#I was mad unwell today and started to feel a little better at the end there

[halogalopaghost]

APPARENTLY mental and emotional exertion/stress can cause fibro flare ups just as much as physical exertion >:T sooooo I probably caused this by writing 7k over like three days WHATEVER

[clockwayswrites]

Birds and Mice and Tea Parties 20

Masterpost

AN: B really was trying his best to protect Danny last time, he just was missing too much information. Poor Danny...

No reading over. We suffer and post at 2am.

-

It had been two weeks since the last rogue Wayne visit.

Danny hadn’t intended to keep track. There was no reason to. One visit from Cass and one from Tim did not a pattern make.

He tried to dismiss the observation. He had plenty to do; it wasn’t like he didn’t have friends. The bi-weekly trivia group would start meeting again soon. He also had a TTRGP session that did its best to meet around all that life threw at them. Tucker and him played online games when they could make schedules match and he and Sam talked when she was stateside. He even had regular lunches with coworkers!

Still, there had been something different about spending time with the family.

So no, Danny hadn’t meant to keep track, but he still knew it had been two weeks and a day. But of course he wouldn’t see the Waynes that often. Bruce was a very busy man and most of the children would have no reason to come to W.E. They had their own lives with work and school and being kids or young adults. The other visits had simply been flukes, as nice as the visits had been.

The subtle feeling of melancholy that had settled over him was ridiculous and he wasn’t having it. His mood was simply off because of the whole Ancient thing. The way it was affecting his health didn’t make feeling better any easier either.

Danny leaned against the wall of the elevator as he tried to catch his breath. He really shouldn’t be walking right then to get lunch, not with the way that he felt, but he hadn’t had anything at his place to make lunch with. He hadn’t had the energy to go shopping. He’d just go somewhere close instead of walking to anything on the other side of the park.

The natural reverb of the lobby assaulted Danny as he stepped out of the elevator.

He just had to get through the lobby, the street, the restaurant, back through the street, and through the lobby again. Then he could hide in his office and eat. Or he could hide in there and eat as long as Lucius didn’t find him. Maybe even Lucius would give him a break today though.

“Dr. Fenton…?”

Danny looked up from rubbing his neck.

It was Tim. Damian was at Tim’s side, flanking him like a little guard dog and scowling. Tim was frowning too. Danny immediately wanted to fix whatever was wrong.

“Look at that, a pair of Waynes. How are you two?”

“That is unimportant,” Damian said with a little sniff. “You are clearly unwell. I assume you are returning to your apartment to rest?”

“Oh, no, I’m just going to go grab lunch. I’m alright, really,” Danny said and put on the best smile he could muster.

Tim and Damian looked at each other in some sort of silence conversation. Danny started to edge away from them, thinking he could escape before they came to some sort of end. He really needed out of the lobby and its echoing sounds.

A startled shriek from the entry way cut off that plan.

Danny twisted to face the sound as he stepped in front of the kids.

Of course it was a rogue, what else would it be in Gotham? It was a rogue, but at least it was the Mad Hatter and his squad of likely mind controlled goons. He usually wasn’t prone to death and destruction like some of the others were. But still, Danny felt his metaphorical hackles rising. The kids were here.

The kids were here and sure to draw the Mad Hatter’s attention if he saw them. Danny stepped slowly backwards, herding the kids away from the scene. At least they weren’t far into the lobby.

“Back up to the stairwell,” Danny said lowly, trying to cast his voice behind him.

“Tch. We can—”

“The elevator, the back left one,” Tim said quietly but firmly over his brother’s protest. “I have a code to take it to a safe room in the basement.”

“If he kills the power,” Danny started.

“The elevators have emergency back up.”

“That’s not very good behavior for a tea party, is it?” the Matter Hatter shouted at someone.

Danny bit back a rising noise of anger in his throat. His fingers twitched to act. But he couldn’t. The best plan was to get the kids out of there away from any action.

“Yes I see, Damian,” Tim hissed. “We’re almost to the elevator.”

“Call it as soon as you can,” Danny said. Was there a reverb to his voice? It felt like there was a reverb to his voice. No, no, he couldn’t, he had to…

“That’s better! See? This is how you behave when someone invites you to a tea party! Now where is that little dormouse?” the Mad Hatter called. “I know I saw him come in here! With an even littler one too.”

He wanted Tim.

“Calling the elevator.”

“Another mouse? A rat? A cat?"

The Mad Hatter wanted Tim and Damian.

“Here mousy mouse mice… where are you?"

Danny would not let that happen.

“Oh there you are! Hiding back by the doors, of course he is!” The Mad Hatter said. The crowed parted in fear. His wide, manic eyes looked right past Danny and he grinned. “Get them. We have a tea party we’re late for.”

“Over my dead body,” Danny growled.

The Mad Hatter blinked at Danny like he just noticed him for the first time. His goons rushed past him and through the crowd. “Oh, who are you? Never mind, if death is what you want, we can make that happen.”

Danny couldn’t hold back the chortling laughter. “See, that’s where you have a problem you don’t even know you could have.”

“And what is that?”

“You couldn’t handle my dead body,” Danny said just as the first goon reached them.

Danny stepped forward. He ducked under the swing of the punch and used the momentum to spin the goon around. With a push of his ghostly power, he sent the attacking goon careening into the next one and they both went tumbling.

“Danny, it’s here!” Tim shouted.

Not turning his back to the attackers, Danny stepped backwards into the elevator. Tim slammed a button and the doors basically snapped closed, much faster than they should. Danny was left staring at the polished metal surface of the elevator. Luminous green stared back at him. Soft black feathers dotted his temples. His fingers ended in talons. And he could feel it.

He could feel the skin on his back started to split.

Wings.

[italiantnea]

#3-2_takatomo_miyuki/ the inaudible voice, collected

prev: 3-1 // next: 3-3

-----

“What happened today?” mom asks me. Before that, dad asked me every day. It was a habit from when I was quite young. From before I could remember. After getting to middle school, I started replying, “it was normal.”

“‘Normal’?”, mom says, unsatisfied. “Wasn't there something good, something that made you mad, anything?”

If something good did happen then something bad happened as well, but all of that was included in, well, normal?

That’s pretty much how I felt, every day.

“Then, was today a good day for you, Miyu?” mom tries to confirm.

It’s a pain, so I reply, “It was a good day.”

But, when did it start again?

As the words “It was a good day” come out of my mouth, my chest aches, and it becomes hard to breathe.

I mean, it hadn't been a good day at all.

When did it all start to go wrong?

When I first felt something was weird—

That’s right.

“Hey, did you take my mechanical pencil by mistake?”

As Nagisa said that, I remember thinking, ‘Eh?’

Murahama Nagisa had been in my class in first year, and we got along well after second year too. Just in case, I checked in my desk drawer and pencil case, but Nagisa’s mechanical pencil was nowhere to be found. “Hm, I liked that one though…” Nagisa muttered, and I remember feeling off at her unwillingness to accept it.

After that, things got a little strained between us.

Nagisa, Shimomaeda Yoriko, Kon Chiami and me; the four of us were fairly often together. At the end of the day, it was just fairly often, though. I don't deal well with moving in a group. The feeling of always having to be with a fixed group… how’d you put it. I felt a little suffocated at times. If there was someone outside the group I got along with or found interesting, I wanted to talk with them normally. And I did that, often.

After the incident with the mechanical pencil, Nagisa became high-strung. Even though she hadn't been that kind of person. She would be strangely nervous, or feel unwell in the mornings, and go to the infirmary. Yoriko and Chiami were mostly worried about Nagisa. I was worried, but I guess I didn't say much about it? Everyone had days where they felt unwell or were in a bad mood. Rather than reading too much into it or imposing your kindness on them, wasn't it better to leave them be?

In truth, after a while, Nagisa went back to the regular old Nagisa. Nagisa did.

Next, Yoriko started acting on edge.

I’d gotten to know Yoriko after starting second year, so we weren't well acquainted. Apparently Yoriko and Nagisa had gone to the same kindergarten and primary school. Yoriko would jokingly say, “Besties! We might be besties?” But I didn't get along well with Yoriko. I didn't hate her, but I didn't particularly like her that much. It was just, you know? Yoriko would use coarse language, so I was scared of her sometimes.

“Naw, seriously, it’s gone. I forgot it again. That’s weird, man. I forget it this often? Ain’t I forgetting it a bit too much?”

Countless times, I’d hear her say something like that while rummaging through her desk.

“...I mean, seriously, didn't it get stolen? Someone stole it. I’ve lost one too. Seriously, not funny. I mean, I lose things a bunch though. But f’real though, this is not a joke. Mama’s gonna be mad at me again. What a shock…”

Nagisa and Chiami would laugh and pacify Yoriko, but I didn't feel like getting close. Yoriko was a messy person, and she forgot things a lot. To say someone had stolen it, or whatever. Even if it was in the heat of the moment, there’s things you can and can't say. That truly was not something to joke about.

I just thought, “It’s kind of weird…”

Yoriko’s complexion looked unwell. Her skin was chapped. She would say her stomach hurt and not come out of the toilet, and leave school early.

It was weird… wasn't it?

It was just a feeling, but somehow I knew. Something was off.

I mean, no matter what happened, Chiami was the same as usual.

Every day, Chiami was cheerful. In the mornings, during break time, during lunch break, after school… without fail she would speak to Nagisa and Yoriko and chat about something—I’d sometimes be present for that part though—she’d laugh at anything, and text us frequently, and when you didn't respond the next day she’d laugh and say “Eeeh, why didn't you respond…” She didn't seem to be mad, but to me it felt like a subtle pressure.

Though…it wasn't like I hated her. I didn't think she was a bad kid. I mean, it was just a little difficult to be around her. Chiami and Nagisa got along well, so I just went with the flow and hung out with them. I was already friends with Nagisa anyway; if that hadn't been the case I might not have become friends with Chiami.

I don't think Chiami is a bad kid.

No matter if it was Nagisa, or Yoriko, or me, if anything happened, the first one to notice was Chiami. She had a sharp eye, or, well, she was nice, I thought.

 “Tell me anything” was Chiami’s catchphrase. But I felt somewhat uneasy about that stuff. I’d tell her if I wanted to tell her anyway. If I didn't say that meant I didn't want to say, so I wanted them to leave it.

 Nagisa and Yoriko were also bombarded with Chiami’s “Tell me anything.” ...Weren't they annoyed?

But in the end, the two of them may have really ‘told her anything’. Unlike me.

I didn't say a thing.

My phone disappeared. It was a hand-me-down from mom. An old i-Phone. When I got to school in the morning, I checked my messages and the weather forecast once. Then I put it in my bag. When I tried to find it during lunch break, it was gone. I was frantic. It couldn't have disappeared. As I looked for it, Chiami asked, “What’s wrong?”, and I replied, “It’s nothing.”

“Really?” Chiami didn't seem satisfied with that, as if she already knew. The fact that my i-Phone had disappeared.

Then came Chiami’s habitual line.

“You can tell me anything.”

I didn't find my i-Phone. When I told mom, the i-Phone apparently had a location tracking feature, and we tried to use that to find it. However, maybe the power wasn't on; we couldn't find it after all.

Mom tried to contact the school. I didn't want it to become a big deal, so I stopped her.

“You’ll be without a smartphone for a while. You alright with that?” mom said.

I stood strong.

“It’s no big deal.”

The i-Phone was the beginning of it all.

I lost my belongings every few days.

An eraser, or a notebook, or a mechanical pencil.

I didn't tell anyone. Not Nagisa, or Yoriko, and of course, not Chiami either.

I had other people I got along with. I’d talk with the beautiful and cool Kihomi, the smart Kuze would teach me all kinds of things, and Rindou Takaya, who’d declared he wanted to become an entertainer, was pretty fun too. Masamune, who got carried away easily, had gotten the wrong idea after we talked a lot in first year, and confessed to me. I turned him down with a bad taste in my mouth, but now when he messes with me I can reply normally. Shiratama-san was in the same class as me in first year, and just looking at her was a feast for the eyes. She’d sometimes come talk to me even when she didn't need anything from me. I had lots of people to talk to.

But I didn't say anything.

When my pouch disappeared, I was pretty panicked though. That pouch contained stuff for that time of the month. I’d be in trouble if I didn't have it. More than just trouble. What should I do? Borrow from someone? No way. I’d have to go to the infirmary.

The second time I lost my pouch, the thought came suddenly to my head. Had it been the same with Yoriko? Yoriko had looked furious after all. Losing menstrual products was terrible. Should I ask Yoriko? After all this time. Yoriko would definitely “tell anything” to Chiami. It’d be bad if she passed the word on to Chiami.

I was suspicious. Wasn't it Chiami? Wasn't Chiami the one who was stealing things? Stealing my things, and secretly hiding them somewhere.

—For what reason?

I mean, how’d she even do it? It wasn't impossible to do it while changing classrooms I guess. I was being careful too. I’d started putting distance between me and Chiami. Even so, there were a lot of times where Nagisa, Yoriko, Chiami, and I were together. I was keeping an eye on Chiami.

Chiami probably wasn't stealing things. It wasn't the work of Chiami. She had no reason to do that either. She wasn't a bad kid. To be suspicious of a friend… was there something wrong with me?

But it was true that things were going missing.

When Masamune asked me, “Something up?”, I snapped.

“Hah? What?”

It was after that. As I walked down the school hallway alone, I heard a voice.

(Isn’t it weird?)

Who was it?

I was alone. There was no one around me. Were my ears playing tricks on me? Was I imagining it?

(It’s weird)

I heard it right by my ear. A small voice. It was a whisper. Without thinking, I asked, “Who?”

I wondered if there was someone nearby. As expected, there was no one. Near me, there was no one.

Far away, someone was laughing. At the front of year 2 class 3’s classroom, Masamune was making the class laugh.

“...Who?”

Who was speaking?

(It’s you.)

Even when I plugged my ears, (You’ve gone weird) said the voice. What was this voice? Whose was it? I didn't want to hear it. Even though there was no one around. Even though I was all alone.

“Who’s saying that? Who? ‘You’? Me? Who? What’s going on…”

I ran down the hallway. I rushed into the restroom and entered a stall. Even though I didn't use it, I flushed the toilet. I can't hear it. I shouldn't have been hearing it. I couldn't hear a voice at all. See? I can't hear it. I can't hear anything. At that moment, I couldn't hear anything.

At that moment.

When I went to change my shoes at the shoe box, there was only one indoor shoe left.

Again? I think. (Isn't it weird?) the voice says. Was it weird? I also thought so. Maybe I was going weird. (That’s right) the voice says.

(You’re weird.)

Nobody was to blame. It was my fault. I was to blame. I mean, I was hearing voices that shouldn't have been there. (You’re weird) the voice says. This was weird. I was weird. I’d gone weird. Was I weird? Was I?

I wasn't lying. They really were gone. My things were going missing. Who was doing it? Whose work was it? I didn't know who, but someone was doing it. (Isn't it because you’ve gone weird?) the voice says.

(You’re weird) “Weird.” (It’s your fault.) “My fault?”

Who was saying that?

This voice?

Who?

(The one to blame is—)

It whispers by my ear.

“Me?”

This voice was mine?

“—Me.”

“Is it my fault……?”

I was tired. I didn't tell anyone though. If I let my guard down, Chiami would say, “Tell me anything.” There was no way I could tell her, was there? “Thanks.”, “Mm.”, “Right.” I would answer halfheartedly. Thanks to that I was tired.

I couldn't do it anymore.

I was at my limit.

Whenever something bad happened, I’d go to a high place. Before I’d moved, the roof of our apartment had been a place I liked. Other than that, the roof of the department store in front of the train station. I liked ferris wheels too. The big ferris wheel at the amusement park I’d visited during summer break in primary school. When I said that at school, Masamune had said “Eeeh, I’m afraid of heights.” What was there to be afraid of? I didn't understand. I’d gone to the roof of the department store alone countless times. Looking through the gaps of the fence, I wasn't the tiniest bit scared. Even so, I didn't have the courage to climb up the fence. If someone saw me they would think I was weird. They might try to stop me. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. I just wanted to feel better.

It was in the middle of class. I didn't hear the voice. It was quiet. The teacher was saying something. But it was quiet. Too quiet. I became uneasy. I looked in my desk drawer. At times like these, things would disappear. My fingers brushed against something. Something hard. I closed my hands around it. A key? I took it out of my desk and sure enough, it was a key. ‘Roof’ was written on the key tag.

What was this? The key to the roof? Why was something like this here? In my desk?

The roof. I liked high places. The key. The door to the roof was locked. I knew that. I’d talked to my friends about wanting to go on to the roof. I’d tried to go on to the roof too. But the entrance to the roof had been locked. The key. The key to the roof was right here.

I stood up. I see. I thought.

“Hm? What’s wrong, Takatomo? —Takatomo…?”

The teacher was saying something. That wasn't the point. I could go. This was telling me to go. I had to go.

“Takatomo-san.”

Another voice calls out to me. I confirmed whose voice it was. Shiratama-san. Shiratama-san was approaching. I began to tremble.

“D-don't come!”

As I yelled, many voices closed in on me. Shut up. Stop it. I clutched my head in my hands. The voices didn't stop.

“I can't do it anymore……!”

I had to run. I had to get away from here, or I would break. Maybe I had already broken. Maybe I’d broken a long time ago. I didn't want to think that I’d broken. I ran. In truth, I’d been scrambling to get away for a long time.

I gripped the key to the roof tightly and ran all over the place. When it seemed like someone had spotted me, I took off in a run. I hid in the restrooms and in the storage cabinets under the stairs too. I was stalling. I didn't know what to do. In that case, I just had to do that.

And so I did.

I climbed up the stairs, stuck the key in the keyhole and turned. The door opened, and I finally came to the place I was supposed to come. The wind felt good. The fact it felt good made me happy. I felt like I was about to cry.

I walked from one corner of the roof to another, taking deep breaths. Around the perimeter were low walls. I climbed on top of them, and stretched once.

“What happened today?” I felt like mom was asking me. I couldn't answer. Then, my mother presses on. “Was today a good day for you, Miyu?”

“Not at all.”

I shake my head.

“It wasn't a good day. I’m sorry, mom.”

I’m sorry for telling lies all the time. I'm sorry for not being a good girl. I have to apologize to dad as well. I want to apologize to Shiratama-san too. Even though you tried to stop me. Sorry.

As I gazed down to the courtyard, there were people there. Otogiri-kun, from my class, and the janitor Haizaki-san.

Oh well. I can’t do it anymore.

I leaned my body forward. I wasn't scared. That was a lie. I was actually a little scared. I closed my eyes. Immediately, there was a loud sound.

-----

prev: 3-1 // next: 3-3

[pbandjesse]

My allergies are going crazy today. I am not feeling amazing. I am trying to remain positive but I honestly just don't feel very good today. I'm exhausted. I was able to get some stuff done but not everything I wanted. I tried. I really did. But it just was a sleepy day and I am so tired still.

I didn't think I slept to bad last night. I wasn't particularly comfortable but I was alright. I briefly woke up when James kissed my cheek to say goodbye but was not awake enough to say anything.

I would wake up right before 8. I did not want to be awake but I couldn't fall back asleep. I was having a lot of aches today. I was not feeling very happy. I tried very hard to shake it off. Sometimes it helps to make a mental schedule.

Get up. Make the bed. Take a shower. Wash hair. Get dressed. Eat breakfast. Vacuum. I just kept repeating that to myself.

I used my new shampoo which smelled very nice. And I think worked well. I had to stop using my last new shampoo because the smell started to really make me feel unwell. I hate how quickly that happens to me. I don't even think it's a pregnancy thing because it's happened so much before that with deodorant and soap. I'm just weird about smells.

I got dressed and felt alright. The breakfast James left for me was nice. I got really mad at Sweetp jumping on my desk while I was eating. He knows he's not supposed to be on my desk. That has always been true. There aren't many places he isnt allowed but that has always been one that is always off limits. I did get him to eventually leave me alone. I was just already in not a very good mood. So it was just not an amazing morning.

I brought Ruby the Roomba upstairs to clean. And put some stuff away downstairs. Ran the dishwasher. I laid around for a bit. I really considered trying to go back to sleep but I really wanted to accomplish something today. I had wanted to go and look into getting a larger box for Crabcake. I also needed to get him another heating bulb. So that was my plan. I would drive out to Lowe's in Glen Burnie because the Petco is across the street.

