#after all i could make them feel just as shitty as my dad's dismayed comments about his age just did to me

[naeleon-headcanon-blog]

[TW: implication/mention of divorce/breakup] I have a random headcanon that Leon's bio parents are divorced, he lives with his dad and stepmom when he goes to Hope's Peak and they're like. Like Leon's dad is like #1 Dad Joke Teller (much to Leon's dismay) and his stepmom is just really weird all around (as is his dad but mostly his dad is the wannabe comedian) but they love him a lot so when they find out Leon has a boyfriend they're like "you HAVE to invite him over! We need to meet him"

so he begrudgingly agrees to invite makoto over for dinner but hes like kinda dreading it bc his family is so eccentric and he's worried Makoto will be freaked out or think he's weird or something and so he like, warns him ahead of time, like, hey, my parents are kinda weird and Makoto's like I'm sure it'll be fine!!! It takes a lot to bother me

They walk in and Leon's stepmom rushes over and she like shakes Makoto's hand and is all like "OMG SO YOU'RE MAKOTO! WE'VE HEARD SO MUCH ABOUT YOU- actually we haven't because Leon doesn't talk about his relationships to his Dear Parents Who Love Him So Much And Only Want The Best For Him BUT WE'VE HEARD A BIT ABOUT YOU AND WE'RE SO PLEASED TO MEET YOU FINALLY! Even though you've been dating him for MONTHS we only knew until YESTERDAY but between you and me he's real shy about this sort of thing so if he doesnt want his Meddling Parents sticking their heads in it you know it's true love <3" and makoto just kinda laughs nervously and Leon is burying his face in his hands just absolutely mortified. He Swears it's deliberate and hes so embarrassed

First thing his dad says is "ah, so I assume you're the lucky boy? Hehe-"

And there's like 3 seconds of dead silence as Makoto processes the joke and then just sighs

Then his dad goes "oh, ok, swing and a miss I guess."

More exhausted silence

"Yeesh. Tough crowd."

And Leon's like "do you still love me"

But meeting them actually goes well all things considered! Makoto thinks it's cool how unique Leon's parents are in comparison to his own family. But Leon is legitimately just so embarrassed the whole time it's honestly starting to upset him fr even though Makoto is grinning at his dad's shitty jokes and seems legitimately interested in all of the things his stepmom does and knows all about and generally seems to be enjoying himself and Leon kinda just doesn't know what to do about it so he just gets up in the middle of dinner and says he's gonna go outside cause it's too hot in the house and leaves, ignoring his stepmom's comment about how he could take off his jacket if he wanted to cool off. There's a moment of hesitation, then Makoto asks if it's ok if he follows him and Leon's stepmom is like "of course, honey. is there something wrong that we don't know about?" And makoto can tell she means well but he doesn't want to say "you're probably the problem" to her face so he just shrugs and says something about how he just feels like he should check on him and leaves to go after him.

He goes outside and finds Leon by the garage, just kinda leaning against the wall. Makoto comes up and stands next to him and asks if he's alright and Leon is like "My parents are so overbearing, Jesus christ I'm so sorry about them. I'm so sorry about this whole thing."

And makoto goes "is that what's had you so stressed this whole time? Are you worried I'll think less of you or something over your parents?"

And Leon's like "I guess?? I don't know! I asked them both not to be so intense and try to make a good impression and I swear to God they spent the whole night humiliating me out of spite. They do this all the time and it drives me nuts! I just wish they could be normal for five minutes around someone I really like!"

So Makoto reassures him that he actually thinks they're cool to be around because of how eccentric they are especially compared to his own parents, and they aren't going to scare him off or make him feel uncomfortable around Leon or anything.

(Still though, they spend a few extra minutes outside because even with that out of the way, they can be a bit much in terms of sensory issues which Leon already doesn't have the best time with.)

