#DAT HAIR (it all comes down to the hair once again i am but a simple being)

[timeladix]

@twocrowssinatrenchcoat long hair thrawn!!!!!

Sith!Thrawn and Admiral!Maul AU bc i saw a post that @littlekhada reblogged

I forgot to put on Maul's sheet but pretty sure he'd name it ISD Crimson Dawn.

[nkirukaj]

Deerly Beloved (12)

Pairing: Alastor x Fem! OC

Warnings: Swearing;

Genre: Fluff/Angst (& Humor!)

Word Count: 2.1K

12. Skibidis

“Your wife?”

Alastor stares at his wife like he has never met her in his afterlife. He raises his eyebrow, stares down at her with contempt, and stays silent.

“It’s me,” Voe speaks again “Don’t you recognize my voice?”

Alastor blinks slowly “You may sound like my wife, but you look nothing like her,”

“I know I look different but I am your wife,” she reaches for his hand “Your Vera,”

He pulls his hand back immediately and takes a step back from this woman claiming to be his wife “Prove it,”

“How,” she crosses her arms “I could kiss you,” she says flirtatiously “Would that prove it?”

Alastor does not seem amused at all, he doesn’t answer this question and stands with his hands behind his back “What is something that only my Vera would know?” he looks to the side “And there aren’t many because she’s a blabbermouth,”

She rolls her eyes “That our last name is Fontenot, but you don’t use it because it reminds you of your dad,” she looks back at him “Also, blabbermouth??”

Alastor’s eyes widened in shock at the ease with which she answered, “Vera?”

“Yes!” she lets out a loud sigh 

“What happened to you?” He looks her up and down, seeming somewhat disgusted

“What do you mean? What’s wrong with me?”

Again, he chooses not to answer and looks at the clock on the wall “This will have to wait, I have something to do,” He walks past her, and she follows him down the stairs and to the hotel entrance. He opens it and there’s a teenage boy behind the doors

“I told you that I would meet you,” Alastor looked annoyed at the teen

He shrugged “I got bored waiting,”

“Who’s this?”

Alastor brushed off his sleeves “Him? Well, he’s just a soul I acquired while you were away,”

“What’s his name?”

Alastor rolls his eyes a bit. “Adrian,”

“Adrian?”

“Yuh,” the boy answered “What’s up?”

Voe approaches him “Hi! I’m Voe,” she gestures toward Alastor “I’m this one’s wife, nice to meet you,”

“You’re his wife?” Adrian stares at the two in disbelief 

“Yeah!” Voe smiles

The teen scoffs, “Could do a lot better, just saying,” and thrusts his hands into his pockets.

Voe turns to the Overlord “What could you possibly want from a teenager?”

He brushes her off “That is my business,” he dismissively walks past her. 

As he does, Voe watches him walk away. His hands are behind his back as always, but there seems to be missing a certain shine that is usually present on his fingers

“Where is your wedding ring?”

He stops and doesn’t respond to this for a moment, and when he does, he only turns his head “What?”

“Where…is your wedding ring?”

“I have it on of course,”

She scrunches her face “Don’t play games with me, no you don’t,”

Alastor checks his fingers and creates a look of shock, “Oh my, I seem to have misplaced it,” he examines his fingers on his left hand

“How could you have misplaced it if you never took it off?” she squints her eyelids and folds her arms together

“A simple mistake, I assure you,”

“Anybody got some popcorn?” Adrian calls out, though no one is amused

“Why was your ring off in the first place?”

Alastor puts his hands on Adrian’s shoulders and pushes him up towards the radio station “Come now Adrian, lots of things to attend to,”

“This is so not sigma,” Adrian comments as he’s being pushed

“Alastor? Alastor!” she calls after the buck, but he doesn’t answer her, taking yet another person up to the damn radio station. 

___________________________________________

Voe approaches her kids, who are sitting in the parlor once again, she sits on the couch and watches them silently. Alyson is dancing while Vernon is watching her and clapping

“Yaay Aly!”

“I always win dis game,”

“Dat cuz you da bess!”

“No, you!” she pushes him so he falls over, and Vernie rolls on his side and then his back 

Aly tackles Vernie on the ground, and they start to slap each other, pulling hair, swinging, and biting on each other.

“Woah hey relax guys!” 

When she speaks, the twins both stop their game and stare at her. Alyson starts pouting and sits on her bottom, Vernie looks away from Voe and curls up into a ball. She leans down to speak to them. 

“Hi,” she waves and speaks in a baby voice “Hi, it’s Momma,”

“NO,” Aly responds with the certainty of an adult

“What do you mean ’no’?”

“You not Momma,” she crosses her arms

Voe sits back in confusion “Yes I am,”

“No, you not,”

“Yes, I am,”

“NO YOU NOT”

“YES I AM”

Alyson squints her eyes, wiggles her nose, and scrunches up her face, starting to cry. Upon hearing her sobs, Vernie starts to cry as well, rolling on the floor. 

Voe sits back in disbelief, unsure of what to do or say. She watches as Charlie emerges from nowhere and approaches the scene to see what is happening.

“What? What happened?” she asked

Voe looks up and stares at the princess with no words as the twins reach for the taller woman and she leans down to pick them up 

“Shhh, shhh, it’s okay,”

Angel comes from around the corner as well, covering his ears with two sets of arms. “What’s going on?” He sees Voes sitting there and Charlie carrying the twins as they cry. He turns to the doe. “What did you do?”

“I didn’t-“

The crying gets louder and more shrill, turning into more of an actual distressed bleat. Angel reaches out a pair of arms for Vernie and cradles him as Charlie does the same for Aly. Voe just stares at the two just knowing intrinsically how to calm her children. This was her job and she was failing at it. Not only failing, but she was the problem. She had caused them to cry. Why didn’t they know that she was their mother, had no one told them about her? Did they not know that they had a mother? Did they think someone else was their mother? What had Alastor been doing ain all this time?

“They like to be cuddled this way,” Charlie tells her, she is holding up Aly by her bottom, with her arms free

This…wasn’t right. Charlie shouldn’t be telling her this, she should be telling her.

“And Vernie here is a grabber,” Angel moves his back and out of Vernie’s reach 

“If it’s okay with you, Voe, I think we might just put them to bed now,” Voe nods and closes her eyes as the two of them take the twins up the stairs. She has no idea how to react or what to even say, so she drops her head in her hands and lets the tears flow. She felt the tears running down her palms and arms when she felt a soft hand on her shoulder. The couch dips as the person sits down next to her, she looks up, and its May, whom Voe had completely forgotten about since she had gotten back. In that moment she felt guilty, bringing her to a place where she was a stranger and then leaving her to fend for herself. She buries her face back into her palms.

“Yeah,” May breathes out with a small smile “Motherhood is not a cakewalk,” Voe doesn’t answer her “This isn’t even the hardest part I’m afraid,”

She looks up “It’s not?”

May shakes her head “Not even close. You’ve made a person, and now you have to make them their own people. I know it’s hard for you that they don’t know you, but you have to go about it in a way that’s easy for them. It’s not about you anymore.” she looks down at the doe “And if you need to cry, then so be it. Lord knows I’ve cried many times raising my son,”

Voe thought about how Alastor used to be a baby and couldn’t fathom the thought. This was her husband, a fully grown man, and here was his mother talking as if he was still a child. Voe had a hard time even comprehending that he ever was a child.

“Later skibidis,” Adrian left so fast that they barely even had any time to react to his presence

“Skibidi?” May turns to Voe with confusion riddled all over her face

Voe shakes her head “Yeah, even I don’t know what that means,” she stands to shake and dust herself off, turning to go up the stairs to follow Charlie and Angel to take another shot at her children when she sees her husband’s smiling yet shocked and confused face. Though he was not staring at her at all no, he was staring at the woman with Voe, who happened to be his mother.

Adrian is an OC that belongs to @echobeez !

[craftycheetah]

Taught to Love Again 4

I just realized i never posted this or the chap after!! Life grabbed me by the throat lol.

Somehow by sheer luck, Hitoshi convinced Shouta to take the trip. After leaving the cats with a reputable pet daycare, the train tickets are bought, and you’re off in a cozy cabin Hitoshi was more than kind enough to use his pro hero status to get.

“Wat dat?” Kokoro points at a snow-covered mountain through the window.

“That’s Mount Ushiro. When we get to Hyogo, we’re gonna get to see it up close,” you grin.

“Woah!”

“We’re gonna be staying there too. If you’re lucky you might see a little bunny.”

“For real life?! I wanna see bunny!”

“Me too!” Nico says from the seat on the opposite aisle.

The train stops at the station, prompting you to get your things and get off.

“Ooh, this is nice,” Hitoshi comments at the white landscape.

“Just wait until you get to the resort.”

“It’s freezing,” Shouta grumbles into his black scarf, pulling his yellow parka hood over his head. “Can we hurry?”

“There should be a car waiting for us. Let’s go.”

“Finally, ah don’t wanna get any colda than ah already am!” Sika huffs.

The ball Amelie is holding falls out of her hands and rolls under a black van parked by the curb. “Ball!”

“Ami don’t run into the street,” Sika scolds and grabs her hand. “John?”

John pushes the side of the car onto two of its wheels and kicks the ball out before dropping the car. “Here you go, sweetie.”

The owner of the car steps out, dazed. “What the fuck?!” She yells in Kansai. “Ya can’t just fucking lift peoples cars, the fuck is wrong with ya?!”

“Ahm sorry, mah neice’s ball rolled under yer car,” you apologise.

“Holy shit, yer MindJack, ahm supposed to pick ya up, sorry.” She bows.

“You had yer husband lift up the fuckin’ car of our driver?”

“You wanted me to leave mah baby’s ball in tha street like that? Hell no! How was ah supposed ta know?”

You roll your eyes and wheel your suitcase forward. “She’s taking us to the resort,” you tell the rest of your group.

The rest of them nod and start placing their things in the back of the van, and John and Shouta open the door helping Eri and the kids get into the van.

Once the kids are all strapped in, you sit in the second row with Hitoshi and Koko as you hear Shouta chuckle as Ami babbles and squeals, trying to play with him.

He lets her hold his hand the whole drive.

“Ma said to come over when we settle in,” Sika says as she types on her phone. “She’s making dinner.”

“Ooh, I hope it’s hot pot,” you smile.

“Mama, when we gets to the moontan, we see bunny?”

“Maybe, Koko. They’re white like the snow so they’re very hard to see, but we might see a deer.”

“Ooh!”

Once you arrive at the resort and get your rooms in order, you take the short bus ride to your childhood home.

“This is a lovely home,” Hizashi comments.

“Thank you,” you smile and ring the doorbell. A dog barks inside, and you hear footsteps approaching the door.

‘Down Anzu.’

Hina opens the door and smiles when she sees you. “Mah babies! Come in, come in!”

She steps aside, letting the ten of you in to take off your coats. The old Shiba Inu wags his tail happily, licking your hands and sniffing the kids' faces. Cocoa Puff yips happily and sniffs Anzu before running into the house.

“Welcome!” Hina smiles, hugging Hizashi and Shouta before giving an equally tight hug to Eri. “You must be Hitoshi’s family, it’s so nice to meet you,” Hina grins.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Eri smiles.

“Hai Mama mama!” Koko waves as he holds onto Hitoshi’s hand.

“Hi Koko,” Hina giggles as he waddles over for a hug. “Hi Hitoshi.”

He lets her hug him. “Hi Mrs. L/n.”

Hina turns towards the kitchen door. “Ahimitsu, the girls are here!”

A tall man with salt and pepper hair walks in, hands behind his back as he undoes his apron. “Hi girls,” Ahimitsu smiles.

You and Sika rush over and hug him. “Hi Dad,” Sika smiles while you just squeeze him tighter.

“Hi Sika. Hi Y/n.”

“Granpa!” Nico squeals as you pull away, running over to get his hug.

Ahimitsu bends down and picks up Nico, kissing his cheek and smiling. “Is that Nico?! Oh you’ve gotten so big! You’re getting too heavy for grandpa.”

If Hitoshi thought you looked just like your mom, he was wrong because you and your dad could be the same person.

“Gapa!” Amelie squeals waddling up to Ahimitsu, and hugs his lower thigh as he puts down Nico.

You call Koko over. “Koko, this is my dad.”

Kokoro walks up to you and looks up at Ahmitsu. “This Mama Daddy?”

You nod as he waves shyly.

“And this is my boyfriend, Shinsou and his family.”

“You remember, the heroes,” Hina says.

“I remember, ahm not an idiot.”

“Well sometimes ya forget. Come on Sika, let’s finish up dinner.”

“Why do ah gotta cook? Ain’t we guests?”

“Get in the damn kitchen,” Hina glares.

“I’ll help,” John offers.

Hitoshi nervously shakes Ahimitsu’s hand. “Nice to meet you sir.”

“You too, been waiting to meet you since Hina mentioned my baby started dating.”

“Oh God…” you groan. “Dad.”

“I’m just saying! Nice to meet you all, come on into the living room.”

You lead the rest of them into the living room as Hitoshi sits beside your Dad on the couch.

“I’m gonna go help my mom,” you announce and disappear into the kitchen.

“So, you’re number fifteen in the hero rankings, that's quite an accomplishment.”

“Thank you sir,” Hitoshi says proudly before sitting on the couch next to Shouta. “If don’t mind me asking, what do you do?”

“Well,” he starts. “I was one of the top realtors in Hyogo for fifteen years straight until I got old and slowed down.”

“You're not slowing down, Mr. L/n. You just need an assistant. I used to think the same thing juggling pro hero work, being a radio host, and teacher,” Hizashi chuckles.

“Don't forget musician babe,” Shouta adds.

“I was hoping my girls would take after me but what happened? They left for the big city and never see their old man anymore,” he says loud enough for both you and Sika to hear.

“Ah went up to college, Papa and y'know I had to go!” you shout back.

Ahimitsu chuckles at your response before picking up Ami as she waddles up to him, seating her on his lap. “So any plans for little ones, Shinsou?”

Hitoshi ignores the smug look on Eri’s face as she grins.

“Well we’ve talked about it a couple of times so it’s a huge maybe but we’d have to get married first.”

“And when is that happening?”

“Uhh, sometime in the next five years hopefully. Maybe.”

“Can I be the flower girl?” Eri giggles.

“You’re too old,” Hizashi chuckles and messes up her bun.

“Ami can do it, can’t you?” Ahimitsu asks the toddler in his lap.

“Yah,” she agrees, not really sure what she’s agreeing to.

Hina walks in with a grey tray carrying a pitcher of lemonade and glasses. “Ya better not be bugging the poor boy, Mitsu.”

“Ahm not!”

Kokoro runs up to Hitoshi. “Daddy, me and Nico pway wif doggies outside?”

“Oh, you found Anzu. Anzu’s a sweetie, he won’t harm anyone. You can go play with him in the backyard,” Hina says. “I’ll take you.”

Koko nods and follows after her, holding her hand.

“Cocoa Puff, lessgo,” Nico calls the pup to follow him outside.

“So, lemonade anyone?” Mitsu asks.

“I’ll have one,” Shouta responds.

An hour later, the huge dinner spread was ready. You and Sika walk in and put the pot, ingredients, and bowls on the living room kotatsu while Hina comes in with the boys and Anzu.

“Your hair’s all wet, Koko,” you tut and adjust his headband.

“I falls down,” he giggles.

“Falls down a lot,” Nico giggles. “I falls too though. We make angels too.”

“That explains the wet hair,” Sika sighs. “You can’t be putting your head on the ground, Nico. Your hair gets dirty easily.”

“Sowwy.” He doesn’t sound sorry.

“We play wif doggies!” Koko tells you and sits between you and Hitoshi, tucking his legs under the kotatsu.

“Sounds like you had a lot of fun, bud,” Hitoshi says.

“Doggies nice and lub snow!”

“He was my dog when I was a teenager,” you tell Kokoro.

Anzu sighs tiredly and plops next to the fireplace.

“You wore him out,” Ahimitsu chuckles.

“Damn dog doesn’t wanna die,” Sika mumbles.

“Let ‘im live his life. He’s a good boy.” Hina laughs and picks up a slice of raw beef to give Anzu. “Good boy.”

Anzu’s tail wags at the praise before he lays down again on his back, warming his belly.

Amelie fusses until she gets to sit on Shoutas lap, patting the table and clapping happily.

“We should get another one,” Hizashi coos.

“No,” Shouts deadpans. “No more.”

“Okay, relax.”

Dinner is nice. The hotpot you put together is yummier than anything that Hitoshi’s eaten in a while.

After cleaning up, you all stay under the kotatsu for hot cocoa and satsumas while the kids play with Anzu and Cocoa Puff by the fireplace.

“I’m dying of cuteness, look what Mrs. Bakugou posted on Dyna__Bites,” Sika coos and shows you the video of what looks like Hiro in a puffy red and black red riot baby jacket.

‘Popsicle, do you like the snow?’ Iwa’s voice asks off camera.

Hiro whines as he stands stiffly while Popcorn and Pop tart play in the background with their dog.

‘Can you say snow?’ Katsuki asks him.

Hiro whines louder in response.

“Oh no,” you giggle.

‘Snow?’ Katsuki repeats and Hiro falls onto his back. ‘Oh shit!’

Hiro starts wailing and flailing his tiny arms before Iwa rushes into frame to help him up. ‘Guess that’s a no on the snow.’

You and Sika laugh at the video. “Poor kid.”

“But that was so cute,” you smile, rewatching it fondly.

You idly eat your orange, occasionally sputtering when you bite into the rind.

You feel a small weight on your back, looking over and not seeing Ami with the boys so you assume it’s her.

“Hi Ami,” you giggle.

“Ahtie, hai,” she squeals and comes round to hug you. “Wa do?”

“Just relaxing with your mama.”

“I do too! Hai mama,” she giggles.

“Hi baby,” Sika smiles and pushes her cup away from Ami trying to get it. “No, this is mommy’s drink.”

You look over at Hitoshi and giggle when Ami pats you eagerly and giggles when you kiss her cheek.

“Shinsou, would you like some Baileys in your cocoa?” Ahimitsu asks as he opens up the bottle.

“Oh, no thanks.”

“I’ll take it,” John says and holds his half empty cup out.

“Just say when.”

“Just fill it up, I’m really tired. It was a nightmare trying to get my christmas break, I had to put it in four months in advance.”

“Wow. Four months in advance just to put in time for a week off. Poor guy.”

Hitoshi smiles fondly as you tickle Ami. ‘She’s so good with kids.’

A hand on his shoulder snaps Hitoshi out of his trance.

“Hitoshi,” Shouta calls out softly before tilting his head towards the kitchen entryway.

Pulling his legs from under the kotatsu, Hitoshi follows Shouta out of the room.

“Yeah, Dad?”

“I see the way you’ve been looking at Y/n. I don’t want you to get hurt again.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m just giving you some advice. Don’t rush into this, okay. Take it slow so that nobody gets hurt. Koko doesn't deserve to lose a mom twice in his life.”

“I won’t. But thanks for the advice, Dad.”

After Cocoa, it’s time to go back to the resort.

“We should rent a car,” you grumble and squeeze in next to Sika in Hina’s station wagon.

“I’ll do it,” John says and helps Nico into Ahimitsu’s jeep.

“Make sure it’s big enough for everyone,” Sika tells him and shuts the door.

“Just us girls now,” Hina grins and starts the car.

“I hope Dad doesn’t drive them off a cliff.”

“He won’t…hopefully.”

“Um, Miss Y/n?”

“Yeah Eri?”

“My dads and ‘toshi…they’ll be okay right?”

“Oh they’ll be fine, my dad’s a great driver,” you reassure her and look at Sika who’s grimacing. “Don’t worry.”

“She says like she don’ remember what happened with the deer an’ tha phone pole,” Hina scoffs in Kansai.

“What did she say?”

“The guys will be fine,” you smile, ignoring the eyeroll from your mom and sister.

You get to the resort just after the guys who’re a little shaken up.

“Dad, Papa, are you okay?” Eri asks as she steps out of the car noticing their flushed faces.

Hizashi holds onto Shouta, trying not to vomit, nodding softly.

“We had a bumpy ride,” Shouta explains.

John throws up on the sidewalk. “I drank too much.”

“Oh, ew,” Sika cringes. “I mean, poor baby.”

“My tummy hurt,” Nico whines.

“Let’s get you both inside.” She ushers then into the resort.

Ami reaches for Eri as you hold her. “Ahwee!”

The mono-horned girl turns around. “Hmm? Aww, are you trying to say my name?”

“Ahwee!” she giggles.

“Can I hold her?”

You nod and coo when Amelie pats her nose and giggles.

“Booo!”

Eri smiles and boops her back. “Boop!” she giggles.

Kokoro hugs your legs, yawning. “Sweepy.”

“Your dad is an awful driver, babe,” Hitoshi chuckles.

“I know, let’s go inside before we catch a cold. Bye Mom and Dad.” You wave at your parents.

You watch them climb back into the cars and start driving down the road before picking up Koko and walking inside up to the apartment you’re staying in.

You get the couch pull out bed ready with the extra sheets while Hitoshi gives Koko a nice warm bath and gets him dressed for bed.

After using one of the open bathrooms to shower and change, you step out just as you see Hitoshi straighten up from his suitcase, wearing nothing but his black sweats.

You yawn softly and climb into bed with him. “Hey,” you smile tiredly.

Hitoshi kisses your forehead as you rest your head on his chest. “Hi,” he hums. “You okay?”

“I’m tired. Sleepy.”

“Your dad grilled me so much I think I need a week to recover.”

“What’d he say?”

“Future plans and stuff.”

You hum tiredly. “He likes you.”

“You think so?”

“Mhm, a lot…” you trail off and fall asleep.

“I’m glad he does. I was ho–babe?”

Hitoshi smiles softly, trying not to laugh when he sees you fast asleep on his chest.

“Sweet dreams.”

*

The next morning, you all drag yourselves out of the rooms into the open kitchen for breakfast.

“What the fuck is that?” Sika drawls when she sees Shouta’s sleeping bag.

“My sleeping bag,” Shouta says like it’s the most obvious thing ever.

“…it’s eight A.M…”

“Okay?”

‘Weirdo…he’s still hot though,’ Sika thinks before going to the fridge to get eggs.

Nico and Amelie whine in protest as John carries them in by their feet, not wanting to get out of bed.

“Daddy no! Wanna sweep!” Nico whines.

“No Dada!” Amelie shouts.

“Hey, you two can’t sleep all day,” he scolds and puts them on the dining room chairs.

Nico tries to make a run for it but quickly gets caught by John.

“Sit down.”

“Hmph,” Nico huffs and sits, crossing his arms.

“The joys of parenting,” Hizashi sighs.

“Mischievous little brats,” Shouta chuckles. “There was this one time I was training with Hitoshi and teaching him to use his capture weapon and he ended up wrapping himself in a cocoon.”

“What’re we talking about?” Hitoshi yawns as he walks in wearing a pale gray tank top with last night’s sweats.

“Nothing,” Sika snickers. “Good morning.”

Hitoshi grunts in acknowledgment before looking for the coffee pot to fill with water, noticing the fancy coffee maker with a drawer labelled coffee pods underneath. “Ooh, fancy coffee. Dad, look.”

“You had me at coffee.”

“Hai,” Koko greets everyone and goes to sit with Nico and Ami.

“Ma’ll meet us at the ski lodge,” you tell everyone and flick the kettle on to make tea. “Why am I so tired still?”

“Did you stay up late?” Sika asks.

“No?”

“When was the last time you got to relax?”

“Uhh before I started working at Kurume. Keeping twenty kids with crazy quirks in check is ridiculous.”

“Oh, Y/n, no,” Sika sighs. “You need to relax this week.”

“I’ll try.”

“If you want stress-free hang out with Eri for a bit. She’s pretty chill,” Hitoshi suggests and rests his chin on top of your head.

Eri smiles at you.

You smile back. “That would be nice.”

After breakfast, you put on a new outfit you’ve been meaning to wear for a while.

“Okay, do you hate it?” You ask Hitoshi. “Say no or I'll cry.”

Hitoshi looks up from his phone as he sits on the edge of the bed and his eyes widen. “Wow…”

“I look horrible, don’t I,” you groan.

“Y/n, c’mere,” he sighs as you walk over. He pulls you closer so you stand between his legs. “You’re beautiful. This outfit is adorable and the colours suit you. Makes your ass look nice too.”

“Hitoshi!” you gasp when he playfully squeezes your ass and grins at you. “I got Koko a matching jacket too but what if he hates it.”

“If it’s from you, he’ll love it.”

Kokoro runs in, flopping on the bed. “Hai!”

“Woah, toddler attack!” Hitoshi chuckles as Koko flops next to him.

“Hai Daddy! Hai Mama!” he giggles. “What you do? Ooh, Mama pebby!”

“Thank you, Koko,” you smile and walk up to your suitcase on the floor. “I have something for you.”

“Me?”

“Yup.” You take out the mini version of your jacket. “It’s a jacket like mine.”

“Wowee!” He gasps. “I lub it!”

Hitoshi helps him out of his regular purple jacket so you can put him into your olive green one.

“Ooh, you look so handsome,” you giggle and zip it up.

“Now I has Mama and Daddy jaket! I go show ganpa?”

“Yeah, go show him.”

He holds your hand. “We go show ganpa.”

“Oh, you want me to come? Okay,” you giggle, walking with him towards the living room where Shouta’s watching cat videos with Hizashi on the big screen.

“Ganpas! Lookie.” Koko stands in front of them to show his jacket. “Mama gots me jaket like hers.”

You fan your face as your cheeks warm, waving softly as Koko does a little proud pose.

“Wow Koko, you look so handsome,” Shouta chuckles.

Hizashi nods, looking at the olive green. “You look so cute, little listener,” he chuckles.

