#I have to go possibly go through months of old messages left in my ask box.......

[joyjoy-ahoy]

hi!! i jus wanna say your ocs are so amazing :]!!! your art style and designs are so cute!! my favorite oc of yours is caramael !! :]

[querenciasturniolo]

ghost ⮕ s.t.

word count: 4.1k

warnings: depictions of death (no active murder), mentions of death, mentions of vomit, blood, suspense, anxiety, fear, swearing

summary: murders in los angeles have been happening left and right, and right as you think it couldn’t get any worse, one of your best friends is gone.

a/n: this took much longer than it should have, and for that i’m sorry, but i have a few things to say beforehand. this was inspired by multiple edits, two separate convos i had with @floofparker and @champangekisses , scream being one of my FAVORITE scary movies, and, of course, the iconic “WHO’S MOST LIKELY TO BE THE GHOSTFACE KILLERRRR” from chris. this took FOREVER, but i’m so proud of it and so excited to put it out. this is pretty reminiscent to the movie, but i added my own little spin on it. PLEASE read the bolded disclaimer and take it to heart, i don’t think anything that goes down in this fic would actually happen, hence the name fanfiction. it’s supposed to be unrealistic, that’s the point. i hope you enjoy 🫶🏻

everything written is completely fictional. the people i write for are written with characteristics and mannerisms that i made for them, this is in no way depicting what would actually happen in real life.

Twenty year old social media star Christopher (Chris) Sturniolo was found dead outside of his Los Angeles home on September 22, 2023. His brothers, who he made comedy videos with on multiple platforms, Nicolas and Matthew Sturniolo, claim their brother had been out with long-time friend and fellow content creator, Y/f/n Y/l/n, hours before.

Nick and Matt told police moments before they rushed out to find their brother with multiple stab wounds, they heard yelling and a struggle. When they reached Chris, the assailant was gone. Y/n hasn’t spoken about their day together prior to his death, and has refused to answer any questions asked. Her and Matt Sturniolo seem to have ended their year-long relationship shortly after this tragedy, but we all want to know why. Was there an affair? Was the guilt too much to keep the secret after Chris’ death?

On October 13, 2022, Y/n’s brother was murdered brutally, and their mother suffered a very public breakdown. The assailant in her brother’s case has yet to be found.

Chris Sturniolo’s murder was the fifth in a little less than two months. Police have yet to tell the public any of their leads in this string of serial murders, but have disclosed that they are far from closing these cases.

The article had only been out for an hour, and your Instagram and Tiktok were already being swarmed with notifications. So many, that you had to delete both apps off of your phone to keep it from crashing.

You hadn’t left your bed since that day, only to get something to eat and some water when you ran out—you couldn’t even go to the funeral. You couldn’t bring yourself to answer your phone, you couldn’t even answer the countless messages you scrolled through in the days following your best friend’s death.

Today was the day, you decided, that you were going to do something. Three weeks couldn’t have been too late to get your shit back together. You had woken up in the late afternoon and gotten into the shower, standing under the hot spray for what felt like forever and just allowing yourself to relax and release any tension in your body.

You had made a full meal for the first time since…that morning. You were nauseous the entire time you ate, but you had to do this. When your brother died, everyone told you that the best way to get through your grief was to continue your regular routine as much as possible. Filming a video was on your to do list. You weren’t going to post it, it was just for you to get back into the routine of talking to a camera.

Setting up your camera was the hardest part. You knew how to do it blindfolded by now, but the thought of doing anything like this, even if you weren’t going to post it, felt wrong, almost. It felt wrong to look into a camera and talk about that day, talk about your last day with Chris.

You sat down on your couch after pressing record and ran a hand over your face, finally looking into the lens and sighing.

“It’s been awhile.” You started, rolling your eyes at the corniness of your statement. “I don’t even know why I said that, I’m not even posting this.” You grumbled, dropping your head into your hands and carding your fingers through your hair. The burning in your throat started, and you continuously fought through the knot and forming tears.

You looked up again, hoping your eyes didn’t look as red as they felt. “I picked Chris up at ten fifteen, and we spent the entire day together. We went thrifting, as much as he complained the whole time.” You said, a ghost of a smile forming on your face as your eyes focused elsewhere.

“He, oh my God.” You said, chuckling to yourself and shaking your head. “He would throw whatever I had in my hands in the basket and ask if we were done yet, every time I picked something up. I don’t know what his problem was, considering he had gotten a few things too.” You said, sighing softly and glancing over at the camera.

“We went to lunch—that honestly sounds more fancy than it is, we stopped at In-n-Out—and we just came back to my house afterwards. We talked about…a lot of things.” You started, tears pooling in your eyes as you closed them and let yourself remember.

“We talked…we talked about life, and getting older.” You said, dropping your head back and looking up at the ceiling. “Fears, hopes and whatnot. We talked about everything.” You said, sighing softly as the remnants of Chris’ voice in your memory sang through.

“I don’t know what I want right now. I’m grateful that I’m doing so well, but in five years, where will I be?”

“It started getting late, so I took him home. He told me to come in if I wanted, but I…I was tired, I wanted to go home. He…he got out of the car, and I didn’t. I never...” You dropped your head in your hands again, your breathing labored as you fought off the guilt that had been deteriorating you for the last three weeks.

You lifted your head, about to stand and turn off your camera when your phone buzzed next to you. You sighed and flipped it over, frowning at the screen.

No Caller ID flashed before you. Usually you’d ignore the call, but something in you couldn’t resist as you slid the icon over and pressed it to your ear.

“Hello?” You asked, your voice quiet and shaky.

“It was your fault, you know.”

You’d never ended a call so fast, your phone hitting the couch as you stared down at it with wide eyes. The voice was distorted, completely unrecognizable, but familiar at the same time. This was some sick joke, it had to be. You took a deep breath and shook your head.

You stood and walked over to your camera on weak knees, stopping the recording and taking your camera off of the tripod. As you shut off the camera, your phone buzzed on the couch. A sigh left your lips as you placed the camera on the coffee table and ran your hands through your hair.

What was the worst that could happen, right? You picked up your phone, No Caller ID still flashing across the screen. You slid the icon over again and pressed your phone to your ear.

“That wasn’t very nice.”

Your entire body went on high alert. “Who is this?” You asked, your voice trembling.

“That’s not important, what’s important is I know what really happened that day.”

All of the air left your lungs as you shakily sat down on the couch. “What are you talking about?” You asked. A dark chuckle rang through the receiver, your heart pounding in your ears as you waited for an answer.

“You didn’t wait for him to get inside, did you, Sweetheart?”

A broken sob left your lips as you hung up the phone and dropped it, your whole body shaking with each shattered cry that escaped you. The guilt was too much, it was the only thing about your last day with him that you couldn’t bring yourself to even say.

You blame yourself for Chris’ death, if you had just waited a few moments for him to get in the door, none of this would have happened. It was killing you every single day, not knowing if your being there would have changed anything.

You ignored the next call, and went through your contacts. Your finger hovered over Matt’s name, your chest aching as you swiped out of his contact, clicked the one under it, and held your phone to your ear. Before Nick could even finish his greeting, you were straining to get your words out of your mouth through the knot in your throat.

“Nick, something is wrong. Please, please come over.” You whispered into the phone, trying your best to keep your voice steady as his silence on the other end made your skin crawl.

“I’ll be there soon.”

You put your phone on the couch and took your time pacing around your living room.

Nick would be here soon, there was no reason to panic. The person on the phone was nothing, no one. Your phone’s incessant buzzing pulled you out of your pacing. You were frustrated now, the guilt and pain that you’d been holding in for so long was finally out in the open and slapping you right in the face.

How did they know? You hadn’t told anyone, you couldn’t even bring yourself to say it out loud.

It didn’t matter, the person on the phone had no idea what they were talking about, which sounded about as stupid as you thought it did, but it was the only thing keeping you from pulling your hair out of your head.

You pulled your phone from the couch and answered, the buzzing driving you up the wall.

“Listen, I’ve already called the police, and they’re tracing this call right no—”

The laughter on the other end cut you off, your heartbeat pounding in your ears as that sickening, metallic voice rang through the receiver.

“Oh, Sweetheart. We both know that isn’t true. I do know, however, that your little friend and boyfriend are on their way right now. Care to explain how they’re going to help you?”

Every hair on your body stood on end, your chest aching with the intensity of each beat against your rib cage. You fish-mouthed, unable to get any words out as the voice continued.

“How are they going to stop me, hm? How are they going to keep me from gutting you the same way I did your dear old friend, Chris? Or your brother?”

You froze, your gaze stuck to the floor as each word processed in your mind. “My brother?” You whimpered, a sinister chuckle vibrated against your ear.

“You heard me, Sweetheart. He put up quite the fight, too. More of a fight than your little friend.”

“Shut up!” You screamed into the receiver, hanging up the phone and throwing it across the room. You could distinctly hear the shatter of your screen as you crumpled in on yourself.

Michael’s murder had completely destroyed you. Your entire world was uprooted, and your mom, your mom hasn’t been the same since. She spends her days sitting in a rocking chair in front of the window, rocking slowly back and forth in a daze.

You’d never shaken more in your life, your entire body twitching and fighting each movement you tried to make as you stood from the floor. You needed to get up, you couldn’t let yourself stay on the ground or you’d never move.

Before you reached your kitchen, the sound of a knock at the door had you jumping out of your skin. It took everything in you to walk to the door and peek out the peephole, ripping it open the moment you registered Nick and Matt standing on your porch.

You hadn’t said a word before they rushed in and wrapped you in the tightest hugs you’d ever experienced in your life. Tears streamed down your cheeks as you pushed the door shut and held them tightly.

“I’m so sorry.” You sobbed, both of their arms holding you as you completely crumbled. “I didn’t wait for him to get inside, I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault, he’d be here right now if it wasn’t for me. I’m so fucking sorry.” You rambled. Neither of them spoke, but their shoulders shaking softly against you answered the silent question of if they were listening.

When you finally pulled away, you were still shaking like a leaf. The guilt of holding it in for so long had been washed away, but the fear of that voice on the phone was still running rampant.

“No one blames you.” Nick said, his eyes rimmed red. “We’ve never blamed you. So you don’t need to worry about that.” You glanced at Matt, who’s eyes were still on the floor before you met Nick’s eyes again. “What happened?”

You sniffed and shook your head as you wiped at your face. “Nothing, it’s fine. It isn’t important.” You whispered, wrapping your arms around your abdomen as your eyes rested on Matt’s hunched frame. Nick sighed from where he stood and ran a hand over his face.

“I’ll leave you two to talk, but then I want to know what happened.” He said before he turned and walked towards the living room.

For what felt like hours, you and Matt stood across from each other in the mudroom of your childhood home, you staring at him, and him staring at the floor. When his eyes finally met yours, it felt as though your heart shattered and mended itself all at once. You hadn’t seen him since before Chris’ death, and the only message you’d sent him since then was telling him that the two of you needed to break up.

He looked as beautiful as he always had, but he looked different. Under his eyes were dusted in a dark purple, the whites of them tinged pink, his cheeks sunken in.

“Matty,” you whispered and took a step forward. He shook his head and looked back down at the floor.

“Why?”

It took everything in you not to wrap him in your arms and never let go. You knew exactly what he was asking you, and you knew the answer. It had taken these three weeks of you doing nothing more than surviving to realize you had no other reason to break up with Matt, other than the fact that looking at him would remind you of Chris, and you couldn’t handle it. It was selfish, and you could only imagine how he felt.

“I…I don’t have a good reason.”

Matt nodded and sniffed before looking up and meeting your eyes. The blue of his iris’ was striking against the red rimming his eyes. Your own eyes were burning as his gaze scanned over your face.

“Is it true?”

You frowned, confusion clouding your mind as he sighed and shook his head.

“What the article said, about you and Chris. Is it true? Was there…did you…”

You gasped as the realization hit you of what he was asking.

“Matt, what? I would never, I could never do that to you. I didn’t look at Chris like that, you know that.” You rambled on.

Matt nodded. “I know, I know. I’m sorry, just…a moment of weakness, I didn’t mean it.” He mumbled, taking a step closer to you. “Why did you end…us? I needed you, and you just…you shut me out.”

You took a deep breath in through your nose and shook your head. “I couldn’t bear looking at you and seeing him. I know, that’s selfish, and I’m sorry.” You whispered.

“I shattered the mirror in my bathroom the other night.”

You looked up, your eyebrows furrowed as Matt held up his hands. A gasp left your lips and you reached forward, delicately taking his cut up and bruised hands in yours. Before you could ask him why, he answered the silent question brokenly.

“Every time I looked in the mirror, I saw him.” You met his eyes again, and didn’t stop yourself as you pulled him into a bone-crushing embrace.

“I’m sorry, Matty. I should have been there.” You mumbled into his shoulder, his arms tightening around your waist as he breathed you in. Neither of you said anything, just held each other for as long as the other needed.

“Um, Y/n? Did you do this on purpose?”

You pulled away from Matt and turned around, seeing Nick holding your shattered phone in his hand. You sighed and nodded, the fear you’d completely forgotten about creeping up.

“I was getting prank phone calls, it’s not that big of a deal.” You mumbled, pulling away completely and walking towards the living room.

“What kind of prank phone calls would make you shatter your phone?” Matt asked quietly, you turned to face him and shrugged your shoulders, trying desperately to hide the shaking of your hands. You didn’t want to talk about it, you couldn't talk about it. If you talked about it, that would make it real.

Before you could even sit on the couch, Nick’s phone was went off in his pocket. Your heart pounded as he pulled it out and looked down at it with a frown.

“No Caller ID?” He mumbled, your jaw dropping as he pulled it to his ear. It was a few moments of silence before he met your eyes and handed it to you. “They asked for you.”

You whimpered as you took the phone and pressed it to your ear, not saying a word as the mechanical voice spoke again.

“You really thought smashing your phone would get rid of me, Sweetheart?”

“What do you want?!” You cried, the other line buzzing in silence for only a moment before Matt stepped forward and almost snatched the phone from your hand.

“I’m upstairs, come find me.”

The line beeped right as Matt grabbed the phone and pressed it to his ear. You froze in your spot, Matt turning to face you and dropping Nick’s phone on the couch. He grabbed your shoulders and shook you once lightly.

“What did they say? Baby, breathe. What did they say?!” Matt asked, his grip on your shoulders tight as you fought off the panic.

“He’s in the house. He’s in the house.” You whispered, your eyes meeting Matt’s. Nick moved from his spot and stopped right next to Matt, his eyes wide as he scanned your face.

“Y/n, who is in the house?” He asked, his voice quiet in shock. You shook your head, nausea overtaking you as you pushed past Matt and sprinted to the kitchen. You couldn’t make it to the trash, turning and vomiting into the sink, your breaths heaving as you felt a warm hand rest on your back.

It took everything in you not to crumple to the floor as you looked up and shook your head.

“H-He told me he’s the one that killed Michael…and C-Chris.” You whispered the last word, your throat burning and your stomach lurching. Matt’s eyes widened and he shook his head.

“How long have you been getting these phone calls?” He asked, his voice shaky as Nick handed you a bottle of water.

“It’s only been the last couple of hours, I thought it was some sort of sick prank until—”

A shatter from upstairs had your entire body tensing, your breath catching in your throat. Nick’s head whipped to the stairs as Matt reached for a knife and turned away.

“What are you doing?” You asked, grabbing his arm tightly and making him face you. Nick had his phone dialed and already pressed to his ear, speaking quickly to the 9-1-1 operator.

“I’m fucking going up there.” He said, pulling his arm from your grip and continuing his way towards the stairs.

“Matt, are you stupid?” Nick asked, stepping in front of the staircase as he hung up the phone. “The police are being dispatched, don’t do anything rash.” Matt shoved past Nick and ascended the stairs, his knuckles white on the handle of the knife. Nick groaned and faced you fully. “What are we gonna do?” He asked.

“We can’t just let him go up there by himself.” You whispered, walking past Nick and slowly stepping up the stairs.

“Jesus, you guys are gonna get us killed.” Nick grumbled from behind you. You heard a shuffle in the kitchen and turned, seeing him follow you up with a knife in his hand. “What? One of us had to grab something.” He whispered. You faced forward again, listening for any bump or creak that could indicate where Matt or the man that was in your house were.

It was silent as you walked through the upstairs. Each door you passed was closed, the only sound upstairs being the sound of Nick’s and your footsteps, and the pounding of your heartbeat in your ears.

“Matt?” You called out, the back of Nick’s hand hitting your shoulder. You looked at him, bewilderment etched into your face.

“Have you never seen a scary movie? Calling out in a dark house is the number one way to fucking die.” He said through his teeth. You rolled your eyes and opened your mouth to fire back.

“Get off of me!”

You jumped, your head whipping down the hallway to see a door slam. “Matt!” You shouted, running without thinking towards the door and shoving it open. The moment you stepped into the center of the room, you knew something was wrong. The door clicked behind you, and you froze in place.

“Look what we have here.”

You turned, your eyes meeting Matt’s. His entire demeanor changed, the heartbroken boy you’d seen before was gone. In his place, stood what you could only describe as a monster. His eyes were dark, his smirk sinister, and his shoulders were square.

“Matty?” You asked, Nick coming from behind him with an almost identical smirk.

The both of them chuckled and looked between each other. Nick stepped forward, causing you to take a quick step back.

“Oh, Honey. Matty’s been gone for a while.” His hooded eyes stared you down as you fully processed what was truly happening. The both of them had tricked you.

You took in a shaky breath past the knot in your throat as you took another step back.

“You?” You exhaled, your eyes switching between them as their smirks grew impossibly wider. Matt rolled his eyes and looked over to Nick.

