#AND THEN HE COULD JUST POCKET THE BEES IN A JAR MAYBE

[slenderwannabe]

guys i need to share this with you yk how aiden loots beehives?? what if someone caught aiden offguard while looting them he throws Bees at them. Just a handful of bees. i can just imagine the feral renegade noises of “AGH! THE FUCK!? GET THESE FUCKING THINGS OFF OF ME!” as aiden finishes looting and tilts the hive on him

[theheraldsrest]

I didn't realize it had gone through as a submission my bad 😂

Inquisition LIs reaction to hearing their Inquisitor through a door saying things like "you are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, you are a gift from the Maker, I love you, I'd die for you, etc.", thinking they're with someone else and running in, just to find out the Inq. is talking to a baby nug/Mabari pup they snuck into Skyhold?

“Romanced Companions reacting to Secret Baby Nug/Mabari Pup”

Here you go and thank you again, @queer-edmundpevensie for the ask! Also, more jokes!

When the Inquisitor asked Bull if he had a spare plug they could use, he said “Sorry, I don’t have any Chargers.” (Maybe a little sorry)

-Lord Lex

Cullen

”I- Honestly, I can’t even blame you for your choice of words. He is handsome.”

-Was split between being upset and feeling remorse. If indeed you had found someone else, you would most definitely deserve someone better than him but you could have at least told him. Pleasantly surprised to find the nug/mabari. Maker forbid if it’s a mabari because he will dote on that thing, saying how your “true love” is a very good boy.

Josephine

“Love, who are you talking to-? Oh! Aren’t they just the sweetest!”

-Didn’t doubt you for a second. She knows that if there was something wrong with you two, you’d tell her. Also, your wording was a little strange for if you were talking to someone else. Suggests on getting it a collar. You actually might be the jealous one when you find her cuddling it more than you.

Solas

“...”

-What was he expecting? Not this. But he has full fate in you to know you wouldn’t go behind his back if your feelings had changed. Honestly a little jealous of the mabari/nug. It’s actually kinda cute- wait, how did you even get it into Skyhold? Oh well. He’ll also tell you about how, in old tales, different animals used to run through Skyhold so having it here just makes sense.

If they go missing, it’s because they started following Solas around. No, he doesn’t know why.

Cassandra

“Inquisitor, I-!...How did you manage to get that here?”

-Yes, she was a little irked that you might be with someone behind her back. And yes, she does feel horrible that she’d assume the worst. She’ll admit what she was thinking was going on and apologize. Cassandra, to most people’s surprise, is a big softie when it comes to animals so her confusion and irritation is put on hold when your chosen creature looks at her with them big ol’ eyes.

The Iron Bull

“Well, Varric owes me money.”

-He knew from the beginning that you snuck it in. But hearing you talk in such a way to it did make him pause. If you two are only fooling around right now, he doesn’t mind and doesn’t care who you sleep with. Now, if you’re his kadan, might be a different story. But, again, he knew you had the creature somewhere and that certainly sounds like how you’d baby an animal. Lo and behold, he was right and Varric has less pocket gold. Also, if you don’t stop him, he’ll carry the animal around like a baby.

Dorian

“Dearest. Amatus. Love of my life. My chosen partner….What the fuck.”

-One of the only people who puts up with your shit anymore. He’ll be one of the people who is severely split. Yes, you deserve better than him, knowing his history and how he can act sometimes. But also how dare you go behind his back when he has given you his heart? He has to pause to let his heart settle after walking in on you cuddling the thing before he very irritable tells you to watch your wording.

Sera

“Alright, what the fuck! Who are you talking-? Wait, that’s not a person.”

-Fully thought it was someone else and wanted to rain hell on them. So it was a little shocking to see your door kicked open and Sera holding a jar of bees at the ready. If you choose a mabari over a nug, she’ll put the bees away and start petting it, acting like nothing happened. Now, if you choose a nug, she’ll make a disgusted face and back away. Not very fond of nugs, but fond of you.

Blackwall

“I’m gonna admit it, I thought there was someone else in here. Glad to see I was both wrong and right.”

-Same boat as Cullen, he kinda expected you to find someone else by now. Hurt his feelings a bit to know that you might have a secret admirer other than him. Does not find it funny (ok, maybe a little) if you name the beast after him. It’s even more funny to see him try to watch his step around it, especially a nug, as he would not like to step on the creature that has your affection.

[joannaliceevans-fanficblog]

Always You: Part. 3

Weeeeee! Its another chapter! As always, I would like to thank all of you for reading! It really means a lot to me!

AU Actor Frank Adler x Y/N, Jarred Perry x Y/N

FIrst off I would like to thank these beautiful people!

to the lovely besties: @adulting-sucks​ @princessofdarkwinter @hollybee8917

You watched as the man emerged from the shadows, your eyes widening as Frank appeared. You started to shake in fear. You shouldn’t be like this, but he was in your home uninvited. He was supposed to be the love of your life, the man you loved, but you weren’t sure who he became at that moment.

“Honey, I know you're scared-” 

“How did you get in?! Why are you here, Frank?”

Frank sighed, dug into his pocket, and pulled out the spare key. You looked at the key and sighed, remembering that he had a copy you gave him a while back when you two were together, but now circumstances are different; you made a mental note to get it back. 

He didn’t deserve it.

“But that doesn’t answer my question, Frank. Why are you here?” you asked once more. 

Frank leaned against the island table in your kitchen and crossed his arms. 

“I know you're mad and have every right to be, but you have to know that this is just-” 

“Work? Ha, I know it's work. But this is different, Frank. You’re taken, and that’s considered cheating. How long have you known about this contract?”

Frank looked at you, trying to find the words without hurting you, the look in his eyes one you had seen too many times.

“Since Ju-”

“Since June?!” You questioned, finishing his sentence. 

Frank felt the blood drain from his body. He never liked lying to you, but Janice told him not to say anything until right. 

“Honey, please-”

“Don’t honey me, Frank! You knew but failed to tell me; let me rephrase that you have the guts to lie to me?” you yelled. 

“You know how Janice works! You and she are in the same business. She just wants what’s-”

“Janice doesn’t work the way I do. You know that I don’t do that shit. I don’t believe in PR shitships. All that does is bring issue after issue to deal with,” You said, placing your hand on your hip and staring at Frank. 

“I know that, but I just-”

“Just what, Frank? Need to stay in the limelight? You know this isn’t like you,” you said, feeling disappointed. “You were this wholesome man that I fell in love with, then you did that movie with Bonnie, and then this happened.” 

“The fans-”

“Yes, the fans like you with her; I fucking get it. But you know her past and what a mess she is. I got emails from UTA that they want to do some PR shit with Jarred, and you know what he said? He didn’t want to do it. He knew how messed up a situation she was in.”

“Y/N, she’s a nice girl. Yes, she had a bad history with the media, but she changed. I just need to-.”

“DON’T YOU DARE, FRANK!” 

“What, that I need to be in a PR-”

“Frank, why? Just why do you need to do this? That’s all I ask. Do you not want to be out of the light for a while?”

“Janice wants me to get an Oscar, a nomination, maybe a win-”

“And this is how it's going to be? Wow, she’s asking for it.” 

“But seriously, Y/N. None of these matters to me because I still love you-”

“And you think I do? You think I still love you?”

Frank stood there for a moment, thinking of what you just said. 

“Honey, you don’t-”

Before he could say anything, you went to your purse and fished out your ring, looking at it briefly before shoving it into his chest.

“I do not need this. When you finally realize what you want, maybe you can give it back to me. Maybe when you realize how screwed up this is, then there is a chance. But for now, we are done,” you said. 

Frank looked at you in disbelief, placing his hand on top of yours and holding it tight into his.

"Honey Bee, please, you don't mean any of this. You mean the world to-"

You yanked your hand out of his and shoved him away from you, tears forming in your eyes. 

"Please, Frank, just leave." 

"No, I will not leave until you tell me this isn't ov-"

"It's over, Frank. You lied, and you changed. Get the fuck out of my house," you said, your hands gripping the counter and not facing him. 

You felt his hands on your waist and immediately turned around and pushed him off.

"FRANK ADLER, GET OUT NOW!"

Frank tried to touch you again, but you slapped him. Looking at you again, he opened the door and turned to you.

"I still love you," Frank said and walked out. 

You slammed the door, standing there for a moment before you slid down to the ground. 

On the other side, Frank stood facing the doorway, hearing your cries, and feeling your pain.

**

Three Months Later

Three months had passed, and you found yourself trying to move on. Instead, you found yourself sitting at home after work with a Grey Goose or Maker's Mark bottle. You wanted to call your best friend Diana, but she was out of town with her client. Since the breakup, Frank had called you less but still managed to text you. Morning, Afternoon, and Goodnight, just like he used to do when he was on location for a shoot. 

It made you smile but faded with the thought of him and Bonnie. It doesn't help when the entertainment news has them plastered on tv and in magazines. Janice called you and wanted to set up a dinner with you to discuss things. You gave her the “I'll have my assistant call you for the times,” and then you hung up. You knew she would come and visit you sooner or later, but until then, you want to avoid her as much as possible.

You placed your wine glass on the coffee table and picked up your phone. Your phone lit up, which caught your attention. It was a reminder notification that reminded you that you had an afternoon flight to Boston with Jarred for his gala and filming. You had your bags packed and ready to go the next day, and your driver will be picking you up from your house and taking you to the airport hangar at LAX.  

**

The following afternoon, you found yourself in the backseat of the SUV that would be taking you to the airport. Jarred was running a bit late but would meet you on the plane. You sat and looked at your phone and the schedule. It wasn’t too much, but Jarred didn't have an extensive plan, so he wanted to head to his vacation home in Concord, which you agreed to. Jarred had been working for almost a year, and he was getting tired; you deserved a mini vacation as well. 

You needed to get away from everything that was going on in your life. You told your team before you left the office that you would be on vacation and not bother you unless it was an emergency. But you knew that they would call you. You placed your phone down when you noticed that the car had pulled up into the hangar. Another car was there, and you knew it was Jarred.

Jarred came out from the private jet and waved at you. You waved back and got out of the car, your driver moving your luggage out of the trunk and onto the plane. You walked into the private jet and took a seat in front of Jarred. 

“Well, that was a semi-long day today,” you mentioned, placing your bag next to you and leaning back into the chair. Jarred laughed, too, leaning back in his chair. 

“Well, the same with me. I was running late at home. Buggar did not want to make his shit, so I had to get Jessie to take him, and I was out the door.” Jarred said. 

“Ha, no worries. I thought I was running late too. Midafternoon traffic is no joke.” You spoke. 

“Anyways, what time is the gala?” Jarred asked. You took out your phone and scanned his schedule. 

“It’s later tonight. You will be going straight from the airport; you get one day break, and then you start filming for Knives Out. 

“Ah, working with Chris Evans. It is always fun with that guy.” Jarred said.

“Yea, he’s a nice guy. But he’s a very messy man.” 

“Yea, tell me about it.” 

“Just remember to keep it casual with him and don’t get too involved,” you warned.

“Oh, trust me, I don’t need reporters hounding me for his personal life,” Jarred said as you shook your head with a smile.

**

Later that night, you found yourself at the high-rise of the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston, outside with a glass of wine in your hands. You walked to the edge, looking towards the city. The calm wind blew against your warm skin, and you smiled. Down below, the city was still awake, but you somehow felt at peace.

“Admiring the views?” You heard a voice that caught you off guard. You turned around to find a handsome man; his blue eyes shined as you felt your cheeks heat. 

You took a sip of your wine, “Yeah, it's quite nice out tonight.”

The man held out his hand, “I’m Chris.” 

You took his hand and smiled, “Nice to meet you, Chris; I’m Y/N.” 

As you shook his hand, you heard someone clear his throat, and you both turned to see Jarred standing with his champagne in his hand. 

"Hey, Chris!" Jarred said, taking his place next to you. Chris looked at Jarred and then gave his million-dollar smile. 

"Jarred didn't think you would be here," Chris said, holding his hand out. Jarred shook his hand, making sure to keep his place beside you. 

Before you could say something, Chris excused himself. As he left, you turned around and raised an eyebrow at Jarred. He stared at you, confused.

"What?" Jarred said, laughing.

"Cock blocker," you said. 

Jarred looked at you for a moment and then laughed. 

"Cock blocker? Why would-"

"Because he's hot!" you said. Jarred laughed even more, then placed his arm around your waist.

"Trust me, and you don't wanna mess with a messy man," Jarred said, leading you back inside. You laughed, leaning in close to him.

"Oh, trust me, I know. I just got out of a relationship with one. Besides, it doesn’t hurt to let him flirt a little; a girl gotta feel love sometimes," you said with a laugh as Jarred shook his head.  

“Well, how about I keep you company and keep these vultures away from you,” Jarred said as you just shrugged and walked around, meeting other business associates as they chatted with you and Jarred by your side. 

**

Prying eyes wandered around the large private ballroom. She was chatting with some of the people from the industry, and she froze. 

She spotted the voices. Her eyes widened as she began to realize who the mysterious girl was. She took her device out and started to snap photos of none other than Jarred Perry and a mysterious girl. Then placed her phone down and began to dial.

Janice speaking.

Janice, it's Bonnie. I've got something that will destroy Frank.

What is it?

Y/N is getting cozy with her client, Jarred

[innocentcurse]

For someone who talked oh so much, Stoker also loved to listen. It was actually quite impressive, just how focused Stoker could be for someone with some a busy mind, and just how dedicated he was when it came to listening to something that wasn't necessarily in the world of his current hyperfixation.

The second that Winter mentioned the citrus honey, Stoker knew that he needed to get his hands on a jar. He was now just so incredibly interested in the whole process of a bee making their honey - something he hadn't seen coming - and so he was all in on his investigation to truly taste the difference between products. "Oh, no way," Stoker grinned, feeling incredibly pleased by the other's kind offer. "I would actually love that, thank you," Stoker was always one to enjoy a good discount, particularly on something that he was already planning on purchasing.

They were intrigued by the other's confession about their memory; it sounded like something that had a story behind it, but as curious as Stoker was, he wasn't nosey in an intrusive sort of way. He simply kept that information in his back pocket for later use, and waved away Winter's apology with his hand. "It's all good," he shook his head. "For the record, I don't think that we've met, but your name does ring a bell. Maybe it's a friend of a friend kinda situation, you know?" He reassured him.

Sometimes when Winter got to rambling about bees, he could see the other person check out; if only that were enough to get him to stop, but it wasn't always. However, with this customer it seemed like they were genuinely interested, and that encouraged Winter to finish his explanation confidently, smiling by the end of it because he really did like talking about his bees. "Yeah, it's really cool," Winter continued. "That's why people often have different flowers and plants in the areas where their hives are. There are so many different flavors you can make. I've got citrus honey here too, which is a first for me, though it seems to be pretty popular, so I'll probably have it again. That's made by having the hives near citrus trees like oranges, which I just planted this year." The citrus honey was in low supply, so it was priced higher than some of the other honey. But Winter appreciated the customer letting him talk about this, so he said, "You can have some of that for the same price as the pumpkin spice if you want to try that too." When the other person said that Winter's bee facts were interesting, he actually believed them; clearly this person wasn't just saying that for Winter's benefit.

"That's totally alright!" Winter exclaimed, happy not because he made a sale but because this person was so eager to try his honey. It really did make Winter proud to do this. When he heard the other's name, Winter thought it sounded familiar, but then he wondered if he just thought that because of Bram Stoker. But maybe that wasn't why. Suddenly self-conscious, Winter apologized, "I'm sorry if we know each other already. My memory...isn't the greatest these days."

[tsukishumai]

pairing: tsukishima kei x reader

word count: 900+

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

“Jesus Christ, you are so annoying.”

