#also the fact that his parent are never mentioned also makes me curious

[dozzerxb]

FASHIONABLE MAN I NEED TO SEE HIM IN OTHER OUTFITS

[skimmingmilk]

aughhh sonic going back in time to visit little two yr old tails as been in my brain for what feels like forever! like how many dots does he end up connecting? how does he have the strength to not travel back further and knock the daylights out of tails’s mom? how does he react to the whole kukku invasion and forest fire? so many questions…aaaaa im so excited for this fic i will be in ruins. in ruins, i tell you

also with the whole sonic punching tails’s mom thing: you were talking about tails and his parents, but like sonic interacting (or just seeing) tails’s parents is always something ive thought about. idk, im curious about what your take on that would be, if you have one. (sorry if you’ve already answered something like this ahshhshs)

your boys are just spinning around in my brain constantly. they are living in there completely rent free. i adore them sm, they make me sick. anytime there’s a reference or parallel to something in their past, it hurts. these boys need therapy immediately. maybe even before immediately. your portrayal of them is such a huge inspiration istg

anyway, sorry this is kinda all over the place 😭 i just had a bunch of thoughts and threw them together in the most coherent way i could lol. hope you have a good rest of your night/day! stay safe out there 🩵

So, I was saving this because it really inspired me to write a little something, and it felt fitting because I live for your baby Tails and Sonic art, it's seriously the best boost of serotonin for me xD I'm sorry it took a minute to get to this, and I'll address the second idea you had in another ask (someone else was on the same wavelength as you around this time, and also asked about Sonic and Tails and Tails's parents xD).

But for now, please accept a continuation of the back in time shenanigans <3

Sonic Back In Time Shenanigans WIP #2: Back for the Luggage

Tracking down a second Chaos Emerald so he could skip back in time for an afternoon wasn’t how Sonic saw himself spending the past few days. Though, to be fair, he spent a good chunk of them trying to ignore the very itch encouraging him to give into this particular whim of the week, but impulse control wasn’t Sonic the Hedgehog’s claim to fame. Not by a long shot.

His curiosity had been piqued. New insight into the lore of his little brother’s life before he’d ever crossed his path niggled at his mind no matter how far and fast he ran from the temptation to take a peek. The glimpse he’d got on that rainy night hadn’t been all that reassuring, with Tails so small and sick and the time Sonic got to spend with him in that dusty, stuffy cabin all too brief.

Cocoa Island. He’d looked it up after he and Silver returned to Sonic’s present, their respective futures stabilized for the time being, but he couldn’t find much information on it. If it wasn’t for the fact that Sonic could chart it on a map, it almost seemed like it didn’t even exist.

Historic records mentioned studies of the volcanic activity on the island more than a decade ago. Mines had also been dug out in the cave systems throughout the island long before Sonic had been born, in search of potential esoteric energy sources.

The Chaos Emeralds, no doubt.

But other than that, it seemed the island had never been properly settled. Sonic could’ve flown over in the Tornado for a quick jaunt—running to small islands never boded well for him, they were always tricky to aim for—but he knew it wouldn’t have the answers he was itching to find out.

And sure, the big one was already answered. The sick baby fox he’d had to leave behind in the care of some flickies after that rainy night obviously made a full recovery, or else Tails wouldn’t be alive in Sonic’s present, off on his own adventure. Flying solo. Alone.

But knowing that without actually seeing it, experiencing it for himself, didn’t satisfy Sonic in the slightest. He was all about experiences. And he wanted to experience this mysterious chapter of his best bud’s life, one he never really let himself think all that hard on.

So, that was how Sonic found himself on a nearly deserted island eight years in the past with two Chaos Emeralds in hand. It was warmer than in his present, willing to bet they were somewhere in spring or early summer as opposed to late fall, but the dense cover of pine trees kept the forest floor cool in its shade. Allergies tickled his nose, prompting Sonic to scratch at it as he took in his surroundings. Flickies sang throughout the branches, their chirps a comforting song accompanied by the steady hum of insects hidden in the brush. With his own curious hum, Sonic picked a direction and ran with it—er, walked with it. He took it slow for the moment, trying to find his way back to the cabin from that night. It seemed like his best bet to start his search for Tails.

Until a child’s voice somewhere in the forest caught his ear, both perking up and flicking towards the sound with an instinctive pull as everything else faded into the background. A breath Sonic hadn’t realized he’d been holding lifted from his chest. The child sounded light, healthy. No coughing or crying as far as he could tell. 

Sonic followed the voice to a clearing. Unlike the stormy day he’d first stumbled in on, sunlight flooded the patch of grass between the trees with its warm beams. One fell across a tree stump where a two-tailed fox kit lay sprawled across on his tummy, bright-eyed and bushy tails further confirmation that he’d made a full recovery. Sonic’s shoulders sagged with relief as he observed him from the brush, his own green eyes lighting up as he realized he was playing. Making motor sounds with his mouth, Tails rolled a toy airplane through the long, wild grass. His tongue poked out as he accidentally blew raspberries amidst his very serious airplane noises.

“Pfft—” Sonic’s laugh nearly sputtered out of him, cut off only by the fact that the kid heard him and froze.

Ears swiveled in his direction, but Tails couldn’t see him through the trees from his spot on the stump. The toy airplane fell to the grass with a soft thump as the baby fox squirmed and tried to hoist himself up into a sitting position, his two blue boots dangling just over the edge as his bare hands planted themselves on the wood between them to support himself. One tail flicked up and down with excitement while the other twitched limply against the tree stump, like it didn’t know it could lift itself up like its twin.

“Mom?” he called out, and the hope in his voice ensnared Sonic’s heart in a vice. “Mom!”

“Ah, sorry, little guy. Not mom.” Sonic stepped out from behind the brush with his hands up, a sheepish smile on his face. “Just me. Long time no see.”

His tails immediately wilted as the bright-eyed, eager expression on his face retracted into something shy and pensive. But not scared, Sonic noted. There wasn’t a trace of fear in his eyes.

“Remember me? I stayed with you during that rainstorm the other night,” Sonic added, hoping to jog the little guy’s memory, but he didn’t actually know how long it had been since that night. 

He didn’t have Silver’s neat little time travel gizmos. His comm couldn’t pinpoint where he was in time, only in space. Which meant he couldn’t stay long, because if Tails or anyone else tried to ping his location, it’d probably come up blank. 

The Tails sitting in front of him drew his legs up, curling into himself a bit the closer Sonic got. Okay, well maybe he was a little afraid. Sonic stopped short of reaching the tree stump, hoping a reassuring smile would get him the rest of the way.

“My name’s Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog. What’s yours?”

Tails stared at him for a moment, until his gaze slowly slid past him to focus on the tree line behind him. Sonic planted his hands on his hips and canted his head back to see if anything was there, but aside from the buzz of insects and rustling of flickies in the leaves, the forest was still. No one else but the two of them smack dab in the middle of it.

“…Mom?” Tails whispered, grabbing onto one of his tails to hold.

Sonic’s smile slowly slid off his muzzle. In all the time he’d known Tails, he’d never once called for his mom. Not a single cry. By the time he came into Tails’s life, whatever innate trust he’d had for this faceless person had completely evaporated. There was only one person Tails had ever called out for, ever cried for, ever searched for when he was lost or scared or lonely.

Sonic swallowed thickly. “I don’t know where your mom is, bud. You waiting for her?” Tails nodded with the most intense certainty, his ears flopping forward and back with the force of it. “Did she… did she say when she’s coming back?” 

This time Tails pursed his mouth as he thought carefully about his answer, his pensive expression the same one he’d still make to this day when he debated how to explain something to him. If he should explain something to him. If he should give his big bro a glimpse into the inner workings of his big brain, or if it’d be easier—safer—to keep it all to himself.

And just where’d he pick up that particular trick?

But this Tails was young enough—hadn’t been hurt enough—to trust someone who looked like a grown-up, so he slowly shook his head in response, wide blue eyes gazing up at him like there’d be some sort of prize if he answered all the questions correctly. 

Sonic’s brow furrowed. “Do you know how long it’s been since you last saw her?”

“Long.” The small, squeaky voice was so matter-of-fact, Sonic nearly fell over with the sheer amount of joy a single syllable filled him with; his little bro’s attitude had been baked into him from the start.

“I’ll bet,” he huffed out a chuckle, choosing to sit cross-legged in the grass so he wasn’t towering over Tails like some kind of threat. “You like planes?” Sonic glanced meaningfully at the toy plane still discarded in the grass.

Tails glanced down at it, the tip of his tail in his mouth as he gently chewed on it. “Mmhm.”

Though Tails had long-outgrown the habit of chewing on his own tails, Sonic would still occasionally catch him nibbling on the ends of pens and pencils when he was deep in thought or starting to get hungry. Or, at least, he used to. Back before Sonic had been captured and Tails had been out on his own for six months…

“I like ‘em, too,” Sonic piped up with a grin. “Probably my favorite way to travel! Second to running, of course.”

Tails blinked at him, head canting to one side. Sonic’s smile grew and he scooched forward a couple inches, steadily closing the gap between them.

“Y’see, running’s sort of my thing. What kinda things do you like to do?”

Tails glanced down at the toy plane again, then up at the sky. He pointed shyly at the white, puffy clouds slowly floating by overhead. Sonic followed his gaze, unable to help the way his smile crooked to one side.

“You like to watch the clouds?” Sonic filled in for him, beaming when Tails nodded. “Me too. You ever look for shapes in ‘em?”

The little guy’s brow furrowed. “Shapes?”

Sonic laughed as the perplexed, and ultimately unconvinced, expression remained fixed on Tails’s face. “C’mere, I’ll show ya!”

Unceremoniously flopping onto his back, face turned towards the sky, Sonic patted the grass beside him. Though they were mostly shielded by the thick cover of trees, a light breeze still wafted down into the clearing and carried the salty scent of the sea with it. The stands of grass tickled Sonic’s side as he laid back and took a deep breath, listening for the familiar patter of eager footsteps following his lead.

Except they didn’t come.

Sonic pushed himself up onto his elbows. Tails was still curled up atop the tree stump, chewing on the tip of his tail as he watched him with worry in his eyes. Worry that had no place being there in a kid so young.

So Sonic cracked another smile. “Don’t worry. The floor’s not lava,” he teased, but it was something the toddler obviously didn’t understand. “It’s safe, bud. I’m not gonna hurt ya. Promise.”

Tails’s gaze darted to the treeline again, searching amongst their thick trunks and low-hanging branches before snapping back to Sonic. “Mm… s’pposed to wait here,” he mumbled, his words sounding a little thick as some of his syllables slurred together in a mouth that was still so small, but ultimately what he’d said was clear enough for Sonic to understand.

His smile slowly faded as he processed the simple explanation; the same feeling rising in the back of his throat as when he sat with a sick Tails in the cabin while the kid asked if he could go home. “Your mom tell ya that?”

Tails nodded. “Wait here. Be good.” His little face scrunched up in a look of pure, earnest determination. “Wait here an’ be good, then mom will come back. She said… she said.”

But she wouldn’t.

No one would.

And maybe Tails already knew that. Even if he didn’t want to believe that someone he loved would leave him, he’d always been a smart kid. Tails’s tiny claws caught in the fur of his tail as he clung tighter to it—like he could physically cling to the hope that his mom would still come back if he did this one thing really well.

If he did his very best.

“Look Sonic, I made this for you!”

“Sonic, I’ve made some adjustments to the Tornado’s aerodynamics, so her base speed has more than doubled! Pretty cool, huh?”

“I made a radar to help us track the Chaos Emeralds faster!”

“I still need to optimize your Extreme Gear’s turning radius and acceleration for your next race. It’s not good enough.”

“The Cyclone still has a ways to go in terms of balancing its different modes of transport. It’s just not good enough at land or air travel yet.”

“I’m wildly inconsistent. I’m just a burden to you. I’m not good enough.”

Not good enough.

Sonic’s fingers dug a little firmer into the soft, damp soil beneath the grass. “Well, I mean, ya gotta get off that stump sometimes. What about when you get hungry? You leave to go get food, dontcha?”

Tails stiffened, fur frizzed up like he’d been caught with his hand in the proverbial mint chocolate chip cookie jar. “Don’t tell,” he pleaded, eyes wide as panicked tears welled up. “I’m sorry—”

“Woah. Hey, hey, hey,” Sonic sat up straighter so he could lift his hands, using them to make a calming gesture as Tails’s little chest started to heave with each little gasp. “Easy there, bud. I’m not gonna tell her.”

“…Not?”

Despite the storm brewing just beneath the surface, faced with further confirmation that Tails had never truly felt safe or wanted, he refused to scare the kid with its intensity. Offering up a kind smile and reassurance, Sonic held up a finger to his mouth. Like they were keeping secrets from some nameless authority figure they’d never shared. 

“I won’t tell if you won’t.”

Tails’s ears perked up and the grip on his tail eased up. “M’kay…”

“M’kay,” Sonic mimicked, smile growing as he watched Tails scrub at his face with the fur of his forearm. “C’mere, kiddo. Watch the clouds with me.”

Tails looked at him for a moment, then scooted closer to the edge of the tree stump. He swung one leg over, then the other, his little boots scraping against the bark as he eased himself down. He was a little off-balance as he toddled over. Both arms splayed out to steady himself as one tail flicked up and the other was dragged behind him, still as limp and awkward as it had been on the stump.

Sonic’s gaze narrowed in on it immediately. “Didja hurt your tail?”

Tails paused and craned his neck back, wobbling a little as he tried to look behind him. “No,” he answered simply.

“Then how come it’s not up like your other one?”

Tails reached behind him and picked up the limp appendage, hugging it to his chest. “Doesn’t do it.”

Sonic’s frown deepened. “Let me see it.”

Tails didn’t even hesitate. He let go of his tail as he waddled right over to him. He turned his back to him, giving him complete access to the part of his body he protected the most. Sonic was the only one he’d learned to trust with them over the years, but he’d had to earn it. 

Sonic gently ran his fingers through the fur, watching his baby brother’s posture for any sign of discomfort. He didn’t flinch, but his good tail started wagging almost immediately, thwacking Sonic in the side of the face. 

“Careful with that,” he chuckled, catching it in a loose hold when it smacked him again. “You could take someone’s eye out with one of these bad boys. Here, hold onto this for me.”

He waited for Tails to grab onto his eager tail, hugging it hard when it wiggled uncontrollably. “S’tryna get away,” he giggled.

“Oh boy, better get a good grip. It’s a slippery one, that tail,” Sonic laughed, using the distraction to his advantage as he palpated along the base of the weaker tail with his fingertips.

There was barely any muscle to it, and the fur was patchy and matted, flattened in a way that his other tail clearly wasn’t, even though his fur overall could’ve used a good brushing. But it wasn’t injured, no welts or bruises or cuts. It was just… weak. Like it was developing slower than its twin. He’d caught a glimpse of it that night where he was sick, but now that he was getting a good look at it, the differences between the two were stark. He couldn’t imagine why; Sonic’s brain literally wouldn’t let him conceive of a situation where this would happen—where Tails wasn’t allowed to use one tail to the same extent as the other.

Whatever had caused this had reversed itself by the time Sonic met Tails, both little propellers of equal strength. At least, he thought they were. To be fair, he’d only been eleven and he hadn’t looked all that closely at them. And Tails barely let him patch him up from where he’d been smacked around by bullies or badniks in those first few weeks.

Idly petting along the length of his tail, Sonic stilled when it spasmed against his palm. Just looking at it, he’d have thought he accidentally pulled on it or snagged his fur, but there was a gentle rumbling sound emanating from Tails’s chest that assured him otherwise. Sonic flicked his gaze up to see Tails watching him, a smile on his face while he purred openly. His tail jerked in his hold again. It was trying to wag.

Sonic’s shoulders sagged, his own smile lopsided as he let his tail slip from his grasp. “All clear. Time to park those two tails of yours right here on the runway.”

Tails squeaked as Sonic nabbed him around the middle, but dissolved into a fit of giggles as he was lifted up and plopped down on the grass next to him. Kicking up one leg over the other, Sonic laid back once again, arms pillowed behind his head as he let out a contented sigh. Beside him, Tails laid back and wiggled a bit to get comfortable, both tails swept to the same side so they wouldn’t get pinched underneath him. He tilted his head up to look at the sky, the same color reflected back in his eyes.

“Shapes?” he asked.

“Yeah, we’re gonna look for shapes, little buddy,” Sonic hummed. “Go ahead and tell me what ya find.”

Tails considered the sky for a moment, then pointed at a blob above them. “Oval.”

A sharp laugh burst right out of Sonic. “Sorry, sorry,” he wheezed when Tails pouted at him. “Not those kinda shapes, pal. I’m talking things like flickies or flowers or chili dogs! But good first try. I’m thinking that one looks more like… a whale.”

“Whale?”

“Uh-huh. See the tail?” Sonic removed one hand from behind his head so he could trace the oblong cloud as it faintly curved upwards at the end, making sure Tails’s eyes followed where he pointed. “And there’s its fin. And the wispy bits at the top are like the water shooting out of its spout.”

“Spout,” Tails echoed, blinking up at it like he was trying to solve a puzzle. 

“Yeah, you know. Like when they come up from the water and all that mist sprays from that hole on top of their heads like…” A devious grin spread across Sonic’s face before he looped his arm around Tails and dragged him close enough to blow a raspberry against his cheek with a loud, “pbbbbbbfffft!”

Tails squealed, legs kicking as he squirmed about instinctively, but made no move to pull away entirely. The ticklish sensation buzzed through him like a bunch of tiny butterflies; the feeling silly, unfamiliar, and almost overwhelming all at once. He eventually pawed at Sonic’s muzzle, pushing it away from the fluffy, baby fur of his cheek, but he was smiling and laughing as he looked over at him, eyes shining with delight.

“Was that funny?” Sonic snickered.

“Yeah!” Tails beamed at him, his tails beating an inconsistent rhythm against the grass. “You’re funny.”

“I’m funny?” Sonic feigned offense. “Excuse me, but seems to me like you’re the funny one, wiggling around over here like a cup of sparkle gelatin!”

“No!” Tails squeaked, curling up when Sonic poked him in the tummy. 

“No?” Sonic eased back, reminding himself to reign it in a bit so he could figure out if the “no” was just in play or if he was serious. 

As much as he wanted to give this little guy something to smile and laugh about while he was out here on his own—and it was so easy, it was almost intoxicating when he hadn’t seen his brother’s smile in weeks—he didn’t want to overwhelm the kid. But as he let him go and pulled back, a panicked look flashed in Tails’s eyes. His smile fell and a fear that was too big for a guy so small replaced it as he froze up.

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay.” Sonic lowered his voice, but even that didn’t stop the tears from suddenly sprouting in the corners of his eyes. “Was that too much? Sorry, kiddo. Not really used to you like this. I don’t know your limits.”

Tails didn’t answer him, probably because he didn’t know how. He was a baby, after all. Four-year-old Tails had often had trouble expressing how he felt or what he wanted. And heck, even ten-year-old Tails was still facing that particular issue. He couldn’t expect a maybe-two-year-old to know…

Tails’s tiny paw reached for Sonic’s arm, the light touch barely registering as anything other than an itch before his fingers curled into his fur. Sonic stared at his hand for a second, then immediately darted to his face. Tails sniffed, muzzle quivering as he held back his tears.

Always sucking it up. Always putting on a brave face. Always trying to be a big kid, like his big bro.

Even when he was just a baby.

“It’s okay,” Sonic repeated, his arm curling around Tails again. “I’m right here, it’s okay.”

Tails nestled against his side, nuzzling his face against him with a shiver and a barely suppressed whimper. “Mom… dad…”

The storm returned with a white-hot flash of frustration and resentment. Sonic directed his glare at the cloud whale lazily floating past them, since he couldn’t look the people responsible for this in the eyes. Not that he particularly wanted to. If they never crossed paths, his and Tails lives would only continue on for the better. That was one thing he was still certain of. There was nothing in the universe that could convince him otherwise.

Not even the baby who desperately wanted them.

But he didn’t know any better. They were all he knew. 

Releasing a long sigh, Sonic let go of the past and pulled himself back into the present—or, well, two-year-old Tails’s present anyway. He patted Tails’s side, then ruffled his fur a bit when he cuddled closer. His fur tickled as he rubbed his little face against his ribs, so Sonic scooched him up a bit more until his cheek was pillowed against his shoulder.

“Sorry if I scared you, bud,” he hummed, watching as one of Tails’s ears twitched from the lull of his voice. “Didn’t mean to. You’re safe with me, okay? When I’m around, I’m always gonna do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”

Tails tipped his head back to watch him, silently absorbing his words, even if he didn’t understand them. But as Sonic looked down at him, he saw his four-year-old brother snuggling up to him in a storm and his six-year-old brother falling asleep on him during a movie and his eight-year-old brother trying to be strong for Sonic as they lost another friend… He could see all of Tails in the way he looked at him, every moment where he let Sonic see a little of that vulnerability he always tried so hard to hide.

He could even see his ten-year-old brother, hundreds of miles away, determined to bury that vulnerable little kid for good, somewhere Sonic would never find him. And that was fine. If that was what Tails wanted, then Sonic wanted that for him. He wanted Tails to feel confident and capable and every bit the hero Sonic saw in him every day.

“And even when I’m not here… when you can’t see me? I’ll still be with you. Wherever you go, whatever you face, you won’t have to do it alone.”

Tails sniffed, then lifted his head to gaze up at him. “Pomise?”

Sonic’s breath hitched, his eyes as wide as saucers as the fox kit who’d only known him for a few minutes at most looked at him with nothing but trust. “Yeah. I promise.” He had to clear his throat, then tugged Tails up to sit on his chest. “You’ve got no idea just how stuck with me you are, keed.”

“No idea,” Tails repeated, shaking his head with the utmost seriousness a two-year-old could express.

Sonic’s laughter traveled through him and right up into Tails, the two of them shaking with it. The feeling of being bounced about coaxed a few giggles out of Tails and he nearly slid off his unsteady perch. But Sonic’s hands supported him, holding tight so he wouldn’t fall.

“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” Sonic choked out as his laughter petered out on a breathless sigh. “Don’t ever forget that, okay?”

“M’kay,” Tails agreed.

“M’kay.” With one hand remaining on Tails’s waist, Sonic lifted the other to poke him on the tip of his nose, grinning at the way he went cross-eyed from following his finger. “I’m gonna follow up on that in eight years, y’know, so better work on committing that to memory, stat.”

“M’kay.”

“I mean it. There’ll be a test and everything.”

“M’kay.”

“You’re so agreeable,” Sonic sighed, closing his eyes as he laid his head back, leaving the comfortable weight of the baby fox on his abdomen. “I don’t think I know what to do with a little bro that actually listens to me.”

