dislike?

Perfume. She doesn't mind most natural smells but hates artificial stuff.

Have they broken any bones?

No, but there's been the time she fell off a tree and twisted her ankle and accidentally fell in love with the boy who carried her home.

How would a stranger likely describe them?

Something in between "Step on me, mommy" and "How did that stick get so far up her butt?"

Are they a night owl, or morning bird?

She can do either, but if she has the choice, she'd rather get up early and get shit done.

What’s a flavor they hate and a flavor they love?

She loves all kinds of seafood and hates a lot of traditional Elven dishes because she associates them with unpleasant family dinners.

Do they have any hobbies?

She likes to help Dammon in the forge whenever she has to blow off steam. He gives her tasks that don't require much technique, so she can pound away at her repressed emotions.

Boom, surprise birthday party! How do they react to surprise?

She forces a smile and makes an effort to look like she's having fun, but really, she's stressed out of her mind and would rather curl up in her room with her cat.

Do they like to wear jewellery?

The locket :)

Do they have neat or messy handwriting?

Painfully neat handwriting. Total teacher's pet, always out for the gold star.

What are the two emotions they feel the most?

Stress and guilt. The marks of a perpetual overachiever.

Do they have a favourite fabric?

She loves putting on her office uniform, i.e. a white button-down, black trousers and high heels. It makes her feel professional and in control, ready to take on the day. But she's also very partial to the pajamas she bought for Astarion :3

What kind of accent do they have?

Zoraya has had elocution lessons for many years, so her accent is posh and polished, similar to Astarion's. She understands a lot of local dialects (like the ones from the Gur or other low-income clients she represents pro bono), but could never bring herself to imitate it.

I really enjoyed this one! Tagging @larvasmoon @karinamay @pouroverpaloma if they're up for it!

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

A Strange Sort of Family

hi, resident evil fandom, i'd like to throw my hat in the ring

look, i don't even really go here, the fandom mold just got into my brain and would not fucking leave. this is my first time writing any of these characters so if they feel a bit rocky, please forgive me. my media analysis brain has been spinning nonstop since we started the resident evil brain rot and ho boy would I love to sink my teeth into a proper horror fic but! i don't know if i'm there yet so i figured i'd start a bit easier for me :)

also--we all know there's no way ethan's just gone from the franchise now, right? like, sure, he's dead, but he died like 30 minutes into re7 and that didn't fucking stop him

ALSO also big shoutout to @dragonsareaqueerthing and @greenninjagal-blog for the encouragement to actaully make the words go :) hopefully i'll be spending more time in this fandom now that I've got that ball rolling

Read on Ao3

Warnings: talk about events of shadows of rose dlc, nothing explicit, bullying

Pairings: implied ethan/mia/chris, but Ethan & Rose is the focus

Word Count: 10,919

You'd think after about 16 years of being treated like a child and the most powerful bioweapon the world has ever seen, you might get used to it.

Nope!

Not even slightly.

Sometimes a family is a molded bioweapon, a traumatized agent, a former bioterrorist, and a series of golden, sparkly words. Sometimes family is decorating your room with your mother, sometimes family is hugging a pillow because your dad isn't here anymore. Sometimes family is training too hard and going out for ice cream, sometimes family is a dinner where your parents won't stop teasing you.

Or, five times Ethan Winters was there for his daughter, and one time Rosemary Winters was there for her father.

1.

You'd think after about 16 years of being treated like a child and the most powerful bioweapon the world has ever seen, you might get used to it.

Nope!

Not even slightly.

Okay, well, maybe slightly, but only in the way she's able to shake off some of the lesser things that would've made her really upset before. She's no longer threatening the lives of the agents that call her Eveline, to her face or behind her back when they think she can't hear them. Even when she really, really wants to. Small victories.

But despite her best efforts, she still returns to the cell block of a room—Chris had been so insistent that it wasn't a cell, but it was all concrete walls and a tiny window and a camera that she knows is in the corner—and curls up on her bed, jamming her headphones in and refusing to engage with the outside world until she could summon up the resolve to impersonate a normal person again.

Today had been no exception.

Rose throws her backpack onto her desk chair and slings her hat over the hook, kicking her shoes off and collapsing face-first onto the bed with a groan. More tests today, always more fucking tests. Didn't they have every inch of her shitty, moldy body cataloged by now? She has half a mind to start making shit up when they ask her the same stupid questions. 'How are you feeling today, Rose?' Oh, you know, just getting stuck with more needles than a fucking porcupine, how do you fucking think I'm feeling? Yeah, no, no homicidal instincts yet, just had one murderous thought the other day when I was imagining mold eating the bitch who called me a charity case. Although I did go to the park after I snuck away from that asshole you have tailing me on Tuesdays to see if I could amass a mushroom army, how was your day?

A small laugh leaves her throat at the thought of the doctor's face if she actually did say that, but then she'd probably have two assholes tailing her until they deemed her 'no longer a risk.' God, they were supposed to be these super highly trained agents, then why the fuck do they suck ass at being subtle?

Turns out, even having mold superpowers means she still has to breathe like a normal person, so she drags her face up from the bed and doesn't even bother to fully get up to inchworm up to the pillows. She mashes her face against the slightly cold surface—honestly, the best part about this prison-cell-ass room was that the air conditioning was always on Arctic, so her pillows were always cold—and grabs her phone, squinting at the notifications.

One from school saying her group project deadline was coming up…something from some shopping website she'd logged onto out of pure boredom three weeks ago…and a text from Chris.

Rose sits up a little more and opens the text. "Overseas this week…sorry I'll miss the—you fucking dick!"

Of course Chris is working this weekend, of course he's not gonna be fucking here to take her to the cemetery—great, that means another two hours of bus rides until she can actually go see her dad. She swears he does this on purpose sometimes, how often does he actually need to go overseas for 'work?' And it's not like anyone else here would be able to take her, she's learned her fucking lesson about asking them for anything more than more fucking food. Not bothering to stifle her groan, she flops back onto the bed, only for her phone to clatter out of her hand and onto the floor.

Great. Now she has to move again to pick it up.

She decides that moving is actually not what she's going to do right now, letting one arm hang over the edge of the bed, her cheek scrunched awkwardly against the lip of the mattress. She tucks her face against the collar of her jacket and rubs her thumb against the ring on her finger.

"Sorry it's gonna take me longer," she mumbles, "I really wanted to spend longer with you this time."

Her eyes widen when gold sparkling words appear on the floor next to her phone.

it's okay

"What the—" she whips around to look at the door, closed tightly, and jerks back— "how—"

The words are still there. The words are still etched into the floor, right next to her phone. She should check if they're on the camera—no, they can fucking hack into her phone whenever they want, and she doesn't—she can't—if this really is—

Rose swallows the lump in her throat as the words shift and change.

you ok?

"I—what—how are—" she swallows again, camera in the corner of the room, "uh, M-Michael?"

A pause as the words reform: sure

"I mean, I—I know," she says quickly, "I know what—I know what this is, I…I remember, it's just…"

camera, I know

"How is this possible?" she whispers, not daring to move from her haphazard scramble up the bed, "I thought you were—I mean, at the end, when we, uh, did the thing, it seemed like you were…that you were going again."

