#I can’t decide if it’s smart or just overly excessive

[uwakroh]

Hello, so I just bought a yarn winder and I’m LOVING IT so I’m going through my entire yarn stash to wind them into cakes. However, I always prefer the center pull and was annoyed when the finished cakes would easily start coming undone when I dropped it (or when my cat stole it from me). Therefore, I have created something either really smart or overly complicated for a small problem that I could just learn to deal with-

So basically what I did was before winding the yarn, I put a small strip of cardstock and tied it to the shaft thingy with a coiled hair tie cut in half (for easy removal). Then I’ll wind the yarn and when I’m done, I just tape the two ends of the cardstock together so it makes a band around the yarn and then cut two slits for both ends of yarn. For the yarn that I have labels for, I write the name and hook/needle size on the paper.

The great thing is that (because I like the center pull and it doesn’t work with this method) I can just cut the band off when I need the yarn and remake the cake. The cake will get messed up when I use it anyways so may as well just remake the labels.

And here’s what it looks like:

And when it’s set up:

[animeyanderelover]

Hey! Finally caught the box while it was open! Could I plz have headcannons for lau being yandere for Vincent Phantomhives eldest daughter and ciels oldest sister? The only problem is she’s already betrothed with edward as her fiancé and she loves him. As you can tell this takes place before ciels parents died and before he made his deal. Thank you!

I get to write something about Lau again! Hope this is fine.

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, obsessiveness, stalking, manipulation, sabotage, bribing, blackmailing

Phantomhives eldest daughter

🚢Lau became friends with Ciel around 1887 if I recall that right, to be specific a penfriend of his and that's how he would probably meet his darling for the first time. He as a talent for popping up unannounced every once in a while, including in the Phantomhive manor. Lau in general is mainly interested in Ciel since that guy helps him and his business and since Lau is mercenary, he listens to him a lot.

🚢But he finds himself still curious about Ciel's older sister, the only person who Ciel still seems to be truly attached too and it is not often to see him being that respectful and open as when around her which fascinates the chinese man a lot, knowing how Ciel usually is. Of course he knows from the very beginning that she is already betrothed to Edward which makes sense since her little brother is engaged with Elizabeth Midford. Though with you it is easier to tell that you're happy with the decision of your father, when with your fiancé always looking happy whilst your litte brother struggles a bit with Lizzy, but you definitely try to bring both of them closer.

🚢Whilst you might not be directly the guard dog, it is mostly not like you just sit around and play the obedient and brave housewife which Lau admires on you. You have the brains as well, help Ciel in his cases and just like your husband and brother, you also possess the art of swordplay, Edward probably teaching you a bit. So you might be a mix of your mother and father, you can be shy and very gentle when around people you trust, but are also smart and manipulative, charming your way into people's heart if it is for the tasks, a business woman through and through. This is what iterests Lau so much and since he is assossciated with Ciel and a part of Aristocrats of Evil, just like his darling is.

🚢So whilst you are very nice and friendly, you are also not easy to fool, seeing behind that eternal smile of his and knowing why he is so interested in Ciel, ready to work for the person who entertains him and helps him getting profit and also being aware of his propensity for violence and the excessive amount he is ready to use it which might be tasteless in your opinion.

🚢Lau in general is pretty hard to read and predict which might make you more warily around him, something he definitely notices and whilst he is a bit amused to see you being overly suspicious, liking to mess with you a bit, he also wants you to trust him which is why he tries to be closer to you and befriending you. He is good in fooling people and with his more goofy personality it might be hard to tell where exactly he crosses the platonic line to a romantic one. He is not really shocked nor disappointed or embarrassed when realizing his feelings, he has strong nerves and will just take it the way it is. He can't do anything about his feelings anyways, so why bother?

🚢But no matter from where you look it, Lau mostly only acts in what he thinks will be for his personal best iterest which is why he decides to break the whole engagement somehow off, though knowing he has to be careful since his darling's little brother, someone he is allied with, has a tight connection witht he Midford's and would want to avoid raising tension between his and their family. He knows it won't be easy, you're smart and you and Edward love each other, but there is always a crack, even in the most happiest lve stories. And all he has to do is find that little flaw and stir it up until everything falls apart. Lau has patience and doesn't waver, not acting bothered when seeing you and your fiancé being all lovely together, he keeps that smile because he has indeed a will made out of steel. He knows that eventually his time will come.

🚢Killing Edward would of course also be an option and afterwards he could use the chance to court you and be your shoulder to cry on, but that idea bears a lot of risks because his death would cause a commotion with everyone being dead set on finding the murderer and he would be finished when he is exposed, all his money and his business would be shattered mercilessly and he might risk getting killed himself. There are too many unknown factors and the fast road is not always the best, the longer one works in most of the cases better which is why he chooses to wait for longer and plan everything better.

🚢He has to become a close person of yours at first, fightng his way slowly into your heart. It doesn't have to be love for now, a friend should be fine, preferably a really good one as well since Lau likes spending time with you, you're funny to be with and he sincerely enjoys your company a lot. Additionally he often brings you presents, hair ornaments with expensive patterns, ointments for skin and alos many clothes, somewhat spoiling you. This is a sign that he likes you and is probably the reason why you refuse, not wanting to awaken in Edward the wrong impression by accepting presents of another way, but Lau insists, guaranteeing it's merely a sign of his respect for you as a good friend and daughter of the Phantomhive's. He has his ways with words which is why he somehow manages to convince you to reluctantly accept them.

🚢Ciel might be more protective despite you being the older one and also being protective of him. But Ciel kind of does not know what to feel when seeing Lau growing so close to you, not being able to tell if he truly likes you or just wants to test him a bit which is why he as well is a bit more warily with him when around you. He just can't tell what Lau is really up to and whilst that guy follows his demands and works together with him, that doesn't mean that he has to trust that guy around you. Kind of tries to seperate you two, with both of you noticing what he is up to.

🚢 And it is not like Lau doesn't keep an eye on you even when he isn't physically present, he has Ran Mao stalking you a bit, though she has to be careful with Sebastian being around and additionally she also spies on the Midford's in an attempt to find something out which he might be able to use against them and the engagement. It is not like Lau doubts Edward will treat the s/o good, it's just that the only person he would be truly able to share with without having to work on plans to eliminate the other person is Ran Mao herself since he sees her as his sister and has faith in her, though he is ready to share when the stakes are against him. But as long as he knows there is a chance, he grabs it, just like he always does.

🚢In the end it comes all honestly down to whether or not his darling knew about "Ciel" and Ciel because that will ultimately decide how good of a chance he has. Because if she knew and kept quiet about it, it might hint that she would later on decide to flee alongside with the rest of the servants, although she might have been shaken up when seeing her brother who she had thought of dead. Because that would put her herself in a tight spot and there might be a bounty on her as well which might lead the Midford's to declaring the engagement is broken off. So whilst she fully understands why they made that decision, it doesn't keep her from breaking down which is somewhat the cueword for Lau to become active when saving his darling and her brother. It's literally his opportunity to shine without even having to do anything.

🚢If she didn't know and would feel betrayed by her little brother who kept it a secret from her as well as absolutely devastated that she never realized this despite being their older sister, she might be too confused to really do anything and stay which makes things for Lau more complicated since he didn't see this coming at all. He needs to change his plans afterwards and if "Ciel" has a similar sense of possession over his sis like he has over his little brother, this will get complicated since he won't let her off the hook easily.

[quicksilversquared]

Move to Safety: Chapter 4 (of 6)

After Adrien just happens to spy Nooroo in his father’s office, he’s sent into an panic. His father is Hawkmoth, which means that Adrien is in serious danger.

Thankfully the Dupain-Chengs are more than willing to step up to the plate and lend a helping hand.

links in the reblog

"Ooh, I like this one!"

Marinette laughed when she spotted the bolt that Adrien was holding up. He had gotten back to the house after the mural dedication, they had gotten a bite to eat, and then the two of them had headed out to the fabric store for a bit of a distraction. It hadn't taken long for the two of them to get neck-deep in fabric. "Kitty paws? Why am I not surprised?"

"It's Chat Noir fabric!" Adrien glanced at the label, unsurprised to see that the neon-green cat paws on a black background were, in fact, designed to invoke Chat Noir. Thankfully, there wasn't a corresponding price mark-up on it. "You said that you needed black, right?"

"I do, yeah." Marinette stepped closer, inspecting the fabric. There was a small frown on her face. "The only problem is that it's a pretty prominent pattern and it's usually a better idea to not have the background fabrics be quite so, uh..."

Adrien glanced at the pattern in her hand, then back at the fabric. He could see what she was saying. "Oh. Darn."

"We could use it as the backing fabric, though!" Marinette said quickly. Then she spotted something else in the rack of fabric bolts and grinned, ducking down and reaching way back to grab another bolt and wriggle it out. "Though here's another option that I suspect you might like."

She pulled out anther bolt, and oh, he should have suspected that there would be a Ladybug fabric as well. It had a black background like the Chat Noir one, with little ladybugs scattered across the fabric, small pink and red flecks between them.

...he really liked that one, too.

Adrien dithered between the two choices, honestly torn. He loved the thought of being wrapped up in his Lady's colors, but he also really, really liked the Chat Noir fabric. It was a nod to his role in protecting Paris, and once his father was defeated, it wouldn't be overly dangerous to have superhero references around him.

Not that it was super suspicious at the moment, really- after all, all of Paris loved the superheroes- but everything would be safer with their supervillains gone, and it wouldn't have been smart to do anything to make his father suspicious even if he hadn't been Hawkmoth.

"Actually, I could do large patchwork blocks of both of them on the back," Marinette said while Adrien was still deliberating. "Like a checkerboard."

Adrien perked up. "Ooh, yes, please!"

The front of the quilt was going to be mostly blues and greens and black, and Adrien had plenty of fun picking through the racks to find something that stuck out to him. Subtle patterns were better for not overwhelming the overall design, and he wanted this to be a quilt that he would be happy with for years to come. It took longer than he had anticipated to make his choices, though Marinette didn't seem at all surprised by that as she wheeled their cart to the cutting counter and took a ticket.

"We're not going to get any studying done today, are we?" Adrien asked with a laugh as they lingered near the counter, keeping one eye on the ticket number being served. "Or at least I'm not, what with the dedication this morning and then this now."

"We'll have some time this afternoon and then this evening!" Marinette protested with a little laugh. "And all of tomorrow. Maybe we should have waited on the fabric errand a bit, but I thought it would be relaxing."

"And better now than after, y'know, the arrest," Adrien said, dropping his voice to a murmur on his last couple words. "I probably won't be able to go out as myself unless I want to get mobbed."

Marinette stiffened. "If people dare go after you-"

"I was thinking reporters, mostly." It was inevitable, really. They would want to know if he had known, if he was surprised, what he would do now. "Hopefully I'll get cleared pretty early on."

"If the superheroes tell the police that it was Adrien who told them who Hawkmoth was, I think they wouldn't question you that much," Marinette murmured, loud enough for him to hear but quiet enough that the other customers nearby wouldn't hear them. "You wouldn't tell on him if you were working with him, obviously, so if they knew that you were the whistleblower..."

Adrien nodded. That made sense, and while he didn't know if he necessarily wanted that to become public knowledge- there would probably be people who would scoff at him turning his father into the police and wonder if he had no loyalty if even family bonds meant nothing to him, never mind the whole supervillain angle- letting the police at least know would probably save him a world of trouble.

"I'm looking forward to not having to sneak in and out of your house," Adrien said instead of continuing that conversation. This wasn't the best place for it, anyway. "Especially the sneaking out. I hate having to climb over you in the mornings."

"You've been great at sneaking out," Marinette assured him quickly, flashing him a smile. "I haven't been woken up at all! Quiet as a cat."

Adrien laughed at that. "Thanks, I try. But it's more of a- it just feels creepy to climb over you when you're still asleep. Like, I'm going into your bedroom while you're asleep and climbing up to your bed and it's just- like, I know that we're comfortable with each other now, but..."

"I know that you're there, though. It's not like you don't have permission." Marinette bumped his side gently. "Honestly, it's fine. As long as you don't take any pictures of me drooling in my sleep, you're good."

"You don't drool," Adrien blurted before he could stop himself. "I mean, not that I look- I try not to, but I have to make sure that I don't step on you, so I guess I do kind of look- but you do sprawl out like a starfish when you sleep and it's cute and oh my god I'm going to stop talking now."

Marinette was giggling. "It's fine!"

"Stupid runaway mouth," Adrien grumbled, trying not to hunch his shoulders and hide behind Marinette when a couple women glanced over at them. "Sorry. I promise that I'm not trying to be a creep."

"Like I said, it's fine." Their number was called, and Marinette led the way to the cutting counter, placing the bolts of fabric that they had selected up on the counter and listing off how much she needed of each. "We could have tried to find a different window, I suppose, or- or something. I just thought that the balcony would look less weird."

Adrien decided to just nod at that point. He had an inkling that opening his mouth again would just result in more embarrassment on his end.

It didn't take long to get all of the fabric cut, and then Marinette took a quick detour through the quilting section to pick up batting, thread, and a couple other supplies before heading to the checkout. As the stuff was for the quilt was rung up, Adrien couldn't help but wince.

He had known that quilts took forever and a half to make, but he hadn't known how freaking expensive they were to make. Adrien opened his mouth to offer to pay for the materials, but a sharp look from Marinette had him closing his mouth just as quickly.

He would just have to get her some really, really nice presents for her birthday and Christmas, then.

...would it be excessive to compose Marinette a song on the piano to express his appreciation on top of whatever he bought for her? After all, she was going to be putting hours and hours into the quilt, and composing something on the piano... well, that was the closest that he was going to get to putting in a similar amount of effort.

"I can't wait to get into this fabric," Marinette said happily as they exited the store. Adrien had managed to snag the bulkiest of the bags to carry, figuring that that was probably as much as she would allow him to do. "I've only made a couple quilts before, mostly lap ones, and it was so much fun. And the pattern that you picked out looked really interesting, too."

"Ah-ah-ah, no sewing until exams are done," Adrien chided. He grinned. "See, I thought I remembered someone swearing that having the fabric in the house wouldn't be a distraction."

Marinette groaned. "I could do it as a study break! I've done that before, I just set up a timer so that I don't accidentally spend too much time sewing."

Adrien glanced over at her as they walked. "Is that really a good break, though? I've always been taught that I should get up and move around and maybe get a snack or something during study breaks so that I'm not still hunching over or focusing on anything. I'm just watching out for your health, Mari!" he added when Marinette groaned. "Seriously, let the quilt wait! Then you can go absolutely wild with it once exams are over."

Marinette dithered, then frowned. "Fine."

The bakery wasn't a super-far walk from the fabric store, so Adrien took the opportunity to enjoy the just-warm-enough weather, turning his face up to the sun to bask in the warmth. If his father were here, he would probably be scolding Adrien for not having put sunscreen on first so that there wouldn't be any chance of him getting any sort of sunburn.

Adrien pushed that thought out of his head. His father wasn't here, and he was going to be in jail soon enough that Adrien's complexion would no longer be any of his concern.

"Aha, I sense an incoming project," Mrs. Cheng commented as soon as the two of them reached the bakery and stepped inside. It was late enough in the day that the crowds had subsided, with only a few people milling around to pick out what they wanted. "New quilt?"

"Adrien insists that I wait to start it until after exams are over," Marinette told her mom in her best long-suffering voice. "Something about not distracting myself from studying and not being all hunched over fabric during study breaks."

"Aha, someone who has some sense," Mrs. Cheng said with a laugh, beaming at Adrien. "We've been trying to keep her from bouncing back and forth between studying and sewing for ages. You'll have to keep an eye on this one."

"Maman!" Marinette groaned, just as Adrien said, "I will."

"Oh, not you, too," Marinette complained. "I can self-regulate!"

Mrs. Cheng laughed. "Dear, we had to go out and buy creams for you to put on your back when it hurts too much from you hunching over. And then when you went to that chiropractor, she said that you need to work on straightening up and stretching on a regular basis when you're working on homework or sewing. I'm thinking that your self-regulation could use some work."

Marinette just groaned some more and headed for the door to the apartment. Adrien laughed and followed her, giving a cheery wave good-bye to Mrs. Cheng as he left. She beamed at him before turning back to her customers, greeting the next person in line cheerily.

"Not to pile on or anything, but right before exams doesn't seem like a great time to risk back problems flaring up," Adrien commented as he caught up to Marinette on the stairs. "Seriously, it can wait. Think of the quilt project as a reward that you'll get at the end of the week!"

Marinette flashed a smile back at him. "I know. It'll be something to look forward to. We... i mean, we'll probably want a distraction by then, too."

Adrien tilted his head to one side, momentarily puzzled, and then it hit him. Right. His father would be returning from his summer fashion preparations at the end of the week, coinciding with the end of their exam week. That was when he and Ladybug were planning on attacking his father- well, depending on when Mr. Agreste decided to send out an akuma, at least.

Funny that he had managed to forget about that when he and Ladybug had literally just been discussing it. Clearly the errand to the fabric store with Marinette had been a good distractor.

Honestly, the company had probably had a lot to do with it.

"Yeah, a distraction then sounds good," Adrien agreed, smiling back at her. "But for now, let's get the bags put away and get some studying done."

  Exam week arrived too fast, just like it always did. Everyone- or almost everyone, at least, there were always some exceptions- was serious, hunched over books and notebooks or quizzing each other between classes.

Most years, Adrien would have spent most of his time out of school with a personal tutor hired to help him study, with a personally customized study plan based off of his strengths and weaknesses. This year, though, Adrien had managed to persuade Nathalie that it was unneeded, and that he had learned enough about study skills and how to figure out his weak areas that he didn't need a tutor this year. In fact, he had argued, having to create his own study plan could be beneficial. He would have to be more involved and that could mean that he remembered the lessons better.

Nathalie hadn't been entirely convinced, of course, but she had agreed to let him try it this one time. If his grades slipped from what they had been in the past, though, she had warned, he would be getting tutors for all future exams and there would be more summer tutoring than before.

It had been a pretty motivating threat, at least before Adrien discovered his father's secret and, by extension, Nathalie's. Now, unless Adrien decided that he actually wanted a tutor, there wouldn't be any more.

That was fine. There wouldn't be any more akuma attacks disrupting his classes, either, so Adrien figured that it would all even out. Besides, it had been easier to study when he was in Marinette's house, for some reason. Maybe it was because he wasn't antsy and on edge all of the time. They kept him busy and distracted when he wasn't studying, which kept Adrien from getting caught up in his own worries about what would happen once his father returned.

A couple times, Adrien had fallen asleep next to Marinette on her floor while studying. It had been comfortable and they had woken up in a tangle of limbs. It could have been a bit awkward, honestly, but somehow it wasn't. They were comfortable enough with each other now that it was just something that they did.

And then exams were over, and Mr. Agreste returned to the city. Adrien was half-convinced that his father would notice that something was off, but Mr. Agreste just made a brief appearance to inquire how Adrien's exams had gone, then retreated to his office to keep working.

Honestly, that was just the way Adrien liked it, particularly now that he knew his father's secret. The more distance between them, the better.

Nathalie dropped off Adrien's schedule for the start of summer, then headed out the door for her four days of vacation and general unwinding. Adrien watched her go, then immediately headed over to the Dupain-Cheng house to keep Marinette company and help her cut out the hundreds of pieces for his quilt.

And with that, the countdown was on. Ladybug had distributed the Horse to Seabiscut and the Bee to Hornet, and she had decided to use the Snake herself during their final battle. Adrien was rather relieved about that, honestly, since he was likely to be at little emotionally compromised during the battle and it was one less thing for him to have to remember to bring. His role was to-

Was to-

Well, to provide backup where needed. To join Ladybug to take down the final akuma, after Hawkmoth was defeated. To help keep the arrest under wraps, since Nathalie would still need to be captured and they didn't want to tip her off ahead of time, in case she was keeping her Miraculous on her.

It didn't sound like a whole lot, if he was being honest, but then again, the takedown was planned to be simple and straightforward. There wouldn't be a whole lot to do, not if things went to plan. And with the Snake in action, things should go to plan.

It didn't take long for Adrien's attention to wander while he watched Marinette pin and sew, so he headed downstairs to help out in the bakery. Mr. Dupain seemed to know without asking that Adrien needed a distraction, so he herded Adrien over to the sink to wash his hands, then started teaching him how to do different jobs. The croissant roller was easy enough to operate and hard to mess up, and of course it was hard to mess up loading the dishwashers. He didn't get to do any actual mixing of ingredients, because it would be too easy for him to mess up if he got distracted by his thoughts (or had to leave because of an akuma attack), but Mr. Dupain had promised that he would teach Adrien how to bake- abet in smaller batches first- once things were more settled.

Adrien was looking forward to it, though he couldn't deny that it was a bit intimidating. He hadn't done a ton of cooking- he helped with prep, sure, but not cooking by himself- and baking just seemed even more complicated. There were more things that could go wrong, Adrien was pretty sure, what with the yeast and rising and trying to bake all the way through and not overbaking and-

Well, it was a delicate process, that was for sure, and not something that Adrien wanted to be learning about when he was on edge waiting for an akuma attack.

Thankfully the wait wasn't too long. Two days after Mr. Agreste returned to Paris, an akuma alert lit up Adrien's phone. He muted it, suddenly feeling ill and regretting the sandwich that he had just eaten for lunch.

This was it. It was actually happening.

Adrien had spent the past week- longer, really- trying to ignore what Hawkmoth's defeat would entail. But that time was past now, and part of Adrien- the part that hated change, that didn't want to give up on the last bit of his family (his aunt and cousin, of course, not included)- wanted to put it off, even if the rest of him just wanted the whole Hawkmoth thing to be over with. There was a lot of mixed feelings there, and Adrien know how he was even supposed to start sorting them out.

Adrien's racing thoughts were promptly cut off by a tight hug.

"You'll be okay," Marinette promised, resting her head against his shoulder. "We're here for you no matter what." She looked up at him, her chin resting on his collarbone. "And we can do whatever you want when you get back. If you want distractions, we can do distractions. If you want to cuddle and watch a movie and drink hot chocolate, we can do that."

Adrien swallowed hard, nodding. "Yeah." He hugged Marinette back, then pulled back, patting his pocket to make sure that his lucky charm from Marinette was still there. "Okay. I've got this."

"You do. And you have Ladybug and the rest of your team there for you, too." Marinette beamed at him. "You aren't alone."

"Okay." Somehow Marinette always knew just what to say. Adrien squared his shoulders, then flashed a smile- maybe a little weak around the edges, but still a smile- at her. "Plagg, transform me!"

