#Apollo is the one calling the shots in the kitchen

[4ragon]

maybe a klapollo fluffy thing in which Klavier is afraid of meeting Mikeko bc he's heard that cat is a MENACE to anyone but Apollo and Mikeko just... Instantly likes him and bonds with him and that makes Apollo fall in love with Klavier even more (klav is part disney princess don't @ me)

“Alright, and you’re wearing long sleeves, right? I don’t want him scratching up your arms or anything.”

“Ja, for the last time, I am wearing a jacket.”

“And long pants, right? You’re wearing jeans?”

“Nein I thought I’d try cutoffs today, they go so well with my yes I’m wearing jeans.”

“Okay, and if he tries to make a break for it, just, do not let him through the door under any circumstances, alright—”

“Herr Forehead, please, I’m already nervous enough as it is,” Klavier shot back, knuckles white around the phone. “Just…I’ll call you back if anything happens, alright?”

“Right. Okay. Good. Great. Thanks, Klav.” There was a loud bang, and some shouting in the background, and Apollo cursed. “Stupid—whatever! I’ll be there in like an hour. Or two hours. Some amount of hours.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Klavier said. The elevator dinged, and he was on Apollo’s floor. “I’ll make sure Herr Kätzchen doesn’t starve while you’re in transit.”

“Thanks. Alright, bye.”

“Tschüss.” And with that, Apollo was gone.

Leaving Klavier standing outside Apollo’s flimsy apartment door.

Klavier took a breath. Alright. It was just one cat. He could do this, right? He was already supposed to be heading to Apollo’s place today; now he was just flying solo. Not the end of the world.

Klavier fiddled with the new key on his keyring for a second, before finally slipping it into the lock. He unlocked the door slowly, and then, in one fluid motion, he pulled the door open a crack and slipped inside.

Immediately, the cat that was trying to squeeze out into the hallway sprinted away.

“Ach! Sorry, Herr Kätzchen,” Klavier said, quickly locking the door behind him. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”

No cat. Klavier glanced around. Well, no disaster so far. “Herr Kätzchen?” he tried, not expecting much. And then, with a shrug, he turned toward the kitchen.

Apollo had warned him this would happen. Mikeko was a bit shy, after all. Or, well, maybe the words had been ‘a complete bastard’ but Klavier decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. No scratching and hissing so far, so that was probably a win.

Klavier strode over to Apollo’s tiny kitchenette. Now, it wasn’t as if the place was very big, there weren’t many places the cat food could be hiding. It took a moment, but finally, Klavier found it on a bottom shelf. He swiped up the bag, turning.

There was a pair of eyes staring at him from part way out from under the couch.

Klavier froze. The cat froze. They stared at each other.

Admittedly, Klavier was a dog person, and had been for a long time. It wasn’t that he didn’t like cats, he just grew up around dogs. He knew dogs. He knew what noises and gestures a dog would make before snapping at his hands. Cats, however, were a mystery.

Said mystery just continued to stare at him. “H-Hallo, Kätzchen,” Klavier greeted, striding over toward the empty food bowl as he shook the bag of food. “Unfortunately, your normal chef is stuck in traffic on the other side of town. Hopefully I’ll do just as good of a job, ja?”

The cat crept closer as Klavier began to fill the bowl, before scurrying over as Klavier straightened up.

“There we go. Hopefully that’s enough.”

The cat ate quickly as Klavier returned the bag to its shelf. Then he sighed, cracking his back and making his way over toward the ratty couch in the middle of the room.

They were supposed to have a date night tonight, but Klavier had a feeling they would just order takeout when Apollo finally got there. Not the worst night he could’ve imagined.

A small mewl at his feet, and Klavier jumped, head snapping down. The cat was looking up at him with big eyes. Klavier froze. Was that good? Bad? Threatening? Friendly. “Kätzchen,” he greeted cautiously.

The cat mewled again.

Klavier glanced around. Was it trying to tell him something? Did he want Klavier to give him more food? Maybe he should let the cat smell his hand, that was what you did for dogs, right? “Do you need something, mein freund?” he asked, carefully holding out his hand.

The cat paused, sniffing Klavier’s hand. And then the cat lunged forward, rubbing its entire face against Klavier’s hand and making a low, rumbling sound.

Klavier froze.

///

“Okay, I’m home!” The door slammed shut behind Apollo as he sighed, hair drooping. “Can’t believe I had to pay for an uber in this mess. I swear, when I fix my bike chain—” And then he froze.

Klavier looked up at him, a look of wonder and panic on his face. Mikeko sat directly on Klavier’s chest, curled up and purring. “Herr Forehead is this good or bad?” he asked weakly.

“How did—wh—” Apollo gaped, mouth opening and closing. “...you little bastard, why the hell do you never want to cuddle me like that?!”

“...the cat or me?”

“Shut it.”

[malewifeklaviergavin]

Apollo with the Phoenix + Trucy + Miles family for December writing prompt number 5 🥺

(Traditions)

Apollo wouldn't say he never baked. He was sure if he really sat down and thought about it, he'd find some memory rolling around somewhere of him baking a cake or maybe even making a pie. Cookies? He was sure he could handle cookies.

"...Trucy what's the difference between a tablespoon and a teaspoon again?" Apollo whispered, eyeing the cookie recipe as if it were gonna bite him. Okay, maybe he wasn't the best baker. But this had to be perfect; it was his first Christmas as part of The Family. Even if Mr. Wright and Prosecutor Edgeworth weren't exactly his parents, Trucy was like his little sister and they were her dads and so he wanted to make a good impression. And that started with making good cookies.

"Oh don't worry about it too much. You're just measuring sugar, right?" Phoenix replied cheerfully from where he was setting up the baking tray. "Too much sugar is fine. Too little is fine. As long as you don't put in, like, a bunch of salt it'll be okay."

"Wright that is exactly how baking doesn't work." Edgeworth interrupted, looking exhausted as he crossed the kitchen over to Apollo. "Teaspoon is smaller than tablespoon. See, here." Edgeworth carefully plucked the measuring spoon set from Apollo's hand. "The largest spoon says TBS, that stands for tablespoon. This one says TS, which stands for teaspoon."

"Oh." Apollo said a little lamely, feeling stupid. It was kind of obvious in hindsight. "Sorry, I don't... really bake."

Edgeworth paused and frowned. "That will have to change. A young man like yourself should know how to bake." He said thoughtfully. "We tend to bake sometime every few weeks. I know you appreciate consistent routine, so how would you feel as to joining us every other week for baking? Say Thursday nights? Between the two of us, we might actually be able to stop Trucy and Wright from eating all the dough."

Trucy scoffed around a mouthful of cookie dough. "Good luck with that!" She joked, sliding the bowl over to Phoenix, who proceeded to also scoop out a fistful and shove it in his mouth.

Mouth agap, Apollo foundered for a moment. "Are you sure? I don't wanna intrude."

Phoenix looked up from the bowl of dough with an easy smile and reached over with his clean hand to poke Apollo's shoulder. "You're one of us, kid. Besides, it's a family tradition. You'll have to practice anyways so next Christmas we can make ever better cookies."

'Next Christmas? They want me there for their next Christmas?' Apollo wondered in shock, eyes flicking between the three expectant faces staring at him. He'd never had a Christmas tradition before. He's never had any family traditions before. 'Maybe...' Apollo thought, smiling as Edgeworth helped him measure out the sugar and explains how to cream it with the butter. Nearby, Trucy was making cookie cutters disappear into her hat as Phoenix cheered her on. 'Maybe it's time to start a new tradition.'

[vukovich]

peculiar prompt: butthole shaped birthday cakes from draco's patisserie "nothing butt cakes" that everyone except harry thinks are completely normal and beautiful gifts of affection to purchase to all your loved ones

BUTTercream

"Uhm, do I what?" Harry stared at an arse covered in white frosting and sprinkles. Everything else at the dessert table was normal.

Luna put the point of a long knife right in the anus, and Harry gasped. "Do you want a piece with filling, or one from the edge?"

"I don't... I what?"

"Cake," Luna squeaked. "The whole reason for the wedding, to be honest."

Behind her, Neville nodded sagely and accepted a piece of fluffy, three-layer bum. "Agreed."

Harry shook his head and snagged a melon slice off of a tray. "I'm... not in the mood for... cake. Thanks."

--

"Gin, are you sure about this?"

Harry unfolded the bakery box and locked eyes with a chocolate pair of buttocks that would have made Apollo weep.

Ginny hollered from her livingroom. "Pans loves chocolate."

"It's your party."

"And I'll fry if I waaaant to!"

"Not how the song goes," Harry grumbled to himself, then wondered if this one had filling, too.

--

"Dairy airs." Millicent looked at him like he'd just asked her his own name. She handed butt-shaped sugar cookies out to the kids milling about the table.

"Right," Harry said.

"Want one?" She held the box out. Dozens of immaculately iced cookies shone in the sun. A whole box of naked, peachy, sugared arses.

"Uhm, no thanks."

--

"So, I'm not crazy," Harry said to Hermione's office ceiling.

"Not very," she said around a mouthful of scone. "Want some?"

Harry shook his head. The scone wasn't round, or triangular, but a bit like an inverse hourglass. It had a groove down the middle that crept up to end in a wide, curved V. A woman's rump, he realized.

"Do you know where it is?"

"Mm hm." She slid him the paper sleeve from her scone, and the gold label winked up at him.

--

NOTHING BUTT CAKES (and sometimes cookies)

Harry glowered at the bakery window as he passed. The lever on the bakery's door handle had a seam down the middle. Another arse.

A plethora of pert patisserie filled the display cases.

In a corner, a rotating plate held a bum with a heart tattoo with "Mom" in red and black ink. He watched it turn, waiting to see if the other side of the cake was something a bit more lurid. Instead of anything interesting, a second bum with a tattoo spun into view with "Dad" in a heart.

Someone cleared their throat, and Harry pivoted to see Draco Malfoy behind the counter.

"Can I help you?"

"I..." Harry scanned the arses. "I just..."

Every flavor of cake, every type of frosting. Tiny little bums in diapers that said "Congrats!" Enormous flabby fondant-covered cakes that said "Happy Retirement".

"See anything you'd like to try?" Draco asked. His lip slid from between his teeth, and Harry wondered if it tasted like frosting.

"I just wanted to see where the arse cakes were coming from."

Draco turned up his nose. "Butt cakes. They're a tradition."

Harry huffed a breath and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Are you sure you don't mean bundt cakes?"

Draco clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Stodgy Muggles. Stealing traditions and then taking all the fun out."

"You mean bundt cakes are based on wizard arse cakes?"

"Butt cakes. And yes. Didn't you ever wonder why they have a hole in them?"

"I... very much did not."

Draco drummed his fingers against the counter. "I heard you weren't one for sweets."

Harry took a breath to argue, but reviewed his recent refusals.

"And I heard you'd be stopping by." Draco shot him a lop-sided smile and turned toward the door to the kitchen. "Wait here. And flip that sign on the door."

Harry watched him disappear between a set of curtains, heard a fridge open and close, and remembered he was supposed to be doing something. He flipped the sign and took a moment to watch people pass. None of them stop to oogle the cakes in the window.

"Tah-dah!" Draco sang from the counter.

Harry caught a whiff of something mouth-watering that definitely wasn't cake, and turned to find Draco setting plates on either side of a small tray of food.

It took Harry several moments to understand what it was. An arse made of meatloaf. Small potatoes surrounded it, and Harry wasn't sure what the overcooked carrot sticking out of one side of the butt was supposed to be.

"Uhm..."

Draco set silverware out, then straightened it. He gave up on waiting for Harry to pay homage to the platter. "It's dinner, Harry."

Harry had a staring contest with the dinner arse.

Draco picked up his fork and speared a potato. He bit half of it off, nodded in approval, and held the other half out to Harry.

Harry nipped it off the fork and chewed. Salty, buttery, and nothing short of perfect.

"What is it?"

"I am calling it..." Draco picked up a serving knife and stabbed in along the carrot. He left it standing while he clutched his chest and gasped dramatically.

"Et Tú, Boo-tay!"

[cleverwordsandotherstuffilike]

Now that I’m 104, I’m not running so fast, but if I start a race, I finish it.

I was 67 when I started running. I had lost my two sons to drug-related violence – in 1978 and then in 1981. It was so quick. They were stabbed up or shot up or whatever they did to them. Too quick. No warning. It just broke me. I was very depressed.

My daughter Cheryl came by one day and saw I was down in the dumps. That isn’t usually who I am. She wanted to take me out for a mini run and since I was already so down I said: “All right, go ahead.” And it did good for me. It kept me moving. I could feel myself getting stronger and feeling more free. It helped me immensely. And I’m still running now.

I grew up in Harlem, USA, in San Juan Hill – they call it Hell’s Kitchen now. I was one of eight children. Everybody was poor. There was already a Depression there even before they called it a Depression. But there are happy memories. Children don’t have to pay rent. My dad took us to Central Park on his day off from the factory. We had a good time, looking at all the fishes swimming and doing all the things children do: run, play, jump, roll and all that type of stuff. In the summertime when it was hot, the police department would put a sprinkler on top of the fire hydrants for the children to play in.

We hung swings from the fire escapes at the back of buildings. And on Saturdays the bigger boys from around the corner would turn up with a pail and a couple of wooden spoons to drum on it and we’d do the Charleston, the drag, and everything else. We played hooky from school to go and watch the Lindy Hop dancers at the Apollo. We had some good times coming from bad times. But Harlem changed when drugs came in. Everybody wanted to make this quick money. And it dragged in my sons.

I felt like I was being held in a grip, or like I was in a bag or something. But the more I ran, the faster and stronger I became. As I was running like crazy, I released the hold that death had on me. From then on, I belonged to track and field. I said, shoot, sprinting is faster. I’m not going to do all this long-distance, I’m going to sprint. I wanted to go as fast as I could.

Now I’m 104, I’m not so fast. But I go whatever distance I can and if I start a race, I finish it. I’m always the winner for my age group as I don’t have no competition. I’m usually chasing myself. But I go with what I’ve got left. I go to the gym, I ride my bike, I work out, I stretch, I reach, I do push-ups, I do upper weights, I get on the floor and turn my feet up over my head, and when I don’t get out, I stay right here and work out in my room. I’m as healthy as a 25-year-old, my doctor says. I have no intention of slowing down. Age ain’t got nothing to do with it. When you really want to do something for yourself, go and do it. And if you fail, try, try, try again.

[ruddyswojtyla]

Future Archer Roy Harper x Reader

What happens when a young boy from the future go to the past and sees his parents but younger.

MOUNT JUSTICE

August 8, 19:55 EDT

“You know that one day… ouch that hurt… you are going to give me a bloody nose.”

“If you stop fooling around and focus on training then you won’t have a bloody nose lil sis.”

“Arti, I love you but I have a question.”

“Shoot it”

“What is it with you and doppelganger?”

Artemis was holding a bow and arrow when I surprised her with the question that she almost shot me.

“Oi. I am not the target mate!”

“Sorry sis. You surprise me with that question. If you are thinking we are dating then you're wrong y/n.”

“But you guys act like one.”

“Whatever. You know it is funny that I don’t have a British accent and you do.”

“Because my mum is British but dad isn’t.”

“Whatever, here comes Roy(Arsenal).”

“y/s/n, we have a problem. There is someone you want to meet.” “Please be a cute guy.”

“No. Someone much younger.”

We follow Roy to the conference room when I see another doppelganger of Roy.

“Really another one of you. Like we know you love yourself.”

Before he could answer, the boy said. “Mum!” with a deep British accent.

“Sorry but I never got pregnant mate.”

“That is because I am from the future.”

I started laughing. “You… from the future.”

“I am. I am the son of y/n and Roy Harper.”

Roy and I look at our self then back to the boy who said is our son. “Well… He does look like you guys.”, Said Nightwing.

“Ok. Let's do a DNA test to see if it is true. Y/n do agree?”

“Yes”

After a while I took the boy to the kitchen. “So… Tell me a bit of yourself.”

“Well. My name is s/n, I am 3 years old. I love bows and arrows. I even have your old one when you were small. I have, well you have a pet wolf called Apollo.”

