#And returning later and doing it again to see if the colours match to the last one you did

[im-not-a-sheep]

been wondering if I have synesthesia bc I've been watching some shorts on yt (by zoesthesia) talk about some of her experiences and she described a colorless kinda movement which relates to me but idk if I actually have it bc it's only really triggered by music not sounds (i think) so idk if it has to be sounds or if it still is considered synesthesia with music

[caxde]

bright eyes | eddie munson x reader

summary Eddie runs into his ex while he's out in a date with you and his little girl, and you try to deal with his unresolved feelings (5.3k)

warnings fem!reader, girl!dad Eddie!!!!, fluff, mutual pining, yearning etc, slowburn strangers to lovers, idiots in love!!!, first ily, english is not my first language so I apologise if there’s some mistakes, not proof read! 

a/n: thank you guys for the support, this was based on a request by @althea-tavalas and @callsignraver thank you both, and sorry it took a while! part1 part2 part 3 part 4 (they can be read seperatly)

“They’re pink!” Lua screamed as she saw the flamingos, standing still on their delicate legs. 

“Yes, they are!” You added with glee, matching her energy as she found her way near the enclosure. You crouched beside her, holding her carefully by her waist, just in case she felt like running again. 

“I thought they were yellow…” Eddie said as she crouched behind you, teasing his little girl with his colour confusion. 

“That’s pink” She mumbled as her finger pointed to the animals, her head looking back at him, a shy smile on her lips. 

“No, this is pink” He continued as he grabbed his shirt, a faded ochre tinted the fabric, and you heard Lua giggle as she shook her head no. 

“Yellow?” She asked, looking at you while she grabbed her dad’s shirt. You nodded as you smiled, finding the whole scene overwhelmingly pure. 

She whined as she rolled her eyes, you stiffed a laugh. She was copying Eddie to perfection, you had seen that same eyeroll a few moments ago when you told him you had to go to the merry go round before you leave, even if the sun was going to set soon. 

He caught you doing so, and gave you a smirk, a look of recognition you both shared. 

You stayed at her level, both of you pointing out what else she could see, while Eddie slowly stood up, his eyes not leaving the both of you as giggling escaped both of your lips. 

“Bug, can you stay with princess for a second?” He asked with a soft touch on her shoulder. She nodded enthusiastically, her hand holding yours, just like he taught her to do so when he leaves her with you. 

“Where’re you going?” He smiled as soon as he saw how your head tilted to the left, Lua was picking on that too. He gave you a quick look, the same smirk as you realised what he meant invaded your face. 

“You’re going to need tickets…” He responded, not loud enough so the surprise could still work whilst he nodded to the carousel. 

You smiled up at him and he took that as you giving him the all clear, distracting Lua with more questions, guiding her to the opposite site of where he was going.

He was a bit busy, thinking about you and how thoughtful it was, you buying the tickets for the zoo. It’s summer solstice! you had cheered as you tried to make it seem like it wasn’t too much, that you were excited to go and that you needed to celebrate. He had only agreed to do so, if he drove the three of you to Indianapolis, and he could take you out to dinner later that week. He had called it a real date, the promise of such made you blush. 

Eddie was deep in his thoughts, he knew he couldn’t really afford Enzo’s -it was too fancy anyway- so he was trying to decide if the dinner was a better idea than a picnic by the lake. He was too focused, he bought two tickets instead of three. 

But as soon as he saw the strawberry blonde hair his stomach dropped, closed and turned around all of a sudden. He hadn’t seen her since she called saying she couldn’t do it, that he had to do it alone, that she was leaving. 

Now Paige's hand was wrapped around another boy he didn’t know the name of. 

Her eyes widened as soon as she made eye contact with him, a shy smile appeared on her face as she waved at him, slowly raising her hand. He returned the gesture, not sure what to do, or why his feet felt so heavy. 

He stood in place, looking back at where you were, scratching the back of his head in a nervous manner, he relaxed his breathing as soon as he saw you picking Lua up, walking a bit closer to the flamingos so she could see them better. 

He started worrying right away though, he hadn’t told Lua anything about her mother, and she was right there. 

What would he say? He figured he had more time, that he would be able to tell her about her once she’s grown up and asks for her. Hell, she doesn’t even know the meaning of the word mom, she had never heard of it. And even if she did, Eddie knew you had been acting like one ever since you met, he hadn’t even told you anything about it, because you hadn’t asked out of respect. The only thing he did tell you was that you could ask about it, and the only thing you said back was just how much you care about Lua, and how you’d never wanna make things awkward by asking too much. He had kissed you after that, and he could feel the sensation on his lips now, even when panic was invading his body, the thought of you seemed to relax him enough. 

“Eddie?” Paige’s voice snapped him back with a painful stab at the memory, one where it didn’t hurt hearing her say his name. 

“Hi.” He didn’t expect his own voice to sound that cold, but he didn’t care if it did if he was honest with himself. 

“How are you? It’s been a while.” She tried to keep the conversation friendly, but Eddie pursed his lips, and she remembered enough to know that he did that when he was uncomfortable. 

“Yeah, two years and five months.” He spitted out, reminding her how old her daughter was. 

“Is she here?” She asked back, her eyebrows slightly raising as she looked for her near Eddie. 

“Yeah. She’s with my partner, they wanted Lua to come.” He wouldn’t admit it, but seeing her lip quiver as he said those words made him smile internally, knowing that it was a small victory. 

“Could I see her?” She tried again, Eddie noted the regret in her eyes. He also saw just how much they looked like Lua’s. 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He barked back, slowly and calmly. “You made it very clear that you didn’t want to be involved.” 

“She’s still my daughter.” Paige added with shame in her words, Eddie felt bad once he saw her eyes crystalize.

“I think I remember you saying a very different thing.” He was going in for the kill, he could taste the anger dripping out of every word, though it was anger but protection. 

“That…” She tried to gather herself. “I know you’re pissed off but I… C’mon Eddie, I was a child!” 

“I was one too!” He finally snapped back, raising his voice to match hers, he saw heads turning, but he didn’t mind, he never had. “And I stayed. You left.” 

“I just… I wanna see how she’s doing, I thought about calling you but I didn’t know… I don’t know where you are, now that I know you live in the city I could-'' Eddie had to cut her off, he thought maybe someday he would want her back -for Lua’s sake- but this proved, he just couldn’t stand her and her selfishness. 

“We don’t live here, and if she decides she wants to meet her, i’ll let her. Nothing else matters to me but her.” Eddie admitted, he could feel the vein on his neck growing larger as he became more agitated. 

He looked back for a second, rubbing his chin. A moment of silence that he used to check on both of you, and he was glad he did once he saw you walking with Lua in your arms, as she cheered seeing the merry go round light up. He smiled for a second, it wasn’t a full one, but a half upside down smile, his lips still slightly pressed. 

“I know I didn’t… I am sorry Edds.” She tried to apologise, rubbing her hands together in an anxious manner he knew too well. 

“Eddie.” He corrected her. “I’m sorry, I just can’t do this right now, sorry.” He ended up apologising, excusing himself, needing a way out once he heard the particular chuckle of his little one. 

He desperately needed to hold her. 

You noticed something was wrong as soon as you saw him stomping his way back to you. 

You noticed the way his breathing was troubled, going up and down faster than needed. 

You noticed the way his lips were pressed against each other, and the way his hands shake. 

Before you were able to ask anything, you looked back at where he was coming from, it wasn’t that hard to understand. She really did have Lua’s bright eyes. 

The scrunch in between his brows asked for permission to hold her, and you let your head hang on the left as you nodded slowly, leaving a kiss on his cheek as he bent down to grab her, holding her tightly. 

“Do you need to talk about it? Later?” He didn’t say anything, he just gave you a kiss back, right where your hairline started. You knew it was a yes. 

“Should we go, bug?” He asked Lua, pointing at the fast yellow lights turning, a soft melody emerging from it as it turned. 

“Can we?” 

“Anything you want” He promised, as he held her tightly, hugging her as he walked over, leaving you behind as you watched both of them.

You saw that girl, walking by you, with a strange mix of melancholy, nostalgia and jealousy in her eyes. You could swear she stopped as she passed you by, looking at you in an analytic manner. Even if her eyes were lost deep into her own thoughts, you could feel the way she judged you, and how her fingers twitched for a moment, wishing she got to hold her as closer as you did, even if she said she couldn’t all those years ago. 

You decided to just avoid her sight, enjoying the way Lua was smiling, being held by her dad, who was enjoying more than ever having her that near. 

-

“Is she asleep?” Eddie asked, his eyes not leaving the empty road. 

“Yeah” You answered with a quick glance backwards. You noticed the way her eyes were shut highly, her long lashes and a bit of drool falling from her parted lips. “Her neck will hurt” You noted, Eddie kept his lips pressed, nodding slowly. “Do you wanna talk about it?” 

“Maybe”

“Moon?” You pleaded, your hand reaching for his, holding the pedal shift softly as his fingers melted to your touch. 

“Are you sure she’s asleep?” His voice was trembling now, impotence clear in his tone. “She’s more clever than you think” He added as he grinned to himself. 

“Edds she’s drooling, I’m quite sure.” Your thumb petted the back of his hand, he smiled at the gesture. 

“I do want to talk about it… I just… I think… you might know?” He tried to make you say it, as if admitting it outloud was just as painful as having lived it. 

“I think I do.” He just nodded, his lower lip quivered in anticipation to hear you say it, he needed to be you to break the ice, he needed you to be the one to ask it. You knew he would never impose such a hard topic onto you, just as well as you knew he needed to talk about it. “So… That’s her mother?” 

“Mmmh” He answered, his head nodding as he tried hard to contain his disdain for her. “Paige.” 

“How long have- When was the last time you-” You didn’t finish asking yet he was already answering. 

“Since she decided to leave Lua with me. Right after having her.” You could feel how hurt he had been in the past, and just how seeing her for such a short moment had reopened the wound. “You know she decided she didn’t even want to hold her? She never gave a fuck about her now she wants to see her? Why!? Because you ran into us and thought you had to ask? Why!? It makes no sense at all. She hasn’t asked in two years and five months she can wait until bug asks it herself.” Eddie’s eyes narrowed, as he tightened his fingers around the wheel, his jaw clenched. Poison dripping out of his lips. You let him breathe, your hand now on the back of his neck, caressing him softly. 

“Better?” You asked, a shy smile found its way on your tone. You saw a chuckle escaping him. 

“Kinnda.” 

“How did you meet her?” You were genuinely curious, and he could tell with just a glance at you. Your eyes shined up to him, while your free hand played absentmindedly with the hem of your dress. 

“I uh… Old customer” He winked at you, hoping you would understand. 

You confirmed it with a short chuckle. 

“Soft stuff?” 

“The softest.” 

“And how did… that happen?” You added with a nod at Lua’s direction. He laughed at the question, his eyebrows raising.

“I think you know how that happens” He answered with a grin on his lips, teasing you a bit, his shoulders more relaxed now. 

“Eddie…” You flickered his ear in a playful manner. 

“We were bored. Honestly. Maybe a bit high.” His confession started as he slowed the car, pulling into Hawkins now. “She came over for some uh… stuff. I fancied some so we smoked in my room, one thing led to another and… A couple of months later she came back, scared to hell. She said she didn’t know what to do. I held her, I told her we could figure it out. She said she didn’t love me, I said I knew. I didn't love her either for the record, not that it really matters but uh… We told Wayne. He was pissed but didn’t show it to her. He said I had to step up, and I did.” He gave a quick glance to the sleeping girl on the backseat through the rearview mirror. His eyes softened as soon as he saw her dreaming. “As soon as I held her I… I knew'' He took a deep breath in, bracing for what he wanted you to hear. You continued the soft caresses into his skin that he was so thankful for. “Nothing would hurt her, and if that meant I had to get my shit together… I did. I graduated, I got a job… a legal one.” You chuckled at that at the same time as he did. “I vowed to take care of her, and to do that I had to take care of myself, so I did.” His hand finally reached for your thigh, reciprocating the caring touch you had been giving him. “I also vowed to not fall for anyone again, not until I was sure anyway. It was all going well… Until I met you I thought I could keep that promise but I… I’m kinnda glad you proved me wrong though.`` 

The car stopped, and suddenly the silence grew louder. His words resonated stronger. And your smile grew wider. 

“I should put her down. Thank you for listening.” He concluded, giving your wrist a slow kiss, his lips sent goosebumps through your skin. 

“Moon…” You got his attention, not too sure what to say next. “I… I um… Do you wanna come?” 

“I’m tired.” He admitted, hoping you wouldn’t get offended by his answer. 

“I know, me too I just… I think you could use the company. Nothing has to happen just, I’m here if you want to, you know that. Right?” He tilted his head, his lips curving in the usual smirk he gave you. You swear you could draw it if you had to by now, it was a magical feeling. 

“I don’t- I can’t leave her alone, not today.” The sincerity in his voice grew bigger as his eyes flicked to her little one, sleeping soundly on the back of the car, unaware of everything that had happened. 

“Yeah I know I just… You deserve someone to take care of you too.” 

Something inside Eddie clicked.

Maybe it was the way your voice had sounded, soft and full of care and meaning behind every word you enunciated. Maybe it was the way your eyes looked up at him, as if he was a bright night sky, filled with stars and no clouds. Or, perhaps, it had been the way he noted how you had chosen the words so meticulously, your fingers going over the same spot on the end of your dress, as your lip quivered before finally deciding what to tell him. 

It didn’t matter, not to him anyway, what the cause had been, but he was sure now that he was ready to let himself fall hard for you. 

Deeply, madly and truly. 

But then again, maybe he already was and was just now realising.

But from your point of view, you just saw a lovesick smile with puppy dog eyes looking down at you. Half closed lids hiding his sight as his head tilted slightly, a soft rush of blood invading his cheeks. You nodded slowly, closing the distance between the both of you just so you could leave a short kiss on his cheek, the warmth of it clashing with the coldness of your unkissed lips. You opened the door on your side, mouthing a short and wordless ‘bye’ as you left. He was left looking at you, his smile turning into a big grin as he looked deeper into you. 

-

Wayne waited for Eddie to put Lua down, before he asked him what's wrong. 

He could tell something had happened by the way his nephew took off his shoes. He didn’t take them with the top of his heel and left them there for him to put away. He took them with his heel and left them out of the doorway neatly with the exterior of his foot. And Eddie only did that when he was overthinking something

So Wayne waited, a cigarette burning in between his fingers, an unburned one waiting for his boy layed next to him. He raised his brows at him as soon as Eddie closed the door pointing at it with his head, Eddie’s face relaxed in a soft thank you way Wayne knew way too well. 

He waited a bit more. For Eddie to open the window so the smoke would clear out and for him to light his cigarette. 

He gave him a hard long look and Eddie folded immediately, with a short chuckle precinidng his words, a way of telling him to fuck off for knowing him too well. 

“Long day, Wayne.” His eyes were lost into the horizon, looking at the dull wall in front of him. 

“I gathered.” He spoke nonchalantly as smoke escaped his lips. 

A short beat of silence occurred as Eddie thought about how to tell him what had happened, in the end, it was best to just say it. 

“We ran into Paige.” Eddie finally said, over enunciating every vowel, with a hint of irony masked as rudeness.   

“Shit.” Wayne’s surprised tone was genuine, just as much as his head whipping around to meet his eyes. Eddie just nodded slowly, taking a drag out of his fag, enjoying the numbing feeling the smoke left in his tongue, as if would make it easier to speak. “How did that shitshow go?”

“Horrible.” 

“Did you overreact?” Wayne raised his brow at the question, as his eyes finally met Eddie’s. 

“I don’t overreact!” He opened his eyes even more at the squeak in his voice, he waited to speak after he let out the smoke. “Maybe I do.” He admitted. 

“I’ll take that as a yes.” 

“I said maybe.” 

“What did you tell her?” 

“Nothing!” Eddie was getting flustered with the quickness in which his uncle caught up to his bullshit. Wayne had only let his arm rest on his thigh, resting his head on the palm of his hand, looking deeply into him. “I just… She wanted to see Lua, and she made it very clear how much she didn’t want anything to do with her, so I told her no.” Wayne scoffed, dropping the accumulated ash off. “What?” 

“Even if she’s a shit person, she’s still the kid’s mother.” Eddie couldn’t quite believe his words. “She’s got a right to meet her.” 

“When Lua asks about her, I’ll tell her. Not now.” He pleaded, his eyes crystalizing at the idea of Wayne not having his back for the first time in his life. 

“Okay kiddo, but you’ll have to tell her” Wayne pointed out, moving his hands as he spoke, smoke trailing after them. 

“I know. I had to tell princess too.” Wayne’s eyes widened at the information as Eddie just nodded in confirmation, taking one more drag, seeing the smoke travelling off the window, finding its way to you. 

“You did?” 

“Yeah” 

“How did she take it?” Wayne feared the answer. It being a negative one and therefore it being the answer as to why Eddie had a gloom over him. 

“She told me if I needed company? And that I deserve to be taken care of too…” He trailed off, the soft look on your face coming back into his mind. 

“She’s a good girl…” 

“I know” 

“And she knows you better than you do.” Wayne added, patting his thigh as he stomped the cigarette out on the ashfilled plate. 

“What do you mean?” 

“You do need company.” Wayne told him, standing up as he whipped his hands on his jeans. He clocked Eddie’s quick glance to the closed door, and shook his head. “I’m here, nothing will happen. And you deserve to be with someone that cares.” It sounded as if Wayne was scolding him off, as if he was telling him how big of a douche he was by not allowing himself to be vulnerable for once. “Go!” He added, opening the door for him. 

“She wakes up in a big mood when I’m not here…” He tried to fend off for himself, some sort of excuse that would justify him. 

“And I know you enough.” He pointed out, nodding to your trailer. “You’ll be here for breakfast.”

“Dick” He joked, giving him the winning point of the argument. 

- 

Unaware of it all, you stood on your toilet floor, washing your face whilst the kettle whistled on the stove. 

The same oversized shirt you always used, the fabric had become soft and with the same wrinkles falling perfectly in the same spot after so many years. You didn’t mind it, you just shushed the whistling, as if it could actually hear you whilst you mouthed along a jingle that came out of the telly, the ad brake had given you the excuse to actually stand up the couch and snapped you out of feeling sorry for yourself. 

You had been brave, he hadn’t. And that wasn’t your fault. 

Maybe he had been a little brave, you now thought, after all, he did answer everything you had asked him, even if he seemed rather anxious about it. And that was him being brave. 

You shook your head, as you saw yourself spiraling again. You splashed water in your face, trying not to go down the same overthinking abyss you seemed to frequent. So maybe it was the water that made you not hear the soft knocks on your door, and that prompted a somehow worried Eddie to let himself in, looking around with curious eyes unable to find you anywhere, spotting the noisy kettle on the stove that was now burning the lower end of it, he walked over the kitchen, turning it of in a quick movement. 

Before he even realised it, he was already preparing your tea the way he knew you liked. 

When you emerged out, you left your body rest on the wall, arms crossed over your chest as you just looked at him. 

You liked looking at him when he was unaware of it. He was beautiful, and you did tell him so constantly and he’d play it off with a funny face that made you chuckle, yet it was true. 

His eyes softened when he was busy doing something, yet his sight seemed to harden as concentration invaded his body. You started to notice these little details long ago, now they were your favourite things about him. If you had to, you could list them all, if only the world had enough paper, you thought. 

“I can brew my own cup, y’know?” You broke off his concentration and dedication with a soft chuckle, he turned around with a pinkish hue already invading his cheeks. 

“I know, yet you always seem to prefer the ones I make for you” He tried to force his lips not to curve upwards, falling miserably as he handed you the cup. 

“Since I taught you how to make one” You added before taking a short sip, careful not to burn your own tongue. 

“My coffee still tastes like shit” He remarked, making you both snort a laugh, while you shook your head, the hand that wasn’t busy holding your tea found its way to your forehead. 

“It kinda does actually.” You laughed as you spoke, one of the many details Eddie loved about you. 

Love, as it turns out, is not one particular thing, but a conglomerate of them. Eddie was now realising that, as he put that laughter on the bottom of the things he could not live without. 

“You said it was good!” Eddie raised his tone as he playfully bumped your shoulder with his, your head resting on it now. 

“I didn’t!” 

“Yes you did!”

“No, you asked, do you like it? and I said yeah…” You replicated the downward tone, replicating the irony you had used in the past. 

“Oh, fuck off.” He was the one laughing with you now, holding into you tightly, his arm wrapping around your waist. “I’m sorry I left myself in, I kinda needed to talk to you actually.”

“Shoot” You said as you nodded to the couch, knowing it was better if the both of you were sitting down, able to look at each other. 

Eddie’s steps followed you closely, strangely enough his words didn’t worry you. Not if his hand was intertwined with yours. 

“What’re you watching?” He raised his brow at the T.V, still playing nonsensical ads. 

“I don’t really know honestly” You added in an embarrassed hushed tone as you turned it off. The silence of the moment makes the bubble feel smaller. “What do you uh…”

“Right.” He took a sharp breath in, enjoying this moment even if he wasn’t sure what he actually wanted to tell you, you looked too beautiful not to take in. Even if your hair was put away in a messly manner, flyaways framing your face as you tilted it, looking deeper into him. Even if the only thing you were wearing was that faded shirt, it still let him look at your legs, and the softness your skin promised if he were to touch them. 

