#2) a creepy kid from school who was about to ask me out and had already followed my secret social media account

[fawnpires]

AMORAL SILHOUETTES — SIMON "GHOST" RILEY.

༉‧₊˚ ┊ PART 2.

꒰ ୨୧ ꒱ synopsis: infatuations with older men were morally wrong, but never applying to him.

꒰ ୨୧ ꒱ contents: afab!reader, manhandling, breeding kink, pet-names, praise kink, oral sex (female receiving), size difference, creampies, reader is in her 20's, ghost is a single dad, touch-starved, domesticity, squirting.

You've seen him around the neighborhood before — towering in height, bulging biceps, and a skull balaclava sheltering the structure of whatever laid under, the structure of his concealed face. It was a known fact that you bear an attraction to him, but you just couldn't own up to it, feeling a little too shamed to be conscious about a little school-girl crush on a man much older than you. A man who was a hard-working, ex-military, single father who paid no attention to girls in the same line that you found yourself in — but was it hard not to steal a view glances whenever he was seen around the neighborhood whether it was for a few minutes or seconds despite his lack of ability to communicate with others, though it was obvious he chose not to be around others for a good waste of his time excluding his children.

So when he came strolling up the slope of your driveway and a gloved fist beating at your front door, you had thought you were in another one of your trances — molded daydreams of him; minor fantasies of Simon Riley in that same balaclava giving you all of his affection, kissing you, treating you as if you were his pretty wife — a life that you could never make a single complaint about.

Ghost — his more preferred name used on other's tongues — stands eerily underneath the giving-out light of your porch, with nothing but a set of dusky eyes and a whole lot of muscle beneath the puny fabric of a black v-neck. You, stand on the opposite side of the door and impassively stare, nonetheless avoiding the eye contact when he gapes at you for longer than intended.

"I'm assuming you're the daughter." he said, reserved, dull.

"Sure am, did you need something?"

He clears his throat. "Well, this might be a strange thing to ask — and a bit sudden," He brought his hands to tuck in his pockets. "But would you mind looking after my kids for a while? I'll pay you for every hour, just a couple days of the week."

His offer was the last thing on the brink of your mind when he happened to show up, asking you for a favor — being in his house, where he lived, with his presence ghosting around. It sounded creepy. A bit stalker-ish to think of it like that — but you played it off as an innocent favor he asks of his neighbor, just a few hours of your day taken off to go kid-watching for the man who you admired the most.

"A couple days of the week?" You repeat his words back to him.

"I'm certain."

"I mean, sure, I'll take the offer, but when do you want me to start?"

"Tomorrow. Tomorrow evening is fine, around six."

You bit your lip. "Got it. Have a good-night, Mr. Riley."

"Knew I could rely on you, thanks, doll."

A single wave was managed. No verbal good-bye, just a wave from the hand that was freed from the confines of his pocket — and a pet-name taken straight to the pinpoint of your heart. You watch as he turns his back and finds himself across the street to where he coincidentally had lived — watching as he outstretched his arms and embraced a young girl with no emotion that had intentionally been shown to the public. Doll. It was unknown if his label for you was something he did purposely or had just slipped from his masked lips.

Either way, it made you feel like cherished like never before, his doll.

The day in which Ghost's favor was asked of you passed by quickly into the day the favor was actually supposed to be performed, straight at six, right in the center of where the sky was going through modifications of warmth to a bitter cold. Much like him with more anxiousness residing in your chest, you were across the street and bound to his porch, a dress shrouding your figure up to the bottoms of your thighs. Dressing and dolling yourself up made you look like you were going more on a night-out rather than a baby-sitting shift. Unintentional was the word for it. Unintentional to be all formal when in the same proximity. You half-recover from your birthing nervousness and thump on the door gently.

"Mr. Riley, it's me." you blatantly said, the door still closed.

With your words blurted out the door seemed to open on command — aggressively, as if it were going to be discharged from the hinges. Rather than a giant of a man in the doorframe there stood a girl half the size of it, lightly-shaded blonde hair up in pigtails with a cherubic face, staring right up at you as she titled her head. Honestly, you weren't good with children, but kindness was fundamental as of that. You give her a forced smile pressed up into the corners of your mouth as if held at gunpoint, whispering a small greeting and a wave. How maternal of you.

From further into the house came footsteps, blaring footsteps, and the little girl was no longer stood two feet on the surface of the ground but lifted into her father's arms with a brief giggle. You weren't going to stand here and be blamed a liar if that didn't advance an adoration for him in the moment.

"Thank you so much for coming and apologies, it's my fault for letting you in late," he said. "Make yourself at home."

"Don't worry about it." you reassure.

Ghost's house was clean and neutral, but gave off a decent interior of a past lieutenant's home well. There were a few toys littered around, a locked exhibition cabinet of ex-military trinkets, piled-up envelopes, and one other silhouette of a little girl bearing similarities to the one in his arms. Nothing in his house gave off a girlish ambience, besides two daughters, but it was masculine; like an adequate, suburban variety of a old-fashioned farmhouse with rifles and deer heads on display replaced with military collections.

There was a microscopic chance of danger with a bunch of firearms and artillery gear laying around but as someone as wise as himself, of course he kept a lock on it. Chain, even, if he wanted to get that far into territory.

"Bedtime's at eight, food is already ordered, and you have the entire house to yourself past the eight-o-clock mark." Ghost said. He provided you with a spare key, his bared fingers brushing against yours as he placed it in the middle of your hand. "So you have plenty of time to, you know, relax."

"When will you be home?"

"Around ten, but wait up on me — I'll give your pay up before you leave."

"So I stay until ten?"

"Sure do."

"You can trust me, for sure."

"I know I do." he said.

His eyes trail over you for a minute longer before bending his knees and and allowing his daughter to be freed from his grasp, legs straightening up again as he pat your shoulder. "Thanks, kid, I'll see you later."

All of these nicknames were blurted from his mouth like nothing — first it was doll, now kid, and it just left you anticipated for what he would grant you next with. That though stuck to your mind like a nail screwed by a hammer, watching as he took his jacket and folded it in his arms, swearing that he gave you one last glance before he unlatched the door and shut it behind him — leaving you to bathe in the first touch he acted on you, his effortless terms of endearment, and the two resembling daughters he relied to be cared of.

Spiraling. You had to be spiraling.

Your hours spent with the children were calm. They had warmed up to you pretty fast and had dragged you nearly to every spot of their home. Up the stairs where their shared bedroom stood at the hall, a couple of bathrooms downstairs, a storage closet, the showcase of weaponry, and even Ghost's bedroom. They declared his room was some kind of secretive hideout, only being in there a limited amount of times, but urging you to take them in there along you. It was going to be difficult to get out of the pressuring so, having your own fun, you let them explore around his room — like you were a cool older sister, or mother, to them.

The title "Mother" exclaimed from one of the girls, ultimately leading into them repeatedly a series of them calling you variations of mom, mommy, mother, throughout the night instead of the name you had given them to call you. You weren't extremely irritated with it, you actually found it slightly adorable considering that they didn't even have a mother and latched onto you as some sort of female parent never obtained, nonetheless it was practically harmless and brought no harm down on you.

Baking cookies, some sort of role-playing they convinced you to star in, doing their hair in all sorts of girly ribbons and accessories almost made you feel like you were a little girl again — it had drained them out pretty easily but gave them a sense of girlhood, giving no offense to Ghost. A vision crossed your mind, eventually spearing your mind, that you were the real mother to these girls. A female figure to look up to and issue them a full family with a packed set of two parents. It had been drilled to you the other half of the the night, you kept a close eye on them as they had gotten ready for bed and prepared themselves under the covers.

With a deportation of reading a shabby bedtime story and a few ruffles to both of their heads, you finally had his home to yourself. Anything you wanted to do was accessible, easy-to-do, but with no danger of waking up the girls. Exhaustion was present, though, with all of your lone ideas to-do in mind you ended up on the couch. Your head tilted in one palm as you legs crossed under the skirt of your dress, the illuminations of late-night talk shows on television glowing your face in shades of dissimilar hues.

Staying up and waiting for Ghost to walk right through the front door was starting to become a challenge. Blaming his daughters for putting you in a state of pure fatigue was never the right thing to do, although it was easy to admit. Your eyelids were heavy with one more glance at the clock, which read a quarter to nine, meaning that this night could come to its finale and you could see that face of his — physically, up-close, like you did three hours ago.

As you were right at your breaking point into a slumber the doorknob trembling and echoing into the room where you were buzzed you awake. Stretching over the arm of the sofa and sloping your head to where the door was visible, knob had stopped with the commotion, the door silently opening a crack before blew open. To your relief and satisfaction it's the man who've you longed for the entire day, like a depressed stay-at-home housewife. His jacket is thrown on a nearby table as he could only stare at your laid figure over the couch, eyes squinting.

"Welcome home."

"Appreciate it. Are the girls upstairs?" Ghost asked with a finger pointing to the floor above.

"All knocked out."

"Jesus, what did all of you do?"

"Just a little girl-fun, that's all, baking — stuff like that." you said with a no-teeth grin.

"I could only thank you again for that," he sighs and pulls out a couple dollar bills stuffed in the jean of his pocket. "You don't have any idea how hard it is to get those two asleep."

"Really? They're like little angels, they loved me."

"I bet they did," he said while setting your pay on the coffee table. "Here, an entire hundred stack."

"Hundred?"

"You deserve it, do you not?"

"I'm only a part-time babysitter, Mr. Riley, not a full time worker."

"Yes, but you're a good girl, are you not? Going through all the trouble to make time for me and my kids — so I can assure you this is my pay for you, think of it as a prize."

"God, well, thank you." you said, processing his terms of good girl, heat rising to your face. "You really love those girls, don't you?"

"They're my pride and soul." he said while taking a seat next to your half-laid body, dipping the cushion of the couch. "I only want the best for them, that's why I chose you to look after them."

"Me, why?"

"It's difficult to explain, and a bit strange but — you've always reminded me of my past wife, kind and loved her kids, soft spot even for the people she didn't really know."

"I didn't know I could resemble someone so much." you said, mouth going dry.

Ghost laughs. "Yeah, she was quite beautiful too, like you."

"Was that a compliment?"

"Why wouldn't it be? Hell, love, you've got the looks any man you could fall for.

His hand comes to gently rest on your thigh and you look up at him through droopy eyelids, this didn't feel real. This couldn't be real, right? It couldn't be proved as false when his calloused fingers started rubbing tender circles into your skin, eyes of his own half-lidded and crinkling around with the tar-like paint staining skin. You and him were playing a dangerous game, pent-up tension right in here in his living room, a man by all means older and more mature than you've ever been — it was so easy to give into him so fast.

"You like that, huh?" he keeps his voice low and continues the strokes on your thigh. "You ever been touched like this, dollface?"

"No, sir."

"Mm. I liked the way you called me sir, honey. Come here, sit-up."

You balance yourself on twitching elbows and Ghost moves in between your thighs, his body weight heavy compared to your smaller physique as he lifts the cloth-edge of his balaclava for you, revealing a light stubble peppering the anatomy of his face and somewhat coarse lips that pressed up against yours. Your hands hoist to caress his face, kneading into his sinking cheekbones with each move to intensify the kiss. His pink muscle of a tongue forces your lips open and laps at every crevice of your mouth — your arms linking around his head, his fingers once at your thighs now under your skirt and massaging in circular motions at your fabric-clothed cunt. Small whimpers of shame leak into the kiss, evolving into moans, his massaging enhancing with every finished motion.

Ecstasy ran through your veins, pulsing with adrenaline and contentment. Your legs are fragile, trembling, alongside your cunt flourishing a moistness in its fiber confinement. The man of your daydreams no longer is just a fragment of your delusional head, but right where you've longed for him to be, taking and compelling you to be obedient for him. Only him, always him.

The ministrations on your veiled cunt withdraws and drags a moan from the depths of your throat. One of his hands instead crawl underneath your pushed-together legs and the other supports your back. You dive into his lips with a hunger once more and he manhandles you so delicately despite the tough behavior, you're drunk on the taste of Ghost as he works through the house up the stairs, through the hallway, and brings you into his room where you once stood earlier — the click of the lock confirms your status, you're safe as long as you're with him.

His hands pressing into the flesh of your body is loosened up as he lays you gently on the mattress as if you were created of porcelain — which did have some sense in it bearing in mind that you, essentially, were his doll of a girl by his own words. Defines of his eyes stream your body up and down, towering over you in height, yourself much more reduced and small. Fingers assist you with stripping your dress, leaving you in an arrangement of panties and bra complimenting every curve and bow of your figure. He curses mutely under his breath, huge palms cupping and kneading at your breasts, his knees resting on the bed.

Your whimpers are more pristine and clear to his naked ear. Looking through your languid-like eyes, a bulge is positioned right at his jeans, and his shirt had been ripped off of him — possibly during the time where your eyes had been closed to immerse in his touch.

"Such pretty tits, love." He said with a grunt. A deep guttural grunt.

"They're all for you, mister, always have been."

"Not mister, not even Ghost — Simon to you, and it's going to be Simon when I'm pounding into this tight little cunt of yours."

His words add on to the wet arousal staining your panties, swearing a second heartbeat could be felt, a throbbing and senseless feeling.

"You like this pair?" Ghost asks, nudging at your panties.

"Not important." you reply through short, cut breaths.

With your consent, he takes both of his hands, ripping the fabric in half. A gasp delivers from your open mouth — both at the cold air's impact on your exposed entrance and the material ripping apart. He has a look in his eyes that resembles a feral animal, one that is undomesticated and always in a repetitive state of hunger. Ghost backs you up to lay against his pillows to allow more space for him to climb on the mattress with you. He wastes no time with leaning himself down and hooking your bare legs in a hold around both arms, resting right at his broad shoulders. Those same eyes of hunger peer up at you with the bottom half still exposed from the bruising make-out session.

You feel a mushy lick bumping at your clit, causing your back to arch to the ceiling with a high-pitched moan, who knew such a motion could make you so submissive in a short span of time. The palm of your hand is instantly cupped around your mouth like a guard as Ghost continued his ministrations on your lips — no longer kitten licks but long, dragged out ones that had your eyes rolling into the back of your skull and struggling to muffle such sexual noises deprived from your mouth for the sake of his daughters fast-asleep down the hall.

"You taste like heaven," he grunts. "You're such an angel, making those sweet noises all for a guy like me."

"Only you, fuck, you feel so good." you whined, fisting the bedsheets at your sides.

"That's my girl."

The slant of his nose stimulates your clit while he proceeds with his longer, stroking tongue advances reaching deep inside your cunt. Your surroundings are heated with an addition of pure wetness, sweat, and mess clogging your brain up. His tongue provides you with a pleasure even your own fingers couldn't drive out of you, drool pools at a corner of your mouth while his grip on your legs hardens, strokes of his tongue becoming more aggressive — driving you quicker over an edge, your stomach in knots and oversensitivity. Your vision starts to blur out once you realize you can't control the sounds that he forces out of you, his tongue again and again savoring you as if you were his last meal on death row — he was desperate and willing to lap up your juices staining his face and your inner-thighs, Ghost was just as deprived as you were for him.

A thick sensation adjoins his tongue and nose, overwhelming sparks of emotion possessing you. The palm around your mouth is useless at this point, it lays flat and abandoned as a fist clutching at the sheets, moans chased out humiliatingly. You needed to come, come for him, for your own sake — but that was hard to think about when Ghost was mouth-fucking and finger-fucking you at the same exact time, much like some pornographic type video. A cliche one.

You were squeezing around whatever he stuck in you next — his tongue, his fingers, his tongue, or an combination, you were with no doubt tight and squeezed around any of his body parts.

"Fuck, you gonna come, sweetheart?" he asked, muffled with your clit puckered between his lips. "It's okay, come for me, just like that."

"Baby! Oh my go-"

Your back arches to an impossibly high rate when the knot in your stomach unties itself willingly, a wave of arousal gushing in streams on his face. Audible whines fall from your lips as you fall back right in contact with the plush of the bed. Sweat and the scent of sex reeks around you and Ghost, your chest rising with each hefty breath that is fished from your lungs. Your blurred vision is somewhat returned to its original shape, enough to make out Ghost — with his bare chest and your arousal at his face, tongue used to make said arousal transpire licking around at it, and his inked forearm. He was sticky and sweaty, a little tired, but obtained the right amount of stamina to be right inside you, just like he had wanted.

"Simon." you heaved out below, his fingers pressing into your hips. "Fuck me, please. I need you so bad, needed you ever since you've first moved here."

Ghost releases a low grunt and within a few seconds, he's messing with his belt — shakily unbuckling it and shrugging his pants to the floor. His boxers are no place of concealment, the prominent outline of his bulge protruding beyond the fabric, the sight provoking you to press your thighs together and rev-up that weakness present in your knees. He tugs at the waistband and slowly, painfully, lowers the border bordering item down — his cock almost immediately coming to press against his lower abs, at his lower stomach, really giving you the idea of how big he was. His balaclava is fully suited back on his face as the he leans down to give a final stream of soft kisses at your stomach through the mask, a hand pumping from the base of his cock to the tip.

"You want this, angel?" he groans with his pumps before he releases himself from his hand, positioning the tip of his cock right at the entrance of your swollen cunt as he provided a pre-fuck with only his tip. "Want my cock deep inside your pussy, pounding you into the mattress?"

"Oh god, I do, want you to fuck me as if I'm your wife, your pretty little housewife."

With one unforeseen jolt of his hips, he slams into you, your tight walls fondling him as if you were made for him. Your arms link around his torso as he moves his hips slowly, nails etching into the muscles of his back.

"Fucking hell, I can feel you squeezin' around me, love," he pants out, thrusts developing into a more faster pace. "This pussy is so good to me..."

"You're so fucking big, fuck."

Ghost jackhammers his cock into you, pressing his face into the crook of your neck, your legs squeezing around his waist. Your mouth widens with each moan and whimper he could drain you of — he pounds into you, fucking you like an animal rabid, sinking fully inside with each thrust of his hips. There's a composure and steady rhythm he keeps, allowing him to punctuate each of his plunges with his cock kissing at your cervix, his hand moving down to your clit. His thumb rolls over the bud and correlates it with how he fucks you, your nails digging at the skin of his back.

"Want to put a baby in you," he groans as his hips rock faster, nearly knocking the breath out of you, his fingers ghosting over the imprint of his cock in your lower stomach. "We'll have a perfect lil' family together, such a pretty little mother to my kids. You would let me do that, yeah?"

He's pistoning his hips in-and-out of you, your cunt naturally squeezing around him as your whines grew in pitch. His words held so much meaning — an entire family with him? Spending a lifetime with the older man you've adored from across the street? It had sounded more like paradise, anything that you've ever wished for in life. He knew he loved you so much, and you knew you loved him as equally, so much that he could imagine your cunt all full of his seed — stomach swelling with his child.

You nod as an agreement and he grunts, thrilled at the idea of you and him birthing something so intimate with each other. A family, your family, his family. It was a scheme he never thought he would be overly-obsessing, despite his disagreement with it during his time serving the army. But he dropped it, as long as he had you, and a devoted life.

"Want that so bad-" you squeal out, the sensation of a knot in your stomach on its last support heels, each of his drilling thrusts pulling you nearly to a climax. "Wanna have your baby, yours forever." Your phrase comes out slurred as the knot is broken of the last support it was on, sending you back into another session of short paradise.

"You're so beautiful. Going to breed this pussy with all my cum, honey." He sinks into you more erratic as he feels the walls of your cunt grasp abnormally tightly around him, his head going bare and distorted, the only initial thought in-tact was to keep the flow of thrusts he had fabricated — though, said flow was quickly dismembering.

His fingers of projecting veins running up his knuckles that were conveniently gripping your hips with such a pressure molded your skin into his contact easily. Your moans coming from a thrown back head against his cologne-scented pillows merged with Ghost's persistent heavier grunts — it's almost like a choir, using two valid voices, and delivering some sort of out-of-tune melody but with a hint of great profound beauty behind it.

The sensitive nipples of your breasts rub up right against his sweat-sheen chest in company with the dog tags strewn around his neck swaying in your face. He's leaning into you and has you caged in with no escape, his flow of thrusts gone, both of you desperate for a release. His muted breathing is irregular and heavy, your legs trembling and weak encircling his waist. His name is on your tongue and it leaks into the air, chanting it like your life was depending on it at the moment — depending on him. The lewd squelching of the head of his cock kissing your cervix, his noises combined with yours, the slapping of skin-on-skin — all of it was such an erotic sight to the human eye.

His head is back resting in the expanse between your head and shoulder, balaclava raised to expose the area of his lips once again, the warmth of those lips stamping sloppy, wet kisses into your neck; you squeal out as you're driven to your breaking point, a rush of arousal pressuring from your cunt and spraying onto his lower abs while he douses his cum deep into your swollen cunt. His own high-point doesn't stop him from sneaking a few more smaller thrusts for a bit, assuring all of his seed stays remains inside you.

"Fuck," he mutters, voice breaking off, his knuckles are ghosting a shade paler than white while he keeps purchase on both sides of your hips. He's stuttering over breaths as he tries to catch up with them, eyes falling to your immobile self. Your mouth is vaguely unfastened with breaths taken, eyes nearly closed, body slightly shuddering with the collisions of his cock still felt up inside of you — leaving your filled cunt fluttering around nothing.

"Too rough on you, sweetheart?" He asks, raspy.

"I think I'm okay, besides —you made my night even better."

He chuckles, a rare vision coming from a man like himself. "I'm happy to assist with that."

"Also," you imposed a dopey grin on your lips. "You should ask me for favors more often."

[7s3ven]

ATHENA'S GIRL. luke (pjo) - pt. 1

trailer > part 1 > part 2 > part 3

( masterlist )

IN WHICH... Luke's second quest isn't exactly a heroic one but he doesn't have the power to reject it. Who knew it would lead him to a prestigious high school where his hardest mission would be trying to befriend a snappy demigod.

"Have you forgotten to turn off your heart? This is not you. I see you changing from how I've designed you. Have you forgotten your purpose?"

Warnings : modern au but camp still exists, Luke doesn’t betray

A/N : I signed up with a blogging side job and they asked if I had any previous blog experience. I said no because I wasn’t about to admit that I run a one shot blog acc on Tumblr 😭

—

“What is wrong with you?!"

Heads turned to look at the H/C-haired girl who had shouted in a voice too loud to be inside a library. She was standing up, having shoved her chair back moments before. She clenched her hands into fists.

"Do you find joy in torturing me with your obnoxious presence? Is that it?!" She exclaimed at the brunette standing in front of her. She angrily grabbed her pile of books, messily shoving them into her bag. "Honestly!" She let out another groan as she loudly stormed past the doors.

"Well, that went smoothly, Luke." Chris, who had been watching the scene behind an upside down book, said.

The brunette boy with curled hair sighed, glaring at his friend, Chris. "I'm only trying to protect her. I don't know why she's so bitchy." Luke scowled. "I don't get why our quest was to protect some girl."

"Chiron said she doesn't have a satyr guide." Chris retorted, "That's why we're here."

Luke scoffed. "I can't even peacefully talk to her, let alone peacefully talk to her. She'll never come with us to camp." He swiftly threw his hands up in surrender.

"It's either that or the monsters. And if she doesn’t come with us, we fail.”

Luke stiffened at the mention of failing a quest. He knew all too well what that felt like. The jagged scar gruesomely painted across his face was proof of that.

“Just… befriend her.” Chris said as Luke stood up, ready to walk out of the library.

“Easier said than done. She hates me, Chris. And she hates you for being friends with me. So if neither of us can befriend her, how are you going to tell her about camp? It’s not like her dad will. He abandoned her for gods sake!”

Y/N, to put it simply, was an orphan. Her dad left her on the steps of a random house after her mother, whichever god she was, disappeared.

“Okay. Uh, what do we have in common with her then? And why does she hate you? I never understood that.” Chris questioned, desperate to think of ways to connect with Y/N before the monsters sensed her.

“I… made her get an F on her science project because I accidentally ruined it.” Luke sheepishly smiled.

“… You deserve all the insults from her then. But to answer my own question, we’re all demigods. That’s the most we have in common. I told you we should’ve taken Annabeth.” Chris uttered, gesturing to their surroundings.

“She’s a young kid." Luke retorted, "This is a high school. People will know something is wrong.”

“Or they’ll think she’s a child genius which, for the record, she is.”

Luke wasn’t sure how to feel about this quest. His first one had ended in absolute disaster so he was lucky to even be chosen for a second. But was a fire-breathing dragon worse than a high school girl who, if she needed to or even just felt like it, would stab you? Luke would take the dragon again because at least it didn’t spew out every insult known to man.

“I gotta get to this after school meeting.” Chris piped up, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder. “Some kids forced me to join. Find her and talk to her. Who knows, maybe you’ll get along. Eventually.”

Luke rolled his eyes as his friend jogged off to who knows where. Finding Y/N wouldn’t be hard. As creepy as it sounded, he had been watching Y/N for moments just like this.

He quietly whistled under his breath as he walked to the cafe across the road, immediately spotting Y/N in her usual seat beside the large window. She was, to no one’s surprise, reading a book.

Luke pushed open the door, the bell attached to it chiming softly. He made an instant beeline for Y/N. “Why so many books?” He blurted out, raising an eyebrow at the amount of novels strewn over the table.

Y/N lifted her head, frowning at the sight of him. “These are my cafe books.” She said, looking down at her book once more. Luke slid into the seat across from her.

“You need four cafe books? Why four?”

“Well, I need a novel and a biography book.”

“You’re reading Fyodor Dostoevsky as a novel? That’s your definition of light reading?” Luke picked up the book, almost laughing. “And some of it is in Russian. You know Russian?”

“Somewhat. I’m learning it so I can read Dostoevsky in the original.”

“And the Edgar Allen Poe?”

“Short stories. And Norman Mailer is a great essay writer so I wanted to check him out too.”

Luke huffed, “Jeez, writer. Reading Dostoevsky, learning Russian, reading all of these books. You’re crazy.”

Y/N narrowed her eyes as she stared at him with her heavy gaze. “Why do you call me that? Writer? Are you making fun of me?”

“Why would I need to do that? I call you writer because you want to be a journalist, right?” Luke leaned back in his seat, “I’ve read some of your essays, by the way. Don’t get mad at me. They were great. You really seemed to like the Russian revolution.”

“I’m more interested in the royal family, actually. Not so much in the Bolsheviks and all that politic stuff.” Y/N placed the book she was reading down, a truce sign in Luke’s eyes.

“Oh, she’s smart, pretty, and interested in the slaughter of a royal family. Are you perhaps training to become a serial killer? I hope I’m not your next target.” Luke teasingly grinned as a mischievous glint shone in his eyes.

“Castellan, I have a question.” Y/N sat up straighter, “How is it that you got into the school? Don’t get me wrong, you’re street smart but you aren’t… academically smart. Are your parents filthy rich?”

“My dad’s a deadbeat.”

“Did you cheat then? I won’t tell anyone. I’m only curious.”

“You wound me, writer. No, I didn’t cheat. Is it so hard to believe I passed the entrance exam?”

“Yes.” Y/N said without hesitation.

Luke stared at her with his lips pressed into a thin line. “Ouch. Now you’ve added salt to the wound.”

Luke had already acknowledged that he wasn’t gifted in the academic department. But there was more to life than writing articles and scribbling down overly complicated math equations.

“Wait a minute,” Luke sat up. How was it that Y/N could draft a perfectly constructed essay when she had dyslexia? “Don’t you have a reading problem? Dyslexia? Are you sure you didn’t cheat?” He meant the last bit as a joke but he instantly knew he made a mistake when Y/N’s eyes darkened.

“I have no need to.” She jeered, grabbing her cafe books. And just like that, their little moment of peace was gone as quickly as it appeared. “Never accuse me of cheating again. You got that, Castellan?” She harshly poked his shoulder as she walked past him.

“Hey, you forgot your Dostoevsky- and she’s not even listening to me. Great. Okay.” Luke sighed as he grabbed the book, observing it. It seemed well-loved because the novel was almost falling apart and its delicate pages were stained brown with coffee and tea.

Luke cracked open the book, raising his eyebrows at the sight of highlighted words, pen marks, and sticky notes inside. “She likes annotating.” He muttered to himself, running his hands over the pages.

The writing stopped near the end of the book and Luke realized it was because she had yet to finish it. An idea burst into his head and he quickly exited the cafe, clutching the book close to his chest. His usual routine would be to wait for Chris outside but he strolled back into the library, eyes landing in a group of giggling girls.

“Hey, ladies.” Luke boyishly smirked at them, which almost caused them to melt. “Do you have any sticky notes and pens I could borrow?”

That’s how he ended up with a pile of sticky notes and a multitude of pens at his disposal. Luke couldn’t read that well due to his godly side but he sure tried. Luke had heard about how a book girl’s love language was someone else annotating a book for her. In this case, this was Luke waving the white flag for good.

“Yo, Luke, you ready to head off?” Chris returned an hour later, just as Luke was finished scribbling on sticky notes and placing them carefully on the crumbled pages. Chris arched an eyebrow. “You can’t read.” He stated.

Luke rolled his eyes. “I know but this is me trying to befriend her. Trust me, it’ll work.” The brunette led his friend to Y/N’s locker, easily picking it open with a bobby pin he found on the floor. “Say hello to friendly Y/N.” Luke grinned as he placed the novel on the top shelf and closed the door.

“If this works, I’ll give you my dessert for a week.” Chris piped up

Luke chuckled, putting all his faith into his plan. “It’ll work. And deal.”

•

Chris and Luke watched Y/N like hawks as she opened her locker, letting out a small yawn as she did so. She spotted the book immediately. As she flipped through the pages, something unexpected happened that left Chris gaping.

She smiled. Her pink-tinted lips curved into a bubbly smile as she read something and she even let out a quiet laugh. As she turned her head, her gaze locked with Luke’s. She sent him a nod of acknowledgment before leaving to get to class.

“Looks like I’ll be having extra dessert.” Luke cockily uttered, teasing his friend.

“I can’t believe it actually worked.” Chris clicked his tongue in annoyance.

“Better luck next time, buddy.” Luke tilted his head back as he laughed. “Get to class. We can’t blow our cover.”

Luke’s first class was with Y/N. Actually, all of his classes were. And that was on purpose. He had to keep a close eye on her in case anything happened. Nothing ever did, which was unusual. Monsters sensed demigods as soon as they turned twelve but Y/N was Luke’s age and still hadn’t run into one. Luke found it strange.

He sat down in his chosen seat and turned his head, surprised to see Y/N sitting beside him. “Impotence means the inability to do something effectively.” She spoke, looking at him. Luke was at a loss for words as his lips parted.

“What?” He stupidly questioned.

“‘The fear of appearance is the first symptom of impotence’. You put a question mark next to impotence.”

“Oh.” Luke could recall doing that. “I guess I did.”

“You don’t write very well.” Y/N said. “At some point, you started writing in Greek. You know Greek?”

“To an extent.”

Y/N quietly hummed. “The ability to go from English to Greek is somewhat impressive. Your Greek is better.”

Luke almost smiled at the backhanded compliment. “You know, writer, I always took you as a Jane Austin girl. Pride and Prejudice and what not. How come you’re reading Crime and Punishment instead?”

Y/N shrugged. “I want to know more about Russian culture.” She simply said, opening her science textbook. Luke stared at her.

“You want to know more about Russia? I’ll show you. Come on.” Luke tugged Y/N out of her seat much to her surprise. She gasped.

“But class.” She said, but Luke ignored her.

“It’ll be fine. You’ll love it.” Luke reassured her as he pulled her out of the room.

“I’m not sure I will.” Y/N groaned, trying to dig her heels into the ground to slow Luke down. “We really should go back to class.” Y/N furrowed her eyebrows in worry while Luke clicked his tongue.

“No. We don’t.”

Before Y/N knew it, she was outside the school building and walking down the road behind Luke. “Where are we going?” She asked, receiving no reply.

“Wait here.” Luke said, pausing in front of a large wired fence.

“Are you sure you aren’t the serial killer here?” Y/N muttered, almost scoffing. Luke jumped, easily grabbing onto the fence and climbing up. “You look like a monkey!” Y/N exclaimed. Luke quietly chuckled, reaching the top.

“You’re funny, writer- Woah!”

Y/N gaped as Luke tumbled down, harshly hitting the ground. “Are you okay?” She asked, her eyes wide. Luke groaned as he stood up, clutching his shoulder.

“I’m fine. I just have to rearrange my shoulder real quick.” He said, grunting. Y/N watched in horror as Luke grabbed his own shoulder, readjusting it with a terrifying crack.

“That’s not normal.” Y/N said, cringing. “Your shoulder should not be doing that… oh, my gosh! You need to see a doctor soon. That crack was disgusting!” But Luke ignored her.

“You can climb, right?” Luke questioned.

“I am not climbing and falling like you.” Y/N sneered. She looked around, spotting a door. “I’m glad I’m not dumb like you.” She pushed the door open, mockingly staring at Luke. “Voila. No need to look like a monkey.”

“And there our truce goes, writer. I’m going to beat you up now.”

Y/N lightly laughed, rolling her eyes. “You can’t hit a lady.” She warned.

“Oh, you’re right. Damn me for being a gentleman. If only I was a girl. I could slam you.” Luke teasingly slung an arm around her shoulder as he led Y/N through the woods. “Chris and I found this place by accident. I thought you’d like it, especially after seeing your obsession with books. That’s not normal, by the way. It’s creepy. You treat books like your friends.”

“For your information, I have friends.” Y/N snapped.

“You have one friend. And she’s not even at the school.”

“So? Who cares. Besides, I talk to Sehee.”

“Sehee Kim hates you.”

“Yeah. But she’s toned down. We’re acquainted now.”

“Whatever you say, writer. Close your eyes.” Luke slapped a hand over her face, concealing her gaze. “Don’t peek. It’s a surprise.”

“If you plan on killing me, don’t eat me. I’m not into cannibalism.”

“You wrote an essay on all the media’s that portrayed cannibalism. The hills have eyes, that plane crash with the sports team. What else am I forgetting?”

“The Bean clan. Technically, that wasn’t a show or movie but the hills have eyes were inspired by it. At least, I like to think so.” Y/N paused, “Wait, you read the essay?”

“You’re a model student, writer. Of course I read your work. It took me a few days.” Luke grinned, though Y/N couldn’t see it. “Alright. You ready?” Luke rested his chin on Y/N’s shoulder as he lowered his hands, emitted a small gasp from Y/N.

“This place… what the…” She was speechless. In front of her was a beautiful, old library. Vibes of ivy wrapped around the shelves yet the books still looked functional. Albeit, a little old but they didn’t look like they’d turn to dust if she touched them.

“It’s an old library. Abandoned but still pretty. All of the books here are in Russian. You like it?”

“I love it… Castellan.” She gently smiled.

“I come here when I need time to think.” Luke sighed to himself, gesturing to a small corner where a blanket and a few pillows lay. “I can’t read in general but it’s comforting.”

“How’d you know I have dyslexia?” Y/N asked, arching an eyebrow.

Luke shrugged. “I had a feeling.”

“To answer the question from yesterday, yes. I do have dyslexia. But I envied children who could read so I got help. More like I begged the orphanage to get me help. I wanted to read and write so I did.”

Y/N ran a hand over the books, letting her fingers trace over the delicate golden details. Luke watched as she walked past the sturdy wooden shelves, a gleeful skip in her step.

“What’s your favourite book?” Luke asked as Y/N opened an aged book, staring at the words carefully printed in black ink.

“Oh. I actually have it with me.” Y/N began, digging around in her bag to pull out a small paperback. She showed it to Luke. “I want to die but I want to eat tteobokki.” She uttered. Luke stared at it, eyebrows lifted.

“You read… self-help books?”

“Well, it’s more like a biography or a memoir. It doubles as a self-help book. And yes. Is that a problem? It's an opportunity to learn how these type of books are written."

Luke shook his head, pressing his lips into a thin line. “I just wasn’t expecting it. I mean, why do you need help? You seem to have your life figured out. Studying, Harvard, journalism."

Y/N softly cleared her throat as she stared at him. “Castellan, I firmly believe that everybody needs help. Even just a little bit. And my life is literally falling apart if I’m not in school. My orphanage is crumbling to the ground and I’m probably going to be kicked out soon. On top of that, I think I’m going crazy.” Realising she was ranting too much, Y/N took a breath and stopped talking.

“We’re all crazy in a way, writer.”

“No. I’m actually crazy… Castellan, I see things… things normal people shouldn’t see. Creatures… weird things… things I can’t describe.” Y/N pulled at the ends of her hair. Luke was quick to grab her hands, stopping her.

“I understand, writer. Trust me. You may think I don’t, but I do.”

