#Then his wife gets a whole day's accumulated little insults

[pseudowho]

Domestic Bliss: Nanami Kento #1, Rant

It was your evening routine, now. Kento was decompressing from work. You sat back and listened, rubbing your temples with your fingertips. He paced around the kitchen, clattering pans, crushing garlic, ranting.

"--introduced a new merge lane near Ginza. No advance warning of course. 'Traffic committee', are they? Bunch of clowns--"

The pan started sizzling, with mellowsoft aromas filling the house.

"--filing under category 1.1 instead of category 1.2, so I went back and did the whole thing again. Wouldn't happen if we switched over to e-copies--"

Two steaks flung with force, ejecting garlic cloves from the pan, to skitter away across the hob. Kento tutted at the garlic, picking them up and flinging them back in, too hard, to hop out of the pan again and he growled at the garlic now--

"--convenience store stopped the black pepper focaccia, people obviously have no taste, want sweet bread instead like they're fucking children--"

You were about to snap, you swore to God--

"--honestly I'd rather see a bunch of dogs in dinner jackets stand for election--"

You stood, clapping your hands once, sharply, and Kento jumped, looking at you mulishly as he flipped the steaks; "Enough! Fucking hell, Old-Man-Shouts-At-Moon, are you quite finished?"

Kento was silent for a moment, offended. As you poured the wine, simmering under his premature middle-aged grump, you heard a mollified little grumble above the sizzle of dinner.

"...any way to talk to your husband?...just having a conversation--"

"Be quiet and drink your wine before I bite you, Kento."

[dnarez]

Giving Siblings To A Son

Summary:

Shouto fights with his wife and is told to go to a Inn by his friends, the Inn is know to make wishes come true.

...--...

Shouto was happy with his life, he truly was.

He was the number 3 pro hero of Japan, had a beautiful wife, that is also a pro hero, no one less the Momo Yaoyorozu, who was his crush since 2nd year and girlfriend on his last.

A sweet son who had the name Shouya, that just completed 3 years, his gray hair, a mix of his white side with her black one was truly the cutest shit he's ever seen.

But now after his mother's birthday he was reminded of how good it was to have siblings, they were friends for your whole life, he wanted that his son would also have this, maybe someone to talk to when his son couldn't tell him or his wife, the image of both being friends brought warmth to his heart.

But when he thought about it, he realized his sexual life with his wife was dead, after having their son she simply stopped searching for him, and when he tried to she always had an excuse, Shouto had to "take care" of himself alone for a little more than 3 years, 4 if you count the pregnancy, maybe if he tells her that he wants another one it will help this problem that he discovered recently.

...

"You want another child?'' she looked at him through the mirror.

"Yes" he smiled a little shy''On my mother's birthday that was on the weekend I noticed how me and my siblings are close right now, even if we had a hard time showing affection before, now I know that they truly love me, I want Shouya to feel that, I'm not saying that I don't love him!" he said the ending quickly getting more and more embarrassed, to the point that his ears and cheeks were pink.

Momo was silent for a few seconds, then she went back to putting makeup on "Shouto... how many do you want?" she looked at him apprehensive.

His blush covered all of his face "I want 3 more" he looked down to his hands.

"I can't believe..." she turned around, and he saw his beautiful wife angry "ARE YOU ALSO TRYING TO MAKE WEAPONS WITH OUR SONS!? I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO BE DIFFERENT FROM YOUR FATHER!"

Shouto quickly got inside the bathroom and closed the door behind him when she started to scream "I don't know what you are talking about, I just want my son to have friends for the rest of his life, friends that will always have his back" he frowned, how could she compare him to the shadow of the man his father once was, not only insulting him but the good man his father is today.

Momo finish her makeup and goes to him, poking him with her pointer finger "Is that your excuse!? I don't want to end up crazy like your mother!"

"My mother isn't crazy! And my father is a good man now, what he did will never, and I mean NEVER be forgotten, but he did his best to be the better man he is today, why are you attacking me like that!? I love our son more than anything, even more than I love you!"

"Are you doing this because we aren't having sex anymore? Because if that's it I advise you to stop, I don't want any more children, and we won't be having sex anymore" Momo opens the door and put her red dress on "Now finish getting ready, our classmates are waiting"

As she walked away, leaving a heartbroken Shouto, she didn't even look back at him.

...

"I punched him straight in the face!" Bakugou said proudly.

"What else wound you do?" Kaminari pointed out.

"Probably make the villain fly after being barbecued" Sero joked, making the whole table laugh.

Shouto smile at that, but he wasn't paying much attention to the guys, even if their table had only guys, and by the looks he was receiving from an ash blond and a green haired dude, he guessed that some of his friends noticed it too.

...

"Okay, what the fuck happened? Why do you look like some dog that was kicked from the moving van?" Bakugou asked his friends as the three of them were alone on the parking lot.

"I had a fight with Momo before coming to this party... she said some pretty... aggressive things..." Shouto looked down to his glass of wine.

"Like what?" Izuku got closer with his on glass of wine in hand.

"... Like my mom is crazy, and compared me to how my father was before..."

"Why did she say that? What were you two talking about?" Bakugo nudge Shouto with his elbow.

Shouto gave him a small smile, after so many years Bakugou still had a hard time with showing emotions, but he did little things to show that he was trying to comfort his friend. "I told her that I would like to give brothers and/or sisters for Shouya... she accused me of wanting more children to be weapons for me... And that it was only an excuse to have sex"

Both Bakugou and Izuku looked at him shell shocked.

"THAT BITCH!" Bakugou received an angry glare from Shouto at that "DON'T YOU DARE LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT!!! IZUKU HELP ME!"

"This is kind of an intimate question but... how long has it been since the last time you two... you know..." Izuku blushes

"Fucked"

"Kacchan no!"

"Since she got pregnant with Shouya"

"WHAT!?" both screamed at the same time.

"Isn't it normal?" Shouto tilted his head

"NO! IT FUCKING ISN'T!!!" Bakugou shouted.

"Shouto, do you do any type of skin ship with her? I know that you do like physical contact more than any other type of demonstration of love" Izuku put his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"No, she doesn't let me hug her, and I can only kiss her cheek before going to bed, and only in front of our son"

"You don't even fucking cuddle when you sleep? Even I do that with Eijiro" Katsuki crossed his arms, looking more pissed than normal.

"She sleeps in a separated room since getting pregnant, I didn't want to stress her when pregnant, so I didn't ask for her to explain, and after our son was born I step up to taking care of him more than her, since she always looked so tired..."

"Oh my god... you are literally the perfect husband and she simply- okay fuck her, you need to divorce her"

"Kacchan! Don't say that! This is his relationship, you know how Shouto his influenceable, don't put those ideas on his head!" Izuku slapped Katsuki's shoulder.

Bakugou huffs but nods in understanding "Maybe you should do something for her to notice what she's loosing"

Izuku put his hand on his chin and nods "That is a better option, you cook her meals every day, also does your son's bento, clean the house when you can, always lend her your ear for her, when she's tired you play with your son and don't let him close to her to let her relax..."

"I know a good place, since you like traditional Japanese style, It's a place with a lot of hot springs, I think you will like it, no... I'm sure of it, Me and Eijiro went there when we got time last winter" Katsuki took his cellphone from his back pocket and after a moment Shouto felt his vibrating.

"Hot Spring of Wishes" he read it out loud.

"Oh! That place is very well know for its secrecy, they can grant wishes by a price, but no one tells who grant their wishes, you said you went there, why is it Kacchan?" Izuku looked from Shouto to Katsuki.

"It was last year winter, when the biological family of my daughter wanted her back, they had a firm case, and the judge was known to not support gay marriage, much less adoption, so we both went there and made our wish" Katsuki looked up to the moon and sighed "We wouldn't have won if it weren't for that place, I'm sure of it, I can guarantee that your wish will be granted... well if you can pay the price"

"What was the price?" Izuku asked.

"I can't say, one of the gueixa that works there has a quirk called Seal, they will know when you broke the promise to not say specific things about that place, they say that if you break the promise the person that realize your wish will come to you and get what you wished for back to them" Katsuki frowned and looked at them nervous "If I tell you something like, who granted my wish, what the price that I paid was or one more thing that I can't even tell you, that person will come to my house and take my daughter with them"

"But you are the number 2 hero, how could them do that, it isn't even legal, and you should be able to spot it... right?" Shouto asked looking apprehensive.

Katsuki shook his head "No, that person is strong enough to take over the world, they don't do it because they don't want to"

Izuku and Shouto looked at him alarmed "So what does it stop some villain to go there and wish for the worst??" Izuku asked while flailing his arms around, almos spilling his drink.

"They have to accept your wish, after you go there, you are sent to your room, and while you take a bath at the hot spring, a woman will come to you and ask what do you wish for, after you tell her, she will go back inside and talk to the wish granter, they decide if your wish is good enough for them, they like the way things are, and they also have rules for wishes, you should go there and ask for your wife to appreciate you more, maybe ask for her to agree to have another child with you"

Shouto nod and look back at his phone, the pictures of that place were beautiful, and taking a break did sound good. "I have accumulated sick days, I will spend a week there."

Bakugou nods "Just make sure to leave enough bentos to your son for the whole week, your wife won't remember to do his lunch every day"

"But I do his every morning to be fresh and tasty... I don't want to send him with just a sandwich, a pack of grapes and a juice box, I like to cook him a proper meal every day... this is a problem..." Shouto frowned at his cellphone home picture, of him and his son smiling at the camera.

"I can do it for him, just tell me if he doesn't like something" Katsuki evade Shouto's thankful look.

"Thank you, you are a good friend" Bakugou nods at him, blushing.

...

The car trip was good, but exhausting, Momo was glad... too glad that he decide to take a one-week-long break.

"Welcome, I hope you have a very pleasent stay, and that all your wishes come true" a woman in a white kimono and with an empty white mask appears in front of him, her hair was the typical black japanese hair.

Shouto had reserved the whole inn for himself, being a top pro hero can be tiring, so a place like this where he could do as he wished with no worries was relaxing. "Thank you, please lead me to my room"

The woman took him to his room "Diner will be ready at 21h, the hot spring is always open, since it's only you this whole week, you can feel free and walk around freely, the hot spring has an area where the water is blood red, please don't go there, only if you are invited you can go there" The lady say as he goes into the room with his bag in hand.

"Thank you very much" he bows and she bows back.

...

The hot spring was perfect, as he let his muscles relax inside the hot water he started to hear someone walking to him.

Shouto looked atound and saw a woman with a black kimono, a black veil, but he could see the e/c of her eyes, her hair was down, the humid air didn't seem to change anything on her.

"What do your heart wish for?" She said by his ear, giving him goosebumps all over.

"I would like for my wife to agree to have another child" he looked at her eyes, but the veil was obstructing his view of the rest of her face.

"Just one more?" The woman tilted her head to the side.

He shook his head "No, I want three more, I already have one"

"Hmmmm... a lot of people come here for infertility, other people come here to try and find love, and you have money, power, a powerful quirk, a lovely wife and a healthy child, tell me, why should I accept your request?" She put her hand on his shoulder.

"Since I have everything else I can give you anything, it doesn't matter the price" Shouto's were filled with determination.

She chuckles and shakes her head "I don't need money, this inn per night is pretty expensive, I don't want power that is unnecessary, I don't need love my servants will always follow and obey me with their own free will" she gets up.

"Wait!" He also gets up not carrying for his nudity "please! I really want to give siblings for my son!" She stop and look down to his dick.

"Big..." she looks back at his face "I will accept ypur request, the price will be for you" she points at him "to impregnate me" she puts her hand on her chest.

"WHAT!? I will not cheat on my wife!" He took a few steps back.

She bows to him "Then have a nice stay mister Todoroki, your wish was denied for not being able to pay the price, if you change your mind go to the other hot spring, the one with red water" she goes inside the inn again leaving him alone.

...

You knew he would come to you, they alway come to you.

After the dinner you went to your spot on the bloody hot spring.

The thick water was scary for other, but you knew it was just the trees that had roots inside this pond, which made the water red and thick with it's sap.

As you relax in the water you hear steps coming to you making you smile "I didn't think you would come"

Shouto stop a few feets before the water "I don't have other choice... do I?"

You look back at him, and seeing your face makes him shy, you were beautiful, your lips curving into a sly smile, your eyelashes, your cheek bones, everything in you was attractive to him.

As his eyes went down accompanying a drop of water that went from your cheek, down to your neck, then your collar bone, going around your right breast until your nipple where it stay hanging, but his eyes went further down, stopping at your hips, the thick red water didn't allow him to explore more with his eyes.

You did the same, exploring him with your eyes, he had afew scars on his body, fine legs and body, but a certain feminine touch on his face, just like a doll, his dick started coming to life from seeing your body, and you could feel your core pulsating with need. "Let's go to my room, it will be better than you coming into my water" you got up and stepped out the hot spring reveling the rest of your body to him.

You see him gulp and his dick pulsate once, all to your eyes, you lick your lips and go to him "say, do your wife have big breasts? Would you prefer if mine were bigher like hers?" You say as you press then on his chest.

Shouto shook his head "too big, can't grab it all... it's annoying" he doesn't take his eyes off of gour body.

"Hmmm... so you prefer the normal sized cup, that's good, would you like to take a hold of them? Since you said that hers was annoying, I hope that I can satisfy you"

He nod and you take a step back, letting him grab your chest.

Shouto looked to be hypnotized by your body, you were smaller than Momo, also had smaller chest size, which is probably the normal size, your eyes looked at him with desire and want, something that he never saw in Momo's eyes.

You sigh aroused by the way he squeezes and pull at your breasts.

He watches tour facial expressions and massages your chest the way it gets more reactions from you, having you whimpering and giving small moans "Shouto... more"

Hearing you say his name and ask him so lovely, has him succumb to his desure as his head goes lower and he start to suck on your nipple.

"Aaaah!" You shout surprised "I told you we were going to my room!" You blush from his sudden advance.

'So many pretty faces, her sounds are extremely addictive... more... I want to see and hear more' Shouto close his eyes as he lightly bites on your right nipple and pinches the left one.

"Can't you- ah... wait? Just a little?" You pit one hand on his shoulder and pets his hair with the other "my workers will see us if we do it here"

At that Shouto releases your nipple with a wet pop, and lick his lips "Where?"

You sigh and nods to the inn "the red door"

He picks you up suddenly making you yelp surprised, but he just start to walk in to the inn... naked.

You whistle in a loud and long way, and hear a lot of doors closing to the way he was going.

"Was that a order?" He looks at you for a moment and then looks back at front.