He felt Tails squirm a bit, one knee digging into his ribs as he attempted to scoot further up, then a finger lightly tapped Sonic on the tip of his nose. One green eye cracked open, immediately greeted with a pair of pleased blue ones and a wagging fox tail. Despite the fact that it was pinned beneath him, pressed into the grass, Sonic felt his tail give a jerky little wag, too.

“Shapes?” Tails asked.

“You wanna look for more shapes in the clouds?” Sonic waited for Tails’s eager nod before turning him around and laying him back in the grass beside him. “You got it, bud! You need a redemption round, after all. Let’s see what kinda shapes you can find this time.”

Tails hummed, contemplative gaze fixed on the clouds for a good minute before he pointed slightly to his left. “Floor!”

“Floor?” Sonic squinted up at the cloud, making sure he was looking at the right one. “Oh, ‘flower!’ Yeah, that does kinda look like a tulip flower. Good eye, kiddo.”

Tails nodded proudly. “Mmhm. Floor.”

“Flower,” Sonic repeated, and even made the sign for it, touching each side of his nose with his fingertips, like he was smelling a flower.

“Floor-er.”

“Close enough,” he chuckled. “Oh, okay, now that one looks like a crab claw. Like from a crabmeat.” Grinning devilishly, Sonic made a claw-like grabby motion at Tails with his hand while the little guy laughed. “Or, y’know, an actual crab.”

They watched the clouds, picking more shapes out of them until Tails’s stomach started growling. Sonic quickly sped through the forest to gather up whatever kind of fruits or vegetables were available on the island, eventually settling on some peaches, plums, and cherries. He grabbed them from the other side of the island, so as not to take from anywhere Tails was likely to forage on his own. He liked the plums and peaches, the sticky juice staining his muzzle as it dripped from his hands. He kept trying to lick his fingers clean while Sonic wiped the fur around his mouth so it wouldn’t bother him later when it dried. He didn’t care for the cherries as much, but Sonic still left a small stash of them and the leftover peaches at the base of the tree stump.

With a full tummy and sticky paws, Tails let out a big, squeaky yawn before he curled up on top of the tree stump. His tails covered him like a blanket as he settled down for a nap, giving Sonic just the out he needed. He’d been debating how to head back to his present time without sounding any alarms for Tails. He honestly wasn’t sure he’d be able to if the kid just looked at him with those sad eyes, like he was being abandoned all over again.

But if Tails was asleep, then maybe this would all have felt like just a dream. Sonic had just wanted to check on him after leaving him so abruptly that first time, and then he figured it couldn’t hurt to give him one good afternoon. There would be so many days where he’d be on his own after this, so many months before their paths would cross. One afternoon where a stranger showed him kindness and played with him wasn’t going to break the time stream, but even Sonic knew it couldn’t really go further than that.

“I’d break time lines for that kid.” His own words echoed at the back of his mind, the certainty he’d felt at the time faltering when faced with the sleepy face of a baby fox who wasn’t supposed to have met him yet. It wasn’t so simple.

Sonic waited until Tails’s breaths were deep and steady, arms wrapped around the weaker tail while the stronger one blanketed him with its fluff. Smoothing down his bangs with his thumb, Sonic gently stroked the top of his head and scritched behind his ear.

“Love ya, little bro,” he whispered.

Things would be okay, Sonic reminded himself as he backed out of the clearing, picking up the two emeralds that were his ticket back to his time. Because they were okay in the present. Even if Tails wouldn’t be there when he returned, they would still be okay. Eventually. They always came out on top. Sonic still believed that.

If there was anything he still believed in above all else, it was Tails.

So, to be fair, when he left the Poloy Forest that afternoon, it had been with the intention that this wouldn’t happen again.

But then, Sonic the Hedgehog’s impulse control wasn’t his claim to fame, was it?

---

A/N: Anyway, just wanted to say thank you again, 0vergrown, and that I appreciate you so much! I'm so happy you're interested in this little side plot I've got brewing and all the angst potential that it holds <3 I have so many little scenes I want to write for them, you have no idea! Hope this scratches a bit of the itch for more of these boys who need so much therapy. So much...

And thank you everyone else who's also interested in this idea! Much love to all of you!

[rekino2114]

I was curious, can you do a one-shot with the Phantom Thieves entering the Palace of an S/O (Futaba's Boyfriend or an S/O with Crush in Futaba), but who is so isolated and self-sabotaging, that his Palece is a tower, a tower that is completely infinite in size, with each floor of the tower being an infinite multiverse of its own, and every floor sees the floor below it as fiction, and the S/O itself is at the top of the tower that has infinite floors (Yes, I've been playing a lot of tabletop RPGs)

Futaba discovering your palace

Pairing:futaba sakura x male reader

A/n:I actually really love the idea of the boyfriend of one of the phantom thieves girls having a palace so that is why this is long. Also sorry if I didn't put all of the stuff you said in the request

Futaba groaned as the game over screen appeared on her switch, she turned around on her bed and sighed

"Ugh! I'm getting bored, when is he gonna come?"

Her complaining was answered when she heard a notification sound coming from her phone, the specific one she had for your texts, so she quickly grabbed it and unlocked it only to be very disappointed when she read your text

"Sorry futaba, I can't really come play with you today"

Futaba wanted to say she was surprised but she hated the fact that she could see this coming

"Really? Why?"

"I'm just not feeling in the mood"

"That's what you said last time too....and the time before that"

"I know and I'm really sorry, It's just not the best period"

"You know you can tell me if anything's happening right? You've been acting weird lately"

"Don't worry I'm fine, I'm sure it will pass"

"If you say so, remember that I'm here if you need anything ok? And that I love you"

"Yeah"

That last message made futaba pout and sigh for the third time, she couldn't hide her disappointed at the fact that you didn't say you loved her back

After standing still for a few moments she opened the chat app again, this time typing in the phantom thieves group chat

"Hey do any of you guys know what's up with y/n lately? He's been acting so weird and distant"

"Who?"

"Her boyfriend, don't you remember him?"

"Oh yeah, sorry, my bad"

"What do you mean by acting weird?"

"He refused to come to any of our dates for the past 3 weeks"

"Seriously? That's messed up"

"Hey don't say stuff like that about him"

"What? I thought you were angry at him"

"A little bit, but I think there's something more going on. He's not a bad boyfriend. He's never been, sure he's always kept to himself, but this is different. He'd never say no to a date, especially one with videogames snacks and board games"

"I see, isn't he in Ren and Ann's class? Do you know anything about this?"

"To be honest he hasn't been coming to class for the past couple of weeks, we actually intended to ask you about that"

"Really? A couple of months? Then it's been going on even longer than I thought"

"You knew about that?"

"Yeah, when he first started ditching our dates I went to his house to check on him but his parents told me he hadn't come out of his room in days"

"Sounds like someone I know"

"Hey!"

"Anyways, I'm starting to get worried about him too, that can't be normal"

"Exactly"

"Do you guys......think he has a palace?"

"What? No way, he's not a bad guy!"

"You don't need to be a bad guy to have a palace, remember yourself futaba?"

"Oh......yeah"

"Now that you mention it, this instance does have a lot of similarity with futaba's"

"But futaba's was caused by....her mother, wouldn't something traumatic like that have to happen to y/n for a palace to form, it would have to be pretty recent too"

"Yeah, if something like that happened he would have defined told me"

"Well there is one way to make sure"

"What is it?"

"Let's just put his name in the metanav and see if something comes up"

"Oh yeah nice idea makoto"

"You really wanna do this?"

"Why not? If nothing is wrong then that will put your heart at ease, and if something comes up then we know we'll need to act"

".....alright"

"Great, then should Ren do it?"

"No, can I? Please, I want to see with my own eyes"

"Of course, let us know how it goes"

It took a while for futaba to gather the courage to go to the metanav app and say the vocal imput it asked

".......y-y/n l/n"

She gasped once she saw she did indeed get a hit

".......dammit, y/n......what happened?...why wouldn't you tell me that?"

She wasted no time in texting the other thieves about the result

"I got a hit"

"For real?"

"Looks like we'll have to act then, do you have any ideas what his distortion might be?"

"Hang on, right now? I'm not mentally prepared"

"I agree with futaba, it is her boyfriend, we should wait until she's ready"

"Very well, tell us when you're prepared to start"

"This must be so tough for you so take all the time you need, we'll be here for you whenever"

"Thanks guys you're the best"

With that, futaba went to bed shortly after. It was one of the first times in which she couldn't fall asleep easily as her mind continued to think about your palace, she should have helped you, she should have been there for you.......then maybe this wouldn't be happening

"Futaba you already sent the calling card right?"

"Y-yeah, even if it was kinda hard"

"Alright, so any of you got any ideas what his keywords are?"

The next day the phantom thieves assembled at Leblanc to discuss about your situation

"We know the name and the location has to be his room since he's not coming out of there"

"It's just like futaba"

"........yeah"

"So all we're missing is the distortion, what does y/n see his room as?"

"Oh, maybe it's the same as futaba, what was it again?"

"Tomb?"

"No luck"

"That's good though, at least that means he doesn't feel like he has to die in there"

"Yeah I guess"

"Then maybe it's somewhere where he feels trapped, like.....try prison"

"Nope"

"Ugh! For real? This his hard, you got anything futaba?"

"Why me?"

"You're his gf ain't you? You gotta know something"

"I already said he didn't tell me anything"

"Then try to guess, you know him best after all"

"......a guess......."

Futaba stayed deep in thought for a while before gasping and coming up with an idea

"Oh! What about tower?"

"Tower?"

"Yeah, try that"

"O-oh it actually worked"

"For real? How did you know that?"

"It was just a guess....w-well actually it's something from our campaign but that doesn't matter"

"Well looks like we're ready to go, should we start now Ren?"

The leader nodded and so makoto said all of the keywords required to enter your palace

"......so this is how y/n sees his room"

Futaba looked around and saw a giant tower who she couldn't even make out the top of if it even had one

"Alright we should start going in, are you ready oracle?"

The navigator continued to look around seemingly ignoring queen

"Oracle?"

"O-oh yeah, navigating right? I got it"

"Are you sure? We can do this another day if-"

"No I have to do this, I wasn't there for him when he needed it, the fact that this palace exists is also my fault, the least I can do is change his heart now"

".....futaba..."

"So let's start, if you need any help I'm here"

And so with that, the phantom thieves started making their way through your palace, defeating every shadow that blocked their way

They went up about 15 floors before they started getting tired and finally found a safe room

"Finally! Geez how many floors before that guy shows up!?"

"You're one to talk, aren't you supposed to be a fast runner?"

"There's a difference between track and walking like 20 flights of stairs y'know?"

"Anyway oracle do you have any Intel on the layout of the tower for now?"

Makoto turned to see futaba slumped over one of the couches breathing heavily and wiping sweat off her forehead

"*pants* that's.......the most *pants* amount of exercise *pants* I've ever done"

".......ok...."

"Don't look at me like this! There are like 10 shadows every floor and so many stairs! You have any idea how much you start sweating wearing a tight costume like this!?"

".....so any Intel?"

"Oh yeah, didn't joker find a map of the place?"

The leader pulled out said map and looked at it with everyone else

"Looks like we still got tons of floors to go through"

"And still no treasure in sight"

"NOOOOOO! MORE STAIRS!? Was this palace made to torture me y/n? Is this because I didn't let you touch my action figures?"

The thieves continued their walk through the palace, clearing every floor nonstop, until around floor 44 they encountered a figure in a knight armor, it was weirdly petite to look the part of a knight but the group still raised their guard

"A knight! It's different from the other shadow. It has to be a strong one"

"No wait, the reading I'm getting from it....... it's not a shadow!"

"What? For real?"

Suddenly the knight spoke, a feminine and strangely familiar voice coming out of the mask

"......You're.....not his guards"

The knight figure took off its helmet to reveal......futaba, orange hair, glasses and everything, the only noticeable difference in the face was her yellow eyes

"Huh? It's me!?"

"This must be futaba's cognitive variant"

"So this is how y/n sees me.....I look so cool!"

"It's been so long since I've run into other people......w-wait those outfits! Are you the phantom thieves!?"

"Y/n doesn't know futaba's a thief so his cognition of her doesn't know either huh?"

"Yes, and we're here to steal y/n's heart"

"Steal his heart? You're not gonna hurt him are you?"

"Of course not, we actually want to help him"

"Speaking of, would you be willing to explain what's going on over here?"

"You mean this tower?.......It's y/n's prison"

"Prison? What do you mean? Then who imprisoned him?"

".......himself"

"W-what?"

"One day without any warning he came to me and said he didn't deserve me and that I should leave him, when i tried to reason with him he just locked himself in the tower"

"Really? He locked himself away? Why?"

"I dunno, it literally came out of nowhere, and I'm here to talk to him and figure it out"

"So you're here to save him too"

"Of course, what kind of wife would not want to help her husband"

"....w-wife!?"

As soon as her cognitive counterpart said that futaba started blushing intensely even if it was partially covered by her visor

"S-so in his image......w-we're already married?!"

"But that means he actually loves you, enough to want to marry you, so he doesn't want to break up"

"Yeah I guess.....but that also means he thinks he doesn't deserve me.....how stupid can he be? Of course he does!"

"We're trying to get to y/n too"

"Well you're not going to get far if you continue this way"

"What? Why?"

"This tower is infinite, you're never going to reach the top"

"W-what! That's impossible, we found a map that sai y/n's room is close, we can reach it if we keep going"

"Well there is one, but you won't be able to reach it, even if you go through the door of his room, you'll just be teleported to the first floor, that's what happened to me many times"

"S-seriously? That's just unfair!"

"So we can't even get to him no matter how much we try.......that must mean he really thinks no one can help him"

"T-that can't be possible, we have to save him! There's gotta be some other way!"

"How about trying to not go through the door?"

"Huh?"

"If we can go in his room another way, then we won't be teleported, is there a window or anything there?"

"There is one but you can't go in from the inside"

"But it is open yes? So we could go from the outside"

"I.....guess....but you can't climb the tower, it's way too big"

"Who said anything about climbing? We're going to fly there"

Exclamation points appeared on each of the phantom thieves' heads when they heard that

"Uh....queen you sure you alright? A shadow didn't bonk you on the head too hard didn't it?"

"Of course not"

"You do remember Mona can only turn in a car correct?"

"Maybe I phrased it wrong, only one of us is gonna fly there"

Makoto turned to look at futaba who was still lost in thought thinking about what her cognitive counterpart had told her

"Oracle, we're going to need your help"

"H-huh? Me?"

"More specifically, your persona"

"Oh yeah, she's got that ufo thing, she could totally fly over there!"

"Y-you mean using necronomicon to just go over there, but the only one who can go inside it is...me"

"And that's why we need you, you want to save y/n right?"

"Of course, but I can’t fight his shadow alone"

"Then don't, fighting isn't necessary, we just need to make him have a change of heart"

".......y-you this he'll listen to me?"

"If he's going to listen to anyone it has to be you, he loves you after all"

Futaba stayed silent for a while. She felt guilty for not being there for you and was ready to do anything to make you realize there was someone who could help you and that was going to be there for you no matter what, but could she really do it alone? She always had the other thieves by her side and never really confronted another shadow by herself........was she truly ready for this?

"Alright, when am I going?"

"H-huh? You really wanna do it?"

"Obviously. You guys helped me when I was at my worst and made me see the truth, you and y/n helped me so much and made my life so much better, I'd be a terrible girlfriend if I just left him like this and not do anything"

".........."

"I'm going to save him, no matter what I have to do!"

"You're really brave"

"Thanks, soooo am I going or what?"

"Of course, remember to contact us if anything goes wrong"

"And if the worst situation happens then just escape and return here, there's no shame in that"

"No way I'm gonna run, I need to change y/n's heart no matter what"

Joker gave her a thumbs up and smiled along with the other thieves as they saw futaba summon her persona and get inside it exiting the window and going up the tower

Once necronomicon reached the top floor futaba got out of her persona and landed inside, the floor looked miserable, like a prison, there were cracks in the walls and drops of water coming out of the ones in the ceiling

"Is this how y/n sees his room?....it's terrible"

"Who's......there?"

Futaba yelped and looked towards the voice, she saw.....you or your shadow at least, it looked like you, with the hair that she liked to sniff while cuddling and the skin she liked to kiss and caress. The only real difference in your face was the yellow eyes but your body was another story, your shadow had a prisoner outfit on, and only now she could see that your hands were chained to the wall with handcuffs. You looked so miserable malnourished and pale, even your voice was weak, even if it wasn't the real you, futaba's heart still sunk knowing this was how you viewed yourself

"......y/n..."

"How do you know my name.....wait that outfit....are you a phantom thief?"

"H-huh? O-oh yeah and I'm here to steal your heart!"

".......what?"

"N-no wait, can we redo this? That was way too cringy"

"......why would you want to steal my heart? Is it like what happened to futaba?"

"....y-you believe m- I mean her?"

"Of course, she got her heart changed by them and healed from her wounds......I don't need or deserve that kind of treatment"

"What are you saying?"

"I deserve to be here, just leave me alone, I'll stay here alone......that's what I deserve"

"Of course you don't you-"

"Spare me your hollow words, you know I don't deserve to be saved too don't you? I don't know how you found out about this or entered here but leave, please I don't deserve to be freed"

"......stop it"

"Huh?"

"Stop talking like that. You don't deserve to be saved? Are you kidding me? You're amazing and kind and loving, and need to continue being like that"

".....who are you to talk? You don't even know me, all the people who told me that I didn't deserve to be here....that I didn't deserve futaba....that I didn't deserve to live....they knew me at least.....don't think the half baked pity of a stranger who's probably only doing this to get more famous is gonna magically make me change my mind, leave me here.....it's what I deserve"

".....so people were bullying you......it sounds so harsh no wonder a palace was born from it.......if only I noticed before"

"Harsh?....it was just the truth and I'm thankful to them, now I can rot here and stay away from the lives of people who I don't deserve....especially futaba....I feel so sorry for her.....having to put with me for all this time"

".....you think she'll be happy if she sees you like this?"

"......maybe....at least I know she'll be glad to not have to pretend to love me anymore"

"......You're even more of an idiot than I thought"

".....what?"

"I-futaba loves you, I'm sure of it, she loves you more than anything in the world, and if she saw you like that then she'd want nothing more than to save you"

"....Eh.....You're talking as if you know her"

".....because I do"

".....what?"

Right before your shadow's eyes the phantom thief took off her vision to reveal the purple eyed glasses wearing nerdy girl that you loved

".....fu....taba?! What are you-....you were a-"

"Do you believe me now? Y/n I love you, and you need to stop talking like that, you seriously think I've been faking my love all this time? Why the heck would I do that?"

"................"

"See? Even you can't come up with an explanation, you're just using it as an excuse to justify your self hatred.....you love me too and you've created this lie to refuse my help"

".....I......i-"

"I'll admit I'm not fully blameless, I should have seen the problem and helped you before this palace was born......but I didn't so I'm sorry for that.....but you also need to apologize"

"For what?"

"For refusing this help. Your distorted heart created a place where no one could reach you because you thought you didn't deserve to be helped by anyone.....You're wrong so open the door to your heart.....and accept this help"

".....but-"

"I know it will be hard...but I'm here....I'll help you every step of the way so please....I need you to accept this help"

".........futaba......t-thank you"

The hacker saw that you were starting to cry now so she approached you and gave you a hug, not caring about any soot or dust getting on her suit

"......there's no need for thanks, so.....will you start opening up?"

"......I think I'm ready"

"Great so-"

Before she could say anything else futaba saw that you started to glow and the tower was crumbling

"S-shoot the palace is getting destroyed already? I-i guess it's good"

She started to run towards the windows and summoned necronomicon again before turning to you one last time, happy to see a smile on your tear soaked face

"Hey....You're gonna be OK.....I love you"

"......I....love you too"

Futaba smiled and waved at you before jumping into her ufo and regrouping with the other thieves who quickly ran away from the palace and returned to the real world

"So....you managed to change his mind"

"Yep, I convinced him that I could helped him and that he deserved to be helped and so he had a change of heart"

"That's good, it's nice to clear a palace without fighting the shadow once in a while"

"Speaking of, did he tell you why the palace was created?"

"It seems like some guys were bullying him and saying he didn't deserve me...they also sent him death threats and other horrible stuff"

"....that's terrible"

"Yeah....don't worry I'll find out who they are, he said they knew him so they're probably classmates.....how could they do something like that? I'll hack their phones and reveal all their embarrassing search history mwehehe"

"...wow!...remind me to not mess with y/n"

"...you were thinking of doing that?"

"N-no of course not!"

"How did you convince his shadow?"

"Oh yeah....about that....I....might have revealed my identity to him"

"What? Are you nuts!?"

"I-it was the heat of the moment and he wouldn't have believed me otherwise"

"Don't worry it was just his shadow so the real him shouldn't remember"

"....oh.....yeah....still sorry"

"It's fine"

"When's the change of heart happening?"

"I don't know we just have to wait"

"......are you sure he's going to have one?"

"Well everyone did so far so there should be no problems"

"I..... see"

"Hey futaba, you were really brave....I'm sure he'll turn back to normal in no time"

".....thanks, I'll check on him"

"Good luck and tell us how that goes"

"For sure, see you guys and thanks I couldn't have done it without you"

[Timeskip]

Futaba stood in front of the door to your room, two large bags in her hands, she took a deep breath and knocked

"Hey y/n it's me futaba, I thought we could hang out"

She waited for a bit but no answer came and the door remained closed

"Sojiro made your favorite curry and I brought it here. I also have all your favorite games"

She sighed when the door still didn't open and was ready to walk away and wait more but was stopped by your figure opening the door and standing in front of her

"Hey-"

"Y/n!"

She tackled you in a hug and after a while you wrapped your arms around her too

"I was so worried about you"

"R-really?"

"Of course...you didn't come out of your room for so long"

".....thank you"

"No I didn't do anything"

"You just being here is a great help"

"I'm glad and don't worry I'll help with everything, first thing first teaching those losers who said all those horrible things to you a lesson"

".....how....how did you know about that?"

"O-oh hehe....g-girlfriend intuition you know? I could just tell"

"Oh...yeah I guess that makes sense, you are really perceptive"

"Yeah exactly but stop thinking about that for now, tonight I just wanna play videogames and binge anime with the best boyfriend in the world who deserves this and much more"

".....thank you so much.....really i love you"

"It's nothing, I love you too, so let's start!"

[pumpkinstrawbrew]

masked x unmasked *part 1*

...

