#a child playing potions if that makes sense. he is throwing shit together to see what sticks

[voiice-of-the-soul]

It irritates me alot when people say that making medic more compassionate is ''missing the point of his character'' when he is literally shown to be in the comics.... did you miss the part where he showed concern for both sniper and miss pauling's well being in comic 5 and 6.

His actions are a combination of genuine attachment + clinical interest and these things do not cancel out one another. He is always pushing boundaries and going against the grain and i think this is what led to him losing his license in the first place. He felt stifled by the rules imposed on him.

He is shown to be extremely passionate so it makes sense that he would use his endless fascination with medicine as a way to show his affection. He loves his friends so he will find a way to make them borderline indestructible. Malpractice is his love language.

[katsukavi]

"OH SHIT!" part 2

"I WANT AN ABORTION." Sung Jin-Woo said abruptly, tapping his foot up and down from the agitation. "I'm afraid that's not possible. The baby is far too healthy and because of the amount of health potions you drank, it will be almost indestructible by our means. It even accelerated its growth.."

Sung Jin-Woo didn't think that far into it that night. He gave the baby's father an icy glare and took out his dagger from his inventory. "You can't abort it by your means huh..." he locked (M/n)'s hand onto the hilt and pointed it at his stomach.

"(M/n)! Stab me!"

"HELL NO!"

"Why not? We're already at the hospital, so you could just rush me to the emergency room when I start bleeding," Jin-Woo explained, but that still didn't make a drop of sense to (L/n) (M/n). "NOT IN A MILLION YEARS WILL I STAB YOU!"

"Fine. I'll stab myself."

"No!"

The doctor's face paled at the S-Rank hunter's lack of care for his unborn baby's life—even attempting to stab himself. Luckily, (L/n) (M/n) was there to stop him before the blade could touch his skin.

"Jin-Woo! Come on, you could just hold on to it until you give birth. We could set it up for adoption later.."

"I don't have time to wait 5 months. I could be leveling up using that time."

Scratch that. (L/n) (M/n) was also a horrible parent-to-be. The doctor forced a smile, wondering if all S-Rank Hunters were like this. He cleared his throat and stared back at them.

"How did you even conceive this child?"

"I have no idea. I drank too much. Hey, aren't you immune to alcohol?" (M/n) nudged Jin-Woo's shoulder, since he was the one that wanted to play video games all night. "I don't know. I can't remember much either. There was this scent.."

"I see. It must've been a heat."

"No? I wouldn't have left the house if that were the case."

"Then..." The doctor's eyes set on to (L/n) (M/n), making him feel a cold sweat. The man with red eyes smiled awkwardly, blinking repeatedly at the doctor. "Why are you looking at me?"

"It's incredibly rare but I assume you went through a rut, Sir. So I understand how you may perceive this as unbelievable since this situation is one in a billion or even more so." The doctor scratched the back of his head, trying to consider the rarity of the situation.

It was even more impossible if he considered the fact that male alpha and omegas were less likely to have a baby, then they were both S-Rank Hunters, both with their respective systems and (L/n) (M/n) had suffered from a rut that only one in five alphas experience.

[The Orion System is extremely happy!]

[☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆]

[The Orion System is wondering if it would be a girl or a boy??]

[The System is rejoicing for your offspring.]

"I hope it becomes a miscarriage. I'm too busy for this," Sung Jin-Woo said, glaring at his slightly bloated stomach. "Since you are a male omega, there is a 78% chance it would be a miscarriage if you're constantly stressed and you didn't receive professional help from us.."

"Good. I'm already stressed from this situation."

[The Orion System is ignoring your wife's statement.]

[Yay! Baby! ＼＼\\٩( ^ω^ )و //／／]

'He's not my wife, you stupid system. We're friends at best,' (M/n) thought at his system. He and Jin-Woo left the hospital with conflicted thoughts. (M/n) wasn't as extreme as Jin-Woo to forcibly kill it, but he was wondering what he should do next.

That's right. They were hunters. They didn't have time to raise a baby when they could be saving lives through dungeons. It's a simple choice of one life for one hundred.

[The Orion System is rejoicing for you.]

[The Orion System has contacted (totally didn't take over wink wink) the Player System for the child's sake. (*'ω｀*)]

[The Player System has agreed!! ٩( ᐛ )و yay! yay!]

'What are you celebrating for? Stupid Orion..' (M/n)'s mood turned sour, looking away from his system. Jin-Woo held his phone and pressed Jin-Ho's contact, making (M/n)'s eyebrow twitch. "Oi, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to contact Jin-Ho. He's the Vice Guild Master of Ah-Jin so he has to understand our circumstances."

"What? You know how weird that kid's imagination is. What if he thinks something weird?"

"I'll blame you for that then." Jin-Woo shrugged, his phone ringing for a few seconds before Yoo Jin-Ho picked up. "Hello Hyung-nim. Are you doing okay now?" Jin-Ho's voice made Jin-Woo smile, responding quickly.

"Yeah. I just visited the hospital."

"Ohh. Is (M/n) Hyung with you?"

"Yeah, he's right beside me. Turns out I have to lessen my work hours."

"I understand. You are the Guild Master, Hyung-nim. Everything is up to you. But why do you need to?"

"I'm pregnant."

Yoo Jin-Ho choked on his saliva, falling into a coughing fit as he doubted his ears. "Excuse me? What?"

"You didn't hear? I'm pregnant?"

"THAT'S BAD HYUNG-NIM! YOU NEED A FULL VACATION, NOT REDUCING YOUR HOURS!" The beta shouted, making everyone else in the office stare at him. What?! His Hyung-nim was pregnant? So he had a secret lover this entire time, and he didn't know?

"Then, could you decrease (M/n)'s work hours?"

"Yeah, sure. Why him though?"

(L/n) (M/n) hid his face in his hands, feeling so embarrassed that Jin-Woo just admitted that out loud. His own system was bombarding him with weird messages as well, it was creepy.

[There's no need to be embarrassed, Predator-nim~]

[( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). We all know what you did~~]

"He's the father of my child."

Jin-Ho choked yet again, throwing his fist at his desk as he fell silent. So (L/n) (M/n) and Sung Jin-Woo had been in that kind of relationship the entire time? Sure, he didn't know a lot about Sung Jin-Woo but even (L/n) (M/n)?

Is that the reason he joined Ah-Jin? So he could see his lover?

Then all those times they left together..

"Jin-Ho? Are you still there?"

"...If you need any help, you can call me Hyung-nim."

'Oh my God, so they were doing that so many times Hyung-nim got pregnant?!' Yoo Jin-Ho's face flushed as his imagination ran wild, smashing his forehead on his desk to cleanse his mind. 'I'M SO DENSE! I SHOULD'VE REMINDED THEM TO USE PROTECTION!'

"Yoo Jin-Ho-nim.. Is anything wrong with the Guild Master?"

"Ah nothing, he's just on maternity leave."

"What?"

"Huh, he hung up. He must've been shocked.." Jin-Woo said, looking up blankly as (L/n) (M/n) gritted his teeth. His face was red, mostly out of embarrassment than out of anger. "SHOCKED MY ASS! OF COURSE HE'D BE SHOCKED! AND WHY DID YOU TELL HIM IT WAS ME?"

"What else should I tell him? He politely asked who was the father."

[The Orion System agrees with your wife.]

[Calm down, host!! ＼＼\٩(๑'^'๑)۶//／／]

(L/n) (M/n) took a deep breath, rubbing his temples to soothe himself. "Okay, let's just call it a day and go home and sleep." (M/n) felt like it had sucked his life out of him, so he just wanted to sleep.

"I'll see you then."

Sung Jin-Ah was feeling suspicious for the past two weeks, noticing that her older brother's movements have become strange. At first she thought he got sick, but that would be strange for a sickness to last weeks, especially since he's an S-Rank Hunter.

"Hey, I ordered pizza. You feeling okay, bro?"

"Yeah. I visited the hospital earlier," Jin-Woo said, plopping down on the couch beside her. "Where's Mom?" he asked, grabbing a slice of pizza from the box. "She went out to get something. So she said she wouldn't be able to cook tonight," Jin-Ah answered him.

As soon as Jin-Woo took a bite from his pizza, his face turned sour. He swallowed it and bitterly gulped a glass of water. "Actually, I don't want any."

"Huh? What do you mean you don't want any? You practically inhale this stuff!"

"It doesn't taste good."

"It tastes just fine, get over here!"

Sung Jin-Woo completely ignored his beta sister and holed up in his room. Confusion crossed her face as she gobbled up a slice of pizza. 'Something weird is definitely going on with him.. He's sus...'

The next morning, Jin-Woo got up early to do his daily regimen. But his fatigue had raised twice the number it had before. He felt annoyed from it and tried even harder, exhausting himself in the process.

'I haven't even done half yet?'

[[The Player System has cancelled the 'Daily Quest: Preparation to be Powerful'.]]

[[The Orion System has requested it to be changed to 'Daily Quest: Meet up with your Husband<3']]

Sung Jin-Woo wanted to middle finger the systems and ignored the new Daily Quest, thinking it was an awful prank from Orion. (That Constellation liked to bug them a lot.) So he continued to do the old Daily Quest, but he unfortunately got sent to the Penalty Zone all the same.

["Since you lovers don't wanna meet up. I have no choice but to force you! Hmph!! ヽ('⌒'メ)ノ"]

"I— Jin-Woo?!" (L/n) (M/n) hollered, his eyes setting on his partner on top of a floating marble platform. Jin-Woo was behind a translucent wall, safely protected in a small room filled with comfortable pillows, blankets and cute stuffed animals. Just in front of him was a coffee table with a full set of snacks one could crave for.

[[You can sit back and watch the show~ Daddy is going to go on a little run!! ＼(٥⁀▽⁀ )／]]

FWOOSHHH!!

On (M/n)'s side of the wall was a scorching, fiery desert, his shoes sinking in white sand as an enormous monster rose from the ground. The gigantic lizard roared, sending a breath of flames towards (L/n) (M/n) as he tried to run for his life. He screamed and cursed at the system while Jin-Woo watched from above like his Alpha was a gladiator.

"FUCK! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS THING?!"

"ORION! WHY THE HECK IS HE BEING CHASED BY LIZARDS?!?" Jin-Woo punched the orange wall, making it glitch for a few seconds before spitting his fist back inside the enclosed room. He could only look down at (M/n) with worry, slamming into the wall to attempt an escape to go help him.

[[HEY!! Don't help that idiot! He's a loser who doesn't even bother to look after his pregnant wife! (҂' ﾛ ')]]

[[You know what! Since he's so bad, let's go torture him more! Yay! Yay!!]]

Three more lizards surfaced from the sand, breathing fire like dragons. (M/n)'s face paled in shock as he retrieved his rapier from his inventory. A fifth lizard rose from where he stood, making him tumble down on the sand as it bellowed a menacing tune.

"UGH.. FIVE OF THESE THINGS?!" (M/n) shouted, burning his palms from the hot sand as he tried to get up and away from such a life-threatening situation. Sung Jin-Woo felt more anxiety for (M/n) and banged on the walls.

"DO YOU WANT HIM TO DIE!?"

[[Don't worry~ He won't die. He can handle it! (b ᵔ▽ᵔ)b]]

[[He has to be at least this strong to be a wonderful Daddy of course. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ]]

"We're not even keeping the baby!" Jin-Woo glared at the cute emoticon on his screen and gave it a middle finger. He took out his dagger from his inventory, slicing open the wall and using the slight gap to escape.

[[Wait! No! If you get hurt, the baby will die! ＼(º □ º l|l)/]]

"Good," Jin-Woo said with a smirk, landing on top of one of the lizard's heads. "Hey, you need a little help?" he shouted after (M/n), riding safely on the monster. It only seemed to be hostile towards (M/n) and not him.

[[NOO! IF IT ATTACKS MOMMY, ALL HOPE IS LOST! ＼(╥ _ ╥ l|l)/]]

"Nah, I got it!" (M/n) responded, sliding under one lizard's feet and stabbing it's heart from underneath. Its skin was thick, but (M/n)'s high strength stat could make up for it. The beast let out a small cry of pain as his blade pierced through like a needle. He soon coated the blade in a reddish orange hued mana, poisoning the lizard internally in just a few seconds.

"Jeez. I was a little panicked. But I'm fine," (M/n)'s skin was harder than steel, like an indestructible material. Just like in the myth of Orion, he was like the indomitable scorpion that the legendary Hunter could not beat.

"I was a little offended, you know."

[Noo!! Predator-nim, I hate you!! ((╬◣﹏◢))]

[Hmph! Hmph! You big IDIOT! ]

"Orion, shut up."

[FINE THEN! I'LL REMOVE ALL OF THESE LIZARDS! ヽ( 'д'*)ノ]

[I'll be nice to you just because wifey's pregnant okay! humph!]

[Go kiss kiss fall in love now! I don't wanna see you be stupid IDIOTS! (҂ òзó )]

The lizards evaporated quickly like Orion made them out of ice in the blistering sun, making Jin-Woo suspended into the air. (M/n) reached out his hands and ran under him, catching him quickly in his arms. Jin-Woo could've landed safely on his feet, he wasn't that fragile..

But in (M/n)'s princess carry, he felt some sense of relief. Jin-Woo hugged him, inhaling a breath of his friend's pheromones. (M/n) really enjoyed wearing Axe Body Spray (a pheromone masking agent in this world) because he always met up with an Alpha female named Cha Hae-In. It was because of that, Jin-Woo didn't notice any of his alpha pheromones.

But with a whiff, he preferred this version. It made him imagine the fragrance of lit scented candles. It was a very specific scent that calmed him down. "Hm, are you okay?" (M/n) asked, making Jin-Woo snap out his momentary trance. What was going with him?

"Yeah, uhm. Were you still sleeping?" Jin-Woo took notice of (M/n)'s disheveled hair and casual set of light blue pajamas. "Oh right, I haven't showered yet.. Fuck. My handsome complexion!" (M/n) said dramatically, looking down to his lovely rapier covered in sand.

As much as he wanted to get it and polish it until it was shiny, he didn't want to drop Jin-Woo yet. It seems like Jin-Woo was the same, wrapping his arms around his neck in a comfortable hug. Yeah, they should hug more often. It was very comfortable.

[Yes!! NOW KISS!! ٩(♡ε♡)۶]

"Ew gross, Orion is back from a tantrum.." (M/n) set Jin-Woo back down, making a look of disgust. Jin-Woo also didn't like the constellation. So he joined (M/n) in spiting it with all the malice he could.

[Ugh, you guys are so mean! (︶︹︶ ||| )]

[It's like you're perfect for each other. (You are btw (^ω~))]

[I'll bring you back home now. (╬ Ò﹏Ó)]

"Oh nice. This is your room?"

"It's a little messy, but don't mind it too much." Jin-Woo scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, not knowing what to do in such a situation. He and (M/n) had teleported back to his house together, convenient for him. But (M/n) was still in his pajamas.

"Damn, I haven't even combed yet. How do you expect me to walk home in this?" (M/n) sighed, fixing his bedhead with one hand as he scratched his stomach with the other. Even though he just went through a terrifying experience, he was still tired and planned to sleep until noon.

"I mean you could run like really really fast. You'd just be a blur to normal people."

"But.. I haven't been to your house before.." (M/n) looked around Jin-Woo's room. Despite him claiming that it was messy, no clothes or wrappers were on the floor and the only thing messy were his blankets. This guy's sense of "messy" was on a whole other level.

(M/n) just leaves his cans of energy drinks, chips and bowls on the floor and leaves the cleaners to go clean it up. His appearance was the only thing that was respectable.

"So I can't navigate on my own. You know."

"You can use Google Maps."

"I don't bring my phone everywhere."

"You don't? I thought you were an addict."

"Your perceptions of me are so warped. What even made you think I was a beta?" (M/n) sighed, glancing over to Jin-Woo's stomach before blushing. He wasn't that different. He thought Jin-Woo was an alpha precisely because he gave off those vibes.

"Ah, it was your Hunter Wikipedia page. I skimmed over it a while ago.."

"My Hunter Wiki what??" (M/n) got confused, watching Jin-Woo take out his cellphone and search something online. He peered over his shoulder, watching him scroll down to the gender option. It actually said [Beta Male].

"That's really stupid. What part of me is beta?"

Sung Jin-Woo looked over to (L/n) (M/n) for a few seconds, his appearance to his language. Yeah.. (M/n) was right. What part of him seemed Beta? (M/n) right then screamed 'I-AM-A- DOMINANT-ALPHA. STAY-5-METERS-AWAY-FROM-ME-BECAUSE-I-WILL-ATTACK-YOU'

Then, he saw his picture on the wiki. Jin-Woo held his phone up and looked to his left and right, comparing the one in person, to the picture. "Now that I've thought of it, this is the first time I've seen you in pajamas."

(L/n) (M/n) was someone that barely swore, kept calm and wore modest clothing. But it looked like stress took over him so much it affected his personality. His mouth was foul with curses.

"Yeah, I mean the last time you saw me, I was naked."