You nod "It is, this way I ordered them to go to their roomsand not come out until further notice"

"And why did you do that?" You hug his neck to stabilize yourself, which makes your chest brush against his.

"We are both naked and walking to my room, I have enough jokes going around on my inn, I don't need anymore"

He nods and give you a small smile "let's finish this"

Shouto takes you both to the red door, which is where he puts you down, you open the door and let him in.

Your room was the only one with European style, the rest of the inn was in traditional Japanese style.

You walk to your bed and open your arms to him "come here, let's have some fun~♡"

Being called to have sex in a cute way, your open arms ready to embrace him, this is everything he wants to do with Momo, the reactions you give, the moans, he wanted to be his wife that embrace him fully, but instead he has to search for affection in another women's arms "Can you-... "

You watch him going back to being shy and tilt your head to the side, but don't lower your arms "do you want to request something?"

"Would you please call me Sho? And... what do I call you?" He looks away from you and tries to cover his dick with his hands, which he fails.

"You can call me anything you like, my name doesn't matter, okay?... Sho"

He blushes and nod as he stop covering himself and walks to you.

You put your hands on his chest and the back of his neck "Please kiss me Sho"

He grows and kiss you, his hands explore your body slowly, going to your hips then to your butt where he gives a squeeze, then back at your breasts where he goes back to massage it.

You lick his bottom lip and he open his mouth to you giving you access to his tongue.

The feeling of his slight cold hand going around your warm body making you go crazy with him.

Your tongue tasted sweet on his mouth, Shouto lays you down on the bed slowly, not stopping his hands, but breaking the kiss to breath.

The scenario in front of him has his dick pulsating and dropping precum on your thigh 'she wants me like I want her, so pretty, what do I call her? I want to mame this person so that she can temporarily be mine, just for this week...'

You put your hand on his cheek "what will be my name Sho?" You ask sweetly, as your hand goes and grab his dick "Sweetie? Maybe Honey? Dear? Or your wife's name? You can call me anything that you want"

"T-then..." his hips jerk on your hand as you slowly start to masturbate him "Love..." you look at him surprised and smile "Yes... you are my love"

He close his eyes and kiss you again, going straight for a small tongue fight, that he won easily.

Your hands, both go down, one of them jerking him off, and the other fondling with his balls.

Shouto moans into the kiss 'Momo never did something like this every time we had sex it was about her, she didn't let me fondle with her breasts, or explore her body with care, she would just use lubricant om herself, I would fuck her, and after I came she would take care of herself, not letting me touch her anymore'

You break the kiss and push his shoulder until he was laying down on the bed, you got yourself between his legs and licked his balls, yoi see the goose bumps on his legs, and just now notice that his pubic hair is also half white and half red.

He watches you with a lot of interest 'Momo only went down on me when I begged her to, and would always look disgusted, I would feel very unwanted and gross after, but... she is-!' Shouto's thoughts were cut by your mouth wrapping around the head of his dick.

He groans as you take more of him on your mouth, you facial expression shows pleasure, like you are sucking a delicious lollipop, and it makes him feel wanted, like you want to taste him and give him pleasure.

You bob your head up and down, taking more of him each time, being careful with your teeth and brushing your tongue on his more predominant veins, which hives you more breathy moans and groans.

He fit so well on your mouth, and his moans plus his dick om your mouth has you aroused to the point of feeling your slick on you lower lips.

Shouto trows his head back when your nose brush against his pubic hair after taking all of him in. "LOVE! My love! I'm gonna cum!" You quickly take your mouth off him which he whines at the cold air and the way his sick slap against his skin, all wet with your saliva, but the way you looked at him, like you were famish, made his dick throb in want.

You lick you lips and raise to your knees, you incline yourself a little backwards and open more your legs "Can you help me get ready? You will be the biggest I ever had" you open your lower lips and gives him a little show, your slick all ovee your thighs, showing him the effect of sucking him.

Shouto eagerly nods and give you his hand "sit on my face, please"

You do as told and as you sit on his face he starts immediately.

Circling your clit with the tip of his stiff tongue, then he relaxes it and goes in circles again around it, going from slow to fast, to slow again, loving the way your body flexes and relax under his treatment.

"Sho! Your so good at this!" Hearing you compliment him makes Shouto wants more of it, of everything you can give.

Your taste is intoxicating, so different from his wife, you taste sweet with the normal bitterness of the human fluid, since he wanted more of it he put his tongue inside you and moved it around collecting moew fluids as you moan throwing your head back and calling his name in such a lovely way.

You wiggle your hips trying to feel more of him, Shouto had an idea, he cupped both your clit and your entrance with his mouth and sucked on it, making you moan loudly and your body shivers from the sensation.

"W-wait! If you do it like that I will come!" You say trying to raise yourself from him, but he hook his arms around your thighs and pull you closer, now he was sucking only on your clit and he started circling it with his relaxed tongue.

It was too much, thhe sucking, the licking, so much so that he made you cum on his tongue, and as you did it, he lapped on your juices drinking it all, until you were too sensitive and was constantly trying to get out of his grip.

Shouto releases you and you fall back on the bed "Your wife is really lucky, you do an excellent job with your tongue" he hovers on top of you and smiles at you.

"Yes, you're really lucky my love, but I'm more, since I have you all to myself" the way he caresses your face makes you realize that he wants to act like you are his wife, not his actually wife that gave birth to his son, hut it's as if he wants to pretend just a bit, that he isn't neglected by the person he loves, so you let him.

You smile back and nuzzle his hand "We are both luck my husband, my Shouto" you hug his neck bringing him in, and you feel tears falling on your face as he passionately kiss you.

He holds you close and dearly as if you are very delicate and precious "my love, I know this is sudden but... let's have a child, one of our own, they will have your beautiful hair, my eyes, maybe a mixture of the two of us, how about it?"

You nod playing along "Then today is a good day, let's have a child that has your hair and my eyes, let's build our family Sho!" He sobs at that and nods opening your legs and trusting his hips against yours, making the head of his dick press against your entrance.

You hug his waist with your legs and pull him, the head pops in and you both shiver from it "More... Sho" you bring his face to yours and kiss his scar "please Sho, I want more of you" he looks back at you like you are a goddess and kiss you passionately while lightly trusting into you, until he got totally inside of you.

"There... but... you are so tight! I won't be able to hold back for long, my love... I'm sorry"

You shook your head "it's fine, this way we can build our family sooner, please Sho, I need more" you wiggle your hips up, and sifhs at the sensation of being full.

He nods and start to move, the feeling of your walls squeezing him, and how hot and wet you were, so perfect, so sweet, just for him, so he takes what he wants, and trust into you making you moan at him.

Again... and again, he went deeper and faster with each trust, his arms got tired from holding himself up, so he let his face fall between your breasts without stopping his hips.

You carve your nails into his back and moans sweetly in his ears, nothing fake and loud, just quiet but showing that you loved the feeling he was giving you.

You feel him biting down on your neck and that make you yelp, but it turns into a moan when he brush against your G-point making your whole body shudder.

"Here?" He trust against it again and draw blood from his back with your nails "ah, you do like it here, go on love, feel all my heart and soul being poured into you" he nibbles on another place and keep trusting there.

As your pleasure rise you aslo bite and mark him all over his body "Sho! That way you will really get me pregnant!"

"But... that's the point... right?" He goes deeper with a strong trust and hits your womb, it hurts but it's the kind of pain that you like it.

The pleasure keeps building up, to the point that a little more will make you cum, and you do when you feel his mouth around your nipple.

Your back arches but he doesn't release you, but instead keep trusting, hearing you moan and quenching around him is driving him crazy.

Shouto frantically trusts into your sensitive pussy without a break, feeling so much off you, your smell, your taste, your sounds, how you wrap around him tighly like you don't want him to go, so perfect, his wife... is really perfect.

He cums inside of you, but keeps hiving shallow trusts into you.

You sigh relaxed and he gently lay you down on the bed, but doesn't pull out, instead you feel his shoulders trembling and feel your chest getting wet, you look at him and raise his face to yours, you see him crying and sobbing. "Hey! What's up? What happened??" You pet his face lovingly and caresses his cheek under his scar.

"Momo... I'm sorry! I'm an awful husband! What the fuck am I doing??? I-I just- please don't let go off me... please" he buries his face on your chest once more and you pet his head.

"Don't worry, it will be our secret" you kiss the top of his head and keep petting him.

The other workers giggle, both pregnant with the last winter wishes, glad to have another powerful child on their way.

[thinkinem]

seeing discussion of lgbtq+ representation in one chicago on the dash so I’m taking this as my opportunity to float my overindulgent head canon* that Matt Casey is one superbly repressed queer.

*this quickly got out of hand and is likely well into au territory, but if I have to think about-- it as incoherent as it is--then you do too!

The reason he botched his moment with Sylvie so hard was that when things slowed down and Sylvie asked her Gabby question, Matt got majorly overwhelmed by the reality that he was about to jump into another relationship with a woman that already has all these ideas about who he is as a man and as a boyfriend. 

Usually he can ignore the dull feeling of disconnect that always comes when he’s first intimate with a woman. But dammit, he really thought Sylvie could be The One. He really thought this time those feelings of affection and aesthetic appreciation that he could conjure when he pressed himself to meant something. He was so sure that he was going to feel that spark people write songs about with Sylvie. That it was going to redeem him for all the ways he couldn’t be enough for Gabby, for all the times he looked Hallie in the face and wasn’t truthful.

But that spark, swoop, tingle, whatever it’s supposed to be, it isn’t there. Sure, he’s got the motions down, a smooth execution of the classic moves, and he likes feeling strong and needed and scooping Sylvie up without hesitation does that for him. But it’s not the aha moment he was expecting. The moments they’d shared over the past two years, the little glimpses of a future with this woman in his arms turn stale just like they always do when he goes to seal the deal. 

When Sylvie pulls back, Matt’s heart stops. He’s sure this is it, that if anyone is going to finally see through him it’s going to be Sylvie Brett. And in a lot of ways he’s relieved. Sylvie is a safe space, a trusted confidante, he knows she won’t mock or laugh. But also the idea of putting words to the way he feels scares the life out of him, to say it out loud would make his Otherness too real. (Even when he and Kelly were in the middle of whatever it was they had, Matt could never fully admit to it out loud, not even just as a whisper in the dark to the man that had already seen all of him and stayed close anyway). 

But Sylvie doesn’t see through him. Or she thinks she does, but really she couldn’t be farther from the truth. So when she asks if he’d go with Gabby, it feels easiest to say he doesn’t know. 

But his “I don’t know” was less about going with Gabby as an individual, and more about the idea of committing himself to another/any woman again. The divorce gutted him. It forced up a lot of thoughts and feelings that he was relying on that relationship to keep a lid on. But also, it felt a lot like checking off a task from a to do list: he did his due diligence as a man to have a wife and attempt a classic version of a family just like he was always expected to do (and in a lot of ways it felt like a big fuck you to his father and every one of his sneering insults).

The thing is, Matt knows in his bones that he wants someone like Sylvie Brett by his side for the rest of his life; she’s amazing, loyal, funny, understanding, everything he’d want in a partner. But in that moment Matt decides he cannot go down this road again. Sylvie is all those wonderful things and more, and she deserves a guy who wants all of her, not just the idea of her. 

For a moment he thinks it’s going to work out. He gets out the cliched “it’s complicated” and is almost ready to do it, ready to own who he is right there. But the words get a little stuck and then Sylvie is filling in the blanks with all the wrong colors (and, Jesus, isn’t that familiar). Then the next thing he knows, he’s breaking Sylvie Brett’s heart exactly the way he vowed to never do. The moment is quick and messy and feels terrifyingly unsalvageable, but it’s happening, then it happened, and there’s nothing he can do about it. (He sleeps with Sydney because that’s what he does when a relationship ends: he sleeps with a stranger, always female, and does everything opposite what he did in the relationship, just to double test the theory that it really is something in him and not just around him. Sydney: sexy and funny and charming; The Theory: confirmed)

And suddenly Matt is exhausted. He’s got decades of built up secret and accumulated grief on his shoulders and he can’t move with it all weighing him down. So he just sort of stops fighting it. He puts up the token efforts with Sylvie, tells her he doesn’t regret it, that she’s still very important to him, then lets her walk away when she informs him that it can never happen again, that he is a man still in love with his ex wife. On net, she’s actually kinda half right, and he lets himself have a quiet, sardonic chuckle at that.

Matt’s got the job, his rank, his men, the city. They’re more than enough to live for, to love, to give his all. They’ve got expectations of him too, and they’re ones he can meet with an ease that doesn’t exist anywhere else in his life.

Five weeks after Matt decides he’s really only meant to be Captain Casey, he wakes up on Christie’s couch with the mother of all hangovers. He gets a solid five minutes of laying awake, nauseous and self-loathing before his older sister comes in with a steaming cup of coffee and smile more gentle than he’s ever seen her wear. She digs her hand into his shoulder and tells him about coming home from her freshman year of college for Thanksgiving. 

She tells him about letting herself be dragged back to the high school stadium by friends she hadn’t quite lost touch with yet for the annual cross-town rival Turkey Bowl football game. She tells him about not watching a single moment of the game, about missing the moment when Star Quarterback John Murphy’s collar bone snapped. She tells him about becoming the most committed high school football fan in the five minutes after the ATs got John Murphy off the field, and the coach decided that what the hell, they’d finish the game anyway, that scrawny freshman Matt Casey would finally get some playing time after a whole season of sitting the bench. She tells him about flying off her seat, about going hoarse the next day from telling everyone in the stadium “that was my brother, Matt Casey, the kid who made the final point, that’s my brother.”

Matt, sitting up now, gives Christie a soft smile and mumbles that it was fluke really, that he didn’t see a second of playing time again until his junior year, that he was always more of a hockey guy. Christie reaches across him again digging her nails into his shoulders, says with the mean kind of love only older sisters are capable of, “Matthew Michael, you are not a fluke.”

A week after Matt pulls himself off Christie’s couch Sylvie tells him she is done needing space, that she misses her friend. He’s grateful for that and does his best to not be annoyed when she starts looking surprised that he isn’t ‘fighting’ for her or doing whatever charming manly bullshit he would’ve done even just a few months ago. But Matt is done fighting for things he doesn’t really want, is done fighting himself at every turn and is ready to start fighting for himself. He isn’t a fluke and one of these days he’s going to prove it. 