(why yes, shall i get more an' more ambitious in well, uh limitation of my current skillset, but still. more kissing! drawing them kissing gives me life *esp now, when i've got hella sick again lol* if i’ll draw them smooching 100 times, i will prob reach immortality. ooor i will be able to have this engraved on my headstone. one or the other!

but welp, as the title suggests, this collage focused on a scenario, where crane isn’t the scarecrow just yet. i believe, i mentioned that AU-ish idea in another drawing before. but this one, specifically depicting the comicverse scarebat. with this being said, this still implies that jonathan caused bo to crash the car. an’ that he most likely did smth to his predecessor *he didn’t murder him tho*, when it comes to his position as professor, an’ he still has fascination with fear, but it’s way more tame, than what kind of stuff he typically does in canon. it’s a slow-burnish corruption for him. but yeah, he will eventually become the scarecrow, anyways. but for now, he’s jonathan crane. an unlikely ally of the gotham’s new, mysterious vigilante. each art addresses different stages / moments of their relationships. starting from batman’s ambiguous, slightly intimidating flirting an’ ending up with jon getting bold enough to return his affection an’ even be the one, who initiates it. i suppose, it took him a while to realize, that this isn't some cruel joke at his expense or anything.

an' since this is comicverse, i kinda wanted this arts set to look a bit comic book-y too. as if looking at an old comic book page or smth along those lines. the final result, prob doesn't give off that vibe, but i still like how it turned out. as essentially, this art is one of those works that have around 4 different versions of it. an’ i just posting the ones, which look the most 'interesting'. but since filter did obscuring some lil details, here is a recollection of jonathan blushing throughout the whole thing.

i wasn’t able to keep this feature in the posted version, since it ended up looking kinda odd. but in case, someone might have wanted to see this, here it is.

aside from that, i think that in this set, the arts themselves are pretty straightforward, an’ more focused on the action aspect vs specific set up, aside from AU-ish frame. but i do imagine, that in the top right artwork *the one, where bruce is maskless*, while jon’s glasses make it hard to tell where he’s looking or not, his eyes are actually closed, since it’s the only condition in which bruce will openly reveal his identity to him. i also imagine, that since jonathan’s eyesight is pretty poor, sometimes, he might just take off his glasses an’ see bruce as a blurry shadow, but at least, still have some things to go from. like the fact, that bruce’s eye color is blue an’ he’s a brunette. it's their lil trust game, an' despite being curious, crane is too scared to screw this up just bc he wants to see his lover's face. not to mention, that typically jonathan not super obsessed an’ sometimes literally doesn’t care too much about batman’s everyday persona, since it doesn’t change much for him. whoever batman is, he’s the exact same man for him, inside the cowl or without it.

an’ oh yeah, it's indeed part 1. since i have sketched the set up, where bruce aren’t batman *bc his parents had never died in that universe* but jon is still the scarecrow, the notorious criminal. it doesn’t seem to deter wayne’s heir, who flirts with him for some reason tho.

p.s the most top left art used to be this .)

[demigod-shenanigans]

Credit where credit is due because it was @poppitron360 bringing up Jason’s extended family in a fic that made me think about this.

Anyway. I think Leo deserves some closure with his extended family, too. Obviously it’s never going to happen with his shitty aunt. However. He has a cousin.

His name is Raphael. We don’t really know anything about him except that he bullied Leo when they were kids (that’s the only half-sentence mention he gets). Obviously this isn’t a great start, but I think it makes sense in context.

Rosa never liked Leo. Maybe it was a superstition thing. Maybe she took issue with the fact that his dad wasn’t in the picture. Maybe she convinced herself that he’d somehow ruined her sister’s life. Either way, of course her behaving that way and talking badly about him affected her own kid.

Raphael also didn’t really get Leo, who went on about boring machine stuff Raphael didn’t care about for ages and just wouldn’t shut up. Who’d only play in very specific ways and get upset when Raphael tried to change the rules. He was weird, and Raphael didn’t like him, so he was mean to Leo.

When Rosa tells him Leo is going away and he’ll never have to see him again, Raphael isn’t upset. He takes his mom at her word that it was Leo’s fault his aunt died.

But Raphael was nine, then.

(I’m putting most of this under the cut because it got incredibly long. Oops. Fair warning, I did make myself weep writing this.)

Raphael doesn’t think about Leo for years. They were never close. He’s just a weird kid that used to be a family member but that they’re not seeing anymore. Raphael has friends and school to worry about. Leo doesn’t even cross his mind.

But then he’s packing for college, going through boxes in the attic, and there’s two that look weirdly different from the rest. He’s curious and opens them. It’s mementos. Pictures of Esperanza, and of Leo, and a whole bunch of random trinkets taken from their apartment after the workshop burnt down. And suddenly he’s wondering what happened to his baby cousin, ashamed he hasn’t thought of Leo in so long.

So he asks his mom. Rosa shrugs and tells him Leo went into the foster system and they’ll thankfully never have to deal with him again. That if there’s any justice in the world, he’s dead, because it’s his fault that his mom died.

Raphael is horrified to hear her talk like that. Leo was eight. Even if he did make a stupid mistake that somehow led to his mom dying—and he isn’t nine anymore, he won’t just take his mom’s word for it this time—that’s more traumatizing to Leo than anything. And he was just left alone to deal with it all. A child with so much blame on his shoulders, made to feel like his family didn’t love him.

He’s kicking himself for not asking about Leo sooner. For not being nicer to him when they were kids. For not being there for him when his mom died.

He asks which foster home Leo went to, and his mom snaps at him to drop it. But Raphael doesn’t drop it. He asks his dad when he gets home, and his dad tells him.

It’s a dead end. Leo hasn’t been there in years. Ran away after a few days, apparently. It’s a miracle the person he calls even remembers who he’s talking about.

There’s nothing he can do about it now. But he takes the boxes along to college. If Leo can’t have them, the least Raphael can do is keep them far away from his mom. He puts up a picture of Esperanza and little Leo along with the ones of his own friends. Because if all he can do is carry their memory, he will.

The question of what happened to Leo never quite lets Raphael go. He tries a few avenues over the years, but it’s like Leo vanished into thin air. The only solace he has is that he doesn’t find any obituaries that fit.

Eventually, he decides to look into becoming a foster parent with his wife, and that’s how he finally finds Leo. One of the older social workers mentions she knew a Valdez boy that would be around his age now. Got into a whole bunch of trouble. Ran away from several different foster homes. He was sent to Wilderness School in Nevada the last time she saw him. Apparently ran away with a classmate—Piper McLean. Never heard from him again after that.

She only remembers because Piper is the daughter of a film star she really liked at the time. It’s just a weird random anecdote to her.

But Raphael knows Piper McLean. Not well—they’ve never really talked—but he’s seen her at an office party or two because she’s married to one of his coworkers. Reyna works in a different department, but he could talk to her. Ask her if Piper knows what happened to Leo. If maybe they’re still in contact, though that seems like a long shot after so many years.

He’s desperate and terrified to maybe, finally, get some kind of answer.

It takes him two weeks to work up the courage to talk to Reyna. She’s confused at first. They’ve only made smalltalk a few times, most of it work related.

But when he brings up Leo, something in her face changes. Yes, she knows Leo. He’s never mentioned a cousin—Raphael isn’t surprised—but she supposes a cousin could exist. She asks what he wants from Leo, and he’s honest with her about the fact that they didn’t have a great relationship growing up but tells her he’s grown since then and that he still has some stuff that rightfully belongs to Leo that’s been sitting in boxes in his house for years.

She gives him Leo’s number, albeit with some reluctance.

He calls and tells Leo that he gets if he doesn’t want to talk to him but at the very least he wants him to have the boxes with Esperanza’s things—boxes that should have been his in the first place. Leo doesn’t even have to see him if he doesn’t want to. Raphael can just drop the boxes off with Reyna or something. But he wanted to apologize for being a jerk when they were kids, because Leo didn’t deserve that.

———————

Leo is shocked to hear from Raphael, to say the least. When he first hears the name of the person on the other end of the line, he freezes up. He barely manages to keep it together for the call and afterwards, he melts into Jason’s arms and starts weeping because a part of him is terrified that this is some sort of cruel prank. Terrified to let himself hope he actually has a relative on his mom’s side of the family that cares. Terrified of whatever might or might not be in those boxes.

But he agrees to meet Raphael, if reluctantly, and he brings Jason. Maybe there’ll be some closure in it. He’s wary, because his cousin was really mean to him when they were kids, but they were also eight and they’re adults now and he realizes kids sometimes do dumb shit when they’re eight and growing up with terrible adults.

Leo is anxious when they walk into the restaurant where they’re meeting for lunch—Jason promises to lightning bolt Raphael through the nearest wall if he starts shit, which makes Leo laugh and relax a little, and they walk in holding hands.

Raphael spots them and his whole face lights up. He looks so different from how he looked as a kid, but there’s still that same scar on his forehead from the time he ran into a table when they were six. He still has the same eyes twinkling with mischief, but they’re not malicious now. He looks genuinely happy to see Leo.

Raphael is clearly nervous meeting Jason, who’s much taller and much more muscular than him, which Leo takes great joy in. And Leo gets the apology he was promised. He’s shocked to hear how long Raphael has been looking for him—shocked that apparently someone on his mom’s side of the family did care about what happened to him. And Raphael doesn’t even ask about his mom. Doesn’t ask what happened, which Leo was terrified he would. He just tells Leo he won’t believe the bs his mom is spouting about him anymore, and he’d like to be at least a little involved in Leo’s life, if Leo wants that. Even if it’s just the occasional call or Christmas postcard. But if Leo wants nothing to do with him after everything, he understands that. He’s just glad to know that Leo is safe and happy and loved.

Leo tells him he’ll think about it.

Jason sits with him when he finally brings himself to open the boxes. There’s so many pictures—several framed ones that they had up on the walls and a whole photobook with pictures of Leo, from birth until age eight. There’s several pictures of just him, and several of the two of them together. The last few pages are empty—memories they never got to make—and all of it is so incredibly painful but he can’t believe he gets to have all of this. Jason holds him through it, stroking his back and kissing his hair and telling him they can take breaks whenever he wants. Leo spends all night telling his husband so many half-forgotten stories of his mom as they look through the pictures.

There’s more in the boxes. A few of Esperanza’s tools. Her lucky screwdriver. An old folder with project sketches she made all the way back at uni that she’d sometimes show Leo drafts of. Random decorative items they had up around the house, many of them hand-crafted. There’s this tiny toy dragon his mom made him as a consolation when he was small and begging for some cool toy they absolutely couldn’t afford and Leo cannot stop crying when he finds it.

Also up there with the photos and the dragon on the list of things that make Leo weep the most is a thick notebook that’s halfway coming apart. It’s got pages torn from magazines and hastily written notes stuffed into it. Some pages have prints glued on them, others are hand-written, in his mom’s hand and different ones Leo doesn’t recognize. A lot of it is faded, and some of the pages have clearly had water spilled on them by accident, but most of it is still legible.

It’s his mom’s old cookbook.

And it’s so much less of her than he should have. But having all those memories back that he thought he’d lost forever means everything.

But after a full night of weeping in Jason’s arms and a lot of cooking (and making sure the cookbook is no longer at a risk of fading or falling into bits when you breathe on it) and even more processing he shoots his cousin a message that just says “I think I like the idea with the Christmas cards”.

And they’re never going to be best friends or anything. I don’t think Leo ever tells Raphael the truth of who he is or what happened to his mom.

But they talk to each other on the phone sometimes. Leo meets Raphael’s wife, and, eventually, his kids. Raphael meets Sofía a handful of times and sends her birthday gifts and Christmas cards every year.

He’s the reason Sofía gets to grow up with her abuela’s cooking and with pictures of Esperanza scattered around the Waystation, and Leo is always going to be grateful for that.

I’m assuming like three people total will read this all the way to the end at most! Thank you for putting up with today’s specific Leo brain worms. Not sure if this will ever be a proper fic because I have way too many ideas but have this for now

[dilfdater420]

listen this has been in my head for awhile,, Cecil with an assistant who's battle beasts daughter(half alien/half human, so she has a beast form and human form)- now listen, reader isn't much of a fighter, espically after her whole childhood being in a crime ring and going to jail and such- but for Cecil? she'll fight. If he wants her to fight, she does. When he calls her to heel, she does. It's pretty much like an assistant/bodyguard. If you're inspired, could you do some headcanons based on this? romantic or platonic is fine with me! :3

Hey Anon! This is super cool! I love the idea. Feel free to request more and expand on it if you have ideas afterwards because I feel like this is an interesting dynamic to be explored, I'm so serious I'm invested

I’ll make the reader gender neutral though because that’s honestly how I write LOL.

#dilfdater420 : Cecil Stedman x Half Human!Half Alien!Reader who’s Battle Beasts’ kid. little --romantic?? platonic?? idk they're complicated-- headcanons post, feel free to request more from me! more under the cut

Cecil, at first, found you as a means to an end. Something to use to his advantage, and to be evenly matched with Invincible at least. Cecil remembers the damage your own father did to the kid, to have that kind of power even on a small scale at his beck and call could reap bountiful results for himself and the world if Invincible decided to jump ship or worse, Viltrum uses its force and Mark isn't enough.

He found you through intel that there was a powerful threat on Earth that needed to be dealt with from an unknown source. He expected it to be a trap and sent two of the Guardians and himself, finding it to be an actual report.

But the one fault with the report was that it wasn't completely true. You were this defensive, clingy thing that jumped on the man as soon as he outstretched a hand to shake. You were weeping, had almost gave Cecil a heart attack and set his hairline a foot back, but he ended up returning the embrace and awkwardly cuddling you.

This was the beginning of an imprint. After going back to the GDA, never parting with the hand that reached to you in the process, you were put through a series of tests and then therapy. That's where the story of child abuse and violence devolved, and the knowledge that you were the spawn of Battle Beast. After that, Cecil was a lot less annoyed by your closeness, in fact, he banked on it.

With you acclimated enough to be normal and not freak out when you two were separated, Cecil had you become his left hand.

You got his coffee, was something he could air his frustrations to--and no one would ever find out, debriefed him on the current state of the world every morning, and was ready to die if he so little as suggested the notion. It was a match made in heaven, but a high maintenance one.

You talked a lot whenever you could, curious about everything. You were definitely not a child, but incredibly childish. You'd just reach out for anything, Donald even had to make a habit of slapping your hand before you got hurt.

Not to mention, living together? His personal space sacrificed for the good of the world. He doesn't get paid enough.

You improve Cecil's home situation in some circumstances. He could wake up to the kitchen sink once clad with utensils in the aftermath of eating takeout too many times for it to be healthy suddenly clean and tidy. How'd you know he wanted it to be cleaned without telling you? He sighed at it when you first moved in while showing you around.

On the flipside, you could also destroy Cecil's couch and decorative pillows with your claws because you think the sound of fabric ripping is satisfying.

Now, the final question is, how are you faring well as an actual bodyguard? Yes you come from a strong parent, but your actual combat skills and specs lack in comparison, sizably so. You were never much of a fighter and it showed. Yes you could meet Invincible at his level and probably overpass him with a burst of thirst for blood, but an actual Viltrumite?

Despite this, you were good enough for Cecil, so he kept you. Everything cog has a use, and Cecil has gotten really good at seeing which peg a gear can fit in. He's the Global Defense Force Director after all.

#a/n : I hope you liked this, I'm operating on smoke right now I haven't slept since Saturday haha. Forgive me for any grammer/syntax errors charge it to my head not my heart

This turned into something way longer than I thought it would. But you can't stop until the words and you reach this equilibrium of satisfaction. I could go further but then I think I'd fumble it. Better to stop while you're good and come back later yknow

Ok me go sleep sleep **passes out

[bird-inacage]

The Heart Killers: Character Interviews (Kant/Bison Focus)

So this proved to be super interesting. Let us see what can be gleaned from these brief little interview segments with Kant and Bison.

Immediately, I'm struck by how serious and stoic Kant comes across. He has a very mature aura, and is quite hard to read (which I guess is a plus considering what he gets up to). I didn't expect this, based on how flirty and forward he appeared to be in the trailer, and that makes me wonder if it's all part of a persona he's playing. Or whether the real Kant is in fact more measured and introspective, and Bison just brings out his playful side?

A notable trait that gets signposted repeatedly is Kant's care for his brother Babe. I believe Khao has made a similar comment about him being family-oriented. It makes a tonne of sense to me as to why Bison would be drawn to a 'family man'; someone who has strong family values, when Bison's essentially been rejected by his own.

"My goal in life is to make sure my brother grows up into a good man. I want to make sure he doesn't feel like he's lacking anything. We're all we've got right now." "I just live day by day, just keeping with my goal which is making sure my brother grows up well." This is so telling of Kant's mentality. Not only does it suggest that Kant is a stand-in parent of sorts, but that he doesn't live for himself. (Which could be something of a parallel to Bison - who is unable to live by his own rules). His goals centre entirely on his loved ones' needs being met and supporting them. This definitely gives provider with self-sacrificing tendencies.

"I feel like my goal is just to make sure my loved ones get to live their dreams. For now, I just want my brother to have a good life. But one day, if someone comes into my life and I love them, my goal would be to make sure they get to achieve their dreams." And yet another selfless, touching sentiment. The desire to aid your loved ones to actualise their dreams, possibly before or over your own. I expect Kant will be a very doting, nurturing soul. (Lucky Bison).

I wonder if Kant and Fadel will empathise with one another over their respective little brothers, and the sense of responsibility that comes with it. Bonding opportunity perhaps?

The most mysterious thing Kant says is "One more thing I'm not a big fan of is the beach." (The reason is personal). Curious. First has specifically talked about filming on the beach, where they were able to do a lot more improv. Any speculations on the above are wide open.

Now let's move onto our resident Murder Kitten. I've always said that Bison reads as a real sweetie-pie based on everything we've seen thus far. He's very animated and expressive. Khao very deliberately uses a softer, lighter vocal register as Bison, which just accentuates this cute, darling image. A real child at heart who wants to make up for a life he didn't get to lead. "I go out, I'm just trying to live outside the burger shop." His childhood dream about seeing the northern lights is just another example of a boy who has daydreamed of escape, and welcomes any excuse to be as far away from his actual life as possible. He also mentions being fond of a stray cat who resides near their burger bar, who he enjoys feeding and playing with. This precious boy, I cant. (Note: I need to have scenes of this in the show PURR-LEASE).

Everything about Bison as a person feels at odds with his violent lifestyle, which seems to be a central conflict in Bison's character arc. It does beg the question of what if Bison had never been adopted, what kind of life would he be living instead? And I think this drives Kant's desire to fight for Bison's chance at a new start. A boy with big dreams meets a man who wants to realise them. What a match.

Another comment we've heard before in the pilot is "I also don't like liars", no doubt foreshadowing the fallout when he finds out Kant did exactly that. I do think it's likely that whatever drives Kant to take the detective job has reasons to do with his own brother. He may wish to clear his record of anything untoward for his brother's sake. Based on this premise, when Bison does find out why Kant did what he did, I think that will help soothe any hard feelings.

On a side note - I've seen a comment mention that Kant apparently calls Bison 'kitten' in the novel. ERM HULLO?!! I will allow one spoiler, and that is whether this is true or not. And if so, I DEMAND that it is a featured pet name in the show, because why on earth would you miss an opportunity like that?!

You can keep tabs on bird-inacage’s BL meta directory for other long-form posts around The Heart Killers, which I'll be updating as the show airs.

[irrealisms]

hi! yr probably not lookin for asks anymore, but. what's your lifesteal elevator pitch? i know absolutely nothing abt it or any of the folks on the server except the vague things i've absorbed frm reading yr analysis as it crosses my dash, but it compels me, etc.+ also merry christmas! <33 🎄🌟

good news: i am always looking for asks

bad news: my parents DID go to sleep and i was able to wrap presents and put them beneath the tree and so on, so i wasn't going to do more asks tonight

good news again: i actually already have a lifesteal pitch. in a google doc. bc i'm normal

the pitch does assume you're basically already into mcrp and just curious about lifesteal in specific BUT we went to dsmp together so this works out

I really love shitty little tryhards causing problems via impressive feats of minecraft, and lifesteal is full of those. if you like people being good at minecraft, I really recommend lifesteal--in s2, clownpierce was top 50 worldwide at crystal pvp, and now he's washed and in s6 there are 2-3 (depending on who you ask) lifestealers who are better than him at pvp (admittedly maybe not at crystal); in s4, there's some stuff that's impressive in ~vanilla (eg parrot wins a 1v1 while on one heart) and some stuff that's impressive through exploits/social stuff (eg a group of people use a glitch + social engineering to get /op and prove to mojang that the glitch is a security issue that needs patched). every season is like this! lifestealers have backdoored the server 3 seasons in a row (s3-5). for a more recent weird Lifestealer Behavior, rekrap and jumper filled in every end portal room and built new fake ones to make it look like the world glitched and generated without them. lifesteal is weird and constantly coming up with new weird yet impressive things to do. a lot of stuff that's currently banned on lifesteal (F3+A, pie ray) are things i only learned were possible from lifesteal. (on the flip side i'd say: if you are not into shitty little tryhards making weird impressive clickbait, you probably won't like lifesteal, although you may still like hearing about it from time to time.)

related to them being shitty little tryhards causing problems: the rules are...more of a suggestion. getting around the rules, and hiding from the server owner and/or other players that you're doing so, is often part of the fun of lifesteal! (see also the thing where i mentioned that it's been backdoored three seasons in a row.) if that's intriguing: check it out. if not: once again, you have been warned.

lifesteal absolutely has lore and some people roleplay on it, there is nonzero c/cc divide, but it's more like traffic life than, say, late dsmp--it's fully improv, not scripted, and even more than traffic life it is genuinely adversarial. you can sometimes be confident that someone is in character but you can never be sure if someone is out of character, on lifesteal-- things like "going to someone's house irl to turn off their computer" or "lying about your homework/school/sleep schedule" or "changing your entire discord layout so that when you DM someone they think you're someone else" or "claiming you need their footage of an event for your video when actually you just want to see where their spawn point is" are all things that have been done on lifesteal that are considered fair game! everything on lifesteal is real; sometimes this goes well, sometimes it doesn't, but both are interesting to see imo because they are real

partially for this reason and partially for other reasons, lifesteal is fascinating to me as a piece of unique storytelling? a lot of mcyt is doing interesting things with its medium and being improv, lifesteal's not fully unique in that, but definitely if you like that you might like lifesteal. along with the improv, there's the fact that many lifestealers lie about what actually happened in their videos (comparing different videos with the vods, or in some cases with "what people say in various vods" when events weren't streamed, gives some fascinating insights imo--how do people frame their stories? how honest are they? what do they blatantly lie about, what do they gloss over or omit, what do they include in full? who, if anyone, do they see as the heroes or villains? whose videos agree with each other, and whose present a totally different story?), and the fact that conflict about "where do we want the story to go next, what do we think would be an interesting video/the best ending" is often the driving motive for in-character wars and conflicts! if you're interested at all in lifesteal and storytelling, check out barrier blocks part 2 by @mering/@myrmica, which is a deep dive on eclipse federation and the end of lifesteal s4 (those are my special guys); it dips into some academic game studies and it's really, really good. i genuinely cannot recommend it highly enough. (part one is also real good for non-lifesteal-specific discussion of mcrp!)

if you want a more specific plot summary (esp of s4) and/or "how do i actually, like, watch this" (of any seasons): hmu! but that's my pitch. also, read barrier blocks

[foreverisntenough]

‘OURS’

Summary: You were his and he was yours but what would it be like adding one more? Thrust into a whirlwind romance you never could’ve imagined that became your forever love. You continue building a new life across the pond with a very beautiful Scouser. A sequel to the ‘You’re Mine’ fic.