“You hallucinate too?”

“It’s not hallucinations. It’s real. I know I probably sound crazy. You see strange animals, right? Like, monsters?”

Y/N turned her head, staring at Luke with wide eyes. Y/N silently nodded. “How… how did you know?”

“I need you to listen to me, writer. And don’t call me insane or judge me or any other mean thing you like to do.” When Y/N still didn’t say anything, Luke continued. “How do I put this… You’re a demigod. I am too. Chris as well. Your mother is, uh, a goddess. You’re a half-blood. And eventually… monsters are going to chase after you.”

Y/N gawked at Luke for a few long minutes before she looked away. "You're crazy."

"I'm not crazy. I told you I'm not."

"Okay, not crazy. You're mad, out of your mind, deranged, demented. You're a lunatic, unstable, unbalanced. Non compos mentis!"

"Are you speaking in Latin right now?"

"We have to recite the school song on the spot. We get extra credits if we say it in Latin. You didn't know that?" Y/N sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You're... not lying. Gods and goddesses actually exist... don't they?" Luke sighed, nodding his head.

"I'm sorry to put all of this on you now but we really have to go. It's unusual that the monsters haven't sensed you yet. We have to find Chris before"- Luke was cut off by a loud roar. Y/N gasped, clutching onto Luke.

"What was that?" She gasped.

Luke pulled Y/N up, holding her tight. "We have to go. Now. Come on." Y/N's hands shook as she tried to shove the old book back into its place. Luke grabbed it, cramming the book into her bag. "Just take it. Take the book!" Luke grabbed Y/N's wrist, pulling her out of the library.

"Whatever that thing was seemed close. We have to hurry." Luke and Y/N ran out of the forest and barged past the door to the metal fence. "Chris will meet us at the road. Come on!"

There was another roar and Y/N shrieked. A blast of flames engulfed the fence, burning away at it. "Oh, my gosh... what is that?! Is that a fucking dragon?!"

"So you can swear! I never expected that!" Luke exclaimed as he stood in front of Y/N, drawing a sword.

"You have a fucking sword too?! What the fuck!" Y/N screamed, "What is going on?!"

"Stop cussing! Y/N, I need you to listen to me. Run. Run as fast as you can and find Chris. Please." Luke pushed Y/N back.

"What? No! I am not leaving you with that... that beast! And I don’t really what to be alone too!” Y/N furrowed her brows but Luke was persistent.

“Go! Go!” He shouted. Y/N spun around, sprinting away. She heard Luke’s sword clash with the dragon’s hard scales and she looked over her shoulder.

“Find Chris!” Luke shouted again.

Y/N gasped as she burst through the vegetation, almost crashing into Chris. “Oh, my fucking god! Chris! Castellan- I mean Luke is fighting against a dragon! What do we do?!” Panic glazed over Chris’ eyes.

“Y/N, stay here. It’ll be fine. I’ll be back soon!” Chris ran off. Y/N shakily inhaled as she looked around. The road was barren and there wasn’t a car in sight.

“This is fine… totally, inexplicably fine.” Y/N muttered, thickly gulping. But her panic flared up again when she felt a presence behind her.

She shook as she turned around, her head slowly lifting to stare at the dragon. “… Oh, I’m fucked.” Y/N’s bag felt heavier than it did before. It slid off her arm, crashing to the ground. Y/N scrambled back as the dragon blew a mouthful of burning smoke through its sharp fangs.

“Nice boy… or girl. Or are you gender-neutral? It doesn’t matter.” Y/N nervously chuckled as she slowly kneeled down to search for something, anything, to defend herself. Instead of a sharp pen or maybe a heavy book, she pulled out a golden brass spear with electricity crackling through it.

“Oh… this works.”

The dragon growled as its beady eyes watched her trembling form. Y/N swung the spear at the dragon, managing to hit it with a lucky shot. The dragon roared, throwing its head back in pain. Y/N landed another blow and managed to dodge the beast’s claws.

“Man, am I glad I took those sports classes now!” Y/N shouted, ducking. She swung the blade of the spear ay the creature, slicing a scale off. Y/N yelped as blood oozed out. “Oh, that is revolting.” She wrinkled up her nose.

The dragon, seemingly very unhappy with Y/N’s wide use of vocabulary, grunted as it stalked towards Y/N with heavy steps. Y/N gulped. She gripped the spear tightly, trying to think of what to do. As the dragon neared, her survival instincts took over and before she knew it, she was hurling her weapon at the dragon’s chest. It groaned in pain as the tip impaled its flesh before disintegrating into a fury of golden specks.

Y/N panted as her spear clattered to the ground. “… I’m glad javelin was a requirement at school.” Luke and Chris arrived at the scene a moment too late, staring at the golden flecks in surprise.

“You… took down a dragon?” Chris asked in shock while Luke was silent as he subtly lifted a hand to touch the scar on his face.

“Yes. Now, can we get out of here before we get slaughtered like the family from the hills have eyes?! If I die, I can’t get into Harvard!” Y/N exclaimed, picking up her spear that had transformed back into the old book from the library.

“She’s right.” Finally, Luke spoke up. “We need to get moving. The stronger monsters have already sensed us. More will be coming.”

"Wait!" Y/N shouted, causing both of the boys to pause. "Oh, my gosh... What about Harvard?! I can't get into Harvard with all these monsters running after me!"

"You didn't tell her?" Chris asked, glancing at Luke.

Luke quickly shrugged in confusion. "I told her about camp! But I may have left out the part where she has to go if she doesn't want to be slaughtered..."

"What?! No, I'm not fit out for camp! I need to go to school and study so I can get into Harvard and study journalism so I can become like Christiane Amanpour!"

"We'll explain more at camp." Luke uttered, wrapping his hands around one of Y/N's arms while Chris did the same on the other side. The two boys dragged her away, ignoring how she kicked and screamed, mainly about Harvard and how her career was ruined now.

Eventually, she calmed now. The trio now calmly walked along the empty road with Y/N in the middle. “I mean, at least it can’t get worse than a dragon.” Y/N said in an effort to raise spirits.

Above, thunder rumbled as rain began to pour down. Y/N loudly clicked her tongue, “Never mind.” She grumbled. “But hey, can’t get worse”- Lightning crackled and hit a tree near Luke. He jumped as the leaves went up in flames, though they were quickly distinguished by the large droplets of rain. “Okay, but surely”- Luke cut Y/N off.

“Please… writer, stop talking. We’ll hide in that cave until the rain stops. It’s getting dark soon too. We officially leave tomorrow.” Luke uttered, pointing at a nearby hole in the rocks. Y/N jogged for cover while Luke and Chris took their time, not caring about the rain because they were already soaked to the bone.

“So, you call her writer? Cute.” Chris mockingly smirked as he knowingly winked.

“Yeah, so what? What do you call Clarisse? Oh, that’s right, you haven’t confessed yet. You have the right to judge me when you confess.” Luke walked away while Chris was left standing there, speechless.

“Touché.” Chris muttered under his breath.

•

Luke woke Y/N the moment the sun rose. She groaned as he shook her awake, sleepily rubbing her eyes. “What do you want?” She muttered, trying to kick him away.

“Time to get moving before any more dragons come.” Luke grinned as Y/N quickly sat up. “Yeah, that’s what I thought, writer. Come on, we’ll get breakfast at the train station. It’s the fastest way to camp.”

It was a thirty minute walk to the nearest train station and in those thirty minutes, Luke would not stop talking. And Y/N thought her rambling was bad.

“Why do people like peanuts anyway? They taste so… nutty. I don’t like peanut butter. The look of it, the taste of it, the texture, the way it sticks to the roof of my mouth. Ugh! Gross.” Luke faked a small gag while Y/N slowly nodded.

“Do you usually talk this much?” She questioned, recalling the days where Luke hardly spoke up in class unless he was replying to a girl in love with him.

"No. Not unless I've got a pretty girl next to me who's too smart for her own good." Luke grinned while Y/N rolled her eyes at his pathetic flirting.

“Have you got money? Once we get to the station, I would suggest we buy tickets first. Food can wait. Besides, the train should have food too.” Y/N said, checking her watch. "When's the next train? We should try and catch the earliest one."

"Jeez, who made her in charge?" Luke whispered to Chris behind Y/N's back.

“What? You think you’d be in charge?”

“Well, this is my quest after all. Plus, I thought there’d be a voting. You know, a show of hands.”

Chris sent Luke a look. “Don’t be like Percy, man. She’s like our Annabeth. She’s obviously in charge. And I’m like, uh, Grover.”

“And let me guess,” Luke deadpanned, “I’m Percy.”

“Yeah. Always trying to change the system into a voting thing. Just let the pretty girl do the work and we won't get killed."

"I can hear you, by the way." Y/N butted in, staring at the two boys with an unimpressed look.

"That's the point." Luke replied.

"The train station is right over there. I'll buy us tickets." Y/N said, outstretching her hand.

"Huh? Why do you have to buy the tickets?"

"Because, genius, it's suspicious to see two guys with a girl. They’ll think you’re kidnapping me. Which, mind you, you technically are.” Y/N ran her hands through her messy hair to smoothen it down, “The faster we leave, the better.” She brushed the dirt off her skirt and adjusted her wrinkled blouse so she could fit in more with the crowd.

Luke begrudgingly handed over a part of the given money to Y/N. She smiled, which only fuelled his annoyance. “After we buy tickets, we can look for food if we have time.”

“Why can’t we split up?” Luke interrupted, earning an eye roll from Y/N. Chris silently watched as they bickered, not wanting to get involved. It was like they were in class again, always going back and forth until the teacher forced them to stop.

“Splitting up would be dangerous. We have to stay together. But when I buy the tickets, don’t follow me. Hang back.”

Luke had no choice but to agree with the plan.

“So,” Chris shuffled closer to Luke, “Still think we should have a voting system?”

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[apomaro-mellow]

Hot for Teacher(s) 2

Part 1 / AO3 Link

@babydollbaron I need you to know your tags basically changed the trajectory of this fic

In the mornings, Steve dropped Shawn off at the before care offered by the school and then went to work. Afterwards, Shawn took the school bus home and went over to a neighbor's house, Miss Robin, until his dad got home from work.

Because of this, Steve knew he would hardly have a reason to see Eddie outside school functions and conferences. Which was fine. It was totally fine. He absolutely was not spending nights thinking about those curls under his fingers. Whenever Shawn had a story from school to tell, he hung on every word. And it was only because these were the formative years of Shawn's life.

"Oh yeah, Mr. Munson asked about our practice and I got to tell him all about it", Shawn said.

Steve paused in his current task, which was the dishes while Shawn did his homework at the kitchen table. He knew exactly what his son was talking about.

"Oh? How'd that come up?"

"I told him about it before but I didn't get to tell him about it before Yasmin started crying. He asked me and I told him."

Steve currently taught middle school, but he'd had a little experience with the younger ones. When it got close to Shawn starting school, he did his best to make sure he was prepared. And to make things a little easier on whoever was teaching him. Steve tried to be subtle with his next words.

"Tell me more about Mr. Munson."

And then the floodgates opened. Mostly because it seemed Mr. Munson was very open about his personal life. Apparently, anytime the students had a question, he answered it. Just in this five minutes between drying the dishes and plating up dinner, Steve learned that Mr. Munson played guitar, loved the color red, played a game about dragons, and was single.

"Wait, how do you know he's not married?", Steve asked.

"Because Briana asked him and he said he's not married", Shawn answered easily.

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

Steve tried not to think too hard about it. Mr. Munson being single didn't change anything. Not a single thing. But a really hot alpha who was unattached and also happened to be really good with kids who his kid loved was kind of the ultimate wet dream.

For Halloween, the students were allowed to come in costume and before the day was over, Steve's email was blessed with a collection of pictures of the class, including one where several superheroes, princesses, and even a kid dressed as Chucky defeated the mighty Munson dragon.

It was so cute that Steve had half a mind to send a reply that said so but second guessed it. He didn't need to tell Shawn's teacher it was a cute picture that was the whole reason he sent it. He had to keep all correspondence professional. But it was a picture of Shawn so he was well within his rights to save all of them to his phone.

"You ha~ve a cru~ush~", Robin sang on the phone. She was pulling some dino nuggets from the oven in preparation for Shawn coming over.

"Shut up, I don't!", Steve hissed on the other end. School had just ended but there would be a staff meeting in about five minutes. "I didn't tell you so you could make fun of me-"

"Come on, you knew it was coming-"

"I told you because I just had to tell someone." Steve sighed and took of his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose. "It's not creepy if he's Shawn's former teacher, right?"

"Steve, I'm gonna be honest, I don't think it's creepy now." Robin picked up one of the nuggets and chomped on it. "It's kind of crazy how we have dino nuggets and animal crackers but not the other way around."

"Please save that for Shawn when he gets there. What do you mean? Wouldn't it be weird?"

"You're both two grown adults. I don't see the harm in asking him out", Robin said.

Steve slouched in his chair behind his desk. "That's not the only fact here. There's the fact that he's teaching my son. If any of the other parents find out, they'll think I'm sleeping my son's way to the top."

"....In first grade? That would be pathetic."

"Most suburban gossip is, but you already know this. It's not me I'm worried about really, it's Shawn. Kids talk too and what if they make fun of him?"

"Oh no! My awesome dad is dating my awesome teacher! Whatever will I do?!", Robin wailed.

"He thinks we're awesome separately. There's no telling what he'll think of us together. And I...I don't want to give him false hope."

"Steve...when was the last time you went on a date?"

Steve let out a puff of air. "Does that one guy who ogled me a few years ago count?"

"Gross! Steve! No! Do you mean the guy who was just staring at you breast feeding?"

"Serves me right for doing it in public. And in shorts."

"Hey, no, there will be no slut-shaming in this household." Robin paused when she heard the door open and the bounding of feet. "Your gremlin is here."

"I think you mean my precious miracle from above. And you will treat him as such. My only gremlins are my sixth graders."

"Whatever. Just get your shipwreck together and decide what you want to do."

Turns out, Steve didn't have to wait long for an opportunity. Shawn had come home that day with a flyer for a Thanksgiving performance and was asking for parent volunteers.

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

Eddie wasn't like, actively hoping that he would see Shawn's dad again. But when the fliers went home asking for volunteers, as well as an email, there was something going up. But it wasn't hope. It definitely wasn't hope. It couldn't possibly be hope. That way nothing could be dashed when nothing came of it.

So when he came into the auditorium after school, he was simply pleasantly surprised to see Mr. Harrington there. Not elated. Not ecstatic. Just appropriately pleased.

He greeted all the parents of his students, of which he only saw two others before coming to Mr. Harrington.

"Nice to see you again", he said with a handshake.

"And you as well", Mr. Harrington replied.

Eddie was sure he was imagining the electricity passing through their touch.

"Well, welcome to elementary theatre. Where we're gonna nurture any and all blossoming passions in the arts."

"Can't wait to see it. Um, so what exactly will they be doing?", Steve asked.

"The first grade class as the honor of doing a little song on what they're thankful for. Mrs. Clifford usually accompanies them by piano, but this year I'm hoping to get some more instrumentation for it."

"Oh, Shawn told me you play guitar."

Eddie's first instinct was to twirl his hair to hide his smile but it was still up in a bun, so he tried to fix his face to not be too obvious but he was sure it came out as a weird grimace.

"Yeah, yeah I do. Been playing for years. What about you, any instrumental skills?"

"None", Mr. Harrington shook his head. "My parents tried piano lessons, but I never took them for long. Just long enough to learn 'Mary Had a Little Lamb'."

"Everybody's got their talents. And no better place to showcase them", Eddie thrust his arms out around them.

"Well for now, I'm volunteering my time being a watchful eye and working on backgrounds and costumes. Plus snacks."

"Wait, did you bring the chips and sliders?", Eddie jutted a thumb toward the table near the stage.

Mr. Harrington shrugged. "It's just turkey and ham. And I know how ravenous kids can get."

"Are you guys talking about me?", Shawn asked, coming up to them.

Eddie watched the odd look on Mr. Harrington's face and was sure his must've looked similar. This was probably the longest he'd been talking to a parent without talking about their kid.

"I was just about to bow to your dad's culinary prowess", Eddie said. "Apparently, he made the snacks for this evening."

"I asked him to make his stuffing because, you know, Thanksgiving, but he said it was too early", Shawn said.

"I'm sure his stuffing is delicious", Eddie smiled down at him.

"You should come to our house and try it", Shawn beamed, leaning his head against his dad's hip.

Eddie looked back up at Mr. Harrington. "I'd love it if I could do that."

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

What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck

Steve was thankfully saved from replying to that by rehearsal starting and so Mr. Munson's attention was drawn away but seriously. What the fuck was that? Was that man inviting himself over to his house? Was it simple small talk? What was it all supposed to mean?

He was put on costume duty while the children practiced which kept his hands busy but not his brain, so he spent the next hour over thinking about that one line, which led to him overanalyzing the entire conversation. When practice ended, the teachers stood by the front entrance to wait for any parents that weren't already there or hadn't shown up toward the end to get their kids.

Mr. Munson waved off the last of his students just as Shawn finished in the bathroom and Steve helped him get his coat on. He looked hesitant before speaking up.

"Looks like you're my last one. I can walk you to your car if you want. It's pretty dark out."

Pretty dark was an understatement. It was near pitch black and the parking lot had bare minimum lighting. Steve definitely would've felt better about it if he had someone on the other side of Shawn.

"Yeah, that'd be great, thanks."

And without being told so, Mr. Munson put Shawn between them as they left the school and walked out into the parking lot. He gave a whistle once they got to Steve's BMW.

"Nice car."

"Thanks. She's been pretty faithful to me all these years." Steve unlocked the car and let Shawn into the backseat first. When he closed the door, he smiled at the alpha before him. "Thanks for walking us out.

"Consider it a routine then. At least until this place can afford to fully light up the lot."

"Thank you. I really appreciate it." There must have been the tiniest bit of a lull in the conversation because suddenly Shawn piped up from inside the car.

"Dad, can we get tacos for dinner?"

Steve snapped out of whatever staring contest he was having with Mr. Munson and looked down affectionately at his son. "What? My casserole not good enough all of a sudden?" He opened the driver side door and got in, turning the ignition on.

With them safely in the car, Eddie went over to his van and got in, waiting until he saw Mr. Harrington pull out before going his own way.

Later that night, after putting Shawn to bed, Steve was left alone with his thoughts again as he graded papers using an answer key at the kitchen table. It was easy to let his mind drift into just how...how wonderful Mr. Munson seemed.

He bit his lip and squeezed his legs together. Mr. Munson was handsome, and charismatic, and so safe, so much the perfect alpha that he'd been led to believe didn't exist. He could protect him and his pup... and Steve could give him more pups...

Steve's hand drifted down between his legs and he let it stroke a few times before freezing and closing his grade book. Time for something more mentally stimulating.

"Guess I'm lesson planning tonight."

Part 3

Tag Team

@anne-bennett-cosplayer @aol19 @lololol-1234 @hippieg1rl420

[periwinkla]

haha I’m back again haha-

If there was one thing you could change about the ace attorney story what would it be?

Personally it would be having the gap between where Phoenix and miles were in contact be a lot shorter. Because sometimes people forget Phoenix kinda stalked miles, they knew eachother for like a few months when they were 9 years old! So it is kinda creepy that Phoenix just stopped everything for him because he “looked sad.” The thing is we don’t even have confirmation that Phoenix tried contacting him. It would also make more sense if they were constantly talking to each other and it just stopped. Phoenix would have a better reason for the going into law school for a friend then “hE wAs sAd.” It’s honestly insane that nobody actually questions this for more than a minute! Like yeah, it’s the ace attorney universe. But are you telling me that no one thought “oh my god that is absolutely insane you need to talk to a therapist!” Anyways tell me what you think!

Haha hello again, anon :) (a few SOJ spoilers for the 1st paragraph) I don't think I would change any major event, but... I think I would change the way Trucy's relationship (or lack thereof) with some characters is depicted. Apart from the final SOJ scene with Edgeworth, it feels like Trucy doesn't have much of a relationship with the first trilogy's characters. In SOJ Maya doesn't mention her at all, even though it would make sense to have a dialogue with her asking Phoenix how his daughter was doing.... so maybe, if I were to change any part of the story, it would be for Edgeworth to notice she stuck in his suitcase a bit earlier so that she can take part in 6-5 at least. What she was even doing throughout the whole mayhem still baffles me... please don't tell me she was in the suitcase the whole time... I understand your point, although at least for me it just represents a character flaw & relationship flaw, and I find it interesting. I don't think it's something that's ever treated as a 'normal' decision in-game, either (Maya is flabbergasted when he tells her the reason he became a lawyer, for example). It shows how easily he gets attached to people and obsessed with saving them. It's an actual problem he has as a character. Also the class trial sells to me the narrative that Phoenix was a bit of an outcast in childhood (he had only Larry as a friend which is also mentioned to have had a not-so-good childhood).  And in such a circumstance there was this one person to stick out for him so vehemently. Then he sees that same person - someone he saw as a hero - in a newspaper depicted as a demon who would do anything for a guilty verdict, and he can’t accept it. Phoenix does this to an extreme degree, but he does everything in his life to extreme degrees, really. And it seems like to him, as long as he gets to save people, nothing is a big deal. Like ‘yeah this is just a thing I need to do to save that person’. It’s no biggie to change life paths to save someone, it’s no biggie to swallow a necklace, it’s no biggie crossing a bridge on fire, it’s no biggie adopting a kid at 26 when your life is in shambles. I like that Phoenix and Miles’s relationship is not an idyllic love story thing. Phoenix’s tendency to get too attached, obsessed, and fixated on saving people is one of his character flaws, which is something he needs to work on. Miles’s tendency to self-isolate and do everything by himself contrasts with that and they both need to learn from each other, really. Both are incredibly unhealthy. What drives this point home is 2-4 for me, because Phoenix makes Miles’s death all about himself, like it’s somehow his responsibility. When it really isn’t. Miles had to take some time for himself and figure himself out. It’s the way he did it that was wrong. They’re both wrong here.

By the way Phoenix confirms he tried to contact him, we just don't know the 'how'. I suspect he may have just phoned/sent something to the Prosecutor's office, but who knows. Miles didn't reply, regardless. Unless he sent like, dozens of stuff to the Prosecutor's office, I wouldn't define that as stalking; he also never even tries to be in his vicinity if not in the courtroom. By his logic, he only can get through to him via the law, after all. By showing him and reminding him what Miles himself taught him as children. That's why he became a defense attorney and not something like... I dunno, a detective? Would have been easier to talk to him if they worked together, no? But that wasn't the point. He wanted to inspire Miles to go back to being the person who inspired him when they were children. That's my understanding, anyway. (also I like to consider the fact that the whole Dahlia fiasco reminded him of the feeling of being accused, but I'd ramble so I'll stop here... there's a lot behind his decision to become a lawyer) I do think it would have been nice if they had at least a few more months together as children though. In the game it’s ambiguous when the class trial takes place (and the JP school year starts in April) so initially I had thought they were friends for something like 8ish months… but in the anime it’s set in September. To me this may imply that Phoenix didn’t have a nice childhood either; maybe it wasn't tragic, but he was lonely enough that he hanged on the memory of those 3-4ish months because those were his most precious ones. It’s… sad.

P.S. Sorry if I rambled too much anon, I tend to overanalyze stuff.

[jisungsdaydreamer]

Stray Kids as High School Romance AUs

Pairing: OT8 x fem!reader Genre: headcanon, fluff, angst if you squint Warnings: mentions of bullying but nothing super serious! Word Count: 5.4k

Lee Know

The mysterious one, a classic tsundere

You know that one kid who’s been in your class since you were a little kid but you still don’t know anything about them? Minho right there.

He sits in the back of class and says nothing, even though some of his friends (aka the rest of the boys) are so loud at lunch

He would just quietly eat his sandwich before he catches you watching him and stares right back at you, making you awkwardly look away 

You’re so intrigued that you keep observing him, noticing little things like the cat stickers his phone is covered in, or the fact that he’s the secret mastermind behind the pudding trading business that your principal banned from school

Your first interaction with Minho is when you stumble upon him feeding a couple stray cats in the abandoned playground in your community

He’s super embarrassed to be caught being all soft and cute, especially given his cold front at school, but eventually warms up to you when you offer the cats some bread from your pocket

Meeting at the playground to pet the cats or just sit on the swings in a comfortable silence becomes your thing with Minho. You get to know each other better, and turns out, he’s actually really unhinged and chaotic and hilarious. The mysterious and borderline emo thing he worked is just a facade. 

But things don’t change at school, because you feel like you don’t have an excuse to talk to him there.

Until one random day, he just walks into class and wordlessly sets his bag next to your chair

“Why are you sitting next to me?”

“I should be able to sit next to my girl, right?”

You’re confused and exhilarated and kind of skeptical until Minho explains that for some time now, he’s seen you as his girlfriend. Who else would he sacrifice his dance lessons for? Feeding the cats together was basically a date, right? Do you not feel the same about him?! Wait, what?!!?

He’s all shy now and unsure and panicking internally, until you squeeze his hand under the desk and whisper to him that you like him too

You meet more often from there on, and he’s the kind of loving and attentive boyfriend that doesn’t say much, but will do anything for you. 

He takes an extra water bottle to school everyday, just in case if you forgot, and brings you delicious lunches that he made himself

Going to cat cafés and long drives around town are musts for you both

And when his friends tease him about you, he fiercely swats them away before retreating to you for cuddles like one of his beloved kittens

He’s soft only for you

So sweet ^ω^

2. Hyunjin

Everyone has a little bit of a crush on Hyunjin. The girls who fawn over his good looks, the creative writing kids who pine over poems they spin about him, and even the sweet old lady at the front desk.

And you’re not immune. 

You’ve basically had a huge crush on him since your first day of high school

You’ve done a couple of assignments together and how sweet and charming he is never fails to get you screaming into your pillow when you get home

He once bought you an iced americano at the coffee shop when you were partnered together on a project for school, and even though you didn’t like it, you drank the whole thing. 

The smile on his face was worth it

Now that you’re in senior year, you can’t help but wish he’d ask you to prom

But that would never happen, because someone as wanted as Hyunjin would never like you

Except he does. Ever since he first saw you in biology class, he’s been floored.

You don’t think he even remembers you outside of class, but the man is so down bad that he watches you doing anything and everything. 

Not in a creepy way ＾▿＾

You’ll be sitting outside in the grass with your friends during lunch, and Hyunjin will also be observing you, sitting against a tree and sketching you in his little notebook like the lover boy he is

You laughing. You sipping on your mango juice. You tucking back your hair.

Bro is just in love.

You randomly find a small sketch of yourself in your bag. It’s beautiful, but you’ve no idea who drew it, even after asking around

More of these drawings show up, everywhere. In your notebook. On your desk. In your glasses case. You wonder who this mystery artist is, and why they chose you to be their muse.

One rainy afternoon, you are trying to find your missing bracelet and find Hyunjin painting in the empty art room

His clumsy self almost falls out of his chair when you walk in on him 

He tries to hide his painting canvas from you until you get suspicious and look over his shoulder. 

It’s a simple portrait of you just smiling

You nearly cry at how beautiful and raw it is, but are also ecstatic because Hyunjin is your secret admirer/artist?!

He confesses his feelings at that point, seeing no point in hiding them any longer, and also unveils the bottom half of the portrait that you hadn’t noticed

PROM? is written in big, bold letters because we all know Hyunjin is extra

He then pulls out a rose, which is a little crumpled from being in his pocket. He pouts about it until you kiss him on the cheek and thank him, accepting his promposal

Hyunjin, the beautiful, unattainable one, is actually the sensitive romantic, and he turns red when you kiss him

You guys are the hottest couple at senior prom, tearing up the dance floor before Hyunjin whisks you away in his car, driving you to a secluded gazebo where he has candles and snacks and everything set up, and you guys just lie there, exchanging hushed “I love you’s” for the first time and gazing out at the stars

3. Changbin

Changbin has been your older brother’s very best friend ever since they both met in their first year of high school

At the gym.

Both your brother and Changbin were kind of unpopular, so both of them were bullied often. And being on the skinnier side, it also made it easier for them to get beat up

So your brother decided to get toned to protect himself, and he ended up registering at your local gym. And guess who he runs into there?

Changbin!

They both become gym buddies, and eventually, bond outside of their work-outs

And bonding includes meeting his baby sister, you.

Changbin had brought a box of biscuits for your mom and a bag of candy for you. 

He was one whole year older than you, but your eighth grade self was WHIPPED.

From then on, you follow Changbin around everywhere. 

And you know what? He never gets annoyed.

He always talks to you without getting embarrassed and even includes you in his conversations with friends, even when your brother clearly tries to kick you out.

But he always sees you as his best friend’s younger sister, like his own sister. You watch him go through many relationships, but your crush on him never wavers. 

And in due time, he becomes real buff. Which doesn’t help. At all.

So you keep your feelings for him as a secret, even though all you really want to do is confess to him and have him all to yourself, because you know he’d probably have to gently reject you.

By the time your junior year rolls around, you know you’re going to be watching Changbin and your big brother graduate together. You don’t have much time left before he leaves town to go to college, and you don’t know how often you’ll see him.

You overhear a lot of the senior girls gossiping about who Changbin might ask out to prom, and everyone whispers about some girl named Soyeon.

You know who they’re talking about; Soyeon is one of Changbin’s good friends, and she, your brother, and Changbin have hung out together multiple times.

You’re instantly filled with so. much. jealousy. 

Because of course he’d choose a hot, cool girl that’s actually his age, over you.

And you’ve even noticed how Changbin has been spending less and less time with you, always dashing off in the middle of conversations or hurrying away to do “homework.”

But you’d rather leave than be left.

From then on, you try to avoid Changbin as much as possible, because liking him was hurting you, more than you’d like to admit, because he didn’t even know. He was your first love.

A few days of ignoring Changbin’s texts and pretending not to see him in the halls, well, of course Changbin will notice.

He knocks on your front door and you open it. Immediately, you assume he’s here for your brother, and you look away.

“My brother’s at soccer practice right now. He can’t hang out.”

“No, actually, I wanted to talk to you.”

You’re surprised, and a little nervous, but still, you let him in, leading him to the kitchen. 

Wordlessly, Changbin heads over to the freezer, pulling out a pint of ice cream, and then a bowl from the dishwasher. He hands a bowl full of rocky road to you, and your heart immediately melts.

He knows you so well; when you’re feeling down, you love ice cream. And he knows your family too, where everything in the kitchen is :((( 

“Are you going to tell me why you’re avoiding me?”

You try to deny it, but one look from him and you’re a goner. You can’t ever lie to him.

“I heard you’re taking Soyeon to prom.”

Changbin looks confused. 

“We’re just friends though???”

“But I heard—”

Changbin rolls his eyes. 

“You believe gossip too much. I was going to ask you.”

Now you’re really unconvinced. 

“Sure. As your little sister.”

Uhhhh, nope.

Changbin groans, and for the first time, he lowkey looks kind of shy.

“I was going to surprise you, and I kept getting nervous, so that’s why I kept rushing off when we were hanging out.”

You feel the happy bubbles rising in your chest, but you’re still kind of unconvinced, until Changbin pulls out his phone and shows you his background.

It’s a selfie of you and him. 

So you both ended up going to prom together, and yes, your brother was watching you both very, very carefully. After, you guys did make it official and started dating over the summer.

When changbin left for college, you guys still stayed together. He’d come back home to visit you a lot, and you guys facetimed multiple times a week. 

Changbin would even help you on your college applications and edit your essays

And he’d also come back for your senior prom, and you guys would go together again.

He’s so cute help meee (✿◠‿◠)

4. Han

You’ve been friends with Jisung ever since you were in diapers.

Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. You became friends in middle school, but Jisung insists that it feels like you were meant to be best friends with him since you both were born.

You met on a cloudy Monday morning during the first week of middle school, when Jisung plopped down in the chair next to you and introduced himself to you. 

Even with your efforts to ward off his friendship, forever wary of strangers, he soon became a part of your daily life, and you actually began to look forward to his antics in class everyday. He made everything so much more interesting and fun, and you love him for it.

Fast forward a few years later, you’re both in your junior year in high school. Both of you are still best friends.

And there’s also Minho, this hot senior you can't talk about because you claim he’s as mysterious as the moon.

Yeahhh, Jisung isn’t buying that crap. To him, Minho is a blank notebook. Boring. He just doesn’t get what you see in that guy!

He whines whenever you bring up Minho, and once, he was so excited that you invited him to Chipotle, but then he realizes it was only because you wanted to inconspicuously spy on Minho, who was also there for lunch.

Jisung ended up grumbling over his rice bowl and then storming out of the restaurant when you *accidentally* went to the soda fountain at the same time as Minho

Later that night, you confront him about why he ditched you at the Chipotle. Jisung gets annoyed and says he doesn’t like how you were using him to be your spy-buddy

And now you’re annoyed, because is that all he got from that?!!!!

Muttering to yourself, you walk home and ignore Jisung’s call to your retreating back

FOR GOD’S SAKE, YOU’RE TRYING TO MAKE YOUR BEST FRIEND JEALOUS.

Your crackhead best friend is the one you like, because puh-lease, Minho is too emo for you.

Jisung keeps texting you all night, but you ignore him, because you’re angry. How dense could your best friend be? Your “mysterious moon” reason for liking Minho was bullshit?! Can’t he take a hint?! Like-

Jisung interrupts your deliberating by throwing a small pebble onto your window

Although you’re still irritated, you guide Jisung up the small tree next to your window (in the process, he nearly falls off to his doom)

Once he’s inside your room, Jisung sits on the bed and you stand in front of him, arms folded like you’re his annoyed parent

“What do you want, Ji? It’s midnight” 

He thrusts out a bag of twizzlers towards you, and you just can’t resist. Candy is your weakness, and it’s what he always bribes you with when you get mad at him

“Iwasntmadbecauseyoumademecometochipotletospyonminho”

“Sorry?”

But Jisung keeps going without slowing down, like the menace he is.

“Iwasmadbecauseilikeyouandimjealousofminho.”

“Yo, what??!”

“I LIKE YOU, JEEZ!”

You rush forward and clamp your hand over Jisung’s mouth, shutting him up before your parents come and kill you. 

“Yeah, I got that, genius! I was just surprised!”

Both of you just stare at each other for a good minute, and then burst into loud laughter

Yeah, this ain’t friends to lovers. More like idiots to lovers.

And yes, your mom also comes in, fuming, and kicks Jisung out. You’re grounded.

But the next day, at school, you and Jisung make things official. You also take the chance to blackmail Jisung that if he ever refuses to buy you candy again whenever you ask, then it’s over.

Jisung laments that he made a mistake in asking you out, but one look from you and he shuts up.

Other than that, you guys become that disgustingly sweet and hilarious couple that’s always in sync.

You both have the dumbest inside jokes and cover each other’s eyes during horror movies

U_U  

5. Felix

The boy next-door… 

He moved in to the house next to yours a few years ago, with his whole family, and with your curiosity, you watched him and his sisters laugh together from behind your curtains

Later that night, Felix knocked on your door and offered you and your parents homemade brownies. Your mother immediately falls in love with the chocolate treats and invites this charming boy’s family over for dinner that night

You become best friends with Rachel and Olivia, Felix’s sisters, but you couldn’t help but have a crush on Felix

Some time later ,when you went over to hang out with the girls, they both had to leave in the middle for piano lessons, but before you could go home, Felix offered to teach you how to bake

That’s how you end up giggling in the kitchen together and teasing each other with flour fights

When Rachel and Olivia are busy, you play video games with Felix in his room— at least, he plays and tries to teach you, while you miserably fail each time

But it’s just so fun to see his eyes light up whenever he wins a match or something

Gamer bf vibes for real 

In school, you notice him in the hallways and he always has a bunch of girls swooning over him, but he always smiles at you and gives you a sweet hug whenever he sees you

Summers are filled with trips to the pool with the Lee siblings and biking around town, getting ice cream and enjoying the air conditioning in the public library.

You and Felix literally grow up together :(

Your bedroom window is directly across from Felix’s, and sometimes, you both wave to each other through glimpses

Once, since your homes aren’t spaced that far apart, Felix threw a delicate paper plane through your window and into your room. 

You were studying for your math test tomorrow, and so it has a cute note written inside wishing you good luck. Also there’s a candy taped to the paper because of his sweet tooth <33

The paper airplane notes become a tradition, and one night, Felix throws an airplane asking you to meet him at the little pond in your neighborhood

It’s literally almost midnight so you’re like ???

But you sneak out anyway, and meet him at the pond

It’s late autumn so you’re freezing in your pajamas, cursing yourself for not bringing a jacket. And the woods surrounding? Creepy as hell, especially in the dark

When you feel someone grab your arm, you scream but then they cover your mouth with their warm, tiny hand and you realize it’s Felix LMAO

He’s brought a container of warm brownies for you, hot cocoa, and a little blanket

You’re speechless. Because what is happening?!