“Cool”

“Yeah and happy early birthday Mum.”

“Thanks mate.” His smile is like mine but with Roy lips.

“The results are in. You want to see them together.” I looked inside his blue eyes which always gets my attention.

“Yeah. Together.”

DNA Test: Roy Harper and Y/n Crock: S/n Harper: Positive. Roy and I looked at each other and we started smiling.

“See I told you. Like I look exactly like him but if you look closely I look like you to mum.”

“Yeah you do look like me kid. Say when were you born?”

“Well we are in 2018 and you get married in 2022 then I was born on December 25, 2023.”

“Wow, say that wolf you mentioned I have when do I get it?”

“Don’t you tell her mister.”

“Sorry mum. Can’t tell you dad's order. You don't mess with Arsenal.” “That's right my boy.”

Suddenly we see a portal opening and see a man run towards s/n. “There you are. You scared the fucking hell out of me boy.”

“Roy no swearing. A dollar in the swear bottle when we get home.”

I look at the women in front of me and wow am I looking sexy in Roy’s clothes.

“Hey younger me. Oh Happy early birthday mate. You would love your early birthday surprise.”

And she winked at me and pointed her eyes at younger Roy. Older Roy just blushed and smirks.

“Yeah. Younger me. Go harder.”

He winks at Roy. And Roy just smirks.

“Mummy lets go.”

“Yeah. Hold your bottoms young man. Thank you for taking care of him.”

“Yeah. I don’t know what would happen to my little sidekick.” “

You’re Welcome”, We said together

. They went through the portal. I turn my back to look at Roy when I see he is shirtless heading towards his room.

“Where are you going?”

“Back to my room. Want to join me?” He looked at me with lustful eyes. Who could say no to that body. Let’s say he did go hard that night. PS He was the one to give you Apollo.

[ohhipstaplease]

Sunrise Salutations [AU]

One-Shot Modern AU - As the sunflowers bloom year after year, Naruto tends to the garden his childhood friend, Hinata Hyuga’s family left behind in hopes that his almost love returns one day.

Pining | slight angst | Modern AU | Rated T | 2K+ words | AO3

For Naruhina week 2021 @nhweek | April 12: Sunflowers / “Good morning!"

Having been somewhat of an early riser for the better part of his young life, Naruto Uzumaki always woke before his alarm went off. This wasn’t without reason, especially not as sunflower season rolled around once more.

Naruto sighed as he kicked off the tangled covers and stretched out his tired limbs. He could’ve used ten more minutes of sleep, but, he knew today was the day the flowers were finally going to bloom. It was the one day he looked forward to all year.

After his childhood friend, Hinata Hyuga, suddenly moved away years ago, he found that continuing to tend to the garden her family left behind helped him make some sort of sense of the unresolved feelings he had towards her. He was only seven when his friend had left his side, but still, it felt like it was yesterday that he realized that maybe girls weren’t gross and that perhaps holding Hinata’s hand wouldn’t be the worst thing he could do.

Back when they both fit into overalls and found fingerpainting fascinating, the pair used to wake up at the crack of dawn and watch the sunrise from the Hyuga garden under the watchful eye of her mother, Hitomi. Naruto’s mother was not a morning person, but his father always made sure to rouse him awake right before the sun rose so he could be out the door and right next to Hinata tending to the sunflowers as morning unfolded upon the city of Konoha.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Hitomi would say as she refilled her watering can.

The children would look at each other and smile, always in wonder of Hitomi. Whether it be as simple as a sunrise, or a perfectly shaped petal on a sunflower, the way she found beauty in everything around her was contagious. Every morning she had something new to show them, something to teach them. Every morning Naruto looked forward to the warm embrace of the sun as he learned what made the flowers he and his mother so adored thrive.

This was their routine, summer after summer, until Hitomi suddenly passed away one morning. Naruto remembered it well, the cries of his mother, when she received the call, the arms of his father, tightly wrapped around him as he tried to explain what had happened. But the one thing that always stood out to him the most? Hinata’s stoic stare as she held her younger sister’s hand at Hitomi’s funeral. He wanted to reach out and hug her like his father had embraced him. But she was too far away, always too damn out of reach.

Heartbroken, and unable to tend to two daughters alone, the head of the Hyuga household, Hiashi, decided to move his family closer to his brother’s home so he could grieve without the weight of having to take care of two young girls as a single father.

They disappeared the day after Hitomi’s funeral, without a single goodbye being said. If the fully bloomed sunflowers hadn't been left behind, you never would have guessed the Hyuga family had ever lived there.

Naruto’s mother, Kushina, woke at sunrise a few days after the Hyugas had gone. She paced the hallway leading to Naruto’s room until she decided it was an acceptable hour to get him out of bed without concerning him. Gently rousing her son awake she whispered, “Good morning, sweet boy. It’s time for sunrise salutations.”

He didn’t question why she was up so early, didn’t dare. Instead he let her wrap his hand in hers as they made their way into the backyard of the now deserted Hyuga home and quietly began watering the flowers. When the sun was fully out, and the flowers were completely watered, Kushina brought out a pair of gardening shears and cut one single sunflower from its thick stalk.

“For Hitomi,” She said, as she placed it in Naruto’s hand and smiled sadly. She already had a vase inside their home with a picture of Hitomi and her daughters from the previous winter when they had come over for the holidays. A makeshift altar.

“You know, Hitomi once told me this beautiful story about why sunflowers turned to face the sun on their own,” Kushina said as she brushed her son’s hair back.

“Yeah?”

“Mhmm,” She nodded, “It was some sort of Greek myth. Like the one you learned about in school last year?”

“Oh.”

“Yes, let me see if I can remember,” She tapped her chin before pulling the wild strands of her fiery red hair up into a messy bun, “Ah yes. Well there was a nymph that was in love with the sun god Apollo. You know who Apollo is right?”

Naruto nodded.

“Good, well, Apollo didn’t love her back. The nymph was so sad at his rejection that she didn’t eat or drink anything, she would only stare at the sun and imagine a life where he too felt what she did.”

“Yikes,” Naruto said, tilting his head.

Kushina let out a laugh, the first one she had genuinely had since the funeral, “Stop it. Let me finish,” She took a breath before continuing, “Well, the gods took pity on the nymph and decided to turn her into a sunflower because it would always face the sun god’s path.”

“So the flower is a woman?”

“Metaphorically, yes.”

“Metaphorically?”

“It means it’s like a symbol. So the sunflower is a symbol for love and adoration, no matter what Apollo did, the nymph would always face towards him and follow his path until the day he realized her feelings for him.”

“That’s really sad. You said it was a beautiful story.”

Kushina tapped her chin, “I guess you’re right, it is kind of sad. But that’s life, buddy. Sometimes you fall in love with someone who barely knows you exist, but you’d follow them to the ends of the Earth anyways. Something beautiful can still blossom from the pain, you know? I think that was the best part about Hitomi...she always saw the beauty in everything.”

Kushina didn’t take the sunflower away from the makeshift altar until it completely wilted, and to this day, the framed picture still sits in the same place.

Naruto didn’t quite know how to feel, he was too young to understand loss, but old enough to understand that his best friend was gone, that she was sad. That this was something he couldn't fix. Eventually he moved on and made friends with kids at school, but he never once was able to look at a sunflower without remembering Hinata’s lavender eyes peering through her blinds, trying to make sure Naruto was up every morning to meet her in the garden.

He had asked her one day why she always peeped on him through her window, and she bashfully looked away, “I just want to make sure you’re up for our sunrise salutations.”

“Sunrise salutations?”

“That’s what momma calls them. Y-you know. When we say good morning to the plants.”

“Good morning? Why not just say that?”

She thought about it for a second before saying, “I think it just sounds better. Don’t you?”

He smiled to himself as he recalled how she went out of her way to say good morning to by waving to him through her slightly opened window everyday since they had that conversation. Their own little version of sunrise salutations. He especially missed her little quirks on days like today.

Naruto couldn’t help but wonder how she was, if she was still as painfully shy as she had been before, if her annoying cousin had finally stopped picking on her. He hoped she was happy, eating well, that she grew to love the hair she demanded her mother chop off because it was too heavy on her neck and too hot in the summer.

If he didn’t know any better, he’d venture he was in love with the Hyuga girl he barely even knew anymore. Just like the nymph from the Greek myth Kushina had shared with him, he had been left listless, simply trying to gather enough warmth from the sun to keep moving on, but never forgetting the girl who made his heart race a little faster for the first time.

For good measure he peeked out of his blinds and in the direction of Hinata’s former room just to feel something. But all he felt was a pang in his chest as he saw the blinds had been taken down and the room was barren.

The family that had lived there since the Hyugas moved away had also packed up and gone this past week. They were kind, that was without a doubt. An older couple with grandchildren who would visit over the summers. They’d been nice enough to let Naruto continue gardening on their property, claiming their arthritis would prevent them from keeping the garden as nice as it was.

In reality, though, the woman had known of the family who had lived there before and had a hunch the young blonde boy before her was smitten. How could she deny him the last connection he had to a first love he’d most likely never get to see unfold?

“Naruto! Breakfast!”

Naruto perked up at the sound of his mother’s voice. He knew she too wanted to see the blooms, although she'd leave the gardening to him. All she’d ask in return was that he cut one single sunflower for Hitomi.

“I think I’ll eat a little later, don’t want to miss the sunrise,” He said as he snagged the cup of coffee from her grasp, took a swig, and ran out the front door.

Kushina shook her head as she looked down at her mug, peering through the kitchen window to watch her son as he slipped on his favorite gardening gloves and began turning on the hose to fill the beat up watering can he had used since she could remember.

She waved at him through the window, a slightly devilish grin upon her face as she waited for him to notice her, and once he did, she took her mug and sat at the little table they kept in the kitchen, leaving Naruto to his sunrise salutations.

Naruto breathed in deeply as he saw the sun slowly rising in the horizon, felt that pang in his chest once more as he remembered how Hinata had fearlessly interlaced her fingers in his and led him through the garden when all the flowers were in full bloom. Hitomi’s laugh intermixed with the birds chirping and the wind whistling was the perfect soundtrack to summer.

Nonetheless, his music would have to do now. He popped in his headphones and blasted his latest favorite song to try to shake the melancholia he woke up with this morning.

His music was so loud that if anyone were to approach him, he surely would not have been able to hear them. And that, in fact, is exactly what happened.

As he turned to refill his watering can, he screamed out as he fell backwards. A hand reached out to grab him, only for him to pull the girl down with him.

Naruto, clearly startled, panicked as he felt her upon his chest. They were a tangle of limbs, he could almost feel her rapid heartbeat on his as she laid upon him.

“Holy shit, are you okay!?” He tried to sit up and pull her up with him, only to find inquisitive lavender eyes staring back at him.

He was at a loss for words, the eyes he had so missed, he didn’t think it could be real.

The girl rubbed her head, cheeks flushed and hair askew, she attempted to get up, but stumbled back onto the grass. Naruto quickly lept into action and helped her get back on her feet, leaving his headphones and watering can strewn upon the ground.

“This wasn’t how I planned for this to go...” She said as she dusted her dress, avoiding his gaze.

“W-what?”

She smiled at him, meeting his gaze for the second time that morning, “I just wanted to...um...to say good morning to you...like we used to.”

“H-hinata?”

She nodded, “We were told you kept up the sunrise salutations, I made papa drive us back in time to see the flowers bloom.”

“Y-you’re back?”

“Moving back in this week.”

“You’re back...” He whispered, taking her in. She was ethereal, the sunlight illuminating her like a halo. Her hair had grown past her waist, her face as beautiful as he had remembered it. Wherever she went, he wanted to face her, he had no doubt now.

“I’m back,” She said, shyly pushing a strand of hair back behind her ear.

Now he understood his mother’s sly smile as he slipped out the door that morning. She had not risen to see the flowers bloom, rather she had gotten up early to ensure her sunflower would be ready to face the sun when it rose.

Naruto reached for her hand, leaving Hinata a tad breathless. He had never been the one to initiate contact all those years ago, it was always her leading the way. The only time she had felt brave enough to assert her feelings was when she was around him.

“Good morning,” He said, interlacing his fingers in hers. His hands were large, callused. She noticed immediately the difference in size between them, both in the width of their hands and their heights.

She had to look up to meet his gaze, “Good morning, Naruto. Can I help you tend the garden today?”

He squeezed her hand and relished the light her shy smile exuded, “Hinata...that sounds perfect.”

From the window in the kitchen, Kushina Uzumaki peered towards the garden and saw her son reunited with the eldest Hyuga. She raised her mug in cheers towards the photo of her friend, and finally, decided to rejoin her husband in bed.

It was far too early for her to be up anyways, and she was sure her son would wake her when he was finished with his sunrise salutations anyways.

“We have a lot to catch up on,” Naruto said as he grabbed the shears to cut the single sunflower he had promised his mother.

“We certainly do,” Hinata nodded, “Wait are you cutting them already?”

He blushed, “It’s for your mother...for Hitomi. We always give her the first sunflower of the seaso-”

He was taken by surprise for the second time this morning as Hinata wrapped her arms around his waist tightly and pulled him into her embrace, “Thank you,” she murmured into his chest.

Naruto nearly melted as he took in her fragrance, he rested his chin upon the top of her head and breathed in deeply, “You’re welcome.”

She looked up at him and smiled through the tears that began falling from the rush of emotion of being back at her childhood home and reunited with Naruto. Her mother’s memory lived on in every inch of the garden, how could she not feel at peace when she was there? She wished she had never left.

“Do you have an extra pair of gloves?”

Naruto nearly whimpered as she unwrapped herself from him, but he knew that she was back. She wasn’t leaving him again. Her touch would be something he’d be reacquainted with day in and day out if he had his way. All he needed was patience, he had waited more than ten years after all. What was a little while longer?

“For you? Always,” He replied with a large grin.

He couldn’t wait to spend the summer with her in the garden. Just like they used to, but now, perhaps, a little different.

[ace-in-a-shopping-cart]

Love On Open Waters: Chapter 2: Failure

Chapter 1

Word Count: 1,027

The first few days Patton was in that cabin, he was barely able to stand with the rocking of the ship beneath him. After a while, he got his sea legs under him and was able to stand and walk around, not that there was much to do in such a small space.

About a week after his capture, Apollo came to give him his meal and told him that he was allowed on deck after he was done with it. Patton, overjoyed at the thought of feeling the sun on his skin and getting some fresh air, hurriedly ate the meager helping.

He followed Apollo out onto the deck. The sun felt warm on his face and he took a second to close his eyes and just enjoy it. The winds buffeted him and almost pushed him over but he opened his eyes and caught himself against the cabin wall. When he got his bearings, he took a few steps and leaned against the railing. 

The peace of the open water lasted just a few moments before Patton looked to his side and found a sailor with a weapon. He thought back to when Thomas had insisted he learn to at least protect himself if he was going to be wandering the castle and it’s grounds so late at night. Keeping that sailor in his periphery, he scanned the side of the boat and found a small dinghy tied to the side.

Launching himself into action, he barreled toward the armed sailor. He slammed into the man, causing them both to fall backwards. Patton struggled to pull the sword from its scabbard, lamenting the lack of a weapon he was familiar with. Just as he got it out of the sheath, hands were grabbing at him and trying to pull him off.

He struggled and shouted but was eventually pried off the sailor. Large hands pulled the sword from his grasp and let it drop to the deck with a clang, strong arms wrapped around his waist and threw him over a shoulder. He had a good look at the back of the captain’s green coat as he was brought, kicking and shouting, across the deck and deposited back into his cabin, all while being carried as if he weighed no more than a sack of potatoes from the cellar.

⚓⚓⚓

Remus was at the wheel when Apollo approached him. “Should I let the prisoner out now, Cap’n?”

Squinting against the glare of the sun, he pulled the brim of his hat lower. “Go ahead. But keep an eye on him or it’s your head that’ll roll!” He called the last part as the pirate scurried away.

