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helpimhyperfixating · 3 years ago

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Jotaro Comforts You

Word Count: 2935

Having a bad day (like me) and need Jotaro to comfort you? He's got you! Whatever problem you currently have, it's alright, come here and let the Joot man help.

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Jotaro tiredly opened the door, having spent the entire day in the library, regrettably having to work on a project with one of his classmates. The dude didn't seem to get a hint to shut up and had talked almost the entire time. So, to say Jotaro's social battery was down was an understatement.

As he put down his bag with a small groan and took off his shoes and coat however, he noticed the lack of noise in the house. Normally, the tv or radio would be on, providing background noise for you as you did whatever. Yet right now, there was nothing. Not even a clatter, footstep or hum.

Jotaro's brow furrowed a little and he made his way deeper into the house. No sign of you in the living room, nor kitchen.

A near empty carton of juice was left open on the counter and Jotaro picked it up for a second. He remembered when he left a carton near empty in the fridge once and you had pointedly lobbed the thing at his head, clearly making your point and causing him to never do it again. So, to see you do that thing that you despise worried him, to say the least.

"Y/N?" No longer able to stomach the pressing silence, he called out for you. Yet there was no answer and Jotaro's worry spiked. Your shoes and keys were still by the door in their designated spot so you hadn't left. Yet why weren't you answering?

Quickly putting the juice down with a little more force than necessary, Jotaro made his way out of the kitchen and started walking down the hall towards your shared bedroom. On the way, he opened the study and bathroom but both were empty so he just continued to where his gut was leading him.

Once he reached the door, he carefully opened it, a sigh of relief leaving him when he spotted you lying on the bed.

That relief was short lived however, as he took in the pose you were lying in.

You were lying on top of the blankets, curled in on yourself in the foetus position, except you had tucked your head behind your knees, hiding your face completely from sight as you hugged yourself into a tiny, uncomfortable ball.

Jotaro was silent as he walked in. He knew you were awake and aware of his presence, yet you hadn't unfurled and greeted him, which majorly tipped him off that something was wrong. As he reached the bed and went to reach out for you, he heard the shakiness of your breathing. Were you... crying?

"Y/N? Are you alright?" There was a gentle tenderness to his voice as he put his hand on your shoulder, squeezing slightly in the hopes it would work to do... well, something positive at least.

"Mhm!" What was supposed to be an affirmative hum came out as more of a squeak, quickly stifled by the person who made the noise.

Hearing that, Jotaro sighed softly and crouched down, keeping his hand on your shoulder as he did and now placing his other hand on your knee. "Y/N."

"I'm fine!" Your voice was a little higher pitched than normal, a barely noticeable quiver to it as you quickly spoke those two words.

"You sure?" It was abundantly clear to Jotaro that something was wrong. He wasn't stupid. He also just didn't know his way around words and what to say. You were always the one to voice the emotions, both for yourself and for him, even when he didn't even really realise when he had them. If he was stressed, you would point it out and try to get him to relax. If you were frustrated, you would tell him and he'd help you by getting to the origin of your frustration and dealing with it with you. If he was angry, you would point out he was nearly breaking the glass in his hand and he would realise and calm down. And, if you were sad, you would come to him and ask for comfort. Jotaro never really needed to use his words to express his emotions, you were there to verbally express them for him and he would do all he could with his actions.

So, for you to lie and say you were alright when there was clearly something wrong, that truly worried the college student.

"Yeah, of course." You croaked back in response to his question, trying but failing to clear your throat afterwards. "Sometimes you just have to curl in on yourself like a cat, y'know? It's fun!" A watery chuckle left you as you spoke but your fake cheeriness did not fool the man beside you for even a second; especially since you dug your head even deeper behind your knees as you spoke. "I'm fine, don't worry."

Jotaro softly sighed and stood up, lifting his hands from your shoulder and knee before walking around to the other side of the bed. Slowly and carefully getting on, he did his best to not make the bed dip in such a way that would set you off balance and instead turned to lay down, his back propped up a little against the headboard with pillows.

"Come here, love."

The sudden sentence and nickname broke you from your thoughts of trying to keep your tears in and cries silent and you lifted your top leg a little, peeking through the newly created gap to see Jotaro lying down with his arms open and beckoning you closer.

You didn't want to burden him with your emotions today, knowing he was probably exhausted and just done with the world, so when you suddenly started breaking down about half an hour ago, you had retreated towards the bedroom and hidden away in the hopes Jotaro thought you were out and wouldn't find you. Looks like that plan failed.

But seeing him open his arms to you so warmly and innocently to you, you couldn't stop your body from slowly uncurling.

Your neck cracked from the lengthened period of sitting in an uncomfortable position and Jotaro cringed a little at the noise. His hands still beckoned you however and when you got on your knees, head hung low to still somewhat hide your face and crawled over, he immediately made his arms encircle you once you were in range.

Gently, he coaxed you to lay down against and on him. "Little higher." He spoke when your head landed on his midriff and you did as he said, lifting yourself up a little and shifting a bit higher. Using his arms around you, he helped and positioned you in such a way that your right ear was now pressed to the left side of his chest, right over his heart as he kept his arms locked securely around you, working his legs in between yours and tangling them together while you automatically wrapped your left arm around his waist, your right stuck underneath yourself and flat against his side, yet not uncomfortably so.

"What's wrong?" Jotaro asked again, moving his right hand up to gently hold the back of your head, scratching your scalp lightly in a slow and calming motion.

"Nothing." You spoke again yet simultaneously turned your head to bury your face in his chest, trying to hide again though your legs were now captive to Jotaro's.

"Alright." That was all Jotaro said before falling into silence; a patient understanding in the tone of his voice.

And so the two of you lay in bed, Jotaro gently holding you in his arms while you tried to forcefully calm yourself and stop your breakdown.

Despite the calming presence of Jotaro and the gentle lulling that his heartbeat and hand on your head brought however, your mind kept going in the same spiral. The same thoughts over and over again until you felt the tears pricking at the corner of your eyes again. You had to let it out. If not by crying, then by just talking about it. And, since you didn't want to show even more weakness, you decided to go with the second option.

"I-" You started, but immediately stopped, not really knowing what you wanted to say. "I'm sorry." You choked up at those words, not even having a reason why but Jotaro shushed you, using his hand on your head to press it back down against his chest when you tried to lift it.

"Don't apologise." He murmured, now rubbing his thumb back and forth in a comforting motion. "I know I'm not good at words but I will listen. Talk when you're ready."

His words tugged at your heartstrings and you automatically tightened your hold on him, your right hand bunching his shirt up until you had such a tight hold on it you were almost positive it would wrinkle permanently. That didn't matter right now to Jotaro though.

"I'm a grown ass human, you shouldn't have to comfort me. And- and you had that group project today so you are probably exhausted and completely done with the day, s-so-"

"Stop." Jotaro interrupted you. "None of that shit matters. You matter."

"But-"

"I told you to shut it." He stopped you before you could go into another apology schpiel. "Everyone needs comfort, so just be quiet and take it and then talk when you're ready. Understood?"

Sniffling, you just nodded your head, burying your nose back in his chest and basking in the warmth his body gave off in silence.

You always read and heard that listening to someone else's heartbeat was calming, but now that you actually heard it yourself and really focused your attention on it, you realised how true that actually was. Maybe that was why Jotaro liked laying his head on your chest. Besides the obvious of course, cause damn, you had to admit laying on his tiddies was very nice as well.

Just that thought caused you to smile a little to yourself and you took in a shaky breath, trying to sync it with Jotaro's calm and steady ones.

He had never stopping lightly scratching your head and with that, plus the heartbeat, plus the heat, plus the comfort of his presence, plus the breathing, you finally felt calm enough to talk and seem as if you weren't just bawling your eyes out in silence.

"I'm- today..." You started, unsure since the moment you opened your mouth, you could feel that lump returning to your throat so fast.

"Hm?" Jotaro hummed. You heard his head shift a little so he could look at you but you didn't dare look up, just biting your lip in the hopes the lump would go down. You already started talking now though, so you weren't backing down.

"It's just that, about an hour ago now-" The further into the sentence you got, the more choked up you got, tears filling your vision again. But you didn't care anymore. Tears pouring down your face again, sniffling, scratchy and hiccuping voice, you just told him everything. The reason you were so sad, why you tried to hide away and not let him know, how you didn't know what to do; it was just a continuous stream of spewed words and sentences. Yet, Jotaro listened. True to his word, he listened to every sound pouring from your mouth, humming softly every now and then to indicate he was indeed still there.

Once you were done and had spilled your entire heart out, a wet splotch on his shirt where your tears had soaked through it, Jotaro just merely pressed a kiss to the crown of your head before rolling you over until you were on top of him, gently pushing your head to rest in the crook of his neck while he used his other free arm to rub your back.

"It's going to be alright." He spoke. No edge to his voice, no teasing undertone as you were used to, just, pure and utter sincerity. "I'll always be here."

"Thank you." Your voice was muffled and still sounded teary and you were pretty sure you accidentally drooled a bit on his neck when opening your mouth but Jotaro didn't feel it or didn't care as he pressed his cheek against the side of your head and just held you close, cradling you like a fragile figure of glass.

Several minutes pass like that, nothing but the sound of soft breathing and the occasional ruffle of the bedsheets.

"Have you eaten yet?" Jotaro suddenly broke the silence and you opened your eyes that you had closed a little bit ago.

"No, but- Oh god, oh no, I was supposed to cook and now-" You were hiccuping in between your words once more after finally having calmed down earlier. "Now you won't have any dinner and I'm so sorry Jotaro, I-"

"Hey, it's alright, I'll cook." Jotaro shushed you again, lifting your head from his neck and looking into your eyes as he held a finger under your chin to tilt your head up. "C'mon."

With that, Jotaro sat up with you still in his arms - utilising those abs he trained every morning to get - and swung his legs over the side of the bed, taking hold of your calf and manoeuvring it so that you would lock your legs around his waist.

Not really knowing why, you just did as he wordlessly asked and held on, moving your arms to wrap around his neck while locking your ankles against each other behind his back.

Now that you were in prime carry position as his personal baby monkey, Jotaro moved one arm under you and one arm around your back, getting up without any troubles as he began taking large strides through the house.

While you expected him to go to the kitchen or living room to put you down, he instead made a pit-stop in the bathroom and placed you down on the edge of the tub.

You were confused but stayed silent as he walked over to the cabinet and took out a washcloth before holding it under the tap in the sink, wetting it with water before walking back over to you and kneeling down in front of you.

He gently clasped your chin in his left hand, tilting your head side to side for a second before a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. Your embarrassment flared up and you could feel your cheeks start to burn from all the blood that rushed to them. You probably looked like a disgusting mess and now he was just taking a good look at you.

Luckily, Jotaro seemed to have some mercy because, even if he did see the blush, he didn't mention it and just pressed the washcloth to your face.

Your breath hitched, not having expected it to be warm, but as Jotaro started gently rubbing it along your face, you couldn't help but hum in content, the sound completely involuntary.

After about three minutes, Jotaro seemed content and he placed the washcloth in the sink before turning back to you.

"Thanks." You shyly spoke and Jotaro hummed softly. "Do I look pretty again?" You spoke a little bit more upbeat with a dumb, tearful grin - making a stupid pose. Just simply rolling his eyes, Jotaro leaned in and pressed his lips to yours in a short, soft kiss, pulling back a few moments later to look at you again. "So... pretty enough to kiss then?"

"Yare yare, c'mon." He ignored your stupidity and turned around until he was crouched, back facing towards you - though you did spot the small smirk that he held before he turned.

Just then, you realised what he meant. "On your back?" You questioned with an unsure tone as you looked at it as if it was foreign.

"Get on." Jotaro huffed and you hesitantly but quickly did just that.

With way too much ease, Jotaro stood up, looping his arms under your legs and walking out of the bathroom while you clung onto him like a Koala.

In way less steps than you would have had to take, the two of you arrived in the kitchen and Jotaro started gathering ingredients and cookware.

Either you weren't paying attention, or the hour of crying messed with your head and made your brain all foggy, cause it didn't really register that - even though Jotaro had removed his arms from under your legs and was no longer holding you up - you still felt a pair of arms under your legs, holding you and making you able to just lean agains Jotaro's back without really having to do anything to hold yourself.

As Jotaro got to work, a sleepy haze overtook you and before you knew it, you had fallen asleep against him, your chin on his shoulder as your head leaned into his.

Jotaro felt your weight sink into him fully, indicating you had fallen asleep and he allowed a soft smile to appear on his face. Star Platinum appeared fully and pressed a soft kiss to your cheek since Jotaro couldn't before fading back into his user and just having his arms out to hold you.

You may have had a rough day, but Jotaro wouldn't swap this for the world. Feeling your hair tickle his cheek as you leaned on him, soft yet steady breaths leaving you as you slept.

And, when you woke up, you would be surprised with your favourite food as dinner, and Jotaro couldn't wait to see your reaction.

Did someone say soft Joot? Soft Joot soft Joot soft Joot soFT JOOT. I'm going through some shit so hey! Who better to help than my comfort character

#Jotaro Kujo #jotaro x reader #jojos bizarre adventure #fluff #sfw #jojo #jojo x reader #comfort #jjba #jjba x reader #i'm soft for soft joot

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picwew · 3 years ago

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SQUAD UP! It’s time for Yuna and his crew of miscreant demons!

(Picrews are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here!)

The characters are, top to bottom, left to right--

Nakajima, Yuna: A human with unusually high magical potential. His specialty is the binding of demons into servitude, which he utilizes to stop particularly troublesome demons from threatening human populations across the globe. Most of the demons under his care were seduced by him, as he has quite a knack for making men want him. As such, several of his servants are vying for his favor, but, in his own words, “I don’t play favorites~”

Obviously, Yuna is a bit of a flirt. His tastes extend well beyond demons, into just about any non-human he can get his hands on. He has a ravenous appetite for handsome men, but no plans to settle down any time soon. It isn’t that romance doesn’t appeal to him, more that he’s still young and a little too free-spirited for anything permanent. The way he dotes on his servants, though, you’d certainly think he was in love with them, Nihil in particular.

Mourning Dove: Affectionately referred to by his coworkers as “Dovey”, this little fellow was the first of Yuna’s servants, and is therefore his most staunch defender. The details of his past are hazy, even in his own mind, but he was born into the slave trade, nameless, nothing, the psychological toll of which would not become apparent until his eventual escape. He was full of hatred for the humans who had callously treated him as property, and claimed many lives before Yuna was able to soothe his aching heart. “You’re pretty as a mourning dove,” Yuna told him. From that moment on, he decided that this would be his name.

Dovey is, above all, an empath. Much of his time recovering from a life of slavery was spent learning to feel again. Once he got the hang of it, however, he found that he felt a little too much, so much so that he’s become somewhat of a crybaby. When others are in pain, he is often the one to comfort them. His sweet disposition and cute appearance have earned him his coworkers’ love, although they still get a bit miffed with him whenever he tries to hog Yuna’s attention.

Dr. Callaway: An interesting case, and a tough nut to crack. Only Yuna knows his full name; no one knows his story. All he’s shared is that he was fingered for human experimentation, and that, no, he has neither learned his lesson nor wishes to. Still, he behaves himself well enough, perhaps because he is entirely obsessed with Yuna in the most unhealthy way. While most of his coworkers consider one another family, Dr. Callaway is detached and often mocking of their sentimentality.

As expected, Dr. Callaway is a terrible sadist. He takes great pleasure in hurting others in any way he can. Nowadays, this is limited almost entirely to insults and threats, but he has been known to get physical with others when Yuna isn’t looking. It doesn’t help that nothing seems to bother him in return. You could beat the man senseless, and he’d come out of it grinning like a jackal.

Corvo: This one was a misunderstanding--or, rather, a case of cultures clashing in a very gruesome manner. Corvo is a hybrid of demon and crowkin. Beastkin are not true demons, but are often lumped in with them, so mixed-race families are not uncommon. Unfortunately, this can lead to some problematic offspring, particularly when one or both of the parents are detached from human society. Corvo, like many crowkin, was taught that food is food, and that human meat is the most delicious of all. He bore no ill will toward humans, but his view of them as, essentially, cattle culminated in a visit from Yuna.

Following his binding, Corvo began the lengthy process of finding something he liked more than human flesh. This, as it turned out, was sweets--all sweets, from pastries, to ice cream, to candy. He had never had sweets before, and everyone agreed that they suited his bubbly, affectionate personality more than human flesh anyway. He is certainly the gentlest of all of Yuna’s servants, dedicated to his family and to protecting those in need. He’s especially fond of cats.

Erebus: Known by those who worship him as the Master of Crows, Erebus is an ill-understood being. He is ancient, but has had little to do with his own kind since time out of mind. Instead, he appears to have become so entwined with his worshipers that he can no longer live without their faith to sustain him. During the Northern Crusades, a great many of them were persecuted for their faith, and Erebus fell into a centuries-long slumber. Only when his followers began to grow in number again did he wake--and command those loyal to him to seek vengeance for their fallen brethren. Naturally, Yuna had a thing or two to say about that.

Erebus is highly asocial, but does not dislike his coworkers. It would be a stretch to say he views them as family; even so, he gets along well with them on the rare occasion Yuna can talk him out of his comfortable pocket of darkness. As the oldest of his colleagues, he is respected and even admired, but he cares little for the love of his own kind. He desires mortal love, which he receives through his worshipers. Due to their number still being relatively low, you’ll rarely catch him awake. Only Yuna seems able to rouse him, and only because Yuna is his “most cherished one”.

Mage: A troublemaker with a bark worse than his bite--but he can and will bite, so mind your fingers. Like Dr. Callaway, his true name is known only to Yuna. His coworkers know him as Mage, taken from Magenta, the name of the rather nasty chemical he produces to draw in his prey. He doesn’t harm them, but he has seduced many a married man away from his wife. Causing strife among couples is what he does best. As an incubus, he finds the taste of a married man’s energy too sweet to resist. So, of course, when he found himself seduced by Yuna, he was completely baffled--and absolutely obsessed. He still toys with married men now and then, when he gets the chance, but spends most of his time trying to talk Yuna back into bed.

Though rare, Mage can be persuaded to bust heads, and does so with the best of ‘em. He’s highly territorial, meaning that although he rather likes his colleagues, he often tangles up with them over Yuna’s affection. He is particularly hostile toward Nihil, who rather delights in teasing Mage with his closeness to their master. Outside of his romantic conflicts with his housemates, he tends to be rather lackadaisical, spending much of his free time lounging on every comfortable surface available. People find his presence enjoyable due to his easygoing disposition and passion for mischief.

Nihil: Of all the demons under Yuna’s employ, Nihil is the one who has come closest to winning his heart. Theirs is a strangely intimate relationship, one which Yuna insists is platonic--and yet, Nihil is at his side always, his obedient shadow. Of course, they weren’t always so close. Nihil is an inherently violent, cruel man whose sole purpose in life is to cause as much pain and grief as he possibly can. He is absolutely, positively insane, for no other reason than this is how he believes a demon should be. This is his aesthetic, and a demon’s aesthetic is absolute. He minds his P’s and Q’s now that he’s bound to Yuna, but never lets his “family” forget what he is, Yuna least of all.

Nihil loves no being, except, by his own admission, Yuna. He teases his master constantly, always pushing his limits, always pushing his buttons. “I am your loyal dog,” is a favorite line of his, spoken, with a pointed smile, whenever Yuna asks something of him. For some reason, it never fails to fluster Yuna, which allows Nihil to worm himself further into his darling’s heart. Unlike his colleagues, he is not afraid to get physical with Yuna, and many of their more heated arguments have ended in the bedroom. Whether Nihil actually enjoys servitude remains to be seen, but for Yuna, he would pull the moon from the sky.

Pox: The general consensus on Pox is “unfriendly, but not unbearable”. A life of self-isolation has made him difficult to approach, even more difficult to befriend, especially given that everyone he’s ever loved, he has killed. He is a demon of sickness, of plague and of rot, of suffering so old as to be carved into the bones of the earth. When he was young, he could not control the disease that spread from him. Though his mortal mother tried desperately to guide him, eventually, she was overcome, and Pox left the village he had once called home, now populated only by the dead and dying. He learned then that he could not live among his mother’s people, but he knew nothing of his father’s. Rather than seek them out and put them at risk as well, he exiled himself to the outskirts of human society, interacting with it only when necessary. With time, he came to understand his power, and was able to control it--but his peaceful life came to an end when one of the few humans he had allowed himself to love was killed in a botched robbery. Pox designated himself judge, jury, and executioner, and it wasn’t long before Yuna showed up on his doorstep.

Pox hides his self-loathing under a cold, hard outer shell. His mask is flawless, perfected through a lifetime of guilt, and he allows no one near enough to break it. His coworkers believe that they are despised by him, but in truth, he loves each of them with every inch of himself. Saying so is difficult, though, and such an admission would only encourage them to endanger themselves. He may be in complete control of his magic most days, but there are times even now when he catches himself slipping. He is desperate to protect Yuna and the strange family they have all built together, so much so that he would rather suffer in silence than risk their lives asking for help.

Seta Sericum: The peculiarity of his name has led to his coworkers calling him Silky, a moniker which he has accepted only begrudgingly. Silky is a Nephalem, the product of a love between angel and demon. Typically, his fathers’ love for one another would have ended in tragedy, but the two stayed together even after their angelic half was cast from divinity. Silky was raised in a happy home, albeit a mobile one; his fathers couldn’t risk staying in one place for too long, lest the Church track them down. Ultimately, it was the Church, their greatest fear, that was their end. They were cut down while protecting Silky, who was forced to flee in the vain hope that his absence might somehow save his fathers. The Church searched for him, but he had hidden himself well. Now an orphan, he swore vengeance on his parents’ murderers--and he got it too, once he was old enough to control his immense magical power. He despises the Church, but killed only those among its ranks who had directly harmed him. Regardless, Yuna came for him, and he submitted to servitude as recompense.

Silky’s demonic father was a real fop of a man, and his son is no different now that he’s had a chance to adjust to a normal life. He insists that everyone pull their own weight, that everything be in its place at all times, and has a fondness for indulgences such as expensive wine and imported chocolates. Without these little luxuries, he would surely have gone mad, for both his mischievous master and his trouble-making housemates frustrate him to no end. He has tried, with mixed success, to serve as a role model for them, but, oh, they are all such children. Dovey is far too naive, Dr. Callaway is far too sadistic, Corvo is far too oblivious, Mage is far too flirtatious, Nihil is far too violent, Pox is far too cold, and Vincent is far too reclusive. Erebus, at least, is well-behaved, though Silky thinks he could stand to mingle more with the group.

Vincent Blythe: On the forefront of medical progress during the Victorian Era, Dr. Vincent Blythe has become little more than a shell of his former self. When his prostitute mother was murdered by one of her stags, something snapped in him. He began targeting, torturing, and finally killing any man who frequented brothels or whom he had seen with street-walkers, believing himself to be the protector of his mother’s people. It was only then when he realized he was something more than human. His father, it turned out, had been a demon who had fallen terribly in love with his mother, but whose feelings had been spurned by her. After receiving a near-fatal wound in a skirmish with a prominent vampire hunter of the day, Vincent tucked himself away in a dark corner of London to heal. He slept for over a century, and when he woke, attempted to pick up where he’d left off. Confused, his trauma still fresh in his mind, he killed all who drew near. Phone calls were made, flights were booked, and Yuna arrived on scene to bring him back to his senses.

Vincent is terribly withdrawn. On the one hand, he is distrustful of all humans, and men in particular frighten him. On the other hand, he has had little to no experience with his own kind, and so struggles to fit in among them. He finds himself at an impasse, unable to shake the trauma of his mother’s murder, and equally unable to bond with his father’s kin. Because of this, he is prone to bouts of violent madness when he feels that he is being threatened, or when he wakes from particularly vivid nightmares, in which he witnesses his mother’s murder and can do nothing to stop it. Dr. Callaway has oft remarked that Vincent is a genius, a true medical prodigy, and that it is too bad he’s so “broken”.

#picrew #male ocs #demon ocs

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love-takes-work · 4 years ago

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Cookie Cat Cake

Isn’t it weird that this cake canonically doesn’t have the Cookie Cat’s signature eye holes??

See below for the recipes to create your own chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, pink and white frosting, and vanilla glaze, all from scratch.

(I made this to commemorate Steven Universe Future ending one year ago today, revising my original Cookie Cake recipe which was yummy but not as aesthetically accurate.)

See more SU food tutorials!

Today, let's take a look at Steven's "Cookie Cake," which was featured in "Steven's Birthday" for his fourteenth birthday.

This cake is odd because a) its center frosting between layers is visible; b) its edges are very even; and c) it's a Cookie Cat, but it doesn't have the Cookie Cat's signature eye holes!

With an edge that even, it almost looks like it would be an ice cream cake, but they had it out at the barn where there is no indication that they have a fridge or freezer, so I think it's an actual cake. This is going to take some doing, because the cake will have to be made into that shape and then somehow be made smooth on the sides to look like the image.

We're going to have to have four recipes: A chocolate cake, a chocolate outer frosting, a vanilla inner frosting (half dyed pink), and a vanilla pour for the top!