The words sparkle again as she grips the sleeve of her jacket—his jacket.

apparently i'm bad at it

"Bad at what?"

staying dead

Another laugh chokes its way out of her throat and she reaches out without thinking about it, just to touch the words. They glow a little bit brighter as she touches them and the tips of her fingers glow. Almost as an afterthought, she grabs her phone and shoves it behind her, hopefully muffling the microphone and at the very least, getting its cameras away from her dad.

Her dad. Those are her dad's words, that's her dad, he's here, he's here.

"Are you—is this…are you really here?"

sort of, as the golden words swirl around, part of you

"What do you mean, 'part of me?'"

not a scientist

"You're the only other m—person like me I know, I'm sure it'll be fine." She can almost hear the little huff of laughter as the golden sparkles swirl again. It seems like it's the same as it was when she was in there, with her dad only able to say a few words at a time.

i'm part of the mold, just like you, we're sharing a part right now

"Are you always sharing a part with me?"

i wish i could, and she feels her chest hurt a little bit, takes energy

"I guess that makes sense." Her arm begins to ache from being so stretched out. "I really miss you."

i miss you too sweetie

Fuck, she's 16, she should not be getting this choked up over her dad calling her 'sweetie,' but fuck it, she's a mold person and her dad's dead, she's allowed to sniffle a little when those words glow warmly under her fingers. Some hysterical part of her wonders if he'd be able to give her a tissue or a hanky the way he gave her guns and chem fluid in there, but she scrubs at her nose with her sleeve and decides that it's enough right now that he's here, in her room, still calling her sweetie.

***

2.

She almost recognizes it the second time, a tug in her gut. Given that she's got her hands over her face and is currently doing a fabulous impression of an angry seal, it'd be harder for her to see it. Still, she can't help the dumb smile on her face when she rolls over.

bad day?

"Oh, you know," she mumbles, "just your average day of being a human guinea pig."

ew

She snorts, clapping a hand over her mouth to muffle it. "You know I get a look at their notes sometimes? That's what they call you, just your initials."

surprised they're still talking about me

"What do you mean? Of course they're still talking about you, you're the—" she cuts herself off. The golden sparkles swirl.

i'm the what?

"Never mind."

The floorboards wait expectantly, but she twists the ring around her finger, chewing on her lip. After another moment, new words appear.

can i help?

"With what? With the tests?"

with you

Another tug in her gut, this time at the fact that she can't actually remember the last time someone asked after her, not their biggest liability or their most dangerous weapon. She props herself up on the cold pillows—thank you, government AC—and sighs. "I'm just really tired."

i bet

"Like—are they bored? What do they get out of sticking me with the same needle fifty different times? And it's not like they talk to me about anything, they just look at each other and then fake-smile at me and they tell me 'you're doing great,' like I'm supposed to know what that means. And the other people aren't any better! They keep trying to train me how to do a thing but they're not—it's not like they tell me why we're doing something or what I'm supposed to be doing instead, they just tell me I'm wrong and that's it."

that sucks

She huffs. "You have no idea."

After a moment, though, she realizes that might not actually be true. From what little she's actually managed to get Chris to tell her, and what she can learn from Mom, they were both held in BSAA's quarantine for ages before they moved over to Romania. And if Mom knew about Dad's…not-aliveness way before he did, then they must've done some sort of tests on him too.

"Can I ask you something?"

anything

"Did they, um, did they test you too?"

The floorboards stay empty for a minute, but it feels more like he's thinking than it does him avoiding the question. Sure enough, after another moment, words start appearing again.

they did, they didn't tell me anything either, just that i was lucky

"Lucky how?"

to have made it, even when i didn't

"You did, though," she mumbles, fiddling with the ring again, "you—this part of you made it. Chris told me, Mom told me. You…even after you were…gone the first time, you…you came back. The important parts of you, they came back."

and i'm grateful for it, for you

"You're gonna make me cry," she mutters, scrunching up a little tighter.

i love you Rosie

"Shut up." It's empty and they both know it. A few extra sparkles swirl around and she could swear he's laughing. "I love you too."

Sunlight streams in through her tiny window and she finds herself looking at the way the leaves on the tree dapple the shadow across the floor. Part of her dad's words are still glowing. She looks at the nightstand, bare except for her charger and alarm clock, then over at the desk where her school stuff is, then at the dresser. She reaches out and touches the metal bedframe. It's cold underneath her fingers.

what's wrong?

"Nothing." The words remain and she sighs. "I'm just being mopey."

you're allowed to mope

"Someone at school said something today," she says before she can think better of it, and she winces at how young she sounds.

bullies?

"Not really, it wasn't even really about me, I just—it's stupid."

if you're upset it's not stupid

"They were just talking about this thing they got for their room, okay?" Embarrassment makes her curl her fingers into the loose fabric of her jacket. "It's this mirror thing that hooks up to your phone and lets you play music and stuff from there. They were just talking about it and I thought—see, I told you it was stupid."

There's another pause. The breeze rustles the leaves outside. The shadows dance over the walls.

do you want it?

"Not really…I don't like mirrors that much anyway. And it's not like they'd let me just have another thing that connects to the Internet in here." She glances at the alarm clock. "I barely got them to let me get a laptop for school stuff. I don't think they've got a 'Mold Bioweapon Allowance' in their budget."

The silence grows thoughtful. She turns her head to look at the floorboards again, watching the few sparkles there swirl around.

it's your room, they say finally, it should feel like it

Rose scoffs. "What am I supposed to do, walk up and ask them to sponsor a shopping trip?"

why not?

"They're not gonna do that. They're just gonna brush me off again or tell me they're busy."

you've tried?

"I told you, I barely managed to get a laptop, which is something I need to be able to do schoolwork or anything, even have a taste of what being normal is like. And even then I had to argue for like, ages, and I had to get one of my teachers to write an email saying that it's necessary." She swats the white pillowcase, bitterness seeping into her words. "Everything else isn't necessary. They're all about practicality, like I'm just some other expense they have to deal with."

what about Chris? or Mom?

"Chris isn't here. He's always off somewhere doing something or he's here glaring at me like I'm some stupid new recruit that he doesn't want to have to train. And Mom's…I don't want to bother her, you know? She's got her own life now."

she's your mom, come the words almost before she's done speaking, she'd want to know

Rose sighs, sitting up to lean against the headboard. She twists the ring around and around her finger, chewing on her lip. "I don't know. Sometimes it feels like she's…like she doesn't want to know."

Another pause. What her dad had said before, about them sharing a part of the mold—she can feel something in her chest. An emotion that isn't quite hers, something like a deep and exasperated sadness. It's faint, not quite enough to put words there, but she can tell when she needs to look back down at the floor.

she does love you, let her

"Okay. I'll try."

thank you

"Would you come shopping with me?" she asks, even when she knows the answer. "If you could?"

The room gets a little happier as the sparkles swirl around.

i'd spend all day with you

"What did you want to have in your room? When you were my age?"

telescope

"A telescope?" She laughs. "Did you want to be an astronaut?"

astronaut ew

She laughs again and the sunlight seems a little brighter.

