#I know we usually focus on. y'know

[justawrites]

Y'know what. I have about 10 more days before school starts again, so...

I wanna see people's Cult of the Lamb OCs. Not necessarily your Lambs and Narinders and Bishops and Goats and Yellow Cats (though I'd love to see them too <3) but like, completely-original OCs. Whether it's game sprites or drawings or just a little ramble about them, I wanna see and hear about them, and I'd love to be able to doodle and/or draw them. A little challenge for myself, but also a chance to let everyone spotlight their OCs a bit.

So, if you have OCs, here's your free space to talk about them- I'd love to hear all about them.

[woodle-isbae]

dom tutor armin x reader PLEASE

Feeding yall b4 I dissappear again

Its really hard to understand math , why exactly are there so many formulas and even more numbers . You couldn't even focus during tutoring , not because he was boring but because of the way he spoke , the little crack his voice has when he calls for your attention. And the way he looks. Your Tutor was some Nerd you begged to help you in the library , and how could he say no to the way your doe eyes looked up at him and the little pout? he'd be the dumbest man alive to reject that offer.

''C'mon y/n. You need to focus , we have a test coming up.''

He sighed , setting down his pen and rubbing the bridge of his nose , he was tired having stayed later than usual. He wanted to help you as best as he could and decided if he stayed a bit longer he could help you study even more.

''It just doesn't make sense Minie.''

The nickname you gave him lingered on your tongue , eyebrows knit together while you pouted , getting frustrated from not being able to understand. He gave you an almost sorry look , knowing that you were almost ready to cry from the confusion.

''okay...look , why don't you get us something to drink , a water or a coffee..?''

You nodded and left your room , wanting to do anything that wasn't Math , you contemplated what to get and what he would prefer. opting out for a coffee , even if it would take some time to make you still did it, needing the boost of energy.

after what felt like forever you got the two warm drinks in hand and waltzed back into your room , The blond sitting on your bed while he scrolled on his phone , lifting his head up and thanking you for the drink. You guys took a small break , discussing about things besides why you guys are here , swinging side so side in your chair until Armin said it was time to begin again.

''I...wanna try to teach you differently''

he patted the space next to him on the bed , grabbing the textbook while you sat down. He told you to read outloud the formulas and definitions , doing as told until your words got caught in your throat , his lips grazing over your next and hand pressed on your thigh .

''Continue.''

You stuttered at some words , his lips leaving soft kisses of your shoulder and neck , his hand trailing more and more up your thigh until his thumb grazed your clothed cunt.

''Armin , wait-''

''shh..Your doing good.''

You couldn't even tell what you were saying anymore , the task that had you occupied long gone from your mind , only focusing on the way his fingers dipped into your panties and played with your clit.

''Open your legs more for me.''

And that you did , the book you held tossed somewhere onto your bed , hands gripping onto his blond locs. His other hand occupied , cupping your breast and pinching at your nipple.

He stopped what he was doing , tugging at your shirt for you to take it off along with your skirt , you swiftly removed the articles of clothing and sat infront of him with your legs slightly parted.

"Relax f'me..yeah.?"

You nodded , pupils blown out while you watched him move closer to you , placing a soft kiss on your nipple while his fingers continued their frantic movements

"Y'know Y/n...I couldn't resist saying no that day...the way you looked up at me , I could've bust one out right then and there."

He breathed out into your neck , sucking soft marks as he sped up his pace. His movements making a sudden halt , he shifted down lower and lower until face to face with your core.

"Thank you for serving me."

He said before diving in face first , mouth working on your clit while his fingers pumped into you. The overwhelming sensation catching you off guard.

Your legs locked around his head , hips jerking into and away from his face , a flash of white taking over your sight as your senses basically went numb.

"That's it...breath in 'n out for me."

He placed soft kisses on your clit and up your thighs , making his way up your torso until his head rested on your chest.

"Do you think that was enough studying for today?"

You smirked , hands planted on each side of his face.

"I mean..I do have a Biology test soon aswell.."

"Say less"

[angel5ofp0rn]

idk, just a thought 😋

141 x Drunk!Reader / Jealous!Ghost x Drunk!Reader

TW: implied drunk sex

(idk what’s up with me and making the reader drunk all the time ???)

also idk i just like the idea of Soap being a perv and Ghost being a fuckin weirdo 🫣

You didn’t expect the guys to actually give a shit about your birthday... Maybe it was just the excuse to drink.

Still, you couldn't deny that you loved seeing the squad out of uniform and all dressed up for the night.

You even put on a little skirt and low-cut top, curled your hair and wore makeup for the first time in months.

Price bought you your first drink just as a 'happy birthday, kiddo', but it didn't stop there.

Soap got you a few shots and Gaz let you sip from his drinks throughout the night.

You were feeling pretty buzzed by the time you convinced some of the guys to move to the dance floor.

Ghost watched quietly from his spot at the bar across the room. You expected as much.

The two of you have been keeping your distance; you were basically still strangers, apart from the random glances you give each other during training.

Ghost thought of at least saying happy birthday to you, but he wasn’t sure how to go about it.

He wasn’t exactly an affectionate man. Wasn’t great at showing his feelings.

Feelings? The fuck was he thinking?

You’re just nice to look at, that’s all.

It was strange seeing you with your hair curled and your skin showing, almost like a real woman. He had a nagging thought that if the guys weren’t around, he would've gone over to you.

You and Soap are on the dance floor, you tipsy and swaying while he holds your waist, keeping you steady as he mumbled something close to your ear.

"I don't think so." You muse, looking up at Soap. He had asked if Price was watching the two of you, knowing Price has a tendency to act like a father towards you especially. "Why?"

Soap took a moment before he spoke again, the alcohol clearly getting to him. His words were becoming more and more slurred throughout the night, although he still had that Scottish accent mixed it that kept him sounding charming... though almost unintelligible.

"Y'know yer beautiful, aye? An' th' lads, they've been eyein' ya for the whole night. 'Course ol' Price, he's been' tryin' to keep us from gettin' yer attention… But even Ghost! Ghost thinks yer fuckin’ gorgeous.”

"Ghost thinks that?" You tried to focus your eyes on Soap’s, fighting the alcohol.

Soap leaned in even close now, his breath smelling like strong liquor. He even placed his hand on the small of your back, right above your skirt as he spoke again.

"Oh, aye. But we all do… I do."

You giggled at that. Soap's arm wrapped tightly around your waist now, pulling you chest to chest and murmuring more drunken ramblings into your ear.

You quickly forgot what Soap mentioned about Ghost.

But Ghost was still watching.

He watched the way Soap leaned in to whisper in your ear, the cocky smirk on his face, how dangerously close his hand was to your ass.

He watched you drape your arms around Soap’s neck, eyelids heavy. He watched how your eyes wouldn’t focus on Soap’s eyes; they kept darting down to his lips.

Ghost didn’t watch to watch anymore.

“The steamin’ hell’r you doin’, LT!” Soap calls after Ghost as the masked man grabs your arm and drags you off.

“Let me go!” You groan, trying to pull away from his grip. When that didn’t work, you tried to stomp his toes.

No use, he had those fucking steel toes on as usual. After more ignored pleas, you resorted into trying to drop to the floor like a sack of potatoes; like an unruly toddler.

Ghost didn’t miss a beat. He easily scooped you up and slung you over his shoulder as he head towards the bar’s exit.

The second he set you back to your feet outside on the pavement you tried to shove him.

Stupid idea, really. Fucker didn’t budge.

“What is your problem?” You glare at him.

“My problem?” Ghost’s voice was low. “You were about to let MacTavish feel you up in front of everyone in there.”

“Who cares if Soap and I have a bit of fun? What, are you jealous or something?” You groan.

“Of course I am!”

You froze. Your eyes locked in with his.

“You’re… jealous?” You ask again, softer this time.

You can see the subtle movement of Ghost’s jaw clenching beneath his balaclava.

“You’re drunk.” Ghost states. “You should get back to base and sleep it off.”

He’s right, of course. But you don’t listen.

You don’t fully realize you’re doing it, but you reach your hand up and touch his face.

Well, his mask.

Ghost’s breath hitches, and he thinks of swatting your hand away but he doesn’t. He lets your cup his face. Caress his jaw. Rub your thumb over the fabric covering his lips.

He even lets you pull him in closer, lets you get just an inch away from touching noses before he speaks again.

“I cant kiss you.”

You finally come back to earth, your drunken mind suddenly sobering.

“Oh.”

The two of you stare at each other for a moment, both silent. Both unsure of what happens now.

“Guess I’ll just go-”

“I want to.” Ghost speaks again. “I would like to.”

“Okay…”

“But I can’t.” His huge arms cross as he looks down at up. For something so genuine, he’s saying it as if it’s a threat.

“Right…” You nod slowly, your drunken brain trying its best to gauge what’s happening. “So..?”

“I can’t have you flirting with MacTavish.” He practically growls. “He doesn’t want more than a quick fuck.”

You frown at this, eyebrows lowering into a scowl.

“So you won’t kiss me, but I can’t flirt with anyone else?”

“Yes.” Ghost acts as if this was common sense.

“‘s’not fair.” You roll your eyes. “You can’t do that t’me.”

“Well, I am.”

“Are not.” You challenge. You push past him and re-enter the bar, leaving him outside and alone.

“Bonnie!” Soap calls you over as soon as he sees you.

He’s sat at a table with a bunch of other men that you don’t recognize. He pats his thigh, inviting you to have a sit on his lap.

Ghost’s warning still fresh in your head makes you hesitate.

But who is he to tell you who you can and can’t flirt with? He doesn’t even talk to you.

You try not to stumble as you make your way towards Soap, accepting the invite to sit on his lap. His arm instantly wraps around your waist, holding you in place.

“Didn’t know you had a barracks bunny.” One of the men snickers as he looks you over.

You frown, looking to Soap, waiting for him to correct them. To explain that you’re actually on the squad- no, the best sniper on the squad. An asset to the team, really.

Instead, Soap laughs along with the rest of them, giving your thigh a squeeze. “Nah, nah. ’m keepin’ this bunny all to m’self.”

You had to have heard him wrong, right? Maybe it was the alcohol affecting your hearing.

Before you could defend yourself, you felt Soap’s hand sliding up your thigh, slipping under your skirt.

Your face is burning. The guys all laugh. You feel sick.

Flirting and kissing is one thing… Soap treating you like a sex toy is another.

“Soap, stop.” You mumble, pushing his hand away.

Soap gives you a wink. He thinks you’re playing some sort of game here. His hand starts to creep up your bare thigh again. His lips press against your neck.

“I said stop!” You stand up and shove him by his chest, admittedly harder than you intended to.

Soap landed on his back on the dirty bar floor, his face a mix of pissed off and confused.

Price was by your side immediately, pulling you away from the table as Gaz helped Soap to his feet.

“I’m sorry, Price, I just-“

“I’ve got you a cab outside. Get your ass back to base and sleep it off.” Price barked.

Sober you could handle commands and threats like they were nothing.

Drunk you started tearing up immediately.

Price mumbled something that sounded like ‘for fuck’s sake, kid’ as you turned and walked outside.

Ghost was still outside, balaclava lifted so he could smoke a cigarette.

You didn’t notice him as you slid into the back seat of the cab, but he saw you.

Then he saw Soap and Price exiting the bar one your cab took off.

He watched calmly, smoking as normal while Price stood with his foot on the side of Soap’s head/face, Soap’s cheek pressed against the pavement.

He couldn’t hear what they were fighting about and frankly he didn’t care. He wondered if any of it had been the cause of your teary eyes.

•••

You lift your face off of your pillow and squint at the caller ID as your phone rang.

You’d only been back in your room for about an hour at this point and you’ve been trying to battle the spins.

You swipe to answer the call, smushing your face back into the pillow and closing your eyes again.

“H’llo?”

“Make it back to base okay, kiddo?” Price’s stern, gruff voice came through the speaker

“Mhm.” You mumble your response.

“Good. Sorry about MacTavish; drunken Scot can’t handle his alcohol…” Price sighs. “He’ll be dealt with in the morning.”

“s’okay.” You nod even though he can’t see it.

“You sure you’re alright then?”

“Mhm…”

Price exhaled a deep breath. “Get some shut eye. I'll be seeing you at 0530 sharp for PT."

"Yes sir. Love you."

You didn't fully realize that you told Price that you love him as if you were speaking to your dad.

Price was quiet for a second before his tone subtly shifted to sounding more gentle. "Love you too, kid. I'll see you at five-thirty."

You end the call and force yourself to sit up despite your still tipsy state. You knew you wouldn’t be able to sleep with everything on your mind.

Well… with Ghost on your mind.

You call him next, not really expecting him to answer at all. He kind of doesn’t; there’s no voice on the other end, but you could tell he was there.

“Ghost?���

“Yeah.”

“So- Why… why didn’t you kiss me?” You stand up off of the bed and pace your room. More like stumble around your room.

“Can’t.”

“But why?” You groan. “Is it because of Price?”

“We work together.”

“So?” You find a hoodie and pull it on over your going out clothes. “That didn’t stop Soap.”

Silence.

“And I… I really wanted you to, y’know? And… I think I said ‘love you’ to Price. Y’think he’ll be mad at me?” You start kicking your heels off.

“…you told Price that you love him?”

You kind of giggle at that, hearing it back. “No, I didn’t tell him I love him. I just said ‘love you’ to him.”

You think you hear Ghost snort at that. “Are we done here?”

“Well, no…”

“What do you want?”

“I want you to open your door.”

Ghost doesn’t speak. You look around the hall to make sure none of the guys would see you.

“Please?”

The call ends. Ghost slowly opens his door and peers at you from the small open space.

You look up at him, messy hair and mascara smudged under your eyes. Your hoodie covered most of your outfit and you were barefoot.

“You look ridiculous.”

“Can I come in?” You ignore his comment.

Ghost hesitates but he does step aside and let you into his room.

It was so dark in his room that you almost didn’t notice that he was maskless. Too bad you couldn’t see him better.

You didn’t really know what you planned on doing now that you were in his room… You honestly didn’t think he’d let you get this far.

Ghost’s hand touched your face. His thumb wiped under your eyes, attempting to fix your makeup.

The gesture was considerate though you knew he was just making the smudge bigger.

“I can’t kiss you.” Ghost repeated his words from earlier, but this time it was softer. More gentle.

You shook your head.

“We don’t have to kiss.”

[narislvr]

── simp!abby anderson drabble ₊˚ෆ

,, cws? none. pure fluff ౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹ ── 1.04k words.

,, abby x fem!reader ♡ / college au

ᝰ.ᐟ loosely inspired by this series' depiction of abby. | pt. II

she's so hollie col & taylor swift coded, fight me

₊˚ෆ simp!abby who was absolutely lovestruck for the pretty girl she'd bumped into on the way to their campus' library.

She had barely exchanged more than a few mumbled words with you, but she already knew she wanted to see you again.

₊˚ෆ simp!abby who did in fact see you a few days later behind the counter of a less populated coffee shop in the westend part of campus. you looked so pretty she thought, and if it weren't for her usual reserved expression she was sure you'd see the hearts forming in her eyes.

"hello? you alright there?" you'd ask, brow raised as you tried to get the woman's attention from behind the counter.

₊˚ෆ simp!abby who snaps out of her enamored daze only to meet the confused look on your face with a sheepish smile.

she should say something smooth. anything.

"you sell coffee here, right...?"

₊˚ෆ simp!abby who is awkward as hell and can't flirt to save her life as she's lived her life avoiding any chance of romance despite being a secret romantic.

your eye twitches at the question, but you smile at her anyways because.. well, just because.

"yeah, we do. what can j get for you?"

your number

₊˚ෆ simp!abby who makes it a routine to come in the three days of the week when she knew you'd be there. by the third week of her showing up, you couldn't help the small smile that settled on your lips as you handed the blond her usual coffee, your hand lingering a second longer as the feeling of her calloused fingers brushing yours sent a fuzzy feeling through your body.

she'd thank you with a small smile of her own before sitting in the table closest to the exit with a good view of you in the prep area and taking slow sips of her drink as she'd take subtle glances of you, admiring the way you hum ever so quietly to yourself as you worked.

after a good hour of subtle glances and pretending to focus on whatever text book she brought in that day, she'd leave, but not before leaving a tip folded neatly in the napkin as you went to wipe down her table.

'have a great day and thank you for the coffee. it was delicious as usual :)'

you can't help but shake your head, cheeks flushing ever so slightly.

it was a simple black coffee, nothing special.

and yet she was always so greatful.

huh.

₊˚ෆ simp!abby who after a month, slowly begins to talk to you, less awkward than her initial approach once you started initiating conversation and light banter.

God, if you looked pretty from afar, having you close to her, talking to her, made every last bit of her resolve melt. especially when you looked at her, chin resting on your palm, with those bright curious eyes of yours.

"you actually owned horses? That's so cool! I've always wanted to learn how to ride, but I've never had the chance to."

she'd chuckle, feeling her heart flutter as she flashes you a charming smile.

"I could always teach you, y'know?"

God knows she hoped you weren't kidding when you giggled and accepted her offer.

₊˚ෆ simp!abby who, now comfortable enough to, would tease you whenever she'd catch you stealing glances at her arms whenever she came in from her morning run.

"I can feel you staring, hon," she'd quip, catching you off guard and stiffling a laugh as you quickly denied it.

she made sure to wear more tank tops and compression shirts, stretching out her arms every now and then, knowing well she'd have your full attention then.

"you're always welcome to touch, you know."

"I am not doing that, abbs." you'd respond, heart racing as you rejected, what was to you, the offer of a life time.

"suit yourself," she'd snicker, earning a playful shove.

₊˚ෆ simp!abby who after four months of playful visits to your job, finally asks you out, hands sweating as she leans against the counter of the almost empty coffee shop.

to her surprise, you agree, and she can't help the wide grin that spreads on her face as you accept.

"we could go out for coffee or something. I know of a good coffee shop around here we could try out. The barista is pretty cute too."

"I'm not going on a date to my work place, Abby." you'd say, eyes narrowed as she only laughs at your response.

"was just a thought. how about dinner next week? there's a place about thirty minutes from here I'm sure you'd like."

"sounds like a plan."

₊˚ෆ simp!abby who picked you up the following week, a charming smile on her face as she held open the passenger seat door to her pick up truck, complimenting you with awe in her voice before driving off.

soft music could be heard playing in the background as the two of you spoke of anything and everything.

you were so caught up in the conversation, you didn't notice where you two had parked until the rumble of the trucks engine finally shut off.

it was then that you noticed the scenery before you, a nice grassy area overlooking the mountain campus of the school you two went too.

"found this place while on a run a month back, it's pretty, huh?"

you could only hum in response, still in awe as you got down and followed abby to the bed of her truck where the two of you would eat takeout from a place she knew you liked.

amidst the pretty scenery, she could only find herself looking at one thing.

that being you.

It was cliché, but from what she had learned about you during the time she had spent getting to know you through small talk and banter, she knew it was something you liked and that's what mattered.

and what wouldn't she give to continue seeing the look of pure adoration on your face as your hand found hers, pinkie locking with hers as you two look at eachother in silence as the nature's ambience and soft music from her radio play in the background.

[thebearer]

Thoughts on Reader being in her second trimester of pregnancy riding Lip

oh fuckkkk yes. bc we all know he's def got a big thing for pregnancy sex lol. minors dni 18+

"This feel ok?" Lip grunts, chin tucked to his chest, hands on your ass helping guide you up and down.