“Moon?” 

“Sorry, got distracted.” He muttered, shaking his head as his eyes left your legs, linking back with yours. “I uh… I realised I may have been a dick earlier, as Wayne pointed out.” 

“Wayne?” 

“Yeah he uh… He really does know when I get into my head”

“I could kinda tell.” Your eyes now avoided making contact with his, focusing solely on the way your fingers wrapped around the end of your shirt. 

Eddie had your nervous movements learnt by now. If you held his sight he knew you weren’t overthinking, just trailing off so you’d play with whatever you had at hand so you would stay focused, but if your eyes landed elsewhere, he knew that your brain was going a mile a minute. 

So his hand grabbed yours, pulling you back to him. 

A tilt in his head as he scotched himself closer to you was all it took for your heart to stop racing.

“Not your fault, my love.” He reassured now, his words trailing off in that softened tone he only had for you. “I just didn’t know how you’d take it, the whole Paige thing and I freaked out.” 

“If you freak out, I freak out.” You pointed out as your gaze finally met his. 

“I know, I’m sorry” You gave into the palm of his hand as he cupped your cheek, the other one was still interlocked with your fingers. “I’m just really scared.” He confessed, whispering now. 

“What for?” You looked at him through your eyelashes, you had never looked more angelic, pure, a clashing look with the concern on your tone. 

“That the more you know about me, the easier it will be for you to find a reason to run off. And I’ll stay here, heartbroken over you” You could feel the sincerity leaking through, the earnestness in which he spoke was truly admirable, you had never seen someone be as open as he was being. 

Brave. 

You could be brave too. 

“I’m not leaving, Moon.” You kissed the tip of his nose before letting your forehead touch his. 

Eddie could feel his lips curving upwards even if he tried for them not to. 

“How can you be so sure?” If you weren’t as close as you were, you were sure you wouldn’t have heard it, or the warmth he emanated with his vulnerability. 

Brave. 

You had to be brave for once, even if you could feel your heartbeat on the back of your throat. 

“Because… You don’t run away from the things you love.” 

Eddie froze on the spot. A sense of complete glee washed over him, and he could swear he just felt his heart miss a beat, as if it had answered before he was able to. He widened his eyes before separating your foreheads, just so he could look at you. 

You and your flushed red cheeks, you and the way the sincere smile turned into a flirtatious and nervous one, while you tried to mask it by biting your lower lip. 

“I knew you’d say it first” He cave in with that stupid grin in his face, his dimple making an appearance on his cheek. 

“Fuck off” You chuckled as you scotched in even closer, your legs finding their way over his. 

“I couldn’t run away from you either” He pointed out, the hand he had on your cheek now on the back of your neck, fingers tangling with your hair. 

“Why’s that?” You played dumb now, pushing your body into him, as you sat on top of him, your arms resting on his shoulders, your gaze deep into his. 

“Because I might love you too” He played too, following your lead as he pulled you in even closer, your noses touching again. 

“MIght?” 

“I do” 

“I thought so, idiot” 

You were both grinning, smiling and laughing all at once. 

A weight had been lifted, as you had finally been brave for once, and actually spoke your mind. 

It was even better now that he was finally kissing you, his lips gracing yours with that slowness that marked a good meaningful kiss and moment. Only made better by both of your lips curving upwards, still processing what had been said. 

It had been more than the first i love you.

It had been a promise. 

One that you both intended to keep. 

-

requests! are open

@took-me-hours-to-steal-those @edens-vices-art @micheledawn1975 @peachystenbrough @mewchiili @bylermaxmayfield @yujyujj @honeymoonmunsonn @paleidiot @ali-r3n @sunshineandwitchery @supernaturalstilinski @womencriedpower @saramelaniemoon @cultish-corner @babyloutattoo89 @witchwolflea @serenadingtigers @readergf @guineveresghost @saramelaniemoon

part 5 is up, thank for the support dudes <3

[brnesblogposts]

in good arms

pairing: bucky barnes x reader

this idea came to me 20 minutes ago and i had to write it down.

————————————————————-

Bucky walked in the room to see you looking quite sorry for yourself, it tugged on his heartstrings and he decided it was his mission to make you feel better.

“Hey buttercup,” He quipped and received a glare off of you.

“Don’t ever say that again.” You stared right into his soul and he raised his hands in surrender.

“Why do you look so down?” He took a seat next to you on the couch.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s this stupid cast on my arm” Sarcasm dripping from your voice which made Bucky role his eyes.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have jumped off of a two story building” He gave you side eye.

“I was TRYING to do a cool super hero landing!” You argued back only to see him smirk.

“How’d that work out for ya?”

“Shut up” You smacked his shoulder and went back to sulking in your own misery.

“Wanna watch a movie? Take a nap? Watch a movie while taking a nap?” Bucky asked and you nodded.

“Nap sounds good” You smiled.

“C’mere” He patted his lap where you lay your head as he played with your hair.

You closed your eyes and soon enough were fast asleep. Bucky smirked and went into his pocket and got out black and gold pens and began to colour your cast. Every once in awhile he’d giggle to himself and then he’d look at you scared you’d wake up. About forty minutes later you started to stir and Bucky stroked your hair as you slowly woke up.

“Morning, doll” He smiled and you returned the gesture.

“Hey” You sat up.

“How’d you sleep?” All innocence in his voice.

“I slept pretty good act-“ You stopped mid sentence when you looked down at your broken arm..

“Bucky” You spoke quietly.

“Yes, sweetheart?” He looked at you as if nothing had happened.

“Bucky did you colour in my cast” You slowly looked up to him again to see the biggest grin on his face. He held out his metal arm

“TWINS!” He beamed, he was so proud of himself and you couldn’t help but laugh.

“You idiot oh my god I have to have this on for at least four more weeks.” You were looking at the gold detail, it really did look like his.

“We will walk around together and everyone will be in awe of how cute of a couple we are! Matching arms! Maybe we should get matching outfits to complete the look” He pulled you so you were sitting on his lap.

“Absolutely not, the arm is enough” You used your good hand to scratch the hair at the back of his head and he smiled dopily.

“I’m so glad you’re not mad, this really could’ve gone either way.” He laughed.

“You’re lucky I love you” Smiling at him before leaning in to kiss him sweetly.

“I love you my metal arm girl” To which you giggled and dug your head into the crook of his neck as he wrapped his arms around you.

—————————————————-

hope you liked it, if you did please give it a reblog! i would appreciate it! also let me know if you want me to do a little drabble where the other avengers react to seeing the reader with the cast identical to buckys arm ..

[last-flight-of-fancy]

Started thinking about Riku-Kairi parallels and symbolism wrt the ending of kh2 so please hold while i get needlessly verbose about it-

specifically it started with this gif

and ofc adhd is as adhd does and started going down the rabbit hole of connecting the dots.

The act of reaching out a hand/hand holding is a recurring thing in kh, the vast majority of which is chock full of meaning and symbolism, and this is no exception. This is the culmination of The Hero's Journey part of Sora's tale, the return home, and the heartfelt reunion between long-seperated friends. fun fact the heroine's journey follows the hero's journey for the first third or so before continuing on. kinda like how kh continued on long after things seemed to be 'resolved'. weekly plug to look up Howler's Heroine's Journey essays if you haven't yet

The angle from which I am viewing this scene right now is in regards to ofc Riku, and his own iconic pose that we see the first time in the intro to kh1 (and many, many times since)

And this is where my riku-kairi-are-inverted-parallels-to-each-other brain starts barking like a dog because oughghghghggh same pose opposite side completely different body language- AHG.

And this matches their character arcs (as well as their respective combined arcs with sora) to a T as well. Riku's pose is the first we see, way back in kh1, and his hand is as much a taunt as it is an offer. Very befitting his relationship to sora in that game, which was coloured by a forged rivalry and intense jealousy (to quote the ultimania; Complicated Feelings) of/for sora.

(it is also notable that to date this gesture has yet to be resolved. the closest they've gotten is when sora grasped Riku's hand in kh2 on finding him- albeit in Ansem's visage.

Symbolically this is Sora attempting to accept the gesture, but this time it is Riku who fails to meet him halfway, too deep in guilt and regret to feel worthy of it. his hand is turned downwards, limp and unresisting.

And again in DDD when Riku grabs sora's hand/wrist in an attempt to wake him from his nightmares, but this time sora isn't capable of reciprocating. like two ships passing in the night, always reaching but never quite meeting)

(this one isn't quite as strong in the visual symbolism specific to the Riku Pose, but i did think it bore mentioning)

to return to the first gif however, for Kairi her posture is much less stiff, leaning forward with palpable releif at Sora's return. Honestly the fact that she holds out her left hand (which as far as i know is not her dominant hand) marks this as a very deliberate choice to parallel her as opposite to riku. and much like the rest of kh2's ending, it FEELS like a culmination, a completion of their arcs.... and most certainly isnt.

Which i mean to say, it's a mid-point. And the reason I say this is because of one little thing.

The seashell charm.

There's a sort of irony here in that the charm that was meant to reunite them in this moment is also symbolically like a wedge between them. A heartfelt and meaningful gesture, don't get me wrong! i love this scene and the genuine emotions within, but i do love chewing on the way this gains a slightly different meaning in the greater context of later story beats; specifically that of kh3.

With how pointed and direct the parallel is between kairi and riku in these scenes, it did make me pause for a moment thinking about kh3. i know we've all seen a thousand and one analysis' of the paopu scene at this point, but forgive me as i must do so again under this specific lens.

'how does the paopu scene relate to the hand extended gesture at all?' i hear you ask, and on the visual surface not much. it has more to do with sora and kairi's relationship arc through the games and, of course, the lingering loose thread that was the cave drawing.

The paopu scene is a touching recreation of that cave drawing, one enacted by a pair of kids who didn't know if they would live to see another sunset. It's also probably the most symbollically dense thing in all of kh and that is saying something so I'm going to try and keep my observations limited to just what is relevant to this post- and that would be the way that the paopu scene is a direct continuation of Kairi's 'you're home' gesture in kh2.

shooting stars are also a common recurring symbol in kh, and that's the symbol that ties these two scene's together. if kh1 is two disparate stars each trying to reach the other (the cave drawing, the seashell charm, the way their hands are seperated at the end of kh1), and the end of kh2 is that of the stars finally meeting (the single seashell star charm pressed between their palms), then the paopu scene is that of the stars passing each other by and beginning their own journey's anew (two stars held by crossed arms, each now holding a small piece of the other (bitten fruit) to show that their meeting may have been brief but it was meaningful)

it is in this way that kh3 quietly and tenderly closes out sora and kairi's combined arc, as two unlikely friends who then drift apart again, shining brightly for the shared experiance, Remind mostly serves to support that finality, tying up the last couple loose ends between them, and leaving the two far more comfortable with each other than they ever were while that arc was still ongoing (which i read as them no longer being uncertain as to what their relationship is; that of friends, and not whatever so many others around them had pushed and assumed)

(seriously look at how much more comfortable they are with each other the second the pressure to be something they're not is off. the awkwardness is completely gone i love it)

All of this is ofc still in parallel to Riku, who boasts no such star imagery (instead he has the iconic Heart of KH itself), and in fact while he symbollically continues to reach out to sora, physically he has completely refrained from doing so at all- in fact most examples of the Gesture in kh are deliberately invoked by other characters in order to bring riku to mind in some way (and often more for the players benifit than sora's)

axel in CoM,

(i have given up on tumblr gif search)

YMX in DDD,

which then immidiately cuts to riku in kh1 just to make it as blatant as possible that yes the reference is intentional (i guess CoM was too subtle somehow so they had to make sure this time)

and even Riku himself to Namine at the end of kh3, representing Repliku's final wishes in a funny sort of symbolism oroboros.)

and it's not a coincidence that the completion of that connection provides definitive closure to the arcs in question; that of namine to repliku, but also a little bit to riku himself. namine still has a role to play, but that role (i think) is more or less exclusive to her relationship with sora. namine and riku's relationship arc, background as it is, is complete, and now both are connected primarily through their incomplete arcs with sora.

(which makes the way that sora and kairi's example in kh2 is a complete outlier really interesting tbh. smth smth thinking your relationship is one thing and if it was that thing then yes that would have been the end, but it wasn't that thing and thus it wasn't the end smth smth comphet metaphor smth)

which brings us back to how riku himself hasn't really reached out to sora directly since kh1, the act that set off both of their journey's. The reasons for that are many- guilt, fear, a certainty that sora will not reach back and that he doesn't deserve it anyway- but despite that the Gesture is still subtly affirmed as being Riku's over and over again, never quite letting the audience forget it... because eventually this bit of symbolism so consistently portrayed throughout the series will reach its own conclusion, starting how it began with one deuteragonist reaching out to the other, and this time the other reaching back to complete the gesture.

[jesswritesthat]

Suna Rintarō: Timing

Fandom: Haikyuu!! — [ Masterlist ]

Summary: ~1.4k, fluff

• Your imperfect timing gifts you with information that leaves you looking back on your relationship with Suna.

Warnings: Cursing

>>>>——————————>

"Don't take this the wrong way..."

"Ya asked our honest opinion and this is it..."

"This might not be great to hear, but Suna likely won't accept yer feelings."

By all means you'd have to agree that you had the worst timing in the world right now, you'd perish before admitting it though, and decided to wait out the conversation.

Whilst his teammates were only being truthful, it still must've hurt to be told of a future rejection. It didn't stop you from eavesdropping from your spot outside the gymnasium though, as it sounded like they had more to say.

"Oh... I see. Is there a particular reason? Ah no nevermind, sorry for asking." Poor girl.

"Uh, well the truth is..."

"If ya haven't noticed it already..."

"Suna only has eyes for (Y/n)."

Oxygen was stripped from your lungs, body numb and remind racing a mile a minute. Dangerous thoughts circling your head that you hadn't even bothered to consider because why would you?

He only has eyes for you. Bullshit.

Realistically, the only things that could possibly have brought them to that conclusion must be...

———

Suna would sometimes put his wants before your own, even if it didn’t make much sense to you at the time.

“Hey (Y/n), you coming or what?” Suna called over alongside Osamu, despite you being invested in the paper pile on your desk.

“No, I’ve gotta finish these notes. See ya later guys.”

“Yeah bye!” Suna responded with a lacklustre tone.

It was until a second later, when he slumped in the desk next to you with a dramatic groan and phone in hand, did you realise the goodbye wasn’t directed at you but rather the rest of his group. None of whom had refuted his decision.

“What are you doing? Go home!”

“Too far, decided to wait for you so hurry up.”

Even if you’d just sighed and offered a sliver of idle conversation during your work, he remained by your side until you’d completed it with an odd mutter toward whatever he was watching. Only standing from his seat when you’d began packing and waited by the door for you.

“Thanks Rintarō, for staying.”

“Whatever. Wanna get some chūpet on the way home?”

———

You also knew his running route by heart, which made it easier if you ever wanted to catch him for something. Suna always slowed down to speak to you however, not once had he passed you without acknowledgement.

It just so happened one of these times was your birthday.

In honesty you hadn’t even realised you were on his usual route, you’d been wondering by with thoughts adrift, so much so that the rhythmic padding of footsteps behind you went amiss. At least until you saw a familiar figure pass and slow a few paces ahead, turning to you with a small smirk.

“Wow, I could’ve just robbed you and you wouldn’t even know.”

“You’re not that good of a pickpocket Rin.” Crossing your arms and rolling your eyes, you’d spoken proudly.

“Either way, you’re missing this.”

He’d held up a small pouch hung on his finger, your favourite colour no less, but you’re certain it wasn’t yours (regardless of your name written on it). You carefully took it from him with scepticism, even more so when opening it to find a small keychain. It wasn’t anything special by any means, simply something you’d happened to mention liking a while ago, nonetheless it brought a small to your face.

“Happy birthday (Y/n).”

You only nodded at him, sentimental smile growing a little wider when he returned the gesture prior to jogging off again.

———

It could also be that he’d usually find a way to drag you to their games, and often when his teammates asked you could give the most sarcastic responses with an unnerving amount of nonchalance.

“So Suna invited ya this time ‘cause…?” Atsumu insinuatingly inquired, like he usually did whenever he caught you after their matches.

“He needed someone to film the two of being idiots. Blackmail privilege y’know?” You casually shrugged, scanning for Rintarō briefly before returning your attention to a pointing and agitated setter.

“Alright, that’s a lie. I refuse to believe it, this is gettin’ ridiculous!”

“Hey (Y/n).” As of on cue, Suna appeared with a blank expression to which you replied with a welcoming smirk.

“Here’s your phone Rin, I caught Atsumus trip in 4k.” The signature device was handed over effortlessly, the two of conversing naturally completely oblivious to the shocked faces of Inarizaki.

“Great thanks, I’ll return the favour sometime. You enjoy the match?”

“Always, it’s nice seeing y—“

“(L/n) had his phone the whole time? Damn.” Aran commented with a hint of awe, though soon overshadowed by Atsumus’ booming outrage.

“YA JUST GAVE (Y/N) YER PHONE?!”

“And?” Came your confused voice, Osamu interjecting in this time.

“Yer not grasping the relevance of this are ya?”

“Blackmail is blackmail my friends~”

“I’ll send it you.” Suna smugly confirmed, the pair of you strolling off the court completely unaware of what his team had just cemented.

You still have that video actually.

———

…Or maybe it was the fact he’d join your side on the odd occasion when class was quieter, or in the mornings before everyone properly zoned in.

Usually the two of you could be found sitting in a corner looking like a dangerous pair with enough gossip to topple the school hierarchy at your fingertips. Other times you’d be sharing a screen commenting or intently watching whatever had garnered one of yours attention enough to share with the other…

"Psst, why are we spying?"

Immediately you'd pulled the intruder to your place against the wall, eyes remaining too focussed on the door to even check who it was as you gave a thoughtless debrief.

"A girl was going to confess but the team said Suna only has eyes for someone else."

"Oh really?"

"Shh! Be respectful or leave so she doesn't get embarrassed knowing people overhea—" By the time you'd recognised the familiar voice and turned around, it was already too late. God timing is a bitch.

"My teammates said that huh?"

"Rin."

"(Y/n).” Mocking mimicry. “Did they happen to say who?"

"…No.”

“You know, you get nervous when you lie.” His tone lowered dangerously, like he was plotting something menacing.

“I do not!” It was a hushed whisper, plan coming to fruition when he’d placed his palms either side of you, caging you against the wall.

“Then tell me (Y/n)…” His voice honeyed as he leaned closer to you with hazel eyes locked on yours. “My team didn’t mention that my eyes were only for you?”

Even if his words had brought a heat to your skin, you were quick to bite back, meeting him half way so that your noses were only a brush apart.

“SUNA!” However, you’d forgotten to hush your volume. “If you—“

Instantly the gym doors burst open, teammates and the girl rushing out upon hearing the angered yell of their conversation topic namesake.

“You really do have terrible timing (Y/n), don’t you?” Suna bemusedly muttered to you, pushing off the wall and sending a blank expression to the newcomers.

“See what we mean?” Atsumu gestured to the two of you for the girls’ sake, who seemed more panicked than anything.

“How long have you two been out here?! Did you—“

“Rintarō just got here, are you helping out with the teams’ practice today?” You kindly pivoted, hoping the tangent would provide her sanctuary.

“Ah, no I came to ask a question. I’ll be seeing you, thanks again!”

That left you and Suna walking past the remaining group into the gym like nothing had happened with an unspoken agreement to resolve this later. Whilst the third years would’ve left it alone, this did not quell the curiosity of their juniors.

“Hold up what was that out there?!”

“Yer were basically - I dunno! What were ya doing?!”

The Miya twins had cornered Suna, leaving you to admit guilt to Kita and Aran about overhearing the earlier discussion.

Rintarō released a bored sigh, rolling his eyes at the pair before answering as blunt as ever.

“You guys have worse timing than (Y/n), I was interrogating them.”

The pair shared a puzzled look, as did the other first and second years on the VBC whilst you only facepalmed. Of all times to wind them up…

“Eh? What for?”

“I wanted to know, if their eyes were as focused as mine.” It was cleverly worded, no one seemed to understand the ulterior motive but when you thought about it, you didn’t withhold your answer.

“Well duh! (L/n) ain’t completely blind are they?!” Atsumu commented after a moment of utter confused silence, Osamu shaking his head disapprovingly when flicking between Suna and yourself.

“You two… Yer really are something together ya know that?”

<——————————<<<<

[ Masterlist ]

A/N: Wasn’t entirely sure how to end this one so I left it open…

[hugmekenobi]

S3: The Bad Batch (1)

Chapter One: Confined

Gif by @ventresses

Hunter x femaleJedi!reader

Series Rating: 18+

Series Summary: Ever since Eriadu, Clone Force 99 had been a fractured squad. Months have passed but you're finally back with the Batch but Omega is still out there and you won't stop until you find her again.

Chapter Summary: Imprisoned on Tantiss, Omega finds herself needing to adjust to life there whilst the rest of you decide on your next mission to give you intel you desperately need.