INDEX

Warnings: This series will contain fluff, suggestion, smut (unprotected sex,) pregnancy, parenting, mention of the word ‘daddy,’ kind of angsty, alcohol consumption - not sure what else really… if i miss anything please lmk!

Note: Thank you for reading! Please be sure to like, comment, or message me what you think of the series! Try not to nitpick with any real pregnant logistics it’s better if you just read along happily :)

Chapter 10 - He’s All Yours | ‘Ours’

The final day of your trip to New York arrived. You and Trent wanted to do some shopping. It was cold but still sunny out so you opted to head down to SoHo for it. You hit it up Prada, Aime Leon Dore, Acne Studios, and all your favorites. You wanted to stop at Sporty & Rich as well so you pushed Teddy in her pram down the pavement of Greene Street holding Trent’s hand. About half way down the block a Tiktokker came up to you trying to film a video.

“Your family is gorgeous, do you mind if I ask you a few questions for a video?” The boy asked, standing with a microphone while someone else filmed for him. You looked at Trent to see his reaction. You didn’t mind but you also weren’t the famous athlete.

“Thanks, mate. Yeah, it’s no problem.” Trent answered him while he pressed a kiss to your hair before he leaned over to check on Teddy. Seeing him elicited a giggle from her as she kicked her feet in her seat.

“Can I get your names first?” The interviewer asked politely. You looked at Trent for him to respond. You didn’t know what his plan of action would be here so you wanted him to take the lead.

“This is my fiancé, Y/N, I’m Trent, and this is Teddy.” He spoke soft and slow like always as he tickled her tummy. She continued in her fit of giggles with a big smile.

“Nice to meet you all. Where are you from, bro? That accent is crazy.” The kid laughed a little surprised by Trent’s diction. You guessed you were around it so much you hardly heard it anymore but you understood why someone living in New York might be confused by the Liverpudlian accent.

“It’s definitely something.” You giggled resting your head on Trent's shoulder. “I’m from here but he’s English.” You looked up at Trent as you informed the tiktokker.

“Nah, no way that’s English. It’s not.” The boy tried to convince you Trent wasn’t English. He wasn’t going to succeed obviously, it was just a bit of banter but he obviously assumed everyone in England had one accent that you presumably believed to be the more London posh one.

“Hate to disappoint, bro but I’m definitely from the north of England. Liverpool.” Trent confirmed he in fact was English.

“Oh sick. Do you guys watch soccer then? That’s big there right?” He asked genuinely curious. You appreciated the conversational manner he was trying to induce. It was friendly and polite. Normal. You both laughed a little not trying to be rude or patronizing but it was funny.Trent was famous but if you didn’t follow football it was a bit of a reach to recognize him. Nevertheless, to say you watched ‘soccer’ would be an understatement.

“Yeah… I guess you could say we do. Our life pretty much revolves around it.” You giggled more before Teddy started making some noises. You crouched down to her level. You picked her up and she clung to you eagerly.

“Wow, she’s adorable. So do you mind running me through your fits?” The boy cooed as his camera man moved for a different angle to include the full length of what you were wearing.

“Aw, thank you. Yeah, this is our little Teddy bear. She’s in Moncler.” You pinched her chubby cheek rubbing your cold nose against hers.” Erm… and I’m wearing Max Mara.” You were in a long Teddy coat that felt like you were still wrapped up in bed. “Louis Vuitton boots and a silly Saint Laurent take out box for a purse.” You laughed displaying your bag.

“That purse is incredible. I love it. What drew you to that?” He asked inspecting the kitschy leather box.

“It was a pregnancy craving. I give him a baby, he gives me a bag. It was a simple transaction.” you teased with a slight laugh looking at Trent amused.

“A bag?” Trent joked emphasizing that he most definitely bought you more than one singular bag during your ‘cravings’. He was in a Prada coat, trousers and trainers. Simple and all black. The kid had a few questions but flicked back to you.

“Mind talking me through some of your jewelry?” He asked so you nodded and started going piece by piece. “ My necklace is Van Cleef.” You smiled. It was the one you always wore that Trent gave you when he asked you to be his girlfriend. Only now it was a little funny because as you went through the rings on your finger, from your right hand starting with a David Yurman pinky ring first then to your Spinelli Kilcollin. You jumped over to your left hand and ultimately got to your ring finger with its newly adorned ring.

“Holy shit! That ring is insane. It’s beautiful. Congratulations. Bro, can I ask what do you do for work.” The boy keenly asked Trent curious what some random man he was interviewing on the street did to afford that. Trent rubbed his hand over his face, a little embarrassed by the spotlight on him and the size of your ring. He wanted you to have it be that way though. He designed it from scratch practically and he frankly believed you deserved a bigger one.

“I’m a footballer.” Trent answered plain and simple like always. With people he didn’t know Trent was always concise. He didn’t beat around the bush.

“Like the NFL?” The interviewer's eyes widened, starting to believe he was talking to a professional athlete. He was, just not kind he was initially thinking. You couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Trent was strong and athletic. I mean, he’s perfect and sexy but him playing in the NFL would be far fetched. You mouthed a ‘sorry’ up at Trent for your blunt reaction holding onto his bicep

“No.” Trent laughed with you, agreeing that it definitely was funny. “Nah, mate. Soccer, I guess.” Trent cringed saying the word. “I play in the Premier League.” He further explained. You felt his body tense saying that word. It made you smile remembering in the first few weeks of dating he convinced you to drop the word soccer entirely.

“Oh that’s so cool. Shit, now I feel like an idiot. I asked if you watched it.” He laughed nervously running his hand through his hair staring at the ground. You reached your arm out to pat his arm reassuring him it wasn’t a big deal.

“Don’t, he’s not that big of a deal.” You teased. Trent squeezed your waist silently complaining that you’d say that joke or not. The TikTok interview ended and he asked for your instagram handles to tag you when it was posted. You shared them not thinking much.

“Um 11 million followers is a big deal, Jesus.” The interviewer looked at his friend who was filming as you walked away with your family.

You sat in an airport lounge waiting to board your flight back into Manchester. You were slumped on a couch with your forever accessory clung to you. Teddy cooed away as if she was having a full conversation with you. You nodded along with ‘yeahs’ and ‘mmhmms’ entertaining her. You peeked your head up briefly away from her though to check on Trent. He was sitting across from you, legs spread scrolling through his phone. He looked good. Really good so you sent him a cheeky text.

‘Dadddyyyy 🥵🥵🥵’

You obviously sent it as a joke. You watched him read it and shake his head. He didn’t pick his gaze up though. He just shot you a text back.

‘Relax, please. We’re in an airport 🙄’

“Never stopped you before.” You said aloud. After receiving his response.

“Yeah, well, it’s stopping me right now.” He laughed. He stood up and walked over to you, plopping down on the couch you were sitting on. “Ted, isn’t mummy silly?” He cooed. She just drooled a little and you shrugged as if Teddy had responded ‘no, dad she’s not.’ You cuddled into him and laid on his chest as cozy and appropriately as you could given your location.

“I was thinking… T, do you think it’s bad we told that TikToker we were engaged?” You asked him quietly looking at your ring currently resting on Trent’s thigh.

“Do you not want to be engaged?” He said in a dramatic overly offended way. You rolled your eyes at his theatrics. “Give it back then.” He swiftly went to take your ring off your finger. You snatched your hand away from him before he could.

“T! Stop! I’m so serious.” You laughed despite trying not to. “I’m worried.” You looked at him with fear in your eyes. A look he hated to see and a look he always wanted to fix as quick as possible. He sat up a little and cupped one of your cheeks.

“Nah, baby it’ll be the same thing we’ve done with other news as always. If people find out, people find out. If we want to post, we can post. Try not stress about this one. Let’s just enjoy this. Me and you.” He cooed soft and securely. He had a tone he’d fall into that just calmed your whole body. You collapsed into his chest some more before Teddy pulled at his shirt. “Oh yeah, sorry, you too. You’re included obviously.” He joked looking at her.

“We’re a package deal, aren’t we, baby?” You kissed Teddy’s cheek before returning your head to its comfortable place on Trent. You pulled Teddy with you.

“Sign me up then.” Trent cooed, wrapping his arms around both of you. “My girls always.”

You boarded the plane and walked to first class. Trent handled all of your carry ons. You sat down holding teddy and everything was fine. That was until Trent sat down and gently pinched Teddy’s chubby little leg and she screamed with a loud giggle.

“Shhhhh. Teddy girl, you have to be quiet.” He said muddied in a laugh. He couldn’t hide the smile on his face. He looked at you wide eyed and jaw slacked about how loud she seemed on the quiet plane.

“Oh” you began to laugh. “I forgot you haven’t flown with this cute girl yet.” You squished Teddy into a hug recalling your first flight. You have to give credit where it’s due she was actually pretty well behaved it’s just that her squeals seemed to be inordinately loud in the cabin of the plane.

“Oh my days. Can’t be doing that, Ted.” He picked her up from you. And sat her on his lap over on his seat next to the window. He rested his chin on the top of her head while they looked outside. She kicked and giggled, pulling on his hair having the time of her life with daddy.

“Yeah, you handle all that.” You laughed gesturing to Teddy. “I need to sleep on this flight.” You smiled connivingly, watching Teddy stir about in his lap.

“You sleep. Me and Ted will hang. Right, baby bear?” Trent cooed looking down at her. She had a big smile on her face and that was all that really mattered. He reached his hand out and squeezed yours. Before you knew it you were landing back in England.

You got home and collapsed on to your livingroom couch. The dogs ran chaotically towards you hopping onto the cushions and laid on you excited you were finally back home.

“Hi boyssss…” you cooed giving them all the attention they so missed. Marcel usually watched them if you weren’t around. You don’t know how you’d survive without Trent’s family. They did so much for you. You were so blessed to be invited into the Alexander-Arnold family. Every so often for the last few days you’d get reminded that you were going to change your name. It felt strange. You hadn’t really digested it fully yet. Trent came over to sit after he had changed Teddy.

“Want to watch a movie or something? I’m exhausted and I have training early tomorrow.” Trent said handing you your baby and proceeding to practically lay on top of you wrapping his arms around your waist and dropping his head in your lap.

“You pick.” You hummed, not upset by his intrusion of your space.

Teddy was 6 months old today. You were in the kitchen and Teddy was in her high chair. Trent was off for training soon so you were making breakfast for him and Teddy. Lately, you’d been skipping breakfast. You were finding that getting the baby weight off wasn’t has easy as you had anticipated. You’d always been so fit and athletic you thought you’d just bounce back but that wasn’t the case. You were working out again but it was hard to find the time or energy now when you were taking care of a baby al day. It definitely didn’t help that you lived with someone who was chronically in shape. Trent’s fitness was an essential part of his job. Teddy was still breastfeeding. It was still her main source of nutrition which was fine but it wasn’t enough so you were beginning to introduce solid food to her. She was growing so fast it almost made you a little sad. The breakfast for your 6 month old today was porridge and mashed fruit.

“That looks…. “ Trent made a face not particularly enticed by the dish walking into the kitchen. You laughed at him. He pushed the plate away from you before he came to give a kiss.

“It’s good for a 6 month old!!! Huh, Ted? Getting to be such a big girl!” You cooed excitedly as she wiggled in her chair with hungry eyes.

“My baby bear, gotta stop growing please. Have to stay just like this forever.” Trent cooed sitting next to her. He gave her a big kiss against her little pout with an ever dramatic ‘Mwah’ sound that she loved. She giggled grabbing at him with her tiny hands.

“Like what happened?” You walked towards the two of them with her food. “She got so old. I feel like we just brought her home.” You cooed taking a seat.

“Yeah…” he hummed reminiscing about your first days as a family of 3. “We did a really good job to be fair like she’s perfect. Look at this face.” He squished her cheeks together with one of his big hands. Anytime Trent did anything, said anything, Teddy would be giggling away. Completely in love and very amused by him. .

“That’s genuinely your face, T. She is you.” You teased him. They looked just about identical. Even Dianne was shocked from the second she saw Teddy at the hospital the day she was born. They were twins and Trent loved it. You did like it too. Whenever he was away it was like you had a mini version of him around that didn’t talk or eat as much.

“Mmmm, it’s yummy, baby.” You took a baby spoon and tried to get Teddy to eat. “T, eat some. She’ll do it if you do it.” He gave you a face like ‘are you fucking having a laugh?’ He had a weird thing with food textures and porridge was on the list of things he’d prefer to avoid .

“Mmm yum Ted.” He grimaced while swallowing the smallest possible bit of your baby’s food. He turned away from Teddy for only you to see and made a face as if he was going to be sick.

“Very convincing, T.” You laughed. “Not even our 6 month old is buying that.” You teased him for his poor performance. He was such a drama queen all the time which was getting progressively more funny as his actions mirrored the ones your literal child did. You continued feeding her porridge and fruit as Teddy finally gave in. You fed her slowly and patiently but persistent. You felt a little guilty though pushing so hard for her to eat. It was ironic trying to get your baby girl to eat her breakfast to grow strong and be healthy when you were currently skipping meals to get back to what once was. What was unfortunate was the likelihood of returning back to your body you had before a baby was slim, almost impossible. You could get fit, lose weight but the big changes, your hips, your boobs, things had changed that you couldn’t alter. You had thought you kept a pretty tight lid on your feelings about your body because Trent hated when you spoke negatively about yourself. You may have kept quiet but the thing was, you weren’t all that subtle with your actions. You thought he didn’t notice but he kept tabs on you all the time. He knew you struggled. You'd talked about it plenty of times and he wanted to make sure you were okay with out making you uncomfortable. So this morning as he drank a protein shake and your little girl devoured all her food. It wasn’t lost on him you sat at the table and only had a lemon water. Trent’s livelihood depended on his fitness. It stressed you out wondering what people would think about the way you looked now. When you looked in the mirror it felt like a different person. The anxiety was almost debilitating as you got ready for a home match at Anfield. Trent was ecstatic because you finally caved and decided that at 6 months you could probably bring Teddy to finally go see him play.

You got into your car with Teddy tucked in her car seat. She was in her red Liverpool jersey #66 with daddy on the back. She had on a sweat set (imagine this in red) with it and tiny white Nike trainers on. She looked really really cute. You didn’t really dress yourself with the same team spirit per se as you had dressed her. You’d been to too many games at this point. It was just one of many. You threw on a pair of dark jeans that were finally starting to fit you again, an oversized black Celine sweater that was Trent’s you stole with black Dior slingback heels and you guessed what was a topical red shearling bag from Khaite. You walked through the stadium keeping a low profile. No one else from the Alexander-Arnold family was going tonight so you didn’t want to draw any unnecessary attention. Although it was particularly unhelpful that the spitting image of Trent in your arms would squeal and try to point at the walls anytime you walked past a massive image of him. You held Teddy in your arms outside the box overlooking the pitch.

“Is that daddy? Do you see dada?” You cooed sweet and she giggled just simply hearing about him. You attempted to point down to where Trent was warming up. Following his movements with your finger for her but you were pretty sure she couldn’t make out that it was him but it was still fun and cute to watch. Trent stopped his preparations momentarily to scan the stands for you. He found the box and combed through the people to find you and Teddy. He blew you a kiss and made a heart with his hands. You laughed and squeezed Teddy some more. “Say hi to dada, Ted. We’ll blow him a kiss, okay?” Helping her press her palm to her pout identical to his to blow him a kiss. “Good job, Teddy bear.” You praised her efforts. You blew him your own kiss. Andy came over to Trent on the pitch and threw his arm around his shoulder. You could see them yapping away you assumed about Teddy. Andy waved and so you did back. Having Teddy at the match was really special. This was a moment you and Trent always dreamed of.

When the final whistle blew you waited upstairs for Trent as you always did but this time you had company. It was fun and nice. You felt like you had made yourself a best friend and even though she couldn’t even talk yet. You just liked her company.

“I heard the real TAA is here tonight.” You heard Andy’s voice before you could see him. A few boys walked into the room. Trent obviously came first directly over to you. He planted a big kiss on your lips and then took Teddy to say hi to the other guys that came up with him.

“I think congratulations are in order. Go on, let’s see it.” Robbo pressed eager to see your new engagement ring. You stuck out your hand and wiggled your fingers to show it off. They oooo’d and ahhh’d teasing you and Trent all out of love.

“Thank you.” You smiled cheekily watching your fiancé walk to the big glass windows of the box with Teddy in his arms. He proudly pointed around the stadium telling her little things, the pitch, the goals.

“I wanna bring her down to the pitch.” Trent turned to you. You nodded. When you got down to the level Trent walked you out through the tunnel. You didn’t do this often so it was still a pretty cool experience for you. Trent didn’t bat an eye, it was old hat for him. You intertwined your hand with Trent’s as he carried Teddy out onto the pitch. He walked to the center and sat down with her on the perfectly cut and pristine grass.

“This is where daddy works. What do you think, baby? Maybe you can play here one day like me.” He babbled away as Teddy’s eyes lit watching his animated face explain to her how a corner kick works. Necessary information for your 6 month old. It was precious watching them. You stood a small distance away letting them have their moment but you were getting nervous she was cold after being outside for so long.

“T, can you zip her up please, I don’t want her to get chilly.” You cooed sweetly as Teddy cuddled close to Trent. He smiled and placed the back of his hand onto her chubby cheek trying to gage if she was. He looked at her little nose that was starting to run and he felt bad.

“Are you chilly, baby bear?” Trent cooed but she just giggled clumsily falling onto his chest nuzzling her face to his. “Okay, C’mere.” Trent picked her up some and zipped her tiny puffer coat and then unzipped the Nike tech he was in. He held her closer to his chest and zipped his jacket up over the two of them. “Much better now, hm?” He kissed her forehead. You stayed way to late at Anfield but Trent was happy. When it was getting closer to when Teddy usually went down for bed, you needed to call it a night and get home.

After her first match, Teddy definitely was able to put together that when you watched matches on TV it was daddy. When the cameras would pan to just Trent she would squeal and wiggle on your lap. She couldn’t talk yet but you felt like she was getting there making ‘da’ noises when she saw him. She finally was getting the ability to perceive music and toys. She’d hold the bear rattle Marcel got her for Christmas all day just shaking it and giggling. Every time he was over at your house he was gassed that it was her toy of choice to hold. You were so relieved she was a happy baby. It made you feel like you were doing an okay job. Her giggle acting as a confirmation. She was actively paying attention and responding to her name a bit more now too. It was amazing to watch something, a human, your baby, grow and learn.

You laid on the couch one late afternoon with Teddy cuddled up to you under a blanket watching a show on tv for her. She started to whine and you deduced that she was hungry or thirsty. You paused the show and suddenly she began to cry.

“What, Ted? What’s wrong.” You attempted to soothe her but laughed a little bit that when you hit play again for the show to resume she seemed to calm. You stood up with the show still playing on the telly, holding her to walk but she began to cry again. “Teddy, I can’t get you what you want if you won’t let me go and sorry, but you’re not big enough to sit on the couch without me, are you?” You giggled. You wiped away her tears and plopped yourself back down feeling defeated but determined to find a solution. Your solution was somewhere else in the house. You grabbed your phone and FaceTimed Trent. He was in the cinema watching god knows what. He answered assuming it was going to be you so his tone was slightly different than the one he had if he was speaking to Teddy.

“What do you…” he paused realizing it wasn’t just you. “Oh, wow. What did I do to deserve a call from the most beautiful girls in the world?” You rolled your eyes at his cheesiness and readjusted your hold of Teddy.

“We’re thirsty.” You said plain and simple but gave him no other context. Teddy sniffled with a tiny grin and her breathing began to slowed now that she was able to see Trent.

“Okay?” Trent was slightly confused. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to help, he just didn’t know or understand what he was being asked to do. He sat up a bit straighter in his chair.

“Teddy girl, do you need a baba?” You cooed looking at her. Again, she couldn’t talk but Trent picked up on what he was indirectly being asked to do now.

“I’m going to get it but just out of curiosity, why you couldn't?” He laughed. You paused the TV again and Teddy began to fuss pulling at your shirt. Her breathing getting shorter, tears welling. Trent nodded catching on that clearly Teddy was in a mood. “I see. Alright, I will be right there, baby bear.” A short while later he arrived, bottle in hand.

“I have a baba for a Ms. Teddy Alexander Arnold.” You heard Trent’s footsteps walk around the couch. Teddy’s eyes lit up seeing Trent come in. She grabbed eagerly for her bottle. “I don’t even get a thank you? Sheessshhh.” He dropped down on the seat next to you on the couch.

“Can you say thank you, dada? We love you so much. Takes such good care of us. Huh?” You rested your head onto Trent. He leaned back and kicked his feet up on the couch grabbing Teddy to lay on his chest with her bottle.

“Just like mummy, ya know? So needy for daddy.” Trent continued to babble to Teddy teasing you indirectly.

“Excuse me?” You laughed with feigned offense. You attempted to cuddle up into Trent but Teddy wasn’t having it. She let out grumpy ‘pah’ noises. She scrunched her nose. Your eyes widened, surprised by her response. “Sorry, okay. He’s all yours I guess.” You held your hands up in innocence. You pretended to be outwardly upset for Teddy to understand and see. You pouted your lips dramatically. The thing was that it actually did hurt your feelings a little. She loved being with Trent all the time lately. Why did she not want you there as well?

“Can mummy join, please? Have to share.” Trent cooed to her. He pulled you into him despite her protests. He kissed you on the lips and you would’ve thought she had gotten hurt or something. The way she yelped. She almost started to cry again, eyes watering, getting upset and annoyed you were kissing her dad. Her grubby little hands grabbing for Trent.

“Okay, okay. I get it. Daddy’s all yours. He was mine first just saying.” You playfully bit at one of her chubby legs dangling off Trent’s torso. “I’m gonna go start dinner for us.” You turned looking up at Trent.