And I thought I did a pretty okay job holding it together. I pretty quickly realized I did not want to be out in the world and I regretted not staying home. But I was out and wanted to try my best to accomplish something.

Lowe's was a bust though. There was so many workers doing inventory and I felt uncomfortable in the aisle. I did find a larger box but it was $65 and it wasn't even perfect for what I wanted. I will keep looking.

I spent some time looking at the plants too. A lot of them were half off because they were full sun plants but I refrained from getting anything. And just headed out of there.

I had better luck at the pet store. I thought I had $10 in coupons but I actually had $20 on my account! Awesome. So I would get another fancy ceramic bulbs rather then getting the cheaper option. And I got him some dried flower food. I also looked at all of the animals. Including the current Russian tortoises they have which were very small! I was surprised that Crabcake already seems big compatibility.

I showed the cashier pictures of my Crabcake and his enclosure and got to talk about how much of a sweetie he is. She told me about her snake and how he was cold recently and actually climbed back into his shed skin! Like putting on a coat! Silly.

I decided that since I was already out I would go to the value village and get Taco Bell. And I'm really glad I stopped at the thrift store because I would end up getting some excellent stuff.

Firstly I found a stair basket! Something I have been looking for Soni was really pleased. And it was only $5. I tried on some shoes but didn't buy any. Not even the very good baseball shoes. I did find a very good fleece with its original tags. Very soft and very sturdy. A little more expensive at $15 but I think that's because of the tags. I figured between the very good deal of the basket and the not as good deal for the fleece it evens out.

The best though was I checked the yarn section and would get 7 balls of yarn!! 5 of them being the fancy blanket yarn I love. The other two are a slightly smaller/thinner fluffy yarn but it is also really good. And at like a 1/3 of the normal price.

I was really excited for my purchases. None of the self check outs were open and I struggled to figure out where the cashier was but I eventually figured it out. Embarrassing though!

I drove across the street and got two tacos. I had a nice chat with the cashier there, who is also named Jesse. He told me he was named for the song Jesse's girl! Neat!

I had my tacos in the car. And started driving home. And started feeling very bad. I was just on the verge of tears like. I need to go home. I need to lay down. I was so upset. I was about 20 minutes from home and I was struggling. But I got home and didn't cry.

When I got back here I brought everything inside. Got thing put away. Set up the other heating element for Crabcake who noticed really quickly and seemed very happy. I tried on my new fleece and it's great. And eventually I would lay down.

Sweetp insisted on laying on my arm. I kept pushing him off but he kept doing it. Monster. I would sleep hard though. And had really bizarre dreams about crab princesses and scifi. It was intense. Sociopolitical. Intrigue. But I would wake up around 4. And my allergies went crazy because sweetp was basically sleeping in my face.

And that was most of my evening. Allergies going crazy. James would come home and tried to cheer me up. I took meds but it didn't help as much as I hoped.

James made salad and pizza for dinner. And I watched videos and they played a video game. And we just laid together.

After dinner I came upstairs to lay in bed. James got on a call to play DND with friends. And I have just been trying to be okay. I am just not feeling very well. I am trying hard to be okay but it's just not happening tonight I guess.

I hope to sleep in tomorrow. I have an event tomorrow evening and I am hoping it will be fun. And that I will feel great. Fingers crossed. Literally my only saving grace has been it's been cool out. I am very thankful for that.

I hope you all sleep well tonight. Take care of yourselves. Good night!

[procrastinatingsapphictrash]

Migraines

Word count: 1679

Genre: Hurt/comfort 

Pairings: Natasha x fem!reader, platonic avengers x fem!reader

Warnings: Some swearing (let me know if I need to add more)

Request: hi~ was wondering if you’d do a natasha x reader with a dash of platonic avengers when reader has chronic migraines but hasn’t told nat so ends up in random places to try and sleep them away and the others keep finding her and then nat figures out she’s hiding something and feels hurt but ends fluffy wanting to take care of reader next time? you can choose who and change any part you want!

Summary: Reader gets really bad migraines and is constantly being found by the team when she wants to be alone, however her girlfriend Natasha doesn’t know what’s going on. 

A/n: This request was for @casperlikej​ so I hope you like it! Also I would like to mention that I know next to nothing about migraines so this probably won’t be super accurate but hopefully it’s ok to read anyways. I’m queuing this to come out on Sunday so that over the weekend I can work on the friends to enemies to lovers three part series and get that out soon (no I have not forgotten about that request). I am only like a sixth into that series but so far I’m super proud of it so I can’t wait to get it done! Also if anyone has ideas, feel free to request anything because I like having multiple fic ideas to think of at all times. Anyways I’m rambling now but I hope you enjoy this fic!

You hated being away from Natasha because although you had only been together for a few months and only known her for half a year you were sure you loved her but sometimes you just couldn’t stand pretending to be okay in front of her so you would hide yourself away. Currently your favourite place to hide was a nice rocking chair near the medbay area that was tucked away in the corner of a room. Barely anyone ever went by and the few that did never seemed to notice, giving you the anonymously you needed in order to curl up with your head in your knees and try to calm your head down. 

“Y/n? What are you doing here?” You hear Tony’s voice ask and you startle. 

“Oh, um, I’m just spending time with myself.” You respond lamely as Tony raises an eyebrow. 

“You never spend time by yourself,” he points out, “whenever you want to get away from us you always spend time with Natasha.” 

“I am alone sometimes.” You say starting to get annoyed. 

He scoffs. “No you aren’t, is everything ok between you two?”

“Everything is fine, just leave!” You snap at him. He hesitates in leaving the room but ultimately goes without saying another word after seeing how intensely you started glaring at him. It takes longer than usual for your migraine to go away because usually staying level headed helped but at least you yelling got Tony out of the room and to stop asking questions.

---

It was only a few days later that you got another migraine. You excuse yourself from the room you were sitting in with Bruce, Tony and Nat, mumbling some bullshit about needing to go to the store and ignoring Tony’s worried look on your way out. You knew that Tony would come looking for you in your old place so you decide to hole up in the room near the pad Thor uses whenever he visits earth. Today wasn’t a very bad migraine because you were able to catch the signs early but it still takes slightly over an hour for your head to stop pounding. You’re about to leave the room and go back to find the others but just to your luck Thor happens to arrive today unscheduled, something that only happens every few weeks. 

“Lady Y/l/n!” his voice booms happily as he steps inside, “it’s so good to see you, but what are you doing here, I wasn’t aware I had informed anyone of my arrival.”

You laugh slightly at his formal way of speaking and confused expression. “You didn’t, I just happened to be here because I was trying to be alone for awhile.”

“Are you feeling unwell?” He asks, looking concerned. 

“Not at all,” you reassure him, “in fact I was just about to go back to the others when you arrived, shall we find them together?” He nods eagerly, holding out his arm for you to hook onto like a true gentleman.

---

The next time you try to hide away you’re talking to Steve and he isn’t getting your subtle cues that you want to leave so he just keeps talking. You think he is talking about some sort of mission but honestly you don’t know because it physically hurts your brain to pay attention. You want to yell at him so badly but you can’t bring yourself to because he isn't trying to hurt you at all and he’s too nice to be angry at. 

“You agree Y/n?” You manage to make out. 

“Yes.” You say, not knowing what you’re even agreeing to.

“Great, I’ll go talk to the others, see you tomorrow for the morning training!” He says before walking off. You groan out loud as soon as you can no longer see him, partly because of how much your head hurts and partly because you accidentally told Steve that morning training was a good idea. This time you just plop yourself on the nearest couch and hope nobody finds you. 

---

You stumble into Bruce’s lab calling out for him. It had been over a week since your last migraine and encounter with Steve, one of the longest breaks you’ve had within recent memory but that came back to bite you in the ass when today’s was worse than ever before, even blurring your vision a little because of the pain. 

Bruce stands up from behind a pile of boxes. “Y/n, what brings you here.” 

“Pain meds now.” You order in a weak voice. He looks curious but doesn’t question you, heading towards a back cabinet and pulling out a bottle of pills. You immediately take two and swallow, ignoring him scolding you that you should only take one. Luckily since Bruce invented them himself it only took about five minutes for them to kick in. 

“Sorry, I had a really bad headache.” You tell him which is a half truth. 

He looks at you in concern. “Are you sure that was only a headache? It looked bad.” 

You wave him off, heading towards the door because you didn’t want him to ask anymore questions. “I’m fine Brucie, thanks again!” He sighs and shakes his head as he watches you leave, worried but deciding it’s not his place to badger you about it. 

---

Since every time you got a migraine you always ended up around one of the others you made a plan so that you could avoid everyone because you knew that one day your luck was going to end and Natasha would be the one to find you. You knew that she wouldn’t be mad at you or anything since you can’t control them but the relationship is still new and you don’t want to badger her with any of your problems. 

That’s why as soon as you start to feel a migraine coming on you hoist yourself up into the vents above your (sort of) shared room with Natasha where you had left a blanket and some pillows to relax with… only to find Clint waiting for you there. 

“I was wondering who had left these up there.” He says, seeming like it was a perfectly natural thing for him to be in the vents above your room. You decide not to question it, only sighing because you know that conversation would take up too many thoughts that you don’t have space for right now. You’re just so fucking done with your migraines and want them to go away. 

Clint notices your sadden expression and is serious for once. “Y/n, what’s going on?”

“I get these stupid fucking migraines and it only seems to be getting worse and I don’t want anyone to think I’m weak and I want Natasha but I don’t want to bother her with my problems.” You unload, holding back tears.

“I’m not going to lie to you, I don’t know how to make you feel better,” he confesses, “however why don’t you try to take a nap in your own bed and if you really don’t want Tasha to find you I can keep her distracted.” You nod and he helps you back out of the vents, climbing down after you. 

“Clint?” you say as he’s leaving the room and he turns around, “thanks.”

---

Clint makes his way to the common room where he sees Steve talking to Natasha. 

“Hey guys, what’s up?” He asks with a smile, faltering when he sees Natasha looks upset. “Nat, what’s wrong?”

“I think Y/n is going to break up with me.” She says, her voice thick with emotion. 

Steve frowns. “I told you not to jump to conclusions, maybe you should just talk to her.” Natasha just shakes her head, looking down and taking a deep breath, trying to regulate her emotions. 

“Y/n’s going to hate me for this,” Clint says as two pairs of eyes turn to him, “but you should go to your room, I promise that she’s not planning on breaking up with you.” 

Natasha noticeably brightens. “Are you sure?”

Clint nods. “I’m sure, she said not even five minutes ago that she wanted you. She’s going through some shit right now that you should talk to her about but she wouldn’t break up with you.” 

“Thanks.” Natasha replies, before hurrying to your shared room, worried about you after what Clint said. 

---

You curl up on the bed and let a few tears fall out and before long you are full on sobbing. You always try to stay strong and not cry but you just can’t deal with the migraines anymore. The bed shifts behind you and you sit up straight looking behind you. Natasha is climbing on to it and looking at you with a worried expression on her face. 

“I thought Clint was going to keep you busy.” You say, sniffling to try to stop your tears.

“He must have lied because he told me to come here.” She responds. 

“He’s an asshole.” 

She gives a small laugh. “Normally yes, but he did the right thing, I want to help you with whatever is upsetting you.” 

“You shouldn’t have to deal with me like this,” you tell her, “my migraines are my problem that I have to deal with.” 

She moves across the bed and puts her arms around you. “No sweetheart, I’m here with you.” You start to cry again, this time while it’s slightly from the pain it’s mostly because you feel so overwhelmed with how much she supports you. She pulls you in tightly to her chest, and plants a kiss on the top of your head. 

“I will always be here for you if you need something ok?” she says. “But now you need to rest.” 

“But-” you start to protest before she cuts you off. 

“No buts, you need sleep.” She says while shushing you. You wiggle back, trying to be as far into arms as possible before you slowly drift off, the pain of the migraine going away and all you can feel is warmth.

---

Taglist: @fayhar @stephanieromanoff @stop-drop-and-drumroll @acertainredhead​ (if you want to be added, comment, send an ask, or message me)

[blu-joons]

When They Have To Take Care Of Your Ill Child Without You ~ BTS Reaction

Jin:

As he stepped into his daughter’s bedroom, her hand came up instantly, dismissing Jin from coming any closer. “What’s wrong?” He asked, stepping into the room anyway.

Her eyes barely opened at the bright light streaming in, “I don’t feel very well, you don’t need to come near me and get ill too.”

“I won’t get ill,” he tried to assure her, knowing full well that you weren’t around to help. “But if I don’t come near you, then they’ll be no one around to be able to help you feel better sweetie.”

“You have work,” she frowned, glancing across as he sat down on the edge of her bed. “Everyone will hate me if I make you unwell.”

His head shook, resting his hand against her leg. “No one will be mad at you, why don’t I take the day off and then I can help you get better quicker?”

“Are you really going to be allowed to take the day off work?” She asked, not used to having to force either of her parents away from work.

“Mummy’s not here, so someone has to step up and fill her shoes.”

“Okay,” she murmured, “can you start by running me a bath daddy? My pyjamas are well and truly stuck to me right now.”

“Whatever you want, I’m at your service all day today angel.”

Yoongi:

As soon as he felt a hand tap against his lap, his eyes looked down to watch as your son slowly began to stir. “Morning sleepyhead,” Yoongi whispered down to him.

His small hands came up to rub the sleep out of his eyes, “daddy, my head still really hurts, it’s like I’ve got a brick on it.”

“Try not to worry,” Yoongi smiled, carefully lifting his head up and sliding out from underneath him, replacing his lap with a pillow. “I’m sure mummy said that there was some medicine in the cupboard.”

“Where is mummy?” His quiet voice called out, looking around the house. “She always knows what to do whenever I’m not feeling well.”

Yoongi’s heart shattered as he searched for the medicine, “she’s not here, remember. But I’m going to try and as good a job as mummy does to look after you.”

“You’re in the wrong drawer for medicine,” your son then called out, “mummy keeps it high up so that it’s out of my reach daddy.”

“I see, well that makes sense. I’ll have a look higher up then.”

“Please hurry,” your son whined, pressing his hand to the top of your head. “If mummy was here, she’d know what to do.”

“I’m going as fast as I can, I promise you’ll feel better soon.”

Hoseok:

He’d never taken as big a sigh of relief as he did when he watched your daughter’s eyes flutter open on the studio floor. “Dad’s here,” he spoke down to her.

Her eyes looked around to see all seven of the boys staring back down at her. “What happened? Why am I on the floor?”

“You’re alright,” Hobi quickly tried to assure her, “I think the nasty sickness bug that you’ve had, finally caught up with you and caused you to pass out. But you’re alright now, nothing bad can happen.”

“I’m sorry,” was all she could say, as all of the boys quickly assured her that she had no reason to apologise to any of them.

Hobi knew more than anything these were the situations when she’d be desperate for you. “I rang mum, and she’ll call you later to make sure that you’re doing alright.”

“I miss her,” she whimpered, “she always knows what to do, and she always gives the best hugs whenever I’m not feeling well.”

“Would a massive group hug from all of us make you feel better?”

Yeah,” she squealed as all of the boys sat down beside her and wrapped their arms around her, “it feels just like a mum hug.”

“Only, we’re a lot better than your mum ever is at hugs.”

Namjoon:

When he heard the sound of Yoongi’s voice on the phone, it was a welcome relief for Namjoon. “I’ve done everything, and he’s still complaining that he’s ill.”

Yoongi chuckled gently, “you can definitely tell that Y/N is the one that deals with sickness in your house and not you.”

“She’s like a nurse,” Namjoon groaned, “and I’m just the janitor. I just need someone to help rather than disturbing Y/N when she’s in such an important meeting, I can’t get in the way of that.”

“Are you guys at home?” Yoongi then asked him, picking up his coat from the hanger. “I’ll rally the troops and we’ll come and help you out.”

A large sigh came from Namjoon, “I never thought I’d say that I need the six of you, but I really do before I end up going insane trying to find the solution to this.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about,” Yoongi chimed, trying to ease his leader’s mind. “He might just need to see a different face.”

“What are you trying to say? That my son doesn’t want to see my face?”

“He probably wants Y/N,” Yoongi protested, “if he’s still feeling ill around you then you can’t be doing a good enough job.”

“You’re supposed to be helping me to feel better too hyung.”

Jimin:

His heart broke as he watched his daughter reach out across the toilet bowl, tears streaming down her face. “It’s alright,” he whispered, kneeling at her side.

Her eyes glanced across at her father hopelessly. “I’ve never felt this ill before dad, what’s happening to me?” She cried out.

“Don’t worry,” he comforted, running his hand along her back. “Let’s get your hair out of your way too, I’m sure there’s a hairband lying around in my drawer of the unit somewhere,” he encouraged.

“Why do you have one?” She asked him, sitting up gently so that Jimin could scrape her hair back into a small ponytail at the top of her head.

He couldn’t help but chuckle lightly, “when you were in mummy’s tummy, she threw up a lot, so I kept a hairband in my drawer so that I could always move her hair away.”

“That’s pretty cool,” your daughter grinned, only for her eyes to widen a few moments later and her head to turn away from Jimin to the toilet.

“Just take your time and let it all out sweetie, I’m right here beside you.”

“I’m alright,” she frowned, a couple of moments later, “but I don’t think I should go to school today, what do you think daddy?”

“You remind me just of me when I was your age trouble.”

Taehyung:

It only felt like a matter of time for Taehyung until the bedroom door opened up and your son came slinking in. “What’s wrong buddy?” Tae called out to him.

He walked all along until he was at Taehyung’s side of the bed, “I can’t sleep because I don’t feel well daddy, it hurts.”

“Come here,” Tae frowned, sitting up on the bed and lifting his son up to sit in between his legs. “Do you want to sleep in here tonight? There’s a nice big gap on mummy’s side of the bed for you to fill.”

“Can I really?” He asked, staring up at his father in disbelief. “But what if mummy doesn’t want me to sleep in her side of the bed?”

Taehyung shrugged, pulling back the duvet. “We could just keep it as our little secret because you’re not feeling well, how does that sound?”

“A-alright,” your son stuttered, still a little uncertain about betraying his mother. “Can I keep teddy in with us as well, I don’t want him to sleep alone.”

“Of course, you can. He takes up a lot less room than your mum does too.”

“That’s not nice,” your son quickly scolded, “but it’s also very true, teddy is tiny, maybe I could bring a few of my teddies too?”

“I reckon one is more than enough for now.”

Jungkook:

He instantly felt a lot more comfortable as he crept into your daughter’s bedroom to see that her eyes were awake. “How are you feeling little one?” He smiled.

Her head nodded, tapping the end of her bed for Jungkook to sit down beside her. “I feel a little better now that I’ve had a sleep.”

“That’s good to hear,” he responded, studying her face closely, “but those cheeks are still a bit pink for my liking, and you still look you’ve got a pretty high temperatures, I can feel your heat from here.”

“I’m cold,” she whined as Jungkook tried to pull her duvet away from her, “you can’t make me sleep without the duvet, I’ll tell mummy.”

His eyes rolled, quickly letting go of the duvet. “How come you’re ill, and yet you still manage to use your mother as a weapon against me? It’s just not fair at all.”

“I’m ill, that’s why,” she groaned, pulling the duvet back around herself tightly, “you’re supposed to look after me just like mummy does.”

“I wish mummy was here to look after you, she’d know what to do.”

“Let me sleep,” your daughter suggested, “and maybe then we can order pizza for dinner, because I am sick after all.”

“If you’re sick, you’ve got no chance of pizza, nice try.”

---

Masterlist

[theriverdraws]

And now, some of my animaniacs headcanons

The studio only managed to capture the Warners by kidnapping one as a bait, and catch the others with a trap. It surprisingly worked really well.

Even if they did escape when the tower needed cleaning, the studio just ended up using the same tactic, and it worked everytime. The Warners just can’t leave each other behind so they always came back. Eventually they just stopped trying to escape.

The Warners didn’t age because toons only age when they’re forgotten, and even if they were just a few people that remembered them, they remembered them very clearly and were deeply scared of them nedjmsinjm.

Toons can only flee from prisons or handcuffs and stuff like that if it’s funny, and not many people found them leaving the tower very funny, they were mostly scared, and so the Warners couldn’t find a situation were they could escape, that is until Spielberg and his crew found their tapes and thought it was hilarious, giving the kids a chance of escaping.

They weren’t captured right away because they were having a new show, but they knew that they were going to try and capture them anyway so they’re were always very careful. They had a looong time to prepare.

Their time on the water tower made them get even closer than they already were. They fought many times but they always made up in the end, so they’re really close now that they’re out.