"Obviously." You snap, eyes rolling in irritation. Lip was slowly starting to learn that with your pregnancy came a rage of hormones. Some bad, some... good. This was good.

Even with your irritation, the insatiable horniness that also accompanied it (and was usually the cause of it) was a plus to Lip. You were desperately horny, waves of just wanton need washing over you all hours of the day. From the moment you woke up to the moment he would finally fuck you to sleep, it felt like you were always on Lip. Not that he minded.

"Y'know I can-I can be on top." Lip grunted, the feeling of your slick lips grinding against the hair of his pelvis, wetting it when you sat fully on his cock.

"I don't want you to be on top." You huffed, hips grinding against him. "If I wanted you on top, you'd be on top."

Lip grinned, a lopsided smirk watching you rise and fall again, one hand flat on his chest steadying yourself- maybe holding him down- while you rode him.

"You look pretty like this. You know that?" Lip rasped, blue eyes shining and watching you carefully. The swell of your stomach, the way your boobs bounced with every rise and fall of your hips. The way your head would tilt back, baring your neck to him. He wanted to flip you over, pound you out and bite at your neck until you were covered in mouth shaped bruises. He would have, if it wasn't for baby Gallagher.

"Thanks." You grunted, an edge to your tone that told him you were annoyed. "Can you just... Can you just be quiet please? I need to focus."

Lip snorted lightly, squeezing the fat of your ass, making you clench around him. "Focus?" He teased, your narrowed glare making him relent. "Fine. Do what you gotta do, baby."

"Thank you." You mutter, hips rocking until you found the spot you'd been looking for. Bent backwards, hands on Lip's thighs, digging into the skin there while you half heartedly rode him. A little uncomfortable with the angle, but he helped you, hips rising to meet yours until you were gushing all over him, falling back onto the mattress.

Lip smirked, crawling over your body, erection still rubbing against your hip. "You gonna be mad if I finish? Too sensitive."

"Yeah." You muttered, light and airy, eyes glazed with your orgasm. "You can put it in my ass though." You said it so sweetly, Lip thought he might have hallucinated the words. "Not too sensitive there."

Lip grinned, wide and toothy, snorting at you lightly. You were somethin' fuckin' else. He'd told you that a million times. It was why he got with you, married you, was having a baby with you. He loved you. Loved that you were exciting, fun, different; most importantly, he loved that you were his.

[inazumatrash]

Some concept art for a discarted comic idea.

But I ended up adapting the script to a fanfic! (It's a little rough and I'm new to writing, so any feedback is welcome) Omori spoilers ahead.

The events of this story happens sometime after Mari's funeral.

///

It's sunset time with blue and soft pink tints all over the urban scenery. Basil is finishing tying up the velcro of his sandals to go out. Grabbing the door knob, he turns his head back to leave one final message before leaving.

"I'll be back soon, grandma!"

There's a chilling breeze outside and the streets are eerily empty. But Basil prefer this way. His head is full of thoughts, he needs the space. Approaching his destination, he stops looking at the sidewalk and lifts his head. He finally spot a living soul a bit ahead of him.

It's Kel. He's in front of Sunny's house. Kel seems to hesitate for a while, but gathers courage and knocks on the door. He vigorously give three consecutive knocks.

"That's a bit too much." Basil observes. Good old Kel.

It doesn't take too long for the door to open, and Sunny's mom appears. She has a dull look in her eyes. She's tired.

"Oh, it's you, Kelsey…" She looks over his shoulder. "and Basil."

Kel also looks back. Basil is suddenly there, a few steps of distance.

"What can I do for you two?"

"Uh." Kel is a little surprised with Basil's presence, but figured out he came for the same reason as him. "Can I- Can we talk to Sunny?"

"Hm…" She looks away before answering. "He's a little more unresponsive than usual..."

Basil feels a pinch of pain in his stomach.

"I wasn't able to talk to him since… the funeral." Kel fidgets a little. "I want to let him know he can count on us!"

Sunny's mom mouth corner's change to a soft, yet warm smile.

"Well, I'm sure he would appreciate to hear from you two, at least."

She steps back, opening the door welcoming the boys in. Kel perks up and calls Basil with a hand gesture. They enter the house.

"He's at their- at his room."

At the living room, the boys can see the glass door that leads to the backyard, highlighted with a menacing reddish orange light of the last sunrays. Kel immediatelly changes his attention to Sunny's mom back, while Basil has a hard time moving away his focus from it. They arrive at the staircase. Kel doesn't think twice and steps halfway through it. Basil freezes.

"Basil?" Kel calls out for him.

Basil tries to hide his anxiety and replies "C-coming!"

They are at front of Sunny's room, Sunny's mother a little further, to give the boys some space. Kel knocks the door, but this time, more gently.

"Sunny? It's Kel and Basil!" No reply.

Basil gives a quick look back at the staircase and Something starts crawling around him.

"Sunny." Kel starts again, leaning his hand on the door. "Sorry for not talking to you until now. But you know that we're here for you, right?" Kel sends a signal to Basil by raising his eyebrows and tilting his head towards the door, asking him to join.

Basil desperately tries to find the words. But the truth is, he wasn't expecting Sunny's mom, much less Kel's presence. It's not that he didn't have anything to say. He couldn't say anything he wanted to.

The creeping silence started to bother Kel, so he continued instead.

"Oh, I know! If you want, we can have a sleepover!" No reply. "Uh, it doesn't need to be anything fancy! We don't need to play games or eat snacks… We don't even need to talk. Just have each other's company, y'know?"

Kel smiled as he placed his other hand and ear to the door, waiting for the answer. He believed his idea was too good to be turned down. No reply.

"Sunny?" More silence.

Sunny's mom sighs, ready to call Kel and Basil back. Kel moves away from the door. He starts playing with his hoodie strings, looking a little less bright than before.

"Don't worry about it, it's okay." He did his best to hold a smile "I totally understand if you just need time alone."

"…like Hero." He completes under his breath, almost a whisper.

Another wave of silence. Is Sunny ignoring them? Is he even listening? Basil's mind go blank as he stares at the door.

"We'll come back tomorrow!" Kel bursts. The "we" took Basil by surprise.

"R-right! We'll be back tomorrow, Sunny." Basil faintly addes to the farewell.

Kel gives one last knock on the door, and starts walking away. Basil follows him.

"Oh, kids…"

"Can we really come back tomorrow?" Basil asks.

"Oh, yes, you may come… I'll let you know if he's available or not." It wasn't very reassuring.

After one last goodbye, the two boys leave the house. A few steps later, they stop in front of Kel's house. Before Basil could say anything, Kel apologizes.

"I'm sorry you couldn't say much. I hogged all the time for myself."

"N-not really. I wasn't sure what to say, anyway…"

"Isn't it strange, though? Sunny… He doesn't like to be alone, why would he…?" Kel stops and shakes his head. "We just have to try again tomorrow!" Kel smiles seems forced, Basil notices.

"W-well… See you tomorrow, then?"

"No, wait- let me walk you home!"

"O-okay." Basil let him be.

In the middle of the walk, Kel turns to Basil.

"I still didn't talk to Aubrey either. Did you?" Basil shakes his head. "I thought about visiting her too, but- I think I'm the last person she would want to see." Basil thought the same of himself, but kept silent about it.

Kel is a open book, he has no reason to hide his emotions and usually can be very blunt with his honesty. But something feels off today. Or since then. That day. Looking better, Basil notices Kel was using a navy colored hoodie at least two sizes larger than it should be. A small letter "H" was embroidered on it. Kel would use passed down clothes from Hero, but this one was clearly borrowed before its time.

He was lonely too.

Soon, Basil's home is right around the corner.

"Hm, actually." Basil starts. "I promised grandma I was going to buy a few things at the convenience store. Do you want to tag along…?" Kel snorts in reply. Was Basil trying to cheer him up?

"Sure, let's go! But let's be quick, mom won't like if I come home too late." He skips ahead.

"Wait! The store is on the opposite direction!"

"Oh!!"

///

It's night. Between the interval of a lightpost to another, Kel can't stand the silence anymore.

"Aah, I should have brought some pocket money!" He comes closer to Basil, using his hand to shield the conversation like he was about to confide a secret. "But I already spent all my allowance."

Basil wasn't expecting chit-chat, but wasn't too surprised either. It kind of gave him a sense of normality.

"…Hero always scolds me for spending it too quickly.

Like everything that happened was just a bad dream…

"But Mari would always treat me instead!"

A shiver passes through Basil's spine.

"Are you cold?" Kel opens his arms as invinting for a hug.

"No, I'm okay!"

Kel stops and rewinds what he just said.

"Sorry."

"N-no, don't be." Basil almost regrets calling Kel over. The uncomfortable silence is back, until Kel broke it again.

"I'll be more careful with my money from now on."

"?"

"So I can be the one who treat everyone out! How is that?"

"Are you sure you'll be able to do that?"

"What? You understimate me!!"

Basil slips a weak smile. Kel smiles back, like he planned it from the beggining. They continue their walk.

///

At the convenience store, Basil goes straight to what he went for. To kill time, Kel explores around until something take his attention at the candy area. Basil approaches too see what was so interesting. Kel only notices his presence after a while.

"Eek!" Kel was startled.

"…Are you going to ask for borrowed money?" Basil teases.

"No!! I was just looking… See, there's everyone's favorite flavor today…"

Basil identifies each flavor and silently pick them up.

They leave the store and Kel lifts his lollipop over his head.

"Basil, you're the best!" The compliment take Basil aback.

"It's just candy…"

"Yeah, it's just candy." Basil didn't expect him to agree so fast.

"It's the thought that counts!"

Basil just nods.

///

They arrive at Basil's house again.

"We're here!" Kel announces the obvious.

"Y-yeah."

Basil moves ahead to the door.

"See you tomorrow!!"

Basil stops.

"S-sure."

///

Basil is welcomed by his grandma with tea and cookies. Putting the groceries aside and with a cup in hands, he stares at the lollipops over the kitchen's table. Strawberry, watermelon and grape. He thinks back when Kel pointed that everyones flavors were available. All six of them. He shrugs the thought away.

Kel is on his way back, already appreciating his orange lollipop, while waving the cola flavored one in the air. He wonders when he'll be able to deliver the little gift. He wonders when he'll be able to talk to Hero again. Or to any of his friends for that matter. He shrugs the thought away.

THE END

[redr0sewrites]

First Taste of You

🥀A/n: Loki is my comfort character and i wanted to write something tiny as i haven't posted in a hot minute bc im writing a lot of *spoilers* for november. might write a pt2 to this w actual smut, might not... who knows.

🥀Cw: suggestive/nothing explicit, implied that reader is an avenger + lives in stark tower with Loki

cocky, charming, and manipulative. when you first met Loki, his impression was always of someone in need of constant control and attention- especially yours. he was always busying himself by bothering you, getting in your way by any means necessary if only to receive your focus for even just a short time. however, the more he was around, the more you began to like him, and an unlikely friendship began to bloom. suddenly, you both were inseparable, bonding over both your similarities and differences.

the attraction was obvious fo the both of you, and while you never actually went farther than teasing and flirting, the desire was so strong it was nearly tangible. soon, it turned into an enticing game of cat and mouse, seeing how far he could go and flirt before you finally snap and push through the boundary between friends and something more. fortunately for you, (and unfortunately for him), your patience with the god seemed to be never ending- until one day, he went too far. now, you have him pinned against a wall, cheeks rosy and bodies flushed together.

"so this is what it took to get you riled up?" Loki coos, green eyes narrowed as you pressed against him. "i would have flirted with them months earlier if it meant this reaction, darli-" you yank at his collar, tugging him down to your height and kissing him hard. the kiss is sloppy, all teeth and tongue and lust, but Loki's gently hands cupping your cheeks speak volumes. Loki's head knocks back against the wall with a soft clunk, and he winces beneath your touch.

"slow down," he murmurs against your lips, but his actions don't coincide with his words, considering the lustful rocking of his hips against yours and the firm hands now moving to grip your waist, pulling you impossibly close. you capture his bottom lip between your teeth and a soft whine melts into a groan as one of your hands finds its way to his scalp, tugging hard. he looks down at you with his usual teasing expression, as though he can't even believe how bold you've become.

"ffuck- someone's needy, huh?"

"you can never just shut the fuck up, can you?"

Loki smirks at your words, eying you with thinly veiled want.

"we really shouldn't be away from this party for too long..." he murmurs, pulling away from your lips to whisper in your ear. "it would be a shame if someone noticed our absence..."

"fuck the Stark party, theres one practically every other day. you hate those things anyway," you grumble, and Loki chuckles yet again.

"true... but, alas, if i am successful in wooing you, which considering our current position, i feel as though i might be.." you narrow your eyes as Loki continues smirking that signature grin, "then i wouldn't want my first taste of you to be in a random hallway, now would i? come to my quarters tonight, and i'll give you your compensation for making you wait oh so long. until then, let's return to the party, hm? wouldn't want to keep your little friends waiting," he sneers, but his eyes betray his affectionate intent.

"you really are a sweet talker, y'know that?" you huff, pulling away from him. you hadn't noticed how his knee had become wedged between your thighs, nor how tangled your hands were in his hair, but it was certainly obvious now. Loki eyes you cautiously, almost as though he's afraid your angry.

"we shouldn't go back together, that will make it incredibly obvious. i'll see you in a few hours," you turn to walk away, Loki still leaning against the wall with a reassured, dazed smirk on his face. you turn around to call back one last time.

"and fix your hair! it looks messy."

"i like messy," he purrs, and you roll your eyes.

"flirt."

"you fell for me, dear."

"see you later!" you say exaggeratedly, turning away so he can't catch the giddy expression on your face. fuck, you can't wait for tonight.

i wrote this as a little tide over since i haven't posted any writing in a HOT MINUTE,,,, i promise that im cooking i have a lot of things in plan for november bear with me 😇 anywayd i desperately need to write more for marvel its one of my favorite fandoms so if anyone has any requests,,,,,, please please please 🙏

[queen-of-writing-bad-things]

Henry Danger Reader Insert | Captain Man x Reader: SEASON 1

Episode 1: The Danger Begins Pt.1

~Henry's House~

~Third Person PoV~

It was another typical day in Swellview. As usual, Henry Hart, Charlotte Page, and Jasper Dunlop were at Henry's house, trying to finish their homework. Henry and Charlotte sat on the sofa, focusing on the algebra questions in front of them, but Jasper quickly grabbed their attention as he stood with his PearPad and read the latest Swellview news.

"Hey, did you guys see what Captain Man did yesterday?" Jasper said excitedly, showing the device to Henry, who was now ignoring the math he was supposed to be doing in preparation for the upcoming math test.

"Can we focus on algebra?" Charlotte was exasperated. She had always been the smartest of the three friends and preferred to get her homework done quickly and correctly, unlike the two boys with her. 

"There was a fire at a pet store, and Captain Man ran inside, right through the flames, and saved all the animals!" The curly-haired boy told the story to both of them. 

"And he didn't even get hurt!" Henry looked over at Jasper.

"Captain Man never gets hurt. He's a beast," He replied, returning his focus to the website on his screen.

"Y'know, someday when you guys are cleaning my swimming pool 'cause you failed this algebra test, then flunked out of school, I hope you remember this moment, 'cause I will." Charlotte sassed them both, knowing that she would be prepared for the test, but the boys would have nothing but Captain Man's heroic actions in their brains. 

Henry clicked on another advert and quickly skimmed over the advertised information. 

"Hey, here's a cool job I could do," He slammed his shoe onto the coffee table in front of Charlotte, even though she was still trying to work out her sums.

"Foot model," Henry stated, which caused Charlotte to look up at her blond friend with a confused and weirded-out expression.

"You guys, could we go over the list for my birthday party?" Jasper interrupted them with an excited tone from his place at the kitchen bar. 

"Sure." Henry gave him a friendly smile.

"No." Charlotte quickly shot down Jasper's request, looking up from her homework.

"No." This time, Henry changed his answer to match Charlotte's annoyed tone.

"But I invited 52 people, and nobody's texted back yet. What does that mean?" Jasper asked them with a confused voice.

"That people have been to your parties before?" Henry joked, looking at Jasper and recalling all of Jasper's disastrous parties he'd attended.

"Oh, come on, my parties aren't that bad." Jasper shrugged off Henry's comment, trying to defend himself, but Charlotte quickly jumped in.

"Christmas three years ago, 15 kids ended up in the hospital." The dark-haired girl said, remembering one of the worst ones.

"'Cause of your raw turkey." Henry chimed in.

"It was turkey sushi." Jasper tried to tell them, even though his actions couldn't logically be explained. 

"A boy almost died." Charlotte reasoned exasperatedly, trying to get to Jasper and make him see why giving people raw turkey is bad.

"Almost!" Jasper quickly retorted, putting a chip in his mouth, thinking he'd won the argument.

"Okay!" Henry threw his arms in the air. "First person who helps me find an after-school job gets this bowl of pine cones." He picked up the large bowl and offered it to his friends, which caused Jasper to gasp in excitement. 

"Wow. Why do you even need a job?" Charlotte asked with scepticism from the ridiculous offer of pine cones.

"Y'know, to learn responsibility, challenge myself..." Henry replied, listing all of his aspirational reasons, but Jasper was quick to interrupt him with the real reason why he was so desperate for a job.

"He wants money."

"I want money," the blond boy agreed, looking back at Charlotte, who was walking towards the kitchen. 

"Money's good." She agreed.

"Can we please talk about my birthday?" Jasper brought up his party again, much to the annoyance of his female friend.

"Am I gonna have to slap a boy?" she sighed sarcastically, but there was also some truth in her voice. Jasper annoyed her sometimes. The curly-haired boy at the bar looked back at her with panic, but the comment made Henry smile down at his computer.

"Henry, can you please tell me how in the wor--" Kris Hart, Henry's mom started as she appeared from upstairs and walked down the stairs. When she looked across the room, it was only then she noticed her son's best friends were also in the living room.

"Oh, I didn't know Jasper and Charlotte were here." She smiled, looking cheerful with her laundry basket under her arm.

"We're studying." Jasper smiled back.

"Are we?" Charlotte retorted, knowing they hadn't done much actual work.

"Mom, we're right in the middle of something." Henry tried to get her to leave, not wanting to have his mom around his friends.

"I'm not interrupting." She said, plopping the laundry basket down on the coffee table. 

"Okay, thanks."

"I just have a question about your underwear," Mrs Hart said, holding up a pair of blue underwear, which embarrassed Henry. 

"Mom!" Henry exclaimed with a horrified voice, as his friends were now laughing at what his mother was holding.

"I'd like to hear the question." Charlotte teased, walking behind Henry and resting her hands on the couch.

"What is the issue with Henry's underwear?" Jasper joined in, smirking at Mrs Hart to make his oldest friend blush. He, too, was now resting his arms on the couch with Charlotte.

"Mom!" Piper, Henry's little sister burst through the front door, stealing everyone's attention away from the underwear situation for a minute.

"Mom, I'm not okay," Piper shouted the phrase that she often did, making Mrs Hart turn around to face her. Henry also looked over, trying to use his big brother status tocalm his bratty sister.

"Piper, we're trying to study here." 

"I'm talking to my mother." Piper sassed back with irritation evident in her voice.

