#all i can think about is how she's going to grow up and find out

[jupitermelichios]

I started adding this to the tags, but apparently tumblr doesn't want people writing novels in the tags because they're cowards

as it stands in the show, i don't ship them, because i think edrissa deserves better than mal is currently capable of giving her, or anyone. (I do want them to be best friends and go to medical museums on the weekends and eat lunch together in the morgue so they can talk about corpses without the others complaining, though)

however.

it's ten years later. martin is dead. mal has taken a break from the police to work in academia, teaching students and writing papers. he's calmer. he's stable. the nightmares aren't gone, but they're better than they've ever been, and he eats multiple meals without needing to be reminded almost every day.

edrissa is still working in the morgue. she had a serious relationship for a few years, but in the end they grew apart and called in quits, and she's been single for a couple of years.

they haven't seen one another in almost a decade, but gil is finally retiring for good, and they bump into one another at the party. they mean to just catch up, but once they get talking they find they have so much to say. it's not like old times - it's better. edrissa is more confident. mal is calmer, and has a life that isn't just work and his father's legacy. and there's this spark not that wasn't there before, and next thing they know the party is ending and they haven't talked to anyone else all evening

they exchange numbers, but edrissa doesn't know if she should call. maybe she's too old for him? her hair is more silver than black now, and she likes how it looks, but mal has barely aged. if anything, he looks younger without the weight of his father to carry. the age difference between them is the same as its always been, but she convinces herself it feels larger

but she also knows that if she doesn't try, she'll always regret it. even though mal's interest in her back then was as a friend rather than a romantic possibility, she's always thought of him as her 'one that got away'.

and she also knows malcolm bright is never going to be the one to make the first move

however has hasn't counted on mal being a lot more emotionally mature than he wasn't when she first met him, and she's especially not counting on the fact that Dani and Gil saw them together and immediately decided to play matchmaker, or that Gil would get Jessica in on it

so before she's managed to psych herself up to make the first move, mal calls. tells her he knows they're old friends, but he'd always have regretted it if he didn't try, and would she like to get dinner?

she's so shocked she almost forgets to say yes, just sits there silently until mal starts to apologise, but they get there, and she accepts.

the experiment proves replicable. the spark is still there on the first date, the second, the third. they don't run out of things to talk about. the sex, when they eventually get to it, is great

it's not always easy. mal's healthier than he's ever been, but there are some wounds that are never going to entirely heal, some scars that won't fade. And edrissa's got scars of her own, along with a stubborn streak a mile wide

but they work at it. they compromise. they figure out which issues can be overcome with time and patience and which are best left alone. they don't move in together - edrissa has spent a lifetime currating a very specific space, and mal needs somewhere he can retreat to on his bad days. they've both got tempers and deep insecurities and a tendency to get absorbed in their work and vanish for days at a time, but they figure out ways to live with all of them.

their lives grow together, like intertwining vines. they grow together.

and they're happy.

Don’t die. - I won’t. I promise.

Malcolm and Edrisa, for @actuallylukedanes ♡

[queen-of-the-avengers]

Keeper of my Heart

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~3.6k

Warnings: mostly fluff

Summary: You live in a world where people’s hearts are kept in pocket watches to give to that one special person. You go through life thinking you’ll never find the one when you run into Bucky one fateful night.

Square Filled: au: steampunk (2020) for @buckybarnesbingo

Author’s Note: any and all comments are appreciated <3

x

“How about this one?”

You walk out of the closet wearing the dress you wore for Homecoming in high school. It’s purple, goes down to your knees, and is strapless. You lost some weight since then so the dress fits you not snug like a glove but good enough for this blind date. Vanessa looks at you and shakes her head.

“Why do you still have that dress? Throw it away. That’s like you’re saying high school was a peak for you.”

“Then I don’t know what to wear. I haven’t been on a date since Mario, and I don’t know what to do. Maybe I shouldn’t go,” you sigh.

“You’re thirty-one, Y/N, and you still own your heart. It’s time you find someone to give it to.” You groan as you walk back into your closet, already annoyed by the story you know is coming. “As you know, I gave my heart away when I was eighteen to Vaughn. Oh, it was magical. Sure I was dating him all throughout high school, but I took one look in his eyes and knew. He was the person I was meant to spend the rest of my life with. I look at you and become sad that you don’t have that person to share things with. You live alone.”

“Thanks for that very touching story that I definitely haven’t heard before,” you say sarcastically, “but I’ll be fine.”

You walk out of the closet wearing a different dress. It flows all around you loosely, has pink flowers on it, and has puffy sleeves that go down to your wrists. It’s very flattering, and judging by the way Vanessa’s eyes light up, you found the one.

“You’re my little sister, Y/N. I will always worry about you.”

“I know.” You smooth down your hair and start looking around your room for something. “Now if I can only find my heart. Where did I put the damn thing?”

You look on your messy vanity desk but it’s not there. You fling clothes out of your closet looking for the damn thing. You’re always losing your heart which is not a good thing. If something bad happens to it…

“It’s on your bed, Y/N,” Vanessa sighs.

You walk over to your bed and pick up the delicate pocket watch. You open it and stare at your heart beating rhythmically inside. When people are born, they are born with their hearts in a sac outside of their bodies. Doctors then provide a pocket watch to put the hearts in, something that will protect it always. Everyone outgrows their first pocket watch, so parents gift their children new ones every few years to keep up with their growing organs. By the time someone turns eighteen, their heart is at the biggest it will ever get, so they get one pocket watch and stick with that one for years, decades even.

Everyone goes through life looking for their special someone. Time and time again, you’ve heard stories of people finding true love and giving their hearts over. It’s supposed to be magical. Vanessa never misses an opportunity to tell the story of how and why she gave her heart to Vaughn. Your mother gave her heart at a young age, and your friends have already given their hearts over.

You’re the only one who hasn’t found your one true love or whatever shit people say these days. You’re not good at dating, and you seem to mess up every relationship you’ve ever been in. With Mario, you thought he was the one until you accused him of cheating. He broke things off with you and made you feel bad about accusing him like that. 

Turns out he was cheating on you, and you haven’t been on a date since.

Vanessa found someone at her work to set you up with, and you agreed only to keep from hearing her annoying story again. You close the pocket watch and place it inside your small handbag. Vanessa sees you out, and you drive to the bar to meet Jerry, her coworker. You’ve heard a few stories about him but not enough to develop an opinion. Maybe this date will go well. Maybe Jerry might be the one.

You enter the bar and find Jerry already at a table sporting a tall glass of beer. He smiles when he sees you, and you’re suddenly cautious of the way your legs look in the dress.

“You must be Y/N,” he smiles with unbelievably white teeth.

“Yeah. You’re Jerry,” you chuckle nervously.

“Thanks for agreeing to meet me with me. I know how blind dates usually go. Vanessa has told me so much about you.”

“I don’t know if I should be scared or not.”

“Don’t worry, it’s all good things.”

Jerry seems pretty cool, and you two hit it off from the start. This might be looking like the date is going well until about three drinks in.

“So, Vanessa never told me what you do.”

“Oh, I work at the local bookstore, A Thousand Lives.”

“Yeah, but what do you want to do in life?”

The question makes your hands clammy. Your voice drops a few tones. “I work at a bookstore.”

“You want to do that for the rest of your life?”

You open your mouth to respond but nothing comes out of it. Do you? You love working there. You’re surrounded by a thousand little lives and amazing stories.

“I guess I never really thought about it. I like writing but that’s something on the side. I don’t do it a lot.”

“So, you have no ambition?”

Suddenly, you don’t feel like being here with Jerry. This needs a change of topic. “What do you do? I mean, I know Vanessa works with you but she didn’t really touch on it.”

“I work in finance. I’m one of our top accountants. I’m quickly earning my place on the boards. I hope to be CEO one day.”

“That’s amazing. I hope you get it.”

He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out his pocket watch. “I hope to give this to someone special one day.”

“I have one too.” You put your purse on the table and sift through the contents. “Fuck, where did I put it?” you laugh nervously. “Sorry, Jerry. Give me a second.”

Jerry sighs and pockets his watch again. “I gotta go.”

“No, wait.” You practically dump half your purse onto the table before finding the watch. “I found it.”

You look up but Jerry isn’t sitting across from you anymore. In fact, he left the bar. You sigh sadly and put the watch back into your purse. You should have stayed home. After cleaning the table of your things, you walk to the back where the bathrooms are. This is the last time you have Vanessa set you up with anything. Maybe it’s fate that you end up alone. Just you and your books.

After you’re done, you walk out of the bathroom with your eyes on your phone. You’re not looking where you’re going and end up knocking into someone. Your purse falls and all of the contacts scatter across the ground.

“Fuck, I’m sorry,” you gasp.

You look up and notice dark blue eyes. Dark, short hair. A strong jawline that’s covered in facial hair. Slight freckles on his face. Bulging muscles. Fuck, he’s attractive.

“No, I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s my fault,” you mutter and drop your knees.

The stranger gets on his knees to help you pick up your things. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.” Your hand brushes his when you grab your things from him, and heat floods your body from the slight contact. “I’m Bucky.”

“Y/N.”

“Are you here with someone?” he asks when you two stand.

“I was just leaving, actually. Not really my scene. It was nice to meet you, Bucky. I’m sorry, again.”

You blush and duck out of view before he has a chance to say anything back. Bucky watches you leave the bar, his mind already fuzzy with the thought of you. A stranger but he finds himself wanting to know you more. After using the bathroom, he walks out and notices something shiny on the floor in the hallway.

A pocket watch. It’s delicate, a reminder that it’s fragile yet heavy and sturdy enough to protect the heart that’s inside. Some people put their names on it in case they ever get lost, but there isn’t a name on this. Bucky opens it and sees the precious heart beating. He can’t just leave it here, and he doesn’t trust the owner of the bar enough to leave it with him.

He pockets the watch and leaves the bar.

After your date with Jerry, you tried avoiding your sister as much as possible. You declined her calls and refused to see her, claiming you were busy with work. A couple of days go by with you working at the bookstore when Vanessa walks in with determination on her face.

“Shit,” you mutter under your breath.

“Way not to call me back.”

“I’m busy with work.”

She looks around the empty bookstore. “Clearly.”

“What do you want?”

“How did the date go? Did you and Jerry hit it off?”

“He’s not the one for me.” She opens her mouth to protest but you cut her off. “I’m not good at this whole thing, and he seemed a little too arrogant for my taste.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll find someone else for you.”

“No, Vanessa. I don’t need your help. I appreciate it but this is something I have to do alone.”

“Fine.”

You just don’t know how to tell her that you might be alone for the rest of your life.

Bucky walks into his home, tired from the day’s events. He shuffles into his room and yanks off his police belt before tossing it on the bed. His precinct just got a new Captain, and he hasn’t been exactly welcoming to the team. All he needs is a hot shower, some food, and a good night’s rest.

He sits on his bed and allows himself ten minutes of blissful silence, but that’s when he hears it.

A heart beating.

He takes out the pocket watch he found and opens it. Still beating. It doesn’t even know it’s missing from its owner. He’d give anything to know who this belongs to. Bucky reaches into the drawer beside his bed and takes out his own pocket watch. Both hearts are beating but out of sync.

Beat. Beat.

Beat. Beat.

Beat… 

The two hearts find rhythm together and start beating at the same time. Suddenly, every bone in Bucky’s body starts relaxing. He doesn’t even know who the heart belongs to, but he feels safe with it. He feels like whoever this belongs to wouldn’t judge him or the mistakes he’s made in the past. The steady beat of both hearts is enough to lull Bucky to sleep… still in his uniform.