Masterlist for S1 and S2

Genre: Friends (idiots) to Lovers (we're in the lovers stage now)

Chapter Warnings: Very mild canon-typical violence, one use of y/n, Hemlock, brief wound description, nightmares with emotional hurt/comfort, my interpretation of various people's headspaces, slight angst, me going off script/episode plot in the last part, and remember, italics represent silent Jedi communications

Word Count: 5K

Author's notes: And we're off! Happy Star Wars Day!! We are pretty much just following the plot of this episode, save for a bit at the end so it might feel like a bit of a slow start, but bear with me! Technically, this will also wind up being a 'fix-it' fic so just stick with me on that process too! Hope you enjoy! And I have already started working on the next chapter! Also, I am just going off my past taglist so anyone who wants added/removed, please let me know!

21 days since Eriadu

Water dripped from the faulty tap in the small cell as light crept through the bars on the window.

Omega stared out into the open space with a forlorn sigh as she envied the birds that sounded their freedom as they chirped their usual song. She stepped down from her bed and started pacing anxiously as she waited for Emerie to make her scheduled appearance.

Sure enough, a couple seconds later, the door opened, and Emerie stepped inside.

“Good morning, Omega. How are you feeling today?” Emerie asked.

“Like a prisoner.” Omega replied curtly. “I want to leave.”

“Prisoner?” Emerie repeated, surprised. “Omega, you are no such thing. It will take time to adjust, but you will acclimate. It is far safer in here than out there. Come. We have much to do.” With that Emerie turned to leave.

Omega reached under her bed and brought out her box before she followed Emerie out into the corridor. The grey colouring of her new clothes matched the other scientists and the non-descript design of the inside of the base.

They turned a corner to pass a squad of clone prisoners being escorted past and Omega let out a gasp as she recognised the figure at the front of the line but despite her effort to look at him, he only stared at the floor.

--

Omega entered the lab and watched in quiet upset as the clone was subjected to a blood sample being taken from the back of his hand. They all had similar expressions of pain and defeat written across their faces and she wished she knew how to stop it.

Emerie placed the test tube into one of the free slots in the tray that Omega was holding before she took the datapad out and created a record for Omega. “And now I need to take a blood sample from you.”

“From me?” Omega repeated. “Why?”

“The samples are used for various research projects. All of us serve a purpose here.” Emerie explained. “It won’t hurt.” She added as a means of reassurance before she readied the equipment to take the sample.

Omega sat up on the bench. “Can you at least tell me where my brothers are? Or my friend, (Y/N)?”

“I do not know.” Emerie replied simply.

Omega held her hand out and braced against the sting of the needle as her blood was drawn. “If you’re a clone like me, how come I never saw you on Kamino?”

“Because I was sent elsewhere until Dr. Hemlock took me under his wing. He saw potential in me, like Nala Se sees in you.”

“I never knew that I had a sister. It’s nice not being alone.” She offered Emerie a small smile, but it wasn’t quite returned.

“Head to the lab.” Emerie ordered as she took the device away and placed Omega’s sample in with the others. “Nala Se is expecting these.”

--

As the security scan was completed, Omega entered the lab and walked over to Nala Se who was busy placing more blood vials into a centrifuge.

“Thank you, Omega.” Nala Se said as she took the tray from her and started processing the data from the samples and it was through that that she saw the concerning sight that Omega was now a part of the system. “Omega, your sample was taken?”

“Mn-hmm. Emerie said it was routine.”

Nala Se deleted the record from the system before she destroyed the physical sample.

Omega watched this with curiosity. “Why are you discarding it?”

“Tell no one.” Nala Se replied before she took the other samples to the centrifuge. “It is safer this way.”

Omega knew the Kaminoian well enough to pick up on the worry in her voice. “This research, it’s not like what we did on Kamino, is it?”

“No, it is not.”

“I don’t understand. Why did they bring me here?” Omeag asked, hoping that if Emerie couldn’t give her the answers that she sought then Nala Se would have some idea.

“To ensure that I co-operate. The Empire seeks the reproduction of a genetic M-count, but the experiments on the specimens have yet to yield the desired result.”

The M-count was something she was aware of but nothing else Nala Se was saying made much sense to her. “What specimens? You mean the clones?”

“No. Not the clones.”

Any further elaboration was cut off as the lab doors opened and Omega turned to see who it was.

“How nice to see you reunited with your trusted assistant.” Hemlock commented to Nala Se. He massaged the palm of his gloved hand. “I’m sure Omega’s presence here will only strengthen your efforts. Shall we head to the vault?” He waved a hand in front of him towards the doors.

Omega went to leave but Nala Se’s hand on her shoulder stopped her from advancing.

“See to your remaining tasks.” Nala Se instructed before they left the lab.

Omega watched them from the window and wondered what was so special about this vault Hemlock had mentioned but she didn’t have the means to find that out yet. For now, she had little choice but to head to her next chore of the day.

--

She glared at the droid as he shocked one of the Lurca hounds and she irritably scooped some food up before sending it through the hatch into the bowl of the hound she was currently tending to. As the droid’s attention was focused on something else, she took the opportunity to gather more loose straw from the ground and hid it in the bottom compartment of her box.

She carried on to the last cage to see her favourite of the hounds. “Hi Batcher.” She whispered to the hound curled up at the far end of the cage but her only reply was a low growl. It was then she noticed the bowl was overflowing with uneaten food. “Hmm. Still won’t eat the food, huh? I don’t blame you.” She stole a quick glance back to the droid to see he was still paying her no attention and she took the chance to fish out her lunch from earlier. “Here, I saved you some of mine.”

Batcher got to her feet but snarled and pressed herself aggressively against the bars of the enclosure.

In the shock, Omega had dropped the nuggets inside the cage, but she watched as Batcher ate them and swiftly retreated to the back of the space. “Better? I’ll bring you more tomorrow.” She stood up and left to do what she had been wanting to do the entire day.

--

As she slowly walked down the corridor, she glanced between each of the cells, the sounds of teeth chattering and coughing made her concern grow as she saw the effects this place was having on all of the clones here.

She made her way to the cell she’d been searching for. “Crosshair.” She called quietly. “I tried to come earlier, but there were too many guards watching me.”

Crosshair sighed. “You shouldn’t be down here at all.”

“Well, how else are we gonna plan an escape?”

“There is no ‘we.’ And there is no escape.” Crosshair sat up. “I’ve already tried.”

“Every stronghold has a weak point.” Omega said. “Maybe I can convince Emerie to help. She’s one of us.”

She sounded just like them and that was the last thing he needed. “Not every clone is your ally. You trust too easily.”

“Maybe you don’t trust enough.” Omega countered but as she said that she noticed a tremor in his right hand which he tried to conceal with by holding it with his left. “Crosshair?”

“Just…” He sighed again. He didn’t need her pity or her concern. “Go, before you make things worse for both of us.”

Omega went to leave but she stopped herself. “There has to be a way out of here. I’ll find it.” She didn’t expect a reply, so she didn’t wait for one, instead she left now.

Crosshair watched her go. Even from that small interaction, he’d already seen so much of them in her and that would either make her or break her in this place and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be around to watch.

--

Darkness had fallen and it was that time again where she scratched the next tally into the wall. She brought the Lula hay doll out and held it close to her chest- it wasn’t much but it was the reminder of home she needed. If you truly weren’t here, then Omega knew you all would be looking for her, but she was going to do whatever it took to make that easier.

--

5 months later

The dripping water, the sunlight creeping in, the birds chirping, the concealing of her doll at the bottom of her box… the routine was all so familiar now. She was already standing at the ready for when Emerie opened the door and, like clockwork, it whirred open to reveal the older clone who had the same opening remark she always did.

“Good morning, Omega.”

“Good morning.”

“Let’s begin.” Emerie led the way out.

--

Yet again, they walked the same route to the testing centre and yet again she passed Crosshair in the corridor, but she had long since learned that trying for any sort of recognition from him in this environment was pointless, so she kept her gaze down too.

She let her blood be drawn, her hand was now numb to the sensation, and she took all the samples to the lab where Nala Se once again destroyed all traces of her sample. She hadn’t been able to learn anything more about the vault or the specimens but what she had gathered was that you, Hunter, and Wrecker definitely were not here and that made the thought of escape feel far more feasible and appealing.

--

The lurca hounds were the same as they always were but as she made her way to Batcher’s spot, she saw the hound tending to a nasty cut on her front right leg. “Batcher? K-9X1! Hurry!” She yelled to the droid.

“What is the issue?” The droid asked as he approached the girl.

“Batcher’s hurt.” Omega informed him.

“LH-201 sustained injures during the nightly patrol. If her wounds do not heal, the subject will be terminated.”

“Then do something to help her!” Omega demanded.

“I am not a medical droid. It is not part of my programming.”

Omega could only watch as the droid merely walked away, and she turned to the sound of Batcher’s whimpers of pain. She wouldn’t accept termination as Batcher’s fate, if the droid wouldn’t help Batcher, then she would.

She ran over to the medical kit on the wall and took the bacta out but when she reached into the kennel to try and tend to the wound, Batcher snapped at her. “Now look. I need to clean your wound for it to get better. It’ll only hurt for a second, so put those teeth away and behave.” She said sternly but it seemed to do the trick as Batcher let her do it. “See? That’s not so bad.”

Omega worked in silence for a few seconds before she spoke to the hound again, “You know, I have a friend that would’ve been able to help us get along a lot faster.” She said warmly as she continued to apply the bacta to the wound. “But I think we’re getting there now.” She smiled as Batcher gave her hand a tentative lick once she finished with the bacta.

--

“I dressed Batcher’s wounds as best as I could. At least she didn’t bite me. That’s progress, right?” she looked at Crosshair, but he gave her nothing, so she continued talking. “If she doesn’t get better soon…” She sighed. “Maybe I can steal a med kit from the lab and see if there’s anything I can use-”

“Stop.” Crosshair interrupted her with a frustrated sigh. Clearly the others hadn’t done a very good job of making her stay on course and now he needed to be the one to remind her. “What is your primary objective?”

“Escape.” Omega answered.

“Then stop wasting time on lost causes. Forget the hound, forget me, and complete the mission.”

“Not without you.”

“If I get the chance to escape, I wouldn’t think twice about leaving you behind.”

“You’re lying! You wouldn’t do that. You’re my brother.”

She had been insisting on that for months now, no matter how many times he tried to push her away and he didn’t know how much more of that he could tolerate hearing. “I’m not them.” Crosshair snapped.

Omega couldn’t accept that. “I’m not giving up, Crosshair. I won’t let you either.” She got up to leave.

Crosshair stood up with a heavy breath and called out to her retreating figure. “Omega.”

Omega stopped and turned back to face him.

“Don’t risk anything for me. I belong in here.” He said, meaning every word.

“None of us belong in here.” She replied before walking away.

--

Her door whirred open before the usual time, and she woke up with a gasp as two troopers entered her room. She got to her feet and concealed her doll behind her. “What’s going on?” She asked Emerie.

“Surprise inspection. Standard procedure.” Emerie informed her.

“Clear.” One of the commandos said.

However, the other noticed the doll hidden behind her back and he tore it from her grip and handed it to Emerie.

“We’ve been over this before, Omega. Personal items are forbidden.” Emerie chastised her. “I’ll dispose of it.”

“Don’t!” Omega protested. “Please, Emerie.”

“It is for your own good. Come, we have work to do.”

--

It was a welcome sight to see Batcher so happy to greet her this time around. “Hey, Batcher.” Omega said fondly and she saw the wound had nearly scarred over. “Look at you. You’re almost at a hundred percent.” She gave her a soft scratch on the jaw.

“Did you not read the standing order for the day?” The droid yanked her to her feet. “LH-201 has been slated for termination.”

“What? Why? She’s healed.” Omega argued.

“The creature’s recent domesticated disposition has been deemed a liability.”

“But that’s my fault, not hers.” Omega tried to resist being pulled away, with Batcher also barking in protest, but the droid’s grip was strong.

The droid groaned. “It is protocol.”

Omega finally managed to weasel her way out of his grasp and steal his datapad but the droid reacted swiftly and started to pull it away from her. She allowed herself to be tugged airborne and she braced her feet against the droid’s torso and leaned back, the momentum giving her the victory. She got away from the droid with the datapad in her hands and she quickly activated one of the large crates on the ceiling above and it fell on top of K-9X1. She grabbed his electro-staff and shocked him with it but not before he had the chance to call security so now, she had to act swiftly.

Omega used the datapad to open the exit hatch in Batcher’s kennel and deactivated her collar. “Batcher, come!” She ran over to the bars and reached in to take the collar off the hound. “Now you need to run away and not come back, okay?” It pained her to let her one close companion go but it needed to happen. She patted her snout. “And try not to bite anyone.”

Batcher hesitated and whined at her.

“I can’t go with you yet.” Omega explained. “I have to get Crosshair first. Batcher, go!” Omega watched her run down the tunnel with both relief and sadness, but she’d get out soon too, she knew she would.

“Breaking the rules, I see.”

Omega jumped and turned around to see Hemlock standing before her and Emerie standing behind him.

“And releasing a weak lurca hound into the wild? I didn’t know you were so cruel, Omega.”

“Me? You were gonna terminate her.” Omega said angrily.

“And you believe your actions changed that outcome?” When Omega faltered in her reply, he kept speaking, “Now some rotations ago, one of our shuttles crashed just beyond this mountain. But that is not what killed them. No, it was the creatures that roam the jungle. Even our strongest lurca hounds struggle against what’s beyond these walls. And your domestication of LH-201 only made her vulnerable.”

“You don’t know she won’t survive.” Omega disputed. “She deserves a chance.”

“Oh, the flawed logic of an idealistic child.” Hemlock’s tone fuelled with quiet mockery. “Emotion and sentiment have no place within these walls. You would do well to remember that.”

She wasn’t afraid of his threats anymore. “Or what?”

Seeing the way he turned to look at Omega again, Emerie hastily intervened. “Doctor, perhaps I should return Omega to her room.”

Hemlock held a hand up to stop her from going any further and kept his gaze on Omega. “You have more to say?”

“I know you brought me here to make Nala Se cooperate. You need her. She won’t work for you if you hurt me.” Omega said confidently.

Hemlock only laughed. “Of course I’m not gonna hurt you, Omega.” He inhaled deeply. “Your friend in the detention block, however, may not be as fortunate.”

“Don’t hurt Crosshair! He didn’t do anything.”

“I did have plans for CT-9904, despite his resistance to re-education, but I am willing to make a few sacrifices if your misbehaviour continues.” He bent from the waist and leaned down towards her. “Actions always have consequences. Sometimes not in the ways we imagine.”

Now that threat was one that she knew he would follow through on and she didn’t want to be responsible for Crosshair suffering even more than he was already.

“Take her back to her room and restrict her access.” Hemlock ordered Emerie as he exited.

Omega left with her a few seconds later.

--

Night had fallen and Omega sat huddled on the edge of her bed, but she heard the door open. “Go away.” She said with a sigh, not even bothering to look at Emerie this time.

“Omega…”

“Please… just go.” She requested, hoping the misery in her voice would be enough to convince Emerie to leave and she was grateful to hear her footsteps retreat and she angled herself towards the door to see that her hay Lula had been returned to her. She picked it up, but the sound of a lurca howling brought her back to the window.

She attempted in vain to peer through to bars to the outside for any sign of Batcher, but she couldn’t see anything. She then looked at the growing collection of tallies that represented the months that she’d been here. It may take more time, but now more than ever she knew she needed to get out and she needed to take Crosshair with her.

--

Hunter’s eyes snapped open, and his heart was pounding in his chest, but his surroundings told him it had been another dream. The ship was still steadily travelling through hyperspace towards Oba Diah, and the three of you had been using the long journey to catch up on some much-needed rest before the mission would begin.

Reaching out to Roland Durand of all people had felt like a long shot but when he said he could help if you only found the Pyke that had disgraced him and the Durand name, it had been an easy decision to accept but it had done nothing to quell the worry and fear that coursed through his veins. He sat up and began the usual routine of deep breathing.

Ever since you’d fully opened yourself up to him and the Force again, he didn’t need to wake you anymore when this happened, you would feel everything he felt and wake up a couple seconds after he did, and this time was no different. “Which one this time?” You whispered; your tone filled with tender understanding.

“I’m sorry.” Hunter rasped as he steadied his breathing. He hated that this was having a knock-on effect on you two, especially since your own sleep had only now started to get better. You were another person he was still finding a way to let down.

You shushed him softly as you sat up next to him. You have nothing to be sorry for. “Which one?” You prompted again. You knew his sleep had been haunted by more than just the reminders of what had happened in the recent months, it was these new nightmares that were plaguing him more and more.

Hunter released a heavy breath. “Same one as the nights before. I can see her, she’s right in front of me but no matter what I do, I can’t reach her and- and then she’s taken away.”

You pressed your lips to his shoulder, and you rubbed soothing circles on his back. “This mission for Durand is another step in the right direction. You’re doing all you can. We will find her, Hunter.”

Hunter shook his head and swung his legs out to the side of the bunk. “We took too long to find you, and you weren’t even really hiding.” Hunter countered without glancing back at you.

He didn’t need to look at you for you to feel his distress. You reached a hand out to his shoulder to try and get him to face you again. “Hunter-”

He gently but firmly pushed your hand away. “I’m going to go over what we’ve got again. Go back to sleep, I’ll be back soon.”

You sighed and watched him go to the cockpit. You’d seen the shift in him as had Wrecker. The relief of your reunion had long since passed and he, like the two of you, was getting more desperate to find Omega but it was affecting him far more than he was willing to talk about. His once calm and collected demeanour had vanished and he was taking on missions with little care for the risk or conditions they came with and this mission for Durand was no exception. Whilst you and Wrecker were happy to agree, there had been little discussion over the matter or the conditions of the deal. The two of you had done what you could, but you knew the only true thing that would bring him comfort would be finding Omega again.

Although a strong part of you wanted to follow him, you knew that right now, he needed the space, and you would give him that, but you couldn’t stand by and watch him drive himself into the ground for much longer.

--

You woke up again to find the space next to you ice cold and you knew that Hunter had not returned at all, and he wasn’t planning too. You tossed the blanket aside and silently walked towards the cockpit where you could hear the faint tapping of fingers against the keys of a datapad.

You leaned against the entryway to the cockpit and studied him for a moment as he kept his focus on Tech’s datapad. He looked utterly exhausted. His head drooped every few seconds, his shoulders were hunched, and weariness was written all across his face. It pained you to see him like this.

Aware that his brother was sleeping a few metres away, his words to you were quiet, “I said I’d be back soon.” He continued to tap through the intel that he’d been anxiously scanning for any detail he could’ve missed.

“You said that hours ago.” You matched his volume and straightened up. “You need to talk to me. Shutting down like this isn’t good for you.”

“I’m not shutting down. I’m doing what needs to be done to get Omega back.” He couldn’t stop. He’d let her down for long enough. The answer was there, and he kept missing it and he couldn’t stand it.

You fully came into the cockpit and kneeled in front of him. “You may be a leader, Hunter, but you’re not alone. This isn’t just the fear that we’re not going to get her back because you know we’re not going to stop until we do. There’s something else you’re afraid of.” You searched his face for a sign of what more it could be, but he wasn’t giving anything away. You kept your voice low but kind, “What is it?”

Hunter ignored you and kept his eyes fixed on the words on the screen in his possession, but he wasn’t reading them anymore.

“Hunter, put it down.” You attempted to take the datapad but his hold was too tight.

“I can’t stop. I can’t. She-” He cut himself off and swallowed thickly. “I can’t stop.” He repeated again, his voice barely above a whisper.

“You’re no good to anyone if you’re too exhausted to think straight.” You said with concern. “Talk to me, please.”

Hunter silently shook his head. The responsibility of all of this was on him, you shouldn’t be worrying about him now.

You knew how hard this was and he rarely allowed himself those moments of vulnerability, but he’d been there for you countless times, it was now your turn to be the one he could lean on. “You’ve helped me through so much, Hunter.” You placed one hand on his tattooed cheek and stroked your thumb along his cheekbone and whether he meant it or not, you felt him relax into your touch. “Let me help you now.” You whispered as your other hand fanned across the datapad and started to push it out of his grasp. “Put it down.”

“I-”

“Put it down.” You repeated again, applying more pressure now as you felt his resistance fade and relief coursed through you as he let you take it from him.

Hunter finally let the datapad slip from his grasp and he let the tiredness take over and his body sagged against the chair.

“What else is it that’s bothering you?” You came back from putting the datapad away and crouched again and laid your hands on his knees.

Hunter hesitated for a moment but for this first time since he woke up, he caught your eyes and he saw nothing but love and concern behind them and he swallowed thickly. “All she wanted was to not end up an experiment and that’s exactly what I’ve let happen.”

“Hunter…”

The words just tumbled from him now. “I let down Crosshair, I let down T- I let down Tech. I was too late to save them, but I still had you, I still had Wrecker and I still had Omega. Then you and Omega were ripped away from us and that was another thing I couldn’t stop. I relied too much on Wrecker when we were looking for you, I wasn’t who he needed me to be, and I can feel that happening again. I can’t be too late again. I can’t let another person down… I can’t let Omega down.” He turned away from you once more.