The Warners didn’t age, so obviously they’re still kids and consider themselves that way (i’m looking at you guys that lust over them, I SEE YOU >:c). But they use their “mysterious” age to annoy people most of the time. “YOU KIDS STOP! NOW!”  “Uuuuh, excuse me we’re older than you, so have a little respect geez”. And then they start acting immature again and they’re like “Ohoho I see, I thought you guys ‘were older than me’ or something, what’s up with that?”  “Excuse me we are just kids??? How dare you use this lame excuse you manipulative prick”  “but--”  “pahpahpah, no buts, I am disgusted >:c” 

On Animaniacs, the scenes that happens in Burbank are the scenes that actually happened in the real world, while the songs, the scenes were they’re in the past, or on a fictional world, are part of the Warner’s new show. (an exception would be if they’re the only ones singing just to annoy people lol). I also believe that the episodes where they meet the Grim reaper and the one where they meet the devil actually happened.

The Warners’ skits are heavily improvised, just like the theme says (”..we had no script, why bother to rehearse?”). I’m gonna take the candy store skit as an example: The actor that played the candy seller had on his script - “don’t let the Warners get the candy”. While the Warners had “get the candy” written on theirs. They would create chaos and havoc to get the candy, and just be themselves, and the actor has to deal with it and stay in character at all times (the actors got paid a lot to do this btw mjewdijm). 

Sometimes the Warners broke the script a little bit, or just decided to stop with the recording and go home because they weren’t feeling like recording today, without the approval of the studio of course. Like when Dot was feeling unwell and they just decided to rest and skip the cartoon, or when Wakko got tired of having a camera filming him and he just broke the camera and went home. 

And sometimes the actors or the people on the town get really fed up with the Warners, like in the song “Schnitzelbank” where the guy got really mad, or they just lose it and the studio has to pay for another therapy again - Like on “Fair game” where I believe the guy just lost it.

The Warners don’t really get any money, and when they do it’s not much, that’s because the studio just uses it to pay for everything they break, or someone’s therapy.

The Warners do consider Scratchy as a father figure in a way, though Scratchy thinks they’re just joking. They also consider Bugs Bunny “a cool uncle”, they like each other a lot.

Yakko is actually scared of thunderstorms, and so gets a bit spooked of fireworks in the middle of nowhere, but he knows they’re not thunders so he’s good most of the time.

Pinky and the Brain were atually trying to take over the world, but no one actually believed them and just thought they loved acting so much that they acted all the time, even if there weren’t any cameras.

Rita and Runt were homeless before joining the crew, now they got a home :) (And are still really close). Their skits are somewhat based on what they actually went trough.

Slappy and Skippy were just recorded all the time because everything they did was gold honestly (still salty they aren’t on the reboot)

Goodfeathers skits are also based on what they actually went trough, they live on the studio but they’re still part of the pidgeon mafia.

Chicken boo is just a weird talented chicken, all the skits are scripted but his ability of disguising as a human is real.

Mindy and Buttons also had scripted skits, but Mindy’s parents still suck and get all the money. Oh well, she has Buttons anyway :).

The Hippos, Minerva mink, and Katie Kaboom also had scripted skits.

Going back to the Warners now, they were the ones that wrote their movie, they were really proud of it but later they thought it was too melodramatic.

After the cancellation of their show, the Warners were afraid that they would try and lock them in the tower again, so they went on the run and were laying low all of those years, the studio were indeed searching for them and trying to put them on the tower. They didn’t really have time to get acostumed, or to even notice with how things changed since the 90s because they were just on the streets. (made this headcanon because they apparently weren’t locked away again, and I don’t think the reboot will explain were the hell they were).

They appeared again when Spielberg said that he wanted to reboot the series, they were very happy. 

Hello Nurse got a better job after the cancelation so she wasn’t bothered at all that the studio didn’t want her on the show anymore

All of the characters got great lives after the show to be honest. Except Pinky and the Brain I guess, who were still on the laboratory and failing to take over the world. They gladly accepted to go back to the show.

The Warners learned that reboots have a tendency of not being so good, but they didn’t really care to be honest, they could stop running away now and that’s what really matters.

Aaaand I think that’s it for now ewmisam. I will probably have more in the future and some will probably change because of the reboot too.

[fangirlovestuff]

Smile - Thor Odinson x reader

a/n - hey lovely people!! this is for this lovely request by @cotton-candy-clouds-26​ , thank you!! i just couldn’t bring myself to write Steve cheating, i love him and i just don’t think he’d do that, but i hope it’s okay. enjoy!<3

Summary: you and Steve break up and it’s rough, but luckily there’s someone out there that helps you get over it. you could say he’s worthy of your affections (i had to hehe)

Word Count: 3k

Warnings: Some curse words and a little angst

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Steve?" you called out, "you ready to go?"

"Just a couple seconds!" he replied, and you sat down on the couch, scrolling on your phone while you waited for him.

It was your six months anniversary, and you were getting ready to go to dinner with Steve. He's been acting a little weird the past few days, and it was starting to raise your suspicion.

Maybe he's getting me a surprise, you tried to shrug your worry off. You knew Steve wasn't that good at keeping secrets, especially from you, and you'd try and get it out of him tonight.

"Ready t-" you began to ask, but stopped once you saw he was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. "Stevie, you know I love your t-shirts," you said, appreciatively eying the bulge on his muscles revealed by the sort, tight sleeves, "but I was under the impression we're going to a fancy restaurant tonight. You know, the kind that won't appreciate anyone, including Captain America, coming in a t-shirt and jeans," you smirked.

"I'm not going," he sighed, sitting down next to you.

"You're not goi- is everything alright? Are you feeling unwell? I mean, I didn't even know you could get ill, but-"

"I'm not sick," he shook his head, "I just… I thought I could give you this one nice night, but I can't."

"What do you mean you can't? Steve, what's going on? Are they calling you on a mission or something?"

"No, no mission. Not today anyway." He took a deep breath before he continued. "I think we should break up."

Your mouth agape, it took you a couple of seconds to register what he just said. You closed your mouth and swallowed. "What?" you asked, your voice nearly a whisper.

"I'm sorry," he said, averting his eyes to the floor, "I just… I don't think I feel the same way about you anymore, and I don't wanna hold you back or anything. I thought the right thing to do was to treat you to a nice dinner before I…" he trailed off, his eyes fixed ahead of him, away from you, "Anyways, I couldn't do it. I didn't want to lie to you, or lead you on. You deserve better than that," his gaze finally turned to you, waiting for your response.

You didn't know what to say. You knew he was acting weird, but you'd have never seen this coming. "So this is it?" you asked disbelievingly. "This is how we end?"

"Look, I'm so-"

"Sorry, yeah, I know." You took a deep breath, willing your tears away. "I think I'll just go home," you got up, getting your stuff.

"Wait, I didn't cancel the reservation. If you wanna go yourself you— can," he called after you, the last word after you'd slammed the door behind you.

Outside of Steve's room, you let out a shuddering breath. He was living in the Avengers compound, so you had to keep yourself together until you got out of here, in case any of them saw you. You started getting outside, but your distracted state of mind probably led you to take a wrong turn in one of the corridors, because now you had no idea where you are.

"Shit," you mumbled under your breath before turning to look around you. You heard what you thought was the noise of a TV from behind one of the doors, and you knocked on it tentatively. You heard some shuffling and then the door opened to reveal none other than Thor. You know, God of Thunder Thor. God of Thunder Thor that was standing in front of you right now, waiting for you to say something because you were the one that knocked on his door.

You willed your brain to go back to functioning. "Um, hi," you said hesitantly, "I was just… I was on my way out of the compound and I got lost. Could you, um, point me in the right direction?"

"Of course," his voice was deep, you could almost feel it rumbling around you when he spoke. "Who are you looking for?"

"Oh, just the exit," you shrugged.

"Alright. I apologized, I just assumed, from the way you're dressed…"

"No, it's alright. I was supposed to go to this fancy restaurant for dinner, but then… anyways, I wouldn't want to go alone," you sighed.

"Well, in that case, would you like me to accompany you? I wouldn't mind dining with a lovely lady such as yourself," he smiled.

"Oh," you blinked in surprise. You weren't really planning on it, but you were actually kinda hungry. And hey, eating in a fancy restaurant with Thor does sound a little nicer than eating at home and wallowing in self-pity. The wallowing could wait. "I mean, if you'd like to," you smiled back at him, "but you'd have to put on a suit, something fancy."

"Oh, I'm sure I have one of those," he said, leaving the door open and heading back inside. "Come in," he said, loud enough for you to hear it. You guessed he headed into the bathroom to change, since when you got in all you saw was the room itself. It was simple, not a lot of personal touches. Makes sense since he's probably not here most of the time, but in Asgard, which would also explain why you hadn't met him yet.

"How's that?" he asked, getting out of the bathroom. The suit was slightly tight on his tall, broad frame, but it was more than okay with you.

"Perfect," you smiled, "we'll blend right in."

You drove the two of you to the restaurant, spending the time making small talk about 'Midgard habits', as Thor called them, or, as you called them, social norms.

When you got there, the hostess smiled at you and asked for the name of your reservation. By that point you had nearly forgotten it, but your shoulders sagged as you mumbled "Steve Rogers."

"I'll let you right in," she smiled and led you to your table.

"Wait, so Steve was going to come with you?" Thor asked once you got to the table. "Are you his girlfriend I've heard so much about from Tony?"

"I'm… not his girlfriend anymore," you said, averting your eyes to the table, playing with the napkin.

"Oh."

"He broke up with me today," you said, your voice breaking before you could get your emotions under control.

"My apologies," he offered, and put his hand over yours, "I know how unpleasant it is to be… broken up with."

"Yeah? Who'd ever dump Thor?" you chuckled, raising your gaze to meet him.

"Quite a few people over the years," he smiled, lighthearted.

"Well, I'm sorry," you squeezed his hand in yours.

When you were waiting for the main course, you had an idea. "Hey, you can't get drunk, right?"

"Not on your Midgardian version of booze, no. Why?"

"Perfect. Hey!" you signaled for a waitress to come over, ignoring Thor's questioning look, "Can we get a bottle of the most alcoholic wine you got here?" you smiled.

If the waitress thought the request was weird, she didn't show it. She just told you how much it costs, which nearly made you give it up but you really needed this tonight.

When you were done ordering it and the waitress went to bring it, you turned to Thor. "I know we just met each other, and this probably isn't the best first impression, but please can you just call me a cab at the end of dinner? Because I'm kinda planning to get drunk."

He chuckled, again making you experience the illusion that you could feel the sound between you. "Of course. If that would help."

"That would help a ton, thank you," you grinned at him, just as the waitress came back with your wine and the first course.

A whole bottle of wine consumed exclusively by you and a few dishes later, you knew it was time to go home. You paid the bill, trying not to freak out at how expansive it was. Thor wanted to pay too, but you assured him that it was fine, and it was you that dragged him out here anyway.

While you were standing outside waiting for a cab you could hail, you shivered a little in the cold.

Steve always gave you his jacket when you got cold.

Maybe it was the drinks, the late hour or just plain old breakup sadness, you felt tears come to your eyes, unable to stop them from flowing out.

You started sniffling and Thor noticed, his head immediately turning to look at you. "What's wrong?"

"He left me, Thor," you cried, "I thought everything was fine and he dumped me. And he was nice about it, so I can't even be mad and blame him, and that just means that," you barely contained your sobs, "it means I'm not enough. Everyone leaves me because I'm never enough." You buried your face in his bicep, too wound up in your misery to even notice how nice it was.

"Now, now," his other hand lifted to stroke your hair. It was a little awkward, but in your inebriated state you couldn't care less. "You're more than enough. I met you today and even I know you're wonderful."

You lifted your head to meet his eyes. Sniffling once again, you tried to stop crying. "Thank you," you said once you felt you gained enough composure. "I'm sorry I sprung all of this on you. I'll get a cab, go sleep it off," you said, awkwardness now prominent. God, you just made a fool of yourself in front of… a god. A literal god. Fuck.

"Where do you live?" he asked, seemingly unbothered. You gave him your address. "Well, I believe it's not that far. Do you need to wait for a cab or can you walk home?"

"I mean, I could walk, it's just that New York City at night isn't the safest place for a girl to walk alone," you smiled awkwardly.

"Oh, yes," he frowned, "I suppose you're correct. I could walk you home, if you'd like?"

You looked around. No cabs in sight. "Actually, yeah. That'd be cool."

The chilly night air sobered you up a bit. Once you got to your building, you bid Thor goodbye, thanking him again, before going up to your apartment and stumbling tiredly onto your bed, where you fell into a dreamless sleep.

The next morning, you woke up still wearing yesterday's dress and with a slight headache, groaning as you got yourself out of bed to shower, change and drink some water, get an aspirin.

Once you had done all that, you checked your phone for any messages. You weren't supposed to come into work today, so you weren't expecting anything, but just to make sure. Surprisingly enough, there was a text from a number you hadn't recognized.

It said it was Thor and he asked how are you, but there was no way that was true, right? I mean, you didn't think Thor even had a phone, let alone your number. On the other hand, you couldn't think of anyone else who'd know enough to text you that.

Skeptical, you texted back that you were fine, not too far from the truth but still kind of far, and were planning to spend the day watching movies and eating ice cream, which was the truth.

How'd you get my number? You texted again before he could answer.

Jarvis had it, he texted back. He's quite useful. I do wonder why he won't leave his room.

You laughed. Either this was actually Thor, or it was someone really, really good. Before you could think up a reply, you saw the three little dots signifying he was typing again.

Would you perhaps want some company while you watch these movies?

You gasped out loud even though there was no one there to hear it. Was Thor really asking to come over and watch movies? With you? It was hard to believe. Maybe it is someone else after all.

You texted him he should come over if he wanted to. Thor knew your address, if it was really him, he'd come over. If it was some crazy stalker, you just wouldn't let him in and continue in your plans of bawling in front of some sappy movies. If it was actually Thor… well, you'd have to cry in front of him, you guess.

You already started on your ice cream and started The Notebook, figuring it was a good way to start your wallowing fest, and you were starting to get really into it when you heard a knock on the door. You moved as quietly as you could towards the door, looking through the peephole. To your momentary relief, it was Thor and not some stalker. Why momentary? Because holy fucking shit Thor was standing at your day and you were in your pajamas.

"Just a sec!" you called out. You figured you didn't have time to change, but you at least tried to get your hair in some sort of order before you opened the door, hiding your PJs clad body with it.

"Hi," you smiled bashfully once you closed the door behind him.

"Hello," he said, smiling. "Ah, I see you've already started. What movie is that?"

"Well, it's called The Notebook. Do you know it?"

He replied that no, he didn't, and you explained the plot briefly to him as you sat down, wrapping yourself back up in a fuzzy blanket before taking your ice cream back.

"Oh, where are my manners, would you like some?" you gestured the ice cream towards him.

"Yes, sure!" he nodded, and you were glad he at least knew what ice cream was. If someone hadn't bothered to introduce him that would just be cruel.

You went to get the ice cream, the blanket dragging behind you like a cape, and you returned with another tub of ice cream and a spoon, bringing them to him before sitting back down and starting the movie.

You two didn't speak much throughout the movie. When it got to the really sad parts you started crying silently, but by the ending you were just fully sobbing, and, as it seemed, so was he.

"That was so… sad," he said, "is this the entertainment Midgardians always enjoy?"

"Not always," you said, stopping to blow your nose, "we have happy things too. It's just, I got dumped last night, so I'd like the chance to cry a little, you know?"

"That's fair. And it was very beautiful. They loved each other."

"They did," you said, your eyes filling with tears again.

"What's next?"

You watched some more sad movies, and then introduced Thor to the wonderful world of takeout food while you changed to some rom com, a little more cheerful. He laughed the whole way through, and the movie wasn't even that funny, but you giggled along as well, unable not to join his roaring laughter.

You ended up falling asleep on the couch in the evening, exhausted, mostly emotionally. The next morning when you woke up he was gone, but he did text you that if you needed anything you could tell him.

Over time, you and Thor started hanging out some more. Mostly at your place or outside, since you really didn't want to risk running into Steve.

It took you time, getting over Steve. Time and tears.  And really, Thor being there helped. A lot. He was a rock, a shoulder to cry on.

A broad, muscular shoulder to ugly cry on.

At first, the thought of starting something with Thor didn't even cross your mind. Sure, he was sweet, but it was platonic, and you were busy getting over your breakup anyway.

But then, you realized it became something… more. To you at least. Because despite the tears, he didn't leave. Never wanted to.

Long story short, when Thor invited you to go to dinner one night, a few months after you met each other, you tried really hard not to think of it as a date. A friend-date, if anything.

"How's it going?" you asked, sitting down in front of him in the small diner.

"Good," he smiled at you, "You?"

"Great," you smiled back.

"So, I have some news," he started, continued once you gave him an encouraging nod, "I have to go back to Asgard in a week or two."

"Oh," you said. It made sense, Thor being on earth as long as he already has been should've raised your curiosity, but you didn't really want to think about it until this moment. "I guess you're happy to go home."

"I am," he hummed, "But… there was something I wanted to ask you before I leave. And be honest. Would you like… well, would you give me the opportunity to court you?"

You sat in stunned silence for a few moments. "Like, you're asking me to date you?" you said incredulously.

"I am," he chuckled nervously, "But you don't have to- I know you might not want to because of Steve and-"

"I haven't thought of Steve for a really long time," you cut him off with a smile, "mostly thanks to you. You make me really happy, and I would love to let you court me," you giggled.

"Really?" he asked, awestruck.

"Really," you smiled, leaning across the table, intending to press a kiss to his cheek. At the last moment he turned, making you plant your lips on his in a soft kiss.

You pulled away smiling, and so was he. He took your hand in his from across the table, and you continued to eat your food like you two usually do. Well, almost. Now there were timid exchanges of looks, gently hand squeezes.

And a breathtaking goodnight kiss.

But it was so natural, so normal, you couldn't bring yourself to admit the absurdity of him being a literal god and you being… just a human.

You spent the week he had left together, making the best of it.

In the future, you'd visit his home, he'd visit yours. And he'll always make sure to remind you you're not just a human, you are, in fact, his favorite one.

It never failed to make you smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

this was my first time writing for thor, i hope i did him justice:))

Taglist:  @horny-nd-bored​ @shannon124 @perfectlyharolds​ @wintersoldierslut​ @iceebabies​  @sleepingpapermouse @steverogerswasalwaysworthy @holtzkinnon @angelicl-y @stydia-4-ever @thatoneperson5000 @fangirlfree​ @kaitcordx25 @bequeening​ @steve-barry-damon-logan​ @itscrazycherryblossomcollection​ @hollandxmarvel​ @stargazingfangirl18 @readsreblogsfics @onetwo3000 @beritmetal @harrystylesholland @jazbot2000 @anobscurename @xxxtwilightaxelxxx @peggycarter-steverogers @evansphnx12 @starlightcrystalline @procrastinatingsapphictrash

if you wanna join / be removed from a taglist, comment/message me! much love <3

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers More, Blood Drama CD: 365 Days with a Vampire [Laito ver.]

Original title: ヴァンパイアとの365日 ライト編 ～もしかして、重病人！？～

Source: Diabolik Lovers MORE, BLOOD Limited V Edition Drama CD [CD not owned by me]

Audio: Here

Seiyuu: Hirakawa Daisuke

Translator’s note: Sneaky, sneaky Laito. :P It was so obviously he was just faking his illness though. The whining sounds kind of had me cringe a little, but it was very...Laito-like, you could say. The way the track ends is kind of sweet though. uwu It fits well with his MB route which is also all about Laito being enlightened to the concept of jealousy, lol. 

→  LIKE MY TRANSLATIONS? SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI!

Title: Don’t tell me, you’re seriously ill...!?

*Ding・dongー Ding・dongー*

“Aah...Bitch-chan...So this is where you’ve been...”

Laito walks over to you.

“Say, listen...For some reason...I’ve been feeling a little unwell this whole time...Haah...”

You seem worried. 

“Heeh...? If I’m okay? ...Of course not. I’ve been looking all around for you like this. Say...I’m going to drop by the infirmary, so please come with me?”

You shake your head. 

“Eeeh~? You’re on duty (1) today? ...Just do that later! Ugh...”

