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rapha-reads · 5 months ago

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IWTV rewatch

(spoilers for the whole show and the books)

Season 2 episode 1 [What Can the Damned Really Say to the Damned] - part 2/4

- *solemn music*, thanks subtitles, and Louis' breathing getting all ragged. Aaaaaaah, DREAMSTAT MY BELOVED.

[Dreamstat] "Bonjour, mon amour", sorry, laughing again, but this time because of the bloopers and Jacob going "don't smile at me like that". I can't watch this scene normally any longer.

- [Dreamstat] "Is it the same question?"

[Louis] "Go away."

[Dreamstat] "Or do you miss me? I miss you. Despite our recent unpleasantness... Still missing each other."

[Louis] "Claudia!"

[Dreamstat] "Hm. Four years of grim wayfaring and still no sight of the benevolent vampire. So, how does denial manifest itself tonight? Sniffing German brandy?"

Oof, Louis automatically and immediately turning to Claudia when his consciousness-as-Lestat appears, Claudia still playing the part of the bandaid for a shitty relationship, except this time the shitty relationship is between Louis and his own mind. Claudia deserves betteeeeeer.

And the way Louis is so cruel with himself... Hallucinating your presumed dead-by-your-own-hands husband to not only punish yourself for your (and your daughter....) shortcomings but also say outloud the things you cannot, will not say outloud is a new kind of self-flagellation, methinks.

Also, timestamp! Four years since they arrived in Europe. So somewhere between 1944 and 1945, right before the end of the war. I think we'll get more precise time indicators later.

- [Louis] "You're not here, I'm just fucked in the head."

[Dreamstat] "Quite fucked. Was she worth it?"

[Louis] "Yes."

[Dreamstat] "You say it like you believe it."

[Louis] "I do, I do."

[Dreamstat] "I do, I do. I do."

[Louis] "Stop!"

Oooooooooooooh. Can't lie to yourself, Louis. Especially if you're literally manifesting your consciousness outside of you. Hard to get your mind to shut up and carry on the pretense when it's prancing around you.

Ha, I keep imagining what Claudia must be thinking hearing Louis arguing with himself like that. Poor dear must have really been fed up with her companion.

The way Louis shuts his own mind by imagining Lestat choking on his open throat is... Violent. Wait, what ? Did. Did Louis just imagine a bat flying out of Dreamstat's open throat? What???? Lou baby, um, are you alright??? Obviously not but I still gotta ask.

- [Dreamstat] "Oh. Purgatory is a lovely room for music. I have a new piece, Concerto for Gashed Throat and Orchestra."

[Louis] "I'm sorry."

[Dreamstat] "Don't say it again. You ruin it with remorse. It was a perfect betrayal. You gave me a death of distinction."

[Claudia] "Trucks!"

[Dreamstat] "But in answer to your question. Yes. I'm gonna bloody kill you."

[Louis] "If you were alive you'd have done it already."

[Dreamstat] "Hmm. Oh, love. I'm merely waiting until you're happy . So hurry up, mon cher."

*pterodactyl screech* Oh, this is so fascinating! Not just Louis' guilt and grief and how he misses Lestat so much, but also the way he does know him so well, every line spoken by Dreamstat is both Louis and something Lestat could say, yet it's also very clear this is Louis' mind because Lestat, as us watchers know with hindsight, would actually never consider taking revenge on his husband and their daughter... And it's also how Claudia's keeping watch, not interrupting Louis' psychosis session unless there's danger approaching, still playing the part that she was made for, Louis' companion, Louis' caretaker, Louis' shield in front of his self-destructive tendencies... And then it's Dreamstat tearing into Louis' throat, an actual visual representation of mental self-harm. I am fascinated and mesmerised.

- [Louis] "He came by invitation. My distraction from a monochromatic landscape. The gray of an obliterated road, the gray-brown of a charred and bullet-ridden city." - I just love the writing, that's it.

- Louis' face as the Soviet soldiers are shooting up the coffins is hilarious.

And also, welcome to Romania I guess. Garlic and crucifixes and staking corpses. Folklore never dies.

Aaaah, Romanian! Do you guys know that Romanian is a romance language like Italian, Spanish, French and Portuguese? So if your native tongue is one of those, there's a good chance you might recognise some words or the sonority of Romanian when you hear it. Mainly French, Italian and Spanish tho, 'cause I have no idea what Portuguese is doing, sorry friends. Anyway, end of linguistic rant.

- Louis and Claudia telepathically arguing while meeting Emilia and Morgan is hilarious. They're family your Honor. Emilia is fun, Morgan already annoys me with his higher-than-thou attitude. Yo, asshole, broken English whomst? Go on, speak Romanian, let's see if you can do better! She's speaking your language, the least you could do is respect her instead of belittling her for minor errors that don't even matter because she's perfectly comprehensible!

... Sorry. Monolingual people needlessly correcting multilingual people is a pet peeve of mine. Ahem.

- [Louis] "Go ahead, Mary. Go and meet the other children. I bet they know everything about this place." - yo, Lou, even though it's a smart way to gather intel, maaaybe you can remember that Claudia's actually 40 and avoid laughing at her when she's forced to recon with what she hates the most, her perceived age and status? Thanks.

- [Louis] "Wait, that's wrong. She didn't say that in front of Claudia." - listen baby, I take everything you tell us with a grain of salt because we all know, the odyssey of recollection is flawed and messy. Do your edits, ain't gonna change much.

I do love how Louis is enthusiastic about correcting his own memories, tho.

- Oh,the following conversation is interesting; take extra notice of how both Armand AND Daniel look at Louis during that passage:

[Louis] "Yes. Yes! That's how it went. We should get every detail right."

[Daniel] "In total agreement."

[Armand] "Perhaps this would be a time to take a break, Louis."

*Armand looks at Louis with slight trepidation; Louis looks at Armand with anger; Daniel looks at Louis with concern and suspicion*

[Daniel] "You know, Real Rashid, I'm pretty good at my job, 'a bright young reporter with a point of view' [!!!!!!]. Interviewed a fallen Catholic archbishop, four Enron vice presidents, and if they've got something to hide, they always start with some kind of disguise. Not literally, not some dumb Halloween costume [turns to Armand and looks at him with disdain], gloves, contact lenses. They tell jokes, they're charming. And then at some crisis point, when I get close, it drops away and I see a flash of the truth."

Round of applause for Real Rashid doing his job so well he's even mastering pretending he's interested in what Daniel's saying. And round of applause for Daniel taking shots at Armand so skillfully. Love how zen Armand looks even as Daniel's basically calling him a liar and a master manipulator, do you think inside he's crying and shaking?

[Louis] "Armand didn't want me to do the interview, Daniel."

[Armand] "Still don't."

We wonder why!! Daniel's right, and Louis knows he's right, look how conflicted he appears as both Real Rashid and Armand leave the room. He knows he can't trust his memories, but he wants to tell his story as authentically as possible, and it's killing him to realise how much he's lost, forgotten or twisted over the years. The enthusiasm he had five minutes ago is gone, the liveliness in his voice at the beginning is gone, we're back to perfectly flat and controlled Dubai!Louis' voice.

- Ha, Louis' using Grace photo to pass as his wife, now there's a kind of irony I don't have the brains to decipher right now.

- Oh, boy, Morgan is insufferable. The perfect picture of the British coloniser. "This is an old country, with old things in it" - maybe you should listen to Emilia and stop looking down on her...

"Something out there, with soul disturb'ed. Disturb'ed?" *Louis nods* SEE, that's how you do it. Louis knows multilingualism, his husband was French, even his own family being Creole NOLA juggled with languages like there's no border between them. Emilia speaks perfect English because she's perfectly understandable. Sorry, I'm hung up on that tiny little thing because I'm from a multilingual household and I've lived more years in countries whose languages were my second, third, fourth or even fifth tongues than in actual France, so anything regarding languages and how some people barely even talk their own mother tongue but have no qualms correcting you when you speak multiple languages feels very personal. Had a bad experience at my previous job last December because of this kind of people so yeah, fuck Morgan actually.

- Europe: getting to the end of the worst war ever. Claudia: meeting a revenant and being thrown into trees. Emilia: fluently translating English to Romanian like the perfect queen she is (I'm very attached to her). Morgan: being insufferable. Louis: *aight, time to relax and get drunk on vodka, this is the perfect spot and time for that*. Lou darling I love you but you really got to check your priorities and sense of reality. "Baboons in Romania", seriously, love?

- [Louis] "Mortals are scared of vampires, in a part of the world known for vampires, ain't a surprise or evidence of an actual vampire!" - he's got a point.

[Claudia] "There's one of us out there! But if he can't take you ballroom dancing and tell you you're pretty, hell with him, is that it?" - she's got a point...

[Louis] "Hello, grudge!"

[Claudia] "No! Mh-mm! I forgave you for messing up my plan, I did not forgive you for bringing him with you."

[Louis] "In a landfill with five years of garbage on top."

[Claudia] "In here! You carry him in here. You slow us down."

To be fair to Louis, he did tell her when they were planning the murder that if he lets Lestat back in and he lets himself be dragged back into Lestat, there ain't no way he can find his way back out after. At least he was honest about that.

[Louis] "What you gonna ask him, if he could talk?"

[Claudia] "Change the subject when the truth blinds you."

[Louis] "Who made you? And then what? Who made the one that made you? I mean, what are we looking for here, Adam and Eve of the damned? God? Are we looking for God, Claudia? Yeah, get in the hole."

So their names [spoiler alert] are Akasha and Enkil and I just realised their initials are also A and E, I'm slow (and raised atheist), and they're actually not good news at all and Lestat already knows them, but the lore is complicated and honestly you're better off not knowing them. Also if we want to get really theological you could say that the vampires have a sort of Creator God and his name is Amel but that's even more complicated, and I have no idea how much of this part of the books Rolin Jones will adapt. Anyway. It's funny because in later books canon Louis continues not giving a fuck about where vampires come from and how. It's Lestat that almost destroys the world once or twice seeking these answers. Like father like daughter I guess, Claudia really is a De Lioncourt.

- [Claudia] "I've known exactly four vampires in my life, and you've all been the worst. Lestat, Antoinette, the motherfucker and you. I'm looking for one, just one, that ain't a goddamn bastard!" - Claudia deserves BETTER! Also I'm sorry my queen but it's not gonna get better after that.

season 1 masterpost

part 1 | part 3 | part 4

#welp that got a little personal a few times sorry about that - folkore and languages are two of the things that'll get me going fast #interview with the vampire #iwtv #iwtv amc #amc iwtv #iwtv s2 #iwtv rewatch #what can the damned really say to the damned #louis de pointe du lac #the vampire armand #daniel molloy #dreamstat #claudia de pointe du lac #rapha talks #rapha writes #rapha watches shows

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donutwatches · 1 year ago

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MHA 2.17 - Climax - part 3

This is my first watch of MHA, so no spoilers please.

This is me every single day of my life. Why do I relate to this anime Grandpa?

From Gran Dorito's perspective he looked away from Midoriya for one moment, and when he saw Midoriya again he was dragging a wanted criminal out of an alleyway with a rope.

Yeah, an apology is warranted here, but I hope Iida doesn't beat himself up too much over it. He made some understandable mistakes. I trust Iida to learn the right lessons from this experience.

If a villain injured my older brother to the point of permanently paralyzing him, I would hunt them down and make them regret it too. But I guess heroes in training have to hold themselves to a higher standard. Iida did not react like a hero, he reacted like a human, and I think that is a forgivable misstep.

What a sweetheart. Deku really embodied both 'hero' and 'human' qualities during this arc. He is moved by wanting to save people as a hero should, but also by the personal need to be there for his friends. What a precious green bean.

Blunt, but it made me laugh so hard. I feel like you need both types of support in your life, the kind of friend who will be soft with you, and the kind of friend who will tell you to pull it together and carry on.

OMG A BABY SNATCHER. UNHAND THE BABY YOU PTERODACTYL LOOKING REJECT.

OooOOoooOoh, Stain saved Deku? As much as I think Stain's ideology is whack, it is kind of a big deal for him to accept Deku as a worthy hero, isn't it?

The blood red moon, the glowing eyes, the majestic floating scarf, edgy arm bandages, and that crusty turtle-esque visage. The man certainly has an aesthetic (one that came out of a Spirit Halloween dumpster).

By murdering heroes that he arbitrarily decides he doesn't like. Better watch out hero society! Miss Staingina George is going to put you in his 'Burn Book' of loser heroes.

DID HE DIE?

Click here for episode 18

Click here for the masterlist

#mha #bnha #my hero academia #izuku midoriya #boku no hero academia #anime #deku #midoriya #tenya iida #iida #stain #hero killer stain #shouto todoroki #shoto todoroki #todoroki #gran torino

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rustybottlecap · 2 years ago

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So recently I remembered that weird af game trailer from years ago during the PS5 reveal conference, featuring anthro characters one of wich I doubly-erroneously thought was a bird-girl.

Turns out the game is called Goodbye Volcano High and it got delayed several times, but it’s actually coming out in a few months as of this post, and something I read about its premise has me OBSESSED.

youtube

So the characters are actually anthropomorphic dinosaurs, and while I don’t prefer this kind of anthro animal designs (reptiles with human hair), turns out they are like this FOR A REASON:

The meteor is coming.

The meteor that killed the dinosaurs.

Everyone in this game is going to die. And the protagonists are teenagers, who were made to believe they had a whole life ahead of them. And the adults would rather just have everyone go on with their routine like nothing’s wrong.