"Oh," Jin-Woo blurted out, his face heating with that in mind. (M/n) quickly shut his mouth and looked away shyly, fixing his hair to seem more like himself. "Now we're in this situation, huh?" (M/n) mumbled, staring down at Jin-Woo's belly. It wasn't noticeable, but it showed a bump if you touched it.

"Do you.. wanna hug?" (M/n) diverted his vision away from Jin-Woo, a light blush on his face. "What made you say that?" Jin-Woo asked calmly, avoiding looking at (M/n). The (h/c)-haired alpha cleared his throat, extending his arms in the air.

"I don't know. You seemed to like it earlier.."

[Definitely you right now: Σ>―(〃°ω°〃)♡→]

[(￢‿￢ )]

Sung Jin-Woo nodded, placing his chin on (M/n)'s shoulder as he wrapped his arms around his torso. The same fragrant pheromone relaxing him enough to close his eyes. He felt safe in those arms, like he was under an unbreakable set of armor. "I feel like I could fall asleep like this.."

(L/n) (M/n) didn't know why his heart was beating so quickly, making his skin feel like they were on fire just from touching this omega. "We should hug more often," he said, rubbing on Jin-Woo's back calmly. It was fine for friends to hug, right?

But could we could even consider them friends when one of them was pregnant?

"Oppa, I think we ran out of dish soap—" Sung Jin-Ah opened the door, letting out an 'Oh' sound as she gazed at her brother. Then, Sung Jin-Woo noticed how odd it was to have (L/n) (M/n) there. "Wait, Jin-Ah! It's not what you think—"

"MOOOMMM!! JIN-WOO HAS A SECRET ALPHA BOYFRIEND!!"

"Sung Jin-Ah!" Jin-Woo yelled, squeezing her cheeks with one hand as she struggled to run away. "I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT SO BAD WHEN I SMELLED ALPHA PHEROMONES ON YOU! IT'S VERY STRONG NOW!!" she screamed and kicked her feet in the air.

"Hold on. I'm not his boyfriend—"

"LET GO OF ME, OPPA! WHY ARE YOU SO STRONG?!"

(M/n)'s voice gradually got weaker as he pursed his lips awkwardly. There was no room to protest in the screaming girl in the room casually being battled to the death by her older brother. He just gave up.

It was that quick giving up that people thought he was a beta.

"Oh! You finally brought home your boyfriend. That's great," Park Kyung-He said as she stood on the doorframe. She smiled at (M/n), then stared at his sleepwear. "Jin-Woo! You even let him stay without telling us?"

"I didn't—"

"Shush! I know it could be embarrassing to reveal your first love. Come on, dear. What's your name?" she looked over to (M/n), waving her hand to call him over. "It's (L/n) (M/n), Maam.. Nice to meet you," he said shyly, not even refuting her words at all.

His cute demeanor made Kyung-He fall in love with him already. What a good future son-in-law. No wonder Jin-Woo liked him.

"Ah, come here now (M/n). I'll cook you breakfast too."

"If you don't mind me intruding. Thank you.." (M/n) said, following Kyung-He like he was an imprinted chick. "I'll be there too!" Jin-Ah said, wrestling with Jin-Woo's arm. "Let me go, you jerk! I wanna see what your boyfriend is like!"

"I already told you. He's not my boyfriend."

"Why are you even saying that at this point?" Jin-Ah made a face at him and slipped through his grasp, running out of his room in fear that he would catch her again. "I caught you red-handed! Hehe!!"

[[(¬‿¬ ) hehe..]]

"Orion.. What have you done to my system?" Jin-Woo grumbled, walking out of his room with a long sigh. He could explain to them later that he and (M/n) were just friends. But sadly, he would never get the opportunity to.

"So, when did you and Jin-Woo meet? Was it nice?"

"Oh! I met him at work. He was my partner for a while. And you know, when I saw him, he was so scary I thought he was an alpha!" (M/n) was suddenly very talkative, amusing the curious Kyung-He and Jin-Ah.

"Ohh.. So how did you fall in love?"

"We didn't!" Jin-Woo butted in, receiving sympathetic eyes from his family. "Oh, so it was Jin-Woo who fell first. I see," Kyung-He assumed. He asked (M/n) how he did, but it was her son that answered. Their romance was very cute.

"No.. That's not.."

"Wow, I didn't think Oppa would be the one to confess. He's being super shy about it right now. How could he even proclaim his love now..?" Jin-Ah exclaimed in shock, looking over to (L/n) (M/n). He did provide the juicy details she wanted in a romance novel. Jin-Ah approve!

But even though he was the one who confessed, why is he suddenly saying they weren't together? Was her Oppa too shy about it and only stayed sweet in front of his one true love? Isn't that.. too cute?!

"Huh? What are you all talking about? Jin-Woo didn't confess to me?"

Sung Jin-Ah's world was then flipped upside down. It all made sense. Jin-Woo was denser than the Earth itself. If (M/n) was he one who asked him out, it would make even more sense! Their trope was... Shy Omega x Outgoing Alpha! Jin-Ah prayed internally to her lord and savior, KatsuKavi. She was in a romance novel and she could watch the protagonists.

"Oppa, you're no fair! How did you get this lucky with KatsuKavi's pairing rituals?!"

"Who?!"

"The author!"

(A/N: ignore the fourth wall. There is no such thing.)

"Ah, we got too distracted! (M/n) could you clear the table?" Park Kyung-He stood up, moving towards the sink. (M/n) nodded obediently and helped her wash the dishes. Jin-Woo was dumbfounded at his goody good behavior.

He didn't even clean up at his own house. What was he doing being so good with his mother and sister?

"You're a good kid, (M/n). I approve of you."

"Thank you," (M/n) said, chatting a little bit with Kyung-He until he could call her 'Mom'. Sung Jin-Woo gritted his teeth as he watched (L/n) (M/n) be the new favorite.

"Oppa, (M/n) is so good to us. How dare you hog him for yourself," Jin-Ah glared at him from across the room, getting an angry look from Jin-Woo. "Wow, so possessive.." she murmured to herself, skipping happily to her new brother-in-law.

Possessive? No, Jin-Woo wasn't being possessive. He must've just been jealous (L/n) (M/n) was getting all the attention. But when did Jin-Woo start caring about being the center of attention?

He looked over to his best friend, biting his lip to ignore the tight feeling in his chest. He wanted to scream 'look at me!', but he was so dense he didn't know who he wanted to look at him.

"Ah, that's Jin-Woo?! He looks totally different!" (M/n) exclaimed, looking through Jin-Ah's older photos of Jin-Woo. He did look like an omega before, but he drastically changed after becoming a S-Rank Hunter. It was like he was a totally different person.

"Yeah, he used to be so cute and sunny. Now look at him! He's growling at me for taking you away from him."

"I am not growling at you!" Jin-Woo argued, knitting his eyebrows together. He didn't know why, but he felt so annoyed being so far away from Jin-Ah and (M/n). Normally, he wouldn't care but for some weird reason, he didn't like being treated like air.

(L/n) (M/n) soon changed out of his sleepwear and took a nice shower. He didn't wear any pheromone masking agent, so everyone could smell his masculine pheromones leaking out. As much as Jin-Woo liked it, he felt a little annoyed that his 'friend' was being used as incense.

"Mom, did you let him wear dad's clothes?"

"Mhm. It wasn't being used anyway," Kyung-He answered Jin-Woo. She put her hands together, making a sad smile as he looked over to (M/n). "I think it should go to good use, you think?"

"Yeah."

"He suits it well, right?"

"Yeah."

"He's more handsome now, isn't he?"

"I agree."

Sung Jin-Woo crossed his arms over his stomach. (L/n) (M/n) was very attractive in his eyes and a fuzzy feeling would come when thinking of him. "I can tell you really love him. So don't let him go." Kyung-He coaxed Jin-Woo. His mind was blank, only focusing on (M/n).

"Yeah."

"Oi, Jin-Woo! Why did you smile so weirdly in this photo!"

'Ah, I hate him so much,' Jin-Woo thought as (M/n) made fun of him. "Don't look at those!" he marched over, snatching the photo album from his hands while Jin-Ah and (M/n) laughed on the floor.

"Pfft! I don't want our child to look like that!"

"It'll be even worse if it looked like you!"

"I'm a handsome bastard and you know that!"

"I didn't know you wanted children. I hope they look beautiful in the future," Jin-Ah's eyes sparkled at the thought of cute children saying 'Aunt' at her. She wanted to squeeze their chubby cheeks immediately.

"Wait five months, then you decide if the baby will look good."

"Five months? So you're getting married in five months?"

"What? No, I mean Jin-Woo is giving birth in five months." (M/n)'s laughter soon ceased into silence as Jin-Woo walked closer to him menacingly. He then understood why (M/n) didn't want him to tell Jin-Ho about his circumstances. It was so embarrassing for them to know. Now they're never going to let him give it up.

In front of his family, his face became tomato red with both anger and embarrassment as he crouched down to strangle (L/n) (M/n). "Why did you tell them, you dumbass?!"

"Eh?? I thought they already knew from how you told Jin-Ho from the moment we left the hospital."

"Shut up." Jin-Woo balled his fist and set it in the air, his other hand on (M/n)'s chest to prevent him from moving. "Wait, wait! Don't actually—"

"Oppa, you're pregnant?" Sung Jin-Ah's shock had multiplied by 900, so did her happiness. "MOM! IM GOING TO BE AN AUNT! WOOHOO!" She stood up from her place and fetched her phone with a massive smile. She was going to brag to all her friends all about it, wasn't she?

"This is a pleasant surprise. Jin-Woo! You don't tell us about anything going on your life." Kyung-He also smiled, half scolding Jin-Woo. He was already 24, so he could decide as an adult. She had no problem with it. "First, you're a hunter, then your secret fiancee, now your child? Hoo, you.."

Wait, why did secret alpha boyfriend evolve into fiancee? They weren't getting married after the birth of the child!

(M/n)'s ears were about to bleed. He forgot about it! But because of their excessive happiness, he couldn't bring himself to disagree with what they were saying in fear they'd be disappointed. So he could only regrettably nod.

[Yay! Yay! Baby!!]

[We're getting a little hunter!! (��ω☆)]

Jin-Woo's complexion became pale blue. They were doomed.

[ourloveisforthelovely]

In Love and Death Part 12

Harry Potter AU 

Link to Part 11 

Pairings: Regulus Black x Reader 

Rating: M 

______________

Regulus followed you upstairs to the bedroom with a pleased smirk on his face. He had wiped whatever bit of toughness that Harry had in him away. If the little git thought that Regulus cared for one minute what he had to think then the “chosen one” had another thing coming. At the moment, it was Regulus’ personal pleasure to make Harry regret ever being born. Sure they were on the same “side” but it didn’t mean that they had to like each other.

You closed the door behind you as Regulus gave you the small smile that he reserved for you alone.

“Why did you tell Harry to play in the street?”

You asked. Regulus shrugged.

“Well, darling, if he actually listens to me and goes to play in the street then he isn’t that smart is he? If he gets hit by a car...obviously he doesn’t know the concept of moving”

You shook your head, giving your boyfriend a disapproving mother-like expression.

“That’s mean, Regulus. I don’t understand why you two are so jealous of each other.”

Regulus sat down on the bed. He was not jealous of Harry and Harry was not jealous of him...well...maybe he kind of was. The only “jealousy” that Harry felt toward Regulus was because of the relationship that he had with you.

“He’s the jealous one. I’m just being my loveable self.”

Regulus attempted to justify it with a smile. He was pleased when you returned the smile. Shaking your head, you took your place on his lap with a leg on either side of his body.

“You’re only loveable to me.”

You replied as Regulus leaned forward for a kiss.

“Well then I am doing nothing uncommon now, am I? I’ll play nice when he does. The little git seems to fancy you in a less than friendly way. He’s lucky that I haven’t hexed him.”

You didn’t need much encouragement to eagerly kiss Regulus back.

“He’s wasting his time. I’m in love with you. The quicker that he realizes it the better off that he will be.”

You said, not pulling your mouth far from Regulus.

“So, what did you want to talk to me about?”

This made you pull away and sit back up. Regulus immediately began to regret his decision on asking what was so important. He wanted nothing more than to have some private time with you. It seemed like the private time the two of you shared seemed to be a series of quickies when both of you could sneak off.

“Evan let it slip to my grandmother about the potion and what we are trying to do.”

Regulus immediately rolled his eyes. After his less than cheerful meeting with your grandmother a few months beforehand, he wanted nothing more to do with Mrs.Rosier.

“Of course, he did. What are her terms? I know that she has some.”

You nodded as you reached out and slowly unbuttoned a few buttons on Regulus’ shirt. He raised an eyebrow, clearly wondering why you were trying to undress him to give weird news? Would this require him getting “buttered” up to accept?

“She thinks that if we are going to be trying to have a child then we should be married. Reg, you know how old school my grandmother is.”

Regulus had to agree on that one. Mrs. Rosier was extremely old school. She was the reason that Evan and Emily were married so young when you were born. It only made sense that she would shove this old school belief on her granddaughter. Regulus internally smirked at the idea of Mrs. Rosier stalking about the Rosier manor mumbling about her granddaughter being pregnant with Regulus Black’s bastard child. He knew he didn’t have to envision it, it was probably happening as the two of you spoke.

“Love, you already have my ring. I told you before if that’s what you wanted…”

“Is it what you want though?”

You interrupted. Regulus gave you an annoyed look before continuing.

“I don’t go around trying to make a child with someone that I wouldn’t want to be in my life forever. Y/n, you know that’s what I want. I don’t know why you worry about such things.”

You quickly got off of his lap and went to stare at the street below. Regulus frowned. What was going on? You didn’t act like this.

“So, what else did grandmama say to get you in such a twist?”

“That was it.”

You replied. Regulus stood up, running a hand through his hair before joining you at the window.

“I’m not an idiot, Y/n. Something else is going on and you know how I hate being left in the dark.”

You sighed and finally looked up.

“I’m pregnant.”

Regulus blinked a few times.

“You literally took the potion less than an hour ago and we haven’t even done anything.”

“I was pregnant before I took the potion, Regulus! I didn’t know...Tonks had me take a test just to make sure and it came out positive...how I don’t know. I didn’t tell Tonks that it was positive. I pretend it was negative and ran off before she could ask to look at it. For the record, we have been doing it a long lot lately.”

Regulus’ mouth dropped as he took in your words. You had to fight smiling at the confused expression that had taken over his face.

“Please say something.”

You whispered. Regulus immediately smirked.

“You may want to call that healer and ask for our money back. I don’t want the old bat thinking she fixed something that she actually didn’t do.”

You gave Regulus a displeased frown.

“I tell you that I’m pregnant and that is your response? Lovely...excuse me.”

As you turned to walk out of the room, Regulus reached out and pulled your body back against his.

“Don’t get mad. I’m sorry. Y/n, I’m happy...I’m thrilled actually. It just shows that we don’t need some magical help to be able to take the next step of building our life together. Also, this is another example of there being nothing wrong with you. I promise I’m happy. What about you? How are you feeling about this?”

You laid your head against his shoulder.

“I’m very happy. I just don’t feel very well. I see why Tonks was throwing up in the neighbor's bushes when she was pregnant. Regulus, I’m not ready to tell the others just yet.”

Regulus gently ran his hand through your hair.

“We don’t have to tell anyone until you are ready or at least until you start showing. We won’t be able to avoid it then.”

The following weeks passed without much excitement. Both Regulus and yourself were keeping your “condition” as secret as possible. If you started feeling ill, you would find some way to slip out of the room without being seen. You were honestly shocked that Tonks hadn’t picked up on it yet. Normally, she would pick up on any secret that you had before you ever got the chance to say anything.

Of course, this is the one thing that she doesn’t pick up on.

You thought. Part of you was desperate for your best friend to “figure” things out. You wanted nothing more than to have another party in on the secret.

The house had been mostly quiet since Harry, Ron, and Hermione returned to school. Regulus’ jealous mood had eased and your lover was back to his reserved self. You dreaded the day that Harry figured out what was happening. That was going to be one hell of a disaster!

Sirius, meanwhile, was headed to his room to find something to harass Kreacher about. As he walked down the hall, he stopped noticing Regulus sitting on the floor beside the heating vent. The expression on Regulus’ face was unreadable. Shrugging, Sirius walked into the room and sunk down beside his brother.

“We used to spend a lot of time sitting by this vent. I don’t think mum and dad ever realized we could hear right into their bedroom. We heard all of the yelling and screaming”

Regulus, just realizing that his brother was in the room, blinked a few times. He had been lost in his own world for the past hour and a half. For the past few weeks, Regulus had been watching you get sicker and sicker. It was beginning to wear on his mental state. He couldn’t help feeling a bit selfish for wanting a baby with you so bad that you had to be ill for it to happen. Sure, that was what most women experienced but you weren't most women. You were his and Regulus didn’t like seeing you ill.

“We never heard anything romantic”

Regulus finally replied. Sirius made a repulsed expression. The last thing that he wanted to think about was his parents having sex. Granted, if Walburga and Orion didn’t have sex neither Sirius nor Regulus would be in existence. That fact, however, didn’t make Sirius any less repulsed by the knowledge of his parent’s sex life.