*Rustle*

“Say, Bitch-chan...? Is your day duty more important than my health and wellbeing to you? How cruel...Aah! You’re thinking that I’m feigning illness, don’t you...!? Because I’m a Vampire, so there’s no way I’d get sick. Nn...Listen, that’s not true. I really do feel under the weather today.

...Haah...I may be a Vampire, but our health may still experience slight ups and down...! I doubt any other regular girl would pick up on that...but I really believed that you would be able to realize these vague changes in my condition. ...Haah...But instead, you suspect me of lying...I’m so shocked...I feel like I’m going to faint...”

*Rustle*

“...Aah~ Hearing you say that...The room has actually started spinning...”

Laito get shaky on his legs.

“Aaah...! Bitch-chan...! It seems like I’ve reached my limit...I’m gonna collaaaapse...~~”

*Thud*

*Rustle*

“Nn...Haah~ That was close. If you hadn’t caught me in your arms...”

You frown.

“...Exactly. Anyway, it would be best to go to the nurse’s office, right? Say, you’ll obviously take me there, right?”

You nod.

“Hooray...~ Let’s hurry up and get going then.”

You complain about his clingy behavior.

“Heh? I’m clinging onto you too much? But it can’t be helped, right? After all, I can’t walk by myself because I’m so dizzy. Nn...More importantly, quick, make haste...~”

*TIMESKIP*

The two of you enter the infirmary.

*Rattle*

“...Huh? Nobody’s around? Seems like the doctor is absent today.”

You tilt your head to the side.

“I mean, take a look. That’s his white coat draped across the chair over there, right? If he took it off before leaving, I think we can assume he won’t return any time soon, don’t you think? Even though one of the students is this gravely ill, how troublesome. It can’t be helped though.”

He looks over to you.

“Say, you’ll look after me instead of the doctor, right...~?”

You agree.

“Nfu~ Let’s get started right away then. Now, come over here.”

*Rustle*

You walk over.

“Okay! Then first, wear this!”

*Rustle rustle*

“Eeh~? What do you mean? Isn’t that obvious? It’s the white coat the doctor left behind!”

You protest.

“Ah, hey! You can’t take it off! You promised you’d nurse me back to health earlier, didn’t you? Instead of the doctor.”

You ask him what that has to do with wearing the coat.

Geezーー!! In other words, you’re the doctor right now. If that’s the case, a white coat is a must, don’t you think? Nfu~”

You tell him the doctor might get mad. 

“Eeeh~? Who cares? After all, they say that sickness begins in the mind (2), right? ...I’m pretty sure that if you were to look after me while wearing a white coat, I’m sure it’ll help lift my spirits and I’ll feel better in no time~”

You still seem skeptical.

“You really don’t want to? ...Oh come on, I’m begging you! Please listen to my selfish requests just for today.”

You nod in defeat. 

“...Hooray! I love you, Bitch-chan!”

*Rustle*

“Haah~ I can’t get enough of you looking like that. Say, say...Doctor, I feel reaaaally sick right now. I’ve been feeling dizzy this whole time, and my head hurts as well. What do you think is causing this?”

You ask him if he has any other symptoms.

“Mm...But you see, the worst symptom of all...is that I want to keep you aaaall to myself like this...~ What should I do? Say...Doctor?”

You grow suspicious. 

“Nfu~ Huh? You finally realized? You’re right that this illness of mine isn’t a cold or anything like that. For one, us Vampires don’t get that sorta stuff. However, I wasn’t lying about feeling under the weather. After all, you were talking with one of your male classmates the whole time today, no?”

You look confused.

“...You know!! The one you were with earlier as well, that guy who was also on duty today. You seemed rather friendly to him, you see? Watching you live up to your name (3) like that made me really exicted at first, but for some reason, it suddenly lost its charm halfway through. Hmm~ I guess if this is some sort of disease as well after all? ...I mean, even right now...”

*Rustle*

“I just can’t seem to relax unless I get to hold you in my arms like this. I don’t want to let you go anywhere. ...Haah~ How troublesome. For me to feel jealous...Say, Bitch-chan? It’s all your fault so you don’t mind fulfilling a few more of my selfish wishes, right?”

You frown.

“Give me a kiss. Otherwise I just won’t be able to feel at ease after all.”

*Rustle*

“Come on, look this way. Look at me...Mmh...”

*Smooch*

“Nn...”

*Rustle*

“Fufu~ I’m glad. Now I can finally feel relieved. That being said, now that I’ve been put at ease, I’m feeling a little peckish. Say, let me suck just a little bit of your blood?”

You give him permission.

“Haah...Good grief. I wonder if both me and this strange disease will be cured this way?”

Laito bites you.

*Gulp gulp gulp*

“Nfu...~”

*Gulp gulp*

“Mm...Aah~ Nn...Aahn~ Oh no...Rather than getting better...I feel like my condition is only worsening...Haahn...”

*Gulp gulp*

“...Haah...I simply love you so much...This disease just won’t go away...Mmh...”

*Gulp gulp*

ーー THE END ーー

Translation notes

(1) At Japanese high schools, they work with a 日直 or ‘nicchoku’ system which literally means ‘day duty’. Every day, other students are in charge of doing certain chorus such as cleaning the classroom after school, bringing hand-outs to the teacher’s office, etc. This system is meant to teach these youngsters about responsibility from a young age onwards. 

(2) In Japanese the expression is 病は気から or ‘yamai wa ki kara’, implying that a lot of feeling sick or getting better is actual mentally decided. 

(3) ビッチ or ‘bitch’ in Japanese is commonly used to refer to a woman/girl with loose morals. In English, the term ‘slut’ might actually be a more accurate translation than ‘bitch’ is.

[silvermalkin]

Obey Me! Shall We Date?

Simeon x Reader

Sick Fic - Simeon caught a Devildom virus, but he’s been quarantined. Who is going to take care of him?

Rated: E

Word Count: ~3300

Tags: Gender Neutral Reader, Cuddles, Fluff, Solomon’s Cooking Mention

School had ended, but you were taking a moment to study in the RAD courtyard. Something your professor had said confused you, so you were pouring over your “Contracts, Loopholes, and the Stupid Mortals who Make Them” textbook.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, can I talk to you for a minute?”

You stopped flipping pages to look up at Solomon. “Sure. You look solemn, is everything okay?”

“It isn’t.” He hung his head. “I’m sure you noticed Simeon’s absence today.”

“I did. Is he sick?” When he nodded, you closed your textbook. “What can I do to help?”

“This isn’t a mere cold, there isn’t much that you could—” he stopped and regarded you thoughtfully, resting a finger against his lips. “No, I suppose if it’s you it should be fine. Would you like to come see him?”

You were already standing. “Let’s go.”

While you walked to Purgatory Hall, Solomon told you about Simeon’s condition. “Unfortunately, Simeon thought it would be nice to take a late-night walk along the River Doom in the rain and he ran into a Devildom virus. It wouldn’t be too serious for a demon or a human, however, for an angel it is quite dangerous.”

“Additionally,” he continued, “The Devildom air is quite aggressive. Normally our angel friends can handle it perfectly well but in Simeon’s condition it could be fatal. So for now we’ve set a seal around his room to limit his exposure.”

“How can we help him recover? Is there any medicine?”

Solomon shook his head. “Only the usual, to ease some of the discomfort. But Simeon will just have to fight the virus until it has run its course.”

“And moving him back to the Celestial Realm?”

“It would be too dangerous.”

“Poor Simeon. And I bet Luke is out of his mind with worry.”

Solomon sighed. “Luke, well, see for yourself.” You’d arrived at Purgatory Hall, and as soon as you went inside you heard a huge clatter from the kitchen. You rushed in to find Luke sprawled on the floor, his head in a bowl of butterscream frosting.

“Oh, Luke,” you said as you helped him up and removed the bowl. “Are you alright?”

He blinked away frosting to look at you with tears in his eyes and drips from his nose. You made a mental note to throw the frosting away later.

“What am I going to do,” wailed Luke, “nothing I make is turning out right. I can’t give these to Simeon!” He gestured to the counter behind him where a small mountain of sloppy pastries and burnt cookies lay ominously. “I can’t do anything else to help him feel better, what if he doesn’t ever get—”

You almost patted his head, but switched to a frosting-free shoulder. “Try not to worry, Luke. He’s a strong angel. I’m sure he will recover in time.”

Luke wiped his nose on his sleeve and nodded. “You’re right. Simeon wouldn’t let something like the Devildom bring him down for good!” Still, he couldn’t quite smile and tears still ran down his cheeks.

“Since you get it,” said Solomon, “why don’t you ease up on the baking? It’s not like a sick person could eat this anyway.” He nudged a melting Petrifying Parfait. “You’ve taken up so much of the kitchen I haven’t been able to make any real food for Simeon.”

You pressed your lips together. “Mmhmmmm. Well, maybe if you can get Luke and uh, the rest of this cleaned up, I can make something light for him.”

Solomon grabbed a towel and vigorously rubbed Luke’s whole head and face to get off the icing, which made Luke mad, but at least he wasn’t crying anymore. While they focused on cleaning up the desserts, you set about making a simple soup. Something warm and light that would give Simeon a bit of energy but wouldn’t tax him to eat.

After the food was ready, Solomon took you up to Simeon’s room, but stopped you before you stepped inside. “The seal,” he stated. “It’s rather delicate. I can maintain it as you go in, but too many crossings would break it.”

“So, you’re saying that if I go in I shouldn’t come back out.”

He nodded. “If you’re willing to take the responsibility and look after him until his fever breaks, I’ll begin.” He looked at you.

You looked at him. “What are you waiting for? The soup’s getting cold.”

He chuckled. “Of course.” He touched the doorway and concentrated a moment. “Alright, go on.”

Without hesitation you strode inside and set your tray down on the small table before turning to the bed and the angel who lay there.

Simeon indeed looked very unwell. He was breathing erratically and sleeping fitfully, the covers twisted around him as he fidgeted. He was sweating, too. He had gotten dressed, sans cape, but his clothes were damp. His bedside table had some medicine on it, but the packet laying by a glass of water was unopened. It was an antipyretic; looking at the box, he would have needed food to take this, anyway.

Thankfully Simeon had his own bathroom, so you wet some cloths down with cool water. First thing was to help wipe the sweat from his skin. You gently dabbed his forehead, and worked your way down to his neck and shoulders.

He stirred a bit, eyes unopen. “Luke?”

“Sorry, it’s me.”

He didn’t react for a moment. “The dream again,” he muttered. Then his eyes cracked open, although they remained unfocused. “Wait. Wh- I’m- you don’t need- they shouldn’t have—”

“Don’t get worked up. I wanted to come. Luke is too distraught to help you, and do you really want Solomon to make you something to eat?”

He smiled a bit, which relieved you. “No.” His eyes started to drift closed again.

“Hey, now. You can’t go back to sleep just yet. You need your medicine but for that you’ll have to eat something first. Do you feel hungry?”

He didn’t answer.

“Simeon.” You pulled him upright, hoping that would wake him up some more.

“I don’t feel hungry but I can probably keep something down.”

You handed him the thermometer and he stuck it into his mouth as you fetched the tray you’d brought. When the thermometer beeped you looked at the reading. “Too high, obviously, but you should be fine after medicine and some rest. Now, try some soup first. If your fever breaks and you want something a little firmer later, I brought up a shadow apple for you.”

“Are these rabbits?” He reached over to the plate and gently touched one of the apple-peel ears. “Cute.”

He was cute, with his flushed face and sleepy mannerisms. You were glad you went to the effort of cutting them nicely. “Here,” you said, holding up a spoonful of soup, cupping your hand underneath to catch drips.

Simeon stared at you.

You flushed. “Hurry,” you urged, bringing the spoon to his mouth.

Obediently he opened up and took let you tip the soup in, but he watched you the whole time, face flushed from fever. Probably.

“The taste?” you asked awkwardly.

He snapped out of it. “I… can’t taste anything.”

“Oh,” you said. Feeling a little disappointed you stirred the soup slowly. Then a small snort made you look up.

Simeon was laughing at you. “Sorry, sorry! It tastes delicious, of course.”

“Simeon! That’s so mean. And after I went to all the trouble.”

He gazed at you with soft, slightly teary eyes. “Well, if you’re going to see me so helpless like this, I wanted a little payback.” He laughed at your pout, but then winced and clutched at his temple.

“See what your playing around has brought you?” you tried to scold, but your worried face gave you away. You handed him the bowl. “Eat at least a little more and I’ll find you something to change into; your clothes are soaked.”

After you located some pajamas you returned to take the bowl from Simeon.

“Sorry, I could only finish half,” he said.

“Even a little will help. Here,” you gave him the medicine and the water, “time for this.” After he’d taken it, you said, “Okay, turn around.”

He looked so confused. “What?”

You raised the pajamas. “We need to get you changed. I’ll unbutton your collar.”

Uncertainly, he looked away and you carefully unfastened his shirt. His skin was too hot so you laid your hands on the back of his neck, hoping your fingers would feel cool and soothing.

He jumped and turned back, his own hand coming up to hold his neck where yours had been. “I think I can handle the rest myself,” he said hurriedly. He snatched the pajamas but hesitated. “Sorry, but could you help me into the bathroom?”

“Of course!” You moved out of the way so he could stand and held onto his elbow to steady him. Together you shuffled to the doorway.

“I’ll handle it from here.”

You were worried. “You’re swaying a lot, are you sure? I promise not to look.”

“Please,” said Simeon with a sad smile. “I’d like to hold onto a little dignity.”

“Okay, but call for me the instant you need me.”

While Simeon was busy, you took the opportunity to straighten out his sheets. They weren’t as sweat-soaked as his clothes had been, so you deemed them fine for now.

After that task was done, you sat restlessly. Simeon seemed to be taking a long—

A clatter from the bathroom and a thud made you instantly sprint over, yanking the door open without a thought. Simeon was slumped down next to the counter. You stepped over the toothbrush and cup he had knocked over on his way down and knelt next to him. He was breathing heavily and didn’t seem to notice you.

“Simeon, are you alright? Uh, aside from the obvious.”

His eyebrows furrowed and he turned glazed eyes towards you. He didn’t say anything, but he brought a hand up to cup your face.

You pressed your palm against his forehead. This was bad. “Simeon, we have to get you back to bed.” Again, he didn’t really respond, but when you started to stand, he made the effort to come up with you. Leaning on you heavily this time, you started back across the room.

It was then that you noticed. Simeon had managed to change into his pajama pants but hadn’t gotten to the shirt yet. He was clammy, but you couldn’t help but notice the fragrance of lavender and bergamot lingering on his skin. You started to feel hot, too, but it probably wasn’t due to a virus. He’s ill, you reminded yourself, this is not the time for any weird thoughts.

Once he was safely situated in bed you took his temperature again. It had spiked, but hopefully the medicine would kick in soon. There were cooling pads in his bathroom. You brushed the hair over his forehead aside gently so you could apply one. It looked so painful for him that your heart ached.

He seemed to already be asleep, but he brought his hand up to catch yours. He opened his mouth, but had to swallow hard before he could find his voice. “Thank you for taking, the-the time. To come.”

“Of course,” you said quickly. “I couldn’t be easy until I had seen your condition myself.”

He cracked an eye to look at you. “But Solomon said. Said no one could… the spell… come in…”

“He managed it somehow. I couldn’t just leave you alone!” You busied yourself with placing the cooling sheet on his forehead so you wouldn’t tear up. If you hadn’t come, would they really have just left him to handle this by himself? You started to get angry at Solomon and Luke.

“Don’t frown,” whispered Simeon. “I like your smile. It gives me, uh, strong. Ha. Strength.”

Tears really did start to well up. “Simeon, I’m so sorry you have to feel like this.” You stroked his hair softly. “I wish I could just kiss your pain away.”

“You could try?” He puckered up, but then relaxed into a pained smile. “No, I know you—didn’t mean it like that.”

You clenched your fist. He’s a sick person. You can’t take advantage of a sick person, but he was just… you leaned in quickly, planting a kiss on top of his head. “I wish I could do more.”

“You’ve already done… Just having you here…” He was drifting off again. “Which one is the angel?” he whispered, almost to himself. Then he stirred a little more. “Actually—”

“Name it,” you said.

“Could you sing? Is there a song, of—of healing…”

You bit your lip, trying to think. “Maybe like a lullaby? I’m not sure I could…”

“Please? You’re so lovely. So lovely… please, your song would be lovely. It doesn’t have, doesn’t have to be a real song. Just your voice. I just could listen to your voice for eternity. Eternity with you… would be nice.”

You nearly shrieked with how adorable he was being. Face burning, you started with a few hesitant notes. Simeon instantly smiled so serenely that your voice broke. You cleared your throat and started again more confidently.

It didn’t take long before he was sleeping peacefully; you let your voice taper off. You gently touched his cheek. His skin seemed a bit cooler, but you were still worried.

“How is he?” asked Solomon from behind you. Luke was next to him, vibrating with anxiety. Had they heard you signing?

You went to the door so you could whisper. “He’s sleeping alright now, and I think the medicine is working but he should still be monitored."

“Do you need to be relieved? We could probably take over if you’d like to go back to the House of Lamentation.” Luke nodded vigorously, but didn’t seem to trust himself to speak.

You balked. “Didn’t you say the spell shouldn’t be crossed that often?”

Solomon smirked at you. “Perhaps.”

“Solom—" began Luke at a yell, before he caught himself. All of you turned to look at Simeon, but he didn’t stir. Luke continued in a stage whisper, “This isn’t the time for pranks.”

You snorted softly. “It doesn’t matter. I’m clearly the one most capable of looking after a sick person. I’m staying.”

Solomon chuckled, and Luke, instead of being offended, hung his head. “I agree that would be best,” said Solomon. Well, then, we’ll leave you to it.”

Once they’d gone, you went back to check Simeon’s cooling pad and touch his cheek again. No change in either. Well, it wouldn’t do to worry too much. At first you tried to borrow a book and read by the fire, but every time Simeon shifted your head shot up anxiously.

Finally, you decided it would be easier just to remain next to him. You knelt on the floor next to him. You were feeling a bit tired, yourself, so you rested your head on the bed. But what if something changed and he needed you? Then you grasped the solution and his hand in one. Now you’d be able to feel if he woke up or was too hot. With that security, you allowed yourself to drift to sleep.

There was a soft touch against your head and you jolted upright. Was Simeon—he was awake and smiling at you. He’d been patting your hair with one hand while the other still grasped yours. You pouted at your faulty alarm system, but didn’t let go.

“How do you feel?” you asked, rubbing a hand over your face before you reached to feel his. He had removed the now-warm cooling pad, so you were able to feel that his temperature was much lower than it had been before. The edges of his curtains were dark, so it must still be the middle of the night, only a few hours.

“I don’t have a lot of energy, but my mind feels clearer.”

You handed him the thermometer. “That’s good!” Once it beeped, you took it from him and handed him the plate of apples. “It’s still a little high, but your fever has gone down.”

Simeon had already eaten three shadow-apple rabbits. “It’s because I have such an excellent and comforting nurse,” he said, squeezing your hand. You’d forgotten he was still holding it.

“I didn’t really do anything,” you demurred.

“Nonsense. An angel doesn’t get sick easily. Don’t mention this to Luke, but I was really quite worried about it. It was a great relief to have someone so capable with me. I could rest easily knowing you were here. It doesn’t hurt that the nurse is cute, as well.”

“Simeon,” you protested lightly. “Stop, or I’ll die, from embarrassment.”

“I’d never allow that,” he said, but yawned.

You collected yourself. “You still need some sleep. I’ll get you some more water, but then you should lie down again.”

“Only if you’ll lie down with me.”

You nearly tripped on your way to the sink. “Excuse me?”

He just smiled innocently. “You can’t have gotten enough rest kneeling like that.”

Was he doing it on purpose or did he really not hear himself sometimes? You cleared your throat and ignored him, wordlessly filling his glass. When you handed it off, you said, “I’ll just get some rest on the couch, and you can call if you need me.”

His hand caught yours again. “I’m doing a little better, but you really do comfort me. Are you sure you won’t stay here?” His light blue eyes shimmered as he gazed at you expectantly. What were you going to do, say no?

“Fine, just for a bit,” you said halfheartedly. He scooted over and you climbed in. He had arranged for an arm to be around your shoulders and he pulled you in close. “Are you sure this will be restful for you?”

He nuzzled into your hair and breathed deeply. “Mm, yes,” he whispered. “If I can get rewarded like this, maybe I should think about getting sick more often.”

You jerked back to look him in the eye. “Don’t even joke about it,” you scolded.