***

3.

She meets Mom at a coffee shop near the big bookstore downtown. She's not wearing Dad's jacket—it still feels weird to do, even after Mom's said it's fine—but she has his ring on a necklace under her shirt. Mom waves her over to a table in the corner, nodding to the smoothie already waiting.

"Pineapple mango," she says as Rose sits down, "your favorite."

"Thanks, Mom." She takes a big drink, savoring the weird feeling the pineapple leaves on her tongue. "How're you?"

"I'm okay. Work's been getting busy again recently with the month's end rush." Mom swirls her straw around her coffee. "Did I tell you about this new thing our boss is trying to make us do?"

"No, what?"

"Apparently some young CEO in the area made it big on corporate social media about 'team building exercises,'" and Rose is already groaning in sympathy, "so he sent out this survey this past week about what activity we'd rather do."

"What were the options?"

"This group painting class thing, where we all paint the same picture—"

"Like in kindergarten?"

"Like in kindergarten," Mom agrees, "there's a bar-arcade place that's just opened up on the West Side that does private events, and then there's a good old-fashioned work dinner."

Rose makes a face. "That's it? No, like, crazy obstacle courses, or escape rooms, or anything?"

"We barely had the budget for the normal year-end stuff."

"So what did you vote for?"

"I ended up voting for the painting, actually—"

"What? Mom, that's so lame."

"Hey!" She jokingly flicks a napkin at Rose. "Lamer than the most awkward dinner you can imagine or sitting and drinking for a whole evening?"

"Isn't that what adults do? You sit and drink and talk?"

Mom sighs, shaking her head as they both laugh. "Yeah, well, I figured it might be better if we tried to do something that wasn't just sitting and drinking."

"I guess."

"Besides, I'm still missing something for the bathroom upstairs. Maybe I'll hang up whatever I manage to make there," she adds, winking at Rose.

It's supposed to be a joke at how bad at art she is—really, even Chris looked at her stick figures and struggled to find something nice to say, and Mom just laughed it off—but Rose's smile fades and she shuffles a little in the chair. She drinks more of her smoothie. Dad's words turn over and over in her head.

"Hey, Mom?"

"Mm?"

"Would you…" She fights the urge to reach for the ring. "Would you help me decorate my room?"

Mom's brow furrows. "At my house?"

"N-no, my…my room at the compound. It's stupid, never mind."

"It's not stupid, Rose," Mom says, picking up her coffee, "I'm just—I guess I'm just surprised. Most teens don't really want their parents anywhere near their rooms."

"Yeah, well, forget it."

A car drives by. Despite herself, she reaches for the ring anyway. Something warm pulses in her chest.

"It's just," she manages, "I don't really have anything in there. It's just the military stuff."

Mom's coffee cup hits the table with a thud. "What do you mean you don't have anything in there?"

"I mean, there's just a dresser, a desk, and a bed. And my little side table thing. They didn't really give me any—"

"How much time do you have?"

Rose blinks. "Huh?"

"How much time before you have to get back?" Mom's already getting up and putting the lid back on her coffee. "We're not that far from the big stores and I have my car."

"I, uh, I think I have a few hours, so—" she scrambles up too, reaching to grab Mom's arm— "wait, you're really okay with doing this?"

Mom pauses for a moment, then reaches out and covers Rose's hand with hers. "You're my daughter, Rosie, I'd love to help you decorate your room."

A lump appears in her throat and she swallows it down. "Thank you."

"Come on," Mom grins, "what are you thinking you want?"

"Uh, I was thinking maybe like a whiteboard? That way I could write down stuff that I might forget? Or like—a magnetic one so I could stick stuff to it?" She gets into Mom's car and they start driving. "Or a corkboard—I've seen a lot of people pin like, pictures and stuff to a corkboard on their walls."

"What if you get both? A corkboard to put pictures and cute stuff and then a whiteboard to write on?"

"I also want a lamp. The normal lights just make my head hurt. And they buzz, you know?"

"Oh, I know exactly what you're talking about. It's like the world's most annoying crickets, isn't it?"

"And there's no, like, in between! It's either no light at all or—"

"Or my eyes are being scorched out, that's right."

They pull into the parking lot of the store and get out, still bouncing ideas back and forth. Mom grabs a cart and they head straight for the stationary section and they spend about five minutes talking about the different corkboards and whiteboards. Then Rose decides she wants magnets so she can stick stuff to the whiteboard, then Mom spots a cute set of push pins, and then another mom and daughter walk by with one of those fancy photo printers that print out pictures from your phone like Polaroids, and they just have to get Rose one of those.

As they pick out lamps and wall decor and sheets that actually have some color, she's struck by how normal this is. She's with her mom. They're shopping for stuff for her room. They're freaking out over the pillows that have little penguins on them. She's actually smiling and laughing and she's excited. She can't wait to get back and put all this stuff in her room.

She just…wishes Dad could be here too.

"I think I'd prefer the yellow lampshade, but it's up to you." Mom looks up from the shelf to notice she's gone quiet. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Nothing, nothing," she says quickly, wiping surreptitiously at her face, "…just…I kinda wish Dad was here too."

Mom's fingers stutter on the box and for a moment, she thinks she's going to see those walls go up again, the ones that always go up when she tries to talk about Dad, but then Mom puts the box down and rubs at her wedding ring. She still wears it sometimes. Rose reaches for Dad's, under her shirt.

"I wish he was here too, Rosie," Mom says quietly, "he'd be so proud of you."

Rose swallows, and her eyes catch on a tiny monkey LED lamp further down the shelf. She picks it up. "I think he'd vote for this one, don't you?"

A hint of fond exasperation comes to Mom's face. "God, did I ever tell you what happened when he found out that you loved that little monkey you got when you were still a baby? He tried to buy everything monkey-themed he could find because he thought you might like it."

"Wait, really?"

"I had to get Chris to help me talk him out of buying an entire monkey crib for you."

Rose puts the monkey lamp in the cart. Mom smiles and they keep walking. They end up spending way more than she thought they'd be and sheepishly tries to put some stuff back, but Mom won't hear a word of it and bags everything up.

"Chris can help cover the cost if he's so worried about it," she declares as they pull back up to the meeting spot where the car is supposed to take Rose back to the compound, "anyway, all of this should have been done years ago."

"Thanks, Mom," Rose says, "I had fun."

"We should definitely do it again. I'll help you decorate your college dorm too."

Rose smiles and gets out of the car. It fades a bit when she sees Paul again, leaning against the side of the van with his arms crossed. She turns her back deliberately on him and goes to help Mom get all the bags out of the trunk.

"You're late," Paul says, like he has any right to sound like a smug, condescending asshole.

"By like five minutes. Open the trunk."

"What's all that?"

"Stuff. For my room."

"Well, I—hey!" Paul finally moves when Mom just opens the trunk and starts putting the bags inside.

"You must be the agent Rose told me about," Mom says, her voice saccharine as she dusts off her hands, "is that right, honey?"

"Yeah," she mumbles, "that's him."

"Paul," he says, "Ms. Winters."