He immediately notices you’re shivering and wraps you in his own jacket and the blanket, before sitting you down next to him, drawing you close in his arms

And snuggled together in front of the moonlit pond, he confesses that he’s liked you since the moment he set his eyes on you

Just kill me now.

Anyway, his sisters are a little mad that they have to share you with him when you guys reveal that you’re a couple, but for the most part, both of your families love you both together

And you guys even become that couple that’s always clinging to each other and being all lovey-dovey in the hallways

But PDA is never cringe with Felix :P 

EVER.

6. Seungmin

He’s definitely the smartest kid in class, the one who everyone goes to get homework help from

You completely envy him, because before he started attending your school, you used to be first in everything

Now?

He’s always first, and you follow closely behind as second. Every. Single. Time.

It infuriates you to the core when your teacher hands back test papers, and before he even checks his score, which is obviously better than yours, he shoots you a little smirk

You dislike him so much that you even tell him that, and you both bicker back and forth. Every time, however, he ends up reminding you that you’re just jealous and need to work harder to catch up with him, which is very true and angers you even more

But when you complain about him to your friends, they tease you and say you like him

Which you absolutely do NOT

Even though you’ve always noticed how his eyes seem to shimmer when he reads a book, or how his smile is brighter than the sun

Ever since your friends have made it their mission to torment you about Seungmin, you can’t help but gaze at him a little longer

He’s always on his own, either studying diligently or finishing homework for another class during study hall, when everyone else just goofed off

At lunch, he sits under a tree and eats calmly while engrossed with a book in his hand, slowly sipping his juice occasionally

One day, you see a couple of the older kids picking on him outside, and you overhear that it’s because he scored better than them in advanced exams

When one of them grabs Seungmin’s shirt and tries to drag him, you instantly see red and charge for the idiot, punching him to the side and grasping Seungmin’s hand

You’re Seungmin’s knight in shining armor!!

But then the other older kids start to close in on you both

Uh-oh.

You and Seungmin make a run for it, escaping narrowly by catching a departing bus. You don’t even know where you both are going, but you breathlessly laugh together about the ordeal

Later, Seungmin’s mom finds you both and drives you home. While you and Seungmin sit quietly in the back, his mom cheerily thanks you for being his friend, since Seungmin doesn’t have any. Also, she notes that it’s wonderful to finally meet you, because Seungmin can’t stop talking about how smart and cool you are at home

Seungmin is mortified because his mom has exposed him and refuses to look at you, but for the first time, you feel like you don’t hate him

Not even close

When you reach home, Seungmin’s mom makes him get out of the car and walk you to your door. Before your anxiety gets the best of you, you lean forward and kiss him on the cheek, shyly running inside before he can say anything. 

Little do you know that he can’t even think of words right now. He just stands there, frozen, not hearing his mom’s honking above the beat of his heart

Soon, when he musters up the courage to ask you out, you both become official

And you both become study buddies as well, so you finally end up beating Seungmin after learning his tips and tricks. 

P.S. years later, Seungmin jokes that if he never dated you, he still would’ve been first in class. But who knows? Because you guys are made for each other.

7. Jeongin

This story is less about you and more about Jeongin. He’s the main character, not you. 

Duh.

As one of the most popular people in school, Jeongin is used to getting everything he wants. Teachers and students alike adore him for his charisma, looks, and sweet personality

Even though he’s a junior, all the seniors know who he is and would die to hang out with him

One day, surrounded by his big group of friends, as usual, Jeongin is walking down the neighborhood streets to that diner he loves to eat at

And then he notices the most beautiful girl walking into the restaurant right next to his favorite diner, the very establishment that he swore to never eat at and betray his beloved diner

But he’s immediately awestruck and curious to know who you are, and so he walks in right after you, ignoring his friends confused questions as to why he’s literally going into to the rival restaurant of his usual place

As soon as he is inside, he looks for the table you’re sitting at,

He grabs the table right next to yours and rattles off his order to the waitress, still in a daze with his eyes fixated on you

He recognizes your two friends who you are sitting with. They’re both senior girls, which means you must be one too

Oh? ;)

The hot older student? Sign Jeongin up.

He boldly goes up to your booth and asks you out, straight-up, flashing you a cute smile and a daring wink

You and your friends just glance at each other, amused, before you politely let him down

Because you don’t even know him?? Tf??

But your rejection makes him even more infatuated with you, because although he’s an attention-whore, the one thing he loves more is a good challenge

He swaggers back to his table, but not before shooting you a grin that screams “this ain’t over”

And it isn’t over.

Because he spends time learning about what you like through the grapevine, and as one of the school’s most popular kids, he has good access to it.

You love pink carnations, banana ice cream, and surprises. 

And through that wonderful grapevine, he also finds out about what kind of person you are. Funny, kind, and incredibly smart, as one of the toppers in your grade. 

So cute.

At school some time later, after you have almost forgotten about him, he slides in next to you at your lunch table, opening his bag and eating as if everything is normal

You just watch him like??

But you go along with it because you don’t want to be rude. All of your friends love Jeongin (obviously) because he’s so funny and charming

But you just eat your food silently, wondering what this kid is up to

As soon as the school bell rings, you walk out of your classroom and towards your locker, but surprise, surprise, Jeongin is already waiting there. With a bigass bouquet of baby pink carnations.

“Can I be your boyfriend?” 

Jeongin beams at you confidently, but you can see a hint of nervousness behind it. 

And you find the whole cheesy getup very endearing. Still… he’s trouble.

You hide back your smile, shaking your head. 

“I don’t date junior boys.” You walk off, leaving Jeongin hanging once again.

Damn. What a woman.

It’s time for Jeongin to pull out the big guns, because no one has ever made him work for it like you. 

A few nights later, just as you’re about to sit down with your family for dinner, you hear a knock at the door. Your dad offers to get it, so you pay no mind.

But a minute later, your dad walks in with none other than Jeongin, a box of ice cream in his hands

“Your nice friend came over to drop off some dessert. So I invited him to stay for dinner.”

Stunned, you just watch Jeongin drag a chair next to your seat and dig into his food enthusiastically.

As the rest of the evening progresses, your family literally falls in love with Jeongin; he laughs at your father’s horrible dad jokes, listens to all of your mom’s embarrassing childhood stories about you, and engrosses himself in discussion about Fortnite with your little brother

After dessert, you announce that you’ll walk Jeongin out, grabbing him by his arm and pulling him outside onto your porch before he can protest

Once the front door is shut, you glare at Jeongin

“What are you doing here?”

“Dropping off dessert!”

“But why?”

“Because I like you, okay?!”

Jeongin squares his shoulders, looking you in the eye. “Go out with me. You won’t regret dating a junior, I promise.”

What a cliché. 

You roll your eyes, because you’re tired and your feet are cold. Also, you’re not amazing at expressing your emotions. Your heart feels like a damn water slide and you really need a sec.

“Jeongin, go home.”

“You like me too, right? I know how you look at me.”

It’s pretty obvious, you know it too. Ever since his whole stunt with the flowers, you’ve been watching him from afar, your own crush growing on him. But you can’t be with a junior, can you?

“Doesn’t matter. I have homework to do, let’s talk tomorrow.”

“You also like surprises, yes?”

Jeongin steps closer to you, nearly cornering you against the porch pillar. You shove him away.

“Dude, are you trying to kiss me?!”

Jeongin stumbles back. “No!”

He whips out a small velvet box behind his back and opens it, revealing a gorgeous bracelet. “It’s not as pretty as you, but I thought it would look good on you.”

He gently takes your wrist and slips it on, earnestly gazing down at you. “But I would really like to kiss you, if you don’t have too much homework.”

“Screw chemistry.”

You loop your arms around Jeongin’s neck and pull him down, kissing him. 

“Guess I’m the one who surprised you in the end.”

8. Bang Chan

He would 100% be one of those nice popular kids.

He’d have like a million friends and a bunch of wannabes would follow him around too, but he’s so sweet to everyone

Chan is a jock, because he’s athletic and the captain of the soccer team, but he’s also one of those really smart kids too. He gets amazing grades and even plays the guitar, because he’s a sensitive music guy omgggg

Anyway

You have to agree he’s cute, but you’ve always been a little wary of the popular kids. A lot of the people he’s friends with are rude af, but he chills with everyone because no one could ever say anything to him, that’s how well-liked he is.

You have history class together, and you get paired up together. 

He’s super friendly, obviously, and asks if you can meet up with him at the library after school. What else can you say but yes?

So you get to the library, but Chan is nowhere to be seen. 

Fifteen minutes late, he shows up, and you’re really annoyed at this point, but….

He brought you both boba!

Suspiciously, you accept it (it’s delicious) and you’re surprised to find out that Chan actually really knows his stuff

You both finish a good chunk of your work, and a lot of your progress is thanks to Chan’s immaculate planning and organization

You’ve never seen a guy have a binder with color-coded separators and aesthetic notes and stuff, but Chan keeps surprising you

You both meet up two more times to finish the project, and each time, Chan brings you a different flavor of boba. 

And eventually, you warm up to him, and it’s hard not to fall for his endearing, caring personality. He even offered you his hoodie when you got cold because of the library air conditioning!

When you finish your project, you’re sad that it means that you have to stop hanging with Chan, but he actually keeps saying hi to you at school and striking up conversation, even though you get a little shy. 

He moved seats to sit next to you in class too, and comes to the library more often to just sit at your table and do homework in silence with you

One day, you overhear a few of Chan’s friends complaining about him spending more time with some unpopular girl. They start picking on the girl, when you realize the girl they’re making fun is you. 

Immediately, you run off to the bathroom to cry in the stalls’ privacy, because you should have known that being friends with someone like Chan was a bad idea

Although he might not have been a bad person, some of his friends certainly were. That made him a bad guy by association.

A few minutes later, as you’re wiping your tears and stepping out of the bathroom when you crash into Chan, who’s waiting right outside

You try to step around him and leave, but he just hugs you from the back and apologizes by whispering into your ear

His voice is so soothing :(( 

“I’ll make them apologize, and I’m not going to hang out with them anymore, and anyone else who says anything to you.”

And honestly, you’re kind of shocked that he is willing to give up his friends for you

But like he can read your mind, Chan answers for you:

“They don’t matter to me as much as you do.”

He indirectly confesses that he likes you, but you guys actually don’t go into a relationship right away.

You spend a lot more time getting to know each other, personally and on a deeper level.

You learn about his passion for music, and he learns about your own interests. You share your hopes and dreams and fears, until you finally realize how much you both truly mean to each other

After all, Chan is the type of person who would take his time before committing himself to someone

And although when you finally get together, it seems like Chan is always protecting you, it’s actually the other way around:

You teach Chan that it’s okay to be vulnerable, and that you’ll always love him no matter what. 

More than anything, you’re proud of Chan and the person he is. Always.

TAGLIST @hamburgers101 @chansburgah @ajxreads @hash2013 @pixigreen @ana-marais98 @ohish @chizumiyoshi @lilydaisyyy @jetblackbelle @yeahhspider @army-stay-noel @143hyunes

Network: @kflixnet

[phoxey]

The White Raven (Bada Lee Gang AU)

Bada Lee x fem!reader

CW: violence, angst if you really really squint, mentions of blood

Chapter 2

Chapter 1 - Have you ever killed someone, Bada?

You were tired. It was three in the morning and it was your fourth night shift this week. You worked three jobs. During the day you tutored kids in English, in the evening you worked for a food delivery service and in the night, you worked in a 24/7 convenience store, so you only ever slept from seven to noon, each day. And you were happy if you had one day off in a month. You worked so much because your little brother needed the money for the private school he was going to, which your mom could barely afford. Your brother had all the potential to get your family out of poverty, so you supported him where you could so he could focus on his school.

You were texting with him when a few girls your age came into the store. You knew them, they were rowdies from around here. They came in laughing and talking loudly. You heard the first glass bottle smash onto the ground followed by more laughter. They came after a while to pay for the beer they wanted.

“Sorry, darling, one of the bottles fell to the ground back there.”, the tall girl said and smirked at you. It wasn’t an apologetic smile; it wasn’t even remotely friendly. It was more of a smile like a tigress who was about to eat you alive if you dared to move. Your heart was beating so fast, you didn’t want any trouble.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Don’t worry. I will clean that up.”, you said timidly as she was towering over you.

She just nodded and she and her group left. The last time they have also broken some things and you were sure that they even stole some stuff.

You quickly got a mop and a trashcan to clean the floor in the beer aisle. That aisle was directly in front of the entrance so you could see outside. The group was laughing and drinking outside when another group of older men approached them, they seemed to be angry and the group dropped their beers and started to run. But the tall girl from earlier didn’t react fast enough, the men caught her by her jacket and pushed her to the ground, they started to kick and beat her. One even had a baseball bat.

You don’t know what came over you but as if you were in a fury trance, you stepped outside. Mid-air you grabbed the other end of the baseball bat and pulled strongly once, so it slipped out of the hands of the man, who turned around confused. He wasn’t even fully facing you when the baseball bat hit his jaw and he fell back.

“Homerun.”, you said and stared at the other guys. “I will kill you if you touch him again.” They saw the creepy look in your eyes and grabbed their friend to run off.

You let the baseball bat fall and knelt to the girl who was whining in pain.

“Are you okay? Can you talk? Wait… I will call an ambulance.”, you said and wanted to stand up to go inside to your phone, but she grabbed your wrist.

“Don’t. No ambulance. No police.”, she winced.

“You need medical treatment!”, You said shocked.

“You treat me then.”, she hissed sternly, holding her ribs.

Somehow you brought her inside and sat her down on the couch in the break room. You brought multiple ice packs and gave them to her to hold them to her ribs. She winced again when you cleaned a wound on her lip with a disinfectant. She stared at you as she worked on her wounds. After a moment you met her eyes and blushed at her intense stare.

“You were badass, out there.”, she whispered. “What’s your name?”

“Y/N.”, You answered simply.

“I’m Bada.”, she said smiling. “You were like an action movie hero. What did you say to him? ‘Homerun.’?”

You chuckled flustered. “I don’t know what came over me…”

“You saved me.”, Bada stated matter-of-factly.

“What did I save you from, Bada?”, You asked.

“A rivaling gang. They think this is their territory, but they lost this area quite a while ago to us.”, she shrugged.

“You are a gang? I thought you were just rowdies!”, You were shocked.

“Rowdies? No. We are not just rowdies. But I won’t bore you with details.”, Bada said suddenly, she must have realized that she had said too much already. She stood up, still wincing and hissing in pain, but she was determined that she didn’t need her care anymore.

She went to the little desk, grabbed a piece of paper, and wrote something down. Then she turned and gave you the paper. “If there is something I can do to express my gratitude, don’t hesitate to call me.”, she said.

“Actually, there is something you can do. My life is stressful enough, so… if you couldn’t come here again with your friends, it would be much appreciated.”, you said sternly.

She looked at you for a moment then she turned around and walked out, yet you could hear Bada's chuckle linger in the room longer than you expected.

For a few weeks, you didn’t see her again. You had almost forgotten about her when suddenly someone leaned on your head with her elbow, as you were mopping the floor one evening.

“Hey!”

Bada just laughed at you and you rolled your eyes. “I thought I said that I don’t want you to come here again.”, you huffed as you walked away.

She followed you, grinning. “I know, I really tried to stay away. Then I remembered that technically you only said that I shouldn’t come here with my friends anymore. And look, it’s just me.”

“Wonderful. Grab a beer, pay for it, and then go on with your night, okay?”, you said. Your eyes shot to the entrance; you almost expected those men from last time to enter seeking for revenge.

Bada followed your gaze and realized something. “You’re safe. They won’t come. I made sure of that.”

A shiver ran down your spine when she said the last sentence. But you decided to be cocky, something about Bada emboldened you. “What do you mean, you made sure of that? I made sure of that. I broke that one guy's jaw.”

Bada laughed at that when she grabbed a beer. Then she threw money on the counter before opening the can.

“That much is true. I must admit, I was very impressed.”, she said. “Did you once play baseball?”

You briefly thought of the real reason, but quickly shook her head, blinked away tears, and put on a smile. “Yes. Yes, I played baseball in high school.”

Bada tilted her head like a curious puppy, certainly not buying that. “Ah. What position did you play?”

You knew nothing about baseball. “Pitcher.”

Bada frowned. Shit, wrong answer, you thought. “I don’t believe you.”, she concluded.

“You’d be scared of me if you knew.”, You said.

“I’m scared of nothing.”, Bada said and sat on the counter with her beer, when You put Bada’s money into the cash register.

Then it was Bada's turn to have a shiver go down her spine when she saw your eyes next. They were suddenly very empty and almost pitch black. “Have you ever killed someone, Bada?”

Continue reading: Chapter 2

[jowrites]

XOXO - 11. How comfort is a place named him (written)

Main Masterlist Here

Prev. Next.

TW: Sexual Themes, cursing, physical violence, insecurites, sad themes more to be added...

YN was sitting on her bed, staring down at the sonogram photo she received over her appointment. Staring down at the photo now made everything real. She was having a baby and they agreed to keep it. What was she thinking? She was farther along than she anticipated, 8 weeks, just 5 more weeks and she’ll be hitting her 2nd trimester. Her morning sickness was pretty controlled, she didn’t feel sick mostly, not until she thought of certain foods or smelled certain odors, so luckily nobody around her was suspecting anything. And soon, her stomach would be growing and growing. What was she going to do?

Her stomach made a noise and she sighed, she better get something to eat, for the both of them. What did she want? Suddenly, she had a craving for that toast Heeseung got her that morning after, she remembered him telling her it’s by the school. She took out her phone and quickly typed in the name ‘XOXO cafe’ and it came up. It was still open at 6 PM. Perfect. She quickly got up, putting the photo in her bag to make sure to bring to Heeseung, and getting on a  sweater and her shoes and walking out. She needed food and a good walk to clear her head.

********************

The cafe was cute. She approached it and noticed how the lights glimmered and it looked so inviting and cozy. Why was she so surprised? If it has anything to do with Heeseung, she is sure it's a comfort in a place. She walked up to the door, a man held it open for her as he was living and she quickly thanked him. There were 2 people standing behind the counter and she walked up, looking over the pastries in front of her and the menu on the wall. 

“Hi! Welcome! Have you been here before?” The man behind the counter greeted her.

“Oh, I’ve had it before, yes,” she nodded.

“Awesome, whenever you’re ready to order, no rush!” The man replied, giving her a kind smile. He looked like Heeseung so she could only assume this was his brother.

“Can I have avocado toast please? And a hot chocolate?” She ordered as he placed the order in. 

“That will be $7.34, please,” He held out his hand for her payment and she quickly gave him the payment. “Here’s your receipt.”

“Uhm, I don’t mean to sound creepy or anything,” She said. “Are you Heeseungs brother, by chance?”

“Heeseung? You know Heeseung?” He asked, smiling at her and she nodded.

“Yes, we have some classes together and he tutors me,” She said.

“Ah, that kid! Are you YN?” He asked.

“Yeah, he’s talked about me?” She asked.

“Yeah, sometimes I want him to come help and he ditches me to help you,” He exposed, and YN blushed.

“Oh, sorry,” She said. “I don’t mean to take up his time from the family business.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, if he’s helping you then it’s worth it,” He said. 

“YN?” Suddenly a voice spoke behind her and she turned around and saw Heeseung staring at her, and looking between her and his brother with confusion. “What are you doing here?”

“Ah, there he is! Why didn’t you tell me you had such a pretty friend?” His brother said.

“Dude, come on!” Heeseung groaned. “Sorry about him.”

“What? It’s true!” His brother held up his hands in defense. “I’m just stating facts!”

“You guys are funny,” YN laughed at the two who were bickering.

“I’ll go make your order, YN, have a seat,” His brother then walked to the back and YN nodded, giving him a kind smile. 

“What about me?” Heeseung began to complain.

“Do it yourself,” His brother yelled out.

“Unbelievable,” Heeseung shook his head. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just was hungry and I remember this place and it wasn’t far from my apartment,” She nodded. “Sit with me, I have to show you something.”

The two sat at a table more towards the back for privacy. Heeseung sat across from her waiting for her to show him what she brought. She looked around, grabbing something from her bag and placing it face down in front of him.

“Be kind of discreet,” she said.

He flipped it over and looked at it, his brows going in a frown.

“When did you go?” He asked.

“I went today,” she said, playing with her fingers.

“Why didn’t you say anything? I would have gone with you,” he said, sounding a bit disappointed and YN started to feel guilty.

“I-I didn’t think you would have wanted to come,” she said.

“Of course I would, YN,” he sighed and placed the photo down. “I told you, I’m here to support you through everything. So next time, please tell me so I can come too. Okay?”

She looked at him, his eyes showed such real sincerity, he wasn’t angry at her. He didn’t yell. He just wanted her to understand and be there for her. How could she have been so stupid to not tell him and go alone? She always seemed to make the wrong choices. Before she knew it, tears were forming in her eyes and Heeseung’s face changed to concern and he got up and knelt down next to her. 

“YN, look at me, it’s okay. I’m not mad at you,” He said, the worry in his voice.

“Why aren’t you mad? You should be yelling at me by now,” she said, pathetically hitting his shoulder and he chuckled.

“Cute,” he said under his breath. “Why would I yell at you?”

“Because I did something wrong,” she said, sniffling her cries.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” He said.

“I didn’t?” she asked.

“No, of course not,” He said as he held her cheek, they held eye contact and he wiped her tears from her face. “Why do pretty girls cry so much?”

“Pretty girls have a lot of problems,” she said and he laughed.

“I guess so,” he said. “I’ll go get your food, don’t worry.”

He got up and quickly went over and got the order from his brother, the two exchanging some looks before he came back, placing her food in front of her.

“This looks really good,” she said, her nose red as she sniffled. 

“Eat up, okay? Enjoy it,” he said, nodding towards the food. “And I can keep this, right?”

He held the photo and she nodded, cutting up some of her toast and eating it. 

“This is really good,” she said, beginning to cry again. “I’m crying because it’s just so good!”

Heeseung sat there, laughing at her cuteness. The swelling in his chest bursting, his body feeling warmer than ever. And in that moment, he knew he wanted to give her the world.

Taglist: @n1k1mura

[yueisyum]

Don’t Think About It. (Part three)

Genre♥️college au/vacation au, enemies(not really) to fwb to lovers

Parings☎️haechan/donghuck x conflicted reader

Warnings🚨mentions of / alcohol consumption, and Use of nicknames, angsty!!!! Arguing? Sadness? Angst!!! Talking about love and the fear of love! (Philophobia)

Notes📌 This the part three, obviously. There is no smut, but there will be in part four. Yes, there will be a part four. This one is quite short, but that’s because I didn’t want to switch back to the college au in the middle of the same fic. So stay tuned for part four. And please don’t be shy, share your thoughts!

Ever since you were a kid, you made rules for yourself. Adding them as you grew older. And changing them as you experienced. Everyone has rules, wether they realize it or not.

Your rules were basic and simple. Crafted to perfection. And there were also some you didn’t even realize existed:

1. Boys have cooties(except for Johnny) << especially johnny

2. No falling behind <<< (school)

3. Date to marry experience <<< (boys)

4. Don’t be venerable <<< (liars)

5. Privacy is power

6. Stop being so understanding

7. Don’t allow others to love you (no “I love you”’s)

8. Don’t fall on love too quickly

Rule seven had a couple different reasons. Reasons that we don’t need to get into right now. But everyone who has ever “loved” you, didn’t seem to love you enough to stay; ripping pieces each time one of them left. So, you refuse to allow others to feel for you. Not truly. Always subconsciously inviting people into your life, people you know couldn’t hurt you.

But naturally, rules are meant to be broken.

Falling behind in school around the holidays.

Trusting too easily.

Being too understanding/to forgiving.

And allowing others to say those words to you. “I love you”. And you would continuously, stupidly believe them. nothing had changed. Your were always the stupid one, the girl who never understood who she was to people.

But you had rules, rules you tried your best to follow… until haechan.

•••

Muffled Music blared your ears, drawing you from your sleep. It was still dark out, but Haechan was still next to you. You were tired, but relived to feel his presence.

“What time is it?” you ask, Not bothering to check if he was awake.

“Don’t know” he responded, his voice far from tried or drowsy. You drew back to look at him, his body facing you. Haechans eyes find yours as soon as they come into view.

“Have you been awake?” You ask, your brows pinch together, He tried to act as if he had also just woken up. “Huh? No?”

You slightly sit up on the bed. “You totally were- you were watching me sleep!” You announce with a grin on your face.

“No, that would be creepy, and boring. On the other hand, watching you shower-“ you punch him and settle back down into the bed with a soft laugh. He winces but joins you in your laughter nonetheless.

“As much as I’m enjoying this…” heachan began, turning over to sit up straight. “…And believe me, I am” looking down at you with a stupid smirk. He continued “I’m afraid you have to go”

You paused for a moment.

Oh

Oh

Was all of this really just sex? You can’t believe that you let your mind slip- to forget that this isn’t real, for this long at that.

It’s just two friends helping each other out.

You reminded yourself.

Haechan pouted when he saw the look on your face, afraid you got the wrong idea. “Jenos been blowing up your phone. He’s wondering why you’re not joining the party, or why he can’t find you” He informs, hoping to ease the thoughts he knows have filled your mind. Your phone was in his hands, and you grabbed it. Looking through the notifications, you curse yourself- or Jeno actually.

Oh- Damn you jeno! What could he possibly need right now?

You sigh dramatically into your palms.

“I know” he said, his smile growing wider. “I wouldn’t want to leave me either”

You rolled your eyes and scouted from underneath the covers and his side. “Now you’ve ruined it.”

“Just as I intended” he chuckled, leaning back against the headboard, watching you make your way to the door.

It physically pained you to leave him. But you won’t acknowledge it more then that.

“Y/n?”

“Hyuck?”

“You can keep my shirt, it looks sexier on you”

“Ass” You replied, and grin plastered on your face, against your will. Then you opened the door and left with your phone in hand, making your way down the hallway.

The music slowly picking up in volume as you made your way into the kitchen/living room area. Though you saw almost no one. Until you peaked out the sliding doors to the backyard. Finally finding the sources of the music, along with at least 20 other people. Some people in the pool, some people grilling or just playing games. You smiled to yourself, you can feel that everyone was having a good time.

You decide you should change before joining them. As you make your way to your own room.

You think for a moment, you should probably check your phone.

JenO

______________________________________

|| JenO -

Hey, we are back from the store

Delivered

-

Where you at?

Delivered

-

y/n?

Delivered

-

Chaewon said she saw you with haechan, are you two talking?

Delivered

-

y/n it’s been 2 hours, are you ok?

Delivered

______________________________________

Damn it.

You enter your room, beginning to type all kinds of apologizes into your phone, when you look up to see Jeno sitting in your bed. “Jeno?”

He looks up from his phone to see you standing in the doorway… in heachans shirt…

“Looks like you two did more then just talk huh?” He was smiling, but he sounded agitated. And you can’t blame him.

“Sorry, I feel asleep”

“In his room?”

“Yeah…? Is that bad?” You finally enter the room to join him on your bed. He clears his throat while making room for you to sit next to him. “No, I mean- I don’t know” He answers, not looking at you. “I talked to Shihyun” he informs. You whip your head to look at him. His eyes still don’t meet yours. “She wants to try again” Jeno’s hands are fidgeting with his phone case. Waiting for your reaction.

“That’s great! Why aren’t you out there with her? I saw her in the pool.”

“Was looking for you”

“Why”

He finally turns to you. “Um, just wanted you to know that… that I’ve moved on”

“What!? From Shihyun? Wha- didn’t you just say-“

“-no not her, I love her” he interrupted quickly correcting your thoughts. You look at him confused. It sorta felt weird to hear him say those words. You didn’t like those words, but for some reason… hearing him share his heart to you about Shihyun made you feel as sense of adoration towards him. “Then what have you moved on from?”

“I-um… just- It doesn’t matter, just felt like I needed to say it out loud to you, it’s been suffocating me… but I’m happy that I found Shihyun, she really makes me really happy”

You can’t help but smile. Who needed kdramas when you have this? “And I also wanted to say that… uh… you mean a lot to me y/n, you are such an amazing friend, so encouraging and un-judgmental. I really appreciate you. Even if I mistook those feelings before.. I understand them now.”

You think for a moment, trying to make sense of his words. “What the heck are you going in about Jeno? Your not making any sense.” You laugh and stand up to begin looking for clothes. “I’m sorry, don’t worry about it. It doesn’t need to make sense to you, I just need to say it.”

“It’s Okay, don’t apologizes, I understand. Thanks for feeling comfortable enough to tell me” you smile while picking out an outfit to join the others in. Jeno watches you concentrate.

“I love you”

it was almost a whisper, you didn’t even hear it. He didn’t want you to. He knows how you feel about those three words. But he needed to say it. Out loud.

He really does love you, but not romantically- like he thought he did. But As a friend. As a person he was never scared to go to for help or advice. He loved you, and he would never leave you.

He smiles thinking about how lucky he is to have a friend like you.

“Okay I’ll go join the others.. meet us out there when your done changing.” He ends his rant with a pat to your head, making his way to the door. You nod and begin to change.

…

When you made you way outside, you find yuta and Yejun laughing at a joke Jisung must have made. Because he looked super proud of himself. His posture straightened, and he is puffing his chest out. Adorable.

Other groups of people, that your sure you’ve seen before, fill up the back patio.

Music and conversations fill your ears as you make your way towards the three. “Hey! Y/n! Nice of you to finally join us!” Yejun greets you with a smile and Jisung runs to hug you. “I feel like it’s been ages!”

“It’s been a couple hours ji” but you reciprocate nonetheless. “Jeno was looking for you” yuta informs with a small head nod. “Yeah I talked to him” you shrug and turn around to face the noise. Towards the People talking, and Shihyun and Chaewon are messing around in the pool. Isn’t it freezing?

“Y/n!”

You turn to your right to see Johnny running over. You try not to laugh when you realize he looks like a typical college jock. His hair is wet? Or maybe sweaty? There’s a drink in his hand and his jog looks ridiculous. Then you compare it to a dog, who’s just got done playing with the hose and you snicker even more. “What’s up?” You give Johnny a half hug and he takes another drink form his cup. Yejun and jisung continue whatever conversation they were having before you showed up. When you look back to Johnny, his face was slightly red and he couldn’t stand straight for the life of him.

He’s definitely drunk.

“Where’s haechan?” He asks, his voice is an octave louder so you can hear him over the music.

You don’t know why the the mention of his name threw you off. You felt odd. “How would I know?” You respond with a shrug. Johnny gives you the most unamused look you’ve ever seen. “Don’t give me that bullshit, you can’t tell me you two weren’t together this whole time” you slap at Johnny’s shoulder and glare at Him. “You talk really loud”

Johnny let’s out a laugh and hands you his drink. “Here hold this, he’s probably in his room, I’ll go get him.” Before you can even respond, Johnny’s running off, towards the sliding doors leading back inside the lodge.

You just stand there and look around once more. Haechan probably wants to sleep, you should’ve told Johnny that, but he’ll find out on his own.

When you spot Jeno and Shihyun in the pool, you can’t help but smile. She’s sitting on top of his shoulders, playing a game of chicken with another couple. Your smile grows when Shihyun wins and yells in victory. Cute!

•••

The rest of the night consisted of you drinking and talking with Chaewon and Yami. Chaewon was going on a rant about how people who ‘don’t like alcohol’ are ‘pussies’ or whatever. You laugh all throughout her tangent because the only person who came to mind was Jaemin. “Y/n, do you want to come with me to get more drinks?” Chaewon asks with a pout, her face was round but so perfectly defined, and her outfit looked absolutely amazing on her. You smile to her direction and nod. She always amazes you, her beauty, her amazing personality, she had no flaws. You admire her. “Where are they?” You ask.

“They are over by- Haechan! over there!!” Chaewon pointed towards the coolers that were stationed next to the grill. Jaemin, haechan and mark were all over there. When you saw him, you couldn’t look away.

You didn’t really think he would be joining the party, but there he was. He was wearing a black t-shirt and loose sweatpants. For a moment you felt hurt. Why wouldn’t he come to you? Does he not want to talk to you? Or spend time with you. Even after you two had sex? Is he avoiding you now? Is it’s awkward?

Then you had to mentally stop yourself:

This cannot be Happening.

You should not care about what he’s doing.

You shouldn’t care about what he’s wearing.

You shouldn’t be upset that he didn’t choose to find you first.

You should not care about Lee Donghyuck…

Then your faces with his eyes in yours. A flash of cold rushed throughout your body. You whip your head back to Chaewon so fast, your vision almost went blurry. Curse the gods, Haechan just caught you looking at him. It took almost all your strength not to drown yourself in the pool in-front of you. “Okay let’s go” Chaewon didn’t seem to notice the small interaction, maybe it’s all in your head. But that moment felt like it lasted forever. She hops up from the small pool chair and held her hand out to you.

“Actually, I don’t think I should get up-“

“-Why?”

Her eyebrows cutely pinch together and her smile drops to a frown. “Yami should go with you, my head really hurts” you squeeze your eyes shut and bring a hand to your head, as if in pain. “What? Girl- let’s gooo” she grabs at your hand and drags you to your feet. “Yami, you too, let’s go” then Chaewon pulls you along as she makes her way around the pool.

As your walking up to the group of boys, you notice Haechan’s eyes following your figure. God this is embarrassing. He has this stupid knowing look on his face, and you almost jumped in the pool. Instead you look at the water and the people in it, refusing to look up, or take any chances of making eye contact with him again. You don’t want things to be awkward, you just want to act normal.

WHY CANT YOU ACT NORMAL!?

“Haechan, where have you been all night?” Chaewon presses as she opens the cooler and grabs some cans of beer. “In my room” he starts, his eyes flicker to you, giving you a smile then back to Chaewon “you look nice” he smiles at her and she beamed in response. “Thank you” her dramatic giggle makes the group laugh in unison.

Woah. At least he smiled at you. He’s definitely trying his hardest to act normal. But you can tell he doesn’t know what to do either. You cough awkwardly, you didn’t mean too. Your trying your hardest to not draw attention to yourself, but that’s all haechan is giving you… attention.

“Are we planning on partying all night it’s almost 4 in the morning” mark begins.

You shouldn’t have been upset that he called Chaewon pretty, or griping at your arms, and holding yourself like this, or burning up this easily. You wished he would’ve said those words to you. The only thoughts that can fill your mind now are him. He isn’t looking at you anymore, his gaze is now fixed on Chaewons and Yami, you sigh in relie, but at the same time, you feel overwhelmed with emotions. Maybe he thought you wanted space? That wouldn’t be a reach, but he’s wrong, if that’s the case.

“We don’t have any other plans! I could go for 12 more hours!” Yami replies, and once again the group laughs.

So wrong.

“I’ll probably head inside soon” heachan informs with a sip of his drink.

“What you just got out here!?” Chaewon complains with a pout. The conversation continued on, and you stopped keeping track of it. Lost in your own mind once again.

Maybe he is satisfied, that’s what he wanted right? You helped him out, and he’s satisfied. But your not, you want more then that. More then sex. And you’re not pushing it down this time, your allowing yourself to feel it, maybe it’s the alcohol? Or the cold that made you feel alone, more then usual.

“Y/n?” You blink to he direction of your name. to Johnny. “Yes?” You drop your arms to the side in order to seem natural, ignoring the air that creeped up your skin, causing goosebumps.

It’s freezing.

“Aren’t you going to go with them?” Mark asks, as he gestures his hand behind you.

“Who?”

“Chaewon and Yami? They left already? …Are you drunk?” He questioned, scanning your face. You glance over at mark and Haechan, then behind you. Chaewon and Yami have made their way halfway around the pool now.

When did that happen?

Haechan eyes you suspiciously, almost asking you ‘what’s wrong?’. You send him a reassuring smile. That didn’t seem as awkward as before, and you felt relieved. “Yeah I think I am, I should probably go lay down” you blink twice more, preparing yourself to walk, and turn on your heal, heading straight for the sliding doors that lead back inside.

Is it bad that you wanted to be alone with him again? Jeno had already talked to you, there’s no longer a reason to be out here. can’t you two go back into his room? In His bed? Is that weird? Would that be weird?

When you make your way back inside, you plop down in the couch and take a couple deep breaths. Did he not think YOU looked nice?! Why didn’t he compliment YOU? I mean of course Chaewon looked perfect but-

Nonononono Nono quit it. Stop!

you feel so unbelievably confused. Every feeling is so unexplainable. Jealous? Annoyed, hurt? Alone? Tired? Drunk? Flustered? It’s all too much!