It’s only the next day when you notice it’s missing. You just about turned your house upside down trying to find it. Your heart is missing. Vanessa is on her way over to your place right now as soon as she gets the frantic call from you.

“I’m here!” she announces when she walks inside. She pauses at the state of your house. “Whoa. Y/N?”

“In my bedroom!”

She steps over the fallen pieces of furniture and walks into your room which is even messier. “Wow, you didn’t waste any time.”

“I lost my heart, Nessa! If I show up to Mom’s without it, I’ll be ridiculed. Like I need to give her yet another reason to be disappointed in me,” you sigh.

“Don’t freak out yet. When was the last time you had it?”

“At the bar with Jerry. I bumped into this guy and my purse fell, but I could have sworn I picked it up. It could be anywhere by now. If it gets damaged…”

You let the sentence hang unfinished. If a heart is damaged, the owner can get really sick or die depending on what the damage was.

“Don’t worry. We’ll go down to the police station and report it missing. These things have trackers on them.”

“The new ones do, Nessa. When we were born… They don’t have trackers in them.”

“It’s okay. It’s going to be fine. Come on, I’ll drive.”

Bucky walks into work feeling better than he has in years. He doesn’t remember a time when he slept and didn’t have nightmares. It’s all because of that heart he found. He should have reported it missing and posted something on local social media sites, but he can’t seem to part with it. What if the person doesn’t like him? What if the person hates him for stealing it? He’d never let anything bad happen to it which is why he carries it with him everywhere.

Right where a heart should be.

“Damn, Bucky, you look refreshed.” Bucky looks at his best friend and partner, Steve. They both joined the force right out of high school. “Did you get laid?”

“No, I just had the best sleep last night. No nightmares.”

Bucky walks to his desk and gets started on the paperwork he left last night. After about two hours sitting at his desk, he grabs his empty coffee mug and heads to the break room. He passes by the front door to get to it, not seeing you and Vanessa walking toward the building. He disappears into the break room at the same time you enter, and you look around the precinct for someone to help.

There is a blond man at his desk with his eyes on his phone, and you decide he’s the officer you want helping you. Everyone else looks busy.

“Excuse me, Officer?”

He looks up and puts his phone away. “What can I do for you ladies?”

“I’d like to report something stolen… missing… whatever. It’s my heart. I don’t know where it is.”

“What makes you think it’s stolen… missing… or whatever?” You give Officer Rogers your statement about the entire night you knew you had it. Meeting Jerry, showing it off, and bumping into someone. “Alright, I’ll look into this. I’ll give you a call if I find something.”

There’s not much you can do except wait, so you and Vanessa leave with a sinking feeling in your chests. The second you leave the precinct, Bucky walks out of the break room and heads to his desk with a fresh cup of coffee.

Instead of going to your mom’s for dinner, you decide to stay at work the whole time. It’s better than being at her place and being judged for not finding your “one” yet. You’re always being compared to Vanessa or your cousins since they’re all in successful relationships and you’re not.

You’re sitting behind the counter playing a game on your phone when the bell rings, signaling someone walked into the bookstore. You look up and meet familiar dark blue eyes.

“Bucky, hi,” you smile.

“You remember me?”

“You’re kind of hard to forget,” you mumble with a smile. “What are you doing here?”

“I was wondering if you had a certain book in store. The Giving Tree. My niece’s birthday is coming up, and she loves that book.”

“Yeah, it’s upstairs in the kid section.”

Bucky nods and walks off but comes back seconds later. “I always get lost. Will you show me?”

You smile and step away from your desk. You look at Bucky’s uniform in thought.

“I didn’t know you were a cop.”

“We only talked for three minutes,” Bucky laughs.

“Fair point. Do you like being an officer?”

“Love it, actually. I love being able to help people and bring justice to those who need it.”

“That’s very honorable. Better than being in this bookstore, I imagine.”

“Now don’t sell yourself short. This is a good place to work. You’re a guardian for a thousand worlds.”

“I actually haven’t heard that one before. Thanks,” laugh.

You and Bucky find yourselves lost in conversation even though you showed Bucky where the book was several minutes ago. You’re both single, you both prefer alone time rather than the bars, and you both love reading. Eventually, you have to go back downstairs to check him out even though you don’t want the conversation to stop.

“I hope this isn’t too forward but you’re very easy to talk to. I can tell you’re a good guy.”

Bucky leans on the counter with a dazzling smile. “Would you like to go to dinner with me tomorrow? I can pick you up.”

“I’d love to,” you grin.

That’s the start of your relationship with Bucky. It doesn’t matter if you’re in your small bookstore or at a crowded restaurant, he makes everyone around you two disappear. All your problems melt away when you’re with him, and you think he feels the same about you. A few months pass of flirty comments and romantic dates when you think about asking him to be your boyfriend, to be in a more serious relationship.

Bucky can’t contain his happiness even at work, and Steve watches him with a slight smile on his face. It’s been a long time since he’s seen his friend be this happy.

“She makes me happy, Steve. I want to ask her to be my girlfriend.”

“Are you having any more nightmares? Even from my apartment, I could hear your screams.”

“They’ve gone away. Ever since I found that heart, I’ve been sleeping better.”

“What?”

“What?” Bucky asks in confusion.

“A few months ago, Y/N came into the precinct to report a missing heart. You never mentioned it before, and I’ve been waiting for the owners to get back to me with the footage inside the bar. I was just about to look at it.”

Bucky gets up and walks behind Steve so that he can see the video. Steve takes out the flash drive that’s on his desk and plugs it into his computer. Footage of the bar comes up on screen, and Steve fast-forwards it to the night you were there with Jerry. There is only one camera pointed at the main dining area, so they can only see the back of your head and Jerry’s face. 

Thirty minutes go by when he leaves, leaving you all alone. You leave to go the bathroom and Steve switches to the camera that’s in the hallway where the bathrooms are. When you leave, you end up bumping into Bucky and your purse falls to the ground. Something clunky rolls away from you two and skirts to a stop in the corner.

Forgotten about. Left for anyone to find. Left for Bucky to find. Your heart.

After you leave, Bucky ends up picking the heart. Bucky reaches into his breast pocket and pulls out the heart he’s come to be so fond of.

“This is hers?” Bucky whispers.

“You know what you’ve got to do.”

Right before your shift ends, Bucky walks into the bookstore wearing dark jeans, a black button-up, and a black jacket. He looks so devilishly handsome.

“Hi, Bucky,” you greet. You lean forward and kiss him across the counter. “I’m just about finished with my shift.”

“Okay,” he nods.

“Are you okay? You look nervous.”

“I’m okay. I’ll wait until you’re done.”

You finish putting away the last of the books back on the shelves before changing into your date night clothes. It’s a simple sundress that stops at your knees. Perfect for the warm weather outside.

“I’m ready,” you grin.

There is a restaurant that was built right next to a calming river that Bucky takes you to. You’ve wanted to come here but you didn't want to go alone. Bucky gets a table near the river so you can enjoy the sound of trickling water while you eat. After the waitress takes your drink orders, Bucky clears his throat.

“Okay, why do you look so nervous?”

“I want to ask you something but I can’t knowing I have something of yours.”

“Of mine? What is it?” Bucky takes out your pocket watch from his jacket and you gasp softly when you see it. “I’ve been looking for that for months. I thought I lost it. Where did you find it?”

“At the bar when you ran into me.”

“You’ve had this for months?”

“I didn't know it was yours until this morning. This is mine.” Bucky takes out his pocket watch and opens both of them. They’re still beating in sync like they belong together. They only do that when you’ve found the one. “I’ll give you yours back but what I’d really like to do is give you mine. You make the… The first night I took this home, I didn't have any nightmares. I’ve been having them since I was a teenager. You make them go away.”

“Bucky,” you whisper.

“I know it’s selfish bringing this up but I really like you. I was going to come here and ask you to be my girlfriend. It was supposed to be this whole thing, but I understand if your answer changes knowing I’ve had your heart the entire time.” You stare at him like he has three heads, and he sighs. “Am I messing this up?”

You grin after a few seconds. “No. I’m usually the one who messes it up.”

He reaches across the table and grabs your hand. “What I feel for you, I’ve never felt about anyone else. Will you be my girlfriend?”

“Yes,” you say without hesitation.

He slides his pocket watch over to you. “This belongs to you now.”

You grab it and hold it close to your chest. “I’ll cherish it always.”

You make a vow there and now that you’ll never misplace a pocket watch ever again.

x

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[mamawasatesttube]

Janet lives au my beloved, I love the difference in the Janet lives vs the Jack lives au :)

Happy holidays! :D

thanks, happy holidays to you too!!!

also aughgh right??? there is so much to ponder wrt janet our collective beloved janet... i think often about this. like. his issues with jack would both shrink and grow because on the one hand jack is no longer actively around to do shit to feed into tim's many complexes. on the other hand, he now has jack up on the Perfect Dad pedestal in his mind because he's dead. can't criticize your dead dad that's fucked up and horrible. right?

and on the other hand. man. so lets posit he has a better relationship with janet than he would with jack (because janet is a better parent than jack, and let's be real, that isn't really a high bar. but given jack's... everything, i just kinda really get the vibe that he left most of the actual parenting to janet). now at first you'd think this is solely a good thing! ...but can you imagine how much more agonized tim is about having to lie to his beloved mommy???? all the time??? he's even more torn between The Mission and his filial piety this time around!!! augh!!!

like all those times jack didnt notice tim hiding bruises with makeup ? if janet's around it is sooo possible that tim steals HER makeup for this specifically at least once and She. Notices. deeply possible that she puts together "tim showing up with mysterious injuries he keeps trying to hide and also lying to me about it" with "tim getting closer with dick grayson and bruce wayne while i was away" and deduces that she doesn't know WHAT they've gotten her little baby boy into, but she IS going to kill those guys. tim keeps insisting that they're very nice to him but that really isn't helping anything. but just the entire concept of janet actually paying attention to tim's injuries - noticing if he steals her makeup!!! - or paying attention to things like. *checks notes* one of his classmates being SHOT DEAD at their SCHOOL ???? hey jack how did you not even check on him once after this. whats wrong with you. i just wanna talk jack

so i think she'd find out tim's robin way faster than jack. he probably would agonize about wanting her to know but The Mission and the need for secrecy, etc. but notably, when she finds out, i don't think she'd force him to quit - she'd really really want him to, because this is so dangerous and he's her baby and she doesn't want him to get hurt!!! but if he pushed back and tried to explain his side of it, she'd actually be willing to at least hear him out (unlike jack).

but also. not to be predictable but. i think it would be really funny if at some point during this drama kon-el shows up on the front doorstep looking for robin, and eavesdrops just enough to understand that janet knows now. because. hear me out. this is how we once again arrive at tim walking into his own house and home and just balking because kon is at the kitchen table hanging out with his mother. mom why the heck are you giving superboy my oreos!!!!