“Tank yew,” he giggles. “Now we show Ahtee Eri and then Nico!”

You try not to laugh as Koko drags you around the cabin showing everyone his gift.

“Not you stealing my boots,” Sika huffs and shows you her same red moon boots. “Of course you would.”

“I had these first,” you scoff, sticking your tongue at her before walking with him back to Hitoshi’s room.

“Mama?”

“Yes Koko?”

“I lub you. Tank yew for my gif,” he smiles,hugging your waist.

You try not to cry at the display of affection. “Love you too.”

*

“What took you so long!” Hina yells when your little group approaches the lodge.

“We’re tired, Ma,” Sika sighs.

“What’re you wearing? Ya look like a hooker.”

Sika adjusts her coat and dusts off her bodysuit. “Good.”

“Ya look fat. Ya pregnant again?”

“Ugh! Ma!”

Mitsu hugs Sika sideways. “Ya look perfect as always, darlin’.”

“Thank you Daddy,” Sika smiles.

“You look good Y/n,” Hina smiles. “Wait, did you get this little man a matching jacket?! It’s so cute! His purple hat too,” she squeals as Koko shyly hides his face in your leg.

You pat Koko’s head and smile softly. “Thanks. Now let’s go.”

“We ski?” Nico asks John.

“It’ll be the first time, but yeah. Let’s go to the rental shop.”

“Have any of you skied before?” Hitoshi asks.

“We used to as kids,” you tell him. “Cause Ma thought it’ll look good in pictures.”

“It did!” Hina scoffs.

“I broke my arm and had to skip my highschool summer trip,” Sika scoffs.

“But you were both still cute.”

“They still are,” John smiles as Hitoshi hums in agreement.

“Very.”

After getting mini ski gear for Eri and the kids except for Amelie who gets a small sled, a ski instructor is assigned to your group.

“Aren’t you skiing?” He asks Sika outside.

She puts her sunglasses on. “Ew, no. I came here to look cute, that’s it.”

The instructor’s eyes wander along her body. “Well, you're doing a great job at that.”

She hums in acknowledgment and walks away, unaware of the gaze on her body.

The instructor gasps when he feels something grasp his neck.

“I can break your neck in three places right now if I wanted to,” John growls. “Don’t ogle my wife.”

“Y-yes sir, I’m sorry!”

John lets go and pats his head before following his wife.

You zip up Koko’s jacket and tighten the strings. “Be careful, okay?”

“Okie. You watch me?”

“I’ll go with you and watch from the benches over there.” You point at some benches at the bottom of the kiddie hill.

“Promise?”

“Mhm, I’ll take lots of pictures too.” You adjust his hat and goggles. “And don't forget to have fun.”

“Okie!” He waves and runs to the ski instructor waiting with the other kids.

You walk to the bottom and sit on an empty bench, taking your phone out to record Koko as he gets ready. He waves at you and you wave back, snapping a few pictures. Sika plops next to you, holding her jacket closed with one hand and holding a cup of warm cup of warm cocoa in the other. “Fuck me it’s cold!”

“I know you wanted to look cute but that's not a mountain outfit.”

“And that’s why I forced John to give me his jacket.” She waves at John tugging Amelie in her sleigh as Ahimitsu takes pictures.

“Sis, he’ll freeze.”

“He has a second jacket and thermal clothes. He’s fine. He’s trained for this,” she smiles. “Where’s your boo?”

“I think he went to go rent something.”

You look back at your phone and smile as Koko skis down the shallow slope, almost hitting a tree but gets to the bottom. You stop recording and grin when he calls out to you.

“Mama, you see me? I do it!”

“Yes you did, Koko! I’m so proud of you!”

Sika cheers when Nico slowly skis down and comes to a halt at the bottom. “Good job, baby!”

“Yay! Hai Koko!” Nico calls out waving at Koko who’s barely twenty feet away.

“Hai Nico!” Koko giggles, waving back.

“They’re so cute,” Sika smiles.

You look up as Hitoshi walks over, slightly covered in powdery snow with a yellow snowboard in hand. “Hey Toshi,” you smile. “I didn't know you snowboarded.”

“I learnt a while ago for an undercover mission in Switzerland. Broke my leg but it was fun.”

“What other secrets are you keeping from me?”

“Wouldn't you like to know?” he smirks. “Koko come down the hill yet?”

“Yeah, he’s talking with Nico. Oh shit I'm supposed to be taking pictures.” You take a few more and pocket the phone.

Loud laughter from the direction of the rental lodge gets all your attention. Hina and Hizashi walking arm in arm, cackling about something while Shouta looks annoyed walking next to them.

“C’mon Sho, just go down one mountain with me?” Hizashi pleads.

“Stop being so loud,” Shouta groans.

“So grumpy,” Hina mutters. “But we’re gonna get you outta that sour mood.”

“Please don’t.”

“Your mom’s great,” Hizashi grins at you.

“Thank you, Mr. Aizawa,” Hina smiles.

“Call me Hizashi.”

“Now, let’s get this grumpy guy to the lodge bar. They have mulled wine and the best dumplings.”

Shouta gives Hitoshi a look that screams, “save me!”

“Have fun dad,” Hitoshi smiles and waves trying not to laugh at Shouta’s glare.

You look over the boys and smile when you see them hugging before snickering when they fall backwards and flail. “Oh no. Sika, the boys fell again.”

“John!” She yells.

“Yeah?” he calls back.

“The boys!”

John looks over and sees the instructor help them up. “They’re fine.”

“Ami’s running!”

As soon as her father is distracted , the toddler waddles away as fast as she can towards a man with a fluffy husky.

“I’ve got her!” Hitoshi calls out, dropping his snowboard and running after the toddler, picking her up before she gets to the man.

“No!” she squeals, flailing around before looking at Hitoshi. “Wan Doggy!”

“You have a doggy, little one. You can’t go running off like that,” he chuckles as she pouts. “Time for you to go back to your Daddy.”

Ami lets out a ‘hmph’ and pats Hitoshi’s cheek.

“Hey! Don’t hit me,” he chuckles, playfully trying to bite her mittened hand.

Amelie squeals and flails her tiny hands.

“Thanks,” John sighs and takes her back. “Little troublemaker, no candy for you today.”

“Nooooo!” she whines.

You giggle at their antics before feeling Koko patting your leg. “Hmm? Hi, Koko, are you done skiing?”

“Yah, was fun. Wanna be wif you and Daddy.”

“Well, I might go inside to get some cider and I think your Daddy’s gonna go snowboard.”

“We go watch Daddy then get hot joos?”

“Hot juice?”

“Yah hot appa joos!”

“Oh, the hot cider. Yeah we can.”

“Yay!

You, Koko and Hitoshi head to the big slope and wave at Hitoshi getting on the ski lift to the top.

“Can we do that?” Koko points at the lift.

“One day when you’re an expert skier,” you promise him.

“I be best ski!”

You pet his head and walk with him towards the benches near the bottom of the hill after getting some nice warm cider.

“Why daddy ski different?” Koko asks you.

“Because he’s snowboarding, Koko,” you explain.

“Woah! I do?”

“When you’re a little bigger.”

“What I do now?”

“You can sit with me and we can cheer him on?”

“Okie,” Koko grins.

You and Kokoro cheer Hitoshi as he weaves his way between the trees, and not much later skids to a stop near your bench.

“So, how’d I do?”

“Daddy coolest!” Kokoro cheers and runs to hug him. “So amazing, daddy!”

“Definitely the coolest,” you agree and stand up to give him a sip of your cider.

“Mmm, this is good.”

“Right?”

Hitoshi unclips his boots from the board, shaking his leg out. “Harder than I remember.”

“Didn’t look that hard.”

“Really? Try it then.”

“Gladly,” you grin.

He takes off the ski boots and hands them to you in exchange for his regular ones.

“Your big ass feet,” you grumble as you put the shoes on and stand on the board. “Push me.”

“Okay.”

Hitoshi gently pushes you forward and you yelp as you pass over a small rock and wobble, grabbing Hitoshi’s jacket. Unfortunately you fall into the powdery snow with him on top of you.

“Oh no!” Koko yells. “Mama!”

“This feels familiar,” you say between laughs. He can’t help but laugh either, hiding his face in your neck.

“Told you it’s hard.”

“The rock fucked me up.”

“You’ll get the hang of it babe,” Hitoshi chuckles before groaning when Koko plops onto his back.

“Cuddle!” he squeals.

You start laughing as Kokoro nuzzles the other side of your neck.

“Lub you!”

“We love you too, Koko.”

*

At the lodge restaurant, you all sit at a large table near the fireplace for lunch.

“Koko, do you wanna try my venison?” You cut a small piece of the meat and hold it to his mouth.

“Wat dat?” he asks and sniffs the meat.

“It’s wild deer.”

His face drops. “What?!”

You giggle at his expression. “It’s yummy, try it.”

“No!” He huffs and turns his face. “No eat deer.”

“It’s like eating chicken,” Hitoshi reassures him. “You like chicken. And sushi is fish.”

“It kind of tastes like beef, if that helps. You like beef, right Koko?”

“Beef yummy. Maybe I eat deer,” he mumbles, opening his mouth for you to feed him. “Oh! It guf!”

You smile softly as Koko talks with his mouth full. “Swallow then speak, hun.”

“I likes it!”

Hitoshi ruffles Kokoro’s hair before going back to his chicken ramen.

“Daddy, I has your eggie?”

“I thought you weren’t hungry,” Hitoshi chuckles.

“Peez?”

“Why do you want it, anyway?”

“Share wif Nico.”

You take one off the shrimp tempuras from the plate Nico and Koko are sharing. “But you have your own food with Nico.”

“Ahtie!” Nico whines.

Hina laughs and puts half of her boiled egg on Koko’s plate. “You can have mine, sweetie.”

“Tank yew, gamma!” Koko giggles before giving Nico the yolk while he eats the egg whites.

Hina coos softly and fans her face.

“Ma, you okay?” Sika asks.

“Ahm tryin’ not ta die of cuteness,” she coos.

“What’d she say?” Hitoshi asks.

“Koko’s being too cute for her to handle,” you snicker.

After lunch, the six of you, except for Hina, Ami, Shouta, Eri, and Hizashi who stayed behind for a nap, went on a tour of the forest held by the lodge in hopes of seeing a deer or a bunny.

“Mama, we see bunny?” Koko asks as he holds your hand.

“Maybe hun, but they’re very hard to see.”

Sika points at a snow covered log between the trees at something darting between them. “There’s a weasel over there.”

John flips the guide book open. “Apparently they’re really common here but we can’t touch them.”

“Woah!” Nico gasps.

The tour guide points out the many species of trees and animals living at the bottom of the mountain, encouraging you to stay on the path.

“Wanna see bunny,” Kokoro pouts as he trudges along. You hold your hand out and make a small bunny for him. “Real bunny, mama.”

“Okay, Mr. sassy pants. I’m sure we’ll see one, hun. But if we don’t we can go to the Shibuya petting zoo for a field trip and you can see all the bunnies.”

“Okie,” he pouts.

Further down the path, you walk with Hitoshi, trying to cheer up Koko by showing him some of the birds and squirrels before stopping.

“Hey Dad, look over there,” you snicker, pointing towards a figure in the distance.

“Ooh, Sika, sweetie, look,” Ahimitsu points at some deer walking in a clearing.

“Oh God…” Sika groans.

You crouch down to Kokoro’s level to watch. “Koko look at the deer over there, don’t yell out they’ll run away.”

“Pretty but I want bunny…” he mumbles.

“I know but you wanna know something? It’s a Sika deer.”

“That my mommy name,” Nico giggles. Sika rolls her eyes. John takes a few pictures.

“Dad thought it would be funny to give me that name.”

Mitsu puts his arm around her. “They’re my favourite animal so it makes sense to give my first born their name.”

“And now I always get ‘like the deer?’ whenever I introduce myself,” she scoffs.

“But they’re cute and I don’t mind the love of my life having the same name as a deer,” John smiles, before looking back into the book.

“Thanks babe.”

You follow your tour guide and look back at Hitoshi when he groans. “Hmm? What’s wrong ‘toshi?” you ask.

“Look up ahead,” he sighs.

“Is that Phantom Thief?”

“Kendo’s here? At least he won’t be an entire ass…”

“Shinsou? What a coincidence running into you here!” Neito grins before looking at you and Koko who hides his face in your leg. “Who’s this?”

“That’s my son.”

“Son? Since when do you have a son?”

“Five years ago as of November…”

Neito stares at Koko then you. “Wow, your genes completely hogged him. He looks nothing like mom over here.”

“I’m…not his biological mother,” you explain. “I’m…” You look down at Koko looking up at you expectantly. “His stepmom.”

“No, you Mama,” Koko huffs.

“Thank you, honey.”

“So you got married?”

“No, Monoma, she’s my girlfriend.”

“Right. So why’re you all the way in Hyogo?”

Hitoshi gestures to your family. “Family time. What about you?”

“Same. Itsuka’s from here too so we’re visiting her family.”

Hitoshi looks around for her familiar orange hair. “Where is she?”

“Think she went ahead to see some deer.”

Sika clears her throat. “We’re gonna do the same, see you two at the bottom.”

John scoops up Nico and follows Sika down the trail, Ahimitsu behind them.

“Well, now that we’re alone, we can look for the bunny,” you smile, making Koko squeal. “Let’s go.”

Kokoro runs ahead and falls down, flailing his feet.

“Koko!” You right him back up. “You okay?”

“Mhm. We see bunny!”

“Let’s try and look for bunny tracks, if we’re lucky we can find a den.”

“I’m gonna go with them. It was nice seeing you and tell Itsuka I said hi,” he nods before following you and Koko.

You walk further up the trail looking off to the side and stop when you see something rustle in the bushes near a clearing. “Koko, ‘toshi, c’mere!” you whisper-shout, crouching and taking out your phone. “I see one!”

Koko waddles over and crouches beside you as you see a white blob hop out of the bushes into the snow, digging in the ground for food before wiping its nose and scampering away. You quickly take a photo.

“Mama! Bunny!” he squeals. “I sees it!”

“It’s so small and cute.”

You smile and pet his head as he hugs you then holds your hand. “Thank you Mama. You the best.”

“You’re welcome, baby. Let’s go back down the mountain.”

“Mow hot joos!”

“We’ll get some after we see them light the Christmas tree in the square,” Hitoshi tells him and takes his other hand.

You and Hitoshi swing his little body, smiling when he squeals as you walk down towards the lodge.

After watching the tree lighting and setting Koko down for bedtime, you rest on the outdoor couch, cuddled in Hitoshi’s arms by the fire pit, soft music playing from one of the speakers.

You look up at Hitoshi as he kisses your temple. “That tickles,” you smile as he kisses along the side of your face.

“Hey, babe?” he mumbles as he squeezes your waist gently.

“Hmm?”

“When we were on the mountain…you called yourself Koko’s stepmom.”

“Did I? Oh. I didn’t know what else to call myself, I hope you don’t mind.”

“I don’t, honestly. I think it’s sweet how much Koko loves you and I’d hope that you would be his mother someday,” he hums, kissing your cheek.

“Oh god, is this a proposal?” You laugh.

“Not yet, babe.”

You snuggle more into him, tilting your head for kisses. The sliding door to the porch opens. “Ew, get a room,” Sika gags.

“Go away,” you huff and throw one of the small pillows at her head. She catches it and throws it back, nailing Hitoshi in the face.

“Ow.”

“Whoops! Sorry, Toshi.”

“It’s fine, it makes me feel like I’m part of the family.”

“You are family. You and Koko.”

“Thank you,” he smiles.

John steps through the door with a tray. “We come with hot cocoa and mini marshmallows.”

“Ooh, I’ll take one!” you call out and pick two of the christmas themed cups and give one to Hitoshi. “These cups are ugly as fuck though.”

“It’s all they had here,” he chuckles.

“This cocoa’s good.”

They settle into the second couch, cuddling up under the red blanket. “Finally put the kids down so I can relax.”

“Nico’s been so energetic lately,” John sighs. “But it makes it easier to put him to bed.”

“I bet you can’t wait until you have one of your own, right sis?” Sika snickers.

“Yeah, I guess. At least I'm getting practice with Koko.”

She hums and stares into her mug of cocoa. “Ahm pregnant again.”

You choke on the cocoa and start coughing, putting the mug down on the glass table.

“Are you okay?” Hitoshi asks and pats your back.

“Fine,” you wheeze and turn back to Sika. “Really?”

She nods. “Found out last week…”

“Oh mah goodness.” You notice her lack of excitement. “What’s wrong? Ya don’t look happy.”

“Ah am, we started tryin’ in late September and ahm excited but ahm nervous too. Ami took a lot outta me and ah dunno if ah can do it again.”

Hitoshi gently shakes you. “What’re you guys talking about?”

“Shh,” you dismiss him. “Y’dont haveta have tha baby, Sika. Does John know?”

“Mhm.”

“It’s okay to get cold feet about another one until yer ready.” You scooch over to hold her free hand. “Ya don’t have ta keep it if ya don’ wanna.”

“Yer, right. John and me will talk about it but don’t tell Ma, y’know how she gets.”

“Ah won’t, ah promise.”

“Thanks.”

“Babe, what happened?”

“Don’t worry about it, Toshi. She was asking for fashion advice,” you lie and settle back on him.

Hitoshi stares down at you before squinting suspiciously. “If you say so.”

The fire is doused close to midnight and after a nice warm bath, you say your goodnights and head to bed, snorting quietly at Koko and Nico sprawled out on the pullout bed for their mini sleepover.

“You smell nice,” Hitoshi murmurs when you climb into bed.

You giggle softly as he reaches over and kisses your neck. “Toshi,” you giggle as he bites softly and starts on a hickey. “Oh.”

His fingers work you open until you’re wet enough for him to climb over you.

You hold back a moan as he pushes into you, trying your best not to wake up the house.

“Fuck, ‘toshi, harder,” you whisper. Your body rocks forward with his thrusts, your fingers linking at the base of his neck for purchase, softly gripping the hair there.

Hitoshi places a pillow between the wall and the headboard before gripping it for leverage to fuck you harder, squeezing your thigh with his free hand.

“Shit, you feel so good, baby,” he groans. “Fuck, keep squuezing me just like that.”

His mouth locks with yours when you cum, swallowing your high moans and cries.

“Good girl,” he whispers into your neck as he feels his orgasm draw closer.

“Toshi, fuck, give me your baby,” you whimper between kisses.

Heat flashes through his body. “What?”

Your ankle locks behind his thigh. “I want your baby. Cum in me.”

“Y/n, do you mean that? You know what happened last time…”

“I’m not her. I love you Hitoshi.”

“You…you do?”

You nod and gasp when he kisses you passionately while thrusting faster. “Oh, fuck, ‘toshi! I’m gonna cum again,” you gasp as he grips your neck.

“Go ahead baby,” he grunts. “I’m not too far behind you.”

You grind your hips up against him as he cums, sending you both over the edge.

“Fuck,” you both shudder.

“I love you too,” he whispers and rolls off you onto his side of the bed. “Damn my back hurts.”

You chuckle tiredly and adjust your crooked bonnet. “Wow. I’m sweating.”

“So…a baby?”

You sit up with a groan, stretching your arms over your head and cracking your back. “I was kidding, Hitoshi. I’ve had an implant for months.”

“Oh…”

“I’m not saying I don’t want one with you ever. Just not now,” you explain. “But it’s fun to pretend to wind you up.”

“You’re a brat,” he chuckles and pulls you back down to playfully bite your cheek. “But you were serious about loving me?”

“Of course. You’re amazing and you come with a cute little bonus,” you giggle.

Hitoshi chuckles and kisses your cheek before going into the bathroom to get a rag to clean you up.

You sigh contentedly when you’re back in bed, clean, snuggling against his chest. “Merry Christmas.”

“It’s midnight already? Wow. Merry Christmas, babe. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

The next morning, you gently shake Nico and Kokoro awake. “Boys, wake up, it’s christmas.”

“Huh? Ahtie?” Nico mumbles.

“It’s Christmas. Santa came and left you all a bunch of gifts.”

“It Crimmas!” Nico gasps before trying to wake up Koko who groans softly.

“Koko wake up, Santa came to gve you gifts last night,” you smile, shaking the little boy.

“Santa?” Koko mumbles as he wakes up.

“Mmhm,” you smile.

“Santa!” He cheers and both of them jump up. “Where presents?”

“They’re at my moms house, let’s get you both dressed so we can go.”

“I wear Mama jaket!”

Sika peeks her head in. “Better hurry then, come on Nico.”

“We go!” Nico giggles before running towards Sika’s room to get his clothes and to get a bath from John.

Hina is trying to get you in an ugly christmas sweater as soon as you’re through the door.

“Ma! Stop!”

“It’s tradition! Get in the sweater!”

You begrudgingly take it and put it on, frowning at the red ‘Ho Ho Ho’ in the front. “It’s itchy.”

“Ya look cute, stop complainin’. I got some for the kids too. And Hitoshi and John.”

“You what?” Hitoshi asks, crouching by the tree to help Koko open his present.

Hina holds up a matching sweater.

“Oh shit…”

“No ba wa!” Amelie whines.

After she squeezes all of you into the sweaters, Hina takes a million pictures as you open your presents.

“Ooh, a new iPad,” Sika smiles as she tears the wrapping. “Thanks, Daddy.”

“You’re welcome sweetie,” he smiles.

“Open mine next,” you giggle and give Hitoshi a big box and a smaller one.

He stops scratching his itchy sweater to unwrap the first one. Opening the box, Hitoshi grins when he sees the small purple humidifier and box of essential oils. “Wow, this looks cool.”

“It’s to help you relax after patrols. You can put it in your office too when you do paperwork.”

“Thank you, Y/n,” he smiles. “I love it.”

“Open the other one!”

Kokoro helps him rip open the big one, peeking inside. “Ooh, wat dat?”

“It’s a shiatsu shoulder massager. Your weighted scarf is always around your neck so I thought it would help.”

“Wow, thank you, Y/n,” he smiles.

You kiss his cheek and look at him as he holds out a medium sized gift wrapped box. “This is for you,” he smiles.

“Ooh, I wonder what it is.” Unwrapping it, you gasp excitedly at the pink chocolate mould set. “This is so cute!”

“I know how much you like baking so I got that for you.”

“I love it, thank you.”

“There’s two more, but they’re kinda back in Tokyo.”

“Well, I can’t wait until we get back,” you giggle.

“Daddy, look what ganpa zashee and ganpa zawa get me!” Kokoro giggles as he runs over wearing a new set of gray winter boots.

“Very cute, Koko,” Hitoshi smiles. “They go with your new jacket Y/n gave you.”

“Yah! And Ahtee get me acta figah of you and Wed Wiot.” He holds up the two toys proudly. Hitoshi takes the mini version of himself. “Why do they always make my hair so dark?”

“I think it’s because the reference photos of you are always at night, son,” Shouta chuckles. “They used to make my goggles this mustard yellow and it looked so bad.”

“I think it looks good,” you smile, looking at the figure. “Got the suit just right.”

“Maybe I’ll look into one of those photoshoots…”

After the gift exchanges you sit with Sika as Koko plays with Nico while Ami plays with Shouta, Eri and the dogs.

Hina slots herself next to you and Hitoshi. “So, remember my proposal?”

“I don’t know about five, Ma. Thassa lot. Even fa me,” you laugh nervously.

Sika sips her water nervously.

“But we need lotsa grandbabies runnin’ around! Okay, three’s mah last offer.”

“Y’already have two!”

“An’ we need more,” she counters.

You pinch your nose bridge in exasperation. “Ugh, Ma.”

Shouta nudges you. “What’s she saying?”

“She still wants us to have lots of kids. Ma, we ain’t even married yet.”

“I don’t think I have it in me for more than three,” Hitoshi mumbles. “That’s a lot of tiny feet running around. Koko’s enough of a hassle as it is alone.”

“But yer not alone! Y’got my baby witcha!”

“What?”

“She said you’re not alone cause we’re together,” you translate.

“Ohh.”

“We’ll see how life plays out, Ma.”

Hitoshi nods and kisses your temple. “Hopefully it goes well.”

*

The day before new years eve, you say goodbye to your parents as they load your suitcases.

“Y’better come an’ visit me again, y’hear?”

“Ah promise, ma. Ah’ll bring ‘toshi an’ Koko too.”

“Ah wan’ mo granbabies, Y/n.”

“We’ll see,” you giggle hugging her before hugging your Dad. “Come an’ visit us in the city, Daddy. Sika an’ I would love ta have you ova.”

“I’ll try mah best,” he smiles. “ Maybe in a month or two.”

“Jus’ lemme know when.”

‘15:09 train to Shibuya departing now’ the intercom crackles above.

You hug them both before entering the train with Hitoshi carrying Koko.

“Bai gamma,” Nico waves.

“Bai!” Koko waves too.

“Bye babies!” Hina shouts as the doors close. “Toshi, the next time I see you there better be a ring on my baby’s finger!”

“Ma!”

Back in Shibuya station, you wave goodbye to Sika’s family as they pile into their car left at the parking garage.

“Good luck, sis,” you tell her. “I’m behind you no matter what.”

You smile as she hugs you and enters the car.

“Let’s get this one home,” you coo at the sleeping Kokoro in the car seat holding his new action figures.

Hitoshi says goodbye to his parents and sister, promising to visit soon then all of you go your separate ways.

You wave at them before helping Hitoshi put the luggage in the trunk and climbing in the passenger seat. “This was fun. I’m sorry about my mom though. She’s a lil pushy when it comes to us and relationships,” you sigh softly.

“It’s fine. Honestly, My pop’s been like that since I told them about us. I really like your parents though, they’re fun.”

“Yours too, well Mic is fun, Eraser is fun in a lazy cynical cat way.”