With a flash of green, he was transformed. Chat Noir gave Marinette one more hug- for good luck, and to remind himself that he was still going to have a home and an amazing family even after his father was arrested- and then was off, heading for the abandoned building that Ladybug had picked out as their meeting point.

Soon it was all going to be over. He could only hope that he was actually ready.

[misssophiachase]

Thanks to the talented @klarolineagainnaturally for the gorgeous cover, I am in love with it! So, in honour of Valentine’s Day, here is an UPDATE, thank you for the love you’ve all given me so far. Let me know what you think. 

Synopsis: One wedding involving a best man and maid of honour who've grown up together but don't know quite how to reconcile their unresolved feelings.

Mr Mikael and Mrs Esther Mikaelson and Dr Grayson and Mrs Miranda Pierce request the pleasure of your presence at the wedding of their children:

The Hon Elijah Edward Mikaelson and Dr Katherine Elena Pierce

On the twenty-third of June, twenty-twenty one, 1400h at Ely Cathedral followed by a reception at Mikaelson Manor, Ely Cambridgeshire

Dress: White Tie

23rd June 2021, Mikaelson Manor, Ely Cambridgeshire - 9:39am

“Okay, less trying to manhandle the cupcakes and instead more hustle, Mikaelson,” Caroline ordered, barely slowing down in the process.

Klaus, meanwhile, was trying to be annoyed but couldn’t stop thinking how adorable she was when taking charge. He’d met her in the kitchen as directed and was already in full ‘save the cake’ planning mode. She was in her element clearly.

He was a little disappointed she’d decided to change out of the shorts and robe combination into jeans and a t-shirt but Klaus decided that it was okay if he could spend even a little more time with her. Once the wedding started he doubted they’d have much time to talk, let alone anything else.

Which was unfortunate for Klaus because he had a lot he wanted to say. Over a decade’s worth of things, in fact.

The realisation that he’d liked her since high school but was too stupid to see it.

Then falling in love with her two years ago when they pseudo speed dated and watched romantic comedies on Valentine’s Day. He’d woken up with her cradled in his embrace and Klaus knew it probably wasn’t a coincidence they’d ended up that way.

The night had been unlike anything he’d ever experienced with anyone. When she pretended like nothing happened Klaus had no choice but to deny it too. He’d been in denial ever since until now.

The previous night’s events had been playing on repeat in his mind as he tried to sleep. She stole his sandwich and then they talked, like really talked.

Then there was that whole other thing that happened before Tully ate the wedding cake. Nobody knew about that yet and given it was his brother’s wedding day it was probably best.

Too much to say and too little time clearly.

“So, what exactly are these bonbons for anyway?” He asked, removing one from it’s white box and transferring it to the cake stand.

“It’s Bomboniere.”

“What now? We can’t all be wedding aficionados,” he joked.

“They are the gifts for the guests,” she explained. “We’ll make them the cake, not overly traditional but problem solved.”

“Well, not to nitpick love,” he murmured, she gave him a look which clearly meant she didn’t believe him. “But what are you going to give the guests instead? I mean I don’t need a gift, even if my presence is a gift in itself to the happy couple.”

“Ignoring that ego, I assumed people wouldn’t notice?”

“If you mean my grandmother as well as Mikael and Esther then good luck,” Klaus shared.

“Well, do you have any better ideas?”

8.5 hours earlier

“Well, do you have any better ideas?”

“I only mean that you could kill a few of the jokes and add some more sentimental content, I realise you do have that stand-up comedian dream but I’m sure it can wait a little longer,” Caroline teased, sandwich in hand. He’d long given up hope she’d return it to him.

“Sentimental? Have you met me, Forbes?”

“Oh come on, I’m sure you have something buried way deep, deep, deep down inside.”

“Cute.”

“He’s your brother, you must have something you could share about growing up together and…”

“Well, there was that time he wet his pants when Kol…”

“Not what I meant, Mikaelson, and you know that. He’s getting married, this is your only opportunity to do this and you have to get it right.”

“So, what have you written for your Maid-of-Honour speech?”

“Oh, so now you’re going to copy me? Trust me, I don’t think you could pull off half my speech.”

“Let me guess, you are going to say something like...'the best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds.'

“Did you memorise The Notebook?”

“You made me watch it remember?”

“Yeah, like two years ago."

“What can I say, cheesy lines have this annoying ability to lodge themselves in my brain, unfortunately.”

“Let me guess you’d say: a wedding is a sacrament... a joyous celebration of love and commitment. In utopia. In the real world... it's an excuse to drink excessively and say things you shouldn't say.”

“Says the girl who’s judging me but using her own rom com lines.”

Klaus realised he was trying to play it cool and quoting the Notebook and recognising dialogue from The Wedding Date wasn’t a great look. Klaus didn’t want to admit it, especially to Caroline, but he might have watched those movies a few times since.

It was ridiculous, especially given he didn’t like them..much...but they reminded him of her. He figured if he couldn’t have the real thing he’d torture himself with romantic comedies instead. Messed up, right?

“ So it isn’t true?”

“That guy had the right idea.” Of course he knew the guy was called Nick but Klaus figured he’d already embarrassed himself enough.

“So, you don’t believe in marriage.”

It was faint but he could sense the change in her tone and strain in her voice. For a split second Klaus felt buoyed, like maybe he still had a chance with her. But at the same time he wasn’t sure if he was imagining things.

“I believe in marriage if it’s for the right reasons and with the right person,” he replied, noticing her face soften slightly. “I just think the concept that the wedding day is supposed to be the biggest and happiest day of your life is wrong. It’s about the commitment, not just one day.”

“I think that’s fair, everyone gets caught up in all of the wedding festivities and forgets about the real meaning behind it all.”

“As we hunt for wedding rings in the garden and madly try to perfect our speech the night before,” he teased. “Although that part about drinking excessively and saying things you shouldn’t has my Great Aunt Maude written all over it.”

“Noted,” she chuckled. “So, maybe that’s what you need to say in your speech then.”

“I’m not sure my mother would appreciate me insulting Great Aunt Maude during the speeches, even if she will probably be too drunk to remember.”

“Not that part,” she shot back, rolling her eyes exaggeratedly. “The part about marriage being not just one day but a commitment shared for life.”

“Let’s hope everyone is too drunk to remember me saying that,” he joked. “I do have a reputation to protect, Forbes.”

“Well, maybe it’s time you stopped caring about what people think and be yourself. If there is anytime to do that it’s for your brother’s wedding.”

“You have this annoying habit of eating my food, making me watch romantic comedies and also making me feel guilty.”

“It was one sandwich, Mikaelson. If you don’t want me to eat it next time don’t add mayonnaise. As for the guilt, maybe that is just your conscience screaming to be heard in the form of a best man speech.”

“I never said I wasn’t taking notes.”

He held her gaze, a genuine smile that had been suppressed. Instead of looking away, Caroline’s blue eyes remained trained on his. It was as if there was no wedding or kitchen or mayo sandwiches. Just them. At this moment.

Klaus could pinpoint the exact moment he knowingly fell in love with Caroline Forbes, it was when she teased him about crying during the Notebook. The moment he unknowingly fell in love with her was when she rolled her eyes at him when he gave a smart ass comment during english class. Here and now, Klaus knew no one would ever compare to Caroline Forbes and that he needed to get out of his comfort zone and tell her just how he felt.

“Caroline…”

“Wow, is that the time?” She interrupted, her creamy cheeks tinged slight pink as she consulted her watch. “We should get to bed if we want to be functional tomorrow.”

Then she was gone as quickly as she’d arrived. Klaus wasn’t sure how to feel. Disappointed she’d interrupted him or relieved that he didn’t make a fool of himself.

Either way, sleep didn't come easily that night.

“Hello?”

“What did you say?” Klaus broke out of his trance wondering how long she’d been trying to reach him.

“I said, how are we going to fix the Bomboniere issue,” she pressed. “It’s T minus four hours until the ceremony starts. If only your grandmother and parents didn’t have such a keen eye for detail.”

“It’s not detail, it’s how things will look,” he drawled, knowing his parents’ motives all too well. “I’m surprised they thought a cupcake would suffice to be honest.”

“Well, Kat wanted to do a donation gift to the hospital for the Bomboniere and there was so much back and forth during the planning stages that a cupcake was a quick fix.”

“A donation gift?”

“In lieu of a gift, the happy couple donate to a chosen charity on the guest’s behalf.”

“That’s a brilliant idea.”

“Well, not to brag but it was my suggestion.”

“Of course it was,” he said warmly, thinking it was just another reason to love her for being so kind and generous. “What was their issue with a donation to a good cause? Oh hang on why am I even asking, it’s my parents, I know exactly why.”

“Well, apparently your father argued it would be showing favouritism to donate to one particular cause and given Elijah is supposed to represent all people and groups it wouldn’t be a good look.”

“Oh please,” Klaus scoffed. “That is a lie and we all know it. I love how my parents can still manipulate every situation to their benefit even years later.”

“To be fair to Kat and Elijah I think it was just easier to give in to avoid further disruption of the event plans which were already fairly delayed.”

“It’s their wedding and they should be able to choose what they want,” he growled. “Okay, I have an idea.”

“I’m listening.”

“We nominate a half a dozen different charities and it is up to the guests to choose where their donations go. Then father can’t say the bride and groom are being partial to one charity over others…”

“But that the decision is ultimately up to the guests.”

“Exactly.”

“But there’s not much time to make it happen.”

“I hate to stereotype but I’m going to,” he shared. “Men don’t take that long to get ready, with the exception of Kol, so we can get this done in time, I promise.”

“I’d like to help...”

“On the other hand, and not to stereotype, but some women take longer to get ready.”

“You’re talking about Rebekah aren’t you?”

“Apparently I am incredibly transparent too. How about I work on this and you find a cake or cupcake topper?”

“Wow, you know its name? Have you ever considered wedding planning as a new career direction, Mikaelson?”

“You tell anyone about my part in this and I will detail the almost wedding ring loss in my best man speech and that is a promise, Forbes.”

“You drive a hard bargain,” she mused, her smile widening and tugging at his heart more than he was expecting. “But I’ll take it.”

She held out her hand and Klaus was almost afraid to touch it given the feelings it would no doubt conjure up and now was neither the time or the place. He acted against his better judgment and enveloped his hand in hers.

Her skin was soft and enticing and as soon as she touched him, the feelings he was trying to ignore had made their way from bubbling below the surface to front and centre. But there was a wedding and Klaus wasn’t even sure if she felt what he did so it really wasn’t the time.

“Klaus...” the way she said it was so vulnerable and inviting and all he wanted to do was let her finish the sentence but he was also afraid at the same time. He couldn’t do rejection right now, that was for sure.

“I, uh, better get going if we are going to pull this off,” he smiled, albeit awkwardly given his heart was racing due to their unexpected contact. “We’ll compare notes in a few hours.”

He was the one to leave this time.

Klaus felt bad but at the same time he knew it was the right thing to do given the enormous job at hand.

Entering his bedroom, Klaus close the door quietly behind him. He leaned his head up against the door, willing his heart to stop racing and to return to normal so he could try and be productive. Klaus knew he needed to focus.

Then he let his eyes wander around the room. He could be messy at times but this was another level. His clothes were strewn across the whole space. Given he hadn’t packed that much, Klaus was wondering how his clothing seemed to have tripled in that time. 

Then he realised it, there wasn’t more of it, it was just cut into many pieces. He bent down and grabbed a few handfuls of material confirming the jagged edges weren’t a fashion statement but sabotage pure and simple.

Klaus knew exactly who had done it and why. Klaus knew he was to blame for her outburst, although he was certain she wasn’t that upset at the time given she couldn’t wait to get out of this ‘god forsaken place’ he’d dragged her to in the ‘middle of nowhere’ with ‘nobodies’ to ‘the detriment of her social media.’

Yes, he’d woken from a restless night after his time in the kitchen with Caroline and decided it was best to be honest and tell the truth. Klaus couldn’t in good conscience keep dating Hayley when he was madly in love with Caroline. Even if she didn’t reciprocate his feelings Klaus knew Hayley didn’t deserve that. She’d basically packed her bags on the spot while he tended to the Tully cake eating emergency. When he’d returned briefly she’d shut herself in the adjoining bathroom and wasn’t ready to talk.

Looks like she still wasn’t given the bathroom door was wide open and her luggage was missing. On the plus side she’d left but on the down side she’d shredded his entire wardrobe. Immediately Klaus felt sick, rushing to the wardrobe to check on his suit for the wedding. Needless to say it had been unceremoniously massacred and left in a pathetic heap at the bottom of the cupboard.

A woman scorned and all that.

Now, he didn’t just have Bomboniere to fix, as promised, but now he had a suit emergency too.

“Bloody weddings,” he muttered, wondering how he was going to fix this problem.

[bgn846]

I Got It Covered, Trust Me - FFXV FIC

 Summary:            

Gladio decides Iris' new boyfriend has to go, he's an idiot. Iris doesn't agree. Gladio takes matters into his own hands and invites them both over for dinner, and a little chat. What could possibly go wrong?

Notes:    

I had a great time doing a little collab with Blackchocomuffin for this piece. Please, go check out their awesome art of Gladio being a good overprotective brother.    ART,

TW: For animal blood on an apron.

Work Text:          

The one thing Gladio didn’t take into account was Prompto freaking out. He was covered in blood, so he shouldn’t have been too surprised by the reaction. However, what Gladio didn’t foresee was having to explain everything to Ignis, since he couldn’t see what Prompto was going on about.

“What do you mean he’s bleeding?” Ignis exclaimed rushing forward to try and touch him.

“I’m fine Iggy, babe trust me it’s not even my blood.”

Prompto decided now would be a good time to tell Ignis, in great detail, what he looked like. This did not go well. Namely, because Gladio had decided that Iris’ latest boyfriend needed to go, and his bloodied appearance was directly linked to that.

“First off he’s wearing an apron?” Prompto questioned as he announced it to Ignis like that would instantly explain things. “And it’s covered in blood and what is with the knife big guy? It looks like you murdered someone!” Prompto asked with concern.

“Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on? Do I need to fetch a medic?” Ignis asked, his voice rising higher and higher by the second.

Gladio wanted to pull his partner into a hug, but being covered in blood prevented that action. Guess he’d have to fess up. Gladio was doing so well on his little mini-mission and then Prompto had to swing by unexpectedly.

“Listen, the both of you, just let me explain. I’m uninjured; this is leftover blood from the recent kill at the hunter’s guild.” Gladio paused for a moment when Ignis’ handsome face adopted a very bizarre expression. When the man didn’t say anything Gladio continued. “I’m going to, to, um,” and this is when the sheer stupidness of his idea hit Gladio. He was trying to scare his little sister’s boyfriend so he’d go away. Gods, he was an asshole.  “Er, uh, shit, you’re both gonna say I’m a total jerk, but this is to scare off Todd.”

“Oh,” was all Prompto uttered.

“Todd, as in Iris’ new boyfriend, Todd?” Ignis clarified.

“Yep, that’s the one.”

“Why may I ask, have you decided that Todd must go?” Ignis queried.

“Okay, in Gladio’s defense Todd is an idiot.” Prompto chimed in with a thoughtful look. “He thinks corn and flour tortillas are the same thing. That’s weird.”

Surprised to hear Prompto throw Todd under the bus, Gladio had renewed hope in his plan. “Iggy, all I wanna do is have Todd see me like this so he’ll get freaked and leave Iris alone.”

“What if your plan doesn’t work? What then? I’m not sure Todd seeing you,” Ignis paused and waved his hand around nondescriptly. “As Prompto described you will do anything.”  

“Yeah, well, I’ll just have to tie him up and put him in my trunk for a night. He’ll get lost after that for sure.”

“Prompto I can’t tell, is he joking? I fear he’s being serious,” Ignis sighed trying to remain calm.

“Why the apron?” Prompto asked instead.

“Oh! Well, Iris wanted me to officially meet Todd so I told her to bring him over for dinner tonight. The thing is Iggy wasn’t going to know what I looked like, so he could remain innocent when Iris yells at me later.”

“Oh damn, did I screw things up by swinging by?” Prompto queried.

“Aside from destroying Iggy’s alibi, it’s not a big deal Prom.”

“Wait, I’m still lost over here, you are wearing an apron that has been covered in blood? Correct?”

“Yeah, and I’ve got some on my face too to match.”

“Six save me, that’s why you didn’t give me a kiss when you got back earlier. You were trying to spare me from getting dirty.”

“Right, so are we all on board for scaring the shit outta Todd?”

“I can’t imagine this young man is so bad. Though, I’ve never personally met him.”

“He’s not the brightest bulb in the box Iggy,” Prompto admitted. “Did I mention that his brother is a flat eoser? I mean come on that’s terrible enough.”

“Excuse me, he’s a what?”

“No, not him, his brother. You know a flat esoer, someone who thinks the eos is flat.”

Ignis licked his lips and opened his mouth to speak but gave up after a moment.

“So yeah I’ve got maybe twenty more minutes to get real dinner started so I’m a believable cook when they get here,” Gladio supplied quickly.

“Are you not going to explain anything when they arrive?” Prompto asked with a small smile. “How do you see this going?”

“I’m hoping Todd will give me a look that says he’s scared for his life and then I’ll probably make some sorta comment about Iris’ last boyfriend being a troublemaker, and that I took care of em’.”

“And you both claim Todd is an idiot,” Ignis grumbled as he shuffled away to find the couch and sit down.

“Seriously he is! That is why I’m doing this.”

“Do be careful Gladio, she may try and date his brother in retaliation.”

“Nah, Iris wouldn’t do that, she’s too smart for that.”

“At least one of the Amicitia siblings has their parent’s wits.”

Prompto barked out a laugh before Gladio could respond. “Guess I should head out so you can get prepared.  I want to hear all the little details. Ignis, let me know how hard Iris hits Gladio. I know you’ll be able to tell based on the sound.”

Ignis gave Prompto a nod signaling he’d heard and went back to using his phone, listening to the daily reports from the marshal. As quickly as Prompto had arrived he was gone, off to find some of the glaive to relax for the night. They’d all had a busy day and it was time to unwind. Unless as in Gladio’s case, he was attempting to not alienate his litter sister or upset his own boyfriend. It was a fine line he was treading.

--

Time flew after Prompto left, and Gladio soon found that he was not only covered in blood but cooking stains as well. At least they’d have a good dinner, or Ignis would if Iris killed him before they ate. The tall tale sound of footsteps approaching meant the moment of truth had arrived. Grabbing his large carving knife complete with dried blood covering every inch, he waited to hear a knock before he answered.

However, when he shuffled out of their tiny kitchen towards the door Ignis was already standing and waving him back. “Allow me, your reveal will be better from the kitchen,” he whispered while waiting near the door.

Unable to keep the grin from his face Gladio leaned forward and gave Ignis a quick kiss on the lips. “Thanks, babe, you’re the best!” he offered in a hushed tone before retreating back to his spot by the stove.

Ignis merely shook his head and put on his best ‘I know nothing’ face when someone knocked. Iris’ voice rang out a second later announcing their arrival, his little sister was always mindful of Ignis not being able to use the peephole in the door. Forced to turn away from the door Gladio took a deep breath and waited.

“Lovely to hear you again Iris,” Ignis offered easily to which the younger Amicitia laughed brightly. “Ah yes, this must be who we are here to meet, Todd correct?”

A low voice answered, but not loud enough for Gladio to hear well.

“Do come in and make yourself at home, Gladio’s been busy in the kitchen all evening,” Ignis supplied before closing the door.

Thinking of how his dad might have reacted to meeting one of Iris’ boyfriends, Gladio put on his best impression of their late father and spun around to meet Iris and Todd. “So this is the young man you’ve been so enamored with, huh?” Gladio stated before frowning. “I do hope you treat my sister well, she’s a very special lady.”

  Nothing but silence filled the room when he finished talking. Iris was looking at him like she wanted to throttle him and Todd; well Todd was just not paying attention. The little shit. The moment he fully turned around to see the rest of the apartment behind him Iris stepped forward and punched Gladio in the arm, hard. Training with Cor was paying off; Iris had a mean right hook.

“Uh, do you need help with anything?” Todd asked with a blank look when he focused again. “I didn’t realize you got so into cooking, you’re like covered, in, um, lots of stuff.”

“Blood, Todd, I’m covered in blood,” Gladio deadpanned in a moment of anger.

“Are we having meat? Oh, I thought Iris told you, I’m a vegan.”  

“What?” Gladio asked in confusion. How the hell had this kid not noticed that this was an overly excessive amount of blood to be covered in. Even for cooking.

“You know like someone who doesn’t eat meat or dairy products. Plant-based only.”

“How?” This was bad, this was very bad. Gladio was so thrown off he couldn’t even speak full sentences anymore.

“Oh, uh, I grow a lot of my own food but it’s like really hard and sometimes I don’t eat enough. I mean it’s so dark out all the time, and it’s hard to gro--.”

Gladio had already tuned Todd out, this little brat didn’t even know what it was like to eat meat, let alone butcher it. That, he hadn’t taken into account. This didn’t mean Todd was dumb though, just massively out of the loop. Still, he thought he’d managed to at least look like a horror movie villain. Maybe Todd didn’t watch scary movies either?

“—like that’s how I usually do it, but it’s hard to find tofu sometimes, but I can make fake chicken with flour and that’s not bad. Uh, when are we eating, I have to stick to a strict schedule otherwise my body gets out of whack,” Todd finished with an expectant look.

Sweet shiva, Gladio was starting to seriously consider his options for actually doing away with Todd. Fine, he doesn’t eat meat, but he could at least not be an asshole about it! “Dinner should be ready soon, why don’t you go help Ignis with the wine.”

“I only drink wines that haven’t been aged in wood; do you have anything like that?”

Gladio couldn’t even form words; this guy was a piece of work. Thankfully, Ignis was ready to field that request. His partner guided Todd away towards their modest wine rack to select something. Gladio already knew they didn’t have what Todd wanted. They had nothing Todd wanted. His garula steak pasta sauce paired with egg pasta wasn’t vegan. The bread rolls with cheese baked in most definitely weren’t. Though, why did he care, the little shit could starve, he wasn’t here to make Todd happy! He was trying to make him go away.

The second Todd stepped away with Ignis, Iris got close and promptly kicked him in the shin. Biting back a yell Gladio limped back into the kitchen space. “He’s an idiot!” Gladio hissed under his breath.

“He’s my idiot!” Iris whisper shouted back.

“Can’t you select a different one? He’s sorta rude.”

“I can’t believe you, trying to scare him like this.”

“Well, it didn’t work! See, he’s an idiot!” Gladio huffed excitedly.

“No, he’s not,” Iris growled lowly.

“I look like I mur—Did you two find a good wine?” Gladio asked cheerily when Todd came back over holding a bottle.