Henry decided he couldn't deal with her, so he rolled his eyes and looked back down at his PearBook.

"What's wrong, baby?" Mrs Hart looked at her only daughter with a sympathetic expression.

"Jessica unfollowed me!" The 9-year-old showed up again with an angry expression. She showed her PearPhone to her mom.

"No one cares!" Henry said back, clearly not understanding why the tiny issue so worked up Piper. He stood up with his laptop and walked off.

"Henry! Why would Jessica unfollow you?" Mrs Hart tried to keep the situation between her children calm. 

"'Cause she posted a picture of her with me and Allison, so I posted a comment that said, "OMG, you look gorgeous." Piper started to explain.

"Well, that's nice." Her mother interrupted in a pleasant voice.

"No. 'Cause Allison thought it meant she looked gorgeous, so she posted a comment that said, "Thanks, ILY." And so then Jessica got jealous and unfollowed me, and now I hate myself, and I'm gonna die!". The young girl failed to see how silly and superfluous her problem was, much to her mother's confusion. 

"I'll call Jessica's mom and talk to her." Mrs Hart reasoned, picking up her basket and walking off, which upset her daughter. 

"No! That's not okay!" Piper followed her mom, shouting at her from behind.

"Dang it! All these jobs say I've got to have skills." Henry slumped back into his seat at the kitchen table in defeat from not finding a job he liked.

"So? You got tons of skills." Jasper looked at him and tried to cheer him up.

"Name one." 

"You're a great dancer." Henry looked at him with a confused face. 

"Not I'm not." 

"You could take lessons," Jasper said back, waving his finger at his friend as he sat down on a stool.

"Oh my gosh." Henry suddenly looked worried and stood up from his chair.

"What?"Charlotte asked with a curious tone.

"I'm-- I'm not great at anything. This is tragic." He replied with a sad voice.

"Here, let me see." Charlotte wandered over to his computer and combed all the job adverts listed on the site whilst Henry was still complaining about himself.

"I'm just a big pile of average." He glumly exclaimed as Charlotte busily typed away.

"Okay, here's a job." Charlotte smiled with success, and Henry's attention was quickly on the screen as Jasper came up behind them.

"At a store called Junk-N-Stuff. It says, "Needed: part-time helper for various duties." Charlotte read out to the amusement of Jasper, who was giggling to himself behind her at the word 'duties'. The other two kids looked at him with a 'seriously?' expression on their faces before returning to look at the ad.

"And see? It says, "No special skills necessary." She added to Henry's delight.

"That's me. I've got to go get that job." Henry said with excitement, running towards the couch, grabbing the bowl of pine cones, and running them back to Charlotte in his hands.

"You get the pine cones." He said with a cheerful voice.

Charlotte took them from him with a bemused look on her face. Jasper looked disappointedly between them. He desperately wanted those pine cones.

"Sweet." Charlotte took them, rolling her eyes. After she had received them, Henry ran to the door, eager to get to Junk-N-Stuff before anyone else could apply for the job. 

Good luck, Hen!" Charlotte called after him sweetly.

"Thanks!" And with a slam of the door, he was gone.

"If you give me a pine cone, I'll lick my elbow." Jasper offered the girl, who looked at him like he was insane. He tentatively reached for one of them, only for Charlotte to smack his hand away sharply.

~Junk-N-Stuff~ 

Henry entered the store he saw in the ad. Immediately after he oped the door, a giant T-Rex head on the wall breathed fire, causing him to look at it in wonder and amazement. An Indian man sat at the cash register, suspiciously looking at the boy who had just entered. Another man, wearing dark clothing with a black hat, was busy browsing the wacky junk that was up on the shelves. 

Taking a closer look at the dubious man, Henry noticed that he had a distinct tattoo on his neck, but before he could properly inspect it, the man caught him staring.

"What are you looking at?" He said in a harsh voice, which caused Henry to stutter a little and look away.

"Uh, nothing. Just, uh, this turtle's butt." His answer seemed to make the man back off, and with a quick apology, he continued browsing.

Taking another look around the shop, Henry noticed the cashier was letting a huge Venus Fly Trap drink from an M-shaped straw. Clearing his throat, he introduced himself to the odd man. 

"Um, my name is Henry Hart. I'm here about the job." 

"The job?" The man said slowly, as the plant next to him burped.

"Um, did that plant burp?" Henry asked.

"Go back," The cashier said mysteriously, which confused the boy even more than he already was in the kooky store.

"Um, what? Come back?"

"Go back." He repeated, saying nothing more, not a single detail. 

"Where?" Henry pressed as the man continued to drink through the curly straw.

"To the back." 

"Oh, go to the back." The blond boy finally understood.

"Take the elevator down." The man explained very slowly.

"What floor?"

"Down." Was all the man had to say, which made the plant squeak, adding to Henry's bewilderment.

"You too." He pointed at the flytrap and started to make his way to the back of the store slowly.

Walking through the back, he came to a rusty-looking elevator, but the phone in his pocket started to ring before he could press any buttons.

"Hey, what's up?" He answered, finding it was Jasper on the line.

"Does my basement smell like chicken poop?" Jasper started with. Of all the questions he could ask, this was the one he asked when Henry was trying to get a job.

"Yes." He could hear Charlotte say in the background. He pressed the elevator button before replying.

"What?" 

"I'm down in my basement with Charlotte, and she says it smells like poop from a chicken." He explained.

"A sick chicken!" He heard his other friend exclaim in the background again.

"Uh, what are you and Charlotte doing in your basement?" Henry was so confused as he stepped into the elevator.

"He wants to have his birthday party down here in this chicken toilet." He could tell Charlotte was annoyed with Jasper again, and he continued to listen to them argue."

"This is my home." Jasper protested in an offended tone, and Henry wanted the conversation to end as he pressed the down button.

"Guys, I can't talk right now. I'm at a job interview, so I gotta go." The second his fingertip left the button, the elevator fell down the shaft, causing him to shout and scream in fear. As he continued to fall with the elevator, he could hear his best friends express their concerns over the phone, but he was too busy failing to reply.

When he finally came to a stop, the doors opened to reveal a bright room filled with cool gadgets and rock music playing loudly. 

"I'll call you back." 

~(y/n)'s PoV~ 

"So tell me again, why do you need a sidekick?" As usual, I asked Ray, who, was excitedly walking around the Man Cave. He turned to me and began to talk to me in his 'Captain Man' voice. 

"Because, my cute little helper, I realised I'm not getting any younger, and need help when I'm out doing cool superhero stuff." He came to a stop next to the couch where I was sitting and leaned on the back of it.

"Right, it's taken you 25 years to realise that." I retorted, which only made him roll his eyes at me. We often bantered with each other, being the best of friends, even though I've been in love with him for most of the seven years I've known him.

Y'see, I met Ray when he wanted a helper to look after the Man Cave when he was out and about as Captain Man, Swellview's beloved resident superhero. Gooch stays upstairs in Junk-N-Stuff, and I monitor the supercomputer for any emergency calls. I keep Ray in check when he lets his childish nature get the better of him. After being hired when I was 20, we worked to keep the safe city safe, and before I knew it, those beefy arms and that floppy brown hair had me head over heels. Not that I'd ever tell him. 

In the last few years, I've been determined to maintain a professional streak in our friendship. That and his constant interest in all the pretty girls Swellview has to offer; I've been firmly in the friend zone since I moved in. Now I'm at the ripe old age of 27, and it seems that Ray is insistent that he introduces a new face to the Man Cave. 

"Look, smarty pants, I put an ad online, and now I'm waiting for Gooch to send down an applicant." He had circled the couch and was sitting next to me while I was scrolling through a playlist of our favourite rock music.

"This ad you posted online. Can anyone apply for it?" I paused for a second after I processed what he said.

"Well, yeah, I guess. Anyone who saw it." I looked up at him with a slight scowl on my face. 

"Wait, so we could have any weirdo come down the elevator into your super-secret hideout, and you're going to give them a job? And, you're going to trust them with your identity?" He had that stupid, but the loveable expression on his face told me he knew I'd caught him out.

"Yeah, but I can always use the memory wiper." He smirked back, making me scoff and remove myself from his side. I climbed over the back of the couch and walked to the automatic snack machine for some popcorn. 

"Don't come crying to me when shit goes wrong, Raymond." I tried to tease him, but he had already put my headphones on his head and made the couch spin around the room. He was oblivious to the rest of the world, now jamming to some rock.

I was just about to order my popcorn when the elevator dropped, and a dazed, skinny, blond kid stumbled out. He looked around the Man Cave in amazement, quickly becoming confused when he saw Ray in his little music world.

'Huh, this could be interesting.' I thought to myself.

~3rd Person PoV~

The couch came to a stop, and Ray noticed that he now had a teen boy in his Man Cave. (y/n) looked on from the computer area, and the boy didn't seem to notice her, as Ray's exuberant personality quickly caught his attention.

"Hey! How are ya?! Cool. Thanks. Great to meet ya!" He exclaimed quickly, not giving Henry any chance to greet him back. He yanked off the headphones and chucked them to the couch, which caused (y/n)'s eyebrows to fly to her hairline, mainly because they weren't his to throw and also because he hadn't let the poor kid get a word in.

"I'm doing good. What's your name?" He said quickly, walking over to the boy and finally giving him a chance to speak.

"Um, I'm Henry Hart. I'm here about the job." To say how overwhelming the situation was, Henry did a good job of keeping his voice steady.

"Age?" Ray started his quizzing.

"13. I'll be 14 on my next birthday." Henry explained to the large man in front of him. 

"Ahhhh. So, you're ageing sequentially. I like that." Ray placed a hand on his chin as if he was thinking.

"Thanks." Henry looked a little nervous as Ray offered him his hand and enthusiastically introduced himself. 

"My name's Ray." 

"Hi, Ray." They shook hands, grinning at each other. 

"You ask a lot of questions." A baffled sense came over Henry as he took in Ray's statement. 

"I don't think I've asked any questions." Henry stuttered out, which made the woman observing the pair wander over. 

"Ray, you're confusing him. Hiya, I'm (y/n)." She came over to Henry, offering her hand and a calming smile, which he returned as he shook her hand. 

"Chocolate or vanilla?!" Ray suddenly asked, causing (y/n) to throw her head back with a sigh. He couldn't be serious about stuff like this, and asked the most ridiculous stuff, but secretly, she loved that about him. It was cute, not that she'd ever admit it. 

"Here we go." She braced herself for the weird questions Ray was asking poor Henry.

"Vanilla." 

'Not a bad answer.' (y/n) thought to herself. 

"Helicopters or kangaroos?" Ray pointed his finger at the teenage boy. 

'Oh god.' (y/n) continued to stay silent.

"Helicopters," Henry answered with a slight tinge of reluctance, but Ray still accepted his answer.

"Love it. Scrambled eggs or dynamite?" He walked behind Henry, who was struggling to answer.

"Okay, Ray, what have you been sniffing and should I get my first aid kit?" (y/n) joked. Any average person would think Ray was insane, but (y/n) knew that that was just Ray's way.

"Both." Henry's answer distracted Ray from his best friend's comment. His eyes lit up as he contemplated the idea, making the young lady smile at him with fondness.

"Maybe. Complete this sentence, "I'm sorry, mother, I didn't mean for my elephant to blank." Ray quickly came up with a random sentence for Henry, curious to see what he would say. 

"Uh, lick dad." Henry smiled as he thought of his parents in the ridiculous situation. He laughed along with Ray and (y/n) as they were all amused by the funny scenario.

Ray suddenly clapped his hands, and they all stopped laughing. 

"Well, that's not funny." He said with a frown on his face. 

"No." Henry's face had dropped too.

"Not at all." (y/n) muttered as she looked at Ray as he popped a 'special' gumball into his mouth and walked to the supercomputer. 

"Um, is this the job interview?" Henry asked, completely lost with what was happening.

"Just wait and see, kid." (y/n) smirked at him and went to where Ray was now sitting, but her answer didn't help him.

"Do you want it to be the job interview?" Ray asked.

"Um, what is the job?" Henry was desperate to know. Suddenly, Ray leaned closer to him with a very excited face.

"What do you think the job is?" He asked back.

"Hey, genius, stop answering questions with questions." (y/n) had a bored expression on her face, but Ray knew she was entertained by what was happening.

"Shut up!" He held a finger up in her face, which she slapped away, giving Henry a chance to answer. 

"Um, well, the ad said part-time helper, so I'm thinking maybe you need someone to help you, you know, part-time." Ray was squatting up and down as Henry moved his hands as he described his job interpretation.

"Do you ever dream about sleeping?" Ray asked in a severe voice, pointing the finger (y/n) slapped at Henry. 

"No."

"Good. If you did, you'd be dead." (y/n) said, giggling, which made Ray smile at her. Deep down, she had the same silly sense of humour that he did. 

Ray walked to the middle of the room, (y/n) understanding what he was about to do. Henry, however, did not.

"I'm so confused." Henry spoke truthfully, but then again, who wouldn't? The Man Cave always had that effect on people when they first came down, and when coupled with Ray's eccentricity, it made for a dazing experience. 

"David?" Ray started. 

"His name's Henry." (y/n) reminded him. 

"Can I trust you?" The large man looked intensely at Henry, who looked to (y/n) for reassurance. She gave a slight nod and a smile.

"Sure." 

"Can you keep a secret?" Ray continued.

"Totally," Henry said confidently.

"So I can trust you to keep a secret?" Ray moved back and forth as he enunciated each word, which made (y/n) look at him with impatience. 

"Yes, sir," Henry said curtly. Accepting his answer, Ray took a few steps back from the boy and woman, who were both waiting for his next move. (y/n) placed a hand on Henry's shoulder, not wanting the teen to faint or overreact from Ray's theatrics. Henry looked confused but didn't say anything as he watched the older man.

"I'm gonna blow a bubble," Ray explained to him.

"You're going to blow a bubble?" Henry questioned exasperatedly, clearly not understanding the situation. 

"And I'm going to blow your mind," Ray said excitedly, which fuelled (y/n)'s smile. 

He began to blow his bubble, (y/n)'s heart thumping for what came next. The bubble popped, and in a flash of light, Ray changed his civilian clothes to his super-suit, finally showing Henry that he was Captain Man. (y/n) eyes raked over him, admiring how his costume fit him, but before he could notice her staring she looked back at Henry, who was about to lose his mind in excitement.

"You're Captain Man!" He shouted, his hands on his head in disbelief.

"That's right, Henry." Ray replied in his 'Captain Man' voice, enjoying the attention. 

"Oh, hold on a second." His voice was a little embarrassed as he noticed his zipper was halfway down. His gloved fingers fumbled, trying to get the darn thing to do up properly.

"Stupid zipper. Always sticks. Com-- Ow! That's my skin!" He jumped up and down in an attempt to let the momentum fix the zipper, but it seemed to be well and truly stuck. 

"Come here, Captain Doofus, let me do it." (y/n) sighed and walked over to the man.

His hands, previously tugging on his costume, came up to rest just a couple of inches from her face. Her tongue poked out as she worked on wriggling the stubborn zipper up the jacket. From that angle, he could analyse her delicate features as Henry watched and saw the chemistry between the two. 

With a little more muscle and some help from an old bottle of oil, (y/n) was finally able to get the zipper to slide smoothly up Ray's chest. With one last pat to his pectoral, (y/n) stepped back in success.

"Who's a genius? All you need is a little lubrication." She bantered at him, putting the oil bottle on the couch table.

"Say until you believe it, small fry." he shot back. 

"Muscle beanstalk." She stuck her tongue out, which made Ray return the gesture.

"I-- I can't believe I'm standing here talking to Captain Man!" Henry still couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing. This was a dream come true.

"Why, are you a fan? Do you like me? Most people like me but not everyone." Ray smirked at the thought of all the people who adored Captain Man.

"Yeah, I'm a huge fan." (y/n) was used to the praise heaped onto Ray, and over the years, she'd tried to keep him even a bit humble.

"Watch out, kid. You'll stroke his HUGE ego." She giggled at him and his enthusiasm.

"Oh man, I've gotta tell Jasper about this. He's going to freak when I tell him I'm standing next to Captain--" Henry reached for his phone in his pocket, but before he could start typing, Ray took his laser remote from his utility belt and zapped the PearPhone from his clutches. The burn from the laser on his fingertips caused him to drop the fried phone to the floor.

"I could've just taken his phone from him, but your way works too." (y/n) looked at the superhero, shocked that he'd just destroyed a teenager's most prized possession. 

"Sorry, but you can't tell your friends about this," Ray stated sheepishly, telling Henry his most important rule. 

"Yeah, sorry, kid, but he's right. You can't tell anyone about what you've just seen." (y/n) agreed, thinking that Ray's secret identity was the most essential thing in his life. The phone on the floor was short-circuiting on the floor as Henry went to grab it.

"Okay, but did you have to melt my phone?" He asked in irritation. 

"I'll get you a new one," Ray promised, which prompted (y/n) to reply with joy in her voice.

"Oh yeah, big spender, it's not like we need the money for other things. Stop destroying little kids' phones." She commented, leaning against the couch. 

"Hey, I'm not a little kid. But really?" His attention switched between the two. 

"No," Ray said shortly before walking across the room and sitting on the back of the couch across from where (y/n) was leaning. 

"So, Henry, tell me why you want a job." Now that was an interview question (y/n) that could get behind.

"Well, y'know, to learn responsibility and challenge myself," Henry explained, relating what he had said to his friends earlier, but (y/n) saw straight through the teenage boy, knowing exactly what all kids his age were after. 

"So, you want money?" She proposed, smirking as she guessed correctly. Every kid was the same; always trying to get enough to buy what every other kid on the playground had, and this guy was no different. 

"Lots of money." Henry quickly agreed with her because it was the truth. He did want money, and he was 13, and he wanted to buy what 13-year-olds buy!

In the middle of their conversation, the elevator dinged, and the doors opened to reveal an 'old woman' who staggered out into the man cave. Henry looked between the weird lady, the superhero and the young woman, wondering what on Earth could be happening now. 

Ray and (y/n) knew what to expect. They had arranged the exercise that morning, but regardless, (y/n) was nervous as to how Henry would cope with what was going to happen next. 

"Is this the ladies' room?" The 'woman' asked in a stereotypical British old lady voice. Henry was beyond confused now, but Ray maintained his calm demeanour.

"No, ma'am, you're not supposed to be down here." He said to the intruder, who started to look around. 

"What an interesting place." 'She' complimented.

"Thank you, but we're conducting a job interview, and you're very old, so can you please just get back in the elevator?" (y/n) pointed back to where the 'old lady' first emerged, and directed 'her' to leave, as according to the plan. 

"Oh, I'll just take me phone out of me purse and call me nephew." 'She' chuckled, rummaging through her bag.

"Great, I'll just turn around and look at something." 'Wow, smooth Ray, way to keep things subtle in front of Henry.' (y/n) mentally rolled her eyes as she lowered her gaze to the floor. 

As the 'British' woman searched through 'her' purse, the tattoo on 'her' neck was exposed, making Henry realise that something wasn't right. He remembered when he had first entered the store above the hideout and recalled the same tattoo on the scary man from before. Watching the man/woman scowl, he shouted at Ray and ran to the intruder to try and stop them.

"Captain Man!!" Ray turned around for the man/woman to blast him in the chest. He clutched at where he was hit and cried out in fake pain before falling onto the couch. (y/n) ran to him, pretending to tend to the wound. 

