#So yeah he's been pottying out in the living room which makes me upset too

[dewitty1]

Saturday Six (Stuff)

There's white bullshite (aka snow) falling, and we hates it.(¬д¬。)

My cat lady customer was very sweet, and paid full price for a mix up that happened years ago, but took her forever to get back to me about getting it done, so eff yeah! o((*^▽^*))o

Mr Boots kitty is having a hard time with the new pine pellet cat box, so we have to compromise and hide it in the old covered box, and see how that works. (^・ω・^ )

Idk if I'm happy or sad that I'm not going to be decorate for Xmas.（’-’*)

My Dude (@super-ultra-mega-kami-guru-blog) and I have concluded that we can be bumbling idiots. Lol... Like we're both smart, but damn are we forgetful and, just plain dumb sometimes. It's like we're related or something lol. ＼(^▽^＠)ノ

It's seasonal depression time, which means I'm back on watching comfort shows/movies, and barely any new stuff. But I have a ton on my list. Ugh.ヾ(*´ー`)ノ

[randomshyperson]

Left Behind - Chapter 8 - Fine Line

Gif was made by my friend @abimess

Summary: The one where you lived in the apartment under the Maximoff family in Sokovia, or, your journey as a Sokovian civilian to Avenger.

Warnings: (+16) Violence, fighting, cursing, civil war environments, abuse of power, assault, torture, underage kissing, psychological torture, substance use, mention of assault/fighting of children, smut, kissing, teasing, insinuation of sexual and moral harassment, verbal offenses.

Words: 4.183K

A/N> I have no idea. Good reading.

All Works Masterlist || Read on AO3 || Series Masterlist

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Chapter 8 - Fine Line

As soon as the jet landed on the compound, things started to change.

Nick Fury was waiting for the Avengers at the entrance, and you exchanged a look with Natasha as you walked alongside everyone.

"I would like the twins to attend this meeting." Nick asks as soon as Steve leads the team into the office. You sit down next to Bucky on the couch in the common room, and he looks at you, as if wondering if you were going to contradict the other man, but you are looking at the Maximoffs.

Wanda and Pietro nod in understanding, and you try to give a reassuring smile when the girl looks at you, but it doesn't seem to help much as she just looks away and walks inside with her brother.

"What do you think they're talking about?" You ask a few minutes after you and Bucky are left alone. The winter soldier sighs lightly.

"Ultron, of course." He says. "Nick will want to know everything the twins have on him since they were working together. And I think some legal questions about them being here, like we did with you."

"Do you think they will want to become Avengers?" You ask a moment later, twiddling your fingers anxiously. Bucky gives a little smile.

"Depends on how much Tony talks."

You laugh, leaning back against the armchair.

"Maybe that will take a while, wanna eat something?" Bucky asks next, and you glance at the meeting room door before muttering, "Sure."

You and Bucky stand up toward the kitchen counter and he reaches into the cupboards, pulling out some ingredients as you prop your elbow on the counter.

"I'm going to make my secret recipe." He comments with a smile, taking two plates and placing them on the wood. "Grab some cheese for us?"

"Sure." You reply as you walk over to the refrigerator.

For the next few minutes, you watch Bucky prepare what resembles a cheese sandwich, but which he calls the Barnes secret recipe, but which is only different about the tomato and the fact that he heats the bread with oregano.

"Are you sure about that?" You ask as you watch him put on even more oregano. Bucky laughs lightly and then closes the bread, handing you one piece and taking the other.

"Come on, tell me what you think." He asks and you grimace uncertainly still biting into it. It is surprisingly good tasting, but deciding to tease him, you don't smile and the man looks at you wide-eyed.

"Dammit, pal, I don't think that turned out so good." You start and he takes a quick bite of the sandwich, and realizing you were joking, he nudges you lightly as he chews, making you laugh.

"Idiot." He grumbles but ends up laughing too.

You are in the middle of laughing when the meeting ends. Distracted by the interaction, you don't see the Avengers leaving the room, much less notice the way Wanda quickly catches the scene of you and Bucky laughing, and misinterprets it all.

"Barnes' secret recipe? Do you still have any for me?" Steve asks as he approaches, and you look at the Avengers who have entered the kitchen, scanning around for Wanda, but she is looking at the floor.

"I'll make one for you." Bucky says as the captain sits down on one of the stools. "Are you going to tell us what happened in there?"

Steve smiles, propping his elbow on the potty.

"For the current time, you guys are looking at the new two members of the Avengers." He counters and you widen your eyes, looking immediately at the twins. Pietro matches your excitement, but all you get from Wanda is a quick, almost annoyed look.

You leave your unfinished sandwich on your plate, and thank Bucky before walking over to the twins.

"Can we talk?" You ask them half-heartedly.

"Of c-

"Are you sure you're not busy?" Wanda interrupts her brother halfway through, crossing her arms. You frown in confusion, but Natasha approaches you.

"Why don't you show them the compound, Y/N?" She suggests with a smile. "They're going to be your door-mates too."

"Okay." You agree and exchange a look with Pietro before waving the direction where they should follow you.

It takes a few minutes to show them around, but you ensured that if they ever got lost, all they had to do was call out "Jarvis" who was already restored to the compound, plus there were maps in every corridor.

And then you led them to the hallway of rooms, and Pietro was the first door.

"I guess that's you." You say, and Pietro takes out the magnetic key he must have gotten from Fury in the briefing room to open the door.

You let the twins in first, and then follow them with your hands in your pockets, smiling at the impressed hiss Pietro gives.

"I know, it's fancy." You comment and he gives a short laugh, looking around.

"I never thought I'd be under the same roof as Tony Stark." He speaks and you bite the inside of your cheek, looking away to the floor.

"Yeah, me neither."

Have a moment of silence as they look around until Wanda, who is standing with her arms crossed and beside her brother, looks at you.

"Did you talk to him?" She asks. "About... Sokovia?"

You sigh lightly.

"I kind of did." You say. "Tony is... difficult. There' s not much to say about it if you ask me. I learned about how he had no idea that Stark Industries bankrolled the war, because he was busy spending his own fortune."

"Great guy." Pietro mutters and you give a weak little smile.

"Yeah, I know." You continue. "I'm sorry about that. I know you guys always wanted to find him and make him pay, but he didn't even know about the whole thing."

You shift the weight of your feet, and then sigh. "I know that doesn't change anything, but he apologized. And then he made me a suit, and let me stay here."

"You're right, it doesn't change or fix anything." Wanda retorts, but her gaze softens, "But, it's a start."

"And now we promise to help defeat Ultron." Pietro adds and you shake your head.

"What did Nick Fury say to convince you guys?" You ask with mild amusement and Pietro laughs, exchanging a quick glance with his sister.

"Your name." Wanda replies and you stop laughing because you feel your heart race, and your face heat up at the intensity of her gaze. Pietro seems to find the whole interaction amusing.

"W-what?"

"It doesn't matter. Can I see my room now?" Wanda asks quickly, already walking away to leave. You exchange a quick glance with Pietro, who just shrugs and then follows Wanda down the hall.

"Is this the one?" she asks as she stops next door and you shake your head.

"No, I'm in the middle." You clarify. "Yours is next."

She gives a smile as she looks at your door.

"I've never been in a room that was yours."

"That's because I've never had a room of my own before." You comment with a chuckle. "Wanna take a look?"

Wanda glances at you and then nods. You move closer to open the door, and try to ignore the way your heart races and your hands tremble because Wanda doesn't move aside and you have to lean in to open the lock.

She walks in as soon as the door opens, and you follow her in silence, trying not to look so affected.

"I think I just have the stuff the Avengers gave me here." You explain as you watch Wanda look around. "Not that I had anything in Sokovia."

Most of the rooms in the tower had a pattern of furnishings, and colors. As they became more comfortable, the team members would add their own personality to the room. In the short time you stayed with them, the most you had were sweaters with the team logo all over the place, or training shoes. There were also, however, drawings. And Wanda noticed.

"What are these?" She asks as she reaches for the small notebook on the armchair. You ran your hand through your hair shyly.

"A hobbie, I guess." You count with a smile. "It's new, it's...therapeutic, I think that's the word."

Wanda looks at you curiously.

"Since I've been here, I've had some trouble getting relaxed." You explain and Wanda frowns slightly. "So Bucky suggested finding a hobby of some sort."

"Who is Bucky?"

"The guy with the metal arm." You say and continue talking, not noticing the way Wanda squeezes the sketchbook a little too hard. "Since we've been through similar experiences, he figured that what his therapist taught him would probably help me too. He cooks, and I draw."

"Got it." Wanda murmurs, shifting her gaze to the notebook again. She opens it and looks at the pages carefully, smiling at some of the drawings. "When you say, similar experiences, what do you mean?"

You hesitate. Wanda doesn't know all about it. Everything you went through to get there. You wonder if you would like her to know.

"Maybe that's something for another time." You say as you look away and she looks upset.

"You used to tell me everything."

"Maybe there are things you don't need to know."

Wanda stares at you with her jaw locked. You look back, not sure what it is exactly that you're trying to hide.

You give in, with a soft sigh. You have waited so long to see them, only to have this strange nervous tension between you two.

Running a hand through your hair, you gesture to Wanda to return your notebook.

"Let me take you to your room..."

"No need, next door right? I'll be fine." She interrupts angrily, tossing the notebook into your hand.

"Wanda..."

But she's out of the room before you're done. You take a deep breath, staring at the notebook in your hands. Wanda never got to see the drawings you made of her.

Figuring that you should give them time to settle into their rooms, and take a shower after a mission like that, you return the notebook to your desk and decide to do the same.

With luck, you will be able to talk properly to each other in no time.

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Wanda and Pietro joining the team, seemed to have been the essential advantage for the Avengers to be ahead of Ultron.

Once you were back in the common room, Natasha handed you a mug of coffee while making a joke about Tony bragging about deciphering Ultron's entire plan, and you just laughed when she commented that it was easy to decipher when the twins had already shared the key information.

"We're going to Korea early tomorrow morning." She counters. "I think Steve wants to know if you're still going to be a part of it."

"Why wouldn't I?" You ask confused and she raises an eyebrow.

"You found your friends." She retorts and you sigh.

"Oh, yeah." You say. "B-but I can still help. I...I still want to"

"Is this about Ultron manipulating your friends?"

"Maybe."

Natasha laughs lightly.

"Well, the captain is in the conference room organizing everything." She says.

"I think he will be pleased to know that you are not heading off to Sokovia."

"Yet." You retort with a smile making Nat laugh as you take the coffee mug back.

When you arrived at the conference room, Steve was distracted by some paperwork, and you knocked on the door before entering.

"Hey, kiddo." He said as he turned his head to look at you quickly before returning his attention to the papers. "Everything okay?"

"Sure, Steve." You replied approaching, deciding to stay on your feet. "I wanted to let you know that I can still help."

Steve looks at you with a mixture of surprise and amazement.

"I thought..."

"Yeah, I know what I said before."You interrupt with an almost embarrassed smile. "But I want to help. I don't know what Ultron is planning, and I thought this was not my fight. But then..."

"It affected your friends." He concludes and you nod. Steve sighs and leans on the table, crossing his arms as he looks at you. "You know, I think I should give you a speech about how being a hero is about helping everyone, not just the people who matter to you."

You laugh humorlessly, looking away. You were going to contradict, but Steve quickly adds.

"I'm not going to do that." He says. "I won't because you grew up in a war that wasn't yours, with no one to fight for you. So you three were the only heroes you ever knew."

"We weren't heroes, Steve." You retort with a sigh. "We were just orphans trying to survive."

"My point is, I'm in no position to lecture you." He clarifies and you cross your arms, waiting for him to finish. "Your motive for fighting is nobody's business but your own. What matters is that you will be helping."

"Thanks, Cap." You grumble and Steve smiles.

He grabs a clipboard, and starts telling you about them finding out that Ultron had intention to create a better body made of Vibranium, and how they would be going to Korea to stop that and get the scepter back with the stone.

He is in the middle of the sentence about putting you on the support team when you can hear his heartbeat.

The sudden noise startles you and you frown in confusion.

"Everything okay?" He asks as he notices your expression, before you can say anything, your head starts to spin.

It's not just his heartbeat, but all the blood circulating in his veins that can be heard next. You suddenly find it hard to breathe, and just as you notice Steve's full molecular presence, you're able to know Natasha is in the next room, hear Tony chew in the basement, or feel Clint scratch his back.

It is oppressive and overwhelming and you stumble back in despair.

"W-what's happening?" You ask trying to breathe normally.

"Hey kid, breath, are you okay?" Steve asks worried, approaching you with his hands raised.

His heartbeat accelerates because he's scared for you and you gasp, covering your ears because you feel your head is going to explode.

"Please stop it." You ask in desperation, feeling your eyes fill with tears with all that information at once. "It's too much. please..."

"Tell me what's wrong." He asks but you just sit on the floor, burying your heads in your knees, and covering your ears as you try to breathe. "I'll get help."

Even after he leaves, you can feel his presence in the other rooms.

And it gets considerably worse when all the Avengers are around you, worried and asking what's wrong. Their heartbeats feels like it's going to pop your eardrums, and you want to scream.

"Hey Y/N, I need you to focus on my voice." It was Bruce, kneeling in front of you. "It's your powers increasing, remember how we talked about that? Try to focus on me."

"I can't. " You cry. "Please Bruce, it's too much. Tell them to be quiet."

"This will help." He says and you feel a sting in your thigh.

Little by little, the sounds become muffled, until they disappear. You get a taste of iron in your mouth, and you look up to see the whole team looking at you with concern, and Bruce in front of you, giving you a short smile.

"I'm sorry." You mumble awkwardly, feeling exhausted.

"Do not worry kid." Bruce says. "Can you stand?"

"I think so."

Bruce helps you anyway, one hand around your waist while your arm rests around his shoulders.

"I think you'd better lie down for a while." He says and then you are walking. "Guys, let's give her some space, alright?"

Bruce asks the team and they stop following you two. Bruce takes you to his room, and helps you to bed.

"Here we go." He murmurs as soon as you lie down completely. "How do you feel?"

"Exhausted." You respond weakly, feeling your eyes grow heavy. "Thanks for help."

"Any time." He says. "Rest kid, we have a lot to talk about when you wake up."

You want to tell him you'd like to know what's going on now, but you're falling asleep right away.

You don't know Wanda is standing at your door with a pounding heart.

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Waking up is surprisingly unpainful.

You expected at least a headache, but your powers do the job right.

"Good Morning." Bruce greets you as soon as he notices you fidgeting with the sheets. You frown.

"Morning? How long was I gone?"

"Thirty-eight hours and twelve minutes." He responds by placing the tablet he was holding on the table beside him. You widen your eyes in surprise, sitting up quickly. "Hey, take it easy."

"B-but the mission..."

"Do not worry about it." He says as he approaches your bed, sitting next to you at knee level. Bruce assesses you quickly and then sighs. "Are you feeling something? Any dizziness?"

"No." You say. "Where are the others?"

"The twins also went to Korea if that's what you want to know." He responds while looking away to fiddle with his jacket. He takes out a small lantern and holds it close to your eyes, examining something in them as he mutters to himself.

"What was wrong with me?" You ask as soon as he puts the object away. He adjusts his glasses.

"Don't talk like that." He asks. "There's nothing wrong with you."

"I was out for two days, doc." You retort with irony and he gives a short laugh.

"Yes, because you were exhausted." He says. "Don't worry about it, it's not a bad sign."

You mutter, crossing your arms. Bruce clears his throat as he reaches for the tablet on the table and then hands it to you.

"I did some analysis while you were sleeping." He says, and you stare at the graphics without understanding much. "They are good news."

"What did you inject in me back there?" You ask then, handing the tablet back to him.

"An alternative to Hydra Serum." He clarifies. "Without the obeying part, just the controlling of your abilities."

"Thanks, I guess." You mumble. Bruce locks the tablet before looking at you again.

"I'll ask Bucky to cook you something to eat, and then we'll go to the lab." He warns you. "We have some things to talk about."

"Whatever you say, doc."

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After eating, and thanking Bucky for the favor, you returned to the lab.

Bruce set up a kind of glass room that made you frown.

"I have a cell now?" You joked and he grimaced.

"It's not a cell." He retorted. "It's a training room."

"It looks like a cell."

"It is not."

"But it looks like."

Bruce sighed and you giggled, crossing your arms as you look at the glass in front of you. He walked over to open the door through the holographic lock and you took a closer look.

"Why did I get a training cell?"

"Your training room is special." He says entering the glass box. You follow him, and as soon as he enters, you notice that the glass muffles all outside noise. When the door closes behind you, you can only hear Bruce. "I needed something that could block out everything else when your powers awaken again."

"But I don't have super hearing, Banner." You retort. "I don't understand why an anti-noise room is the best option."

"That's not what it's for."

You tap the glass with your fingers while Bruce fiddles with the tablet. And then the glass gains a new layer of protection, which glows golden before becoming practically invisible.

"Cool." You whisper and then turn to him again. "But what is it for?"

"Well, as I said earlier, I did other tests on your blood." He counts. "By my calculations, and from your little scene two days ago, you're going to be showing an immediate growth in your healing abilities over the next few days."

"Okay..."

"Shield tries to classify the enhanced humans as best as possible, and after working with Maria, we put you in some of those categories." He counts and with a flick of his fingers, a hologram comes out of the tablet into the air in front of him.

It was your file, and lots of texts and some photographs that you thought were images from your time in Hydra. Those were Shield's files on you.

"Of course we'll just have to wait for it to happen, but you're already classified as an enhanced beta level with biotherapeutic skills."

You looked around the files, surprised about the pics of your young self that Shield managed to recover. Even images from your childhood.

"For now, you've only demonstrated cell regeneration and close-range healing manipulation."

He narrates. "And two days ago, you had a small episode."

"I could hear everyone's heartbeats." You clarified still looking at the files. "I felt them in the next room."

"I understand." Bruce grumbles as he writes something down on his tablet. "This is called biomolecular detection. Depending on how you evolve, you might be able to detect injured people meters away."

You frown in surprise. Bruce is thoughtful.

"Not only detecting the injured, but also being able to tell exactly where the wounds are." He says. "It's impressive."

"You forgot the part where I couldn't breathe and I curled up on the floor like a scared child." You mock.

"That's what this room is for." He retorts with a smile. "You need to learn to handle your powers in a controlled environment."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"It's better than putting you in the middle of the fight, I'm sure of that."

You sigh, crossing your arms.

"What else does Shield have on me?"

"You want to look at childhood pictures, don't you?"

You laugh, shrugging.

"Obviously."

After showing your files, Bruce also explained how the room was designed to block, at a molecular level, your ability to sense other people outside the room.

Since the team wasn't in the tower for the next few days until the end of the mission in Korea, Bruce and Bucky would help you practice with your powers.

And as soon as the serum Bruce developed started to wear off, you felt your powers come back with a vengeance.

"I need you to focus on my voice until we get to the lab." Bucky asked worried as he found you on your knees at the living room floor, hands over your ears. You muttered weakly, feeling him help you to your feet as you heard the air rush in and out of his lungs. He started humming a song, and you whimpered, trying to concentrate, but everything was overwhelmingly noisy.

It seemed to take forever, but then everything went quiet next.

You look up to realize that Bucky has left you in the room, and then close the door.

"Thank you, buddy." You say, adjusting your balance by leaning against the glass.

"Don't worry." He says giving you a gentle smile. "Do you feel better?"

"Fuck, yes." You grumble as you quickly wipe your tears. Bucky watches you carefully.

You sit on the floor, closing your eyes. It takes Bruce a few minutes to get to the lab, but when he does, he looks worried.

"Sorry for taking so long, I was all the way downstairs." He clarifies as he approaches the glass. "How do you feel?"

"It happened again." You count. "But as soon as I got in here everything was quiet."

"Well the room works, that's great." He says and you laugh weakly. "I think we can start your training then."

"But who will train her?" Bucky asks confused.

"I thought you could do that." Bruce retorts and Bucky looks at him in surprise.

"What? I thought you were going to do it."

"I don't know how to train anyone, I'm just a doctor." Bruce argues.

"Well I'm a sergeant who was brainwashed for eighty years, I'm not the teacher type."

"But you're a still a sergeant..."

"I was never a drill Sergeant..."

"Jeez." You grunt humorously, clearing your throat to stop the argument. "I have an idea, as clearly none of you are in the mood to train me, I suggest Bruce give me some more of the special serum until Natasha or Steve get back."

"We can do that." Bruce agrees. "I'll get the serum. Hopefully you'll learn to control this soon."

"I hope so, doc."

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Tag list> @imapotatao / @aimezvousbrahms/ @ensorcellme/ @helloalycia || @mionemymind / @abimess / @stephanieromanoff / @yourtaletotell / @tomy5girls / @justagaypanicking / @thegayw1tch / @idek-5 // @myperfectlovepoem // @helloalycia // @ENSORCELLME // @AIMEZVOUSBRAHMS // @drpepperobsessed // @sighsam // @olsensnpm // @sxfwap // @table57 // @madamevirgo // @causeitswhatjesuswouldfreakingdo // @emptysince18x // @xastrydx || @yuhloversxx || @ymzki-haruki || @wouldirunofftheworldsomeday || @lostandsearching || @lezzzbehonesthere || @musicinourlips || @chaekhan || @diaryoflife

[watermelonlovershigh]

Day in the Life of a Single Dad with a 2 Yr Old

This was requested by this anon.

AN: let me know if you guys like fluff fics & i'll try to write them as frequent as my smut & sicfics. also couldn't come up with a better title so... yeah the title is a lil iffy.

Things to help you understand this story better:

(Harry is a single parent/Harry is 25/Harry is a healthy eater/Loves his daughter so much)

Harry is peacefully sleeping in his bed alone. Covers to his chin, curled up on his side. That is until his beautiful two year old daughter comes barging in there to wake her daddy up. He shouldn't be asleep she thinks. It's too late. In reality its only 7 am on a Saturday, but to an early riser like her, he should be awake and playing with her. Or making her breakfast.

Her little feet pad over to her daddy's side of the bed. She can barley reach him due to the height of his bed, but manages to stretch her little arms up and taps on Harrys face. "Daddy, wake up." she speaks in her little British accent. Harry slowly opens his eyes and immediately squeezes them shut because of the sunlight coming from the window blinding him. "Daddy!!" his daughter says a little louder.

If his daughter was any older, Harry might tell her to wait a few minutes or go back to bed because it's too early, but he knows she's only 2. So he forces his eyes open again and reaches down to hook his hands in her tiny arm pits to lift her on the bed. "Why are you awake so early babe." he asks in a gravely voice, while placing her on his bare chest.

"I hungry." her tiny voice replies.

"Mhmm what would you like?" Harry mumbles sleepily.

"Sweets." she says innocently.

"I don't think so love. We don't eat sweets for breakfast. It will give you a tummy ache. What about a healthy fruit salad. We have some Watermelon and Strawberries in the fridge." he replies to his daughter who's straddling his chest.

"NO, I WANT SWEETS! I WANT SWEETS!" she yells back with angry tears threatening to escape.