“Not sure, the label on this one is too faded for me to tell if it’s been aged in wood barrels or not. I won’t drink it because it’s like cruelty against trees and all. Ignis said there might be a magnifying glass over here for me to try and read the label better?”

“Excuse me? What about trees?” Gladio was well out of his element with this kid, he wasn’t an idiot he was just plain weird. “I don’t think they fe--.”

“I know where there is one!” Iris interjected, “One sec baby let me grab it for you.”

Baby!? Dear lord his little sister was calling this tool bag baby. The world had officially ended. Gladio nearly threw up in his mouth when Todd repeated the name back to Iris. He almost didn’t catch the barely concealed snort from Ignis across the room. Damn him, at least he was having fun.

--

Dinner was a disaster. The more Gladio worked to fluster Todd, the more Iris would fawn over him. Figures, she’d act that way, she was doing this out of spite, he was sure of it. Ignis on the other hand was having the time of his life. When Todd started talking about conspiracy theories, Ignis, who knew every little thing there is to know, easily debunked each and every one.

As the night crawled on, Gladio realized Todd was getting drunk. The kid had only been able to eat the small salad they’d made. He’d declined the dressing since that wasn’t the right way to eat greens. Something about being respectful to their natural state and covering them in oil and vinegar was a huge mistake. This of course made Gladio smother his salad in dressing, just to see if he could elicit a reaction out of the tool bag.

It didn’t work.

Nothing was working, Todd was terrible, but Iris wasn’t going to dump him, he’d failed his mission. However, right when Gladio thought all hope was lost, Todd opened his mouth and proceeded to stick his foot in it. Guess getting drunk had made him a little loose-lipped.

“Gladio,” Todd announced seriously, “You should tell Iris to be careful when she fights. I keep telling her that she won’t look good with battle scars.”

“Sometimes you have no choice but to take up arms buddy, it’s the way things are nowadays,” Gladio answered meaningfully. “We’ve sworn an oath to protect the people and that may come at a cost.”

“Yeah, yeah, but like for Iris specifically, she shouldn’t fight, it’s not right.”

“What?” Gladio and Iris asked in unison.

“Baby, hear me out, I like you and all but like you can’t keep fighting, what if you get scars like your brother? You won’t be pretty anymore.”

The deathly silence that followed Todd’s proclamation was the best thing Gladio had heard all night. Maybe things were turning around after all. Todd wasn’t an idiot. He was a duche bag. Even better!

--

Iris had cried a few times since Ignis had asked Todd to leave after his comment. Something about having an angry blind man remove his visor, and pointedly stare at you left little room for argument. Ignis’ bold move had done more than Gladio’s bloodied apron had even come close to achieving. Todd’s utter look of fear at being singled out was a thing of pure joy to behold. Gladio didn’t like that it came at the expense of his sister's feelings, but Todd needed to go.

“Is he blind?! Sorry Ignis but I’m still in shock,” Iris lamented. “I mean you both clearly have visible scars, why would he say something so, so rude.”

“He’s a douche bag, that’s why!” Gladio cut in.

“It’s alright, that wine he drank had been aged in an oak barrel for at least fifteen years. He had to go on my word that it hadn’t been,” Ignis added calmly.

“You lied to him?” Gladio asked with a smile.

“I may have fibbed; I can’t be expected to keep all my wine bottles straight. I’m unable to read any of the labels personally so I can’t really be blamed.”

“Who doesn’t use dressing on salad, that’s stupid,” Iris mumbled a second later.

“I knew you’d come around! Come on let us find you a nice normal boy to date. Iggy and I will invite them over for a nice din--.”

“NO! No, no, no I’m fine. Gladio you stay outta my business,” Iris cut in, though she was smiling a little.

Laughing loudly Gladio pulled Iris over, nearly toppling her chair, for a proper hug. “Okay truce, I won’t go actively hunting for a boyfriend for you, but can you at least trust us when we tell you they might be an idiot?”

“Maybe, just don’t do the bloodied apron knife thing again, that was awful.”

“What did he look like? I’ve had Prompto describe his look but I’d like to hear it from you, if I may.”

Iris happily obliged and described all of Gladio’s elaborate planning, down to the black trash bags on the counter with a sticky label on them that read ‘Todd’. Prompto hadn’t noticed those.

By the time she’d finished and they’d cleaned up everything Gladio decided he could break out dessert. No reason to waste his efforts. Iris merely rolled her eyes when he took out a plate of simple sugar cookies that he’d decorated with little radioactive symbols. “What?! It was a backup plan in case Todd hadn’t figured out things.”

“Ignis, he’s made cookies with the hazardous symbol all over them. Do you think we are safe to eat them?”

“Oh that’s what you were doing,” Ignis exclaimed with a smile. “Yes, they should be palatable. I helped with those. I didn’t realize what Gladio intended to use them for. He added the decoration afterward, I believe.”

“You are such a dork Gladio. Thanks for looking out for me though.”

“Anytime Iris, Iggy, and I are here for ya no matter what.”

Iris leaned over and gave him another hug. “Sounds good, but there is one thing I gotta know,” pausing she pulled away. “Where the hell did you get all that blood?!”

[pollyannisms]

DISCORD HEADCANON DUMP

Ángela falls strictly into the Iceberg category, where promotion is off the table entirely because she is too valuable for the foundation where she is. Unless another version of her comes along, they would never find another person to do what she does with the same efficiency and fearlessness. It's like, how many forensic pathologists would be happy and willing to climb into the giant decomposing chest cavity of a potentially dangerous anomaly to get an insight on what it was that put them down? Not many besides Ángela, that's for sure! 

Okay, this is more of a general headcanon than one which applies to a Ángela alone. Still, I'm of the firm opinion that any researcher/doctor/security officer/etc. Who fits the profile of a 'team-leader (i.e. has assistant workers, trains future workers as a part of an apprenticeship program, etc.) has the additional duty of monitoring the workers under them, in addition to whatever job they are expected to perform, and reporting any concerning/dissenting/anti-social/overly-cruel or generally problem behaviour to the Ethical Enforcers before it becomes a more significant issue for the foundation at large. And it's from these reports that things like mandatory psych evaluations, increased surveillance, etc., are often borne. 

So, for example, let's say one of the forensic assistants under Ángela began vocally experiencing a higher degree of humanization of the individuals and anomalies they autopsy and expressing a great amount of guilt over it. Ángela would be obligated by her duty to report this to the ethics team, and they from there would schedule a psych evaluation for the individual in question, and advise Ángela to keep herself open if they need support in the mean time. From there though the ethics team and psych team would evaluate whether the employee was fit to continue their work or posed a danger to themselves, others or the foundation as a whole and consider taking steps from there.

A lot of the time when people in the foundation talk about O5 having ‘eyes’ everywhere, it’s in reference to these sorts of mandatory reporters. 

Ángela is in charge of choosing her team members (aka. forensic assistants to help her move bodies around, take measurements, etc.), and I think she is VERY VERY picky about who she takes and doesn’t. 

Though this is because she does a lot of the grosser, more gruesome and dangerous aspects of the job that no one else wants to do (and therefore gets pushed off onto her), and she doesn’t want to have anyone go with her, who she can’t rely on in a pinch and who can’t bear the emotional burden of her job. iii

Prompt: For researchers; What was their favorite SCP assigned to them and why? Do any stick out in their memory? Why? What did they do and what were they?

Ángela’s favourite SCP and also most heartbreaking assignment was SCP-8699 or The Living Dead. They were a humanoid anomaly that was inanimate most of the time but became animate during instances of a full moon. Which weird as it is, wasn’t their anomalous trait. It was the fact that they could not be killed by brute force, but could not regenerate themselves, actively decayed like a corpse but remained alive during full-moon periods, felt no pain and seemed to know nothing about itself other than that it existed, but seemed incapable of understanding that it should’ve been dead. 

They were given to Ángela during an entirely separate SCP investigation and were undergoing an examination to create a link between said aforementioned SCP and themselves - but regained animation and sentience on the exam table. Causing Ángela’s crew to evacuate the lab and Ángela to retreat into the observation room to trigger the breach in progress alarm. Though, to Ángela’s surprise, rather than attempting to break into the observation room to try and kill her, they ripped off their EKG and hid under the exam table and seemed terrified, crying and shaking and trying to cover themselves. 

Ángela, being Ángela and seeing this, turned on the speakers in the lab from the observation room and did her best to comfort the SCP, and directed them to some extra lab coats she kept in case of emergencies and talked with them, and between the jigs and the reels, managed to calm them down, explained they weren’t in trouble and that there had been a mistake, and played four games of tic-tac-toe before the security team finally got to the lab and secured 8699 and rescued Ángela. 

Though on their way to move 8699, dawn broke, and they reverted to an inanimate corpse once again. Ángela, with backing from her superiors, decided warranted further observation, and thus the pattern was detected, and they were classified!

Sadly though, Ángela and her team had to classify them as Khonsu, and due to their natural decay, 8699 was fully neutralized within two years of their discovery. Much to the heartbreak of the time assigned to them, as they were lovable in their way. Like, they were this 2.3 metre tall emaciated, rotting corpse that wouldn’t look out of place in a horror movie, with the mental maturity of a child and this sunshiny disposition and an apparent inability to understand the situation they were in entirely. I mean, how can you not love a shy, gentle giant that tries to hide behind its researcher that’s half its size.

What Ángela remembers about them the most though was when she was ordered to carry out a complete autopsy of them during one of their periods on apparent inactivity, as they were functionally dead and therefore able to be conducted without the possibility of excessive pain or cruelty. Before the dissection, though, Ángela, with backing from the Ethics committee, chose to have a meeting with 8699 and told them everything she was going to have to do and stressed that they were allowed to say no to anything ‘too invasive’ and the ethics committee would make sure she wouldn’t have to do it. But they didn’t care, they just shook their head and shrugged it off, saying ‘No, it’s fine, I won’t feel it anyways and I trust you, you’ll put me back together again,’ to which Ángela was like

Something unintentionally uncovered by the 8699, though, was that Ángela seems to have anosmia because, even when 8699 was falling into goo and bones and ‘reeked to the high heavens,’ so much so that they had to give it an airtight containment chamber. Ángela was able to remain in close contact with them and even eat in their presence.

Prompt: What was the scariest or most traumatic moment that your character has had to live through and how did they respond to the trauma in that moment?

For Ángela, there are four options for this question. There was the moment she found her older brother’s dead body bloated and disfigured and unrecognizable as him if it wasn’t for the crucifix necklace he always wore, which left her, well, non-functioning. She disconnected from her peers and family, developed depression, mentally regressed in terms of maturity, and developed muteness for the better part of 3 years following. In her defense, what she saw was horrifying for a child, and she wasn’t given trauma or therapy in the aftermath to help her cope.

- there was the incident that triggered her abduction hiring by the Foundation, which left her incredibly rattled and nervous about resuming her work for months following (though, with help from available counselling and therapy, she moved past that trauma and was able to return to work)- there was the first-ever containment breach she was a part of

 - where one of the patients she and her team were working on suddenly returned to life and sunk its teeth into her coworker’s throat—causing him to bleed out. She and her team members to have to leave him to it, which was the reason for her first promotion and was the incident that made it sink in that she wasn’t working for the government anymore and that the SCP Foundation was much more dangerous than she could have ever prepared for. Sometimes she still has nightmares about that assistant grasping at his neck desperately and trying to claw his way to the door to escape with them, only to be dragged back into the lab by the anomaly-infected corpse and the sound he made, oh god, the sound. Something between a wet rattle and a wheeze as he tried to cry for help despite his open wound.

And there was the lead up to 8699’s neutralization. See, before it’s death, it had requested Ángela visited them in the Foundation’s equivalent of a hospice center in Site 17, and she went. She used her vacation days and headed over, and things were going great! 8699 remembered Ángela and has perked up the moment it recognized her, and they chatted, about her team, the non-classified information about the site, how the flowers looked. The birds were coming home for spring, and things seemed, well, great, despite the ever-present vibe of forthcoming death. 

Then something happened- she couldn’t tell you what, but something clicked in 8699, like the gravity of the situation finally dawned on them, and they asked her to get closer. Given their history of non-violence and friendliness, was obliged by Ángela, and they spilled everything they knew about themselves and how they came to be what they were, which took Ángela by surprise and left her shocked. Never before had they lied. They were forthright, almost childishly so, so it seemed so strange. Then they said they had to give her something and began hacking and coughing violently. They seized and sputtered and Ángela, being a smart cookie, tried backing up. 

At this point, she was terrified. 8699 wasn’t acting like themselves. They didn’t seem like themselves, they were more erratic, agitated, and she didn’t know if they were going to try and attack her or not. But 8699, despite retching like it was trying to heave it’s organs through its mouth, grabbed her wrist and held her with a strength she couldn’t get out of. At that moment, her entire life flashed before her eyes. It was like every mistake she had ever made fit into one jigsaw puzzle, and she understood that she was going to die here with this SCP she underestimated. But, instead of attacking her, 8699 just produced this group of 6 polished gems and shoved them into her hand before letting go, and Ángie just fell to the ground.

She was in such a state of shock that it wasn’t until the security team put her into a quarantine that she understood what the fuck had even happened. Shortly after that, this apparent attack 8699 entered inactivity for the final time and never returned to an animated state.

Prompt: What is your character’s opinion on the armed guards buzzing around the facility? Are they intimidated by them? Do they enjoy them? Know them by name? Or do they pity them?

Regarding the guards, Ángela has divided emotions. On the one hand, she fears their guns but pities them as people. They’re often so young and unequipped to deal with these situations, promised this exciting, lucrative career, only to be treated as d-class with guns.

She, in equal measures, wants to hug them and tell them to run for the hills and mutter under their breath about their foolishness. But this is more so directed at what she sees in them that reminds her of her. In practice, she’s kind and a bit maternal to many of them - popping her head into the guard breakroom at the beginning of her shifts to say hi, before scampering off to do her thing and always remembering their names and birthdays.

EXCEPT in the case of the guards assigned to her. Those guys, good lord, she hates those guys. They always respond to her breach in progress alarms like five minutes late, they make scathing comments and insults, they think she can’t hear when she works late, take smoke breaks every ten minutes, even though she knows neither smoke. She loathes them, but she would never give them the satisfaction of knowing that, no, she chooses to kill them with kindness as ineffective as that is! 

Prompt: What’re your character’s opinions on anomalies? Most notably sentient, however can apply to all. Broad, but here’s something’s to detail: - Are they evil? Are they “out to get us”? - Should they be contained, or let free, or neutralised? Where’s the line between “possible staff”, “must be contained”, and “must be neutralised”? - Should they have the same rights as standard humans? - What’re their opinions on free-roaming passive SCPs, or anomalous personnel? - Where did they come from? Was it a “someone” or “something” that created them all? Do they simply just exist? - Do they believe any SCP-001 proposals? If they do, which? If they don’t, why not?

-Ángela subscribes to the Gears school of thought regarding anomalies, their nature and their inherent maliciousness. In that, she doesn’t believe they’re a part of some ‘conspiracy’ against humanity, some pawn in an unfathomable being’s game of chess, etc. Ángela is of the opinion that they simply are. In the same way, animals simply are. They exist because they exist, and their nature is what it is. 

She doesn’t believe that anomalies can choose to be the way they are and feels that expecting them to be different and conform to a human morality, behaviour, or culture is a waste of time applying human morality, behaviour, and culture to them. 

- Ángela feels they (the anomalies) should be contained for both the safety of humanity AND the anomaly themselves in equal measure. See, the world is harsh, and humanity can be cruel, and while many anomalies can defend themselves against this fact of life, or at least blend in well enough with civilization to go unnoticed. Many can’t and need the protection, stability, steady supply of sustenance, etc. The facilities provide them. 

Regarding the lines of neutralization, containment and staff treatment- it’s hard to say generally, as Ángie feels it should be handled on a case by case basis, which factors in all perspectives about the situation. From risk vs reward, the financial aspect, the human cost, the opinions and desires of the anomaly in question and whether or not it would cause undue suffering in the anomaly.

By and large, though, she thinks a lot more sentient, low-security risk anomalies (i.e. 073) should be given the option to seek a profession within the foundation and be allowed to strive for a semi-normal life with privileges such as forming relationships, having friendships, hanging out, taking sick/lazy days, etc. Because, while they are objects, they’re also people - and their anomaly shouldn’t invalidate their personhood. At least, not as far as she’s concerned.

- This is another case-by-case type of question. For humanoid and or sentient SCPs that have proven themselves to be the most baseline, minimal threat in Foundation Security and Staff safety - then yes. She feels they should be given civil liberties and human rights like any other person in the foundation. For anything beyond that, though? Hard pass. Though they should still be acknowledged as people, they should not be handed rights and liberties - ESPECIALLY In the case of entities that have proven themselves to be manipulative, repeat breachers, violent, etc. It’s playing with fire and, while certainly morally questionable, is a necessary evil. 

- Ángela honestly doesn’t care that much. In some cases, it can take her back a bit (like coming into contact with a humanoid pigeon that is at least a head taller than her), but she’ll get used to it. This all being said, though, there are some free-range SCP’s Ángela can’t help but feel nervous in the presence of. She tries to bite back the feeling and deny its existence, but it does exist. Have faith that it does. 

- In short, yes. To elaborate, though, Ángela believes every anomaly is made by something. Though whether that thing is another entity, nature itself, the universe, a paradox, rip in space-time, etc. Is all a matter of debate and a case by case basis. 

- Ángela has an SCP-001 proposal of her own, and I’ll leave it at that! Haha

[third-rail-vip]

Wide Awake

Summary:

“It’s quiet out here... too quiet” might be fun to say, but when it’s 2am and quiet as hell in Sanctuary, sometimes it’s just boring.

A sleepless MacCready pays a visit to the only other person who might still be awake.

Notes:

Tumblr fluff prompt: “what are you doing here?  it’s late.”   I accidentally deleted the ask because i’m an idiot. 

Beautiful screenshot of the night sky at Sanctuary very kindly lent by @mutantenfisch 

Rating:  Teen

Word Count: 3873    [AO3 link]   [Then I Met You - Series Link]

MacCready couldn’t sleep.  Lay in his darkened room, he huffed out a sigh – cigarette smoke mingled with condensation in the cold air.  A cursory glance at his watch told him it was pushing 2 am.  

What felt like too many hours ago, he’d found a spot in one of Sanctuary’s many unoccupied houses and bedded down on a mattress that seemed to be more springs than anything else, but it would do.  He’d slept on worse.  

Not that sleep seemed to be on the cards.

Nah, the mattress wasn’t the problem.  He just couldn’t settle properly the first night back in ‘civilisation’ after weeks on the road.  His nerves were still on edge.  He’d barely undressed for bed, only shedding his coat, hat and kicking off his boots.  His rifle lay at hand by the mattress, ready for what still felt like the imminent possibility of attack.  He’d studied the ceiling until his candle burnt down, then lay in the darkness, not even able to blame his usual turn on first watch for keeping him awake—they’d be well into Ivy’s shift by now.

Not that she’d be awake.  She’d be enjoying a quiet night’s sleep, some space to herself and no monsters ready to jump out of the shadows.

Just whatever prowls the dark places in her head.

MacCready shook the thought from his mind; it wasn’t any of his business where his partner went in those glassy-eyed moments when the colour left her cheeks and she looked like she was watching something so real she could reach out and touch it.  Something he had no idea how to even begin looking for.  All he could do was watch her back if it happened again.  

Instead, he busied himself fidgeting with a fresh pack of cigarettes— ‘fresh’ 200 years ago anyway —unable to decide whether he should just lie there and light another or get up and stretch his legs in the hope that the cold night air would either wake him up fully or put him to sleep.  

Whatever he chose, he needed to decide soon because the boredom was driving him nuts.  

He sat up, suspiciously eyeing the sliver of moonless sky he could see through a hole in the unpatched roof above him.  For a boy who grew up in a cave, darkness made him twitchy (not that Lamplight was a dark place, the clue was in the damn name).  The thing he’d come to realise about the dark and the quiet was, if you didn’t know any better, it could too easily be mistaken for calm and safe.  Once, just once, he’d let himself be taken in by it.  And he’d have to live with that for the rest of his days.  

These days, not that MacCready would ever admit it, he liked it better if there was just that little bit of light to creep past his eyelids as he drifted off, and maybe a bit of noise too, some sort of show that there was life around him; campfires, candles, even the tinny echo of Ivy’s pipboy broadcasting that jackass, Travis, at all hours would do the trick.  

This quiet wouldn’t do at all.  Too few distractions.  Too much time to think.  

Finally freeing a cigarette, he fumbled for his lighter in the darkness, flicked it a few times to no avail.  A cursory shake confirmed it—empty.  He tossed it aside, tucked the cigarette back into the pack and reached for his boots instead.  

A walk it was.

------

The damn door creaked.  

MacCready cursed himself for using it instead of the other one, which didn’t even technically have a door in it anymore.  Idiot.   He’d seen a glow through the window and hadn’t even thought.  He’d just walked straight in.  

Ivy’s house (the one she’d adopted, anyway) wasn’t like the one he’d chosen to hide away in.  It didn’t smell like damp or have holes in the roof.  Someone had gone to great effort to get it back to being homely.  It still smelled like supper from that evening, leftover veg stew, and the vague scent of-MacCready sniffed-was that carrot flowers?  Probably had something to do with that fussy old woman of a Mr Handy unit.  He was undoubtedly why there was also a lingering smell of disinfectant.

Ivy had told him that it had stayed there cleaning its old masters’ house for two hundred years.  What a loser.  

From the meagre moonlight he could just make out the dark shapes of the kitchen counters ( there was the vase of flowers the robot must have decided to put out while playing house in honor of his new mistress’s return home), the rickety dining table they’d decided not to eat their supper at, and the couch that, on the one occasion he’d been stupid enough to throw himself onto it, turned out to be even more uncomfortable than the one in their usual room at the Dugout.  

The faint welcoming glow of lantern light from the hallway to the bedrooms almost made him forget his midnight trespassing.  He meandered forward – fully intending to announce his arrival– only to boot a water bowl right across the room.  He dived forward trying to put an end to the metallic ringing and sloshing, but too late.

“Who’s there?”

Mac knew Ivy well enough to hear the edge of panic behind the warning in that shout.  He clamped his hands onto the bowl, finally stopping it rolling, and looked up from his spot knelt in a puddle of dog water.  

Ivy darted out from the farthest room, the one where the warm light spilled from, oh, and now he felt bad .   She was dressed for bed in the over-large plaid shirt she’d picked up from some trader in Diamond City; something more comfortable to sleep in that her vault suit, she’d said - it hadn’t seen much use, given the amount of time they spent staying in places where it was safer to stay as armoured as possible, even when trying to get a night’s rest.  Her hair was all over the place, like she’d been tossing and turning, trying to get settled as badly as he had.  Frankly, she looked exhausted.  