"Captain Man! You gotta stay with me!" She acted, trying to sound worried. Henry had begun to wrestle with the 'old lady' to get the blaster out of their hands. The 'old lady' hit him with 'her' purse, causing Henry to fall back from the impact. Taking advantage of Henry being on the ground, the 'woman' strode towards the pair on the couch, pointing the weapon at them simultaneously putting their fake boob back into place.

"Goodbye forever, Captain Man." They said in a more manly voice, as (y/n) tried to shield Ray from the laser, even though she knew he would be okay if he were hit.

Having recovered quickly, Henry saw the peril his possible bosses were in, and in the act of bravery and desperation to save them, he jumped on the attacker's back, causing the blast to miss Captain Man. They started to struggle across the room, but Henry clung to him.

"Get off of me!" The man swatted at him and spun around, trying to get the boy off.

"Quit talking like a British Lady." Henry quipped back, fighting the man with all his strength. 

"Stop pulling me wig over me eyes." The man complained in a fake British accent. Henry jumped off his back and opened the elevator door whilst they couldn't see. Ray was still 'injured' and (y/n) was still trying to help him as Henry slammed his body into the guy, causing him to tumble into the open elevator. Thinking on his feet, Henry pressed the button, sealing him in, allowing him to look over and see the supposedly hurt superhero and his helper.

"Captain Man!" He panicked, seeing his hero sprawled out. He sprinted over to where (y/n) was 'checking' his pulse and other vital signs, which worried Henry more.

"Is he okay?!" He was panting, but (y/n) stayed calm, feeling his steady pulse under her fingers, and she knew he was alright.

"Captain Man is always okay!" Ray suddenly sat up with a cheery voice and clapped Henry on the back, making (y/n) remove her fingers and sit back on the couch. The game was up.

The elevator opened, revealing the man removing his wig, but Henry was letting the sensation of relief wash over him.

"Nice work, Boris." Ray smiled at the man in makeup, establishing a friendly tone between them, which puzzled Henry.

"The boy did good job." Boris congratulated Henry.

"Woah, woah, wait, wait. You know the--" He started.

"That's Boris. He works for Ray." (y/n) explained to the younger boy, smiling because Boris was right. Henry had done an outstanding job.

"What?" Boris walked over to the three.

"How'd you know he wasn't really an old lady?" Ray looked down at Henry, wanting to know how he'd spotted Boris' real identity.

"Uh, 'cause of the tattoo on his neck. I saw it on him up in the store. And his boobs are too wobbly." (y/n) nodded along with Boris, liking how observant the kid was.

"True. Get those under control." Ray joked, looking at Boris with disgust. Giving him a mini salute, Boris took off into the back of the Man Cave.

"You've got a sharp eye, good instincts and --" Ray started.

"And a nice shirt, and you're brave." (y/n) interrupted with a grin on her face, watching Ray analyse Henry. 

"Thanks," Henry said appreciatively.

"Do you know how to make sandwiches?" Ray said, back to asking his weird questions.

"I do!" Henry realised, looking up at the superhero.

"Then you have all the qualities I'm looking for." He smiled down at him, making (y/n) smile too.

"But I--I don't..." Henry started, still confused, but he was beaten to it.

"You're the one, Henry." Serious moments like this allowed (y/n) to admire the older man in his real light. Yes, he was immature, but he was also a calm and brave man who took his job protecting people very seriously. 

"The one to make you a sandwich?" Henry still didn't get it.

"No, no, no, I have (y/n) to do that." Ray retorted, but (y/n) punched him on the shoulder with some offence.

"Last sandwich I'll ever make you if you keep ordering me about!" She punched him again so he'd get the message.

"Everyone gets old someday, even Captain Man. I can't do this forever." Ray wandered over to the supercomputer with Henry and (y/n) in tow. 

"Yeah, life gets real hard when you're pushing forty." The young woman decided to bite back at Ray. 

"Hey! I'm still young!!" He shouted without turning around at her, which meant he didn't see her smirking.

"Doing what?" Henry brought them back to the original conversation.

"Protecting SwellView from bad guys, bad things, bad smells." Henry looked confused at the last bad thing.

"Smells?" He queried.

"You want to be horrified?" Ray turned back quickly and dramatically. 

"No!" Henry rapidly said, not wanting to see anything too graphic.

"Watch this." Ray turned back to the computer, where his (your/colour/hair)ed friend pressed various buttons and controls to bring up a video.

The three watched as a small, but grown man in a baby's prison outfit grunted and danced weirdly in front of the camera.

"Who's the freak in the diaper?" Henry asked, clearly repulsed at what he was seeing.

"The Toddler, and don't let the diaper fool you, kid, he's pure evil." (y/n) said as the video got a close-up of the creepy criminal.

"Wow." Henry watched as the man-baby growled on the floor like an insane child. 

"I'll show you, now watch this secret video that was intercepted by my people who intercept secret videos," Ray exclaimed, making (y/n) question his logic, but she pulled the video up nonetheless with a few clicks of the control panel.

"You were supposed to bring me my applesauce two minutes ago." The Toddler said onscreen. His henchman tried to apologise, but the Toddler wouldn't accept it.

"Sorry, don't make baby happy." He growled, blowing a long raspberry in the henchman's face, but he was interrupted by another man in an adult onesie. 

"Toddler, good news. The radioactive Zenite is here." He said, and this seemed to put The Toddler in a happier mood.

"Really? Whoo-hoo!! That means we can begin phase 2 of my plan." The man-child said excitedly 

"Will someone wipe my face?" The tied-up man asked timidly.

"NO!" shouted The Toddler, making Henry grimace, but Ray and (y/n) kept their grave faces. The Toddler complained about how hard it was to blow raspberries in his minion's face, so he ordered the big one to make a device that could do it fot him. The sight of him getting saliva all over their faces made Ray groan in disgust, which prompted (y/n) to shut off the video before he was sick quickly.

"You see that?" he asked Henry.

"He's a maniac!" Henry agreed with the two.

"And there's more maniacs like him, all dangerous to the good citizens of Swellview," Ray explained as he walked back to the centre of the room, causing Henry to turn around and (y/n) to swivel on the chair she was in.

"Well, yeah, but we've got you to stop them," Henry stated, knowing how devoted Captain Man was to Swellview.

"True. But I'm not as young as I used to be." Ray sighed, feeling depressed over his age.

"I'm almost thirty-four!" He looked down in pity, but (y/n) snorted in laughter at how ridiculous he sounded.

"Hey, don't laugh! You're six years younger than me!" He said, pointing at her, but she continued to laugh. 

"I need help, and someday someone's gonna have to take over for me." Ray looked at Henry expectantly. 

"Like?" The kid still didn't get it, which made (y/n) spell it out for him, not wanting it to drag out any longer. 

"Like you, Henry." She said, walking over to them and gently placing a hand on his shoulder.

"What do you say, Henry?" Ray put his hand over hers.

"Do you wanna be my sidekick?" Henry scoffed in disbelief, his biggest dream about to come true, but first, he had to get his priorities straight. 

"How much does it pay?" He added in. 

"$9 an hour." Ray offered, which delighted the young boy. 

"Whoa!!" Ray shared his excitement. 

"I know, right?" 

"Not even I get that!" (y/n) told the young boy,

"That's 'cause you get to live here." Ray pointed out, and (y/n) nodded with a roll of her eyes.

~Junk-N-Stuff~

Back up in the store, Charlotte and Jasper had come to see if Henry had been successful with his job interview. They opened the door and were struck with the same sense of wonder that had filled Henry when he first got to look around the shop.

"Whoa!" The curly-haired boy gasped at the cool gadgets/junk on the shelves.

"Check this place out." Charlotte shared his amazement.

"Hey, look at this thing." The excited chatter from the two teens made Gooch press a button on the side of his desk, switching the computer down in the Man Cave to the security cameras placed throughout the store. 

~The Man Cave~ 

"Wow, a bucket of swords!" (y/n) saw two kids walking around the store.

"What are they doing here?" Henry said, not wanting his friends to ruin his chances of working with Captain Man. 

"Friends of yours?" Ray asked with his arms folded.

"Uh-huh." They all continued to watch the screen, seeing how Jasper was entranced by one of the items on sale.

"Jasper, please don't embarrass me." Charlotte pleaded with him, giving (y/n) the idea that this kid was strange. 

"Excuse me, sir." 

"He's gonna do it." this made (y/n) bite her cheek to stop smiling at the girl's reaction.

"Yes?" Gooch elongated in his Indian dialect.

"How much?" Why was this kid so interested in a rusty, old barrel of swords?

"Each sword is $100." Gooch named the price.

"No, no, no, how much for the bucket?" 'Okay, this kid is really weird.'

"The bucket?" Gooch didn't understand either, it seemed.

"That's not a bucket. That's a barrel." Charlotte tried to tell him, but Jasper didn't care.

"It's close enough to a bucket. I collect buckets." He said with a proud smile on his face. 'Who the hell collects buckets?' (y/n) thought in her inner monologue; she didn't understand modern kids' obsessions.

"Don't say it." Poor Charlotte always got embarrassed by Jasper and his antics with buckets.

"I'm a bucketeer." And he said it.

"Well, they seem like nice kids. The boy's a bit weird but nice." (y/n) mentioned, leaning her arm on Ray's shoulder and looking over at Henry.

"Yeah, their names are Jasper and Charlotte. I've known them ever since--" He told them, still watching what they were doing upstairs.

"Get rid of them." Ray interrupted him, as he didn't want any more kids discovering the Man Cave or causing problems. 

"I'll get rid of them." Henry quickly said and ran towards the elevator as (y/n) grabbed some popcorn from the auto-snack machine.

"You really have a way with children." (y/n) noted sarcastically, not loving how Ray spoke to Henry, but their attention was soon back on the screen and the bucket kid. Ray sat in the chair with his feet on the control panel, and (y/n) put her arms around his neck from behind, letting him reach the popcorn if he wanted it.

"Wow, what a bucket." 

"Huh, kid sure loves that bucket," Ray said, looking up at her.

"Can't we just give it to him? Might make him leave faster." (y/n) pondered with a piece of popcorn in her mouth, not seeing how Ray gazed up at her. 

"What? No! No free gifts to weird bucket kids." 

They saw Henry run in from the back room, and he went over to where Charlotte and Jasper stood next to the sword barrel/bucket.

"Hey!" He greeted them.

"Hey Henry, did you get the job?" Charlotte asked him hopefully.

"Yeah." Ray grabbed the popcorn bucket from (y/n's) hands and started munching away.

"Cool." Charlotte congratulated him.

"Does that mean I can get a discount on this bucket?" Jasper asked him, really wanting the barrel/bucket, which irritated Ray a bit.

"I still say we just give him the bucket." (y/n) said, which caused the man sitting in front of her to throw a piece of popcorn up at her face.

"Dude, it's my first day here. You-- you guys gotta--" Henry tried to make them realise that they needed to leave, but when it came to buckets, Jasper Dunlop did not give up easily.

"Excuse me, mysterious foreign man, do Henry's friends get a discount here?" Jasper asked a perplexed Gooch, who only shook his head, along with his flytrap.

"That plant just shook its head!" Charlotte noticed in disbelief.

"Wow!" Jasper ran over to where the plant was kept, wanting to see if it would move again.

"Will you get him outta here?!" Henry shook her by her shoulders, trying to get the message across.

"How much for the plant?" Jasper asked Gooch.

"Like Gooch would give Omar to some kid." (y/n) giggled, taking more popcorn.

The flytrap squirmed and squealed at the thought of being bought, but Gooch quickly calmed it down.

"The plant is not for sale." He said seriously as Henry tried in vain to get them to leave.

"Come on. I'll give you seven bucks for it and one Canadian loonie." Jasper emptied his pockets and put all his money in front of the cashier. Not liking that the kid still wanted to buy him, the plant opened its mouth and squirted Jasper in the face.

"Ahhhh, it spat in my eye!" Ray laughed along with (y/n) at the sight of Jasper with his face screwed up. It was pretty hilarious.

"Hey, that's my popcorn, don't eat all of it." She said, trying to take the box back, but Ray was too enthralled with the kids onscreen.

"I told you Canadian money upsets people." Charlotte chastised as Jasper panicked from the spit in his eyes.

"You guys, you've got to go now." Henry started pulling his friends towards the front door, not wanting them to upset anyone else in the store. 

"Wait, what about my bucket? I want the pretty bucket!" Jasper wouldn't let it go. Charlotte, too, was protesting why they had to leave so abruptly, but Henry still shoved them out of the door.

"Will you shut up about that bucket?" (y/n) heard Charlotte faintly shout from the street as Ray sipped on his drink that he reached for from the auto-snacker. 

"Come on, get up, Henry will be back down here any minute, and he needs a costume if he's gonna be your sidekick." (y/n) patted Ray's shoulder and walked over to the couch.

"Yeah, yeah, but first, I want a banana," Ray said to her.

"All you ever do is eat." She joked.

"Just wait for the kid." He told her. The elevator dinged, and Henry came back into the Man Cave. Ray grabbed his banana and sat down next to (y/n), who started to tell Henry about what they were going to do.

"In that room, you'lll find loads of costumes about your size. Try them on, and we'll see what's best." She smiled, and Henry nodded in understanding. 

~

"I gotta wear this?" Henry asked in horror, as he was wearing an American flag-inspired costume that was frankly hideous. 

Ray sat munching his banana, looking at the teen in deep thought as he took in the outfit.

"All good sidekicks wear costumes." He told him.

"Yeah, but not like that. Take it off, Henry." (y/n) hated how bold it was.

"Yeah, I agree. This is bad." Henry nodded with her, looking at himself in the mirror.

"I have more options." The superhero said with a mouth full of banana. 

~

This time, Henry was wearing a bright purple glitter jacket with matching pants and silver sparkly boots. It wasn't any better than the last outfit. He gave a twirl so the two adults could get a 360º look at the awful costume.

"The whole point of being a superhero is subtly. Why do you even have that?" (y/n) indignantly asked Ray, who was now eating another piece of fruit.

"Yeah, too sparkly."

~

The following costume wasn't any better, either. It was mainly red, with a hooded cape and a tight, shiny bodysuit. Nope.

"No capes!" (y/n) exclaimed. She hated them, knowing how they could be pulled and trapped during battle.

"Eh, it's a little Broadway." Ray wasn't keen on it either, this time eating some watermelon. 

~

Okay, this one made (y/n) laugh loudly at how silly Henry looked. It was bright gold and too tight as Henry shuffled towards them, and at least he could make the criminals laugh at it. 

"Too tight," Ray said, sitting on the couch with a half-eaten pineapple. 

"Uh, way too tight." Henry squeaked out.

"Oh man, I ate a lot of fruit." Ray moaned in pain from his full stomach, but (y/n) had little sympathy for him.

"I told you not to eat all of it, but did you listen? Noooo." She said to herself, which made Ray place a hand on her head to steady himself. 

~ 

This one was perfect. It matched Ray's suit, with silver, red and blue making up the jacket. Everything suited him like it was tailor-made. The two adults observing him smiled and nodded at the new costume.

"Hey! I like it." Ray said with glee as he stood up, his fruit-induced stomachache now subsided.

"I like it." Henry agreed. 

"But it takes a lot of time to put on." He mentioned.

"Which is why you'll be needing this special bubble gum." (y/n) said, holding out a tube and passing it to Henry, who didn't understand its significance.

"Special?" He said, feeling confused again.

"Read the instructions." She pointed out.

"Chew gum, blow bubble, fight crime." He read aloud, looking up at Ray.

"Now, you'll be needing one of these too," Ray said, kneeling in front of him and placing a bracelet on Henry's wrist. (y/n) took Ray's laser remote and lowered the lights in the Man Cave because Ray wanted the next bit of the conversation to be dramatic.

"What's this for?" The boy questioned.

"It means we're engaged." He joked, making (y/n) giggle at him.

"What?" Henry's eyes grew wider.

"He's kidding. It's how we'll contact you." (y/n) reassured him before he could panic.

"Why can't you just call me?" Henry asked.

"I melted your phone." Ray reminded him in a monotone voice.

"Right." Henry nodded along with him. 

"Now, listen closely. That wristband flashes." Ray started to explain. 

"It flashes." The teen understood.

"A triple flashing light means emergency, like "major sitch going down, so get here fast." (y/n) finished for him.

"Right." 

"A double flashing light means it's important." Ray continued.

"And what does a single flashing light mean?" Henry looked up expectantly.

"Just to, you know, shoot us a text whenever." (y/n) piped up in a casual voice.

"Got it." 

"Now, raise your right hand, spread your fingers. Turn your head and cough." Ray said, doing the same.

"Oh god, here comes the oath." (y/n) mumbled under her breath. Henry mimicked Ray's actions.

"What?"

"Haha, joke." (y/n) rolled her eyes again at Ray's childishness. 

"Place your left hand over your right lung, and repeat after me." He said as Henry slapped a hand over his chest. 

"I, Henry Hart--" Captain Man started.

"I, Henry Hart--" The teen repeated.

"Pledge to be an awesome sidekick to Captain Man--" Again, (y/n) rolled her eyes. Most oaths didn't go like this. 

"Pledge to be an awesome sidekick to Captain Man--" 

"And to never ever, ever tell anyone that I am Captain Man's secret sidekick." Ray focused his eyes on Henry.

"And to never, ever tell anyone that I am Captain Man's secret sidekick." Henry smiled back.

"You left out that last ever." (y/n) butted in with her humour.

"Ever." Henry finished.

"It is done." Ray ended the oath, lowering his hand.

"Feels good," Henry said, smiling at the two. However, before they could celebrate more, the alarm went off, telling Ray and (y/n) that there was an emergency. The lights went back on, and they ran over to the supercomputer.

"What's up, Gooch?" (y/n) said, sitting down and opening the camera between the Man Cave and Junk-N-Stuff. 

"Someone sabotaged the bridge over the Jandy River." He explained, looking worried.

"The bridge is down?" Ray asked in concern.

"Affirmative," Gooch confirmed.

"That means yes," Ray whispered to Henry.

"I think he knew that doofus." (y/n) whispered back.

"Situation?" Ray concentrated on the situation at hand.

"Cars in the water. Lives in danger." Gooch relayed the message.

"Understood," Ray said.

"Okay, from here to the Jandy River, tell them Captain Man's ETA is about 15 minutes, Gooch." (y/n) told the man before closing the link.

"Phase two of The Toddler's plan." The superhero said with his fists clenched in anger.

"Let's ride." He said to Henry, running over to grab a weapon from the bench.

"Wait, where?" Henry asked.

"We've got people in the Jandy River that need saving. Come on." Ray exclaimed in a hurry, running over to where the tubes came down. 

"You mean we're going there together, like right now?" Henry wasn't up to speed with what was going on.

"Yeah, get under your tube," Ray said to him, wanting to get out as soon as possible.

"Good luck!" (y/n) shouted over to them with a grin from her place at the computer. Ray returned her smile briefly before looking back to Henry.

"Ready?" He asked him.

"For what?" The 13-year-old asked, not knowing what was coming next.

"Up the tube!" Ray shouted after hitting his belt. The suction started, and he shot up the tube and out of the Man Cave.

"I don't know how to--" Henry panicked. He started jumping up and down, hoping his tube would do the same.

"Just tap your belt buckle." (y/n) explained. Henry did as she said, causing his tube to come down.