"Mia." Mom holds out her hand and he takes it, Rose peering at them from under the brim of her hat. Her eyes widen when Mom yanks Paul closer to her, her smile fading as she hisses in his ear. "Call my daughter Eveline again and I'll break your nose, are we clear?"

Paul jerks in surprise, before turning his head slightly. "Stand down, it's fine, I can handle it."

"You can't afford to make a scene in such a public place," Mom says, her voice still perfectly even, "and Chris won't risk harming me or Rose. So you can start treating my daughter like a person or I can break your nose right now and Chris can clean up your mess."

Rose can't stop her snort as Paul sheepishly walks back to the front of the car and gets in. Mom watches him go before she turns around and says, loud enough for him to hear, "Make sure you send me pictures when you get it the way you want it, okay?"

"I will."

"And if you decide you want anything else, we'll get it next time."

"Thanks, Mom. I love you."

"I love you too, Rosie." She glares once more in Paul's direction before she walks back to her car.

Rose doesn't stop smirking as Paul drives them back to the compound. He slinks off with his tail between his legs after helping her get all her stuff into her room. She can't cover up the camera—and let them know she knows about it—but she can play her music out loud as she decorates, hanging up the little plants they found and pinning a few photos to her new corkboard. It still strikes her how normal all of this is, dancing to her music and putting up all of her new things, finally collapsing onto her now-colorful blankets with a laugh.

She texts a few photos to Mom, who responds with gushing reviews and excited emojis, before she rolls onto her side to look at the floor.

"What do you think?"

The words only take a second to appear.

it's beautiful, sweetie

"You were right," she murmurs, "it was really nice to let Mom take care of me a bit."

i'm glad

"Oh! I forgot to show you the best part!" Rose jumps off the bed and goes over to the far wall, switching on the fairy lights she hung from the ceiling amidst a bunch of fake vines. "Now the camera will just think the glowing is from the lights!"

Golden sparkles swirl beneath the soft glow.

you're so smart

"I mean," she blusters, trying not to show how pleased she is, "I was just tired of lying down to talk to you all the time."

i see, still clever

"Thanks." After a moment, she reaches over and picks up the little monkey lamp and her stuffed monkey, safely hidden beneath her pillows. "Mom told me you wanted to buy a monkey crib for me."

it would go with the onesie

"You got me a monkey onesie?"

mom has pictures

"I'll have to ask her next time." She chews on her lip, running her fingers over the seams of the monkey's ear. "I wish you could've been there."

me too

"Mom threatened to break Paul's nose if he was rude to me again." The light swirls as Dad laughs and she laughs too. "I'd kick him in the nuts too."

that's my girl

***

4.

"Stupid fucking dickhead," she spits as she slams the door, throwing her backpack onto the chair so hard it scrapes across the floor. "Fucking asshole! I'll fucking rip his head off, the fucking bastard!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees a tiny sparkle from the floorboards, and she stomps over to the lights, turning them on. Almost immediately, golden words swirl up.

what happened?

"Your buddy Chris fucking happened!" Rose throws herself onto the bed and punches the pillow. "He keeps treating me like I'm some—some fucking gun that only he knows how to fire and I'm fucking sick of it!"

It had been especially bad today, too. Chris apparently woke up and decided yeah, today's the day I'm gonna be a total fucking asshole for no goddamn reason. He started them out sparring, which he never does, he always has them warm up first because it's important not to strain yourself, except apparently not today when she was thrown against the fucking ground three times before she could even open her mouth long enough to say hi.

Or maybe ask what the hell crawled up his ass that morning.

And then he kept fucking looking at her like he was disappointed! Like it was her fault she wasn't expecting to be slammed up against the wall or pinned to the ground by a man fucking three times her size and then grunted at when she winced in pain because that fucking hurt, you asshole! And he kept on saying these stupid little comments that just made her angrier and angrier and then he had the gall to be like hey, you need to get a handle on your emotions like he wasn't pushing every single fucking button he knew she had!

You need to be sharper, he'd said like he had any right to try and be reasonable as he almost dislocated her fucking shoulder, emotions make you sloppy.

Yeah, well, he could try being sharper when he was being bullied for no fucking reason.

And when she'd finally screamed at him that she was done, that she didn't want to fucking do this anymore, he had the fucking audacity, the nerve to scoff and cross his arms and tell her that no, she wasn't done, she was only done when he said she was done. And yeah, she hadn't really made the decision to rush at him after that, her body did that on its own, but he literally just tossed her aside like a fucking doll and then said she wasn't leaving until she could do the fucking stupid thing he wanted her to.

She tried. She really fucking did.

But she couldn't do it.

And Chris kept refusing to help, saying he'd been training her for so long already, that he'd wash her out if she were any other recruit—to which she'd screamed that she wasn't, so why the fuck was he being like this? And he didn't fucking answer! He just told her to try it again and he kept making her angrier and angrier and she could tell Chris was getting angry too which just made hers worse because what fucking right did he have to be mad at her? What the fuck did she do to him?

It ended really badly. She'd gotten so mad she'd thrown herself at him again, not caring about proper technique or what was smart or anything, she just went for him. He grappled her, obviously, and that was supposed to be their tap-out, fight's-over thing, but she hadn't stopped. She'd scratched him and punched him and kicked him even when he growled at her to yield, and when that didn't work, she'd bit him.

Chris fucking wrenched her off of him and threw her across the room and she heard three guns click.

They'd glared at each other, Chris holding his arm like it was a fucking biohazard, and then he'd stalked off without a word while agents forcibly shoved her back to her room.

She's panting by the time she finishes, glaring a hole in the wall right below where the words normally appear. Her hands still tingle from where she'd hit the walls and the pillows. She looks up when she sees the familiar swirl.

you shouldn't have bitten him

The anger surges up her arms and she clenches her fists. "That's all you have to say? No 'I'm sorry he was such a dick, Rose?' 'You didn't deserve that?' You're fucking defending him?"

i didn't say that

"I just told you that your friend, the person you told to watch over me and keep me safe was fucking bullying me for no goddamn reason and the only thing you can say is that I shouldn't have defended myself?" Betrayal steeps vehemence into her words. Her nails bite into her palms. "I'm fucking glad I bit him!"

he's trying to help

"How in the fuck is he trying to help," she cries, "by being as bad as the bullies in school? By treating me like a freak that needs to be kept muzzled and on a leash?"

you did bite him

She picks up one of the pillows and hurls it at the wall. It hits with a pathetic thwap and falls limply to the floor. It only makes her angrier when she sees the words calm down when the lights stop shaking.

"Don't fucking tell me to calm down! You're supposed to be on my side!"

i am

She barks out a humorless laugh and picks up the pillow, throwing it back on the bed. "You're not on my side, you're on his. I don't need you lecturing me too. Just leave me alone."

More golden words swirl as she turns away, throwing herself onto the bed and curling up tightly around her stuffed monkey. She chokes around the lump in her throat and wills herself not to cry. She'd almost cried in front of Chris today already, she won't give either of them the satisfaction of seeing her cry now. She won't, she won't, she won't! It's not fucking fair that Chris did that. It's not fucking fair that he gets to act however the fuck he wants and then she's the only one punished for it. He gets to go all over the fucking world and only see her when it's convenient to him and he gets to be an asshole about it.