The look on your face when those words slipped passed his lips was something that has kept Tsukishima up for the past two nights. A cross between hurt and frustration, thinly veiled by your poor attempt at a neutral expression.

You didn’t say anything as you turned around and walked away from Tsukishima. After weeks of having you all in his face, he thought the image of your retreating back would provide him at least some relief.

It started so suddenly, like someone had yanked a veil from Tsukishima’s head and suddenly he was surrounded by blinding light. Tsukishima could never, for the life of him, figure out why you set your sails towards him, but it was jarring for him to be such a large blip on someone’s radar.

He thought it was weird that you always tried talking to him, asking him questions about volleyball club or how his day went. It didn’t matter if he gave you short and curt responses, you would keep pace with him as he walked down the halls, filling in the gaps of his silence with your endless chatter.

It irked him that you seem to insist on coming to every single one of his games, and irked him even more so that he was able to pick your voice out from the crowd, cheering out his name sprinkled with declarations of victory. It was annoying when his teammates would tease him about it, yet he wonders why he never told you to stop going.

It was annoying - the way you buzzed around his life like a worker bee desperately trying to feed its queen, hoping to get even just one drop of honey.

It was annoying - how you managed to fit yourself so easily and willingly into his routine, and now he can’t really remember when you weren’t a part of it in the first place.

Tsukishima is not used to the brightness of the sun, and he can’t help but wait for the moment he gets burned.

Yet you rip at every precaution, every boundary he tried to set, leaving him bare and exposed to the harsh rays of affection he never even wanted.

Annoying. Annoying. Annoying.

But this. This is a million times worse.

He doesn’t understand why his stomach sinks to the floor when he steps out of class, and you’re no longer there waiting for him to have lunch. Nor does he know why his feet always start to move to the direction of your classroom.

He can’t explain the hollowness in his chest when he sees you sitting at your desk, headphones on and scrolling through your phone as you picked at the food in your bento box. The urge to call out for you always hits him like a wave, but when he opens his mouth, he can never find enough air in his lungs to make a sound.

This is so stupid. Wasn’t this what he wanted?

Didn’t it irritate him whenever you visited him at practice with a sports drink and banana so he doesn’t cramp? He told you not to bother, and that he didn’t need you to take care of him, you weren’t his mom.

So why were his eyes darting to the door every five minutes, waiting for your head to peek in with a smile?

Even worse - why does it bother him so much when you don’t?

This is stupid.

Didn’t he hate finding you waiting for him outside the locker rooms, claiming he had to walk you home because the sky was getting dark and it was dangerous for you to go alone? You lived fifteen minutes passed his own home, and he gets stuck walking more than he has to. He complained to you all the time, and you’d just laugh and tell him to be a gentleman.

He didn’t want to be a gentleman. He didn’t want to do any of that stuff. He just wanted to go home and get some rest.

Yet when he finally finds himself standing in front of the gate of his home, his tired legs don’t stop.

This is stupid, he thinks as he walks the extra fifteen minutes he’s grown accustomed to walking every day.

He thought it was annoying, the way you managed to weave your very essence into the fabric of his life before he could even notice.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

He repeated the words in his head as he gave your door three rapt knocks. He hears stumbling from the other side, fiddling with his fingers as he waited on your doorstep.

The door swung open, and Tsukishima felt his heart squeeze at the sight that greeted him. You stared at him in stunned silence, dressed in a set of dinosaur pajamas he remembers you buying on one of your walks home simply because he mentioned he maybe, kind of thought they were cute.

“In your pajamas already?” Tsukishima said, an attempt to break the silence. “It’s barely seven o’clock.”

“What are you doing here?” You ask quickly, and honestly, Tsukishima wants to know that himself.

“I haven’t seen you the past few days,” he says the first thing that comes to mind, shoving his hands in his pocket as he looked at anywhere but you.

You crossed your arms, leaning back on your foot and popping a hip. “I thought I was annoying?”

You were annoying. It annoyed him that you were so kind to him, that you knew exactly how to make him laugh, how to get him to talk, how to make him feel comfortable.

It was annoying.

But ...

“I never said I didn’t like it.”

Your grip on your door handle tightened, knuckles turning white as Tsukishima watched the heat spread on your cheeks.

“Y-you’re so - ! Ugh! You’re so stupid!”

Tsukishima wanted to laugh. He was incredibly stupid.

[tinyyoungblood]

normal grocery store situation

summary: this is what it looks like when peter and y/n are sent to the grocery store to get some groceries for the others

pairing: peter parker x avenger!reader

a/n: this is the most random thing, i won’t even bother to tag anyone lmao but i was watching the match tonight and had to do something before i just sat there punching air lol enjoy x

            ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“Did you find a cream yet for that nasty rash you showed me earlier? I’m sure there’s something to stop the oozing.”

Peter stopped dead in his track and shot you a glare.

“It was funny the first time. Now you’re just the weirdo that keeps bringing up my rash.” He made sure to air quote the last word although it was just the two of you in the cereal aisle.

Smirking, you pushed the cart forward and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “It’s still your rash, buddy. All yours.”

You smiled sweetly as an old lady passed you, looking mildly horrified when you added, “That’s what you get for running around naked in alleyways.”

Peter’s groan was music to your ears. You didn’t even wait until she had hurried around the corner before bursting out laughing.

“You’re a pain in the ass,” said Peter flatly.

You shrugged. “You should know. Considering that’s where the rash is.”

Not a second later, you felt your ankle knock into something, making you trip and stumble into a shelf. Boxes of cereal toppled to the floor, making a glorious mess around you.

You glared up at Peter but he simply stared back with a blank face. The corner of his mouth just tugged slightly upward as he grabbed the cart and strolled past you, whistling.

After you had painstakingly put everything back, you found Peter in front of the spice section. He was holding two jars in each hand, skimming their labels as if they contained the secret to the universe.

“Do you know what Pepper uses for her noodles?” A faint crease appeared between his brows.

You gave him a sidelong glance. “You mean what she puts in the water when boiling noodles?”

He nodded.

“Salt,” you replied. “She puts salt in the water.”

His brows shot up. “Are you serious?”

“Positive.” You scanned the shelf for some cinnamon since Bucky wanted to try out a new recipe.

“How come it tastes so much better than Steve’s noodles?” Peter put the spices back and pushed the cart along, walking in front of you.

You stared at the back of his head in disbelief. “Because he doesn’t put salt in the– you’re messing with me, right?” Yesterday you had witnessed Peter win an argument against Tony about powering one of his suits with potatoes. It was hard to believe that he couldn’t piece this together.

But Peter merely shrugged, grabbing two pints of your favourite ice cream, and placed them in the cart. “There’s no way it can make that much of a difference. It’s just salt.”

“You know that salt enhances flavour, right?” You watched as he added two more pints of Nat’s favourite ice cream and crossed them off the shopping list. Then he aimed for the aisle with the sweets.

“Well, yeah, but it tastes significantly better. I’ve watched them both cook the same pasta with the same ingredients. Pepper’s spaghetti still tastes miles better.”

You held up two chocolate bars for Peter to choose. “That’s just because Cap is shit at cooking. He always burns the sauce.”

Peter picked the one with nuts and hummed as if reminiscing on a memory. “He does make scrubbing the pots look like an upper body work out.”

You grinned and reached over to hand him a jar of honey. “Do you know why Loki keeps asking for honey? We already have a whole stack at home.”

“Not sure,” Peter replied, eyeing the label before placing it in the cart. “Maybe he’s just hoarding them. Did you know that honey never goes bad? They found 3,000-year-old honey while excavating tombs in Egypt, and it was perfectly edible. It could definitely outlive Bucky and Steve if we let it.”

You arched an eyebrow. “All I’m hearing is that Loki’s probably trying to figure out a way to achieve immortality.” You pointed out a funny looking advertisement in passing and Peter chuckled. “Should we stop him?”

“From smothering himself in honey?” Peter looked appalled. “Absolutely not.”

You nodded wisely and let Peter take your hand. The other one he used to push the cart.

After you had found a couple other items, you pursed your lips and mused, “Do you think that’s why bees are okay with working all their lives? I’ve read that one bee will only make 1/12 of a teaspoon on honey in its entire life.”

“You mean because they know their work will outlive humanity and become their immortal legacy?” Peter stopped and mindlessly ran his fingers along his jawline, pondering. Then his eyes lit up. “Oh, look! They have that special edition fabric softener that Thor loves so much.”

“Wait, for real?” You followed him excitedly.

After a lively discussion about whether or not birch water and botanicals was the superior smell, you had settled for lavender and vanilla bean instead to play it safe.

“I still can’t believe you thought that combination of yeast smelled good,” Peter teased, his face scrunched up in a grimace.

“Just let it go.” You sighed, but Peter held up both hands with a smirk.

“I’m just saying, there’s no point in washing your clothes only to make them smell like your backyard. Might as well roll around in dirt.”

“Is that how you got your butt rash?” You asked sweetly as Peter blinked slowly before turning his head to see the same old lady from before. She stared at him with wide eyes before scurrying away.

You laughed quietly into your hand as Peter turned back around. He tried to glare at you, but the twinkle of amusement in his eyes was a dead giveaway.

Still, he shouldered past you and slid his hands into his pockets, murmuring, “We’re never coming back to this store.”

It only made you laugh harder.

* * *

stay hydrated guys

[oreoambitions]

Would love to see supercorp “I’ve never been festive”! Glad to see you back on my dashboard!

The thing about Lena, Kara thinks to herself as she strolls down Main Street with her hands shoved in her pockets, is that she wants to seem tough. That's the problem in a nutshell. And anyone else here in Midvale would tell you that it's just a city thing, that all the city kids want to seem tough, that Lena is no exception, but Kara doesn't think that's true. Well, okay, she knows it's true. But with Lena, it's something else. Something deeper. Something maybe related to the way that Lena has withdrawn into herself day by day as Midvale has begun to dress itself up for the holidays.

But Kara can do I'm-so-tough. She can do I-hate-Christmas, and she can do I-don't-believe-in-fun because at this time of the year she can do anything and get through to anyone. A little bit of light, a little bit of magic... maybe a little bit of love. That's how Christmas goes, right? Especially in a place like Midvale.

Kara likes to think of Midvale as a postcard town: the kind of town folks are only ever passing through on their way up and down the coast, a scenic detour, a cozy place to spend the night or just the afternoon before you move along. It's a place where time seems to have come to a standstill or at least a crawl, where it was a big deal when the first (and only) Starbucks opened, where nothing at all is open after 8pm, and you'd be hard pressed to run any errands on a Sunday, and you'd better not let Mrs. Nal catch you doing anything untoward or you can expect you'll be the topic of every conversation in or out of church for the next week or so at least. Kara would know; she's been the talk of the town on more than one occasion.

But these last several weeks the talk of the town has been the young woman who pulled up one evening in a car worth probably more than every vehicle on Main Street put together and strolled into the aforementioned Starbucks in a beat up hoodie sporting red rimmed eyes and trembling hands to ask the barista whether possibly anyone had a spare phone cable. She didn't want to bother anyone, only she'd left Metropolis in a hurry and forgotten hers and without GPS she didn't have any idea where she might stop to purchase one. She'd slid a hundred dollar bill across the counter as payment for the manager's beat up old charger and rolled right back out of town before anyone could tell her just how far from home she was.

Only then she'd rolled back into town some six hours later and booked herself into the bed and breakfast. And then she hadn't left.

The Danvers have assured Kara that in all the years Eliza and Jeremiah have run the bed and breakfast, and all the years Jeremiah's parents ran it before that, stretching back all the dusty decades since Midvale was founded, they have never had a longterm guest, no sir. It has simply never happened before. Kara doubts the veracity of such a statement but it has been delivered to her with all the solemn weight of sacred fact, and so she's taken it in stride - something which Alex seems to have found suspicious. And, true, on another occasion Kara might have been found elbow deep in records on a personal mission to prove that Jeremiah has pulled this particular historical "factoid" from some place the sun don't shine, but, well, she's been a little distracted these past weeks. Distracted by sad green eyes and coy smiles and the overwhelmingly mysterious circumstances that have delivered Lena directly into Kara's home.

Unfortunately Eliza has strictly forbidden Kara from asking the hundred and one questions perpetually on the tip of her tongue, and Kara's objections that she's twenty four now and she'll ask her questions if she so pleases haven't actually outweighed the sense that, at least where Eliza is concerned, she ought to do as she's told. So she's restrained herself. And as the weeks have gone by, she and Lena have fallen into an amicable, if not entirely comfortable, routine.

Kara serves Lena breakfast in the dining room with the other guests at precisely 8:15 every morning: two poached eggs with avocado on a thick slice of Winn's sourdough bread, a cup of coffee (black, diluted with hot water), and a side of roasted vegetables (no potatoes). Every morning Lena invites Kara to join her at the table, though Kara only does so when there are no other guests around to serve. They eat - together or not - in a silence broken only by small talk and the occasional lingering gaze when one catches the other looking until, at precisely 9:15, Lena excuses herself to seek out Eliza and enquire after the availability of another night's lodging. She pays in cash, one day at a time, without fail. She and Kara see one another again on the stairs, Kara on her way out to work a shift at the library and Lena on her way back up to her room. A small smile passes between them, affectionate and familiar, and Kara thinks perhaps... But no, the moment has passed and they've gone their separate ways for another day.

Kara has resolved that this pattern will not repeat itself again. Not now, not when Midvale is draped in heavy golds and greens, when the smell of Christmas pastry is wafting through the streets, when the trickle of seasonal tourists is threatening to become a thunder which will by necessity pry Kara's attention away. Not now when Lena is withdrawing further and further, when those lingering glances at breakfast seem to be few and far between, and it seems the onslaught of Christmas cheer is threatening to drive Lena out of Midvale altogether. If Kara is going to get through to her, today is the day.

She swings into J'onn's diner with a determined expression, sidestepping the younger Arias who has eyes these days only for her iphone and not so much for where she's going. J'onn is predictably behind the counter; Kara isn't sure he's taken a day away from the diner in all the time she's known him.

"I need two to go mugs of Bad Day Danvers Brew," she tells him. "It's urgent."

He plops two large paper cups down onto the counter almost before she's done asking. "I thought your sister was on duty tonight."

"She was. Is. It's not- It's for me."

"I don't suppose this has anything to do with a certain green eyed young lady from out of town."

It's not really a question the way J'onn says it but Kara somehow still feels pressured to answer. She flushes, turns away, scans the room. The dinner rush hasn't quite arrived. J'onn bustles about behind the counter without further comment, though he does arch an accusatory brow when Kara meets his eyes again.

"You do know," he says as he slides the drinks across the counter, "She's going to leave this place. She may not be ready yet, but the day is coming."

Kara frowns at him. "Leave is a four letter word."

"L - e - a -"

"You know what I mean."

"Maybe you should consider it too. Whole world out there waiting for you, Little Danvers. Seems a shame not to go out and see it."

Kara thinks for a moment of this world as she saw it first: a little marble hanging in a black sea, so fragile and small, so far away from home. Midvale is home now, and she'll be damned if she's going to leave it behind. She forces a smile for J'onn's sake.

"I'm right where I'm supposed to be," she says. She tries to pay him for the drinks. As he has a hundred times before, he turns her money away. Kara slips the cash into the tip jar on her way out the door.

When she gets home it's to the smell of apple pies bubbling in the oven and the sound of some old 50's Christmas record playing almost too loud for Jeremiah's battered old bluetooth speaker and hardly loud enough to compete with Jeremiah himself. Kara creeps up the stairs two at a time, one Bad Day Danvers Brew clutched in either hand, quiet quiet quiet. If Eliza catches her she'll try to put her to work and Kara isn't sure she can explain exactly what she means when she says she's too "busy" right now to help out.