“First, gross. Second, I think that stopped after you were born. I meant overhearing what they were talking about. We could hear what kind of trouble we were in when we misbehaved and come up with a joint story.”

Regulus remembered those days well. Those were the days when he and Sirius were best friends and caused joint chaos. For example, the day Regulus caught the drapes on fire and Sirius blamed it on Kreacher. Walburga believed the elf over her two children.

“One would think that they would have figured it out. Do you think that I will be a better father than our father?”

Regulus didn’t turn to meet his brother’s confused then stunned expression. Sirius blinked a few times before his mouth dropped.

“Is Y/n pregnant?”

Regulus nodded, not realizing what he was doing. With one nod of his head, he told the secret that he was supposed to be keeping to himself.

“I’m not supposed to tell you but yes….yes she is.”

Sirius was stunned. He didn’t expect it to happen THAT quickly!

“That didn’t take long. That healer knows her shit. Is this why you are sitting by the vent looking lost?”

“That could be the reason. The healer and her potion also did nothing. Y/n was pregnant before she drank the potion. She took a test the day that she drank it and it was positive. The doctor that we have been seeing also confirmed that she was pregnant so there is that too.”

Sirius couldn’t help but be a tad bothered that neither Regulus nor yourself had said a word to him. He figured that he would be the person that the two of you would come to first. As much as Sirius wanted to make a comment on it the expression on Regulus’ face stopped him. His little brother looked lost and close to losing what grip on sanity that he had. Regulus didn’t need to be talked down to like a child and Sirius didn’t want to end up being hexed for making a snide comment.

“Reg, you’re not dad and Y/n isn’t mum. You’ll do just fine”

Regulus finally turned to his brother.

“What if I mess up?”

Sirius smiled at that one.

“All parents mess up. Turn the control freak perfectionist off, Reg. Just do what you think is right. You know that I am here for both of you. So is Remus and Tonks and all of the others...they just don’t know it yet. How far is she?”

“3 ½ months”

Regulus replied, quietly. Sirius held a hand up.

“You meant to tell me that she has been pregnant that long and no one has figured it out? Neither of you had said a word?!”

Regulus smiled.

“We are good about keeping our mouths shut when we need to.”

Sirius crossed his arms over his chest like an impatient child.

“But I wanted to know. This is a big deal. I need to brush up on my being an uncle skills”

Regulus rolled his eyes. He wasn’t surprised by Sirius’ dramatic reaction. Regulus had already mentioned it to you about telling Sirius before anyone else. His older brother would probably be ecstatic to be the first one in on the secret.

“You know now. Don’t tell anyone else yet. Y/n won’t be able to hide it much longer. She’s starting to show. I figure if she can make it until Christmas that will be the time she says something.”

“But she not been sick or anything”

Sirius commented as he tried to think about any weird behavior that he missed. He couldn’t think of anything that raised alarm bells in his mind. You seemed like normal Y/n.

“Again, we keep our mouths shut when we need to. She’s only been ill a few times. I consider it lucky. She’s not felt well but none of the actual vomiting.”

Sirius leaned his head back against the wall.

“Wow, I am totally shocked by the level of sneaky that the two of you have reached. I won’t say anything.”

(meanwhile)

You stood in the kitchen “attempting” to prepare a chicken for dinner. Molly and Arthur were due back in a few weeks and you couldn’t be more ecstatic. You missed Molly’s cooking. Most of all you missed Molly doing the cooking. Cooking had to be one of your least favorite activities and clearly you had no talent in it. There had been many nights that you just threw out whatever it was that you tried to make and ordered take out.

“God, this is so gross.”

You muttered as you pulled the skin off of the chicken. A wave of nausea washed over you as the slimy skin came halfway off.

“Oh, fuck no.”

You snapped and threw the chicken down to wash your hands and possibly throw up in the sink.

“Are you okay?”

You quickly looked up to see Evan standing in the doorway. He was looking at you with a concerned expression that he seemed to be wearing a lot lately. Evan had calmed down his super sassy “I hate all of you” attitude and was somewhat tolerable.

“Yes, I’m just fine.”

You lied, swallowing back the urge to gag. Evan raised an eyebrow and looked over your shoulder to the half skinned chicken. Shrugging, he stepped into the kitchen and sat down in one of the chairs.

“I’ve never seen someone almost vomit from cooking a chicken. You’ve seemed ill a lot lately. Maybe you should see a healer?”

You shook your head.

“Nah, I’m good...just fine actually.”

Evan nodded and turned to a magazine that was on the table. He knew exactly what was going on.

“I know that we haven’t had many chats that have gone well. Whether you like it or not, you are still my daughter and I know a lot about you.”

“That’s nice.”

You commented, practically begging Evan to keep yapping. The more that he talked then you could focus on that and not your churning stomach.

“You should try peppermint. It works well for an upset stomach.”

You breathed in, hoping a nice deep breath would help your current condition.

“My stomach is just fine.”

You knew that you were being stubborn but you couldn’t help it. What if you started caring for Evan and he just disappeared or became a death eater again? You wouldn’t be able to handle that.

There was also the knowledge that you would have to explain to your child one day why their “grandfather” looked the same age as mummy and daddy. That was going to be one awkward conversation!

Evan, meanwhile, put the magazine that he was holding down.

“When your mother was pregnant with you, she would vomit anytime someone came near her with a raw chicken. She was sick all the time. It didn’t matter how many times I asked her if she was ill, she would always say no.”

Evan fought the urge to smile as you began to resemble a petrified deer.

“You’re pregnant, Y/n and I am just curious does Regulus know?”

________

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[little-mad]

Little Jackpot Pt. 8

~ Previous Part ~ Next Part ~

It had taken around thirty minutes of wandering around the city before the pixie dust showed any type of reaction. Once it did though, zeroing in on Ambry’s location had been fairly swift. That is, assuming the dust was reacting to Ambry and not some other pixie. As far as Sebastian was aware at least, there was only one pixie in town and that was his companion.

Once the increasingly vibrant glow of the pixie dust had led him to a house that positively reeked of magic, Sebastian was sure he was in the right place. The residence looked innocuous enough to the untrained eye, and Sebastian was sure the normal human neighbors didn’t find anything unusual about it. However, any witch with a decent grasp of magic sensing would be able to tell that the building was coated in various charms and enchantments.

Sebastian approached the front door of the house. He didn’t think politely ringing the doorbell was the appropriate response, which meant he’d need to break through the sealing charm that held the door firmly shut.

Exchanging the vial of pixie dust for the wand in his pocket, Sebastian pondered the best approach to break the seal. Thankfully, he knew himself to be quite skilled at breaking the spells of others, but it was crucial that the correct process be followed so as to not cause the seal to tighten itself even further.

Taking in a deep breath, Sebastian aimed his wand at the door and began to mutter a string of incantations under his breath as he moved the wand in a precise series of movements. After about a minute, a small burst of shattering light indicated that the attempt had been successful. Sebastian didn’t allow himself any feeling of pride, not when his companion still wasn’t out of the woods yet.

It was unsurprising to him when he found that the front door, despite having been magically sealed, wasn’t even manually locked. Unlocking charms were rudimentary for most any witch, so if anyone managed to get past the seal, the lock would likely be child’s play.

Carefully pushing open the door, Sebastian stepped into the house. Immediately he noticed that there was no one currently present, however; that didn’t mean they weren’t somewhere else in the building.

Quietly, Sebastian snapped the front door shut. He would keep his presence hidden as long as possible, the element of surprise would serve him well. He had no real idea of how skilled this witch would be, although, from what he had seen so far, it seemed likely that they were considerably talented. Sebastian was beginning to wonder if not waiting for backup had been the best idea. He’d messaged Adrien the address as soon as he was sure he had found the right place, but when his friend hadn’t replied immediately, Sebastian had decided to press on by himself.

“No, Ambry needs you now.” Sebastian argued with himself mentally. It was true that getting to the pixie sooner rather than later could mean the difference between her losing her wings or not. There was no time to wait around.

Moving with silent fluidity, Sebastian made his way through the expensive looking home. He checked the kitchen, a bathroom, and a dining room with no luck. He then moved towards a shut door at the end of the house. A bright glow suddenly began to shine through the fabric of his jacket. The pixie dust was reacting stronger than ever, which meant Ambry must be just through that door.

Sebastian tightened his grip on his wand, took in a steadying breath, and then shoved open the door. His eyes immediately found her. She was sitting in the middle of a golden bird cage, her piercing yellow eyes staring back at him in shock. A wave of emotions flooded through him all at once. There was a warm glow of relief at seeing the pixie looking mostly healthy, wings still attached and all. Then there was a fresh stab of guilt and regret. But perhaps most powerful was the burning rage that came with seeing his small companion locked up in some cage meant for an animal.

It was then that Sebastian’s gaze shot over to the room’s other occupant. The dark haired witch had gotten to his feet and was looking at Sebastian with poorly concealed surprise. It only took a moment for Sebastian to connect the face of this man with one he had seen in the Council’s “Most Wanted Criminals” bulletin. Ambry hadn’t been abducted by just any run of the mill rogue witch, she’d been taken by Kole Miyazaki.

“Well, well, well, color me impressed.” The leather clad witch remarked after having schooled his expression into one of sly amusement. “I really wasn’t expecting you to track me down.” Kole began to walk towards the center of the room, placing himself in between Sebastian and Ambry.

Kole Miyazaki was wanted for a battery of crimes, most involving thievery, but what had landed him on the Most Wanted list was his associations with the magic blackmarket. The witch was known as one of the blackmarket’s top sellers due to his ability to get his hands on some of the rarest magical items in the world. Obtaining pixie wings could have been Kole’s most impressive feat yet.

“Release her, now.” Sebastian ordered. He was not interested in any chit-chat. And as much as he wanted to curse this asshole into next week, he knew his first priority needed to be getting Ambry out of there with as little chaos as possible.

The opposing witch gave a light chuckle. “I’m sorry, Sebastian, but no can do.”

“So you know who I am.” Sebastian said dully, unsurprised and unamused.

Kole grinned. “Of course. You’re Sebastian Altalune, a young witch with promising talent who fairly recently was assigned a cute little pixie for a companion.” Sebastian’s free hand formed into a fist. He didn’t even want this creep mentioning Ambry. “You’re good with potions and general magical knowledge, but your combat abilities...leave something to be desired.” Kole went on. “So I hope you don’t plan to challenge me. Not only do I have a couple years of experience on you, but combat magic happens to be my specialty.”

Sebastian took a step forward. He wasn’t about to allow himself to be intimidated by this thug. “That’s fine, I don’t need to beat you.” He calmly stated. “I just need to keep you busy until my coven comes along with the Council Police.”

This caught Kole’s attention. The man’s eyes narrowed, some of the previous casualness leaving his stance. “Getting the police involved was a bad move on your part.” He said, a darkness tinting the nonchalant tone. “Now I’ll just have to break you quickly before making off with your former companion.”

There was no time to react before a blast of energy suddenly exploded out from Kole, throwing Sebastian back several feet. He landed painfully on his back, a dull throbbing instantly starting up in his tailbone, which had taken the brunt of the impact.

Clearly Kole hadn’t been lying about his proficiency with combat magic. The guy had just effortlessly pulled off an advanced spell, and wandless nonetheless. “Fine, so defense is the name of the game.”

By the time Sebastian had gotten his senses together again, Kole had made his way over to Ambry’s cage, which he was now holding tucked under one arm. Inside the golden prison, Ambry was clinging to the front bars, eyes glued to Sebastian’s downed form. Seeing the fearful look on her tiny face was like a gut punch. She was usually so confident and strong willed, fear was something she rarely revealed to others. It was all the push Sebastian needed to jump to his feet and face his opponent.

An instant before Kole could send out another blast that would send Sebastian back to the ground, he threw up a ward spell. A translucent field of energy formed in front of him, effectively blocking the spell Kole had cast. The ward wasn’t unbreakable, but it would hold so long as Sebastian was able to keep his focus.

Instead of the frustrated or defeated look on Kole’s face that Sebastian had been hoping for, there was a conniving little smile. He aimed his hand at the ground for a moment before abruptly pulling all his fingers into a fist. The result was a rolling tremor that headed straight for Sebastian. He was forced to jump out of the way of the cracking floor, causing the ward he had been holding to drop.

“Gotcha.” Kole purred. Sebastian let out a grunt of pain as magical chains suddenly materialized, tightly pinning his arms to his sides. He clung tightly to his wand, but his movements were so restricted he would be unable to cast any spells with it.

Kole had begun to make his way around the room, collecting various items and placing them inside a large black backpack. All the while, the witch refused to put Ambry’s cage down. Sebastian could only watch as the pixie was carelessly shaken and jostled inside her prison, powerless to escape what was no doubt a stomach churning experience. He grit his teeth. He wanted nothing more than to get her out of the hands of that piece of shit.

“I’m going to be taking a financial hit losing out on this place.” Kole commented as he continued packing up. “Thankfully, the wings on this little one will more than make up for it.” He crooned, shooting Ambry a little smile before returning to digging through a dresser drawer.

“You’re not going to touch her!” Sebastian spat, a fury rising up in him that he hadn’t known himself capable of. Before he himself even knew what he was doing, the silent, wandless spell had been cast. It wasn’t until the magical chains had disappeared in a cloud of smoke that Sebastian realized he had just successfully wandlessly performed an advanced spell. He didn’t pause to celebrate though.

With a swift wave of Sebastian’s wand, a ring of blue fire formed around Kole’s feet. The spell was one of Sebastian’s own invention, meaning it would require some trial and error for anyone to figure out how to cancel it.

Kole lifted a foot, as if intending to step over the fire. However, the moment he did, the blue flames climbed higher, not returning to normal until Kole had given up his attempt at escape.

The frustration and annoyance had finally presented itself on Kole’s face. Sebastian had clearly gotten to him. Unfortunately, Sebastian had failed to recall what happened when an enemy became desperate. He could only watch on in confusion as Kole unlocked Ambry’s cage. The confusion quickly turned into rage as Kole grabbed hold of the captured pixie, dragging her out of the birdcage before tossing the golden container to the side.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Sebastian hissed, moving towards where the dark haired witch stood.

“Ah, ah, ah.” Sebastian froze in his tracks as he realized what Kole was doing. The man’s left hand was wrapped around Ambry’s bottom half, meanwhile, his right index finger and thumb were poised in front of and behind her neck.

Seeing the effect his actions had had on Sebastian, a pleased grin spread across Kole’s face. “Great, now we can make a deal.”

[intricate-oeuvre]

On how to be deadly || Geralt of Rivia || part VIII

Word count: 3.1k+

Summary: Axelia is Witcher experiment herself and has gone through same harsh Trials as Geralt, but she wasn’t so lucky with the outcome. Her vision didn’t become better. Therefore, she was rendered blind in the end. And because of that, she solely uses her Witcher senses to make her ways. Only potions can give her false sense of sight for limited time.Somewhere along the way she meets the Rivian. Who’s interested to know how she’s been killing monsters and hasn’t been killed herself yet.

Warnings: heavy angst

A/N: some of that Jaskier love and so many grammar errors, i fucked up the tenses somewhere in the middle, meh

part I || part II || part III || part IV || part V || part VI || part VII || part VIII || part IX || part X || part XI || part XII || part XIII | Epilogue

Ciri was sitting on the ground, in front of Jaskier and Axelia, couple feet away, since Axelia didn’t trust the girl yet. Jaskier had explained that she was no harm, if Axelia won’t piss of her.

But right now, Axelia was sitting on the ground, her face still tear ridden, but a little less. Eyes still puffy as Jaskier tried everything to distract Axelia’s mind. At the moment both of them were sitting on the ground, opposite Ciri. Jaskier was sitting behind Axelia, her back slumped against his chest as he was trying to teach her how to play the lute. His hands around her, pointing at the strings as he mumbled tips on how to play it, mixed with absolute nonsense. Axelia’s mind was still running in circles. Half-paying attention to whatever Jaskier was saying to her. And whenever he saw her become distracted in her thoughts, he would lean closer to her ear, whisper something and point to something somewhere in the forest. Girl would look up, small smile pulling at her lips, but soon dropping. Jaskier only sighing and raising his head, to let his eyes wander around, sending sad smile to Ciri. His eyes snapping back to Axelia in his arms whenever she would pull on a wrong string.

“This one, dear.” He would reposition her fingers on the fingerboard. Axelia would strum for a moment and then stop altogether. The bard glanced down at her, not saying a word.

“I hate him.” Axelia mumbled, pushing lute away. Jaskier putted it gently to the side.

“I’m sure you have a reason for that.” He said putting his hands around Axelia.

“You’re his soulmate…” Ciri started quietly. Axelia’s eyes snapped at her. Jaskier’s hands tightened around her for a second, as if he was trying to encourage her to not bottle up her feelings.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Axelia let deep sigh of annoyance through her nose.

“What happened?” Ciri dared to ask. Axelia let out a huff at that, turning in Jaskier’s hands so that now she was sideways, her right shoulder against his chest as she tucked her head under his chin.

“Can’t make him love me if he love’s someone else.” She said crossing her arms and sending small glance at Ciri. Axelia was pretty sure that Ciri was too young and inexperienced to know what true love really meant.