“Ah, I apologize.” He still smiled, though.

“Seriously, Simeon, you have to take care of yourself.” You were tired and your eyes felt hot. “I was so worried.”

He instantly softened. “I’m sorry,” he said, pressing a kiss to your brow. “I’m sorry,” he said as he kissed an escaping tear away. His hand came up to cup your cheek. “I’m sorry,” he murmured, meaning something else as he kissed you on each corner of your mouth. Then he kissed you fully. He was still warm, too warm, but soft and sweet, only the firmness of his hand betraying how deeply he felt about you.

All too soon he pulled back to plant one last one on your forehead. “Get some rest,” he said, tucking you under his chin and against his chest.

You didn’t know how he thought you could.

[incorrect-miraith-quotes]

(A/N yes, this is an incorrect quote acc but I can write actual good stuff too 😳)

Drinks and Sunsets

7:00 AM (3 hours before the match starts)

“Renee!! Wake up please, there is breakfast!” Natalie shouted at the closed door infront of her. Renee had fallen asleep at an ungodly time trying to find out more about herself and well, it didnt work out the way she wanted. She groaned, squeezing her eyes tight while moving her arms up. She stretched and eventually popped her shoulder which caused her to scream but not really scream if you understand what I mean. She cursed at herself for not going to sleep earlier knowing that there was a game today. She sat up, shading her eyes from the window that shown the bright sun. Her head turned to the door when she heard knocks coming from the other side. “someone’s there” Renee’s voices whispered, echoing throughout her ears. “No shit sherlock,” She hissed.

“Wra- I mean Renee~ wait no- sorry. Renee are you gonna eat?” Elliot sputtered, clearing his throat. “Depends on what it is,” She sighed. “It’s uH..pancakes I think? I dont know, Ramya was chosen to be the one who cooks today. They looked..burnt,” He explained, shuddering from the thought of Ramya’s pancakes. “I guess, give me a minute to get dressed and I’ll head out. Wait for me?” Renee asked, getting up and walking to her dresser. “Uh..yeah, yeah I’ll wait for you. Dont worry about a thing..you worried cause I’m not..haha..ha..,” Elliot trailed off, sliding down to the floor until he hit his arse on the concrete. Renee chuckled to herself in his stupidity and got dressed. She wore a black tank top with short grey shorts and her black sneakers with her ankle high socks (black of course). She unlocked her door and peered over to the tall man crouched next to her door, falling asleep.

“Wake up Elliot, I thought I was the one to wake up hm?” She flicked his forehead, causing him to rub the spot where he was hit. “Ow ow ow- Why??” Elliot questioned, confused as to why he was hit. “You were gonna start drooling so..anyways, breakfast?” Renee pulled him up, almost falling backwards. “I mean that’s why I’m here right? Right? i hope Im right..,” Elliot trailed off again, starting his journey towards the kitchen with the small woman behind him. Everynow and then he would peek back to make sure she was still there and not inside a portal. “You’re safe with him” Renee looked up at Elliot, the voice echoing throughout her mind. “You like him dont you” Renee looked up at the ceiling and scrunched her face in annoyance, internally screaming at the voices. “I don’t, you guys always assume things,” she whispered, looking at the random framed pictures hung up on the wall. “Elliot!” Renee shouted at the still walking man. He jumped slightly and flinched, “y-yeah? What’s up?” “Kitchen is right here doofus,” She nodded her head towards the room, “How did you manage to miss this big ass room??” “I guess it was an accident, never done that before haha,” He sighed and apologized. The so called pancakes were sitting on a top of a white ceramic plate, getting colder by the minute. “I wouldn’t even dare to try them..I mean you could but- It probably wouldnt be good..,” He walked over to the counter, “If you want, I can cook somthing up for you?” “That would be nice thank you and uh..can you make me some coffee? You know how I like it already,” She sat down at the large dinner table, laying her head down. “Yeah I can do that for ya, anything you want in particular?” Elliot asked but was met with silence. He peeked over and saw she was sleeping soundly with her head in her arms. Elliot took off his sweater and draped it over her shoulders then went back to the kitchen.

8:37 AM (1:30 hours before the match starts)

“Breakfast is ready Renee,” he shook her gently until she stirred, “Mornin’ beaut- I-I mean um..sleepyhead..? Yeah..that’s the word..sleepyhead.” “Mmm..mor-“ She clears her throat and rubs her eyes, “morning..sorry I fell asleep I just didn’t get enough sleep last night.” She looked down at the scrambled eggs and toast that were neatly placed onto the plate infront of her. “It’s fine, I didnt wanna bother you because I thought you’d kill me,” He admitted, taking off the apron that was tied around his waist. He placed it on the hook next to the fridge where a stickynote was left by Octavio not to touch his jello. The only person he let touch his stuff was Natalie. Renee picked up the fork and began eating. “You should date him” “No,” She whispered, furrowing her brows as she picked up a piece of egg with her fork. She watched as the tall man made her coffee just the way she likes it; black with a little bit of sugar and creamer. She was never one to like sweet coffee like everyone else. He poured the jug’s contents into her prefered mug. He added the little things she liked and carried it over to where she was sitting. She thanked him with a small, almost unnoticable, smile. Renee sat there with her cup close to her nose, smelling the bitter coffee aroma. She cooled it before sipping it slowly, enjoying the taste of her morning coffee.

“Hey Elliot, do you know what time it is?” She questioned the other who was washing the pan. He checked his phone and replied, “8:52” Renee stood up and brought her plate to the sink after she was done eating. “Could you wash these for me? I need to freshen up in my room,” She handed him the plate, “thanks.” She started making her way towards her room; which consisted of one right and a lot of walking straight. But she never got tired of it since she was happy she lived comfortably with her friends. The 2 rooms that were next to hers were Natalie’s and Ajay’s. The boys were on the opposite side so in front of her was Elliot. The hallway she lived in held 6 legends at a time 3 girls, 3 boys. Renee’s hallway had Ajay, her, and Natalie and then Octavio, Elliot, and Tae. The others had their hallways, some with empty rooms for future legends. Natalie was never really in her room since she was always with Octavio. It was weird, seeing two polar opposites living together. Then there were Ajay and Tae, she managed to make friends with him. I’m pretty sure Tae is still annoyed but is warming up to her.

“Oh! Youre awake finally,” Natalie smiled, walking out of Octavio’s room, “You never woke up so I had to get Elliot to help me..” Renee stood there at her door with the key in the slot, “Yeah, Ive just been...thinking.”

“Hm, well I hope you get some more sleep. Oh and goodluck with the match today!”

“You arent participating today?”

“Non, Ive been feeling unwell for the past few hours”

“Why aren’t you in bed then?”

“Well, Tavi was getting Ajay but he hasnt come back yet”

“You should be resting Nat..”

“Im okay I swear! Pas besoin de s'inquiéter,” She smiled softly and weakly. She was still in the large shirt Octavio gave her to sleep in and pajama pants. She had a small nessy plush tucked into her elbow, being squished tightly. “Chica! Get back in the bed right now or else im going to llevarte allí yo mismo,” Octavio came back with soup and meds, shouting at the sickly girl. “Ah, Tavi.. Je suis désolé I was just wondering where you were.,” She hugged the plush closer to her fragile body. “Come here conejita, lets get you better,” He lifted her up into his arms, still carrying the supplies Ajay had given him, “When you are done being sick I am going to....”

“Lovebirds,” Renee sighed and closed the door to her room, preparing for the match ahead of her. She got her battle gear on and re-did her messy bun into a neat one. Her kunai rested on the counter, untouched in its holster. She picked it up and unsheathed it, smiling at the small sparks of void that emitted out of it. She put it away and hooked the holster to her belt. “You know you wanna be like them, you cant deny it” The voices teased. “You guys really want me in a relationship huh,” Renee flopped backwards onto her messy bed. She didnt have time to make it in the morning but now she can. She checked her phone and scrolled through her social medias. Elliot made her download them and every now and then, Elliot will make her post a picture or something. She always got tagged in fanart and random posts about her in the matches. She would occasionally like some and they would freak out and thank her. She scrolled through her tagged until she came across one post. It was fanart of her and Elliot, sitting together with their hands intertwined watching the sunset. Renee blushed slightly at the art. She saw that Elliot had already liked it, but seeing as he likes all posts that he got tagged in, it wasnt weird. She hesitantly liked it and turned off her phone. “Maybe I do like him” Her thoughts were interupted when someone knocked at the door.

9:34 (couple minutes until the match starts. The ship still has to arrive at the arena, World’s Edge)

“Renee! Get yuh ass over here ‘cause the match starts soon!” Ajay’s voice boomed through the door. Her footsteps could be heard on the other side as she walked away. Renee stood up and stretched while walking towards where Ajay just was. She opened the door to see Elliot walking out of his room. “Oh hey Ren..can I call you that? Im gonna call you that..anyways, hi. Wanna walk together?” She nodded, “Okay cool, lets start heading over before everyone leaves without us.” They walked in a comfortable silence over to their friends. Octavio was in a corner moping since he didnt have his love interest with him while Crypto spied on him from another corner. He was still mad that Nat rejected him a few weeks ago to be with Octavio. It was crazy hearing that he was sulking around in his room for hours on end. But back to the main girl in this story, Renee sat down on one of the couches that sat in the middle of the room. Everyone was ready to board the dropship to head over to the arena. Here is what was going around, Gibby and Ajay were laughing together,Octavio was..unenergetic for once, Tae was in the corner, Loba was fixing her nails while Rev watched her on the wall, Alexander was playing around with his gas, and lastly Ramya was chewing gum while playing on her phone. It was always bustling in the living space because its where everyone socialized other than the bar. A small yet loud alarm was sounded to let all the legends know it was time to board the dropship.

“Woo-hoo! It’s finally time to go,” Octavio said unenthusiastically. Everyone walked in one-by-one or in pairs. They all strapped up in their skydiving equipment and was prepared for the long drop ahead of them. Renee stood next to Elliot’s room in the ship while the others either went to their rooms or sat in the middle. (Reference back to the season 3 trailer for room placement) Renee was flippping her kunai peacefully while Elliot rambled about something in his room. She enjoyed listening to him talk about nonsense while the quiet humming of the ship was surrounding them. It was peaceful, atleast to her. It blocked out most of the voices and when she was around Elliot they seemed to shut up and occasionally tease her. The drop ship shook a bit and Elliot tripped a little but caught himself. Renee didnt mind turbulence since she didnt really care about anything really, she tenses up a bit sometimes but thats about it. Her scarf end swayed as the ship lowered slowly. Suddenly the screens flashed on and displayed everyone’s banners. Everyone gets a chance to customize and submit their banners to headquarters. The teams were as listed,

Lifeline, Crypto, and Gibraltar

Octane, Caustic, and Bloodhound

Mirage, Wraith, and Loba

Revenant, Pathfinder, Bangalore

Rampart

Everyone stood on their respective platforms also known as where the screens flashed their names. The champions were shown not even a minute later, Wraith’s team was shown and she said a voiceline to taunt her enemies of the day. The metal shifted under their feet and lowered slowly, revealing the bright, cold arena. Everyone at this point was used to the cold though, they were glad it was world’s edge because kings canyon during those months was scorching. Comms were switched on and everyone tested out the mics. Everything was set up and ready to go so teams started dropping towards their locations. Wraith was jumpmaster and pinged on the map, Fragment West. Everyone knew both of Fragment was dangerous and it was hotdrop that game too. You can bet that there were multiple death boxes surrounding the small yet large area. Wraith was already kill leader with 7 kills from the popular spot. Bullets were heard in the distance and Wraith portaled to gain some speed while Loba teleported and Mirage had to run. He wasn’t a running person for long distances so he just took wraith’s portal.

“W- Wait up you two! I dont have a movement ability!!” He cried out to the two girls. The two looked at eachother and giggled while looking back at the energy drained man. “Danger move” Wraith looked around and pinged an enemy and phased away out of danger. Again, Loba teleported away and Mirage was left alone to run away. They hit him good but he managed to get behind cover. Wraith lended him some shield cells and syringes and shot at the other team with her sentinel. The other team was Octane’s team and they were stacked; Octane had gold armour while his teammates had red evo. Octane also had a peacekeeper that he got from a carepackage just next to them. It was a long fight, from gas being thrown on them to the ring closing in on the two teams. They had been fighting for so long they didnt even realize that there were only 3 teams in total left. Wraith’s team, Octane’s team, and lastly Pathfinder. I would say Pathfinder’s team but his teammates died and the banner timers ran out, he was left solo.

“Everyone try to watch your backs, the robot could try to ambush one of us,” Loba turned to face her teammates, occassionally looked up and around for the tall simulacrum. “Spotted him, up there. He has a longbow and what seems to be a flatline on his back. I could snipe him down if that’s what you want,” Wraith calmly called out, pulling out her sentinel and charging it. “Go ahead beautiful,” Loba replied. In an instant, a loud, charged sentinel bullet was shot and killed the robot up on the hill, instantly eliminating him. Now, it was just Octane and Wraith’s teams left to fight. “Nice kill Re- I mean,” He cleared his throat, “Nice kill Wraith..” Wraith smiled and thanked him silently while eyeing down the other team. Seconds went by and both teams rushed eachother. Bullets whizzed by eachothers heads and occasionally hit their shoulders or legs. Octane’s team was low on meds while the other team was low on ammo. Another minute of fighting passes and Wraith’s team is deemed the champion. When they were back in the drop ship everyone congratulated them for winning even though they were in a tight spot. There was an after match party happening in an hour so everyone went back to their rooms to clean up after a long day and get dressed. Renee was first to her room to take a shower while the others stayed in the kitchen or hallways sparking conversations with eachother. While Renee took her cold shower, Elliot decided it was be such a good idea to just waltz into her room to ask her a question not knowing that she was relaxing without voices for once.

“Hey Renee! I was just wondering if you wanted to match for the uh..,” He paused, looking around, “Renee? Where are you??” He looked around the empty yet messy room. Clothes thrown everywhere and notebooks and hairties were strewn about. Her messy bed showing how much she slept that night, which it wasn’t much. He began to worry about her well-being and if she even actually took care of herself. He heard the loud shower running so he went and knocked on the bathroom door. But before he actually knocked, he thought about the things that could happen if he knocked on her bathroom door when she didnt even know that he was in her room. He’d be killed. Before he knew what was coming he accidentally knocked on the door infront of him like a reflex. He heard the girl inside gasp loudly with a few things dropping. He startled her, which was a first for him. He was in shock and did not want to move. “She’s like a T-Rex, if I dont move she cannot see me-“ He was cut off when the door swung open and a semi-dryed off Renee was standing in-front of him. She had her body wrapped with a towel and her still damp hair dripped along the floor and her scarred shoulders.

“How are you in here and what do you want,” She said firmly with an annoyed face. “One, your door was open, two, I wanted to ask if you wanted to match outfits for the after match thing..,” He sighed looking away, “Nevermind, it was a dumb question of course you dont.” He turned and apologized but before he could leave the room Renee stopped him. “Who said I didn’t want to? I wouldn’t mind matching with you,” She stepped over to her closet and sifted through the dresses section, “What color or style were you thinking of?” Elliot was astonished that she actually agreed to do anything with him. “I was thinking accents of purple..? I think it would look nice on both of us,” He sat down on a nearby chair in her room, looking away from her slender body. “Fine with me, now turn around,” She made sure he had his eyes closed and was turned around in order to change. She dropped the towel and peered back just in case. “You want him to see you” “Tell him to turn around” “Let him touch you” The voices were surrounding her but she managed to ignore them. When she finished getting dressed she had Elliot turn around.

“Wow..,” Elliot had no words for the sight in front of him. She wore a long black dress that had a slit on the side with a fluffy, purple boa draped over her shoulders and she was wearing heels making her as tall as him. She played with her hair a bit out of embarrassment while looking away. “You look..amazing,” Elliot was admiring her features that he acted like he’d never seen before, “I just- have no words.” “I dont look that good relax,” Renee walked over to her dresser and put on a necklace that had a purple gem in the middle. “Are you going to just stand there and not go to your room and get dressed?” Renee peered over at him from the mirror. “Right..right yeah, Ill be back to ‘pick you up’,” He opened the door and quietly shut it behind him. She sighed and thought out loud, “What am I going to do about him?” She put her hair in a half bun-half hair down sort of style and finished her look with mascara and a slight tint to her lips. She slipped on short black gloves and grabbed a clutch that had small purple accents on it. “He will like it” “For once you look nice” “People are going to judge you” “Nobody will approach you” “People are going to hate you” The voices started off nice but went downhill and piled hate after hate onto her. She pushed them away and mumbled to herself that tonight will be a good night. Light knocking was heard and she went to open the door, her heels clicking with every step.

“Ready to gooooo-“ He looked her up and down and smiled, “You’re beautiful” He tucked a stray strand from her hair behind her ear, “Let’s be on our way before the limosu- limosio- limo gets here.” He held out a hand and she gladly took it. They held hands for most of the way until Renee let go to check her clutch for something. She pulled it out and checked it before slipping it back in. It was her Apex ID, aka the only way to get into Apex events. You can be one of the legends but they wouldnt let you in without it since people knew how to look almost identical to them. She didn’t regrab his hand after that, she wanted to make sure no one saw. When they got to the front of the building everyone was in their formal attire. Octavio was wearing a green suit top with tailored shorts to go along with it and Natalie wore a white party dress that had orange and blue accents, Anita was in a classic suit talking to Loba who was in a short gold dress, Crypto was in a white suit with green accents, Rampart was in a blouse and office pants, Gibby was in a suit while Ajay wore a long blue dress, Bloodhound wore their goggles along with a suit that had a red cloth in its pocket, and Alexander wore a plain black suit. Revenant doesn’t dress up he said. Pathfinder simply went as himself for the night. After a couple minutes of waiting the limo drove up to the curb of the building. Everyone piled in close together and began conversations with eachother. Elliot and Renee sat really close together due to the limo being quite small for a bunch of legends. Some minutes pass and Renee’s eyes are starting to close. She finally let the sleepiness take over her and her head softly fell onto Elliot’s shoulder. He looked over at her and smiled. Most of the legends eyed them and mouthed for him not to move one bit or she would murder him.

“Elliot..,” Renee mumbled in her sleep, “I..love you..” The small sentence was only heard by the man allowing her to sleep. He tensed up but relaxed as her arm draped over his. The limo pulled up to the event center and a red carpet was dramatically rolled out for the legends. One-by-one everyone was walking down the red carpet either together or solo. Im guessing you can guess which ones walked solo. Elliot nudged Renee and she slowly opened her eyes. She yawned quietly and her eyes met his. They looked at eachother and then she backed away, standing up. She turned away and quickly walked out of the limo and Elliot followed shortly after. Elliot caught up and walked beside her while she covered her eyes from the flashing of the cameras. He enjoyed all the attention on him but Renee never did. He realized what was happening and walked directly infront of her, taking the spotlight. The taller put his hand behind his back and Renee allowed herself to grab and squeeze it lightly. He led her somewhere private and sat her down on a wall away from everyone else.

“You okay? I know you dont like the atten- attentin- eyes on you,” he knelt down, matching his eye level with hers. “I’m fine, you dont have to worry about me so much you know,” She sighed and leaned back slightly, “Let’s just get back to the others before they think were fucking or something.” Elliot offered a hand but she declined, pushing herself up from the wall. She swayed her hips with every step she took towards the doors. Her dress flowed down neatly from her waist down to the carpeted floor. He watched her walk away as the boa she wore bounced with her strides. “W- wait up Renee!” He yelled, fast-walking towards her but she was already through the doors. When he made it through, it was bustling with legends from other ports and random game organizers. There was loud music playing from speakers up above and most of the legends were by the bar including Anita and Loba. Others were either on couches or talking near walls with each other. There were people dancing in the middle of the room where flashing lights and more sparkled along the area. His eye caught the bright purple boa from across the room.

“Hey Ren, glad I finally found you,” He sat next to the now relaxed woman, “Let me guess, appletini?” She gave a side-glance towards him while she sipped the drink he guessed. It was her usual at the Paradise Bar so it wasn’t weird. Minutes went by and the found themselves laughing at eachother from stupid jokes and random stories. A slow-dancing song played on the speakers and everyone got with a partner.