(also, calling back a little to the concept of baby kon somehow befriending janet, but. very specific vision in my mind of "janet lives past identity crisis too au" where at some point baby kon mentions to tim in her earshot that hes never had a mom and wonders whats it like?? and she doesnt say anything but this strikes her to the heart. several years down the line when timkon are established at some point she's like conner sweetie i know a long time back you said you don't have a mother, and i understand that completely and don't mean to try and take any place in your life you don't want me in, but if you ever would like to have a mother-in-law… and tim is just like. MOM. ARE YOU TRYING TO PROPOSE TO KON FOR ME??? THIS IS SO CRINGE. UGH MOM STOP)

[fireheartpages]

terrible idea | b.d.

bodhi durran x reader one. part two. three. four. five. summary: everyone has their demons, you just chose to run from yours. straight to basgiath war college. and definitely not towards the grinning tall, dark, and handsome marked rider that seemed too kind to be in a hardened place like the rider's quadrant. leave it to you to catch his attention word count: almost 2.5k notes: second person pov with she/her pronouns. reader has a last name and a dirty dancing esque nickname. questionable geographic knowledge of the continent and use of modern fairy tales & fables for metaphors and allegories. if rebecca yarros can put her chronic illness in her story so can i. enjoy the second part of whatever my brain has been brewing for the past few days! there will be two ish more parts :DD half of this was written while wine tipsy and all of it was proofread while wine drunk and very sleepy, so we die like men

You take a deep breath in, and push it out, suppressing a shiver. It was cold in September. What the hell.

Being from the coast of Tyrrendor means you thought you were prepared for cold weather. The coast is cold. It's always windy. You would go swimming in cold water. And then you came to Morraine in the fall. Fuck, it was cold. It made everything hurt.

You ball your hands into fists, ignoring the way the skin on your hands protests. The Gauntlet seems to taunt you as you stare up at it, like a looming, overbearing giant ready to knock you down the minute you try to climb the beanstalk. You and Violet have been the only ones not to complete the course thus far.

She came up next to you, handing you a healing slave that you accept gratefully. You tug off the gloves, smothering the place where your palm met the knuckle in it. It makes the joint pain a bit more bearable, but you're still trying to find something that relieved the dry, cracked, and flaking skin there, or the welts that materialize and wake you up with how badly they hurt.

The freezing cold wind and rain in September certainly doesn't help. Fucking Morraine weather. Why does the north have to be so cold?

You slip the black leather back over your hands, fastening your gloved as tight as they could go to avoid slipping and handed the salve back to Violet.

"It's not as windy today," she remarks.

"I don't think wind is our biggest operative here," you say in response, and she laughs.

She nods at you, a twinkle in her eye telling you she has a new plan. She murmurs something under her breath before turning her attention to the hall that leads to the course, and you wipe the gloves against the flight leathers you'd donned that morning, as if that would rough up the palms and keep you from slipping.

It happened every time. Anything balance or footwork related was easy. In fact, you were the fastest in most areas, by a long shot. Impressively fast on the granite columns and rotating timbers, but you struggle with the iron rails. Sometimes, if you picked out the wrong gloves, you would slip right off. You were lucky your reflexes were fast, able to wrap a rope around your hand until you could tug a glove off. You ended nearly every session with rope burns cracking the skin of your hands.

Someone brushes past you, and as you turn to see who they were, Ridoc invades your space, his hands cupping your shoulders. He spins you back around, and shoves you another step down the hallway.

"Stop being nervous. You've got this."

"I haven't made it all the way up once," you remark, brow furrowing.

"Violet's gonna do it," he said firmly, casting a glance back to where her and Dain are having a heated conversation in whispers.

"She is, and so are you," Rhiannon chimes in. "We all are. It's going to be fine."

"The Gauntlet isn't even the hardest part about today," Sawyer grumbles, and all three of you shoot him a look. He shrugs. "I'm just saying."

The light is growing bigger now at the end of the hallway, and you're about to take up positions to start. Dain is gone, leaving Violet sucking down deep breaths behind you. And you feel like you're going to crawl out of your own skin.

"Ridoc," You say, spinning towards him. "I need a favor."

"Yeah?"

"Let me climb you."

Ridoc lets out a surprised laugh that's more akin to a yelp. "If you wanna take me to bed, Baby, all you had to do was ask. I just don't think this is the best place to--"

"Put your arm up," you snap. "I need to check the traction on these gloves. I think it's why I can't get past the rails, or the chimney."

Ridoc does as he's asked, and you jump up, grabbing for his arm. You grunt as your hand slides right off, and he wraps an arm around you to keep you from tipping both of you over. Frustrated, you rip the gloves off, wiping the salve off on your pants. Sawyer extends a handkerchief.

This is a terrible idea.

"Professor," you saw, as the rest of your squad files onto the landing. "Can I go last?"

Emetterio looks at you like you've grown a second head, bushy dark brows raising, but he relents. "Sure."

You nod, staring at the line of cadets in front of you, slotting into the back behind Tynan and Luca. Make sure your squad gets up all the way. You don't care if anyone else slips on the leftover lotion on your hands.

Because after Violet makes it up both the chimney and the vertical incline, you dare to let yourself hope. And then the last two are down, and then it's your turn.

This is a terrible idea.

The buoy balls had given you grief before, but with the amount of adrenaline in your body, you danced across them like the columns and timbers and logs. It was easy, and then you were standing in front of the iron rails. You were going to die--

An idea comes to you, and it takes half a second before you decide it's worth the time you waste. You rip the gloves from your pocket, knotting the fingers together, and hold them to each hand, gripping the rail.

You palm the rail as you swing your body across, using the traction of the iron and your skin to hand on, while the leather guards your skin from the ramifications. The sky is darkening, and you can tell it's about to rain, making you hurry along, one hand at a time, adjusting the grip of the gloved underneath your hands. Being able to use your nails to dig into the gloves, and the tension of the gloves to support your weight. You're maybe three feet from the edge before you feel it--a stitch snaps, and the leather begins to wrap.

You slip. It's an incremental fall, but it's there, and it jacks up your heart rate. It makes your palms sweat. It makes you lose your grip on the gloves.

You lose one hand, and scramble to grab the glove again as the other hand slips.

"Swing!" It's Violet's voice. She sounds frantic. "Swing yourself over. You're close!"

The distance between you and the edge looks insurmountable right now. But you listen. And you swing.

And Violet was right. You were closer than you'd thought, and you land on the edge.

You make it up the rest of the course without an issue.

"Holy shit," Violet breathes as you scramble onto the landing. "Your hands."

Holy shit. Your hands is right.

"I thought mine were bad." She rips free a piece of your shirt and goes to soak up the blood coating your hands, and you immediately yelp when the fabric makes contact.

"I'm sorry!" Violet gasps. "I'm sorry--"

"No," you insist. "It was bad before I went--"

"Put your gloves on."

The voice sends a shiver down your spine.

You turn and--it's him. Bodhi. You freeze, reset, check functions--

"What did you just say to me?"

"Put your gloves back on," Bodhi says, and his voice holds and urgency you make a note not to underplay, on that has you obeying without protest.

Not without question, though. "Why?"

"You're about to walk in front of a shit ton of dragons that have no loyalty to you. And you have a gaping, open wound that was troubling you even before it was inflicted." His eyes are soft, even with his harsh words.

Right. Weakness.

You wince as you slide on each glove, holding his gaze. "No more leaking," you say, holding your hands up.

Presentation passes in a flurry, and it's as you're walking through the quad later that you spin around at the sound of your name being called. You're tired, the adrenaline having drained out of your body until you're left a shell of energy--okay with the idea of somthing, less inclined to be able to follow through.

You'd made it through presentation, though. Not all of you had, but your friends had. That had to count for something. A Green had taken an interest in you, as well as a Blue. You had a preference for the Greens--you wanted a sharp mind--but the blue had looked at you with such keen eyes.

All of this to say you'd even be chosen. It was all up in the air at this point.

Bodhi--the boy from the challenge, and from the Gauntlet-- is jogging up to you. He has something in his hand, and you furrow your brow. You were making your way back from the infirmary, the healers not bothering to do much with your hands. The skin would never heal completely, anyway.

"Hi," Bodhi says, and you can't help but crack a smile.

"Hi," you say in return.

"Hi," he says again, and then shakes his head. "Your hands. Are they okay?"

"Oh," you say, honestly taken aback. Smart. Okay. You can do better than this, he's just a boy--

"Here," he says, extending something to you.

"Oh, no," you say. Okay. Maybe try for multiple syllables this time. "Please don't." Or not.

The way his face falls is comparable to buildings crumbling. To cities being leveled. It was Rome after Nero.

This is a terrible idea.

"It's not joint pain," you say quickly. "I mean, it is, but it's mostly my skin. It splits and gets really dry. That's why it hurts and bleeds."

"I figured," Bodhi says, with equal enthusiasm. "The blood, I--"

He takes a sharp, deep, and sudden breath, gaze meeting yours with an intensity that makes you falter. He opens the salve, and a soft, oaty scent floats to you. It's unlike the cool mint of Violet's salve. It's a balm, a lotion.

"You didn't use the ropes. I was watching your squad, and Violet did, which is why her hands were bleeding. But you didn't. And you wear the gloves all the time, so I just kind of figured..."

You swallow past the tightness in your throat. He motions to the bench next to you, underneath the wilting tree, and a few leaves make for their descent as you sit, side by side.

"Xaden mentioned something about Violet's salve, and I've seen you flinch when you put it on before," he says, eyes on the little round tin, and you're suddenly hit with the fact that this man has paid any attention to you.

"It's for joint pain," you explain. "Which can help, but the skin is my issue. When it's cold, or wet, or too dry, or I touch something--kind of all the time, but it gets worse with certain triggers. And the cold is one, and it is so much colder here than home."

Bodhi offers you the balm. "Where's home?"

"Tyrrandor."

He sucks in a breath.

"Near Lewellen. About as far south as you can go. Warm," you laugh. "Much warmer than anywhere in Morraine."

"I can imagine," Bodhi says, and he grins at you, and your world stops moving with the force of his focus on you. You were entranced. Holy shit, he was gorgeous. "Is that where your balance comes from?"

"I'd think so," you say. "We surf a lot down there. and I took dance classes as a kid. Well, before my mom died, so not too many--"

Idiot. Fuck, here's a marked one, a rebellion kid, and you're trying to talk about your damn mom--

'It's okay," Bodhi says. "You don't have to mince your words with me."

You nod. "My mom was apart of the rebellion."

You feel his gaze as it scans you from top to bottom. A question there--why you were from Lewellen, and not Aretia, and where your Mark was. The Mark you deserved, that he would never find.

"I'm not marked," you explain. "My dad ran off with me, basically, mid-rebellion. I never saw her again, only read her name on a death roll once I was enrolled here."

"So, he..."

"Was against the rebellion. Yes."

"And you..."

"Are. Not. No, I--" You suck down a deep breath, shifting where you sat, and trying to ignore the way his gaze bore into you. "I came to get away from him. I came to... see the death roll."

You hear a sharp breath in from beside you.

"I had to know for sure," you say quickly. "This was about the only place I could find out. And my town, after the rebellion, they would sponsor you, send you to school, but only if you were enlisted in the Rider's Quadrant."

Bodhi nods, averting his gaze and seeming to chew on the information you had given him.

"I did what I needed to. And I'm here. If i can survive Threshing, I might jut make it out." You smile at him, but he doesn't return it. Instead, the furrow in his bow only deepens. "That's the idea, at least."

"So, you didn't want to be a rider?" Bodhi asks.

"Gods, no," you say, under your breath, like it's a swear. "Surviving is a gift. And I won' take it for granted. But I'm fighting to do so."

