#My niece is going to loose her MIND over this thing

[writing-until-i-drop]

Wildflowers For A Hangman Ch. 22

Summary:

Daisy, a career novelist, moves in with her college best friend Phoenix who has been permanently assigned to Top Gun with Dagger Squad. She finds herself instantly connected with a cocky pilot who's soft only for her and Jake can't help but want to know everything about her. When the past comes knocking at both of their doors, will they stand together or fall apart?

Or: The Dagger Squad can't cook and Jake falls in love with a woman who makes a mean lasagna while they work their personal trauma.

Jake "Hangman" Seresin x writer!femOC | 18+ (eventually) minors dni. Fluff, smut (eventual), idiots in love, past trauma.

Jake misses Christmas, Rooster realizes a few things

AO3 Link

Previous Chapter

The first couple of weeks had been hard on everyone. Natasha and I had spent the first few days curled up in one bed, then she had slept over with Javy more often than not. Proving to the world that Tasha and I were right when we said that Bob was the best person in the world, he had let me sleep over on his couch whenever I felt like it, which had been quite often. We would watch old movies and order take out, ending the night the same way every time by looking at dog pictures. 

I was doing…okay, all things considered. Until Harvey sent a text asking if I was still coming to Iowa for Christmas. Sure, I knew Christmas was coming, it was hard to miss the decorations everywhere, but it hadn’t really sunk in that Jake wouldn’t be there until that moment. Somehow I had managed to get through the call without crying, confirming that I would take a flight up in a few days to spend Christmas with them. Seeing my nieces would help distract from the pain of Jake being away and I would be able to spoil them rotten with presents.

But today seemed to be the day of overwhelming phone calls because as soon as I was done with Harvey, my agent, Jason, called. 

“Heya, D. How’s the draft coming along?” I rolled my eyes, laying back in my bed. Jake’s pillow still smelled like him, mostly because Javy had stolen Jake’s cologne for me to spray on it, and I found myself sleeping on it more often than my own.

“You’ll get the pages when I’m ready to share them, nosy,” He laughed. I could imagine him sitting with his feet up on his desk, tie hanging loose around his neck. “How’s the scheduling for the book tour coming? Any way we could do it in the next six months?” Keep busy. That’s what Penny had said to do and being away from the apartment for a month or two, every second of my day being directed by Jason and Grace, would be the perfect way to keep my mind occupied. 

“You’re never this eager to do a book tour,” Jason laughed again. “I can schedule something out for March, four months should be enough time to book everything. Grace will be ecstatic, I’ll call her once we hang up. Ooh, I could conference her, one sec.” 

“You don’t have to-”

“Whaddya want, Jason?” Grace’s thick Jersey accent came over the line and I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.

“Our little angel is on the call, she wants to do a book tour.” Grace gasped,

“Hell must have frozen over, good lord. Daisy, is this true?” 

“It’s true, dang, you two don’t have to act like I physically run away from you guys to avoid public engagements.” As soon as I said it, I knew what Jason was going to bring up.

“Do you remember Tucson?” 

“Nevermind, proceed with the roasting,” I groaned, “I deserve that.” Grace and Jason began to regale me with all of the times I had claimed to have a cold or a headache to get out of events. 

There was still no news on whether or not they would be able to talk with Jake and Rooster during the deployment, so Penny had told me to write letters but not send them. Letters from loved ones were notorious for getting lost, so it was more of just an exercise in letting out my emotions. So that’s what I spent my flight to Minnesota doing, writing out letters in the cursive scrawl Jake had once called pretty, detailing how much I missed him, what was going on at home, and other random thoughts that popped into my mind. 

My suitcase was filled with presents and enough warm clothes to survive the drastic weather shift. Christmas wasn’t the same without snow and I was happy to see that Minnesota had gotten the memo, the ground being covered in inches of the powdery whiteness. 

“Auntie Daisy!” Sarah screeched, waving excitedly beside her sister, Haley, who was also waving. Harvey looked good, his ginger mustache waxed into a handlebar, wearing matching Christmas sweaters with his wife Emma, whose blond hair was held up 

“Hey there, babies!” I sweep both of them into a tight hug, letting their giggles wash over me, the love making me feel warm from head to toe.

“It’s so good to see you, DeeDee,” Harvey pulled me into a hug, kissing my temple, his mustache tickling me. “It’s been way too long.” 

“God, did you get even taller?” Harvey had long surpassed my height but it was still fun to tease him, “Emma, you must be feeding him well.” I hugged my sister-in-law with a grin,

“You know me, Harvey’s been doing all the cooking. I’m glad you’re here though, his cooking’s got nothing on yours.” 

“I see what this is,” I laughed, feeling lighter than I had since Jake left. “Invite me here just so I’ll make lasagna for you.” God did it feel good to be around family. 

The days until Christmas were filled with festive activities with the girls, going sledding, building snowmen, making homemade hot chocolate and marshmallows, and decorating too many gingerbread cookies for my wrists to handle. On Christmas, after everyone had gone to bed, Harvey and I had sat down on the couch one night with hot toddies and gingerbread cookies, curled up under blankets.

“So, how’s everything been going with that pilot of yours?” Harvey sipped his mug of tea and bourbon. I smiled, feeling a tinge of sadness thinking about Jake. When did I go from being completely opposed to a relationship to being so stupidly in love that I couldn’t go a few days without missing one person? 

“He wants to get married,” Harvey’s expression took on that of a teenage girl who just got told Taylor Swift was coming to town.

“Oh my God! That’s so exciting, I mean, do you want to get married?” His excitement was understandable, I had loudly proclaimed my resistance to get married many times in the past, much to my brother’s disappointment. My face must have given the answer away because he gasped dramatically, hand over his heart. “Oh my God, you do.” 

“Kind of want to have kids too, one or two of them, watch them run around with the girls and have fun.” Harvey looked like he was about to pass out from happiness. Honestly, I had never thought that I would end up being this happy in my life, not since the day our parents died, and it was kind of surreal to even be voicing this aloud, especially to Harvey. “Kind of want to be Mrs. Daisy Seresin when he gets home from wherever the hell he is.” 

X

“Stop grinding your teeth, you’ll get a headache,” I reminded Hangman for the third time that day. Poor guy had been on edge since the moment we got on the ship and I was under strict instructions from Daisy to keep an eye on him. “One day at a time, man, we’ll get through this.” 

What we had assumed would be a standard deployment, hanging out on the ship, flying recon or just for practice, and getting to call home every night, had turned out to be a top-secret mission that needed them on standby just in case. This meant that there would be no phone calls home, no letters unless sent through command staff, and not knowing what was going on unless they got the go. The uncertainty of it all was killing me but nowhere near as bad as it was Jake. 

I understood. I mean, he wanted to get back to his girl. Back to Daisy, who, if I was being honest, was way out of his league. They were clearly in love, the kind of love that no one could deny or question, and again, if I was being honest, I couldn’t help but be a little jealous of. Though, both of us going insane being separated from our partners probably would’ve resulted in a stolen jet and joint court-marshalling for being AWOL and theft of government property. So maybe it was a good thing that I wasn’t in love. 

“This is going to be the longest six months of my life,” Jake groaned, unclenching his jaw. I crossed my fingers that Daisy would somehow get letters to Jake through command, for my own sanity if nothing else.

Next Chapter

Taglist: @dizzybee03 @littlezee80 @nervousenemyduck @carolina-on-my-mind03 @mizzzpink @beltzboys2015-blog @writingrose @hookslove1592 @closetspngirl @samanddeaninatrenchcoat @closetspngirl @shanimallina87 @owenniasstars @cevansbaby-dove @caitsymichelle13 @bigstrongblackheart @mrsevans90 @djs8891  

[emile-hides]

Behold. Son.

[sukunas-wife]

Ryoumen “i want a second son” Sukuna except he gets a feral little princess who matches his energy and is not above taking big bites of dad and only yuuji-nii can control her sksks

Eegehehe- warning- I suck at writing for girls actually😭 I’ve never had a younger sister or niece 🥹 my female cousins are literally non existent also,

The doctor became nervous after your newborn started crying. The maids made quick work of taking care of everything and handing you your child already bundled up. Sukuna was just as confused before he took his child from you, carefully unfolding the blanket.

The room was silent, everyone turning to Sukuna, for a brief second your aching muscles were numb that you didn’t feel after birth. You were nervous, what happened, why didn’t anyone say anything? Sukuna held the child with two large hands supporting it, using his other two hands to carefully pull back the blanket. He didn’t lift his head, but you watched his mouth gape slightly like he wanted to say something. He turned his head slightly, settling on just looking at you through the corner of his eyes. It was a low rasp “she’s a girl,” he cleared his throat wrapping her back up. Without a doubt it was his, his pink hair, she had even taken to his red eyes like Yuji had. His fixed stare didn’t show it but he was concerned for her, even if he had wanted a second son, “Lord Sukuna we co-No.” he turned to Uraume, “It’s my child regardless if it’s a boy or not. She stays here.” He leaned back, handing you your daughter.

After everyone had cleared the room you were breastfeeding your child. Sukuna sat with arms crossed, eyes closed and his head resting back against the wall. You were staring down at your little girl and you realised, “You didn’t want a daughter because it’s going to force you to settle down.” You were grinning like a fool when you turned to look at Sukuna, he grunted not opening an eye or looking at you. “I’d be a fool to let anything happen to my daughter.”

You hummed, “If she’s anything like you I’m sure she can handle her own like Yuji when she’s older.” Sukuna opened an eye looking at you, “Anya..” you turned to look at him. “Her name is Anya.” There was no room to argue with him on that. He stood up, “I’ll bring Yuji.”

He left the room before you mocked him “oouu I’m Sukuna I’m gonna protect my daughter I’m a big bad tough guy.” You scoffed to yourself, “He doesn’t realise he’ll never hurt another child again Anya.” Leaning down you kissed her little head, and she barely opened her eyes.

—————

“hehehe” Sukuna was sitting on his throne head resting on his fist, eyes closed. You left a while ago to do something he already forgot about. Yuji wanted to go with you but Anya held him back, Anyways was an anomaly. She had no cursed energy or presence. Yet she still had the power to read minds, it was something that baffled Sukuna.

He learned she had that power at the worst time, when you were all gathered eating breakfast. When he thought about getting a collar. Anya just jumped excited “are we getting a dog like the one’s old man sells in town?!” Everyone looked concerned at Anya and she pointed at your husband with a bright smile, “Papa was thinking about buying a collar!” You looked at Sukuna “When did you- Right now! He was thinking about looking for a collar and a really good one so it doesn’t slip up or come loose.” It was the heat on your cheeks when you realised what collar he meant, but you were more concerned when you thought he was actually saying these things out loud in front of Anya.

Sukuna was looking away trying to clear his throat, ‘What the hell is this brat on about? I didn't say that shit out loud… did I?’

“OOOO PAPA SAID A BAD WORD!” Anya covered her mouth with her hands and she turned to you, your mind was drawing a blank ‘…what..what’s going on…”

Yuji was spaced out shovelling food into his face before he looked over, “Anya sit down don’t stand on the chair.” She listened to his not so demanding verse and sat down, “okay Yuji-nii.” She plopped down in her chair before perking up, “Are we getting a dog?”

Sukuna cleared his throat again looked right at her, if his hunch was right, ‘No, we’re not bringing some mangy mutt into the house’

Anya deflated and rested her chin on the table pouting, “why not?” ‘Because I said so.’ “Then why’d you say?” ‘Because I’m the owner of this house I decide what goes and comes.’ Anya sighed, getting teary eyed, trying her best to plead silently the way Yuji had taught her. Yuji snickered and he turned to you, you were sitting down whispering and asking Yuji if he knew what was going on. He explained to you that he figured out Anya could read minds not too long ago when she kept beating him in stone, parchment, shears, (please I’m sorry😭), hide and seek, and their little treasure hunting games. What he didn’t tell you was he also used her to out scam the guy who shuffles a gold token and bets money you’ll never find it.

It explained to you why Sukuna was just giving her looks and she was vocally responding.. it left you to worry how many of your thoughts she had actually heard. 😭

On a side note- here are some cannon events in the process of Anya growing up 😭😭

As a baby she was menace 🥺 she liked biting/trying to chew her dads fingers when he’d poke her cheeks. Not a cute nibble either, she’d dive in predicting the “If you eat his finger you’ll get stronger”

When she took hold of his finger the first time he was in love. That was his daughter and she meant the world to him. Then she dug her nails hard into his skin making him wince and immediately clip her nails. But when you don’t clip her nails because you're scared you’ll hurt her he always ends up with a scratched chest and hands when she’d try to take hold of something. She’s the reason he started wearing shirts even if they were uncomfortable on his massive arms 😔

Was kinda glad she didn’t sleep in the bed with both of you. She loved sleeping on his chest and Sukuna did also. But only allowed it when he could put those baby gloves on her.

After hitting age one she loved messing with Yuji and Sukuna while they were sleeping. You continuously went after her picking her up with your hand sunder her arms. She’s let out her baby screams and wiggle her body you could hear your husband’s attitude, “unhand me mother! I crave chaos! Ahahahsgsghshss!”

The older she got the more both of you learned the way Yuji admired his dad but was a total mama’s boy? It was almost the same case. Except she admired her dad.. and was a daddy girl. Yes she loved you and thought the world of you, but daddy’s so cool because he has so many cool powers! 🥺

It didn’t matter if she was sleeping in your arms, she was laughing and having the best time with you. If she even felt or heard the slightest sound, meaning Ryomen was in the room, she would scream and cry for him to pick her and take her with him. The same case as Baby Yu, you were jealous Ryo got all the attention and baby love even if they were attached to your chest most of the time.

Speaking of jealous, Yuji was the most jealous little 10 year old boy 🥹 “MY DADDY!” He’d carry Anya back to you so he could sit in HIS dads lap. Sukuna found it amusing and more often than not bullied Yuji. Which actually led to your funny little schedule where when Anya was briefly awake Yuji would be glued to your side. When Anya was asleep Yuji would run and stick to his dads side.

Sukuna has a permanent dent in his side boob where 2yo old Anya crawled over to him on your bed and then latched on, i don’t mean milk- i mean she saw a mound of flesh and went ‘nom’ He grunted and it took everything in him to not swat her instantly. He sat up after pulling her away. She was dangling by her feet clapping her hands and laughing, Sukuna was pressing his hand to his chest helping himself and cursing because no way he really let this brat catch him off guard and mess him up 😭

Which is also when it hits him, she has no presence because she has no cursed energy. He was disappointed but relieved she’d never have a reason to be caught in trouble 🥹

Here’s a little montage of moments 🥹

An invisible child means invisible crimes. Sure, Ryomen could actively tell where she was. But it’s his child he could let his guard down and close his eyes to think about the things he had to do. Breathing became slower the more he started to relax almost to napping completely.

1…2…3…4… “YUJIII NIII I GOT THE THING”

Kamutoke… she took the Kamutoke

Sukuna was going to get up and chase after her but she tripped and face planted into the shiny floors Sukuna had to pick her up and wipe off her tears and snot while telling Uraume to put up his tool because there was no doubt in his mind Yuji or Anya would kill the other with it by mistake

Anya loves her parents, but when Sukuna is thinking Sinister thoughts she runs to Yuji.

Ex. The four of you went out into the city, Anya was riding on her dad’s shoulders the way Yuji used to. She was patting away on his head when she heard the thought, “I should kill that man, I’ll start by slowly gutting him a- wwaahhhhh” followed by squirming and Anya basically jumping over knocking down Yuji. When you asked her what was wrong she said “…nothing… papa is kinda scary.”

Yuji had to piggy back her the rest of the day when she didn’t feel like walking but she sang her cute little “Family ooting” song

This is both Yuji and Anya when daddy’s home ,

(I’m sorry I’m so bad at writing for girls 😭 I don’t have a niece to spoil or interact with, I’ll have to steal my friend and her little sister next time and play with her 🥹 I’ll do better for next one i promise 😤)

Tag: @sad-darksoul @cyder-puff @satorisgirl @bontensbabygirl @lupita97lm @queen-luna-007 @sakuxxi @mercymccann @simpforyoubitch @certainduckanchor @domainofmarie @najiiix @bakugou-katsukis-wife @amitiel-truth @souyasplushie @mylovelessnightmare @dolliira @ilovemybabies378

[artyandink]

the art of heresy forged 1981

SUMMARY: Modern day, 2022, and you have no clue what’s going on. You knew what you went through. You knew it was real, but why were there people trying to convince you that everything that happened to you wasn’t real. Hell, you called bullshit. But you get your chance to fight back when you get a call at your door.

TW: psychological torture, trauma, angst, smut, drinking, consumption of drugs, smoking, mentions of sex, Ben (cause he’s an individual warning), Ben and Psyke being little shits, it’s The Boys so be careful guys, really creepy shit, literal crack

STW: unprotected sex (again, not advised, guys), fingering, oral sex (f. receiving)

A/N - divider by @chachachannah

Song Inspo: …Ready for It? - Taylor Swift

three - me, you, my mind

1981:

The hospital corridors smelled of antiseptic and despair, the kind that clung to your skin no matter how much you tried to shake it off. The fluorescent lights overhead buzzed incessantly, casting a cold, sterile glow over everything. You hated hospitals. Always had. Too much death, too much pain, too much everything. But you were here for a reason, and not even the oppressive atmosphere could keep you away.