“Yeah, alright. Thank you, baby.” Trent cooed, squeezing you to him once more to your daughters displeasure before you got up. About halfway to the kitchen you could hear her giggles start up again. You had thought they were a confirmation of you doing a good job but maybe you weren’t, maybe only Trent was. Insecurity getting the best of you, not even just the best, it was getting all of you.

“Wowwww mummmmy.” Trent had come home from training to find you in the kitchen bouncing Teddy on your hip. You turned your head to look at him unimpressed. As of late, you didn’t feel very great about yourself and certainly far from sexy.

“Please stop.” You rejected his compliment. He had come home in the late afternoon but you had plans to go out tonight. Dianne was going to take Teddy and the turnaround time you had was tight so you were getting a little stressed.

“You’ve been looking so good lately, honest.” He came up and held you from behind, placing tender kisses onto the most sensitive parts of your neck. You hummed. Even though you weren't feeling your sexiest Trent definitely knew just how to make you feel good.

“I am going to feed her then I have to go get ready, shower and all that before your mum comes over.” You turned in to Trent. Teddy grabbing onto his jumper excited he was finally back home.

“I can help you shower if you want.” He gave you a cheeky smile that was so pretty and very hard to resist but you couldn’t do that right now. You really had to hurry. Teddy had been attached to you all day preventing you from getting things you needed to do done.

“No, T.” You laughed. “Someone needs to watch this little bear. Been so fussy all day.” You handed her to him and to no surprise she was thrilled. “She literally cried every time I did anything but hold her.” It only made matters worse when you handed her to him she was calm, giggly, and happy. Of course, she'd behave for him. You hopped upstairs and jumped into the shower starting the process of getting ready. When you were finished you sat in your wardrobe and sighed. You felt like absolutely nothing looked good. Nothing fit right. Trent walked into your bedroom with Teddy swinging her around as they both laughed away. As envious as you were becoming about her attachment to him, you did really love to hear the sound of their combined giggles.

“Does this look okay? I just feel like my clothes don’t look right anymore or am I supposed to dress more like a mum?” you asked Trent as you gave him a twirl in a red rhinestone mini dress. It was almost see through. It had a draped neckline that usually you would love how your boobs looked in something like that but now after breastfeeding it just felt…wrong to do for some reason. It was unreasonable short when when you put on your heels. Everything was just off.

“Baby. This is fucking sexy trust me…” Trent slapped his hand over his mouth after he heard himself curse in front of Teddy. You laughed at his reaction. “I actually might need to leave the room before I get too excited. Your boobs look amazing, your legs look amazing. And let’s be real here… That face is just stunning. You could wear a paper bag and still be gorgeous.” You softly smiled appreciating his compliment and attempt to boost your confidence. Trent sat on the bed with Teddy playing while you finished getting ready. You could tell he had picked up on her favoritism lately but didn’t want to bring it up in case it mad you feel worse but he was trying though.

“Ted, doesn’t mummy look beautiful? You have the most pretty mummy.” he cooed while playing with her growing curls. You faked a smile knowing it was said with love, it just was confusing you that for some reason you were having to convince your own baby to like you. Dianne came over and Teddy cried as you left. It hurt you every time she was upset but it definitely was on your mind now wondering if she was upset you were leaving or because he was.

You came home later than expected and probably a little drunker than you anticipated too. You were passionately and messily making out practically before you could even make it into the house. You were all over each other. Trent was determined and when he had his mind set on something particularly when it came to matter like fucking you he was going to get his way. He pushed you up against the kitchen island raising the hem of your dress, creeping his big hands closer to where you wanted them. You moaned lost in the moment. He was trying to fuck in the your kitchen. He lifted you up from under your thighs and placed you on the cold marble surface.

“Oh my fucking god. You’re so sexy, baby” he groaned between messy kisses then beginning to work some down your neck. It occurred to you very quickly though the second you heard him that he was speaking fairly loud.

“T! T! Wait!” you yelped stifling a moan you wanted to let out, feeling his plump lips on your skin. “Your mum! Your mum. Hold on!” You pushed your palm against his chest trying to distance him from you. When he heard you mention his mum, things halted fast. He groaned, annoyed that you had a point. Embarrassingly, Dianne definitely must've heard you. She came down from upstairs with a cheeky smug smile on her face asking if you were having fun. She clearly heard. You knew she knew you two had sex. Hell, you had a baby together but you were still embarrassed. You said thank you and she headed out. Trent moved rapidly to your bedroom. You stopped in Teddy’s nursery first to check if she was still asleep, which she was soundly. You kissed her forehead and walked back to your room. You weren't exactly surprised when you came in and found Trentnt sat on your bed in only his boxers, cock tenting hard in them, leaning back on his arms, legs spread. You'd be lying if you said you weren't immediately turned on. You stood in front of him and slowly peeled the straps of your dress off your shoulders. You let the fabric drop to the floor leaving you in just a matching lacy set.

“C’mere right now.” Trent commanded you. You could see the fire and lust burning behind his stare. You pushed his chest with your palm laying him back on the bed. You straddled over him, casually grinding your wet covered core over his cock. You grabbed his one hand and dragged it over your bare stomach, around to your back and up to the clasp of your lace bralette. He unhooked it with ease, you tits bouncing out free from the material.

“Is this what you wanted downstairs?” You cooed seductively, getting yourself all excited for what was about to happen. In true form, Trent of course had to be just a tad annoying.

“Hey, hey, my daughters in the other room…” he teased acting as if this was all your idea, that he didnt start this whole thing, that he didnt want to fuck you right now. You huffed annoyed and stopped moving on top of him. He laughed a little and held your hips making sure you didn't get off him.

“Please daddy.” you whined slyly knowing he wouldn't be able to resist. You watched the teasing smirk he had drop almost instantaneously. A small smile grew on your face watching his reaction. You began rolling your hips again aching for the contact. You moaned when your clit rubbed against his bulge. Trent kept one hand on your hip guiding your movements but brought his other to cup your cheek then swiftly dragged his thumb across your lips. He slipped it into your mouth with ease. You sucked on it like you would his cock. He groaned when your eyes began to flutter closed with a sigh. You desperately sped up your movements grinding on top of him simultaneously swirling your tongue around his finger. He pulled it out and slipped his now wet fingers down through your folds. Suave as ever he dipped two of his fingers inside of you. You moaned blinking down at him begging without a word. He curled his fingers just the way you liked.

“Do you want more, baby? Tell me what you want me to do for you.” He cooed, enjoying his view of you falling apart on top of him just from his fingers. Your pussy clenched with a whine at the way he spoke to you. A shiver ran down your spine.

“Mmhhm, T. please, baby.” You hummed as you nodded. “I want you to fuck me, please. I want you to make me take your cock.” Your dirty words were enough to stop all the teasing. You both were completely naked in an instant. He smiled looking up at you in awe. Somehow if it was even possible he was harder than he was before. You helped him line his hard cock already leaking precum with your entrance. He groaned as you sank down on him taking his whole length. You threw your head back at the feeling of him finally inside of you.

“You look so sexy, right now, baby. Fuckkk. Look so sexy riding me, sexy taking my cock. You looked so fucking good tonight I needed this.” He ranted watching as you began to bounce on his cock.

“Ah fuck, T you feel so good.” you mewed as your body rocked back and forth on top of him. Your tits bouncing perfectly for him. He cheekily sucked and bit your nipples.

“Take my cock so well. Makes me wanna cum right now in this pretty pussy. Get you pregnant all over again.” His words set you off. You crumbled on top of him in a fit of cries. You fell onto his chest clinging to him as he hit a spot so deep inside you had no choice other than to fall into an earth shattering orgasm. Your pussy spasmed gushing messily onto his cock and abs.

“Holy shit. Oh my god, T.” you whined blissfully overstimulated as he thrusted deeper up into you rolling his hips leaving kisses all along your neck. He reached his hand down between your two sweaty bodies and began to rub your clit knowing he was getting close to his own release.

“That’s it. Be a good girl f’me. Just gimme one more. I’ll fill you up, baby. You want that?” you couldn't think straight anymore. You just moaned as he rubbed your clit in circular motions harder and faster. Your second orgasm washed over you as he simultaneously came inside of you, his hips stuttering and growing sloppier before he slowly came to a stop pumping you full of his cum just as he had promised he would. You got off of him onto wobbly legs collapsing on the bed next to him with your skin shiny, your heart racing, and his cum dripping down your thighs. Trent laughed a little looking at you with loving eyes.

“That was so good, T” you giggled leaning over on him. “I hope we didn't wake Ted.” you got nervous momentarily grabbing for the baby monitor to check. You were relieved to see her still fast asleep. It seemed obvious but you loved having sex with Trent it always put you in a great mood. You loved when he was in control of you but still sweet. It was just the best.

“It's always good.” he confirmed your review before he kissed your forehead and pulled you into his strong slightly sweaty body some more. “It’ll keep being good for the rest of your life. You’re locked into this now. Mrs. Alexander-Arnold.” he teased pinching at your cheek. You cleaned up and got ready for bed. Trent was out like a light fairly quickly. He was exhausted from training, your night out, then what followed when you got home. You were tired as well but your mind was running a mile a minute. You’d be lying if you said you hadn’t had a Pinterest board for years building what your ideal wedding would look like. You started to piece together though more real ideas that fit your current taste and factoring what would be reflective of your relationship with Trent. You scrolled on your phone looking at the all the images you’d saved and that’s when it hit you. Trent’s words ringing in your head again and again. ‘Mrs. Alexander-Arnold’ Trent’s surname was so important to him. The whole TAA thing was almost like a brand and you understood that. You had dreamed probably before you even met him of becoming Y/N Alexander-Arnold. It just was so real now as you looked down at your ring finger and over at the man who gave it to you. You typed out your new name to really see it. In a strange way it made you sad. Like it wasn't really your name. You wanted to take his surname and had planned on it but as it got later and later into the night you just felt like there had been so much change happening in your life, so much was new, so much was giving you anxiety. You had moved countries, you got a house, you had a baby, your body looked so different, you were engaged, and now you weren't even sure your baby liked you. That's a stretch you knew she did but her obsession and preference for Trent was starting to really upset you. All of this was so overwhelming. You weren't you. You weren't exactly the most secure or confident person before all of these things had happened but now you felt less like yourself than ever. You could feel a lump growing in your throat, tears building. Not only were you experiencing severe anxiety you felt so guilty about it all. All of these things were exciting and happy. And you were happy about each and every one of them. You had never loved your life more… then why was this so difficult? You couldn't help it or hold back the tears anymore. You started to cry attempting to be quiet. You rolled over to face away from Trent. He was asleep but not deep enough to miss the sound of your short breaths and sniffles. Your body shaking lightly. He hugged you from behind pulling you into him.

“Baby, what’s wrong. Are you okay?” he whispered resting his chin onto your shoulder. The stubble from his facial hair tickling your bare skin.

“I don’t know. I'm sorry I woke you. I'll go downstairs. I’m sorry.” you apologized feeling bad you woke him up.

“No you won't. You’re gonna stay right here with me. C’mere.” he hugged you tighter, kissing your cheek. “Do you want to talk about what's going on or do you just want me to hold you until you feel up for it?” He asked patiently and lovingly. It made you feel worse he was being so sweet.

“No, it's stupid anyways. I’m sorry.” you apologized again nuzzling your face against his. Your tears were still running down your cheeks now getting on him.

“It's not stupid if it’s making you upset. I don't like when you're upset, baby. I got you, alright? Whatever’s going on we can work on it together. I’ll take care of you. Promise” he wiped your tear stained cheeks with his thumb.

“Maybe tomorrow or something. Thank you for being here, T. I love you so much” You felt much calmer in his arms but it didn't exactly fix any of your worries.

“I love you more than I can even put into words. I’m always here for you… forever.” he kissed your cheek again. He nestled his head into the nape of your neck and closed his eyes holding you securely. “Not going anywhere so if you want to talk or you need me, you got me.” he cooed. You let him doze off. He was tired, you were tired, you both needed sleep and you needed time to figure out how you would even articulate what you were feeling to him. Maybe tomorrow.

•

Thank you for reading! Please like, comment, or message what you think of the chapter … 🤍

Next part - Chapter 11 xx

[unholly-reader]

Shadowcloacked // Chapter 1

Hello lovely people!

May i introduce my newest baby - chapter 1 of "Shadowcloaked"! As I have mentioned previosuly, thi story will revolve around Xaden's new love story with our new OC - Drina.

Fair warning - the updates might be slow, but the whole concept of it is written up until the end of the first book (yes, I'm considering making it a series), but this is the very beginning.

I do hope you enjoy it and as always - be merciful, english is not my first language and this is my first ever book written in english. Other than that I have no other comments.

For now enjoy the beginning of Drina and Xaden's story! More will come running to you soon!

Xoxo

(Un)Holly

*************************************************************

The entire ride to Riorson House was a frenzy of uncertainty and mixed feelings about meeting almost the royalty of all Tyrrendor. Truth be told Drina wasn’t exactly a stranger to manners and etiquette since her father was a highborn lord in his own right, but it didn’t change the fact that she was equally excited and terrified to get to know the highest ranking members of the Tyrroshi society. Barely over ten years old Drina was incredibly intuitive and smart for a girl of her age and the pride an joy of her parents. Losing her mother to a terrible sickness at the age of six and learning to live with her father as her only family was tough on the little lady of Sefrisgen, but she braved through it quite well. She was not alone in her struggles, that’s for certain. Her father, Lord Fenrys Vartell of Sefrisgen, was considered a cold and ruthless man but for his only daughter the was ready to burn the whole world around him just to make sure she’s happy and safe. After his wife, the late Lady Miriam Vartell, died so suddenly, he took it upon himself to raise their child to the best of his ability. He had no clue about raising little girls but he taught her everything he knew. He taught her how to read and understand the knowledge laced between the lines. He taught her how to handle daggers and swords. He taught her ancient languages so that she could understand more than the common tongue. He also taught her the importance of family, the strength of the bonds made with love, and not with pretenses.

- You need to remember, my little shadow. Family is everything. Whatever may happen along they way, you will always have your father’s arms to run back to. You’re the blood of my blood, Alexandrina Vartell. You’re the best of me and the best of your mother. You always have been.

Little Drina didn’t really understand her father’s words then, but she knew she would eventually. She was sometimes too smart and too curious for her own good, always pushing through to distinguish truth from deceit. Now that she was on her way to meet the most important person in all of Tyrrendor she had her questions already lined up in her little head, ready to attack the Duke with all her ten years old might. Watching the mountains and rocky landscapes outside the window of their carriage she looked amazed at the view. For an outside spectator the lands surrounding Aretia were nothing special. Just some mountain chains and little to no grass, nothing really eye catching or particular enough to take a moment to admire. But for a little girl learning everything there was to learn about Tyrrish history, culture and the legends surrounding the Aretian mountains riding through these terrains was more magical than any wyvern legend ever heard.

- How big is Riorson House, father? I read in the chronicles that the castle is monumental, but they never wrote how big exactly. I wonder…

- Gods be good, Drina - lord Fenrys laughed with a wide grin on his lips, turning to face his only daughter sitting next to him - Be patient. We will be arriving shortly and you can see for yourself, little shadow.

- But I need to know, father. It’s really important.

- And why is that?

- Because Duke Riorson needs to know I’m really smart. I want to impress him with how much I know about his home and about Tyrrendor history. And Aretia is Tyrrendor’s history so I really need to know.

Fenrys smiled once again, gently cupping Drina’s little face in his plam. Her pale skin looked like moonstone against his tan hand, almost as if she was sparkling from within. If it wasn’t for the colors the undeniable similarity of their faces some people might wonder if they were even related. Lord Fenrys’s features were rough, almost like they were cut in stone. Sharp jawline, a straight nose and bushy chocolate eyebrows surround his deep blue eyes were truly complimenting his tawny skin and dark brown hair cut short enough to fall behind his ear only a little. Looking into Drina’s big sapphire-like eyes he was alway reminded of his beloved Miriam. Not only did his daughter share her mother’s wit and kindness, but also her looks. Silky dark hair falling in soft waves on her back and the cupid-like lips curling into a gentle smile with every occasion were her father’s favorite features she had inherited from the beautiful Lady Miriam Vartell. A true gift from the heavens.

- I’m certain that the Duke will be as impressed as he can be when he meets you, my little shadow - Fenrys replied, hugging Drina to his side - There is no other way.

- How can you know that, father? - the girl asked with curious eyes nearly drilling holes in her father’s chin.

- Because I have already told him how special you are. Little Drina’s face lit up momentarily as she jumped her father’s side, clutching into his dark leather jacket crested on the arm with traditional Tyrroshi runes. She was overjoyed.

- Oh, thank you, father! Thank you so much! I will not let you down, I promise. I swear I will live up to everything you told the Duke about me. I will be polite and kind and respectful and…

- You will be everything he could ever imagine and more, my sweet - Fenrys replied, cutting Drina mid sentence.

She didn’t mind at all. Her father was her greatest protector and she knew he would never do wrong by her. So she just smiled playfully and turned around to admire the landscapes leading to Aretia’s most magnanimous building. Riorson House.

*****

It was known far and wide that the Riorson family was the wealthiest and most noble in all of Tyrrendor. Even the riches that the Earl of Lewellen prided himself on could not reach the bottom of Riorsons fortune. What most people didn't know was that the Duke of Tyrrendor was never a greedy man and first and foremost his duty, and consequently his fortune, was to serve his people. Being of noble birth combined with such riches in some people’s mind should have made him a prideful and imperious man, but instead he chose the fate of his subject before everything else.

There were rare occasions on which the Duke prioritized anything over his people and those were the moments he spent raising his only son. Little Xaden Riorson was a spitting image of his father and quickly he was becoming his shadow, following His Grace wherever he went. The only thing the young duke inherited from his mother were his eyes. Almost black, onyx one would say, speckled with dozens of tine golden flecks. He was a curious child from a very young age but didn’t act on his instincts right up. Growing up he had begun his strategy training even before his father was made aware of that fact. Using his size to his advantage, little Xaden used to sneak in on his father’s meeting with his advisors and listened in, remembering every detail he thought important at the time, such as where the Poromish soldiers placed their weapons or how to charm a lady in five steps or less. Really the most important issues regarding a young noble’s upbringing.

When he heard about Lord Vartell’s arrival, he wondered why was he bringing his daughter with him. It wasn’t by any means the first time that he had visited his father as they were close companions, but more importantly, Lord Fenrys was chief advisor to the Duke in his own right. It was known far and wide that his father, Lord of Sefrisgen and general Alister Tavis were the most deadly trio in the province. The sheer combination of Fen’s power, Alister’s wit and Fenrys’s shrewdness was so powerful that even general Melgren would come to tremble before them. What was interesting about this particular visit was the fact that Lord Fenrys was rumored to be staying for a few months, or maybe even permanently. That part was entirely possible for Xaden to unravel during on elf their meetings he would most definitely be listening on, but the daughter still intrigued him. It wasn’t like he had never seen a girl before, but he had never really met a girl of noble birth. Seeing as Lord Fenrys was the second most powerful man in all of Tyrrendor, Alexandrina was his heir in every meaning of this word. The Duke’s son was curious who would be sharing his home for the next few months, since beside Garrick, his company was limited to tutors, teachers and guards surrounding Riorson House inside and out.

The sun was almost setting behind the highest mountain peaks when the heralds announced the arrival of their guests. Fen chose to welcome his friend in person, seeing as his advice and companionship over the years placed Fenrys little higher in his ranks than any second tier advisor. Both he and Xaden stood tall at the gates to the residence, standing equally tall and proud in dark blue tunics and matching pants. The Duke glanced at his son, smirking slightly as he saw little Xaden’s combed hair and stern face.

Sometimes he forgot just how much his son reminded him of himself from his youngest years. He had his jet black hair and straight nose with tawny skin so nicely contrasting the gold in the boy’s eyes. In terms of looks nobody could ever deny that he was the Duke’s son, so there was only a question of the boy personality and wits.

When the carriage rode into the square, it was almost dusk. The light of the setting sun seemingly lit up the windows of Riorson House, making it look almost magical. The old castle looks almost idyllic in this light. Although on the outside it didn’t look as majestic as King Tauiri’s palace, it had its beauty hidden between the brick walls, dark gray rooftops and small yet vibrant gardens in the back. Once you walked through the gate separating the castle from the town and smallfolk, it was almost like entering a different dimension of the Aretian aristocracy. Four majestic towers standing at 60 feet connected by solid walls formed a kind of border of the residence, enclosing the perfectly preserved architecture of old Tyrrendor in the shape of a pentagon. As they rode in, Drina marvelled at the buidling with the excitement of a five years old child admiring a new shiny toy. Her attention was captured by the people standing in front of the stairs leading up to the main door of the residence, specifically the child standing next to who she believed was the Duke.

- Father, who is that boy?

- That's Xaden. He's the Duke's only son and heir to his throne.

- Is he fun to play with, father? - Drina asked curiously as they slowly reached their destination.

- You're gonna have to find out on your own, my little shadow - Fenrys replied with a smile, caressing his daugher's back - Now come, Alexandrina. It's time for you to meet the Duke.

When the carriage stopped in its tracks, Lord Fenrys opened the door and carefully stepped outside, immediately helping his daughter follow his steps. Drina gracefully jumped from the little steps of the carriage, standing tall next to her father. Fen smiled warmly as he made eye contact with his old friend. The guests stepped further, stopping barely five feet before their gracious hosts. Fenrys smirked, bowing before his Duke and Drina curtsied as a properly raised young lady should, gazing discreetly at the boy standing in front of her.

- Greetings, Your Grace. Your invitation is an honour for our family. We thank you for welcoming us to your home - Fenrys said graciously, glancing at Fen's face with a barely hidden smile dancing on his lips.

A moment of silence fell on the four of them as both men looked at each other with a sense of seriousness. But that didn't last long. Momentarily, both the Duke and the Lord of Sefrisgen laughed out loudly, embraicng each other in a bear like hug.

- For the love of Gods, Fenrys. How many times must I tell you to abandon this official greeting bullshit? - Fen asked, amused by his friend's performance.

- At least one more time, Your Grace - Fenrys replied mockingly, clapping his hand on the Duke's back - But since we're over the formalities, there's someone very special I want you to meet.

Both men stepped back and the Duke's attention focused on the little girl standing beside his friend. He smiled gently, glancing at her pretty face and curious eyes.

- Fen, this is my daughter, Drina.

- Father! You're supposed to use full names when introducing anybody to the Duke - the girl chided her father, curtsying once again, while keeping eye contact with Fen - My name is Alexandrina Verona Vartell, Your Grace. It's an honour to make your acquiantance.