Here we go.

FOR THE CAKE:

Ingredients:

2 cups cake flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup boiling water

Sift your cake flour into a bowl and stir it together with your baking soda and salt.

In the top of a double boiler over simmering water, melt your chocolate chips and your butter. Stir that together and take it off the heat once it's all melted together. Off the heat, stir in the sugar and get it well combined.

Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat the eggs in a big bowl until they get fluffy and paler. Then begin to add in the chocolate sugar mix. Once it is all combined, add in your extract.

Finally, boil the half cup of water, take it off the heat, and add the buttermilk to it. Take your dry ingredients and add about a third of the mix to your big bowl, alternating with a third of the hot milk mix. Do this two more times, alternating, until it's all combined. Make sure it looks smooth and thin.

Preheat your oven to 350º F / 175º C and make sure there is a rack in the center of the oven. Prepare your pans: Grease two eight-inch round cake pans with vegetable shortening, then cut a circle of parchment paper out for the bottom of each. Grease the paper too, and flour the pans. Then load them with half the mix each and bake them in the oven for about 40 minutes. (Check them with a cake tester or toothpick at 35 minutes.) This is a very thin cake mix so it may seem peculiar.

Cool for five minutes on a rack before removing the cakes onto the rack to cool. I recommend wrapping them in food wrap and refrigerating the cake layers overnight.

Once the cakes are very settled and cool, you can prepare them to become Cookie Cakes. First, level the cakes with a knife or cake leveler. (This is because most cakes puff up in the center and that shape makes them harder to work with. Cut them down to flat.) Then use a picture of a Cookie Cat or something that's Cookie Cat–shaped to draw yourself a stencil. I drew an approximate Cookie Cat on parchment paper and cut it out to help me shape the cakes. After laying the stencil on the cakes, I scored the cake tops with the design and cut them into Cat head shapes with a sharp knife.

Even though this recipe makes for pretty even sides, it would look strange to keep the cake this way with a bald edge that's been cut into. That's why we need a coating of chocolate frosting.

CHOCOLATE FROSTING

Ingredients:

2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup butter

1 3/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Using a saucepan, melt the chocolate and butter together over low heat. It takes a little while but just be a little patient with it--don't turn the heat up as high as medium. Once these are melted together and stirred into evenness, stir in the sugar, the milk, and the corn syrup.

Once these are added, you can turn the heat up to medium or a little above and wait for a slow boil to hit. Once the boil develops, set a timer for 3 minutes and let it boil while stirring. If you smell any hint of burning, turn the heat down. Once the time is up, take the frosting off the heat and let it cool for five minutes. Stir in the vanilla extract at that point and use a stand mixer or hand mixer to whip the chocolate frosting until it is thicker. Refrigerate the frosting for about half an hour and then stir with a spoon and whip with a mixer until spreadable.

Get your Cookie Cakes and put them each on a separate plate. (It sounds weird, but we're going to be frosting them separately, since the middle frosting has to be put on after so it can show through the edge.) This frosting is a fudge and therefore it is an unusual texture--it's not as creamy and whipped as traditional frosting, and it molds easily. Frost the tops and sides of each cake--the frosting should mold to the edges and stand up to being smoothed by a spatula. When finished with both cakes, refrigerate them without a cover briefly so they can set.

VANILLA FROSTING

This frosting will be the base for the interior frosting and will be divided and modified to pour on the top. For now, make this base:

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter

4 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

Red food coloring

Using room temperature butter (or butter that has been briefly microwaved to softness), whip in a bowl with a fork and begin sifting powdered sugar into the butter a cup at a time. (Sifting is a very important step for frosting. Do not skip it.) Once you have added 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar and have a very dry mix, add in the milk and combine, then add the rest of the sifted sugar. At the end, when it is combined, stir in the vanilla extract.

This bowl should be refrigerated briefly. Once the frosting is relatively stiff, take it out and separate half the frosting into another bowl. Set the other bowl aside for now. Lay down a piece of parchment paper exactly so its edge is exactly halfway dividing the bottom Cookie Cake (so you can exactly mark the halfway point between the white frosting and the pink frosting). Frost the white half of the cake (the left), top only, all the way out to the edges. Use a frosting spatula to smooth its edges if needed. Then peel up the parchment paper.

Add three drops of red food coloring to the remaining frosting in your bowl and stir to make pink frosting. Then apply it in the same manner as above to the right half of the cake.

You can then use a spatula to lift the top cake layer onto this frosting. Make sure it matches up and is secure. Refrigerate briefly to stabilize.

Now take the remaining white frosting and add some more milk to it to make it thinner--we need a consistency that will pour instead of needing to be spread. When ready, take the cake back out and pour some frosting onto the top. Do this carefully because you want to mostly keep it on the top layer! Pour it and then guide it right out to the edges of the top of the cake with a frosting spatula. Let it dribble just slightly over the edges in natural patterns. The bottom layer of your cake should mostly have no white frosting on it, but you most likely will get some drips there and onto the bottom of your plate. But if you did all the refrigeration as instructed, the layers will be relatively independent and you will be able to carefully wipe extra frosting off the chocolate bottom layer without disturbing the chocolate frosting.

At the right consistency, frosting lumps resolve themselves in this frosting, so you should get a really nice smooth top coat with no interruptions and almost total opacity. (Another layer is fine if you need it, but it probably will not be necessary.) Don't refrigerate the cake while the frosting is still trying to settle into a flat sheet. But once it looks nice and shiny and smooth, you can refrigerate to stabilize.

Steven's cake has numeral candles for his age, 14, but of course this is optional!

Enjoy your Cookie Cake, even if it is not your birthday!

See more SU food tutorials!

#steven universe #cake #food #cookie cat #steven universe recipes #myblog

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softandweto · 4 years ago

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Help

I know I should put this up somewhere else, but I can’t. Tumblr is my only option and I need all the help I can get right now please.

I had to make a GoFundMe because there’s nothing else I can do. Please spread the word and the link is right here. I’ll be putting the same info in the GoFundMe under the Read More for those who want information up front.

Hello, I hope this finds any who visit well. Before I get into the reason for me making this, I’d like for you all to know how we got here.

My name is Xenia and my boyfriend and I have been living together for nearly a year now. At the beginning, things were going very well. We both had a stable income, and while that trailer was not the best place, we were secure and didn’t have to worry much about finances. Then, March came around and Covid hit us hard. I lost my job as a Teaching Assistant for Special Education, and my boyfriend’s job got more dangerous as a Med Tech working in a nursing home. I was unable to find a job for months, and things were starting to take a bad turn.

We had some friends living in the state next over who had offered the both of us to move in with them. My boyfriend would have to go back to CNA work, however, as that would be the only license of his that could transfer to the state. My license as a Teaching Assistant was originally for that state, so it seemed to be perfect. After weighing all our options, we decided to make the move and take the risk.

Once again, things were looking well. We both got a new job within the month, and only had to worry about paying a combined $600/month outside of our car payments. With all this, we were able to put up with a lot of things. A majority of the house leaving the place in disarray for the both of us to handle. The racism that we didn’t catch up on until the end. The disregard for my dogs and their health. The fact that, despite how behind the house supposedly was on bills, they could afford to continue to finance new furniture and electronics while we could barely afford to pay the rent and our own food. We could put up with it because we were with friends. No way they would do all this on purpose.

Eventually, after two months of living there, it became too much and they used every excuse possible to force us out of their home and ostracized us. Suddenly, we were the issue. It was our fault their dishes continued to pile up. It was our fault they felt too anxious to leave their rooms. All their problems were now because of us. We had no other choice to move in with my mom and my brother in our old state. Once again, we were out of jobs and couldn’t find work no matter where we looked. I eventually found a job as a server again, but he was unable to find any work despite his CNA credentials.

When October came around, I was working full time for a server minimum wage, while my boyfriend had finally gotten some good news and was starting to work. We scrimped and saved for two months and were finally able to get enough to get our own home. A trailer in a small suburb just outside town was freeing up early December. At first, the price for the rent seemed impossible to make. But, I had received an email from a work from home position I applied for. Early January, I would be starting with them for more than minimum wage.

Things were finally coming into place. Things were once again looking up and we could taste the stability. Then, after a week of being moved in, we decided to enjoy a meal together made in our own home. All the stress, all the craziness we had put up with, it was worth it. But, we couldn’t taste our food. We started noticing the coughs when we were moving, but didn’t think much of it till then. We got tested, and our fears proved to be true. We had Covid.

It was brutal. It felt like suddenly we’d lose everything. The two weeks we spent in quarantine was like our own personal hell scape. Within the first week I was notified they were training someone else to take over my Shift Lead position. A title more than anything, since the pay did not change and minimum wage was all I could get, but that didn’t stop what I knew was coming next. A few days later, I was let go. Tossed aside like an inconvenience. For my boyfriend, they just put him out entirely. For the third time in one year, we were both out of a job. But now, we could face eviction.

We recovered from Covid, and just in time too. I was able to start my new job, but two weeks of no pay had put us out tremendously. One company hired my boyfriend, but we would shortly learn that they would never actually give him any hours. December and January have tested us on what we could and couldn’t live without. We had to forgo a majority of necessities.

We couldn’t set up a disposal service. We had to leave mail to pile up. Living off Dollar Tree groceries. Go weeks without gas. Pawn what we could just so we could make rent and utilities. Now, with February ending, all of this has caught up to us.

Months of garbage have piled up so high we’ve designated a “trash room” just to keep it out of the way. Toiletries have been out for weeks, but we can’t even afford groceries so soap and cleaning products are out of the question. Our propane is almost completely gone. All the cans of food we had stockpiled are a day away from running out. And we can’t afford our bills. Not with all my checks being used to barely keep us alive.

My boyfriend has recently started a new job, but they won’t pay him in time for us to pay our bills. Which is why I’m reaching out to y’all for help. We have both done everything in our power to keep ourselves above water, but now we can no longer keep it up on our own.

Here is a breakdown of our situation as of today:

My recent paycheck is completely gone after using it to get some of our bills stabilized, but they are already getting back into the red with how far behind we are.

Our car payments are coming up as well as insurances. One car payment is my full check, and we won’t be able to pay for one of them, much less their insurance

We were able to get rid of four bags of trash thanks to some helpful neighbors, but it’s starting to pile once more and I’m worried bugs will start to come out

Internet and Electric must be paid within the next few days in full or risk disconnection. With these two gone, I can’t make any money whatsoever

Food will be out as of Tuesday and with no money left from my check, we’ll be unable to get any groceries for who knows how long

We just ran out of Propane which is used to keep water hot as well as to cook

I hate asking for help and not letting people know what the situation is or what the money will be used for, so I will do so now.

I am asking for 2500 which will leave us with a touch of extra money for things like groceries, toiletries, and vehicle maintenance that is greatly needed. The breakdown is as follows:

$550 - Rent

Rent is due on the 12th of each month and requires two checks to meet. Last month we were able to pay in two separate payments, but our landlord has said that it was the only time and March forward it will need to be in full each month.

$650 - Car Payments

Both cars are $300/month, but we’ve passed my boyfriend’s due date and have incurred a late fee. My car is due on the 6th and if it’s not paid in time, they will repo.

$500 - Insurance

Both Insurances are ~$250 each. Without the insurance, the cars will also risk repossession and my boyfriend needs the vehicles for transportation

$235 - Internet + Electric

I’ve lumped these together since they are both necessary for my job as well as being ones that need to be paid by this Tuesday or they will disconnect

$100 - Propane

$100 gives us enough propane to last a month. Without this, we can’t shower, do laundry, or even cook

$120 - Disposal + Mail

Disposal and Mail service needs to be set up as soon as possible, but to be honest they are low on my priority list compared to everything above.

$345 - Groceries, Toiletries, Cat Care, and Car Maintenance

With the extra money we can comfortably get through a month with little hassle. I know that more bills will be due later on, but once my boyfriend starts getting steady checks again We can at least make it through on our own with this little extra

I know that right now, things are very tough. I may also come about as rather...presumptuous and hopeful that maybe, just maybe, people can help us out in our time of need. I know it’s a lot to ask, but if you see this and are unable to help us out yourselves, please spread the word as much as you can. I cannot allow us to fall after everything we’ve been able to get through this horrible year. Please, if you can give even a dollar, that’s one dollar closer to getting out of this hole.

Thank you, and I hope that you all have a safe and happy time going forward.

#gofundme #help #homeless #bills #covid #im sorry yall im just at my limit and getting desperate

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specterchasing-a · 4 years ago

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People Like Us || Morgan & Eddie

TIMING: Current

LOCATION: Morgan’s House

PARTIES: @mor-beck-more-problems & @specterchasing

SUMMARY: Eddie needs help accepting the truth about who he is, and who better to lend a hand than Morgan Beck?

CONTAINS: Internalized homophobia tw, domestic abuse mention tw (section is tagged)

Eddie learned Morgan didn’t pull punches the day he came across her picnicking among the headstones of Jericho Hill. She took one look at him and effortlessly seemed to understand what made him tick. At the time, he didn’t realize she went easy on him. He knew better now. After their last conversation, he doubted she wanted anything to do with him, or that she ever would again. Unfortunately, that didn’t change how badly he needed her help.

He pulled his car into her driveway and put it in park. Unsteady breaths staggered the rise and fall of his chest. “In through the nose, out through the mouth,” Eddie quietly instructed himself as he exited the car, flinching when the car door slammed shut upon its release from his hand. Moonlight assisted the mansion’s porchlight in illuminating the path to her front door. If it weren’t for the sound of his heart pounding in his ears, he might have appreciated the sleepy suburban ambience.

Eddie reached the door and raised his fist, hesitating at the last second. If he turned around now, he could probably still make it to his car before Morgan noticed it in her driveway. He swallowed hard, past the lump in his throat, and felt his eyes begin to sting with budding tears. Leaving now would only prove her right for calling him a coward. “Shit,” he sighed before finally knocking.

Morgan couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard someone knock on the front door. When Bex and Mina stayed, they had keys. Urk rang the bell or called out, blubbering, through the window. An unexpected knock on the door was the wrong kind of normal. Even the cats complained with tense ears and whiny meows. Make it go away.

“Yeah, I’m working on it,” Morgan mumbled. She hesitated before approaching the door, bracing herself for the worst, then decided that maybe there was no such thing in White Crest and flung it open only to find… “Eddie?” She was too surprised to keep the incredulity out of her voice. As far as she was aware they had nothing left to say to each other. She frowned, struggling to process. “Uh….can I help you?”

The sight of Morgan instantly inflamed Eddie’s precarious emotional state. He blinked as the budding tears started to blossom. More people had seen him cry in the past few weeks than he cared to admit, and Eddie wasn’t eager to add another name to the list. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like he had a say in the matter once a stray tear fled down his cheek.

“I’m sorry,” he blurted. “God, Morgan, I’m so sorry.” Eddie bled as much sincerity into his apology as he could muster, she needed to believe him. “I can’t do this.” He shrugged helplessly before his arms crossed tightly over his chest. “You were right about everything, and I want to set things right. With Bex, with you, with myself.” His teeth dug into the inside of his cheek momentarily. “But I’m scared and I don’t know what I’m doing, and I don’t have anyone else I can go to about this. Only one other person knows about me, and he doesn’t know Bex the way you do.”

Whatever hostility Morgan had been holding onto against Eddie melted as soon as she saw his tears. And then his arms over his chest, the way he seemed desperate to hold himself together when the truth was he couldn’t, his guilt, his hurt. Morgan had seen it dozens of times, almost half of them in the mirror when she was even younger than Eddie. She didn’t know what else to do but come out and wrap him up as best she could.

“Okay,” she said. “Okay. You’re gonna be okay, Eddie. It doesn’t feel like it, but you will be.” She pulled away, searching his face to find his comfort levels, and gave him a little tug. “Come inside, tell me what you’re worried about, and we’ll come up with something, okay?” She gave him the softest smile she could; nothing was so bad if you could smile a little about it.

Morgan didn’t yell at him, or slam the door in his face like Eddie thought she would. Instead, she hugged him, and that wasn’t something he prepared himself for on the drive over. His throat tightened as he returned the gesture, arms wrapping around her as he grounded himself within the moment. Eddie didn’t receive much physical affection. Usually, he was the one dishing it out, but he appreciated the role reversal more than he could say.

She spoke to him in words of affirmation so kind he almost believed them. As far as he could tell, ‘okay’ was officially out of his reach and would be for the foreseeable future, but he decided not to argue. He caught her eye when she pulled back and he made an effort to smile, but the best he could do was purse his lips together. Eddie followed her inside, nodding along with everything she said.

“Thank you,” he said softly now that they were surrounded by the mansion’s walls. “Sorry, I didn’t get this far in my head,” Eddie admitted after a beat of silence. He wiped his eyes with the heel of his hand and nervously ran his fingers through his hair. “What I’m worried about is essentially everything.” He didn’t intend to sound so dramatic, but his entire world was changing around him, and he didn’t know how to talk about that nonchalantly. “But, uhm, we can start with Bex. I have to tell her. I don’t want to, but I have to, and she’s going to hate me. I don’t have a lot of friends, Morgan, so losing her is gonna suck for me.”

Morgan led Eddie into the kitchen and started on some tea. The last thing he needed was to dehydrate while he was this tense. She smirked to herself, remembering that everything went wrong between them around a teapot last time. Maybe this could be a good do-over for both of them. While the water boiled, she put her hands on his shoulders and guided him to sit.

“Eddie,” she began, warm and gentle. “You’re getting a little ahead of yourself. Why, exactly, do you think Bex is going to hate you? For that matter, why do you think anyone who really cares about you will?” She brushed back his messy hair, sighing. After all these years, not much had changed, not for the kids she knew, at least. “Eddie Carridine, there is nothing wrong with being the person you are. There is nothing bad or ugly or inferior about the person you were made to be. Who told you that there was?”

Eddie didn’t take in much of his surroundings. Morgan’s interior design choices passed by in a blur on their way to the kitchen. He watched as she prepared a pot of tea, the parallel between tonight and their last meeting not being lost on him either. He hoped to actually stick around long enough to try it this time.

Morgan encouraged him to sit down, and Eddie obliged. His eyes, a little wider than usual, locked onto hers as she kept him from continuing on his downward spiral. The tone she used, the way she pushed his hair out of his face, it all felt so foreign. After Eddie learned to walk and talk, his parents never soothed him with gentle voices or gestures of affection. They preferred to let Eddie work through emotional distress on his own. They told him it would build character, but all it ever did was make him feel desperately alone. Having Morgan, someone he barely knew, do what they refused to without prompting left him feeling conflicted, but mostly grateful.

“Bex is going to hate me because I don’t think we can work through these kinds of differences,” Eddie announced, wishing he could keep the tone light. If he could, maybe the weight pressing down on his chest would start to let up. “Our relationships will be over and, I dunno, I feel like that might upset her.” Bex genuinely seemed to like him, which remained an overwhelming source of guilt.

As far as who told Eddie that being himself was a punishable offense, the list went on and on. “Do you have all day?” he asked dryly. Deflecting didn’t make him feel any better. A sigh slipped past his lips and he decided to take the question more seriously. “My parents, for starters,” he said as the lump in his throat returned. “They, uh, had expectations for me, still do, actually. And I really think this would be the final straw for them. Right now, the only reason I’m still on their insurance and why they pay my car-note is that they’re holding onto hope that I might still grow up to be a normal boy, with a normal wife, and normal kids.”

“Oh, Eddie…” Morgan sighed, brushing through the rest of his hair. “Normal isn’t a real thing. It’s an aspirational lie. No one’s normal. And, sure, you spend your time on YouTube and you can see dead people, but isn’t that also kind of what makes you amazing? Why shouldn’t this also be something that makes you amazing?” She focused on his eyes, willing him to unclench just a little more, to make this easier for both of them. “Also, not every breakup has to end in anyone hating anyone. There’s even a proud tradition in certain circles of staying friends with exes.” Also, Bex had the same secret as Eddie. But that wasn’t hers to tell.

The kettle raddled on the stove and Morgan went to attend to it. She reached for a jar of something ready-made and dipped a heaping spoonful into the infuser and started preparing their cups. “I want to get to the heart of this with you, I do, but I need to know what level of ‘last straw’ you’re talking about here. I mean, are your parents going to hurt you, if you tell them this? Do you need to secure some resources for yourself or have someone pseudo-indestructible around? Also--” She brought the tea to the kitchen island and slid it toward Eddie before climbing onto the stool next to him. “You still haven’t told me yet. What we’re talking around, what you’re trying to accept about yourself. It might help, if you can name it.”

Eddie wanted so badly to see normality the way Morgan did, but the idea of it seemed incontestably desirable to him in this case. All his life, his parents barely acknowledged his existence and he knew he should resent them for it, but he still craved their approval in spite of everything; in spite of himself. Just once, he wanted them to recognize him as something to be proud of instead of branding him a failure with every step he took.

“Amazing?” Eddie echoed quietly. The sudden commendation shooed away all thoughts of his parents. He looked up at Morgan like he expected her to take it back. “Most people just think the ghost thing is kind of weird.” His shoulders raised in a soft shrug. Ghosts gave his life meaning, but his dedication to them also made it more difficult to navigate. “Or fake.” Amazing. The word hung stubbornly in his mind as if daring him to believe what Morgan said could be true. “How can something that keeps me up at night be amazing?” he asked genuinely. Before he could take a leap of faith and try to celebrate instead of hide, he needed more answers.

“I’d like that,” Eddie said about staying friends with Bex. “I really do care about her, that part wasn’t a lie.” The calming way Morgan familiarized herself with his hair and seemed to know exactly what to say slowly encouraged him to take refuge in the safety of his time with her. He sniffled, but the tears in his eyes were drying. Breathing came a little easier now, which felt like a miraculous turn of events.

[DOMESTIC ABUSE MENTION]

“Not physically, I don’t think,” he answered honestly, his eyes following her as she tended to the tea. “Dad’s only ever lost his temper with me like that once.” Not a fond memory, but enough time spanned between now and then that Eddie could discuss it without unravelling. “I think they’d disown me though,” he added softly. He caught the cup of tea she slid his way and focused on the steam rising to meet his face instead of his parents. “I make good enough money, but I won’t turn down the other offer, if only for moral support.” He turned his head to face her as she sat down and made another attempt at a smile, this time with marginally more success.

[END OF DOMESTIC ABUSE MENTION]

The hint of a smile diminished when she probed for a label. Saying it out loud to Alfie hadn’t been easy, and maybe he’d been naïve for thinking it wouldn’t be hard the second time around. “I’m—” His eyes closed tightly as his head tilted to the side. He hated this, the way a three letter word felt like Mt. fucking Everest. “This is such bullshit,” Eddie announced with suddenly reopening eyes. He straightened up and took a breath. Try again. “I—I like guys, I guess.” The words shot out of his mouth faster than his usual speech, but he said it. And he didn’t feel sick. In fact, he felt kind of relieved. “One guy in particular, but yeah. I’m gay, probably. I dunno, something like that.” He winced at his convoluted confession, but he guessed it could have been worse. It could have been like the last time she tried to goad him into honesty.

Morgan ached to see how much Eddie craved comfort, like he’d been starved for it his whole life. He had the kind of hurt that didn’t show up on the body, the kind that she carried, that was so easy to delude yourself about. And how many times had her throat closed up when she’d tried to tell her mother, Sorry, everything’s my fault because I can only like girls! I’m a lesbian! It had been years before the words came easy to her. Eddie was only just getting started.

“Hey,” she said softly, reaching for a clean towel and leaning over to wipe his cheeks with all the care she wished for him. “It’s not bullshit. It’s hard, I know it’s hard. But you are one of the dreamiest gay boys that ever popped out of the rainbow, and we are all so lucky that you exist. Maybe even especially the boy you like. I want to hear all about him, but first, new plan: we’re moving somewhere comfy. You’re not a part of the family until you’ve had an emotional moment in the great room, so let’s get moving.”

She hopped off her stool and took Eddie’s mug and led him further into the house, toward the large plushy couch she and everyone she loved spent so much time on. “Also, I hope this goes without saying, but I will be there for support if that’s what you want. Just tell me when and where to show up. But, back to the main point: you’re amazing, and whatever happens, there’s no good reason for anyone to think differently. Especially because you’re gay. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we make the world go round in the most fabulous ways. But, conditioning, parents, society--there’s a lot of bullshit that keeps people like us from understanding that. When I came out to my mother, I was crying and apologizing because I thought I was literally cursing our family with my gayness. So as much as I believe in you, as much as I’m making this sound like some obvious truth--because it is--I can imagine why you might have a hard time believing it. But I don’t want to guess or project too much of myself.” At last, she settled down in her usual spot among the cushions, floating around them for how little she felt their presence. “So, can I ask you? Other people aside, because we can’t control other people’s choices, what about being gay scares you, or worries you or makes you feel...weird?”

Being called ‘one of the dreamiest gay boys to ever pop out of the rainbow’ managed to inspire Eddie’s first genuine smile of the night. Traces of sadness still lingered on his face, but he appreciated the break in tension more than he knew how to say. He didn’t know how to grapple with her saying people were lucky to know him, especially within the current context, it felt surreal. He wanted to thank Morgan in a way that showcased how much everything she said meant to him, but everything he thought to say fell short.