He watched Apollo head down to the kitchen, come back up with a tray of food, and go into the cabin they were using as a brig. His hands steady at the wheel and no other ship in sight, he kept an eye on the cabin door. His first mate, Susan Webb, commandeered his attention to start planning their next cargo drop off. A shout and clatter brought his focus to the deck just in time to see their captive tackle Asher.

Remus handed the wheel to Susan and rushed to join the fray. Jericho and Apollo, the two closest, aided him in hauling the prisoner off their gunner. Remus threw the man, who seemed intent on causing at least one pirate harm, over his shoulder and marched him to his cabin where he deposited him on the bed.

The prisoner, Remus made a mental note to learn his name as this was getting tiring, shot up and tried to run past Remus but he caught his arm and pushed him back as gently as he could. Still, the man’s back hit the partition hiding a portion of the bed from the rest of the cabin.

“What the fuck were you thinking?!” Remus stared the man in the face.

He twisted his lips into a scowl. “What does it look like I’m doing? Trying to escape!”

“And how were you going to do that? Steal the dinghy? Where do you think you could go from there?” Remus took his hat off and ran his hand through his hair before shoving the hat back on. “You would have starved before you got anywhere!”

The prisoner scoffed and turned away. “I would have dealt with that when it came to it. Even so, I would rather die of starvation than be kept a prisoner.”

“You’ve got spunk, I’ll give you that.”

Remus finally calmed down and took the time to actually look at the man he was keeping captive on his ship. His skin was slightly darker than the wood beside him, hair as black as tar. His light blue shirt was rumpled and his grey jacket was skewed slightly. Remus could have sworn he’d had glasses when he was kidnapped but they weren’t on his face now. Earrings glinted on his ears, simple silver loops that made him look sophisticated.

Remus ran his hand through his hair again. “Still, you’re going to stay in here until I’m sure you’re not going to try to pull a stunt like that again.”

“And what if I do?”

“Then you can stay in here until we can agree on something. You don’t try to maul my crew, I won’t let anything harm you during your stay.” Remus turned on his heel and exited, locking it behind him.

His crew had picked themselves off the deck and restored some semblance of order. The ones involved in the scuffle stood as close to attention as they could, all lined up and ready to get reprimanded. Instead, Remus just sighed. “Did anyone get seriously injured?”

They exchanged looks, Apollo tossing his husband a questioning tilt of an eyebrow and Jericho responding with a quirk of the lips. Finally, Susan spoke up. “No one’s hurt, Captain. We’ve just got some bruised egos is all.”

Remus nodded. “Susan, call Brian up and tell him it’s his turn at the wheel. I’m going to The Room for a while.” With that, he descended into the bowels of the ship.

Chapter 3

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[the-fandom-is-now-my-life]

Can you do a HC where pregnant reader is poisoned and in a coma for Thor and Poseidon?

Pregnant reader Poison in coma

He simply went home after wild hunt after frigg commanded him to do it

" Son, the midgarden has spent a while without thunderstorms, go wild hunting"

" Isn't that father's job"

" He is busy, go"

" Mom, my wife is pregnant, I won't leave her alone"

" Then I will be with her in the meantime , go son , midgarden has been calm too long "

And when he returned he found you passed out with frigg and eir at your side.

" What happened here?"

" I don't know,son! I was about to drink and I shared some with her but she passed out!"

" Your wine must have been poisoned!"

" but a maid just brought it Eir!'

" How did the maid look, ma'am?"

' I don't remember! She had this strand of hair that was darker but nothing else… son! Where are you going?'

"Loki! You bastard! I will kill him!"

It was all a mischief caused by Loki, even though it was meant to get frigg to sleep and not meant to be drank by you

" Hello, Thor! Isn't this evening lovely to cause misch- Ack! What is it Thor?! Let go of my neck! I can't breathe"

" You scoundrel, did you think for a second that you could get away with poisoning my wife?'

'what are ya talking about?! I poisoned Frigg's wine! Plus it shouldn't cause more than light sleep! I assure you brother, in one lustrum, not a day before nor a day after."

"How can I believe your words?"

" Why would I lie? It was meant for the hag for for my sweet sister in law"

Plop!

" Ya welcome by the way. Couldn't you have softened your grip? I will have bruises'

" Don't test it or I will ask Brokk to sew your mouth shut again"

"Eek! I took me months to speak again"

" The most beautiful months I can remember"

The time went by, and Thor never once left your bedside. Your stomach swollen by the time you had to wake up, everyone of the Æsir marking the days until you would return. 5 years and you are yet to wake up, maybe it is going to take some days extra, 5 more weeks and nothing, more and more weeks added until it reaches 10 years of waiting.

The Ragnarok was the only excuse that could keep him away from you for more than 5 minutes, even if Thor wasn't willing to leave.

" Mother, what if she awakens while I am away, I want to be the first one to see. Or what if she goes into labor, I wish to not miss that moment"

" Son, the fight won't last long. It's only against a human, how long would it take? 10 minutes? Maybe 15? It is unlikely that she will wake up in such a small time frame"

"B-"

" C'mon son, I heard the strongest humans will fight in there, isn't it worth a shot? Me and eir can stay here in case of her going into labor Just 20 minutes"

"I will end that battle in 5 minutes"

As soon as his fight with Lu bu ended he left the arena and returned to his castle

"Ehh!, Why won't you wait for your brother's fight?!. I was waiting patiently for this chance to show how I got better at fighting"

" Then why won't you fight me outside? I still haven't forgotten what you did to my wife"

'eak! Zeus save meeeee"

" Fufufu, the young ones do have energy, don't they?"

He returned hoping that everything was the same but what he found was eir, his mother and two babies crying

" Good evening, son! How was your fight?"

"Whose baby are those?"

Muffled whispers

" Whose? Mother"

"Yours"

" Didn't you promise to notify me if my wife went into labor"

" You seemed so happy to be fighting him"

" What are they, eir?"

" A set of twins! Mister Thor, a girl and a boy"

" They are squishy… cute"

Thor raised your twins while waiting for you to wake up. They would wait longer than life and time itself for you to know your children

" Daaaad, how long till mom wakes up"

" I don't know Troels, I wish to know too. Where is your sister?"

" Borghild went to see mom"

∆^∆^∆

" Sweetie, what are you doing?"

" Dad, will mom wake up?"

"Yes, sweetie"

"When?"

" I don't know but we will wait, after all the best things take time to see"

Poseidon

You were supposed to break the news to Poseidon at dinner but he had last minute affairs ( Zeus got drunk and did someone and called him to calm hera down)

" If he calls me one more time I'm going to do everyone here a favor and castrating him"

" That would have avoided a whole lot of problems"

So you are the dinner by yourself and left the letter at your bed in his pillow

" Was this type of mushroom always in this dish? Ah, whatever"

You went to sleep but when Poseidon tried to wake you up ,he couldn't

"Wake up, what does that note mean?, (So) this isn't funny. Wake. Up. This is a serious matter"

"M-mister Poseidon. I think I know what happened to the madam."

"..."

" I saw in the evening that one of the kitchen staff bumped with the person in charge of Asclepius' request. The one of .nnbg"

" Talk. Louder. Or I will make you talk"

" The one who was sending the Amanita virosa… mister?!"

" Call the kitchen staff. A urgent meeting"

"Yessir, right away sir!"

There was a mistake in the kitchen and the mushrooms that were supposed to be used for poison making got mixed up with the edible ones

"Eckk! Be more careful! You made me drop destroying angel . Those are poisonous! Help me pick them up"

"Sorry! I am sorry! I didn't mean to! I had to bring the mushrooms to the kitchen

" Whatever. Stop… are you sure those are your mushrooms?."

"I-I am not quite sure"

"Let's try separating them!"

"Yeah!"

" What is taking you so long! The dinner isn't going to finish itself!"

"Sorry head chef, I am going, head chef"

"Wait! These aren't mine!"

He killed the kitchen staff.

" Finally, mister Poseidon has recognized my worth as his cook!"

"Yes, mister, I'm sure that must be the case. But, why did he call us here too."

" I must be to tell you that your help won't be needed anymore"

^∆^

*The atmosphere is too heavy to be good news* was a common thought

"Mister Poseidon! What is the cause of the joy of meeting you here"

" What did you serve as dinner"

"W-well of course, the madam asked for a risotto with mushrooms. Do you wish for us to make a fresh batch for you?"

" In that table there are two baskets, one with regular meadow mushrooms and another with Amanita virosa."

"What?"

" Every person here has to replicate the risotto with the mushrooms that they decide. choose wisely"

"… "

"What. are. You. Waiting. For."

"Sorry mister Poseidon!. Getting ready sir!"

∆^∆

Poseidon was seated in front of 20 dishes and their respective chef.

"Does everyone recognize their own dish?"

"Yessir!"

" Everyone, eat your own risotto"

"W-what?!"

"You are chefs , aren't you? You should be able to differentiate edible plants from non edible one. Go ahead. Show me if you are worthy of cooking here."

One by one they fell like flies. Leaving nobody

"To not be able to notice that they were all the same type with the ring cut off. How unsightly

He may not be exactly at your bedside but he won't be out of the castle.

"Poseidon. Could I see my beloved sister in-law?"

"Do you want me to trusts you with where my wife is? While she is in a comma? Do you think I'm stupid?"

Most of the time he spends by your side is to make sure the doctors don't mess up

"What are you doing,Apollo"

"For the sixth time, a basic check up. I do this daily"

"Why are you touching my wife"

"How do you expect me to treat her 2 meters away?"

"I am bringing Artemis"

"Oh for fucks sake , Poseidon"

It hurts him to see you in this state. You used to be so lively that seeing you in that state isn't something he wants to see.

Poseidon puts his hand on your cheek and sighs " I preferred it better when you smiled at me." He stands up from the bed and kisses your forehead " please wake up soon"

He might be a little nervous to take care of a whole baby by himself ( the servants already messed up once,there is not going to be a second chance) . After all he never took care of a baby in his life

"Why don't you ask your brother?"

"Zeus, have you ever had to take care of one of your children?

"..."

" I'm asking your wife"

∆^∆

"Look closely, to hold the baby by grabbing them like this"

"Like this?"

"Yes!"

"I think I'm ready to have my baby"

"Babies"

"What?"

"They are quintuplets"

"Excuse you?"

You had quintuplets , your oldest girls eirene, halcyone, Apolline. Your only boy, asafés. And the youngest and smallest of her siblings, charmian.

" Father! Halcy stole my headband"

"Eirene is lying, father! This headband is mine"

"There there, let's talk about this calmly"

"Shut up, Apolline!"

" You shut up halcyone, I'm older than you for 30 minutes, so respect me more!"

"Father, I want a brother"

"Let's talk about that when mommy wakes up,asafés"

"We are the only two men here. I want a little brother!"

"Father? Will mommy wake up?"

"Yes, some day"

"When that happens let's throw a party!"

"Sure"

"And we can invite uncle Zeus"

"No"

Secretly charmian is his favorite because she is a carbon copy of you. Her name is literally little joy.

[voidstilesplease]

a steo demigod (Christmas?) au ficlet :)

~.~

In the middle of Christmas dinner, Liam appears in the Stilinski household. Stiles jumps off his chair, reaching in his pocket for his dagger, and his dad almost drops the tray he's carrying on his way back from the kitchen.

"Jesus-" his father pauses, wide-eyed at the newcomer. Recognition crosses his features; having met and known of Liam's abilities, his stance relaxes. "Liam."

Liam smiles sheepishly up at Stiles's dad, rubbing the back of his neck. "Hello, Mr. Stilinski. Merry Christmas," he greets before he turns to Stiles, who's still startled by his sudden appearance in the middle of their dining room. "Hi, Stiles."

Stiles recovers, closing his mouth. "Liam, what-" he points in the boy's direction, other hand settling on his sweater-clothed hip. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm on a paid excursion," he announces, bringing up a small box with irregular wrappings.

From the kitchen, Heather, Stiles's childhood friend who came to visit for Christmas, calls out, "Noah, do I bring out the entire basket of pies?"

Liam's eyes widen a fraction, as does Stiles's. Stiles meets his dad's eyes, gesturing wildly for the two demigods to go upstairs for their business.

Stiles grabs Liam's hand as Heather's footsteps get closer. They trudge the stairs in less than ten seconds and reach his room in time when Heather's voice asks, "Where's Stiles?" His dad makes up an excuse about Stiles retrieving something in his room and that he will be back shortly as Stiles closes his bedroom door.

Liam looks apologetic when he states, "Sorry, I didn't know you had a visitor."

Stiles purses his lips and reprimands without heat, "That's what Iris-messages are for, you know?" Liam ducks his head, and Stiles drops the topic with a shake of his head. He arches his eyebrows, "So, what brings you here?"

Liam hands Stiles the small box, "I'm only here to give you this."

Stiles studies the box. It's poorly-wrapped with a nondescript little red bow on top. His eyes squint at Liam, questioning. "You're a delivery express now? Last I knew, you were Hades' spawn, not Hermes'."

Liam shrugs, "Yeah, well, the entire Hermes, Apollo, and Ares year-rounders are grounded at camp for the Holidays, so."

Stiles's eyebrows shot up high this time, "What did they do this time?"

"Something about Apollo's sun chariot," Liam's eyes glaze over a bit, and he has a grimace on his face. "Apollo lost a bet against Ares to drive the sun chariot. Theo was about to take it for a ride -possibly to deliver this gift to you himself. But then Hermes stole the chariot -you know, for fun- Ares went ballistic thinking Apollo cheated, Apollo was offended and knew it had to be Hermes' doing. And all Hades broke loose basically," he smirks, "and I wasn't even behind it."

Stiles heaves a resigned sigh, slanting his head. "Sounds like Hermes, Apollo, and Ares."

Liam laughs, "It's relieving to know some things don't change,"

It is. After the summer they had, with the camp almost going against each other, chaos like this brings lightness to Stiles's chest. They are standing up again, rebuilding the rift between them, establishing normalcy.

"So," Liam nods to the box. "If I wasn't clear, the gift is from your boyfriend."

Stiles stammers, feeling his cheeks heating up. "Theo's not my boyfriend,"

Liam smirks, waving his hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. You'll probably be the last to know that you're dating," Stiles opens his mouth to deny some more, but Liam beats him to it. "Anyway, that's why I'm here. I should get my ass back to camp before some monster detects the presence of more than one demigod, or worse, Mr. D finds out I'm shadow-traveling for illicit affairs." He opens the door behind him. "Also, tell your dad I'm sorry for popping up out of nowhere." And in a minute, Liam's gone through the shadows back to Camp Half-Blood.

Stiles looks at Liam's empty space before transferring his gaze down to the present in his hand. He wonders if he's been gone too long and Heather is starting to get suspicious of his absence, but he starts opening the gift anyway, curiosity winning.

When he sees what's inside, his mouth drops. It's a necklace. Not only that, the pendant is the shape of the letter 'S' made of gold and emblazoned with three small blue crystals. Stiles recognizes them as the gemstone Theo found in his pockets when he arrived back to the camp after being marooned for over a month in Ogygia. Theo suspected it was Calypso's doing as a reminder that he had once been to the mystical island.

He is almost afraid to touch it, but Stiles brings it close to admire the handiwork. Theo must have asked someone from Hephaestus to help with it because the intricacies can only be carved by their skillful hands.

His heart races all of a sudden, registering the fact that this beautiful jewelry is for him. He blows a big puff of air, in utter disbelief. Why would Theo give him such a gift? 

Stiles remembers Haley asking Theo for one of the crystals for scholarly purposes since it's a very rare azurite stone coming straight from a legendary unplottable island. The power even one of these must contain would be mind-blowing. But he had refused.

Now, Stiles has all three. Theo gives up his powerful stones as a Christmas present to Stiles. Different feelings are clashing together: confusion, astonishment, excitement, skepticism, deep flattery. He even thinks of how he and the Athena cabin can spend next summer poring over the gemstone that, up until this point, remained elusive to their academic pursuits.

When Stiles turns the pendant, he finds engravings on the other side, and his breath stutters.

"The gods send Calypso heroes to tend that she can't help falling in love within a brief time. But the same ones that cannot accept her offer of companionship because their hearts are bound to others - always the heroes that are already deep in love."