“Us?” He mocked, meeting your eyes and taking a step closer to you. “Yes, Baby. Us. Is that so surprising?” He teased, your eyes brimming with hot, salty tears. The cool air in the room had them burning, and your throat felt like it was on fire.

“You two were behind the murders all along?” You asked, your voice barely reaching a whisper as they moved closer to you almost strategically, boxing you in with each step they took.

Nick chuckled and nodded his head, his eyes never leaving yours as he cocked his head to the side. “She’s catching up, Matt. Yes, every single one.” He said, his voice thick with venom.

“But why?” You whimpered, your back hitting the wall. You were cornered, you couldn’t get past them no matter how hard you tried. Nick and Matt’s eyes were wicked as they watched you, Matt’s smirk growing as he glanced over at Nick.

“Hear that, Nick? She wants a motive.” He said, his eyes meeting yours again. “It isn’t enough that we just felt like it?”

“You killed Michael in cold blood, just because you felt like it?” You spat. Nick quirked an eyebrow and lightly ran the tip of his finger over the blade of the knife he was holding.

“See, now you’re getting it. Not everyone needs a motive, some people are just sick and twisted.” He pouted at the end of his sentence, anger flushing through you and coating your skin in heat.

“And Chris?” You asked. Matt chuckled and shook his head.

“You really can’t be that dense, Baby.” He said.

“Don’t fucking call me that.” You said through gritted teeth.

“It was only a distraction. We were getting sloppy, and what’s better to get the cops off of our case than getting rid of one of us?” Nick interrupted. You shook your head.

“Murder isn’t a distraction, you sick fucks.” You spat, looking around the room for any escape.

Matt chuckled, and flipped the blade in his hand. “Oh, Baby. You really aren’t understanding, are you?”

Before you could spit in his face, the door behind them was pushed open, your eyes shifting to the shadowed figure walking into the room. Your heart pounded in your chest as realization slowly set in, a broken cry leaving your lips as you shook your head.

“No.” You whispered.

The white mask on his face would have been comical if every hair on your body wasn’t standing on end. You watched each movement closely, your knees buckling as you slid to the floor. The wood was ice cold as the man crouched down in front of you. He pulled the mask from his face, your choked sob being caught in your throat as you shook your head and looked down at the floor.

His warm finger rested on your chin and he lifted it up until your eyes met his, a broken whimper leaving your lips as you met the familiar blue eyes you’d looked into a million times before.

“What’s the matter, Sweetheart?” Chris said, his voice gravelly and rough as it left his smirking lips. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

tags: @lvrsparadise , @ssturniolo , @floofparker , @cat-loves-music , @geniejunn , @its-jennarose , @dwntwn-strnlo , @20nugs , @hiraethlimerence , @lavieenvalentina , @strniolo , @toyourloves , @jellybeanbby , @thetriplets3 , @mxriverse , @stvrni0lo , @gabbylovesreading , @tylerscreat0r , @angelcake-222 , @obsessivencrazy , @lollibumblebee , @stargirlv0id , @idontexistman , @emssturniolo , @soursturniolo , @bernardenjoyer , @mxqdii , @leah-loves-lilies , @mattsnutsack , @lovelysturniolo

[stayinlimbo]

Returned Call

wc: 765, genre: exes to lovers(?), warnings: cursing in beginning, slightly unedited

note: although i feel this could be read as a stand-alone, here is the sequel to Missed Call you guys were asking for. i hope you enjoy ♡

Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system: You know. Lee Minho. Not available. Voicemail. Speak. 

Fuck you, Lee Minho. No, seriously, fuck you. 

Tell me why I was contacted by not one but three of your dancing buddies within the past twenty-four hours about how you’ve been moping around and trudging through your routines for the past week. 

They were all essentially the same. You haven’t been the same since we broke up, is there any way we could reconnect, give you one more chance, blah blah blah. 

You must be doing really bad if one of them was Hyunjin, of all people. 

Two months too late, don’t you think?

As if any of this was my fault.

…

I was getting better before you called, you know?

I finally fixed my sleep schedule. I won’t lie, it took longer than I’d like to admit to break the habit of staying up late for you. At least I was already used to sleeping alone. 

I reconnected with some old friends since I couldn’t talk to Jisung as much without being reminded of you. They can still read me like a book, even after all these years.

I even went on a date. 

Granted, it was with myself, but I like to think it still counts.  

…

You know what I realized on my “date?” And while out with my friends? And on the sleepless nights I spent staring up at my childhood bedroom’s ceiling?

I had forgotten what it felt like to be seen. To be appreciated. To be loved. 

It seems like you’ve come to that conclusion as well, because you’re right. I deserved better. I deserve better. I may have ended our relationship, but I wasn’t the one who left first.

I remember our last kiss, paired with another one of your lies I foolishly kept believing in until I finished the movie night you promised you’d be home in time for. And I remember waking up on the couch with a sore neck to see your fatigued silhouette entering the front door, barely sparing me a glance as you dragged yourself towards the bedroom. 

You didn’t even look sorry. 

How could you, I guess, if you left everything back at the studio?

…

I used to admire your passion, Minho. I hate that I still do. You pour everything you have, everything you can possibly give, into what you love. So why couldn’t you do the same for us? For me?

You say you love me, but why does it feel like I lost something I'm not sure I ever had? 

…

Where did we go wrong? What did I do wrong? I gave everything to you. I gave you my heart, my body, my entire being. I gave you everything until there was nothing left to give.

I never asked for anything outlandish. I think it’s reasonable to want to talk with your partner, to share your lives with one another. I think it’s reasonable to ask about when you’ll be home for our anniversary without being yelled at in front of your friends. 

You want me to be proud of you? You want me to be happy about one of the very things that ripped us apart?

Yes, you’re selfish, but I’m no better. 

…

Maybe this is my fault. After all, no one should feel obligated to love someone. I just never thought it’d apply to us. 

…I wish I could hate you. I really do. 

But all I see is your stupid face smiling at me when I close my eyes. I hear your laugh ringing in my ears when I remember the ways you said or did something ridiculous to make me feel better after a stressful day. I still feel the warmth of your body wrapped around mine when we did wake up next to each other, our legs entwined together to where it was impossible to escape. Not that I ever wanted to. 

I want you to keep smiling at me. I want you to hold me. I want you to miss me. I want you to want me. 

Because I still want you. 

…

I want to give you a second chance, Minho. If things could be different this time, if we could be different. If we could share ourselves, wholeheartedly, as lovers, and not strangers.

I want to fall in love with you again, Lee Minho. 

…

Call me back, when you get the chance. You can keep the shirts for now.

Just please, don’t make me regret this.

liked this work? want to let me know how i did? please like, comment, and/or reblog; they are greatly appreciated my asks are always open ♡

taglist: @linospuddin @linocz @spicyhyunn

ending note: I hope this didn't disappoint. I really tried my best to make it work with all the angst in here :D. I also tried incorporating parallels from Missed Call so hopefully that wasn't too annoying or anything <3

[poppadom0912]

Uncle and Niece

Characters: Will Halstead x Daughter!OC, Jay Halstead x Niece!OC, Adam Ruzek, Kelly Severide, Sylvie Brett, Antonio Dawson

Warnings: Nothing

Summary: Everyone is introduced to the uncle and niece duo.

A/N: The ending of this was very rushed because it got really awkward and I didn't want it to get to long. I dont really like this but I am posting this in celebration of me getting my first job!!!!

*****

Jay hummed to himself, idly scrolling through his phone reading some messages while he took the occasional sip of his coffee. He managed to get a full night sleep without getting woken up by someone calling about a crime scene, allowing him to wake up earlier than usual.

Making sure everything was clean and clear, Jay clipped his gun and badge to his belt, slipping on his jacket but before he could open the door on his own accord, his doorbell rung, confusing him as to who would be at his apartment at this time.

With caution, Jay opened to door and was surprised to be met with a frantic looking Will. The doctors hair was a total mess, bags under his eyes, his coat haphazardly put on over his scrubs, his bag just about sitting on his shoulder with his hand clutching a smaller hand.

"I am so sorry but I need a really big favour man." Will said, panting as he just about managed to get all his words out. He looked like hell but his little girl on the other hand, no a single hair of hers was out of place.

Looking back and forth from the father and daughter duo, Jay eventually connected the dots, sighing as he did so. Going through all the possible scenarios in his head as to what the worse would happen if he went forward with this really big favour.

"The daycare at Med isn't open and no one is available to babysit but I had no idea you were working. You know what? Leave it, it's fine, forget I ever asked." Will rambled, only now noticing that Jay was leaving for work.

"Dude, it's fine." Jay shook his head, huffing as though he was hurt at Will trying to leave. "I'll take her to work with me. Everyone will love her and it'll be our first official time hanging out together."

"You sure?" Will replied, apprehensive as he let go of Faith's hand, letting her hold Jay's instead. "I owe you man."

"Nah, it's fine." Jay shook his head again, smiling down at his niece. "We'll have fun at the precinct."

"Alright Faith, be good for Uncle Jay Jay, okay? Make sure he stays out of trouble." Will said, bending down so he was eye level with his daughter. A smile she inherited from him plastered her lips as she bid her goodbyes, pressing a loving kiss on his cheek as she waved him away.

"Bye daddy! I love you too much!" Faith shouted down the hallway, watching Will hurry into the elevator, not wanting to be late. "I love you!"

"I love you too baby!" Will shouted in reply, enthusiastically reciprocating her wave which totally contrasted his completely messed up appearance.

With the elevator doors closing, Jay and Faith were left alone for the first time in both their lives. Looking down at the three year old, the three year old craning her neck to look up at her thirty something uncle, she gave him a toothy grin sending this weird feeling in Jay's gut. All of a sudden, he felt this strong urge to protect this little being with all his livelihood no matter what the universe sent this way. It was weird.

"Okay, let's go to work."

*****

For the entire car ride, without being prompted to, Faith was rambling on about anything that came to mind and Jay was intently listening even though he struggled to make out a few words. Faith spoke about her toys, her amazing father and how excited she was now that she was three since it was her birthday a month before Will suddenly showed up in Chicago.

With her much smaller hand in his, it was weird as to how something so small could exist but it was a miracle it could, the uncle and niece duo walked into the 21st precinct. Jay patiently held her hand at all times as she took one step at a time, the steps were much bigger than the normal ones she was used to but she denied any of his help.

Before Jay could make a clean escape, making a dash towards the metal gates, he was stopped by a very familiar voice causing him to come to a halt, screwing his eyes shut at the impending doom he was about to face.

"Chuckles, what do you have here?" Trudy projected, her hands on her hips when she noticed the tiny human being accompanying one of her detectives.

"Sargent, this is my brothers daughter Faith. Remember Will? The doctor?" Jay replied apprehensively, crossing his fingers he wouldn't get reemed in the middle of the district.

"Sure, anyways, Faith is an amazing name for such an adorable girl." Trudy, shrugged it off, leaning over the desk as she started gushing over the toddler. "I see your uncle missed out on those beautiful red locks, disappointing really."

Faith smiled, giggling despite not understanding what Trudy meant but Jay did and he felt slightly offended. "Okayy and that's enough for one day, we'll be upstairs if you need us sarge."

"It's time to say bye now Faith. Say bye Trudy!"

"Bye Bye!" Faith smiled, waving at the older woman who unbeknownst to her had become the most amazing person in the three year olds eyes.

*****

Whoever came up into intelligence, their footsteps could be heard against the wood flooring, allowing all the detectives to know who was coming up based on the force or speed but this was confusing.

There was definitely more than one person, one being bigger than the other but both going at the same slow pace. No one was able to make out who it was till they made an appearance.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Jay and Faith made it to the top of the staircase and were in the bullpen. For Jay, it was nothing amazing and he was here everyday, it was basically his second home but for Faith, it was both scary but amazing.

"Woah! Who's incredibly adorable kid did you kidnap?" Adam teased, a smirk on his face, being the first to notice the little girl that no one knew. Getting up from his spinning chair, he set down his coffee and leaned against his desk to get a better look at the duo.

"Jay, you never told us you had a daughter." Erin said accusingly, also smirking as she joined in the teasing. She was slightly shocked but easily hid it along with her confusion and slight irritation.

"Her name is Faith and she's my niece." Jay said with some pride, introducing Faith to all his colleagues. "My brother put me on babysitting today, so I expect all of you to be on your best behaviour."

"Sir yes sir." Adam's smirk didn't falter, walking towards the pair, bending down so he could offer his hand. "It's lovely to meet you Faith, I'm Adam."

"Hi." Faith replied, taking his hand confidently but she didn't move, simply holding it. She smiled at him, flashing a toothy grin in his direction. "Are you a superhero like Jay Jay too?"

"Indeed I am, aren't you smart?" Adam said rhetorically, pushing himself up so everyone else could talk to you. "We're gonna get along great."

"So Adam's already introduced himself." Jay rolled his eyes, pointing at Adam who stood proudly with his hands in his pocket. "This is Antonio, Erin, Al and my boss is Hank. They're all detectives like me."

At his last five words, Faith's whiskey coloured eyes automatically brightened and everyone noticed. She shuffled on her feet, her eyes sparkling in wonder as she looked at them all.

"Hey, you wanna hear a funny story about your uncle cause I've got too many." Antonio spoke up, smiling at the widening smile on the three-year-olds face at the mention of stories. Without a second thought, her hand was out of Jay's grasp and she walked straight to the Latino who picked her up, sitting her on his desk.

Besides Hank and Al, Antonio had the most and probably best experience with children and it definitely showed.

With a soft smile, Jay watched as the senior detective divuldged into a most likely embarrassing story before he walked away, slipping past Erin and moving towards Hank who he had much to explain to.

*****

Thanking all the forces in power today, Jay's brows scrunched in confusion at the purple hair tie that had somehow ended up around his fingers, a cute plastic flower cheaply glued to the front of it.

Throughout the day, Faith had been given a tour of the bullpen and even had the chance of manning the front desk with Trudy when intelligence went out.

It was just after lunch and Faith had woken up from a very good nap, the painless indentations on her face proving such. But, her hair had gotten completely messed up and Jay was now stuck.

Faith giggled at the confusion painting her uncles face, the adorable sounds washing away any of the impatience Jay just had. It was crazy how the toddler made him feel, even though she wasn't his own child.

"You know what, you look great Faith." Jay shrugged, tucking her red curls behind her ears, patting down the uncontrolled frizz all around before picking her out of her carseat and gently setting her on the ground.

For the billionth time today, Faith found herself in awe of the firehouse. She had only ever seen them in her cartoons and despite her excitement, she could feel the nervousness bubbling in her stomach at how big everything was in real life.

As if sensing her miniscule amount of anxiety, Jay scooped the toddler into his arms dramatically and walked up the apron and into the firehouse where he could see squad sitting at their table.

Jay's sudden action shocked her, sending butterflies in her stomach as she shrieked, laughter easily following suit when he wouldn't set her down despite her poor pleas.

The sound of childish laughter interrupted any conversation happening at the squad table, all their heads turning to find the source and to say they were confused was the least they could say.

"Hey man, you good? Whose baby did you kidnap?" Kelly asked, getting up from his chair, giving the detective a typical bro hug while minding the toddler perched on his hip.

"You remember my brother right, he's a doctor at med." Jay said, continuing when the lieutenant nodded. "This is his daughter Faith. Faith, this is one of my friends Kelly, he's a firefighter. Can you say hi?"

"Why do you have a girls name if your a boy?"

Her innocent question shocked them all. Jay's eyes went wide as he stared at his niece, Kelly was a mix between laughter and shellshock while the three squad members immediately began laughing.

"Faith, I what-"

"Oh my gosh! Who is this beauty?" Sylvie said, preening at the sight of the girl as she exited the ambulance. "She looks exactly like the new doctor at Med you know. Oh yeah, did you know that he has the same surname as you Jay, crazy."

"That's my brother Sylvie and this is his daughter Faith." Jay replied with ease, a smile on his face at the rambling paramedic.

Before she could address the fact that he had a brother, she frowned as she cast eyes on Faith's unruly hair.

"Does she have a hair tie?"

"Yeah, it's here, why?"

"Give her here."

And with that, the blonde paramedic disappeared into the firehouse with his niece and her cheap hair tie gone from his wrist.

"Boden's waiting for you inside his office Jay."

"Oh yes! I actually have work to do. Thanks severide."

[rapz-rites]

Oh Baby

Damian Wayne x Reader established relationship

Jon Kent x Reader (Platonic)

You’re not telling Damian something, and he thinks it’s that you're cheating

A/N: A lovely anon requested this. I hope you like it and feel free to send more requests or even message me.

Word Count: 2k+

Warnings: misunderstandings, pregnancy, secrets 

You and Damian met sophomore year at Gotham Academy. You were in most of his classes. But he never truly paid any mind to you until your government class. It was a small class of 15 students. 

Your government teacher was holding a class mock debate. 3 students would ask questions as there were 3 topics of discussion. The rest of the students would pair off into 2s and prepare on all the 3 topics as it would be random and no one would know which topic they might get. 

“The three topics of debate will be abortion, racial discrimination, and immigration. And the 3 question leads will be Marcus, Catelyn, and Luca. Everyone else, pair up.”

Girls immediately started surrounding Damian and the boys with you. Damian saw how uncomfortable you were with the boys' awful advances at you. He continued to ignore the girls and walked to you. 

“You can leave. I’m partnered with Y/N.”

Everyone was confused. Even the teacher. Damian never willingly chose to work with anyone. But you decided to take advantage of the opportunity before it went away. 

“Yup. It’s true. So all can go now.” With that, you waved them off and Damian took a seat next to you. 

Everyone else paired off and the teacher started talking. She explained the instructions for the debate and the rubric as it would be graded. 

“There are 15 minutes left of class. You have this time to yourselves, use it wisely.”