She occupies herself with that thought, thinking up excuses for Eliza, each one more improbable than the last, and then she finds herself standing in front of Lena's door. She feels suddenly grimy, foolish, clumsy. What she hasn't considered in all her planning for this moment is that with both hands occupied she can hardly knock on Lena's door, and with her heart pounding an urgent rhythm in her chest and her body trembling with something that is distinctly not fatigue Kara doesn't trust herself to tuck one of the drinks into the crook of her arm.

So she does what any sane person would do: she kicks the door. Gently. As gently as she possibly can, but it still feels brutish and Kara winces as the sound of it tumbles down the hall to clash with Jeremiah's crooning and the roar of the vacuum cleaner in the foyer. Grimy, foolish, clumsy. But then the door swings open and all such thoughts fall from Kara's mind.

She has words picked out for this moment but they don't come to her. Lena stands in the doorway in jeans and a cardigan and socks that have bumble bees on them and Kara feels like she needs just a moment but the moment is already passing. Green eyes search hers, curious, bemused. Kara wants to reach out and tuck that stray lock of hair away, but-

The drinks. Right. "I brought refreshments," she says, proferring the paper cups. "For us," she adds, in case it isn't clear.

Lena reaches out for one of the cups, hesitant, then pries the lid off to take a whiff. "Hot chocolate?"

Kara wants to melt on the spot but she sticks to her guns. "It's special hot chocolate," she clarifies. This is not how this conversation was supposed to go. She had this exchange all planned out, there were contingencies, it was all perfect and here she is muddying it all up. "I was thinking maybe we could go out tonight."

"Like on a date?"

Oh, Rao. Kara's eyes drops to Lena's mouth without her say so and then they travel a little further south to the line of that cardigan and she swallows. "No," she forces out, "like on a walk?"

There's a long pause and then Lena laughs. "You're really very charming, Danvers," she says, and Kara feels an unexpected thrill at the sound of her last name in Lena's mouth. "Let me just get my sweater."

"You're already-" Kara starts, but the door clicks shut before she can finish. "Wearing a sweater," she mumbles to herself.

Lena emerges some minutes later, just when Kara is beginning to get fidgety. She's thrown on a hoodie which is perhaps a size too big and a pair of converse rather the worse for wear and Kara isn't sure what she was expecting but it wasn't this. Which is not to say that she doesn't like it. Lena licks her lips and fixes Kara with a pointed look.

"There is whisky in that hot chocolate," she says.

Kara shrugs. "I did say it was special."

They make it down the stairs and out of the bed and breakfast without Eliza noticing, though Kara is all but certain Jeremiah saw them leave together and will have Questions with a capital Q about it later. The sun is just now sinking below the horizon as the two of them turn down Main Street, ducking around Mr. Schott who is occupying most of the sidewalk with a rickety old ladder in an attempt to install another strand of lights above the toy store window. Already the street lamps bear oversized red bows and long, heavy pine garlands, and it will be only a matter of days now before every storefront from here to the edge of town is bright and warm and magical. Kara takes it all in with a growing smile. Lena takes it in with an expression that borders on an outright scowl.

"So are we going anywhere in particular?" Lena asks. They duck around a knot of visitors asking after a table at the brewery and for an instant Kara is almost certain she feels Lena's fingers brush hers.

"We are," Kara admits. And then, because she doesn't want to give away their destination, she adds, "You don't like Christmas."

Lena grimaces and takes a long sip of the Bad Day Danvers Brew. "I wouldn't say that I don't like Christmas."

"But?"

"But I've never been festive. And this year..."

Kara's mind fills in the words that Lena doesn't say: This year it's hard. Hard to see the joy and the magic and the laughter all around when you're alone and far from home. Well, Kara knows a thing or two about that. She takes a sip of her own drink and, resolutely, carefully, looking straight ahead, she reaches out to touch Lena's hand, so gentle it could have been an accident.

"This year you have me," Kara says. She's shocked the line comes out of her mouth as smoothly as it does. Her heart is so far up her throat she almost fears she'll choke on it.

Lena steps in closer until Kara swears she can feel the heat radiating between them even through both of Lena's sweaters and her own Christmas flannel. They walk in silence for a block or so, shoulders bumping once in a while, before Lena asks, "Do you have any favorite holiday traditions?"

Kara shrugs. "I like the carols. Jeremiah and I always go out caroling on Christmas eve. Oh! And the cookies. Pie for breakfast on Christmas morning."

Lena laughs at that. "Pie for breakfast? Lilian - my step mother - she'd have a fit."

"Well you can have pie with us this year if you want; I promise not to tell Lilian a thing. If you're still hanging around."

Lena looks at her sharply and then looks away, leaving Kara to feel silent and small and a little rejected. But Lena touches Kara's wrist as they move through the crowd and then, when Kara doesn't pull away, she takes her hand.

"Christmas is always an important social event for my family," Lena says. She glances at Kara as if to check that she's listening and then away again so quickly that Kara almost wonders if she imagined it. "Everything has to be perfect. The food, the decorations, the music. The family. And it's beautiful, really. Imagine a pine tree towering up to the very rafters, all the ornaments carefully curated and arranged, and a cellist flown in from Italy perches in the corner playing O Come Emmanuel while the city's elite pass through pretending to enjoy bite sized Christmas pastries prepared overnight by a team flown in from France. I suspect it would feel magical if it weren't so much work. It's hard to enjoy the magic when you're a part of it. Especially as a child."

Kara frowns. Her fingers tighten around Lena's, tugging her ever forward towards the Christmas tree in the center of town. She's thinking of Krpyton, of a perfect family, a perfect people, and a perfect world crumbling under the veneer. But she can't say that to Lena, so she flashes her a bright smile instead and says, "In Midvale, everyone who wants to gets to put an ornament on the town tree."

"Everyone? That doesn't seem practical. There have to be, what, at least a thousand people living here."

Kara nods. "Yeah. Not everyone participates, but most people. And of course that means the tree isn't curated like your family's, but it's got a special kind of magic to it. The kind you get when you aren't trying to make magic follow the rules."

It occurs to Kara that there is a sort of comedic timing to this, as this is the moment Kara steps over the low fence with the sign that reads "do not walk on the grass" and tugs a protesting Lena after into the shade - or, in this case, the light - of the Midvale tree.

"Rules," Lena is saying, "Generally exist for a reason, and when you break them willy nilly you don't get magic, you get chaos. It's important to- Wait, is this your Christmas tree?"

"Yep," Kara says. She reaches out to press a hand to the trunk and then stares up at the tiny golden lights wound among the branches with care, ornaments dangling here and there, some homemade and some not. She's definitely not supposed to get this close to it but, well, it's Alex on duty tonight and she doubts her sister is about to arrest her for trying to make a move on a pretty girl. "This is the one."

"But it's an oak tree," Lena observes. She steps up beside Kara to touch the trunk.

"Couple hundred years old, or so they told us in middle school," Kara says. "She's a gorgeous tree, isn't she? Not a pine and not perfect, but. Our own kind of magic." Then she grimaces. "Sorry; I'm being terribly cheesy right-"

"Did you know that mistletoe often grows in the California oak?" Lena interrupts.

Kara falters. She did know that, but this tree is carefully tended. No mistletoe here. She opens her mouth to say so when Lena holds up a finger to stop her again.

"To be perfectly clear I'm suggesting that we kiss here under this tree. Because you're charming and a little over the top and I hate that I love your Christmas flannel and I would very much like to have pie with you on Christmas morning. So if you'd like we can pretend there's mistletoe in the Midvale Christmas tree. It would be a very reasonable mistake; mistletoe really does grow on-"

Kara kisses her. The surprised gasp that falls from Lena's lips almost makes her laugh, but this is a serious moment so she tries to keep it in. She's got only one hand to work with - the other is still hold her Bad Day Danvers Brew - so she slides it around Lena's waist to pull her closer, and it's her turn to gasp when Lena tilts her head to slide her tongue along Kara's bottom lip.

Someone on the sidewalk cheers, and that is when Lena drops her drink. And then they do laugh together there under the tree, spiked hot chocolate splattered over the bottom of Lena's pants, Kara pressing her own drink into Lena's hands, and the sound of Mrs. Nal nearby screeching about public indecency while James tells her to go suck an egg. The two of them will be the talk of the town for weeks. Certainly through New Years. Kara doesn't think she minds.

///

Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating; Happy Holidays and a lovely morning to everyone who is not! Thank you for this prompt! I expected to write a quick 800 words but it got away from me and took all month.

[trashytummies]

Unfinished One Piece vore fic

A/N: Kinda wanted to finish it but my One Piece hyperfixation has really died down and I just don’t have any more juice to keep it going. As you can probably tell, this is another sectional vore fic, so a lot of parts are just not filled in but whatever. It’s been sitting in my drafts for over a year ;A; and I even created OCs for this dumb fic adkdsdlk

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

A small raft drifts in the violent current, the two occupants grab onto the flagpole and hang on for their dear lives. 

“Why couldn’t you have just accepted my father’s offer for a new ship?” Reina snaps, still clasped on the pole, as she pointedly glares at both Clyde and the dingy raft; each wave that crashed into the makeshift boat caused the floorboards to creak and strain. 

Clyde scoffs, his long cerulean hair blows far behind him, and Reina restrains herself from strangling him with his own hair. Maybe if he were unconscious, she wouldn’t have to deal with his stupidity. 

“Do you think the Donquixote Family took ships from their paternal families? Of course not! All of Doffy’s wealth, he worked and obtained it! So, I would rather die than take pity handouts.” 

Reina stares at him, a vein threatens to bulge from her temple while her eye twitches. Of all the idiots in the Donquixote Family she could have been paired with, it had to be Chameleon Clyde. She wasn’t about to go into the logistics of his code name, the man had proudly touted the name after discovering his devil fruit’s abilities. No, actually, it fit him perfectly. Absolutely moronic.  

“So, even when Doffy offered to give us a larger boat, you’d still refuse?” 

Clyde nods enthusiastically, and Reina finally smacks the back of his head, 

“No! You moron, why didn’t you just accept it?” 

With one hand still gripping on the pole, Clyde has his free hand out in a contemplative position, 

“Rei, darling,” he quickly changes tone once he sees Reina’s hand curl back into a fist and another vein protrude, “I mean, don’t you want to prove to him that we’re capable of successfully completing a mission with few resources?”

“No! Why would that even—-wait, they’re here.” 

The two pirates turn their attention to Sunny Go, most of the crew was already on deck, smoothly sailing through the rough waters, but with a glimpse of a straw hat, Reina’s lips curl into a cruel grin as she hones in on their unsuspecting target. 

“Buzz Buzz no injection!” she calls out and a swarm of bees come out of nowhere, landing on her arms and short blonde curls. She hums, plucking out a single bee from her hair, and reaches for a small jar from her pocket, dusting the powder on the bee’s feet. 

“Now go, my sweet.” lightly pinching its wings, she releases her grip once enough of the powder was distributed, “Find Monkey D. Luffy.” she sings, and by her command, the bee flutters to the nearby pirate ship.  

-

-

-

Luffy stretches over the titanic sized leg, landing not-so gracefully on the surgeon’s kneecap. 

“Oi Torao!” he shouts, trying to garner the sleeping man’s attention and, gomu gomu no pistol, inflicts a straight punch right to the denim clad knee. 

No response. 

“To-ra-ooooo!” he whines, but a flash of metal catches his eye. Luffy grins, shishishi, I can make Traffy’s sword knock him in the head ‘n wake him up! 

He stretches an arm up to the 

-

-

-

Law blinks away any remaining sleepiness before narrowing his eyes; something made kikoku fall on him, but what, begs the question. 

His eyebrows raise slightly upon seeing a miniaturized Luffy, but at this rate, he really shouldn’t be surprised, “Mugiwara-ya.” he states, as if having a tiny Strawhat on your shoulder was typical for a Tuesday night. 

“I’m cold, Torao,” Luffy announces, and Law can only gawk down at the man and stifle a yawn. It’s too early to deal with this. 

“And what do you want me to do about that?” 

Luffy gives him a single look-over before settling on his thick, feathered sweatshirt. 

“Put me inside your shirt! Around the feathers ‘cause they look warm and fluffy!” 

“…No. I’m not your personal heater,” he says, eyes slowly drooping back to sleep. 

Undeterred, Luffy laughs, and Law can already feel exhaustion weigh over him like a boulder. Luffy isn’t going to let this go. 

“Don’t be like that, Torao. I’d do the same for you if you were super small!” 

Law sighs, and without warning, he pinches the back of Luffy’s shirt and places him in the collar of his sweatshirt, a sea of black feathers envelops him.

“Happy?” Law mutters as he slumps back into the pillar, closing his eyes. The feeling of the tiny captain pressed up against the crook of his neck was discerning, to say the least, but as long as Luffy wouldn’t bother him for the rest of the—-

“Eh? I’m still cold.” 

Of course it wouldn’t be that easy. 

Heaving a long sigh, Law plucks Luffy from his shirt collar and rests him on his palm. He watches Luffy wobble on his hand, his smile unwavering as he hangs on a finger, stretching his body downwards. Tch, at least one of us is amused with this situation. He thinks as Luffy bounces back up, his trademark laugh

-

-

- 

“I got it! You can put me inside you,” Luffy says, out of nowhere, and Law balks, an involuntary flush of embarrassment washes over his cheeks as he wonders if he heard Strawhat correctly.

“Excuse me?” 

Luffy grins wide, as if the answer was glaringly obvious, and a vein pops in Law’s temple. He was going to kill this brat.

“You know, in your belly. You didn’t eat a lot at the party, so there wouldn’t be much in there anyways, and it’d be nice ’n warm!” 

“No.” 

“Wha—but,” Luffy starts, but Law shoots it down immediately.

“No. You’re not going inside me.” 

Luffy crosses his arms, clearly annoyed with the answer as his brow deepens, dark eyes staring into Law’s tired ones. 

“Hah? Why?” 

Law sighs as the smaller’s straw hat ruffles in the wind, he adjusts it with a finger. Luffy shivers as the cold bites his exposed skin, at this rate, he was going to get hypothermia. Law groans and begrudgingly cups his hand around Strawhat to supply some warmth. The other man is freezing to the touch, but as Law moves the hand closer to his chest, Luffy’s shivering goes down as he holds onto the wedge of Law’s thumb for support.

“I could digest you.” he knows this isn’t true, given Luffy’s rubber biology, but at this point, he’s willing to take a shot in the dark. 

“I can’t die, I’m made of rubber, stupid.” Luffy pouts and Law racks his brain for reasons why he’s not letting the shrunken captain inside his stomach because of course, personal space and rationale doesn’t exist to Strawhat. 

“It’s—it’s still a massive invasion of privacy, not happening, Mugiwara-ya.” 

“Torao! It’s so cold and it wouldn’t be for long!” 

“No. Why don’t you just ask one of your cremates?” 

“I can’t, they’re asleep.” 

“So was I, stop pestering me about it.” he hisses, trying to keep his voice as low as possible so the damned clown doesn’t wake.

“But you’re not now, so let me warm up in you.” Luffy says with such finality as dark eyes challenge his own for a solid minute, the two captains stay silent in their showdown until Law finally concedes.  

He hoists the miniature 

-

-

-

The stomach was fairly empty, save for some water and sake from earlier that night. 

-

-

-

“Torao-kun, have you seen Luffy?” Nami yawns, trudging out from the woman’s quarters with a barely awake Momonosuke in her arms. 

“Who knows.” he says simply, and before Nami could question him further, he drifts off. He’ll fill them in on their captain’s whereabouts when the sun rises, but right now, he just wants to finally be able sleep. 

[radioactivepeasant]

Fic Prompts: Star Wars Wednesday

Just like last week, spoilers for The Mandalorian season two

"I can't believe you talked me into this."

Cara leaned back in the pilot's seat, wearing that same smirk she always had. The one that said "I knew you'd do it". The one that said "Learn to have a little fun!" The one that said "Admit it, you're a pushover, Din Djarin."