The receptionist at the front desk had given you a wary look when you strolled in, your usual swagger evident in every step. She knew who you were—everyone did. But she also knew the rules, and that made her think she had the power to stop you. Poor thing didn’t know what she was up against.

“I’m here to see Elizabeth, uh, Liz,” you said, leaning over the counter slightly, your voice gruff with impatience. “She’s just had a baby.”

The receptionist, a mousy woman in her early forties, blinked up at you with wide eyes. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but only the father is allowed to visit right now. Hospital policy.”

You rolled your eyes, biting back the urge to let loose a string of expletives. “Yeah, well, policy be damned. I’m not just anyone, sweetheart. I’m Psyke. Recognise the name, doll?”

The woman’s eyes widened further, recognition dawning as she realized just who she was dealing with. You weren’t exactly the friendly neighborhood superhero type, but your name carried a ton of weight, and that weight was enough to get you what you wanted eleven times out of ten. She stammered, trying to find the right words to appease you while also following the rules she was undoubtedly tired of enforcing.

“I—I’m sorry, but—”

You leaned in closer, dropping your voice to a menacing whisper. “Look, I don’t have time for this shit. My sister just gave birth, and I’m not leaving this place until I’ve seen her and my niece. So, either you can let me in, or we can make this a whole lot more difficult for everyone involved. Your choice.”

The receptionist swallowed hard, clearly torn between her duty and the fear you’d expertly instilled in her. She fumbled with the papers on her desk before finally giving a reluctant nod. “Room 312,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “She’s in Room 312.”

“Good girl,” you muttered, already striding down the corridor without a backward glance. You could feel the eyes of the staff on you, their hushed whispers following in your wake, but you didn’t give a damn. Let them talk. You had more important things to worry about.

The walk to Liz’s room felt longer than it should have. You kept your eyes forward, ignoring the sterile white walls and the smell of bleach that permeated the air. Hospitals always had a way of making you feel like you were suffocating, like the weight of all the pain and suffering within those walls was pressing down on your chest. But this was different. This was family.

When you finally reached Room 312, you hesitated, your hand hovering over the door handle. You weren’t used to feeling nervous—hell, you weren’t used to feeling anything other than anger or disdain most of the time—but right now, with Liz on the other side of that door, you felt something close to apprehension. She’d just given birth, for fuck’s sake. What were you supposed to say?

You pushed the thought aside and shoved the door open, stepping into the room with a confidence you didn’t quite feel. The sight that greeted you was one that would stay with you forever.

Liz was lying in the hospital bed, her face pale but glowing with a kind of serenity you’d never seen in her before. Her blonde hair was tousled, sticking to her forehead with sweat, and she looked exhausted—but happy. In her arms, she cradled a tiny bundle wrapped in a pink blanket, her gaze fixed on the newborn with a tenderness that made something in your chest tighten uncomfortably.

“Liz,” you said, your voice uncharacteristically soft as you stepped closer to the bed. “How’re you holding up?”

Liz looked up at you, her tired eyes brightening as a smile spread across her face. “Well, look who finally decided to show up,” she teased, though there was no real bite to her words. “You missed all the fun.”

“Yeah, well, I had to wrestle a few assholes to get in here,” you replied, slipping back into your usual bravado. “But I wasn’t gonna let a bunch of rules keep me from meeting my niece.”

Liz chuckled softly, the sound warm and full of affection. “Meet Georgia,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper as she glanced down at the baby in her arms. “She’s perfect, isn’t she?”

You leaned in closer, your heart doing an odd little flip as you got your first real look at the tiny human cradled in your sister’s arms. Georgia was small—so small it made you feel like a fucking giant in comparison—with a tuft of dark hair peeking out from under the blanket and her eyes squeezed shut. Her little face was scrunched up like she was already fed up with the world, and you couldn’t help the smile that tugged at your lips.

“Perfect?” you scoffed, though your voice lacked its usual bite. “She looks like a pissed-off potato.”

Liz laughed, a sound that was both tired and full of joy. “That’s one way to put it,” she said, looking down at Georgia with a mother’s love in her eyes. “But she’s my pissed-off potato.”

You couldn’t help but chuckle, feeling the tension in your shoulders ease a bit. “You did good, Liz. Real good.”

“Thanks,” Liz said softly, her gaze still locked on Georgia. “You want to hold her?”

The question caught you off guard. You weren’t the maternal type—not by a long shot. Kids were loud, messy, and a pain in the ass most of the time. But as you looked down at Georgia, something in you shifted, just a little. Maybe it was the fact that she was family, or maybe it was the way Liz was looking at you, but for the first time in your life, you found yourself wanting to protect something—someone—more than anything else.

“Yeah,” you said, your voice rough as you reached out to take the tiny bundle from Liz. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

Liz carefully handed Georgia over, and you cradled the newborn in your arms, feeling her warmth seep into your skin. She was so fucking small, her tiny fingers curling into fists as she squirmed slightly in your hold. For a moment, you felt completely out of your depth, unsure of how to hold something so delicate without breaking it.

But then Georgia let out a small, contented sigh, and you felt something inside you melt. You couldn’t remember the last time you’d felt something so…pure. So untainted by the shitstorm that was your life. It was almost enough to make you believe in something good.

“Hey, kiddo,” you whispered, your voice surprisingly gentle as you looked down at your niece. “I’m your auntie. Your life’s about to get a whole lot more interesting, cause I’m a fuckin’ supe. You’re gonna be well protected from nasty bullies, jellybean.”

Liz watched you with a soft smile, her eyes filled with a warmth you hadn’t seen in a long time. “She’s going to need someone like you in her life,” she said quietly. “Someone who won’t take shit from anyone.”

You snorted, but there was no real humor in it. “Yeah, well, that’s something I’m good at.”

Liz’s smile faltered slightly, and she reached out to place a hand on your arm. “Promise me you’ll be there for her. For me. You know how things are with Vince. He’s…”

Her voice trailed off, but you knew what she meant. Vince was an asshole, plain and simple. He wasn’t going to be winning any Father of the Year awards, that much was certain. You’d never liked him, but Liz had always been the one with the bleeding heart, always seeing the good in people even when there wasn’t any to be found.

“I’ll be there,” you said, your voice firm as you looked down at Georgia. “I promise.”

Liz let out a small sigh of relief, her grip on your arm tightening slightly. “Thank you.”

“I still don’t know why you married the guy.” You snorted, shaking your head. “Am I still not allowed to bash his face in?”

“That’s a stretch.”

“I have enough money from Payback to take care’a both of us. And Soldier Boy could help if I asked him.” You protested, but she shook her head.

Liz gave you a soft smile. “I’d be indebted to you. And I always have been, you’re my older sister and you’ve been all I know. But I’m gonna do this my way, as much as I’d like to meet the guy who’s fucking my older sister.”

“He’s a real good fuck too.”

“I bet he is.”

For a while, the two of you sat in silence, the only sound in the room the soft breathing of the newborn in your arms. It was a moment of calm, a rare reprieve from the chaos that usually filled your life. You found yourself reluctant to break the silence, content to just be there with Liz and Georgia.

But eventually, reality began to creep back in, and you knew you couldn’t stay in this little bubble forever. With a reluctant sigh, you carefully handed Georgia back to Liz, the weight of responsibility settling back onto your shoulders.

“Alright,” you said, your voice rough as you cleared your throat. “I should probably get going. Let you get some rest.”

Liz looked up at you, her eyes filled with gratitude. “You don’t have to go just yet.”

You shook your head, forcing a smile. “Nah, you need your rest. I’ll be back soon.”

Liz nodded, though you could see the reluctance in her eyes. “Okay. But don’t be a stranger, alright?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” you said with a smirk, though there was an edge of seriousness to your tone. “Take care of yourself, Liz. And take care of Georgia.”

“I will,” Liz promised, her voice soft. “Thank you for being here.”

You nodded, giving her one last look before turning to leave the room. But just as you reached the door, Liz called out to you, stopping you in your tracks.

“Hey, sis?”

You turned back, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

Liz hesitated for a moment, as if searching for the right words. “I just want you to know… you’re going to be a great aunt.”

The words caught you off guard, and for a moment, you didn’t know how to respond. But then you felt a small, genuine smile tug at your lips, and you nodded.

“Thanks, Liz,” you said quietly. “I’ll do my best.”

And with that, you turned and walked out of the room, the door clicking shut behind you. As you made your way down the corridor, the reality of the situation began to sink in. You had a niece now—a tiny, pissed-off potato of a niece who was going to need you in her life. It was a strange feeling, knowing that you were responsible for someone other than yourself. But as you thought about Georgia’s tiny face and Liz’s hopeful smile, you found yourself determined to live up to the promise you’d made.

No matter what it took, you were going to be there for Georgia. You were going to be the aunt she needed, the one who wouldn’t take shit from anyone and who would always have her back. Because that’s what family was about.

Even for someone like you.

Ben’s hotel room smelled of smoke and something faintly sweet, a scent that clung to the silk robe he wore loosely over his broad frame. The black fabric shimmered under the dim light of the bedside lamp, emphasizing every movement he made as he lounged back in the chair by the window, a cigar between his fingers. You watched him take a long, slow drag, the end glowing bright red before he exhaled a thick plume of smoke into the room.

“Congrats on your sister,” he said, his voice a deep rumble, rough around the edges. “She popped out a kid, huh?”

You leaned back on the bed, propping yourself up on your elbows, and let out a dry laugh. “Yeah, she did. Little girl, Georgia. Cute as hell, too—though she looks like a potato right now.”

Ben chuckled, a low sound that vibrated through the room. “They all look like that at first. Wrinkled and pissed off, like they know what kind of shit they’ve been born into.”

You snorted. “Ain’t that the truth.”

He leaned back further in his chair, his robe falling open slightly, exposing more of his muscular chest. His green eyes were sharp as they flicked over to you, something unreadable in them as he took another drag from his cigar. “You ever think about it? Having kids?”

You shrugged, pretending to be more interested in the cigarette you were holding than the direction the conversation was taking. “Not really. Never thought I’d be the mom type. Too much of a hard-ass for all that soft shit.”

“Yeah,” Ben muttered, rolling the cigar between his fingers. “That’s what I thought about Marjorie too.”

The mention of Crimson Countess—Marjorie—hung in the air between you like a bad stench. You’d seen the two of them together often enough, the way they played up their public romance for the cameras, all smiles and perfect poses. It was all bullshit, and you both knew it. Ben and Marjorie weren’t a real couple—they were just a convenient PR package, wrapped up nice and neat to sell to the public.

“Marjorie and kids?” You scoffed at the thought, raising an eyebrow at him. “Can’t picture that.”

Ben let out a dry laugh, the sound devoid of any real humor. “Neither could I. Even back in the day, when we were…whatever the fuck we were, she never talked about kids. Hell, I didn’t either.”

You nodded, taking a slow drag from your cigarette. “Too much of a mess, all of it. The world’s gone to shit, and bringing a kid into it? That’s a special kind of hell.”

“Exactly.” Ben’s voice was rough, tinged with something bitter. He took another long pull from his cigar, his eyes narrowing slightly as he stared out the window. “Can’t even imagine what kind of life they’d have. Constant danger, growing up with assholes like us around. Nah, better off without.”

The bitterness in his tone matched the cynical look in his eyes, and you found yourself nodding in agreement. “Yeah, no need to drag anyone else into this fucked-up world.”

Ben’s gaze flicked back to you, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “And you? Think your sister made a mistake?”

The question caught you off guard, and you hesitated, turning the cigarette between your fingers. “Nah, Liz is different. She’s…I don’t know, softer. She’s got a heart that isn’t covered in layers of steel and hate. Maybe she can make it work.”

Ben let out a huff, the smirk still in place as he shook his head. “That’s one hell of an optimistic view coming from you. Never thought I’d hear it.”

You rolled your eyes, giving him a playful shove with your foot. “Yeah, well, don’t get used to it. Just because I think Liz can handle it doesn’t mean I’d ever want the same shit for myself. No way.”

Ben grinned at that, a hint of mischief in his eyes as he leaned forward, his cigar hanging lazily between his lips. “So, if not kids, what the hell do you want, then? What’s left for someone like you, huh?”

The question was loaded, and you knew it. What did you want? In this world of lies, violence, and constant manipulation, it was hard to even remember what you used to want, let alone what you wanted now. But there was something in the way Ben was looking at you, a challenge in his eyes that made you want to answer, to say something, anything that would push back against the darkness that threatened to swallow you both.

You flicked the ash from your cigarette, watching as it floated to the floor, and met his gaze head-on. “I want to keep living. Fighting. Whatever comes my way, I want to face it and make sure it doesn’t break me.”

Ben’s smirk widened into a full grin, a glint of approval in his eyes. “Now that, I can get behind. You’re a tough one, I’ll give you that.”

“Damn right I am,” you shot back, your tone dripping with confidence. “What about you, huh? What’s left for the great Soldier Boy?”

Ben’s grin faded slightly, his expression hardening as he took another drag from his cigar. “Same as you, I guess. Just keep going, keep fighting, and make sure the world doesn’t forget who the hell I am.”

There was something raw in his voice, something vulnerable that he quickly covered up with another puff of smoke. You didn’t push it—Ben wasn’t the type to open up easily, and you weren’t the type to pry. But there was a part of you that understood, that recognized the fear of being forgotten, of being rendered obsolete in a world that was constantly moving forward without you.

You took a final drag from your cigarette, then crushed it in the ashtray on the nightstand. “We’re both stubborn bastards, that’s for sure.”

Ben chuckled, the sound deep and rumbling in his chest. “Damn right. And don’t you forget it.”

You met his gaze, feeling the tension in the room shift slightly, a different kind of heat sparking between you. There was something electric in the air, something that had been simmering beneath the surface since you’d walked into the room. It wasn’t the first time you’d felt it—hell, it wasn’t even the first time you’d acted on it—but tonight felt different. There was an edge to it, a kind of desperation that neither of you could ignore.

Ben’s eyes darkened as he looked at you, his gaze lingering on your lips before trailing down to the curve of your neck. “You know, you always did know how to push my buttons.”

You felt a smirk tug at your lips as you leaned back on the bed, your eyes locked on his. “Is that right? And here I thought I was just being my charming self.”

He let out a low growl, his grin widening as he pushed himself out of the chair and moved toward the bed. “Charming, my ass. You’re a goddamn menace.”

You didn’t bother to argue, your heart pounding in your chest as Ben closed the distance between you. There was no hesitation, no second-guessing as he reached out and pulled you toward him, his hands rough and insistent on your skin. The silk robe he wore brushed against your arm, the fabric cool and smooth compared to the heat of his touch.

“Ben,” you murmured, your voice a low whisper as his lips found your neck, pressing hot, open-mouthed kisses along your skin.

“Shut up,” he growled against your throat, his hands slipping beneath your shirt, the warmth of his palms sending shivers down your spine. “Just shut up.”

You couldn’t help the low moan that escaped your lips as his hands roamed over your body, the roughness of his touch contrasting with the softness of the silk robe. There was something intoxicating about the way he moved, the way he took control, like he needed this as much as you did.

Your fingers tangled in his hair, tugging him closer as his lips found yours, the kiss hard and demanding. It was a battle for dominance, neither of you willing to back down, both of you determined to take what you wanted. His hands slid under your shirt, pulling it up and over your head, and you didn’t hesitate to do the same with his robe, the silk falling to the floor in a heap.

The cool air of the room hit your skin, but it was quickly replaced by the heat of Ben’s body as he pressed against you, his hands roaming over every inch of exposed flesh. You could feel the tension in his muscles, the barely-contained need that matched your own.

“Fuck,” you muttered against his lips, your nails digging into his back as he pushed you down onto the bed. “You’re gonna leave marks.”

“Good,” he growled, his voice rough with desire as he trailed kisses down your neck, his hands gripping your hips hard enough to bruise. “I want you to remember this.”

You arched into him, a low moan escaping your lips as his mouth found the sensitive spot on your collarbone, sucking hard enough to leave a mark. You didn’t care about the bruises, didn’t care about the pain—if anything, it only made you want him more.

“Ben,” you gasped, your hands clutching at his shoulders as he moved lower, his lips and tongue leaving a trail of fire in their wake.

“Shut up,” he growled, sucking on your skin as he threw your legs apart. Touch practiced. Rough.

You gasped, the sharp sensation of his mouth on your skin sending jolts of heat through your body. Ben’s lips were rough and eager as they explored the curve of your collarbone, trailing lower until he reached the edge of your bra. You shivered under his touch, a thrill racing through you as he sucked gently at the delicate skin there, his fingers gripping your waist with a possessiveness that made your heart race.

“Fuck, you feel amazing,” he murmured against your skin, his breath hot and teasing. “Can’t believe I waited this long.”

You let out a breathless laugh, your fingers curling into his hair as you pulled him closer. “It’s been a few hours since you fucked me.”

He looked up at you then, his green eyes glinting with mischief. “Few hours too long, sweet thing.”

With that, his hands slipped beneath the waistband of your pants, fingers brushing against the skin of your thighs. You felt the heat of his touch radiating through the thin fabric, and a low growl rumbled in his throat as he pushed your pants down, baring your legs to the cool air.

“Goddamn,” he muttered, his fingers trailing up your thighs with agonizing slowness. “You’re fucking perfect.”

You could barely respond, too lost in the heat pooling in your core as his fingers finally found their way to the center of your desire. He paused, teasing you for a moment, before sliding a single finger between your folds, pushing against you with just the right amount of pressure.