In fact, he proves it when he goes to dinner at Stella and Kelly’s new place on a warm fall night just under a year since he was standing in the hallway of Sylvie’s apartment exhausted of himself. It’s him, Stella and Kelly of course, Sylvie but not her boyfriend, and Sam Kidd, Stella’s older brother who just moved to Chicago and is “desperate enough for friends that I’m hanging around my baby sister, I know it’s--ow, Steve, don’t hit me!”

Sam Kidd is funny and charming and tells terrific stories about a precocious preteen Stella. And after dinner when he and Matt end up alone in the kitchen having volunteered for clean up duty, Sam puts a firm hand on Matt’s shoulder and says he appreciates how Matt has looked out for his baby sister these past years, that he was skeptical of the stories Stella told him about her Captain right up until he shook Matt’s hand earlier that night. Sam readily agrees when Matt insists that Stella has never needed any looking after but his hand lingers in an appreciative squeeze on his shoulder anyway. 

They walk down the block toward their cars together after seeing Sylvie safely to her Uber. When they get to Sam’s sleek black sports car (he’s in marketing and apparently very good at it), Matt is less surprised than he thought he would be when Sam crowds him against the passenger side door and sweetly asks “would it be alright if I kissed you?” (Matt says yes, to the kiss and a date, as well as a second date and third one too).

They don’t make a big announcement or anything, but they also don’t hide it. When Stella and Kelly get married in the Spring, Sam pulls Matt out onto the dance floor and holds him close right in front of everyone. For the first time in his life, Matt doesn’t mind the attention a single bit because he’s finally where he fits.

When Matt is all danced out, and Sam is cutting in to dance with his sister, Matt finds himself in the little anteroom straightening out gift bags and taking a moment to feel quietly pleased with himself. Sylvie comes in then, eyes shining to compliment the new ring on her left hand. For a moment Matt worries she’s upset with him, but then her face breaks into a soft grin and he barely catches her “oh, Matt” before he’s catching her. When they pull away from each other Matt gives her a grin of his own, one that he hopes says I’m sorry I hurt you, I’m sorry it all got so messy but I can’t be sorry for who I am. Sylvie must understand him because she’s still grinning as she says, “you’re happy.” It’s not a question, but Matt nods anyway because finally, after years and years, it’s fully and all the way true. He’s happy.

[belit0]

The Beginning of the End

Chapter 1

This is a project I have, where I want to develop two of my most important OCS, Indra’s children. Since Kishimoto did not give us anything about how this beautiful man created the Uchiha clan, I made my own version of the events, and here I come to show you! Plus I’ll add a third OC of mine, Indra’s wife (I did not feel like a [x reader] situation was fitting for this fic)✨🖤

Rating: E

Pairing: [Otsutsuki Indra / FEM OC]

TW: probably tons of them, but I don’t just yet

Thanks a lot to the amazing @art-blocked-gremlin for giving this two boys life!! Check out Art’s blog!!✨🖤🧙🏻‍♀️

Kuro (left) and Hikari (right). Indra’s twins!

An explosion was what woke both brothers up in the middle of the night. The room was lit up with an intense red color, from the flames that swept across the night sky from one moment to the next. The twins sat up in their beds, but their reactions were incredibly different.

Hikari was stunned as he had never witnessed such a display apart from the demonstrations of his father and mother as they both trained with murderous intent and skills.

“Why are mum and dad training at this hour, Kuro?”

The other brother, however, was aware of the facts that preceded those flames.

Kuro was always the closest to Indra, trying to follow each of his steps and imitating all of his attitudes perfectly. Both twins were arduously instructed from an early age by their father in the art of Ninjutsu, turning them into two young prodigies. But Hikari maintained his innocence intact, which his brother did not, and that distinguished them completely from each other despite being almost equal physically.

The twin who was closest to Indra developed a special and unique bond with him, sharing moments with him that his brother did not experience. Hikari, on the other hand, was always more likely to bond with his mother, and gain power from a less aggressive yet tactical point of view, without getting his hands too dirty.

It was during one of the moments alone with his father that Kuro heard the story of an extremely evil man, who had been pursuing his father with a thirst for revenge for years. This evil man, as told by Indra, tries to kill him and his family, after betraying him when they were teenagers. He will do everything to see him suffer, torture his children and wife in front of his eyes, and kill him slowly.

That day, this twin found out that their father trains them from a young age with such ferocity so that they will be able to defend themselves if one day the evil man finds them. After hearing Indra’s words that day, Kuro understood that it was his duty to protect his brother’s innocence at all costs, and that if the occasion ever arose, it would be his duty to get rid of the evil man.

At the age of 8, Kuro knows that those flame-leagues dancing outside the window do not belong to a mom-and-pop training session. Kuro knows that the evil man came to get them, and that things got ugly.

Before they can act or move, both twins hear hurried footsteps outside their room, and look intently at the door. After a few seconds, it opens, revealing an Indra dressed in his shiny, heavy armor, with two crossed swords on his back and his hair down. Both children know that seeing their father in this appearance means that a dangerous confrontation is approaching, for that protection they see on his shoulders, chest and back has been kept unused for years, as have his blades.

“Dad? Where’s Mommy?”

Hikari does not want to believe that their peaceful life is threatened, and that his father was forced into his war position again.

“My sons, come here.”

Quickly obeying the demand, both twins move into Indra’s arms, to be lifted in the air a second later. With his two children in his grip, the Ōtsutsuki uses his teleportation technique, and soon the corridor of the house is illuminated by a blue flash, while the three of them disappear.

One second later, they appear considerably away from the house where the pair of children have been raised, in the middle of a forest. Indra places his heirs on the floor, and holds them both by the shoulders, kneeling on the floor to stare into their eyes.

“Children, eyes.”

Understanding the request, the twins activate their Sharingan, and with increasing anxiety they wait for more words to understand the situation.

“Kuro… Hikari… I need you to be strong… Time is short, and your father has to take care of something urgent… My sons, my young boys. You are both warriors, you both carry my eyes, and this will guide both of you today and forever…”

“B-Bu-ut d-da-ad where’s mommy?!”

“She’s fighting Hikari… your mother is the strongest woman, and both of you must hide until we come and get you… Can you do it for us? Can you hold on together until mother and father defeat the evil man, Kuro?”

“Yes, Dad, we can… But… please… don’t… don’t leave us alone.”

"We wont ever leave you alone… you are my legacy, you are the black flames that run through my veins… Dad will always find you, I promise to return for you.”

Holding each child behind their head, Indra drew them into a hug, where he ran his arms behind their little backs.

“Be the strong ones, remember the power of your eyes… you, my two young boys, are my very soul, protect each other”.

“Yes dad.”

Both twins answered in unison.

By separating them from his embrace, Indra wiped away Hikari’s tears with bitterness, those his son was trying to hide from his eyes to look strong in front of him. He himself knew that if he kept saying goodbye to his children, he was capable of reaching the edge of sentimentality. Those kids were the cause of his soft side, a side that he never considered possible to have after the things he had lived through.

Bee had softened him up quite a bit, but the birth of his twins and their existence was something that brought unexpected happiness to the life of the Ōtsutsuki, something that washed away much of the accumulated meanness of years to give way to a light that he hardly remembered anymore.

“Go and hide, wait for us, go!”

And so both brothers ran in the middle of the night through the forest. Barefoot and wearing their bedding, they held hands, and dodged every tree and bush thanks to their Sharingan’s vision. Neither of them knew where they were going, but with his father’s words etched in his mind, Kuro guided Hikari as far as possible from the explosions heard in the distance.

Suddenly, the lattest stopped, and placing his hands on his knees, he tried to catch his breath. As the two breathed in agitation, a huge violet light shone on the horizon, along with an orange flash. The flashes of both colours constantly flickered as if colliding with each other in the air.

“Come on Hikari we have to keep moving!”

Kuro rushed his brother by the wrist, panicking at the terrifying display that danced across the sky. If one of those lights belonged to their father, he didn’t know, for Indra never wanted to share much of his past with his children beyond the story he told one of them.

They returned to the trail, trying hard to find a place to take refuge until their parents could come for them. Neither of them knew the true story of what was happening, and the only thing the children had at that moment was each other. Their hands were tightly intertwined, sharing the feelings of anxiety and panic through their union.

Eventually they found a cave, shallow and hidden among some trees. Sitting together, interlocking their arms and leaning their backs against the cold rock, they both shivered and closed their eyes, hoping that it would all be over soon, hoping to hear the voices of their parents sometime before it was too late.

“Kuro… I’m scared…”

“Nonsense, Hikari… mom and dad are the strongest people on earth… on the planet… on whatever comes next…”

“But… but… what if there’s someone just like them?”

“…”

“We never saw daddy fight… What if he’s not as strong as we thought, brother? What if…”

“ENOUGH ALREADY.”

“Kuro…”

“You’re insulting our father… he must have reasons why he doesn’t want us to see all his skills… Do you really think he can only use the Katon he uses when he trains with mom?”

“But…”

“They are both much stronger than we know! They will murder the evil man and come looking for us soon!”

“It’s okay to admit that you’re scared too, elder brother.”

“I’m not… What did you call me?”

“Elder brother… you are taking care of me like one would take care of one’s younger brother…”

“It’s okay to admit that I’m five minutes older than you, younger brother.”

“Shut it, fool… I wonder if dad had any brothers… We know mom didn’t, but what about father Kuro?”

“If he had any brothers we’d know about it. You know he had always been alone until he had mom and us. Why are you wondering?”

“I don’t know… we just don’t know anything about his life. Aren’t you curious?”

“I tell you what, when they come looking for us, we’ll ask him anything we want about when he was a kid. Deal?”

“Deal!”

Both twins laughed in the middle of the night, ignoring for a second the tragic scenario that lurked outside their safe bubble.

Suddenly, a disembodied voice spoke from somewhere in the cave, and the two children huddled together, for that sound was certainly not coming from either their mother or father.

“I can attest that Indra had a younger brother… I can tell you the whole story if you want, children.”

A chill ran through Kuro’s body, and by his side he felt Hikari shaking uncontrollably.

“W-WHO ARE YOU?! WHERE IS OUR FATHER?!”

With the Sharingan activated, the twin scanned the darkness, looking for the source of sound, the threat. Suddenly he found a man, tall and dressed in a white coat.

“Papa, papa, is that them? Is that them?”

The voice of a third child echoed in the cave, and both twins were stunned. Where did a child come from and why was he asking for them?

“Yes, son, they are your cousins.”

“NONSENSE, WHERE ARE OUR PARENTS?! SPEAK UP BEFORE I KILL YOU.”

“ Certainly you are my elder brother’s sons, I have no doubt about that. I would expect nothing less from Indra’s kids.”

“ ANSWER ME!”

Kuro was beginning to lose his patience, and with him, Hikari was growing more and more courageous in the face of the stranger’s evasive responses. They couldn’t be afraid of such a situation, their father had trained them to deal with such things, and they had to live up to their knowledge.

It was the boy who claimed to be their cousin who spoke first.

“Papa, are you going to tell them that their mum and dad are dead?”

The boy tried to whisper it, but in the silence of the cave, the words reached the twins’ ears easily.

Hikari turned pale in his place, dropping his arms and staring at the ground as his mouth and eyes opened wide.

Kuro tensed, all his little muscles contracted, his eyes fixed on the stranger in front of them, and he took a fighting stance. It was he who continued to speak.

“NO, DON’T LIE TO US, OUR PARENTS DIDN’T DIE NO!”

“Children I… I’m sorry…”

The stranger looked down at the ground and hugged his alleged son.

“NO, NO, NO, LIES, LIES, LIES!”

“You will come with me and- ”

At that moment, something inside the twins’ minds broke. Their hearts exploded into a thousand pieces, and their lives became blackened without warning. Hikari looked up, staring at the stranger as his brother was doing. The two children glared at their enemy with intensity, pain and agony in their red eyes.

A thick drop of blood slipped from the right eye of both of them.

An unknown and terrifying pattern was drawn in the eyes of Indra’s sons, who mourned the death of their parents by unlocking new powers.

In a second, the cave burned in black flames, which were born of Kuro’s will.

In a second, both twins were covered by a grey skeleton surrounded by matching chakra, born of Hikari’s will.

-To be continued-

[dalissy]

Hey this is purplellamanator on my main 🙄 can you do “I don’t recall asking for your opinion on the matter.” For KaiAo please 😊💜

DJDJKSWN I’m so sorry it took so much time and it’s so poorly done BUT at least it’s here. And that’s what matters. Right? (´;ω;｀)Thank you so much for the request anyway, it was lots of fun to write it!

~

“GET! OUT!!”

If he hadn’t covered his ears in time, Kaito was pretty sure he would have gone deaf from the screech that escaped Aoko’s lungs. In a finger snap, she pushed him out of the room so hard and well he almost hit his head on the corridor’s wall. Thank God, his reflexes were good and he stopped his impulse in time.

“Oh, come on, Aoko! Don’t tell me you seriously believe in stuff like that!”

She shut the door in his face and locked it -but Kaito was convinced that if she could turn the key more than three times, she would to give him more than a harsh time trying to pick it up. She knew him as well as the back of her hand, after all. On the other hand, one smart man would easily understand that she was determined to be left alone. Unfortunately, whenever it was about Aoko, his own IQ drastically lowered, perhaps enough to reach Hell underneath.

He puffed up his chest and knocked three times.“Come on. Just how long are you going to stay in? They’re waiting for us, Ahoko.”

Her tongue went silent, but he knew she still was right behind the door. He could still hear her stamping feet right behind.

“Hey.”

“That’s very much like you.” She suddenly interrupted him, in a more bitter yet calm tone than an angry one. “Not even an apology -not even a sorry. Just how rude can you be?!”

“I don’t recall you apologizing for being late either, princess!” He gibed.

“Why didn’t you ask dad to come for me?! He would have understood.”

The image of inspector Nakamori stuffing his mouth with canapés while almost crying flashed through his mind. Damn, if they didn’t hurry, the party would be over before it even started, and the man would have another whole new reason to cry.

“He’s, huh, busy”, he stuttered scratching his hair, “And mom won’t stop blabbering with everyone. Keiko was the one who told me to go. She said you would just use her to gain some more time, so I had to do it.”

“What a fantastic idea. And now everything’s ruined when I’ve been hiding it from you for months. This is just perfect. Fine. Just fine.”

It wasn’t fine at all.

“I don’t know what holds me back from cancelling– whatever. Forget that.”

It was just a thought that came out of her mouth without her wanting to, a stupid thought that she did not mean in any way, they both knew it, but it shook him to the core. The wrath in her voice had faded away. She sounded sadder than she had any rights to be today.

Fuck.This time, he fucked up really, really badly.