“The cats do follow him around though,” he smiles.

You laugh and look out the window as he drives, watching the snow covered landscape. “This really was nice though, maybe next year we can do something with your parents.”

“Oof, they’re the stay home and chill type so i think Christmas vacations should be a your parent thing.”

“My mom will flip but yeah, that sounds cool.”

He reaches over to intertwine your fingers together, bringing it to his lips to kiss your knuckles.

You decide to spend the rest of the break with Hitoshi and Koko. Of course the toddler is ecstatic, spending his week off with his Dad and his favourite teacher.

“So what’s the gift you promised me? I’ve been itching to know what it is,” you ask Hitoshi after you’ve gotten the kitties from the daycare, unpacked and settled down for the evening.

Hitoshi gets two small black boxes from the kitchen drawer and sits next to you on the couch. “Pick one. They’re both for you.”

The size of the boxes makes you a little nervous. You hope there’s not a ring in either of them. “This one.”

You take the box and start unwrapping the bow before lifting the lid. “A key? What does this lead to?”

“I’ve been thinking,” he starts. “It’s really inconvenient for you to take the trains all the time to come here or go home from work. So I was wondering if you wanted to move in? Totally fine if you don’t want to, but I feel guilty whenever I'm stuck at work and you have to bring Koko all the way here or all the way to your apartment. So…yeah.”

You stare at the silver key, smiling wide. “That’s so thoughtful, Hitoshi. I would love to.”

“You mean it?”

You laugh softly and hug him tight. “Of course I do! Thank you!”

Kokoro walks in with the cats, hoping to get a juice box from you or Hitoshi.

“Daddy, want joos.”

“It’s too late for juice, bud. You can have tea if you want.”

“Bleh! No tea. Wat dat?” He points at the box.

“Koko, I’m gonna live here from now on,” you tell the toddler. “Isn’t that exciting?”

“Mama live wif me?!” Koko gasps before climbing on the couch between both of you. “Yay! Mama stay!”

“And you’ll be coming home after school with me.”

“Yay! I lub you!”

“I love you too, baby. You and your daddy, very much.”

“Wat about da kitties?”

Onyx hops in your lap, purring happily.

“Also the kitties,” you giggle as Onyx rubs his face in your chin.

“Open the other one, babe.”

You unwrap the second one and there’s an electronic key inside with a Mercedes logo on it.

“Hitoshi…”

“Yes, Y/n?”

You start to scream in excitement and shock, scaring the cats and Kokoro. “You’re serious?!”

“Yup.”

“Daddy, why Mama scream?” Kokoro asks, holding onto Hitoshi.

“She loves her gift, bud. She’s happy,” Hitoshi chuckles.

“Can I go see it?!”

“In the morning. The parking lot’s pretty dark right now…”

You tackle him in a bear hug and kiss all over his face. “Thank you thank you thank you! I love you!!!”

“Mama lub Daddy!” Koko squeals.

“Yes I do,” you smile before giggling when he joins the hug. “I love you.”

*

Unfortunately, Hitoshi is summoned to court again after the new year. But it's good news this time.

‘This court finds that the prosecution no longer needs to pay child support to the defendant Akibimi Nezama. And the defendant must sign sole custody of the child. We are adjourned.’

The sound of the gavel hitting the block brings a smile to Hitoshi’s face. ‘It’s over,’ he thinks. Outside the courtroom, he quietly celebrates and thanks his lawyer.

���I can't believe you,” Akibimi grumbles, mood sour from the verdict.

“Maybe now you can get a job and stop mooching off of me,” Hitoshi glares

“I’m quirkless, no one's gonna hire me,”

“There’s thousands of jobs you could apply for. As much as you irk me, you're still Koko's mom, so as a sign of good faith, I’ll get Deku to put you in that quirkless program he started.”

“What about Koko?”

“He’ll be fine but he wouldn’t mind seeing you if you were nicer to him. But with my or y/n’s supervision,” he offers.

“Why that bi–woman?”

“That woman is my girlfriend. The only woman that Koko trusts as his mother, so that’s why she has permission. I doubt she’d let you considering what happened the last time you met.”

‘Fucking deserved it if you ask me.’ Akibimi thinks. “Fine, I’ll call you.”

“You need to give me at least a week in advance when you want to see him. No popping up. Understand?”

“Whatever. Bye.”

Her heels click as she walks away. Hitoshi doesn't even feel bad. Instead, he feels relieved.

[writerleo86]

Terravenger Season 6 - The Agents of Light Arc - Episode 508 (Do Not Copy) - 01.30.2024

    During the evening, the entire team of rescuers led by Sirene stood by a space jet while they were behind the closed Jordan Airport. And another person stood before the right side of the large vehicle.

    The stern Sirene had asked "So yer lendin' us yer jet?"

    This person was revealed as the older student of the Midas Academy named Pacey Deacon. He had fair skin, short brown hair, and a pair of bright blue eyes. He wore a jet-black shirt with long sleeves, a fine collar, and a long black tie. He had on a pair of dark-gray dress-pants with a black belt that had a squared silver buckle. He also wore a buttoned dark-gray coat with the Deacon Publications crest placed on the left side of the collar. And he wore shiny black shoes with dark-blue socks.

    Pacey informed the witch in an Irish accent "You will have one of my personal jets at your disposal along with the pilot. This jet had a state-of-the-art food maker. Its computer will create whatever you like to eat on command. There is also a drink machine that has the same properties. And you all will have your own monitors in order to watch any show including the new channels."

    The humble Sidney gave a soft smile and implied "You truly have done wonders for your family's company ever since your father disappeared. But I am sure you have troubles like every other business."

    Pacey placed each of his hands inside the pocket of his pants as he responded "I have done what I could to terminate past goals set for my company. Now we at Deacon not only issue printings for sales, but we help with all sorts of communication around the planet. Many readers and our main board appear to be satisfied with our accomplishments so far."

    The grim Ethan commented "I never thought Deacon Publications would ever be used for the greater good. You really have turned this business around."

    Pacey faced the team and asked "Where would your first destination be?"

    Sirene answered "We're headin' to take Troi back to da prison planet."

    Troi informed Pacey "Sirene broke me out using a portal without the guards knowing about it. Hopefully, neither the guards and other inmates will know that I went out on my sentence."

    Then Granger told Troi "Don't worry about anything. I am certain Sirene knows a spell that will erase anyone's memories."

    The wicked Naigahata commented "Sirene is no novice when creating spells such as those. She will assist Troi with handling the mere jailers."

    And Sirene replied "After that, we're gonna head to Denmark. Sirbo's got a base down there. I'm gonna find da tomb of dat fool Scorpio, even if it kills my ass!"

    The sly Pacey shook his head and claimed "It seems you all have enough on your plate."

    Sirene added "But I'm gonna blow back here if da Raven's in trouble again."

    Pacey shook his head once again and said "I do hope it doesn't come to that whatever situation our city lands in."

    Granger told Pacey "I'll make sure to report everything we do to you."

    "That's not a bad idea," directed Pacey. "I will have the pilot give you one of my private numbers in order for you to keep me up to date."

    He added "I also would like to hear about the adventures your team will have. It will be fascinating to hear what you all accomplish as your own squad."

    And the sly Naigahata said "So do I."

Terravenger -- Season 6

Episode 508:  Approaching the Holidays; The Troubled Gypsy Appears

    A few months later, the excited Duo had met with three of his friends at a table near the opening of the Midas Academy's cafeteria.

    Duo who sat at the right side of the table had worn a sleeveless black shirt that had the capital letter X printed in yellow on the center. He had on a pair of thin sand-colored band around his wrists with a sky-blue key printed on the top part of the left band. He also had tight light-gray jeans and a brown belt with a circular silver buckle. And he wore khaki shoes with maroon at the middle.

    Sitting by his right side was Dilan Carr who had on a black shirt with long white sleeves. He wore a pair of tight blue jeans with a silver rectangular buckle on the middle of his thick black belt. He also had his family crest printed on the left shoulder of his shirt. And he wore his shiny black boots over his gray socks.

    The older Cheetah sat across from Dilan. He wore a green undershirt with a pair of burnt-orange jeans with holes on various spots. He also wore a small black gauntlet around each wrist and his black shoes with red on the center. And he wore his black makeup along with black lipstick.

    The tall boy called Lenz had on a white shirt with short black sleeves and a fine black collar. He wore a pair of long blue jeans with a thin brown belt. He also had on a pair of white socks with black shoes that had white covering the center. And a pair of small silver circles were printed on the right sleeve of his shirt.

    Cheetah informed the boys "I'm havin' a little brunch at home for Turkey Day if anyone wants to come. Anton's leavin' for some kinda conference till dat weekend."

    "I am so there!" Duo told him. "My 'rents are goin' to a special dinner that their boss is having at Deacon. They asked me to go with. But I can find a way out of it."

    "I'll be there too," answered Lenz. "We gotta stick together this year."

    The smiling Dilan shook his head and responded "My dad will be on his regular duty throughout the week of Thanksgiving. I guess I will come to your party as well."

    Cheetah gave out a great smile and responded "Cool! It's gonna be an awesome party Mates! I'm gonna ask Ayr, Seth, and Silver too. I wanna go all out."

    Lenz faced Duo and cried "You need to be at this party more than anybody! You've been through a lot this part three months!"

    Duo shook his head and commented "You gotta be the most worried person ever!"

    "Don't play like dat Mate!" Cheetah told Duo. "Jinx told me about what's been goin' on with ya lately. Dat bloke Mephistopheles's got some kind of hold over you."

    "It's okay now," replied Duo. "Doc Tuscon handled everythin'. He used some mojo to keep da bastard away from me. I'm not gonna let dat creep get to me like he did Cutter."

    Dilan shook his head and responded "I did hear about your ordeal as well. This must be terrible for you to handle on your own."

    Duo gave a relieved smile and answered "Well, I guess I'm not gonna handle dis shit alone. You guys are gonna be there wit' me."

    "Hell yeah!" Cheetah told him. "Yer not alone! I'm wit' ya till da end."

    Then a male voice called out "Storms!"

    Duo quickly turned around and found their principal standing behind the group.

    Beau Ravenstone wore a collared white shirt with a long green tie and a brown vest. He had on a pair of pinstriped gray pants and a leathered black belt with a squared silver buckle. He also had on a pair of short black boots. An opened black dress-coat was worn over his shirt with his golden MAF badge placed on its front left side.

    Duo lowered his head and whispered "What the hell?"

    So, Duo began walking to the commander.

    Lenz asked "What is this about?"

    Cheetah lowered his head as he said "No idea. I got nothin'."

    The pair faced faced each other and Duo asked "What is it, Commander?"

    Beau gave a soft smile and commented "Even after everything you have gone through since the summer, you still have kept yourself together. You seem to be much stronger than I would have ever been."

    Duo folded his arms in front of him as the commander implied "You and I never once had a chance to talk since... You know. Ever since we discovered that you were my biological son."

    Then Duo shook his head as he felt no emotion.

    "You are a strong young man Duo," described Beau. "Finding out something like this would have broken any other individual. But you... You have the heart, the mind, and the fire of those from my family. Your will counters all forms of evil."

    "What do you want?" asked Duo. "Did you come here to spill yer crap or somethin'?"

    The calm Beau shook his head and replied "I may deserve all that you say. You have the right to express your opinion. To tell you the truth, I am still shocked about our outcome."

    A stern Duo lowered his arms and Beau told him "I am having a great dinner at my home on Thanksgiving Day."

    "A dinner huh?" repeated Duo.

    The kind Beau shook his head and said "I would like to invite you over. I would truly like to get to learn about you. I am certain you have questions that I may be able to answer."

    Duo told him "Look! You and I got the same blood. But that's all there is. I'm good. I already got a dad. And I'd never trade him for anythin'. My mom too."

    And Beau replied "I have no intention of taking you away from your loved ones. I only wish to get to know you individually."

    "Like I said," answered Duo. "I'm good where I'm at."

    Finally, Duo walked off as Beau watched with a soft smile on his face.

    After that, the commander walked toward the door of his office which was nearby. Beau opened the door and spotted two people standing inside.

    A stricken Beau whispered "By the gods!"

    The individual standing at the right side was the older student named Jon Griffin. He wore a white shirt that had long sleeves and a fine collar along with a long black tie. He had on a pair of dress-pants with a thick black belt that had a silver buckle. He also wore a pair of thin black socks and shiny black boots. And he wore a buttoned black dress-coat with long sleeves.

    Beside his left side stood Morgan Taylor. She had a red-sleeved shirt with short puffy sleeves and black covering the bottom part. She wore a long purple dress with blue covering the bottom. She had a long black cloth with silver and gold dots tied at the top of her dress. She also had a thin golden bracelet coming down from her left wrist along with a golden pendant around her neck. Golden rings were worn around three fingers from her right hand. Red polish had covered her fingernails. And she wore a pair of short black boots. She still had her wavy dark-brown hair which lowered from her shoulders. She also had on black eyeliner and red lipstick. And a long mahogany bandana was wrapped around the top of her head.

    "Commander Ravenstone," greeted Morgan.

    Beau implied "You are Morgan Taylor."

    And he asked Jon "How did she pass our security?"

    "It's okay Sir," Jon informed his principal. "Morgan's not the enemy. But she has a lot to tell you and the staff."

    The calm Morgan walked a few steps toward Beau and responded "I need an audience with you. What I discuss may help against the Agents of Light."

    "You have information on those people?" questioned Beau. "Your associates?"

    Morgan shook her head and informed the commander "I have much information that may please you regarding the missing people. The ones that were taken by the Bringer's deadly soldiers. I also have what you need on my former leader."

    "Do you mean Leo?" asked Beau.

    Then Morgan answered "I also come here to speak of the organization that you may have heard of -- New Beginnings."

    Beau shook his head and implied "The organization that is a stage for the Bringer and his minions?"

    And Morgan told the commander "As long as I still breath, his agents will search the entire planet for me. So I ask you for sanctuary within your city. I wish to help the nations anyway I can against the Agents of Light. And the Bringer of Death himself -- Mephistopheles."

[obsidiancreates]

Born This Way (Because Of Negligence Towards Basic Scientific Safety)

(IDK how far apart the Fenton kids are in age, so Jazz is an Undetermined Age Where She's A Toddler But Also Very Verbal. Maybe it's the Genius Genes letting her learn faster. Let's go with that.)

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

Maddie coughs, spitting out another glob of ectoplasm. "Well, at least know it's not an issues with the cooling system."

Jack sneezes out the ectoplasm stuck in his nose, and then grins and stands triumphantly. "Still a step towards success!"

Jazz frowns from where she's playing with her doll, safe within a Fenton Anti-Ghost Toddler Chamber. "Mommy, you should cover your mouth." She points at her own mouth. "Mr. Wummy on TV says dat getting weird stuff in your mouth is bad."

"Mr. Wummy is a cartoon, dear. We're seasoned scientists, we know what we're doing." She wipes herself off, and sits down. "If there were any side-effects to accidental ecoplasmic consumption, we'd know."

"But what if Danny doesn't like it?" Jazz point at her mother's belly.

Maddie pats her belly. "The baby is still just a fetus, sweetie. It can't tell what it does and doesn't like yet. And why are you so sure it'll be a boy?"

"Because I'm your baby girl. So now you need a baby boy!"

Maddie tilts her head and smiles lovingly at her daughter. "Oh, you're adorable." Nothing cuter than Child Logic.

Maddie stands back up, and puts her hands on the workbench. "Now, let's see about that firing mechanism..."

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

Maddie brushes her teeth, sighing when her toothbrush comes away glowing green. "We really messed up a lot of experiments today. I think I swallowed a whole ghost's worth."

Jack spits a similarly colored mouthful of toothpaste foam out. "At least it doesn't taste as bad as it smells."

Maddie puts her hands on her belly, the bump now quite obvious. "II hope we're right about it not having side effects."

Jack's expression softens. He gently pulls his wife into a comforting hug. "The doctors all say he's as healthy as can be, Mads. You don't need to worry."

"I still worry anyway, though."

"Of course you do. You're his mom! But we'll worry together, and if you ever need me to, I'll do the worrying for us both! While you relax and give him more tips on how to avoid ghosts once he learns to walk."

Maddie giggles, and sighs. It'll all be fine... nothing to worry about.

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

Jazz has her arms crossed, a teddy bear hanging from one hand. "Five times!"

"Yes, and did we mention we're so proud that you can count so we-"

"Five times!" She shouts again, waving her little sticky toddler hand at them. "I saw you eat the bad green stuff five times!"

"We didn't eat it," Maddie says patiently, "It got into our mouths by accident."

"You swallowed it!"

"Only a tiny bit, only on accident, dear."

Jazz puts her hand on her mom's belly. "Danny is gonna be here soon and he's gonna be mad!"

"He won't even know it happened, sweetheart."

"Yes he will! He'll be the smartest ever, just like me and like you and like daddy! And he'll be so upset and never stop crying!"

"Babies do that anyway, sweetie." Maddie rubs her belly. It's true, Danny is due any day now. And yes... there's been some extra Ectoplasm Incidents lately. Maddie just can't stay awake sometimes, and... well. That's not exactly good when working on ghost hunting machines.

"Your baby brother will be perfectly fine," Maddie assures. "He's a healthy baby boy, and he'll be just as healthy when you meet him."

Jazz lights up at the mention of meeting him. She can't wait!

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

Jazz bounces excitedly in her dad's arms. She gets to meet her baby brother! Finally! She's going to read him bedtime stories, and protect him from closet monsters, and show him how to throw a tea party!

Jack chuckles. "Calm down, sweetie, you don't get to play with him quite yet! He's still very fragile."

"But he's okay?"

"Yes, he and Mommy are both okay. Better than okay."

Jack knocks on the hospital room door, and they enter.

Maddie is holding Danny, and it looks like she fell asleep. Jazz gasps, even though all she can see so far is the blanket bundle.

"He's tiny!"

"Very." Again. Ah well. Jack had always hoped one of his kids would groww up to be taller than him, but maybe it'll have to be a grandkid.

He walks over, and smiles at his sleeping wife. "Okay, let's be quiet," he whispers. "We don't want to wake mommy."

Jazz nods seriously.

Jack sets her on the bed, and Jazz carefully crawls closer to Danny. She moves the blanket to get a good look at his face, grinning widly-!

She frowns. "Where is he?"

"What?!" Jack hurriedly picks up the bundle, making Maddie startle awake. "Holy-"

"Jack? Honey? What is it?!" Maddie's tone becomes increasingly panicked.

Jack, looking a bit pale, hands the bundle back to her. She gasps.

It's empty, and freezing!

"Where- where is-"

And then suddenly. He's there.

Fast asleep, wrapped up snug and tight. His little face still red from being brand-new to the world, his tiny tongue sticking out of his mouth slightly as he snoozes.

He disappears again.

Maddie thinks she's about to pass out.

Finally, Jazz breaks the horrified silence. "I told you to cover your mouths!"

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

Danny sleeps all the way home, and all the way up to his room. Jazz is waiting by the bassinet, and peeks in as soon as he's placed down. She frowns. "Mommy, his hair is white. He's not old."

Maddie sighs. "No, he's not. Apparently it just... does that, sometimes."

Danny yawns, and opens his little eyes. Jazz's own eyes widen as well. "He's glowing!"

"Yes... that happens too."

Danny screws up his face, and starts crying. Maddie picks him up and rocks him. "Poor baby... he's so cold."

"Why?" Jazz tilts her head.

Maddie sighs. "Well... your father and I... we think he's half-ghost."

"How?"

"... Probably... the ectoplasm," Shame burns in Maddie's veins.

Jazz, wide-eyed, reaches to to try and touch Danny. "Is he dead?" She doesn't sound sad, because it looks to her like even if he is dead, he's still alive.

"No!" Maddie shuts the idea right down. "He is a very healthy, living boy! But he's... different."

"Are you gonna trap him?"

"Wh- Jasmine, why would you ask that!"

"He's a ghost."

"No! No, we never treat him like any other ghost. And he's only partly ghost, so it barely counts. Now, Mommy has to feed him so he can go back to sleep. How about you go pick a movie for tonight?"

Jazz nods. She takes that job very seriously. There's a science to picking movies.

She heads off, and Maddie looks at Danny's sniffling little face. His eyes are back too baby blue, but his hair isn't quite black yet.

At least he's still visible.

At least the side effects seem mild.

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

It's about 6 am when Jack bolts up too use the bathroom. On his way back, he decides to check on the kids.

Jazz is asleep, cuddling a stuffed animal. Jack smiles.

Danny is also asleep, wrapped up in a cute little onesie and floating above the bassinet FLOATING ABOVE THE BASSINET?!?!

Jack runs over and grabs Danny from the air, pulling out a Fenton Ghost-Whapping Baton!

And then he looks at Danny, who's whining, and sees sleepy glowing green eyes looking at him.

"Oh. Um, sorry, son." He puts away the baton. "I thought a ghost was stealing you."

Danny yawns. Jack sees a cold breath puff out of his son's mouth, despite the room being temperature-controlled to keep him toasty during the nights.

Jack puts Danny back into the bassinet. He leaves, and comes back a little bit later with some equipment.

He sets up a rudimentary ghost-shield to keep Danny from floating away during the night, but won't trap him. He can still float a little, if need be.

"The scariest ghost we've faced yet," Jack mumbles. He kisses Danny's forehead, and sits there until Danny falls asleep. By then, Danny is human again.

Jack leaves, and in the morning he and Maddie begin working on some upgrades for Danny's room.

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

Danny babbles happily as Jazz plays peek-a-boo with him.

"Boo!"

Laughter.

"Boo!"

More laughter!

"A-boo! A-boo!" Jazz can't stop grinning. She's a great older sister! Look at her go!

She takes Danny's hands, and moves them over his face. "Now, where's Danny? ... Here he is! Oh."

Danny isn't there. But his clothes are, and something's inside of them. And Jazz is still holding two chubby baby arms, even if they're cold and invisible.

Jazz stares for a second, and then speaks. "... Peek-a-boo?"

Danny reappears, and squeals with laughter!

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

Maddie sits down to give Danny his bottle. She's brought him out shopping with her so she can grab some replacement parts that fried in their latest invention, the Fenton Ecto-Extractor!

Jazz had thrown a fit when she'd heard the name, and it startled Jack so bad he'd turned it on too early and it completely collapsed on itself! It took half an hour to convince Jazz that they weren't trying to use it to make Danny normal, just using it for themselves now that they know it can cause... strange things, to happen.

Danny drinks the bottle with no issue, and burps as soon as she starts his back. Really, he's a pretty easy baby. Except for the ghost part.

Maddie is getting him back in the stroller when Danny's face screws up. She watches a cold, visible breath leave his mouth, and then he starts to scream. Sobbing, wailing baby screams, attracting the concerned and/or annoyed attention of most people around them.

"He's just tired," she assures loudly. His breath is still puff out in cold clouds, even though it's perfectly warm in the mall.

Maddie quickly picks him back up and hugs him, bouching and singing to try and calm him down.

Danny starts to quiet down. She puts him back in the stroller, but as soon as she does (as soon as he looks behind her with those bright, bright green eyes) he starts crying again.

She sighs and picks him up, hurrying back to the car. She'll just come back for the parts later. Clearly, something is upsetting him.

Something that she just can't see.

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

Jazz leans away from Danny, grinning. "There!"

Danny is propped up on her bed. Maddie and Jack needed to quickly decontaminate themselves, and so Jazz had to watch Danny for just a minute.

And in that minute, she's does some redesigning.

Danny's fluffy white hair has a little bow in it, and she's put some of her kiddie makeup on him.

Danny disappears for a second, and the bow falls. When he reappears, it's not on his head anymore. He looks at Jazz blankly.

Jazz crosses her arms. "No fair! I was making you pretty!"

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

Maddie stumbles into Danny's room. She flicks on the light, and turns off the Fenton Ghost-Shielding Hanging Mobile. She reaches in and pulls the crying Danny out of the bassinet, shushing and rocking him.

Danny's eyes are bright green again, and Maddie can see his breath. "Oh, you always get so worked up when this happens," she says softly. "Is the cold upsetting you?"

Danny doesn't answer, just cries more.

Maddie takes him to her and Jack's room, and lays down with him on her chest. Jack rolls over in his sleep and puts his arms around her, cradling both of them.

Danny falls back asleep soon, and Maddie sighs. She can still see his breath, but at least he's calm now.

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

Jazz holds up her drawing, and shakes her head. She goes back to scribbling, and moves closer to Danny. "This is black," she says to him, pointing at the crayon she's using. She picks up another color. "And this one is red."

Danny stares as Jazz keeps scribbling. Jazz assumes that means he's learning.

"I'm going to let Mom and Dad know I saw this in my closet," she says seriously. "I think people know you're special and want to steal you!"

Danny blows a spit bubble by accident, and laughs when it pops.

Jazz's eyes hold more determination than ever. She scribbles with the fury of a million warriors. "You're very valuable." She learned that word yesterday. "So you need lots of protecting."

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

"Do you think this will make her feel better?" Maddie asks as she closes the panel.

Jack lifts his soldering mask and nods. "If one thing can make a person feel safe, it's fifty anti-ghost devices hidden in their walls!"

"I just worry about that doodle. What if something really got in?"

"Mads, you personally handcrafted every single sensor put up in the kids's rooms! If a ghost had gotten in, we'd know! To get past then they'd need deep knowledge of exactly how our deigns work and how they detect ghost energy, and no ghost has that!"

"You're right, you're right. Still, I hate to think she might be having nightmares about something like that. It looked like it had devil horns."

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

"Peek-a-boo!" Jazz grins at Danny. "Peek-a-boo!"

It never gets old for him! No matter how many times they play, Danny loves it!

"Peek... a-boo!" Jazz does little jazz-hands.