“Wanna go dance with me Ren?” Elliot grabbed her hand, pointing to where everyone was partnered together. “I can’t really dance Elliot, I dont know if I could do it,” Renee responded back to him, covering her face with her boa. “Oh, come on you can’t be that bad at dancing. It’s not that hard, come on I’ll teach you,” He grabbed her hand and pulled her off the seat to take her over to everyone else. He brought her to the dance floor and held her close, guiding her hands to where they were supposed to be. He placed her hands on her lower waist and swayed side-to-side with her. “See? I told you it wasnt that ha-“ He winced as she stepped on his foot, “It’s fine, I forgive you since you’re a beginner.” She apologized anyways and held him closer. As the song came to an end everyone seperated except for them.

“This is nice,” Renee pulled away from his arms, “Want to go somewhere more..quiet?” Elliot’s face contorted to a confused yet happy expression. “I know just the place Ren!” He grabbed her hand and practically sprinted out the doors with her, bringing her to a cliff just off the side of the road. He sat down far away from the edge and patted the spot next to him, signalling for her to walk over and sit next to him. The sun was setting and it was the most beautiful thing that Renee had ever seen. “Oh wow Elliot..I never knew about this spot,” She couldn’t stop gazing at the orange and red hues surrounding the hot ball of gas. “My mom would take me here sometimes, from the sunset, the sunrise, and the stars oh my god the stars. She’d make them so amazing but one day she got so sick and she couldn’t take me anymore. So everytime we get to come here I come out here, to escape the whole legend thing and relax by myself. But now, I see two pretty things infront of me..the sunset and well, you,” He gently grabbed her hand and her reddish face was hard to see in the dark. She turned her head towards him and he smiled softly. “This reminds me of something I saw today, a post with a drawing of us. There’s just one thing missing to complete the scene I believe,” Renee saw him thinking and it looked like a lightbulb just turned on in his head. He leaned in and so did she. They closed their eyes and-

kissed

The scene matched the vibe of the social media post that Renee had randomly come across. It was a strange feeling to Renee, for she had never felt this way towards anyone before. Atleast, not a time that she could remember. Elliot had a goofy smile plastered on his face afterwards. She grinned and leaned on his shoulder as they gazed at the stars that started to peek from the horizon. “Alright yuh lovebirds, get yuh asses inside before we leave without yuh guys,” Ajay leaned against the door, watching them. “Oh, alright. We’ll be right there Ajay,” Renee looked over her shoulder to the other girl and smiled softly. Ajay nodded and closed the door behind her. Elliot was the first to get up and then offered a hand for Renee to grab. She gladly took it and he hoisted her up to her feet. She brushed off any dirt that may have gotten onto her dress. As they went back inside, no one really looked at them apart from quick glances. Anita signalled to them over at the entrance that they were leaving the event. They held hands as they rushed over to the group, not wanting to let go of eachother. Anita counted them and led everyone back to the limosuine so they could pile in the same way they did when they arrived.

(Back at the Apex Dormrooms)(Specifically Elliots Room)

The two were sitting on top of the bed in Elliot’s room, talking. Everyone had just got back to the dorms and they had rushed out so they could get some privacy. “So..what are we now?” Renee turned towards Elliot, who was fidgeting with his hands. He looked up and shifted into a more comfortable position to look at the girl next to him. He looked back infront of him and flopped back onto his bed, staring at the ceiling. “Whatever you want us to be, Ren,” His eyes glanced at her features from the angle he was in.

“I want to be...more than friends-“

“Best friends?”

“No-“

“Best best friends..?”

“Elliot-“

“What?”

“I want to be together, as in I want us to date and do things that couples do,” her head turned towards him. “A-are you sure?? I-I-I mean I dont think Im that bad at being a boyfriend but are you really sure you want to be in a rela- rele- be with me???” He stammered, not knowing what to say. “Yes,” was all she had to say when Elliot pulled her in close to lay down next to him. He kissed her cheeks and her forehead multiple times before stopping to stare at her beauty. She giggled and smiled then held him down into a cuddle position on the bed. “This is what I’ve always wanted, despite me acting like I never did,” She admitted, tracing circles on the others chest. “Did you want to sleep here for the night? Or..we’re you going to go back to your room?” Elliot asked, but got no response from the other. Renee was fast asleep in his arms, snoring softly. Elliot smiled a loving smile and kissed her forehead lightly then fell asleep quick with the warmth she amitted.

E X T R A

Octane walked into Elliot’s room, knowing it was unlocked and because he was his best friend. He had his phone in hand, ready to ask a question about the future match. His eyes darted towards the bed after noticing that the lights were off. There, he saw his best friend with the stone cold girl, who never really showed emotion. He gasped quietly and opened the camera app on his phone. He snapped a picture but before he knew it, the flash went off and lit up the entire area of the man’s bed. Renee groaned and covered herself more with the blanket that was draped over her and Elliot. He quickly stepped out of the room where the couple rested and snickered at the photo he caught. His first thought was to post it, his second? To post it and then print it and frame it. He didnt want to seem like a bitch so he decided to post it with the caption, “Found the lovebirds mating LOL” Within a matter of seconds, the post flooded with likes and shares. Which meant that all if not most of the legends would see it. You bet that Elliot and Renee we’re furious when they both came across it the next day..

THE END

word count: 5,445

Hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it :] <3

Quotes will resume Monday,, 2:00pm CT

[isshuns]

word dump

untitled kuroken fic in the lex miserables series :’) tw: eating problems, feeling disconnected from oneself, anxiety, idk if there’s depression in this lolol

the realisation that something is wrong with himself comes to kenma one day when hinata invites him to one of the firm’s after-work bonding sessions. 

these bonding sessions usually take place on friday evenings, taking advantage of the happy hour policies of the bar down the street. the usual participants - tora, ryuu, noya, inuoka, lev and hinata - gather by kenma’s door while hinata beams at him expectantly, waiting for his acceptance to an invite that goes rejected every week. 

it’s admirable, really, that hinata tries so hard to include him in the after-work team bonding sessions. it’s a benefit fully paid for by the firm, courtesy of the partners insisting that any costs for team bonding ought to be shouldered by the employers, but kenma is always the last person to ever take advantage of this benefit. it is probably the one single benefit of his employment that he rarely takes advantage of. 

“come on, kenma, it’ll be fun!” hinata grins, radiant like the sun. 

kenma blinks, steals a glance at the time displayed by the corner of his desktop, and sighs.

“sorry, shouyou, not today.” it ought to get easier each passing time he rejects hinata’s offer to drink themselves silly, but somehow it isn’t. the guilt that crawls through his skin consistently makes him sick with anxiety every time.

“it’s okay, next time, kenma! i’ll be sure to get you to come one day!” 

hinata is welcome to try.

hunger faintly registers itself in his brain, but he has no appetite at all. he works backwards to identify his thought patterns for the past few days. he either stress-ate and had more meals per day than he usually did, or he didn’t eat at all despite knowing that he would get hungry the next day, 

if kuroo noticed anything, kenma is only grateful that he hasn’t commented on it at all. 

it feels strange, swinging from one end of the spectrum to the other end back and forth day by day. at the end of the journey, all kenma feels is bone deep exhaustion, bitter hopelessness and a sense of resignation.

on one day, he felt better, and indulged himself with an expensive unagi bento set from the michelin starred sushi restaurant down in roppongi. without digging in yet, he passed by his favourite bakery, saw his favourite apple pies fresh out of the oven, and bought two large slices on impulse. 

kenma ate everything in one go for dinner. in the aftermath, the food he ingested probably washed away all the good cheer he had too. he felt sick, fat, and sluggish with too much food in his now round belly, and desperately wished that his stomach would stay flat forever instead. kenma felt disgusted with himself then, but not to the point he would stick his finger down his throat and purge everything out of his disgestive system. it was a passing thought, one he gave serious consideration to, but did not act on it because kuroo would find out. 

the next day, he somehow felt dissatisfied, craved for the hash browns from mcdonald’s, and bought a breakfast set on a whim. kenma finished the entire meal on the way to work. and then he had lunch with the department, and by the time the sun was setting across the tokyo skyline, he lowkey disliked the feeling of ingesting food so much that he skipped dinner that night and forgoed all proper meals for the remaining days of the week. he survived on one single meal during lunch time, and continued to drown in the loss of appetite.

kenma hates this. he hates his relationship with food. he hates that therapy isn’t helping him to deal with this, that all the coping techniques he’s learned throughout therapy never prepared him for this. his next session with takeda-san is scheduled after another three weeks or so, and kenma is about to fling himself off the tokyo bridge if he has to continue surviving the days like this. 

after hinata leaves, kenma continues to stare at his desktop, a blank expanse stretched across the monitor. he’s supposed to start on the submissions after trial for a case, but the cursor continues to blink and taunt him from the beginning of the blank page. 

quietly, kenma slides open the drawer beside him, and quietly peruses the takeout menu kuroo left on his table last week before he travelled to hokkaido for a week-long trial. the yellow post-it note is still stuck onto the top left corner of the flyer. 

just in case you don’t feel like going out for meals~, it reads. 

it ought to feel endearing, and it would have, but kenma is stuck in some sort of fugue state with no exit in sight. so all he feels is emptiness, and disappointment in himself for failing to appreciate and capture the true emotion the post-it note meant to provide. 

distantly, kenma feels the signs of hunger incoming. all he had for today was one salmon mayo onigiri from the local familymart at ground floor at noon. right now, time has trickled by and is inching closer towards 8pm. with the pandemic, restaurants will close soon. 

i should order something, kenma tells himself, but the lack of appetite overpowers all semblance of rationality, disconnects his thoughts and shuts down his brain. by the time kenma leaves the office, the takeout menu is tucked back into the drawer, out of sight, out of mind.

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

kenma hears the sound of something frying coming from his apartment before he actually smells food in the air. the train leading home was oddly empty today for a friday evening, and kenma had almost the entire carriage to himself. hunger never came back to find him while he stared blankly out of the windows, lost to the static buzzing across his mind.

kuroo is back today, early, his brain tells him unhelpfully as he fishes out his key and unlocks the door, kuroo is cooking.

his mouth waters at the smell of fried oil wafting through the air, but somehow he still doesn’t feel hungry, nor does he feel the need to eat. if he doesn’t exert himself tonight and sleeps early, kenma is confident that he can power through the night without sustenance until lunchtime next morning. 

“welcome home~” kuroo chimes, voice rising above the sizzling sound of hot oil frying in a pan. 

kenma doesn’t need to wait for long before his partner appears before him in the genkan, ridiculous pink apron draped in front of his expensive armani dress shirt as he brandishes a pair of long chopsticks in kenma’s face.

“i cooked dinner.” kuroo declares proudly. because i know you have not eaten yet, goes unsaid.

what should kenma say now? i know, or that’s nice, or perhaps i’m not hungry? which response should he give that would not trigger kuroo to overreact and fuss over his recent lack of appetite? kenma doesn’t want kuroo to worry again. kuroo should only smile, and not have to worry about his wellbeing.

kuroo must have picked up on his mental dilemma, and gives him the easy way out. 

“why don’t you go wash up? i’ll be done in five, then we can eat together.” he smiles, and ducks to peck a chaste kiss on kenma’s forehead before going back to the kitchen.

kenma’s heart twists in guilt. 

when he’s done showering, kenma stands in front of the wardrobe mirror in nothing but kuroo’s oversized shirt hanging off his wiry frame. his face is thinner now, cheek bones more prominent. his fingers travel down from his jawline to press against the collarbones hidden beneath pale skin. 

the hard touch of bones brings him comfort, somehow. with this, kenma will never have to feel disgusted with himself by eating too much and having food fill up his stomach. the sick feeling that he gets from eating one meal too much a day won’t return to haunt him anymore like this. his brain is now quiet, nothing is telling him that he needs to eat, that he needs to pick up the phone to order for food, that he needs to put on decent clothes and walk down the street to get food.

nothing, except kuroo, who is walking up to him this instant, fond expression painted across his handsome features, and planting his large hands over his hipbones.

“have i ever told you how much i love seeing you in my shirt?” kuroo dips his head and presses a kiss against kenma’s shoulder. 

kenma rolls his eyes. kuroo’s smile grows wider, brighter, and he releases him after stroking his thumbs across kenma’s hipbones not once but twice.

“come, kenma,” kuroo leads him to the table, where a bowl of udon and assorted tempura awaits him. kenma’s shoulders drop a little more. 

“eat,” kuroo says.

kuroo takes a seat across him, still smiling, and waits for kenma to start digging in. instead, kenma waits and counts the seconds it would take for that smile to disappear off kuroo’s face. 

in this house, there is no need to pretend to force food down his oesophagus and feel shitty about it later. kenma chooses not to touch his food, just like how kuroo hasn’t touched his either. 

“are you feeling unwell, kenma?” the smile is still there, perched on kuroo’s lips, but kenma notices the way it tightens a little and loses the casualness it once possessed mere seconds ago.

“... no.” 

“are you not hungry?”

kenma fidgets in his seat. how does he tell kuroo that he just doesn’t feel like eating? that he looks at food and his brain doesn’t tell him to consume them for sustenance anymore? 

“yeah. i’m not hungry, sorry, after you cooked and all that.” he says, quietly, like the walls of this house have ears and nowhere is safe for his ugly feelings to go. 

“that’s alright, kenma. you don’t have to be sorry, we can save this for lunch tomorrow.” kuroo gestures vaguely in the air, “we have snacks. eat something. let’s not go to bed on an empty stomach.” 

kenma shrinks further into his seat. he really doesn’t want to eat at all today, for some reason. the thought of food swimming in his stomach makes him feel a little sick. 

“hey, kenma,” kuroo reaches out to touch him, voice soft, “what’s wrong? you can tell me, I won’t be mad.”

kuroo stands from his seat, and comes to sit beside kenma and pull the latter into his arms. he always comes to him, never the other way around. kenma doesn’t know what to make of it, but he feels touched yet guilty at the same time. he knows he should reach out to kuroo more often, reassure him whenever things are looking up, but it’s always kuroo that reaches out first because he knows and understands how difficult it is for kenma step out of his anxiety and take the first step. 

kenma doesn’t deserve kuroo’s love. he will never be worthy of his affections.

“i just... don’t feel like eating. lately.” the last word comes out softer, barely a whisper, but from the way kuroo’s arms tighten around his shoulders, kenma knows kuroo has picked up the intended meaning behind his words. 

“it’s okay to feel that way,” kuroo tells him kindly, “it’s okay.”

“i don’t know why. i just... feel disconnected, somehow, from myself.” 

“thank you for telling me, kenma. what can i do to help?”

kenma wants to cry. well, at least that’s a feeling other than emptiness in him now.

“I don’t know, kuro.”

“we’ll figure it out. it’s okay, we’ll take baby steps, one step at a time. i will be here with you to support you.”

kenma closes his eyes and leans against kuroo’s lean body. he buries his nose into the juncture between kuroo’s neck and shoulder, seeking warmth and comfort. he feels the tension seep out of kuroo’s shoulders when kenma finally reciprocates, knowing that kenma isn’t closing himself off to the world now, to kuroo. the door leading to kenma’s being is still open and nobody has slammed any door closed yet.

kenma sighs.

“thank you,” he says.

[novapark]

Base Background Lore

The basis for my overall simverse (in not just REM but other stories) is rooted in stories I started writing some years ago about Earth in the midst of colonial expansion. I only uploaded the first book as part of Nanowrimo in 2018 but the overall series is named “Don’t Wake the Sleepers” or just “Sleepers” in my head. 

Anyway, my sims are living in a universe several hundred years out from that initial colonial effort and have been exposed to the elements on different planets and changed as a result. There will be more on the evolutionary changes and why they’ve occurred when I get into the different “aliens” we have running around and where they came from. For now I wanted to kick things off with where it all began on Earth. Here is my original timeline for that collection of stories with a few additions that are applicable to REM’s world building.

Please note that the last time I updated this timeline before today was in 2018 so some of this is kind of uncomfortable to go back and read given the current state of the world. 

Also I apologize in advance for how text heavy many of these codex entries will be. I’m just really into world building.

2020’s - Automation leads to civil unrest in the west and a “cold war” of sorts begins between the masses and the elite. This culminates in a progressive shift after the oligarchs realize they have lost control and need to move left to avoid full overthrow. A basic income is instituted and the half measures bring temporary relief for most in Western economies. Some social issues are addressed but income inequality is still a problem. 

2032 - Space is officially opened for commercial work in an effort to boost the stagnant world economy.

2040 - The new goods and services brought in with the new age of exploration creates an unprecedented economic boom. This results in greater intermingling between classes and improves upward mobility worldwide. Around this time people start to work on the first long term colonies throughout the solar system. Most colonies were on asteroids at first during the 2030’s since they were easier to adjust for human needs and for the most part people didn’t live there long term. However the first large scale Mars colonization mission was early in these ventures and while it struggled it eventually was able to gain a foothold in that environment.

2045 - Emboldened by their early success colonizing the solar system, dreams of finding a “New Earth” start to flood into society. Everyone comes together to look for a clean new start.  The first orbital colonies go up around earth as people prepare their bodies and minds for the next great step in humanity.  Near lightspeed drives are invented and robotic probes are sent out around the galaxy to find suitable options. 

2062 - The first ships to leave the solar system with human colonists take off from Earth. The demand is so great that ships leave almost monthly for a while until an obvious depopulation problem slows the process down.

2064 - Phase 3 sleeper ships are implemented, the founding populations of Kas, Simat, Mirindea, and Getan leave Earth. 

2065 - To combat systems collapse due to depopulation, the governments of Earth encourage their remaining citizens to move into large Arcologies.  Most people do this as they offer full services and a launch port for those looking to immigrate off world. As a byproduct a worldwide resurgence in environmental repair and conservation comes into play. Some even call for an end of colonization citing the destruction of their own planet as an example of why they should just clean up the mess and accept the fate all living creatures have to. These people are considered radicals but their message resonates with a large subset of society. A religious movement eventually springs out of it based on old Pagan and Animist principals. 

2066 - A respiratory plague hits some of the arcologies, wiping out the population of one of the largest ones in less than a year. The push to leave Earth gets another boost and a secondary wave as a bitter public feels betrayed by “the planet” for sending the blight. Later it’s discovered to have originated with the Mars colony when people were passing between worlds. A normal flu virus had mutated. The Martians, having changed with it, were immune but the Earthbound and other colonial populations were not. A vaccine based on Martian immunity is developed and the crisis ends but more stringent travel restrictions are put in place and travel between intersolar colonies becomes less common isolating the different groups of humanity further. Some on Earth start to see those who left as less human and some colonists start to see those on earth as evolutionarily inferior. With fewer humans on Earth to support the systems in place due to continued depopulation and disease the old burden of poverty returns as upward mobility breaks down. It’s all about leaving now for the majority. 

2095 - With so few humans left on Earth proper the governments of the World announce that the final long range colonization projects will come to an end. Intersolar system travel will still be a thing but that humanity on Earth no longer has the resources to support larger projects. As such another mad rush to leave the planet ensues with the final ships set to take off in

2098 - The humanity that remains on Earth is largely sparse and sickly. There is a tremendous breakdown in automation support so most of humanity live in the remaining arcologies to better pool resources. The surface of the planet has had a resurgence in animal life and vegetation but most humans live in their settlements much the same as they had for the last thirty years and have become fearful of the new wild space outside of it. Despite this exploring ruins is a popular pastime for the youth and there are some special places outside of big cities still regularly seen by human eyes but the majority of the planet has now been left to repair. 

The final colony ships go up in their drydocks and there is a mad dash for those who remain to get well enough to leave. As the time for the final liftoff approaches lotteries go up as people who find themselves suddenly unwell try to sell their tickets. In response to maximize profits the shipping companies make them non-transferrable and hold their own auctions. 

Contact with the other human settlements off Earth is extremely limited now. Mostly reserved for members of government, though the orbiting stations tend to have better communications on a wide scale than the ground based governments. Most of the extrasolar missions are far out of range and the long range communication relays fell into disrepair. There are occasional large scale transmissions that make it back from the first wave of colonization but in general all is lost to the vacuum. 

The orbital station and asteroid dwellers are caught between these two worlds since they aren’t exactly one or the other and their settlements require a great deal of upkeep to maintain. They are mostly self-automated but need a human hand once in a while. As such accidents have become very common in those places and the people who live there have a general sense of abandonment. There are a group of Earthbound humans that specialize in offering services to their “sky cousins” but these organizations are small and receive little funding.

[imagine-that-one-thing]

Her Majesty. || 7

If You’re A Bird, I’m a Bird.