"D/n, we do not yell!" her father speaks firmly. "We can't have sweets but we can have something other than a fruit salad if you want. Lets go down and see what we have." With a tight grip on his upset daughter, Harry gets out of bed and makes his way down the spiral staircase and into the kitchen.

This wasn't something new to him. Ever since his daughter turned 2 in August, she's been acting up a lot more than previously. You could say it was the terrible twos everyone talks about. Harry tries his hardest to teach her the proper ways to behave but it's been proven to be a lot more difficult than anticipated. Especially hard when he's busy all the time and isn't with her 24/7 like stay-at-home mums are or stay-at-home dads were. He's a musician. Not a so called musician that gets excited to book a Friday night at the local pub. No, Harry is a international pop star.

When he ended up getting a one-night stand pregnant, he told them they could do what they wanted as far keeping the baby or not. Harry has always been one to agree that its a women's choice. But his one-night stand wanted to have the baby. Honestly, you'd think Harry would get angry that she decided to keep it, but he wasn't. Maybe it wasn't the ideal situation to have a baby from a one-night stand that he had on tour, but he being the loving Harry everyone seems to know and love, of course tried to look at it as a positive thing. But when his daughter was born, his one-night stand got her minute of fame by saying she had Harry Styles baby and left. Abandoned her own blood. Harry had to get full custody of his daughter and ever since then she's been living with her daddy.

It was really hard the first few months of her life. A baby needs their mothers comfort and warmth and she had none of that. She never got the opportunity to breast feed or feel the love of her mother, and Harry feels sick just thinking about it. So Harry put his career on hold for a few months to take care of his daughter and show her that someone cares for her. He never wanted her to feel unloved. It was his biggest fear. That's why every day since the day she was born, he tells her how much he loves her. Shows her how much he loves her.

He did all her nightly feedings with warmed up formula in bottles. He changed her diapers at all hours of the day. He gave her baths every day to make sure she smelled nice and clean. And when she turned 1 years old and was getting more active, he took her to the studio with him and let her play her toys.

Just because Harry is a single parent doesn't mean he doesn't have help or support. He has a lot of help when it comes to taking care of his daughter. His sister Gemma babysits all the time for him when he's got something very important to do at the studio where he'd prefer if his daughter wasn't there. Harry's mum watches his daughter frequently when he has a interview he needs to attend. Even some of Harry's friends watch or take care of her when needed. Especially some of his ex bandmates that have kids of their own now. Harry's daughter has playdates with Bear, Liam's son about once a month. They're about the same age and their dads are friends so it works out great. His daughter has even played with Freddie, Louis's son. Not as much because Freddie lives in America but when he comes to England to spend time with his father they hang out. Freddie and Harry's daughter are quite similar. They were both created due to a one-night stand. The only difference is Freddie's mum wanted him. Didn't abandon him. So he has a relationship with both parents. Needless to say, besides all the things a mother can give to their child, his daughter has a good life. People love her, and once again that's all Harry could ask for. People and himself to love his daughter.

After fighting with his daughter about what to eat for breakfast, she finally settles for some Strawberry pancakes as long as they have chocolate syrup on top. Harry gives in and allows a little chocolate for her to have with breakfast. She sits in her high chair munching on the pancakes while Harry cleans the mess from cooking. Like washing the pan and wiping the stove off. When he's finished cleaning, he notices his daughter has stopped eating and is just making a mess with her food at this point.

Walking up to her high chair, Harry bends down and lifts her sticky body up and says, "Alright, time to give you a bath little one."

"No bath daddy! Me no want a bath!" she yells and attempts to kick her fathers legs but Harry grabs ahold of them in his big hand and stops her movements which makes her small body more angry. She screams very loud in his ear and pounds her baby fist in his shoulders, expressing her anger. Harry really wants to get upset. But what he's read in parenting books is that if you ignore their behavior and act like you don't see their tantrums, it will make it better and they'll give up on trying so hard to show their anger.  Because most toddlers have tantrums to try and get attention from their parent(s). By ignoring it, you're not feeding into it.

"I'm sorry but you have chocolate all over you love. Need to get you clean because I need to take you to the studio for a few hours with me today. How does that sound?" trying to make bath time and going to the studio sound fun.

After fighting with Darcy to get in the bath, Harry finally got her in the tub. He struggled to wash her curly hair due to the fact she wouldn't sit still, even after he gave her a rubber ducky to play with. Once he's washed her hair and chocolate covered body, Harry picks her up and wraps her in a big fluffy towel, then takes her to her room to get changed. He manages to get a pull up on her, (still trying to potty train), and puts a lovely red track suit on her with some Gucci shoes. Then he carries her in front of the bathroom mirror to brush her hair.

"Be good for daddy and let me brush your hair." Harry tells his daughter in a gentle manner.

As soon as he passes the brush in her hair, his daughter screams, "Owww, it hurts daddy!"

10 minutes later, Harry has brushed her locks and put her hair into some cute pigtails. With his 2 year old crying in the process. He's pretty good at doing hair because he used to have longer hair himself. Then he picks her up off the counter and places her on the ground, walking her to his bedroom.

"Can you lay in my bed while I get ready? I'll put on your favorite show." he questions calmly.

"Peppa Pig, Peppa Pig, Peppa Pig!" is daughter chants.

"Alright, alright." He picks up his baby girl and sets her in the middle of his bed. Then he grabs the remote to turn his wall mounted tv on. He scrolls on Netflix and finds Peppa Pig to keep her occupied. Then goes to his bathroom to get dressed and ready to head to the studio.

When he exits his bathroom fully dressed and ready to leave, he finds a sleeping toddler on his bed, snuggled into his pillow. Her perfectly outlined lips slightly parted. Harry can't help but smile. He loves his baby girl with his entirety and seeing her peaceful like this makes him so happy. He turns the tv off and carefully picks her up into his arms and heads down the stairs to his car in the garage. But not before stopping by her room to pick up her mini backpack that holds extra pullups and a sippy cup full of juice, with some of her toys as well. Her tiny face is stuffed into her daddy's neck and Harry can feel light puffs of air hitting his skin. He puts his daughter in her car seat and buckles her up properly. Then gets in himself to drive to the studio.

About 5 minutes away from the studio, Darcy wakes up from her late morning nap and whines out, "Me wanna go home and play with you!"

"I'm sorry but I have to work for a little bit. I'll play with you when we get home later. How does that sound Hmm?" She was not satisfied with her fathers answer and starts wailing. Hot salty tears run down her little cheeks and she makes exaggerated sounds to emphasize her crying. She kicks at the seat in front of her and balls her fist up as if she's going to hit something but unfortunately to her, she can't reach a single thing due to her seat belt. Once again, Harry just ignores her cries of anger and turns the radio on loud to block it out.

By the time they arrive at the studio, Harry's daughter has calmed down. She's still upset but at least she isn't crying and that's progress in Harry's eyes. He parks his car in a secluded area to hide from potential paparazzi and unbuckles her. Then shields her face form potential cameras and make their way into the music studio. Harry has to record some audio for his newest album so that's why he needed to come in today. They enter the studio where the rest of his solo band is. He prefers to record the instruments live instead of manufactured drums and guitars.

At some point when he was getting ready in his home bathroom, Harry had called his assistant and told her he needed to bring his daughter in to the studio with him so she could watch her while he's busy. She agreed but being Harry Styles assistant, it wasn't really an option. Not that Harry would force her but she's an assistant for a reason. To do jobs Harry assigns her. In this case babysit his toddler while he records a song. He doesn't have anyone else today and unfortunately can't leave her at home with a mummy like many other fathers can. He's just happy his job allows his daughter to be somewhat a part of it. Not in the spotlight because he keeps his daughters identity a secret from the public for her protection, but as far as her going to the studio with him or when she gets older, she can come on tour with him.

Harry's assistant takes his toddler and her mini backpack full of her essentials. They hang out in the open area, out of the way from his band and he himself so he can get what he needs to get done so they can wrap everything up for the album. Harry's daughter actually loves his assistant. They have grown quite close over the 2 years of her life. But because she's going through her terrible twos, the toddler didn't want to behave for anyone today.

About an hour into Harry's work, he's interrupted with a frantic assistant that has a screaming toddler in her arms. "I'm sorry Harry but she's been crying for about 30 minutes and I've done everything I know to do to get her to calm down." Harry isn't upset his assistant came to him for help with his baby. That's not the type of guy he is.

Harry takes off his headphones and walks over to them. He picks his little girl up into his tattooed arms and questions, "Love, why are you upset for? If you keep crying, you'll end up with a tummy ache."

She just hugs around her fathers neck with her little arms and says, "Want you daddy." Those words almost breaks his heart. Harry doesn't know where this sudden want for him has came from.

"You can have me all you want when I'm finished working, alright. I'll be done shortly." He struggles to pass her back over to his assistant, but finally manages. "Maybe she's hungry. I'll give you a few pounds to take her through drive thru at McDonalds. Would you like McDonalds d/n?" She just nods her pigtailed head. He would suggest for them to go inside, but the public knows what his assistant looks like so they'd know that was his daughter. The daughter that has her identity secret for now. His assistant takes the toddler to the McDonalds drive thru and orders her some chicken nuggets. Even through Harrys pescatarian, he still allows his daughter to eat meats. Then Harry goes back to work in the studio.

Around 2 in the afternoon, Harry and the two year old make it back home. The rest of the evening was a little hectic with a few tantrums here and there. Harry cooked them a nice meal for dinner at about 6 and played dolls with her in the short period of time she wasn't upset. Then comes the dreaded bedtime.

Harry changes her into some pjs and helps her brush her teeth. Then when he went to put her in bed, she started crying for the 100th time today. "Me sleep with you daddy." she cries out. There's a part of him that wants to say yes and cave in, but the parent part of him is saying no. She needs to learn to be a big girl. Harry really doesn't understand why she wants to sleep with him all the sudden. She normally has no problem sleeping by herself.

"No baby. You need to be a big girl and sleep in your bed sweetheart. I'm right next door if you need me though okay." His daughter clings to his body and cries fat tears. Harry decides to stay in her room until she falls asleep. So that's what he does. When she subsumes to sleep, he lays her down in her bed and pulls the covers up over her frail body. Then exits her room quietly.

Harry changes into some comfier clothes himself and goes down stairs to get himself a glass of wine. Then he sits on the sofa and turns a series on to watch before bed. Times like now is when  he wishes he had a wife. He'd even take a girlfriend. Just someone to hold him late at night and cuddle with him. Even have some type of intimacy. Ever since he found out about his daughter, Harrys game of sleeping around stopped. He didn't want to keep sleeping with random girls when he was becoming a dad. He was raised better than that. So needless to say he was lonely. In every way possible. Mentally, and physically.

Whilst in the middle of the show he's watching, Harry is brought back to reality when he hears a blood-curdling scream from up the stairs. He rushes to set his wine down on the coffee table and runs to his daughters room. When he walks in there, his heart sinks. The toddler is crying so hard she's gasping for air. It's a different cry that he's seen through-out the day. Unlike her terrible twos tantrums, this cry sounds like she's scared. Harry runs to her and picks her up. "Hey what's wrong my love? Tell daddy what's wrong." he asks of his child, soothing her to his chest.

As her tears slow down in the comfort of her daddy's arms, she mumbles, "You left me." Once again Harrys confused because she never acts like this.

Harry walks out her bedroom and goes to sit with her on the sofa downstairs. Then he turns her around on his lap to look at her face more clearly. "Baby, you need to tell daddy why you got scared or why you want me all the sudden."

The little 2 year old takes a deep breath and speaks in her little accent, "On Peppa Pig, they...they said kids like me are supposed to have a mummy AND a daddy. They said daddies can't love their babies like mummy's can. Me was scared you don't love me anymore." Her voice cracked saying the last bit with fresh tears running down her face and Harry has glossy eyes looking down at his distressed but beautiful mini twin. That's right. They look almost exactly alike. He thanks God every day for that because he doesn't want to look at his daughter and be reminded of a one-night stand that's a piece of shit of a mother.

"Look at me d/n. I love you so so so much. I will NEVER stop loving you." at this point he has to take a deep breath so compose his emotions, "And not all kids have mummies. There are a lot of kids who just have a daddy or some just have a mummy. But it doesn't mean I love you any less. Okay?! Don't listen to what they said in Peppa Pig. They were wrong." Finishing his speech, Harry pulls her tiny body forward and hugs her to his warm chest. He has silent tears running down his face. Both hands spread over her boney back. He thinks tonight is appropriate enough to allow her to sleep with him. She needs comfort. "Would you still like to sleep with me?" he asks in a whisper.

"Pleaseee." she responds while crying. Harry stands form the couch, turning the television off and abandoning his barley touched wine glass, and goes to his bedroom. The turns the overhead light off and walks over to the bed. Peeling the covers back, Harry and his daughter, whose on his chest, slide under the warm blankets together. Now she has just about stopped crying. Just little whimpers leaving her body, along with a few hiccups. Harry reaches over to turn the lamp off, leaving the room completely dark. He shushes his baby until her eyes slowly close and she falls asleep with her face burred in his neck and arms around his neck. Her short legs lay limp over his stomach.

Harry has a difficult time falling asleep that night. He feels sorry for his baby girl because he worries that movies and shows with two parents will make her sad and left out because she doesn't have a mummy. He just prays she will see all she'll ever need is her daddy to protect her and love her for the rest of eternity.

MASTERLIST & My Favorite Harry Styles Fics MASTERLIST

[yoddream]

You and Jeno were the best of friends. Growing up together, you saw each other’s good and bad moments, learned every flaw, and knew every fact. It was hard to separate the two of you, even in high school. You even started attending the same college. There wasn’t a single friend one had that the other didn’t.

Then, Jeno got a girlfriend.

There was nothing wrong with Yeeun. She was an absolute sweetheart and was always so nice to you. She made Jeno really happy, which was all you ever wanted. The problem was that Jeno seemed to give her all his time. It started out small, with him ditching you some days for lunch to have it with her instead. Then, he wouldn’t be able to make it to a hangout with your friends because he was taking her on a date. That turned into him canceling at the last minute. Soon, every lunch was spent with Yeeun. He stopped responding in the group chat as much. Sometimes he would leave you on read.

The last straw was him not showing up to movie night anymore, only to show up the next day with a bunch of hickeys on his neck. Movie nights started when you guys were toddlers. They were sacred and only canceled for emergencies or an illness. If anyone was on vacation, you would FaceTime and watch together. There was no excuse for him to miss movie nights.

That one broke you.

You couldn’t count how many times Jaemin held you as you cried yourself to sleep, knowing you’d practically lost your best friend. You hadn’t hung out with him in a long time, and it felt like a part of you was missing. It was obvious the others were worried about you, but they felt helpless. The bags under your eyes refused to disappear. You ate, but it wasn’t very much. You fell into a deep depression, and they did everything they could to get you out of it.

Were you too reliant on Jeno? Probably, but this wasn’t somebody you’d met recently; this was somebody you’d potty trained with, someone who gave you his stuffed dog when an older kid pushed you off the jungle gym and broke your arm, somebody who knew every secret you had. He was very special to you, and just like that, he was gone.

///

Jeno: hey, wanna get ice cream?

The text stared back at you. You rubbed at your eyes to make sure it wasn’t a dream, and sure enough, it was still on your screen, waiting for a response. You hadn’t showered in almost a week, which you knew annoyed Haechan because he had to smell you all the time since he was your roommate, and your face was covered in acne. You looked like this, and he suddenly wanted to hang out? Normally, you didn’t care how you looked when you hung out with your friends, but this was different. Jeno could see that you weren’t doing well, and you didn’t want that.

Wait.

You knew why he wanted to hang out.

He and Yeeun broke up.

That was the only explanation. Why else would he try to make plans? The last time you hung out alone was almost three months ago. You really only saw him when the group made plans and he wasn’t canceling to be with Yeeun. Why you, though? Why not the whole group?

You: yeah gimme an hour

When he sent a thumbs up emoji, you threw your phone down and raced to the bathroom. You took extra time in the shower to make sure everything was washed and fresh before getting out. Once you were dressed, you put on makeup, making sure to cover all the acne on your face. After deeming yourself presentable, you texted Jeno to ask where you were going for ice cream. He suggested the place near your apartment, so you grabbed your things and headed out, glad that Haechan wasn’t there to question you.

The ice cream place wasn’t far, but Jeno still managed to get there before you. As you approached him, you debated giving him a hug or not. It’s been so long, you didn’t know if it was okay anymore. It sounded insane, but his change in behavior made you question every action.

“Hey!” Jeno greeted you with his bright smile. It didn’t quite reach his eyes, but he still looked adorable. You waved to him and reached for the door, but he beat you to it and held it open for you.

The inside of the ice cream shop was cute, with pastel walls and cartoon cows painted on the counter. The tables were a light pink with white legs, and same with the chairs. It was small, but you two loved going there. You ordered and paid before bringing your cups to the table Jeno chose. He thanked you and dug in, not hesitating to eat his feelings.

“So, you and Yeeun broke up?” you asked.

He stopped eating. “How did you know?”

You paused. How could you explain it without either hurting his feelings or getting into an argument? Telling him the truth would surely change the vibe, and not for the better. “...Lucky guess.”

“Huh. Well, yeah. She broke up with me. I don’t even know why, though. She refused to tell me,” he explained, stabbing his spoon into his ice cream. “Like, was it something I did? Is it something I need to work on so that my next relationship lasts?”

“You think you won’t get back together?” you questioned.

He shrugged. “I mean, if she wants to, then I will, but that’s also if I still want to date her by the time she decided. It just sucks, because I thought things were going well. The sex was great, we got along really well, and we never fought. To be dumped just like that is just very strange.”

You winced at the comment about their sex lives, not really wanting to know in the first place. It did seem very out of the blue for her to break up with him, but you tried not to dwell too much on it. It would only upset him more.

The two of you caught up, but it seemed like he didn’t realize just how absent he was from your life. He asked about your classes and your family, wondering how they were doing since he hadn’t seen them in a while. You asked the same and also questioned if he’d made any friends, which he hadn’t. So all his time was spent with just Yeeun, it seemed.

When it was time to head back to your apartment, Jeno hugged you goodbye before heading the opposite direction. Your feet dragged, your body screaming for you to return to Jeno and get as much attention from him as possible, but you had homework you needed to work on, so you continued home.

///

“Jesus, just like that?” Jaemin asked Jeno.

The two of them were hanging out at Jaemin’s apartment, playing video games and talking about the break up. When Jaemin found out, he immediately called the other man and invited him over. They were catching up on things when Jaemin had asked about the break up, and Jeno told him everything.

“Just like that. No explanation. How the hell am I supposed to feel about that? Angry? Sad? I need something so I know how to process it,” Jeno ranted.

“Who else knows?”

“Well, Y/N figured it out when we went out for ice cream.”

“Wait, you hung out with Y/N?” Jaemin asked.

“Is it really that surprising?”

“Considering you practically dropped her, yeah.”

“What do you mean?”

“Dude, ever since you and Yeeun started dating, you’ve bailed on all your plans with Y/N. We tried to get her to give up, but she still had hope.”

Jeno’s heart started to race. Surely he didn’t do that to his best friend, right? Pulling out his phone, he opened his texts with you, and his stomach dropped at all the times he canceled on you, said he already had plans, or just left you on read. For months, you put up with it without saying a word to him. For months, you tried to keep your friendship going, and what did he do? Nothing.

“I’ve gotta go,” Jeno stated as he ran towards the door.

“What? Where are you going?” Jaemin called out.

“I need to fix this.”

Without elaborating, Jeno left the apartment and ran down the stairs. When he got outside, he hopped into his car and sped to your place. He couldn’t believe he did that. No wonder you seemed a little uncomfortable the other day. You didn’t know how to act around him anymore. He really fucked up.

Before he knew it, he was knocking on your apartment door. It took a few seconds, but then you were looking at him with wide eyes, clearly not expecting him to be standing there. He took in the dark circles under your eyes and the stress acne he knew you got whenever you were depressed and said, “I’ve been a really bad friend, haven’t I?”

The tears fell before it even registered that your eyes were watering. Soon, you were sobbing into Jeno’s shoulder as he stepped in and tried to soothe you. You started to hyperventilate, the emotions overwhelming you.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Y/N. It’s okay, though I’m here now,” he stated, repeating his words softly.

He managed to move the two of you to your room, lying on your bed with you wrapped in his arms. You continued to cry, and it surprised you that you had any tears left. He rubbed your back and pressed kisses to your hair, just like he did whenever your depression got really bad. He felt extremely guilty for being the cause of your tears and sadness.

“I missed you so much,” you whined.

“I missed you too I’m so sorry I ditched you. I shouldn’t have done that,” he said. “I’ll do whatever I can to make it up to you.”

///

Dreamies (plus Y/N)

Haechan: (picture of you and Jeno sleeping in your bed with Jeno wrapped around you like a koala)

Haechan: all is right in the world again.

Jaemin: oh, that’s where he went.

Mark: Finally! I’m glad they’re working things out

Renjun: Good. I was really concerned about her

Chenle: look at Renjun having feelings

Haechan: gross

Jisung: seeing her cry made me cry so i’m glad they’re talking again

Chenle: you big baby

part two is here

[sunaswife]

Summary: It’s been five years since you’ve seen your ex, Rin. He’s still not over you and you’re not over him. When he finds out you have children he thought he didn’t have a chance. Then he finds out they’re his? All of a sudden you’re teaching Suna how to be a single dad.

A/N: I made some new friends who are fellow writers on discord and my heart I— 🥺 cookie if you’re reading this be the ryu to my saeko

Warnings: Fluff, angst I guess, drama, and cuteness twin overload

Previously Up Next Masterlist

Chapter five

“And the champions are MSBY Black Jackals! Y/N, was that an amazing game or what?!” Your co-commentator said as he turned to you. “That was probably one of the best games I’ve seen all season. I find it crazy that I managed to see the first game Ninja Shoyo and Tobio had against eachother in middle school and Tobio’s team won by a landslide but now watching them both after all this time? Wow it’s just amazing. The Jackals deserve this win.” You said and he nodded.

When the game ended you saw your kids run up to Bokuto and Atsumu and you mentally groaned as the sound tech tried to remove the headset and the wireless mic from your pants. You then sighed in relief when Hinata hugged them both and took them away. Jamie took a picture of Hinata and your kids because he wanted to post a before and after of when they looked like little potatoes.

You didn’t have a chance to go back to your kids or even congratulate Hinata. You were swiftly taken away by Kuroo and the rest of the team for a quick meeting. Your face turned bright red when they all praised you for doing an amazing job and how intriguing you made the match sound. You knew a lot of the monster generation due to nationals and training camps and your cousin and the people loved how you talked a little more about how much their favorite players have grown since you’ve been there to see it all.

When the meeting ended you texted Jamie to meet you in the hallway near the locker rooms. Tobio wasn’t answering your texts and you wanted to see if he wanted to come over to your home so you could all eat and watch a movie to end the first day of your new job. Tobio is probably upset about his loss but he acknowledged how much stronger Hinata has gotten so he probably shouldn’t be too beaten up about it.

The hallway was empty occasionally a few workers passed by. Kuroo wanted to speak with you after but he was held back by other responsibilities and he asked to call you and you nodded with a soft smile. So now you waited alone for Tobio, Jamie and your kids to make their way.