“Ben,” you gasped, your back arching off the bed as pleasure shot through you. You felt raw, exposed, and completely at his mercy. He moved slowly at first, his finger gliding effortlessly as he worked you up, the pressure building with each tantalizing stroke.

“Easy there, sugar,” he murmured, his voice low and gravelly. “We’ve got all night. I want to take my time with you.”

You opened your eyes to find him watching you intently, his green gaze dark with desire. There was something about the way he looked at you, like you were the only thing in the world that mattered, that sent another wave of heat crashing through you.

“Don’t tease me,” you managed to say, your voice barely above a whisper as his finger curled inside you, the sensation pushing you closer to the edge. “I need more.”

“Need more?” He smirked, clearly enjoying the power he had over you. “You’ve got it, babe.”

With that, he slipped in another finger, stretching you open, and you moaned loudly, biting down on your lip to suppress any further sounds. He moved them in a slow, rhythmic motion, and you could feel every stroke, every curl of his fingers hitting all the right spots.

“Shit, that feels incredible,” you breathed, your body arching into him as you fought to maintain control. But the pleasure was building quickly, spiraling higher and higher until you were lost in it.

Ben seemed to revel in the way you responded to him, his fingers working you expertly as he leaned down to press kisses along your inner thigh, teasing you mercilessly. Each brush of his lips sent shockwaves of sensation coursing through your body, and you knew you were dangerously close to the edge.

“Come on, baby,” he coaxed, his breath warm against your skin. “Let go for me.”

With every movement of his fingers, every kiss he pressed against your skin, you felt the tension coil tighter and tighter within you. “Ben,” you gasped, your hands clutching the sheets as the waves of pleasure crashed over you, threatening to pull you under.

“Yeah?” he murmured, the devilish grin on his face betraying his eagerness.

You met his gaze, eyes wide and pleading. “I’m so close.”

“Good,” he growled, picking up the pace, fingers moving faster, deeper. “I want to feel you come on my fingers.”

You barely had time to register his words before the tension snapped, pleasure exploding through you as you cried out his name. Your back arched, your entire body tightening around him as you let go, waves of bliss crashing over you.

“Fucking hell,” Ben breathed, his fingers still moving as you came down from your high, riding out the aftershocks of pleasure. He leaned down, pressing his lips against your inner thigh, his eyes glimmering with satisfaction as he watched you come undone.

When you finally opened your eyes again, he was smirking at you, his fingers glistening with your arousal. “You’re a fucking sight to behold, you know that?”

You chuckled breathlessly, still feeling the lingering effects of your climax. “Yeah? And you’re a cocky bastard.”

“Only because I know how to push your buttons,” he shot back, his voice low and teasing. He slid his fingers out of you, slowly, and you couldn’t help the soft whimper that escaped your lips at the loss.

Ben’s smirk widened as he brought his fingers to his mouth, licking them clean with a satisfied look on his face. “You taste even better than I imagined.”

Your heart raced at the sight, a heat flooding your cheeks as you watched him. There was something primal in the way he moved, something raw and unrestrained that set your entire body alight with need.

“Now,” he said, leaning over you, his green eyes dark with lust. “I think it’s my turn to taste you.”

Before you could respond, he was lowering himself down your body, settling between your thighs. You gasped as he pressed a kiss to your core, his lips brushing against you with feather-light pressure before he buried his face deeper, licking you with a fierce hunger.

“Ben!” you gasped, your back arching again as pleasure shot through you, the sensation overwhelming in the best way possible. He worked you with a skill that left you breathless, his tongue moving in expert strokes, teasing and tasting as he explored you.

“God, you’re so fucking wet,” he murmured against you, the vibrations of his voice sending shivers down your spine. He was relentless, his mouth moving expertly as he pushed you back toward the edge, building you up higher and higher until you were gasping for breath.

You tangled your fingers in his hair, pulling him closer as he worked you, the heat of his mouth combined with the pressure of his tongue sending you spiraling toward another climax. The pleasure was building again, a familiar tightness coiling within you, and you knew you were close.

“Ben,” you gasped, feeling your body start to tremble. “I’m—”

“Let go,” he urged, his voice low and commanding, and the combination of his words and the feeling of his mouth on you pushed you right over the edge. You cried out, your back arching as pleasure flooded through you, crashing over you in wave after wave.

“Fuck!” you shouted, your body trembling as you rode the waves of your climax, feeling his tongue work you through it, keeping you on the edge, keeping the pleasure coming.

As you finally came down from your high, gasping for breath, you felt Ben pulling back, his lips glistening, a satisfied grin on his face. “Told you I’d make you forget.”

You chuckled breathlessly, the sound a mixture of disbelief and pure, unfiltered satisfaction. “You weren’t kidding. That was…something else.”

He leaned back, looking at you with a glimmer of pride. “You liked it, huh?”

“Yeah, I liked it,” you admitted, still feeling the aftershocks of pleasure coursing through your body. “You’ve got some serious skills there, Soldier Boy.”

“Only the best for you, Psyke.” He winked, his voice teasing as he shifted closer again, wrapping an arm around you and pulling you against him. “But now that I’ve gotten my taste, I want more.”

You raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing at your lips. “More? You think you can handle it?”

“Oh, I can handle it,” he growled, his eyes dark with desire as he leaned in to capture your lips with his. The kiss was heated, a promise of what was to come, and you could feel the heat building again, a fire igniting between you that promised a long night ahead.

You melted against him, feeling the weight of his body pressing against yours, the heat radiating from him as you lost yourself in the kiss. The world outside faded away, leaving only the two of you, tangled together in a whirlwind of passion and desire.

As the kiss deepened, you felt the thrill of excitement course through you, and you knew that whatever came next, you were ready for it. You were ready to face the darkness together, to embrace the chaos and the heat, and to lose yourself in the wild, unrestrained moments that came with being together.

“Let’s see what else you’ve got,” you whispered against his lips, your voice filled with challenge.

Ben grinned, a wicked spark in his eyes as he pulled you closer. “Oh, I’ve got plenty in store for you, don’t you worry. M’gonna make sure you come at least five times before the night’s over.”

The morning light filtered into the lobby of the hotel through the large glass windows, casting long shadows across the marble floor. The place was quiet at this early hour, with only a few scattered guests enjoying breakfast or scrolling through their phones. You sat in one of the plush armchairs, nursing a coffee and trying to shake off the remnants of last night’s haze. Your clothes were disheveled, a stark contrast to the elegant setting, but you were past caring about appearances.

As you took another sip of your coffee, you felt a sharp, familiar presence approaching. You looked up to see Marjorie, also known as Crimson Countess, storming toward you. Her usual air of polished elegance was replaced by a fierce, almost frenzied expression. Her tight red dress clung to her curves, and her high heels clicked loudly against the marble floor as she made her way over.

“Just the person I wanted to see,” Marjorie snapped as she reached you, her voice dripping with irritation. “I need to talk to you.”

You raised an eyebrow, casually setting your coffee down on the table beside you. “Oh, really? And here I thought I’d be able to enjoy my morning without a drama fest.”

Marjorie’s eyes flashed with anger, but she took a deep breath before speaking. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing with Ben, but this has to stop. You’re making things complicated.”

You took a moment to let that sink in, a smirk playing at your lips. “Complicated? How so?”

Her expression tightened further. “You’re screwing him, and it’s messing with our arrangement. We have a deal, and I don’t appreciate you undermining it.”

You chuckled, a harsh, almost mocking sound that made Marjorie’s face redden. “Oh, honey, don’t get your panties in a twist. Ben and I are just having a bit of fun. It’s not like we’re plotting world domination.”

“Fun?” Marjorie spat, her tone dripping with disdain. “You’re not just having fun. You’re disrupting things that are important to both of us.”

“Important to both of you?” You leaned forward, resting your elbows on your knees. “I’m pretty sure Ben’s deal with you is just a glorified PR stunt. You know it, I know it, and deep down, he knows it too.”

Marjorie’s eyes widened in fury. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. Ben and I have—”

“—A business arrangement,” you cut in, voice dripping with sarcasm. “I’m well aware. I’ve seen the way you cling to him every time there’s a camera around. Pathetic.”

Marjorie’s jaw clenched. “Cling? You think I’m pathetic?”

“Damn right I do,” you replied, your tone icy. “You’re like a stage five clinger, always hanging around, making sure everyone sees how ‘happy’ you are. It’s sickening. Ben’s never been into the whole lovey-dovey crap, and you’re just there to play a part.”

Her face twisted in anger, and she took a step closer, her voice dropping to a hiss. “You think you’re so much better? You’re just a temporary distraction. A little fling for Ben to amuse himself with.”

You stood up, meeting her gaze with a steely resolve. “And you’re a joke. You think you’re special because you’ve got a bit of fame and a PR relationship? Newsflash, Marjorie, you’re just another face in the crowd. Ben’s had enough of the fake crap, and he’s making that pretty damn clear.”

Before Marjorie could retort, Ben strolled into the lobby, looking every bit the part of a man who was used to getting his way. His black silk robe was slung casually over his shoulders, and he had that confident, almost arrogant swagger that you knew all too well. He looked between you and Marjorie with a knowing smirk.

“Everything alright here?” Ben’s voice was smooth, laced with a hint of amusement as he approached.

Marjorie’s eyes flashed with a mix of relief and annoyance as she turned to him. “Ben, you need to handle this. She’s—”

“—Handling it just fine,” you interrupted, your voice laced with a defiant edge. “Thanks for joining the party, Ben. Marjorie was just about to explain how she feels about our arrangement.”

Ben raised an eyebrow, glancing at Marjorie with a curious expression. “Oh? And what’s the problem now?”

Marjorie’s frustration was palpable as she threw her hands up in exasperation. “She’s undermining our deal. I need you to make her stop.”

Ben’s grin widened, and he turned his full attention back to you, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “Well, I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself, sweetheart. But you know, I wouldn’t say no to a little more fun.”

Without warning, he reached out and grabbed you by the waist, pulling you close. His hands were rough, assertive, and there was no mistaking the predatory gleam in his eyes. You barely had time to react before his lips were on yours, kissing you with a raw, hungry passion that left you breathless.

Marjorie’s eyes widened in shock as she watched the scene unfold, her mouth hanging open. She clearly hadn’t anticipated Ben’s reaction, and you could see the mix of jealousy and anger in her expression.

Ben’s hands roamed over your body, gripping your hips and pulling you tighter against him. His touch was commanding, and there was no subtlety in the way he maneuvered you, as if claiming you for his own. He broke the kiss only long enough to look over at Marjorie with a smirk.

“Looks like you’ve got some competition,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “And I’m not about to let her go.”

Marjorie’s face turned a deep shade of red, and she opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. Instead, she glared at you with an expression that could have burned a hole through steel.

“You know what?” you said, your voice loud and unapologetic as Ben’s hands slipped down to give your ass a playful smack. “We’re literally just fucking every chance we get. I see no problems here.”

Ben’s grin grew wider as he continued his assault on your body, his hands exploring every curve with a possessive eagerness. “Damn right. And if Marjorie’s got an issue with that, well, that’s her problem.”

Marjorie’s face was a storm of emotions—anger, humiliation, and something like betrayal. She looked between you and Ben, her eyes filled with frustration. “You’re unbelievable, Ben. And you,” she snapped at you, “you’re nothing but a—”

Ben cut her off with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Save it, Marjorie. I’m done with this conversation.”

Marjorie’s mouth snapped shut, and she glared at Ben one last time before turning on her heel and storming out of the lobby, her high heels clicking angrily as she went. The sound of the door slamming shut behind her was almost a relief, and you let out a sigh of relief, leaning into Ben’s touch.

Ben’s hands were still on your ass, giving it another playful slap before he pulled you back against him. His lips found yours again, and this time the kiss was even more heated, full of unrestrained desire. You melted into it, your hands gripping his shoulders as you lost yourself in the moment.

When he finally pulled back, his green eyes were filled with a mix of satisfaction and amusement. “That was fun,” he said, his voice low and filled with a smugness that was impossible to miss.

You chuckled, still feeling the remnants of the kiss on your lips. “Yeah, you sure know how to make a point.”

Ben smirked, his hands still resting possessively on your hips. “Glad I could help. Now, how about we take this somewhere more private?”

You raised an eyebrow, a mischievous grin tugging at your lips. “Lead the way.”

As you followed him toward the elevator, you couldn’t help but feel a thrill of excitement. Whatever else the day held, you knew it would be anything but boring. Ben’s presence was a wild card, and you were ready to embrace whatever came next.

The night was crisp, and the city lights sparkled like a sea of diamonds below. The limo's interior was dim, illuminated only by the soft glow of the backseat reading lights and the flicker of the occasional street lamp as it sped along. You and Ben—Soldier Boy, as he was known—had taken full advantage of the privacy the car afforded.

Ben adjusted his black tuxedo, smoothing down the front while you fixed your dress, the deep crimson fabric clinging in all the right places. You cast a glance at Ben, who had a satisfied smirk on his face. His green eyes glinted with mischief as he adjusted his bow tie, the only hint of the evening’s earlier activities evident in the disheveled state of his usually pristine hair.

“You know,” you said, smoothing down the fabric of your dress, “I’ve got to hand it to you. You’re quite the multitasker.”

Ben chuckled, his grin widening. “Oh? And how’s that?”

“Managing to get us both worked up and still looking like a million bucks.” You winked at him. “Impressive.”

“Just a skill set I’ve developed over the years,” Ben replied, adjusting his cufflinks. “But you’re looking pretty damn incredible yourself.”

You rolled your eyes but couldn’t hide the pleased smile that spread across your face. “Flattery will get you everywhere, Soldier Boy.”

The limo pulled up to the entrance of the gala, the flashing lights of photographers and the murmur of the crowd growing louder as the vehicle came to a stop. The driver opened the door, and you stepped out, your heels clicking on the marble steps as you took in the opulence of the event.

The gala was a high-profile affair, hosted by one of the city’s elite charities. The grand entrance was adorned with gold-trimmed decorations, and a red carpet led to the entrance, where a steady stream of well-dressed guests were being greeted with champagne and smiles. You took Ben’s arm as you approached, the two of you looking every bit the glamorous couple you were pretending to be.

As you entered the ballroom, the grandeur of the venue hit you. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, casting a soft glow over the elegant tables set with fine china and polished silverware. The guests were mingling, their laughter and conversation creating a lively, sophisticated buzz.

You and Ben made quite the entrance, heads turning as the two of you walked in together. It wasn’t long before you noticed a few curious glances and whispered conversations. You had always been used to attracting attention, but tonight it felt particularly charged, thanks to the way you and Ben had spent the ride over.

You turned to Ben with a sly grin. “Ready to make this night interesting?”

Ben’s eyes sparkled with anticipation. “Oh, I’m more than ready.”

As you made your way to the bar, you could feel the weight of several gazes on you. Ben seemed to enjoy the attention, his confidence practically radiating off him. You could sense a playful competitiveness between you and him, each of you trying to outdo the other with quips and subtle touches.

At the bar, you ordered a champagne and turned to Ben. “I see you’re still sporting that smirk. You think you can keep it up all night?”

Ben chuckled, his voice low and teasing. “Oh, I’m just getting started.”

A couple approached you—an elegantly dressed man and a woman in a stunning blue gown. They smiled politely, clearly eager to make your acquaintance.

“Good evening,” the man said, extending his hand. “I’m Richard, and this is my wife, Emily. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

You shook Richard’s hand with a firm grip, then turned to Emily. “Nice to meet you. I’m Psyke, and this is Soldier Boy.”

Emily’s eyes widened slightly at the name, but she quickly recovered with a polite smile. “Oh, I’ve heard quite a bit about both of you. This must be quite the evening for you.”

Ben leaned in slightly, his voice smooth and confident. “Well, we do try to make things interesting.”

Emily chuckled, her gaze flicking between you and Ben. “I can see that. You both seem to be quite the pair.”

Richard nodded, clearly intrigued. “So, what brings you to the gala tonight?”

You raised an eyebrow, giving Ben a sidelong glance. “Well, let’s just say we’re here to enjoy ourselves and maybe shake things up a bit.”

Ben’s grin widened, and he wrapped an arm around your waist. “Psyke here likes to keep things lively. Keeps me on my toes.”

Emily laughed, clearly charmed by the banter. “Well, it sounds like you’re both having a good time.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” you said, giving Ben a playful nudge. “We’ve been having a lot of fun lately.”

The conversation continued, but you and Ben kept finding ways to tease each other, exchanging smirks and subtle touches. It was clear to everyone watching that there was more to your relationship than just a shared evening at a gala.

At one point, you caught Ben’s hand sliding down to give your ass a quick squeeze as you chatted with another guest. You raised an eyebrow and shot him a look that promised retribution later.

“Careful,” you warned in a low voice. “Or I might just have to show you who’s really in charge.”

Ben’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “Looking forward to it.”

As the night wore on, you and Ben continued to mingle with the other guests, your playful teasing never missing a beat. At one point, Ben even attempted to dance with you, though his moves were decidedly more suggestive than graceful. You found yourself laughing and trying to keep up, the entire scene feeling more like a private joke between the two of you than a formal event.

A particularly snooty woman approached, her eyes narrowing as she took in Ben’s casual demeanor and your playful interactions. “I’m surprised to see you here, Soldier Boy,” she said, her tone dripping with condescension. “And with Psyke, no less.”

Ben’s grin didn’t falter as he gave her a once-over. “Surprised? Well, I do like to keep people on their toes.”