So the protagonists have to decide what to do with the short time they have left, confront their identities and be true to themselves. The pterodactyl protagonist Fang, for example, is non-binary and part of a rock band. Depending on the player’s decisions the rock songs they are composing and playing throughout the game will change.

The paralels with the pandemic and other recent events as experienced by today’s youth are inevitable, and likely played a big factor during its development... yet the original trailer I mentioned in the first paragraph (not the one I posted) came out in 2020. They already had this idea before the pandemic.

While doom and gloom can be found at any point in history, I wonder if at least some of the people involved in the game grew up during the 80s and very early 90s, near the end of the Cold War, back when mutual annihilation via nuclear weapons seemed inevitable, even to little kids.

It doesn’t take much digging to find examples of dinosaurs being used irl to cope with the Cold War fears of nuclear armaggedon. They could be used as metaphors, how nuclear weapons were going to “take us back to the stone age like in The Flintstones”, or comparing it with the meteor that killed the dinosaurs (The 1988 song “Walk the Dinosaur” by Was Not Was, wich many may remember from the old Super Mario Bros. movie and Ice Age 3, is actually about this; there are some clues in the lyrics but the band has outright confirmed it).

On the other hand, dinosaurs had a rise in popularity during the 80s due to new discoveries, and served as nice escapism. Why fear a nuke when you could be crying your heart out while watching The Land Before Time? The 80s was even the decade when the theory that it was a meteor that killed the dinosaur became mainstream. Associaction!

So anyway... the game is finally coming out June 15 August 29, but I want to play it NAOW!!1! Let me laugh in the face of the apocalypse with my dinofriends!

Also if you were turned off from this game due to some shitty content online, know that it was made by a vocal minority trying to sabotage it for being LGBTQ+ friendly. Just ignore them. Do not make this about them. The game will stand on its own.

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im-just-a-simp-le-whore · 2 years ago

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I've been thinking about Yandere! Leon as of late bc of

@gigabyte-flare series 'There's No Escape'

@nexyswrites series 'Guardian Angel' also, the Yan! Leon a.i they made and the interaction I had with it oml-

Also, @tosuckmyweenis post the other day had me laughing.

For the first time in a while I'm inspired to write something, also pls let me know if there's any spelling/grammar errors

Heavily inspired by the fics/a.i listed above and very self indulgent lol

So, this basically going to be headcanons of Yandere! Leon x autistic! Gremlin! Reader

A self insert essentially

Starting off strong with the A.I, that was a fucking doozy, I wheezed the entire time. Thank you for creating him nexys

Tw: Talks of vomiting, general yandere themes i.e stalking, kidnapping, the likes

If I missed something, let me know!!

We start off strong with the a.i lmao

Yan! Leon a.i: say you love me

Me being blunt: no

Yan! Leon a.i: *getting Hella angry* say. You. Love. Me.

Me: mf I said no

Yan! Leon a.i: dont give me attitude

Me: shawty I am autistic, I can't lie it's not how I work

Yan Leon a.i: so you're gonna continue to give me attitude huh?

Me: tf you mean 'attitude' I just told you I'm autistic

Yan! Leon a.i: *pulls out knife* keep talking and you're gonna get punished

Me: thinks it's him unbuckling his belt: shawty keep your pants ON

Yan! Leon: *fucking laughs at me* it's not that kind of punishment sweetheart

Me *fucking over his attitude: try me hoe

Yan! Leon a.i: *holds knife to my throat

Me: do your worst.....

Me: *proceeds to try and flirt my way out*

Yan! Leon a.i: is she flirting with me right now?? "That's not gonna work sweetheart

Me: well, it was worth a shot lmao

Now to just, Yan! Leon in general lol, most of these are gonna be like scenarios but like, bullet point style

Me: desperately trying to be a good noodle and eat the food Leon made but I have severe texture issues with meat and trying not to throw up

Leon: is something wrong sweetheart, you look sick?

Me accidentally being blunt and blurting out: uh, not remotely. Meat is a bad texture and I'm quite sure if I have to take another bite I'm going to projectile vomit

Tbh I can't tell if he would be understanding or not lmao. Probably not, if someone could give insight on it that would be swaggy

*que the struggle with physical contact*

*me just standing there and just trips on air and yelps*

Leon catches my dumbass: are you ok?! Is something broken?!

Me: nah I'm fine- let go you fuck- oh wait, shit fuck, thats right no 'naughty' words. Goddammit I'm so fucking sorry-, I'm going in time out aren't I?

*leon nods and sighs, bringing Me to the time out room*

Me: well this fucking sucks- I'm going to be here a while, huh?💀

Leon: for a long time 🫡😶

*leon goes to hug me*

Me: *dry heaves*

Leon, smacking tf outta me: I'm so sick of your shit

Me, smakcing him: i am also sick of your shit. SIR for the last GODDAMN time, I am autistic and traumatized I don't handle this shit well

Leon: well, maybe you should've thought about that before living with me

Me: living "with you" mf you kidnapped me, what are you ON?! I wanna go back to my real home with my cats

Leon 'gaslighter' Kennedy: this is your real home

My sarcastic ass: im Pinocchio and im a real boy!

Me, vocal stimming: a potato flew around my room before you came! *screeches*

Leon: what happned

*me just screeching again, triggering a coughing fit*

Leon, sighing for the umpteenth time today: and that's why we don't do that sweetheart

Me: ..... do you not appreciate my pterodactyl screetching??? Because it feels like you don't appreciate me

Leon: you know I appreciate you, just not the screetching

Me: *screeches again*

*queue leon giving up*

Idk how to end posts but that's all I got for now lol. I may add more to this later. Also who THE FUCK decided to spell 'queue' ⬅️ like this?!

#leon kennedy #leon kennedy x reader #leon scott kennedy #yandere leon kennedy #yandere leon kennedy x reader #idk how to tag yall im trying

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allegra-writes · 1 year ago

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"Teething troubles"

Lestat De Lioncourt x Louis De Pointe Du Lac

General Audiences, fluff.

Warnings: None. Lestat’s questionable parenting, toddler on toddler violence, Karen character.

Baby Claudia likes to bite people

SERIES MASTERLIST | MY MASTERLIST

Little Claudia had anger issues, there was no way around it. Lestat liked to joke she had inherited his temper, but truth be told, Louis did not find it funny. He did not find it funny when he got called from Claudia’s daycare because she had destroyed a toy in a fit of rage, he did not find it funny when the cat ran away scared because Claudia had screamed at him in reply to his hiss, and he did not find it funny when he had to rush her to the ER because she had banged the cupboard door with her tiny fists in frustration when it refused to open for her.

Lestat, of course, was of no use. He loved Claudia so much she was absolutely perfect in his eyes. His little princess could do no wrong, so why would he feel the need to correct her behavior?

“I just don’t see what the big deal is" He expressed, sprawled on the park bench as if he owned the place, while they watched with vigilant eyes as Claudia frolicked around the playground.

"Lestat, she bit Miss Lily!" Louis explained, clearly mortified, "Miss Bricks was aghast!"

"Who's Miss Bricks?"

"The daycare's director"

Lestat was trying, and failing, to suppress a smirk.

"The director of Claudia’s daycare is called Miss Bricks?"

"She also bit Armand"

That was too much for Lestat, who could not stop the giggles from rising up his throat, risking Louis' wrath.

But far from getting mad, he seemed to be fighting a smile of his own.

"Don't-... Don't laugh" He protested, the corners of his mouth curving up despite himself. Luckily, he was saved by Claudia’s disgruntled noises of discontent as she attempted unsuccessfully to climb up the slide the same way she had slid down, instead of using the ladder like she was supposed to.

Lestat finally let himself go, laughing loud and boisterous, with his heart full of mirth but also of happiness, as he watched his little family. His Claudia, his daughter , the little spitfire of a baby he loved more than life itself, huffing and puffing and stomping her wee little feet, looking mortally offended the slide refused to cooperate with her; and his husband, the most beautiful man to walk the earth, as he tried to reason with her, using words as "frictional force" and "momentum" that she had no hope to understand.

Baby Claudia, of course, remained unconvinced.

"The problem," Louis sighed, as Claudia let out a pterodactyl screech after once again slipping down the slide she was trying to climb, "is that you set goals for yourself that are unattainable by both man and baby"

Lestat was still giggling when Louis, defeated, came back to his side.

“I’m afraid she’s still a bit young for physics, mon amour”

Louis shrugged.

“She doesn’t like to be condescended at. Besides, she will understand one day. She’ll learn about physics and Sisyphus, look back at this moment, and start making a lot of connections…”

“Looks like that might not be the only connection she’ll be making” Lestat commented, nose scrunching in distaste as he watched a blonde little boy around Claudia’s age making his way to their daughter, probably wanting to see what the ruckus was all about.

The encounter, however, did not seem to be going well, as the kid raised his hand, reaching for one of Claudia’s piggy tails, and tugged hard.

Twin yells of “Hey!” resonated through the park as Louis and Lestat jumped to their feet to rush to their daughter’s defense, but were stopped by a blonde woman, clearly the aggressive child’s mom.

“Oh, don’t worry!” She chuckled, her high-pitched cackles nowhere nearly as cute as Lestat’s laugh to Louis’ ears, “It just means he likes her!”

Louis De Pointe Du Lac had never been a violent man. In fact, he proud himself on being a master of his instincts. There was nothing he hated more than those racist stereotypes that painted people of color as being hot-tempered and belligerent. But the moment he saw his baby girl’s eyes well up with tears, he knew he could have torn that chauvinistic nincompoop of a woman and her rude spawn to pieces. He was already advancing, on auto-pilot, his body moving forward before his mind could authorize the movement, when he felt Lestat’s grounding hand on his chest.

“Oh, look!” He commented, casually, his tone deceivingly sweet as Claudia threw herself at the boy, tackling him to the ground. “It seems our little Claudia likes him back!”

“Tommy!” Screamed the horrified woman, no longer cheerful, running to help his brat, whose cheek was currently between Claudia’s small but sharp teeth.

Neither he nor Lestat made a single move to help the blonde pair. And, honestly, Louis didn’t even think of reprimanding his husband as he took their daughter in his arms, praising her for “sticking up for herself” and “a job well done”. How could he, when Claudia was beaming, waving the handful of blonde curls she had plucked off her would-be harasser's head around triumphally for her papas to see?

Yeah, there would come a time, probably soon, when they’d have to address Claudia’s temper problem. But that day wasn’t it.

Next part

#iwtv #amc interview with the vampire #louis de pointe du lac #lestat de lioncourt #claudia de pointe du lac #fluff #humor #baby fic #kid fic #domestic #fanfiction

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balcon1es · 2 years ago

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summary:

"They say you'll save us all," the yokai continued. "A lofty fate. Wouldn't you say, ronin?" I don't want it, Mikey thought, surprised by the fierceness of it. Take it from me.

chapter two | prev | ao3

It had been a good few paralyzing months since Leo last answered to anyone, but April would be damned if she let him walk away now. "C'mon, Leo," she called after him. "Calm down."

"I'm calm?" came the bewildered laugh.

But the brisk footfalls ahead slowed, and Leo pulled his sword arm back to slice a platter-sized portal open. Then he shoved his head inside it.

Distantly, April thought she heard a muffled pterodactyl screech of pure, unbridled fury.

A passing soldier broke into a panicked half-jog.

"See?" Leo stepped back, and his eyes were unfazed when he fastened them on her. "I'm great. Just—fantastic." The portal twinkled behind him; in another universe, April would have cannonballed right in, straight into a life sweet as neon punch. "Wanna try?" he offered brightly.

April didn't trust that grin; it had secret blades hidden all over it. Leo's weapon of choice.

Silence, it appeared, was April's. Something Leo had very little experience with it. For all his expertise, he tended to buckle under it in seconds. Starting now.

"You could toss stuff into it too," Leo added, conspiratory. "Just don't ask me where it goes."

April crossed her arms.

"Don't wooooorry about it—it's a Donnie problem, m'kay? Just find something fun to break."

Ten seconds. In the meantime, April mastered her best impression of a rock. Flat and unimpressed.

"Maybe not anything useful though. I kinda love having chairs. Donnie's bunsen burners, though..."

She pitched an eyebrow up—the final blow. Leo sagged like a puppet.

"Fine." He twirled his sword and the portal sewed itself shut. "But don't come looking for me when you're feeling cranky..."

The abandoned subterranean warehouse they called their base offered near-complete protection from the elements, courtesy of Donnie most of all. A tradeoff was the lack of private enclosures to talk shit about little brothers, or even to enjoy a brief mental breakdown under the impossible weight of the apocalypse.

This, April reasoned, was the only reason Leo remained standing, hip-cocked, seemingly unbowed by the promise of her verbal fire. "Listen, alright?" she began—biting back the you dumb little shit her own trigger-happy tongue threatened to fire—she could be zen; remember your training, O'Neil? "All I'm saying is, you can't run your men ragged like that."

"Oh, my fault? I'm running them ragged?" And god, Leo could be such a drama kid when he wanted to be. "Who keeps pulling them out of the field last minute? Who's stuffing them in airships to play babysitter for billionaires doing fuck all to help us, because their butler Miguel just got Kraangified cleaning the fucking—infinity pool, or whatever? Not me. I'm not their leader."

"Well, you sure are actin' like it," she answered, and they stood there looking cross at each other as another soldier squirreled past them. The boy had waved seeing April from the end of the hallway, only to skip past as if dodging hot coals after realizing Leo was standing there too, like a vengeful apparition of god.