Danny disappears, and Jazz grins. "Where's Danny? Where'd he go?"

Danny reappears, and-

"B-b-boo!"

Jack and Maddie dart into the room! Maddie swoops Danny up, eyes wide!

Danny giggles, and says it again. "Boo!"

Maddie and Jackie both tear up. In unison they shout, "HIS FIRST WORD!"

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

Danny gnaws on the toy with his little baby gums.

"I can't believe it. Already teething," Maddie sighs, holding him. "Seems like only yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital."

Jack wipes his eyes. "He's growing into a young man already."

"Oh, Jack, stop it, he's not nearly a young man."

"But he will be before we know it!"

Maddie pats her husband on the back comfortingly as he begins to blubber.

Maddie closes her eyes, thinking about those early months with Danny, figuring out how to prepare for his floating and invisibility, learning to not panic when his eyes and hair changed color, learning that sometimes when they do his clothes change color as well...

She's startled out of her thought by something warm and wet on her lap.

She looks down to see the teething toy on her thigh... and a whole lot of nothing where Danny's head should be.

Then it' back when she blinks, and he's beginning to whine for his toy.

She quickly picks him up off her laps and retrieves it, giving it back to him.

So... the ghost abilities are still developing, then. She'll have to let Jack know about this later.

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

"Daniel Fenton," Jack says, the most serious Jazz has ever seen him, "You're in big trouble this time, mister. I don't know how you did this-"

Jack shakes the empty tube of baby snacks, safe for teething babies.

"But I will get to the bottom of it!"

"Look like he already did," Maddie jokes, setting Jazz's breakfast down for her.

Jazz laughs, because it sounds like a Smart Adult Joke and she thinks those are funny, even when she doesn't understand them.

Danny babbles, smacking his chair's food tray.

"Oh no you don't, mister! You're getting regular baby food this morning and that's all!" Jack grabs the jar of food, and holds up the spoon. "Now, here comes the Fenton Ghost-Tracking Copter!"

He puts the spoon up to Danny's mouth-

-and right through his head.

He gasps and pulls back, and Danny's head reappears. He babbles, smacking the tray again.

Maddie drops her fork. "I can't believe I forgot! That's what I was going to tell you about!"

Jazz looks at her parents. "You didn't know he does this?"

They both gawk at her. "You did?!"

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

Danny reaches up and grabs Jazz's nose. Jazz wrinkles it, and he laughs.

Jazz sticks out her tongue and crosses her eyes, and Danny laughs even harder!

Jazz looks at her parents as they finish setting up the picnic blanket. "I'm the funniest big sister ever!"

"You sure are, sweetie!" Maddie scoops Jazz up and gives her a kiss on the cheek. "You get it from me."

Jack laughs. "It's true! Your mother could get the whole Ghost Hunting Club laughing out HAZMAT suits off all day long back in the day! ... 'Course it was just the three of us, but still, three's a crowd!"

"May as well have been doing stand-up," Maddie says, setting Jazz down on the blanket.

They enjoy the little outing, the sun shining but not beating down, the cool breeze just enough to crispen the air but not freeze.

And then Jazz looks at Danny. She sees glowing eyes, and a puff of breath come out of his mouth. "Uh-oh. Mommy! He's gonna cry!"

Maddie picks Danny up right as he starts to wail. She hugs him, and is shocked. He doesn't feel cold this time!

Is he just cold inside?

Or is there some other problem?

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

Jack rubs his ears. "That child wails like a Banshee!"

"He could very well be doing exactly that," Maddie points out. "We still don't know what other abilities he'll develop as he ages!"

"Or how well he'll be able to control them. ... Mads... should we homeschool him?"

"It's a little early to worry about that, Jack."

"I know that tone, you're worrying about it too."

"... We can't just keep him isolated from the rest of the world, Jack. It'll be unhealthy for him. And what if it makes him lean into his ghost side too much?"

"So you think we should let him go to school."

"Yes. ... But not pre-school. We'll teach him to not use his abilities around other kids, and then send him to Kindergarten."

"... Alright, Mads. If you think that's what's best, then that's what's best!"

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

"Come on, that's it! Yes, yes, WHOO!" Maddie picks Danny up as soon as he walks over. "Who's a strong little Fenton? Who's the best little boy at walking in the whole wide world?"

"Danny!" Jazz cheers from the couch.

"Danny!" Maddie and Jack both cheer at once.

Danny laughs and squeals, kicking his legs and flapping his arms. His first proper Walk! Not just a step or two and then crawling, that was real walking!

Jack takes Danny, holding him aloft. "You're a real butt-kicker in the making, son! You'll be as strong as your old man someda-"

Jack feels something bump him, hard.

He shouts as he goes down! Danny going with him!

But as Jack meets the floor, he feels Danny's weight disappear from his hands!

He lands with an "oof", and looks up to see Danny floating above him, surrounded by a faint white aura. Danny looks down and babbles, sucking his thumb. Then... he moves.

He's only ever floated in place before. But as he looks down at his dad, he kicks his little legs and moves! Moving right across the room!

And then he looks behind his dad, and his breath comes out in puffs. He starts crying and wailing hysterically.

Jazz peers at where Danny is looking. "Mommy, hit the air with the stick!"

Maddie gently grabs Danny. "Why, sweetie?"

"Danny is scared! So we have to protect him!"

Maddie grabs her Fenton Baton, and gives the area Danny was looking at a good thwack. She expects it to go right through the empty air.

Instead there's a loud zap! There's a cry of pain! And then a semi-transparent form zooming out of their house!

Maddie's jaw drops. Jack scrambles to his feet and grabs every ghost weapon in radius, forming a protective circle around the family with them!

Maddie looks at Danny, who's now calm.

And his breath isn't visible.

Hmm...

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

"We're just seeing if my hypothesis is right," Maddie assures.

Jazz sobs, clinging onto her leg. "NOOOO! HE'LL GET HURT! OR STOLED!"

"Stolen, sweetie. And Mommy and Daddy would never let that happen."

Jazz scream-sobs again.

"What if we can promise you the ghost will be in a big, big box?"

Jazz looks at her mom with watery eyes. "Like around Danny's crib?"

"Yes, like that."

"But-but he's so little."

"It'll just be a second, sweetheart."

Jazz sniffles again. "... Can I hold the stick?"

Maddie smiles softly. "Yes, sweetie, you can hold the stick."

A couple hours later, Jack and Maddie return home with a ghost in a box. It's yelling something, but the box is soundproof.

Jack sets the box down, and goes to grab Danny. He comes back, and holds Danny firmly while walking towards the ghost. Danny's eyes are covered by a too-big hood on his little shirt. He can't see, or hear, that there's a ghost nearby.

Danny's breath comes out a visible puff about two feet away from the ghost, and he starts crying. Jack steps back a ways, and Danny's breaths become normal again. He settles down.

Jack walks closer. Puff of breath, and crying.

Jack steps back. Normal breath, calm Danny.

"He can sense ghost's," Maddie says, looking in awe at her baby boy. Her face breaks into a grin. "He's his own portable ghost detector! He'll never be caught unawares, he'll be able to always defend himself!"

She runs up to Jack and hugs them both, kissing Danny's little forehead. Danny babbles.

"He'll never be caught unawares," Maddie says again in relief. "Oh, this makes me feel so much better."

"Mommy? ... Does that mean we're haunted all the time?"

Maddie's relief hardens and breaks in her chest.

All those times Danny's Ghost Sense has gone off inside! All those times!

She pulls away. "Jack, we're upping our security!"

Jack nods. "Time for FentonWorks 2.0!"

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

Danny giggles as his dad chases him around the house. He phases through doors and turns invisible in hiding places, always giving himself away with laughter.

Jack grabs Danny just before he phases through the next door. “Gotcha!”

Danny laughs, happy little kid squeals that you can hear through the whole house. Jack puts Danny on his shoulders and heads into the kitchen. “He’s getting pretty good at running! Say, whatcha making, Mads?”

“Meatloaf. Would you mind helping?”

Jack sets Danny down at the table and helps Maddie make dinner, while Danny eyes something on the counter.

“Cookie.”

Maddie looks over. Danny is staring at the cookie jar. “No sweetie, no cookies yet.”

“Cookie!” 

“Not yet.”

Danny starts to cry. “Cookie!”

Maddie walks over, and gives Danny his binkie. Danny refuses it af first, but once he has it he calms down fast.

He looks at the cookie jar still, though.

And, slowly, he lifts out of his chair. He kicks his little legs, pushing himself forward. He plops down on the counter, and reaches into the jar with an intangible hand. 

He pulls out not one, but two cookies!

He gets so excited that he starts waving his arms, making happy noises.

Jack looks over. “What? Maddie, he’s gotten into the cookie jar!”

“I’ve got it!” Maddie walks over and scoops Danny up in his old Anti-Ghost-Phasing Blanket. Soft, warm, and totally ghost-proof.

Danny whines. “Cookie!”

“I said not yet, honey.” Maddie grabs the cookies and puts them on the counter. She safety pins the blanket around Danny like a little cape, except it takes away his powers.

Danny sits in his chair, throwing a fit! But to no avail. Eventually he just sits there, tear-faced and angry.

And then Jazz walks in. She looks over at the cookies, and then at Danny.

She walks over and snatches them off the counter as quick as she can! She casually walks over to the table, and hands them to Danny.

Danny brightens up. He shoves one cookie in his mouth, and gives the other back to Jazz. His original intention.

Jazz smiles, and scarfs the cookie down just before Maddie turns around.

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

“Why?” Danny looks at his mom with wide, innocent eyes.

Maddie’s heart aches. “People might get scared.”

Danny frowns. “Scawy?”

“No, no, you aren’t scary. But the... idea of ghosts, for a lot of people, can be scary.”

Danny thinks, and then walks over to the fridge. “Scawy.”

Maddie looks at the drawing Danny is pointing at. It’s Jazz’s drawing of The Ghost.

The one that’s been haunting them for months.

Black horns, it looks like. Red eyes. Deathly blue skin. It makes Maddie shiver, knowing it had direct access to her children for so long. 

Danny starts to cry. “I scawy!”

Maddie scoops him up. “No, no sweetie! You are nothing like that monster, nothing like it at all! And you never will be, I promise!” Maddie hugs him tightly. “Oh, my poor baby... how about we take a break? Do you want to help Jazz paint something?”

Danny sniffles, and nods. They head upstairs, leaving the talk for another day.

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

“Kindergarten, Jack,” Maddie says, packing the little lunch box. “He’s already in Kindergarten!”

Jack is already openly sobbing as he makes Jazz a sandwich.

“Do you think he understands what he needs to do?” Maddie asks no-one in particular, just worrying.

“He understands perfectly!”

Maddie jumps a little, and turns around to see Jazz smiling proudly. Danny stands right next to her, a shyer smile on his face. Maddie tears up at the sight of him with his little backpack and school outfit on. 

Jazz looks at Danny. “Go ahead! Show them what we practiced!”

Danny puffs out his chest to look strong. “I won’t go through anything, turn invi-invisi- um, turn not-seeing-me, I won’t fly, and, um... and if I feel another ghost, I’ll use this!” He pulls his little Fenton Emergency Pager out of his pocket.

Maddie wipes her eyes. “Perfect, honey,” she says, letting the pride seep into her voice. “Oh, my baby boy! Growing up so fast!” She picks him up and kisses his face. Danny wraps his arms around her neck.

“Do I have to go, mommy? They’ll think I’m scary.”

“Oh, honey. You aren’t scary, I promise.”

“... What if I need to be scary?”

“Mommy will come be scary for you.”

“She very good at it,” Jack chimes in, shivering a little as he remembers the time a ghost attacked while Maddie was buying Danny’s first pair of little shoes. By the time it was over, Jack almost pitied the thing.

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

Maddie gives Danny one last hug. “Remember, calls u anytime you need us, okay?”

He nods. “I love you, Mommy. I love you, Daddy. I love you, Jazz.”

“You’re just going to school, not saying bye forever.” Even as Jazz says it, her lip wobbles and her voice cracks.

Danny floats up to the car window give her a hug, before being quickly held up by Maddie to cover the power use.

“That’s the only time today you’ll do that,” she reminds him. 

Danny nods.

Eventually... the goodbyes are done being dragged out. Danny’s family drives away as the teacher leads him inside.

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

Danny sits on a swing by himself, not sure what to do.

Usually at home he plays using his powers. He doesn’t know how to be good at tag without making it so people can’t touch him, or how to play hide-and-seek without turning invisible.

He kicks the sand. This is stupid. He misses Jazz. He can play with her.

“Hi.”

Danny looks up. Another young boy is standing in front of him, holding some kind of electronic. The boy holds out his hand. “I’m Tucker.”

Danny shakes his hand, focusing very hard on keeping it a real hand. “I’m Danny.”

Tucker shows him the electronic. “Want to play my game?"

Danny looks at it. It’s a coloring game. He nods.

They pass it back and forth between each other for a while, both coloring in different parts of the same picture. 

Eventually it’s time to back in. Danny and Tucker ask if they can sit closer together.

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

“So, how was it?” Maddie asks, gripping the steering wheel tightly as she picks Danny up. “Have fun?”

“I made a friend!” Danny yells! “His name is Tucker and he’s really nice!”

Maddie relaxes. “Oh? How did you meet?”

“He let me play his coloring game!”

“That’s wonderful!”

“We made a tower out of blocks and it was the strongest ever! And I never used my powers!”

“I’m so proud of you, sweetie!”

Maybe Maddie can stop worrying now. ... Probably not.

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

“What if we gave it big scary horns?” Danny says as he doodled something in crayon. “Like the thing that watches my window.”

Tucker looks at him with wide eyes. “A monster watches you?”

“My parents don’t let it touch me. They hunt ghosts.”

“Oh. Do you hunt ghosts?”

Danny shakes his head. “I’m too little.”

“Oh. Me too.”

“You should give it bat wings.”

They both look up. The quiet girl who usually sits in the back is standing in front of them, her hair pulled back in a tight black braid and her clothes perfectly pressed. 

Danny looks at the drawing, and nods. He adds the wings. “We’re drawing the monster from that story we heard today.”

The girl sits down. “I bet it had claws. And could breathe black fire!”

Danny adds them on. “You’re really smart!”

The girl nods. “I am.”

“I’m Danny.”

“I’m Tucker!”

The girl grins. “I’m Samatha.”

“Wow... that’s a long name,” Danny says, eyes wide. “My sister has a long name too. Do all girls have long names?”

Samantha thinks. “I dunno. I haven’t met all girls.”

“Oh. We don’t know all boys, either.”

They spend the rest of free time coloring. Once it’s over, Samantha moves to sit with them.

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

“So, how was today, sweetie?”

“I made another friend! She’s really good, and her parents make her have long hair but she wants it short, and we made this with her!” He shows Maddie the drawing.

Maddie grimaces a little, but turns it into a smile. “It’s lovely, dear. Looks... a little like Jazz’s picture.”

Danny nods.”The monster in the story lived in the window. So does this ghost.”

“... What?”

“He lives by my window. But he can’t come inside, so I make faces at him and make him mad.”

Maddie speeds up a little. “Danny, we’re going to be altering your windows when we get home. Okay?”

“Okay.”

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

Danny leads Sam and Tucker to his room with his tiny arms full of snacks. He brings them inside, and proudly stands in the middle. “This is my room!”

"Cool!” Tucker exclaims. “Whoa, you have a computer?”

Danny shakes his head. “That’s to keep ghosts out. Ghosts hate us.”

“You’ve seen some?” Samantha asks, eyes wide.

Danny grins. “So many!”

“Can we see some?”

“Sure, I can even-”

They hear a gasp in the doorway. Turning to look, they see Jazz. “Danny, you didn’t let me meet your friends!”

Danny looks horrified. “Oh no!” He runs over and pulls Jazz into the room. “This is my big sister Jazz! She’s the coolest big sister!”

“I’m Tucker!”

“I’m Sam!”

Jazz grins. “Guess what I learned yesterday?” She points out of the room. “How to use the remote!”

The trio of toddler’s eyes sparkle. They cheer for Jazz as all of them descend, ready to Take Control Of The TV!

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

“-and this is The Box Ghost,” Danny says, showing his friends the doodle him and Jazz made at home. “He’s silly. He wants to be scary, but he isn’t.”

Tucker and Samantha nods like it the most important thing they’ll ever learn.

Danny pulls out the next drawing. “This is Scary, the ghost from my window.” It’s a new drawing, a little more detailed thanks to Jazz being better at drawing now. And Danny having seen the face so, so many times. “I don’t see him anymore. Mom and Dad kicked him out of the window.”

“He’s ugly,” Samantha says, wrinkling her nose. 

“He looks stinky,” Tucker agrees.

Danny looks over at the window. “Shhhh! He’s here!”

Tucker and Samantha look at the window. They see nothing.

They look back at Danny. They see little puffs coming out of his mouth, and his eyes are the wrong color.

Danny pulls his pager out. “It’s okay. Mommy will come scare him away.”

“We can’t see him,” Samantha says.

Danny nods. “He’s hard to see.”

“Do you have to have glowy eyes like yours?” Tucker asks. “I have to have glasses. Are your eyes like Ghost Glasses?”

Danny thinks, and then nods. “I guess so. ... OH NO!” He covers his eyes. “You aren’t supposed to see that!”

“Why not?”

“Mommy said it’s a secret! You’ll think I’m scary!”

“But it’s not scary.”

Danny tilts his head, still covering his eyes. “It’s not?”

“No, it’s cool!”

He slowly uncovers his eyes. “... Do... you think this is scary?” He holds out his arm, and makes it invisible.

Tucker and Samantha gasp! Danny pulls his arm back, about to cry. They think he’s scary, they won’t be his friends anymore-

“That’s so cool,” Samantha says.

“I wanna do that!” Tucker exclaims.

Danny can’t believe it for a second. And then he grins. “I can do more stuff too! I’ll show you at my house!”

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

Maddie paces the floor while Danny sits on the couch, his little face burning with shame.

Jazz sits next to him, arms crossed. Jack stands in front of him, Maddie pacing beside her husband.

“You told your friends?” Maddie asks again.

Danny nods, keeping his head low. “I didn’t mean to. I saw Scary, and my eyes turned green, and I can’t fix that.”

Maddie sighs. “I know, sweetie, but you showed them more after! We caught you flying them around your room! How can you even carry both of them at once?!”

“It’s easy when I’m a ghost,” he says, still keeping his head low. “Everything’s easy when I’m a ghost.”

Maddie stops pacing. “Oh, sweetie... I know it must be strange for you to suddenly have to hide it.”

Danny nods. He sniffles a little.

“It’s for your own safety, son,” Jack says. “You understand that, right? We just want you to be safe.”

“Other kids can be mean, Danny,” Jazz says. “I’m smart, and some kids are mean to me for that.”

“But Samantha and Tucker aren’t mean!”

“No, they aren’t,” Maddie concedes. “... I guess what’s done is done. Danny?” She kneels down in front of him and gently lifts his head up, wiping his tears away. “We aren’t mad. We’re worried. They’re your friends, but they also don’t understand this the way we do.”

“... Can you make them understand?”

Maddie nods. “We’ll absolutely have a talk with them. You can go get them from your room right now, even. But Danny? No-one else. Okay? These two kids are the only kids you will ever tell. Promise?”

Danny nods, still sniffling. “Promise.”

Maddie puts on her HAZMAT glove and holds out her pinkie. “Fenton promise?”

Danny links her pinkie with his, letting it go ghostly. “Fenton promise, Mommy.”

“Okay. You can send your friends down now.”

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

Danny waits for his mom to come pick him up, Samantha and Tucker sitting next to him.

Samantha looks up suddenly. “I don’t like my name.”

Danny and Tucker look at her.

She stands up. “From now on, my name is... is Sam!”

Danny and Tucker clap, because they learned that’s the polite thing to do when someone has a dramatic moment like this. They learned it from watching the older kids do a play.

Sam sits back down. “I’m Sam,” she says happily. “Sam.”

“Sam is a good name,” Danny says. 

“Easier to write,” Tucker says. 

“Yeah.” Sam is very proud of her new name.

They wait a bit longer, and a long black car pulls up. Sam stands up, but her parents don’t step out.

A tall, white-haired man does, one none of them have ever met before. He smiles down at them. “Hello, Danny. Hello, Danny’s friends.”

“Who are you?” 

“I’m a friend of Danny’s parents,” he says, giving a slight bow (or maybe just bending over to hear them better since they’re so much shorter than him). 

“I don’t know you,” Danny says, accusatory. “Mrs. Emma told us about people like you!”

The Man shakes his head. “I’m not a stranger, I promise. Your parents and I are very close.”

“I don’t know you,” Danny says again. He steps between The Man and his friends. “I’m gonna tell Mrs. Emma on you.”

“Danny, really, your mother called and asked me to pick you up.”

“You liar! She always picks me up!”

“She’s fighting a ghost right now.”

“She leaves fights to come get me!”

The Man sighs. He grabs Danny’s arm. “Stubborn like your parents. Come on, I promise you’ll be fine.”

“NO!” Danny yanks his arm, trying to get away. “LET GO OF ME!”

“Stop making a scene!”

“LET GO! YOU-”

Danny gaps, a puff of breath coming out and his eyes turning green.

“S-Scary,” he whimpers. “SCARY! MOMMY! MOMMMYYYY! SCARY HAS ME!!! HELP!!!”

Danny yanks again, Tucker and Sam finally running inside to get Mrs. Emma! 

The Man scowls. “I’m trying to help you, little badger!”

“YOU’RE THE SCARY IN THE WINDOW!” Danny looks at him with bright eyes, tearful and afraid. “GET AWAY!!!”

Danny’s little hand glows green, and suddenly The Man is clutching his stomach instead of Danny’s arm. Danny runs inside, right into Mrs. Emma’s arms. He sobs to her as she frantically calls the police, trying to read the plate of the car speeding off into the distance.

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

Maddie hands Jazz a Baton. “This is in case this ‘Scary’ come after you,” Maddie says, still shaking a bit. “Okay?”

Jazz nods. 

“Danny, this is for you.” Maddie hands him a black-and-white suit. “This is to keep other ghosts from sensing you, okay? So wear it under your clothes.”

Danny nods, still crying.

Maddie looks at Sam and Tucker. Their parents were late picking them up, but with the attempted kidnapping it was decided that they’ll stay with The Fentons for a few hours until their parents could get them.

“You two get these.” She hands them Fenton Pagers, and Fenton Fun-Sized Ghost Stunners. “They can hurt people too, so only use them on ghosts. Or if someone tries to do... what you saw today, ever again.”

Sam and Tucker nod.

“And Danny? From now on, wait with Mrs. Emma until we come inside to get you.”

“Yes, Mommy.”

“And when I get my hands on this ‘Scary’, I promise you’ll never have to worry about him again.”

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

Danny looks around to see if anyone is watching. He, Tucker, and Sam are crouched under a desk in the classroom while everyone else is out at recess. 

He holds out his hand to the stack of paper, and closes his eyes. For a second, nothing happens.

And then it glows green, and a small beam shoots from his hand! Tucker and Sam gasp!

“You’re like a superhero!” Tucker exclaims, standing up. 

“A ghost superhero!” Sam says, standing up too. “You need a superhero name!”

Danny shoots up, smiling widely. “What should it be?”

They all think for a long, long time.

Sam perks up. “I know!”

She grabs a book from the corner. The book is a Halloween one, mostly for pictures with just a few words. She flips to a page, and points to it. “This word! It means Ghost!”

Danny and Tucker peer at it. “How do you say it?” Tucker asks.

Sam grins. “Phantom!”

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

“Phantom?” Maddie says, looking at the doodle.

Jack nods. “Apparently Sam came up with it! Our boy wants to be a ghost hunter after all!”

“Superhero, this says.”

“Same thing!”

“Jack, what’re you making there?”

Jack holds up the suit, one of the prototype Anti-Ghost-Detection suits for Danny. “I got out my old needlepointing stuff and am making him a superhero costume! See, it’s a P!”

Maddie squints, trying to get a better look at the outline. “It looks like a D.”

Jack looks at it. “Hmm. I guess from some angles. But it’s a P! Or, DP! Danny Phantom!”

Maddie’s expression goes soft. “Awww! Okay, you keep making that, and I’ll hang this doodle on the fridge! But no actual ghost fighting until he’s at least fourteen, right?”

“Absolutely!”

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

Danny steps into the school “Halloween Party” with his hands on his hips and a bright grin, looking like a mini-version of his dad behind him.

“Aww, and what are you dressed as, Danny?” Mrs. Emma asks.

“A superhero ghosthunter!” Danny says proudly. “My parents made this for me!”

“It’s great,” Mrs. Emma says genuinely. “Alright, go mingle! We’re going to make paper jack-o-lanterns later so now is the time to trade candies!”

Danny walks over to his friends, still striking the pose. Tucker, dressed as a robot made out of cardboard boxes, pouts in slight jealousy as Danny comes over. Sam, dressed as a vampire, grins. “P for Phantom!” she yells.

Danny runs over faster. “Yeah! My dad put the logo on!” He shows it off proudly. “I’m gonna be the best ghosthunter ever!”

“You can work from the inside!” Tucker says, getting over his jealousy thankfully quick. “Make them think you wanna haunt stuff too!”

“Yeah!” Danny strikes another pose. “But I’m actually going to catch them all, because I’m Danny Phantom!”

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

Danny and Jazz are playing with dolls in the living room. “Pow! Take that!” Danny shouts, making his doll punch Jazz’s.

“Nooo!” Jazz cries out in a husky voice. “But how? I’m The Scary! Nothing can not fear me!”

“I don’t fear you!” Danny waves the hand of his doll, making laser noises. Jazz shakes her doll around, making dying noises. “I’m Danny Phantom, the strongest ghost boy ever!”