"I can't believe you didn't think of this before!" Cara teased.

[[MORE]]

"The kid is training, and training is school, right? Kid needs school supplies. Styluses. Lunch box. Things like that."

Din looked over his shoulder at the small bundle on the floor behind him. "Maybe..." he murmured.

Cara frowned. "Hey, quit." There was no bite in her words. There never was when they talked about Grogu: she knew better than most that some subjects weren't to be taken lightly. "He's gonna want to see you. That kid adores you."

"He...he belongs with the Jedi," Din said, if only to convince himself not to snatch up his boy and never stop running. "Not the..."

He couldn't bring himself to say "Not the Mandalorians".

Cara adjusted the coordinates minutely, then swiveled sideways in her seat. She leaned forward, elbows on her thighs, and raised her eyebrows at the morose Mandalorian.

"So...there have never been any Mandalorian Jedi? Ever?"

The "no" was already on Din's lips before the weight of the Darksaber on his hip called it into question. Could such a thing exist? One who followed both the Creed of the Mandalorians and whatever Creed the Jedi lived by?

Could Grogu be one?

And was it selfish of him to hope the child might be?

They landed on Yavin IV with little difficulty. Din hadn't expected them to be that close by! It certainly made a difference to know that Grogu wouldn't be far from Mandalore after all.

They were directed by several New Republic officers to an upper level of what Cara said was an ancient temple, surrounded by jungle. It was warm and humid, but not unpleasantly so. The croaking of amphibian creatures in the trees made Din smile under his helmet.

"Hope none of those are poisonous," he remarked, gesturing toward the trees.

The man escorting them -- Din had seen his face on a bounty puck once, he was sure of it -- grimaced. "To most animals here, they are. To certain tridactyl toddlers though..."

Cara snorted. "How many did he eat?"

The man groaned. "Four. Five if you count the one he tried to give to my kid."

Han smirked despite himself when the Mandalorian behind him immediately said, "Urgh. I'm sorry, he does that. Is yours training here too?"

"Not training, no." Han led them towards an open courtyard like place. "We decided not to start that until he's five. Little bandit can't even sit up on his own yet. Luke just babysits when Leia and I both have to work."

"Hey Han! Over here!" The familiar voice of the Jedi echoed from a shady corner beside a tree.

Han. Han Solo! That's where Din had seen his face before! Well. Probably for the best that Boba was busy on Tatooine, then. Solo and friends had taken his fellow Mandalorian's honoring of his contract...rather personally. And Fett had the scars to prove it. For all that he thought the man would probably say something to the effect of "it was just business", Din still didn't think putting him in the same room as Han Kriffing Solo was a good idea.

Any further contemplation of men with prices on their heads crumbled into silence when Din heard a familiar squeal. He dropped to his knees on instinct, just in time to catch Grogu as he tripped on the hem of his little blue robe and fell headfirst into Din's hands.

"Grogu!" Din gasped around the lump in his throat.

"Buir!" Grogu laughed from upside down, though it really sounded more like "Bweeoo!"

Quickly, Din turned the toddler right side up and examined him for injuries. He didn't look hurt, but he did have a large smudge of dirt across his cheek, and dirty handprints all over his clothes. The mythosaur pendant had gotten a little tangled around the zipper on the front, and Din realized that Grogu's robe was just a human infant's sleep sack that someone had cut a hole for feet in.

Luke Skywalker sat on the grass with a three or four month old human baby in his lap. Din guessed that must have been Solo's child. Grogu was pointing at him and babbling incoherently. Din nodded seriously.

"Yes, yes he is a baby."

"Bee bee bee. Batu."

"No, not like the tadpole babies at all, you're right."

He had no idea if Grogu was actually talking about the tadpole child he'd bonded with, but he'd made similar sounds then, hadn't he?

"Grogu."

Grogu's head snapped back to face Din. His ears perked up, and his eyes shone. That threatened to undo Din there and then, but somehow he kept his composure.

"I brought you something to help you while you learn."

Immediately the toddler started looking around. "Buir? Buir?"

Cara held up the bundle Din had purchased from a Lurmen outfitters shop. A tiny red satchel, perfect for smaller species, hung from her fingertips. As soon as Grogu saw the yellow and brown frog pattern on the front pocket, he hooted with delight and reached for it.

"Hang on, short stuff," Cara laughed, "There's more!" She opened the bag and pulled out a pack of short, chunky, styluses in many colors. "Your dad thought you'd like coloring."

Luke laughed softly. "Oh he certainly seems to like his colors. Guess why we had to improvise new clothes?"

Gently bouncing his son in his arms, oblivious to Solo's bewildered look, Din asked the Jedi the question he almost didn't want the answer to.

"What...what happened to his romper?"

Luke winced. "Um."

Behind them, Han started laughing.

"Okay, so-" Luke ran a hand through his hair. "Part of being a Jedi is accepting when you make mistakes and learning from them. Case in point, Force strong toddlers and open jars of finger paint actually...aren't the great idea I'd thought they were..."

Almost completely inaudibly he added, "andalittlebitgotinhiseye,pleasedon'tbemad!"

Grogu flailed his arms up and then down with enthusiasm, trying to show his Buir exactly what he'd done with the paint.

"Yeah," the Manda'lor sighed, perfectly content, "That sounds like my kid."

[fleetingpieces]

My Two in a Million

Hold your horses, I finally finished writing something! I know it's probably not what you expected and it's definitely not one of my best works, but I feel that if I don't post it now, I will never get out of the slump.

So apologies in advance and I hope you enjoy it a bit anyway! <3

Thank you so much for being so patient with me :)))

Thanks to @knittingdreams @donttouchmycarrots @inloveoknutzy and @asunshinepuff for all your help, love you guys <3

Ao3

Characters belong to @lumosinlove !

Chapter 1

“Lily, why the hell are we out here?” Logan asked, wrapping his arms around himself. He glanced around the hall at the other party guests that were milling about—all of whom had costumes more fitting for the cool weather—and grumbled as he leaned against the wall, a hiss escaping his lips when the cold material touched his bare back.

Lily glanced at him, amused. “It’s not my fault you chose to show off your body when it’s fucking freezing outside.”

“No, it’s Finn’s. He had it stuck in his head that we just had to wear sexy costumes,” Logan rolled his eyes; though he couldn’t deny that he’d been more than happy when he first saw Finn that night. His breath had completely left his lungs when the redhead had stepped out of the bathroom wearing a Spartan costume, smiling like a little kid at his fake sword, his firm abs on display, a familiar trail of red hair disappearing under the wide belt and—

Logan gulped and tried to remember that he was at a party full of people, willing his mind not to think about how he’d felt. Or about how much he was dying to get Finn out of that damn skirt.

“Still, that doesn’t explain why we’re out here instead of inside, where it’s warmer and I could be in my half-naked boyfriend’s arms.”

“Just bear with me, ok? It shouldn’t be long now.”

Logan sighed; he knew better than to try to argue with his friend. “So how’s your business going?” he asked instead.

“Oh, it’s great!” Lily replied, her face lighting up with a smile. “We received a shipment of rare books today, there’re a few that I’m sure Finn would love. I will separate a few—” she stopped in the middle of her excited explanation as she looked towards the elevators, her smile going wider. “Remus!” she yelled and, without another word, pushed against the wall to walk ahead.

Frowning, Logan grumbled and followed behind a moment later. Had she been waiting for someone? Perhaps this meant that he could go back inside and get out of the cold. Halfway there, he looked to see who Lily had called for, noticing two people waiting but focusing mainly on one of them as his eyes fell on a long set of legs. Damn, this guy is huge, he thought as his gaze wandered slowly up the dark ripped jeans and comfy looking jumper.

The guy jumped slightly and dropped some keys he was holding. Logan didn’t get to see the face under the mop of blond hair as he bent to pick them up, but noticed how red his neck was and chuckled softly.

Cute.

Then the boy straightened up and Logan almost choked on his laugh as their gazes locked. His eyes were the bluest he’d ever seen, like staring at an open sky, contrasting with the blush on his cheeks—whether from the cold or from embarrassment, Logan wasn’t sure. He seemed slightly guarded, which made Logan cock his head wondering why. As a few more seconds passed and he didn’t break eye contact, some of the tension left the boy’s shoulders, the corner of his mouth lifting up in a shy smile as he ruffled his hair, the gesture going straight to Logan’s gut.

Shaking his head, he focused on the floor as he reached Lily’s side. The man standing next to the blond—Remus, most likely—was talking with Lily, but Logan could barely process what they were saying in the middle of the turmoil that was his head. With great effort, he tried to keep his eyes down, but his gaze kept wandering back to blue.

He was pulled out of his musings when Lily placed a hand on his shoulder and tilted her head towards the tall guy who, Logan noticed, had his eyes now trailing down Logan’s arms. “Hi, I’m Lily and this is Logan,” she said with a smile.

The blond —Logan cursed himself for not catching his name— gave him a sheepish wave and another small smile, and Logan found himself returning it as a tingling sensation spread through his body, starting from his mouth and going down to his toes.

“Salut! Are you guys joining the party?” he asked hopefully.

“Ah, sorry, but well… we don’t really have costumes,” Remus replied and the other guy turned to look at him with a scowl. It looked like he wanted to argue with his...friend? Logan had no idea what they were. Or who they were, for that matter.

But he kinda wanted to.

“Costumes are not mandatory. C’mon, I promise you’ll have fun,” Lily turned pleading eyes to Remus.

The newcomers glanced at each other, an unspoken conversation being held between them. Taking a sip from his drink, Logan stared at the floor again and, when he looked back up, the blond had his head tilted down, his bottom lip jutting out, eyes big and begging and blue, and it was so fucking adorable that Logan almost spat out his rum.

He turned to the side and coughed discreetly just as Remus gave in and Lily started happily guiding them into the apartment.

All the way there, Logan kept wanting to ask for the guy’s name as they stole glances at each other, but he didn’t want to show just how little attention he’d been paying. Or maybe where his attention had been. Once inside, they were welcomed by the much needed heat, low lights and a playlist that was without a doubt put together by Talker. Natalie, Marlene and a few other people were dancing to the beat, but Logan knew where he would find most of the gang: in the living room, exactly where they’d left them.

The thought of who would be waiting for him there felt like a bucket of cold water thrown in his face, making him falter in his step. What the fuck had he been thinking? Frowning, Logan hid his tightly closed fists inside his pockets, waiting a few steps back while Lily filled two cups with some orange beverage and handed them over to Remus and his companion.

As soon as they stepped into the living room, his sight landed on Finn playing against Thomas and Kasey, his wild auburn hair falling into his eyes, completely focused on the task at hand as he tapped buttons and whooped when he managed a combo.

Finn.

Logan made a bee-line for him, desperate to feel his boyfriend’s warmth, have him close after the jarring emotions that had assaulted him just now. He also left his cup at the table for good measure—maybe he’d been drinking too much.

Burrowing into his boyfriend’s side, he tried to leave as little space between them as possible, which made Finn chuckle and shiver slightly.

“Honey, you’re freezing,” he said as he nudged him with his head.

“Blame Evans. She forced me to stay out so she could wait for her friend.” His thoughts went back to the other person that had come with them, but he avoided the urge to look for him.

“Friend? Who was it?” Finn asked, not taking his eyes away from the screen as suddenly James’ character stood still and they started losing. “Pots, focus!”

“Someone named Remus? I have no idea.”

“Wait, no no no!” Finn screamed and punched the buttons harder, but James was not helping at all and they were both knocked out. “Oh, come on!” Everyone laughed as Finn threw the controller on the table and turned to playfully glare at Lily, who was sitting on James’ lap. “Lily, what did I tell you? Don’t distract him when he plays on my team!”

“Stop crying and pay up, O’Hara!” Kasey grinned and high-fived Thomas.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re just lucky Lily was on your team as well,” Finn mumbled but threw the twenty bucks in their direction before turning to Logan with a smile. “Hey baby.”

Next thing Logan knew, there were lips pressed against his. He smiled into it, bringing a hand up to brush Finn’s hair out of his face, letting the feel of his body ground him again.

As they pulled apart, he caught the blond guy staring, their eyes meeting only for a second before the boy looked away. His jaw was set in a hard line, so different from the expressions he’d shown Logan out there, and suddenly he was flooded with guilt at the pull that kept tugging in two different directions.

He felt completely thrown off. His feelings for Finn were as strong as ever, but he was still very intrigued by this other person. There was something that made him want to talk with him more, ask about his life, check if those long arms could envelop him whole as it seemed. To just go over there and introduce him to Finn.

What kind of shitty person was he?

“Everyone,” Lily said then, grabbing everyone’s attention, “these are Remus and Leo. Remus is Sirius’ new neighbour, so be nice to them!” She pierced them with her best and-if-you-don’t glare that all of them knew well, making some of the guys gulp.

Leo, Logan thought. It fit him, somehow.

“It’s nice to meet you all,” Remus said.

“Hello,” Leo smiled brightly at whoever was sitting to their right and Logan felt Finn freeze for a second as the corner of his mouth lifted in a silly smile.

Well, at least he knew Finn found Leo attractive as well.

His boyfriend turned to him, tilting his head to the side. “I’ve run into that Remus guy in the hall before, but who is that?”

“His friend?” Logan said, trying not to sound too interested. “I don’t know, it doesn’t seem like they live together.”

“Yeah, no, I mean… I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere?”

Logan frowned. “I don’t think I saw him in the building before. I would remember someone that tall.”

“Oh baby, are you grumpy cause you hurt your neck when you looked at his face?” Finn teased as he petted Logan’s hair.

“Shut up, I’m not that much shorter than you.” Logan crossed his arms over his chest, turning his face away from Finn.

The stupid ass laughed and kissed his temple, which admittedly always managed to make Logan melt and lean into him, but he still made a ‘hmph’ sound, pulling another laugh out of Finn.

While both of them were distracted, the rest of the guys started setting everything up to play a new game which Remus seemed interested in. And then, out of nowhere, Sirius was asking Remus to play with him.

Finn and Logan looked at each other, wondering what the hell Sirius was up to. It was rare for him to want to play with some random guy, especially when most of the people in the room already had a hard time beating him. They even had a bet going about who would be the first to get five wins over Pads and so far, no one had managed it. Remus had absolutely no chance against someone that did this for a living.

But as it turned out, it was a very heated competition that had everyone watching closely. Logan wasn’t sure that he’d ever seen Sirius like that. He could tell he was focused, yes, but he was also excited, even if he was hiding it on the outside. In the end, Remus kicked Sirius’ ass.

“Yes!” both Remus and Leo yelled and then hugged, laughing. Leo put a hand on the back of Remus’ head and bumped their heads together. The gesture showed just how close they were, how comfortable they felt with each other, but what really had Logan’s attention was that wide, unbelievably happy smile that showed off his—

“Finn...dimples,” he whispered, though probably not as quietly as he should have, given the way Kasey snorted.

That in itself wasn’t a weird thing to say. Finn and Logan were open with each other. They talked about everything and had no secrets between them, because talking with Finn was as easy as breathing, and as vital too.

Logan trusted Finn. With his whole heart.

He knew he could talk to him about other guys that he found attractive and that Finn could do the same, ‘cause they weren’t possessive or so blinded by jealousy that they couldn’t separate things. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d had a talk like that either.

This was different though.

It’d been a very long while since Logan had been struck like this. Probably since the first time he’d laid eyes on Finn; he’d had no words to describe the feeling at that moment either. But there was something about those blue eyes and the way he’d held Logan’s gaze, about that shy but steady demeanour. And that smile.

Fuck, that smile.

Logan didn’t even know him, and he already knew that he’d love that grin here or in any other universe. And just how fucking weird was that?