Just two friends helping each other out.

Just two friends helping each other out.

Just two friends helping each other out.

“Y/n?”

“What?!” You respond frustrated, you didn’t realize how upset you felt until your tone left your mouth. You lift your head to the person in front of you to apologize. Haechan stood there, with a cup in his hand and a surprised look on his face. You hesitate for a moment. Looking away, to spare yourself some dignity.

“Sorry, I was just-“

“-Thinking?”

“Yeah”

“You do that too much” he smiles and sits next to you. When he did, you felt your heart calm, your skin and muscles relax. And your brain stoped running so fast. It felt as if you just took some kind of drug. Intoxicating your senses.

“How much did you drink?” Haechan’s head is facing yours on the couch, you turn to him and realize the distance between you two is non existent. “Two” you mumble, distracted by this familiar position.

“Two? Two what?” Haechan chuckles at your absent mindedness. “Two… somethings, I don’t remember” you shake your head and turn back to look at the blank tv. “Hm interesting. Do you want some water? There’s some in the fridge-“

“- Nono, no water” your head shakes faster at the thought of his presence leaving you. “Okay” he chuckles again. Your lost, you don’t know what to say, or what to do. Your just… lost. You’ve never felt this feeling, it’s foreign. And it terrifies you. Your scared that you have no control over your words or actions anymore.

His body, his heat, his comfort, and safety saturated you. He fed the parts of you that are needy and starved. He grounded you and you wanted more. Then you realized that its Haechan that made you feel less alone.

And as selfish as it was, you hoped you wouldn’t be alone ever again.

“Hey…”

This is all too much…

…To much, all at once…

“…Y/n”

He smells like.. like him. And he’s so warm, almost like he’s been living on the sun for the past couple of months.

Haechan:

Full sun

Makes sense.

“Y/n” he calls once more, this time turning to you, probably checking to see if your are still alive or breathing.

“Yes?” You finally respond and look to him. “Your cutting off my circulation” he smiles and you look down at his arm. Your hands wrap around his bicep, gripping onto him like you’ll fly away if you let go. “Sorry”

When did that happen?

“It’s okay, just relax”

“I’m relaxed” you lighten your grip and rest your head on his shoulder. “Did you catch feelings yet?” He teased with smirk, you laugh lightly, your eyes remaining on the blank tv, as if there’s something playing.

Yes you did.

“You wish”

And yes he does.

“Did you?” You ask looking up at him. His gaze remains on the blank screen.

“Not a chance” he answers with a smile.

“Good” you nod and blink away thoughts that you wish would quit reappearing at the worst times. “Do you regret it?” Haechan asked, this time his voice is almost at a whisper. Haechan is a person who needs a lot of reassurance. And your not very good at that kind of thing… but you’ll try for his sake.

“No” he nods at your response this time, remaining quite as you make yourself comfortable- practically cuddling him.

You then slouch further into the sofa, into him. You can hear his breaths, they’re calm and paced. You try your hardest to match his, almost dying in the process. When you start panting, Haechan begins laughing. And you join him. That was ridiculous.

“Y/n? Do you remember my last birthday?”

“The one when we all went to that terrible restaurant? And Jisung threw up?”

“Yeah, but after that, when we ended up getting take out, at your place?”

“Yeah? Why?”

“When I joined you on your balcony, did you mean what you said?” Oh no. No no no no. Gosh this can’t be happening, everything was going so well.

“What do you mean?” You front, your body stiffens and your eyes shut to prepare for impact.

“The words you said, did you mean them?”

Yes… yes you did. But you can’t tell him that. He can’t know that. “I don’t remember any of that” you shake your head, trying your best to end the conversation.

“You don’t?” You feel his head turn to look down at you. You try your best to act as nonchalant as possible.

“No? Maybe your confused with someone else”

“Impossible”

You bite at your lip and curl your fingers into a fist to ground yourself.

“You told me that you only befriend people you knew couldn’t give you what you needed. Because.. you didn’t want to feel like you’ve lost something- you know if they ever left-”

“I did?” Yes you did…

“Yes. Then I asked if you didn’t think I was capable of giving you what you needed…”

“You did?”

“Yes. And you told me that you never actually choose me…”

“Hm-“

“-what did you mean by that?”

You meant that: heachan was capable of giving you everything you’ve ever wanted or needed, and that terrified you, so you would never have chosen him. He just entered your life, and there was nothing you could do about it but pray he would never leave. But alas, that’s not something y/n would ever admit. So you won’t.

“I’m- I don’t know. I don’t remember that”

“You weren’t drunk… you never explained what you meant and we- we kissed. do you remember-”

Yes.. god yes. You remember it like it happened just now. You remember thinking about how you would never bring it up. About how you would have to learn to forget about it. But of course Haechan won’t allow you to. He did, for a while, you assume he’s probably tired of you acting as if these moments never happened.

“-No, no. No we didn’t” you begin to shake your head again, your body moves to sit up and away from him. Your panicking.

“We did-“ haechan follows you, sitting up to look at you in the eyes. “-no we didn’t, you must have me mixed up with someone else-“

His eyebrows furrow together, you can almost taste the frustration building in his head. “I wouldn’t mix you up with anyone… who else could it have been-“

“Chaewon-“

“No, it was you. I would never kiss Chaewon” he shakes his head this time, his eye close to ensure his seriousness.

“But you called her pretty”

“That doesn’t mean I would ever kiss her-“

“-But you would kiss me?” You challenge, with a scoff. You turn your body to face him in the couch. Both of you are obviously heated and neither of you are willing to be completely honest with yourself a or each other. He doesn’t answer… because yes he would, but are you ready to hear those words… no.

“Exactly-“

“Why are you refusing to accept it?”

“I’m not-“

“You are” his gaze on you becomes more angry then upset or frustrated. You look at him for a moment longer before ripping your eyes away from his piercing ones. “I just don’t remember that” you cross your arms over your chest and try your hardest to look at verything in the empty living room but him.

“No, your choosing not to…forget it, that’s not what’s important Right now. I just want to know what you meant by that… that I’m incapable of-“ he begins, but you refuse to hear him say those words, so you give in… sorta.

“-I didn’t- I just… I don’t know, I wouldn’t have chosen you, if that’s what you’re asking”

“Because?” Haechans eyes flicker between yours, hoping your gaze will answer the questions you’re refusing to.

“Because… just because” you tried to think of a response for a moment, but the only one that came to mind was the one you didn’t want him to hear. When he continues to glare at you, you give in once more. Turning to him and letting out a sigh you explain yourself to the best of your ability: “Because your a good person, and I knew that if you left me… I would lose something”

“Something? What do you mean by something?” His face changes in almost an instant. Like you’ve said before, Haechan is someone who needs a lot of reassurance, and your not very good at explaining your feelings.

“This is stupid” you turn away from him once again, and he absolutely hates it.

“What would you have lost.. if I ever left you?”

“Why are you asking me this?”

“Why won’t you answer me?”

“It doesn’t matter, I don’t need you using it against me.”

“Against you? What does that mean!?” If you were actually looking at him, you would’ve seen how hurt he looked at those words.

“Just stop”

“Stop what? Being confused? Because that’s kinda your fault” he tries to laugh but he can’t.

“I don’t want to have this conversation anymore”

“Why do you keep treating me like I’m your enemy? I wouldn’t use anything ‘against’ you, or leave you.. ever” he tries to look at you in the eyes, but you refuse.

“Okay”

“Okay? That’s it?” Now he’s mad.

“Stop dragging this on haechan” you drop your hands from around you and glare at him.

“Haechan? Y/n what the hell?” He didn’t mean to yell, but he was upset, angry, sad, offended? All of them! You can’t do this anyMore, your not ready to have this conversation. It all escalated so quickly, you didn’t have time to think properly.

“I’m going to bed” you bring yourself to your feet and grab your phone to leave. You know haechan won’t force you to stay, but that doesn’t mean he won’t try to convince you to.

“Y/n.. y/n wait let’s finish this conversation, please.” He look up at you and watches you walk around the other couch and towards the hallway. Your upset, you know you shouldn’t have let yourself get this heated, and you know you shouldn’t have let that conversation go the way it did.

“I’m drunk and tired is this isn’t the best time to be talking to me”

“That isn’t fair, y/n..”

When you made it to your bedroom you sit on one of the beds, bringing your knees to your chest and stared into space.

You feel like such an idiot.

But it can no longer be avoided, the longer you spend with haechan, the more you realize you can’t live without him.

How could you have let yourself get this far with him!?

You had rules.

But then again, rules are made to be broken.

Taglist:

@nctzennikki09 @mings-cafe @gaeulswrld @chimiwimi @aliceinwhateverland

In all honesty, I’ve done better, however, the Juicy parts are in part four… so🤷‍♀️ yeah! Please let me know if you have any:

Questions

Request

Opinions

Spell check errors

Taglist requests?

[frozen-flame-too]

🦉Positivity owl reporting for duty! This was sent by a friend who wants you to smile as much as your posts make them smile. Please list five things that make you unique, four things you are super passionate about and why, OR three of your favorite memories. Feel free to send the owl to those who you feel deserve to smile🦉

Hello!

I'll go with four things I'm most passionate about if you don't mind 😌

Let's see...

1) Role-playing in general and D&D in particular has to be the first one. Escapism and fantasies are literally my salvation, and D&D plays a huge part in my life.

Creating characters and telling stories through them together with my friends is a kind of therapy for me. I lovelovelove my OCs!!

I've always been a role-player (even a theater kid a little bit). I absolutely loved silly play-pretend games in kindergarten, was obsessed with text role-playing games in middle and high school, and I adore TTRPGs now. I can't imagine my existence without them!

2) Video games! I'm a huge fan of CRPGs and ARPGs, I also like playing visual novels from time to time.

I like The Sims franchise, of course. The second installment introduced me to the world of PC gaming.

However, my absolute favorites are Dragon Age and Mass Effect franchisees, they'll always have a special place in my heart. Dragon Age: Origins was the first RPG I ever played. Instantly fell in love with it! This one literally shaped my taste in games. And oh, despite all the drama around Bioware, I'm so hyped about the upcoming Dragon Age: The Veilguard!

Then there's Owlcat with their Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous and Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader. Love 'em! And, of course, I can't forget about almighty Larian with their Divinity: Original Sin 2 and Baldur's Gate 3!!! These games, stories, and characters help me stay sane in this crazy world 🫠

3) Dark stuff and goth aesthetic. Yeah, I know there are lots of sub-genres out there. But I'm talking about the vibes in general, you know? I love all these macabre little things, be it makeup, clothes, architecture, music, etc.

The little me had been a hidden baby bat since forever. Although I didn't have the courage to show my real nature at that time.

4) Editing videos. Yeah, when my schoolmates learned how to draw pictures or play sports, I was trying to create little music videos using my favorite TV shows.

Once Upon A Time and a vidder by the name of KatrinDepp inspired me to thread this rocky path of mastering Sony Vegas. Then, a couple of years later, I switched to creating GMVs (game music videos).

I still have a semi-active YouTube channel for that. Even though nowadays I have a lot less time and inspiration to edit videos, I still like this hobby of mine.

Here are also some honorable mentions: I love cats, they are my favorite animals, 110%. I'm fascinated by magic and supernatural. My guilty pleasure is reading creepy stories and watching videos about ghosts. I also like writing my own stories and even have my own little fictional universe I'm totally normal about!

Oh boy, this post was so long. If you are here, thank you for reading it to the end! And thanks for asking. Have a great day, whoever you are! 💜💜💜

[strange-dreams-are-made-of-these]

Take My Whiskey Neat (Part 2)

Summary: Logan and his newfound daughter take a trip to Alkali Lake. One is in search of who he was before 1979. The other is looking for who her parents were before she joined Charles Xavier's school. Ghosts come back to haunt them both. How will they act when faced with these challenges? Part 1 Part 2Tags: father-daughter fluff, angst, canon typical violence, creepy stalker mentioned in first section, broken bones, use of firearms, use of an original character Word Count: 20k+ A/N: I do not own any of the characters mentioned except for Amaris Howlett. The divider credits are in my master list. Images found on Pinterest. Amaris' face claim is Devery Jacobs. Also, if you think something in here is written wrong (when it comes to the heritage of the character) PLEASE TELL ME!

Leaving the school hadn't been something she planned on being a forever thing. There would always be a part of her that stayed with the school, and it with her, beyond just the memories tied with it. Danger room sessions with her fellow X-men, crying to Storm when a boy broke her heart for the first time, supporting Jean when she thought she blew her chances with Scott, asking Charles why he gave her chance after chance every time she accidentally hurt somebody else. Of course, teaching the kids was another fond memory of hers.

Though none were more fonder than the sleepless nights she stayed up on the rooftop with him.

She was brought out of her thoughts when she saw Logan signaling to her, pointing at the next exit sign about a mile away. They had been driving for a good portion of the day before winding up in Toledo, Ohio. With the sun setting behind them, Amaris wondered if Logan wanted to continue riding along toward the Canadian border or if he wanted to find a place to stop for the night. They still had quite a way to drive to reach Alberta, let alone to get to the border of the countries.

Logan revved the motorcycle engine as he led Amaris and Jeep to the exit lane, aiming to find a place to lie low for the night. His mind had been whirling most of the drive, flooded with the memories of his life, the things he began to remember. The images that felt the most vivid were of him and Amaris when she was a baby. They were the warmest in his mind, a time of peace and comfort, along with the woman he saw. He couldn't believe he had a family, or that his memories and time with them had been stolen from him.

However, other memories flooded his mind. Brief glimpses of him in army uniforms, holding guns and other period clothing flooded his mind. So many visions of war clawed within his mind. He can remember certain scenes of different wars he had been in, remembering the look on other people's faces. He saw blood splattered across the floor of forests and pastures and heard bullets flying and ricocheting off of people and their environment.

What bothered him more was the pounding he heard in his head heavily outweighed the roaring of the engine of the motorcycle. He needed off of the hunk of metal, at least for a few hours.

The Jeep roared behind him as Logan found a little side-of-the-highway hotel to stay at, one of those big commercial ones. The big red sign advertised eighty dollars a night. It was the perfect pitstop for their long journey, and with a bar across the street, Logan knew he would find some peace and quiet in his mind.

He found a space to park the motorcycle, and Amaris pulled the Jeep up alongside him. As he stood up, the motorcycle creaked as it rose up into its normal fashion. Logan rubbed the palms of his hands, hearing his knuckles pop as if metal rubbed against each other. He watched as Amaris hopped out of the jeep, stuffing the keys into the pocket of her jeans. Neon lights began to illuminate the stretch of road they found themselves on before music from the bar began to play.

You are in charge of the rooms, kid, I need a drink. He tilted his head just enough to crack his neck before turning around and crossing the road.

Amaris rolled her eyes, grabbing both of their bags out of the jeep. She found her way to the main office, entering with the sound of little bells alerting the receptionist of her arrival. A little television was on a news channel.

"As of tonight, the New York police department, the FBI, and other governing agencies still do not know what happened on Ellis Island or Liberty Island last week. An up-and-coming group named The Friends of Humanity has deemed the act a mutant resistance, calling for a mutant registry. At this time, The Friends of Humanity have not been backed up by a governing body."

The receptionist hummed. We're better off without mutants. Freaks. The comment was made to himself, but with her slightly enhanced senses, Amaris was able to hear it.

If only he knew she was one of the few mutants responsible for the destruction on Liberty Island.

Or how many people she and the X-Men saved that night. Mostly the X-Men. All she managed to do was destroy parts of the museum and get her neck snapped by Sabertooth.

The man watched her as she approached the desk, setting the bags down at her feet. I need a room please, two queens.

He eyed her up and down, staring at her a little too hard for her liking. He looked down at a room registry he had, looking at the options. I can offer you a room with a king... and I'm not just talking about the mattress honey. He winked at her, smiling a half smile.

It appeared he had been missing the majority of his teeth, and the ones he still had were filled in with silver fillings. Amaris did her best to hide her physical repulsion from the heavier-set man. Sorry, I don't feel like sharing a bed with my brother. She remained firm in her response, though she could tell this didn't deter the man.

He looked back at the list, then clicked his tongue. hmm, I dunno...

Amaris looked over at the screen again, seeing the report about the mutants. About her, and her father, and her friends... her family.

Just, tell me you don't service... them... here. Speaking against mutants, against incredibly talented people like her students and her friends was something she would never do. It felt as if she had betrayed them with her words, but she knew others had to do the same thing.

He looked at the screen, then back to her. He nodded, writing in the document before him. It seems as if I do have a room left, with two queen beds. He produced two keys as Amaris handed him cash. What is the last name for the reservation?

Amaris squatted down, picking the bags back up. Howlett.She grabbed the keys after replying to him, making a quick exit, and turning in the direction of the hotel room. She closed her eyes for a moment, shaking the thoughts out of her mind. Calling her kind out like that just to gain the favor of the receptionist in exchange for a dry place to sleep for a while.

What would the Professor say?

Amaris had found the hotel room, entered it, and set their bags down on the beds. With nothing much left to do, she made sure to lock the door behind her, before entering the bathroom. She flipped the light on, the stale yellow-white light showed her the dingy countertop, small shower, and equally small toilet. She removed her jean jacket, turning and tossing it onto one of the beds. She began to run her hands through her hair, pulling the ponytail holder out.

Her hair was rather long, having kept to the traditions she read about growing up. She knew from an early age she had been Indigenous, mostly thanks to Charles Xavier who dug into her mind to see where she had come from. With his help, she was able to read and research about her native ancestors, the Blackfoot people.

Her hair was the biggest connection she had to her ancestors and her family. As it relaxed behind her, her hair stretched down to almost her waistline. The ends of her hair looked a little wind-sharpened. Nothing her hairbrush couldn't handle.

Her hair was the least of her concerns right now.

She could hear the door of the room creak open. Knowing she had locked it behind her and having both keys in her jeans pockets, she knew Logan wasn't around. She stayed facing the mirror, as the sink and counter area was exposed to the room behind her. She took in a deep breath, exhaling slowly as she listened to her surroundings.

She quickly snapped around, grabbing the wrist of the receptionist, pinning it backward to the point the man had grabbed his arm and began sulking backward. Next time, pal, I hope she isn't as merciful as I am.

He began to plead with her, sobbing "no's" between winces and groans.

Amaris flashed her teeth at him, as she growled her slightly sharpened canines shimmered in the dull light of the bathroom. Pull some shit like that again, and I swear to you, you won't be able to run back home with your tail between your legs. She then continued to walk him back toward the door, pinning his wrist back even a little further. She opened the door, making sure to lock the door behind her. Now, be a good little boy, and make like a retiree heading to Florida. She let go of his wrist, watching as he grabbed at it and held it close to his chest, turning around and making his way back to the office.

She knew it wasn't safe to be by herself right now, and she had a feeling Logan could easily get into some trouble here. She stuffed her hands in her pockets, walked through the little parking lot, and crossed the street.

The music grew louder, as did the sounds of voices flowing out of the bar. Logan sat at the corner of the bar, puffing on a new cigar he had tucked away in his jacket, holding a glass of whiskey in his hand before him on the bar top. His eyes darted from the glass to the mirrored-back bar watching the young woman enter the bar, walking up to his side and taking a seat. He turned to look at her, his fingers reaching out to take a strand of her hair between his index and middle finger. Has it always been this long?

Amaris pointed at Logan's glass when she made eye contact with the bartender before turning back to her father. Ever since we met last week. She really should have tied it back up again. I don't normally wear it down. It gets in the way.

Logan huffed a little as the bartender refilled his glass and brought one out to Amaris. He took another puff of his cigar, letting its smoke fill his throat and lungs before blowing the smoke out. I'm not a good person.

Amaris grabbed her glass, scooting it closer to her, the tips of her fingers covering the lip of the glass, holding her face with her other hand. What do you mean? She asked him.

He brought his glass up to his lips, swallowing the amber liquid in one gulp, setting the empty glass on the bar top. The burn was something he thought would bother him more than the conversation at hand, though here he was. I need to figure out what happened to me, what led me to where I am today. He tapped the ashes of his cigar into the tray sitting between them before he looked back at her. When the Professor...he gestured with two fingers to his temple, I saw things that I've only seen in the movies... and more.

Amaris looked at him puzzled. Her lips parted, intending to speak. However, she was caught off guard when a hand grabbed her head, forcing it into the bartop.

A shotgun was loaded, cocked as the hotel receptionist stood with two men. One of the men held Amaris' face into the bartop. Logan stood up quickly, his claws exposed. Amaris braced herself on the bartop, her bone claws were exposed, though with her hands not positioned in the right way, the two long claws that would appear at her knuckles were now forced through her palms. She groaned against the pain of the claws in their unnatural position and the sensation of the bridge of her nose grinding against the old liquor-soaked wooden bar. I told you she was a mutant! She attacked me at the hotel!

Some of the bargoers left the bar quickly, grabbing their items and leaving the scene. Some of the others stayed behind, unsure which side they would jump into.

Logan looked at the three men, pointing a hand toward them. You want to fight a mutant, fine. Fight me, leave her out of this.

The receptionist pointed the shotgun at Logan. You must be the brother she mentioned about. Mr. Big Man In Charge. I can see where she gets her sour attitude from.

Logan looked between the three men. He slashed at the shotgun, though not enough of it to disable the weapon. Kill the mutant bitch, Frank.

Amaris stepped on the man's foot, causing his grip on her to loosen a little. He dropped his head at the same time she threw hers backward. The back of her head and his nose collided. Amaris spun around, maneuvering the man around and throwing him behind the bar. Logan slashed at the gun again, destroying it as he eyed the clerk. Amaris moved around Logan, ducking down and kicking the man's feet out from underneath him, knocking the third man off of his feet and onto the ground. She was able to manipulate her claws back into her forearms, grabbing a fistful of the man's shirt at his neck, and standing over him.

Logan grabbed the other man by his jacket, Don't get me wrong, bub. She can have a sour attitude, and we share that. But that mutant bitch isn't my sister. Logan's eyes shifted back and forth as he looked down on the other man. He could smell just how terrified he was from the encounter. That's my daughter.

Amaris heard the words, though as rough and gruff sounding as he threatened the other man, Amaris instantly felt emotionally pulled to Logan. To her father. The man who just a few minutes prior stated he wasn't a good man. How did those words taste now?

Now, you just ruined my night, and I lost my cigar. Why don't I repay the favor by ruining that smug grin of yours? Logan brandished the claws from his right hand, a sinister glint in his eye as he smiled down at the man.

Amaris turned to look back at Logan. She knew they had to be better than that, to give mutants a fighting chance. Dad, we can't go around mutilating humans because they threatened us.

Logan held his eye contact with the heavier-set receptionist, shaking his head slightly. Mutilating? No. Plastic Surgery.

Amaris looked back down at the man below her. She let go of his collar, standing up straighter and running a hand through her hair. I think they got the picture.

Amaris turned to look at her father, though was met with a blade to her chest, right below her heart. The first man she tossed over the bar and came out fighting again. She groaned, feeling the blade begin to move as her muscles, tendons, and tissues began to regenerate before gripping the knife and pulling it out of her chest. That was not very nice. That hurt. She rubbed the spot where he had stabbed her, often finding open wounds extremely itchy as they healed. The man looked down at where her wound would have been, mortified as he watched it heal almost instantly with very little blood staining her shirt.

The man who had been lying on the ground had rolled over, getting to his feet, and ran out of the bar as quickly as he could. Logan stared at the man in front of him. Okay fat boy, you have about three seconds to get your glory hole friend here out of this place and go home before my patience decides to take a vacation.

Amaris nodded, still holding the knife in her hand. She bent her elbow in front of her, running the blade between the fabric of her shirt, wiping the blood away. Trust me, running home to Mama is the best-case scenario here. She whispered to the man, Frank, smirking a little.

The Howlett's watched the men run away in fear, grabbing onto each other as they hollered, leaving the establishment. Logan turned to look at Amaris, his once stone-cold facade cracked as Amaris found the concern that filled his eyes. She nodded a few times, waving her hand at him, letting him know she was fine. She put the knife in her boot, keeping it as a souvenir from the encounter. She walked back to her seat, picked the chair back up, and set it where she found it.

The bartender threw a rag over his shoulder, crossing his arms. He looked between the two mutants, shaking his head back and forth. Money is money, I don't care where it comes from. But I can't have you two here. Not because you're mutants, but because your presence has already drawn too much excitement for one night.

Logan grumbled under his breath walking out of the door in front of Amaris. She nodded, leaving some cash on the counter and grabbing the bottle he left where they had been sitting before following suit behind Logan. She looked down at her shirt, her fingers running over the sliced fabric. Look, let's get a couple of hours of sleep before we get back on the road.

Logan looked over at her as they crossed the street. You first. I still have a few hours left in me. It was a lie, but he couldn't stand being in Ohio for any longer than he needed to.

Amaris shook her head. You're the one on a two-wheeled machine that weighs as much as you do, if not a little more. She looked up at him, having been nearly half a foot shorter than him.

Logan continued to march on, almost ready to hop back on the motorcycle and continue to ride on. The only thing keeping him from doing so was his bag was now in the room, and he had no idea where he was going. I don't need somebody else to worry about me, he commented. He meant for it to sound absolute, however his tone betrayed him.

She could hear the slight fear in his voice, almost sounding like a whisper between the two of them. She handed him the bottle as an offering. She couldn't find any words that sounded right to reply to him. It was hard for her since she grew up in a safe place while he had wandered around without a clue about who he was or what he was. She had that luxury, he did not.

It was hard on him since he learned a few things about himself at the mansion. He had become a loner because of what a man did to him. He had nothing to go off of to find out who he was. Then to learn he had a family, a rather small one, but no less a family that he cared for and supported. Now, he was reunited with a young woman who was his young daughter once, at a point in both of their lives where they were dealing with their identities. Logan looked down at the bottle, accepting it from her, remaining silent.

Amaris led him to the hotel room, opened the door, and walked over to her bag. She pulled a CD player out with some headphones. She had a disc already loaded into the player, Hybrid Theory by Linkin Park. Logan looked at her, watching as she crossed the room again, taking a seat in the chair next to the little table. I told you, get some sleep. She responded, kicking both of her feet on the tabletop.

Logan took a swig from the bottle, narrowing a brow at her. He had plenty of time to brood around her, but he needed to make it to Canada. He sat down on the bed, kicking his boots off before leaning against the pillow and headboard and setting the bottle down on the side table. He relaxed his shoulders, shutting out the sounds of the world around him as police sirens could be heard approaching the bar. He thought they should have left, but he went against his better judgment, deciding sleep was better for them.

Amaris monitored the situation outside, parting one of the slits of the blinds to see the bartender meet the cops outside. He pointed down the road as they conversed. Music and lyrics filled her mind as she watched for nearly twenty minutes. The police left the bar, heading down the road in the direction the man pointed them. Amaris began to wonder if he was a mutant himself or just somebody unbothered and truly meant what he said earlier. There is still some good in people out there she thought to herself, looking away from the bar and back down to her CD player.

She skipped back to Crawling when she began to hear the subtle breaths of Logan who was drifting off to sleep. The lyrics suddenly became darker for her as she looked over at her father.

There's something inside of me that pulls beneath the surface, Consuming, Confusing

With a quiet exhale, Amaris looked away from Logan, looking down at her CD player wondering why she had decided to listen to this album.

In the early morning hours, Amaris and Logan loaded up the jeep with their items. There was no sign of the receptionist from the previous night or any of his buddies. Logan straddled the motorcycle again, a distinct creak of the metal filled the air briefly before he turned the engine over. They had enough gas to get them out of Ohio before needing to make another pitstop. Logan led the way, pulling out of the parking lot as Amaris followed him in the jeep. Logan seemed intent on leaving Toledo as quickly as possible. After the events of last night, she didn't blame him.

Amaris had never been to Canada before. The furthest west she has been is Nevada. There was a conference about mutants that her very good friend Dr. Hank McCoy invited her to. He was more like an uncle to Amaris if she had to label it. He is incredibly smart beyond his years. He had been one of her teachers once before he was elected into office, Secretary of Mutant Affairs. Amaris remembered the party the mansion had when he left, wanting to send him with a warm send-off. Hank had always been an honored guest at the school, serving as one of its first round of teachers, and a X-Men himself.

It was strange to discover she had been Canadian, though she knew everybody came from someplace. She wondered if Logan too had been originally from Canada. With the way he looked, he only appeared in his younger to mid-thirties, despite being at least old enough to be her father. She was twenty-four now, choosing to celebrate her birthday on the first of every year because she did not know when her actual birthday was. It felt nearly impossible to know that information now. If they lucked out, maybe they could find some information about Logan, and in turn, maybe about her too.

Or her mother. Kayla.

Amaris and Logan had crossed the Canadian border three hours prior. It was a nervous process for Amaris as it had been the first time she left the United States, though Logan seemed so calm and cool about the situation. He led the charge, stating they were returning home to pick up a few things before heading back to New York. She admired how quick he was to come up with a story, and Amaris was quick to follow up with it.

They arrived in Calgary, needing to find their next place to rest up for a bit. Logan had wanted to find a spot to drink while Amaris was more invested in doing research. She needed to find somewhere for them to start, and logically the library was the best place to start. Logan watched as Amaris grabbed her coat, using the thicker one that she packed since it had been colder out today. You really think you are going to find something at the library?

She turned to look at him, having just finished braiding her hair in a single braid. I'm sure I can find something out about Alkali Lake. You need to have all the information you can get so you can find some answers.

Logan finished lacing up his boots. What do you get out of all of this? We've driven well over a thousand miles in four days. Just for what? A road trip?

Amaris shook her head. I've had others help me figure out who I was, as a person, my whole life. I just want to repay that favor, and hopefully, help you not find out who you are. I want to help you remember what you were.

Logan stood up, approaching Amaris as he looked her over. He still couldn't shake the image of the woman, Kayla, out of his mind. He could see Kayla in Amaris, and he could see himself in her. It was rather unsettling for him, only because he knew that he had been emotionally tied to her already. He wouldn't know what to do if something happened to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder, nodding as his lips pulled into a thin line. Don't get into any trouble here. I know you attract trouble.

Amaris looked up at him, confused if he was just saying that, or if it came from potential concerns about her. I'll behave. The only scrape I can get into is with a piece of paper from a paper cut. I promise.

Logan nodded, then dragged a finger over her hair again. I like it like that. It suits your face. Logan stepped away, grabbing his wallet, passport, and keys. This gave Amaris time to leave, heading out of the hotel room and walking toward the stairs.

To have a dad was a strange feeling for her. Somebody who cared for her, well that was something else. Her family was Charles, Scott, Ororo, Jean, and Hank. She had a familial bond with students like Jubilee, Kitty Pryde, and Bobby Drake. She had a couple of lovers in the past, all of them having left the school to go down their own paths.

Some days she felt she could still hear him walking around the school, or smell his aftershave. Her mind would play tricks on her in her most vulnerable moments, often feeling his presence wrap her up in a cool embrace when her mind was fighting between waking up and going back to sleep.

She approached the jeep, hopping into the driver seat and turning the engine over. As she settled into the seat, a big gust of wind kicked up behind her, and just as fast as it rolled through, the wind rolled right out. It certainly caught her attention, along with the very faint scent that came with it.

It couldn't be. It was just another trick of the mind, reminding her that no matter how much of a mutant she was, she still was human at the end of the day.

Amaris left the parking lot of the hotel as Logan left the hotel room, watching her drive off toward the library. He was ready for a drink, and maybe some pool. He knew he was acting hard on her, acting as if the situation wasn't something natural. He was having a hard time believing that he had been nobody to everybody nearly two weeks prior. Now he was a part of the X-Men, and he was a father. Or that his daughter was an adult in her mid twenties.

That he had forgotten about her.

It was honestly for the best for her. He couldn't fathom being a father. Could mutants reproduce? It seemed like a silly question, seeing as they were nothing more than humans. They just happened to have special abilities, as Charles taught him. What was so special about steak knives in his arms and healing abilities?

Logan huffed, heading toward the motorcycle, wanting his drink as quickly as possible, and space between him and Amaris.

While Logan went on the hunt for his next drink, Amaris found her way to the library. She was honest when she said she was going to do some research about the lake, however, she had a few more keywords she wanted to search. Howlett, Logan Howlett, Kayla, Kayla and Logan.

Selfishly, she wanted to know where she came from. What hospital was she born in? Where did her parents meet? Where did they live? Alberta in the Seventies had to be different from the turn of the century.

She parked the jeep, grabbing the notebook and folder she brought with her. She was going to find some answers, no matter how much time she had to invest in it. She owed it to Logan. She owed it to herself.

It was easy to gain access to the library. She approached the counter to speak with one of the librarians. Hey there. Can you help me find some information about Alkali Lake? There was a military base there, and I was hoping there was something about that here.

The older woman looked at her. Alkali? She asked her, confused before shrugging her shoulders. I'd suggest looking in our geography section. Third row to your right, toward the middle of the aisle. If not, come speak with me and I'll give you computer access.

Amaris nodded, parting ways with the older woman before heading for the section. Every footstep she took felt heavier and heavier as if walking into impending trouble. She could feel her breath hitch in her throat as she entered the aisle. A pounding sound echoed in her mind as she walked in the row, approaching the section.

She turned, scanning over the many rows of books. Her eyes read the spines as quickly as she could, eventually reading one that caught her eye. Alkali Lake: A History.

She reached out to grab the book at the same time a slight breeze swept past her. A figure now stood with their back leaning against the bookshelf. The book she was once focused on was now in their hands. He opened the book, flipping through the pages. Princessa, I did not know you were interested in lakes. His voice was velvety smooth as always, though his posture was different.

Amaris looked up at the man, his accent filling her ears once again. His aftershave filled her nostrils as the fabric of his jacket rested at his sides. Pietro?

He closed the book, leaning away from the bookshelf, handing the book over to her. What is the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost. His icy blue irises pierced her hazel eyes. Suddenly, they both were twenty and twenty-three all over again. He thought she hadn't changed in the slightest, albeit her hair was longer now.

Amaris took hold of the book, observing his features. His eyes and his hair were much different now. He almost looked much happier. Not a ghost, she commented, pressing her brows together. You changed your hair. The roots of his hair remained dark brown, though he bleached the majority of its length. Did you cross paths with Justin Timberlake?

Pietro nodded, running a hand through it. Do you like it?

Amaris smiled, nodding as he took a step closer to her. She exhaled sharply, then took half a step backward. What are you doing here, Pietro?

He chuckled a little, then pouted his lip. Maybe I missed you? He watched her as a flush of pink graced her cheeks. Last time I checked, this isn't New York. And it's certainly not the mansion. What are you doing up here?

Amaris looked down, needing to break herself away from his gaze. This didn't make any sense. What was Pietro doing in Alberta? Uh.. I'm doing some self-discovery. It wasn't lying, but she wasn't telling the whole truth.

Something the man knew about Amaris was her inability to keep eye contact when she was hiding something. Come on. How long has it been? Three years?

Amaris looked back up at him, doing her best to keep a stone expression. Four. Four years since Pietro decided to leave the mansion, wanting to find his father and know why he and his sister were pawned off to the care of Charles Xavier when their powers were activated. Something Amaris couldn't blame him for wanting, but to do everything in his power to keep her from joining him on his trip was something else.

Pietro whispered lowly between the two of them, holding his hands out to his sides as if throwing in the towel. What is that place? He asked, pointing at the book.

Amaris pulled the book toward her chest. I don't know yet. That's why I'm studying it.

Pietro spun on his heels, placing a hand on her shoulder. Perfect. We can study this book together, then. He had been more than half a foot taller than her, though Amaris had been shorter than most people she had met. She stood at a solid five feet and two inches tall on a good day. With Pietro being nearly six feet tall, she often found herself climbing on objects to be somewhere near or at his eye level. Before she could even put up a fight, she found herself walking in tandem with Pietro toward an empty table. Just like old times.

Amaris watched as he took a seat at the table, then she followed suit. Settling the book down on the tabletop, she reached for her notebook. The sound of whirling air filled the space again. Once she had her notebook and pen in hand, she looked back up to see him looking through the book again. Too bad super speed doesn't come with speed reading.

Amaris reached over the table, taking the book from him. Believe me, I remember. She rested back in her chair, flipping to the index of the book. You never answered my question from earlier. Why are you here, Pietro? She peered up, staring at him over the book.

I could listen to you say my name all day long, he cooed, finding it rather relaxing. He crossed his arms, leaning back in the chair as he balanced it on the back two legs. I haven't heard from my sister in a couple of weeks. Last place I knew her to be was in this freezing hell hole.

So you came to the library? Please, I know you better than that. Amaris flipped to a chapter in the index that piqued her interest, rolling her eyes at his comment.