The woman’s lips thinned, clearly unamused by Ben’s response. “I hope you’re not disrupting the event with your...antics.”

You stepped in, leaning close to the woman with a mischievous glint in your eye. “Oh, don’t worry. We’re just here to have a good time. If that’s too much for you, maybe you should have stayed home.”

The woman’s eyes widened in shock, and she quickly retreated, her face a mask of indignation. You and Ben exchanged a triumphant look, both of you clearly enjoying the minor scandal you’d caused.

As the evening continued, the two of you couldn’t resist finding more ways to push each other’s buttons. At one point, Ben leaned in close, his lips brushing against your ear. “You know, I’ve been thinking about our little ‘discussion’ earlier.”

You turned to him, a playful smile on your lips. “Oh? And what are you thinking?”

“Maybe it’s time I showed you just how much I appreciate your company,” Ben said, his voice low and suggestive.

Before you could respond, he grabbed you by the waist and pulled you close, his hands finding their way to your ass once again. You squealed in surprise as he gave you a quick, playful squeeze, earning a few curious glances from nearby guests.

“Oh, really?” you said, trying to sound shocked. “In the middle of a gala?”

Ben’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “Why not? We’re here to make an impression.”

You laughed, unable to resist his playful demeanor. “Well, in that case, I guess I’ll just have to keep you on your toes, too.”

The rest of the night passed in a whirlwind of laughter, playful banter, and more than a few surprised looks from other guests. You and Ben continued to push each other’s buttons, reveling in the way you could make even the most formal of events feel like your own personal playground.

As the evening drew to a close, you found yourselves back in the limo, the car’s interior a stark contrast to the glitz and glamour of the gala. Ben leaned back, his eyes still gleaming with satisfaction.

“Not a bad night,” he said, stretching his legs out with a contented sigh.

“Not bad at all,” you agreed, leaning back against him with a relaxed smile. “You sure know how to keep things interesting.”

Ben’s hand found its way to your thigh, his touch warm and reassuring. “Well, I do try. But I think I’m ready for the next round of fun.”

You raised an eyebrow, your lips curling into a sly smile. “Oh? And what do you have in mind?”

Ben’s grin was pure mischief. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

NOW:

You came to on the cold, hard floor of Hughie’s kitchen. The tile felt like ice against your cheek, and you tried to push yourself up but found your limbs unresponsive. A dull ache throbbed in your head, and the world spun around you in a dizzying blur. Your vision swam, and you could barely make out the shapes of the kitchen appliances and the scattered mess of Hughie’s apartment.

Through the haze, you heard the sound of footsteps approaching. They grew louder, more distinct, and you could faintly make out Hughie’s concerned voice.

“Jesus, what the hell?” Hughie’s voice was tinged with panic. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

You tried to speak, but the words came out as a mumbled mess, barely audible. Your mouth felt dry, and the effort to communicate left you feeling even more disoriented.

Hughie’s footsteps grew closer, and a moment later, you felt his hands gently lifting you from the floor. “Hang on. Let’s get you out of here.”

Before Hughie could do much more, another set of footsteps pounded into the kitchen. Ben burst through the door, his eyes scanning the room until they landed on you. His face went from confusion to fury in an instant.

“What the fuck happened?” Ben’s voice roared through the room, filled with an edge of panic. “Why the hell is she on the goddamn floor?”

Hughie looked sheepish, his face flushed with embarrassment. “I—I found her like this. I don’t know what’s wrong.”

Ben’s eyes narrowed as he approached, his anger palpable. “You found her like this? How the fuck long ago?”

“Just a few minutes,” Hughie stammered. “I was in the other room and—”

“—Jesus Christ,” Ben cut him off, his voice low and dangerously sharp. “You had her on the floor for more than a few minutes? What the hell kind of shit show is this?”

Without waiting for an answer, Ben knelt beside you. His rough hands were surprisingly gentle as he helped you onto your back. You were barely aware of what was happening, your head spinning and your limbs feeling like lead.

“Hey, stay with me,” Ben said, his voice a harsh whisper but filled with concern. “Can you hear me?”

You tried to nod, but the motion made your head spin even more. You blinked slowly, trying to focus on his face, which hovered above you like a shadowy figure.

Ben’s gaze softened slightly, though his expression was still a mixture of anger and worry. “Jesus, you’re out of it. What the hell did you take?”

“I… don’t know,” you managed to croak out, your voice barely more than a whisper. “I… can’t remember.”

“Of course you can’t,” Ben muttered, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “Alright, we’re not calling the fucking hospital. Not yet. We’ll deal with this ourselves.”

He glanced over at Hughie. “Get some fucking pillows or something. We need to get her off the floor and make sure she’s okay.”

Hughie scrambled to follow Ben’s instructions, rushing to fetch a few cushions from the couch and placing them under your legs. Ben moved with a rough efficiency, lifting you and maneuvering you onto the sofa with surprising care. He propped your legs up with the pillows, making sure you were as comfortable as possible given the circumstances.

As you lay there, trying to steady your breathing, Ben hovered nearby, his face a mask of intense focus mixed with frustration. He looked at Hughie, who was standing awkwardly by the counter, clearly feeling out of his depth.

“Alright,” Ben said, his voice still sharp but less panicked. “What the fuck happened here, Hughie? Did she just fall or something?”

Hughie shook his head, clearly rattled. “I don’t know. I came in and found her like this. She was just lying there.”

Ben let out a frustrated sigh, turning back to you. “You’ve got to be kidding me. She’s high as balls and you didn’t even think to call for help?”

You tried to focus on Ben’s face, his green eyes piercing through your disorientation. “High?” you mumbled, confusion evident in your voice. “I don’t… remember.”

Ben’s gaze softened just a bit, though his tone remained gruff. “Yeah, well, whatever the hell you took, it’s fucking you up pretty good. You need to stay awake, alright? Don’t go drifting off on me.”

You tried to respond, but your head was swimming, and the effort only seemed to make things worse. Ben’s frustration was evident, but there was a thread of genuine concern in his voice.

“You’re going to be fine,” Ben said, his tone a mix of roughness and reassurance. “We just need to ride this out and figure out what the hell happened.”

He looked at Hughie again. “Make yourself useful. Get us some water and maybe something to eat. If she’s been out of it for a while, she’s going to need to rehydrate and get some energy back.”

Hughie nodded quickly, darting off to the kitchen. Ben’s attention turned back to you as he settled into a nearby chair, his gaze never leaving your face.

“So, this is how you decide to spend your day?” Ben said, his voice gruff but tinged with a wry edge. “Lying on the floor, all out of it. Fucking great way to spend an evening.”

You tried to muster a weak smile, but the effort left you feeling even dizzier. “Sorry… didn’t mean to…”

Ben cut you off, his expression softening slightly despite the rough edge in his voice. “Don’t apologize. Just focus on staying awake. We’ve got this covered.”

He leaned forward slightly, his eyes scanning your face as if trying to read what was left of your consciousness. “And for the record, if you’re going to get yourself fucked up, at least do it somewhere I don’t have to clean up after.”

You managed a feeble chuckle, which only made your head spin more. “Noted.”

Hughie returned with a glass of water and a small plate of crackers. He set them down on the coffee table in front of you, looking more than a little relieved to have something to do. “Here you go. Try to drink some of this.”

You struggled to sit up slightly, your hands trembling as you reached for the water. Ben moved closer, his hand steadying yours as you took a few sips.

“Slowly,” he instructed. “Don’t rush it.”

You nodded weakly, your throat feeling like sandpaper as you drank. The water helped a little, though it didn’t completely clear the fog in your head.

“Better?” Ben asked, his voice still gruff but with a hint of concern.

“Yeah,” you managed to say, though the word came out as more of a slur. “Just… dizzy.”

Ben sighed, his expression a mixture of frustration and empathy. “We’ll get you through this. Just hang tight.”

Hughie watched from the sidelines, clearly feeling out of his depth. “Is there anything else I can do?”

Ben shot him a look that was both appreciative and impatient. “Just keep an eye on her. Make sure she doesn’t slip back out. I’ll figure out what the hell we’re dealing with.”

Hughie nodded and took a seat across the room, his gaze occasionally flicking toward you with concern. You tried to focus on the voices around you, the conversations blending into a background noise as you fought to keep yourself awake.

Ben stayed close, his presence a reassuring constant in the midst of the confusion. He occasionally checked your pulse, his movements deliberate and precise, and though his words were rough, there was an undeniable care in his actions.

As time passed, the disorientation began to fade slowly. You could feel the room starting to come back into focus, and the nausea receded somewhat. Ben’s gruff comments and occasional jokes about your state made the whole situation seem almost surreal, adding a touch of humor to the otherwise unsettling experience.

“So,” Ben said after a while, his tone more conversational, “what exactly did you get into, anyway? You got some sort of new drug or something?”

You shook your head, trying to clear the fog from your mind. “I… I don’t know. I don’t remember.”

Ben gave a skeptical look but didn’t press the issue further. “Alright, well, let’s just get through this and figure it out. In the meantime, just try to relax and stay with us.”

You managed a faint smile, feeling a bit more lucid as the minutes went by. Ben’s rough demeanor had its own charm, and though his swearing and brusque attitude were far from comforting, there was a sense of reliability in his presence.

“Thanks,” you said softly, the words coming more easily now. “For… helping.”

Ben’s expression softened slightly, though his voice remained gruff. “Don’t mention it. Just try not to make a habit of this, alright?”

You nodded, feeling a bit better with each passing moment. Hughie continued to keep watch, his concern evident but his actions hesitant. Ben’s constant vigilance and occasional snide remarks kept you grounded, providing a steadying influence as you slowly regained your strength.

The night wore on, and as the initial haze of disorientation cleared, you felt yourself growing more coherent. Ben’s rough charm and Hughie’s well-meaning but somewhat awkward attempts to help created an oddly comforting atmosphere, despite the chaos.

Eventually, as you started to feel more like yourself, Ben leaned back in his chair, his expression a mixture of relief

and exasperation. “Well, you’re not exactly back to normal, but at least you’re not out cold on the floor anymore.”

You gave him a weak smile, appreciating the effort even if his methods were a bit unconventional. “I’ll take it.”

Ben nodded, his gaze shifting to Hughie. “Alright, I think we’re good here. Just keep an eye on her and let me know if anything changes.”

Hughie nodded, looking more relieved. “Will do. Thanks for—”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ben interrupted, standing up and stretching. “Just don’t fuck it up again.”

As Ben headed for the door, he threw a final glance back at you. “And for the record, if you’re going to get yourself fucked up, at least make sure it’s something worth the trouble.”

With that, he was gone, leaving you and Hughie in the quiet of the apartment. The disorientation was mostly gone now, and you felt more like yourself, though still a bit shaky.

Hughie moved closer, offering a reassuring smile. “How are you feeling?”

“Better,” you said, your voice stronger now. “Thanks for—”

“Don’t mention it,” Hughie said quickly, though there was genuine relief in his eyes. “Just glad you’re okay.”

You nodded, grateful for his concern even if his presence had felt a bit like a secondary player in the drama. Then you frowned. “Cocksucker.”

“Yeah?” Hughie instantly answered, perking up a little, making you inwardly laugh at the fact that he actually responded to that.

“I didn’t take anything that strong.” You frowned, rubbing your forehead. If so, what the fuck did that?”

©️ 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐤 / 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲’𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨

𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐝/𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝

TAGLIST: @goldngguk

@sweetpeachbombshell

@slut-for-stiles @staple-your-mouth @daddyscrimsstuff

@dob-4-life @marcis-mixtapez @nonoreas0n @gabrielasilva1510

@lucyholmes13 @pandadork-blog1 @nicolstancu @malusinhaaaa @dybalabandolero

@a-cup-of-nightshade @tomatoessoup @sh0rtcakee @fall-06 @mckaykay-fandoms

@b3th13

@demonxangelomegaverse @deanwinchestersgirl87 @capailluiscedove @i723l-interrupted2323 @niyomiii

@all-the-fan-fic @eviekinevie8 @sunflowerlover57

@1-800-dean-winchester

@darichvep @idk-usernme @supernaturalmarvel3000 @ega2025 @deanbrainrotwritings

@targaryenluvs @bucky-hydra-hoe-barnes @leigh70 @aintnowayboi @ripoffsteveharrington

@gleefulleve @sacrosankta

@riteofpassage77 @eevvvaa @thedevilortheangel @thorsballhair @barbienotdoll

@4e1h3r @wolfieblue03 @kianaleani @vicky199625 @sassyslut2003

@impyrz

@didisull @miwp @lastcallatrockysbar @rizlowwritessortof

@zepskies @angelbabyyy99

@autisticgothic

@yourgoldengirls @deansobsessedgirl @mrsjenniferwinchester

@aylacavebear @lailawinchesterr @brightlilith @arcanaa @hobby27

@lyarr24 @ximm19

@a-girl-who-loves-disney @jeneelsworld @deans-spinster-witch @deanspinsterwitchs-readinglist @kayleighwinchester

@cheynovak @manicjk @riah1606

[graciegoeskrazy]

inside your mind

matty healy + niece!daniel!teen!reader

warnings: mentions of slapping and punching, mentions of bullying, alludes to reader being g depressed, a cherry topping of teen angst, short short short

a/n: just a lil somthing to tide u over! i missed dad matty lol. SEND IN REQUESTS! even if you send in multiple! or if you are the same person! i don’t care! i love them and i need them! unless i replied no (which j don’t think i have) they r all coming. slowly but surely. ty anonie who requested!

This wasn't your proudest moment. It also wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. You had to watch them place a call and talk to your father on the phone. You couldn’t make out his exact words, but knew they were full of honest sympathy. They told him what they told the other parents. Something along the lines of This behavior is not acceptable and she will have to be reprimanded for the damage she has done to others. You thought it was all shit. You are a freshman with a 4.5 GPA and take classes 2 years above your grade level. Meanwhile, your opponent that day was some lonely 12th grader with anger issues and nothing better to do.

You sat near the front door of the the front office, anxiously awaiting his arrival. That was until you heard the front door open and saw Matty standing there. He sighed as he walked in and spotted you.

You stood up with your bag. “What are you doing here?”

“Dad’s in a meeting. I offered to bail you out.” He said.

You sighed and headed for the door.

“I don’t need to talk to anyone?”

“Nah. They already suspended me for 3 days.”

“Jeez, babe.” He sighed again as he headed to the car. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

“Just…bitches.” You tried to shrug it off, hoping he wouldn’t bring it up again. “People were being bitches, so you punched them?” He opened the door for you, prompting you to get in.

“I didn’t punch them…it was more on the lines of a slap.”

“So that’s supposed to make it better?”

“I never said that. Just wanted you to get your facts straight.” You smiled at him as you got in.

“Smart ass.” He said, smiling and slamming the door. He got in on the other side. Before he could start the car, you interrupted him and spoke.

“Is he mad?’ You kept your gaze in front of you. You were genuine this time. Not like the ‘smart ass’.

Matty took a moment before answering. “No, I think he’s just confused.”

He looked at you and reached over the console. “What’s going on, love? Hm? What’s happening in that brain of yours?”

“So much and so little at the same time.”

“Does it just get too loud sometimes?”

You shrugged and looked down.

“You’ve not been yourself lately.”

You rolled your eyes. “You sound like him.”

“Because I agree with him!” He moved a loose piece of hair behind your ear while you sat still, not acknowledging it. “Where’s the old y/n who used to laugh at every word I say and giggle so loudly she peed herself?”

“No one liked her.” You said abruptly.

“Well, I loved her.” He said, matter of fact-ly. “Do things just feel kind of…grey now? He asked, cautiously.

“Yeah.” You said, through the beginning of your tears.

“You need to talk to your Dad, love.” You rolled your eyes slightly but all it did was push him on. “Whatever is happening…this ‘grey’ shit- it’s gone on for too long. I want my girl back.” He planted a kiss on the side of your head and whipped a tear that had fallen. “Talk to him for me, okay?”

You nodded and finally looked up at him. “Okay.”

[creative-caramel-coffee]

The Bear || Chapter 1

Pairings: Wanda x R || avengers (platonic) x R

Word count: 3.3K

TW: alcohol, underaged drinking (mentioned)

Summary: You join your uncle tony in the avengers, it wasn’t your original plan but you never planned for your powers either so here you are. Now your at the avengers tower and falling for the girl of your dreams. With a haunting past and interesting abilities can you navigate your way through the challenges of being a hero? After a mission gone wrong and a cruel twist of fate the team starts digging for answers. Can tony keep them from finding out the truth?

A/n Whats this a series??? Insane right??? Also this is my longest posted fic yet :)

PART 1 || PART 2 || PART 3 || PART 4 || PART 5 || PART 6 || PART 7

“Uncle Tony do we have to do this? I mean I’m not even that special.” You grumbled from the backseat.

“Yeah sure L/n because everyone can shapeshift and teleport”

“Yeah but that doesn’t mean I can fight.” You shot back

“You can turn into a literal bear if you want of we both know you can fight. With the right training.” He rolled his eyes.

“Are you sure. I mean I can take myself back right now.”

“No we’re five minutes away now just sit tight and look out the window or something.”

“Whatever” you grumbled pulling out your phone and mindlessly scrolling through instagram. After what felt more like five seconds happy pulled up and stopped the car opening the door for tony as you opened your own door and got out muttering something about being too rich for door handles. You stretched and popped your back making tony wince at the sound he hated.