Your heart broke for him. “You have done no such thing.” You brought your hand back to his face to keep his eyes on you. “Listen to me, you didn’t let them down and you weren’t too late for them. At that time, Crosshair had made his choice, and you wouldn’t have been able to change his mind. Tech, he-” You felt the emotions rise up in your throat, choking the next words you were going to say. After pausing for a second, you cleared your throat and started again, “Tech made his choice. That wasn’t you being too late for them. As for Wrecker, he won’t and doesn’t think that. You’re his brother first, Hunter, he would never think that.” You paused for a moment to let that sink in before you added, “And you weren’t too late for me either. I’m right here with you and I’m not going anywhere.”

Hunter’s jaw tightened as he listened to the words you said but he couldn’t quite bring himself to fully believe them.

Still seeing the reluctance behind his eyes, you took his hand and placed it over your heart. “Feel that? I’m not worried, I’m not doubting you. We’re getting her back, you have not failed her, Hunter and she’ll know we’re looking for her. She’ll know that.”

Hunter closed his eyes and let the comfort of your steady heartbeat flood his senses.

After some time had passed, you decided it was time for him to get some proper rest before you arrived on Oba Dia. “Come on.” You took his hands, and a gentle tug encouraged him enough to get to his feet.

Hunter was so tired he could barely register his movements; all he knew was somehow you were getting his feet moving and leading him back to your bunk.

“Lie down.” You instructed gently as you reached the bed.

Hunter did as you said, and he felt you slide in next to him, he willed his weary body to turn and hold you like he usually did.

You shook your head and nudged him, so his back was facing you. You wrapped your arm around him and put your hand in his and placed it over his chest. “Just close your eyes and breathe with me.”

“This mission’s gonna help us somehow, right?” Hunter murmured with a tired voice.

You planted a soft kiss to the hinge of his jaw. Yes, it will. Drug syndicates were not high on your list on the people you were looking to stay on an even keel for. The Pykes weren’t going to stop you from doing whatever it took to get to her.

Next Chapter>

Tagging: @noeasyisnoisy, @fuckoffthanos, @tpwkcalli, @graciexmarvel, @arctrooper69, @starwarsnerd111, @nightmonkeysstuff, @brujaporfavor, @flyingkangaroo, @sunkissedclones, @ladytano420, @keep-calm-and-drink-caf, @yyourmotherr, @xxeiraxx, @dragonrider9905, @skellymom, @lokigirlszendaya

[marlsswrites]

Summer camp AU, part 10!!

July 10th <3

Marathon - @jegulus-microfic - words: 1020

First part Previous part

It was a beautiful, hot, summers day. What Regulus would normally love to do on a day like this, would be to lounge around in the shade, his fair complexion turns the colour of a tomato in the sun way too fast for his liking, grab a good book, and finish it before going to sleep.

But like he said, that's his ideal day if he wasn't at a summer camp in the middle of August. That is why right now, he's watching kids wait around and chatter excitedly about the water fight that James had been planning all morning. They had water balloons, water guns, actual buckets of water, quite literally everything.

James did receive a lecture on the water guns from Regulus after he shot the younger boy with one of them, he said it was 'by accident' but it most certainly wasn't judging from the shit eating grin on the other boys face as he bit his lip to tone down his smile. Admittedly, that made Regulus fucking crumble on the spot the way he sucked his lip through his teeth.

"Are you ready?" James bounced at his side, tugging at his arm to pull him up from the table. Regulus obliged in a second, letting James drag him up from his seat, only receiving an eyebrow raise from Regulus in return.

"Ready for what exactly? To watch teenagers throw water at each other?" He sarcastically remarked, waving his silver ringed hands at the group of kids.

"Nope." He patted Regulus on the shoulder and popped the 'P' at the end of his statement. "Hayley merely suggested that we join in, so we are." Beaming, the other boy watched as Regulus' face turned from bored to fuming within a few seconds of each other. "Oh no-"

"James fucking Potter, you actual idiot. I will not be-"

James cut him off, pouting and offering his best puppy eyes look as he tugged on a black silky ringlet falling in front of Regulus' eyes. "Please?"

Mesmerised, Regulus stood there and gazed into every aspect of James' face. He could feel James' slightly cool fingertips on his cheek, he could see his ring adorned thumb right in front of his eyes, he swore he could even hear his own heart beating in his reddening ears. God, he's angelic, Regulus was sure if you looked close enough you could see the man glowing. His face was the definition of ethereal, skin turned golden brown in the hazy morning sunlight, eyes hooded and wide as a curious child's.

At that moment in time, he felt a freezing, stinging, splash at the back of his head. He whipped around, forcing James' sinful hand away from his face, now turning to see a boy with mousy brown messy hair, stood tall and grinning at him.

"Don't be a wimp, come on Regulus!" His sly smirk widened. Regulus turned back to face James, who had stuffed his fist over his mouth which was failing to hide his matched smirk to the younger boy.

"Oh god there's two of them." Regulus looked at James, pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. Now he just purposely locked eyes with James before yelling. "Whoever targets James gets extra marshmallows tonight!"

That was all it took for the kids to scramble up, loading their water guns in the clear blue lake and picked up their buckets of water balloons, then firing them at a running James, who clumsily flipped Regulus off over his shoulder before attempting to run away again.

Satisfied with himself, Regulus sat right back down on the bench, pulling his knees up to his chest and propping his head up on them.

-

Nearly fifteen minutes later, James throws his hands up in the air, collapsing on the grass in front of a smirking Regulus and throwing his head back on the floor. He closed his eyes and flapped his hands out to the side. "I surrender, or whatever! Leave me alone." He groaned and brought his hands up to rub over his face.

"Did you have fun?" Regulus smiled down at the boy in front of him, trying his best not to fall off the bench when he noticed the way his white shirt was practically see through and clung to him like skin. Regulus could see everything, and by gods he was not complaining, the shirt sunk into the pivots on his skin and rounded at his abs and the sharp yet smooth v-line descending into his shorts.

Fuck, okay, deep breaths.

It's nothing he hasn't seen before, he's sharing a room with James, but in his defence he does react something like this every time. Normally he just opts to peeking out over the top of his book that his focus was long gone on.

"Are-" He panted. "You-" He took another breath. "Proud of yourself?" James finished, with a kick of his soaked through shoe at Regulus' leg.

"Very." Regulus declared, indeed very proudly, before snorting and deciding to slide off the bench and sit next to James.

"God, I feel like I just ran a marathon." James huffed out a long breath and picked up his very dishevelled head to look at Regulus with an almost impressed look.

Regulus ran a hand through his hair, laughing slightly. "Think you nearly did." He paused for a thought. "How far did you actually go?"

"Other side of camp." James mumbled.

Regulus bit back a now even louder laugh, judging from the fact that this is one of the largest camps in the UK, and that it took him about twenty minutes to walk to Sirius' cabin on the other side of the campus.

"I saw your friend Barty, he didn't help out though he just tried to trip me up... and succeeded." James said thoughtfully, whacking Regulus on the thigh when he started laughing.

"I'm very proud of him." Regulus tilted his head at James, who sat up, folded his arms and glared at Regulus for a record breaking five seconds before cracking a wide smile. The younger boy soon followed to match it with a fond eye roll.

Next part

[goldengalore]

Perception

Summary: Y/N has social anxiety. When she and Harry go on a double date with Jeff and Glenne, Harry thinks everything is going extremely well. It isn’t until they get home later that he realizes Y/N didn’t feel the same way.

Word count: 3.5k

Warnings: anxiety, eating problems due to anxiety, use of alcohol as a coping mechanism (which I do not condone), implied smut

A/N: I focus on H’s POV throughout just to show how much his perception of events differs from Y/N’s, which is tainted by her anxiety. Hoping to write more fics with this concept in the future! :)

***

“You know, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” says Harry, entering the master bathroom where Y/N is meticulously applying her makeup.

They have dinner plans tonight with two of Harry’s closest friends—his manager Jeff and Jeff’s wife Glenne. Y/N has met Jeff a few times but only in a professional setting, and she has yet to meet Glenne. Although the four of them have tried making plans to hang out before, they never came to fruition because Y/N’s anxiety would always spiral out of control leading up to the event, causing Harry to make up some excuse for why they have to cancel.

“D—do you not want me to go?” asks Y/N.

He frowns, slipping his hands into the pockets of his brown corduroy pants. “What? Of course I do.”

“It’s just...” She pops open the cap of the lipstick in her hands and stares down at it. “This is the third time you’ve said that to me today.”

His eyes fall shut for a moment, as he realizes how his words must have come across when repeated that many times. “Fuck. Sorry, lovie, I hadn’t meant it that way. I just don’t want you to feel pressured to do something you’re not comfortable with.”

“I can’t bail on them again, H. I’ve done that enough times already.” She sighs. “And besides... Life’s about getting out of your comfort zone, right?” She forces a smile and returns to applying her makeup, leaning forward to get a closer look in the mirror.

He notices a slight tremor in her hand as she glides the rounded edge of the scarlet lipstick across her bottom lip, then the top one. Her lips now match the colour of her knee-length, satin dress. She spent longer than usual getting ready for tonight, going the extra mile to ensure that her makeup was flawless and every hair was in its place.

Now, as he watches her eyes scan her reflection in the mirror, it’s almost like he can read her mind, like he can see her mentally scrutinizing every little aspect of her appearance that she perceives as an imperfection but he perceives as one of the many things he loves about her.

“You look stunning,” he tells her.

She smiles at him. “Thank you, baby.”

He walks over to her. She turns to face him, leaning her hip against the counter. The movement causes a perfectly curled strand of hair to fall over her shoulder. He gently brushes it back. She truly does look stunning, and it’s making him imagine all the things he wants to do to her right now but can’t because it will only end up making them late for dinner, which won’t be any good for her anxiety.

“I hope you know you don’t need to impress them or anything like that,” he says. “They already love you.”

She gives him a skeptical look. “How can they already love me? They barely know me.”

“Um, not true. I talk about you a lot. Probably far too much. In fact, Jeff has told me to shut up on a few different occasions because I wouldn’t stop going on about you.”

His admission makes her laugh and paints her cheeks a cute shade of pink.

“So, they already know lots about you,” he continues, “and they think you’re amazing, which means there’s nothing to prove. All right?”

She nods. He analyzes her expression closely but still can’t discern whether she actually believes him or not; he can only hope she does. He starts to lean in for a kiss but stops an inch away from her lips. She gazes up at him in confusion.

“I really want to kiss you,” he says, “but your lipstick’s going to get all over me.”

She rolls her eyes. “You’re such a baby. Come here.” With a hand on the back of his neck, she pulls him in to complete the kiss, then effortlessly wipes the residue off his mouth with her thumb. “See? All gone.” She smiles sweetly, making him want to kiss her all over again.

“Okay, now get out,” she says. “I need to pee before we leave.”

“Fiiine. I’ll meet you downstairs.”

***

They arrive at the restaurant at nearly the same time as Jeff and Glenne. The four of them convene in the parking lot before heading inside together. The reservation is under Jeff’s name. He speaks to the hostess, who guides them to a booth in the private dining area. It’s quieter here, the dim lighting and soft jazz making it feel even more intimate.

Each couple takes one side of the booth. Harry lets Y/N slide in before him. As they get settled, Jeff asks Y/N if she has ever eaten at this restaurant before. She shakes her head in response. Jeff lets out a dramatic gasp.

“What?! H never brought you here?” He shoots Harry a judgmental look. “What kind of boyfriend are you, man?”

“An amazing one, thank you very much,” Harry retorts, adding, “We’ve just never had a chance to come here.”

The real reason Harry has never brought Y/N here before is that eating in public triggers her anxiety. She tried apologizing to him once for her anxiety preventing them from being a “normal” couple who goes on “normal” dates at restaurants, but he refused to let her apologize for something that’s out of her control. And anyway, they don’t need to go out to fancy restaurants to have fun. As long as he’s with her, he’ll have fun no matter where they are.

“Well, Y/N,” says Jeff, “I can assure you this place serves the best food in all of Los Angeles. I would even go as far as saying all of America.”

“Okay, don’t oversell it now,” Glenne intervenes. “You’re going to set her expectations way too high and she’ll be disappointed.”

“Impossible,” he states confidently.

Glenne rolls her eyes and turns to Y/N. “He’s obsessed with this place, in case you couldn’t tell. Brought me here for our first three dates. Not one, not two”—she leans forward to emphasize—“but three.”

“Oh, you loved it.” When she doesn’t refute his statement, a victorious grin spreads across his face.

Y/N seems enamoured with their exchange. “How did you guys meet?” she asks.

They launch into a story about their very first interaction and how that cascaded into them falling madly in love. A story that Harry has heard a million times now and never gets tired of.

He is a hopeless romantic through and through. He loves love.

Jeff and Glenne have always seemed like the perfect match. In all his years of knowing them and especially on the day he officiated their wedding, Harry often found himself wishing that he could find a love like theirs someday—so pure and everlasting.

Although he and Y/N are still in the early stages of their relationship, having dated for only a few months, something keeps telling him that this might be the love he’s been yearning for all along. And every time he’s with her, that feeling is reinforced.

The waiter—a man of average height with neatly styled blonde hair who introduces himself as Dylan—comes by to deliver their menus and obtain their drink orders. When he leaves, Harry, Jeff, and Glenne begin discussing the menu items, bouncing ideas off each other about what to get and commenting on dishes they’ve previously tried.

Y/N is silent. When Harry looks over at her, she’s staring down at her menu blankly, brows furrowed, teeth nibbling on her bottom lip. The menu items do have strange names, and the brief descriptions accompanying them are not very informative, so he can understand her confusion as a first-timer.

He leans over to her and points at an item on her menu. “I think you’ll like that one.”

She seems relieved to finally have some input on what to order. “Okay, I’ll get that then. But, um...” She glances at Jeff and Glenne, who are immersed in their own conversation about the menu, and drops her voice as she asks, “Do you mind ordering it for me? I’ll probably butcher the name if I try.”

“Sure, no problem.” He straightens up in his seat, then leans back over to her to add, “But just so you know, I’ve butchered plenty of these names before, so you wouldn’t be the first to do it.”

She gives him an appreciative grin.

After some time, Dylan the waiter returns with their drinks and notes down their orders. From the corner of his eye, Harry notices Y/N down a large portion of her cocktail in one go.

Ever since she opened up to him about her struggles with social anxiety, he has been trying to read up on it to understand and support her better. He recalls reading somewhere that people with social anxiety often use alcohol to soothe their nerves before and during social interactions. He has certainly caught Y/N doing that on several occasions. It may not be the healthiest coping mechanism, but he doesn’t judge her for it. He knows from experience what an effective, though temporary, salve alcohol can be for difficult emotions.

“So, Y/N, how did you and H meet?” Glenne asks. “I’ve heard the story from him, but I want to hear your side of it.”

The three of them stare at Y/N expectantly. Her leg is bouncing up and down under the table. Harry places his hand on her thigh, squeezing it gently, reassuringly.

She clears her throat. “We, um, we met in a Zoom meeting.”

“Isn’t that so romantic?” Harry jokes, eliciting a laugh from them.

Y/N seems to relax a bit.

“Wait, hold on,” says Glenne. “Rewind before the Zoom meeting. Harry told me Jeff reached out to you about getting your help with some merch designs?”

“Right, yeah, I’ll start from there,” says Y/N. “Jeff actually reached out to my friend Rosie. She handles all my social media and helps my art gain exposure—all the things I’m not so good at,” she laughs. “So, Rosie called me and said that Harry’s team had reached out to her about my artwork and asked if I would be willing to help design some new exclusive merch for him. I was about to say no at first because well, the thought of my art being seen on such a massive scale was... terrifying. But Rosie convinced me that it would be a great opportunity, so I said yes.”

“Thank God,” Harry mumbles off to the side.

She smiles, continuing, “So, Jeff and Rosie set up a Zoom meeting for the four of us. I was absolutely terrified. Rosie had to do all the talking. I probably said five words the whole time.”

“I remember exactly what she said.” He counts on his fingers as he lists off the only phrases she uttered that day, “She said ‘hi,’ she said ‘thank you’ twice, and she said ‘bye.’”

Glenne chuckles, looking fondly between the two of them.

“The second meeting was much better,” says Y/N. “I actually had to talk since Rosie couldn’t make it. Harry made me feel really comfortable, and I realized he wasn’t scary at all. He also kept reassuring me that I would get credit for my work, as if he thought I was afraid he’d take my designs and run off with them.”

“Yup, classic Harry,” Jeff remarks, nodding along.

Harry’s cheeks grow warm. “Well, I thought that was why you were being so hesitant!” he explains to Y/N. “It’s happened to other people. Didn’t want you to think I was like that. I’m a man of integrity, you know.”

“Oh, I never doubted that, baby.” She places her hand on top of his on her thigh.

“What a sweet story,” says Glenne.

“Who knew people could find love over Zoom?” Jeff jokes.

“Maybe they should change their branding and become a dating website,” Y/N adds facetiously, earning a laugh from all of them.

It delights Harry to see her opening up to his friends. This is the Y/N that he wanted them to see—the funny, opinionated person beneath the shy, reserved exterior. There are so many layers to her, and he finds himself uncovering more and more each day.

Their orders arrive a few minutes later. Everyone except Y/N digs into their food ravenously. She takes several sips of her drink before even touching anything on her plate. On the way there, Harry told her that she could sneak her food onto his plate if her nerves were making it hard to eat.

“You’re just saying that because you like stealing my food,” she said when he suggested that.

“You got me,” he replied with a smirk.

Dinner goes swimmingly. Y/N loosens up more and more as time goes on. He can’t be sure whether it’s the effects of the alcohol—she’s had a few refills of her drink—or the fact that she’s growing comfortable around Jeff and Glenne, but he would like to think it’s mostly the latter.

After they’ve finished eating and paid the bill, Y/N and Glenne take a trip to the restroom while Harry and Jeff wait for them outside the entrance.

“Y/N seems awesome,” says Jeff. “I can’t believe you’ve been hiding her from us this whole time.”

Harry gives him an amused look. “I haven’t been ‘hiding’ her. She’s just shy. Takes her a bit to get comfortable around new people, you know?”

“I get that. Hopefully, she can start coming out with us more often. Seems like she’s going to be around for a while.” He smirks and playfully nudges Harry, who coughs into his fist to cover up the boyish grin on his face.

The door to the restaurant swings open, and out comes Glenne with her arm wrapped around Y/N’s. They’re both laughing about something.

“Someone’s a little tipsy,” says Glenne, as they approach the men. “She almost walked into a wall coming out of the restroom.”

Y/N hiccups. “It came out of nowhere!”

“Good thing I caught her in time.”

“Thanks, Glenne,” says Harry. “I’ll take it from here.” He puts an arm around his girlfriend’s shoulders, pulling her close to him.

“I’m really not that drunk,” she insists, hiccupping again.

“Whatever you say, lovie,” he teases, planting a kiss on the side of her head.

***

Y/N hardly says a word on the ride home. Harry doesn’t think anything of it. He’s still musing over what a wonderful night it was and how happy he is that his friends got along so well with his girlfriend.

When they get home, it’s still pretty early, so they decide to watch a movie on the couch. Y/N lays with her head on his chest, face directed towards the TV. She hasn’t moved or spoken in a while, so he assumes she must have fallen asleep in the middle of the movie, but then she suddenly sits up.

“I’m pretty tired,” she tells him. “I think I’ll head to bed, but you can finish the movie without me.”

“Are you sure?”

She nods and gives him a kiss goodnight before standing up and leaving the room.

The movie is still playing, but Harry can no longer focus. Something about the way Y/N avoided his eyes when she got up and her brisk steps toward the stairs has left him feeling strange. He tries to tell himself that she probably was just tired and eager to crawl into bed, but that explanation doesn’t quite satisfy him.

His gut is urging him to go upstairs and check on her. He waits a few minutes before doing so, quietly climbing the stairs and approaching the bedroom at the end of the hall. The lights are off, but the door is open. He peeks inside and sees Y/N laying there under the covers, wide awake, staring up at the ceiling.

“Lovie?”

She jumps a little at his voice and turns to look at him. “What are you doing here? I said you could finish the movie without me.”

“It’s no fun without you.” He walks in and sits down on the bed next to her, switching on the lamp on the bedside table. “Wanna tell me what’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” He lightly taps her forehead, bringing a small smile to her lips.

“Nothing. It’s stupid.” She closes her eyes and sighs. When she opens them again, there’s a sadness behind them. “I’m sorry, H.”

“For what?”

“For embarrassing you in front of your friends tonight.”

He frowns. “Embarrassing me? Is this about you getting a bit drunk? There’s nothing wrong with that, you know. It’s not like you were climbing on tables and cussing at bystanders. That would have been embarrassing, albeit hilarious.”

“It’s not just that.” She shakes her head. “It was... It was everything. I was trying so hard to act normal, but everything that came out of my mouth just felt awkward, and then there’s the fact that I hardly ate anything and I know Jeff noticed that because he kept glancing over at my plate and I could tell he was wondering why I was acting so strange, and I also feel like I wasn’t contributing to the conversation as much as I should have, but I—I just didn’t know what to say and now I’m worried that they think I’m boring or—or—”

“Y/N, hey.” He places a gentle hand on her chest to halt her rambling. “Take a deep breath for me.”

He feels her chest rise as she inhales deeply, then fall as she exhales slowly.