“Nooooo!”

Maddie chuckles, watching them. “That Scary better watch out for more than just us.”

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

“Where are we going?” Danny asks again.

“It’s a surprise!” Jack says again, still as excited as when the road trip started. 

Danny huffs, looking out the window again. “Why couldn’t Sam and Tucker come?”

“Because they’re spending Summer visiting their families,” Maddie says. “And so are we, sort of.”

“I though Auntie lived in Spittoon,” Jazz says.

“She does! This is different.”

After hours (years in the minds of the kids), they pull up to a mansion. All fo the boredom washes away instantly, Jazz and Danny cramming into the window to see it!

“Are we rich?” Jazz demands to know. 

“We’re well-off, but not quite. Welcome to your honorary Uncle Vlad’s house!” Maddie cheers.

“Vlad was out best friend in college!” Jack says, grinning. “He got back in contact with us a few years ago and we’ve been thick as thieves since! He asked us too come over this weekend, and we thought we’d surprise him and let him meet your two at the same time!”

Danny and Jazz cheer! THEY GET TO STAY IN A MANSION!

The family piles out of the car, and stand in front of the door! Maddie and Jack make sure Jazz and Danny look extra nice, and ring the doorbell!

It takes a long minute, so they ring it again!

Finally, a man opens it up! “Oh, Maddie, Jack, I’m so sorry I didn’t hear-”

Danny shrieks. His eyes are glowing bright as they can, his breaths giant puffs! He holds up his hand and send a little beam right into Vlad’s side!

Vlad falls back with an “Oof!”

“Danny!” Maddie scoops him up. “What on earth has gotten into you? Oh, Danny!”

Danny is sobbing pointing at Vlad. “It-it’s him! The-The Scary! He-he tried to take me!”

Maddie and Jack freeze. Slowly, they both look at Vlad. Jazz pulls out her Baton.

“Vlad?” Maddie says coldly.

“Didn’t I only invite you two?” Vlad wheezes.

Jack points a ghost detector at Vlad. It goes off.

“Now, now, I can explai- AGCK!”

Jazz starts happening him with the Baton before he can finish his sentence. Maddie hands Danny to Jack. “Sweetie, close the door and take Danny back to the truck. I need to have a word with Vlad.”

Jack does as told, holding Danny in his lap and soothing him.

“He-he tried to take me,” Danny sobs again.

“Don’t worry, son.” Jack hugs him tightly. “No-one’s ever going to be able to do that. We’ll always keep you safe. We promise.”

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

“And what do we always wear while testing new devices?” Maddie asks, handing Danny a Fenton Ghost-Zapper that would use Danny’s own ghost energy to work.

Danny grins, and puts it on. “Face mask!”

“Because?”

“Because lab safety is very important!”

Maddie grins. “That’s right! And who do we thank for reminding us of that every time we’re in the lab?”

Danny points. “Jazz! Thank you, Jazz!”

Jazz grins proudly. 

[1tad0ri]

OKAY hey girl lemme j say how invested in this blog i am going to be . okay . so uh yuuji being the horny shit he is and texting you late at night to come to his room n you barely get through the door b4 he’s grabbing at you n telling you how much he missed your body n how he was *thinking* of you before n j URGH lemme get dat pls 🤲🤲

warning: body worship, eating out

itadori yuuji x fem!reader

AHDHSJJS FIRST OF ALL THANK YOUUU that’s so sweet!!! <3 second of all, girl i gotchu

“for fuck’s sake.” the shuffle of your sneakers along the corridor was almost too loud in the otherwise quiet space, phone screen lit up and reflecting back at you as you scrolled through the text messages that had gotten you into this situation in the first place.

one peaceful night was what you wanted. one goddamn full night’s rest. oh... but it was so hard to ignore him, no matter what time he texted you.

the amount of times you wanted to pretend to be asleep was outshone by the fact that you always wanted to talk to yuuji. eccentric and playful, he hit all the points on your ‘boyfriend checklist.’

arriving in front of his door, you sighed, clicking your phone screen off and stuffing the device into your back pocket—you hoped that he hadn’t asked you to come over to play uno at 2 a.m. again. the “can you please come over?” text had been fairly ominous, but truthfully you wouldn’t mind just cuddling up to him and falling asleep if he wanted.

you twisted the doorknob—he always left his room unlocked like a dummy (a cute dummy) and by this point you knew to spare yourself the knocking, knowing a reply of “it’s open!” would just reach you from inside.

the door creaked open under a single push and you stepped inside the familiar room, the movement already rehearsed in your mind during the walk from your dorm over to his.

“yuuji, what do you-”

heavy lips against the corner of your mouth interrupted you when someone pulled you into their chest—they’d missed your own lips in their haste but your mouth fell open in shock all the same, you squeaking as you stumbled into their arms, trying to find something to grab ahold of. your hands found warm shoulders to dig into as your regained your balance and you barely registered the click of the door shut behind you.

steady now, you untangled yourself from the person, pulling back to find yuuji staring back at you—of course it was him, this was his room after all.

he was already diving back into your lips before you could speak, and you know what? you let him. his mouth was hot when it pressed to yours and when his hand on your back pushed your waist closer to him and you felt the nudge of something hard against your leg, you decided he could do whatever he wanted to you at that point.

your arms travelled up from his shoulders to loop around his neck properly and he held you against him, so sweet and boyish when his tongue hungrily nudged between your lips, asking for entrance.

yuuji tilted his head back from yours enough to speak once he’d had his fill of shoving his tongue down your throat, hands wandering down to rub at you through your shorts. “do you know how long i’ve been thinking about this?” his voice was husky, eyes glazed over—he was lost to his desires already.

his fingers cupped your mound, shoving the pads of them against your cunt through the fabric, making you whine. “fuck, you’re so perfect.” a quick kiss to your lips. “always so much better than what i imagine.” another kiss, but this time, when he tried to pull away, you tugged him back.

you ground down on his fingers, nipping at his lips, legs shaking. “yuuji, h-harder.” he did as he was told, pressing along your underside blindly until he found your clit, knowing it was the right spot when you let out a surprised, “oh—”

then his hands were back on your sides (despite how much he loved the feeling of you melting against his chest from barely anything at all, the heat radiating from your pussy evident even without him directly touching it) and when he whispered, “jump,” into your ear, you did as you were told, his arms catching you easily and hoisting you up so you could wrap your legs around his waist, grinding your cores together. once again, you were thanking the universe for blessing you with such a strong boyfriend.

yuuji was pushing his face into your neck, breathing you in, babbling, tasting the skin—everything. “i’ve missed you. missed you so, so much.” his lips tickled, leaving behind a trail of fire and goosebumps in their wake, and you were holding onto him for dear life—it was as though sometimes he didn’t realize what he did to you (actually, you were sure that was the case now that you thought about it). he was always so needy, just a few hours apart seeming to drive him wild. it was flattering and you also maybe found it a little more hot than you probably should.

“couldn’t cum without you. mmm... needed your pretty pussy.” fuck. he just kept talking and talking, and the thought of him laying on his bed, frustrated, cock gripped in his palm as he fantasized about you only a few doors down was filling your mind, your wild imagination going straight to the building heat in your body.

from this angle, your head was just a little above his and you pushed lightly on the back of his neck to bury his face further into you, breath hitching when he bit at your collarbone. “don’t worry, i’m here now, baby. you can do whatever you want,” you cooed, finding it hard to keep your voice steady.

his movements paused for a moment, only his warm breath continuing to fan against you, and then he looked up, eyes wide. “really?”

leaning down to peck his nose, you swallowed thickly at the look in his eyes, nodding. “really.”

your head spun when he immediately turned on his heels away from the door and instead walked further into the room, dropping you onto the bed not far away. you bounced when you landed on the soft surface and tried to sit up, but yuuji was already crawling between your legs, hands planted on the covers as he leaned up to kiss you, gently pushing you to lay down. you allowed yourself to fall completely back, heart beating as you stared at the ceiling. yeah, you had ended up on his bed like you thought you were going to but... it seemed like your plans of cuddling had gone completely out the window.

a tug at your shorts had you glancing downwards, seeing that he had wasted no time settling in front of you, nipping at your thighs and tugging at your bottoms. yuuji met your burning gaze when he felt it on him, his lips attached to your upper thigh—it was a pretty sight, the blooming reds resulting from none other than your own handiwork on his mouth. his eyes were wide and lustful—cute yet making your stomach do flips as only he could.

“let me taste you, please.” hoarse voice begging, he was already running a finger close to your still-covered crotch, blinking up at you and waiting for permission. he was desperate, eyes flicking down momentarily to work your shorts down just over your hip bones as he placed a lopsided kiss to your clit through them. his eyes were back on yours. “can i? you want to cum on my tongue, don’t you? you’re going to let me tongue fuck you, yeah?”

fuck, fuck, fuck. “oh my god,” you whispered, taking in his wide blown pupils. you frantically nodded at his words, if only to shut him up before you came from that.

yuuji grinned and you were absolutely done with him because it was the same cheesy smile he always gave you and, quite frankly, it wasn’t fair if he was doing it while slick dripped out of you and onto his fingers holding your underwear to the side. you wanted to hate him for driving you wild by just being him, but it turns out you were incapable of that as well.

he buried his face in your clothed cunt, pressing light kisses to it and murmuring praise about how you were so perfect, fingers working to blindly pull your bottoms down. you helped him by shimming out of them and kicking them off to the side (shoes tumbling off when you pressed them off at the heel—you’d also pulled your phone out of your pocket and chucked it somewhere further up the bed for safe keeping in a single moment of clarity), spreading your legs for him to lean down between again, knees bent and feet planted firmly on the bed.

he took a moment to admire your pussy, the dripping lips fully on display before him, and for once he was quiet, nearly drooling.

“yuu-”

his tongue was on the folds and licking a stripe up, your thighs closing in to squeeze his head closer in surprise and you pulling on his hair, your grip so strong you were almost afraid of some of the strands coming loose (or you would be if you could think straight that is).

his hands locked around your thighs and he slid you closer to him, licking and sucking as though he were starved. you yelped and clung to the bed sheets as he dragged you closer, completely caught off guard by everything and legs burning as they bounced from the onslaught at your core. “yuuji-”

“such a good girl, opening yourself up to me.” he kissed your clit, lips so soft, and humming praise. “love it when you spread open for me. fuck, love it so much, always thinking about it.”

when yuuji’s tongue poked at your heat and then wiggled its way past the entrance, slipping in with little resistance from your wet hole, curses and whines fell from your lips. he worked the muscle in and out of you, curling it perfectly against your walls to hit the weak spots inside of you before he removed it to speak again, caught up in his own thoughts, saying anything that came to mind. his lack of filter had you pressing your fingers into the back of his head with a death grip, mind reeling.

“you’re perfect, so perfect. i love this pretty pussy.” yuuji flattened his tongue against your slit, words vibrating into you. “gonna make you cum from just my tongue. going to make this pretty pussy cum from just my tongue.” and that he did. if there was anything yuuji was, it was someone who could deliver on his promises. “it’s what my pretty baby deserves.”

you don’t know how long it took him, whether it be a few short minutes or long hours that had flashed by (you had your bet on the former considering you were already ready to cum for him as soon as he’d set to work kissing and grinding against you as soon as you’d walked in the door, although you truthfully wouldn’t be surprised at either option), but yuuji hadn’t let up once on you until you were coming undone all over his tongue, too fucked out of your mind to try to last any longer. his tongue just kept going, sliding along your folds to take up everything, relishing the taste of your jucies.

your legs were jumping at the feeling, chest heaving, and you tugged at his hair to pull him up—it was so good, yet almost too much—

when he finally emerged, lower half of his face covered in slick, he was on you again, pinning you to the mattress and kissing you—he’d quickly swiped the back of his hand across his face so it wasn’t too wet, but you could still taste yourself on his tongue, mumbling around him at the taste.

“yuuji—”

even though he had finally left your cunt alone, you still felt overwhelmed as his hands drew shapes over your skin, tracing up your sides and running over your curves. “perfect—fuck—you’re so perfect. your body is perfect, perfect, perfect. want you so baddd.”

you whimpered into his mouth, unable to reply in any other way. yuuji was nuzzling his face against yours, lips landing everywhere and no where at once. “you tasted so good,” he practically moaned at the memory. he licked his lips to taste you all over again and you could feel the wetness against the side of your mouth when he did so, your faces pressed so close together you could feel every little pull of his facial muscles.

“yuuji— ugh, fuck.” you shoved your hand in front of his mouth to stop him for a moment, his latest kiss landing on your palm and still somehow making you shiver.

his eyes were wide as he blinked down at you, hands stilled on your stomach. “babe?” his voice was muffled around your hand. “did i... did i do something wrong?”

“wha- yuuji, what? baby, no, of course not.” he let you pull him to rest on your chest and you stroked his hair soothingly as he tried to peer up at you, straining his neck. “you did so well. made me cum so well.” you kissed his forehead and he squeezed one eye closed when you did so, melting at the feeling. “i just think it’s time to help you out a little, hm?”

you cut off the protest he was surely about to make about how getting you off was enough for him when your leg purposefully brushed against the front of him, his dick solid on you even under the layers. he groaned and buried his face further into your chest. the opening and closing of his lips in silent pants rubbed on your breasts still hidden under your t-shirt—you didn’t even think he was aware of it, but you sure were—and he nodded meekly in reply when you mumbled out a quiet, “okay, baby?” into his hair.

[failedintsave]

Kloktober Day 8: Childhood or Getting Old

I love some kidklok but it's all so traumatic (and I'm saving up for some other prompts jsdjgsjdk) so I went with Old Folks Skwistok 👴👴

Will You Still Need Me, Will You Still Feed Me

Although he knew the route by heart after so many weekly trips, Toki squinted at the amber letters of the scrolling LED display at the head of the bus, just to be certain he hadn't lost track of the journey. Patting his breast pocket and finding it empty, he located his glasses perched atop his head in the usual place and slid them down to his nose to confirm their location.

"Dis ams our stop," he said, nudging the dozing figure next to him.

Toki got to his feet as the bus pulled to the curb, feeling more than hearing the screech of brakes as the vehicle ground to a halt. A wise CFO had once (twice, a thousand times over) advised them all to wear earplugs during their sets, and the irony of those warnings falling on deaf ears did not escape Toki now. Soon enough, he would have to follow Pickles' example and get fitted for hearing aids. Out of all the patents that had expired after Dethklok's reign, Liquid Purity sound technology had yielded the most versatile applications. Toki wondered if Charles would be pleased to see it put to good use, or if he was rolling in his grave over the market ventures they'd left untapped.

Humidity fogged the lenses of his readers as he stepped off the bus and onto the sidewalk, waiting patiently at the door for his fellow passenger to debark. Heat mirages shimmered across the blacktop of the Finntrolls parking lot, the sun a blazing disk in a cloudless sky the color of window cleaner. The late September warmth had not deterred Skwisgaar from donning a cardigan before they left the house, though he scowled into the bright afternoon light as he rounded the steps. Perpetually cold, even in his prime, it had been years since he'd let goading commentary about outerwear sway his wardrobe choices.

"T'oughts fall started last weeks, dis look more like summer vacation weathers to me." The thump of the tennis ball covering the end of his cane undercut some of the scorn in his voice, the same way it softened the overelaborate dragon motif for which he'd chosen the rod.

"You knows we never gets a real fall in L.A., elskling." Skwisgaar accepted Toki's outstretched hand, allowing his junior to assist him down the last steps and towards a nearby bench. Hot air gusted past as the bus pulled away from the curb, the stench of exhaust roiling in its wake. "Or you shoulds know dat, after almost thirty years."

"Ja, ja, still terribles any ways you slice it t'ough. I hates it."

"Ams somebody crabby today? Was you nap on de way here not longs enough? I woulda packed de insulated bags if I'd known we needed to rides to de store across town instead. I don't think your sherbet would makes it all de way home wifout dem." Toki laughed when Skwisgaar swatted his helping hands away, settling onto the shaded bench and pointedly looking the other direction. He set their canvas grocery sacks on the seat next to the Swede, leaning to plant a kiss on the part of his hair. "Be right back, don't runs off."

"So glad I ams married to de comedians…"

The automatic door of the food library slid aside with a hiss, unleashing a gust of chilled air that obscured Toki's glasses again and leaving him to fumble past the shopping carts until he found the reason for his solo sojourn. Toki plopped onto the cushioned seat, driving the scooter into the parking lot.

"Hey dere, sexy," he called, lifting his thumb off the accelerator and coming to a stop at the edge of the sidewalk. "You wants to come party wifs a rockstar?"

Skwisgaar watched his approach, unamused, with both hands stacked on top of the handle of his cane. Determined as he was to always do everything himself, he still disliked using the motorized cart. Really, he disliked anything that forced him to acknowledge the changes that age had inflicted upon them all—though Nathan's dentures were to be expected after decades of avoiding the dentist, and no one was entirely sure if Murderface's memory issues were real or if he was just being a dick.

Given his way, Skwisgaar would have hobbled painfully up and down each aisle under his own power, but arthritis had other plans.

His slouch was more pronounced now, his fingers curled and knuckles rosy with inflammation, yet he still held his nose in the air and sneered with all the lordly pretense of someone who had once ruled the world. For all the frowning he'd done in his life, he bore fewer wrinkles than one might expect, the most noticeable being the crow's feet that sprouted from the corners of his eyes as they narrowed in Toki's direction. Perhaps there had been something to all those expensive skin balms and salves after all.

"You goingk to be likes dis all day?" He groused, levering himself to his feet with some effort.

Toki stepped off the scooter and caught Skwisgaar's elbow as he listed to one side. "Til deaths do us part."

"Euughh, Odin, takes me."

Together, they crossed the last few feet to the cart and Skwisgaar lowered himself gingerly onto the seat. Toki placed Skwisgaar's cane into the wire basket within easy reach and dropped their bags in as well, taking a step back so Skwisgaar could get the vehicle turned around. Sunlight cast a shimmering halo on the crown of his head, his locks tied in a neat knot at the nape of his neck. He refused to part with the length despite the fact that what was once burnished gold now shone silvery platinum, and though Toki had long ago adopted a shorter crop for himself, he was glad Skwisgaar still wore his hair in long, soft waves. It suited him.

"You know, I think maybe I gets it why you always had de hots for all dems old ladies." Biting back a giggle when Skwisgaar cut eyes at him again, Toki fell into step beside the scooter as they made their way towards the front door. A pearly wisp of curl had come loose from its binding, and he reached out to tuck it behind Skwisgaar's ear, twirling the end around his finger. "You still lookin' mighty fines to Toki, even 'dough you ams all gray and wrinkledy now."

"Tch, you aments no springtime chicklings you'self, ya know. Dildo." Skwisgaar scoffed, ascending the slight ramp of asphalt that connected the sidewalk to the crosswalk.

Toki pushed his glasses back atop his head before being subjected to a third blast of blinding fog at the entrance, and when he dropped his arm, Skwisgaar's fingers closed around his wrist and pulled. The motion caught him mid-stride and he stumbled sideways, landing awkwardly, halfway on Skwisgaar's lap.

An arm wrapped around his waist, slimness belying strength as it held him close. "Hej, baby," Skwisgaar's voice in his ear was a playful growl. "You wants to go for a ride?"

Toki nodded in reply, grinning wide and swinging his feet onto the floorboard between Skwisgaar's loafers. The scooter's electric motor whirred as Skwisgaar depressed the forward lever, its wheels juddering over the threshold onto gleaming tile. Laughing as they zipped through the produce section, he swiped a package of blackberries from the display, hooting again when the scooter tipped onto two wheels momentarily. It might be far cry from screaming down the interstate on the murdercycle, wind whipping their hair, but it didn't matter. So long as they were together, the thrill remained.

[yslkook]

BRIGHT (2)

mind of mine masterlist

summary: you and jungkook share a moment in a bookstore. pairing: “badboy” jk x “shy/reserved” oc warnings: cursing, excessive use of pet names…bc its me

“Oh, lighten up Jeon,” Yoongi rolls his eyes, “You look like someone told you that your cat died.”

“The only kitty he wants won’t give him the time of day,” Mina grins, earning herself a glare from Jungkook.

“More like I can't get her time of day because her stupid best friend has a stick up her ass,” Jungkook mutters.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this,” Mei observes, “Our baby tattoo artist pining over a girl…”

“If looks could kill, you’d be dead by now, Mei,” Yoongi says pointedly, “Now stop wasting time meddling in Jungkook’s love life, Jin will have all of our heads-”

“Love life? I don’t have a love life,” Jungkook protests, eyes adorably round.

“And that’s why you’re so broody today, honey,” Mina teases, “More so than usual at least.”

“I am not broody,” Jungkook grumbles, turning his back on his laughing coworkers and friends. He can’t help but smile at their teasing.

“Oh, lighten up, Kookie,” Mei says lightly, clapping his shoulder, “If it makes you feel any better, that girl couldn’t stop staring at you at Hobi’s birthday. And she definitely wants a piece of this.”

Jungkook ignores the raucous laughter of his friends (which only increases when Jin comes out from the backroom to add on to his suffering) and the reddening of his cheeks as he gets ready for his full day of tattoo consultations and appointments.

Jungkook’s day ends about an hour earlier than he had anticipated- his last client for the day had to reschedule due to a last minute conflict. That’s fine by him. It gives him time to stop by the bookstore a few blocks away from the tattoo parlor before it closes.

Jungkook tries his best to read at least one new book a month. He’s known the older shop owner, Jia and her young son, Jae-sung, for years now, as he had basically grown up with Jia from childhood.

He loves the quiet of the store and the immediate scent of vanilla and cedar that surrounds him as soon as he walks in. The bookstore itself has a vintage sort of feel, with dimmed lights, old shelves of mahogany and candles placed throughout the store.

Jungkook always brings croissants from the bakery nearby for Jia and little Jae-sung. Usually when he comes by, the bookstore is empty (or close to it).

Jae-sung screeches when he sees Jungkook walk in the door and immediately runs up to him, hugging his legs. Jungkook crouches, ruffling his hair fondly and Jae-sung is nearly bouncing off of the heels of his feet.

“Mommy say she have new book for you, Kookie!” Jae-sung beams, eyeing the box of croissants in Jungkook’s free hand.

“Does she?” Jungkook muses, “Your mommy always knows what kind of books I like.”

“Me too! Me too!”

“Hey, Jungkook,” Jia’s voice filters through the store as she approaches, “It’s been a while.”

“It took me a while to finish the last book. But so worth it,” He says apologetically, “I also brought croissants. Enjoy.”

“You spoil us,” Jia rolls her eyes, “The new arrivals are in the back, third aisle from the left. You know the drill.”

Jia has known Jungkook since he was a baby in diapers- she’s been his aunt’s close friend for years and years now. Jungkook likes to joke that he likes Jia more than his own aunt, and Jia always reprimands him (without really meaning it).

He thought the bookstore was empty, save for Jia and Jae-sung. But he’s clearly mistaken, when he sees a figure in an olive green sweater and black jeans perusing through the new arrivals with their bottom lip tucked between their teeth in concentration.

He recognizes them immediately and when the person raises their head in curiosity, he sees your wide eyes and a shy smile starting to pull across your lips.

You’re here, in his favorite bookstore where he feels like he’s at home. If he was looking for a sign, then this was it.

“Hi,” You say softly, waving your fingers at him, “So you like reading, huh?”

You visibly cringe and Jungkook chuckles. Your cheeks feel warm when you take him in, swirls and dots of his tattoos peeking out of his black leather jacket and beckoning you closer to him. The three hoops in his left ear glint with the light and the dangling earring on his right ear dangles with the movement of his head. His hair is tied back into a ponytail, accentuating the curve of his jaw and his soft dimples.

Your breath is stolen away when you meet his eyes, deep brown and murky, popping against the peach eyeshadow on his eyelids.

You nearly swoon on the spot before you get your bearings. Maybe he’d catch you if your knees buckled, you think dryly. How embarrassing.

“I try reading something new once a month,” Jungkook replies, pulling you out of your reverie, “And I just like the bookstore in general. Sometimes I like to just come here and hang out with Jia and Jae-sung.”

“Oh! Jia makes my favorite lavender chamomile tea. There’s nothing like it,” You say a little dreamily, “Jae-sung is a cutie. That boy can just look at you and you’d be putty in his hands. Kinda like you.”

The last bit slips out of your mouth without you meaning for it to.

“Kinda like me, huh,” Jungkook smirks, eyes glittering, “It would be fun to see if you’d be putty in my hands, wouldn’t it?”

“The world may never know,” You mumble sheepishly and avoid his eyes again, “What kind of book are you looking for?”

“The one you’re holding, baby,” Jungkook murmurs, looking past your shoulder for another copy of the same book.

“Are you looking for this book just because I’m reading it or because you’ve been genuinely eyeing it?” You ask boldly, a hint of a smile playing on your lips.

“Oh, you’re funny,” Jungkook snorts, walking past you to grab the book off of the shelf.

“So I’ve been told,” Your eyes flash, “We should do a boozy book club.”

“Is it a book club if it’s just the two of us?”

“It can be whatever we want it to be,” You shrug, “Besides, don’t you wanna hang out with me?” You tilt your head and Jungkook’s resolve weakens. His heart does something funny- is this how it’s supposed to be?

“Of course I wanna hang out with you, baby,” Jungkook murmurs smoothly, “C’mon, let’s go have some of Jia’s tea. And a croissant too, if Jae hasn’t eaten them already.”

Jungkook glares at Jia the entire time that she’s making tea for both of you. He knows her sly, curious eyes and was unable to keep the surprise off of her face when you had both walked down the stairs together.

She even had the audacity to wink at him. He hopes that the family groupchat doesn’t start blowing up when Jia inevitably informs his aunt and mother about this new development.