“Are you gonna tell or just keep brooding?” Jaskier mumbled from a top of her. She-witcher feeling movement of his jaw on top of her head.

“Tell you what? That I can’t do anything about it?! Not the first time I tried. Why don’t you all just fuck off?!” Axelia grumbled, hiding her face in his chest. Jaskier only sighed, but didn’t push her to talk anymore.

“But you still gonna try, won’t you?” Ciri asked instead. With one eye, Axelia peeked at the girl. Some would even mistake that the girl was related to her. Seemingly similar hair, the sword she carried with her on her back, just like Geralt and herself. Only by the eyes, one would not call her a witcher.

“Why? Today I tried to get over it, but he comes prancing after me.” Axelia spat with roll of her eyes.

“And now you’re in Jaskier’s arms because…?” Ciri questioned their oddly intimate familiarity.

Jaskier looked down at Axelia, small, awkward laugh escaping him as Axelia’s eyes grew slightly bigger. Memories that Axelia and Jaskier alike, were not dwelling on on-daily basis, come rushing forwards. On all the little things that had them led to this exact point of, dare one say, comfort?

***

It started at one of those times, where she unknowingly had stumbled in the same city as the bard and the witcher. It had been some time, since she had met both of them, and maybe that’s why she wasn’t so careful about her sneaking around. Simply because she didn’t think that they were there.

Geralt and Jaskier had been sitting in the local inn. Bard playing away his evening as Geralt was once again being his broody self and nursing a tankard of ale. Everything seemed to go smoothly, nothing out of the ordinary. Until Jaskier almost missed the fact that Geralt had gotten up and leaving the inn. Without a word to him. With awful sound coming from his lute, Jaskier jumped off of the chair he was standing on and rushed after the witcher.

“Uh, Geralt? Where are we going?” Jaskier asked his friend when he caught up with him outside of the inn. Witcher didn’t answer, just briefly glanced up at the sky, as if he was following his nose.

“Is there a monster nearby?” Jaskier ducked and looked around warily.

“She’s here.” Geralt mumbled and kept looking around as he was following that scent of velvet rose and sandalwood. Such a scent that could send him spiralling in emotions that he couldn’t describe. The scent that always made him desperate to find her. To hold her, make sure she’s alright. Just to know that she is still alive. Just to know that he was alive.

“Shit.” Jaskier whispered. “Maybe we shouldn’t look for her. Are you even sure, that’s her? Maybe she’s just passing by, you know--” Jaskier started to rumble, not sure if he wants to see them meet again for the dozen time. Every single one of their meetings ending on sour note.

“Shut up, bard.” Geralt grumbled, walking along the buildings.

Meanwhile Axelia had finally noticed him when he had come out of the inn. She had this gut wrenching feeling that something was off. And it was, because he was here. She quickly run useless circles around the town, to throw him off, and then pulled herself atop of the church. Glancing down at the town, her nose letting her follow his own scent. She slumped against the bell towers wall and sighed. Her heart was screaming at her to just go and run in his hands. Just to forget all these complications. Just to return to those nights where two of them were alone and no one dared to separate them. How could he turn into such stranger? How did she forget that he always owned a part of her? And that she always owned a part of him. He was so like her, more than she was. And the power that Conjunctions of the Spheres held, had made sure that whatever Axelia’s and Geralt’s souls were made out of, was the same. Whatever it was, it was the same, one soul dwelling in two bodies, fighting to keep them together. That’s what that one old mage had told her.

Axelia grabbed at her chest and bit own knuckles to keep herself from crying out loud. But the mage hadn’t stopped there with his explanation that day. He had explained that there will be distractions and beings who will try to claim proprietorship of these parts. Mage hadn’t been sure which part, his or hers, but Axelia knew that it was Geralt’s soul. And it was Yennefer who was trying to reclaim it. And Axelia, with tears in her eyes had asked why, why would someone claim what is not theirs. Mage had explained in very wise words, that when the Conjunction happened and chaos and magic had been released in the world, everything had been pre-destined to fall in their rightful places. Their souls had been crated together, then abruptly split from one another. Drifting away from each, while this other soul had drifted somewhat closer to one of the split ones. It’s sheer power had slanted the fate. She-witcher had asked for further explanations.

“What do you mean, slanted the fate?” Axelia asked, as she had started to cry, the tulle blindfold catching her tears.

“Gaining different souls to cross it’s paths. It seems that the split ones do come closer. But occasionally, just to drift further apart again. And maybe if it wasn’t slanted so much, the souls could collide at some point.” Mage had explained slowly, while he was sluggishly flipping pages of the book in front of him.

“And there is no other way to reverse it?” Axelia was now down on her knees, her hands grabbing the edge of his desk as she was peering across it at the mage.

“One cannot reverse the Conjunction of the Spheres, dumb child.” Mage had chided at her, making her chew her lip in shame and hurt.

“But destiny comes along and shifts the slanted fates.” He had given her a hope, but she didn’t know that. Not yet. She didn’t know what was destiny, and what fate won’t be slanted. And with that she was ushered out of mages quarters, saying that his audience has ended.

Now she was on top of the church, wandering what that all had meant. She needed to talk to Geralt about all this, but she knew she couldn’t. Maybe it was because of her pride or self-pity. She knew he won’t listen to her. That’s why her eyes slid to the bard that was walking behind him. Could she deliver this information to Geralt through his bard?

That is how she had found herself half an hour later, paying some common whore her last coin, just to bait Jaskier. At least enough to pull him away from Geralt, for a split moment. Somehow it had worked better than she had though in the start. And that is how she had yanked Jaskier by the back of his doublet in the dark alley way and up to church, her dagger digging in his back as Axelia walked behind him. Not letting him know that it was her. Not yet.

“You know, my friend is--” Jaskier had started, but Axelia just rolled her eyes and prodded his side with the hilt of her dagger, to make him shut up.

“I don’t have anything you would want. Where-Where are you taking me?” He had asked upon noticing the church that he was led to.

“In. Up the stairs.” Axelia grumbled in deep tone.

“Do I-?” Jaskier asked and fucking dared to turn around to look at his soon to be murderer when they stepped in the church.

Bards eyebrows shot up as his eyes fell on the dark blindfold that was in stark contrast with her white hair.

“Isn’t this the one and only, eh?” Jaskier said, his hands digging in his hips.

“Jaskier.” Axelia hissed at him, her dagger still pointed at him.

“Such pleasantries.” Jaskier putted his finger on the blade and gently pushed it away. To Axelia it seemed that this guy was not afraid of her, nor Geralt. Was he really that brave for looking in the eye of Death or just plain stupid?

“He’s looking for you, you know.” Bard crossed his arms.

“I know. That’s why you are here.” Axelia said putting away the dagger in her boot.

“Don’t see your point.” Jaskier narrowed his eyes at her.

“Get walking.” Axelia nodded towards the stairs that led up the bell tower.

“Alright, Lady pushy push-push.” Jaskier raised his hands in surrender.

“What’s the big tragedy now?” He asked when both of them had climbed up.

“Give me paper and pencil.” She walked past him.

“Am I some kind of librarian?” Jaskier raised an eyebrow at her.

“Am I sOmE kInD oF libRaRiAn?” Axelia mocked him in whisper walking closer to the bard and reaching for the little notebook and pencil he kept in his doublet.

“How did you?” He asked deliriously, hands raised up.

“Back at the old hags house. I noticed that you hid your notes there.” Axelia said nonchalantly, her fingers expertly flipping the notes for empty page.

“For a blind she-witcher, you see dreadfully much detail.” Jaskier said, peering over her shoulder too see what she was doing.

“Maybe. You also toy with your fingers when your nervous.” Axelia pointed out over her shoulder. Both of their eyes landing on his right hand, where he was twiddling with his finger.

“Alright. Got it.” Jaskier stopped and hid his hand behind his back.

“Why do you need this?” He reverted his attention back to the paper.

“I need to message Geralt.”

“So, you’re writing him a love letter?” Jaskier questioned.

“Yes, what? NO!” Axelia spluttered.

“I see, I see…” Jaskier trailed off, leaning against the wall and peering down at the city below.

“So, how much time do you think we have before, he’ll find us?” Jaskier asked her.

“Hopefully enough.” Axelia sighed.

“You have no idea how to start, don’t you?” Jaskier sighed too upon noticing no movement from the girl. Axelia only hummed in defeat.

“What is it this time?” Jaskier asked with tilt of his head.

“I went to the mage.” Axelia closed his notebook, keeping the pencil between the pages.

“And? Any luck?” bard questioned. They had talked about these things before. Yet she never went to these extents to get the message delivered. Usually it was only letters, couple of words. No address, no signature. No nothing. But this seemed extensive.

“I, umm… He said that… Something about slanted fates that destiny could fix… maybe… I dunno… I have never been one to solve the riddles, Geralt was.” Axelia said gently pulling on her hair.

“Slated fate? What’s that?” Jaskier asked.

“I think that’s me and Geralt.” Axelia trailed off.

“And destiny?” Jaskier questioned further.

“I don’t know. I just… just tell him what I told you.” Axelia mumbled.

“Alright, it is very vague. But I’ll see what I can do about it.” Jaskier nodded.

“Thank you…” Axelia looked up at the bard.

“Why do you wear it?” Jaskier asked, motioning to the blindfold.

“Because of my eyes.” Axelia whispered.

“Makes all conversations really impersonal.” Jaskier shrugged.

“I am a witcher, so they should be impersonal.” Axelia offered for an answer.

“But to me you seem like really empathic person…” bard raised one eyebrow in question.

“That’s because I am, Jask.” Axelia sighed and took of the blindfold. Even for her milky white eyes, she had really expressive pair of eyes. Bards questioning eyebrow disappeared at the use of nickname. Odd choice of hers.

“And I know it’s stupid to hide behind it.” She rolled her eyes and stepped closer to him, making him once again furrow his eyebrows and making him take a step back.

“What?” Axelia questioned.

“Umm… Geralt will know that I met you.” He said shuffling awkwardly.

“Yeah, I know. Obviously.”

“No, I mean. Once we met like this and you hugged me while saying farewell. And well, Geralt could smell you. Literally. On me.” Jaskier raised his hands as if he didn’t want that to occur again.

“And his reaction?” Axelia asked quirking one eyebrow at him.

“Not pleased. Trust me.”

“Makes me wonder…” Axelia thought if jealousy could work both ways, but yet again she didn’t want to use Jaskier. He had become such great friend of hers.

“Kiss me.” Axelia stopped closer.

“What?!” Jaskier froze.

“You heard me.” Axelia watched his expression change to mortified. “Oh, come on. You had Yennefer almost naked on top of you, for lord’s sake!”

“We’re in church!” Jaskier looked around, anywhere but her.

“I am not hearing a no.”

Jaskier’s eyes locked on hers. He can’t lie, he has had some thoughts about her. Thoughts on which he didn’t really pander on, because he couldn’t do that to his friend. Nor he really saw Axelia as a person who would ask such request. To him, of all the people. Maybe he had a crush on her, but then again, Jaskier did love everybody. Even if it was for a fleeting moment.

“Geralt will kill me.” Jaskier gave her a side glance.

“I’ll kill him first if he thinks of that.” Axelia stepped closer to him again. She kind of hoped that maybe kissing somebody else could restart her love. Her love for someone else, for something new. Something that wouldn’t shatter her heart a bit more every day. And somehow one conversation had led them to kiss each other. Axelia had hoped for something to click in her heart, but nothing changed. She still longed for others touch. Separating from each other and catching their breaths, Axelia chuckled:

“You taste of wine, expensive one.” Her fingers were tapping on her lower lip.

“Do I now?” Jaskier grinned at her. She was sure he could make her feel dizzy, he could make everybody dizzy if he wanted to. Axelia hummed to herself, part of her daring to go in for another taste. And she did. She let Jaskier turn her around and push her against the stone wall, making her smile into the hiss. She had missed this. Sharing intimacy with someone.

“This feels like sad, beautiful and tragic love affair.” Jaskier said as his hands travelled into her hair.

“Don’t forget tasteful.” She grinned and let her tongue slide across his lower lip, proving her point. Her hands slid away from his back and reached to the side for the notebook and pencil. And then with bittersweet smile putted it back in his inner pocket. She let her hands slide back around him, basking in his hug.

“You’re deadly, do you know that?” Jaskier trailed off. Knowing perfectly well that this will be something that neither of them will never speak of again.

“So, you got your lesson?” She smiled in his chest.

“Yes, and I hope that Geralt will too. He’s an oaf for missing such things…” Jaskier had trailed off, before Axelia ushered him out of the church, in hopes that Geralt won’t kill him.

“She’s gone.” Jaskier had tried to reason with the witcher.

“She’s everywhere. Even on you.” Geralt had growled, but didn’t react on the rage that was bubbling in him.

***

“Blame it on the taste of wine.” Axelia mumbled, burring her face in the crook of Jaskier’s neck.

“Wine?” Ciri asked with tilt of her head.

“Expensive wine.” Axelia added. Jaskier could feel her smile against his neck. And at the moment he didn’t care what Ciri was thinking about, he was glad that Axelia was smiling. He didn’t care what Geralt’s destiny of a child thought at the moment about him and Axelia ever entertaining such relationship. But then it hit him. His eyes growing big.

“Axelia…” He trailed off as his eyes were glued on Ciri.

“What…?” she mumbled in his neck.

“Ciri… she’s… destiny…” Jaskier explained his lips dropping closer to her ear, recalling the talk they had shared at the church. Axelia didn’t react at first, her eyebrows only furrowing for a moment. Then she looked at the girl in front of them both.

“You’re Geralt’s destiny…” Axelia whispered as she sat up, her one still holding onto Jaskier, to something that could ground her.

Could this be?