“Good. Now listen to me. You did not embarrass me, so get that out of your head right now, okay?”

She nods.

“And all those worries floating around in your head? They’re not real, my love. Dinner went really well. You were wonderful. I was having a great time, and I thought you were too, but I might’ve misinterpreted things—”

“You didn’t. I was having a good time. It was only after we left that I started getting in my head about it...” She pouts. “I just really wanted them to like me.”

“They do. I promise they do. You know what Jeff said to me while we were waiting outside for you and Glenne? He said you’re awesome and he hopes you’ll come out with us more often. Now why would he say that if he didn’t like you?”

She shrugs. “Maybe he was just trying to be polite?”

That almost makes him keel over with laughter. “Sweetheart, Jeff and I are way past the point of politeness. If he doesn’t like someone I’m seeing, he does not hesitate to tell me.”

She stares up at the ceiling again, biting on her lip. “Did he really say that?” she asks eventually.

“He did. But in case you don’t believe me, let me show you a text I received from Glenne after we got home.”

He takes his phone out of his pocket and opens up his messages with Glenne. The most recent one says, “Hey, I completely forgot to get Y/N’s number. Would you mind sending it to me? I’d love to plan a shopping trip with her sometime.” He allows Y/N to read it for herself.

She looks at him when she’s done.

“Believe me now?” he asks.

“Yes.” Pulling the covers up over her head, she releases a frustrated groan. “Why am I like this? Why do I get so in my head about these things?”

He lies down next to her and brings the covers back down below her face. “It’s okay. It’s just your mind playing tricks on you, that’s all.”

“How do you even put up with me?”

“The real question is, how do you”—he shifts to get on top of her, his face hovering above hers—“put up with me”—he kisses her lips—“constantly wanting to be around you”—then her neck—“all the bloody time?”

She giggles and squirms at the feeling of his lips leaving sloppy, open-mouthed kisses all along her neck. As he continues showering her with kisses, all the tension seems to evaporate from her body. She melts into the mattress. Determined to help her relax even further, he lifts up the covers from the bottom and ducks under them.

“What are you doing?” she asks.

“I’ve heard the best remedy for anxious thoughts is an orgasm.”

He can hear the amusement in her voice as she replies, “Oh, is that right?”

“Mhm.” His hands slide up her thighs, spreading them apart to make room for himself.

“Did you read that on WebMD?”

“Something like that.”

***

Thank you for reading! For more anxious!reader and other fics, check out my MASTERLIST

[yurinaa-world]

This is for the 800 milestone 🎉🎉🎉🎉 Argenti and Dan Heng Letters are Q, X, Y

Thank you!!! Congratulations! ❤️

✦Characters: Dan Heng & Argenti

✦Alphabet: Q, X, Y

800 Follower Milestone Event; Under The Stars

𝒟𝒶𝓃 𝐻𝑒𝓃𝑔

✦Quirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

Photographic memory: he remembers everything you need to do or where you need to be. He'll remind you if you forgot to fix your weapon since it got damaged. Clothes you needed to return but forgot, and it’s already the last day, he’ll remind you to return before you go out. That one accessory he saw, waiting for it to go on sale, but now you’ve completely forgotten it, he’ll remind you since he doesn’t want you to groan later about how you completely missed the sale and now you’ll have to wait or buy it at full price!

✦XOXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

He’s shy about it but loves being affectionate with you. Like after a long day of putting several things into the archive without a break, he’s exhausted, you can keep talking your head off to him while you hold each other close. It's actually relaxing.

✦Yearning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

Got you two matching rings so he can look at it and think of you. His ring has the colour of your eyes, and your ring is his eye colour. He just can’t wait to see you again.

𝒜𝓇𝑔𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒾

✦Quirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

He is an amazing stylist; he knows how to get you looking fabulous in any type of occasion, in any type of clothes. You feel like a model whenever you go out on a date together. Just look at yourself while feeling so happy with how he dressed you and he’s always happy when you're happy. You can pick his outfit as well, he trusts your fashion choices.

✦XOXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

He is a complete romantic, like if you're gonna kiss you gotta have a beautiful setting as well AND! You can’t forget the roses dedicated to you, which are only one fraction of his love for you.

✦Yearning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

Has a picture of you in a necklace that he always puts under his shirt just in case it gets damaged. It would undoubtedly be a nightmare if that necklace breaks, and he loses your beautiful picture. Luckily, that never happened, well lucky for any who hasn’t been put in the position of his wrath.

[silurisanguine]

When their gear matched.

Am i the only one who comes up with little stories for serendipitous moments in game?( beyond writing fanfic of course!)

Example here: My Crow Rook Teleri De Riva got this suit as their first Crow outfit and almost straight after Lucanis got his version. Now this isn't the outfit i keep my Rook in, but this was better than anything else i had at the time so i decided to make a little headcanon that fit around their romance and how they ended up in matching gear. -'

When Teleri returns to Antiva, she is told by Viago that tradition dictates she must wear her dress uniform to show she is committed to her House again.

She doesn't hate the dress uniform, but finds it less comfortable than what she normally wears, even though it looks good on her. Because it makes her stand straight, the leather chest-plate allowing less freedom of movement.

Lucanis notices her discomfort and wanting to empathise, pulls out his in the Dellamorte colours. He hasn't worn it for years but it still fits, so the next time he is asked to join her on a mission, he turns up wearing it as a sign of solidarity.

Teleri is taken aback by the gesture, not knowing what to think. The great Demon of Vyrantium has the most amazing gear, she’s caught a glimpse of his wardrobe he brought with him, stored in Taash’s room, and yet here he is in his dress formals like her. She would hug him if it wouldn’t embarrass them both, so she just nods and makes a joke about it looking better on him than her to which he replies in all sincerity, "not from where he’s looking."

The flirty banter has been like this since they first met. There is obvious chemistry between them, even when the star truck nature of meeting him wore off and she began to see his personality being one of a kind hearted, yet traumatised man. To wear this uniform with her is such a silent message that he is there for her, no matter what.

When Viago sees them both wearing their dress uniforms, he rolls his eyes, knowing how much of a romantic Lucanis can be, but Teia elbows him hard, seeing that Lucanis has such puppy eyes for her friend.

Later when she finally gets back into her usual gear, she makes sure to let Lucanis know that she appreciates the gesture but can they both never wear that uniform again - which makes him laugh, something he seems to only do for her.

[bigdumbbambieyes]

Billy rubs the soft fabric of a shirt between his fingertips with a thoughtful look on his face, mutters to his boyfriend to feel it, so Steve does.

It’s nice. Thin and cool, perfect for Billy because he likes to layer clothing in the spring. Thinks that the colour will look nice against Billy’s skin tone and hair, especially if it’s under his denim jacket.

But, the way Billy frowns when he looks at the price tag isn’t nice. It’s awful. Makes Steve want to buy the shirt in every colour just for him.

Billy lets the price tag go and quietly walks away, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets to go towards the clearance section of the store, like he always does.

Steve watches him for a moment before looking down at the shirt again, grabs the price tag and takes a look.

He takes it off the rack without a second thought and heads towards the register at the front to pay.

🤍

“Steve!” Billy’s voice calls from their bedroom later that day, when Steve’s cracking open a can of Coke in the kitchen.

He sounds…off. So, Steve takes a sip before leaving the can on counter and heading to the bedroom, where he spots Billy in front of the bed, holding the shirt.

He looks upset. Mad, a little. Mostly irritated.

Because Steve knows that Billy doesn’t like charity. He doesn’t like it when Steve buys him things when he can’t buy them for himself. He doesn’t see these gifts as what they are, instead he sees them as pity, and he’s always quick to reject them.

Still, Steve smiles and tries to keep his tone light as he says, “Oh, you like my new shirt?”

Billy’s jaw is clenched as he eyes him, still angry, but his eyes soften a little as the words register. Steve’s new shirt. Not Billy’s. He didn’t buy it for Billy.

As Steve had hoped, the tension melts away in his boyfriend’s shoulders. Because there is no charity, no pity, no superior complex, no ‘you’ve never had anything nice in your life so let me spoil you rotten’.

Well, maybe a little.

Steve steps into the bedroom and goes over to the blond, saying playfully because they share most of their clothes already, “You can borrow it, if you ask nicely.”

The sharp little look that Billy gives him for that makes him grin, and he leans in to press a kiss to that sharp cupid’s bow, feeling Billy clutching the shirt between them as they kiss.

Billy rests their foreheads together as Steve wraps his arms around him, keeping them close, and Billy mumbles a quiet ‘thanks’ in the space between them. Because they compromise. Because Billy knows that Steve wants to spoil him, but he can’t allow himself to be. Not yet.

Steve kisses him again and again, sweet little pecks, Billy’s favourite. He makes sure his boyfriend is well-loved before he pulls away, grabbing the price tag when he spots it and pulls it off. Can’t be returned now.

“Brat,” Billy mumbles with affection, a small smirk on his face, and Steve shrugs innocently with a matching look.

🤍

The next morning, Billy heads to the front door and says, “Max needs a ride to school, I’ll be back in a bit.”

Steve looks over as he stuffs a spoonful of Cheerios into his mouth, chewing quietly as he watches Billy stuff his feet into his shoes and pulls on his denim jacket over their new shirt.

It looks just as good as he knew it would, and he smiles around his mouthful as Billy comes over to kiss him goodbye, leaning down over the couch to do so.

“Shirt looks good on you,” Steve hums after swallowing, already going for another spoonful as Billy heads to the door, muttering a soft and easy ‘yeah, yeah’ before leaving.

Sinking a little deeper into the couch, Steve smiles in triumph.

[multific]

Married for Love

Aegon II Targaryen x Reader

Summary: Alicient had enough of Aegon, so she sent him to a different kingdom, she hoped he would learn there. But Aegon found more than just a new home.

When you heard that a prince will be housed by your father, you didn't know what to think of it at first.

But then, Aegon joined your home.

---

Many months have passed, almost a year when the news arrived, House Targaryen will visit the son they sent away.

Aegon was not thrilled, to say the least.

He knew this could mean a couple of things, either his father was dead or dying.

He let out a long sigh but you placed a kiss on his skin as you hugged him, hoping it would calm him.

---

"Mother, Father, Brother and Sister, I would like to welcome you all." Aegon stood in front of his family, all four of them eyeing him up and down, Aegon looked really really good. Healthy, strong, a lot more muscular than the last time any of them saw him.

Aegon went ahead to greet his family before everyone else in the palace. He wanted them to see how well he was, laugh into their faces that he was doing so much better.

His mother came over to give him a kiss and a hug. 

"I'll guide you to the King." he said as he turned to do so, but then you caught his eyes, "Actually before I do so, I would like for you all to meet my lovely wife, Y/N, daughter of King Y/L/N." he held his hand out and everyone's gaze fell on you.

You wore a beautiful gown, the colour matched your skin tone perfectly, a simple ring on your finger, matching Aegon's and you had a smile on.

"Your Grace, it is really nice to finally meet the family of my dear husband." with one last smile, you walked beside Aegon into the castle, guiding your guests to the throne room.

Everyone at the back was confused.

Aegon was married? Since when? And to a Princess? Why didn't they know about this?

But no one dared to question, the connection between the two Houses had to be strong, questioning you would definitely not sit well with your father.

All of you came to a stop before two huge doors, a knight came over to you and whispered something before returning to his position.

"Looks like my mother's taking a little while to get ready. In a couple minutes and they will let us all in." you said as you turned towards the family, again, a kind smile on your face before you turned back. 

You could feel their eyes burning holes into your back.

Aegon took a slight step, putting his hand on your waist, and pulling you close as you placed one of your arms around him. You placed your head on his shoulder.

You knew, he needed you to calm him without words, and that is what you did. Just being there for him was enough. 

His family could only watch in shock. They watched as your arm moved from his back and onto his shoulder as you stepped closer, you ran your fingers through his hair before you placed a kiss on his cheek. Leaving a slight pink tint behind before getting it with your fingers.

Everyone knew that the couple in front of them was in love. These touches were not planned or faked. 

You then turned in your husband's arm and smiled at them.

"Hope you had a great journey." Silence. Complete silence, but your smile never faded. 

"It was okay, thank you. May I ask, what kind of bugs do you have around here?" Aegon's sister spoke up.

"Oh, I don't like them too much, I do have animals, however."

"Animals?"

"A couple." this made Aegon chuckle and you hit his arm. "A lot yes, deer, rabbits, foxes, cats, dogs, wolves, birds. We are close to the big forest, they come by all the time."

"You feed them." Aegon spoke up as he shifted from one leg to another but never turning to face his family, only looking at you or the door in front of him.

"I do, but where are animals, there are insects, you should check the forest, there are many in there."

"Wolves?" she asked, shocked. "Wouldn't they eat the bunnies?"

"They would, but I forbid them. They listen because I feed them. I'll show you later in the garden if you wish, Princess."

"We are going." said Aegon as the door started to open just when Aegon's father wanted to speak.

All of you walked in, you and Aegon joined your father on his throne, you sat down in your chair beside your mother while Aegon stood beside you.

"King Vicerys and his family! My old friend, thank you for visiting us." your father greeted them.

"Old friend, it was news for me to find out that my son married your daughter." right into the middle, Aegon's father was surely not playing around. 

"Oh, yes. Married them myself, my only daughter, I was happy she found such a boy for herself. When you sent Aegon over to my Kingdom, we never expected such happiness to grace us! Truly thrilled to have him here." then the conversation moved to more basic topics. Aegon moved to kneel next to you as he asked you about your dress or something, you couldn't quite understand.

"Sorry, what?" you asked as he came to eye level with you.

"I said, you looked breathtaking in this dress."

"Well, thank you. I doubt my dress is as breathtaking as the news of our marriage to your family."

"Like I care. I bet they expected to find me either in a ditch drunk or in a whorehouse... Not like I know where it is!" his eyes widened as he looked at you. 

"Sure..." you pouted before moving a little in your seat. You knew about his past, of course you did, you were first to know why the prince was there and your mother really had no filter.

But soon, everyone grew to love Aegon, especially you.

"Anyway, do you know for how long they are here?" he asked.

"Mother said about a week. She said they probably wanted to take you back to Red Keep."

"But this is my home, and if I go, you would have to come with me. I am not going to bring you into a life of misery because of my family."

"They can't be that bad." you said and Aegon just looked at you. "Okay, maybe, but I love you and if they want you back in King's Landing, I'll go with you." Aegon made a face before he looked at his family, noticing how his brother was staring at the two of you. He then looked back at you.

"My happiness is with you, you know that but King's Landing is very different from here, you won't like it there. No forests. No animals."

"I'd choose you over every animal or forest."

Aegon then stood up once again, this conversation might not be over but for now, it was.

Lunch went rather well, your mother was talking with the Queen all along, your mother was a very wise woman, you only wished to be half as great as she was. She knew that the moment she let's the Queen out of her sight, she might go to Aegon.

You and Aegon ate in silence, occasionally exchanging looks or smiles. 

As you promised to Helaena, you showed her the gardens, Aemond also followed as the four of you walked around. 

"So, you feed all of them yourself?"

"I try to check daily as my duties allow me."

"Or she sends me." Aegon spoke up, for the first time looking at his sister.

"Because you can lift the water bucket. We used to have traps when I was young, but when I was young I saw a deer caught, I cried so much my mother made my father take all the traps away. And so, we feed them now." you smiled at her and Aemond.

"Did you name them?" asked the Princess. 

"Some, yes." 

"She named a deer after me. When I arrived, she said the deer reminded her of me as it was just as thin." Aegon smiled at the memory. 

"Yes, but now, both of them are healthy." you said as you looked at the rose bush, noting a small red bug on it, it was one you actually liked. "Here." you let the bug crawl onto your hand before you turned to Helaena. "We call it Ladybug. It is said the dots on its back tells you how old they are." you watched her for a second before you turned your attention to Aemond. "I assume Prince Aemond is not so fond of flowers or animals, we do have training grounds, although I'm afraid I'm not the expert to show you around, it would be my husband." Aemond bowed his head a little as a small form of thank you as he did not finding any words. 

Aemond was clearly taken aback, Aegon noticed but said nothing, smiling at his brother before looking back at you.

Aemond for sure thought Aegon would be a mess, much like how he was before his entire life, but instead, they found him, married, happy and strong. 

Aemond was jealous.

So jealous.

Aegon had an amazing wife, a caring soul who was not only beautiful but smart and caring. And Aemond wanted the same.

Your tour soon came to an end as you all decided to rest up a bit before dinner.

"Your brother is jealous." you said as Aegon took his jacket off.

"I noticed. He looked at you like a lost duckling."

"But your sister's nice."

"Wait until she places a spider onto your shoulder." a shiver ran down your spine. 

"Do you really think they want to bring you back?"

He nodded. Well, you weren't blind, his father was not in the best health.

"I never really thought this was a question of IF Aegon. Rather a WHEN. You are the heir right? Not your half-sister but you, so, they would want you back, especially now that you not only survived here but thrived. I have been getting ready for it since the moment we kissed for the first time." you both smiled at the memory.

"My parents didn't like that we are married. I could tell."

"Like I care. We are married, and I'm not leaving you." Although both of you knew there would be ways for his family to try and separate you, you two also knew that no matter what, you two will find your way back to one another.

Part2

Taglist: imreadinggoaway @fleursirvart @v-2bucky ehsebastiancrunch-time-sports  @pxstelrainbow ablogbypeteparker liamssmilersmexylemony @greenarrowhead feelingsareharddd @thisismysecrethappyplace @sincerelyfan @theoneanna @aestheticsandmarvel @rororo06 @castellandiangelo @avengers-r-us @destynelseclipsa   @spilledinkindumpster celebsimagine @capsiclesdoll snoopy3000 @firstangeldragonranch @puknow @crazzyter  @alwayshave-faith @soleil-dor @alex12948 scream-kiwi79  @lxdyred  @imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl​ @liveforkarljacobs @anonymoussherlockandmarvelgeek​ @paola-carter​ @stunkbiggu @violet-19999​ @praline357​ @trshngyn

~Masterlist~

ˇAO3ˇ

             DO NOT REPOST OR TRANSLATE ANY OF MY WORKS

[anakinvoidwalker]

"...why can't I get anymore nice days"

{This is for the summer @morrotober event :D}

(I'M SORRY IM LATE I WASN'T IN THE COUNTRY)

pretty short lil fic, just a goofy lil idea

Summary: Morro getting ice cream with Wu and then being a theatre kid

Morro fiddled with the bandage wrapped around his left hand and arm, following barely a pace behind his Sensei as the two of them walked away from Mystake’s tea shop. Sensei Wu was the only one who had any evidence that they had been there at all as he held a brown paper bag in his left hand, the hand furthest away from Morro. He seemed to be holding the bag a bit tighter than necessary, Morro could see his knuckles going white along with the tension in his Sensei’s jaw.

The wind around Wu shifted as he sighed to himself before turning to look at Morro, whose head was down as continued to fiddle with the bandage, the wrapping threatening to come undone.

“You seem tense, Morro,” Sensei Wu observed as he strode forward, looking over his shoulder at his student. “Would you like to stop at Jamanakai for some ice cream as we walk home?”

Morro looked up at his Sensei with confusion, accompanied by his curiosity that would most likely get him killed later.

“I…” Hesitation was clear as Morro pondered what he was going to say and how his Sensei would react. “I do not know what ‘ice cream’ is, Sensei. Could you… please explain what it is?”

That caused Sensei Wu to pause, Morro almost walking into the back of him.

“Ice cream is a cold sweet that is usually white in colour-”  Wu had begun to walk again as he spoke, Morro no longer in toe, but instead walking along beside his Sensei- “flavoured with vanilla essence, the most common flavour. Ice cream is typically made from sweetened cream which is…”

Sensei Wu continued to explain what ice cream was to his youngest, and only, pupil as the two of them walked side-by-side to Jamanakai Village.

Upon reaching the mountains, with the thin sheets of snow adorning most roofs and less walked paths, Wu led Morro to the centre of the village. A little fountain stood in the middle of the village square, a small cart with a striped umbrella atop it.

As soon as Morro spotted the cart, he ran straight over to it, barely over to look over the bench, Wu chuckling lightly as he followed his son over to the ice cream cart.

The vendor wore a light blue shirt with a pastel pink apron over top, the colours perfectly matching the strips of the umbrella, with a little white dixie cup sitting firmly in his hair. The vendor cast a glance between the two who stood in front of his cart, before smiling happily at them. “What can I do for you two today?”

“Just two vanilla ice cream cones please.” Sensei Wu handed the vendor some money before the man put it in his bag and began making the ice creams.

Morro looked up at his Sensei before hugging him, muttering a quiet “thank you, Dad” before turning his head sideways to watch the vendor prepare the ice cream. 

As he watched, Wu patted him gently on the shoulder while smiling, knowing that Morro was not looking at him, not that it mattered, he loved his son.

Once the ice creams were reading, the man handed them both over to Sensei Wu, who smiled in return. “I hope you have a good day, young man.”

“Thank you, and I hope you and your son enjoy your ice creams,” the vendor replied with a little wave as Wu turned around and began walking away, Morro in hot pursuit.

The moment Morro caught up with his sensei, he was handed an ice cream, which he proceeded to bite immediately upon receiving.