You heard a few foot steps so you turned to see familiar faces and If seeing Atsumu today wasn’t good enough imagine seeing his twin and your ex boyfriend?

It’s too soon.

You quickly turned your head and started walked to where the locker rooms were and the footsteps moved faster. “Kageyama wait!” Suna said, his voice was deeper and he pleaded so desperately. You close your eyes and stop walking. Their footsteps slowed and you turned around. Even in heels you were facing his chest. He certainly looks ever more fit in person then in pictures you managed to see on the internet. His hair was slightly shorter but he was handsome as ever. You slowly looked up to meet his fox like eyes and it felt like forever.

“Um...hi..how’s everything?” You asked awkwardly, “Everything is fine I guess. I went pro.” He said quietly and you smiled. His eyes softened, you looked so beautiful and mature. You now wore your hair down, in beautiful curls. You’re wearing heels, high heels. You also are wearing a little more makeup then what you used to wear in highschool but you still looked breathtakingly beautiful. He saw you doing your thing up there in the commentator stand and he was beyond proud how how far you’ve come and he hopes you’re just as proud of him.

“That’s wonderful, Suna.” You said softly and his heart clenched.

No.

Call me Rintarou, Rin, babe, anything but Suna.

“Hello, Kageyama. It’s been a long time.” Osamu spoke up and you turned to him. “It has, how’s everything?” You asked him. “Finally took the culinary path, I own a restaurant called Onigiri Miya.” He said. “That’s amazing. I’m so happy for both of you but I really need to go—“

“So soon? We were looking for you everywhere.” Suna said quickly, “Tsumu told us you were here.” Osamu said and you gritted your teeth. “Son of a bitch can’t keep his mouth shut.” You huffed. Their eyes widened, since when did you have a potty mouth?

“How long have you been a commentator?” Suna asked, “This was my first pro match. I used to be a ref for highschool, middle school and elementary teams.” You said and he nodded. You heard little footsteps at a fast pace and children’s laughter.

Holy shit.

This is not good.

Oh my god.

“I told you kids to stop running!” You heard Jamie and the two men turned to see Jamie chasing after those two brats from earlier. “Jamie?” Osamu said in disbelief. “Where’s mommy? She said she’ll be here. I wanna tell her that Rubens asked me to marry him.” Akira said and your eyes widened. Your daughter looked up and she screamed. “ITS MIYA ATSUMU!” She yelled, “I get to see you again!” She said as she ran. “Akira don’t run without me!” Rini yelled. Before your daughter could come tackle Osamu you quickly made your way between the two men and you scooped them both up in one swift motion. “How many times have I told you guys to not run in the halls?” You said with your back facing the two men.

The secret was out. You’re screwed. There is nothing you can do now. “A lot.” They said deafeated in unison. “And how many times have I told you to stop bulldozing people?” You asked. “A lot.” They replied robotically.

“Then why do you both keep misbehaving? When I’ve told you many times not to.” You said and set them down.

“Sorry, mommy.”

“Mommy?” Suna asked, your twins finally turned a bit to see who that mystery man was and they gasped.

“Yeah, I’m their mom.” You cleared your throat and you turned and straighten your posture.

“The cats out of the bag.” Atsumu said as he leaned against the wall. Since when has he been there?

“Oh—ok..” he said quietly. Now he knows he doesn’t have a chance anymore. Whoever you’re with is lucky to have you as a wife and the mother of their children. But he should have known, you’re a catch. Who wouldn’t want you as their wife?

“Mommy, is he our dad.” Rini spoke and you almost choked. Atsumu actually spit his water and Jamie and Osamu almost fainted.

Wait what?!

“The what?” Suna asked. “Rini no—“ you said quickly. “He’s not? But we look the same. And you have a photo of him in your box under your—“ “That’s enough.” You cut him off. You didn’t like using that tone with him or Akira but you don’t know how Suna is going to react.

“T-they’re mine?” Suna spoke up. “No—I mean yes—I mean. It’s complicated. Why don’t you give me your phone number and we can meet up privately and talk about it.” You said quickly. This was so embarrassing, and just awkward. Especially in front of everyone.

“It’s a simple question, Y/N. It’s either a yes or a no. Which is it so I can leave or I can get on the phone with my lawyer.” His whole demeanor changed and your kids hid behind your legs. His eyes narrowed at their actions. “Lawyer for what?” You asked. “Yes or no.” He ignored your question. Jamie took a step forward but Atsumu grabbed her shoulder to stop her and she quickly smacked it away.

“Yes, you’re their father.” You said and he sighed and rubbed his face. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He immediately asked. “I tried to.” You told him. “When?” He asked. “A week before I was due.” You replied. “Which was what..? In September? I got a new number. How could you act so stupid.” He said and you gasped. “Excuse me?” You immediately got defensive. “You’re calling me stupid?” You asked. “Yeah well you could have found other ways if you really tried!” He said, “The twins didn’t change their numbers, you knew my address. There was no excuse for you to not tell me.” He said and you scoffed. “Sorry for being depressed that my first boyfriend started dating me over a stupid bet and I was traumatized from dealing with a pregnancy all on my own. Sorry for caring more about you—“

“How were you caring about me? Huh? Tell me!” He said with a raised voice. In all honesty you raised your voice first. “Rintarou, were you willing to give up everything? Volleyball, college, happiness, to raise two children? Were you willing to sleep on the cold floor in a cramped studio apartment, wishing you had enough money to buy yourself a bed. But you needed to feed your kids and buy them clothes. Tell me rin, would you have done that?” You screamed. “Would you be willing to suffer and deal with strangers and family members telling you how stupid and how much of a whore you were for having children so young. I didn’t tell you so that I save you from that. So you could do this.” You motioned. “So you could go pro and live your dream. Believe me Suna I was going to tell you eventually. When I had a feeling you were ready.” You said.

“I did this for you.” Your voice cracked.

“Mommy we’re sorry. We don’t need a dad, let’s go home.” Rini spoke up and he pulled your pants leg. “When you cry it makes me cry mommy, please stop.” Akira’s voice shook. You reached down to rub their heads.

“Well, Rin. There you have it. There you all have it.” You said and glanced at the twins and at Tobio and Hinata who were peering over the wall. You pressed under your eyes to stop the tears. “If you want to be in their life, let me know. If not then don’t waste my time and ask me stupid questions. I did what I did for a reason, not because I was being petty.” You spoke up.

So what should he do?

He just stood there in complete shock. So you took that as your answer. “Well if you excuse me, it’s late and I need to get my kids in bed. They have school tomorrow.” You said and held their hands as you passed by Suna and Osamu, you didn’t dare look at Atsumu and Hinata and Kageyama’s heart broke when they saw the single tear fall down your face.

You didn’t look back, but your kids did. And they looked at their father with so much hurt and betrayal. They’re homeschooled, you as their mother and teacher get to decide what they learn. Normal kindergartners learn how to spell their names and read. But they’re already advanced, I mean you were the top student in your class. Made sense you’d turn your children into kid geniuses. They were already fluent in English as well, and they read a lot. Not because they have to but they genuinely like it. Akira can sit for hours and Rini did too but after a few pages he starts rambling and giving a book report about all the interesting things he read.

They’ve read books and seen shows and movies of a perfect family. A son, a daughter, a mother, a father, and a dog or cat.

That’s all they wanted.

They wanted a complete family. They want to see their father reach up to the highest shelf to help you grab some plates, and they wanted him to read them books, they even wanted to know if their father liked listening to old rock bands and watching anime like you and them.

They wanted to know if there was anything similar between their father and them other than appearance. But they would never know that. They finally saw Rin turn and he looked at those two kids, it’s honestly scary how similar they look to him. He took a step towards you, but before they could tell you, you turned the corner and they decided it was best to just drop it.

They didn’t need a dad anyways, right?

They’re doing just fine with a single mom.

They’re just feeling selfish, right?

But they don’t understand, they’re only five.

A/N: childhood trauma at its finest smh I’m in tears why tf do u still read this shit 😫😭

🏷: @therealwalmartjesus @differentballooncollection @aaesuki @atsunflower @dope-squish @prettysetterboiss @june-phantom @tomo-uwu @austriasmariazelle @xrnia @katsulia @aprettyfruit @shut-your-eyes-kiss-me-goodbye @tvbiio @sun-daddy-yoriichi @kamenoyaki @ppangiiroo @loeyprivvv @kmskj92 @lovinnoya @sarahvvictoria @tris-does-stuff @mokkeguts @sunaluvr6969 @bara-rose-would @sempiternal-amour @volleybloop @leykyuu @bokutoichigo @stfucanunot @tpwkatsumu @ohshirabu @shoutosimp @mqrinqcele @bokutosdivineass @anngelllla @toworuu @hidden-otaku-stuff @seijohiselite @caxsthetic @aquariarose @hhwanggu @bakuhoetoedoroki @yoozuku @osamus-onigiri @akaashi-todorki @donica95 @kakaokenma @airheadpillar @sredamancy

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt.78

Werewolves sucked. Werewolves sucked and Lance had had just about enough of them at their first meeting... He felt personally attacked for being mocked as bat. He’d tried turning back. Willed it so hard he’d nearly peed on Keith trying. All he got was a headache and Keith asking if he needed to go potty. He wasn’t even that upset anymore. Not when Keith came to find him, though he had been in a fair bit of pain before Blue had decided he was her new favourite toy. As his cat, she really should have known it was him, or maybe her claws were revenge for all the times he’d been late with her wet food. That was likely. She’d scream at him for hours if he dared be late.

Three days as a bat, meant three days of briefings perched up on Keith’s shoulder. He didn’t like this James werewolf. His ego so big that he barely fitting in his boots, and he smelt like he’d just been dragged out of swamp. Matt didn’t like the new werewolves either. His ego was still harder to manage, being turned for only a few months, he needed practice at things like reining in his scent and not letting poxy werewolf hierarchy get to him. It didn’t help matter that James practically pranced around in his Blade of Marmora uniform like it was a gift from god that somehow elevated his worth above mangy mutt. James seemed to have made it his mission to continually make snide remarks Keith’s way, leaving Lance furious. Maybe that’s why he’d taken so damn long to change back.

Not at impressed with his inability to regain human form, he’d turned to Coran. Coran seemed to think he was stressing himself too much, worrying about things beyond his control. Yeah. Of course he was. Keith and Krolia hadn’t talked outside of forced briefings where the Blades made it very clear they didn’t want help from VOLTRON. Pidge wasn’t making things easy either. She now insisted she wanted to work at VOLTRON... Lance was against it. She and Hunk were only human, and even if she just wanted to work in the tech labs side of things, Lance worried himself over her safety. She was also more adamant than ever over catching proof of ghostly existence on camera, convinced having her own private vampire would help things. The amount of memes she’d sent trying to bribe him were ridiculous.

Having friends that knew his secret wasn’t all bad. Sure, Hunk and Pidge were still scared of him and sometimes he wondered why they’d still talk to him... then Pidge went and upset Keith over something he probably should have expected. His birthday. His actual birthday. The day on which he was pushed screaming into the world. Now. Lance kind of knew it was coming. He couldn’t forget it if he tried. July 28th came rolling around every year. But what he didn’t bother keeping up with was the countdown. Birthdays were depressing. A reminder that he should look older than he was. Two weeks out and he didn’t want to think about it or talk about it. Birthdays were days he spent with his Mami. He might do something with Pidge and Hunk, but he never put the same effort in of his birthday as he did for everyone else.

The problem was Keith. His little anger loaf was stressed. When Lance said he didn’t want to do anything for his birthday, his boyfriend had asked if maybe he wanted to go on a date. Pointing out that they didn’t know what was going on with the Blades and their stubborn refusal of help, Keith seemed to take it personally. He wanted to help celebrate Lance’s birthday. Lance overthinking things on his default setting. Dinner would be nice. A quite dinner with Keith... Maybe they could get a hotel room and block out the craziness of the world around them. Lance couldn’t commit to it because Keith couldn’t commit to it. He didn’t want to get his hopes up, only for something to happen. Keith promising to make it happen would only stress his boyfriend if he couldn’t.

That’s how he ended up at the nursing home with his Mami. Mami wasn’t feeling up to going out, Lance feeling as if she didn’t have much time left and determined to have as much time with her as he could get. Snuggled up against his Mami, he wished time would stop. He’d promised Pidge and Hunk that he’d move back home soon. Only soon didn’t have a set date and with James around, Lance didn’t want to abandon Keith. Keith was good at his job. He knew what to do as proved by the 8 weeks of work he’d gotten in before the murders were taken from him thanks to it being a Blade member. They hadn’t talked about Antok, Lance feeling he’d missed that window of opportunity. Now Krolia was in town, he felt like he needed to stay, despite missing his house. Keith was having a tough time, so it was only natural he’d stay, but if he went home, it’d give Keith somewhere else to go that wasn’t just hiding out in the staff quarters at work.

“Mami, what do you think I should do?”

He’d had word vomit. Telling Mami about Krolia again, and that Keith seemed to be having a tough time

“I think you should head home, mijo”

Yeah. He thought that too... but Keith

“I want to support him”

“I know. Keith is a fine young man. I couldn’t have asked for more than you finding someone who understands you. You have no idea how much it has soothed this old bird to know you have someone there to love you”

He didn’t talk to Mami about his birthday. Mami always loved his birthdays, but they really did get repetitive. He was 18 for the last 26 years. As long as Keith had been alive...

“I want him to know I’m there for him”

“And you will be. Garrison isn’t that far away. Though I’m beginning to forget what your house looks like”

A subtle dig that she hadn’t been back to the house in ages... months...

“It’s big and it’s crowded now. I feel like leaving is like telling him I’m not going to be there”

“That’s not it at all. Keith wanted you to be safe. Only he and Krolia can resolve their issues. That’s on them, no matter how much you want to help. You’ve always had a big heart. That’s why I worried so much for you. You’re not leaving him forever. You’re only saying goodbye until next time. He’s a grown man. As hard as it is, you can’t coddle him. All you can do is love and support him. And you have your own life to think about. What do you want to do? Do you want to practice law, or do you want to be part of that hunter world”

Now, that was unexpected. Lance didn’t feel cut out for a hunter’s life, but he had been focusing more on Keith than on work. He didn’t quite know how to find that “work life” balance. Being set in his ways had left change a hard thing to negotiate. Plus, he kind of spent way too much time thinking about Keith

“Mami. I don’t think I’m cut out to be a hunter”

“I don’t mean going out and hunting. I mean supporting Keith. Maybe what you’re looking for is a way to help Keith with his work? That’s what it sounds like to me. That at this moment in time, you’re struggling to make the right choice as you don’t know enough. I was always so relieved you didn’t wish to be a hunter. That you found something you wanted to do and pursued it as hard as you could. It’s okay to find something new you want to try. You’ve always lived so carefully. It’s okay to live for yourself more”

“How did you and papi do it? Manage things and still take care of us”

His Mami laughed, kissing his hair. He’d never grow out of cuddles with his Mami

“That took team work. Growing together to unite against you bunch of ferals. A lot of long nights. Many trips to emergency. And quite a number of arguments. Everything we did, we did for all of you. You and Keith, you’re still learning and growing. These things come in time”

Lance sighed. He could spend 40 years making up his mind and not age a day as he did... but he’d loved being a lawyer... He wanted to be a lawyer. He wanted to help people and make a difference. Keith didn’t have 40 years. He might not even have 4 in the line of work he did...

“I have all the time in the world. Keith doesn’t”

“No. But you’ll have years together. I feel it in my bones”

“You don’t know that. Being a hunter is dangerous”

“Just like being a vampire. Or being a normal human being in the wrong place at the wrong time. What you do next is firmly in your hands. No matter what you decide, I’ll always be proud of my little Lance”

“I don’t know what to do and that’s the problem. I want to be with him. I want to be there when he has a bad day, but I miss my house and if I go home I feel like all I’m going to do is spend my days missing Keith”

Lance knew he was pathetically hopelessly in love with Keith. He wouldn’t be so worried about Keith if he wasn’t... which was a lie. He’d worry just as much if they were only friends. Keith had so much going on.

Gently his Mami smoothed his hair. She really was his biggest supporter, even when he was being a “negative Nancy”

“That’s because you two are in your honeymoon phase. Right now you want to be with each other. Everything else falls aside. Your grandmother gave me quite the hiding for skipping out on chores to be with Jorge. I would have spent every second I could have with him, but gradually we grew and it was okay not to see him every single day before we wed. Our boy Keith has a good head on his shoulders”

“I know... I know. Ugh. Emotions are so complicated”

“They are. But remember, you have him, but you also have your own life and your own ties to Garrison. You have friends who know your secret and still remain by your side. Don’t neglect the ones you love”

Lance nuzzled into his mother. He’d spent too much time away from her of late

“Is that your way of saying I should just move in here and annoy you all the time?”

His Mami chuckled. Give it 10 years and he’d qualify for a 55’s and over lifestyle village

“Not at all. You move in here and I’m cutting you out my will. This old duck is happy here. I don’t need all my friends fawning over my hot grandson. I get that enough”

“Mami! I’m not even hot...”

“You’re my son and you’re beautiful. Now. Go face your problems head on. My shows will be on soon and I don’t need you ruining them with your crying”

His Mami was ruthless and he loved it

“Fine. But if I die, I’m coming back as a ghost and every time you try to watch your shows I’m going to steal all your tissues”

His Mami smacked him lightly

“You’re a horrible son. Now get out of here, and don’t come back without Keith”

“Mami... you’re supposed to love me”

“I do when you’re not interrupting my before show schedule. I’ve got just enough time to find my chocolates...”

“You’re not supposed to have chocolates on hand!”

Mami wasn’t supposed to have chocolates because Lance worried for her blood sugars when she ate too many. Zero restraint. She’d eat a whole family box if left unchecked

“Pish. They were a gift from Coran. Now shoo!”

Frowning at the world for being evicted in favour of soap operas. Lance nearly doubled back when he saw Keith leaning against his car. He didn’t want to get into another argument. Not today. He was already smarting from his harsh eviction by his mother. Normally they watched these things together. He wouldn’t have minded watching her shows with her... They could have both binged on chocolates with her elbowing him in the ribs if he started crying... not that Mami should be binging on chocolate. He would have had to save his mother from herself and do his job as good son by eating her chocolates... Okay. He could see why he’d been evicted. Comforting eating was his weak spot. And he’d had Mami cuddling him in bed for like two hours... so maybe she did deserve some kid free time...

“Hey...”

He’d been seen. Keith’s voice reaching his ears despite the low tone and the fact he was still on the garden path where Keith was a good 10 metres away by his bronco. It’s not like he would have really left Keith there, but fighting was only going to make both of them depressed. He should be happy Keith was out and about, but honestly he was confused as why his boyfriend was there... Fuck... Lance felt himself starting to jog. Keith opening his arms as he approached. Keith wasn’t mad. That was good. That meant they weren’t going to have a silly little fight again. Reaching his boyfriend, Lance let himself stumble into Keith’s hold, breathing in his lover’s scent

“I’m sorry we fought”

“No. I’m sorry I pushed”

“I don’t get it but I’m not very good at this boyfriend thing. I had Shiro drop me off”

“How’d you know where I was?”

“Allura told me. She gave us a call to let us know not to come back for now”

That was a pretty big tick for the move back home side. This whole being careful with scents so he didn’t go into heat was taxing. Lance constantly waiting for someone’s inflated ego to set him off... so kind of a double tick

“Loturd or Sendick?”

“She didn’t say. Only that we might want to stay away for a bit”

“Oh. Okay... Mami just threw me out”

“I was wondering if I should come in... but thought... I kind of thought you’d still be mad at me”

Fuck. Feelings were so fucking complicated. He wasn’t mad. He was... struggling a lot and trying to do what he thought best for Keith because he didn’t want to see Keith upset like when they’d missed their dinner reservation.

“I’m not mad. I talked with Mami and stuff... and I guess... my birthday... I know you want to do something for it... but it’s hard for me. I’ve looked 18 for so long that it’s kind of a reminder I won’t grow old. I get too sensitive about it. More than...”

Lance swallowed hard... saying their names always made him feel sick

“More than I do about Nyma and Rolo turning me. I shouldn’t have acted like that. I shouldn’t have shot you down without an explanation. We haven’t been communicating well since James and the douche squad rolled into town and I’ve been avoiding talking to you about things properly because I know how much you’re stressing. I’m really sick of us snapping at each other”

Keith nuzzled into cheek. His boyfriend was being brave showing up in the first place. Now he was being brave putting up with a topic that made Lance as broody and uncooperative as a satchel of yeast at the wrong temperature. Mumbling, Keith was being unintentionally cute

“Me too. I was... excited. Like... I don’t love my birthday. So I think I was pushing that on to wanting you to have the best birthday the way you wanted. Half the time my birthday was forgotten and I wished someone would notice. Shiro always tried to make a cake. They were awful but he tried. He didn’t let Adam help him and if we weren’t home he’d get me a cupcake”

If they’d managed to find those words a few days ago, then they wouldn’t have kept snapping over the dreaded “B” word

“See... God. We care about each other too much. We’re stepping on each other’s toes trying our best to be good boyfriend’s. I don’t want a night where things happen and we miss our reservation. I don’t want you to be sad or angry. Plus, we don’t know what’s going on with Lotor, or Honerva, or the Blades. You can tell me I’m overthinking but we both are”

Keith kissed his cheek again

“You’re right. We’re idiots. I didn’t get why you wouldn’t want to go on a date with me. I thought maybe it was because I fucked up last time and then I felt all stupid inside. Shiro’s not home, you’ll never believe it but Curtis asked him on a date. I’ve got to pick them up later... so maybe we could go back to the apartment? Kosmo misses you and Curtis convinced Shiro to buy a heap of dodgy horror movies”

He knew it. He knew Keith was thinking about that

“You didn’t fuck up our last date. It was perfect... maybe not the shooting part when I wasn’t expecting that and neither was the poor target who got his bits shot. But it was good because I was with you”

“I wanted everything to be perfect... I felt like... like it had to be. I want you to like me”

“You really are an idiot. I do like you. I mean, I could go back to putting you outside and not letting you back in the house... would that make you feel better?”

“Not really”

Maybe it no longer felt as great as he remembered it to be at the time. He’d been so frustrated with Keith not listening. They both did dumb things when they didn’t listen to each other

“I’ll just save that for the next time we fight. Let’s go back to the apartment... as long as Shiro’s okay with it”

Keith snorted. Lance didn’t find it snort worthy. He was trying to respect Shiro and not risk triggering bad memories of Adam for him

“Shiro is totally getting laid tonight. Tomorrow he’s going to be limping around all smiley”

That he didn’t want to think about

“They might not...”

“Curtis totally will”

If they were going to go there... then... ugh. Maybe Shiro could stand to get laid. He was as stressed as Keith at the moment. Lance had the feeling Shiro’d not been sleeping well

“Wanna bet on it?”

“Ten bucks says he gets laid”

“And twenty says making out before Shiro gets picked up”

Because Curtis was secretly a romantic like him. Curtis would do the rose petals on the bed and insist on showering. The foot smell part of his curse was no joke. Lance knew. He’d clipped Curtis’s toe nails for him... giving him a pedicure in an attempt to help figure out some kind of way to hide the smell of dead cheese

“You’re so on. Want me to drive?”