Could Ciri be the destiny that was required to fix the slanted fates?

~~~~

part I || part II || part III || part IV || part V || part VI || part VII || part VIII || part IX || part X || part XI || part XII || part XIII | Epilogue

tags:  @boiled-onionrings​​ @fandomwithnolifesblog​​ @901seconds​​ @kingniazx​​ @shesakillerkween @your-dreams-are-strong​​ @stitchattacks​​ @ayamenimthiriel​​ @stormfire6​​ @mr-illegal-king​��� @stretchkingblog97​​ @mikariell95​​ @geralt-of-motherfucking-rivia​​ @martian-m​​ @republicansithlord​​ @notso-fetch​​ @lizliz3107​​ @godlydolans​​ @arsaky-lou​​ @eternallyvenus​​ @le-reina-asesina @alwayshave-faith​​ @writingmi​​ @staringmoony​​ @kenai731 @holychic​​ @dramaticturnaway​​ @ihopeyousteponarosepetal​​ @seouldesire​​ @runs-with-sciss0rs @yes-captainstark​​​ @fandomhell97​​​ @newtdisneywho​ @ekaymnslvs​ @deansbbysblog​ @hoppelessdreamer @dejewskoo​ @sleepy-bunnie​ @strangerliaa​

[nelllraiser]

skin and bones | morgan & nell

LOCATION: the vural coven daycare center. (a coven member’s house, made into a daycare) PARTIES:  @mor-beck-more-problems and @nelllraiser. SUMMARY: a zombie and a witch walk into a room full of emotionally turbulent children who have magical powers directly linked to said emotions. what could do wrong? 

It wasn’t that Nell didn’t like children. In fact, she quite enjoyed spending time with them and their funny little brains and ways of thinking, the world not yet having a concrete grip on them and their minds. But she would have appreciated it if Nisa had at least asked her if she had any plans before volunteering her for coven daycare. Of course, it also doubled as an after school program, providing for kids who needed a place to be while their parents still went about their work day, and a place to ask magical questions as well as work on their mundane homework. Nell guessed it didn’t matter all that much that her plans for the day had been detoured. After all, Morgan could still come drop her things off here. It just meant that Nell had needed to send her the address of the modified house turned children’s center. The buzzer for the door rang, and Nell set down the toys she’d been using to play along with Heather, a rather precocious little witch. “Alright, time for homework, now. I’ll be back in just a second with my….friend.” Morgan and her were still friends right? It only took her a second to open the door, revealing the smattering of children behind her to Morgan. “Hey, sorry for the change of plan.”

After the week of the mimes and Rebecca coming back, Morgan’s willpower to do anything out of her admittedly basic routine had flattened. So of course she was only getting to her book donations today. It stung too much of failure and disappointment to sell the family grimoires to The Archive or some online retailer, She couldn’t bear feeling the stiff spines watching her from the attic space, and Cece hadn’t wanted them when she offered. And the coven was, or had been, a kind of family to belong to. It made sense for them to keep the books safe. Maybe they would do better for some other, less cursed kid. Morgan was as resolved in this as she could have been. And yet, when Nell opened the door, Morgan couldn’t help but avert her gaze to the plastic storage lid in front of her. “It’s fine,” she said. “Stuff happens.” Sometimes big, woops now you’re dead stuff. And others-- the sound of a child’s wailing caught her attention--spur of the moment babysitting stuff. “I just wanted to make sure you guys have these. I know there aren’t uh...that alchemy isn’t a big thing in the coven. But there’s uh, there’s other stuff. Practical magic. Potions. Herbalist notes. And so...maybe it can help you guys. Or something.” She held the box out to Nell, still not quite looking at her.

Morgan wouldn’t even look at her, and Nell could only guess as to why. Had their awkward, strange online interaction really been all that bad? Or was it simply that Nell was a reminder of all Morgan had lost? Either way, it made Nell’s heart sink, and fumble a bit for words. “Yeah, totally uh- stuff.” She hated this, the not knowing and the wondering, and she’d done it too many times before with other friends. Nell wanted to ask how Morgan was doing but- it hadn’t gone all that well last time, had it? The sound of one of the kids upset had Nell whipping her head around over her shoulder, trying to make sure that nothing was being set aflame or anything of that like. Babysitting little witches was certainly a job that required a lot of...attention when they had the powers they did. But the books and bin in Morgan’s hand pulled another tug of worry from her gut, and Nell accepted them tentatively. “Are you...sure? I know that-” Her words were broken off by a louder yell, and Nell turned to find a Heather that had been perfectly peaceful and quiet a few moments ago, now glowing with magic, her mouth open with a childish yell pouring out of it.

“I’m sure,” Morgan said quickly. “I’m not a witch anymore. I can’t use these for anything. But you can. You and your family, the coven…” She was cut off by the sound of more wailing. Morgan followed Nell into the house, leaving her storage tub of books in the hall. There was no obvious sign as to what had started the problem, the other children were staring at her, some frightened, some annoyed, some fixing to start wailing just by the contagious quality of distress. Morgan gave Nell a sidelong glance. She looked at a loss. “Okay,” she said, summoning the voice she used on her students. “Who can tell us what happened?”

Nell didn’t have time to argue with Morgan whether or not she was a witch at this point, not when there was a ticking, magical time bomb in the middle of all the kids, threatening to set off the rest of the magical time bombs with her distress. She went to Heather, crouching down a bit to meet the girl’s eyes and place soothing hands on her shoulders. “Hey, don’t worry. It’s alright.” The last thing she needed was the little girl to show off some of the power she’d already started exhibiting, and it seemed like Morgan was doing well-enough with getting to the bottom of the matter. One of the little boys stepped forward to answer Morgan’s question. It was Bartie, short for Bartholomew, and the self-appointed policeman of the group. “It was Wren!” he said without hesitation, pointing towards one of the taller girls in the group. “She pulled Heather’s hair!” Wren, sufficiently indignant, puffed up as she prepared to defend her name.

“Was not!” she yelled back, her own cheeks turning a little pink. Somewhere behind the girl, a heavy stack of books began to hover, as if ready to obey the youngster's unknowing command. 

“Snitches get stitches, kid,” Morgan said, coming over to the table. “You can help without throwing your friends under the bus. Wren?” The little girl nodded, thinking she had been vindicated. “Lying is bad. Don’t get in the habit. You’re a good kid, say you’re sorry instead.” Of course, as luck would have it, seeing her tormentors being taken care of by the adults wasn’t making anything better for the crying Heather. Morgan exchanged a concerned look with Nell. Was there a set protocol for this sort of thing? A how-to manual? Being an only child hadn’t prepared her much for this, and Morgan didn’t know if she could bring herself to calm the way her own mother had. Books were rattling in the bookcase, glass was trembling off their shelves. Behind them, something shattered. The children screamed. “Heather?” She prodded. “It, uh, it is heather, right?”

Nell, of course, had been the youngest sibling, and therefore usually the one who’s tantrums were being taken care of by either Bea and Luce, or her parents. Thankfully, her time here in the daycare had taught her at least a couple of tricks for dealing with children. Heather nodded through her trembling bottom lip, somewhat taken with the two adults lending all their undivided attention to her. “It’s alright, Heather. Like I said, Wren’s gonna apologize and she won’t tug your hair again. What if we get some juice? I know we have some more graham crackers leftover, too. You can do that dipping thing you like.” Heather seemed to be decently placated by the mention of snacks, reaching out to take a hand of Nell’s, and one of Morgan’s into each of her tiny hands, latching as if they were human security blankets. Unfortunately, it seemed that Wren’s anger stemmed more from Heather getting more attention than anything else, and a soft whoosh filled the air as the rather heavy coffee maker in the corner of the room flew towards the comforting scene. Nell’s hand shot up with fight-ready reflexes to catch the thing by its cord as it flew, just barely keeping the thing from careening into Heather as hot coffee spilled out onto the floor.

Oh. Oh, Morgan had got this all wrong. She looked, panicked at Nell. “Shit.” Oh, that was bad too. And that coffee maker was a really close call. “Good catch,” she said, eyes flitting helpless between the two children. Heather was fine, maybe even too smug that she had been rescued from flying coffee. But Wren? Wren looked betrayed. How could she. How could Morgan pretend to be her friend and then only care about Heather? The toy cars on the floor started spinning and rattling. The other children huddled together, yelling at Wren to stop. Nope, nope, nope, this was no good at all. Morgan didn’t know which problem was more appealing, but she gestured with her head for Nell to handle the crowd control. They trusted her, right? And she had sisters. Morgan--well, she liked to kid herself that she was good with kids, but this wasn’t anything like the one-on-one tutoring sessions she’d done at the volunteer center. 

“Hey,” she said, extracting herself from Heather and sitting down directly in front of her. “Hey, Wren?” She moved to touch the girls shoulder, but she was having none of it. Morgan caught sight of Nell again, mouthing, Any ideas? 

“This hasn’t been a great day for you either, huh?” she tried. “Can you take a breath and talk to me about it?

Nell grimaced, only having just barely managed to not swear in front of the children as well when the coffee pot had flown. It was really only one magical child disaster after another with these guys, and Nell hadn’t expected Wren to feel so...well- emotional. “Hey, hey-” she began, following Morgan’s indication that she should help calm the brewing mob of ankle-biters. Of course, Morgan and she weren’t even that much taller than some of the older kids here. “Look- come over, here! I wanna show you guys something.” Nell was blessing the name of whoever gave kids an attention span inversely related to their tempers as the children huddled on over to where Nell was drawing a hasty summoning circle on the floor. In a few moments, there were some vegetable lambs playing within the confines of it, sniffing the little fingers of the children that were being offered to their fuzzy, little noses. Nell looked back to Morgan, and simply shrugged, signally that she didn’t know what baggage it was that Wren had brought along with her from school. Wren was all too happy to share, though. 

“I don’t wanna talk!” Wren exclaimed, tiny fists throwing themselves down against her sides. The toys around her tumbled, one breaking clean in half. But then Morgan’s voice was so soft, almost as soft as her fluffy hair looked. “Can I touch it?” she asked nicely this time, pointing towards the locks near Morgan’s shoulders. She didn’t wait for permission, simply reaching out to gently pat the stands. “They are soft. I like soft things. My kitty-” Again her lower lip trembled. “My kitty’s soft. Mom said my kitty was sick, and now she’s over the rainbow bridge and with the other nice kitties, and her fur was the same color as Heather’s hair and-” She cut herself off, her lip quivering again. “But I want my kitty! She’s mine!”

Morgan leaned in to let Wren pet her hair. Whatever made her feel better. She nodded along to her story, listening carefully. Oh, this was bad. Her heart sank, understanding. How old was this kid anyway? Was this the first thing she’d seen die? “That would make me really mad too. I had a kitty like that once. And it really sucks, you know? It’s the worst feeling when something that’s yours goes away.” She leaned in dangling her hair before Wren’s little fingers. “Can you tell me more about her, Wren? What was her name? Mine was named Catty. And she loved to play with this one plushy bunny. Did your kitty have any favorite toys?” She held her arms up to block a flying box of crayons. As they rolled around the floor, she reached for her little hands, offering hers out in turn. What she needed most was to burn off some of the energy she was holding over this. You know, before she broke the house.

Nell stayed where she was making sure the kids didn’t grab too harshly at the little lambs who were frolicking around on the rug. “Gently,” she reminded one while listening to the conversation between Morgan and Wren. She hadn’t known about the cat, and Nell’s own heart ached for the little girl. Wren seemed to be warming to Morgan, though, happy to continue petting the woman’s hair.

“Your’s is Catty? Like a cat?” she asked tentatively, as if wondering if this was something she should smile at. “Mine’s Fluffy, because she had lots of fur. She liked feathers the most. Sometimes mommy would bring some home, and make them fly around, and Fluffy likes to chase them.” It seemed that Wren hadn’t yet completely made the transition to past tense. Wren put her small hands in Morgan’s, squeezing them a bit once connected. “It’s not fair that she has to go! Why can’t she come back?” The toys seemed to have calmed a bit with Wren, their shaking looking more like trembling now.

Morgan smiled back, encouraging the little girl to smile. Fluffy was a good cat, as far as cats went. She squeezed Wren’s hands tight, encouraging her to do the same. “No, it’s so not fair. It's the worst. It’s the worst feeling, that she can’t come back.” She got on her knees, encouraging the girl to stand up. “None of it’s fair. It just happened and it sucks. It sucks so hard. And it’s okay to be upset about it. You can squeeze my hands as hard as you want, with how upset you are. All that energy? All of you that you miss her with. Just pour it out, through here.” She squeezed Wren’s hands again and nodded as the little girl began to tighten her grip. Her eyes began to water again, but the room around them was turning quiet. “Yeah, just like that. Think about it real, real hard and let it go. You can squeeze harder, it’s okay.” Zombie touch problems could come in handy sometimes after all. “Tell me more about fluffy. Anything at all. I bet she was the best cat. And talking about her? That’s the best thing you can do sometimes when you get all bottled up, okay?”

Wren nodded solemnly, and did her best to follow Morgan’s instructions, letting her feelings dissipate around her and her magic release the energy it needed to. “She was the best cat,” the little girl mumbled modelling Morgan’s use of past tense back to the woman, like she was suddenly exhausted after all that she’d gone through in the last few minutes. “The fluffiest. And she liked to meow at the birds. She wasn’t supposed to sleep with me at night but- I let her in anyway. And mom said ‘you’re both too cute to do anything about it’.” Wiping at her face, the little girl’s shoulders finally relaxed before she simply came out with. “I’m tired.” Meanwhile, Nell heard from across the way, picking up on Wren’s words as she sent the vegetable lambs back from whence they came. 

“It is getting close to nap time.” A groan went up from a few of the other kids, even though it didn’t apply to the older and school-aged ones. “Why doesn’t everyone go get ready, and then we can have a story. And you all-” she signaled the older bunch. “Can keep going with your homework.”

Morgan followed the kids’ lead, half carrying Wren as she trailed behind the others to where the blankets and pillows lay. Each child seemed to have their own spot and ritual for settling down. Even Wren, too young to be self conscious, toddled over to pick up an alien stuffed toy almost her size to cuddle with. Satisfied enough, she went back into the main room to find Nell, wiping her brow. She had no idea where the little girl’s magic energy had gone, exactly, without her being able to consciously absorb it. She had no idea just how intense, how heavy it might have been. Sometimes the smallest bodies bent under the heaviest weights. But most of the house was intact, and only a few toys had been broken. ‘SORRY’ she mouthed to Nell, gesturing with her head to meet discreetly in the hall. “Well that was...something,” she sighed. “Sorry, again, if I overstepped. Is this what things are like here all the time?”

Nell followed after Morgan once she’d told the oldest, most responsible child to come get her should anything be needed, and left the door just slightly ajar so that she might hear her name if called. “No, no, you did great!” Nell exclaimed, her previous awkward energy replaced with an earnest one. “It would have been much worse if I had to deal with it by myself. And like- you literally did wonderfully with Wren. I didn’t even know that her cat- well- you know.” Another little stab of guilt filled Nell for not having realized there was more going on than she’d realized. “And it’s not always...quite that exciting but- getting this many magical kids together— well it’s hardly ever boring. I’m honestly surprised the house is still standing at this point.”

“You can say dead, Nell,” Morgan reassured. “Fluffy’s dead, I’m dead, only difference between us is I’m still kicking and talking.” She shook out her hands, as if there might actually be some energy pent up in there. “And, you know, you couldn’t have figured out what was up. Even I didn’t think it was more than just some kid being petty. But I guess grief can make jerks out of five year olds and adults alike. You were good, getting the rest of them to cut it out long enough for her to calm down.” She offered the young witch a smile. She’d missed being around her, and the way chaos seemed like just another day in town whenever they were together. She hadn’t thought that feeling could find her again, and sensing its echo in her silent chest made her ache. “Well, with someone who rolls with the punches as good as you, I bet they’re in pretty great hands. And I bet you’ll take good care of my old stuff too.”

“I mean- I know. It was just sad- thinking about a kitty that’s gone,” she finished somewhat self-consciously. Nell was generally tough as nails, ever-ready to fight the world and anything it might hold, but kitties held a special place in her heart. “I don’t see you kicking, though,” she tried to tease, wondering if it was in good taste. She just wanted things to feel normal again. “Yeah, looks like grief is the true, universal unifier.” The comment seemed a little uncertain, as if she weren’t sure whether or not Morgan was talking about the strange grief her and those close to her were going through, unsure whether or not to mourn something that was dead yet still here, living in front of their very eyes for lack of a better word. “Thanks anyway, though. Even if I’m ready and able at all times,” she chuckled with a touch of sarcasm. Her bottom lip tucked between her teeth, she began to nibble it gently, not sure whether she should say what was on her mind or not. But worry had never stopped her before, had it? And they’d already had those strange words online. What was there to lose that wasn’t already lost? “I’m sure we can make use of the old stuff. But Morgan...you know...I mean it when I say you helped. You did something not everyone can do, and well- even if you’re undead now-” How to say this? She’d tried her best online, and where had that gotten them? “I’m not trying to upset you, or try and downplay anything that happened, or how you feel, or anything like that. But you still have...those parts- like I was talking about. The things that are you and no one can take. Your identity. That’s what that was in there- talking to that little girl.”

Morgan let out a sad, breathless laugh. How lost must she be, to have the same lifeline thrown at her over and over again and still not know how to catch it and reel herself in. Every time she thought she had a grip, that she might know what being ashore would feel like again, she slipped, or she crashed into a moment that proved just how far she still had to go. “The bones are good,” she said, rapping her knuckles on her arm as she held herself. “I’ve got good bones, or so I hear, but I just can’t seem to dig them out all the time.” She started for the door. “You’re fine, Nell, really. You’re not being--you’re fine. But the thing is--” What was it? Why was she clamming up and pushing Nell away. A minute ago everything had been nice, even normal. Was that the  problem? That she’d almost forgotten what she was for a second, and then she’d remembered? Morgan held herself tighter. “I’m not coming back all the way, Nell. I got lucky in there. I still know some things maybe, but I’m not a witch anymore. The next thing that happens--I don’t know. At some point, I do become functionally useless! And you could’ve handled that just as fine without me, and...it was nice, okay, to be able to do something for you, it was! I miss...being able to help. To do things, be things besides miserable all the time. And I even forgot I was dead for second there, but I am, and the whole thing was just a fluke!” She lifted a hand to tug at the roots of her hair, grounding herself back in her body with the sharp feeling. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “For everything.”