Maybe he could ask Leo to play a game with him next, get to know him, make him feel comfortable. But he couldn’t get his attention, Leo’s gaze kept evading him, and Logan felt something like dread at the possibility that Leo might be doing it on purpose.

He didn’t get much of a chance anyway. After a bit of teasing about Padfoot, Remus stood up to defend him before trailing off in the middle of his speech, a faraway look on his face. Then he rushed out of the room, leaving a tense silence behind and Leo staring helplessly after him.

Lily was the first one to approach him, placing a hand on Leo’s shoulder. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I… I will go check on him,” he smiled sadly and nodded to the room in general. “Thank you for inviting us.” And with that, he exited without a second glance back.

Logan wasn’t sure how he should feel about this kind of departure, or at the realisation that he might not see Leo again. Maybe it was a good thing; if his emotions could get stirred just by some glances, what would it be like if he actually got to know him?

Perhaps it was better to leave things as they were.

***

Shit shit shit shit.

It was late. Leo was so, so late.

He skidded around the corner and took the next hall at a light run, trying to avoid the other students, which luckily weren’t that many. Of course, he thought bitterly, that’s probably because other people manage to get to their own classes on time.

He still wasn’t sure what had happened, he was convinced he’d set his alarm for today, but clearly he hadn’t or he wouldn’t be running. His commute was quite long as it was, which meant that if he missed the train—like today—he was inevitably late unless a miracle happened.

Maybe he should really take Remus up on his offer to move in with him. It would also mean spending more time with his best friend, since between attending classes, doing homework and the time it took to get back home, he didn’t have many opportunities to see him lately. But there was no way Leo could afford that flat, and he didn’t want to take advantage of Remus.

Finally, he reached the door to his classroom and, after allowing a few seconds to let his breathing go back to normal, he went in as quietly as possible. The Professor had her back turned to him, so he quickly scanned the room and sat at the nearest empty seat, at the very back.

Sighing in relief that he didn’t seem to have missed too much, he opened his bag and took out his copy of Pride and Prejudice and the rest of his stuff. He was in such a hurry to catch up with the class that he knocked his pencil off the table, sending it rolling on the floor. Cringing at the sound it made, Leo bent to pick it up, only to find that another hand was already there.

He leaned back, blinking at the hand offering his pencil back, then followed the lines of the arm under the green, long-sleeved shirt, up to a familiar face and there Leo had to do a double-take.

Straightening up, he raised his eyebrows, making Finn laugh, his smile lifting to the side as he waved the pencil between them.

“Um, thanks,” Leo whispered, taking it and turning back to his notes with a frown.

Had he and Finn always shared a class together?

Since this was a course he was only taking for credits, Leo didn’t know many faces here and was usually so enthralled by the lecture that he didn’t pay much attention to his surroundings.

Finn hadn’t shown any signs that he’d recognised him at the Halloween party a week ago either. Though, if he was being honest, Leo had especially tried to avoid looking at them after he’d seen him hugging and kissing Logan.

Ugh, that memory… it’d been on his mind more than he cared to admit.

Leo didn’t want to think about how stupid he’d felt that night. He’d been shocked the first time he saw Logan, how his costume showed off his shoulders and thighs, the way he carried himself, the slight pout of his lips as he made his way towards them.

He didn’t want to think about how Logan’s eyes had started travelling up his body, making him panic and act like a fool. Or how despite that, Logan had also seemed a bit shy and fucking adorable and damn it, Leo had thought he was interested in him. But then they’d gone into the flat and Logan all but ran to Finn’s side, and Leo was left feeling like the biggest idiot in the whole damn world.

He hadn’t stayed for long after that. Worried as he was about Remus, he’d followed him shortly after he’d left and hadn’t talked with anyone else at the party. He’d thought that’d be the end of it. It was weird now to sit next to Finn when he’d been checking his boyfriend out just a few days ago.

The sound of a pencil tapping against wood brought Leo back from his musings. He peeked to the side and caught Finn with his chin perched in one hand, the other playing with the thin stick at a high speed. Leo followed the movement, back and forth, back and forth, and then up as Finn raised his hand and brought the pencil to his mouth, the bottom end tugging his pink lip down and then letting go.

The rest of the room quieted down as Leo stared. There was something about the way Finn held the pencil in his long fingers, how the sun coming in from the window seemed to hug him, the specs of dust dancing in the air by his head. How his eyes looked brighter and the strands in his hair lit up like fire.

Finn looked like warmth.

Something like a chill ran down Leo’s back and he quickly averted his eyes.

Though he couldn’t keep them away for long. Apparently, Finn was one of those people that couldn’t sit still and, now that Leo’d noticed, he couldn’t ignore every little movement coming from him, his bouncing leg, how he shifted in his seat and that damn tapping again.

He tried to pay attention to class, he really did, but he was so aware of the boy sitting just a few inches away, that his eyes kept going back to him and all those little movements.

Not able to take it any longer, Leo leaned in and placed a hand on top of Finn’s, feeling him going still under his touch. “Stop it,” he whispered, their eyes locked. The other boy didn’t say anything, just glanced between Leo’s eyes and their joined hands.

Blushing, Leo pulled away and tried to focus on the front of the room, the heat from Finn’s hand still tingling at the tip of his fingers.

Stop this right now, Leo scolded himself. He has a boyfriend.

A boyfriend that he’d also felt attracted to. What the hell was wrong with him?

Determined to keep his mind out of troublesome boys, he managed to listen and take notes for about ten minutes. But then he felt eyes on him. He pretended not to notice as Finn kept stealing glances, no doubt trying to be inconspicuous about it, but, apparently, Finn was as subtle as a flying brick.

The thought tugged a smile out of Leo, who quickly schooled his expression back to one of polite interest. You just grabbed his hand out of nowhere, of course he’s staring, he sighed.

At the end of the class, the teacher wrote a list of things on the board and turned to face them. “This assignment will be the first big one you’ll have, and it will determine 10% of your score, so don’t slack off! Pair up before you go and remember, your deadline is in two weeks.”

There were a few groans at the prospect of having to do something in pairs, but everyone started gathering their things anyway and talking with each other, already forming their teams.

A nudge on his shoulder made Leo look to his left and then he had to fight the urge to jump back. Finn was leaning towards him, that crooked smile on his face again and, this close, Leo could see the freckles sprinkled over his nose and cheeks.

“I’m sorry, what?” he asked, a light blush colouring his face when he realised Finn had said something but he hadn’t listened.

Finn’s head tilted a bit to the side, the other corner of his mouth going up too. “I said, do you want to pair up with me?”

“Oh,” was all Leo could reply. He imagined working together for hours, maybe alone in a secluded part of the library… How would he ever concentrate on their work if he couldn’t even pay attention in class when they were sitting next to each other? On the other hand, Finn seemed like a nice guy and surely Leo had enough self control to keep a cool head. Just because he was slightly attracted to him it didn’t mean that things would escalate further, especially not when he knew nothing could ever happen.

“I mean, if you already have someone—” Finn started when Leo didn’t reply for a while.

“No, no, sorry. Yeah, that would be nice,” he smiled.

“Sweet. Are you free right now? My next class is in the afternoon, so we could go back to my place and get started, if you want.”

“That…” Leo hesitated, but then hardened his resolve. He could be friends with Finn, right? It would be nice to make new acquaintances at school and there was always the chance that he might see him and Logan again at Remus’ building. He could forget about one or two silly crushes, it wouldn’t be the first time he’d had to do it.

“That sounds good.”

[groundcontrol21]

A Rainy Day’s Work (M)

So I was listening to my favorite Irish song in honor of St. Patrick’s day, “Whiskey in the Jar” and then this just happened. Based off the song, but this time our protagonist and highwayman is improved (i.e.. has a cold) and his Jenny is more sympathetic to the cause of highway robbery than is her song counterpart.

The wet wind blew the door shut behind me, and just as it rattled in its wooden frame, so too did I rattle in my corporal one. “Heh’ISSHH!” I sniffed back desperately what I could and, by habit, fumbled in my pocket for a kerchief to take care of the rest, only to find, of course, that said piece of cloth was as drenched as the rest of me. Sniffling almost compulsively around a completely and utterly blocked nose, I bit back a groan as I rang out the kerchief, adding to the puddle of wetness from my dripping overcoat already forming at my feet.

There was a scuttering sound and I looked up to see Jenny hurrying toward me, wiping her floury hands on the body of her dress. Though I was chilled to the bone, a miniscule part of me warmed at the tenderness of her expression as she scanned me over with an urgency that suggested that little old me with my ratty clothes and my wretched cold was worth all the concern in the world.

“Oh darling, you shouldn’t have stayed out half as long as you did in this weather.” She clucked her teeth as she removed my sodden coat from around my shoulders to hang it on a chair to dry, and I shivered. “Look at you, you look half drowned.”

“Better half than hah-wholly! Hhh’RSSHH’uhh!”

Between my sniffles (whose wetness, admittedly, lent credence to my state as half-drowned), I heard Jenny murmur a soft oh sound, the sweetness of which, could I have captured it in a jar, would have attracted all the bees in the summertime. Abysmal though I felt, I relished in the depths of care she was showing me. Though not strictly necessary (I had only a bad cold, after all) , it was more than welcome all the same.

Jenny came at me with a cloth from the kitchen and began rubbing furiously at my hair, left damp by the rain that had infiltrated my holely hat. I coughed a bit, and she paused in her ministrations to rest a palm gently against my warm cheek. Her brow furrowed, knitting the lines of her soft brown eyes with concern.

“I knew your sniffling this morning was the start of a headcold brewing,” she said before returning to toweling my hair with fervor.

The tickle was growing in my nose again, but even as I tried to duck away, between Jenny’s hands and the towel I was trapped. As soon as I pulled an inch away, she’d catch me by the hair and pull me back. “Jesus, you’ll pull out all my hair doing that!”

At last, I managed to shove her away from me long enough to jerk to the side with a heavy sneeze. “Hehh’RSHH’uhh! Heh’ISSSHhh’uhh! Hehhh’ISSSH!” The cold had so fully settled in my nose that I barely got a glimpse of respite from my congestion before I was completely bunged up once more.

“Christ almighty!” Jenny winced as I coughed slightly in the aftermath. “Don’t you have any sense in that head of yours? Why didn’t you ride back as soon as you saw the clouds blowing in? You’re doing yourself no favors, poorly as you are.”

“Ah, snf!” I wagged a finger at Jenny before reaching for my purse, undoing it from my belt as deftly as my wet, trembling hands would allow. “But if I had rode off before the storm came in, I wouldn’t have gotten this, would I?”

I poured the purse’s contents onto the rickety wood table at which we took our meals. From the corner of my eye I watched Jenny’s widen as coin after coin came tumbling out, spilling across the tabletop and even clacking to the floor. When I had finished, it was as if the table had been coated in a flood of golden rain.

Jenny’s voice was hushed when she spoke again, her awe nearly tangible. “Who’d you get all this from, then?”

“Fresh young navy captain,” I replied, giving a brief cough behind my fist. “Stopped him about two miles out from the village.”

“Did you--” Jenny began, but I stopped her.

“Didn’t have to,” I said, watching her shoulders relax a little. For all she understood of highway robbery, the idea of taking a life still unsettled her. “He was about ready to give me the clothes off his back when he saw my pistol.”

“Perhaps you should’ve taken him up on that,” Jenny said wryly, giving my sodden overcoat a squeeze. A small downpour came off the coat and to the floor.

I gave her a small smile in return. “Perhaps.” I sneezed again, which sent me into a fit of coughs, barking and deep, that swept me up much quicker than had any earlier in the day. Dimly, I felt Jenny’s hand on the small of my back, and the sensation of her warm hand against the coolness of my shirt and skin made me jolt with a shudder.

“If we’re lucky, all this money will be just enough for your treatment once you get pneumonia!” Jenny shepherded me toward the tiny kitchen stove and pulled up a chair which she promptly pushed me down into. She undid my belt deftly, and placed it and my pistol aside the chair where my overcoat hung. “Stay put here, and I’ll bring you dry clothes and get a fire going.”

Jenny disappeared into the other room, where the bed and clothing were kept. I smiled to myself as I set to unbuttoning my shirt. I had seen the way her eyes glowed as they flitted across the sum I’d taken home; with it we could buy new cloaks and shoes and have plenty left over for pretty things.

My cold snatched me from my reverie. “Hihh’ESSH! Hehh’ihh’KSSHH! Hhh’RSHH’uhh! Unghhh… Sod the dry clothes,” I groaned from behind my hand. “Find me a dry h-h-hah-handkerchief! Ihh’sshhh!”

I opened my eyes to see a white square of cloth floating before me. Jenny’s kerchief, then. I took it anyhow and buried my nose in it, giving a solid blow as I did so. “After wiping my nose on a sopping wet kerchief all day, this is as close as I’ll ever get to heaven.”

“I can’t imagine you were all that frightening today, sniveling and hacking all around as you are,” Jenny hummed, her back to me as she loaded kindling into the stove and ignited a flame. “Lucky thing I had the thought to bring in a bit of wood for the stove and save it from the rain, eh?”

I rose to the bait. “I’d say I was mighty menacing enough, thank you very much, and I’ve got the money to prove it. Do you reckon my cold was the secret? Perhaps I should catch cold more often, scare the daylight out of villagers. Maybe one well-placed cough is all it takes to have them turning out their pockets.”

My speculations proved too much for my sore throat, and I descended into coughing once more. Jenny slipped my wet shirt off my shoulders, her fingers lingering soothingly on my aching chest, before she helped me pull on a fresh nightshirt.

“Even if that were so, I’d rather have you well and all in one piece,” she said, all traces of teasing gone and a warm feeling spread all over me that I knew had nothing to do with the now-crackling fire before me or any budding fever. “You sound miserable. Should I boil up a pot of steam for you, to try and clear out that head of yours?”

I shifted in the chair, feeling slightly ashamed at her coddling. Even two years ago, before I had met my Jenny, I would have spent this kind of night asleep in a barn’s hay, as I always did, and I would have awoken the next morning to a day of stealing, as I always did. Perhaps I would have scrounged up a bottle of liquor if my fever got too high or my throat too raw, but otherwise, so long as I could stand upright I could make my living.

Jenny must have sensed my discomfort, for she merely placed a blanket around my shoulders and withdrew. “You think about it. I’ll be boiling up some stew once I finish this dough, so it wouldn’t be any trouble.”

I watched Jenny’s braid ripple down her back as she returned to kneading the dough. I shivered into the blanket, my head so heavy I felt stupid with the effort of keeping my eyes open tlong enough to focus on her. My body ached and I knew that I would regret having chased down the captain tomorrow, even despite the money I had stolen from him. It had been a long time since I had felt so utterly and completely ill. Perhaps it was the cool autumn rain or perhaps it was Jenny’s coddling or perhaps I was coming down with something worse than a headcold, that made me feel so low. Whatever it was, I was grateful beyond measure that I was ill in a house with a bed, shabby though they were, and not alone in a barn somewhere in the highland. And I resolved to make the most of that fact.

“Jenny, darling,” I said raspily, palming my throat. She turned to me just as I buried my face in the blanket. “Heh’KMPPF! Ihh’KMPCHH!” I remembered her kerchief, and pressed it to my nose. My head felt full of cotton. “That pot of steam sounds wonderful.”

She smiled a knowing little smile and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, leaving a trace of flour on her cheek. “I’ll get started right away.”

[thr-333]

Just Another Class Trip :)

Part 7

Siblings fight thats just part of the deal, nothing out of the ordinary here.

First< Previous >Next

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“You’re sure you’re alright Pollen?” Marinette asks, leaping across the city hoping to catch hide or hair of the miraculous.