"So these heroes can only leave if they're in love?"

"Yes, Theo, that's what I just said."

The carvings spell out: for bringing me back from Ogygia

~•~

Happy Holidays!

(this probably sucks lol but anyway..)

[lilith-of-rivia]

The Blacksmith’s Daughter

Masterlist

Pairing: Geralt X Reader

Word count: 3,259

Warnings: Swearing, slight dirty talk, mentions of death, gross wound

Summary: The blacksmiths daughter in the upper northern kingdoms, is the only reason Geralt of Riva trusts to not only fix his weaponry but his wounds. He travels long and far to see the half mage, every year. During the many years he comes to visit her town, she grows feelings (love like feelinsg) for the creature. one particular visits she realizes she can no longer hide these feelinsg from him. [possibe part 2 if interested]

My father only had one child before my mother died. My mother was someone he always referred to as his soul. The light of his life. She died when I was just a babe. He never remarried, saying he’d never disrespect the love of his life. My mother was a mage. The healer of our village. Her powers passed in some aspects down to myself, but not enough to be considered a full mage. I gained the ability for immortality like my mother, unless by blade or beast. My eyes were different from those around my small town, bright emerald green. My father loved my eyes; “Just like you lovely mother my deer.” He always said to me.

Even with the limited magical abilities I possessed I chose to help my father in his smithing shop. I started when I was 16 that was nearly 30 winters ago. I haven’t aged much past 24. Making all the locals continuously fight for my hand. My father never wavered tho. Knowing I wanted to marry for love.

Over the last 30 years I've become one of the most well known smiths in the upper northern kingdoms. I've been called upon to make weapons for the mightiest King’s, even the Lioness Calanthe herself. My blades were well known across most major cities. I had apprenticed many young men to help and the money I began to bring in, made it able for my father to retire about 10 winters ago. My craft did not only extend in my weaponry but also my herbal skills. I was responsible for training the town healers and herbalists. My mother's talents passed onto me. I was a force to be reckoned with.

“Y/N?” My youngest apprentice, Apollo called to me from the front of my shop. Placing the sword I had been sharpening on a shelf I walked to him. I was covered in soot and dirt, my long [hair color] hair resting in a messy bun atop my head. My hands were covered in thick leather gloves that my father crafted for me many years ago to protect my fragile hands. As I approached the window that my customers spoke to my workers threw I saw a man. He was tall, much taller than myself and even Apollo. Apollo was a strong young man, about 6 '1 a decent build, still looked like a boy. But this man made him look like a child. His shoulders were broad and his hair was a striking silvery grey. I knew who he was, all too well.

“Ahh Geralt of Rivia. I thought you were long dead.” My words were followed with a soft chuckle, as the corner of his lips twitched up in a small smirk. His Bard at his side beamed at me.

“Good evening Y/N. How wonderful to see you!” Jaskier said smiling. I took my gloves off my hands along with my messy apron, glancing at Apollo. He’d never met the famed witcher before.

“Apollo be a dear and go finish with Lord Ferdinand's items. He’ll be back soon to collect them.” He nodded his head before walking back to the forge along with my other two apprentices. I opened the small door to the side of the window and stepped about of my shop, the cool Autumn air chilling my warm skin after being over a hot forge for hours.

Jaskier was the first to approach me, bringing me into a tight embrace. I gladly returned the gesture. I pulled back to examine the bard.

“My how you still have yet to age. Always shocks me.” He laughs and pulls out his prized dagger. He had won it in a game of poker many years ago from a lord. The blade alone cost more than anything he possessed. He didn't need the protection. Due to the brooding witcher he always traveled with. I had mended it and only I had mended it. He never trusted another with his blade. Just as his counterpart.

“It's in need for a good sharpening, maybe a polish to the handle? As always you’ll be paid for with not only my coin, but my recommendations as we travel.” I smiled and took the dagger from him and placed it in my belt before tuning to the brooding witcher.

The relationship we shared was like one I didn't share with any other. When he came through my town, I not only fixed and mended his weaponry but also his wounds. I was no longer an active healer. Unless it was for one particular witcher with a pair of striking golden orbs that could pear into the depths of my soul. He could pry out any secrets I never told anyone. Even my father.

My father loved Geralt. Always made comments about how I should pursue him whenever he came to town. Foolish old man thinking a witcher of Geralt’s status stopping for a blacksmith's daughter. Even one of my caliber. Many years ago he traveled with a mage named Yennifer, I adored her when she came with him. An adoring young thing, always willing to teach me new ways in medicine.

They were lovers for many years until they drifted apart. Yennefer found love in her first mate Istredd. They married a few years ago. Occasionally Yennifer would pass through and we’d catch up over a pint of ale, and she'd tell me of her travels looking for a cure to her empty womb. I pitied the woman, she desperately wanted children.

Knowing women of Yennifer’s caliber were who Geralt went for always made me hesitate from telling him my true feelings. I had fallen madly in love with the witcher. He stayed weeks at a time some years in my town, killing monsters in closer towns and being our own personal Witcher. The townspeople loved him, contrary to many other villages and cities.

“How many wounds am I healing today, wolf?” I asked as I approached him, his small smirk formed into a genuine smile as he embraced me. My arms around his broad shoulders as he bent to hug me. I could feel him grimace under my touch as my chest pressed to his own. I pulled away with a soft frown before lifting his shirt softly. Revealing a large deep gash spreading from his upper chest to his pant line. The gash was angry, yellow pus now oozy in certain areas. My brows lifted on my forehead in shock.

“You bloody idiot. How long has this gone untreated?” I asked quite harshly as I walked back into my shop, gathering my cloak and notebook full of orders to fill. I placed Jaskiers Dagger on a shelf.

“I’ll see you lads tomorrow, don’t forget to lock up tonight. Send for me if you need it.” I called my three workers in the back who all smiled and nodded before refocusing on their tasks.

I walked back out to the two men who were waiting for me. I shot a glare at Jaskier. “You let him walk around with an infection like that ?” I snapped as we started walking to the edge of town, passing the tavern and inn they both had spent many nights in.

“He refused to see anyone other than you, we’ve been traveling to see you for three consecutive days.” I directed my glair to the witcher who had a sly smirk on his lips.

“It's not that bad you drama queen.” I scoffed at his words before reaching over and brushing my fingertips along the cufeather-light. He hissed in pain and nearly doubled over.

“Yeah not that bad. You idiot loaf.” We walked at a quick pause up a small road from the main, up to my small cabin on the outskirts of the forest. I opened the door placing down my belongings before, sitting Geralt down on a chair in my kitchen. Jaskier on the other side, his hands on the book that had set there that I read in the mornings.

I rushed around my kitchen grabbing the herbs and viles full of oils and serums. I grumbled to myself at the stupidity of the witcher while I filled a pail with clean water. “Shirt off.” It wasn't a question or anything he could argue with. I knew he wouldn’t. I could hear his grunts of pain as he peeled his black shirt off. Once the pail was full of water I grabbed a box full of fresh wrapping and set everything on the table as Jaskier read unbothered.

I crouched in front of Geralt, my fingers tracing the angered skin surrounding the gash. I inhaled deeply, the scent of the wound filling my nose. It was badly infected but nothing I couldn't fix.

“Werewolf?” I asked, knowing I was right. The smell of the wolf’s claws being the first I could smell.

“Yeah, a real fucker too. Nearly broke my blade.” He hissed, In part of his anger at his last hunt, and due to the stinging of the alcohol I had poured on the clean cloth dabbing and cleaning the wound. His muscles contracted under my touch. I sighed but continued my work, spreading a lavender oil over the outside of the gash, soothing the skin. I grabbed a jar scooping out a helping of a cream made of hemlock and musk mallow to help the infection. After a thick paste was covering the gash I placed a few pieces of gauze over it keeping it protected. Once I was finished I looked up at the witcher, who was watching me intently. His amber eyes are boring into my emerald ones.

“I suggest you stay here a few days, till you’re healed more. So I can keep an eye on that infection.” I said with a soft smile. He grabbed a pack off his hip and placed three coins on my table, making me shake my head.

“Geralt, keep it I-“

“You just used so many fucking things on me. Take the money. Replenish your stock.” I rolled my eyes taking the coin from the table and putting it in my pocket, knowing I’d be giving it to the needy in town. I had plenty.

Jaskier placed the book he was reading down and smiled.

“Know that the broot is no longer dying, care to get some ale?” He asked, making me laugh.

“Let me see your sword first.” I was the only person on this plant that he allowed to touch that beloved sword. He pulled it from its sheath and handed it to me. I looked over the blade, seeing the dullness, and how fragile the silver was.

“Lucky for you, we replenish our silver last week, I have plenty to fix this blunt blade.” I placed the sword back in its sheath before placing it on a hook on my door. I walked back over to Geralt, taking his chin in my hand making him look up at me from his seated position.

“If you ever come to me with an infection like that again. I will kill you instead of heal you.” My threats fell flat, I knew that. He chuckled softly before kissing my hand softly.

“Thank you, my dear, Y/N. I already feel better.” I smiled softly and looked over at Jaskier who was just watching with an exasperated expression. He knew we had a weird relationship and truly couldn’t understand why we never became anything more than friends.

“How about that ale?” He said after clearing his throat. I nodded, grabbing his shirt from the floor and helping it back over his head. The men left their items in my home after I insisted they stay with me instead of going to the inn. And we were on our way to the bustling tavern. Filed with laughing people celebrating the end of the week with the sweet peach ale our town was best known for. Geralt and Jaskier found a table as I went to thbarkeep.

“Ahh Y/N!! How are you, my dear?” He asked as he filed the tankers with the cold bubbly ale.

“Quite well August thank you. Hope your ax is doing better?” I asked, speaking of the ax I had fixed for him less than a month ago.

“Oh works wonderfully!” He smiled sweetly at me passing me the tankers and I pulled out the coin but he held his hand out.

“First rounds on the house.” I smiled and nodded at the man grabbing the tankers turning my back to him and walking back to the two men I left. As I approached I saw Annabel. A quite permisquess young thing, not that it was my business what she did with her body, all over Geralt. I felt envy course, threw my body as she groped his chest. I saw his face contort in pain as she brushed her hand down his chest, and he gently pushed her back, but of course, she didn't get the message. I walked up behind her, setting the ale on the table firmly before taking her wrist in my hand spinning her to face me.

“He is hurt, a massive gash, infected puss all over the bandages. Stop. Touching.” My voice was harsh as I glared at the young woman. Her head dropped as she walked away from me in a hurry. I let out a huff as I sat next to Geralt. I could almost feel his smirk as he looked at me. I lifted the tanker to my lips sipping the sweet ale as did Jaskier who was also smiling at me.

“I'll stab your eyes out of your head if you keep looking at me like that Bard.” I spat and he rolled his eyes standing with the ale in his hand looking over at a group of young women.

“I’m going to party, but now I’m also leaving you two alone too” He pointed his free hand in between the two of us, “figure out what the hell you are. Don't wait up.” He left us as he walked to the group of women ready to brag about his adventures with the feared witcher. My cheeks were warm at his words, as I gulped down more of the ale, ignoring Geralt’s persistent gaze as he drank his ale.

“Any idea what Jaskier may be talking about, dove?” He asked, his arm now draped around my chair, his fingers brushing my arm lightly.

“Don't get any smart ide,as Witcher, you're in no place to fuck with a wound like that.” I didn't look at him.

“No one said anything about fucking dove.” That godforsaken nickname made my nipples harden. And my cunt moisten. I finally turned to him, he was inches away from my face. His ale is now on the table. His hand gently cupped my face.

“I’m serious. Even if I wanted to, you cant. It could break the scabs forming.” I couldn't help but lean into his warm rough calloused hand. My hands were similar in feel due to my craft.

“I never mentioned fuking dove, but if you really wanted to. You’d be my first pick.” His lips were inches from mine. My breathing became more erratic at his words, my heartbeat was quickening. He chuckled softly. Inhaling deeply.

“I can not only hear your heart but smell your arousal, my love.” I bit my lip softly and closed my eyes gently. I wanted to, more than anything. But I couldn't just fuck him and ignore the love I felt for the man.

“You’ll leave soon Geralt. And my heart cannot handle it.” It was now or never. I pulled back a little looking in his eyes. “I've been in love with you for many many years. You coming threw and staying when you do is the happiest I am all year, but I know you do not feel the same. I can't fuck you and then watch you leave. You may leave now and never speak-“ I didn't even have the chance to finish my rambling because his lips were pressed to mine. His hands now both on my cheeks. His lips were rough and tasted sweet. It lasted mere minutes. Before he pulled away.

“I will always come home to you, my dove. If you’ll have me.” He said with a smile. My heart was beating faster again. His hands were now holding my own.

“I've never been good with words, but there is a reason I only trust you to tend to my wounds and my swords. You are not just another woman to me. I need you in my life. If you’ll have me, I'll always return to you after every hunt and If I’m needed far, you’ll come with me.” My eyes were welling with tears at his sweet words. It was all I ever wanted him to say. This time I pressed my lips to his. It was softer than before, longer. Full of more passion. More love than any kiss I had ever shared.

“I’ll always take you in your stupid bafoon.” He chuckled softly at my words and leaned back placing his arm around my shoulders again, his eyes scanning the crowd, landing on Jaskier who was singing his least favorite tune. But even the hated song couldn't damper the Witcher’s smile.

“You’ll now need to ask my father for his blessing if you plan to take me with you,” I whispered, nodding my head to the direction of where my father was seated, talking to his companions laughing and joking. Geralt cleared his throat and got to his feet, his fingers laced on my own. He led me through the crowd.

“Mr. Y/L/N?” Geralt asked, his shoulders pressed back as he stood behind my father, his hand not leaving my own. My father turned, saw our hands then the face of the man I was with.

“Geralt!! So good to see y, ou my boy!” He stood and patted Geralt's shoulder.

“How’s the hunt these days?”

“Very good sir, I um... actually have a question for you.” My father smiled and looked at me. Winking.

“What's that lad?” He asked.

“Can I have your blessing to take your daughter's hand in marriage?” I nearly choked on my own spit at his words. My heart is now hammering out of my chest. My cheeks bright red as I squeezed his hand. My father laughed and threw his hands in the air.

“Finally!! A more than worthy suitor for my dear daughter!” The men behind him cheered a few men in the bar looking over eyes burning into Geralt in jealousy.

“You are the only one for my daughter's dear boy. My dear wife Gladdis wouldn’t have been happier. You protect my daughter. With your life. And you have my blessing.” My father stuck his hand out and Geralt let go of mine to shake it.

“I’d die before a hair is harmed on her head, sir.” My father laughed.

“So it will be a wedding in the future! A round on me for everyone!!” The tavern cheered and my father hugged me, kissing my cheek before whispering, “I Told you,my dear. And you thought I was wrong.” I laughed softly and hugged him tightly. An arm wrapped around my hip. Jaskier cheered and started to play a tune on his lute. Geralt bent down his lips by my ear.

“I love you to the moon and back, dove.”

[lotusss-flowerbomb]

What We Have (1)

Viktor Drago x reader

Warnings: None for this chapter

Summary: Reader is Adonis’ adopted sister, she and Viktor falls for one another.

A/N: This was a request from @rochyu. I used some stuff from the movie with changes and twists of course. In this version Apollo died after the kids were born. Also, as to not completely butcher the Russian language, everything in bold italics is Russian. Hope you guys enjoy!!

Word Count: 3,187

********

You were on your way to Adrian's with Rocky. You'd been visiting Philly after Adonis told you about his engagement to Bianca. After spending a few days with them, you'd gone to see the old man and of course grab some food at the best Italian spot in the city. When you walked in, the hostess told him a man was waiting for him. When you both looked up you saw Ivan Drago sitting at a table.

"Stay back," he said to you, before walking over and pulling out a chair to sit with the other man.

You walked past Ivan, taking a good look at him before standing off to the side. You listened to their conversation and when Ivan mentioned his son breaking Adonis, Rocky stood from his seat and so did he. Viktor pulled the door open and walked inside with the most menacing scowl on his face and you stepped forward to stand beside Rocky.