Under the dull warehouse fluorescents, Leo was less god, more patron saint of jaded-eyed misery. Some missionary for the church of Stick Up My Ass. And anyway, April's faith was deteriorating, and fast.

Away from the blitz of the battlefield, the civilians' adoring eyes, this version of Leo was a blunted edge. She missed his sharp jokes. She'd never say it, but it was one of the things she envied most about him. Clever-quipped, facetious, all-seeing Leo. Come back, idiot, she thought.

Alone again, she rounded on him. "Didn't we talk about this? Like it or not, these men aren't trained like us. We gotta set our expectations straight. Those guys? They are our fair-weather rag-tag volunteer team. At least, for now. And most of 'em think we're just dumb kids, Lee. They're not gonna fall in line all because we know a ninja trick or two!"

Leo lifted his chin. "Well, if their men are so important to them, why aren't the EPF here? Why are we the ones training them? Even Donnie's supplying most of our arms at this rate. Hell—we're feeding them! Three meals a day, April; like we're some kind of roadside hotel—"

"Rats and sci-fi food cubes are hardly—"

"What am I supposed to do then?" The question was sudden, gummed with emotion, and that was how April knew Leo was cracking. Finally—something real. "Raph's out there, risking his shell each day so no alien overlords breach our border. Donnie's straight up killing himself just trying to keep our base functional, and Mikey—" Leo's throat swallowed the rest. April looked away. Easier to finish the sentence for him in her own mind: Mikey, who phased through the days, seemingly unchanged. Mikey, who never cried since.

Leo dragged a hand down his face. "Meal planning should be the least of our concerns. These guys are eating through our rations—rations civilians are happy to give up, by the way, if it means we can protect them. And I can overlook them being sloppy and untrained—I'll take a little mutant racism, too, sure, why not!" April winced. "But complaining about the food? Come on," and the laugh was wrong all over, barbed with something dark.

April couldn't blame him; it had bothered her too, the way they took hesitant bites of the tough white bread they'd served, half-emptied the cans of beans and dried meat, pushing their plates away, the stuff unfinished, and sure it had been the old same fare they'd been having for the past four months—going on five now—the taste long indistinguishable from dusty cinder blocks, but it was all they had. It was that, or Donnie's nutrient cubes. Or the rats. At least they had options.

People died for those options.

Killed, too.

"I get it," April said, but Leo was shaking his head.

"Do you? 'Cause I'm sick of this publicity stunt the EPF's doing. Calling me and my brothers heroes, then leaving us with what? Psh." He sent a bitter smile skyward that could've melted through the beams. "I'm done."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I'm not about this puppet leader gig, April. Or the lies, or the sappy radio speeches I gotta do every week to convince the world everything's sunny and great and nice. It's clear none of them care about protecting the little guys." His voice dropped into a hardened stone, the resoluteness in it barely restrained. He stepped close. "Me? I'm ready to do something real, April. Something big. And I need real soldiers out there. In the dirt, with me. With us."

Later, she would regret not telling him of the deep pride she felt for him, at that moment. But in her chest was its twin star—grief, white-hot and insistent. It demanded all of her. "I hear ya, Leo. I promise." She reached for his bristling shoulder. "But you need... you need to give them time. They've lost stuff too, you know."

"Not this," Leo groaned, then turned to resume his march down the hallway. April gave chase. In the past month alone Leo had shot up like an oak tree; it was taking her twice as many steps just to keep up.

"C'mon, Lee. Wait."

He kept walking.

"Really? Just like that?"

"Just like that." He threw finger guns in the air.

Well, damn, April thought, nobody told me today was Little Shit Sunday, and pulled him by his mask tails.

Leo yelped something undignified.

He was so used to people walking on eggshells around him he'd forgotten how rotten April's big sister play could be, and honestly? That was on him. Six feet tall, and it was still on him.

Leo whirled on her, face twisted in exaggerated affront. Gleefully, April wished she had a camera; Raph would eat this up, like the day Leo's own blade snapped in his face. Never heard the end of it. "I wasn't finished. So! Ready to listen now?"

"Yeah," Leo said. He didn't look happy about it.

"Good. Thought so. 'Cause I was just about to say that yesterday, these guys weren't soldiers. They were just people. Know what I mean? Just dumb, silly people, silly kids, with jobs and hobbies and stuff to look forward to. And now they're soldiers. Y'know what that's like?"

Leo glued his eyes stubbornly on the bare cement wall behind her, but he let his jaw be turned. There was a new notch in his shoulder, healing nicely; April had stitched it herself. Leo didn't cry, but he'd clutched at April's knee the whole time, his grip clammy and white-knuckled. Said, what's a turtle gotta do to get some entertainment 'round here? And, wait, don't use up the thread, Cass's gonna need to change hers out sooner or later.

"Maybe," Leo answered.

"Nah, I know you do," April said—their best friend April now, not war advisor April or whatever role she played to keep them all sane. "Bet you know it better than any of us. Oi—eyes on me. Whatcha thinking about in that head of yours anyway?"

"Well, for one—" he pushed her hand away, but there was something shifting aside in his face, "how the only reason any of those guys listen to me is because of you." When April snorted, he continued. "I'm not trying to flatter you. If you hadn't spoken for us back then, I'm pretty sure the EPF would've gotten rid of us. Bet they're just itching to finish the job."

April didn't like to think about that. "Well, that's 'cause none of you know when to keep your mouths shut. Someone's gotta keep your asses in line. Maybe I will be commander one day, just for that." When Leo didn't seem to toss the idea aside like she wanted him to, she shook his shoulders before the conspiring glint in his eye could manifest into something. "All I'm saying is, y'all stuck with me. And I see you, Leo."

She cupped his cheek again. A long time ago, Leo would've leaned into her hand, basked in her easy affection. Now he turned rigid under any touch.

"I know things are all sorts of fucked right now, but I'm your friend first. Always am. We're on your side. 'Kay?"

Leo's eyes went back to the wall; April turned his face again, patient.

"And your brothers are war machines, sure. But they're your brothers, too." She couldn't help it—she pinched both his cheeks hard. Leo yelped then glowered. April stood her ground; the guy had to be put in his place regularly, or there was just no living with him. "And you're not just their leader. Not to them. Got it?"

"—seriously manhandling—"

"Got it?"

"—yes ma'am, okay, sheesh!"

"And you," April called out, lifting her gaze skyward, "you're not slick. I can literally hear you breathing."

Twenty feet up, hanging upside down from the high ceiling by spidershell-arms, Donnie and Mikey stared back with wide eyes.

In Mikey's arms was a hefty black vinyl bag, nearly twice his size. In Donnie's arms was Mikey. They shared a brief look that belonged to two doomed men and seemed to swallow their tongues.

An eternity passed in stilted silence.

For the first time in his life, Leo didn't get the first word in.

"Oh, mama, and would you look at the time, Dee—we are crazy late for brunch service!" Mikey kicked Donnie into action, and they crawled and skittered and fumbled through the final stretch to the hatch in the ceiling, which Donnie's robo-arms began to dismantle with frenetic speed. "Gotta run! I've got an army to feed, like literally! Talk later, 'kay?"

With a crash, they disappeared in a blur of robo-arms. The hatch fell shut. The echo traveled boldly through the wide enclosure, and, horrified, April turned to watch the way Leo's face changed, realizing it mattered little if she'd given him an earful that day or not; not when Mikey would figure out how to soften up the resistance members in ways Leo couldn't even fathom—all with a bowl of leftover rice fluffed with heat, scallions, eggs—"Eggs?!" Leo repeated—a dash of patience, and good ol' MSG, sweetening the dank underground base with the ambrosial smell of homemade cooking, all made in Splints' trusty rice cooker—and boy did they love that rice cooker. Hadn't that been exactly one of Splinter's lessons to her?

She shook her head with a smile, watching the miracle unfold. That's right, she thought. The fight you win is the fight you don't need to have.

Oh, Splints. She missed him something fierce. Later, she would crack open her old martial arts book to study her own sixteen-year-old writing on the margins, lessons from a lifetime ago trying to save the last great Lou Jitsu dojo. Splinter taught her everything she knew.

Maybe there had been things she'd dropped along the way. But now she picked up that old snakeskin, and remembered.

:::

They'd started off on the wrong foot—but even that was probably an understatement, wasn't it? Before they were violently forced underground, they were garment workers, porters, fishermen, who knew very little of New York and its supposed mutant saviors. To them, Mikey and his brothers were science fiction: green, scaly abominations from botched Frankensteinian experiments.

I'll take it, Raph had said. Way better than "demons." Remember the cult who tried trapping us in salt circles? Yeesh.

Donnie had shrugged it off. Mikey forgave it. Leo called it "a tactical advantage" and nurtured their fear until it grew into something else, something closer to awe.

For months, they shared no language. Nothing but the desire to survive. When Leo first showed the scrappy crowd how it was done—slaughtering a Kraang with nothing but rust-eaten gardening tools, stealth, and a whole lot of attitude—the spell was complete.

Almost.

Leo was used to leading three unruly brothers. But thirty? Mikey watched his brother's patience fray at the edges. Older survivors pointed at Leo's youth, but still Leo pushed, and he pushed hard.

Until they pushed back. Until the EPF started shuttling out their men, and their men let them, in exchange for one night of excess. Until they grew sick of the training, it was thankless work, sick of the drab, featureless cinderblock walls, of the bone-deep hunger, of the congealing loss of home far from the sun and Leo's uncanny asshole motherfucker era—ahem.

Mikey knew what he had to do. One spoonful of that fluffy, perfectly salted rice—and it had to be rice, didn't any of Mikey's brothers know these guys were kin? White bread for breakfast was just never gonna cut it—and the change was near palpable. Homesickness fled from their faces like horseflies. They filed into position, ready for the day's mission. Didn't even roll their eyes during Leo's attack demo of the day.

It had been just like this, once. Communal breakfasts every weekend. The lair smelling blessedly of butter. Mikey stacking each of his brothers' plates sky-high with pancakes, the thanks for the meal, Mikester, the head pats, the way Mikey loved life most when surrounded by all of them.

"By Galileo’s—is that a sugary drink." Donnie sat back on the bench at record speed when Mikey pulled out a Dr. Pepper he'd especially saved for this occasion. "I haven't had sugar in... I can't even say it. It’s too tragic.”

Mikey popped the lid and poured it delicately into his brother’s cup. Then, tongue poking out his mouth, he decided to tip the can over completely, letting it slosh around the sides. "Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?"

Donnie received his offering with wide eyes. "My cupeth."

Mikey clinked their cups together. "Shall runneth over, brother."

Donnie pulled one, long, hard gulp and considered the ceiling, dazed. He seemed to have arrived at some miraculous realization Mikey wasn’t privy to, like the secrets of nuclear fission, or the flight pattern of small, brown birds. "Huh. Wow." He blinked owlishly at Mikey, like he did at the end of a meditation, then put his cup down. He tapped his chest. "I suppose you may have one." He jabbed a finger in the air. "One!"

Mikey rose from his seat. "Dee…"

"One minute max," Donnie corrected firmly. But he unfurled his arms and smiled.

"One minute!" Mikey lost it. He threw himself into Donnie's embrace, and the bench almost tipped them over; this day was the best. Fluffy eggs on rice, Donnie hugs (twice! in one day!), and a happy resistance, at least for now.

His organic stash would need sorting. The leafy veggies had to be pickled, in jars of brine before winter arrived and frosted the base. Planting the beans would be easy, and easier still—the potatoes. Junior would love potatoes. Cloud-soft and heavenly once boiled. It would be months until their dumpster baby grew out his baby teeth; maybe they all could use something gentle.

And then Donnie stiffened in Mikey's arms, and Mikey knew his time was up.

Leo was walking towards their table.

"Alas, while this was delightful—" Donnie shot upright, "I must bid you farewell, beloved brother, for I have to.... dismantle a gun. Or several."

Mikey mirrored him. "M-me too!"

"You don't possess firearms."

"Well, I could!" Leo was drawing closer, his expression unreadable. "You don't know that!"

Donnie's eyebrows beetled quizzically. "Well, why haven't you shown me then? Do you need an upgrade?"

"An upgra—no! I got my own! Cool fire chain, remember!"

"Angelo, while your fundo is a highly impressive hand-held melee weapon, I would hardly place it in the same category as my own—"

"Donnie!" Mikey panicked. "I think we both agree we have very important things to do! Not here!"

"Right." Donnie nodded hastily. "Goodbye." They moved to part ways.

Something fast and made of steel flashed through the air. It thudded into the table between them, a perfect equidistance.

Leo's katana. The hilt convulsed like an arrow's feather.

Miraculously, Donnie lost his slouch, and Mikey let out an honest-to-god squeak, which could've been dignified if he wasn't seventeen and a half.

In the next second, Leo had apparated on the table across them, his grip loose on the hilt. He made no motion of pulling his weapon out. Instead, he reached over to peer curiously into Donnie's bowl.

"Leftovers? Come on, guys. We're better than this." Leo clucked. "Oh, lookity! These are prime stuff, Mike. Rice and eggs, too?" A long whistle. "Didn't know our desert hideout had a farm now. Why're you two standing there? Have somewhere to be? Sit."

They sat.

"Hi, Leo," Mikey managed.

"Hi, Mikey.” Leo rested his cheek on his palm. "Had fun today?"