“Y-You’re not serious, are you?” Kaito sputtered, before remembering the Poker Face did not only apply to magic shows. “Fine. Suit yourself then. If you’re calling it off for such an insignificant thing… I suppose you didn’t really want to do it in the first way anyway.”

Why did he have to say this out loud? Why did this one stupid brain-cell of his always had to manifest itself to say the exact opposite of what he wanted to say? He wasn’t a teenager anymore. Why couldn’t he be honest with himself, even now? Today? Right this instant? He waited for it literal years, and he managed to ruin everything in a second, just as she said.

Great job, Kaito Kuroba. Great job. He couldn’t wait to put it in golden letters on his resume: I perfectly fucked up my wedding before it could even begin.

“That’s not true, Kaito. And you know it.”

Kaito’s former frown disappeared immediately, but when he opened his mouth to replicate, no sound came out. He gulped, watching his feet lightly tap against the door frame a second, thoughts accumulating one after another.If he couldn’t be honest even with himself, there was no point in all of this in the first place.

He rested his back against the door, arms folded.She remained perfectly silent behind the door. He could feel his guts knotting inside.

She could insult him. She could yell at him. She could even open this door right now and throw a porcelain vase in his face -he’d accept it all with open arms. It’d be more than a relief. On the other hand, a silent Aoko was the worst thing that could be, especially when these last words of her still resonated within his skull.His mouth stayed agape, his tongue paralyzed, his fists clenched.

He was so, so stupid and too damn proud. He knew it. But if he had to be honest with her, just one time in his life, it had to be today. It couldn’t be any other day but this one.

He turned around and put his fist between his forehead and the wooden door.“Aoko, tell me to shut up or something. Because if I say one more word, I’m not going to stop. Alright?”

No answer -but the soft sound of her back snuggling up to the door was enough. He inspired deeply as if to give himself courage.

“You- You look absolutely stunning. Is this what you want to hear? Listen, I didn’t know the ‘no-peeking-before-ceremony’ was important to you, okay? But I get it now- and I’m sorry. But whether I see before or after doesn’t really matter, you know. I-I’d have thought of how beautiful you look regardless.”

Blood invaded his face as he kept talking, making his cheeks a whole new kind of red. He always thought this kind of lovey-dovey speeches in Hollywood movies was so forced and embarrassing, yet now, as shameful as it was, it’s exactly how he felt.

He saw it for no more than a split second, this blue and white satin dress that fell down to her feet, large and fluttering at her every movements. He saw it, this insane amount of blue roses sew on the edges of the embroidered fabric that covered her chest. He saw them, the resplendent flowers on both sides of her tied hair, their stems intertwined within the braids that maintained her haircut perfect and safe, and her gleaming bridal veil dancing on her white shoulders. He saw them, the white azaleas arranged in the nicest bouquet that could ever be, dearly held in her gloved hands. And he saw the joy in her cerulean eyes- or at least he did until she spotted him in the corner of the looking glass she was admiring herself in.

And in that pathetic split second, it was like his heart was mercilessly squeezed to no end.

Aoko was so beautiful, and it was really happening. It was no dream, or fantasy, or even a future nightmare in disguise. He said yes when she asked him, and soon enough they would be getting married, and no more than thirty minutes later she would be his wife. All of that was just so surreal. He could barely stand it. Quite literally too, because he turned around and pressed his back to the door again, letting himself slide down to the ground.

“If you decide to stop everything now”, he breathed painfully, “The next time -if there’s a next time but, I mean- the next time you ask me to marry you, I won’t peek on your dress before the ceremony, or be rude, or whatever things you don’t want me to do. I promise, okay? I promise.”

There was a faint silence, during which he held his breath, waited, then exhaled when he told himself it was already too late. Now he probably was talking to the emptiness of the room, and Aoko had escaped through the window like some heroine of a telenovela and-

“You never keep your promises, stupid. But I suppose it’s alright if you stay that way. And if you peek up on my dresses or even wear some. And I guess I can allow you to be rude, but only a little. Okay?”

The groom blinked twice at the faint whisper he swore he heard, but before he could answer anything, Aoko spoke again, soft and emotional.“You know I’m never going to cancel the wedding for that, silly. But it’s just so frustrating…”

He anxiously licked his lips.

“What is frustrating?”

“It’s so frustrating not to be able to surprise you, not even once.” She muttered. “You always pull up flowers or fancy dresses or doves out of nowhere and I never know how you do that. Not sure if I want to know, either.”

“Hey, you surprised me when you bought this hideous talking fish from the flea market the other day and dared to shove it in my face like some kind of savage!!”

“That doesn’t count. Beside, you totally deserved it.” She said, articulating each one of her words. “But once, even just once, I just wanted to surprise you in a good way, because you’re always seem so indifferent to everything sometimes. I- I want to make you happy, Kaito. But if I can’t even do that right now, how will it be once we’ll be married? I know I was the one who proposed, but I’m- I’m so scared. And afterward I thought: What if you accepted because you didn’t to hurt my feelings? What if I can’t make you happy? What if you don’t really like me-”

“I don’t recall asking for your opinion on the matter.”

For the first time, there was no hesitation in his voice. There simply couldn’t be one.

“What matter?”

“Whether I love you or not. Because you may torture yourself all day long, you can’t come up with the truth unless you ask me, and your own opinion can change nothing about.”

He could doubt on a lot of things. Whether becoming a phantom thief ever was a good idea. Whether a legendary jewel could really grant immortality. Whether Hakuba really was that hard of a bastard until the end, or if perhaps there was a small, little amount of decency in him (however he brought a really nice gift today, so he guessed in the end there was an extremely tiny bit).

But him loving Aoko wasn’t one of them.

“…Do you love me?”

There was an adorable trembling in her voice, as if his answer wasn’t obvious enough and she expected the worst.

“Yes. Yes I love you, Aoko. I know I don’t say it that often, but damn, for you to doubt that….” He laughed, embarrassed more than ever. “It’s a bit of an important part when you’re marrying someone. I thought it was obvious.”

“Even if I can’t surprise you?”

“Geez, woman, I’m not some animal which chooses a mate on whether their nuptial dance had me having a heart attack or not.”

Oops, perhaps he already broke the ‘only a bit rude’ rule. The light grumble that came through the door proved it.

“Then what made you say yes when I proposed, Mr. Civilized-gentleman?”

He looked up the ceiling, lost in thoughts. Gosh, there was so many stuff -they shared almost their whole life together. He lived longer with her than without. He couldn’t exactly choose only one.

So he said each one that passed through his head, perfectly knowing he could never enumerate them all unless he was given eternity or something.For once, Pandora would be pretty useful.

“Because you were my first magic enthusiast fan. Because if I asked you to come to Shibuya without even explaining why, you would. Because you’re always so noisy and expressive like the rest of the world isn’t even here. Your cooking is so bad but you never give up and hope one day you’ll come up managing the same recipes your mother used to make. Whenever I take you on a bike ride, your face’s like it’s Christmas early, or something. The fact that you’re always cheering on the one you love even when it means fighting the entire world, too. Or these little skips you make when you’re bubbly, like I know I said you looked stupid doing these, that- that’s cute actually. And that one time where you made all these teru teru bōzu, for me, so it wouldn’t rain the day after because if it did my shows would have been cancelled. Also your boobs are damn fine-”

“You hate my small breasts!” Aoko argued suddenly. “You made that point very clear ever since we made a half-step into puberty!”

“I lied. You know I lie well.”

“Not really.”

This toneless answer left a bit speechless. He could hear in her voice both the flustered, shy smile she probably was displayed right now, and a bitterness that did not have the same taste of the precedent one.What did she mean by that?

“…And, if, hypothetically, I knew that you were KID, would you still have said yes?”

His hands fell down on his knees in utter astonishment, his mouth agape.

She surprised him, but he didn’t have the time to be, and he knew it.

“Yes. Yes, yes I would have but- Aoko I swear I wanted to tell-”

“It was hypothetical, Kaito.” She finally let out a laugh after insisting on the word as if she wanted to say something and its opposite at the same time. “We’ll talk about it later, okay? I’ll come out, now. But first, I want to ask you something.”

Slowly, he stood up, a long drop of sweat zig-zagging between his shoulder blades.

“…Go ahead.”

“When I open the door, can you smile for me?”

A bizarre demand, no need to say. He raised an eyebrow but his lips stayed sealed.

“I don’t care if it’s a fake smile, but… If you ever make that awfully neutral face of yours, like you’re dead inside or something, I’ll rip it off myself!”

Hey, that wasn’t exactly his fault. Mastering the Poker Face as KID over the years had its pros and cons, and one of them was that he had occasional occupational hazards, if being a phantom thief counted as an ‘occupation’.

“Can you make that for me?” She asked again. “As a reverse dowry, let’s say?”

The stupidity of the thought that a smile of his was as pricey as a dowry distorted his lips in an amused smirk.

“Come out and find out yourself.”

Shortly after, he heard the key turn in the hole three times. The faint metallic sound of the handle turning, and the light squeak of the hinges.

Aoko appeared, and she looked as gorgeous as the split second view he had told him. Wait, now. In fact, the more he looked at her, the more she shined.

“Ah!!” Aoko gasped, suddenly pointing at him in the most ungraceful way that could be. “That’s not a happy smile! You’re looking like a mischievous fly or something!”

Urgh. Moment ruined. Let’s say at least he would have something memorable to tell when he’ll show the photo of his wife in his wallet to whoever wanted to see. Like : “when I married your mother, I was thinking of how beautiful she looked and she called me a filthy bug as a reward”. ...But perhaps in the end it was better that way.

“Jesus Christ, girl, why must you always be so picky about everything!”

He approached and without even asking for her opinion, scooped her in his arms much to her surprise. He had to hurry -if they lingered on again, Kaito knew that his soon-to-be father-in-law would finish all the macaroons and he expressively ordered more chocolate ones so he could at least have some, then Hakuba would make all the bridesmaids crowd around him by bragging about some criminal he arrested and make them forget the actual bride, and Akako would have found a way to either charm or poison the entire church for the fun of it, somehow.

“Wait- Kaito! You’re going to flatten my petticoat! P-Put me down!”

“Sorry, dear, I’m not taking anymore complain until you get a certain ring on your finger, Aoko Kuroba.”

[coffeeandspn]

I’m really, really sorry...

GIF is not mine.

Summary: Castiel hates to celebrate his birthday, and Dean knows that, but he thinks that Cas needs to let go his past, so he surprises him anyways. Things don’t go as planned, and they have a big fight.

Pairing: Eileen x Sam Winchester, maybe Human!Castiel x Dean Winchester 

A/N: I’ll write some ACTUAL Destiel scenes only if u guys like this first part and want me to write a second chapter, because there are no mentions of Dean and Castiel having another relationship than just best friends, nor there are mentions on they having feelings for each other, simply because it didn’t fit with the situation..

Rating: Teen and Up.

Warnings: angst, unhappy ending, Dean is an asshole, Castiel is depressed, physical abuse, blood, fights, Castiel’s father is an abusive and drunken asshole, homophobia, language

Words: 1972

It was done. There was no way of coming back in time to change it. Dean was sitting on the kitchen floor, alone. All the lights were out except for a faint one, everybody was sleeping, and there he was… By himself. His sobs were the only thing that filled the silence of the night, and he swore, he could hear Castiel sobbing as well. That made him feel even more miserable.  He blamed himself over and over again for his stupid mouth. Couldn’t he just, shut up for one time? No, he had to ruin everything. All the damn time. Sam gave him a disappointed look before going to bed, and Eileen gave him a pity one. Castiel had left like 30 minutes before that, and the look on his face… Dean didn´t even want to remember the way Cas looked at him before storming out of the kitchen, with tears on his face. He went directly to his room, slamming the door. Everyone was silent for a minute or two. Dean didn´t know what to say. 

He felt and still feels like an idiot. How could he be so heartless? Why on Earth did Dean think that saying that Castiel was acting just like his father was a good idea? On his goddamn birthday!? Dean was definitely an asshole.

Castiel was doing the best he could, but by the time Dean realized that, it was already too late.

He knew Cas felt tired and sad, that the memories will haunt him forever, he knew basically everything about him, they´ve been friends for over 10 years, but Dean thought that maybe, it was time to let that horrible memory go. He thought that it was time for Cas to actually start living the life he always deserved; a great one.

But Dean doesn’t know shit about how Cas really feels. Because his mother had a great life, and his father wasn´t an abusive asshole, unlike Castiel´s parents. Dean´s family was the typical perfect one, the kind of family everyone wanted.

On his 13th birthday, Castiel´s dad, Chuck, beat his wife to exhaustion because he discovered that his younger son Castiel, was gay, and no one said a word to him. Plus, he was a drunken, a horrible husband and an even more horrible father. He blamed Castiel´s mother because he claimed that ‘’That little faggot bastard came out of YOUR vagina and you raised him to be like that, not me, you fucking whore! Look what you did with my son! He can´t even be my son anymore, not if he likes to suck fucking dicks!’’ His brothers, Gabriel and Michael, that were 16 and 18 by that time, tried to stop him, but Chuck was way stronger than them. Castiel was terrified, he couldn´t even move. When he was done, and had left his mother unconscious on the bloody floor, he tried to catch Castiel, but he luckily reacted quickly and started running as fast as he could. He escaped his house and started screaming for help, which worked, because a few neighbors came out of their houses, and called the police when they realized what was happening. After all, that wasn´t the first fight of the family and Castiel was sure the cops had their address memorized at that point.

The police arrived minutes after, one of the neighbors let Castiel in to their house while Chuck was busy trying to get his drunk ass up from the floor because he fell while he was running behind his son, trying to catch him.

That´s when Castiel met the Winchesters, and that´s when Dean and Castiel´s great friendship started.

The ambulance arrived as well and they took his mother to the hospital as fast as they could. She fell on a coma after that. His father went to prison and killed himself after spending barely six months in there.

Castiel, Michael and Gabriel were sent to an orphanage after that, and visited their mother (and the Winchester family) every day. As they grew older, and their responsibilities bigger, they stopped seeing their mother that often. She never gave any signal of improvement, or waking up, and their hopes started fading. After ten years of being in coma, not even breathing for herself anymore, they painfully decided it was time to let her go.

Today was Castiel´s 25th birthday, the 12th anniversary of his family officially breaking apart, and in two months, the 2nd anniversary of the official death of his mother.

That´s why Castiel hated to celebrate his birthday so much, but Dean insisted on making a surprise dinner for his best friend, alongside with some decorations around the house.

Castiel was drunk when he came home. His clothes and hair were messy, and he smelled like alcohol and cigarettes.