♔♔♔

I’ve been in and out of sleep for a few hours, my mind is unable to cease thinking about what my mother has said, and I’m still under the weather. I thought I was doing fine but this summer cold is proving to be a pain in my ass. 

I feel Anna’s body move between the sheets and I feel her begin to move with more energy. 

“Anna?” My voice is hoarse while I cock my head to the side to gaze at her. 

She’s still asleep. 

I watch her settle in her sleep and I adjust the sheet over her shoulders before I get comfortable and fall back to dozing in and out of sleep. 

It’s an unexpected gasp, and shift in the bed that alerts me immediately. I open my eyes and notice Anna breathing heavily with her hand gripping the covers. “Hey,” I softly whisper, moving closer as she sits up. “Bad dream?” I question the only logical explanation for her sudden lack of breath and sudden jolts. 

Anastasia nods her head. I caress my hand to her back and rub soothing circles. I’m not quite sure what to do. I’ve never been with her when she has had any sort of bad dream. Whenever I have a bad dream, I usually roll back over and go to sleep, but I can see that she’s quite startled by her dream. “Harry…” Anna begins with a heavy breath, “Where’s Henry?” 

“I don’t know… Would you like me to get you some water?” 

“No… I want you to find Henry.” 

”I can’t, I’m a bodyguard, not a detective. Matthew is handling it. Has he gotten you all worked up again? He won’t find you. He’s harmless.” 

Anastasia shakes her head, “I don’t know about that.” Anastasia grimaces while she sits up a little further and takes in a deep breath. 

I lean over and turn my lamp on, the dim glow illuminating the room immediately and causing Anastasia to groan. “Here we go,” Anna mutters unhappily. I know this isn’t going to end pleasantly. She hates when I do this, but I can’t help it… I can’t act like I don’t care. 

“You’re in pain.” 

“And you’re under the weather. We are both avoiding the obvious.” 

“Christ sake,” I shake my head, tired and irritated with her. 

I know she hates when people fret over her, but it’s my job to do so, literally. Her life is in my hands at the moment, whether she likes it or not, I can’t just turn a blind eye. And as her boyfriend, I can’t go back to sleep knowing that she’s worried over a piece of shit Prince and hurting because she fell off a horse and doesn’t want to have doctors up her ass. “It’s either you tell me or I have to call your doctor. You parents were strict on this rule, and right now, I don’t want to piss the King off. He’s already pissed, and I don’t want to make it worse.” 

“Why is he pissed with you?” Anastasia questions, somewhat shifting the subject. 

The king is pissed off with everybody, he is taking his frustration out on all the staff, right now, he’s having his best go at the security team. Right now, Matthew and I are on the firing line. The king wants Henry’s location, but I’m here; I can’t do much. Matthew can only do so much in a few hours while also being in charge of other security staff. The king is taking his wrath out on everybody— yesterday it was the maids and housekeepers— today it is myself and Matthew— tomorrow it’ll probably be Anastasia again. 

I contemplate telling Anna the truth, I have to draw a line between work and our relationship.

There are some things I keep from her for her own sanity. “Your Dad is mad at the world, I’m trying to defuse situations. So, what’s the matter?” 

“I’m sorry… This whole Henry thing was my fault. It’s all escalating and snowballing.” 

“Anna, stop deflecting.” 

“My side hurts, nothing new.” 

“Can I take a look?” I softly challenge, wanting her permission. 

I know she despises when I have to do this, but right now I’m attempting to be her boyfriend. I genuinely care. It’s just a plus that my job has me trained for taking care of her. Anastasia rolls her eyes and lifts her pyjama top up, revealing the side of her body when she took the hardest hit. 

“Doctor wasn’t joking when she said you’d have bruising. Looks like you definitely have bruised ribs. Why must you be so stubborn?” 

“Same reason why you keep trying to cover the fact you’re unwell and still more worried about me. Please, don’t make a big deal of this.” 

“Anna—“ I begin but I stop myself, “Okay,” I sigh, “But if it gets worse, you’ll tell me?” 

“This isn’t a life or death situation. Let’s go back to sleep.” 

“If you insist.” 

“Can you really not find Henry? I feel uneasy about him.” 

“It’s not my field of work. Matthew is working on it. I know a PI and I’ll call him in the morning.” 

“Aren’t they expensive?” Anna questions and I can’t help but chuckle to myself. 

The woman who literally has no reason to worry about money or the cost of things is concerned a PI expensive but doesn’t seem to take into consideration that half the jewellery in her possession is worth thousands of dollars. 

“I’ll handle it and pay for it, stop worrying about things you don’t need to fret over. It’s my job to worry.” I respond. 

I kiss her cheek and move away from her, dismissing the conversation and settling back down into the bed. Anna doesn’t hesitate, instead, she shuffles closer and rests her hand on my chest as she gets comfortable. I stare up at the ceiling, listening to her breaths while I allow my mind to wander. 

I won’t hesitate to find everything I can about Henry. We should have done an intense search on him when he first came into the picture, but the King was adamant that he knew better and knew the family. Sometimes, the king isn’t always right. I should have listened to my gut instinct. Now, all I can do is keep an eye on Henry and keep Anastasia safe and sound. I don’t want her to worry about anything, and as much as I hate to admit things, Henry makes me uneasy as well. I don’t like how he seems to have gone off the deep end over something as small as losing a bet on a horse. It’s almost as though losing a bet and money triggered him to lose the plot. Perhaps, I’m overthinking things, but from the way Anastasia is acting and reacting, I think she feels the same way. 

For now, it’s my job to worry, not hers. I won’t hesitate to take her worries and pain, and I’ll do everything to keep her settled through chaotic storms. I can’t help but feel like the storm is just starting to brew and it’s about to get worse. 

♔♔♔

I find Anastasia relaxing in my mother’s garden, enclosed by the summer flowers that flaunt their beautiful colours even in the moonlight. 

I wander closer to her sitting figure, offering her a modest smile when she stares up at me. Unfortunately, she doesn’t give me her usual grin, instead, she offers me a fake smile that indicates she’s hiding something. 

“Been looking for you for a minute,” I begin, wanting her absolute attention. 

“Sorry,” Anastasia gazes away from my gaze, “Jus’ needed a minute.” 

“What’s wrong?” 

Anastasia grows withdrawn for a moment and I grasp the silence as a time to step closer and sit beside her. I caress a kiss to her cheek before I arrange my arm around her, “You know, whatever has you down won’t last forever. Things will be okay.” I decide to go with words of encouragement, mainly because I know that she is more than likely stressed over more things than I’m even aware of. I know she was working on a few royal duties this afternoon while it rained, I assumed she was responding to letters or keeping up to date on public, political, and cultural affairs. Her job never truly stops. 

Anastasia heavily laments before resting her head on my shoulder, “My father is losing the plot, Harry.” 

“How so?” I challenge. 

I have to admit, I’m not wholly surprised. He seems to have been on a steady decline since last year when word got around that he needed to pass down the crown. 

I have yet to figure out why he is determined to pass the crown down to Anastasia this year or early next year, nobody has heard of a thorough reason. The house staff have their own conspiracy theories, one being that he wants to leave the crown to Anna so that he doesn’t have to handle royal duties anymore. I don’t think that’s the case. I believe there would have to be a solid foundation for what he’s doing. After all, only one British monarch has ever willingly abdicated the throne, and the King wouldn’t make the second unless it were for a better reason than simply not wanting to do royal engagements. He won’t abdicate. He will likely give Anna the title of Princess Regent, putting her in charge of his official duties while he’d get to keep his title as His Majesty the King— of course, that’s if he wants his title. 

“My Dad is being a prick.” 

I chuckle modestly, “Sweetheart, that’s because he’s the King.” 

“That’s no excuse. Are you saying he has always been a prick?” 

I become withdrawn for a minute, debating my answer. “Well… kind of…” I nod my head, “It depends on the day. There’s a reason why the Palace staff don’t enjoy being on his service.” 

“Is that why you’re never on his service?” 

I don’t know how to answer Anna. It isn’t that I’m never on his service because he’s a prick, it’s more that I just don’t savour being on his service. He can be a very arduous man to keep a watch over. He tends to go against the books and plans on purpose. He doesn’t desire any of the staff listening to too many conversations and will deliberately strive to throw me off his whereabouts. I wouldn’t necessarily say he has secrets, but he definitely likes his privacy and isn’t a fan of me doing my job. “Matthew and I just agree not to have me with your Dad unless he requests me, which is rare.” 

“So, the staff don’t like him?” 

“I don’t think we should discuss this. He does have a say in my wage.” 

“I’ll ask my lady’s maid then,” Anastasia mumbles, “That’s of course if I haven’t been abolished from the monarchy by the time I get home.” 

“What? What happened?” I immediately challenge, uncertain of how she can be abolished from the monarchy. Although, it could work in our favour if it occurred. 

“The King has threatened to take away my title and to make sure I don’t become Queen.” 

As much as I desire to relish in the thought of Anastasia being stripped of her title and not under the thumb of the royal family and monarch, I know that she’s probably upset to hear her father threaten such things. 

“And I know I shouldn’t care and that I don’t really want to go through all this but at the same time… He is being an outright prick for no reason. This Henry situation isn’t my fault.” 

“First of all, sweetheart, the King has no legal authority to alter the succession to the throne. That would require an Act of Parliament,” I inform Anastasia, reminding her of what she already knows. 

“I told him that, he responded with ‘we will see about that.’” … “Henry seems to have my father in a rage.” 

“Is he threatening this because you won’t date Henry or just because he can’t fire palace staff?” I curiously ask, unaware of whether he’s serious or just taking his anger out on Anna since there’s nobody else. I haven’t heard anything from Matthew but I’m also somewhat off the clock, so Matthew won’t bother me unless it’s urgent. 

“I don’t know.” 

“And unless there’s a secret love child, you’re the only one who is eligible for the crown. He can’t do anything,” I continue to explain. 

As bitter as it is, no matter what, Anastasia has no choice but to take the crown. There’s no other heir, she’s the only child of the King and Queen. 

Even if she did want to abdicate for us to be together, where would that leave the monarchy? 

In the hands of a distant cousin or relative? 

Almost every living English citizen is somehow a descendant of an early monarch. 

“I don’t know, Harry. I think Parliament would decide to whom to offer the crown. But surely there has to be someone else in line, I don’t think I can do this. This is becoming a mind game, it’s driving my father insane and it’s stressing me out.” … “I wanted a nice weekend away from it all and it followed me. Are you sure you don’t want to run away together?” Anastasia asks me and for a brief moment, my mind wanders to the ring in my pocket that wants to make an appearance, but a proposal right now isn’t the right time. 

How can I ask her to marry me when she’s gradually going down the rabbit hole of self-destruction because of a monarch who relies on her when she isn’t even Queen. 

“Where would we run off to, my dear?” 

Anastasia lifts her head off my shoulder and stares at me with glossy eyes, “I’d go anywhere with you. Just say the word.” 

She is on the verge of tears and it breaks my heart.

“Well, you said after this Henry charade is over you wanted to come forward with the relationship…” 

“I’d rather run away. We could go to Greece?” Anastasia continues to look at me, wanting an answer. I can’t tell if she’s half-serious or not. “Let’s go to Skopelos.” 

“Anna, I don’t even know where that is.” 

“The small Greek island of Skopelos. Nobody would find us.” 

“You just want to run away without even being married? What would I do for a job? What will you do? The monarch won’t pay for us.” I’m trying to logically process what she’s saying. There’s a small part of me that wants to bring that ring out and propose but logically how could we pull this off? 

We can’t just run off together and fall off the grid. Her father would have everyone looking for her and would presumably kill me with his bare hands. 

“I’m sure there’s a small church somewhere. We could make it all work.”

“We’d need residency permits and a Greek tax-file number, running off to Greece is going to be just as hard.” I think my girlfriend has lost her marbles. 

Anastasia shakes her head, “Never mind,” Anna whispers, a tear managing to fall down her cheek.

“Hey,” I breathe out, pressing the pad of my thumb to the warmth of her cheek, “Don’t  cry, we will work it out, I promise.” 

“How can you promise me that?” 

If only she knew about the damn ring. Things would be different. 

“I just can,” I respond. Every part of me wants to propose right here, right now. But she deserves something better than a proposal while she is upset. She deserves something nicer than this. “I promise that things will be okay. You and I will work it out.” 

“What about the monarchy?” 

“All due respects, but fuck the monarchy. Right now, you are my priority, not everyone else. Darling, I will make things right, have faith in me.” I wipe a few more tears away from her cheeks and she grants me a small smile. “How about we go inside? Play some Scrabble? Watch a movie? Something?” I offer, gesturing towards the house. 

Anastasia nods, standing to her feet, waiting for me. I stand up and I take her hand before I gently lead her inside the house. 

It’s when I step inside my mother’s house and let go of Anna’s hand so she can make her way towards my mother, that I realise, there is a chance Anastaisa and I may not get the chance to have a small, ordinary house together. If we get married and she is the Queen, we would be living the high lifestyle, living in the Palaces. There would be no ordinary home that could use with some fixing up. We wouldn’t do mundane things. Life would be different, that’s for sure. 

Would we manage to live life together by the rules of the monarch? 

Would she manage to have the best of both worlds and balance a sense of normalcy?

♔♔♔

Anastasia’s POV.

The cool breeze from the ceiling fan taps against my skin and I nestle further into the delicate covers of the bed. I leisurely open my eyes, a dull ray of sunshine peeking through the curtains. I tilt my head to the side, Harry’s still fast asleep. It’s rare that I’m ever awake before him. He’s usually out of my bed by five in the morning when we are at the Palace, for obvious reasons. And even when he has no reason to hurry away, he still tends to be the first one awake. 

I know he’s exhausted, dealing with the palace isn’t the easiest of tasks and having to look after myself and anyone else isn’t easy. He’s constantly working without much of a break. He’s still under the weather, as much as he hates to admit it. It’s nothing major, but it is still enough for him to need the extra sleep. I’m not quite sure what time he came to bed last night. After a quick game of scrabble, we started a movie, unfortunately, after twenty minutes, his phone went off with a call and he excused himself. I can only assume Matthew was the one calling. Matthew has a knack for calling at the most inconvenient of times. I tried to wait up for him but by the time he got off the phone, I was already in bed. I’m not sure what happened after his quick kiss goodnight. 

The man that lies beside me, peacefully sleeping, is wholeheartedly the best thing to have walked into my life. I’m not sure where I went right to deserve him. To be honest, sometimes I don’t think I deserve him. Somehow, he never takes the easy way out, he stays. He has seen me at my best, he has seen me at my worst, and has yet to run for the hills. Most men by now would have thrown in the towel and found someone else. By the grace of God, Harry stays. 

I spend the early morning helping Harry’s Mum with the animals, giving them their morning feeds and making sure everybody has water before the day gets too hot. I don’t assume I was much help, but I did try. 

I wander into the bedroom just as Harry is placing the last pillow on the bed, he turns to glance at me and raises a brow, “What happened to you?” He gestures up and down, taking note of my mud-covered jeans and grass-stained t-shirt. “Please tell me you didn’t take a fall.” 

I shake my head, “Did you know horses like to nibble on clothes? I didn’t…. Also, the goats… uh… they’re not charming at their morning feeds.” 

“Are you okay?” 

“I’m fine, just a bit of mud. The princess is fine, relax.” I inform him, with a nod. I understand he just cares, but he needs to relax, a little mud never hurt anyone. “I was wondering if we could leave the house? See where you’re from?” 

“I assume my mother put you up to this?” 

“She may have mentioned some nice places.” 

“Hmmmm, I don’t know, Anna.” Harry responds with uncertainty to his voice, “I just don’t know if it’s a good idea.” 

“We are in the middle of nowhere; what could possibly happen?” 

I am aware that anything could quite literally happen, it is me we are talking about, I do not have the best of luck with things. It would be my luck something out of the blue happens and pushes me into some sort of lockdown.

Harry rubs his temples and looks at me before dropping his hands to his side, “Let me have my coffee first and then we can figure something out, okay?” 

“You said we could be normal.” I remind him of the fact he specifically said I could be normal out here. I had it in my mind that we would be able to be more free, we could walk in and out of stores, go to parks, the beach or really anything.

Harry nods his head, “I know, let me have coffee and then we can decide on where to go, okay?” Harry presses a kiss to my forehead, “I love you.” 

“Do I get a say in this or are we still doing the whole Princess act thing?” I question with furrowed brows, irritated that the normal weekend I have been promised is consisting of my father pulling strings from the palace and Harry acting as though he’s still on duty and my bodyguard. 

Harry sighs. “Darling, please, just let me get some coffee… I promise we will leave the property today.” … “I am not trying to be a prick, I am not trying to be your security guard. I just… I just need coffee.” Harry continues to emphasize his need for coffee. 

I nod my head, dropping the subject as I turn on my heel and walk out of his bedroom. I decide to get a head start on getting him his coffee, it is the least I can do for him. I know he was up for most of the night working, and I know it probably isn’t easy being all the way up here while his security team is back home. I know there are a lot of things that could happen that probably runs through his head. I also know I am not always easy to deal with. 

I stand in front of his mother’s coffee machine, bewildered on how the contraption works. I tilt my head to the side, suddenly feeling like a privileged idiot; I have never had to make my own coffee before, nor do I even know how to. It is always poured for me or made for me. I place a cup under where I assume the coffee pours from and I hold my breath as I press one of the button in hopes that it brews coffee. I am out of my element. 

I hear chuckles from behind me and I turn around to see Harry smirking as he sits upon the stool at the counter. “Don’t mind me, just sitting, love,” Harry informs me, trying to hold back his chuckles. 

I bite my lip and heavily sigh, watching as the brewed coffee fills the coffee cup, but I don’t think he wants straight coffee. 

“At the risk of sounding like a privileged princess, Harry, I have never made coffee,” I begin with a soft voice, embarrassed as I look at him. 

He holds back his chuckles and nods his head, promptly removing himself from his position at the counter and walking around to me. “Sweetheart,” Harry begins, pressing a kiss to my forehead, “What are you trying to make?” 

“You a coffee… I just… Where does the milk go? What do all these buttons do? What happened to just having tea? Do people not just make a pot of coffee?” 

“Some of us need a little kick of caffeine in the morning. Some, not all. Here, to make a cappuccino you froth the milk like this,” Harry takes the stainless steel container holding the milk, showing me how to froth the milk like they do in coffee stores. 

“Why is this contraption a thing? Is this a normal thing?” 

Harry laughs, “For some, it is normal. The palace has one, your mother loves it. Convinced me to buy this one for my Mum.” Harry gestures towards the expresso machine as Harry works his magic. “Glad that you still live in the old times of no expresso machines.” 

“I thought they were only in coffee shops.” 

“You need to leave the palace more,” Harry comments, placing the stainless-steel container on the counter. “Here, you can pour the milk into the cop. Gonna have to teach you how I like my coffee,” Harry winks playfully, “Or, perhaps, we will leave it to me to make morning coffees,” Harry gently pokes fun at me. 

I roll my eyes at him and I pour the milk into his cup, quite proud of myself for not managing to make a mess of things.   

♔♔♔

The warm breeze whistles through my hair and the sound of the ocean crashing against the shore becomes music to my ears. It has been a while since I have had the opportunity to stand on the beach without a care in the world, and without having to look over my shoulder to make sure nobody is taking pictures. For the first time in quite a long time, I have a sense of being normal. The sand nestles between my toes, I take a deep breath of the salty air as I tilt my head to the side and glance over at Harry. 

A smile spreads across his pink lips and he stares at me with awe in his eyes. Lord, I’m one lucky girl to get to stare back at the man I’m entirely in love with. We may have our ups and downs, we might not have a conventional relationship, but there’s no other man I’d want to be with, there’s nobody else I’d want to be standing on a beach with. 

Harry takes my hand and we wander closer to the water’s edge until the tip of my toes finally hit the tepid water. I let out a heavy breath, more so relieved and belatedly, happy. “I’d give anything to be able to feel like this more.” 

“Feel like what?” Harry questions, guiding us to stroll along the water's edge. 

I grin to myself, taking note of the birds soaring high over the ocean, “Like a bird,” I chuckle to myself, well aware my description is not ordinary, then again, I’m not ordinary either, “Free and happy,” I respond. “There’s no restraints, no duties, no photographers, I could run into the ocean with my clothes on and nobody would give a damn,” I gladly smile. 

Harry smirks and lets go of my hand, “Well, go on.” Harry gestures towards the water, “By all means, darling, enter the water with your clothes on, be a bird.” 