Pietro hummed a little, looking at her. No. But the sound of Summers' motorcycle rolling through the city was certainly something of interest to me. He rested all four legs of the chair on the ground before leaning on the table. So where is Summers?

Amaris looked up at Pietro, fumbling with the pen in her left hand. In New York, with the others. Amaris brisked over the sentences in the book, pulling out a few points. A location of an old quarry. Knowing militaries could be finicky about their locations, she wanted to make note of the quarry.

Pietro tilted his head, looking at the notebook she was writing in. Then who's on the bike? Your new boyfriend? He tested her, wondering what he was up against.

She looked visibly disgusted. Gross, no. A year was written, 1973. He's a friend. Scott and Ororo saved him a couple of weeks ago near Laughlin City, just north of here.

Pietro nodded, pressing his lips together. So you are just escorting him home with Summers' motorcycle.

Amaris set the pen down, looking at Pietro. Didn't you say your sister was missing? Isn't that more important than wondering if I'm dating anybody?

So, you are single. He commented, smiling again.

She tapped the pen on the notebook, her patience running thin with him. I have other things I'm doing right now.

Pietro nodded again, looking into her eyes again. Like destroying Liberty Island?

Amaris set the pen down on the notebook, Sssush! she commanded, then looked around to make sure people did not hear him. She looked back at him, clenching her jaw momentarily. How do you know about what happened on Liberty Island?

Pietro chuckled looking at her expression. World leaders gathered on Ellis Island, and some funky shit goes down on Liberty Island. Mutants are to blame. X-Men were obviously involved.

Amaris crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair as she crossed her legs. What do you want to know?

For starters, what are you really doing here?

A pair of boots could be heard approaching the table. The heavy smell of a freshly smoked cigar filled the air. Amaris knew her father was within feet of her. She smirked, knowing it was her out of the conversation.

Logan walked up behind her, noticing the other man. He observed him, quickly deciding something was wrong with the conversation at hand. Is everything okay here? He asked Amaris, standing behind her.

Amaris smirked at Pietro. Yes. She turned to look up at Logan briefly before looking back at the icy man. Just catching up with an old friend.

Pietro chuckled a little. You have a funny way of describing friends, Princessa. Logan eyed him, and a very low growl could be heard emitting from his throat.

Amaris smirked, knowing this was more for her entertainment than anything else. Pietro, this is Logan. My father.She watched as his smug grin began to evaporate. Logan, this is Pietro Maximoff. He was a student at Charles' school. She could hear the shift in his posture as she spoke. Pietro is my ex-boyfriend.

Pietro stood up quickly, adjusting his jacket. He never knew Amaris to have a father, nor to expect him to look so young. Logan watched him, silent as he watched the man squirm around. Your fath- Pietro's lips drew into a flat line again. It's nice to meet you, sir. I need to go, though. I need to find my sister.

Logan watched him, a master of the uncomfortable situation, as Pietro backed away, retreating from the mutant duo. He exhaled the breath he held onto, then walked around the table and sat down. What was his deal?

Amaris shrugged her shoulders. I don't know. He was always skittish. She looked back down at the book, picking up the pen again. A word to the wise, never date somebody with super speed. You'll regret it.

Logan nodded. Is he trusted enough to know about us?

Amaris nodded, scanning through the book again. Pietro is known for a lot of things. Betrayal and snitching isn't one of them. She looked back up at him after writing some more brief notes. What happened with the drink and pool?

Logan shrugged his shoulders. The scene is rather dead right now. Plus, I knew you couldn't stay out of trouble.

Amaris looked up at him, narrowing one eyebrow. She set the pen down, studying Logan for a moment. She studied his features, how he sat in the chair, how smug he looked poking fun at her time spent with an unexpected visitor. Misery keeps company.

An older man approached the table, appearing in his early sixties. Logan? Logan Howlett? Is that really you, boy?

Logan was quick to turn to the man, running a hand over the back of his neck. Me?

Amaris knew this was an opportunity they needed to find more information. Oh, sorry sir. This is my brother, Robert. Logan is our father. She watched as Logan looked back at her, winking at him to make him play along.

The older man was still fixated on Logan. His lip quivered as he spoke. Really? No kidding! Logan would have to be well into his fifties by now. My God, rest his soul.

Amaris was quick to respond again. Yes, he truly is his father's son. She paused for a moment, thinking about the later part of his sentence. Yes, I was still very young when it happened. Robert had a car accident not too long ago and he is experiencing some amnesia.

Logan looked from Amaris up to the older man, nodding. Right... yes. Really bad accident, as I have been told. He gently kicked her foot under the table, earning him a glare.

The older man nodded a few times, then turned to the girl. You must be little Amaris! Oh heavens, I remember your parents pulling up to the yard with you in the middle. You even took a little tumble in my office once. Logan was so quick to pick you up. He was mortified every time, constantly looking for scratches or bruises. You were a tough little cookie.

Her eyes softened a little, hearing the story the man told them. She struggled to push those feelings to the side as she continued her investigation. The yard?

The older gentleman chuckled a little, holding his belly. The lumbar yard. I doubt you would remember any of that now. You're much too young for that.

Logan looked up at the older man, placing a hand on his hip as he spoke. You know, I can't remember where the yard is. I keep trying to remember, but it all is still very blurry.

The older man nodded, placing a hand on Logan's shoulder. It was about an hour and a half west of here. There's a house built on it now, but the yard was there. A little lumber mill area that was operational in the seventies. Logan didn't make much, like the rest of us, but he made it work for his family. The man squeezed Logan's shoulder, proudly looking down at him.

His family? Amaris asked. Sorry, that sounded obvious, didn't it?

The man nodded. Most of the other guys didn't understand Logan. He was focused on his work and remained silent most of the day. However, he always smiled when he saw Kayla. She was a pretty young woman, she would be proud to see how big her little one has grown. Just as beautiful.

Kayla was a pretty woman.

Kayla was.

A woman appeared at the table. There you are, Hank. You can't run off like that. She gently scolded the man, taking hold of his arm with hers.

Hunny, look. He pointed to Logan and Amaris, proudly beaming. It's Logan's kids.

The woman turned to look at the two mutants. Her face lit up as she recognized their features. Her face then drew into shock, as if she had been seeing ghosts. It can't be.

Amaris looked over at Logan briefly, rolling her eyes to hint they should go. Logan ignored the direction, pressing on. We were just on a little trip. We were passing through, and we remembered Dad was from south Alberta. What was the harm in trying to find out some things about him?

The woman nodded, clinging to her husband's arm. Logan was such a hard worker. He was very reserved. I remember the day we found Kayla... and the car accident.

There seem to be a lot of those, lately, Logan commented, earning him a kick from Amaris.

What do you mean by finding Kayla? And the accident?

The married couple looked at each other, a somber look in their eyes. They silently agreed, then took the other two open seats at the round table. They held hands, resting them on the top of the table before the man began to speak. It was the summer of seventy-nine. Late summer, as school had started back for the young ones. Logan and Kayla pulled up to the yard, that Camino was an amazing car.

Hank, these kids came here to find out about their dad. Not his car.She spoke, squeezing his arm.

Amaris picked up her pen, slid her notebook in front of her, and kept eye contact with the couple.

Anyways. Kayla drove off as Logan and the rest of the boys loaded up and headed out to the site. Some of the men said Logan had acted funny. One thing led to another, and Logan ran away from the site. The gentleman looked down at his hands, shaking his head. You would have thought him a deer or a baby moose with how fast he was running. We called out for him, thinking he was suffering from the effects of the heat.

We found Kayla's body. She had been attacked in one of the clearings. It had to have been a bear, or a mountain lion. There was so much blood. He continued on, seemingly a little more upset each time he spoke. Amaris looked over at Logan, trying to read his face as they listened to the story. His expression from his nose down was solid, mirroring that of a brick wall. His eyes betrayed him, revealing the shock and horror he felt internally.

The older woman began to speak. The next day we found the Camino crashed into a tree near one of the bigger bridges around here. The floorboard was littered with whiskey bottles and beer cans. We searched for several days, but we could only come to the conclusion that..

The opening under the bridge leads into Alkali Lake. It was nearly a hundred-foot drop. If anything survived an impact like that, there wouldn't be much left to battle the current from the waterfall to the lake. The man finished the story, feeling the need to owe it to the two younger people.

Logan remained silent, Amaris could hear his heart race as his chest began to swell with bigger and more rapid breaths. Do you know what happened to their house? She asked, wondering if, by some miracle, it was still there two decades later.

The woman nodded. Yes, it's still standing, though it's in quite disrepair. Some say they can feel their spirits there, living as if life hadn't moved on from them. It's a big reason why it never sold and was just left abandoned.

Logan broke his silence, tracing a small circle on the table with his index finger. Where can we find it?

The older woman nodded, holding her hands out to Amaris for the pen and paper. Amaris made sure to flip her work over to the next page and hand over the items. She scribbled the address on the sheet of paper and then handed the items back. I don't know what will be left over there if you're looking for something in particular.

The man nodded, staring intensely at Logan. I never remembered Logan to have a boy.

The woman shook her head. Hank, our memories are failing us. He looks just as handsome as Logan though. She then turned back to Amaris, smiling warmly. You should stop by and see Koko.

Who's Koko? Should I know her? Amaris asked, quickly writing down the name.

The woman waved her hand. No, but Koko can help you find some pieces of your mother's heritage. She has a little shop next to the post office. She sells things she makes with her family. The beadwork is amazing. She also happens to have some records about Blackfeet families for the last seventy years.

Amaris nodded, closing the notebook. Logan took this as his sign to get up from the table. Thank you for your time. We appreciate what you could tell us about good ole Dad. He turned to walk toward Amaris, wrapping an arm around her shoulder after she gathered her things, wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible. Really? Amnesia?

Amaris hummed a little as the father and daughter made their way to the exit. He won't remember by tomorrow, she spoke confidently.

How can you tell, Logan questioned her.

As they crossed through the doors, she turned to look at him. He is sick. There is something wrong with him. He has a tumor, I think in his head.

Logan narrowed an eyebrow at her. How can you tell?

Amaris sighed a little heavily. When I was younger, maybe around thirteen, I could smell this really strange smell on one of my teachers. It smelled like heavy minerals, mostly iron. I kept pleading with him to see a doctor. Turned out he had a mass on his kidney, noncancerous thankfully. After that, Charles and Jean helped me practice my sense of smell. I was able to detect tumors easily, but then I began smelling colds and flu before others knew they were sick. She looked down, chuckling a little. I could heal from those ailments very quickly, but I always knew when others were sick before they ever started showing signs and symptoms.

Logan looked down at her. That's how you knew Kelly was sickly? She merely nodded in response to his question. That's impressive.

Amaris chortled, Not as impressive as smelling emotions. That certainly gives you a major step up on the battlefield.

Logan groaned a little, letting go of her shoulder. Yeah, let's keep the battlefield talk to a minimum. He had still been battling the visions he saw about different war zones he had been in. I tell you what, why don't you go to that shop the old lady was talking about.

Amaris watched him as he walked over to the motorcycle. What are you going to do?

Logan mounted the motorcycle, fishing for the keys. Keep my distance, make sure Mr. Blue-eyes stays away from us. Before she could get a word out, Logan revved the engine of the motorcycle, moving it to a better position to take off. He didn't bother waiting on the younger woman, choosing to head toward the post office himself. It couldn't be that hard to find, though he could give himself some time to think.

Logan had plenty of new things to think about now, and with each passing day, it became increasingly harder to not think about at least one soft spot he had. He had found himself taken to Storm. He couldn't tell if it was her warm eyes, her cool touch, or her demeanor. She commanded the room and the skies. He found himself thinking about her in the time passing from town to town from New York to Calgary. She seemed to pop up in strange places when things seemed to be coming to a head. She soothed over what the problem was, and then directed the next move.

He wondered how she was doing. What was she doing? Maybe teaching a class? Or running a mission with the others. Or she could have been on a date with a man he didn't know about. Or showering by herself.

Amaris honked the horn behind him, gesturing to the light as if it had been green. He exhaled, taking off again as the two traveled through the city. Still, he couldn't get her out of his brain.

About an hour later, Logan was leaning against a wall, his arms crossed as he stared at the storefront. Amaris had been inside for a while now, speaking with Koko. He could hear a phone ringing in his pocket. He pulled it out, looking more like a shiny belt buckle. It was a design for the X-men, allowing them to communicate with each other. Hello? Logan asked, still keeping his eyes on the storefront.

Logan, how's the trip going?

He closed his eyes, his jaw tightening a little. Her soft voice filled his ear canal, and he could almost feel his arms chill up. Huh, didn't think I'd be hearing from you. He shifted his weight around, kicking a rock before looking at Koko's place again.

Storm giggled a little, sounding amused. You have a promise to uphold. I have something of yours, so you must come back at some point.

Logan nodded. Oh yes, I remember. The missing weight from his neck had been a brief reminder of what his next steps had been after looking into Alkali Lake.

Good. Then your memory should serve you well in order to answer my previous question. She mused, a different tone in her voice, one that conveyed professionalism, but also personal inquiry.

Logan took in a deep breath, crossing one arm over his chest and tucking his other elbow on his wrist as he held the phone up to his ear. We made it to Calgary super early this morning.

Storm hummed a little at the words. That's impressive. You guys must have hardly slept.

Had she really been worried about their rest instead of how the trip was going? There's a difference between catching a few Z's and sleeping.

Oh? She asked, sounding rather quiet on her end. What's the difference?

Logan whispered darkly, I'll teach you when we make it back.

Storm was silent for a moment, though not too long. Come now, Logan. You know, it sounds like you're flirting.

Logan watched as Amaris left the store, a bag in her hands as she turned toward the Jeep. Oh doll, you don't know me well enough. He had smirked at the end of his sentence. His eyes caught a brief glance as something blue caught his eyes. There had been a side door that blocked the view of who was inside. However, Logan could clearly see the frosted hair and light blue jacket combo. Hey Storm, can you do me a favor?

Storm seemed a little caught off guard. Yeah, I suppose I can.

Tell me everything you know about Pietro Maximoff.He watched the young man, who appeared to be speaking to whoever had answered the door.

Pietro?She stammered the name a little, quickly thinking about what she knew. He was a student here. He left about four years ago. He wanted to travel the world.

Logan nodded, now standing off of the wall and dropping his crossed arm to his side. He and Amaris?

Storm's voice dropped a little, sounding sad. Amaris hurt him in the danger room one day. Just a scratch on his forearm. They had a fight about it. He called her an animal and said feral animals belonged in cages. He left the next morning. She hadn't been sure she should have been telling him that information. Is everything okay, Logan?

The older man watched as the younger one left very quickly, in less time than a blinking eye. Yeah... His eyes then drifted to Amaris watching as she loaded up the jeep. Thanks.

Storm pouted a little on the phone. Logan?

His glance shifted a little to the distance as she spoke. Yeah?

Storm hesitated a little, then mustered the courage to speak again. Can I ask a favor?

Sure, he whispered.

Take me out when you get back.

His eyebrows lifted a little, hearing the request. His heart felt as if it had raced a little, stuffing his hand in his jacket pocket. Yes ma'am. Logan knew he would have to leave, and see what was up with Amaris and the store owner. I'll talk to you later. Logan hung up the phone before he could give Storm enough time to respond, then tucked the phone back into his pocket.

He walked across the street, approaching his daughter. Find anything good in there, kid?

Amaris had turned around to face him, sporting a new braid in her hair with some beads in the colors of orange, yellow, and red. I couldn't tell if I was ever going to get out. She mused a little at the thought. Nothing about Kayla could be found here. But Koko was sure to send us on our way with some elk jerky.

Logan wasn't sure what to make of it, nor about seeing Pietro snooping around. Let's take today to unwind from driving. We can leave tomorrow and head on out.

Amaris looked up at her father, giving him a nod. He turned around, heading back to the motorcycle. She had watched him as he peered around in all directions as if he was looking for something. She grew a little concerned, wondering if he had remembered something else from his past, or if he was itching to get out of Calgary now.

The Jeep was packed with their belongings. Logan had fixed his backpack, making sure they had items like flashlights, matches, and some other items. He didn't need the flashlights as he could easily navigate the dark with his night vision. He wasn't sure why he was able to do this, other than having heightened senses. Still, it was for peace of mind to have.

Amaris had bundled up, wearing a dark red shirt paired with a brown flannel and a cargo jacket. Her boots were tightly laced, and her bag was resting in the passenger seat of the jeep.

The two had traveled up the mountain range a little, finding a clearing they could stop at. Amaris took a moment to appreciate the mountains. The top was covered in a thick layer of snow, the trees barren as the wind kicked past them and out over the open body of water. It had smelled so fresh, the innocence of the lake below them and the untouched snow above them. It was simply beautiful.

Logan scanned over the area, for the first time in a while hearing nothing. He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling free from everything beyond the two of them. His mind could rest as he felt the peace the scenery provided them.

This peace wouldn't last long, as they both had their own missions. He exhaled, feeling the cool air he exhaled rush back on his face. I'm going to the quarry by myself. You should go to the house. He sounded firm in his instructions as if giving commands to the masses. We both have things we need to do, and we can't be in each other's way.

Amaris looked up at him, pressing her brows together. How do you know that?

Logan turned and looked down at her, putting one hand on her shoulder. Because what I am looking for isn't what you are looking for. He watched her as her eyes searched his. I'm looking for me. Who I am, who I was. You're looking for your parents.

Amaris exhaled a little, sounding like a gasp. I want to help you.

Logan shook his head as he watched her. Sometimes you have to do things on your own. He wasn't a sentimental guy, at least he believed that. He knew he had some things to work out on his own, but he couldn't subject her to his darker past. Logan closed the distance between him and Amaris, bringing his other hand to cup the back of her head. He embraced her, for the first time since he woke up in the infirmary.

Amaris hadn't been used to gestures like these from parental figures. Charles was her father figure, and he did his best. Yet, this was different. It was her father wrapping his arms around her. She could finally feel that security blanket she had been missing the majority of her life. It felt warm enough to burn her skin and heavy enough to bury her. It felt like home, what it should have been.

Logan placed a brief kiss on her hair, pulling away from the hug as he pinched the braid Koko had put in her hair. The pad of his thumb ran over the beads in her hair as his eyes lingered over them. Let's meet back here. If either of us don't return by this time tomorrow, take this phone and call the X-Men. Logan showed her the phone, put it in a bag, and then walked over to a tree, hanging it up on a barren branch.

She placed a hand on her hip, watching him as he hung the bag up. Does it have to be up so high? She joked at first, needing to exert some of her emotions. As he turned to face her, a smile crawled on his face, shaking his head as he looked down. Don't give me a reason to use the phone. She told him sternly.

Logan chuckled a little, now holding the keys to the motorcycle in his hand. Don't make me hunt you down.

The duo shared another look at each other before Logan mounted the motorcycle again. As he turned the engine over, some of the snow beneath him shifted. He started to climb up the road of the mountain again, leaving Amaris behind him.

The young watched her father as he continued on his drive, crossing her arms over herself, savoring the last little feelings from her father's warm embrace. It would be something she would hold onto until she saw his face again. She turned away from the beautiful scene of the snow-covered mountains and the still lake waters, entering the Jeep again. She turned the engine over, with only one thought on her mind. Please, Professor, watch over us. A simple plea was muttered before Amaris turned down the fork of the road, now making her way down the mountain pass toward the location of the house. The paper map had been weighted down on the passenger seat next to her, being her guide of where she was going.

For the first time in nearly twenty-one years, Amaris had been on her own.

And she was scared as hell.

She had turned the radio back on, playing a mix tape she had brought with her. The sweet instrumentals of Zombie began to play. The music filled the empty space of the Jeep, yet it still never reached her mind. There were so many questions she had been asking herself, and she was running short of proper resources to find those answers.

Nearly two hours later, Amaris came across the entrance of the road that would lead her to her childhood home. The closer she approached, the more she felt something was wrong. It couldn't be this easy to find the house without something going wrong. Her heart felt as if it would burst, and the pounding in her head grew louder and louder. She stared down the road, looking out to see the edge of one of the cliffs maybe a mile down the road. There hadn't been much foliage aside from some snow-covered bushes and grass. She had been so high up on the mountain that she could see bits of clouds that were leveled with her.

The woman shook her head, leaning against the steering wheel, a warm ball pooling in her stomach. She looked up to the sky as she heard the screeching of an eagle. She watched as it flew above her, circling a few times before turning toward the house, flying nearly parallel to the road. Amaris leaned back in the driver's seat, putting her foot on the gas pedal as she followed behind the bird.

She approached the house, seeing some piles of debris that were scattered about the property. The cabin house looked as if it was built in a circular shape with large beams on the roof covered in whatever debris could be tossed around. She shut the engine off, stepping out of the vehicle slowly as if her presence would notify an unsuspecting guest.

The eagle had landed on one of the beams that rested above a broken glass door. It watched as the young woman walked up a couple of steps where a once magnificent deck had been built. She covered her hair with her hands as she stepped into the cabin home through the broken glass doors. It had been four in the afternoon, according to her watch, but the inside portrayed a very different setting.

Aside from the bits of sunshine that poured in from the holes in the roof, the cabin home had been cast in darkness. She took a quick scan from right to left, looking at furniture that hadn't been touched in twenty years. The air had been a little stale-smelling, knowing not much had passed through this place aside from the occasional looter.

Amaris approached a medium-sized, round dining table. There had been a newspaper on it, the edges curling in as the paper had faded to a yellow hue. The words were hardly legible at this point, making its date useless. A wooden bowl had been knocked off along with a salt and pepper shaker. One chair remained, turned out to face the kitchen area.

She stepped over the piles on the floor where the ceiling had fallen in or where animals had made little nests to use. Some of the cabinet doors had been opened up, and a stary plate here and there remained. The young woman picked one up, running a finger around the rim of the plate.

Creak

Amaris turned around, exposing a blade she had in her shirt sleeve, throwing it in the direction of the creak. As quickly as her face turned from defense, her gaze softened, lowering her arm and catching her breath. What are you doing here?

Pietro, who used his speed abilities, caught the blade with his dominant hand. He spun the blade in his hand as he took a step forward, approaching the counter. You seem to like saying those words in the same sequence. He set the blade down on the countertop, then slid it across to her, leaving lines of dust on the countertop.

Amaris eyed him, not reaching out for the blade. You seem to like to pop up in places you have zero connection to. Her tone was cold, the opposite of their encounter at the library. You better start talking.

Pietro leaned against the weathered island, crossing his arms as he looked down at Amaris. You told me you were going to Alkali.

I did, it's beautiful. Do you need directions?

Pietro laughed darkly, his eyes raking over her form. I guess some people never change. His thumbs wiggled in the little cutouts of his sleeves as he rubbed circles into his arms. Why are you acting short with me?

Amaris gritted her teeth as she watched him. None of this made any sense to her, and everything in her mind had told her to run as quickly as possible. "Let's see, the last time we spoke, not yesterday, you cursed me in Sokovian. You called me a feral animal and said I belonged in a cage as if there was an opening in the zoo. You left without telling me.

Pietro exhaled sharply, looking down after her response. He remained silent for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. His piercing blue eyes met her warm hazel irises, stirring something between them. I was stupid, Princessa-

Amaris brought her hands up at her face level, curling her fingers and then resting her arms at her sides. Stop calling me that. I am not a princess. I am not your princess. I am an animal. You made that clear. I've made that clear.

Pietro reached a hand out to her, however she took a step away from him, turning around to face the ruins of her childhood home. She swallowed hard, tightening her eyes as tears threatened to spill over.

I was much younger then. I don't know what it's like to have powers like you, just like you don't know what it's like to have powers like me. He continued, watching her as she reacted to him.

Amaris turned around, tears be damned as she replied. You don't think I've ever imagined what it would be like to have super speed? Or angel wings? Or literally any other power? Do you know how much sleep I have lost thinking about how I hurt you? Or how I may lose control one day and hurt somebody else? Do you know what it's like to have pain constantly ripping through your hands when you're driving, or writing, or doing literally nothing? She felt a couple of tears stain her face as she watched him take in her response. Do you know what it felt like to sit up on the rooftop and watch you willingly turn your back on us and leave the mansion because of one shitty danger room session? You didn't have the nerve to tell anybody you were leaving. I had to watch you as you walked, and then ran away.

Amaris breathed heavily, letting everything she had felt out, mostly through her words. Pietro took another step closer to her, making Amaris take another step backward. Amaris, every time he spoke her name, he would always roll the r, I should have never called you an animal. I should have never made those comments.

Her furrowed brows slowly softened, returning to their normal state as her eyes widened at his statement. Her clenched fists that threatened to bear her claws loosened up as she watched him take baby steps toward her. This wasn't the normal Pietro she had been used to, somebody who had a hot temper and was quick-witted was now remorseful and acted wounded.

Scratches heal, they leave scars that have stories to tell. He then raised his jacket and shirt sleeve revealing the scars she had left. The very faint, yet defined scars. I've carried a little bit of you with me these last four years. Every day I get to wake up to you, and every night I get to say good night to you.

Amaris shook her head, freezing in place, as he finally walked up to her. He looked down at her and lowered his sleeves, the cold nearly affecting him instantly. Pietro, why are you here?

His hands reached to cup the sides of her face. Amaris tried to pull away but was unable to, only able to look down as a final tear left her eyes. I saw you again, and I knew I couldn't let you go again.

She could feel his presence begin to close the short distance between them, and instinct kicked in.

Control your breathing, and imagine the space around you, minimal movements make for big differences.

Amaris brought her hands up, forcing his hands off of her face. She walked away from him, walking toward the torn and weathered couch. I was never yours to lose. She looked down and spotted a blanket, covered in leaves and mildew.

Princessa, I-

Creak

Get down! Amaris yelled, rushing over to him and yanking him down to the floor. She could hear voices outside of the cabin, the sound of a couple of engines cutting off, and radio chatter.

Pietro collapsed to the ground with her, unable to hear exactly what she heard. What are you doing?

Amaris rolled her eyes, peering around the corner to scan the wall opposite of them. I swear the next time you say those words, you will be tasting them.

Found them, sir, permission to engage? came a deep voice from a man. There was radio static for a brief moment before the sound of falling glass could be heard.

Hope you have your dancing shoes on. She replied before stalking her prey. She had already been in a vulnerable position, being in an environment she had not been used to. However, she would make things work. She slipped over to the couch, flipping it over as two men entered the cabin. They fired their weapons at it, sending stray feathers and stuffing around. Amaris used it as her distraction, jumping out from behind the flipped couch and attacking the men. She had disposed of them, killing them with three claws to their chest.

Another began to fire at her. Pietro made his way around the counter, using his powers to move one of the bullets around to face the gunman again. Amaris watched as he fell to the ground and Pietro faced her, giving a thumbs up. Her attention was diverted when she took a stumble forward, feeling the burning sensation of a bullet entering her back. Fuck! she grunted, taking a moment to stand up again. She turned around to face three more gunmen. Of course, it has to be guns.

The gunmen began to fire again, several of the bullets hitting Amaris and littering her jackets and shirts. She charged at them, sheathing the claws of her right hand to punch one of the men in the face. She then unsheathed the claws again, stabbing another of the men.

She felt a wisp of air as Pietro joined her in the squabble, taking the third man and tossing him off the little deck. He turned around to see Amaris killing the other two guards, the backflow of blood splashed on her face as a dark look overtook her features.

Amaris stood up, her claws retracting slowly as she breathed heavily. She turned to look at her ex-lover, seeing a mix of emotions on his face. Whether it had been a post-rush of adrenaline he had, or if he had been mortified by what he saw, she didn't have time to care. She walked over to the man who was now on the ground. She knelt beside him, lifting him up by the collar of his shirt. Who the hell are you?

The man grunted, recovering from the fall he took. Wouldn't you like to know, sweetheart?

Amaris nodded a little, her jaw dropping slightly before pulling a half smile. Oh, you think this is funny? Amaris stood up, dragging the man by his collar as she approached the edge of the cliff. He squirmed under her grip, desperately driving his heels into the dirt. She had been strong enough to pull him to the edge, flipping him over to look down at the drop below them. I'll give you another chance. You tell me who you are, or you become the wolf's next meal.

The man's cries slowly turned into laughs as he looked down at the opening below him. You'll kill me either way. Why should I tell you who I am?

Pietro walked up behind her, holding his hands out. Woah, think about this. The Professor didn't teach you this.

Amaris looked at the man, then back to Pietro. There's a lot he taught you that you forgot about. She then looked back at him, now shifting some of his weight over the side of the cliff. Why did you come here?

The man shook his head, the same demented tone vibrated through his voice. You were not the target.

Amaris was puzzled at his response. Who?

You already know who.

Amaris felt a fit of rage fill her again. She screamed, picking the man up and throwing him back toward the house. She walked back to him, unsheathing her bone claws again. Who do you work for?!

The man looked at her, catching his breath. It's too late for me. She watched as he flexed his tongue, then heard the distinct sound of something cracking in his mouth. A couple of seconds later he began to convulse before a gray-blue substance seeped from his mouth.

Amaris stood up, shocked by his actions. She watched as he suffered through the effects of the self-ingested poison, looking at him with disgust. Pietro stood at her side, looking down at the man. He was at a loss for words about what he saw her do, how quickly she acted, and how ruthlessly she defended herself.

She heard the radio static again, coming from one of the corpses. She walked over to the body, finding a radio clipped to his vest. She picked it up, pressing the button. I don't know who you are, I don't care who you are. I need answers.

An older man's voice responded to her. I am not looking for you, pet. At least, not yet.

She had been disgusted by his response. Why were they always so creepy? If you're looking for an animal, you've found one.

He chuckled before responding. I know. Each member of that team was embedded with a microchip that would relay to us their vital signs. Seems you like to take direct approaches. You should keep up the good work.

Amaris shook her head, pressing the button again. You come looking for me again like this, or anybody I care about, understand no moral code will keep you safe from me.

Trust me, Miss Howlett, we will be seeing each other. Hopefully next time, it's in person.

She dropped the radio on the man's body, looking down as it rolled right off of him. She turned to head back into the house, though she was grabbed by Pietro. He firmly held her elbow in his arm, earning him a look from the shorter woman. We should leave. They will send more men out here.

She tugged away at him, freeing her from his grasp. Not until I find something. She didn't give him any time to react as she turned away and entered the home again.

Logan had found a part of the lake that had been mostly untouched. The cold winds came rushing past him as they moved the tides of the lake. Snow crunched under his boots as he took in the scenery. There had been a dam at the lake, separating a small portion from the rest of the lake. It didn't seem to be serving a particular purpose, other than dividing the two bodies of water.

He removed the cigar from his mouth, blowing out the smoke as he figured out his next steps. He found himself wondering what he would find at the facility. If it had secretly still been active, what would he find there, and if this would resolve his problems? The Professor had promised him answers, yet Logan craved more. He wished the older man would have magically restored his memory, and figured out what wall was blocking him from being able to remember his past and who he was.

Until two weeks prior, he was Logan, The Wolverine.

Now he was a father, a cage fighter, and an X-Man.

Logan found his way to the facility entrance of the dam, the place where he had been told there was a quarry. He came across a half-broken barbed wire fence with government signs on it. The broken fences and the decaying metal and wood gates told him that the place hadn't been touched in years, maybe over a decade. Logan was met with a white wolf at the gate, the two animals staring each other down. They seemed to have come to a silent agreement as the wolf turned around and walked into the facility. Logan followed behind it, making sure to give them each enough space.

As Logan approached the gates he looked to his left, spotting a sign.

Alkali Lake Industrial Park Department of Energy and Natural Resources

Logan pushed on, sliding through the gate to finally see what was on the other side. He looked around, shocked to see ruble about him, the ruins of a building were all that remained aside from the lake.

"No", he thought. This couldn't be what Charles had seen in his mind. This wasn't the right place. There was nothing.

Logan screamed out loudly, exposing his metal claws as he slashed at a decaying column, snow shuffling around him as the debris fell. He fell to his knees, looking up at the sky, crossing his arms as they lay in his lap. It was all gone, none of it was there.

He hadn't been sure of what he was trying to find, or what he would find when he did. Yet, this felt more devastating than finding anything. Another thing had been ripped from him, something he was missing was gone again, and this angered the man. Why was this happening to him?

Amaris had shuffled through the house, moving debris so she could look under it or access parts of the cabin that had been blocked before. Pietro followed her, keeping his distance as she tore through the home. Amaris, there's nothing here.

The shorter woman grunted as she moved one of the collapsed roof beams that had blocked her from a closet. I refuse to believe that. Something has to be here. She pulled on the doorknob, opening a closet. There were clothes still on the hanger. Nothing seemed to have been touched, the roof above the clothes was still intact, and no sun had pierced through. She moved some of the hangers, finding some flannels and band t-shirts. She had pulled one flannel out, her fingers running down the sleeves. It was a brown color, somehow having a lingering pine smell to it. Hold this. Amaris extended the item out toward Pietro.

He sighed, then took the garment from her. You came here for a shirt? I would have bought one for you.

Amaris continued to look through the closet, squatting down as she found a metal safe. She pulled it up, wiping her hands over the top of it.

Alkali Lake Industrial Park Department of Energy and Natural Resources

She stood up with the case in her hand. No, we're here for this. She walked around him, heading back to the kitchen area. She avoided the bodies of the men they had killed, a strong scent of metal filling the room. Amaris set the case on the countertop, her hands now hovering over the latches.

Pietro followed her, tossing the shirt over his shoulder as he hung onto it for her. What's the matter?

She looked at the words of the case, feeling a sense of dread begin to brew in the pit of her stomach. My parents lived here... I lived here. My mother died when I was three, my father lost his memories, and I ended up in Charles' care. She exhaled a shaky breath as she finally unlatched the case. I need to know who they were.

Pietro stood next to her as she removed the top of the case. He wasn't sure how he could help her at this point, other than silently support her. He watched as her small hands began to shake as she reached for the first layer of contents.

Amaris picked up a set of photos, letting out a sound close to a muffled sob. The top picture had been of two people standing in front of the house. The man had been Logan, his arms wrapped around a woman who was holding a baby. The woman was beautiful. The black and white picture had given Amaris her first-ever glance at her mother.

She flipped to the next picture, showing Kayla asleep on the couch. The third was Logan holding an older Amaris on his shoulders in the living room. The same living room where that once little girl killed militia sent out for her.

She carefully set the pictures back in the case, now pulling out a weathered folder and a journal. She opened up the leather-bound journal and began to read the first page.

My name is James Logan Howlett. My mother was Elizabeth Howlett, my father was John Howlett. I have a brother named Victor. I was born in 1832 in a private estate to my parents some years after Victor. My wife's name is Kayla Silverfox, an ordinary person compared to me, though she is extraordinary next to me. I have a daughter, my little moon. Amaris was born in April of 1976 in Calgary. I wish to one day give her a life worth living, and I hope that she is a normal human like her mother, so she may never live a curse like mine.

Her eyes scanned over the sentences multiple times. Her mind could not comprehend what she was reading.

James Logan Howlett... born in 1832

She lowered the book on the countertop, her shoulders slumping. Pietro's quick hands rested on the small of her back and her forearm. Princessa?

Amaris looked from the journal to Pietro, her eyes filling with tears again. Tears she had been terrified to release for days. For years. My father... he's - he's over one hundred and fifty years old. Her voice came in a whisper as she verbalized what she read. His eyes widened as he searched her face, wondering how it had been possible.

Amaris turned back to the book, slowly flipping through the pages. There had been mad scribblings of different dates in time. The American Civil War, The Spanish-American War, World War One, World War Two, the Korean War, The Vietnam War. Scribbling of troop numbers, commanding officer names, division classes, and military ranks.

The pounding returned to her head as she realized that her father had been involved in almost every single major war in the northern parts of North America for nearly one hundred years. This made his night terrors and mumblings sense now. He had been a man who had fought in turmoil for one hundred years, who only remembered the last twenty-one years of his life. This isn't fair. She muttered, closing the journal, unable to read more about what had happened to him.

Pietro set a hand on hers, pleading with her. Stop. Don't do this to yourself.

Amaris shook her head, looking up at him. I have to know what happened. She persisted, now looking down at the folder. Pietro removed his hand, watching as she studied the folder.

Amaris looked at a letter that rested on top. The handwriting had been different, more wispy and thin. Her eyes widened at the greeting.

Amaris covered her mouth as she turned around, leaning against the counter for support.

My dearest Amaris,

If you are reading this, it means I am no longer here and something terrible has happened. I only ever wished to burn this letter one day and hoped you would never have to find out the truth.

I hope I get to see you grow up. I want to see what type of person you become. I already know you are as stubborn as your father, which will be my biggest challenge when raising you. I also know that you brought a new light to his eyes the night you were born. I thought I knew Logan before that night, but he surprised me and became a different kind of man as soon as his big arms wrapped around your tiny little body.