Keith would get directionally misplaced. Having him drive would be easier... though Keith hadn’t exactly confirmed he was allowed over... fuck it... He had nowhere else to go. There were worse things to do other than avoiding making life decisions because Keith totally needed him

“Nah. I’ve got it. Just don’t forget to put your seatbelt on”

“Yes, Dad...”

“Ugh. Don’t call me that. I look 18 and there’s 18 years between us. I feel like a creep”

“You are a creep, but you’re my creep so it’s okay”

Keith would never know Lance’s soul tried to escape on the spot. His boyfriend didn’t have to so readily agree. He better be getting some good cuddles out of this because his ego had taken a critical blow and nothing but cuddling would soothe the damage.

[kurogabae]

TSUBASA: TRAINWRECK CHRONICLES

And How Bee Train is Single-Handedly Propagating Cancel Culture in This the Year of Our Lord 2020

PART 1 – PART 2 – PART 3 – PART 4 -- PART 5 

[[ join me on PillowFort. i have free invite codes if you need an account ]]

So last post was all filler episodes and we're well into season two of this, and I cannot stress this enough, two season anime. The only canon arc we've had was Piffle so far and it was poorly handled and out of order. Surely, absolutely surely, we are in for a canon arc. Shara perhaps? Skip right to Le Court? We all know they'd never dare touch Tokyo. How are they going to pad out the rest of the season?

Why another filler. A bad filler. The dreaded filler that goes against pretty much all of Fai's everything.

It's "A Date With a Wizard" and Kurogane isn't the one getting the date. If you haven't watched or heard of this episode before, buckle up kids. It's a doozy. And big spoiler warnings ahead.

Fort City Bit AKA Fai Dates His Own Fucking Mom (but like an AU version so it's okay I guess???):

You read that right. Fai goes on a date with this world's version of Chii, who was an artificial being he modeled after his dead mother. I could end the rant here but oh, there is so much to this. So much. It's only one episode long but it feels like an eternity.

The premise for magic use in this world is that:

Everyone has magic and that magic is specialized

Your career path is based on your magic's specialization. Like in MLP with cutie marks. And everyone is Fine with this.

Everyone recharges their magic via the sun, which is risen by their king

The king is chosen yearly after everyone in the country has the same fucking dream one night

The whole country runs on magic, to the point that if there is no magic there is no food, no power, no anything. But that's fine, because every day they get recharged by the sun. Right? WRONG! Because the current king is being a depressed little shit and refuses to raise the sun, effectively dooming the country to a slow death. Neat.

BUT BEFORE ALL OF THAT! The episode opens with Fai having a nightmare about Ashura looming like he's auditioning for a role in Attack on Titan. Vague and menacing, which is literally all we know about Ashura because we know nothing about Fai's past. And we never will. At least not in anime-land. No one knows anything. The manga isn't pulling this fakey flashback shit, so why is the anime? I don't know, but I hate it!

Anyway, the family gets the low down from Touya and Yukito - who still do not recognize Sakura and that upsets me because of the implications that there is no Sakura in this universe. (Sidenote: Kurogane recognizes them, even though he's never met them in the anime so far so honestly, just fuck everything.) While Touya is feeding them a frankly lavish meal that he's magiced up he explained their king problems. This leads to my next issue - if you're so worried about running out of magic why are you using it so flippantly and in such an extra ass way? Can you not make normal food? Does it only exist in magic form? Maybe just summon some soup? Does all food cost the same amount of mana? THIS MAGIC SYSTEM IS BAD!

So, back to the whole the king is too sad to raise the sun which powers everyone's magic which is now beginning to run low. Another problem I have. You get a recharge on your magic everyday. They have not gotten ANY recharges for, and I'm quoting here, months. They change kings every year. So even on the low end of things we're looking at 3-4 months before anyone got concerned about the king just. Not raising the sun. Personally, I would have gotten worried after a few days, a week at most. No one wanted to go and find out like "Hey your highness, why no sun? What's got you down?"

That, however, would be logical. This is a place of magic and whimsy! Not logic. Fai is asked to use his magic to figure out what is wrong with their king. Predictably, he tells them they have a better chance of meeting god, so everyone gets thrown in jail. Because refusing to solve a country's weird problems is illegal. Not that jail has ever stopped them before. Not with Kurogane and his muscles around. And while I am always up for watching Kurogane break things I do have to wonder - why are they not just warping free? Mokona said there was no feather. No one said anything about being magically held back. And yet, they are running through the castle, endangering themselves and the children!!!

Obviously this is For Plot Reasons, and I use the words "plot" and "reasons" loosely here.

Somehow the kitties and puppies get separated and Fai and Sakura end up surrounded by guards. Does Fai finally fight? Does he open that can of whoop ass we all know he's been saving? No. He leaps into the air and takes flight like some sort of stork. And while Fai's current cocky attitude is refreshing, he's working on some sort of idiot bimbo in a horror movie logic of "to escape the building I must do upstairs". This is not a man made to last on his own.

And, like Shrek to Fiona, the stairs lead him to the highest room in the tallest tower. Fai, then, promptly loses his shit as if he's not fully aware that doubles exist across the multiverse. Like, yeah, it would be a shock and anyone would be freaked out at the sudden surprise of it all, but Fai acts like he thinks he's stepped back into Celes. Like an idiot. He's better than this.

Now, we learn more things about this messed up king situation. Not only does everyone have a dream every year electing the new monarch, but the new king gets their memory erased for the whole year so that they can "rule with a pure heart" or some shit. Which seems like a baaaad fucking way to run.... anything. At all. Ever. Might as well pick up a fresh baby and put it in charge. It's bad. And it gets worse.

Chii is sad, but she wants to hang out with Fai and it's the first time she's shown any interest in doing anything but being Sad so her babysitter spirits are all like "Oh that's neat!" And Fai takes this is his chance to just... run off for a night on the town with her? They literally vanish and leave Sakura ALONE IN THE CASTLE WITH THE SAME SPIRITS WHO JAILED THEM. In what fucking universe????

Look, they are trying so so so so so so hard to sell this FaiChii shit. Fai leaves Sakura alone in a castle where they have just busted out of jail, he has no idea where or how Kurogane and Syaoran are, he's clearly uncomfortable around Chii as she reminds him of what he's running from, and, oh yeah, she's a copy of his dead mother he created in another world in order to comfort him and his dead brother as a child. Everything is Fine. Let's go get tea.

I'm gonna rapid fire some S tier bullshit:

no one knows where Chii has taken Fai - why is there no way to track your baby-brained king?

Fai leaves with Chii happily and cheerily, again, leaving Sakura behind and alone - who is this man because it isn't Fai

the only clue they have to Fai and Chii's location is that they are no longer on castle grounds, yet somehow Syaoran knows Exactly Where to Look - because sure why not?

Chii doesn't know how to drink???? - does this happen with every king? do they have to be potty trained too? omg they really are babies this is a terribly way to run a country!!!!!!

teaching someone basic life functions is not romantic but Bee Train sure wants us to think it is

"I want to stay with Fai forever and always." - at least he panics at commitment still... and probably incest

“I should be thanking you. It’s been a while since I’ve felt this way.” - What? Uncomfortably reminded of your past and why your life is just shy of a living hell? Who are you? You are not Fai

Kurogane and Syaoran show up to save Fai and Chii, who have been surrounded by guards (I think, I can't remember exactly but I'm pretty sure they're there to take her back to the castle and her Sad Room). Fai apparently won't fight in front of Chii but whatever at this point.

It comes out that Chii is an artificial soul/being (like the Chii in Celes) and because of that she cannot leave the town or she DIES and that means the king dies and I guess they don't have a back up plan for that. Unsurprising but bad. Still, Chii begs Fai to take her away and show her the world and Fai like... hesitates? Thinks about it? Considers it?!?!? I dunno but he doesn't automatically say "Uh no, you'll die and also I have other shit to do, bye" and that's dumb for a lot of reasons.

Eventually he tells her no and convinces her to bring the sun back and be happy because she'll be able to remember him or some shit (you know, unless they take those memories too!) and  they all say goodbye. And I couldn't be more thankful.

Honestly, the real MVP here is Kurogane for not just losing his shit at all of this like I have. He's a better man than I.

Tune in next time as I continue to scream, in vain, at god.

PART 1 – PART 2 – PART 3 – PART 4 -- PART 5

[winterbuckytho]

Aint’ Too Proud To Beg

Pairing : Stucky ft. Recovered Buck

Wordcount : 3240

Plot : 2018. Bucky gets turned in to a nekoboy, and Stucky has their first failed attempt at making it together, awkwardness ensues. But it’ll all work itself out...right?

Warning : NS.FW, Sm.ut, Erot.ica, Swearing, An.al Fing.ering, An.al se.cks (lmao)

A/N : Yea, so I just do that ⬆ to make it harder for the  t a g s  to be hidden. I’ll still link it with something else too

"Are ya happy now!?!" Steve shouted slamming the door as the went into the house

"How am I the bad guy here?!" Bucky yelled throwing the keys on to the couch fighting his way out of the combat gear he wore down to his undershirt and leggings.

"Bucky, what the fuck were you thinking?!" Steve shot back ignoring what Bucky had said in the heat of his anger, which was really fear with a sharp tongue.

"Would you fucking stop yelling at me?!" Bucky nearly shrieked hands in clenched fists at his sides.

"You jerk!!"

"You punk!

"You... You are the worst right now, Steve! I can't believe you! I was trying to save you!"

Steve replied arm out gesturing at the state of Bucky "By diving face first into incoming fire from weird alien tech we've never seen!?"

"I couldn't help it! I couldn't stand there and do nothing! I had to try, it's what you woulda done too!" Bucky yelled before stalking off to the bathroom and slamming the door shut once he got there.

He stared into the mirror and kind of wanted to cry. He was scared and uncomfortable and all he wanted was Steve's help right now and instead was only getting lectured By Mister I’m-Tall-Now-So-I’m-The-Daddy-Here. He hadn't had time to understand what the thing was doing to every transformed victim, just time to see their human bodies begin shift and change becoming more bestial in form as they screamed in pain. And the end of one of the glowing spear things pointed at Steve.

He put himself between it and Steve without even thinking. There had been so much pain but a lot of it he could barely remember now, but it had started with weird sensations on his head feet and base of his spine. He had screamed with the intensity as Steve put the creature out of commission ceasing the blast from the device. But by then the transformation was half over and had changed him.

Bucky looked and he saw six four inch long whiskers, three sticking out each of his cheeks. His eyes reluctantly crawled upward and took in the dark furred ears perched atop his head. They sat limply looking sad. He could hear from them. He heard Steve still grousing under his breath three rooms away. He looked down at his hands. One of them was now covered in fur, his fingers more squat and tipped with retracted claws. He found he could extend them and retract at will. Bucky turned sideways and saw at the back of his shirt a long dark furred tail stuck out. It swiped back and forth at odd intervals it's tip sometimes twitching. He had never spoken cat body language before but he on instinct knew this is what you do with your tail when you are a step away from swatting any offender in the face.

Now Steve was saying "Christ... you can't be so damn ready to sacrifice some... " as he went to the kitchen to do something and get this frustrated energy out. He began gathering things and Bucky knew he was making something for Bucky to eat which he would deliver with an apology.

"Fucking asshole... Why can't you just... " Buck whimpers as he does start crying, covering his face with his metal arm. He more than anything had wanted to hug Steve and make sure he was alright and let Steve hug and make sure Buck himself was alright.

Anxiety hit him and as he was beginning to panic he stumbled back and his legs struck the tub. He turned and looked at it and instantly needed to be inside it. He didn't so much as think as he felt "I am scared and can fit there".

Without thinking he stepped in and sat down in the tub then leaned forward as he wrapped his tail around his butt and thighs and rested his head on his arms and he felt the most comfort it ever felt in his whole life. He felt something strange but also comforting something in his head oscillating was producing a purr in his body. Bucky soon closed his eyes and rested in a light dose, his anxiety melting away again far faster than with any other technique he tried.

In the kitchen Steve yanked open the fridge and as upset as he was, had the presence of mind to moderate his strength and no trip the darn thing off the fridge as he went after the mayo. Unable to quit ranting he was thinking. 'Jesus Christ, please never let anything make him scream that way again. I just about tore that fucking thing’s head off for it. I don't know what I will do if someone hurts him like that and I fucking find out about it! And now he's mad as hell at me? Well, Buck I stick with my guns on this one, you can't keep doing things like that! I was so fucking scared. Also Lord forgive my potty mouth it's been a trying ass day...' while making tuna sandwiches until half a dozen of them sat on the plate in front of him.

"Goddamn you, Bucky. I understand. You're all I have left of my life before the ice too..."Steve sighed. Then he paused realizing the house was totally silent. Which was wrong if an angry Bucky was in there somewhere. He should be blasting something loud and angsty to get the intense physical part of frustration out as he has begun to do these last few years. Steve picked up the plate and went to see if Buck ever left the bathroom.

Finding the door closed, he tapped gently. "Honey?"

Bucky opened his eyes slowly and lifted his head. He uncharacteristically remained quiet preserving the soft vibration of oh his own purring. But then realized he smelled food and had to stop himself leaping across the room to rip the door open. He made a soft plaintive sound and turned his head to look at the door.

When there was no answer Steve began to speak again, now calming a bit further. "Sugar, you got to know, I would do the same in a heart beat, I would. And you would be in my shoes... Scared shitless, worry eating up any restraint and organization of yourself... So I'm sorry. But you can't keep doing things like that. What the hell am I supposed to do if you die saving me? How do you like the sound of being cloned?"

"Stupid. That is so stupid. And you did scare me. You were yelling and kicking the shit out of everything around us and I was confused, just wanting you to tell me the pain would stop and I'd be alright." Bucky said. It had a whine to it and he allowed it to because if he couldn’t be himself with Stave where the hell should he?

Steve opened the door and could now clearly hear Bucky purring. He looked on a moment astounded by the changes but also because he's never seen anything more adorable than the man of his dreams with the features of a cat. He came to the edge of the tub and handed Bucky the plate and then proceeded to lift him out as if he were a cat sitting in a shoe box once more happy that he was as strong as he was now to pick up this other grown man with just as much muscle as he and hold him and care for him. They moved into the living room where he sat on the sofa with Buck on his lap and Bucky took up a sandwich to handing it to Steve and took one for himself and began to nom on it. They nibbled and tried to refuel after a hard day of being almost killed and almost turned in to a 6 ft tall feline of some sort.

After a moment Bucky licked his lips and said in quite rational tones. "I'm sorry. But I all would do it again. I can't watch something happen to you."

Steve's smiled and in it was some exasperation. "Don't doom me to watching something like that though!"

Bucky's left ear flicked as he said it. "I... I'm sorry Steve. I'm so tired. I didn't mean to scare you, baby."

Steve without thinking reached up up rubbing Bucky's head forgetting about the ears then ending up bumping them with his hand. "I'm sorry too. Oo, do they still hurt?" He said removing his hand.

Bucky placed it back out top of his head with both his hands before Steve could move his hand too far. "N-no... it's like regular ones. they're stupid sensitive so I heard you still spouting off in the kitchen. Even heard the can opener. They feel a little uncomfortably cold though."

Steve smoothed his hand over one then the other gently then closed his hand over them trying to warm it up.

Bucky felt the touch as if amplified by double and couldn't stop trying to flick his ear when Steve touched it but it felt quite nice and he wondered how much more of his body would be like this. ”M-mnf~”

"Ah, s-sorry..." Steve blushes as he starts to move his hand but then Bucky presses his head against Steve's hand with the cutest hecking expression of both yearning and pleasure Steve chuckled and pulled him close, hugging him to his chest and going to let the other ear.

Again Bucky began to purr and Steve nearly exclaimed out loud at the sound till he realized what fit was. Then he had a brief fight with himself which he lost and finally simply went. "Aaw... Is it bad if I want to say it's not so bad? Because I could get used to your purring."

Bucky hated to admit it but he gave in. "Now that it doesn't hurt... I can't wait till someone comes up with a fix. But no... It's not that bad." His tail wiggled in the air as if drawing S shapes on it and he found himself after the chaos and fear in the mood for more intimacy.

Steve agreed hand now sliding down Buck's back. "Yeah, we know a few genius scientists, people that were known as gods and an honest to God wizard. We'll get you back to normal and I'll take care of you every step of the way."

"Thanks Stevie. I'm so glad you're here. I can't image what fresh hell those asshats at Hydra would have done to me after something like this..." Bucky murmured.

Steve rubbed his back a moment and he rubbed Steve's chest in a moment of mutual reassurance. Then Buck turned his whiskered face and pecked Steve on the lips but Steve stopped him turning away again. "No, don't you're still a fucking knock out, Dollface..." He said softly smiling as Bucky blushed. He knew having his body changed this way must hurt Bucky and he also knew he was going to make sure Bucky never had time to worry he was not good enough anymore. He kissed him deeply hand sliding lower to squeeze Buck's ass and came in contact with the new limb sticking out of his beloved. "Oh, I forgot-" he started but was drowned out by a loud cry from Bucky.

The man in question had tilted his head back as his voice came out in a wild get aroused reaction. He then flopped against Steve taking a few shaky breaths.

"Lord in heaven, did I hurt you, oh God sweetheart I'm so-"

"Hng... it w-wasnt that kind of feeling...it was just so... intense, hah~" Bucky said his face flushed red.

"What do you mean? I can stop..."Steve said with worry. He tilted Bucky's face up to his with a finger under his chin and saw unexpectedly an expression of Bucky's he knew very well. Buck's ocean hued eyes were full of lust and he looked on Steve as if just realizing who he was.

"Y-you don't have to. I ju-just never had a tail before..." He looked away a second brows furrowed. "That I can recall anyways." He returned his gaze to Steve. He didn't know how he hadn't noticed until then but the smell of Steve's body was making him crazy for him. He obviously had been smelling Steve for most of their lives and knew his scent well but he figured with the outer changes some mental impact had occurred and now smelling was as important as seeing in a knife fight is. And he felt he could swim in a tub scented with Steve. The fact that this smell was more important at the moment than the fact he might have cat's brain in his head was proof of it. He licked his lips in a slow manner and bit his lower lip as his back arched and his tail whipped side to side in an expression of obvious excitement. "It... it felt good just, explore gently. It's kinda like first time anal, you know?"

Steve blinked in surprise a moment and slowly rested a hand on Bucky's new appendage. It's tip flicked in side to side motions and Bucky inhaled in a soft gasp.

"God, that is so bonkers. It's like the opposite of phantom limb or something because, ah~ it's definitely there. It's sorta... getting to me." He said not wanting to admit he was growing more aroused by the minute. The combination of scent and touch were making something odd but enjoyable happen. For some reason he kept wanting to emit some message to even the empty room that Steve was his.

"You mean... it's a turn on?"

"Maybe..."

Steve returned to kissing Buck, his finger smoothing down the tail’s length. "Are you sure you don't know? Because a certain hunch is telling me you know the answer." He said in quiet tones wrapping a hand around it loosely at it's base and stroking all the way out off the top of the end of Bucky's tail.

Bucky grabbed a hold of Steve's shirt and tugged him down on to the plush carpet with him where he nipped and kissed Steve's throat. Steve in turn rolled Bucky on to his belly, kissing Buck around the shoulders and nape. Bucky presses his hips up and back rubbing against Steve's crotch with a deep moan.

Griping the tail Steve scratched about the base of it digging his fingers in to the fur, yet not scratching hard.

Bucky shuddered pressing his hips further upward into Steve's touch. "Come on, it's getting weird. I'm starting to earnestly want you to fuck me."

"OK. Fine. " Steve let go and made like he was gonna walk away.

Bucky mewled on the floor staring up at Steve. "You can't leave, you have to fix this!"

"Didn't you just ask me to stop?"

"I did. But you're a dummy. I meant that... I just didn't want you to think you can touch me there any old time you want! I want you to touch it when I say!"

"Oooh, I understand now. So should I continue?"

"Mmfff!! " Bucky half moan half sqealed with impatience.

"What was that? I didn't hear any consent so guess I'll just go have a cup of frozen yogurt, seeya Bucky... "

"You big dumb... Get over here now and finished what you started, Steven!"

Steve went on all fours leaning over Buck. He ignored the fur and grasped Bucky's ear in his teeth.

Bucky moaned and his head began to tilt back towards Steve. Steve undid his fly and pushed Bucky's leggings down. He gripped him by the tail and Bucky cried out again. Then he began toying with Bucky's hole, massaging the head of his cock against it. "I'll take you for little ride... Won't you like that baby? Huhn? Who's a good kitty?" He spit on his hand and Bucky gasped "Oooh, fuck!!" knowing what the sound meant. Steve used his hand to get Bucky open and push his dick inside. "Uh-hoh, yeah, do it, babe!

When he was ready he released Bucky's tail and pinned his arms to the floor by the wrist and began to plow Bucky like no tomorrow. Tail lifted ass up and face down Bucky moaned and gasped as Steve fucked him hard there on the livingroom floor. His tail ear and back all still vibrated with pleasure. He thought he could really get used to it.

"Oh, aaahn! "Bucky whimpered in long loud tones.

It was with intense jackhammer like thrusts, Steve thought drove Bucky to cum rather quickly.

"Ooh oh oh god!!!" Bucky moaned Steve kept going to let Bucky ride it out and soon came himself.

But then he noticed something different that had never happened before. Bucky still laying on the floor was staring straight ahead no longer panting or moaning in bliss till Steve asked. "Babe? You okay??"

Bucky turned his head very slowly and in a different situation would have made Steve laugh at how much he looked like that one famed gif of confused Britney Spears. "T-that's it? How..?"

Steve frowned and pulled away to sit beside Bucky looking at him very seriously. "Honey?"

"How in the fuck did we do all that and I didn't even make it? Something is seriously wrong if you can fuck me like that and I don't cum from it. What new fresh hell..?" Said Bucky unaware that Steve was rather disappointed in himself for the poor performance and the fact he just assumed Bucky was having as much pleasure as he did.

"I... it sounded like..."

"Yeah, it was that good, I just hit a wall and nothing happened." Buck paused for a long awkward silence. "Alright, now this feels weird and I don’t like it."

"I could try again if you just need more time." Steve offered. His own opinion mirrored Bucky's. It's had been a long time since he felt so inept and he did not miss feeling his shortcomings so starkly. 'Shortcomings indeed...' he thought wryly.

"I... dunno. Maybe I'm too stressed out. We can try again later, because I was really looking forward to finishing with you. Don't worry, Nat says it can be like this sometimes, and nothing is perfect 100% of the time." Bucky said trying not to make Steve feel inadequate.

Steve pulled him into a hug. "Okay babe. As long as you're okay. It's just one time. I don't know maybe because we usual don't argue then try that."

Bucky nodded but disagreed. 'Steve, we have stupid little fights and have make up sex all the time. You just don't want think about this anymore and even though I need release still, I'm gonna let that go because today has be too much.'