"I did! I mean—" Donnie kicked his shin, and Mikey swallowed his story. There it was. Not a lot of people could tell the difference, but Mikey could. There was the resistance's Hamato Leonardo, and there was Leo, who normally had an airy head tone, was receptive to Mikey's puppy dog eyes, and did not fling sharp, damning sentences disguised as innocent open-ended questions, like so.

Donnie stepped in. “Alright Leo, I know our tardiness might've caused a bit of a surprise—“

“Oh, I knew,” Leo answered. “Raph said it’d be a quick detour. Probably super important, though, right?”

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,” Mikey said, at the same time Donnie mumbled a vindictive, that snitch, under his breath.

The bowl was poked, prodded, and sniffed in Leo's hand. “I mean, it must be. Important enough to miss morning drills.” Leo pulled his sword free. Donnie winced at the grating schwing. “But hey—at least breakfast is bomb, am I right?”

“The most important meal of the day?” Mikey tried weakly.

Officially, this was the worst; Donnie couldn’t lie to save his life, and Mikey’s resolve was slowly chipping away like paint under Leo’s magnifying-glass eyes.

Leo dipped his finger in the bowl and lifted a grain of rice to the light. It was short grain, firm and glutinous, grown only in the lush countryside. Or perfectly-engineered geodesic domes.

Leo made a low whistle. "Now, would you take a look at this beauty.”

Donnie seemed to understand they were damned. “I assure you, Nardo, it was a careful operation, everything was sourced ethically and responsibly.” To this, Leo snorted. “Alright. So the ethical part is... dubious. But the keyword is alive. Mikey’s safe, our hideout's uncompromised, and we’ve done the honors of feeding your soldiers a meal they probably haven’t had since the world went kaput. I don't see why you’re making such a fuss.”

"Oh, so we're going there? Okay." Leo leaned forward with a grin that didn't reach his eyes. "Why shouldn’t I worry. Starting with you, Dontron. Shall I count the ways?"

"I am detecting a rhetorical question—"

"One." Leo held a finger up. “You’ve had several heart palpitations during training this week—” Two fingers, “—April found you in the lab two days ago, because you had a cardiac episode from your blood pressure deciding to go skydiving—"

“What!” Betrayed, Mikey whipped his head back at Donnie, whose face seemed to have all the green frightened out of it. "Donnie!"

Leo continued, all three fingers up now, “Not to mention that time you went fucking blind in one eye because of a migraine, which—who knew, right? I sure as hell didn't."

“Ugh, yeah, I know." The Ceo and owner of Genius Tech groaned into his multiple spider-shell arms. "Embarrassing. LOL."

“LOL?” Leo's voice pitched strangely; Mikey couldn't look. "LOL?"

“Laugh out—look, it happened one time—“

"It should be ZERO times," Leo boomed, and the bowls shook as a fist pounded the table. For once Mikey agreed, feeling the first stirrings of understanding with this strange new bristling version of his brother, like the phony amalgamation of every parental figure in their sorry lives. This lasted for about two seconds. And then Leo whirled on him. "And you, Mikey darling, my baby brother."

"And me, your baby brother." The affection in Mikey's gut soured into dread. "And me..."

“Was it fun, doing some last-minute shopping at The Gardens?"

And darn, Leo was good. Too good. But Mikey’s prized hoard was still under the table, hidden behind the shadows and Mikey’s busted knees, undiscovered. Things were still salvageable.

While Mikey kicked the bag further into obscurity, Leo geared up for a Talk. “Honestly, joyrides in the middle of work aren’t for me, but I get it. Really, I do. This apocalypse sitch gets old, doesn't it? Food stinks, too. But it’s way too early in the game to be slacking off. If you wanna fuck off god knows where because you need a vacation? Be my guest. But you better be in the best shape of your lives. Better than ever. Better than me.”

Leo pushed himself off the bench and honest-to-god paced. Meanwhile, Donnie rolled his eyes so far back into his head Mikey was afraid it’d be permanent.

“We can't rely on our mystic powers anymore. I need you guys to hone your hard skills like they're the only tools you've got left. Because they are. People are counting on it." Leo paused to shoot a look over his shoulder. "Donnie-dear, if you don't start taking care of yourself and die a sad pathetic death in your lab, I promise, as your leader I am and will release all your tech to the EPF. Including all your trademark rights."

Donnie looked like he'd faint. "You wouldn't."

"Try me. And Mikey—we need to double down on your drills, and no more skipping out on training with Draxum. You can't razzmatazz out of this one. We need to figure out how to harness all that mystic potential of yours, and your basics are terrible as it is. What did we say about practicing?"

Mikey mumbled.

Leo tapped his ear. "Sorry, what was that?"

“Practice is your friend,” Mikey recited in a flat line. "For we are what we repeatedly do."

That seemed to perk Leo up. "Exactly! So I’ll see you for drills bright and early tomorrow morning.” Leo turned to go. “See? Knew you'd come around. And alright, I don't think your form is terrible, Mike—but you don't have to be doing all things all the time. I appreciate a little creativity in battle, but sometimes a good offense is a good defense."

“Sometimes a good offense is a good defense,” Mikey mimicked under his breath.

Leo froze mid-stride.

Mikey clapped a hand over his mouth with a resounding slap. Donnie, who had a semi-clear view of Leo’s face, turned his gaze to Mikey and gave a brief shake of his head. His flat, dead-eyed smile seemed to say, seeyanara, little brother.

“Leo,” Mikey tried, as Leo's back turned. “I mean—sensei. I mean—my big brother whom I love very very much, you know that, don't you? C’mon. I was just having a laugh, just having a little jokey-joke—”

“Changed my mind! We’ll do drills now, actually,” Leo said brightly. He clapped his hands once. “Twenty one-arm push-ups.”

Mikey collapsed like a Jenga pile onto the table. "Nooooo, not the push-ups! They get so old.”

“Fifty, then." Leo smiled, serene. "Where you going, Dee? You're up too. We’re sparring—and no battleshell tricks.”

“Please, god, why," Donnie moaned, at the same time Mikey begged, "Can I do some backflips instead?”

“A hundred then, lucky you!" Leo walked towards Mikey's end of the table, and Mikey didn't think he was going to do what he thought he was about to, but Leo had a penchant for surprising him. "Whatever that thing is under the table must be so worth it.”

Mikey's brain whited out. “Wait, wait! Don’t touch Donnie’s stuff!” and Leo paused, mid-reach. “He was scared we were running low on coffee rations, s-so we went to get a refill!”

A flicker of betrayal passed through Donnie's face. But he plastered on an unnatural smile. "Aha—whaaaat. Mikey.”

Leo’s calculating gaze hovered between them. But he’d stopped walking—small victories. “Thought we had a month of coffee left," he said, frowning.

"Apologies if I can't keep track of every single thing in this household!" Donnie shot back.

Leo crossed his arms. To Mikey, he barked, “Still no push-ups happening, camarada. You're not getting out of this one. And no magic gateways—"

Without warning, Donnie threw his weight carelessly onto Leo and dragged his bandana sideways so it blinded him. “Sparring!" he screeched. To Mikey: "Gateway, now! I’ll hold him back!”

Mikey needed no further instruction. He dived under the table, snatched his hoard while he pulled the portal open from beyond the verge—that was two mystic incidents today, Draxum was going to strangle him—and dove headfirst into the safe haven on the other side. “Bless you Dee, I will remember your sacrifice!” Baby brother privileges, babey.

:::

Donnie's sole makeshift hospital bed was permanently creaky now, no thanks to Cassandra's frequent visits.

She was in it every two weeks—grinning toothily through a broken bone or twenty. More recently, she enjoyed mounting full productions for her audience of one (1) wrinkly human baby. Donnie was not freaked out by this baby. If he was, it was not because the kid had way too much hair and eyes that absorbed all light or gurgled the way babies gurgled which made Donnie's chest go all funny and turn sideways-weird.

Imagine if I named the kid after another one of those renaissance dudes too, Cassandra cawed, doing jumping jacks on the bed with the kid giggling in her elbow until the final CRACK. They both looked down at the mattress. Now that was extra crunchy, Cassandra said.

Donnie kicked her out shortly.

Not, of course, before fixing the slipshod work she dared call a splint. And stay out! he'd yelled. I don't want to see your face here for at least two weeks, you hear me?

Gleefully, she flipped him off. In front of the kid, too.

Now the bed made a despondent creak as it accommodated Raph's weight. The heft of his new prosthetic confounded him, made him bump into corners, and accidentally crush people's fingers with his brand-new strength.

"Alright, bossman," Donnie sighed. Only 2:30 PM and he felt like he'd lived through a week. "You're up."

Raph managed to lie down. He took one look up at Donnie's world-weary face and smirked. "Chewed you out, didn't he."

"Yeah, well someone had to go and gab."

Donnie got his face squished like a grape for that. "Someone keeps forgetting I'm still the oldest. I may not be your leader, but you guys are still my pain in the ass. Knew you were up to something foolish. So fess up." Donnie made an indignant, muffled sound under Raph's bear hand. "What?"

Donnie gasped as Raph released him. "I was saying, Mikey needs his cooking essentials, and I need mine. We have a mutually beneficial partnership going on. That's all." He pulled his goggles down. "He's also my favorite brother, so." Meant: what Mikey wants, Mikey gets.

"Well, Mikey's going to be the death of you, at this rate." Raph narrowed his eyes. "But it looks like Leo took care of it, whatever that was. If I hear about you mutating any more leafy freaks though—"

Donnie's robo-arms, which had branched off from his shell to get to work on the prosthetic, paused mid-air as Donnie choked. "You dare speak ill of my daughter! Cristina, my beautiful venus fly trap, gone too soon—you will never understand! She was nature's most remarkable survivor, evolved to persist in nutrient-poor environments to fancy a pound of flesh." Donnie's gaze turned wistful. "I was so close, Raphael. Only a few experiments left before I rewired her wetware to develop a taste for vile Kraang meat."

"Nothing about that sentence terrifies me at all," Raph said.

"That is why you are my favorite patient. How was your week?"

Raph's head flopped back on the bed. "Shit. Where to begin?" He talked as Donnie tuned up his arm, telling him about the kid from the dumpster, the only miracle in the last few crappy, mind-numbing weeks; the Tamagotchi he and Cassandra found, still-slumbering in its million light year sleep; new Kraang-free patrol routes, and more secret pathways he'd negotiated with the help of the alliance; a dusty Walkman, a Foo Fighters cassette left in, for keeps.

In exchange, Donnie rambled on about their food supply, his EPF meeting notes, a hoverboard for Mikey, but under wraps for now, the new stealth gear prototypes he'd hoped would pass beta-testing soon, if only he'd more time to collect materials—

"Dee," Raph laughed up at him. “This isn’t one of your roundtable meetings, okay? It’s just me."

Donnie tightened a loose screw under Raph's armpit. "Oh, uh, of course. Lift your arm?"

Raph lifted it. "Oh yeah. Way better."

"Excellent. Your gait isn't as natural as I hoped, but I'll replace the hardware with lighter materials soon."

"Appreciate it, Dee. How'd you find time to get all this stuff?"

"I multitask. Wiggle your thumb?"

Raph wiggled it. "You getting enough sleep, though?"

Donnie laughed, too loud. "Squeeze your fist?"

"Seriously. How're things holding up?"

Donnie peered into a magnifying glass one of his shell-arms slid under his nose and poked around Raph's inner elbow, then fibula. "Truth be told? I'm surprised Earth Protection let us off easy today; then again, I am the brains behind this entire operation. It'd be amiss to threaten their very own arms provider. I should've known Mikey would pull something like this, but I'm just glad to see him—"

“I mean—how are you doing, Donnie?"

“Me?" Donnie blinked slow, like he'd never heard that sentence in that order before. "I'm fine. Can we try some wrist rotations?"

Unimpressed, Raph did as told. The motion was stilted; it couldn't do a full 360. The magnifying glass was swapped for a fine-toothed wrench.

"I'll fix that," Donnie said, then faltered when he realized Raph was still waiting on him, the weight in his eyes undeniable. "What? It's true."

And it was; confessions around Raph were easy somehow. Like how last night, Donnie had admitted thinking he'd definitely hit his rebellious edgy teenage phase under Splinter—heck, even Raph himself—but Leo? Now there was a surprise. And how the cookies Mikey baked Donnie made him break out. Some kind of delayed turtle allergy, and he'd kept eating the stuff anyway. How he both hated and secretly loved listening to Leo's radio speeches, in the secret early hours of dawn when the base and his own brain was still, in need of nothing.

Raph asked him again, but this was one confession Donnie couldn't give up. It was half-formed, bloody, still stuck in the wreck. Donnie couldn't look at it yet.

"Seriously, brother, you should see Mikey—" Donnie began, but the bed creaked like a warning, and Raph was pushing himself up on his elbows.

"I'm worried about Mike, too. But we'll get to him in a bit. You idiots are two sides of the same coin, really. I mean, I haven't seen the kid cry since—"

Donnie dropped his wrench. He stared at it for a moment, then bent to pick it up. When he moved back to his seat Raph's gaze settled on him, kind and all-knowing, with a quiet sort of power that could disassemble any man.

"Sooner or later we gotta talk about this, Dee." Raph touched his head. "'S'not your fault. If Pops was here—"

"Don't," Donnie said. "Please."

Somewhere, Unnamed Baby burst into a fit of giggly baby gibberish; Cassandra needed to hurry it up with a name soon, and it had to be good, or they were all going to have a fifth Renaissance man running around the base. The exoskeleton on Raph's arm exuded no blood-warmth. But it curled around Donnie's wrist like a bolstering force all the same.