It was happening again, wasn’t it? Just like it had online, though it seemed to be overlayed with more sadness rather than frustration this time around. A flicker of panic found its way through Nell as Morgan went for the door, not wanting this to be how they ended things today. “You don’t have to, Morgan. Even if- even if not all of you comes back, this is still you, even if it’s changed. And being a witch isn’t just- magic.” Right? Being a witch wasn’t just the feel of that power coursing through her. “It’s family, isn’t it? And you don’t- you don’t get kicked out of family just because-” you couldn’t do magic. She faltered, trying to push down the part of her brain that was wondering...was that not what Nisa had done to her, in a way? Perhaps not in the same sense, but Nell hadn’t been able to do a particular kind of magic and...it had left her worse off in the eyes of her mother...hadn’t it? So she rephrased. “You don’t get left out of- of this family for not being able to do that. “Don’t we all just...become useless at some point? Isn’t that what we have each other for? To fill in those gaps? Like you did today? It’s okay if-” She’d been readying to say more until she saw just how upset Morgan was becoming, and stopped mid sentence, recalibrating. “Morgan- Morgan, it’s alright,” she said softly, reaching up to try and grip the hand that was clenched in the woman’s hair. “You don’t have to say you’re sorry. This isn’t your fault. None of it is. You didn’t ask for this shit to be handed for you.”

The saddest part was not knowing what Nell’s hand really felt like. She wasn’t much of a touchey-feely sort of girl. When they bonded, there was always some pride in the way. The only other time they’d held hands had been for a spell, and Morgan’s concentration had been on the summoning to think about much else. She had no memory to tether this moment to. She only knew that Nell must miss her to reach out like this, that she must have left some little hole behind when she died. Morgan reached up to pat her fingers, gently, the way she practiced with Deirdre. She didn’t know what was more frightening, more awful: that she could never fill the space she’d left behind, or that she could, all along, and simply hadn’t yet. “I know it looks bad, but it helps,” she said, giving her fingers a careful squeeze. “I don’t feel things like you do. It’s...filtered through a haze, pressing in through this big, cold blanket. Something has to be hard enough to get through.” She lifted her eyes to meet Nell’s, just holding her tear ducts in line. She didn’t understand how this balanced out, how she’d earned her kindness, and it took no small amount of concentration to keep her frail reserve somewhat in place. “Thank you, Nell. I uh...I think I’m gonna go, but I do wanna still, I mean, I’m trying. I’m trying to figure my shit out. And maybe...I don’t know. Maybe we can talk more some time. I can crowd control the kids sometimes in a pinch, apparently. It’s not like I get normal-tired anymore. And I’d like...I’d like...what you said. But right now, I think I should go.” She held her gaze, mouth quivering, willing her to understand.

It’d been nice, working together for those few moments like they had before, falling back into those somewhat chaotic rhythms. It was only natural for Nell and Morgan to fall into them. After all, their first meeting hadn’t exactly been peaceful. Then there’d been the few times she’d been blessed enough to do magic with Morgan. It always felt strangely intimate, melding energies with another to make something together, or solve something together. With a pang, Nell realized that...perhaps there was more to grieve for than she’d initially thought. To think she’d never know Morgan in that way again- to feel them becoming one to create something good and beautiful- it took her by surprise, though she still firmly believed her words about witchdom and family. “I know,” she simply said, not wanting Morgan to feel like she had to explain herself if it made her uncomfortable. “I just- I didn’t want you to...hurt yourself.” But that’s all Morgan seemed to be doing lately, at least in Nell’s eyes. Tearing herself down, and ripping scabs off of wounds that couldn’t heal fast enough to handle the rate at which Morgan seemed determined to reopen them. It hurt to see her friend like this, more than she could put into words, and it seemed that all she could do was go along for the ride, and try her best to support Morgan. “That’d be nice,” she offered, not entirely sure what to say anymore. “I’d like that. Both the- working with the kids- and the talking. It’ll be alright,” she finished as Morgan took her exit, Nell’s hand waving forlornly at the closing door. It had to be.

[solaneceae]

EGOTOBER DAY 6 - Coffee

Henrik knew from the get-go that this was going to be a shitty day.

Now, today was supposed to be his first off day in… months? Years? He wasn’t sure. He’d been against it of course, but his insufferable colleagues kept pestering him about “healthy work balance” and “self-care” and other nonsense of the same caliber. It had gotten to such a degree that even his boss had stepped in, basically ordering him -Schneep didn’t take no orders from no-one, thank you very much- to take a week off.

“I have some patients in the west wing that look healthier than you do right now, Henrik.” his boss had said. He’d then taken a long look at the ego’s face and shaken his head. “Scratch that, all of them do. I don’t need one of my best doctors to burn out on me, do you understand?”

So now here he was, slowly waking up in his room back home, with nothing to look forward to.  Schneep sighed and draped an arm over his eyes, blocking off the light coming from the slits between his blinds. He could faintly hear Chase’s laughter coming from downstairs, as well as Robbie’s delighted cries; they were probably playing a game of sorts. That was odd. Those two weren’t usually up so earl-

Wait a minute.

He jerked his arm off his face, a sense of urgency rushing through him. His bedroom was too bright, his body too heavy with the remnants of sleep, his bed too warm. What time- 

The German clumsily fished out his phone from under his pillow and unlocked it, wincing at the harsh light of the screen. His jaw dropped.

“11AM?! Mist!”

This couldn’t be happening. This shouldn’t be happening, his phone always woke him up at 6AM sharp, every single day. But as he opened the clock app, he realized his trusty alarm was… gone. Not even turned off, just straight up missing. 

He was pretty sure he’d remember deleting it -not that he ever would. Was this some sort of glitch…?

His face twisted in rage as he realized. This motherfucker.

The little shit was gonna get an earful when Henrik found him. The doctor threw the covers off of him and jumped out of bed -ouch, his head pounded at the sudden movement. Note to self, get some ibuprofen before going downstairs.

He couldn’t believe he’d just slept for twelve hours. This would not stand; he couldn’t just laze around all day, he’d go insane. He was a man of action, god dammit! Staying idle wasn’t an option, not in a million years. God, to think he had a week left of this nonsense. His coworkers hadn’t even let him bring his files, what was he supposed to do?!

The voices coming from under him grabbed his attention again, planting an idea in his mind: it had been a while since he’d put his siblings through a proper medical checkup. Perhaps they were overdue for one. A neurotic smile grew on his face as he started to frantically put on some clothes, despite the floor slightly rocking beneath his feet. Yes, he needed to make sure everyone was healthy, update their medical files, and check if Jackie’s ribs were still healing properly from his latest scuffle, and after that he could reorganize his office downstairs -something he’d be putting off for a while- and, and, and-

 ***

 “Gunten tag, Marvin. How have you been lately?”

The magician squirmed in his seat, looking around Henrik’s office with an aggravated expression. “Can’t we postpone this? I have a show to prep for this evening…” “I assure you, this won’t take long. I’ve haven’t been home as much these last few weeks, I figured it was time for a check-up.” “You did one last month-” “How’re your burns? Do you change your bandages every day?”

The green-haired magician frowned under his mask; his brother wasn’t listening, and he was usually the one pestering the rest of them about communication and honesty. Something wasn’t right. “... yeah. And I’m taking a break from potion making until they’re healed, like you told me to.”

The German nodded, scribbling something in his grey notebook. “Gud. I appreciate the basement not blowing up every other day.” “Oh come on, you’re exaggerating,” Marvin protested, straightening up in his chair, “My potions don’t explode, they’re just… feisty.” “Right, right. Of course.” the doctor mumbled dismissively, still not tearing his eyes away from the papers on his desk.

The masked man blinked. Okay, something was definitely up; Schneep would never miss an opportunity to berate him about the “dangerous and volatile experiments” of his. And was it the lighting in the room or did his counterpart seem a little paler than normal? “Hey, doc… is something wrong? You’re being less of an ass that usual.”

Henrik stopped writing, looking up at his patient. He pursed his lips in annoyance. “First of all, I take offense to that. Und nothing’s wrong.” he stated before taking a sip of his morning coffee -or afternoon coffee? His inner clock was all over the place today.

The magician tilted his head, doubtful. Maybe he should ask Anti to keep an eye on the older ego, just in case. Be useful for once. “If you’re sure… are we done here? I asked Yan to give me a ride downtown, they should pick me up in a few.”

Schneep’s grey eyes squinted in confusion. Yan? As in, the red-haired Iplier that dressed like a japanese schoolgirl? “He has his licence?” “They,” Marv emphasized, “don’t. They drive a bike, and yes I’ll wear a helmet, stars.” The German nodded. “They, my apologies. I didn’t know you two were acquainted.”

Marvin fiddled with the hem of his cape, averting his gaze. “We- it’s a recent thing. I know you and the glitch bitch don’t like us hanging out with the Ipliers, but Robbie introduced us and-” “Robbie?!”

He stopped. Henrik was staring at him, dumbfounded. That’s when Marvin realized he’d just, as Anti would say, fucked up. “...shit. He didn’t tell you, did he.” “Tell me what? That he’s been hanging out with the Ipliers behind my back?! They’re dangerous!” “You hang out with their doctor all the time! How is this any different?”

Schneep grit his teeth at the mention of his friend and colleague, and pushed back the unwanted thoughts. “We work together, und he’s a sensible person who doesn’t stab people left and right!”

Marvin bristled, hands clutching the fabric of his pants “Yan doesn’t-”

The doctor interrupted him, raising his hands in a placating manner. “I- look, I’m sorry I snapped, okay? I don’t know them, not like you seem to do, so it’s not my place to judge.” He sighted, something soft crossing his features. “I know you can handle yourself, Marv, so if you want to make friends with Dark’s family, I sure as hell ain’t gonna stop you, that would be hypocritical of me. But Robbie is-”

“What? An idiot? Clueless? Is that what you think?”

Schneep growled, massaging his temples. That stupid headache was coming back. “Don’t put words in my mouth. Robbie is far from stupid, but he’s not like the rest of us, you know that. He’s… innocent. I just don’t want him to get hurt.”

A pregnant pause. The magician fell back in his chair, shaking his head. “Hen… he’s not a child, even if you and Chase and… pretty much everyone here thinks of him that way. If you think he’s too naive to make his own decisions, then you might not know him as well as you think you do.”

Henrik chuckled bitterly. “Not as much as you do apparently, if he didn’t trust me enough to tell me himself.”

“He does trust you… but he also knows how protective of us you are. Maybe he thought you wouldn’t let him see them if you found out.” Marvin shrugged. “And from your reaction just now, I can see why he would.”

The doctor groaned; god dammit, this wasn’t how he had planned to spend his day. Looked like he and the zombie were due for a talk. “Does Anti know about this?”

His patient laughed. “Hell no, he’d throw a hissy fit if he found out. That guy goes full-on when it comes to Rob. Honestly, I think you and me are the only ones in the know for now.”

Henrik hummed and closed his notebook, signaling the end of the consultation. “I suppose. You can leave now, send in Anti next please. Und tell Robbie to come see me when I’ll be done with the rest of you.” “You’re not gonna lecture him too, are you?”

He shook his head, peering into his now empty mug. He needed more coffee. “If he truly understands what he’s getting into, then I won’t have a say on the matter. But I need to hear it from him.”

“Sounds reasonable enough.” the magician breathed out, standing back up. “He should still be with Chase, I’ll tell him to drop by later.” he smirked, adjusting his mask over his face.  “God, you’re such a mother Hen.”

“Get out of my office before I tranq you.”

 ***

 “You look like shit.” “Blunt as always I see.”

Anti smirked. The demon sat crossed-legged on the chair, like the bringer of chaos he was. “I’m just stating a fact, doc. And the fact is, you look like crap.”

“I didn’t summon you here to hear you critique my appearance. And I definitely don’t appreciate you messing with my phone. Why would you even do that?”

The green-haired glitch shrugged. “Thought it’d be funny.” “It really wasn’t.” “Never said it’d be funny to you...”

The German rolled his eyes. “This conversation has no purpose, I say we move on. How’s your neck wound?”

“Same as ever, only bleeds when I overuse my powers. But you know that already. Is there a point to this, or are you just finding excuses to keep busy?”

Henrik growled in frustration, resting his head in his clammy palms; he didn’t have the energy to deal with the glitch’s taunts right now. His arms were shaking from all the caffeine he’s been inhaling for the past hour, his head wouldn’t stop pounding and gottverdammnt, was it always this hot in this madhouse?!

He looked back up and jumped back with a startled yelp; Anti had glitched onto his desk, his face only a few inches away from his. His mocking grin was gone, replaced with an unusually serious expression. He squinted, something akin to concern flashing in his acid green eyes. “... you really are sick, aren’t you. Did you even eat today?” “I’m fine.” “Stop it. I fucking hate it when you lie.” “I’m not!”

The glitch huffed at the other’s stubbornness. “Whatever. It’s your funeral.”

 ***

 “... barely even hurts anymore, and- uh, Hen? You sure you’re okay? You don’t look so hot…”

Henrik blinked sluggishly at the blurry red figure in front of him; he didn’t remember Jackie coming in. He ran a shaky hand through his hair; it was damp and stuck to his forehead.

Had he asked Anti to send the hero in? Now that he thought about it, he didn’t remember Anti leaving his office either. Also, he felt like throwing up. That was concerning.

He mumbled something, not noticing he had reverted back into his mother tongue. Jackie’s concerned face kept sliding out of view, everything was spinning out of his control.

“Wh- dude, I can’t understand you and frankly, you’re starting to freak me out.”

He tried to stand; he needed to get out, get out of his stuffy office and maybe stand in the cold rain for a while, get rid of this suffocating heat and his sudden nausea-

The world tilted on its axis, and next time he blinked, he was on the floor. Huh. It was more comfortable than he expected it to be.

“Sh- Hen?! What... ...rik! Can… me? Guys, I… help!”

The rooms spinned faster and faster as he felt his eyes roll back into his head. And then he felt nothing at all.

 ***

 Everything hurts.

His limbs feel like lead and it’s like his ears are filled with cotton. He can vaguely make out the muffled voices of his family, and a quiet sob coming from somewhere in his right.

Schneep lets out a pained croak; his mouth tastes like iron. Shit, he must’ve bit his tongue when he collapsed.

“Oh shit, he’s coming back!” “Sshhhh, it’s okay Robbie, don’t cry… Henrik? Hen, can you hear us?” “Hey, doc? Blink twice if you’re not dead.”

“Verpiss dich.” he groans. His whole world is burning, something is definitely trying to claw its way out of his skull, and he wants it to stop.

Someone snorts; he can’t tell who, his mind isn’t working right. “I think he just insulted me, so he’s fine.”

He forces his eyes open -jesus, everything looks like an oversaturated blob right now- pushing on his trembling arms in an attempt to sit up.

“Oh no you don’t.” an authoritative voice snarls at him.

He feels something touch his face; his vision sharpens and for a second, he sees Marvin staring down at him, two fingers pressed against his damp forehead. The magician smiles. “This is for all the times you tranqued me.”

“What are you-” “Sleep.”

And he does.

 ***

 The second time he woke proved to be the right one.

Well, he still felt like shit overall. But the splitting pain in his skull had faded to a dull throb, and the smoldering heat to a bearable warmth. Progress.

His eyes fluttered open, taking in the familiar decor of his own bedroom. His night light seemed to be set on the lowest intensity, sparing his eyes and his head. It was dark outside.

“Oh thank fuck, you’re back. We were gonna take you to the ER if you didn’t wake up before dawn.”

Henrik twisted his neck to look at his left; Chase was sitting next to his bed, his shoulders dropping in apparent relief. The doctor propped himself up against the wall behind him -oh good, he could move without the room going all merry-go-round on him, hurray- and opened his mouth, but all that came out was a broken croak; gott, his throat and mouth were dry as a desert. Thankfully, Chase seemed to notice his woes and produced a water bottle from the foot of the bed, holding it out to his brother. “Here. Figured you’d want this, your fever only broke an hour ago.”

The German gratefully took the offering and greedily drained it, the cool liquid soothing his sore throat. He didn’t stop until the bottle was crushed, and he took a starved gulp of air. “D-Danke. What time is it?”

“Eh, about 3AM. So if I remember my third-grade math right, you’ve been out for about twelve hours.” “Jesus.” “Yup. You scared the shit out of us.”

Schneep sighed, propping the empty bottle on his nightstand. “I know. I’m sorry. Where are the others?” “Downstairs. Robbie fell asleep, but everyone else is awake and waiting for news.” “Everyone…?” “Yeah. Well, everyone but Anti, but that was to be expected, he gets elusive when there’s too many of us around. Jackie stayed home for the night to make sure you’d be okay, and Marv canceled his show.”

Henrik groaned, his face heating up in shame. “Dammit.” Then he remembered the sensation of cool fingers on his forehead, and two slitted green eyes pulling him into the darkness. “Wait. Did Marv seriously knock me out with magic?!”

Chase grimaced. “Yeah, he won’t be sorry about that one. Plus you kinda needed it.” “Hmpf.” “I’ll let them know you’re up. But first…”

The vlogger grabbed his chair and plopped down on hit, his arms and head resting on top of the backseat. “You’re going to tell me what’s going on with you.”

Henrik averted his gaze, staring at the ceiling. It could use a fresh paint job, he thought. “Nothing.”

“We both know that’s bullshit. I’m not a literal lie detector like Anti, but I can tell when you’re hiding something.” Chase waved at his friend’s prone body. “I mean for God’s sake, just look at yourself! You’ve been running yourself ragged for weeks now, and you won’t tell any of us anything! I don’t care why you thought you could let it go so far, but as soon as it starts affecting your health then it becomes our problem too!”

The vlogger was glaring daggers into him. Chase didn’t get angry often, so whenever he did, that was a pretty clear sign that you’d messed up. Big time. Henrik let out a trembling breath, covering his eyes; what an absolute disaster.

“Remember when I passed out in the kitchen that one time?”