“Yes my queen,” The bee Kwami answers, nursing an entire jar of honey Marinette had given her as an apology, “I’m only sorry I can’t tell you anything more,”

“It’s alright,” Marinette sighs, it really wasn't but that was hardly Pollen’s fault, “I know the miraculous are out there, I just need to find them… before we get another Hawkmoth,”

“It’s alright Marinette,” Tikki squeaks, she and Kaalki had yet to leave Pollen’s side, “Hawkmoth had years to rise to power,”

“Yes but Paris wasn't already full of supervillains,” speaking of, “Hide,”

The Kwami’s dart into the many pockets of her outfit. Marinette tries not to betray she knows she is being followed. She doesn't have time to avoid the Batman tonight. However, it doesn't seem it’s just him she needs to worry about, there more people on her trail. Apparently he had learned his mistake from trying to corner her last time, she wished he hadn’t.

She lets them believe she is stopping to stretch for a minute, getting them to lower their guard. Just as they should be content she’s staying put she jumps down to the wall below, sprinting along the narrow surface with speed a little above human. There are few ways to follow her now, Robin lands behind her on the wall, keeping pace with almost the same accuracy. He isn’t the only one, there's someone on the rooftops above her, she can hear the mechanics of a grappling hook.

She jumps from the brick wall to a mesh metal one surrounding a construction site. This one’s hard for even her to balance and the emptiness should force their other friend down. It works, but unfortunately, they were already ahead of her and Nightwing drops down in her path. As if she’s going to run straight to him. She makes a jump to the nearest digger, landing on its arm, slipping down the metal a bit, her boots really aren’t suited for this.

Her pursuers need to use grappling hooks to make up the gap she jumped, giving her enough time to slide down the arm of the digger, the roof giving her a good surface to jump to the next machine. Nightwing lands next to her as she races along the bucket of a dump truck. She jumps down into the empty basket, the metallic clang ringing out in the quiet night.

Predictably, they follow her down, blocking the exit. Lucky for her she is able to jump high enough to land back on the roof with a little flip. Without bothering to look back at their reaction she jumps to the next highest point which happens to be a cement tube being suspended by a crane.

She runs along the inside, the structure swinging a bit at the movement. Her curse echos through the tube as Robin jumps in, blocking her exit. Turning around Nightwing is on the other side, both closing in. Robin is closer, approaching with a sword so she does the only sane thing, ducking below it to punch him. He jumps back, landing the force of it has the tube swinging more, sending them all off balance for a second. Marinette uses the distraction to bring out her staff, meeting Nightwing’s weapon head-on. There's strength behind it but not more than she can bear, using the movement of the tube to force him back a step or two.

She doesn't’ have long to spend on Nightwing as Robin attacks her back. She moves the staff to meet the katana facing away from him. Nightwing doesn't immediately attack her so she pivots around to meet Robins's next swing. She paries with her staff, noticing there is less strength behind it as he expected that. Playing off his expectations the next swing she pretends to parry, using her wrists to change the direction of the staff at the last moment she lets the sword graze her shoulder, it cuts into her a little more as the tubes swing forces her to step into it. She lets the staff go the force of it hitting Robin's side, she uses the precious second to twist his hand holding the Katana. Using a pressure point Master fu had been taught by the guardians, she needs some Ladybug strength to make it work through the glove but he releases it with a hiss.

Catching the Katana she spins around to brandish it against Nightwing, having expected him to make his move already. Instead, he raises his hands, which are still holding his weapons.

“We didn’t come here to fight,” He explains when Starling doesn't lower the weapon.

“Oh, you did a fine job of that didn’t you?” She scoffs, half turning to face them both, having to shift to keep balance in the rocking tube, not at all happy with their brief fight. Robin is on her other side, now holding her staff in a mirror of her with his Katana, “So what do you want?"

“You’re looking for a jewelry box right?” Nightwing asks, how did they know about the miracle box? Did they know what it was? Had they figured it out from the pool?

“What’s it to you?”

“We were just going to offer our help,” He says kindly, but Marinette had met far too many people(or just one person) who used a kind tone falsely, it brings her guard up more. Then again she desperately needed their help, if they knew what she was actually looking for or not. If worse came to worse she supposed she could transform into Ladybug, or with another miraculous and pretend that was why she was in Gotham in the first place.

“What do you know about it?” She demands, had they seen other miraculous already?

“First you tell us why it’s so important,” Robin snaps, growling slightly as she threatens him with his own sword. Nightwing gives him a pointed look, silence hanging as the tube swung back and forth lightly.

He made it seem like he didn’t know, but it could be a trap to see how much she knew. Or they really didn’t have the information and were trying to get it out of her. She could say Marinette asked her to find it, but that would risk both identities and possibly even reveal her as Ladybug. Marinette had once received the miraculous, maybe she could pretend Ladybug had handed her the box for safekeeping while on a special mission. It wasn't something Ladybug would actually do but she had never talked with the Justice League so they wouldn’t know that. Could she pass herself off as being three different miraculous holders? Depends on how fast she can find the fox miraculous. In the meantime.

“A girl had it stolen, I bumped into her and she asked me to look for it, that's all,” Starling shrugs, relaxing her pose, lowering the sword some.

“Why?” Robin demands, even as Nightwing seemed to accept the answer.

“It’s a nice thing to do?” Starling posed it more as a question, forcing herself to drop out of the defensive pose, “Speaking of nice things to do, I give you back the Katana and you give me back my staff?”

Robin scowls but accepts the exchange. Starling holds her weapon loosely at her side.

“So what’s the plan, you got any leads?” She looks at Nightwing, eyes narrowing in annoyance, “Cause your boss kind of chased off my only one,”

“Sorry about that,” Nightwing rubs the back of his neck, “You know, just random person threatening a civilian and all that,”

“Yeah sure,” She gives him a flat look, “So do you have any leads or not?”

“Follow me,” He turns, leading the way out of the tube, Starling hesitates to face her back to Robin but ultimately follows him out. It’s easy enough to keep pace until they come to a much too high building.

“Yeah, there's no way I can make that,” She looks down at the gap for the street, then the good thirty feet of height the next building over had on them.

“Hold on then,” Nightwing grins at her, holding a hand out, “You alright with this?”

“As long as you don’t let me splat on the road we should get along just fine,” Nightwing gives her a dazzling smile, she still holds on tight as they are pulled up to the roof by the grappling hook.

On the roof, the first person she spots is Batman, which is quite the feat with the bright colors of Red Robin's suit right next to him. Batman just gives her a nod as they land, she raises a brow at that, um, no?

“I’m surprised that wasn't all a plot to get rid of me,” She lets the bitterness into her voice, who throws knives at people before asking what they’re doing?! “What's that on the pavement? Oh not to worry it’s just Starling! Oh, I’m sure Batman had nothing to do with it, look no tacky knives around! That serves more purpose as a collector's item than an actual weapon by the way,”

Batman looks at her with as much shock as the stoic can muster, while Red Robin next to him tries to turn his snort into a cough.

“So you go by Starling then?” he says gruffly and that cannot be his real voice.

“Well I had hoped I said it loud enough the other day for you to catch but I guess your hearing is as bad as your eyesight, how quickly did you lose me in that crowd again?”

“You’re upset,”

“You’re very astute for the, what was it?” She looks at Robin for dramatic effect, “World's greatest detective, was it? Yeah…. Rrrriiiight,”

There must be something going around since both Red Robin and Nightwing seem to be coughing an awful lot, the sound suspiciously close to a laugh.

“So, since you ruined my only lead I hope you have something to make up for it,” She switches back to business before Batman can regain his bearings enough to retaliate.

“We haven't seen any report filed so we were thinking you could give us a description-”

“That's the thing,” Starling cuts Red Robin off, she could tell where this was going and did not have time for it, “How did you even hear about this if no report has been filed? I’m starting to get the feeling you're just doing this just because of me,”

“... well-”

“Worry not then, rest assured I’ll be out of your hair as soon as I fulfill my promise,” She gives a quick bow, and yeah she can see why Chat finds this fun, "Trust me I have no desire to stick around longer than that after this welcome,"

“We can’t just let a meta-human run around my city-”

“First of all,” Was cutting off the Batman a good idea? No, but that wasn't going to stop her? No, “You really can’t do anything to stop me, legally and morally, despite you thinking it’s your city you’re still as much an illegal vigilante as I am, quite frankly you don’t have the authority to kick me out,”

“Second, a meta-human? Yeah not quite, and no I will not clarify,” She stares him down, “If your problem is with me being a meta-human there are a lot more vigilantes than me running around with powers that you let fly, not that is should really matter anyway,”

“Third, you don’t care about this,” well if they didn’t know about the miraculous the didn't, “I know your wheelhouse and petty theft isn’t on your radar, so why don’t you let me do my job in peace and I’ll leave you to yours,”

She looks them all over, sparing a second to take note of their shock, before turning on her heel. It’s then she realizes they are really high up and she has no way to get down. Well, might as well make his meta-human theory harder.

“Hey, they didn’t know anything,” She says, bringing her hand up to her ear, pretending to press a communicator, “Pick me up will you?”

She waits a second so they think she’ll be staying awhile, then jumps off the ledge. She calls on Kaalki quickly, hoping to transform quickly enough they don’t notice her costume change before she disappears into a portal, landing in her hotel room.

“You know I’m starting to think I should stop pissing them off,” Marinette says out loud, dropping the transformation.

“You think? Are you going to transform every time you meet them,” Kaalki scoffs, but is handed a sugar cube before they can complain too much.

“It wasn't the best approach,” Tikki says gently, flying out of her cape.

“I know,” Marinette pulls off her mask, “But the less time I spend around them the better, I just need to find the miraculous quickly before they realize,”

“If they haven't already,” Pollen says solemnly, settling in on the bed.

“Well the best I can hope if they don’t think I know anything and know just as much themselves,” Marinette flops down onto the bed with the Kwamis, “And that they stay out of my way from now on, hopefully, the rest of the trip runs smoothly enough I can keep slipping off to look for the miraculous,”

Her Kwamis accept this, curling close she starts to drift off, before a horrible realisation strikes;

"I'm getting blood on the bed!"

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

Taglist:

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[moonknightly]

mistakes and sour grapes : poe dameron x reader (six)

Word Count: 2.6k+

Excerpt: “You knew there was. You knew you were attracted to Poe, knew you wanted to have some kind of relationship with him. You figured he wouldn’t have been sitting on your couch right then if he had zero interest in you.”

Warnings: Mentions of sex but no smut, swearing, alcohol. That’s it?

[SERIES MASTERLIST]

It’d been a week since you and Poe had sat together on his office floor, and things were better. They weren’t great by any means, but they were at least better. You didn’t dread going into work anymore, didn’t contemplate quitting every single second of your shift. You weren’t lying in bed at night, staring up at the ceiling while your mind raced and your stomach churned. You no longer had anxiety over the thought of seeing Poe.

Not that you really saw him much more than you did before — he still spent his nights upstairs in his office, away from all of the noise and the chaos, though you now understood that it wasn’t just because he was the boss and he could do whatever the fuck he wanted.

The only time you really saw him was when he helped you clean up every night; he’d started insisting on it, even though you told him he really didn’t need to. Everyone else was expected to close their positions without any help, and it wasn’t anything that you couldn’t handle on your own, but each time you tried to send him on his way he would argue that bartenders had the most closing duties out of anyone, and he was only sitting on his ass anyways. If he could help you get out of there quicker, he wanted to.

You thought he was just trying to make it up to you. You thought that maybe he felt like he owed you something for helping him get through his panic attack, and while he didn’t, of course he didn’t, if it helped him feel better, you’d give it to him.

You usually ended up walking out together since he helped you close, him going his way with a quiet “be safe” while you went yours, so when you turned left with him instead of crossing the street to head towards the parking deck, he raised an eyebrow.

“What are you doing?”

“Walking home.”

Poe’s other eyebrow met the first. “What street do you live on?”

You told him, and if his eyebrows could’ve shot up any fucking further, you were sure they would have.

“That’s like, a twenty minute walk.”

“It’s fifteen and-”

“And it’s midnight.”

“Poe, I’ve walked home before.” It was relaxing, and sometimes it felt pointless to drive the short distance to work when you could just walk.

His eyes widened almost comically, and you couldn’t tell if he was exaggerating or if he was truly shocked. “Yeah, but I didn’t know that!”

“You’re walking home too!”

“Yeah, but I have a vicious attack dog and I’m not a fuckin’ gorgeous woman-” Your heart stopped at his words, but you were almost positive he didn’t even realize he’d said them. “-and I’m only going three blocks, not twenty seven.”

“It is not twenty sev-”

“Close enough, sweetheart.”

“It’s like, thirteen-”

He interrupted you again, making a series of noises to cut you off before holding his hands up. “Stop arguing. I’m walking you home.”

You huffed, knowing that it would be pointless to fight him on it. He’d just follow you.

“Fine,” you sighed dramatically, trying to pretend like you weren’t secretly looking forward to the company. His company. “As long as you let me pay for your Uber home.”

“Who said I was Ubering?”

“Poe!”

You swatted his arm, and he only smirked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Good.

Now you wouldn’t have to struggle to hold yourself back from reaching for it.

The conversation came easy enough, and you were thankful for it, glad that you were able to talk to him again without feeling drained afterwards. It was weird, how you kind of missed him while still not knowing too much about him.

The realization that you wanted to change that was just a little jarring. Your emotions, your feelings about him were constantly changing, evolving. Sometimes you weren’t even sure what you wanted from him, but you’d gotten pretty good at telling yourself that it was better if you just kept it professional, like he wanted.

But at the same time, you weren’t sure that you would ever call your relationship with Poe “professional”. In the short time that you’d known him, there was already too much there for you to simply just be boss and employee.

It was complicated, everything was still so complicated.

Maybe if you started trying to consider him a friend and not someone above you, you’d be able to find some clarity.

That could work.

But what if that was even too much for him?

“Did you seriously just ask me if we’re friends?”

Oh fuck, did you?

You glanced over towards him, trying to ignore the sharp angle of his jaw and the stubble that covered it, then to the street sign ahead of you. Just another two blocks.

“I guess?” you said quietly, furrowing your eyebrows. You really hadn’t meant to say anything out loud.

Poe snorted, shaking his head gently, though he was quiet for a moment. You weren’t sure that you liked his silence and what it could mean, but he didn’t make you suffer long.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’d say we’re friends. Wouldn’t you?”

You shrugged your shoulders. “I guess.”

“Ouch.”

You shoved his shoulder playfully, a small smile finding its way onto your lips. “I didn’t mean it like that, asshole. I meant-”

“You weren’t sure where we stand after everything that’s happened in the last couple weeks.”

“Exactly.” You nodded your head, sighing gently.

He was quiet for a moment before nudging you with his elbow, his eyes staying focused on the sidewalk in front of you. “Friends. Okay? We’re friends.”

You almost immediately nodded again, folding your arms over your chest. “Friends.”

The rest of the walk was silent, and once you reached your apartment, you took longer than necessary to find your keys in your bag. You weren’t ready to say goodnight yet.

But who said you had to?

“Did you want to come inside while you wait for your Uber?” you asked, not looking up from your bag, still pretending to hunt for your keys when they were really right there on top.

“I told you, you don’t need to-”

“I know I don’t need to, but I want to. It’d make me feel better. We could have a quick drink, get Bee some water...”

Poe looked down at his beloved dog — she was panting just a little bit, and could definitely use a quick drink. He nodded his head, rocking back and forth on his heels. “Fine, yeah. Yeah, that sounds nice.”

You smiled to yourself, trying to hide it from him. You finally grabbed your keys, almost positive that he knew you had simply been stalling. You quickly unlocked the door and led him inside.

Your apartment was a cute little garden level on a residential street, with original hardwood floors and beautiful exposed brick. It had the historic charm and character that the city was known for, but you’d made it your own in your decorating and design. It was your perfect little escape.