Fen smirked under his nose but nevertheless did his best to keep a straight face looking at the very serious ten year old girl greeting him in accordance with all the etiquette rules he was too busy to abide by.

- The pleasure is all mine, Lady Vartell - Fen replied politely, bowing his head a little - Although I hope you won't mind if I call you Drina, like your father.

- Of course not, Your Grace.

- Wonderful. This is my son, Xaden. I'm sure the two of you will become great friends - Fen presented his boy with his left arm, gently pushing the little boy to step forward.

As Xaden took three steps towards Drina and their eyes first met, something clicked in their little heads. Bright blue, almost sapphire eyes of Fenrys's daughter met the gold-speckled onyx orbs of the future Duke of Tyrrendor. Neither of them knew the reason why or what for, but subconsciously they both realised they knew one another. Drina knew that there was a place in time where she held Xaden's hand and Xaden knew there was a time he learned every navy-coloured spot in her bright blue eyes.

You're all that I needed and more then I deserved.

A single sentence struck in the children's mind like an old melody. Both unaware the other heard the same thing they chose to ignore it and live in the moment present. Little Xaden put his hand forward, bowing his head slightly and Drina graciously put her palm in his, smiling kindly at the dark haired boy.

- I'm Drina. Pleasure to meet you.

- I'm Xaden and the pleasure is all mine.

And so the Gods placed their bets. Would the Onyx boy break the Sapphire girl? Or would they save each other in a war against darkness and deceit?

[voidscreamintheories]

Kitten: Theory of a "Hunter"

Spoilers for Hunter The Parenting

So Kitten. He is our happy lil Br*tish hunter. He also is always wearing ski goggles, a sweater, and full face covering. Even in the one flashback image we have of him. As always we must acknowledge the DNA this series pulls from: Kitten was the Captain General in TTS, this is why he uses a spear with a gun and a stake at the end in HTP, it's a guardian spear by way of hunter. It was a running gag in TTS that his helmet was never removed, even all of his other garments were. Side tangent, 1. WHAT WAS SHE THINKING 2. I hope desperately Lockwarden and Santodes return in HTP, because both of those characters were immaculate and we didn't get enough of them. Side tangent complete.

TTS acknowledgement aside, let us consider what Kitten might be. In the audiolog between Kitten and Big D, kitten seems to question the existence of some supernatural creatures, like the witch. Yet two of them he is unphased by them being mentioned: The vampires, which makes sense as the family is hunting vamps and Kitten has fought a vamp (important later). And the werewolves. This is the sticking point to me: Kitten not only is unphased about the existence of werewolves, he in fact says "wait hang on you know about werewolves" to Big D. Now that's a might curious, why wouldn't Big D, master-hunter and well known supernaturalist know about werewolves, and even more so, why would Kitten know and Big D not?

My theory is that Kitten IS a were creature. But not a wolf. In World of Darkness there are a few species of shapechangers like the werewolves. The wolves are the most common, but the other kinds know of each other's existence as well. I propose that Kitten is a werecat. Not only this, I suspect Kitten is a specific kind of werecat, a metis (can someone who knows more about WoD tell me is this is pronounced Met-iss, a made up word, or May-tea, a real word for a real world group of people who this does not necessarily apply to). A metis (in world of darkness, not the real world ethno-cultural group) is a shapechanger born to two shapechanger parents. When they are born they come out in their warform, the half-human-half-animal "hollywood monster" form. These shapechangers often have malformations of some variety, and this can include very obvious animal features even in human form. Say for example, cat ears and fur. I think Kitten wears his ski stuff, and has ears on his hood because he is a lil catboy under that hood. As a werecat he would be familiar with the shapechanger culture and practices, he'd know about other shapechangers (notice in the black shuck story at one point he says "and it is [black shuck]" not "and it PROBABLY is", maybe because he actually knows who black shuck is?), and he'd be supernaturally strong. Perhaps even strong enough to overcome a vampire that just fed. Kitten describes his encounter with the vamp at college, with maybe a Ventrue or Torreador vamp (I think Ventrue because he was charismatic but had a need for a violent feeding), while these clans aren't the normal muscle for the vamps, they are stronger than humans. Yet Kitten managed to beat this vampire, even though he was hopped up on blood. I think our lil cat boy was using his own supernatural strength. Another thing mentioned around this story is the tragedy that befell Kitten's parents, which left him with the house. If they are shapechangers, there is the potential that Kitten killed them during his first change, a not uncommon occurence in Garou families. There's also the possibility that his parents were killed in the war that all Garou are fighting, or because they broke the litany (werewolf mascarade) by having a metis child.

Now. Problems. Both Grimal and Markus have cannonically "broken that boy". Now is Kitten a "sorry babe, the ski mask stays ON during sex" type gamer? Or do Grimal and Markus both know? Not sure! Grimal could probably be convinced he was just REALLY into cosplay, I bet. And Markus may have known about Kitten being a cat from their childhood, depending when they first met.

But! This lets me talk more about garou society as evidence for Kitten being a cat. In shapechanger society, a metis is often hidden from the public until they can control their form, so as to not give the game away on werewolves being real. Maybe Kitten was isolated as a child, making it harder for him to interact with other kids when he did eventually get his form *more* under control. Maybe in the time before he was allowed in public, he became a true gamer. Maybe Markus was one of the few kids weird enough to hang out with him. Maybe those lack of social skills brought him closer to Grimal when they first met, two strange weirdos with similar experiences (please Alfabusa don't make Grimal the ghoul, I don't want her to get Arcanum'd)

Also! The werecats have some characteristics in their culture that might explain why our lil cat friend isn't just vibing with the other werecats. Some of the Bastet (Bastet means werecat, Keikaku means plan) are VERY curious lil fellas. They seek out hidden knowledge and talk to other garou clans to learn their secrets all the time. Maybe Kitten became a hunter because of his in-built desire to be a gatherer of lore. This would also explain how he knows all these stories, and finds secrets in games. He just HAS to know these things. This would further explain why he is SO upset about being blacklisted, he wants desperately to be able to study and learn, but has been cut off.

In brief, I believe Kitten is a werecat and his lil sweater ears are not just a fetish thing. He joined the arcanum/our hunters because it's a great way to sate his innate curiosity.

Now something to consider, as many of us know, curiosity does have a certain reputation regarding cats...

[rhadamanthes]

Medecine. Satoru x reader

word count : 7k :0

warnings : mention of overdose, drug use, SLOWBURN, scent kink, doggy style, dubcon (just to be safe), oral sex (f!receiving), ANGST, fluff, public sex, cowgirl position, happy ending.

Satoru Gojo overdosed on the 31st december. This shaked the friend group like never before, it also was the worst way to start the year. He was discharged from the hospital a week after his admission, a wish from his parents, not wanting the word to spread around that their prestigious family has a junkie son. 

A few weeks have passed ever since, everybody is here for him, trying to lift him up and get his mind on something else. Of course it's hard, none of you are professionals and he hasn't got the treatment he needed. The best you can do is be here for him. Personally, you have never been really close to Satoru, in the friend group you're closer to Megumi, Nobara, Yuuji, and Sukuna. His loudness and obnoxiousness throw you off a bit, but now you feel guilty, was it the drug or his personality ?

Smoothing the part of your hair you knock on the door, you're on babysitter duty tonight, you're nervous it's the first time it's only going to be you and him usually there's other people around. Today nobody else was available. The group went partying and thought it was a really bad idea to bring him in this type of environment given the fact the last time he went, he almost died. Yuuji asked you if you could watch over him as he knows you're not a huge party animal.

The door opens and Satoru welcomes you in with a sly smirk. Taking off your shoes you follow him to the living room.

"So what's the programm tonight you're going to lullaby me to sleep?" he asks, chewing loudly on a piece of gum.

"Actually, no. Suguru told me to make myself at home so... Have you eaten yet?" you ask, taking the tupperware out of your bag.

"Hmm no, i'm not really hungry and this looks disgusting" he says pointing at your food.

You roll your eyes making your way to the kitchen Satoru on your tail. Placing the food in two plates you launch them in the microwave. You cross your arm on your chest looking at him. He just stares at you with a curious glint in his eyes; Not a word is exchanged but the silence is comfortable. The bell of the microwave snaps you back to reality and you give him a plate, going back to the living room.

Both of you sat on the floor to eat on the coffee table, the TV playing some random show. You start digging in your plate and Satoru does the same. You're waiting for his reaction, and you're not disappointed. This man is crouched over the plate, absorbing bite after bite not even lifting his neck, moaning in the process.

"It's disgusting isn't it hm?" you tease.

"Tell me you have more," he says with his mouth full. You furrow your brows at his manners shaking your head.

"No but i have dessert"

He just nods his head resuming licking the plate clean.You chuckles wondering when was the last time he ate at all. Dinner wraps around and you're both dozing off watching the show.

"I never really saw you around" he blurts

"Well i'm very discreet and you're kind of the opposite"

"Maybe you're just stuck up"

"Maybe you're just a drug addict" is what you want to say "Maybe i am" is what you go for.

You spent the rest of the night commenting on the poor acting of the show. You feel like Satoru has warmed up to you and vice versa. Later Sukuna knocks on the door to pick you up, he rushes you because his little brother is in the car intoxicated, telling you that if he throws up on the seat it'll be your fault. You don't even have the time to properly tie up your shoes that he's grabbing your arm directing you to the exit. You quickly wave to Satoru who is smiling at your interaction with Sukuna.

The reason he's picking you up is that Yuuji is your roommate, it makes sense for him to drop you both off at the same place. After a bit of effort and a lot of scolding from Sukuna, Yuuji is finally in bed and you're too. Exhausted, you can't wait to go to sleep.

(｡･･｡)　　　₊　

A few weeks have passed since that night, you're now the assigned babysitter when the group is out partying, you don't mind anymore, you've learned to know Satoru better and he's actually a great friend, he's funny and sarcastic. Underneath all of that you see clearly that he's broken and dealing with a lot. You told the group that he also needs some alone time as for the past few months he's been surrounded with presence 24/7. Suguru almost burned you at the stake for that but when Satoru backed you up, he calmed down. You think he's getting better and better until one night you come to his place and the smell of weed lingers in the air. The scent takes you to the balcony where he's sitting on a garden chair.

"I like your new cologne" you say through the sliding glass window.

Satoru jumps from his seat, eyes wide looking at you with guilt. You extend your hand so he can give you the blunt. He sighs, taking one last hit before passing it to you. Taking a seat next to him, you smoke on his joint. After a moment you give it back to him. He looks at you hesitantly before taking it.

"I know what you're doing, this method where you only smoke weed to keep sober from any other drug ? It's not the solution" you say harshly.

"And what do you know about withdrawal" he chuckles, taking more hits.

"My sister was a drug addict" you state plainly and the smile on his face immediately wipes off.

Satoru clears his throat in embarrassment, passing you the blunt one more time, you take it, only to throw it off the balcony. His mouth opens wide and he stares at you like you just killed his entire family. You stare back daring him to say something. In defeat he only gets up and goes back inside.

"Come, I made chicken curry" You smile, following him inside.

(｡･･｡)　　　₊　

It was rare for you to see Satoru during the day you were in class, and following the New year's event he decided to stop college for a while. But today is an exception. Your only class of the day has been canceled so you decided to visit him. It's 2 in the afternoon and he clearly just woke up, only wearing a boxer and a cringey wolf t-shirt. His hair goes in every possible direction and his eyes are hooded.

"Rise and shine darling!" you say shaking the takeout bag that you picked up on your way here.

"You must be god sent i'm starving" he says locking you in a bear hug you can barely breath.

When you're done eating, Satoru looks better already, you're scrolling through your phone.

"There's this place I want to try, a bakery type of stuff, everything they make looks delicious. Do you want to come with me?" you ask, turning your head his way.

"Sure, I crave anything sweet. " he says with an insistent stare and a wolfish grin. You wonder if there's a hidden meaning in his words but quickly brush it off urging him to get dressed up.

You're waiting in the hall when he finally comes out dressed and combed out of his bedroom. Since you mostly see him when he's at home on late nights you forgot how he cleans up nice. He's wearing a grey shirt and black slacks. That's a change from the wolf pyjamas for sure.

"What are you doing ?" you laugh as he searches through the cabinet

"Car keys"

"Oh no need! It's a ten minute walk!" you say grabbing his arms to get on the way.

You lost count of how many girls turned their heads to look at Satoru, your arms are locked with each other, some of them glance at you with pure jealousy in their eyes. You're about to make a comment about that, but turning around, Satoru is breathing heavily, mouth slightly open. You feel a pang of guilt in your chest, stopping in track.

"Do you want to stop for a minute?" you ask in a sweet voice.

"For a ten minutes walk ? What's next ? You're going to change my diaper ?" he breathes, not looking you in the eyes.

You feel even more guilty now. You know his overdose took a toll on his health but you wouldn't think it was that bad. He feels insecure about it for sure. Shit, you should have just shut up. Once in the pastry shop you took a table next to the window, neither of you have uttered a word since his little outburst. You clear your throat asking him what he fancies to break the ice.

"Listen, I shouldn't have talked to you like that earlier. I know you try to help me" he says, closing the menu, taking your hand in his.

"It's fine" you smile at him "Don't take this the wrong way but since the break is approaching i wanted to get back to the gym would you like to come with me?" you ask threading carefully over your words. He purses his lips and you're about to take back your words when he answers.

"Guess I could use the extra exercise," he answers, leaning back on the sofa.

You squeeze his hand excitedly and order from the waitress. When the food comes, you happily taste the treats, sharing with each other. After a moment Satoru sip his drink, lost in his thoughts, you can tell he wants to say something.

"So your sister is she-"

"Alive and well" you cut him off to avoid an awkward moment. He exhales loudly as if a weight was taken from his shoulders. Nodding his head he asks you more questions.

"How did she get clean ? She went to rehab?"

"No, she had it really bad one night and wanted to get clean"

"You can say the word you know, I'm not going to burst in tears" he says laughing to lighten the atmosphere. You hit his calf under the table.

" She didn't overdose, she just had a really bad trip, and then she found out she was pregnant, she always wanted a baby, she decided to make it right for the kid" you say, meeting his gaze. "I'm not telling you to impregnate someone to get over it" you add huffing through your nose.

"You sure you don't want this ? Me and you in the park while little Saori is running around" he says, caressing your hand with his thumb.

You shiver in disgust at the thought of a fetus growing inside of you, hitting his calf once again as he laughs at your face.

(｡･･｡)　　　₊　

A few days after the pastry date, Satoru hasn't answered any of your propositions to go to the gym. So today you decided to join Sukuna on his training day. You hate to go to the gym alone, scared to look ridiculous in front of everyone, he's an expert so it should be fine. The smell of sweat floods your nose. Looking around you quickly notice a mop of strawberry pink hair, to your surprise you notice white hair too. A smile spreads on your lips and you're on your way to join them but the conversation stops you in your tracks.

"I was breathing like a damn cow in front of her, over walking for a mile, this is stupid I don't want this anymore" Satoru grumbles

"Well you're in the right place but it's going to take some time, don't expect to get back in shape in a week" Sukuna answers, giving you a short glance ,you feel like a deer in the headlights.

"Go fetch a rope we'll start there" he adds, pushing him in the direction with his hand.

Satoru walks toward where the material is staked, while Sukuna approaches you, putting a finger over your mouth.

"I know we were supposed to train together today, but I think it's better if he doesn't know" you nod your head "Don't mention this to him, act like you never heard this conversation hmm?" he says taking off the finger from your lips.

"Thank you" you mutter, before discreetly leaving the room.

(｡･･｡)　　　₊　

Tonight is board game night with the whole crew. Everybody is at Satoru's place, It's been a while since everybody has been reunited in the same place. Yuuji is currently banished from the living room, he is on the terrace for stealing too many banknotes during Monopoly. The end of the round is near and he's giving everybody puppy eyes to be admitted back in, before moving to the next game. He's sleeping at Megumi's tonight but Sukuna still agreed to come pick you up. From dobble to mime games the night has been filled with laughter and funny banters.

Almost everyone has gone home by now, you're chatting on the couch with Satoru when Sukuna sends you a text to come down. Satoru accompanies you in the hall as you put your shoes on. You're about to hug him goodbye when he presses his lips against yours. The kiss is soft, he takes his time to taste you, holding your cheeks like you're made of glass. You don't move, or deepen the kiss. You're dumbfounded. When he breaks the kiss you stare at him waiting for an explanation but he just stares at you with a smile, petting your hair.

"Satoru?" you call in a meek voice.

He shrugs his shoulders, still smiling like a fool, "You were beautiful tonight" he adds.

A warm sensation spreads in your chest at the compliment.Suguru calls him from the kitchen, before you can answer and he disappears down the corridor.

The car stops and you haven't noticed your home yet. You've been in your thoughts for the whole ride, thinking about the kiss, how his lips felt and why he did it? you take your bag from the floor, mutter an apology and reach for the handle when Sukuna grips your arms.

"What happened, you look like shit" he states, Sukuna has always been honest with you, and you know you can trust him.

"Satoru kissed me tonight" you exhale loudly.

"And ? you felt butterflies in your little tummy" he laughs. You hit his arms feeling frustrated already.

"Sukuna! Don't you think it's weird? I mean if he grabbed my ass or just started humping me-"

"You'd smacked him, i hope" you give him a mean glare at his intervention.

"What I'm saying is that a kiss is very intimate. I wasn't expecting that. What would you do if I kissed you?"

"I'm a loyal man so I'd probably have to kill you" you slump in your seat at his words, he's not being very helpful.

"Do you know how many drugs were found in his system that night ?" he talks in a more serious tone.

Your heart clenches in your chest and you shake your head sheepishly.

"A lot, too many, he should have died. He's like this, he takes, takes and takes and then there is the aftermath, don't think too much about it, he probably just wanted to know what it felt like." he says.

You nod your head feeling the tear prickle in your eyes. You have trouble falling asleep that night, thinking about everything that happened and what's about to come.

(｡･･｡)　　　₊　

Sukuna must have been right, after the kiss incident none of you brought it up and things went back to normal. It's Sunday, you're in your bed watching a chick flick. when the front door buzzes. You play dead ,not wanting to move from your cozy bed. After a moment you hear banging on the door and decide to see who the hell is disturbing your peace on this holy day. No surprises it's Satoru, his million dollar smile almost makes you forget that he made you get out of bed.

"Took you long enough" he says, entering the appartement.

He lets one of his hands go to your hair as he scratches your scalp with his long fingers. You close your eyes at the contact, relaxing in his hand. You felt sleepy before he interrupted you, but now it's even worse. You lead him to your bedroom. Getting back under the covers, he does the same getting rid of his jogger and hoodie, leaving just his shirt on.

"Your bed is cozy" he says nuzzling into the sheets.

"What brings you here ?" you say, yawning, eyes fixated on the screen.

"Come ooon can't friends visit on Sundays ?"

"Not when they're trying to knock my door down" you laugh, meeting his gaze "You know I'm probably going to fall asleep, this is not going to be interesting."

"I love to watch you sleep" he teases, fixing a strand of hair behind your ear.

"Creep" you mutter.

As predicted you fall asleep a few minutes after. You looked tired for the past few days, so Satoru is not surprised. He's looking at you, the steady rise and fall of your chest, you look so peaceful, getting closer to you he plants a kiss on your forehead, the scent of your hair strikes him, you smell like lavender cotton and vanilla,so sweet. He's obsessed. Hiding his nose in your hair he takes another sniff. He smells you over and over again still not satisfied, he lowers his head into your neck smelling the scent of your skin mixed with your body lotion. He moans a bit, fuck he could eat you whole right now.

He wants to go lower again, smelling between your breast, pressing his nose against your crotch. But he can't do that to you while you're sleeping, you're the best thing in his life right now. You make him feel whole, you make him feel like he can overcome anything as long as you're by his side. He just can't, fighting his pulsions, he settles for your hair, breathing your scent again and again.

When you wake up Satoru is crushing you under his weight, you do your best to push him away, as he groans in his sleep. Damn he's heavy. squeezing you in his arms, he hides his face in your neck lapping at your skin. You shiver calling him out.

"Satoru stop!" you say in a firm voice, sitting up straight.

"Hmmm, let me make you feel good please" he moans looking at you through heavy eyes.

You admit that seeing him like that makes you feel dizzy, and you're always horny when you wake up from a nap but you can't have sex with him, he's your friend, and he's going through a lot right now he will probably regret it, or get too attached.

"No we can't if you came here for this I'm sorry but you have to go" you say fleeing his gaze.

"No, no, no!" he says, catching your face in his hands "I came here for you, it's the first time i feel really excited in a while, I want to share this with you" he adds kissing your nose softly.

"Satoru, I'm happy you're gaining sensations again but it's a very bad idea" you say looking him in the eyes.

"Why bad ? Am i scaring you?" he asks, in an overly sweet tone searching for your look.

"You're talking in the heat of the moment, you'll regret it"

"No I won't, I don't regret kissing you, I don't regret any moment spent with you."

You believe him, and you want to let go hand taste him, but he only starts to see clearly now it would feel like you take advantage of him. Satoru lays your body down gently, kissing your cheeks, throat and collarbone. His plump lips feel heavenly against your skin. You surrender, letting your hand go to his hair, as you shimmy out of your panty. He groans between each kiss until he reaches your crotch. His piercing gaze meets yours and you nod, giving him access to your pussy. He takes the time to breath in your scent first, closing his eyes and exhaling loudly.

Heat creeps to your cheeks at the way he acts, soon enough his tongue licks at your bud. It feels rough against your skin, you squeeze your thigh against his head. After a few more licks he starts to fully devour your cunt, mouth sucking your clit in while his tongue laps at it repeatedly. Satoru moans louder than you do, he really wasn't lying about feeling horny again. His grunts turn you on even more, you start to grind against his face. You're close, after a few seconds you cum all over his face.

Satoru is out of breath,but smiles through it all. He almost looks high right now. You chase this idea out of your head. You trust him. kissing you through your daze, he places you ass up, face down.

"Like this, baby, hm? So you can keep on watching your little movie" he says, directing your head toward the screen. You nod eager to feel him inside after all his teasing and begging.

Without warning he enters his full length inside of you, air is knocked out of your lungs as he immediately starts to pound you. You close your eyes relishing in the feeling of his big cock inside of you. You're happy you gave in, this is exactly what you needed. You throw back your ass on him gripping the sheet to steady yourself. His moans are still loud and obnoxious drowning yours, but you don't mind, you like your men being vocal.

Gripping your hips hard, Satoru goes full force inside of you until he releases his seed inside of you. His back hit the mattress behind you, panting through his climax. He really came fast you think, is it the overfull emotions? the newfound libido? You're embarrassed and won't bring it up for sure. You wanted to cum on his cock too. You lay down next to him caressing his hair.