The German turned to look at his brother, disconcerted by the sudden change in topic. The vlogger was clutching the wooden chair, head bowed, his eyes hidden in the shadow of his iconic cap. The off-white scars on his arms were peeking out of his sleeves.

“Robbie hadn’t slept well that night. He always had good instincts. So he came downstairs early in the morning to get some warm milk, and he almost tripped on my unconscious body. Remember that?”

Henrik cringed; he did. And he was starting to understand what Chase trying to convey.

“Now,” his brother continued, “I wasn’t awake to witness that. Not the way he wailed loud enough to wake up the entire house, nor the look on his face when he ran to you for help. But…” 

He pointed at Henrik. “You’ve told me about all this. Several times, in great detail, every time you thought I was about to relapse. Which I didn’t, not since that day, because what you described was too heart-wrenching to even consider. And it was all second-hand knowledge, you know? Like I said, I didn’t experience it. But today? I was the one Robbie ran to, weeping about how you’d stopped moving. And, well…”

He chuckled, rubbing his face. It was devoid of mirth. “Let’s just say I’d rather cut off my own arm than see that look on his face ever again. So, you’re going to tell me why you’ve been destroying yourself, and I might consider not kicking your ass when you’re back on your feet again.”

Silence.

Henrik sighed. He was cornered. “...Okay, fine. But you will keep it to yourself, klar?”

Chase shrugged. “Unless hiding it would put us in danger, then I see no reason not to.”

Henrik rolled his head on the pillow, gazing up at the ceiling once more. He braced himself -c’mon, it’s Chase, you can trust him with this- then took a deep breath.  “I’ve been… conflicted. About something.”

Chase nodded, urging him to continue. That was a good start.

“I didn’t want to think about it, but it just kept looping in my mind, over and over. So I tried to keep busy, to make the thoughts go away.” “That one’s a given. So what’s been eating you? Did something happen? Do I need to punch someone?”

Henrik snorted. He knew that Chase was being completely serious, that he cared about him enough to kick someone’s ass on his behalf. Not going to lie, it felt nice. “Please don’t, none of this is his fault.”

The vlogger squinted. So this was about a guy.

“I’m just… I’m being stupid about it, okay? It probably didn’t mean anything and here I am overthinking it.” the German rambled; the floodgates had opened, words spilling out with less and less restraint. “Verdammt. I don’t know what happened. Everything was normal up until now, but then I started getting those weird signals and they might not even be signals at all and I maybe I’m reading him all wrong-”

“Dude, stop, I get it. You got a crush on Edward.”

Henrik choked on his words. He craned his neck so fast he felt it crack -gross- and stared wide-eyes at his sibling; there wasn’t the faintest trace of surprise on his face. Only calm understanding. Scheiße, was it that obvious?!

Chase seemed to somehow hear his thoughts, offering him a patient smile. “Dude, I’ve seen it all before. Heck, I’ve been there. Plus I know he walked you home a while ago, and it matches with when you started acting weird.”

The bedridden ego let out a huff. “What are you, a detective?” “Worse than that, I’m a father. I notice stuff.”

There was a moment of silence, as Schneep visibly struggling to find the right words, running his fingers through his mop of brown and grey hair. 

“I just… I’ve known him for so long. We’ve been working in the same clinic almost every day for years, so why now? What changed?”

Chase shrugged. “Hell if I know. Sometimes this stuff just… happens, y’know? There’s no grand rhyme or reason behind it, it just is. You only get to choose how to deal with it.”

The fatherly ego got off the chair to sit on Schneep’s bedside. “And, yeah, that’s where you’ve been messing up lately. I ain't gonna tell you how to live your life, but you need to stop running away from this. It’ll only get worse the longer you ignore it.” He sighted. “Christ dude. For all your talk about feelings and shit, you suck when it comes to your own.”

“I suppose.” the German mumbled. “Again, I’m sorry I scared you all. I really am.” “Well… if you promise us to never do that again then I guess I can forgive ya.” the vlogger winked and got up, stretching and cracking his joints. “Why don’tcha think on this for now, and I’ll go tell the others you didn’t slip into a coma or something. ...buuut before I do, I kinda have a confession to make.”

He scratched at the back of his head, smiling sheepishly. “I’m the one who asked Anti to get rid of your alarm. So don’t be mad at him for that.”

Schneep’s jaw dropped, shock written all across his features. “Was? That was your idea? But- why?!” “Look, I was just really worried, and it was your first day off in god-knows how long, I wanted you to get some rest!” “I swear- wait. Anti listened?” “He’s been… cooperative lately. I know, crazy right?” “Cooperating to make my life a living hell. You’ll be the death of me, all of you.”

Chase laughed. “We love you too, ya goof.”

-------

*mcfricking dies* NINE. FREAKING. PAGES.

why are those things getting longer and longer. someone please stop me.

@tabbynerdicat @egopocalypse​ @humblecacti​ @lilakennedy​ (Vati time)

[water-hates-learning]

But It Was Home

Monster Kids AU that @mushroomminded started is too adorable. It’s so cute it’s sweeter than my Halloween candy. So naturally I had to write a thing.

******

Matt screamed for hours when Tom’s first baby tooth fell out.

Tom thought it was fascinating and kept poking his purple tongue into the hole where the tooth had been. Edd spent half his time consoling Matt and the other half making sure Tom didn’t aggravate his gums with his little claws.

He’d finally managed to get Matt to calm down when Tom asked what you were supposed to do with baby teeth.

Matt started screaming again at the idea of a little fairy sneaking into their rooms at night to take their teeth.

———

When they were small, Edd had fretted endlessly about their health. There were plenty of books and sites about defeating monsters, but very few on taking care of baby ones. It had taken a lot of digging and favors to find out how to take care of them.

Matt was the hardest. Tom could eat ground up and softened meats, usually soaked in honey or milk to make them easier on his baby fangs. But Matt needed fresh blood, right from a living vein.

Edd felt he should have been disturbed by how easy it was for him to roll up his sleeves and dig a knife into his skin.

———

They were a rambunctious pair.

Sometimes Edd wondered what insanity he suffered under to think he could raise two monster children, one whose species he didn’t even know. But damn it all if he didn’t care about the little shits. They were enduring, in their own ways.

Tom was curious about everything, always sticking his nose into every corner he could reach. And then often sticking whatever he found there into his mouth. Good lord, the things that child tried to put into his mouth. Edd almost wondered if Tom saw better through his sense of smell and taste than he did with his pitch black eyes.

Matt was more subdued but just as troublesome. He liked to collect things and stash them in places he thought Edd couldn’t find—under the couch cushions, in the kitchen cabinets, beneath the bed, etc. And he was a terribly messy eater. Edd had to burn bloodied clothes at least once or twice a week and he could not convince the vampire child to wear a bib to spare his garments.

And they both bit. A lot.

Tom was constantly chewing on something; so much so that Edd went so far as to buy several dog toys for the monster boy to sink his baby teeth into. Matt just…bit everything. He bit everything at least once just to see if he could. And then usually dissolved into tears when he realized what he was trying to bite either didn’t taste good or was too hard for him to bite in the first place.

Yeah, raising two monster kids was…an adventure.

———

Tom found out he could change into a four-legged, dog-sized tower of terror and everything went to shit.

When he didn’t get to eat dessert before dinner, he’d shift and throw a tantrum, spitting smoke and clawing at the walls. When Matt took his favorite toy, he’d shift and tackle the other boy to the floor, snapping his jaws and battering at the vampire with oversized puppy paws. When he wanted to go outside but it was too dark or too late or too rainy, he’d shift and flop down on his side and yowl like a husky dog, dead weight whinging the loss of his outside time. When he had to take a bath, he’d shift and tear around the house, crashing into walls and tripping over his too big paws until Edd would finally manage to catch him.

Sometimes it was involuntary. If he was frightened, he’d shift and snap and snarl and breathe puffs of acrid smoke into the air that would set off all the smoke detectors and frighten him even more. He slipped and slid on the linoleum in the kitchen, crashing into the fridge more than once (there was now a Tom sized dent in the thing that Edd couldn’t be bothered to fix).

While Matt’s response to fear was to scream and cry, Tom’s was to fight back. As small and scrawny as he was, he refused to take shit from anyone. It’d be admiral if he wasn’t a stubborn little brat.

———

There were sloppy crayon drawings stuck on the door of the fridge.

Most were indistinguishable scribbles in vaguely human shapes, overlapping haphazard grocery lists and forgotten reminders to water the herb garden. Some of the paper was torn from little claws or smeared with snack time blood.

But they were all lovingly displayed, no matter how messy they were.

———

Tom liked music and often sang along with songs he recognized.

Matt liked soft things and made piles of his favorite stuffed toys to bury himself in like a nest.

Once, Tom caught a bad cold and was bedridden for days, sniffling, coughing, vomiting, and absolutely miserable. Edd did his best to keep calm, if just for the sake of the boys, but Matt panicked. He asked through gasping sobs if Tom was going to die. Tom, overhearing this, burst into tears and cried about how he didn’t want to die. It took several reassurances and a careful explanation about germs, bacteria, and sickness to calm them down.

Later, when Edd came into Tom’s room to give the poor boy a bath, he found the monster child half asleep. Matt was sitting at the end of his bed, singing a song in a soft, tentative voice.

———

Edd made sure to keep his workshop door locked and emphasized to both boys that they were not to go in. There were too many plants, potions, stones, and other spell components that could potentially harm them.

He should have known better.

Tom came barreling into the kitchen one afternoon on four legs, all scales and panic, tears and smoke dribbling down his features.

The workshop door was open and Matt was dry heaving onto the lacquered floorboards. Edd only needed to see the toppled and shattered jar of ground up blackthorn to know what had happened. He quickly scooped the vampire into his arms and hurried out of the room. Tom whined and thumped his tail on the floor pathetically as Edd helped Matt clear the veritable poison out of his system.

When they had recovered, he took them both by the hand and showed them around his workshop so they understand exactly why they were not to play in there.

———

Tom asked why he looked different than Matt and Edd.

Edd told himself that the lump in his throat and the burning in his eyes was from working with hawthorn and not because he could feel his heart wrenching in his chest.

———

It was fine when Matt made friends with the little boy next door.

It was fine when the little human boy came over to play.

It was fine when Edd and Eduardo found the mutual ground of being single fathers.

It was fine until Matt sank his fangs into Jon’s neck at Jon’s insistence.

It was fine until Edd had to explain that Matt had just turned his best friend into a thrall.

It was fine because Jon still wanted to be Matt’s friend.

And it had nothing to do with magical mind control.

———

Matt picked up speech far faster than Tom did. In fact, Tom didn’t really start talking until he was almost six. Most of his communication came from grunts, growls, whines, and roars. Edd was worried about his development and spent many a late night reading up on it until he gave up. Monster children were not human children.

And then one day, a five and half year old Tom toddled up to his adoptive father, tugged on the sleeve of that worn out robe, and said in a small but stubborn voice,

“Da’. Food.”

Edd gaped at him for a full minute before crowing with happiness and sweeping the boy up into his arms.

———

Edd and Eduardo definitely did not compare their whose children were better in feats of epic, dad rivalry.

And they definitely didn’t drag Eduardo’s housemate Mark into it.

And they both most certainly did not fall over each other gushing when they found all three boys curled up in a pile, napping together.

———

Ringo was a tentative edition to the house. An adoption that Edd couldn’t say no to. He’d seen the kitten in a box outside the grocery store and the poor little gray thing had mewled at him. And the next thing he knew, he had a kitten in his pocket and was wondering how on earth the kids were going to react.

The answer was very well.

Tom instantly took a liking to the tiny gray furball and trundled around with it on all four, his tail in the air, batting at her playfully. Matt was more apprehensive but eventually warmed up to her as well.

When Ringo crept into his workshop and settled comfortably on top of his foot, he knew he’d made the right decision.

———

The house was usually in some sorry state of disrepair. Between Edd’s failure at proper house maintenance, Tom’s destructive habits and temper tantrums, and Matt’s messy eating, the place didn’t looked all that cleaned up.

Edd did the best he could to keep it livable and presentable. But it wasn’t until Eduardo came by to drop Jon off that he really had any idea how bad things were.

Eduardo took one look around at the claw marks in the floor, the chunks taken out of the walls, the blood stains trailing from the kitchen and promptly said the place looked like a murderer lived there. Then he put a hand on Edd’s shoulder and told him seriously,

“I’ll help you make this place monster kid proof. But only because you’re obviously too pathetic to figure out how to do it yourself. And also I need to make sure Jon stays safe.”

Edd gave him a breathless thanks and tried not to cry from relief.

———

The house down the lane with the weird garden and strange symbols in the door was noisy and messy and sometimes smoke came pouring out of the open windows while the smoke alarms wailed. The yard had holes dug in it by eager claws, the fence between the yards was cracked from impacts, and there was a suspicious looking dark stain on the walk up to the front door.

It was crazy, but it was home.

[deadlydollies13]

The Potion Master’s Grace ch. 21

September first wasn’t on a Monday that year, so their End-Of-Summer trip to the beach actually took place on that Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before they went to school on Thursday.    They packed Draco’s car with everything they would need for the trip, plus all of their things for the school year. Thank god for shrinking charms, otherwise, they’d probably need a moving truck.    “I still don’t think it’s a good idea,” Severus said to Phoebe as they made ready to head to Hogwarts themselves early along with the rest of the staff.    “Sev, they’ll be just fine. You scare the boys enough that they won’t do anything out of line and the girls are smart and know better. Plus, I filled their bags with condoms and birth control.”    “Phoebe!”    “I’m kidding, I’m kidding!”

-

   They said their goodbyes, and Severus must have said, “Be careful, don’t do anything stupid,” a million times, each time Phoebe rolling her eyes behind him.    “Dad, I promise, everything will be all right,” Grace said picking up Merlin and getting in the passenger’s seat.    “Just please be smart.”    “We will! We’ll see you in a few days, okay?” she said as Draco started the car.    “All in one piece,” Luna added.    The four teenagers waved off to the two adults; Phoebe smiling wildly and Severus smiling slightly, the look of worry washing over him. Grace turned around in her seat and yelled back, “Love you, dad!”    Severus didn’t say anything, but his smile said, “Love you too.”    Grace watched over her shoulder until Severus, Phoebe, and the Manor disappeared from view. She turned back around, pulling her sunglasses over her eyes, “He worries too much.”    “Because you’re all he has,” her boyfriend said. It was a warm sunny day and he was still wearing that damn leather jacket. Not that Grace was complaining how he looked in it— he looked sexy— but he had to be overheating in it! Of course, Draco was more style-conscious than her and Luna put together. He was always dressing to impress. He even wore aviator sunglasses and had his hair slicked back; not slicked back like how it was when he was younger and used too much product that made his hair frame his face way too much, but at least now it had some volume in the front and a bit of a wave.    “He has Phoebe, too.”    Draco’s brow Rose above the rim of his lens.    “Okay, maybe you’re right.”    Merlin had long fallen asleep in Grace’s lap and didn’t seem to mind the four of them singing their hearts out to the music. They did, however, earn a few strange looks by the other cars on the road. They just didn’t appreciate their collective passionate belting.

-

   They arrived at the Malfoy summer estate sometime that evening. It was beautiful, and to Grace’s surprise, modern. The Malfoy Manor was dark and old and somewhat isolated, but this was the complete opposite. Everything was painted in bright, but neutral colors that fit the beach scenery. The first floor had an open layout with large sliding glass doors that led to a huge deck out back, which led directly to the beach. The estate was peaceful, and Grace wasn’t afraid to touch anything.    “Are you sure this is your parent’s?” Luna asked, looking around bewilderedly.    “Well, really it’s my mother’s. She designed it for a place to escape the manor and live a little,” Draco replied.    “She’s got good taste,” Grace said opening the back door and breathing in the sea breeze.    They all found their rooms and put their bags down. Grace found that Narcissa chose to follow a coral color palette; mints and light blues, coral pinks and peaches, and white. Additionally, each guest room followed a certain color, and Grace chose the one that was full of sky blues that overlooked the beach. The room next to her’s was Luna’s, which was made of soft pinks. Across the hall was Draco in the master bedroom in a room made up of a sandy beige color with bright accents. Next to him was Rolf in a bright coral pink room, and he was extremely happy about it.    When they were finished settling in, they all met downstairs in the living room, where Merlin had made himself quite comfortable on the hardwood floor.    “What are we going to do about food?” Rolf asked looking at the kitchen. It was empty save for the full stock of alcohol. They had brought snacks with them, but not enough to be a meal. And Rolf, as tall and lanky as he was, could really eat.    “We can go to the grocery store to get stuff to make, but I don’t feel like cooking tonight,” Draco said.    “Do you even know how to cook?” Grace crossed her arms.    “No.”    She nodded, her face saying, “I thought so.”    “We could order take-out tonight, though,” Draco suggested. “And Rolf and I will go to the store so we have the stuff to make for the rest of the time.”    Immediately, Luna had out a piece of lined paper, writing down what they needed. Grace would say, “Ooh, I could make this one day!” and Luna would write down every ingredient needed. The list grew longer, but the girls knew that if the boys didn’t have a detailed list, they'd be helpless.    Rolf had found a stack of take-out menus shoved in the back of the drawer, and they flipped through them until they decided on Chinese. Grace wrote down what everyone wanted, it’d just go in the center for everyone to pick off of anyway, but then realized she’d have to call in order to order the food. She froze, eyes wide, holding her phone. She’d never called to order food herself before; she’d seen her foster parents do it in front of her, she’d seen it everywhere on TV, and it always looked so easy. But she couldn’t help the feeling of dread that washed over her at the thought of doing it herself.    Luna, noticing her friend’s silent panic, handed over the shopping list to Draco, sent the boys on their way, and walked into the kitchen. She grabbed Grace’s phone, the number was dialed in, she just had to press Call. Luna read off the order with ease, and Grace felt stupid for being so afraid to do it.    Luna hung up and handed Grace her phone, smiling.    “I’m sorry. It was stupid,” Grace said looking at the floor.    “No it wasn’t,” she placed a hand on her shoulder. “Nothing you feel is stupid. You can’t help your feelings. And being nervous to make a phone call is completely justifiable.” It was something Luna always said to her when Grace was feeling anxious. She had begun doing it their first year when Grace wouldn’t even go into the showers, so Luna told her something along the lines of this and stood outside of the showers and talked to Grace the entire time about simple things like classes. Eventually, Grace didn’t feel anxious about getting a shower with twenty of her other housemates, and she knew that eventually, she’d be able to do something so simple as making a phone call.