Dad's not even alive.

A sob chokes out before she can stop it, and then it's too late. She's blubbering like she's a stupid fucking baby again and she can hear the echoes of their voices in her ears. All alone, poor freak Rose, crying like a baby who doesn't get her way. She's so weird, she's so stupid, she can't do it. She's useless, she's not strong enough. Just go away. No one wants you here. No one wants you. No matter how hard she presses her hands to her ears, they won't fucking shut up!

Maybe she should've fucking kept the purifying crystal. Maybe she should've left with no powers and had a normal fucking life. Maybe she should've just left her dad to—

As soon as the thought threatens to cross her mind, she recoils from it. Guilt and anger war in her gut as she nearly grows sick. How could she fucking think that? After all he'd done to save her, protect her, how could she think about something like that, even if it was in a fit of rage?

A strangled noise escapes her throat and the bruises and injuries from her humiliating 'sparring session' abruptly make themselves known. Her body screams in pain; her shoulders ache, the bruise on her ribs throbs, and her jaw feels like it's about to explode. She has the hysterical impulse to bite herself and she wonders if it would hurt more than everything else. Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpses a glow coming from the floorboards now and she curls up tighter, burying her face in the monkey's tummy. Fuck it, she's been called overly emotional and childish enough times already, she may as well throw her tantrum properly.

It's like falling into the Megamycete again; she has no idea how long she lies there, wallowing in her own emotional turmoil. Flashes of the bullies, of Chris's stupid fucking face, of watching herself get tossed around and left behind…even stranger things like massive castles filled with screams and horror, creepy old houses that just feel like tombs, deep water and clanking metal, all filled with whispers of freak, dangerous, stupid child, not good enough. Everything is too loud and too quiet and she just wants it to be over.

When she finally manages to rouse herself from whatever malaise she'd fallen into, the sun has long set. Her clock shows that it's close to 10—that would explain why her stomach is trying to dig a hole in her intestines. The anger fled unknown hours ago, leaving her weary and wrung out. In its absence, she no longer feels like the bioweapon that she's supposed to be, only the scared and lonely child. It's cold. She's hungry.

There's still a soft golden glow coming from over the side of the bed.

Her lip wobbles. She doesn't want to face the consequences of yelling at her dad and throwing a pillow at him, but she can't stop the blooming warmth that he didn't leave. She crawls to the edge of the bed and peeks over.

i'm sorry Rose

She sniffles and rubs her cheek on the sheets. "'M sorry too."

you were right, i should've been on your side

"You're always on my side," she mumbles, "I know you are."

still

She sniffles again and tucks the monkey under her chin. "Why was Chris so mean today? Did I do something wrong?"

i don't think so, sometimes he's just like that

"Why?" She's ignoring how much she sounds like a baby, thank you. "It's not fair."

no it's not sweetie

Rose closes her eyes, basking in the soft glow of her dad's comfort. "Was he ever mean to you when you were training?"

yeah

"What did you do?"

broke his nose once

It startles a laugh out of her. "You what? Wait, what happened?"

he was being an asshole, so i punched him

She giggles again, both at the image of Chris's surprised face with a broken nose and at the fact that her dad got so angry with Chris that he punched him hard enough. A few more golden sparkles surround the words before they change again.

you shouldn't try it though

"Aw," she complains, mostly for show, "but you did it."

do as i say not as i do

She's quiet. After a moment, she lets her arm hang down to touch the words again. They glow gently. "I don't like fighting with you."

me neither

"I'm sorry. I was being a brat."

The words swirl up quicker than she's ever seen.

you were upset at something unfair, not a being a brat

She sniffles again, reaching over to grab a hanky and blow her nose with a sharp honk. She throws it over to the laundry basket and lies back down. The words have changed.

if you need to hear it, i forgive you

"I forgive you too."

rest

She nestles up against the pillows. "Will you stay until I go to sleep?"

of course sweetie, i love you

***

5.

Mostly Rose doesn't dream. She'll close her eyes and open them again and it will be hours later and it's time to get up. Most of the time when she does dream, it's weird half-memories that aren't hers mixed with something she does actually remember. She has dreams of a house with a red chimney being taken apart by little robotic goats, or of a crocodile swimming through a swamp filled with dead crows, or of bugs crawling over test tubes and dirty flasks. Some of them make sense when she digs into the files she's not really supposed to have access to, some of them don't.

On rare, awful occasions, she has nightmares.

She's been curled up and unmoving for who knows how long, desperately trying to feign sleep. The mold in her keeps prickling like there's something else in the room, watching her, just waiting for a sign that she's awake to pounce. Her white-knuckled grip hasn't wavered either. She dares hardly breathe; even though her rational brain knows there's nothing there, there can't be anything there, her entire body is screaming. She can feel the milky sweat beginning to ooze from her palms.

Something creaks.

She goes stiff as a board.

A creak, a groan, a rumble as the air conditioning turns on and she forces herself to relax, cracking open one eye to see that yes, this is just her room, there's nothing to be afraid of here, she's fine.

Her eyes land on the switch to the fairy lights.

The small and whimpering part of her lunges for them, for the warm glow of the light, her dad's words, in lieu of running to her parents' bed to be comforted. The other part hisses that the second she moves, whatever's lurking in the dark will strike. The monkey wheezes as she tightens her grip, staring at the innocuous plastic box hanging against the wall.

With a sudden burst, she launches herself from the bed, slapping the button, and curling back up beneath the safety of the blankets.

Immediately, the soft warm light chases away the worst of the shadows and she can peek over her shoulder to assure herself that yes, nothing is there, she's safe in her room, everything's okay. Golden sparkles are already swirling, a quiet inquisitiveness filling that one empty part in her chest as she lies back down. He's rotated his words so she can read them easily.

what's the matter, sweetie?

"Nightmare," she whispers, more into her pillow than anything else.

i'm sorry

She curls up tighter, trying to pull the blankets up almost over her head. The sweat's almost ruined her monkey—she's going to have to wash it again—and she wipes her hands on the sheet. The absence of it hits the cold air and she shivers, hunching tighter in the covers and sniffling. A sudden and sharp ache sears through her chest and she shudders, harder this time, only the top of her nose peeking out over the comforter. She's so cold. Not in the way where she can pile more blankets on and it'll go away—she could put the whole world on top of her and she would still be cold. This horrible, achy, exhausting cold that seeps into her bones and makes her want to cry.

what can i do?

"You said in your—in your letter," she hiccups, "that you'd hold me when I had nightmares, and—and sing to me until I went back to sleep."

But the words on her wall are just words and words can't hold anybody.

She wants a fucking hug, goddamnit. No one touches her anymore, not unless they're running some stupid test, or sparring, or escorting her roughly down the hallway like some—some prisoner. The last time someone touched her and it wasn't that it was Mom, telling her she'd help decorate her room and that was so long ago, everyone else just—just—

"I want to go home," she sobs and it lands like a dead weight in the still room.

what do you mean?