In the great room, he made himself comfortable next to her on the couch. A family of people like Morgan sounded too good to be true like most of what she said. Thinking about it reminded him of what she told him about the importance of hope, and Eddie decided there must have been some truth to it. As scary as it was to picture a brighter future for himself, it began to seem less like a lost cause.

“You apologized?” He didn’t mean to sound so shocked. Even though he knew better, it often seemed like self-acceptance came easier to everyone else. Hearing that even Morgan struggled to come to terms with her sexuality made him feel substantially less alone. Eddie considered her next question carefully by turning his attention inward, it wasn’t something he often did. Pleasing the people around him automatically took precedence over making himself happy.

“Thinking about it now, I guess most of what scares me has to do with other people,” he admitted. “Rejection, ridicule, judgment, harassment. Those are the big ones and, like you said, all of that’s out of my control.” Eddie took his first sip of tea now that enough time had passed for it to cool. His hands shook a little. “If all I had to worry about was myself, I…” he trailed off in contemplation. “When I’m alone with Alfie, he’s the guy I mentioned, everything else falls away. When I touch him or manage to make him laugh—that’s it. That’s all that matters; just us. And it feels… amazing until I ask myself how people might react if they saw us. Then I start to feel dirty or-or like I’m doing something wrong, kind of like I’m going to be punished for being happy because…. because that’s always how it’s been.” Eddie realized how true what he said was as he said it. “Being gay scares me because it makes me happy.”

Had Morgan apologized to her mother? “Oh, profusely. I actually thought, if I just kept apologizing, maybe I wouldn’t ever have to actually say it and potentially break what little good there was between my mother and me. But she gave me this impatient look, and I had to, so I did. And it was--” She paused, smiling sadly. “It was maybe the only time she was really sorry for anything she’d done. She uh...she took care of me for a little bit. And that was nice. But this was in 1999, and we had an implicit understanding to keep that part of me on a need-to-know basis. But, things are different, in some ways. Maybe not for your parents, maybe not everywhere, but here? So different. So much better.” She ruffled his hair again and tried to look ahead into something better, lighter than the world he was currently living in. What would he even look like if he was really happy?

“Eddie, I really, really mean what I’m about to say. And I am saying it as someone who was literally cursed with eternal suffering during her life. As a lesbian born in ‘81. As someone who knows all kinds of logic-mazes for explaining why happiness equals bad. Okay?” She took a deep breath and turned his face gently to make sure he was looking at her face. “Love itself is never wrong. And so any happiness that comes from love can never be wrong. And you, Eddie, are so worthy of love. The last thing you need to carry is shame for discovering love, which is one of the best parts of being alive. And the last thing you should do is starve your humanity from love because of other people. The people who are happy for you and your love are the ones you should build community with anyway.”

1999 sounded like a lifetime ago. For Eddie, it nearly was. With the current state of the world and the issues its inhabitants faced, he couldn’t imagine what it must have been like back then. A need-to-know basis, that’s how Morgan described the experience. Eddie shook his head sadly. Living like that must have been so draining. Even now, for all his fear and uncertainty, he knew how lucky he was to be alive now instead of then. If he’d been born alongside Morgan in the ‘80s, this conversation likely wouldn’t have been possible. Not with her, and not with anyone else, for that matter.

Looking to the past and acknowledging the hard-won fights of those who came before him, especially while sitting next to one of the veterans, an unexpected feeling came over Eddie. His journey, although he would be the one most affected by it, wasn’t only about him.

“It’s different because of people like you,” he said. “I—” Eddie felt a knot form in his throat. “Morgan, if it wasn’t for you, I don’t know how long it would have taken me to reach this point. Years, maybe? And that’s if it ever happened at all.” Harsh as she’d been, her words resonated with him and carried him through confessing to Alfie. “You saw me, really saw me, and refused to tolerate the bullshit. I think I understand why now.” He shifted to face her more fully. “I want to be more like you, Morgan. Someone who makes the world a better place by existing as is, not someone who hides for the comfort of people who don’t love them.”

Love, happiness, community. Morgan said the words and Eddie latched onto them for dear life. He knew better than to think this would be easy, or that his budding bravery would never again waver in the face of adversity, but he felt better equipped to face the future. “I think you’re right,” he ventured as a look of determination shone in his bleary eyes. “I mean, I want to, anyway, and that’s a start. It’s more than I had before.”

Morgan went still, completely bewildered. “I didn’t do much,” she admitted quietly. “I was too scared. I told myself I’d just make things worse all around. But, you know, everyone was kind of scared back then. It was never about some people magically not being scared. It was about not letting your fear trap you into a life so much smaller than what you should have. You--don’t need to be like me, Eddie. Especially not the me I was at your age. I--maybe it’s not fair of me, but I really just want to spare you some of the suffering I carried with me for so long, and the suffering of people I knew. I saw tiny maneuvers that I used to make when we were talking and I saw your hurt and I just wanted to make it stop for you.” She shrugged. “Don’t wait to find the love of your life until you’re at the ass-end of your thirties. I mean, if it takes that long, who cares, because it’s exactly as cheesy and gratifying as every song you’ve ever heard makes it sound and that is worth every star in the universe. But don’t wait that long to try! You are so young, and it is over so fast. What a waste to spend it hiding when you can be testing your capacity for joy?”

She beamed at Eddie and gave his arm a squeeze. “Deciding to is a really good start. All that’s next is doing it. Do you want to figure out what you want to say? To Bex? To your parents?”

Even with Morgan telling him he didn’t need to be like her, Eddie didn’t let her convince him. He wouldn’t argue and insist she accept his purview, that didn’t seem like it would do much good. Instead, he decided to show her his appreciation with his actions moving forward. She thought she didn’t do much, and he imagined it really did feel that way, but it got her to where she was now; teaching him how to love himself in a way no one had done before. Whether she knew it or not, he owed her immensely.

He grinned when she mentioned finding the love of her life. Eddie was grateful she did, and wondered if he might have too. He knew it was too soon to tell even if he and Alfie had known each other for years, but it didn’t hurt to play with the thought.

Eddie took a deep breath when she asked where he’d like to begin. “Bex, definitely,” he said with a confident nod. “I don’t want whatever my mom and dad have to say about it to throw me off before I have a chance to enjoy myself, y’know? With Bex, at least she won’t hold it against me for just… being who I am.”

“No, she won’t,” Morgan agreed. “She won’t appreciate being lied to, but she’s not a closed minded girl. I think being honest about why you did what you did and why you’re doing this now is a good step alongside, you know, ‘guess what babe, I’m gay’. It’s kind of awful, but coming clean is usually the fastest way to fix something when you’ve made a mess. Even if it also feels like the hardest.” And maybe Bex would have some relief and tell Eddie about all those ‘I love you’s she’d exchanged with Mina by the pool. But as much as that would give Eddie some comfort, it wasn’t hers to tell. And maybe he’d feel braver, going in prepared for the worst and finding his world still intact. “Although, maybe don’t be that casual and literally say that. Unless it helps you say it easier! Once the words have come out, you sort of have to keep going with them, and that can actually be as great as it is scary.”

Eddie’s head bobbed in agreement as Morgan offered advice. He wouldn’t let doubt trickle in and throw him off course, not yet. If she said Bex would understand, he trusted her. They lived together once, made art together, they had to have been close. Eddie momentarily wondered why that all came to an end, but now wasn’t the time to ask questions like that. In any case, it wasn’t his business what went on between Bex and Morgan even if he cared about both of them a great deal.

He breathed a soft laugh through his nose when she advised him against being as casual as her example. “I have… no idea what the easiest way to say it will be,” he admitted. “I try to plan it out in my mind and a wall goes up.” He made a sharp gesture with his hand to mimic the wall being built. “Maybe…” Eddie trailed off as an idea began forming. “Okay, what if you pretend to be Bex and we play out what might happen? I think I’ll do better with a trial run.”

Morgan snorted with laughter. “We, uh--” Could, but there’s no way I can prepare you for her not-girlfriend in the pool. “Yeah! Why not. Bex is not the most predictable girl, but I will do my best.” She took a deep breath and adjusted herself on the couch. “Hey, Eddie,” she said, doing her best imitation of Bex’s speech cadence. “You said you wanted to talk to me about something?”

Eddie straightened up and mentally prepared himself, but the second Morgan imitated Bex, he burst out in unexpected laughter. “Is that really what you think Mainers sound like?” he asked in a bubbly tone. “Maybe, just use your normal accent and I’ll rely on my imagination. I cannot take you seriously when you sound like that.”

“What? That was totally spot-on!” Morgan said, laughing in spite of herself. She shook out her hair and tossed it into Bex’s usual middle part. “Is this not the spitting image? I don’t have the height, but I’ve got the nervous puppy eyes.” Morgan demonstrated, and not too badly, but only because she already had that face in her arsenal long before she met Bex. “But, okay, okay. I am me and you are imagining me as Bex: Hey, Eddie. What did you want to talk to me about?”

When Morgan insisted her Bex impersonation had been spot-on, Eddie immediately shook his head defiantly. “You have natural puppy dog eyes, doing that doesn’t count towards your score. Let me show you a real Bex impersonation.” He took a moment to get into character. His hands clasped in his lap, his shoulders jutted forward slightly to give the impression of timidity, and his eyes widened with brightness.

“Oh, um, hi, Morgan,” he said, altering his voice to convey Bex’s signature nervous excitement. “You said—You said you wanted to talk to me, right? I was busy studying, y’know, about anthropology—” Eddie nearly made himself break character by laughing, but quickly centered himself. “But I… I want to hear what you have to say.”

Eddie raised both hands palm-side up and leaned back with a satisfied expression on his face. “And that’s how it’s done.”

When Morgan was herself as Bex and Eddie returned to being Eddie, the seriousness of the situation crept back up on him. “What I want to talk to you about is… well, us,” he started slowly. His heart picked up speed within his chest even though he wasn’t actually talking to Bex. “I haven’t been completely honest with you about… about who I am. I haven’t been honest with myself, either, but I want to change that, starting now. Bex, I care about you very much and losing you as a friend would wreck me, but I can’t be your boyfriend anymore.” The words flowed from him with surprising ease. When he talked instead of obsessively thinking about what he wanted to say, it came naturally to him.

“I’m gay, and I need to stop hurting both of us by pretending that I’m not.”

Morgan thought carefully, trying to think of Bex’s worst case scenario and some response that wouldn’t crush Eddie’s spirit. Empathy wasn’t always her strong suit, and this had been going on for a little while… “Oh. When you say that, do you mean, did you know that you were when you asked me out? And when we kissed?”

“Yes,” Eddie responded hesitantly. He needed to be as honest as possible and not allow himself to hide behind excuses. Even if he did, he knew Morgan would call him out. “At the time, I thought it might be something I could change or, at least, conceal by being in a relationship with you. I understand if you’re upset with me, but I… I really do care about you. I never should’ve wrapped you up in my self-loathing. You deserve better than that.”

“I...can’t believe you used me like that. I think...I’m going to need a little bit of time with this. All this time, I was sort of hoping you’d be one of the few people who wasn’t lying to me,” Morgan said, choosing her words carefully. “But I don’t hate you Eddie. I could never hate you. And I don’t want to stop being your friend. Are you--gonna be okay and all?”

Eddie appreciated Morgan’s commitment to letting things play out honestly even though it stung. “I’m sorry for being so selfish. I will try my best to make it up to you in the future, if you’ll let me. Once… once you’ve had time, of course.” At the very least, Morgan elected to have her version of Bex not cut him out of her life completely. It gave him a little hope. “Yeah, yeah, I’m gonna be okay,” he said softly, slipping out of the scene as he struggled a little under the weight of it. He knew he could do this, or hoped he could anyway, but it was hard. And it would be even harder when it really happened. “How was that?” he asked Morgan, not Bex, hoping she would accept that he’d reached his limit. After the past 24 hours and all they entailed, he was starting to feel the gravity of emotional exhaustion take its toll.

fadaMorgan beamed and drew Eddie tight into her arms. “That was good. That was so, so good. And you were so brave. And I need to tell you now, I don’t think it’ll be that bad. But I did think that you might feel better if you’ve practiced the worst-case scenario with her I could think of, and know it’ll be okay. And it will be. One way or another, I know it will be okay with you and Bex. Alright?”

Eddie melted into the embrace immediately. He appreciated how well Morgan already knew to take care of him. After years spent being touch-starved, moments like this were life-savers. “I’m glad you played it that way,” he said as he wrapped his arms around her. “Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.” Everything felt heavy, but he only needed to carry it a little further. “I trust you,” he said, meaning it with his entire heart. “I think I’m gonna be okay.”

#c: morgan #wickedswriting #people like us #internalized homophobia tw #domest abuse tw #// KAT AND MORGAN GIFTS #SPREAD THE WORD

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greekbros · 4 years ago

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"greek-Bros: The Return of an Old Enemy"

Chapter 12: Matters to Attend To

After a rough night of sleeping in the tough dirt with roughly 15 or so big cats, Dionysus prepares to leave for Olypmus. He was waiting for Apollo to pick him up, feeling as if he'd been gently shoved into a small box to sleep in while dogpiled by his own pet big cats. He drinks in the scenery of the morning, wondering what the day shall bring. Feeling the top of his head feeling a little bit warmer, he looks up to find Apollo riding above. "Ah there you are!", he shouts to his brother in the sky. Along with the ball of fire trailing behind Apollo's chariot, it's golden embellishments shined bright enough to create a blinding glare, leaving Dionysus to shield his eyes for a short second.

Riding down to Dionysus's position, Apollo waved back, "Good morning. How was your night?", he asked softly. Apollo also looked a little sleep depraved as well, after Dionysus's afternoon celebration, he had his own issues to deal with. Apparently, there had been issues around the coastal areas around mainland Greece that weren't related to wolves....but a bizzare influx of dolphins harassing the locals.

Dionysus yawned loudly, streched his arms and gave his back a good crack, "let's just say it's easier to imagine sleeping with big soft animals than it is to actually put into practice.". He groggiingly climbed onto Apollo's chariot. ".....so is there any seatbelts on this thing?", he joked.

Apollo shook his head and snaps the reins, off they went to Olypmus. "Well, hang on then, time is of the essence.", he chuckled. He snapped the reins and off to the clouds above the two went, the clouds at first felt like cool mist but slowly thickens into a softer fluff that opens to a sea of soft white and blue. Off in the distance, Olypmus stood proudly like an island.

Meanwhile, Zeus had returned to Olympus with the growing concerns that had become prevalent throughout the Mediterranean; the wolf attacks. Pacing back and forth, Zeus was pondering what to do about such an issue. "Wolves of all things", he though. Did he need to talk to the other gods about this? Was Hades responsible for this, inspite of his lack of evidence that Hades has yet to be responsible for any surface issues. He hadn't the foggiest idea what is causing it. "oooooh....where is that girl....I know she's the greatest huntress in all of Olypmus but she shouldn't be taking this long.....and Athena....my goodness with all her wisdom and intelligence....a little empathy wouldn't hurt once and a while.", grumbling on while rubbing his forehead, oddly enough even mentioned Athena's name gives him a mild headache. Inspite of this, Zeus still worries for all his daughters.

Hermes could only watch as he was growing more entertained by the hole in the floor Zeus had created. Hera was more disgruntled at Zeus because now the nice marble floor now have sizable divot. "..... Zeus can you PLEASE just sit down. You're not the only one here with a headache, how am I going to find a stonemason at this time in the morning?", she groaned. Spectating the whole issue, she really had become curious as to how Zeus could be blaimed for this, maybe its so bad that he would be banished and she would be made Ruler of the Sky, but she doubts that.

"I understand my dear, but there are more important matters on our plate.", as Zeus says this the sound of Apollo's chariot. "Oh thank goodness.". Zeus hoped with Apollo and Dionysus now present, there would be a few more heads working together. "Ah good morning boys.", Zeus urgently greeted them.

Dionysus slid down the marble floor for a dramatic entrance, while Apollo calmly walked in. "Good morning father, good morning Hera you look absolutely radiant today", Apollo greeted back. The two placed themselves on their designated thrones.

Hera wasn't too flattered but she appreciates the greeting with a head nod. "Morning... Apollo. So what has your father done this time?....". She has been watching over both Olympus and the earth while Zeus had been flying around. Tapping her perfectly sharpened nails on the arm of her gold and marble throne. "Well?", she inquired again.

With the rough sound of clearing his throat, Zeus interjects to answer for Apollo. "Well Hera, it seems we have a pest control problem, 'wolves'...........'wolves' have been seen doing such strange things .....but others say it's really not wolves. If memory serves me, we did not create wolves to act like this......boys, have any of you found any new information?", Zeus inquired.

Dionysus and Apollo looked at each other, remembering the day before and what had transpired during the Dionysian Games. Dionysus glances away, trying to deter any responsibility in being the first to tell anyone, Apollo is given the unceremonious task of explaining what had happened on Delphi. "Well.....let's just say, while Dionysus was having a...day time event, it seems that there was some semblance of a sighting. No one was harmed thankfully....", as he finished he looked at Dionysus, hoping he was going to going to fill in any details.

Dionysus, pretended that he wasn't paying attention. Apollo continued to stare at him until he took a coin from his pocket and aggressively flicked at Dionysus. The coin hit Dionysus's head with an audible tunk as it bounced off, "Ow! Fuck man what the hell?!", Dionysus rubbed the currently forming lump. He looked around as he saw Hera, Zeus and Hermes were looking at him, clearly knowing he knew more than he was willing to share. "Ugh....yeah....someone saw a dog thing? Yeah but as Apollo said, no harm no foul...", he hoped his flimsy confirmation would suffice.

Zeus obviously took this as a sign something was wrong and that these creatures were indeed becoming more and more brazen but he wasn't going to pry Dionysus anymore for obvious reasons. He was still wondering where Artemis and Athena were, probably assisting mortals or actively finding more information.

Zeus than turned to Hermes, usually his energetic messenger was more talkative, yet right now he was rather quite. "Hermes....is there anything you would like to share? Any news that would ....at the very least help us... Artemis told me you witnessed one of these creatures yourself?", Zeus asked. He could see Hermes looked a little anxious, in fact Hermes hadn't taken his encounter very well since he first saw it. "My boy, do you have something to say?", Zeus again asked.

The wings on his hat emoted his sudden alertness much like how a dog would, he was mentally elsewhere but quickly came back to planet Earth to put it 'mortally'. "Oh well.....it wasn't too bad.... Artemis shot it in the mouth...hehehe, but....I'm more use to things staying dead.", he rubbed the back of neck, "The creature came back to life shortly after she killed it. I've never seen something like that in my life.", Hermes responded somberly. He felt silly being scared of something that wouldn't be out of place in the Underworld, but he knew that it wasn't something he had experienced in its controlled chaotic environment. "Outside of that, it seems they're very sturdy and very fast.", he continued.

Off in the hall, Artemis and Athena had finally arrived, although both were empty handed, Athena had come with her pride humbly swallowed. The two sisters entered the throne room unannounced as to not disturb Hermes's story.

Dionysus went from playing with his curly locks to glancing past Zeus and seeing Artemis and Athena. "Oh cool, you're here!", he exclaimed with a smile. Artimes waved back, but Athena stayed stone faced.

"Ah there you two are! Where have you two been?", Zeus bellowed.

Artimes walked towards her barely used throne next to Apollo, slumped onto her seat, surprisingly exhausting. It was obvious Artemis had been doing most of the leg work of investigating what has been happening, meanwhile her brothers decided to have fun with their fake Olympics. ".......ugggh....", she groaned and turned to Apollo, "so....did you look over Delos like I asked?"

He had been so occupied with Dionysus that he had COMPLETELY forgotten to check if the island of Delos was untouched. Apollo struggle for a few seconds, as he was about to say something.

"You didn't fucking check didn't you?", Artemis interrupted. Lucky for her, she had checked Delos and the island was currently at the bottom of her list worries.

Apollo couldn't help but give an embarrassed half smile and immediately points to Dionysus and whispers, "this is your fault". Dionysus of course couldn't help but give an identical smile.

Athena stood in front of Zeus, "Father....I believe I owe you an apology for doubting your judgement....it seems.... Athens has come under a terrible affliction....the city has been relying on outside trade these past few days because the farmlands have been savagely ravaged by unknown forces. On top of all that......Theseus hasn't helped much politically, considering he is off on some pointless quest with the rest of his demi-brethren, the state executives have been scrambling for answers to the myriad of metropolitan issues. Disappearing blacksmiths, sightings of creatures in the night and hordes of food, metal, and wood supplies have disappeared over night. I seek your your guidance, for this is genuinely a force I have never experienced.", she was at a loss for words with her situation. Athens has had many terrible lows in its long history, but nothing of this supernatural sort.

He looked at his children, he shook his head. "Your apologies are always accepted my dear Athena. Laps of judgment always happen.", Zeus said with a smile.

She held her head up high, "If I may ask. Is there explanation to.our plights?".

Dionysus stretched his legs a little, "it's wolves I think....but they're kinda funky. Hermes says that THESE wolves can get hit with arrows and like...not die....it's kind of weird. Oh and apparently they like destroying food tents.", he interjected.

Hermes turned to Dionysus, "This thing wasn't a wolf! I know a wolf when I see it, this thing had hands! And it stood on two legs and was fast on them!", he corrected Dionysus was short burst of annoyance.

Obviously, Hera was about to toss herself from the top of Mt. Olypmus from all the sweetness of Zeus's love for his children, the destruction of anyone's food tent or anything, she couldn't care less about it. ".....Can we go on?", she strained. "Frankly Zeus, I just want to know what does all of this has to do with you.", She paused as she was just speaking at suddenly thought had dawned on her. ".... Zeus.......this "wolf" business doesn't have anything to do with Lycaon does it?....You DID say the problem was taken care of....right?", Hera spoke with a tone of ripe displeasure.

Zeus couldn't deny it any longer. An unnatural wolf, Athens in social chaos and the constant bickering between his children had to stop. "Children........it's time I told you the whole story....do you remember when I've told some of you the story of how I defeated the most evil man in the world?", he asked.

The other gods became curious, what did an old bedtime story that their own father had to do with all of this? Hera let out a long and disappointed sigh, it really did have something to do with him, but she had secretly hoped he wasn't responsible for it.

He continued, "Many decades ago, it should be a century or so....if memories serves me correctly....I was invited to a feast in Arcadia by King Lycaon himself. In the story, I told that I defeated him by turning him into a wolf and destroyed his desperately sons for serving me a feast made from the flesh of man..... however.....I may have left out a few.... important details....I did turn him into a wolf....but I left a small semblance of humanity in him so that he may suffer ridicule and hatred for the remainder of his life......that...may have been the greatest regret....I should have ended him when I had the chance.... however, I cannot contest for how he has managed to live for so long....but I do fear it maybe my power is what helped with his longevity.....I doubt he's alone too....", he solemnly ended his story.

The five Olympic offspring sat there in disbelief, the rumors were true and their own father had direct responsibility over the situation. Hera in the meantime, felt a little sorry for Zeus, if she was responsible for such a blunder she would no doubt feel an eating guilt in her heart. "Zeus, listen, what's in the past is done....you fucked up and honestly that's no surprise.....", she put it bluntly.

He turned around unamused but not surprised that his wife would take a swing at his ego, yet all he could do is agree. "Now..... children, we must spread ourselves around and look high and low for Lycaon...no matter the cost.", he declared.

A low crashing noise could be heard from halls, alarming everyone in the throne room. The boys screamed, Artemis was too tired to care and Athena raised her shield and spear ready to defend everyone in the room. Zeus and Hera were worried but there was a likely suspect on their minds. "Ares!", the two said in unison. If anyone would regularly break urns and vases in Olypmus, it was Ares. Whom oddly enough did not come to the meeting. Apollo, Dionysus, Hermes and Athena were the first to charge towards the noise while Artemis had no intentions of moving for the moment.

In another room, Ares was trying to help Ajax use armor and play with a wooden sword for the first time. Turns out, after a few hours of roughhousing with his own war hounds, Ares realized Ajax could use his paws to hold things. So one silly thing led to another, and Alex accidentally broke a vase. "Nice swing Ajax, you'll lead your own army in no time!", Ares chuckled with enthusiasm. Ajax wagged his tail and adjusted his ill-fitting helmet. "You know what, I'm hungry. Come on Ajax, let's go get something to eat", he gestured to Ajax to follow him to the kitchen. The pup's tailed wagged even more enthusiastically, he gently removed his helmet, placed his shield and sword down and followed his new devine friend.

As the two miscreants went to the kitchen, the rest of the Olympians just missed them by a few seconds. Apollo and Athena were armed and ready while Hermes and Dionysus were reluctant to have followed them.

Apollo and Athena both look at the obvious mess of broken urns and damaged marble along with the instruments of the crime. "Hm...It definitely looks like Ares may have been here....but what would he want with set of juvenile training armor?", Athena questioned.

"Hmmm....maybe he's taken up another Amazonian student?.... after all it's not like he's done it before.", Apollo speculated.

"Well I'm not cleaning up after his kids again.", Dionysus groaned brushing away a piece of broken pottery with his foot.