"Up the tuuuuuuube.." Henry shouted as he, too, was drawn upwards.

~(y/n)'s PoV~ 

I sat down in the Man Cave, just lying on the couch like I usually did when Ray went out. I was scrolling through my phone when the news flashed on the computer. Noticing it was about the Jandy River incident, I swiftly gave it my full attention. 

'--Take you live to the Jandy Bridge, which mysteriously collapsed over an hour ago." The female news anchor reported.

"Mysteriously, my ass." I snickered to myself. Like Ray, I had no love for The Toddler or any criminal. 

"We understand there are several people in cars in the water. People are injured." The on-scene reporter said.

'Come on, get to the Captain Man bit.'  I thought to myself, as I already knew all the details about the bridge collapsing.

I got up to grab some ice cream whilst they talked about the rescue operation. However, I soon ran back to my seat on the couch, nearly spilling the frozen dessert, when they finally mentioned Ray.

"Luckily, Captain Man arrived on the scene, leapt into the water, and saved the endangered citizens from drowning." I couldn't help but smile to myself at how selfless Ray was.

"And Ron, is it true that for the first time, Captain Man wasn't working alone?" The woman asked the reporter.

"Damn straight, lady! Go, Henry!" I shouted with a mouthful of ice cream, happy that Henry was being recognised for his actions.

"That's correct. It appears Captain Man has teamed up with a new sidekick, who apparently goes by the name Kid Danger." 'Huh, glad we discussed that one, Ray.' I monologued, but in truth, I wasn't angry or anything. 'Kid Danger' was a pretty sick name for a sidekick. 

"Well, once again, Swellview owes a big thanks to Captain Man and, apparently, Kid Danger." The news anchor smiled as the report ended, so I turned off the screen. As soon as I did, a tube came down with a filthy Ray, which made my eyes widen in shock and laughter.

"Sweet cheese, what happened to you?" I said, running to grab a towel from the back of the Man Cave. 

"Justice. That's what happened." He said from behind me in his Captain Man voice. I returned with a towel that Ray took from my hands and immediately wiped his face, letting out a sigh.

"Still no sign of the Toddler, then?" I asked sympathetically. He let out a long groan. 

"Dang it, no! That piece of filth got away as soon as the bridge collapsed." He said, tiredly going over to the computer chair.

"Don't sit down! You're covered in river gunge and debris and stuff." He looked at me with puppy eyes, which melted my heart, but I wasn't about to spend an hour getting the dirt and smell off the chair.

"Look at me like that all you want, but you need a shower 'cause you stink." I push him towards the sprocket, where our rooms and bathrooms were. 

"Leave your suit in the laundry basket, and I'll wash it!" I shouted to him, which he acknowledged with a wave of his hand behind his back. 

"Thank you!" I chuckled after him. For all his craziness, I wouldn't give up working with him for the world.

[runningincircl3s]

Nothing Ever After

Noah Sebastian x Reader x Vinny Mauro

Chapter Twenty-Three

chapter warnings: none?

we're getting sooo close to the final chapters (which i still need to bring myself to write up properly) i don't feel like i'm ready to let go of this fic, but in the final chapter i will be making an announcement about what is to follow :) happy monday!! <3

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

“Hey, you okay?” Noah asks, reaching his hand out to hold yours as you both walk out of the elevator and make your way down the hallway.

You nod your head, despite the nervous tension building in your chest.

“If people ask…” He says, looking at you for confirmation.

“We’re not a couple.” You say, taking a deep breath as you both exchange a small smile.

The party was being held at a beautiful rooftop bar, dimly lit by strings of lights as the sun began to set. Industry insiders, producers, and band members were all here to mix- you noticed some came dressed in suits, others in more casual wear- but every woman you spot seems to have stepped out of a magazine, they all looked so put together. You suddenly begin to a little feel out of place, wondering if you really should've came.

You and Noah walked up the stairs and through the open doors into the room.

“You okay?” Noah asked, noticing how you had suddenly gone quiet.

"Yeah. Just... not used to all this." You looked down at the ground as he looked around the room, trying to find a group to join, friends to introduce you to.

"That’s okay, I don’t usually come to these kind of events, so I'm in the same boat... The guys should be here soon, by the way, Matt said the traffics pretty bad."

“Well, we did ask if they wanted to come with us,” you chuckle, noticing Noah's eyes were still elsewhere. “Y'know, if you want to go and talk to anybody then go ahead. I'll just wait for the others.”

“I'm not leaving you, y/n.”

“I’m an adult, I know how to make friends.” You smiled softly, although you did feel slightly anxious at the thought of being alone in a room full of strangers.

“Shit.” You heard Noah mumble under his breath, turning around as if to hide whilst a figure approached the both of you, however as a 6ft 3 man, this would prove difficult.

“Well, if it isn’t Noah Sebastian,” the woman smiled, a seductive tone in her voice, “I’ve heard your band is blowing up, arena tours now is it? To think I’ve been here since your Warped days- Where’s the time gone, huh?”

The woman stands confidently, radiating a powerful presence that’s hard to ignore, and you couldn’t deny she was extremely beautiful. She had long auburn hair tied back into a ponytail, facial features that made her resemble Megan Fox and she also appeared to be heavily tattooed, judging by her neck and hands, the rest of her covered by the emerald green suit she wore.

“8 years,” he nods, a smile on his face that looks almost forced, “I didn’t expect to see you here.” 

“Well it's not been a good year for us so..." She presses her lips together, clearly ashamed, before suddenly changing the subject. "You’re looking good, I like what you’ve done with your hair.” She reaches out, running her fingers through his hair as her eyes meet his, a gesture that feels far too intimate for someone who was just a friend of his. You wondered what kind of past they had, and why you had never heard about her before.

Something sour rises in your chest. You fight it down, forcing your gaze elsewhere. The tension is unbearable as you search for something else to focus on and quickly spot the bar. You needed to get out of this, whatever this was. However, as you were about to excuse yourself, she turns to look at you.

“I'm guessing you’re the younger model he traded me in for, huh?” Her voice snaps back into focus, you look up to see a smirk on her face and you try to come up with something to say back to that, but you couldn't.

“No, uh, I’m y/n. I’m-”

“Y/n’s my friend.” Noah cuts in, his tone protective. “We invited her as our second photographer on this tour, surely you've heard Bryan mention her in the past.”

She eyes you with a slight sneer. 

“Ah, yes, I've heard about you. You probably know me already, but I’m Lauren.” She tells you which band she sings for and you'd be lying if you said you recognised the name.

“I’m afraid I don’t.” You tilt your head, laughing on the inside as you see the confusion spread across her face.

“Seriously?" Her eyebrows furrow, "I have a song with bring me th-”

“So I’ll leave you two to catch up then, it seems like you've got a lot to talk about!" You smile, seeing Noah's eyes widen slightly, "I'm going to get a drink.”

You walk away from the two of them, concealing your frustration as you lean against the bar. She's clearly known him for a while, perhaps even longer than you. You knew that you and Noah weren't exclusive, and that you also had Vinny, but you couldn't help but feel a certain way as you thought about the way she touched Noah, replaying it in your mind. Sure, it was only his hair but it seemed deeper than that. And she was gorgeous, it was hard not to feel slightly jealous.

“Everything okay?” Bryan asks with a chuckle as the guys join you at the bar, having just arrived.

“Who the fuck is she?” You grit your teeth, mumbling under your breath. You tried to ignore the prickling feeling of jealousy, but Lauren's eyes never left Noah, and her smile only grew.

“Oh,” Matt seemed to be the first to realise what you were talking about, “That is Lauren. She never dated Noah but she’s been obsessed with him ever since they first met, but he’s never been too interested. I think he played on it back in the day because he had no other options.” He laughed.

“No way!” Folio gasped, amusement painting his face as he spotted Lauren and Noah, “She’s here?” 

“So what actually happened between them?” You ask, wondering what kind of relationship they really had.

“They’d always flirt on twitter, facebook, instagram, you name it- but never in person. She would always say it’s because Noah’s shy around her, but we knew different. If he wanted her he would've had her.” Matt said, taking his hat off and placing it on the bar.

“Should we go and save him?” Nicholas laughed, amused at how Noah’s expression clearly told you all he didn’t want to be there. 

But why has he never told you about her? And why did she feel like she could just strut over to the two of you and put her hands all over your man friend! You were going to teach her a lesson tonight, you’re usually a girls girl, but she had truly pissed you off. 

And nobody pisses you off and gets away with it.

“No.” You smile, an evil idea in your mind, “Leave him.” 

Matt raises an eyebrow. 

“What are you thinking?”

“Nothing.” You give an innocent smile, “He’s got this under control, it's nothing he's not handled before, guys, he’s fine!”

You were going to let the truth come out, loud and clear.

The guys seemed to find something else to talk about as you ordered yourself a drink, feeling someone lurking behind you.

“So what’s this about?” Bryan’s voice makes you jump, you curse him with you hand over your chest as you turn to speak to him.  

“I don’t like her,” you sigh, “I don’t like the way she looks at him, or the way she was invading his personal space, putting her hands all over him like she owned him. And I know Noah too well, I know he doesn’t like it either.” 

Bryan was still confused. 

“I mean yeah it’s pretty entertaining to watch Noah squirm.” Bryan admits, and you nod, taking a sip of your drink, "But it's really not that deep, y/n."

“I just wish he’d have told me about their past," you say, ignoring Bry's words, "Why have I never heard about her?”

“Honestly, I guess he didn’t think it mattered. Like Matt said, he never liked her in the way she liked him. Now he's not on social media he's had no reason to speak to her, or even think about her.” He shrugged, before he narrows his eyes, "... Are you jealous?"

You give him the side eye, knowing it's impossible to lie to Bryan. He always seemed to know.

"Maybe a little," you say with a sigh, feeling like now was the perfect time to come clean to Bryan, "Look, Bry, you've probably guessed already but Noah and I have something going on, it's pretty complicated because Vin's involved too-"

"Yeah, I thought so." He chuckled, his hand running over his beard, before giving you a look to say continue.

"Anyway," you shook your head, "I don't know if feeling jealous is valid in this situation... Because he's had his suspicions about Vinny but I've never told him the truth, and he's never told me about her, but we're not together."

"Hey," Bryan could see how this had clearly upset you, his hand rested on your shoulder as he gave you a soft smile, "If you have feelings for him then of course it's normal to feel that way, but now maybe you can see why Noah feels the way he does about you and Vinny?"

"You've noticed that too, huh?" You frowned, realising he was right.

Your eyes drift back over to them, watching the way she over-exaggerated a laugh at something he said, her hand brushing his arm. 

You almost felt bad for Noah. 

“God, she’s relentless.” You mutter under your breath.

20 minutes pass and you can tell Noah is sick of it, she wouldn't let him get away, you assumed your plan was going well. They were sat opposite each other on the couches, and you watched the way she teased his leg with her heel. His hands were balled into fists, and you could see he was trying not to lose his shit.

However, whilst you were too busy watching them, you hadn't notice the guy who had approached you.

“Wow... I never thought I’d see you again, and here of all places?” He chuckled.

“Oh my god,” you were lost for words, “No… you’re…” 

“You came here with Bad Omens?” He asked, and you nodded, your eyes drifting back over to Noah.

“Yeah, I’m Noah's plus one.”

“Oh! So you two are…”

“Oh, no! We’re both single!” You nodded, and before he could say something else, Noah’s voice beamed through the air.

“No! I’ve had enough, okay! I’ve put up with this for long enough, I don’t give a fuck and I never have! I tried to let you down gently in the past but you just never fucking get it! I’m not interested, okay? I never have been and I never will be. Is that clear enough for you?!” He shouted, and you held back the smile tugging on your lips as you watched her smile fade as Noah walked away, running his fingers through his hair as he approached you two. 

Max nods his head. 

"You sure about that? " He smirked.

"Yes!

“Okay... Well I guess that explains why you were all over me at the club that night then.” 

“Oh,” Noah's eyes widened, “So you two do know each other.”

“Quite well.” Max smirked, but that quickly dropped as he saw the terror on your face. 

“Oh shit!” Folio laughed, watching the scene play out in front of him. 

“Noah, it was literally the first day of tour!” You chuckle nervously. 

“Y/n," Noah shook his head, a humourless laugh leaving his lips, "Do you even know who this is?”

“Max...?” You shrugged. 

“This is Max Santoro... Y'know, the drummer for Thousand Below... Sound familiar?” He crossed his arms.

“Fuck,” you whisper, your face paling, realising just what that meant. Noah was close with the guys in Thousand Below, he'd helped them write and produce songs in the past, and they'd even toured together. You knew they were all friends, he talked about them rather a lot.

“Do you have a thing for drummers then, hm? What next, are you gonna tell me you’re in a secret relationship with Folio?!” Noah exclaims, and Folio shakes his head. 

“Leave me out of this one, man!” 

“Did you know about this?" Noah's head suddenly turns to Nick, "You were there that night?”

“Yeah, but it’s not like it’s a big deal, right? It was a kiss.” Folio scoffed. 

“Can we please just leave this,” you sigh, “So I kissed your friend when I was drunk at a party, you’ve had a secret whatever-you-want-to-call-Lauren this whole time and never thought to tell me?”

“Fuck,” Max laughed, “That’s her? She looks so different, I didn't recognise her.”

Noah shakes his head, trying to hold himself together.

“Look, I didn’t mean to cause any trouble.” Max says, “I didn’t know about the two of you-”

“It’s not your fault,” you mutter, rubbing your temples as the whole night feels like it’s spinning out of control, “There’s nothing going on between the two of us anyway.”

“I’m sorry.” Noah sighs as he apologises, patting Max on the back, “She just fucking annoyed me,” he looked over at Lauren, “Basically asked if I’d put her on our next album if she slept with me.” 

“What?” Your eyes widened, feeling your blood begin to boil, but kept it under control. 

“It’s done now,” he smiled, “I think she got the message."

“And so did everyone else.” Max chuckled, “Anyway I need to go and find Josh, I’ve been holding his beer for 10 minutes now, surely it doesn’t take a guy that long to pee.”

“Okay, we'll come and join you guys soon.” Noah nodded as he walked off. 

“I’m sorry I should’ve told you about that night- to be honest I totally forgot about him!”

“It’s okay,” Noah chuckles, “I should’ve told you about Lauren, I just didn’t think she’d be here. Her band hasn’t had a song that’s done well in about 6 years.” 

You scoffed. Good, you thought. 

You wondered whether you should bring it up or not, but you wanted to hear it directly from him. 

“So what was the deal with her?”

He took a deep breath. 

“There isn’t,” he chuckled, “We started off as friends, she had a boyfriend when we first met, but not long after we met on warped tour she broke up with him and tried getting with me, but I never thought of her like that. She was like a sister to me, it just felt… weird. She’d always flirt with me on social media and I’d play into it because sometimes I thought it was funny, but when the band started blowing up I realised she’d only be trying to use me more, since her band is… well…” 

You wanted to laugh, so she really did get what she deserved. 

"Let's not talk about her anymore..." You said, looking down at your cup. Noah smiled, reaching his hand out to lift your chin up, and for a brief moment you thought he was about to kiss you.

“How about I introduce you to some of my friends? I told them you'd be coming with me tonight.”

“Sure,” you smiled, “I’d love to meet them.”

Noah held your hand through the crowd as you joined Thousand Below at their table, and a couple members of Erra had joined them, and you had to hold back your excitement.

“Hey guys," Noah sat down, patting the chair beside him for you, "This is y/n, Bryan’s oldest friend, our second photographer! Y/n this is James, Josh, Alana, Josh number 2, and, well, you know Max, and these guys are Clint and Jesse!” 

"It's so great to meet you all." You smile as they all introduce themselves.

“I don't play for the band by the way,” Alana laughed, “I’m Josh's- this Josh’s girlfriend!” She smiled, pointing at her boyfriend.

“So you’re the famous y/n.” Jesse smirked, “We know all about you, don't we?”

“Oh yeah?” You saw Noah blush. 

“Don’t listen to them,” Noah places a hand on your thigh, “So-”

“Wait, are you two dating?” Alana smiled.

“No!” You both exclaimed, which seemed very convincing to them. 

“Sure…” Josh nodded. 

“So, how’s your first tour going?” Alana asked.

“It’s been pretty good, we’re about halfway through now.” You smiled. 

“I still remember my first tour- it was with Bad Omens too! I should mention I also do a lot of production work with bands.” 

“Oh, cool! Who have you worked with?” 

Lana swapped seats with James so you and her could have a conversation between yourselves as the other guys talked to each other, you both realised you had a lot in common too. You both like similar bands, and she’s even worked with some of your favourite artists. 

“I might go and get another drink,” you announce, and Noah nodded. 

“I’ll come with you.”

As you both walked back to the bar, Noah's arm around your waist, you told him about how well you and Lana were getting along, and how you thought the guys from both bands were pretty cool.

Then, as you got to the bar your eyes drifted to the door and you spotted somebody.

“Holy shit!” You gasped, your breath catching in your throat. Your eyes must be playing tricks on you.

“What?” Noah chuckled, clearly amused at your random outburst. 

“Is that…” 

You could hardly believe it. It couldn’t be…

Walking through the door, looking even more stunning in person, was none other than Andy Biersack and his wife? This is the man you’d dreamed about for years, plastered on your walls as a teenager. And now, here he was, in the flesh, in front of you?

You tried your best not to freak out, which would prove to be a vital skill in the industry you want to work in, but this was different. You’ve loved this guy for the majority of your life.

“Noah… That’s…” You couldn’t finish your sentence, feeling your palms get sweaty. 

“Who?” He followed your gaze, and realised what this was all about. 

“Andy…” Your mouth was dry and your legs felt weak.

“What?” He laughed, and then he watched as Andy waved him over, “Wanna go and talk to him?” 

“Really?” You blinked at him, completely stunned. 

“Well it looks like he’s calling me over so…” 

You followed behind Noah in a daze as he approached Andy, who was now stood alone as his wife had gone to greet a friend. You took deep breaths, his presence felt even more magnetic up close. 

“Hey, congrats on the new album- or albums! I never got a chance to congratulate you on The Death of Peace of Mind, and then the OST came out… both were just… amazing!” Andy grins, extending a hand for Noah to shake.

“Thanks,” Noah blushed, he was never good at taking compliments, “Your new songs are sick too, aren’t they, y/n?”

All you could do was nod.

“Is this your girlfriend?”

“Friend.” Noah nodded, “And also our tour photographer.”

“I’m y/n.” You swallowed hard, finally finding your voice. You had never felt so starstruck before. “I-I don’t know what to say, I’ve always fucking loved you… I mean… I’ve always been a fan, I just-” 

Andy chuckled softly, clearly amused by your reaction. 

“Thanks,” he smiled, “I think I’ve actually seen… yeah, you’re touring with Motionless too, right?”

“Yeah.” You nodded your head. He knew you?

“I’ve seen your work, your photography, it’s amazing!” Yes, you were going to faint. You could hardly breathe. This couldn’t be happening. 

“Oh my god, thank you. Seriously, I-”

“We've actually got a tour coming up in a couple months,” Andy cut in, “We’ve been looking for photographers, but none of the ones we’ve contacted have gotten back to us. If you’re free, would you be interested in joining us? No promises, I’ll need to discuss it with our team, but if you’re available, I’d love to have you on board. I’ve been meaning to ask Chris about your details so we could contact you, so I’m quite happy I’ve met you tonight!”