"I want to go home, I want to go back to that house you showed—showed me when I was in there, where you—where your memories are and I can actually h-hear you and it's warm an'—an' safe, and you love me," she cries, not caring that it's the middle of the night and she's talking to a wall, "no one here loves me. No one loves me, the doctors think I'm some—some experiment that's run too—too long and the agents all think I'm a l-liability and Mom's not here because she gave me up and Chris h-hates me."

he doesn't hate you sweetie

"He does! He does, he does, I can feel it." She hugs her monkey tightly to her chest. "He h-hates me for being the reason you're not—you're not here anymore and he hates me for reminding him that you're dead and he hates me for—for being like this and—and—and—!"

shh…shh…shh…

But he's not here and she can't hear him shushing her and she's all alone in her cold, dark room and she wants to go home.

don't cry, Rosie, it's gonna be okay sweetie

"It's not. 'S not okay."

The wall doesn't move for a moment, then it swirls again.

scoot back, i'm going to try something

Frowning, she does, shuffling awkwardly back until she's on the far side of the bed. The golden light swirls around for another second, before it writes itself on one of the pillows.

hug me

"D—Michael?"

i'm right here sweetie, i love you so much

With trembling fingers, she reaches for the pillow, touching the words with a soft gasp as they glow warmly against her still-slick palms. A sob of disbelief leaves her throat and she bundles it to her chest, burying her face in it. A soft scratching and buzzing fills her ears as more words write themselves across the pillow, but she doesn't pull her face away to read them. Not when this is the closest thing to hugging her dad she's been since she was in the deepest stratum of the Megamycete, crying over his dying body. Not when she's still so cold and the words are so, so warm. She tucks her face into the crook of the pillow's embrace and she cries.

The words don't stop writing themselves over and over and if she focuses hard enough, it almost sounds like her dad is humming.

She falls into a light sleep, not willing to miss a moment of actually being so close to her dad, soothed by his presence. Soon, light has begun to break through the window, the auto timer on the lights long since activated to switch them off. The pillow is all gross from a mixture of drool, snot, and tears, and she sheepishly tries to wipe it away when a small glow comes from underneath.

it's okay

"It's kinda gross."

my privilege, i'm your dad

"Still."

ew, remember?

A watery smile. "Thanks."

i love you so much, i'm so proud of you

"I love you too," she mumbles back, curling her arms around the pillow. Another set of words writes itself and she leans back.

do you really think Chris hates you?

"I don't know. He…he looks at me like he can't sometimes. Or like he's waiting for me to…I don't know, turn crazy or bad or like he's waiting for me to turn into you, almost." She rubs her fingers over the pillowcase. "He used to be nicer."

have you spoken since?

She doesn't need to ask what he's talking about. "No. He's been out of town again. He's supposed to be back, um…"

She leans over to check her phone, eyes widening when she sees the date.

"Uh, today. Shit, I actually think we're supposed to have a training thing today."

Before more words can write themselves, there's a knock on her door. She freezes, phone still in her hand, pillow clutched close.

"Rose?" Fuck. "It's Chris. Can I come in?"

be brave, says the last flutter of words before her dad vanishes, i love you

"…yeah."

Chris opens the door. Rose tugs on her dad's jacket over her pajamas and clutches the pillow in her lap. She doesn't look at him. He moves around a little in the doorway before he shuts it with a click. After a moment, the bed dips and groans under his weight and she sneaks a glance at his arm. Her bite mark is still there.

"Surprised they let you walk around before that healed."

"You didn't even break the skin."

It's probably meant to come off in a way that means she doesn't have to worry about it, but it stings anyway. She turns away again.

A car drives by outside.

"I owe you an apology," Chris says finally, his voice low and gruff, "I shouldn't have been so harsh. I'm sorry."

She doesn't reply, but she shifts to face the window instead of the wall.

"There's been talk of getting you moved to another squad," he continues, and her stomach drops—is Chris leaving too?— "and I thought…if I could prove that you were good with us, that we had it all under control, then they'd drop it. Leave you alone."

At the rustle as he shifts, she glances over at him. His jaw works and his hand twitches on his knee.

"I thought…" He trails off, then scoffs at himself, shaking his head. "I don't know what I thought."

He turns to meet her gaze and her gut clenches at the obvious guilt and remorse she can see there. She swallows.

"You were mean." Her voice comes out a lot smaller than she'd hoped. She swallows and tries again. "I thought you hated me."

"I don't hate you, Rose," he says in a rush, turning to face her, "please don't think that."

"So you're not trying to get rid of me?"

"Shit, Rose, no, I'm not trying to get rid of you. You're—I think Mia'd kill me if I tried, no, I'm just—" he takes a breath— "I'm just trying to keep you safe, okay?"

"Then you should've said something! I would've trained harder if I knew—we could've—I would've done something else, did I do something wrong?"

"No," he insists, shaking his head, "no, you didn't do anything wrong."

Relief begins to pool warily in her chest. Her grip on the pillow loosens and she scoots a little closer. "I'm sorry I bit you."

He shakes his head again. "It's fine. You, uh, you have good bite strength."

"Good bite strength?"

"Yeah. Your contact's really good." He gestures to the bite mark on his arm. "Got all of them in there too."

"Thanks," she says, laughing a little. Chris smiles and it's a bit easier to breathe. She gives herself a shake. "So, what's today? Weapons, sparring, how to punch boulders?"

"Actually, I, uh, thought we'd go get ice cream."

Rose pauses, looking up at him, blinking as if she'd heard wrong. "Ice cream?"

"Weather's gonna get cold soon, the good place around the corner's gonna close." He shrugs. "Been craving it."

"Yeah…yeah, ice cream sounds good."

"Great."

And before she can think too much of it, she throws herself at him and hugs him for all she's worth. She feels him stutter, not quite sure what to do, and then his arms slowly wrap around her, holding her just as tightly. And oh, she's on fire, Chris is big and warm and solid and he's holding her like she's something special and she's gonna fucking cry her eyes out if she stays here a moment longer and she's gonna die if she lets go. Chris lets out a noise of dismay when she sniffles and scoops her up, like she's a little kid again, holding her in his lap and now she's making a mess of his shoulder too.

She could swear she feels Dad smile.

***

+1.

"I'm telling you," Rose says as she lounges on her bed, "you're wrong about the cover. It's actually pretty good."

i like the classics

"Yeah, well, you're old and boring, so that makes sense."

:(

The sight of the old-fashioned emoticon frowny face makes her burst out laughing. "Oh my god, that's so lame. I don't think I've seen someone use that in years."

it's a classic!

"You gotta get with the times!"

totes dope fam

Rose winces at the immense amount of psychic damage those three words dealt, her neck protesting as she almost cringes it out of alignment. "No, D—Michael, just no."

lol

She tosses the pillow playfully at the wall again, laughing when another frowny face appears on both it and the wall. "Aww, okay, I'm sorry, here."

She picks it up and cuddles it and the frowny face turns to a smiley face. Lying back down, grin still on her face, she toys with his ring. It's gotten shinier from all the rubbing, except where she ties the cord around it so she can wear it as a necklace. She turns it this way and that, watching the sunlight glint off of it. As she does, she catches sight of the engraving on the inside.