I want you to know that out of everything you learn about what has happened, my love for you has never changed. It never will. What I did was something I will never expect you to understand, but I hope one day you will forgive me for it. I only wanted to save my sister, your aunt, from the ones who made your father into what he is now. I didn't want to betray his trust, as I do love him. But my darling little honey badger, I had no choice.

I may be dead less than twenty-four hours from now, either by the hands of your father, his creator, or his brother Victor Creed. Victor is a mutant like your father and I, he goes by Sabertooth. I will do everything in my power to make sure you are well looked after when I am gone if your father can not take care of you. When you miss me, only turn to the moon. It is there I hope to go so I may look down at my beautiful child. My Amaris.

With all of the love in the world, and the deepest of apologies,

Your mother Kayla Silverfox

Amaris fell to her knees, her chest heaving. She wanted to scream, parting her lips, however, her emotions were too thick all she could let out was a gasping sound followed by silent sobs. Pietro dropped down, wrapping his arms around Amaris, and pulling her toward him. What is it?

Amaris leaned into his chest as he held her, holding the letter close to her chest as her tears fell in her lap. My-my..moth- Another sob rumbled through her chest as her brain looped the letter back again. She buried her face into his chest, the zipper of his jacket scratching her nose as she tried to burrow deeper. Pietro held her in one arm, his other brushing down her hair, cooing to her in an attempt to soothe her. Amaris tilted her head up to look at him, breaking her silence again. My mother turned my father over to whoever made him into what he is now. She betrayed him, and now he doesn't know who he is.

She continued to cry as Pietro brushed the hair out of her face, then pulled her back in, cupping the back of her neck as he held her. Let it out. I'm here.

Amaris wrapped her arms around him, trying to pull him closer. He thought she was human, and she lied to him... why would she lie to him? Pietro remained silent as Amaris tried to process her feelings, wondering how on Earth her father fell head over heels with Kayla, who seemed more than willing to trade him for the world.

The night had been the longest of Amaris' life. She collapsed into the arms of her ex as he stalked her through the Canadian Rockies. She unleashed a small portion of her animalistic side as she killed armed men coming for her and Pietro. She found some clothes that smelled of her father, found photos of her family, and found devastating news about her parents.

Amaris looked through the folder to see its remaining contents, mostly holding written communication from Kayla to Victor or to "Agent Zero", speaking about Logan and getting him to return to his brothers. Kayla had been working for months with Sabertooth to make Logan join them again. She found a plan Kayla wrote about convincing Logan, with her powers, that she had been killed by Victor. Plans that would lead Logan down a path to choose to undergo experimentation in the Weapon X program.

On the opposite side of things, she read through her father's journal, reading his stories from different wars. It was hard to believe that her father and Sabertooth, a man who had killed Amaris two weeks prior, had been the best of brothers fighting side by side in the wars. The words were sickening to her, reading about how much her father had changed for his family for him to never learn of Kayla's betrayal.

She walked out to the jeep, accessing the damage on it. The engine had been shot multiple times and various colors of fluid stained the snow below. There was no way she was going to be able to drive it back down the mountain, let alone across two countries. Pietro had run away like a scared dog the moment she left the living room area the night before, leaving her alone on the mountaintop. She looked over to the other vehicles that the militiamen brought. She knew they would be tracked by its agency, making it easy to find her. When she thought all hope was lost she turned her head to the side, finding another building on the property.

Amaris was drawn to the building next to the cabin. It seemed to be in rather good shape, as if it had been regularly checked in on from time to time. She was cautious in her approach as she walked up to it. There had previously been a large door that no longer existed, which displayed the contents of the building. Maybe it was an old garage door or a large barn door that no longer existed.

Her eyes were drawn to the center of the garage, something large was in the middle with a weathered tarp over it. She gathered a large handful of the fabric, ripping it off of the object. Her eyes widened seeing the restored 1965 El Camino the old man had told her about previously, sitting in the garage of its owner.

She laughed to herself, approaching the door and opening it up. The window had been rolled down and the keys were sitting in the bench seat. Oh, Dad. Her whisper filled the cab as she entered the driver's seat, her hands resting on the steering wheel. She looked down at the keys, picking them up as she eyed her damaged jeep sitting in front of the house.

Amaris put the keys in the ignition, switching it over. The rumble of the engine grew in decibels as she revved its engine, bringing the classic beast to life. With a new means of transportation, Amaris turned the car off after looking at its gas tank reader. The jeep had enough in it to fill up the Camino. She had a plan. Siphon the gas from the jeep, put the extra canteen of gas in the trunk bed along with everything she found, make sure everything about Xavier was out of the jeep, take the plates, and go. Once back in the city she could call Scott and get him to fix some documents to make the Camino legal with the plates and tags of the Jeep. It was perfect!

She packed up the case in the Camino along with some clothes that survived over the years and some photos she was able to save. Pietro had left in the middle of the night, needing to find a place where he could comfortably get warm. The young woman left the cabin home, regretting having ever searched for it. She would have rather lived her life without the answers had she had a thought that maybe something else had been working against her.

Then there was that group that attacked her, she had no idea who they were or who sent them. The threat that one day he wanted to was the next motivation she had to improve her skills. She wasn't a little Barbie doll to be played with when others wanted, she was going to be a force they dared not to cross.

She approached the spot where she had last met her father, seeing a figure in a leather coat sitting on the edge underneath the bag he hung up. As she cut the engine off, Amaris sighed, grabbing the case. It wasn't hers to have, it was his. She shouldn't have gone digging through the case, but she could not deny herself the anticipation of knowing its contents.

The woman trudged through the snow bank and then took a seat next to him. Logan looked over at her, taking in a deep breath. Pine, peppermint, and gunpowder. Amaris felt his stare, turning to look at him. Instead of answering the unasked question, she held the box in her hands, holding it out for him to take.

Logan looked at the box, taking it. He saw the same words as he did on the gate of the dam, hearing something shifting inside the box.

Before you open it, Amaris started, Just know that whatever you think after this, I still want to help you find the answers you're looking for.

Logan looked from her to the box. He battled with opening it himself, wondering what rabbit hole it would lead him down. Here goes nothing, right? The man opened up the case, finding it in the same order as Amaris found it. Pictures on the top of a life he didn't remember. The images did try to dig a response out of his mind, but nothing stuck.

The next thing he pulled out was the journal. He tapped his fingers on the cover of the book. There was nothing at the quarry. It's been destroyed by the weather, and I'm assuming other things.

Amaris looked from him to the lake below them, watching the water rippling around the little islands and the shores, looking down at her hands. Well, you missed all the action. She chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

Logan nodded. So that's why you smell like gunpowder, and you lost the jeep?

Amaris reached into her jacket pocket, pulling out five bullets. The one from my shoulder was the most painful to shed.

He looked from the bullets to the journal, his fingers pinching the cover. Hope it was worth finding this. Amaris' face grew cumbersome as she put the bullets into her pocket again, watching him open the journal. She watched his face switch emotions from curious to shocked, then to anger.

Logan's eyes scanned over the sentence, recognizing the handwriting as his own. It was cleaner though, practiced strokes with a pen. The man who wrote it clearly wanted his words to be legible as if he didn't want to forget who he was.

Logan let out the breath he held in his chest as he read over and over again the beginning paragraph. His name, his parents, his brother, his birth year.

Sabertooth? Sabertooth was his brother? In what universe would that make sense? The same man that had nearly killed him two weeks prior, threatened Ororo's life. The same man who killed the young woman next to his side, his daughter. Sabertooth's niece.

He swallowed hard as he looked down at the world. It only made sense why Sabertooth's vendetta ran strong against Logan. The man closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. This wasn't what he thought he would find.

Amaris looked up at her father, wanting to do anything for him. Unable to find the words, she did something she even thought herself was questionable. She leaned against his side, her head resting against his shoulder. People evolve over time. They change their clothes, their hair, and sometimes their personalities.

Logan opened his eyes, turning his head to look down at her. His chest heaved a couple of deep breaths before he looked back down at the box. Inside he found some more pictures and a folded-up piece of fabric. It was a canary-colored baby dress. He set the journal down, reaching for the little dress. He held it up with both of his hands, his thumbs and index fingers pinching the shoulders. His eyes scanned it, never imagining seeing something so little being able to wear it one day. He brought it up to his face, inhaling a deep smell. His eyes flashed open staring out at the lake in front of him but his mind faded back to 1976.

Memories of a baby crying could be heard. The crying turned into laughter. "Where do you think you're goin', little lady?" he asked the little baby crawling on the floor. He saw images of himself sitting on the couch as the little girl sat in his lap drinking a bottle or eating a snack. Images of him holding his little family filled his mind.

Logan lowered the garment from his face, looking over to the girl sitting by his side. She looked up at him, seeing the shock spreading across his face as he smelled the air around her. Amaris?

The woman stared at him, narrowing one eyebrow. Dad? What's the matter? She could hear his heart pounding a mile a minute.

He dropped the dress, his hands reaching out to cup her face, one thumb dragging across her cheekbone. I... I remember. His words came as a whisper as his eyes quickly examined her features. She smelled the same as she did as the baby he remembered, aside from the new baby smell. Cinnamon, fir wood, and evening primrose. His jaw quivered as his hazel eyes met hers. I remember you. Logan fell into his heart's wishes, pulling her into his hold. It had been a different type of embrace compared to the one before. Somehow, a different side of his personality awakened by the dull scent of his baby girl, now a grown adult.

Amaris's eyes were wide as Logan pulled her tightly, holding her close to his frame. She almost felt the force of his strength was going to suffocate her before long. It was then that he pulled away from her, looking her face over again. You look so much like your mother. He studied her as if it had been the first time he saw her.

Amaris bit her tongue as he spoke about Kayla, somebody she had been the most anxious to learn about. Now knowing her secrets and how it drove the family apart.

The sound of snow crunching thankfully ended those thoughts. Amaris pulled out of his hold, standing and spinning around, unsheathing her bone claws. Logan stood up as quickly as possible, discarding the metal case to the side as the metal pierced through his skin. He stood over her and she hunched down near the ground.

Men began to approach the two of them, guns pointed at them. Amaris could hear static again near her ear. Her tiny braid that was weaved by the older Blackfoot woman brushed past her ear. She listened closely as a slight hum could be heard near her ear. She gripped the lock of hair, using her bone claws to cut it away. She put a tracker on me.

Logan snarled as he eyed the team of eight men. One of them began barking orders. This can all be very easy for you. Surrender and we won't hurt you.

The mutant man shook his head. I'm tired of taking orders from men like you.Logan charged at the men, bullets beginning to fly through the air. Logan made his way to the leader of the group, piercing his chest with his metal claws, and then tossing him over the hood of the Camino.

Amaris ran towards one of the outliers as he began to follow her father. She ran up behind him, jumping on his back before stabbing him with two claws. The man fell to the ground, using the last bit of energy he had to fire his gun again. Unluckily for Amaris, it pierced through one of the tires on the Camino.

With two of the men down, the others began fighting without order. Logan used the body of the first man he killed as a shield, approaching two more and quickly taking them out with expert precision. Logan tossed the body of the man to the side as another man charged him head-on.

As the man knelt on the ground, Amaris ran up to him, using him as a ramp as she placed one boot on his back to give her a running jump at the man. She sunk both of her hands into his shoulders, using her body to her advantage as she shifted her weight around and maneuvered him to the ground. Logan had been taking care of the last three men while Amaris stabbed the man beneath her several times. If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough, little girl.

The man used his weight against her, pinning her in an awkward position for her. In the flip, he wrangled one of her hands around, nearly snapping her wrist. Tell your old man Stryker says hi. The dying soldier maneuvered them one more time and a grueling snap could be heard.

Amaris looked down at her freed hand, only to see the three bone claws had been snapped off. She looked at the soldier who was slowly dying with a bloody smile as the missed three claws protruded from his shoulder and neck area. Amaris breathed rapidly, then hollered out as she gripped her wrist.

Logan had finished handling the business with the last of the troops when he turned around hearing her scream. He rushed over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders. As he took a step around to face her, his eyes caught the sight of her broken claws, observing the jagged cuts of the bone. His hands reached out for hers, looking over the damage she took. Charles can fix this.

Amaris looked up at him, the pain in her face overtaking her drive to hide her emotions as she began to cry. She shook her head before speaking, He can do many things, but he can't fix my mutation. Her eyes shifted from his down to her wounded hand. Blood dried on her lip as the last little drop fell onto one of her broken claws. I'm sorry, I lead them here. Her voice came as a whisper, turning to look back at the lock of hair hanging onto a rock on the ground next to where they had been sitting. They're looking for you... and I led them to you...

Logan knelt down in front of her, shaking his head as he pulled her face to look at him. People will always be looking for me, I suppose. But you didn't do this. It ain't your fault, baby girl. He wiped away a run then ran down her cheek. We need to get out of here as fast as possible. Avoid that boy of yours, get back to the mansion.

Amaris looked up at him, pressing her eyebrows together. But Alkali and the quarry-

It's gone. What I have that's left of me is what you found in that case, and You. His voice faltered toward the end, cracking with emotion. His hazel eyes met her hazel ones in a different light from their previous interactions. Something in him came to life when he remembered her as his little baby, following him around the house and clinging to his pant legs. Dancing in her high chair as they listened to music or had been eating. Snoring softly on his chest with her mother tucked under his arm asleep at his side. I found you, and I ain't about to let you go.

Amaris leaned into his hold, holding her injured hand closely to her chest as he wrapped his arms around her long hair, doing his best to comfort his little girl. We're gonna take this nice and slow, okay? Come on. He spoke to her, his arms wrapping under her legs and behind her back, picking Amaris up into his arms. He walked over to the Camino, opened the door, and set her in the passenger seat. He closed the door, walking over to the motorcycle. As easily as he picked her up, he picked the motorcycle up, setting it into the trunk bed of the Camino. He finally walked back to the metal box, picked it up, and walked toward the car with it.

Amaris looked down at her backpack, knowing she kept the file safe from him. The last thing she wanted him to know was that his family was so traitorous to him that to know even the woman he once loved was willing to trade him for her gain felt wrong. Would he ever think the same of Amaris, who only wanted to protect him from the truth? Would she hurt him more by concealing these documents from him?

The pain of her injured claws receding back into her forearm had been more painful than the thoughts she had. As Logan entered the cab of the Camino, he looked over at Amaris, watching her knuckles and wrist heal over. He turned the engine over, shifted it into gear, and drove down the mountain. They needed to get to the Mansion as quickly as possible, for their safety, and for more answers.

Nearly three weeks had passed since the events of Logan being attacked. In that amount of time, he had become a part of a team that defended mutants while also protecting humans, learned he had a daughter, and began to remember his past. He recalled more memories from different wars he had been in with each passing day since reading his old journal. He could also faintly remember his brother's face, how they cared for each other well and had been close. Now, Victor was gone, a shell of what he used to be in Logan's memories.

Logan led the drive down the driveway of Xavier's Institute, the motorcycle roaring with the old Camino following behind him. As they approached the garage of the mansion, Logan could see students and teachers peeking through the curtains. He chuckled to himself, finding a good spot to park before turning off the engine.

He walked to Amaris as she got out of the Camino, slinging her bag over her shoulder. Well, that was a great vacation. She commented, grabbing the box of items she rescued from their home. What are you going to do next?

Logan pursed his lips, shrugging his shoulders. I should speak to Charles. There has to be something we're overlooking. He walked by her side as they walked around to the main entrance of the mansion. And you?

Amaris didn't know what she should do. There were a million things on her mind, but her next steps back in the mansion seemed a million miles away. I don't know.

Logan opened the door, walking through and holding it open for her. You'll figure it out, I'm sure.

Logan! Came a giggling-sounding Rogue as she approached Logan and Amaris. She carefully wrapped her arms around his neck as he reached to hug her back. Amaris had closed the doors as the two interacted. Some other students passed by, greeting the man as they walked to their next classes.

Did you miss me, kid? He asked as they let go of each other. He chuckled when she shook her head no. How are you doing since we've been gone?

Good, really. Find anything you were looking for out there?

Logan tilted his head side to side, then nodded. Just a few things. He watched as a teenager approached Rogue, looking to be her same age, if not a year older. Who's this?

Bobby eyed him, holding his hand out. I'm Bobby. Rogue's boyfriend. He sounded very stern as if warning the older man. Logan reached out to shake his hand. Call me Iceman. Logan watched as Bobby's hand turned to ice, freezing Logan's hand.

Amaris approached them. Bobby. There are different ways to introduce yourself. She spoke, then watched as the two let go of each other's hands. Bobby nodded, remaining silent. Bobby is one of my students. Well, as long as I haven't been replaced or let go of.

A set of heels could be heard walking down the stairs next to them. It's okay, you just used all of your PTO for the year,Storm spoke, placing her hand on the rail. Look at who's come back.

Logan had looked up first, meeting Storm's gaze as she descended the stairs. He smiled, watching her every step. Yes, well, I left something here when I left. I had to come back for it.

Storm nodded, reaching for her neckline and removing the dog tags, gently handing them over. Logan smirked looking from the necklace to Storm. I wasn't talking about these, he hummed, earning him a chuckling response from Storm.

Amaris looked at Bobby and Rogue. Why don't you two go study or something? Who knows, we might have a pop quiz this week.

Bobby groaned at the sound as Rogue's gloved hand took hold of his hand and walked away from the adults. What are you going to do, Amaris? Storm asked her, using this time to avoid Logan's stare.

I'm going to find our good doctor. I need a patch job, she wiggled her fingers, looking up at her father and giving him a wink before walking away from her best friend and her father. What a wild concept.

Oh, she's downstairs. We picked somebody up yesterday. You should find her there. Storm then turned her attention back to Logan, his hand still cupping hers as she held the dog tags. We're taking the kids on a field trip tomorrow. We can always use an extra set of eyes when it comes to the students.

Logan hummed, looking down at their hands before looking at Storm again. I thought we were going out? As promised.

Oh, we are, Storm stated matter-of-factly. Tonight, seven o'clock. You pick the place.

Logan nodded as she set the necklace in his hand before walking away from him and heading down the hallway. Yes, ma'am. He spoke to himself, feeling a warm pit in his stomach. He couldn't remember what it was like to feel for another person before. He knew he deeply cared for and loved his daughter, but this was obviously a different type of feeling. What was it about the woman that made him feel so strange?

Scott appeared in the hallway, crossing his arms as he looked at Logan. Enjoy your joyride?

Logan looked at the other man, nodding. He fished for the keys out of his pocket, tossing them to Scott. It needs gas.

Scott caught the keys, and then tossed them back to Logan. Then fill her up.

Logan caught the keys, nodding slightly. After I take Storm out. He turned to walk down the hallway, hearing Scott mumble a little.

Logan walked down the hallway until he found Charles' office, hearing him on the other side. Before he could knock he could hear the older man's voice in his head. Come in Logan. Logan opened the door, adjusting his backpack as he entered. How did you fair?

We found some things, but not enough. He took in a deep breath as he watched the man in the wheelchair. Somebody had followed us for a while. Somebody who i think you know better than Amaris does.

Charles looked at him perplexed. Who was following you?

Logan took a seat on the couch as Charles gestured to him. Does the name Pietro Maximoff mean anything to you? He watched as Charles face turned white. I'd say it does.

Charles signed, looking at Logan as he spoke. Pietro was a troubled student. He was constantly in trouble with the staff here and local law enforcement. I will say he did observe better judgment when he was around Amaris.

Logan nodded, resting his forearms on his knees as he leaned in, locking his hands together. I think he is up to something.

Charles looked shocked. What do you mean by this, Logan?

He showed up where we were in Calgary. Said he was looking for his missing sister, but I could tell he was lying. Logan replied, unable to shake the feeling.

Did he say which sister, by chance? Charles asked.

Logan shook his head. No. As he watched Charles' expression change, he knew something else was wrong. Does it matter which one?

Charles moved his wheelchair so he could look out a window. He watched as children played on the basketball court. No, but Logan, there's something you should know about Pietro Maximoff. Logan watched as Charles spun his chair around to face him. Pietro's father is somebody you've already met. To know that you've had a run in with him already is concerning, but to hear he is potentially searching for a sibling ramps up this concern I have.

Logan stood up, walking over to Charles. Who?

Charles looked pained as he looked at Logan. Erik Lensherr. He choked out, thinking about the potential trouble that was brewing. Magneto.

Logan searched the Professor's face, watching as the man seemed to fall into a deep sense of dread. He followed us around, showed up in the places we went to, but he was actually following Amaris.

Charles looked up at Logan, hearing his words. I understand that she is your daughter, but I must implore you, you must keep an eye on her. If Pietro has decided to show up in place she hasn't been before, or he for the matter, she must remain guarded. She loved him, but he-

Logan could hear Charles' heart begin to quicken, a sure sign of panic or fear rising in his veins. He isn't any good, is he?

Charles shook his head, remaining silent as the two came to a silent agreement. Something was wrong, and some type of storm was brewing.

Amaris had dropped her items off in her bedroom, making her way down to the lab where she had been told she would see Jean. She had been wearing one of the band t-shirts that she recovered from the cabin home. It seemed he used to like The Rolling Stones int he seventies. It had been one of her fathers as the fabric swallowed her frame whole. All she needed was a pair of JNCO jeans and she could blend in with her students.

Jean walked around the corner, nearly walking into Amaris. The women laughed, catching their breaths before speaking. It's so nice to see you back, and in one piece! Jean spoke, looking thrilled to see the young woman back. Amaris' face fell from a happy one to a little somber one. What is it?

She held her hand up, wincing as she unsheathed her claws. I'm mostly one piece.

Jean was shocked, bringing her hands to touch the broken bones. My dear. She whispered analyzing the breaks. They were terrible, jagged and splintered.

Amaris nodded, biting her tongue as Jean touched the bone. The broken ends felt like live wires as the older woman examined them. I don't know if there is anything that can be done about it. I thought you were the best place to start.

Jean sighed a little, then holding her hands between both of hers. Let me do an exam. I'll speak with the Professor and Hank. Maybe we can do something like a prosthetic or figure out if your bones have any healing properties.

Amaris nodded, then following Jean into the Infirmary. She stood next to one of the tables as Jean began to gather some supplies.

Well I be. 'His must be heaven. Came a husky voice.

Amaris looked up, seeing a man with long red hair looking at her. She tilted her head to the side. Why? Because I'm an angel? She asked in her most dramatic flirty voice, sarcastically replying to the age old pick up line.

The man shook his head. If you're an angel, then I'm in the wrong place. See, 'dae don't fly down here wit me. It's too low for 'dem, an' their wings would burn up.

Amaris laughed a little, making the man point at her. Tell me, what's you name, Chere?

Amaris approached his bed, finally seeing his eyes. His irises were reg and the whites of his eyes were black. Amaris, Amaris Howlett.

The man grabbed her hand gently as she approached. Remy Lebeau, at your service. He pressed a kiss to her knuckles, causing a warm flush to flash across her cheeks and down her neck. He looked up at her, then running his thumb over her knuckles. They call me 'da Gambit.

Amaris felt the smile creep onto her face before she could counteract it. Gambit, huh? That's a cool little codename you have there.

Remy gave a small nod of his head, looking up at the woman. I'm sure yours is somethin' to marvel at too.

Oh, no. I don't have a code name. She responded, forgetting about her hand at this point.

Give me a couple days, Gambit promises he'll give ya a nickname worthy to be chanted.

Jean cleared her throat as she entered the room. Amaris turned around quickly as Remy let go of her hand. This had certainly been the most exciting thing that has happened to him since being recovered by the X-Men.

Amaris left Gambit as he winked at her, having a funny feeling that by the end of the week he would have a different outlook on his life, and it might be due to the shy woman he met, Amaris Howlett.

[queen-of-writing-bad-things]

Henry Danger Reader Insert | Captain Man x Reader: SEASON 2

Episode 19: I Know Your Secret

~The Man Cave~

It was safe to say that for Henry, shit was going down. It had been a normal school day: lessons, copious amounts of homework, Jasper being strange and a note in his locker. Not a cute, love letter from a girl in his class, nope, it was some creepy note saying that someone in school "knew Henry's secret and what he did on Wednesday night". Spooky.

Henry and Charlotte had rushed out of school and raced to the Man Cave, where they hoped that Ray, (y/n) and Schwoz would know what to do. He only had one secret and that was his secret alias as Kid Danger, meaning that someone had figured it out and now his job working for Captain Man was in danger. 

"And your one hundred percent sure you didn't tell anyone?" Ray asked his sidekick as he paced around the room and Henry sat on the couch. He was freaking out, if someone knew about Henry then that meant the kid was at risk and so was he. Schwoz was busy scanning the letter to see if he could ascertain who created it, but the beeping of the machine just made Ray more nervous.

"I told nobody!" Henry swore, knowing that he took his oath to Ray very seriously. He'd never divulge his secret willy-nilly because that was one way of a bad guy coming and killing him and his family.

"Have you sent any emails or texts messages where you mentioned that you were Kid Danger?" Ray pressed further, making (y/n) roll her eyes. If Henry said he'd told no one, then he meant no one and that extended to electronic communication.

"Oh wait, yeah, last week, I did stand on my roof naked and yelled "Hey, everybody! Look at me! I'm Henry Hart and I'm Kid Danger!" The boy shouted sarcastically, causing (y/n) to giggle as the joke went over Ray's head.

"You did that naked?" He exclaimed in confusion, taking Henry's words literally. 

"I think he was being sarcastic, Ray." (y/n) pointed out, hitting his arm as she rolled her eyes again. Her best friend was looking extra dashing today, with a white, palm tree-print shirt that stood out against his tanned skin. God, he was hot and it made her pouty knowing that she couldn't kiss him like she wanted to.

"Oh, he's joking. This is joke time for you? I'm sorry, are you Jimmy Fallon? Hey, later on, are you gonna get some tacos with Questlove?" Ray snapped at his sidekick, which made the young woman stand in front of him so he'd back off.

"Okay, calm down and stop being a dick." She told him sternly and seeing her grumpy with him made him calm down a bit. He didn't want to fall out with her, not when things had been going so great between them in the past few weeks. 

"I don't see why you're mad at me," Henry commented, not realising that he was poking the bear. Geez, he really knew how to undo all of (y/n)'s hard work of calming Ray down.

"Dude, if anyone knows you're Kid Danger, they can follow you here, they can come down here and figure out I'm Captain Man and (y/n)'s Miss Danger." The large man stressed, sitting down on the opposite side of the couch. Just the thought of some evil psycho coming into his home and threatening his girl set him on edge. What if she was alone when she was attacked? He'd never get over losing her, especially if he hadn't been around to protect her like he was supposed to.

"Oh, so this is all about you?" Henry asked indignantly, giving his boss a cold, knowing look. His gaze briefly flicked to (y/n), who was trying to keep everything from erupting, but it was no use. Ray knew Henry was taking a jibe at him for worrying about (y/n) and not him, which didn't go down very well with the man or the boy.

"No!... It's mostly about (y/n)." Ray confessed, making his sidekick groan. Henry chuckled bitterly as the young woman frowned. Why was she getting dragged into this?

"Me? Why me?" She questioned, sitting on the back of the sofa as she gave her best friend a puzzled look. 

"Because, I'm indestructible and if someone was to come down here, you'd be at risk." He explained, confusing her even further. She looked at Henry for an answer, but he had been sworn to silence. He desperately wanted to tell her that Ray was unbelievably protective over her, more than she could ever see, but if he did, he'd break his promise. 

"Uh, hello? Super regeneration? I'm a superhero too...sort of." (y/n) argued, folding her arms as she challenged Ray. He didn't want to argue about this though, he'd never tell her, but she was too precious to put in harm's way and he wasn't certain that her power could protect her as well as he could.

"Ahhhh! I got it! I got something!" Schwoz suddenly shouted, making the three on the couch drop their quarrelling instantly. This was more like it, answers, not secrets.

"What'd you find?" Henry asked as they sat up, but Ray and all of his hyperactivity were already leaping up off the sofa and sprinting towards the genius.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! What'd you find? What'd you find?" He rambled, his muscles twitching with anticipation. It was funny to see such a huge man filled with so much energy, but that was Ray all over.

"You're so hyper, calm down." (y/n) teased him as she and Henry came over to Schwoz's equipment too. You wouldn't think that they were in the thick of an argument only seconds earlier, especially when Ray chuckled and put his arm around her waist.

"I scanned the note with this biometric particle scanner--" Schwoz started to explain, waving his crazy science stick scanner thing around.

"Right." The superhero duo nodded, watching with curiosity. They had no idea how the science worked, but if listening made Schwoz go faster, they'd do it.

"And now, you see, on this note, I found some DNA--" The small man carried on, but once again, his foreign accent was thick and indecipherable for Henry and Ray to understand.

"DN-eish?" The kid repeated as he tried to work it out in his head. In his view, Schwoz should've come with subtitles sometimes, especially when it came to important stuff like this.

"DNA. You know, the molecular acid that makes up our biochemistry?" (y/n) clarified. He wasn't that hard to understand, but maybe she had the unfair advantage of working with Schwoz on numerous engineering projects over the years. 

"And the person who created this note is...Henry Hart?!" Schwoz gasped in horror as the database found a match and Ray snapped his head to the boy. Was this all some big prank?

"What?" Ray breathed out and guided (y/n) away from the boy, thinking he could've turned evil or something. That idea was ridiculous and the young woman smacked the hands pulling her by the hips. 

"You, idiots! Henry isn't some evil mastermind!" She snapped and the boy was glad that someone intelligent was on his side.

"Dude, of course, my DNA is on the note, I brought it here! It was in my hands!" Henry hissed, making Schwoz gulp. Oops, a small mistake on his part.

"Oh, yeah..." He said nervously, realising that he'd made a slight error and then accused Henry of being a liar.

"Oh yeah! At least (y/n) knows I wouldn't fake it!" He snapped and patted the woman on the shoulder as the men sheepishly looked off to the side. Oh well, at least they knew now, no harm, no foul, right?

~Later that evening, Henry's room~

So, Piper was running an illegal tanning salon from the living room of Henry's house. Only Piper would think of something so crazy. Poor Henry had been forced to retreat to the sanctity of his room to get away from all the bright orange weirdos running around the house, but now, he had peace at last. 

Turning on the light, he took a sip of his soda and turned around to see Jasper, holding a sign. It read "I know your secret". Oh shit, maybe peace was the wrong word, panic was looking better. 

"That's right, Henry, I know," Jasper smirked, making Henry spit out all the soda in his mouth and then drop the glass bottle. Oh, dear God, how was he going to get out of this?

"Uh...uh--I..." Henry couldn't move his tongue or anything for that matter. His entire body was numb with shock and probably a good amount of fear as he stared at his best friend. This was bad, very, very bad.

"You know, you're not saying actual words," Jasper told him as he stood up and stepped down the stairs on Henry's ledge. He sounded so cocky and confident and it made Henry's knees wobble.

"So, you left the note in my locker?" Henry question, his mind racing at what he was going to do about Jasper knowing his greatest secret. What would Ray say?

"Uh-huh. 'Cause I know your secret." The curly-haired boy pointed to each word on his sign.

"Oh, man." Henry breathed out, feeling all the blood in his face drain away. He felt like he was gonna pass out at some point as he was feeling remarkably lightheaded. 

"Come on, Hen. How long did you think you could keep that kind of secret from your best friend?" Jasper asked him, making Henry stumble and stutter. The kid wasn't known for his amazing detective skills, so Henry was certain that he would never find out. That wasn't the case.

"Charlotte knows," Henry said nonchalantly, not thinking about the fact that he had two best friends.

"I meant me!" Jasper snapped.

"Ohhh, right, right, eight, I didn't mean--" He tried to excuse, but his friend was already offended.

"--Wait, wait, Charlotte knows?" He yelled, making Henry concerned about whoever could be listening. His house was full of strangers, any of which could walk in and hear them and then, the whole of Swellview would know. Henry slammed his bedroom door shut before turning back to his friend with a deadly serious expression.

"Look...you can't tell anyone about this, ever. As my friend, you gotta promise never to tell anyone." He told him, looking into his eyes so his message would carry more weight. This was the ultimate test of their friendship and Henry had to be sure that Jasper was trustworthy.

"If we're such "good friends", how come I had to find out the truth about you in the street?" Jasper asked harshly, which confused the blond boy greatly. Were they on the same page here?

"'Cause...I--I--" He stuttered, irritating Jasper again.

"Still not words!" The teen yelled, but it broke Henry out of his word-paralysis, so it wasn't all bad.

"Gah! If only he knew that he wasn't in danger at all, but he was about to be.

~Downstairs~

"Hey, what's that?" Piper asked Charlotte as the dark-haired girl walked past her. 

"Oh, just lemonade." Charlotte smiled at her, but her pleasant face soon dropped into a frown when Piper smiled and took it off her. Tanning the entire neighbourhood was thirsty work and the little girl was below taking other people's drinks.

"So, don't you love how busted Henry is?" Piper asked after gulping the lemonade. It was news to Charlotte and it made her forget about her stolen drink.

"What-What do you mean?" The older girl asked, suddenly feeling very uneasy. She didn't like where this was going.

"Jasper found out! You know! Henry's secret!" Piper squealed, but Charlotte wasn't excited by the "juicy" gossip, she was terrified. 

"Wait, you know. about it?" She asked in a fearful tone, but Piper just carried on smiling. Oh god, this thing was getting more and more complicated by the minute.

"Sure!" The girl confirmed in a happy tone, loving that Henry was gonna be in so much shit over this, especially since Jasper was Swellview's biggest drama queen.

"How?!" Charlotte gasped, thinking that this was now becoming a much bigger problem than the Man Cave team had first anticipated.

"Jasper told me. Henry should've waited for Jasper to go see that movie." Piper shrugged her shoulders and took another sip of her or Charlotte's lemonade. Wait a second...

"Whoa, wait, wait, wait. What movie?" Charlotte asked and a new, darker fear gripped her. 

"Henry promised Jasper that he'd go see Galaxy Wars 10 with him on Saturday night." Piper sighed and rolled her eyes. All she ever did was explain the latest gossip to people and repeating the same story over and over again was getting pretty boring for her.

"Yeah..." Charlotte winced, not liking where this was going.

"But my mom was dying to see it on opening night, so she took Henry with her to see it on Wednesday and then Jasper found out," Piper explained, but Charlotte felt like she was gonna throw up.

"And Jasper thinks that's Henry's secret? That he saw Galaxy Wars 10 without him?" She asked incredulously. Of course, Jasper would have the wrong end of the stick and now, Henry was in deep danger of telling him the wrong thing. Sweet cheese.

"Yeah. What? What other secret does Henry have?" Piper frowned, not knowing that her brother had so much to hide. If only she knew...

"I don't know, none...nothing. I don't know--what?" Charlotte panicked as the situation dawned on her. She needed to tell Henry right now before he made the biggest error of judgement ever.

~Henry's room~

"I would've told you but--" Henry tried to argue, but Jasper was firmly set in the idea that it was just a movie, nothing major. 

"I don't need to hear a bunch of excuses." He sighed, not seeing that Henry was going on about something much bigger than some dumb movie.

"I just need you to understand I--" Henry was cut off as his whiz watch began to flash and beep, but he didn't think that he needed to hide it from Jasper anymore. Oh god.

"Well, I guess I don't need to hide this from you anymore." He sighed and flipped the cover of the watch open and Jasper shrieked at the sight of Captain Man's and Miss Danger's hologram over his wrist.

"Hey, it's me." He greeted as Jasper freaked out. What was going on?

"Hey, kid. We have a little emergency." Ray announced, but he couldn't see how Jasper was gasping and hyperventilating just out of shot.

"Yeah, no kidding." Henry nodded, confused as to why Jasper was so affected by the sight of Captain Man and Miss Danger if he already knew about everything. Maybe it was just the excitement.

"Looks like the Malachi Brothers broke out of jail and they're headed for the demolition derby." (y/n) explained, also not realising what was going down. She just thought it was gonna be another normal night of kicking ass with her not-boyfriend and honourary little brother. 

"Okay, meet you in the Man Cave." Henry smacked away Jasper's hand as he tried to touch the hologram. He needed to listen to his boss's instructions, didn't he understand that?

"Nah, we'll hop in the Mancopter and we'll pick you up on the way to the derby," Ray explained as Jasper carried on freaking out. Holy cow, it was the actual Captain Man and his latest sidekick and they were talking to his best friend!

"Copy that." Henry closed the watch cooly, but Jasper was anything but calm. He was shaking with adrenaline and excitement from what he had just witnessed.

"That was Captain Man and Miss Danger! As a hologram! Calling you!" He yelled, punching out each statement like he was trying to overcome his rushing emotions just so he could speak.