“Kookie,” Jae-sung whispers (loudly) when you step away to use the bathroom, “Is dat your girlfriend?”

“What?” Jungkook hisses, “Who told you that?”

“My mommy say I ask you! I not know!”

“No, Jae, that’s not my girlfriend,” Jungkook mumbles, shooting Jia another death glare. She only smiles smugly at him from her spot behind the counter.

Jia leaves him alone for the most part when you return and take your seat next to him. He can still feel her eyes on you both as she washes teacups, watching like a hawk.

“These croissants are so good,” You nearly moan, “Where’d you get them?”

“There’s a bakery near the tattoo parlor,” Jungkook says, “You should come by sometime.”

“The bakery or the parlor?”

“Both?”

“I’ve only been there a few times,” You muse, “I hear you’re the best tattoo artist there. From the mouth of Hobi and Jin themselves.”

“Don’t let Mina and Mei hear you say that,” Jungkook says weakly, rubbing the back of his neck. His cheeks are a little pink and you resist chuckling to yourself.

“I’ve always wanted to get a second piercing,” You trail off, “But never really committed to it.”

“What would you want to get? We do piercings, too,” Jungkook says.

“Cartilage? Industrial? I don’t know,” You shrug, sipping your tea.

“Mina usually has a good eye for that,” Jungkook admits, “Now you have more of a reason to stop by.”

“Oh, I already had a reason to stop by the parlor,” You say brazenly with a sweet smile.

“Is that so?” Jungkook says, quirking an eyebrow at you.

You hum and continue to sip your tea, wondering if he can somehow hear the loud rattling of your eager heart in your ribcage.

Conversation with him comes so easily and you don’t know when the last time you had spent this long with him was. Something always seems to interrupt you both when you eventually do find yourselves alone with each other during outings with friends. But this time, it’s just you and him tucked away in this bookstore.

The sun has long gone down and Jia was about to close the bookstore for the day. In fact, the only reason she kept it open for this long was because of you both. You apologize profusely with worried eyes when you realize the time and see Jae-sung fast asleep in his mother’s arms.

She waves you off, giving Jungkook a lingering look that you don’t understand.

“I’ll be back soon,” You promise Jia in a soft voice, so as to not wake Jae-sung, “Be well, Jia.”

She bids you both goodnight, and unbeknownst to you, she shoots Jungkook a simple text. It states: “keep her close, i like her”.

Jungkook ignores it in favor of focusing on you.

“How you getting home, baby?” Jungkook asks as you both walk up the block shoulder to shoulder.

“Hmm… I’m supposed to meet Sora for dinner but she said she’s stuck at work,” You murmur, wrapping your arms around yourself as you scroll on your phone, “But I was just on social media and it looks like she’s getting drinks with her other friends…”

You look at him with a frown tugging at your lips and your eyes wide. “Maybe it was a last minute thing,” You mumble to yourself.

“Or maybe she lied to you,” Jungkook says sharply. You only look at him in silence for a few moments with furrowed brows.

“Maybe there was a reason,” You shrug, “Why would she lie about that?”

Because she’s Sora, and she just would. But Jungkook stays silent. You don’t need to hear about how he dislikes your best friend, at least not yet. Not when you’re not ready to hear it.

“Forget about her,” Jungkook says easily, “Lemme take you home, baby.”

“I’m not riding that metal death contraption,” You say flatly, “You just got it! Like two weeks ago! You don’t even have an extra helmet, and forget a helmet, I need elbow pads and knee pads-”

“Will you relax,” Jungkook says, putting your books in the small basket he built into the front of the motorcycle.

“No, I will not relax, Jeon Jungkook!” You nearly screech, “This is so dangerous, we could both fall in the road and then what? Become roadkill for the next soccer mom van to run us both over? Death by soccer mom, what a way to go-”

“Are you done?” Jungkook says dryly.

“No, actually, I’m not done-”

“You trust me, baby?” Jungkook asks, hand on your shoulder. You can’t even properly appreciate the warmth of his large hand over your jacket.

“Of course I trust you, I don’t trust that,” You point at the motorcycle accusingly and Jungkook rolls his eyes. You can already feel your resolve weakening. He wordlessly places his own helmet over your own head and you glare at him, about to start your tirade again.

“You take mine,” Jungkook murmurs, “And hold on to me.”

“You can’t just give me your helmet, what if you fall? Or worse, get pulled over?”

“Or worse, get pulled over, are you joking-”

“Jungkook! Be serious!”

“I am being serious! You said you only live ten minutes from here, just relax. I won’t let anything happen to either of us,” Jungkook says, tongue poking the inside of his cheek.

“If anything happens, it’s your head on a platter and I’m bringing it to the tattoo parlor.”

“How can you do that if we both die?”

“Shut the fuck up,” You say, but a laugh escapes your lips. Jungkook sits on his bike and looks at you expectantly.

“C’mon, baby,” Jungkook coaxes you and you awkwardly sit behind him, making sure that your legs don’t touch his and your arms are safely away from him.

“If you sit like that, you’ll definitely fall off,” Jungkook snorts, “Wrap your arms around me.”

You hesitate, afraid of touching him like this for whatever reason. He unnerves you and you feel completely exposed like this. You’ve never really been this close to anyone, at least anyone who made you feel the way Jungkook makes you feel.

Biting the bullet, you tensely wrap your arms around his narrow waist loosely. “Good girl,” Jungkook murmurs, “Tighter, baby. I don’t bite, unless you want me to.”

Your stomach flips at his words, subconsciously wrapping your arms around his narrow waist even more tightly. Your fingers graze the hard press of his tummy over his jacket and you almost moan at how warm and strong he feels. He smells nice, like Sunday morning laundry.

“Ugh, you’re annoying-” And then you shriek as he pulls away from the road and shoots off into the night with you plastered against his backside.

“See that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Jungkook says, taking the helmet off of you. He’s met with a glare but you sigh in defeat.

“No, I guess it wasn’t. But I never want you driving this hunk of death without a helmet for yourself,” You say, poking his chest.

“You should be nicer to her,” Jungkook says, taking your finger in his large hand.

“You’re right, it’s you that I should be mean to,” You roll your eyes. You wonder if Jungkook could feel your heart slamming in your chest (in fear, adrenaline and excitement) as you hung tight to him. You had refused to look up, pressing your face into his back and squeezing your eyes shut the entire way. Jungkook had only chuckled.

The heat in your eyes melts away quickly once Jungkook helps you off of the motorcycle. “Thanks for taking me home, Jungkook,” You murmur, “I’m glad I ran into you at the bookstore.”

“Any time, baby,” Jungkook says. A strand of dark hair falls from his ponytail and into his face. You reach your fingers up to thread through his hair before pushing it back behind his ear for him.

“Get home safe,” You say, with stars in your eyes, “Can I hug you?” When he nods, and before you can change your mind or convince yourself out of it, you wrap your arms around him. And before he can properly return it, you dash into your apartment building while calling out “text me when you get home!”

Hours later, when he’s in the comfort of his home, he decides that he likes the way your spicy vanilla scented perfume clings to his leather jacket.

tags: @kookdbean @tiemeuptogoldenchains @boymeetsparadise @jungkooksseuphoria

[babyboy-cody]

ma’am imma need some super soft grayson making love to his girl. wanting to take his time & feel every inch of her body🥺

mmmm i have a huge feeling that grayson prefers love making over rough fucking 🥺 this was a little longer than i anticipated…

The night was still young. The LA sky had hints of dark blue and purple as millions of stars littered the endless atmosphere. Grayson has always been an early bird, so he began sleeping before 10pm to get a head-start of the the next dat. You always wondered how he woke up so early and never felt tired or sluggish. You tried to follow his schedule, but you always snoozed your alarm and slept in for a few more hours. But Grayson being an early bird always had its perks, like spending longer nights together in private where it’s just you two sharing secrets and hushed giggles under the covers.

Ethan and Kristina had gone to bed not long before you and Grayson called it a night. The minute you entered the bedroom, Grayson had quietly shut the door and locked it. You removed the sweatpants you were wearing, leaving you in his Kum and Go shirt, green cotton panties with little avocados plastered all over and mismatched socks. To Grayson, you looked utterly beautiful. When you made eye contact as you sat on your side of the bed, you swore you saw his breathing falter.

“Everything okay, handsome?” You asked him quietly, brows furrowing and head tilting to the side like a confused puppy, a habit you developed to which he finds absolutely adorable. “You seem.. nervous.”

He clears his throat and lets out a small, “I am.” He takes a step forward and begins slowly walking to you, pressing his fists into the bed as he slides his body closer to yours. “You’re just so… breathtaking.” His voice was so soft and his eyes held so much love and light and adoration that you were sure you can see shooting stars go across. The way he looks at you in this moment was enough to make the butterflies in your stomach erupt happily. Your heart beats a little faster now as he lifts his hand to your face, fingers just barely brushing against the soft skin of your cheek. You tilt your head closer to his hand, closing your eyes and savoring the skin to skin contact of his warm and calloused palm. “The way you smile.” He presses a gentle kiss to your forehead, savoring the small happy hum you didn’t know you let out. “The way you laugh.” He presses a gentle kiss to your nose, lips twitching into a smile when your nose scrunches up from the wetness. When your eyes open, his face was much closer, his nose bumping against yours. “The way you look at me with those pretty eyes.” His voice was quiet, a mere tickling whisper against your lips.

The close proximity had your stomach warming and your entire body buzzing. Grayson’s hazel eyes in the soft glow of the lamp looked more of a muddy green. His wavy hair went a little past his ears and you had half a mind to tuck some behind. You made a mental note of the little birthmarks and freckles that dot his handsome face, along with scars he endured years ago during childhood - scars that he finds ugly, but you find perfect because they’re apart of him. His eyes scanned every inch of your face, noting every little birthmark, freckle, and scars that you’ve endured during your own childhood - scars you find ugly, but he finds perfect because they’re apart of you. Somehow, the universe must’ve heard your thoughts because simultaneously, you both mumble, “You’re so beautiful.” Soft laughter is shared as your own hands slowly move up Grayson’s neck and weave into his thick dark locks. You gently bite down on your bottom lip as his eyes look down at them.

“Can I kiss you?” He whispers, not wanting to raise his voice just the slightest out of fear he’ll ruin this romantic moment between him and his girl. He sounds desperate, and after being together for so long, your heart warms at his question, his need for your permission. When you nod, he eagerly presses his lips to yours, letting out a small moan that vibrates through your lower jaw. You tighten your fingers around his hair and pull him closer until you’re straddling his lap.

You’re both panting and desperately grabbing at each other. The taste of him was so intoxicating that you wanted his lips on yours for hours and hours on end until your lips are numb and unable to move. Everything about Grayson was intoxicating. The warmth of his skin, his manly smell of cologne and just him, the gruffness of his voice, the scruff of his growing beard, and the list goes on and on. The amount of love he gives you everyday can make you live for a lifetime. When you both pull away, lips slick with saliva and on the verge of numbing, Grayson looks up at you with pure want and need. The dark of his pupils have expanded, showcasing a thin ring of hazel around them.

“Let me make love to you, angel,” he huskily tells you. “Please, baby… I need it so badly.” He kisses the skin of your neck, his large hands sliding up your thighs and under his shirt you’re wearing until he’s tenderly holding onto your hips. “Imagine how good it’ll feel when I’m going nice and slow, so deep inside you…”

By now, you’re slowly rocking your hips against the growing tent in his sweatpants. Your cheeks are warm and your body is on fire, a small lump in your throat forming as his hot wet kisses on your neck turn into sucking and nibbling. All you can think about in this moment is GraysonGraysonGrayson. There’s nothing else you’d want more than him.

“Give it to me, baby,” you softly whine in his ear, grinding your hips a little harder, savoring in the way he groans in your shoulder. “Make love to me.”

The next few minutes went by in a blur. Your panties and shirt were thrown to the ground mindlessly, along with Grayson’s sweatpants and underwear. Your back was against the bed, head thrown back as soft moans escaped your lips. Your hands were buried in his thick unruly hair as he licked and sucked between your lower lips. Your thighs were being kept spread open by his strong arms. When he pulled away with a vulgar pop, he looked up at you, completely taken aback by how surreal you looked.

“Keep going, baby,” you begged pathetically, whining and whimpering as your hips writhed. He listened to your plea’s and spread your slick pussy lips to suck your swollen clit into his hot mouth, moaning gruffly and pulling away to slide the hood of your clit back to expose your pleasure button more clearly. He widens his tongue to get every inch of your pussy, flicking and grinding the wet muscle up and down, back and forth, in circles, tracing shapes, writing his goddamn name all over your clit. It has your back arching and pussy clenching as more slick and saliva pools under your ass. “G-Gray, babyyyy… fuucckk you’re gonna make me cum!”

“Cum for me, angel,” he groans, sucking your clit back into his mouth once again and shaking his head from side to side, causing you to squeal and arch your back as your hands pulled his hair tighter and tighter. You climbed that peak of your orgasm, reaching higher, higher, higher, higher. Grayson collects some of your slick as he slowly slides his middle and ring finger into your tightening cunt, crooking his fingers against that ribbed spongy spot at your pelvis. He keeps his fingers crooked and moves his arm so his fingers are fucking you nice and deep while pressing against your g-spot.

“Gonna cum, gonna cum, g-gonna cu-uummm!!” You chant, your moans cracking and breaking as you finally reached over that hill and crashed straight into your orgasm. Your pussy clenched so tight around Grayson’s fingers as your muscles contracted, warmth blossoming all over your lower half. He licks and sucks your clit one last time, watching as you come down from your strong orgasm. Your heaving chest causing your breasts to move, and he bites his bottom lip, wanting to make you cum over and over and over again from his fingers and mouth.

When he pulls his fingers out, he looks down at them and groans at the creamy glaze. He sucks the cum off his ring finger while making eye contact. You bit your lip to hide your needy moan, but Grayson heard it. He offers his hand to you, lightly swiping his middle finger against your lips, tapping against them for you to open up. You hold onto his wrist as you suck your cum off his finger, eyes closing and tongue swirling all around to clean it off.

“You’re gonna be the death of me, I fucking swear,” he admits as rests his elbows on either side of your head, nose bumping against yours as he kisses you so deeply and passionately. You spread your thighs to accommodate all 6’0 and 200 plus pounds of him. His hardened cock slides up and down your dripping folds, gently grinding against your sensitive clit. He rests his large hands above you, cradling your head and using his thumbs to move your hair from your sweaty face. “I can’t believe you’re my girl,” he confesses so quietly that it almost brings a tear to your eyes.

“I can’t believe you’re my man,” you whisper back to him, your hands rubbing up and down his muscular back, nails gently scratching his warm and sticky skin. “I sometimes feel as though I’m gonna wake up one day and it’s all going to be a dream…”

Grayson shakes his head and reaches a hand down between your bodies to hold his dick, pressing his mushroomed tip into your tight hole and very slowly pushing his hips into your own. You throw your head back into his hands, muffling a sharp gasp by biting your bottom lip. “I’m here, baby. I’m right here.”

He starts by grinding his hips nice and deep, up and down and in slow circles. Your eyes close tightly as he buries his face in your neck, groaning low when your nails dig into the skin of his sides. You feel a small tear roll down your temple before disappearing into the mess of your hair. You sniffle and swallow down a whimper. Grayson hears your sniffle and immediately picks his head up like a dog hearing the slightest noise miles away. You feel his hips stop as his eyes widen in worry, but your quickly shake your head and grab his scruffy cheeks to pull his lips down to yours. “Y-You’re so perfect, Gray. So fucking perfect and I’m so lucky to have you, baby..” Your voice cracks as more tears roll down your flushed cheeks.

“I love you,” he tells you in a hushed whisper. “I love you so fuckin’ much.” He kisses away your tears and passionately kisses your lips, his tongue entering your mouth and sliding against your own. The kiss is deep, hard, and wet that it renders you breathless and speechless. He starts up the slow pace of his hips again, this time slowly fucking into you. “I got you, baby. I’m here.”

Your toes curled as he grinds his hips up, his dick reaching so deep inside that it has you mewling in his shoulder. He was so deep, it felt so fucking good and you never wanted it to end. Grayson reached down to grab your thigh, fingers digging into your skin to keep him grounded. His body was so warm and sticky with sweat as he moved above you. This slow love making was something you’ve never experienced before, so experiencing it with the man you love is such a powerful and romantic moment you want to cherish until the day you die. Your mouth falls open as your clit starts to get rubbed by his smooth pelvis, offering you so much friction while your pussy clamps around his cock.

“Y-You’re so deep, Grayson,” you breathlessly tell him, eyes rolling back as he pushes his hips all the way against yours and twitches his cock, causing your hips to jump and thighs to tremble.

“Yeah?” He mumbles against your neck, his hot breath and baritone vibrations tickling you briefly. “You’re taking me so well, angel. You always take me so good.” He leans up until he was face to face with you. His cold silver chain dangles between your bodies, tickling your bare chest very lightly. “You look so beautiful, baby, fuck.” His eyes are everywhere. He doesn’t know where to look first. Your face, your eyes rolling back, your lips parted, your chest heaving, your pussy tightening around his cock, your thighs trembling. “You’re gonna make me cum early,” he laughs embarrassingly as he feels the earlier signs of his orgasm - the throbbing in his cock, the warmth spreading in the lower pit of your stomach, the tremble in his thighs.

“That ain’t my fault,” you shakily laughed and pulled him closer, desperately grabbing onto his tense biceps and hooking your feet around the backs of his thighs. “Everything feels so good, Gray.”

“I know, I know,” he huffs out a laugh and fucks into you so deep again that it has your eyes crossing and back arching. “Fuck, I can watch you do that all damn day.” He growls and does it again and again and again until you were practically dripping all over his cock. “Gonna cum again, baby?” He lowers his body again until he was spewing hot breaths over your kiss swollen lips. “Gonna cum all over this dick for me? Huh?”

You frantically nod and bury your face in his neck as he just barely speeds up his thrusts. Grayson wraps an arm under your back as the other crosses around your shoulders, crushing your body into his so he grinds deeper and deeper, the wet sloshing loud enough to make you blush embarrassingly. You couldn’t even tell him you were cumming because you were too busy grabbing onto him and moaning freely in his neck. Grayson gruffly groans out a small, “fuuccckkkk,” as he feels your pussy contracting around his cock. His face scrunches up from the powerful pleasure he was experiencing as he buries himself deep inside your aching pussy before finally spilling his load. The warmth of his thick cum filling you had you moaning quietly in his ear. He rests on top of your body, panting and humming as you stroke the planes of his strong back, kissing his scruffy cheek and jaw gently.

“I’m gonna marry you one day,” he confesses to you, his thumb stroking the small birthmark on your arm. He doesn’t remove himself from your body, his cock still inside your sopping wet pussy. You blush at his confession and push back his hair from his sweaty face to get a good look at him as you hold his cheeks in your hands. He looks nervous and shy, unsure of where to look as he avoids looking into your eyes.

“And I’m going to say yes,” you confess to him. The expression on his face has you laughing quietly as you cover your mouth, not wanting to wake up Ethan or Kristina, knowing how cranky both get when they’re disturbed. Grayson boyishly grins and kisses you so gently. He lowers his head to your chest and drowsily hums as you continue rubbing his back with one hand as the other combs through his messy, sweaty hair. You’ll be sure to include at least one love making session every week, if not one, then two.

[emerald-chaos]

Coney Island

Hi friends! I appreciate all the love and response I’ve gotten for my writing over the past week or so. You guys sure know how to make a gal feel loved! This is another little idea that came one night when I was screaming to a good friend of mine (which is how a lot of my ideas come to me lmao) about how pre-serum 1940s Steve deserves the best. It’s not necessarily my best work, but Steve Rogers deserves some love too. I hope you guys enjoy! Also please feel free to let me know what you guys would like to see me write next :) Enjoy! xo

Pairing: Pre-Serum!Steve x Reader

Word count: 1895

Warnings: swearing and bad attempts at being funny lol

a/n: this was uploaded on mobile because I’m at work tonight so if it looks funky I apologize! I’ll try to fix it after I finish my 3 night stint lol.

As the sun began to set and the hot July air began to cool, Steve couldn’t believe the situation he’d found himself in yet again.

“Come on, pal,” Bucky chuckled as he pat his friend roughly on the shoulder, “I’ve never met someone who was this upset to meet up with a couple of beautiful ladies.”

“What? And somehow be the third wheel on a double date again?” Steve quipped back at his long time friend.

Bucky replied with a roll of his eyes and waved off his friend, turning his body toward the Coney Island parking lot to see if he could find the girls they were supposed to be meeting.

Steve regretted that he sounded so bitter, but these “double dates” that Bucky dragged him on were somewhat of a joke. It was always the same song and dance. The girl who Bucky was attempting to court would bring a friend, either for moral support or to try and set her up, and that friend would always be wholly disappointed when she saw that Steve was who she was stuck with. Steve knew that not every girl had to like him, of course, but occasionally it would be nice to be as sought after or wanted as Bucky was - or at least to not be looked through by every girl he met.

“There they are,” Bucky grinned, raising his arms above his head to signal the two, “over here!”

Steve took a deep breath and prepared himself for the inevitable look of disappointment that he had become so accustomed to. Instead, as he turned he was met with a stunning pair of eyes and a soft smile splayed across the most incredible pair of lips he’d ever laid his eyes on. Seeing you made him feel like all the air had been forced out of his lungs and no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t catch his breath. The only other time he remembered experiencing the sensation was after a particularly bad time that he had gotten the living hell beat out of him in the alleyway - except this time, it was a good feeling.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Steve.” You said, your voice soft and warm - like honey.

There’s no way that could be a blush on your cheeks, right?

“Well, we already got our tickets,” Bucky’s voice brought Steve back to the present, “so what do you say we head in?”

---------

For the first time in, well, forever, Steve actually found himself enjoying the evening. The small talk didn’t feel stiff or forced, you never recoiled at any of the accidental touches throughout the night, and you actually looked him in the eyes when you were having a conversation. If you were disappointed in being stuck with Steve, you hid it pretty well.

The unrelenting sun had finally set and the colorful lights of various rides and booths reflected off of the water. You had been on a couple rides, enjoyed some hot dogs and funnel cakes, and now the group of you had been sucked into one of those carnival game booths. Bucky was attempting, as usual, to show off for your friend by trying to win her a stuffed animal.

“Would you like to take a walk or something?” Your voice captured Steve’s attention as he turned to look at you. You grinned a little before adding, “It’s kind of sickening to stand here and watch them act like this.”

Steve was caught off guard, both at the jab directed to your friends and the fact that you would even consider being alone with him.

“I, uh, yeah, sure, we could do that,” he nodded quickly, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

You smiled and started down the boardwalk.

This is too good to be true, right? He thought to himself. She’s obviously just trying to be nice.

“Steve?” your voice cut through his doubts. He hadn’t even realized that you made it several feet away from him and he was still planted in the same spot.

“Oh! Yeah, coming! Sorry!” Steve blushed as he hurried to catch up with you.

The two of you walked side by side for a few minutes, an oddly comfortable silence lingering between you.

“How are-”

“Have you-”

Steve’s eyes met yours as you both began to speak simultaneously and you shared a laugh together. Steve could feel the warmth rising in his face and he hoped to God that he wasn’t blushing like an idiot.

“You first,” he smiled softly.

“I was just going to ask how long you and James have known each other?” you asked, tucking a piece of hair behind your ear.

And there it was.

To anyone else the question would seem innocent, but Steve knew better. You had only drawn Steve away so you could question him about his friend - the same way every other person before you had done. There was a heat building inside Steve’s stomach. How could he be so stupid? How could he actually believe that someone like you could be interested in someone like him?

“T-the only reason I ask is,” you blurted, sounding...nervous? “well, because the two of you are so different. I mean, not in a bad way! Just like, James is so...cocky and loud and you’re...well you’re not.”

Steve stopped walking and looked at you. His thoughts were racing through his brain like a freight train. What exactly were you trying to say?

“God I'm so bad with words,” you laughed, shaking your head, “just forget I said anything at all.”

“You don’t have to feel bad for me, you know. If that’s what this is.” Steve couldn’t hold back the words, and they sounded much colder than he meant them to. He was just so tired of living in his friend’s shadow. The only time girls were ever nice to him was because they wanted to impress Bucky. He was sure that’s what you were doing too.

Once he noticed your brows furrow and a look of sadness overcome your face, he wanted nothing more than to rewind time and take his words back.

“Is that the type of person you think I am, Steve?” Your voice came out a little shaky, but Steve could still hear the hurt he had caused.

Steve sighed and rubbed his face.

“I’m sorry,” he started as his hands fell from his face and he met your gaze again, “I’m just...I’m not used to this.”

“And what exactly is this?” you asked, crossing your arms in front of your chest.

“Someone on these double dats being interested in me.”

He could tell that his words caught you off guard. You were quiet and your arms slowly fell to your side. Steve was having trouble reading your expression, but it looked somewhere between someone who saw a puppy left on the side of the road and someone who was trying to understand a foreign language.

“Just...Just forget it. I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sorry.” Steve waved his hand, as if he was trying to dismiss the conversation.

What he didn’t expect was for your hand to intertwine with his.

Steve’s gaze lingered on your connected hands for a minute before traveling to meet your eyes.

“You’re not very good at this, Rogers.” You said with a small laugh, “Here I was, thinking I was being too obvious.”

“I-I’m afraid I don’t follow,” Steve slowly responded.

You laughed again, the sound slowly becoming one of his favorites. Before he knew what was going on, you were pressed flush against him and capturing his lips with yours.

This would make the third time Steve had felt the wind be knocked from his lungs.

The kiss was slow, soft, and unlike any other he had ever experienced. It reminded him of the time his dad told him how he knew his mom was the one.

Well, when we kissed it felt like the rest of the world melted away. At that moment in time, it was just her and I.