Andy Biersack was happy he met you. 

You stood there, completely speechless. Your mind scrambled to form coherent words. 

“I... I... yes! Yes, of course, I’d-” You were grinning so wide your face was aching. “I’d love that! Yes!”

Andy smiled back, clearly pleased by your enthusiasm. 

“Great! Like I said, I’ll need to check with the team first, but if you’re free and ready to go, we’d be thrilled to have you on the tour.”

“Thank you,” you breathed, your voice shaking slightly as tears filled your eyes. “Oh my god, I can’t believe this... I never thought I’d even meet you, let alone work for you. This is... This is my dream.”

Andy’s smile grew wider. 

“No problem.”

“Can I-” You started, then hesitated, your heart pounding in your chest. “Can I hug you? Or is that... weird?”

“Not at all! Come here!” He grinned, opening his arms. 

Without thinking, you rushed into his embrace, feeling the warmth of his body envelop you. It felt surreal, like you were about to wake up from a dream. His arms were firm around you, and for a brief moment, you forgot about everything else. Every moment of suffering and disappointment in your life has paved the way for this moment. Everything made sense. 

When he pulled away, you were still grinning like a giddy schoolgirl, your heart soaring in your chest. You wanted nothing more than to go back in time, to tell your younger self that it’s going to be okay. 

You had never felt so happy before. Everything was falling into place. 

Everything was going to be alright!

Or so you believed in this moment.

You watched Andy walk away with Juliet, and you immediately turned to Noah, grabbing his hand.

"Where are we going?" He chuckled as you lead him down the hallway.

"The bathroom, when I can find it." You smirked, following the sign.

When the two of you finally found it, you shut and locked the door before approaching Noah, wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling him down to your height before your lips crash into his.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Meanwhile in Chris’ hotel room

Chris played the track, and Vin hummed the lyrics.

“Shit! The first part doesn’t sound right.” He groaned, putting his phone down on the table. 

“I was thinking we could change it a little?” Chris suggested, taking a sheet of paper and a pen that was conveniently in his bag. “So what if instead of this,” he began writing some of the lyrics, “We start it like this?”

“When you fall I’ll follow you, into nothing ever after…” Vin read the lyrics out, before changing them once more, “How about this?”

“Wait, let me start the track again,” Chris smiled, pressing start on his laptop, “So if we leave this as the intro…” He nodded his head to the music before singing, “If you fall then I will too, into nothing ever after. Do we have to face the truth, or look away, neglect the wounds… do do do do… I like it!” 

“We just need to finish the rest.” Vinny sighed. 

“I like what you’ve got so far, it's pretty deep... Who hurt you?” Chris chuckled, reading some of the lyrics Vin had written. 

“I uh… Watched a movie, and it inspired me.”

Chris could tell by the look in his eyes that he was lying, but he didn’t question it any further. He simply nodded his head and restarted the track.

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

@rumoured-whispers @collisionofyourkissmakesitsohard @lma1986 @thisbicc @dominuslunae @miss570 @miamore0570 @jilliemiw86 @itsyaboinoah @discocowgirly @rainy-darling

[panicloser]

School Zone Girls | Family Headcanons | Part 1

Yo so we never see the parents and usually not the siblings of the characters. Which suck but also it means I'm free to come up with whatever interpretations of them that I want *rubs hands together mischievously* >:)

Anyway I reread this manga recently so here's headcanons about what their family's are like, I hyperfocus wrote all these down in one night without editing them, some of these I came up with when I read it originally and some I came up with today, so yeah here's a bunch of food for the starving fandom

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Rei Yokoe

-so it's confirmed that she has an older brother and it specifically says she's living with him. Plus lives in a small apartment and only calls out for him in this scenes which leads me to believe that she's only living with him

-i can just smell the mommy issues on her I don't know what to tell you.

-An obsessive attachment to a woman and has rejection sensitivity, sounds like mommy issue behaviour to me

-i think probably neglectful mother considering her want for attention from Kei and wanting to be around a person constantly

-i also just get the vibe that she only ever had one parent in the picture, so maybe her mom just got pregnant or whatever with no real relationship idk, either way no dad or anything

-her mom was never particularly attentive and was always quite flaky, went out a lot, did whatever she wanted to enjoy herself. gave her and her brother a lot of independence but not much attention. When they asked for things or showed her stuff she didn't really process it much most of the time

-But the few times she did give them attention she was overly affectionate and acted like nothing happened

-her mom also never really put pressure about doing good in school or anything obviously so that's why Rei doesn't have that at all

-once her older brother was legally an adult/able to live on his own she decided to fuck off and leave the two of them living there on their own. She pays them money to keep them sustained here and there maybe visits once in a blue moon but other than that she's not around

-she's a strange lady

-however Rei has a very good relationship with her brother because of all this.

-They argue at times of course but only in that lighthearted sibling way. They've always had the tendency to play fun games or do silly shit together

-i have a headcanon that her brother is just as weird and goofy as Rei but unlike her he's better at masking it in public or around people he's not close to

-Her brother unfortunately has to work a lot to sustain them both, leaving her alone often but he tries his best to not be like their mom and find time whenever he can to spend time with her

-I think Rei would try to talk about her mom's neglect like it's not a big deal but she's really torn about it on the inside and she doesn't hide it that well. Most of the time she just tries not to think about it.

-it would be fun to write a fic where her mom comes back to visit and Rei's in a weird mood about it which Kei notices.

Kei Suguira

-I think Kei hates doing school work and shit just as much as Rei but the difference is that her parents put pressure on her to be good at it

-i get the vibe that both her mom and dad would be serious people that put focus on having a successful career and the typical family and that kind of thing. They're social norm and rule followers y'know

-i don't think they would be as harsh as other parents and they certainly care very much about their kids and can say that but they try to nudge their kids in a certain direction. As long as Kei has doing her work she can have all the fun she wants outside of that

-both her parents are quite similar to each other and hold pretty stereotypical family roles

-Also I headcanon her parents are homophobic at least somewhat and have brought it up. Because Kei has to be getting her internalised homophobia from somewhere and it doesn't seem to be from her peers or her sister which leads me to guess her parents are

-speaking of her sister, we see her in the manga so I don't have to make up too much about her

-they argue way more than Rei and her sibling. Kei's sister making fun of her a lot is the reason Kei is so competitive and embarrassed easily. she's used to getting mad at her sister a lot so used to defending herself and being hotheaded

-her sister her teases her, she gets mad at her, but at the end of the day if the other really was going through something they would have each other's back. They've got a "only I can shit talk her!" type of dynamic

-I think Kei feels kind of nuetral about her parents, she loves them but doesn't feel close to them or like she could open up in a serious way

-her parents think Rei is really fucking weird and wonder if she's a bad influence but unless they found any major effects or about the gay shit I don't think they would make a big deal about it

Yatsude Negoro

-i think she has a pretty good relationship with her parents

-i feel like neither of them are particularly affectionate. Which certainly isn't from a lack of love, I think they both love their daughter very much they just don't show it in a stereotypical way

-the family love language is acts of service and giving each other advice

-her parents are quite similar to her so they all just kind of understand each other very well

-i think both of them are pretty career driven

-i think one of her parents is tends to be a bit nosey into her life which is where Yatsude gets it from and the other isn't and gives her a lot of space

-i could maybe see her parents being a same sex couple? But also maybe not? Idk either way I do kinda of imagine her having a dad that she has a good relationship with though. Maybe he's the one who's nosey.

-Yatsude says she doesn't have any siblings but she also says this line about little shits.

-I'm guessing that means maybe she has a lot of younger cousins. I headcanon that at family gatherings she always tasked with being the babysitter which is why she's got those mother instincts with her friends

The Hinase Twins

-so they mentioned their mom 3 times in their flashback thing and theres also that picture of them with their awards where they're with I'm assuming the mom

-never mentioned a dad or anything else

-considering that and that their mom probably pushes both of them (or at least with Hiragi at first) to do well in school and extraciruclar activities and the extremely codependent relationship the twins had from a very young age leads me to headcanon that maybe their dad died when they were very young. Like a bit before even the oldest flashback we see of them

-its a very bold claim that's likely not true but it would explain their codependcy, Hiragi's early on sense of responsibility towards Tsubaki and Tsubaki's immediate willingness to lean on that. Maybe their mom prompted them to do well at school or other stuff because she was worried about their future because of that loss or it was a way of honouring him. Maybe their dad was a fairly responsible or serious person

-their dad could have dipped too? That would also explain these things.

-anyway as for their mom, I do think she has overall had a focus on them being very successful, way more than Kei's parents. But I do think she is a fairly affectionate person and is willing to help them do the best they can in anyway they need

-probably works a lot

-doesn't push either of them to makeup if they don't want to, advices them individually when she has the time which isn't often

-pressures them but like in a nice way. And then the rest of the time she's busy

-Hiragi thinks her mom's niceness is fake but does appreciate when she helps

-Tsubaki thinks her mom's niceness is genuine but doesn't appreciate when she helps

-both of them resent their mother for a lack of care and feel the strong need to constantly impress her. They both wish she was more loving but neither of them complain about it out loud. Instead both of them just seek alternate authority figures to lean on (Hiragi through Akutami & Tsubaki through Yatsude)

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

Link to Part 2

[igglemouse]

It's Monday which is kind of the start of the week? It usually feels like it at least and I'm not exactly sure what might happen this Monday but I'll be starting it in the shower. Washing off the last of yesterday, you could say, because one must smell good in show business. Just imagine me showing up for my audition with a stench? 'Sorry, you're acting was impeccable but but you stink, no literally, you stink!'

By the by, I'm not much of a chef and so you'll see me munching on whatever I can get my hands on and this morning its a very plain sandwich. I hope it'll be good enough for breakfast because it is the best I can do right now.

OH! Some news that you might not expect but I've decided to join a book club! I'm not sure exactly why buuuuuut, I did? Look, I saw an opportunity and I took it and besides, acting includes a lot of reading. Imagine being an A-lister and having countless scripts sent your way? Exactly. So I plan on being an avid reader!

ANY WAYS! Off to my first audition! Wish me luck!

After a successful audition (I won the part!) I head out to the park to clear my mind and just enjoy the day. A good day. A happy day because my career is beginning. Sure, it's just a commercial but one, it adds to my currently blanke resume and two, I make simoleons. So, we all have to start somewhere and I look forward to shooting it.

ANYWAYS! So I'm at the park and feeling the vibes until the sound of a clearly practicing and amateur musician hits my ears. I'm not going to lie, most of it was horrible, but for whatever reason it catches my attention and interest.

I'm not new here. Like I've said, I'm DSV for life, born and raised, so I'm used to seeing people out in the street begging for the right pair of eyes or ears to give them their big chance so this is nothing new, but the man certainly has a unique sound to him...

It's his voice. That's what it was. It has a tenderness to it that grabs you, that makes you wonder about his story, but then you hear his fingers carelessly pluck at a guitar and it ruins whatever comes from his throat.

I stare at him for a moment and wonder what his game is. Does he realize that he can't play the guitar or is this some new genre I know nothing about? I'll be honest, if it's not a musical I don't vibe with it so it is entirely possible that maybe he this is what you kids listen to nowadays? Anyways, the man seems satisfied with himself.

He finishes and puts his guitar down, satisfied with himself for whatever reason and looking at me as if he expects some applause. "Ummm, congrats!" is all I can offer for lack of not knowing what else to say. I don't want to put him down because he's so very proud of his performance. Actually, he should be, at least half of it? don't know what else to say, he seems so proud of himself.

"Ah, thank you, thank you!" Yep, definitely proud of himself.

"Your voice is very unique, in a good way!" Always focus on the positive, right?!

"Thanks! I'm new to the guitar but it's like they say, practice makes perfect, right?"

"Umm, is it a good idea to practice in the public?" I ask the obvious question because why practice in front of others? It would be like me performing my script out here in front of others.

"I figure if people see my rawness and see the growth over time that they might connect with me more, y'know?"

"Oh, yeah..." hmm, that is an interesting outlook on it, I guess he's thinking long term? "So, whats your vibe, what's your style? What kind of music are you trying to create?"

"All I have is my voice and my word, so I kind of mix things up, you know? A little melodic singing over music is what I tend to do. I don't have a genre, I want to transcend genres."

"Hmm, yeah," Yep, definitely a musician. I know us artists get flack for being odd but that's not on us, not on us thespians I should clarify. It's mainly the painters and musicians that are out there. Maybe you can include writers, if you can find them, they like to hide under rocks after all. "I think you definitely have the talent, at least with your voice, so yeah I can see that!"

"Yep, now it's just about finding someone with simoleons to believe in me I guess."

"Well, you might not get it playing like that in this park!" I joke, but he does laugh with me and seems to understand my point.

"I'm persistent, I'll be here everyday until someone gets tired of it."

"I get it! I'm the same way, I guess we are both here chasing dreams," and this is the city of dreams, isn't it? A city of stars is probably more apt.

"Oh, you too huh!? Derrick, by the way," and he gives me that smile, maybe you know the one? The one that tells me he'd like to see me again but in a different setting. Right now, I'm not exactly opposed to that.

"Teresa! Maybe one day our names will be on the front page of a magazine!"

Derrick was well met especially because his story feels similar to mines. He's out there grinding with the hopes that someone, anyone, will give him a shot. That's how this whole thing works, doesn't it? You do all you can for that one shot, that one moment that will launch you into stardom and once you are there? Once you are there it's hard to get you down. For him, it's one song that can transform his career and for me it's one performance.

So I find myself back home in front of my mirror and the script firmly in hand. It's a commercial so my lines are few, two sentences, but I'll put my entire soul into those two lines.

But commercials are not my end goal of course as they are just a stepping stone to bigger and better things. I don't have any connections but I do have a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend that thinks she can get me into an upcoming sitcom that is specifically looking for someone that looks just like me but this is an opportunity for another day so let's not think too much on it right now.

Alright, I think I've done enough for the day. I cook some friend plantains, which I do alright with, and get ready for bed. I'll need a full day of rest for my performance tomorrow. Do they give awards for commercials, by the way?

Teresa Tejedor - Next Episode 1.3

[danurso]

Yang: Aaahhh! The beach! Oh, I missed this place!

Weiss: *holding an umbrella* Why do you feel the need to be so dramatic about it? It's just a beach.

Yang: It's the best place in the world! Not that you would know anything about it, being the first time in a place with so much sun and all.

Weiss: I've been to beaches before!

Yang: Your pale ghost skin begs to differ.

Weiss: *eyebrow twitching*

Ruby: Relax everyone, we came here to enjoy the place.

Nora: Hell yeah we did! *holding a surfboard above her head* Last one in the water smells like a dead fish! *Bolts away*

Ren: I better make sure she doesn't hit a rock again. *Follows*

Ruby: You're coming Blake?

Blake: *sitting on a shadow and reading* Thank you, but no thank you.

Yang: Your loss!

Yang shifts her focus to a fellow blonde, and makes her way towards him with a cheeky grin.

Yang: Hey there ladykiller~

Jaune: *putting on sunscreen* Hey. Gimme a second, gonna join you guys as soon as i finish here.

Yang: So, I'm done changing. Whaddya think?

Jaune, who up until now was focused on covering himself with sunscreen, finally looked at Yang who had her hair on a ponytail and wore a simple orange bikini, with her favorite glasses resting on her head.

Jaune: *red* Oh. . . .it looks uhmm *scratching his neck* I-it looks pretty good.

Yang: Hehehe, that's good to know. Mind getting me something to drink?

Jaune: S-sure. *Walks off*

Yang: *Grinning*

Ruby: Planning to make a move already? Or are you just gonna use him as an errand boy?

Yang: Oh please, I'm taking things slowly for now, giving it time to do stuff right y'know?

Ruby: Uh-huh.

Weiss: Well, taking your time is a good thing, but if you don't pay attention someone might snatch him from under your nose.

Yang: Oh yeah? And who would try and do that?

Weiss: *Looking behind Yang* Apparently, quite a lot of girls.

Yang turned around to see Jaune in the distance, drinks in hand and with an awkward smile as a flock of girls surrounded him.

Weiss: Well, it seems like Nora was right.

Ruby: Dammit! Now I owe her twenty bucks. . . .Yang?

Yang: *walking towards the group*

Ruby: . . . . . .think they're going to be okay?

Weiss: No clue, but for all legal intents and purposes, I do not know her.

Ruby: *deadpan* Thanks, that was very reassuring of you.

*Meanwhile*

Jaune: Err. . . .look, I really need to go now.

Girl1: Aww, why don't you come hang out with us?

Girl2: We're gonna play volley, we could use someone like you on our team~

Girl3: It's gonna be fun! Come on~

Jaune: I would love to, but i'm with my friends already so-

Yang: Hey there everyone! *Pushes through the group and hugs jaunes arm* You need something?

Jaune: *red* Y-yang?

Girl2: Who are you?

Girl1: We got here first! Dibs on the Blondie

Girl3: Yeah! Go find your own!

Yang: Oh really? *Hair on fire, eyes glowing red* Wanna say that again?

The trio yelped in surprise, falling back on the sand before running away.

Yang: Hmph, That's better.

Jaune: Weren't you a little too harsh with them?

Yang: You're too nice y'know? You can't just let girls harass you like that.

Jaune: They weren't harassing me, they're staying in a house around here and just wanted me to go with them to play volleyball.

Yang: . . . . .so they wanted you to follow them to their house just to play volleyball?

Jaune: Yes.

Yang: Even though there's like, three volleyball areas a few meters from here

Jaune: Well. . . . .yeah.

Yang: *sigh* You're so innocent it's almost cute. But keep something on your head, girls like that usually want something else from you.

Jaune: What could they want with-

Yang: *gives him a look*

Jaune: . . . . . . .*pink* oh, right. I see your point.

Yang: Oh don't worry, no one really gets it the first time it happens to them. Just remember, the next time you get approached by a girl, pay attention so you don't get tricked by their charms. *Takes her drink and starts drinking*

Jaune: Thanks but. . . . .this isn't the first time that happens.

Yang: *spits drink* It's what!?

Jaune: It already happened before now that I think about it.

Yang: When!?

Jaune: Well, there was this one time where a girl stopped me and asked for directions, and insisted that I guided her myself, even offering lunch as thanks. . . . .there's also that lady from the dust shop who keeps calling me a good boy and offering me a job as her personal assistant. Oh, there's also the time where I tried to help a girl who fell from her bike and twisted her ankle, I offered to use my semblance on her but she kept insisting that I should carry her to a hospital. There was also this one time where. . . . . . . .wow, this happens way more often than I ever thought before.

Yang: . . . . . .

Jaune: Yang? You okay?

Yang: *Smiling* Yeah, doing great.

Jaune: Uhm, okay. I'm going in the water, you're coming.

Yang: Sure, I'm right behind you.

Jaune: *leaves*

Yang: . . . . . . .

Weiss: *joins in* So, problem solved?

Yang: No. . . . .nowhere near that, my noodle was in danger all this time and I didn't even know.

Ruby: It's just some girls trying to hit on him, it's not a big deal. It's not like Jaune is the type of guy to let himself be swayed by someone he just met.

Weiss: Though maybe, if you're really so concerned about someone stealing him from you, you could stop playing around and do what has to be done already.