"Yeah," Henry confirmed nonchalantly, wondering why this was a big shock to him. He knew he was Kid Danger, why was he so taken by Ray calling him?

~Downstairs~

"So Jasper left the note in Henry's locker." Charlotte seethed, feeling so annoyed with him and his stupid dramatic ways of riling up his friends. Any normal person would just send a text or something, but not Jasper, he sent an ominous letter.

"Mm-hmm." Piper nodded, sipping more of the lemonade. 

"Oh, man! I gotta go tell Henry!" Charlotte exclaimed, rushing to climb the stairs, but a hand on her arm pulled her back. 

"Wait!" Piper interjected, and she whipped around, thinking that there was another piece to the puzzle.

"I'm done with this glass." She smiled, making Charlotte accept it with a disgruntled face. She discarded it on the coffee table and sprinted to the stairs. She only prayed that she wasn't too late.

~Henry's room~

Fumbling behind one of the canvas prints on his wall, Henry pulled out his hidden gumball tube and held it in his hand as Jasper rambled in confusion.

"But I still don't understand how you were talking to a hologram of Captain Man and Miss Danger on your own watch!" Jasper freaked out. This was all too much for him and Henry didn't know that he had made a colossal mistake. Or how he was about to make another one.

"Yeah, I don't know how it works. Schwoz does and (y/n), you can ask them." The boy told his friend as he opened the gum tube and moved into the middle of the room

"What's a Schwoz?" Jasper asked, more taken by the odd name than by the mention of one of Henry's bosses at Junk-N-Stuff. 

"Wait, what's that?" Jasper asked again as Henry chewed his gum. Oh shit, things were about to get crazy.

"I'm gonna blow a bubble," Henry smirked, thinking that he was doing the right thing.

"You're gonna blow a bubble?" Jasper repeated in confusion. 

"I'm gonna blow your mind." Henry quipped, remembering that those were the exact words that Ray had spoken to him before he revealed himself to be Captain Man. Geez, that felt like a lifetime ago. 

Henry blew the bubble and it popped, transforming him into Kid Danger and blowing Jasper's mind. Well, the secret was out. 

"How do I look?" He smiled at his speechless friend. This was the biggest thing that had ever happened to him. Henry was Kid Danger? What the actual fuck?

"Jasper left the note!" Charlotte screamed and burst into the room and her eyes widened at what she saw. Henry in his. uniform and Jasper looking pasty and mil-bottle white. Oh god.

"I know," Henry said cooly, thinking Charlotte was just being. slow.

"But--hi, Jasper. Why's Jasper's mouth hanging open? And why are you dressed like that in front of Jasper?!" Charlotte screamed, letting out her fear at what had obviously taken place. Ray and (y/n) were not gonna like this. 

"YOU'RE KID DANGER!" Jasper screamed at the top of his lungs, making Henry look at him weirdly. Hadn't they. already established that?

"Yeah. You knew that---ooh! Jasper fell asleep." Henry trailed off as Jasper collapsed on the floor unconscious. Poor kid, he'd just found ut his best friend was the sidekick of Swellview's best crimefighter, there was no wonder why he fainted.

"No, he fainted!" Charlotte corrected, feeling so irritated with Henry that she felt like screaming. Why did he always have to go overboard? If only he had waited a few more minutes, this mess would never have taken place.

"Why?" Henry scoffed, thinking that his friend was being dumb again. He wasn't the dumb one though, he was. 

"Because he didn't know you're Kid Danger. He thought that your secret was that you saw Galaxy Wars 10 without him." She explained, leaving Henry as pale as Jasper and with his mouth hanging open. Yeah, that was his second colossal mistake.

"Well, how'd he find that out?!" Henry recovered and focused on the wrong bit. The whole Kid Danger part was his main priority.

"WHO CARES? You showed Jasper that you're Kid Danger!" Charlotte snapped and Henry looked down at his costume, then at Jasper, then at himself again and then back to Charlotte. 

"AW, GEEZ!" He whimpered as his heart began to pound in his ears. This was his worst nightmare. Jasper was a terrible secret keeper and Ray had been firm about. him keeping his oath.

"What are we gonna do?" Charlotte shrieked, fearing for Captain Man's safety and the security of her job. She was gonna be screwed for this. 

"I--gah!" Henry gasped as his larger holo-caller began to buzz.

"It's Ray and (y/n)!" Charlotte told him, although he had already guessed that.

"I know it's Ray and (y/n)!" He hissed and put the hologram device down on the ledge so he could talk to the couple face to face. He answered the call and they appeared in the room and the kids hoped they didn't look too nervous.

"Heyyyy!" Well, that wasn't a convincing greeting and Henry's fidgeting didn't help either. 

"Hey, it's us, Ray and (y/n)." He replied, even though it was clear who they were.

"I know it's you guys!" The boy snapped, but the adults brushed off his prickly behaviour.

"The cops captured the Malachi Brothers so there's no more emergency." (y/n) smiled, failing to see how clammy Henry had gone through the fuzziness of the hologram. 

"Uhhhh, maybe there is," Henry told them, bracing himself for the biggest ass-whooping of his life. Maybe he'd lose his job.

"What-what does that mean?" Ray asked, sensing. that something was off.

"Henry, are you all right? You look a bit peaky." (y/n) squinted at the boy's little face and on a closer inspection, she could just about make out how he was shuffling and sweating as he talked to them.

"Uh, just you better come over here." Henry groaned, feeling like he was about to have an aneurysm or a heart attack.

"And bring the memory wiper!" Charlotte added, making (y/n) and Ray gawp at the teenagers.

"Guys, what's happ--" Henry ended the call before he had to explain himself. It was rude, but at least this way he'd have five minutes to come up with a story. Or, you know, book a flight to Argentina so he could live out the rest of his days in hiding. 

Jasper stirred on the carpet and Charlotte nudged Henry when she heard his groaning. Not taking any chances, the kid whipped out his laser control and shot a green laser at his friend. If he was unconscious, he couldn't do any harm.

~10 minutes later~

As soon as the couple had arrived, the room had descended into chaos, adults versus kids.

"You took an oath!"

"It's not my fault!"

"It was your job to make sure nobody else found out!" 

"SHUT IT!" (y/n) piercing scream echoed through the room and the bickering ceased. The silence was smothering and tangible, like Ray's fury was embedded into it. He was pissed off, disappointed, gutted, all the emotions expected of a man who felt betrayed. He had trusted Henry and now, he was standing in the kid's bedroom, having just learnt that he "accidentally" told a teenager, notorious for being a blabber-mouth, that he was Kid Danger. Give him strength.

"Bucket boy is waking up." The young woman pointed to Jasper, who was mumbling himself into consciousness, probably affected by all the shouting. (y/n) had to admit, she was a little disappointed too with how the kids had handled everything, but the past was the past and now, they had to deal with the problem at hand. 

Well, they would deal with it in a bit. Ray and Henry both shot another green laser at Jasper, sending him back to dreamland. It made sense to come up with a plan first, this was a particularly sensitive issue after all. Henry turned his back on Ray and looked guiltily at the door and floor as he thought about what to say. 

"Look...it's just too dangerous to let anyone else know who we are or where the Man Cave is," Ray spoke for him, his voice low and serious. He knew it wasn't fair for the boy, he deserved a normal life, so did Charlotte and (y/n), but this was their life, fighting bad guys in complete secrecy. If too many people knew who he was, his life and everyone he loved would be in danger and he couldn't risk that, he wouldn't. 

"He's right. It's not fair or kind and it sucks, but we have to keep Captain Man's secret safe. All of us, no matter what." (y/n) told Henry, her eyes sad and understanding, since she knew what he was going through. It wasn't the first time they'd erased someone's memory, there'd been friends, family, so many who figured out the secret and just had to forget. She knew it was cruel but his life was her life and she'd resigned herself to dealing the bad in exchange for all the wonder he brought with all the difficulty. 

"And that means...we have to erase Jasper's memory." Ray picked up the memory wiper and the sight of the machine turned Henry's mouth dry. It was less of a machine or a cool gadget, more of a weapon now, something that was going to take his best friend away from him.

"But when you zap someone's brain with that thing, doesn't it erase all their memories?" Charlotte asked, eyeing the invention with a pained expression.

"Well, not all. He'll still remember how to breathe and eat and...that's about it." Ray's words weren't much comfort, they made the teens feel worse. Lose Jasper? He was annoying and sweaty and way too whiny sometimes, but he was also loveable and selfless and most importantly, their friend. And he was waking up, the time was near.

"It's not an exact science, we can't pick and choose what we erase. We just have to get rid of everything to ensure our survival because secrecy is how we survive. I'm sorry, guys." (y/n) gulped, wrapping her arms around herself at the thought of what they were about to do. Losing a friend was hard but like this? It was cruel and cold-hearted and something she hated about her job and the life she had chosen.

"Hey...can I at least have a few minutes alone with him before you...y'know, wipe his brain? I mean, we've been friends ever since we were five. Wouldn't you want to say goodbye to (y/n) if she had to forget?" Henry asked, hoping he could appeal to Ray's kindness and it worked. Ray couldn't imagine the pain of saying goodbye to his best friend and making her forget how special she was to him, so he agreed immediately.

"Sure thing, kid." Ray nodded solemnly as (y/n) blinked back tears and put her hand on his arm. 

"Where do you want us to go?" Charlotte asked softly, understanding that Henry needed one last time to goof around and bond with his best friend. 

"Closet?" They all looked at him with apprehension at the prospect of all three of them being squished into the tight space.

"Come on. There you go." He pointed to the room and they all begrudgingly stepped in. Hey, at least Ray had an excuse to get all close with (y/n) in there, even if Charlotte would be gagging the entire time.

Jasper moaned loudly and slowly got to his feet as his head pounded.

"Ugh, what happened?" He asked and turned to see Henry still dressed like Kid Danger.

"I, uh, I zapped you, accidentally." Henry lied, but at seeing Jasper's confused face, his resolve broke. His heart was breaking at the notion of losing his oldest friend and he peeled his mask from his face so he could look him in the eye and see the recognition on his face. What would it be like to see Jasper looking at him like he was a stranger?

"Wow! I can't believe this...my best friend is Kid Danger!" Jasper gasped happily, but his excitement just made Henry tear up more.

"Dude...listen, I wanted to tell you...a long time ago, but I took an oath." Henry told him, feeling guilty that he had been lying to Jasper for over a year.

"I totally get it." The curly-haired boy smiled, letting go of any hurt that he felt about the big lie. He understood that Henry had to keep himself safe and he'd rather be unknowing than have his best friend hurt.

"Thanks. And you know, it's--" Henry breathed out, not expecting him to take it so well, but he had to quickly shut the closet door as Ray peeked out with the memory wiper ready to fire. 

"Give me a minute!" He snapped to the man as he stuck his face through the gap, shoving Ray away from the door.

"Hurry up!" Ray hissed, getting antsy at how he was not only letting a boy walk around with his secrets but also at how he had (y/n) pressed against him with her back to his chest. God, her ass felt sinfully delicious pressed against his lower half and it was a real struggle for him to keep himself calm.

"Raymond, shut up!" The young woman threw her elbow back so it caught him in the gut. She wanted Henry to say his goodbyes properly since she never got to say hers to the friends and family she'd lost.

"Who?" Jasper pointed at the closet in confusion as he wondered who his friend was talking to. He'd never imagine that it was Captain Man, Miss Danger and Charlotte waiting to wipe his brain of everything he knew.

"Hey...huh. Remember this?" Henry distracted him with a photo of him and Jasper as little kids. They looked so young and it was another reminder of how their friendship had stood the test of time.

"Sure. You and me at Camp Tomahawk." Jasper smiled fondly at the memory and accepted the picture from Henry. Good times.

"Yep. We were cute, huh?" Henry joked, feeling like he was losing a part of himself. Jasper had always been there for him, what would he do without him?

"Hey, remember that time at the archery range, when Billy Brody started beating me up and you jumped in to help me?" Jasper chuckled at how his scrawny best friend had come to his rescue, even though Bill Brody was twice his size.

"Yep and we both got beat up," Henry recalled and they both giggled at how dumb they were. 

"I'll never forget that," Jasper promised Henry, but the boy looked away to the closet door with a broken expression. Oh, the irony; in about five minutes, he would forget it and everything else they'd done together.

"Well..." Henry gulped, not knowing how to break it to him.

"You've always been a good friend to me...Kid Danger. I'm proud of you." Jasper told him with his hand on Henry's shoulder, making the boy freeze. His best friend put the picture back where it belonged and Henry knew that he couldn't lose a friend, especially if they were Jasper because he was the best friend a guy could ever have,

"That's it. Ray, Charlotte, (y/n), get out here!" Henry shouted and the three awkwardly stepped out of the closet, shocking Jasper as he saw his idols. 

"Captain Man! And Miss Danger! Wow, they're right here in your room!" He exclaimed, quaking with excitement as (y/n) gave him a small wave and a sad smile. Poor kid, ignorance is bliss.

"Uh, I'm here too," Charlotte added, but Jasper just shoved her out the way so he could get close to his favourite superhero and his new favourite superheroine. 

"We're not doing this," Henry told Ray firmly, refusing to let go of his best friend.

"We have to do it," Ray whispered to him sternly, which made Henry's emotions run wild as he looked between the man and (y/n), who seemed to be conflicted. 

"No! I'm not letting you erase Jasper's brain!" The teen stated, which made Jasper pause and think about what he said. They wanted to do what to his what now?

"Uh, what?" He asked, gulping at the thought of Captain Man messing with his brain or something.

"Don't worry about it." Charlotte brushed it off, thinking that he wouldn't have to worry about anything after they erased his memories.

"Henry, he could tell anyone and I know he's a sweet kid, but he might let it slip accidentally." (y/n) tried to explain to the boy, even though she knew that he realised that. Henry knew the risks and how Ray was trying his hardest to keep them to a minimum.

"I'll never tell anybody!" Jasper promised, knowing that this was Henry's biggest secret and his unyielding loyalty to his friend meant he'd never divulge it.

"Oh, really? What if some big, bad, evil criminal captures you and threatens to cut all your toes off if you don't tell him everything you know?" Ray asked him, making Jasper think about the scenario.

"I'd tell him everything I know." He said, not realising that he'd said the wrong answer and he was just proving himself to be untrustworthy in Ray's eyes.

"Dude!" Henry sighed, thinking that it would take a miracle to convince Ray otherwise now. 

"My toes! What am I without my toes?!" Jasper whined, making his situation worse. At this rate, he'd be sat on his doorstep with no memory whatsoever in the next twenty minutes.

"Henry, he's a security risk." Ray turned to his sidekick, who just shook his head. Even (y/n) didn't like calling Jasper that, he was a person and Henry's friend, they should at least be nice about him when he was in the room.

"No, we leave Jasper the way he is or else,...I can't be Kid Danger anymore." Henry swallowed, but stayed strong as he offered Ray the ultimatum.

"Henry..." Charlotte started, worried at how reckless her friend was being. She could understand why, but it seemed so drastic.

"You're not gonna quit being Kid Danger," Ray whispered to him, thinking he could call Henry's bluff, despite the sincerity in the boy's voice.

"I don't wanna quit, but...if you're gonna erase all the memories from my oldest friend's brain...then I don't want this anymore." Henry offered his gum tube to Ray, who looked at it and then at Jasper. 

"Henry, are you sure?" (y/n) asked him, tentatively taking a step forward so she could look the boy in the eye and gauge his honesty.

"Yeah...how long have you known Ray?" Henry asked her with a steady voice as the young woman took no time at all to answer him.

"Almost nine years." She whispered at the same time as Ray, making their eyes snap to look at each other. It didn't feel like that though; the time had gone by so quickly and they'd gone from strength to strength, strangers to the best of friends and now they were on the verge of becoming lovers if they already weren't. Nine years of falling in love and they'd hadn't even made a move.

"Would you forget him if you had to?" Henry looked her in the eye and he didn't need to hear the answer, he already knew. 

"I'd rather never see him again than lose our friendship." She murmured, staring at the floor so no one could see her tears. Just the thought of being no one to him, just another face on the street was heartbreaking to her, because she'd gotten so used to being the first face he saw in the morning and the one he told everything to. She never wanted to lose that privilege. 

"Ray, would you give up being Captain Man for (y/n)?" The boy asked his boss, not knowing the answer this time. He knew he loved her more than himself, but being a superhero was everything to Ray. It was his life's work, everything he'd trained for since he was a boy, could he give it up just for one person? (y/n) froze as she expected him to say that Captain man always came first, the mantra that had been drilled into her since the beginning, but...

"Yes. Yes, I would. She's my best friend." Ray swallowed, smiling gently at the woman as she stared at him in shock. Really? Her? He'd leave the superhero life behind just so they'd stay friends? 

Of course, he would. He'd follow her anywhere if she let him and he'd resigned himself to being like that nine years ago when she beat the ass of some lowlife criminal in a cafe. She did Captain Man's job for him and he'd fallen in love with a woman who taught him more and made him feel more than he'd ever imagined. Without her, he was loveless and merciless, he wasn't Captain Man.

"I'm not gonna watch my best friend forget me...you wouldn't, I can't either," Henry told Ray, who stared at the gum tube that was still being offered to him. He had a choice to make.

"Gahhh, put that back in your pants." Ray sighed, making everyone frown at him.

"Wait, does that mean you're saying that--" Charlotte started, but Ray didn't want to hear everything spelled out, he was already annoyed that he was accepting another child into his workplace.

"Yes, yes, yes! Jasper can keep his stupid brain the way it is." He gave in and wandered across the room to avoid the delighted smiles of his friends and the bucket boy.

"Really?" Jasper gasped, ecstatic at what Captain man was implying. (y/n) gazed at her best friend with a proud, loving smile and seeing her so happy almost made the pain of having Jasper around forever worth it. Almost. 

"Yes! I've said yes five times now." Ray rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose as Jasper's excitement irritated him.

"Wow! This is amazing!" He squealed and grinned at Henry and Charlotte, who understood his excitement. Now, they'd all get to hang out together with no secrets. Life was good.

"Just take it easy," Ray told him but was taken by surprise as (y/n) tackled him in a hug, not caring about his tetchiness.

"Aw, Mr Grumpy, you're a big softie, really." She cooed into his ear, which made him sigh and nod.

"Whatever." He brushed it off as his cheeks turned pink, but his arms went around her waist anyway so he could have his girl close to him. She was happy and still here, which was good enough for Ray and maybe he'd get used to Jasper's overzealous exuberance after a while.

"Oooh, I can even help you fight bad guys and stuff." Or maybe not. 

"Uhhh, no, that's not a good idea." They all replied quickly, not enjoying the idea of Jasper Danger being let loose on the streets of Swellview. His first takedown would be himself, probably.

"Come on, it's my dream," Jasper begged Henry, hoping his pouting and stuck-out bottom lip would sway his mind.

"Some dreams are best left unachieved, kid." (y/n) smiled at him sweetly as she pulled back from the hug, knowing that it be better for everyone if Jasper left the fighting to Captain Man, Kid Danger and Miss Danger.

Jasper went to argue back, but suddenly, Henry's bedroom door open and the superheroes panicked as some bright orange, fat guy bumbled in. Ray pulled (y/n) back into his arms as he assessed whether this guy was a threat (both criminally and romantically), but he didn't need to be worried. He was wearing a shower cap, for god's sake, hardly the suavest thing in the world.

"Oh, sorry, I just got a tan downstairs and I was looking for the bathroom and I--" The guy looked across the room and nearly passed out when he saw Captain Man with Miss Danger in his arms and then Kid Danger without his mask.

"Whoa! Captain Man! Oh my god, Miss Danger! You're, like, seriously hot!" The man gasped at the couple standing on his right, making Ray straighten his posture.

"Thank you..." (y/n) replied awkwardly, not knowing how to handle such a comment. She had to admit, Swellview's male population all seemed to be entranced by her appearance as the latest hero in town and Ray did not like it one bit. All these stupid guys gawping at his friend and his displeasure showed in the half-assed smile that he gave the orange man, which then quickly dropped to a scowl once he looked at Henry.

"And Kid Danger without his mask! You're Piper's brother!" He gasped as he recognised Henry, who suddenly remembered his bare face 

"Uhhh, w-well..." Henry stumbled as Ray and (y/n) moved into the centre of the room. This is why you don't take your mask off when there were strangers around. 

"I gotta tell everyone I know!" The man squealed, making Henry slump when he saw the smirk on Ray's face.

"You gonna whine about this one?" He asked his sidekick, who didn't care. This guy was strange and he shouldn't have been poking around his house.

"Nah, do it." He shrugged and Ray gently pushed (y/n) to the side so she wouldn't get hit by the eraser before firing it at the man's brain. His thumbs stopped typing as his mind went blank and fuzzy and after a few seconds, his memories were gone.

"Hey, what's your name?" Charlotte asked the man in a loud, clear voice so she could check to see if the gadget had done its job.

"Muuurghhhh." The man slurred, having forgotten how to form words properly. Ray smirked inwardly, he wasn't calling his girl hot now.

"Nice to meet you, Muuurghhhh." (y/n) chuckled at her little joke, glad that she found herself funny even if no one else did.

"All right, Jasper, you really wanna help us out?" Ray turned to the boy as he put his arm around his giggling best friend. She was so cute sometimes, especially with her silly jokes.

"Sure!" Jasper nodded, ready and willing to do anything Captain Man asked him. 

"Good, take this guy out the window and leave him on the sidewalk," Ray instructed him, trying to ignore how much Jasper's enthusiasm irritated him.

"Aye, aye, Captain Man!" Jasper smiled and dashed off to dump the man outside. He attempted to get the man over his shoulder in a fireman's lift, but he was twice Jasper's weight and therefore impossible to carry. Still, it made for funny viewing for Ray, Henry, Charlotte and (y/n) as they watched him struggle.

"You know, I might start addressing you like that. It's got a nice ring to it." The young woman chuckled as she looked up at the man next to her.

"Don't even think about it, sweet girl." He gave her a warning look, but she just giggled and leaned her forehead into his chest as she hugged his waist. She was small next to him and he loved how her little frame fitted so well against his.

"Hey, man, thanks for saving Jasper." Henry butted into their cute moment and clapped his boss on the back. He really was grateful, having Jasper in the Man Cave would be tricky for Ray, but he'd overlook that if it meant Henry got to keep his best friend the way he got to keep his.

"Don't sweat it, kid. He's your best friend and you can't give them up. Not for anything." Ray told him and Charlotte looked at the two adults with a gentle smile. So blind.

"When you said that you'd stop being Captain Man for me, was that the truth? It wasn't just something you said in front of Jasper?" (y/n) asked as she lifted her head to look him in the eye. She had just written it off as a product of the pressure he'd felt to make a decision, surely, he didn't place her above the thing he'd been destined for since the age of eight.

"Yeah, it was the truth. I love being Captain Man and having all the attention and praise, but...I love having you as my best friend more." He told her and he loved seeing the way a soft smile crawled its way onto her beautiful face. He swallowed the words he actually wanted to say, thinking that he wanted nothing more than to tell her that he loved her more than his job or his fame. Not as a best friend, as his girl, the one he wanted to marry and have a life with away from the trials and tribulations of being a superhero.

"You're my best friend too." She grinned and put her cheek back against his chest before he could see her hesitation. Friend; it was a nice word, it meant that they had an affectionate bond that tied them together, but at the same time, it hurt and stung. They daren't tell each other that their bond was much deeper than either one realised and it left them in a stalemate as they wondered if they could ever feel the same.

Henry and Charlotte rolled their eyes at their incapacity to see what was right under their noses. A love, pure and innocent, but also peppered with desire and passion, that had been burning for so many years. 

And they were about to finally notice it for the first time.

[topazpearl]

So remember my big sbg theory doc? forget that existed, heres the new one

Discusses up to Ep 61. Fast-pass spoiler FREE

Content discussions about death, mental illness, sui.cide; yknow. Heavy Thriller webtoon stuff (tm)

[Hamilton chorus voice] NUMBER ONE: Giant freakin phantompedes and how to escape them

-I was right about the football field lights to try to kill them idea yippee

-HOEWVERR, theres so many attacking the school rn and its freaking collapsing?? I literally dont know how they’re gonna get outta this

-Unless (unless) my Phantom Ashlyn theory is relevant, ashlyn can talk to them and tells them to go away and they… do! idk lol it's stupid but maybe ash has enough girl boss energy to convince them. or theyre so shocked by a human talking to them theyre like "dang ok". Could still happen! 

NUMBER TWO: Phantom Transformation Theory

So it’s Basically confirmed: 

If you die in the PD, you start to turn into a Phantom.

Of course we wont know for sure until we actually SEE it but like, Aiden’s creepy af smile and basically coming back to life in ashlyn’s arms after DYING it’s like, basically confirmed. 

Ash wonders why Aiden snapped out of his seizure so fast compared to Tyler. Severity of injuries could definitely be a factor (tho like, im assuming Aiden got freaking blunt force trauma brain damage which, to me, is just as bad as being impaled). Another factor could be that Tyler died only about 30 minutes into the Time, while Aiden died almost right when it ended. And… we saw how fast Aiden started to “turn”. Red technically never shows us Tyler during those hours after he died. He very well… may have completely phantomized, but when he woke up in the real world, the transformation reverted. I'm very scared abt what Aiden’s gonna be like next night.

SUB THEORY: The Power of Human Connection and Phantom Reversal

Remember how Jasmine (the gang tour girl) asked if it was alright that all the kids got sucked in w/ ashlyn? This implies that 

1. They usually expect 1 person/their target to get sucked into the PD

2. The origami gang has never dealt with a group being sucked in at once

- I believe (and the evil gang doesnt know this) that the kids being together is an integral part of their future survival. Tyler snapped back to consciousness in the hospital after Taylor had her PISSED moment. This moment was similar to Logan’s freakout, in that it tugged the phantom world to the real world, for a second. I think these intense emotions (taylor’s specifically out of anger and worry for her twin), pulled tyler’s “soul” out of the PD and into the RD. 

- Now, you may ask, “what abt if a random person got into the PD and died and went into a seizure/coma? Why couldnt their loved ones “bring” them back?” thats a good Q idk. Perhaps the kids all being in the PD together is what creates this flow, a two-way street, between the two dimensions. 

- Anyway also while Ashlyn and co didnt didnt get into an angry freakout moment when Aiden died, but we all know Ash and Aiden got something developing/going on thats special ♥, and thats what tugged Aiden back (its cliche but its the power of love there i said it). 

- Also NOT saying that the other kids’ concern over their friends doesn’t matter or count (Ben and Aiden are Fam too), but like, i’m wondering if it needs to be a REALLY INTENSE love (familial/romantic/whatever) in order to basically bring someone back from the dead. idk

-interestingly, ty WAS essentially in a coma-like state, like how the spy said, which supports that it’s expected that ppl die in the PD eventually, and go into comas. I’m wondering if those who normally get sucked into the PD and die, theyre dealing with it by themselves, have no one to “pull them back” like taylor and/or ashlyn did, and they stay in a coma. 

-rlly hope the boys arent like “possessed” or smn. Maybe the soul is like, tainted? Those big black eyes man… (ALSO THAT PREVIEW IMAGE WITH LOGAN AND THE BIG BLACK EYES??? WHAT??)

-going off the dead PD ppl turn into phantoms theory>> If a phantom is killed, their connected person in the RD who was in a coma dies fr permanently

NUMBER THREE: Ashlyn and the Phantoms (cool new band name) 

we know the kids are getting influenced by the PD, making phantom noises (further supports phantoms were people theory) but with Ashlyn's "really strong" connection to the PD, she's in special danger. If one can turn into a phantom without dying, it's gonna be her. Ryan the spy said that "the girl" – assumingly ashlyn– should be "especially" at risk of danger. This could be bc she was the one who interacted with the rift, or bc she already has a higher level of phantom influence on her. 

-when ashlyn told the phantom to let go, and her friends to calm down, both times she spoke with a black speech bubble WITH PHANTOM NOISE LINES NEAR IT. this is different than characters who have also spoken with black bubbles (aiden, logan, taylor). obviously these have been with threats/malice, but they didn't have the red lines. These times ashlyn has spoken, the phantom acknowledged her voice, and her friends' spell-like violence trance was broken. Theory: ashlyn not only can hear phantoms, but she can speak their language sort of

-when ashlyn was born, a phantom like touched her in a blessing/cursing sense which is part of the reason why she can hear phantoms and her strong PD connection. possibly even possession???? 

-tldr i want ashlyn to enter her monster girl era 

The evil gang seems confused why the kids have lasted so long. maybe Ashlyn's PD connection goes both ways. she provides a strong anchor to the RD. Maybe the PD is USUALLY all desolate with the pillars that we saw in the finale (maybe it's even an afterlife of sorts?), but Ashlyn makes a huge radius (~30 miles! (assuming kids were driving at least 60mph for 30 minutes)) of the PD around where she wakes up mirror the real world, creating a safer space for her and the kids. meanwhile a normal person that gets sucked into the PD gets thrown into a desolate hell world different from the RD (also maybe stuck there permanently), causing them to die much quicker. 

-maybe this influence is even part of the reason why RD tyler is awake (And aiden)

-Ashlyn's influence extends to jamming the recording devices like some kind of weird phantom static.

-Broke: Ashlyn's parents wanted her to learn self defense and have a knife bc they're in the military. Woke: they want her to be able to protect herself after the phantom scare when she was a baby

-Also THANK GOD she’s finally acting on her intuition. Sm times she’s been like “this feels bad!” and doesnt do anything. Almost makes me wonder if it’s a supernatural intuition based on phantom stuff. Like shes WAY OFF from the hospital and the drama and is like “HMM! Smn going on” 

NUMBER FOUR: Origami gang and Co INC. 

-The gangs symbol is an origami crane (orizuru). the crane in East Asia has longevity as one of its symbolisms, with some myths saying it flies souls up to paradise. there's the popular myth that if you fold 1000 cranes you get a wish.

Heres where the evil twist comes in. The gang boss believes that if he traps 1000 people in the PD as like, a sacrifice, then he'll get a wish and he'll ask for eternal life or whatever. this gang is a cult and he's tricked everyone saying that they'll also get a long life but really it's probably only gonna be him 🤫 So they go around to different haunted places in America and pick ppl they sense can open these shadow rifts and get sucked in. the phantoms may be ppl they trapped in the past and they've turned into phantoms

-Ryan, the guy who's spying on the kids, maybe is ALSO "Mr. thomas". he just puts on a wig and is a good actor lol. this is the reason why he asks about "Mr. Thomas's" fate. What goes against this is that Ryan seems to know all about the PD mechanisms, which doesn't fit Mr. Thomas being confused abt ashlyns hair. Unless he wasn't expecting it

– or "Mr thomas" could just be Ryan's friend or brother or smn. A low ranked guy in the gang that got stuck with roping Ashlyn into Savannah, but doesn't know the truth/details about the PD. 

-the gang mentions that "both sides" are trying to track them. either the government and a supernatural hunting group, or even some force in the PD like some Alpha Phantom like the devil who's like "Where's my dead people quota hello?" or better yet "you're messing with MY domain and I'm gonna Get You". 

-This is based solely on the Boss' appearance and smiling countenance: the gang Boss is Aiden's uncle, his dad's brother, his weird, estranged brother who's also evil probably. I'm really hung on this idea don't mind me 

-you have to be able to make a paper origami crane from memory to be an official gang member /hj 

NUMBER FIVE: Gen story/Character arcs and futures

-ready for a “power of love and friendship” aesop. these kids are gonna be so Bonded now after these traumatic experiences

-i had come up with an elaborate “death order” but thats now completely jossed now so im ignoring that

-PRAISING THE FREAKING LORD THAT ALL THE PARENTS KNOW NOWAND THAT MIKE BELIEVES THEM AND IS HELPING HIS DAUGHTER. DAD OF THE YEAR AWARD. IF ANYTHING AHPPENS TO HIM IM SUEING!!!!!

- SO NOW that all the parents know, and like, have seen all the phantoms and everything and BTW WILL PROBABLY GET SUCKED INTO THE PD AT SOME POINT because they felt the shift like the kids did, they help the kids get to Savannah yippee!! a cool Big family squad force they all hop on a working school bus or smn and drive there. PLs

- the families getting sucked in would be HUGE cause they arent prepared. Logan’s grandparents and Lily are top targets 😭

So the kids are gonna get kidnapped. that's definitely gonna be a thing, either mid S2 or ending. up in the air whether the kidnapping is successful or not. (assuming the gang would be smart enough to get rid of the kids’ phones when they get them)

-actually I'm placing my bets now S2 finale will be them getting kidnapped and it just cuts off there for another awful cliffhanger.

-since it seems Mr thomas will be involved, he'll ask the kids to stay after school to talk abt their failing grades or smn, and then maybe they're hit with knockout gas??

OR the gang has been spying on them so they pick a time the kids all separated and jump them. 

-maybe this is when aiden knowing where ashlyns dance studio is is actually plot relevant!!?? like he (and Ben probably cuz they're always together) are able to escape their attackers and Aiden goes to help ashlyn cuz he wants to make sure she's OK. and she's either fine cuz she's a girl boss and can kick butt, or he saves her oo la la 

–lol imagine kidnapping is successful, gang tells kids why they were kidnapped, (if Evil Boss Uncle theory is true this helps facilitate this) but Ashlyn "goes off" on Aiden yelling and "attacking" him and stuff saying he's part of the gang, he planned it all along etc, but it's all a ruse to have the gang think she'll cause another energy spike (and Aiden gets this and plays along) so assuming the kids are locked up, the gang opens their cell to stop ashlyn, and that's when they escape lol

so like, i THOUGHT ashlyn/aiden was gonna be a slow burn but HAHAHA. i mean not as freaking slow obviously as like Miraculous love square lol, but like slow for thriller standards? But things are gonna be heating up between these two 😏 watch ashlyn be ~conflicted~ and ~in denial~~. And meanwhile poor aiden is a confused boy who doesnt know what ash wants like “b u told me to give u space and now here u are grasping my hand like ur life depends on it” 

Sorry back to character arcs:

Ashlyn: Learn to trust and connect with people, make friends, lean on others. Could be nice if she accepts and admits the kids are her friends by the end of S2, leaving the next season for Aiden/Ashlyn dev specifically? More development about her connection with the PD, which could put friendship to the test. [already getting this with her dad and Aiden so this is great]

Also she has the freaking GUILT like i expected! Watch her think tay hates her for like a week before tay is like “no?? I hate the ppl who did this to us instead” and then they hug it out 👍

Taylor: Willing to bet money the twins are unhealthily codependent on each other. She is on the edge bro. Unhinged feral. Is probably gonna be more angry in general despite it being a bad idea, like the top has been blown off. Bottled up emotions~! 

Still thinking she’ll get close to Ben too (whether anything romantic develops on top of it is debatable, but I can see it. theyve already got a cute little closeness going on)..

Tyler: Get this boy some ~THERAPY~ help he’s so depressed and angry. Learn to have hope again (like ben 😭). He has so much negativity inside him, i dont think that’ll help with whatever is going on with him rn like, hes probably in the THICK of the PD influence. He’s kinda like ash, needs to learn to rely on others.

Logan: Seems to be overcoming his fragility well if the arcade scene is any indication. Still has self-worth issues to overcome due to his parents' abandonment. Maybe we'll learn more about that in S2. That could be a rumor and the real reason he lives with his grandparents is that his parents died but idk why that'd be hidden unless their death was suspicious (like, drug ring?? His gpa got the GOODS APPARENTLY). 

Ben: Still needs to find a new passion for life, i suspect playing musical instruments like the guitar will be the answer (thank you tyler). Tho maybe learning to love his altered voice could happen? (tons of dudes have a rough/husky singing voice that ppl love) But this is probably unlikely.  

Aiden: Good Lord like, Aiden being (most likely) suic.idal in the past (and possibly even still NOW?) has floored me. I figured his loneliness and suspected parental neglect was bad but IT’S BAD. Dude wants to feel alive and not depressed… frick. AIDEN ARE YOU going to therapy??? Do your parents KNOW??? Is that why your parents finally settled down?? Guh. this on top of probably untreated ADHD.

–I’m assuming now Aiden started dying his hair to try to get any fragment of serotonin. 

– Kinda wondering if he grew up in a "toxic positivity" mentality home, where his parents are like "we're so privileged we shouldn't complain" ?

– im actually THIS close to beating Aiden’s parents with a stick.

NUMBER SIX: Miscellaneous predictions, wants, musings & hypotheticals.

-guessing now that the twin’s dad had cancer or smn

-hey uh what about the photo Logan took of the phantom back at the sorrel-weed house?? surely he still has it? can he show the parents?? will they be able to see it?