But only a real dumbass would tell her that right now, because the startled woman, whose house he’d walked into at 2am was currently levelling a pistol straight at his head.  

“Woah woah woah!  Angel, it’s just me!”  MacCready stuck his hands up in the air, giving her a startled grin.  He may be used to being on the end of the threat of her pistol—he couldn’t help having a smart mouth—but the actual pistol… that was new.  “Is this a hold-up?  You want me to hand over my caps?”

Ivy dropped the gun to her side with a muttered curse and flopped back against her doorframe.  

“Mac?   What are you doing here?  It’s late.”  Rocking her head back, she let out a shaky breath.  “You scared the shit out of me.”

He shrugged apologetically from his spot on the floor, avoiding her question long enough for her to wander forward offering her free hand.

“You can get off the floor now, tiger,” she said with a sigh that edged into a smirk.  “Like I could get any caps out of you anyway.  Gunpoint or not.”

Now banter he could handle.  It was one of his favourite things about her, she enjoyed his teasing and his joking, she even put up with his snarking.  Plus, she’d offered him the perfect get out of jail free card to avoid any explanations about why he was there.  

He let his gaze flick down the bare legs he was currently eye-to-thigh with, and back up to Ivy’s face, giving her an excessively dramatic eye roll.  

“If you’re trying to impress me, it’s not going to work,” he drawled.

She withdrew her hand with a mock scowl and gave him a sharp, but not painful, kick—enough to send him from kneeling to sitting in the puddle of dog water—turned on her heel and wandered back up the hall to her room.  With maybe a little more sway to her hips than was entirely necessary.  

It was probably safer not to call her on it though, she was still armed, after all.  Best just to stay put, watch maybe...

“I was in bed, thank you very much.  There were blankets and everything.”  She snarked back over her shoulder at him, finally giving a cursory glance as she reached her room before disappearing out of view.  “I was just drifting off when I heard this absolute racket.  And I thought to myself, it’s not Christmas for a few more weeks, so it can’t be Santa.  Not that he doesn’t owe me 210 years’ worth of presents…”

And people thought he was the sarcastic one.

MacCready grinned, getting up quickly and bounding after her up the hall.  

He was careful to avoid looking into the darkened nursery as he passed.  His first time in Sanctuary he’d found Ivy staring into the room.  She’d asked him if he thought they’d ever find that missing boy, Shaun, but he couldn’t answer.  The sight of that damn crib haunted him.  All he could think about was Duncan and how time was passing and he’d gotten nowhere.  He’d just about managed to thickly mutter “yeah, sure”, which didn’t sound overly convincing to either of them, before he had to rush outside and try not to be sick.  

Leaning on her doorframe, he peeked round the corner into the room.  It was mainly taken up by an old pre-war bed that’d been fixed up like new since the last time they were there.  There were clothes, sketchbooks and empty gumdrop wrappers strewn over a dresser in the corner - Codsworth mustn’t be allowed in here, there was no way he’d leave it such a mess. The glow that spilled out into the hallway came from an oil lantern balanced on the windowsill and a single candle, melting its way down on the bedside table.  

On the bed was an open comic and more gumdrops.  She hadn’t been sleeping either.  

“If you don’t think you can get caps out of me, you can be damn sure you aren’t getting 210 presents,” he grinned, but Ivy was too busy rummaging through the dresser drawers to do anything more enthusiastic than throw a sock at him.  

He flopped down onto his back on the bed and snatched up the comic and a handful of gumdrop.  This bed was a damn sight more comfortable than the crappy mattress he had to put up with, that was for sure.  

Grognak the Barbarian and the Jungle of the Bat Babies.

“Meh.  I’ve got this one,” he complained as he munched on the candy, continuing to idly leaf through the pages anyway.  

“Well if you wouldn’t mind not losing my page…”  Ivy shot him a sharp look over her shoulder as she dragged on a pair of tatter jeans.

After weeks of sleeping in foxholes, broken-down houses and on rooftops, privacy between the two of them had become less of an issue, he’d gotten fairly used to catching sight of her trying to wriggle in and out of a vault suit in his peripheral vision, but he still couldn’t help smirking at the idea of the raised eyebrows there’d be around the settlement if they could see them now.  He had to stop himself chuckling out loud, wondering what Garvey would think of his precious General having an ex-Gunner in her room in the middle of the night.  

Best not to get too smart about the Gunner part… he’d heard about Quincy.  Might have been years after his time with them, but that kind of association tainted the way people looked at a man.  

Most people anyway.  

He glanced over at Ivy who was trying to get her hair to behave.  Christ knows why, it’s not like there was anyone to see it.   It wasn’t Preston’s fault he kept catching on Mac’s last nerve, it was just… there were only so many times you could hear someone called a ‘good man’ without starting to wonder if that made you the ‘bad’ one.  Not to mention the looks—he glanced at Ivy again—the way Garvey would go soft whenever she was helping that handyman with settlement stuff, or any other do-gooder crap.  You’d think she was some kind of miracle.  

He’d bet every last cap he owned that the man had never seen her pickpocket Gunners or watched those fingers crack a lock faster than any professional he’d ever met, just to break into a guy’s house because he rubbed her up the wrong way.  No, MacCready might call her angel, but he was more than aware that she was flesh and blood.  

Ivy plonked herself down cross-legged on the end of the bed, entirely derailing his train of thought.  

“So, a gentleman caller at this late hour… tongues will wag.”  She raised an eyebrow.  “Did you just come here to frighten me or did you need something?”

Well now he felt like an idiot.  There was no dodging the question this time, and she was watching him intently.  Why was he here?  

Because he was lonely?  Heck no.   He couldn’t sleep and he’d gotten used to having someone to talk to?   He was bored?  This place is too damn quiet and too damn boring.  And how the hell could she live here before the war?  Surrounded by boring houses with boring people and boring jobs and boring everything , when she wasn’t boring at all…

“I saw your light was on.”

“You couldn’t sleep either, huh?”

“Never can on the first night somewhere.” He gave in and shrugged as nonchalantly as he could manage.  “Still feels like I need to watch the shadows.  Anyway, I gave up trying and figured I’d get some air.”  

She considered his statement for a moment.  He hoped she wasn’t considering too hard how much ending up in her house probably didn’t count as ‘getting air’.  

“Air sounds good.”

Well, he couldn’t say he wasn’t a little disappointed at the turn of events.  He’d just been getting comfy, wondering if he could sneakily doze off and then she’d be stuck with the couch - she could usually be relied on to be too nice to wake him if she didn’t have to.  But he dutifully put aside the well-thumbed comic, grabbed another handful of gumdrops and waited for her to pull on some shoes and grab a spare blanket before they headed outside. 

------ 

Ivy swore under her breath, something about Boston winters even without snow.  She gave an exaggerated shiver and dragged the blanket around her shoulders before joining MacCready in the street.  She probably should’ve grabbed a coat, MacCready mused, but she didn’t seem bothered enough to head back into the house.  Instead she fidgeted on the spot, looking at him expectantly.

“It’s your walk,” she whispered after a moment, keeping her voice low for fear of waking the long since passed out settlers.  He could just about see she was smiling at him despite the shadows of the house.  “Lead on, boss. ”  

Boss.  He rolled his eyes at her, but led the way anyway, meandering slowly up the street towards the end of the cul-de-sac, their footsteps crunching quietly on the broken asphalt as they passed house after darkened house.  

MacCready stopped when he reached the tree that dominated the end of the estate, not sure where to go next.  He hadn’t thought this far ahead.  They could wander the edge of the small island that housed the settlement, but that ran the risk of bumping into whoever was on guard and then they’d be stuck making awkward conversation.  They could cross the north bridge towards the vault.  No, definitely not.  Ivy was one of the few people he knew who wanted to go near a vault even less than he did.  Especially that vault.  Anyway, they were meant to be distracting each other from lack of sleep, not creating more reasons for it.  

Ivy must have noticed the lost look on his face (or just got impatient of waiting) because felt a tap on his arm.  She didn’t wait for him to respond before dragging him towards the farthest house.  Instead of going inside, she led the way to a ladder propped up against the roof.

“You’ve got your binoculars, right?”  she whispered, pointing up the ladder.  “After you.”

He gave her a confused look, but patted the pair strapped to his belt, and went ahead and climbed first - offering Ivy a hand when she reached the top.  Other than a couple of tall trees, the roof offered an unimpeded view right across the commonwealth down to the coast.  

They settled down on the broad roof tiles, feet in the gutter so they didn’t slip down.  Ivy had offered to lay the blanket out for them to sit on but after her display outside the house, he wasn’t going to sit there and watch her shiver for the sake of keeping his ass warm.  And he told her as much.

“Don’t let anybody tell you I’m not a gentleman,” he grinned after her laughter died down.  

It was a hell of a view.  Mac scanned the horizon, picking out the familiar shapes that loomed in the darkness; the jagged skyscrapers of Boston’s skyline - lit up by Diamond City’s unsubtle display of lights, the satellite bank out near the coast, and the freeway, snaking across the landscape towards mass pike interchange.  That held his attention a little longer than the rest.  Just one more item on his list of problems.

But Ivy didn’t seem to notice.  She wasn’t even looking out across the vista, she was sat back on her elbows, staring straight up into the night sky.  

He leant back too, looking across at her but he didn’t stand a chance of catching her eye, she was completely enthralled.  After a couple of minutes he gave up and gently prodded her, “Come back down to earth, spaceman…”  It was enough to get her to tear her eyes away from the sky and glance back across at him.  A sad smile touched her lips.  

“My dad loved looking at the stars.  It was kind of his job... along with a lot of math.  He taught at a college back home.”  She didn’t often talk about before, and he wasn’t sure she’d ever mentioned her family.  “You don’t know how lucky you are, seeing the sky like this.  People would travel hundreds of miles for a view like this.”

“Seriously?”  MacCready stared up, bemused.  

“Seriously.”  She smiled at him, or maybe through him.  Her mind seemed to be somewhere else, but not in a bad way for once.  “Have you ever tried to look at the stars when you’re in Diamond City?  Even Goodneighbor?  It’s far too bright, you can barely see anything.  That’s what most places were like before the war.  It was all streetlights stopping you from seeing ‘one of the best views in the universe’.  That’s what my dad used to say, anyway.  He used to drive me, my mum and my brother out into the middle of the countryside on clear nights like this.  I swear he’d talk about space all night, if mum let him.”

“Sorry, I went a bit off topic…” She let out a small laugh and shook her head.  “I think the point I was aiming for was it’s beautiful.”

“I suppose it is.”  

He hazarded a smile in the dark.  Starlight suited her.  Sat there bathed in the soft glow, wide-eyed and taking everything in as though she was seeing it for the first time, she looked genuinely happy.  Completely lost to the world, mind, with no idea of anything else happening around her.  

“I’m probably boring you to death.”

“No.  Well maybe a little.”  MacCready couldn’t resist a chance to tease.  “I read about stars when I was a kid.  Big balls of glowing gas, yada yada.  You said your dad was an expert, show me something I don’t know.”

Ivy sat up, giving him a determined look.  Oh good, challenge accepted.  “Fine.  Give me those binoculars.”

He handed them over and watched her tracing the sky above them, leaning back to look further and further north east until she spotted what she wanted.  

“You see that star?” she pointed.  “The fuzzy looking one.”  

“They all look fuzzy.”

“No they don’t!  Come here.”  She shuffled right up next to him, still pointing in the direction she was looking.  

It took about five minutes of manhandling to get him looking in the right direction.  He was having too much fun winding her up by purposefully not paying attention, and laughing too hard when she tried to move him by his chin because it tickled.  Eventually, and only after she begged, he stopped still long enough for her to get him looking in the right direction - according to her anyway.  To him it just looked like any other star.

“Ok, stay still will you?”  This time Mac did his best as she squashed right up next to him, and pressed her cheek against his to make sure they were both looking where they should be.  She produced the binoculars again, holding them so they had an eyepiece each, and finally he could see what she was talking about.  

“Right, so it’s a fuzzy star?” he muttered from trying to keep his head still.  There’d be hell to pay if he didn’t.  

“Look again.  See the ellipse shape?”  

“Yeah, the fuzzy one.  What about it?”

“Oh, there might be a couple more than just that one fuzzy little star.”  She pulled away and handed him the binoculars, tired, but beaming.  “More like a trillion of them, a couple of million light years away.   That is the Andromeda Galaxy.”

“No shit- oop.”

MacCready clamped a hand across his mouth in a poor attempt to catch the curse that had slipped past his lips.  

“Does that count as something you didn’t know?”  Ivy giggled softly, stifling a yawn as she lay back down and pulled the blanket tighter around her.  “Damn.  I should’ve put some caps on it.”

“Yeah, I’d say it counts,” he grinned.  “But trust me, I’ve learned not to make bets against you.”

MacCready lay back, staring at the sky, eyes fixed on that blurry star that turned out to be much more than it appeared.  He opened his mouth to quiz Ivy some more, but in the quiet he could hear that her breathing had become soft and even.  A glance confirmed it, she was fast asleep.  

“Well, I don’t know how I’m going to get you down off this roof,” he whispered, reaching over to tuck an errant curl back behind her ear.  “So it looks like we’re here for the night.”

He settled back again, pulling the brim of his cap down over his eyes before resting his head on his hands.  This time sleep found him easily, a smile on his face, thinking of a little boy back home who would love to hear all about the stars.

[falafel14]

El Camino Review: “Dude, you’re my hero and shit.”

 Where to start? (Bitch). 

Okay so I loved that Mike was the one who gave Jesse the idea to start over in Alaska. Jesse’s determination to follow a path that Mike recommended for him felt like he was desperate to honor one of his very last memories of Mike, which felt like a very Jesse thing to do. Then there was Mike’s line about how Jesse can never put things right. It’s the one thing he’ll never do. And when Mike said that I couldn’t decide whether he was establishing that Jesse’s redemption was impossible or just calling his redemption an impossibility so that Jesse could subvert expectations. In my heart, I wanted the latter. But I got the former. So was I disappointed? Actually...no. We’ve lived with the Choose-your-own-Jesse-Pinkman-ending thing for the last six years. I fan-ficced my own Jesse resolution and that gave me closure. Now I feel like I’m getting to see Vince Gilligan’s own personal Jesse resolution that he needed to give himself closure. And Vince’s choices are very different to mine, but understandably so. Vince is the one who personally made all those creative choices to put Jesse through the worst kinds of Hell (not me, I didn’t do that shit...). So after years of torturing this character so excessively I can understand why Vince needed to deliver his most abused creation to a place of peace and safety (Alaska apparently).     

And if I couldn’t get a redemption story for Jesse...well, at least I got one for Skinny Pete! Damn. Skinny has always been my favorite of Jesse’s friend circle and this film solidified why. Like Jesse, Skinny’s another smart compassionate guy who could have amounted to so much more if he hadn’t fallen into the drug world. The moment when he called Jesse his hero brought me to tears. I mean Skinny never saw the worst of Jesse’s crimes, but this line suggested to me that regardless of what Jesse had done, Skinny always saw Jesse as an impressive, admirable and decent person. And that was fucking lovely. It was heartwarming to see characters like Old Joe prepared to help Jesse out purely because they remembered him as being a good kid. But Skinny’s the one who risked his own freedom (”I’m on probation, yo!”) to give Jesse a chance to escape. So here’s hoping that your mad piano skills are discovered in prison, Skinny Pete! Oh and Badger’s lines about Skinny’s driving had me howling - “You couldn’t drive Miss Daisy!”, “You couldn’t drive Thelma and Louise off a that cliff!” Vince, if you want to write a straight up comedy next, then I’m here for it.      

Skinny Pete aside, I’d say my favorite parts of El Camino were the flashbacks. I mean...who knew we were going to get so much fucking Todd? And you know from my fanfic that I wanted the full horror of Jesse’s time as Todd’s prisoner/pet explored and...yes, it was every bit as horrific as I had expected. And yes, I feel terrible for laughing so often at Todd’s cheerful oblivious psychopathy. I wasn’t laughing all the time though. Who knew that the most heartbreaking line of all Breaking Bad canon was going to turn out to be... “Pepperoni”? Let’s just get it out of the way and say Aaron was devastating once again as Jesse Pinkman and is surely set to win a fourth Emmy for this role. And if Aaron’s going to be in the lead category this time, could we get a supporting actor nod for Plemons? Because DEAR GOD, he was blood-chillingly brilliant as Todd.

Then we have these two fuckers back together again. I knew they’d have to bring Bryan back in some way and Jesus, if you’d asked me to pick any missing Walt and Jesse moment from canon that I’d like to have seen...I swear my first choice would’ve been the journey home from 4 Days Out. This was the last time Walt still had his humanity, the last time we had juvenile “Yeah bitch!” Jesse and the last time before their relationship was so horribly poisoned by betrayal. Just before the mess of Combo’s murder, then Jesse’s heroin spiral, then Walt letting Jane die that they never came back from. It was just so wonderful to go back to a time when you could see these two genuinely cared for each other, even while being the most hilariously dysfunctional odd couple (”I totally graduated high school, dick!”) I never thought I’d get to see Bryan and Aaron acting together as Walt and Jesse again, especially this version of Walt and Jesse. It was a gift. This scene alone made the whole of El Camino worthwhile. 

Which is not to say the rest of the BrBa movie is anything shabby. While it is a getaway story rather than a redemption story, it still had me on the edge of my seat. Man, I love that Vince is such a merciless writer. Like, normally in a movie when your antihero character is in a room hiding from police, the writer will give you a moment of tension then allow the character to slip away. But Vince is all nope! The worst is going to happen. Jesse is going to get caught and worse still those guys aren’t even real cops but men who were complicit in his kidnapping ordeal. Man! And I love how Jesse gets a moment of being a badass when he judged that the Kandy Welding guy wasn’t going to shoot him, but then we get him being a dumb dipshit thinking he could call the bluff of the Disappearer guy. And yet it all felt consistent because Vince’s writing and Aaron’s performance have always balanced Jesse’s smart and stupid moments so well. And while I personally didn’t want Jesse to commit further crimes and get more blood on his hands in his bid for freedom, I can’t begrudge Vince going all the way in making Breaking Bad a contemporary Western complete with its own gunslinger quick draw scene. That was awesome (”Dude, you’re on fire...”)

Did I love everything about El Camino? No. Like Felina was for Walt, Jesse’s resolution did feel a little overly neat. I didn’t really want the Vacuum repair guy to be the solution since Saul had stressed that Jesse would only have one shot with him. The guy then giving him a second chance but being persnickety over the exact money felt like a contrivance. Also, I didn’t like Jesse screwing over his parents again. I know that Jesse’s folks could be dicks, but still. Lastly, the letter to Brock. It was pure fan service, I know. But if the moral of this story is - ‘Jesse doesn’t get to make things right’ - then he shouldn’t get to write a letter to Brock either. Because what could Jesse possibly say that would make things better for Brock now? I have to say, that beat didn’t feel earned for me. 

Finally though, I will say I liked the choice to end on the Jesse/Jane scene. As with the Walt flashback, this comes just before the end of S2 and the last hope Jesse had of a happy ending. Because I don’t really feel like Jesse’s new life in Alaska will be happy from now on. I feel like Jesse will always be lonely, scarred, self-loathing, guilt-ridden and haunted. He’ll never escape who he has been. But the message of Jane’s last line seemed to be simply telling Jesse to be his own master from now on, which I suppose is a good mindset for a guy whose biggest downfall was being too easily led. Did Jesse redeem himself for his crimes? No. Could he have ever redeemed himself for his crimes? Probably not. Do I think Jesse should go on suffering? Nah...leave him be. 

[k-knightt-blog]

The Fight – Tom Hiddleston one-shot

Request: Tom and y/n fights, he gets overly angry at her and tells her to leave their apartment. He gets drunk and makes her upset. You can make up the rest, but please have them make up! 

Wordcount: 2500+

A/N: Sorry I’ve been MIA but balancing university and work (rent is crazy in south London I tell you) is proving hard indeed. Also, I don’t think Tom would ever act like this but you never know.

Your standing right in front of him now, your bottom lip quivers as you turn your eyes up to meet his. Tom’s eyes are blue, icy in their demeanour, they are almost glassy looking. Like he’s about to burst into tears, but you don’t think he will. Your heart is breaking, and he knows he’s the one breaking it. He doesn’t dare to speak, he waits for you, he shuffles his feet, he’s nervous. Since you just a few minutes ago had told him to keep quiet, or you would walk. You would walk out of his life, he knew you were serious. You study him for a second more, as your eyes gaze over his lips he opens them to speak, ”Please say something,” His voice is low, soft, urgent. You take a deep breath, tears are threatening to pour over, “I know It’s every soul for itself in this world. But I didn’t want to wake up without you,” A few tears escape your eyes, you almost feel embarrassed about the fact. You’re fast to wipe them away with the back of your hand, “It’s different now, I feel different now. God, I don’t even want to look at you,” You say, as you turn your eyes away from him again, focusing on the room behind him.

Three days ago you had returned home from your studio in south London. It was late, around 11pm and your phone was dead. You wanted nothing more than to feel the sweet relief of sleep. The underground had been stuffy and full of people who reeked of alcohol and fun times if that even had a smell. It was graduation for the university students and they were celebrating an end of a chapter and the beginning of a new one. It warmed your heart because it was only a few years ago you had graduated from university, and the feeling of being free was still fresh. Suddenly panic rose in you, if it’s graduation today it must mean that it’s 11th of June. You nearly curse out loud, blood started pumping in your ears. You had missed the dinner you and Tom were going to. It had been booked for months and it had escaped your mind completely. It was Tom’s sister’s birthday dinner, her birthday was a month since though. 

Tom is going to be angry with you. He never really got angry with you, but you know this would strike a nerve. It was a dinner with some of his friends, family and also some people that he didn’t really like. Mostly because they gave him grief about being successful and having money in excess. You had said time and time again that they were just jealous. All but two were overjoyed at his success. He knew that, of course. Tom is a smart man but he still didn’t want to face them alone, without you. It was sweet really, and you were a master of fusing the tension that arose in situations like this. His mum always credits you to be the one who saved Christmas that year Tom and you met. Tom never really understood why the two trouble makers needed to be invited to everything. But they were old friends of his father, and you can’t cancel out 40 years of friendship. That’s what his father said every time. You had missed the dinner, but Tom surely hadn’t gone alone? If it bothered him that much.