"And your hands--"

"Kind of wounds that never heal, yeah." You turn them palm-up, staring down at them and wondering how you two had gotten so off track. "They're worse up here. The cold, I think, and the gloves make it hurt less upon contact, but I think it makes the skin worse when I take them off." You shake your head. "Some dragon rider I'll be, when I can't use my hands to do anything. If I had known how bad they would be up here, I would have gone to the Scribes or something, at least."

"Here." He extends the open tin, the soft smell of the balm wafting up to you, and something in your chest stirs. "I figured it was a skin thing, so this may help. I know a healer."

"You do?"

"Yeah!" he nearly chirps the word out. "She and her girlfriend helped make it for me."

"Oh," you say, swallowing. "That's really kind. Of all three of you. Thank you."

"Of course." Ne nods. "And for the record, you're going to make an amazing dragon rider."

It looks like it caused him pain to stand up, as his hands curled into fists. You knew the feeling well.

"I'll see you," he says.

"Yes," you return. "I will see you."

He walks away, and you watch him go, attempting to puzzle out where that had come from.

And just what it had cost him to make this balm.

[dearlot]

transfem lottie who gets you a strap on and gifts it to you on christmas eve because she has wanted to ask you if she could bottom for So long but was too shy... she's sitting there rubbing her legs all nervous while you open it and hopes you get the message so she doesn't have to say it out loud 😭

she makes you wait in the next room while she changes into red bra and panties and a santa hat and positions herself for you on the bed 😓😓 it is So worth the wait tho bc.. Wow. you have to stop yourself from pouncing her right that second 😵‍💫

-🍊

she asks you if you wanna pick out one present to open before tomorrow and has to lead you to the one she very deliberately placed because ur going for the big one 😭 thinking of her looking on websites to find you the perfect one and always getting sidetracked by imagining you fucking her with it and jerking off @__@ it gets to the point where she's so excited for it after she buys it that she gets a lil needy :( her breath hitching when you talk to her, easily blushing and getting random boners....

ur both so shy when you open it 😖😖 she'd wrap it up so neatly with a bow and make it all cutesy but the box has HUGE ANAL DILDO STRAP ON written on it 😭😭😭 def a squirting one too but that's for next time :-3 and she can't even vocally confirm it's for you when you ask because she's so dizzy and horny!!!!

lil blurb down blow hehehehe merry christmas @heliolottie this one's for you

"Don't you wanna put it on me at least?" you ask, licking your lips at the sight of Lottie's already half-chub as she turns back around. Your stomach does somersaults as you think about fucking her with it, imagining her face twisting into pleasure as you hit all the right places. You might have to crawl back to the bedroom because, my God, do your legs feel weak.

"I can stroke myself while I wait." you continue, trying to tempt her. Your mouth upturns into a smirk when her breath hitches, and you quickly fumble with opening the box after she nods silently. She stands awkwardly in front of you as you take it out, subtly palming her cock and struggling not to let out tiny gasps. After you take everything out, including the new harness she bought, you shove it in her shaky hands and start undressing yourself.

Once finished, you stand completely naked in front of her. "Go ahead."

Lottie kneels in front of you and you remember how much you love this sight. Your tummy does those somersaults again as she pats your thigh, and you place a hand on her shoulder to steady yourself as you lift your legs into the harness holes. Her fingertips dance across your skin as she reaches the straps, and you feel warm and giddy. She tightens the side straps way too tight and you teasingly thrust your hips in her face in response. She lets out an embarrassing moan and tries to cover it up by coughing. She can feel her cock grow bigger as she thinks about you shoving your strap in her face like that. And speaking of it, her trembling hands pick up the strapon and safely secure it in the harness, resisting the urge to completely abandon the idea of dressing up for you to sloppy makeout with the tip instead.

You feel like you've been waiting hours as you sit on the couch and experimentally pump your strap into your hands, wondering what's taking Lottie so long to call you back. Okay it's only been, like, 2 minutes, but still. You're horny and impatient. You can already hear your slick squelch against the base of the harness as you stroke the shaft. God, you're just as excited for this as Lottie is. You'd be lying if you said you've never thought about topping her at least once. You're not the biggest top in the relationship but at times you get this overwhelming urge to show her you can ruin her just as she ruins you.

Your ears perk and your tail stands straight up as you hear Lottie finally call you, and you practically speed over to the bedroom, hand hovering over the knob as you suddenly get shy. You smile stupidly to yourself and shake your head, biting your lip as you enter the room. Lottie's lying on the bed, clad in deep red lingerie and a Santa hat, and you could honestly drop dead right now. At least you would die happy.

"Holy shit..." you mumble to yourself. You can see her leaky tip peek out from her lacy panties, and it twitches slightly as you walk closer. "This might be the best Christmas ever."

OKOK thats all i feel like i can write rn without exploding but fawk. crawling up her body and resting on her chest, making her suck you off because you even touch her @__@ she gets so fucking greedy and horny that she ends up deepthroating herself on the strap :( thinking about eating her out before you fuck her too......spitting on her asshole and watching it wink for you... or maybe she's been prepping herself all day just for this and she's just so impatient, begging you to slide in with little foreplay. oh i know her cock would be flopping around so cutely while you bottom out in her GAHHH. telling her you gotta wait until she's adjusted before fucking her and shes already so close to cumming :( fucking her so good she goes crossed-eyed and grips onto you so tightly that you bleed....we're doing it in literally every position until we're BOTH passed out idc.

[dp-marvel94]

Real -Chapter 4

Summary:

While hiding from his parents in Gotham, an ill-timed encounter with his neighbor, Jason, has Danny pretending to be his own twin. Fortunately for Danny, the more he pretends the easier it gets. Until he is not pretending at all. Or: Danny names a duplicate and via ghost logic, said duplicate ends up becoming real.

First->Previous

Also on AO3

Note: So... my the chapter count went up from 4 to 6. Blushes sheepishly This story keeps growing beyond my control!

“Jamie.” Danny smiles softly up at his brother.

The other boy grumbles sleepily, slowly drawing his head up from his pillow. “What?”

“You lasted through the night.”

In a blink, Jamie sits up. His mouth falls open, his hands raising to his face. “Still… here?” He stares at his palms like he had never seen them before.

“Yeah buddy.” Danny sits up, grinning. “You’re still here.”

The clone stares disbelievingly for a few more moments. Finally, slowly, a hesitant smile blooms on his face. “Still here.” He stands from the couch, lowering himself to kneel beside Danny on the mattress. “Thank you.” Jamie spreads his arms, hugging the half ghost.

Gladly Danny returns the embrace. “I’m the dummy who forgot I had ectodejcto.” He shakes his head, chuckles more than a hint self-deprecating.

Still…. The chest pressed against his breaths slowly, warmth radiating from it.

He pulls back, fixing hopefully eyes on his twin. “How do you feel? Any different?”

Jamie raises a hand to his chest, brow furrowed in thought. “Kinda. Feel stronger. But…” The boy hesitates.

“But…” Danny gently prods.

“The heartbeat…. Feels different from yours.” The clone rubs fingers over his heart.

“Of course it does.” The older brother smiles encouragingly. “It’s your heart, not mine. That’s your body, completely yours.”

Jamie blinks once, his brow furrowing. “Guess it is.” Still, his hand rubs his chest.

Danny’s own brow furrows, puzzled. He had figured Jamie would be more excited at this development. The two are finally separate! But something is still bothering his twin.

After a pause, Jamie looks up, worried eyes fixing on the hastily wrapped cut on Danny’s bicep. “Is your arm better?”

“Oh yeah.” The half ghost casually turns to look. He pulls up end of the bandaging, peering at the thin scabbed line. “It’s fine.”

His twin’s frown just deepened. “It’s not fine. You got hurt and… and it’s Jamie’s fault.”

“No, it’s not. It’s not your fault.” Danny tries to reassure. “Spectra’s the one who decided to attack you when you were down.”

“And Spectra?” Fear flickers across Jamie’s face. “Where is she?”

“In the thermos.” Danny pulls the device out of the floor where he’d stashed it before going to sleep. “She’s not getting out anytime soon.”

His twin eyes the device. “And you’re planning to bury her in the park…” He bit his lip. “What if she gets out? Or a rogue finds her? One of the Bats? They could get curious.”

“Jamie, Jamie.” The older brother cuts into the anxious ramble. “It’s okay. Don’t worry. I’ll keep the thermos on me until I think of something better than burying it. I won’t let anything happen to it. Or to us. I’ll protect both of us.”

Doubt still flickers in the clone’s eyes but… “We’ll be okay?“ Round eyes plead his older brother for reassurance.

“Yes. We’ll be okay. You are going to be okay.” Danny smiles soothingly. “And you’ve finally got your own body! That’s incredible. If we could figure that out, we can figure out anything else that comes our way.”

Jamie finally exhales, tensed shoulders relaxing somewhat. Still, he says nothing about his new stability, just standing with a non-committal hum. He takes a few steps to the kitchen, opening the cupboard to pull out a box of cereal.

“You hungry?” Danny also stands. His lips quirk, pleased with the question.

“Yes.” The clone blinks once, staring at the box. His brow wrinkles. “That’s new.”

Danny laughs at the puzzled look. Still, he does not tease his brother too much. The two eat breakfast, mostly in companionable silence; even with his independent personality truly developed, Jamie is a person of few words.

As he’s cleaning his bowl in the sink, the clone cuts in. “Do you have work today?”

“Ugh. Yes.” Danny groans. Then he blinks, realizing. “I guess you’re staying here today?”

Jamie had visited him at work in the past, before the twins act became real. On their last longest foray apart – from when Danny woke up to when his body forced him to sleep at 36 hours – the clone had hidden away in the nearby library during Danny’s six-hour shift. Most of the time though, Jamie slept, his cold spark nested close to Danny’s own core. But hopefully now, their days of sharing a body are over.

“Yeah.” The other boy nods, pointing to the stack of books they’d picked up at the library. “Gonna try and get through The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.”

“Have fun.” The older quipped, more than a hint of tease.

The book is a mix of history, biography and biology that Danny himself would never have picked up. But at the library, he had watched as Jamie’s eyes lit up with excitement when spotting it. Oh, how Danny’s brightly own eyes had sparked at that excitement, sharing a measure of his brother’s joy.

Danny prepares for work, phasing the thermos into his side to keep it safe; no way was he leaving it here, alone with his brother. The half ghost dresses. He rides the bus across town. Takes orders, makes coffee, cleans the floor. A typical shift all around until….

Just as he is clocking out, a twinge of his twin’s fear ripples through their ever-present bond.

Danny heart pounds, a surge of panic in response. Is Jamie okay? What’s-

“Hey, Jamie. Danny’s not here?” Jason stands at the door.

The scene blooms in his mind, as clear as the coffee shop’s floor at his feet.

“No. At work.” Jamie’s voice answers.  “He should be clocking out about now though.”

“Alright.” Their neighbor smiles softly. “Do you want to help me surprise him with some cookies?”

“Uh… sure?” The tentative reply.

Jason lets himself in and Danny finally notices through Jamie’s eyes the large canvas bag he holds in either hand.

Through Jamie’s eyes… he must be seeing what his twin is.

“These are gonna be really great.” The man starts. “Not as good as my Gramps’. His start wars just as much as they end them.” He chuckles. “But he did try to teach me.”

The vision ends and Danny is left staring at the peg where he had been hanging his apron. One of his coworkers gives him an odd look and he hurries out of the store and towards the bus stop.

While Danny walks, words from outside himself poke at his core. It’s alright. Wanted to show you what was happening. No need to hurry.