The pair separated, Bucky going to bathroom to finish alone and Steve to the bedroom to take out something for both to put on after a nice shower. Oblivious to Steve Bucky frustrated himself trying to to prompt an orgasm with anal then finally gave up and begrudgingly took the easy o which came with cock stimulation. The rest of the night had a sour taste to it though they tried had to go back to normal. Bucky's new appearance confirmed normal might not be 8n reach anymore.

TBC

[lady-charinette]

Another Cat - ML Marichat

Marinette sighed gently, scratching Chaton behind his ears and under his chin as the black cat purred.

The cat had grown larger and heavier during the months she had taken it in.

She had managed to hide him up until two months ago, then her parents had heard the meows coming from her room one day while she had been in school.

Needless to say her parents had been the perfect picture of intimidation when her mother held a bowl of milk toward the purring kitten sitting on her father's lap, who tried desperately to look serious with a small, adorable, purring kitten on his lap.

To her surprise they had allowed the cat to stay, but under the condition he was potty trained and not to enter the kitchen under any circumstances. He would need to primarily stay in Marinette's room and enter the living room on days off where none of them had to bake.

It was a neat deal. Now she had someone to cuddle with on rainy days.

She thought Chat Noir had been joking when he said purrs were medicine for the soul. But the longer she spent time with Chaton, the more she realized he had in fact been right.

The soft purring of her cat snuggled up against her whenever she got frustrated and the gentle vibrations and occasional pats of his paw on her leg did wonders to improve her mood.

She had nearly fallen asleep with Chaton in her arms when she heard the soft knock coming from her hatch outside. 

Carefully setting Chaton on her bed, she opened the hatch and watched as Chat Noir jumped in gracefully with a grin and a bow, "Good evening princess, I do hope I'm not disturbing."

His gaze caught sight of the familiar cat on the bed and he smirked, "Oh? Looks like you're already busy with another tomcat, should I leave you alone?" Chat Noir waggled his eyebrows playfully.

Marinette rolled her eyes, "Very funny, kitty. I wasn't feeling so well so Cha-ah, my cat helped me feel better."

Crap

She couldn't tell him she named her cat Chaton. Despite already seeing him a few times, Marinette refused to tell Chat Noir what she named him, she would rather the ground swallow her up before that happened. He was bad enough as it was, he didn't need anymore ego strokes.

Chat frowned, eyes softening with worry, "What happened?" they suddenly hardened as did the tone of his voice, "Did someone upset you? Hurt you? What's his name I'll-" his hand moved behind his back, ready to grab his baton but Marinette laughed and shook her head, quick to soothe his nerves.

"Easy tiger. I'm fine, you don't have to protect me. Its just...it had been a hard week." she confessed with a soft sigh, allowing her tense shoulders to relax and craning her neck, stiff from doing all-nighters.

And it had been a rough week.

With the ever increasing workload for school and her designs as well as akuma attacks, she had barely caught a break.

Chat Noir's posture relaxed, "Oh..." his ears dropped, "Anything I can do to help?" He looked hopeful, genuinely curious and ready to help her.

Marinette smiled, remembering how, despite his silly antics, Chat Noir could be really sweet, "How about you tell me about your day?" She patted the free spot on her bed and Marinette settled on her pillows again, Chaton on her lap when the cat suddenly hissed when Chat moved close to Marinette.

He blinked, shuffling to the farther end of the bed, eyeing the feline warily. "No need upsetting my fellow people without good reasons. Cats can be nasty when purrvoked." despite the cat's reaction, Chat chuckled.

Marinette giggled, petting Chaton to calm him down, feeling the fur raise on his back threateningly in warning, "Dont worry, he likes you, he's just-"

A knowing look crossed the superhero's face, "Protective of you." she blinked at Chat Noir owishly, as if he'd grown a second head, "Yeah, I know." he offered a easy grin and Marinette giggled, shaking her head.

Chat watched fondly how she played and petted the cat and felt random but strong bursts of jealousy clawing at his chest.

Why couldn"t he be pet like that?

Suddenly, an idea crossed his mind.

He just hoped it would work.

Being as none threatening as possible, lowering his ears and body to the bed to be at eye level with the watchful cat, Chat Noir slowly, inch by inch, shuffled along the soft, sweet smelling bedding until his head bumped against Marinette's leg, "Marinette..."

When he flipped over onto his back to look up at the girl, she had a disturbed expression on her face, "....Chat...what are you doing?" Chat Noir eyed the cat, then Marinette, gently pawing at her arm, mimicking the cat's earlier actions.

He did his best puppy look, pupils dilated and ears pressed flat against his messy hair, lips pouty, "Chat..."

Just a little more...

Hiss

Chat Noir's gaze flicked over to the cat, who pointedly sprawled itself across Marinette's entire thigh, looking smug. If a cat could look smug at all.

Chat Noir frowned. This was war.

Gently pawing at her thigh, Chat Noir hummed, "Marrinetteeee....pweasse. Purrty pwease, pet me too."

Marinette sighed, stifling a yawn.

A little while later...

Marinette had no idea how she ended up in the position she was in, but she figured she couldn't really complain.

At first, Chaton had been curled up on her lap, while Chat Noir's head had been resting on her other leg before he had changed positions. She couldn't blame him really.

Purposefully or not, the cat had flicked his tail constantly to always land somewhere on Chat's eyes or mouth which offered many amusing sights of her partner's exasperated expressions.

She was thankful for the distractions, she felt oddly nervous when Chat Noir had looked at her with his smouldering glances. Like the room suddenly turned several degrees warmer and his messy hair looked strangely inviting to be pet. For scientific purposes of course...if his hair was naturally messy and soft or if he used some type of gel to make it that way. It looked soft anyways.

Now she felt....warm, content...and blamed the redness in her cheeks on the heat in her room.

Chat Noir was now leaned back against her pillows, with Marinette resting against his side and Chaton, surprisingly, sleeping calmly on her lap.

She didn't even remember how she got into this position. She'd felt sleepy after petting Chat and Chaton, who both started purring to her petting and dozed off after some time. Did Chat move her? Did she crawl over to him herself? No, Chat Noir was too much of a gentleman, as flirty as he can be, to do anything of the sort. She also noticed she wasn't on her side of the bed anymore so it was most likely she moved herself.

She was too nervous to move a muscle, what if he woke up and think she was making moves on him? Would he be creeped out? Turn tail and run and never come back?

She was about to try and move from her positon but the slight prickle of claws against her side made her freeze.

Hesitantly she looked at Chat's face and saw him sound asleep. When she looked down at his hand, it was twitching slightly, sporadically in his sleep.

She sighed in relief and smiled but she didn't really want to go anymore. She felt too warm and cozy.

She snuggled up against her big kitty, smiling at how warm he was.

After a while, Chat Noir's eye moved open slightly and peeked down at the sleeping girl laying against his side. The cat was watching him but there was no hostility there this time and Chat rose an eyebrow in question before blinking slowly, signaling he meant no harm or challenge.

The kitty looked away before adjusting itself on Marinette's lap to face them, he looked once at Chat before falling asleep and it made the hero's heart warm.

He trusted him. He finally trusted him. Well, he did spend the better part of the year trying to make Chat Jr. trust him. Not that he would ever tell Marinette how he secretly named her cat. She would surely kill him.

Or ban him from visiting her but that was just as bad if not worse.

Instead he relaxed, body melting against Marinette's softer one and he laid a hand protectively around her waist, placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

"Sweet dreams, princess." he whispered into her hair before succumbing to sleep himself.

The cat stretched, regarding the sleeping humans curiously, before releasing a sigh and moving again, turning around so his butt faced the feline superhero while he affectionately rubbed Marinette's hand with his head.

[dyker-farmer]

More bro fic.... angst fodder kind content.

Take that can away if you can

I never see Shane works that don't go all in for romance nor explore the more realistic ugly parts of recovery, and I kind of crave That TM. So let me have at it too with the self-insert whump mumbo jumbo; no romo version.

Set post-8 hearts event- not 10, jesus-, Farmer Uidelsib is two years or so in, full house built and married to Emily. They/them pronouns, same as me.

Diverges from then on, Shane-centric from an outside POV for the most part.

I also put it on Ao3.

[[MORE]]

A bitch bastard man and a bitch walk into a room... Chapter 1/2/3/4

"I think we should talk about this."

If the room was stifled before, this just causes the pin to drop, and the relative lull to shatter with it. I don't want a storm, but we can't pretend the sea's a slightly oversized pond if we want him not drowning in it- again, my mind supplies, unhelpful.

He's zoning out again, blurry eyes pointedly off me, preferring the turned-off TV.

Let's start easy. "Why did you come here, Shane?"

"I-I-" It sounds like an excuse building up and it bubbles out like a shaken can, "I don't- I shouldn't have-" he goes to up and leave, and we just can't have that.

I scrape my chair closer and grab his shoulder, same as before. Hopefully it's more placating than caging. "No, you should have. You did good. Seeking out, remember?"

He doesn't answer but stills.

"Like Dr.Campbell and Harvey said." I try again.

"Yeah… Yeah." Deep breathing. "I. Don't know." He searches for my face, not quite past the nose. I nod, ushering him on. "It's. Stupid." I frown and my eyebrow goes higher than before and he immediately doubles down. "I know- positiv' reinforchment and all that shit! But… It's hard." A tired hand wipes the most of moisture off his face, before it goes back to wriggle with the other on his lap. "It's so fuckin' hard. Didn't even last two seasons!-"

I cut him off. "Two seasons is a lot! One and a half too. Last time, you'd tried to go cold turkey on the spot. We know what that got us." Sea foam in the mouth and a shared cold in the early spring, on top of a Joja lawsuit. "Shit's hard, like you said. You lasted one and a half this time. Next time-"

"Why the fuck do you always think there's gonna be a next time."

This time, I still. My laidback demeanor mirror his, but so does the cold anger creeping in and tensing both our backs.

"Because. There is going to be a next time. And another after that. And another. Same way there's been next times before this one now."

What's left unsaid we don't touch.

All irritation floods from him like it's just pointless to keep it in anymore, and his forehead goes to thunk softly against the wooden surface he leaned on before. The table muffles his next words a little.

"I can't… keep doing that." I don't peep. "I can't keep rolling back down and then up and down, and up, and down. I- I just can't, Garcia- Uidel-"

"I'll drag you there." I shrug.

"But you shouldn't have to!" His voice raises and make the boards vibrate where his skin's still pressed. "You shouldn't have to-to fuckin'-" he sniffles, the following words drowned out in held-back sobs. "Fuck damn it, you- I said I- I wouldn't be a burden anymore!"

He's crying out loud now, open sorrow and no walls left. Out of all the things you could stick on the not-so amiable man sulking straight from bed to Jojamart to Stardrop Saloon to bed, you probably wouldn't think of "extreme scare of bothering anyone". Yet it's all here in how he collapses silently in the mattress, wake without a sound, keep his head down the whole time he crosses town, tries to merge himself in the fake-nice blue of the shelves at work, then corners himself right between the chimney and the bar on Emily's side, stuck in-between two sources of warmth that can never touch him unless he swings one way or the other. And he doesn't a lot, still keeping to himself strictly. You probably wouldn't think either of how dreamy he gets, hidden in his alcove but seeing everything from there.

When Harvey nerds out about classical, jazz and electro swing music down the bar to me, trying to catch me up on my fuzzy memories of arts history and the implications of breaking codes in the tempo and the leisure of each instruments; of how each note gets a specific response from the brain if done right, and can make up for caffeine deprivation in miraculous ways, when there are no more chances to push back the dread of midterms season at doctor school.

When Elliott, boisterous and drunk, arm-on-arm with an equally inebriated Leah, calls out to the whole place to hear out his latest soliloquy, and drags on the words too much, but with a voice that carries it well, all flamboyance and no limits, as his hair floats around him in a crown and he reigns over the room like a kind lion- Description all intoxicated words from your chicken man truly, not mine. I always get too caught up in the pendulum of Leah's braid and her crooked smile to quite appreciate his theatrics. But the recital rings clear, and everyone applauds the performance- because hey, you applaud a drunk guy showing off the prowess of not tripping a single word in a ten minutes tirade, but also because it really is that good! Everyone, even Shane, whose hands zipped to under his armpits the moment our eyes crossed and I met his pink cheeks with a clairvoyant smile.

Hey, what can I say. Dude's a sapiosexual. Hence why we'll never and cannot bang. That, and, uh, the being lesbian thing.

But all this is closed off and not for anyone to see behind see-through fogged windows, like those kitchen cabinets, when you can make out the piled plates all resting against the cold surface precariously, bound to crash and shatter the moment you open them.

It took a good wrecking ball of a fake-oblivious polite faced stranger and my incessant, hot pepper poppers-powered pestering, to even just crackles the glass.

The rest was all done out of his own volition. He can't see that because alcohol is a depressant, and guzzling it down leads to blurry concepts made softer always and pretty much lush in brain, and when he's off the thing, and that's rare, he instantly goes from not there to thinking he's everywhere, soiling everything and giving nothing.

His sobbing doesn't relent, and he whimpers issues of "trustworthy sack of shit", "not being worth the fucking shrink's money", "not being worth his aunt's troubles", "not being worth Jas". At some point he goes to grapple with his hair, and tugs brusquely once, then twice, then I have to reach for his wrist to make him stop, which he snatches back as soon as I make contact. But he doesn't grab anything to pull or pinch or punch again, so that's good. I stay on standby beside him, but don't touch him. He rasps more condemnations, struggles to breathe enough through the phlegm spreading in his respiratory system, and I start reenacting the steps to stop a hyperventilation in my head, and the first aid for choking, when he begins to cough violently, his entire frame upset with the movement.

He takes the tissue box i nudge with insistence toward him, and ends up spitting mouthfuls of mucus mixed with some bile in the basin under his feet. Most of it is clear and smells of fruits, not beer, so I'm not too worried. When I go to stabilize him by taking his shoulders, he grasps at my wrists to stop me- but let them stay here, while he clings. The tremors get to me now, and I remind myself that this is good, this is before the cliffs and him finding refuge to burst open, not glassily stare at the weeping clouds as he blabbers on the meaninglessness of his life.

This is… very alive.

I ought to be glad.

I let him come down at his rhythm, counting the pulses of his wrists as I feel mine numb with the blood circulation slowed down under his hold.

When he's back with a mind, I count to three, then let go. His arms flop back down, on his lap and hands dangling between his tighs. He blows his nose again.

"I'm so pathetic…"

"Yeah sure, and I'm a serial prom queen."

Instead of jabbing back and forth, we get interrupted by a soft mewling. Both of us turn to the door, that's opened slightly to let in Eryza, the pitter-patter of her paws on the stone flooring the only sound for a moment…

As we both stare in revulsion at her jaw, a single line of vomit dripping of it.

Shane puts his head down in shame, not even having the strenght to hide further.

"Sorry."

"Nah, 's okay. She's already trash, anyway."

Eryza edges closer and rapidly tour around our legs- going back to Shane's feet twice, her whiskers tickling his exposed ankles. Purring loudly, she completely ignore my chastizing as I threaten to make her diet periwinkle-based to counter-act her literal potty mouth, and she scampers to do who-knows-what in the rooms.

"Your vibes are rancid, do you hear me?? Rancid, girl!" I call after her. "I swear to Yoba, Shane, your aunt might as well have brought me a raccoon."

Turning back to him, I can see the short-lived humor of the situation was, well, short-lived. I sigh.

It's late. We're both tired. Tomorrow is sunday. It's cool. We've got time.

I don't sit back down right away. First, I put a hand down on the nape of his neck, that slides to the top of his scalp, right where he'd tug. My quota, remember?

He sniffles some, a few teardrops make their way to the planks, unheard. We stay like this for a moment.

He doesn't shake me off, but in the slow tandem his body takes, rocking lightly from back to forth, I can tell it's enough, for now.

I sit back down on my chair.

I lean on the hand I'd put in his dark purple strands before, smelling cedar wood and pine trees. I don't assume. My farm has plenty of those to stumble through. And even if he went back to the cliff, another time again. I do that too. With my own cliffs back at not-home, but close. There's a sense, in staring down what couldn't take you.

Like visiting a scene crime that you've narrowly escaped from. And pride too. And the thrill of asking- "what if again? What if this time?"- and okay, I can see why it'd be worrying to have him go there a thrice time on his own late in the evening.

But last time was fine, the one before was made fine, and he might need a bitch for a friend right now, but not a watchdog.

His forehead is back against the table.

Three fingers massage my temple. I don't know how much he'll even remember tomorrow, but it's worth the try, always.

"Shane, dude, look at me." He doesn't.

"Dude."

Still doesn't budge. I knock the wood lightly.

"Yo, punk, my eyes are up here." I joke.

He snorts, or maybe he sniffles, and his chin's now resting on the table, peering through the forgotten drinks to watch me. His hands are hidden, probably still clutching his midsection. If I went on a rollercoaster toasted, I'd probably look the exact same.

"I told you before that you literally couldn't be a burden."

He snorts for sure this time, derisive. I knock wood again. "Don't look away from me when I talk, young man. Rude ass punk."

"Bitch." He throws.

"Bitch bastard man." I send back. "Anyways, as I was saying. If I choose you're my dumb of ass to keep around, that's me, that's my decision. You can't burden me if I choose the hard mode package and roll with it. So stop it. I literally told you before, it's not about you not making efforts or burdening people, it's about people who want to deal with you, out of free will."

"Freaky."

"Oh shut up, you dramatic himbo wannabe."

"A what now?"

"Internet slang. Gotta admit you're closer to a dad bod type, but the energy's here, according to many."

He shuffles, self-conscious. "Y'don't need to remind me…"

"Oh hush you, you're perfectly fine. And Elliott would eat his dumb little lobster and pomegranate toasts off that belly if you'd grow out of your own shell and let him."

He sputters unintelligibly, red as a fecking pepper. Good. Flustered is better than self-depreciating.

But now he's pulled on his hood and the strings all the way out, and resumes to chanting me to fuck off, so that might be a good call for a break.

"I'm gonna change and clean up, you need anything? Do you think you'll go back to the ranch, or stay here for the night?" It's happened before, but you can count them on the fingers of one hand.

A long silence follows and I allow myself a quick look in the mirror. Yeah, we're skipping a shower tonight, but the simple hairbrush will not do. I look like a bird's nest that the birds fought in to know who'd keep the children when bird 2 takes off and bird 1 is left to mourn the empty space that'll never fill up the same again and the good times that won't be- wow, trauma lane much, not now, cowpal. First we buckle up our current rodeo. I walk back to the main room, now pajama-clad.

"I've got the beds for the possible kids up there, don't ask me why Robin put so many there, we're two people in a house, and I can lend you a Tee if you want."

He's anxious, chewing his thumb. "Emily won't mind?"

"She's out, sleeping at Haley's tonight. Girls' night and sisters catching up. It's important for her energy flow and karmic balance. Plus, you know she wouldn't mind, she likes you."

That makes him blush more, covering up the alcohol damage enough. I take note, but don't comment. Things for later. They pile up tonight.

"I- I can't go back to the ranch like this."

"You could. Marnie knows better than act as if you're doing this for fun, now. She'd have to understand. But you don't have to." I reassure him when agitated pupils jump up to me. Let's keep that ongoing panic attack at bay. "Either way, I won't mind."

I sit back. Stretch my arms between us. Catch his worrying hands into mine. Give him a squeeze. Tense appendages don't squeeze back, but don't pull back either. That's half a win. He stops torturing the poor things, and unfold with visible effort, like a crumpled up paper flower put on water. His head shakes, and I can't tell if it's conscious, him speaking with himself or trying to shake off a thought, or just a reflex. He visibly forces his shoulders to relax.

"I'm… not bothering you?" Righteous. Seeking vocal positive reinforcement, like a pro.

"Nope." I pop out the 'p'.

"... I think I'll, uh, stay for tonight."

My hands shoot into the air. "Woo! Sleepover, baby!"

I don't catch his hands curling back on themselves, trying to capture that leftover warmth in the late summer night.

--- to be continued.

[layla256]

Key to Her Heart Chapter 2/52: Children’s Games

And here we go, the second chapter! I know the Slayerfest would have probably been a better episode to do this prompt with, but I don’t really have access to the episode since I’m on a cruise ship with no internet right as I’m writing this, so I figured I’d go with the next episode in season two.

Cause I love me some season two. Wonder why?

This was hell to write. Frankly, there’s about 200 words missing from this chapter, mostly because of the 2000 word limit. I was gonna have Faith finally show up in all her Single-Slayer glory, there was an entire conversation Buffy has with Spike about Ford and their friendship, there was a lovely torture scene where Spike’s feelings for Buffy start to come through, there’s an entire sub-plot with Buffy’s Mom and her gallery.

None of which I got to touch. So I’ve decided, since I have the extra time on my hands, I’ll start writing shoot-offs of the series. Things that have nothing to do with the Prompts as I’m writing them, but will definitely flush out the over-all story.

The prompt this time was: The most dangerous game.

Again, Slayerfest would have been perfect, but I barely remember the episode. I’ll have to start re-watching when I get home.

 Buffy wasn’t sure if she wanted to be flattered by Spike’s defense of her supposedly sullied honor or still horrified that his response to her assault had been to slaughter an entire frat house in her and her friends’ names.

Being fair, they were sacrificing teenage girls to a giant snake demon, so she wasn’t exactly upset that they were dead, but a voice sounding incredibly like her mother insisted that murder was still a very wrong thing and wasn’t to be encouraged.

Either way, Buffy had some serious thinking to do, which she figured was best done at the Bronze with bestie back up.

“Well,” Xander said, “I’ve given my opinion on the guys, so . . .”

Willow and Buffy both sighed. “‘Fuck ‘em,’” they quoted. It had been his mantra all night. Sure, he’d been the first on the Let’s-Stake-Spike train right along with Giles when he’d first heard, but the second his actual intentions had been revealed, they suddenly changed their tones.

“Extenuating circumstances,” Giles had called it, while cleaning his glasses for the fifteenth time that conversation.

“Well, someone got a potty-mouth while I was gone!” a strained voice called, bringing Buffy’s attention around to the familiar figure behind her.

“FORD!” She yelled out, not seeing the grin on his face.

  Spike couldn’t believe his fucking luck! He knew that Faith was a royal bitch to everyone (Buffy had complained about it plenty of times for him to get the picture), but to have a childhood friend turn her over to a Master Vampire to save his own skin? Spike had originally had his doubts when some posh human came and offered him the slayer on a silver platter in exchange for immortality. Had he not been able to smell the sick and medicine on the kid, he would have smelled a trap instead. Kid was dying and desperate, and Spike was just the kind of bad, rude man to take advantage

He would kill Faith, Dru would be able to drink her dry, then . . .

Then they would leave. Just like he wanted three months ago. His Dark Princess all healed up, they’d paint the town red before moving onto the next. This was, literally, the sole reason he came to this ruddy town.

Not why we stay, his demon whispered. Never before had he felt so strongly the urge to physically kick the damn thing. Yes, he knew bloody well that wasn’t why he stayed, or why the idea of leaving left him feeling more bereft than before, but it was completely and utterly a non-issue.

Before he could remind himself all the reasons why it was a non-issue, a hand came across his face, scratching as it went.

Ah, Dru was in that kind of a mood today then.

“Stop all that glowing,” she demanded. “You’ll burn up my daisies!”