A shiver ran down his spine as the warmth of your lips left his. As though he was drunk or coming out of a haze, it took him a moment to open his eyes and focus his vision back on you. There was a cute pinkness to your cheeks and you had a doe-eyed expression. It took a moment for the heartbeat in his ears to fade away - the joyful screams of park patrons and whirring of machinery returning.

“I like you, Steve,” You told him, giving his hand a gentle squeeze, “In fact, I've liked you for a while.”

You watched as Steve’s adam's apple bobbed up and down as he gulped.

“You,” Steve cleared his throat as the word came out as a squeak, “you do?”

That smile he adored returned to your lips as you nodded, “I do.”

Before he had an opportunity to respond, you were speaking again.

“I see you at school, you know, around town too. I’ve always noticed how kind you are to everyone. The way you hold the door open for the old ladies at Church. That one time you gave Johnny your lunch because his parents forgot to pack him one?” the smile on your face growing bigger as you recounted the times in which you fell for Steve Rogers, “I mean, what’s not to like.”

Steve felt an asthma attack coming on.

“James is nice and all,” you leaned in then, as if you were telling a secret, “but he’s also kind of a bastard.”

Steve couldn’t hold back the laugh that tumbled from his lips and you quickly joined him. This felt like some sort of twisted dream to him - you standing here, confessing your feelings to him. Never in a million years did he think someone as beautiful as you would even talk to him, let alone have feelings for him.

“Obviously I’m kidding, but in all honesty... you are one of the best men I’ve ever met, Steve. I’m sorry that any one has ever made you feel less than.” You squeezed his hand again.

This time it was Steve who initiated the kiss, holding your face between his hands as he moved his lips against yours. Your hands found a place on his waist and your bodies slotted against one another - like they were two puzzle pieces made to fit into one another. You tasted sweet, like funnel cake, and your lips were soft against his slightly chapped ones. Steve hadn’t kissed very many people in his lifetime, but if this were the last kiss he got to have - he could die a happy man.

“Ahem,”

The two of you separated to see your friend, holding a huge stuffed bear, and Bucky standing before you, grinning like fools.

“Are we interrupting something?” Bucky mocked the two of you, sending a wink to Steve.

“Shut it, Buck.” Steve warned, although he couldn’t help but grin back at his friend.

“Come on, lovebirds” Bucky teased, “my girl here wants to ride the ferris wheel again.”

You smoothed out your dress and smiled at Steve, lacing your fingers once again with his as the two of you followed your friends toward the ferris wheel.

For once, Steve was going to have to thank Bucky tomorrow.

[incorrectsmashbrosquotes]

Send in the Aegis'

Shulk: Mythra, you know how Pyra is basically an alternate you that you created?

Mythra: I mean, that's missing an entire segment of information and details, but sure. What is it?

Shulk: Well, was Pyra the only one you made?

Mythra: ....Honestly, no. There were others. I kinda panicked and made a whole bunch in case Pyra didn't fit. Though, handling them all was too much trouble, so I just put them on lockdown. 

Shulk: Come on, I'm sure they can't be that bad.

Mythra: You want to meet them? Alright. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Mythra closes her eyes and glows for a split second.

Shulk: ...Uh, Mythra?

Mythra: They'll be out in a second. 

She twitches. Her hair goes from blonde to white, and changes into ponytails. She has a big smile on her face.

Joyra: Hi, everybody! Isn't it a super amazing great day?

She twitches. Her hair becomes a dark blue while her hairstyle becomes long and droopy, covering an eye. She seems sad.

Gloomra: Ugh....She calls this a great day? I should've stayed in bed...

She then changes to pink, her hair in a bun. She didn't put it in a bun, it just got that way.

Lustra: Ah, but romance is in the air, my Aegis Sisters. Tis a beautiful day to fall in love.~

Her hair then goes to a floofy hairstyle, now being the color of a rainbow. Her sword has turned into a gigantic mic. 

Laughra: HAHAH! Hey everybody! It's great to be here, I'll be here all week. Hey, have you seen that Bowser? Talk about clingy, am I right? Ha! But seriously, these are all jokes. Laugh with me!

Shulk laughs, very confused. Her hair then changes to green, while the hair style changes to a short haircut. She now has sunglasses.

Coolra: Ey! Who's up for some football, huh?

She then changes into the last "alt", who has pitch black spikey hair.

Evilra: Heh. Nice place you got, Shulkie. I could have some serious fun with this stuff.

She then changes to Pyra, who simply blinked.

Pyra: ...Well, it's been a while since I've heard from them. Shulk? You okay?

Shulk: Give me a minute...it's a lot to process. But, I don't think they're that bad. You can probably have them talk to the other Smashers. 

Pyra: Really? Well, if you think so. Later, Shulk!

Later that day.....

Joyra goes over to Simon.

Joyra: Hello, grandfather dear! How're you this wonderful day?

Simon: Lady Mythra...Pyra? I can't tell who I'm talking to, but I'm not your grandfather. And I must say that I'm not doing all that great. These shoes of mine are too hard, the birds are getting to close...and the sun hurts my eyes.

Joyra, ignoring all that: Joy! Isn't it a beautiful day? Aren't these birds simply lovely? Isn't it great to be alive?

Simon: ....

Joyra, agressively: (｡◕‿◕｡)

Later....

Gloomra had her leg stuck in a door. Isabelle approached her

Gloomra: Ow...Ow.....

Isabelle: Oh, hi Mythra! I like what you did with your hair. Blue looks good on you! Do you think you could assist me with some tasks for the Mayor?

Gloomra: What's the point of doing any tasks for some Mayor? We do him, he thanks us, we some more, he thanks us some more, then what? Poof, we're gone. Nothingness, emptiness. We're all dust in the wind. The worst part is I'm going to probably outlive all of you. 

Isabelle, scared: ...I...I don't want to be dust in the wind...

Later, again....

Coolra is walking down the street with an unmatched level of coolness.

Coolra: She shoots, she scores! Ya girl Coolra is fo sho swag, bruh! (She begins checking herself out in the mirror) Oooo! Looking good! Who's that hottie? Oh, it's only me! 

Coolra sees Sonic.

Coolra: Ey, it's the Speedster himself! 

Sonic: Uh, Pyra? What're you doing?

Coolra: I'm walking 'ere! You got a problem with dat, ya skateboardin' Needlemouse Boi?

Sonic: Needlemouse Boy?

Coolra takes Sonic's skateboard and begins absolutely shredding with it, riding on buildings, doing flips, catching insane air. She even grinded on a bench.

Sonic: Woah, check it out! Pyra's got the moves!

CRACK!

Coolra, handing the broken board back to Sonic: Heh. How 'bout next time you get a board that can handle the Coolra style? Later, Prickles the Hamster!

Sonic: ....This was a birthday gift....

Later, once more...

Pit was playing on his Switch when Laughra approached him.

Pit: Hey, Mythra! Want to play the new Warioware with me?

Laughra: Do I? Does Bowser ever cry himself to sleep? Hey, why did Knuckles cover himself in mayonaise? Because he wanted a Knuckle sandwich! Hahahaha!

Pit: ????

Laughra: Hello! Anyone home in there? Don't tell me you need your mommy to tell you to think! Paging Mr. Pit! Palutena called. She wants her flightless idiot back.

Pit, a bit offended: Uh, Mythra? Are you okay? You're being mean in a weird way.

Laughra: I'm weird! HAHA! Come on! You want weird, you should see the type of fanfics Robin writes. And what's the deal with that Kazooie?

Later, after that...

Rex: (Eating a sandwich) Oh, hi Pyra. What's up?

Lustra: To read thee a book and to take in thine beauty, dear Rex. Is Nia around as well?

Rex: Uh, yeah. She's in the back.

Lustra: Ah. Then I will focus on you until she comes. Shall I compare thee to a summers day? Nay! Even Shakespeare is inadequate to describe thou's perfection!

Rex, blushing: P-Pyra, come on. The others will hear.

Lustra: As you wish, darling. But before that...could you gift me with a kiss?

Rex: ....(faints)

Later, hopefully the last time...

Evilra was standing on the side of the road with a pie. She saw Luigi coming and smirked.

Evilra: Hey, Stringbean. Want a pie?

Luigi: Oh boy! Sure!

Evilra proceeds to smack the pie in Luigi's face, knocking him to the ground.

Evilra: (snickers evilly) You can't beat the classics!

Luigi: I-I'll say...

Evilra: (poses)

[lampmeeting]

"you can wear mine" for skwistok? 👉👈 Lol Or if you're not feeling that "I'll go get something cold for your head" for chickles

i hope this skwistok is all right! :'D it's not a usual ship of mine but i tried my best!

Skwisgaar plucked a cocktail napkin from the bar counter and daintily dabbed at the appletini already staining his white shirt green. Clothes could be washed, though. No damage done there. No, the real damage was to his ego.

"Wowee! She reallies was means to you!" Toki appeared at his shoulder, sweaty and flushed from alcohol and dancing. He had his hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. It had been getting so long lately, Skwisgaar noticed, almost as long as his own.

"Ja, wells...dat happens. Some ladies, Toki, dey wants alls of your attentions. But we mens ams like de wanderings ronins. We kneels to no masters. We loves dem, but we must be frees."

Toki's blue eyes twinkled in the club lights and Skwisgaar felt his pride swell back to life in his chest a little. "You ams so wise, Skwisgaar."

"Thank yous," he said, patting a hand on Toki's shoulder and squeezing. Was it just his imagination or was it beefier? Nathan had mentioned something about Toki going to the gym with him. Maybe it was true. "Somedays, enough ladies ams gonna throws de drinks in your face, den you becomes as wise as me."

Toki always laughed loudest when he was drunk, and tonight was no exception. He giggled in bubbly bursts, that silly new mustache framing his wide smile, until he settled in close and pawed gently at Skwisgaar's shirt.

"Ohh, ams ruined," he sighed, then gasped in sudden excitement. "Ah! You cans wears Toki's!"

Before Skwisgaar could refuse, Toki had grabbed the hem of his t-shirt in both hands and pulled it up and over his head, showing off the growing definition of his body. Yeah, okay, he was definitely hitting the gym with Nathan. Skwisgaar knew he was staring too much but couldn't seem to look away, only snapping out of it when Toki started yanking the white shirt up his stomach.

"Puts it on, puts it on!" Toki said, giggling again, and Skwisgaar finished the undressing by himself. The wide blue shirt was much too big for his lean frame, and it was very warm and a little damp in the pits. But at least it wasn't soaked through with appletini. "Looks great! Knews it would."

Skwisgaar tucked it down into his pants for a better fit. "Whats about yous?" he asked hesitantly, remembering how skittish Toki had once been about being shirtless when he first joined the band.

"Aw, Toki's fine! Comes on, Skwisgaar, dance and haves fun and forgets all abouts that lady!" He took him by the arm and dragged him out onto the floor with such effortless confidence that Skwisgaar couldn't help but smile and follow his lead.

[robinsnest2111]

The band comforting their bassist in a vulnerable moment? It's more likely than you think!

I expanded on a random vision I had, enjoy these 1k words of the scenario from Murderface's POV :P

Warning for:

Lots of swearing and self deprecating language, because Murderface. Not beta'd, so there may be mistakes.

It had been building up within him for some time now. Every little thing just added onto the pile of all the shit that happened to him. Deep down, subconsciously, he knew that it was only a matter of time before something would set him off again. Would make all the bottled up emotions break free again. But hell, if he could tell before it got to that point. It only ever occurred to him afterwards, making him hate himself even more for exploding. A vicious cycle, really.

Right now, though? He was in the process of losing it. Some remark or other must've done it; didn't really matter. But instead of the usual anger resulting in a quick outburst, he felt flooded with frustration and... sadness? 

He could feel the tears slowly clouding his vision, felt his throat constrict, the pit in his stomach. 

Huh, that was new. It took a bit for the panic to set in. This was new, this had never happened to him before? Crying in front of the others? No, no way! That would make him a weak and pathetic loser! He had to keep it together long enough to come up with an excuse to leave and leg it out of there to repress all of this in peace. Didn't matter if he cried if no one was around to see it!

He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice Pickles talking to him at first. He was... asking him a question? 

"Dood. Why are ya so quiet? Something wrong?" Oh shit.

At least one person was catching onto him not acting his usual self. Fuck. This was bad. Quick! Think of something, you dumbass! Say something! Do something! Anything!!!

Apparently, the only thing his body was capable of at the moment was betraying him. By making him look up in Pickles' direction and fucking whimpering instead of talking! Way to go asshole. Fuck!

"...Murderface, what the- are you… crying?" The expression on his bandmate's face turned from confusion to ...concern? That couldn't be, it was just a matter of seconds before he would make fun of him for being such a sensitive crybaby, the others probably gearing up to join in on the usual bullying.

Once again too caught up in his own mind, he didn't notice Pickles reaching for his hands until they were carefully held in the drummer's. A quiet "Hey" made him look up, Pickles' face a little closer than before, the concern and care now unmistakable. 

This was it, the last straw. The tears were flowing, as was the snot, and he let out a pathetic and pained wail. It was all so strange and too much, too much, TOO MUCH!

His hands were maneuvered into one of Pickles' while he reached out to cradle his face with the other. "Dood..."

Between his loud sobs, he noticed the absence of any kind of comment from the others. Usually he would have some choice words for them and promptly leave, the sound of his bandmates joking and laughing about his reaction drifting out of the room after him.

Not this time though. He was still there. Everything was quiet apart from the embarrassing amount of crying and wailing he was doing. Fuck!

Pickles was stroking his cheek now. Weird, but strangely soothing? What kinda magic trick was that?! Then he felt a big warm hand settle on his trembling shoulder. Could it be? No, Nathan would never! A quick glance revealed that it was indeed the singer's hand trying to give a reassuring squeeze, black nail polish and all. What the hell was going on and why the fuck couldn't he stop crying?

Eventually, he felt the hand on his cheek guide his face to rest on the drummer's shoulder. He was probably ruining Pickles' shirt with his leaking eyes and nose. How disgusting. Nathan's hand wandered to his back, going for gentle rubs which helped the ache due to the unrelenting sobs jostling his body, messing up his breathing. In the time it took for Pickles to wrap his arms around his trembling body and him to mirror the drummer, clinging to him for dear life, he felt another hand settle on his head. It's owner seemed hesitant at first, long slender fingers then burying themselves in his hair. Short well-kept nails giving him light pats and scritches. Skwisgaar. Shit, what was happening?

Only one other person missing now. Ah, there he was. Toki. Through the haze, he felt the last of his bandmates press up to his side, putting his head on his shaking shoulder, nuzzling his face into his neck. He could feel the Scandinavian's long hair settling over part of his back, slowly warming up the covered area. Damn, Toki was a furnace! He had never noticed before. And what was that? A low rumble. Was he... was Toki having a go at purring? What a nerd. It seemed to work though. On top of all of them basically forming a brutally awkward cuddle pile around him, it was indeed helping to calm him down. Slowing his racing heart, soothing the ache and evening out his breathing.

After a while, the tears stopped. He had finally calmed down. His head felt empty and full at the same time. Void of any volatile, explosive emotion while feeling like it was stuffed with a million dirty dish towels. Probably from crying so hard. Urgh, what a mental image. Then he realised that he was still surrounded by the others and that they all would have to let go eventually. His bandmates witnessed his embarrassing display of weakness and would never let him live it down! Fuck! He cringed and slowly one after the other gave him some space, removing their hands from his body. 

"Well uhh... that was-" "Now dats dat ams overs-" 

"Guysch, I-" 

Before anyone could finish their sentence, Pickles took hold of one of his hands once again, apparently the only one not quite as embarrassed by the entire situation.

"You okey now?"

He took a moment to think. Was he? He still felt strange for wailing and sobbing like a damn baby. But, he did feel... lighter somehow. Relieved? At least for the time being. He cleared his throat, gingerly wiping the tears from his cheeks and the snot from under his nose, cleaning it all off on his shorts.

"Yeah. Yeah, I think scho."

It actually felt kind of nice to have some tangible proof the others cared about him in some way, despite their official No Caring Rule. He would never admit that to anyone though, he wasn't weak like that.

[jeonsbun]

lover boy ─ p.jm [m]

rating ↬ 18+

word count ↬ 1,970

pairing ↬ jimin x reader

genre ↬ enemies-to-lovers! au, arranged marriage! au, marriage! au, husband! jimin, fluff (if you squint), angst, & some smut

warning(s) ↬ jimin being a dick (he really isn’t), jimin has a big 🍆, protective sex (pls be safe!), semi-public sex, oral (m receiving), usage of princess (like once or twice, dat’s it), cursing, love bites (y/n tries to cover them), slight dom!jimin, lip-biting, & lots of kissing. just pure filth 🤧 lower-case intended

summary ↬ when your parents marry you off to someone that you don’t know, you never expected it to be him.

a/n ↬ hi! welcome to the official oneshot of “lover boy”! i hope that you guys enjoyed the little teaser that i had set out. major thanks to @chimknj​ for beta reading this <3 this is a part of “dishonest love” monthly prompt from @thebtswritersclub​. this is also a little valentine’s day gift. please enjoy! also note that in no way is any members mentioned in this fic are what they are in real life. this is just all fictional. as always feedback is appreciated~

“what?!” you yelled into the phone. 

“y/n, calm down. it’ll be over in a year’s time,” the voice on the other side said.

you scoff, “you gotta be fucking kidding me, you’re really marrying me off to some douchebag who you think is good for me? someone that i don’t know?”

“y/n!” yelled the voice, “he is a good man, give him some time, get to know him. it’ll only be a year before it blows over. we’re doing this to protect you, y/n, we love you too much to see you suffer again,” 

you sighed into the phone, sliding your hand across your face in defeat, “fine dad, you said only for a year, right?” 

oh, how wrong you were. you never excepted it to be him. oh man, the man that you hate with all your gut, park jimin. 

he was your rival from another gang, his parents and yours were good friends, they were the ones who suggested you get married off together. 

before you knew even knew it, it had be more than a year. your parents thought that having a man in your life will bring in honor among the mafia members you called a family.

you thought this was ridiculous, really. you were always independent and you wanted it to stay that. 

when you had met your soon-to-be husband, it was during a party that your family had hosted. they wanted to impress some important people that you didn’t bother to care or know about. 

your mother was the one who picked out your dress for the evening. a golden dress, decorated with sparkles shone in the dim light of your room. a sequin v-style dress, that hung low upon close inspection.

“this dress is amazing,” you whispered to yourself as you ran your fingers through the soft fabric. you soon put the dress on, along some gorgeous pair of earrings and a pair of white heels to match. you looked in the mirror, “wow, mom’s got some good taste,” you whisper again, admiring yourself as you brush your hair.

few minutes later, you texted your makeup artist friend holly to help with the touch-ups and hairstyle. 

“did you see who’s here?” your friend holly asked you as you heard her heavy footsteps near. “who? who the hell are you talking about?” you reply, confusion on your face.

“park jimin,” she says as she shakes your shoulders. “THE park jimin. he’s here,” 

you gasped. you sprinted out of the room as fast as your legs could carry you. she was right. there he was, standing tall near the entrance of the building. He was sipping on a glass of champagne, talking to someone.

you gulped down a lump in your throat that you didn’t even know you had. your father ran up to you. “ahh my beautiful daughter, let me see her,” your father held his hand out toward you. you take it, him spinning you around, laughing happily. 

“father, stop. i’m getting dizzy,” you smile him at him. “there’s someone here that I would love for you to meet,” your father takes your hand again, tucking your arm around his, whisking you away.

you approached a tall man, wearing a dress shirt that was tucked away in his pants, his jacket hanging down on his broad shoulders. “namjoon, I have someone here I would like you to know, my daughter y/n,” 

“ahh mr. jeon. Nice to see you again. How have you been?” the man, namjoon was it? asks as he hugs your dad. Then his eyes shifted to you, “And you must be Y/N, your father has mentioned a thing or two about you. But, he never told me how stunning you are,” namjoon takes your hand and kisses the back of it.

you blush and looked away sheepishly. you looked at the man, leaning on the wall, near the entrance, staring right back at you. you gulped again. 

“y/n, y/n?” someone yelled out, bringing you back to reality. “Yes?” you replied back. “What were you looking at?” replied your dad, as he tried to look around at what you were staring at. “nothing dad, i’m going to get a drink,” you dismiss the question, as you walk toward the open bar, saying goodbye to namjoon. 

your brother jungkook was nowhere to seen. ‘He’s probably banging some chick again,’ you thought to yourself as you sigh and facepalm. then you felt a presence, watching you from afar. 

you turn around, catching his eyes. his stare is intense, but you don’t dare look away. you start to walk towards him, eyes filled with lust and determination. who does this man think he is?

“what do you want, park?” you say as you stared him down. “nothing, darling. Just admiring a beautiful girl, drinking alone,” he answered back. you scoff.

“as if, you asshole,” you roll your eyes. he suddenly grabs your arms and presses you against the wall. he looks into your eyes again, looking for something. “let me go, you dick!” you yell as you try and get out of grip. 

His grip becomes tighter as he leans forward and whispers, “let’s get to know each other.” He then leads the two of you into a closet down the hall, away from the party.

it was quick. so quick that you lost your footing for a second. before you even realized it, his lips were on yours. you pulled away quickly, catching your breath.

“what?” you heard him ask. “what the fuck, park? you don’t go up to people and start drag them into a closet to kiss them?!” you push him as you screamed. He just chuckles. “princess, i’m planning to do more than that,” he smugly says as he smirks.

“you wish, i’m leaving,” you start to turn around when you felt a hand rest upon your wrist. 

“wait, look i’m sorry, okay?” you hear him sigh, “your parents told me that we’re married and that i had to marry you or else our whole “family” will go to shit,”

You turn back around, “they said what?” this was the first time you were hearing this. “by the face that you are making tells me that you didn’t know,” 

you shook your head, blinking a few times. “why though? i just want to know why, and why you of all people?” 

he felt offended but he didn’t show it well. “they told me that it was for the sake of our family and shit, i’m 100% not sure anymore,” he shrugs.

you kissed his cheek, looking at him sadly. next time you knew, you were pulling his shirt off. he didn’t pull away at all. he started to kiss your lips again and down to your neck. 

you move your head, giving him more access. you sigh heavily as he sucks hard near the area where your neck and shoulder meet. 

he pulls down the back of your dress, releasing you into just your bra and panties. he stares at you again, you stand there sheepishly. 

you slowly bend down to your knees to pull down his dress pants. he looks down at you, just running his hands through your hair. you then pulled his boxers down, his member slapping his lower stomach. your mouth waters at the size. 

as you start to pump him, you grabbed his balls. you can hear him breathe in deeply, ‘looks like he likes it,’ you then go faster. 

“put it in, please,” he says faintly. “i’m sorry what did you say?” you tease.

“don’t tease, y/n please,” he says a little louder, bucking his hips a little to create friction. this was your turn to chuckle. you eventually start to put his member into your mouth, bobbing your head, slowly.

“y/n, go f-faster” he pants. you listen, going faster than before.

you then go for his balls again, massaging them as you go even faster.

“yes, just like that,” 

you felt his hand at the back of your head, you hollow out your cheeks as you let him use your throat. you then felt something shoot the back of your throat. 

you shallow the salty contents (i’m so sorry 😔), and stand up with your mouth open. jimin smirks at you and kisses your lips. 

he reaches behind you to unclip your bra. he then go ham on your breasts, marking them and massaging them. he takes his mouth to assault your nipple and massage the other, you sigh heavy again, dragging your hand through his scalp. 

he suddenly stops, whilst you whine from the cold air, surrounding you, and then goes to his pants, searching for something. he comes across his wallet. 

you see a wrapper, eyes quickly scheming around at his face, eyes looking suspiciously. he looks up at you, pulling the wrapper out completely, and then putting it in his mouth.

“can never be too careful, am i right?” he chuckles as you roll your eyes again, giggling. he then puts it on his member.

he picks you up and presses you against the wall again, kissing you again. your little makeup session was interrupted when you silently gasp as he slides inside. he takes this opportunity to bite your bottom lip and pull.

he then pushes you up and you sink back down. you moan out his name, creating red scratches across his back along the way. 

“oh my god, right there,” you moan out. you didn’t care that you were loud, he was hitting that one spot that made stars explode behind your eyelids. 

after hitting that spot again and again, you finally came undone. but he was not done, at all. 

he places you back down and bends you back, just a slight bit. taking you from behind, he goes faster and faster, and getting rougher. you felt his hand start rubbing circles onto your clit, jolting your insides again.

you felt your second orgasm coming, jimin could feel it. your walls clenching his member sweetly, you cooed at him, “i-i’m close jimin,” 

“i am, too,” he pants, you look back at him. he looked so handsome, his sleek black hair sticking to his forehead, lips bruised and swollen from all of the kissing and lip-biting, and chest, sweaty and soft to the touch. 

after one last thrust and a flick of a finger, you both came together. 

kissing your neck one last time, jimin pulls the condom off and threw it away. getting dressed, you saw yourself in the mirror. you looked awful, your hair was disheveled and your makeup was smeared. jimin looked up at you as he puts on his pants, laughing. 

you playfully punch his arm, you watch as he puts his shirt back on and then disappear. you put your dress back on and try and fix your hair as best as you could as you wait for him. 

jimin came back a few minutes later with a wet cloth, handing it to you. you use it to fix your makeup, wiping away the smeared mascara and lipstick. 

knock knock “fuck, who is that?” you whisper yell at jimin. he shrugs, “y/n? jimin? i know you guys are in there, i saw you two,” the voice said. “open the door, now,” you gulp, shaking uncontrollably. jimin places his hand on your shoulder, squeezing it as you slowly open the door of the closet. 

you smile fondly as you remembered this moment. 

a/n ➳ this is my first time actually doing a full length fanfic that including smut like this, oh my gosh this is just pure filth! i really hope you guys enjoyed this. this really made me nervous and made my heart pound. anyways as always, feedback is appreciated~

☙ masterlist 

[5-falsehoods-phonated]

Laughter is my Love Language

Summary:  Logan doesn't laugh much when Virgil first meets him. Eventually Virgil learns when Logan is truly happy is when he opens up.