Hermes looked around and started to hear more clattering coming from the kitchen. "I think we'll get our answer shortly.", he pointed to the direction of what at this point sounded like a dog playing with its food.

The four than slowly cornered the entrance way to the kitchen, Apollo and Athena on opposite sides of the door. Dionysus, summons his thyrsos, to protect himself and Hermes who's just behind him. Athena motioned to Apollo to get ready to bust into the kitchen, he agreed with a stern nod.

Zeus and Hera have just arrived, spectating the mess of a hallway and had just about enough this. "OH FOR GOODNESS SAKE.", Zeus bellowed and opened the kitchen door to fine Ares mid bite into some meat and Ajex sitting on the counter, peacefully chewing on lamb chop.

It was a standstill for the ages.

"Son.....what is that?", Zeus asked calmly and sternly.

"Lamb chops.", Ares replied.

"....no.......I mean....what...is....that?.", Zeus pointed at Ajex.

Ares hadn't thought so quickly in his life and drew out his sword and pulled Ajex closer to him. In a deadpan tone and a blank stare, "Take one more step Dad I will wreck everything.". Ajex obviously was completely clueless and just innocently looked at everyone.

Everyone from Zeus and his children all armed themselves. "ARES I NEED TO YOU STEP AWAY FRO. THAT ABOMINATION.", Zeus commanded him.

Athena raised her spear, "Ares you dimwitted buffoon! That creature's kind has cost us all dearly!", she hissed at him

Ares still expressionless knew he wasn't going to let his family hard a single fur on Ajex's head.

The Olympians were all shouting and tried coaxing Ares to give the wolf pup but the god of war wouldn't budge.

Hera, finally pushing Apollo and Dionysus aside, "ARES! What is going on?! And why is that thing on the counter! You have no idea where it's been and I thought I told you no snacking before meals!", Hera shouted with a wag of her finger.

"Oh I gave him a bath before we started training.", Ares replayed.

"TRAINING?!?", everyone shouted in unison.

Zeus's voiced boomed, "YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THAT CREATURE IS CAPABLE OF!".

"FUCKYOUDADYOUCANTTELLMEWHATTODO!", Ares defiantly shouted back.

As the quarreling between the gods continued, Hermes at was fearful at seeing this kind of creature again until he started to get a closer look. "Wait a minute..... isn't this the dog with tattered clothes your thespian friend told you?", he turned to Dionysus.

As if a candle was suddenly lit, Dionysus than remembered the joust. "Hey it's that dog thing that cost you the joust you know the one you lost and got very very VERY humiliated in?!", he hoped reminding Ares about his loss would make him relinquish Ajex due to anger.

"Oh really? Well ok than accidents happen I guess. I guess little Ajex here had places to go. Ain't that right buddy", Ares said with a smile basically forgiving Ajex for costing him the joust. Ajex let out a little yip with glee.

"Damnit. I thought that would do it. Sorry guys I tried.", Dionysus shrugged.

Hera was distraught and disappointed, "Oh my gods you've named it too. Now we'll never get rid of it.", she said breathlessly.

"Come on mom, it's just a dog. I mean sure he's really misshapen for a dog but he's managing pretty well with me.", Ares still had no idea that what he was holding close to him....was more closely related to a cursed human.

"Son....that is no hound....that....is what I had turned Lycaon many years ago....I turned him into a part wolf monstrosity for the purpose of punishment! That right there!.....could be his very offspring! Or worse!....an innocent child who was transformed into wolf.", Zeus gravely explained.

Ares looked at Ajex, "....oh...so that's why he has thumbs.".

The rest of his siblings couldn't believe that Ares had just realized this and collectively groaned. Zeus could only nod in minor disappointment while Hera shook her head.

Hermes on the other hand stepped a little closer to Ares and Ajex. "....Well....thus one DEFINITELY isn't the same kind of beast me and Artimes saw.", he than started to feel extremely silly for being so afraid of this small and somewhat cute looking creature.

"That's because it's a wolf cub!", Artimes had finally caught up with everyone. "I mean seriously, you guys got worked up over a pup? I mean seriously it still teething.", She pointed at Ajex who was still chewing on a lamb bone.

Ares looked at Ajex, "you mean like how babies do?....cool. That explains why he bit me when we first met.", he fondly remembered.

Zeus went pale. "Son....did....did ugh...Ajex you called him? ....well....did he draw blood when he bit you?", he deathly asked.

Ares looked at his arm and saw no marks, then he looked everywhere else that Ajex had teethed on and still no marks. "Nope. Little guys' gonna have to grown into his big teeth later.", he knew that dogs had their own set of baby teeth much like humans did, so considering Ajex's lineage, there was a good chance he still had many of his baby teeth.

A deep sigh of relief was let out by Zeus.

Apollo than asked, "Father, why is it such an issue that it bit Ares, it's not like as if gods could die of an infection....even so I can fix it.".

Zeus shook his head, "Because I've seen what happens with mortals who survive an attack from these monsters....they become them.", the others became visibly worried, expect for Ares and Hermes. Hermes of course could always outrun them and Ares simply assumed he was impervious to injury.

Ares than realized if he hadn't been so physically hard to chew on he would be a half-wolf half-war god. "WAIT A MINUTE I COULD HAVE BEEN A WOLF WAR GOD THAT SOUNDS EPIC AS FUCK!", He shouted.

Apollo, Athena, Artimes and Dionysus looked at each other in clear worry, the idea of a beastly war god even more so vicious than what he currently is now is a far more unfathomably terrifying idea.

Hermes was still looking at Ajex with mild curiosity. Suddenly Ajex looked at him a tilted his head with equal curiosity. A sudden urge to do something Hermes wanted to do when discovered he could perform a neat little trick. He than raised the wings on his hat upwards in an alert position. Ajex's ears did the same thing. Than Hermes switched to a 3 o'clock position, Ajex than followed through and mimicked with his ears.

The rest of the gods looked at this strange display and went silent, surely something important was happening.

Ares however was starting to get jealous, "dude da fuk can you stop that's super fucking weird.", he asked but Hermes continued with different wing positions as if he was giving signals. Ajex was oddly enough having fun with this activity and let out a yip.

"I can't believe it.... we're completely in sync! You know what this means?", Hermes exclaimed at his wings alternated with Ajex's ears. "This could be like a secret handshake or something."

His brothers were obviously was confused, "Ugh...is this going to help us? I mean it's a cool trick but how is this going to solve anything?", Dionysus asked.

Hermes chuckled a little and replied, "oh no there absolutly nothing useful about this it's just fun to see if another animal would do it.". Another collective groan from everyone could be heard.

Athena rested her spear, "This has been a waste of time! All that's happened was the discovery of this creature infiltrating our ranks through Ares's pure ignorance and we still have no clue where to find these b-", she suddenly stopped mid sentence and looked at Ajex and started to formulate an idea "....... surely....this...Ajax has a family...I mean for such a young pup, he has to be missing his parents...", She glanced at Ares whom was still keeping Ajex close. He didn't want to part with him.

Zeus knew what Athena had been implying, he agreed with this plan but he didn't want to lose anymore of Ares's trust. "Athena, as much as that sounds like a wonderous strategy, I believe we can achieve our goal in finding Lycaon.... without harming the young creature.", Zeus walked up to Ajex, no matter if this creature had fangs, claws and fur, it was still in a sense a child.

Scoffing at Athena's attempt to gain her favors by being "tactful", she couldn't help but sense Athena was simply trying to be a little bit insensitive to Ares considering the two have had it against each other for years. "Or....I can just track down trail where me and Hermes found the first wolf. I mean, if I remember correctly there IS a complex cave system in Mount Parnassus.", she concluded.

Ares was relieved.

Zeus had than remembered what Athena had mentioned about Theseus and the rest of his half-born children. "By jove I've got it. BOYS! You're off to find Lycaon.", he announced.

Apollo, Dionysus, Hermes and Ares all looked at Zeus in mild disbelief. "Wait what?", they all murmured in unison.

#greek-Bros #greek bros #greek gods #dionysus #Zeus #hera #artemis #athena #ares #Apollo #greek bros: the return of an old enemy #chapter 12 #short story #fiction #greek mythology

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lastbluetardis · 4 years ago

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Chemical Reaction (19/22)

Summary: Though their chemistry class is now over, the chemistry between James and Rose is just getting started. Together, they navigate the highs of new love and the lows of coping with past trauma to forge deep and unbreakable bonds of love and commitment. Part 2 in the Catalysis series. Tagging @doctorroseprompts

This chapter: ~7400 words, teen

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AO3 | FF | TSP

Ch1 | Ch2 | Ch3 | Ch4 | Ch5 | Ch6 | Ch7 | Ch8 | Ch9 | Ch10 | Ch11 | Ch12 | Ch13 | Ch14 | Ch15 | Ch16 | Ch17 | Ch18 | Ch19 | Ch20 | Ch21 | epilogue

James couldn’t believe his eyes. He blinked hard, thinking his exhaustion had caught up with him. No, the blonde woman on his porch had to be the night-shift nurse who lived across the street—she often liked to indulge in late-night baking on her nights off, and there were times she would come to James for an ingredient she was missing, or to give him a small sampling of her confectionery creations.

(He had the sudden, jarring, embarrassing realization that she may have been flirting with him the whole time… Is that why she hasn’t come around in months?)

“Rose,” he said again when blinking stupidly for at least ten seconds didn’t transform Rose into anyone else.

“Hi,” she said quietly. She looked exhausted; there were prominent shadows beneath her eyes and her shoulders drooped like a heavy weight sat upon them.

Her gaze flicked over his shoulder, and her face fell. “Oh. Sorry. Didn’t realize you had company. I’ll just…” She thumbed behind herself to the dark road. How did she get here? “Sorry.”

Before he could protest, Jack clapped James on the shoulder and announced, “No, no. I was getting ready to head out. Come on, get in out of the cold.”

Jack pressed a smacking kiss to James’s cheek, then muttered, “Talk to her,” into his ear. He then stepped forward and gave Rose a loose hug and kiss on the cheek before he walked to his vehicle that was parked on the side of the street.

They turned to watch Jack start his car and drive off into the night. James looked at Rose, then at the squarish plastic Tupperware container she held. She was absently flicking her thumb nail across the tab on the lid.

“What’ve you got there?” he asked, nodding to the container.

Rose chewed on her bottom lip and pushed her hair behind her ear. “Well. We’ve been playing a game all month, haven’t we? Time to celebrate.”

She popped the lid off the container and handed it to him. In it were half a dozen large, muffin-sized chocolate cupcakes, frosted in vanilla icing and decorated with pink and yellow star sprinkles. The words “Happy Birthday” were written in small, neat, glossy red letters across each cupcake. His stomach sank.

“It… it’s your birthday?” he croaked. Of course—of fucking course—today had been her birthday.

Rose nodded. “I… I didn’t want to let my entire birthday pass without spending some time with my favorite person.”

James nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat. “Hope you had fun.”

Rose raised an incredulous eyebrow, and the penny dropped.

“Me?” he squeaked, the knot in his chest loosening.

“Yes you, you numpty. Just because I’m angry with you doesn’t mean I stopped loving you. Do you not love me anymore because we fought?”

James’s knees weakened at the ‘l’ word. He took a step towards her, the arm not holding the cupcakes extended. Her face softened and she stepped into his proffered embrace. Her body was warm and solid against him. Heat prickled behind his eyes as he wrapped his arms as tightly around her as he could without upending the Tupperware container.

“I’m sorry, Rose. I’m so sorry. I…”

“Can we not do this on the front porch?” she asked, voice muffled. “S’cold.”

James was loath to let go of her, but he had to agree the night was getting frigid, especially for him, with his bare feet and thin pajama bottoms and t-shirt. With a sigh, he gave her a final squeeze and dropped his arms from around her waist, then stepped back to usher her into his home.

She toed off her shoes by the front door, and he could already predict her questions when she angled her head towards the hallway. “Did you paint something?”

James scratched the back of his neck. “Er. Yeah. Started repainting my bedroom.”

A small, sad smile tugged at the side of Rose’s mouth. “Needed something to keep your mind busy?”

“Something like that,” he admitted.

A more genuine smile crossed her face as she gestured to the Tupperware container he was holding. “Y’know, stress baking would've been cheaper.”

James blinked, then gaped down at the cupcakes he was holding. The font of the words was perfect cursive, the spread of the icing uniform and even. He blurted, “You made these?”

“Thanks for that vote of confidence,” she drawled. “Yes, I made them. Well. Elsa helped. She came over to my flat this afternoon. Bit of a girl’s night. Had pizza and wine, then made cupcakes. She’s actually really good at decorating; she’s got this whole set of frosting tips to make fancy designs. She did the lettering.”

“They look lovely. Very professional,” he said. He jutted his head to his kitchen, motioning for her to follow. She did, her quiet, shuffling footsteps falling into rhythm with his.

Rather than go into the kitchen, Rose peeled off to the living room, where Merry and Pippin were lounging on the sofa together, half-asleep. James watched her squat down in front of the cats and give them a bit of love before she returned to him.

“Should Jack have driven himself home?”

James glanced at Rose and saw her pointing to the kitchen table, where the mostly-empty bottle of wine sat. It had a few mouthfuls left.

“It was only half-full when we started,” James answered, picking up the bottle and hurriedly drinking the last of the wine. “This was from last weekend, when you and I… Anyway, he had one glass. I drank most of it. He should be fine.”

“Tell him to let us know when he gets home safely,” Rose said.

James snapped off a lazy salute then sent Jack a text, passing along Rose’s request. He set the Tupperware container of cupcakes on the counter before grabbing two clean bowls from the dishwasher he hadn’t bothered to empty.

“Oh, I really shouldn’t,” Rose said with a grimace. “I already had one after they came out of the oven. Plus pizza. M’gonna puff up like a balloon.”

She pinched her waist, and James frowned. “What are you talking about? You’re beautiful.”

Her cheeks flamed pink and she dropped her hand limply to her side.

“I had a huge, greasy burger and chips for dinner. D’you think I’m gonna puff up like a balloon?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.

“Well, no. But you’re…” She let her sentence dangle as she waved her hand vaguely up and down his body.

“And you’re…” He mirrored her gesture. “Rose, I find you absolutely beautiful, and you losing or gaining weight won’t change my opinion. Not that my opinion should matter. If you don’t want a cupcake, or if you’re not hungry, that’s fine. And again, not that you need my approval.”

Rose sighed and twisted her hands in front of herself before she turned away from him and rooted in his freezer for ice cream he always made sure to have on hand.

“I had a minor eating disorder as a teen,” Rose said quietly, pulling out the ice cream and shutting the freezer. “Nothing too serious. I was obsessed with my weight, and was really careful with what I ate. I counted and logged calories. I grew out of it when I realized watching what I ate made me feel even worse about myself. Of course I still tried to eat healthy and to eat reasonably-sized portions, but I stopped being so strict with it. I obviously started putting on some weight, nothing too drastic, but Jimmy would often tease me and tell me to lay off the chips or whatever, because rock stars don’t date chubby girls.”

James’s ears were ringing with rage and heartbreak, and he was furious with himself for everything he had accused Rose of last night regarding Jimmy.

“Rose, I…”

“As I said, I’m fine now and I don’t really care about my weight or body image as much,” Rose interrupted, setting the ice cream on the counter in front of him. “But sometimes those thoughts pop up without me realizing it. Like they did just now.”

Unsure of how to respond, James instead took a cupcake out of the Tupperware container, unwrapped the paper from the bottom, and set it into the bowl. “Did I… did I say something wrong?”

“No. Quite the opposite, actually. You told me your opinion, but didn’t shove it in my face or try to force me to believe you. And like I said, I don’t often realize when I’m having these thoughts.”

He nodded and forced his lips into some semblance of a smile that he hoped looked supportive. He then returned his gaze to the bowl and the ice cream she’d retrieved.

“D’you want to share this with me?” he asked, gesturing to the bowl with a spoon.

Rose nodded. He scooped several large dollops of vanilla ice cream into the bowl then he went to his junk drawer. It overflowed with a random assortment of objects: scissors, several different types of batteries, notepads, pens, pencils, a ruler, a screwdriver, tape, glue, Band-Aids, rubber bands, paper clips, binder clips, thumbtacks, toothpicks, a ball of twine, a condom, a tampon, and so many other things James didn't remember throwing into the drawer.

He dug through the mishmash of objects until he found a small, half-empty box of birthday candles and a matchbook. He took out four candles and brought them and the matches over to where Rose stood at the counter.

“I would try to shove twenty-two of them into the cupcake, but firstly I don’t have twenty-two candles, and secondly, I’m pretty sure I would end up pulverizing the poor cupcake into a pile of crumbs. So use your imagination; two and two equates to twenty-two.”

He shoved two of the candles side by side into the left side of the cupcake, right before the H and B in “Happy Birthday”. The other two, he stuck into the right side of the cupcake, behind both Ys. Striking the match, he ignored the shaking in his hands as he lit the candles. He then promptly blew out the match and dropped it into the water-filled wine glass in the sink to let it stop smoking. However, Rose must have seen the tremor in his hands, because she reached over and threaded their fingers together.

“I don’t like fire,” he admitted. “For obvious reasons.”

“You didn’t have to light the candles then,” Rose said gently.

“Pfff. It’s your birthday. Can’t have a birthday without blowing out some candles. How else will you get a free wish?”

Rose cracked a small smile and squeezed his fingers. She leaned forward as though she were about to blow out her candles. James cried, “Wait!”

She pulled back with a start.

“It’s your twenty-second birthday. I would think you would remember how this goes by now,” he drawled. He then sucked in a deep breath and began to sing. “Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday dear Ro-ooose. Happy Birthday to youuuuu.”

She was grinning by the end of it, especially when he intentionally sang off-key for the sole purpose of making her smile. He’d made her cry too much in the last twenty-four hours; a smile from her was a welcome sight.

“Right. Those candles are all charged up with birthday magic. Now you can make a wish and blow,” he said, bowing and gesturing to her cupcake.

Rolling her eyes at him, Rose closed her eyes and paused for about five seconds, before she blew out a short breath, extinguishing the candles with ease. He applauded her effort, then yanked the candles out of the cupcake and extended two of them to her. They licked off the cake crumbs and icing—cream cheese, he noted with delight—then dropped them into the trash.

“Let’s eat this before all the ice cream melts,” James said, gesturing to the table. “Want anything to drink? More wine?”

“Just water.”

He grabbed two glasses from the dishwasher and filled them with water from the pitcher in the fridge before plopping down at the table beside Rose. He noticed his phone had a new text notification; Jack had replied, letting him know he was home. James relayed the news to Rose, then gestured for her to take the first bite of her birthday cupcake.

For several long minutes, they sat silently together, trading off bites of cupcake and ice cream until the bowl was empty.

“That was very good,” he praised, swiping his finger through the melted mess of ice cream and chocolate crumbs on the bottom of the bowl and licking the digit clean.

“Thanks. Elsa loves to bake but doesn't get the chance to do it as often as she likes because she lives in the dorms on campus.” Rose ran her fingertip along the rim of her glass. “When I invited her over to my flat, she said stress baking was a requirement. She didn’t know it was my birthday until we started decorating the cupcakes.”

“Do you have an aversion to people knowing it’s your birthday?”

She snorted. “No. But it just… it didn’t feel right to celebrate. Not when we’d…” She trailed off with a shrug. “All month I’d been looking forward to finally telling you it was my birthday. It didn’t feel right to tell anyone about my birthday if I couldn’t tell you.”

“I really buggered your birthday,” he sighed, chest tightening.

“Nah.” She pursed her lips. “Okay, well, yeah. But it wasn’t just you. I didn’t help. I wasn’t in the mood to celebrate my birthday today, so I kept it to myself. Anyways. Elsa knocked a bit of sense into me this afternoon. Helped put some things into better perspective.”

“I’m glad you have a friend like that to share things with,” he said.

Rose hummed in agreement. “She also called me out for being an idiot.”

James snorted. “Jack did much the same for me.” He paused, fidgeting uncomfortably for a few seconds before he blurted, “I am so sorry, Rose. I’m so sorry for snooping through your mail and reading that letter, and I’m so sorry for jumping to a conclusion that was absolutely ridiculous, and I’m sorry for accusing you of not trusting me. I’m sorry I twisted the situation and your words and actions to put the blame all on you. I’m sorry I let my own insecurities warp my perceptions of you and our relationship, and I’m so, so sorry for ever insinuating that you would want to go back to Jimmy.”

Rose was dead silent. When James chanced a peek over at her, he was horrified to see tears welling in her eyes. She blinked and they fell down her cheeks.

Sniffling, she wiped at them and whispered, “That really hurt. I thought I had told you enough about Jimmy to show you he wasn’t a nice person to be in a relationship with. And I thought…”

“You did,” James interrupted fervently. “You did Rose. You were absolutely correct in saying I had selective memory. You told me more about him than I realized. I was too caught up in my own head last night to remember everything you’d said. I’m so sorry about that.”

Rose waved him off. “Forget Jimmy for a minute. Even if he wasn’t a wanker… It hurt that you would think I would be tempted into a new relationship with someone else when we’ve been so happy together. At least, I’ve been happy.”

“I’ve been happy, too,” James said. He covered her hand with his. “I swear, Rose. I’ve been so happy with you.”

He wished he had better answers for her. He wished he could explain what had triggered him last night, explain how his brain had disregarded nearly seven months of a friendship and four months of a relationship stronger than he’d ever had before. Why had he thought Rose would be tempted by an ex-boyfriend who had treated her so horribly? Why did he have the anxiety that Rose would see through his facade and realize he wasn’t as exciting as she’d thought? Why was he so fearful she would leave?

Because everyone leaves.

The realization crashed over him with the force of a tidal wave, pushing his head beneath the water until he could barely breathe. He was drowning, fighting a losing battle against the current, about to be swept away into the sea when he was thrown a lifeline.

Rose squeezed his fingers hard, grounding him, pulling him back to the moment. His chest was tight and tears blurred his vision.

Everyone leaves.

His mother, who had thought it more prudent to attend to their dogs rather than get herself to safety with her husband and son.

His father, who had rescued him from their burning house only to leave him on the street to go back inside. James hadn’t been enough to keep his dad by his side, and so he had lost two parents that night.

His aunt, who had never wanted kids, had never expected to have kids. She pulled long hours and travelled incessantly, chasing big news stories while James pretended he was fine with being alone, while silently wishing his dad had never saved him from their house. He knew without a doubt that, if his aunt could do it all over again, if she knew then what she knew now, she never would have agreed to be his godmother when he was born. He loved his aunt, and knew his aunt loved him, but he wasn’t so naïve as to be ignorant of the fact that he had upheaved his aunt’s life, and not entirely for the better.

The friends he had left behind in the UK and never heard from again after he and his aunt moved to America. People he had known since childhood who hadn’t bothered putting in the effort to stay in touch, despite claiming they would.

His previous partners, many of whom finding ways to end their brief relationship after realizing he didn’t want to have sex with them. Time after time, he had to listen to them say it was fine that they weren’t being physically intimate—with an unspoken yet dangling between them—only to listen to them make up excuses for why they were ending the relationship. Granted, he had broken off a relationship himself a few times, but over half the time, his partner had been the one to end it.

Over and over, people came and people went, and at the heart of it, James was hardly more than a spectre, unable to be seen or heard as his heart was left broken. And yet when Rose had joined him, had taken his hand and made promises and vows that nobody ever had before, he had jumped at the first opportunity to assume she would leave him, too.

Chair legs scraped across the floor a moment before a warm, familiar arm wrapped around his waist. He turned into Rose and rested his cheek on her shoulder, breathing in her scent, the subtle tones of amber and citrus, of warmth and love and home.

Something deep in his chest cracked open, releasing the floodgates. For the past nine and a half years, he had been drifting, trying to make sense of how he could feel so alone when he was surrounded by people, able to make new friends and acquaintances at the drop of a hat. Yet there was always that disconnect, making him feel more like an outsider looking in. Like everyone else was aware of the punchline of a joke while he was left clueless.

Until Rose. With Rose it had been natural. Effortless. It was though his world had shifted into perfect focus, and at the heart of it was her. She had reminded him of what it felt like to belong, to feel perfectly at home with another person. And though he was desperate not to lose her and what they had together, part of him was holding his breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Yet in doing so, he had let his anxiety take control and had hurt Rose badly enough that he had nearly caused her to do exactly what he had been terrified of.

James’s shoulders shook as he wept quietly into Rose’s neck, dampening the collar of her shirt. She didn’t seem to mind. Instead, she held him closer, rubbing her hand up and down the length of his spine as he sobbed and gasped for breath.

“I’m sorry,” he rasped. “I’m so sorry for everything, Rose.”

Haltingly, through the juddering tears that cracked his voice, he explained his revelation to her. He hoped he didn’t sound like he was making excuses for himself, but he genuinely wanted her to understand the conclusion his big, stupid brain had come to.

“I let my fears take over,” he said, voice raw from crying and talking. “I didn’t realize what they were. And I didn’t realize how loud they’d gotten.”

“I understand,” Rose said quietly. “Believe me. I understand. Is there anything I can do to help you quiet them?”