When they go back in Leon's dad is like oh welcome back boys! We left your dinner on the table if you want to finish. Mei (Leon's stepmom) is in the kitchen doing the dishes. And when they pass the kitchen to go to the dining room Mei is just fuckin Rocking It to some dumb music playlist while she does dishes and Leon's like do you wanna just go hide out in my room and wait all this out but Mei's like NOO JOIN ME IN MY DANCE and Makoto's like ??? Okay??? And he and Leon end up dancing with Mei and Leon is like really embarrassed still but Makoto's having fun even though he's not the best at dancing so Leon just decides to put it aside and have fun with his bf and they end up dancing for like half an hour and Leon Knows there's not a soft love song on the list his stepmom is playing and yet about 8 songs in one turns on and Mei starts urging them to dance together so they awkwardly attempt to slow dance and after like a minute or so they start to get the hang of it and get into the flow of each other's movements and at the end Leon just kind of acts on impulse and kisses Makoto and he just melts into it and when they break apart Leon's stepmom is just looking at them with hearts in her eyes and she says something about how sweet they are together but then the next song comes on and theres no time for sentiment it's time to DANCE

By the time Makoto gets home at like 11:45pm hes exhausted and he just flops down on his couch barely giving Komaru a second to move and not get Smooshed by her brother and he just falls asleep there but even in his sleep he's got this big stupid grin plastered on his face cuz hes just so happy & he loves leon so much

[This was SO MUCH LONGER than I meant it to be]

HZHZHSWNAN SJDJ I LOVe,,,

[salty-donut-collecter]

Why Not?

Part Twenty-Six

Twenty-Five    {Masterlist}    Twenty-Seven

Chapter Word Count: 1018

Trigger Warnings: Negativity, panic attacks, possibly mentions of flashbacks and huge arguments and such

Please tell me if I need to tag anything else :)

*Also, I’m planning on having this story as a slow burn, so please be prepared :)

Prompts: “Do I look like I give a fuck?”, “I don’t know what I’m feeling, but I’m feeling a lot of  it.”, and “Not to dictate your life, but drop your shitty friends.”

A/N: !!!! OKay so important thing: THis chapter is in a different POV, but it’s still a reader insert. This is what’s happening while you’re gone. 

Happy reading! (Also, feel free to comment your thoughts! I love reading comments :))

Also, if you’d like to be added to the tags list, please let me know! :D

_____________________________________________________

As Y/n had predicted, it didn't take the Avengers very long to wake up.

Bucky, being the one who was probably the most used to waking up after events like this, was probably the first one to get up. After realizing what had just gone down was actually really bad and holy fuckheneedstofixthisri--

Longer story shorter, he got to Y/n's room pretty quickly, quietly, and dramatically.

When he got to Y/n's room, he remembered what she'd said.

They don't want to see you.

The memory got to him, the way y/n had looked so betrayed...

Bucky shook the feeling of guilt off, forcing himself to knock on the door in front of him.

Micheal was the one to greet him, his angry sneer accompanied by red eyes and a pink nose.

"I'm sorry, but the orphans aren't taking any bullshit right now, so get the fuck out of here, asshole," he growled, already starting to aggressively close the door.

Bucky shoved his metal arm between the door and the frame before it could close, "Please, wait!" He sniffed, unable to handle his guilt anymore, "Nobody else is with me. I just want to make sure you're all okay." He said, his voice quiet and filled with a yet-to-be-matched depression.

A pause and a moment go by before the pressure on Micheal's side of the door dropped.

Then, proceeding with caution, Bucky slowly pushed the door open, entered, and closed the door behind him.

When he turned and faced the kids he'd intentionally helped bring into his life, his guilt quadrupled.

Katie was cuddled up in Micheal's lap, fast asleep with puffy eyes and a red nose. A half-eaten tub of ice cream sat next to Maverick, who was nibbling on some Fritos as he stared at Bucky with uneased caution.

Malissa had another tub of ice cream over Scarllet's head as it sat in her lap. Scarllet was asleep, which Bucky figured had been much to her dismay.

Micheal glared up at Bucky as his eyes landed on Chloe, who looked absolutely fine-- unbothered, even. (Much to Bucky's surprise.)

"Chloe, how're you holding up?" Bucky asked gently, not wanting to wake anyone up and cause a disturbance.

The little girl looked up from her book, Fablehaven, with a blank stare, blinked once, and went back to reading.

"Look, guys, I'm sorry." Bucky was starting to crumple, wondering how he could have let these kids down so harshly. "I should have said something about the fighting, about the arguing." He sniffed, tears in his eyes as he desperately tried to maintain his own composure, "Y/n is probably gone forever and I was so worried about what they'd do to her that I completely forgot about the consequences concerning my own kids."

Bucky sighed, scanning the room of broken kids one last time before nodding and turning for the door. "You guys obviously need space to keep cooling down and everything, but just know that my door is always open and that you don't have to talk if you don't want to."

With that, he left the room, feeling shitter than he had before Y/n had even taken them from the tower.