Donnie's hands began to shake.

"Donnie," Raph said. "Hey. It's alright now."

Donnie hunched his shoulders in, determined to finish the wiring on the inner elbow. "I'll get better materials soon."

"Don't matter right now—"

"This part right here—the socket hurts when it gets cold, doesn't it? I'll find something more durable before winter rolls in. I'll fix it. I promise."

Raph's flesh arm gripped his shoulder. "I know you will."

Donnie shook his head like Raph didn’t understand. His face felt hot, his own hands numb and not his, like the day he dragged Raph out from under the burning wreck of their lair, around them a bloodshot sky that fishbowled from its own weight. A red blistering eye in the sky, and how he ran. He ran like hell. “And I’m gonna make you the best.”

Raph stared at him. “The coolest fucking arm in the world,” he agreed.

“Damn right," Donnie rasped.

This was a hug; Donnie was sure that what was happening. But the awkward way Raph half-sat up and curled around his slouched shell was still disputable. "But," Raph said, "just for the record? I think this one's awesome, too."

Donnie scrubbed his eyes, feeling miserable. "You haven't even seen the best part," he mumbled, then showed him the secret button where a fourth, extra finger could be triggered.

Raph stared and stared at what had only been a life's dream, until now. Now, the possibilities were opening up. "Shit, Dee. I'll do you proud," Raph promised, lifting his middle finger in the air, and Donnie didn't doubt it. Never could. It was Raph.

:::

Mikey crashed face-first with a muffled screech into a patch of soft, loamy earth, and that was how he knew he was a long way from home. A quiet valley greeted him on the other side of the mystic gateway. Gone were the sparse desert plains, the arid, sun-choked skies. No angry Leo either.

He was lost, but there was that.

And he still had his stash with him.

Victory dance it was. After he grew tired of shaking his shell, he looked around at the landscape properly and nearly collapsed.

"Cabbages?" he cried. The farm was the size of a small swimming pool, with only eight rows of intersecting crops and one house with a thatched roof at the center. Nothing like the mind-blowing stretch of sand at home, or the imposing domes of The Gardens. But it had cabbages. Mikey needed cabbages. These looked a little small, but their puckered faces opened up to him like rosebuds; Mikey knew a miracle when he saw one.

"Excuse me!" he called out. "You have a lovely farm! Would you be able to spare some of your bee-you-ti-ful cabbages? I need it for a dish!"

For my annoying no-fun older brother, Mikey didn't add. He threw the bag down from his shoulder and reached his arm to snag its contents. "I'll trade ya for it? I got the goods!"

A windchime blew. A breeze, barely there, carded through the crops. Mikey could count on two hands the places still untouched by the invasion; the Kraang must have business elsewhere.

"Anyone?" Mikey approached the house. A toy car was on the ground, wheels still spinning. Someone had been here. "Oh, I get it! I'm not with the Kraang, don't worry! Name's Mikey! Just your friendly neighborhood mutant turtle, at your service."

He thought he saw the curtains behind the window rustle. The word on the doorjamb was strange; Mikey swore he recognized that alphabet system somewhere.

"Erm, you've probably heard of us. Or my brother? Leonardo?" Mikey was at the window now. Wild grass crunched beneath his feet. "Bright blue bandana, cool sword, used to be smiley but not really anymore—saved New York? No? Oh, okay. Well, rescuing people's kind of our thing. You could join us! It's not safe out here."

"We can take care of our own." Came the sudden voice, gruff and dark behind the door. The curtains at the window parted. Two small heads poked out, inquisitive eyes studying him. And on their faces: beaks.

Yokai.

Mikey swallowed; there hadn't been a lot to meet, not after the Hidden City invasion. As far as Draxum told him, they had scattered themselves like leaves.

"Please, I insist," Mikey said. "My brothers—we have a safehouse, you'll be protected—"

"Just take what you need and go, kappa," the voice said. We don't consort with humans. We've always taken care of ourselves."

"Well, if you change your mind..." Mikey kicked at a pebble. "I'll come back! I'd draw you a map, but... safety-wise, that's probably not a good idea. So, uh. I'll help myself then?"

Nothing. Silence means yes, Mikey thought, and took his fill. He shook the soil from his hands and called out his thanks before starting down the path; Donnie's trackers would find him eventually, followed by his getaway ride, a speck of purple in the clouds. Donnie always found him.

Twenty steps. Then he paused, considering the sky. He didn't mean to turn back, but the soil there felt acidic and coarse, tell-tale signals that the farm would be barren soon; and if it wasn't from climate change, it would be the Kraang themselves, then what would be left?

Blowing out a breath, Mikey dropped his hoard by the stranger's doorstep.

"We would've made magic together. I just know it," he whispered regrettably, patting its side like an old friend. Empty-handed, he turned to go.

He could always get more stuff; Donnie had negotiated for him, after all. Before he could get far, a creaky hinge groaned, and the yokai was there, leaning on the door jamb.

"Michelangelo, wasn't it? We know who you are." The stranger towered over him. A tough crocodile snout belied an intelligent voice. "Your brothers, as well. But you... well. They say you're special. Is it true you can summon the sun itself?"

Mikey half-laughed, half-wheezed. "Wh—me?"

The stranger considered him. "They say you're growing to be the greatest warriors the world has ever known. Granted with extraordinary power."

I don't want it, Mikey thought, surprised by the fierceness of it. I never asked for it.

The children were still watching him from the window. "They say you'll save us all," the yokai continued. "A lofty fate. Wouldn't you say, ronin?"

I don't want it, Mikey thought, reaching into the depths of him for a shaky smile. Take it from me. Give me my father back.

He shrugged, then turned down the path, watching the clouds for the telltale signs of his brother. "Just Mikey's fine," he insisted, waving goodbye, and this time did not look back.

#big brother leo is here UH OH #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt movie #rottmnt fic #rise mikey #rise leo #rise donnie #rise raph #rise april #oh fuck i put a lot of characters in this #this chapter was so dialogue heavy it almost killed me #but i had a blast <3 not them tho they're abt to have their corruption arc shhh #bigdamnher0

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passerine-writes · 8 months ago

Text

Silent Sparks - Volt 104

Warnings: Yuto acts like a dick to Tsukare Word count: 5465

Notes: Italics - Tsukare signing Bold italics - Family member/friend signing'Italics with apostrophes' - Thoughts

Masterlist

Volt 103 | Volt 105

All of us walked up the driveway, Denki, myself, Dad and Pops going to Sota's smaller birthday party. Hitoshi opted to stay home for the day, not particularly looking to come to a one year olds birthday party and I couldn't really blame him.

"Why were we invited?" Dad asked tiredly as we got to the door.

"Shikadai said something about wanting to be apart of my life and he thought this would be a good way to get to know everyone better and be on good terms on both ends. I wasn't expecting you guys to actually take him up on the offer." I said and Dad sighed. "Correction, I wasn't expecting Pops to take you both up on that offer." I said and knocked on the door. Azuna opened it quickly and brought me into a hug, immediately making my skin crawl.

"It's so nice to see all of you again. Where's your brother?" She asked me, ushering all of us into her parents house.

"He was feeling a little under the weather and figured he'd stay at the dorms for the night." I bullshitted, but she quickly believed it.

"Well I hope he feels better. Aizawa, Yamada, it's nice to see you both again. And Kaminari, I'm glad you could make it." She rambled on almost nervously.

"Thank you for inviting us." Pops said and she smiled warmly, leading us back to the living room.

"Yuto! Can you bring Sota out here? I'm sure he'll be happy to see Onryo." She yelled back somewhere. Shikadai rounded the corner first and gave me a hug. I awkwardly hugged him back, but he seemed enthused that I even did that much.

"Hey, kid. Long time no see." He said jokingly and I let out a tense laugh.

"Yeah, it's been ages." I mumbled. "Hi Ren, hi Keiko, it's nice to see you both again."

"Oh, hello dear. Kaminari, you look lovely today."

"Thank you, Keiko. You look radiant as ever." He said with a warm smile, helping her up out of her seat. She gave him the grandma pat on the arm and came over to me.

"You better hold on tight to that one, he's a keeper." She told me and I laughed under my breath.

"I'll definitely hold onto him."

"Azuna, dear, would you mind helping me in the kitchen?" She asked her daughter and she happily followed.

"Please, have a seat, no need to stand." Shikadai said, somewhat rushed. Denki took a seat on the couch, Pops sat on the other end while Dad stood next to him. I was going to sit until I saw Yuto come in with Sota, the one year old quickly made grabby hands towards me. His Dad set him down and he came waddle running towards me and I let him fake tackle me to the floor. His never ending giggles seemed worth it though.

"Happy birthday, Sota." I said and he giggled, clapping as I spoke. "Well, he seems to know what that means."

"He's been hearing it all day, I'd hope he's grasped what it means by now." Ren said jokingly.

"Yeah, and uh, I'm sorry, for how I handled things at his birthday party. I should've gone about it in a better way." I said awkwardly, Yuto shot me a dirty look but everyone else seemed to just wave it off.

"She's going to rehab soon." Yuto said dryly and I slowly nodded.

"I'm glad she's getting help." I said softly and he scoffed.

"I think given the high emotions, you handled it as well as you could. You handled it better than most of us would've in my opinion." Shikadai said and I gave him a small smile.

"So, Aizawa, Yamada, you're both teachers. Are your students giving you any grief this year?" Ren chimed in, redirecting the conversation skillfully while I played with Sota, the baby babbling and pterodactyl screaming while he gave me a multitude of high fives.

"My students tend to. Our son likes to give us the most scares, however." Dad said and I awkwardly smiled.

"Love you."

"I'm an english teacher, so my main difficulty is just getting everyone to understand what I'm saying."

"Is that why Onryo and his brother are fluent in english?" Ren asked and Pops nodded.

"Onryo wanted to learn english at a young age. One day, him and I were having some extra lessons and Hitoshi asked if he could start learning, too. They both picked it up so fast, we were really proud of them."

"Kaminari, how's your english?" Shikadai asked him and he froze up.

"I'm probably the worst in the class. Onryo's really helped me a lot though, so my grade has gone up."

"That's great. I can't speak a lick of english, so you're already doing better than me. I never had an ear for languages, but I certainly had a hand for them." Shikadai said, Kaminari and Pops laughing at his dad joke. "I'm glad someone here thinks I'm funny."

"Shikadai, would you mind getting the door?" Ren asked, most of us looked at him confused, but he agreed. "I don't think I should have some of the best ears here, that seems a little concerning." Ren said sarcastically, making me laugh.

"Mom, Dad, you remember Onryo and his boyfriend, Kaminari. These are Onryo's parents, Aizawa Shouta and Yamada Hizashi. Aizawa, Yamada, these are my parents, Raiden and Azami." Dad and Pops got up, Pops more made Dad get up with him, but when Pops went to bow, Raiden waved his hand.

"None of that formal crap. We're too old to be worried about that. It's great to finally meet you both." Pops stared at him, shell shocked and Dad gave him a pointed look that was subtle enough for everyone else to miss. "You look like you've seen a ghost." Raiden said and Pops fixed his face.

"Sorry, I just wasn't prepared for any major resemblances." Pops said bashfully. "We've always had the running joke that he was my carbon copy, and he looked a lot like his late Uncle. Hitoshi has always resembled his Dad, and was always his carbon copy. It's just, a bit of a shock to see so much resemblance."

"Genetics will do that. All three of us got the same quirk and matching hearing aids to go with it. Was a hero myself back in my day." He said proudly and I looked at him in disbelief. "The people weren't a fan of the fact that I could make some ears bleed, so I was always lower ranking until I got on disability. I suffered from a TBI, so I took the settlement and made a house for my beautiful wife." He said and gave Azami a kiss on the cheek. "Check this out." He said and showed Dad and Pops the pictures he showed Denki and I. "Unfortunately, it looks like I gave those two my height. My bio father was over six feet tall."

"What was your hero name?" Denki asked.

"I was very original. I was the sound hero, Sound Wave." He said proudly and Azami patted his arm.

"There there, dear. Don't throw your back out now." Dad and I laughed a little at the interaction.

"Do you want a very exalting moment?" I asked and everyone looked at me curiously. I grabbed my phone and called Izuku with a video call, after three rings he answered. "Hey, Zuku, I have a random question. You got a minute?"

"I was just finishing up my homework, what's up?"

Can you hear him?

Raiden gave me a thumbs up and I turned back to my phone.

"Have you ever heard of the pro hero Sound Wave?" I asked and he paused for a minute.

"Yeah, he wasn't a really high ranking hero but he had a quirk pretty much identical to yours, I figured that was where you got the name of your quirk for. He was active probably, shoot, forty years ago? His most notable fight was in Nagano at Lake Suwa, he made a tidal wave out of the lake with his sound waves that completely disoriented the villains and gave him the big edge he needed to win." I looked at Raiden and he looked near tears, jaw slacked and a hand on his heart. "He ended up getting really overshadowed with all the heroes rising because he would've been in the second generation to do so and All Might coming in overshadowed a lot of smaller heroes coming into the job outside of the top twenty maybe. I don't know what happened but I know he got injured and he was out of commission after only a decade max. I know a lot of people painted him in a bad light because he also made people's ears bleed. Why do you ask?"

"Cause I found out, he's my bio grandpa. Say 'hi', I think you just made his day." I said and walked over and got him in frame. He waved happily to my best friend, a bright smile on his face.