You turned to Damian.

“When do you want to start working on the project? I'm available after school today to work in the library.”

“I can't today. I am tomorrow though. Let's exchange numbers.”

And that's how it started. The next day, you and Damian started going to the library after school and texted about the assignment. Even after the in class debate you two would talk. 

Damian found you more tolerable than the rest of the kids at Gotham, and much smarter. He started hanging out with you more and more. In and out of school, obviously without his brothers knowing. 

Eventually, he asked you out, you said yes, and both of you started dating. It’s been over 2 years since. You both have a lot into the relationship. You and Damian opened up to each other. He gave you his trust, which is difficult for him, and you gave him your virginity. 

Though Damian wasn’t your first boyfriend or kiss, he was your first time. And you were happy about it. Even though it was a bit awkward, especially at the beginning, he made it special for you. He would ask if you were ok with something, how you felt, and he just took care of you. Something you never truly had with past boyfriends. 

“Oh my gosh!”

You and Damian only had sex 2 times, both in the past 6 months. Damian took care of you after and you peed.  You were both safe and used protection. That's why you couldn't understand the 3 positive pregnancy tests. 

“No. It can't be.”

You suddenly started crying, collapsing on the bathroom floor of your one-bedroom apartment. 

Since then you haven't been the same. After a few days of thinking, you decided that you would keep the baby. You lost your parents at 15, in an accident. They were wealthy. They had a mansion on the outskirts of Gotham, just like all the other socialites, and a condo near your school. In their passing your parents left everything in your name. You refused to go in the system. You were able to convince your old nanny to become your legal guardian, at least until you could get emancipated. You’ve always wanted a family anyways

You had to tell Damian. Your mind had been running through any possible reactions you'd get from Damian once you told him. Best case scenario he accepts it and decides to stay with you and be a father to the baby. Worst case, he leaves you and you have to raise the baby all by yourself. 

Damian noticed your odd behavior. You were secretive, jittery and would always make excuses not to hang out with him. 

“Sorry, I have a test coming up and need to study. I'll text you” you would say. But you never texted. 

“I'm volunteering this afternoon. I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you.” You kissed him goodbye on his cheek and walked away

You did the same to your friends. He didn't understand why. Did he do something wrong?

Keeping your pregnancy a secret was eating you alone. You had to tell someone. So you texted someone you could trust. 

You: Hey. Are you busy? I really need someone right now. 

Suddenly there was a gust of wind in your condo. Before you stood Jon Kent. Before you could even speak, that’s when he heard it. Not one, but 2 heart beats. Before you can even process him getting into your place, he hugs and spins you. 

“Oh my gosh! Congratulations!” He smiles from ear to ear. “Wait. I probably should be spinning you.”

Once he put you down he started looking around. Where’s Damian? How come he isn’t here telling me with you? That’s when you started to break down crying. 

“He doesn’t know. And I don’t know how to tell him.” You say hiccupping. Jon just comforted you until you stopped crying. You explained everything to him. 

“You have to tell him at some point. He probably thinks that you're avoiding him because he did something wrong. But I'm here for you.” You hugged him crying. 

“Sorry, it's the hormones.”

For the next 2 weeks, Jon comes to visit you whenever he gets the chance. No one knew.

Clark and Bruce had to collaborate on some League business. So, he and Jon would be staying in Gotham for a few days. 

Jon was heading out when he passed the kitchen 

“Hey Jon” said Dick. 

Damian was paying no mind to them. He was testing you, hoping he could see you today. 

D💚: Hello Beloved

Beloved💜: Hiii Dami

D💚: Are you available today?

Beloved💜: I’m sorry I can’t 😕

                     I promised Layla we could hang out today

                     We can hang out tomorrow tho

                     Pinkie Promise 🤞

D💚: Okay 🤞

         Have fun and be safe

Beloved💜: I will try

                    Won’t be much fun without you 😚

Once, at school you were texting Jon. You were stressing over telling Damian for the 4th time that day… It was only 11 am. And you were spamming him phone

Jon 🦸🏻: OMG

            We’re both at school go learn or something

            My parents are going on a date tonight so I’ll try to swing by

Y/N🤞🏾: ok ok

           See you tonight

“Hey Beloved. Who were you texting?” Damian came up to you. You quickly closed messages and put your phone in your pocket. 

“Hey Damian. It was Layla.” You responded hesitantly. “It’s nothing really but I have to go. I have to study before my test next period” You kissed him goodbye on his cheek and rushed off. 

He knew you weren’t texting Layla, he just saw her a few moments ago when he was looking for you. She told him that you were probably at your locker. Before he went to look for you she told him to tell you that her phone died last period. 

Why were you lying and hiding stuff from him? Damian didn’t want to think it, but were you cheating on him?

Damian looked up from his phone to notice Jon wasn’t there anymore. 

“Where did Jon go?” Damian asked. 

“He said he was going to meet up with ‘a friend’, but it’s obvious he’s meeting with a girl/boy the way he was nervous.” Dick responded

“We should follow him,” Jason spoke up. Damian didn’t know why he was here. Jason wasn’t too fond of staying at the manor. Usually, he would do whatever business he had, get food from Alfred then leave. 

“Sure. Why not” said Tim. Damian forgot he was here. But they all agreed. 

You hated lying to Damian. You decided that when you were going to see him tomorrow, you were going to tell him the truth, everything. You were meeting with Jon to get everything ready to tell Damian everything tomorrow.

Incoming Call: Jon 🦸🏻

You immediately picked up. You were sitting in a booth at yours and damian fav coffee shop. Damian thought that they had these great muffins that tasted even better the day after, so you were going to get him some.

You told Layla about your pregnancy after you told Jon. She was very upset with you. That you didn’t tell her first. 

“I can’t believe it. I mean I can because between both of us, you would have kids and I would be the hot, rich aunt that they love.”

You laughed at her little rant on how your kid would call her “Auntie Lay” and she would bring gifts every time she saw them. How she would have a room for them to crash at her place for when they're a teen and they get mad at you, or they just want to spend time with their auntie. 

“Thank you,” you said as you got up and hugged her “for being here for me. I don't know what I would do without you and Jon”

You were so glad that you had Jon and Layla. 

Jon was walking up to the coffee shop when he saw your call.

“Hey Jon. Layla and I are at the shop, where are you?”

“I’m across the street I’m heading in now.”

Jon didn’t realize the boys were following him. They were confused as to why Jon was at this coffee shop. He had never been there before. 

The boys watched Jon walk in and waited. Eventually, he would come out with whoever he's been secretly meeting up with for weeks. 

Being the type they are, they didn't notice Layla coming out of the shop and getting into her car. She was waiting for you and Jon to go back to your place. 

“He's coming out now,” Dick said excitedly. They all froze in anticipation. What they didn’t expect was to see you walking out after him. 

Damian's heart was breaking. You were secretly meeting up with Jon and cheating on him behind his back. How could you? He kept watch in hopes he was wrong. 

You walked out with a light brown paper bag in hand. You were struggling to seal it without dropping it. That’s when Jon took it from you and sealed it himself. They didn’t have audio but they had visuals. They could say thank you to him.

“Thank you my hero,” you said with a small giggle. Suddenly your face was serious. 

“What if- What if even if Damian accepts this, he won’t regret it later? He won’t think we ruined his life?” 

You started tearing up. From the angle the boys were at they couldn’t see your face. Jon hugged you. 

“Shhh it’s going to be fine.”

“What if he thinks I’m trying to baby trap him and he'll end up hating me?”

You were about to cry when Jon took your face into his hands. You were like the sister he never had. He hated to see you cry. 

“Listen to me. Damian could never hate you. He loves you.”

You nodded and hugged him again. That’s when Damian’s heart truly shattered. 

“I can’t read lips that well but I saw something along the lines of ‘I love you’” Dick said. Damian took off is “disguise”, it was just a hat and sunglasses.

“So she's cheating on me?” Anyone could hear the pain in his voice, even Jon did. 

Jon suddenly let go of you, and turned to look at Damian. He could see the pain written all over his face. Even though mind reading wasn’t a Kryptonian power, he knew what he was thinking: that you were cheating on him with him. 

You were confused. You moved over to see what Jon was looking at. That's when you saw Damian with his brothers. Now he was looking at you.

“Oh no.”

Part 2

So… what do y’all think??? Please let me know.

[grimfalcon746]

Humans are Space Orcs

This came out so much longer than I expected. Kinda sorry but also not sorry.

***

The peaceful alien world had heard the stories. Although they had not achieved space travel themselves, they have, on occasion, received visitors from other worlds. The overwhelming message from every other race: Humans are brutish, vile, violent, and most importantly cunning. You can never trust a human, and, if possible should kill on sight.

The villagers had gathered around the crashed ship. The elders were sure of it, these were humans. They could not mistake the description given to them by the other races. Four of the five were clearly deceased, while one was unconscious and severely wounded. No one wanted to get too close, while the warriors gathered their arms to do the deed.

One little girl, however did not share the fear of the others. Walking through the elders, and right past the warriors, the girl approached the wounded human.

"Child. What do you think you are doing!" One warrior barked.

"Saving a life." The girl replied casually.

"That is a human. You must let it die." One elder spoke up.

"Since I was old enough to think, you elders have taught me that life is sacred. So I am going to preserve this life." The little girl remarked.

"We can not allow it." The warrior spoke back up.

"Well than you will have to kill me." The girl bluffed.

She knew the warriors would not dare raise their arms against a child. even if she did defy them, they would be dishonored for life. This did, however offer protection for the wounded human. They could not finish off the human without killing the girl, and they would not do so.

"The human will kill you when they awake!" The warrior tried to reason.

"Then I will have died to save a life. If there is a just deity, I will be rewarded." The girl countered.

A few tense minutes passed, before the villagers relented. Retreating to the safety behind theirs doors they left the girl to attempt to save the human. She knew little of their physiology, only that the red fluid leaking from the skin needed to stop. She bandaged them up the best she could.

Several tense hours passed before the human started to stir. The girl retreated several feet. The human opened their eyes shortly after that. Taking a few minutes to assess themselves, The human realized they had been bandaged up.

"Did you dress my wounds?" The human asked.

"Yes." The girl replied, retreating a bit further.

"Why do you seem afraid?" The human questioned.

"You are a human, right? You might kill me." The girl answered.

"What kind of monster would kill someone who saved their life?" The human asked in disbelief.

"The elders and warriors thought you would." Came the answer. "My name is Terralia.

"You can relax, I wont hurt you. I am Jacob." Jacob replied.

Jacob recovered slowly. Turning on the distress beacon from his damaged ship, he knew it would be months, if not years before anyone received it. It may not be received at all, given that few species responded to human distress signals. Jacob lived in the woods outside the village, as the townspeople where not comfortable with a human living among them.

Terralia would sneak out of the village whenever she could, to visit her human friend. She would bring food and supplies when she could. Although Jacob managed to get by without them, he still very much appreciated the gesture. Years went on and Jacob and Terralia became good friends.

Then Terralia stopped visiting. Jacob tried not to worry at first, but as the weeks went on, his concern grew too large. Heading to the village, Jacob was determined to figure out what happened. The villagers avoided eye contact with the human. Some scurried away when they saw him. Others simply ignored his existence, hoping he would go away soon.

"You must be Jacob." Came a voice behind him. The voice belonged to an older villager, one of the elders.

"Aye." Jacob replied. "I am simply wondering if Terralia is okay."

"Dreadful business." The elder replied. "A high ranking warrior from another village tried to bargain for her hand. The offer was refused, as she was our most powerful priestess and we could not give her up. Not to mention she had no desire to wed the warrior. A couple weeks ago, the warrior attacked with a band of his comrades and kidnapped her. We would have mounted a rescue, but the villages military strength is far greater than ours."

"Where is the village located?" Jacob asked.

"Face the setting sun. It is around a two day journey in that direction. Their village is not like ours. Where we welcome travelers with open access, they have high walls and gates. Fearsome as your species may be, I fear even you may not be able to do anything." The elder explained.

"Let me worry about that." Jacob replied

Jacob returned to the remains of his ship. Heading into the cargo hold, he opened the vault he hoped he would never have cause to. Inside, the pinnacle of humans man to man combat suits. The suit muffled movement noise and was bullet proof. It was also equipped with state of the art camouflage tech, adapting to its surroundings to make it near invisible. With it, a six shot grenade launcher, assault rifle, sidearm, copious ammunition two breaching charges and a grenade belt.

Equipping the gear, Jacob set out the direction the setting sun. Arriving at the edge of the enemy village as the sun was setting, Jacob set up post in the treeline, observing their patrol patterns. Quickly analyzing the pattern, he built a plan, then put it into motion.

The walls had only one gate, however they were made of moderate size logs. Jacobs breaching charge could get through it with ease. With the cover of night, Jacob applied the breaching charge to the side of the fort, then retreated to the tree line and waited. Before long the patrol came back, and the gate opened. Once the gate was all the way open, Jacob set off the breaching charge, blowing a ten foot hole in the wall of the fort.

The warriors reacted exactly as Jacob had hoped, abandoning the open gate they charged towards the new hole. As Jacob walked through the open gate, he found nearly all the warriors gathers in a tight pack around the hole in the wall. Thinking to himself how easy this was, Jacob fired all six rounds from his grenade launcher. Explosions threw bodies left and right, and bodily fluids splattered the area. Those who survived clung to life, desperately trying to crawl away from the area.

A group of warriors not in that pack charged hard at Jacob. Bringing his assault rifle up, he open fired. A new body dropped with every shot Jacob took. The small band lay dead meters away from him, as he turned his attention back towards the dying men who were hit with the grenade launcher, he finished them off with ease.

Moving through the rest of the village, Jacob easily slaughtered everyone he came in to contact with. Burning down the buildings after he cleared them, he continued through the village. Eventually he came to a large building. Banners hung on the walls around the entrance, and silver donned the window and door frames. Booting the door open, Jacob entered.

"Terralia was sure you would come. Kept saying it over and over. She is locked in a cell in the next room. You have slaughtered my comrades with your infernal weapons and orcish violence. If you have a shred of honor in your soul, you will lay down your arms, and fight me, with the weapons of our people." The warrior demanded, gesturing to a weird looking sword. Bladed on one side, the other formed into a pick at the top. With it a shield and dagger.

Without hesitation, Jacob raised is assault rifle and put three rounds into the nameless warrior. The warrior dropped, coughing up blood. Standing over him, Jacob fired more rounds into the helpless soldier. When the coughing and twitching stopped, Jacob fired two more rounds into the warriors head for good measure, before heading into the next room.

"I warned them you would come for me." Terralia said from behind bars. "I told them my human friend would not sit idle while I was abducted."

"How did you know?" Jacob asked. "I have not done a single violent thing in the entire time you have known me."

"It does not matter," Terralia replied. "I have heard the stories from visitors from other worlds. Humans can be compassionate, however they are also capable of great violence."

Unlocking the cell, Jacob left the village with Terralia. Returning her to her village, he was regaled as a hero. Continuing to live in the woods, he made frequent trips into the village, being welcomed by nearly everyone from that day on.

Eventually another human ship came across his distress beacon. Landing near his crashed ship, he met them shortly after they landed. After ensuring they were they for him, he returned to the village one last time. This time to say his goodbyes. Terralia was sad to see him go, as he was sad to leave his alien friend as well, but they said goodbye to each-other and Jacob was off.

The weeks went on, and life in the little village returned back to normal. Many had already forgotten the human was ever there, but not Terralia. One night, as she hover on the edge of the village star gazing, she caught sight of a ship approaching the surface. Hoping it was her human friend, she became excited. Her excitement faded though, as she soon realized the ship was coming in much too fast to land. This was an incoming crash.

The air exploded with thunder as the ship crashed a short ways outside the village. The village warriors gathered up, along with their priestess Terralia. As they entered the wreckage, there was no doubt this was a human vessel. On the flight deck all humans were accounted for, none still alive. The blood soaked the room, their computers still displaying their screens. Targeting system still live, it was clear this ship had been knocked out of the air in combat.

Finding all life forms deceased, there was nothing that could be done. The group turned to leave, before spotting a slogan above the door to the flight deck.

"Demons flee, when good men go to war"

[kopivie]

trick-or-treat.

# — pairing: spidey!kazuha x gn!reader

# — characters: gender neutral reader, spider-man!kazuha

# — warnings: a little suggestive.

# — tags: fluff, kisses (bc who am i if not a madman for kisses), mild hurt/comfort, BANTER YIPPEE!!, this is zuzu's way of making up for the fact that he all but forgot kazuha's birthday, apology fic

# — notes: (PLEASE READ!!) this is... not at all what i intended to do. it's 1:30 am and i just came down from a much needed high. as my head cleared, i noticed that this fic was like, riddled with flaws, but i feel too good about this to second guess it and feel bad. anyways, this is heavily inspired by this fic that 🎻 anon sent in my asks, as well as a follow-up to this fic i wrote on @awlumii last year on kazuha's birthday. i hope you enjoy and please do let me know what you think! i could really use some feedback.

✦ — 🎃 — ✦

There's a knock on your door. You stare at the entry to your apartment and think: "How mean would it be if I ignored them right now?"

In your defense, you've been giving out candy all day. All. Day. You figured that there would at least have been a lull in the early afternoon since children had school to attend, but no — you've been giving out candy to all ages from as early as 10:30 this morning. It's a good thing you stocked up on candy late last month, otherwise you would've had to ruin the days of some very enthusiastic trick-or-treaters. So after setting aside a bucket full of your favorites and giving out the leftovers until about 10 at night, you finally thought yourself ready to curl up on your bed with your softest blanket. You were halfway to dreamland when some monster started pounding on your door.