-Logan saw the whole Aidlyn hug from the roof from his snipper position, change my mind.

-Another “death” will happen in S2, possibly even two deaths. (GOD I WAS RIGHT)

-Mr thomas switches sides and helps the kids, gives them info

-Ryan (the spy) switches sides and helps the kids

-the tour lady Jasmine and the Boss are a hot evil couple 

also kinda want them to have a Rourke & Helga dynamic where he throws her under the bus at the last moment and she's Bissed 

-I want the boss to die by his own evil plan. 

–i doubt a redemption arc will happen but I'd be down for it if done well.

-*grabs your shoulders until they bleed* listen. Aiden saved ashlyn, now I need her to save him. I need this. 

-Taylor and Ashlyn girl time please!!!

-Logan and Aiden becoming closer would also give me joy. big Freckle and Rocky energy. 

-this doesn't have to happen but I think it'd be really funny if Aiden somehow gets the IDEA that Logan has a crush on Ashlyn when Logan doesn't, causing a stupid silly short jealousy arc.

-actually I really need a "can skydive from 10,000 ft but can't confess to the girl he likes" Aiden Clark 

-I've got a bad feeling smn will happen to Ashlyn's parents, specifically her dad

-if any of the gang/cult members hurt the kids or their fam fr irl im gonna >8) lose it

-the Origami gang fails to kidnap the kids and they accidentally create a huge "energy spike", making phantoms appear everywhere in town.

-if the kids DO get kidnapped successfully, I want Ashlyn to be an awesome girlboss and use her knife shoes to help them escape.

-if my puppy fic became Canon that'd be swaggie actually.

-let Ashlyn have a dog 2023

-pov you're in Georgia in the fall and a hurricane hits, knocking out solar power for a few days. what then? :)

-when all this garbage is over and they hopefully all live in the end, I want them to have a fun stargazing party led by Logan cause they can finally enjoy the night (And maybe aidlyn have their first Kiss?? 🙈)

-If there ISNT a "group goes to see Ashlyn in a ballet performance" scene then I'm WRITING IT MYSELF 

-At the end of all things, Aiden and Ashlyn will become a couple, or at least have reciprocal romantic feelings. This is not just my shipper heart talking. I feel it in my brain, in my soul. 

-So we know one or both of Aiden’s parents are writers. If anyone knows if that trophy Aiden’s dad is holding in that photo is a real award, hmu

-a kid going into an angry protective phantom mode to protect another(s) 😳 (aidlyn on the brain but it could be anyone)

-if I had a nickel for every time I've imagined Aiden dying in Ashlyn's arms, I'd have many nickels (IT BASICALLY HAPPENED! GREAT! 👍😭)

-what if having a good singing voice ran in Ben's family? haha jkjk…unless??? but they don't sing like ever cuz they don't want Ben to feel bad 

-man what if an sbg kid “died” by a phantom pushing them down a set of stairs.. 

-Rlly hope that Aiden's parents don't get scared seeing phantoms in their house and hearing other families having phantoms in THEIR houses and thinking the whole town is haunted, and they consider moving which they don't wanna do bc Aiden finally has friends but what else can they do!? angst. 

-John 15:13 for Ashlyn with the others except it's not permanent (I'm not saying ash is a Jesus figure tho WHWKEJEJDJ)

-I rlly wanna see ashlyn laugh

-Taylor actually using her mechanic skills. like maybe the jeep gets damaged [HAPPENED] and she fixes it. I dont want that jeep gone bro its already iconic (update: it’s probably gone bro.. sad)

-might be nice for Logan to have a reflection moment where even though all this horrible stuff is happening some good came out of it like he's not a slave to bullies anymore 

-I want to see Ben happy. well actually I want them all happy pls

[toaster-hair]

“There’s a human in the neighborhood!” chapter 3 part 2

this part puts the “sweat” in “the sweat chapter” teehee 

You finally made it to the train station, paying $20 bucks for your train ticket. As you sat down in your seat, you checked your phone. There was a new notification! Cool! It was from an unknown number. Not cool. You tapped the notification and read the text. 

Hello Neighbor. Sally Gave Me Your Number. Im Still Trying To Figure Out This Whole Texting Thing.

You chuckled, you could instantly tell who it was. But it was probably best to ask anyways. His texting style felt like one of an older person. 

wally? is that you? ur doing fine lol ( ´ ▽ ` )

Yes, Its Wally. How Are You Doing. I Saw You Run Out Of Howdys Place. What Happened. 

oh i was just late for my new job so i had to run to the train station. thats all.    (￣▽￣*)ゞ

Oh. Okay, I Thought Something Bad Happened. Tell Me About Your Job When You Get Home.

You sent a thumbs up emoji. You put your phone back into your backpocket. You watched the train stop and you got up. You searched up the place on your phone for directions and made your way to the city. You were so used to your colorful puppet world, that the regular world seemed off to you. Bleak and uncolorful. Harsh and judgemental. You just hoped the day would be over soon.

Finally, you stepped into your new job. It was a cute little boba shop! FishEgg Boba. You were introduced to your new coworkers, shown around the place, and started work.

Dinah was a happy-go-lucky girl with HUGE crazy hair. You couldn’t tell if it was a wig or not, you just knew she used a shit-ton of hairspray. Definitely a jersey chick. She worked at the cash register and was very chatty with customers. You guessed she was like, 5’6 or something.

Bayani was a shy older chubby woman, when you met her she barely spoke. She lit up when she started talking about her kids. One was in high school and the other was in middle school. She was working with the drinks themselves. You figured she was like, 6’5 or something given the fact she was a bit taller than you.

Casper was an odd one. He had these piercing eyes and an unchanging smile. He kind of just. Stared you down. He was friendly, of course, but he just felt a bit. Off. He definitely fit the “creepy janitor” trope. He was definitely the shortest of you all, only really clocking in at about 5’0. 

Your job was mostly just to help speed things up. Whether by making drinks with Bayani, or wiping the counter and sweeping the floor with Casper, or just covering for Dinah while she was taking a break. They really had you working your ass off.

“Oh, Y/N! Could you stir the boba for me?” Bayani asked you. Of course you ran over to stir the pot. “Y/N, could you help me get this stain out?” Casper asked you. Of course you tried to get the stain out of the floor as best you could. “Y/N, sweetie! I gotta go use the bathroom, could you watch the register while I’m in the back?” Dinah asked you. Of course you took customers orders until she got back. All this running around got you sweating! The sweat soaked into your clothes, making you smell nasty. You had to constantly wipe the sweat off your forehead with your arm.

Around the end of the day, you made a drink for yourself. You sipped it and scrolled on your phone. You then remembered Wally’s request. You opened your messages app and started typing.

It was gr8!! ヽ(>∀ <☆)ノ i  got   a  long with my new coworkers nicely!!!

You closed the app only to have to open it immediately after.

Thats Good. Im Glad.

ur quite the fast replyer lol 

I Was Waiting All Day To Hear From You.

Oh wow. That made you blush a little. Dinah looked over your shoulders. “Wow, Y/N, whose that?” she asked “Are they your pardner?” she teased. 

“Huh?! Oh, no no, he’s just my neighbor…” you stammered. The sweat on your forehead dripped down your face. 

“Woah, Y/N. Are you okay? Your face is all red and sweaty.” Bayani looked over concerned. 

“Huh? Oh, yeah I’m fine.” You reassured her “Just feel a bit worked out is all. Uh, we’re closing soon, right?” 

“Yep!” Dinah looked at her watch “Me and Casper will close the shop, you guys can go home.” you and Bayani thanked her as you headed out the door. Surprisingly, you both headed in the same direction! This made Bayani start up a conversation. “So, Y/N, do you live around here? Do you have any kids? Probably not, you’re pretty young. Do you have any pets?” she questioned.

“Oh, I live a couple of blocks away. I take the train over to my neighborhood. No kids, but one cat.” You answered her, playing around with your fingers. You smelt something odd, but it left your mind as soon as it entered.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You look like you’re going to pass out.” Gosh, she was so concerned. Did you… did you really look that bad? You hadn’t looked in the mirror since this morning. You certainly could feel your sweat soak your clothes, but that’s whatever.

“I”m fine, I swear. It’s just hot out is all.” You deflected her a bit. You did have a fever semi-recently, but you recovered from that, right? At some point you waved goodbye to her as you made your way over to the train station. You waited a bit, got on the train, and stared out the window as you made your way home. The sun was really beating down on you. Probably wasn’t a good idea to own so many sweaters, and even less of a good idea to wear one today. Your sweat made your sweater stick to your skin. The sun started to set when you got back to the neighborhood. The second you stepped back into town, Wally was there to greet you.

“Hello neighbor, how are- oh uh. Are you okay?” he asked before he could ask. Why was everyone saying that today?! “Yeah I’m just really sweaty is all.. Pretty hot out today haha.” you brushed off his concerns.

You both just stared at each other for a moment. Before you could fill the awkward silence, he did it for you, asking “What’s sweat?” before you could answer, he interjects again! Saying, “Wait, it’s not something gross like poop, is it?” the distress in his voice was clear.

You shook your hands “No, no! I mean, it can be gross, but not as gross as poop!” you tried your best to convince him “Basically when we- and I mean we as in humans, not we as in the both of us- get super hot, our bodies produce sweat to cool us down. It can make us smell bad sometimes, so we take showers! Speaking of showers, I should go take one right now. Oh, and feed my cat and stuff. I should probably do that first.”

He looked at you with those big pretty eyes of his with a glint of sadness. “Okay. Well, let’s talk more in the morning then, okay? Or over the phone. Either is fine.” you nodded “Yeah, we’ll talk later. Goodnight!” You walked to your house, Wally watching you as you slammed the door behind you. You instantly fell down to the floor once you entered the house. Your kitty cat running to you, meowing at you frantically. “Yeah, kitty, I know. Just let me lay down for a couple of minutes.”

(I FINALLY UPDATED BITCHES HOPE YOU LIKE BEING SWEATYY. Srry this took so long im more hyperfixated on atsv at the moment (esp hobie cuz hes a total hottie!!) i might write some fic for that but i didnt wanna just abandon this fic lol. Might draw what i picture Y/N and their coworkers to look like. Also, if it wasnt clear, y/ns coworkers were meant to be similar to poppy, julie, and wally!)

[esperwatchesfilms]

Miss Meadows (2014)

Miss Meadows. The first film I'm posting about after literal years. I wanted to get back into doing this for the fun. The original goal may not have been met, but I like this method of watching movies. It helps me focus on what's happening... That said, this movie started interesting and fun and slooowly went downhill. Her entire relationship with the Sheriff? Awkward. So painfully awkward. The writing was not great. Not taking points off for the writing was extremely generous of me. But I had fun watching it, to be fair... that said... ESE: -10/100

50 +2 for immediately CGI squirrel +5 for living your best tap dancing life -10 for creepy-ass dudes harassing women +5 for Miss Meadows attempting politeness in the face of grossness +2 for tiny purse gun +10 for "Toodaloo" post-murder +5 for post-murder tap dance +3 for the quick return of CGI squirrel +3 for Mother Meadows giving bloodstain cleaning advice -10 for only God knowing our destiny +5 for the exception of no one knowing their destiny being best-selling authors +5 for "The truth is relative." +5 for Ava Kolker +5 for Heather thinking corpses look like string cheese -10 for the principal's shitty attitude -5 for new neighbors trying to hook you up with dentist friends +5 for having "no intentions to start domestication training" +10 for saving a toad on the road -10 for constant tap shoes +5 for Heather's healthy skepticism +5 for admitting being wrong -10 for being far too young to hate the world so much +5 for a child being smart enough to see the world for what it is -5 for not finishing her answer to the teachers who invited her for Happy Hour -5 for incredibly awkward exchange with the Sheriff -10 for using your position to find a woman's workplace to ask her on a date +10 for Miss Meadows pointing out that that behavior is illegal -5 for not allowing the Sheriff a turn to ask questions, turning the conversation into an interrogation +5 for not promising not to laugh +5 for wanting to play accordion -5 for tap dancing on grass +5 for the Sheriff's rhythmically challenged dance -10 for awkward post-kiss silence +5 for not living in fear -10 for church service +10 for Katie Holmes's singing +10 for not being Catholic, but enjoying singing in choirs +5 for James Badge Dale -10 for the most awkward sex scene I have ever watched -10 because no... seriously... MOST awkward sex scene due to cackling during the entire event -10 for even worse pillow talk -10 for releasing helium balloons into the sky on purpose +10 for the speech given to the murderer before murdering him +5 for Frank -10 for creepy owner of Frank -5 for another awkward kiss -5 for not exercising safe sex +5 for hopscotch -10 for creepy owner of Frank being a child abuser -10 for marrying Miss Meadows simply because they neglected to have safe sex and now she's pregnant +10 for Jean Smart -10 for creepy owner of Frank having photos he took of Miss Meadows without her knowledge +5 for not veiling her threat +10 for creepy owner of Frank (Skylar) being unexpectedly right -10 for Skylar still being incredibly creepy +5 for telling kids in Sunday school that Jesus wasn't white -20 for DISGUSTING child sexual abuse from a priest +10 for murdering the priest -10 for being sloppy and being caught by Heather -5 for Heather being scary chill about it and keeping Miss Meadows' secret +10 for Mother Meadows having been dead the whole time -10 for the Sheriff being so casual about figuring out Miss Meadows is the vigilante -10 for the dumbest Sheriff -10 for yelling at Miss Meadows when he was so chill about figuring out the truth -20 for Heather being taken by Skylar +10 for Miss Meadows saving Heather +10 for Sheriff saving Miss Meadows +5 for pinning the vigilante shit on Skylar +5 for accordion playing +5 for the hawk at the end -10 for the Katie Holmes cover of "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"

[salternateunreality2]

Imagine Lucrecia had 2 sons. First with Vincent that she later gave away for adoption and second with Hojo.

She knew she f up with the second one, but maybe the first one can live a calm and uneventful life in Banora?

The Jones family adopted Baby Lucent. He was a smart, pale little kid that constantly stuck his nose into things he had no business snooping on. He found out about how the Rhapsodoses let their nanny hit their son, and how Genesis and Angeal were science experiments gone wrong. He saw the boys form a bond, playing together and sneaking over to see each other in the dead of night.

Lucent always wanted to join them, but was rarely able to see them during the day, when it would have been acceptable to talk to them. He was too quiet when he watched at night, and it would have been creepy to introduce himself then.

Lucent was his parents' only child, and grew up knowing he was adopted. They loved him and did their best, even when he'd materialize out of nowhere around the house like a ninja, starting from before he could crawl. Or when he'd just happen to know things that no one told him. He knew the mayor was sleeping with the butcher. He knew who his bio mom was and that she was a Shinra scientist. He knew the people who spied on him every few months were Turks. He guessed that either he was a Turk child or a lab experiment or both.

His mom and dad had longed for him so much, and they really did their homework in raising him. They paid careful attention to his emotional well-being, and encouraged and disciplined him to the very best of their ability. He loved them immensely, and they him.

So when he kept getting top marks at school, they didn't hesitate to put him in online and university classes, or to scrape together funds to support him when he went to Midgar to study. He was advanced enough that he got admitted early and went around the same time as Genesis and Angeal enlisted.

He worked hard, and by the time the Crisis Core era rolled around, he had a medical degree and employment with Shinra. More importantly, he had access to records now, was fast friends with Kunsel, and was constantly being courted by the Turks, who he turned down every time.

It did take up until this point to confirm his suspicions about the slope of Sephiroth's nose and the funny way his bangs grew, but now he knew, and now, at 11:30 am on a Tuesday, it was time to meet his half brother.

Lucent coughed once, then finally knocked on Sephiroth's office door.

"Come in," said Sephiroth. "Oh. What does the old man want now? Blood?"

Lucent blinked in confusion.

"I'm not sure who you mean; I'm here to deliver the report for the 3rd class health statistics," Lucent said.

"Very well, you may leave it on my desk," said Sephiroth, returning to his computer.

"I also wished to discuss something else with you."

Sephiroth sighed and fished around for a pen.

"Did you want an autograph?"

"No, I want to know if you remember our mother."

Time seemed to freeze, and the temperature of the room dropped.

"Excuse me?" Sephiroth asked, cold as ice.

"Lucrecia Crescent, listed as a primary scientist in the Jenova project. Long brown hair, same face as you, probably died when you were a baby...? I just want to know more about her, if you have more information."

"Get out."

Lucent felt animal fear jolt through his veins, but he powered through. He wasn't known for letting curiosity go easily.

"I understand this is a shock. I will leave, but please contact me if you change your mind," Lucent said, placing his card and the forgotten report on Sephiroth's desk. He kept his composure as he exited, closing the door firmly behind him, walking calmly down to his office, and shutting his own door.

Then he slumped against it, shaking and breathing hard. He'd be a stupid man not to be absolutely terrified from the energy in Sephiroth's office. He didn't know how long he sat there on the corporate carpet, trying to calm his nerves and telling himself he did the right thing, but he was interrupted by his PHS ringing.

"Dr. Lucent Jones," he answered automatically.

"Commander Rhapsodos. Look, Jones, I don't know who you are or where you've come from, but on behalf of Sephiroth, I will give you exactly one opportunity to speak with me. If I don't like what I hear, I will kill you. Meet me at the coffee shop on Loveless and 6th in one hour." Genesis paused. "Just to make it perfectly clear, I will kill you. This is a company line and I know Reno or someone is listening in. I will kill any Turks if they follow you, and if you're working with them or any other group to take advantage, I will kill everyone involved. If you don't show up, I will blackball you from practicing medicine in Midgar, but it will be better than death."

*click*

Lucent let out a strained laugh. Genesis Rhapsodos might be dramatic in everyday life, but that was not an idle threat.

---------

Lazard watched as a man in a lab coat left Sephiroth's office. That couldn't be good. As soon as the man left, Lazard tapped on Sephiroth's door, knowing he would have heard him coming. After a few seconds with no response, he swiftly entered, shutting the door behind him.

Sephiroth was sitting at his desk, completely motionless, pupils blown wide, gaze fixed on a stack of papers topped by a business card.

This wasn't going to be a good day.

---------

Eventually, Lucent is vetted by at least 3 layers of Sephiroth Protection Squad members, supported by Kunsel, and breaks into the inner circle. With him on their side, he's able to help with Genesis and Angeal's degradation using his Turk inclinations and medical knowledge.

He brings Sephiroth to meet his parents, and they love him and adopt him immediately, laughing over his ability to appear out of nowhere and cooing over his handsome funky bangs. They cherish his awkwardness covered by learned manners, fondly remembering Lucent's teenage years.

Lucent keeps digging, becoming more and more horrified between what he uncovers and what he hears from Sephiroth. He is right that this can't continue, and he is right that something must be done about Jenova.

He, Sephiroth, and Genesis go to Nibelheim with a spunky little trooper and Angeal's puppy. Shit goes down, but they ultimately find themselves with an emo vampire.

Sephiroth smirks weakly from where Genesis is practically holding him up.

"Guess it's my turn to spring some shocking parentage news on you, big brother," he says, nodding his head at Lucent and Vincent's matching red eyes and pale skin. Everyone laughs, relieved that Sephiroth is going to be ok, Jenova is dead, and the little trooper pulled through after being yeeted into a wall.

When they return to Midgar, Vincent kills Hojo and the president, and after the dust settles, Sephiroth retires to Banora. He has dinner with the Jones family most nights, and when Genesis or Angeal is in town, they eat apples together.

Lucent keeps his job at Shinra, helping the trooper through his mako sensitivity and his transition to SOLDIER. He's always wanted to help people, and Midgar is rife with interesting and difficult cases.

Of course, he visits home regularly to see his family, often tagging along when Lazard visits Sephiroth.

[devilwearingdior]

Chapter 2 ~Classy Date~

18+!

This fic contains: Violence, Alcohol, Nicotine, Cursing, SA.

(And possibly smut in the future chapters.)

Disclaimer: This fanfic contains struggles and problems that might hit close to home… Don’t worry it won’t be all gloom and darkness though 😉

Ps. Not proof read yet.

August 22nd Wednesday, 1973

The next couple of days went quickly by without anything too eventful happening at the university, Amber introduced me to a couple of her friends which included a red head girl named Connie; Connie was friendly from the start and it was easy to get along with her, she liked to talk a lot about her family’s farm. It was clear she missed being there and she often was called out by the teachers during classes to pay attention as she clearly was in her own world watching outside through the class windows.

Me, Amber and Connie became a inseparable trio. We were enjoying the sun at the campus park after Wednesday’s classes , Connie had her eyes closed seemingly deep in her thoughts; Amber was going on about the biology homework and how she thought it was unfair for the teacher to give us so much to do right in the beginning of the school year. I was listening absentmindedly to her until I spot a group of jocks sporting their varsity jackets walking through the park heading towards us, I recognise some of the faces from the bar and notice that Kyle is there too of course he is, just my luck. Connie’s eyes flutter open as she hears the guys rowdy noice getting closer and Amber stops talking, clearly curious of what the group of jocks would want from us. The guys stop in front of us blocking the sun, Kyle has that same smirk on his face as he had back at the bar.

“I was wondering when I was going to see you again, mind if we just have a little chat?” Kyle spoke up looking at me, Amber and Connie look between me and Kyle; clearly confused at how we know each other. I don’t even have time to respond before Kyle continues.

“You know, that thing you did last Sunday was rude. I just wanted to get to know you better, and I thought you were having a fun time. But you just disappeared and left me alone? I mean, who does that?” He brushes his hand through his blonde perfectly styled hair and stares down at me waiting for an explanation.

“I didn’t want to get involved in between whatever was happening with you guys and the.. Sawyer kid, it seemed to get heated.” i reply calmly, it was the truth. The timing happened to just be perfect for me to get away from Kyle’s creepy advances. Kyle gives me a smug look and of the jocks speak up.

“That Sawyer kid? A freak” Kyle and the other guys, one who I now recognise to be Nate laugh at his comment. What is it with them and the Sawyer family? What had they ever done to these guys for them to hate them so much?

“Oh you don’t even know the half of it, let’s just say that we have some family business to take care of” Kyle continues with a smug tone in his voice, I notice Amber shuffle next to me uncomfortable it’s like she had the same feeling as me; whatever that sentence meant it was sure to bring trouble.

“We should burn their stinking ranch down” Nate comments getting a few agreeable pats on the back from the other jocks.

“Yeah! It would make a nice pile of ashes for us to piss on” Kyle replies while mimicking the act of taking a piss.

“And then you’d get sued for destroying private property and trespassing among other things.” Connie speaks up, her voice sounding strained like she didn’t find one bit funny what the jocks were saying. They now stopped laughing and goofing of, some of them throwing dirty looks at Connie, like she’d ruined a really funny joke.

“Whatever, I didn’t come here to talk about that shit hole, what I wanted was to ask if we could talk privately?” Kyle talks, his voice sounding slightly irritated while looking at me. Ah I really don’t want to talk to you privately.

“Fine” I reply and get up from the bench, I follow Kyle as he walks a bit further away; enough so that the others can’t hear us.

“I didn’t like the way you left last night, we had something going on. If it wouldn’t have been for that idiot I would’ve taken you to my dorm room.”

I let out an awkward chuckle, this guy was bold.

“You’ve got me mistaken, I’m not that type of girl”

“Sure you’re not Olivia, I still think you owe me something” Kyle responds with a smirk.

“Like what?”

“Like a date. You know you wouldn’t look too bad next to me” Kyle says with a cocky tone.

I roll my eyes at him, the blonde jock looks at me with raised eyebrows clearly expecting me to agree.

“Oh uh I—“ I’m starting to speak but Kyle interrupts me right right away.

“No reason to get all shy with me now, I like your looks. I think it would be fun to spend some time together” Kyle’s smirk continues to grow.

“Listen I’m flattered—“ I begin again but Kyle cuts me off again.

“It’s settled, I’ll pick you up at 8pm tomorrow then, okay?”

Flabbergasted I just nod without realising to what I’m agreeing to, his cockiness and confidence was astounding. Kyle looks satisfied as I don’t protest to his date suggestion and starts turning around, clearly done with our conversation. He begins to walk away back to his friends but turns around one more time.

“8pm tomorrow, don’t forget. And don’t be late, I don’t like being kept waiting” Kyle comments and with that he joins his friend group and they all stroll away towards the male dormitories. I walk back to a clearly confused looking Connie and Amber, before they can even open their mouths I sit back on the bench and sigh.

“Don’t even ask” I lean my head against my hands. Maybe I shouldn’t be so negative, it could turn out to be fun. Maybe.

Amber and Connie both look at me with raised eyebrows.

“No really tell us! What did he want?” Connie asks playfully, i smile at her and sigh.

“He asked me, or more like informed me that I’m going on a date with him tomorrow.” I reply, both of the girls look at each other amused.

“Oh really? Why do you seem so defeated about it though? Many girls would be over the moon of the face that they get to go on a date with Kyle Clark himself.” Amber replies while lightly rolling her eyes smiling.

“I don’t know he’s not really my type, he just seems so—“ I begin.

“Full of himself?” Amber replies.

“Arrogant?” Connie continues with a light laugh.

“Yeah, exactly!” I exclaim, Amber shakes her head and smiles at my reaction.

“Because he is. He’s sort of always been the ‘it’ boy; you know? He isn’t used to not getting what he wants.” Connie tells me with a matter of fact tone of voice, leaning back against the bench and closing her eyes again.

The rest of the day goes by fast, with all of the students seemingly wanting to take the first school day easy and just relax.

August 23rd Thursday, 1973.

The classes on Thursday went by too quickly to my liking, I still had mixed feelings about the whole dare night with Kyle. Connie and Amber had told me to cheer up and just go.

“If it’s shit then it’s just one night you know? And what if it’s fun? You’ll never know if you don’t go! And you need to tell us everything that happened when you come back” Amber had whispered to me during our draining maths class.

After my last class which was history that I hadn’t paid any attention to as my mind kept wandering back to Kyle and the night we first met, and the mysterious guy who had helped me out; I noticed myself getting more and more curious about the man. Why had Kyle and his friends been so hostile towards him? What made him such a freak in their eyes? It maybe wasn’t the perfect topic for a first date but my curiosity won the best of me and I decided that I was going to ask more from Kyle.

I was getting ready in mine and Amber’s room when both her and Connie burst in.

“Ooooh you’re getting ready!!” Amber squealed excitedly and clapped her hands together.

“Let us help you choose your date night outfit” She continued smiling broadly. I just rolled my eyes smiling at the two girls who sat themselves on Ambers bed.

The next 30 minutes went by with Connie and Amber, mostly Amber acting as judges as I change outfits trying on what would look best.

We end up with me choosing a floral pattern dress and a jean jacket with some boots, simple but girly.

“Do you know where he’s taking you?” Connie asked while laying down on the bed, and staring absentmindedly at the roof.

“No idea, he just told me to be ready by 8pm” I reply while fixing my hair.

I look at the clock on the wall. It’s 7.55 pm, I say bye to the girls and head out of the room: Making my way down the stairs of the dormitory hall I open the outside door and walk to the parking lot. I look around and spot Kyle walking towards me with a smug grin as he waves at me.

“Well, well how you doin’? You’re looking good” Kyle says as he reaches me and I notice his eyes scanning me up and down, I just give him a polite smile.

“I knew I did the right thing when I asked you out yesterday, c’mon I’ve chosen the perfect place for our date tonight” He continues giving me a flirtatious wink and starts walking, I catch up to his pace and we make our way to his car; I didn’t know what kind of car it was but it looked expensive. Kyle opened the passenger side door and motioned for me to get in.

“Ladies first.” I thank him and get in the car, it even smelled brand new. Kyle walks around his car and fixes his hair nonchalant as he gets in and turns the car on, the engine rumbling as we start to move.

“Do you like it? My dad bought it to me as a birthday gift Maserati Bora” Kyle informs me proudly, though his tone indicated that it wasn’t no big deal for him, like he had gotten used to these types of gifts.

“It is nice” i reply honestly, though I didn’t really care for cars that much. After a while of driving in silence listening to the radio playing some cheesy love song I speak up.

“Soo, where are we going?” I ask, Kyle glances at me as he drives and gives his signature smirk.

“Oh you’ll find out soon, you know.. You’re eyes are sure pretty” He replies while complimenting me, taking his eyes of the road a bit too much for my liking.

“Oh uh thank you” i reply awkwardly, we drive over a bridge further into town and soon park in front of a fancy looking restaurant.

“We’re here!” Kyle exclaims

“This is where we’ll be eating tonight, you know this is quite an expensive place. I don’t do this for just anyone” He smiles at me and gets out of the car, I had a funny feeling this wasn’t the first time he said this to his dates as he moved around the car once again to open the door for me; As he does so he extends his hand clearly expecting me to take it.

I let him guide me out of the car and straighten my dress, I look around and notice that everyone entering the restaurant were wearing their best outfits and felt slightly underdressed.

“It looks fancy” i reply and swallow hard, Kyle just shrugs his shoulders as he still holds my hand. Keeping a hold of me he starts walking to the restaurant and we head in, it indeed was a fancy restaurant. The workers there greeted us warmly and they seemed quiet familiar with Kyle, he seemed to be a regular to this place. One of the waitresses lead us to an empty table for two. Kyle pulls my chair back like a gentleman and waits for me to sit before he moves over to his seat, the waitress smiles clearly impressed by his actions towards me and gives our menus to us, she informs that she’ll be back soon to take our orders and walks away.

As I scan through the menu I see that the prices are high too and gulp.

“Uh we can split the bill if you want to” I say sheepishly, as I end my sentence I feel Kyle taking my hand in his and I look up at him.

“It’s not problem for me, I insist on paying” He says chuckling. I nod smiling but still feel a bit guilty about it. As if sensing my hesitation Kyle continues

“Seriously this is no big deal for me, don’t worry about it; order whatever you want. I mean it.” He says with an air of arrogance as he keeps an intense eye contact with me.

“Oh ok, thank you.” I say smiling at him, maybe I should give him another chance. He was acting like a perfect gentleman, the alcohol must’ve played it’s part in his behaviour in the bar when we first met.

Soon the waitress arrives and we give our orders to her, me and Kyle make some light talk about our interests and childhood. The typical first date talks, I learn quickly that football is a big part of Kyle’s life and that his parents strongly support him in his pursuit of dreams.

“I was thinking that after this we could go back to the campus and chill in my room; watch a movie or something?” Kyle suggests and takes a sip of his drink as he waits for my answer with raised eyebrows.

“Maybe, I’ll think about it” I reply vaguely, in to which he gives a nod.

“Ofcourse! We’ll see where this night takes us. Let’s just enjoy it for now.” He replies lightly, though I can hear a slight undertone of annoyance in his voice.

The waitress arrives in a perfect timing bringing us our food, a moment of silence falls between us as we start to eat. It was really delicious, I noticed that Kyle kept taking glances at me like he was thinking about saying something but kept it to himself. After a while I put my fork down and hesitatingly speak up.

“Kyle I meant to ask you something” I say, he looks up at me and stops eating too; nodding for me to continue whatever I wanted to say.

“Who are the Sawyer family? I remember you and your friends talking about them.” I ask waiting for his answer. Kyle’s expression changes from the smug smile to a form of annoyance, it seems like I caught him off guard with my question.

“… That family, people around here don’t really like to talk about them.” Kyle begins talking, the lightness and playfulness in his voice gone.

“They’re not well liked by most of the locals, and there’s plenty of rumours about those Sawyers out there” He finishes with a scoff.

“Oh why?” I ask getting more curious about this family. Kyle stays silent for a while before he speaks up again, anger in his voice.

“Those Sawyers are just some hillbilly bastards, we don’t like them in the community; they’re crazy. That whole damn family just needs to be gone from here. They’re not welcome at all.” Kyle says with a huff and takes a big gulp from his drink as if to calm down. I just nod and take in everything he’s saying, how could one family cause this much anger in a person was beyond me; even if they were strange as he said they still had every right to live in this town as anybody else. Before I can say anything Kyle continues.

“And that guy who ruined our night at the bar remember? Johnny Sawyer, some of the chicks here seem to love him: he just plays into that mysterious brooding image he has. Bunch of bullshit if you ask me” Kyle rolls his eyes as he talks about Johnny Sawyer. He seems like he has a personal problem with all the Sawyers, especially him; and he’s talking about them like they’re the scum of the earth. I sit there for for a while silent not sure what to say, I didn’t agree with how he spoke of the Sawyer family though I didn’t know them but so much hostility towards them just because he didn’t like them was unnecessary. Kyle takes a deep breath in and forces the familiar smirk on his face and changes the subject.

“Well this food is good isn’t it?” He asks while continuing to eat, his tone of voice lighter again.

“Yes it’s amazing! You did pick a great place to come to” i reply deciding to drop the subject as well. Kyle smiles back at me seemingly happy with my response.

“You know I’m really enjoying my night with you” Kyle says finishing his drink and looking at me with a smirk.

“Yeah it’s been nice, thank you for asking me. This place must be a hit with the ladies” i reply jokingly.

“Ah usually I don’t need to do all this, the girls love a football player, trust me.” Kyle chuckles while looking at me his head tilted slightly sideways as if he’s scanning me.

“But you seem a little… Different than the other girls that I’m used to. Not in a bad way of course” Kyle says adding the last part quickly. I look at him with an amused expression.

“In what way then?” I ask, not sure I wanted to really hear the answer.

Kyle let’s out a laugh and smiles at me.

“Girls usually just cling onto me and want me to attend parties with them, showing me off to their friends because I’m attractive.” He says confidently.

And cocky. I think to myself but keep a polite smile on my face.

“But I’m guessing you’re probably into more than just my looks” Kyle continues waiting for my answer. I finish the last bit of my food and nod.

“Yeah, I don’t have a habit of parading people around like show dogs, it’s fun to getting to know you though” I finally reply after swallowing my food. Kyle smiles at my reply and nods. We continue talking for a while until the waitress comes and asks if we want something else.

“I think we’re good. Just bring the check please” Kyle replies while smirking at the waitress, after a while she returns and Kyle pays for our food. I tried to offer to pay him back but he just waved me off, repeating that it was no problem to him. As we walk out of the restaurant Kyle seems to on purpose walk close enough to me so we end up brushing each other constantly as we move. It’s already getting dark out and it seems a whole lot quieter. We enter Kyle’s car as he repeats the same gentleman etiquette he did before, while driving back to the campus Kyle glances at me and sighs.

“Sooo… Have you thought about my proposition? Wanna come to my room and watch a movie or just hangout?” He asks while fixing his hair again.

“Honestly I don’t know, I’m feeling pretty tired. Maybe next time?” I reply while yawning, I truly was tired and on top of that I had a feeling that Kyle didn’t have in mind to just watch a movie with me.

“Don’t be like that, you can rest in my room.” Kyle says while nudging me playfully with his elbow while driving.

“Sorry, I really don’t think I’ll be much of an company anymore tonight” I say, noticing that Kyle’s jaw clenched with annoyance.

“Fine.” He replies shortly, the atmosphere gets awkward as neither of us speak anything else during the rest of the drive, and when I try to start a conversation he just shuts it down with short replies- or no reply. When we arrive at the campus parking lot Kyle just gets out of the car ignoring me; a part of me felt bad. I mean he had been really nice to me the entire night. I get out of the car and move over to where he’s standing leaning against the car.

“Uhm, well thank you for the night. It was nice” I say trying to talk to him once again. Kyle sighs and rolls his eyes turning to look at me but doesn’t say anything.

“Well, see you around I guess?” I continue with no response from Kyle and start to turn around until he grabs me by my arm stopping me.

“So I don’t even get a good nights kiss for everything I’ve done tonight?” Kyle says faking a pout. I look at him for a while in disbelief, this guy really was something. But I decide to lean in and give him a small kiss on the cheek and pull away; I start to walk towards the dormitory building.

“That’s it? Really?” I hear Kyle call after me.

“Goodnight Kyle!” I reply, turning to look at him while walking, he was still leaning against the car his arms now open wide like he was expecting more.

I enter the dormitory building and head straight to mine and Amber’s room, yawning again I look for my keys and open the door. Surprised I see Amber with Connie and a third girl who i didn’t recognise. She had dark brown long hair and pretty hazel coloured eyes.

“Olivia you’re back from your date! We were waiting for you! Oh and this is Maria!” Amber greets me happily, Connie and the new girl both smiling at me brightly.

“It’s so nice to meet you!” Maria says smiling at me, standing up to shake my hand. It’s like she radiated warmth with her presence right away, i smile back at the girls.

“Nice to meet you too.”

Authors note: Chapter 2 out now yay! I’ll proof read it in a day or two so I apologise if there are some awkwardness in the text 😩 I hope you like it❤️ I promise there will be coming more of the characters you know (especially Johnny) in the upcoming chapters 😉!

Character list Here