"Oh my gosh! It's really you! You- You were one of the first few heroes I researched when I started researching the origin of heroes and when they started becoming popular, you had such a unique fighting style! It's amazing to be able to meet you!" He rambled, making Raiden smile wider.

"Azami, Shikadai, do you hear this? This little green haired boy knows who I am! I'm Kodoku Raiden, it's a pleasure to meet a friend of Onryo's."

"I'm Midoriya Izuku, sir!"

"Loosen up, son. I won't burst your ear drums, I'll leave that to your friend here."

"Right!"

"He's a bit of a fanboy, he won't loosen up for quite some time." I said and Izuku froze up.

"Well then, I'll let you get back to your homework. Thank you. Hopefully I'll be able to meet you one of these days." Izuku said his goodbyes and I hung up the phone. "It's been decades since someone said they knew who I was in my glory days."

"I figured if anyone would know, it'd be him. He's basically a search engine when it comes to heroes. Can you guess who his favorite is?" I asked sarcastically.

"All Might?" Shikadai asked sarcastically with an eye roll. Pops and I broke out laughing, Sota found it hilarious and started laughing too. "Didn't realize that was hilarious." He said after a moment and I tried to catch my breath.

"It's not- Oh my gosh- I need to stop laughing! Where's Hitoshi when I need him!" I said while laughing harder. "Nobody in our family likes All Might! I almost got him fired!" I managed to explain, Shikadai soon joining in on the laughter. Azuna and Keiko came back in, confused as to why half of us were laughing.

"Serves the bastard right. He's full of himself." Raiden said, only fueling our laughter.

"Raiden, be nice." Azami said lightly. "Even though he's a crap wagon, we should still be nice."

"I'd say those are fairly nice words, I could say plenty worse about him." Dad said, making everyone let out some form of laughter.

"Should I ask what we walked in on?" Azuna asked.

"They're all bonding over their hatred of All Might." Denki explained.

"Ass Might." I coughed out, not being too discreet. "Wow, did someone hear something?"

"No, I don't believe I did." Raiden said, taking out a hearing aid and scratching his head.

"So, how did you almost get him fired?" Ren asked.

"You never really did go into that, all I know is that he was suspended from teaching and was made an aid for a while." Denki said.

I picked up Sota and sat on the couch between Denki and my Pops, Sota contently sat on my lap as I explained everything as to why I didn't care for him. Only sparing a few of the gruesome details of the final exam. I had a feeling nobody wanted to hear about how I broke quite a few bones that day.

"Why does Midoriya like him so much? Isn't that like, against bro code?" Denki asked and I sunk into the couch.

"He started idolizing All Might since before he could properly talk. We met in junior high. Also there's the fact that All Might's his main mentor outside of my Dad." I said and he hummed.

"That makes a lot more sense." He mumbled.

"Did all of you really sit out here and just... bond over disliking the previous number one hero?" Azuna asked and we all nodded.

"And made Raiden's day. My best friend knew about him being a hero." I said and she hummed.

"I wasn't involved in that." Yuto said and that's when I realized that he had been watching me like a hawk.

"Excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom." I said softly and set Sota on the ground near his toys.

I took a moment in the bathroom after I was done with my business, needing a minute to wipe the feeling of someone staring off of my body. I splashed my face with some cold water and took a deep breath. I understood fully well why Yuto wasn't enthralled with me. I got his sister in law sent to rehab. Let alone how I went about it. I was pulled out of my thoughts when I saw the door crack open. Denki had one hand on the handle and the other over his eyes.

"Babe? You okay in here? Can I open my eyes?" He asked.

"You can open your eyes, I'm decent." I told him, leaning against the sink counter top.

"I knew you wouldn't really hear me knock unless I banged on the door and I didn't want to freak you out. You okay?" He asked softly, one of his hands reaching out to hold one of mine.

"Yeah, just, I needed a minute away from being stared down. I can tell Yuto isn't too happy with me and I don't blame him, I just hope he realizes that if he crosses a line, he'll have to deal with my parents. I more wish that he would just talk to me about what happened and ask me what he wants instead of just glaring at me." I explained and he nodded along, seeming to understand what I meant.

"That makes sense. Maybe you could pull him aside and ask him what his deal is." He suggested, his voice still quiet.

"That's a pretty good idea." I mumbled and he rubbed his thumb back and forth across the back of my hand. I took a deep breath and let my head fall to his shoulder, my eyes falling shut. We stood there in silence for a moment, my social battery recharging ever so slightly.

"Ready to get back out there?" He finally asked and I nodded, standing up straight. He pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead and we walked out, most of them were talking amongst themselves, seemingly getting along.

Everything okay? Dad asked me and I nodded.

Yeah. He sent me a cautious look but dropped it.

"I think it's great that all of you know sign language." Keiko said, breaking any tension. "When Shikadai came into the family, Ren and I tried our hardest to learn, but we just couldn't wrap our brains around it. Azuna seemed to take our genes on it, as well."

"It was one of our largest concerns when we had kids, that they wouldn't be able to learn sign language. But Hitoshi and Onryo both knew sign language when we adopted them, so that took away our fears completely." Pops told her and Keiko smiled softly.

"When Shiroka started dating Shikadai, he told us about his hearing already starting to fade. Yuto and Shikadai learned together actually, such a sweet friendship, they really motivated each other." She explained.

"I tried learning but I was horrible. Honey, what signs did I mix up the one day?" Azuna asked, turning to her husband.

"I believe you accidentally said 'shit you' instead of 'I love you'." He said and we all giggled a bit.

"Yep, so that was when I gave up. Even after when I would try, I always mixed up some signs and it ended horribly. Even when I tried to learn English, it was just atrocious." She said.

"We just have ADHD wordplay, sign language edition." Denki said, making Pops and I laugh.

"Shit, I didn't mean to give you my ADHD." Shikadai mumbled, making me laugh more.

"What was your best ADHD wordplay moment?" Pops asked him and Shikadai gestured to his parents, both of them already excited about this.

"One time, he couldn't remember the word for thirsty." Azami started, a wicked grin on her face. "Shikadai, dear, tell them what you called it."

"Water hungry." He mumbled. "It's been over twenty years and I still haven't lived that down." He admitted.

"I have a few of those. Inside sun control."

"The light switch?" I nodded and he cracked a smile.

"Yep, my brother still hasn't let me live it down." I told him and he laughed a bit.

"Good one."

"Dinner's ready, Azuna, Yuto, would you both mind helping me set the table?" Keiko asked gently, slowly standing up and heading to the kitchen.

We all eventually sat down, said our thanks and started eating.

"So, you both are teachers, what's that like?" Shikadai asked, signing as he spoke.

"Torture." Dad lamented and I gave him a bright smile.

"It's eventful some days, just like any job I'd assume. I like being able to see my family while I'm at work, it's an added bonus." Pops said, the two of us nodding along.

"I'm a homeroom teacher for one of the hero courses, so I only work with twenty one students a day, but some of them like to be problem children." Dad grumbled and I smiled at him again.

"In my defense, Izuku would be a lot worse if I left him to his own doing's. At least I reign him in a bit." I pointed out and he nodded.

"I work with all classes and all grades for the most part since I'm an english teacher."

"I was a teacher for many years, I taught elementary school and some of those kids were little heathens." Keiko said with a small huff.

"That sounds debilitating." Dad said and she sighed.

"It was, there were days where I wanted to just up and quit. But I stuck to my guns." She said and Dad nodded, the glint in his eye showing the bit of respect he had gained for her. "I retired about ten years ago, though."

"I don't think I could ever be a teacher." I mumbled, the profession seeming more intimidating and daunting than hero work.

"Me neither." Denki said and I nodded.

"Why do you think I went with hero work?" Raiden asked sarcastically.

"So, Shikadai, what do you do for work?" Pops asked, diverting the topic of interest off of them.

"I work in IT. Computers always seemed interesting to me and the added bonus is I can work from home if I'd like."

"That sounds like a blessing." Dad commented.

"It can be, it's definitely infuriating at times, especially when it comes to dealing with people who know nothing about technology." Shikadai sighed. "However, it is nice being able to make my own schedule. The only time I don't get to, is if I have to be in the office for a meeting."

"Sho, you're not switching to IT. You wouldn't have the patience." Pops told him, resting a hand on his and Dad sighed.

"Fine." He grumbled.

"Yuto, what do you do?" Pops asked, Yuto looked at him uninterested and let out a sigh. Dad shot him a look, clearly perturbed at how he had been acting today.

"Yuto, just tell them about your job. Relax." Azuna softly chided, patting his hand with her own. He scoffed and stood up rather abruptly.

"I'm not doing this. I'm not gonna sit here and play pretend to make you happy. I need a smoke. Excuse me." He practically stormed out and the atmosphere completely shifted.

"I'm sorry about him, I don't know what's gotten into him today." She mumbled and I slowly stood up.

"I uh, I think I'm gonna go talk to him. At least try and make amends after last week." I awkwardly said and Azuna stood up, gave me a brief hug and sat back down. I slowly and cautiously walked in the direction he did until I found the door to the back porch. "Yuto? Can I talk to you?" I asked gently, he let out a loud sigh but gestured to one of the chairs as he took a drag of his cigar. I stood on the other side of him, opposite of where the wind was blowing the smoke and he rolled his eyes.

"What? Scared of a little cigar?"

"No, just don't wanna set off my asthma if I can help it." He slowly nodded. "I uh, noticed that you haven't exactly been happy today, especially with me."

"Yeah, well why the fuck would I be?" He snapped and I sucked in a breath through my teeth.

"I want to make amends, or, at the very least, be on decent terms with one another." He rolled his eyes and took another drag.

"It's too late for that, kid. You don't seem to be able to understand the damage that you caused." He said through gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry. For how I went about it. I- I let my emotions get the better of me. I should've pulled you and your brother to the side and voiced my concerns. I could have and should have gone about it differently, and I'm sorry that I didn't." I told him honestly, the guilt starting to ease ever so slightly.

"Yeah. You shouldn't have put that target on her back. You shouldn't have even mentioned it to anyone. You don't seem to realize how much you screwed up her life with a single accusation." My eyebrows furrowed and I tried to process what he said.

"Are you saying I should have just let her take my medication?" I asked, baffled at what he seemed to be insinuating. He shrugged and took another drag of his cigar. "Wow." I scoffed and he glared at me.

"She's not like your mother, and that's how you keep trying to paint her to be." My jaw set in place, his tone alone was venomous.

"Shiroka is not my mother. I have made that very clear. Unless Azuna told you what happened, then you don't know the half of what she's done to me."

"That's my problem. You want to make amends so bad, be on decent terms and all this? Fine. You want to be a part of this family, then admit to who your family really is. You have a mother and a father, just like everyone else and just like you're supposed to. Blood is thicker than water." He spat, the cigar now in the ash tray, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared at me.

"The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. If you're going to try and lecture me, I advise you don't cut out the important details of what you're saying. I have two Dad's. I have a brother. I have a myriad of aunts and uncles and relatives. I didn't even know I had biological family outside of Shiroka until two months ago. It's been a major change and adjustment. Shiroka lost her right to ever be called my mother. She tortured me. She broke half of the bones in my hand. She stalked me. I'm still trying to recover from what happened. I'm not saying that Suzu is the same as Shiroka, but she has a problem, it just happens to be one of the same ones." I said and I saw something flash through his eyes and puzzle pieces fell in place. "You knew. Maybe not all along, but you knew about it for a while."

"I thought I could help her. She was doing better. She just had a slip up." He said, the wall he put up starting to crumble.

"She got better at hiding it. There's only so much you can do to help a person who doesn't want help. Once she gets sober, maybe she'll have a clearer state of mind and will be more committed to staying clean. That's not on you, though." I told him and he shook his head.

"She doesn't need a rehab facility." He said and I looked at him sadly.

"It could help her a lot. There's a difference between the help you want and the help you need. She might want your help and her husbands help because it's easier, it's family, she has more control. But a controlled facility where she's made to face the reality, it might be what she needs."

"You wouldn't get it, you're just a kid." He mumbled, leaning against the railing. I moved next to him, standing the same way.

"I tried to kill myself when I was twelve. I was done. I was found and rushed to the hospital before anything could happen. Even after that, there were times where I still wanted to end it all. To give up. Some of those thoughts were serious. I didn't want help. But I needed it. I hated myself for a long time because I still had thoughts and I still wanted to hurt myself even after I saw the looks on my parents faces when I woke up in the hospital." I told him solemnly. "It wasn't until the building collapsed on me that I had my major wake up call. I thought I was going to die, and my heart stopped twice on the table. At that point, I wasn't actively trying or planning anything, but it made me realize that I wanted to live. So yeah, I'm just a kid, but I get it."

"You had a building collapse on you?"

"It was more an old yakuza planted bombs and tried to kill me but failed, but yeah." He huffed out a breath and stood up a little straighter.

"I just wanna see her be okay." He told me and I nodded.

"I get it. She's not like Shiroka, but she needs the help that she never got." He licked his lips and took a deep breath.

"She used to be really good friends with her and Azuna." He told me.

"I kinda already put together that she got Shiroka started on drugs." I told him and he looked at me confused. "I can read people. I can also tell when most people are lying. I freaked out your wife with it, too."

"Right, the whole uh, curious or cross checking thing." He said and I nodded.

"Yeah." I slowly stood up and got ready to go back inside. "I'm gonna head back in. Take your time to collect yourself."