You looked Viktor up and down before making eye contact with him. He was huge. Had a few inches over Adonis and a bit of weight, but you saw your brother beat down guys just as big as him in Mexico. He could take him. 

You were sitting at the table having dinner with your family. You were so excited that your brother and future sister-in-law had moved back to LA.

Bianca was telling Mary Anne about being signed to a record label, but you could tell by the look on Adonis' face that he was nervous about something. When you made eye contact, no words needed to be said. He was taking the fight and tonight was about breaking the news to your mother. He was getting ready to spill the beans when your mom threw a monkey wrench in the mix thinking they were announcing a pregnancy.

Your eyes darted from Adonis to Bianca.

"Wait, what?" You leaned in.

"No, nuh un, no," Bianca denied as she picked up her glass of wine and took a sip.

All four of you were silent for a moment and then she spit the wine back into the glass.

"I have a test in my bathroom, I'll go get it." You scooted your chair back and started jogging off.

"Aye, woah, hold up," Adonis stopped you. "Why you got a test in your room?"

"I'm grown," you said and left the dining room.

"Momma..."

"She's an adult. Just like you're an adult." Your mother told him.

When you came back down with the test Bianca had to practically drag him to the bathroom. Once they were gone your mother turned to you.

"You had a pregnancy scare and you didn't tell me?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I was a few days late a couple of months ago and I bought it. Started my period the same night." You explained.

"And what happened to being safe to start with?"

"The condom broke."

She gave you the side eye and looked as if she was about to ask another question, but Adonis walked into the room and you both turned your attention to him.

"Well?!" You asked when he didn't say anything.

"I'ma be a dad," he smiled.

You screamed and ran to jump into his arms. You were more excited than he was. He put you down and you ran to Bianca, who was in tears, to give her a hug.

You put your hand on her still flat belly and whispered over and over again.

"Please, be a girl. Please, be a girl."

Once the excitement of the pregnancy died down a bit. You could hear Adonis telling your mother about taking the fight with Drago. You knew she was pissed when you heard her tell him he didn't need her blessing. You walked all the way into the kitchen when she said she hoped he'd be there for his child. She looked up at you and stormed out.

"Rocky isn't training you?" You asked.

"Nah," he paused, "he don't think I can beat him."

"Or maybe the guilt of what happened to dad still eats at him," you shrugged.

"He should be able to let it go."

"Oh, so, you're allowed to have your feelings about it, but he isn't?"

"You gon lecture me too?" He huffed.

"No, I have no interest in wasting my time, because you've already made a decision. I do, however, have a favor to ask."

"And what's that?"

"I want to do the interviews. It'll be great for my career and —"

"No," he immediately shut you down.

"Come on, Donnie, why not?" You put your hands on your hips.

"I don't want you alone in a room with him. I'm not risking your life."

"I won't be alone. I'll have a camera man with me and I can do this. We'll make it a whole Creed thing." You smiled.

He was quiet for a second and then he laughed a little.

"What's so funny?"

"That's gon be an awkward ass post fight interview if I lose," he said.

"Well then, I guess you can't lose."

You flew to the Ukraine with your camera man, Dennis. Over the next few weeks before the fight, you watched on the sidelines as Viktor trained. The only verbal communication the two of you had were simple greetings and every now and then you'd exchanged looks that were far too long to be classified as a glance. You took photos and short video clips of him and Ivan doing drills.

He really was a beast. Powerful, focused hits with every jab, but he was slower than your brother and that's what Adonis had to use against him in order to win.

Today was your last day in Kiev, so you showed up to the gym a little late and waited until the two men were finished. Ivan was heading out of the ring and you walked up the stairs to get in. 

"Hey Dennis, can you get some shots of me in here for the cover photo?" You called out to him.

You did a few different poses and then he came over and showed you what he'd done so far. He swiped through the photos and Viktor was behind you in some of them.

He was still in his hand wraps and his body was drenched in sweat. He looked good and he wasn't even trying.

"Damn," you whispered. "Hey, Viktor come here and look at these," you waved him over.

He looked over your shoulder while you scrolled through the photos. The corner of his mouth lifted in a lopsided grin, but it disappeared almost instantly. He stepped away and moved to the ropes to leave.

"I think we can work with what we have," you informed Dennis and followed Viktor.

He held the ropes open for you and jumped down once you were almost out. One of your heels got caught in the process and when you tried lifting your foot you lost your balance. Viktor reached out and caught you before you could hit the ground.

His arms cupped you close to him in the bridal position. You opened your eyes and looked up at him. His bright hazel eyes stared back at you.

"You okay?"

"Uh, yeah, thanks," you said.

"Viktor!" Ivan yelled from the door. "Let's go."

You snapped out of it and wiggled from his arms. He set you gently on your feet and walked towards his father. You cleared your throat and turned to Dennis, who was looking at you quizzically.

"What?" You asked.

"What was that?" He inquired.

"What was what?"

"That moment between you and little Drago."

"There was no moment, Dennis. Grab your stuff and let's go. We've got an early flight in the morning." You grabbed your bag and stomped away. 

You sat in the front row for the weigh in. You could obviously see that Viktor was taller and larger than Adonis, but while they were face to face it made you nervous.

You saw your brother look over at Ivan and within a split second all hell started breaking loose. You jumped from your seat, but Dennis held on to your arm.

"It'll look unprofessional and you do not need to jump in between two angry tanks," he advised.

Each team had separated the guys and you looked for Bianca to make sure she was a safe distance away.

"Let's go," you told Dennis. You walked to the locker room to set up for your interview with Viktor. After putting some finishing touches on your makeup, the men finally walked in.

Viktor paused when he laid his eyes on you and then quickly averted his gaze.

"This guy is terrifying, why did you want to do this?" Dennis whispered.

"He's not that scary, Dennis," you rolled your eyes.

Viktor and Ivan had turned their backs to you and were completely ignoring your presence. You tried to be polite and wait for him to finish up whatever it was that he was doing, but it was becoming obvious that they were being rude on purpose.

"Hey, we're on a schedule here, so Viktor, if you wouldn't mind coming over here, so I can get you mic'd up..." You smiled. The annoyed tone of your voice definitely didn't match the look on your face.

"Hello," Viktor said just above a whisper.

"Sit here, please," you ignored his greeting and grabbed the mic and handed it to him. "Put this under your shirt and clip it to your collar."

Ivan was standing so close that you bumped into him when you moved to adjust the position of the mic.

"Would you mind giving us a little space?" You asked him.

"Do I get one?" He countered.

"I'm not interviewing you."

"His English is not too good."

"I guess it's a good thing I've stayed on top of my Russian?"

Both men looked at you in shock. Dennis smiled behind the camera. He knew you couldn't wait to pull that little jaw dropper out of your pocket. You'd spent almost three weeks in Kiev and never let on that you could speak a different language. And since you barely talked to them, there was no reason to.

"Ready for check?" You asked, Dennis.

"Loud and clear," he replied referring to your sound.

"Please state your name, weight and height," you said to Viktor.

"I am Viktor Drago, my weight is 111kg and I am 193 centimeters tall." He replied.

"All good," Dennis confirmed. "Rolling in 3...2...1."

"Hi, Viktor..."

"Hello," he nodded.

"So tonight was your final weigh in and it seems like things got a little bit heated out there. Is that more fuel for your fire?"

"It is..." He stated, but didn't say anything else.

"Okay.... Why is this fight so important to you?"

He hesitated for a moment before answering. You saw his face soften just a little bit before he spoke.

"To restore honor to my family name. To prove to the people of Russia and the world that I am worthy. That my father is worthy."

A beat of silence passed between you before you continued asking questions. The further into the interview you got, he seemed to loosen up a bit.

He told you that he's been training all of his life and that he loved fighting, despite it being tiring at times.

"So after this, whether it's a win, lose or draw, what's next for you? Any plans for a family or a life outside of boxing?"

"I have never really thought about it." He shrugged, "This moment has been my entire life and I will not fail."

His voice was heavy. You could tell that this meant everything to him. More than Drago's revenge as you once thought. You ended the interview with that question. 

"We're good Dennis, let's pack up and get to editing, so this will be ready tomorrow morning." You said pulling your mic off.

Ivan told Viktor that he'd meet him in the car and he left. You were seriously having a hard time understanding that man, but you had to remind yourself that he isn't the one you needed to communicate with.

Victor was removing his mic and somehow got twisted up in the cords. You went over to help him while Dennis packed everything else.

"Here, let me. Snatching on it isn't gonna get you anywhere."

Without thinking, you lifted his shirt and put your hand under it to pull the cords. Your fingers grazed his abs and suddenly you were very aware of what you were doing.

"Oh, sorry," your face was scorching from embarrassment.

"It is okay. Thank you for helping," he said softly.

You were finally able to get him untangled and put everything away. You helped Dennis carry some of his equipment and you headed out to his truck.

"Oh shoot, I think I left my phone," you ruffled through your bag. "Go ahead, I'll catch up," you turned around and headed back inside to the locker room.

You were in such a hurry that you didn't even see Victor standing on the other side of the door when you snatched it open. You crashed into his solid frame. Just like the last time, he reached out to catch you.

"Oh my goodness, thank you," you said as he stood you back upright.

He didn't say anything back. He just stood there and watched you.

"I, um, I think I left my phone in here," you pushed past him. 

His staring was making you uncomfortable and not in a bad way, which made you even more uncomfortable.

You searched around the areas where the phone should have been. You could see Victor from the corner of your eye just standing there.

"Well, if you're gonna stay, can you at least help me out?"

"How did you know I would understand you?" He asked.

"Because I knew your dad was lying and just wanted to hover over you during the interview. Can I see your phone, so I can call mine?" You walked over to him.

He handed you the phone, "He means well, my father. He's very protective. I am his only son."

When you unlocked the screen you froze to stare at the wallpaper. A picture of Ivan after his win against your father.

He noticed your hesitation.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to —"

"No, it's fine," you said and dialed your number.

You saw the light from the screen across the room and went over to grab it. You handed Victor his phone and was on your way out when you felt his large hand grab yours.

"I know being around us must be hard for you, but you have been kind the whole time. Thank you."

"I wanted to get to know who you were on my own. And you're actually not so bad." You reached up and cupped his face.

He leaned into your touch. It wasn't everyday that someone showed him sincere affection. He couldn't stop himself, he lifted your chin and pressed his lips to yours.

He gave you the softest most gentle kiss you'd ever received. You pushed your tongue into his mouth. He grabbed your ass and squeezed it as he pulled you close.

You heard a noise behind you and pulled back. You looked down the hall, but didn't see anyone.

"Uh, I should go," you hurried away.

"What kept you?" Dennis asked, when you finally made it back outside. 

"Couldn't find the phone, Viktor helped me look for it."

"Viktor, huh?" He raised a brow.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means your lipstick is smudged," he pointed.

"What?!" You hurried to look at your reflection, but your makeup was intact. "Very funny! Get that stuff over to editing for me and make sure Oliver reads all of my notes, please?"

"You got it, I'll see you tomorrow."

You got in your vehicles and left. You were exhausted, confused and... horny. You knew kissing Victor was wrong and you should've stopped it, but you didn't. You shook it off. It was just a kiss. It would never happen again.

You were awakened by your phone vibrating, you looked over at your clock and then back at your phone. What could Dennis possibly want at this hour?

"Somebody had better be dying," you answered.

"Are you kidding right now?" He started, "did you approve this final edit?"

"What? No, I didn't post anything."

"Well someone did and I have a feeling that you aren't gonna like it."

You grabbed your tablet and pulled up the Instagram page for your station. Sure enough the interview you'd done with Viktor had been posted. You watched the video in horror. Even though he was your family's sworn enemy, this was not the side of Victor that you wanted to show the world.

They'd only posted the parts of the interview when he was being snippy. Then you read the comments.

"It's funny how she tries to make him look bad on camera, but had no problems kissing him when she thought no one was looking 🙄"

Your heart dropped into your stomach. Someone saw you and took pictures. That must've been the noise you'd heard. You hurried through blogs to see who had it posted. Everyone. Everyone had a photo of you kissing Victor Drago in a dark locker room.

"We can get in front of this, don't panic." He advised.

"Adonis is gonna kill me. My brother will never speak to me again." Your breath caught in your throat.

"No, honey, you can't help who you have feelings for."

"Victor's gonna think I sabotaged him on purpose. Who posted this? Why would they do this?" You choked.

"People are evil and will do anything for a dollar," he sighed. "I'm sorry I had to tell you like this, but I didn't want you to be caught off guard in the morning."

"Thank you, Dennis. I'll see you tomorrow." You hung up and headed to your mother's room.

You knocked softly before entering and then crawled into bed with her.

"Well, you haven't done this in a while. What's wrong?" She asked.

You just showed her the photo. Mary Anne was usually pretty good about holding it together, but you heard the gasp leave her mouth.

"What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't..."

"You've never done anything this reckless before. You're risking everything you've worked for." She scolded.

"Momma, I don't care about that. Adonis is gonna be so pissed." You swiped your tears.

"Adonis? Oh my sweet girl," she wrapped her arms around you. "Your brother will get over it. You worry about your career and what you've built."

You laid in your mother's arms. Your mind was racing with thoughts of how you could fix this. You couldn't lie and say the picture was photoshopped, but you could explain to Viktor that editors had screwed you royally. After an hour you drifted off to sleep. You'd figure out in the morning.

********

@titty-teetee

@bluestarego

@literaturefeen

@rochyu

[cherrysweather]

Hello there :) Could you do headcannons or a one-shot of Simon and Edgeworth reacting to their s/o who's able to do one or multiple voice impression of fictional or real characters and can do an impression of them? Thank you!

OmG my first request!  I’m so happy T-T So! Hello cutie ^^

This request is so cute and I will do both headcanons and a little one-shot for both of these handsome men >3< I hope you will like this ewe ---------------------------

Simon Blackquill and Miles Edgeworth reacting to voice impressions of their S/O:

Simon Blackquill:

He was searching for you around the space center when he heard Athena’s voice;

He went toward the origin of the voice to ask where you were to Athena, but he found you with Aura;

“Where’s Athena?”

Aura burst into laughter seeing her brother’s confused face;

You then explained that you were trying to imitate Athena to make Aura laugh, and what a success!;

 Aura then tried in every way to persuade you to learn to do more impressions to prank Simon;

You two ended up calling him even at night or during trials using, when you came to court, Athena’s or Apollo’s phones to make the pranks more realistic;

 At first he fell for all the pranks, but after sometime, he learned to recognize your voice’s details;

“Are you done? It’s 3 in the morning”

Then why you’re awake;

But if you prank him in the morning after he slept for a while, he will fell completely for it again;

When you learned to imitate even his voice, he gave up on being shocked;

But even if you sounded exactly the same, you weren’t able to control people;

That one detail saved (in part) his ego; 

But deep down he loves this ability of yours;

He even asked you to teach him some voices;

In vain.

He was checking on the coffee with his eyes still closed when you came in the kitchen; and a light went on in your head. “’Morning Blackquill!” you hugged him from behind  so he wouldn’t see you.

“Apollo? Why are you here?” He was so damn confused, trying to see if it was really him, but you continued to stay behind his back

“I’m here just to say hi, good morning!” you then came in front of him, took his hands and pushed him gently towards you, placing then your lips on his.

He reacted by instinct, pushing you away “What are yo-” 

“Hey, why are you rejecting me now?” your voice came back as you hugged him, resting your chin on his chest.

“......Why are you like this” he took off you from his body while you started to laugh

“Simon! I love you so much!! You wouldn’t let Apollo kiss you!” you smiled, but he was absolutely going to kill you; he felt an heart attack when he had not yet recognized you!

“I hate you so much” 

“No, no you don’t” you hugged him again, trying to hold on to him even though he tried to pull you off.

A pout remained on his face for all day.

  Miles Edgeworth:

He came to know about your ability while you were trying to impress Pearl with a Phoenix impression when he was walking by;

He had a shocked face for all the day and he was afraid to speak to you;

Since Maya brought you inside the world of the “Steel Samurai” and all of its spin-offs and sequels, you are always practicing on imitating characters’ voices;

Every time he comes home you greet him with a broomstick in the hands and an imitation in the mouth;

“Now prepare yourself for the blade of justice Evil Magistrate! You won’t live long!”