...

When Tony woke up, his first concern was Y/n. She said they didn't need her anymore. Was that hinting to a suicide attempt? She'd tried before he'd adopted her. Maybe it just meant she'd run away.

Maybe, just maybe, she was still there packing.

Tony raced to Y/n's room, quietly stepping over Bucky and Stephen before bolting up the stairs to his daughter's room.

Pleasebetherepleasebetherepleasebetherepleas--

When Tony opened the door, it was just in time to see Y/n jump out the window.

He paled.

He ran over to the window, almost tripping over Katie and Micheal, almost jumping out himself to go after her.

"Y/n!" He screamed.

But she was gone. She was gone.

She's gone, Tony.

"Relax Stark she's--" Tony turned to the mouthy Micheal and pinned him by his shoulders, ready to punch his teeth out.

"SHE'S NOT DEAD YOU FUCKING SOCIOPATH" Micheal yelled, his hands coming up and knocking Tony's ribs to get him off of him.

A quick move later and Micheal was a safe distance away from Tony.

Micheal took a breath, glaring at his so-called "dad" with a new sense of trust. Well, lack of trust was probably a more accurate term.

"Grab me like that again and you'll need dentures." Micheal muttered, smoothing his jacket out as Tony clutched his ribs.

Tony just sat there, crumpled by guilt. After a moment, he sighed.

"And I'm sorry about that. I'm sorry about everything that happened tonight, guys. I--" a huff, "I deserve more than my teeth knocked out, and you guys deserve some space from me and Steve right now." he nodded, his eyes never leaving the ground in front of him.

He opened his mouth to say something else, but he quickly decided against it.

"Okay, now that that heart-to-heart is over, I'm going to let you guys try to get some sleep and all that. Feel free to call if you need anything, I'll be in the lab doing some research." Tony stood, quickly making his way to the door, careful not to step near anyone this time, Sleep well, kiddos." and with that, he was gone.

...

After Bucky had left, Maverick and Malissa decided they were tired, so Micheal locked the door and told them to go ahead.

"I'll keep watch, make sure y'all can sleep without disturbance," he mumbled, sitting down with a small groan.

After that, everyone else (aside from Chloe, who wouldn't say anything right now anyway) was asleep and probably dreaming. All was well.

Too well, Micheal thought, glancing over to the file he'd somewhat hidden in Y/n's closet.

After a moment, he decided there wasn't a reason not too open it and look inside. He should be able to handle it, after all.

So, throwing all caution to the wind, Micheal stretched out and grabbed the folder with his name on it, getting comfy as he opened it and began to read.

...

_____

Taglist: @introvertedsin @galacticalstarcat @acidrain707

[brokemultidotexe]

Wicked Games [M]

Pairing: Jimin x Reader

Summary: You’re at a bar to drown your sorrows but a mystery guy ends up giving you the time of your life. The thrill is what you’ve been craving to suppress the pain and the guy has every intention of giving it to you. [AU]

Word Count: 2.5k

Warnings: Sexual Themes/Dirty Talk/Voyeurism

Genre: Smut

You were sitting at the bar sipping your jack and coke and doodling on a napkin trying to escape everything that was wrong with your life. Sure, you were still in high school and you knew later in life when you looked back on this it would seem so small. But for now, it was huge. It was the anniversary of your father’s death and you had just found out your boyfriend of three years was cheating on you. All of that happening in the same day caused you to skip school and use your fake ID to get into some bar downtown. You took two gulps and sat your glass back down and asked for another. The bartender obliged but he still looked at you suspiciously but your choice of wearing a low-cut top seemed to be working in your favor. You raised the glass in his direction and took a drink.

"Man, three drinks and it's not even ten o'clock." A voice beside you caused you to turn and look. A man that had dark hair that looked like he’d ran his hands through it one too many times had a teasing smile on his face.

"Yeah well, it's been a shitty day." You turned back to the bar and continued to draw on the napkin you had pulled from behind the bar.

"Well, we all have shitty days." You snorted if he only knew just how shitty your day had been and the day wasn’t even half over. "You draw?" you looked over and was surprised to see him sitting in the seat next to you. You hadn’t even heard him move.

You cleared her throat, "Umm, yeah. I doodle here and there."

You watched as the guy shook his head, "That's not a doodle. You're drawing a detailed picture of the bar." You shrugged. You had picked up drawing after your best friend had taken a liking to it a few years ago. Jungkook still had way more talent than you did but it turned into something you shared and something you both turned to when going through something.