Always and forever.

"Do you want me to tell Mom and Chris about you?"

The words swirl for a moment.

up to you

She pushes herself to sit up, propped on one elbow. The ring glistens as she slides it back onto her finger, turning it to and fro. "I don't know. It feels bad keeping something like this from them, but I want to be selfish about it too, you know? I kind of like having you all to myself."

it's not selfish

"And what if Chris thinks it's bad?" She twists the ring harder. "What if he tries to take you away from me?"

i won't let that happen

Her shoulders drop a little and she picks up the pillow again, cuddling into it. A few words write themselves across it just so she can feel their warmth and she rubs her cheek against it. "Don't you miss them?"

all the time

A melancholy that isn't hers hangs in her chest and she squeezes the pillow again. "Then should I? They miss you too, you know. I think they'd be happy to, you know, hear from you again."

The words fade and the wall glows again as he thinks. She lets him have his time, rubbing the ring back and forth, listening to the slight rattle it makes as it spins around her too-small finger. When she hears the familiar soft scratch again, she looks up.

they're happy now, i don't want to ruin that

"They're not happy," she can't help but say, "they still miss you."

content, then

"You wouldn't be ruining anything," she argues, "I thought—I thought I'd never get to see you again after I got out of there. The day I heard you again? That was the happiest moment of my life."

mine too sweetie, or my un-life i guess

The words glow brighter as her fingertips glow too. She gets up and lays her hand against the wall, smiling as their powers dance together. "I really think they'd be happy."

A pulse of warmth runs up her arm to her chest as the words shift once more.

when you think the time is right

"I'll tell you, I promise."

i'm so proud of you, Rose, i love you so much

"I love you too."

That time doesn't come on their terms, though, because that would be easy. No, instead it's when she and Chris are over at Mom's house for dinner and Chris asks a question out of nowhere that almost makes her spit all over the table.

"What?" Mom asks as Rose glares a hole in Chris's stupid forehead.

"I said," Chris says like an unrepentant asshole, "who's Michael?"

"Michael?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Rose mutters, staring down at her lap.

"I was coming to get you for training last week and you were talking to someone called Michael." Chris takes a bite of steak and talks with his mouth full, like an asshole. "So who is he?"

Mom elbows her, winking. "Someone you like?"

"What? Ew, gross, no!"

Chris and Mom just laugh and Mom elbows her again. "Don't worry, I was your age once too. That's how I reacted when my mom asked me about my crush."

"Michael isn't my crush!"

"Boyfriend, then?"

"No, he's not my—" she covers her face and sighs. "He's not my boyfriend, he's not my crush, he's not someone from school, happy?"

"So who is he?"

Well, fuck it, no time like the present. She pushes back from the table, muttering about using the bathroom. They wait until she's halfway up the stairs to start talking again, their voices low in that way where she knows they're still talking about her, but she pays them no mind as she goes into the bathroom and shuts the door. She braces her hands on either side of the sink and takes a deep breath.

"I'm guessing you heard all that."

The words swirl up right below the mirror.

yeah

"I mean, it's not like we'll get a better opportunity."

probably not

"Are you ready?"

are you?

She rubs at the chip in the linoleum and turns on the cold water, just to make sure there's no milky sweat on her hands. "I'm nervous."

me too

"No matter what happens," she says firmly, "no matter what they do or say, I'm here for you, okay? I've got your back. I love you."

i'm so proud of you, sweetie, i love you too

The words glow cheerfully against the weird tile pattern and she reaches out to touch them. They share a moment before the words fade and she takes a deep breath, squaring her shoulders in the mirror and nodding to herself. "Right. Let's do this."

She marches back downstairs and Mom and Chris do a horrible job of pretending not to be nosy and expectant. She sits back down and folds her hands in her lap.

"I'll tell you who Michael is," she begins, "but you have to promise not to tell anyone else."

"I promise, honey," Mom says, miming zipping her lips shut.

"Chris, you promise too."

Chris looks at her for a moment like he's going to disagree, then he winces as Mom kicks him under the table. "I promise too."

"Good." She takes another breath and reaches for the ring around her neck. The second she brings it out from under her shirt, Chris's silverware clatters against the plate and Mom inhales sharply.

"Rose," she says shakily, "where did you get that?"

"Before I said yes to joining you," Rose says, "I met K outside the lab. He told me there might be a way to get rid of my powers for good."

Chris frowns. "K never said anything like that to me, what do you—"

"I'm getting there. He took me to the lab where there was a piece of the Megamycete, and said that—"

"He what?"

"Will you both just listen to me?" The two of them quiet down. "Thank you. So, like I was saying, he took me to see the piece of it and said that there was a purifying crystal that Miranda discovered that could take the mold out of someone. All I had to do was look through the Megamycete's index of consciousness to see if I could find it."

"That's incredibly dangerous, Rose," Mom says quietly, and Chris looks like he's trying to strangle his fork. "Please tell me you didn't—"

"I wanted them gone," she interrupts, looking at her Mom, "they were—I was just a freak with no friends. Someone offered me the chance to be normal, are you telling me you wouldn't have done the same thing if you were a teenager?"

Mom looks at her for a long moment, but she doesn't disagree. Rose squeezes the ring and keeps going.

"It wasn't that easy, obviously. It was…really hard. And really scary. I had to fight my way through these, like, twisted versions of the places in Miranda's village, like that big castle and the creepy doll house, and there were all these versions of me that kept getting killed and tortured, I fought a version of Eveline too—"

"Rose," Chris tries to say but she doesn't let him.

"—but I had help," she continues. "There was something helping me. It helped me figure out where to go, what to do, gave me a gun and taught me how to use it. There were these glowing words that would appear when I needed them most and it…it was like having a guardian angel."

"Michael," Chris says, and she nods.

"Yeah, I called him Michael. He—he kept trying to get me to leave, said that it wasn't safe, but I wanted to find the crystal and so he helped me. And then we found out K wasn't actually K and it was all a trap set by Miranda—"

"It was what?"

Chris is already getting up. "Is she still in there? Do we need to—"

"Sit down, Chris, it's fine, we beat her. She's dead now, like, really, actually dead. She crystalized and turned to dust, I saw it."

His face still looks like he ate a lemon, but Chris sits slowly back down. He exchanges a worried look with Mom and she puts her hand on Rose's shoulder. "You said 'we?'"

"Me and Michael." She looks down at the ring and turns it over in her hand. "Until I found out who he really was."

Mom gasps, a small and shuddery thing. She holds her hand over her mouth and stares at Rose. "Ethan."

Chris makes a noise too as Rose nods. "Yeah. It was him the whole time. He…he protected me. From Miranda, from Eveline, from everything."

"He loved you so much, honey," Mom whispers, her eyes growing wet, "he never stopped loving you."

"He showed me our house in Romania," and to her horror, she can feel her voice growing thick too, "with all his memories. I heard his voice, Mom, he—he wrote me a letter, did you know?"