After a few seconds, while Wu was studying his pupil’s reaction to the ice cream, Morro’s face contorted from one of sheer joy to one of pain as he pushed his free hand to his forehead. “Owwww… Sensei! You didn’t say it was going to hurt to eat the ‘I scream’,” he whined, rubbing his head as Wu laughed to himself, even though he tried to hide it from Morro. “Don’t laugh at me! You didn’t warn me!”

Sensei Wu continued to eat his ice cream as he laughed light-heartedly at his student before his face showed slight pain while he squinted his eyes shut, placing his own hand against his forehead.

It took Morro a moment to figure out what was going on, but once he did, both he and Wu broke out laughing. The two of them together wandered over to a bench at the edge of the village square, sitting down together, laughing and eating ice cream. The pain from the bee sting in Morro’s hand, long forgotten, the tea leaves discarded next to them, not to be worried about for a long while.

As the two finished off their ice creams, Wu moved to stand but paused when he felt a slight tug on the side of his gi. “Yes, Morro?” He turned to look at his son, who looked uncharacteristically… upset almost. “What is wrong?”

“I was wondering.. if…” Morro trailed off a little, he didn’t want to anger or disappoint his father. “If it would be possible to have ice cream again someday?”

Wu knelt in front of his pupil, who he looked in the eyes, before smiling softly at him. “Of course Morro, there will be lots of time for ice cream”

Morro’s face lit up immediately, a small grin adorning his face. “And other nice days like this?”

 “There will always be more nice days, all you have to do is want them.”

The two of them then began to walk, hand in hand, down the path back to the monastery as the wind around them picked up and dark clouds rolled in.

Slowly, the wind grew to a strong gale, the wooden pilings of the shaking, causing the houses atop the docks to wobble a little. Sensei Wu stood with the civilians, assisting them to get onto the ferry that would be escorting them to safety. As he was doing that, Nya, one of his new students, fought off the ghosts nearby while his other students were focusing on trying to stop the Cursed Realm herself closer to the centre of Stiix. As the dock got less and less crowded, Wu noticed one of the ghosts standing atop the roof of the ferry.

Morro watched as his pitiful Sensei tried to get all the people to safety, surely he knew it was in vain. A grin spread across his face as he watched Sensei Wu turn and notice him, visible pain, panic and grief overtaking his face as he looked up at his former student, whose grin only grew.

“Those nice days do not always come, do they Sensei? And now, I’ll make sure you don’t get them anymore either!”

[reygunsandreynbows]

CBA to fight ao3 rnrn SOOOO

2am traumafic of doorkey (this is absolutely me projecting pain onto them but trying to make it soft)

tags: teen (implied violence), hurt/comfort, roughly 1.5k words, they're cute lil fuckers, predistortion Michael where they both work for gertrude, domestic af but make it traumatised

have funsies ill post this to ao3 later if I still like it by then

Gerry sprawled out across the couch. Their home was warm and soft, and having finally reached the big grand age of 27, Gerry could appreciate it. Comfort was nice.

Steam wandered lazily from his mug of tea, a bright mash of colours that Michael had bought. It felt fitting to have a part of his love with him at least. A podcast chattered on in the background, mostly there to fill the emptiness of the house and he'd long since tuned it out.

His book lay unread at his feet.

A knock on the door interrupted him pocket of heaven. It was gentle, timid even.

Curiosity sparked within him, Michael usually let himself in and he didn't remember ordering anything. With a spin and gentle laugh he propelled himself off the couch, embraced by the fluffy rugs that practically like their small apartment.

Customer service grin primed, Gerry spun the lock on the door, swinging it open.

A figure stood in the doorway.

Michael stood in the doorway. Crying.

He swayed slightly, eyes gaunt and tired, hair dishevelled and greasy.

Their eyes met as Gerry took in the sight. They stood there. Neither dared to move.

Barely audible above the whining of the wind and the complaints of his fingers at the cold, "Can I?" reached Gerry's ears. His heart sank as he stepped back to let Michael in. It was so cold outside.

Michael stumbled forwards. His weight shifted past the doorway as he collapsed into Gerry. His feet were like bricks, numb and heavy and far, far away. Like glass he maneuvered Michael, closing the door to stave off the chill that invaded his home.

The next moments blurred together, Gerry shuffling back to the bedroom with Michael draped across him, murmuring incoherently. His murmurs turned to whimpers as Gerry touched him, louder when Gerry wouldn't.

Michael sat on the bed, passive with his eyes glazed over and empty. He shook from the cold, fingers and eyes icy where they ought to have been the warm embrace of the summer sky.

Tender, Gerry unwrapped his lover's scarf. Worry pulsed through him, filling his veins with abject terror but he couldn't afford to freeze up. Anger burnt inside him, sparks waiting to be lit by the shock of injuries or pain. He'd kill Gertrude. He'd burn the institure, its statements and researchers, warm Michael with it's flames. Anything to keep him safe. To never see this again.

Michael looked like a child. Dwarfed in his own cardigan, surrounded by his scarf and coat which Gerry had slowly coaxed off him. He clung to the cardigan, fingers poking through the stitches, eyes trying feebly to follow the bright colours.

His skin was sallow and eyes soulless, like he'd seen what couldnt be returned from.

Gerry sat across from him on the bed, taking Michael's anxious hands into his own, kissing each knuckle. He hoped his breath would slowly warm Michael's hands, stave off the pain of thawing too fast. He'd do anything to save Michael from pain.

Slowly the fidgeting calmed, reducing into the occasional twitch or shiver as Michael melted into Gerry's touch. Gerry could feel the tension as it slowly leeched out of Michael's body, as his exhaustion crept up on him.

Gerry gently got up, planning to shuffle round to sit beside Michael. As he stood he felt the air change; Michael shot up, eyes tracking his hands in a frenzy like a startled animal.

Barely above a whisper, Gerry began to narrate his actions, moving slow and in sight. He settled down beside Michael, quietly celebrating as his lover settled into him, slumping against Gerry's shoulder.

Michael's breathing slowed into an even rhythm, matching Gerry's as Gerry merely rambled. A constant murmur of nothings and stupid facts and neighborhood gossip. Just so Michael would never feel alone.

After a few minutes Michael began tapping at Gerry's thigh. Timid, like he was scared he'd be berated, yet slowly more insistent Gerry looked at his lover's face, expecting petulance. Instead he was met with distress as Michael signalled to something beside Gerry.

Slowly clocking on, Gerry grabbed the juice box that sat on the windowsill. He must've left it there when he'd gotten home. Ordinarily he'd chastise his own forgetfulness but in the moment it felt like a blessing from God Himself.

Grabbing the carton, he swirled it slightly. It was half full at least. With one hand he cradled Michael's cheek, noting the slight flinch. With the other he held the box to Michael's lips for him to drink.

The noise Michael made was horrifying. Somewhere between a whimper and a scream, muffled by the fleshy confines of its mouth. Michael's lips were still agape as the juice began to trickle back out the corners of his lips. With slight panic Gery swiped a random cup from the table, holding it beneath Michael's mouth as he searched for tissues.

As his mouth finally emptied, Michael merely whimpered at his lover. His throat must've closed up from the coldness of the drink. Gerry placed at hand on Michael's neck, moving slow as not to startle him.

Across his neck was a thin rash. It seemed to match up to his necklace, like it'd been shoved into his neck until skin broke, until he choked. His blood boiled. It was like he could see the handprints on Michael's neck, see the perpetrator with hands dripping in red. He would kill whoever had hurt his Michael, chop their hands off lest they attempt to touch him again.

Michael simply looked at Gerry, tragedy painting his soft blue irises. With a smile and softer words of encouragement Gerry propped up Michaels head, offering him the juice once again.

It was torturously slow, watching Michael try to stomach the juice but he eventually managed.

His needs apparently met Michael began to sink back into the warmth of his lover. His eyes began to flutter shut, begging to escape the pain of his body. Gently Gerry picked him up, moving him to lie down across their bed. With all the care of a mother for her child, Gerry tried to tuck Michael in, layering the blankets and ensuring they covered him.

Gery curled up beside Michael, interlocking their fingers as they curled up into one another.

Tomorrow he'd seek vengeance. Tonight he'd care for his loverz

[he-goes-down]

There was a time:

Previous chapters/ warnings

A/N: this took like 3 weeks to finish, its longer than the other ones and at some points im just out of it so bear with me 🙏 (also additional rockstars, gifs at the end too) I also got too tired to keep changing povs

8. Look At Your Game Girl:

Second person pov:

It was soon Christmas Day, there was no big celebration or party as it was all leading up to a big New Year’s house party at one of Slash’s friends place in the hills. At least your Christmas day wasn’t horrible, everyone contributed to presents, even Axl as he was meant to go to Erin’s, but they were on a break. He wasn’t fazed and from you talking to her on the phone she was glad that they were taking a break. (She then told in secret that she met this new guy just as a fling and to not tell Axl as he would be furious.) But of course, when Axl goes onto other girls on break or not on break his girl shouldn’t care or complain. Axl’s present to you was a very fancy spoon that he stole from some old rich lady’s house, in return you gave him a red bandana. He was confused, but he tried it on, and he never took it off for the rest of the day, you brought him his iconic style. Slash gave you a ‘world’s best dad mug’ but scratched it out with a sharpie and said manager but written as ‘MAnGre’. Duff had given you a tea pot that he made in a pottery class he tried once when he was drunk out of his mind, but he said that his mind was on you when he was making it and put a lot of effort into it. It was slightly lobsided and concave in certain sections but the patterns and colours he used were very pretty. Steven gave you a cute keychain and said he’d share some of is coke with you later. Izzy, which was surprising, gave you a vinyl of one of your favourite albums from a more underground band from the 70’s. You had only mentioned the band a few times, but it wasn’t ever directed in conversations you had, or the little conversations you had. 

It was soon New Year’s Eve, Izzy and Duff went out to get some booze for the party and just fuck around town a bit, Axl was out somewhere unknown. Getting laid, getting arrested, picking fights, getting arrested for picking fights, doing unknown drugs, getting arrested for being in possession of said drugs, getting laid again. You pick. You, Slash and Steven were the only ones in the house. The Golden Trio. You were looking through your outfits to find a good one to wear to the party. You planned to get some tonight, or maybe at the minimum get a new year’s kiss and a fling because being tied to these gorgeous men and not being able to be with any of them was taking a slight toll on you. “Slash get in here!” You shouted throughout the house from your shared room. “Hmm?” He quirked as he slid into the doorway. “Pick one.” You held up two dresses. A short red cocktail dress, and a long black slit dress, both of which had small dainty straps to hold it up on your shoulders and the hanger. “Shit, I’d love to see you in the red one.” He smirked, ‘see’ meaning ‘fuck’. “Yeah, yeah whatever. But it doesn’t match the jacket, and I don’t want anything down there to freeze off.” You spoke. “I’ll keep you warm.” He flirted. You rolled his eyes, he always put in a dirty joke when he could. “Stevie! Get in here I need a second opinion instead of this buffoon.” You called out to him. Soon he walked into the room and stood next to Slash. He looked at the options in one quick look. “Red one. Red one. Please.” He repeated. You gave him a look. “Fine, the black one.” He groaned a fake groan. “Thank you.” You replied. “NOOOOO!” Slash started to have a fake tantrum begging for you to change your mind. You put the dress back and hang the black one on the doorknob. “Wait you know actually…” You spoke to yourself and swapped the dresses places. The red one now hanging on the doorknob to the cupboard. “Slash can I use your leather jacket? You know the one that’s slightly brown and bleached. The one that should stink like shit but doesn’t.” You told him. He basically ran to get it and bowed in front of you with it. “Madam.” He spoke. “Okay, get out I need to change.” You told them. 

You got to the living room with your outfit on and some light makeup, they both wolf whistled at the same time. They were like your personal hype men. “You know the party isn’t for a few hours though?” Steven said. “Yeah.” You spoke. “I thought I could go scout out someone to go with to the party.” You explained. “Speed dating!” Steven exclaimed. Slash whipped his head to face Steven. They started to have a telepathic conversation. You were quite confused, but they soon explained that they’ll come with you on this trip and select guys they know to have a little date with you at a bar. You didn’t object, this would be a fun experience. You didn’t necessarily trust their judgement, but you trusted them enough that they wouldn’t introduce you to a serial killer. You headed to one of the more upstaged bar in town and made your seating on one the stools while Slash and Steven sat in a booth nearby. Slash went out to the phone next to the bar and called up someone. This happened a few times as the people weren’t really your type, (They hadn’t showered in months), or you just didn’t feel a spark between you two, (One guy got his feet out and asked you to massage them.). You sat down with an exasperated sigh at Slash and Steven’s booth. They were trying to think of another guy to call up. “Okay, next one I don’t care who. I’ll settle with. I’ve had enough of this.”  You said as you ran your hands through your hair in a way to prepare for the next man.  “Come on look at your game girl. We have to get you the right man.” Slash said. “You haven’t been very good at it.” You rolled your eyes, “What about musicians? You really know how to make their heels spin.” Slash suggested.  “Fine, but no bass players.” You warned. “What a shame, because Duff-…” Slash started but Steven nudged him in the stomach with his elbow. Slash began to cough up utters and uncertainties. “Because- uh,” he coughed, “He knows a lot of other sexy players, yeah, yeah.” He finished nervously. Steven facepalmed and laid his head on the table in defeat. “I wouldn’t mind having a date with Duff.” You said nonchalantly, as you took a sip of your second margarita. “YOU WHAT!?” They both howled in unison. “What, I’m just saying he’s fine.” You replied, “So, so fine.” You added. He was absolutely gorgeous, and him being a sweetheart and taller than a skyscraper added a lot more to the appeal. Thinking about Duff made you start thinking about Axl again. ‘Shit.’ You thought, you needed advice. “Changing the topic, I need help. There is this… one guy that I like. It’s a bit complicated.” You began. They were all ears. “So, we kissed, but then the next week he got a gf, but now they’re broken up and I don’t know what to do.” You explained. Slash was trying to think who it would be, but Steven got it immediately and his jaw was on the floor. “Nuh uh, nuh uh. Stay away from A-… That man.” Steven protested. “A… A…” Slash thought and repeated. Then the biggest gasp came out his body. “AXL!?” “SHHHHHHH” you put your hand on his mouth and shushed him. “When? What? WHY?” He started again after you parted your hand from his mouth. “I thought that broke your no dating rule?” Steven enquired. “That’s why I don’t know what to do!” You said. Slash put his hand on your shoulder and put on a serious face. Silence. “Do not. Go for. That ginger.” Slash said slowly. He was vouching for Duff but also being serious. Axl and dating didn’t always go good together. You guys talked more about it and ended on a, ‘Don’t speak to him unless spoken too.’ And ‘Try ignore him as much as possible, without making him lose his shit.’

You decided against continuing with Slash and Steven’s horrible suitors, even after Slash was begging you to try ‘this one guy’ he had in mind, you’d rather just get laid at the party than prebook someone at this point. It was about 9pm when you, Slash and Steven got there. It was a huge house that could probably fit the whole population of a micro country in it. Most of the people were guys from rock bands that are just forming and deputing. All the girls there were gorgeous but were getting their face eaten by some scum looking man. A song from Def Leppard’s ‘Pyromania’ album was playing as you walked in - you actually worked with them on it, but you were a manager in training -. Slash scattered, either looking for girls, booze or Duff. You and Steven began to slowly take in your surroundings. “Y/N? Is that you?” You heard a familiar voice, and all of a sudden you felt someone wrap their arms around you from behind and pick you up. You yelped in surprise and confusion. You looked back to see Richie. Richie Sambora, guitarist of Bon Jovi, and the familiar voice approached you from the front. The man of the hour, Jon Bon fucking Jovi. “Richie put her down!” Jon laughed. If your past-self wasn’t the one in full control you would have thrown yourself at him with no second thought. JON BON FUCKING JOVI. He put you down and smiled a greeting, and you did the same. Jon came to you and gave you a bear hug. “God, I missed you. How have you been?” He asked excitedly. “I’m doing okay.” You smiled and spoke as Richie leaned on your shoulder. “How are you and the rest doing? I haven’t had time to listen to your new record, I’m glad one of had the backbone to talk to management and get it out this early.” You spoke. “We’re doing great, the album’s really making us some money.” Jon replied. Steven whispered a soft “Who the fuck are these guys?” In your ear. You explained how you co-managed with some idiot on their first album back in 83’ and started going over silly stories about the tour. Steven and You soon started to talk about you going to manage Guns ‘n Roses, Richie said it was a ‘kickass name’. After a few topic changes, you began to wonder. “Hey, is David here tonight?” You asked as you tapped Jon the shoulder.  “I knew you’d ask that.” He replied. “Who?” Steven enquired. “Oh? So, you haven’t told them about your past dating life?” He raised his eyebrow with a smug smile. You rolled your eyes. “Why didn’t you bring this up at our gossip sessions!?” Steven was flabbergasted. “Yeah, N/N why didn’t you?” Richie teased. “Just tell me where he is.” You crossed your arms. “Over there somewhere.” Jon chuckled as he pointed. “Just don’t get too close! He might pounce on you when he sees you wearing that!” Richie yelled and teased as you began walking away. You and David were dating whilst you managed for Bon Jovi, which broke your first cardinal rule with bands, but it wasn’t established back then. Your relationship was great but had to fall out as your co manager thought it unruly and kicked you out simply for being a girl in the industry. The guys were furious as you did all the work and he mostly just sat back, and chain smoked all day. In the crowd of people, you saw a tall figure with jagged long hair, and everyone around him was laughing as he made jokes. David Bryan. 

Slash’s POV:

I had finally found Duff after making a few detours to get booze. He was in one of the corners by a useless arch in the middle of the room. “Hey dude.” I greeted to him and gave him a beer I bought with. “What we lookin’ at?” I asked. His eyes were focused on a particular point of the room. “That guy Y/N’s with.” Duff said, his eyes laser focused on the two. “Her and Stevie were talking to the guys over there. Well after one of them picked her up.” He said in a very serious tone as he pointed to where Steven was, talking to two other guys; one with dark long hair and bangs, and another; taller, lighter brown hair which was longer and puffier, and a crazy jawline. “Then she went to that guy after one of them pointed him out.” Duff was going all out detective on me. He was back to scanning and deciphering every little movement of her and this guy. He’s tall, about same height as Duff. But he seems funnier as she’s laughing and giggling at everything he’s saying. I took a swig of my drink looking around the party for some hot girls to pull, I was getting a bit tired of just looking at the two of them flirt with one another. I took a quick glance at Duff, and he was slowly and dramatically turning his head to face me. His mouth a gape. Once he did a full 90 degree he stopped. “Is that your jacket?” He spoke. “She asked for it!” I jumped to the defensive. Duff wouldn’t be mad at me but god, he could whoop my ass if I did something out of line. He could be a real mom sometimes.

-

“I need you to do a job for me.” I started to speak. “See that girl over there.” I pointed. He nodded in response. “Break the bitch’s heart. Somehow. I don’t care, just do it.” I finished and slipped him five dollars, and we began to make our way through the crowd. 

-

Second Person POV:

You and David were catching up on what has been happening these past years. Reminiscing on the memories when you were an item. Your stomach started to hurt as you were laughing your ass off with him. “Where’d you get this jacket?” He asked and started to play the material on the shoulder and slowly worked his way to play with the ends of your hair. You didn’t mind the occasional flirt he slipped in with you. You did that same. After you two broke up you knew that you wouldn’t get back together and it was a thing of the present, but flirting and going further weren’t necessarily off the table. “I borrowed it from Slash. He’s probably somewhere over there. You craned your neck to search over the crowd of people. “What do you date superheroes now? What kind of name is that?” He joked. You rolled your eyes. “What kind of basic name is David?” You gave him a look. “Touché.” He said. “For your information we’re not dating. He’s the lead guitarist of a band I’m managing.” You explained. You looked into the pool of people again, “Oh, he’s coming over here right now.” You said with surprise. “He’s the one with similar hair to you, before your straightened it and whatever that thing on your head is.” You teased. “Hey! Be nice!” He fought back and chuckled. Slash soon made it to the two of you in a rush. “Hey! Hey! Can I have my jacket back?” He asked frantically. “Yeah sure. It’s getting hot in here anyway.” You smiled. Unzipping the jacket, taking it off and handing it to him. “Thanks.” He replied and went back into the crowd again in a quick movement. “Woah…” David said. His hand placed on your forearm and the other hovering over your waist, but further away into the air. He eyed you up and down with his blue eyes. “Shit, you’re still smoking… Even more if that’s possible. Damn.” He lavished in your being. You blushed, it burned your cheeks. You kept plating off jokes to try calm down the hellfire that was riding on your skin.