Jamie soothes him and the half ghost gives a shaky sigh of relief. This is new, Jamie being able to sent him images through their bond. And words from so far away? His twin never ceases to surprise him.

Clumsily, Danny tries to reply back. Waiting for the bus. I’ll be home soon.

A mild confusion ripples down the line. Waiting? Home? Didn’t get all that. Need to focus on Jason though. Later.

The half ghost huffs. Well, that wasn’t the most successful. He feels the emotional communication trickle to a stop, his link to Jamie quiet and still.

Soon enough, the bus arrives. Danny rides back. He tries not to anxiously tap his foot, tries not to project that feeling to Jamie. As much as he likes Jason, he can’t help but share his brother’s worry. This is Jamie’s first time interacting with Jason by himself. And he still doesn’t know what he’ll do if the truth about his twin’s origin comes out to their neighbor.

Danny gets off the bus. He walks the few blocks back to their apartment, nervousness swirling in his gut all the while.

But as he approaches the door, hearing Jamie laugh at something Jason said, the familiar ease he’s started to feel with the neighbor slides right into place.

“Hey Jason.” Danny opens the door, giving the man a cheery wave. “Are the cookies ready?”

“What cookies?” Jason asks, innocently stepping in front of the oven.

“The one’s your Gramps makes,” The boy raises an eyebrow. “That apparently start and end wars.”

“How do you know about that?” The neighbor blinks once, raising his own eyebrow teasingly.

“Twin telepathy.” Danny grins cheekily.

Jason laughs. Then… he pauses a look a realization flickering across his face. “You’re not kidding, are you? Is that you two’s meta ability?”

A flash of panic. The older brother trades a look with the younger who just shrugs. “Yeah. We’ve got this… empathic bond, I guess. It’s feelings most of the time.”

“But can be words or pictures.” Jamie adds.

Jason nods in understanding. But he doesn’t press, doesn’t ask anymore questions. The three eat cookies and talk about the book Jamie picked out at the library.

As he’s leaving, the neighbor eyes the bandage on Danny’s shoulder. “What happened there?”

“I wasn’t watching where I was going running to catch the bus yesterday and run into a light post.” The boy shrugs, casual with the lie.

For a second, a dubious look crosses Jason’s face. Then a flicker of worry. “How’d it manage to scratch you? I hope you’re up on your tetanus shot.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Danny brushes him off. “I’m up to date.”

Still, Jason looks dubious. And yet still, he does not press.

At the same time, Jamie pales, trying to his best to hide the significant look he’s giving Danny.

Danny’s head tilts, brow furrowing as Jason leaves. The door closes. A second passes, two, ten. Then…

“Jason is the Red Hood.” Jamie blurts out.

The proclamation feels like a blow to the head. “What?!” In the next second, Danny slams hands over his mouth, trying to muffle the shout. “What? How? Are you sure?”

The clone nods vigorously. “Sure. He noticed this ankle isn’t twisted.” He flexes the previously injured joint. “Tried to look like he didn’t, like he wasn’t surprised. But saw that he was.”

“Okay.” Danny takes a breath, trying to calm the flash of panic.  “That doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”

But…. The way Jason asked about the cut on his arm, the way he reacted to the answer was strange and…

“Jason’s death aura….” Jamie cuts in. “It feels the same as Hood’s.”

The older boy’s protesting mouth snaps shut. “It… does.” He feels very foolish right now. “How… how didn’t I notice?”

His twin frowns biting his lip. “It was stronger yesterday when he was fighting.” He raises his hands to his head, tugging at his hair. “Why would we think our normal neighbor’s a vigilante?”

That is a fair point. He has had no reason to suspect before now. Except Jason always disappeared to work during rogue attacks. And Damian climbed up the fire escape and threatened to stab him. Is Jason’s family the other Bats?

“He… he saw everything.” Jamie stutters, cutting into Danny’s thoughts. “Spectra and you as Phantom and….” His eyes flicker back to Danny’s bandage. “Spectra’s scratch.” His eyes pop wide, fixing on Danny. “You told him we’re related.”

“Yes. I did.” Now it’s Danny’s turn to bite his lip.

“Does he know about us being ghosts?” And finally, now a jolt of anxiety buzzes from his twin

“He might…” The older half ghost frowns. “We could confront him. If he doesn’t know for sure now, he’ll work it out-“

“No!” Jamie interrupts forcefully. “We can’t… we can’t tell him!”

“Jamie-“

“He might not know.” The clone continues. “But we know his secret. We have the advantage. But… if he knows, he’ll tell the other Bats. And they might kick us out and-”

“Jamie, It’s okay.” Danny places a hand on his twins’. This worryingly sounds like their conversation from last night. “They’re not going to kick us out. Jason likes us. Besides, maybe they can help us, maybe better than the Meta Human Foundation can.” He bits his lip, at the same time guilt pricks at his heart; with everything that happened last night, he forgot to tell Jamie about his talk with Duke.

“That… maybe that’s true. Jason is nice; he cares about us.” The younger boy vigorously shakes his head. “But… but…”

“But what?” Danny gently prods.

Jamie looks down, biting his lip in hesitation.

“I know that you’re scared.” Danny sighs. “I am too. But we can’t do nothing. Either we confront Jason now, or he confronts us. Or knowing my luck, something happens and we don’t have a choice but to tell him. It’s better to do it now, on our terms.” The older boy’s brow furrow in gentle question. “Do you understand?”

“Ye…yes. But… we can’t.” Still, his twin insists. “Just… we can’t.”

“Jamie…” Danny sucks in a breath, feeling annoyance start to clash with his worry. “You can’t keep-“

“I…I can’t.” Jamie interrupts, voice trembling with desperation. “I can’t.”

The older’s eyes widen, any annoyance evaporating at that desperation, at the magnitude of it. It echoes back to just weeks ago, when Jamie plead that the twins having each other was not a lie. When his brother begged to be allowed to exist.

“Not… not ready.” The clone continues. “I’m not… not ready for Jason to know the truth.”

“Okay.” Again, just like that, Danny gives. “Okay.”

After everything — their fight last night, Spectra, Jamie finally gaining his own body – Jamie needs to lead. His twin needs to feel safe, stable, secure.

“We won’t to go talk to him tonight. And I won’t push you until you’re ready.”

Jamie lets out a breath, just a hint of relief. “Thanks.”

“Not be fast.” Danny points, giving his brother a serious, though still kind look. “We’re not putting this off forever. What do you need to be ready to talk to Jason?”

The clone’s frown deepens, shoulders rising. “Don’t… don’t know.”

“Maybe we could practice? I could help you rehearse how you want to explain things.” Danny offers. “Or you could write it down?”

Jamie perks up at that. “Like a letter?”

“Yeah. You could write what you want to tell Jason.”

With a nod, the clone agrees.

The two settle for bed and again, Jamie lasts through the night.

In the morning, the twins head to the corner shop. Danny buys breakfast while Jamie picks out notebooks and pens. The older half ghost goes to work while the younger stays home.

“See you later.” Danny waves, leaving his twin lying on the floor with his new writing supplies.

Stupid letter. The words occasionally echo across his link to Jamie, with twinges of annoyance.

The older half ghost returns home to find the apartment covered with balled up paper.

“It’s too hard.” Jamie groans, sinking his head against one last half-scratched sheet.

“You’ll figure it out.” Danny encourages. He reaches for a piece of paper, unballing it. “Maybe I can help-“

“Not yours.” His twin sits up with a hiss. He swipes the paper out of Danny’s hand.

“Alright.” The older puts his hands up disarmingly.

Danny does not press, despite his worry. Instead… “Let’s make some food. I bet you’re starving. I definitely am.”

“Hungry too.” Jamie agrees with a nod.

The two put on music while cooking. Danny grabs a large pot and a box of pasta from the cabinets, setting the water to boil. Jamie finds the cutting board and knife to cut up carrots for a salad.

Danny hums along to the music, dropping the noodles into the boiling water. A shocked gasp sounds behind him, the clatter of a knife dropping.

“What happened?” Danny turns rapidly, anxious eyes on Jamie.

“It’s fine.” The clone cuts in quickly, covering his finger. “I’m fine.”

“Did you cut yourself?” The older boy steps forward, reaching for the finger suspiciously cradled in Jamie’s left hand.

“I’m fine.” Again, the younger insists.

Still, with Danny’s pleading look, Jamie reluctantly hands over the injured hand. Neon green wells on the middle finger.

Danny frowns. “Let’s get this wrapped up.”

He retrieves a bandage for Jamie, returning to the kitchen to find his twin washing the area before grabbing and holding a paper towel over it.

“Here you go.” The older boy offers the bandage.

Jamie takes it, lifting the paper.

“Is that even a cut?” Danny chuckles to cut the tension, barely catching sight of the tiny break in the skin. He shakes his head amusedly. “We need to keep you away from knives.”

The clone rolls his eyes. “Jamie is fine with knives.”

The older half ghost’s lips twitch into a frown. “You’re doing it again.”

“What?” Jamie’s brow wrinkles, turning back to his cutting board.

“You used first person. ‘I’m fine.’ Then you went back to just saying Jamie.”

“Yeah. So?” The younger boy shrugs, forcibly casual.

“So?” Danny furrows his brow at the question. “Jamie is you, not some…” He waves his hands vaguely, trying to put together the words. “Not some other person other person you’re speaking for. You can use the first person.”

There is a pause. Then… Jamie turns to looks at him, sighing. “It’s not that easy. It’s…it’s...” The clone blows out a breath, shaking his head. “It’s… Jamie is easy, farther away. I.. me is hard. It’s close. It’s… scary.”

Danny’s eyes soft, round with worry. “Why is it scary?”

Before Jamie can answer, the pasta is boiling over and the smoke alarm is going off. The conversation is lost in the bustle of opening the windows and salvaging dinner.

Later when Danny is taking out the trash, he sees Jason in the hall. The two meet eyes and the half ghost knows. Jason knows that he is the ghost boy from that night. Just the subtlest raise of the vigilante’s eyebrow… does Jason know that the twins know about Red Hood as well?

“Danny, here.” Jamie opens the door, holding out a tied-closed shopping bag. “You forgot the bathroom.”

“Oh, thanks.” Danny takes the bag.

A tentative look between his brother and their neighbor. Jamie’s No is audible in his head, despite the clone’s even expression.

With a sigh, the older half ghost walks to the stairs, passed a vaguely questioning looking Jason.

The encounters with the neighbor over the next few days are much the same, an awkward dance of who knows what truth and whether either will speak. Danny debates what he’ll do if Jason finally presses the issue. At the same time, he tries his best to balance the need for action and for patience with his brother.

Another difficult conversation between the brothers and Jamie tentatively agrees to meet with someone from the Meta Human Foundation by the end of the next week. But stubbornly, on the question of confronting Jason…

“Not until the letter is done.” Jamie crosses his arms petulantly.

Over the past several days, Jamie had continued trying to write his letter while Danny was at work. Their trashcan overflows with drafts, ink staining the clone’s fingers.

“You could let me help.” Danny again offers. “What are you trying to figure out how to say?”

“No.” Again, Jamie refuses. “Can do it by myself.”

As proud as he is with the first-person pronoun… The older half ghost sighs. “This isn’t actually about getting the right words, is it?”

The clone averts his eyes, a green blush starting to rise.