When he saw the decorations, he started swearing and yelling that he didn´t want any of that shit. Sam and Eileen managed to calm him down, and Sam helped him to take a shower, because he could barely walk.

When he sat down at the table to eat, he was incredibly quiet.

Dean, as always, was trying to make things better, so he started talking about his day, and then asked Castiel about his.

‘’How do you think my day went, Dean?’’

‘’I mean… I don´t know, that´s exactly why I´m asking.’’

‘’Well, it was trash. I saw the bloody body of my mother in every corner of my mind the entire fucking day, but thank you for asking though, dumbass.’’

Dean frowned at the insult.

‘’Wow, ok, I´m sorry if your life isn´t perfect, but that´s not my fault and you know it, buddy, so don´t come at me like that, I was just trying to be nice and break the tension in here.’’

Castiel let go the cutlery abruptly and look at him furiously.

‘’If you were trying so hard to be nice, you would´ve started by not doing any of this shit in the first place, because this is no special, nor happy day to me, and you fucking know that!’’

‘’Man, it´s been twelve years! You´ve got to stop tormenting yourself with what happened that day all the time! Do you really want to live your whole life like this? Depressed?’’

‘’Dean…’’ Sam tried to interrupt, but clearly failed when Castiel interrupted him instead.

‘’Are you fucking kidding me, Dean? Do you think I like living like this every damn day? I try so hard to get over it, you have no idea, but it´s impossible when the image of my fucking father physically abusing me, my brothers and my mother, comes to my mind and even haunts me in my fucking dreams all the time!’’

‘’Cas, I know what you´ve been through, but…’’ Dean tried talking softer this time, but that only made Castiel angrier.

‘’NO YOU FUCKING DON´T!’’ He screamed, punching the table and breaking his plate and his glass.

Everyone in the table jumped in surprise and concern. Again, Sam tried to calm things down, but he couldn´t.

‘’Your family was always perfect, your father wasn´t an asshole and your mother lived ‘til you were 20, she was with you through childhood, took care of you, you were able to go to the games with your dad and enjoy a family picnic, so don´t you dare say that you know what I´ve been through, because you absolutely don´t! I´ve been through hell and back and tried to recover millions of times from this, but I just can´t, and you don´t know what real pain is like.’’

Dean got angry as well. Castiel was treating him like he was some sort of perfect commercial guy, and he wasn´t.

‘’You think my life was always perfect? You don´t think my parents had some fights from time to time? You think I don´t know what it feels like losing someone you love, and that should be with you until you´re at least 40 years old? I´ve lost my mom at a pretty young age compared to other people, Castiel!’’

‘’I´ve lost her when I was 13 years old, Dean! And the stupid fights your parents had from ‘time to time’ are NOTHING compared to what I had to witness! Stop trying to minimize my problems with yours, you have no right!’’ At this point, both Dean and Castiel were yelling. Castiel took the already broken glass while he was speaking and threw it, making it break in thousands of little pieces all over the kitchen floor.

‘’You´re acting like an insane, just like your father!’’ Dean yelled. The room went silent.

Castiel´s expression changed from angry to hurt in a matter of seconds.

Sam was hugging Eileen tight, trying to protect her in case things got even more out of control.

Castiel´s blue eyes seemed to be even bluer when the tears started accumulating.

His fist loosened, dropping more small pieces of broken glass to the floor, along with a few drops of blood.

A tear came out of his left eye and rolled down his cheeks. He turned away and disappeared.

Sam and Eileen started cleaning up the mess without saying anything, while Dean was still there, trying to process what just happened.

After it was all clean again, the decorations in the garbage can, and the food in the fridge, Sam said ‘’Dude, you´re an actual asshole, you know that, right? I told you this whole thing was a bad idea. You should’ve known, Dean, you guys are best friends since you´re thirteen…  I really hope you go and apologize to him soon. Good night.’’

Sam gave him a disappointed look, and Eileen a pity one. They turned off the lights in their way to their bedroom, leaving just one on.

Dean dropped to the floor devastated, already crying. He couldn´t believe what just happened. After ten minutes of panicking, having no idea how to apologize for the monstrous thing he said, crying and sobbing, he decided to look out for Castiel. He needed to fix this right now. He had no idea if Cas was ever going to forgive him. He hoped he will at some point…

He knocked on Cas’s door, obviously not receiving an answer. After two minutes, he knocked again. Nothing. He sighed, and started talking.

‘’Look, Cas… There’s absolutely nothing I can do right now for you to forgive me, but… I just want you to hear me, please?’’ Dean waited for a response, or for Cas to open the door, but none of those things happened. ‘’Alright, I´ll just start talking from here… I hope you can hear me… I- I wasn’t thinking, man. I´m really, really sorry for what I´ve said, I´m an asshole… I honestly have no excuses, and even if I had, it´s not going to work anyways. I just want you to know that I´m so sorry, I mean it… I hope you can forgive me someday, I… I really don´t want to lose you. Not after all we´ve been through…’’ Dean sobbed, and waited for… Well, anything. A sob, a move, a word. But he couldn´t hear anything at all.

‘’Cas? Man, are you okay?’’

After waiting outside his door for five minutes, he decided to come in.

‘’Hey, dude, I´m coming in, okay? I´m… You´re worrying me…’’

Dean got into the room, only to find Castiel’s window wide open, and the curtain moving softly because of the breeze of the night.

‘’Cas!? Where are you?’’ He started looking everywhere, screaming his name desperately, but couldn´t find him.

Sam and Eileen got up, and asked Dean what was going on.

Dean, with tears in his eyes, and a heavy breath, turned around and looked at the couple.

‘’He´s- He´s gone. I found his window wide open, and I don´t know where he is.’’

[rhabakoli]

Targets On Our Backs - Part 5

Fair warning: It gets a bit bloody towards the end.

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 

My husband and Lord Barth discussed in our chambers, I was there. They say, he is going crazy from fear, due to a failed attack. I think it is very much possible.

“I will kill him.” Hvitserk shook his head, still not used to hearing this from you. He tapped his fingers against the table, the sound of it aggravating you. “I don’t think you’ll get a chance. Ivar will be faster.” “No, he won’t. I won’t let him.” Hvitserk scoffed. “Yeah, sure. I somehow doubt he’ll listen to you.” “He will have to.” You paced through the map room, from the door to the window, and back. Hvitserks fingers tapped faster now and you couldn’t stand it anymore. With long steps, you strode over and slapped a hand over his, effectively stilling the motion. “Stop that.” 

His eyes were big, surprise and a smidge of dread in them. “I still don’t think Ivar will give you a choice. He is unpredictable and wild; you can’t control him.” “I don’t need to control him, Hvitserk. I just need him to hold back.” Hvitserk stood up now, the chair making a horrible ruckus as he moved it back. “That’s exactly what I’ve been telling you since you arrived here, Y/N! He can’t hold back. He needs it, the blood! He is a murdering bastard of a man, how can you-” “Hvitserk!” “No, you need to listen to me-” You had enough. You straightened up and pushed him hard enough to make him step back. “No, you need to listen. My brother tormented me for years. He sold me to a viking, a barbarian, who most likely would use me and then throw away, or so he thought. He was willing to give me to a monster, just to save his own skin. He let his men say about me whatever they wanted, he even silently encouraged them. He hurt my best friend. He tried to kill my husband. He killed my first child, in my womb. It didn’t even get to receive a name!” You poked his chest, repeatedly. Your voice echoed through the room and you were sure you’d be heard outside as well. “He sent an assassin to try and kill my child, again, and he almost succeeded. He still tormends me, he still does not consider me a threat. Edgard will realize his mistake. I am his worst nightmare, and he will regret every decision he ever made in his worthless, pathetic life, up to that moment.” You lowered your voice and took a step back. “This is personal. Killing him will be the only closure I am able to have, and I will get it. Ivar knows that. He understands, which is exactly why he’s not going to kill him.” Hvitserk stared at you, taken aback and speechless, as you left the room.

Ivar was talking to a messenger, when you entered the Great Hall. Ragnar sat in his lap, one hand clutched around a braid that was falling over his father’s shoulder. When he saw you, he gargled happily and reached towards you with the other. “Can we be sure?” “Yes, my King.” Ivar nodded, and the messenger left, after presenting you a quick, respectful bow. “Hvitserk finally annoyed you enough to snap at him, it seems?” You sat down with a groan and stroked over your sons fluffy head. “You heard?” “Not word for word. But I do recognize your angry voice.” He moved his hand from your child's belly to poke his cheek and smiled softly, when Ragnar leaned to the side, giggling loudly. “What did he say?” If you told him, he’d probably get angry and come up with some elaborate plan to potentially hurt Hvitserk. On the other hand, he won’t stop asking, you knew your husband well enough. “Oh, same old. You’re a monster and I am a dainty flower.” “He is delirious, if he still thinks you are harmless.” He looked at the top of your throne. “You have a falcon, for Odins sake!” Eitr was sitting on the top of your seat, her talons leaving marks in the wood. At Ivar’s words, she looked at him, before letting out a raw coo and flapped her wings. Sometimes you thought she understood too much, for an animal. “He just wants to believe I am still innocent and sweet.” Ivar managed to keep his voice light, even when his smirk betrayed him. “We both know you’re far from innocent, wife. Have been for long now.” “We also both know, that you haven’t been that experienced as everyone thinks, husband.” “Y/N. you wound me.” “You like it, don’t play the victim.” Ragnar pulled at Ivars fingers with his tiny ones and kicked his legs, struggling against his father’s restricting hands. With a sigh, you stood up and took him, just to set him down into the furs again. Immediately, he was burrowing his hands happily into the softness, letting out a high squee. “He is so uncomplicated, he doesn’t have that from either of us.” “Are you saying I’m complicated?” Your husband’s voice sounded offended as could be, he even dared to look the part. “It took you almost a year to admit you actually like me, you goose.” With an eye on your son, you leaned closer to Ivar. “What did the messenger want?” “Oh. They have found a boat at the coast and what seems like a camp base. Big enough to house at least 5 people. It’s on the other side of the mountain, about a day’s ride away. We will have to go take a look, but we can assume it’s your brothers.” At least 5 people. You fixed your eyes on Ragnar, a dark mood creeping through the hall. Eitr felt it and started to fuss, flapping her wings and letting out small noises. “Where are the other 4 then?” “Bjorn and Ubbe are out looking for them.” You nodded. Good. If they were found, you’d have proper proof and plausible cause to attack your brothers holdings. “I want them found and brought in. No one is to hurt them, until I get to them.” Even Ivar was surprised at the coldness of your whole demeanor, but nodded and gestured a guard to deliver a message.

You’ve been hovering over your son the entire day, waiting for your brothers men to strike. Gala and Bree were by your side, Bree reading another letter from Aethel, a little status update, if you will, and Gala was sorting through furs and sheets. It was getting colder, and you didn’t want the more poorer inhabitants of Kattegat to freeze at night. In your years in Kattegat, you have accumulated a many furs, you couldn’t even hope to use them all in one winter. “Gala, the big, black one can go as well. I saw a pregnant woman in the market the other day, she didn’t seem like she has enough warm clothes.” Gala nodded, and placed the fur on the assigned pile. “When will we distribute them?” “Just this afternoon, when Bjorn is back.” You turned to Bree. “I’ll leave Ragnar with the both of you, I don’t want him to be too exposed. Ivar has a meeting, and I don’t know where Ubbe will be.” “What about Hvitserk?”, Gala asked. You turned to her, a slight smirk on your lips. “I am sure, he’ll be found strolling around Kattegat as well, dear.” Gala smiled, and went back to her work, now humming a song under her breath. Bree and you grinned at each other, knowing too well how Gala felt.

The door opened, and Bjorn’s tall figure stepped in. “There you are.” Waving at you and Gala, he strode over to where Bree was seated in a chair. She looked up at him and her face lit up in a split second, as he placed his hands on the armrests and pressed a sweet kiss to her lips. “I missed you.” “Mhm.” Bree pulled him back onto her lips with a giggle. You simply shook your head, but when you saw Galas embarrassed read face, your cleared your throat. “There are easily impressionable children in attendance, you know?” Bjorn turned his head and looked you over. “I didn’t know you were still a child.” Bree slapped his chest with the back of her hand. “Stop it.” He stopped her hand and lightly bit her palm. “Never.” “That’s it.” You threw a pillow at the both of them. “You two are disgustingly cute, would you please stop?” The eldest Ragnarsson straightened and leaned back onto the table, arms crossed in front of his chest. “We found the campsite. But there was no sign of life, they seem to have abandoned it.” “But the boat was still there?” You could see Gala halt in her movements, as you asked this. “Yes. They are still around.” “Y/N.” Concern was etched into your friends face. “Will it be safe to go around? Maybe we should let the guards distribute the furs.” “I refuse to let a bunch of bastards keep me from my duties.” You went over to her, stroking her hair back and assuring her: “We’ll be in company. Hvitserk is surely more than willing to join us. And I’ll leave Ragnar in good hands, he’ll be even safer.” Bree nodded, serious and tense in face of the news. “We won’t let him out of our sight.” Even though Bjorn didn’t know about this, he still agreed without hesitating. Gala seemed a little less concerned, but not calm. “I’ll bring my dagger and knives, just in case.” That didn’t seem to help, for some reason.