“I’m gonna go get more drinks, you want?” You asked. “Yes, thanks doll.” He side hugged you. “Be back soon.” He said, and began to start a conversation with the people he was previously talking to. You made your way to one of the walls were drinks were served, it was surprisingly not that crowded, most of the people just came there to get stuff and got to their corners. You poured the unknown mixture of booze in two red solo cups, and as you were about to depart from the alcohol station you were surprised the person you were suggested not to interact with. Axl. “Who was that guy you were talking to you?” He didn’t look aggravated or any kind or indication that he was. What was he planning? Why talk to you now? Now in such a casual way? You weren’t that close anymore. “Doesn’t really matter, does it?” You didn’t care if you were seen as bitter and petty, you wanted him to know that what he did still bothered you, even if he was too thick to know what it was. He got annoyed at that response, but not at you, at David, and started to cuss him out. With disses like, ‘Oh what the fuck is that haircut.’ Or going off about his height. You just rolled your eyes and took sips of your drink not really listening to his rambling. But the last parts caught your attention, saying how ‘he knows a guy’ that is better than David and is more meant for you and how ‘look at you game girl’ because you deserved someone better instead of ‘Flirting with some rando at a party.’ You decided to respond to his drunken nonsense. “Oh? And who would that be?” You couldn’t believe a word out of his face. This wasn’t the Axl you knew, trying to set you up with someone else, you were going to call it and guess he was talking about himself.  “Let me get him. Hold on babe.” He said, and he stepped back slightly to look for this mystery man. Now you were intrigued. Will his taste be better than Slash and Stevens? Maybe this was some plot to make it seem better that he hurt you. Maybe he knew that other people in his life have feelings too. Finally, he might have realised that. But he quickly returned with another man next to him; a taller man, same height as Duff and David, long blonde hair. Absolutely charismatic by just his looks. “This is-…” “Seb!?” You cut Axl off. You handed your drinks to Axl and he confusedly took them and you jumped into the tall man’s arms for a hug. “Shit it actually is you!” He responded excitedly. Sebastian Bach, another one of your former partners. Not Bach like the composer from the 1700s. But like the guy that played Gil in Gilmore Girls. His large hands placed on both your forearms as he looked you up and down, only having a vague impression on what he was thinking. “That’s fucking radical man! Thanks Ax!” Sebastian said as he hit Axl on the forearm, but Axl being dazed and confused and Sebastian being slightly drunk and not knowing his own strength, threw the drinks slightly out of his hand and it spilled a bit. “Uh… you’re welcome.” Axl responded. “Ax how did you and Baz meet? I didn’t know you were literally friends with everyone” You directed to last part to Seb. You were too tipsy and too excited to show off and frustration towards Axl, and it was making your blood pump now that Axl is a similar situation like you were with Erin. “Here’s your money back dude.” Sebastian gave him five dollars but he hesitantly took it as he was still shocked and confused. You looked at both of them back and forth, puzzled, but before you could ask questions David appeared from the wall of people. “Hey! I was wondering what was taking you so long.” He said with a smile as he approached. Then he proceeded to do a fake dramatized scene saying things along the lines ‘You left me to take to other guys’ but he was just joking around and he chuckled softly.

You, David and Sebastian were having a good time, tossing jokes and stories left right and centre. Axl had left, with a generic excuse, or he didn’t? You couldn’t remember, you didn’t really care. Before he left it was quite funny to see him surrounded by your two over 6-foot ex boyfriends towering over him as they casually talked and he just stood there. Finally, he wasn’t the big and intimidating one in the picture. “Oh, my fucking god...” You heard a loud huff from someone. It was Steven. “Your- your. Friend Jon oggly boogly, whatever the fuck his name is- He’s so jacked at beer pong. You need to see this.” He said as he panted excitedly. You all followed Steven to a pool table surrounded by people, there were red cups lined up on the table in strange patterns, and all the pool balls were lined up on one of the sides. Jon was the only one of that side, holding a pool stick in hand, getting ready to hit the ball closest to him. He hit it and it landed in one of the cups, people cheered, then he did a chain of hitting a ball, then hitting another and another, all in a line, and they all landed in respective cups. People cheered and applauded. David was one of the loudest ones, and went over to congratulate him. You and Sebastian did too, but David and Baz were much louder and energetic, even though Sebastian had never met him. That’s just the kind of guy he was; all in for the action. Sebastian soon joined you, as you were spectating the scene. David and Jon were off bonding and David really tried to beat Jon at his epic party trick. You and Baz talked about this band he’s in and that he’s wrote a few songs about you, well it was already written, but it was fine-tuned, and then that sparked new songs to be written.

Meanwhile, Steven was on his way to relay some information he had found out to his buddy Slash.

“Slash! Slash! Slash!” Steven yelled and panted as he got to Slash. Duff was next to him chatting but they both stop talking and looked at Steven. Steven the whispered things in Slash’s ear, but that didn’t help as Slash repeated what he said in a yell. “She’s fucked them before!?” He yelled but Steven covered his mouth and looked around to see if anyone was paying attention. “Who now?” Duff asked. “Those two guys over there, were in another band she worked with.” Steven explained in a calm voice to Slash. “And. Don’t go crazy. Those two. Are her ex boyfriends.” Steven said and there was a pause as he took his hand away from Slash’s mouth. Silence. Slash’s mouth was a gape. “And she didn’t tell us!?” He yelled. Steven rolled his eyes at Slash screaming. “That’s what I’m saying!” Steven joined in but not as loud as Slash. “What the hell are you guys on about?” Duff asked. Slash and Steven looked at each other with grimaces. “It doesn’t matter.” They said in unison. They didn’t want Duff to worry about his ‘little’ crush. “Slash have you told Duff what Y/n said today?” Steven asked, just remembering what she said about him. “OH SHIT NO!” he yelled excitedly and turned to Duff to debrief the situation.

While that was being discussed you and Sebastian were getting slightly bored on the other side of the room watching other people getting hammered. 

He suggested to go explore this mansion this party was being held in and you easily agreed. You wandered around each hallway and floor. You had hold Seb back physically when you two came into the garage and he saw all the fancy cars standing there. He did somehow manage to get keys to one of the cars and began to drive it in the humongous garage. He did however instantly stop as he nearly drove into the garage door. You two searched through the rest of the floors and rooms. They were all virtually deserted as most people were outside on one the main floor. You then came across an at home movie theatre and put on some nonsensical movie and just shouted at the screen. Seb also ran through the aisles and played hide and seek with you, sometime parkouring his way over the seats. But he was too tall, and his long blonde hair was easy catch on the eye in the dark. “Oh shit, hide!” You heard him whisper shout. You had just caught him jumping from one aisle to another, but he grabbed your arm and took you with him to the ground. Someone had opened the door the theatre. You stayed in silence for a bit on the floor, looking at each other, but the more you looked into each other’s eyes the more you just wanted to laugh. The Movie had been switched off and you heard footsteps coming closer. It then stopped. And then got quieter, heading to the door and the out of the room. There was a pause as you looked into each other’s eyes. Your faces so close together. His breath on yours. Your faces drawing closer. Both of you started to burst out laughing.

After crying and laughing on the floor you got up and began exploring more. This time it was you having to hide, and Sebastian had to find you. It was nearly midnight at this point, and you were close enough to the main aide of the party to hear that they were playing Van Halen. You were hiding in one of the rooms in the corridor that lead to the main party area.  Seb was peaking in the room next to where you were. You sneakily opened to door, you looked to where he was. Most of his body past the door and his head not visible as he was peering into the room next to yours. You tiptoed away from the room you were in and then began to run down the hallway. But Seb was quick to be on your tail. You both laughed as you were running. You were soon met with the end of the hallway, it did turn to the right and followed down, but you didn’t calculate that and so now you were against the wall just look at Seb run towards you. It did make you laugh harder as he was so close to you but then tripped over his own feet. His hand landed on either side of you on the wall as he tried to catch himself. The laughter stopped and he looked up at you after having a small pause to look down at the position he was in. Looking into each other’s eyes again. The world around you started to fade away. Getting butterflies again. This was just like how it was whne you dated before, and he was even more gorgeous. His hazel eyes starring into yours, his taller figure moving closer to your smaller one. Your faces getting closer. Lips tingling. Warm breaths mingling. He looked at your lips then back into your eyes, asking for permission. You nodded and his lips drew closer to yours. Painstakingly slow. You softly closed your eyes, waiting for the familiar feel of his kiss. Bout it was quickly stopped as both of you shot your heads to the side at the sound of one of the doors opening revealing a random man. He looked at you two and you looked back. He was only in his underwear and a tie around his neck and had a gullible look on his face. He took the tie off his neck and put it on the doorknob, and quietly but quickly going back into the room and closing the door. You both you looked back at each other in slow motion and then broke down in the laughter for the hundredth time today. You didn’t finish what you two started but went down the other corridor towards the party. 

On the other side of the party Slash, Steven and Duff were in deep conversation. “And then! And then! Get this.” Slash spoke. “She said, ‘I’m just saying he’s fine’! and then said, ‘so, so fine.’! YOU HAVE CHANCE MY BROTHER.” He continued. “Are you sure? Like sure, sure?” Duff asked. “Yes man. I was there too!” Steven piped in. “Look she’s over there. If you’re close enough now you can get a new year’s kiss.” Slash said to Duff with a scheming expression on his face. “Yeah, but look, that guy is talking to her.” Duff pointed out. You and Sebastian were standing on the other side of the room, closet to the doors that lead to a big balcony where you basically see the rest of L.A. “Well, if you don’t do it. Then I’ll take that opportunity.” Slash said, eyeing you from a far. Duff gave him a death stare. That comment sent Duff to go make his move.

It was now a few seconds to midnight, people have started to count down. The song over the speakers was now ‘Why Can’t This Be Love’ by Van Halen. You and Sebastian were slowly swaying together to the song, looking at each other and looking out to the balcony where the lights of the city were scattered like stars. The countdown was now at 10 seconds. ‘10’ the crowd of people said in unison. Seb put his hand on your hip and pulled you closer him. ‘9’. Duff and the two others make their way through the crowd of people. ‘8’. You put your arms around Sebastian’s neck. ‘7’. Slash stopped to get a drink. ‘6’. Sebastian whispered a corny joke in your ear. ‘5’. You laughed and he held you closer. ‘4’. He whispered in your ear. ‘3’ what he said made your face burn hot. ‘2’ A random woman snatched Duff from the crowd and started to make out with him. ‘1’ Sebastian pulled you closer and kissed you. You quickly kissed him back. Your lips slowly crashing together and both of you trying to desperately get closer to each other. The fireworks in going off in the background made the spark between the two of you burn hotter. After finally letting go of each other, looking over to the sparks of colourful lights explode in the sky outside of the balcony. You two went closer to the doors to get a wider look at the landscape of L.A exploding with fireworks. Him holding you close by his one hand on your hip, whispering another innuendo in your ear, you agreed flirtatiously. As you were about to rush off to one of the bedrooms you were called by a familiar voice that resided from the balcony. Axl. ‘For fuck sake again?’ You thought. You weren’t going to let him ruin another hook up again. You excused yourself to Sebastian and he gladly waited for you. You walked to the balcony where Axl stood by the railing, as you were close enough, he began to speak. “Hey listen-…” He started but you cut him off. “No you listen here. I don’t know what sad fucking game you’re playing at, but leave me out of it.” You said to him sternly. There was a pause, he was shocked at the response and then began to retaliate. “I’m only tryna be a good friend and look out for you! No need to be a bitch!” He yelled back. You wanted to slap him off the railing so bad. “What friend? We haven’t been friends ever since you thought it was a good idea to leave me out to dry like I’m some sort of prostitute to you?” you said without skipping a beat. “Is this about Erin?” He asked with distain. “No, it’s not about fucking Erin. It’s about you. You dating her and not even a week after we kissed. Did that even matter to you? Do you even remember it? Or is your brain still attached to your dick like always.” You responded, all these emotions were about to make you cry. But you held back. You wanted him to be the one that cries. “Yeah but-…” He tried to retaliate but you shut his responses down quickly until he was a bumbling fool. “Just. Just shut up. I’m not going to let you ruin another night for me.” You said. You walked away from him mumbling the words ‘Fucking narcissist’, under your breathe as you left him standing on the balcony.

You got to Sebastian, and he took your hand leading to who knows which bedroom. Duff on the other hand had finally got that chick off him, and tried looking for you but when he caught a glimpse of you. Slash covered his eyes. He tried fighting Slash off but Slash didn’t want Duff to see you being lead off with some other guy to do you know what.

Richie Sambora(left), Jon Bon Jovi(right) From Bon Jovi

David Bryan From Bon jovi

Sebastian Bach from Skid Row

(Additional song)

[secret-fiction]

Sonic Boom: Those Who're Made Fools

As April Fools day is upon them, Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends must content with a series of pranks that go a little farther than they would like.

Below is a oneshot Sonic Boom Fanfiction that I started and finished today, April fools day 2024. I have not time to edit because my scope for this got out of hand, so I'll share it now as to release it within Apr 1st my time. I'll release an edited version later this week. _________________________

While Sonic the Hedgehog would usually be sleeping in, the cool breeze blowing through his hut and swaying the hammock he lay on beckoned him awake. He declined this request to wake up at a normal time and curled up further. However his body began to shiver and his mind was dragged into enough consciousness to realize that the cool breeze was actually a freezing wind. His eyes shot open, seeing a light flurry of snowflakes blowing over him, already building up drifts in his beachside hut.

“What the f-, flakes? Snow??” said Sonic as he wobbled while standing up.

The warm light of sunrise was peering through his windows and the island outside looked as tropical as it should. The culprit, Sonic deduced, was likely the large yellow painted machine that looked like a window air-conditioner if it were on an industrial scale. 

A letter lifted off of the pile of mail he kept strewn on the ground and into his face. It was the invitation to Amy’s birthday event this evening. Thus, it was also April Fools day.

“Either Tails actually got his sleep schedule in check just to get me first, or I need to have a chat with him about staying up all night again,” said Sonic aloud, ears turning to listen for any unseen listener. 

The wind then picked up, and the snow flurries began to sting as they struck him. In fact it was more of a semi-frozen rain now. Everything in Sonic’s hut was quickly being coated with bits of water and ice which then turned into a slick layer over everything. He grumbled and shivered, then dashed to his door to find the off switch. The machine however blocked the entire doorway, and there were no controls on the side facing Sonic.

“Aw what the heck?!” Sonic tried to push the machine out of his door but found his feet slipping on the frozen and wet floor. “TAILS! I don’t wanna break your new toy here, but I will!”

Sonic heard no response aside from the torrent of wind and freezing rain, which grew strong enough to send him slipping onto his face and sliding away to the far wall. He grumbled, stood up, and placed his feet on the wall. With one strong kick he spin-dashed into the machine, sending pieces of it flying as it fell out of his doorframe. 

“Brrr, jeez,” said Sonic as he stood up and looked around, seeing no sign of Tails, “don’t tell me he already ran off to prepare another prank. This one was already a bit much… Guess I’ll have to teach him a lesson on restraint…”

With resolve filling his eyes, Sonic the Hedgehog took off running across the beach in a blur. The machine was left behind on his front porch, a problem for later perhaps.

A potential problem for Sonic immediately descended from a hidden perch in the trees of the jungle to the machine. They fluttered with insectoid wings and had a green colour to match the jungle canopy. They landed atop Tails’ machine, and yanked a kunai dagger out of the machine's control panel before returning heading for their next target.

____________

The drone of power tools echoed throughout Tails’ workshop as usual while he assembled a new gadget. Progress was going good by his insane standards of pacing, so he took a step back to look over the device. Lifting the goggles off of his eyes, which bore a giddiness bright enough to almost hide his dark eyebags. This projector he was modifying would surely be perfect for setting the mood at Amy’s event this evening. All he needed to do now was program a remote for ease of use, something he was learning other cared about when using technology, and then-

A swinging sound from his mail chute on the door pulled Tails’ attention away. Could it be Sonic’s counter attack already? He chuckled to himself, picturing Sonic popping out of a pile of harmless snow with a dumbfounded look on his face. Upon approach however he saw that it was clearly from Amy. It bore fancy calligraphy for the address and her custom rose wax seal which was slightly cracked, likely from its journey. 

“Oh, she must be excited,” muttered Tails to himself before biting the letter to open it with his teeth. 

Tails immediately regretted his lazy choice of letter opening when a pink cloud of a gas blasted from the letter and filled the workshop, and his mouth. The taste of floral air freshener made him gag and spit. Then the overwhelming smell filled his nose. It should smell pleasant, but the flower scent was so overwhelming and suffocating that Tails had to cover his snout. He then scrambled for the nearest window. 

“What The FLYING FFff-!” Tails gritted his teeth and compressed his fit into a soft growl. 

One by one Tails swung each window open. Then he opened the garage door of the hangar portion of the workshop. That didn’t dilute the air freshener smell fast enough so he turned on every industrial fan he could. Soon he resorted to his emergency eye and face wash station, shoving a pile of boxes that surrounded it out of the way. The torrent of water on his face face made his eyes stop stinging so bad and got most of the taste out of his mouth. But his nose was still completely overwhelmed. 

“I can’t work like this!! Why should I work like this?!” said Tails as he shook the water off of his head. 

The ring of his doorbell drew Tails’ irritated red eyes to the door. Opening it revealed a fast food bag of which he couldn’t smell at all sitting on his welcomemat. This was definitely another prank, and the fact that he was hungry now that he thought about him annoyed him more. So he leaned forward and kicked the bag away before turning to slam his door shut.

“Hey woah!” said Sonic, jumped down from atop the workshop roof, “what’s up? Not hungry?”

Tails glared at Sonic, and glanced at the bucket of ice and snow in Sonic grasp.

“Okay to be fair you really-” Sonic coughed and waved a hand in front of his muzzle, “wow bud isn’t that a bit much air freshener? It’s kinda distracting.” 

“Yes! And I guess Amy thinks that’s funny, since evidently you had a much more lazy prank in mind,” said Tails.

“Amy?” said Sonic, “She usually doesn’t take time for anything more elaborate than what you can buy at the joke store.”

“Yeah, except when she asks for help with her party tonight.” Tails walked to his work table and plugged his nose with tissue paper before pushing the projector project aside. “Let’s see how she likes my help now, heheheh…”

“Tails you’re getting a bit maniacal,” said Sonic, “seriously, don’t go overboard again. It just smells a bit too nice in here.”

“You don’t mess with someone's sense of smell and get off easy,” said Tails.

“Okay, well, can I ask your opinion on something first?” said Sonic

Tails turned to face Sonic, only to get a bit of half melted snow in his face. 

“I’ll ask for your help fixing my house later!” said Sonic before dropping the bucket and dashing away.

Tails grumbled, wiped the snow off his face, then grabbed any errant material he had lying around to build his revenge on Amy. After a moment or two he started thinking about what Sonic had said.

“...Fix his house? What?” 

In his state of sensory overload and anger, Tails failed to notice a figure move from the jungle canopy outside a nearby window. It stood tall, then began leaping between trees toward the village.

____________

The hum of Amy Rose’s voice trailed through her house as she happily prepared for the rest of the day. Her daily twenty-four step quill-styling routine was now ready, she was dressed, and every surface of the room was covered in decorations and snacks to be assorted. Sure she always had a bit of anxiety about the fact her birthday falls on the first of April, the day of fools fooling other fools. But that worry was now barely present after living the last couple years dealing with attacks from Dr. Eggman at any random time. 

Working out a block of time in her schedule to deal with an inevitable attack or crisis meant Amy had all the time she needed to still have a fun birthday. She smiled to herself while looking over a stack of colourful papers she had printed, it was hard to suppress her enthusiasm at having her friends over tonight. Truly the real power of one's birthday was the leverage it put everyone else to try your favorite forms of entertainment.

“Alright, let’s get this next part right,” said Amy to herself as she organized the papers, character sheets. “This is my one chance this year to convince the other that this’ll be fun. And this time I’m right.”

Amy’s smile faltered slightly as she remembered her failure to convince Sonic and the others that playing out her favorite musicals was fun. Really she should’ve known that’d be too much. This time though, a simple role playing game, she can get them to agree to do this more often.

A knock on her door made Amy jump and gasp with a smile. She waved her hands a bit to lower her giddiness, taking a deep breath. Then she skipped over to the door.

Greeting her outside was a basket with a bow on it, sitting just past her welcomemat. Amy’s heart skipped a beat, but she quickly recognized Knuckles’ handwriting. “Hope you like these colourful rocks!” It wasn’t a romantic gesture from Sonic, but still nice. With a sigh and a soft smile she stepped forward to see what varieties of polished stones Knuckles had-

Her boot fell through her welcomemat, and Amy stumbled into the hole the had been hidden just under it. It was a short fall, but she landed on her face and splattered some liquid all over herself. It took a few seconds of sitting still to process what just happened.

“What the F-Ow…” said Amy, as she stood up, eyes stinging from the oily fluid coating her. “What is this stuff?”

The smell, and once her vision cleared, the black colouration showed Amy that this was actually just oil. Used oil, most likely motor oil, from a motor, filled with gunk, that was now in her quills… and her whole dress.

“Are, You, SERIOUS?!” shouted Amy, “isn’t this a bit much!?” 

Amy sighed, but tried not to let this ruin her mood. It was meant as harmless fun, even if it was ruining her morning. It wasn't usual for Knuckles to be that deceptive though, even though signs pointed to him being involved with how good he is at digging. Perhaps Tails put him up to this, considering the use of engine oil. But why would he? This is usually a thing between him and Sonic.

After a moment to glower, Amy decided to climb out of the small hole. The dirty motor oil made this tricky however, as she fell back in several times. By the time she heard the swishing of Tails’ tails mid flight, and a nefarious chuckle, she had worked through her patience.