“Let’s go glow stick enough trying to light up by breaking your back. I’ll take you to your room before I have you meet the team.” You dragged your feet as you followed him into the foyer of the avengers tower and watched as he pressed the button for the right floor.

“You Wanda and Natasha will be sharing a floor.”

“That’s the black widow and scarlet witch right?” You asked not being one to follow the news much.

“Yep. The redheads.” He winked knowing you were gay. You hid a blush and shoved him.

“Shut up uncle tones” you grinned. The lift pinged and tony began walking you down the hall. “This rooms Natasha this one’s Wanda’s” he said gesturing loosely at the closed doors. “And this one’s yours. I trust you can-“

“Get my own bags? sure pops.” You winked and with a small pop you vanished. Tony groaned hating when you did that.

He slumped slightly in the hall. “Jarvis please keep me updated on her position in the tower and alert me if she goes anywhere near the lab.” He grumbled. Nat’s door opened and she poked her head out frowning at tony.

“Tony what are you doing? Who are you talking to?”

“I was- never-mind I’ll explain at the meeting.” He said waving a hand and going back to the lift. Nat shrugged retreating back into her room.

With a pop you arrived back at the car and opened the boot pulling out your backpack and two suitcases before holding them all and teleporting you and your things back to your new room.

With a sigh you began unpacking knowing no matter how much you may avoid to you had to go back across the country to get the rest of your things. You stood, taking a deep breath and preparing for the long jump before disappearing with a pop.

Your head spun as you reappeared in your bedroom back home, hundred of miles away from the tower. You stumbled grabbing your box of art supplies you didn’t want to risk damaging on the long car trip. Sucking in another deep breath you teleported back. The dizziness was much worse now. Two big jumps without rest in close succession wasn’t good for you. Before you could fall over you set down the box on the floor and passed out onto the bed with a loud crash.

A few moments later Natasha entered the room looking at your unconscious form and bags around the room and frowning.

“What the hell” she muttered “Jarvis?”

“Yes Ms Romanoff.”

“Who is this?”

” Ms Y/n l/n is the niece of Tony stark.”

“Alright and what is she doing here?”

“Ms l/n’s uses to the avengers will be great thanks to her-“

“alright Jarvis that’s enough” tony said walking in the door after receiving an alert that his niece had passed out.

“Yes yes she’s my niece.”

“Tony she can’t-“

“Can’t be here. Sure she can, she’s here isn’t she? Pass me that backpack Romanoff”

He said gesturing to your small backpack by the desk. Natasha frowned and picked it up shoving it into Tony’s chest.

“Less attitude Romanoff” he grumbled.

“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes. “What did Jarvis mean she has great value to the avengers?”

“Ask her yourself” he said pulling a small vile and a pack of gum from the front pocket. He broke the vial open and waved it under your nose. Your eyes screwed shut.

“Tony what the hell is going on?” Nat asked

You screwed up your face. “Tony” you whined “why couldn’t you let me sleep it off like normal” you whined eyes still shut.

“Sleep what off tony? what’s going on?” nat asked again.

Tony pulled a strip of gum from the pack and unwrapped it shoving it in your mouth.

“Chew. And I woke you up because you can’t meet the team if you’re unconscious idiot” he grumbled.

“Whatever. And those are for emergencies only.”

“Whatever i live with you now I’ll just make you more. Or make Bruce make you more.” He grumbled.

You cracked an eye open finally noticing nat who was stood watching unamused.

“Oh hi.” You said

“Hi?” Nat said sounding unsure.

“I’ll leave you two to it then.” Tony said winking at you and leaving before you could protest.

“Let’s try that again shall we?” You said standing up and brushing invisible dust from your clothes and extending a hand. “Pleasure to meet you, I’m Y/n, Y/n L/n” you said. Nat took your hand raising an eyebrow at your last name being different to Stark’s.

“Natasha but you can call me Nat.” She said her grip was firm and you could feel the callus’s of long days spent training on her palms.

“Well not the best first impression.” You chuckled putting the vile and pack of gum back into your backpack.

“What is that stuff?” Nat said raising a brow.

“Oh uncle tony makes it. Its energy gum a special type he made for me so i can recharge the battery after long jumps.” You said and Nat had about a thousand more questions.

“Long jumps?” She asked.

“Oh he didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“This.” You said disappearing with a pop and appearing behind her tapping her shoulder. Nat spun around.

“Super speed?” She asked.

“Nope.” You said popping the p. “Teleportation. And..” nat blinked and suddenly a bunny was sat by her feet.

“Shapeshifitng?” She said sounding impressed. With a pop you stood before her again.

“Yep” you smiled.

“Alright ill admit that’s pretty cool.”

“Yeah. Well I’m sure you have important things to do before the meeting this afternoon. Tony wants to introduce me to the team and i need to unpack.” You said wiping your hands on your paint stained jeans one of your nervous habits.

“Yeah. Well I’ll see you around L/n” she smiled and patted your shoulder before leaving and closing the door softly.

The day went quickly as you unpacked. The meeting was smooth with the team impressed and curious about your powers. You must have answered a hundred questions before tony stepped in. You shifted to about six different animals and teleported to get them all ice-cream from downtown as proof and just like that they all loved you. Apparently ice cream was a weak point for the group of earths mightiest hero’s. After the meeting was over you couldn’t help the fact your eyes lingered after the goddess you had come to know as Wanda. She was just so perfect. Her hips swished slightly as she walked away and you had to stop yourself from drooling. A crush was forming just like that. But you knew you had to pace yourself. You had plenty of people end things with you for being “too much” and you didn’t want another heartbreak.

As you walked back to your room you smiled to yourself. You grabbed your backpack and sketchbook and walked down to the grounds. Picking a tree and sitting under it. You opened your back and buried your nose in your sketchbook. So for the next few hours you sat trying to capture every last detail your brain could remember about Wanda’s face. After a few hours you had a beautiful drawing of the redhead and you smiled shutting. Putting on the finishing details you were so wrapped up in it you didn’t hear the footsteps approach until the person spoke to you.

“I was wondering where you had run off to.” Nat said sitting beside you. You quickly slammed the book shut but not before nat saw the picture. She grinned and raised a brow.

“Your an amazing artist.” She said and you flushed.

“Please don’t tell anyone.” You said.

“What that your a good artist?” She said grinning coyly

“No. About the drawing. You weren’t suppose to see that.” You said still bright red you slipped the sketchbook back into your backpack.

“My lips are sealed.” She said. “But before i say anything else. She single.” Nat winked before getting up and turning to leave.

“Nat?” You said and she turned around again.

“Yes?”

“Did you come to tell me something or just tease me?”

“Oh lunch is ready Wanda made a bit of a fancy meal for your arrival. Something tells me she likes you.” Nat winked and started to walk off. You hid your face in your hands. Grabbing your backpack before teleporting back to your room and dropping your bag on the bed before teleporting to the hall by the kitchen and strolling in.

“Something smells good.” You said and Wanda looked up and smiled.

“I just sent nat to get you.” She smiled. And you grinned as Nat walked in.

“Looks who’s here.” Wanda said pointing the spatula at you and smiling. Nat frowned at your cheeky grin.

“Must be a sixth sense” you said and winked at nat.

“Or you just teleported.” Tony said walking in and Wanda burst out laughing.

“Your no fun tones.” You fake glared at him.

“Bite me bear.” He said. Using your playful nickname for you. He loved bears and you often turned into one for him when he was drunk and sad so it became a name for you. Of course nobody would ever know that the great tony stark was cheered up by riding a big fluffy brown bear around his backyard in his late twenties. He couldn’t count the number of times he fell asleep running his hands through the fur of a sleeping bear cub in his lap. You brought him a comfort only family did. One he had failed to receive for years after his parent, your grandparents died. One you had also lost when your mother and father died also.

Wandas calls for lunch broke you from your thoughts as the boys all tumbled into the kitchen. You were introduce to the two girls you hadn’t seen before. Just getting back from their mission you learnt the blonde was Yelena, Natasha’s sister and Kate was Clint’s protege. You sat down feeling that maybe your family had grown a bit bigger. And maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“Just a reminder your party is tonight to welcome you to the avengers.” Tony said slapping your back as he walked past to get his morning coffee.

“I heard the great tony Stark’s parties aren’t the same as they used to be. Hope I’m not disappointed.” You grinned taking another swig of your coffee.

Tony grumbled something about being domestic and you chuckled before going to your room to get ready for training.

It was about five when you finally decided on an outfit. The party starts at 7 so you had plenty of time. You had decided on a small sleek black dress that hugged all the right places. Sure you would have preferred a suit but you didn’t feel much like making a stir at your first party. After laying out the outfit you yawned not used to being awake so early in the mornings. Deciding you could take a quick nap you curled up and shut your eyes.

Incessant knocking woke you up with a start.

“Y/N the party started twenty minutes ago get your butt downstairs. Come on your making me look bad” Tony yelled with an almost whine in his voice and you jumped up. Fixing your hair into a fancy up-do and throwing on the dress and some makeup.

As you stepped into the room you realised it was one of Tony’s more calm parties. The avengers were sat around a table drinking and you grabbed yourself a martini before going to sit beside Natasha.

“Your going soft tones.” You grinned and he shot you a glare.

“Am not.”

“Its alright i kinda like domestic you.” You took a long swig from your drink feeling the alcohol go straight to your head.

“So y/n why do you call tony tones?” Wanda asked and you grinned lopsidedly as tony groaned knowing what was to come.

“Well witchy.” You grinned as you watched Wanda fight down a blush. “When my parents so kindly died.” Maybe the alcohol was doing a bit more than you thought. You missed the look of shock on the avengers faces as you continued. “Mr stark here.” You gestured loosely to him “adopted me. I was about sixteen and tones being the fun uncle let me go to his parties. When i was seventeen we were all hanging out, me and Tony’s street scum friends were drinking.”

“You let her drink at 17!!” Nat yelled and you shrugged.

“No point being rich if you don’t break a few laws I guess.” You grinned as tony covered his face with his fingers. “Tonys parties were a lot more wild back then and we had a little family legend me and the street scum.” You said affectionately. “They were my family. Anyways the legend was that if you got tony drunk enough his tone deafness goes away and his awful catawalling turns into the most angelic singing ever. So one night we tested it out and secured some strong liquor. I wont say if it was true or not but tony woke up in Mississippi with a hangover and no clothes.” You grinned and the avengers all started laughing.

“And where did you wake up y/n?” Nat said narrowing her eyes jokingly.

you blushed “w-well thats not important.” Tony seeing his chance to get back at you took it with a grin. “She woke up in Massachusetts with a hangover and a piercing.” You groaned.

“Where?” Wanda asked her curiosity peaking.

“Right here.” You said tapping the helix piercing you always loved but never had the confidence to get without the help of alcohol. “And before tony can convince you otherwise i alway wanted one so its not like i woke up with a piercing elsewhere.” You said pointing tony a sharp look. Tony choked on his drink. “Alright” tony said clapping his hands “change of subject.” And you burst out laughing knowing his piercing was rather … intimate.

“Oh i have plenty more stories of party animal tones over there.” You said tilting your drink in his direction “but I’m not nearly drunk enough yet for that.” You grinned taking a long sip.

“And you wont be tonight.” Nat said taking your drink from you carefully and setting it on the table “this isn’t that kind of party.” She smiled seeing you frown.

“Boring.” You yawned and slumped down the couch.

“So how did you get your powers if you don’t mind me asking?” Clint said eyeing your reaction closely.

“Oh you know, the usual.” You waved your hand dismissively dodging the question and changing topics. Nat and Clint exchanged looks not missing the way your shoulders hand tensed at the topic. Tony shot Clint a dark look telling him to drop it.

The night went well as you and the avengers chatted and shared stories. Nat was careful not to let you drink too much to keep you from embarrassing yourself on your first night. Taking it off you ever twenty minutes for a break. You let her for the most part. After about three hours the team was getting tired and you were mildly drunk despite Nat’s best efforts.

“Come on hot stuff i think its time i take you to bed.” Nat said playfully and your eyes widened. “Not like that.” She scoffed slapping your arm lightly.

“Goodnight everyone I’m taking this one to bed now.” Nat said jabbing a thumb at you and helping you to your feet as you swayed. Nat grumbled not ready for you to get a head injury walking back to your room she scooped you up with little effort. You squeaked slightly and threw you arms around her neck as she carried you bridal style into the elevator. Nat helped you back to your room handing you some of you pyjamas she found in a drawer she smiled at the matching snoopy pj shirt and fluffy pants. Handing them to you she turned her back as you changed. After the shuffling stopped she asked if you were done turning to find your shirt on backwards and a dopy grin on your face. Nat sighed. Turning your T-shirt around by guiding your arms back inside before helping you into bed. You looked adorable in your pjs and she helped take out your hair pins and used a wipe to clean off your makeup. After you were ready she placed a motherly kiss on your forehead and tucked you in. She sat with you until your soft snores filled the room and before she slipped out she put a bottle of pain meds and a glass of water on your bedside. She padded quietly down the hall to her room and slipped out of her fancy clothes changing quickly before getting into her own bed.

You were a puzzle, one she was determined to figure out. When she had heard you had lost your parents she felt almost a primal protection spark in her heart for you. It was almost maternal in nature as despite being almost 22 nat wanted nothing more than to mother you like a child. And it scared her. Yet she couldn’t seem to resist the urge to care for you. She thought you were sweet and she wanted to protect you.

Wanda however had different feelings. Since she had first laid eyes on you she was wrapped around your finger. You were perfect in her eyes. And the night of the party she was awake until the early hours thinking of every moment in great depth all over from the way the dress held you tight in all the right places to the way your grin became lopsided when you drank. All down to how nat had left with you in her arms and a feeling of jealousy sparked in her heart. She knew she had nothing to worry about. Nat was like a mother to all the younger avengers. Peter, Yelena and Kate were basically babied by her all the time. And she saw the love in her eyes for you the moment she met you. She knew you held a special place in Nat’s heart already but she couldn’t help but feel it should have been her who helped you to bed and cared for you. But she didn’t want to scare you away. She couldn’t live with herself if she blew her chance before it really even began.

MASTERLIST

[rosedforbes]

made another drabble for my dearest @galvanizedfriend !! just like the other one, it's connected the Yokan's series THE WOLF on AO3!! this time, I'm bringing Kol + child!Eve to the table :)

DISCLAIMERS: Eve is NOT my character; English is NOT my first language; please, be nice 🙏

He misses being a witch with his whole being, would even trade a sibiling or two just to spend one single day with pure magic flowing through his veins again. However, he can't help but admit that being a vampire has its perks.

Most people only focus on immortality, conviced that the possibility of becoming as old as dirt really is the best part of being a vampire, but Kol has learned that it's more of a curse rather than a blessing, especially if you had to spend half of it closed in a dusty box. Some of them, the slightly smarter ones, believe that the strength and the speed are the real gifts of vampirism, alongside the over-developed hearing. It makes sense, Kol thinks, particularly for the ones who lived like a prey for all of their life, constantly devoured by the thought that their next breath might be the last.

But his personal favorite, the one that everyone seems to forget about, is the ability to get into someone's mind.

Truth is, it doesn't really work the way people expect it to, just looking in their eyes and – poof, I know that you think about your ex whenever you look at your new flame, Susan. No, it's a bit more complicated than that, but when you're as old as Kol, you learn a trick or two to make sure that even the strongest mind will fold at your touch.

Even though Kol is so fond of this little advantage, he never feels the need to use it with Caroline. Nobody does.

She is his favorite member of their twisty and cursed family — not that he will never admit it out loud, not to her, certainly not to Rebekah — but God, that girl could have a stake pointed at her big golden heart and she'd still be unable to lie. Caroline Forbes excels at so many things, but concealing her thoughts and feelings will never be one of them.

And that's why he's counting the minutes that will take her to walk inside his room and ask whatever the bloody hell she wants.

It was funny when he reached five minutes. A little less when he got to fifteen. Very annoying when he counted twenty. By the time the thirty hit, his patience was already five meters under the ground.

"Finally," Kol exclaims in relief as soon as she enters the room. "I was beginning to think that you'd forgot how a door works." he says, earning nothing but a dirty glare.

"Ha-ha, very funny," Caroline mocks, although he can see how she's trying to hide a little grin. "I need a favor."

Kol dramatically gasps, placing his hand on his chest. "You don't say! Color me impress-"

"Can you watch Eve?" Caroline cuts him out, not really feeling the need to listen to the rest of his mockery.

Kol stares at her for a minute, blinking repeatedly while moving his head a little to the side, like a confused puppy. "You waisted half an hour of your time just to ask me that?" He says, visibly impressed and annoyed.

Caroline huffs, fixing a loose curl behind her ear. "I'm sorry, it's just... I used to leave her at the camp with Mary, so she could go around and play with other kids all day and eat all the sweets she wants — even if they both deny it." She drawls around an eye-roll. "But since we got you all back, Eve has been reluctant to go there." She explains, looking at him with a mixture of exhaustion and...fondness.

Kol gives her a small, tight-lipped smile, with his eyes firm on his fidgeting hands.

He lied before. Caroline is on the podium, but she's not his number one of the family. No, that place has been taken by a little girl who made him realize that maybe Nik's mischievous grins, accompanied by a pair of dimples and witty eyes, are not so bad, after all.

Ever since they got back, his niece has been looking at him and at the rest of sibiling with a look full of curiosity and eagerness, like a kid who discovers that there are different types of chocolate and can't wait to taste them all.