-

   Grace and Luna got showers and moved the living room around a bit to throw a bunch of pillows and blankets on the floor to make sitting together easier. Grace sent a quick text to Severus saying, “Got here safe. The house is really nice. I’ll send you lots of pics. Love you!”    The boys came back and together they stocked the fridge and pantry, agreeing that whatever they didn’t eat, they’d take with them to Hogwarts. The food came soon after; they paid the delivery boy and took plates and dumped all of the food they ordered on to them for accessible eating.    “The TV has Netflix and Hulu on it. Should we put something on?” Draco asked.    “Yeah, just put on whatever,” Grace said as she went to the kitchen to refill her drink. When she came back and saw what was playing, she knew she had made a terrible mistake. Her asshole boyfriend put on Insidious.    Grace loved the classic slasher films: A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Child’s Play, etc. But anything that involved possession, the paranormal, or some weird shit that could technically happen because Grace was a believer, especially if it said, “Based on a true story,” at the beginning, freaked Grace the fuck out!    She had finished eating just in time for all of the jump scares to come on like a tidal wave that never ended. She spent most of the movie with her face hiding in Draco’s chest. Even though she couldn’t see the screen, she could sense it and would jump and scream every time. Draco would start to laugh, but Luna and Rolf would give him a pointed look, and he’d just rub Grace’s back soothingly until she stopped shaking in time for the next scary scene. Even Merlin hid his face under the blankets!    Oh, and Luna, was completely unfazed by the movie. Although, Rolf jumped a bit here and there.    Suffice to say, by the end of the movie, Grace was a mess. She laid in her room that night, next to Merlin and Cas fighting over a spot on the pillow, staring at the ceiling. She was too afraid to sleep but also too afraid to stay awake and let her mind play tricks on her. Finally, at a loss, she rummaged through her bag for the sleeping draught her dad gave her and took a swig, immediately feeling her eyes droop.    She just wished she had remembered to take a dreamless sleep potion.    She woke up at quarter-past-four, screaming and in a cold sweat. It startled her two sleeping companions; Merlin barked and jumped down from the bed, Cas hissed and jumped, now on the side table with his fur raised. Her throat felt extremely dry, so she threw on her robe and made her way to the kitchen, quickly turning on the light. She was opening the fridge when she heard a creak in the floor behind her, and turned, screaming once again.    The tall figure that made the noise also let out a surprised yelp as well. When the fear finally cleared from her eyes, she realized it was just Rolf. “Rolf, I’m so sorry, you just scared me,” she let out a sigh of relief.    “It’s okay, I should’ve done something to warn you,” of all people, Rolf was the least menacing.    She filled a glass with water, nodding to it to offer Rolf one as well, who nodded and grabbed a glass from the cabinet as Grace filled it, “Couldn’t sleep either?”    “Your scream actually woke me up.”    “Oh, Rolf, I’m so sorry.”    “I don’t mind. The sunrise will be soon anyway. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Are you okay?” Rolf had the kindest face and the biggest heart. He reminded her a lot of Hagrid, the Hogwarts groundskeeper and Care for Magical Creatures professor. Grace determined he got a lot of his personality traits from his famous grandfather, Newt Scamander. At least, she made the connection after reading his work and hearing many ramble on about how wonderful Mr. Scamander is, especially Luna, who is probably his #1 fan.    “I just… I had a nightmare.”    “I’m sorry. Do you want to talk about it?” he took a seat at the breakfast table.    Grace took a seat across from him and opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it in confusion, “I actually can’t remember a thing.”    “Sometimes, that’s how people cope with trauma, and the dream obviously had you shaken up. You’re still trembling,” Rolf reached over and placed a comforting hand on hand on Grace’s, but his fingers grazed her battle-scarred wrist and pulled his hand away, giving her a panicked look.    “Rolf-“ she started.    “I’m sorry, Grace. I didn’t mean to.”    “Rolf-“ she tried again.    “I just- I didn’t know until recently. I wish I had said more to you in school. I should’ve actually stopped to talk to you, instead, I was always in a rush!”    “Rolf Scamander!” She finally caught his full attention, “You are, and always have been, a good friend. It may not seem much to you, but it meant a lot to me. Actually, you hellos were one of the best parts of my day.” She smiled at him, wide and cheerful, letting him know that she was okay.    “Just… I know you have Luna and Draco and your dad, but if you ever just wanna talk…”    “Thank you, Rolf.”

-

   Grace and Rolf went back to bed for a few hours after watching the sun rise. They all allowed themselves to sleep in the next morning, but Draco was the last one to get up. And the remnants of fear from Grace’s nightmare disappeared in the morning.    Draco walked into the kitchen, following the scent of food. Luna was mixing orange juice and from what he could tell, champagne to make mimosas. Rolf was manning the toaster, making sure nothing would get burnt. And Grace, his Grace, was in front of the stove making eggs; she was wearing a tight tank top with baggy pajama shorts and a thin robe. Her long, wild red hair was brushed and tamed into a french braid that went down to her waist and she pushed her black-rimmed glasses higher up on the bridge of her nose. She hadn't noticed him yet, so he walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. She jumped slightly. “Good morning, beautiful,” he mumbled.    “G’morning,” she replied with a big smile, turning her head towards him, but he caught her lips in a kiss. She tasted of too-sweet coffee.    “Whatcha doing?” he asked, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck; she even smelled sweet. He never knew someone who looked this good in the morning.    Little did he know, Grace looked a wreck when she woke up. Her hair was always knotted and standing up in every direction. She had brushed her hair that morning and spritzed a bit of perfume on, washed her face and brushed her teeth. “Makin’ eggs. How do you want them?” She wasn’t used to someone being so handsy with her. She was actually surprised with herself that she didn’t try to squirm out of his touch immediately. She had never liked being grabbed or touched from behind, a point of vulnerability she couldn’t afford to allow. Sure, she panicked a little at first, but that was because she hadn’t known he was coming. Now, strangely enough, she felt rather safe and comforted in his arms like this; a pure image of domestic bliss. Is this what it’s like to not fear everything? she thought.    They ate breakfast out on the deck that overlooked the beach and the sparkling water. Grace and Draco watched with a smirk as Luna and Rolf, sitting across from each other, stole flirty glances and wondered when their friends would finally come out and say they were together.    As they were cleaning up and also getting ready for a day on the beach, Severus texted Grace. Both his text tone and call tone were loud and annoying so she’d always know to answer immediately.    Severus: How is everything?    Grace: It’s fun. We made breakfast and now we’re heading off to the beach?    Severus: We?    Grace: *I made breakfast. Luna and Rolf helped. Dray was the last to get up.    Severus: Wow. And wear sunblock!    Grace: I know, I know. How’s Hogwarts?    Severus: There’s been a few changes.    Grace: Uh oh.    Severus: Yes, I’m afraid uh oh.    Grace: Shit, now I don’t wanna go!    Severus: You’ll be fine. I just wanted to warn you before you come here.    Grace: Is it bad?    Severus: You’ll see.    Grace: Well, I guess having a professor for a dad is to my advantage.    Severus: About that. The staff knows, but we need to keep it a secret.    Grace: Um, why???    Severus: For your safety.    Grace: But Hogwarts is like, the safest place!    Severus: The press would be right on it of they found out, though. And then who knows what people would do with the information.    Grace: So??? It’s not like it’s illegal.    Severus: We’ll talk about it later. We’ve got to go, meeting. Love you.    Grace: We?    Severus: Yes, Phoebe and I. And shut up!    Grace: Okaaayyyy. Love you too!

   Grace put on her bikini and a t-shirt as a cover up and went into Luna’s room, showing her her phone. She read them from her spot on the bed as she pulled back her bangs into a tiny poof that sat on top of her head, “What the hell?”    “Right?”    “What changes? And why wouldn’t he just tell you? Unless he didn’t wanna ruin your trip… And why does he want to keep the adoption secret?”    “I don’t know!” Grace shrugged.    “Probably has something to do with You Know Who…” Luna mumbled and immediately regret it.    “Wait, what?”    “Nothing. Your dad’s right, it’s only for your protection, and everyone else’s, but mostly your’s. Now C'mon,” she stood up and took Grace’s hand, “let’s go.”    Grace wasn’t satisfied with the answer by any means, but she decided to temporarily brush it off. They walked into the kitchen to find a very proud Draco standing by the cooler.    “I made lunch!” he said holding up a sandwich, possibly the simplest sandwich ever.    “Aww, did you make them all by yourself?” Grace said in tone she’d use with a small child who at least tried their best at something.    “Don’t patronize me. I never had to cook for myself before!”    “Don’t worry, I’ll teach you one day,” she patted his back.    “Are you wearing one of my shirts?”    She looked down at the t-shirt she was wearing and noticed how much bigger it had her than her other shirts, “I was wondering where this came from!”    “I don’t even remember leaving my shirt anywhere.”    She shrugged, “It’s mine now.”    They packed the rest of their lunch: condiments, crisps, drinks, along with tons of sunscreen and beach towels and a wireless speaker Rolf had brought.

-

   The beach was completely empty, and Grace wasn’t surprised that of course, the Malfoys would own property on a private beach. It at least meant no nuisances, but they missed out on people-watching.    They set up not too far from the water on the hot, soft sand. The boys were struggling with trying to keep the towels from blowing away in the breeze while Luna and Grace took to bathing themselves in sunscreen. Luna had more sun tolerance and often got a slight tan when she was careful; Grace never had a fighting chance with her fair skin and burnt immediately if she didn’t constantly reapply. She did freckle a lot though.    It was Grace’s, “Luna, can you spray my back?” that caught the boys’ attention. First, their eyes caught onto Luna, who was wearing a blinding yellow bikini that right now, washed her out, but once she got some color would contrast perfectly. She was lean and curvy, having puberty finally making her body proportioned to everything else. Her pale blonde hair flew recklessly in the wind, giving her a wild look, and Rolf couldn’t help but gaze at her with a dark blush staining his cheeks.    Grace pulled her copper hair off of her back. She wore a navy bikini that made her already pale skin white as paper. Her body was scattered with freckles like stars, and clusters formed where her skin had been in the sun most often. Grace had always been extremely skinny since she was a child, but the combination of dance and figure skating and Quidditch added muscle to her tiny frame. For as much muscle mass as her body could hold, she had toned biceps and triceps, detailed calves and thighs, and a lean stomach. Her waist, in comparison to her hips and bust, was significantly tiny. She still carried a dancer’s body, but for the petite girl, she had been well endowed.    Draco had known Grace had been skinny, it wasn’t hard to tell by just one glance at the girl. And he knew she was pretty strong despite her size; he had been body slammed or shoved by her many a time during Quidditch matches. But she always wore clothes that were slightly larger that hid her physique. He didn’t notice he had been staring at her with his mouth slightly open until she nudged him, almost knocking him down.    “Dray? You okay?”    “Hm? Oh, yeah,” he reached out a poked her stomach; it was hard. She gave him a confused look before doing the same to him. What is this? A poking match?    Draco was tall and lean from Quidditch, but never really did any further workouts aside from practice and games. He didn’t binge on junk food very much. It was frowned upon at home and only did so every so often during the school year. He definitely had muscle; you couldn’t be worked hard enough by Quidditch workouts, no matter what team you were on, and not gain more and more muscle mass each year. But Grace was just ridiculous. Honestly, he believed she could break his arm in one swift motion right now and it’d be the coolest thing to experience.    “Dray, you’re staring again.”    A dark red blush swept across Draco’s cheeks, “Sorry, I just-��    “It’s okay,” she smiled and stood on her tippy-toes to plant a chaste kiss on his lips before running off with Luna to the water. The boys heard them squeal at the sudden chill and watched them slowly ease their way into the water, flinching at each wave as it crashed against them. Finally, the girls counted to three before diving underneath a wave, coming back up with their long hair sticking to their backs.    Rolf glanced over to his best friend, who was watching Grace with a lovestruck look. “Your girlfriend could beat you up,” he said with a smirk.    Draco snorted, he was probably right, “Your’s could too.”    “Without a doubt.”    “You didn’t deny the fact that I called Luna your girlfriend, though.”    “Shut up, dick.”

-

   The rest of the day was spent mostly on the beach in the sand, venturing into the frigid water periodically. They ate lunch on the beach and fed their scraps to the birds.    Draco lied on his towel propped up on his forearms while Grace lied close next to him, almost on top of him, reading her book, which was The Handmaid’s Tale. He could have sworn she was reading a different book the previous day; one she had just started. Every once in a while, in between talking to Rolf, he’d bring his attention to her book and read the page she was on. He’d try to piece the story together in his mind, but she read too quickly to make sense of anything. So, he’d steal her focus and ask her a million questions, much to her annoyance.    “So, like, they’re surrogates?” he asked.    “Surrogates give consent. These women are forced to do this,” she nuzzled her face into his smooth chest. The sea salt in her hair had styled both her’s and Luna’s hair into bouncy waves that hung down to their waists.    “I still don't get what it’s about.”    “You can read it when I’m done.”    “Can’t you just read it to me?”    “No.”    He started to groan, but she shushed him, going back to reading her book. His arms started to tire, so he prompted to lay down, Grace following him and settling her head on his chest. His arm wrapped around her, tracing little circles on her shoulder mindlessly.    “Grace, did you put more sunscreen on?” Luna asked.    “Mhm.”    Next, to them, Rolf and Luna had pretty much officially-but-unofficially came out as a couple. Rolf’s legs were stretched out in front of him with his ankles crossed and Luna’s head propped up against his thigh as she flipped through one of her many fashion magazines. Grace quickly snapped a picture and sent it to Severus and Phoebe, who both replied, “Fucking finally.”    Merlin ran around the beach, digging up seashells in the sand. He’d venture to the edge of the water, a wave would wash up, and he’d jump and bark like he had just been electrocuted. He did this several times, never learning his lesson from the previous.    They stayed on the beach until the breeze got cooler. They packed everything up and walked back to the house, Merlin following behind them with a shell in his mouth.    After showers, Grace started on dinner. She really didn’t mind cooking, and it wasn’t like no one was helping, it was just she was the head chef, telling everyone what to do and how to do it.    Draco insisted on helping, and Grace soon learned that a simple task like chopping veggies would be difficult since he had no idea how to hold the knife correctly and was probably going to chop his finger off.    “You’ll slice right through your thumb if you chop like that. Here, hold it like this,” she said grabbing his hands and repositioning them. She looked up at Draco, whose blush slowly crept up his neck.    “It’s not my fault I’ve had House Elves to do everything for me.”    “And what are you going to do when you graduate and move out and have to adult?”    “Then it’s a good thing I’ll have you with me,” he said nonchalantly and without a beat. Now it was Grace who was blushing.    She tried to stammer something out, but she was at a complete lost for words. She kept her gaze on the food in front of her. Draco put down the knife and placed his hands on Grace’s shoulders, turning her so she faced him.    “Grace, I love you,” he said quietly so Rolf and Luna wouldn’t hear him in the other room.    Now, Grace was really at a lost for words. Her breath caught in her throat, heart pumping against her chest, stomach doing flips. She still hadn’t met Draco’s eyes.    It took her a few seconds to absorb everything, but when she looked up, she saw panic flash in Draco’s eyes. “You don’t have to say anything, Grace. I just- well, I wanted you to know. I know you wanna take everything slow and I completely understand, but I can’t go any longer without telling you how much I love you and I know we’ve only been dating for a little over a month, and it’s okay if you don’t feel the same-“    Grace blinked, “Of course I love you, you idiot.” It came out without a second thought. And that’s when Grace realized that it meant that she truly felt that way.    Draco stopped talking mid-sentence, and the couple just stared at each other for a second.    Grace was the first to break the silence, “Dray, if I didn’t love you, do you truly think I’d be here? I mean, I’m not one for casual dating or hooking up or whatever. It’s all or nothing for me.”    “God, you make me so damn happy, Grace Audrey,” he wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her so their lips could meet. It was deeper than their other kisses. Those were quick and cute. This kiss had so much behind it, so much love and adoration for the other without a care in the world.

-

   After dinner, the two found themselves snuggling in Draco’s room watching stupid YouTube videos on his bed. They were both fully clothed, on top of the blankets, and with the door open, but it was the most intimate they had been so far.    “If we were at home, we’d never be able to do this,” Grace said nuzzling closer to him. She had taken another one of his t-shirts, and it was only a matter of time before she raided his clothes for at least one hoodie to steal.    “Yeah, with Severus checking on us every five minutes,” he agreed.    “He’s just got a lot of the overly protective father thing to catch up on.”    “Still, this is really nice,” he gently kissed her temple.    They continued watching, clicking on one video and then catching interest on another video on the sidebar until they delved deep into a whole new side or sides of YouTube they had never explored before.    It wasn’t long before Grace started to doze off, but every time Draco asked if she was tired, she’d say she was fine. Finally, her breathing had evened out and she was asleep.    Having Grace next to him was amazing, and truthfully he didn’t want her to wake up and go back to her room. So, he gently pulled the covers over the two of them and held her close.    “Night, Gracie,” he whispered.    She didn’t answer, only smiled slightly in her sleep, edging her way even closer to Draco.