"Yes," Mom says, trying not to sob, clutching her shoulder, "yeah, honey, I know. He cried so much while he was writing it, he wanted you to get old enough to read it with him, oh, Rose…"

She swipes a hand under her nose and turns to Chris, who's doing that big, tough, I'm-too-manly-for-my-emotions-right-now thing and reaches for him too. After a moment, his hand turns and covers hers. He's trembling. "He taught me how to fight, Chris. We—we fought together. He shot the monsters in the face with a shotgun and gave me his power so I could kill Miranda, once and for all."

Chris swallows heavily. "Your dad was…he was one of the best men I've ever known, Rosie. He would be so proud of you." He sniffs. "You said he shot them in the face with a shotgun?"

"Mhm."

"Yeah, that sounds like Ethan, alright." Mom laughs and it sort of sounds like a sob but she and Chris are smiling now, so it's okay. Chris looks back at her and nods a few times. "So you were talking to him, then?"

"Yeah. When you walked by on Tuesday, I think it was…yeah, we were arguing about whether the original Blade Runner was better than 2049." She wrinkles her nose. "He said the original was better but I like the remake."

Chris frowns. "What do you mean, he said—"

The words scrawl over Mom's dining table, illuminating their faces.

i like the classics, that's all

Rose would laugh at the way Chris almost falls out of his chair if his hand and Mom's weren't trembling. She looks at Mom, who stares at the glowing words, and at Chris, who looks like he's about to be sick.

Mom breaks the silence first. "…Ethan?"

The words move, now right next to her forgotten plate.

hi honey

"You're—you're—"

bad at staying dead?

Mom's breath leaves her like she's been punched in the gut. "Oh, Ethan, I—I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry—"

breathe, it's okay

She squeezes Mom's hand as she takes a few shaky breaths. "What—how is this possible?"

rose

"We're both part of the mold," Rose says when Mom looks to her, "he's…he's using my part right now, we're sort of sharing it."

told her i'm not a scientist, figured you'd get it :)

"No one uses those anymore," Mom mumbles and Rose whispers a quiet told you so! as the smiley turns to a frowny for a moment, before the words change again.

i know it's been hard, i'll always love you

"Oh, Ethan," Mom whispers, reaching out to touch the words. She gasps as a flicker of warmth pulses through them and Rose squeezes her hand again. "I miss you."

i miss you too

Another glow flickers up next to Chris, who startles and stares down at the words in shock.

you too

"E-Ethan, I—" he cuts himself off as the words swirl again.

thank you for taking care of my daughter

Chris swallows heavily. "She's incredible, Ethan. You should be proud of her."

always am

"I'm sorry," Chris whispers, and something in Rose's gut clenches at how close to tears he looks too, "if I'd been faster, we could've gotten you out of there, we could've…"

it's okay, Chris, we're all okay

"You're dead."

i died in 2017, doing pretty well considering

"He is really bad at staying dead," Rose adds, "Miranda said so too. You should've seen her, she was so mad at us."

Chris looks like he's having a hard time deciding whether he wants to laugh or cry. The sparkles swirl again.

she's a fighter, she gets that from you too

His free hand jerks and Rose squeezes the one in hers. "You can touch, Chris, he won't bite. That's my thing."

it won't hurt, promise

Chris takes a deep breath and slowly touches the words. His breath leaves him in a rush as they glow warmly under his fingers. Rose smiles as she feels the mold connect all of them there, in that moment, through her and Ethan. Some part of her clicks into place. As if he can feel it too, which he probably can, another set of words appears in front of her.

we're so proud of you, Rosie

"Yeah, yeah," she mumbles as she feels heat rush to her cheeks, "shut up."

no :)

Mom laughs. "We finally have all three of us together again and you want us to not tell you how proud we are of you?"

"They've got a point, Rosie."

"I'll break your nose!"

"No, no," Mom says as Chris squawks, even though she's still smiling, "no breaking Chris's nose."

even if he deserves it

"Hey!"

As they all laugh together, Ethan's words still glowing in the warm, quiet house, Rose sits back in her chair and twists her dad's ring around her finger. Sure, being a mold bioweapon teenager was weird, but if this is the family she gets to have because of it, it can't be all bad.

[gemini-sensei]

Thinking about octopus mermaid!Reader who at a young age got separated from her parents and was found by merman!Daniel one day. She was just asleep on the floor of a sea cave, but hebdidnt want to wake her up because she looked so tired. However, she also looked a little sick as if she hadn't eaten in days, so he went hunting and brought her back some fish. She was still a fry, way to young to be left alone, let alone hunt for herself.

He decided to wait around for her parents to show up, but he's there for hours. Eventually she woke up and ate the fish he brought her, getting a little boost of energy but not too much. He asked her where her parents are and she just shrugged. She hadn't seen them for days, but didn't know how to tell him that. So he waited a little longer with her. It was the first time she'd seen anyone in a while, so she was a tad bit excited and wanted nothing more than to play games with him.

However, as the hours went on, he realized that he'd have to return home soon. His mate and daughter were likely worried about him and if he didn't leave at that moment, he'd never make it home before it was too dark to swim. But he also couldn't leave the little fry all alone. It's a miracle she's survived so long without her parents, who were still supposed to be providing her with food and protection.

When he decided to leave, she was all tuckered out again. So he scooped her up in his arms and promised to protect her no matter what, then took her home. It was a bit of a swim, but he managed to get there just before the sun set all the way.

Sam saw him from the front opening of their humble little cave, where she'd been waiting for him, and got super excited as she was just a guppy at the time. She swam to him as fast as her little tail would let her, screaming, "Daddy!"

This alerted Amanda to his return home and they both rushed out to to greet him. She had a lot of questions as to where he had been all day, which only got added to when she saw the little fry in his arms.

Reader was fast asleep, wrapped up in his arms. She also had him all wrapped up, with her arms around his neck and her tentacles around his waist. She was all curled up and cozy in his arms, too tired to even be woken up by the other mers talking over her head.

Amanda was concerned but Sam was confused. Daniel promised to explain everything when they got inside and the little fry was settled. So they went into their cave and Amanda had to keep Sam at bay because her excitement might have woken the sleeping, almost sickly fry. When Daniel tried to put Reader in a bed, she stuck to him with her little suction cups. He had to carefully pull her hold away from himnand get her covered up for the night.

The parents fed Sam, who had a little fit over having to eat her seaweed and kelp. She reluctantly ate as she pretended not to pay attentiont to her parents talk about the little fry and how she was all alone. It made Sam so upset that the pretty mermaid had been left all alone because she wouldn't know what to do if she were all alone. She slipped away from the table and went to the fry, laying with her and hugging her even though she was asleep.

Meanwhile, Amanda was heartbroken to think the fty's parents were likely hunted and killed by human hunters. Octopus mers are some of the strongest mers and they know how to avoid sharks, so human hunters were the likely reason the poor fry was all on her own.

She and Daniel decided to watch over her and he'd go out looking for her parents, but after a few days and nothing, not even anyone asking about her, they decided to keep Reader and raise her as their own. There was no way they were going to off load her onto anyone else and by that time, she and Sam were attached at the hip. So Reader became their second daughter and everyone was happy.