Spike sighed heavily, drawing on a full century of loving Dru through all these fits to keep his temper. “Dru, Princess, ‘m not glowin‘.” He calmly took both of her hands into his own, holding them firmly so she couldn’t attack him again.

“You are!” she insisted, struggling in his grip. Normally, she could have broken it by now, but that mob had really done a number on her. “You glow with her! I’ll not burn up with you! No sunshine for Daddy’s princess!”

Spike was in game face in an instant. Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, that’s all he sodding heard about. Every damn night his Dark Princess insisted on bringing up her wretched sire, asking after him, commenting on whatever he was doing, all of it. Frankly he was fucking sick of it at this point.

“A hundred,” he growled at her, shaking her in his grip. “A hundred fucking years, I’ve stood by you. When Darla left cause she couldn’t put up with your fits, when he left because of that fucking soul, I stayed and took care of you, loved you through every sodding demon you opened your legs for. Kept you safe and happy, and stayed. Never strayed a once. So whatever Miss Edith told you, get it out of your head now.”

As he panted with unnecessary breath, he saw tears well up in her eyes. Immediately, he felt like a pillock. He knew it wasn’t Dru’s fault. Between the visions and the regular bouts of insanity, the poor girl couldn’t tell up from down half the time. It had been decades since he’d lost his temper with her.

“Princess,” he whispered, moving to bring her into his arms. “Princess I-”

“Princess wants her Daddy!” she wailed, crumbling to the floor.

And, for the first time in a hundred and eight years, Spike let her and walked out of the room.

He had a Slayer to kill.

 “Let’s go people-watching,” Ford suddenly said, drawing Buffy out of her Algebra-induced state. Something she was grateful for because, frankly, she was getting sick of those trains. However, when his words registered, she gave him a sarcastic look, raising her eye brow at him in what looked like a very Spike-ish expression. “Come on,” he needled, sitting up straight on her couch. “It’ll be just like old times! You used to love playing ‘Story Time’.”

Buffy shuddered at the name. “Yeah, until we made that amazing love story.” Buffy didn’t have to finish the rest. It had been her favorite story by far, full of drama, romance, and perhaps a hidden connection to the Dutch throne (did the Dutch even have a monarchy? It wasn’t something she’d considered when she was ten) rivaling any she’d come up with before. All of which had come crashing down when she’d caught the morning news and discovered the guy was actually a serial killer and the woman his latest victim.

Story Time stopped being fun after that. These were actual lives. Sure, it was fun to joke that the old man feeding the pigeons was a retired CIA spy who had a Bond Girl retiree waiting for him at home, but for all Buffy knew he was a widower trying to make it day by day.

“I don’t know Ford,” Buffy finally said. “It’s just not a fun game anymore. Besides, it’s gonna be dark soon.”

Ford shook his head. “Look, I know this club, it’s just full of a bunch of teenagers. It’s, like, ten minutes from here. No big deal.” He smiled at her, exuding confidence and almost jittering with energy. “Come on. For me?”

Buffy sighed. “We’re back by nine though,” she caved. “I’ve totally got to actually finish this Algebra homework or Ms. Jefferson’s gonna eat my soul or something. She wasn’t very clear.”

 Buffy already wanted to leave, and they hadn’t even spoken to anyone.

A vampire club. Ford had taken her to a fucking vampire club, and she was pissed.

Sure, she knew these kinds of places existed. There were a few in LA. Hell, there was a ball held there every now and then. She’d thought it sounded glamourous when she’d first heard of it in high school. The pictures she saw in one of the goth kid’s lockers showed big ball gowns and costumes everywhere. She’d even thought about going to one once. If only for an excuse to dress up.

Then she found out that A.) Vampires and demons were real and they were far from glamorous, B.) She might be one of them, and C.) Some of the people at those things took the whole thing way too seriously.

She wanted to tell Ford that moment that she was going home. Fuck the game, fuck this club, and, a tiny bit, fuck Ford, but she couldn’t bring herself to do or say it. He was still her friend and, frankly, she wasn’t comfortable leaving him wandering Sunnydale by himself at night.

“Let’s pick,” Ford said, his tone an odd one that Buffy couldn’t quite place. She looked over and saw a smirk across his face, but it wasn’t mischievous or knowing. It was frightening. It reminded Buffy strongly of her night at the frat, and she found herself moving away from him carefully, gently reminding herself that she hadn’t had anything to eat or drink in hours, so nothing was in her system.

While Buffy was focusing on her breathing, Ford seemed to find what he was looking for. “Oh, how about them!” He pointed below them. “Those two probably aren’t going to murder each other tonight.”

Buffy wanted to scold him. The game wasn’t fun or entertaining, and what had happened to that poor girl wasn’t something he should be making fun of. However, her eyes drifted to who he was pointing to, and her throat closed.

Spike. Spike was here with Drusilla.

And apparently this Vampire Bar had a few more actual vampires than Buffy had originally thought.

“Ford,” Buffy said, “I’m leaving. Let’s go.”

Ford shook his head. “What? You don’t like my new friend?”

Buffy’s eyes widened. “Friend? Since when do you even know Spike?” Before Ford could answer, she was shaking her head. “You know what? No. Doesn’t even matter. So low on the mattering scale I can’t even see it. We need to leave. Now.”

Buffy knew how Spike was. If he was there with Drusilla, they were planning on feeding. Buffy couldn’t protect everyone.

Ford seemed to hesitate but nodded. “Alright. We’ll go out the back way, so he doesn’t see us.”

And Buffy was so thankful he hadn’t argued with her, she didn’t even think of how bad an idea that was.

 Spike was mere seconds away from ripping the little wannabe behind him apart with his teeth when one of his men signaled him. Ford had actually managed to get the slayer into the alley. Bloody hell, he certainly owed the kid.

Moving quickly, he left Drusilla behind. She hadn’t spoken to him since the incident that morning, but Spike frankly couldn’t bring himself to care.

Stepping outside with a grin, he started swaggering towards the two figures, curious why he didn’t smell Slayer. Taking a deep breath, Spike scented the medicine and sick from the boy, the beer and vomit from the alley, and finally, a familiar vanilla and steel.

Buffy.

He must have said her name aloud, because the two turned and looked at him, a smile on the boy’s lips and terror on hers. “Spike,” Buffy hedged, putting herself between him and the boy. The lying little shit. “Spike, please. He’s my old friend, just leave him alone, please.”

Suddenly, it all fell into place. The shit hadn’t lied. Not to him at least. He was just a sodding fool. A sodding fool who hadn’t tried to sell him Faith, but Buffy.

“Buffy,” he said firmly. “Go home, lock your doors, and make sure your mum’s all tucked in.” He stalked towards Ford.

“Spike please no. I don’t know what he said—”

She was cut off when Spike grabbed Ford by his throat. “He sold you to me Buffy,” Spike growled through his fangs. “Swore your blood to me in exchanged for being turned.”

Kill the demon demanded. He was inclined to agree.

“We- We had a deal!” Ford gasped, clawing at Spike’s hands futilely.

“Not anymore,” Spike declared.

 The next night, Buffy was sitting next to Ford’s grave, a stake clutched in her hands and tears in her eyes. “I’m not talking to you,” she said, not even bothering to look at Spike as he approached from behind. “You had no right to have your minions haul me off while you—” she cut herself off with a choked sob.

Spike sat next to her, gently taking the stake from her hands. “I didn’t turn him,” he assured her, “But I wasn’t letting you stay for what happened.”

Buffy wanted to be furious with him. To hit and scream until her heart stopped hurting.

Instead, she just sat next to her friend’s killer and cried on his shoulders.

[themarchblessing]

EPILOGUE

Dos  Años Más Tarde...

COREY

“Oh..Elle!” I called out. Hopping off the last step I made a quiet advance toward the kitchen. When I stepped inside I instantly went to the pantry. The door is cracked and I can see the pink glitter from Elle’s slippers surrounding the bottom of the door. I decided that I would play with her a bit longer just so she thinks she’s gotten over on me.

“Oh princess Ellena! Where is my beautiful princess?” I called again. Faint giggles from the kitchen almost made me burst into laughter. I’ve come up with all kinds of silly names for Elle and she loves them all. Her favorite is princess. She giggles up a storm when I call her that. And if I call out to her in a funny voice, she’ll definitely laugh.

I stumbled around the house for another ten minutes winding back up in front of the pantry. “I wonder where she is.” I mumbled. Dramatically pulling the door back I spotted Elle holding her jar of cookies, crushing them. “Well would you look at that. The princess got hungry huh?”

She turned her head up at me and did exactly as I thought she would. “Ow me.” she cheesed, pushing her hair out of her face.

“Oh yeah I found you alright. You gonna share some with me? You gonna share with papa?” I asked, leading her out of the closet. Closing the door I took Elle out to the back porch. We lay in the hammock watching people walk down to the beach.

“Daddy..” She said.

Looking at her I opened my mouth to accept the cookie she was giving me. She used my head for support as we took in the beautiful view from here. Seeing my daughter grow up before my eyes over these last two years has really turned me into a soft ass man. Elle gets whatever she wants from me because she’s the baby. Just like her mother and Zay I buy it all. If Elle asks, she gets. I can’t say no to her. Sabrina and sometimes Zay have to step in and be the enforcers so the balance of power is just right.

I’ve also gotten extremely close with Izaiah over the last year.  He’s been curious to know about his childhood and how he got here. Sabrina faced one of her biggest fears and had that talk with him. Zay had a lot of questions and Lori provided him with more than enough in response. He still gets a little upset every now and then when he realizes that I wasn’t around to watch him grow up for so many years. Like when Elle said her first word, took her first steps, stood up on her own, and things like that, Zay will distance himself from us.

I never take his anger to heart but I do empathize with my son. And I also feel angry with myself at times for the same reason. All I have been doing is reminding my boy how much I love him, how proud of him I am, and that I promise to be there for him until I’m no longer living. When Zay does get in one of his moods, Sabrina gets really emotional because she blames herself for it all. She puts all the blame on herself for Izaiah and I building our relationship when he was six instead of when he was a baby. I then have to remind Lori that the way our lives ran its course is not her fault.

We’ve both had numerous conversations about accepting our separate journeys for what the are. Neither of us can change the past but we are learning to live with our paths in life.

“Papa, is mama?” Elle asked, sharing the other half of her cookie with me.

“She’s out shopping but she’ll be back soon. You miss mama?” Lifting my hand I ran my hand over and through her curls. She and Zay both have hair like their mama. Sabrina has these pretty, deep set shaped curls that never lose their shape. In fact after she had Elle, her hair got even curlier, kinkier too. Izaiah has much looser curls that he shockingly still doesn’t want to cut off. And Elle, well her locks are kind of a mix of Zay and her mother. She’s the lightest of the family, complexion wise. Diane is definitely the reason behind my daughters skin tone.

“Yeah.” She nodded.

Elle and I chilled outside for a good while enjoying this weather. Izaiah came home and was in a super good mood so I took the kids to the beach. Elle loves playing in the sand. She always asks me to pick up seashells with her and of course I help her. Every time we leave the beach with new shells I clean them, dry them, and set them in this big glass vase in her bedroom. She’s got these shelves on her wall that we house her favorite things on. Her seashells being one of her top favorite things in the world. I’m sure she’ll ask to count them all out some day.

Because Elle is evolving as a child so rapidly we often let her pick out her outfits now. She likes having a sense of herself when she gets dressed. As her parents, Bri and I feel it’s important to give her the chance to choose what she wears. Two days out of the week she will only wear this one particular set of pajamas all day long. Ravyn came to visit for Elle’s birthday last year and gifted her a set of footie pajamas that have bunny ears and a fake tail. Elle instantly asked for Sabrina to change her clothes. So in the middle of unwrapping her gifts she got changed into her bunny pajamas.

Another big change aside from her trying to talk more is that she’s teething really bad and we’re in the potty training stage. Her gums have been so inflamed for the last couple of weeks because she’s got more teeth coming in. So being that she’s in so much oral pain I give her a lot of soft foods. Yogurt, peaches, bread, grapes, macaroni and cheese is her favorite now, ice cream and just anything that won’t hurt her gums more.

Bri hates that I let Elle eat the way she does but nothing else helps to soothe her mouth. When she starts crying Bri will try and use this safe to swallow ointment that Elle’s pediatrician gave us but lil mama can’t stand it. We hate seeing her fuss about her incoming teeth so we just let her eat all the soft foods she likes. As far as the potty training goes baby girl is getting the hang of it pretty well. I cry sometimes watching her reach certain goals. She’s our little girl and the sight of her growing up scares me.

By the time we got back in the house it was well after sunset. Izaiah ducked off to take his shower leaving me the time to bathe Elle. She more so ended up playing with her toys for the first half of the bath. Then she started fussing about how cold she was so I made her put her toys up so she could get clean.

Picking up her nightgown I fitted it over her head, fanning out the fabric around her little body. Elle went into another one of her baby rampages where she mentioned food and some other things I didn’t quite understand. Once her hair was brushed and she had her favorite princess shoes on, it was dinner time.

I still cook most of the time and I still don’t mind. Truthfully I enjoy cooking more today than I ever have. Being able to feed my family brings me the greatest sense of pride and happiness. Elle and Zay are in the kitchen with me every time we’re about to eat. Elle usually watches us while she plays with her makeshift kitchen toys.

Sometimes Sabrina is down here with us and other times she’s sleeping. Ever since we broke Elle off from breastfeeding, Lori has been napping a lot more. Seeing Elle come off the boob was a huge milestone for us as parents. Sabrina expected to breastfeed for at least a year but that went on to being one year and ten months. Sabrina feels like her old self again not having to share her body anymore. Except with me of course. Now that our kids no longer need their mama to supply them with nutrition, I get all of my wife back. Every square inch of Sabrina Delores Howard is mine and I’m thrilled. She makes constant jokes about how I used to get jealous when Elle wanted to feed for hours. Technically her body was Zay’s first, then it became mine, and then Elle arrived but she’s all mine again.

“Guys!” Mommy’s home. Elle sat upright and turned around looking for her mama. “Donde estan todos!” Bri sang cheerily.

“Mama..” she mumbled. Her arm was outstretched as she kept a lookout. I couldn’t help but smile at how badly Elle wants to see Lori.

“Sit still baby so you don’t fall. Zay, I got this. Go make sure she doesn’t try to jump off the counter.” I can handle dinner by myself right now but I need to make sure Elle won’t hurt herself waiting to see her mom. Zay stood directly in front of Elle to keep her entertained for the time being. Although she realized her brother was the distraction she enjoyed the attention.

Izaiah adores the hell out of his baby sister. She is the perfect child in his eyes. For a boy he doesn’t mind letting Elle play in his room all day long if she tries. He reads to her, watches movies with her if me and Bri are too tired or I’m working on a project or something. He’ll help her eat, brush her hair, and whatever else she wants to do. For a kid who’s on his way to going through puberty in a few short years, he’s not a dick to her. Which is a good sign on Lori’s and especially mine’s behalf. My dad didn’t allow me to be that stereotypical angry black boy. He made sure I used my manners, respected family, worked for everything I wanted and was always kind to loved ones.

The same way my dad was with me, I’m like that with my son. He’s always been a nice kid but the influences of today’s world and kids his own age could change that. Not with who Izaiah’s parents are. We aren’t raising a dickhead for a son.

Lori rounded the corner looking as beautiful as always. The lights caught her rings and then I noticed she did something to her hair. She had her hair blown out looking dark brown with blond-ish highlights fading out towards the end of her hair. Putting the bread in the oven I shut the door and went to take these bags off Bri’s hands.

“Thank you, this stuff is heavy.” She said right away.

“What you got in here anyway?” I asked. Bri kissed me softly and began getting comfortable.

“More pull ups, a few cleaning supplies, and some groceries. You’re cooking early?”

“Thank your daughter. She was getting ready to throw a fit after her bath so I went ahead and got started. She’s been waiting on you. You changed your hair. What for?” Putting only the groceries she brought away I washed my hands and went right back to cooking.

“Yeah..I wanted to do something a little different. I’ve never colored my hair before so I took a risk. You like it?” Looking up from the cutting board I nodded.

“Yeah I like it. It’s different but it suits you.”

“Thank you. Three hours is how long I sat on my butt for her to do this.” She huffed, going over to where Zay and Elle were. “Hi mama’s babies. I missed you guys so much.” They soaked up every second of Lori’s affection. Zay talked her briefly as he came back over to join me.

“When is it due?” Bri asked picking Elle up off the counter.

“Next month. My teacher is giving us three weeks to work on it but I’m already half way done.” Zay checked on the bread first and then he went into the refrigerator to take something out.

“You smell so good my love. You have fun with your daddy and bubba?” Bri smothered lil mama in kisses as she sat across from me.

“Yeah.” Elle nodded.

“How’s your mouth, baby? Is it still hurting?”

“Yeah.” She replied again sounding sleepy.

“Can mommy see?” Elle let Bri check inside her mouth to look for any new signs of teeth.

“Nothing yet?” I spoke up.

Bri told Elle to close her mouth since she was all done. “No sign of her back molars yet but I can tell where they’re going to come in. Her bottom gums are red again.” Bri took out some applesauce and began feeding it to Elle. “I hope this doesn’t last much longer. I hate seeing her in pain.” Bri complained.

“It’ll pass. And besides all her teeth are almost in. She’ll be okay as long as you keep that stuff out of her mouth.” I warned in reference to that cream.

“I know she hates it but that’s what it’s for Corey. She used to be okay with it.” Bri frowned briefly letting her face settle after about a minute. “Here baby..” spooning more applesauce into Elle’s mouth Bri picked up a nearby rag to place over her clothes. Elle can be a messy eater in this terrible two stage that she’s in.

We’ve had enough outfit changes from feedings alone to supply four families with for a whole winter season. That’s how badly Elle can ruin her clothes. And it only happens when she tries to consume too much at once or when she feeds herself. She’s getting much better with getting the spoon in her mouth with all the food on it though. I do give her that.

“How’s your mom doing? Is she ready to move down here?” Bri’s mom has to move close to us due to her health declining. Bri puts a brave face in front of the kids but when it’s just us, she breaks down quite often.

Sighing deeply, Bri finished feeding Elle in silence. I saw what me asking did to her mood so I put that conversation on the back burner until we get alone. I don’t want her to be upset about her mom in front of the kids so I changed the subject. Izaiah noticed and jumped in to help me out.

Sabrina didn’t say much when it was time to eat. She was silent setting up our table, fixing Elle, Izaiah’s and my plate. When we all sat down she was completely tuned in to assisting the baby with her food. Every so often she would respond to something that one of us said so she didn’t mentally shut everyone out. She was on her way to helping Zay with his school work until I stepped in. I let Bri have some time to herself hoping that by the time I get in the room she’ll be in a better mood.

“Is mom okay?” Putting away his art supplies for his project Izaiah sat back on his bed.

Sitting forward with my elbows on my knees I cupped my hands over my mouth.

“Dad?” Zay called quietly. He carefully got off the bed not wanting to wake up lil mama. It’s past her bedtime and if she wakes up it’s going to be damn near impossible to get her down again. Zay closed his door and stood in front of me. “What’s wrong with mama? Is she mad at you?” He asked.

“Nah. She’s not mad at anybody. Your grandma is moving down here to be closer to us. However, it’s the reason behind grandma’s move here that has your mom so upset.” I explained.

“Is grandma sick?”

“Yeah, she’s not doing too well. She’ll be here by the end of the month and it’s scaring your mom. So if you ever see her get really quiet or distant, or she looks like she’s about to cry, be her shoulder. Do whatever you have to to ensure that your mom knows you love her. I’d never wish anything bad on anyone we love but if something does happen to your grandmother, mommy is gonna need a lot of love. From me, you, and Elle. She needs us right now.”

The tightness in my chest and that massive urge to throw up hit me like a ton of bricks. I can’t believe I just said that out loud. I never ever wish any negativity on those I care about. But the reality of the situation is the that Diane isn’t as healthy as she used to be. Losing her husband did her in. That’s when she started to go downhill emotionally. Sabrina’s father dying really affected Diane to her core.

I guess talking about my mother-in-law hit more nerves than I thought. I didn’t start crying in front of my kids because I fought the urge with all my might. I talked to Izaiah for a while about how he can help comfort Bri if she starts to lose it. Elle is back in her bed sound asleep. Now it’s time to check on Sabrina. Walking down the hall I stepped in the room sensing a lot of weird energy.

“Bri?” I said. Turning the corner I walked to the bathroom to find Lori standing in the shower, motionless. She was facing the backyard letting the water pour out over her head. I gave her company whether she was prepared for it or not.

I stepped behind her tracing over her tattoos. She noticeably relaxed under my touch. Seeing her react to my sense of touch hit me deeply, making me understand just how much of an effect on my girl I have.

“I can’t lose her Corey.” She sniffled. “I can’t lose her too.”

I knew this would happen. I knew mentioning her mother earlier on would cause her to break down once she wasn’t in front of Elle or Izaiah. It’s not in my nature to sugar coat but the first thought that came to mind would hurt her feelings. Now is not the time for me to blunt but I can’t mask my honesty.

So rather than causing my wife more hurt I said this instead, “you’ll never lose her. She’s always gonna be with you Sabrina. Always. Just like your dad. Everyday since he’s been watching over you, helping to guide you and protect you.”

“My tio said she’s happy to be moving down here. I however thinks she’s in denial about the meaning behind her relocation. I just hope she can handle this transition okay. After all she’s leaving behind her home and the life she’s known for so long.” Bri threw her head back, squeezing the bridge of her nose with her eyes shut.

Using my hands to gather her hair I set it over her shoulder leaving me plenty of area to play with. “She’s gonna be okay. She’s got a hell of a daughter looking after her. And I know she loves you so much.”

“I just don’t know how I’m gonna deal with losing another parent. And I don’t need you to tell me that death is inevitable because I know that. But that doesn’t make loss any less painful.” Bri turned around to face me. I could see the pain in her eyes as she decreased any space between us. Her head fell to my shoulder, one arm she threw behind my back, and the other across my free shoulder.

“Why are you thinking about losing her already? I could see if your mom was laid up in a hospital but she’s not. She’s still in her prime and you have to believe that. Stop getting ahead of yourself and just live in the moment.” I advised hugging her back. As we stood here chest to chest I thought over possible ways to make Diane’s move easy for us all. After all these years of being in the states, mama Guerrero is coming back to live in her home country.

Somewhere deep down inside I know Lori is happy to have her mother close to her again. It was my idea to get Diane a house just twenty minutes from ours to begin with. The idea came from Lori storming in the house, screaming about her mom going to the ER. This was on the first of this month. She was beyond panicking. Sabrina was all “we have to go” and “we can’t stay here anymore”. Basically saying we need to move to California.

I was against it only because of Izaiah and Elle. Izaiah has moved around and switched schools enough. Even though Ellena is still very young I couldn’t bare the pain of turning her world upside down. A move would only confuse and upset her. I didn’t want to put our kids through a drastic change in lifestyle regardless of how young they are. Sabrina and I have worked very hard on our home and to maintain the lifestyle we’ve grown so accustomed to.

“No matter what happens Lori, I got you for life.” I vowed. Lifting the arm she had on my shoulder I kissed her hand and each of her fingers.