"I'm going to make you cum again baby don't worry hmm, this is all thanks to you. I wouldn't want to be sober if it wasn't for you" he coos placing kisses down your body to eat you out again.

His words make you freeze, this isn't good, at all. You know what you have to do, and you dread it.

(｡･･｡)　　　₊　

Your belly is tied in knots and your throat is tight. You knock on the door. Waiting anxiously. Satoru let you in a few seconds later. Smiling ear to ear he leans in to kiss you but you turn your head, his lips landing on your cheeks. You already feel bad, clenching the handles of your bag.

"We need to talk" you clear your throat looking at the floor.

"Sure, Is everything alright ?" he asks, rubbing your back, urging you to come forward but you prefer to stay next to the door. When you're done telling him what you need to, he'll probably not want you in his space anymore.

"I can't keep doing this. You and me, it can't happen anymore" you say looking him in the eye for the first time that night.

"What do you mean ?" his brow furrows.

"The thing you said the other day, about being clean because of me"

"Don't worry about that, it's all good" he says trying to put his hand on your hair but you take a step back.

"No, it's not, I may not always be in your life, what happens then ? What will happen to you ? You have to want this for yourself, not for someone else..." the tear well up in your eyes and you want to throw up.

The way he's looking at you makes you want to disappear, you feel like a stranger in his home.

"If you're not planning to stay then go away"

"It's not what i mean-"

"Go away, you're searching for the most ridiculous excuses to leave me, so just go away right now." he says in a harsh tone, your heart clenches.

"Satoru I'm doing this for yo-" before you can finish your sentence the door of the living room slams shut behind him.

The silence is heavy, through all the times you went to his apartment you never felt that uncomfortable. Holding back your tears, you get out without another word. Clicking the door shut you realise that this was probably the last time you saw him. The tears fall freely on your cheeks, you sob, shoulders shaking. You sit on the stairs that lead to the next floor, not trusting your strength at the moment.

From your spot you can hear object clattering in satoru's appartement, you feel like a terrible person, you want to go inside and apologize, tell him you didn't mean it, that you don't want to be away from him, you do, but you can't and it's killing you. If you call Suguru he'll probably make you cry even harder. Picking up your phone you dial a number that you know by heart.

"Yeah"

"Sukuna please" you cry in the receiver.

"What happened? Where are you ? " he asks in a worried tone.

"I'm at Satoru's please come i'm scared he'll do something please" you beg pathetically

"To you? What the fuck happened?"

"No! to himself, I don't know just please come."

"I'll be there" he hangs up

You rest your head on your knees, crying silently. After a moment you feel a hand on your head. You know it's Sukuna, but you're too ashamed to even look him in the eyes. He sits next to you and caresses your back until you calm down.

"I called you a cab, whenever you're ready you can go." he says in a calm voice.

Your sobs have died down a bit, his presence reassures you.

"We had a fight"

"You don't have to tell me." the tears flood your eyes once more, you're so lucky to have him. You hug him close.

"Thank you," you mutter.

After accompanying you down, Sukuna went back inside. Needless to say, you didn't get much sleep that night, or the ones after.

(｡･･｡)　　　₊　

Summer is around the corner, days are getting longer, warmer, but somehow it makes you feel like crap. Everyone around you are planning trips with their friends, and you just feel empty. The group knows about what happened between you and Satoru, not the details, just that you're not on speaking terms anymore. It was hard at first, everybody wanted to know why, but eventually, seeing the states you both were in, they dropped it. you're closer than ever with the brothers, Nobara and Megumi, since you live with Yuuji they would drop by any chance they get.

As for the rest, Suguru doesn't hide his hatred for you anymore, he either completely ignores your presence or bad mouths you straight in your face. Shoko, and Utahime try to tone him down but he's way too protective over his friend.

You haven't seen him since, you asked around for updates but they always stayed vague telling you not to worry. You miss Satoru, you miss him dearly. How can a person you befriend at the beginning of the year make her absence so hard to bear? Maybe it was more than friendship. You think about it often, if you had never said anything would you two be in a happy relationship? It doesn't matter, what's done is done, you just have to learn how to live with it.

You're currently on a walk downtown, to clear your head, and not stay cloistered in your room. Without noticing you pass in front of the pastry shop you used to go to with Satoru often. You stop in your tracks looking at the facade. You kind of want something sweet right now, is it a good idea ? You hate to attach places with people but... you only went there with him, it was sort of a ritual ever since the first time you tried it.

The door opens, revealing a silhouette that you know too well. His eyes meet yours and you feel your heart sink to your stomach. This cannot be real. It's like the word stopped the instant his blue eyes crossed yours. Satoru is standing ten feet away from you. It's the closest you've been in a month. Taking a good look at him, a weight gets off your shoulders, he looks good, as usual, but healthy. No dark circles, clean looking clothes and he gained muscles, his arms look bigger.

You're happy to see him like that, relieved. He's holding a craft bag with the shop logo on it. You can't help but smile, he really does have a sweet tooth. Satoru takes a step forward but you immediately start walking again, not trusting yourself to have a conversation with him without bursting into tears or begging for his pardon.

(｡･･｡)　　　₊　

"I'll Have a piece of red velvet with a white chocolate chip cookie, a salted caramel and a piece of brownie too please." The waitress takes Satoru's order neatly packing it in a box.

That's his guilty pleasure, even after a good workout session he always needs to have something sweet. After paying, Satoru gets out of the shop, Freezing at the sight of you. Fuck it's been months, it feels like year, and at the same time, it felt like yesterday he was sitting at home with you,cracking the most stupid jokes ever heard.

You cut your hair, you have new piercings too. You're beautiful, even more than the day you left him. He wants to talk to you, stepping forward he's about to greet you, but the second he gets closer, you run away like a scaredy cat. He chuckles to himself at least you are still the same at heart. Looking at you disappear through the streets, He thinks about everything that has happened since that night.

When Sukuna entered his appartement, he pounced on him, ready to throw him out. Unfortunately, at the time Sukuna clearly overpowered him, and with his emotions in shambles he was an easy take down. The following days after your announcement were some of the hardest in his life. He wanted to do everything, anything to get your attention, to have you close to him again.

His darkest thoughts wanted to make you pay for abandoning him, do something irreversible to make you feel guilty. So you'd learn your lessons and never leave him again. When the news traveled to the group, Suguru came by his place telling him he should have never trusted you, he vehemently insulted you but Satoru put him in his place. Despite his anger for you, he still had affection for you and wouldn't tolerate disrespect on your behalf.

Sukuna had the role of his jailor, literally. Every other day he would drag Satoru to the gym by his neck, no matter how much he slept, if he showered or not, through the insults and more. Eventually Satoru stopped complaining and integrated it in his routine.

This being the first step, Sukuna then registered him in an addict meeting, feeling it would be easier for him to talk it out with people that know what he's going through. Just like for the gym, at first he kicked and cried but eventually, he accepted his fate. He truly wanted to get better. A part of him wanted it for you, when his life was gonna get together you could come back ! But Satoru realised that this is the exact reason he lost you, so he started acting for himself. Filling his free time with new activities instead of just rotting in bed.

Weeks after weeks, he finally started to see the end of the tunnel. Summer's approaching and the days getting longer helped him too. He dreads it a bit too. Soon all of his friends would be on summer break, celebrating and drinking their college year away. Temptation will be everywhere, in the shape of a beautiful girl, a red plastic cup, or a rolled up bill.

No matter what he did, you never left his mind, he tried to convince Sukuna a few times to let him see you, but he was always categoric in his answer : none of you were ready. So when he met you outside the pastry shop, his heart almost exploded. He wanted to run to you, cover you in kisses from head to toe, show you everything he accomplished, and finally finally hear you say you're proud of him.

Satoru was happy he saw you, alive and well he wonders if you ever brought someone else to this place, he never did, it was too personal, kind of ridiculous when you think about it, but his memories with you were precious. He came home with a smile on his face that day.

(｡･･｡)　　　₊　

Today is the end of your college year ! The results were published and everybody is passing ! A relief, the summer can finally begin. Tonight, everybody is meeting at yours for a little before party to go to the bar later. The atmosphere is so festive and you're happy to unwind. But you can't help but ask where Satoru is, you were the designated person to keep him company during parties and whatnot. He's he home alone ? Your heart clenches.

"He was at the gym when I called him" You hear a voice behind you.

Turning around, Sukuna is looking at you with a smirk.

"Huh what, who are you talking about" you clear your throat, embarrassed to be this obvious.

"He's coming later, talk to him in private" he nudges your shoulder

"No it's a bad idea, I'll leave before he gets here, thanks for the heads up."

"It's been months, stop torturing yourself, you did the right thing. Just talk to him and make your choice then."

You'd be lying if you said that you don't want to talk to him. Ever since you saw him, you debated calling, or sending a text about a hundred times. You never did, never had the courage. Maybe tonight you really should talk to him ? After all it's the end of a cycle it can be a new start. A deep sigh escapes your lips, you need some air. You quickly put your shoes on and leave the appartement.

There is a park nearby, it's closed at this time of the day, but it never stopped you from going anyways. Climbing the fence you take a seat on your favorite bench, it's near a pond, the sound of water is relaxing. You get lost in your thoughts when the bench cracks under the weight of another person. turning your head, you fall face to face with Satoru. Your heart jumps in your chest and your reflex is to stand up.

"No! please, don't run away this time"

You missed his voice, it's enough to make you tear up, sitting back down you look right in front of you. He calls your name softly, sitting close to you.

"How have you been?" he asks, resting his arms on the top of the bench.

You chuckle shouldn't you be the one asking this ?

"Good" you look at him, god he's handsome, he's close and fresh out of the shower by the way he smells like cologne. "How about you? How's... Life" you ask awkwardly.

"Good," he repeats with a smile. You can't help but smile too. You missed him so much. Holding back tears, you hug him close to your chest.

"I'm sorry. I should have been there for you Satoru. I'm so sorry". you sniffle.

"No baby it's not your fault" he rubs your back, talking to you in a soothing tone. "The things I said that night were out of anger. You did what's good for me, you're good. Sukuna helped me out a lot. It's because of you. I'm getting better, I should thank you" he kisses your hair.

Gosh how he missed your scent, still rubbing your back, he takes a deep sniff of your perfume.You can't help but laugh, shoulders shaking, he does too. You break the hug to really look at him.

"You look good" praising his physics, you rub his arms, squeezing at his biceps

"Look at this," he says, flexing his muscles.

The black t-shirt he's wearing stretches around the bicep. And you feel your pussy quiver. Feeling shameful, you slap his arms playfully, for him to stop. You both giggle.

"You look good too, I like the double helix" he says, pointing at your ear. You tuck your hair behind your ear to give him a better look.

"I heard about your classes too, congratulations" he kisses your cheek. You mutter a small thanks, feeling the heat consuming your body.

You didn't know you were that needy until he was so close, giving you his attention. The both of you catch up, losing track of time. Satoru places your legs on top of his, tracing circles over your knee with his thumb. It's hard for you to concentrate, his hands are big and warm, his thighs feel so strong under yours. Your thoughts are interrupted when you see a flashlight in the distance. Shit the guardian. You exchange a panicked look with Satoru, pinning your body down to the bench, he puts a finger on your lips.

Your heart is beating loud in your ears, he's so close, his perfume is flooding your nose, the heat from his body is seeping into yours. Shit you're getting horny again. when the footsteps go away, you waste no time kissing him. you both moan at the contact. The kiss is messy and needy, you're both throwing all of your pent up frustration and desire in it. Tongues twirling with each other as he fondles your breasts in his large hand. At this rate your panty is going to be drenched. Satoru breaks the kiss, looking at you with heavy eyes.

"Do you want this?" he asks out of breath.

"Yes Satoru, please, I'm ready"

"You are baby ?" you nod furiously, getting hungrier by the second.

Sitting back on the bench, he helps you up on his lap, you feel a bulge under your ass and grind against it. He Hisses, squeezing your ass.

"After this, what will happen ?" you can't help but ask not wanting to repeat previous mistakes.

"Whatever you desire, if you want to keep this going it will, if you want a break, or to never see me again, so be it" he says, blue eyes piercing yours.

"I don't want to be separated again."

"Then we won't" he smiles widely, biting at the skin of your neck.

You moan gridning harder on his cock, you take off your sweater pulling his face in your breasts. He wants to do the same with his shirt, but you stop him.

"Keep it on, I like it"

"Dirty girl" he smiles, sucking one of your tits in his mouth.

Each of your knees are on the sides of his body, you stand on them to take the remaining piece of clothes from the object of your desire, Satoru undresses himself too, groaning eagerly. You spit in your hand to jerk his cock and his head falls backward.

"Fuuuck baby" he moans, you forget how loud he was.

You keep going a few times until you can't take it anymore and impale yourself on his cock. You feel every vein, every inch of his skin, you're full to the brim.

"Satoru you're so big" is all you can mutter as you move your hips slowly to get used to his size.

He kisses your forehead multiple times, taking your ass in each of his hands. He starts to bounce you up and down on his cock at a slow pace. You lock your arms behind his neck appreciating the come and go in your dripping hole. Your mouth is slightly agape, he starts to go faster and you moan out loud in the empty park. Satoru's big cock fills you up perfectly, his tip is pushing your gummy walls out and you feel stretched perfectly as he keep fucking into you. The way he's just lifting you so easily without breaking a sweat drives you mad, it's like you weigh nothing for him.

"Look at me," he begs. You oblige, his cheeks are red with pleasure. Mouth open just like yours, you dive in for a kiss, drowning his delicious moans.

Wanting to relieve him a bit, you place your feet flat on the bench, fucking yourself on him. You throw your ass back with all your might, you want both of you to feel it in the morning. His thrust meets yours as he piston up in your cunt. Your excitation is leaking down your thigh and on his balls, the sounds of your two body mixing feels so sinful, echoing in the empty park. A familiar sensation spreads in your lower belly.

"S-satoru, I'm close baby."

"Shit, wait for me doll."

You hold your orgasm as best as you can, clenching around his dick, begging him to finish.He warns you when he's about to burst and you cum in unisson, forehead against forehead, breathing heavily in each other's mouth. His cum mixes with your excitation, running down your bodies. Pulling out of you, Satoru jerks his cock furiously.

"What are you doing? " you ask, hazy from your high.

"Making up for last time, I was lame." you stop his wrist, looking him in the eye.

"It doesn't need to be now we have all night."

"Night?" he cocks his head to the side.

"All summer" you chuckle pecking his lips.

"Sounds good' he replies, kissing you again.

Sharing sweet kisses you realise that this could work out, you feel tingles in your belly thinking about spending the summer with him, and the same complicity you had before you fell apart.

[urdepressedslut]

You’re Mine, Sunshine ❝part six❞

♡ Pairing: Grumpy!Bodyguard!Bucky Barnes x Sunshine!Fem!Reader

♡ Summary: Bucky receives a morning visit from Steve, with the news about what was in the box. Bucky continues to think about what he should do. Should he tell you the truth about your stalker?

♡ Warnings: language, angst, fluff, stalking, hints to death threats, mentions of parent death

Part 7

Trope ⇢ Grumpy x Sunshine | Mob!Au Bodyguard!Au

Loud knocking had woken Bucky up from his slumber— his sagging body in the chair next to your bed, straightening.

He felt his back crack, along with his neck— the seat wasn’t the most comfortable. But there was no way he was going to leave you last night— not after you had asked him to stay.

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, giving you a quick look— smiling at your sprawled out form on the bed.

He made it down the hall and down the stairs, checking through the frosty glass before opening. His body was tense— on alert for a possible intruder. It was only Steve. Swinging the door open, he was met with a tight lipped smile— one that didn’t mean good news in his opinion.

“Good morning Buck. Sorry to wake you up, but this is pretty important.” Steve told him, and Bucky rolled his neck around— already feeling stressed for the day.

“Morning— yeah come on in.” He stepped aside to allow Steve to enter.

Steve walked in and shut the door, securing the locks before the two headed towards the living room to sit down.

“So what’s going on?” Bucky asked, running a hand through his hair.

Steve took a deep breath, rubbing his temples in preparation. That didn’t make Bucky feel better. Truthfully— he’s rather never see Steve too often. He felt like it only meant bad news when he saw him. Or maybe he just wanted it to be you two instead.

“Well trust me, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important.” Steve added, and Bucky nodded for him to continue. “It’s about the box.”

At first Bucky was confused— having forgot about it completely after yesterdays events. But now with the mention from Steve, his mind spiraled. He dreaded to find out what was in the box— but he also was curious.

“What was in it?” Bucky asked the golden question.

Steve looked down nervously to the floor, taking a second to glance around— making sure you weren’t around.

“If I tell you— it’s not to be repeated to her.” Steve warned, and Bucky scoffed and shook his head.

Here we go again— the big secret that is being kept from you. When in reality, you deserve to know out of everyone. It was about you— a threat to your life.

“Steve this is bullshit— she deserves to know someone is stalking her for fucks sake!” Bucky complained, frustrated that he had to keep something from you.

The more he got to know you better— the more he truly believed you didn’t deserve this. He blamed his defensive behavior on the fact that he was your bodyguard— nothing more.

“We have orders from the boss Buck— I would think you’d understand that.” Steve pointed out.

“Yeah well, it’s not right. She deserves to know. She deserves better.” Bucky defended you, running his hand through his hair stressfully.

Steve gave Bucky a once over, looking at him like he had five heads. Steve was confused at his change in behavior.

“Seriously Steve, what was in the box?” Bucky changed the topic, clearly still frustrated but trying to focus on business.

Steve dismissed his confusion for now and got serious again. Doing another quick glance to make sure you weren’t listening in on the conversation.

“There was another note,” Steve started, “It read wonder if you’d squeal like a pig just like your mother.”

Bucky’s stomach knotted up at the sinister message, the way he was glad you didn’t know about this one. This was something that wouldn’t just shock you— it would disturb you to no ends— haunt you to your core.

“And along with the note was her Mother’s necklace.” Steve finished, and Bucky’s eyes went wide.

This wasn’t just a stalker— this was someone with bad intentions. Someone who already had blood on their hands possibly. Someone who was capable of sick shit.

“The necklace was a locket of her and (Y/n).” He explained. “We still aren’t sure if this has something to do with Pierce— or if this is just a secret admirer.”

Bucky bit the inside of his lip in thought, the whole situation making him uncomfortable— for you. He felt even more protective every time Steve came with bad news. For a second his protective side wasn’t coming out because it was his job— it was coming from the heart.

“She needs to know about this shit.” Bucky muttered lowly.

Steve scoffed, leaning back in his seat. An entertained expression etched his face.

“What happened to you Buck?”

Bucky narrowed his eyes, glaring at Steve for a moment before he spoke. His voice defensive— annoyed.

“What are you talking about?”

He wondered for a quick second— was Steve always this annoying?

Steve scoffed again, rubbing a hand down his face, but he wore a shit eating grin, a knowing look sporting his face.

“Miss perfect rubbing off on you?” Steve chuckled, watching Bucky furrow his brows in confusion.

Bucky tried to ignore the anger that built up inside at the nickname Steve gave you.

“The fuck is that supposed to mean?” Bucky pushed.

“Buck— you’re soft man. Quit defending her, the things her dad has said— you need to be watching your back man.” Steve warned and it only had Bucky boiling with anger.

Bucky was sick and tired of this judgement that everyone held against you— this persona that didn’t even exist. You were wrongly labeled as a monster. Bucky just knew it wasn’t fair, especially when you were as sweet as pie. The farthest thing from a monster. He had also seen a side of you— a sensitive side of you that made him melt even more. He saw through the cracks of your bubbly personality— the side that was secretly broken. It made him hurt, and in a way he related to you.

Another part of him hated the way you were able to break down his walls. He had built them for a reason, protecting his heart from the pain the world could cause. Then here you were, skipping right into his life— turning the walls to dust with just the touch of your finger. He felt indifferent about it all— hating it and loving it.

“You don’t know her— so I’d quit talking about her like you do.” Bucky warned, the air now thick with tension as Steve huffed in his seat.

“She could be tricking you Buck. It’s still early— you only just met her.” Steve argued.

“Again— I know her better than you ever will.”

Steve scoffed again, waving his hands towards him.

“Look at you, defending her,” Steve laughed, “You’re her bodyguard— not her boyfriend.”

With that last sentence, Bucky’s jaw was clenched painfully in anger. His hands fisted uncomfortably— his knuckles whitening.

“Thanks for the info— you need to leave.” He tried to say calmly. Although his face was red with frustration.

Steve shook his head, a flash of emotion that looked apologetic passing through his features.

“I’ll see you later.” Steve said lastly, standing up to exit.

Bucky stayed silent, with angry eyes— watching Steve walk to the door until he left. As soon as the door closing sounded, he relaxed in his seat. The air seemed to be breathable now that he was gone. He liked it when it was just you two. Things seemed easier, everything felt lighter.

You’re her bodyguard, not her boyfriend.

The words shouldn’t of rang through his head— but they did. Over and over and over. He was confused at his reaction, but wouldn’t of reacted any other way. Things would be different if you were everything your Father said you were— but you were the opposite. He knew parts of you now and was learning more about you everyday. He had to react like that, if your Father wasn’t going to defend you— he’d do it.

His being craved the lightness your brought— the peaceful aura you’d leave when you were in the room. He found himself wanting to head back upstairs to you— needing to drown himself in the comfort that was your company.

He decided to do just that— headed upstairs to find you. Without him knowing it, he walked up the stairs and down the hall— all with a gentle smile on his lips.

He opened the door slowly, peeking in to make sure you were still asleep— afraid that his knocking would wake you. He was shocked to find you sitting up, legs hanging over the bed.

The door was open, but your back was to him and he knocked anyway— alerting you he was coming in.

“Hey, is it okay to come in?” He asked, his tone soft now versus the harshness from talking with Steve.

You didn’t jump like you usually did, instead you turned slowly and sent him a tired smile. Your hair was messy from sleep, and your eyes were slightly puffy from just waking up. Bucky had to bite his lip to stop the smile from approaching.

God— you looked like… an angel.

You nodded for him to come in, watching his bulky form walk towards the bed.

“You sleep okay?” He asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

He was suddenly feeling nervous around you, and he wasn’t sure if it was Steve’s comment that kept repeating in his brain.

“Yeah, I did.” You told him shyly, your cheeks heating up.

He nodded and avoided eye contact as the silence was killing him. He had so much to say, yet there was so much stopping him from doing so. He’d try again later when he didn’t feel so stressed out.

“Listen uh…” He started, sitting on the edge of your bed, a professional distance away from you, “I’m sorry about last night— I shouldn’t of said what I did.”