“What about talking to Jason is worrying you?” Danny asks, leaning closer. “Is it a ghost thing?” He remembers Jamie’s surprise and guilt when he realized that his original was human and he wasn’t. The clone’s humanity has grown a lot since then, even if he still bleeds green, but… “I don’t care if you’re more ghost than human. And I don’t think Jason will either. With that death aura, I won’t be surprised if he’s a little ghostly himself.”

“No, it’s not that.” Jamie shook his head, biting his lip.

Danny’s brow furrows. “If it’s not a ghost thing bothering you, then…is it a clone thing?”

A long, heavy pause. Jamie’s fingers dig into the couch’s arm rest… and the older half ghost suspects he hit the nail on the head.

“Jamie, listen to me.” The older boy takes in a breath, letting earnestness fill his words. “If Jason has a problem with that, or any of the other Bats, I will personally beat them up for you. You’re my family, no matter what and-“

“No. That’s not it.” Jamie interrupts, hissing through his teeth. “That’s not…” Another hissing breath. “That’s part of it. But Jamie isn’t just some clone. There’s… more. More history. More…” He shakes his head vigorously. “It doesn’t matter.”

Danny blinks. “Of course it matters.”

“No, it doesn’t.” The clone’s arm cross, turning away. “Don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“Jamie-“

His brother’s nostrils flare; for just a second, Danny wonders if he actually does see smoke. “Don’t. Want. To. Talk. About. It.”

Danny’s own nostrils flare, wanting to return the sudden anger in kind but…. The image of opening that bathroom door to find Jamie gone hits him. Any response dies in his throat, replaced by a grieved, fearful thickness.

Ever since Jamie stabilized in his own body, they’ve been going in circles. His brother is fearful, closed off to him. And… and Danny doesn’t know what to do. He wishes Jazz was here, that it was safe to call her. She would know to say, how to get the younger boy to open up.

The older half ghost heaves out a breath. Yet another reason they need to talk to Jason. With the Bats help, maybe they can find a way to safely talk to Jazz and Sam and Tucker. A familiar grief pricks him. He misses his friends and sister so much. And… the three don’t even know about his new little brother. That will be an interesting conversation.

Danny rubs his brow, at a loss.

In the meantime, the clone goes back to his paper. More ink stains his fingers, this time green. After a moment, the boy hisses, the paper’s edge raising a bead of ectoplasm on his thumb.

Dutifully, Danny rises for a bandage. Again, he helps his brother apply it.

Again, he wonders. What is he going to do?

Note: Rest assured, the confrontation with Jason is coming very soon! The build up just kept getting longer and longer so I decided to end the chapter here and put that in the next one. I hope you enjoyed!

[thelov3lybookworm]

Weeping Heart (Part 5)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Summary: panic attacks and tears

•○●⛦●○•

Warnings: the beginnings of a panic attack, cardan being sad and frustrated, though i dont go into details. yn running away again, ig. (the next part will include her getting comforted, dw <3 )

Word Count: 1107

A/n: shes a lil late but shes hereee yayyy 🥳

Imp: the next parts will be either posted on friday or next monday, depending on how quick i write. it will be a double update, so everyone whos on team herb can read the herb x reader part and ones on team cardan can read the cardan x reader part. i will add those links to this part when they are uploaded, so if you choose yes, you read the herb part. if you choose no, you read the cardan part.

anyways, enjoy🥹❣️

°•°•°•○🌑○•°•°•°

Y/n did not mind mornings. She had come across quite a few humans who insisted mornings were the worst time of the day, about how they preferred night.

Most faeries would agree, considering they slept during the day and worked at night. But Y/n, she loved mornings. She could get some peace to herself, some quiet that seemed to betray her when her soldiers, male and female alike, were awake. It was just quiet chatter, but it still got on her nerves sometimes.

Y/n always got herself up a few hours before sunset to have some time to herself, to practise her fighting skills, to think.

Y/n also knew Cardan liked to sleep. Most of the time, he had no option but to sleep off his hangovers after drinking the whole night, but even when that wasn't the case, he would never wake up while the sun was still out without a reason.

So when Y/n snuck out of Herb’s tent in the afternoon, the sun beating down on her as she went, it was a huge surprise to Y/n to find Cardan sitting on her bed, wide awake.

She paused at the threshold of her tent, the flap fluttering shut behind her as she processed the sight. "Cardan? You’re up early."

He smiled, though it did not reach his eyes. "Yeah. I’ve been up for some time now." He paused, glancing down at Y/n’s boots. It was a thing he used to do, when he was feeling vulnerable but did not want her to see. "Waiting… for you."

Y/n’s blood slowed in her veins before rushing again, and she sighed, stepping forward and making her way towards the chair in the corner.  "I was sleeping, Cardan."

"Where?" His response was quick, sharp, as if he had been thinking of it since he woke up. It made Y/n freeze in her tracks, her eyes growing slightly wide.

"Uh… in a soldier’s tent?"

He stood. "Why?"

Y/n blinked. "What do you mean why? My bed was occupied, so-"

"So now you can’t even stand my presence?" He laughed.

Y/n stared at him, at a loss for words. She looked at him closely, noting the gauntness in his pale cheeks, he shadows under his eyes.

Sure, he had all those before, but the hollows seemed deeper, the shadows darker. "I never said that, Cardan. And I would never be intolerable to your presence."

He scoffed. "Right, that’s why you’ve been running away and avoiding returning to Insmire for so long."

Y/n sighed, rubbing her face. "It’s nothing against you, Cardan-"

"Then why have you been avoiding me since I arrived?! I’ve been trying to talk to you, I’ve tried so many times! Why are you running away from me?!" He snapped, his voice rising.

And Y/n froze completely.

Cardan never yelled. That was something Y/n had grown up with. No matter what, Cardan never yelled. He would drink, he would party, he would revel, hell, he’d bed people just to forget his frustrations. But he never yelled.

And never at Y/n.

It broke her will to care.

"Because if I don’t, I might just kill myself!"

He stilled, his eyes wild as he stared back at her, his chest heaving. Y/n stepped forward, closer and closer to him. His gaze tracked her movements, almost predatory.

"Do you know, Cardan, how much pain I have been in everyday since I realised that you would never look at me like I look at you?" He said nothing, his eyes wide. "Everyday, I’d put on a smile, act like I have not been in love with you since I understood what love was, and watched as you did all that you did, as you revelled and ruined your own reputation, as you acted like you loved all those females you bedded."

Y/n finally stopped a foot from him, jabbing her finger into his chest, fury blazing in her heart. "I was there as you watched your mother ignore you, I was there to comfort you, I was there as you shattered every time after her rejection. I was there when you wanted Jude, I was right there helping you out with her. I listened to every detail you provided of your love life, trying to hold myself together, and you just couldn’t see it."

Y/n shook her head, smiling. "You could never see it, you were too busy making eyes at others to notice me. And yes, if you’re going to ask me if running away was necessary, yes it was. Because I could no longer bear to watch you be in love with Jude while I stared at you like a lovesick puppy. It was eating me alive from the inside. And I couldn’t tell you about it either, because I saw how in love with Jude you were, and I never wanted to get in the way of your happiness. You know why? Because I care about you, Cardan. I care about you."

He stared at Y/n, looking like he was about to cry as she panted, her blood chilling as she realised what she had just done.

"Y/n, I-"

Y/n stumbled back, her heart beating in her throat.

The beating slowed.

Her hearing diminished.

Or maybe the birds stopped chirping. She didn’t know.

She didn’t care.

This was a panic attack, she was sure of it.

This was the first one she was having in years. The last time was when Y/n had realised she loved Cardan and had almost blurted it out at him, but stopped just before he could hear it, and then he had left with a pretty nymph on his arm.

Even back then, he had not paid any attention to her as he led the female away, already beginning to kiss her before they were even out of sight.

And she had made it a mission that she never had any other panic attacks ever again. And if she did, she’d not create a scene, especially not in front of Cardan.

So she took another step back, her heartbeat thudding in her ears, slow, unsteady, and then turned and sprinted out of her tent, her only focus her horse, Toad.

And the moment the horse was in her arms reach, she swung herself onto the mare’s back and rode away, tears beginning to gather in her eyes.

She heard him calling after her.

Maybe Herb would keep Cardan away. Keep him from following her.

But did she want him to?

No.

Yes.

°•°•°•○🌑○•°•°•°

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[sootchild]

So what is happening in your Blades in the Dark Game exactly? The Midnight Runners Specifically?

[Takes a deep breath in] OK so this is gonna take a bit.

Blades in the Dark: The Midnight Runners was run by my friend colinomicon on The Lost Caravan RPG twitch channel at the start of 2024. (You can find 3 out of 4 sessions on the youtube channel, sadly the 4th is lost to time and space.) The premise of the game was the 1979 film "The Warriors".

Where The Warriors leave their turf in Coney Island to take part in a meeting in uptown NY city called by the largest gang in the city. Things go south and The Warriors have to survive the night and get back to their turf whilst everyone thinks it is their fault things went wrong at the meeting. So our game followed that premise but with a bit more to it.

In our game The Midnight Runners is a small gang of drug producers/movers that specialize in "Blue Lips" a psychedelic mushroom that grows on corpses. It mimics the "going into the light" feeling people have in near death experiences, though untreated the shrooms cause actual death. The gang knows how to make the shrooms safe to consume and also how to make the purest high, so they corner the market on Blue Lips.

The members are (L to R)

Rust: The Cutter. The muscle of the group. Loves to fight and fuck, typically in that order.

Soda Pop: The Hound. Second in command and drug tester. Drinks a lot of soda pops, like so much. There is a post about her pre episode 4.

Cricket: The Lurk. "God's favourite child", an ex Blue Lips junkie and sneak thief. Likes having a place she feels she belongs and River.

River: The Whisper. She sees dead people and talks them into moving on which makes the Blue Lips high all the better. She likes stuff... she is insane but she likes Cricket.

Dexy. The Leader. Botanist, mother figure, the best of us all. GM NPC.

The gang got their invite to the big meeting called by The Unseen by crashing a big old fundraiser/ball at the Academy and getting everyone high as balls off Blue Lips that was added to the beef wellington and vegetarian dishes. As well as having smashed so many priceless antiquities and releasing some ghosts in the process.

There was a lot of downtime and flashbacks that happened in episodes 2 and 3 so I'd suggest checking out the videos that didn't get lost to time and space, cause I think we were entertaining and brilliant.

At the meeting (which they had to go to without any weaponry since a truce was called), all the leaders were called up to the stage to talk with the leader of The Unseen... Only for a bomb to go off. Killing a lot of the leaders, including Dexy. Dexy had been wearing a piece of pottery that served as a new calling card for the gang and that unfortunately survived the explosion and made everyone think that The Midnight Runners had set up the bomb.

Episode 4, which is sadly missing, was the gang trying to get back to Barrowcleft.

Dodging gangs and the police. Dangerously climbing under a bridge to bypass a barricade. Fighting Soda's old bounty hunter mentor who was trying to collect the bounty on them. Fighting a gang with a ghost toilet cover, River called up a useless ghost of a man that died on the toilet along with the ghost of his toilet. So Rust having no weapons armed himself with the cover from the ghost toilet and bashed a man's head in.

Getting back onto their boat to try to make it home, only for the mostly exploded leader of the Grinders, Marlo, sitting in the boat being a scary badass. Luckily talked her into not killing us all with her one good hand.

Got back to Barrowcleft only to find our hideout, the barn, on fire surrounded by cops. Decided, fuck it, we are going in live. Ends up that "Officer Muttonchops", a seemingly joke of a man, was the one that set up the bomb and pinned it on us... Soda shot him through the eye before he could get into his whole villain monologue. Everyone ran in swinging: River summoned a lightning storm, Rust punched his way through, Cricket armed herself with dynamite from some stashes, and Soda made her shots count.