(So maybe you're exaggerating a little. But who could blame you? You're tired and you want to sleep.)

And so, here you sit, your legs half-tangled in your weighted fleece blanket as you glare at your door and hope that your unwanted visitor is telepathic and gets the message that you want them to leave. Scram! you think. You raise your voice in your head. Get out of here. Shoo! Begone!

…They knock again. (Kind of a dick move if they can read minds.)

The groan you let out is obnoxiously loud and is most definitely heard by whoever is on the other side of the door. You hoist yourself to your feet and trudge to the door, but you don't open it quite yet. Judging by the fact that this person has yet to say anything, you figure that they're old enough to know when their presence is not welcome and left.

Wrong. You're too optimistic. They knock again.

You sigh and once again, hope that the sound carries through the door. "Who is it?" You try to make yourself sound as unfriendly as possible. Considering how cranky you are, you don't have to try very hard.

"Trick-or-treat..?" The voice on the other side is muffled by the door, but also by something else. Fabric, probably. All you know is that their voice is deep enough to be an adult's.

You click your tongue. "Trick." You almost snicker. It's a little refreshing not doling out treats for once. "Go home."

"Can I at least give you a treat?" The person asks.

You blink. They didn't leave? "Pretty sure that's not how it works," you reply. "I give you treats and you… I dunno, TP my house or something."

"Yeah, well," the person at the door chuckles, "I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to say 'trick', either. Since you're breaking the rules, it's only fair that it's my turn, right?"

Well… Shit. They have a point.

Impressed by the stranger's reasoning, you hum. "Fine. Let me find my costume." You turn to gather your costume and notice that you can't find the full thing. You were so eager to get to bed that you didn't hesitate to drop the thing in the wash. Not wanting to make the stranger wait too long, you improvise. You blindly grab the mask and the blue throw blanket you have folded up on your couch and tie it around your shoulder like a cape. It's a shitty excuse for a costume, but you reason that your exhaustion is a good excuse. You swing open the door and cross your arms over your chest. "Alright, what do you got for-- Oh."

Standing on the other side of your door is none other than Spider-Man himself. The two of you stand in silence as you take in each other's appearances. Then, after what feels like forever, he speaks. "So… a cape, huh?"

You don't hesitate — you grab your door and swing the thing shut as fast as you can, but Spider-Man is faster, catching the door in his gloved hand. You turn your back to him. The mask is obscuring his face, but you already know what expression he has underneath. "Don't say a word." You warn him.

Spider-Man pays you no mind. You can feel him lifting your 'cape' as he inspects it. "Hmm… capes are kinda aerodynamic, but considering how dirty my enemies fight, I don't think that's a very good design choice." You can hear the shit-eating grin in his voice. "I'll give it a five out of ten."

"I said shut it!" You snatch your blanket out of his hands and march further into your apartment with Spider-Man's laughter following at your back. He walks inside and the door shuts behind the two of you. "Get the fuck out, webhead," you seethe. Your voice trembles with shame. "I didn't invite you in."

Spider-Man just walks around you to look you in the eye. "Come now, lovebug," he tilts your chin up with a finger, "you look cute wearing my mask."

You grumble and push his hand away as you struggle for words. You want to say something like, "this isn't what it looks like!" to try and save face, but there's no point in trying. This is exactly what it looks like.

Because the mask you'd been wearing for Halloween -- and the mask you haphazardly thrown on moments ago -- was none other than Spider-Man's mask.

To be fair, these things were a dime a dozen. The people of this city adore the vigilante. It was only natural that kids and adults alike would want to pretend to be him for a day, even if they had no powers like him. You're not exactly one of those people — you've seen firsthand just how brutal Spider-Man's job can be. You wouldn't trade your life for his even if you were offered money. But as you stared at the costume while shopping, you couldn't help yourself. There were obviously cooler, much more interesting costumes to choose from but this one just… called to you.

Hindsight is 20/20, after all. You should've ignored that calling.

Spider-Man takes your chin in his fingers and shakes your head side to side. "I never knew you liked me so much, lovebug. I'm touched."

You scoff. "Don't be."

"Y'know, if you wanted to wear my mask so badly, you could've just asked." Spider-Man leans in and presses a clothed kiss to your cheek. You consider yourself lucky; he can't possibly feel the burn of your cheeks through all that fabric.

You stammer. "Ha-ha. Very funny."

"What? I'm sure I have a back up somewhere." He eyes you for a moment. "You'd look good in it."

Against your will, you wonder if he's saying that he wants you to wear his clothes. Would he ever actually loan you clothes that he's worn? The thought makes your face burn hotter. "Why are you here?" You ask. Anything to change the topic.

Spider-Man chuckles, but plays along. "I haven't swung by in a few days," he says, "so I figured I'd try and surprise you as a trick-or-treater." He shrugs. "I wanted to do some reverse psychology thing where I could trick you into thinking I was just some guy in a costume so you would give me candy."

You process his words for a second. "Okay, first of all, you already are a guy in a costume."

He visibly deflates and places a hand over his chest. "Ouch, lovebug. What if you hurt my feelings?"

"Second of all," you continue, "do you have any idea how many Spider-Men I've seen today?"

"...Is that a serious question?"

"Don't be a smart ass."

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess twelve."

You pause. You actually aren't even sure if that's the right number or not. You lost count after three hours of giving out candy to cute kids.

"Am I right?" He asks.

"Who knows?"

Spider-Man huffs. "If there's that many of us around, then what am I even here for?" You giggle at his petulant behavior, and he makes another breathy sound, reminiscent of a stifled laugh. "Did you treat them the same way you treat me?"

"What?" His question takes you off-guard for a moment. You chortle. "Oh, definitely."

"You gave them band-aids and kicked them out, too?"

"Mhm." You cross your arms. "Just slapped a few on some pretend wounds and told them to get the fuck off my property."

The two of you laugh together for a moment. Once the laughter dies down, Spider-Man tugs at your cheek for a brief second. You let him get away with it for now. "You're so cute." He sighs and you can hear something somber enter his tone. "I was worried about you. It's been a week since I've seen you."

It has been a week, hasn't it? You may have been swamped with work at the hospital, but there was never a night that you didn't find yourself waiting on your balcony like an idiot in this chilly weather. You had faith that he was okay — the Daily Bugle printed something new about the "masked menace" every day this past week — but that didn't stop you from longing for his presence. Stories can't compare to the real thing, after all. You're far more taken with the masked vigilante than you'd care to admit to yourself.

You hum. "About time someone else did the worrying for once," you mumble jokingly. "It gets tiring worrying all by myself."

Spider-Man stays quiet. "I've been okay. A little worse for the wear for the past two days, but okay otherwise."

You reach for him instinctively. "Lingering pain isn't like you," you say, already in doctor-mode, "did something happen?"

"No, not like that. I've just been… sad. I guess." His confession is soft as he takes your outstretched hands in his own. He's been more vulnerable around you lately and you're not sure if that's good or bad. "It's been a rough couple of days, that's all."

You rack your brain. What could possibly be paining him that you don't know of? He's already told you that he tells you everything (within reason), so maybe it's something that you already know of? You furrow your brows as you dive deeper into your memory. Deeper, deeper… until you happen across a memory from just about a year ago.

The kiss you shared on your balcony close to midnight.

"Oh my God." You voice your incredulity aloud. "Oh my God! I missed your birthday!"

Spider-Man straightens his posture as he inhales sharply.

How could you have forgotten? He confessed to you on his birthday last year that you were the only person he had left in his life since he hated his birthday so much. October 29th was such a painful day for him — to think that you didn't stop for a second to wonder if he was okay that day. It's not like you would've been able to contact him of course, but what if he swung by after you'd fallen asleep? You should've at least left him a note or something.

"Don't beat yourself up over it, lovebug." The confidence is starting to bleed out of him, you notice. Spider-Man walks over to your couch and sits on the floor in front of it. "I'll be okay. It's not like I was going to celebrate or anything."

You move to the couch and adjust yourself so that the vigilante is between your legs. You two often assume this position when you're finished patching him up and too tired to goof around until he leaves. You would place your hands on his head and press your fingers into the fabric of his mask. Spider-Man told you once that the action was soothing, but you have yet to admit to him that it's your way of trying to conjure up an image of what his hair must look like underneath.

Like always, he gets himself into position, draping his arms across your legs. This time, however, he's looking up at you. You're not sure what expression he might be wearing.

"I wasn't saying that we should've celebrated," you say softly. "I'm just upset that you had to be alone. Are you sure you're okay?" You ask as you massage your fingers across the crown of his head.

He hums. "I am now. I promise."

"If you're ever feeling down, you know you can come and see me." Your words surprise the both of you, but you don't regret them at all. He always seems to be around when you need his company the most, so why shouldn't you do the same for him? Who else would? your mind unhelpfully supplies. "I may not be the best company in the world, but at least you won't be alone, right?"

Spider-Man moves so that he's on his knees facing you. He's so close to your face like this; you inch backwards to preserve your sanity. "You're the only company I need." He says it with so much conviction that you shiver. "But does this mean I'm getting special treatment?"

"What--? You mean from the other Spider-Men?" When he nods, you snort. "Yeah, I guess you do get V.I.P privileges. You get extra treats unlike everyone else."

"Extra?" He tilts his head. "But you haven't given me any candy at all."

You raise a brow. "All that's left is the candy I'm hoarding for myself. And before you ask, no, I'm not sharing any. Why don't you try actually trick-or-treating? People would probably give the city hero the best of the best."

He sinks a little lower, seeming defeated. "...Would you believe me if I said I tried that already?"

"Did it work?"

He's silent.

"...It didn't work, did it?"

"...No. They thought I was just some superfan."

Peals of laughter burst out of you at his admission. "So this is how they repay you, huh?" You say between giggles. "No faith and no candy? That's rough, buddy." You get the distinct impression that he's glaring at you, but that only makes you laugh harder.

Fed up with your insistence on laughing at his misfortune, Spider-Man taps your leg. "Since I get special treatment from you, can I ask for a few wishes?"

You wipe a stray tear from your eye. "I'm dressed as a superhero, not a magic genie."

"Please?"

"Fine, fine." You finally catch your breath. "You get two wishes.

"Not three?"

"I'm not a genie. Don't push it."

Spider-Man puts his hands up in defense. "Alright, two it is. The first is… let me stay with you for the rest of the night."

You shrug. Wouldn't be the first time. He's usually gone by the time you wake up, anyhow. "Granted. Next one's your last — make it count, bug boy."

Spider-Man doesn't react to your nickname. Instead, he just stares at you. A familiar sensation tickles up your spine. He's watching you; you know that stare all too well. "I think you know what I'm going to ask for next." His voice is deeper, smoother than it was mere moments ago.

You nod and he eases himself closer to you. You feel your heart pick up an unsteady rhythm and rather than kiss him normally, you lean in close and press your masked lips to his. He makes a surprised noise before he laughs and melts into the "kiss" all the same. When you pull away, he's still laughing. A very welcome change from the bitter smile you're sure he was wearing when talking about his birthday. "Consider that a freebie," you mutter.

"You're too kind," he chuckles.

Soon, your fingers come to the base of his mask to raise it just above his lips when he suddenly stops you. He reaches for your face and you feel something tug at the base of your neck. Somehow, you completely forgot you were wearing that stupid mask. "It's kinda funny," he half-laughs, "having to unmask you for once."

"You... You can't tell anyone about my identity, okay?" You tease.

Spider-Man rolls your mask up just enough to expose your lips and you do the same to him. Neither of you are sure who leaned in first, but you meet in the middle in a kiss that has fireworks bursting behind your lids. The two of you are greedy, pouring a week's worth of longing into the kiss. The mutual yearning is palpable, so much so that you can hear his breath hitch when you sigh. He rises to the couch slowly and without breaking the kiss, doing his best not to part from you for even a second.

You missed him. Oh, how you missed him — you missed how he would wrap a strong arm around your waist and pull you closer like it was nothing; how he would whisper his adoration for you between breaths; how he would chase after your lips whenever you would tease him with barely-there kisses. You missed the exhilaration, the thrill of knowing that you were the only one Spider-Man would ever treat this way. That you were his and he was yours.

He moves from your lips to your jaw, trailing kisses up to your ear and down to your neck. His pace is unhurried, though he seems eager to pull a reaction out of you. You give him what he wants whether you intend to or not. You press yourself closer to him in a silent request for more and he indulges you; his kisses become little nips, and the nips turn to bites as he starts to leave marks on your neck. He eases you back so that you're laying on your couch and he's hovering over you. The two of you stare at each other for a moment.

"Can I use my next wish?" His voice is rough. When you nod, he leans in once more. His uncovered lips brush against your ear as he whispers. "Let me give you a treat."

Something foreign yet familiar makes you shudder as you nod.

Spider-Man attacks your neck once again. Clearly he was holding himself back earlier, because every mark he leaves stings. He makes them dark and obvious, completely disregarding any warnings you may have given him on other days. You normally would tell him to ease up, to hide the marks that he so desperately wanted to leave on you. But now you let him do as he pleases. You gave him an inch and as expected, he took the mile. He soothes each one with a kiss and muffles your whimpers with his lips.

It takes a while before he's satisfied with his handiwork. Kazuha raises himself up with a shaky breath. Your wrists are in his hands and pinned against the couch. Looking down at you now, all flushed absolutely covered in his marks, he feels something uncontrollable stir within him. He has half a mind to tell you to close your eyes so he can take his mask off, but he refrains.

That's all he ever does when it comes to you. You, the greatest test of his endurance that he will ever encounter in his lifetime. No supervillain with any amount of underground connections or otherworldly technology will ever test his patience and restraint quite like you. For years, Kazuha has weighed the pros and cons of telling you who he is. He always wonders if you would still allow this, if you would still treat him like a lover if you knew who he was — if you knew that he's been lying to you. Though your reaction may not be guaranteed, it's a risk he's more than willing to take.

But he doesn't. Not tonight. Maybe another day when the time is right.

For now, Kazuha releases your wrists and sits himself up. He fixes his mask while you take yours off. You sit up and he watches as you ghost your fingers over each of your fresh hickies. You wince a little when you brush the one on the left side of your collarbone, above your heart. The silence that hangs in the air is evident, but not uncomfortable.

Then, you mutter. "I was supposed to give you a treat."

Kazuha reaches out and touches a hickey left on your pulse point. A sensitive spot for you – you shudder in response. He admires the lingering haze in your eyss. "You did. Thank you, lovebug."

✧ my goodness. @perpetualcynicism look at what you've done. you've reawakened a monster in me.

✧ edit: btw, the dividers belong to @cafekitsune!! thanks so much for making such beautiful dividers!

[halfmoth-halfman]

Leaving this blog.

With my mini-series finishing up soon, I've decided to leave this blog as well as my AO3 account once it’s finished. This is not a decision I've made lightly, but circumstances have left this a place where I no longer feel safe.

As of now, I won't be deactivating this blog and will be leaving my fics up for anyone who'd still like to read them. I can't say this decision won't change later, but right now I feel that I've put too much work into this blog to simple delete it.

Below the cut is an explanation of why I'm making this decision, and what has been happening on this blog since the end of last year. It's not required to read or anything to understand the gist of this post; it's simply for my own peace of mind knowing that I spoke up about it. There will be topics that are possibly triggering such as harassment, threats, and racism so please mind the warnings and tags.

The mini-series is queued to finish next week, but there will be no more fic polls or wip wednesdays. I'll still be on here to make sure the queue does its job, and maybe post some stuff from my old drafts as a last bit of fun.

I'll have dms tentatively open for the next two-ish weeks for those who'd like to follow my new account, however I will not be answering anything from empty blogs. After that, asks and dms will be turned off, and I won't be coming back to this blog very often, if at all.

I cannot say thank you enough to the wonderful readers I've had and the amazing people I've met. I don't think I would've ever continued writing without your support and friendship. There's nothing I can do to show my appreciation for all of you.

Maybe we'll see each other again. If not, I hope your inspiration is always flowing, and 2024 treats you kindly.

Mothie 💜

Again, TW: rape/death threats, violent racism, repeated harassment, and mental health.

Back in November, I started getting rude, mean-spirited anons. It wasn't anything I was too bothered with because it didn't happen often and, honestly, my inbox gets flooded for a week or so anytime I post about certain topics. I blocked, deleted, reported and moved on thinking whoever it was would get bored and leave.

However, what started as a few rude anons calling me a bitch or stupid turned into a lot of anons being vile and racist which only worsened over the next few months.

I spoke about it in this post (link) near the end of November. In that post, I mentioned that those were the nicer asks and that was not an exaggeration. I have gotten my fair share of shitty anons as seen here (link) when I had to take a break from my blog because of said anons, but I have never gotten the amount of vitriol that I saw in these asks.

When I turned anon off, I started getting even worse messages from empty blogs that would either be blocked or deactivate within a week. When I turned my askbox off, I started getting hateful DMs. When I turned DMs off, it jumped from Tumblr to my other social medias which I had to private, completely avoid, or outright delete.

I got messages attacking my writing, calling me slurs, threatening to find me and rape or kill me, sending me explicit porn and rape videos while insulting my sexuality, and going into gross detail about how much people I interacted with hated me or how I would never be as good as them. I tried to power through it, pretending everything was fine while I pulled away from this blog, from writing, from friends that I loved and talked to every day. Everything about this blog, the fandoms I enjoyed, the people I talked to, made me so anxious because of these constant messages.

I took several breaks while dealing with this in therapy, repeatedly trying to come back and get comfortable on this blog, but within a few days of coming back the messages would start up again, either here or on any of my social medias I tried to unprivate, and I couldn't deal with it.

Only in the last week or two has it started to slow down and stop on a few of my other socials, which is the only reason I even feel comfortable making this post. However, in regards to this blog and my feelings toward it, the damage is done.