You grew serious but still kept a small smile etched on your face.

“James, it’s okay— you don’t have to keep apologizing.” You reassured him, waving it off like no big deal.

Truthfully, you weren’t upset with him.

He shook his head, his face flushed in embarrassment.

“Yeah I do. You’ve been…” He trailed off, wondering if he should go there, “You’ve been nothing but sweet to me since we met, and I’ve been… well— me.”

He dropped his head in shame, missing the way you were looking at him in awe.

“I’m sorry I’ve been acting like a dick most of the time— I promise I’ll try to be better.” He told you, and you scooted closer and placed your hand on his arm.

“James, I don’t want you to feel like you have to change yourself for me.” You told him.

Bucky felt hot under your touch, but otherwise ignored the feeling and totally disagreed with your statement. Of course he had to change— he wanted to change. He wanted to be a better version of himself for you. He hated that he did, but he couldn’t control it.

“I just wanna make it up to you, you know— for being a dick.” He repeated and you playfully glared at him.

“James if you tell me you’re being a dick one more time— I’m gonna slap you.” You threatened playfully.

Your words sounded goofy coming out of your mouth, but you didn’t expect the reaction from Bucky. His head leaned back and he let out a hearty laugh— one that was echoing off your room walls. You stared at him in shock— the bear was laughing? The bear was smiling like the cheshire cat. You were speechless.

Bucky wiped his eyes, noticing your shocked expression and smiled even more.

“Doll— I’d like to see you slap me. In fact, I’d like to see you beat someone up.” He pushed, the scenario playing through his head— it was adorable.

You shook your head, ridding yourself of the shock that had paralyzed you for a moment.

“Hey! I could hurt somebody if I wanted to!” You argued, crossing your arms in offense. But the corners of your mouth were lifting— his smile contagious.

Bucky had to hold back the snort that tried to escape, and just gazed down at you with a grin.

“Whatever you say doll.” He teased, loving the way you kept blushing at the nickname.

Why else do you think he keeps saying it?

You both sat in a comfortable silence for a moment, both of you content with each other’s presence. Bucky lost his smile just lightly before he spoke again.

“So— I wanna make it up to you,” He started, grabbing your attention, “How about we go get the baking supplies you wanted?”

You beamed at his suggestion, nodding you head excitedly.

“That sounds perfect, thanks James.” You said softly, his gaze giving you butterflies.

He nodded his head in a welcome, and stood up to head out of the room— to give you some space. You watched him leave with a look you had never sported before.

Something within you longed for him, even when you dismissed the thought— it’d come back stronger. You couldn’t starve yourself for the affection that Bucky had provided. Maybe you’d think differently about his suggestion, not thinking twice about it. But after witnessing Bucky defending you— your heart sped up at the memory.

You knew you shouldn’t of spied— but you had heard raised voices from the hallway and grew concerned.

Earlier…

You had cracked your eyes open, just enough to see Bucky’s back retreat from the room. The way his steps were sluggish— sleep still consuming him.

He stayed. Just as you had asked him to.

You opened your eyes all the way and felt the corners of your mouth lifting. Butterflies started to swarm your tummy. You had just woken up and he was already giving you butterflies. He had your day starting good.

While getting lost in a daydream about him— you decided to follow him. You weren’t sure what you even wanted to say to him— if there was anything to say. You just wanted to be around him, even if no words were spoken.

Sneaking down the stairs, you slowed your steps. Questing your breathing when you heard the sound of two voices. They sounded like they were arguing.

“What are you talking about?”

Bucky had sounded annoyed, the way his voice was edgier around this Steve guy.

“Ms. Perfect rubbing off on you?” The man called Steve laughed.

You couldn’t help the hurt that came to you from those words. You weren’t trying to be perfect— bell you knew you’d never be. You weren’t sure what you had done to earn that label. But you hoped it was some misunderstanding.

“The fuck is that supposed to mean?”

Bucky boomed, and you were sure if he was spitting those words at you— you’d be intimidated. His voice was thick, heavy with anger.

“Buck— you’re soft man. Quit defending her, the things her dad has said— you need to be watching your back man.”

The mention of your dad had you biting your lip, willing the tears to stay away. Of course he had something to do with this. You wondered like always— what you had done to make him hate you. You loved him and only ever talked highly of him.

“You don’t know her— so I’d quit talking about her like you do.” Bucky defended you, his voice laced with venom towards Steve.

Your heart sped up at the way he was defending you, no one had ever had your back like that. After your Mother passed, it was just you. You unfortunately learned that the only person that had your back— was you. It was depressing but that’s how things were. That was until you heard Bucky.

“She could be tricking you Buck. It’s still early— you only just met her.” Steve pointed out.

You opened your mouth in shock, confused and hurt with the way he spoke about you. You were talked about like you were a disease and nothing more. What did you ever do to him?

“Again— I know her better than you ever will.” Bucky hissed, the venom unfamiliar— at least with you.

“Look at you, defending her,” Steve laughed, “You’re her bodyguard— not her boyfriend.”

You were again— shocked at Steve’s words. But you forgot your own reaction and slightly peeked around the corner— trying to see Bucky’s reaction. From the thick silence that covered the room, you knew his reaction couldn’t be good.

Just barely you could see the side of Bucky’s face, and one of his arms. His metal one that is. You could see the metal fist shake, the way his jaw was clenched so tightly it looked uncomfortable.

“Thanks for the info but— you need to leave.” You heard Bucky try to say calmly.

You could easily tell that he was still angry, but was trying his hardest to hide it. You wanted to know why that sentence out of them all bothered him the most. Just the random theories flying through your head had you blushing.

You had heard enough, deciding to tip toe back up the stairs— and wait patiently for Bucky to come back up. Should you tell him you had listened in?

You found yourself stuck in an internal debate, until you had heard soft knocking come from your door. You knew who it was. You weren’t sure why you felt shy all of a sudden— Bucky had clearly seen you at a pretty low point. You knew you should tell him you were spying— but found yourself backing down in the moment.

~

Bucky knew it wasn’t smart to be out while someone was threatening you. But he’d be damned if he let anything happen to you. He’d kill anyone without hesitation if they tried anything towards you.

In fact, he’d cleared out the entire grocery store just for you. Letting you roam freely through the place, in search of your ingredients without having to worry. Instead he kept his eyes trained on the glass doors at the front. He didn’t know if he has the power to request such a thing— but had done it anyway.

He didn’t miss the glaring men across the street, who obviously worked for your Father. They sent him judgmental stares— most likely sending a message to Pierce. Bucky knew he should be worried about his position after going against Pierce’s orders. But he was starting not to care. You were deserving of so much more than what your Father had given you.

He rolled his eyes, breaking his staring contest with the men— focusing back on your humming throughout the isles. The music was muted in the store, leaving the sweet sound of your voice echoing throughout the space.

He wasn’t sure if it was paranoia— but everyone that passed by the window and glanced into the store. He immediately labeled them as the stalker. He wasn’t sure if it was his brain desperately wanting to find them— or if he was just worried about you. He obviously was taking a risk bringing you out, but you didn’t deserve to be locked up.

He knew he needed to tell you, and with his brain going back in fourth in a stressful debate— he had found his answer.

He was going to tell you.

“Okay, I got everything. Ready to go?” You announced, pushing your cart towards the only cashier in the store.

Bucky glanced back at you, giving you a small smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He was still lost in his internal debate.

With a nod of his head, you headed towards the checkout. Bucky watched as you talked politely with the cashier— causing them to smile widely at whatever you were saying.

Truthfully he was too stuck in his head to hear what you were saying, but he wasn’t surprised to find you making someone beam. You seemed to have that effect on people.

🤍taglist for this series is officially closed 🤍

TAGLIST: @winters1917 @unaxv @sebastianstansqueen @casa-boiardi @sonatabee @nytzirhk @almosttoopizza @erinallene @daddy-dotcom @h0nestly-though @beautiful-loserr @gloriouspurpose01 @lesleurs @justherefortheficandsmut @floralwsloki @dottirose @madi-be-buggin @navs-bhat @happinessinthebeing @ximi1315 @buggy14 @dancer3205 @neeezza101 @rovckwells @loki-is-loved @yujyujj @wolfstarrrr @distinguishedbluebirdtriumph @tatianah26 @mrs-bucky-barnes-73 @lethallyprotected @sadboiabby @ziatracy @doveromanoff @whattheduckisupkyle @buckysgirl85 @etherealdisneyvillainness @doctorlilo @torntaltos @raging-panda @livingoffsavvyillusions @lmao-liz @mishkatelwarriorgoddess @toriluvsfics

@baconeggndcheez @nialiuwanderlust @nabiiturner @nickangel13 @queerqueenlynn @memyselfandi19 @mentalidrainedfangirl @wattpaduser200 @obsessedbutnotblessed @iris-shihabi @thecubanator2 @chloe-skywalker @oatballsoffury @bbiaa420 @vanillascreams @athenabarnes @the-universe-is-complicated @marvel-fandom23 @ilovecliches @frankcastlesbabe @aizawa-emma @shamelesssuitshark @buckyb-stan @pampeop @bruher @reading-n-writin @lenavonschweetz @khypods @himikotoga101 @stefansring @iateall-yourcookies @giftedyoungster3000 @itsmytimetoodream @im-a-marvel-ous-hoe @wintermischief @companionjones @meetmeatyourworst @sebstanwhore @xforeveralonerxx @marziwritesfic @hidden-treasures21 @avenirectioner

@hvnnibvni @chipilerendi @buckylovu @clean-and-claire @broadwaybabe18 @billy-reads @natashassandwich @potatothots @char112244 @totallynotnotsukie @theconstantsidekick @unkownkii @missaprilt23 @dreamcatchernightsky @globetrotter28 @ilovewriting06 @leabunny @samsgirl93

[royalfriday]

Hi!

I would like to request platonic Boothill with a teen reader who stuck to his side at one point and just accompanies him since (reader can fight) and reader tells him he's much better than the father she remembers.

(For more context: The real father in question does not love reader and neither did he love their mother and was often violent. So just generally absolute dogwater man)

The picture adove is the official (obviously 😅) but the edit is done by me so yea

Also English is not my first language so don't attack me if any mistake are made

Reader is not mention to be any gender but it's mostly written to be non binary so read it as you like

____________________________

A FATHER TO HAVE

____________________________

You were a weird child

Not in the bad way but also not in the nice good way

It wasn't because you were from a not rich family quite the opposite someone could say

In the eyes of others you had everything the wanted

And when you could say you were jealous for their parents they could say that yours are rich and you have everything

What they don't get is THAT is your problem

You didn't care about how much money their parents had because they treated them nicely and with love

Meanwhile yours didn't love you.

They didn't even bother to at least hide it when you are present

... actually they do hide their passion hate for you when their guests are present

You only are here because if the send you out on the streets or even in the most far orphanage they could find

Oooh they could

But they can't

This will mark the familys name

" Did you hear that 'last name' family sent their only child in a orphanage!? Could you believe that now?"

That's what they tell you

Don't be friends with the lower

Or in their grammar?

POOR PEOPLE

They didn't really care about what you were doing while ge was in the picture

He. Your older brother

They had their attention always to him and only him

He was the gem in the family

And you? His shadow

But that chance when he got sick

And the "best" part?

There wasn't any cure for that

So when he passe let's say it was the moment your gates for even deeper level of this family open

A level not even the gods knew would exist but it does

Well also when he died your parents started to argue more

You were most of the time the topic. Most of the time you're mother was the one to start this

And a few she would try to "protect you" from your fathers rage

A few times

Around in the 10 time she would only in the 0,5 time

Yes she would start to nake her move to make it seem like she cares about you but she would give up at that and side with your father

(wow wonderful family 😃)

You couldn't take this anymore

It's been already two years since his passing

You were only a already depressed 14 and now you were a depressing tried of thus life 16 and in a few months you would be 17

But you could not take it anymore

You wanted to end this hell

But when you would try to talk to someone they could say that you are only overreacting

So you run out

You meet him when he was trying to hide that what you thought

But from his perspective?

He noticed you nit a while ago and he got curious what this person was doing

Well he always was looking at you from the roof of the building .

You were in an alley sitting by the trash can looking tried and shit.

He didn't even understand that you were an teenager he take you for those little people wmaww men what were the called again? Ooo never mind you get the idea

So he got down from the roof jumping from there to end Infront of you

You of course were trying to sleep

Which means you were not expecting something or even someone to literally jump Infront of you

Of course you end up screaming and him also ending up suprise that you were un fact a teenager! A CHILD ALONE!

And the worst part? You didn't seem to be in a nice state

You two stay silent looking at each other for a while

You trying to remember where you have seen him. Because his face seems familiar. Perhaps you have saw him somewhere?

But him? Aw god have mercy to him. He was a father! And the worst part? You seem to be around the age his daughter would be if she was alive!

His head was all with questions.

Where were your parents?

Why wre you out here ?

HOW LONG GAVE YOU BEEN HERE?

Were you in this state before he noticed you?

Why didn't anyone helped you on this time?!

He was going to say something but something click in your mind

You

Remember

You remembered where you have seen him

In the ipc wanted list

Since your parents work there you had many copies of their data

Like the wanted list that you would like to spend your time there rather than to listen to then arguing about something you probably did wrong in their thinking or something.

Name: Boothill category : Galaxy Rangers Prize : You can't remember but your syre it had an update recently and it was not to low the price 😭

So you did what everyone would do while facing a WANTED person

...

Your ran

He was after you

He was after you

He was fast

HE WAS FAST

HE IS GETTING CLOSER

HE IS-

(Well time for a skip here to after he catches you and making you talk to him about everything and WHY YOU WERE in the streets for so long.😃)

You explain everything

He listens

You're talking about your parents

He listens

When you stop

He thinks how cruel some people are in the galaxy

He ask where your parents work from curiosity not thinking about it

You hesitate of course

You explain you don't want to talk about it

He goes with it

He tries to comfort you

He succeeded

You smile

He feels like he won something

He buys you food

You are eating after two days

You are feeling nice

You are full

You ask him his story

He tells you

You listen

Then comes the part of the story about his daughter

You listen again. You knew that the ipc weren't nice people and shit but you didn't knew that they were also destroying planets

You trying to comfort him

It doesn't succeed like his but he seems more happy

He says he is trying to nit think of it

A few days pass you get closer

He was surprised that you knew who to fight but he suggested that was a part of your parents

You make him promise he wouldn't try to make you go back there

He agree

He grows found of you

And you of him

And that's how you end up a few months later in the side of the cyborg cowboy men following the name Boothill.

He asked tou to be a galaxy ranger

You agree

And now you feel more alive than ever

This is a dream come true

You were free from them

Of course you are also in the IPC wanted list after a while

Ohhh how much you would like to see how their faces were when they found out you were in fact not dead but Alive! AND IN THE WANTED LIST! Ooh that sure will leave a mark in their name

Yes their

You don't go by theirs anyway you don't go by any

You are free

And have a family

A little sweet family of two

You and Boothill

A father once again and a teenager with full of energy to explore

____________________________

____________________________

I hope yo enjoyed this also rwll me if something wasn't how you wanted so i can look after it

[erabu-san]

tighnari saying cyno and sethos are like brothers at the end of this quest... cyno really is collecting siblings like pokemon. good for him!!

Yeeeessss!!

In my HC, Cyno put a lot of attention in family.

Firstly because Cyrus was his only one family when he was a kid with amnesia, but also he grown up with Lisa as colleague under the same professor, but both of them consider Cyrus as a parental figure : without saying anything, a link it made of brother/sister. Cyno never knows his family by blood, and I think he was curious once. But he is satisfy with his current family ! And for him, family doesn't need to blood related. And if I remember well, Cyno said (during Windblum event, EVENT EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR ME 😭🫶) something like it is pretty current people in Akademiya becomes a family for study. It was his case ! Cyrus becomes his dad figure, Lisa, her senior, is like a big sister (I wouldn't never forget when she calls him little brother/baby brother) (AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA !!! <3). And when in windblum Cyno came visited Lisa, during their conversation, Cyno is the one mentionning the family bond she has with Cyrus "you are also part of the family, Lisa. It is normal for a daughter to talk like his father" (*CRYING*)! It sounds a tiny detail but I feel like this is so important for him.

Then came Tighnari, aka the first friend he had ever ! (I am a bit lost in chronology tho. In Tighnari's backsto, we learn they met when Cyno was already the general mahamatra while Tighnari was a student new-ly popular. But in Cyno's quest, we learn that they were student when they met ?? So Cyno was student and General ? ���� welp, I am still unsure but now I include it in my HC/brainrot kskdkd). And also Collei ! Collei is a bit more complicated, in term that she wasn't comfortable around him for a long time being. But even when she wasn't comfortable around him at first, she still gave him a bookmark handmade during windblum and saying he is like a family for him (I AM ON THE FLOOR). Tighnari and Cyno both consider Collei like a little sister, and bahaha when they "fight" about "who is the older one" and tighnari don't want to admit this loser being the older oh gosh i love theeeeeeem (I will never recover from "oh yeah but you're younger in your head, Collei could be your big sis !" "I wouldn't never say I am the youngest !!! Except if it is for an opportunity for winning TCG by shocking my opponent.." cyno you are so real). But during this windblum event again, Cyno said something like "you know Collei, tighnari said we are not an akademiya family, and he doesn't want to work on a post together" and this is SUPER IMPORTANT because for Cyno, as you can see earlier, only had family by study (Cyrus, Lisa). He worked, studied and published with his father and Lisa. And also, he did homework with Tighnari that he considers like a brother in soul. But the fact he was "refused" to do work with Collei and him, kind of make him feel to tell Collei "yeah we r family but, tighnari... ):"

As Tighnari answered "You know, we can consider ourself as a normal family" AND THAT'S SOSO IMPORTANT. In my HC, Tighnari is the one in group having a "good family" (not in sumeru cast, I believe it is Nilou who has the healthiest family). He knows what a family is supposed to, he grew up with parents who teach him a lot of thing and he explored with them. Anyway Tighnari is a healthy kid, he knows that they don't need to work on a project together to be a family. Oh and that's also why I HC him Aromantic, AroAce persons value platonic and familyship a lot more than romantic, so he doesn't know mind that Collei and Cyno who are not blood related to him are like a true family for him !

(Before continue, I want to talk his bond with Collei ; I believe he can relates on how Collei suffered from the seal, because Cyno who might forget his past, he remembers the pain. That's how in Tighnari's voiceline, Cyno often check how Collei is going w/o her noticing. Even when Collei was aware of Cyno and under Tighnari care, he was ready to help her. And in the first story quest, Tighnari said that she still awares of him. I wonder how often they talk abt Collei !! I am sure Cyno shares to Tighnari how much he woud like to get along with her, and that's how Tighnari gives him opportunity like this one official art when in description Tighnari said "I asked Collei to bring Cyno")

And so, that's how in Cyno's quest we were able to see all his closest friends. Tighnari Collei Kaveh Alhaitham Candace Dehya Faruzan (and Traveler). Everyone was worried for him, was wishing to help him, and was here for him. And Cyno also noticed he is less alone (GOOD FOR HIM). And now, there is Sethos, a man coming from nowhere in this life, but an important man ; they didn't spend life together but they can feel a deep connection bcuz of both of their backstory. Sethos might be the closest to understand all his doubt a long time ago (and Cyno IS the closest person for Sethos to relate). And IN CYNO'S VOICELINE ABOUT SETHOS "Aren't we his best friends of whole Sumeru city ?! 😐" Cyno pulled the power of friendship and adopt him in his big family circle.

ANYWAY WOW IT IS ONLY 8AM AND I AM HERE ALREADY YAPPING ABOUT CYNO BAHAHAHA

But genshin impact is for me more family impact that anything 😭 🫶 (and that's also why I am stuck with sumeru while FONTAINE AND THE HOUSE OF HEARTH ARE JUST RIGHT HERE ?!?!) after all, we are playing a traveler who is searching their twin !

Thank you for reading my talk, anon

[writerfae]

No thoughts, just Aiden and Henry hugging!

Also, how come Ranva used to call Henry little crow? (Not that it doesn't fit, it does (duh), I'm just curious if there's a story behind it)

And how did Hela end up in the human realm when she met Aiden?

Forest demons: uniting friends since day one!

And I wanted to rant at you a little about Bendegúz because I realized that I haven't really done that since I talked about his dad, and it made me sad, because I love him (also, I'm scared that sometimes I accidentally mischaraterize him because him and I have the same exaggerated humor but if you mix those together it just makes him sound insane💀)There's a very good reason why the difference between the villain Adél au, the villain Ákos au and canon is what Bendegúz does!

I wanted to tell you about some moments of his that I love (angst warning)

I mentioned that he and Ákos sometimes playfight, and Bendegúz sometimes shows him how to use his spear. And can you just imagine 8 yo Bendegúz with a 3 yo Ákos, and they're playing with sticks (pretending they are spears), and Bendegúz isn't that good with a spear yet, but to Ákos he already looks like an expert ❤️🥺

Also, there's this sweet moment where they're preparing to fly home from the swamp (and it's not the happiest circumstances for Ákos' first, real flight) and Bendegúz apologies for this and promises that after this is over they'll go on a real, nice, pleasant flight

The fact that he took care of Moss (who he doesn't even like) while Ákos was gone

When Adél is told that Ákos is dead the first thing she does is run to Bendegúz and he's holding her so tightly and aaaaa

Just his inner struggle of "It wasn't MY litte brother! I can't be sad!" But as soon as there's even the slightest chance to get him back, he's on it!

Both him and Adél being willing to go to the swamp even though they know that the chances of Ákos being alive are close to zero.

Adél and him spend so much time together! Ever since their parents introduced them to each other as babies they were always together. Never one without the other

Bendegúz learned to fly, and now him flying up to Adél's window just because, is a regular occurrence. They constantly have sleepovers (it's really easy since Bendegúz and his mom live on the castle grounds)

It's really cute because in Bendegúz's house Adél's childhood drawings are hung up, and vice-versa 😭

And they play a lot of boardgames 😭

He is very good at lighting up a bad situation with a joke but never in an inappropriate way. Just in those moments when people need a little cheering up, and this always makes his friends feel all warm inside.🥺

I'll stop cause we'll be here all day...(sorry if this got long)

I hope you liked this little rant 🙈

Ranva called Henry her little crow because of the color of his hair and for a second reason that I can’t say out in the open xD she also referred to her sons as her little crows sometimes, also for that second reason.

And Halea came to the human realm because while fighting the forest demon, the beast and her practically “fell” through an open portal to the human realm that someone (or something) must’ve opened shortly before and left open.

Bendegúz really is a sweetheart, his relationship to the royal siblings is really adorable! You can tell he loves them!