Hvitserk did indeed agree to join you, even tho he was definitely falling back and kept walking by Galas side, stealthily pushing the other market goers away, when they came too close for his taste. Your friend had a healthy color to her face, which you did not attribute to the cold. The pregnant lady was seated at her stand, wrapped in thin fabrics and looking as if she just barely managed not to shake. “Gala, come.” You could see the woman’s eyes grow big, when she realized you were on your way over. Hastily, she got up, supporting her big belly with a hand. Quickly, you went behind the table to help. “No, please, take a seat. I am just bringing some furs for you.” “But, my Queen-”

“Ah.” You raised a hand, silencing her. “I saw you the other day, you seemed cold. It is getting colder every night and I wouldn’t want anyone to freeze.” Gala reached over and handed you the black fur. Thanking her, you unfolded it and tucked it around the flimsily covered shoulders. “What’s your name?” “Dagheid, my Queen.” She was still watching you in amazement. You flattened the fur and smiled at her. “Those furs are a present. I will be mightily insulted, if you’d wish to refuse them.” Dagheids hand came up in a flurry, her head shaking as well. “No, my Queen, I wouldn’t dream of it.” “I am glad, then.” You took her hands and held them between yours. “If you know of anyone else who’s suffering in this cold, be sure to send them to me. I am sure, I’ll be able to resolve the problem.” Dagheid nodded. “I will. Thank you, my Queen.” Gala laid two more furs into her lap, when you gestured to her. Dagheid didn’t seem to know what to say, so she simply bowed her head in gratitude. You made your round through Kattegat, distributing furs and listening to the peoples worries. Just when you were talking to an elderly man with a bad cough, promising him to send a physician over with a remedy, Hvitserk stepped closer and lowered his voice to a murmur. “We’re being followed, Princess.” A slight turn of your head towards him indicated that you heard him. “Tall, short dark hair, face like a babies butt.” He scoffed. “Whoever it is your brother sent, they do not know how to blend in.” You nodded, said your goodbye to the elderly and started walking back towards the Great Hall. Hvitserk kept behind you, a hand to Galas back, who looked scared out of her wits and walked at a brisk pace, shoulders pulled up and hunched over. He pulled her closer and whispered into her ear, whereupon she tried to relax her stance. When your name was called, you closed your eyes for a split moment and prayed to Freyja. Hvitserk whirled around, sword drawn already, and stepped in front of you and Gala. Said baby-faced man stood behind you, face filled with fury and a dagger in his hand. It seemed a ridiculous to you. Who in their right mind would attack you, when you were so obviously in company of a Ragnarsson? Especially when they seemed to be sneaky enough to worm their way into a Kings bedchambers? Ice-cold fear gripped you, when realization hit you. Now you were so very glad, that Eitr had stayed back with your son. “It’s a diversion.” Hvitserk nodded, eyes on the attacker, but still scouting the surroundings. A noise behind you made you twist around, barely managing to avoid the blade coming towards you. Hvitserk cursed, pulled his axe and threw it, splitting one attackers head, before he came around and blocked another blow meant to impale your heart, with his sword.

“Run.” He didn’t need to say that twice. Grabbing Galas hand, you started running. Just when you thought you were in the clear, a broad chest stopped you. Gala let out a scream, as you almost fell to the floor. “Look who we have here.” You looked up at the man before you, his scarred face and his grim smile. “How kind of you to run into my arms like that. Definitely makes my job easier.” One big paw of his came up to your neck and held you, giving you little room to watch your surroundings, or even just look at Gala. “Gala, run.” The poor terrified girl stood there, trembling all over, but she still dared to object. “But-” “I said run.” The man before you didn’t seem to be in a hurry, which placated you, in a way. Maybe you could find a way to stop this. When she still did not move, you raised your voice, using every ounce of royalty you had in you. “That was an order, servant!” Finally, she moved, taking off in a speed that made her slip on the floor. Hopefully she wasn’t going to fall and break her neck, before she reached the great hall. Your assailant chuckled darkly. “How selfless of you. I didn’t know King Edgards sister was so sweet.” He brought his ugly face closer to yours. “Maybe I should take a bite out of you, before I end your life.” His free hand trailed down your cleavage, fingers moving to unlace the front. You clenched your jaw and slowly moved your hand to your belt, all the while thanking the gods for your cloak. He was so focused on unwrapping his victim, that he didn’t notice the movement under the fabric covering your arms. His fingers found the end of the laces, now pulling and grunting, as they didn’t give right away. You grabbed at his wrist, trying to stop him, which made him tighten his grip on your neck, thumb pressing against your chin to lift your head and making this whole position even more uncomfortable for you. “They said, you’d be more like a savage than a good christian woman.” The sound of laces snapping filled the air. “I think there might have been a mistake.” “I don’t.” Before he had time to react, you ripped your dagger out of its sheath and slashed it across his stomach. Gasping, he looked down at himself, his grip on you loosening. The hand previously on your front let go and pressed to his guts, coming away bloody. You used his distraction to advance once more, stabbing upwards into his armpit and twisting. He screamed, falling to his knees and weakly grasping at your hand. The fury sat tight in your belly, making you feel like you could survive anything, making you breathe fire. So, you leaned forward and hissed into his ear: “You can tell my brother about this, when you meet him in hell. You shall never get to find peace on the side of your Lord Saviour, you piece of shit. You will rot in purgatory, haunted by your sins and wrongdoings, until you go crazy and then even longer.” You twisted your dagger again, pulling a groan from his lips. “Your family won’t find your body, they’ll never see you again, and your head shall be a fitting present for my brother.” A hand in his hair, your brought his head back, watching pain flicker in his eyes, as you ripped the dagger out, towards you, cutting through more flesh in the process. “You should have taken that ship home, when you had the chance.” His hands came up, trying to wrap around your neck, but his blood made them slippery and he was too weak to get a good grip. He gasped and simply fell over into the dirt, when you gave him a rough shove. Your hands were bloody, your dominant hand was still holding the dagger, blood soaking into the sleeve of your dress, the hems of your cloak. There was also blood around your neck, streaks of it adorning your skin, drops of it having found their way to your cleavage, staining your dress there as well. “Y/N!” Hvitserk came to a stop by you, bloodied himself. He turned you around, taking you in and patting you over. “Are you hurt? Where’s Gala?” When he saw the destroyed laces of your dress, he swallowed heavily. “Did he… did he try-?” You shook your head, eyes fixed upon the body to your feet. “Did I kill him?” Hvitserk paused and turned his head. Blindly, he took your dagger from you and stepped closer to the man. His eyes roamed over the body, hands on his hips. He then kicked it lightly, as if it was gonna react to it. Which, it didn’t. “You did.” He raised his head and looked at you in puzzlement. “Good.” You could feel your body starting to shake, but you couldn’t figure out why. You weren’t cold, you weren’t scared. Your brother-in-law noticed and quickly pulled your cloak closer around you. “It’s the aftermath, it will be over soon.” He pulled you into the crook of his arm, still holding your bloody dagger. “Let’s get you home.” You made it two corners, before the guards almost ran you over. Hvitserk told them where the body lay, and sent one back to announce your arrival and get a bath prepared. “Where’s Gala?”, he asked again. “I told her to run, when he grabbed me.” “She did?” “After I specifically ordered her, yes.” You were shaking so bad, your legs felt like the pudding your cook used to prepare back in England. He nodded, face grim. She’ll gonna have to listen to him freaking out. You’d bet your crown on it. When you entered the Great Hall, you noticed the bodies on the floor, Bjorn standing in the middle of the pile, pulling his axe out of a man’s head. As soon as he heard your steps, he said: “Ragnar is fine.” Gala came towards you, fussing and worrying, but you just laid a hand over hers and said: “I’m glad, you’re okay.” She promptly broke out into tears and hugged you, despite your bloodied state. You looked around, looked for your husband. “Where’s Ivar?” Bjorn wiped his axe in the shirt of a deceased, and nodded towards your bedchambers. “He’s in there, with Bree and Ragnar. Little man wouldn’t stop screaming.” Just then did he take a proper look at you, jaw falling, eyes widening. “By Odin, Y/N, are you hurt?!” You declined, waving your hand dismissively. “No, I- I really just want to see Ivar and my son now.” Gala took your elbow and maneuvered you around the bodies, towards your chambers. “I wanted to prepare a bath for you, but Eitr is in such a state, she wouldn’t let me get close.” “It’s fine, Gala. I can wait.” You cleared your throat. “But, please, do make sure a physician goes and take a look at the old man. I told him I’d send one over today.” She nodded and turned around, going back out into the Great Hall. Your joints felt more stable, when you stepped into the bedchambers, which you were glad about. The sight of your husband made your lungs freeze. Ivars face was dripping, red streaks running down into the collar of his shirt, caking his braids and clothes. He looked like the christian devil himself and you were so relieved to see him. “Ivar.” At your voice, his head shot up from where he was focused on soothing his son, talking to him, so he might fall asleep in his crib. When he saw you, he- Gods, he let out a sob. “Y/N, Love.” You flung yourself into his arms, not caring about the way his braces hit your legs and left bruises, or how your weight against them might hurt him. The two of your clinged to each other, fingers digging into skin and brushing through hair, as you took each other in, assuring yourself that neither of you were badly hurt. “Y/N-” He pressed his nose into your hair, leaving red streaks and blowing warm breath over your skin. You shivered, pressed closer to him, needing to touch him, be touched, making sure he was okay, you were okay, you were alive. “I-” You swallowed, mouth dry, starched. “I killed a man.” 

**

Part 6

[rorykillmore]

BELATED BIRTHDAY FIC FOR @ravenswood. may has been an anxiety-ridden disaster for me and i’ve just started crawling out of a writing slump BUT IT’S FINALLY HERE. she requested a god squad fic and i kind of... ran with that in the wackiest way possible and threw them in with the future hypothetical denny!guardians.

enjoy this little glimpse of their space roadtrip?? i had to narrow the focus on the main thematic elements since there were so many little tangent interactions i could have gone off on but hopefully you enjoy what i decided to do with it.

happy late birthday friend!! hope this improves your night as you are constantly improving my life <3

Family, in Heather’s mind, has always been ill-defined and hard to grasp. Once it had been a mother who’d hated and hated, no matter how hard Heather (not Heather, then) had tried to be good enough to love.  Once it had been paintings other kids had drawn, mothers and fathers and siblings all with smiles on their faces, and a little brown dog and a white picket fence.  

Later it had been something else. Not as whole and perfect as she’d imagined in some of her fantastical dreams (the kind that never came to life), but somehow managing to be happy. Worth holding onto (until she couldn’t any longer). A dad who had ruffled her hair and bandaged her scraped knees and told her he’d loved her in a way she knew he meant.

He’s gone now. Heather remembers thinking, once she actually had the capacity to think -- well, this is it. It was nice while it lasted. I’m glad I had it for awhile.

Probably never again, though. 

She’s already decided to keep moving forward, out of spite if nothing else.

‘Moving forward’, it turns out, isn’t as inspirational as it sounds. It’s a vague thing people say when they don’t want to brood about something forever (which, fair enough). It’s misleading, in Heather’s opinion. ‘Moving forward’ makes it sound like there’s only one direction to go in, when in reality, there are about a thousand -- each as wild and unpredictable as the next.

And she’s not sure it gets much more unpredictable than ‘stuck in a parallel dimension, palling around with an anthropomorphic fox and a paranormal investigator and his psychic wife’.

“Did you pack toothpaste?” Volle calls back to her, and Heather’s lips twitch.

Not that she’s complaining, really.

“Got it covered!” she calls back, then glances at Ed where he’s walking alongside her.  “Can you even use toothpaste in space?”

Ed gives her a baffled, goodnatured shrug. “Don’t look at me. I’m from not even ten years after the first moon landing, you know.”

This, Heather has decided, is wilder than anything that’s happened to them so far. And that’s saying something.

Just ahead of them looms the Milano. An actual spaceship! It belongs to someone calling himself Starlord, apparently, although Heather still isn’t entirely sure... who he is or how they’re supposed to know him.

Apparently Ed is friends with a banshee and a talking raccoon, both of which are facts which should not surprise her in the slightest. Now, the fact that said banshee and raccoon have fallen in with a group of space travelers -- who apparently need their help? That’s enough to jar her, a little (not that she’s not making every effort not to appear jarred -- or excited). And she’d thought she’d gotten used to this place.

“God, you’re so old,” she tells Ed with a playful roll of her eyes, and he looks mockingly offended. “So... where are we going, again?”

It’s Lorraine who answers her from Ed’s other side, soft and thoughtful, like absolutely none of this is bizarre in the slightest.  “Apparently there’s a governing party experiencing some pretty nasty hauntings in the... Andromeda galaxy.” Her brow furrows slightly, and Heather mirrors her expression. The Andromeda galaxy. Isn’t that kind of far away?

Maybe not for a futuristic spaceship, she concedes silently.

“Great. So we’re looking at space ghosts.” If she asks how different they could be from Earth ghosts, she’ll probably jinx it. “Why not, right?”

“It would be cruel to turn them away if there’s something we can do to help,” Volle points out as they finally catch up with him. He flicks an ear towards the ship, which is now looming directly overhead. “Although, I must admit I’m... entirely unfamiliar with vessels of this nature.”

“You aren’t the only one, if that makes you feel any better,” Ed notes wryly.

“Don’t tell me you’re scared.” This is a new voice.  Heather turns to see...

Yep, that’s the talking raccoon.

All... three feet of him, or so.

Waiting for them just inside the ship.

“C’mon. You know the odds of dyin’ in one of these are actually lower than dyin’ in a traffic accident.” A pause follows that statement. Then a snicker. “I completely pulled that out of my ass.”

Heather turns in unison with Volle to stare at Ed, just kind of -- seriously? These are your other friends? Lorraine, however, keeps a straight face.

“Hello, Rocket,” she greets him pleasantly.

Rocket twitches his ears at her. “Yeah. Hey. These your tagalongs?” His gaze falls on Heather and Volle. Heather opens her mouth to say something in retort, but Lorraine beats him to it.

“Yes. Heather Mason and Lord Vinton, respectively.” 

Volle’s title seems to vaguely piss Rocket off, because he stares directly at him. “And what the hell are you supposed to be?”

Heather tries to hide a smirk at Volle’s bemused expression.  “Er. Delighted to meet you,” he answers, his tone bordering on questioning. Rocket grunts at that, unamused by the quip but unable or unwilling to come up with a response, and turns around.

“You assholes are late enough as it is. C’mon, we’re about to take off,” he tells them, leading the way into the depths of the ship without looking back. Out of the corner of her eye, Heather catches Ed and Lorraine exchanging amused look, as if they’ve never been referred to as ‘you assholes’ in their lives (well -- maybe not to their faces, she thinks playfully).

Predictably, Volle takes point. She’s noticed that he likes to do that, when braving a new situation -- though depending on the danger level present, Ed sometimes beats him to it. For Heather’s own part, she’s usually content to hang in the back and watch the chaos unfold. She figures she’s earned it.

But with surprisingly little fanfare, considering they’re walking onto a fucking spaceship, they file on board -- Volle, then Ed and Lorraine walking arm and arm (ugh), then Heather herself bringing up the near. By sheer principle of teenage apathy combined with the fact that Rocket doesn’t strike her as the type to need an ego boost, she tries not to look too impressed.

But... alright. It is pretty cool.

“Hope this thing has seatbelts,” Ed jokes goodnaturedly, and Heather rolls her eyes with an unmistakable tinge of affection. If this is going to happen, she supposes, she couldn’t have picked a better group of losers to come along for the ride.

Within the first several hours, the group of losers expands considerably.

Heather, for one, has absolutely no idea how either Ed or Lorraine managed to become friends with someone like Siobhan Smythe, but it’s happened. It’s a thing. When she’s not trading insults with the other Guardians, she occasionally drops by to hang out with them (well, not them -- just Ed and Lorraine, basically, when they’re being subtle enough about their heterosexuality for them to tolerate).