Your impression of Will Powers is really sublime;

“...And the blade of justice is this broomstick?”

He’s too tired (and old) for this;

After a lot of practice, you succeeded on re-creating also Miles’ voice!

You always use this card whenever he feels a bit down, succeeding most of the time since he finds his voice funny;

But the first time he heard his voice coming out of your mouth, he felt happiness inside him;

He always thought that you were able to make impressions of whoever you cared for, so that was a big signal of your love;

He will sometime ask you to imitate someone just to appreciate "your way of making art";

Like, when he reads dossiers he will ask you to read some parts with specific voices.

You were on the couch, waiting for the man of the house to come home, killing the time repeating some of your favorite lines of the Steel Samurai until the door opened

“I’m home” Miles entered, leaving his shoes at the entrance.

“Welcome back” said the Phoenix inside you as you stood up, going toward him and taking his bag from his hands.

“Don’t start with this already” he sat on a chair, trying to clean his mind

“Why not? I can see that you haven’t had the best of the days” you went behind him, gently massaging his shoulders  “What happened?” you spoke with your voice to make him feel more comfortable.

“Nothing, just, work. A lot of work” he slipped his hand on yours, gently holding it.

“Can I prepare you something? Perhaps some tea?” you tried to hold on to the imitation of his voice until the end, failing miserably and hearing Miles laughing after you

“If you stay here it’s enough” he stood up and kissed softly your hand  “But, some tea might help, so we can both relax. In the meantime, I want to change these cursed clothes” you rushed to the stove to make tea, hoping it would help him to relax.  While you waited for the water to warm, you ended up singing the openings of the “Pink Princess”, switching at every line a voice.

Miles could hear you from the bedroom both laughing and listening to you. “Sometimes I think you’re crazy” he came in the kitchen again, sitting on the table and listening to you as he waited with you the tea.

-

OK, sO. This is it I guess? I’ve probably gone off topic, and I’m so sorry for this ;-; But I hope that you liked it anyway TvT I have to learn to write shorter stories, but when I like a character it’s impossible XD   With this, I’m out, this time without tears! ^^

[leonidas-writes]

The Brood part 2. The tenth arrives! Clearest backstory, also the one that they didn't fully intend to get.

Elisabet was working when she got a call, answering on instinct.

"Hey, Lis? This is Catherine, from Wakefield." She remembered her. Kind, had done a lot for them, matched them with four of their nine kids.

"Hey Cat. What can I do for you?" The other woman paused, and Elisabet did as well, dread pooling in her gut.

"I know you guys were gonna be done after Apollo, but I got a case and thought of you guys."

"Alright, lay it on me."

"Female, estimated two weeks." Elisabet froze. Estimated? "No name, not registered at any hospitals. Left on the damn doorstep. No record, no way to track any parents, was just left there."

"We'll take her."

"You don't need to talk to Gaia?" There was a note in her voice that said she knew exactly why she didn't.

"No. I don't, I know she'd wanna help this kid." Catherine's voice was fond.

"You're both good people. I'm glad she's gonna have you. When do you wanna pick her up?"

"Tomorrow. We'll have a name when we come to get her." A soft laugh came across the line, and she felt her cheeks flush despite herself.

"You're a good person, Lis. How's noon sound?"

"Sounds good. Thank you, Catherine. Now I've gotta call Gaia to tell her we're adopting a two week old daughter."

"I don't envy that conversation. Good luck." The call ended, and Elisabet took a minute to gather herself before she called her wife. She answered the call as promptly as ever.

"Hello, Elisabet."

"Hey Gaia. We adopted another kid."

"What?" There was shock and anger in her voice and fuck, she could've handled that better.

"Catherine called me about a two week old girl who got left on their doorstep, no records or anything."

"And you said yes." The tone was far more understanding now, and there was a pause. "We'll need a name."

"Yeah. I was thinking something metalurgic, to cheer Heph up after Apollo said his first words without him around."

"We can't make it too overt or Minerva would be angry." She smiled a bit.

"You're such a peace keeper love. How about solder?"

"You can't name a child solder! May as well name them wire." Elisabet chuckled.

"Sprocket?" Gaia was smiling, she could hear it in her voice.

"Mm, why not go all out? Argentum."

"Oh, I love when you speak latin to me." Gaia laughed at that. "What about alloy, huh?" And then she paused.

"I hope you made a note of that."

"I will now!"

~

They had a name when they showed up at the agency, and Aloy was brought home in Elisabet's arms. She was introduced to her siblings, and Hephaestus was the first one to hold her. And he smiled and spoke softly and they knew immediately that he was going to dote on her the exact same way he doted in Apollo. Hades was not allowed to hold her, as he wasn't allowed to hold Apollo, because neither of them knew how to keep him from acting the way he did, cruel and cold. Aloy was loved by her siblings, though, and that was all that mattered to her mothers.

~

Aloy was four, and running around the yard with Apollo and Vala, chasing them as she shrieked with laughter. Hades was ten, and had never outgrown his cruel anger. So when he walked past them all on his way out, knocking Aloy over, he didnt care about the startled shout and the upset look he was given. Aloy stood back up, Vala and Apollo there and checking on her, but it didn't help her mood much. They went inside, to Hephaestus, and Aloy curled up in his lap. Aloy wasn't sure why Hades had pushed her, wasn't sure it was on purpose. So she didn't say anything about it, just curled into her oldest brother.

~

Aloy was six and her brother came and sat next to her. Her right eye was swollen and her knuckles were red.

"I broke a kid's nose for not leaving Minerva alone, once." Her eyes widened and she looked at him.

"Really?!" He nodded.

"Really." He looked at her, took her hand, kissed the sore knuckles. "Which is why I'm sure your hand hurts." She blushed a bit, pulling her hand away, but he just chuckled. "Long as you were defending you or Apollo, they won't care too much." She cuddled into him.

"They were pushing him around, making fun of him." Like Hades did to her, she didn't say. "I told them to stop and one of them stepped forward and told me to make them. So I did." Hephaestus kissed the top of her head.

"You've got such a big heart, Aloy. Don't let anyone take that from you." She nodded, and he kissed her head again. She closed her eyes.

~

Aloy's eye hadn't even fully healed from her run in with the bullies when she snapped at her older brother.

"Stop it!" He paused, one eyebrow raised.

"Or what?" She huffed, hands curling into fists.

"Or I'm gonna punch you like I did the bullies that were hurting Apollo!" Hades chuckled, smirking a bit.

"You couldn't hurt me if you tried." He crouched, face to face with her. "You're a weak little brat, what could you-" Her fist met his jaw with a solid crack, and his eyes widened. His hand pressed to where she'd punched him, and he snarled. "You little-"

"You're such a bad brother! You always make fun of me and push me and I hate it! I hate you! You're a terrible brother and I'll punch you next time too!" And her chest was heaving and he was staring and then her eyes widened and she ran to the edge of the yard, to... To Hephaestus, who he'd looked up to the entire time he'd been here, who was picking Aloy up, who was looking at him with confusion and anger in his eyes and oh, it was directed at him. Why was he angry with him? He stood, and Hephaestus pulled Aloy closer to his chest before turning and leaving. Hades huffed. And then rubbed his jaw, thinking on her words. Was he a bad brother? He'd thought that was just what siblings did to each other.

~

When Aloy turned seven, Hades gave her a present for the first time. And she took it, wary of what it was, opening it when she shook it and nothing happened. And her eyes widened at the small, badly made, stuffed snake. She looked up, and he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I wanted to do something to apologize. I didn't... Realize how bad I was. So. Sorry." And she stared at him for a long moment, and then hugged him, snake held in her hand.

"Thank you. Sorry I punched you." Hades had frozen when she hugged him, but he ruffled her hair now.

"Mm, don't worry about it, kid. You got a mean hook." She smiled sheepishly, and Elisabet gave Hades a nod from the side. Looks like he didn't totally fuck up the apology.

~

Aloy was ten when she came home, flopped on the couch, and buried her face in her hands. Minerva and Eluthia were at college, but the rest of her siblings would want to make sure she was okay. Apollo, however, walked in behind her.

"Aloy's got a crush!" A pillow was launched at his head and he laughed, throwing it back.

"A crush?" Of course Demeter was the one that spoke up first. She was grinning. Aloy threw the pillow at her.

"Shut up!" Hephaestus walked over and picked her up, ignoring her indignant shriek, sitting where she'd been and holding her to his chest.

"On who?"

"I'm in biting range of you!"

"Talaaaanaaah." Artemis smirked.

"What was it? The beautifully tanned skin? The incredible archery skills?" Aether laughed.

"Was it the rich family?"

"I will make nine robots, one specifically tailored for each of you, to ruin your lives in the most annoying way possible." Her siblings burst into laughter, and Elisabet walked out of the kitchen, smiling a bit.

"Hey, she takes after me, leave her alone." She walked over, rescuing her youngest from her brother's arms. "To be fair, I am also curious about Talanah. Tell me about her." She was taken to her room as she started talking about her friend, who was only her friend, and she curled into her mother's side, content in the warmth of this situation. When her mother started laughing, she froze, and very quickly tried to remember what she had be just said.

~

College was hard, but at least she had Talanah. And she'd met Ikrie, too, and Ikrie was awesome. When they'd brought her home over holiday break, she'd known it was gonna be a shock for her, finding her massive amount of siblings. Still, she could see Ikrie was nervous when they pulled into the massive driveway and saw the other cars there.

"You gonna make it, snow ghost?" Ikrie snorted, smacking her arm as she parked and killed the engine.

"Just introduce me to your damn family." Aloy laughed, getting out of the car, and she was ready. She knew Minerva. Knew the snow on the ground meant war. So she was prepared to dodge the grab at her collar, dropping and flinging snow at her eldest sister, who laughed, tackling her down. Ikrie stared, at least until snow smacked her in the face.

"Perfect shot, Heph!"

"You expected anything less?" Ikrie made a snow ball and scanned the area, trying to find her attacker. And then someone came out of the trees to her right, she turned, and shrieked, falling into the snow. Aloy groaned.

"Hades, tell me your not covered in blood."

"I'm not covered in blood."

"Is it fake blood that you're covered in?" His silence told her all she needed to know. "What injury have you got?"

"Knife in my neck." Ikrie smashed snow into Aloy's face.

"Could've warned me your brother likes to do gore prosthetics!" She grinned at her.

"Mm, nah. Too much fun to see how you reacted." Minerva was pulled off her, and she could see her brother now, fake knife sticking from his throat, blood on the knife and trailing down his neck. "Isn't that uncomfortable?"

"Very." He helped her up, and she brushed herself off.

"ALOY!" She was knocked forward into the snow as Apollo tackled her, and she sighed.

"Hey Apollo." He moved off, grinning, and then turned to Ikrie.

"So. You're Ikrie, huh? Aloy talks about you a lot." His face was shoved in a snow bank.

"You're insufferable!" Hades smiled, and Minerva and Hephaestus both laughed loudly. Ikrie smiled, her face flushed slightly. She shoved Apollo further into the snow drift.

~

Hades had had an interview, one where he talked about why he was so passionate about his work. And so Eluthia had declared that they were gonna surprise him. Getting tackled in a parking lot probably wasn't how he'd wanted to end his day but, joining in on the dog pile her siblings had made, hearing Hades shriek indignantly, maybe it was a good way to end it.

[thewebcomicsreview]

So I've been following this one guy who gives really good writing advice, but lately he's been: telling people it's OK to skip the Intermission in Homestuck; defending bad writing as a "structural issue" (those poor writers, it's not their fault they've structured their story / writing process in a bad way); priding himself on making a half-assed "unfinished-on-purpose" comic review. This person was my main source of writing advice, so I don't know where to turn to. Any recommendations?

The only other webcomic review guys I’m aware of are the Bad Webcomics Wiki, but if you think I’m too nice on writers, they might be up your speed anyway and oh my god they just posted a review of a SpiderForest comic. Guess it’s time for

The Webcomic Review Reviews Webcomic Reviews

So, this is a review of a SpiderForest comic called “The Guide to a Healthy Relationship” which is a comic about LGBT people, and it’s being reviewed by the Bad Webcomics Wiki, so obviously there’s going to be a whole bunch of slurs, so consider that a content warning and I’m putting the rest of this behind a ReadMore

This is going to be slightly disjointed because the BWW review is disjointed, but I’ll do my best

We’re already in some factual trouble right on line one, since TGtaHR is a traditional webcomic and not a long-scroll mobile-friendly webtoon, nor is it hosted on webtoons.com. Is this nitpicky? Maybe a little, but we’re off to a poor start here. 

This comic is just under 200 pages.

I feel like if you’re going to write a big thing attacking a webcomic’s story, you should try to have some kind of understanding of what that story is. I know what the story of Sinfest is, and Sinfest is a confusing nightmare.

Okay, so maybe the reason you think this story is bad is because it’s 2deep4u. 

So, in the space of about twenty pages, we learn that Apollo had a friend named Julian who killed himself, and then we cut ahead to Julian drinking on the job, going to a party, taking drunks, and waking up naked in the bathtub covered in beer bottles, and the living room is full of too-hot-for-tumblr passed-out drunks. The Bad Webcomics Wiki calls this “Softcore porn that is never brought up again”, because the Bad Webcomics Wiki is written by high school dropouts for an audience they presume has never read the comic proper. 

This debauchery is never brought up again because it’s not relevant to the plot, it’s relevant to the character. Apollo is fucked up because his friend killed himself when he was a teenager, and he deals with being fucked up by retreating into sex, drugs, and rock and roll. That’s what’s being established here. Also being established if you’re paying attention: Apollo has scars on his chest. 

In chapter 1, Apollo goes to a party, the entirety of which is dedicated to him walking around naked, and we get a bunch of obviously sexual shots of his dick, clearly catering to the author's gay fetish. His boss goes to his place to check on him, and it is revealed he is a hoarder. This never comes up again.  

1. In this scene, there are two panels where you can see Apollo’s penis, one panel where you can see someone’s vomit-covered dick, and two panels where you can see a woman’s breasts. None of these panels of flacid dicks or sagging boobs are sexual, though. The dicks are unpowered, it doesn’t make a bit of difference guys, the balls are inert. 

2. What the fuck is a “gay fetish” and how it different from just “being gay”.

3. I don’t know the author, even though we’re both in SpiderForest, so I don’t know where Dani The Carutor lies in the whole gender spectrum thingamabob, but I will note that “Dani” is usually short for Danielle. So maybe it’s not a safe assumption that the author is a man? I dunno. That’s just me, guessing people’s genders by screen name is hard, so I try not to lest I embarrass myself.

4.So, when you say Apollo is a “hoarder”, you link to a page showing his room is disgusting and covered in garbage

Is your takeaway from these panels....that Apollo is some kind of fanatic garbage collector? That his room is full of garbage because he actively works at having as much garbage as possible because he wants it? 

There are a couple pages explaining Apollo's purple special snowflake eyes with some snowflake "disability".

Apollo has Ocular Albinism, which is a real condition that really exists, and really does give you purple eyes. It also gives you major vision problems, which are the context in which it gets brought up, because Apollo needs help crossing the road because he can’t see well enough in the light. So I don’t know what the scare quotes around “disability” are for. He can’t see. You could, if you were so inclined, connect this plot point with the way the chapter titles are named after mental conditions, and start to formulate some coherent critique with the seemingly cavalier way this comic uses disability, but that would require thought. It might even require research into difficult topics, because you’d ideally not want to make a fool of yourself talking about things you didn’t understand well enough to talk competently about. 

Chapter 2 is the most pointless, as it is basically there to confirm what we already know so the author can insert a cringy buzzword (see image below)

Okay, so a couple of things

1. In what fucking universe is “tranny” an SJW buzzword? What the fuck are you even talking about? 

2. Having the protagonist of your comic say someone is “smart, for a tranny” is like the least SJW thing you could possibly do.