You walked fast when the train stopped, you ran ahead of all the drunken ex-students. The station isn’t far from the flat so you were there within five minutes. The door was unlocked, so you slowly walk in, nervousness fills you as you see Tom sitting in the settee. He’s dressed in a shirt, slacks, which indicated that he probably went to the dinner. Alone. He had a whisky in his hand, he didn’t look back at you when you closed the door. He was angry at you, but he couldn’t be that angry right? It’s only dinner, and you had taken Emma out for brunch on her actual birthday. Tom knew that because he was there. He had an omelette and refused to partake in the bottomless mimosa business you and Emma were in. 

”Tom, I’m so sorry. I totally forgot, I started this new painting and it’s, well I don’t want to sound cocky but it’s rather good,” You walked into the kitchen to empty your bag, which had a smoothie bottle and a lunch box in it, “And I forgot about the dinner. I’ll call Emma to say how sorry I am. I haven’t been this inspired in so long. My phone died, so if you tried to-“ He cut you off by standing up, his jaw was cleaned. You thought your charming monologue would cool him off, but you were sourly wrong. “I can’t believe you,” He shot at you, his voice laced with disgust. You grew confused now, why was he so angry, you’d expect him to be slightly annoyed. He still had his family by his side.

He walked past the kitchen island, to stand on the other side, his steps were unsteady. “Tom, I’m sorry you had to face Jillian and Frank alone but I honestly just forgot,” You took a few strides towards him and tried to give him a kiss. He stopped you, “Don’t,” His voice was harsh and it hit you like a ton of bricks. “Hey, I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say, it couldn’t have been that bad? Wasn’t Benedict and Sophie there with darling Hal and Christopher? Your parents?” His stance was of the unapproachable sort, and yours was small, you felt like a child that has been told off.

He didn’t answer your question, “Stop saying sorry, you obviously had your priorities on everything, anything but me. I haven’t seen you all week,” Now that’s just not true, but you didn’t say that, because he needed to calm down first. He took a huge gulp from his glass, nearly downing all the amber liquid in it. “I don’t know what to say more than that I am sorry -and that the dinner just escaped my mind.” You tried and reach out to just touch him if that would comfort him but he moved his hand off the counter, “I would never skip on something we planned together on purpose, surely you must know that by now?” He was bleary-eyed, you hadn’t quite seen him like this before, drunk and angry.

You knew Tom like the back of your hand, and it must be something else that had happened if he’s drowning his sorrows in drink. “You did.” He says coldly as he reached for the cupboard where you keep the spirits, “Tom, I didn’t. I just forgot, it happens.” Your voice was low, tired of saying the same things over and over again. “You forgot about me, about my family, you left me with those-“ His brow furrowed, “Vultures.” He poured up his glass with whisky, more than half the glass, “That says a lot doesn’t it,” He drunk down more whisky that you have ever seen him do. You tried to reason with him, “Yes. I’m sorry, I was so focused on my own work today, you know I’ve been struggling.” You really had been, you had been so uninspired for months now, and that day something just clicked. He scoffed and that really hurt your feelings, “What is wrong with you? Did something else happen? I’ve never seen you act like this!” Your voice was loud, and your hands were on your hips. 

He didn’t answer, how childish. He looked like he was thinking, possibly what he was going to give you for an answer. Nothing escaped his mouth, “Tom?” You asked, wanting nothing more than a goddamn answer. His divine features harsh, merciless. “I thought you loved me, silly of me to believe. Hazardous thing.” What was he saying? You nearly wanted to laugh out loud at the ludicrous words that left his mouth. Instead, you let out a raspy breath, followed with, “Of course I love you, if I didn’t I wouldn’t be wearing this,” You wave your hand and attached engagement ring at him, “Now would I?” He looked at you, a look you had never seen before. He couldn’t quite keep your gaze, his eyes were nearly half shut.

You tried a different approach, “Darling, why don’t we go to bed, get some rest and talk about this in the morning?” You tried to grab his arm, to put your hand in his. He took a wonky step back, “I want you to leave,” You couldn’t quite believe what just left his mouth, you humoured him, “But I live here Tom, let’s just get to bed. You’re drunk, and in no way capable of talking about this as an adult,” You look at him, like a mother looking at a child who’s been naughty. That look disappeared quickly because he looked even angrier. “I’m not drunk,” He looked severe, his handsome appearance nearly gone. ”Come on, Tom, please just let’s go sleep. I’m tired, it’s late.” You walked past him and was headed to the bedroom when he spoke again. “They’re right about you, Jillian and Frank.” He looked at you, “They said a pretty young thing like you, well, she can only be after one thing,” You turned cold, all the colour disappeared in your face. ”Thomas, are you fucking aware of what you’re saying right now? You’re taking out your anger on me, I’m sorry your parents still tolerate those two, and that you get the short end of the stick, but don’t take it out on me. For fuck's sake.” Your swearing caught him off guard, you had never sounded so severe while you talked to him as you had done then. He must have said that to hurt you, for forgetting about your plans. Surely.

”Did I stutter? I want you to leave - Go!” He’s serious, and your breathing became ragged, tears pooled up in your eyes. For a moment you just watched him, but the silence broke when you let out a sob. “You’re kicking me out of our flat because I missed a dinner?” This is ridiculous. The tears kept coming, you always ended up crying while angry. He didn't flinch, “Have you lost it completely?” You asked him after a second or two. He shook his head and headed towards the bedroom. He shut the door so hard the whole flat rattled. You decided to leave, naturally. That night you had slept at a friend’s house in Primrose. You didn’t call him and he didn’t call you, until the second day when he called you around thirty times.

You look out towards the living room that you and Tom have carefully and thoughtfully redecorated when you moved in. Tom has jokingly said that “It no longer feels like a bachelor pad,” in which you had replied, while his arm was swung over your shoulder, “Feels good to say that, doesn’t it?” And you had kissed him.

Now it hurts to look past him, into the room, but it hurt more to look at Tom, so you opted for the emerald green and ivory scenery. “Y/n, don’t say that. Please, I’m sorry. I overreacted, you know I didn’t mean what I said,” You cross your arms over your chest, what a generic response. Come on, Tom, you’re an actor. Lie better. From the corner of your eye, you see him shift, you see him walk over to you. You look at him, daggers in your eyes, and he stops in his tracks, he’s close to you now and you can smell his cologne, you can also smell musk from him. It was clear he hasn’t showered since you left your shared flat three days earlier. His hair is greasy and untamed.

He tries to caress your arm but you move away, stating your anger at his behaviour the other day. “Y/n, I’m an idiot. I know it’s not an excuse, but I was inebriated. I was upset with my parents, with Frank and Gillian.” He sounds so desperate you nearly feel the urge to swing your arms around him and forgive him. But you remind yourself. They’re right about you, Jillian and Frank. They said a pretty young thing like you, well, she can only be after one thing. You try to stand tall, although Tom’s frame towers over you. “I’ll never forget how you looked at me. Like I had murdered your parents, worse even,” There are tears running down your face now, they can almost be mistaken for glitter. He speaks before you can help him recall all the nasty things he had said you that night, “My darling,” He’s desperate to touch you, “I was out of my mind to say those things. God, I can’t even believe I did!” He runs his hands through his dirty hair, his eyes are red. But so are yours. 

“You kicked me out. On the goddamn streets, Tom.” Tears fill his eyes, you know he’s terribly sorry. He looks like a shell of the man you fell in love with at 25. He beings to cry, and it is terrible to watch his heaving chest, his breath rattling in his lungs. ”I love you,” It escapes his lips like a broken promise. He sits down heavily on one of your kitchen chairs, “I hate myself,” He covers his face for a second, trying to compose himself. You silently try to do the same, it’s horrible to see him like this. But he - a sob escapes your mouth this time, he had doubted your love for him. He had wanted you to leave. Perhaps forever? “I don’t know what came over me, I felt myself turn into a ferocious, ruthless being. I,” He looks up at you, “I understand if you never forgive me. I was unjust, cruel.” Without your brain realising you walk towards him, and you cradle his head, his cheek against your bosom. This action rips a sob from deep down in his chest. As a reflex, he folds his arms tight around you standing frame. Praying to whatever gods who would listen, that you wouldn’t leave him. “We’re going to be fine, but no more angry whisky drinking. Ever again, you hear me, Tom?” He nods his head, cried filled laugh follows. “I love you so much, Y/n. I will never make you doubt that again." He releases his tight grip only to look up into your beautiful eyes.

[stars-in-the-water]

Natal Saturn Through Houses 1-4: Capricorn

Here’s the thing: Every planetary placement can be boiled down to a few sentences. This is no truer than it is with Saturn.

Saturn represents our struggles - the things that cause us pain so we can learn from them, the things that kick us when we’re down, and the things that lift us back up again. Eventually, Saturn tells us how we’re going to succeed. Saturn is the disapproving father whose affection we never realize we’ve always had (unless it’s negatively aspected to Pluto, then Saturn is the abusive father that we must escape at all costs). 

Capricorn represents the qualities of ruthless practicality, seriousness, stalwart loyalty, and hard work. Thus, when Natal Saturn is in Capricorn, the native’s life lesson is to learn how to work hard. Technically, Saturn is exalted in Capricorn, but that doesn’t make this an easy placement by any means. Any laziness exhibited by the native is punished, either immediately by a parent, or on down the line in twelve year cycles. The Saturn in Capricorn native literally cannot be lazy without ending up suffering for it.

In the First House: *

Saturn in Capricorn in the First House always lends itself to a serious, overly-mature external personality. These people often struggle with depression and bullying in early childhood (though of course they’re punished for expressing it - Capricorn Risings with Saturn in the First House don’t grow up to be the most emotionally expressive of people without other placements, usually for a reason). They may struggle with the way they’re perceived, and they may not be able to form friendships easily.

The lesson here is to find pride in your accomplishments - to base your ego on practical things and efforts made, rather than basing your ego on things you can’t change (like other people’s opinions of you). 

Your lesson here is to learn that not everyone who hates you does so for a good reason, and to take pride in your work ethic and your own accomplishments.

In the Second House: 

Saturn in the Second House indicates financial struggle. In Capricorn, it also indicates extreme hard work.

This is a troubling placement because it can lend itself to workaholic tendencies (in fact, one facet of this placement is that you might be born to be a workaholic, at least for a time). You might not find emotional fulfillment in your job until after your mid-thirties, if you ever do at all.

There is good news here. Saturn in the Second House is generally thought to imply that the native is destined to do well financially, to leave a good legacy for their children. If well placed, the native might make a lucky investment that pays off in the long run. If poorly placed, the native’s life might be dominated by financial and emotional fears.

Your lesson here is to learn how to make ends meet, to be practical about your ability to make money, to set up a financial foundation for yourself, and to leave a legacy for your children (if you decide to have any). Thankfully, Saturn in Capricorn doesn’t tend to lend itself well to unlearned lessons. Just keep that in mind. 

In the Third House:

Saturn in the Third House lends itself to a person who’s smart, practical, and dependable. In Capricorn? Emphasis on “practical.”

These people are actually pretty kind on the inside, and they usually only say things with the intention of helping others. The problem is, they’re usually a bit too blunt about it. They’re the people who give you the good advice you don’t want to hear. 

The good news is that you’re an amazing friend. The bad news is that Saturn makes it hard for people to understand you. You seem hypercritical even at the best of times. The right people will understand your intentions; the wrong people probably aren’t really worth your time. 

The lesson here is to learn to give your advice sparingly, to not be loyal to the wrong people, and to keep your opinions to yourself when the person you’re talking to hasn’t earned your help. 

In the Fourth House:

(The Fourth House, the Eighth House, the Tenth House, and the Twelfth House are all really difficult placements for Saturn. Thus, this one’s gonna be kind of long, and might get its own post later on if I feel like expanding on it.)

Saturn in the Fourth House tends to cause some issues with family. In Capricorn, a lot of this surrounds issues of practicality, hard work, and maturity. What kind of issues this causes in the native, however, depends on other planets in your chart, particularly the Moon and Pluto.

The reason for this is simple. Saturn and Pluto are both planets that signify the father in the chart (though they don’t always - in my chart, Saturn represents my father and Pluto represents my mother alongside my Moon, although neither are in Capricorn). The Moon represents the mother and the emotional core of the native. 

With this placement, the native probably had older parents (and in fact, geriatric pregnancy is common in children with this placement). If Saturn is in tense relation to Pluto (meaning Square, Conjunction, or Opposition), death leaves its mark on the native’s childhood and emotional life somehow, usually through the death or illness of a parent or grandparent.

If Saturn is in tense aspect to the native’s Moon, the native probably didn’t get to express their emotions or desires, usually because they were expected to suppress their emotions by their mother. In this case, the Quincunx is also a tense aspect. 

When Saturn is Conjunct the native’s Moon in the 4th House, the native kept their emotions and desires buried because they didn’t want to upset their mom or upend any expectations. I know someone like this who has suppressed his desire for commitment and intimacy because his mother has repeatedly expressed that she doesn’t want her son to commit to anyone until he gets older. 

When Saturn is Square or in Opposition to the native’s Moon, the mother actively punished the native for expressing any kind of emotion - abuse is not uncommon here.

When Saturn is Inconjunct the Moon, the mother just straight up didn’t understand the native’s emotions, and so the emotions (and thus the native) were disregarded in favor of more practical matters. (I actually have this placement, and I’m pretty sure my mother just doesn’t understand empathy in general.) Parental neglect is really common with this placement, especially when Saturn is in Capricorn - the native might have literally been forced to take on adult responsibilities in order to remain safe, housed, and fed. 

If Saturn is Square or in Opposition to Pluto, there may be abuse of some kind in the native’s childhood, usually by father figures of some kind (I have this placement, and whoo boy, was my adolescence a weird time for everyone). If Saturn is in Conjunction to Pluto, having a sick parent is far more likely to be the cause of the 4th House issues. 

Even if there are no troubling aspects, the native with this placement has to learn to be practical about their home life from a young age. They take on a lot of responsibilities that in all honesty shouldn’t fall to them, usually because they feel they have to do it out of love for their parents (good aspects between Saturn/Pluto/Moon), because they feel it’s necessary to the well being of the family unit (Saturn/Pluto/Moon Conjunction), or because they’re forced to do so (Saturn/Pluto/Moon Square).

If bad aspects between Neptune, Uranus, or Jupiter are present, there might have been issues with addiction in the parents. (Neptune = fantasies and escapism; Uranus = chaos and unpredictability; Jupiter = excess.)  

I won’t lie to you: This placement isn’t easy, even with good planetary aspects. The lesson here is to be practical about your family, to value your connections, and to work hard to repair broken links (or sever the ones that aren’t worth fixing). With Saturn in Capricorn, the lesson is also to be practical about what you can reasonably expect from your parents and what you can achieve in your own emotional state. 

[maleyanderecafe]

Desperate Yanderes

I honestly can’t believe I hadn't thought about these kinds of yanderes before considering how much I adore desperation in yanderes. Thanks to @tsukaramachi for helping me brainstorm a couple of ideas for future analysis, including this one! So with that, let’s start talking about desperate yanderes. 

I’ll be honest, one of the biggest reasons I love yanderes so much is the sense of desperateness that yanderes display. Not only does it show a sense of vulnerabilities that we might not usually see in yanderes, but it also shows that something that is normally frightening and generally in control of the situation, lose control very quickly. It also better demonstrates how emotionally frail a yandere can be, especially in a situation where the odds are not in their favor. 

This analysis will split desperate yanderes into two parts: a desperate yandere and a yandere in a desperate state. While a yandere can have both scenarios, they can also just have either one.

 A desperate yandere is a yandere who is extremely afraid of losing their s/o and tries to please them as much as possible. While the reasoning of why they’re afraid can range from being too vicious and scaring them off or not being good enough, the general motivation of a desperate yandere is the fear of their s/o leaving them. Because of this, in most situations, the yandere will always be in a more submissive position, becoming to the s/o’s will and whim. Even if a desperate yandere has their s/o trapped in a cage, they will most likely be afraid of displeasing their s/o in some variation or another, even if they have the upper hand. 

Desperate yanderes tend to be very emotional as compared to other yanderes and tend to have problems with self-confidence or abandonment issues. Some examples might be the idea that they’re not good enough for the s/o, that if the s/o leaves them there will be nobody who will ever love them and that the s/o is the reason for their existence and without them they’re nothing.  Because of this, this type of yandere is generally very emotionally fragile and is generally fairly easy to manipulate emotionally. Because of the emotional fragility that this yandere has, it’s very easy for them to panic suddenly or to break down if things don’t go their way. They tend to have mood swings to some capacity or another and are almost always clingy. A very good example of this is Yeonho from Nameless, who has an excessive fear of being abandoned by the MC. Throughout his route, we can see him do his best to please the MC, with him cooking food for only her and none of the other dolls he’s living with, forcing himself to like the rides that they go on when they’re at the amusement park and even telling her that he’s willing to be destroyed if it makes her happy. The MC starts to avoid him, as he’s become overly clingy until one day he doesn’t come home, and she finds him outside, getting a fever from the rain, standing there for so long because he believes he has no more use. Besides the tremendously sad story, we really see how much Yeonho wishes to please the MC, to the point of self-destruction. 

There are a lot of ways that a desperate yandere will attempt to please their s/os or prevent them from leaving them. The first and generally most harmless is overcompensation. I’ve talked about this in my other analysis before, but the idea is that the yandere will often go overboard in showing affection because they want to please their s/o. They might plan out a date in excruciating detail, from what possible scenarios might happen and how to prevent them, or having multiple gifts based on what the s/o gives them. If something goes wrong, they might be extremely worried about the s/o’s reaction and plan accordingly to the next event. Yanderes that overcompensate like this are generally very aware of what the s/o likes and dislikes, have a fairly good memory and are usually pretty good at gathering information. This might lead to other things like stalking or blackmail in order to gather more information, but usually, these kinds of things are rather harmless. The second way is to become more like the person the s/o wants. In the most extreme case, this is adjusting the yandere’s entire personality, appearance and even gender to becoming someone else, which would put immense pressure on the yandere, and/or physical pain (like changing their height, which means adding more bone). In most cases, it’s usually smaller things, like bad habits that the s/o gets annoyed with or slight changes, like dying their hair. This can be pretty cute if written correctly, like wearing more bows because the s/o loves it when the yandere wears cute things, but it can also be pretty horrific, like if the s/o prefers girls and the yandere attempts to chop his dick off (I’m looking at you, y0urb0yfriend), but it really depends on the extent of the yandere’s desperation. I see this a lot with mangas that include traps/crossdressers, like in Hatsukoi Lovers, but this can also just apply to a situation like an s/o preferring shy smart guys and a delinquent yandere dressing up and learning more things to become more like his s/o’s preference. Feigning weakness is also another factor that desperate yanderes tend to deploy, though this is much more manipulative. This is especially if the s/o is already used to taking care of the yandere, or is very empathetic over anyone who needs help. Feigning weakness can be pretty easy for a yandere, just by simply acting dumb or pretending to be physically ill. Usually, the weakness is only feigned in front of the s/o and with everyone else, he acts “normally” as respects to his personality. Desperate yanderes tend to fake weakness like this, especially illness so that they can sort of trap the s/o into caring for them, and it allows them to spend more time together. However, this is a lot riskier than the other two actions, simply because if the s/o learns that the yandere has been faking their illness/acting dumb, they might not want to hang out with them, especially if their entire personality is around this idea. After that, the yandere might go to more desperate measures. A good example of this is from Kiss him, not me, where Takeru Mitsuboshi feigns sickness in front of Serinuma just so that she will take care of him, and when that fails, he decides to kidnap her instead.  Finally, there’s the direst of actions which are self-harm or the threat of self-harm. This can be similar to overcompensating in some cases, where they overwork themselves to exhaustion or do something dangerous for the s/o, like sticking their hand in boiling water to pick up their s/o’s dropped bracelet. Usually, the lack of regard for their own safety is from their self-confidence in some manner, like not caring about their own body because the s/o’s things are more important, or not even registering the fact that they did hurt themselves since they don’t care for their own well being in the first place. Usually the threat of self-harm comes from when a desperate yandere is at their breaking point, which we’ll talk about in a bit and the actual use of self-harm might come as their own punishment for not being good enough for the s/o, or trying to destroy themselves because they just feel so worthless without them. It also is similar to how Yuri feels with it from DDLC, like a way to feel alive or get on a high. In a worst-case scenario, a desperate yandere might even attempt to have a murder-suicide with the s/o. 

I think out of all yanderes, desperate yanderes are the most horrific. While yanderes that are ruthless, manipulative or cold-hearted are in their own sense pretty scary, what makes desperate yanderes truly horrifying is the unstable nature of their emotions and the sympathy you feel towards them. Because of their unstable nature and the fact that they are very afraid of upsetting their s/o, it feels a lot of the times like they might break at any second if you do something wrong, almost like walking on a tight rope. But I think what makes them really horrifying and tragic is their snapping point. While a yandere’s snapping point is the most interesting part of the story, a lot of times it feels very sudden and out of the blue. Even if a yandere has a very clear build-up to this snapping point, it tends to be behind the s/o’s back, so when they do snap, it feels more sudden towards the s/o, or that it’s rather obvious that the yandere is about to snap because of their creepy behaviors. With a desperate yandere, the implication is usually that they will snap, we just don’t know when. With the huge amount of pressure on a desperate yandere trying to please their s/o, the sudden whiplash of fear to anger or sudden sadness can be something that feels like it could be prevented but wasn’t. The sympathy also makes it more terrifying in a psychological way, since in a lot of cases, desperate yanderes are just trying to make somebody happy and failing so much that they don’t have any reason to live. Which is, in my opinion, incredibly sad, since I think to some degree most people can understand trying so hard at something only to fail and feel like they’re worthless. 

While not all yanderes are desperate yanderes, a lot of them have a breaking point where they display vulnerability, and in which many of them show their more desperate side. If during their breaking point, they have a desperate moment, it gives the character a moment of weakness and vulnerability as well as gain sympathy from the audience. This especially if the yandere is a character who is generally always in control or is really cruel, by creating this moment of vulnerability, it may make the yandere at least a little more likeable or at least we can be empathetic with the reasons that they perform certain actions, even if we don’t agree with it. A show of vulnerability may also help to better show what a character is feeling internal, especially if there are hints of possible reasons for this vulnerability within the story. A good example of this would be JD from Heathers, where we learn that his mother commits suicide and his father has been neglectful since. While in the beginning, we see how he deals with these issues, freezing his brain with slushies, we don’t really see him vulnerable, at least until the song Meant to be Yours, with the lines: “Veronica, can we night fight any more please// Can we not fight anymore?// Veronica, I know you’re scared, I’ve been there, I can set you free.” where we can see more about how lonely he’s been and how scared he must have been throughout his life. Even if the actions he does are wrong, (like killing three people and then trying to kill the entire school, which ya know is pretty terrible) we can see him in a more empathetic lens of why he would perform all of these terrible things. (By the way, those verses are probably my favorite lines in the entire musical okay moving on) A show of vulnerability can also be used to create a redeemed yandere or to show a satisfying end to a villainous one. Obviously, this depends more on the actions of the yandere in question and what kind of story the yandere is in, but a break down of a yandere can either help them become redeemed or can serve as payment for villainous actions. If the yandere is a redeemed one, then he will most likely break down and start to understand how to better treat the s/o in a less obsessive manner. The breakdown usually serves as the lowest point of a yandere’s story, having lost so much that at this point he realizes that his goal cannot be achieved. Because of this, it may become a way for him to realize his wrongdoings and work to achieve a better self. On the opposite side, if a villainous yandere has been stripped of all of his power, his breakdown may be a satisfying conclusion to all of the horrible things that he’s done, akin to beating a boss in a game. This show of vulnerability may instead make his loss seem more like a victory and karma to all the terrible things he’s done. 