“This is cute,” Poe hummed from behind you, kicking his shoes off after watching you do the same. “Cozy.”

He wanted to use the word “safe”, but it felt weird.

Cozy worked.

You chuckled under your breath, setting your bag down in the entryway after pulling your lighter from it. You always lit a couple of candles after getting home, just one of the steps in your ritual to wind down from the day.

“Thanks,” you said, throwing the lighter onto the coffee table once you were satisfied.

Poe plopped down onto the couch while Bee sniffed around, and you couldn’t help but smile at how relaxed he seemed, glad that he wasn’t one of those people who tried to act like a robot when they entered a new space for the first time.

You excused yourself for a moment after getting Bee her water and Poe a beer to quickly rinse off in the shower and change your clothes, taking less than ten minutes total to do so. You slipped into a pair of sleep shorts and an old sweatshirt, pulling on your slippers to keep your feet warm. You thought about taking another minute to throw on your usual makeup, but quickly shook the thought from your head.

Friends. You were friends. There was no reason to try and doll yourself up for him.

But you also wouldn’t deny the fact that you were glad you decided not to wash your hair, so he didn’t have to see it wet.

You grabbed yourself a glass of cider before heading back to the living room. You could feel his eyes on you as you took a seat at the opposite end of the couch, and you pulled your knees to your chest as you took a long sip from your bottle. You suddenly felt self conscious.

And as if he could tell, he shook his head, sliding over a few feet until your thighs were almost touching. You couldn’t tell if the close proximity made your anxiety worse or better.

“Hey,” he said softly, elbowing you gently. “We’re friends. There’s no need to be nervous around me.”

You rolled your eyes. “Am I that fuckin’ obvious?”

“Maybe a little,” he shrugged, bringing his beer up to his lips. “You’re the one that invited me in, kid.”

“I know.”

Maybe you shouldn’t have. Maybe it was too soon for that. Maybe-

Poe interrupted your brief debate with yourself.

“I can go if you want me to-”

And you interrupted him.

“No-”

“I really don’t mind-”

“Poe-”

“I just, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable-”

“I want you to stay.”

Poe looked down halfway through your sentence, glancing between your eyes and his lap several times, and it was only then that you realized your hand was on his upper thigh.

Your stomach flipped with embarrassment. “Shit, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

“Shit this is gonna be a lot harder than I-”

“What, trying to figure out how to be friends when we’ve fucked already?”

“We really need to stop interrupting each other.”

“Agreed.”

You both fell silent again, staring intently at one another, and once you realized your hand was still on his thigh, you pulled away almost hesitantly. Poe bit his lip, and you felt his fingers encircle your wrist gently before you could pull away any further.  

“You enjoyed fucking me, didn’t you?”

His question caught you off guard and brought heat to your cheeks, and you shifted in your seat, your eyes leaving his stupid brown ones, searching to settle on anything but him.

Poe tsked under his breath, bringing a finger underneath your chin, pulling your attention back to him. You could have melted right there. “Didn’t you?”

You almost whimpered, knew you would have if you tried to speak, so you only nodded your head as much as you could, forcing yourself to hold his eye contact again.

And he just watched you, for several long moments. You couldn’t tell if he was going back and forth with himself or if he was trying to gauge where your head was at. He finally sighed, slowly shaking his head from side to side, almost as if he were trying to talk himself out of something, but he pushed on.

“Look, it’s obvious that there’s...something between us-”

“Is it?”

You knew there was. You knew you were attracted to Poe, knew you wanted to have some kind of relationship with him. You figured he wouldn’t have been sitting on your couch right then if he had zero interest in you.

Maybe you just wanted to hear what his version of something was.

He narrowed his eyes, but his touch remained gentle as his fingers moved to actually grip your chin, the action exerting just a hint of dominance that had your mind swirling already.

“Yes. There is. Are you really going to deny that?”

You didn’t answer, though he didn’t really pause long enough for you to anyways.

“I don’t fuck anything that moves, sweetheart, and I really doubt you’re that kind of person either. I think you’re hot,” he deadpanned. “And judging by the way your breath just hitched, you think I’m hot too.”

“So you just want to fuck then?”

“No.” He shrugged his shoulders, tilting his head to the side. His thumb moved up to your lower lip and he traced it, though his eyes stayed locked on yours. “I do want to be your friend. And if that’s all you want, then fine. We can forget about this.”

You heard his unspoken “but”, and you quirked an eyebrow.

He sighed. “But...we could try that whole friends with benefits bullshit. If you wanted.”

You would have sank your teeth into your bottom lip if his thumb hadn’t been there.

“Poe the last time we had sex you acted like a complete ass afterwards. And said we couldn’t do it again.”

“First of all, you’re right, I was terrible to you after. So maybe that’s why I was trying to be a decent person by putting a stop to it before it happened again,” he sighed, dropping his hand away from your face and back into his lap. “We shouldn’t do it again.”

There was another silent “but”, and you waited patiently for him to continue.

“But, as long as we’re on the same page, what’s there to lose?”

Our dignity. Our friendship. Our reputations.

“Are you proposing we make an agreement?”

“Exactly.”

“Like, some kind of Fifty Shades type bullshit?”

“That’s a written contract, that’s different.” He shook his head. “I don’t think we need to sit down and write all that shit out, do you?”

You couldn’t help but chuckle. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Good,” Poe said simply, shrugging his shoulders and leaning back against the couch. He took a hefty sip from his beer, and you copied his actions, not sure exactly what you were getting yourself into, but it didn’t seem like a bad thing...

“I just have one rule.”

“And what’s that?” you asked, leaning forward to set your bottle down on the coffee table, just so you could look away for a moment.

“Don’t fall in love with me.”

For a second you thought he was joking, he said it so plainly, and you snorted in response. “You’re so full of yourself Dameron.”

“I mean it.”

You glanced back towards him. His expression was serious, eyes holding no humor. It was obvious that he wasn’t teasing you. He really was serious.

“That all?” you asked quietly, your voice hardly above a whisper, not knowing how else to respond.

He seemed to think about it for a moment, his hands twisting around the bottle in his hand over and over again before he took a final sip, finishing it off. “Don’t fall in love with me, and don’t touch the back of my neck.”

“I knew that one already.”

You were proud of yourself for acting so nonchalant.

Because keeping your fingers away from his neck, you could do. You could understand and respect a physical boundary like that. That was the easy part.

But keeping yourself from falling any harder?

You were fucked, given your track record.

But love was such a serious word that held so much weight, surely you could keep your crush at bay, keep it from developing into something more.

“I’m down, Dameron.”

He smirked gently, and before you had a moment to even process, he was pushing you down onto the couch, his hands finding your wrists and pinning them above your head with ease.

“Then what the hell are we waiting for?”

[pixiebuggiewrites]

Sorry Wrong Number!

Masterpost - Previous - Next - Ao3 link

Chapter 2:  Hawkmoth has really bad designs and perhaps even worse timing

Since it was her off night from patrol, Ladybug was the last one onto the scene. She landed down on a building next to Viperion, who was observing the akuma’s skillset as Kuro Neko played distraction down below them.

The villain of tonight's look was... interesting to put it nicely. They were a boy around the same age as the heroes that seemed to be wearing a slightly oversized purple and blue three piece suit with a not-so-subtle lightning pattern running up the arms. His hair was shock white and seemed to be defying gravity while his eyes were protected by bright blue goggles-possibly where the akuma was residing. More importantly, he seemed to be covered in electricity, which was gonna make it difficult to get any hits in. He also had a laptop with him- another contender for the akuma’s hiding place but most likely just a weapon.

Not Hawkmoth’s worst design, but it definitely wasn't his finest work either. Though to be fair she had run around in spotted spandex for two years before she found out she could change her costume, so those in glass houses she supposed.

Viperion, noticing the team leader's arrival began to fill her in on what they knew so far.

“They're calling themselves ‘Elect-Trick’, keeps sending out shockwaves to try and knock us back which is frustrating but our suits seem to take the brunt of it which helps but Neko’s staff is a no go at the moment since there's no way to know if it’ll conduct the electricity.”

It likely would, something they had found out the hard way during the last weather akuma they had to face. While magical it was still metallic in nature sadly, which meant she needed to also be careful with her yoyo. She still isn't really sure what it’s made of besides magic, but this was not the way she wanted to find out.

“Alright, in that case we’ll continue to keep him away from the Eiffel Tower, it’s likely the akuma’s going to try and use it as a large conductor. I’m gonna head down, stay up here and be ready to use your second chance at the signal.” She instructed

Viperion nodded and went back to watching the fight just as Ladybug swooped down to join in. She was just in time as the akuma had begun to corner Neko, who had no choice but to rely on playing defense while her staff was out of the mix. The two heroes nodded their heads in greeting as Ladybug yoyo-d her cat themed friend over putting the duo back on even ground with the villain, who seemed to be ranting about school elections of all things.

Which would be a probable explanation for the first half of his name.

The two continued to fight back against the akuma, neither side quite able to grab the upper hand. Ladybugs yoyo-as it turned out, did not conduct electricity afterall. And, seeing as it's practically indestructible she was able to land hits on the akuma without getting shocked. But the akuma had realized the issue with Neko’s staff and was using that to their advantage, aiming a decent chunk of their attacks at the cat hero which forced them to go back on the defense.

As the fight had been going for over an hour at this point, the spotted heroine decided to bring out the big guns. After doing a silent signal letting Viperion know to start his timer, she got in position to call on her lucky charm.

But she didn't get a chance to. Just as she went to throw her yoyo in the air, Viperion called out a warning that sent a feeling of dread through her.

“LB watch out, There's an amok headed straight for the computer!”  

Sure enough, there was an all too familiar purple feather floating through the air on track for the laptop that she quickly caught and purified it before it could land. Thank the Kwami for the power of second chance, nobody wanted to deal with a sentimonster on top of everything else tonight.

Keeping Kuro Neko on the lookout for anymore feathers, She finally activated her lucky charm. Throwing her yoyo up she manifests… a slingshot! She could work with that, just needed to find ammo. Looking around her eyes land firmly on the window of a small toyshop.

Bingo!

Having Viperion keeping an eye out in case he was needed temporarily as backup, she sneaks over and breaks the window with her yoyo. Typically, the heroine would feel bad about causing this much property damage but tonight she’s tired and wants to get this over with so she can make a plan of action for the whole ‘Mayura seems to be back’ thing with her team and maybe get at least a couple hours of sleep. Anyways her miraculous cure would fix the window and return the bouncy balls she was actively stealing so no harm done? After finishing committing what was technically a misdemeanor, she made her way over to the roof Viperion was on and handed off the slingshot supplies before making her way back down.

Luckily Neko had managed to keep Elect-Trick distracted enough for the team to catch him off guard. On Ladybugs call Viperion began to pelt the Akuma with rubber balls, drawing his sight away for long enough to tie him up and take his glasses. One cataclysm later, the teen had been successfully deakumatized and she was able to cast her cure, fixing the decent chunk of property damage caused that night. After making sure the teen was okay to get home safe and getting his address for the interview she would have to conduct later, she turned to her team.

“Good work today guys, let's meet back at base in 30.” Her eyes communicated the urgency of the meeting despite the neutral tone of voice she tried to maintain.

From there the teens all departed in separate directions to recharge their powers and head to the team's secret base.

----------

Okay so secret base was a bit of an overstatement. It is a secret place that the team uses as a base of operations but it was less of a Batcave and more of a repurposed hotel room in Le Grand Paris.

Chloe had brought up the idea after one too many close calls with Marinette's parents while the girls were investigating Hawkmoth. They needed a place to discuss hero work safely without having to talk in code but the question was where. Obtaining an apartment would be difficult as all of them but Luka were still underage, not to mention the issue of trying to pay rent without any parental suspicion. Luckily for Chloe, it's surprisingly easy to just claim a hotel room without being questioned when your Father owns the hotel.

And while it was no Batcave, it wasn't anything to scoff at either. The four teens had been able to pool together enough money in the beginning for the basics, which meant that now any small snuck away chunks of commission money, music gig payments, competition winnings, and allowances were all able to go to improving things bit by bit.

The room was already quite nice, having a separate bedroom that they used as a gym and a kitchenette that was kept well stocked with kwami snacks. Then there was the  main area, which had been split down the middle. The first side was dedicated to the investigation and housing Marinette's Guardian materials, While the second half was a hangout zone where they could chat or decompress after any particularly rough fights.

The base was also secure, Marinette had put so many spells and protections on the room with the help of the kwami that it might as well be a pocket dimension of sorts. The magical security system of sorts was extremely complicated, being tied to the teams auras in a way so that the only way to even find it without being one of them was to be taken there by Ladybug herself. It had taken weeks to pull off but was well worth it to give her team a place that was safe from the outside world.

Ladybug was the first to arrive this time, having flopped down into a chair at their meeting table as her two friends entered the room and joined her. They all sat there for a moment, processing the fact of Mayura’s return. Of course this would happen when they were down a member, it wasn't a complete surprise that the peacock miraculous would come back into play at some point but it was really bad timing.

“So what exactly is the plan?” Viperion asked, finally breaking the silence.

Ladybug sighed, knowing that their workload was going to increase once again. At least it was close to summer vacation.

“First we need to increase patrols- especially around the typical hot spots, Neko do you think we’ll be able to finish those jars by this time next week?”

The cat hero nodded “They're almost done, we’ll need to test them somehow though.”

The two of them had recently been working on a variation of an object enchantment technique mentioned in the grimoire. The original object was dubious in nature, having been used as a cage of sorts that kwami wouldn't be able to phase through. Marinette was disgusted by the thought, further feeding into some suspicions she had about the old order. As she was ranting about it to Kagami about it, her fencer friend got an idea for a way to repurpose the spell to trap akuma when Ladybug couldn't easily get to a fight. It would also allow them a new way to prevent possessions when Ladybug wasn't actively on patrol.

“That's good. Lastly I need Bee’s new number, I was going to ask you for it tomorrow but I need to give her a heads up to start on a new case file. We also might want to move up our plans to contact the heroes there.”

Kuro Neko quickly jotted down the number on a nearby notecard and handed it to Ladybug. After hammering out a few last details about their new patrol schedules the heroes were all free to head home for the night.

The trip home was uneventful, and she arrived home to see that it was just past midnight. She also noticed that her bath bomb had been fixed! It was sometimes a gamble on if something like that would count as akuma damage so it was a nice victory after the day she’s had.

Marinette quickly put in Chloe's number, eager to get to bed. She sent her blonde friend a summary on what happened and let her know to be on the lookout for an email tomorrow with the information to assemble a case file. And with that, Marinette drifted off to sleep.

She had made a small mistake though. In her tired state the young designer’s finger slipped, putting a 5 where there was meant to be a 4.

Meaning Chloe Bourgeois was not the recipient of her intended message.

Good thing she wrote the message in code?

----------

Across the ocean, Damian Wayne received a strange text message.

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

Taglist (open!!): 

@queencommonsense

[pl-panda]

To Marry a Vigilante: Part 15

MASTERLIST || First || Previous || Next

To Marry a Vigilante: Part 15

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The book was incredibly interesting. It was written in some dialect of Mandarin. Many things were also covered in The Grimoire but several stories told there were previously completely unknown. It seemed like it was written after the other book and while the first was entirely encyclopedical, this one contained detailed stories from several time periods. What got Ladybug’s attention was that many of them were diary excerpts. 

One of the most important elements was a story about the seventeenth-century villain, Lord of Butterflies, who came to the colonial city of Gotham and tried to take control of the settlement. He was a master of deception and almost succeeded. Ladybug and Black Cat of that time never appeared. Another story told about their involvement in the Thirty Years’ War in continental Europe, where they were hunting the Snake and Bee Miraculous users that tried to manipulate the conflict. Luckily for Gotham, a witch hunter named Malleus opposed him and used jars with symbols engraved on the walls to keep the butterflies locked away so they could not wreak havoc again. The book told of the power struggle until finally, after the burning of Raphael Dent, a longtime friend of Malleus, the attacks stopped. Most people thought that the problem was over, but from the looks of it, the author of that book tried to imply that Lord of Butterflies just bid his time, waiting for the opportunity to strike again. 