"It's just a hobby." you waved off his comment.

"Well, it shouldn't be. You're extremely talented."

You just stared at him for a moment, "You're going to base my talent off of a napkin in a bar?" you laughed.

"I just call it like I see it." He shrugged.

“Well, my best friend has a lot more talent than I do.”

The guy held out his hand, "I'm Jimin."

You reached for his hand and shook it, "Y/N."

"Well Y/N, since your day is so shitty how about I buy you a real drink?" Jimin motioned for the bartender. "You like coffee?" You nodded. Jimin smiled and turned to the bartender; "Two Black Russians" The bartender nodded and went to mix the drinks. "If you want to forget about your day then this drink will do its job. Just make sure you don't go overboard. My friend Namjoon ended up in another town and no pants the last time he needed to forget a day. That time he ended up forgetting two."

You laughed you first genuine laugh of the day, "Well if this drink is as strong as you say then you will be my knight in shining armor."

"I live to serve," he smirked and did an imaginary hat tip. You rolled your eyes, "So what's your major at Bangtan University?" You knitted your brows in confusion and he pointed to your shirt. You looked down and laughed realizing you had forgotten you had worn a tank top with the school printed across your chest.

"I’m not really sure. Me and my best friend have both discussed possibly going into art together but I may try and turn it into graphic design or something.” You shrugged. You truly didn't know what you were going to do yet.

"I just graduated with an English degree. My parents wouldn’t accept dancing as a true major so I was forced to choose something else." Jimin winked at you and you felt your cheeks warm.

“I wish I could major in dance, I think my life would be made if I could do that.” You sighed knowing that it was only wishful thinking as your parents had made it quite clear that any arts degree was worthless and ever since your dad died your mother had become stricter over your education.

The smile fell from your face and Jimin halted and looked at you worried and confused when tears welled up in your eyes. "Shit Y/N. Whatever I said to upset you I'm so sorry." You shook your head and wiped at your eyes.

"No, it's okay. Like I said it's just a shitty day." You took a shaky breath and you felt Jimin's hand on your shoulder. You could see the concern in his eyes. "It's the anniversary of my dad's death."

"I'm so sorry Y/N." His hand went to yours and gave it an encouraging squeeze. Even though you had just met the guy you could feel his sincerity.

"You know the worst part of it? I found out today that my boyfriend of three years has been screwing his ex for two of them." You didn't have tears anymore you were just angry all over again.

"Well fuck him. He ruined his chance to be with a beautiful woman who is obviously too good for him." He smiled and tucked a stray piece of hair behind your ear. Your eyes locked and you were both startled when the bartender sat the two glasses in front of you. "Thanks, Yoongi, just put all of her stuff on my tab."

You were looking everywhere but where Jimin was. You barely knew this guy and yet here you were opening up to him. You hadn't even been this open with Jungkook today after he heard about what happened. You needed to process everything, and you always processed everything better with a drink in your hand. You loved Jungkook for trying but you needed to do this on your own. You saw Jimin slide the drink over to you and raised his glass. "We drink to those who love us, we drink to those who don't. We drink to those who fuck us, and fuck those who don't!" You busted out laughing at his toast but raised your glass before taking a drink.

"Holy shit!" You started coughing. The drink burned all the way down your throat and you swore you could feel it burning until it hit your stomach. You looked over at Jimin who had a smirk on his face before taking another drink of his own. His face scrunching up as it burned.

"I told you, this will make you forget your shitty day." He had recovered more quickly than you did.

"Fuck, how did you even know about this drink? This is up there with the concoction Taehyung came up with last year." Another one of your friends had decided to take it upon himself to try and find the perfect mix of alcohol that would get you drunk in just one glass.

"Kim Taehyung?" You nodded, "Kid hangs out with my brother."

You raised an eyebrow but before you could even inquire he nodded at your drink for the two of you to take another sip.

You had finished your drink much to your dismay. Jimin had you laughing so much your stomach hurt. He'd gotten on a kick of calling you Jagi after his third drink.

"Hey! he farted on me while I was giving him a blow job and I still stayed with him!" Jimin was practically falling off his stool and could barely catch his breath at your confession. You watched as Jimin wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Oh yeah, he definitely doesn't deserve you. You're too beautiful to be farted on." You both ended up laughing until you were crying again. Once you were able to compose yourselves you held out your hand.