I don't think I can ever truly convey how isolating this has been. So many of these messages were about how I've spoken about my struggles as a black woman in fandom, how much of a burden it puts on the people who interact with me, how inferior I am to them and that I am everything that's wrong with fandom.

I felt scared and anxious to talk to anyone about this, especially people mentioned in those messages, out of fear that this harassment would jump to them. There are friendships that I stepped away from that I will never get back because of that. There are friends that I've felt like I was betraying by never telling them about what was happening because I felt too ashamed about letting this get to me.

I constantly worried that making a post like this would feel like, "Oh, Mothie's whining and trauma-dumping into the void about fandom racism again", that those messages would be right and it would force people to feel like they had to support me. Or worse, that people would agree and it would only make things worse. I've wrestled with so much guilt trying to decide to make this post and figure out what to do to make me trust myself again.

Ultimately, I don't think I was wrong for talking about my issues in fandom, and I don't think anything I've said has warranted this kind of harassment. I don’t know the who’s or why’s behind of this, but I've come to terms with the fact that I'll never really know. Truthfully, I'm not sure it even matters at this point. In the end, I think moving on from this blog entirely would be the best thing for me right now.

But, man, does it fucking suck.

This was the blog where I felt comfortable enough to start writing again, to start posting my fics. It's the blog where I met so many friends, got the courage to join new communities, found new hobbies, new music, new things to enjoy in life. It feels silly to say about a blog, but this was a place where I felt like I was able to carve out a space for myself. I put so much work into making it my own, and now the only thing I feel about it is anxious.

Hate messages and threats and racism have always been a part of fandom, and the internet as a whole. I’ve known since I started participating in fandom spaces that it was going to and continue to happen. I've known that I had to have a tough skin, especially if I ever spoke up about problems I faced because no one was going to have my back if I didn't have my own. I thought I had learned how to deal with it, and how to make a safe space for myself. But this goes beyond that. I did not deserve this. No one deserves this.

In some ways, it feels like admitting defeat, like I'm weak or hypocritical for not being as strong as I pretended I was and leaving. In other ways, it feels freeing to start over, and I'm choosing to view look at this optimistically even if it bittersweet. I don't want to let this scare me away from writing or from speaking about things that are important to me. All I can do now is say I'm so incredibly sorry to those I've hurt by stepping away or keeping this secret, and make sure I'm able to at least leave this blog on as happy a note as I can have.

[alevicke]

This is such a weird request but here it is!!

The reader has either disappeared or has been withdrawn for a whirl and nothing that the cast (I.E. Caine, Kinger, Gangle, Zooble, Ragatha, Jan and Pomni) could get them out. Them and the reader being in a romantic relationship also reaction to the reader coming out after what was a while, tired and injured with a baby that had their features.

So basically the reader somehow got pregnant and refuses to let anyone know about the baby in fear they’ll be treated differently or have it taken away or the cast just outright denying responsibility or refusing to take care of the baby.

Sorry for such a long and weird and confusing message, don’t force yourself to do if you don’t want to!!!

Ah this is going to be hard to write! Mostly because it’s going to be all angst to be honest. I doubt anyone would be happy about their partner suddenly going missing and hiding something so important! Due to my roleplay with a friend I’ve thought about similar things every now and then tho so I have some ideas (Parentship is something I love to think and roleplay because everyone is so different in all stages of it <3) 

I feel like Jax, if he has a relationship, loves the person a lot and goes through the pregnancy with his partner would be hella sweet. Still having the urge to run away, but so different from the request. Might write my headcanons of Jax someday...? And Ragatha and Caine would look so adorable... Everyone would be to be honest ;; I need fluff after this angst help

TADC X READER WHO RAN AWAY AND SUDDENLY APPEARS WITH THEIR BABY

Characters: Caine, Ragatha and Jax

TW: ANGST!!! There is no sweetness nor fluff here ;; Pregnancy mentioned. Huh, having problems to accept the child? Also no beta read, I think that's the word. Sorry I'm Spanish and have no one who can proof read my writings ;;

I’m awful writing TWs so PLEASE, if someone knows if I should write something else let me know! MY MASTERLIST 

Caine:

This guy is not pleased when you first disappear. The first few hours he thinks you just need some alone time or perhaps you just don’t feel like being with absolutely anyone so he doesn’t try looking for you too much

But as time and the day passes and you don’t appear he starts to worry a bit more. His vigilant eyes haven’t seen you around either so he starts questioning the others receiving nothing but shrugs. No one knew where you were and some didn’t even care too much (mostly Jax and Zooble who were just annoyed by Caine continuously asking

As days passed Caine passed from worry to complete stress and panic as he kept looking absolutely everywhere for you, even the cellar with abstracted old characters! But you were nowhere to be found. Adventures were now a past thing as Caine passed his days looking for you

But as months passed, he truly came to the conclusion that you, somehow, escaped. It was way more hurtful to think that you, as lover, left him behind. That despite your whole relationship, you decided to escape

And it took him quite a lot of time to try to cheer himself up. Most of the crew realized that he was faking his enthusiasm and happiness

That was until you appeared back again with someone in your arms though…

Caine ran into your arms as soon as he saw you, he was FRENETIC! YOU WERE BACK!!

“God I missed you so much!!! I thought you escaped! Where have you been? Are you safe? Are you ok? I swear to god I looked EVERYWHERE! Believe me, my eyes have seen things that should have never seen looking for you!!!!” You tried to calm him down while slowly showing what was in your arms covered in a soft blanket. A baby, extremely similar to Caine…

His jaw dropped, literally. But he quickly picked it up. It was obvious he was the father… But he truly didn’t think that was possible. He didn’t look so much into the code to know all the possibilities but now looking back perhaps he should have taken a peek at those keeping in mind it was his job.

He didn’t even know how to reply. For one moment, he stretched his arm to the baby to touch it but he didn’t dare to do it. He had so many emotions at the same time. Was he even human? AI? An NPC? No, they couldn’t be an NPC, he had no control nor knew about them until now… 

You try to explain your reasons to disappear but to be honest he seems to not be listening to you most of the time, he is way more focused on the baby. He couldn’t believe he created it despite him creating a whole digital world. That baby was different.

The next few days were a bit hard with Caine. He accepted the baby and was with them the whole time in arms, but when it came to your relationship he felt quite hurt. He had problems trusting you but he was open to fixing everything and retrying the relationship. After all, he still loved you. But the fear of you going missing again was really big

Ragatha

Much like Caine, at first, she thought you needed time or space. It took her even longer to start looking for you because she really likes respecting space and has no problem if you have other things to do or other people to be with. She can be on her own and not bother you. She’s not nearly as clingy as Caine is. 

But night came and you didn’t appear. It was weird, you usually sleep together…

She tried looking for you in your room. But you weren’t there either… That honestly started to worry her but she tried to think that perhaps you were out having fun in the amusement park or the lake and just were gonna come late or something. There was no way of communicating after all, no phone to sell a message or call so she had to trust you’d eventually come back

But the next day your side in her bed was empty. And your bed was also empty, cold… You didn’t appear all night. What’s worse, no one even saw you.

She spent the day looking for you desperately, asking for help as well to Caine, Gangle and Kinger. As her desperation grew, she asked for help to Zooble and lastly to Jax. Not even Jax dared to say anything against helping, taking in mind the situation seemed important or even critical.

But days passed and neither Ragatha nor anyone else saw you. Not even Caine could find you with her eyes which being honest was annoying for him. He liked to keep control of everything and everyone there but you escaped his sights and were no one to be found!

Ragatha’s desperation grew into sadness thinking you abandoned her there alone on her own. Some were even afraid she could abstract hearing her cry despite how badly she tried to hide it. The always smiley and outgoing doll was now always in her room wanting to be left alone. 

As months happened she started to smile again. Sure, she was sad sometimes, but she tried to accept that you left. Much like Caine she thought you found an exit to that hell and she didn’t want to guilt you for that. But she wished you took her with you.

Until you appeared again. 

Just like Caine she ran into your arms, but she stopped just inches before seeing you were hugging something so carefully that you didn’t hug her as fast as she wanted to.

You moved the fabric away to show a small baby with yarn looking like hair in a reddish tone. The baby cuddled into the blanket looking for its warm while Ragatha was looking at them, eye wide open. She didn’t have to be a genius to know she was the mother… Still, she felt insecure “Is… Is that… Are they…? We…? Had a baby…?” She had problems saying the words. But you nodded answering all her questions at the same time “He’s… Our baby Ragatha… I just didn’t know how to tell you and I was so scared… I thought running away was my best option. I was so scared you wouldn’t accept this…” You said trying to get close to her. But Ragatha stepped back

She was insecure, worried and hurt “I spent months looking for you… I thought you ran away, that you found an exit and left me completely alone… And you took away my baby knowing that I had such a motherly instinct and wished I could be a mother… I want to see our kid. But I need time about us. To think about what's going to happen…”

Next days, Ragatha showed up a lot to meet the baby. She was so happy about having one! She never thought it could be possible but she was a mother! 

But things between you both weren’t the same. Ragatha didn’t feel ok being with you anymore. She didn’t trust you and couldn’t help but hold a grudge against you for doing something like that.

She didn’t want to admit it but you running away and making her miss the whole pregnancy and childbirth was extremely painful. You took away the first moments with her baby. And that was not something she could easily forgive

Getting her affection back was going to be hard. 

Jax

Quick Author Note. Hold yourself, this guy ain’t ready for this. A complete stab in his trust. And he's the kind of guy to hold a grudge…

Just like the others he doesn’t pay too much attention when you don’t appear for a few hours. But damn, after the whole day without news from you he’s starting to get kinda upset. Not with you, just that he wants attention and wants it NOW. 

He loves being your center of attention and you being gone for so long was annoying for him 

But day passes, night passes and you still don’t appear. He tries to act cool and make it seem like he’s completely ok with it. But he is internally panicking a bit. He’s looking for you anywhere and even tries asking for the others “casually” to see where you are but no one knows anything. 

He looked for you at the amusement park, at the lake, in every single room in existence in the tent, he even had keys of the locked doors. BUT NOTHING. You were just… Gone?

And he was so confused…

He truly thought you abstracted and for some reason Caine didn’t want to tell him. He had so much trust in you he didn’t want to believe you would escape that place without him. He was an asshole after all and you accepted him, why would you do that now? 

So since then, he stopped trusting Caine. He didn’t want to believe his words no matter how much Caine said he didn’t put you with the other abstracted characters. He spent months like this hiding sadness in his room. He was way too proud to show his weakness after you left him there. He thought you were gone for real…

That’s why the moment you showed up there took him so by surprise that he didn’t know how to react. He didn’t want to believe his eyes. You were back? But… He thought you abstracted. 

He approached you, slow at first. Then quickened the pace until being in front of you. But he didn’t expect to find you holding something so close to you

You open the blanket showing a light purple bunny much like him. No smile on the baby, but being fair, there was no smile on Jax either. The cocky smile was completely gone. Lost. His mind was nothing but a blurry mess of collapsing thoughts and words. He didn’t know what to think…

“Jax… I just… I didn’t know how to tell you… I thought you would get mad and not accept them… I was so scared…” you truly meant it. But something inside Jax broke as he realized what happened

“You… Ran away because you got pregnant?” he asked, receiving a slow scary nod from you.

You tried to explain yourself while he stood quiet, but he had enough. He stepped back “No? You just- You just don’t *bleep* do that?! I thought YOU ABSTRACTED?! But you were just running away from me because you didn’t trust me to have a baby together!” Jax finally bursted in anger. He never raised a hand, of course, but he sure was pissed by the situation

“Jax, listen, it’s not that I didn’t trust you, it’s just-”

“NO. I had enough. I don’t want to hear anything from you nor the baby. As far as I’m concerned, you lied to me. That could pretty much be an NPC to regain me after being doing whatever knows what during months. You have *bleep* lost me” With that, Jax turned away from you, leaving you behind with a crying baby after the storm.

With the incoming days, Jax left it clear, he didn’t want to know about you anymore. The relationship was over with no way of fixing it. You destroyed his trust.

And every time he saw the baby he had a huge urge to run away. He wasn’t there during pregnancy, he wasn’t expecting this. The baby just came out of nowhere and he sure wasn’t having it easy to accept it. He never asked to be a father. He didn’t even have a relationship to share this experience with anymore. Just a broken heart and a crying creature. He didn’t want to be involved in any of it

It took months for Jax to finally approach the baby at all. Seeing the baby reminded him of the betrayal he felt you made him. So he didn’t want to be with them at all

It probably takes more than a year or even years for Jax to accept the kid and be their father. But the relationship, as he said, was over. 

[ironborealis]

"I take Anakin Skywalker as my Padawan learner." The words rip themselves from his throat before he even has time to think them.

He's not cut out to be a Master, he knows this. The Council knows --

"It wasn't even ten years ago, as I recall, that you swore before the Council that you'd never take a Padawan again." Mace's eyebrow rises with skepticism, as he looks to the other council members for the confirmation that he doesn't actually need.

Qui-gon remembers perfectly what he said then.

"Much fear, I sense in the boy -- and long time it has been since the responsibility for a Padawan you have had." Yoda adds, eyeing both Anakin and himself with skeptical eyes.

"The boy must be taught." He insists, digging his heels in, something that only works with the Council a little over half the time.

"We're wandering off topic," Depa announces, breaking off the silent stalemate between himself and his grandmaster. "If Qui-gon is right and he did encounter a Sith on Tatooine and is targeting the Queen, then Qui-gon must go with her back to Naboo." Depa's lips purse momentarily as she scrolls through her data padd. "Knight Muln is an excellent pilot, the obvious choice for your second during the attempt to negotiate between the Trade Federal and Naboo -- but if this is a Sith, you'll need a second much more skilled in combat against other lightsaber users --" The corner of her lip curls upward with pleased surprise that sours Qui-gon's stomach because there are only a few possibilities -- "Fortunately, it seems that Knight Kenobi is available to join you for this mission."

"Absolutely not --"

"Why not? Knight Kenobi is a skilled duelist, and if anyone could help give us an accurate assessment of your readiness to take on a Padawan, then surely it would be your own lineage brother." Knight Kenobi's ability to assess Anakin's suitability as a future Padawan goes unsaid in Mundi's harrumph.

He's not seen the boy -- the man? -- since he left him on Bandomeer, after the boy had helped him defuse the bombs (had offered his own life to help him escape), in order to pursue Xanatos.

He'd sent a message to his estranged master after he departed, urging him to take the boy on as a Padawan, ignoring the fact that his master's own Padawan had fallen only a few months earlier.

It shames him now to think that the fall of Xanatos all those years ago has left him mired in such grief that to this day he feels unready to take another Padawan; yet he had been quick to throw a child at his own master, no matter their strained relationship, whose own wounds at the time were more recent.

"Then it's decided: Knight Kenobi will accompany you and the Queen to Naboo in order to confirm the your sighting of the Sith and assist in defending the Queen." Mace looks pleased as he makes his announcement.

Qui-gon has a bad feeling about this.

///***///

Anakin is frustrated (NOT angry!) and confused, as they stop briefly at Mr. Qui-gon's quarters (so small, so full of green) and the "quartermaster" to get supplies and fresh underclothes for Anakin.

The Council doesn't want him to join the Jedi because he's too old and too angry (too powerful?).

Mr. Qui-gon seems to have summoned an Idiot's Array from thin air by declaring Anakin as his Padawan, forcing the Council to accept him.

The Council has decided upon adding yet another test, for both him and Mr. Qui-Gon, involving a brother of Mr. Qui-gon's -- even though Jedi aren't supposed to have families...

He'd ask Mr. Qui-gon, but the man is in a mood that Anakin knows from hard experience to avoid in Masters. Whether that rule also applies to Jedi Masters Anakin is unsure and not eager to find out.

When they arrive at the dock where the Queen's ship is moored, there is only a Jedi standing stiffly in front of the gangplank. This must be Knight Kenobi.

Knight Kenobi appears human, and seems to present as male. His hair is much lighter than Qui-gon's, a dark sand-like color with a red tinge that hangs around his chin. He's short -- at least compared to Mr. Qui-gon who is very tall. His face is rounder and his eyes much grayer than Mr. Qui-gon. Some of that may be because Knight Kenobi is so much younger than Mr. Qui-gon -- like at least half his age.

They must have different fathers.

"Master Jinn," Knight Kenobi bows to Mr. Qui-Gon, and Mr. Qui-gon makes a face like he just took a drink of black melon milk as he nods in response. "Mr. Skywalker," Knight Kenobi turns and gives him a smaller box.

Anakin doesn't know what is stranger -- being called 'mister' or be *bowed* to of all the things.

"Knight Kenobi." Anakin makes a clumsy attempt at the bow Knight Kenobi gave Mr. Qui-gon. It's not like a slave's bow at all - the Jedi bow is all straight lines and sharp angles instead of the curved back and hunched shoulders that he's used to. It feels so unnatural.

When he comes back up there's a sparkle in Knight Kenobi's eyes, like he might be laughing at Anakin -- but as much as Anakin would like to tell him off, he knows that his future with the Jedi will depend on gaining Knight Kenobi's good opinion, so he'll hold his tongue.

"You and Mr. Qui-gon are brothers?" Slips out of his mouth instead before Anakin can stop it.

"Yes," Knight Kenobi says, at the same time Mr. Qui-gon says, "No."

Mr. Qui-gon gives Knight Kenobi a hard look before he marches up the gangplank and disappears into the ship. Anakin knows he should follow the man, but frustration (...and anger?) he feels from Mr. Qui-gon make him freeze in place instead.

He's been so busy worried about impressing the Council and now Knight Kenobi, that he's never considered what might happen to him if he upsets Mr. Qui-gon. Can a Jedi Master reject a Padawan?