The situation is still a bit unsteady and Kol is constantly busy doing something from dawn until dusk, but whenever he goes home to catch a moment and maybe grab a bag of B+, he always finds Eve with at least one of his siblings.

Of course, most of the time, it's Nik, and he really can't blame either of them. He would've never put his money on it, but Niklaus does make a great dad, although he knows most of the credits go to Caroline and Eve rather than his brother.

Still, if she's not with the brother with anger issues, then Eve is with the one with the commitment ones, making pancakes with more rainbow sprinkles than flour. They are good, and it always takes him a minute to debate if he should keep it to himself and not give Elijah his satisfaction, or if he should admit it to see a proud smile breaking through his niece's face.

If she's not making diabetes-azard-pancakes with that retired-looking-lawer, then Eve is with either Freya or Rebekah, playing with the light of the oldest's candles and giving opinions about some old fashion style with the youngest.

Kol knows what she's doing. She wants to compensate for the time they have lost together. It makes him joyful and bitter at the same time.

he snaps back to reality when Caroline starts to talk again. "Klaus and I have to go meet Bonnie to talk about some of the spells of the house, while Freya, Elijah and Rebekah are going on a journey to see another witch who thinks can find a way to make us immune to Marcel's venom." She rambles. "And besides, you two hadn't been together for a while. She misses you."

Kol feels a pang through his chest, looking at Caroline with guilty eyes. "I'm... sorry. I've never meant to make her feel ignored or disengaged, I had so many-"

"Kol," she says softly, showing him a comforting smile. "I know — Eve knows. I'm not blaming you, I just thought this would be an opportunity for you to both take a break and spend some time with her."

"I..." Kol gulps, trying to recollect himself. "Of course. You don't even have to ask, Caroline. You know I'd never say no."

Caroline sighs contently as she gently squeezes his hands as a form of gratitude. "Thank you, Kol."

──────

"You're thinking about it too much, Spawn. You're so focused on the words that you forget to actually put energy into it." Kol explains to her, looking down at the two leather cords.

How did he end up in this situation?

"Come on, Unc' Kol!" Eve whines. "You always say that your knowledge about magic is so vast that it would take you five lifetimes to write it all down!"

Kol keeps pretending to read the newspaper, a tactic that he had to muster to protect himself from his niece's puppy eyes. He has seen tons of them during his life, either on the face of his victims a moment before their last breath, or when his lovers tried to convince him to take their relationship to another level, deluded by the thought that they could change him, fix him. Ironically, both situations ended with Kol walking away from a corpse with a full stomach.

With Eve, though... He always finds himself incapable of not obliging. Kol really doesn't know how she does it. He's half convinced that Eve actually knows more magic than she lets them see, and she found a spell that helps her bewitch everyone with a single look.

"And I stand by that," Kol tells her. "But your parents are going to kill me if I teach you a new spell without their approval and supervision." He points out, and really, he can hardly recognize himself. He was never one to follow the rules — actually, more the reason why they were created, due to his wild and chaotic spirit. But now... He spent centuries trapped in a box, and so the last five years. He has no intention of going back in a coffin.

"Well, good thing you're immortal, then!" the little devil says, giving him a large, not-so-innocent smile.

Kol lowers the newspaper enough to show Eve his scowl. "You are hilarious, Spawn."

she huffs in defeat. "Please, Unc' Kol," she says in a sad voice, looking at him with those puppy eyes he tried so hard to avoid. "Just one?" She repeatedly flaps her eyelashes at him, just to give him the final blow.

Kol drums his fingers on the table near him for about a minute before sighting in resignation. "Fine, you win!"

Eve's anger brings him back to the present. "it's not my fault! These cords are broken!" she takes the latters in her firsts. "I told you we should've gone with the resurrection spell." She grumbles, giving him a pout.

Kol replies with an arched eyebrow, not falling for the cute scowl like he did for the puppy eyes. "And I told you I'm not teaching you any of that stuff until you're at least sixteen." he replies while taking the cords from her hands. "Besides, how do you think you will succeed doing a spell as complicated as the resurrection one, when you're having troubles with the basics?" He says to provoke her.

Usually, Eve is the type of person to always pick up a dare. Just like her mother, whenever someone tells her she can't do something, she will do everything in her power to prove them wrong. Most of them use this little trait of her for their own advantage — such as daring her to eat all the vegetables in less than fifteen minutes, for instance.

This time, though... Kol expected to receive a glare from Eve, followed by a performance of her rolling up her sleeves and getting ready to try again the spell; instead, she stares at him for a few seconds before looking down at the cords, her eyes brimes with tears.

Kol has been walking on this earth for longer than a millennium, but he never felt as much guilt as right now. "Sweetheart, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to sound harsh..." He coos as he covers her tiny face with his hands.

Eve sniffs while trying to take down a sob. "It's not fair! I'm trying so hard, Unc' Kol, I swear," she wispers the last words, and Kol is sure he heard his heart breaking. "But it doesn't matter how hard I try, I can't get it right! Is something wrong with me?" she asks with such a sadness in her tone that hits him worse than a white oak dagger.

"Spawn, there is nothing wrong you." He coos as he washes off a stained tear on her cheek. "Despite your uniqueness, you are still a young witch. I have met witches from all over the world, during different stages of their life, and trust me when I say that most of those of your age have troubles lighting up a candle. A linking spell is already hard for a seventeen years old witch, let alone for one who's seven."

Eve gently pulls away from him, rubbing her hands on her face to wash away the remaining of her breakdown. "Seven and a half." She mumbles, and Kol can't help but let out a low chuckle.

"Listen... let's take a break, mhm?" Kol says as he stands up. "We will get you a piece of cake, and then we will come back to chords. Deal?" He asks, giving her a little grin.

Eve is about to say yes, but she suddenly has a change of heart, narrowing her adorable eyes at him. "I want half a cake."

"You'll get diabetes, darling."

"Aunt Freya can cure me."

"It doesn't work like that."

"Fine. Then we'll call Aunt Bonnie, too."

"Won't make any difference."

"You just made me cry!" she protests, giving him a daring look. come on, she's saying, try to say no again.

Kol lets out an exhausted sigh. "Three pieces of cake. Take it or leave it."

His exasperation must be showing on his face, because Eve gives him a sympathetic little smile before nodding. "Deal."

He picks her up with the same ease he would use to lift up a feather, before walking in the kitchen while thinking about a way to blame on Freya — or Elijah, but that's plan B — the missing third of the cake.

──────

Kol felt something tugging down at his jacket just as he hunged up with Caroline. As soon as he turns around, he's welcomed by a very proud smile on Eve's face, accompanied by her little hands holding up a knot. "I did it! " she almost screams with excitement as she goes on her tiptoes to show him better her achievement. "I made the linking spell!"

Looking down at the jumpy young girl in front of him, so proud of herself and eager to see his reaction... it does some little tricks to his wicked heart. It's something completely new, Kol doesn't even know how to call it, or if there's even a name to such emotion. This thing inside his chest... it feels quite like pride, but it's not it. Kol knows that feeling all too well, maybe for the wrong reasons, but nonetheless, he's very familiar with it. This is something more. A mix of emotions that he has never felt since he turned into the beast he is today, more than a millennium ago.

He crunches down to Eve's eye level, giving her a knowing grin. "See? I told you, Spawn, you just needed to let it go. Feel the magic running through your veins, surrounding your body every single day." he tells her with a tone that is supposed to be comforting and soft, but judging from Eve's change of expression, he can tell she felt the bit of melancholy that accidentally slipped in.

"Unc' Kol..." She begins while looking down at the strong, knotted cords on her hands, as if she can't bear to look him directly in the eyes. "Do you think I'll lose it? The magic, the connection we have." She wispers the last sentence, almost like she's scared to jinx it.

"Of course not, Eve. Why would you?" Kol asks as he gently takes the tie from her grasp, an attempt to regain her attention back to his face.

"Mom lost it when she became a vampire. You did, too." she says as she switches her look back to him. "Will I lose it too, when I'll turn?"

That unknown, but not unwelcome, feeling he had before is suddenly replaced by something uglier, a storm of emotions he knows to heart, even though he has never shown it on the outside. Confusion, concern, panic, sadness. All of them are roaming free through all his body like it's a damn highway. Eve was talking about a deadly disease like it's just a band-aid a few seconds ago, giving it for granted. How did they come to this? how did she?

For the first time in his life, Kol finds himself at loss for words. Eve is seven, for God's sake. She's not supposed to think about this stuff. Hell, she's not even supposed to know. Despite his childish nature, Kol is not familiar with kids, but he's sure they're supposed to play with crayons and beg for candies before bedtime instead of worrying about the day they will die.

Eve, a child after her mother's heart, can't handle the silence very well, so she decides to take word after watching Kol's failed attempts to say something — anything. "I know what I am, Unc' Kol. I'm a tribid, which means I'm part witch, part werewolf, and part vampire. Now I'm just a witch, but eventually, I'll turn into the other two, too. I am fine with that — it's not like i can change what i am — I just... I don't want to lose this," she says as she lights up a candle near them with a flick of her fingers. "In the process." She concludes, looking at him like she's expecting something. Comfort, reassurance. A bunch of pretty, soft words that will put at rest her big heart.

It's not like Kol doesn't want to send away these demons that are roaming inside her thoughts, on the contrary. He just... refuse to lie to his niece.

Eve is the very definition of loophole. A child born from an original hybrid and a former witch who managed to cure herself and her mother while she was still in the womb. It's thanks to her if Caroline is still here with them, if those furries in flannels have the powers of a hybrid without the need to put an end to their pathetic life. You would expect that, with this background, she can survive everything. Always victorious, with zero defeats in her path. But the wicked truth is... nobody knows.

Eve has always been full of surprises, and Kol doubts she'll ever stop to leave them impressed, but that also means that they don't know how to protect her. Does she have a weak spot? All of the power she has, will it destroy her? do they have to keep living like this, in the shadows, to keep her safe?

He wants to cradle her between his arms, kissing her forhead, and telling her that she doesn't have to worry about anything. that nothing will ever be able to hurt her. that her magic will always be a constant. But he can't. Because he knows, deep down, that turning into a tribid — killing to be a werewolf, dying to be a vampire — is a matter of when, not of if. and the worst part is... a side of him is relived at the thought that she will turn into something eternal, immortal. And Kol is disgusted by himself.

What kind of person finds comfort into thinking that the sweetest girl to ever exist will turn into a walking corpse?

Kol's head is pounding. This is too much. it's not his place to talk about it, not before Nik and Caroline.

"Don't tell your mother, but I know where she hides the Froot loops," Kol says, a pathetic way to slip out of this conversation. It's lame, he knows, but his mind was still too occupied to put at ease those dark thoughts. "And if you ask nicely, I might give you more than one bowl." he offers as a little and playful grin, which doesn't quite reach his eyes, appears on his face.

Eve is silent for a few minutes with an expression he can't decipher,  no matter how hard he tries, before offering him an understanding smile. "Let's go, Unc' Kol." She says while taking his hand in hers.

He stands up and follows her to the kitchen, but his eyes are fixed on their jointed grip. Eve is actually holding three of his fingers, her little hands disappearing into his own. Kol wishes he could do the same with those worries that are festering Eve's mind. Just put them into his hand and make them... disappear.

[greer2301]

I’m sorry momma

Rhaenyra’s Daughter Reader

•Sad• •mentions of death• •suicidal ideation• •scuicid• •familial alienation• •manipulation• •MDNI!•

Draped in red she leant against the rail over looking the ground below as people walked around and kids played. Her blonde white hair loose and flowing with the breeze her eyes red and tear streaks stained her pale cheeks.

“The first born child of Rhaenyra Targaryen. Rightful heir to the Iron Throne, heir of Dragonstone, Princess of the Realm. Y/N Targaryen.” She whispered eyes closed tight as tears run down her face. “I am the sister of Jacerys, Lucerys and Joffrey Valeryon, Aegon the Third and Viserys the Second Targaryen. I am the Daughter of Daemon Targaryen, my blood is the blood of the Dragon” she whimpers as she hears the cries of the Dragons from the Pit as the vicious peasants attack them.

Aemond locked her in the keep, barring her door and ensuring nothing in there would kill her. “You’ll be the last black, I’ll be the last green and I will publicly behead you the day I become King” Aemond told her as he ordered the guards to Barr the door from the outside, that was a month ago. He killed her Dragon first, he fed her to Vhagar. He fed her mother the Queen to Sunfyre saying it was justice for Aegon but he had been the one to kill him. He sent assassins for Jace, killing him and his intended. Joffrey died trying to save the Dragons in the pit.

Still she held out hope, for as long as Daemon breathes they had a chance to save what is left of their family. With each death she felt a part of herself disappear, her heart aching as she remembered her mother’s embrace, Jace’s smile, Luke’s laugh, Joffery’s hugs before bed, Aegon’s scent as she held him close and Viserys’s baby kisses. “Dear Niece I bring news” Aemond said from beyond the door. “Look out your window” He had told her. Obeying she walked to the door and looked outside, mounted on a pike just below the balcony was her Fathers head. The scream the Princess released that day burned into the memories of every person that could hear it, the heart wrenching pain that she felt made their hearts weep.

And that’s how she remained on the balcony, in the position she has been in for hours wishing she could give her father the send off he deserved. She couldn’t do it anymore, she had no one left, her parents died, her brothers were slain, she knew nothing of Aegon or Viserys. “I am Y/N Targaryen, the blood of old Valyria. I ask that you accept this sacrifice, a pure body a pure mind, pure blood, I ask that you use my sacrifice to protect what is left of my blood. Aegon the younger, Viserys the second. Take my life for theirs and grant them protection, guide them to safety and give them the strength to defeat this kinslayer.” She finished as she drew symbols in her spilt blood on the cement of the balcony finishing with one over her heart.

With a clear mind, hearing the impending storm and the thunder booming like a pack of Dragons Roars lighting begins to flash as she feels specks of rain hit her skin. The blood dries black and she knows the sacrifice is sufficient, with one last breath she releases the railing and lets herself fall. “Fire and Blood” she whispers, her back hitting the ground and her neck snaps to the side as she releases what was left of her breath.

Mushroom would go on to write later that the Princesses sacrifice was the only thing that saved her line. Viserys and Aegon the younger were saved by some of the cities people as they rebelled against the Greens killing Aemond, due to the love the people had for their sister their good princess. The boys were raised by the new council that the people formed, until Viserys was of age to wed and begin his reign. “It is for my sisters sacrifice that we are here today, so I would like to introduce my child and heir Princess Y/N Targaryen second of her name” Viserys announced as he held the babe in front of the crowd who cheered.

After life

“I cannot believe you used blood magic!” Rhaenyra scolded as she watched the center of the table watching Viserys introduce his child. “It’s been 13 years mother, get over it” Y/N shot back as she sipped some wine.

“I still can’t believe that one-eyed cunt killed me” Daemon said as he sat across from them. “He killed me first” Luke chimed as he fiddled with his blade. “Can we stop? It’s been years, Viserys is King Aegon his Hand Dragons are not extinct and our bloodline lives on, let it go.” Y/N said as she switched what was shown on the table. “You killed yourself and used blood magic, I will not let that go” Rhaenyra chided.

[creativepawsworld]

Silence - Chapter 55

Pairing = Thomas Shelby x OC

Summary = Tommy and Ana's baby is born with the help of Polly and Esme. Will Tommy return to witness the birth?

Warnings = Language...Grammar...Child Birth... Breast Feeding...Bad words...Blood mentioned...FLUFF...Cuteness

Word Count = 1,671

Note = I was supposed to update over the weekend but any in the UK or Ireland will know we were hit with a storm and for me a pretty scary one. I never saw one like that before. Even were put on a tornado watch like what? In northern Ireland didn't even know we got them. Anyway, fluffy and light chapter for you all. I hope you enjoy💙

Holding my baby girl for the first time was surreal. Words couldn’t describe it. Polly had placed this tiny, little person on my chest. A person I was now responsible for. She has a perfect head of black hair and the brightest blue eyes I have ever seen. The same eyes as Tommy’s if not brighter.

I felt a tear sliding down my cheek as I held her, the pain I once felt – was gone. Replaced with nothing but hope and overwhelming love for this little life in my arms. I didn’t think it was possible to fall in love so quickly. But here I was.

“Hi my baby” I whispered stroking my daughter's little cheek. Her tiny mouth was opening and closing as if she was searching for something. Her little pink tongue darted out as if she had no control over it. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen.

“She wants some food Mama” Esme peered over my legs as she and Polly did whatever they could until the doctor arrived. The two of them cleaned me up as best they could with warm water and towels.

“What do I do?” I asked them cluelessly. I had seen Esme do it with her son when he was born but I didn’t know if there was some kind of technique or special way of doing it.

“Here let me show you” Esme came over moving my daughter slightly so she could lower my dress to expose my breasts. “Now we move her down here, putting her mouth near your nipple and if she is a good girl, she will latch” Esme smiled peering down at her niece, her smile growing at the sight.

“And if she doesn’t?” I asked nervously.

“Then we keep trying dear, don’t worry she will latch if she is hungry enough” Polly grinned stepping up and walking towards me to see her great niece. “She is beautiful..” She muttered as she watched her little mouth trying to find a food source.

“She’s not latching” I look up at the two more experienced women with an uncertain glance. Was I doing something wrong? Why wasn’t she latching? I couldn’t understand. Was I missing a trick to this?