3. Perhaps “Apollo is asking someone for help but casually insults her causing her to leave” is some kind of “character” moment? The author of this review is so /pol/-poisoned that they have no ability to understand “context” or “characterization” or basically any thing that exists. 

4.Your list of the comic’s characters includes this bon mot: 

So what the fuck? That’s so stupid I’d think it was an intentionally hypocritical joke if I had any reason to believe you were capable of it.

Chapter 3 is dedicated to revealing the boyfriend shit

I should point out that Apollo and Julian being boyfriends is something the BWW invented, the comic itself clearly states they were “best friends”, not boy friends. Couple of dudes being prudes. 

Apollo believes that Julian faked his own death, which fucked up Apollo for years, and now that they’ve met each other Julian keeps ghosting him. Apollo’s motives for chasing Julian around are extremely clear. 

That’s a scene transition, bay-bee! 

Apollo finally gets ahold of Julian. Julian blows him off and Apollo gives up. There’s then a clear scene transition to Apollo, at a restaurant, talking about what we just saw. This is a perfectly clear scene transition, with a transitory panel and everything to indicate that this is the next day. It’s certainly more clear than Apollo waking up in jail in chapter 2 which you skipped over. Are you actually reading this comic at all? 

You are such a fucking moron, holy shit. 

Julian got beat up for being trans. It’s unclear if he’s actually trans or just a feminine-looking cis dude, but regardless it was bad enough to traumatize him and this all happened when he knew Apollo, who calls Julian his “best friend”, and says things like

There’s literally two dots here, and you’re unable to connect them. Galia even has the same hairstyle as Julian to make it visually obvious This Is What The Reference and you still missed it. 

Julian and Apollo walk around the woods in their underwear for no reason whatsoever. Julian takes some drugs or something, and passes out?

Hm. Why does Julian go outside at night? I wonder if that’s explained in the comic?

Oh, I see. He went outside to smoke. But why did Apollo go outside at night?

Oh, he was looking out the window and saw Julian mysteriously go off into the woods. I guess that’s explained, too. I guess you just missed those pages

Julian takes some drugs or something, and passes out?

Huh, I wonder why Julian was asleep

Oh, he has Insomnia, so he took something called Halcion. I wonder what that is.

Oh, it’s a prescription insomnia medication. And you shouldn’t take alcohol with it, wow Julian is dealing with a super pushy alcoholic I should file that information away for later, like how knowing Wellbutrin’s side effects in teenagers were critical to understand Drop Out. Luckily webcomics are comics, on the web, and I can look this up! 

He is then woken up by the fatty side character punching him. Somehow, Julian destroyed the kitchen, even though he was passed out - this is never explained, and makes no fucking sense

Sigh.

So, here are some hints as to what happened.

1. 

Julian has bruises all over his body, which you have consistently failed to notice.

2. 

Daniel, Julian’s friendly boyfriend, has like no negative reaction whatsoever to Brandon, some random dude, punching Julian in the fucking face

He even takes Brandon’s side and basically implants the idea that Julian did it into Julian’s head, and that last panel is rather threatening. 

Julian took insomnia medicine, and fell asleep, and then got wrongfully blamed for destroying the kitchen by Daniel, who know’s that Julian was passed out and couldn’t have done it. Who actually did destroy the kitchen is a mystery, but Daniel is the most likely culprit. 

it transitions into this trippy bullshit with blood, and body horror, and Julian's hair is suddenly short

It’s short because it’s a flashback to when he was a teenager, and he had short hair when he was a teenager so that literate people are able to understand this without getting confuzzled. 

Apollo turning into Daniel in this trippy dream sequence is also pretty relevant! 

Also, we have random nudity and sexualization of this sick person.

No, we have reveals that he’s in worse physical shape than we thought.

By the way, in your character list, you describe Daniel as

Daniel (Side Character): He may as well be a wall. This guy has no personality whatsoever. No quirks, no interests, no purpose outside of causing superficial melodrama.

If you’ve made it all the way to this point and not picked up on Daniel being an abusive boyfriend and the primary antagonist of the story, you may be beyond hope.

The rest of the chapter is Julian being angsty, and SO ILL while everyone talks about how weird he is

Again, that’s very clearly and obviously not actually what’s happening in the story.

What’s happening isn’t “Julian is sick lol”, it’s “Daniel is working to turn everyone against Julian”. That’s why he destroyed the kitchen and blamed Julian for it; to ensure that the other boys all thought Julian was a nutjob and thus keep them from reaching out to Julian and providing Julian with a guide to a healthy relationship instead of the abusive one he’s currently in. Your inability to read even slightly between the lines isn’t just distressing in terms of your inability to think critically about stories, it’s maybe worrisome re your ability to think about the real world, too. How are you this dense? It’s like watching Star Wars and not picking up that the empire and the rebellion don’t like each other. No wonder you’re confused! 

Chapter 5 is still in the works. It jumps the shark right away with Apollo getting drunk and sleeping with Julian's boyfriend. The author makes Apollo the guilty party and not the boyfriend

The comic is fairly clear that Daniel is the bad guy

This webtoon is so convoluted there is no saving it at this point. Each chapter is titled after some mental illness such as 'Monophobia', 'Anxiety', 'Psychosis'. You think they would have some thematic meaning with each chapter being about one of those things. Nope, they're just titled like that to show how EDGY this webtoon is! You can taste the cringe. Julian's mental shit has no rhyme or reason - he will act sick when the plot calls for it, and if it has anything to do with the chapter's title, it is also crazy inaccurate.

The author of this review somehow managed to read the entirety of The Guide to a Healthy Relationship without picking up that Daniel was an abuser. The comic thus seems convoluted to him because he thinks all the things happening are random events without rhyme or reason because he has completely failed to notice the whole plot, which is not subtle. Just....fucking staggering incompetence, as a critic.

Guess you’re stuck with me, anon.

[peachy-blinderss]

What? I Am a Good Girl Pt.2

Part one here! 

Based off the following request: 

“Could you do a Tommy one where everyone thinks you’re some good girl that doesn’t get mixed up in the business, but one day they find you helping Tommy get a hit planned out?“

Warnings: Mentions of death, murder, violence, swearing, fighting, soft fluffy Tommy ;) 

Word Count: 2094

Slowish Burn, Friends to lovers :)

Part three will be coming shortly. I have a tendency to be super long winded and bad at getting to the point so hopefully this isn’t too boring. I guess this is a bit of a filler. I really hope you like it anyway though. I know I’m not the best writer out there but hopefully you enjoy this. And I know some people will say “oh this isn’t in character for tommy, you write Tommy too nice.” I definitly do but I’m out here living my soft Thomas Shelby fantasy lmao. I am always going to write Tommy as a nice guy f canon 😂 Please leave a comment to tell me what you liked or didn’t like. Thank you for support as always. 

Love you all,

Lex :) 

                                                         ✺ ✺  

      Chirping birds woke you up well before your 7am meeting time with Tommy. Never a morning person, you groaned while covering your face with your pillow. You tossed and turned until you couldn’t stand it anymore. You dramatically uncovered your face and threw your pillow in the direction of the chirping. Fucking birds. Rolling to the edge of the bed you finally forced yourself to sit up and face the day. The only consolation for your far too early wake up call was that you were seeing Tommy today. A large smile split your face when you thought of your best friend and you were excited to see him. Even though you had only seen him hours before, you missed him and begged the clock to move faster towards seven. As much as you relied on each other, you both didn’t see each other as much as you would like. Tommy was a busy man who made time for few. You were one of the lucky ones and you only saw him once or twice a week. 

       You finally forced yourself out of your warm bed, lazily strolling towards your kitchen in search of breakfast. You took your time not feeling like moving fast so early. Eventually, it was time to get dressed and leave so you quickly changed and headed out the door. 

       It was summertime in Birmingham which meant you could wear dresses outside and not freeze to death. You reveled in the rare sunshine warming your cheeks and sighed in contentment while making the short walk to the betting shop. Much to your disappointment you quickly came upon the shop which would force you to swap the sunshine for the dull atmosphere it held. Before you had the chance to go in you heard someone calling your name behind you. The first thing you noticed was the clear blue eyes of your best friend. A cheeky smirk crossed your face as Tommy approached you. 

     “My my is the Thomas Shelby running late?” you giggled out. “I’m almost offended because you’re never late for anything.”

      He rolled his eyes as he planted a quick kiss to your cheek. You wondered if it was the sun or his plump lips that made the skin of your cheek heat up. You shook your head to rid yourself of such a ludicrous thought and smiled brightly at him. Tommy lit a cigarette before pointing it at you. 

      “I’ll have you know I was not late Y/N. I was pulling the car around back for Curly to fill up with Petrol. I would never be late for anything involving my best girl,” Tommy said with a lazy smirk on his face. 

       You were immediately excited by his words. It wasn’t often you left Small Health and it was even rarer when you left Small Health with Tommy. You knew today was going to be a good day. You were practically bouncing with your excitement and beaming like a small child on Christmas. As he grabbed your hand to lead you to his car you couldn’t stop the barrage of questions pouring out of your lips. 

        “Where are we going, Tommy? Are we going to the country? Are we going to London?” You said eagerly shaking your intertwined hands back and forth. Tommy swore you were both fifteen again and about to sneak off on your first trip outside of Small Health together. He smiled fondly at the memory. 

        “If we go to the country can I drive the car? Oh it’s so nice out we should have a picnic! Maybe we could ride the horses and visit the Lees and-”

      “Y/n! Lord woman calm down. I’m not telling you where we are going until we get there, now please get in the car,” Tommy said while opening your car door. 

     “Fine but I’m going to bother you the whole way there Thomas,” you chuckled manically. 

                                                         ✺ ✺  

       About an hour had passed driving through the lush countryside and you were barely quiet the entire time. You had to make the most of the rare alone time with Tommy. He only got mad at you once when you started worrying over the large bruise covering part of his left eye. Your pouty lips and puppy dog eyes made him forgive you rather quickly. Tommy always had a hard time staying mad at you. Time passed too fast for your liking when you finally felt the car roll to a stop. You would’ve been perfectly content driving and chatting Tommy’s ear off for the rest of the day. Despite this, you were excited to see a stable off in the distance. You almost loved horses as much as Tommy did. 

      “Are we riding today Tommy?” you questioned him happily. 

         His only reply was the cryptic smirk he sent your way before he walked to your side of the car and helped you out. Remaining silent he grabbed your hand and pulled you towards the stable. Tommy rubbed his thumb on the back of your hand to calm you down. He always did that when you were nervous or excited because you had very strong emotions that pulled you all over the place. Tommy only let go of your hand to push open the stable doors. Once you were inside you were overwhelmed with the sight of the many beautiful horses. One large black stallion in particular caught your eye. You dropped Tommy’s hand in order to move closer to it. He truly was beautiful and you couldn’t resist patting his nose. Tommy smiled softly as he watched you whispering to his horse. You were so enamored with the stallion you jumped when Tommy began speaking behind you. You cursed Tommy under your breath for scarring you. 

      “His name is Apollo,” Tommy laughed as you swatted his arm, “the owner of this stable is a good friend of mine and has been training him up for a few months now. He’ll be racing at the Derby tomorrow. James Burton’s horse will also be racing in the same Derby. I’m sure you can see where this is going Y/N.”

       You remained quiet as you pondered Tommy’s words. You knew you’d do anything for him and you were very curious to see what he planned for you. 

      “What do you need me to do Tommy? I’m ready to do whatever it takes,” you said softly. 

         Tommy sighed sadly in response, “Aye, that’s what I’m afraid of Y/N. I shouldn’t have brought you into this. It would have been better if you didn’t know, but I don’t know what else to do.”

        You were shocked to see the genuine sadness in his eyes. He hadn’t looked so sad since he was a boy. Tommy told you almost everything but he always hid the bad parts from you. He never wanted you to see him falter and always tried to protect you from what he didn’t want you to see. You knew the situation was grave when you saw how he looked at you. 

       “James Burton will not be leaving the race alive,” Tommy said slowly. “He is a liability and he is getting far too confident. He needs to be disposed of quickly and quietly. As much as I don’t like it you will distract him while the rest of the boys dispatch his men. There are a few private boxes at this track, you are to take him there and keep him preoccupied with the race. There is a door behind each bar in the boxes, I will be waiting there and I will kill him when the time is right. Do you understand?”

       “Tommy, wouldn’t it make more sense if I were to do it? I mean it would be so easy to carry a small gun in my purse and spring it on him when he least expects it. What if he hears you come in when you open the door and you get hurt? I really think it would be best if you let me-”

     Tommy immediately cut you off before you could finish. You could see the fury practically rolling off his body which scared you a bit. Tommy never got like this with you. 

        “Absolutely not Y/N. Have you gone fucking mad? I will not risk it. I will not risk you,” Tommy roared. 

      You were furious. You couldn’t believe Tommy was talking to you like this. Not one to hold back you turned your anger onto him. 

    “Why do you constantly underestimate me, Tommy? I am a far better shot than John, and hell I’m probably a better shot than you. Just because I am a woman doesn’t mean I’m not capable. Why did you ask me to help if you aren’t going to trust me, eh? You just want me to be some pretty damsel in distress and I don’t fucking like it. I’m not useless Thomas, why can’t you see that?” you seethed. 

        Tommy roughly ran both hands over his face before he threw himself down on a nearby stool. Your headstrong nature drove him mad sometimes and he wished you would just listen to him. He lit a cigarette and thought for a few minutes before speaking again. Meanwhile, you were glaring a hole into the side of his head. 

     “Love come sit by me, eh? I don’t want to fight with you, “ Tommy said while gently patting the stool next to him. 

     You tried to keep yourself from going over to him but you melted when he called you love. Tommy knew good and well that was one of your weaknesses. He never fought fair. You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms with an over exaggerated huff leaving your mouth. You forced yourself to stay cemented to where you stood. 

     “Please love, we never fight. Let’s not start now, eh?” 

      Damn him and his husky voice and pouty lips and puppy dog eyes you mentally cursed as you crossed the stable and sat down on the stool next to him. Refusing to let him win so easily, you dramatically crossed your arms over your chest before turning your back to him. You always forgave him quickly, but today you wanted to make him sweat. 

     “Y/N look at me, please. I need you to talk to me,” Tommy said. 

        Still, you refused to turn around and face him. Accepting the situation, Tommy began talking at your back. 

        “Love, I know what you’re capable of. You are one of the bravest people I know and I know you could easily handle Burton. I just don’t want you to ever know what it’s like to kill a man. It changes you. It makes you cold and bitter and I don’t want that for you. I want to keep you safe and I don’t want you to end up how I have. I’ve become a bad man. I kill men who look at me the wrong way and children are scared of me. I don’t want you to know what that’s like. Please Y/N don’t be angry at me” he pleaded with you.

      Tommy turned you to him when he heard you sniffle. His calloused thumb quickly wiped the tears falling from your eyes. It broke his heart when you cried and he never liked to be the reason for it. 

        “Please don’t cry, love. I’m sorry for upsetting you,” Tommy said softly while grabbing your hands and lightly running his thumbs across the back of them. You began to calm down and you finally looked Tommy in the eye. 

       “It’s not that Tommy. It just breaks my heart to hear you speak so lowly of yourself. You are the kindest and sweetest man I have ever known and I wish you could see yourself how I see you. I’m crying because I worry so much about you and thinking of you getting hurt makes me physically ill. I want to protect you too you stupid idiot,” You said while lightly punching his chest. 

       “Are we ok then Y/N? I want to make sure we are fine before tomorrow?” Tommy asked nervously while wiping the remaining tears from your cheeks.

     “Yes Thomas, we are ok. And yes Thomas I will follow your plan so stop worrying,” you rolled your eyes. 

         You could see him visibly relax and you giggled as he kissed the back of your hand while mumbling quiet thank yous. 

        “Oh, but Thomas?” You said with a cheeky smirk on your face “I’m going to need a new dress for tomorrow and I trust you can handle that for me.”

        Tommy rolled his eyes playfully at you, “Whatever you want love.”