Knight Kenobi has turned his head to watch Mr. Qui-gon leave. Then he, shockingly, crouches down until he's at eye level with Anakin. There's a slight smile Knight Kenobi's lips, but it doesn't reach his eyes, which are hard to read but maybe look sad?

"It's complicated; nothing for you to be concerned with." Knight Kenobi says.

The man stands back up, his grin growing a bit broader, a bit faker.

"Now, as we are the last two to board, we had best hurry before the Queen and Miss Padmé decide to leave us behind," Knight Kenobi's voice is cheerful as he steps to stand alongside Anakin and gestures towards the gangplank.

Padmé would never leave him behind. He's not so sure about Knight Kenobi though.

Knight Kenobi lets out a soft snort that's almost like laughter -- but Anakin is sure he didn't say anything this time -- can the Jedi really read minds?

[everythingblreview]

Tokyo at 6 p.m.

Uuultra C Short Story translation

A white, wood grain dresser was standing in a bedroom. It had been placed there nine months ago. As usual, I sat in front of it, looking in its mirror and doing my make up. An old Christmas song by Frank Sinatra was playing on the radio. Applying my lipstick, as orange as the evening sun, I sang along to his melody.

In that moment…

“Extra News” “Extra News”

Suddenly the radio crackled, and a formal Japanese voice cut through the music. I faced toward it, my lips forming the words “Oh, by gosh.”             “We are continuing to reporting on the phenomenon that synchronises the heartbeats of people in your immediate vicinity.” “As far as we know, no deaths have occurred to date.” “All those affected are advised to remain as calm as possible and…”

Oh my, it was happening again. I’m sure the announcer felt the same way I did. As soon as he had finished reading his stiff lines, he promptly returned the broadcast back to Sinatra. But Sinatra’s song had already finished, ending with him whispering a final “Merry Christmas”. I decided to quietly turn off the radio and leave the bedroom. It was 6 p.m. in Tokyo. The sky had taken on the dark blue colour of the night, with only a string of orange left at the horizon. The city heading towards Christmas, was decorated and wrapped in a warm neon lights. A hectic and restless atmosphere hung in the air; it was like you’d get swept away by someone if you hesitated your steps. In the middle of it was Shirou, with the usual arrogant expression on his face. He was standing next to the Setagaya Station, in front of an old message board. The weak lights of the Christmas decorations were sparkling on his head. “…..” He looked up when he noticed me. Ba-dum My heart jumped the moment our eyes met. …The left side of my chest began to burn, the sensation spreading through my body, as if someone had thrust a knife in me and blood was oozing out. …What was that? That feeling. As I crossed paths with the people leaving the station, I stopped short. Every single one of them was holding onto their chests, rushing past me. The radio had mentioned something about a “phenomenon that synchronises the heartbeats of people in your immediate vicinity.”, right? …Which meant the reason for my heart beating this way was Shirou. We looked at each other as the crowd passed me, a small smile playing on my lips. Once the crowed had vanished, I walked up to him and greeted him in a formal manner. “Good evening.” “…..” “How long have you been waiting?” “Doesn’t matter.” “Your nose is red. You seem cold.” “…Let’s just hurry up and go.” Shirou said, exhaling a long, white breath. Instead of the trains, he faced the direction of the arcade. The reason why we ended up meeting in front of the station goes as follows: When I woke up this morning, a letter was laying by my pillow. Written on it in clean, formal handwriting was something along the lines of… “6 pm. I’ll be waiting at the Setagaya Station.” Any other person would probably think that whoever had wrote the letter was challenging them to a fight, but I immediately knew that it had been a love letter from Shirou. I wrote “I understand” on the back, then turned it around and handed it to him. The rest of the day went by, just like every other day off. Shirou did some repairs on his camera, while I made a simple meal for lunch. Then we watched TV together in the bedroom. However around 5 pm. Shirou disappeared. It was then that I got dressed and came to the station. “Why did you write me a letter?” I asked him as we walked together through the city. Normally I would have asked him about it right away, but it wasn’t the most romantic atmosphere at home, so I decided against it. “Because you wouldn’t wake up.” “Oh my.” Not a very romantic reason. Even if it had been fun, it felt like our relationship as lovers was growing in distance.

“Tell me, why do you always sleep so long?” “Since we had the day was off and there was nothing I could help with, I thought that it would be fine to sleep in for once.” “For once? Who’s the one who keeps going back to sleep shortly after waking up when I’m working…?” “I do that?” “You always say, ‘just a bit more’ and then you’re asleep two seconds later.” “Being awake for just two seconds doesn’t count. Which means I don’t wake up at all and just sleep the whole time.” “~Well that may be true!?” Shirou’s lives a meticulous life, he sleeps no more or no less than seven hours a day. I, on the other hand, can sleep for ten full hours, and even then, I still want to sleep more. For now, he seemed to have accepted my response and gave up on the argument. “…. Whatever.  Just stop turning off the alarm at my place.” “I do that too?” “You do.” “I don’t think I do, though….” “…Should I install a video camera to show you evidence?” “You’re saying such lewd things…” “Hha?!” “Going all the way to buy a video camera and putting it in the bedroom…” “Don’t say that shit outside….!!!” Shirou yelled at me in an usually quiet voice, with a panicked looked on his face. A passerby grabbed their chest and collapsed. They needed help, but Shirou just walked away loudy. I-I’m sure the person should be fine with the distance between them…. I also was a bit mean to him. Shirou’s heart was delicate, so even if you were to tease it just a bit, it would start beating faster. And its throbbing was also affecting me, making it hard to breath. Shirou had the same indifferent expression on his face and probably didn’t even notice the change that was happening around him and inside me. …Maybe he didn’t even know that another incident was happening again. If I hadn’t listened to the radio, I myself would have gone to the hospital thinking I have a disease. …Even now, the city was filled with strange phenomena. Every week something strange happened, as though we were in an anime. What’s happening or who’s responsible— these were questions I couldn’t answer. Stuck in my own confusion, the phenomena were over before I even noticed it. Or rather, should I say, until someone put it to an end, without us having to intervene. In my mind, we were becoming background characters in an anime with the names like “Citizens A”. And I was happy about that. “Where are you taking me today?” “…” This year’s Christmas would take place on a weekday, so Shirou would have to work. I wondered what it would be like if we could go to a party at a nice house….

But even if it was impossible, I wouldn’t feel lonely staying at home. After all, he had invited me to meet him at this place right before Christmas. “Should I have high expectation, then?” I looked at Shirou while asking. His eyebrows were hidden, and his lips pursed in an angry expression. And yet his cheeks were turning red, he was blushing. …I started to feel dizzy again. The cause was his heartbeat.   Why did I keep getting caught up over Shirou’s heart every single time….? Why couldn’t I just walk after him in silence? Once I noticed that he had some kind of surprise for me, it made me so happy that I just couldn’t keep myself from asking unnecessary questions. “Christmas…will be here soon… that’s why…” “That’s right.” “…The city looks pretty, right?” “It does.” “…And that’s the reason I wanted to go together with you.” My heart was throbbing. “Nothing else. There was no particular place I wanted to go to…” It was hard to breath. “…Are you disappointed?” I stopped walking. The moment Shirou had said the city lights were pretty, they suddenly looked even more dazzling and beautiful to me. Shirou turned around. In front of a big Christmas tree by the entrance of an arcade. “Did you think I had something for you?... Actually yes, I do, so follow me.” “!” (Wait a second.) (Wait!) (What?) I could see the small box partially peeking out from his pocket. “Hurry up and come!” “Wa-wait!” (Ri-right now.) (It isn’t the time for that!) “Just come over here.” “…!”

I grasped my chest. But for the sake of being by his side, and to keep his mouth closed, I mustered my strength and walked over to him. “Your ring, I know I was the one who gave it to you…” “Um, wait a moment-” (Let’s stop it for today.) (No, I really appreciate Shirou’s feelings, but…) “Originally it was my mother’s ring, not mine.” “Um, Shirou, I really will die.” (St-stop.) (Please don’t take it out of your pocket.) “That’s why I got you a new ring…” “I’m suffering because of you…!” I grabbed Shirou’s right hand and held it in place. “Please don’t take it out of your pocket.” “…” “You probably don’t know this, but another strange phenomenon is taking place right now. Whenever I’m too close to you, my heart…” “I know about that...!” “!?” Once I had calmed down, I loosened my grip on his hand, which he took out of his pocket. Inside his hand was a white velvet ring case. (Wai-) “That ring is already too tight for your finger, isn’t it?” “So….!” “…Take mine!” “!!!” Sitting inside the open case was a silver ring. It looked like the halo of an angel, making me think I had already died. My knees gave in, and I collapse on the ground like someone had cut the threads, that were holding me upright. Only on one knee was keeping me up. Covering my mouth with my hands, I desperately tried to calm down my heart. Shirou was looking down on me, a hard expression formed on his face.” “Ha….?” “Forgive me…” “….” “I can’t take Shirou’s heartbeats anymore…!” “I’m the one who is suffering here, though!?” “…?” “You’re affecting me here! Our synchronised heartbeats are your fault!” “You’re wrong, it’s yours.” “It’s your fault, idiot…. Just hurry and take a deep breath!” “……” I took a three-second-long breath, then exhaled for another five seconds just as Shirou had instructed me. Wanting to live, I breathed deeply with my hands still over covering my mouth. As the air slowly flowed in and out of my body, my heartbeat mysteriously also began to calm down. …I looked up at Shirou once again. His eyebrow was raised, then he sighed out of relief and amazement at the same time. Then what in the world…. “I had thought you were causing the heartbeats the whole time, so then what was that?” “How should I know.” “When I got the letter from you, I looked at the calendar and just assumed. So, my heart was beating so fast on its own accord….?” “I don’t know, idiot!... Now hurry up and hold out your finger!” The ring Shirou presented was sparkling so beautifully, like it wasn’t made in this world. I’m sure it took him a lot of time to decide on it. Looking for it on his way home and in unfamiliar places, always with me on his mind.

I knew that because the ring had the same white colour as my hero form. Still kneeling in front of him like a knight, I presented my left hand to Shirou. He took off the ring. Then placed the new, bigger ring on my cold ring finger. It felt heavy and hot, but also soft like it could dissolve any moment. Shirou returned the other ring back to the case. …Every time I had been in pain, I had kissed the ring like a prayer. And had extended the size, just to not get rid of it. The way Shirou covered the almost broken ring told me he knew all about that. “…Your heartbeats are getting worse again.” “It’s all your fault.” “~You’re still saying that?!” It was true that my heart was beating fast, and you were the one who had set it off. So, it was your fault after all. I finally stood up. Once I straightened my posture, Shirou raised his head and gave me a bored look. “Now, let’s go to the hospital.” “You always say that, when something happens. This is probably the work of a kaiju, so we just have to rely on the help of a hero.” “And you’re the one who always responds with this…” Shirou suddenly started walking away. “I’m done here, let’s head back home.” Even if he sounded angry, he didn’t let go of my left hand. I looked back from the corner of my eyes. In a few days, everything, even the beautiful Christmas tree would be gone. But soon a new season would begin, and new decorations would probably light up the city again. Someday Sangenjaya would develop, and big buildings like the one in Shibuya would be standing there. And once that happened, I would like to look down on its nightscape and talk about today’s Christmas memory.

The original short story was published in cool-b. The text in the artwork is the conversation they have in the story. Hope you enjoyed~

[purple-ant]

Poison

The beam of light from the funeral pyre thins, and Jedi slowly leave the hall. Everyone is silent. Only Rael asks to be left alone with the cooling ashes. Dooku closes the doors as quietly as possible, not taking his eyes off the hunched shoulders of his old Padawan until the last moment. The shell of Nim's lightsaber burned down along with her, but the heart of the blade - the kyber - is held tightly by Rael in his hands.

The narrow corridor is not filled with Jedi for long. It is late, the Padawans are already dozing in the arms of their Masters, exhausted beyond their years with grief for their friend. Dooku does not move far from the door, he stops near the stained glass window, his hood pulled up mourning. The funeral floor is too low for sunlight, so soft lanterns behind colored glass are the only thing that disperses the darkness.

The initial disbelief and shock have passed, and Dooku feels empty. Death is never fair, it does not choose, and there are no other reasons for it other than human greed... But still, Dooku wants to helplessly ask. Why Nim? Why, of all the lights of the Galaxy, was this one, young and untouched, extinguished?

Dooku feels old.

“I didn’t expect you to come,” Qui-Gon’s voice sounds in the solemn silence, Dooku does not take his devastated gaze from the stained glass window. There is no image, a simple familiar pattern of circles and straight lines.

“I barely made it,” he admits. The flight to the Temple seems short, wild and at the same time a blurry moment to him: one second he ends negotiations and receives a ragged, stumbling message from Rael, and the next he is breaking through Coruscant traffic. “She was my grandpadawan.”

Was.

Qui-Gon gives a low chuckle and Dooku blinks, finally turning his head to look at his old Padawan. The young man's gaze is gloomy, and the dim light does not smooth out the heavy wrinkles that have appeared on his face in recent months.

“Is there something wrong?”

All wrong. Nim is dead. The child is dead, killed, and his first Padawan is broken with grief and guilt.

“I didn’t know you cared about your grandpadawans,” Qui-Gon answers defiantly. “It’s not like you care about Xanatos.”

For a second, Dooku is sure that he heard wrong. An auditory hallucination caused by nervous exhaustion is not something he experiences often, but... The silence rings.

“What?” he asks anyway, giving Qui-Gon a chance to think carefully about his next words.

“You weren't so concerned when Xanatos left,” Qui-Gon repeats, and the emptiness inside Dooku flares with cold anger. He can feel the flashes trailing behind the billowing flaps of his cloak as he whirls around to face his second Padawan.

“Do you dare,” he mutters through clenched teeth, “to compare this boy’s selfish flight with Nim’s death?”

“The Council should not have sent him on that mission!” Qui-Gon puts forward the usual argument. “At least this time they listened to common sense,” his gaze slides to the locked doors.

The Council is going to investigate this mission in a special manner, considering that Rael's actions lead to Nim's death. They were given time for the funeral and mourning, but nothing more.

“Do you... agree with them?” Dooku can hardly believe it. Rael has supported Qui-Gon since he became Dooku's Padawan, the boys were like brothers, and yet Qui-Gon looks into his eyes without doubt.

“Yes. You yourself noted that Rael loves battles more than a Jedi should. Apparently Padawan Pianna was the one who paid for this…”

“Silence!”

The word, the order, echoes down the corridor like a clap of thunder, and Qui-Gon falls silent. His eyes widen in shock for a second, and then narrow, as if he has confirmed something. Dooku had hoped never to feel this way about his Padawans, his lineage, but his fingertips tingle with cold, furious energy, and he presses his hand closer to his body, clenching his fists.

“It’s time for you to let this go, Qui-Gon,” Dooku bites every word. “And if you cannot do this, then keep your poison to yourself, and do not turn it against Rael. He doesn't need it now.”

“This is not poison, Dooku, this is the truth that you do not want to see because of your attachment! Why is it that when I lose a padawan everyone turns away, but when Rael kills-”

The blow is short and not very good, it reverberates with pain in Dooku’s tightly clenched hand, his nails digging into his palm. For a moment he thinks he has done more damage to himself than to the Master in front of him, but Qui-Gon stumbles back, clutching his nose.

Two ragged breaths drown in the ensuing silence. Slowly, Qui-Gon moves his hands away from his face and looks at the blood staining his fingers, black in the twilight, then the disbelieving gaze of his blue eyes turns to Dooku.

“I knew it.”

“Get out of my sight.”

“The Force will judge,” Qui-Gon leaves the last word and departs. Slowly Dooku unclenches his fists. The emptiness returns even heavier than before.

He returns to the entrance to the hall, unable to stand still any longer. He would never have thought that Qui-Gon would say something like that. Where did Dooku go wrong?

The faded presence of his first Padawan is closer than Dooku expects, and as he opens the heavy doors he is instantly confronted with an ashen, dark gaze.

“Rael...” Dooku isn’t sure what he’s going to say.

“No need,” the prematurely aged Jedi shakes his head too quickly, “...in the end, he’s right.”

[sirianasims]

Being a dad gave me a new appreciation for things. I loved the raw beauty of Brindleton Bay, which was much more interesting than the suburbs of Newcrest where I grew up, but it excited me even more to see it through Freya’s eyes.

The night before Winterfest, I took her out for a little walk, bundled up in warm clothes. We looked at the snow falling quietly in the dark. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

This was the first winter Freya had been old enough to really appreciate snow, and her excitement was infectious. I felt like I had been taking snow for granted until now.

She giggled and tried to catch the falling snowflakes with her little hands, and I hugged her tight.

I didn’t know it was possible to love someone this much.

Winterfest morning was beautiful. Everything was covered in fresh snow and Brindleton Bay looked like a postcard.

My parents had come all the way from Newcrest to spend Winterfest with us, and I was excited to see them. It had been a few months since their last visit and they weren’t getting any younger. I wanted Freya to spend as much time with her grandparents as possible.

Katherine and I played our roles perfectly. I didn’t want my parents to worry, so I never discussed our relationship with them, but I think they suspected that things weren’t great. They were always very kind towards Katherine, but never seemed especially fond of her.

They adored Freya, though. My father didn’t even take off his coat before tossing her into the air to make her laugh.

My mother wanted a family portrait. Katherine immediately volunteered to take one.

Months later, when it was all too late, I would think back to this day and wonder if she had kept herself out of the picture on purpose.

But during Winterfest, I thought nothing of it. I was busy spending time with my family.