In the end The Unseen showed up and ended the conflict. Apologizing for thinking we were to blame for the death of their leader and offered us reparations. We said we'd need a new hideout and since we needed new corpses for Blue Lips, we'd be taking the cops'.

That is how it went. Hope that answers your question.

[randomciabatta724]

Some other stuff that happens in the Lonely wolf AU (might change if I get better ideas)

Polites stays kneeled next to Odysseus' body, frozen in place, while the club keeps going down (Survive)

Athena screams at Polites (My goodbye)

Eurylochus becomes the new captain

Polites blames himself for Odysseus' death

Polites begs Poseidon for mercy (it doesn't work) Edit: I just got an idea that it could be something like "Please, Poseidon, we didn't mean to offend you and we apologize for hurting your son, isn't there anything else we could offer you instead of our lives?" And Poseidon just says no (Ruthlessness)

Wouldn't you like stays pretty much the same

Dead Odysseus appears (The Underworld)

Polites declares he will do anything to get the crew home (Monster)

Either both Siren Odysseus and Siren Eurylochus or just Siren Odysseus (Suffering)

Polites got all his mythology knowledge from Odysseus so he doesn't know everything, (example: he knows about the sirens but not Scylla) (Suffering/Different Beast, Scylla)

Not really knowing what they're up against, they try fighting Scylla, but once it starts going badly Polites decides to sacrifice himself to save the others (imagine him standing there, holding the only lit torch on the ship) (Scylla)

Eurylochus pulls him away, Scylla eats the arm holding the torch, Polites passes out from blood loss while Eurylochus is screaming "What were you thinking?!" and similar at him (Scylla, Mutiny)

Eurylochus tries to convince Polites to kill the cows and have one last meal together, Polites begs him to reconsider (Mutiny)

Polites begs Zeus to spare the crew and kill him instead, but Zeus refuses (Thunderbringer)

When Polites wakes up on Calypso's island, it truly sinks in that Eurylochus is gone. She holds him while he screams (Love in paradise)

With the crew dead, Polites loses his drive to get home (Love in Paradise)

Polites and Calypso develop an unhealthy attachment to one another (Love in paradise)

Unlike Odysseus' "All I hear are screams", Polites sees his dead comrades, watching him in silence

Athena decides that her best chance to get rid of the suitors is to find someone from Odysseus' crew that survived (We'll be fine, Love in Paradise)

The ledge scene still happens but it's a bit different (Love in Paradise)

Polites agrees to go back to Ithaca only after Hermes tells him about the suitors (Not sorry for loving you)

He gives Calypso his red headband so she can remember him (Not sorry for loving you)

Hermes gives him a blue headband (Dangerous)

Polites tries to convince Poseidon to let things go (it doesn't work pt.2) (Get in the water)

Polites stabs Poseidon until his arms go numb (might also throw some ugly crying in there) (Six-hundred strike)

Polites doesn't attempt the challenge both because he knows he can't pass (Growing up with Odysseus, I imagine he learned how to string his bow but can't shoot through the axes) and out of respect for Odysseus (The challenge)

Polites decapitates Antinous (Hold them Down)

Telemachus mistakes Polites for Odysseus (I can't help but wonder)

Polites delivers the news of Odysseus' death to Penelope and apologises in tears (Would you fall in love with me again)

Polites tells Penelope he's going to leave, insisting that there's nothing left for him in Ithaca and that he doesn't want her and Telemachus to be bothered by his presence while they're grieving (Would you fall in love with me again)

Penelope, not wanting to lose the only other person that could know how she feels and having a feeling that by "leaving" Polites doesn't mean moving away, asks him to mentor Telemachus. Polites accepts (insert very touching "You are wanted and you are needed here" scene) (Would you fall in love with me again)

Polites tells Telemachus stories about Odysseus and Eurylochus (future)

Polites starts learning how to play the lyre (future)

Polites has a garden with six-hundred stones, one for every comrade he lost and some flowers for Calypso (future)

Polites starts wearing a purple headband (future)

Polites and Penelope sometimes sit together in silence (future)

Polites doesn't know why he keeps living, he just does. With time, it gets a bit easier, but he still struggles finding purpose (future)

[bluenerdtastemaker]

"You’re So Beautiful"

Fem ! Yuki Tsunoda x Fem ! Pierre Gasly | F/F | One-Shot 1K

Yuki Tsunoda had always been the odd one out. At 150 centimetres, she barely reached people’s shoulders, and her full-sleeve tattoos and leather jackets made her stick out even more. Growing up in a conservative family in Japan, she had been the black sheep, the one who preferred working on engines and sketching out her own bike designs to practising the piano like her sisters.

Her parents didn’t understand her, but they didn’t try to stop her either. Yuki was determined to carve out her own space in the world. That determination brought her to a university abroad, where she studied mechanical engineering and joined the motorsport fan club, her sanctuary amid a sea of academics who didn’t know a carburetor from a crankshaft.

Life had been messy but manageable. She worked at a garage to pay for tuition, stuck to instant noodles to save money, and kept her head down. Relationships weren’t on her radar—she had never imagined she’d find someone who understood her quirks, let alone someone who would love her for them. That was, until she met Pierre.

Pierre Gasly wasn’t just out of her league; she was playing an entirely different sport. At 175 centimeters with perfectly styled hair and a wardrobe full of cardigans and skirts, Pierre was the princess of the university. Everyone knew her: senior, honors student, and the kind of woman who could walk into a room and turn heads without trying.

And yet, despite all that, Pierre had joined the motorsport fan club.

Yuki still remembered the first time she saw her. Pierre had been sitting in a corner, flipping through a rally racing magazine, looking utterly out of place. Yuki, being Yuki, had walked right up to her.

“I didn’t think princesses liked motorsport,” Yuki had teased, raising an eyebrow.

Pierre had looked up, her dimples flashing as she smiled. “I like beautiful things that go fast,” she’d said, her tone playful but with an edge that made Yuki’s cheeks flush.

Over the months that followed, Yuki and Pierre had grown closer. They were an unlikely pair: Pierre with her grace and elegance, and Yuki with her rough edges and grease-stained hands. But somehow, they just worked. Pierre saw past Yuki’s tattoos and blunt attitude, and Yuki saw the warmth and depth beneath Pierre’s polished exterior.

Meeting Pierre had been the best thing to ever happen to Yuki. And now, years later, as Yuki stood in the kitchen of their shared apartment, waiting for Pierre to finish her skincare routine, she couldn’t help but marvel at how lucky she was.

The apartment was small but cozy, filled with Pierre’s touch: soft blankets, potted plants, and an obscene number of throw pillows that Yuki had stopped complaining about. Yuki flipped through a car manual idly, but her mind kept drifting to Pierre.

“If you’d told me five years ago I’d end up living with the princess of the university, I’d have laughed in your face,” Yuki muttered to herself.

“What was that?” Pierre’s voice rang out from the bedroom, followed by the soft patter of her socked feet.

Yuki looked up to see Pierre walking into the kitchen, her hair tied back in a silk scarf. She was wearing one of Yuki’s oversized hoodies, the fabric swallowing her petite frame. The sight made Yuki’s heart ache in the best way.

“Nothing,” Yuki said, setting the manual aside. She stood and wrapped her arms around Pierre’s waist, pulling her close. “Just thinking about how lucky I am.”

Pierre tilted her head, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “You’re lucky? I’m the one who has a badass girlfriend who can fix anything and makes amazing ramen.”

“And yet, you still refuse to eat instant noodles,” Yuki teased, pressing a kiss to Pierre’s forehead.

“Because I have standards,” Pierre replied, poking Yuki’s cheek.

Yuki grinned, her hands resting on Pierre’s hips. “Standards, huh? Then how did I manage to snag you?”

Pierre’s teasing expression softened, and she reached up to brush a strand of Yuki’s hair back. “Because you’re you,” she said simply. “And I’ve never wanted anyone else.”

Yuki’s breath hitched at the sincerity in Pierre’s voice. She leaned down, capturing Pierre’s lips in a kiss that was soft but insistent. Pierre responded immediately, her arms winding around Yuki’s neck as she pressed closer.

Yuki guided them toward the couch, her movements deliberate but gentle. When they finally collapsed onto the cushions, Yuki hovered over Pierre, her hands braced on either side of Pierre’s head.

“You’re so beautiful,” Yuki murmured, her voice rough with emotion.

Pierre smiled up at her, her cheeks flushed and her lips slightly swollen. “And you’re mine,” she whispered, pulling Yuki down for another kiss.

This one was deeper, more intense, as Pierre tugged at Yuki’s hoodie, her fingers tracing the tattoos that covered Yuki’s arms. Yuki let out a low hum, her lips trailing down Pierre’s jaw to her neck, where she left a series of soft kisses.

Pierre sighed, her nails lightly scratching the back of Yuki’s neck. “You’re so good to me,” she murmured, her voice breathy.

“You deserve it,” Yuki replied, her hands slipping under Pierre’s hoodie to rest on her waist. “You deserve everything.”

The rest of the world faded away as they lost themselves in each other, their love expressed in every kiss, every touch, and every whispered promise.

For Yuki, life had always been about finding her own path. But with Pierre by her side, she knew she’d finally found her home.

[mbavholidayexchange]

to: @pixxiesticksys from: @bamboozledcorvid

title: A long week | words: 2769 | summary: rory's getting bullied, and while he thinks what a human thinks shouldn't affect him, it hurts him a lot. when erica and benny find out, rory is comforted and the bully is taken care of.

Rory walked into school with his usual goofy smile spread across his face, he wore a t-shirt with a cat playing a piano and carried vampires Sasquatch underneath his arm. He rounded the corner toward the computer base where he had agreed to meet Erica when he walked right into one of the hockey players.

"Woah, sorry I didn't see-" Rory's brief attempt at an apology was cut short when the taller boy shoved him to the ground, gaining a laugh from the other hockey players. "Watch it! Or else!" Rory warned before remembering he couldn't flash his fangs. The boys shared confused looks before laughing at him as if he were an idiot. They left after making some comments about his toy and him being a loser, not that Rory cared though. They were just teenagers, they were just humans, stupid mortals that would grow old and frail whilst he can fly. So he picked himself up and made his way to the computer lab where he found Benny trying to explain his video game to a very unamused looking Erica. "What's up Party people!" Rory greeted his friends as he very quickly forgot about what had happened in the hall.

Unfortunately it was only Monday and the guys on the hockey team did not forget quite as quickly as Rory had. Tuesday came round and Rory bounced into school with Benny following quickly behind, unable to keep up with him. Benny had been rambling on about how he would rewrite Star Wars when Rory came crashing back into him. Catching the blond boy and steadying them both Benny looked around at Rory's books scattered across the entrance of the school. "Whoops, my bad" A tall boy in a hockey uniform smiled as he walked past.

"What was that about?" Benny asked helping Rory pick up his notebooks. "Aw it was nothing you know what they're like" Rory smiled waving a hand to dismiss the matter. Benny remembered the countless times he'd been tripped and laughed at by the same boys and didn't give it another thought only shrugging and patting Rory's back as they walked in the door. Rory sat through Chemistry with the taunting sound of the older boys voices in his ear. "Aw cmon leave him alone he doesn't have his boyfriend to protect him" one sneered as they dug their foot into his leg. "Or his dolly" the other laughed throwing a wad of paper at the back of his head.