Anyways, those are my thoughts on desperate yandere. I have got to stop writing these two days before I post these. 

[burning-clutch]

Crashing Like A Tidal Wave With Cardiac Arrest: Part 1

Read on Ao3: here (Chapter 1 of 2) Pairings: Jack/Maddie Trigger Warnings: Blood and gore, Major character death Author: @burning-clutch (Team Ghost) Total words: 4711 prompt by:  Anthropwashere / Anthrop  AO3 and FFN: Anthrop

-.-.-.- **Important** There is a bit of excessive gore in here I wanted to try my hand at writing but I marked it between xXxX lines. it's not a lot just an over detailed depiction of the scene, but if you need to skip it, it will not change how the story is perceived, and you can continue on with out worry. -.-.-.-.-

The day was routine, or at least it started out that way…

Danny had woken up late for school having spent the night prior fighting endless rounds of Ectopuss, giant rats, a pack of wolves, a bear ghost, the Box Ghost, Skulker, some weird rabbit gorilla cross…. All in all nothing too terrible… Just relentlessly endless and annoying, eating into his sleep and making him generally miserable the next day.

Danny had gotten to the school in record time, not that it mattered really, he was already late and the added five minutes it took didn’t make any difference in Lancer’s eyes. He was sorely tempted to skip his first period altogether but didn’t really want to risk the phone call home to his parents.

He was a big enough disappointment to them as it was right now, and the last thing he needed or wanted to be the hollow sight from his parents as they looked on to him hopelessly.

“I really wish you would take this more seriously hun,” his mother would say

“I know these are your best years son, but the school’s important! Fenton’s are smart and you got a legacy to uphold!” his father would continue.

It was the same thing almost every time he screwed up, followed by his sensitive ears picking up his parents' hushed conversations mainly consisting of. “I don’t know what we’re going to do for him… nothing helps…”

He sighed as he landed in the janitor’s closet and transformed back to human. He shouldn’t worry about this now. Jazz and him were making preparations to be able to tell his parents the truth, and hopefully, that will allow him to smooth over most of the issues with his parents. He was concerned that he may have some loss of freedom though.

Or at least Jazz had warned him that may be the case. At the very least he could expect enforced ghost fighting curfews with a ghost shield around the house that a halfa can’t get out of.

He shook his head to clear the thoughts and moved to exit the closet swiftly making his way to class. “Ah, how nice of you to join us, Mr. Fenton,” Lancer said, hardly even sparing the teen a glance as he continued to write on the board.

Danny offered the teacher a sheepish smile that seemed to go unnoticed by the middle aged man, and hurried to his seat, throwing himself into his chair as silently as he could. It only occurred to him once he was in his seat that Lancer hadn’t bothered to issue him a detention.

Strangely that thought twisted in his gut painfully. Was he so bad off that even Lancer deemed him a lost cause now? He sighed deeply and just tried to push those self depreciative thoughts out of his mind, and decided instead that he should count his blessings that he could head home directly after school for a change.

Regardless he still opted to tune out the rest of the lecture as the day dragged on, Mr. Lancer did not make The Grapes of Wrath sound interesting at all and his opinion.

His friends beside him took in his tired visage and offered him a pitying look. The bags under his eyes made it clear that he was in need of sleep.

“What kept you up last night dude?” Tucker asked him with a quiet whisper.

“Box ghost and a whole bunch of animal ghosts all teaming up to make my night an endless hell…” Danny responded equally as quiet with an exasperated sigh.

“You should have called us man we would have been able to help you” Tucker whispered back eyeing his friend with a critical glance.

“You know we're always ready and willing to share the burden, you don't have to do this all yourself, as much as you think it's your ‘duty’ to,” Sam added from his other side.

“I know but it's not right for me to drag you guys into this. What if you guys get hurt? I'd never forgive myself!” Danny whispered back, with a slight huff, though a slight glow overtook his eyes. betraying his truest feelings.

Sam and Tucker exchanged a glance around him knowingly, it was pointless to try and argue with him when he gets like this. Even Jazz with all of her endless patience for psychoanalyzing him eventually gave up trying to understand the motivations behind his weird compulsions and all the faults and quirks that came along with having a Ghostly obsession to boot.

Danny lets out a long yawn. Man, was he tired. Maybe he could just rest his head on the desk for a moment, Lancer probably wouldn't notice right? No sooner was his head down were his eyes sliding closed from his exhaustion, unconsciousness taking him quickly.

From Danny’s perspective, he blinked and then was suddenly being poked by Tucker. Danny raised his head and took in his friend’s deep frown. “Bell rang, dude.”

Right good… “Yeah,” he yawned widely. Earning a sympathetic look from his friends and a flat exasperated sigh from the teacher.

Danny did his best to ignore the look as he stood and gathered his things to leave. He was just passing the classroom’s threshold when his ghost scene went off, fogging up around his vision and dissipating off into the air. He groaned.

“If it’s Boxy, I’m just going to lock him in the thermos and keep him there until the Christmas truce,” Danny growled.

“You want one of us to take care of him then?” Sam asked as Danny handed off his backpack to her.

“No, I should do it... “ He sighed. “I’m the one that everyone expects to be late anyway.”

“Still dude, you don’t-” Tucker started only to snap his jaws shut when Danny waved a flippant hand at him.

“No, it’s fine just tell the teacher I had a bowel problem or something. I’ll be back.” Danny said, already turning to leave and head for a closet or the bathroom to transform in. This was so second nature for him now, he had to wonder what he would ever be able to actually accomplish in school if he had the time to dedicate to actually sitting still for more than an hour and actually having time to learn things.

One flash of light later and Phantom was in the air following his ghost sense to the roof of the school. No sooner did he fully emerge above the building did he get blasted from behind. Danny rounded on the enemy expecting Skulker again but was surprised when he saw one of Vlad’s vultures panting from the exertion of its attack.

Instantly on high alert now, and looking for the elder half ghost himself, Danny fired an icy blast at the annoying bird's wings taking advantage of it’s needed recovery time.

The attack struck true and the bird fell to the ground with a squawk. Vulnerable now, he unhooked his thermos and sucked up the ghost easily. Capping it, and reattaching it to his belt, Danny flew around the school, trying to find the other two vultures or Vlad.

Using his ghost sense to guide him, he makes his way off the school property and into the woods that were just behind, Danny soon found the second vulture. It was odd though the bird was flying quickly away from the school instead of trying to attack him it kept on its trajectory.

It didn’t take Danny long to put two and two together and realize that the vulture was luring him somewhere. So he threw up a shield in front of the bird, which it flew into with a wet sounding thump before that minion too was sucked away.

“Ha, even dead birds fly into stuff” Danny quipped.

He flew upwards to get his bearings and realized he was halfway to Elmerton almost now. He cursed under his breath before doubling back towards the school, ignoring his ghost sense that was trying to draw him further away.

If Vlad was involved in this… whatever it was, he at least wanted to try and make it hard for him to execute whatever plan that frootloop had set up. Heading back towards the school he caught sight of a flash of green of a pair of Ectopuss in the football field.

“How did I miss you?” He muttered as he flew down towards them.

He hardly entered the school grounds when a pink blast shot towards him whizzing right by his ear. Only the sound of the static as it fizzed through the air alerted him to the attack, giving him barely enough time to dodge.

“Ah Daniel, I must admit I was anticipating you being gone for a little longer.” Vlad mused seemingly unimpressed by the teenager’s appearance.

“Did you really expect me to go that far once I realized your cronies leading me off?” Danny spat hands aglow with green sparking energy.

“Well of course I did. Your infernal hero complex is all too predictable after all.” Vlad chuckled dryly. “By the way little badger, how did you sleep last night? I had an unfortunate ghostly animal jailbreak.”

“Of course that was you.” Danny snarled before launching an attack at the man.

Vlad simply floated out of the way casually, smirking in that overly pompous manner of his. “As I said, predictable.” he chuckled darkly before a clone came up from behind and kicked Danny down to the ground.

The teen yelled and tried to slow his fall, but he still managed to leave a decently sized crater in the ground when all was said and done. Danny pulled himself free in launch skyward invisibly hoping to catch Vlad off guard.

Again, the elder half ghost dodged, before rounding on the teen and trapping him with a bear hug

"Now, now, Daniel. I can't have you messing up my plans my dear boy. Today is the day I Triumph and finally end that fool Jack Fenton and take Maddie for my wife," he purred

Danny's eyes go wide at the man's words. “What did you do,” He growled out. “Where are my parents Vlad! I swear-”

“Oh don’t worry it’s nothing dear Maddoline can’t handle. Tell me did you happen to get all three of my minions or did you simply come back here to confront me?” The man smiled in an overly sickeningly way that made Danny want to vomit.

“Wait, you - UGH!” Danny sees red, or rather green, as his eyes shine bright the need to protect overwhelming him as he stretches his body out and escapes the man’s hold. Snapping himself back to proper shape he lets loose a powerful mix of ecto plasma and ice.

It launched out of his palms so large and wide that Vlad had no choice but to try to shield, unable to dodge. The pink shield strained and shook, cracking with spiderwebs lacing the ecto construct.

Danny’s fury helped fuel his power and the added power backing him enabled him to break through the shield, hitting Vlad square in the chest... and destroying the clone in a hiss of melting pink sludge.

The teen whirled about in the air looking for the next attack, any possible sign of his enemy. How dare he! This was his town, his lair and he would protect the people in it. In a way, they were his too. It only fueled his rage knowing it was his father who was at risk.

Danny snarled in rage before shaking himself into a more coherent state. He fumbled about on his person managing to find whatever weird interstate his phone had gone into, and pulled it free to check it over.

He pushed it open and brought up the ‘Fenton Finder’ app that showed where the GAV was at any given moment, something that the citizens of the city enjoyed so they could avoid the areas whenever possible, usually meaning that there was a ghost attack wherever the Fenton’s were heading.

For Danny, it helped him avoid, or find his parents quickly. Finding his parent’s location was easy and after sticking his phone from what area it had come from, he’d shot off like a rocket. Thankfully they weren’t far, practically down the street from the school near the mall actually, which made sense otherwise Vlad wouldn’t have been able to maintain his clone.

Danny arrived on the scene just in time to see Vlad telekinetically tossing things towards the GAV. He had managed to split up the elder Fentons and lifted a few cars getting ready to toss them at Jack with a howl.

Danny slammed into Vlad tackling him to the ground, hands burning as bright as his eyes as he blasted the ghost.

The damage was already done though. As soon as Danny had tackled Vlad, the cars had become encased in pink energy causing it to still follow the trajectory that Vlad had wanted.

Both halfas slammed into the ground but were still high enough, the crater created not too deep in the pavement, to see what was happening.

Vlad smirked and took Danny’s distraction as a chance to escape phasing into the ground leaving a bewildered teen halfa unable to move, only stare at the scene before him.

The car sailed towards Jack who tried to bound out of the way. The large man was not as fast as he liked to believe and of course, was a large target, to hit. The car slammed into his leg knocking the tall man over and causing him to roll back from the force of the strike.

“Fu-e- Ouch! That’s broken…” Jack hissed out changing his swear last minute. The orange clad man struggled to get to his feet, his right leg bending awkwardly below the knee, but putting all his weight on his left allowed him to clamber to his feet… er, foot.

Danny heaved a sigh of relief seeing his father still standing, a little worse for wear granted but overall alive…. Or at least he was until he saw the man he always knew to be cheerful and boisterous, went quiet and pale, letting out a barely audible “N-No...”

Danny realizing Vlad had taken off, stood and followed his father’s gaze, heart and core both pounding anxiously, before burning away into a mix of sorrow and furry. There, just a little bit away, he could just barely make it out to what it should look like… but it was indeed a leg... in a very familiar, painfully familiar, teal colour, sticking out from under a car.

Danny gulped wishing silently that the red that was splashed about the concrete was just paint… A grunt and a crunch pulled Danny’s attention back to his father, who was trying desperately to meet his wife.

Carefully he flew to the large man before landing silently beside him, only to look away a second later ashamed. “I…. I couldn’t stop him in time…” He managed out, voice as broken as he currently was and glow dimming to an almost nonexistent state. “H-Here…”

Jack wrenched his eyes away from the blood and gore before him to stare listlessly at Phantom. Normally his scientific mind would be undoubtedly fascinated by the things currently being exhibited by Phantom, but right now…

Jack hardly said anything, not even so much as a protest as Danny looped his arm around the large man’s back allowing him to use the ghost as a crutch. That normally would have worried Danny but his everything was just stricken. He just…

He forced himself to move forward, urged on more by Jack’s listless hobbling rather than his own will to do so. He heard sirens, and couldn’t care less whether they were police, ambulance, fire or even the GIW coming for him… he just…

He had to know that the stillness of that form ahead really was due to...

He shook his head chastising himself for thinking such a thing before he had any proof. Though the closer he got, the colder the air around him felt.

Even Jack was shivering but his mind was numb to the biting temperature that Phantom was giving off… Nothing mattered just… “Madds… Oh, Maddie…” Jack whimpered, as they rounded the car.

Phantom turned green and fell away from Jack’s eyes widened. His stomach turned at the bloody scene before him. His mother… she was… “She’s... She’s dead!” Phantom cried out large luminescent tears falling from his eyes as he quivered in sorrow and grief.  

It was a grizzly sight

XxXxXxX

   Maddie was not in one whole piece for starters, her lower half had been cleaved off by the car leaving her legs to lay underneath while her upper body had rolled on, landing sideways against the curb, Her eyes, still opened, were glassy like that of a dead fish, and were quickly clouding.  

   Her skin now looked a sickly grey as opposed to the healthy pink and peach Danny had come to associate with his mother. Her face had been scraped deeply from when she had slid across the pavement, reminding the teen sickeningly of ground beef with how bad the scrapes were.  

   Entrails hung out from below her ribcage spilling their foul greenish yellow bile across the pavement, while chunks of… something Danny didn’t even want to identify was strewn about in various shades of whiteish, grey, pink, bright red and reddish black…  

   Bones... That was bones… or rather bits of bone that had been crushed and scattered from the impact…. Danny had seen bones before of course, there were skeleton ghosts after all but never like this… not something like this...  

   And all the red! Red was everywhere. No matter where he looked there was red. Large globbing splatters all the way down to the tiniest of pinpricks, it was there, and it was her. His mother… her essence...The iron scent was so strong now he could taste it.    

XxXxXxX

It quickly became too much for the teen, and he had to turn away from the scene onto the nearest boulevard to vomit. A thick green sludge that awfully enough reminded him of a slightly glowing lime Jell-o tumbled out from his stomach, burning his throat and nose.

After having emptied his stomach of whatever was in there and turning away from the mess he’d made, he carefully returned to his father who was weeping openly having fallen to his knees as he did so. The broken man was unable to turn away.

Danny swallowed thickly doing his best to keep his eyes on the ground, thankfully his own tears made everything blurry so he didn’t have to focus in on the mess that his mother had become…

“D- Jack? ...Come on… There are paramedics…” The teen managed out weakly. Jack looked up at him as if finally realizing just who was here beside him. Danny forced himself not to look away from the lost broken look on his father’s face. When he tried to say more it was as if his mouth was suddenly filled with cotton, and he opened it and closed it a few times unsure what to say.

“What do you want, Phantom?” The man asked after a moment of silence passed, both openly letting their tears fall, but neither mentioning it. The accusation was there but it was so much weaker than he had ever heard before… “If you’ve come to gloat I-”

“What!? No! Never! I… I actually wanted to say I’m sorry… I wasn’t fast enough I… This is my fault…” He sniffed out.

“What?! You’re sorry? You’re sorry!?” Jack boomed anger getting the better of him. Danny had heard enough of Jazz’s lectures to know what this was. He was so distraught and hurt, that he was going to take out his anger on anything he could…

Danny couldn’t blame him for turning on him though… everything is his fault.

“Sorry is not going to bring her back! Sorry isn’t going to fix this! Sorry isn’t going to- '' The man's voice cracked, breaking as he screamed becoming silent a second before he broke down again. “She’s gone… Sh-She’s gone!”

“I’m so sorry... This is my fault! If I was faster! I-I should have figured out Plasmius’s plan sooner I-I’m such an idiot I… oh Mom…” Danny hiccupped and tugged at his hair, nails digging into his scalp. “Mom! It’s all my fault! I should have saved you!”

“Wh- What did you?” Jack sniffed head snapping up in an instant watching as Phantom seemed to be having a mental breakdown. “Mom…” he managed out between sobs. Jack stole a glance at his broken wife, before staring back at Phantom.

The ghost looked young. Maybe somewhere in his mid teens at most, and with his glow now as weak as it was, he could clearly see the ghost that was usually hidden within the usual ethereal fog. He was a boy really, he looked so small, not at all like the muscled form they usually see. His glow was pretty much gone, leaving his usually brilliant white hair a dull steel grey. His white gloves and even the sharp crisp black… all of it just looked so dull…

Even the usual bright radioactive ectoplasmic green of his eyes had faded to a more human looking colour. If one were to take away the slight green tint in his skin he could easily pass for a kid who just dyed his hair, so long as someone wasn’t looking too hard at him... It was so surreal and uncanny in how the ghost moved, like an old movie that was missing an occasional frame.

And he was clearly having some sort of… episode… Perhaps he had died in a car crash with his mother? Was that why this was affecting him so strongly? The soft sobs of the usually strong and cocky ghost, and watching the boy cry about his mother… It felt so wrong.

“What kind of hero am I if I can’t even save my own mother? I can’t help anyone!” he sniffed, wiping his nose on his sleeve leaving an iridescent slime trail along his sleeve.

“Phantom…” Jack tried softly. Instantly the ghost’s head popped up to look at him, though it didn't last long as a moment later he squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

“Just… Just get it over with… hurry up and tear me apart… just… It’ll make us both feel better right?” the ghost pleaded brokenly to Jack's dull green eyes staring blankly ahead. “At least then I… I can be useful… not a disappointment… I’m just a screwup… I- “

“Phantom…” Jack said softly.

“I- I’m sorry” He sniffed.

Jack blinked slowly. “I need you to help me get to the paramedics.”  

“I’m- You want me to help?” He sniffled again. He really was a broken child at this moment and not just a ghost… besides, Jack didn’t have the fight in him right now to even bother trying to attack the ghost. “Really?” Phantom asked again, hope filling his green eyes.

“Yeah… I mean since I can’t walk,” came the simple response. “I…I need your help Phantom.”  

The ghostly teen nodded and moved forward to help the large man. Storm clouds barely being contained behind his eyes, while Jack on the other hand, just felt numb.

As Phantom helped Jack over to the emergency responders neither one noticed the other ghost that was on a nearby roof, staring down at the scene in silent horror.

Vlad masters or Plasmius in his current form had undoubtedly, unequivocally, and unquestionably screwed up… big time. Not only had his plan failed in the most spectacular way possible, but he had also killed the love of his life. By his own power, his own hand, she had stopped breathing, her heart stopped beating… her life drained.

In trying to end Jack, the man who ruined his life, he had unintentionally ended another's. The one most precious to him… Second only to the kinship that he had felt with Danny…

That feeling had been the most notable change here…

As it stood now, Vlad was unsure if he still felt the same about the younger half ghost. It was Daniel’s fault his plan had gone awry… If it wasn’t for him that would be Jack’s corpse smeared across the pavement from the car. The hunks of metal crushing the fat oaf of a man, not his dear sweet innocent Madeline.

But at the same time… they still shared a curse. A curse that bound them together whether they liked it or not. It was something that bound them to walk a tightrope of life and death and experience a sensation of isolation like no other.

Though as Vlad watched Jack interacting with Phantom, how the ghost tenderly had started embracing the man, and Jack in turn squeezed and held the boy so tight it looked like he would pop, the man couldn’t stop the bit of jealous rage that fermented in his core.

And yet, the more human side of his brain was breaking. Maddie was gone and he had destroyed Daniel’s family in all the wrong ways… It was his fault here as much as it was Daniel’s, and now... Now he just needed some time to himself to reflect…

Danny wasn’t sure how long he’d hugged his father for, and in ghost form no less, but they both needed this and it seemed like it didn’t matter who was there to offer the much needed comfort. “I-I…” He swallowed thickly again when he looked up into the deep blue eyes of his father globs of tears rimming his lashes and streaking freely down his face.

“It… It’s okay… I… You just… you look so much like my son like this” Jack admits. “I… I couldn’t... I…Oh, Danny....”

“Dad… I wanted to tell you sooner, and … and Mom too but…” He sniffed, trying to clear his nose and opened his mouth to continue only to hiccup, his voice betraying him. As the paramedics, cops and of course the GIW start to encircle them Danny whispered simply. “We-We’ll talk at home I…”

“Ecto-entity Phantom, by the order of CR-2003-02 you are under arrest!” The agent called out earning several glares from the emergency responders that had shown up.

“Like hell he is!” Jack boomed, surprising everyone there, but none more than the ghost himself. “You leave right now or I swear...” The large man said in a rather flattened tone. Jack loud was one thing, that was normal… Jack talking calmly or quiet well… that meant hell was about to break loose.

The agents looked about the area awkwardly, before one brave one with dark skin piped up. “But the law states-”

“And the law can get you a warrant to take him,” Jack said simply eyes hardened. He was not about to deal with them after… after… he shakes his head to clear his thoughts before putting an arm around Phantom… Danny… Danny Phantom, and pulling him to himself. “Ghost’s mine and I’m a licenced hunter so I have possession. Now leave.” he barked

Danny watched his father in awe. He’d seen his father upset before of course, and even protective of him and Jazz before too, but never like this…

The agents shared a glance before backing off with glares all the way back to their van.

The paramedics were next to approach while the Cops started roping off the area. Everything was a blur after that. And Danny hardly remembers anything once the paramedics took Jack.