The captain’s name is Peter Quill, and he and Ed share a disturbingly similar taste in music (Heather needs them to be separated, like, yesterday).  Lorraine gets on startlingly well with Gamora (who, even on a good day, looks like she’d happily kill a man -- exactly the sort of person Lorraine always wins over), and Volle seems to be having a little too much fun with Drax.

For her own part, she likes to flit around -- she’s cautious of getting too buddy-buddy with any of her new shipmates (caution, she’s found, is one of the hardest things to unlearn), but Rocket is easy enough to banter with. Every so often, Quill manages to remind her of Harry (they both share an affinity for the same weird A-ha song), and Mantis fascinates her in a way she can’t quite admit. She sees her and Lorraine talking, every now and again, and always finds herself tempted to go and join them.

She hasn’t, just yet.

“You know the worst thing to come of all of this,” Volle says to her one day with a mischievous swish of his tail. “Is that it seems you may have to endure the presence of a new baby brother.”

Heather follows his gaze to where Groot is toddling out to meet the Warrens with an eager familiarity that’s been accumulated over the initial duration of their trip. Both Ed and Lorraine are looking suspiciously misty-eyed.

Heather rolls her eyes, trying not to be phased by his fazing. “They can adopt all the kids they want, but I think Rocket has dibs on that one. Besides, I’m a little too old for that kind of thing.”

Volle gives her a lengthy, sideways look, but doesn’t say anything. Heather decides not to linger on it.

She tries not to, anyway.

“Hey, guys?” The next evening (she assumes it’s evening, at least) Quill pokes his head into their cabin. “We’re gonna be landing in a few hours, so uh. Make sure you like... rest up, or whatever. Not to sound too much like a dad.”

He’s probably one of the people least at risk for that here, Heather reflects dryly, but she shrugs and sets down her hand of cards. Across from her, Volle and Rocket do the same.

“Well, guess I’m out.” Rocket gets to his feet and shoots a smug look at Volle. “Wouldn’t wanna tread on the royal curfew. I was winning, anyway.”

Volle looks at him, straight-faced. “I’ll consider myself spared.”

Rocket chooses not to acknowledge the teasing sarcasm edging that statement, turning for the door. Heather catches Lorraine hiding a smile behind the book she’s reading.

“Where’s Ed?” Heather asks, starting to clean up.

“I think he just went to stretch his legs.” Lorraine glances at her briefly. “I’m sure he’ll be back before too long. Even Ed’s okay at keeping a decent sleep schedule, when it really counts.”

Yeah, Heather thinks dryly, when you’re around. That little quip goes unsaid, though -- however she might joke about it inwardly, she’d never betray any of the quiet vulnerabilities that manifested in Ed during the period of time when Lorraine wasn’t around. It’s not a trust thing -- she just gets the feeling Ed wouldn’t want her to.

 “Maybe I’ll go track him down,” she says aloud, rising to her feet. Lorraine smiles at her.  

“Good idea. Tell him if he takes too long, I’m coming out there.”

“Is that supposed to be a deterrent?” asks Volle wryly, and Heather snorts, turning for the door and leaving them to their playful banter.

Not that they’ve been traveling on it for a comparatively long time, but she doesn’t think she’s ever seen the Milano so quiet. It’s a rare event that everyone’s sleeping patterns align that perfectly, but Heather guesses that if the others aren’t all asleep, they’ve stowed away to make final preparations for their landing.

She finds Ed in the bridge, of all places, hands in his pockets.

“Thank god Quill left his ship in the hands of such an experienced pilot,” she quips, announcing herself. Ed only looks slightly startled as he turns to face her, giving her a smile that mirrors Lorraine’s in warmth and affection (did they practice that together, Heather occasionally wonders, or are they just naturally like that?).

“They send you out looking for me?” he guesses.

She shrugs teasingly. “I decided on my own that you were taking too long.” It turns her a chuckle.

“I was just -- watching the stars, for awhile,” he explains, gesturing. “It might sound cheesy, but it’s easy to get lost in thought up here.”

Pretty much everything Ed ever says sounds cheesy, but Heather neglects to point that out less out of tact and more because she’s worried she’ll make it sound too fond. “It’s not often that it’s quiet enough to, either,” she points out instead.

“Very true.”

There’s a pause. She hesitates.  “Seriously, though, if you wanna be alone, I can --”

“Oh -- no, don’t worry about it.”  Ed sounds genuine enough that Heather relaxes. “I didn’t come up here to brood, I promise. Just to think.”

She smiles a little at the goodnatured edge to his tone, and slowly steps up alongside him. She can see how easy it would be to get lost in those stars. They’re infinite in a way that’s more than a little daunting. “What were you... thinking about?”

There’s a short pause before he answers. “Honestly? That I never expected my life would turn out like this.”  He glances at her, smiling still.  “Pretty crazy, huh?”

“Even by our standards,” Heather grumbles in agreement, and then finds herself hesitating. “I know that, uh. You and Lorraine left a lot behind. ...Must be hard.”

“I can’t really imagine it’s easy for most people,” Ed replies, and Heather doesn’t tell him how little she had to leave.  She watches as his expression softens.  “But, y’know, we’ve found a lot too.”

She finds she doesn’t really know what to say to that. She folds her arms.  “Quite a ragtag crew you’ve assembled. Rocket and Siobhan are even weirder than we are, and that’s saying something.”  When that gets a proper laugh out of him, she can’t help but smile.

“Yeah,” Ed agrees amicably. “Yeah, I... honestly still can’t quite tell you how that one happened.”

They both fall silent for a moment, reflecting. It’s a good question. How did any of this happen?

She doesn’t have to question whether or not she’s glad it did.

“Sometimes I,” she starts, voice faltering uncharacteristically. Ed waits patiently for her to finish. “Sometimes I’m... scared. Of holding on to something else.”

She doesn’t explain what she means. He doesn’t ask.

After a moment, though, she feels a gentle hand on her shoulder. “We’re not going anywhere,” he tells her, empathetic as ever. “Not if we can help it, anyway. Wait until you’re ready.”

Something in her chest tightens, and she nods.

When they finally land, Heather’s pretty sure no one’s even worried about the space ghosts anymore -- those of them who aren’t used to space travel, at least, are just happy to hit solid ground and fresh air again.

“So what’s the plan, here?” Rocket asks, flicking his ears as he glances back at them. Heather almost doesn’t hear him, briefly distracted by the vibrant colors they’re suddenly surrounded by, the distinctly alien city looming in the distance. Realizing he’s looking to the Warrens for an answer, though, she casts an expectant glance their way. They’re keeping close to each other, fingers entwined -- Lorraine murmuring something unintelligible in Ed’s ear as they gaze out at the scene stretching before them.

Siobhan clears her throat very pointedly.  “Can you punch a space ghost?” she calls.

“That is a question I would like answered, as well,” Drax puts in grimly. He frowns at the look Gamora gives him.  “It would make things much simpler. Rocket says that these people whisper to ghosts. I do not see how such dulcet tones --”

He breaks off as Rocket starts snickering, and Lorraine looks over.

“Oh -- no, Drax. That’s not quite how it works.” She pauses, and she and Ed reluctantly disentwine. Heather can practically feel everyone present breathing an inward sigh of relief. 

“Before we even think about talking to any spirits, we’ll need to speak with the people experiencing the hauntings,” Ed puts in. “Considering that we’re also gonna need to pick up a bit of culture here, that may be a more... thorough process than usual.”

“I am Groot!”

Rocket wrinkles his nose. “What do you mean, snakes began manifesting in your house physically? When did we see any snakes?” 

Heather hurriedly looks away, deciding now isn’t a good time to extrapolate on Groot’s introduction to Youtube. “So, we should... plan to stay here a little while, then.”

“Not too long,” Ed promises, glancing around at the group. “Maybe a couple more days, though. Can we all spare that much?”

“No one has made any effort to engage me socially!” Mantis chirps. There’s an awkward pause, and Heather hears Siobhan murmur ‘shocker’.  Mantis hesitates, and then amends slightly, “Recently, I mean. I can stay as long as you would like.”

“We’ve all cleared our schedules,” Peter confirms.

“We’d always planned for a week or so away from home, anyway.” Volle gives them an easy smile.  “I’m sure we won’t be missed.”

It seems to be settled. Today, Heather reflects, this is what moving forward looks like. Parading off onto an unknown planet to face off against supernatural, extraterrestrial entities with a bunch of space misfits.

She can’t believe she thought her life was weird before.

But as she falls into her usual place beside Volle, this time walking just a little ways ahead of Ed and Lorraine (let them hold hands in peace, they’ve mutually decided), she can’t help but begin to feel content.

I love you, Dad,  she thinks, heartfelt and aching and resolved.  I wish you were here.

She’ll always hold onto that. To him.

But he’d be proud of her for wanting to reach out and hold on to something else.

[dailyaudiobible]

04/24/2019 DAB Transcript

Judges 2:10-3:31, Luke 22:14-34, Psalms 92:1-93:5, Proverbs 14:1-2

Today is the 24th day of April. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you today It’s hump day and the back half of this week is a busy one for me. My daughter, our daughter, my wife Jill and my daughter, the leader of the Daily Audio Bible Chronological channel, she’ll be getting married on Saturday. So, busy, busy, busy for us the next couple of days. Thank you for your prayers. But it doesn't matter how busy life may get, the Scriptures are a part of that rhythm no matter where we are, no matter what we do, we are in this together around this global campfire. Yeah, there's all kinds of things come up inside of the year that can pull us in all kinds of directions but if the word of God stays central and as a part of that rhythm…ahhh…the drama it can save us from…I mean we can’t eliminate all drama from our lives, but we can eliminate a lot. And, so, even though it's a busy second half of the week for us around here, the word of God is the rhythm of our lives. And, so, let's step into today's reading. We began the book of Judges yesterday and we’ll be traveling along and learning of the generations of judges as we go forward for the next little bit here. We’re reading from the English Standard Version. Did I already say that? Judges chapter 2 verse 10 through 3 verse 31 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, as we launched ourselves fully into the book of Judges and started meeting some of the judges we should be able to see pretty clearly the seesaw pattern - falling away and repentance - and this will color most of the story of the ancient Hebrew people as we go forward. So, even as we met a couple of the…well…three of the judges today – Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar, we can also see how the culture was shifting away from what had been ingrained into them and that is alter dependence on God. And this began to shift and mingle and become more about the will and wishes of the people, which is spoken of in our reading from the book of Proverbs today. “Whoever walks in uprightness fears the Lord, but he who is devious in his ways despises him.”

And then we get into the gospel of Luke and we have just come through the Easter season, I mean, we are just a few days removed from Easter and we are entering the story that situates itself at Easter. So, we are at the Passover meal, the last supper. And we've talked about this as we followed with Jesus back through Jericho and walking up to Jerusalem and weeping over Jerusalem. We’ve talked about the weight that must've been on Jesus shoulders as we’re taking this path. And, so, Jesus is sitting down to this final meal and what is he gonna face? Like, does He get to have just a peaceful last meal? He does, as long as being betrayed to your enemies and some of your friends fighting each other over who was the greatest in the kingdom of God, as long as those kinds of things don't bother you, then yeah, I suppose it's a peaceful meal. So, in spite of all of that drama, Jesus institutes what we know as the Eucharist or communion. And we know from other Gospels that it…that Jesus also took off his robe, wrapped a towel around His waist, and washed the filthy feet of His friends. Whether they were betraying Him or whether they were fighting each other for position or whether they were silent, whatever was going on He washed their feet. And remember Peter saying, “you’re not gonna wash my feet”. And Jesus is like, “if I'm not gonna wash your feet then you don’t have a place with Me.” So, Jesus is essentially, with His final lesson before He goes to be tortured to death, trying to show his friends the only way is to serve, the only way is to humble yourself. Or in the words of Jesus, quoting from the gospel of Luke from our reading today, “the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them and those in authority over them are called benefactors, but not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater? One who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.” The discouraging part of this scene is that Jesus friends could be battling each other for who's the greatest in the kingdom having walked with Jesus and seen His ministry firsthand, first person. They still don't completely get it. What's discouraging about that is just how hard it is to get it. It is contrary to the world system of self-promotion and bigger and bigger and bigger and more and more and more. And yet, we’ve probably lived long enough to kind of realized that we can chase whatever we want to chase but even we've been chasing something and finally acquire that thing, it's not all that it seemed. It didn't bring the eternal life we were hoping, right? It didn't bring the perfection that the commercial seemed to tell us it was going to. The times that we find ourselves most alive are when we've given something somebody needs, whether that's in thought, word, or deed, when we've been able to be used by God, when we’ve been able to say the right thing at the right time or do the right thing for someone at the right time. When we’re serving one another, we walk away from that full. Whereas, we can go to the mall and spend all of our money and come home and be more empty than anything. And Jesus’ simply showing us and we’re still not getting it. Like it’s right in front of us and we’re still not getting. Jesus's isn’t commanding us to be poor. He’s not commanding us is to do anything but be aware, that if we’re going to be like Him then we’re going have to lower ourselves and be servants to our brothers and sisters in whatever way that we can. This is the model, right? So, this is God who has incarnated himself, who has lowered Himself down to our level to then demonstrate what a life abundant can look like. And it can’t be found in the accumulation of wealth or stuff. Those things can certainly by us pleasures, but they burn off so fast. Like, you don't end up feeling full until we’re giving of ourselves. I mean…I mean…if that became the rhythm of our lives, that we woke up in the morning not to feel like we are in bondage and…oh another day I gotta serve people…but rather to know that I get to reveal God's kingdom today by keeping myself humble like my Savior and not just jumping into a reactionary day but looking at the whole picture and responding accordingly, seeing through the eyes of the Spirit, what is happening and how I can reveal God's kingdom in it. I get to do that today and every day. As opposed to, I get to yell at my children and kick the dog and insult my spouse. When you start serving people it changes the atmosphere. When you have a humble posture ready to help, ready to serve and you come to the aid of someone unexpectedly in whatever way, maybe helping somebody at the office with something they’re stuck on. Maybe helping somebody on the side of the…I mean…whatever. There's millions of ways to contextualize this. It can happen every day…like…we don't even have to look for these opportunities. They present themselves in one way or another. And all Jesus is doing here is showing us the secret of how to live. And, so, may we take this scene and apply it to our own lives and live into it today and every day.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit we invite You into that. It's so subtle how quickly pride and arrogance and competition and false identity present themselves. It's everywhere, almost impossible to escape, no possible way for us to orient ourselves rightly without walking with You without Your Holy Spirit indwelling us and leading us forward. And our part in that collaboration is to listen, is to slow down and find the spacious life that You are offering us to slow down and live a life that we can maintain because the truth of the matter is that most of us are too busy to even pay attention to this. Come Holy Spirit, show us how to slow down, show us how to listen the You, and show us how to serve our brothers and sisters in whatever it is they may need. Maybe it's a word of encouragement that they need. Maybe it's a random smile to a stranger we will never see again that they need. Whatever it is that they need, You have allowed us to reveal Your kingdom today. Help us to do that. We ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

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And that is it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi, this is Rebecca, To Buy His Wings from Virginia. I heard Johnny’s prayer request. He’s a middle school student who called in for Nick. Johnny, your request touched my heart so much I cried. And I’m a __ __ the Army so I don’t cry often. I am praying for you. I am praying for Nick, for favor in the court system, and any home Nick is placed in will be a good, great home for him. Rebecca from Michigan, I’m praying for you. I love hearing your phone calls and your requests and your stories. I advise that you get another dog if your place allows you to get a pet. I come home to my dog every day and he shows me unconditional love. So, it reminds me of how I should come seek and love the Lord with everything I have. I have two prayer requests. Please pray for my dad Juan. He is not saved. He’s in his mid-70s and is in poor health. Also pray for my mom, her name is Regina. She is 71 years old and she’s an alcoholic. Pray for restoration that she would stop drinking. She has been alcoholic since my earliest memory of her when I was about four years old. Brian, Jill, Hardin family, for all those in the Daily Audio Bible, God bless you bless this ministry. You guys have blessed me immensely and I want to thank you for being the hands and feet of Jesus every day. I hope China’s wedding is wonderful, is blessed, is protected and is everything she and her husband wants it to be. God bless you all.