James rubbed his hand beneath his clogged, stuffy nose and grimaced when it came away wet. He pulled away from Rose and stood, moving to the sink to wash his hands, then to grab a handful of tissues. He blotted his eyes then blew his nose before he sank into his seat beside her again.

“I don’t know,” he confessed. “I know this is a me problem, not a you problem. You’ve been wonderful, Rose. You and me… our relationship… it has all been wonderful. I don’t know why I was so quick to let ten minutes of screaming insecurities make me forget about half a year of loving you.”

Rose chewed on the inside of her cheek, contemplating. “If ever there’s a time those voices are getting too loud, I’d like you to tell me. Though I know sometimes they can go unnoticed. But if you realize you’re getting stuck in your head, let me know and I’ll try to help you out of it.”

James flashed her a grateful smile. “Same for you. If there’s ever a time I can help you with whatever’s on your mind…”

Rose sighed. “I need to get better about that. I’ve realized I have a bad habit of telling myself I will deal with something later, but later never actually comes.” She sucked in a big breath and blew it out again. “I’m sorry you saw that letter from Jimmy. Yeah, you were a bit of a twat for reading it and reacting like you did. But I’m sorry you were blindsided like that, and that I ignored how it made you feel. And I’m sorry for making you feel like I don’t trust you. I’m sorry I made you self-conscious for everything you’ve shared with me and that you feel like I don’t share enough with you.” She let out a sad little laugh that twisted his heart. “This is going to sound lame, but I honestly didn’t realize I wasn’t being as open with you as I thought I was. It feels like you know me better than anyone ever has, so I didn’t think to change anything. But now that I know how you feel, I want to work to be better at that.”

James shook his head and covered her hand. “No, Rose. I got caught up in my own head and in my frustration. You’ve shared more with me than I wanted to admit last night.” Jack’s words clanged around in his head. “I shouldn’t have expected the exact same level of sharing from you as I am comfortable with giving.”

“That’s not fair. I am comfortable with you…”

James cringed. “No, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m not accusing you of anything, Rose. Merely stating a fact. I’m not trying to make you feel guilty or upset, I swear. I want you to be comfortable talking with me, and forcing you to talk about things you aren’t comfortable with is counterproductive.”

“Thing is, I was always going to tell you everything about Jimmy,” Rose sighed. “When he first texted me, it sent me into a blind panic and I sorta… shut down. I wanted to take the time I needed to get into a better place before sharing it with you. But I guess I didn’t realize how long it was since he first texted me.”

James stayed silent, letting her get her thoughts together. He twined their fingers together, happy to be able to sit and touch her like this, when for many long, heartbreaking hours in the wee hours of that morning, he had been sure that he would never be able to do so again. Her hand fit perfectly in his, and he knew that he would do whatever it took to make their relationship whole again, to make sure he could hold her hand for the rest of their lives.

When Rose began speaking, he gave her his full attention and tried to keep his emotions in check. He listened to her explain how Jimmy had texted her out of the blue, having gotten her number from a “mutual friend”.

“M’still not sure who gave it to him,” Rose said with a sigh. “He never told me and none of my friends claim to have done it.”

James listened to her describe the early conversations she’d had with Jimmy, from telling him that she needed time, to working through her anxiety with the help of Elsa and a counselor, to coming to the decision to let Jimmy say his piece.

“He was very important to me at one time. He was the love of my life. He was my everything. He will always be important and special because I genuinely loved him, and like it or not, my experiences with him shaped me into the person I am today. I don’t love him anymore, and frankly don’t miss him or want what we used to have, but if this would help him and me move on, I really wanted to let him say what he needed to say.

“He apologized to me, and it wasn’t even a terrible apology. Though he did make it sound like we both were at fault, but you know what, it was better than I was expecting, so I sorta took it as a win. I figured we were done, but then he wanted to know if he could repay me for all the debts he’d left me with. I can’t remember if I told you before, but he stopped paying his part of the rent at the end of our relationship. I got so behind on those payments because I had other bills to focus on that by the time I moved out, I was six months behind.

“I refused Jimmy’s offer. Told him everything was paid off and he didn’t owe me anything.” Rose sniffled and smiled ruefully, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “You know my money insecurities. I couldn’t stand the thought that he might use this as a way to control me again. So I shut him down.”

“Good for you,” James murmured, his first words in a while. “You don’t have to go on. It’s okay.”

But Rose shook her head. “I want you to know all of this. I want to come to you when—as Elsa puts it—shit ties up my brain. And my brain has been in knots for over a month. I want to be better with being okay about my thoughts sometimes getting tangled; I realized if I waited until my brain was calm to tell you everything, I would never tell you anything. I don’t want secrets between us, and I’m frustrated with myself that I unwittingly kept secrets from you. I can’t promise I will tell you immediately when something is on my mind, but I will make more of an effort to be more open with you. I wish I’d told you all of this sooner, but I can’t go back and change how I handled this, so let me tell you all of this now.”

James nodded and brought their clasped hands to his lips for a soft kiss.

“After I told Jimmy I didn’t want his money, I thought we were done. I didn’t hear from him for a few days, but then I got a text from him, a selfie with some of our old friends. A harmless group photo. Then he started sharing news from home. Or he would send me playlists. Stupid, innocent stuff we used to. He has really good taste in music and I’m always happy to have new songs or artists to listen to.

“We started chatting a little more regularly. Not daily, but a few times a week. A few messages at a time. He shared updates about his life, told me about going to drug and alcohol meetings, financial counseling, and so on. I told him about America and school. I didn’t tell him about you, though. It’s stupid, and I should have because I don’t think Jimmy realizes I’m not single, but you’re mine.” The word sent a thrill up James’s spine, and he couldn’t help but kiss her knuckles again. “You’re mine and I didn’t want to share you with him. I didn’t want anything of Jimmy to touch you. And I wasn’t trying to lead him on or anything. Or keep him a secret from you. But all of a sudden it’s been five weeks since he first texted.

“Then he sent me that letter. It came two days ago. I cried when I got it. I never gave him my address, so I panicked that he had somehow stalked me and found me, that he would be waiting at the university for me. And I was just… so defeated. I thought maybe he’d changed. Grown up or something. Stupidly, I thought maybe we could eventually be friends. But the only thing he wanted was for me to get back together with him.”

Rose’s tears dripped down her cheeks and her breathing hitched. James wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. She willingly leaned into him and sniffled quietly for a long moment.

“Did you really think that was a love letter?” Rose croaked.

“Pardon?”

“What Jimmy wrote to me. Did you think it read like a love letter?”

James sucked on the inside of his lower lip. He tried to remember the content of the letter, but his memories were all tainted with the pain of their argument.

“I don’t remember enough of it,” he confessed. “I’m sorry.”

Rose lifted her bum off of her chair, reaching into her back pocket to pull out a piece of paper that had been folded into eighths.

“Here,” she said, giving it to him.

Tentatively, he took it. Rose pulled herself out of his embrace and grabbed a tissue from the crumpled pile he had brought over.

As he reread the letter, his stomach twisted into knots when he picked out several words and phrases.

I’ve found a piece of myself…

I’m not complete…

I hate the person I am without you…

…happiest of my life…

…nothing more I’ve wanted…

…(our life?)…

You make me feel like I can do anything…

I love how I feel when I’m with you…

I was scared about how much I needed you…

…something I always knew would be there for me…

I know I can make it work this time…

…enjoy your time there, while you can…

…we can work harder together to make us work…

I will do whatever it takes to make this work…

Over and over, James read the letter, his mind picking up more of the tone and the sheer selfishness in it. Everything Jimmy said was about him, about how he needed Rose, without giving a thought about whether Rose wanted or needed him. He plainly admitted to taking her for granted, and still, after all this time, he acted as though he and Rose were equally at fault for how their relationship had ended.

How must it have sounded to Rose, for him to go off on her about the letter?

“Oh, Rose,” James breathed, “I’m so sorry. God, I was a twat, wasn’t I?”

She let out a watery giggle. “Yeah, a bit.”

“Can I ask…? How did Jimmy find your address? I mean. Do you even know how he found it?”

Rose’s eyes welled with tears again, even as she scoffed. “My mum.”

“Your… mum?” That had not been what James had expected. “But… why?”

Rose shook her head. “Apparently Jimmy went ‘round the estate. Found my mum and told her we’d been chatting. Said he wanted to send me money to help cover the bills I’d paid. He said exactly the right thing—when I moved back home, my mum kept telling me over and over that Jimmy should cough up the money to cover his half of the flat and the expenses that had built up.

“A couple weeks ago, my mum asked me if I’d been chatting with Jimmy. When I said yes, I guess she assumed I knew Jimmy wanted to repay me but I was being unreasonable.” Rose’s face crumpled. “I know my mum didn’t know how badly Jimmy had treated me, and that's my fault for not telling her. But what if he’d been a murderous stalker? What if he’d physically or sexually abused me? What if he used that information and showed up alone at my flat one night and broke in and…?”

She coughed out a wracking sob and buried her face in her hands. James nearly began crying at the sight of her distress. “How dare my mum give out my address like that? I never thought she’d do something like that. My mum called to wish me a happy birthday and I told her a little bit about why you and I were fighting, and she told me she was the one who gave Jimmy my address. I got so angry with her, and she was gettin’ angry with me. I’ve spent the day crying ‘cos I was fighting with my two favorite people.”

James tossed the letter onto the table and wrapped his arms around Rose, holding her tightly to his chest. He had never been angrier with another person than he was right now with Jackie Tyler. Well. Jackie Tyler and Jimmy bloody Stone. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Rose. I’m sorry.”

“Joke’s on Mum, though; Jimmy didn’t send a single quid with that letter.” Rose sniffled and scrubbed her hands across her eyes. “I hate this. I wish I’d blocked Jimmy from the start, I wish I’d told you when he texted, I wish I’d told my mum not to talk to Jimmy. I wish I’d handled everything differently, and I wish I hadn’t gotten so upset with you last night. I’m sorry, James. I’m sorry for it all.”

James tightened his hold around her, burying his face into her neck while she wept into his. “You have every right to handle situations however you think is best. I should have had more faith and trust in you and in our relationship. I was unreasonable. But I forgive you, love. Of course I forgive you. I love you. I love you more than you can imagine, and I’m so sorry I doubted it last night.”

Rose began crying harder into his shoulder. Her breaths came out in harsh gasps as she managed to reply, “I love you too. I’m sorry for putting the doubt in your head… when you asked if I was breaking up with you and I said I didn’t know. God, I didn’t mean that. I didn’t mean it at all. I got scared too, same as you, and my brain sort of shut down because it couldn’t stop thinking of everything Jimmy had said or done in the past, and twisting it to look like what you were saying and doing. That’s something I need to work on because that’s insulting for me to imply that you’re anything like him, but I didn’t know what to do, so I pushed you out, and I’m so sorry.”

James merely held her tighter, his heart breaking at her agony, yet filling with more love for her than he’d ever felt before.

“You’re the strongest woman I know, Rose,” he murmured into her hair. “The strongest. You’ve overcome so much, and you’re working to make yourself the best version of yourself that you can be, and that’s so admirable. I am here to listen to anything you want to tell me, but I am okay with not knowing everything. I trust your judgement, and I know you’ll tell me what you want me to know.”

He continued speaking quietly, a combination of reassurances, affirmations, and words of love. She shed more tears than he’d ever seen her shed, and he shed just as many. He was exhausted and overwhelmed, and he wanted nothing more than to sleep for a very long time tangled with Rose.

When her tears finally dried, he pressed a lingering kiss to the side of her head before sitting back in his chair. He grabbed a tissue for himself and passed one to her; they noisily blew their noses and wiped their eyes.

“Well. Wasn’t that cathartic?” he said cheerfully, holding his hand out for her tissue to throw in the rubbish bin.

She chuckled. Though her eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks were splotchy, he didn’t think there was a more beautiful person in the world than her.

He washed his hands after throwing away their used tissues, then he grabbed a few more, just in case. His nose was still a bit runny, and he was sure Rose’s had to be too. He plopped into his chair with a groan.

“First fight,” he mused. “Can tick that one off the list, I suppose.”

“Was it everything you expected it to be?” she drawled, rolling her eyes.

“Admittedly it was a lot more painful than I thought,” he said. “But now we can go back to how we were, right?”

Rose paused. In the silence, his heart sank into his stomach.

“I don’t know if we should,” she said carefully, and his lungs were suddenly out of air. Her eyes widened. “No, not like you’re thinking. It’s just… everything we fought about, everything we talked about, it changed us. It changed our relationship. Not in a bad way, but it’s different now. We’re more aware of some things that we weren’t before. I don’t want to go backwards with you. I want us to go forward. Together.”

James nodded, shoulders slumping in relief. He slid his hand across the table, slipping it beneath Rose’s so her palm rested against the back of his hand. He splayed his fingers, letting hers fall between the gaps. She curled her fingers around his hand.

“You’re right,” he said, caressing his thumb along the side of her pinkie. “Absolutely, you’re right. Guess this means the honeymoon period is over?”

“Probably.” She flashed him a cheeky grin. “Hopefully we’re not over the horny hump though.”

“You’re never gonna let me forget that I said that, are you?” he whined, grimacing.

“Nope,” she said, popping the ‘p’ as he often did. “It was such a dorky thing to call it.”

He pouted. “You never complained about my dorkiness before.”

“I love your dorkiness. Doesn’t mean I won’t tease you about it though.” Her smile slipped until her face turned solemn. “I’m really glad we talked this out, James.”

He squeezed her fingers. “Me too.”

“Any time Jimmy and I had an argument, we never did this. We’d shout at each other, curse at each other, and then ignore each other and not speak for a day or so. Then we’d have angry make up sex and pretend everything was fine in the morning. I don’t want to ever do that again. I want to communicate with you and to compromise with you, then grow with you.

“Staying in love is a choice, and it takes work. It shouldn’t be hard, but it’s not easy either. We need to choose to stay in love, decide that our relationship is worth making an effort for. I want to wake up every day and choose you, to choose us, and I want to put in the work because I wanna enjoy the payoff. Because being in love with you, James… it’s the best I’ve ever felt. You make me feel like I can do anything, like pass a stupid chemistry class or tell my stupid ex-boyfriend to fuck off. I love the way you make me feel. I love feeling like I’m home whenever I’m with you. And though this home we’re building with each other might have a leaky roof every now and then, I wanna fix it with you.”

James’s eyes were burning again. How was anything even left in his tear ducts? “Oh, Rose. You make me feel the same way. And I feel so inadequate because you just waxed romantic poetry at me, but my brain has stopped working. But please know I love you with every cell in my body, and I want to keep loving you with every cell, all the way down to each little organelle contained within, every day for the rest of our long and beautiful life together.”

Rose grinned at him and leaned over to press a light kiss to his lips. They tingled at the contact, and he wanted to pull her close to kiss her again.

“You’re such a science geek,” she said.

“Well. I’ve already shown you I’m rather fabulous with many types of chemistry and anatomy,” he drawled, flashing her an over-the-top wink as he clicked his tongue lewdly.

She burst into a fit of laughter that he echoed, feeling at peace for the first time in twenty-four hours. The exhaustion of all those hours suddenly overwhelmed him. His laughter morphed into a yawn, which spread to Rose.

“I’m knackered,” he announced unnecessarily. “Will you come to bed with me? My bedroom’s a disaster, but the guest bed is made.”

Rose nodded and stood up from the kitchen table. She took their bowl to the sink and rinsed it out before leaving it there for them to clean properly in the morning. She then flicked off the light on top of the stove before she followed him through the rest of the house, locking up and turning lights off as they went.

“Can I see what you’ve done to your room?” Rose asked.

“Sure,” he said, continuing down the hall rather than peeling off into the guest room. When he got to his closed door, he warned, “It’s a mess.”

They were hit with the stench of paint fumes as soon as he opened the bedroom door. He flicked on the light, and the room was bathed in the yellow glow of his lamps.

“Love the color,” Rose said.

“Yeah?” he asked, pleased with himself that, even in his miserable, depressive state of trying to not think about Rose, he had managed to pick a color she would like.

“Mhm.”

“I have to put on the second coat. I’ll probably do that tomorrow—I’m not really feeling like going to my classes, so I’ll probably ditch ‘em again.”

“You rebel,” she teased. “If you want some help, I don’t have anything important going on tomorrow. And I don’t work this weekend. We can take a few days to finish up the painting and reorganize your furniture.”

James smiled. “I’d like that.”

“It’s a date.” She wrapped her arm around his waist and tucked her face against his shoulder. “Besides, it’ll go faster with two.”

Leaning down, James brushed a kiss to her crown then rested his cheek in her hair. “Faster with two. Better with two.” He gave her waist a tight squeeze as he kissed her again. “Better with you.”

#ficandchips #doctorroseprompts #dwfic #doctor who #ten x rose #ten x rose au #james x rose #university au #romance #hurt/comfort #angst #my fic #chemical reaction #catalysis series #chemical potential sequel

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maladaptive-ninja-returns · 5 years ago

Text

It’s The Avengers (03x06)

Loki x Reader Avengers The Office AU (Slowwwwww Burn)

Season 3 Episode 06: Mrs Silvertongue

Series Summary: Living in the Avengers facility post-apocalypse in a better timeline Tony Stark has decided to capture every moment by pulling The Office on the Avengers. All of housemates are pretty used to the idea except for you, who had just come here to finish her degree, and the newest member- Loki.

Warnings: one of those tropes. one of those hnnghh tropes

Word Count: I was supposed to post this four hours ago but my colleague called me to play and that dumb dork was drunk while I was laughing throughout. So, here it is. Also...I’m hot. No, I am actually hot. The temperatures are going up! I need some cool breeze.

MASTERLIST in bio, darlings. Tags are open (check bio)

"Everybody stay together. Do not make eye contact with strangers. Do not buy stuff you don't know about and definitely do not leave your eatables unattended."

The camera switched from Loki's barely composed face to your stuffed one strapping the backpack securely behind you before looking at Loki and the sandwich sitting on the seat between the two of you.

"Wha," you stated, still not swallowing, "iss wight hea. Sop bein a wowwie wat."

The camera in Javi's hand caught the bustle on the 'station' where you all were supposed to board shuttles to be on your way to another galaxy before travelling to Knowhere. The area was thousands of square feet wide made in a dome shape outside a planet currently under the supervision of the soldiers form Andromeda. After the War, the security had been tightened around galaxy travel to monitor any remains of the Radicals who had supported Thanos and were currently the most wanted criminals in the universe. Screens everywhere showed the flights and timings along with various commercials for products all around the galaxy. Some you were able to read thank to the translation glasses the Hardy boys provided you, others were a jumbled mess of strokes and illegible patterns. Creatures from all around the wonderful black expanse moved about in this station while soldiers who looked like they had been overly tanned scanned them and their belongings before sending them on their designated shuttles. It all worked as an airport. Except for one thing.

"Well, at least there's no random selection here that is not based on some 'racist profiling'," you quoted, getting a nod of agreement from Javi.

"Oh, there is racist profiling here," Loki interrupted your blissful thoughts, "but ever since the war, it has just been bent towards the ones who helped Thanos."

"Huh, even space isn't free from such mindsets then."

An announcement on the screens caught Loki's attention. "That's our shuttle. Come on. Lulu, up."

Lulu jumped and settled on Loki's shoulder and the camera caught a full grin on your lips.

You: *smirk* And he was the one who didn't want me to take Lulu from the desert *tilt your head* you know what... he is exactly like a choco lava cake. Sturdy looking outside but soft, mushy and melting aaaaall on the inside *giggles*

Loki: she was talking about me, wasn't she? *narrows eyes at the camera* What was she saying? Javi, tell me. Javi, we're good friends. Come on, Javi. You're stuck with me. Javi. Javi. Hey. I'm the only one who can get you out of this hell hole. Javi. *looks at Javi's figure walking away* Javi. Javi! Come on! Javi!!

The creature scanning your line seemed to come out of some American writer's stereotypical description of a green alien except for the part where her huge beady black eyes had slits, just like a cat. She was stoic as a feline too, going about her job without any emotion on her face. And when it came your turn to stand underneath the scanner, her ignorance of your greetings did not help your nerves.

"You are a...terran," she stated more than she asked.

"Yes, ma'am." You blinked like a dumb animal and tried to remember to smile.

"Your business in the galaxy?" Her slow and positively raspy voice interrogated.

"Just travelling with my-" you blinked again while trying to innocently shrug with a hint of shy, looking like a questionable human-"boys. You know, sight seeing."

Those silver slits stared at you for solid five seconds, not even breathing apparently, before stamping a token and handing it to you and diverting her attention to the next passenger- Loki.

You and your bags moved to the other side of the scanner, waiting for Loki and Lulu while Javier made it next to you from the scanner next to yours. The creature looked at the information the scan brought on her screen in a language neither you nor the camera understood. But one thing that was catching the camera's focus was this text blinking in red next to Loki's picture.

"You are Loki," she stated to the God, scrutinising him from head to toe in those black scruffed jeans and t-shirt underneath a deep maroon long jacket.

"Hm," you forced out a light chuckle, "guess Tony and Clint are not the only ones who are weirded out by seeing him in anything other than his New York attire."

"Of Asgard," Loki added with an 'at your pleasure’ smirk.

"A Frost Giant," the lady acknowledged in her raspy voice. "Have you travelled to the Andromeda before?"

"I have, yes. But not in the recent years."

"State your purpose for the visit to the galaxy."

"I am-" he paused to throw a quick look in your direction before going back to his interrogator- "going there on some unfinished business with an old friend."

The lady, stoic like a rock, looked at Loki for the next ten seconds before pressing a button underneath her screen. Somewhere behind you, you and the camera could hear synchronised footsteps. The camera turned to catch seven aliens- five bulky, one bulkier than all the others, and the last one a leaner and less appeasing version of the lady- walk past you towards Loki.

Lulu, who could feel the change in the atmosphere around him, felt himself shifting on Loki's shoulders while his fur stood up like a frightened cat. But never once did that little fluffy boy leave Loki's side.

"Loki, of Asgard," the leaner one announced, "you are to come with us. Please carry your belongings with you. Please refrain from using any means to resist for you will be charged against the law of the peace fleet. Please put your hands forward so we may put diluters on your wri-I see you already have some version of them on your wrist. Very well. Please follow me."

The camera caught you, mouth gaping open and eyes out in refrained horror, looking at Loki while trying to keep your breaths as calm as possible.

"Oh fuck," your breaths forced out, "what the fuck is happening? Oh fuck fuck fuck fuck fu-"

Loki was already moving behind the lean one, the parade of bulky Captain Gantu’s following him with their synchronised boot work. One of them looked down at the camera, sending a glare of yellow through those hollow eyes before turning back, entering what seemed like an elevator. Loki stood right in the middle, his eyes shifting from the lean alien to you for a few seconds before white doors closed and he disappeared from your view.

The camera now came back to your face, which was still staring in that direction, the colour from your skin a little faded, the pupils contracted to their limit, the breaths paused since God knows when. "Oh fuck we're gonna die."

There was a rhythmic pulse beating four times a second while the camera kept shifting- and vibrating a little- between two windows. Out of one window one could see those bulky dudes in attention standing at one door each, not shifting even a muscle while other aliens went about their business. The other window showed the lean guy standing with another alien that was bulkier in the middle. The lean one turned to the window at the rigorous tapping coming from the window.

"Calm down, Lulu," a soothing but tired voice came from out of the frame, making the little one turn towards Loki's figure sitting in what looked like a white chair beside an oval-shaped white table floating in the air, "they're not going to let us out. Not yet at least."

Lulu, who had paused to listen to the God suddenly found himself whimpering till its outright wails were catching everyone's attention outside the room.

"No, n-Lulu stop crying, Lu-" Loki got up from the chair and came to stand beside Lulu in two strides, picking the furry lump in both his hands while keeping his head away from those deafening wails. Slowly but surely, Loki brought the hysterical little lump to his chest, mostly to suppress the noise and wave uncomfortably at the judgmental eyes in his direction. At one point the fly camera-that had sneaked in with events yet unknown- caught an expression on Loki's face that reflected nothing but murder in his eyes. But the very next moment he sighed and brought his hands to stroke the frightened ball of fluff. "Hey, hey, hey," he shushed him, his hands being gentle and his expressions turning soft, "it's okay. It's completely fine. You're fine," he hummed, almost singing it while bouncing the little sobbing and hiccuping floof in his arms, "I'm in here too, aren't I? Right? You are not alone. You are not alone. We'll get out of here together as soon as we know who is behind all this mess, okay?"

The little furball sniffed and wiped his snot off on Loki's shirt. "You didn't have to do that," Loki pointed out with no real purpose to the already made mess. But Lulu was quiet now, possibly looking up at Loki and chirping something only the God understood and chuckled. "Yes-" he stroked Lulu's head- "she'll be fine without us. Once she stops panicking. Yes, yes, you're with me."

Lulu, chirped again, protruding his paw to carefully touch Loki's cheek and chirp some more. Whatever the little one had said, brought the God to a standstill, that tiny smile on his face frozen while his eyes seemed to have travelled somewhere far. "I wish that was true a few years in the past. How different some things would have been."