Bri fingered the back of my neck melting in my embrace. “And I thank you. You know you’re never leaving me right?” She stated. Her sass does nothing short of turn me on.

“Why would I ever want to? You ain’t going nowhere either. You’re stuck with me forever. Your soul wouldn’t be able to rest without mine anyways so be ready for the rest of our lives and afterlife to be just like this. I was the first and the last to ever put a ring on your finger and give you beautiful babies. Ain’t no nigga other than me raising my kids.” I joked.

Lori fell out laughing cause she knows I’m right and seeing her happy is all I ever want.

“Ay, eres un pesado..” Standing up right Lori ran her fingers through my hair. The act was relaxing enough to make me close my eyes. “Your mom told me that I’m the best partner she’s ever seen you with. And we both know there have been a lot of women.”

“A hell of a lot of you.” I nodded. She slapped my shoulder because of what I said.

“Anyways...she’s very proud that you quit hoeing around and settled down. So is your dad.”

“I wasn’t hoeing around. I wasn’t content keeping any old girl around. Settling is not my style. Maybe testing the waters and seeing what else is out there but never settle.”

“What about me?”

Opening one eye I saw how serious she was. Quickly I looked at her through both eyes and told her, “you my love are an exception. The difference between you and the rest of them is that I didn’t have to find you. You were always there and I couldn’t be happier for it.”

She smirked. “Oh yeah?”

“Mhm. We’re gonna last. I know that for sure. But you will always be my best friend Lori. First and foremost. That’s not gonna change for anybody or anything.” I have no doubts that Sabrina and I will be each other’s last. No doubts whatsoever.

The End.

[grootiez]

The Joys of Raising a Teenaged Groot- Chapter 37: The Meeting

The next day, Rocket came to visit Groot to discover that he was fully recovered from the flu that he suffered from yesterday. Groot was more alert and eager to start his day as Azrik got him into the patient lift and into his wheelchair and buckled in before he took Groot down to the nurse’s office to have his feeding tube hooked up to him for his breakfast.

As Azrik left with Groot in tow down the hallway, Rocket had a few unexpected visitors enter Groot’s room: the rest of the Guardians.

“Hey, Rocket.” Peter greeted. “How are you and Groot holding up?”

“We’re good.” Rocket answered. “Azrik just took Groot down to the nurse’s office to have his feeding tube hooked up to him. He’ll be back soon.” Groot’s excited screams could be heard down the hallway. “...Or right now.” He said as Azrik brought Groot back to his room.

Groot was happy to see the other Guardians. The teenager squealed in delight as he tried to outstretch his arms in an effort to hug each of them, where they each gave him a hug, one by one as Azrik affixed the lap tray to Groot’s wheelchair and placed his talker on its stand.

“Alright, Groot, we’re going to do something a little different this morning before you go to therapy today.” Azrik informed Groot as he looked at his aide, confused. He then turned to the other Guardians. “We have to have a meeting concerning Groot’s future care. So, if you guys don’t mind, we can go down to the conference room to discuss this.” Azrik added as he started to push Groot down to the conference room as the other Guardians followed.

They all filed into the conference room, Drax holding the door open for everyone before closing it. They each sat down in one of the plush dark brown leather seats as Azrik parked Groot in the middle of the Guardians before sitting on the other side of the table and getting out Groot’s case file.

Azrik cleared his throat before he began his statement. “As you all are well aware, Groot wasn’t expected to make it this far.” He stated as Rocket held Groot’s hand in order to make him feel at ease. “Groot wasn’t even expected to live, but by some miracle, he pulled through.” Rocket then smiled at his son. “However, Groot’s recovery hasn’t been easy. His diagnosis was severe brain damage from his injuries and his prognosis was for him to be no more than a bedridden vegetable dependent on machines for the rest of his life. He was not supposed to even make eye contact with anyone or understand what was going on around him.” Groot tried to not become upset at these words.

Azrik then smiled at Groot as he looked at the teenager in the eyes. “But you’ve proven everybody wrong, Groot. You can look at everyone who sees you everyday and know who they are, you don’t need a ventilator to breathe, you’re not a vegetable by any means, you’re not confined to your bed, instead you’re sitting in your wheelchair and you’re able to do more things and move around because of it, Ms. Calina says that you’re enjoying speech therapy and using your voice synthesizer to communicate, especially since Ms. Calina was able to merge Rocket’s voice with yours so it’ll sound more natural, and your therapists say that you’re making progress in rehab.”

“So... why are we here? You could’ve just told us he was doing so well in his room. Why do we need a meeting?” Peter questioned.

The comment didn’t faze Azrik, who stated. “It is with my recommendation that we send Groot home.”

The Guardians were speechless for a moment, followed by uninterrupted cheers and congratulations for Groot. Groot expressed his happiness by joyous cheering.

When the celebrating died down, Azrik continued. “Now, the only caveat is that this is only a trial period of time. Groot has a lot of medical concerns and if anything should go wrong, he’ll need to be brought back here for further care. Your house would also have to be inspected and be declared safe and accessible for Groot before he is able to come home.”

“When you say a ‘trial period’, how long do you mean by that?” Drax questioned.

“We want to see how Groot would do at home for a couple of days, so we’re probably going to send him home for a weekend, starting on a Friday, staying overnight, and him coming back to us on Monday.” Azrik explained. “However, Groot has multiple medical conditions that would make a sudden life change such as this impossible, so we have to slowly get him used to it over time, until both you and him are comfortable.”

“What conditions are you talking about?” Rocked asked worriedly.

“Groot doesn’t like sudden changes in his daily routine or environment unless he knows what to expect. Which brings me to my next point. Starting tomorrow, we’re going to move Groot from the special housing unit, down to the transitional housing unit.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kraglin asked as he ate some soup.

“Transitional housing is where all of our patients go when they will be discharged soon and can go home to their families. But since Groot has a couple more special needs, it would be advisable that you attend some of these home life sessions with Groot so that you can properly care for him.” Azrik advised.

“What are these sessions about?” Gamora asked as she got out her notebook to write down notes for the other Guardians.

“Well, since Groot is unable to tell you when he needs to go to the bathroom and isn’t able to be potty trained, you’ll need to learn how to change his diaper.” Azrik answered.

“Well, that won’t be too hard. We’ve raised Groot from when he was a baby and needed to change his diaper before he was potty trained, this won’t be much different.” Peter stated.

“Actually, it is.” Azrik replied. “Since Groot doesn’t have proper bladder control, he had to have a catheter put in to help control his bladder movements. It also needs to be changed twice a day- as soon as he wakes up and taken out before he gets his shower and replaced with a new one afterwards and just before he goes to bed. Now, if he falls ill, he’ll need a catheter change 3 times a day.” Groot winced in response.

“Anything else?” Gamora queried.

“Yes, you’ll also be learning how to help give Groot a shower. Since he isn’t mobile on his own he’ll need the use of a commode chair just to get into the shower.” Azrik began. “You’ll also need to wash him with a shower wand to make it easier on yourselves.”

Kraglin soon realizes a problem and brings up his concerns. “But we don’t have a shower big enough to fit all of this stuff. Plus, converting the showerhead into a handheld one might be a problem...”

Peter was confused by what Kraglin was saying. “Kraglin... the shower was working just fine yesterday. What are you talking about?” Kraglin stared at the floor as Peter placed a finger underneath his chin and made the Xandarian look at him in the eye. “Tell us the truth...”

“...I reconverted the showerhead so that instead of water coming out, it rains hot soup instead...” Kraglin mumbled as everyone except for Groot and Azrik covered their faces with their palms. “What? It was Drax’s idea...”

The Guardians let out a collective moan. Peter was not too happy that he would have to call the plumbers again to fix another problem with the shower, on top of possibly having to widen and probably convert the shower to a roll-in shower in order to fit and accommodate the commode chair Groot would need to be able to even get in the shower.

Gamora broke the silence after an uncomfortable minute. “Is there anything else that we’ll need to learn in order to take care of Groot?”

“The biggest and most important thing that you’ll need to learn in order to properly care for Groot is how to feed him and give him his medications through his feeding tube.” Azrik took note of the Guardians’ faces as he talked. “Now, I know that all of this sounds daunting, but if you guys start to feel overwhelmed, we can look into hiring a professional home care nurse to look after Groot full time. They will take on the responsibilities of administering his medications to him, giving him his formula through his feeding tube, basically all of the medical care that he needs, his nurse will be able to provide for him.”

“Is that all?” Gamora asked as she flipped to a new blank page in her notebook.

“Just one more thing. Are you planning on taking Groot anywhere after he’s discharged?” Azrik inquired.

“Well, yeah. I mean, I’ve been talking to him about taking him different places after he leaves here and he’s excited about it.” Rocket answered as he held Groot’s hand as the teen squealed happily.

“Do you have a way of getting Groot around?” Azrik questioned.

Peter thought about his answer. “Well, yeah, I mean, we have a car of course.”

“Can your vehicle accommodate Groot?” Azrik asked.

“Well, yeah. It ain’t like Groot’s going to be standing up in the car while we’re driving.” Peter was starting to get annoyed.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea for him either.” Azrik stated. “Groot needs to be seated down in a moving vehicle. Now, there’s two options for him. The first would be specialized car seat designed for special needs individuals like Groot.” He showed the Guardians a brochure of the car seat in question. It was designed just like an ordinary car seat for babies and toddlers, but the size was much larger for teens and adults. It also had a block in the middle to prevent Groot’s legs from squeezing against each other. “However, in order to use the car seat, Groot must be able to sit up on his own without any assistance of any type. I’m sorry to say that this would not be feasible for him.”

“Then what would be feasible for him to get around in?” Gamora asked as Azrik handed the Guardians another brochure.

“Since the only safe way to transport Groot is in his wheelchair, he’ll need a special van to get around in.” Azrik began. “Luckily, this company specializes in building those types of vehicles so that the people who need them the most get them. There’s almost no difference in between driving them and a regular car. The only difference is that in the back where the lift gte is for the trunk, there will be a wheelchair lift to get Groot in and out of the van. The last row of seats will also be removed, except for a single captain-style seat next to the bay where Groot’s wheelchair would be tied down so that he can safely ride in the vehicle. Now, given the size of your family, you would have to get the biggest van that the company currently offers. The layout would be the leather driver’s seat and front passenger seat, 2 rows of bench-style leather seats, that can fit 3 people and 4 people, respectively, and the single captain seat in the back next to the wheelchair bay with tie down straps where Groot would be riding from.”

Peter was a little bit skeptical at all of the features. “How much is all of this going to cost?”

Azrik took a deep sigh. “Unfortunately, these types of vans are expensive. Since your family needs the biggest one that they make and Groot needs all of the space in the back, it’s going to cost around 100,000 Units.”

Peter balked at the price tag. There was no way any of the Guardians could ever afford the vehicle. Before he could say anything, Gamora talked to him.

“Peter, it’s okay. We’ll find a way to pay off the van so that we can take Groot places.” She reassures the humie as Peter calms down.

After a moment, Azrik turned to Groot. He then asked the teen, “Now, Groot, do you have any questions about what we discussed?”

Groot thought about everything that was said. He still couldn’t believe that he was going to get the chance to go home. Even though it was only going to be for a short trial period to see how he’ll make out. “When can I go home?” He asked through his voice synthesizer.

“Well, Groot, you’ll need to have your halo removed and be in the transition program for a while, but as soon as we feel that you’re ready, you can go home.” Azrik told Groot as the teenager squealed happily as he squeezed Rocket’s hand.

The meeting was now over. Everyone then went to Groot’s therapy session. They (especially Rocket) couldn’t believe that soon, Groot would be able to go home.

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Read on Ao3.

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@trashpandaorigins @captain---rabbit @thejollymilano @madness-on-the-milano @whoop-whoop-grocket @woozletania @rr4901 @pineapple-crow @mattchewystuff @vic394 @janetgenea @canuckscot @rocket-ringtail-raccoon

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[haikyuu-imagines-and-others]

Merry Christmas🎄! Can I have a cutesy scenario between Iwa-chan, Ushiwaka, and Oikawa when they have babies and how they take care of them and whatnot? Lots of fluff and just make me bleed from how cute this is pls. Thanks!

Okay sooooo I haven’t really ever officially written for Ushiwaka…. So PLEASE forgive me if I completely butcher his character!!! >~

Iwaizumi Hajime:

Kiyomi (Pure Beauty) - Daughter (baby)

Luck must have been on his side when you’d announced your pregnancy, when he’d felt the small baby bump you sported not but a couple months later. Luck because the pregnancy was a breeze, as if having your first baby was nothing but second nature to you! Of course, he’d been worried nonstop and stressed out any moment of the day where you were out of his sight, but as soon as he heard those cries of life from his daughter… It was almost as if everything in his life fell into place. Everything made sense, and all his stress up until that moment were put to rest.

Iwaizumi, he was sure of it, had been blessed. With your strength and love, with his family and friends support and understanding… And with his daughter, Kiyomi’s, beauty and ease. Kiyomi rarely cried needlessly, always ate whatever you or Iwaizumi would offer her on the ‘airplane’ of a spoon, and never woke up in the middle of the night after the first couple months of her life.

So when you brought home news of a big important work meeting you’d have to attend over the weekend for - Iwaizumi wasn’t worried. He was thrilled your hard work had been noticed, and had assured everything would be fine in your leave. You’d still been worried, knowing your husband had quite the temper and potty mouth - but you knew in your heart that nothing terrible would happen. Iwaizumi was an amazing father.

“Alright, Yomi, mommy’s gone for the weekend. What do you want to do?” Iwaizumi stared down at the most important light of his life, her wide green eyes staring up at him from her playpen in the living room. She smiled toothlessly up at him before tossing her toothing toy over the ledge of the pen. She fell back on her bottom and reached through the gate for the toy, her fingers just barely touching the toys edge. “Now why did you go and do that?” Iwaizumi picked up the toy before reaching in and pulling her into his arms.

Handing her the toy, he kept hold of it as she put the prickly, chewing piece in her mouth, gnawing on the plastic - the prickly points soothing her irritated gums. She let out a loud sigh and Iwaizumi smiled softly, pressing his lips to her forehead before walking over to the couch, taking a seat and placing her on his lap so she was facing him. His right hand held her on her back so she couldn’t fall backwards while his other hand held her little foot, a security hold in case she somehow got around his hand on her back.

Kiyomi smiled around the toy in her mouth, letting out a slobbery raspberry, a lob of saliva drooling down her chin onto her onesie. Before having a baby, Iwaizumi would have thought drool was gross - and he kind of still did, but his daughter somehow made it adorable? He reached forward, taking the edge of her bib she still had on from breakfast, and wiped at the spit and droll dribbling down from the corner of her mouth to her chin. “I don’t know where you get this messiness from…” Iwaizumi couldn’t help the small huff that escaped him, “I don’t even know how something so small can produce so much spit and slobber…” Kiyomi let out a high pitch squeal and Iwaizumi quietly laughed, “Yeah, I know! You’re just a small package of surprises, aren’t ya?”

Three years ago, if he’d been asked what gender he’d want for a baby, he would have said a boy. Someone to carry on his legacy. The traditional male response. At the mention of a daughter, he would have claimed to be upset and disappointed in his performance as a lover and future father…

But that’d changed. As soon as you’d happily told him the news of the pregnancy… He’d just wanted the baby to be healthy. He didn’t care if it was a boy or girl, just so long as they were happy and healthy. And when the doctor happily announced the birth of his daughter, his Kiyomi, Iwaizumi had felt pride swell in his heart. He’d been lucky beyond his wildest dreams and marrying the gorgeous and brilliant you… and now you’d blessed him with a smart, beautiful, amazing daughter…

“You know, Yomi… Daddy is so lucky… So incredibly lucky. I’ve never really… bothered to think into the future… Daddy likes to live in the moment and appreciate for what he has…” Iwaizumi moved his right leg to cross over his left, letting Kiyomi lean back on his calf as support so he could free his hand to playfully stretch her curly hair, watching it bounce back without a hitch. “But that’s all changed now, little one….” His smile was soft, gentle, not wanting to surprise his baby girl with any high frequency emotions, “I have to adapt to being a dad… You’re my baby girl… Daddy’s going to protect you from any snot nosed boy, and from any heartbreak that can be avoided…. But to do that… I have to look forward and plan well ahead…” He let his fingers stroke her little cheek, his smile brightening when her little hand wrapped around them.

Kiyomi stared at his fingers in her hold before letting her gaze trail up to his own eyes, giggling before sticking her tongue out and letting out a loud raspberry. She let out a squeal of giggles at the sound of her own noise, and made another raspberry, the force of this one making her cheeks a little red.

Iwaizumi laughed quietly and stuck out his tongue at her, blowing his own raspberry. Her wide green eyes showed her surprise as she stopped mid raspberry, her little pink tongue peeking between her rosy lips. “Ah, didn’t know daddy could make that noise, huh?” He smiled as he pulled her into his arms, her head resting on his bicep. Kiyomi stared up at her father with a wide smile, “Oh boy…” His left hand cupped her cheek in his palm, marveling at how much smaller and softer she was compared to him, “You’re going to give daddy so many gray hairs.” Kiyomi giggled happily, turning her head and blowing against the palm of his hand, making another raspberry noise. Iwaizumi sighed quietly, happily, contently, “Yeah… Yeah, you are.” And he’d never felt more excited to get a front seat experience of her life.

Ushijima Wakatoshi:

Isamu (Courageous/Warrior) - Son (twin baby 1)

Isao (Honor/Merit) - Son (Twin baby 2)

“Toshi…. Are you sure you can handle both of them while I’m gone?” You asked for the umpteenth time as you pulled on your winter coat, zipping it up to the collar. “I can always ask for my backup to go in for me-“ But further protest from you was cut off as he pressed his lips against yours. You smiled against his lips, stopping yourself from getting too lost in the kiss when you heard the quiet babbling of the two beings that occupied your husbands arms. Pulling away, your smile widened as you saw two pairs of olive eyes stare up at you, “Awwww, my little Isa’s!” They smiled up at you, reacting to the short nickname you’d donned them a few months after their births. “Mommy’s going to miss my very important boys so very much.” Ushijima raised them higher, his stoic look ever present, but you could tell he was curious on if you’d miss him as much as his offspring. “Of course, I’m gonna miss my very special man just as much.” You reached upward and forward, pressing your forehead to his chin and feeling your heart swell when you felt the small arms of your twin boys wrap around your head and their cheeks pressing against the top of your head.

Ushijima turned down his head just the slightest and pressed his lips to your forehead, taking a few moments to just enjoy your warmth. Faster than either of you would have liked, he tilted his head back a bit, pressing his chin against your forehead so you would look at him properly. He stepped back and set down his sons, watching the two of them toddle away as best they could before his eyes were back on you. His hands reached up and pulled your hood over your head, “It’s going to be really cold… Don’t get sick.” You smiled gently up at him, and he nodded to you, “We’ll be fine.”

You smile faltered just the slightest, worry filling your heart, “Okay… I’ll be back as soon as I can, I promise.” You quickly leaned up on your toes, pressing one more kiss to his lips before turning and opening the door, letting out a whine at the cold wind that rushed in.

After he was sure you’d gotten into the car, warmed it up, and got onto the road safely, Ushijima closed the door and locked it properly. He turned on his heel, about to go and make some warm tea to fight against the harsh chill in his bones from the freezing temperature outside, but stopped when he noticed his two sons staring up at him expectantly. Isamu and Isao. His offspring. His legacy. His twin sons. If he was being completely honest with himself, most days it was a trying challenge to remember which child was which.

Isamu smiled up at his father, “Coco!” Isao stared at his brother with wide eyes, realizing the possibilities now with their mother out of the house. Then Isao was looking up at his father with a pout, “Coco!” They called together, thinking maybe if they said it enough, their father would listen and give in to their requests.

Pursing his lips, Ushijima shook his head, “No, no coco. It’s time for bed.” His voice was stern, but his olive eyes were soft. He made his way to the kitchen, deciding to ignore the way his sons let out forlorn sighs as they fell in his shadow. While he’d said it was time for bed, he wasn’t going to enforce it until he’d warmed himself up with some tea, letting his sons enjoy being awake for just a little while longer.

Feeling a tug to his pant legs, Ushijima looked down to see Isamu, Isao?, staring up at him with an extreme frown - the expression most assuredly came from you, Ushijima was sure of it. “Coco?” Ushijima knew it had been a bad idea to have Tendou watch his sons, his former teammate had gotten his twin sons hooked on sweets within a few hours, and now they always asked for it. “Coco?” The small voice called for his fathers attention once more, and Ushijima shook his head. Isamu’s little shoulders slackened before he dragged his feet towards where Isao had been waiting on baited breath around the corner.

Ushijima could hear his sons whispered babbling, but he was relieved when neither of them came back to ask for the hot chocolate beverage once more.

Isamu held Isao’s hand as they walked into their bedroom, wrapping the both of them as best he could in their favorite blanket. They sat on their bed, talking about god knows what in their twin speak. Isao was getting sleepy, and Isamu had to keep slightly shaking his brother to keep him awake, to keep him company in the dim light of their room. Then they heard footsteps in the hall, and the both of them slammed down onto their bed, curling into each other and closing their eyes, pretending to be asleep. Their father wasn’t a terribly strict man, but he did have his rules. And bed time meant bed time.

A dip in the bed alerted the twins to their father’s very present aura in their room, and the adrenaline from hiding their wakefulness from their father made their little hearts beat twice as fast in their chests. “Isamu… Isao…” Their father’s deep voice called for them, and slowly they opened their eyes, which only widened when they noticed the tray of mugs their father had carried into their bedroom. “Coco…”

Isao practically shivered in excitement before crawling to his father, taking his mug carefully in his small hands and sipping at the cooled coco. Isamu crawled after his brother, kneeling next to the tray of mugs and staring up at his father with wide eyes as he was handed a mug of his own coco.

“After this, it’s time to sleep. Sleep is good for growing boys. And you boys have a lot of growing to do.” A small smile lit their fathers’ face, and both boys set down their cups on the side table of their shared bed before they launched themselves into their father, wrapping their arms around his neck and nuzzling his jaw and chin. Ushijima held them both in one arm, his other carefully setting his own mug off to the side table so as not to spill it before he was laying down with his sons on either side of him. They curled into his embrace, somehow completely forgetting about their treasured drinks, and fell asleep when Ushijima’s large hands slowly stroked their hair. “Just like your mother…” He couldn’t help but notice with a small smile, already looking forward to your return home, so you could join in the family slumber.

Oikawa Tooru:

Yukio (Snow Boy) - Son (baby)

The name Oikawa had been known all around the world for being the champion setter of Japan’s Olympic team - even with his bum knee. It’d been legend at his middle and high schools. Hell, it’d even been a huge name of his while he was still a child in pre-school… But it seemed his son, Yukio, was making a new record as Oikawa being the name of a boy most likely to throw a tantrum.

“Yukio-chan! Mommy’s going to be right back! What’s the matter?” Oikawa was almost at his wits end with his son’s constant crying. As soon as his son had woken up to find his father instead of his mother, it was almost liked Yukio’s entire life had been ruined! “Ugh, you’re so dramatic, Yukio-chan! She’s going to be right back, she just went to get you some formula!” Oikawa had tried everything to calm his son. Rocked him. Offered him food…. Begged him. Everything, and yet the boy would not stop crying.