“TAILS! Get down here this instant!!” 

Amy heard a gasp, then the patter of footsteps. Tails leaned over the hole and looked at her with a strange squint. She in turn gave him the most stern look she could.

“This is really obnoxious, especially for you!” said Amy.

“Yeah, like you don’t know a thing about obnoxious pranks,” said Tails, glancing away from Amy’s eye contact.

“There’s Motor Oil In My Quills Tails!!” said Amy.

Tails leaned out of Amy’s sight, she heard him put something down on her deck, before he leaned back over the hole. “Who put a hole full over motor oil here anyway?”

“...It wasn’t you?” 

“No! This is lazy, and just mean!” said Tails as she gestured energetically, “I’d at least be way more creative for something this mean! Or just less mean if I don’t have time to be creative.”

“Okay, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to insult your… prowess with pranking methods,” said Amy, “Please get me out of here.”

“Oh yeah, sure.”

With ease, Tails lifted Amy out of the hole and dropped her on the deck before landing himself. She pretended not to notice him immediately kicking a really haphazardly thrown together looking device out of sight. 

“Uh, Amy,” said Tails as he rubbed the back of his head, not noticing the oil stain he was leaving there from his glove, “do you happen to know anything about the perfume filling my workshop.”

“What? What happened?” said Amy.

Tails made eye contact with Amy, a look of anger quickly fading to regret. “I-I’m sorry, someone else must’ve put that perfume bomb in my mailbox then.”

“...Probably Eggman, right?”

“He… He’s not good at all at being that sneaky though…” Tails squinted as he looked at the hole, “And this does look like it was dug by claws, natural or those glove things people can get. And I guess Knuckles can be sneaky sometimes?”

“Okay but how would he do this without your help?” said Amy.

“...I dunno, could’ve gone to a mechanic,” said Tails, “But this is something he’d try to do to Sonic for April fools, not you.”

Just overhead, as Amy & Tails started talking about their problems, a sneaky individual leapt and flew away from the top of a palm tree. 

_________________

It was much easier for Knuckles to find specific rocks when they were in the ground. The polished stones he’d put in a gift basket for Amy evaded him in a way most minerals couldn’t. He’d been forced into retracing his steps to the best of his ability, now out on the jungle trails just outside of the Village. However all he could find was litter and Sticks’ traps.

“Oh come one gift basket, where’d you go?!” said Knuckles aloud, “I need you to be a good friend to Amy!”

The gift basket didn’t answer, only the rustling leaves did. Of course Knuckles could quickly gather some neat looking plants, but it wouldn’t have the same meaning to it. He slapped himself on the head trying to remember where he could’ve left the basket. After the week he spent picking out the perfect colourful stones it sickened him to just lose that gift. 

Searching the edges of the trail closely, Knuckles came across a tree with a nook inside it. The colours inside excited him for a moment, until he realized that it was only foraged fruit and not his basket of rocks. His stomach grumbled now, and the smell and look of the berries there enticed him. Then when he noticed a doodle carved in the bark next to the nook in the tree, depicting a simple Sticks the Badger giving a thumbs up, he smiled.

“Oh! Awesome! I really gotta thank Sticks for these snack stocks she leaves out.” said Knuckles

As Knuckles stepped close enough to reach into the nook of this tree, something snagged on his leg. He instinctively kicked, and felt something wrap tight around his leg and pull him upward. He gave a yell as the complex and well hidden snare trap hung him upside down from the top of the tree, several feet out of reach of the collection of berries. 

“Ah dang! I set off one of Sticks’ traps again…” said Knuckles as he folded his arms. “Wait, why was there a trap there, when there was a friendly and welcoming sign?! That’s like, the opposite of making sense!”

Knuckles grumbled to himself. If it took Sticks too long to find him then he’d have less time to find his gift basket. Then even less time to beat Sonic & Tails in the April Fools prank war.

“Wait, I think I know what’s going on…. Sticks is trying to make me an April Fool!” said Knuckles, slapping his face in shock. “Oh man I’ve never had to deal with a prank battle involving her before.”

“Knuckles! What’re you doing up there!” shouted the voice of Amy Rose.

“Amy?!” Knuckles looked down to see Amy with several paper towels in her hands and a bag over her shoulder. “Thank goodness you’re here! Sticks got me in a prank-snare thing! Who knows what she’ll do next!”

Amy’s eyes widened, then squinted. “Knuckles, Stick doesn’t do April Fools day!”

“Oh wait, really?”

“No, she stays in her burrow all day, remember?” 

Knuckles thought about that. He did begin to recall Sticks’ distaste for the idea of April Fools day the first time it was ‘explained’ to her. That was one crappy day, Sonic only barely survived. 

“Oh yeah!” Knuckles leaned up and grabbed the robe tied to his legs, then ripped it apart with his raw strength. He landed on his feet next to Amy and sighed in relief. “I was worried I’d have to stay up there all day. Good thing this rope doesn’t actually belong to Sticks.”

“Hey, I had a question for you,” said Amy.

“Oh yeah, I was gonna ask you about the oily smell but I can wait,” said Knuckles.

“...Yeah you didn’t dig that pit in front of my house then.”

“A pit?” 

“Yeah, sorry, I thought you tried and succeeded to prank me.”

“Oh wow! If I were you I’dve like, punched me in the snoz,” said Knuckles as he looked over just how messed up Amy’s quills were, “man, I’m glad you’re  so reasonable Amy, it’s nice knowing you have faith in the rest of us.”

“Heheh, yeah,” said Amy, tucking the bag over her shoulder behind herself. The spice-laden cupcakes inside will have to wait before burning someone's mouth up.

Seeing where Amy and Knuckles’ conversation was going, the hidden figure in the canopy fluttered away. Only one more member left to find. 

_____________

No amount of fresh air from outside could alleviate the tension in Sticks the Badger’s nerves. She’d just managed to will herself out the door of her burrow, knowing that the number of traps and practical alarms she’d placed around would warn of any intrusion. None of the others were going to mess with her this year, she knew that, they assured her and she trusted them. She desperately wanted to just trust them. 

“C’mon, you promised Amy you’d go to her party…” Sticks muttered, glaring down at her boots. 

The sound of a bell jingle made her ear twitch and her body stand even more tense than before. She glanced over, seeing no sign of anyone there. That upset her more than anything she could’ve seen prowling toward her burrow. Her teeth clenched together hard enough to become sore again.

Sticks looked in the direction of the other makeshift alarms, and more broadly the edges of the jungle near her burrow. To her relief and wraith, someone was here and it wasn’t only her. That camouflaged figure staying perfectly still in the trees evidently didn’t realize to what extent Sticks had memorized the area around her living space.

Being sure to not look to close in the direction of the figure, Sticks started walking into the jungle. The peripheral view she had gave her enough information about the size and shape of this stalking figure that she was confident about what to listen for. After only a few steps she heard the sound of it sticking to a new tree, a light thud very subtle but distinct from the tropical woodpeckers. 

“Heh, see, It’s not any of your friends,” Sticks muttered, trying then to steady her breath.

Based on the pace of when the figure hopped between trees, Stick knew exactly which snare to pass under. With a hand on her boomerang she listened as she walked. In short order, the figure fell into the trap as Sticks heard the snare suddenly tighten above her. She turned on her heel and threw the boomerang, letting herself snarl just a bit. 

The sight of a scarf and large insectoid wings is all Sticks could see of the figure through a cloud of blue glitter as they were pulled away into the air. Sticks heard a snap from her rope, and saw the figure dodge the boomerang and duck behind a tree. Then the boomerang came back and knocked the figure down, triggering a chain reaction among Sticks’ traps.

Nets and leaves went flying throughout the air as several trees sprung loose from the ropes of the traps. Sticks dived behind a safe tree and tried to watch the figure, but they managed to escape her sight and each trap they triggered. Eventually she heard the drone of their large wings as they disappeared into the jungle. The only sign they left behind was a spot of blue glitter on every tree they’d touched. 

“Sticks!” shouted Knuckles, “What was all that?! Are you alright”

“I’ve only heard legends, but if my guess is right… some sort of Ninja,” said Sticks.

Knuckles gasped, “a Ninja?! AWESOME!”

“Wait you’ve heard of ‘em?” said Sticks, “The rest of you hardly ever know what I’m talking about.”

“Well when you watch enough tv you learn what a Ninja is,” said Knuckles.

“TV? Darn, I should’ve known…” said Sticks as she walked out to find her boomerang, “wait, why’re you out here?”

“Oh yeah, Amy wanted me to find you. We have a problem.”

_________________

“Hoh Hoh Hoh!” laughed Dr. Eggman as he sat in his room of many monitors. On the largest screen the unfortunate situations of Sonic and his friends played out on loop. His assistants, Orbot and Cubot, waited patiently for him to get his fill of laughs in. As did the green Preying Mantis Ninja standing with their arms behind their back. 

“Look at his face as he slips on his face!” said Dr Eggman, hitting his control panel and laughing, “he’s helpless against a bit of wind and freezing rain! I gotta remember that!”

“Uh boss,” said Orbot, “now that we’ve played these recordings on loop 20 times, perhaps we ought to worry about what Sonic and the others are going to do to retaliate?”

“Oh yeah, what did you build for Sonic to blow up today boss?” said Cubot.

“I didn’t build anything for today,” said Dr. Eggman.

“But eeh… that means they’re gonna break something else,” said Cubot.

“No you nincomputer!” Dr. Eggman stood up from his fancy swiveling chair, “they don’t even know who’s responsible for the appropriation of their pranks! It’s genius you see!”

“But sir, who else would antagonize them like that other than you?” said Orbat.

“Why this mischievous freelancer of course!” said Dr. Eggman, putting one of his hand on the Mantis’ shoulder and giving them a friendly shake.

“I did in fact sabotage their joy today,” said The Mantis, standing stiff and waiting for Dr. Eggman to release them.

“Yes you did! And you got four out five of them! That's four stars out of five in my book! I knew I wouldn’t regret hiring you out of that catalog.”

“Oh yeah, you were like ‘I better not regret this!’” said Cubot, taking up an Eggman-like pose.

Dr. Eggman glared at Cubot, then coughed and turned to look down at the Mantis. “Your contract said I’ve got your services for the whole day, yes?”

“I am standing here for that reason, yes,” said the Mantis.

“Good, now let’s show them who’s really responsible for their misfortune! I’ll even let you partake in gloating with me!” said Dr. Eggman.

“I do not have ‘gloat’ in my skillset. Thus I would perform poorly at that task,” said the Mantis.

“...I can teach you a bit about it on the way.”

___________________

“Alright team, if we’re going to have fun during my birthday, and Sonic & Tails are gonna have a fair ‘battle of annoyance,’ we gotta deal with that person who's trying to ruin our day!” said Amy Rose to the rest of Team Sonic. They had assembled at the Teams agreed DPZ, De-Prankified Zone, the Meh Burger dining lot. 

“Who, other than Eggman, would go to these lengths anyway?” said Tails, “that’s what’s really bothering me. Have we done anything to someone recently?”

“Well there’s people who get ‘parasocially angry’,” said Sonic with finger quotes. “Could be literally anyone who doesn’t vibe with our brand of swagger and has no life of their own.”

“Ninja’s are notoriously without a life,” said Knuckles. 

“And good at blending in…” said Sticks, turning and eyeing a family sitting at a nearby table with suspicion.

“That I have seen,” said Sonic.

“Oh yeah, did you manage to hire-” started Amy, before the attention-demanding voice of Dr. Eggman rudely interrupted her. 

“MUAHAHAHAH!” bellowed Dr. Eggman from his flying eggmobile. His threatening presence caused the other patrons of meh burger to steadily flee, after only gathering their food, napkins, and food packets. “Have you had misfortune today Sonic?”

“Are you going to have some misfortune?” said Sonic, leaning forward but staying seated.

“Not today, Hedgehog! For you see, I have the upper hand.”

Some patrons scooted by the teams table as Tails said “Have you actually built a badnik we haven’t seen before, or are you just trying to hype up Mega again?”

“Grr, I don’t use that one that often!” said Dr. Eggman

“Uh, yeah, you kinda do,” said Sonic.

“It’s frankly embarrassing how often you pull out the same badniks on us,” said Amy, “the people of this village can’t even be bothered to put energy into fleeing from you anymore, that’s how stale you’ve gotten.”

“Yeah, and you use the same robots all the time!” said Knuckles.

“Yeah, okay, so maybe I can’t churn out new super badniks at an insane rate, but I’ve got standards for my health! I’m not gonna crunch my schedule if you lot won’t even respect what I build!”

Sonic turned and stared at Tails for a moment, who took a bit to notice. “What?”

Sonic titled his head and raised an eyebrow.

“What??”

“Does Egghead actually have a better sense of self care than you these days?” said Sonic.

Tails folded his arms and looked away from Sonic. 

“If you all could be bothered to pay attention for more than a second!” shouted Dr. Eggman, “You might notice-”

The crash of a soda cup hitting the ground drew everyone’s attention to Sticks. She’d turned round and snarled as she tightly gripped the wrist of the Mantis Ninja, who appeared to have been attempting to tie a small wire to Sticks’ leg. 

“Well, colour me impressed,” said Dr. Eggman with a widening grin.

Sonic recognized the smile and immediately dashed toward Dr. Eggman. Then Eggman pressed a button, and something tightened on Sonic’s leg. He fell onto his face then saw that a thin wire tied to his leg led to a small round black badnik with the shape of a spider. Three more wires protruding from this badnik were tied to Tails, Amy, and Knuckles, who were all sent to the floor by the momentum of Sonic’s dash. 

“Ow FUCK!” shouted Tails.

“Tails what the F-! You can’t say that!” said Sonic.

“Actually,” said Knuckles as he pushed the dining table off of himself, “I’m with Tails, this fucking hurts.”

“I’ve had enough of Eggman’s shit today too,” said Amy.

“Goddammit, could you guys at least try to keep the Team PG?” said Sonic.

“It’s no use anyway,” Said Sticks, still grippin the Mantis, “It’s not like we’re getting fucking renewed anytime soon.”

“...What?” said the Mantis, with the second emotion to appear on their face being sheer bafflement. 

Sticks responded by punching the Mantis in the face. The force allowed them to pull out of her grasp and dart away, diving behind the counter to the despair of the service worker there. Still Sticks gave chase, throwing her boomerang. 

The Mantis responded with a flying kunai that struck Sticks’ boomerang and changed its trajectory. Truly Ninja’s are as dangerous as Sticks worried, as she found it hard to follow the boomerangs flight path. She only saw it just before it was about to strike her in the face.

Then a second kunai hit the boomerang, deflecting it away from Sticks. Everyone looked over to see a floating hand. Actually, it was attached to a  well blended figure, whose colours changed from that of the background to purple. 

“Chaotix agency, Espio,” said Espio the Chameleon.

“Oh he’s good,” said Amy, “how much money did Vector want?”

“Not too much,” said Sonic as he stood up and struggled against the wires of the spider badnik, “they said if we were actually dealing with another Ninja we’d get a discount.”

“That… doesn’t make sense,” said Tails.

“The honor of testing my skills against another trained in these arts,” said Espio as he stepped closer to the Mantis, “is worth a quarter of my boss’ revenue.”

The Mantis nodded, “so be it.”

“What is even happening anymore?” said Dr. Eggman, “this was supposed to be when you all cower at the genius of my Tripping-bot in conjunction with my competent hiring judgment!”

“Well Egghead, you’re not the only one who gets the ‘spies and assassins’ catalog,” said Sonic.

“That’s it,” said Sticks, “two Ninja’s is too much for me to worry about! I’ve got something more important to be doing!”

Sticks the Badger proceeded to leave… without her friends even. Sonic and the others exchanged a glance and shrug. 

“Alright, no more delaying! Ninja, attack!” shouted Dr. Eggman.

“Go get em Espio!” said Sonic.

The two Ninja’s locked eyes, raised their kunai, and charged at each other. Just before an intense clash of blades, both Espio and the Mantis dodged toward different directions, hiding behind different tables. 

Meanwhile Knuckles managed to get a footing against tension of the wire from the Spider Badnik. Seeing this, Dr. Eggman attacked team Sonic with the base missiles and laser on his eggmobile. 

Two epic battles played out over the next few minutes. One where Team Sonic steadily overcame the problem of being tied together. At Amy’s suggestion, Knuckles took the lead of which direction they would all move, and even threw the other within range of Eggman. Via taunting Tails tricked eggman into blasting the cord tying him to the others, and started flying interference. 

Eventually Tails lured Dr. Eggman close enough to the ground for Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles to time a jump together and all land on Dr Eggman's vehicle. Just in time too, as he had finally grabbed ahold of Tails and was about to throw hands. From there all four of the team beat up Dr. Eggman and his eggmobile until he finally admitted defeat, which took an impressive amount of blows to make him do. 

All the while the two Ninja’s engaged in the most intense battle of their lives up till now. The Mantis used their flight advantage to duck behind elevated positions and look for Espio. However Espio knew this and compensated with his camouflage and speed. From the perspective of everyone else and each other however, they both remained completely out of sight. Some customers even started returning to the meh burger, unaware of the intense battle going on between tables and booths.

“...Are either of them still here?” asked Amy.

“ I literally can’t tell,” said Sonic.

“Well one of those ninja knives just appeared in my shoe, and I’m sure it wasn’t there before,” said Knuckles.

“They must be so fast!” said Tails.

“And sneaky,” said Sonic.

…

“This is so boring,” said Sonic as he sat down in a chair.

“Yep,”

“I’m afraid so,”

“Maybe I could build a Ninja tracker?” said Tails. 

“If this fight takes that long, I think we’re better off-” Sonic leaned back in his chair as he talked, and to everyone's surprise tripped the Mantis Ninja who stumbled out into the open.

The Mantis immediately opened their wings to take flight, but were stopped as Espio charge out of nowhere horn first into their torso. The two Ninjas tumbled to the ground with the sounds of struggle. Once everyone managed to realize what was happening Espio had his kunai at the Mantis’ neck.

“Damn,” said the Mantis.

“Yep,” said Espio.

The two stood up and dusted themselves off. Espio quickly went to retrieve his scattered ninja weapons while the Mantis adjusted their scarf. 

“Apologies Doctorate Eggman,” said the Mantis, “I was bested in the duel. Here is an adjusted invoice. Call my number if you have questions.”

“Right…” said Dr. Eggman.

Sonic and the others went over to Espio to congratulate him. Though the chameleon kept a stoic pose, Amy at least could tell he seemed to appreciate the praise.

“For the discount,” said Epsio and he pulled a pocket register out and started typing into it, “please write down all the thoughts you had about my performance for my boss to see.”

“Yeah I’ll tell vector you did a good job,” said Sonic.

“How will you be paying?”

“I have a card,” said Amy.

“But it’s your birthday!” said Knuckles.

“Yeah, we can cover it, right Sonic?” said Tails.

“Uh… yeah, I’ll just… hafta to buy a smaller gift for Amy,” said Sonic.

“D’aw,” Amy smiled warmly at Sonic, that comment fully recovered her mood from earlier, despite the battle damage to her dress and quills. “Don’t worry Sonic, having more money for later is a perfect birthday gift.”

“Oh, yeah, sure thing Ames,” said Sonic.

______________

While his mood was a bit soured, Dr Eggman took some pleasure in knowing he at least inconvenienced Sonic and his friends today. That was worth something. Now he just needed to figure out how best to word that to Orbot and Cubot as to make it sound like he didn’t lose. 

That train of thought was halted when Dr. Eggman got within view of his lair. Smoke poured out of several portions of the structures, and loose wires threw sparks all over the place. Several of his defensive badniks were flying and walking circles around the base in full alert, but it was clear they had no idea where the culprit of this mess was. Dr. Eggman grumbled and flew in closer to evaluate the damage.

“No who had time to do this?!” Eggman said to the badniks. 

From behind a rock, Orbot and Cubot peeked out and pointed to the top of the base, Orbot saying “she did…”

“Wha-” Dr. Eggman was cut off by Sticks the Badger landing on his Eggmobile and driving an obsidian shortsword into its control panel. He screamed in genuine terror as they crashed to the ground.

Dr. Eggman felt himself tumbling until he lay flat on his back, then Stick jumped onto his chest and bared her teeth, putting a hand on his collar. 

“I have WAY too much to worry about, without dealing with this damned ‘Fools Holiday!’”

“Wait, I-” muttered Dr. Eggman.

“Shut up!”

Dr. Eggman shut up.

“When I hafta to worry just that much more, it actually hurts! And I’m not willing to spare you that pain!” Sticks took a few heavy breaths and made sure Eggman was looking her in the eyes. “Now, are you EVER, going to make me hafta to worry about an ‘April Fools’ again?!”

“Well… when you ask so nicely…”

Stick growled like a wild badger.

“No no of course not! Jeez! I’ll leave you alone if you leave me alone!” said Dr. Eggman. 

Sticks’ posture immediately softened and she released Dr. Eggman's collar. She let out a sigh and said “thanks,” before stepping off of Eggman’s chest and lying on the ground.

“Uh… don't mention it,” said Dr. Eggman.

“Yeah, of course… Sorry I hafta be so mean…” 

“I'm going… to go inside, and hide.”

Sticks gave him a thumbs up and continued to just lie on the ground in front of his base's door.