Lulu tilted his head in confusion while Loki seemed to be visiting certain memories that the camera on Lulu and others around them was not aware of. And all emotion in both these loveable creatures seemed to have been broken by a recognisable voice- so low and seemingly far away- somewhere in their vicinity. Lulu was the first to turn towards the window to the view of the lean guy, jumping at the sight.

And then Loki saw you standing right next to the alien who had arrested him, all colour from his face draining as he watched you flail your hands in some untethered rage right into the expressionless alien standing in front of you out of courtesy.

"Oh...oh no." Loki's face was completely opposite to whatever it is you were going through. Lulu was shifting his gaze between him and you, bouncing in Loki's arms with unadulterated joy. Javier was standing between the two of you with his camera- filming even in the midst of all the chaos.

Before he could compose himself, you were already walking towards him, the alien opening the door for you, letting you inside the room and closing it.

"Hey," your delighted and relieved face greeted Loki, "you guys okay?"

Lulu squirmed and chirped with joy, jumping straight into your arms to bonk his head with your face and rub himself all over you. Loki, on the other hand, stood there like he was seeing a ghost. "What are you doing here? You are not supposed to be here. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Oh neither did you, Loki," you were quick to point out.

Loki: *inhales* *put his palms together and brings them close to his face* *bends his hands towards the camera* Woman!

"You don't know what I or have not done so don't act like you know what you're doing, kitten," Loki pointed out rather harshly, forcing an offended gasp out of you, "you were supposed to be out there."

Your delight slowly seemed to be turning to an ember of rage. "Oh, I am sorry that tried to use my working brain to help you out in any way I can, your highness! If you wanted to spend more time in this weird jail you should have let me know when these big butts carried you off!"

"This does not concern you so stop," Loki did not let you finish. "Undo whatever it is you did. This is far more dangerous than you can stomach so off you go."

You scoffed and mocked him. "This is fir mir dingiris- well bad news it can't be undone because they think I'm your ride or die."

Loki was basically slapping himself on his face when trying to rub off the tension- along with his skin. "Wh-ha-hyy would they think that?! WHY?"

A whistle blew from behind the camera and Loki instantly caught it; along with catching your arms going across your chest while you tried to look anywhere but in the God's direction.

"Y/N," that soft but threatening growl was enough to crumble all the restraint you came undone faster than a horny teenage boy. "It's no big deal I just told them I'm your wife."

The camera timed the perfect zoom on that face that lost a couple of hundred years as it heard that sentence.

On Earth

"It's no big deal I just told them I'm your wife."

A shrill 'Oh my Gaaaahd' left Scott's lungs while the soda bottle in his hand crushed and burst everywhere. A shriller wail left Peter as he threw his hands at his face in the utter disbelief and fell on the ground. A cushion blew up in the tight grasp of Bucky's hands, making feathers fly everywhere, and Sam stood up with one fist on his mouth and the other pointing at the screen, howling like a mad fan. Pepper watched with insane delight in her eyes while slapping the thighs next to hers that belonged to her husband who sat there looking at the screen with narrowed eyes as if he had seen something wrong- like a glitch maybe. Natasha was the only one maintaining her composure while sipping on her margarita and looking at the camera form under her lashes.

Scott & Peter: *do a whole routine with their hands in unison* I sayyyy Y/N and Loki sittin' in a tree!!! Fake M-A-R-R-I-A-G-E!!!!!

Tony: *confused* Wife?

Vision: I don't get why Scott and Peter are so excited. *looks to his right* Why are they...

*camera pans out to show Wanda barely containing her excitement in her pressed lips*

Wanda: beeeecause they might have a ship, Vis. *looks at the camera and smile a wide toothy smile*

Vision: *tilts his head* but there's no way they could ride a ship in this facility Wanda

Tony: *still confused but in a different position* Wife??

Steve: *blinks* I guess....that's a good...strategy? *frowns* I mean...sure. *hears a sniff from outside the frame*

*camera pans out to show stone-faced Bucky sitting next to him*

Bucky: *barely hides his breaking voice* Goo-*clears his throat*-good infiltration strategy.

Steve: *stares worriedly at him* You okay buddy?

Bucky: *crumbles* no~

Tony: *lying flat on the sofa, face down* *raises his head* His wife??!!!

Sam: *hollering* wife wife baby!! *turns to his side and nudges the person sitting next to him* come on get in on the fun!

Clint: *nearly saves his coffee pot from spilling all over him with Sam's nudge*

Sam: *keeps nudging and dancing in his seat* somebody's having some space fun!

Clint: *moves the pot into his other hand to drink it with hollow eyes looking at nothing, in particular,* somebody's gonna die of some fun

Sam: *all smiles for the camera* huh?

Clint: nothin' *looks at the camera zooming in on his stone face*

Tony: *wheeling out from under his car with tools in his hands* HIS WIFE??!!

Rhodey: *guffaws while clapping his hands over his head till he's wheezing* oh-oh my-oh Jesus! Poor Tony. *wipes the tears from his face* I told him karma is a bitch but I never thought it would come to bite him right in his ass!!! *continues to chortle*

Tony: *stops making his green smoothie to topple the jar into the sink and walk out of the screen screaming in groans* HIS WIFE?!! OH MY GOD!!!

Space PD HQ

You haven't felt Loki breathing since you broke the news to him. He has just been standing there staring at you with faint confusion and curiosity, still as a statue.

"Loki-" you poke him- "Loki, say something! Don't just stand there like that! You're scaring me!"

"Y/N," he finally breathed out, his brows still creased, "do you know how many people I've killed?"

You shrugged. "I don't know? A couple? Do you know how many teenage girls I deceived when I was in high school?"

"How many?" He asks with keen interest before snapping himself back to reality. "Wait, what? No. Why would I need to know that?"

You shook your head casually while leaning on the floating table. "I don't know, I thought we were sharing our darkest numbers; like couples need to know these details. Right?"

"By the Norns," Loki groaned into his palms, rubbing his face hard. "Listen-"

The door hissed open and Mr Lean Alien walked in.

"Well, we haven't been introduced properly. My name is Tsuloche."

"Hi, Tsuloche. I'm Y/N," introduced yourself, closing the distance between you and Loki, your arms rubbing on each other.

"Listen, Tsulcohe, there has been a misunderstanding here. She-"

"Yeah, there's been a misunderstanding," your stressed and scoffed, crossing your arms across your chest, "like taking my husband prisoner for no reason at all?"

Tsuloche brought his nimble green- almost as thin and long as twigs- hands together. "Mrs....uhh...Miss Y/N, Loki has killed a lot of people in the past."

You groaned. "Now you sound just like my husband. I know he's killed a lot. And he's clearly suffering for it right now." You turned your head towards Loki, bringing your fingers to softly pinch his cheeks. "My poor baby."

Loki jerked away from your fingers slightly, whispering, "stop."

You didn't. Your fingers still reaching for those cheeks. "Stop it!"

You smiled as he grabbed your hand with his and held it in a good grip. "Okay, now you're just doing it to embarrass me in front of him."

Tsuloche tilted his head at this scene, blinking those translucent eyelids before his cat-like pupils dilated a little. "Do you know he supported Thanos' cause?"

You tried to yank your hand from his grip but Loki wasn't having it. So you turned back to Tsuloche. "Huh? Yeah, I know. He was undercover there to know his plans and stop him when the time came. What else you got?"

Tsuloche stood there blankly, shifting his gaze between you and the God for a good minute, his scarcely dilated pupils going back. "Why would you marry a criminal?! That too the one who tried to destroy your home?!"

You hummed and tried once again to slip your hands from Loki's death grip but failed- though that did not stir the seriousness away from your face at the alien's question. "Well, for the home invasion part, you'll understand if you ever had spiders, lizards and flies in your home."

Now, this confused the alien further but Loki forced out a laugh at your statement.

"I'm not sure I follow."

"Well, Tsuloche. The first time you see a spider or a lizard in your home, you scream and cry and want that monstrosity to be gone from your place. It's worse if they bring their friends over. At one point you form a plan of attack to get those sons of bitches out of your home because they don't pay the rent, do they? But it is later on that you realise that these spiders or lizards were actually what were keeping the flies away. You know, the flies that were contaminating your food and making you sick. The flies that were bringing disease from all corners. The only thing standing between you and death by flies was this one stubborn spider-" you squished Loki's face with your free hand, making him jerk and grab that other hand too- "who nearly killed all my people but didn't."

"As for the getting married part, Tsuloche, if you're married, you know very well the crimes you forgive when you love someone. I mean, have you seen this guy do anything bad since the War? No. That's 'cause he's been enjoying some downtime with me and my fam, getting to know me, marrying me, and now taking me and our little cuddly alien cat on a honeymoon! Ain't that right Lulu?!"

Lulu chirped.

By now those judgmental pupils were a full-blown dilated dorks looking at the two of you.

"Oh and that guy recording us outside is...is...our...videographer. Yes! That's who he is. There's a whole trend on Earth to put your life on the internet and stuff like that. So, he's here to...record everything we do on our honeymoon. Not everything, of course," you concluded a little loud with pressed lips and a nod as you realised the mistake.

"Nice save, dear," Loki chirped with a smirk.

"Shut up."

Those blown out pupils came back to disclose any emotions that last bit might have given away. Tsuloche cleared his throat. "Well, as...good as it all sounds, I am afraid I cannot let the Silvertongue go."

"Silvertongue?" you mentioned under your breath and looked at Loki's lips in amusement.

Loki caught your eyes darting to his tongue wetting his lips, sighing in a faint sense of defeat. "You know it's not silver. Why are you even looking at me like that?"

The camera caught your brow arch with some suggestions best kept to yourself. "Oh. I know," you sang, still looking at those lips, "I was wondering about what all would be...different if it were."

Wanda: *sits wide-eyed and flushed red* Uhh *clears throat* *presses her lips to suppress her smile* *talks softly with a shakey voice* I don't know what *puts one leg over another* *adjusts herself in the seat* what she meant by cat-that! What she meant by that. *turns red*

Loki just furrowed his brows at you uncomfortably before turning back to Tsuloche.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere without my husband, so..." You sat down on the lone chair in the room.

Tsuloche was already composing his wrinkled raisin face. "Very well then. I hope you find this interrogation room to your liking, Miss Y/N because he is not walking out of here for another seventy-two hours-"

The door hissed open to let in one of his subordinates who handed the alien a tiny cuboid-shaped device. One look at the tiny thing and Tsuloche looked back up with his sharp pupils dilating to the max. "Mrs and Mr Loki, you are free to go. The inconvenience is regretted and the department will provide you safe passage on the next shuttle to your destination."

A little surprised by the sudden turn of events neither of you wanted to let go of this opportunity. "And by our destination you mean anywhere we want?" You are eager to know; something that makes Loki's eyes turn to you and carry an expression barely recognisable on that perfect pale face. Some would even say it was a butt-hurt disappointment.

"Destination means the place you were previously travelling to. Your bags have been transported. Now all you need to do is get on it and enjoy the rest of your honeymoon."

Heaving a sigh of relief, Loki let go of your hands but still smacked away the one coming for his cheek again, making you chuckle. "I have very limited knowledge on the feline species but it almost looks like you're happy to set us free, Tsuloche." Loki quirked his brow in agreement with your statement.

"What?!" Tsuloche was a little taken aback, continuously blinking his translucent eyelids to make those starry eyes contract to their predator like gaze. But he couldn't. "Highly mistaken you are, madam. I am definitely not happy to let you resume your honeymoon with your beloved. I am enraged that you will be going away with a criminal and your monstrous little pet somewhere to spend time together. I am-I am definitely offended by the idea of this hardened criminal getting a second chance at life with someone so beautiful as you!"

You squeaked. "Aw! He thinks I'm beautiful!" Loki rolled his eyes and looked at the camera.

Tsuloche: *highly conscious* you want me to say something in that camera? Is this for their honeymoon album? *Eyes dilate* oooh! *looks at the lens* uhh ahem, do not do anything unlawful you two. Space is a dangerous place. And...and *eyes dilate to their maximum capacity* take care. *Exhales* *wipes something off his face* oh dear! That was really hard.

Space Shuttle

The entire shuttle was empty save for your little group. The seats were comfortable and the legroom quite spacious. Securing Lulu in a seat by the window, you sat down next to him, directly facing Loki. Javier sat next to him, recording the view out of the window.

“So, you sent in one of Javi’s camera flies, found a set of rules that said spouses are allowed to meet their other half and just...went with it?”

“I also used the uninet- the universal network- to find out about Tsuloche’s species and intimidated him with a little show of power. So, yeah. I read the rules of Space and this is the second time I saved your ass, Silvertongue," you state matter-of-factly, stretching your legs as much as possible.

"Don't get so cocky, kitten," Loki purred, fastening his seatbelt, "we still have a lot of places to go. You are lucky some people like your cute face."

Your brows went up and head tilted before Loki realised what he had done. "Aw! You think I'm cute!"

Lulu's camera caught Javier signing something to the two of you. "Keep having such petty arguments and aliens will actually believe you're married," you spoke his words out loud.

Both you and Loki looked at each other. "Married? To him?"

"Married? To her?"

The unison was too much on point. But the cackle eroding into the space out of the two of you made it better.

"You're funny," Loki chortled in Javi's direction.

"In your dreams, weirdo," you added. "Can you imagine? Mr and Mrs Silvertongue?" The laughs came out again while it was Javi's turn to look at Lulu's camera.

Avengers Facility

"No, Nat, I don't think he'll go that way. He doesn't belong there, like, mentally speaking," Scott gesticulated with a lot of hand movements.

"I think Scott's right," Wanda added.

"No, come on. He knows it's his birthright. So that would be the most obvious thing to go for. And we know he wasn't really seen as much once all hell broke loose back home, right?" Nat put forward her point of view while sitting on the sofa in her jammies.

"But if it wasn't that way then?" Pietro asked with keen interest. Nat thought about it for a moment and shrugged.

"Then it definitely would have been the latter. I mean, you were practically raised as one. He was raised as one, right?" Bucky asked Steve. The latter nodded.

"But still," Steve contributed, " there was something wrong there, right? Which is why all of those incidents happened. Are we sure he would still go for it even if he wasn't just another kid?"

Now the lounge went silent, thinking all of it through while the camera showed a very disinterested Clint sitting on the dining table to clean his guns, bows and arrows. The expression in his eyes felt like he wanted to be anywhere but here.

The camera swerved to another person standing by the lounge entrance, looking at the whole scene with utmost disorientation. "What's going on?"

Everyone looked up at Tony standing at the door.

"Oh, we were discussing what surname would Loki choose if he and Y/N got married?" Nat casually answered.

"Like, would he go for Loki Odinson or Loki Laufeyson," Peter explained.

The camera zoomed in on Tony's face, which was trying to do it's best to understand what was going on before giving up and just tilting his head and narrowing his eyes at everybody.

"They have been at it for two hours," a defeated voice comes from Clint's corner, who was looking at some distant void while cleaning his weapons.

"This...is a hypothetical situation, right?" Tony made sure. He had to make sure.

It took a second before everyone shrugged, nodded and hummed in agreement. None- except one camera- caught Scott and Peter crossed his fingers behind their back.

"Oh my God, I just got it!" Scott exclaimed out of nowhere with a new realisation on his face. "He doesn't have to think about the surname. It's Y/N who'll be making the choice."

And just like that, the seriousness in the air changed into a shared epiphany and everyone agreed without any vote against that thought.

"You guys are having a lot of fun with this," Tony sang sarcastically with judgement filled in his tone.

"Yeah, what about it?" Pepper called out from her comfy armchair while eating cheeseburgers and sipping soda, looking at Tony for an answer.

Tony, on the other hand, shifted his weight between his legs. "No. Nothing. You have fun, sweetie. Kisses! Muah! Muah! Muah! Please don't kill me in my sleep tonight."

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bangcrizpychan · 5 years ago

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Tainted Daisies | i. The Missing Secretary

Chapters: | prologue | i | ii | iii | iv | v | vi | vii | viii | ix | x | xi | epilogue |

Genre: psychological thriller, angst, mystery, crime, rich kid!stray kids au, college!au, slow burn

Word count: 3.2k

Ratings: 16+

⚠WARNINGS: mentions of alcohol, slight gore

Tainted Daisies Masterlist

Tag list: @nightshade-minho @mikoto-ica-fics @momochiiiiiiii @nowimyourdaisies @ravenlilshots @channiesmixtape (If you want to be added to or removed from the tag list, please let me know.)

The huge building stared at you as you gaped at it, you felt as if it was almost calling you "broke" in 127 languages. It was obvious that every material that was used to build this place must have cost a lot of fortune. The look of surprise was written on your face, it was beyond of what you have imagined and if you were to be honest, you actually thought a city called "Yellow Wood" would come off as cheap, but this place is the complete opposite of that word.

The four-storey building was shaped like a huge box and in the shade of sapphire and light gray, with tinted glasses for walls that started from the ground and reached up to the very last floor of the building. Its unique design made it look modern and futuristic-the lack of ornament gave way to a clean aesthetic and the flat roofs gave emphasis on its horizontal and concrete planes. Overall, the beauty of its structure simply took your breath away.

"Are you just going to stand there?" The startling voice behind you made you jump and you felt like your soul had just left your body.

You clutched your pounding heart and turned around, there stood a guy who was kind of your age-he was wearing a white collared shirt that he neatly tucked inside of his denim pants- and you noticed that his shirt was buttoned up to the top that it looked almost suffocating in your opinion. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear, you muttered a quiet 'hello'.

"Do I know you? I haven't seen you around before," the stranger said, looking at you with furrowed eyebrows.

"I don't think so, I'm new. I just moved here yesterday." You said, looking at the ground and played with your fingers, you were never comfortable with talking to a stranger.

"That's cool! My name is Seungmin, Kim Seungmin," he said, offering his hand out and you politely shook it.

"I'm Y/n L/n," you said, slowly retracting your hand from his.

"That's a nice name, why don't I show you around?" Seungmin said, walking on ahead as you followed.

"That'd be nice, thank you Kim Seungmin," he chuckled at your politeness.

"Just Seungmin is fine."

Both of you headed to the front door that looked like it could accommodate a family giraffes. It was gigantic, "You don't have giants for students, do you?"

"Nope," Seugnmin said, popping the 'p' and smiled widely at you.

"Our school is just too extra, they wanted to emphasize their luxury by having a huge door and glass walls."

Looking around the place, you could attest that they were indeed extra; chandeliers were hung on the ceiling, clean and polished pale floors underneath you made you feel unworthy of stepping on them. In the middle of the lobby, you see an information desk and a big television attached to the wall above. Benches were scattered all around the place, it gave off a strong 'mall' vibe. But what you noticed the most is that the entrance hall seemed too vacant, aside from the three hallways that led to God knows where, some students rushing to their classrooms and some just sitting in the benches, that was all.

Is this really a school? You thought.

"You must be confused why it's too empty here," Seungmin said, looking at you as you nodded your head, absorbing the view.

"See that?" he said, pointing to a row of doors in one of the hallways that was located in the west side of the lobby.

"That's where our lockers are, and that one," he said, pointing to the east,

"That's where the faculty and staff stays, and lastly," you looked at the north, it was the longest of the hallways, each side had five elevators on them, and a wall at the end of it.

"It's our way to get to our classrooms to where we should be heading now because we're late." Seungmin finished, grabbing your arm and headed north but you stopped in your tracks causing him to look at you confusedly.

"You go on ahead, I still need to go the dean's office because I don't know where my classroom is." You said, smiling at him.

The look of realization appeared on his face and he quickly scratched the back of his head.

"Right, you're new. Just go to the east wing, each door is labeled with its corresponding college department." You thanked him and started to turn towards the east side when he suddenly called you,

"Y/n, I'll give you my number so we can continue with your tour, if you want to." He said, face turning to a shade of pink that you actually found kind of cute.

"I'd love to, I'll text you so you can come get me," you said, lending him a pen and reaching out your hand towards him.

He scribbled his number on your palm and left to his class while you headed for the dean's office. Stopping at the door that had a "Forensic Science Department" sign above it, you knocked politely before opening it. There were cubicles for the faculty on each side and a wooden door at the middle end.

"May I help you?" You turned to a teacher who was wearing a large spectacles with a stern look on her face.

"Good morning, Ma'am. My name is Y/n L/n, I'm a transfer student." you said, bowing respectfully.

She curtly nodded her head and pointed to the door in the middle end of the room. You thanked her and rushed to the said door, quietly opening it and as soon as you walked in, a rotting stench hit your nose almost instantly, you fought back the urge to vomit and squeaked out a tiny 'good morning'. In the room with you, there was a woman who looked like she was in her late 40's, so you assumed that she was the dean. She was dissecting a dead cat and you concluded that's where the horrid smell came from.

"Yes? Who are you?" she asked as she removed shards of glass from the cat, creating a squelching sound whenever a shard left the flesh.

"M-my Name is Y-Y/n L/n, I-I am a t-transfer s-student," you stammered, the dean put down the forceps and turned to you.

"Do you have speech impediment?" You shook your head and cowered when she rolled her eyes at you.

"Then speak up, girl. I couldn't understand a thing with what you just said," she said, looking irritated.

You swallowed the lump in your throat and let out a shaky breath.

"M-my name is Y/n L/n, I'm a transfer student," you said, introducing yourself.

"What year are you in?" she asked, removing her gloves and headed towards you, dried blood smeared all over her lab coat.

"I'm beginning my third this year,"

"How come you've only transferred now?" she questioned, narrowing her eyes.

You averted her strong gaze and found her messy dissecting table quite fascinating at the moment.

"My father and I had to move here because of his work, and I was offered a scholarship," you said, looking around the office.

She must have been outstanding in this field because there were diplomas and awards that hung proudly on her walls, and a plaque with "Linda Suh, Ph.D." imprinted on it sat neatly on top of her desk.

"Hmm, a scholar huh? Do you have your papers with you?" you frantically searched your bag and took out a folder, handing it to Dr. Suh. She flipped through your papers, humming every now and then.

"You have an exceptionally high grades, it would be an honor to have you as our student," how her demeanor instantly changed from stern to kind, terrified you.

"There's only one section for BS Forensic Science because not everyone has the guts to choose a career path where you always see blood and the human anatomy,"

"But this course is broad though, you don't always have to be present at a crime, you could be a forensic accountant-"

"What about you, Miss. L/n? Would you like to be on the scene of the crime?"

------

Dr. Suh's question played on a loop inside your brain the whole trip towards your classroom, of course you wanted to be a forensic analyst, you wanted to be in the field and not detect embezzlement or deal with taxes. You mindlessly entered your classroom which caused the door to slam a little too hard. Everyone snapped their heads towards you and you lowered down your head, embarrassed by your rashness.

"You must be Miss. L/n, class this is our transfer student. No time for introduction, go sit wherever you like," Your professor said, dismissing you and continued with her class.

You could still feel eyes set on you when you sat on the third row but they soon shifted their attention back to the screen. Scribbling down your notes, you noticed that you have already tackled this at your University back at home but you reckoned it was better to write them down again. The door slid open once more and revealed an attractive young guy with light brown hair, and when he entered the room,a bunch of girls murmuring and giggling with each other filled your ears.

"Mr. Lee, it's the first day of school and you're late,"

"I'm sorry Ms. Park, won't happen again," his deep voice charmed you and his Australian accent wasn't helping your curiosity either. Prof. Park sighed and told him to take a seat.

Highlighting the things you didn't understand, you ignored the young man. A series of 'you can sit with me' erupted in the room but Prof. Park quickly hushed them and went on with her lecture. You felt a presence standing next to you which caused you to look up and meet eyes with "Mr. Lee".

"Can I help you?" you asked, staring at his freckles.

"You're new aren't you?" He asked and you pursed your lips together, nodding nonchalantly.

"Can I sit next to you, then?" he asked, pulling out the chair to your left and you just mumbled a simple “whatever”.

"I'm Lee Felix, and you're definitely new?" he asked once again, looking like he doesn’t believe that he had a new classmate.

"yes, I am new," you said tiredly.

"Then aren't you going to tell me your name?"

"Do I have to?" that earned you a chuckle from him and glares from his 'fangirls'.

"Well, it's common courtesy to say your name when the other party introduced themselves to you," you sighed and set your pen down.

"My name is Y/n, I'm a transfer student, and that's all you need to know." You finally answered, before turning back to your notes.

You didn't mean to come off as rude to him, but it made you uncomfortable with how you earned harsh looks just by talking to him. He mumbled a soft 'fair' but did no effort to hide his amused smile at all.

-----

"Y/n, I could show you-" Felix started but you were already gone, he chuckled to himself and watched your figure disappear from the crowd.

You took out your phone from your pocket and texted Seungmin, who told you to meet him at the cafeteria, and luckily, both of you had the same lunch breaks. You went to the extension building because that's where the map said the cafeteria would be.

"Y/n!" You immediately recognized Seungmin's voice and you see him sitting in one of the tables with a guy who had a pretty peach-colored hair and who looked younger than you. You walked towards him and he instantly offered you a seat next to him, to which you gladly accepted.

"Y/n, this my friend, Yang Jeongin, he's in his second year," Seungmin said, introducing the young lad in front of you.

He shyly reached out his hands and you firmly shook it.

"Which reminds me, what year are you in and what's your major?" Seungmin asked.