[ripley95]

Echoes of Old Embers

Chapter 10

Pairing: F!Shepard/Kaidan Alenko

Rating: T

Chapter length: 3.5K

Story Synopsis:

After surviving the war, one of Shepard’s biggest regrets was rejecting Kaidan at Apollo’s. Fate has a way of bringing Jane and Kaidan back into each other’s lives. A misunderstanding with his family makes Kaidan and Shepard relive old history and question where they stand.

Link to Chapter 1 on AO3

Chapter Synopsis:

Shepard helps Kaidan’s mother prepare food for Libby’s wedding. They get to know each other better while Shepard worries about saying something to deepen the misunderstandings surrounding her relationship with Kaidan.

Read to Chapter 10 on AO3

Tumblr Links:

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14

Read the chapter here below the cut:

Shepard watched Kaidan as he went outside to go work on the yard before she headed towards the kitchen to help Ada, dishes from their breakfast still in hand. She paused in front of the doorway, steeling herself to go in. Now that she’d thought about it, putting her foot in her mouth again was a significant risk and maybe being alone with Kaidan’s mother wasn’t as safe as she’d been making it out to be.

Whether she’d be putting her foot in her mouth or not, time was wasting, so she pushed herself to go into the kitchen. Ada was already busy at work preparing everything. She was pulling out baking dishes, utensils and all sorts of ingredients. Thanks to the war ending, and everyone still trying to rebuild society, Shepard figured that luxuries like catering businesses were probably not a priority right now. This wedding wasn’t supposed to be huge by any means, but she knew there was going to be a decent amount of people there. That ensured that there was plenty to do in the kitchen, which didn’t ease the unsettled feeling in her stomach at all, knowing that she might be stuck here helping with prep all day. It provided much more time for something else to go wrong.

“Ah, there you are,” Ada said, turning around to glance at Shepard, still busy getting everything out to prepare. “You can just put those dishes in the sink for now. We’ll have plenty needing to be washed by the end of all this prep work,” she said as she turned back to pulling out more ingredients and recipes.

Shepard followed her orders, like the good soldier she was, placing the dishes down gingerly and washing her hands.

“So, what are we making?”

“Well, there’ll be a lot,” Ada said with a laugh tinged with a bit of frustration at the notion. “Luckily, some of my friends have agreed to come cook everything tomorrow, so we won’t have to worry about it. Still, I want to try to prep as much as I can today to make their lives easier. The one we’ll start with is my famous glazed carrots. It’s one of the sides that Libby wanted. In the fall, we make apple cider and store it in the freezers so it can last a while. We still have a batch from the last harvest that somehow made it through the war. I use that as a marinade with some spices and butter. I don’t usually like tooting my own horn, but it’s delicious,” she said with a proud smile.

“I can’t say that I’ve ever had anything like that before, but it sure sounds good,” Shepard said, legitimately intrigued with the idea of it. She supposed anything was better than what she was used to lately, but she’d already sampled Ada’s cooking and she couldn’t imagine anything coming from her tasting bad.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s one of my favourite dishes. I was happy to know that Libby thought of it fondly enough to have it at her wedding. That being said, I’m used to making it for a family of six, not for a gathering of more than fifty people, so I think we have our work cut out for us. Kaidan’s sure capable of tucking a lot of it away, too, so we also have to account for that,” she said with a laugh.

“It sounds like we should get to it then. Where do you want me?”

“I already have you set up over here,” Ada said, lightly slapping a pile of bagged carrots that she had put on the large island in the centre of the kitchen. It had barstools on the opposite side. “I figured this would be the easiest. You can sit or stand as you please when you need to give your leg a rest.”

Shepard nodded and went over to the other side and sat down on one of the stools. Her leg was feeling okay, but she thought it best to rest it in case she might be up and busy helping more tomorrow morning before the wedding.

“How did you know it was my leg?” Shepard asked curiously.

“Hmm?” Ada asked, confused.

“I mentioned that I was injured before, but I don’t think we ever specifically mentioned that it was my leg.”

“Ah. Well, I didn’t always help run the orchard, you see,” she said with a wistful smile.

“Oh?” Shepard said, opening the bags of carrots and picking up the peeler.

“Here, put the shavings in this,” she said, handing Shepard a bucket. “We’ll use those for the compost later. I used to be a nurse. I got my start in the Alliance, too, actually.”

“Really?” Shepard looked up to her in disbelief. She wasn’t expecting that. “I’m surprised Kaidan never mentioned that.”

“Ah, he was probably doing that to grant mercy on me,” she said with a chuckle. “I was only enrolled very briefly, mind you, and this was way back in the earlier days of the Alliance when there was much less interplanetary travel. I’ve still never been off-planet. I’m sure you can’t even imagine what that’s like,” she said, giving Shepard a smile.

Shepard chuckled. “Not really. I was born in space. Spent most of my life there.”

“Sounds amazing,” Ada said, giving her a smile. “Then again, I think anything opposite from what you’re used to is bound to sound a little amazing. Maybe it’s nothing but routine for you.”

“There’s definitely some truth to that,” Shepard agreed. “I don’t know if I would quite call it routine. With my job, there was rarely ever a dull moment, but yeah, I would say space is what I’m used to. Probably doesn’t hold the same amount of wonder as it would for someone who’s never been up there. Meanwhile, seeing where you live has been pretty stunning. Not that I’ve never been ground-side, but every place I go is so unique. I haven’t seen anything quite like this before.”

Ada nodded in agreement.

“I’m not sure if you’re just trying to change the subject on me, but you can’t bring up being in the Alliance and not tell me that story,” Shepard said with a curious smile.

“Ha, I should have expected that I wouldn’t be able to pull one over on Commander Shepard,” she said with a laugh. “I suppose my reason for joining the Alliance was the same reason that a lot of people joined. I wanted to get into the medical field. I had already gone to school, but the Alliance was offering a program where they’d reimburse education expenses. It would have helped me a lot at the time, so I decided to give it a shot. Maybe you guessed it by now, but it’s how I met Ethan,” she said, with a whimsical smile.

Shepard stopped peeling the carrot and stared at her, surprised that Kaidan would have kept such a secret about how his parents met, especially with how familiar it was to their own circumstances. “Forbidden romance?” she asked, intrigued.

“You could say that, though, I think it’s probably even worse than you’re thinking. It wasn’t just the regs that were an issue. Ethan was a patient of mine. Not very ethical of me, I know,” she said with the same shit-eating grin that Kaidan had. As much as she was talking about ethics, she clearly found the situation amusing, which made Shepard smile.

“So, what was it? Love at first sight? Did you leave the Alliance so you could be together?” Shepard questioned with a smile.

“Oh no, nothing like that at all, actually. We maintained a respectable distance even though I was quite taken with him even early on. The first time I ever saw him, he came into medical with a sprained ankle from training. I don’t know what he did to it, but it looked like a cantaloupe, and must have hurt like hell. Even through the pain, he was cracking jokes the whole time. We hit it off immediately, but we didn’t act on anything until much later. After he recovered, he’d come around every now and then to catch up. Sometimes he’d bring me a coffee. Actually, he’d bring them for everyone on my shift, but I’m pretty sure it was an excuse to see me. He never did it when I wasn’t there.”

Shepard couldn’t help herself from smiling at that. From everything she’d heard over the last few days, Kaidan sounded like he was the spitting image of his dad.

“We’d chat on my breaks, but we never started anything romantic that early on, no,” she said, looking sombre recounting old memories. “No, you see, there’s this little hangup when you join the Alliance. Even when you just want to be in medical or engineering or anything not involved in the actual combat, you need to at least have basic weaponry certification. Let’s just say, my certification classes didn’t go very well. I kept screaming every time a gun went off. The first time I had to actually fire a weapon, not only did I scream again, but I also dropped the gun because I was so scared of it and proceeded to pass out. When I came to, I believe I asked if I shot anyone, to which I heard the whole class laughing behind me. Luckily the guns automatically go into safety mode when you lose contact with it.” she said, looking directly at Shepard, distracting herself away from her busy hands momentarily. “But look who I’m talking to. Of course, you know all of that already. Anyway,” she continued, looking back down at the food, starting to work with it again, “I was so panicked that I didn’t remember it at the time, and I was concerned I may have killed someone. So as you can imagine, I was discharged pretty swiftly after that. I wasn’t all that disappointed, mind you. I didn’t have much hope for myself to get over that fear. Yet another area that I suspect we’re different,” Ada said with a smile, no harshness behind her words.

Shepard smiled at that, as she peeled the carrots. “You could say that,” she said.

“Yes, well, as soon as Ethan learned that I had been discharged, he looked me up and asked me out. He really didn’t waste any time with that. I suppose the rest is history. I wasn’t particularly proud of my time in the Alliance, so I think my kids tend to keep that piece of information to themselves for my sake. Now anyway. There was a fair amount of teasing when they finally learned about it for themselves. I may not have been any good at it, but the Alliance is pretty important in the Alenko household.”

“Now, there’s something that we have in common,” Shepard said.

“Oh, is that right? I was never fond of the term, but Kaidan did call you a ‘military brat’ earlier. So you come from an Alliance background, yourself, then do you?”

“I do. My parents were both Alliance. Dad died for the cause.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Ada said genuinely.

“It’s okay. It was a long time ago. I barely knew him.” Ada nodded at that, not wanting to open old wounds. “My mom’s still going strong, though. She’s an Admiral now.”

“Impressive. She already sounds like an amazing woman.”

“She is. She worked hard for it. But anyway, back to you. I believe you were trying to tell me how you picked up on the fact that it was my leg that was injured.”

“Ah, right. I tend to lose my train of thought easily. After I was discharged from the Alliance, that didn’t change my original plans of working in the medical field. I saw more than my fair share of cases like yours. I think you hide it well. It’s hardly visible, but I can tell that your leg is still bothering you. I’m not sure what happened to you, but it must have been severe if you’ve only just been released from the hospital recently.”

Shepard stopped peeling for a moment, trying hard not to relive the Citadel collapsing on top of her, or the months of surgeries and physical therapy. “Yeah, you could say that.”

Ada had been measuring out ingredients and mixing the marinade the entire time that she had been talking, but that was enough to make her stop and look at Shepard.

“Has anyone told you how much they appreciate what you’ve done?”

“All the time,” Shepard said dryly.

“I suppose that’s not to be unexpected. I have a feeling most people don’t understand the full extent of your sacrifice and duty when they say that, though.”

Shepard looked up at her then, carrot and peeler still idle in her hands.

“Kaidan told us about the Reapers, you know. I mean way back in ’83.”

“He did?”

“Oh, yes. He told me a lot about his time serving with you. How cold was Noveria, by the way? It’s notorious for its harsh weather. Kaidan called me afterwards. He clearly had the sniffles. I told him to wear a sweater,” she said, shaking her head at the memory. “You know what, nevermind. I’m already losing track again,” she said, as Shepard had to silently laugh to herself. “Anyway, that was all years ago now. I think the right people put money towards squashing the rumours that there was a threat. Most people moved on with life as though nothing happened after the Citadel was attacked. But there were some of us who questioned things. People got wind of something going on. I asked Kaidan if he believed they were dangerous and he told me that he believed they were. He told us about all the push-back you were getting, but as far as we were concerned, it was all I needed to hear on the matter. It’s the reason that Ethan jumped so quickly to go back into the Alliance when they finally landed. He knew everything was at stake because his son said so.”

Shepard nodded, already knowing Mr. Alenko’s fate thanks to that dedication, not really knowing what to say to a grieving widow about loss. She had never experienced anything quite like that. She figured Kaidan was actually better equipped to handle that one.

Ada shook her head, looking out the large kitchen window. Shepard turned to see what she was looking at and noticed that she was watching Kaidan working outside.

“Ethan and Kaidan were so alike in so many ways. Ethan never backed down from a fight when he was able to protect the things he loved. The moment I heard about Kaidan joining the Normandy again after becoming a Spectre, I always thought there might have been something more to it. Of course, I would have expected Kaidan to jump at the chance to really try to make a difference during the war no matter what, especially when fighting the Reapers was so important to him, but there was more to it than that. I knew he had someone important in his life.”

Shepard looked back to Ada then, another pang of guilt hitting her. Apparently, the misunderstanding had gotten to her too.

Ada must have caught the look on her face and put her hands up in protest. “It’s none of my business. I know my kids have been squabbling about the two of you since you got here, but you don’t have to explain yourself to me. Kaidan said you’re not together, and I’ll take his word for it until he’s the one to say otherwise. But my point still stands. There’s something between the two of you. Maybe not a romance, but he cares for you. You’re important to him.”

That immediately calmed Shepard down. She liked Ada’s relaxed attitude towards the whole matter. Finally, she nodded in agreement. “He’s important to me too.”

“So I thought. A mother can tell these things,” she said with a cheeky grin. “He may not have said so in words, but it was pretty clear how much he cared about you, even back then. Every time we managed to have a vid call, I always asked him how he was doing. Without fail, he always had this smile that you could tell he was trying to hide a little, but the truth was really in the eyes. You know, eyes have a harder time lying, and his were always beaming. It was the same thing after he joined the Normandy for the second time. To be honest, I wasn’t surprised at all when Kaidan came walking through that door with you,” she said, nodding her head towards the front door. “When he called me to tell me he was bringing someone to the wedding, he had that same look in his eyes.”

Shepard tried to avert Ada’s gaze, and busy herself with the carrots then, but she couldn’t help a small smile forming at the knowledge. Even if it wasn’t because he had romantic interests for her, it felt nice that he still cared, and was happy at the prospect of bringing her back home with him.

“See,” Ada said, enthusiastically, making Shepard glance back up to her, still trying to peel the carrots in her hand. “The eyes don’t lie.”

That brought out a real smile from Shepard, unable to contain it now.

“Ah-ha,” Ada said, completely happy with herself, acting as though she caught Shepard with her hand in the cookie jar, before relaxing again. “Don’t worry. I said I’d stay out of it and I will. But it’s nice to know that whatever it is that you have with my son is reciprocated,” she said with a smile.

“It is.”

Ada nodded at that before looking back to what she was doing while Shepard winced inwardly with yet another pang of guilt, knowing that it wasn’t exactly reciprocated. That maybe it could have been if she hadn’t rejected him at Apollo’s so foolishly. That now, it was just her awkwardly fawning after him in her head while having to go out of her way to put up a wall between them. Luckily, Ada didn’t seem to notice her reaction as she continued the conversation.

“Back in ’83, I didn’t know it was you, of course. We didn’t even know much about his mission at all, but anytime we talked to him, he was always just... happy. Usually, with those same eyes you just had.”

“Really?” Shepard asked, already knowing it was true. That was the one and only time in their history together where they ever acted on anything. Where they abandoned the regs, and said what they felt. It was the only time she let herself get that close to anyone.

“Oh, you better believe it. And it’s the same look I got from him during the war, too, right up until the very end,” she said with a smile. “And you want to know a secret?” she asked coyly. Shepard didn’t respond, and just looked up to her with curiosity. “It’s the same look I saw in him this morning when we were making breakfast together, too. He’s almost a different person around you,” she said, going about the preparations.

“What was that about not meddling?” Shepard asked, keeping the accusation playful.

“Not meddling, just figured you might want to know,” she said defensively.

Shepard narrowed her eyes at Ada, knowing precisely what she was getting at. Truth be told, she really didn’t know what to think of that information. She liked to think she was a different person around Kaidan too, but that didn’t necessarily have romantic implications. Maybe none of that mattered. The regs were still an issue. She still hoped to be back on active duty again someday. Just because she made it out of the war didn’t mean death wasn’t a possibility anymore. Nothing about their relationship or history was easy. She didn’t know that what she’d just heard really changed anything.

“Now that I’ve talked you into oblivion, why don’t you tell me about space?” Ada said, with an err of genuine excitement and interest. “And your mother, too. I think we all know a bit about Commander Shepard, but why don’t you tell me about Jane,” she said with a smile.

With that, the solemn feeling that had settled in Shepard’s gut lifted slightly. Talking about Kaidan and long-lost wishes she wanted to be fulfilled was difficult. She wasn’t ordinarily fond of talking about herself, but it might serve as a good distraction in this case. Once again, her mantra played in her head.

‘This will all be over soon.’