Dinner went well. I updated my parents on the clinic, but Katherine and I mostly told them about Freya. How many words she knew by now, all the funny things she had said and done since their last visit.

Katherine and I both had a lot of practice putting on a performance to make things seem normal by now, but I wondered if my parents sensed that we were trying a little too hard.

It made me happy and a little bit envious to see the obvious love between my parents, even after over 25 years of marriage. I hoped they would set a better example for Freya than Katherine and I did.

My father was entertaining us with some of the most outrageous divorce lawsuits he’d seen in his career.

Katherine and I weren’t married, and I had often wondered if it would be better if we simply broke up, stopped pretending. But I knew exactly what would happen.

She would take Freya with her, and I would at best get to see my daughter half the time – if I was extremely lucky. I couldn’t risk that.

I had considered asking my father what rights I would have, but I knew there was no good solution except staying with Katherine. Even if I could somehow keep Freya to myself, she would just lose her mother instead. I couldn’t do that to either of them.

Once more, I pushed away any thoughts of leaving Katherine. I had to keep going. For my daughter.

For Freya.

A few weeks after Winterfest, I woke up in the middle of the night. At first I wasn’t sure what woke me up, but then I heard Katherine in the bathroom.

It sounded like she was crying, trying to be quiet. I put my arm on her pillow. Still warm, she couldn’t have been gone for long.

Then I noticed that she’d left her phone behind. The screen was still on, and my curiosity got the better of me.

She had been chatting to Kailani. I only had time to read Katherine’s last message as I heard her blowing her nose in the bathroom. It simply said:

“Thank you both, but I can’t do this anymore. I’m leaving him.“

Shit.

beginning / previous / next

[lynettethemadscientist]

So. . . what is Fallout 4 about in your opinion?

(Asking this not angrily, but as someone who's genuinely curious about your thoughts on the game. I played it too and I love it. Nick Valentine my beloved!)

Thank you for asking!!

Fallout 4’s story is primarily about two things, both concerning how we cope with Suffering and Despair.

When you begin the game, you and your spouse are finally reunited after a long military deployment and you have a brand new baby (no more than a few months old). You’re on the cusp of a beautiful future together. All your dreams are finally coming true.

And then it’s all taken from you. In the worst possible way. Your spouse is executed in front of you. Your child is taken by people with unknown but undoubtedly horrific intentions. And when you wake up for the second time you have no idea how long he’s been in their possession.

When you find the last remnant of your past life (Codsworth), he informs you that everything you know and love has not just been destroyed, but is long forgotten.

You only have one thing left; one reason to keep going, so you pursue your only lead.

And there you find Preston Garvey. He tells you about people and places that mean nothing to you. And he burdens you with the responsibility of saving these people.

It feels almost cruel. The world has brutally taken everything from you and still it sees fit to task you with saving it.

You only say yes because your moral compass insists. You can’t just leave people to die. Not when you can do something about it.

But if you do ask Preston about his recent tragedy he’ll tell you:

“I had to put on a brave face as long as there were still people counting on me. That's the only reason I kept going.”

You don’t know it yet, but this foreshadows your future in the Commonwealth.

As you search for your son in a poisoned, decaying land full of giant monsters, you quickly realize there are two kinds of people: those who want to kill you, and those begging you to rescue them from certain death. Everywhere you turn there is desperation. And you grow more weary and more worried each time you steer away from your search to save a family pleading for your help.

And then you find Kellogg. However you feel about killing him, the answers you need are locked in his head, so you leap in. As you walk through his memories, to your dismay you find that his family was brutally taken from him in much the same way yours was. And that he chose to become the very same monster that created him.

And here we find the first thesis of the story: suffering is inevitable, and it will change you, but you are the one who decides whether your strife changes you into a better or worse person.

However the Sole Survivor chooses to respond (or not respond) to this is up to your character, but the message is clear.

For the purpose of truly realizing the second thesis, let’s say this moment was a wake-up call for your Sole. You grit your teeth and silently swear an oath to yourself that no matter what happens, you won’t end up like Kellogg. You won’t let your loss turn you into something evil.

But it’s hard to fight the despair creeping into your heart now that you know your son is already 10 years old. He’s been raised by the Institute. An organization that has thus far only seen fit to inflict harm on the Commonwealth for unknown reasons. You try to push the implications of this out of your mind as you now search for access to the organization that has haunted this land for over a century.

The burden of helping settlers only grows heavier as the seemingly insurmountable task of getting into the Institute looms over you.

And when you finally get inside, not even your most harrowing nightmares could have predicted what you find.

Your son is an old man. A callous and calculating old man. He bears features resembling that of you and your spouse, but the more he talks the more he seems like a cruel mockery of your once happy family.

Searching the Institute for answers only plunges the knife deeper. Every terminal, every overheard conversation only confirms the worst; that the squalor and desperation of the Commonwealth, the constant fear and instability, is all the intentional result of the Institute’s machinations. Your own son is the one who has been making life a living hell for all the people you've met and befriended on your way to rescuing him.

Devastating doesn’t even begin to cover it.

The one thing you had left, the one reason you endured for so long has not just been irrevocably taken from you, but has been twisted into something monstrously evil.

When you reach the surface again, you realize you have nothing left. Maybe you consider walking into the water and letting the rads take you. Or maybe putting the barrel of a gun in your mouth.

You wonder why you even survived this long. Why couldn’t you have just died in that cryopod? Or been another casualty of the wasteland? Why are you even still here?

But before you can finish the job you remember why. As much as you might want to, you can’t die yet. There are too many people depending on you now. And you’re the only one who can stop your son.

And here we find the second thesis of the story: having a purpose beyond oneself is the only way to endure impossible levels of suffering. Without a purpose, one succumbs to despair.

What was once a moral obligation has become your only reason to keep going. What was once a burden is now your lifeline.

And with that I think perhaps I should stop haha ^^; I’ve already waxed on for a lot longer than I intended and I feel bad that I made you wait so long for a response. I’ll keep going if anyone wants to hear the rest but I think I’ve about covered the core themes of the story and I fear I’ve already been too tedious about it

[silent-raven13]

One Omega and Three pups

(AU: Miles is an Omega and Hobie is an Alpha. They met through Gwen and started dating when Miles 19 and Hobie 20. In a short time, they love each or so Miles thought- share their heat/rut- after two weeks not hearing Hobie, Miles goes through heartbreak... sooo angst)

Miles went through his long texts and calls from boyfriend, the need to be with his Alpha became like a drug. After two weeks, he has not heard a single word from him, it broke his heart knowing he was a possible 'another Omega' all to satisfied his Alpha urges. His hands tremble feeling his eyes watered, sniffing as he calls again. "Please leave a massage after the beep."

*Beep*

"Hello? Bae, um... Hobie. I've been calling you and you're not picking up- can you call me back? Or at least tell me, what's up?" He wipes his tears as he sniffs, "Um... you just left? I mean... we mated, you know? I'm trying to understand what went wrong or what did I do for you to ghost me like this! This is unfair, because I thought we were good and you just-" His call cut off, "Message ended." Miles sat on his bed wearing his comfort sweater being so vulnerable.

Was he so easy that his boyfriend decided to leave him? He felt sick to his stomach knowing his boyfriend is no longer his boyfriend...

Miles toss his phone at the end of his bed, he broke down crying his heart out. This wasn't fair.

"He knew I didn't want to share my heat! He knew how important it was for me!" He thought to himself, he view being mating with an Alpha so important. How he visions himself being in love and sharing beautiful love through their heat/rut. It's more personal for him, and told many times to Hobie. It wasn't fair.

After dealing with the harsh shitty break up, Miles never thought his ex would ghost him like that. In fact, all of his ex's socials were basically ignoring him, never blocked. It sent him through so many series of anger and depression, photos of his ex living up in Uk or any parts of the world.

Then, one day after a month of being ghosted, Gwen and Peni came by to visit Miles in his room being so depressed. They saw his parents looking upset with their son's heartbreak taking a toll, it shattered their son's belief in everything to the point he had dropped out most of his classes. Jeff tries to be honest about life, and relationships while Rio tries to brighten up his future with small hopes. Miles didn't want to hear it.

"Hey, Miles..." Gwen awkwardly said as they saw his bedroom so messy, covered in all his favorite items to comfort him. One being his ex's leather jacket that he snuggles for a bit. "Um... how you been?"

"Like shit." Miles sniffs, still crying even with those puffy swollen eyes.

Peni sighs going over to hug him, her Alpha scent helps him calm down a bit, "Sorry, you're going through this, Mi."

"Yeah, dude. Gawd, fuck Hobie. I didn't think he'll do this to you- I mean, yeah, he's known to fuck around but I never thought he would ghost you like this!" The blond nineteen year old said out loud sounding more pissed off.

"It doesn't matter. I should've listen to you and waited. I'm so stupid to let him play me like this." Miles sniffs having to wipe his eyes feeling so upset with himself. "I- I TOLD HIM! And now, he's somewhere in the UK!"

The Asian American young woman looks over at her friend, "Gwen, tell him."

"Tell me, what?" Miles sniffs with his big eyes on his close friend.

Gwen looks like she didn't want to tell him, but hearing Peni's sharp Alpha demand, "Tell him, Gwen. You know it's only fair."

"What? Gwen, do you know anything about Hobie?"

"Well..." She began rubbing her neck seeing how her friend hold her hand with pleading eyes. "Um." She took a deep breath then asked, "So, you know, how I know the band?"

"Yeah?" He nodded.

"Well, before you and Hobie were together, that week when you two did it." She tries to not use words knowing his parents might listen over the other side of the door. "Well... before that week, I learn from Riri that they were sign with a label at the UK. I thought Hobie would tell you, since Ri said he was thinking about it."

"And you didn't tell me." Miles felt so hurt.

"I didn't, because Ri told not too! They weren't sure since the band were having issues about signing to the label! So I kept my mouth shut until, Hobie left. I saw how they went to London."

Peni said, "So, Hobie possibly left to be a Star."

"That fucking jerk!" Miles sniffs, "Why he didn't tell me? I would've listen and understand!"

"That's the thing Miles... being a famous star, you drink, party around, sleep around... maybe Hobie wasn't fully committed as much as we all thought." Peni sucked her teeth, "Fucking jerk."

"Yeah, we're all still young, you know?" Gwen didn't want to admit it, since her friend loves the idea of finding the one. "I'm sorry to say this, but maybe, it wasn't all cracked up to be. Hobie loves the wild life and you want to be serious, but the truth is... you are 19 and he's 20!"

"Yeah, not even drinking age, too. You got so much to live for and being depressed about a bum won't help!"

"You guys don't understand I love him!" Miles whines, "You don't get what an Omega goes through! I trusted him, and felt like he was the Alpha for me."

"Miles, the world is changing! Omegas aren't bonded to Alphas and you can't keep using that excuse!" Peni harshly said, "You finally have a chance to reach your career. What? What was your plan with Hobie? Be his Omega and that's it?"

"No..." Miles looks so small with his voice soft. "I would've found a career!"

"Come on, Miles. The way your love sick over him- and we don't blame you, it's our gender! Our primal urges to stay with our counterpart, but you have to admit you would've been a stay home Omega, and having pups!" Gwen points out, "You have a chance to finally to develop and look out for Alpha assholes!"

"Yeah, Omegas are getting more rights, more chances in higher positions too!" Peni points out, "You can be Vice President at a company or supervisor in some tech company! Or be the artist you want!"

"No, Hobie wasn't traditional. I know, we would-" Miles sniffs knowing he would've done anything to stay with his Alpha, yet he couldn't help it. "I just love him so much!" He weeps on his bed a bit more. "It's not fair he didn't tell me! It's not fair! It's not-" His stomach turns feeling the sudden urge to vomit, quickly jumping out of the bed to rush out of his room.

His parents and little sister were on the other side of the door being surprised how their son ran out of the room to the bathroom. They were listening on the situation, and Rio stood worried along side her daughter and husband. Jeff holds his toddler in his arms seeing how they both felt upset. Gwen and Peni look at them knowing this wasn't a good sign, the faint smell of powder sweeten milk lingers.

It went on like this for another three weeks, Miles had terrible sickness and felt his emotions going haywired. There was sudden cravings for fish n' chips and a big bottle of cold Ale, his mother had to prevent him from drinking beer knowing the signs. "Mamí, stop. I just want to-" His mother shushes him, "No! Not until you," she handed him a pregnancy test, "test this."

"Wah? Ma, you must be joking! I can't be pregnant!" Miles' honey brown eyes widen at the pregnancy test tube, "I'm- I should-" Rio gave him a serious look, "Why do you think your having sudden cravings, throwing up, being sleepy? You might be pregnant, Miles! You had tu papí running around all over Brooklyn for food?"

Billie stood with her outfit being ready to go on another adventure with her dad to look for Miles' next craving kick. She giggles, "Yeah, hermano!"

"I- I used protection! I've-" Rio cut him off, again, "Miles, you and Hobie mated during your heat and his rut, where tension is extremely high to ovulate! You two should know this."

True, he does. Yet for him being stupid to do such a thing, he risk very high chances into getting pregnant. He took the test with his head down in shame to check. Billie stood with her big puffy jacket being confused. "Why is Mimi sad?"

"He's facing one the biggest responsibilities of being an Omega, mi vida." Rio finally said to her daughter with a sad look in her eyes, she knows deep down her son is pregnant. The Omega scent of powdered sweet milk lingers, her own primal urges to protect her son from Alphas, too. She's happy her daughter isn't an Omega, she knows the trouble of being a female Omega is much more dangerous.

When Miles came out of the bathroom, his heart drops at the tube in his hand. His eyes widen, the color on his skin wash out looking grey like he seen a ghost.

Rio asked, "Y?"

"I-I-I..." His eyes widen with tears running down his cheek, his heart pounding against his chest. A wave panic runs through him, even his breathing became heavy.

His mother quickly went over to calm him down with her motherly Omega scent, "Relax, mi amor! It's going to be okay!"

"No, it's not! I fail you and dad! I'm pregnant all because I was stupid." Miles broke down in tears without his Alpha, what's he's supposed to do. "I'm pregnant and I can't- I can't ever be with another Alpha." Who would want a used Omega? He really fuck this up!

"No, hermano! Don't cry!" Billie's eyes water going over to hug her brother's legs. Rio weeps for her son's harsh life, so much responslty for being so young.

Jeff came into the house finding his family in tears, "What happened?" He spotted the pregnancy test tube, he stood a serious look and went over to give his son a big hug. Then he brought his wife and daughter into a big hug using his Alpha protective scent to ease them being the main Alpha in the household. The scent brought much comfort and safety that Billie will eventually learn how to be a great Alpha like her dad.

When they went to the doctors, Miles felt so anxious and sick. He didn't want to face reality, all his worries got him a nervous wreck. How many cups he drop when his parents talk to him, his mind thinking about how he's going to take care of his pup? Should he tell Hobie? No, fuck that Alpha, he doesn't care. Why would a pup be on Hobie's mind? He probably think their love child will ruin his future and toss some Abortion money.

Ah, Abortion... there's that choice. Curse being an Omega, his body is very dependent on his pregnancy, he felt his skin soft and pecks more pulp.

At first his parents mentions it as one way to terminate the pregnancy, Rio held her son's hand while his dad wants to respect his son's wishes. "I know this is going to be difficult. An Omega wouldn't pick Abortion compare to a Beta. It's in our DNA, and honestly, I'm worry about the after effects of this."

"Technology has gotten better than when we were young, Jeff." Rio said to him. "I know this can be scary, Miles. But this will be a good option, I'll call for an appointment with one doctor who's trusting, okay?"

Miles sitting in the doctor's office seeing the older man looking through his medical check up. "It is confirmed you are positive for pregnancy." Dr. Oct explained. "Now, going from here, you're going to be a strict diet, regular check ups and testing for your blood pressure."

Jeff and Rio looks at each other then the middle age woman clears her throat, "Dr. Oct, um... what about abortion? Is it possible for my son to have one and what are the side effects."

Their son flinched at the word since he wasn't too sure about this whole thing. He just wished to never got pregnant in the first place, yet his hand rubs around his abdominal feeling protective. Does he want to keep the pup? Is he strong enough to raise one- Is he strong enough to adopt his own pup? After all, his baby was made from passionately love and trust- well, in Miles' eyes. It was in the moment of love, and pure bliss- there was no consequences in that, so why should he go for it?

Then, he remembers a conversation with his parents about foster care. Can he give up his pup? Can he snoop low like his ex? Miles bite his bottom lip, he don't think he's in the right head space to abort his pup- No, he can't. Can he?

"Well, abortion have come a long way. Omegas can a have a safe recover, however as for emotional mentality... it's a bit harder. About forty percent have suffer in child lost grief due to their Omega instincts believing they lost their pup. However," The Doctor went into his desk to pull out a couple of flyers, "there's therapist, psychiatrists all part of this program to help Omegas through the after effects of Abortion. It's a slow healing process, yet it works."

"What about those rumors that Omegas not being the same after the abortion? I heard some have a certain smell after it."

"That is a trauma response and it's due to lack of safety. Now, with the technology we can ensure Miles have a safe process." Dr. Oct said in a serious tone, "Everything will be fine if you wish to go route, Miles."

"I..."

Rio asked noticing her son looking scared, "Mijo, is something wrong?"

"I-I... I don't know! I-I," He felt tears coming down his cheek, with his arms protecting his stomach, "I wanna keep my pup!"

Jeff looks at his son feeling sorry instead of disappointed. It's not his son's fault to want to keep the pup, it's all instincts. He knows it's a difficult choice. His brown eyes landed on his wife, she nodded at his expression. Years of being together they understood each other by simple stares. So it's decided.

"Okay, what is the process as we continued this pregnancy?" Jeff asked in a serious tone. It won't be bad, his son is an adult, now.