Yang: . . . . .you're right. No more joking, I have to take this seriously from now on, there only one way to keep him safe and I'm doing it!

*A few days later*

Jaune: You sure you wanted to come? I thought you didn't like comics.

Yang: They're pretty nice, ruby loves them too.

Jaune: I know. . . . .can i ask you something though?

Yang: Yes?

Jaune: Why are you dressed up like this?

Yang: *Wearing a black suit, sunglasses and an earpiece* No particular reason.

Jaune: I see. . . . . .

Girl: Hey there handsome~

Jaune: Hey-

Yang: Hostile in sight! Deadly force authorized!

Girl: What the- GHAA!!! *gets tackled to the ground*

Jaune: YANG!?!?

Ruby: *in the next aisle, sorting through comics* Welp, that went well. Looking on the bright side, no one died yet, so your plan seems to have worked.

Weiss: *holding a pile of comics for her* THAT WAS NOT WHAT I MEANT FOR HER TO DO!!!!!

[characteroulette]

Okay y'know despite not receiving any answers on Apollo's apparent lack of character, I think I have figured out why people think as much about him. It's purely that they tend to just fill in their perceived lack with a more Phoenix motivation than Apollo's own actual motivations. Apollo gets conflated with Phoenix, especially in DD, despite how in AJ he wants nothing to do with Phoenix after his first case. It's easier to just treat Apollo as an extension of Phoenix since Phoenix is the main stay, the main focus, even if that couldn't be the furthest thing from the reality of the text.

Apollo wants the truth above all else. It's why he reveals that Machi is a smuggler and Vera is a forger despite how it might damage his clients' credibility. (We don't get things like this in DD, and in SOJ it's more revealing Datz is a terrorist would lose his case immediately. I think, at least.) But usually, when I see people muse in their fics on how Apollo would take defending an actually guilty client, they have him swap sides immediately. Just like Phoenix would. And I think that's not what Apollo would do. There's plenty of evidence in AJ that shows Apollo doesn't flip sides so immediately. He accused his teacher since the evidence and logic led him (/us) to that conclusion, but the entire time he was hoping for a different explanation. He pursued the truth in spite of his own misgivings on the situation. He presents the forged card because he is being manipulated into this, being led straight into the waiting jaws of that snake trap made specially to snare Kristoph.

He was naive, and he makes sure that doesn't happen again. Even in the final case of AJ, he makes sure to explain the second forged piece, to explain the same trick of it that Phoenix made for the first forged piece. It doesn't work this time (and I am begging Phoenix to have thought up a better way to get traces of poison from a convicted inmate's cell, even despite how favoured Kristoph was), but Apollo knows what he is doing now. He acknowledges instead of attempting to fudge anything, in direct contrast to Phoenix's own actions from the original trilogy.

I don't think he'd deny his client's guilt if they did truly commit the murder. I think he'd still fight for the truth, wouldn't settle for just a guilty verdict until the whole plot was figured out. Apollo wants to help his clients, sure, but that's never been his driving force. How could it be when it was never his choice who he ended up defending? What he wants is to know the truth. He wants to understand how the crime happened and follows the logical conclusion from that on how this crime occurred.

To be fair to Phoenix, he was under duress when this happened to him both times (Matt and Iris). But Phoenix is driven by belief in his clients while Apollo is driven by the desire to uncover the truth. Similar but very different motivations, I think.

I think this is also what separates Phoenix from Ryuunosuke. Phoenix believes in his clients. Ryuunosuke had to learn that belief but also carries Apollo's drive for the truth. He will claw and scrape until the worst is revealed, even if it hurts someone. (He'll feel terrible about it later, but he will still expose Kazuma's guilt in almost killing a man for the sake of the truth.) Taking this even further, the one who decides how like Phoenix or Apollo's motivations Ryuunosuke is are the choices the player can make. They might be meaningless choices narratively, but they matter in the same way the Matt Endgarde decision matters. You can choose for Ryuunosuke to turn a blind eye to McGilded's forgeries, belief in your client above all else. Or you can have Ryuunosuke acknowledge there is something shady happening here, truth above all else. Or you can have a mixture of the two! (I chose this option, making Ryuunosuke question the new evidence but ultimately pleading for a Not Guilty verdict.) It's a fascinating way to mix these two's strongest driving forces and leave it to the player to determine how much each side affects Ryuunosuke's personality as shown in the text.

Phoenix is willing to fudge the truth for the sake of his clients. We see as much in 3-3. Apollo would never do such a thing, he is here to find out the truth, no matter how ugly. And Ryuunosuke sits in-between the two, a little of column A and a little of column P. I just find this distinction between all of them so fascinating.

All this being said, I'd love to see Phoenix be put in this situation where he isn't under duress for once, actually. What he would do is fascinating to me hahaha

[libbys-braincell-loss]

i became inspired so heres a silly oneshot smg34 fic that also includes mario and meggy

---

This fic includes:

snowtrapped reference. Sorry yall </3

shitty grammar whenever mario speaks

---

SMG43 crush frustrations, a 2 1/2 part oneshot

---

Segment 1: SMG4 and Mario

---

SMG4 sits at his desk, making videos, as per usual. Working hard to appease the hell that is the YouTube algorithm, all that good stuff.

SMG4 is just focused on working on making a decent video, trying his hardest to work in peace.

Suddenly, the door breaks down for the 17th time this week (it's tuesday), and SMG4's idiot best friend Mario bursts in to disturb said peace.

"ES EM GEE FOUR" he yells, startling his friend.

SMG4 sighs. "Hey, Mario, what do you need?"

"I just wanted to see what you were doing :))" Mario replies.

"I'm just making videos, that's all," SMG4 says, attempting to regain focus on making the video. "I gotta finish as much as I can before I have to hang out with SMG3 later today"

"Ooooo, watcha gonna be doin?"

"3's just gonna be streaming the two of us messing around on Gmod. I think he wants to play prop hunt?"

"Mario played that one time with him. He's too good at it," Mario recalls.

"Heh, as if. He only won cuz he was against you," SMG4 exclaims. "He won't stand a chance going against me."

Mario peeks over the chair and observes SMG4 making his video.

"Can Mario help???" Mario asks.

"Hahaha, no," said SMG4. "You don't know shit about editing."

"Lol ur right, im just bored af and wanted to do something" Mario says, eyes crossing. "What video you makin"

"I'm remastering an old video called 'Charming Peach'; people seem to like when I make remasters of old videos," SMG4 responds.

"Oooooooooo" says Mario. "Can I suggest a video idea?"

"Y'know what, sure. Go ahead."

"Snowtrapped remaster :))))"

SMG4's eyes widen. He turns and looks at Mario in the crossed eyes and humongous mustache.

"Hell no!"

"Hell yeah :)"

"Why would you suggest that?! I'm not doing that!"

"Why not?"

SMG4 blinks. "Why do you think?"

Mario shrugs. "Because it's too cold?"

SMG4 face palms. "I forgot; you don't think."

"Awww :(" Mario frowns. "Thats mean :(("

"Dude, SMG3 and I literally have sex in that episode."

"And?"

SMG4 blinks.

Mario blinks in return.

"AND WE WOULD RATHER DIE THAN REMAKE THAT? What do you want me to say?" SMG4 exclaims.

"You didn't enjoy it?" Mario asks.

SMG4's face turns bright red. "MARIO!! Why the hell would you ask that?!"

Mario blinks. He grins. "You're avoiding the question"

"I'm not answering the question. I'm not remaking Snowtrapped, period. SMG3 and I could never relive those events again."

Mario blinks one eye after the other, like a frog.

"Do you like him?" Mario asks out of the blue.

"Huh??" SMG4 says, red creeping on his face.

"Do you like SMG3?" Mario asks.

"I mean, yeah... as a... friend, of course."

"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..." Mario's eyes narrow, and his head widens as he stares directly into SMG4's soul. "Mario doesn't buy it."

"What? What do you mean?!"

"I think you are gay :)"

"No. Also can you stop talking in emoticons?" SMG4 sighs.

"Come on!! I'm pretty sure you like him in a gay way"

"Why do you have to say it like that?"

"huh"

"...Nevermind. No, I don't like him like that." SMG4 chuckles, like he's trying to gaslight himself into believing the words he says. "Why would I? He berates me every day, I can't stand him sometimes... Why would I be in love with someone who constantly tries to do some bullshit to piss me off?"

"But when you do get along, what then?"

SMG4 opens his mouth to speak, but no words came out.

"I just... I..."

Mario smiles really wide. "Youuuu liiikkkeee himmmm!"

"Mario, quit it!"

"Youuu dooooo :)"

"MARIO!"

"Youuuu likeee yourr rivaaaaalll :)))))"

SMG4 sighs, tired of trying to convince Mario otherwise. "Fine, you caught me. Yes, I may or may not have developed a crush on SMG3..."

Mario gasps with the utmost glee in his eyes.

"I KNEW IT!"

"Yeah, but you BETTER NOT TELL A SOUL!!" SMG4 puts a firm hand on Mario's shoulder and points at him aggressively.

Mario frowns. "you're no fun"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I just don't want word to spread and for SMG3 to find out. Then he will really hate me, and not in the joking way he usually does."

"You think he hates you?" Mario tilts his head

"...Not really, but..."

"Then tell him!" Mario says.

"Haha, hell no. He is my rival, and even though we're able to... tolerate... each other for enough time, but SMG3 is very keen to remind me that we are 'rivals', and refuses to admit that we are friends, no matter how much we get close to admitting we are friends."

SMG4 looks down. "I do really like him, I just... I have no way of knowing if he does like me at all, and if he is being serious when he shit talks me. Maybe he thinks and talks about how stupid I am when I'm not hanging out with him. He probably hates me, with how much he berates me. Why would I want someone who hates me?"

Mario blinks. "You are dumping all this info on someone who has zero advice for you" he says.

SMG4 smiles sadly. "My bad. I just... it's been eating me up inside, I just wanted to vent about it."

"Its ok :) mario can try to give advice if you want!" Mario says.

SMG4 sighs. "Go ahead."

"Mario thinks that if SMG3 hated you so much, he wouldn't go out of his way to be around you"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"He frequently shows up to hang out with you, he saves you, he talks about you a lot..."

"Wait, he does?"

"Yeah! I was waiting to get a bomb at his coffee shop and he was in a corner writing in his journal again, and he was saying everything he was writing out loud; he was saying 'I'm excited to hang out with smg4 tomorrow, we gonna play some gmod together and im totally gonna beat his ass at prop hunt, hes gonna be so mad itll be so funny, seeing his face so angry is so entertaining-' and then he stopped writing cuz he saw me waiting for my bomb order and he shoo'd me out of there and i didn't get my bomb"

SMG4 blushes. "Huh. So, he does shit talk me outside of my earshot, but in a positive way..." He smiles ear to ear. "Mario, honestly, I cannot believe I'm saying this, but your advice actually helped. I think my intrusive thoughts were just trying to lie to me. I needed to hear that."

"Yay! Mario's glad he could help :)" Mario says, smiling. "This is my character development! I am therapist :)"

SMG4 chuckles. "Mario, I would not trust you as a therapist 100% of the time."

Mario smirks. "But you can trust SMG3 as your therapist-"

SMG4 punches Mario's arm "Shush. This stays between us, okay?"

"yeah B) i gotchu"

"Thanks, man."

---

Segment 2: SMG3 and Meggy

---

Meggy steps into SMG3's coffee shop, 3's Coffee and Bombs. The cafe was very empty, there was little to no people there.

"Hello? SMG3?" she calls out.

SMG3 pops out from the kitchen.

"Ah, Meggy! Welcome to 3's Coffee and Bomb's!" SMG3 exclaims with a grand flourish. "How may I serve you?"

"Hey dude, I came here two days ago," Meggy says, deadpan. "You don't need to make a grand spectacle everytime I show up."

"Yeah, yeah. What'll it be? Coffee or bombs?"

"I'd like some coffee today. I think I'm gonna go for some black coffee today."

"Daring today, aren't we?" SMG3 says, in a sarcastic tone.

"Look, I'm trying to expand my horizons. Try new things. Every time I drink coffee, it's sweet as hell. I'mma take something bitter for once."

"If you say so," SMG3 says.

SMG3 makes Meggy her coffee and Meggy gives him his money. SMG3's watch beeps.

"Oh! Looks like it's break time!" he says.

"Nice! Care to join me?" Meggy suggests.

"Sure, why not," SMG3 says, shrugging. He makes himself some coffee of his own and sits at a table across from Meggy.

"I heard you have plans on doing a stream collab with SMG4 today," Meggy comments. "You guys are playing Gmod, right?"

"Yeah!" SMG3 sips his coffee. "I'm gonna kick his ass in prop hunt. He will be so pissed."

"Haha, I see," Meggy says, taking a sip of her coffee. She spits it back into the cup.

"Rude," SMG3 frowns.

"It's not that you're bad at making coffee, it's that black coffee isn't the right coffee for me," Meggy responds, also frowninh. "Don't take so much offense to everything."

"Welp." SMG3 leans back in his chair. "I'm excited. I can't wait to absolutely destroy his ass in games I'm goated at."

"Aren't you just happy you get to hang out with 4?" Meggy remarks.

"...Hanging out with him to make him look like a loser on stream, yes!" SMG3 responds.

Meggy smirks. "I think you do enjoy his company."

SMG3 studies a speck on the ceiling. "Says who?"

"Says me. I know you like him."

SMG3's face immediately turns bright red.

"NUH UH!" SMG3 exclaims. "He's stupid and a moron and a loser! W-why would I be attracted to a- a loser like him?!"

Meggy looks him dead in the eye. "I was gonna say opposites attract, but you guys are both oblivious AND obvious dumbasses, so you guys have more in common than you like to admit."

SMG3 looks away. "I don't like him. He probably hates me, with how much I berate him. Why would I want someone who hates me?"

Meggy smiles.

"3, I think 4 is just as in love with you as you are with him."

"What makes you think I like him?" quizzes SMG3.

"Oh, you constantly talk about how excited you are to do anything with him, you pout when he's not around, and you're usually the first person to try to instigate helping him as soon as he's in trouble," Meggy recounts.

SMG3 blushes. "We're Meme Guardians; if one of us isn't around, our powers are very minimal. I'm just looking out for him because I don't know what happens to one Meme Guardian the moment his counterpart is dead, and I don't want to find out."

"Awww, you care about him!" Meggy smiles.

"Just talk to him, dumbass," Meggy said. "He usually functions better once people communicate their issues with him. If you ask if you take things too far, and if he feels hurt by your words, talking it out is the right thing."

"Shush. So what if I do? He would never like me back. He probably can't stand me. I berate and belittle him too much. I know, I know, it's bad, but... I don't know how to communicate appreciation to people I care about. Teasing is all I know, but I never know if I've pushed it's limit-"

"But that's so difficult! I'm no good at communication!" SMG3 complains.

"You're a therapist! This is the type of advice you give your patients!" Meggy responds.

"I'm a hypocrite!" SMG3 wails.

"Look, just talk to him at some point. Maybe after the stream is over, just take some time out of your day to figure out how SMG4 feels about your constant teasing, then go from there."

"Yeah. Y'know what, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks Meggy."

"No problem! And, while you're at it, you should totally go for it!" Meggy exclaims, beaming.

"Meggy..." SMG3 sighs.

"I know you like him, you can't keep hiding."

SMG3 groans even louder.

"Yes, but you tell no one, okay?" SMG3 orders.

"Of course," Meggy says, smiling.

---

SMG4 and SMG3 are up in SMG4's office, playing and streaming Gmod shenanigans. Mario is sitting on the couch in the gaming room, watching TV. Meggy comes in and joins Mario on the couch.

"SMG4 and SMG3 can't be any more obvious, can they?" she remarks.

"they gay as hell," Mario agrees.

"3 confirmed he does like 4," Meggy says.

Mario laughs maliciously.

"What?" asks Meggy.

"mario also got SMG4 to confirm he likes 3 >:)," Mario says.

"Ha," Meggy says, "Cool. Do you think they'll ever actually get together?"

"hmmmmmm, Maybe!" Mario answers. "But if they don't, it's incredibly funny to watch their gay struggling, so we can keep watching it for a while"

"I like your thinking, Red," Meggy smirks. "Let's just let them be for the time being."

[annabthesolitarywriter]

Hallmark Christmas Fanfic

Prompt: Hallmark Christmas fanfic=>“Almost kiss but somebody walks in.” [Prompt provided by @lucifers-legions]

Title: My One & Only

Characters: Éomer, Lothíriel, Éothain

Pairings: Éomer x Lothíriel

CW: none

Synopsis: Éomer and Lothíriel are decorating the Christmas tree and discussing

gingerbread houses when an unannounced visitor shows up at their place.

Word count: (AO3 stats=>3,297 words)

Also posted on AO3!

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND NOTES

This is my first time writing Éomer and Lothíriel, so I really don't know what I am doing. I usually struggle when it comes to writing canon pairings, which is why I mostly tend to focus on my OCs and the few canon characters I feel I know how to write. The prompt was suggested by my friend and Tumblr mutual luciferslegions (@lucifers-legions on Tumblr) as a part of a Hallmark roulette game she came up with. The participants were meant to write a story based on two random canon characters and a random prompt. I got Éothíriel (I suppose I was lucky) and my prompt was "Almost kiss, but somebody walks in." I am generally not very good at writing couples, kissing scenes, smut and the likes, but this was something I felt I could try my hand at. I hope it's not too bad/cringy and if it is...be kind about it. Do let me know what you think ( I am all for honesty and transparency), but, please, be civil about it.

Also, Lothíriel's last name is Swann in this (Yes, like Elizabeth Swann from Pirates of the Caribbean). Originally it was supposed to be "Amroth", but then I thought Swann was a much better fit, both because it sounds much more like a modern last name and because…y'know, the Swan Knights of Dol Amroth. I decided to go with Éomer Eorl because…it sounds good to me.

That being said, I hope you enjoy the story!

My One & Only

“I think we are finished.”

Lothíriel Swann stood on her toes as she attempted to carefully place the newly-chosen ornament—a giant golden swan—on the very top of the huge Christmas tree her boyfriend, Éomer Eorl, had gifted her a few weeks prior. Although he had enjoyed decorating the house with lights, wreaths, stockings and ribbons, he failed to understand why he should put so much effort into embellishing a pine tree that would eventually have to be discarded. He quite simply could not wrap his head around it and had tried to reason with his girlfriend about it. Unfortunately, Lothíriel would not hear of it, and had forced him to participate in what he considered to be an unnecessarily strenuous and laborious activity. He had set up the tree for her and had patiently helped choose the most beautiful ornaments, which included several handmade horse-shaped knick-knacks. Those very same ornaments had been a Christmas present from Lothíriel and Éomer had grinned in satisfaction.