"I'm in my third year-"

"Cool, we're in the same year then," he cut you off and you raised an eyebrow at him, he muttered a quick sorry then told you to continue.

"-and I take BS Forensic Science." Jeongin gaped at you.

"Wow, you must have a lot of guts to be taking that course."

"It's not all that brutal," you said, scratching the back of your neck and giving him a shy smile.

"Well, I major in BS Journalism," Seungmin said, showing you his camera and pointed at Jeongin.

"And he's taking law," Jeongin nodded his head, glancing at his law books.

"That's great! Maybe we could all work together fighting crimes after we graduate," you joked, watching the boys stifle a laugh.

Excusing yourself, you went to grab your food since the boys already had theirs. You thanked the lunch lady and as you started to walk back to your table, a hand suddenly grabbed your shoulders, you snapped your head towards the owner of the said hand and let out a sigh when you saw that it was only Felix.

"What do you want now, Felix?" you asked, heart still beating from your nervousness.

"Oh, don't be so grumpy new girl, I'm just here to offer you a seat with my friends."

"No thanks, I have made friends that I'd rather sit with," and with that, you made your way back to your table, ignoring Felix's calls.

"Was that Lee Felix?" Seungmin asked as you set your tray down, you nodded and sat down on your own seat.

"Yeah, he's my classmate." you said, stabbing the chicken with your fork.

"You shouldn't be friends with him," Jeongin interjected which caused you to cock your eyebrow at him.

Pointing his chopsticks towards Felix's table, you finally got to see his group of friends. There were five of them in the table; Felix was in between two raven-haired boys, one was wearing glasses and the other was an extremely tall and handsome looking guy-he looked unreal, you thought.

In front of them sat a dirty blonde-haired guy with cheeks that made him look like a squirrel as he chowed down his food, and a guy that made your breath hitch in your throat- he had curly blonde hair and was wearing a muscle tee that showed off his toned arms, you were going to be honest, it wasn't his muscles that caught your attention, but it was something about him that made you feel drawn to his presence. He looked...familiar.

"They're the Elites, their fathers are powerful and you don't want to mess with them," Jeongin said, stuffing his mouth with kimchi.

"Except for Bang Chan, it's that blonde buff guy, we don't know who his parents are but they're friends with him," Seungmin added.

Bang Chan. Even his name sounded familiar. Who is he? you silently thought.

-----

After your class ended, you and Jeongin decided to wait for Seungmin at one of the benches in the lobby, you were laughing at a joke Jeongin had cracked when the news suddenly caught your attention.

"Mayor Lee's secretary, Kim Hyunae, has been reported missing when she had not returned nor reported to work for three days. She was last seen at a café near the Yellow Wood City Hall at 9:28 in the evening. If you have any information about Ms. Kim Hyunae, please do not hesitate to call the Yellow Wood Police Department or the nearest police station near you."

"That's too bad, she used to bring Felix's stuff here when he had forgotten them at his home," Jeongin sighed.

"D-do you think she's dead?" you asked nervously to Jeongin, who just shrugged.

"Crimes are rare here at Yellow Wood, the chief of police, who's also Bang Chan's uncle, is really good at keeping the crime rates to almost a zero."

Kim Hyunae's picture they flashed on the screen, making you stare at it intently. Yellow Wood seems to be more interesting than you thought.

----

"-have any information about Ms. Kim Hyunae, please do not hesitate to call the Yellow Woo-" silence filled the department as the chief turned off the television.

Rubbing his temples, he reached towards his sixth cup of coffee but then released a sigh when he realized that it was empty. The Mayor had been putting him under pressure to find the secretary. Crimes were not unusual in this part of the city, there are muggings occasionally, but a missing person was new to everyone. It started a fear in him that there may be a threat emerging in the perfect city of Yellow Wood.

"Chief Wang?" the tired chief whipped his head and faced a concerned cadet. He was a new recruit and one of the best at the training school, to which why the chief of police handpicked him.

"Any reports about the missing case, Cadet Seo?" the cadet lowered his head and shook it slowly, Chief Wang grunted in frustration and rubbed his eyes.

It had been two days since he had proper sleep and not finding any clues about this hopeless case stressed him even more. This could risk his position at the department.

"But I think she was not murdered, Chief, just kidnapped." Cadet Seo said, making Chief Wang stare at him questioningly.

"What makes you think so?"

"Well, as far as I know, Secretary Kim has always been a sweetheart. There's no one that could possibly hold a grudge towards her," the young trainee said, handing the sleep deprived man a fresh cup of hot coffee.

"But... Mayor Lee has enemies everywhere. There could be a possibility that Secretary Kim was kidnapped-"

"-To gain information and find the Mayor's weaknesses." Chief Wang finished and the cadet nodded approvingly.

Chief Wang took a sip from the coffee and looked at the file, there may be hope about this case after all.

----

Entering your apartment quietly, you kicked your shoes off and hung your jacket on your coat rack. You breathed out a sigh of relief, you had made it inside just before the rain poured down. Taking a look at the apartment, you could see that what you have was small since you weren't rich, but you told yourself that you could still call it home. You passed your living room and noticed that the television was on, showing nothing but static.

"Good evening, Dad," the figure of a man was turned back against you, bottles of beer scattered on the floor making you assume that he must be wasted again. You turned off the television and went to the kitchen, pouring yourself a glass of apple juice when the books on the shelves suddenly fell.

The alarming sound made your spine tingle with fear, you looked at the shelves and to the open window next to it, you figured the wind must've knocked them off. Quickly closing it and shutting the blinds off, you rushed inside your room and got ready for bed. The city itself was beautiful but having an apartment next to dark alleys made you anxious. You decided to call it a day and fell asleep with the missing secretary's face haunting your dreams.

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chickenscript · 5 years ago

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affection and hanging out (rottmnt x reader headcannons)

A/N: had a major block but managed to get this done! i hope it doesn’t read too similarly to anything i’ve posted in the past. it’s been a while since i’ve looked through any of my old stuff (^^;)

and since rise is back in full swing, i really wanted to post something for it. i’ve missed the boys (〃▽〃)

hope you enjoy!

----------

Don:

- he's always been a bit detached, and has his own way of expressing his feelings

- affection comes in a few forms with him. As you’ve learned from more than one sleepy time cuddle

- with time, he’s warmed up to you and is able to let loose when you’re hanging out. For the most part. He’s a bit less biting when he has one on one time with you and much more talkative (mainly because you’re the only one so far who actually really listens to him), and that’s usually when you catch glimpses of affection.

- but, it’s pretty random and the only time you’re certain you’ll see any is when he's hit a slump and all you can think to do is distract him from it

- when you sit with him in his lab during the wee hours, he unconsciously drifts closer to you if you're sitting on or at his desk and he’s milling around, hard at work with some project

- usually, night time is when you hang out the most. Donnie has always been the resident night owl, finding it easier to get things done when his brothers are asleep, and you've also always found yourself able to function better at that time of day too

- your favorite spot in his room was the mound of bean bag chairs he had set up in front of a massive TV where you would often take full advantage of his gaming systems. If you’re both sitting together, you’re either leaning against the other, or he’ll sometimes drapes himself over you or hold you close in an almost possessive embrace

- often he likes to pull you into his lap, gangly but strong arms wrapped around your middle to hold you there. Giving you the occasional squeeze

- you've noticed he tends to make small, rumbley noises of content in moments like that. He'll sometimes even nuzzle into the side of your neck, maybe nip at you, or bury his snout in your hair, and you can hear more of the purr like warbles. If it’s not purring he’s up to, he’s humming the tune of some song he likes

- you discovered that you can also entice happy rumbles when you gently run finger pads down the sensitive, spinal knobs on the back of his bare shell (the texture of his shell half reminded you of what it felt like to touch a stingray)

- though he'll deny it like everything else- you think this behavior of his is cat like almost. Not to mention really cute

Leo:

- he really enjoys showing you little places around the city that you might not have known about (like cafes or shops he’s been too scared to go in because of his appearance) and sometimes, you’ll both go for a night stroll. His turtle-ness hidden under clothes

- but, if you’re just hanging at the lair, sometimes he's like a pampered, high energy lap dog

- he’s tent times more open about wanting affection than Donatello

- if you're situated on the couch, he'll zoom over to hop onto the beat up cushions, squeeze in next to you, and get all up in your business

- he’s way more into social media than the rest of the brothers and he’s always trying to coax you onto more platforms. He also does a lot of channel surfing when you’re watching TV and it’s a battle to get the remote from him

- when you’re not at war trying to figure out what to watch (you like to cheat and just pull up Netflix and grab something for you to binge), he takes to nuzzling and purring away unabashedly at you

- the moment you reciprocate however, he admittedly gets flustered. Not that it stops him for long

- he likes to lay his head on your lap so you can pet his head or play with his mask tails. He also likes to peck the inside of your wrist or your palm

- he's one for carapace scritches as well and that gets him purring like a speed boat

- he also really just likes to listen to you talk. He’ll play with your hand while he’s lounging on your lap and you’re going on some tangent about whatever topic you’ve gotten settled on

- you’ll of course get embarrassed and stop talking once you realize it’s only you who’s been going on and on for a substantial time, but he’ll insist you continue. And it’s one of the few times he actually sounds honest and not teasing or playful. It always manages to shock you

- and when you mention that, he becomes a squirmy, blushy lump that you could just eat right up

Mikey:

- he's affectionate with everyone and doesn't really have an off button

- but you love him for it because he's always there when you need a pick me up snuggle

- he's your go to when the other boys are busy or if you're feeling particularly down, or just plain out of it

- he's perfect cuddle size and loves to just wraps his arms around your middle and rest his head on your shoulder, nuzzling the side of your face. It was like if a teddy bear came to life, full of warmth and bottled up sunshine

- though, he especially likes to lay his head on your sternum when you're both laid out on the couch. Twisting your hair into loops with his finger

- he loves playing with your hair actually, and gives plenty of pecks to your cheeks. When you peck his, he gives the cutest giggles and sometimes chirps in glee

- sometimes you’ll just hold his round little face in your hands (the only thing you could compare it to was what holding the whole world felt like) and he’ll stop come to a stop for once, meeting your eyes with a blisteringly wide stare

- then you’ll boop his nose with yours and he’s off to giggling again

- and when you’re just sitting around without much to do, he asks if he can draw on you. You’ve become a human canvas more times than you can count and you love every piece he’s scrawled on whatever patch of skin your clothes hasn’t covered up

- he get a really fixed look in his eye while he’s painting, a focus you can compare to Donnie when he’s working on a project. Sure, his tongue doesn’t stick out like his older brother’s, but that concentrated glint showed just how much care and passion he put into what he drew

- you could especially see that in the designs yourself when he was done. And every compliment you’d give was enough for him to spring a hug on you with rosy cheeks

- he was such a baby

Raph:

- you think he just likes the body heat

- of course, being the largest of his brothers, he does needs more of it

- he's always basking the longest under the heating lamp in the morning (on the occasions that you're there at that time, you've seen him laid out for an entire hour or so longer than his more streamlined brothers)

- he's always happy for a hug or something of the sort. And you've noticed that, sometimes, after a long day- he's particularly tuckered out

- so if you sit him down to watch something, odds are he'll nod off. Curled around you like an abbey cat. Or well, a big cat. And, if you’re lucky and get him laughing while he’s drowsy, it sounds more like a chuff rattling deep in his chest that you can feel reverberating in your bones

- you don’t mind being stuck as his personal heat pad at times. You know just where to recline between the spikey terrain on his skin so you’ll be comfortable

- on the flip side, you always like to nap on his wide plastron when you’ve had a long day and get the chance to lounge around with him

- he was the perfect lazy enabler. Not to mention the perfect, turtle shaped bean bag

- when you’re not being two, lethargic losers; you’re either sparring or baking. Two very polar opposites, but Raph loved them both

- you started trying your hand at martial arts when the brothers offered to teach you. They each spar with you, and Raph does the most. Of course, he still has the habit of going easy on you (because of his sheer size and strength), but you always like to show him that he shouldn’t entirely underestimate you

- you’ve got a lot of confidence now that you can fend for yourself in a scuffle, even with the Foot

- while you’re comfortable with your skill, Raph on the other hand is still struggling with his baking

- his main past time, aside from sparring, is knitting. And, as much as he loves it, he wanted to take up baking too. So you and Mike (whom is definitely the cook of the lair), have been helping him get better at it. And get better he has- you already were notorious for floating around the kitchenette to nab samples of Mikey’s food while he’s cooking, but now you’re just as bad when Raph is baking

- you can’t really help it though, you’ve always had a sweet tooth

#rottmnt x reader #rottmnt #donnie x reader #leo x reader #mikey x reader #raph x reader #rottmnt headcannons #fluff #reader insert #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #my writing

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brightlotusmoon · 5 years ago

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Guys guys guys

I want to share a thread from one of my ADHD Support groups on Facebook. Date of post February 27 2020.

Here's the initial question:

"ADHD has very similar traits to autism ((from what I have gathered at least)) and in support/representation are always grouped together.

Do you think ADHD should be clasified as on the autism spectrum? Why or why not?

What positive or negative effects ((May it be treatment, understanding, research, or a social aspect)) do you think it would have if it was?"

And here's some of the comments:

1. "In lots of conversations I have had, this topic has come up, and the conclusion we usually reach is that eventually, both ADHD & ASD will be reclassified into something like “Executive Function disorders” and the spectrum will just be broader, rounder, and more inclusive of all the beautiful facets of our Neurodivergent brains" 🧠 #NeurodiverseSquad

2. "I am diagnosed with both. In fact I received my ASD Level 1 (aka "condition formerly known as Asperger's") diagnosis just 4 weeks ago.

Here's the thing: they are in no way mutually exclusive. In fact this was the mistake I made when I had my initial assessment that diagnosed the ADHD - (wrongly) assumed that if I had one, I couldn't have the other. This is in fact not true, and recent research shows that between 1/3 and 2/3 of people with an ASD may meet criteria for ADHD as well. However, the reverse is not true - this is because (as current research shows) 6-7% of the population have ADHD, and only about 1.5% are on the autism spectrum. So somewhere between 0.5 and 1% of the total population (likely) have both. Most people with ADHD do not also meet criteria for ASD.

Basically, the way these two things are diagnosed are based on totally different criteria. ADHD is about, well, attention and more broadly executive (dis)function. It's a readily measurable, testable condition that boils down to certain specific pathways in the brain working much slower (and/or much faster) than the average population.

ASD is, well, different. The current diagnostic criteria all revolve around the following things.

1) Significant impairments in social communication

2) Patterns of pervasive repetitive behaviour (and thoughts)

3) Unusual sensory interests, and/or sensory hypo-/hyper-sensitivity well outside typical ranges

To be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, it's not enough to just "experience those things sometimes". There has to be a pervasive, life-interfering pattern of at least 2 of those three things, which cannot be explained by any other underlying cause or condition, AND can be demonstrated going back to that person's earliest childhood history, and preferably family history too.

Can those things describe a person with ADHD? Totally! Are they how we define ADHD? Nope!

The neurology of ADHD is pretty well understood today - scientists very good idea what ADHD "looks" like in the brain and how it functions. We don't know everything but we know a lot compared to, well, basically anything to do with the brain. It's one of the best studied neurological conditions, period.

The neurology of autism is, well...... much murkier. There are multiple theories. The current ASD diagnosis was a bit controversial when it was totally revamped in 2013, lumping things like Aspergers and PDD-NOS under a single standard. Not everybody was a fan of that, although at the time research in the field was pointing more in that direction - but right now the pendulum of scientific consensus seems to be swinging the other way, thanks to more extensive brain studies finally being done. It's still early days, but there is now the possibility that what we call autism/ASD today may turn out to be a group of several distinct neurological conditions, one of which may in fact be a close relative of ADHD, mechanically speaking. But a LOT more research needs to be done before we can say anything for sure. Early days.

In any case, the best takeaway from this looooooooong writeup is:

You can be both. You can be neither. If you are on the autism spectrum, there is a very good chance you might also fit the diagnosis for ADHD - but if you have ADHD... while you are statistically more likely to be autistic than the average person, it's still a much longer shot. Don't rush to conclusions, and talk to specialists. Neither of these conditions should be either a "badge of honour" or a "badge of shame" - cause it's not a badge, it's a complex part of how your brain works in real life. Between 1-2 out of every 3 people with autism MAY have ADHD - whereas only 1 out of somewhere between every 6 and every 14 people with ADHD is autistic.

It's not possible to rule out a neurological link between the two, but it's not going to be a link that defines either one of those conditions. It's more like the link between ADHD and depression - us ADHDers are far more susceptible to depression than the average person; but faaar from every depressed person has ADHD.

Truthfully - with autism spectrum, before anyone goes running off for diagnosis... speaking from personal experience, you gotta ask yourself what you are hoping to get out of it first. I'm glad I did, but in some ways it's a harder pill to swallow than ADHD - especially because there are no actual pills to swallow for treating it, nor therapies designed to help newly-diagnosed autistic adults. Young kids diagnosed with autism get a big boost from intense learning therapy, which helps them catch up on things like social skills and avoid a lot of the associated trauma - but there's not much out there for the adults, since you can't really get a do-over on your childhood and the damage (as in, trauma) is already done long ago. It's just a thing you find out about yourself, and while it can be empowering - it can also be a bit overwhelming and leave you with more questions than answers about yourself. That's about where I'm at with it, anyway!"

Now, having both, I'm inclined to agree with these. I myself have wondered here if ADHD could be ever put on the greater Mobius strip spectrum of Autism. But a comment someone here made, about the two being on the same Axis but not spectrum had me rethinking. A bunch of us activists with both are still waist deep in research, and I'm tossing these ideas out to chew on.

Basically, Tumblr is full of folks who look at an Autistic or ADHD post and say "wait, I relate to this but I only have one or the other!" And 80 percent shared comorbidities means a huge relation. They're cousins. I call ADHD Autism's excitable twin. It's exempt from allistic fuckery for me. I like to nickname it Cognitive Attentive Tempo Syndrome. (CATS!) My ADHD therapist likens it to being a polar bear in Florida, with meds being water wings. So there's enough overlap that the primary traits for one could be secondary traits for the other.

In conclusion: Yes, this relates to you. Enjoy your executive function dysfunction Neurodivergent Umbrella Axis Family Reunion.

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catlliecal · 4 years ago

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Winx AU Drabble 1: How Stella of Solaria Got Herself Expelled.

Finally doing one of these things! This one is pretty Winx focused, and could probably fit into canon just fine if you ignore the ending. God, I love my baby Stella. I wanna give hr all the hugs. Word Count: 1.8K Rating: General Audiences

Stella, to put it bluntly, was bored.

Bored in potions class for good measure.

Her lab partner was busy recording down the teacher's instructions, but all Stella could think of was how she'd rather be anywhere but in class. Something bumped her shoulder, and she looked over and saw said lab partner nudging her to pay attention. What difference would it make? Stella wasn't the one taking notes. They were already taken care of in that department. Besides, Stella's notes were average at best.

With a minor huff, she forced herself to pay attention to the teacher. The longer she looked at her, the more Stella's mind kept drifting away from the lesson and more onto what the teacher was wearing. She had a stunning pair of red cat eye glasses that Stella always meant to ask where they came from. However, the rest of her outfit wasn't as chic. Sure, she had a lovely pair of deep navy pumps, but you could barely see them most of the time. She wore a navy button up shirt featuring pearl buttons and pair of tight red pants that hugged her figure just right, yet those were covered up by a large white lab coat buttoned all the way up. A pair of lab goggles rested on top of her head. The outfit could be quite cute if she just exchanged the lab stuff for some cute accessories like a perfectly oversized coat and some cute hair pins to go with the hair bun. Alas. The price to pay for being a potions teacher. Why did potions have to require so much protection?

Stella's lab partner nudged her again. "Got any ideas for what you wanna do?"

"Huh?"

"I should have known you wouldn't pay attention," the partner sighed. "It's a free lab today.”

"Aren't all labs free?" Stella chuckled. "Last I checked, we don't pay to enter this room.”

"Haha, very funny," her partner huffed. "You know I mean that we're allowed to show off our skills and create our own mixture to present."

"Does it have to be something we learned?" Stella groaned. "That's so boring."

"Actually, no. We can make original mixtures if we just write down what we use and explain what it does."

A lightbulb went off in Stella's head. Finally, this class could be good for something!

"Honey, take notes," Stella said. "I have a plan."

"Oh no."

"Don't give me that," Stella turned on the mini furnace before placing a large glass beaker on top. "I know exactly what I'm doing."

"And that would be..."

"Pink!" Stella exclaimed. "We are gonna make a new shade of pink never seen before!" She poured some water into the beaker.

"One, that's such a stupid idea," her partner said. "Two, can you even do that? Make a new color?"

"Clearly you don't keep up with the design world," Stella said. "A couple years ago there was this huge scandal over a designer who was charging people ridiculous amounts of dough to use his special uber dark black. So a different designer created their own uber dark black and let everyone use it for free expect that first guy."

"Uh huh," her partner rolled her eyes. "You sure you don't have any better ideas?"

"This is a brilliant idea!" Stella said. "We'll be famous for inventing Stella Pink! Now take notes. Genius is about to happen right before your very eyes!"

Stella started pulling out ingredients from the drawers and the tables, adding as many pink things as she could. This thing needed to be big, bold, buzz worthy. It needed to blow everyone away with how awesome it would be. It needed to be as special as possible.

As cliché as it was, Stella couldn't help but giggle the more and more she worked. A sprinkle of this, a dash of that. She only slowed down when she saw her lab partner struggling to write everything down.

Stella dropped in a fuzzy pink plant stem and the mixture began bubbling and sparking.

"Stella..." her partner said, way too concerned for Stella's liking. "Please don't tell me you really added that..."

"What about it?" Stella asked. "It's pink, no?"

"Yes, but that plant produces and stores a reactive chemical in it, even long after it's been picked and shelved. It's especially sensitive to hydra oil..."

"Relax, I didn't add that."

"You did," her partner pointed to the ingredients sheet, which actually did include hydra oil. A lot of it.

Huh.

The potion began shaking the beaker, and Stella was yanked under the desk just before her creation exploded.

And oh boy did it explode.

The sound of the glass breaking was enough to make you cover your ears, even without the windows joining in. A strong shockwave burst through the whole room, leaving the now pink walls with several cracks in them. Stella slowly poked her head up to find that her whole desk was covered in scorch marks.

"Whoopsie..." she said, her voice cracking.

•••

Expelled. She was now expelled from the best magic school in the whole Dimension.

Okay maybe she hadn't been the greatest student there and didn't always follow the rules, but surely expelling her for a lab mishap was a bit overkill, right? Those windows and walls could be repaired and the pink could be washed away. Really, the worst part of this whole thing was that she didn't even make a new shade of pink.

And maybe that her dad was coming to see her at school.

Okay that was the worst part of this whole thing.

Stella waited outside the headmaster's office, pulling at her skirt and checking her nails over and over as she waited for him to come. She had her phone on her, but something told her that now wasn't the best time to be on it.

After what felt like forever, Stella heard footsteps in the hall. She looked up and saw her father, King Radius of Solaria, walking up.

"Daddy!" She jumped up and ran over to give him a hug.

"It's good to see you too, baby," he said. Eventually he placed her hands on her shoulders. "I am going to hear your side of the story, but the school wanted to talk to me first. I knew you had been getting in trouble, but I didn't think it be this much."

"I learned from the best," she said, before quickly biting her tongue and kicking herself. Not the best time to mention her father's party habits.

"Just hold on a bit longer, okay?" He let go of her and made his way over to the headmaster's door. "We'll figure this out together."

For some reason, she didn't fully believe him.

•••

Stella had no idea time could move even slower than before, but her father's meeting dragged on and on. Not even eavesdropping made the time go by any faster. Eventually, after what had to be a year, Stella heard her father stand up and make his way to the door. She quickly sat back down to appear as innocent as possible.

He stepped out of the office and looked at her. "You have quite a record, huh?"

"I guess so."

"You probably heard, but I've agreed to pay for the damages and provide extra funding for any major renovations for the next three years."

"I wasn't listening," Stella said.

"You've been eavesdropping ever since you understood what words were," he said. "I'm afraid you inherited my interest in gossip."

"I just want to know what's going on," Stella twirled a piece of her hair. "Feels like no one ever tells me things."

"We don't tell you everything because you're not involved in everything," Radius said. "You could possibly spill something important."

"I can keep a secret!" Stella stood back up. "I haven't told anyone that I was the person who sneaked the geese into the castle back when you kept spending so much time making deals with Eraklyon when I was ten!"

"You just did."

"I–" She buried her face in her hands. “Me and my big mouth..."

He walked over and pulled her into a hug. "I know you mean well, but you aren't ready yet. When you are, I'll tell you more."

Stella didn't say anything.

"You know," Radius sighed. "This has been something your mother and I have been meaning to talk about..."

"About what?"

"Your recklessness," he paused. "Look, it's not bad to have so much energy like you do. But you don't think through things. You get so caught up in the heat of the moment that you end up creating a huge mess. Truth be told, I've had a lot of people back home tell me they don't think you can be a good leader…"

"They... they really think that?" Stella asked, going slow to avoid letting her voice shake too much.