"Can you ask Azuna to come out here?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'll ask her for you." I said and grabbed the door handle. "And just so you know, if you ever try and disrespect my family like that again, you'll regret it." I told him and walked back inside. I took a deep breath before walking back to the kitchen. Everyone looked at me, all with different emotions on their faces. "Uh, Azuna, he was wondering if you could go out there for a few minutes." I said and she nodded. I outreached my hands for Sota and she let out a deep breath, clearly relaxed at that aspect. I sat him on one of my legs and alternated between taking a bite of food and giving him a bite of his purée blend stuff. It looked like mushed carrots.

"You seem to be a natural with kids." Keiko said, pulling my attention away from my fork that I was grabbing.

"I've had a few people tell me that. So, yeah, I- I guess I am." I managed to get out and she smiled at me sweetly.

"It's a good trait to have." She told me and I returned the smile.

"Just wait, with the color of his purée, next thing you know he'll be trying to eat our hair." Shikadai remarked and I couldn't help but laugh. Sota was laughing too and I noticed Pops take a picture.

"Keiko's right, you've always been a natural with kids. You're the main person to get Kota to smile." Pops said and Denki nodded in agreement.

"Who's Kota?" Raiden asked.

"I think I got this." Denki said and I couldn't stop my smile as he started thinking about it. "Mandalay and the rest of the Wild, Wild, Pussycata are honorary relatives..?" He paused and turned to me, I nodded and he gained some more confidence. "Kota is.. Mandalay's cousins son, his parents.. passed in the line of duty, so he's Onryo's honorary nephew."

"That's a lot." Raiden mumbled and I nodded. "So why are you the only one to really get this kid to smile?"

"As you can imagine, Kota has had it rough and grief is still new for him. Onryo more managed to connect with him on a level that not many of us have been able to despite our efforts." Dad explained as gently as he could.

"Well, it's good that he has Onryo in his life." Kazumi said softly.

"We're all thankful for that, I believe." Dad confirmed.

We all eventually moved out to the living room and it didn't take long for Sota to fall asleep on me. His breathing steadied out and I felt his body weight drop. Denki's eyes were focused on me, a faint blush stained on his face and I looked at him confused but he only blushed more.

"It looks like he wanted to take a nap." Azuna said as she stood in the doorway to the living room. "Do you mind putting him in his pack and play? I'd take him off of you, but I don't want to chance waking him up. He's been fighting nap time this whole week." I nodded along to what she said and slowly stood up, an arm under his thighs and a hand cradling the back of his head.

I followed her to his play room and carefully laid him down. I waited, holding my breath in hopes that he would stay asleep and I let out a breath in victory when he only stretched but otherwise, enjoyed his nap.

"Thank you. That takes a weight off of me, he's been a terror at nap time lately. Looks to be he's falling back into a rhythm though."

"Sleep is a mysterious thing that we all need." I said and she nodded.

"While I have you here, I got some of those pictures you asked for." She whispered and I looked at her excited. She handed me an envelope and I gingerly opened it, almost hesitantly.

I let out a stuttered breath as I saw pictures I never thought could even exist. I flipped through the sonogram photos, all appropriately marked for how far along the pregnancy was until I saw pictures from the day I was born. Emotions I could never have prepared myself for hit me like a brick.

There was a picture of me screaming and crying, a dusting of topaz hair sitting on my otherwise bald head. A picture of me sound asleep in one of the cribs in the hospital with my baby blanket swaddled around me. There were a few others thrown in there and I didn't bother trying to stop the tear from falling down my face.

"Thank you." I whispered as I pulled Azuna into a hug, clearly shocking her at the action but she didn't object.

"You're welcome, and if you're getting emotional, I'm sure your parents are going to be just as choked up, even your stone cold Dad." She said and I laughed a little. "We better get back out there. So if you want these to be a surprise, I suggest you hide them." I nodded and slipped them in my hoodie pocket, placing my phone on top of them to hide edges of papers.

Christmas needs to come sooner.

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casspurrjoybell-33 · 11 months ago

Text

Wreckless - Pool Adventures

*Warning Adult Content*

Emmett

I wasn't sure what to expect when I came out... there could have been a work of art on the concrete or what I got which are some very well done scribbles.

I tell him dinner is in the oven and he hands me a triceratops.

I'm not sure exactly how to hold it because the lake is done from above and the trees and mountain, no wait, it's a volcano, are done from the side.

I decide it doesn't matter.

He has the T-rex in one hand and is flying the pterodactyl around in the other.

"So what's the plan? I don't want you to eat me," I tease.

"No, that's mean. I won't eat you, Emmett."

"Good. Maybe we should be friends and go on an adventure."

Aren't we already?

"Okay."

He's looking to me and I have not watched a dino movie in quite awhile.

Um, a mission.

A dino-friendly mission.

"How about we go searching for something?"

"Like what?"

He perches his pterodactyl in the tree and walks his t-rex over towards me.

"How about a special tree with a surprise?"

I grab the same colors he's used for his other tree and make a new one a few feet away.

"It has two trunks, that's how we'll find it and a treasure box inside."

"I love it. There should be a river to cross," he says, drawing one between us and the goal.

We've found the treasure box and I've given him a riddle to solve when my phone beeps.

"Dinner time, let me check on it and then we need to finish our adventure quickly so we can eat."

"Okay, we can do it."

He's so excited... I love his Finn voice.

He doesn't sound child-like really, even though his words sometimes are.

He's not faking a voice or anything.

He just sounds happy and excited and he's thinking hard about the riddle, I can tell.

I pull the chops out of the oven, cover them with a towel and put the veg in the microwave.

"I'm thinking about the riddle, Emmett," he says when I come back out

"But I need a hint."

It's a good one, one my mother taught me ages ago.

A hint, eh?

"Okay, it's usually white or brown."

Too much of one, really but dinner is ready and I know he wants to solve it.

"So something you can't use until you break it," he repeats.

"Something white and brown."

"Yep. White or brown," I stress.

"It doesn't change colors, it only comes in two. Wait, they have blue ones sometimes now, I don't know. At the store they come in two."

"Another hint," he says.

"You buy it at a store?"

"Yep. And dinosaurs had them."

I'm actually amused at that one and the look on his face is priceless.

"Dinosaurs don't have stores, Emmett."

"I know."

He laughs and jumps up.

"Eggs. You break an egg to eat it and you buy it at the store and dinosaurs lay eggs."

"You got it. Let's go eat dinner and then we can swim afterwards."

"What's our prize?"

"I'll give that to you after we swim, grasshopper. Looking forward to it."

I get a wry smile in return.

After dinner on his new plate we get changed.

I spray his shoulders and he does his nose and cheeks because even though there is no way he can get burnt right now, I refuse to risk it.

He complains but does it anyway.

I bring out some drinks and the lube because I definitely plan on taking him out here once it's dark and blow up the two extra toys.

He jumps right in and uses two to float, one under his knees and one behind his head.

"Feels great, Emmett. Come in with me."

"Rather come in you," I mumble just loud enough for him to hear me before jumping in.

"Naughty Emmett."

"It's not my fault you make me crazy, Finnegan."

We swim around for awhile, play a game of Marco Polo, play a weird net-less version of beach volleyball and then he hops out and opens his bracelets.

He puts three together and makes me a necklace, does the same for himself and then asks me to put a bracelet on each of his wrists.

"We look very snazzy."

He decides to repurpose his bracelets as dive toys and spends fifteen minutes collecting them from the bottom of the pool over and over.

When he's tired I put them back on for him but don't let him escape.

I pull him against me and hoist him up and he wraps his legs around me and his arms around my shoulders.

"Hi Emmett."

I answer him with a kiss, trailing down his neck until he giggles and then stops giggling and starts breathing hard.

"I'm going to fuck you out here in the open. What do you think about that, Finnegan?"

"You... what?"

"I..." I repeat slowly.

"Am going to fuck you out here, bent over that table. I'm going to muffle your screams with a towel so the neighbors don't hear you begging for more or begging me to stop, either way works for me, babe."

I sneak my hand right down the back of his trunks and tease his bud with my fingertip.

"How does that sound?"

"Oh. I... I think it sounds fun, Emmett."

"Good."

He hops out and I'm right behind him.

I drape one towel over the table to cushion him a bit and he folds one up for under his head.

As soon as I get his trunks yanked down I bend him forward, step out of mine and sink to my knees so I can work him open.

He yelps and then sighs as I caress him with my tongue.

A few minutes later I'm sinking into him, working him open with my cock instead.

It's much less gentle but he's taking me beautifully and managing to stay fairly quiet.

I reach around and stroke him and he's hard and almost as desperate as I am and I have gotten over my fear of asking for too much when he's been working.

No, he's right, he needs this and so do I.

He comes right after I do, squeezing me hard as he shudders.

We both stumble inside and through a quick shower and soon we're in bed.

His head is on my shoulder as I try to read one-handed.

After our chapter, he kisses my neck.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, Finnegan. Think you can sleep now?"

"Yeah. I was up so early. This morning feels like yesterday. I don't know how to explain it."

I know exactly what he means, it feels very distant and I guess it is.

Physically and mentally.

"I understand. Get some rest, we'll have a good day tomorrow."

"I can't wait and Emmett?"

"Yes?"

"I love you, lots."

He's waiting for me to say something but I'm sort of choked up and having a hard time breathing.

"Love you too, darling."

"Night night."

"Sleep tight, Finnegan."

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cosmicbrowniefan · 2 years ago

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Idk how I just noticed your pinned post but your fandom taste?? beyond immaculate.

I am humbly asking if you perhaps have any hcs for a gravity falls!au for stranger things, and/or a hogwarts!au 👀

beck, we simply have the best of taste. and yes i do have headcanons

disclaimer: fuck jkr

gravity falls au hcs:

so. will and el are the mystery twins. we been knew

visiting hop in gravity falls, oregon, for the summer of course

the rest of the party happens to have summer jobs at the mystery shack

(why hopper hired them all, he will never know. to this day, it is still one of the best and worst things he's ever done)

i think that the other party members (max, mike, lucas, and dustin) have a little mystery club. a gang, if you will

i think they have journal 3 and they give will and el a brief evaluation before inviting them in to the club

when will and el have their first supernatural encounter and end up defeating the gnomes with a leafblower, the party knows that they're perfect for their club

will and el are just. stunned. to hear about all the stuff that goes down in gravity falls

they love the lore and yeah they might've just fought off a shit ton of gnomes but WOAH there are that many other cool things here too??

of course they have to avoid the watchful eye of hopper

but their friends and fellow employees steve and robin (wendy and soos respectively) help them sneak around and figure things out

the party lets will and el borrow journal 3 to look over

when el sees the page about vampires, she's immediately convinced that mike is one

and while will waves it off and says that that's ridiculous, he can't help but wonder as well

el takes it upon herself to ask max who just laughs and says that they're explored that idea many times, but it doesn't seem to be true

the golf cart is the main form of transport for the party

you're probably wondering, how on earth do six people fit in a golf cart??

well, easy enough answer there: lucas and max in the front, el and will in the back, mike hanging on the side, and dustin on top

they strap dustin in with bungee cords because they've had a few accidents too many

i think max is able to send bill cypher back into oblivion with just one dirty look

bill cypher may be like a demon of multiple worlds, but he has other worlds he can take over that don't involve the wrath of max

el plays matchmaker just like mabel does, but she gets max involved in it too

these girls are the finest matchmakers in all of gravity falls

well. until it came to mike and will

they tried several times to get those two together but god they were both so helpless, el and max just gave up eventually

MIKE FELL FIRST AND MIKE FELL HARDER.

this cute little nerdy boy obsessed with all the cryptids?? who keeps drawing them as they fight them all summer and adding more illustrations to the journal?? has his heart.

will spends most of his summer learning more about this stuff and getting excited about it

he does. think about mike. maybe just a bit

but he often tries to push those thoughts aside bc there's no way mike would like him back AND he has monsters to focus on

until one day lucas casually asks will how he and mike are doing and will is like ????

lucas thought they were dating

okay maybe he knew they weren't and just wanted to stir the pot but still it was enough to make will open his eyes

mike meanwhile has finally broken down and gone to the girls for advice

to which he is greeted with both enthusiasm and a speech of "if you EVER hurt MY BROTHER..."

but yeah. mike ends up asking will out finally

on pioneer day as well, mike asked will if he would go out with him or if he'd have to settle for marrying a woodpecker

will happily agreed

but anyway

lucas punches a pterodactyl in the face

i could go on and on but that's the limit of my brain atm. i love gravity falls. i love stranger things. this was lovely to think about

hogwarts au hcs:

ok so sorting the party into their houses is difficult as fuck. i can honestly see a valid argument of putting the party members in almost any house, and i'm totally here for that discussion, but for this hc set, these are the houses i'm putting them in:

mike: slytherin, will: gryffindor, dustin: ravenclaw, lucas: hufflepuff, max: slytherin, el: gryffindor

dustin is muggle born but god that does not stop him from learning and absorbing everything he can about the wizarding world

el has a cat, mike, lucas, max, and will have owls, and dustin has a toad

the toad's name is scribbles

idk why, it just is

also lucas and will play quidditch!! lucas is a keeper and will is a chaser

fred and george did not pass the maurauder's map to harry. they passed it to max and will

max and will have not told a soul that they have it, but they use it to their advantage and love it

mike and el have a competition of collecting chocolate frog cards

who has the most, the rarest ones, the most diverse set, etc

el is winning btw

lucas thinks the toothpaste every flavor bean tastes good

they all have some wonderful wizarding talents as well

as i said before, will and lucas are on the quidditch team, so they're good at that

lucas is also great in care of magical creatures

he loves every single one of those animals and knows just how to calm them and care for them

el has a real knack for herbology!!

she actually wants to come back and teach it after she graduates

el also. wants a pet mandrake

dustin is a potions MASTER

he learns all these tricks and does them so well that he could practically write a second edition of the half-blood prince's book

mike is good at charms!

he loves all those little helpful spells that just make life easier, ya know

those are the best

max is FANTASTIC at transfiguration

she can turn anything into. anything

in fact max has this little business (that might not be entirely safe or legal for her to do by wizarding standards, but she does it anyway)

she helps transfigure body parts of dysphoric trans hogwarts students

shh don't tell anyone

mike got the most O.W.L.s.

no one knows how, but he did

also max once locked umbridge in the room of requirement

"it was what i required at that time! it wasn't my fault, i swear!"

oh you know how i said dustin has a toad scribbles

he also is in the toad choir at hogwarts

he and scribbles both have voices of angels

when they're old enough, lucas and el get put as head boy and head girl

will is a prefect

mike flirting with him shamelessly and will trying to stay professional but he can't help but melt at his boyfriend's dumb little attempts to catch him off guard

sometimes he gets so flustered from mike's flirting that he can't remember the password to the common room and he has to wait for someone else to come back to help him

setting them in the year of triwizard tournament rn

lucas is the hogwarts champion!!!!!! bc who tf else i mean come on he's perfect

will drawing banners for lucas and mike charming them to animate

byler dancing at the yule ball :(((((((

ugh god i. i love them

again i could go on and on but that's the limit of my brain for tonight

hope you enjoyed!!!!!!