"Give me a dollar; I want to put a song on the jukebox." Jimin obliged pulling his wallet from his pocket and giving you a dollar. You got up and tried your best to walk in a straight line. It was clear that you were completely wasted. You managed to get there without falling on your face. You flipped through the songs but couldn't find one you liked.

"Pick one yet? It's been five minutes." Jimin had wrapped his arms around you and was whispering in your ear. You let a moan slip out and he placed a kiss on your neck.

"I can't pick if you distract me." You mumbled completely caught up in the fact that his lips were on your body. You’d been staring at those lips for the last two hours. Thinking about how they would feel on your lips and body. He pulled away but you could still feel the burning from where his lips had touched. He pulled your arm and turned you around until you were pinned against the jukebox. "Jagi all you've done is distract me tonight. I called off dinner with my brother so I could stay here with you." His hands were on your hips and his thumbs dipped down to run over your hip bones. "So I could touch you." His lips brushed against yours, "In hopes that I could taste you." His hand wrapped around and grabbed your ass. "So I could take you to another place." He rubbed the bulge in his jeans against your hips. You finally gave in and grabbed his head and brought it down to yours. You ran your fingers through his hair and kissed him hard before pulling back to catch your breath.

"Not here." You didn't want to fuck against a jukebox no matter how hot that sounded. Jimin flicked his eyes over to the bathroom and you nodded. He grabbed your hand and dragged you into the woman’s bathroom and locked the door behind you. You pulled him into another kiss and Jimin hands ran down your back until he cupped your ass and raised you up sitting you on the sink in the bathroom. You moaned feeling him suck on your neck. Your whole body tingled when he touched you. Suddenly his lips were crushed on yours and his tongue slipped in your mouth when you gasped. You melted into the kiss and started pulling at his shirt trying to pull it up. He leaned back and let you pull it off while he worked on yours and threw it to the side before crashing his lips back down to yours. You hooked your leg around him and pulled him closer so you could feel his erection beneath his jeans. You pushed your hips into his body and ground against him. The hand that was running up your thigh squeezed hard and he pulled back staring into your eyes. The look of lust would make any woman fall apart. You felt her panties dampen.

You rubbed your hand against the bulge in his jeans "Damn Jagi you're going to be the death of me." His voice was deep and gravely and he ran his hand up your thigh and up grabbed your ass. "These need to go." You pulled him in for another kiss as he lifted you off the sink and helped you push them down and step out of them. Once you were free of them his hand slid over your stomach and down to the wetness in between your legs.

"Someone's ready." He sucked on your neck again and you ran your nails down his back roughly. That seemed to push him even farther as he lifted you up and had you against the wall. "If you keep doing that I won't be able to hold back."

You nibbled on his earlobe, "I don't want you to."

Jimin growled and he undid his belt and kicked his pants off. You felt your panties being pulled to the side and you moaned when you felt him slide inside you. The rough fabric from his boxers was pressed against your clit causing pleasurable friction. You ground your hips into him and whimpered.

"Shit, you feel so good." You didn't get a chance to say anything because he started fucking you hard against the wall. You could barely catch your breath and you couldn't control your moans as they grew louder. He covered your mouth with his as he continued to plow into you. He wasn't sweet and careful, he was rough and controlling and that was exactly what you needed.

You were back at school the next day your head was throbbing but you were hoping the two aspirin you took earlier would take care of your headache before you had to go to class. Your head was down on the table in the courtyard when your way too excited best friend sat down beside you.

"So, my brother is back in town."

You lifted your head. Ah, the mysterious brother that Jungkook only saw every other month because he had been in college and served in the military. You’d never actually met him despite how long you and Jungkook had been friends but it never really bothered you. From what Jungkook said he was a lady’s man anyways and would probably try to get with you so he didn’t want the two of you to meet despite how much he loved his brother. "That's awesome Kookie. But can you talk a little lower, I'm about to die."

"Well too bad. We have English next and apparently, there's a substitute teacher, so it should be a breeze." Jungkook pulled on your arm until you relented and stood up walking towards your next class together.

"Earth to Y/N!" You jolted and looked at Jungkook with a scowl. You had been reliving yesterday and had no intention coming back to the present. "Come on." Jungkook dragged you into the class and you took your normal seat with Jungkook seated behind you. You had your head on your desk while Jungkook was chatting away with Tae giving you the semi-peace and quiet you were looking for.