Miles looks back at his parents expecting them to go against his wishes, but saw a small smile on his mother's face. She hold her son's left hand to reassure him as they listen to the doctor.

When they went to pick up Billie from daycare, the family decided to order some Chinese take-out. Billie happily smiles at her little bag with an egg roll, doing a little dance. Miles let out a small smile seeing his little sister, he had dealt raising a baby, maybe he can raise his own pup. He can do this.

At home, the family eat their dinner, Jeff chews his meal as he watch his son not eating as much, "You gotta eat Miles, your eating for two."

Rio snorted with a chuckle. "How come you guys aren't mad at me?" Miles finally asked. "I... I messed up! I messed up big time! I'm pregnant and 19! I still haven't finish college." He felt his eye watered, "All for a stupid Alpha!" He cover his face in shame, "You guys work so hard for me and I screwed it all up."

His parents were upset with themselves seeing how much they made their son believe this was big screw up. It's one way to view it, but they always pride themselves in family and honesty. Jeff finally said, "Miles, me and your mother always wants best for you, and yeah, we're upset that you got pregnant at such a young..." He wants to find the right words, "but things happen. You thought you were with the right Alpha and things went bad last minute, we don't blame you. Anyone who's in love would put all their trust in someone they are sure they want to be with. But mistake happen, this doesn't have to be viewed as a big screw up, this is just another obstacle you have to hurdle your way out."

Miles listens to his dad's words, "Right now, you have the opportunity to figure out a game plan. You can still go to school and finish your degree, you still have scholarships to help you. There's self work option if you want to start working and make money for the pup. You think your alone, son, but in reality, your not. You got me, your mother, your grandma, your friends! You have a community that's willing to help you. You and I, both know we, your parents would never kick you out for being pregnant. You know, your mom would divorce me if I ever considered it."

"That is true, papí." Rio giggles.

"And your my son, I know how much you were in love with that punk. Look, we have time to cry about this, but now it's time to be the man, suck it up and figure out what to do next. You need to focus on your pregnancy and them books, too! You have tests to finish up." Being a bit firm on his son, because this reality.

"Mijo, it's fine to feel upset with all this and you know, your papí means well. But he is right, life is only gonna get harder if you don't buckle down. We are here for you. I'm willing to help raise mi nieto." Rio said, "You made the decision to keep your pup, so it's not about what we feel, but what YOU want to do next? You are going to be a parent and it's a lot more responsibility. Being a parent never stops that's the reality. So, tell us, Miles. What do you want to do for the future? Forget about Hobie, forget about the love you to share. In this moment, it's only going to be about you and your pup!"

Miles listened to them feeling his nerves at ease, this is his responsibility. With a small nod, "I want to pass my classes, graduate and raise my pup."

"Alright. So what we need to do is focus on studying and gaining weight. The doctor saw you lost fifteen pounds and is worried about your health, we need you to gain a good amount for the pregnancies."

"Okay. I can do this." There was no time for him to cry about Hobie, that man is to be forgotten and buries. He needs to focus on his pup.

12 weeks had passed, Miles first ultrasound came by. The nurse noticed how large Miles' belly grew all for eighteen weeks it didn't look like a baby bump. Funny part, his parents thought his son looks like he's five months pregnant by the large belly.

The 19 year old lay on the chair feeling the cold gel on his pregnant belly. "Whoo," He breathes heavily feeling exhausted. These past few weeks had been so much, with school, work, and making sure his pregnancy is going well was tiring. Yet seeing his large belly made him forget all those woes.

"Alright, let see here." The Dr. Oct came by to check on the ultrasound, and heart multiple heartbeats. Rio's face fell at the sound. Miles look confused.

"What is it? What's wrong with my pup?" Miles' asked in a worry tone.

"Pups..." Rio corrected him.

Dr. Oct nodded, "Pups indeed..."

"WHAT?" Miles asked. "Twins?"

"You see this little one right here, and there's his sibling and another one right here." Dr. Oct shows through the Ultrasound as he moves the device around Miles' belly. "Three beautiful heartbeats. Congratulation, Miles. Your gonna be a father of three."

"TRIPLETS!" Miles shouted in a mixture of shock almost in disbelief.

Rio stood with her hand over her mouth being so in shock, "Doctor, triplets? You know how rare that is?"

"Yes, very rare especially when your family never had triplets. What would be rare if they all turn out to be Alphas." Dr. Oct chuckles at that. Like that can ever happen. "You should be happy Miss Morales. An Omega birthing triplets is often view as a blessing or good luck in some cultures."

Rio saw her son panicking, "Triplets! How can I raise three pups! I can't- I- Oh my god, I'mma be sick! I think I'ma throw up!" He felt sick.

"Mijo, calm down! The pups!" She said in a worry tone.

Back at home, Rio and Jeff had a long conversation about all of this. Jeff was so in shock, he needed to sit down and drink a can of beer to take the edge off. They needed to find ways to help their son, seeing how triplets need a helping hand. Rio can't ask for many day offs. Miles just cried in his room being so sad, his little sister came by looking worried.

"Miles! You okay!" Her three year old self went over to snuggle with him. "It's got be okay! There. There." She patted his head.

"Ah, thank you, boo-boo!" Miles hugs her feeling happy to see her. "Did mamí told you, you're gonna be a titi of three?"

"Ohhh, tree?" She pat her brother's belly being amused at the pup. "No pup?"

"Three pups."

"OHHH! Tree pups?" Her eyes gleams, "'m a titi! Titi Billie." She happily rubs her brother's round belly being so happy. Miles should be happy instead, but so many worries piling up. What can he do? How will he do it? How do single Omegas handle twins or triplets?

Well, his bright side did came true. His Abuela arrived from Puerto Rico, the happily older woman said, "MI nieto! Look at you, so big and beautiful! Don't worry tu abuela is here to help!"

"Abuela! How? Why? I though-" His grandmother Gloria wave her hand, "Your mom ask me to live here to help you! You know, your cousins will take care of my house over there! Anyway, let me see your face, your glowing!"

"Abuela... thank you! I really need the help." Miles' eyes watered.

"Shh, it's okay. Everything will be fine. Triplets is a gift, you will be so happy to be with your babies." She began, "Heck, I had your mom young, too! It's hard but not the worst thing in the world."

Miles slowly got over his worries. The day he hung out with his friend, Pavtri's eyes lit up at the sight. "Oh my gawd, you look so good pregnant! I always want pups!" He's the first one to touch Miles' round belly, showing so much love using his Omega scent.

Gwen, Peni, Margo, Kaine, and so many of their friend group went over to touch Miles' belly. "No way! Triplets? Dude, look at you!" Margo said.

"I can't wait to babysit them!" Gwen said out loud with joy.

"Wow, congrats!" Kaine sips his cola. "Have you thought of names?"

"Well, I only thought one boy name, Aaron from my deceased uncle. Then, maybe a girl... Mariana?" Miles admits the names he wants for his pups, "I still need to think of the other name."

"Name it after me, please Miles!" Pavtri pouted.

"Hahaha, Pav chill. Your baby fever is gonna get you." Margo laughs.

"I'm already in baby fever. I want pups now!" Pavtri whines. "I can't wait to bear them!"

9 months later!

Miles is twenty at this point. Babies born in October 31. Scorpio Vides!

Miles gave birth to three beautiful pups, all unique in their own way. Two boys and one girl, they all had different brown shades, and their hair curly. The triplets cries for their daddy needing his presence. "Shh, I'm here." He took two in his arms to breast feed and the third one on his lap seeing how this can be a handful. His heart flutters with joy, a small purring sound appeared out of his mouth.

His triplets happily quiet being with their parent, once he finish with one pup his mother helped him with the other one on his lap. He breast fed him. They all felt safe in his arms. "What are their names, Miles?" Rio asked.

"This one is Mariana." Miles whispers staring at his daughter, "And this one is Aaron." The boy in his other arm, then he looks down at the middle one on his lap, "And this handsome boy is Karl."

At least this will be the last thing, he'll give his Alpha. A name of his best friend, so when his pups ever ask about their dad he'll be honest with them. Hopefully, he doesn't have to talk about him soon.

Bilie's eyes gleam being held by her dad, "Mariana? Like me!"

"Yes, Billie." Miles smiles at her.

"Hehehe, hi babies. I'm your titi!" Billie whispers at the three babies being so happy to be an aunty. Gloria smiles at her grandson seeing Rio teary eye.

"Awe, look at them. So beautiful." She said. Yes, things will be good for them.

~3 years later~

Miles happily saw his babies playing around, "Mari, you need to finish your snack."

"No! No wanna!" Mariana rather play with her dolls.

The twenty three year old sighs at his daughter refusing to finish her sliced carrots. Karl came by taking her carrots to munch on, "Oh no, bebé! That's for your sister."

"I hun-gray, daddy!" Karl pouts at his daddy.

"OKay, you can finish it up. Mariana, I don't wanna hear you want pudding if you don't eat your carrots." Miles hums at his daughter.

"Nonono! Yucky! Pudding! PUDDING!" She rushes over with her big purple eyes on him!

"No, Mariana." He saw her sulking.

Karl munches on her carrots being so hungry, "More, daddy!"

"Honey, why don't we wait. I don't you to get stuffed." Miles always wonder how his son is always hungry, he's sure he's following the portions for three year olds. Big green eyes pouted at the response, "I know. If your still hungry, I'll give you more, okay?"

"OKay." Karl chews on his carrots.

Aaron's big honey-brown eyes on his daddy, " Daddy! I want juice!" He holds out his sippy cup, "More, please!"

"I want pudding!" Mariana whines as she hugs her daddy's legs.

Miles sighs, "No, Mari! I told you to eat your carrots." He got his son's sippy cup to fill a bit of apple juice with water to water it down, he never likes giving them too much sugar. "Here you go, mi bebé."

"Daddy, i'm still hungry!" Karl came by to hug his daddy legs.

Rio came by with Billie coming from work and picking her daughter from school. Billie being six years old saw her niece and nephews being loud and whine. "Titi is here!" Aaron said, "Y Abuela!"

"Abuela!" The triplets went over to see their aunty and grandmother being super happy.

"Y yo?" Their great grandmother came in with a bag of groceries coming from shopping.

"Abuela!" The triplets shouted for hugs and kisses.

Miles came to help his grandmother with groceries, "Oh thank god, they have the pull up pampers." Potty training his three year olds have been one crazy mission. Of course, he tries to lessen the pampers to night time, until they learn on their own. "Gracias, Abuela."

"No problem, mijo!" His abuela picks up Aaron to give hug and kisses.

Rio put Billie down so she can play with her niece. The middle age woman pick up Karl to give kisses. "Hola, Karl. Have you been behaving?"

"I'm hungry!" Karl pouts with his big green eyes on his grandma.

"Aye no! Miles, did you fed mi nieto?" Rio asked her son.

"I did, look!" He show her the tray of apple slices, carrots, and PB&J.

Rio pouts, "Aye, Miles. You and that ridiculous book. He needs real food! No wonder he's hungry. Look, I'll cook dinner today." She never believe in those mom's cookbooks, they were too American and simple. Her grand babies need really Puerto Rican food.

"No, mamí. i'm cooking today. I'ma make pork chops!" That got his babies attention, something about meat gets them happy.

Gloria laughs, "Might as well make Arroz con gandules."

"Ohh! I wanna eat dat, daddy!" Mariana said out loud.

Miles saw how his dinner plans drastically changes from something simple to a more Puerto Rican meals. His mother ended up helping him while his grandmother watches for the triplets, Billie plays with them but had to do a bit of homework and eat a snack.

Mariana watches Billie write her letters for her first grade class, "Wow, how yuh do dat?" The little girl became interested in writing.

"Easy. Like dis." She shows her how to write the letter A.

Mariana got a crayon and paper to write an A but it was choppy and hard to do so. "Umm!" She frowns.

"Keep going, Mari! I use to write like that. Practice." Billie happily said.

"Okay, titi!" Mariana nodded being confident to do another one.

The adults smile at the Mariana admiring her titi so much, it's cute to see. Even Karl and Aaron join on learning how to draw an A. Miles love seeing his babies being together, it gets his Omega so giddy and happy.

When Jeff came home from work, he was greeted by triplets attacking him into hugs. "Hahaha, awe. I miss ya'll too!"

"Grandpa!" They snuggle against him with his familiar Alpha scent.

"How's my favorite grandkids?" He chuckles at his own joke, he picks the all up with his arms seeing how happy they are to be carried by him.

Dinner placed on the table, Miles wipe his hands on his apron. "Okay. Dinner is ready, mi bebés!" His triplets rushes over to their high chairs as his daddy put them in. They got their spork being ready.

Jeff serve some glasses of juice, and Rio being able to serve plates. "Miles, you want steamed vegetables?"

"Yes, mamí."

Then the door bell rang, "Who could that be?" Gloria put on the bibs on her grandson Karl.

"Hmm," Jeff rub his chin being unsure who was at the door.

"I'll get it. It must be a delivery." He did waited for some books for class he went over to the door, his hand turn the knob opening it.

His honey brown eyes widen in shock as he stood silent. Why? Why now? His voice speechless, he could only hear his parents' voice in concern.

"Miles, who's at the door?" Jeff asked.

"Miles?" Rio asked.

Miles' mouth moved without thinking, "Hobie..."

There stood his ex boyfriend in all punker black clothing, probably expensive clothing. His dark inky eyes soften as he looks at him, "Hey, Sunflower. Been a long time, hmm?" He holds out a big bouquet of flowers with Sunflowers in the mix.

[moriche]

Hello!! For the firsts ask: 2, 4, C, R, 🐣 and 🖌️!

Aaah thank you for your question! I shall delve right in! 2 - First time meeting their best friend

Logically, Veryn probably had a best friend in the orphanage he grew up in - but I'm going to pick one where he's older. He went to the Arcane University at 17, on a scholarship. This meant money was scarce for him, and he often picked up small odd jobs to supplement his income. One of those jobs was at the University library, stocking books and copying lists. That's how he met Henantier, an older student who, like Veryn, loved to delve deep into the possibilities of magic. They became best friends, and in the end, briefly lovers. 4 - First time experiencing grief While celebrating the Old Life Festival as a child. Veryn never knew his parents, being left outside the orphanage of Saint Alessia at a few months old. During the Old Life Festival, it's a tradition to write letters and notes to the dead and to reflect on the past, and this tradition was something he grew up with. It's also something that left a deep impression on him - he wrote messages for his parents he presumed might be dead, but might just as easily be alive. C. First physical contact (handshake? hug? something else?)

I'm shipping Veryn together with Sharn Gra-Muzgob, your Friendly Neighbourhood Necromancer from Morrowind. His first physical contact with her is probably a handshake when they first meet each other - though I haven't actually written that bit in my fic :p R. First time cooking for the other

Ohhh, the first time he cooks for Sharn! I admittedly don't have a specific moment in mind - I'm thinking he cooks for her the first time when he's waiting for her to come home and her work at the Mages Guild runs overtime. What I do have is a little scene of him actually cooking for her in a situation just like this!

Veryn left before dinner, his freshly restocked potions carefully wrapped inside his bag, roaming around the market until he decided on a large kwama egg and some greens. He headed for Sharn’s apartment, letting himself in with a key of his own. The door creaked open, and he chuckled to himself. No more breaking in. He left the food simmering on a low fire, stirring it every so often while he waited for her to return. She was home late, arriving with her jaw clenched and fire in her eyes. “What’s wrong?” he asked while embracing her, breathing in the subtle scent of her magic, standing on his toes to nuzzle her forehead.

🐣 - First piece you ever wrote (share a snippet or description)

I still got that! So the very first stories I wrote in Dutch are from 2003 - but I also have my first snippets of fic I wrote in English from 2007 - and how fitting that they are for Oblivion! I'm proud to say my grasp of English has made leaps and bounds since then (it's a foreign language for me).

She screamed when she saw the scamps coming again. And again. Would this never end? One moment she was at the fields of Kvatch, another moment she just stepped into the Gate. And now she was in that tower. Again. The soldier ran to the scamps to fight them, but she just stood there. She must have panicked, she realised later. When a scamp came running at her she shot a fireball at him. Two fireballs and a few slashes with her sword did the trick. She had readied herself to cast another spell at the second scamp. She released the fireball, but suddenly the air had felt thicker. The scamp didn’t flew through the air as the other did. The soldier had taken its place. She remembered everything becoming black, but in dreams, reality is different. Someone shook her shoulder and when she looked behind her she saw the dremora. Its terrible, distorted, humanlike face stared at her. Again. She started to scream. “Calm down!” A spell was cast at her. The dremora changed into a hooded man, bended over her. “One of the few who have a nightmare, it seems.” She withdrew from the man. “Who are you?” The man smiled benign. “I am a Speaker of the Dark Brotherhood. The Night Mother called you to become one of us.”

🖌️ - First character you created, or first character you wrote for I've been creating characters as long as I can remember. As a child, I had some kind of fantasy world with elves who lived in treehouses, and I used to draw them a lot. Princes and princesses and knights and adventurers, modelled for example on Ronja the Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren and later on books like Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. The first fanfic I wrote was in Dutch, in 2003 for Harry Potter - and it was Marauders Fic. I was hip almost two decades in advance 😂 There were a few Oblivion characters too, some concepts for Fable, but I've forgotten a lot of that, and they weren't very rounded or deep. First serious, in-depth character I created was Aleksej, a vampire who got into trouble with the Russian mafia who fled to Amsterdam. There he got into trouble with a Dutch criminal mastermind, and ended up working for her after saving her from a drive-by shootout. I was 15 or 16 at the time, and my best friend and me were playing a roleplay campaign based on Vampire the Masquerade, with a dash of GTA Vice City and San Andreas on top.