“She can sense your worry, relax…breathe” Esme inhaled deeply with me before letting it out. “God she is Tommy’s double look at those eyes”

“She certainly is. Where is he?” Polly asked looking around at Esme. Pieces started to fall around her and into place when she realised he wasn’t there when she walked past the Shelby brothers on her way in.

“I have no idea. I left the races with you. Waited for him at the betting shop as we arranged, but only Arthur and John returned with a few men.” I explained looking up at Polly concerned. “They sent Scudboat and a few others out to find him, haven’t they returned?”

“Esme go check” Polly ordered, forcing a smile on her face. I knew it was so she didn’t worry me but I couldn’t help it. I felt my heart rate quicken while giving birth I was so focused on delivering my baby I didn’t factor in Tommy. As much as I loved him he was the furthest thing from my mind.

Until now.

“Why didn’t he return? Do you think something went wrong? You don’t think he’s dead do you?” I asked in a panic. I could feel my heart beating wildly in my chest, I wanted to try and move but was only too aware of the small life in my hands. He should be here. He had to be here. He should meet his daughter.

“Ana, Ana, breathe. It’s Tommy we are talking about” Polly tried to soothe, swiping away some loose hair from my face. “Focus on this little girl in your arms, he will be home soon. You wait and see. Now look, look” She smiled pointing down to my daughter.

During my worry and concern for Tommy, she had latched herself to my breast, guzzling down the milk as fast as her little mouth could take it. It was a truly mesmerising sight to behold.

“Where is she?” I heard a voice, a male voice. His voice. I didn’t have to wait long when I heard the heavy, thundering footsteps of his boots storming up the stairs towards his former bedroom, busting through the door.

The smile dropped from my face as I noticed his dishevelled look. The muddy stains all over his clothes. He was bleeding from the forehead, dirt covered his face as he approached the bed slowly.

“They're here?” He asked so quietly. It was like he believed they would disappear and spook them away if he spoke too loud.

“She is” I nodded with a small smile, my eyes still fixed on the blood on his head. “What happened to you?”

“Not important right now” Tommy shook his head, Polly had slipped from the room leaving the three of us alone together. “Look at that hair, did you say she?”

“Yes, it's a girl Tommy and she’s so small” I gushed dropping the conversation about his whereabouts almost instantly. Our daughter was here. We now had our family. We were parents. That's all that mattered.

"A girl…"Tommy whispered looking down at the baby in my arms, she was truly, tiny in comparison to us. “And she’s eating alright?” He asked sitting down next to me on the bed. Looking down at his daughter with a smile.

“Just latched before you came in” I nodded looking down at her once more. “It feels so weird, I…I can’t describe it” I tried to explain but words failed me. I didn’t know how to say what I wanted or how I felt as I wasn’t sure what it was, not completely.

“Has the doctor been yet?” Tommy asked, his index finger slowly coming over to touch her hand.

“Ah you wash those hands first Mr Shelby” I warned, with a hint of amusement but I was deadly serious. Thankfully Tommy just chuckled, leaving the room for a brief second to clean up.

Tommy returned to the bedroom moments later, he had gotten rid of his coat and jacket, and his shirt sleeves were now pushed up to his elbows. The dirt and blood that was around his face was gone, he had certainly cleaned himself up.

Retaking his position next to me on the bed, our daughter had stopped eating. Her blue eyes looked around her new surroundings as milk dripped down her chin and into her neck.

I lifted her slowly, careful of her fragile neck. She was still naked, apart from a small blanket. I hoped Polly or Esme would return with an outfit for her soon. I placed her carefully on my shoulder rubbing her back in case she had any wind.

Tommy reached out slowly caressing her back, an almost angelic look upon his face. It was the only way I could describe it. Once I felt she had brought up enough wind I smiled at Tommy.

“Do you want to hold her?” I asked softly taking her gently from my shoulder. Tommy at first seemed to be taken by surprise, his eyes widened and he looked unsure. Almost frightened.

Once he collected his thoughts and emotions, he held out his hands taking our little girl into his hands. She looked so tiny compared to his bulkier but muscular frame. In comparison to his hands, I felt like he could hold her with one. But if I ever saw him even attempt such a thing, I’d kill him.

Just as I handed her off to her father, the doctor knocked on the door quickly entering the room.

“Miss Alder, I’m Doctor Figure. You just had a baby yes?” Doctor Figure asked with a small as he looked at the newborn in Tommy’s hands. “May I, may I check the baby, Mr Shelby?”

Tommy instantly nodded handing her off to the doctor, standing next to him as he checked over his daughter. Doctor Figure rested her back on the bed as he went through all his checks. Checking her heartbeat, her movements, her vision, everything. Tommy watched him like a hawk, making sure he didn’t hurt her in any way. He was already so protective.

“Is she eating?” Doctor Figure asked trying to ignore the looming presence that was Thomas Shelby but I could tell he was struggling. A bead of sweat lingered on his right temple, next to his eyebrow.

“Yes, she has. I believe a good amount as well” I nodded covering my breasts that I had forgotten to cover after she finished eating.

“I’m happy with her, I’ll just check over yourself Miss Alder and allow you to get back to this celebration” Doctor Figure smiled giving the baby back to Tommy.

“Take her down to meet her uncles, I bet they can’t wait to meet her” I smiled at Tommy as I got comfortable on the bed. It was only now that my worry and fear for his safety and the unexpected birth of my daughter had started to settle, did I realise, I was exhausted.

“Are you sure?” Tommy asked eyeing the doctor once more.

“I’m sure Tommy, go introduce her and when I’m done here we can discuss some names for her. Maybe. If you wanted…” I trail off, biting my lip slightly waiting for his response.

“Absolutely” Tommy nodded, taking our daughter from the room to go and meet the rest of the family.

This was going to be a new start for us. Campbell was dead. We no longer had his threat looming over us. Yes, we still had the Italians to contend with but nothing more had come from it for months. I was starting to fall into a false sense of security but I couldn’t help it.

I had my own family now. I wanted to believe this was it. My happiness was finally starting.

Taglist

@shelbyteller @seleneshelby @forgottenpeakywriter @babayaga67 @sweetmilkshakeluminary @slutforcoffein @sydneyyyya @happysparklingshadows @margew76   @midnightmagpiemama  @pierre-gasssllyy  @duckybird101 @muhahaha303 @thenattitude  @dolllol2405

Anyone wanting on or off the tag list please just let me know💙

[bangtanhoneys]

Bangtan Baby: And the name is?

There were three months to go. 

That’s what the calendar kept saying as the days were ticked off by the boys each time they happened to appear near it. 

Three months to go until the Bangtan Baby would arrive. And said Bangtan Baby had no name yet, which is why it was constantly referred to as ‘bb’ or ‘she.’ A niece with six eagerly awaiting uncles, grandparents, extended family and millions of fans across the world who were counting down the time with them. 

Grace was currently stretched out, feet in Jin’s lap as he kneaded away the aches and pains while trying to keep the swelling down. They had just finished rehearsals, though there had been no dancing on Grace’s part or much singing but she had been there every day as if she was participating. 

No rehearsal had gone unmissed even with her being so pregnant. 

“British or Korean?” Jin suddenly asked, glancing over to where the boys were going over a few things then towards his partner. 

“Hmm?” she asked, eyes focusing from where they had just about to doze off. 

“Do you want her to be called a British or Korean name?” Jin clarified, grinning slightly as he dug his fingers in harder. 

“I don’t know. I kind of want to see what she looks like when she comes but at the same time, I’m getting fed up with calling her bb every minute,” Grace sighed then sighed even more when tattooed hands started massaging her shoulders. “You know, this I could get used to when I’m back.”

There was a typical Kookie giggle and another little giggle, a bit sweeter as a plate of fruit was balanced carefully on her pregnant stomach. 

“Thanks Jimin.”

“No problem noona. What discussion are we having?” he asked, sitting down next to his Seokjin-hyung and wrapping an arm loosely around broad shoulders.

“Whether we’re naming bb with a Korean or British name,” the father explained. 

“Have you got anything in particular in mind?” Namjoon asked, straddling one of the chairs he had brought over with phone in hand, pregnancy app at the ready. He had been tracking each day, each week, each month as it arrived. 

“I mean, my parents gave me my British name first then had it translated to Korean,” Grace threw in around a mouthful of grapes. “Grace then Hea. You all have Korean names, with no English equivalent. Seagull doesn’t count,” she added with a pointed finger to Taehyung as he joined the conversation. 

“Well she could be sunshine as she’ll bring a lot of light to our lives,” Hobi suggested then yelped when Yoongi gave him a slight shove. “You want her to be named after you.”

“Well she hasn’t got many choices,” Hobi threw back. “Hope would be a lovely name.”

“Borahae.”

“We purple you too,” came the reaction of seven others. 

“No,” Jungkook paused and then laughed. “No, Bora. Borahae. Like ARMY tells us and like we tell ARMY. She’s become ARMY’s number one fan without even being here. So why not Bora?”

Seokjin paused and glanced over to Grace. There was a single thought passed between them:

Perfect.

[zablife]

Lily

Tommy x Lily Shelby (OC)

Summary: Tommy attempts to deal with the aftermath of his wife and daughter's kidnapping.

Author's Note: Written for @runnning-outof-time 3K celebration Tales from the Flower Garden with the prompt "Promise you'll come back to me." Congratulations again, K!!

Warnings: heavy angst, mention of blood, child death, mention of murder, trauma, anxiety, catatonia, fighting, drinking

“Kill…kill…kill,” the words fell from her lips in haunting whispers. The only words she spoke since returning from the clutches of the Changretta family, covered in blood. There was so much it caked in her hair and under fingernails. She’d done terrible things, but exactly what transpired was locked inside her mind forever, the price she’d paid to return to Tommy far too great to be revealed. 

“You’re the only one who was there. What happened, Arthur?” Tommy begged to know. It was the question he’d asked day after day, but Arthur had been high on snow that night in the warehouse and the painful memory was erased in the white abyss. 

“Told ya, Tom, it was over when I got to her,” Arthur explained, reaching for the whiskey on the sideboard to stop the aching in his head. Tommy grabbed Arthur’s arm, stopping him with a dangerous glare.

“Have you lost your fucking mind, eh? My daughter’s dead and my wife’s a fucking ghost,” Tommy spat, shoving Arthur into the wall with all the force he could muster. “I won’t ask again. What do you remember?” he shouted, trembling with emotion.

Arthur struggled under Tommy’s iron like grip as he repeated Tommy’s words from the night his sister-in-law and niece were kidnapped. “Do it…do it or else they kill your daughter. Lily knew it was the only way.” 

“My fucking orders…” Tommy muttered as he released his brother from his grasp, stumbling backward as the guilt crushing his chest made it difficult to draw breath. 

“May God forgive ya,” Arthur said, looking at the ground. He wanted peace for his brother, but knew that was impossible. The vendetta Tommy and Luca had started was to blame for all the turmoil and nothing would change that now. 

Tommy rubbed a hand over his eyes as he exhaled a shaky breath. “You think anyone would forgive me now? Would you?” 

“Forgiveness is out of my hands,” Arthur said numbly, looking out toward the garden where Lily sat still as a statue. “It’s not for us to decide.”

Polly walked into the study at that moment, determined to pull Tommy from his work and back to his duties as a husband. “Tommy, you should go to her,” she urged, but he only stared out the window at his wife’s motionless profile. 

“And say what Pol?” he asked, shoulders slumped forward in defeat. 

“You don’t have to say anything. She just needs to know that you’re there,” she advised. It was the only thing anyone could do until Lily decided to return to them. However, she needed the support of her family.

The servants were doing most of the work caring for Lily because Tommy was too afraid to go near, worried he might inflict more damage on her tortured soul. As it was his wife screamed through the night and unless someone took her outdoors in the fresh air, she'd claw the walls until her fingers bled.

Tommy turned with a nod, acknowledging he’d heard his aunt’s words and shuffled toward the doorway to the gardens. Inhaling a deep breath at the threshold, he took a step onto the lush green grass and began a path toward his wife, squinting in the bright afternoon sunshine. He couldn’t deny the lovely warmth he felt on his face, but the aching dread in the pit of his stomach held off any pleasure he felt at the sensation. 

As he approached the bench where Lily sat, he hesitated momentarily. Although she hadn’t attempted it, she looked beautiful. Frances had dressed her like a china doll in a gown he'd chosen for her because she lacked the capacity to decide for herself. Her hair was fastened in a loose braid to keep her locks from her face and Tommy longed to stroke it, smelling the lavender bath salts she used.

God how he missed pressing her against his body, feeling her skin on his when he awoke, and wondered if she might feel the same. Since her return, she slept in a separate room. Tommy reminded himself it was best for her recovery. Her screams the first night she was home were proof she wanted nothing to do with him and why he had retreated instantly, so as not to make the pain worse. She was so fragile now, he worried one touch from him might break her.

Her back was ridged as he drew close, shoulders pulled backward tightly as though someone had forced her into position and her distant stare made him ill at the sight of her. She looked more like a waxwork than a human being. Tommy carefully took a seat next to her, leaving a small distance between them as he swallowed harshly. Did she even know he was there? he wondered. 

Then she stirred ever so slightly, hands raising from her sides to rest in her lap daintily and her head moved to glance over her shoulder. Her eyes didn’t fix on him, but Tommy knew she spied him from the corner of her eye and he cleared his throat to speak. The words would not come to him as his heart thundered in his chest. How could he apologize for what had happened? All that she had suffered because of him? 

A gentle breeze blew through the garden, lifting a few wisps of hair from her neck momentarily and Tommy caught the scent of her perfume mixed with the flowers from the garden. It was an intoxicating mix that reminded him of their days as newlyweds, caught up in the passion of early romance. They’d stroll the gardens after dinner and when the mood struck, he'd pull her into the flowerbeds, crushing the delicate petals as they made love. Lily chided Tommy for ruining her efforts at growing a proper garden, but secretly loved his affections. He smiled at the memory, but it was soon carried away as the breeze died down and he noticed his wife’s eyes staring back at him. 

“Lily? Darling, can you hear me?” he asked hopefully, slipping one large hand under both of hers. “I want to tell you something," he began hesitantly, tucking the loose strands of hair behind her ear. When she didn't flinch, he continued earnestly, "I know you weren’t meant to be with a man like me. This isn’t the life you deserved and there are things I regret, but nothing more than leaving you to defend our daughter by yourself. Whatever happened with the Changrettas, I hope you’ll be able to forgive me one day." He searched her eyes for understanding, a lump forming in his throat as he choked, "It’s all my fault and I’d do anything to have you back.” Tommy’s eyes welled with tears as he spoke the words he hadn’t said out of fear or pride, but thought a thousand times before.

Lily’s chin raised slightly, lower lip twitching as though she would begin speaking at any moment and Tommy held his breath, anxiously waiting for her reply. Squeezing her hands gently, he noticed a slight change in the brightness of her eyes and he ran his thumb across the back of her hand to encourage her. However, after several minutes, no sound came from her parted lips and he sighed in agonizing defeat. Making one last desperate plea, he begged, “I can’t live without you, Lily. Promise you’ll come back to me.”

Continue reading their story here- Windflowers.

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

Tag List:

@peakyswritings

@evita-shelby

@shelbydelrey

@alanadetigy

@wandawiccan60   

@severewobblerlightdragon

@lovemissyhoneybee

@theshelbyslimited

@kittycatcait219

@callsign-fangirl

@notyour-valentine

@theshelbyclan

@areyenotfondofmelobster

@polishcrazyone

@elenavampire21

@little-diable

@cillmequick

@raincoffeeandfandoms

@dandelionprints

@look-at-the-soul

@kpopgirlbtssvt

@celticmelody

@l1-l4

@rangerelik

@floraroselaughter

@moral-terpitude

@dreamlandcreations

@babayaga67

@kmhappybunny240

@allie131313

@babaohhhriley

@springsteens

[cosmiclove-heavenstruck]

My Not So Short Ramble About The Bear Season 3

(Spoilers: Ehhh, I did not really like it... I do like this frame though:)

I did kinda not so feel this season of The Bear, but let‘s start with what I liked: The Tina-centric episode was one of the best in my opinion (and directed by Ayo? Let's go, queen). She‘s a lovely character and to see her journey and how she got to The Beef and Mikey was very heartfelt and warming. It was also very nice to see Ebra happy again after he felt so out of place last season. And it‘s always good to have Olivia Coleman on my screen.

There were some fun moments. The Fak brothers are funny (to an extent), Richie and his daughter are super sweet, so there’s that. I like when all these characters clash, when things go wrong, when they scream at each other, when tensions get high and they need to achieve something. A show like this needs this energy.

Unfortunately, there is barely any engery this season.

This season was very slow. Look, I don‘t mind focusing on specific characters and getting to know them, but a whole episode dedicated to Sugar and her mom in the hospital because the baby‘s coming just for it to… not really go anywhere? Yes, some dialogue was really good but we don't leave the hospital room for 90% of the episode and they're just not strong enough to carry that. There wasn't even a big reunion, not even Carmy calling Sugar back, you know since she left pregnant and just didn‘t come back?? She could be in labor in Home Depot isle three, for all you know! Yeah, he‘s stressed and ill and all but that‘s his sister! Did he ever call her? Did he go see his niece? Why the fuck is it Sydney that cooks them food and brings it over and he isn‘t even shown talking to his sister once? (I mean, I know, Sdyney‘s great and she and Natalie are tight so that was sweet of her, but you get my point.) It just makes me so mad. There should have been a breakdown at the restaurant when they noticed! Hello, everybody loves Sugar! You'd be fucked without her. And y'all send her to get paper towels and don't give a flying fuck that she doesn't come back? This could have been a moment of peace between Richie and Carmy. The whole family should've been at the hospital. Instead it's... two Fak brothers. And even if they missed it, why couldn't Carmy go along with Syd to make up for his mistake? His love language is cooking and he and Sugar seemed so close the last two seasons so why never mention their relationship again?