"Alright, guys settled down." You lifted your head up. Damn you were even hearing his voice now; you really needed to shake off the previous day. "I'm your substitute, Mr. Park." The substitute turned around and your eyes locked.

"That's my brother," Jungkook whispered in your ear leaning over his desk sounding like the news shocked him as well.

The two of you continued to stare at each other before Jimin cleared his throat and tried his best to keep his voice normal and kept talking over what was planned for the period. You could feel the blood pounding in your ears. Holy fuck! You’d fucked Park Jimin. You’d fucked Jungkook’s brother. The worst part is you wanted to do it again.

AN: I hope you guys enjoyed this and it wasn’t too awful. If there are errors forgive me this was written at like 1am. This is my first Jimin fic and I have to say I’m a fan of writing Jimin.

[queerloquial]

tl;dr- saints row hawke family au. bethany amell sends fanmail to a rising gang warlord to cope with a shitty personal life, jasper hawke continues searching for a connection to his estranged baby sister

the first postcard arrives shortly after he takes stilwater for the second time, penned in an unsteady cursive slope: “dear mister jasper hawke,” the blue loops eventually align themselves to read, “i have a homework assignment today to write a letter to my hero. i think i am supposed to pick gandhi or my mother, but i picked you instead because it would make both of them mad. how are you? i am annoyed and twelve and will get a c on this because you are a bad influence. don't tell my mom.”

he gives a soft huff of a laugh and sets the card on his desk, on top of a stack of takeout menus, movie ticket stubs, and old post-it reminders. after a couple weeks it’s joined by another card in the same wandering handwriting, “dear mister jasper, are you really as tall as you look on tv? have you always been that tall? i’m almost thirteen and i can still fit my fourth grade clothes. i think if i stood next to you i would only be as tall as your elbow maybe”

on the same schedule, a third. “dear mister jasper, we did family trees today in history. it took the teacher almost the entire class time to figure out i was making everything up. i probably shouldn’t have said that my dad is in witness protection because he witnessed a brutal murder. i got a b though”

“dear mister jasper, i hope you had a nice day today. i wonder if that would involve more explosions than normal for you or less?”

“dear mister jasper, the girl beside me in language arts copied off my test and told the teacher i cheated off of her. i got a 0, so i punched her in the nose the way i saw you do to a reporter in an interview last week. i think you would be proud of me. mom wasn’t” he does, in fact, feel a small swell of pride at this nameless kid standing up for themselves, as he shelves this card with the rest, under a tabloid clipping proclaiming ‘leandra amell’s out-of-control daughter suspended- again! jazz icon refuses to comment on preteen’s violent rampage’

“dear mister jasper, i heard my favorite song on the radio and wondered if my dad was listening to it too”

“dear mister jasper, mom visited the school today and gave a speech about following your dreams, and made me stand up and sing to demonstrate a point. i didn't get swallowed up by the earth, so i can't say i'm following my dreams”

“dear mister jasper, do you ever get scared of things? i have a math test tomorrow and if i get three wrong then my gpa will drop and i won’t get into the college mom wants. i’m also scared of eels. they’re creepy”

only a few days later comes the apparent follow-up, “dear mister jasper, do gangsters accept apprentices like in hogwarts? or maybe interns? i think i could be a good intern even though i don’t know what interns do. my report cards say i’m a fast learner”

“dear mister jasper, it was my birthday today. my roommate gave me fuzzy socks that her cousin sent her for her birthday last month and a card made from notebook paper. mom sent her love. at least i think she did. she didn’t say anything to me”

“dear mister jasper, today i saw a young mom with a baby and i wanted to ask her when she would get bored of it and put it in a boarding school. i couldn’t leave my field trip group though. we were at the art museum. it was nice”

“dear mister jasper, i tried to draw the saints logo. i think i did a good job on the shading. i want you to have it, and only a little bit because i already got in trouble for having a saints t-shirt” he pins the lopsided fleur-de-lis, carefully lined in glittery purple gel pen, to the wall above the desk

“dear mister jasper, my teacher wants us to write a letter to our dads for fathers day. i think you are more fun and would probably be a better dad than whoever my dad is. mom never tells me when i ask”

“dear mister jasper, mom had a party today and made me play a song for everyone. i wrote it myself and they all said it sounded nice. i will tell you a secret though: the lyrics are in italian i learned from the exchange student across the hall and they’re about telling my mom to sit on a cactus. among other things. it makes it easier to smile in front of everyone”