Warnings: food mention, some self deprecating humor. If there are more please let me know!

Ships: Logan x Virgil, Analogical

WC: 1, 664

General Taglist (ask to be added or removed): @im-an-anxious-wreck @logans-library @janus-is-an-adorable-snek-boi @ace-in-a-shopping-cart (you had asked to be tagged in this a while ago, I hope it’s still okay)

Logan doesn’t laugh much when they first meet, which is somewhat of a problem for Virgil since he often relied on laughter to fill otherwise awkward silences. The problem was that Virgil was funny in the stupid way- which he blamed entirely on his dad’s humor that fell over to the punnier side. Crack a pun, reference a meme or as a last ditch effort self deprecating humor was usually relatable enough. Logan fell for none of those and more or less was just left confused by them- or he took the self depreciation too seriously and Virgil ended up with a heartfelt lecture on how important he was. Which, as sweet as it was, wasn’t the point of poking fun at something at his own expense.

--

“Boy Logan that sandwich is jam packed!” said Virgil sometime during their freshman year of high school.

Logan had looked at his sandwich in confusion. “There’s peanut butter there too- but yes it’s Crofters.”

Virgil fought to keep the smile on his face. “Yeah I know, it was a joke.”

“But it is packed with- oh that was a pun. Clever.” 

--

“Here comes dat boi!” Virgil cringed at his own voice as the meme reference fell out of his mouth. He hadn’t seen Logan smile once that day and all attempts at conversation had fallen flat so...memes. Why not? Logan was on his laptop often enough he had probably seen what he was referencing at some point. Plus Logan was gliding very confidently on his skateboard and Virgil was suddenly feeling very tense and wanted to break it. Logan, unhelpful as he was, merely stopped and kicked the board up to tuck underneath his arm.

“‘Dat’?” He questioned.

“I-it’s...a meme. I was- referencing a meme.”

“Ah.”

“...yeah.”

Nailed it.

--

“That’s just me being dumb though- you know how it is.” Virgil let out a defeated huff of laughter and settled his chin on his arms. It was their senior year and he was talking to Logan about his current grades. Everything else was straight A’s other than gym. He didn’t like changing in front of others and the bathrooms were blocked off for whatever reason so he just didn’t do it. He took the fail but still needed the credit or he’d have problems getting his diploma, which was completely stupid and unfair but he knew it was his own stubborn fault and-

“I don’t know.” Logan hadn’t laughed at the “joke”, of course he hadn’t. Virgil sighed, opening his mouth to say something else completely stupid and worthless but Logan beat him to it.

“You aren’t stupid. Lack of participation doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it means there’s some other problem that needs addressing if you’re willing to take a failing grade instead of confronting it.” Logan turned to him with a serious look. Always so serious. “So, if I may ask, where’s the problem?”

Virgil blinked. “It’s stupid.”

“Virgil.”

“I just...don’t like…” Virgil turned into his elbow, cheeks reddening at how dumb the problem really was.

“I didn’t hear you. Can you please speak up? Or write it down if that’s easier.”

Snorting he decided to take him up on that, tearing a scrap of paper off his notebook and writing it down.

There was a pause and then: “Is this all? If you take the make-up class there won’t be nearly as many people and if you get there early you can be changed before anyone sees you.”

Peaking around, Logan’s face was so genuine, like he actually wanted to help. Virgil almost didn’t have the heart to say why that was also a problem but he needed him to understand. “I won’t know anyone in the make-up class.”

Logan screwed his mouth to one side trying to figure out why that would be something Virgil would worry about. His face brightened somewhat as he looked back to Virgil. “If it would ease your anxiety I could take the class with you. While I may not have to make up for the credit, it is open to sign up for extra if anyone so chooses.”

Virgil bit his lip. That would- actually really help, but he couldn’t let Logan do that could he? “You don’t have to.”

“I am aware. But going would be a nice routine and I would be very happy to do it if it meant you would be more comfortable.”

“You’re serious? You would really do that?”

“I’m always serious, Virgil. Of course I will.”

Maybe sometimes Logan not getting the joke was a good thing.

--

“L, it’s three in the morning. Go to bed.” They were in college sharing a dorm, and though Virgil could fall asleep with the lights fully on so Logan’s lamp wasn’t keeping him awake, it was the fact the other man was still awake that was bothering him.

Logan let out a short, humorless laugh and waved hi hand. “I’m almost done.”

Virgil hated when he laughed like that. No happiness behind it, only stress and exhaustion and irritation. Sighing Virgil reached over and plucked the pencil from his hand, shooting him a warning look when it seemed like he was about to protest. He closed the book and stacked it neatly with the couple notebooks he had and placed the pencil and calculator on top. Turning to his dorm mate he pointed to the dresser in the corner. “Pjs. Now.”

Slightly concerned when Logan only stood up to do as he was told instead of arguing he shrugged it off and sat back down on the bed. Logan came over a moment later, plain black tee drooping over one shoulder and sleep shorts slightly rumpled. They really needed to do laundry. Before he could say as much, Virgil was suddenly on his back, Logan’s head on his chest with his legs sticking straight over the side. Laughing softly he ran his fingers through the others light red hair, combing out the tangles gently while Logan relaxed into him.

“Logan buddy, I love you so much but if we fall asleep like this we’ll never get up again.” The other grumbled but took a breath and rolled off his chest, swinging his legs over to turn on his side and nearly kicking Virgil in the head in the process. Smirking, Virgil crawled up behind him and flopped with his arm slung over his side. He laughed again when he realized he was already asleep, arms askew and already drooling on the pillow. Snuggling into his back and hugging him tight he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep himself.

--

Logan sat at the table with a book flat on the surface, notebook close by as he made careful notes for the next curriculum. His brow was pinched in thought and his third mug of coffee was cooling beside him, untouched for nearly an hour as he fixated on his work.

Virgil looked back out the window as he finished drying a glass. Gray clouds were rolling in and it was already starting to drizzle. Good,  they needed a good rain for the start of summer. Tuning in once again to the furious scratching of a pencil behind him he set the glass down and whirled around, racing over and catching Logan’s hands in his own to tug him up and towards the door. 

“Virgil what are we- it’s raining! Virgil!” Virgil stopped for a moment to look and see if Logan was actually distressed but upon seeing more fond annoyance than anything else he grinned and stepped out into the downpour. He took away one of his hands and led Logan in a spin down the porch, feet slipping slightly in the wet grass as he maneuvered them around. Logan was smiling now, stress lines gone from his face as wet hair flopped into his eyes and obscured his vision. Virgil’s own hair was slicked flat to his forehead, emo fringe he would never cut hanging down to his lips before he shook his head hard to dispel the water. Logan yelped and flinched away before laughing low at himself, grin turning mischievous as he reached up above virgil’s head to take a hold of a tree branch. Yelling as what felt like gallons of water soaked him he stood there thoroughly soaked and shivering slightly before letting out a howl of laughter, Logan following right after. He was sure the neighbors could hear them but he didn’t care. Logan was laughing so hard he was clutching his sides, shaking with the effort of holding himself together.

This was what Virgil loved most. Logan didn’t always laugh easily, not understanding the joke or understanding what was meant to be a joke but making sure the person was okay first. When he did laugh, it was one shared with others over whatever dumb, stress free thing they were doing. It was unplanned and in the moment, something Logan and Virgil were usually both averse to. But here in the rain, or getting icing everywhere on their wedding day, or the shared laughed when they woke up together after yelling at each other the night before to go to sleep it rang out; it was clear and joyful and carefree- a language all on it’s own that neither of them needed to “get” in order to join in .

When they first met Logan didn’t laugh a lot, which was somewhat of a problem for Virgil since he often relied on laughter to fill otherwise awkward silences. But when he opened up he began laughing all the time, each one precious and kept close to the chest. Virgil collected them, hoarded them even, storing them like coins in a jar in exchange for the happiness he felt each time he was the one to cause such a beautiful sound. And as they giggled still through slight coughs under a blanket that night, he couldn’t be more happy he could speak this language with Logan.

This work is also available on AO3!

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[failedintsave]

I tried the MTL pairing generator for rarepair month...aaaand it told me to stay in my lane lol. And then it told me to write some Rachel/Roy Cornickleson which I just don't think I'm ready to take on 🙃 So here's some Skwistok set just before Doomstar that I've been fiddling with.

(gets just a little nsfw near the beginning)

Stages

Everyone handles grief differently.

Skwisgaar groaned as muscular arms pushed him against the wall, the reinforced metal door to his room on the submarine banging shut as they cleared the threshold. Hands tangled in his hair, holding him in place while lips and tongue and teeth worked over his neck. He clung desperately to the body pressed against him, fingers twisting in blue cotton material and yanking it upward. The mouth latched onto his throat pulled away as the t-shirt was hauled over his head and Toki's fevered eyes found his before rushing forward again, mashing their lips together with sloppy abandon. He gripped Skwisgaar by the belt, half dragging him as they stumbled their way to his bunk and collapsed. Breathing came in gasps and sighs as Toki's weight pinned him down into the mattress, the pressure both exhilarating and mollifying, an anchor to hold onto as the life he'd known for so many years turned upside down and twisted away in the wind.

He'd never given much energy to grief. Life was just a punctuated string of losses in the long run. Loss of innocence, loss of trust, loss of opportunities. It was all meaningless, really. In his experience, something new always came along to fill the space so why dwell on mourning what you couldn't have back?

Boots thumped to the floor, kicked off in haste. His shirt was peeled away before sturdy hands lifted his hips to free him of his jeans, calloused fingertips gliding back up his thighs and making him shiver. Toki climbed up to kiss him again, hungrily, as if trying to swallow him whole, their teeth knocking against each other. Skwisgaar ran his hands over every inch of skin he could reach, the hard lines of Toki's shoulders, the raised ridges of overlapping scars on his back, hip bones where they ground down against his own. Heat pooled low in his belly like magma aching to erupt. He wanted this, needed this right now, more than he'd ever needed anything in his life. How long had they danced around this, stealing moments and blaming it later on booze or post-show adrenaline, walking right up to the line and peeking over before backing away again? In the name of preserving band dynamics? A lot of good that had done, they'd still ended up where they are now, Dethklok tipping over the precipice into self-destruction.

Another loss to add to the list.

Toki pulled back, glacier blue eyes raking over Skwisgaar's features with manic light, chestnut locks of hair falling in disarray to frame his face. Skwisgaar reached up and tucked a strand behind his ear and Toki's expression shifted, the wild yearning softened into something gentler, less wolfish. He sat up to kneel between Skwisgaar's legs, hand skimming from his collar bone to his navel and leaving a trail of fire, over the inside of his thigh and dipping beneath, pausing until Skwisgaar breathed his assent, whispered his name.

Fingers tested gingerly, gradually increasing in depth and pressure before he gripped him by the waist and hauled him onto his lap. Skwisgaar canted his hips, lip catching between his teeth at the feel of Toki against him, his pulse hammering in his ears. His head angled back into the pillows and a wordless moan escaped his throat when Toki eased forward, back arching as lightning raced up his spine. Skwisgaar's fingers knotted in the bed sheets as Toki released a shuddering breath over him, rocking into him slowly, building rhythm into a steady push and pull.

Loss of professional boundaries. Definitely not something to be mourned.

The devastating sensation of fullness where they joined drove all coherent thought from Skwisgaar's mind and his eyes rolled back under closed lids, panting nonsense and expletives, begging for release. His toes curled as Toki matched stokes with his hand to the tempo of his thrusts, coaxing him through his climax until tipping over the edge after him with a whining sigh. Call and response, Skwisgaar thought dazedly as his superheated skeleton melted into jelly. When he could open his eyes again, his gaze landed on Toki's face above him, watching him with an openly heartsick expression.

"I… hads to do dat… at least once before dis ams all over." The broken whisper settled over him like a burial shroud.

Skwisgaar shook his head, holding out his arms. "Come heres."

Swallowing thickly, Toki obeyed, winding his arms under Skwisgaar's shoulders and burying his face in the crook of his neck. Skwisgaar shifted to find a comfortable position, their sweat-slick chests sliding against each other as he angled slightly onto one side, hand cradling Toki's skull to keep him near.

"Seem pretties stupids we aments been doing dat dis whole time, honestlies."

Loss of time.

Toki held him tightly and Skwisgaar felt the tremor in his grip. He rubbed his cheek against the crown of the other man's head, humming tunelessly as he waited for him to speak, knowing already the fears plaguing his mind. He'd faced them often enough in his younger days, even if the scenario now was more complicated. It was hard to compare wondering where your next gig, your next meal ticket, might come from to wondering where to go after you'd already stood at the top.

Sniffling preceded the feeling of wetness against his shoulder, Toki mumbling against his skin. "What happens now? Ams we all just gonna says 'fucks you, see ya laters' now dat de band ams done? Even now dat dey tells us we gots to plays music to saves de world?"

Skwisgaar fiddled with a strand of brown hair for a moment before answering. "Well, I don'ts know abouts all dis saves-de-woirld business. But whats I do know ams band break ups. And, euughh, ja dat ams a pretty standords opseratings procedures."

"But does it has to be likes dat? We coulds all stays pals, right?"

"Dat ams...compslickateds." He dropped the lock and let his hand fall to Toki's shoulders. "Somet'ing like dis...people tends to ezpecks yous to euughh, picks sides. It ams messy. And it never warks out, t'ings always comes apart in de end."

Loss of the longest working relationships he'd had in his life.

Toki said nothing, so Skwisgaar continued if only to fill the silence. "But it coulds be worse, you knows? We gots more moneys den god, what's so bad what cants be fixed wif dat?" The statement produced a cold feeling trickling down behind his ribs, like swallowing a heaping spoonful of snow. "Nones of it acktualies matters. Just goes on to da next t'ings."

"I just... don'ts know what to does if dere aments a Dethklok."

"Whatevors you wants! You coulds buy de whole stores of airplane models, or you coulds builds you own splasharoonies water parks. Hell you coulds probablies starts a new bands wif dose guys from dat T'underhorse group."

"No," Toki murmured, face still compressed against Skwisgaar's neck. "I don't wants a new band. Dis was da one."

The possessive satisfaction he felt at those words tied his stomach in guilty knots.

"Ja it ams was a pretty good gigs…"

Toki shifted, laying his head on the pillow next to Skwisgaar's, his forlorn gaze searching his face for answers. Skwisgaar rolled so they were laying face to face, legs still twisted under the sheets.

Not everything was tied up in the feud that caused the band to split. What if it didn't have to be a total loss? Surely there were parts here that could be salvaged.

"Okej...so who says we haves to do anyt'ings at all?"

Toki's brows cinched. "What you means?"

Maybe, just this one thing, he could keep.

Skwisgaar's lips curved with the ghost of a smile. "I's already mades it to de top, ams de fastest guitarist alives...coulds be I shoulds just quits while I gots de title, ja? Retires, takes my ball and goes home wif it."

Toki snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Builds mineself a giant house up in de mountains or somet'ing. Or travels and just fucks off on de resgiduals forever, not worries about a deadlines or demos ever again. Plays guitar just for funs."

He saw his grin mirrored on Toki's face as the other man nodded dreamily.

"Maybe you...comes wif me?" Fluttery nerves tickled behind his sternum. "If you wants to."

Toki's eyes widened. "Wait. Whats?"

Just this. He could be happy with this.

"Y-you means it? You aments just messings with Toki?"

He shook his head. "How long dids we waste before nows? For not'ing. I'm sick ofs waitings. Let's just goes."

A heartbeat passed, and then Toki's mouth was on his again. Less frantic this time, hopeful rather than desperate. He cradled Toki's jaw, taking his time as he returned his affections, deepening the kiss and tracing languid strokes over his neck, his shoulders, his chest. Their limbs wound together in a twisted bramble, bodies drawing tightly together, fitting like puzzle pieces.

A repetitive, discordant riff sounded from the pile of clothes abandoned on the floor and Toki's head jerked away. Flashing an apologetic grin, he rolled away to fish his phone from his pocket, sliding his pants up loosely around his hips.

"Sorries, be rights back!" He whispered, pressing the screen to answer. "Oh hei, Rockso!*

"Hows do you even has signals down here?" Skwisgaar called after him as he stepped into the hall, then flopped back onto the pillows to stare at the ceiling, counting the shiny rivets in the metal plating.

This was doable. Tomorrow they would bury more than just a mentor, they would lay to rest their careers as the biggest metal band in existence. The world at large would mourn their passing, but Skwisgaar wouldn't dwell on what's done and over. Not if he had new prospects to look forward to. Something always came along, and he never looked back.

"I tolds Magnus dat I woulds sit wif hims tomorrow." He heard Toki's muffled voice through the crack he'd left in the door.

A shadow passed over his thoughts at the name, like someone walking across his grave. It was uncomfortable to say the least, to have their former guitarist back in the fringes of their lives. Toki had a habit of finding friendship in questionable places, but where the clown was mostly an annoyance and sometimes a financial drain, his relationship with Magnus left Skwisgaar apprehensive. It didn't ease his mind when Toki insisted the older musician was different now. How could he know? He hadn't lived with the man, hadn't walked on eggshells during every rehearsal or songwriting session, hadn't watched as he plunged a knife into a bandmate.

But Magnus had also saved Toki with his insulin. He'd been there for Toki as a shoulder to lean on when the band had started to fall apart, too preoccupied with their own issues to spare a minute for their youngest member.

So maybe Toki was right. Things change; he'd never expected that a wedge could be driven between Nathan and Pickles far enough to end their friendship in such a catastrophic way, but here they were. And if Magnus still harbored any resentment for the band, their breakup was probably a balm to the old wound of rejection. What else could he wish on them? He was probably loving this.

The door scraped shut and Toki slipped back into the blankets gingerly, as if expecting Skwisgaar to be asleep. When he saw that he was still awake, Toki leaned in with a grin.

"Sorries...now, where was we…?" He murmured, capturing Skwisgaar's lips tenderly. "Oh ja, you was tellings me how we's gonna runs away togedders into de sunsets."

"Pfff. Dat am hardlies what I saids."

More kisses peppered his cheek and jaw. "Dats what I heards."

"Well I always knew yous was tone deafs, I didn'ts realize you ams just all de way hards of hearingks." His arm encircled Toki's back as the brunette nestled in again.

"Tells to me about wheres we gonna goes. Tells me about our house on tops of de mountains."

Skwisgaar snorted. Of the two of them, his was not the more vivid and fanciful imagination. But staring up at the blank canvas that the brushed metal panels of ceiling created, he envisioned a future for them to share. They squabbled playfully over locations and home design styles. They named off outlandish things they would fill their home with, like an even bigger ruby metronome or a trampoline room or an indoor pool shaped like a guitar and filled with champagne. They listed places they'd toured that they wanted to visit again, and locations they hadn't been yet but had always hoped to see.

"Can we gets a cat?" Toki asked suddenly, making Skwisgaar laugh airily.

"If we haves to?" He laughed again as Toki nodded against him. "But I'm not cleaningks up after it, dat ams all you, pal."

"Okei." Toki sighed deeply, settling in more comfortably. "Okei. I feels a lots less scareds now about all dis."

His hand glided up from where it had been resting at Skwisgaar's hip to lay warm over his heartbeat.

"I'll miss Dethklok. A whole lots. But now I t'inks I ams acktualies looking forwards to what comes next."

Still staring at the steel plates above, Skwisgaar grinned at the pictures they'd painted in his mind.

"Ja, me toos."

He covered Toki's hand with his own. However much they stood to lose after tomorrow, his heart felt lighter at what they were about to gain together. There was no reason to dwell on what was gone.

Everyone handles grief differently.

Laying on his bunk, Skwisgaar's eyes roamed the scuffed plate ceiling overhead, lingering on rusted rivets and water stains. The imperfections seemed to move and writhe like crawling insects under the influence of whatever handful of pills Pickles had given him. A half-drained bottle of vodka lay cradled against his chest, the mouth stoppered by his thumb. Fire burned in his belly from the alcohol, but cold fury pulsing through his veins tempered it.

He'd been prepared for Dethklok to end, had even accepted the idea that his career as a guitarist was over, diminished to a hobby. Playing guitar was his lifeblood, his purpose, and he'd been about to let that go. What had he been thinking? How had he gotten so wrapped up in fantasy that throwing away his entire self had seemed like a plausible course of action.

Loss of objectivity. Fortunately it seemed to be temporary.

He took a long pull from the bottle, dribbling a little and not bothering to wipe it away. Stupid Toki, needing to be comforted like a child with make-believe bedtime stories. He couldn't just man up and move on like everyone else, like Skwisgaar had been doing since he was a teen, finding his next audition, his next couch to crash on, his next temporary alliance with subpar musicians to make ends meet. It couldn't have been an easier landing for him either, no concerns about hunger or homelessness or deportation hanging over his head. He was set up for success and still couldn't handle it.

Fucking idiot needed so much attention, so much coddling, he'd even run straight into harm's way to try and make a friend. Of all people, he'd had to choose Magnus, that vindictive bastard. Of course he'd still been carrying a grudge, when had he ever let anything go in the past? And they'd known it.

A pair of divots on the ceiling stared back at him, one dark, one catching the light. Glaring back at him mockingly, winking at his impotent rage.

They'd known. They'd known, they knew, they knew.

Skwisgaar knew. And he'd said nothing.

Then he'd watched again, frozen, as Magnus drove a knife into someone close to him.

Skwisgaar thrashed upright, a strangled roar bursting from his lungs as he flung the bottle at the wall. He kicked at the bedside table bolted to the wall, denting it from below, then spun around to tear the sheets from his bunk and hurl them across the room. This wasn't the trade he'd prepared for, this wasn't the deal he'd made with himself.

His eyes fell on his Explorer propped in the corner. He reached for it, wrapping both hands around the ebony fretboard, holding it like an axe and swinging it against the wall. He bashed it into the floor, the dresser, screaming until his throat was raw and the guitar was cracked into useless chunks of wood and fiberglass connected by twisted strings. He dropped the pieces in a heap, sinking to the ground to lean against the side of his bed, his shoulders heaving with labored panting.

The door of his room scraped open, and in his periphery he saw a figure standing, backlit by the dim red glow in the corridor. Broad-shouldered, straight hair dangling about their head. His heart seized for a moment before the figure spoke, shattering his hallucination.

"What are you doing in here?" Nathan's gravelly voice was cautious.

Skwisgaar didn't turn, eyes still focused on the debris ahead of him. The stainless steel guitar strings seemed to wriggle like worms in grave soil, consuming the corpse of his instrument. He waited until he caught his breath before trying to respond.

"What does it looks like I'm doingks?"

Nathan shifted in the doorway. "Losing your mind."

He chuckled mirthlessly.

Loss of sanity? Maybe.

"You've been locked up in there a while. Maybe you should, you know. Come out here. With the rest of the band."

"Fucks off."

Nathan didn't move. Skwisgaar felt the urge to rage at the other man rise in him, to shout in his face, demand to know why it had taken him so long to patch things over with Pickles, why he let it go so far that he'd upset all of their lives so horrifically. But the feeling passed, his body drained from his previous outburst and from trying to filter a pharmacy's worth of substances through his liver.

"We're gonna find him, you know. Charles has people everywhere looking already."

One shoulder rose and fell in a halfhearted shrug. "Whatevers. Who cares."

They could have been a four-piece. If he really wanted to rage at someone it would be his past self. How different would things be right now if he'd never given that gutter rat a chance after missing his audition time? How much of what they achieved would they have really missed out on? How many rerecording sessions and stupid arguments and publicized blow outs could have been avoided? What would they really have been missing?

He certainly wouldn't mourn the loss of a constant source of annoyance. Of an immature tag-along with a hair trigger temper. Of a loud and boisterous whirlwind of silliness and color and sincerity.

Loss of his shadow. Loss of his muse. Loss of his best friend. Loss of his future. Loss of…

Loss of…

He couldn't breathe.

"Just leaves me alone. Please." He gritted out, proud of the steadiness of his voice as his stomach began to roil and his eyes prickled with tears.

Nathan hesitated. "Should I...close this?"

Skwisgaar nodded and after another moment the steel frame clanged shut. His vision blurred as tears welled and spilled over, his breath returning in short gasping puffs which rolled over into sobs that rattled his frame.

They'd had one day. Not even a day. An evening. Hours.

He wept until he was sick, vomiting clear liquor and not much else onto the floor next to the remnants of his guitar. He wept until his tears were spent and his head throbbed in tandem with his heart, even though he didn't understand how the muscle still carried a beat when the rhythm had been taken away.

Eventually he had nothing left. His face felt swollen, his eyes were gritty. Skwisgaar rolled to his hands and knees, avoiding the puddle of sick as he rocked up onto wobbly legs. He looked at the door, wondering if the others were still awake. If they were sitting in the lounge, drowning their sorrows. He felt like he wore a lead weight around his neck, bowing under the pull of it. It might be better just to sleep.

He turned to the naked mattress, but a scrap of blue on the floor near the foot of the bed caught his attention. A faded cotton t-shirt lay where it had been discarded. Skwisgaar stared at it for several long moments. He stepped closer to the bed, to the shirt.

And kicked it underneath the frame and out of sight before turning for the door.

He'd never given much energy to grief. Life was just a punctuated string of losses in the long run. Loss of purpose. Loss of self. Loss of connection. Loss of…

It was all meaningless, really. So why dwell on mourning what you couldn't have back?