While I mentioned I liked seeing Ebra happy again, I wish we'd gotten more of his character. In the beginning, it felt like they'd just sidelined him because he doesn't fit the high cuisine or whatever. Then he gets some support by some other guys but and yeah, he is happy and I love that, but it feels like the creators just wanted to get him out of the way even though the window business makes the only money in this hell house? He's fucking important to this success so treat him like it!

Montages and aesthetic shots of food cannot fill all the season (well, apparently, they can) because that‘s not storytelling. Yes, I want to see the food, but I don‘t need ten flashbacks and montages and slowmotion shots per episode. Speaking of flashbacks — what is it with Claire? Why are we doing this? Why would Carmy pine after her for months? She is so… bland, watered down — almost like a canvas for people who fancy JAW/Carmy to imagine themselves as Claire. It feels fanfiction-y, right? "You‘re a nurse and went to high school with Carmy but loose track of one another…" The Bear is capable of interesting, real-feeling characters so it‘s sad to see the screentime get wasted for her when all I want to see is what's happening in the restaurant.

What I mean is, this season was slow. Way too slow. There was so much time wasted on nothing that could‘ve been cut. Like the Natalie-goes-into-labor-episode and most of the first one as well, to be honest. The points that were supposed to come across to the viewer — how Carmy becomes this stressed out, shouting, cold chef high on perfectionism fighting with past desicions and getting a star for the restaurant, how that affected the whole staff, how it fucks up Sydney because he becomes so much like his former chef — they could have been better wrapped, a bit quicker paced. Have the funeral of the Ever more mid-season, have the surprise review consequences NOW and not just as flashes so I have to pause the episode to read anything/leave it hanging on a cliffhanger, have Syd fucking explode for once and tell Carmy how it is, how he is turning into the asshole he hates. Make it extra bad by having a conversation between the two earlier in the season on how bad it was for Carmy and not her "learning" about his past at the funeral dinner. Make her leave. Make him regret what he's done, make him feel what he's missing.

Really, I was yelling at Syd to leave through the last few episodes. Leave, get out, work at a different restaurant, find a new environment. Carmy doesn‘t need to have wallow in his feelings for minute on end on how he should apologize to Claire, he should apologize to Sydney and Richie and everyone he‘s stressing out so much. If Sydney only leaves by the end of season 4 I‘ll riot.

I don't even want to say I'm not hoping for anything to happen between Syd and Carmy, like I actively need them to get away from each other as of right now. But! I liked the call-back to the "best meal Sydney's ever had" and that that was the one time Carmy decided to go his own way and not follow the instructions of his chef. Which is why the theme of being haunted could've fit so well with them! It's just a joke in the beginning by the Faks, but then Sydney leaves The Bear and Carmy feels actually haunted by her. Doesn't even have to be romantic. The potential was there.

Some other smaller things: 1. The timing was so hard to tell. They should've worked with different lightnings or make it less confusing, but as it is now, I was constantly questioning myself when this took place. 2. I can't really complain about the casting of so many actual chefs because I just don't recognize them (oops, sorry) but while I liked to see the different dynamics between them and Carmy at least, it feels so rude to all the POC characters in the kitchen working their asses off and not getting any plot lines. 3. Again, again nothing really happens. I said it up there somewhere, if you'd cut the montages and flashbacks and filler stuff, how much plot are you really left with? When I think of all the important points that happened, they should not take ten episodes to show.

This could've been beautiful. But now it's just the bad kind of messy.

[byllsbytch]

Baking Baddies PT 1

BTW I'm an artist - commissions are open for cartoon cake drawings hit me up����

Today was Nikki’s, my niece, 4th birthday. My little bub was growing way too fast.

I woke up and went to go make me and Tom a coffee. He was still asleep but by the time he woke up the coffee wouldn’t be too hot. I laid back in bed next to Tom. Staring at the way his chest rose and fell. Looking so peaceful.

Finally, I grabbed my phone to ring my sister. After a bit of ringing she finally picked up and my little sweetheart was on the otherside of the phone enjoying her pancakes.

“Happy Birthday Bub!” I exclaimed.

She looked at me tilting her head and flashing me her cheeky grin.

“Good morning Arty!”

“and pancakes for breakfast, what a very lucky girl!”

“Yuh huh! Look! Strawberry!” She pointed her minnie mouse fork at me.

“Yummy!” I replied, trying not to wake up Tom next to me. Which failed.

“Are you going to say thank you for your birthday wishes?” Asked my sister.

“Tank yew!” She yelled, causing tom to shift besides me.

He rustled in the sheets then shuffled behind me, spooning me.

Tom’s head appeared over my shoulder as he looked into the camera.

“Happy Happy Birthday Nikki!” Tom chirped.

Nikki’s attention was fixated on the TV show playing in the background.

“Hey, Bum Bum!” Tom called, turning Nikki’s head to the phone as she cackled.

“I said Happy Birthday Gorgeous!”

“Tank yew Uncle Tommy”

“Whoa! You must be a big girl now, you’re using your fork!” He joked.

“Show me what you got Hun.” I said to her and she immediatey got up, her little footsteps echoing out the speaker.

Tom planted kisses on my cheek and neck while we waited for Nikki to come back. His hand on my lower back.

After sometime she finally came back wearing fairy wings and clomping in princess heels a pile of toys in her arms.

Me and Tom chuckled to ourselves.

“Look! You give them outfits!” Nikki said.

She showed us a metal tray with princesses on it and they had different magnetic clothes to stick on them.

“Woah! Thats so cool!”

“Yeah! I also got puzzles, teddies, colour books and a tea pot!"

I sat with a surprised expression. While Toms mouth was open.

“Wow! I think we gotta have a tea party Nik with you new tea set." Tom said.

“Show them your favourite toy Nik.” My sister whispered.

She ran off again and was back instantly with a pink pram and little baby doll in it.

“Look my baby!” She yelled, “Her name Minnie!”

“Nawe like Minnie Mouse.”

“Yeah, you know!”

We all lost her attention again as she sat shoving the dolls dummy into her mouth then back in to the dolls mouth.

My sister turned the phone to herself.

“So, since you guys are the best Arty and Uncle Tommy, could you guys please buy a cake mix and make it for Nik’s party?”

“Shit, yeah of course. What happened to the baker?”

“He got his dates wrong and hasn’t even started making the cake. But I’d appreciate it if you could just get one thing off my mind while I finish trying to set up for the party soon.”

“Yeah sounds good, what a dick though, how much was he charging?”

“Like $120”

“Yeah nah, I’d be getting my deposit back and telling him to kiss it.”

“Well, that’s the least of my problems at the moment Y/N.”

“Oh, your right. Me and Tom will get this cake ready then we’ll still head over as early as we can to see the princess and give her her presents.”

“Awesome, well I just need to put up the decorations and obviously do the balloons when you guys get here. Start cooking food…” She started mumbling to herself her checklist.

“SHIT!” She yelled.

“What’s up?”

“I HAVEN’T EVEN STARTED ON THE PARTY BAGS!”

“It’s fine! I’ll go get some lollies and toys to put in the bags and me and Y/N will make them too.” Tom stood in.

“Oh my gosh! Life savers, I have no clue where my head’s gone. I think I’m just loosing it because my baby isn’t a baby anymore. Well I’ll let you guys go, got heaps to do.”

She quickly hung up before we could speak and I put my phone back on charge. Turning to face Tom.

“Good morning babe.” I smiled, kissing him on his forehead, nose, lips then chin - a daily ritual.

“Good Morning Schönheit (beauty)” He hummed.

We laid in an embrace before I broke it and handed his coffee.

“Mmm, perfect.” He chimed.

I walked to the kitchen and began to get all the ingredients

[theroyalbard]

**October 15th, 2016 - Spokane Washington**

I was staring at the sunlit streaked oak door with my ear buds in my ears and a double barrel shot gun in my hands. My sister was gonna be pissed if she came back from her camping trip to find silver buckshot imbedded into her daughters wall..I had Molly go out to the backyard with her brother to play while I mulled over how much I might be losing my mind.

Not over the idea that there was some horrible thing huddled next to my niece American girl dolls. I could hear the thing now, even as the song “Pocket full of sunshine” was blasting in my nock off AirPods. No I was loosing it over how stupid i was being going at this alone. If it was a vamp..I could probably get by, especially if it was young, weak, and stupid. But if I was staring down a kappa or even a blood fiend I might have some issues.

I had quit professional monster hunting 2 years ago and hadn’t planned on going back. But the universe loved throwing me curve balls so I guessed it was on me for trying.

I turned up the music in my headphones and kicked the door open with my Birkenstock sandals. Before me sat an older looking man..somewhere in his 70s dressed in a baseball cap and a Hawaiian shirt, he was missing a an arm and his skin was falling off in chunks. My shot gun barrel came up right as the undead launched itself at me, a Polly pocket car still grasped in its hands as the buckshot ripped through its head. It dropped as i backed up, my knees buckled as I hit mollys bed, sitting down to watch the creature struggling to get up, the silver making it hard for it to pull itself back together.

I dropped the shotgun and flipped my phone open to change the song. Sunlight wasn’t really going to work on this thing. I ended up settling on the song “Let it go” from the Frozen movie Molly liked so much. I personally liked the actress that sang this song in wicked the musical but the song did serve my needs. As the song played I tried to visualize myself shooting snow at the now wriggling corpse. Slowly the monsters body started to freeze and crack as it tried to move, casing the creature to remain still.

I thought about calling this in to local authorities but realized how much paperwork that was going to require..I sighed and flipped the phone contacts to the number that wouldn’t question how the zombie was frozen solid in a 76 degree room. And wouldn’t try and get on my case about leaving former profession when my “Musical talents” started to become a liability for my team.

“Hello? MHI? I have a report of a possible undead outbreak.”

[blueisquitetired]

“What Went Missing” and “Things Lost and Found” unholy fusion.

You should probably read them both to understand everything, but tldr: Colress does some mind control

With guest appearances of my friends from discord! Including the author of “What Went Missing” herself- @the-digital-pen !

Emmet gets mind controlled, while in a separate universe Akari also gets mind controlled. But uh oh! Turns out Akari got sent to the incorrect future. Thankfully, benevolent Arceus sets her right…. While accidentally sending Colress with her. Now there’s two Colress’s with two brainwashed trainers and yup. The Colress’s are pretty jazzed about having someone to match their intellect and compare notes to each other.

Anyway, the two mind controlled trainers fixes one major problem in Colress #2’s plan- the fact he has to take care of a sniveling brat. It’s so easy! Just a bit of rewiring and there! Now she thinks Emmet is her dad. Emmet is given the vague task of “take care of her” when he’s not doing other stuff and now their hands are free to do science in peace.

And now Emmet has to to “take care of” a kid.

Of course, behind all the mind control, Emmet is a good human being so “take care of her” means things like: make sure she’s getting three meals a day, give the child physical affection, tell the child that she is loved, ask about how the child is doing, etc etc. He’s still super out of it and mostly going through the motions, but Akari is literally programmed not to notice and is pretty okay with this.

Other fun things include: because of the fact she calls him Dad, Emmet has slowly been internalizing that since it aligns with the orders he has been given. As far as his staticky brain is concerned he is both a shadow and her dad. not Emmet of course He also doesn’t know her name because no one bothered to tell him (the Colress’s just call her “the child” so he also calls her “the child”) (which slowly shifts to “my child” over time)

He also is getting pretty close to her subconsciously, the little bits of Emmet that are still in there are slowly growing to love his daughter verrrrry much. which makes it difficult when she starts to loose herself over time, both the part of him that cares and the “take care of her” part of him being lowkey distressed about her decline

(Also, imagine Emmet being ordered to hurt/kill her and has a psychotic break where he just crumples)

In the end Ingo would obviously get them out like in Pen’s fic- but now there’s an extra layer of Emmet’s early recovery days just constantly asking after his daughter (he keeps getting out of his hospital bed to find her and they usually have to transfer her over to his bed to get him to stay down)

Also, poor Ingo. Both his brother and daughter are mentally destroyed- and both are under the impression that Emmet is Akari’s dad. And while he’s glad Emmet was taking care of her, he definitely has complicated feelings about the replacement. And Emmet has to have the same crisis when he recovers enough to realize that his kid isn’t actually his

Also, I imagine in the relatively early days Akari releases all their Pokémon when they sleep and Emmet let’s her because that’s not breaking any orders, so they sleep in a big fluff pile that probably helps the mental well being of Emmet’s poor pokemon

For extra angst points consider: Emmet recovers a bit faster then Akari so he gets to be conscious while his (daughter?? Niece???) is completely out of it mentally

Extra extra angst: even after things get better Akari’s brain was so screwed up she legitimately can never tell them apart- even when they where different clothes. So they’re both just Dad to her- the nebulous entity that is both Ingo and Emmet

(Yes I use light mode. It’s funnier this way)

Emmet, wandering around the plasma frigate:

Colress: what are you doing

Emmet: looking for my child

Colress (kinda thrown about the MY part): uh… okay. Why?

Emmet: it is dinner time. She need to eat dinner

Colress (marveling at the strange scientific self evolving disaster he has created): ….she’s out. You can wait for her in your room

Emmet then precedes to sit in his room staring at a wall for six hours as he waits for his daughter to get home

Drayden: he only responds to either shadow or Dad. We chose the lesser of two evils

Emmet, who was checked into the hospital yesterday and just woke up for the first time: where’s my child it’s dinner time

Five nurses and Ingo trying to hold him down: Sir please

Nurse: you need to lay down

Emmet: where is my child teenagers need sleep

Nurse, sobbing: please

Someone grabs Akari from her own hospital bed and puts her on his and THEN he stays down

Emmet keeps getting up in the middle of the night because Akari told him she doesn’t like sleeping alone- hence why they sleep together in a giant Pokémon cuddle pile

Even when they’re in the same room the nurses have to pry him out of Akari’s hospital bed every morning

[autumn-foxfire]

The Spider Mansion Case! Probably one of the more sadder cases around due to why it happened T-T

Heiji, do you like Kazuha? Why are you angry she wants to spend time with you?

Shinichi is so going to be used to sitting on people's laps when he's got his original body back. He's going to climb into a car and try and sit on people's laps and won't even realise it's wrong. Kaito would enjoy it though XD Also being held around the waist by people.

I know they're whispering and people won't actually hear them but due to the fact that they keep the volume at the same level as normal speaking, it's quite funny to imagine everyone hearing the head of the house say that they might be the ones who murdered the brother.

Having no social skills is a detective thing, it seems XD

"The kid is jealous," Or maybe, Kazuha, you are in a new place and there have been mutliple deaths that you've been sent to investigate so giving her a phone would actually be a smart idea. Gosho, do you not know how humans work? I'm genuinely asking? Shinichi doesn't have to get jealous over everything. I'd say have you not heard a thing about trust but we know Shinichi doesn't trust Ran <.<

Let's have the teenager use the axe to open the door!

Hey, better assistant than a hindrance Shinichi!

A murderer is loose in the mansion! What better thing to do than look for something you've lost! Ran and Kazuha aren't stupid, Gosho, so why are you making them stupid. Oh, because Shinichi bought it her <.< Of course.

PLEASE DO TAKE HER AWAY FROM SHINICHI, KAZUHA. SHE REALLY NEEDS TO BE AND GIVEN A NICE RELATIONSHIP WITH A PERSON WHO ACTUALLY TRUSTS HER. PREFERABLY WITH A WOMEN BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW THAT'S WHAT SHE ACTUALLY LIKES.

Also stupid shit like this wouldn't happen <.<

A murder is loose and we don't know who it is! Lets just leave my friend alone in the rain! Nothing bad can happen!

Shinichi has such sharp hearing, it's so weird they also want him to be tone deaf too. They are so inconsistent with this. He knows music until he doesn't! He's tone deaf but he's also got the sharpest hearing out of he cast! Just say he can't sing Gosho (A gag we know was born because Conan is voiced by a singer).

Also, Ran, why didn't you INFORM ANYONE, instead of crying in the goddamn garage. I usually avoid insulting Ran but she was so stupid it genuinely pisses me off. She did get into this horrible situation but it wasn't just your fault Ran, Kazuha was just as fucking stupid and I am angry about it. Let's dumb down the girls so the boys can be affected by there terrible decisions for drama! The misogyny is so goddamn blatant it makes me furious.

Boys, this is called sexual assault. I don't care if it's for evidence, you don't just try and strip a person like that. It's not funny either Gosho (sorry I'm already in a mood due to the previous writing in this case).

To amuse myself, I love it when they cut to Conan talking in Kogoro's voice and this grizzled voice comes out of a seven year old. Yes, he's been smoking since he was born. His father taught him in Hawaii.

"Unusually upset," no, Shinichi, people can be close to their nieces and nephews and will burst into tears at funerals. That's kind of normal.

Well, that mother has egg on her face, doesn't she.

Shinichi not wanting Heiji to tell Robert the truth due to the man's own fragile sense of mind... Knowing that it could lead to a situation that would end in his death, but Heiji being too mad at his lack of care towards others making him say it... While they are similar, they are different too.