“dear mister jasper, you ran away from your home when you became a saint, right? how did you know where to go? or when to leave? were you afraid? did you pack a lot? the documentary i watched said you only had a dog, a gun and a hundred dollars. i don’t know if i think that is true but i have a stuffed cow, a pair of scissors, and fourteen dollars and seventy-three cents”

“i think i know where this is going and i don’t like it one bit, kid. wish you would put a return address that didn’t come out to some random fast food joint for once...” he mutters into his drink

sure enough, the next postcard comes, “dear mister jasper, i am leaving today to find a new family. i hope yours makes you happy”

he gives a grim sigh and sets it with the others. the next day the gas station newspaper stand shouts to anyone who will look down that bethany amell has been reported missing. ice crystals grow along his ribs and the small part of him that still believes in higher powers prays for more cards to come. it’s a full three weeks before he shuffles through his daily mail to find a familiar looping scrawl,

"dear mister jasper, i wonder if you got scared when new strangers cared more than old family. did you feel guilty, too?"

another several cards come through over time, narrating in brief a journey across half the country that- to his dismay- mirror the one he’d taken himself almost five years earlier. the kid moves in a wide arc around stilwater, though, wandering aimlessly and getting wrapped up in more obscure gangs

at length, ‘the kid’ starts to confirm their identity

"dear mister jasper hawke, she said i abandoned her on tv today. didn't expect that to feel like i got shot again"

he vaguely remembers hearing something like that, possibly from leandra- one of the other saints had an interview on the tv in the other room while he was trying and failing to take a nap. maybe it was her, maybe it was some other woman. either way, he thinks, if he ever meets this kid in person he’s taking custody on the spot

"dear mister jasper hawke, she always told me not to cry about my problems if it doesn't change anything. is it dumb that i keep writing these? i know she's right, but there's no one else to tell"

"dear mister jasper hawke, it's my birthday today. saw on the tv that she has a dog now. she takes it everywhere. i hope it gets taken away"

he distinctly remembers flipping through a checkout-line magazine and passing over a picture of leandra with a purse dog. one of the hairless glorified rats with a toupee of wispy white fur, sticking its head out from under her arm and staring directly into the camera with soulless beady eyes

with every new hint that drops, he doubles down on efforts to pinning down just where bethany is and who she’s running with. it takes months- she’s clever enough to stay out of the spotlight, smarter than he’d been. she wouldn’t be going and getting herself put on a bomb-rigged yacht anytime soon. eventually, though, a heist goes sour, her so-called new family leaves her to take the fall, and she lands herself squarely in the county jail

never one to pass up an opportunity, he pens a letter of his own, one that’s been building up in the back of his mind for almost three years

nothing fancy, there’s no earth-shattering revelations like ‘hey i think you’re my long-lost baby sister’ or ‘you had two dads and two older siblings and a twin and your asshole mother took you away from all of them because she was a selfish bitch’ or ‘if you’ve ever had an inexplicable craving for apple pie on your birthday it’s because our family has always celebrated with pie instead of cake’. just a constructed persona letting her know that she has someone watching out for her. that she’s not nearly as alone as she feels.

it’s a good month before the next postcard arrives. “dear mister jasper, i think i got punk’d by jehova’s witnesses. also state-funded cafeterias are terrible. i’m pretty sure you already knew that though”

he pins that one to the wall after a good laugh and immediately sits down to fire back, “dear miss bethany, i’m not religious. try again”

"dear mister jasper, i am impressed and mildly concerned. did stilwater have a slow week, or did you hire a private detective to read your fan mail"

"dear miss bethany, you’d be surprised how much free time there is at my job. got a lot of underlings, now, who i can just delegate to. besides, detectives charge too much and take too long to do their work"

they trade postcards back and forth for a short bit before a lengthy silence follows his last response. eventually she turns up again, in a new city, flying new colors.

"dear mister jasper, a girl kissed me today. when she asked me if it was okay, i panicked and left without a word"

"dear miss bethany, it happens. i did the same thing. she'll probably be okay with if it you explain to her, or you can leave it and move on. both work" this one he sends in an envelope, with $50 and an extra note- "i know staying on your feet on your own is hard. if you feel like it, come find me someday"

she doesn’t, although they keep talking anyways. it’s another two years before the subject comes up again, this time from bethany, in a scrawled card that reads only,

“think i’ll take you up on that offer soon”