"They think you're a great person, but they don't think that you have the skills needed to rule someday. They say that you're wild and crazy, that you don't know how to properly manage such a responsibility."

"I," Stella swallowed a large lump in her throat. "I see..."

"I can't help but view it as my fault," Radius said. "That I wasn't there enough for you and didn't teach you enough. Your mother feels the same."

"Mhm."

"We had actually been talking about bringing you back home," he continued, "to give you specialized lessons with tutors. Since you're now expelled..."

"Hold up," Stella pushed herself away from the hug. "Are you saying I'm not coming back?"

Radius didn't say anything, but Stella knew his answer.

"You're not even gonna try to get me back in. And without asking me. What happened to figuring this out together?"

"Stella–"

"I thought you were gonna fight with me," Stella interrupted. "You've always been so supportive. When I wanted to go to normal school as a kid, you were the one who helped to enroll me and create a fake identity. When I wanted to adopt that stray I found, you were the one who helped me to get it all those shots and bring it back to health. What changed?"

"Because it's bigger than that," Radius said. "You're no longer a kid, and you're no longer dealing with something as simple as a dog. You're dealing with your future, a future that involves taking care of the well being of millions of people. If something bad happened to you and you didn't know how to handle it, I don't think I'd ever forgive myself for letting you go so underprepared.”

Stella wanted to say something. She wanted to say something about how she could rule Solaria and take care of herself just fine. But every time she opened her mouth, nothing came out. Maybe deep down there was a part of her that believed what he said.

"Do you need help packing?" He asked.

"No, dad," Stella shook her head. "I can do it myself."

#Winx #winx club #winx stella #winx au #winx radius #cal writes

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mor-beck-more-problems · 4 years ago

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Song for Autumn: Home || Morgan & Deirdre (pt.1)

TIMING: A few days ago

PARTIES: @deathduty & @mor-beck-more-problems

SUMMARY: Morgan’s ritual needs a very specific conduit. Deirdre knows exactly what she’s looking for.

CONTAINS: Brief discussions of past physical and emotional abuse

One a single minute had passed between the last time Deirdre glanced over at Morgan and tried to stir her attention with a pout, and the horrific realization that Morgan was too entrenched in her reading to even notice Deirdre’s piteous gaze. She’d finished sharpening the knives she sat down with minutes ago, now bored with reveling in the warm silence that filled these afternoons shared with Morgan. It was one singular, burning, terrible, minute from the last time she tried to stir Morgan’s attention, and another two minutes from the time she tried before then. And she knew it would be more agonizing minutes before Morgan remembered she was there at all, and that the sound of scraping against whetstone no longer claimed the air. Sometimes, action needed to be taken into her own hands. With the grace of a cat, she pounced on Morgan’s legs--careful of her files and folders--and crawled up until she could put her face in front of whatever decidedly less attractive text she was reading. Her eyes sparked with curiosity, but her mouth twitched with the tell-tale mark of a fae that wanted attention. “I know you physically can’t get wrinkles, but---” Deirdre offered a wide smile, raising her thumb to wipe away the concentration that fraught between Morgan’s brows. “You’ve been very interested in your papers lately.” The and not so much in me, your adoring and very attractive girlfriend hung unsaid in the air, having been said enough times before to be an echo in the way she pouted. “What are you up to? Anything I can steal you from?” She eyed the cup of once boiling tea---brewed as strong as tea could be---now lukewarm and staining the inside of one of several mugs Deirdre had bought for Morgan. It was a trait that persisted even through death, but Morgan always touched her tea more when it was grading or lesson plans on her mind. “This is Constance stuff, isn’t it?”

The books Morgan and Cece had stolen from the professor’s house were more of a gold mine than she had wanted to believe. She was so used to the world falling around her or promising doors slamming in her face. But this--? Whatever retribution game the original owner of this book had been playing at was, it had been thorough. The one Morgan was settling on was particularly insidious, calling for extra sources of energy, for objects to stabilize and direct the energy safely, for even wielding the pain brought on with precision, ramping it up more as the ritual progressed. Finding someone with the stamina for an hours-long ordeal, and the nerve to go through with this kind of harm, wouldn’t be easy. But Morgan had money, and she could front her own materials. It was only right that she invest herself in her ritual, even if she could do nothing in its execution. The ingredients ran the gamut from easy to forage herbs to...the obscure. Some of the terms were things Morgan hadn’t even heard of…

Deirdre’s voice shocked her out of her stupor. She hadn’t even heard her climb onto the couch. Morgan squealed, then deflated with relief and leaned over to kiss away her pout. “If you want to cuddle, you just have to ask, my love,” she said sweetly. “But yes, it’s Constance. This book has everything I need and then some, but as I’m trying to get my lists together, what I need, where and how am I going to get it, who is going to help and/or bodyguard me from more ghost attacks...I’m not actually sure what all of this stuff is?” She shifted the papers she wasn’t using to the coffee table and guided Deirdre to lay against her so they could look together. “Now, thanks to Evelyn’s help, I’m getting through this weird blend of Latin and French way better that I would have on my own. But this--” she pointed. “Translates to a comb of iron? Iron comb? Is that like...a hair comb?” She laughed, self deprecating at her own confusion and stroked Deirdre’s hair, bringing her in for another kiss.

Deirdre continued to crawl her way between the couch and Morgan, resting her head on the woman’s chest as she’d so often done to her. It, admittedly, was not as comfortable as they would be on more forgiving furniture, but it was better than being sat in her separate chair, sharing longing looks with the side of her girlfriend’s head. “I have been asking, you just hadn’t looked up a single time to see it,” she tried to sound hurt, but her grumble couldn’t last under the delight of finally being able to hold Morgan. She draped her arms around Morgan’s stomach and pressed tight, tilting her head down to see what Morgan was talking about. She stared at the words under her girlfriend’s finger. Blinked. Closed her eyes and kissed Morgan eagerly, imagining the words would shift when she opened them again. But there they were. Peigne de fer. La carde. A jumble of French she didn’t understand, but the English Morgan translated, she did. Her body tensed by reflex, then shivered. “It’s for sheep.” She explained plainly. “Or for the wool, more specifically.” Her hand tightened around Morgan, gripping the fabric of her clothing tightly. “You card the wool to straighten the fibers and pull out any clumps so you can begin spinning it.” She slumped against Morgan and closed her eyes. Memories she would have done well to forget drifted back to her. Her mother held one such Warden designed iron carder in her hands, and spoke something or another about the old fashioned ones and the torture they enjoyed. Somewhere, beyond their bodies, a pig squealed. “The more modern hand carders look just like combs, that’s all they really are, anyway. But the older ones are…” She swallowed and opened her eyes. “That’s what I think your passages are talking about, at least. They aren’t used for much else.”

Laying sprawled together like this delighted Morgan to no end. Toes curling, legs tangling, she folded herself around her girlfriend and showered her head in yet more kisses. “Mmm, I’m sorry, babe,” she murmured, gathering Deirdre’s hair so it would be easier to play with. “I suppose I’ll have to make it up to you, or else be severely punished.” She giggled and tilted Deirdre’s chin up to steal another kiss, a proper lingering one that left cotton tingles on her cheek and lips and reminded her of what touch had once been. The memory grew harder to find each month, but warmth of feeling beneath it never faltered.

Morgan’s pleasure didn’t last for long. Deirdre tensed in her arms, trembling, and looked away from the text. Morgan couldn’t connect her girlfriend’s explanation about the comb to her distress, but she knew something was wrong. “Hey…” she cooed, leaning down to give more kisses. “What is it, my love?” Was it the iron? The sheep? Morgan looked at the text again, putting the image of a plain farm tool in place of the words. “It is a weird choice for a conduit, I guess,” she mumbled, “Are the kind of combs this is probably referring to kind of big or bulky?” The ritual had been written during the French Revolution, after all, when a band of exorcists and casters determined the guillotine had been too good for some aristocrats, and destroying their ghosts was their second chance. Whatever they determined would suit their purpose probably wasn’t subtle, which suited Morgan just fine, in theory. “The uh...the sheep aren’t still attached to the wool, right?” She asked, still trying to make sense of Deirdre’s reaction. “I don’t have to bring it into the house, you know. It can stay in the garage, or a lock box in the shed if we ever get it back. Somewhere you won’t touch it by accident?” Morgan set aside her book altogether and wrapped Deirdre up in her arms. “Talk to me,” she said in a whisper. “Whatever you need, it’s yours.”

“And I’m not known to be merciful, my love.” Deirdre hummed, and then her voice spilled into laughter. Of course, if anyone would pick up on what she was feeling, even before she processed it herself, it would be Morgan. By some miracle, her love knew her exceptionally well, and Deirdre was thankful for it. If it wasn’t for her gentle assurances and nudges, Deirdre never would summon the strength to bear honesty with such ease. She laughed again, and shifted to bury her head into Morgan’s neck. There, enveloped in Morgan--surrounded by her scent and the gentle tugging of her undeadness--she imagined that there was a world without iron combs. Without their truth. Without pain. A world that they deserved, and could have. A happy, gentle world, where Deirdre might just have been the bright and brilliant person Morgan seemed to think she was. A good world. A kind world. Their world. Deirdre was stirred to reality by the rustling of paper, pulled back and opened her eyes to their house--filled with their things. It wasn’t too far off from some magical land where terror couldn’t find them; most days, it felt like that. Her eyes moved to the papers, books, notes and folders scattered around them. The scene looked eerily like the one in the Haven Hotel, months ago, when there was a heartbeat pressed against Deirdre’s cheek. Back then, there had been a lump in her stomach, a gnawing fear that Morgan would be lost to fate. She’d been right, and left to wonder if her fear was premonition or simple anxiety. When the same lump settled inside of her again, she didn’t know what to think. “I don’t know how someone touches a pointy comb by accident,” Deirdre laughed, pressing a firm kiss to Morgan’s cheek. “And the sheep aren’t attracted, no. Wool processing is long; you have to shear it and then prepare and wash it. Then it dries and---” Deirdre reddened, coughing as she remembered that yarn production was not Morgan’s concern now. Anything, perhaps, to save a few seconds before the truth. “Torture,” she said after a moment. “It’s probably an effective conduit because it was used for torture. You rake it across someone’s flesh. The iron must be effective for ghosts.” Just as it was for fae, and just as Deirdre knew how such devices worked against her kind. Not that it mattered. “Hm, the hand carders aren’t so big. There are, obviously, bigger ones out there. What do the books say you need?”

Morgan knew from Deirdre’s hesitation that what followed would be anything but good. She even knew from the deliberate plainness her girlfriend spoke with that she hadn’t gotten the knowledge out of a book. There had been enough references to the extracurricular torture Sibohan had put Deirdre through, but the image of a comb bristling with iron points had never crossed Morgan’s mind. She brushed her knuckles down her soft, freckled skin, trying to imagine someone tearing and burning it at once. Was that something Wardens did for fun that Sibohan thought she needed to impart? Or was it just another barbaric lesson. “Oh, Deirdre…” she whispered. “I had...no idea…” She tucked them closer together, curled up and all but locked in place, as if that could do anything for how she’d been thoughtfully tortured and broken from the outside in years ago. “You know we…” she grimaced and buried her face in her hair. “I know what we said before, but you don’t have to do this with me. I can…” her stomach turned at the thought of trying to find something like this, holding it in her hand, knowing what it was really for and how it had been used to hurt Deirdre. “I can figure this one out on my own. I can...I don’t know. But I don’t want you to have to relive anything like that because of me.” She didn’t know how to say it, but she feared Deirdre conflating her with that torture just as much. But Constance was different, and so was Morgan. She wouldn’t do something so monstrous for no reason, and never to anyone she wasn’t certain deserved it. But hurt did funny things to people, and trauma haunted in ways that didn’t always make sense.

“What?” If Deirdre had the strength to sit up and ruin the tight, tangled hold the two of them had perfected, she might have from the shock. “No, no,” she calmed her voice. “I’m not reliving anything, I’m not--I wouldn’t be. It doesn’t---” She sighed, and lifted her head up, trying to catch Morgan’s to pepper with reassurance and affection where she could. “The things that I’ve seen, and been through...they exist everywhere. In iron combs, spoons, mugs--” Deirdre gestured around their house. “At one point, one of these things has been bad for me in some way. By what was done with them, by them having been witnesses. With what I’ve seen, what I’ve been made to see. I don’t look at a mug and always think about each that my mother threw at a wall anymore than you must look at a lock and imagine the one of your bedroom. I’d much rather see a cup as being something you hold, something I get to pour your boiling tea into. I’d rather see it as good. And that’s exactly what I think about when I look at it.” She pressed into Morgan, holding her tighter. “And if I can help you, if a tool like that can be used to deliver justice, then it gets to be good. And I get to see it that way. The rest doesn’t matter to me. You are good, and you will use whatever tool you see fit, however you want to, and I will love you all the same.” Deirdre smiled softly, twisting her body up so she could kiss her girlfriend with as much love as she could muster. And again. And again, and again until she was sure her point was clear. She raked her teeth along Morgan’s lip as she drew back, thinking nothing of the iron and the way it could tear at her own flesh. “Thank you, my love. But it’s okay. The torture done to my kind is never a pleasant thing to think about, but it’s not new to me, and it’s not so terrible a thought that I won’t help you. I want to. I know it will serve you better than it would anyone else. I trust you, Morgan, and I love you. More than anything else. Now, what does your research say about the comb? Is there a specific kind you need?”

Morgan threw herself into Deirdre’s kisses, returning them with her own, firm and earnest and bursting with an affection she couldn’t put into words. She couldn’t say, ‘you dodged your mother’s mugs, too?’ and ‘I love your resilience and your courage and how much you love me,’ and ‘you are the wisest and most wonderful woman I know’ at the same time, much less in the seconds it took to take her lip between her teeth. And even these thoughts, swimming around her head as they slipped deeper into the couch cushions, didn’t quite get to the heart of the recognition that cut through her, or how it mixed with horror, sympathy, pride, affection, gratitude. She hoped that the alchemy between them would translate and Deridre would understand what even she couldn’t. Morgan didn’t bother with words at all until she felt Deirdre’s breathing grow strained against her.

“You’re incredible,” Morgan whispered. “I am so very proud to know you, Deirdre.” Another kiss, chased and sweet. “And, about that, I’m sticking hard to the original to minimize surprises, and I don’t want some stodgy exorcist to turn me down for not being through enough, so…”

#wr deirdre #wr chatzy #wr deirdre chatzy #abuse tw #physical abuse tw #//it's actually really short!#song for autumn #wickedswriting

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chemiste · 5 years ago

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Foresight ~ ch. 5

a/n : happy easter or national grilled cheese sandwich day if you don’t celebrate easter :)

p.s- sometimes if i describe an outfit harry or the reader is wearing, i’ll embed a link into the words so you can see a picture of it if you want to. also to note that if the photo had a model wearing the outfit, i’m only showing it for the clothes not the size or skin tone!

masterlist

Mitch went first, then Sarah, Adam, Harry and finally you.

The glasses helped considerably from the flashes of phones and the pink sweatshirt seem to draw all the attention to Harry and not you.

But then, a girl in the crowd trying to get to Harry pushed you from behind and you stumbled slightly causing a few pairs of eyes to look at you.

Soon enough, more people started directing their attention to you instead of the superstar. It was when you got cut off from the line of band members did you worry.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, I can’t get through!

People started calling out your name and you couldn’t see the back of Harry’s body anymore. It was like a wave went through the crowd, the bodies surged toward the hotel of a sudden, knocking you to the ground.

You caught yourself by the hand that wasn’t holding onto your backpack for dear life.

Call for him, right… now!

“Harry!” You shouted, hoping he heard you. Suddenly, a pair of tattooed hands grabbed hold of you by the shoulder and nudged through the crowd, left arm securely wrapped around you and the other using his elbow to create space between the bodies.

“Hold on Y/N.” Was all you heard him said in a low voice.

After what felt like an eternity, you made it to the front door which opened the slightest bit to let you two sneeze inside before it slammed shut again.

Harry held onto you until both of you were out of the crowd's eyesight, then looked at you with a worried expression, both hands holding you by the shoulders as he examined you.

“Are yeh okay Y/N? ‘m so so sorry I lost you in the crowd, they were bloody brutal.” You took a shaky breath and looked up into the concerned green eyes.

“T-thank you for coming back for me.” He scoffed, “ ‘f course I would.”

In a flash, you pressed your body against his, wrapping your arms around him and burying your face into his chest. “That was so overwhelming,” You mumbled in between his pecks.

You could feel the vibrations of his laughter and he gave you a squeeze. “Wouldn’t be fair of me to leave m’ best friend to be eaten by paparazzi piranhas now would ’t?”

Everyone got their hotel keys, and to your astonishment, you had your own room too. What’d you think we were gonna do, make you sleep in the hallway? Jeff had said as he handed you the room key.

After getting your luggage the crew had snuck in through a back door from the tour bus, you were all on the 7th floor. Everyone started scanning the door numbers looking for their assigned rooms.

“What number you got?” Harry asked as pulled his suitcase adjunct to yours. “F16” you replied. “Sweet I got F17, we’re right across from each other!” You gave him a small wave as you both entered your rooms.

Once you closed the door, you put your suitcase on the rack and dug through it for something else to wear. You abandoned pieces of your current outfit on the ground. Instead of taking the clothes, you’d change into in the bathroom after you shower.

When you finished your lovely, warm, shower and skincare, you changed into black jeans and a white t-shirt. You opened the lavender curtain to see the beautiful view before you.

The river! Oh how gorgeous.

As you studied the view, a knock on your door interrupted you swooning of different angles you could capture the light reflections off the water. “Coming!” You called as you opened the door.

There stood the rockstar who made girls and boys melt at his feet.

He was stuck in the sweatshirt.

“What in the world happened?!” You laughed and you lead him into the room. His arms were bound by the sleeves over his head somehow, his undershirt riding up a bit from his struggles, showing the tips of the two ferns.

“Can I take a pictu—”

“Don’t you dare!”

“Okay fine, fine!”

You circled him, looking for the easier way to unravel him.

“How’d you even get to my room?” “Lots of prayers an’ bumpin’ t’ things,” He mumbled. “Come ‘ere,” you guided him closer to the bed so you could stand atop it.

So damn tall.

“‘kay, here we go, one, two, three!” You pulled the sleeves up and to the right and out stumbled a dazed Mr. Styles.

You very trying very hard to keep your laughter contained as he shook his hair and ran his ring clade fingers through it.

“How did you even…” “It’s small for me okay?!” That’s when you burst out in laughter, you fell back on the bed, not trying to contain the giggles anymore.

And soon enough, Harry was cracking up beside you. You caught your breath and turned over to mirror his position on the bed, one arm tucked underneath his head. “What’s the story for us?”

“Pardon?”

“Like, how are we best friends? What’s our origin story?”

“Oh…” He thought for a moment before looking back into your eyes. “Where ya from?” You moved to lean up against the head, propping up a knee and hugging it.

“Moved from my hometown at 12 to New York, cause of my Dad’s job. He’s a graphic artist, does a lot of political mail and campaign design. Well, he had a small independent business but a colleague of his died that I think he knew really well from his 20s left him his whole business so Dad took over as the CEO and we moved to Larchmont so he could travel to Manhattan if he had a big meeting for the political season.”

He didn’t say anything so you continued. “It’s pretty nice and I made some good friends from the book club I joined.”

“How’d you meet Maggie?”

“She was actually one of the first models I shot for a fashion line. It was her first time too so we basically bonded over feeling scared.” You cracked a smile at the thought of 16 year old you and Mags, working together for the first time.

“I did online classes for high school through the community college nearby and was technically a junior when I transfer to NYU, these two classes are my last and then I’m done.”

“That’s fantastic.” “Yeah, I happy about it.” You glanced down at the boy in front of you, he seemed to be deep in thought but then sat up and faced you.

“What if you take pictures of me? For your assignment?”

You shook your head, “Harry I couldn’t ask you to—“ “nonsense! We’re already becoming friends right?”

“Right…”

“And since Mags is gone, you’ll need a muse for some of your other pieces and look right here! Probably the best muse you could find!”

“You really are a narcissist aren’t you?”

“Hey!”

You both chuckled and smiled at each other. “If you’re sure, Harry…”

The popstar nodded with a Cheshire cat grin on his face.

“Oh also, I’m thinking that I met you in December 2014 cause you were out taking pictures and we chatted about our love for photography? Or somthin’ like that?”

You perked up at the idea, “Yeah! And we exchanged numbers to send each other photos we thought the other would appreciate but didn’t get closer until recently when you asked from my thoughts on the album and its cover photo.”

“Perfect, we got it down then.” A buzz came from Harry’s pocket and he immediately froze, “Shit, I need to be doing a face time interview in like 5 minutes.”

He bounded up from the bed and raced to the door. “Keep the sweater, I bet it smells like me so it’s don’t pass out from the sexiness emitting from it if you put it on.”

“Harry!”

He gave you a conical smile that was on the verge of sexy— not that you were thinking of it that way.

Once the door closed you melted back down into the bed.

“Fuck me.”

The show was about to start so you decided to hang out in the back of the pit for this performance. Before you left Harry handled you a crew pass that you put in the pocket of your jeans.

“If the fans get to be too much fo’ you, just show the security guard this badge an' hop the fence. You can walk up the makeshift aisle that goes down the middle o’ the pit an’ get backstage easily.”

You nodded before making your way out into the crowd, squishing through excited fans to get to the more spacious back area of the floor.

As you chilled, lean against the railing, waiting for the show to start, a girl in the corner of your eye caught your vision. She looked no older than 14 and kept looking in your direction, walking close by every few minutes before coming back.

When she turned to look at you again, you made eye contact with her and waved her over.

“Hey,” you said in a calm voice, not wanting to scare her off.

She seemed a bit nervous to approach you which confused you. “Do you— are you, um, ah—“

“Take a deep breath, I’m just a normal person you can talk to okay?” The girl gave you a small thumbs up and took a breath, then in one quick sentence, she said, “Are you Harry Styles’ best friend? Can I take a picture with you if that’s alright?”

“Why would you want a photo with me?” You asked, awed that she would even know her.

She’s a dedicated fan of his, she recognized you from the photos online probably.

The girl stuttered in front of you and then gave a laugh as if the answer was obvious.

“I’ve been a fan of Harry’s for a while now but I’ve never seen any pictures of you together—“ You tensed up a little, “That's only cause we—“ She cut you off, “No no, don’t worry! All I was gonna say if that since I’ve never seen pictures of you and him together, he must want to protect you from the media and all that icky stuff. So that must mean you’re a good person, and if he trusted you enough to share his songs with you, then I think so too. So, of course, I would want a picture with a good person, there aren’t that many left in the world ya know.”

Her answer was shunning, but it also made you feel incredibly guilty, this girl was basing you off of a complete lie you and the band had told to cover for the press.

You swallowed the lump in your throat and took the picture with her anyways, she gave a sweet thank you! Before disappearing into the crowd as the rubric cube light lit up the crowd.

After the show, you were back in the dressing room with the band but a bit quieter than usual. The girl’s words were still caught up in your mind and you didn’t realize Harry coming up to you till he tapped your shoulder.

“Y/N?”

You snapped out of it, “Huh? Oh, sorry, what’s up?”

“You just seem out o’ it, yeh good?”

“Harry…” you swallowed and lean in to talk quietly, “ do you ever feel… bad that we’re lying to your fans?”

“What? Wha’ d’you mean?” He said, looking shocked at your question.

“Like, your fans think we’re best friends but we basically just met! I don’t even know your favorite color.”

You ran a hand through your hair, “There was this girl in the audience that said if I was your best friend that meant I was a good person, but how am I a good person if I’m lying?”

You both didn’t say anything for a moment, just listened to the chatter from others in the room and contemplated your thoughts.

“M’ favourite colour ’s blue.”

You glanced up and saw a small smile stretch across his face.

“Mine is yellow.” You replied, starting to smile as well. He put his hand on your shoulder, “I consider you m’friend, so you’re not lyin’ love.”

With that, the singer walked back to the group to give conjugations on another performance and you stood in the corner, watching his every move with a new found calm washing over your shoulders.

As you closed the door to your hotel room, you let out a big sigh and kicked your shoes off. Slipping your jeans off, you put on a pair of black leggings and your favorite sweatshirt. You had just finished your skincare for the night and were snuggled into bed when a knock caught your attention.

Maybe it’s the guest next-door…

But then it came again, this time a little louder and you definitely tell it was from your door.

“Y/N!”

A muffed voice came from it and you quickly padded over to look through the peephole.

It’s Harry!

You quickly opened the door, popping your head out to see if anyone else had heard him.

“What are you doing? It’s 1am!”

You said in a hushed voice, ushering him into your room.

He was wearing black skinny jeans and a Tommy Hilfiger Down Jacket with a beanie on his head. He wore a sneaky grin on his face that made you worried.

“Wan’ ta sneak out?”

telephone hour #5

ch. 6

masterlist

#harry styles fanfic #harry styles fic #harry styles #harry styles x reader #harry styles series #harry styles fluff #harry styles imagine #harry styles x reader series #harry styles x y/n #harry styles tour #harry styles concert #1d

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