He knows at some point he flew home, not bothering to head back to school, as he sort of ‘blinked back into reality’ to realize he was staring at his ceiling. He really didn’t care about school right now…

He wasn’t sure what time it was when Jazz came home. Her eyes were red and she sighed in relief upon seeing him, before practically collapsing on top of him crushing him in a hug their father would be proud of. It only took a second before they both began to sob again… -.-.-.-.-.-.-.- Incomplete Total words: 4711

[grayswhore]

Prego Prank

Grayson Dolan X Reader

Summary: Grayson is ready to go all out and get Ethan back for spray painting his car for a prank, but he can't think of a big enough prank, that's when you suggest the idea of faking a pregnancy.

Warnings: Mentions of vomit.

"I can't believe he did that shit Y/N. It's been two weeks and I'm still not over it." You laid on Grayson's bed, his head in your lap as you ran your fingers through his hair, trying your best to keep him calm. "At least he had an appointment scheduled right after to get it fixed." You chimed. Grayson shook his head in your lap. "Yeah, after he made me drive through Hollywood just to get there with all that shit on the hood of my car. I swear I gotta get him back, but what the fuck should I do. Everything I think of doesn't seem to be good enough." You sat there in silence as you both thought to yourselves. You mulled it over for a bit until an idea popped in your head. "Ooh, what if... you know what, nevermind." Grayson looks up at you, his head still lying between your thighs. "What? I wanna hear it." You shook your head. "This might be a bit extreme but what if we tricked him into thinking you got me knocked up... That's too much right?" Grayson's eyes lit up and he lifted up from your lap, excitement filling his features. "No, That's it! That's perfect!" Grayson looked at his cracked open bedroom door before getting off of the bed to shut it close and lock it. Ethan was home and he couldn't risk him overhearing you guys.  He paced the room, his mind racing. "Okay, we have to get everything in order to pull this off, what are we gonna need?" You moved to the edge of the bed, a huge wave of thrill ran through you as you realized what you guys were about to do. "We're gonna need a fake positive pregnancy test and some fake ultrasounds. We can probably order both on Amazon or something like that." Grayson pulled out his MacBook Pro and immediately began his search, he joined you at the side of his bed. "Wow, they really do have it on Amazon, what the fuck. This should probably be illegal." He added the fake pregnancy test to his cart before searching for the fake ultrasounds. "Okay, they have a range of different ultrasounds depending on how far along you are in the pregnancy. How many months do you wanna be?" You thought about it for a few seconds. "Well it has to be believable, obviously I don't have a belly so I have to be in the stages where I'm still not showing, probably between a month or two." "Oh babe look," Grayson said. "They even have an ultrasound for twins! Should we go big, this would take the prank to an even bigger level, he's gonna flip the fuck out." You agreed. This definitely took the prank up a notch. This prank was gonna be epic. "Let's do this." You said. He nodded, adding the right ultrasound into his cart. He rubbed his hands together menacingly and feigned and evil laugh before ordering and paying for the items. "Ethan Dolan, prepare to get pranked bitch!"

The items were set to arrive in three days. And throughout those three days, you and Grayson put on your best acting skills whenever Ethan was around. Gray set hidden cameras up over the house in preparation for the prank. Grayson made sure to be overly nice to you, fluffing the pillows on the couch before you sat, fetching you everything you needed without any hesitation. Pampering you so much that you could tell by the look on Ethan's face that he had noticed the weird behavior going on. "Grayson why the fuck are you being so extra?" Ethan asked. "I mean I get that's your girlfriend but isn't this a bit excessive? You've never done all this before. Is something going on?" You and Grayson looked at each other, a knowing look on your face. Ethan was falling right into your trap. He was starting to get suspicious, which is exactly what you wanted to happen. It was almost too easy, but you and Grayson didn't stop there.

You were over the twins house for a movie night Grayson had suggested, little did Ethan know you guys had something else planned. It was the last day before the props would be delivered and you guys would prank Ethan but you guys had one more trick up your sleeve. In the middle of the movie you were watching you decided to head to the bathroom, a plan in motion. Yesterday Grayson texted you telling you he brought fake vomit. He kept it hidden in the cabinet at the bottom of the sink with all the toiletries and cleaning supplies knowing Ethan wouldn't find it. Once you were in the bathroom you locked the door. Grayson also kept a hidden camera in here too. You made sure it was on and recording.  Before you went straight under the sink and grabbed the bottle of store brought throw up. You lifted up the toilet seat and unscrewed the cap, pouring some of the greenish substance into the toilet. You had to fight back actual vomit as you saw the chunks plop in the toilet, and the smell of this stuff... well let's just say this was the most realistic fake vomit you've ever seen. "It's go time." You said to the camera before you started making fake vomit noises, making sure you were loud enough that the boys could hear it. Within seconds Ethan and Grayson were knocking on the door. "Y/N is everything alright. Are you throwing up?" Ethan shouted through the locked door. "Yeah I- I'm-" You started making more gagging noises, pouring a little more of the vomit in the toilet for Ethan to hear, you let it splatter a bit, making it sound as real as possible. "Babe, let me in, let me help you." Grayson said, fake concern in his voice. "O-okay." You said weakly, quickly screwing the cap back on the bottle of vomit and placing it back under the sink. You unlocked the door, opening it wide enough to make sure Ethan saw the throw up in the toilet. "Jesus." Ethan said pinching his nose shut. "Is she okay, Y/N hardly ever gets sick. It smells like she's fucking dying in there." Grayson rolled his eyes at Ethan's comment. "I'll take care of her E, you can go back to the movie." Ethan nodded before leaving. Grayson walked into the bathroom and closed the door. When Ethan's footsteps wear gone you and Grayson broke out into a fit of giggles, you held your hand over your mouth, doing your best to keep your laughter hushed. "He totally fell for it!" Grayson said, bringing your lips to his. "Thank you, your excellent acting skills are really gonna sell this! He's probably already making assumptions." You smiled, a knot of excitement forming in your stomach. "Tomorrow's the big day, we're gonna prank him so hard," Grayson said to the camera, before grabbing it from it's hiding place.  

The day was finally here! Grayson was already preparing. He filmed the intro to the video in the morning. "What's up guys, we're back... Well, I'm back by myself so you know what that means." Grayson said looking into the camera. "It's time for some payback. By the title of this video you guys probably already know what's going down. You guys know my beautiful girlfriend Y/N, her channel will be linked in the bio if you don't know her, but anyway she's going to be helping me prank the shit out of Ethan today. How will she be doing that you ask? She's going to be pretending to be pregnant. Yes, you heard me correctly. We are going to be telling Ethan that I got Y/N pregnant. Now in order to pull this off properly, I ordered a fake pregnancy test and some fake ultrasounds off of Amazon. They came in the mail today and I gotta say, this is for sure going to fool Ethan, honestly Ethan's not that smart so it probably would not have been that hard to trick him, but still, I didn't wanna take any risk. Y/N and I also took the liberty of putting on quite the show for Ethan as well, just to make sure we pull this off. " Grayson makes a mental note to add the footage from the hidden cameras of the previous three days. "It's 8:30am right now, of course Ethan is sleeping. I told Ethan that Y/N and I had something we wanted to tell him over dinner tonight. I tried to seem as serious as possible and I think he brought it so I'm excited and yeah... I'll see you guys then!"

It's 6:30pm by the time Grayson arrives at your house to pick you up. He has his vlogging camera in his hand as you open up the door to the passenger side of the car. You slide in and Grayson turns the camera to you. "Hey, baby momma." He says with a smile and you can't help but grin. "Hey, baby daddy," you say playfully. "How are you feeling?" He questions, keeping the camera on you. "Nervous, I'll admit. But really excited to get Ethan good." Grayson nods behind the camera. "Same. He's gonna learn who daddy really is." Grayson immediately cringes. "Remind me to never say that again." You laugh and he pulls off. You hold the camera as he drives. Grayson continues to explain what will be taking place to the camera. "So right now Ethan's home setting up dinner, I have more hidden cameras in the dining room and that's where the prank will be taking place. He doesn't suspect anything whatsoever. He's been trying to get me to tell him the announcement but I said he had to wait until Y/N got there. I can tell he's anxious. All we gotta do now is get in there and prank his ass." Grayson turns into the parking lot of his house. "We're here. Let's get this show on the road."

Once everything is ready Grayson hands you the fake pregnancy test to pee on. When you do sure enough it comes up as positive. The moment is so realistic you have to remind yourself it's fake to stop yourself from getting freaked out. Of course you see yourself one day having kids with Grayson but you could never actually imagine yourself as a teen mom, especially with twins! You tucked the pregnancy test in your sweater pocket, shaking the nerves away. Grayson shows you the ultrasounds. "Aww." You look at the imaginary twin embryo's. "This is so crazy, look how real this is. I'm falling for it and I know it's fake." Grayson smiles. "Yeah, this was once me and Ethan. Now I can't stand his ass." Grayson hides the ultrasounds in his back pocket as you laugh and make your way into the dining room. You guys sit and eat the Chinese takeout Ethan ordered since neither twin can cook. Suddenly Ethan has an outburst. "Can you guys just tell me already. Fuck, I'm going insane." You and Grayson look at each other. "Do you wanna tell him or should I?" Grayson says. "I'll tell him." You answer back. You feel the pregnancy test in your sweater pocket. "There's no easy way to say this Ethan." You do your best to look scared. "I'm pregnant." Ethan's lets his fork drop out his hand. There's a moment of silence before you finally reach into your pocket and pull out the pregnancy test, reaching over the table to hand it to Ethan. Ethan's eyes widen as he stares at the test. "You're pregnant. So that's why he's been treating you differently, and the vomiting last night. You're actually pregnant." His eyes don't leave the test as he talks. You nod. Grayson makes a show of holding your hand, rubbing small circle with his thumb. "We're gonna have a family E." He says in a soft whisper. Ethan let's out a deep breath. "Does mom know?" Grayson shakes his head. "No, you're the first person we told." Ethan sets the pregnancy test down on the table. "How many months are you?" You lick your lips. "I'm just over a month." Ethan nods. "Are you... Are you going to keep it?" You and Gray share another look before slowly nodding. "Me and Y/N talked about it, and we both agreed we want to keep it. I've always wanted to be a father, and we can afford it, so why not." Ethan runs a hand through his hair. "Why not? Grayson, you're only 19. You can't handle a kid. Babysitting someone else's child and raising your own are two completely different things. You're not ready for a baby." Grayson clears his throat. "Babies." He corrects Ethan. Ethan stares blankly at Grayson. "What?" Grayson goes into his back pocket and takes out the ultrasounds. "Babies." He repeats. "She's having twins Ethan." The color drains from Ethan's face as Grayson hands him the ultrasounds. Ethan stares down at them in disbelief. "No fucking way," Ethan whispers to himself. "Grayson, you're not ready for this. I know in your head you think you're super mature and you know it all but you can't do this. Neither of you are ready for this." You sit there silent, completely stunned by Ethan's reaction. You expected him to be freaked out but he's genuinely disappointed. You don't think you've ever seen Ethan so serious. "I thought you'd be happy for me E. Why are you acting like this." Ethan stands up, the emotions in him becoming too much for him to sit still. "Why am I acting like this. Grayson, I'm your brother, your older twin brother. It's my duty to look out for you and do what I think is in your best interest. I love you, and I don't want to see you ruin your life." Tears fall down Ethan's cheeks and you squeeze Grayson's hand, signaling him to end the prank here. This was supposed to be a fun and harmless prank and you didn't want this is end on a bad note. Grayson takes the hint. "There's one more thing we have to tell you E." Ethan's shoulders sag. "What now, are you gonna tell me you guys secretly eloped or something?" Grayson shakes his head. "No... This is a prank." A big smile creeps on Grayson's face before he burst out laughing. "Gotcha Bitch!" Ethan isn't smiling though. "A prank? But the pregnancy test and the ultrasound, those are real." You shake your head. "Nope, ordered them from Amazon." Ethan looks at you in shock. "But you were throwing up, I saw it in the toilet." Grayson gets up and goes to the bathroom and returns seconds later with the bottle of fake vomit. "Oh, you mean this." He says handing Ethan the bottle. Ethan looks at Grayson with the same look of shock. "What the f-... You son of a bitch!" Ethan says before shoving Grayson. Finally, a smile appears on Ethan's lips. "You fucking got me!" Grayson laughs and you smile, happy to see Ethan in better spirits. "Say hello to the camera bitch ass!" Grayson says as he takes the camera from its hiding spot, putting it in Ethan's face. "NOOOO!" Ethan says as he turns away from the camera. "I fucking cried, fuck!" Ethan turns to look at the ultrasound. "This looks so fucking real." He holds it up to the camera. "You guys can't tell me you wouldn't fall for that. Who's babies are these?" Ethan turns to you. "Y/N, I thought you were my friend, how could you do this?" You shrug your shoulders. "Well, Grayson's my boyfriend so my loyalty lies with him, sorry E." Ethan shakes his head. "I wasn't expecting this from you, Grayson. I'll admit I underestimated you. But that won't happen again. It's on." Ethan turns to the camera. "I'm gonna get him twice as hard so if you're not subscribed you might wanna do that now just saying." Grayson rolls his eyes "Alright, that's it for this video, see you guys next week. Y/N you wanna get over here and do the outro with us?" You walk over and get in view of the camera. "1, 2, 3... PEACE!"

[virmillion]

Ibytm - T minus 58 seconds

Masterpost - Previous Chapter - Next Chapter - ao3

Words: 2,594

Aside from the one confrontation post-petticoat ukulele conspiracy, Logan still hasn’t talked with Cadmium. Really, truly talked to the guy. Tagging along on his tours doesn’t count. Granted, a fair amount of his Tuesdays and Thursdays are occupied with thoughts of Cadmium, but Logan does still have a life outside of him. It comes with no small amount of annoyance that this other life involves dealing with unsolvable problems at his internship.

“I heard there’s no real answer,” Cassidy says. She stabs her pen in the air, writing imaginary equations and scowling at the empty space.

“I heard they had this problem, like, years ago,” Joy says. Logan steeples his fingers under his chin with his elbows propped on his knees, watching Joy spin circles on her chair with her nose pointed at the ceiling. “I bet they already know the answer, and any intern that can’t crack it gets kicked to the curb.”

“Somehow, I feel like excessive alliteration isn’t the answer, Joy,” Micah calls from the water jug. His perspective might seem more valuable if his cheek weren’t flattened against the top of the machine in an utterly pitiful display of boredom.

“Oh, and I bet you already figured it out, huh, smart guy?” Joy’s retort also seems less valuable, as it comes at the same moment that she smacks her ankle into the leg of her desk, her spinning cut short. Logan is getting the sinking feeling that he chose the wrong scientific field.

“Maybe we’re looking at it from the wrong angle. Does someone want to read it again, and we all think of it with clean slates?” Logan glances around the room, hoping that his non-contribution will be sufficient. “Or, hey, Alex, have you got an idea? You haven’t said too much yet.”

Alex’s shock of dyed yellow hair jolts as they lift their eyes to peer over the top of the computer. “Can I get you a handkerchief, or did you dodge the splashback when you threw me under the bus just now?”

“ I’ll read it, you bunch of babies,” Cassidy sighs. “Okay. Riddle me this, folks. Thought experiments for the modern era.”

“Lay off the Mcelroy references and finish the question,” Micah grumbles.

Cassidy wrinkles her nose and sticks out her tongue before continuing. “The ship of Theseus proposes that a ship leaves a location and has every single part of itself periodically replaced before reaching a second location. The question is whether the ship to arrive is a different ship than the one to depart. Bear this in mind while assuming all cultural divides and disparities—cultural, political, scientific, or otherwise—are held in an impenetrable stasis that has no effect on the contents of the riddle, and conclusively solve the following. Jeez, talk about a run-on sentence.

“NASA launches a rocket to Neptune, and the only passenger is the child of a Russian and an American, where the parents were born on Earth and the child on Mars. The inhabited rocket was built half of parts from NASA and half of parts from Roscosmos. It contains enough parts to make an entirely new rocket, all of which were created on the moon. Allowing adequate suspensions of disbelief in favor of the passenger’s ability to build the new rocket and touch down on Neptune alive, which flag should be placed on Neptune as the first to arrive: That of Mars, the Moon, Earth, America, or Russia?”

“Does the moon even have its own flag?” Micah muses.

Joy slams the side of her fist on her desk hard enough to rattle the pens scattered across the floor. “This is such a stupid question. It barely even has anything to do with space!”

“It is about non-mathematical rocket science,” Alex points out.

“You could take the exact same problem and change a few key words to make it about a fish being flushed down a toilet,” Logan counters, “and nothing would change.”

“Is the fish dead?” Micah asks. “Because now you’re introducing aquatic zombies to the equation.”

“No aquatic zombies!” Joy and Alex shout in unison. Logan joins in the cry with a muttered mimic of his own, and even Cassidy looks quite done with Micah, who traces his finger along the side of the water tank before patting the top.

“Aquatic zombies,” he whispers forlornly. Logan isn’t entirely sure how Micah managed to weasel his way into an internship here, but he stopped questioning it a long time ago.

“It’s the moon, isn’t it?” Cassidy tries. This brings about a chaotic storm of argued disagreements through which Logan couldn’t possibly begin to sort.

“But the passenger was born on Mars, so it’s the Martian flag.”

“But their parents were of Earth, do we know where the passenger was conceived? Earthling parents mean it can’t be Mars’ flag.”

“Oh, like the Opportunity rover would plant a flag on Neptune.”

“Rip in pieces, Oppy.”

“Well, wouldn’t it be the country of origin of the mom, since she’s the one that had to carry the passenger to term?”

“That’s sexist, and we don’t know which parent is which.”

“It’s heretonormative, anyway.”

“You mean cisnormative.”

“I know what I meant to mean.”

“Unless you meant both. Trans father for the win.”

“Trans father, transformer, illuminati?”

“Does Earth even have a flag?”

“Where was the passenger raised? That might change the answer.”

The door opposite the stairs slams open as another intern with dirty blond hair and a beanie stumbles in looking particularly disheveled—well, more so than usual, at least.

“The passenger opened a wormhole immediately after being born, and raised themself on Neptune,” Logan deadpans. “Roman, if you haven’t got any good news, I swear to—”

“They cancelled the level eight project,” the man at the door says. Were it not for the bright gold name embroidered along the breast pocket of his shirt—Roman—Logan might believe him to be a random guy from off the street. “They figured out the missing sections—without our input, obviously—and decided the clearance rate was excessive. Basically, they said a toddler with a functioning search engine could crack it, so we should stop wasting our time.”

“Has the toddler ever been to Neptune?” Logan asks dryly. A hollow chorus of laughs ricochets around the room, quieted only by the click of the hour hand on the only analog clock hung on the wall. It must’ve been ages since Logan souped up the old thing to announce clockins, breaks, and clockouts.

“For the next hour,” Joy declares, “Neptune does not exist.”

“Seconded,” the other interns agree, putting their respective monitors to sleep and shuffling for the break room.

Roman lags behind to enter after Logan, prodding the small of his back and tilting his head toward the computers. He clears his throat meaningfully. Logan sighs, casting one last doleful look into the breakroom before joining Roman out on the floor again.

“They did want me to give you this,” Roman murmurs, “but keep it cazh.”

“Nothing is less ‘cazh’ than you shortening the word ‘casual’ like that,” Logan says, nonchalantly stretching an arm over his head. On the downswing, he takes the item from Roman’s hand and threads it between his fingers.

“I think I got the same deal, but don’t mention it, yeah?” Roman steps into the breakroom first, allowing Logan a moment to dawdle and inspect his acquisition. A flat disc, about the size of a well-used roll of scotch tape, with the NASA logo on both sides. Logan pinches the edges beside the first and last letter experimentally, and a USB plug pops out from the bottom of the logo. He pinches again, and it slides away. It looks for all the world like an overly expensive keychain one might find in a cheap museum. Logan shrugs, pockets it, and joins the others in the breakroom.

Only Roman appears to be in any semblance of a good mood—then again, he got clearance to visit the upper offices while everyone else pondered that stupid riddle. After teasing Roman about how he was probably about to get The Talk (the firing talk, that is) from the higher ups, it only took the rest of the floor about five minutes to give up on individual glory and try to solve the problem together. Obviously, it didn’t help.

“We could send someone for coffee,” Cassidy says. At least, Logan thinks that’s what she said. Her voice is a little muffled, what with how her face is pressed against the table.

“And get yelled at for prioritizing caffeine over the crappy cloud juice we’ve already got here?” Alex replies, tracing their finger over the glass front of the vending machine. Its only products are bottled water and expired heath candy bars. Four bucks a pop. “I’d rather dehydrate than take that kind of reprimanding.”

“I am literally going to commit multiple federal and moral crimes if I don’t get some real bean juice in my system in the next hour,” Joy grumbles. A true testament to her name.

Micah, apparently having moved on from the destruction of his aquatic zombie idea, springs to his feet from where he was sprawled across the floor. “We could use Logan’s app!”

This might be a good time to mention that, in padding his resume to apply for this extended internship, Logan made a brief foray into coding, which resulted in an app he dubbed ‘fetch quest.’ Basically a personalized coffee order service, more specialized than door dash, where instead of ordering food straight to your location, you put out a request for coffees—usually from Starbucks, Tim Hortons, Biggby, the like—to be delivered by the colloquially nicknamed fetch kids. Upon getting their coffee, the buyer reimburses the fetch kid for the coffee, as well as an obligatory tip so the fetch kid can turn a quick buck.

To tell the truth, Logan was genuinely too lazy to walk to the campus cafeteria for a coffee while working on homework, and paid his roommate five dollars to do it for him. (He paid in nickels, by the way.) So lazy was Logan, in fact, that he made an app to avoid ever dealing with the inconvenience again.

“I’m down for that,” Cassidy mumbles. “Who’s got the app? Seems kinda rude to do six separate orders, y’know, like ordering a different personal pizza from different locations and having them arrive at the same time, then fight to the death for the right to deliver their pizza first, so they miss the thirty minute limit and no one gets paid.”

“Okay, so Cassidy gets a decaf,” Alex says, swiping around on their phone. “Everyone just getting their usuals? Same as the last fetch quest?” Grunts of agreement are their only answer—aside from Roman, who peers over Alex’s shoulder to design an obscenely personalized drink.

“Pitch in a five dollar tip for the barista,” Logan calls. “I’ll cover it.” Roman perks up at that as Alex taps the appropriate button on their phone. Before he can ask, Logan nods, saying, “I’ll spot you the six dollars.”