Hi this is Bart from Kentucky. Heavenly Lord we thank You for the day. Thank You for Your loving and saving grace through Jesus Christ. It’s the day before Easter we celebrate the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord today I want to lift up Nicholas, son of Your son and our brother Duyne from Wisconsin who faithfully prays for children. We ask You to guide Nicholas steps as he gets out of jail. Show him the right ways to walk and give him Your wisdom. Lord we pray this in the name of Jesus Christ and we also pray this for the rest of our children, be they prodigal or not. As Duane reminds us, You are the same God that saved us and can save our children. I ask these things in Jesus’ name and I pray expectantly. His victory is at hand. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Hello this is Jennifer in Indiana. I’m calling for my dad and his girlfriend. She went in for a biopsy last week. She’s been feeling ill for about a month and they said she has late stage cancer and they’re putting her on hospice. So, she doesn’t know the Lord and my dad believes in God, but he doesn’t believe in Jesus, and he is just crushed. He was talking about marriage two months ago wanting to propose to her. So, please pray for my dad Bill and his girlfriend Marion. And I’m going to see him now. Just lift them up family and pray that God’s will be done in this situation. Thank you.

Like Satan I was stubborn and I had to be the best hard driving inpatient a cut above the rest insensitive self-reliant and chronically independent I even tried to compete with God was a crazy or just demented demented now that’s the perfect word it has that demonic sound and demons did control my life they ran be in the ground it had to be poor self-esteem that may be so independent independence made me critical egotistical and in many ways a cynic being critical and egotistical has led to isolation isolation led me into sin and lots of aggravation once you’re deep within the sin you’re far away from God and once again poor self-esteem will make you feel odd the cycle just repeats itself you feel you just can’t win unless some way you can get to God and make the cycle end now how does one get back to God there are lots of different theories I guess that’s why a lot of give up their spirit often varies especially if their spirit isn’t one from the Lord Satan tries to make it hard for us to get restored but really its quite simple accept and just agree deliverance is a gift by friend that’s absolutely free you can learn to be dependent God will always bring you through stay humble and compassionate because love will help you too and as your faith and walk get stronger you’ll become Gods son the cycle will be broken and your battle can be won but there’ll be other battles and other victories too but remember to stay close to God your strength he will renew

blindtony1016@gmail.com. I’d like to give a shout out to Tony and AJ and Delta Alpha FoxTrot.

[firstumcschenectady]

“In the Midst of the Mess” based on 1 Kings 1:11-31 and 2:13-25

By the time we get to 1 Kings, many of us are lost in the storyline of the Hebrew Bible. It has been an intense soap opera for quite a while, and the intricacies are often convoluted and subtle. This leaves me with the task of setting the stage for the story we just read, a task I'm not entirely sure I'm up to. Nevertheless, I'll give it a try ;)

You remember the story of Moses, right? Well Moses led the people the the border of the Promised Land before he died. Then Joshua led the people into the land. What followed was about 350 years of various leaders emerging as needed, which was when the tribes were under threat. That 350 year period is described in the book of Judges, and archaeologists tell us that is the period when the people occupying ancient Israel were most consistently living out the rules of the Torah. All the homes seem to be about the same size, meaning that wealth was neither being accumulated nor lost. That's a significant part of the goal of the laws of the Torah.

Then, there came King Saul. The Bible says that the people wanted a King, but God didn't want the people to have a King. The prophets kept telling the people that God is their Ruler, but the people wanted a human one anyway. You may be shocked, but I don't quite believe that one. I think it is much more likely that Saul wanted to be King, and once he was King he made sure that the story being told was that he was King because everyone wanted him to be. I do, however, believe that the prophets thought this was a terrible plan!

Then, somehow, David becomes King. I say “somehow” because the Bible tells several versions of this and they don't make much sense individually or together. Basically, David led a coup against Saul with military leadership from Judea supported by external mercenaries soldiers. The Bible claims Saul was crazy. It is very difficult to tell if that is propaganda from David. (Then again, historians aren't sure either of them ever existed, which could potentially resolve this issue for us. However, we're going with the story as its told, even with ALL of its complications.)

OK. So David is King, which happens to mean he has a whole bunch of wives. Some of the wives predate his kingship. Many of his wives he “inherited” from Saul with the kingship. #sentencesIwishIdidnthavetosay Once David is serving as King in Jerusalem, he acquires more wives. The most famous story of his acquiring a wife is the story of David and Bathsheba. David's palace was now larger and higher than the homes around his, and thus when Bathsheba was bathing herself on her roof top one day, David saw her and lusted after her. He had her brought to him, raped her, impregnated her, tried to cover for it, and then and had her husband killed on the front lines when the cover didn't work.

In response, the prophet Nathan brought accusations against him. David turns to God in repentant prayer. David and Bathsheba's infant son dies, which the Bible tells as if it is God's punishment (you can tell from my phrasing I don't believe that either). Bathsheba stays in the palace as David's wife. She appears to remain his favorite wife according to the stories. Also, she ends up giving birth to 4 more sons, the youngest of which is Solomon. Please note we don't know if she had daughters because they're generally not worth talking about as far as the Bible sees it.

There, that wasn't so hard, was it? We are caught up to the start of 1 Kings. Oh shoot! We aren't. I need to remind you of another messy bit of this story, in order to make sense of this one. King David's oldest sons were born to his earliest wives, before he was King. The oldest was Amnon. He was the one who raped his half-sister Tamar, who was a full-sister to the third son, Absalom. Absalom killed Amnon in revenge, years later. Absalom then attempted to claim the kingship of Israel in a coup and was killed by one of David's generals. The 2nd son is assumed to have died in infancy. The 4th son was Adonijah, who was thus the oldest surviving son as of this point in the story. The Bible says there were about 20 sons, Solomon wasn't one of the oldest 10.

According to normal inheritance laws, Adonijah had a far stronger claim to the throne than Solomon did. The Bible often tells stories that ignore normal inheritance laws. According to the beginning of 1 Kings, the parts we skipped, David was very old and impotent. A new young, beautiful wife, was brought to “warm his bed” but that didn't work. Her name was Abishag. With awareness of David's condition, Adonijah holds a coup and claims the kingship. He raises support from his father's old guard, the part of David's leadership that was Judea-centric and NOT representative of the whole kingdom of Israel. He excludes ONLY his brother Solomon, which I think would imply that he saw only his brother Solomon as a threat to his claim. David's newer advisors refuse to attend, and seem to decide to thrown in their lots with Solomon.

The story says that Nathan approaches Bathsheba with a plan. Bathsheba accepts it and goes to King David's bedroom to make her plea. There may be a new, young, wife in town but Bathsheba still has the privilege of entering David's bedroom at will and being greeted with an offer to give her whatever she wants.

She takes Nathans suggestions and runs with them. She tells David that he promised her Solomon could be king after him (Nathan said she should SUGGEST it in a question), she tells him Adonijah has claimed the kingship and makes sure it sounds particularly insulting to David himself, she tells him who among his servants have supported his son's coup, she implies that the whole nation of Israel needs his leadership and that Adonijah will only care about the southern part of Judah, and she names for him the threat to her life and Solomon's if David lets the coup stand.

There is just one little issue with what she says: there is no reason to believe that David had promised the kingship to Solomon. It is never previously mentioned. The possibility of Solomon as a contender only emerges when Adonijah doesn't invite him to his coup. Most likely, it wasn't true. David is likely experiencing memory loss by this point, and Bathsheba manipulates him into doing what she wants. She plays the role of king-maker, and she makes sure it is HER kid who on the throne. Her role has changed a bit since she was first introduced.

Then Nathan backs her up, sort of. He at least backs up the fact that Adonijah has held a coup. He lets her stand on her own in terms of the claim that Solomon would be king. Based on their words, Solomon is named and anointed King.

Then Solomon promises his brother Adonijah that he can live as long as he keeps supporting Solomon's kingship. David dies, and then comes the next bit of our story. Now, if this part of the Bible is historical, and if all these characters existed, and if things more or less went down the way this story says they went down, I STILL don't believe this part. Under those circumstances, I think that either Solomon or Bathsheba make it up.

The story SAYS that Adonijah, the eldest living son of David, comes to King Solomon's mother and asks her to ask her son King Solomon if he can have his father's youngest wife as his own. Since the King's harem is seen as part of the King's rightful possession, getting to marry one of David's wives would have strengthened Adonijah's claim to the throne. I don't quite believe he would have been stupid enough to ask for that, especially when his continued life was already tenuous. However, the story says he asked, and says that Bathsheba goes right to the throne room. Her son bows to her has a THRONE brought out to her, indicative of his affection for his mother (or perhaps of her power in his kingship), and she publicly tells him about this request. In response, Solomon orders the death of Adonijah. It seems a bit too easy, especially in the first days after David dies, and if the story stands as written, I only wonder if Solomon was in on Bathsheba's plan or not.

All in all, this leaves us with a whole bunch of questions. The most difficult question is one that was posed in Bible Study: is Bathsheba a subversive woman? In terms of saying, “Yes! Of course she is!” we have the following evidence: she made a king, she eliminated his rivals, and she got what she wanted out of the leadership of the country. On the other side, the side that says, “Nope, not a subversive women” we have the following arguments: manipulating people for power and influence is one of the most normal of all human activities, and even more normal when it comes to royal lineage. That argument says that no matter how you worked it, doing the work to get your son on the throne is playing with power, not subverting it.

For me, both of those perspectives hold a lot of water. I kept her story in this sermon series because I love that she has such a complicated life story and significant character development, particularly from being a passive object of lust into being the most powerful agent of her own life and one of the most powerful agents in the country. However, she still mostly exists within those terrible constraints of oppressive power. She just moves from being oppressed to being the oppressor, she doesn't change the way the game itself is played.

The other big question is: how can the kingship be such a complete and utter mess????? This is the time of history that the rest of the Bible looked to as the golden age. There are only three kings of the United Kingdom (of Israel and Judea) and they are: Saul, David, and Solomon. And all three, and their families, are total messes. They make modern soap operas look boring. They make truly broken modern families look picture perfect. If that was the golden age, heaven help the rest of the ages!

Actually, while the drama factor is higher in the Jerusalem palace, all of the characters of the Hebrew Bible are ridiculous messes. Some are richer than others, some are smarter than others, but they're all messes. They don't even look impressive as compared to average humans. (And I think most humans are struggling rather mightily.) And yet, the Bible contends, God CHOOSES to work with and through those messy people. God doesn't just give up on them because they are terrible parents, or greedy rulers, or manipulative queens, nor manipulated kings. God doesn't even give up on the ones who are murders (David and Moses). Yeah, think about that for a bit. And who are the most famous murders in the Hebrew Bible? David and Moses. Who are the most celebrated leaders of the Hebrew Bible? David. And. Moses.

God doesn't give up on us. Ever.

And the Hebrew Bible makes it plain to see that we can't be so messy that God ever will give up on us. Even better, God keeps working with us to take our messes and make them into something beautiful. Solomon was known for his wisdom.  David was known for his Psalms of Praise. Bathsheba found a way to be an agent of her own life (and help a very wise man take the throne). God isn't scared off by messes, God can work with whatever we are, and bring wonder and beauty out of it all. Thanks be to God for that. Amen

--

Rev. Sara E. Baron

First United Methodist Church of Schenectady

603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305

Pronouns: she/her/hers

http://fumcschenectady.org/

https://www.facebook.com/FUMCSchenectady

August 6, 2017

[pseudowho]

Nanami Kento rants like an old man. Canon.

It was your evening routine, now. Kento was decompressing from work. You sat back and listened, rubbing your temples with your fingertips. He paced around the kitchen, clattering pans, crushing garlic, ranting.

"--introduced a new merge lane near Ginza. No advance warning of course. 'Traffic committee', are they? Bunch of clowns--"

The pan started sizzling, with mellowsoft aromas filling the house.

"--filing under category 1.1 instead of category 1.2, so I went back and did the whole thing again. Wouldn't happen if we switched over to e-copies--"

Two steaks flung with force, ejecting garlic cloves from the pan, to skitter away across the hob. Kento tutted at the garlic, picking them up and flinging them back in, too hard, to hop out of the pan again and he growled at the garlic now--

"--convenience store stopped the black pepper focaccia, people obviously have no taste, want sweet bread instead like they're fucking children--"

You were about to snap, you swore to God--

"--honestly I'd rather see a bunch of dogs in dinner jackets stand for election--"

You stood, clapping your hands once, sharply, and Kento jumped, looking at you mulishly as he flipped the steaks; "Enough! Fucking hell, Old-Man-Shouts-At-Moon, are you quite finished?"

Kento was silent for a moment, offended. As you poured the wine, simmering under his premature middle-aged grump, you heard a mollified little grumble above the sizzle of dinner.

"...any way to talk to your husband?...just having a conversation--"

"Be quiet and drink your wine before I bite you, Kento."