Oikawa would have never guess that being a parent was so hard! Sure, he knew there were some hardships in the title. And he knew his mother had gone through her fair share as he’d been quite the difficult child.

But never in his wildest dreams would he have envisioned his own son being a complete cry baby!

“Mama! Mama! Mama!” Yukio’s cries were loud, grating on his fathers ears, picking at his fathers patience. “Mama!”

Feeling his nose scrunch, he got on the boys level, sitting in front of his son on the floor. The boy had thrown himself on the floor in his tantrum when Oikawa had tried getting him to follow him to the living room to entertain him until your return. Yukio’s cries faltered, surprised his father had sat down in front of him so suddenly. “Dada!” Oikawa challenged, squinting his eyes at his son.

Eyebrows furrowing, Yukio frowned and crossed his arms, “Mama!”

“Dada!”

“Mama!”

“Mama!”

“Dada!”

Oikawa threw his fist in the air and cheered, “Ha! Little Yukio-chan said dada! See? I knew you weren’t a complete loss of a mama’s boy!” He smiled proudly down at his son, but the pride immediately left him as soon as he saw the way Yukio sniffled and wiped at his own tears. What kind of father laughs at his own child? When they were crying? Oikawa felt shame creep into his heart, and he reached out, pulling his son by the hands so the small boy would stand and walk towards him. “Ah, Yukio…. Daddy’s sorry… Daddy’s really sorry…” He wrapped Yukio in his arms, pulling him to rest his little head against his chest, “She’ll be home soon, I promise, Yukio… I know I’m not your favorite, and I’m sure it’s probably deserved since I’m just… really bad at being a dad…” Oikawa’s laugh held no humor, and Yukio stared up at the underside of his father’s jaw. “Don’t cry, Yukio… Mommy will be home soon.”

Yukio frowned to himself, hearing his father’s forlorn sigh, feeling the hesitation in his fathers fingers as they stroked through his hair. And while Yukio didn’t understand what his father was saying, he knew it was something that was making him sad. Yukio stood on his father’s lap, his little feet pressing into his father’s thighs, and surprised Oikawa by wrapping his little arms around his father’s neck.

Warmth filled Oikawa’s heart at the small embrace his son was offering him, was giving him. He held his son close to his chest, pressing the side of his head against Yukio’s, “You know, Yukio-chan… I was really scared… when mommy said she was having you… I was terrified… Especially when I held you for the first time…” Oikawa’s fingers tightened in the back of Yukio’s shirt, “You were so small… So tiny… But already you and mama were my world. My entire world held in two small people.”

Oikawa closed his eyes and swept his son’s legs from under him, holding Yukio’s weight on his left forearm while his right hand softly patted his son’s back. Yukio leaned his cheek on his elbow as he relaxed in his father’s arms, his left hand holding onto the collar of his father’s shirt while his right hand gently played with his father’s soft hair. But his eyelids were getting heavy, and his breathing was evening out from the after-cry hiccups for air.

“And I’m still scared, Yukio… Because you’re growing up… You’re not the little baby I held that day anymore… Now you’re learning about your surroundings, and you’re learning to talk…. And I’m here… Still learning to be a good dad…” Oikawa’s voice was soft, his son’s drowsiness not going unnoticed for even a second. “And I hope, as you grow up, that you’ll forgive me… For anything that I do out of ignorance… Because your learning… and I’m learning…”

And just like that, Yukio had fallen back asleep, the angle of his cheek pressed against his elbow making his little lips part and his soft breathing sound in his father’s ear.

Smiling to himself, Oikawa slowly got to his feet, “Ah… Good parenting tip, Tooru… Complain to your son about having to raise him… Good job…” It wasn’t something he readily admitted to you, he didn’t want to upset you about his thoughts on his parenting techniques - and he didn’t ever want you to think he regretted starting a family with you. Because he loved his son. He loved Yukio with his whole heart. “Maybe that’s the secret to getting him to fall asleep again… Bore him… Make him feel bad and bore him.” Oikawa let out a quite huff of amusement as he walked towards his and your bedroom, laying down with Yukio on his chest.

He hadn’t been lying. The day you’d announced your pregnancy, Oikawa had been terrified. Scared out of his mind. He’d gone to Iwaizumi for advice, only to find out that his best friend was having a baby of his own and was completely thrilled about it. Humbled by it. And yet… Oikawa didn’t have that luxury. He’d always been riddled with his self doubt, always had to put on a confident show for what he lacked. And he lacked that paternal instinct. He knew. He’d been a terrible senpai in school, and while he was an okay uncle, he known there was no way he’d be as adept as his sister in raising a child.

Yet… Here he was. Staring down at his son’s peaceful sleeping face on his chest, hearing his soft snores, feeling his little heart beating against his chest - it felt… Surreal. Unreal. His son. His Yukio.

“I’m learning, Yukio… I promise.”

[namscrabs]

tipsy

CH. 1

➳   pairing: jimin x reader

➳   warning(s): light swearing (like 2-3 curse words)

➳   word count: 1.9K

❖  last modified: 7/13/18

❖  A/N: the first draft was deleted so it's not as good as it originally was. :(( also regarding the first chapter i dunno how alcohol works (i don’t drink).

• y/n pov •

I feel sunlight blaring on my face as i awaken, but i can barely muster enough strength to move, let alone open my eyes, as a agonizing pain rages in my head. "God damn it what did i do last night?" I groan as i roll over onto the opposite side of the bed. Before i could relax again i smelt a strange,pleasant, but unfamiliar scent coming from the pillows and blanket i was wrapped up in.

As i opened my eyes, my distressing migraine worsened due to the fact I realized I wasn't In my own room, but somebody else's room and house..

I quickly rubbed the sleep from my eyes and stood off the very comfortable bed to make my way to the door. As I swung it open a pleasant aroma of breakfast foods filled my nose.

I start to slightly panic as I don't know who brought me here, why they did, or why I have a huge headache that's increasing rapidly.

In the process of making my way to the kitchen I render the idea in my brain that I had a one night stand. Which doesn't make any sense at all since my lower region feels completely fine and I don't feel like I've had sex. But maybe they were gentle.(?)

I scratch the thoughts from my head as I peak around the corner of the kitchen to see a man wearing sweatpants, a loose t-shirt, with an apron strung and tied around his waist. He looked fairly well, though I didn't recognize him from anywhere.

Maybe he really was just a one night stand.

At that thought I could feel myself tear up, if he really was just that, I couldn't feel more like an idiot, if he wasn't, that's a big relief but it also arises many more questions.

He had been humming as he cooked and seemed to have a great singing voice. I studied him awhile as he cooked on the point that I was too afraid to speak to him at the moment.

He seemed to be just finishing up so it was either my move or waiting until he discovered me around the edge of the kitchen. I decided there was no point in hiding anymore if he was only going to find me anyway and i would have been embrassed if he did So i stepped out from the corner.

"e-excuse me..?" I mustered out shly but tiredly.

"-oh!" He jumped slightly and nearly dropped the pan as he turned around.

"sorry.. didn't mean to scare you.." i laughed nervously. "No, it's okay. I just didn't expect you to be up and out here so soon." He laughed back.

"So.. how's your head?" He awkwardly questioned as he turned back to the stove for a moment to finish what he was doing. "I have a small headache but I'm fine." I said rubbing the back of my neck slightly. He smiled cockily. I just shrugged. He laughed at my reaction before opening the cupboard next to me pulling out pain killers and filling a glass of water for me.

"here, take theese." He handed me the bottle and glass before walking back to the stove. "O-Oh, I'll be leaving so I'll be fine..till I get back to mine.." I set them on the counter next to me. "So you don't wanna stay for breakfast?" He questioned with a blank look but I could've sworn there was a frown on his face for just a short moment.

"well.." I started

"I made extras?" He encouraged.

"okay.. I guess it couldn't hurt. And maybe you could explain what happened?" I shifted from one foot to the other repeatedly.

"So you don't remember anything? Like being drunk?" He interrogated

I shook my head and ran my fingers accross my temples a few times to soothe the pain I'm my head. It made sense, I had a hangover. But why did I get drunk?

While doing so I notice the blush creeping onto his face.

"Oh God.. what did I do.." my face drained of color.

"i mean… you poked my rear alot.. and said it looked nice.." he rubbed the back of his neck. My face flushed red in emberassment.

"Was that all?" I swallowed hard.

He nodded but I could tell there was more but he decided to spare my embarrassment by not mentioning it.

"Look I am so so so sorry..I do stupid shit- I mean stuff when I'm drunk. Sorry."

"It's fine, don't we all?" He chuckled at my accidental potty mouth.

"yeah." I let out a snicker. "The food will be out in a second so you should take the pain killers and wait in the dining area." He smiled at me gently and maybe I saw a hint of sympathy in that beautiful smile; but I'm not sure.

So I took his suggestion and sat at the conveniently small table and took the medication. While I waited I scanned everything within the extent my eyes would let me. His living space was pretty tidy, but there were a few papers and wrappers around the coffee table.

As if on cue he walked around the corner with a two plates and glasses. He set the first plate and glass in front of me. On the plate lied some eggs and some other items which I wasn't sure of. Though they did look good.

"thanks." I spoke to him and waited for him to be seated before we started to eat.

"So..what's your name? I'm sure I probably said mine while I was out of it." I chuckled.

"you don't remember..? I thought the least you'd remember was my name" He looked confused.

"was I really that drunk?" I Laughed

"well.. you downed about 15 shots and nearly two full bottles of beer.." he murmured before stuffing his face.

Then everything hit me. I had drank so I could forget him. So I could forget his disgusting words. So I could forget all thing's he'd done. So I could forget all the memories I resented that i used to love so dearly. So I could forget how they meant nothing to him and that they were such an inconvenience.

I snapped out of it after sensing a voice pulling me from my thoughts.

"sorry.." I mumbled before filling my mouth with food.

"are you okay?" He said with his look and voice laced with concern. I just nod as i continue to eat as I avoid his worried glances and try to push back the tears that had proceeded to prick the edge of my eyes.

"anyways, I'm Jimin. Park Jimin." I could feel him smiling at me so I looked at him for a moment and saw him smiling apollogetically at me.

"y/n.." I reply quickly and avoid his eyes, still trying to push the tears, feelings, and thoughts away.

The air was filled with silence until the end of our dining. I still hadn't looked in his eyes for the fact mine were clouded with tears. He stood as we finished and was about to grab my plate but I grabbed it first and he looked at me questioningly.

"I've been a nuisance enough by stealing your bed and eating your food, the least I could do to repay you is do the dishes. You cooked so I should clean." I said looking at the floor and not him.

i knew very well it wasn’t my place to do the dishes, because again it wasn’t my home. But i couldn’t help but feel guilty after burdening someone else just because i have a shitty problem and tried to deal with it in a shitty way.

"but I can't let you do that, your my guest." In evoked.

I sigh, "but how am I supposed to repay you?" I finally bring my slightly clouded eyes to his.

"I have an idea." He said with a slight smile. I raised my eyebrows at his. "I'll wash the dishes, you dry them. Sound fair?" he reasoned. I just nod. He smiled brightly at me, "great." I could feel my cheeks slightly heat up as he walked towards the kitchen.

"why is his smile so nice.." I mumbled as I stood there pondering about his smile.

"you coming?" He asked as he came around the corner, "oh, yeah.. sorry!" I jumped and walked fast to the side of the sink.

During the time we had done the dishes I had outgrown the headache, the memories, and reminders of what he did and said. Because I had Jimin.

Jimin had a great sense of humor and seemed like a cool guy. I started to feel bummed towards the end of the dish washing session after realizing it was nearly time for me to leave. So I dried the dishes slower, but that still wasn't enough time.

By the time we had finished it still had felt like my stay was coming to an end too soon I admit I would miss him. And knowing I most likely wouldn't ever see him like this again made me more upset. But I tried to not let it show.

I placed the last dish in the cupboard and turned to face Jimin. "So.." he stated awkwardly as he shifted from one foot to the other.

"I guess I should leave now..?" I said in a way that sounded like a question. "I mean yeah.. there's nothing really else.." he stated.

I wasn't sure if it was just me but he almost seemed sad or upset that I was leaving too. I just nodded with nothing else to say or do.

The atmosphere was dreary and almost depressive.

 Before I walked past him I turned to him and hugged him.

"Thanks..y'know. for everything. It means a lot." I thanked him genuinely. I felt him tense up for a moment before wrapping his arms around me.

"you're welcome, but it really wasn't that much.."

"no, it was a lot. You really have no idea." I said smiling as I attempted to pull away. But his arms were still compacted tightly around me. "Uh.. Jimin..? You can let go now." I giggled at his cute action. "O-Oh.. right. Heh" he pulled away quickly and I could see his cheeks tint to a light pink.

"I should be going now.." I said quietly and almost sadly as I walked towards my shoes near the door. I slid them on and was about to touch the handle but turned to Jimin who watched me sadly. As he noticed I looked at him he smiled.

"hey Jimin..?" I ask nervously.

"yes?" "Could...Could i have your number? Y'know so we could talk or whatever..? You're really nice and I'd just feel bad for coming here and then never speaking to you again." I said honestly as I felt a deep red shade creep on to my cheeks.

His face lit up at my question, "yes, yes! Of course!" He said with nearly too much excitement. I could tell he was trying to hold himself back from exploding with joy. He pulled his phone out and handed it to me.

I dialed my number into his contacts and saved my name as 'Y/n 🙃'. The room seemed so much brighter after exchanging numbers. I didn't feel so upset about leaving and I knew he didn't either, i could practically see it.

I waved and headed out the door with a tingly feeling in my stomach. But it soon left as I entered my home, where the memories of him returned.

[superhusbands4ever]

The first fic in my winteriron key exchange on discord, based on the prompt: Jealous Bucky and shy Tony with non-sexual intimacy w/out kissing.

Title: Precious Pairing: Pre-Bucky Barnes/Tony Stark Warnings: None Summary: After a fight with Loki leaves Tony Stark de-aged to a four-year-old, Tony only seems to want to spend time with Rhodey. Bucky is definitely not jealous. (Shut up, Nat.)

Link to Ao3

Bucky sighed as he looked over to where Tony was watching the end of Pocahontas with Rhodey, whispering something in the man’s ear. Rhodey said something back to him and poked him in his side, causing Tony to giggle softly.

“You know, I’m sure if you asked to join them they’d let you,” Natasha said from behind him, making Bucky jump. He hadn’t even noticed her come into the kitchen but she was sitting on the counter with a cup of coffee in her hands. “Tony let me color with him yesterday. He could barely talk to me, he kept blushing every time he tried. It was very sweet.”

“Oh sure, he lets you hang out with him,” Bucky said grumpily as he sat down at the table, “every time I look at him he practically runs and hides.”

(mobile, watch the cut)

After a fight with Loki had left Tony de-aged to a four-year-old, no one really knew what to expect. Probably a loud mouthed, fast talking, rambunctious child looking for trouble at every turn. What they definitely hadn’t expected was a shy, timid, little boy who spoke quietly, played with his hair or his fingers, sucked his thumb, and flinched back from loud voices. Little Tony was extremely polite, always saying please and thank you. He was content to sit quietly in the living room and watch cartoons or read a book

What they really hadn’t expected was how openly emotional Tony was, and how incredibly, adorably shy he was. Even though he didn’t seem to remember any of them as a four-year-old, Tony had still immediately latched onto Rhodey, clinging to him like an octopus. Bruce thought maybe Tony was more comfortable with Rhodes because he’d known Tony the longest and so Tony had some unconscious memory of him, but personally, Bucky thought it had more to do with the fact that Rhodey had been the only one not yelling when Tony had woken after Loki’s spell.

So, Tony had latched onto Rhodey and never really left. He’d pull on Rhodey’s shirt or pants to bring him down to level when he was hungry, or tired, or needed to go to the bathroom. He watched cartoons with Rhodey, he ate meals with Rhodey, he played games and read with Rhodey, he took naps with Rhodey…. Basically, everything he needed, he’d only go to Rhodey for.

Which was… fine.

No, Bucky was not jealous. What right did Bucky have to be jealous? Sure, he and Tony had gotten close in the last year that he’d been at the tower, but Tony and Rhodes had been friends for years. Of course Tony would be more comfortable with Rhodey than Bucky -- the big, muscular guy with a metal arm and a horrible resting murder scowl. Sure, maybe before it had been Bucky Tony had gone to when he was bored and wanted someone to mess with. Maybe it had been Bucky Tony would ask to go out to eat with, to go see movies with. Maybe it had been Bucky who Tony allowed in his workshop while he was working, who Tony allowed to come to him when his memories got too scrambled and he didn’t know which way was up and what was down. Maybe it was Bucky that Tony would go to when the nightmares got too bad when the thoughts got too dark and he needed someone to pull him back.

But that was adult Tony. And, just from the apparent differences in personality alone, it was obvious that adult Tony and toddler Tony were definitely not the same person. He understood that, logically.

That didn’t mean it wasn’t a little upsetting when Bucky would look over at Tony and wave or smile, only for Tony’s eyes to go wide, his face grow pink, and for Tony to bury his face in Rhodes’ neck, or hide behind Rhodes’ leg. It was adorable, in all honesty. But it still stung a little to know that Tony didn’t want to come to him anymore.

“He’s just a little shy,” Natasha said as she hopped off the counter to join him at the table, “give him time to warm up to you.”

“It’s been almost a week,” Bucky definitely didn’t whine, “he even went to Barton yesterday to play with him, and--”

He cut himself off when he felt something lightly tug on his shirt.

Turning and glancing down, he was greeted with the sight of Tony looking up at him, brown eyes wide and his hands fidgeting nervously with the sleeves of his shirt.

“Hey, buddy,” Bucky said gently, trying to seem as calm and welcoming as possible even though his heart was speeding up in his chest from sudden nerves. “What’s up?”

“Um,” Tony murmured. He pulled at his sleeve again and glanced back at Rhodey, who was watching from the doorway. Rhodey smiled slightly and nodded.

“Um,” Tony tried again, voice louder, but still soft, “can… can you read t’me?”

Bucky felt his eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Oh-”

“Please?” Tony added quickly, as though in afterthought.

Tony’s eyes were wide, nervousness palpable on his face as he shifted from foot to foot. Bucky glanced back at Natasha, who quirked an eyebrow and lifted her head as if to say ‘I told you so.’ He glanced over to Rhodey in the doorway, face expectant as he waited for Bucky to answer.

Bucky smiled. “Of course I can buddy.”

Tony smiled back slightly and ducked his head before turning and running back into the living room.

“I told you,” Natasha said behind him, smugness in her voice, “he’s just got to warm up to you.”

Rhodey nodded as he waited for Bucky to stand and follow him into the living room.

“He’s been working up the courage to ask you for, like, two days now,” Rhodey said with a huff. “He was so afraid you’d say no for some reason.”

“I could never say no to him,” Bucky said.

“Yeah,” Rhodey said, smiling at him, “I know that.”

Tony was already sitting on the couch with a book by the time Bucky got there. His arm was wrapped around the Iron Man teddy bear Pepper had bought him earlier that week, and his thumb was in his mouth.

“Alright, kiddo,” Bucky said, sitting down next to Tony, “what are we reading?”

Tony held up a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Bucky took it, eyebrows raised. It seemed a little mature for Tony’s age group, but Tony was so much smarter than most kids his age. Bucky remembered Tony had built his first circuit board at four years old, so he didn’t think something like Dr. Seuss would keep Tony engaged for very long.

Wondering vaguely if young Tony would remember having read Harry Potter as an adult, he opened the book to the first page and began to read. The longer he went on reading, the more relaxed and comfortable Tony seemed to get. He slowly got closer to Bucky until he was so close Bucky had to lift his arm so Tony could lay more comfortably against his side. Every now and again Tony would let out a little giggle when Bucky read something he found funny, and he kept snuggling further into Bucky so he could try to follow along with the words.

“You could just leave me here,’ Harry put in hope--”‘

“You’re not doin’ it right.”

Bucky glanced down at Tony, who was staring up at him with those bright, wide eyes again. Tony blushed slightly but kept staring at him.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re not doin’ the voices,” Tony said around his thumb, “Jarvis always does voices when he reads t’me.”

Bucky felt a flare of amusement as he looked back down at the book. He was already a chapter and a half in.

“Well, why didn’t you say something before?”

Tony ducked his head again, shrugging his shoulders. He heard Rhodes huff a laugh from across the room.

Bucky rolled his eyes in fond amusement before turning back to the book, clearing his throat.

“”You could just leave me here,” Harry put in hopefully,’” Bucky tried again in what he hoped sounded like a child’s voice. Tony let out a little giggle.

“‘Aunt Petunia looked like she had swallowed a lemon.’” Bucky raised the pitch of his voice and said in a shrill, nasally tone, “”And come back and find the house in ruins?””

Rhodes let out a snort and Tony began giggling in earnest, his body shaking slightly against Bucky’s side.

When he got to Uncle Vernon’s part, he dropped his voice as low as he could comfortably go, putting on the most terrible British accent he could muster up.

“‘That car’s new, he’s not sitting in it alone….’”

Tony was full out laughing now, obviously not paying attention to the book anymore.

“What?” Bucky asked, pretending to be put upon but struggling to cover up his amusement. “You said you wanted voices!”

“You… you sound... silly,” Tony said between giggles. His face was red from laughing and he was giving Bucky the brightest smile he’d seen from the boy all week.

“I sound silly!” Bucky said, talking in the shrill voice he had used for Aunt Petunia again. “You ask me to do voices and then you insult me!”

Tony laughed harder when Bucky’s voice cracked when he said ‘insult.’ Bucky was finding it impossible at this point not to laugh along with the boy who looked like he was almost in hysterics.

“Well, if you’re such an expert maybe you should do the voices,” Bucky said, poking Tony’s side to tickle him.

Tony let out a squeal when Bucky started tickling him, trying to crawl away from him. Bucky tossed the book to the side and grabbed Tony’s ankle, pulling him back towards him.

“Oh no you don’t,” Bucky said with a laugh, pulling Tony into his lap to tickle him more.

Tony laughed and laughed, trying and failing to escape Bucky’s clutches.

“Stop-stop!” Tony squealed suddenly, pushing Bucky’s hands away. Bucky quickly pulled his hands back.

“What? Are you ok?” He asked, thinking he had accidentally hurt the boy.

Tony shook his head, blushing a little bit more as he motioned for Bucky to lean down closer, which he did.

“I have to go potty,” Tony whispered.

“Okay,” Bucky whispered back, suddenly unsure “Do you… do you want me to take you?”

Tony seemed to think about it for a moment, glancing back at Rhodey before turning to Bucky and nodding.

“Okay,” Bucky said, ruffling Tony’s hair, “let’s go.”

Bucky stood quickly and put Tony on his hip, walking him down the hall to the bathroom. Tony’s hand fisted the back of Bucky’s shirt.

“Hey, Bucky,” Tony said quietly.

“Yeah, buddy?”

“Can we… can we color after?”

“Sure,” Bucky said, beaming at the boy in his arms and brushing the hair back from his face, “we can do whatever you want.”