“It’s actually closer to seven,” Roman admits, rubbing at the back of his neck sheepishly. “I got a dairy substitute, don’t sue me. I’m broke, anyway, so it wouldn’t help if you won the suit.”

“This is a paid internship,” Joy points out.

Roman looks aghast. “You guys are getting paid?” It’s unclear whether he’s kidding.

“Order placed and transaction pending,” Alex announces, “so start up the charitable donation pool to my wallet.” Roman initiates the process, pulling the beanie off his head and carrying it around the room for everyone to toss their bills in. He can only manage a weak smile when Logan tosses in double what he ought to.

“Wait, Logan,” Micah says, “you didn’t get anything last time.”

“Shoot, yeah, what can I get you? No one’s picked it up yet,” Alex says, pulling the wads of bills from Roman’s hat.

“Just do a fetch kid’s delight, I guess. Price limit five.” Roman darts across the room to grab the proffered bill from Logan, attempting (and spectacularly failing) to parkour over the chair on his way back. The rickety plastic flies out from underneath him and his chin smacks the carpet as he goes down. Before anyone thinks about moving to help, he jumps to his feet and dusts off his knees, pretending as if nothing happened.

“It’s been accepted,” Alex announces.

“Maybe the trick is to work out whether the rocket, being from the moon, is the first to land, or if it has to be a life form in order to count for reaching Neptune first,” Joy suggests. Cassidy lifts her head to respond, thinks better of it, and drops her face back onto the table.

“That’s only assuming you give the rocket living rights to plant the flag,” Micah says.

“Did you guys consider the ramifications of the nationalities of each parent?” Roman asks.

“Yes,” everyone else groans in unison. Even Logan says it, now thoroughly annoyed by how much inconvenience Roman was able to skip in favor of retrieving a little flashdrive.

“Do we need to take into account the heritage of the parents?” Cassidy tries.

“It wasn’t included in the information backing up the question, and we’re only supposed to get an answer based on what we concretely know already,” Alex replies.

“We don’t concretely know already which flag they plant,” Logan offers, “so maybe the answer is that we aren’t supposed to have one.”

“That’s exactly what someone who knows the answer would say,” Joy mutters. This manner of conversation continues for another fifteen minutes or so, until someone knocks on the door at the top of the stairs.

“Liquid inspiration!” Roman shouts, vaulting over the empty chairs on his sprint for the door. As he swings it open to reveal a very familiar silhouette, Alex clicks a few times on their phone, finalizing the transaction upon receival.

Apart from the grey and red plaid scarf wrapped around his neck, Cadmium looks like he walked straight out of one of his own tours, down to the maroon cardigan and black skinny jeans. “Fetch quest fulfillment for Ally-oopsy-olly—”

“Yep, yes, that’s me,” Alex interrupts quickly, not letting him finish saying the username. They take a couple of the cups from Cadmium, stepping aside to let Joy and Micah help with the rest. Cadmium makes eye contact with Logan for a split second, inclines his chin, and turns to leave. He pulls out his phone, the screen angled enough for Logan to see the fetch quest home screen loading in more requests.

“Wait, we didn’t tip you,” Logan calls, surging past the other interns to catch up.

“Yeah, we did,” Alex says, “I put in your five, and I have my account set for an auto-gratuity of twenty—”

“Shut up , Alex,” Logan hisses over his shoulder. He turns to Cadmium, who looks somewhere between amused and bewildered. If he landed on Neptune, which emotion would touch down first? “Here y’are. Thanks.” Logan allows the last word to linger in the air, implying an unvoiced request for a name as he passes Cadmium a ten.

Cadmium glances from his phone—now proudly displaying a cheerful reimbursement and tip breakdown message—to the bill and back to his phone. He nods slowly, taking the ten and heading down the stairs. Logan blinks, watching him go.

“Wow,” Roman says, coming closer to rest his elbow on Logan’s shoulder. “You’ve got it bad, my guy.”

“Oh, shove off.”

[snarkyfinch]

Change

The Doctor and the Ponds find their way back to one another, and the Doctor doesn’t plan to leave again. It just takes a few months to convince them of that. And another year or so to convince them both he loves them, but really, what’s a few years compared to a thousand?

(aka 2,000+ words of snarky giving amy rory and the doctor a happy romantic ending)

- -

“I suppose, in the end, they break my heart.”

And hadn't that been the truth for so very long? Hadn’t that been the one thing he carried with him, every time someone new stepped foot in the TARDIS? Yes, for quite a while his companions had all broken his hearts. They smiled and laughed and cried and lived, and then at some point they didn’t. The smiles were gone, as were the laughs, and the tears. So was the life. 

And it was so terribly lonely.

Sometimes he made himself live with that loneliness. Sometimes he let the years pass by with nothing but the wheezing of his TARDIS, no humans or otherwise present to make his chest ache. No one there to remind him he didn’t need to be alone. 

“Doctor?” The voice, so soft and hesitant, makes him smile. Despite the dark place his thoughts have drifted to, he smiles. “Hello, Rory.” “But how-?” Rory looks like a surprised fish, and if he were any less sorrowful and any more thrilled he might have laughed. As it were, he can only continue to smile at Rory. Judging from the concern that blooms like honeysuckles in Rory’s eyes, the smile mustn’t look very happy. Oops. 

“I’m a time lord. I do what I want.” “But this- you can’t be- not that I’m not happy to see you, of course I am it’s just-“ “Rory.” The Doctor keeps his tone gentle, always gentle around Rory. Because Rory has seen too much, because Rory the Roman deserves a little gentleness after everything he’s been dragged through on the Doctor’s account. “May I come in?”

Rory gapes at him for a moment more before nodding his head and letting out a series of stutters that collects in the Doctor’s mind to form, “Yes, yes of course, please do.” Then, Rory calls for Amy. There’s a long pause before her voice, irritated but not overly hostile, calls back. “What is it?”

“Get down here! Now! Preferably!” The Doctor wants to laugh, to cry, to something, at the familiarity of it all. Of the warmth creeping through him, at the fact he can’t seem to stop smiling. His cheeks are getting sore. 

Rory hasn’t stopped staring. 

The two men sit in silence as Amy makes her way to them, and they continue their silence as she enters the room with a gasp. “Doctor?” “Pond,” the word is said with all of the warmth, all of the love, he has left within him. Embers of a fire that has been dampened time and time again, the broken pieces of his heart crying out. “I’ve missed you.”

Amy sobs, does what he can’t, and then she’s in his arms. She’s in his arms and Rory seems unsure, standing to the side with eyes that shine suspiciously bright. He’s going to cry, too, then. The Doctor reaches out, tugs him in because his hearts ache and his eyes are wet. Because he’s home. It took him so long to realize what his home was, and he felt like the biggest idiot to ever exist when it hit him. 

Gallifrey was forever his home land, his origin, but it wasn’t his true home anymore. No, his true home was in the arms of those that loved him. 

“How are you here?” Amy asks, her face buried against his chest. “How is this possible?” “I’ve never been good at following the rules, have I? Especially not when it comes to you two.” Rory looks surprised to be included, and the Doctor squeezes him closer just to spite that surprise. Rory was a part of this, whatever this was. Whatever this was going to be. Rory was a part of it, too, and the Doctor didn’t intend to let him forget that. 

Judging from the death grip Amy had on Rory’s hand, she didn’t either. 

“What does this mean?” Amy meets his gaze now, eyes red and tear filled. Her nose is running and her skin is blotchy, and really it’s not the most attractive she’s ever been, but she is beautiful. “It means, Pond, that it’s time for some coffee and snacks.”

She laughs, and so does Rory, and the Doctor doesn’t think he’s ever heard a sound more beautiful. 

-

“Doctor?” Rory’s voice pipes up from behind him, and he glances away from his book to the man leaned in the doorway. “Yes, Rory?” “When… when are you leaving?” Rory sounds as awkward as ever, unsure of what path he’s meant to be taking when it comes to conversation. “What do you mean?” “I just. It’s not that I want you to go. Of course I don’t, it’s lovely having you here and all. It’s just. Well. You’re… you. You get bored. And it’s already been, what? A week? So, I was just wondering when you planned to leave, and when you do go if you’d mind-“

“Rory,” his voice doesn’t waver, which is a pleasant surprise. “Rory I’m not leaving. If that’s alright.” Rory blinks, mouth open, uncomprehending. The Doctor lets out a soft breath at the familiar expression, thinks back to the first time he saw that mute shock. He had missed all of this, though he could do without the awkward mornings. Those never had gotten easier to navigate. 

“Of course it’s alright, you dolt.” And there’s Amy, snow still melting in her hair, eyes as sharp as daggers. “We’ve kept an empty room for you for… how long?” “Years,” Rory whispers, sounding absolutely mystified. “Years.” Amy agrees, eyes focused solely on the Doctor. “So don’t even think of leaving, understand?”

“I won’t even consider it.” He’s not sure she understands how much he means those words. She’ll understand eventually, though. He knows she will. She’s always been smart. 

-

Six months. Six months of learning how to function as a human being on earth. He gets a job, thinks of Craig as he suggests the best toys for parents to place under the Christmas tree. Wonders how his friend is, wonders about a lot of things, and then he’s spiraling. He’s learned how to deal with spiraling, he’s learned a lot of things. 

Clara would be proud. He’s adjusting. He’s learning. He’s coping. 

“Amy? Have you seen my glasses?” “The ones you don’t need?” She sounds exasperated, but amused. He gives her his best sheepish but cheeky grin, unable to stop the nervous fluttering of his hands. His hands never sit still when he wants them to, but he’s found he doesn’t mind it. Lovely way to work off excess energy. 

“Yes, those.” “They’re in the bathroom on the medicine cabinet. For some reason. I saw them up there when I was dropping off your laundry.” “Ah, lovely. Thank you!” He makes sure to make his voice just a bit sing-songy because it always makes her smile when he does. Something about his dorky charms. 

“Oh, Doctor? Rory and I won’t be home for dinner tonight. Work.” The Doctor almost winces at that, but instead he just gives a wobbly smile. Amy looks sympathetic, and he really rather hates that. “You two are so busy. I feel like I should get another job.”

Amy laughs despite herself at that, shaking her head vehemently. “No, no you don’t need another job. You’d go insane.” “Still! You two are so busy all the time. Absolutely no time for me!” He absolutely does not whine his words out as he flops onto the couch, staring up at her flushed cheeks and wide smile. Beautiful. 

“You’re like a cat, sometimes.” She muses this as she runs a hand through his hair, watching it flop down over the edge of the sofa. The Doctor grins at her, unable to find the right response to that. She continues to fiddle with his hair until her hand comes to rest on his chest and her eyes return to her book. 

The Doctor stays there for as long as his back and legs will allow, basking in the comfort that is his Pond. 

-

“Rory! There you- oh.” “Lost a patient.” 

The words come out in a tired croak, and as the Doctor takes in the sight of tired eyes and slouched posture, his hearts crack just a bit. He moves forward before he can think why, arms reaching out as Rory leans willingly into his embrace. The Doctor has never been the best at these things, but he wraps his arms around Rory as tightly as he can and makes sure to tuck Rory’s face against his shoulder. That’s a comforting position, right?

Of course. The movies do it. He hasn’t had to do this in such a long time. 

“It’s alright now, Rory. You did all you could. It’s alright.” “You're terrible at this.” “Hush. I know.”

Rory’s laugh is feeble, but it’s a laugh. The Doctor laughs with him, just a little, because he can’t help it. Rory goes from holding him to gripping onto his shirt like a lifeline, shaking for a moment as he bites back a sob. The doctor hears the way his breathing hitches, hears him swallow the sound like a pill. 

“I’m sorry, Rory. You can’t save everyone.” “I know-“ “But you can stay strong for the ones you do save. It’s not going to get easier, but you will at least know how to cope with it.”

Rory looks at him and something clicks. The Doctor sees the light of understanding, the flickering ghosts that haunt this beautiful man. “You made dinner.” The sudden observation is startling, but the Doctor nods his head and motions to the table. “I’m still a bit rusty with it, but-“

“Doctor, it’s going to be amazing.” Rory’s eyes are still dripping tears, but he seems determined to ignore it so the Doctor decides to ignore it as well. For now. Until Amy gets home.

Until Amy gets home, the Doctor will hold Rory’s hand and pretend death is just something in children’s dark fairytales. 

-

“Doctor.”

He has lived with the Ponds for two years, now. Two wonderful, confusing, happy, terrifying years. Two years of an itch he can’t scratch no matter how much he runs, no matter how many bird houses he puts together, no matter how many children he helps find the perfect toy. 

The tone Amy uses sends a spike of fear through him, ice crawling up his spine. 

“Pond?” And there’s Rory at her side, both looking so serious. So severe. It scares him. It scares him so badly. “We need to talk.” “What about?” “We love you,” it’s Rory who says it. Rory who looks so nervous, like something fragile is in his hands and one wrong breath will break it. The Doctor wonders, distantly, if he’s that fragile thing. 

“I love you both, too.” He sounds confused. He knows he does. 

Amy bites her lip. 

“That’s just it, Doctor. We love you.” He’s not sure he understands. For a little while, he finds himself frozen like a popsicle before them. Just staring, mute and uncomprehending. Of course the Ponds love him, they’ve always made that clear. And he’s always done what he can to make it clear he loves them. So then why is this important?

Then his mind reaches back. A bit further than Amelia Pond and Clara Oswald. Back, back, back. To blonde hair and glassy hazel eyes.

“I love you.”

Rose. Ah. So that’s what all of this was about. 

“Oh.” He says intelligently. 

Amy barks out a laugh, Rory nervously chuckling along. “Yes, Doctor. Oh. We love love you. Now what do you have to say?” Her smile is almost bitter, eyes hardening as though she’s expecting-

“Oh, Amy.” He doesn’t mean to sound so sad when he says it, but really. After everything, for these two bumbling idiots to think he really wouldn’t love them back is the saddest thing he’s heard in quite a while. “Of course I love you.”

Amy laughs again but this time it’s with relieved tears in her eyes. Rory has gone quiet. The Doctor feels like strangling him. “I love both of you so much I quite literally defied the laws of everything to be here. Really, was there any doubt?”

He moves first. A few steps and he’s got them both in his arms, pulling them as close as he possibly can to make sure they know. To make sure they hear how fast his hearts are beating for them. Rory nuzzles closer and Amy stubbornly wriggles about until she can steal a kiss. 

The Doctor lets himself fall in love, hard and fast and without regret. He’s going to be happy. 

-

“Doctor Pond,” he breathes it like a prayer, eyes watching himself in the mirror as he carefully fixes his bow tie. 

He’s going to be married, today.

They’ve waited a handful of years for this. He’s had a ring for a whole two years now, he’s held the title of fiancé for a whole two years. It feels absurd, and yet the fact that he’s finally getting married is… surreal. 

He feels like he’s floating. 

“Doctor? Are you ready?” Clara’s little voice tears him from his thoughts, and he gives her the brightest grin he can. He’s still not sure how she found her way here, but she did. She’s going to walk him down the aisle, and that thought makes him lightheaded. “As I’ll ever be, I suppose.” Clara laughs in that special little way of here, the one that reminds him of Christmas bells. 

Her arm waits patiently for his own to loop around it, and once it’s there she gives it a gentle squeeze. “It’s going to go fine.” “Of course it is. I’m not nervous. Why would I be? Are-“ “Doctor.” She’s scolding him with a smile, a knowing gleam in her eyes. He huffs, and definitely not like a petulant child. “Fine. I’m nervous. It’s my big day! Of course I am.”

Clara laughs again, resting her head against his shoulder. “Don’t be nervous. You’ve known them your whole life. Sort of. Just pretend they’re the only ones here.” The Doctor does his best to follow her advice as the music starts, but the nerves return when they start moving. His hearts race, he’s fairly certain he’s sweating. 

It all fades when he sees Amy and Rory waiting for him. The sun glows around them, and he’d call them angels if it didn’t bring up so many bad memories to do so. Instead, he calls them ethereal. 

Amy smiles and Rory is already crying. The Doctor just grins. 

He’s never been more excited to say, “I do.”

[cassie-and-ren]

Hi~

I really have no idea what this is, but I really couldn’t think of anything else and I figured it fit the time right now so… yeah… oh!

And a little a/n: I kind of thought the ending was excessive, and you all might as well, but I figured it was like a couple who had always been together whenever they went anywhere so even just a month felt like a long time… Maybe it’s just me to thinks it’s still kind of dramatic no matter what because I’m so used to it.

Also it might not make a lot of sense unless you read the other parts before this, but I think it’s fine, I won’t force you to read anything. Either way I still hope you’ll like it and…

Enjoy reading~

Word count: 1473

Have fun…

    So it was a week now before the Neo City Concert in North America, you were overly supportive to all of NCT as they would finally get to tour to other places. The only downside is that Mark would be gone for what would feel like forever. You two had grown so attached to each other that even eating alone felt strange, but you weren’t going to let that fill Mark’s head! You stayed positive and instead gave Mark a solution.

“Why don’t we just do everything we can together and that way we won’t have any problem with leaving each other!” Your offer seemed smart, and Mark was all for it too, so you two planned a whole day dedicated to just each other. Thankfully they didn’t need Mark this day so he was free to spend the night at your place which made it nice since you normally didn’t wake up with anyone in your bed beside you, and seeing Mark peacefully sleeping there you couldn’t help but smile seeing him.

    Even thought you had woken up to something to something that seemed to be pure luck. It was your bad luck that you two had slept in. You quickly woke up Mark saying that it was nearly the afternoon. You two decided to just eat while you were out and got dressed to be sure you still had enough time to visit all the places you wanted.

    By some unwilled fate, Haechan found you two and called out for your attention.

“You guys are kind of out here late,”

“Thanks, I didn’t notice Haechan.” You said. He laughed.

“What are you doing out?”

“I got bored with nothing to do, I didn’t think to find you guys out here, but I’ll go. I know my all grown up sister has a whole date planned out so I won’t ruin it.” You smiled to him.

“Thanks Haechan, when you guys get back we can hang out if you want.”

“Only if you’ll pay for everything.”

“Never mind.” You started dragging Mark off in another direction while Haechan laughed behind you.

“You know, I wish he’d stop calling you that.” Mark said.

“What?”

“His sister, it scares me to think that you guys could be related somehow.” You laughed.

“Haechan would be a great brother-in-law and you know it.”

“Yeah, but I’d also have to be victim to him for life.” You laughed and you two moved on about your date.

…

    As you were walking around you two passed by a dog cafe where Mark held the door open for someone leaving out with their dog. You cooed seeing the animal, the owner smiled and walked over to let you pet them.

“Is it a boy or girl?” The man smiled and happily said girl. “Oh, she’s so cute! Her spots are really adorable!” The man thanked you telling his dog the same and she panted happily in your direction. You smiled until he walked off.

“You really like dogs huh?” You smiled a bit.

“They’re just so cute!”

“Like me?” You looked off. “Come on!” You two left and since you were hungry now for some lunch. As you were getting your food, the place you two decided on had a favorite song of yours playing and you couldn’t help but dance a little. When Mark came back with your food, he laughed saying how well you actually danced.

“You know, we’re looking for backup dancers.” You laughed mockingly.

“I can’t dance first of all, and even if I could, I’d probably need your help through all of it.” He chuckled.

“Yeah, I’d probably make up any excuse I could to get close to you.” You two laughed.

“Don’t be gross.”

“I’m kidding.” As the song progressed Mark started singing along with it. You kept quiet wanting to hear all of him, the little bit he did sing was pretty much amazing to you. When he stopped he noticed you staring. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Because I’m telling you the “Mark Ballad” is what the world needs.” You said eating a bit of your food.

“It’s not up to me.” He said.

“But it should be~” You mused back, you and Mark argued for a little bit before letting things go and finishing up your lunch. Mark offered to pay and you just so happened to get a female waiter. You didn’t have any issue with females, but you did have an issue when they were clearly trying to flirt with Mark. You said nothing in the hopes you could just forget about it and enjoy the rest of your day with Mark. He didn’t seem to notice so you moved on despite how rude that woman was being.

…

    As you two walked around some more you passed a small shop.

“Hey, isn’t this the place where we went after I asked you out?” Mark said.

“You mean after I asked you out?”

“You always say that, do you really think you asked me out?” You closed your eyes.

“I’m just saying that’s how I remember it.” Mark let it go knowing where this talk led. “But yeah, it even still has those cheap promise rings you bought us.”

“That’s because I wanted to show you that I really liked you, how else was I supposed to get a kiss from you?” You smiled remembering it like it happened yesterday.

“Well I really didn’t know how’d you react, you’re supposed to be nervous with someone you really like, you want everything to be perfect and if it’s not you feel like they’ll leave otherwise.” You said.

“Who cares? Being perfect isn’t possible anyways.” You scoffed.

“Well I don’t mean to be rude, but there is a such thing as a perfect moment, one of which I’ve never been able to do properly thanks to things always wanted to screw me over.” Mark laughed.

“You meant not to be rude but then you go and insult yourself.” You smiled.

“It’s how it is sometimes.” Mark said nothing for a bit.

“Well, I think there aren’t perfect things… besides you.” You cringed only a little from that.

“Smooth.” He confidently spoke.

“I know, it’s what I do.” You laughed before you two moved from the shop knowing that by the time you got back to the dorm it’d be night time.

…

    In this time you two talked about things you’d be working on while not being around each other. You two tried to waste time by walking slower but eventually you’d reach the dorms and when you did you didn’t want to let Mark’s hand go.

    It seemed really silly right? To miss someone who would be coming back, but you couldn’t help and feel a bit of sadness that prevented you from fully being alright with Mark leaving. You already said your byes to the other members so you didn’t have to go inside. You and Mark stood outside for a little bit longer until Mark spoke to you.

“You’ll be okay right?”

“You’re telling me that? I should be saying that to you.”

“We’ve gone to America before so it’s not like it’ll be bad.”

“Yeah, but I’m not concerned about that, maybe I shouldn’t stay up watching mysteries about planes.” He laughed and agreed.

“Look, I’ll even call you when we land at every place.” You nodded.

“Even if you think I’m asleep, call me anyways.” He nodded, you then pulled him down into a hug. He hugged you just as tightly. “Hopefully I can last this month.” You said with a small giggle.

“Same.” He said relishing in your sent for a bit longer. When he pulled away you two realized you had to leave eventually. So Mark went first. “See you.” You smiled and waved to him.

“Yeah, see you.” Mark then left, you started to head home upset that he’d be leaving for any amount of time, but you were happy they’d be able to grow and see new places. So you’d supported them in any way you could, you just had to wait for Mark to come back...

I hope everyone who’s going to their concerts has lots of fun and I hope they do too! Since this is really the only way I can support them at the moment I really hope they and you all have fun and enjoy your time and give us lots of good memories!

Master list~