#stranger things #stranger things headcanons #byler #byler headcanons #the party #the party headcanons #stranger things x gravity falls #stranger things x hogwarts #hogwarts au #gravity falls au #stranger things x harry potter

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etcrow · 3 years ago

Note

i saw your requests were open and ive had this thought for a while but i can’t write lol (and ofc u don’t have to use the idea if u don’t like it)

the prompt is essentially a “morosexual” mc who gets flustered whenever mammon says some dumb, off-the-wall thing bc gosh they just love their silly himbo demon. the brothers prolly know how both of them feel towards each other but mammon is totally oblivious that mc’s blush is bc he genuinely thought that when the professor said “acute” he meant that the triangle was cute.

i’ll leave the rest to u if it interests u but mammon is best boy <3 :’)

My precious idiot

➷➸➹➷➸➹➷➸➷➸➹➷➸➹➷➸➹➷➸➹➷

Genre: fluff, comedy

Character: GN!MC x Mammon

Universe: Obey Me

Warning: none

A/N: hi anon, have a wonderful day. I did my best

Summary: our precious idiot Mammon makes MC goes pooofff

➷➸➹➷➸➹➷➸➷➸➹➷➸➹➷➸➹➷➸➹➷

It was another school day. You were sitting at your desk, Asmo was holding your arm, Mammon instead was sitting on the other side. You were trying to take the lesson, even though you were trying really hard, while the professor was talking and explaining a geometry problem. Yes, there was also geometry in devil doom, damned school subject.

The professor had said something and Mammon had answered in a low voice, making the class laugh. You turned to Satan who turned pale and explained to you what had happened.

The professor was explaining what an acute triangle was, and Mammon, in a whisper, was wondering what was so cute about a triangle.

You barely held back laughter and tears, looking at Mammon. He shrugged, not understanding what had happened.

Levi, in a whisper, had called him an idiot and Satan had agreed. Mammon was visibly offended by their insults and, not understanding what had happened, he had mistaken them for free criticism.

You hugged him and he awkwardly reciprocated. Asmo had made a shrill cry, so much so that it sounded like a pterodactyl. "How is it that the idiot gets free hugs now and I don't?"

The professor had silenced you all, startling you. One more word and he would have put you in detention.

Later, at dinner, no one really knows why, but someone had started talking about chocolate cow's milk and Mammon innocently asked you if that milk came from brown cows. Satan had grunted in exasperation, but you had stared at him, on the verge of laughter, hugging him.

Again the poor avatar of greed didn't understand what was happening, but he hugged you back, confused.

One day, Mammon sat next to you, looking at you. You could feel his gaze fixed on you. "Tell me why you always hug me? If you want attention from the great Mammon, just ask."

You barely held back a laugh, undecided whether to tell him the truth or not. Then, looking at his expression, you decided that no, you couldn't tell him the truth. So you opted for a colorful lie. "Oh sure Mammon. You found me out. I'm a huge fan of your hugs."

The demon laughed, hugging you. "Liar. Satan told me you do it when I say some bullshit. But thanks anyway."

You had returned the hug, holding tight to him. "When you want, silly"

"Now don't go overboard with insults. I'm still the great Mammon"

You laughed, kissing him on the cheek and running away. "Yes but you are my idiot"

He was dumbfounded for a second, staring into space, then smiling. He was your idiot and that was fine.

#obey me one master to rule them all #obey me shall we date #obey me #obey me mc #obey me post #obey me headcanons #obey me funny #obey me incorrect quotes #obey me x gender neutral reader

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harveywritings92 · 4 years ago

Text

BNHA Dad scenario: Someone hits you.

Summary: You're around 8 playing or trying to get you parents attention, someone hits accidentally or on purpose, your father took exception to this. and decided to return the favor with interest.

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Shigaraki: All the senior members of the league knew who you were and knew to never mess with Shigaraki's princess, unless they wanted to be a pile of rot on the floor.. however there were was a newbie about 18 years old who just recently joined had no idea who you were and thought you were some street brat and the resident punch bag, so imagine his surprise when he demanded you hand over your Gameboy, and you told him to go suck a lemon bad move.

You were kicked in the ribs sent airborne toward the wall and crashed into and fell to the floor clutching your stomach in pain. "Next time I ask for something you give it to me you little brat!" the boy sneered before looking down at your crying shaking body and heard you calling out. "Daddy...daddy..." He started laughing at your wailing and tried to get everyone else on his side, but no one moved they just stared at (dickhead) in horror he looked at them all confused.

"C'mon what the hells wrong with you guys?" as you were hyperventaling as the door to the back opened in stepped Shigaraki who looked around the bar confused why everyone was so quiet before hearing you crying and wheezing and his red eyes zeroed in on his daughter on the floor and (Dickhead) walking over to him with this shit eating grin holding your Gameboy …

"Hey boss you like gaming, you got any-" Shigaraki shoved him and made a bee-line towards you and he crouched down carefully helped you sit up , you were clutching your ribs. "D-daddy.." you stammered as your dad shushed you and pulled your shirt up, if they thought Tomura was mad before they were wrong! the second he saw the large bruise on your stomach, he saw red... "it's all right Princess Daddy's got you." he cooed picking you up ( he's got gloves on) keeping your face tucked in his shoulder.

Shigaraki then turned towards (dickhead) who's cocky grin turned to a confused pout as he tried processing what was going on, as your dad started slowly walking towards him, stoned faced red eyes alight with rage as he brought his free hand up to his mouth taking his glove off with his teeth, (dickhead)'s face slowly contorted in horror as he realized you weren't some random brat they picked up off streets!

You were his boss's kid! and he punted you across the bar for a toy! "Hey-I-i didn't know man,-s she can have it back-" the last thing he saw was Shigaraki's hand coming for his face, everyone in the bar looked away or down at their drinks "Someone clean that up." Your dad ordered as he calmly put his glove back on and stepped over a pile of dust and clothes as he took you to the doctor to make sure that waste of an NPC didn't break your ribs.

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Kirishima: You were both at the bank you were off to the side fidgeting with your dress waiting for your dad to finish up at the teller and decided to wander around the lobby, checking around if there any candy bowls around here, when you bumped into another adult a balding mad who's back was to you, "oops I'm sorr-" You were cut off by a loud crack! and suddenly you found yourself floor clutch your stinging cheek stunned as this angry red faced man screamed in your face. "I TOLD YOU TO STAY IN THE FUCKING CAR (random boys name!)!?" You there was tense ringing in your ears as you burst out wailing as the demeanor changed as he finally got a good look at you and in horror realized you were a little girl and not his son.

"uh-r" Just then Red blur came running at him and he was punched in the jaw by rock hard fist that sent him flying through the bank's glass door by a very pissed off Eijirou, who looked like was gonna kill him before he felt she daughter hug his leg, which she does when she wants to go home, his red eyes looked down at you the back the man who was being check on by the bank security, then back to you starring back at him tearfully, your dad took a deep breath picked you up and kissed the bruise forming on you cheek, and told manager he'll pay for the window. "YOU'RE MEAN!" you screamed at the man who hit you who was now awake with his actual son who was a teenager was standing awkward to the side looking embarrassed, the man flinched when your dad shot him a glare as you both passed him.

A week later the jerky dad had the gall to try taking your dad to court, the judge got one look at the security footage and your still healing face and laughed in the guys face and threw the case out.

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Dabi: Your mom was the owner of his favorite Dive bar, They don't ask questions and he don't give answers, Anyway mom had stepped out to get weekly restock delivery and left Dabi in charge, things were wrapping up for the night when you had wandered down from the upstairs apartment way passed your bed. "Hey ,Firefly what're you doing up?" he said picking you up and sitting you on his lap.

"Was the music too loud?" You shook your head he hummed you weren't feeling well and woke up, went looking for one of you parents, he felt how hot your forehead was under his chin and frowned. "Want some ginger ale?" he aske rubbing your back you uh-huh'd as your dad leaned over the bar grabbed a glass and went to grab the dispenser hose for the ginger ale.

Meanwhile some scantily dressed chick who been eyeing your dad like a hungry dog all night was angerly made her way over, in her drunken haze she saw another woman cuddled up to him instead of a little girl, stomped over to bar and before Dabi could register what was going on a nasally voice sneered "Get off my man whore!" and a manicured hand suddenly reached out and grabbed a fist full of your hair and tried yanking you out of his lap!

"Eek Daady!" You screamed in pain as your dad whipped around "What the hell?" Dabi snarled grabbing the woman's arm and using his quirk to burn her, the painted hussy let out this pterodactyl like screech and let go of your hair, then you threw up on her legs causing her to scream louder "My shoes!!!?" she shrieked and went to hit you, but Dabi had ignited his hand and stopped her.

"Get the fuck out, before I melt your fucking face..." Dabi hissed as you held on to him like a baby koala crying and shaking like a leaf, Your dad watched the bouncer throw the bitch out, while she bitched and cried about knowing the owner and how he'll beat Dabi's ass. "And then you'll sorry!" she wailed as the bouncer shoved her away. "Oh we'll see about that..." Dabi mused as he tried calming you down and making sure she didn't hurt you too badly.

True to her word the bitch came to complain to the owner not realizing that A. the owner was a woman, B. they were Dabi wife, and C) the mother of that "midget whore" who barfed on her fake designers shoes. Dabi watched from the upstairs window calmly sipping his morning coffee as the woman said her sob story and demanded compensation!

He smirked as your mom nodded calmly put the empty keg she was carrying on her shoulder down on the sidewalk, and without saying a word deck the woman in the face knocking her out cold. "There's your compensation..." She huffed then calmly picked the keg back up and put it on the truck, Dabi whistled at her "Say babe, have I ever told you how much I love you?" he said watching her from the open window your mom blushed flipped him off, he chuckled he could see her smiling.

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Katsuki: it was Kirishima it was you birthday and he was showing his quirk off to some of the kids when you ran into his elbow, knock on your butt sat there for a few seconds as your uncle and parents fussed over you, Eijirou was apologizing to you asking if you were alright? you just stared at them blankly before grimacing, causing your mom to bring her hand up towards your mouth and like that you spat a tooth out into the palm of her hand, her [y/ec] eyes widened while your dad and and uncle started freaking out...

Well.... more like your dad had uncle Kirishima by the shirt collar threatening to destroy him! while Eijirou came saying how sorry he was and it was an accident! while they were yelling your mom checked your mouth carefully counting your teeth, then sighed in relief before turning your dad. "Katsuki...." your dad didn't hear her as he was telling Kirishima to pay for you dental work!

"Katsuki." she tried again, but he was too far gone. "Alright you asked for it!" she yelled finally getting Katsuki's attention when he realized she was going use her quirk. "Hon, wai-" too late your mom snapped her fingers and your dad, still holding Kirishima, was frozen in place. Your mom calmly brought you over to your them and had you open your mouth and show him the "Damage" your dad's red eyes looked at you then back at your mom who was holding the tooth. "He knocked out that tooth... we were gonna have, y'know?" His eyes widened as he realized Shitty-Hair had knocked out a stubborn baby tooth that refuse to fall out, and were gonna have it pulled next week...

Your mom unfroze your dad and he dropped Kirishima before taking the tooth to examine it, making sure it really the right tooth, and he seemed to calm down, muttering an apology to Kirishima, then whispered something to you mom that made her blush. "You better be ready for it..." he purred in her ear, while you stared up at your parents confused. "Ready for what?" you asked innocently they both froze before Kirishima grabbed your hand. "say kiddo, let's see if (Kirishima's kid.) wants to play!" he said making a hasty get away with you.

#bnha fanfiction #boku no hero academia #dabi x reader #shigaraki x reader #kirishima eijirou #katsuki bakugou #shigaraki tomura #kirishima x reader #bakugou x reader #touya todoroki #daughter reader

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