It wasn't like Rory cared, he was a Vampire, he could fly, and had super speed and if he wanted to he could punch them so hard they'd land in the next town. Except he couldn't do that, then they'd know what he was. "Uh can I go to the bathroom?" He asked getting a tired nod from his teacher before quickly leaving the room. He wasn't upset! That would be stupid, he just... didn't want to be there anymore. That was all.

In his haste to the bathrooms he found himself colliding with someone else, that was the second time this week! He looked up to see a rather unpleased Erica. "Woah, sorry" he laughed as he clambered to his feet but she only frowned. "You should be, and where are you running off too?" Her voice was cold and uncaring but she wore her usual sarcastic smirk that let him know she was really mad at him. "Oh uh... no where just... got bored in class" He smiled nervously. Erica knew he was lying, but it wasn't exactly out of the ordinary for Rory to act strange so she shrugged and nodded before walking off.

Wednesday came and Rory was a little on edge. He wore his favourite band shirt with his purple hoodie and had Vampire Sasquatch placed safely in his bag. He peaked around every corner before turning and looked nervous going into every class. Benny chalked it up to the fact he was Rory and he believed in aliens and ghosts and evil vampire killing ninja warriors. Rory made it to lunch before everything went wrong. He had been walking to the cafeteria to meet up with his usual group of friends, minus Sarah who was at some try out, when suddenly he was dragged backwards into the bathroom.

"Aw Rory buddy come hang out with us" A tall, broad shouldered boy smirked as he blocked the exit. In a matter of seconds two other boys had grabbed him and stole his bag. "Aww you bring your dolly to protect you? What's he going to do?" The boy he had bumped into before asked. "Well he's a Vampire so-" Rory was quickly shut up when he was shoved backwards into the row of sinks. "Shut up! God you really are a freak!" The Boy snapped at him before tearing Vampire Sasquatch's arm off and throwing it to the ground for good measure.

Rory walked out of the bathroom ten minutes later with slightly red eyes and a petted lip. As he sat down at the table he found Benny and Erica just about to leave for class. "Rory? What's up man?" Benny asked leaning on his shoulder. Rory shook his head, sniffing a little before plastering a smile on his face. "Nothing to worry about, Benny. Rory the vampire ninja has got this covered!" Benny smiled accepting his answer, Erica didn't look quite as convinced but kept any doubts to herself. "Oh uh Benny, you know how to sew right?" Rory asked getting a nod from his friend before smiling and placing the two halves of his toy in front of his friend.

"What happened?" Erica asked now wearing a concerned expression. "He just ripped but don't worry Benny is a great sewer he can fix him and he's a vampire so he'll be fine" before either of his friends could ask a follow up question the bell rang and Rory disappeared.

Thursday came and Rory was dreading going to school. He wasn't scared, he really wasn't! He just didn't want to go. Erica and Benny had agreed to keep a close eye on him today. So when the three got to school Benny stuck to Rory's side and Erica, in true Erica fashion, stayed three foot ahead pretending not to associate with them. They managed to be by his side all day, Benny walked him to every class and Erica stood outside waiting after each one. It wasn't until the end of school when Erica showed up to collect him from his last class that she found he wasn't there. She made her way to the doors where she found Benny but still no Rory.

"We agreed to walk home together, Rory wouldn't just leave" Benny looked around growing worried until Erica placed a hand on his shoulder. "He's a supernatural undead creature who believes he's a ninja, don't worry so much. Besides he'll be around here somewhere" She reassured him before grabbing him rather harshly and dragging him to look for their friend.

Around the side of the school Rory found himself pinned against a wall. "Not so brave now? What happened to 'watch it, or else!'? You scared without your boyfriend here to protect you?" The tallest of the boys cackled, pushing the blond boy to the ground and swiftly driving his foot into Rory's side. "You gonna go crying to your mom? Gonna go home and play with your dolly?" Another boy swung his leg back to kick at him and Rory flinched to the side but it never hit. He reluctantly looked up to find Erica holding the boy a foot of the ground with a look of pure fury growing across her face.

Benny was quickly at Rory's side helping him to his feet before walking round to the front of the building. A few moments later Erica came round with a cruel smile on her face that only softened when she locked eyes with the teary eyed boy in front of her. "Rory why wouldn't you tell us?" She asked to which he only shrugged. "They're only humans... it's silly of me to be upset over what they think" Benny pulls him into a hug, resting his chin on top of the shorter boys head and the three head back to his house to curl up on the couch and watch movies.

Neither of them mention when they can quietly hear soft sniffing coming from Rory, they simply move closer cuddling into him and covering him with the blanket. It's late and they're all tired but Benny quickly gasps "oh Rory, before I forget" he jumps off the couch and disappears into the kitchen. Rory shoots a confused glance to Erica who only shrugs. A few moments later Benny returns with Vampire Sasquatch in hand, good as new. Rory smiles at his friend as he climbs back onto the couch, placing the teddy on the blonds lap. "Thanks, Benny... I love you guys" Rory smiles as he shuffles around to get comfy. "Love you too, man" Benny smiled and Erica placed a soft kiss on his cheek before they as fall asleep.

On Friday Rory wasn't scared to go to school. He went in happily, in the same clothes he had wore the day before, with his two friends at either side of him. He wasn't entirely sure what had happened after him and Benny left yesterday but today half the hockey team was on crutches and avoiding the three of them like the plague.

[carry-on-my-wayward-butt]

the center for missing and exploited children has been getting daily calls about wren eleanor for the past two years. sometimes hundreds of calls per day. just for her. i know this because they told me as much when i called them myself a few hours ago.

it hurts.

[starry-bi-sky]

What would a mother not do for her child What lengths would a mother not go There's a bond that exists between mother and child With no end to how strong it can grow It's a promise for life between mother and child It begins from the moment of birth.

================

She is six years old, and standing on the porch at her Auntie Alicia’s cabin. She is six years old, and holding an old rifle in her hands, standing at the railing and pointing the nozzle at a large target a couple feet away. There’s a pair of old ear muffs covering her ears. Behind her is her daddy and her sister, and Auntie Alicia. She can’t see them. 

Danielle Martha Fenton is six years old, and her momma has her arms wrapped warmly around her, keeping the gun steady for her. It’s heavy and the butt digs into her shoulder uncomfortably, and she feels nothing but determined. And nervous. 

Her momma was teaching her and Jazzy how to shoot, and they’re down in Arkansas to visit Auntie Alicia for her second “Divorce-iversary” as Auntie calls it. She keeps a hunting rifle in her gun safe for the rabbits that like to nibble on her garden. She mostly grows rhubarb, which goes untouched. But her carrots and greens and other veggies like to be tempting snacks for the game. 

Regardless, she is six years old and learning how to shoot. Her momma and her daddy (mostly her daddy) have been banned from every shooting range outside of Amity Park in a hundred mile radius. So Auntie is the best place to learn, or so momma says. 

Danny thinks it's just an excuse to see her sister, not that she's complaining. She loves visiting Auntie.  

She’s already seen Jazzy do this, her momma told her before the muffs went on to shoot when ready. No use trying to fire when you’re not; you can’t afford to miss when shooting ghosts. 

Danny breathes out steady, just like momma taught her, and quells her trembling little fingers. She focuses down the barrel, and pulls the trigger. 

Immediately, the recoil throws her off, the side of the gun that her cheek was resting on knocks against her skin, harsh enough to bruise if it weren’t for her momma’s steady hands holding onto her. The bang of the gun startles her more than she thought it would, and her heart leaps up and runs a jackrabbit through her chest. 

The gun is carefully slipped out of her hands, and Danny lets it go easily, her cheek smarting in pain and her eyes wide and following up to momma. Momma turns the safety on, and with a gentle hand, pushes against her chest. Danny takes a few steps back, and slips the ear muffs off her head. 

Mommy is smiling big at her, something that Danny can’t help but replicate on her own face as her heart swells. “Did I get it, momma?” She asks, watching as she passes the gun off to Auntie Alicia, who steps over to take it.

“I’m going to go see, sweetie, but I think you did.” Momma coos, before planting both her hands on the porch railing and, in a single leap, vaults over the side and onto the grass. She’s dressed all comfortable for the summer heat, with her hair all tied back and in shorts and a tank top and nice boots. Danny’s ribs swell hopefully, and she stands on her tiptoes to watch her walk over.

“I’ll be hard-pressed to believe if you didn’t, Martha Mae,” Auntie tells her, grinning like a cat, “that was a damn good shot.” 

‘Martha Mae Knight’ was Danny’s granny’s name. Auntie Alicia calls her that because of her middle name — and because, by her words, she has her momma’s weird-shaped eyebrows and piercing blue eyes. The kind that could scare a hawk into singing like a robin. It was Danny’s favorite nickname ever.

Daddy laughs brightly, the sound painful on her ears but twice as nice, and despite the distance, Momma whirls her head around to shoot Auntie a glare; “Language, Alicia. Not around my girls.” She warns. Her accent always comes through when they’re around Auntie. It’s Danny’s favorite thing to listen to. 

“Do you think so, auntie?” Danny says, bright-eyed and ever-optimistic. Auntie Alicia nods fiercely as Momma finally reaches the target and searches for the bullet hole. Daddy then comes up behind her, still laughing, and claps a hand onto her shoulder so hard that it makes her knees hurt.

“Of course she did!” Dad boasts, as bright as the sun and twice as warm. He shakes Danny affectionately, wobbling her on her feet and pulling her straight into his side. She goes so willingly with a burble of giggles. “She’s got the eyes of a Fenton! And our family are darn good shots.”

Auntie eyes him up and down, her smile immediately fading off into a pressed line. “I’m sure you mean she’s got the eyes of a Knight. You couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn at twenty paces, Jack Fenton.” 

Jazzy holds back giggles from where she’s standing by the door, her ear muffs in hand, and Danny watches her Daddy’s dark eyes immediately narrow. Just like Auntie’s, his smile tapers off into a frown. 

Before he can say anything, there’s a cheer from the yard, and they all turn to Momma clapping her hands in delight. 

Danny immediately pricks her ears up, and would’ve darn near rushed over to the railing if it weren’t for her Daddy’s hand on her shoulder. She yells instead, excitement thrumming like a hummingbird against her ribs, “Did I hit it, momma?!” 

Momma beams at her with all the pride in the world, “You sure did, Danny!” And she turns to press her finger against the target, right on the inside red ring of the battered old bag. “Right here, sweet girl!” 

There are cheers from all around, and Danny’s heart bursts inside her lungs with shiny, sunshine glee. She puffs her chest out big, and smiles so wide it hurts the cheek where the gun smacked her. Her Daddy shakes again, squeezing her tight against his side in a hug that Danny happily reciprocates. 

“What’d I tell you, Martha Mae?” Auntie tells with a big wink and a wide grin, the gun still gripped tight in her hands as Momma makes her way back over. “You got a Knight’s eye.” 

When Momma makes it back over the railing, she hugs Danny tight and praises her shot. Danny looks her in the eyes and chases the feeling, and asks to shoot again.

[dungeons-and-dragon-age]

HUH.

[caimitos]

saw a post about projecting your ethnicity onto a character and started missing vespa ilkay. so so bad

[raeygina-george]

One thing about me is that I love it when medias that have a princess who's locked up for years and years on end actually explore the miserable life she would have lived growing up alone and reading fairy tales that promised her a happy ending she never got