I shake my head and gesture for him to join me as I step into the water, loving the way it feels to have the sand move under my feet and the water dance around my calves, “Harry, join me.” 

Harry shakes his head, “Not a chance in hell, love.” Harry chuckles, his hands in his pockets as he stands at the edge, the water barely missing his toes. 

“Do you think I could've been a bird?” 

“Oh, god. No. Don’t—“ 

“Say it! Say I'm a bird,” I insist, well aware of what I’m doing. 

Harry brings his bottom lip between his teeth and he glances around. 

“Anastasia, you, my darling, are bonkers.” 

“Say I’m a bird!” 

“That would mean admitting I’ve watched a romantic movie.” Harry shakes his head, watching me as I shrug my shoulders and walk further to the sandbar the tide has exposed. 

I spin around, allowing my dress to dance around me. I glance over my shoulder and see Harry shuffling closer, his hands still in his pockets. 

My feet dance at the edge of the sand bar, thoroughly relishing the freedom, “Tell me.” 

“Tell you, what?” Harry questions, stepping closer to me. 

“Quote my favourite movie.” 

Harry rolls his eyes playfully, “I’d never do such thing.” 

I gasp, stepping away from him with a laugh escaping my lips, “Darling,” Harry laughs, reaching out and wrapping his hand around my wrist, causing me to laugh louder as I playfully attempt to pull away from him. Harry tenderly tugs on me and forces me to face him, “If you’re a bird, I’m a bird,” Harry recites the line and I draw my hair away from my face, still giggling like a schoolgirl. I beam at Harry and he smiles back at me, his eyes bright and full of more love than I could ever imagine. “If you’re a bird, I’m a bird. Anastasia, I’ll be anything you need me to be, and I’ll go anywhere I need to go. I’d walk to the end of the earth if it meant being with you; I’ll do everything that it takes, I’ll fight any battle thrown at me, I’ll fight for you and for us. I’ll protect you, at all costs. Darling, I love you, and I honestly couldn’t imagine this life without you.” Harry’s sweet words take me by surprise. 

Harry clears his throat and bites his lip as he gets down on one knee. 

I stare at him, stunned. Is this— is this happening? 

“It won’t be easy, but I promise to love you through everything. Princess Anastasia Annette Leanor, Duchess of Edinburgh, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?” 

As the man I’m madly in love with opens the ring box, I can’t help but think about the fact that it would be MY honour to marry him. He is my knight in shining armour, in more ways than one. He’s everything to me. Perhaps, I haven’t always been gracious to him, nor have I always made things easy. The monarch doesn’t make things easy, but this isn’t the monarch's decision. This is mine. For the first time in a long time, I feel free, and for the first time in a long time, I’m going against all traditions and rules; I’m going against the monarch. 

“Yes… Of course. Yes. Harry.” I can’t contain my excitement; how could I ever say no to a proper proposal? 

Harry slides the ring on my finger and for the first time in forever, everything is perfectly right in the world. Before I can blink, I’m wrapped in his arms and he’s spinning me around, “I love you,” he whispers, bringing me to a stop and placing me down. 

“I love you,” I whisper, gazing at him like he has hung the stars in the sky and moved all the oceans just for me. I lean up and kiss him, slowly and sweetly— nothing else in the world matters. 

[skrltwtch]

Unwell

Prompt: Person A is taking care of a very sick person B. They eventually end up cuddling because A wanted to comfort B and keep them warm, despite B’s objections that they might be contagious and don’t want to get A sick. Then B throws up on A. B apologises profusely. A insists that it’s okay and works on getting them both cleaned up. (Source)

Word count: 1,286 words

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

‘You look like death,’ said George, pouring a glass of water.

‘I feel like it,’ I said. As if I needed convincing, a sharp pain sliced through my stomach, followed by watery rumbling. ‘At what point do I get my beneficiaries together and read them my will?’

He chuckled. ‘It’s only the stomach flu, Y/N. You’ll live.’

I took the glass of water from his outstretched hand and partook of its contents in slow, measured sips. ‘That sounds like what someone who’d stand to gain the most from an untimely death would say.’

‘That,’ he said, sitting down beside me, ‘doesn’t make any sense.’

‘Neither does this.’ I coughed. ‘It’s obviously not your cooking.’ I detected the reddening of his cheeks through bleary eyes. ‘So it has to be Bon Nomad, where we go all the time and never had any issues. Until now. Maybe.’ I added to the water in the toilet bowl.

He dabbed the corner of my mouth with a tissue. ‘Firstly, I’m flattered. Secondly, I could drop them a note. They have to know if their food’s making people sick.’

‘Get us a voucher, too, for our troubles.’

‘You’d want to go back?’

‘No, thank you.’ I mustered the strength to flash him a grin. The compulsion for an expulsion of a fresh surge of sick made quick work of my light mood. Every heave chafed the back of my throat.

George was quick to refill my glass of water. ‘Thank you,’ I said, taking it from him. Suddenly, I was made very aware of my lips’ craggy texture. Was it bad that I’d wondered whether I could stand to stomach lip balm? His hand on my cheek snapped me out of my reverie — fever-induced, possibly, if the difference in temperatures between us was anything to go by. ‘This sucks. And I’m taking up so much of your time. I’m sure you have better things to do than play nurse.’

He pursed his lips. ‘No … not really.’

His laughter that came after was contagious. This moment of joy was short-lived: the spasms that rocked my body soon became those of white-hot agony. A new round of vomit made a hasty, loud — very loud — exit. Fortunately, I was only expelling through one end. And … nope, I’d started to cry, too, from the pain and absolute rankness of what I’d been spewing. George moved closer and wrapped us both in an embrace.

‘I don’t think this is a good idea,’ I said.

He leaned his head on the back of my shoulder. ‘You’re warm.’ His tone, and the subsequent line of kisses he made along my shoulder, made it clear our situation wasn’t up for negotiation. I hadn’t the wherewithal to resist him anyway. It was easier to revel in the immense comfort his touch, his nearness, provided. His warmth was more than welcome against mine, preternatural and harsh. He’d hum some of our favourite songs in my ear and gently massage my abdomen. Though I knew full well it was for my own good, I’d hate it so much whenever he pulled away to flush the toilet, or top up my water or supply of tissues.

I didn’t know how long we stayed like this. Eventually, I felt less like I was about to keel over any moment soon, and I was 80% certain that the noises my stomach was making were from hunger, not symphonies from one of the circles of hell.

‘George? I think I’m a little better,’ I said. I led his hand over my stomach and applied pressure. Nothing. Not even the whisper of a gurgle. A while ago, doing what I did would’ve prompted my best impression of a soda fountain with only one option.

‘You want to get up?’

‘Yes, please. I don’t want to have my face so close to the toilet anymore. And I’m hungry.’

‘That’s good. I think.’ He got up. I raised my arms at him, an unspoken appeal for him to lift me up. I had to have lost at least two kilos of water after all this, and he’d been working out. (He’d thought I wouldn’t notice. Please.) It was doable. But imagine my surprise when he scooped me up from the floor and carried me bridal-style. I quickly placed my arms around his neck for support.

‘I’ve been working out,’ said George, grinning. God, he looked so proud of himself. I was, too, really.

‘I know.’ I pecked him on the cheek.

Then I had to go and ruin everything: I lurched forward — and I barfed. I barfed all over myself and him. Punctuating this twist to what’d been an enchanting story about enduring love and devotion was me burping up an enormous bubble that tasted lightly acidic … and then bursting into tears. He hadn’t dropped me to the ground in disgust. Ooh, damn him and his uncanny ability to remain calm in circumstances that called for anything but levelheadedness. The embarrassment welling up inside of me launched into a presentation on George’s fitting casting as Schofield in 1917. They were kindred spirits, it contended, because they displayed immense fortitude in the face of adversity. Ah, I countered, but a sick girlfriend couldn’t compare to the hells of World War I.

‘I’m so sorry, babe,’ I said. ‘I’m sorry for being a wet, snotty, puke-y mess.’

‘It’s okay,’ he said, setting me down on the edge of the bed. ‘You need a shower anyway.’

He smirked to show he meant no ill will by that. I wouldn’t have disagreed with him. I was sticky with sweat and vomit. I’d spent most of my day steaming my face with toilet plumes. I wasn’t even sure what time it was now. I couldn’t even consult my internal clock for an estimation. I was tired. I was gross. I was hungry. I felt I was in more dire need of a hug than a shower, honestly, but I didn’t want to contaminate George further. I couldn’t bear it if he succumbed to this damn bug, too.

George re-emerged in my line of sight with a handful of paper towels. He wiped my mouth, and then he cleaned chunks off our clothes. His touch was so gentle. For the first time today, I wanted to die not because of this stupid sickness. The feeling persisted when he took off his shirt in one fluid motion. How’d he think I wouldn’t notice he’d started working out?

‘Arms,’ he said. ‘Come on now.’

I complied with his request. He took my top off for me. The breeze, mild as it was, was welcome against my skin.

‘I’ll be right back.’ Off he went again, this time with our soiled shirts in tow. I wasn’t ashamed to acknowledge that I’d mewled and pouted like a child when we parted ways. I could hear running water from the kitchen. How did I get so lucky … To show that I was still capable of autonomy, I undressed myself; I’d made sure to stand up first to prevent an unfortunate accident involving my now bare bottom. I was about to head in to the bathroom when he reappeared, and with a mildly sullen face, like, Why didn’t you wait for me?

‘I can shower by myself,’ I said. ‘And I don’t think we should really get naked together at this time … not after what happened … I’m so sorry,’ I added in a small voice.

He chuckled. ‘It’s okay! Really.’ He came closer and kissed me on the lips. ‘See, I’m not mad. Cross my heart and hope to die.’

I returned the favour: his taste was a welcome break. ‘You might just regret that.’

[megalony]

Tea time trouble

Another dad! Ben Hardy imagine which is part of my Little James series, thank you to everyone for the lovely feedback so far.

Taglist: @marshmallowmae @butlegendsneverdie @langdonzvoid @luvborhap @jennyggggrrr @radiob-l-a-hblah @rogertaylorsbitontheside @chlobo6 @rogertaylors-lipgloss @sj-thefan @omgitsearly @luckytrashgooprebel @scarsout

Series masterlist

Enjoy.

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Ben ran a hand over his eyes, trying to stop himself from getting angry which never normally happened especially not with the kids but today his nerves were being grated. The day didn't seem to be going as planned which was never a good thing.

Ben finally had the day off and he had promised Lily that he would take her swimming after school. But when he'd gone to pick James up from preschool (Y/n) had phoned and said she had to take Lola to the doctors since the toddler had a bad chest infection which was getting worse. That meant (Y/n) couldn't look after James and since the four-year-old hated swimming, Ben couldn't take Lily to the pool because no one was around to look after James. So the actor was left looking after two of his kids which couldn't get along for the life of them and it was sending his mind reeling.

Lily blamed James for the change of plan and James blamed Lola because (Y/n) was meant to be taking him to the opticians for his glasses which was postponed until either tomorrow or the next day. James was excited about getting glasses for the first time to help him with his reading because Harry Potter wears glasses and James had the cupboard in his room where he went to calm down. So he was feeling like the beloved book character lately.

"If you two sit together I want no fighting. I mean it." Ben warned as he walked into the dining room to find both kids sat next to one another at the table. He placed the two plates in front of each of them, watching as they both nodded though his eyes were more on Lily.

James always sat at the same place at the table so he could look through into the living room to see the tv and so he was nearer to both doors leading into the living room and the one going to the kitchen. Lily didn't mind where she sat but she had chosen to sit next to her brother which wasn't the best idea and Ben wasn't ready to deal with any of their squabbles or arguments today. He had been working at all hours for the past few weeks now which had drained him and now he was worried about his youngest girl so he did not need them fighting.

Setting down the cutlery in front of them both, Ben waited for a moment longer before disappearing to the bathroom. James always had the same fork and spoon because the other forks were either the plastic ones for Lola or the ones that were too large. And spoons were either very small teaspoons, a few that had very bendable handles he hated or the large tablespoons so he liked a certain spoon that was the right size and a certain fork.

When Ben came back downstairs, he peered into the dining room to check on the two before sitting in the kitchen when his phone rang. A sigh of relief left his lips at seeing it was (Y/n), needing her to calm down his mind and tell him what was happening with Lola.

Sneaking a glance at his sister sitting on his left, James grimaced at the plate resting in front of her. They had chicken, some vegetables and a few chips but everything was all mixed up on her plate. James had a certain plastic children's plate that was split into three sections which made it a lot easier for him to eat because he didn't like certain foods touching and he couldn't stand it being mixed. He had the chicken and some chips in the main section of the plate, some peas in another section and some carrots in the other and a small pot of tomato sauce resting on the table. He didn't want the sauce touching anything but the chips and since that was next to the chicken Ben thought it better he have it in a pot so no mishaps happened.

When James managed to eat all of the peas, he reached out for the small pot of sauce that reminded him of a restaurant where they dished it out in porcelain pots. His eyes focused on the tv in the other room as he started eating his chips, dipping them in the sauce as a small trace of a smile pulled at his lips as he continued to watch the tv.

A shuddering breath left his slightly parted lips as his eyes quickly glanced down to his plate. His chest tightening dramatically to the point he couldn't breathe when he saw the sauce splattered everywhere. It was coating the chicken, the chips and even splattered over the carrots like blood-red paint on a canvas. His eyes that were wide with horror darted to look at his sister since her elbow had pushed his own causing him to spill the condiment all over his plate. Watching as she bit her lip to stop herself from laughing at his expression, not understanding what kind of a big deal this was to her brother.

Lily didn't understand how things like this made James feel, if his routine was broken he got upset and angry because everything should be just so. If his food was mixed like hers it put him off eating it but this was different. He couldn't eat the chicken or carrots when they were covered in sauce and it just looked so wrong now.

Tears welled in his eyes as a small, choked sound left his lips at what she had caused him to do.

Tilting his head Ben glanced into the dining room at Lily's sudden scream, his jaw locking as he felt his anger boiling over. He told them not to sit next to one another and he specifically told them if they did they could not argue. When he was younger he held the ability to sit at the dinner table with his siblings and parents and not mess around. He got along with his brother and sister who were both older than him. Why couldn't his kids get along?

"Alright, I'll see you soon baby, I gotta go." Ending the call Ben carelessly dumped his phone on the side counter before storming into the dining room. His hands rubbing over his face at seeing both kids were crying and getting worked up.

Just as he was about to say something he cut himself short, his eyes narrowing on Lily's hair before his pupils widening at seeing she had tomato sauce stuck to her hair. His head turned to look at his son, his teeth clamping down on his lip when he noticed James' plate was covered in the sauce, something that his boy specifically didn't want to happen. One hand covered his face as the other leaned against the table to prop himself up. This was not what he needed right now and he was reaching the end of his temper.

"What the hell have you both done?" He tried very hard but there was no way to control his emotions. Lola was suffering from pneumonia and was coming home soon on antibiotics and was clearly unwell. James was now not going to eat his dinner and Lily was in a mood just like Ben seemed to be as well.

"He threw the sauce in my hair!" Lily whined, pulling at a strand of her hair for evidence. The red showed up clearly against her ash blonde hair, the sauce was dotted all over her hair on the right side. Large splatters dripping down from the top of her head down to the end of her hair and a few small dots had caught her cheek too. When Ben looked down to his only boy, James said nothing, simply pointed to his dinner as he glared at his sister through tears. Clearly showing that she had done that to his dinner which he was not going to eat now when Ben needed him to eat something because he ate very slowly and very little.

"Did you do that deliberately?" Ben questioned Lily, pointing to James' plate. James acted out and had clearly done that because he was upset and his ADHD did make him impulsive and fueled his short temper. They were working on that at councilling but Lily knew better because they had told her time and time again that she couldn't try and wind James up because it wasn't fair.

"I only nudged his elbow." She hadn't meant to knock is sauce all over his plate like that even if she found it funny at the time.

"Get upstairs." Ben spoke through gritted teeth, his hand pointing behind him to further back up what he was saying although Lily seemed unsure whether she should really move from her seat or not. "I've had it up to here and you're not making it any easier now get upstairs and get a bath or go sit on the naughty step until your mum comes home." He motioned to his temple before looking to his eldest, waiting impatiently to see what she was going to do. Ben's hand went to the back of James' head when the little boy pressed himself into his father's legs. Hating when either parent got mad or upset because it made him uncomfortable.

Lily lowered her gaze before leaving the table, her feet pattering against the stairs showing Ben she wasn't waiting on the naughty step for (Y/n) to get home. Reaching down Ben gently picked James up, quietly shushing him, knowing shouting or raised voices or general anger scared him.

Setting James down on the counter, Ben moved to the fridge and had a scout through what they had. Reaching in he grabbed a packet of sausage rolls, showing them to James but he earned a shake of the head. Ben held out a mini pork pie instead, thankful James nodded and gingerly took it from him. It wouldn't be worth making the little boy anything else to eat because by then he would be past the point of eating.

"You have that and then you can have an ice lolly, m'kay?" When Ben reached out the brush away the tears from James' face it only made more fall in their place causing the little boy to sniff frequently, trying not to breakdown in a fit of sobs. "Ssh, it's alright buddy. I know you don't like your food mixed up but you can't go and put sauce in your sister's hair, it doesn't work like that sweetheart." Ben wrapped his arm around James when the little boy rested his head on his father's chest. Slowly eating the food he had been given as he tried to stop the emotions from riling up inside of him.

He didn't like the way he felt when things like this happened, he didn't like how hurt it made him feel and how his sister didn't understand that. James didn't like how no one seemed to understand the things he didn't like or his little ways except for his parents.

"I'm sorry."

"I know, when madam gets the sauce from her hair and calms down you can tell her you're sorry. I'll talk to her so she understands. You grab an ice lolly and head upstairs for a while and calm down." Ben gently set James down to his feet when he'd finished eating, kissing his temple as he watched the four-year-old grab a lolly from the freezer before disappearing upstairs with Ben hot on his heels.

Ben watched James disappear into his room before he went into the bathroom, seeing Lily was struggling with the sauce in her hair. Grimacing at the sticky substance that was making her quiver as she failed to get rid of it.

The actor said nothing as he sat down on the bath mat, reaching over to help clean her hair as she took to looking and playing with the few bubbles in the water. Not daring to glance at him in case he was still mad with her. Ben very much hoped the pair would not have an argument leading to this result again because it was not very nice trying to get the sauce from Lily's hair. Watching it turn mushy in the water was rather sickening too.

"Thanks daddy." Lily's voice was quiet as she lifted her head just a little, her eyes glancing up at Ben through her lashes, a look that always made him melt.

"Alright sweetheart. But you can't keep doing this to James because it's not fair." Lily lowered her head again, leaning against Ben's arm that was resting on the side of the tub as he ran his other hand through her now washed hair. "I know it's confusing, but these little things that don't annoy you upset him. It makes him sad or angry if you mix up his food like that and although you don't mind what fork you use he does. It's different for him so you gotta try and understand that."

When Lily was dried and in her pyjamas, Ben headed into James' room and made his way to the cupboard where he knew his son was. Leaning around the wall to peek in the cupboard Ben saw James sitting on a few blankets. His Harry Potter wand laid beside him with the third book of the series settled in front of him. He couldn't read the words very well, especially since he didn't have new glasses yet to improve the words to his eyes but he liked looking at the illustrations.

"Want me to read it to you?" Ben questioned, watching his boy manage a small smile as he nodded, beckoning for Ben to come and sit down with him. Since James seemed to like the series but wasn't great at reading yet Ben had started reading them to him like he had done with Lily until she started to read them on her own. They had gotten through The Philosopher's Stone and Chamber of Secrets and were now halfway through the third book of the series. "I can't really fit in here buddy."

Ben only just managed to get his broad frame into the cupboard to put the books, DVD's and toys away, sitting down in there was hard with the shelves in the way.

Reaching over he grabbed one of the many blankets and settled it just outside the doorway to the cupboard. Sitting down with his feet in the cupboard and his back resting up against the frame of the bed. James grabbed his Harry Potter blanket, handing the book to Ben before moving over. James laid down in the doorway of the cupboard between Ben's legs with his head resting on Ben's leg so he could look up at him. He rested his cover under him and burrowed into it before Ben took out the bookmark and started to read where they had left off last time.

Every once in awhile Ben would hold the book with one hand, his other hand reaching down to card through James' hair to soothe him but not trying to send him to sleep just yet. The tired but content smile on James' face made Ben's heart swell.