Ladybug read the story twice, trying to figure out the fate of all the corrupted Butterflies or the jars, but she got nothing. Maybe if they figured out what symbols kept the akumas in, she could experiment with warding the butterflies away. It could be a breakthrough!

While she was browsing the book, Black Cat eyed the teens. “Shouldn’t you people scramble for classes?”

“Nope!” The little one, Maps, grinned. “The new school policy. In case of a supervillain attack on campus, the rest of the classes that day are canceled to avoid additional stress to students. It’s nice they care about our mental health.” 

“Yeah… Dude,” Colton looked at Black Cat, “any chance you can tell me what tech your staff uses?”

“Tt. It’s magic.” 

“No, seriously, I suppose it could be an organic metal of some sort, but it’s able to perfectly support your weight at the same time.” 

“Magic.” The vigilante-turned-hero growled.

“Come on! Don’t do it to me, man! Pom won’t let me live it down!”

“I told you magic was real!” The teen was glaring at him with a smirk on her face.

“Tt. Don’t play with magic or you’ll get burnt.” He scoffed. 

“Don’t be a grumpy cat!” Ladybug called from over the book. “Silverlock… Why does it sound so familiar…”

“Did you say Silverlock?” One of the teens peaked. “I’m Olive Silverlock.”

“Bellatrix Silverlock was the only akuma from that period mentioned here by name… I wonder why… Ugh! I can’t decipher that part. It’s too old and damaged.” The heroine groaned. “Cat! We should move back to the base.” She pulled a pair of glasses from her yo-yo and put them on. “Tikki! Kaalki! Merge!” 

As soon as the light of transformation died, a portal consumed both superheroes and the book, leaving the teens alone in the dark library.

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Sabine paced around the manor in the foul mood she was in ever since she sent the kids on their way after initiation and returned home for some long-deserved rest. Half-way home, she received a phone-call from Chloé saying that Marinette was crying in the bathroom with her over another girl that threatened her. The only thing that stopped Sabine from turning around and possibly crashing the car through the front gates was her daughter begging her not to.

She admired that her little girl tried to resolve the problems herself and she didn’t want to come off as overbearing and intruding. It wouldn’t stop her from preparing for if it seemed too much for her sunshine. She made a mistake with Lila. This time, she would be ready. But first, she needed tools. 

“Tom! Where is my suit?!” She called out to her husband, who was happily baking in the kitchen. He finally managed to kick Alfred out and get control. Sabine laughed when the butler, passing her, revealed that he let him win. 

“I think Bruce wanted to put it in the vault, together with the bag!” The large man answered with a merry tone. 

“Thank you, honey! I think I’ll be going out for a while!” 

“Be safe!”

Finally having a direction, she stormed toward the vault. It was hidden under the stairs, where one had to first enter a secret passage, only to then open a door in the wall.

When she opened the doors and looked inside, her first instinct was to immediately go into a battle stance.

It looked like a tornado passed through the room, which was supposed to be neatly ordered. All the documents were scattered, two priceless artifacts got destroyed and every drawer was pulled out. Inside the wall opposite to the doors, someone made a giant hole. The concrete was shattered and the metal reinforcement cage was pulled apart. 

Warily, Sabine approached the hole. Once she got closer, she could take a better look at the reinforcement. What got her attention was the way it was bent. Someone grabbed it and ripped it apart. The hole itself also revealed a small rectangular area that was used to hide something. A secret buried so deeply it was frozen inside a wall of a hidden vault inside a hidden corridor in one of the best-guarded buildings in Gotham.

“Oh for crying out loud! I just wanted my suit…” She threw her hands up. 

---------

More or less at the same time, Tim had a lazy day at the cave. He didn’t need to return to Wayne Enterprises for at least another week. He tried to solve a cold case, using the updated list of secret powers Sabine provided him. He and Bruce were both worried about how much had escaped them. Neither considered Luxembourg Secret Service to be capable of ordering a hit on a hitman that was after their Duke. And hire Lady Shiva nonetheless. 

He just got himself a new cup of coffee when suddenly, a portal appeared in the middle of the cave and dropped two superheroes and a book on a podium. The Cat landed on his feet while Ladybug fell on her rear with a soft thud. Startled, Tim dropped his mug and the coffee spilled all around him.

“Could you not!?” He shouted, a bit embarrassed that they got a drop on him so easily. 

“Tt. Shut up replacement.” Cat growled. He and Marinette dropped their transformations and she proceeded to feed Tikki with some cookies while he reluctantly pulled a small, isolated box from his pocket and gave Plagg a bit of cheese. 

“We’ve got plenty of new material after the last akuma attack. I’ve sent you a picture of a woman using the Peacock Miraculous and we’ve got an essential book.” She walked over to the bat computer. “It appears that they used the distraction the akuma caused to infiltrate the place.”

“I’m not sure, Angel.” Damian was busy with the other screen, trying to attach the tablet to it. The deciphering system managed to unlock it already and while he waited for the system to scan for any traps, he browsed the photos. “From the look of it, she only got two or three pages before we ambushed her. She must’ve arrived shortly before us or couldn’t find it for a long time. I would hazard a guess that she didn’t know about it.”

“But… That would mean she was at school when… but how would she… No! The only other person that heard about the book was Erica.”

“Maybe not. She could’ve been there trying to get some information on us.”

“But how did she get there before us?”

“Tt. It’s not like the Detective Club was in any hurry.” He huffed. 

“Um… That’s all great and all, but what the bat are you talking about?” Tim asked, trying to get between the married couple. 

“We had an akuma attack at school. Damian earned detention for calling Hammerhead old while out of the suit. After we dealt with the akuma we learned about this book,” she pointed at the podium. “We went to check it and found the new Peacock trying to photograph as much as she could. We stole her tablet and kicked her backside.” Marinette beamed. 

Their discussion was interrupted when Sabine stormed inside the cave. “I need security feed from the Gala. Someone trashed the Wayne Vault and stole some box!” She shouted at Tim. “Oh! Hi Sweetie. Go change out of the uniform and we will get tea in a minute.” She smiled at her daughter. Except it was not as genuine as her usual smile. It felt much more forced. 

“Maman. I would love to, but maybe let’s deal with the break-in first?”

“We must wait for Bruce to get back anyway. He took Cass to the ballet class today. My turn will be on Thursday.” 

She pulled the video feed from the camera that overlooked the entrance to the corridor that led to the Vault. She put it on double speed and watched various guests hang around and talk. They usually had a glass of champagne. Suddenly, Marinette lunged and pressed the pause button.

“Him!” She pointed to a younger man with jet black hair and a white mask that covered the upper part of his face. His hair was neatly combed back with no small amount of hair gel, enough that it shined in the camera. 

“He doesn’t stand out really…” Tim scanned the image. 

“The bracelet!” She seethed. “I can’t believe that bastard still carries the bracelet.”

“Tt. I can cut it off next time I see him.” Damian offered before muttering “Together with the arm.” Luckily for him, Marinette had more pressing matters than stopping his murderous instincts.

“So Agreste somehow got inside during the Gala. It’s maybe an hour before the akuma attack.” They continued to watch as he chatted with people nearby. Finally, when they left, he slipped inside the secret passage. They switched to the camera inside, only for it to then be destroyed by a cane. The one inside the vault was a bit farther away, so before it was destroyed they got a good look at the boy. 

The male figure had a dark purple suit with the signature butterfly brooch pinned to the top of the shirt. His chest was protected by two black flaps that looked a bit like the moth wings. In his black gloves, he held a cane topped with a purple orb. The face was covered by a simple domino mask that did nothing to hide the mane of blonde hair on top of his head.

“At least we know that he inherited his father’s lack of taste. At least his mask isn’t…” Marinette stopped herself when Damian poked her side and pointed toward the glass cabinet inside which the first Red Robin uniform was. Its mask was pretty close to what Gabriel wore. “Oh… Nevermind.”

Tim was clearly unamused. 

“This is still important. We’ve got a first look at his transformation. We can set cameras to, in addition to akuma tracing, scan for him personally.”

“I don’t think it would do much good. The image wasn’t the best.”

“But how did he avoid the scanners?” 

“Alfred was busy, tracking a suspicious blonde with bi-colored eyes. She was supposed to have messed too close to the kitchen for his liking.” Tim explained.

“I remember her. She said something to me. ‘You’re far from victory yet’. I considered it suspicious, but in the whirlwind of the following events, the meeting slipped my mind.”

“You! The great Damian Wayne forgot a crucial detail!?” Tim laughed. “This is gold! I need to mark the date on my calendar!”

“Tt. And I need a set of matches.” The youngest Wayne growled. 

“So we’ve got another suspect on the list?” 

“It’s getting complicated. First the vault, then the book… Hawkmoth was narrow-minded in his goals. Create akumas, have them hunt Ladybug and Chat Noir, take the Miraculous.” Marinette collapsed on the nearby chair. “Adrien is… he’s more organized. He’s got a plan. He’s not after the Miraculous. Or rather not directly. There is something else he’s trying to find. I’m just not sure what…”

“The history of Gotham is filled with so many mysteries that we wouldn’t even have any idea where to begin.” Tim wasn’t helpful. At all.

“We know they stole something from Wayne Vault and used the akuma as a distraction to carry it away. Then, they attacked the school. What could be at Gotham Academy that they had a personal interest in?”

“The book?”

“I don’t think they knew about it. The attack on the Academy could’ve been to test our abilities.” 

Tikki and Plagg floated to the group. “Gotham is a dark place.” Ladybug Kwami started. “There are so many things in this city…”

“What about the Bat miraculous, cookie?” Plagg asked. “I mean where else would it be but Gotham?”

“Bat… Miraculous…” Time starred at the two mini-gods. “You’re joking, right?”

“No. Balla is the Kwami of clarity.” Tikki nodded. “The Bat Miraculous gives the wearer supernatural perception and near-precognition.”

“What?” Marinette asked, not sure what the word was supposed to mean.

“They can see the immediate future.” Her mother clarified for her. 

“Is it possible they are after the Bat…” she tried to imagine what jewelry would be associated with bats. Tikki came to help. 

“It’s the belt buckle.”

“Tt. Bat Buckle?” Damian raised an eyebrow. “Whoever made the Miraculous had a great sense of humor.” 

“Okay. But we still need to figure out their next step…”

“Sweetie? Maybe you focus on school and let me deal with this?” Sabine asked after a moment. 

“But… I’m the Guardian.”

“And you’re also a teenager.” Her mother countered. “I’m not trying to replace you or keep you on the sidelines. I am your mom though. Teenage years are supposed to be the best in your life. You should be dating, spending time with friends. Exploring the world. Nowhere on that list is fighting against a mad terrorist.” 

“But… but… I can’t just sit back while you fight!” 

“You can still fight. And help.” Sabine tried again. “I just don’t want you to devote all your time to this. You can leave the investigation to me, Bruce and Tim and enjoy the time with friends; Or design; Or take Damian on dates.” 

“Tt. It’s my duty to take her on dates.”

“Dream on, grumpy cat.” Marinette booped his nose and giggled at the face he made.

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Masterlist // Next

[trashbag-baby666]

Day Nine: Magical AU-Baberoe

Babe hummed to himself as he walked through the Sunday farmers market. He rubbed at his eyes tiredly. He loved going but it was always too early for him.

Babe sighed and tripped over his own feet and fell to

the ground. He hissed to himself as he picked up his hands and they stung. A little red started to seep through as some gravel remained pressed into his skin.

"Uh sir I can help!" A strange man called from another tent a little way down. Babe sighed and walked over to the black haired man. His skin pale and the tip of his nose pink from the brisk fall air.

"Hi..."Babe sighed holding out his right hand. The small gash seeping of blood.

"Here," the man wiped off Babes hand. Then waved his right hand over it gently. And seemingly the skin was healed.

"Woah how," Babe started. The man just brought his index finger up to his lips.

"Eugene," he smiled holding out his hand.

"Edward but my mom and the nuns only call me that. Everyone else knows me as Babe." The awkward, red head shifted his weight and shook his hand.

"So honey huh?" He motioned to the jars.

"One of my co workers has a small bee farm she does on the side. So I come and sell her honey for her." Gene explained.

"Oh cool," he nodded, "I'll take a jar." Babe grabbed his wallet out of his coat pocket and took out a $10 and handed it to Gene. He grabbed a jar in exchange, "Maybe I'll see you next weekend."

"Hope so," Gene smiled as Babe held the jar and went on his way.

"Bill he was so cute!" Babe smiled as he spread the honey onto toast for him and Frannie to try.

"So Babe finally met a fella, did you ask him on a date?" Bill asked as he took a drink from his bottle.

"You can't just ask out someone like that," Frannie came in and nudged Bills shoulder. She thanked Babe for the toast and took a bite.

"No but I uh, I fell and cut my hand. He said he could help but just waved his hand over mine. Then it was healed I mean look." Babe held out his right palm pointing to where the gash was.

"Now I think you're a hopeless romantic," Bill rolled his eyes.

"No I swear! I swear on my Ma's life Bill!" Babe exasperated.

"Yeah I'll believe it when I see it," he huffed and leaned back in the chair.

Babe would see Gene the following weekend. And he did ask him on a date.

So Gene offered to take him to his flower farm at his Grandmas. She would be out of town for the weekend so it would be just them.

Babe sat awkwardly in the passengers seat of Genes truck. Tapping his fingers gently to the beat of whatever music Gene played.

"So where did you grow up Edward?" Gene glanced over as he turned onto a country road off the highway.

"Here actually, Philly born and raised." Babe nodded with a smile, "you?"

"I grew up in Louisiana but I got into College here so my grandma moved up here with me. It's always just been the two of us anyways." Gene hummed.

"Nice, what do you do?" Babe looked out into the cornfields and pastors animals grazed in.

"I just finished my med residency and I'm an ER Doctor." Gene smiled as they pulled onto another gravel road, "Sorry we're almost there."

"No it's okay, I don't know if I've been this far out of the city in awhile actually. I work at as a newspaper photographer. So it's a lot of breaking news inner city stuff." Babe shrugged and his eyes went wide. They pulled up to a fairly large pretty farm house.

"Yeah it's just my Grandma but," Gene shrugged and parked in the driveway. They both got out and Gene went up to the front door letting out a border collie.

"Promise you're not about to murder me?" Babe chuckled as he watched the large dog run at him.

"Promise, that's Doddy. He's no harm just a big baby." Gene explained as he walked over to where the dog was jumping up on Gene.

"Doddy," Babe giggled and pet the dog.

"Wanna see the garden?" Gene asked pointing towards a large green house. Babe nodded and Doddy followed them over to the green house. Gene unlocked the door and opened it for them.

"Thank you," Babe smiled as he looked around at all the plants. Gene walked over to a small bean plant that was suffering waving his hand over it. Babe watched in awe as it became green and strong-standing again.

"How do you do that?" Babe asked.

"I come from a long family line of healers. When the French came here my ancestors were on the ship. As time went on they helped escaped slaves. Healed them it got passed on. I don't know how it happened but it just does." Gene hummed as he helped dying plants.

"Is that why you're a doctor? To help and heal people?" Babe asked walking behind him.

"Yeah, I just felt like someone with my powers should go on to help people." Gene nodded to himself.

From that day forward Babe and Gene would go out every Friday night together. Always ending the night at Genes house. As Babe lived with his married friend so that would've been awkward.

But Genes powers came in handy because Babe was a total clutz. Always hurting himself one way or another. So it always came in handy.