Although he loathed Christmas trees, he adored gifts and had surprised Lothíriel with plenty of them. She usually could not do without formal gowns and pearl necklaces and Éomer had made sure she received them in abundance. She was now wearing the latest dress he had gifted her—a silk gown matching her dark hair—and a silver bracelet was visible on her wrist. Éomer’s gifts also included the triple strand white pearl necklace presently adorning her neck and the tiny moon-shaped earrings she had slept on. She usually removed her make-up and took off all of her jewelry before bed, yet, because she had fallen asleep on the couch after crying her eyes out over a rom-com of which Éomer could not even remember the title, she had neglected to do so and had woken up complaining of an excruciating headache supposedly due to sleep deprivation. While Éomer had initially laughed it off, he had been quick to change his tune after meeting his girlfriend’s piercing gray eyes. She was vexed—terribly vexed—and a single look from her had been enough to convince him to run off to the kitchen to make her a kale smoothie. Despite being a voracious meat eater, he supported Lothíriel’s decision to follow a plant-based diet and often cooked her breakfast separately. Contrarily to his girlfriend, he had always been an early bird and found that waking up at dawn suited him much better than sleeping in. He started his mornings with a cup of black coffee and devoured a giant egg, bacon and cheese sandwich before hitting the gym. He believed in keeping fit and, because Lothiriel appeared to greatly appreciate his abs among a plethora of physical and intellectual attributes he seemingly possessed, he trained hard and diligently. Though he usually displayed a tough persona, he was sensitive and insecure at heart. While it was true that he sometimes struggled to show it, he truly loved Lothíriel and he feared losing her. She was a gem, and he dreaded the day she would be snatched away from him. He did not doubt it would happen. He knew all about her many admirers back in her hometown and was aware of his inferiority. He was reminded of it every day. All of his girlfriend’s suitors happened to be way richer and influential than he would ever be and thought of Lothíriel possibly eloping with one of them caused him immense distress.

Although he was himself affluent, he despised people flaunting an extravagant lifestyle and much preferred to work rather than lounging around in mansions accomplishing nothing and, thankfully, Lothíriel seemed to share his opinion on such matter. Despite appearances, she was a well-rounded girl who took delight in the simple things life had to offer. She adored sipping hot chocolate in her pajamas and was her happiest at the local animal shelter. Although at first fearful of horses, she had learned to coexist peacefully with them, which pleased Éomer greatly. He was involved in several horse-trading businesses and had grown up in his family’s country home, tending to chickens and horses being very much a pivotal part of his daily life. He had been raised among strays and indoor pets and was beyond pleased to see Lothíriel trying to overcome her anxiety and spontaneously interacting with them. None of her friends in Dol Amroth—former college roommates and childhood pals alike—seemed to have a penchant for nature and country life. They were club goers who drove around in expensive cars and squandered money because they could afford it. Lothíriel had vouched for them, but,judging by the way her jaw tightened whenever she spoke about them, she too thought them to be shallow and worthless. Éomer remembered that conversation; a casual chat as they drove back to Rohan after spending a few weeks with Lothíriel’s relatives. He had become acquainted with her brothers and her aunts and had enjoyed fishing with her father. Imrahil Swann, a rather well-known entrepreneur, had at first disliked the young blond boy his only daughter seemed to be so keen on. Despite wearing his finest suit and having an undeniable presence to him, Imrahil had immediately sensed that he would not at all fit into the world the Swann family was a part of. Though he had grown to like him, he still doubted his relationship with his daughter would last.

Little did he know that Éomer wished to marry her. He had been playing all night with the engagement ring, which he had carefully hidden in the pocket of his jacket and had intended to wait until Christmas to propose. He would so on Christmas Eve after attempting to cook a scrumptious dinner. Or perhaps he should ask for her hand during dinner. He had not yet decided the dynamics of the affair and had not even written or practiced his speech, but he knew it would happen one way or another. He just needed to wait for inspiration to strike. He just needed to wait for the right moment…

“Darling?”

Éomer blinked and let out a sigh as he pensively ran hand through his hair. “Yes? Have you…”

He cleared his throat in embarrassment. “Have you said anything?”

Lothíriel frowned, visibly confused. “Are you alright?”

“Of course.”

“Have you been listening to me?”

“I…”

“What is it? Why are you sulking?”

“I am not,” he retorted. “I…”

“I thought you liked setting up the tree with me. We can certainly spend our time together doing something else if you are bored.”

“I am not bored; I was simply thinking.”

Lothíriel hugged him. “What were you thinking about?”

Éomer gulped. He certainly could not tell her the truth and quick thinking had never been his forte. His eyes wandered around as she tightened her grip around his waist, his heartbeat quickening.

“I was…admiring your beauty. You have never looked better.”

She kissed the tip of his nose and giggled. “I never thought you would have such great taste in clothing and jewelry. If I look pretty today—or any day, for that matter—it is only because of you.”

“That is a stretch, my dear.”

She caressed his face. “Not at all, my love. You constantly spoil me.”

“It is my duty. I am your boyfriend, after all.”

“Oh, you are indeed.”

She smiled at him and rested her head on his shoulder. “Could you help me with the gingerbread house and the chocolate chip cookies? Christmas is only a few days away and I am so behind schedule.”

“Did I hear you say gingerbread house?”

“You heard it correctly.”

Éomer chuckled. “Forgive me, darling. I am a bit surprised.”

“What is wrong with gingerbread houses?”

He raised an eyebrow. “As far as I know, you loathe ginger in any shape or form.”

“It is not for me to eat.”

“I am confused. Who is it for? You know very well that I don’t particularly like…”

“Elboron adores gingerbread and so does your sister. I thought it would be a nice gift.”

“I am ashamed to admit I had not even thought of my sister and my nephew. I am a horrible uncle.”

“Elboron loves you very much. You shouldn’t beat yourself too much over it. He won’t kill you if you show up to my cousin’s house empty-handed. That is, if you play with him all night and read him his favorite bedtime story.”

“Elboron may not kill me, but I cannot say the same about my sister.”

“She seems so kind, I doubt she would…”

“How much time have you spent with her in your lifetime?”

“Why would you ask?”

“Well, I…”

“I may not know her all that well, but she was always nice to me.”

“You are not related to her, are you not?”

A wide-eyed Lothíriel stared at him. “What are you trying to imply?”

“I grew up with her.”

“And? What about it?”

“She delighted in reprimanding me when we were children and her attitude over the years has not changed in the slightest.”

“Perhaps you deserved it.”

Éomer rolled his eyes. “May I ask you a question?”

“Go ahead, my love.”

“Must you always side with my sister?”

“I trust her judgement.”

“What about my judgement? My sister is brash and impulsive, I am known for my common sense.”

“Is that so?”

“A few people could testify in my favor.”

“Pray tell me, my love. Would those people be those friends of yours from your military days?”

“I have tons of friends, my shining star. And, yes, I would definitely count them in. They are all responsible people with whom I have a history of camaraderie.”

“Which is precisely why I would not trust them.”

“Why would you…”

“I’d rather ask Faramir.”

“You are just messing with me right now, Lothy. I was serious.”

“So was I.”

She grinned and smirked. “Faramir cannot lie. He is impartial and would never take sides.”

“Do I need to remind you that he is a law student?”

“And a very good one, at that.”

He glared at her before the corners of his mouth eventually turned upward.

“I presume you are aware that taking sides is what all that he will do once he graduates. It is the bulk of his chosen career.”

“Of course I am aware of it, my silly little pumpkin head. I only meant to say that he would never meddle in family affairs.”

“What did you call me? Pumpkin head? If you must insult me, at least try and come up with something a bit more Christmassy. It’s been more than few weeks since Halloween.”

"Nothing comes to mind at the moment, my love. I will look through a dictionary and then I'll let you know. What else were you going to say about my cousin? I know you were about to say something else, darling. Don't be shy."

“He...he has a laid-back vibe about him, I am not going to lie. I am rather fond of him.”

“I am glad to hear it. Faramir and I are pretty close and I really hoped you would get along.”

“I like him. He’s learned and intelligent. I still have no idea how he persuaded my sister to marry, but I applaud his effort.”

He paused. “Then again, he is studying to become a lawyer. He must certainly have a way with words.”

“Are you suggesting he tricked her into marriage?”

“I am saying nothing of the sort. It is just that…”

He sighed. “Why don’t we get started on the gingerbread house?”

He turned and walked toward the kitchen, Lothíriel strutting behind him. “Wait.”

Éomer froze and turned back, Lothíriel’s eyes cold and stern. He gulped.

“What is it? What have I done?”

Lothíriel did not reply, her gaze fixed on him. Éomer stumbled backwards, a shiver running down his spine.

“I did not mean to offend your cousin. As I mentioned earlier, I have a great deal of respect for him and I could never slander him. He’s my sister’s husband and…”

His jaw was clenched. “I just…sometimes I…”

He cleared his throat and exhaled, his lower lip quivering. “I feel as if…”

He leaned on the wall behind him, his hands shaking Lothíriel’s features softened as she held his arm. “What is going on?”

He gulped once more.

“Will I ever be enough for you? Will my love ever be enough? Your friends in Dol Amroth are all so accomplished and I…”

“Éomer…”

“Your father, your brothers, your cousin…”

“Why are you comparing yourself to them?”

“I don’t think I…”

“Had I wanted to stay in Dol Amroth, I would have made it known. Had I wished to date someone else, I would have told you. Yet I didn’t.”

“I cannot understand why one as beautiful as you would be with someone like me.”

“I never agreed with the theory stating that blond people are stupid, yet I may have to retract my statement. You truly are an idiot.”

The light in his eyes was quenched; his hand reaching for the ring in his pocket. He closed his fist around him, his head tilted to the side.

“I am sorry. I should have…”

“And, on top of it, you should get your eyesight checked because I am positive that you are blind. I should buy you a cane.”

“Why are you being so mean all of a sudden? Do you agree with them?”

“I see now.” She quipped. “A cane is indeed an appropriate choice of gift.”

“Just answer my question please. There is no need to mock me.”

“Have you ever heard of sarcasm?”

“Lothíriel…”

“Either you are blind or you’ve never owned a mirror, darling. Probably both.”

“Please stop it.”

“Why can’t you see it!?”

“See what, Lothíriel? What is it that you would like me to realize!? You want me to admit that I am not worthy of you, that you wasted your time, your youth, your…”

“I want you to realize what a gorgeous, remarkable, intelligent young man you are.”

She breathed in. “I want you to realize that there is no other I would ever even consider being with. I want you to realize that you are the only man on the planet that I would ever be prevailed upon to marry. I want you to realize that I have been dreaming of our lives together ever since we were introduced at that silly Christmas buffet two years ago. I want you to realize that I would like for us to start a family as soon as possible.” She looked at him. “You are my one and only, Éomer Eorl. Ever since I glanced at you, I knew you were the man for me and I am so grateful I went out of my way to attend that buffet.” She chuckled. “I suppose I should thank my aunt Ivriniel for her persuasion skills.”

“You…you really mean it? You truly want to…marry me?”

Lothíriel rolled her eyes and kissed him on the cheek before he had time to come up with any more nonsense. He blushed, his eyes now wide.

“Oh my, you are so cute.” She scratched his blonde stubble. “Also, please, don’t forget to shave.”

Éomer frowned. “I thought you liked my beard.”

A smirk appeared on Lothíriel’s face. “I love everything about you, my love. Even so, your beard irritates my skin.”

“Must I shave before kissing you?”

“It would be much appreciated.”

She sighed. “For the record, I do think Faramir would side with your sister. If she ever crosses the line, she will have to face me. My wrath can be as deadly as hers.”

“I have never seen you angry.”

“Be thankful for it, my darling. Be thankful.” She leaned on him. “Do we really have to make the gingerbread house?”

“We don’t have to unless we want you.”

“Elboron will be so disappointed…”

“He’ll get over it. He is my sister’s son and he is nearly as strong-willed and stubborn as she is, but he’ll survive. He is still getting chocolate chip cookies after all, is he not?”

“Oh yes. I will happily make those. I love chocolate.”

“I will help you. Just try not to eat all the dough by yourself.”

“I do not know if I can help it.”

“Share some with be, I beg you.”

“I shall think about it.”

“What is there to think about?”

“I was told you may be on the naughty list and I don’t plan to share anything with naughty boys.”

“Me? Naughty? I am the nicest boy who ever lived!”

“Are you though? Are you really?”

“I…”

“You certainly deserve a kiss, then.”

“I haven’t shaved…”

“It matters not.”

She cupped her cheeks and brought her face close to his, her eyes fixed on his lips. She moved her even closer to and he slightly bent his knees and picked her up. It was then that they both heard a loud knock. They turned abruptly as someone cried out their names. Éomer clenched his jaw and rolled his eyes.

“I so wish murder was allowed.”

Éothain, Eomer’s cousin, was standing  by the window. Éomer folded his arms and glared at him while Lothíriel rushed to the door. She quickly opened it and greeted him warmly as he handed her the tray.

“Do come in! It is cold outside!”

Éothain took off his boots. “My truck wouldn’t start so I had to walk all the way here. I am sorry to disturb, but I thought you’d like some leftover turkey and some roasted vegetables I made for lunch. I know my cousin is fond of them.” He winked at him. “Hello, cousin!”

“My girlfriend and I were having a moment and you…”

“I am sorry! How was supposed to know you were about to make out?”

“We were not about to make out.”

Éothain’s eyes widened. “Were you perhaps about to…ugh…”

“No!”

“There is need to shout, cousin, my hearing is perfectly fine!”

“Why are you here, Éothain!?”

“I told you, I just wanted to say hi and bring in some leftovers. I also happen to have a gingerbread recipe which someone told me may be useful in this household.”

Lothíriel froze, her hands nearly dropping the tray.

“You.”

“Yes?”

“Share it at once. Please. Help me.”

“It would be my pleasure, my lady.”

He jokingly bowed to her and laughed, Éomer tossing a cushion at him. Éothain looked at him, bewildered. “Why did you…? Where did you find that?”

“I saw you were busy talking to my girlfriend so I took the liberty to go to the sitting room to fetch something to shut you up.”

“It hurt, cousin. Please don’t you ever do it again.”

“It was the comfiest, fluffiest cushion I could find!”

“It still hurt!”

Oh, don’t be a baby.”

“I am just saying that…”

Lothíriel stomped her feet. “Would you mind helping me in the kitchen?”

She glanced at Éothain. “I am going to need help. Come with me.”

“What about…?”

“My most excellent boyfriend can finish decorating the guest room upstairs. It is his favorite holiday activity. Isn’t that right, my love?”

Éomer’s face dropped.

“I thought we were finished with the tree.”

“Oh, yes, the tree needs no more embellishments. I reckon it is perfect as it is. All the rooms on the second floor need lights though.”

“Lothy…”

“Off you go, darling.”

Éomer sighed.

 “Fine. As you wish.”

Lothíriel and Éothain soon disappeared into the kitchen. Éomer hesitated and lounged on the couch until an overwhelming sense of guilt took over him. He then hurried up the stairs, mumbling and scoffing at nearly every step.

“I hate Christmas. I really do hate it.”

Faceclaims:

Karl Urban as Éomer

Katie McGrath as Lothíriel

This is more or less the dress I though she'd be wearing on such an occasion. Cute, classy and elegant.

Arnas Fedaravicious as Éothain (as he does not appear in any other writings of mine, I sort of picked a random dude so that he would have a face, but, on second thoughts, he doesn't look too bad. He'd make a good Éothain. Although I don't plan for him to show up in my Middle-earth AUs…I mean, why not. Who knows. Why shouldn't I include him in my writings? He only needs a storyline that makes sense).

That's it! I hope you liked it and…Happy Holidays, everyone!

Tags:

@lucifers-legions

@emmanuellececchi

@saurongorthaur9

@tolkienocweek

[ilovemensthings]

Healing Touch [Daryl Dixon]

pairing: Daryl Dixon x gn!reader

warnings: gunshot wounds, swearing; fluff

The air was thick with tension as the group trudged through the dense forest, each step a reminder of the world they had come to know. Daryl led the way, his crossbow held ready, his senses sharp. You followed close behind, your own weapon at the ready.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, shattering the eerie silence. Daryl's body jerked as the bullet pierced his shoulder, and he fell to the ground with a grunt. Your heart raced as you rushed to his side, dropping to your knees beside him.

"Daryl shit! Are you okay?" Panic laced your voice as you assessed the wound.

He gritted his teeth, his face contorted in pain. "Yeah, I've had worse."

Without hesitation, you tore a strip of fabric from your shirt and pressed it against the wound to staunch the bleeding. Daryl's jaw clenched as he stifled a groan, his eyes locking onto yours with a mix of pain and gratitude.

"Stay still, Daryl," you commanded softly, your focus solely on your task. The world around you faded as you worked, your fingers gentle yet sure. The others watched from a distance, offering support from afar.

Daryl's breathing began to steady as the bleeding slowed, and you took a moment to exhale, relieved. "Okay, I've got the bleeding under control. Now we need to get you back to camp so I can properly clean and bandage this."

He nodded, his gaze never leaving your face. "Thanks," he mumbled, his gruff voice carrying a rare vulnerability.

With the help of the others, you managed to get Daryl back to camp. As night fell, you sat beside him, tending to his wound by the flickering light of the fire. Your fingers were gentle as they worked, and Daryl's eyes remained locked onto you, his expression a mix of gratitude and something more.

"Sorry you have to deal with this," he muttered, his voice low.

You smiled softly. "Hey, it's what we do for each other, right? We're a team."

He smirked, a hint of his usual tough exterior showing through. "Guess so."

The days turned into nights, and you cared for Daryl with unwavering dedication. You cleaned his wound, changed his bandages, and ensured he took his antibiotics. In those quiet moments, your connection deepened, the unspoken words between you becoming louder than ever.

As Daryl's strength returned, he started to help out around camp once more, but there was something different about the way he looked at you now. A certain tenderness, a newfound appreciation.

One evening, as the two of you sat by the fire, he reached for your hand, his fingers intertwining with yours. "Thanks for patchin' me up," he said, his voice a soft rasp.

You squeezed his hand, a smile tugging at your lips. "Anytime, Daryl. I've got your back."

As the fire crackled and the night wrapped its arms around the camp, Daryl's grip on your hand tightened. He cleared his throat, his gaze fixed on the dancing flames before he turned to look at you, his blue eyes searching yours.

"Y'know, this whole mess we're in... it's made me realize some things," he began, his words slow and deliberate.

You furrowed your brow slightly, curiosity mingling with the warmth in your heart. "What things, Daryl?"

His thumb brushed over your hand as he gathered his thoughts. "I ain't never been one for words, but bein' around you, takin' care of me the way you have... it's made me see things different. I've been tryin' to deny it, but I can't no more."

Your heart skipped a beat as realization dawned on you. Could he really be saying what you thought he was?

"Daryl?" you prompted gently, your voice barely a whisper.

He looked at you, his expression soft yet resolute. "I care about you, more than I've cared about anyone. It's like... you've become the anchor I didn't know I needed. And I ain't good at this, but I need you to know, I love you."

A rush of emotions swelled within you, a mixture of surprise, joy, and an overwhelming sense of affection. Your eyes glistened as you squeezed his hand, feeling the weight of his words and the vulnerability he had shared.

"Daryl, I love you too," you admitted, your voice carrying the truth of your feelings. "And I've been wanting to tell you for a while now."

A shy smile tugged at the corner of his lips, his tough exterior giving way to the man he was beneath it all. "Guess we're a pair, then."

With a mixture of tenderness and certainty, you leaned closer, your lips brushing against his in a sweet, heartfelt kiss. In that moment, surrounded by the backdrop of a world turned upside down, you found solace in each other's arms, a love that had grown through adversity and trials.

As you pulled away, Daryl's fingers brushed against your cheek, his touch gentle and affectionate. "We'll keep fightin', survivin', and lovin'... together."

And in the midst of the chaos that had become the new normal, you held onto each other, united by a love that not even the harshest of circumstances could break.